Saturday

Lux is 15

"Liz! They need everyone! There's been an accident," Mary said, her tone urgent.

Liz jumped up from the booth in the hospital cafeteria where she'd been eating lunch. "What happened?" She asked as she fell into step beside her friend.

"A semi rolled over on Interstate 5," Mary replied as they hurried from the cafeteria.

The weather had been crazy. They'd had several feet of snow the night before, which was highly unusual for Portland. Today the roads were icy. They'd had several car accidents that morning, but none as serious as this.

The corridor was crowded with doctors and nurses bustling around and victims of the accident on gurneys. The truck had hit several cars and most of the drivers involved were in pretty bad shape.

Liz glanced around. She didn't see any kids. She saw a young woman lying unconscious on a gurney and hurried over to help the doctor.

The woman looked familiar, but Liz couldn't place her.

"She's sustained trauma to the head," Dr. Warner told Liz. "The medics brought her purse in. Can you find her ID?"

Liz grabbed the woman's purse. She found her wallet and pulled it out. She gasped in shock when she saw the woman's name on her driver's license.

Dr. Warner stared at Liz. "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah," Liz said, though the color had drained from her face.

Dr. Warner looked at Liz expectantly. "Well…what's her name?"

"Cate Cassidy," Liz replied. She'd recognized the name as soon as she saw it. This woman was Lux's birth mother.

Liz went through the motions, cleaning the cuts on Cate's head and helping Dr. Warner stitch them up, but her mind was elsewhere.

"She's lost a lot of blood." Dr. Warner frowned in concern.

Liz went to prepare blood for a transfusion, but the blood bank was out of Cate's blood type. She had a rare blood type. The same blood type as Lux.

Liz grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Mark. She explained what had happened. "Can you bring Lux? She needs to donate blood."

Liz swallowed hard. She didn't know if she was doing the right thing.

Lux was smart. She would know something was going on if Mark brought her to the hospital to donate blood.

Liz didn't know if Lux would want to know her birth mom. She didn't know if Cate Cassidy would want to know her daughter.

Liz returned to Cate's hospital room. She leaned against the wall, studying her patient. Lux didn't resemble her birth mother. Liz wondered what Lux's birth father looked like.

Cate's eyes fluttered open. She glanced around the hospital room. When she realized where she was, her eyes widened in horror. She struggled to sit up.

"Cate, you're OK. You were in an accident. You're at Portland General Hospital," Liz said.

Cate nodded slowly.

"Do you remember what happened?" Liz asked.

"I was, uh, driving home from work and then everything went black," Cate said, her voice slightly shaky.

Liz nodded. "A semi rolled over. Your car was totaled."

"You didn't call my mom, did you?" Cate asked, clearly less than thrilled with the idea of her mother showing up.

"No," Liz replied. "Would you like me to call anyone?"

"My boyfriend. Ryan," Cate said.

Liz used the phone on Cate's bedside table to call Cate's boyfriend. "Ryan? This is Liz Turner from Portland General. Your girlfriend's been in an accident."

When Liz hung up, Cate was staring at her.

"He's coming," Liz said.

"Liz Turner," Cate murmured thoughtfully. The name rang a bell.

Cate had an excellent memory. It had served her well in high school. She'd graduated as valedictorian. She never had to study hard because she easily recalled names, dates and facts from class.

It took Cate a few minutes before she remembered. Liz Turner was the nurse who had sat with her when she was in labor.

She was kind, Cate remembered. Cate smiled slightly. "You probably don't remember, but we've met before. You were my nurse when I was pregnant. It was about fifteen years ago."

Liz shifted uncomfortably. "Actually I do remember."

"My boyfriend, he doesn't know I was pregnant in high school," Cate said quickly, not wanting Liz to mention it once Ryan showed up.

Liz inclined her head slightly. She didn't know what to say to Cate. She didn't know if she should say anything.

Liz had never lied to her daughter. She didn't want to now. Granted she didn't really want to tell Lux the truth either, but she felt like it was the right thing to do.

Liz had grown so fond of Lux while Lux was in the hospital that it hadn't been hard to start thinking of Lux as her own daughter. She'd felt maternal toward the kid since day one.

Lux had been living with Liz and Mark for over twelve years now. They'd raised her. They'd been there for every milestone.

"Mom!" Lux's voice dragged Liz from her thoughts. She smiled slightly as her daughter hugged her. Mark appeared behind her, panting slightly.

"Dad wouldn't tell me what was wrong. He just said we needed to go to the hospital. You're OK?" Lux said uncertainly, looking Liz over for hurts.

"I'm OK," Liz assured Lux. She put her arm around Lux's shoulders and led her out of Cate's room. "There was a bad accident. A woman with your blood type was brought in."

"I'll donate blood," Lux offered before Liz could ask.

Liz smiled. She'd known Lux would offer. Lux had always been generous. "I know. Mary will draw blood."

Lux followed Mary to another room.

"How are you doing?" Mark asked, rubbing Liz's back.

"I'm going crazy," Liz admitted. "Should we tell her?"

"We have to," Mark muttered.

Lux was visiting with Mary when her parents entered the room.

Liz and Mary exchanged a glance and Mary excused herself, leaving the family alone.

Liz sat down beside Lux. "Lux, the woman who was in the accident is your birth mother," she said tentatively. She didn't have the foggiest idea how her daughter would react to the news.

Lux stared at Liz open-mouthed.

Liz reached for Lux, but Lux jerked away.

"We thought you deserved to know. You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Mark said.

"But if you want to meet her, we understand," Liz said, trying to read her daughter's facial expression.

Liz could see the emotions playing across Lux's face. Her daughter was shocked, curious and angry. Lux frowned.

"Lux…" Liz said.

Lux shook her head. "I don't want to meet her."

Liz nodded slowly.

Liz returned to Cate's room.

Mark looked at Lux uncertainly. "Do you want to go home?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," Lux lied. She looked down. "I'll meet you in the car."

Lux fought back tears. How could a woman she'd never met make her feel like this? Like she was worthless.

Lux had never gotten over the feeling of abandonment. She knew Liz and Mark loved her and she loved them. More than they knew.

Lux was young when Liz adopted her, but she remembered more than Liz realized. She remembered being the only kid in the hospital with no visitors. Being the only kid who didn't get anything for her birthday or Christmas.

Lux hadn't wanted to get better. She hadn't known where she would go when she was better, but she knew she didn't have a family to take her home. She'd been terrified of leaving the hospital.

And then Liz had taken Lux home. Liz had always been there for Lux. She always made everything better. Lux would do anything for Liz.

Lux's birth mom had never been there for her. She'd had Lux and given her away like she didn't matter. Like she was nothing. She'd never even checked on Lux. She probably hadn't cared if Lux lived or died.

Lux's hands balled into fists at her sides as anger consumed her. Her birth mother hadn't done a damn thing for her. Why should Lux help her birth mom?

Lux's features set in determination as she headed toward the room where she'd found Liz just a little while ago. It hadn't even been an hour, but it felt like ages. So much had changed.

"How old is your daughter?" Cate asked when Liz returned.

"Fifteen," Liz replied, avoiding Cate's gaze.

Cate nodded slowly.

They both looked up in surprise when Lux entered the room.

"Lux?" Liz said uncertainly, wondering if Lux had changed her mind.

Lux didn't say anything. She walked toward Lix with purpose and ripped the bag of blood from Liz's hands. Liz watched in shock as Lux tore the bag open. Lux's own blood coated her hands, staining her crème sweater and dripping onto the floor.

Lux shook her head furiously. "I don't want her to have my blood. I'm going to do for her what she did for me. Absolutely nothing."

Liz bit her lip. Tears stung her eyes as she looked at her daughter. She could see how much Lux was hurting. She reached for Lux.

Cate narrowed her eyes.

"No!" Lux shrieked. "Don't. You knew. You knew that she left me here. I had a hole in my heart! She didn't care. She didn't care if I lived or died."

Lux backed away. Liz watched as Mary put an arm around Lux and took her to get cleaned up. She knew Mary would take care of Lux.

Liz sighed. She shouldn't have told Lux. She'd never wanted to cause her daughter a moment's pain. She had no idea how Lux was feeling, but she'd never seen the kid this upset before in her life. Not when she was just a toddler fighting for her life. Not ever.

"What just happened?" Cate asked, her voice shaky. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. In a way she had, Liz knew.

Liz reluctantly met Cate's gaze. "Your daughter was born with congenital heart disease."

Cate raised her eyebrows. "A hole in her heart?" She repeated the words she'd heard Lux shout minutes before.

Liz nodded slowly. "She needed several surgeries. She was in the hospital until she was almost three. She was never adopted. I grew very fond of her."

"You adopted her," Cate said, her tone accusatory.

"Yes," Liz replied. She shook her head. "You have a rare blood type. Lux's blood type. I asked her father to bring her to donate blood. We told her who you were and asked if she wanted to meet you."

Tears stung Cate's eyes. "Is she OK?"

"Physically she's fine. The surgeries repaired the defect," Liz said. She didn't know how Lux was doing emotionally. She just knew she was to blame for whatever Lux was feeling and hated herself for it.