Wow, this has been a long time.I'm so sorry! I've been gradually writing
this part since the last one was posted, but what with school work and
everything I haven't had many chances to sit down and just write a big
load. But this part's done now! :) Only two more chapters to go after this
one! :-o
PART TEN-
Carter stood in front of the mirror, running a hand through his hair, and straightening his tie. He wished Abby was here, to playfully pull on his tie, and then reprimand him for being untidy like she usually did. He hadn't been able to contact her, however. She wasn't staying with Susan, or anyone else likely. He'd tried calling her cell phone, but she either didn't have it or wasn't answering. But they had the same shift today, he just hoped she hadn't changed. If he didn't hear anything from her or about her at work, he knew he'd have to consider contacting the police. That was something he didn't want to have to do, but it may be necessary.
Walking out onto the landing he called to Jess and Harry to come for school, and then made his way downstairs. As he picked his coat up he could hear two pairs of feet clattering down the stairs. They both grabbed their coats and bags, and stood waiting for him at the door. Carter grabbed his keys, and opened the door to let them out.
"Where's Mummy?" Harry asked as they walked to the car.
"I told you last night, she had to go away because of something."
"Oh." He didn't question his father's answer until they were in the car and driving along. "Where's she gone?"
"To stay somewhere."
"But where?" he seemed concerned now.
"You ask too many questions, young man!" Carter tried to joke the real situation away.
"Is she going to come home?"
"Of course she's coming home," he snapped, more forcefully than he'd meant to. This brought the conversation to a sudden end, leaving an awkward silence.
Carter pulled up outside Jess' school, and he finally spoke. "Have a nice day sweetie."
"Do you think you should come talk to the Principal?" she asked, still sitting in her seat.
"Why?"
"They're supposed to know about any medical conditions," she explained, biting on her lip.
"Can it wait till tomorrow?" He didn't want to do this, and he needed time to figure out what to say. "We'll know about the medication by then."
"They should know." He sighed, nodding. "If I have a manic or depressive episode, they need to know what's going on." He couldn't believe this: Jess was being the most grown up about this out of all of them. He opened the car door and stepped out, ready to face the Principal.
*** "Dad, can Mummy pick me up from school?" Harry asked as Carter walked him across the playground to his classroom.
"I don't know Harry. She might not be free."
"Mummy doesn't love us anymore, does she?" he asked, a tear rolling down his cheek. "That's why she left. And she's not gonna come back, is she?"
"Of course she loves us!" Carter stopped and bent down so that he was at his son's level. "She's just a little upset, that's all."
"So she'll come back when she's happy?"
"Yeah, that's it. And she's coming back real soon." He took a hankie out of his pocket and wiped away Harry's tears. "Now you cheer up, and enjoy yourself at school, and we might be able to find some ice cream later."
"Make her happy Daddy," he said, beginning to walk again. "I miss her already. I want my Mummy back."
*** "Abby, could you do some sutures for Carter's patient in curtain four?" Haleh asked, walking past her. Abby quickly looked around her, wondering how she could get out of this. Susan walked past at that moment, so she took the opportunity.
"Hey, Susan, could you use a hand?"
"I could do with a CBC and tox screen on the weirdo in two, if you've got a moment."
"Yeah, sure," she smiled, and then turned to Haleh. "Sorry Haleh, Carter will have to find someone else." Susan led her to curtain two, where she collected the bloods necessary for the tests.
"Abby, are you avoiding Carter?" Susan asked, as they walked back to admit to order the tests.
"No, of course not," she answered firmly, determined not to show any emotion.
"Then why wouldn't you do those sutures that Haleh asked you to do? And earlier you seemed very eager to deal with the projectile vomiting when Carter turned up at admit." Abby shrugged.
"I felt guilty for always avoiding the projectile vomiting."
"You don't fool me that easily." Susan lead her into the Doctor's Lounge, glad to see no one else was in there. "I know you, and I know Carter, and I can tell there's something up. Tell me what's going on Abby."
"Why is something wrong?" She couldn't stop herself from shouting now. "If we spend two seconds apart everyone thinks something's up! I don't have to spend my whole life around him; every second of every day doesn't have to be taken up with 'Carter, Carter, Carter.' I'm perfectly capable of doing things without his guidance, you know." Susan looked at her, unsure of how to respond. There was definitely something wrong.
"Just talk to me about it."
"I think I have some tests to order for your patient," she said coldly, storming out of the Lounge. Susan sank down into a chair. She was worried about her friends, and she wanted to do something to help. But if Abby wasn't going to talk to her, what was there she could do? She didn't know what was happening: all she knew was that something was seriously wrong in the Carter household.
*** "Time of death, 12:34," Carter said, pulling his gloves and gown off. He pushed open the double doors and walked out into admit.
"Hey Carter, how's the GSW doing?" Susan asked, approaching him.
"I just declared him."
"Oh." She paused. "Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure, but is it gonna take long? I was hoping to take a break."
"Well, I'm due one too. How about we take our conversation to Doc Magoo's?" He nodded, smiling.
"Sounds good enough to me."
*** "What's going on Carter?" Susan asked bluntly.
"What?"
"You and Abby have been avoiding each other all morning," she explained.
"Well, that's not entirely true," he defended. "Abby's been avoiding me. I've been trying my best to find her!"
"Why?" she enquired, before taking a sip of her coffee. "Did you guys argue?"
"Not exactly."
"No exactly meaning.?"
"She left us."
"She WHAT?" Susan yelled.
"Hey, don't shout it to the whole world."
"But you two are, like, attached at the hip. Abby wouldn't leave you!"
"Yeah, well she did last night." He sighed sadly. They sat in silence, each sipping at their coffee, unsure what to say now.
"Wh.why?" Susan finally asked.
"We got a letter yesterday, telling us that." he stopped, not wanting to say it. No, be strong, he thought to himself. Jess is being strong, so you be strong. "That Jessie's bipolar."
"Oh, Carter." She reached out and took his hand. She didn't know what else to do, or what to say. She couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through right now. "So Abby ran away because Jess is bipolar?"
"She's scared," he defended his wife. She may have left, but he still loved her. "I don't know if she's going to come back. I keep telling myself and the kids that she is, but I don't know."
"If she really wanted to get away, she'd be half way around the world by now. I think it's temporary, Carter." She sighed. "And I know that she loves you just as much as you love her. Which is an awful lot."
"What she's done though.she's left me to cope with this on my own. How can she think I can do this without her? This morning, I had to go in to see Jess' principal, and explain to him that my daughter has bipolar disorder. Something Abby should have been there for. And then I had to reassure Harry that Abby still loves him - he thinks his mother's left him, and I don't think what I said can persuade him otherwise."
"You have to talk to her," Susan squeezed his hand gently. "Don't throw away the best woman you're ever going to get, the only woman you're ever going to love, over this." He smiled sadly at her.
"Yeah. I want my wife back."
*** "Fancy pouring a poor, tired doctor a cup of coffee?" Susan asked, walking into the lounge and seeing Abby with the coffee pot in hand. She nodded, and a few minutes later took a mug over to Susan. "Thanks." She smiled at Abby, getting ready to talk to her. Sitting down on the sofa, she started to talk. "Abby, I'm sorry about Jess."
"What about her?" she said quietly, sipping at her coffee.
"Don't do this Abby."
"What am I doing?"
"I talked to Carter, okay?"
"Oh, that's nice." Susan could say that Abby wasn't going to let her do this the easy way.
"Why did you leave them, Abby?"
"I don't think that's any of your business," she replied, walking over to the sink and pouring the rest of her coffee down the sink, ready to leave. "Anyway, why are you interrogating me today? You really should learn to be less nosy." She made her way to the door, but Susan quickly got up and blocked her path.
"You're scared, I know. I would be too. But Carter's scared as well, and Jessie most certainly is! Can't you see what you're doing to them Abby?"
"I can't be around her Susan, I'll make everything so much worse. Everything with my mother.I always seem to upset her. They'll manage better without me getting in the way."
"You're not in the way, you're her mother!"
"What do you know?" Abby whispered angrily, turning to the lockers since it was obvious Susan wasn't letting her leave.
"Why are you still here then?"
"I beg your pardon?" she turned back towards her, unsure what was meant.
"Why are you still at County, why are you still in Chicago. If you want to leave them, why are you where they can find you?"
"I can't just up and leave."
"But that's what you've done. Why not go the whole way to ensure they're not going to find you, and get themselves 'hurt' some more?"
"I am NOT having this conversation with you," she cried, slamming her locker door open, and randomly rearranging the contents.
"Why not Abby? There must be a reason." Her question was greeted with silence. "Well, if you can't go the whole way, why not go back?"
"Just leave it Susan. I thought you were a good friend, but I guess I was wrong."
"And I thought you loved Carter."
"I do love him. That's why I left." She walked back towards Susan. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to work." Susan reluctantly stepped aside, sighing. What could she do?
*** "Harry's at football till half four, yeah?" Carter asked Jess as they walked into the doctor's lounge.
"Yeah. He doesn't normally finish till about 20 to five though." He nodded, and motioned for her to sit down on the sofa.
"Orange juice?" She nodded.
"Is Mum around?" she asked, scared of what the answer might be.
"Somewhere. I haven't really seen her today."
"Are you avoiding her?" He shook his head, handing her the glass of orange juice. "She's avoiding you?"
"Yeah, that's about it. Susan tried talking to her, but she just got mad."
"It's all my fault," she whispered, staring into the top of the glass.
"No Jess, it's not."
"It's because of me that she's gone though."
"It's because of her that she's gone. It's none of our faults, it's just the way your Mum is."
"Perhaps she should grow up a bit then," Jess sniffed. "Do you think she's going to come back?" He paused, thinking what to say. "Answer me truthfully Daddy. I want to know the truth."
"Baby, I promise you that I am going to make sure your Mum comes back. Do you understand me?" She nodded, smiling weakly. "I'm going to have to get back to work in a minute, so if you just."
He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and they both turned towards it. "Mum!" Jess exclaimed when she saw Abby standing in the doorway. Abby turned around to walk out again, but Carter quickly stopped her.
"Jess, will you give us a minute please?" She nodded, and hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied curtly.
"Where did you go last night, Abby?"
"None of your business."
"I'm your husband, I love you, I think it's my business!" he exclaimed, angry with her.
"In case you hadn't noticed, I left you last night."
"Yeah, kinda hard to miss. Didn't you think about how I'd feel about this? And what about the kids?"
"They'll be fine," she said, shrugging. "Kids bounce back. Just give them a bit of time, it won't matter to them."
"It won't matter? Is that why Jess was just crying, and this morning Harry asked me if his Mum still loves him? Abby, think about what you're doing!"
"I have thought about it."
"No, you've thought about yourself. You haven't given any consideration to how Jess, Harry and I will feel."
"Like I told Susan, and I'm sure she's reported back to you, I'm making things better for you. This way you won't have to manage with me being an awful mother to Jess because I can't cope."
"We just have to manage with losing you?" he snapped. "I made a promise to you Abby, to love you 'til death do us part. And I do! But you made that same promise."
"I do love you. But I thought I'd explained that - that's the reason I'm leaving, because I love all three of you."
"Well, I don't think that's exactly what the wedding vows had in mind," he said quietly. "Look, I booked an appointment to see the psychiatrist tonight, to sort out Jess' medication. It's at 7:20 with Dr. Renolds. Come along."
"I can't John, I can't," she said, sitting down on the sofa.
"Just think about it, okay?" She nodded, and he wrote the details down on a bit of paper that he handed to her. "Look after yourself, okay?"
***
PART TEN-
Carter stood in front of the mirror, running a hand through his hair, and straightening his tie. He wished Abby was here, to playfully pull on his tie, and then reprimand him for being untidy like she usually did. He hadn't been able to contact her, however. She wasn't staying with Susan, or anyone else likely. He'd tried calling her cell phone, but she either didn't have it or wasn't answering. But they had the same shift today, he just hoped she hadn't changed. If he didn't hear anything from her or about her at work, he knew he'd have to consider contacting the police. That was something he didn't want to have to do, but it may be necessary.
Walking out onto the landing he called to Jess and Harry to come for school, and then made his way downstairs. As he picked his coat up he could hear two pairs of feet clattering down the stairs. They both grabbed their coats and bags, and stood waiting for him at the door. Carter grabbed his keys, and opened the door to let them out.
"Where's Mummy?" Harry asked as they walked to the car.
"I told you last night, she had to go away because of something."
"Oh." He didn't question his father's answer until they were in the car and driving along. "Where's she gone?"
"To stay somewhere."
"But where?" he seemed concerned now.
"You ask too many questions, young man!" Carter tried to joke the real situation away.
"Is she going to come home?"
"Of course she's coming home," he snapped, more forcefully than he'd meant to. This brought the conversation to a sudden end, leaving an awkward silence.
Carter pulled up outside Jess' school, and he finally spoke. "Have a nice day sweetie."
"Do you think you should come talk to the Principal?" she asked, still sitting in her seat.
"Why?"
"They're supposed to know about any medical conditions," she explained, biting on her lip.
"Can it wait till tomorrow?" He didn't want to do this, and he needed time to figure out what to say. "We'll know about the medication by then."
"They should know." He sighed, nodding. "If I have a manic or depressive episode, they need to know what's going on." He couldn't believe this: Jess was being the most grown up about this out of all of them. He opened the car door and stepped out, ready to face the Principal.
*** "Dad, can Mummy pick me up from school?" Harry asked as Carter walked him across the playground to his classroom.
"I don't know Harry. She might not be free."
"Mummy doesn't love us anymore, does she?" he asked, a tear rolling down his cheek. "That's why she left. And she's not gonna come back, is she?"
"Of course she loves us!" Carter stopped and bent down so that he was at his son's level. "She's just a little upset, that's all."
"So she'll come back when she's happy?"
"Yeah, that's it. And she's coming back real soon." He took a hankie out of his pocket and wiped away Harry's tears. "Now you cheer up, and enjoy yourself at school, and we might be able to find some ice cream later."
"Make her happy Daddy," he said, beginning to walk again. "I miss her already. I want my Mummy back."
*** "Abby, could you do some sutures for Carter's patient in curtain four?" Haleh asked, walking past her. Abby quickly looked around her, wondering how she could get out of this. Susan walked past at that moment, so she took the opportunity.
"Hey, Susan, could you use a hand?"
"I could do with a CBC and tox screen on the weirdo in two, if you've got a moment."
"Yeah, sure," she smiled, and then turned to Haleh. "Sorry Haleh, Carter will have to find someone else." Susan led her to curtain two, where she collected the bloods necessary for the tests.
"Abby, are you avoiding Carter?" Susan asked, as they walked back to admit to order the tests.
"No, of course not," she answered firmly, determined not to show any emotion.
"Then why wouldn't you do those sutures that Haleh asked you to do? And earlier you seemed very eager to deal with the projectile vomiting when Carter turned up at admit." Abby shrugged.
"I felt guilty for always avoiding the projectile vomiting."
"You don't fool me that easily." Susan lead her into the Doctor's Lounge, glad to see no one else was in there. "I know you, and I know Carter, and I can tell there's something up. Tell me what's going on Abby."
"Why is something wrong?" She couldn't stop herself from shouting now. "If we spend two seconds apart everyone thinks something's up! I don't have to spend my whole life around him; every second of every day doesn't have to be taken up with 'Carter, Carter, Carter.' I'm perfectly capable of doing things without his guidance, you know." Susan looked at her, unsure of how to respond. There was definitely something wrong.
"Just talk to me about it."
"I think I have some tests to order for your patient," she said coldly, storming out of the Lounge. Susan sank down into a chair. She was worried about her friends, and she wanted to do something to help. But if Abby wasn't going to talk to her, what was there she could do? She didn't know what was happening: all she knew was that something was seriously wrong in the Carter household.
*** "Time of death, 12:34," Carter said, pulling his gloves and gown off. He pushed open the double doors and walked out into admit.
"Hey Carter, how's the GSW doing?" Susan asked, approaching him.
"I just declared him."
"Oh." She paused. "Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure, but is it gonna take long? I was hoping to take a break."
"Well, I'm due one too. How about we take our conversation to Doc Magoo's?" He nodded, smiling.
"Sounds good enough to me."
*** "What's going on Carter?" Susan asked bluntly.
"What?"
"You and Abby have been avoiding each other all morning," she explained.
"Well, that's not entirely true," he defended. "Abby's been avoiding me. I've been trying my best to find her!"
"Why?" she enquired, before taking a sip of her coffee. "Did you guys argue?"
"Not exactly."
"No exactly meaning.?"
"She left us."
"She WHAT?" Susan yelled.
"Hey, don't shout it to the whole world."
"But you two are, like, attached at the hip. Abby wouldn't leave you!"
"Yeah, well she did last night." He sighed sadly. They sat in silence, each sipping at their coffee, unsure what to say now.
"Wh.why?" Susan finally asked.
"We got a letter yesterday, telling us that." he stopped, not wanting to say it. No, be strong, he thought to himself. Jess is being strong, so you be strong. "That Jessie's bipolar."
"Oh, Carter." She reached out and took his hand. She didn't know what else to do, or what to say. She couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through right now. "So Abby ran away because Jess is bipolar?"
"She's scared," he defended his wife. She may have left, but he still loved her. "I don't know if she's going to come back. I keep telling myself and the kids that she is, but I don't know."
"If she really wanted to get away, she'd be half way around the world by now. I think it's temporary, Carter." She sighed. "And I know that she loves you just as much as you love her. Which is an awful lot."
"What she's done though.she's left me to cope with this on my own. How can she think I can do this without her? This morning, I had to go in to see Jess' principal, and explain to him that my daughter has bipolar disorder. Something Abby should have been there for. And then I had to reassure Harry that Abby still loves him - he thinks his mother's left him, and I don't think what I said can persuade him otherwise."
"You have to talk to her," Susan squeezed his hand gently. "Don't throw away the best woman you're ever going to get, the only woman you're ever going to love, over this." He smiled sadly at her.
"Yeah. I want my wife back."
*** "Fancy pouring a poor, tired doctor a cup of coffee?" Susan asked, walking into the lounge and seeing Abby with the coffee pot in hand. She nodded, and a few minutes later took a mug over to Susan. "Thanks." She smiled at Abby, getting ready to talk to her. Sitting down on the sofa, she started to talk. "Abby, I'm sorry about Jess."
"What about her?" she said quietly, sipping at her coffee.
"Don't do this Abby."
"What am I doing?"
"I talked to Carter, okay?"
"Oh, that's nice." Susan could say that Abby wasn't going to let her do this the easy way.
"Why did you leave them, Abby?"
"I don't think that's any of your business," she replied, walking over to the sink and pouring the rest of her coffee down the sink, ready to leave. "Anyway, why are you interrogating me today? You really should learn to be less nosy." She made her way to the door, but Susan quickly got up and blocked her path.
"You're scared, I know. I would be too. But Carter's scared as well, and Jessie most certainly is! Can't you see what you're doing to them Abby?"
"I can't be around her Susan, I'll make everything so much worse. Everything with my mother.I always seem to upset her. They'll manage better without me getting in the way."
"You're not in the way, you're her mother!"
"What do you know?" Abby whispered angrily, turning to the lockers since it was obvious Susan wasn't letting her leave.
"Why are you still here then?"
"I beg your pardon?" she turned back towards her, unsure what was meant.
"Why are you still at County, why are you still in Chicago. If you want to leave them, why are you where they can find you?"
"I can't just up and leave."
"But that's what you've done. Why not go the whole way to ensure they're not going to find you, and get themselves 'hurt' some more?"
"I am NOT having this conversation with you," she cried, slamming her locker door open, and randomly rearranging the contents.
"Why not Abby? There must be a reason." Her question was greeted with silence. "Well, if you can't go the whole way, why not go back?"
"Just leave it Susan. I thought you were a good friend, but I guess I was wrong."
"And I thought you loved Carter."
"I do love him. That's why I left." She walked back towards Susan. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to work." Susan reluctantly stepped aside, sighing. What could she do?
*** "Harry's at football till half four, yeah?" Carter asked Jess as they walked into the doctor's lounge.
"Yeah. He doesn't normally finish till about 20 to five though." He nodded, and motioned for her to sit down on the sofa.
"Orange juice?" She nodded.
"Is Mum around?" she asked, scared of what the answer might be.
"Somewhere. I haven't really seen her today."
"Are you avoiding her?" He shook his head, handing her the glass of orange juice. "She's avoiding you?"
"Yeah, that's about it. Susan tried talking to her, but she just got mad."
"It's all my fault," she whispered, staring into the top of the glass.
"No Jess, it's not."
"It's because of me that she's gone though."
"It's because of her that she's gone. It's none of our faults, it's just the way your Mum is."
"Perhaps she should grow up a bit then," Jess sniffed. "Do you think she's going to come back?" He paused, thinking what to say. "Answer me truthfully Daddy. I want to know the truth."
"Baby, I promise you that I am going to make sure your Mum comes back. Do you understand me?" She nodded, smiling weakly. "I'm going to have to get back to work in a minute, so if you just."
He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and they both turned towards it. "Mum!" Jess exclaimed when she saw Abby standing in the doorway. Abby turned around to walk out again, but Carter quickly stopped her.
"Jess, will you give us a minute please?" She nodded, and hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied curtly.
"Where did you go last night, Abby?"
"None of your business."
"I'm your husband, I love you, I think it's my business!" he exclaimed, angry with her.
"In case you hadn't noticed, I left you last night."
"Yeah, kinda hard to miss. Didn't you think about how I'd feel about this? And what about the kids?"
"They'll be fine," she said, shrugging. "Kids bounce back. Just give them a bit of time, it won't matter to them."
"It won't matter? Is that why Jess was just crying, and this morning Harry asked me if his Mum still loves him? Abby, think about what you're doing!"
"I have thought about it."
"No, you've thought about yourself. You haven't given any consideration to how Jess, Harry and I will feel."
"Like I told Susan, and I'm sure she's reported back to you, I'm making things better for you. This way you won't have to manage with me being an awful mother to Jess because I can't cope."
"We just have to manage with losing you?" he snapped. "I made a promise to you Abby, to love you 'til death do us part. And I do! But you made that same promise."
"I do love you. But I thought I'd explained that - that's the reason I'm leaving, because I love all three of you."
"Well, I don't think that's exactly what the wedding vows had in mind," he said quietly. "Look, I booked an appointment to see the psychiatrist tonight, to sort out Jess' medication. It's at 7:20 with Dr. Renolds. Come along."
"I can't John, I can't," she said, sitting down on the sofa.
"Just think about it, okay?" She nodded, and he wrote the details down on a bit of paper that he handed to her. "Look after yourself, okay?"
***