(I'd like to start by thanking everybody for the positive feedback. I realise I've taken liberties with the characters' "impulsiveness". This IS wish-fulfilment on my part, but don't we all just wish they'd shut up and get on with it anyway? Hope that you like this instalment, and I promise you that I will get Carter and Abby to the reception eventually.)



Part 7

"Abby, did you get those blood tests on the guy in 4?"

Abby swung around to see Susan Lewis flicking through a chart at the nurses station. She hadn't looked up as she spoke so Abby hoped that she had not noticed her twisting the ring on her finger and secretly smiling to herself, something she had caught herself doing quite a few times in the last couple of hours. Luckily they were fairly busy so she didn't think that anybody really noticed that she was in a dream world.

"Ah, no, the labs pretty backed up at the moment. Want me to chase them up for you?"

"No, don't worry, I'll get them myself. The patient just added another symptom to his ever increasing list so I'm not expecting it to be anything serious. If you could just check his name against the 'Turkey File' I bet we'll find something in there that can help with the diagnosis!"

"Sure thing," said Abby, reaching under the desk to pull out a giant black ring binder bulging with loose bits of paper. "I bet that cute new lab technician has nothing to do with your eagerness to check up on a turkey…" she added slyly.

"I don't know what you're implying!" Susan laughed over her shoulder as she walked away.

Abby smiled after her. She and Susan had become quite good friends since that day at the sexual harassment seminar in March. They would go for Coffee sometimes when they were on together, and most of the time they worked up the same patients. Abby hadn't wanted to admit that she had been the one to hold back from the older woman's overtures of friendship because she was jealous, but it couldn't be denied that since Susan and John had split up their friendship had blossomed.

Abby was busting to tell somebody about the marriage, and Susan was the nearest thing to a girl-friend she had, but she didn't know if Susan would be hurt that she hadn't told her anything about her relationship with John, or even if Susan still harboured feelings for him herself. That would definitely put a strain on the friendship. She'd have to talk about it with John later; she still hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet as the ER was so busy. Every time she saw him walking towards her, a huge smile on his face, Dr Weaver would come along and drag him into an incoming trauma, leaving her sighing in frustration as she was assigned to a different case.

"Oooh, girl, what is that thing on your finger?" Haleh came up behind Abby and grabbed hold of her left hand as she was turning pages in the Turkey file.

"What, you mean this ring? Ah…I found it in a store today and bought it. It was an impulse buy. You like it?" Abby was slightly flustered by the attack, but she hoped she covered it well enough. Haleh was not to be put off by this, though, and continued to probe further.

"Then how come you're wearing it on your wedding finger? You get engaged or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that. This was just the only finger it fit comfortably on, and as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it and knew it was the one for me, so I got it." (That wasn't a lie, she HAD fallen in love with it the moment she saw it in the shop) "I didn't think there would be any harm in wearing it on this finger as I'm not going to be seeing many of these patients again so there's not any harm if they think I'm married, is there?" Haleh was giving her a look that said she wasn't taking a word of it. God, Abby thought, why can't I stop talking?

"Come on, spill it, you've got a man that you're not telling us about haven't you?"

"No, I haven't!"

"It's OK, I understand, you don't want Dr Carter or Dr Kovac to find out about it in case they get all funny again. The trouble you have with the two of them I'm not surprised. I'm glad you've found yourself somebody else 'cause they were just driving you and everybody else in this place crazy. Don't you worry now," she added, patting Abby's hand, "I won't breathe a word to a soul. Just you make sure I get an invitation to the wedding!"

Saying this she walked away. Abby hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise. She laughed at the absurdity of Haleh's assumptions, and at the fact that she and Carter had obviously been more successful than they'd thought in hiding their relationship from the hospital gossips if Haleh hadn't automatically assumed he was the man in her life.

(Inexact amount of time later)

"Hey, Abby, you busy?"

His head popped round the corner of the suture room where Abby was helping Gallant stitch up a little girl with a head-lac who had fallen out of her bunkbed.

"Um, no," she looked over at Gallant who gave her a slight nod to show he had finished. "All done here. What did you want?"

"I'm on a break and wondered if you wanted to join me for a cup of coffee?"

She wondered why he was being so formal, then realised that it was probably because there was somebody else in the room. She gave him a bright smile.

"Sure, meet you in the Lounge in 5 minutes?"

"Great." Carter turned away and walked towards the Lounge. She wondered what sort of little rendezvous he had arranged. They only had a few hours left before they could go home and enjoy their honeymoon, but this would be their first real time together since the shift had started. She ripped off her gloves and almost ran to the Lounge, a huge smile on her face as she prepared to throw herself into Carter's waiting arms. She was not prepared for what awaited her, and to say it was a shock was an understatement…

"SURPRISE!"



(Contrived, I know. I had most of this Chapter written already so I've just rushed it out. I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies. I may change this later to add a healthy amount of Luka-bashing, but I could see the story going on forever if I did! I think everything will come out in the next Chapter, which you can expect some time next week.)