(As promised, here is part 3. I promise that the humour will come into play soon, but again you'll have to bear with me! Thanks again for the reviews, much appreciated as always…OK, on with the story!)
Part 3
The ringing of the alarm clock again woke Carter the next morning. He let out a loud groan of frustration and reached out his hand to hit the snooze button. He looked over at the display, and what he saw caused him to wake up immediately. He stared at the flashing red numbers with an increasing sense of panic
*6.30 a.m.*
"Now I KNOW that I didn't set that alarm last night!" he said aloud to himself, remembering his experience of the morning before. There was no way he could have been dreaming again…was there? No, it had been too vivid. Something was definitely wrong here!
He moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower, and whilst he was waiting for it to warm up he looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't know what he was expecting to see, maybe some sort of magical explanation for the strange feeling he had about today, but it was just the same John Carter staring back at him. OK, so he looked like he hadn't slept in a month, but what else was new! He shook his head ruefully as he removed his pyjama bottoms and stepped into the shower…where he was immediately struck by a jet of freezing cold water!
"JESUS CHRIST!!!" He shouted in shock as he jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap around his shivering form. "I'm sorry, but this is not right!" he ranted to nobody in particular. "Gamma called in the plumber and that shower was working perfectly well last night. YESTERDAY it was busted so today it should be fine. Why isn't working now?"
He continued talking to himself as he got himself dressed and headed downstairs. It was mostly the same words repeated over and over again: "It's Sunday, it has to be Sunday, there's no way it's Saturday. That's impossible!" He had nearly managed to convince himself of this, but as he neared the kitchen his stomach began to tighten and his sense of panic started to rise again. He could hear noises coming from the kitchen that sounded like somebody moving around getting themselves breakfast, and he knew from experience that nobody in this house was awake at 7 o'clock on a Sunday morning unless it was him getting back from a night shift. He again started to repeat to himself: "Please don't let her be in there. Please don't let her be in there. Please don't let her be in there." He turned into the kitchen and as he looked in his heart sank.
There, sitting behind the counter and reading the early morning paper, was his mother. She looked up from the paper over the rim of her glasses and smiled at him:
"Good Morning, John."
"Mom?" His voice sounded strained and he had to practically choke out that one word. Please don't let be happening what I think is happening, he thought to himself. "Are you flying out to Boston for a fundraiser?" he again choked out the words.
"I am, my flight leaves in an hour. I'll only be gone for three days so tell Millicent not to get her hopes up! Have a nice time at that ridiculous little seminar of yours today. Well, I'd better be moving along if I don't want to miss the plane. Good-bye darling."
She walked over to Carter and gave him a kiss on the cheek then she headed out of the house to where Alger was waiting with the car to drive her to the airport. Carter hadn't really been listening to what she was saying, just the fact that she was really there was enough to confirm his suspicions. After she walked out of the door he rushed around the house desperately searching for anything that would disprove it: his watch showed the date as being Saturday, the vase he had broken on the hall table was in one piece again, and the cheesecake he had finished off the night before was sitting whole on a plate in the fridge.
He was hyperventilating and thought he was going to pass out as the wave of panic washed over him. He took some deep breaths but that wasn't quite enough. He ran out of the front door and stood on the steps outside the mansion, brought his hands up to his head, and let out a huge scream of frustration.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OhmyGodOhmyGod! What the hell is going on here?!" He moved back inside and sat down at the kitchen counter, staring at the calendar on the wall and slowly digesting everything that was happening.
"OK," he said aloud to himself after he had calmed down a little, "so let me see if I've got this straight. It's Saturday…again. I am living the same day over and over again…but why? What is so special about today that I'm stuck here?"
He continued to sit there, thinking through his situation, when it suddenly dawned on him that he would have to leave for the Sexual Harassment Seminar in a few minutes. Oh God, he thought, not that again. He realised now that yesterday hadn't been déjà vu, he really had been through the day before. Every word, every gesture…no wonder he had been in such a pissy mood, and he had a feeling that his mood today was going to be far worse!
He sighed heavily then pulled himself up out of his seat and went to put his coat on. As he picked up his bag and walked out the door he thought that this was obviously happening to him for a reason. He was obviously meant to learn something from today, perhaps make some life-changing decision that he'd ignored on previous occasions, and it looked like the best place to start looking was at the seminar.
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The day went exactly as it had the day before, and the day before that. The duel, the ham acting, the role-playing, the videos…why had he even bothered coming? He had tried to keep as low a profile as possible but whenever he did speak he couldn't stop himself saying exactly the same things over again, and he couldn't keep the impatient tone out of his voice…after all, he thought, they may be experiencing this for the first time but this is my third go already.
At the end of the day they were again all outside the main building saying their good-byes. Carter was watching Abby walk away with Gallant when Susan again told him he should tell Abby he was "desperately in love with her", and it was that moment that he had a flash of inspiration. Maybe that was what he was supposed to do with this day! On the previous two occasions he hadn't gone after Abby, even though he'd wanted to, so maybe all he had to do was chase after her now and tell her his feelings and he could get on with Sunday! Yes, that was it, he'd run after Abby and tell her how he felt!
"You know, you'd better hurry if you want to catch her before her shift starts," Susan was saying, following the direction of his gaze and catching something of the intention forming in his head.
He looked down at her and grabbed hold of her shoulders, pulling her close to give her a smacking kiss on the lips. He pulled back and grinned at her, then he quickly set off running in the direction of County General, hoping he'd catch up with Abby in time.
"Thank you Susan!" he called out over his shoulder as he ran.
"You're welcome!" she shouted back, laughing at his eagerness to chase after Abby. She continued to watch until he was out of sight, then she sighed and turned to walk to the El station alone.
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"ABBY! Abby, wait!" Carter shouted after her retreating figure as he ran after her. She turned to see where the shouting was coming from and stopped to wait for him when she saw who it was. He was slightly out of breath by the time he caught up to her, but she stood patiently waiting for him to catch his breath.
"Gallant, can you give us a minute?" Carter asked, wanting to be alone with Abby so he could say what he had to say before he chickened out.
"Is that OK Abby?" Gallant asked, turning to Abby who he had offered to escort to work.
"Sure, go ahead without me" she said, smiling sweetly at him. "We're nearly there anyway. Thanks for walking with me Gallant."
"It was my pleasure. Good-night, Dr Carter." Gallant nodded at his Chief Resident and then turned to walk into County General for the start of his shift.
Carter and Abby stood alone, watching Gallant walk away. Carter was busy thinking about how best to broach the subject of his feelings when Abby spoke up and broke the silence:
"So…you wanted to talk to me about something?" She looked at him expectantly.
"Um, yeah, I did, I mean I do…Can we go for a walk or something? That is if you have time before your shift."
"Sure, I can spare you a couple of minutes." She gave him one of her beaming smiles and they turned to walk down by the river. When they got to their usual spot they both stopped
"I'm sorry I was such an idiot today. I made a fool of myself and there was no excuse for my behaviour…"
"And?" she said, sensing that there was something else he wanted to say.
"And…Susan and I broke up. Well actually she dumped me."
"Oh, I am sorry Carter. Did she say why?" Abby said sympathetically and looked at him with concern.
"Actually she did," he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his feet. "She said that there was no chemistry between us…and that I was in love with you." He looked up at her, hoping for some sort of reply, but she was just staring at him in shock. "Abby?" he said, trying to shake her out of her daze.
"…Oh," she said finally.
"And I think she's right. I mean, she and I were never going to work out. I was curious, she was an old crush of mine, but it wasn't anything serious. I mean we've never even slept together!"
Abby continued to look at Carter in silence, unsure what to make of what he was saying. Carter took her silence as a good sign and he took a step closer to her, and when she didn't back away he moved closer still. He lowered his head so that his lips were practically touching hers, his breath mingling with hers that was coming in short gasps. He closed his eyes and bent down to capture her lips with his in a kiss, gentle at first, but becoming increasingly passionate as they both lost themselves. He moved his arms underneath her jacket and around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. His tongue continued to explore her mouth as his hand moved underneath her jumper, feeling the bare skin of her back.
Suddenly she jumped as if somebody had just poked her with hundreds of needles and pulled away from his embrace. She was breathing heavily after the passionate nature of the kiss and he tried to read the emotions in her eyes: a mixture of desire and…hurt? It couldn't be, could it?
"Oh God, I can't believe I just did that!" she said, touching her swollen lips with her fingers.
"Abby, there isn't anything wrong with what we've done. I'm not with Susan anymore, it's OK."
"This is so typical of you Carter!" she yelled, distancing herself from him. "Two months ago I stood on this very spot and laid my heart out for you but you just trampled all over it! And now because things didn't work out with Susan you come running to me as some sort of consolation prize? Well it's not good enough! We both know that I deserve better, and so do you!"
"That's not what I meant. Abby, please listen…"
"What could you possibly have to say to me, John? I won't be anybody's back up! I want somebody who will deal with me for what I am, with all the insecurities and uncertainties; somebody who would serenade me and not care if he made a fool out of himself. I don't have the faith to believe you're that man!"
"But why not Abby? I love you, I promise I'll be there for you!" he said desperately.
"Like you've been there for the last two months?" she said accusingly. "Like you were there when I got beaten up? Like you were there on my birthday?" She could see him flinching under her verbal attack and she decided to drive the final point home. "Like you were there when I started drinking again?"
His face darkened, and all thoughts of appeasing her went out of the window as he rounded on her. "You're drinking again? How could you be so stupid Abby? What were you thinking?"
"Maybe I wasn't thinking! Maybe I thought I'd go speak to my best friend about it but he was too busy with his new girlfriend to notice that my life was falling apart around me! You know what," she said, throwing her arms up in the air and starting to walk away from him, "I'm done here. I don't have to go through this with you. It's my life and I choose not to live it by the Gospel according to St Carter!"
"Abby, where do you think you're going?!" he shouted, running after her and grabbing her arm, forcing her to turn and look at him.
"Let go of me, John!" she hissed, shrugging herself free of his grip. "I am going to go to work now, and I'm going to try and forget that I was ever in love with such an arrogant asshole as you! Why don't you go back to Susan, have your little blonde trophy wife, and then maybe we'll all be happy."
Saying this she turned and stomped up the nearby steps and across the road to the hospital. He continued to watch her for a few moments then turned to walk back to his house. He was repeating the day so that he'd follow Susan's advice and declare his love for Abby. Well, he'd declared it and look where that had got him! She obviously didn't feel the same way about him, and he wasn't going to go through this little dance of theirs again. He was done with it. If she wanted him to be with Susan he would; he'd go over there first thing in the morning before she started her shift and tell her that he'd made a terrible mistake and wanted to give them a second chance. He was sure she'd say "yes".
He had worked himself up into such a state that he couldn't get to sleep right away when he got home. He made himself a huge bowl of popcorn and placed himself on one of the large sofas in front of the television in the rec-room. He sat up watching cheesy old black and white movies, not really watching them but thinking about what he would say to Abby when he would next see her. She had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him, but she was the last thing on his mind when he finally got to sleep in the early hours.
(Well, what did you think? Worth continuing? Is it getting any better or am I straying from the point? Oh, so many questions, so little time! I'll hopefully have the new chapters ready to post in the next few days but I'm trying to finish off my other fic so keep your eyes peeled.)
Part 3
The ringing of the alarm clock again woke Carter the next morning. He let out a loud groan of frustration and reached out his hand to hit the snooze button. He looked over at the display, and what he saw caused him to wake up immediately. He stared at the flashing red numbers with an increasing sense of panic
*6.30 a.m.*
"Now I KNOW that I didn't set that alarm last night!" he said aloud to himself, remembering his experience of the morning before. There was no way he could have been dreaming again…was there? No, it had been too vivid. Something was definitely wrong here!
He moved into the bathroom and turned on the shower, and whilst he was waiting for it to warm up he looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't know what he was expecting to see, maybe some sort of magical explanation for the strange feeling he had about today, but it was just the same John Carter staring back at him. OK, so he looked like he hadn't slept in a month, but what else was new! He shook his head ruefully as he removed his pyjama bottoms and stepped into the shower…where he was immediately struck by a jet of freezing cold water!
"JESUS CHRIST!!!" He shouted in shock as he jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap around his shivering form. "I'm sorry, but this is not right!" he ranted to nobody in particular. "Gamma called in the plumber and that shower was working perfectly well last night. YESTERDAY it was busted so today it should be fine. Why isn't working now?"
He continued talking to himself as he got himself dressed and headed downstairs. It was mostly the same words repeated over and over again: "It's Sunday, it has to be Sunday, there's no way it's Saturday. That's impossible!" He had nearly managed to convince himself of this, but as he neared the kitchen his stomach began to tighten and his sense of panic started to rise again. He could hear noises coming from the kitchen that sounded like somebody moving around getting themselves breakfast, and he knew from experience that nobody in this house was awake at 7 o'clock on a Sunday morning unless it was him getting back from a night shift. He again started to repeat to himself: "Please don't let her be in there. Please don't let her be in there. Please don't let her be in there." He turned into the kitchen and as he looked in his heart sank.
There, sitting behind the counter and reading the early morning paper, was his mother. She looked up from the paper over the rim of her glasses and smiled at him:
"Good Morning, John."
"Mom?" His voice sounded strained and he had to practically choke out that one word. Please don't let be happening what I think is happening, he thought to himself. "Are you flying out to Boston for a fundraiser?" he again choked out the words.
"I am, my flight leaves in an hour. I'll only be gone for three days so tell Millicent not to get her hopes up! Have a nice time at that ridiculous little seminar of yours today. Well, I'd better be moving along if I don't want to miss the plane. Good-bye darling."
She walked over to Carter and gave him a kiss on the cheek then she headed out of the house to where Alger was waiting with the car to drive her to the airport. Carter hadn't really been listening to what she was saying, just the fact that she was really there was enough to confirm his suspicions. After she walked out of the door he rushed around the house desperately searching for anything that would disprove it: his watch showed the date as being Saturday, the vase he had broken on the hall table was in one piece again, and the cheesecake he had finished off the night before was sitting whole on a plate in the fridge.
He was hyperventilating and thought he was going to pass out as the wave of panic washed over him. He took some deep breaths but that wasn't quite enough. He ran out of the front door and stood on the steps outside the mansion, brought his hands up to his head, and let out a huge scream of frustration.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OhmyGodOhmyGod! What the hell is going on here?!" He moved back inside and sat down at the kitchen counter, staring at the calendar on the wall and slowly digesting everything that was happening.
"OK," he said aloud to himself after he had calmed down a little, "so let me see if I've got this straight. It's Saturday…again. I am living the same day over and over again…but why? What is so special about today that I'm stuck here?"
He continued to sit there, thinking through his situation, when it suddenly dawned on him that he would have to leave for the Sexual Harassment Seminar in a few minutes. Oh God, he thought, not that again. He realised now that yesterday hadn't been déjà vu, he really had been through the day before. Every word, every gesture…no wonder he had been in such a pissy mood, and he had a feeling that his mood today was going to be far worse!
He sighed heavily then pulled himself up out of his seat and went to put his coat on. As he picked up his bag and walked out the door he thought that this was obviously happening to him for a reason. He was obviously meant to learn something from today, perhaps make some life-changing decision that he'd ignored on previous occasions, and it looked like the best place to start looking was at the seminar.
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The day went exactly as it had the day before, and the day before that. The duel, the ham acting, the role-playing, the videos…why had he even bothered coming? He had tried to keep as low a profile as possible but whenever he did speak he couldn't stop himself saying exactly the same things over again, and he couldn't keep the impatient tone out of his voice…after all, he thought, they may be experiencing this for the first time but this is my third go already.
At the end of the day they were again all outside the main building saying their good-byes. Carter was watching Abby walk away with Gallant when Susan again told him he should tell Abby he was "desperately in love with her", and it was that moment that he had a flash of inspiration. Maybe that was what he was supposed to do with this day! On the previous two occasions he hadn't gone after Abby, even though he'd wanted to, so maybe all he had to do was chase after her now and tell her his feelings and he could get on with Sunday! Yes, that was it, he'd run after Abby and tell her how he felt!
"You know, you'd better hurry if you want to catch her before her shift starts," Susan was saying, following the direction of his gaze and catching something of the intention forming in his head.
He looked down at her and grabbed hold of her shoulders, pulling her close to give her a smacking kiss on the lips. He pulled back and grinned at her, then he quickly set off running in the direction of County General, hoping he'd catch up with Abby in time.
"Thank you Susan!" he called out over his shoulder as he ran.
"You're welcome!" she shouted back, laughing at his eagerness to chase after Abby. She continued to watch until he was out of sight, then she sighed and turned to walk to the El station alone.
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"ABBY! Abby, wait!" Carter shouted after her retreating figure as he ran after her. She turned to see where the shouting was coming from and stopped to wait for him when she saw who it was. He was slightly out of breath by the time he caught up to her, but she stood patiently waiting for him to catch his breath.
"Gallant, can you give us a minute?" Carter asked, wanting to be alone with Abby so he could say what he had to say before he chickened out.
"Is that OK Abby?" Gallant asked, turning to Abby who he had offered to escort to work.
"Sure, go ahead without me" she said, smiling sweetly at him. "We're nearly there anyway. Thanks for walking with me Gallant."
"It was my pleasure. Good-night, Dr Carter." Gallant nodded at his Chief Resident and then turned to walk into County General for the start of his shift.
Carter and Abby stood alone, watching Gallant walk away. Carter was busy thinking about how best to broach the subject of his feelings when Abby spoke up and broke the silence:
"So…you wanted to talk to me about something?" She looked at him expectantly.
"Um, yeah, I did, I mean I do…Can we go for a walk or something? That is if you have time before your shift."
"Sure, I can spare you a couple of minutes." She gave him one of her beaming smiles and they turned to walk down by the river. When they got to their usual spot they both stopped
"I'm sorry I was such an idiot today. I made a fool of myself and there was no excuse for my behaviour…"
"And?" she said, sensing that there was something else he wanted to say.
"And…Susan and I broke up. Well actually she dumped me."
"Oh, I am sorry Carter. Did she say why?" Abby said sympathetically and looked at him with concern.
"Actually she did," he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his feet. "She said that there was no chemistry between us…and that I was in love with you." He looked up at her, hoping for some sort of reply, but she was just staring at him in shock. "Abby?" he said, trying to shake her out of her daze.
"…Oh," she said finally.
"And I think she's right. I mean, she and I were never going to work out. I was curious, she was an old crush of mine, but it wasn't anything serious. I mean we've never even slept together!"
Abby continued to look at Carter in silence, unsure what to make of what he was saying. Carter took her silence as a good sign and he took a step closer to her, and when she didn't back away he moved closer still. He lowered his head so that his lips were practically touching hers, his breath mingling with hers that was coming in short gasps. He closed his eyes and bent down to capture her lips with his in a kiss, gentle at first, but becoming increasingly passionate as they both lost themselves. He moved his arms underneath her jacket and around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. His tongue continued to explore her mouth as his hand moved underneath her jumper, feeling the bare skin of her back.
Suddenly she jumped as if somebody had just poked her with hundreds of needles and pulled away from his embrace. She was breathing heavily after the passionate nature of the kiss and he tried to read the emotions in her eyes: a mixture of desire and…hurt? It couldn't be, could it?
"Oh God, I can't believe I just did that!" she said, touching her swollen lips with her fingers.
"Abby, there isn't anything wrong with what we've done. I'm not with Susan anymore, it's OK."
"This is so typical of you Carter!" she yelled, distancing herself from him. "Two months ago I stood on this very spot and laid my heart out for you but you just trampled all over it! And now because things didn't work out with Susan you come running to me as some sort of consolation prize? Well it's not good enough! We both know that I deserve better, and so do you!"
"That's not what I meant. Abby, please listen…"
"What could you possibly have to say to me, John? I won't be anybody's back up! I want somebody who will deal with me for what I am, with all the insecurities and uncertainties; somebody who would serenade me and not care if he made a fool out of himself. I don't have the faith to believe you're that man!"
"But why not Abby? I love you, I promise I'll be there for you!" he said desperately.
"Like you've been there for the last two months?" she said accusingly. "Like you were there when I got beaten up? Like you were there on my birthday?" She could see him flinching under her verbal attack and she decided to drive the final point home. "Like you were there when I started drinking again?"
His face darkened, and all thoughts of appeasing her went out of the window as he rounded on her. "You're drinking again? How could you be so stupid Abby? What were you thinking?"
"Maybe I wasn't thinking! Maybe I thought I'd go speak to my best friend about it but he was too busy with his new girlfriend to notice that my life was falling apart around me! You know what," she said, throwing her arms up in the air and starting to walk away from him, "I'm done here. I don't have to go through this with you. It's my life and I choose not to live it by the Gospel according to St Carter!"
"Abby, where do you think you're going?!" he shouted, running after her and grabbing her arm, forcing her to turn and look at him.
"Let go of me, John!" she hissed, shrugging herself free of his grip. "I am going to go to work now, and I'm going to try and forget that I was ever in love with such an arrogant asshole as you! Why don't you go back to Susan, have your little blonde trophy wife, and then maybe we'll all be happy."
Saying this she turned and stomped up the nearby steps and across the road to the hospital. He continued to watch her for a few moments then turned to walk back to his house. He was repeating the day so that he'd follow Susan's advice and declare his love for Abby. Well, he'd declared it and look where that had got him! She obviously didn't feel the same way about him, and he wasn't going to go through this little dance of theirs again. He was done with it. If she wanted him to be with Susan he would; he'd go over there first thing in the morning before she started her shift and tell her that he'd made a terrible mistake and wanted to give them a second chance. He was sure she'd say "yes".
He had worked himself up into such a state that he couldn't get to sleep right away when he got home. He made himself a huge bowl of popcorn and placed himself on one of the large sofas in front of the television in the rec-room. He sat up watching cheesy old black and white movies, not really watching them but thinking about what he would say to Abby when he would next see her. She had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him, but she was the last thing on his mind when he finally got to sleep in the early hours.
(Well, what did you think? Worth continuing? Is it getting any better or am I straying from the point? Oh, so many questions, so little time! I'll hopefully have the new chapters ready to post in the next few days but I'm trying to finish off my other fic so keep your eyes peeled.)