Oakdale and its citizens are owned by P&G, I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement.

Chapter 13

Memorial Hospital

"Dr. Oliver, we have several victims of a multi-vehicle accident headed out way. I'll need you in the ER." Bob said as he approached quickly.

"ETA?" Reid asked.

"The first ambulance should arrive in fifteen minutes." Bob replied.

"Bob, Reid!" Holden called out as he quickly approached.

"Is something wrong with Faith?" Bob asked seeing Holden's urgency.

"No, she's fine. It's Natalie. She left the house sometime this morning without telling anyone. A lot of my family is looking for her. My mom, Lucinda, Abigail, Carly and Lily are staying where they are in case she shows up. Luke thinks she might be coming to see Faith, so can you keep an eye out for her? I want to drive along the route from here to Lily's home." Holden requested.

"I'll alert the staff to keep an eye out. I'll let them know to contact Dr. Oliver or myself if she shows up." Bob responded.

"Thanks." Holden said before taking off.

"Gretchen." Bob said to the nurse at the closest station. "Send a page out to all staff to keep their eyes open for a ten year old girl with long brown hair. Her name is Natalie, and if she is seen, either myself or Dr. Oliver are to be contacted. We are headed for the ER."

"Yes, sir." Gretchen responded.

"Come on, Dr. Oliver." Bob said to Reid and they headed for the elevator.

Tom and Margo's Home

"Have you found her?" Abigail asked as she opened her in-laws door to Luke.

"No, I drove as slow as I could over here. I'm going to head to Katie's house next." Luke responded.

"Adam and Casey are driving the perimeter of here in slow circles heading outward. Why would she do this? It's not like her." Abigail asked worriedly.

"You need to stay calm." Luke said.

"I know. That's why I'm here and not in the car." Abigail said. "But I still don't understand why."

"I don't either, but I do know that she hasn't reacted much to Aaron's death, yet. This has to be part of that reaction." Luke reasoned. "Just stay here and stay calm. I'll let you know as soon as she is found."

"Okay." Abigail said giving Luke a hug and then watching him head back to his car.

Memorial Hospital ER

"Nurse Stewart, order these blood work and x-rays for the patient in exam room three." Reid ordered handing her the patient's chart.

"Dr. Hughes wanted me to inform you that there are four more on their way here." Allison informed him.

"You're all doing good work." Reid said.

"Thank." Allison replied and smiled as she returned to the nurses' station to call in the order.

Quickly the ER was bombarded with the four new patients. No one noticed the girl who wandered in with the gurneys and watching the scene with wide frightened eyes.

Reid was once again giving instruction to Allison when he heard her gasp Natalie's name.

"What?" Reid asked then looked in the direction that Allison gestured.

"Natalie." Reid called out above the noise of the ER. The girl's attention snapped to the familiar voice. Her wide-eyes seeing Reid, she hesitated for only a moment before she ran to him and hurled herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his side.

Hearing her let out a sob; Reid reached down and lifted her into his arms. She instantly buried her face in his shoulder as sobs shook her body.

"You take care of her. We've got everything covered down here." Bob said approaching him.

"Call Luke." Reid mouthed to Allison as he walked away with Natalie in his arms.

He carried her and let her sob until they reached the on-call room. The whole time he was thinking in his head what he should do or say. This was way out of his comfort zone, and something he absolutely did not want to screw up.

He settled her on his lap as he sat down. He decided it was best to just let her cry. He was worried her would say something to make it worse.

When she finally did speak, he almost didn't hear her.

"Was that what it was like for Aaron, Abigail, Faith and Parker?" She asked looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Down in the ER?" He asked and she nodded, "Yes, it would have been a lot like that." Reid told her honestly.

"You saw the accident? You and Luke, right?" Natalie asked.

"Yes."

"Did you know Aaron was going to die?" Natalie asked.

"I knew that he was very badly hurt, but I also knew that if it was in their power, the doctors at this hospital would do everything they could to help him, and they did try their very best." He answered her looking her straight in the eyes.

"But they couldn't fix him." Natalie surmised and leaned into him.

"Hey," Katie said quietly as she entered the room, "Allison called up and told me what was going on. Are you okay, sweetie?" Katie asked Natalie.

"She's just missing Aaron." Reid explained.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so very sorry. I know you miss your brother very, very much." Katie told Natalie as she knelt down beside Reid so she was a Natalie's eye level. "Did you know that Aaron had made a very generous gift of himself to save other's lives?" Katie asked.

"Yes, Daddy and Luke told us." Natalie responded.

"Katie, does Doogie know?" Reid asked.

"Yes, he figured it out yesterday, and we confirmed it." Katie responded.

"I have an idea." He carefully set Natalie on her feet then took her hand as he stood up. "Come with me." Reid led them out of the room and to Chris's room.

"Hey, Doogie? Are you decent?" Reid asked as he entered the room.

"Reid, who do you have with you?" Chris asked noticing the figure tucked behind him.

"Hi, Dr. Chris." Natalie said shyly stepping out from behind Reid.

"Natalie, how are you?" Chris asked kindly with a smile for her.

"Okay." Natalie responded shyly sticking close to Reid.

"Natalie is missing Aaron, and we were telling her how Aaron gave many people life-saving miracles." Reid said. "You see, Natalie, Dr. Chris's heart was very sick, and he needed a new heart. But, even though Aaron died, his heart was still healthy, so Aaron in a sense gave his heart to Dr. Chris so he could live a long time. Because Aaron was so generous, Dr. Chris gets to live to help heal sick children, marry Katie, and become a dad to Jacob like your dad is a dad to Luke."

"Really?" Natalie asked looking at him with wide curious eyes.

"Yep," Chris answered nodding, "Even though I'm very sad that Aaron died, I'm very grateful that he was so generous and gave me this gift."

"Do you want to hear Aaron's heart?" Reid asked her.

Natalie nodded her head. Reid moved them over by Chris's bed. He made sure no wires or tubes were in the way before lifting Natalie on to the bed setting her by Chris's hip facing Chris. Using his stethoscope, he found Chris's heartbeat. Holding the end to Chris's chest, he handed the ear pieces to Natalie.

"That's Aaron's heart?" Natalie asked Reid wide-eyed.

"Yes, and it sounds very strong, doesn't it." Reid said and a smile broke out on Natalie's face.

"I'll be back." A teary-eyed Katie mouthed as she stepped out of the room to inform the nurses' station as to Natalie's location. It wasn't necessary, as she saw Holden, Lily, Ethan, Luke, Abigail and Adam pushing Faith approaching.

"They said Natalie is here with Reid. Have you seen her?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Yes, and she is fine. She was very upset about Aaron, but she is fine now." Katie said trying to calm the family down.

"Thank you." Holden said.

"Oh, I had nothing to do with it. It was all Reid." Katie smiled at Luke who grinned in return.

"Come on, she's in here." Katie led the way to Chris's room.

"Natalie." Lily sighed in relief seeing her daughter sitting on Chris's bed laughing.

"Hi." Natalie beamed at her family. "You got my note?"

"You're note?" Holden asked.

"On the fridge, like I'm supposed to when I go out." Natalie said. "Mom and Ethan were still asleep and I didn't want to wake them."

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked coming to stand Reid.

"Listening to Aaron's heart in Dr. Chris's chest." Natalie told him. "Can Ethan listen, too?"

"Sure, anyone can that wants to." Chris said.

Reid helped Natalie down and Ethan up then adjusted the earpieces while Chris's held the other end in place.

Ethan's eye's got wide then he laughed hearing the sound coming out of the stethoscope.

"Reid said Aaron's heart sounded very strong in Dr. Chris's body." Natalie informed her parents and siblings as the moved over toward them.

"That's wonderful, Baby." Lily said hugging her.

"Thanks, Reid." Holden mouthed as the two exchanged places at Chris's bedside.

Reid nodded them moved back to where Luke and Katie were standing. Luke wrapped his arms around Reid's waist from the back and hugged him, then kept his arms around Reid as he rested his chin on Reid's shoulder as they watched Luke's family, the family that slowly, day by day, Reid was becoming a part of.

And Reid knew that thanks to the people in this room, along with Bob and Kim Hughes that Oakdale was home. The first real home he ever had. And though he would still complain about it sometimes, it would forever in the future be the place he thought of as home.

The End

Well that's it. Hope you like it. I have an idea for a sequel, but I have lots of ideas, so I don't know if or when it will be written. Thanks for reading, reviewing, putting on story alerts and favorites. Please review and tell me how you liked it. - tamara