Rating: G
Summary: Third and final installment of the Homecoming Series, severalmmissing scenes for the ER season premiere, "Homecoming." The previous two stories can be found at http://www.geocities.com/trekkieb_99/er_homecoming.html
Hope you like! Comments and criticisms welcomed... :-)
HOME SWEET HOME
By Trekkieb
Carter watched as Ryan Bradford hurried back into the brightly lit emergency room. The eager med student disappeared through the swinging glass doors. The flashing of red and blue lights and the sound of a siren caught Carter's attention, and he watched as yet another police car screeched to a halt, an ambulance right behind it. A veritable swarm of professionals exited both vehicles and converged on the back of the ambulance.
Busy night.
No doubt, that was what had prevented Benton from picking him up. Not that Carter was too upset; he knew how things could get on a busy night.
A gurney, complete with an obvious trauma case, practically flew into the ER. Carter silently observed the hustle and bustle, and was unnerved to notice a twinge of anxiety deep down inside. Anxiety that he might have completely screwed up his life beyond what he'd imagined. Anxiety that he might never again be allowed to work on a patient such as the one that had just disappeared from his view.
He tore his gaze away from the activity before him, unable to keep watching, and looked up. The sky was clear. A few faint stars were visible through the glow of Chicago's city lights. The air was crisp and cold, and carried the smell of water from Lake Michigan. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, hoping to calm his fluttering stomach.
No such luck.
What if they won't let you back? a little voice in the back of his mind questioned. What if you never get to practice medicine again?
The first one was fearfully possible. The bigwigs at County might not let him return to his position there. The second was less likely, but still held enough possibility to fuel his insecurities.
What if they don't want you back? the voice insisted.
That one gave Carter pause.
He knew Greene, and Benton, and – heck – even Weaver were on his side, working on getting his job back for him. And he knew they cared about himhis well-being.
But what about the others? How much had they been told? Or had they discovered through other means just where Carter had gone for three months? It was something he had avoided asking Benton during their telephone conversations. How would the others react to his – hopeful -- return? Happy? Aloof? Would they distrust him?
Lord, he hoped not. He could handle dealing with jokes and wisecracks, and even insultsbut how could he work in a place where his colleagues didn't trust him with patientsor medications?
Carter sighed to himself, there's nothing you can do tonight. You'll just have to wait and see.
The activity outside the ER had diminished. Carter hefted his duffle on his shoulder and turned towards his car's space in the long-term parking lot. He pulled out his spare set of keys and started to unlock the driver's side door, but something made him turn his head and look back at the ER.
For the past six years, it had been more than his workplace. It had been his second home. He'd spent more time there as a med student and an intern than he had at his actual home. Carter smiled at the memories.
He knew that he'd do almost anything to work there again. He'd play by their rules, take it slow, prove to them that he could be trusted
Two weeks until his round of interviews began. Plenty of time to pull himself together, get settled, get things unpacked.
For a second, he entertained the thought of just walking in there. Just to feel the rush of being in the middle of a trauma case. Just to see everybody and say hello. But common sense intervened, and he finished turning the key in the lock. After stowing his duffle in the back seat, he climbed in and started the ignition.
As he drove away from the hospital, towards his grandparents' home, he heard the wail of a siren and watched as yet another ambulance raced by in the opposite direction. He watched it recede in his rear view mirror, and he knew that whomever that ambulance was carrying would soon be in the good hands of the doctors and nurses at Cook County General.
He could only hope that he would again be one of them.
Finis...
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