Good Conversation
It was electric. His imagination hadn't been wasted, but compare to the real thing it had paled into insignificance. She ran her hands through his hair, tasting him. Neither of them wanted to be the first to stop, and eventually they broke away simultaneously.
'Wow.' Carter was the first one to regain his powers of speech. 'That was… amazing.'
'Yeah.' She forced herself to look away from his eyes and concentrate. Those deep pools of warm chocolatey brown were way too distracting. 'John, do you mind if we just take this very slow.'
'Uh-uh.' After five long years of waiting, he was happy to have her on any level. Besides, there was something else he had to tell her. Nowhere near as bad as his addiction by any stretch of the imagination, but just as earth-shattering, if not more. 'Anna, there's something I have to tell you.'
'You a woman underneath those pants, John?'
He smiled. 'No. It's, um, well, I'm not exactly sure how to say it, but anyway, it's this. I'm a father.'
'A what?' She almost spat out the mouthful of water that she had unwittingly taken. 'Since when?'
'For almost eighteen years, as it turns out. But I didn't know until a few weeks ago. It was a high school fling. She never told me. She died just down the hall in trauma.' He reiterated the whole story for what seemed like the hundredth time. Anna nodded.
'Hell… you… an eighteen-year-old daughter.'
'When I found out, it was kinda like Chase, y'know?' he asked. 'When I tried to detox him. The first part. Without you. I was in way over my head. Only this time, I didn't have you turn up at my door to save my ass. And the outcome was much better.' In the last few days, since she had broken down, things had become much more relaxed and less pretentious between them. She had laughed at his jazz collection, and he in turn had given her his candid opinion of her music. Last night, despite Carter's protestations that it was a chick flick, they had rented 'Pretty Woman'. She was horrified that he had never seen it before, and in the end he had gone as far as to admit that it was quite good. What he suspected had shocked Kat more had been his words as the credits rolled.
'I'm like her. Vivien.'
'How come?' she asked, joking, 'You're not a hooker, are you?'
When they had finished laughing at the image of John Truman Carter the Third as a hooker, he had admitted simply to his daughter, 'I want the fairytale.'
He became aware of Anna snapping her fingers in front of his face. 'Hey! John! Pizza!'
'Pizza? I could eat some pizza. Where?'
'Admit desk. Get going before they eat it all.' At the mention of pizza, Carter leapt up and raced outside. Anna followed close behind him, and neither was prepared for the sight that greeted them. The admit desk was covered in food - pizza boxes included, but the centerpiece was a cake declaring, "Welcome Back, Dr Del Amico".
'Wow.' Carter admired it. 'Where'd you guys get a cake at this time of the morning?'
'We have our sources,' Deb informed him.
'You guys!' Anna was starting to look teary. To avoid a full-blown waterworks, she blew her nose and said cheerfully, 'Okay, let's get stuck in.'
'You know,' Mark said, helping himself to a slice of pepperoni. 'Kerry'd kill us if she knew about this.'
'Naah.' Carter disagreed. 'We're quite… there're still no patients? So okay, we're comatose. She wouldn't mind.'
Mark looked unsure, but was saved from a complex argument about the merits of Kerry Weaver by two sets of footsteps and a pair of familiar female voices. Abby Lockhart and Elizabeth Corday.
'We heard there was a party,' Abby said, kissing her fiance.
'Yeah,' added Elizabeth. 'Hope you didn't think we were going to miss out on it.'
'We would never do that,' Luka reassured her, slightly unconvincingly.
'No?' Abby began going through the boxes of pizza methodically. 'Didn't we get any anchovy?'
'Eeeew.' The response was united from the whole ER staff. Their opinion, and they made no attempt to hide it, was that anchovy pizza was the spawn of Satan, the root of all evil, call it what you like. Bad.
'We have chicken. Um, tuna, pepperoni, ham, veggie, spicy sausage…' Elizabeth ignored Deb's recitation of the pizzas. She had spotted a carton of Cherry Garcia ice cream, helped herself to a spoon, and sat on the desk.
'Who invited surgery and OB down here, anyway.'
'I spend enough time down here to count,' Elizabeth replied between mouthfuls of ice cream. She had got addicted to this while she was pregnant with Ella, and couldn't seem to wean herself off it. Not that she would want to, it was way too nice.
'I was an ER nurse for two years, and I didn't bring Dr Coburn with me, which if you'd really wanted something to complain about…' Abby was cut off abruptly by the phone ringing. Anna, being that she was sitting practically on top of it, answered. A voice, hesitant and unsure, came back at her.
'Is this County General?'
Anna would have recognized that voice anywhere in the world. 'Carol? It's Anna, I'm back in Chicago… yes, for good.' She glanced at the clock on the wall. It would be a little after eleven in Seattle. 'We're all here, there're no patients. The rain must have scared them off… yeah, hold on, I'll put you on speakerphone.'
For ten minutes, the staff talked to Carol until she hung up reluctantly, pointing out that it was long distance and she was tying up an ER line anyway. Anna sat back and chewed her pizza, looking round at her friends. Malik told a bad joke and got bombarded with pizza crust and cups for his troubles. Yosh brought out gingerbread men - definitely, she noted with a wry smile, men. Same old Yosh. Suddenly it hit her. What she had come back to Chicago for. This was what she had missed. The cameraderie, the laughter, the collegiate ribbing. The meaningless, inane, good conversation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Chapter 6 will be forthcoming, probably within the next couple of days… sometime between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Maybe earlier, definitely not later. We get out of the hospital and jump three months to April. Okay… I got lots of lovely reviews when I posted the first two chapters and it was at the top of the 'Sort by New Stories' list. Then, when I posted the second two, I got one (thanks, Thena). People who are reading, take careful note. See the pretty box underneath this rant? Yeah? It's for reviews. ::shrugs:: I'm an author, I like my feedback, what can I say? Go, review!
It was electric. His imagination hadn't been wasted, but compare to the real thing it had paled into insignificance. She ran her hands through his hair, tasting him. Neither of them wanted to be the first to stop, and eventually they broke away simultaneously.
'Wow.' Carter was the first one to regain his powers of speech. 'That was… amazing.'
'Yeah.' She forced herself to look away from his eyes and concentrate. Those deep pools of warm chocolatey brown were way too distracting. 'John, do you mind if we just take this very slow.'
'Uh-uh.' After five long years of waiting, he was happy to have her on any level. Besides, there was something else he had to tell her. Nowhere near as bad as his addiction by any stretch of the imagination, but just as earth-shattering, if not more. 'Anna, there's something I have to tell you.'
'You a woman underneath those pants, John?'
He smiled. 'No. It's, um, well, I'm not exactly sure how to say it, but anyway, it's this. I'm a father.'
'A what?' She almost spat out the mouthful of water that she had unwittingly taken. 'Since when?'
'For almost eighteen years, as it turns out. But I didn't know until a few weeks ago. It was a high school fling. She never told me. She died just down the hall in trauma.' He reiterated the whole story for what seemed like the hundredth time. Anna nodded.
'Hell… you… an eighteen-year-old daughter.'
'When I found out, it was kinda like Chase, y'know?' he asked. 'When I tried to detox him. The first part. Without you. I was in way over my head. Only this time, I didn't have you turn up at my door to save my ass. And the outcome was much better.' In the last few days, since she had broken down, things had become much more relaxed and less pretentious between them. She had laughed at his jazz collection, and he in turn had given her his candid opinion of her music. Last night, despite Carter's protestations that it was a chick flick, they had rented 'Pretty Woman'. She was horrified that he had never seen it before, and in the end he had gone as far as to admit that it was quite good. What he suspected had shocked Kat more had been his words as the credits rolled.
'I'm like her. Vivien.'
'How come?' she asked, joking, 'You're not a hooker, are you?'
When they had finished laughing at the image of John Truman Carter the Third as a hooker, he had admitted simply to his daughter, 'I want the fairytale.'
He became aware of Anna snapping her fingers in front of his face. 'Hey! John! Pizza!'
'Pizza? I could eat some pizza. Where?'
'Admit desk. Get going before they eat it all.' At the mention of pizza, Carter leapt up and raced outside. Anna followed close behind him, and neither was prepared for the sight that greeted them. The admit desk was covered in food - pizza boxes included, but the centerpiece was a cake declaring, "Welcome Back, Dr Del Amico".
'Wow.' Carter admired it. 'Where'd you guys get a cake at this time of the morning?'
'We have our sources,' Deb informed him.
'You guys!' Anna was starting to look teary. To avoid a full-blown waterworks, she blew her nose and said cheerfully, 'Okay, let's get stuck in.'
'You know,' Mark said, helping himself to a slice of pepperoni. 'Kerry'd kill us if she knew about this.'
'Naah.' Carter disagreed. 'We're quite… there're still no patients? So okay, we're comatose. She wouldn't mind.'
Mark looked unsure, but was saved from a complex argument about the merits of Kerry Weaver by two sets of footsteps and a pair of familiar female voices. Abby Lockhart and Elizabeth Corday.
'We heard there was a party,' Abby said, kissing her fiance.
'Yeah,' added Elizabeth. 'Hope you didn't think we were going to miss out on it.'
'We would never do that,' Luka reassured her, slightly unconvincingly.
'No?' Abby began going through the boxes of pizza methodically. 'Didn't we get any anchovy?'
'Eeeew.' The response was united from the whole ER staff. Their opinion, and they made no attempt to hide it, was that anchovy pizza was the spawn of Satan, the root of all evil, call it what you like. Bad.
'We have chicken. Um, tuna, pepperoni, ham, veggie, spicy sausage…' Elizabeth ignored Deb's recitation of the pizzas. She had spotted a carton of Cherry Garcia ice cream, helped herself to a spoon, and sat on the desk.
'Who invited surgery and OB down here, anyway.'
'I spend enough time down here to count,' Elizabeth replied between mouthfuls of ice cream. She had got addicted to this while she was pregnant with Ella, and couldn't seem to wean herself off it. Not that she would want to, it was way too nice.
'I was an ER nurse for two years, and I didn't bring Dr Coburn with me, which if you'd really wanted something to complain about…' Abby was cut off abruptly by the phone ringing. Anna, being that she was sitting practically on top of it, answered. A voice, hesitant and unsure, came back at her.
'Is this County General?'
Anna would have recognized that voice anywhere in the world. 'Carol? It's Anna, I'm back in Chicago… yes, for good.' She glanced at the clock on the wall. It would be a little after eleven in Seattle. 'We're all here, there're no patients. The rain must have scared them off… yeah, hold on, I'll put you on speakerphone.'
For ten minutes, the staff talked to Carol until she hung up reluctantly, pointing out that it was long distance and she was tying up an ER line anyway. Anna sat back and chewed her pizza, looking round at her friends. Malik told a bad joke and got bombarded with pizza crust and cups for his troubles. Yosh brought out gingerbread men - definitely, she noted with a wry smile, men. Same old Yosh. Suddenly it hit her. What she had come back to Chicago for. This was what she had missed. The cameraderie, the laughter, the collegiate ribbing. The meaningless, inane, good conversation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Chapter 6 will be forthcoming, probably within the next couple of days… sometime between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Maybe earlier, definitely not later. We get out of the hospital and jump three months to April. Okay… I got lots of lovely reviews when I posted the first two chapters and it was at the top of the 'Sort by New Stories' list. Then, when I posted the second two, I got one (thanks, Thena). People who are reading, take careful note. See the pretty box underneath this rant? Yeah? It's for reviews. ::shrugs:: I'm an author, I like my feedback, what can I say? Go, review!