(Hey all! Sorry it has taken me so long to update but Grad work is so much more trouble than undergrad. This chapter may seem a little rushed as I didn't beta it so if there are any mistakes please put it down to the fact that I was so desperate to get a chapter out for you all that I forgot my usual high standards...Ha! Anyway I'm back online now, praise the lord, so I hope to be able to update fairly regularly, and am able once more to respond to comments. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and emails you have been sending, and I hope you enjoy!)
Part 6
Susan Lewis was bored. Nothing resembling a trauma had come in for at least six hours, the board was empty, and the only person in chairs was one of the new intake of med students who obviously didn't see the point in going home and who had stretched out across several of the seats. She couldn't help but laugh at this picture. It reminded her so much of Carter on his first day at county: the enthusiasm to learn, the total lack of any practical knowledge, the exhaustion causing them to fall asleep on the most uncomfortable piece of furniture in the entire building...speaking of Carter, where was he? She was supposed to be meeting him for lunch to discuss the new med-school applications and the empty feeling in her stomach told her that it was definitely time for them to get to work on them. She lifted her chin from her hands where she had been resting it and scanned the admit area for a sign of her fellow doctor, but she couldn't see him anywhere. The place was deserted. She turned her head to one side to see Frank staring intently at the computer screen and typing something in carefully with one finger.
"Hey Frank," she called over to him, "do you know where Carter is?"
"How should I know?" the desk clerk replied gruffly, obviously upset at the interruption and not bothering to look up at her. "He said something about waiting for some results and then wandered off."
"Well did you see where he went?"
"Nope."
"Maybe he went down to the cafeteria," she mused to herself, then looked back at Frank. "What do you think?"
"Do I look like his mother?" he barked in reply, causing Susan to jump slightly.
"God I hope not for his children's sake," she whispered under her breath, turning around on the heel of her foot to set off in search of Carter. "I'm going to go look for him. If anybody asks I've gone over to Doc's," she called out over her shoulder as she went. Frank dismissed her with a grunt and went back to typing away at the computer. Susan started to head out the double-doors to the ambulance bay when she saw Chen walking back across the street towards her.
"Hey Susan," the young doctor called out to her politely.
"Hey Deb," Susan called back. "Listen, have you just come back from Doc Magoo's? I'm looking for Carter and I thought that maybe he might have gone over there to grab a bit of lunch. Was he over there?"
"Not as far as I saw...but I only ran in quickly to grab a sandwich. He might have been in one of the corner booths and I didn't see him..." she suggested hopefully.
"No, he would have said 'hi' if he'd seen you," Susan sighed. Where could he be? If he was going to be away for a long space of time then surely he would have told somebody where he was going? She remained in thought like this for a few moments when she realised that she had not spoken for a while, and that Chen was now regarding her with a concerned look on her face. "I'm sorry, Deb," she said, shaking herself from her trance. "Thanks for your help."
"It's no problem, but I didn't really do anything."
"You saved me a trip over to Doc's!" Susan joked. "I guess I'll just have to resort to plan B and go down to the Cafeteria. He has to be in this hospital somewhere!"
The two women laughed and turned to walk back into the hospital, Deb turning left to enter the lounge and Susan carrying on down to the Cafeteria. A quick survey told her that he wasn't in the cafeteria...nor was he in the lounge, or the exam rooms, or up on the roof...It was official. Carter had vanished from the face of the planet!
After nearly half an hour of fruitless searching Susan decided to call it quits and go to get some lunch. Carter was bound to turn up eventually, and when he did she was going to get him for leaving her to deal with these applications by herself: maybe she could talk to Kerry about the desperate shortage of attendings on the night shifts! She set off down the corridor with a wicked smile on her face and was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice a huddled figure poke its head out from behind the door of a supply closet and attempt to dash across the hall...
"Oh, excuse me...Hey, there you are!" she exclaimed, realising that the person she had just ran into was the elusive Carter. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Where did you disappear to?"
"Susan!" he replied, surprised. "I...uh...I didn't see you there. How are you?" He glanced nervously over his shoulder and started to edge down the corridor, hoping that Susan would follow him.
"How am I?" she asked rhetorically, remaining exactly where she was. "I'm pissed, that's how I am! I've been walking all over this hospital looking for you. We were supposed to meet for lunch, remember?"
"Lunch?" Carter said distractedly, again casting a quick look back at the supply closet before returning his eyes to Susan. There was something strange about him that she couldn't put her finger on, but she was still too annoyed at him to think about that now.
"You were going to help me sort through the med-school applications, weed out the weaker candidates. I had just about given up on ever finding you and was about to get some lunch. When I get back we're going to sit down and get these done; I don't want to be here late still reading through these things!"
"Sure, sure, I'm right on it...in fact, how about we go to the lounge and get started now?" Casting one final glance over his shoulder Carter took hold of Susan's arm and began to steer her down the corridor at a rather rapid rate. Susan followed him for a few steps but then stopped abruptly:
"What is up with you?" she asked, exasperated. Carter began apologising for himself when Abby came tearing down the hallway from behind them, her head bent low as if she didn't want to be seen. Just as she was about to pass Susan noticed her and held out her hand to stop her.
"Abby, thank goodness you're here. Could you please tell me what is going on with this husband of yours? He forgets about a lunch-date we have then comes running out of a closet unable to string a coherent sentence together...are you OK?" she asked, taking in Abby's dishevelled appearance. "You look like you're not getting enough sleep. You've got your sweater on inside out as well; you get dressed in the dark or something!" she joked. Abby blushed a bright crimson and mumbled something incoherent as she took off the sweater and put it back on the right way round.
Susan looked at both Carter and Abby and started to put two and two together...the untidy appearance, the guilty glances, buttons done up wrong, the fact they were both blushing furiously...
"OH MY GOD!" Susan cried, her hands clasped over her mouth in disbelief. "You guys were doing *it* in there?" she whispered, pointing back to the closet.
"I plead the Fifth," Abby said, burying her face into Carter's shirt to hide her blushes.
"Well I'm sorry to interrupt your sordid little tryst," Susan said, enjoying the embarrassed look on their faces, "but I'm going to have to steal your husband away from you. We really do have to get going on those med-school applications, Carter."
"Okay I'll be right there...Oh, and Susan?" Susan had nodded her acceptance of this and started to head off in the direction of the Lounge when Carter called her back. She stopped and turned to wait for him to say what he had stopped her for. Carter looked cautiously around him and walked over to her, speaking low so that she could only just hear him. "Do you think you could keep this quiet for me? I know Abby and I are married, but there's something a little embarrassing about getting caught making out with your wife in a supply closet. Nobody would take me seriously again," he pleaded.
"I'm offended that you even feel you have to ask me that," Susan replied, affecting a hurt tone and placing her hand over her heart as she tried to sound sincere. "You know you can trust me."
"I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to ask. Thank you Susan."
"No problem, Carter. I'm the soul of discretion!"
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Carter slumped into a booth at Doc Magoo's and fixed a cold stare on the woman sitting opposite him. Susan began to fidget uncomfortably under his level gaze and smiled guiltily. He looked very angry and she had a pretty good idea why. When she couldn't bear his silence anymore she threw her arms up in the air and practically screamed at him in exasperation.
"WHAT?"
"Why did I listen to you? 'You know you can trust me'" he said, mimicking her voice. "'I'm the soul of discretion.' I may as well have taken out an ad in the Tribune," he muttered to himself.
"Hey mister, I'll have you know that I'm one of the most discreet people in that hospital. Everything you said to me was in the strictest confidence."
"If you're so discreet then how come all the nurses were laughing at me and pointing on my way over here?"
Susan couldn't help but laugh aloud at this, earning herself an extra long glare from Carter. She quickly stopped laughing and attempted to keep her features straight. When she no longer felt in danger of dissolving into fits of laughter she returned Carter's look and immediately went on the defensive.
"Don't go blaming me for this one Carter. Ever stop to think that maybe you and your wife are the ones who aren't quite discreet? I wasn't the only person to notice that the two of you were both conveniently missing at the same time," she insinuated.
"But you were the only person to catch us walking out of the closet and swear never to tell a living soul what you saw," he countered.
"I never swore..." she said quickly, then realising what she had said she silently kicked herself.
"I knew it was you!" Carter shouted triumphantly. "You just couldn't resist spreading a little gossip could you?"
"Well maybe I wouldn't have to resort to gossip and speculation if you'd talk to me and tell me what's going on. You and Abby have been acting really strange recently and I'm a little worried."
"How have we been strange?"
"Well for one thing you've never skipped work to have a quick fumble in the closet before, even when you were newlyweds!" she joked, causing
"Okay, if I tell you do you promise not to tell anybody?"
"I promise," she said with a smile, making a sign of locking her mouth and throwing away the key.
"I mean it Susan!" Carter said forcefully, "You can't tell anybody about this."
Susan looked at his face and realised from his look that this really was one time when she would have to be serious. She sobered up immediately and looked him directly in the eyes. "I promise."
Carter took a deep breath then spoke in a rush. "Abby and I are trying for a baby."
"And you thought a broom closet was about as good a place to start as any?"
"Susan!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist that one," she said sheepishly. "So how long have you been trying?"
"A while now, but there have been...complications...you don't want to hear about it," he said dismissively, taking one of the applications from the top of the pile and starting to look over it. He gave a laugh and held it out to Susan. "This one is definitely going in the 'Reject' pile. Says he wants to be a doctor because his ex-girlfriend used to watch Chicago Hope and he thought it looked fun!"
"What sort of complications?" she asked, not put off by his attempts to change the subject.
Carter sighed and tossed aside the form. "I'd really rather not talk about it, Susan. It's still a sensitive subject." He picked up another form and Susan watched him for a moment, debating whether to continue the conversation, but seeing that Carter was intently reading through the forms she decided against it. She had embarrassed him enough today already. She picked up one of the forms from the pile and started to read through them with Carter, quickly sorting them into a pile of Yes, No's and Maybe's. When they were finished they picked up their pile of forms and headed back across the road to the hospital. When they got to the doors Carter stopped and turned to Susan, holding out his hand to shake hers.
"Thanks for not pushing the point just now, Susan. I'm just a little uncomfortable with discussing this sort of thing. I don't like to keep things from a friend but you know how it is. Right?" He looked at her expectantly and Susan allowed a smile to cross her face.
"It's okay Carter. When you're ready to talk, we'll talk. Besides," she added with a little laugh, "you don't think Abby won't tell me eventually anyway?"
(There it is. Not much to show for a month's absence is it! Hopefully the next instalment will be better. I've actually been working on a load of other stories and, believe it or not, I do have uni work that sadly takes precedence. I'll do my utmost to continue this, though, if continuation is still wanted. Remember people, any encouragement or constructive criticism you send is an incentive to write more! Em)
Part 6
Susan Lewis was bored. Nothing resembling a trauma had come in for at least six hours, the board was empty, and the only person in chairs was one of the new intake of med students who obviously didn't see the point in going home and who had stretched out across several of the seats. She couldn't help but laugh at this picture. It reminded her so much of Carter on his first day at county: the enthusiasm to learn, the total lack of any practical knowledge, the exhaustion causing them to fall asleep on the most uncomfortable piece of furniture in the entire building...speaking of Carter, where was he? She was supposed to be meeting him for lunch to discuss the new med-school applications and the empty feeling in her stomach told her that it was definitely time for them to get to work on them. She lifted her chin from her hands where she had been resting it and scanned the admit area for a sign of her fellow doctor, but she couldn't see him anywhere. The place was deserted. She turned her head to one side to see Frank staring intently at the computer screen and typing something in carefully with one finger.
"Hey Frank," she called over to him, "do you know where Carter is?"
"How should I know?" the desk clerk replied gruffly, obviously upset at the interruption and not bothering to look up at her. "He said something about waiting for some results and then wandered off."
"Well did you see where he went?"
"Nope."
"Maybe he went down to the cafeteria," she mused to herself, then looked back at Frank. "What do you think?"
"Do I look like his mother?" he barked in reply, causing Susan to jump slightly.
"God I hope not for his children's sake," she whispered under her breath, turning around on the heel of her foot to set off in search of Carter. "I'm going to go look for him. If anybody asks I've gone over to Doc's," she called out over her shoulder as she went. Frank dismissed her with a grunt and went back to typing away at the computer. Susan started to head out the double-doors to the ambulance bay when she saw Chen walking back across the street towards her.
"Hey Susan," the young doctor called out to her politely.
"Hey Deb," Susan called back. "Listen, have you just come back from Doc Magoo's? I'm looking for Carter and I thought that maybe he might have gone over there to grab a bit of lunch. Was he over there?"
"Not as far as I saw...but I only ran in quickly to grab a sandwich. He might have been in one of the corner booths and I didn't see him..." she suggested hopefully.
"No, he would have said 'hi' if he'd seen you," Susan sighed. Where could he be? If he was going to be away for a long space of time then surely he would have told somebody where he was going? She remained in thought like this for a few moments when she realised that she had not spoken for a while, and that Chen was now regarding her with a concerned look on her face. "I'm sorry, Deb," she said, shaking herself from her trance. "Thanks for your help."
"It's no problem, but I didn't really do anything."
"You saved me a trip over to Doc's!" Susan joked. "I guess I'll just have to resort to plan B and go down to the Cafeteria. He has to be in this hospital somewhere!"
The two women laughed and turned to walk back into the hospital, Deb turning left to enter the lounge and Susan carrying on down to the Cafeteria. A quick survey told her that he wasn't in the cafeteria...nor was he in the lounge, or the exam rooms, or up on the roof...It was official. Carter had vanished from the face of the planet!
After nearly half an hour of fruitless searching Susan decided to call it quits and go to get some lunch. Carter was bound to turn up eventually, and when he did she was going to get him for leaving her to deal with these applications by herself: maybe she could talk to Kerry about the desperate shortage of attendings on the night shifts! She set off down the corridor with a wicked smile on her face and was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice a huddled figure poke its head out from behind the door of a supply closet and attempt to dash across the hall...
"Oh, excuse me...Hey, there you are!" she exclaimed, realising that the person she had just ran into was the elusive Carter. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Where did you disappear to?"
"Susan!" he replied, surprised. "I...uh...I didn't see you there. How are you?" He glanced nervously over his shoulder and started to edge down the corridor, hoping that Susan would follow him.
"How am I?" she asked rhetorically, remaining exactly where she was. "I'm pissed, that's how I am! I've been walking all over this hospital looking for you. We were supposed to meet for lunch, remember?"
"Lunch?" Carter said distractedly, again casting a quick look back at the supply closet before returning his eyes to Susan. There was something strange about him that she couldn't put her finger on, but she was still too annoyed at him to think about that now.
"You were going to help me sort through the med-school applications, weed out the weaker candidates. I had just about given up on ever finding you and was about to get some lunch. When I get back we're going to sit down and get these done; I don't want to be here late still reading through these things!"
"Sure, sure, I'm right on it...in fact, how about we go to the lounge and get started now?" Casting one final glance over his shoulder Carter took hold of Susan's arm and began to steer her down the corridor at a rather rapid rate. Susan followed him for a few steps but then stopped abruptly:
"What is up with you?" she asked, exasperated. Carter began apologising for himself when Abby came tearing down the hallway from behind them, her head bent low as if she didn't want to be seen. Just as she was about to pass Susan noticed her and held out her hand to stop her.
"Abby, thank goodness you're here. Could you please tell me what is going on with this husband of yours? He forgets about a lunch-date we have then comes running out of a closet unable to string a coherent sentence together...are you OK?" she asked, taking in Abby's dishevelled appearance. "You look like you're not getting enough sleep. You've got your sweater on inside out as well; you get dressed in the dark or something!" she joked. Abby blushed a bright crimson and mumbled something incoherent as she took off the sweater and put it back on the right way round.
Susan looked at both Carter and Abby and started to put two and two together...the untidy appearance, the guilty glances, buttons done up wrong, the fact they were both blushing furiously...
"OH MY GOD!" Susan cried, her hands clasped over her mouth in disbelief. "You guys were doing *it* in there?" she whispered, pointing back to the closet.
"I plead the Fifth," Abby said, burying her face into Carter's shirt to hide her blushes.
"Well I'm sorry to interrupt your sordid little tryst," Susan said, enjoying the embarrassed look on their faces, "but I'm going to have to steal your husband away from you. We really do have to get going on those med-school applications, Carter."
"Okay I'll be right there...Oh, and Susan?" Susan had nodded her acceptance of this and started to head off in the direction of the Lounge when Carter called her back. She stopped and turned to wait for him to say what he had stopped her for. Carter looked cautiously around him and walked over to her, speaking low so that she could only just hear him. "Do you think you could keep this quiet for me? I know Abby and I are married, but there's something a little embarrassing about getting caught making out with your wife in a supply closet. Nobody would take me seriously again," he pleaded.
"I'm offended that you even feel you have to ask me that," Susan replied, affecting a hurt tone and placing her hand over her heart as she tried to sound sincere. "You know you can trust me."
"I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to ask. Thank you Susan."
"No problem, Carter. I'm the soul of discretion!"
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Carter slumped into a booth at Doc Magoo's and fixed a cold stare on the woman sitting opposite him. Susan began to fidget uncomfortably under his level gaze and smiled guiltily. He looked very angry and she had a pretty good idea why. When she couldn't bear his silence anymore she threw her arms up in the air and practically screamed at him in exasperation.
"WHAT?"
"Why did I listen to you? 'You know you can trust me'" he said, mimicking her voice. "'I'm the soul of discretion.' I may as well have taken out an ad in the Tribune," he muttered to himself.
"Hey mister, I'll have you know that I'm one of the most discreet people in that hospital. Everything you said to me was in the strictest confidence."
"If you're so discreet then how come all the nurses were laughing at me and pointing on my way over here?"
Susan couldn't help but laugh aloud at this, earning herself an extra long glare from Carter. She quickly stopped laughing and attempted to keep her features straight. When she no longer felt in danger of dissolving into fits of laughter she returned Carter's look and immediately went on the defensive.
"Don't go blaming me for this one Carter. Ever stop to think that maybe you and your wife are the ones who aren't quite discreet? I wasn't the only person to notice that the two of you were both conveniently missing at the same time," she insinuated.
"But you were the only person to catch us walking out of the closet and swear never to tell a living soul what you saw," he countered.
"I never swore..." she said quickly, then realising what she had said she silently kicked herself.
"I knew it was you!" Carter shouted triumphantly. "You just couldn't resist spreading a little gossip could you?"
"Well maybe I wouldn't have to resort to gossip and speculation if you'd talk to me and tell me what's going on. You and Abby have been acting really strange recently and I'm a little worried."
"How have we been strange?"
"Well for one thing you've never skipped work to have a quick fumble in the closet before, even when you were newlyweds!" she joked, causing
"Okay, if I tell you do you promise not to tell anybody?"
"I promise," she said with a smile, making a sign of locking her mouth and throwing away the key.
"I mean it Susan!" Carter said forcefully, "You can't tell anybody about this."
Susan looked at his face and realised from his look that this really was one time when she would have to be serious. She sobered up immediately and looked him directly in the eyes. "I promise."
Carter took a deep breath then spoke in a rush. "Abby and I are trying for a baby."
"And you thought a broom closet was about as good a place to start as any?"
"Susan!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist that one," she said sheepishly. "So how long have you been trying?"
"A while now, but there have been...complications...you don't want to hear about it," he said dismissively, taking one of the applications from the top of the pile and starting to look over it. He gave a laugh and held it out to Susan. "This one is definitely going in the 'Reject' pile. Says he wants to be a doctor because his ex-girlfriend used to watch Chicago Hope and he thought it looked fun!"
"What sort of complications?" she asked, not put off by his attempts to change the subject.
Carter sighed and tossed aside the form. "I'd really rather not talk about it, Susan. It's still a sensitive subject." He picked up another form and Susan watched him for a moment, debating whether to continue the conversation, but seeing that Carter was intently reading through the forms she decided against it. She had embarrassed him enough today already. She picked up one of the forms from the pile and started to read through them with Carter, quickly sorting them into a pile of Yes, No's and Maybe's. When they were finished they picked up their pile of forms and headed back across the road to the hospital. When they got to the doors Carter stopped and turned to Susan, holding out his hand to shake hers.
"Thanks for not pushing the point just now, Susan. I'm just a little uncomfortable with discussing this sort of thing. I don't like to keep things from a friend but you know how it is. Right?" He looked at her expectantly and Susan allowed a smile to cross her face.
"It's okay Carter. When you're ready to talk, we'll talk. Besides," she added with a little laugh, "you don't think Abby won't tell me eventually anyway?"
(There it is. Not much to show for a month's absence is it! Hopefully the next instalment will be better. I've actually been working on a load of other stories and, believe it or not, I do have uni work that sadly takes precedence. I'll do my utmost to continue this, though, if continuation is still wanted. Remember people, any encouragement or constructive criticism you send is an incentive to write more! Em)