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October 2
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Chapter two continues about an hour or so after the last one left off..
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Carol blinked her eyes open slowly and stared at the empty space on the other side of the bed. She lifted her head off the pillow a bit and glanced around the room. She spotted her clothes piled on the floor where they had left them last night, but all of Doug's clothes were gone.
God damn him! She should have known he wouldn't have stayed. Even though it must have been obvious to him that she might need him to stay, at least for that night because of her broken wedding.
Carol turned her head away from the empty side of the bed and lay her head back on the pillow. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and she tried to force them down, but one managed to get around her willpower and crept slowly down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly with her left hand but before it was completely gone another had fallen. Then another. And before she could control them, tears were falling quickly from her eyes. She gave up and curled her hands under her as a sob ripped through her. Carol turned her wet face into the pillow to muffle the sobs that were spilling out of her.
For once, for once, couldn't he have stayed?! She wondered painfully and tried to figure out why on earth she had let him back into her bed, hoping he would change. She was so stupid. He would never, ever change.
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When Carol's sobs had finally died down, she pushed herself up on the bed and looked at her clothes lying on the floor. Then she got up and made her way to her shower, having made a final decision.
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"Where's Carol?" Mark asked, coming up to the admit desk. Doug looked up at him and waited as no one answered.
"I haven't seen her since last night." Doug volunteered, altering his story only slightly. Mark nodded.
"Anybody know?" No one answered. "She's not here and she was supposed to be an hour ago." Normally he would have picked up the phone and called her but under the circumstances he thought maybe she just needed some time. Instead, Mark picked up a chart and walked off.
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"Cook County ER." The desk clerk said into the phone and quickly scrawled a note for Carter onto a scrap piece of paper.
"This is Carol Hathaway. I need to speak to Dr. Greene."
"Oh, sure Carol. Hold on a moment." He said and tucked the phone onto his shoulder and looked up, just as Mark came around to the admit desk. The clerk motioned to the phone.
"Carol." He said. Mark took the phone.
"Hey Carol." He said.
"Hi Mark." She replied.
"What's up?" He asked.
"I'm sorry I didn't come to work. I should have called." She said.
"That's okay. I understand." He said. She cleared her throat a bit.
"Thanks. I uh, I need to talk to you. Do you think maybe we could meet for lunch at Doc Magoo's?" She asked.
"Sure. What time?" He asked.
"Is an hour okay?" She asked.
"That's fine. I'll see you there then, okay?"
"Thanks, Mark. Bye."
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Carol sat in a booth at Doc Magoo's, sipping on a soft drink. She watched the doors of the ER, waiting for Mark. Finally, a few minutes later than what they had planned, he walked out the doors. She watched him cross the parking lot and felt her stomach churn with nervousness. He pushed his way into the diner and Carol listened to the chime of the bells against the glass door. He looked around, his head swiveling, until he spotted her. He smiled and headed her way before sliding into the booth across from her.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. How are you doing?" He asked immediately. She smiled.
"I'm okay." She said. He nodded.
"Alright. What do you need to talk to me about?" He asked. She sighed and wrapped her hands around the bottom of her glass.
"I'm going to quit." She said.
"Quit?" He asked, confusion filtering through with his voice. She nodded.
"The job. Quit here, at Cook County." She said.
"What? Carol, why?" He asked, completely shocked. Out of everything he would have thought she wanted to talk about, this would be the last on that list. She looked away, watching as an ambulance pulled into the bay.
"I can't work here anymore, Mark. So much has happened in my life lately. It's...There's a lot of bad memories here. Good ones, too, but a lot of bad."
"Carol, we can get through it. Everybody's here for you." He said. She smiled.
"I know. That's what I'm going to miss. The family." She paused. "But Mark, I can't do it anymore. I have to get away." He sat back, watching her.
"Alright." He paused. "I wish you would reconsider." He watched her, knowing she had made up her mind.
"I wish I could, Mark, but..I can't." He nodded.
"We'll miss you. If you ever need a job, there's always going to be one available for you here." He said. She nodded.
"Thank you." She said and felt the tears creep up on her. She blinked them away and swallowed.
"Mark, I..have to go. Thank you for being so wonderful. Tell the girls I'll miss them. And Susan. I'll miss you, Mark." She looked at him before getting up and walking out of the small diner for possibly the last time. She glanced at the ER, her home, one more time before tucking her hands into her pockets and walking briskly away. Mark watched her go, completely dumbfounded with all of it. Wondering if he would ever see her again.
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Mark walked slowly into the ER and headed into the lounge. He placed his coat back in his locker and walked out to the admit desk.
"Mark, we've got a.." Lydia began to hand him a chart but he held up a hand. "Mark?" She asked. Haleh, Susan, and Doug all looked up from their various places around the area.
"Carol quit." Doug's heart stopped.
"What?" Susan asked, staring at him.
"She quit. She just told me that she couldn't work here anymore and to tell the girls and Susan that she would miss them. Then she left. Just walked out of Doc Magoo's." He said. Doug stood, frozen to the spot, watching Mark. He couldn't breath, the world was tumbling down around his ears.
"Carol quit." He whispered and finally got his limbs to work. He nodded once and picked up a chart and headed back to an empty exam room. The others watched him go, sorrow in all of their own hearts for him, for Carol, for themselves.
Doug pushed his way into the room and leaned back against the door. She couldn't just quit like that. She couldn't.
"Oh God." Doug muttered and thought he might be sick. This was all because of him. If he had just stayed last night, maybe everything would be different. Everything would be different, he knew. It was because of him that she had quit her beloved job. "Oh God." He repeated. He closed his eyes and swallowed against the nausea.
Then the anger came upon him suddenly, burning his gut. What the fuck kind of bastard are you? He asked himself silently. In a blind fury he suddenly came to life and he threw the chart across the room.
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