The Long Road
AUTHOR: Piper Fox
EMAIL:
SERIES TITLE: What Might Have Been
RATING: T 13+
NUMBER OF PARTS: Ten (each with their own title)
FEATURE CHARACTERS: Carter and Lucy (plus some of the others who appear from time to time) Friendship/Relationship/Angst
SUMMARY: What would have happened if Lucy had survived? A story focusing on her recovery and her relationship with Carter.
Here is my first Fan fic. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are much appreciated.
(March): A few weeks after the attack . . .
The air in the room was still; hung with an essence of coldness and sterility. Perhaps it was the emptiness. A small cabinet, chair and bed were all that the room contained. A woman lay still in the bed. Her glowing golden hair framed her face with an eerie halo. It was hard to imagine that this little doll-like figure was alive. However, every few seconds the laboured sounds of her breath echoed about the room. The air was refreshed as the door slowly opened and four figures entered the room; three women and a man.
"She's breathing on her own now I see," a petite woman with brown hair commented.
"Yes," said another with a notable English accent. "She's doing so much better."
The other woman, of oriental descent, moved towards the chair. The man, watching her, smiled cheekily, but said nothing. The woman in the bed stirred and moaned softly.
"She's coming around," the man observed.
Med-student Lucy Knight struggled to open her eyes. Everything was blurred. She blinked several times and began focusing on the shapes around her bed. In the chair next to her was Jing-Mei Chen, whom Lucy had worked with before her attack. Behind Jing-Mei was Dave Malucci, and on the other side of her bed she could see Abby Lockhart. As she glanced around her eyes finally rested on the face of Elizabeth Corday, the surgeon who helped to save Lucy's life.
"Hello Lucy, how are you?" she asked.
Lucy licked her lips and suddenly felt like she hadn't had a drink in years. "I . . ." she murmured. "I'm okay."
"That's good to hear." Abby smiled cheerfully. "Up and about in no time."
Lucy smiled and pointed towards the cup on the cabinet. "Drink . . . please."
"Sure, Lucy." Dave reached over and handed it to Jing-Mei, who helped Lucy to take a few sips.
Lucy smiled her thanks. She looked around the room at all the faces smiling back. She felt so happy; as happy as someone could be in her situation. She was alive. She could breathe. It was a miracle to her. She would never forget the feeling of death. Lying on the floor in curtain three, she had felt her life ebbing away. Then, adding to her distress, she had to watch her supervising doctor and friend, John Carter, go through the same agony. Being stabbed in the neck, not to mention her stomach, meant that she couldn't warn him of the crazed, knife wielding schizophrenic. Carter. John. She looked slowly at each face. He still hadn't come to see her. "John," she whispered hoarsely. "Where is he?"
"He um . . ." Jing-mei searched for words. "He was tired. He couldn't make it up today."
Lucy couldn't hide the disappointment in her face.
"He'll probably come up tomorrow," Jing-Mei said reassuringly.
Lucy still saw the awkward glances exchanged by Dave and Abby.
The truth was, that John Carter was very reluctant to visit Lucy. His injuries, not as serious as hers, were improving by vast amounts each day. Yet he would still sit there virtually oblivious to anything they said. He would just nod or grunt and then turn back to staring out the window, off in his own little world. It worried them to see him this way. Sure, being stabbed with a six inch knife was a life changing event, but there was something else upsetting Carter.
Lucy shuddered. Her whole body ached, and she was almost always in pain. Emotionally, she wasn't any better. In time she knew she would have to relive the whole awful incident to some psychiatrist. She wondered how Carter was dealing with all this. Somehow, at this point she believed she would never know. Carter obviously didn't want to see her and she couldn't go to him. "I wanna talk to him, but at least he is okay," she consoled herself. She just couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he had died. Admittedly, they hadn't always seen eye to eye, but he was always there for her. Something deep inside of her had been triggered again. She couldn't help it, but sometimes her thoughts about Carter turned romantic. She hadn't thought of him in this way for a while now. His rejection after a brief lovers tryst had forced her to forget him. Still, as much as she wanted and needed him, he just wasn't there for her. Without realising it, tears had formed and were making wet tracks down her cheeks.
"Hey," Elizabeth said, "you're fine. It's going to be a long road before you are back to your best, but we are all here for you." The others murmured in agreement. "We had better be off now, let you get some rest." She smiled as she and the others turned to go.
"Thank you," Lucy said softly, blinking back the tears. She felt trapped, alone and confused; stuck in a sea of emotions, pain washing over her with each new wave. "Will it ever go away?" she wondered. "Why can't I just have my life back?" Unfortunately it wasn't that simple.
