" A Chance Meeting "
It was a good feeling, John Carter thought as he walked down the sterile aisles of Ithaca Community Hospital, to be walking in a hospital with your oldest son escorting you. Especially when it was your eldest son the recent medical school graduate who was showing you around his first hospital. That was one of the best feelings he'd ever felt and it was bittersweet only because Jason's mother hadn't lived to see it. A pity, but as the cancer had consumed Marie, he was simply glad that she had lived to see Jason's graduation and then passed on quietly in her sleep not long after.
Yes, he thought proudly as he looked at his son, this just about caps it all. He was fifty nine and his eldest son was following in his footsteps. It was hard not to feel proud. The other kids weren't slouches either. The youngest, still in high school, was winning science prizes and looked like she'd make a fine doctor too. The twins were in their second year of pre-law and the only other girl... John sighed. He worried a little about Jessica. She was at her first year of Columbia and it already looked as though she was going to be the son his own father had wanted. Those capitalist money mongering genes had to go somewhere, he supposed, and it would be nice to see a Carter at the head of the business again. Jessica reminded him of Millicent Carter, and he supposed that wasn't all bad.
" Dad, I've got a page. Some sort of bad accident up north." Jason looked excitedly towards the trauma rooms. " We get a lot of the major accidents around here. This is the best hospital north of New York City; Auburn Memorial is sending the victims down here by ambulance since they aren't a Level One Trauma center. Car accidents are about as bad as it gets though. We don't have to put up with all the violent crap like what you get in Chicago. People around here generally only shoot themselves in hunting accidents or suicides. And the suicides are mostly at finals time."
" Well, don't let me keep you." John said quickly. " You need to get in there. Now if you'd come to County I could throw you a few procedures every once in a while..." He broke off as Jason made a face. It wasn't an argument though John did wish that Jason had chosen a college and hospital a little closer to home. County was out of the question, since he was now the Chief of Emergency. Having his son there as a resident would simply look horrible. He'd never caught the paranoia bug as badly as his predecessor, Kerry Weaver had, but he wasn't born yesterday. If he had thought that stepping down would have kept Jason closer to home, he would have, but the truth was that Jason wanted to get away. He had gone to Harvard Medical and none of the hospitals he had applied to were even close to Chicago. It worried John but he viewed Jason's invitation out to Ithaca for the weekend as a sort of reaching out. It was nice, much nicer than the frosty relationship he'd had with his own father. He sensed that it was the natural drawing away that a son did when he came of age.
Besides, it was rather fun to watch Jason interact with other doctors, doctors that hadn't know him since his birth. Sometimes, it amused John to compare Jason to all the doctors that had been a part of his life. Jason looked like Marie, there was no doubt of that. He had her fair hair and bright blue eyes, and he had her bright winning personality, but sometimes he could see glimpses of others. Oh, he could see himself in Jason, in all of his children, but sometimes he saw others. Jason had the warm, sensitive side that he first saw in Mark Greene. Mark hadn't been a part of their lives since Jason was six but John could see his influence. Towards the end of his life, Mark hadn't been up for much but he had enjoyed the visits of Carter's family, and Jason had been devastated when the man had finally passed away in his sleep.
He stood off to the side, watching as the doctors and nurses piled up by the emergency room entrance. It was clear that a big car accident was a rarity and there were many interns vying for some action. Jason was right in the middle of it, and John was pleased to see the chief resident choose him as one of the interns that would help out. There was a blur of moment as an ambulance pulled up to the door. People literally dove for patients and for a moment, he was overcome by the activity. It had been a long time since he had observed a procedure as opposed to participating. It made him feel old. For a moment he was taken back in memory, and he wondered just what Gabe Lawrence thought as he watched his former student take on a challenge without needing his help. Stop it, he told himself, you're just depressing yourself. It was true that it wouldn't be long before he had to step down, but it was still a few years off. And thinking of Gabe reminded him of Kerry Weaver, and that reminded him of how she had died in a car wreck fifteen years earlier. Time is passing, he thought sadly.
Then again, he thought as his son rushed by with a gurney, clearly getting the lowdown from a pretty blonde doctor, I've been blessed. Luckier than most of my friends, with family and children who are all doing well. He wasn't dead, and he'd gotten more years than Mark or Kerry, that was for certain. He wasn't like poor Susan Lewis, always wondering where her kids were when she had to work night shifts. And yes, Marie had died, but he had almost twenty six years with her, which made him far luckier than Peter Benton, who had never married. Life, John thought, has been pretty damn idyllic really. He had been lucky. The worst thing that had ever happened to him was being stabbed, and in retrospect he supposed he hadn't gotten the worst of it. That had been saved for poor Lucy Knight, now thirty years dead. If that's the worst that ever happens, he told himself, then I am a lucky man. Blessed really.
There was a frenzy of movement as the patient was rushed towards the waiting elevator. John let himself smile as he heard Jason shout out a variety of orders. From what he could tell, the patient was in for a rough time but was stable. Jason peeled off his gloves and coverall and came back to him, looking excited and almost bursting from the exertion. " Dad, I hope you weren't bored. I have to fill out the chart for this guy and then we can go to dinner."
" I was fine, just watching this good looking young doctor save some man's life." John said cheerfully. Despite the pulling away of the last few years, he could see the joy in his son's eye. I have made a fine young man, he thought.
Jason shrugged off the compliment after a moment. " I need to update the attending that came along, so she can head back to her hospital. It'll be a few minutes."
" Not a problem." John wandered back to the waiting area. He had made reservations at one of the better restaurants. Ithaca wasn't Chicago, not by a long shot, but it did cater to a high population of upper class folks. It was a quaint university town masquerading as a city, and he could see why it would appeal to his eldest son. Even as a child, Jason had disliked the bustle of metro Chicago. After a few minutes though, John decided to seek his son out. He knew how long it took to fill out a chart, and he suspected his son was chatting up the blonde doctor that had accompanied the patient. He took up a position just outside the trauma room and peeked in. What he saw didn't surprise him. Jason was indeed chatting with the blonde doctor. He could only see the woman's back, but there was something oddly familiar about how she stood. He tapped the door.
Jason waved him to come inside. " Dad, I'm almost done. This is Dr. Liz Farrell. Dr. Farrell, this is my father, Dr. John Carter."
The woman spun around, looking almost startled. First she looked at him and then back at Jason, taken back. Then she held out her hand. " It's a pleasure... Dr. Carter." She looked back at Jason, her hand brushing some stray hair away from her eyes. " You two don't look very much alike."
John was too startled to respond at first. He shook her hand through a fog of surprise. He knew what he had seen in her eyes. It was shock. Shock and recognition. She was covering it well, but it was there. Jason, not seeing the tension, saved the moment. " I take after my mom. You should see my twin brothers though. They look just like Dad." Jason turned to him. " We better get going. I don't have that much time for dinner."
" Of course." He looked at Dr. Farrell and smiled, knowing that it couldn't be what he thought. " It was a pleasure, Dr. Farrell."
" I guess I'll see you at the next car wreck." Jason said cheerfully. John walked along side him, not sure what to say. Jason seemed to sense it and as they entered the parking lot, he asked, " Dad, do you know Dr. Farrell? You seemed a little weirded out by her."
" No, no, she just reminds me of someone I used to know. Where does Dr. Farrell work out of again?"
" Auburn Memorial. It's about a two hour drive from here. Kind of an industrial town. The big employer is the prison." Jason paused. " Are you OK, Dad?"
" Just tired. Let's get some food." And a drink, John told himself. What he was thinking wasn't possible, he knew that. It was just chance and odd circumstance. Despite that, he knew he would have to look into it.
Dr. Liz Farrell had recognized him. And Dr. Liz Farrell was Lucy Knight's identical twin. John knew in his heart that he couldn't let that rest, because he had seen it in her eyes. He had seen a ghost. He had seen Lucy Knight, looking as she had the day she died. And in a rational world, that simply wasn't possible.
It was a good feeling, John Carter thought as he walked down the sterile aisles of Ithaca Community Hospital, to be walking in a hospital with your oldest son escorting you. Especially when it was your eldest son the recent medical school graduate who was showing you around his first hospital. That was one of the best feelings he'd ever felt and it was bittersweet only because Jason's mother hadn't lived to see it. A pity, but as the cancer had consumed Marie, he was simply glad that she had lived to see Jason's graduation and then passed on quietly in her sleep not long after.
Yes, he thought proudly as he looked at his son, this just about caps it all. He was fifty nine and his eldest son was following in his footsteps. It was hard not to feel proud. The other kids weren't slouches either. The youngest, still in high school, was winning science prizes and looked like she'd make a fine doctor too. The twins were in their second year of pre-law and the only other girl... John sighed. He worried a little about Jessica. She was at her first year of Columbia and it already looked as though she was going to be the son his own father had wanted. Those capitalist money mongering genes had to go somewhere, he supposed, and it would be nice to see a Carter at the head of the business again. Jessica reminded him of Millicent Carter, and he supposed that wasn't all bad.
" Dad, I've got a page. Some sort of bad accident up north." Jason looked excitedly towards the trauma rooms. " We get a lot of the major accidents around here. This is the best hospital north of New York City; Auburn Memorial is sending the victims down here by ambulance since they aren't a Level One Trauma center. Car accidents are about as bad as it gets though. We don't have to put up with all the violent crap like what you get in Chicago. People around here generally only shoot themselves in hunting accidents or suicides. And the suicides are mostly at finals time."
" Well, don't let me keep you." John said quickly. " You need to get in there. Now if you'd come to County I could throw you a few procedures every once in a while..." He broke off as Jason made a face. It wasn't an argument though John did wish that Jason had chosen a college and hospital a little closer to home. County was out of the question, since he was now the Chief of Emergency. Having his son there as a resident would simply look horrible. He'd never caught the paranoia bug as badly as his predecessor, Kerry Weaver had, but he wasn't born yesterday. If he had thought that stepping down would have kept Jason closer to home, he would have, but the truth was that Jason wanted to get away. He had gone to Harvard Medical and none of the hospitals he had applied to were even close to Chicago. It worried John but he viewed Jason's invitation out to Ithaca for the weekend as a sort of reaching out. It was nice, much nicer than the frosty relationship he'd had with his own father. He sensed that it was the natural drawing away that a son did when he came of age.
Besides, it was rather fun to watch Jason interact with other doctors, doctors that hadn't know him since his birth. Sometimes, it amused John to compare Jason to all the doctors that had been a part of his life. Jason looked like Marie, there was no doubt of that. He had her fair hair and bright blue eyes, and he had her bright winning personality, but sometimes he could see glimpses of others. Oh, he could see himself in Jason, in all of his children, but sometimes he saw others. Jason had the warm, sensitive side that he first saw in Mark Greene. Mark hadn't been a part of their lives since Jason was six but John could see his influence. Towards the end of his life, Mark hadn't been up for much but he had enjoyed the visits of Carter's family, and Jason had been devastated when the man had finally passed away in his sleep.
He stood off to the side, watching as the doctors and nurses piled up by the emergency room entrance. It was clear that a big car accident was a rarity and there were many interns vying for some action. Jason was right in the middle of it, and John was pleased to see the chief resident choose him as one of the interns that would help out. There was a blur of moment as an ambulance pulled up to the door. People literally dove for patients and for a moment, he was overcome by the activity. It had been a long time since he had observed a procedure as opposed to participating. It made him feel old. For a moment he was taken back in memory, and he wondered just what Gabe Lawrence thought as he watched his former student take on a challenge without needing his help. Stop it, he told himself, you're just depressing yourself. It was true that it wouldn't be long before he had to step down, but it was still a few years off. And thinking of Gabe reminded him of Kerry Weaver, and that reminded him of how she had died in a car wreck fifteen years earlier. Time is passing, he thought sadly.
Then again, he thought as his son rushed by with a gurney, clearly getting the lowdown from a pretty blonde doctor, I've been blessed. Luckier than most of my friends, with family and children who are all doing well. He wasn't dead, and he'd gotten more years than Mark or Kerry, that was for certain. He wasn't like poor Susan Lewis, always wondering where her kids were when she had to work night shifts. And yes, Marie had died, but he had almost twenty six years with her, which made him far luckier than Peter Benton, who had never married. Life, John thought, has been pretty damn idyllic really. He had been lucky. The worst thing that had ever happened to him was being stabbed, and in retrospect he supposed he hadn't gotten the worst of it. That had been saved for poor Lucy Knight, now thirty years dead. If that's the worst that ever happens, he told himself, then I am a lucky man. Blessed really.
There was a frenzy of movement as the patient was rushed towards the waiting elevator. John let himself smile as he heard Jason shout out a variety of orders. From what he could tell, the patient was in for a rough time but was stable. Jason peeled off his gloves and coverall and came back to him, looking excited and almost bursting from the exertion. " Dad, I hope you weren't bored. I have to fill out the chart for this guy and then we can go to dinner."
" I was fine, just watching this good looking young doctor save some man's life." John said cheerfully. Despite the pulling away of the last few years, he could see the joy in his son's eye. I have made a fine young man, he thought.
Jason shrugged off the compliment after a moment. " I need to update the attending that came along, so she can head back to her hospital. It'll be a few minutes."
" Not a problem." John wandered back to the waiting area. He had made reservations at one of the better restaurants. Ithaca wasn't Chicago, not by a long shot, but it did cater to a high population of upper class folks. It was a quaint university town masquerading as a city, and he could see why it would appeal to his eldest son. Even as a child, Jason had disliked the bustle of metro Chicago. After a few minutes though, John decided to seek his son out. He knew how long it took to fill out a chart, and he suspected his son was chatting up the blonde doctor that had accompanied the patient. He took up a position just outside the trauma room and peeked in. What he saw didn't surprise him. Jason was indeed chatting with the blonde doctor. He could only see the woman's back, but there was something oddly familiar about how she stood. He tapped the door.
Jason waved him to come inside. " Dad, I'm almost done. This is Dr. Liz Farrell. Dr. Farrell, this is my father, Dr. John Carter."
The woman spun around, looking almost startled. First she looked at him and then back at Jason, taken back. Then she held out her hand. " It's a pleasure... Dr. Carter." She looked back at Jason, her hand brushing some stray hair away from her eyes. " You two don't look very much alike."
John was too startled to respond at first. He shook her hand through a fog of surprise. He knew what he had seen in her eyes. It was shock. Shock and recognition. She was covering it well, but it was there. Jason, not seeing the tension, saved the moment. " I take after my mom. You should see my twin brothers though. They look just like Dad." Jason turned to him. " We better get going. I don't have that much time for dinner."
" Of course." He looked at Dr. Farrell and smiled, knowing that it couldn't be what he thought. " It was a pleasure, Dr. Farrell."
" I guess I'll see you at the next car wreck." Jason said cheerfully. John walked along side him, not sure what to say. Jason seemed to sense it and as they entered the parking lot, he asked, " Dad, do you know Dr. Farrell? You seemed a little weirded out by her."
" No, no, she just reminds me of someone I used to know. Where does Dr. Farrell work out of again?"
" Auburn Memorial. It's about a two hour drive from here. Kind of an industrial town. The big employer is the prison." Jason paused. " Are you OK, Dad?"
" Just tired. Let's get some food." And a drink, John told himself. What he was thinking wasn't possible, he knew that. It was just chance and odd circumstance. Despite that, he knew he would have to look into it.
Dr. Liz Farrell had recognized him. And Dr. Liz Farrell was Lucy Knight's identical twin. John knew in his heart that he couldn't let that rest, because he had seen it in her eyes. He had seen a ghost. He had seen Lucy Knight, looking as she had the day she died. And in a rational world, that simply wasn't possible.