AN: This is only a working title so if anyone can suggest anything better I'm open to suggestions. Constructive criticism would be much appreciated with this fic so please R&R.
Summary: Continues when season 15 left off. Carter is back at County General as third year medical student Paige Staker begins her journey at County and he takes on the role of her mentor. Carter/OC.
Disclaimer: I don't own ER or the characters only Dr Paige Staker.
ER - There She Goes
Chapter 1 - Day One
This was it, her first day as a doctor. Well, almost. Paige Staker could not recall the decisions that had brought her to Chicago and she didn't want to. It was in Chicago she had been accepted and began to attend med school, and where she now had been placed for her third year ER Rotation at County General Hospital. She was unsure of what to expect as she stood outside County sipping her Caramel Macchiato. Her previous placements through med school at Mercy hospital had all been in different speciality areas so she had been surprised when County had accepted her for an ER Rotation, considering it was a while since she had been in an ER. That it would be fast paced with unusual and life threatening injuries, she knew, but at the same time she was going in there completely unaware of what would happen. She gulped down the last of her coffee, straightened her blouse unnecessarily, took a deep breath and went into the ER.
Trying to appear not too shy on her first day she walked up to the first person she saw, a male doctor with red hair, and said "Hi. I'm Paige Staker I'm a third year medical student here I was told to report to Dr Carter." She smiled softly and offered a hand politely to the man.
The man accepted her hand and introduced himself. "I'm Dr Archie Morris, an attending here in the ER. Dr Carter is running a trauma at the moment but if you come with me I'll get you a white coat and show you where your locker is."
"Thank you." Paige smiled warmly and continued. "I didn't think students got white coats, I thought we wore scrubs, that's mostly what I wore at Mercy." She sounded perplexed.
"That's a frequent misconception." He explained as they walked. "It's really each to their own. Personally I prefer to wear scrubs under my lab coat, others prefer to wear shirts and trousers under theirs. However I would advise you to keep a few sets of scrubs in your locker, you never know when you're going to need a change of clothes around here." Morris grinned, most likely at some memory of a situation where the spare scrubs were necessary.
"Thank you." She replied again, thinking how lame she must sound for saying the same thing over and over.
"You're welcome. Believe me, it is good advice. This . . ." He said opening the door and ushering her into the room, "Is the Doctor's Lounge. Lockers are over here, what did you say your surname was again?" Morris frowned as he locked along the row of lockers.
"Staker." Paige reminded him gently.
"Ah, here you are." He said as he found her locker. "The key is in the padlock, don't loose it. The combination will be set at 1-2-3 once you enter that you should be able to change it to a combination of your choice.
She moved towards the locker, standing alongside Morris. She unlocked the padlock and entered the default combination and it popped open. She placed her bag inside before sliding off her jacket and placing it inside.
"Would you like me to find you some scrubs to put in there?" He asked her kindly.
"If it's not too much trouble." She shrugged.
"Not at all. Will the small size fit you?" He asked, eyeing her petite frame.
"Yes thanks. Is it okay if I make a coffee?" She found herself saying, despite the fact she had consumed a large cup little over ten minutes ago.
"Sure. Use my mug. People around here are very particular about their mugs. I'd advise you to bring one. Mines is the black one with green spots and I'll find Carter for you too while I'm gone." He called back over his shoulder as he went out the door.
Paige found the mug Morris had told her to use, poured the coffee and sipped the hot liquid slowly. It seemed to soothe her nerves. Minutes later the door opened and a good looking doctor holding some scrubs entered. He had chocolate brown eyes, thick messy brown hair, a gorgeous smile and a hint of stubble present on his features.
"Hey I'm Dr John Carter. Call me Carter, everyone else does." He grinned and held a hand out for her to shake.
She took his hand immediately. "Paige Staker." She introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Paige. Morris asked me to give these to you, one of his patients went into arrest." He explained while handing the scrubs to the younger girl.
"Thanks." She accepted the scrubs Carter handed her, flashing him a smile before turning to place Morris' mug in the sink. She crossed the room quickly, stuffing the scrubs in her locker, slamming it shut, popping the padlock back in place and slipping the key into her trouser pocket. She would change the combination later.
"Ready for the grand tour?" Carter questioned with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded enthusiastically. "Morris said something about a lab coat?" She asked hesitantly, not wanting to sound too pushy.
"We'll pick it up on the way." He told her softly, guiding her out of the room with a hand on the small of her back.
He struck Paige to be a very charming man, easygoing and friendly. She hoped to be able to impress him and the other doctors as she was taught new skills. However she knew this would take time and she would have to be conscientious and hardworking if she were to stand out from the other med students.
"This is the desk, essentially the central point of the ER, pick up and drop off charts here, order tests, where you'll find the nurses, most likely gossiping along with Morris he's the biggest gossip in the hospital! Jerry, have you got a lab coat and stethoscope there for Dr Staker, I ordered them last week?" He asked the desk clerk.
"Got them here Carter." Jerry confirmed, momentarily disappearing behind the desk then reappearing moments later holding a lab coat and stethoscope towards Paige.
"Thanks." Paige grinned as she took the lab coat from Jerry and slipped it on she then took the stethoscope and slung it round her neck.
"All set?" He asked.
"Yep." She grinned, admiring her lab coat. She'd never had a lab coat before.
"It suits you." Carter grinned as he watched her.
Paige blushed. "Thanks." She said quickly and immediately stopped looking at her lab coat.
He chuckled softly and shook his head. "On with the tour."
They began to walk and as they went along Carter would point out people whose names she would never remember.
"These are the trauma rooms where we bring the most critical cases that arrive at the ER such as gun shot wounds, stabbings, cardiac arrests and sometimes if a case is really critical an emergency surgery will take place in the trauma rooms. Okay, everyone in there is busy I'll introduce you to them later and we'll move onto curtains.
As Carter led her away to curtains she tried to make a mental note of everything he told her about trauma rooms and before she knew it he was speaking again.
"This is the curtain area where we bring the less critical patients, those who are waiting for x-rays or tests to be run, that kind of thing. Hey Gates." He called as he spotted another man.
The man went over to meet them. He looked about Carter's age with brown hair and blue eyes but slightly shorter and more built than him.
"This is Dr Tony Gates, known as just Gates by most. He's your go to guy if you cant find me or Morris, he's a resident here. Gates this is our new third year med student Paige Staker."
Gates smiled. "Hi, I'm really busy just now but we can talk later if you like?"
"I was thinking Doc Magoo's." Carter chimed in before she could reply.
"Sounds good to me, maybe shoot a few hoops to initiate the newbie? Bye guys." Gates said and then ran off.
She frowned and Carter noticed her expression.
"Don't worry about it, he's really a great guy we're just busy and understaffed. Besides we play basketball to blow off steam, it would be an ideal time for you to get to know the gang."
"It will be good to get to know everyone but I'm not sure if I'll be any good at basketball." She raised an eyebrow.
"Who cares, a lot of us suck anyway." He offered with a shrug.
She broke into a smile. "I'll play. But you need to show me the rest of the ER I'm not going to be a good doctor if all I do is play basketball."
"Sure you will, they just don't tell you that in Med School." He retorted playfully.
Paige couldn't keep the grin form her face.
AN: I've tweaked this slightly just to reflect the fact that Paige is a third year med student as opposed to an intern. When I began writing this story I didn't realise the difference but people who have reviewed brought it up so I hope this reads better now. Thanks to those who flagged it up!