A quiet and nervous John Carter followed the nurse down towards the admin area in the rehab centre in Atlanta. He was tired from the flight, and his mind was till reeling from the events of the day, from Abby walking in on him shooting up in the trauma room, to Benton leaving him outside the rehab centre after he had been asked to leave by a member of the staff who worked at the rehab centre.
The nurse took his details, and told him about everything that would happen there. For the first few days he would be on suicide watch in a solitary room, and after they were satisfied that he wouldn't try and kill himself, he would be moved to another room which he would share with someone else. Numbly, Carter nodded as he listened to the details, and an orderly came and took his bag and showed him to his room.
Carter woke up the next day, his body shivering slightly and his stomach cramping. Withdrawal, he thought to himself. He was considering just sleeping for the rest of the day, but the same nurse who had met him last night came and ordered him, nicely but firmly, to get out of bed. He looked at her nametag and saw the name 'Lisa' written on it. Carter asked 'what's going to happen now then?' Lisa smiled and said, ' well, we want to introduce you to the person that you will be sharing a room with in a few days, just to make sure you get along' Carter nodded and Lisa said, 'well, I'll wait outside while you get freshened up.' She went outside and Carter hauled himself out of bed and went over to the sink that was in his room. He splashed some cold water in his face and took a deep breath in, hoping that he would make a good impression on his new roommate.
He stepped outside of his room and Lisa smiled at him. She led him up the corridor to a room with a TV and stereo in it and loads of chairs, a small sort of living room. Lisa pointed to a women sitting in the corner; she was writing something and listening to some music at the same time. 'That's your roommate over there' Lisa said, and she nudged Carter into the room, and walked off.
Carter tried to calm his nerves; he was shaking enough as it was without being nervous about meeting his new roommate. He walked over to her and she looked up at him and smiled. Carter felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders; her smile felt to him as if it could light up the whole room. 'You must be John Carter, my soon to be new roommate' she said. Carter sat down and smiled, saying 'Yeah. The nurse hasn't told me your name' She laughed lightly and said ' I'm Heather Dawson'
Carter took her hand and shook it. Heather smiled at him again and Carter was pleasantly relieved to find that he didn't have to force a smile to his face. They chatted for a while, and then Lisa came back. She walked in saying 'Hi Heather, how are you doing today?' Heather replied 'Ok thanks, just talking to my new roommate here.' Lisa smiled and said 'Well you seem to be getting on well. I hate to disturb you but John, you have to come with me and see Dr Simmons' Carter stood up to leave and said to Heather 'It was lovely to meet you. I'll see you again soon' Heather smiled and said 'See you soon.' Carter and Lisa both walked away, and Carter began to feel a smile playing on his face. Lisa said 'Do you think that you will get along ok?' Carter nodded and said 'She seems really nice' Lisa nodded and said 'Yeah, she's one of the nicest people here, always caring about other people before she cares about herself. You are lucky to be sharing a room with her' 'Yes,' Carter thought to himself, 'I most certainly am'
Carter sat down in Dr Simmons's office, and he smiled weakly at the older doctor. Dr Simmons looked to be in his early fifties. 'Good Morning, Dr Carter. How are you feeling this morning?' Carter decided to answer truthfully; 'Lousy. Shaky and my stomach hurts' Dr Simmons nodded sympathetically and said 'Well there's not anything we can do for that, except give you some aspirin for the cramps, but as I see from your record, that won't be strong enough for you' 'You got that right' Carter muttered under his breath. Dr Simmons either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore the comment. 'Now, John. Part of being a patient here means that you are required to come to therapy at least three times at week, and as I feel you progress, they amount of times you have to come to therapy every week will be reduced. I hear that you have met your new roommate. Are you sure that you will be able to get along with her?'
Carter nodded and said 'Definitely, from what I have seen of her today and what one of the nurses told me earlier, Heather sounds like a very nice person.' Dr Simmons nodded and said 'Good. Its important that you are sharing a room with someone you can get along with' Carter and Dr Simmons talked for a little bit longer, before Dr Simmons said 'Well, I think it has bee made clear to you what our policies are here. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning for your first therapy session of the week.' Carter stood up and shook the other man's hand before walking out of his office.
Carter walked back to the room where he had originally met Heather, and was dismayed when she wasn't there. He saw Lisa walking past and he said, 'Do you know where Heather went?' Lisa smiled and said 'she went back to her room. Do you want me to show where it is?' Carter nodded and followed Lisa down a corridor until she stopped and said 'Here it is. You should try and remember where it is seeing as you will be in here in a few days.' She smiled and walked away down the corridor.
Carter knocked on the door, and he heard Heather say 'Come in' He opened the door and said 'Hi. Is it ok if I come in?' Heather smiled and nodded. Carter looked around the room, noting to his surprise that it was actually bigger than he had expected it to be. He sat down on a chair next to Heather's bed where she was sitting. Heather asked 'How was your meeting with Dr Simmons?' 'Not too bad, he seems to be ok' 'Yeah, he's not too bad, I used to see him. How are you finding it here on your first day?' Carter shrugged and said ' its been ok so far, feeling a bit lousy though.' Heather nodded sympathetically and she said 'Do you know how long you will be staying here for?' 'Three months. How long have you been here?' 'Almost a year. I was supposed to leave earlier but I kicked up a bit of a fuss when I first came here so it became an extended stay.'
Carter nodded and said, 'I guess you didn't want to come here either' 'Uh huh, I think I escaped three of four times from here, and each time the police found me and dragged me back kicking and screaming. I learnt that there was no point in trying to get out, so I just decided to get on with it and get out as quickly as possible.' Carter coughed slightly and said 'um, what were you..' 'Addicted to?' Heather finished the sentence for him. Carter nodded and she said 'Cocaine, and alcohol. How bout you?' Carter sighed and said 'Pain killers. I guess you want to know why I was taking them' Heather smiled and said 'You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I just want you to know that, even though you get therapy here, if you wanna talk in a more informal situation then you can talk to me anytime you want. And I won't have to write everything down that you tell me like Dr Simmons will' Carter grinned and said 'Thanks. I might have to take you up on that offer sometime, if you don't mind' Heather waved her hand and said 'Anytime I am always here' Carter smiled, thanking God inside that he had found someone nice already on his first day here. Heather looked at him and said 'Has anyone given you the grand tour of the whole place yet?' Carter shook his head and Heather said 'Come on then, I'll show you around' She pulled him out of the chair with a giggle, and they both left the room.
Heather showed him around all the different rooms, and then took him outside too show him the grounds. 'I didn't realise how nice the grounds were when I arrived last night. Its really nice.' Heather nodded and said 'There's a place up here that's really nice, no one else really knows about it and it's a really nice quite place to sit if you need some time to clear your head' Carter followed her through some trees until they arrived at a small clearing. The sun shone down through the gap at the top of the trees, and they both sat down on a log that was lying on the floor.
Carter looked around at his surroundings and realised that this really was a very nice place; he'd have to remember to come up here when he felt a bit stressed out. He looked at Heather, who seemed lost in thought. Carter really liked her, he liked the way she cared for other people and the fact that her smile could light up the room. He decided to tell her all about the stabbing and why he was here now.
Heather heard Carter start to say something, and she looked at him. 'The reason I took pain killers was because in February, I was stabbed.' Heather observed him with compassionate eyes, and she silently willed him to go on with the story. 'It was on Valentines Day, and my med student Lucy was stabbed as well; she died. I blame myself for what happened to her because it was a patient of hers that did this to us, and I was supposed to be supervising her, but I kept ignoring her all day, even when she came and told me that she thought the patient was schizophrenic. I had to take pain killers for my back where I was stabbed, and I ended up using more and more to try and get myself to sleep at night, and to try and get the image of Lucy, lying on the floor, bleeding to death out of my head. But I was caught out when someone who I work with caught me taking Fentanyl in a trauma room. In the end, I either had to come here or I was gonna get fired. After a bit of persuasion I came here.'
Heather looked at him for a while before saying 'Thank you for telling me. It must have taken a lot of guts. I don't know how you must feel, or what its like to have been through what you have been, but I know that in time, it will get better. I promise. The pain might never go away properly, but you will be able to live your life again.' Carter fought the impulse to kiss her right there and then, thinking it was a little inappropriate considering they had only just met. He could see why Lisa the nurse had told him he was lucky to be sharing a room with her, because of the words she had just said to him, and just the general feeling of warmth and love that she gave off.
Instead, Carter just gave her hug, which she returned. 'Now I suppose you want to hear my story about why I started taking Cocaine. Well, to be honest, there isn't one. I was just bored and fed up with life and started doing it. I got busted by the cops for doing it, and also got fired from being a nurse at the hospital I worked at. I had to go to court, and they said either I come here or I go to prison for 10 years. So I came here.' Carter nodded sadly and said 'When are they letting you out?' '4 more months, then I am as free as a bird.' Carter smiled and they both started making their way back to the main building.
As they arrived back, they realised that they were just in time for lunch. Carter grimaced at the thought of food, feeling a bit nauseous from the stomach cramps, and Heather said 'Are you ok?' 'Yeah, just the thought of food at the moment is making me feel very ill.' 'First stage of withdrawal huh. Well you don't have to eat anything, although you may draw attention from the nurses and the docs if you don't eat anything on your first day here. They might think that you are trying to starve yourself.'
Carter realised that she was right and he decided to try and eat something. They both got some food and Carter was relieved to find that it looked a lot tastier than the stuff in the hospital canteen back at County General. They both sat down at a table with some other people on it, and Heather said hello to all of them, and then she introduced them all to Carter. Carter said hello to all of them, and then started to pick at his food. Heather watched him the whole time, knowing that if he didn't eat anything then he'd get in trouble with the staff, but she knew from the look on his face that if he did eat anything that he was going to be sick.
Heather leaned towards Carter and said, 'Just eat a few mouthfuls, then give your plate to me and I'll sort it out.' Carter nodded and forced himself to eat some, wondering what Heather was going to do. Heather ate half the food on her plate and as subtly as possible swapped her plate with Carter's to make it look like he had eaten at least half of his meal, and she ate some of what was on Carter's plate. As the orderly's came around to pick up the plates, Carter looked at him nervously, but then felt relieved as he realised that the ordley was satisfied with what he thought Carter had eaten. As the ordley walked away, Carter mouthed at Heather 'Thank you' she just smiled and winked.
They both got up and left and Heather said 'If you are feeling rough, you should go and sleep for a while in your room.' Carter nodded and they both walked back to his room. Carter smiled and said to Heather 'Thanks for showing me around today, and for listening to me pour my heart out to you.' Heather smiled and said 'don't worry about it. Try and get some sleep.' She walked off up the corridor, and Carter walked into his room.
About a week later, Carter was allowed to leave his solitary room and go in with Heather. She helped him bring his stuff in, and they sat and talked for a while before Lisa the nurse came in and said 'John, there's someone to see you called Peter Benton' Carter must of looked surprised because Lisa the said 'you ok?' 'Yeah just a little surprised' He got up and waved at Heather who waved back.
Carter walked out to the lobby and smiled at Benton who said 'Hey man, how are you doing?' Carter sat down next to him and said 'Not too bad. I have got a really nice roommate actually, she's been here for quite a while.' Benton grinned and said 'She? My god Carter you've only just got here and already you are eyeing up the females!' Carter laughed and said 'no its not like that really' 'Then why is it when you just mentioned her, your eyes lit up' 'Well, she's really nice' Carter sort of trailed off, thinking that he really was quite attracted to her. He decided to change the subject by saying 'How are things back at home?' 'Al right, everyone's missing you and they all say hello.' Carter smiled and said 'Has anyone told Romano?' Benton shook his head and said 'Mark, Kerry and Anspaugh are trying to figure it out on their own' A look of panic washed over Carter's face as he whispered, 'Do you think that they are going to fire me?' 'No way, that's not going to happen. They are just working out what to do for when you come back, and how they are going to make things easier for you at work' Carter nodded and Lisa came back saying 'John, its time for you to go and see Dr Simmons'
Carter nodded and said to Benton 'I gotta go.' Benton said 'ok, I'll see you again some other time. Good Luck Carter' Carter smiled and walked off down the corridor.
It was about two months later, and it was exactly one month until Carter was going to be released. He and Heather were still getting on well, and he was trying to figure out a way to tell Heather that he was developing feelings for her. He even felt as if he loved her, but he was really scared about telling her.
It was late one night, and Carter had been trying to sleep for hours. The whole withdrawal thing had been really difficult, but now his mind was just whirling with thoughts. He was thinking about going home and facing his co-workers, he was thinking about the things that had happened over the past couple of months, but most of all, he was thinking about Lucy. He kept seeing her in his mind over and over again. Before he could stop himself, he felt tears rolling down his face.
He heard Heather stir in her bed. Heather listened carefully, and realised that Carter was crying softly. He had been feeling down for the past week or so. Heather got out of bed, and padded over to Carter's bed. She sat down and said 'John, what's wrong?' Carter tried to talk through his tears saying 'I didn't mean to wake you, sorry' Heather sighed and said 'Tell me what's wrong.' She turned on a lamp beside Carter's bed and stroked his tear stained face. 'Please tell me what's wrong' 'I just feel so horrible, I feel as if its all my fault that Lucy died, it should have been me who died that day not her'
Heather shook her head and said 'its not your fault, John do you hear me.' He continued to cry and Heather felt herself welling up at the sight of him crying. Tears also started rolling down her face as well, and she put her arms around him. 'You have so much to live for; you have to live for yourself and for Lucy. This is part of the withdrawal John, you have to understand that, you have to get through this, you have come so far you can't give up now John.' Carter pulled away from her and said 'I think I have something else to live for as well' Heather smiled saying 'What's that?' Carter forced his tears to stop, knowing that now was the time to let Heather now just how much he felt for her. 'My other reason to live, is you, Heather. I think I'm in love with you.'
Heather looked at Carter, shocked momentarily. She looked at him; he was looking at her with those soft brown eyes that had always driven her wild as soon as she had seen them. She smiled and said 'I think I love you too' Carter smiled for the first time in days, and he leaned towards her and kissed her. His heart was racing with fear, but he calmed down slightly as he realised that Heather was kissing him back.
When they finally pulled away from each other, Carter hugged her again and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity and Carter realised that Heather had fallen asleep in his arms. He looked at her peacefully sleeping face, and congratulated himself on finally having the courage to tell Heather how he felt. He lay back down on the bed, still holding onto Heather, and he switched off the lamp. He finally drifted back to sleep with Heather in his arms.
A month passed, and it was the night before Carter was going home. He and Heather had continued there relationship, and as Heather watched him pack his stuff while she sat on the bed, she felt herself start to cry. Carter looked up and saw Heather crying silently. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as well, although he was looking forward to going home, he really didn't want to leave Heather on her own, and he knew he was really going to miss her.
He went and sat next to her on the bed and held her in his arms. 'You are coming out in a month Heather. I am going to be waiting for you, I promise.' 'I know, its just I am going to miss you so much' 'I'm going to miss you as well, but I swear too you that I will be waiting for you outside those gates in a months time.' Heather nodded and Carter kissed her.
The next day, Carter got on a plane home to Chicago. He had already said good bye to Heather last night in an intimate way, and the memories were stay playing in his mind, Although he knew it would be hard for the next month without her, he was determined to get his life straight before she came home in a months time. He went into the hospital the next day, and went for a meeting with Kerry and Mark.
He had already asked them n Heather's behalf if when she came home, she could have a job in the ER as a nurse, and they had agreed to this, as long as she was willing to do surprise urine tests to make sure that she wasn't using drugs again. One month later, Carter went back to Atlanta to pick Heather up. He saw her walk down towards the gates, and he smiled at her. She smiled back, and she ran the rest of the distance towards him. He held her in his arms as they both laughed and cried at the same time, and then they went back to Chicago together.
It was one year later, and Heather and Carter had been living together for a year. Heather was really happy working in the ER, and everyone there liked her. Heather and Carter had also been trying for a baby for the past couple of months, although they hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet.
They two of them were at work when Kerry sprung another urine test on the both of them. A few hours later, Kerry and Mark went to find Heather. She was putting some supplies away in the medicine cabinet, and they said 'Hi Heather' she turned around and said 'Hey' Mark said 'Can we talk to you about your urine test, somewhere private?' Heather gulped, wondering what had happened; she knew that she hadn't done drugs for over a year now, but still she was scared as she said 'Sure'
She followed them into an exam room and she sat down on the bed. 'What's wrong? I haven't done any drugs for over a year so if the test is saying that I have then its wrong' she knew she was babbling but she stopped when Mark said 'No, no. Don't worry. They tox screen was negative.' Heather breathed a sigh of relief. 'But there is something that we want to ask you. This is going to sound a bit strange but, have you and Carter been trying for a baby?' Heather's head snapped up, and she said shakily 'Yes.' She knew what they were about to tell her, but still she felt pure surprise when Kerry said 'Well, then I suppose congratulations are in order. You are pregnant'
Heather felt a smile hit her face, and then she started laughing with joy. She stopped though and said 'You haven't said anything to John yet have you?' Mark said 'No, we wanted to leave that to you.' Heather smiled and she said 'Thank you, thank you so much' She bounded off, looking for Carter.
She found him in the lounge talking with Dave. They both looked over and said 'Hey' Heather smiled and sat down. She looked at the two of them and said 'I know something you don't know' in a playful tone. Carter looked at her and said 'Who is this secret about then?' Heather smiled and said 'Me' Carter looked worried and said 'What's wrong?' 'Nothing' Carter looked at her, feeling very confused when all of a sudden it dawned on him. 'Am I going to be a daddy?'
Heather started laughing and he jumped up and gave her a big hug. Dave said 'Hey congrats man, that's cool.' They both looked at him and said thanks. Carter looked at her and said 'How do you know, did you do a pregnancy test or something?' Heather shook her head and said 'No, they picked up on it in my urine test' Carter laughed and said 'Have you made an appointment with OB yet?' 'No, I wanted to come and tell you first' Carter nodded and said, 'Well lets go now and see if Abby will fit you in quickly so you can have a scan to see how far along you are'
They both went upstairs to OB to find Abby. They tracked her down and informed her of what was happening, and she expressed her best wishes to them. The three of them went into a exam room, where Abby got an ultrasound machine out and started to scan Heather's stomach. 'It looks as if its about three months along. You couldn't have had much morning sickness then?' Heather shook her head and said 'I didn't even realise that my periods had stopped; they used to be all over the place anyway. The only thing I did get was that I was feeling really faint the other day but that was it.' Carter and Heather both stared at the screen, entranced as they watched their baby's heartbeat on the screen. Abby printed out some pictures for them, and they both went back downstairs.
With the ER being gossip central, most of the doctors and nurses had heard that Heather was pregnant, and they all gathered at the admin desk to wait for the two of them to come back from OB. They saw them walking down the hall and Chuny said 'So is it true then?' Heather and Carter both started laughing and Carter said 'Yes, my beautiful, wonderful sweetheart is having a baby.' All the ER staff came up and gave their congratulations, and Carter kept on hugging Heather all the time.
Later the night, when Carter and Heather were both at home, they were looking at a Pregnancy book to see what stage their baby was at, and they were also thinking about names. 'What about names for girls? What do you like?' Heather asked. Carter thought for a while and said 'I like the name Halley and Bethany, what do you think of them?' Heather nodded and said 'I like Halley and Bethany is quite nice as well. I think for a boy I quite like Joshua' Carter nodded and said 'Joshua Carter and Halley Carter. I like it, they both sound nice.'
Three months later, Heather was six months pregnant, and she and Carter were lying in bed in each other's arms. The baby was kicking, and Carter had his hand on Heather's now visible bump, feeling the kicks. He couldn't believe how lucky he was; he had found a woman that he truly loved, and she was having his baby. He was thinking about asking Heather to marry him; he had brought a ring and everything, but he was just looking for the right opportunity to ask her.
They were at work the next day, and Heather was sitting down in the lounge, just taking a rest. Carter walked on with Dave, Kerry and Mark, and Carter said to Heather 'Are you ok?' Heather smiled and said 'I am now that I have seen you' Carter laughed and went into his locker to get something. It was the ring he had brought, and he took a deep breath in. He slipped the ring into his pocket. Heather looked at him suspiciously and said 'What are you ding over there?' Carter turned around and said 'Oh nothing, just getting something from my locker.' Heather gave him a funny look and he came and sat next to her on the couch.
He felt a bit nervous about asking her to marry him here, considering that there were three other people in the room as well, but he got up, and he got down on the floor on one knee. Heather started laughing, knowing what he was going to say next. Mark, Kerry and Dave looked at each other and then at Heather and Carter as they watched. Carter said 'When I first met you in Atlanta, I knew straight away that I really liked you, and that you were a very nice person. I didn't realise that in just over a year's time after I met you, you were going to pregnant with my baby, and that I was going to be sat here now asking you to marry me. But, you are pregnant with my baby, I love you very much and I am asking you to marry me. Will you marry me?'
Heather was now crying with happiness, and she reached forward to Carter and pulled him into a hug. She said 'Of course I will marry you. I love you so much as well.' Carter kissed her and Dave said 'I always find out the happy things in the lounge. I found out that Heather was pregnant in here, and now I have found out that they are getting married in here. Congratulations you two.' Mark and Kerry said the same thing, and left the two of them in the lounge. Carter said to Heather 'When would you like the wedding to actually happen?' 'Sometime after the baby is born, maybe when the baby is six months old, so that's nine months from now.' Carter nodded and hugged Heather again. They both went out of the lounge and lots of the staff came up to them and congratulated them.
Three months later, and it was a couple of days before the baby was due. Heather was at home and Carter was at work. She was having contractions but she didn't want to do anything about it just yet, as couple of days before she had been having false contractions. Heather decided to move around the house a bit to try and ease the pain. Carter had told her to ring him if she started having contractions again, even if se thought that they were false, but she knew that he was probably busy at work and she didn't want to disturb him. Heather wet into the kitchen and looked at the clock; she had been having contractions for the past three hours now. All of a sudden, she heard a splashing sound and realised that her waters had broken. 'I guess that they weren't false contractions then' she thought to herself.
Heather went upstairs, as Carter had packed a bag for her for when she needed to come into the hospital. She got that and she picked up her cell phone so she could phone Carter on the way to the hospital. She went back downstairs and called for a cab.
The cab arrived outside as Heather was in the middle of a contraction. She forced herself to walk outside and the cab driver helped her into the cab and drove towards the hospital. Heather phoned County General on the cell phone. 'ER, how may I help you?' 'Randy, its Heather, can you get John for me?' Heather waited for a moment before she heard John's voice saying 'Hey babe, are you ok?' 'I am on my way to the hospital, my waters have broken' Carter felt himself start to panic as he said 'How long apart are the contractions?' 'I have been having contractions for the past three hours, but I think they are about 10 minutes apart' 'You waited three hours before you decided to come in?' 'No, I thought that they were false contractions like the other day, don't get mad at me' 'Sorry babe I'm just worried about how close together they are. I'll wait for you outside the ER ok, and remember to do your Lamaze breathing, and don't stat pushing yet' 'Ok, I'll see you in a minute'
Carter put the phone down and said to Kerry 'Heather's coming in, her waters have broken, and her contractions are ten minutes apart, can I leave so I can go up to OB with her?' 'Of course you can Carter, I think she is arriving now by the look of it.' Carter looked outside and saw a cab pulling up outside. He grabbed a wheelchair and ran outside with it. He opened the door and said 'Hey Heather, we have to get you in the wheelchair.' 'Just a minute, I can't move it hurts too much.' 'You're having another contraction, we need to get you up to OB' He helped Heather into the wheelchair and paid the cab driver.
Carter wheeled her through the ER to the elevator. On the way they saw some of the nurses and doctors who work there, all of the wishing the two of them good luck. They got up to OB and Carter took her to the labour and delivery suite. The nurses and Carter helped Heather get up on the bed, as she was having another contraction. One of the nurses said 'Ok Heather I'm going to check to see how dilated you are so just try and relax.' Carter looked down at Heather and said 'its gonna be ok Heather, just hold onto my hand and squeeze whenever you need to.' Heather screamed as another contraction hit her and she squeezed Carter's hand so tight that he yelped in pain as well.
The nurse said, 'you are at ten centimetres Heather, so I want you to push as hard as you can.' Heather took a deep breath in and pushed as hard as she could while Cater gave her words of encouragement. After a few minutes, Heather heard the nurse say 'Stop pushing Heather' Heather stopped and Carter kissed her forehead and said 'Almost done' they both heard a baby crying and the nurse held it up and said 'It's a girl' The nurse put her in Heather's arms and she and Carter looked down at their new daughter. They were both crying and Carter kissed Heather and said 'Well done' She smiled and said 'I couldn't of done it without you' Carter kissed the baby and said 'So, Halley, welcome to the world.' Carter cut the cord and the nurses took Halley to weigh her and make sure she was ok.
A few hours later, Carter, Heather and Halley were going home. They walked through the ER, and everyone came over to have a look at Halley. They went home, and Heather went to bed, very tired after the night's events. Carter stayed downstairs with Halley, just rocking her back and forth and singing to her.
Six months later…………….
'Do you, Heather Dawson, take John Truman Carter to be your lawfully wedded husband?' Heather smiled and said 'I do' 'and do you, John Truman Carter, take Heather Dawson to be your lawfully wedded wife?' Carter looked at Heather and said 'I do' 'I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.' Carter kissed Heather and they both smiled at each other. They looked over to the front row of the church and saw John's sister Barbara holding Halley as she gurgled away. They went over and picked Halley up and walked down the aisle of the church, while the rest of the crowd followed behind them.
At the reception a few hours later, Halley was asleep in Carter's arms, and he and Heather were sitting with the staff from the ER who had come to the wedding. 'I can't believe how good Halley was today, she didn't cry or anything in the church or when the pictures were being taken.' Heather smiled and said 'Don't speak to soon, she'll start in a minute, she must be so tired after today.' Carter kissed Halley's head and then kissed Heather.
As he looked at Heather, and at Halley sleeping peacefully in his arms, he realised how lucky he was to have the two of them in his life. He looked up at the sky, and silently thanked God for bringing them both into his life
THE END!!!