TITLE: Morning - Post Scene to Insurrection (continued).
AUTHOR: Lynne Facella
CATEGORY: Carter/Abby.
SPOILERS: Episodes through Insurrection
SUMMARY: Carter returns from his late night visit to Dr. Benton's house.
DISCLAIMER: All ER characters are the property of Warner Brothers, NBC, etc., etc.
EMAIL: Mulderette@aol.com or Lynne1919@aol.com
NOTE: I actually had never intended to go any further with this story, but the comments that I got from some of the readers put the bug in my brain that there was more I could do with it. Thanks to all who commented. I really do appreciate it.
Abby slammed the refrigerator shut with a resounding bang. Of course John wouldn't have a drop of alcohol in his entire apartment. "Dammit, where are you?" she asked as she looked at the clock yet again. Almost five o'clock in the morning and he wasn't here. She'd called the hospital on the slim chance that he might be there, only to find that he had left hours before. She wondered if something had happened with his grandmother, but didn't dare call the mansion in case she was wrong. She didn't want to upset Millicent for no reason.
"Jerk," she muttered as she walked into the living room and began pacing back and forth. Where could he be? After what had happened in the hospital today, she might have thought he was with Jing-Mei, but she knew that wasn't the case. Jing-Mei had been drunk, -very- drunk and she and Susan had walked her up to her apartment after their night out, just to make sure she'd gotten settled in safely. They'd gotten her undressed and into bed and when they left she was softly snoring away. John had definitely not been there.
She walked over to the window and stared down at the street below, dangerously close to tears. Just when things were going really well for them...She should have known. Nothing ever went right in her life. All the possibilities of what could have happened to him flooded into her mind...none of which ended happily. Every single day the news was full of horrible things that happened to people. Just one little quirk of fate and...She spun around at the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door opened to reveal a tired-appearing, but otherwise intact John.
"Oh John. Thank God." Abby flew across the room, throwing her arms around him and burying her head against his chest. "I was so worried."
"Abby..." He looked at her, a little bewildered. "I thought you went home."
She pulled her head away from his chest to gaze up at him. "Why would I have gone home? Unless...did you want me to go home?"
He shook his head wearily. "No...no of course not. Listen...can we go sit down? I'm really kind of bushed."
She nodded silently as he took her hand and led her to the couch. "Mmm...that's better." He sank down onto the cushion and put his arm around Abby as she sat down beside him.
She watched as he made himself comfortable and then spoke up. "So...why would I have gone home?"
"Forget I said anything, Abby. It's no big deal."
"Did you want me to go back to my own apartment?"
"No." He slowly pushed his hand back through his hair, a weary expression on his face. "Of course I didn't, Abby. I don't know why you'd even think that."
"Because you said you thought I went home..."
"Yeah because you weren't here, Abby. I woke up late and you weren't here. Jesus Abby." He shook his head in aggravation, leaning back against the couch.
"You knew we went out." Now that she knew he was safe, she could afford to be angry at him. "I can't go out late one night?"
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it."
"Don't tell me what I implied, Abby, okay?" he snapped, glaring at her. "You can do whatever the hell you want."
"You know...you have no right to be screaming at me. You're the one who comes traipsing in here at almost five fucking a.m. like it's no big deal."
"Yeah well sue me."
Abby stared back at him for a few moments and then stood up abruptly. "You know what? I'm not doing this. I'm leaving." She got to her feet and headed towards the front door, pausing to grab her jacket. "Good night, John."
The realization that she was walking out sunk into his head and he was by her side in a flash, his expression clearly remorseful. "Don't go, Abby, please. I'm sorry."
"I think I should go," she replied, not meeting his eyes.
"Abby, please?"
She turned her gaze upward, her eyes locking with his and her resolve crumbled when she saw his expression. She put her hand on his upper arm, moving it downward until it reached his hand. "You look tired. Let's not talk about this right now," she said softly. "We should go to bed. You can at least sleep for a little while."
"Okay." His voice was a mere whisper as he nodded, looking very much like how he must have looked as a young boy after a scolding.
"It's awfully hard to stay mad at you." She smiled faintly as she tugged on his hand and they headed into the bedroom.
******
She laid on her side, watching over him as he slept, his breathing even, his features totally relaxed. It was something she found herself doing often. She liked to watch him. For some reason it just made her feel happy and safe. He always seemed so young and peaceful when he was asleep, like he didn't have a worry in the world. Finally, he stirred and his eyes slowly opened, locking with hers immediately. "Hey..." he said softly, his voice hoarse from sleep.
"Good morning." She offered a small smile as she moved in closer to him, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
"What time is it?" he asked, a bit anxiously as his eyes roved in the direction of the clock.
"Don't worry...you have time. I wouldn't let you be late."
"I feel like I could sleep all day," he murmured sleepily.
"Well...you've only been asleep for a couple of hours," she commented. "No wonder you're not very awake."
He shivered slightly as he pulled the covers up under his chin. "Cold this morning."
"I think I can help with that." Abby smiled as she snuggled against him, her head resting on his chest. "Is that better?" she asked as she felt his arms wrap around her.
"Mmm...yes, very nice. You're like my very own personal space heater."
"Now that's romantic," Abby chuckled. "You ever think about writing for Hallmark?"
"Nah...I save all my romantic sayings for only you," he said, a contented smile on his face.
They laid nestled in each other's arms for a few minutes, quiet and at peace with each other, before Abby raised her head up so she could look at John. "You want to talk about what happened earlier?" she asked guardedly.
He hesitated then nodded his head. "Okay..."
She waited for a few moments but he didn't seem very forthcoming so she decided to begin. "Jing-Mei had too much to drink last night...She was kind of shaky when we left the club. Susan and I went home with her, made sure she got to sleep okay. That's why I was so late." She deliberately omitted the fact that she had been drinking a bit too, not too much, but she knew in John's eyes, even one drink was too much. That was something she definitely didn't want to get into right now.
"You don't owe me any explanations," he said quietly.
"I know that... "
He sighed, staring up at the ceiling before looking back at Abby. "I...I had a nightmare...about what happened yesterday...it ended differently...really badly...I couldn't sleep..."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you." She gazed back into his eyes for a few moments then took his hand in hers and kissed his palm gently. "I should have come home with you last night."
He shook his head. "No...no you shouldn't have. You didn't know...Hell I didn't even know. I thought I was okay, but then...I had the dream and I wasn't..."
"So...where did you go?" Abby questioned. She had to admit she was curious as to where he had gone.
"I...I actually ended up at Peter's place..."
"Pet..." Abby began, giving him a confused look. "As in Benton?"
"Yeah..."
"He...he must have been surprised." Abby stated. She certainly was. She knew that John and Peter shared some kind of a bond, but it wasn't like they were exactly bosom buddies either. In fact, John hadn't even mentioned him at all lately that she could remember.
"I guess he was..." John looked at Abby and chuckled. "It was three a.m. after all. I don't think he expected to find me outside his house."
"You rang his doorbell?" Abby couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Benton getting roused from his sleep at three a.m. to find John at his door.
John shook his head, a grin on his face. "No, I didn't ring his doorbell. I just sat there...just so happened that he was working a late shift and he got home about that time. I'm sure he thought I was nuts.
Privately, Abby agreed with that, but wanted to reassure him. "I'm sure he didn't. What did he do?"
"He invited me in. We talked for a little while...it helped..."
"Did it?" Abby raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm glad, John. I wish I'd been here, but since I wasn't...well I'm glad you found someone to talk to." She wished she'd thought a little bit more about how the day before might have affected him. It wasn't that she didn't still think about what had happened the Valentine's Day he and Lucy had been attacked, but it wasn't a pleasant memory and she tried to avoid thinking about it. She knew he didn't have that luxury though, that it was impossible for him to keep those memories at bay.
"Anyhow...he said he was going to invite us to dinner." John's eyes twinkled and he grinned mischievously.
"You're joking." Abby shook her head as she laughed.
"No...really. He said that." John laughed too, happy that the tension between them had dissolved.
"Well...do you think he will...really?"
John considered that and shook his head. "At the time, I thought he meant it, but...now that we're talking about it...probably not. I don't think he'll really invite us. I'm sure he doesn't want to see me again any time soon."
"No...I guess he won't," Abby said contemplatively as she studied him closely with her eyes. She wondered what he really thought about it. "Would you have gone?"
He considered her question and then nodded. "Yeah...yeah I guess I would have, but...I think he's always going to think of me as that pain in the ass medical student..."
"I'm sure that's not true...I just...I don't think he's a very easy person to know, John. It's not you."
"You know..." He smiled as he remembered back to his very first year working under Benton. "I had Thanksgiving dinner with he and his family one year. His mom invited me."
"Really? You did?" Abby gazed back at him, a surprised smile on her face. "I can't even begin to imagine how that was."
"He didn't want me there. In the end he only ended up taking me along because he felt sorry for me. I'd lost a patient...a transvestite jumped off the roof of the hospital right in front of me." He shuddered slightly at the memory. There were some patients that still got to him, no matter how much time had passed. "Anyhow...I didn't handle it very well and Benton ended up practically dragging me to his family's. It ended up being a really nice time. His mom...she was really great to me that day...even Dr. Benton...he was different..."
"It sounds like a really nice memory."
"It is..." He smiled softly at Abby. "Of course I was stupid enough to think everything would be different between us after that...it wasn't. He was snapping my head off again the very next day at work."
"I think that's just his way." Abby giggled and hugged John tightly, brushing a gentle kiss over his lips. "I like hearing those kinds of stories. There's still so many things about you I don't know."
"I think that works two ways," John said, his voice soft as he gently brushed her hair back from her face. "But we have lots of time to learn about each other."
"But not now." Abby kissed him once more and edged herself out of his arms. "It's time to get ready for work. You don't want Weaver on your case for being late."
He pouted as he reached for her, but she slipped out of his grasp, grinning slyly at him. "Come on, Abby, I doubt being late would be much of a problem compared to everything else I've done."
She shook her head and got out of bed. "You're just going to compound things if you're late. You'll be asking for trouble. Now I'll go make some coffee and breakfast while you get ready."
"What about you? Don't you have to get ready?"
She shook her head as she started walking towards the bedroom door. "I'm not on until later." She turned around and gave him a sweet smile. "After you leave, I'm going back to sleep for a few hours. Now go shower, John."
He watched as she left the room and then he slowly got up out of bed. He knew she was right about him being late, but he was pretty tired and wouldn't have minded staying in bed a few more hours himself. Oh well, he'd hopefully sleep well that night in any case. Covering his mouth as he yawned, he trudged off to the bathroom.
Abby put the coffee on and then pulled the ingredients for a simple omelet from the refrigerator. Cooking had never really been on her list of favorite things to do, but she had found since she and John were together that it was becoming more enjoyable and he seemed to truly appreciate her efforts.
John came into the kitchen a short while later, nicely dressed as always, and the couple shared a quick but very nice breakfast. Soon after, he was on his way to County and Abby went back into the bedroom, set the alarm clock and snuggled under the covers to get some more rest. She was awoken a couple of hours later by the sound of the phone ringing. Too sleepy to even attempt to answer it, she laid in bed, listening as the answering machine came on. There was a slight pause before a familiar voice began to speak.
"Hey Carter...it's Peter...I was calling to see if you wanted to make plans for that dinner we were talking about..."
AUTHOR: Lynne Facella
CATEGORY: Carter/Abby.
SPOILERS: Episodes through Insurrection
SUMMARY: Carter returns from his late night visit to Dr. Benton's house.
DISCLAIMER: All ER characters are the property of Warner Brothers, NBC, etc., etc.
EMAIL: Mulderette@aol.com or Lynne1919@aol.com
NOTE: I actually had never intended to go any further with this story, but the comments that I got from some of the readers put the bug in my brain that there was more I could do with it. Thanks to all who commented. I really do appreciate it.
Abby slammed the refrigerator shut with a resounding bang. Of course John wouldn't have a drop of alcohol in his entire apartment. "Dammit, where are you?" she asked as she looked at the clock yet again. Almost five o'clock in the morning and he wasn't here. She'd called the hospital on the slim chance that he might be there, only to find that he had left hours before. She wondered if something had happened with his grandmother, but didn't dare call the mansion in case she was wrong. She didn't want to upset Millicent for no reason.
"Jerk," she muttered as she walked into the living room and began pacing back and forth. Where could he be? After what had happened in the hospital today, she might have thought he was with Jing-Mei, but she knew that wasn't the case. Jing-Mei had been drunk, -very- drunk and she and Susan had walked her up to her apartment after their night out, just to make sure she'd gotten settled in safely. They'd gotten her undressed and into bed and when they left she was softly snoring away. John had definitely not been there.
She walked over to the window and stared down at the street below, dangerously close to tears. Just when things were going really well for them...She should have known. Nothing ever went right in her life. All the possibilities of what could have happened to him flooded into her mind...none of which ended happily. Every single day the news was full of horrible things that happened to people. Just one little quirk of fate and...She spun around at the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door opened to reveal a tired-appearing, but otherwise intact John.
"Oh John. Thank God." Abby flew across the room, throwing her arms around him and burying her head against his chest. "I was so worried."
"Abby..." He looked at her, a little bewildered. "I thought you went home."
She pulled her head away from his chest to gaze up at him. "Why would I have gone home? Unless...did you want me to go home?"
He shook his head wearily. "No...no of course not. Listen...can we go sit down? I'm really kind of bushed."
She nodded silently as he took her hand and led her to the couch. "Mmm...that's better." He sank down onto the cushion and put his arm around Abby as she sat down beside him.
She watched as he made himself comfortable and then spoke up. "So...why would I have gone home?"
"Forget I said anything, Abby. It's no big deal."
"Did you want me to go back to my own apartment?"
"No." He slowly pushed his hand back through his hair, a weary expression on his face. "Of course I didn't, Abby. I don't know why you'd even think that."
"Because you said you thought I went home..."
"Yeah because you weren't here, Abby. I woke up late and you weren't here. Jesus Abby." He shook his head in aggravation, leaning back against the couch.
"You knew we went out." Now that she knew he was safe, she could afford to be angry at him. "I can't go out late one night?"
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it."
"Don't tell me what I implied, Abby, okay?" he snapped, glaring at her. "You can do whatever the hell you want."
"You know...you have no right to be screaming at me. You're the one who comes traipsing in here at almost five fucking a.m. like it's no big deal."
"Yeah well sue me."
Abby stared back at him for a few moments and then stood up abruptly. "You know what? I'm not doing this. I'm leaving." She got to her feet and headed towards the front door, pausing to grab her jacket. "Good night, John."
The realization that she was walking out sunk into his head and he was by her side in a flash, his expression clearly remorseful. "Don't go, Abby, please. I'm sorry."
"I think I should go," she replied, not meeting his eyes.
"Abby, please?"
She turned her gaze upward, her eyes locking with his and her resolve crumbled when she saw his expression. She put her hand on his upper arm, moving it downward until it reached his hand. "You look tired. Let's not talk about this right now," she said softly. "We should go to bed. You can at least sleep for a little while."
"Okay." His voice was a mere whisper as he nodded, looking very much like how he must have looked as a young boy after a scolding.
"It's awfully hard to stay mad at you." She smiled faintly as she tugged on his hand and they headed into the bedroom.
******
She laid on her side, watching over him as he slept, his breathing even, his features totally relaxed. It was something she found herself doing often. She liked to watch him. For some reason it just made her feel happy and safe. He always seemed so young and peaceful when he was asleep, like he didn't have a worry in the world. Finally, he stirred and his eyes slowly opened, locking with hers immediately. "Hey..." he said softly, his voice hoarse from sleep.
"Good morning." She offered a small smile as she moved in closer to him, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
"What time is it?" he asked, a bit anxiously as his eyes roved in the direction of the clock.
"Don't worry...you have time. I wouldn't let you be late."
"I feel like I could sleep all day," he murmured sleepily.
"Well...you've only been asleep for a couple of hours," she commented. "No wonder you're not very awake."
He shivered slightly as he pulled the covers up under his chin. "Cold this morning."
"I think I can help with that." Abby smiled as she snuggled against him, her head resting on his chest. "Is that better?" she asked as she felt his arms wrap around her.
"Mmm...yes, very nice. You're like my very own personal space heater."
"Now that's romantic," Abby chuckled. "You ever think about writing for Hallmark?"
"Nah...I save all my romantic sayings for only you," he said, a contented smile on his face.
They laid nestled in each other's arms for a few minutes, quiet and at peace with each other, before Abby raised her head up so she could look at John. "You want to talk about what happened earlier?" she asked guardedly.
He hesitated then nodded his head. "Okay..."
She waited for a few moments but he didn't seem very forthcoming so she decided to begin. "Jing-Mei had too much to drink last night...She was kind of shaky when we left the club. Susan and I went home with her, made sure she got to sleep okay. That's why I was so late." She deliberately omitted the fact that she had been drinking a bit too, not too much, but she knew in John's eyes, even one drink was too much. That was something she definitely didn't want to get into right now.
"You don't owe me any explanations," he said quietly.
"I know that... "
He sighed, staring up at the ceiling before looking back at Abby. "I...I had a nightmare...about what happened yesterday...it ended differently...really badly...I couldn't sleep..."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you." She gazed back into his eyes for a few moments then took his hand in hers and kissed his palm gently. "I should have come home with you last night."
He shook his head. "No...no you shouldn't have. You didn't know...Hell I didn't even know. I thought I was okay, but then...I had the dream and I wasn't..."
"So...where did you go?" Abby questioned. She had to admit she was curious as to where he had gone.
"I...I actually ended up at Peter's place..."
"Pet..." Abby began, giving him a confused look. "As in Benton?"
"Yeah..."
"He...he must have been surprised." Abby stated. She certainly was. She knew that John and Peter shared some kind of a bond, but it wasn't like they were exactly bosom buddies either. In fact, John hadn't even mentioned him at all lately that she could remember.
"I guess he was..." John looked at Abby and chuckled. "It was three a.m. after all. I don't think he expected to find me outside his house."
"You rang his doorbell?" Abby couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Benton getting roused from his sleep at three a.m. to find John at his door.
John shook his head, a grin on his face. "No, I didn't ring his doorbell. I just sat there...just so happened that he was working a late shift and he got home about that time. I'm sure he thought I was nuts.
Privately, Abby agreed with that, but wanted to reassure him. "I'm sure he didn't. What did he do?"
"He invited me in. We talked for a little while...it helped..."
"Did it?" Abby raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm glad, John. I wish I'd been here, but since I wasn't...well I'm glad you found someone to talk to." She wished she'd thought a little bit more about how the day before might have affected him. It wasn't that she didn't still think about what had happened the Valentine's Day he and Lucy had been attacked, but it wasn't a pleasant memory and she tried to avoid thinking about it. She knew he didn't have that luxury though, that it was impossible for him to keep those memories at bay.
"Anyhow...he said he was going to invite us to dinner." John's eyes twinkled and he grinned mischievously.
"You're joking." Abby shook her head as she laughed.
"No...really. He said that." John laughed too, happy that the tension between them had dissolved.
"Well...do you think he will...really?"
John considered that and shook his head. "At the time, I thought he meant it, but...now that we're talking about it...probably not. I don't think he'll really invite us. I'm sure he doesn't want to see me again any time soon."
"No...I guess he won't," Abby said contemplatively as she studied him closely with her eyes. She wondered what he really thought about it. "Would you have gone?"
He considered her question and then nodded. "Yeah...yeah I guess I would have, but...I think he's always going to think of me as that pain in the ass medical student..."
"I'm sure that's not true...I just...I don't think he's a very easy person to know, John. It's not you."
"You know..." He smiled as he remembered back to his very first year working under Benton. "I had Thanksgiving dinner with he and his family one year. His mom invited me."
"Really? You did?" Abby gazed back at him, a surprised smile on her face. "I can't even begin to imagine how that was."
"He didn't want me there. In the end he only ended up taking me along because he felt sorry for me. I'd lost a patient...a transvestite jumped off the roof of the hospital right in front of me." He shuddered slightly at the memory. There were some patients that still got to him, no matter how much time had passed. "Anyhow...I didn't handle it very well and Benton ended up practically dragging me to his family's. It ended up being a really nice time. His mom...she was really great to me that day...even Dr. Benton...he was different..."
"It sounds like a really nice memory."
"It is..." He smiled softly at Abby. "Of course I was stupid enough to think everything would be different between us after that...it wasn't. He was snapping my head off again the very next day at work."
"I think that's just his way." Abby giggled and hugged John tightly, brushing a gentle kiss over his lips. "I like hearing those kinds of stories. There's still so many things about you I don't know."
"I think that works two ways," John said, his voice soft as he gently brushed her hair back from her face. "But we have lots of time to learn about each other."
"But not now." Abby kissed him once more and edged herself out of his arms. "It's time to get ready for work. You don't want Weaver on your case for being late."
He pouted as he reached for her, but she slipped out of his grasp, grinning slyly at him. "Come on, Abby, I doubt being late would be much of a problem compared to everything else I've done."
She shook her head and got out of bed. "You're just going to compound things if you're late. You'll be asking for trouble. Now I'll go make some coffee and breakfast while you get ready."
"What about you? Don't you have to get ready?"
She shook her head as she started walking towards the bedroom door. "I'm not on until later." She turned around and gave him a sweet smile. "After you leave, I'm going back to sleep for a few hours. Now go shower, John."
He watched as she left the room and then he slowly got up out of bed. He knew she was right about him being late, but he was pretty tired and wouldn't have minded staying in bed a few more hours himself. Oh well, he'd hopefully sleep well that night in any case. Covering his mouth as he yawned, he trudged off to the bathroom.
Abby put the coffee on and then pulled the ingredients for a simple omelet from the refrigerator. Cooking had never really been on her list of favorite things to do, but she had found since she and John were together that it was becoming more enjoyable and he seemed to truly appreciate her efforts.
John came into the kitchen a short while later, nicely dressed as always, and the couple shared a quick but very nice breakfast. Soon after, he was on his way to County and Abby went back into the bedroom, set the alarm clock and snuggled under the covers to get some more rest. She was awoken a couple of hours later by the sound of the phone ringing. Too sleepy to even attempt to answer it, she laid in bed, listening as the answering machine came on. There was a slight pause before a familiar voice began to speak.
"Hey Carter...it's Peter...I was calling to see if you wanted to make plans for that dinner we were talking about..."