Extra Pale
AN: Sorry for the huge delay! I've had a busy week again. Blame my friends for making me stay out till four AM last night. Yes, I had nothing to do with it. =P It was all them. Well anyway, here's chapter 10. I'm thinking I'll conclude this fic in the next chapter. Wouldn't want to beat a dead horse, so to speak. Enjoy and please review!
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Carter wavered impatiently back and forth as he waited for the phone to be picked up. He watched a trauma roll past him and checked his watch again. The phone was on the fifth ring. This didn't look promising.
"Hey Carter, glad to see ya back." Mark Greene approached from behind. Carter turned and smiled.
"Thanks Mark. I picked a hell of a night to come back though. This place is like FAO Schwartz at Christmas time."
"Only if the giant stuffed dogs picked up revolvers and started shooting at each other." Mark replied. The image of stuffing pouring out of bullet holes made Carter smiled again.
Mark patted him on the shoulder once. "Take it slow today Carter. We can't afford to lose you again." The irony of the statement was not lost on either of them, but it passed quickly as the receiver of Carter's phone call finally picked up.
"This had better be important. I have a plane to catch." An irritated voice, sounding a lot like his late grandfathers, came on the line.
"Hey Douglas. It's John." Carter replied.
"John? What's going on? Did something happen?" Carter's cousin replied.
"Uh, why would you say that?" Carter asked, humor in his voice.
"Why else would you be calling me? You've insisted repeatedly that you do not want anything to do with our family." His voice was cold, Carter cringed.
"Yea I, uh, guess I have. Listen, nothing is wrong. I was just wondering if you had heard from Elaine lately?" There was a small pause.
"Elaine?" He finally asked.
"Yea. As in you're ex-wife Douglas. You do remember her right?" Douglas laughed.
"You mean one of my many ex-wives John. Why do you want to know anyway? Or should I just not ask?"
For a moment Douglas's voice lost it's snobbish tone and became more childish. It almost reminded Carter of Chase's voice, before the overdose that is. Douglas could be nice when he wanted to be, but that wasn't very often.
"Well, I treated her here at the hospital a while ago actually. I, um, was just looking through some old files the other day and was reading hers. I just thought I'd follow up." It was a flat out lie, but Carter was good at lying. You couldn't be a Carter and not be.
"Sure John. Or you could just be trying to get into her pants."
Unfortunately the Carter's were also human lie detectors.
Carter laughed. "Listen Douglas, I don't have a lot of time. Do you know her new number or not?"
Suddenly, Douglas cleared his throat and became serious. "Yea. Yea I have her new number. She called me about eight months ago. But, um, she said was sick."
Carter froze. "Sick? How sick Douglas?" Douglas became very uncomfortable.
"I don't know John, have I ever listened to what women tell me? All she said was that she had to leave the country for awhile to get some kind of treatment. I haven't heard from her since."
Carter's mouth went dry. He found it hard to speak all of a sudden. Finally, he forced the words out. "Thanks Douglas. Can I please have the number?" The man read off the number's and Carter jotted it down in shaky handwriting.
After he hung up, he felt as if a cloud had descended upon him. He'd accepted the fact that he was dying. He'd even accepted the possibility that he might have infected somebody else.
But he'd never thought that he might have killed somebody, yet.
Rena's test had come back negative. That had gotten his hopes up for Elaine. But now it seemed that there was no hope. Elaine was sick, and chances were it was because of him.
He looked up as another trauma sailed through the doors. Kerry was leading this one, with Deb and Malik by her side. He noticed Deb give him a pleading look, and he knew that she wanted him to help them out. Deb and Kerry weren't exactly on friendly grounds since the lawsuit. Deb often turned to him for rescue.
But he didn't have the time to rescue anybody right now. Right now he had to right a wrong. He had to find out, once and for all, just how much pain and suffering he had caused.
He grabbed his cell phone and started to head outside.
"Hey Jer I'm going on a break. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Without waiting for an answer he headed over to Doc Magoo's.
Five minutes later found him staring at a full cup of steaming coffee and trying to hide the fact the his hands were shaking. It was the medicine mostly. The nausea and vomiting were other side effects, but the doctors claimed that was just until they balanced out the dose.
But no, it wasn't just he medicine this time. This time he was just plain scared.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number Roger had given him. When it began to ring, he relaxed a bit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had been doubting that Roger was a reliable source.
Somebody picked up on the third ring.
"Nichol's residence. May I help you?"
"Um, hi yes. My name is John Carter. I was told that I could reach Elaine Nichol's at this number." Carter talked with as much confidence as his mood would allow. He always had superb control over his voice, no matter what the situation.
"Who gave you this number?" The woman immediately asked. Her older voice wavered a bit.
"Um...Douglas Carter. He's my cousin." Carter paused. "It really is very important that I speak to her. I understand that she's not feeling well but..."
"Elaine is dead Mr. Carter." The simple statement made him catch his breath.
"Excuse me? Did you say dead?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.
"Yes. She passed away a few months ago. I'm very sorry you had to find out this way."
He stopped to think of how to ask the next question. It was something he needed to know. "May I ask how she died?" He paused. "I'm an ER doctor in Chicago and I treated Elaine a while ago. If it was something that I missed..." He began, trying to pry the information out.
"It was cancer. By the time they found it, it had spread throughout her body. There was nothing left for the doctors to do." The woman seemed to speak in a monotone voice, unaffected by emotion.
"I see. I'm very sorry. I..."
"Its ok Dr. Carter. She is not you're patient anymore." With that the woman hung up. Carter stared at the phone in his hand, stunned.
'She isn't my patient anymore; but she was my friend.'
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the steam rising from his coffee cup. He wrapped his fingers around the cup handle and turned it so the Doc Magoo's emblem faced him. He traced it effortlessly with his finger tips and forced himself into a trance.
"More coffee sir?" He looked up to see the blonde waitress smiling down at him and holding a coffee pot full of black liquid. He looked past her and noticed the clock on the far wall.
Time to go back to work.
"No. I'll just take the check." He answered and put the phone in his jacket pocket.
After paying the check and giving the waitress a hefty tip, Carter marched back out into the cold. Just as he was approaching the ambulance bay, his watch timer went off.
He headed to the lounge to retrieve his pills.
TBC
AN: Sorry for the huge delay! I've had a busy week again. Blame my friends for making me stay out till four AM last night. Yes, I had nothing to do with it. =P It was all them. Well anyway, here's chapter 10. I'm thinking I'll conclude this fic in the next chapter. Wouldn't want to beat a dead horse, so to speak. Enjoy and please review!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter wavered impatiently back and forth as he waited for the phone to be picked up. He watched a trauma roll past him and checked his watch again. The phone was on the fifth ring. This didn't look promising.
"Hey Carter, glad to see ya back." Mark Greene approached from behind. Carter turned and smiled.
"Thanks Mark. I picked a hell of a night to come back though. This place is like FAO Schwartz at Christmas time."
"Only if the giant stuffed dogs picked up revolvers and started shooting at each other." Mark replied. The image of stuffing pouring out of bullet holes made Carter smiled again.
Mark patted him on the shoulder once. "Take it slow today Carter. We can't afford to lose you again." The irony of the statement was not lost on either of them, but it passed quickly as the receiver of Carter's phone call finally picked up.
"This had better be important. I have a plane to catch." An irritated voice, sounding a lot like his late grandfathers, came on the line.
"Hey Douglas. It's John." Carter replied.
"John? What's going on? Did something happen?" Carter's cousin replied.
"Uh, why would you say that?" Carter asked, humor in his voice.
"Why else would you be calling me? You've insisted repeatedly that you do not want anything to do with our family." His voice was cold, Carter cringed.
"Yea I, uh, guess I have. Listen, nothing is wrong. I was just wondering if you had heard from Elaine lately?" There was a small pause.
"Elaine?" He finally asked.
"Yea. As in you're ex-wife Douglas. You do remember her right?" Douglas laughed.
"You mean one of my many ex-wives John. Why do you want to know anyway? Or should I just not ask?"
For a moment Douglas's voice lost it's snobbish tone and became more childish. It almost reminded Carter of Chase's voice, before the overdose that is. Douglas could be nice when he wanted to be, but that wasn't very often.
"Well, I treated her here at the hospital a while ago actually. I, um, was just looking through some old files the other day and was reading hers. I just thought I'd follow up." It was a flat out lie, but Carter was good at lying. You couldn't be a Carter and not be.
"Sure John. Or you could just be trying to get into her pants."
Unfortunately the Carter's were also human lie detectors.
Carter laughed. "Listen Douglas, I don't have a lot of time. Do you know her new number or not?"
Suddenly, Douglas cleared his throat and became serious. "Yea. Yea I have her new number. She called me about eight months ago. But, um, she said was sick."
Carter froze. "Sick? How sick Douglas?" Douglas became very uncomfortable.
"I don't know John, have I ever listened to what women tell me? All she said was that she had to leave the country for awhile to get some kind of treatment. I haven't heard from her since."
Carter's mouth went dry. He found it hard to speak all of a sudden. Finally, he forced the words out. "Thanks Douglas. Can I please have the number?" The man read off the number's and Carter jotted it down in shaky handwriting.
After he hung up, he felt as if a cloud had descended upon him. He'd accepted the fact that he was dying. He'd even accepted the possibility that he might have infected somebody else.
But he'd never thought that he might have killed somebody, yet.
Rena's test had come back negative. That had gotten his hopes up for Elaine. But now it seemed that there was no hope. Elaine was sick, and chances were it was because of him.
He looked up as another trauma sailed through the doors. Kerry was leading this one, with Deb and Malik by her side. He noticed Deb give him a pleading look, and he knew that she wanted him to help them out. Deb and Kerry weren't exactly on friendly grounds since the lawsuit. Deb often turned to him for rescue.
But he didn't have the time to rescue anybody right now. Right now he had to right a wrong. He had to find out, once and for all, just how much pain and suffering he had caused.
He grabbed his cell phone and started to head outside.
"Hey Jer I'm going on a break. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Without waiting for an answer he headed over to Doc Magoo's.
Five minutes later found him staring at a full cup of steaming coffee and trying to hide the fact the his hands were shaking. It was the medicine mostly. The nausea and vomiting were other side effects, but the doctors claimed that was just until they balanced out the dose.
But no, it wasn't just he medicine this time. This time he was just plain scared.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number Roger had given him. When it began to ring, he relaxed a bit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had been doubting that Roger was a reliable source.
Somebody picked up on the third ring.
"Nichol's residence. May I help you?"
"Um, hi yes. My name is John Carter. I was told that I could reach Elaine Nichol's at this number." Carter talked with as much confidence as his mood would allow. He always had superb control over his voice, no matter what the situation.
"Who gave you this number?" The woman immediately asked. Her older voice wavered a bit.
"Um...Douglas Carter. He's my cousin." Carter paused. "It really is very important that I speak to her. I understand that she's not feeling well but..."
"Elaine is dead Mr. Carter." The simple statement made him catch his breath.
"Excuse me? Did you say dead?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.
"Yes. She passed away a few months ago. I'm very sorry you had to find out this way."
He stopped to think of how to ask the next question. It was something he needed to know. "May I ask how she died?" He paused. "I'm an ER doctor in Chicago and I treated Elaine a while ago. If it was something that I missed..." He began, trying to pry the information out.
"It was cancer. By the time they found it, it had spread throughout her body. There was nothing left for the doctors to do." The woman seemed to speak in a monotone voice, unaffected by emotion.
"I see. I'm very sorry. I..."
"Its ok Dr. Carter. She is not you're patient anymore." With that the woman hung up. Carter stared at the phone in his hand, stunned.
'She isn't my patient anymore; but she was my friend.'
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the steam rising from his coffee cup. He wrapped his fingers around the cup handle and turned it so the Doc Magoo's emblem faced him. He traced it effortlessly with his finger tips and forced himself into a trance.
"More coffee sir?" He looked up to see the blonde waitress smiling down at him and holding a coffee pot full of black liquid. He looked past her and noticed the clock on the far wall.
Time to go back to work.
"No. I'll just take the check." He answered and put the phone in his jacket pocket.
After paying the check and giving the waitress a hefty tip, Carter marched back out into the cold. Just as he was approaching the ambulance bay, his watch timer went off.
He headed to the lounge to retrieve his pills.
TBC