Previously...
As Carter pulled into the sub he suddenly realized that it was the same neighborhood that
Peter Benton's family's house was in. As he got closer to the house that was marked as his
he found out that the Benton family was only three doors down! He didn't know whether
or not they would still be there or not. His self-question however was answered as he pulled
up the drive and saw Peter come out of the house. He didn't know what to do. Did this Pete
know him? Should he go up and find out?
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He decided to take the chance and go talk to him. He quickly parked the Yugo and ran
towards Peter. Peter simply gave the John the oddest expression. John ignored the looked
and continued to run up to him. "Dr. Benton!" John yelled as he approached him panting
for air from running.
"Do I know you?" Peter asked puzzled starting to question the man's sanity. He looked
fairly young and slightly familiar.
"Um, I think so. I live three houses down from you" John replied nervously and felt
disappointed that he didn't recognize him. He stalled not sure what to say. "I've umm...
talked to your mother before and she mentioned you to me before. I just thought I'd
make a proper introduction. Yeah, I'm John" he finished lamely by holding out a hand,
which Peter didn't shake.
"Yeah man, uh nice meeting you or something. Look I've got to go to work but it
was nice talking to you" Peter said and then rushed off to his car.
"So much for that" John said and started to make his way to his house nervously.
What if his wife was home? He made his way up the steps to the slab house and
searched his pockets for keys. As he was about to turn the key to get in the door was
yanked open and the keys were jerked from his hand and now hanging from the door
knob. He was confronted with a very unhappy looking woman. He stood there shocked.
She was definitely the Stephanie from his college days but an older version. Frown
wrinkles marked her forehead and her hands were place firmly upon her hips.
"You forgot didn't you! I can't believe this, all I ask you to do is pick up the groceries on
the way home from work. This is the third time you've forgotten. If you think you're
going to get any dinner tonight you're sourly mistaken mister" she ranted and all Carter
could do was stare at her in disbelief. "Well just don't stand there, get your lazy butt
in here" she muttered and dragged him into the house. In awe he took the state of the
inside of the house. It was an absolute mess. There were papers scattered about the floor.
From what he could see of the kitchen from his vantage point he was mildly terrified.
"Yeah I forgot I'm sorry honey," he said trying to put his most sympathetic tone into it.
She didn't seem to notice his apology and continued to rant about the state of the house
and how she had to work until 8 the next day in the realtor office.
"You know what, how about I go to the grocery store right now?" he asked and Stephanie
simply made a shooing motion with her hands. He quickly exited the house and gave a sigh
of relief. How was he going to deal with this? As he began to drive he realized that he had
not a clue what he was supposed to buy. He decided since he was out he might as well do
some investigating. He made a sharp U turn and headed towards Cook Country General.
On the way he tried to come up with a plausible reason why he would be there.
As he walked into the ER he noticed that things didn't look all that different. A couple of
familiar nurses rushed past him. He still didn't think of any reason why he was there he
Decided to wing it. He made his way up to the front desk and noticed that Randi wasn't
at the front desk but some lady he had never seen before. When he asked to see a Dr.
Lucy Knight the reception lady gave him an odd look. She told him that no one by that
name worked there. Disappointed he made his way out and to a pay phone. Pulling out
his information sheets he found the number to his house. After some screeching from
Stephanie on the other line he found out what he was supposed to buy and made his way
to the grocery store.
He shuffled exhausted and sore into the classroom. He got little sleep on the uncomfortable
ancient couch last time. All was not well in this John's paradise that much was obvious. As
he sat down at the desk he suddenly realized he didn't even know what the lesson plan was.
He was in for it today. He had to teach four classes today all with the same material.
Shouldn't be that hard right?
Soon teenagers were piling into the small room. He didn't know how they were all going
to fit but they did and filled it with a deafening hum of conversation. He tried to clear
his throat to get their attention but they continued on with their conversations. He sat there
in silence for a while longer and yet they persisted. Soon loosing patience he pounded his
fist against the desk and they all turned to stare at him. "Can anyone tell me what chapter
we left off with yesterday?" he asked quietly. "You will not be intimidated by pimple
covered teens" he continued to chant to himself in the back of his head.
He was half way through his day and this were going considerable well when suddenly
he heard a gun shot. He scrambled under his desk and ordered the students do the same.
There were sounds of a struggle out in the hallway and then someone came into the room.
"Its okay kids. I'm an undercover cop here at the school and luckily no one was hurt.
One of your classmates that we have been investigating has been put into custody. We
have called your parents to come pick you up and they should be here shortly. You've all
been dismissed for the rest of the day" he said and exited to go inform the other classes.
Carter stiffly got out from under his desk and watched the other teenagers file out. This
was just plain crazy he thought to himself.
The week went by quite uneventful, that is if you account for him spending it avoiding his
angry wife and trying to handle spastic teenagers. Also the only thing he could find out
about Lucy was that she had dropped out of med school her third year at Cook County.
After she dropped out no one had heard from her since. When the stranger came back he
decided this was definitely not where he wanted to stay. For all he knew Lucy could be
dead here to.
To be continued..