Author's Notes: This is the last proper chapter of this fic (epilogue withstanding), and I have to say I've enjoyed writing it moreso than any of my other fics.
Thanks: Major, major, major kudos to Drumski for being a wonderful beta and putting up with me asking her to read every half-written chapter and tell me how to finish it, this fic is pretty much half yours... well lets say 10% ;) Also big thanks to everyone at the Carby board, you all know who you are ;)
Summary: It's July, it's hot, and the baby is coming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8 - The Road
****
July 2002
****
He walked around half-heartedly. Listening to nurses, patients, heartbeats, chests. Mumbling orders for medication or diagnosis or words of comfort. It would seem to anyone that John Carter had lost his passion for his profession. Far from the truth.
It was almost time. Almost time for when he would get the call, the pager they bought especially would sound, everyone would smile. People would pat him on the back and wish him luck. Off he would trot, a special spring in his step as the long journey he had been on would finally come to a stop. The road he was travelling down was coming to an end. Any day now.
He rubbed his eyes and grimaced, sitting outside in the cold, waiting for yet another ambulance to come in. His hand moved over his rough, unshaven face. He shouldn't have been working, why did he agree to take on shifts when he knew that he would get the call in the middle of one. The baby wasn't exactly specific on when it was planning on making an appearance. He shook his head, knowing exactly why he was working. Abby had kicked him out of the house. Constant questions and fussing had driven her to the brink of insanity and Carter, understandably, felt Abby's wrath. He chuckled as he remembered her exact words, "if you don't go to work for a few days and get out of my face I'm going to have to kick your ass!" Abby, already being an emotional person, was especially grouchy when she had a mood swing. Hell, she could probably be the definition for mood swing. There would be a picture of her scowling next to the words. He would never forget that scowl, he wouldn't have missed it for the world.
****
Another hour, another patient. There was still no sign of the end of the shift, and still no sign of the baby. He found his hand wandering to his back pocket every five minutes to make sure he had it on the loudest setting possible, and to check if he had been beeped even though he knew that everything was set-up as it should've been. Abby had set the pager, she had given it to him, and it wasn't going to screw up.
He looked down at himself to see he was covered in a patient's vomit, and two nurses were smiling at him, laughing at the fact that he had been barfed on and he hadn't noticed. They couldn't blame him. Everything seemed too good to be true at the moment. He was half expecting to wake up.
He walked out of the curtain area with his arms held out by his sides, he could hear the laughter coming at him from the admit desk. He mumbled excuses and said he was going to the lounge to clean up. Walking in he was met with amused faces from Luka and Deb, and he mock-laughed with them. Enough of this, he wasn't going to wear uncomfortable scrubs for the rest of the shift, he was going home to change. It was about time he took a break anyway. He wiped as much vomit off his clothes as he could and marched out of the ER, shouting to Kerry that he was going to take a shower. Nobody stopped him.
Walking through the door of the apartment he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was. Usually when he came in through the door he would be met with all manner of sounds. Abby would sometimes be singing, dancing, sometimes talking on the phone to her mother, or stomping around the place complaining that there was no chocolate fudge ice cream. This time it was quiet, too quiet. Oh god... she had left him.... Oh god... he should have remembered to buy that ice cream... Oh god... the baby was coming. He whipped his pager out from his back pocket to be met with a blank screen. Breathe John. Abby was at Susan's, he knew she was at Susan's. It was the first thing she told him when he woke up, and the last thing she told him when he left. Abby was at Susan's. Be calm.
****
He stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed his now smooth cheeks. Stupid patients, why couldn't they ever do it in the basins. That's what they were there for. Instead, every patient who threw up, threw up on him. Of course John Carter being the neat freak he was would just throw the shirts in with the rest of the wash. He wouldn't make that mistake again. Abby throwing a wash basket at him when he got in from work was something you wouldn't want a repeat performance of. It turned out she didn't really enjoy pulling apart all the clothes that were stuck together because of patients not being able to hold their stomachs.
He fumbled around his wardrobe for clean clothes and chuckled to himself. Any one who was a spectator to their relationship would have sworn they couldn't stand to be in the same room together. That, of course, was a million miles from reality. He loved her, he loved everything about her and yes, he even loved her when she was throwing wash baskets at his head. It was unavoidable, he always managed to do something to set her off in the course of a day but it didn't matter. They always ended up wrapped in each other's arms in front of the TV every night. Everything about the way they were together was perfect. He wouldn't want to change a thing.
Driving back to the ER his mood shifted suddenly. Something wasn't right, he didn't know what but something was off. He looked around the dashboard and looked at himself in the wing mirror. Nope, he always looked that bad, it was something else. He shifted his weight and froze, instead of feeling the lump in his back pocket, pointing and digging into him he felt.... nothing. Oh shit... the pager.
He fumbled with the front door keys and cursed loudly when he predictably dropped them. He practically kicked the door down and ran to the bedside cabinet. Where was that damn pager? He was searching around somewhat desperately, looking in places that no 'normal' person would keep a pager. Oh god... what if he had lost it?
He froze and his face went pale as he heard the shrill beeping.
He looked around frantically, searching for the source of the noise. The wash basket... that stupid wash basket. He plunged his hands into the mess of dirty underpants and his vomit stained shirt until he pulled out the pair of trousers that were beeping. He pulled out the pager and felt it vibrate in his hands. It was time.
****
Running into the ER, Carter looked around hurriedly to see a familiar face. Haleh walked past and shot him a smile. "She's up in OB Carter. What are you doing down here?"
He bolted up the stairs, not waiting to hear calls of good luck being thrown at him as he ran. Bodies meandering up the stairs were almost thrown aside as he sprinted, calling out apologies as he went. He couldn't even remember what floor OB was on, he was so excited he couldn't really remember much of anything.
He made it to the front desk and slammed his hands down, forcing himself to a stop. He breathed heavily, hunching over the desk, unaware that the receptionist was giving him a curious look.
"Can I help you sir?"
Carter's head lifted quickly, "Yes, Lockhart... Abigail Lockhart... she should be here."
The receptionist typed in a few details onto her computer and looked up, "and you are?"
"I'm the father."
She looked back at her computer screen, "she's in room 7. Look's like you got here just in..." she stopped mid-sentence, Carter was already gone.
"Thank you!" he called out as he looked around for room 7. Just in time, just in time. He prayed that he hadn't missed anything.
The words, 'Room 7' stared back at him out of nowhere, and he pushed the door open quickly. Abby was in mid-contraction, Susan was standing beside the bed holding her hand. Carter was standing, staring, dumbstruck.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Snapped him back out of his thoughts and he rushed over to Abby's side and wrapped his hand around hers.
"I'm sorry, I'm almost lost the pager."
Abby replied between breaths, "you... almost... lost it?"
Carter shook his head, "Shh Abby shh," he said stroking her forehead, "It doesn't matter now. I'm here and we're having the baby, that's all that matters."
"We?"
"Ok you. You're having our baby," he laughed and kissed her on the head. "How's she doing?" He asked glancing across at Susan.
"Fine, no problems, everything is going as it should. You certainly took your time getting here. We paged you fifteen minutes ago."
"Long story," Carter looked at Abby, "how are you?"
"How do you think?" Abby replied without looking at him. Carter and Susan smiled at each other.
John moved round so he was facing her, "I think you are doing just fine," he paused a beat before adding, "I really love you... you know that right?"
Abby smiled and kissed him, "I know... oh shit!"
"What?"
"Contraction," Abby replied through clenched teeth. She held onto Carter and Susan's hands tightly, while they both told her to breathe.
****
"Ok Abby push!" The doctor said as the nurses stood behind her assisting.
"C'mon honey you can do it," Carter said holding onto her hand.
"No I can't!" Abby shouted back.
"Yes you can Abby, you can do this."
The doctor looked up at them, "ok Abby, just one more and we'll have this baby out. Are you ready? Push" Abby obliged and it wasn't long before they heard a shrill cry break into the air. Abby, Carter and Susan all beamed. "Congratulations Abby you have a baby girl."
Carter and Abby smiled at each other and kissed while Susan walked forward to see the newborn. "Hey guys, what's her name?"
They both looked at each other, "spur of the moment Abby, just like you wanted."
"Are you sure?"
"You did all the hard work."
Abby thought for a beat before smiling, "Emily... Emily Carter."
Carter kissed the top of her head, "it's perfect, our little Emily." The doctor handed the baby to Abby and the three of them sat in a small huddle. Susan slowly made her way out to give them a moment alone and to spread the good news to the ER. She walked down the stairs slowly, carefully stepping past people coming up in the opposite direction and rested on the admit desk.
The nurses quickly gathered around. "How are they?"
Susan smiled, "they're a family."
Thanks: Major, major, major kudos to Drumski for being a wonderful beta and putting up with me asking her to read every half-written chapter and tell me how to finish it, this fic is pretty much half yours... well lets say 10% ;) Also big thanks to everyone at the Carby board, you all know who you are ;)
Summary: It's July, it's hot, and the baby is coming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8 - The Road
****
July 2002
****
He walked around half-heartedly. Listening to nurses, patients, heartbeats, chests. Mumbling orders for medication or diagnosis or words of comfort. It would seem to anyone that John Carter had lost his passion for his profession. Far from the truth.
It was almost time. Almost time for when he would get the call, the pager they bought especially would sound, everyone would smile. People would pat him on the back and wish him luck. Off he would trot, a special spring in his step as the long journey he had been on would finally come to a stop. The road he was travelling down was coming to an end. Any day now.
He rubbed his eyes and grimaced, sitting outside in the cold, waiting for yet another ambulance to come in. His hand moved over his rough, unshaven face. He shouldn't have been working, why did he agree to take on shifts when he knew that he would get the call in the middle of one. The baby wasn't exactly specific on when it was planning on making an appearance. He shook his head, knowing exactly why he was working. Abby had kicked him out of the house. Constant questions and fussing had driven her to the brink of insanity and Carter, understandably, felt Abby's wrath. He chuckled as he remembered her exact words, "if you don't go to work for a few days and get out of my face I'm going to have to kick your ass!" Abby, already being an emotional person, was especially grouchy when she had a mood swing. Hell, she could probably be the definition for mood swing. There would be a picture of her scowling next to the words. He would never forget that scowl, he wouldn't have missed it for the world.
****
Another hour, another patient. There was still no sign of the end of the shift, and still no sign of the baby. He found his hand wandering to his back pocket every five minutes to make sure he had it on the loudest setting possible, and to check if he had been beeped even though he knew that everything was set-up as it should've been. Abby had set the pager, she had given it to him, and it wasn't going to screw up.
He looked down at himself to see he was covered in a patient's vomit, and two nurses were smiling at him, laughing at the fact that he had been barfed on and he hadn't noticed. They couldn't blame him. Everything seemed too good to be true at the moment. He was half expecting to wake up.
He walked out of the curtain area with his arms held out by his sides, he could hear the laughter coming at him from the admit desk. He mumbled excuses and said he was going to the lounge to clean up. Walking in he was met with amused faces from Luka and Deb, and he mock-laughed with them. Enough of this, he wasn't going to wear uncomfortable scrubs for the rest of the shift, he was going home to change. It was about time he took a break anyway. He wiped as much vomit off his clothes as he could and marched out of the ER, shouting to Kerry that he was going to take a shower. Nobody stopped him.
Walking through the door of the apartment he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was. Usually when he came in through the door he would be met with all manner of sounds. Abby would sometimes be singing, dancing, sometimes talking on the phone to her mother, or stomping around the place complaining that there was no chocolate fudge ice cream. This time it was quiet, too quiet. Oh god... she had left him.... Oh god... he should have remembered to buy that ice cream... Oh god... the baby was coming. He whipped his pager out from his back pocket to be met with a blank screen. Breathe John. Abby was at Susan's, he knew she was at Susan's. It was the first thing she told him when he woke up, and the last thing she told him when he left. Abby was at Susan's. Be calm.
****
He stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed his now smooth cheeks. Stupid patients, why couldn't they ever do it in the basins. That's what they were there for. Instead, every patient who threw up, threw up on him. Of course John Carter being the neat freak he was would just throw the shirts in with the rest of the wash. He wouldn't make that mistake again. Abby throwing a wash basket at him when he got in from work was something you wouldn't want a repeat performance of. It turned out she didn't really enjoy pulling apart all the clothes that were stuck together because of patients not being able to hold their stomachs.
He fumbled around his wardrobe for clean clothes and chuckled to himself. Any one who was a spectator to their relationship would have sworn they couldn't stand to be in the same room together. That, of course, was a million miles from reality. He loved her, he loved everything about her and yes, he even loved her when she was throwing wash baskets at his head. It was unavoidable, he always managed to do something to set her off in the course of a day but it didn't matter. They always ended up wrapped in each other's arms in front of the TV every night. Everything about the way they were together was perfect. He wouldn't want to change a thing.
Driving back to the ER his mood shifted suddenly. Something wasn't right, he didn't know what but something was off. He looked around the dashboard and looked at himself in the wing mirror. Nope, he always looked that bad, it was something else. He shifted his weight and froze, instead of feeling the lump in his back pocket, pointing and digging into him he felt.... nothing. Oh shit... the pager.
He fumbled with the front door keys and cursed loudly when he predictably dropped them. He practically kicked the door down and ran to the bedside cabinet. Where was that damn pager? He was searching around somewhat desperately, looking in places that no 'normal' person would keep a pager. Oh god... what if he had lost it?
He froze and his face went pale as he heard the shrill beeping.
He looked around frantically, searching for the source of the noise. The wash basket... that stupid wash basket. He plunged his hands into the mess of dirty underpants and his vomit stained shirt until he pulled out the pair of trousers that were beeping. He pulled out the pager and felt it vibrate in his hands. It was time.
****
Running into the ER, Carter looked around hurriedly to see a familiar face. Haleh walked past and shot him a smile. "She's up in OB Carter. What are you doing down here?"
He bolted up the stairs, not waiting to hear calls of good luck being thrown at him as he ran. Bodies meandering up the stairs were almost thrown aside as he sprinted, calling out apologies as he went. He couldn't even remember what floor OB was on, he was so excited he couldn't really remember much of anything.
He made it to the front desk and slammed his hands down, forcing himself to a stop. He breathed heavily, hunching over the desk, unaware that the receptionist was giving him a curious look.
"Can I help you sir?"
Carter's head lifted quickly, "Yes, Lockhart... Abigail Lockhart... she should be here."
The receptionist typed in a few details onto her computer and looked up, "and you are?"
"I'm the father."
She looked back at her computer screen, "she's in room 7. Look's like you got here just in..." she stopped mid-sentence, Carter was already gone.
"Thank you!" he called out as he looked around for room 7. Just in time, just in time. He prayed that he hadn't missed anything.
The words, 'Room 7' stared back at him out of nowhere, and he pushed the door open quickly. Abby was in mid-contraction, Susan was standing beside the bed holding her hand. Carter was standing, staring, dumbstruck.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Snapped him back out of his thoughts and he rushed over to Abby's side and wrapped his hand around hers.
"I'm sorry, I'm almost lost the pager."
Abby replied between breaths, "you... almost... lost it?"
Carter shook his head, "Shh Abby shh," he said stroking her forehead, "It doesn't matter now. I'm here and we're having the baby, that's all that matters."
"We?"
"Ok you. You're having our baby," he laughed and kissed her on the head. "How's she doing?" He asked glancing across at Susan.
"Fine, no problems, everything is going as it should. You certainly took your time getting here. We paged you fifteen minutes ago."
"Long story," Carter looked at Abby, "how are you?"
"How do you think?" Abby replied without looking at him. Carter and Susan smiled at each other.
John moved round so he was facing her, "I think you are doing just fine," he paused a beat before adding, "I really love you... you know that right?"
Abby smiled and kissed him, "I know... oh shit!"
"What?"
"Contraction," Abby replied through clenched teeth. She held onto Carter and Susan's hands tightly, while they both told her to breathe.
****
"Ok Abby push!" The doctor said as the nurses stood behind her assisting.
"C'mon honey you can do it," Carter said holding onto her hand.
"No I can't!" Abby shouted back.
"Yes you can Abby, you can do this."
The doctor looked up at them, "ok Abby, just one more and we'll have this baby out. Are you ready? Push" Abby obliged and it wasn't long before they heard a shrill cry break into the air. Abby, Carter and Susan all beamed. "Congratulations Abby you have a baby girl."
Carter and Abby smiled at each other and kissed while Susan walked forward to see the newborn. "Hey guys, what's her name?"
They both looked at each other, "spur of the moment Abby, just like you wanted."
"Are you sure?"
"You did all the hard work."
Abby thought for a beat before smiling, "Emily... Emily Carter."
Carter kissed the top of her head, "it's perfect, our little Emily." The doctor handed the baby to Abby and the three of them sat in a small huddle. Susan slowly made her way out to give them a moment alone and to spread the good news to the ER. She walked down the stairs slowly, carefully stepping past people coming up in the opposite direction and rested on the admit desk.
The nurses quickly gathered around. "How are they?"
Susan smiled, "they're a family."
