(I finally updated! That's right, I'm not dead…although with the streaming cold I have at the moment I wish I were! Anyway, I am swamped with Uni work at the moment and possibly for a long while in the future which is why I have been out of the loop, but my New Year's Resolution is to spend at least one hour each day writing on all the various little projects I have started then abandoned. To show my good intentions I have two new chapters to present you with, one of which you get today and one tomorrow. Hope I haven't lost my touch in the time I've been away. Em)
Part 8
"I'm going to kill her."
"Now I'm sure it's not as bad as all that…"
"I swear to God, Susan, the woman is driving me up the wall. If I have to hear one more time how 'You can't throw a party and not invite Mrs So-and-So' then I'll find some way of slipping a *very* strong sedative into her coffee. I don't care what John thinks!"
Susan looked up from the magazine she had just been reading and laughed softly. "Something tells me that relations between you and the lovely Eleanor Carter haven't improved over the past few weeks."
"You can say that again," Abby said emphatically, throwing herself onto the couch in the doctor's lounge and thrusting her hands into her pockets. "The disappointment practically oozes from the woman every time she so much as looks at me. As she takes great delight in telling me, 'she had such plans for her John' and I obviously wasn't a part of them."
"Maybe she'll be better once this whole anniversary thing is out of the way," Susan suggested whilst laughing at Abby's almost perfect imitation of her mother-in-law.
"You mean I'll magically become the society hostess she always wanted in the family and she'll finally accept me?" Abby Laughed, then shook her head. "No, I know what her problem is. As far as she's concerned the only reason John could possibly have married me was if I was pregnant and he was doing the right thing. That woman won't be happy until I provide her with a precious Carter heir and justify my existence within the family!"
Susan stopped laughing and regarded her friend carefully for a moment. She knew that Abby and Carter had been trying to conceive for a while now and had been less than successful, and something about Abby's tone told her that they had had a bit of a setback recently.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"It's nothing," Abby said, trying to brush off the subject.
"Don't tell me it's nothing! I happen to know that more than anything you want to have a baby, yet here you are laughing about carrying on the Carter name as if it's some kind of chore…are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
Abby shook her head again and laughed. "I have to laugh or I'll cry…I had my period this morning," she explained.
"Oh Abby!" Susan moved from her seat at the table and went to sit on the couch next to Abby, who carried on quickly.
"I don't know what I was expecting. We only started trying seriously about a month ago, taking temperatures and stuff like that, then I was a couple of days late and I found myself thinking that maybe this could be it. I know it was too soon, but that still doesn't stop you hoping does it?" She stopped talking and wiped away a tear with her sleeve. Susan put an arm around her shoulder and rubbed it gently.
"Have you talked to Carter about this?"
"Not yet. I wanted to be able to announce it at the party and see the look on his face, but I feel so stupid now."
"Well, you should. It's not good to keep this all to yourself, especially when you have a husband who would do anything for you."
"Yeah, well that husband is the reason I have the mother-in-law from hell so don't be so quick to paint him a saint!" Abby said, pulling herself together and pointing a finger at Susan, who laughed.
"Good to see that sense of humour hasn't left you!"
"No point letting it get me down. No matter how miserable I am the venerable Mrs Carter will always find some way of making me feel that little bit lower so I may as well just do as John says. Ignore her."
"Something tells me that might be easier said than done," Susan said, rising from her seat and moving towards the door. "Well, we'd better be getting back to work, I suppose. Are you coming?"
"Uugh! Nothing like a good old case of projectile vomiting to make you forget about your family problems! " Abby groaned as she pulled herself off of the couch and joined Susan at the door, the two women leaving the room together joined in laughter. As they walked over to the admit desk Abby casually cast a glance across to the entrance and stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw. "Oh my God!"
"What?" Susan looked over her shoulder and tried to see what it was that had had this effect.
"Quick, hide me!" Abby ducked behind the desk and peeked over the top, trying to make herself appear as small as possible.
"Why?"
"It's John's mother," Abby hissed. "She said something about meeting for lunch to discuss arrangements but I thought I'd managed to brush her off. If she sees me she's going to want to start lecturing me on the benefits of a sit-down dinner over a buffet, or the correct way to greet guests! Please, Susan, I just want to get away from her for five minutes!"
"Say no more," Susan said knowingly, picking up a chart from the desk beside her. "I was just going to go check up on a patient I left in the suture room anyway. Want to come hide with me?"
"Do I ever!" Abby sighed gratefully and started off down the hall after Susan, grabbing the med student standing at the desk by the arm and whispering in her ear as she went. "If a woman comes along asking for me, you haven't seen me, okay?"
"But I have," Erin said, obviously not getting the point. Abby raised her eyes to heaven and explained patiently:
"Pretend you haven't. A woman should be coming along in the next few minutes and may ask you if you know where Abby is. All you have to do is say 'I don't know'. Do you think you can do that? Good, thank-you. I'll be in the Suture Room if I'm wanted for a trauma." Saying this she walked off down the hallway, missing by seconds her mother-in-law who came sweeping over to the admit desk as if on the warpath.
Eleanor Carter stood at the desk and scanned the area. Eventually her eyes settled on Erin nervously fidgeting in the background and she called over to her imperiously. "You!"
"Who, me?" Erin asked, looking over her shoulder to see if there was anybody else this woman could have been speaking to.
"Yes, you, come here," she beckoned. Erin dropped the lab results she had been looking at and walked over to Mrs Carter.
"Can I help you, Ma'am?"
"Yes you most certainly can. I want to speak to Abigail Carter, could you show me where she is?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Members of the public aren't really allowed here without a valid medical reason."
Eleanor gave a tight smile and straightened her shoulders: this one would obviously require her to use a certain degree of charm.
"You don't seem to understand. I have a luncheon appointment with Mrs Carter which she has obviously forgotten to mention. She really wouldn't thank you for not telling her that I'm here, so if you can't tell me where she is then I hope you don't mind me asking if you could go and get her for me."
"I can't do that either, Ma'am. I'm not supposed to interrupt unless there's a medical emergency of some kind, and but if you don't mind sitting over there in chairs you can wait for her next break."
Eleanor's small amount of patience snapped at this. She raised herself to her full height and looked down her nose at the poor, unsuspecting medical student. "Now listen here Miss…?"
"Harkins. Erin Harkins."
"Miss Harkins. My son is Dr John Carter. I'm sure you'll co-operate with me if for no other reason than to suck up to him. You look like you're good at it," she sneered. "Now tell me where my daughter-in-law is so that we can both get on with our lives."
"She's in with a patient at the moment," Erin said meekly. "In the suture room."
"And that is…?"
"Down the hall, last door on the right."
"Thank you Miss Harkins. Good day." Saying this she turned and started to walk away in the direction pointed out by Erin Hawkins. She came to the appointed door and found it ajar, so she pushed it open and found Susan applying a dressing to a patient's arm.
"We're a little busy in here…oh, Mrs Carter. Can I help you?" Susan asked, annoyed at the interruption at first but changing her attitude on seeing who had entered.
"I was looking for my daughter-in-law. I was told she was in here."
"Nope, haven't seen her I'm afraid," Susan shook her head emphatically and went back to examining her patient. "Have you tried looking for Carter? Normally if you can't find one of them it's always best to ask for the other."
"Thank you. I'm sorry to have kept you," she said, turning on her heel and walking out of the room.
"It's no problem. Nice to see you again…Okay, it's safe to come out now!" Susan called out after she was sure Eleanor had left earshot. Abby gingerly stepped out from behind the screen and looked about her cautiously.
"Is she gone?"
"She's gone. Boy do you owe me for this!"
"I'll make it up to you, I promise. Guess I'd better go and get those extra bandages you wanted. It's a good thing you asked for them otherwise I wouldn't have had time to hide!"
"You're welcome, and I'm sure Mr Russell here understands why he had to wait…or at least he would if he wasn't passed out in a drunken stupor," Susan added wryly, glancing at the figure lying on the table.
Abby laughed and opened the door to go to the supply closet only to find her way blocked. Her husband, John Carter, was leaning against the wall with a slightly amused expression on his face as he took in Abby's shock, and when she considered who was standing next to him she supposed she wasn't really surprised.
There in the hallway, staring directly at her, was Eleanor Carter…and she looked less than happy to see her.
"Abigail my dear" she said coldly. "You haven't been avoiding me, have you?"
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(Want to know what happens next? How Carter got to be there? All you have to do is review and tune in tomorrow! Em)
Part 8
"I'm going to kill her."
"Now I'm sure it's not as bad as all that…"
"I swear to God, Susan, the woman is driving me up the wall. If I have to hear one more time how 'You can't throw a party and not invite Mrs So-and-So' then I'll find some way of slipping a *very* strong sedative into her coffee. I don't care what John thinks!"
Susan looked up from the magazine she had just been reading and laughed softly. "Something tells me that relations between you and the lovely Eleanor Carter haven't improved over the past few weeks."
"You can say that again," Abby said emphatically, throwing herself onto the couch in the doctor's lounge and thrusting her hands into her pockets. "The disappointment practically oozes from the woman every time she so much as looks at me. As she takes great delight in telling me, 'she had such plans for her John' and I obviously wasn't a part of them."
"Maybe she'll be better once this whole anniversary thing is out of the way," Susan suggested whilst laughing at Abby's almost perfect imitation of her mother-in-law.
"You mean I'll magically become the society hostess she always wanted in the family and she'll finally accept me?" Abby Laughed, then shook her head. "No, I know what her problem is. As far as she's concerned the only reason John could possibly have married me was if I was pregnant and he was doing the right thing. That woman won't be happy until I provide her with a precious Carter heir and justify my existence within the family!"
Susan stopped laughing and regarded her friend carefully for a moment. She knew that Abby and Carter had been trying to conceive for a while now and had been less than successful, and something about Abby's tone told her that they had had a bit of a setback recently.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"It's nothing," Abby said, trying to brush off the subject.
"Don't tell me it's nothing! I happen to know that more than anything you want to have a baby, yet here you are laughing about carrying on the Carter name as if it's some kind of chore…are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
Abby shook her head again and laughed. "I have to laugh or I'll cry…I had my period this morning," she explained.
"Oh Abby!" Susan moved from her seat at the table and went to sit on the couch next to Abby, who carried on quickly.
"I don't know what I was expecting. We only started trying seriously about a month ago, taking temperatures and stuff like that, then I was a couple of days late and I found myself thinking that maybe this could be it. I know it was too soon, but that still doesn't stop you hoping does it?" She stopped talking and wiped away a tear with her sleeve. Susan put an arm around her shoulder and rubbed it gently.
"Have you talked to Carter about this?"
"Not yet. I wanted to be able to announce it at the party and see the look on his face, but I feel so stupid now."
"Well, you should. It's not good to keep this all to yourself, especially when you have a husband who would do anything for you."
"Yeah, well that husband is the reason I have the mother-in-law from hell so don't be so quick to paint him a saint!" Abby said, pulling herself together and pointing a finger at Susan, who laughed.
"Good to see that sense of humour hasn't left you!"
"No point letting it get me down. No matter how miserable I am the venerable Mrs Carter will always find some way of making me feel that little bit lower so I may as well just do as John says. Ignore her."
"Something tells me that might be easier said than done," Susan said, rising from her seat and moving towards the door. "Well, we'd better be getting back to work, I suppose. Are you coming?"
"Uugh! Nothing like a good old case of projectile vomiting to make you forget about your family problems! " Abby groaned as she pulled herself off of the couch and joined Susan at the door, the two women leaving the room together joined in laughter. As they walked over to the admit desk Abby casually cast a glance across to the entrance and stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw. "Oh my God!"
"What?" Susan looked over her shoulder and tried to see what it was that had had this effect.
"Quick, hide me!" Abby ducked behind the desk and peeked over the top, trying to make herself appear as small as possible.
"Why?"
"It's John's mother," Abby hissed. "She said something about meeting for lunch to discuss arrangements but I thought I'd managed to brush her off. If she sees me she's going to want to start lecturing me on the benefits of a sit-down dinner over a buffet, or the correct way to greet guests! Please, Susan, I just want to get away from her for five minutes!"
"Say no more," Susan said knowingly, picking up a chart from the desk beside her. "I was just going to go check up on a patient I left in the suture room anyway. Want to come hide with me?"
"Do I ever!" Abby sighed gratefully and started off down the hall after Susan, grabbing the med student standing at the desk by the arm and whispering in her ear as she went. "If a woman comes along asking for me, you haven't seen me, okay?"
"But I have," Erin said, obviously not getting the point. Abby raised her eyes to heaven and explained patiently:
"Pretend you haven't. A woman should be coming along in the next few minutes and may ask you if you know where Abby is. All you have to do is say 'I don't know'. Do you think you can do that? Good, thank-you. I'll be in the Suture Room if I'm wanted for a trauma." Saying this she walked off down the hallway, missing by seconds her mother-in-law who came sweeping over to the admit desk as if on the warpath.
Eleanor Carter stood at the desk and scanned the area. Eventually her eyes settled on Erin nervously fidgeting in the background and she called over to her imperiously. "You!"
"Who, me?" Erin asked, looking over her shoulder to see if there was anybody else this woman could have been speaking to.
"Yes, you, come here," she beckoned. Erin dropped the lab results she had been looking at and walked over to Mrs Carter.
"Can I help you, Ma'am?"
"Yes you most certainly can. I want to speak to Abigail Carter, could you show me where she is?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Members of the public aren't really allowed here without a valid medical reason."
Eleanor gave a tight smile and straightened her shoulders: this one would obviously require her to use a certain degree of charm.
"You don't seem to understand. I have a luncheon appointment with Mrs Carter which she has obviously forgotten to mention. She really wouldn't thank you for not telling her that I'm here, so if you can't tell me where she is then I hope you don't mind me asking if you could go and get her for me."
"I can't do that either, Ma'am. I'm not supposed to interrupt unless there's a medical emergency of some kind, and but if you don't mind sitting over there in chairs you can wait for her next break."
Eleanor's small amount of patience snapped at this. She raised herself to her full height and looked down her nose at the poor, unsuspecting medical student. "Now listen here Miss…?"
"Harkins. Erin Harkins."
"Miss Harkins. My son is Dr John Carter. I'm sure you'll co-operate with me if for no other reason than to suck up to him. You look like you're good at it," she sneered. "Now tell me where my daughter-in-law is so that we can both get on with our lives."
"She's in with a patient at the moment," Erin said meekly. "In the suture room."
"And that is…?"
"Down the hall, last door on the right."
"Thank you Miss Harkins. Good day." Saying this she turned and started to walk away in the direction pointed out by Erin Hawkins. She came to the appointed door and found it ajar, so she pushed it open and found Susan applying a dressing to a patient's arm.
"We're a little busy in here…oh, Mrs Carter. Can I help you?" Susan asked, annoyed at the interruption at first but changing her attitude on seeing who had entered.
"I was looking for my daughter-in-law. I was told she was in here."
"Nope, haven't seen her I'm afraid," Susan shook her head emphatically and went back to examining her patient. "Have you tried looking for Carter? Normally if you can't find one of them it's always best to ask for the other."
"Thank you. I'm sorry to have kept you," she said, turning on her heel and walking out of the room.
"It's no problem. Nice to see you again…Okay, it's safe to come out now!" Susan called out after she was sure Eleanor had left earshot. Abby gingerly stepped out from behind the screen and looked about her cautiously.
"Is she gone?"
"She's gone. Boy do you owe me for this!"
"I'll make it up to you, I promise. Guess I'd better go and get those extra bandages you wanted. It's a good thing you asked for them otherwise I wouldn't have had time to hide!"
"You're welcome, and I'm sure Mr Russell here understands why he had to wait…or at least he would if he wasn't passed out in a drunken stupor," Susan added wryly, glancing at the figure lying on the table.
Abby laughed and opened the door to go to the supply closet only to find her way blocked. Her husband, John Carter, was leaning against the wall with a slightly amused expression on his face as he took in Abby's shock, and when she considered who was standing next to him she supposed she wasn't really surprised.
There in the hallway, staring directly at her, was Eleanor Carter…and she looked less than happy to see her.
"Abigail my dear" she said coldly. "You haven't been avoiding me, have you?"
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(Want to know what happens next? How Carter got to be there? All you have to do is review and tune in tomorrow! Em)