Author's Notes: (New Format here!)
Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this chapter. It means so much to me. I'm sorry that this took so long to get out. It took a really long time to write and then my friend didn't have time to edit for a while, so that got all messed up. I'm sorry! There are two new characters in this part. I haven't decided if they are coming back, but they are Kirsten Horsfield and Jeffrey Taylor. They are mine and they are the main characters in my book, which is called Squids 'n' Jarheads and is currently being posted on. One thing: I am not a doctor, nor am I planning on being one (I want to be a lawyer) so please excuse the poor use of medical terms. I'm trying here, people! The song is My Best Friend and is sung by Tim McGraw and written by Aimee Mayo and Bill Luther And, as always, enjoy this part and I'll keep on writing.PART 6:
Carter's POV:
"Hey, can you arrange for CT scan for the guy in Curtain 3?" I ask Abby as I come into the admin desk. It has been about a month since I proposed and things have been great between Abby and I.
"Sure. Hey, when are you off?" she asks.
"Two hours. You want to go out tonight?" I ask, setting down the chart that I'm working on.
"Actually, I was hoping that we could start on the wedding."
"Sounds like a good idea to me. I'll meet you at your place?" I ask her.
"Sure," she says as we head into the lounge, "Bring your date book."
I smile at her as I get myself a cup of coffee. Just then Frank sticks his head in the door, "Dr. Carter, there's a man out here looking for you."
"I'll be there in a minute." I say as I kiss Abby before heading out into the busy ER, "Where is he?" I ask Frank.
"Over there." Frank says, pointing to a man who is sitting on one of the benches.
I head over there. God, he looks familiar. There's a woman with him but I don't recognize her, "May I help you?" I ask.
The man turns around and smiles, "Hey JC!"
"Jeff Taylor? What the hell are you doing here?" I ask as I smile at my best friend from high school.
"I got transferred to Great Lakes and called your grandmother's house to see if you were still around here." He says as he shakes my hand.
"Well, it's great to see you. What have you been up to?" I ask him.
"I'm currently a lawyer in the Marines. I take it that you've become a doctor?"
"Oh yeah. I love it here." I say as I smile at him.
"Well, I'm enjoying the Marines. Oh, John, there's some one that I want you to meet," he says as he turns to the young woman who has been sitting down on the bench, "John, this is my wife, Commander Kirsten Horsfield. Kirsten, this is one of my best friends from high school, Dr. John Carter."
Kirsten, who has beautiful brown hair and blue eyes, smiles at me, "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Carter. I don't know how you kept up with JT but hey, I'm glad that you did." She says as she looks over at her husband.
"Please, call me Carter. Everyone does."
"Kirsten, then. Jeff, I'm going to sit down. My knee's bothering me."
Jeff turns to his wife with concern, "You sure that you're okay, Kirsten? I don't want you to over do anything."
Kirsten sighs, "Jeffrey Taylor, I think that I know when I've over done stuff." She says, leaning on Jeff's arm.
He wraps an arm around her waist, "Take it easy, Kirsten."
Just then Kirsten grimaces in pain and then falls down, "Kirsten? Are you okay?" I say to her. I see Abby out of the corner of my eye, "Abby, can you get a gurney?" I call to her.
She nods and rushes over and I turn back to Kirsten, "Can you tell me what's wrong, Kirsten?"
She looks up at me, "I crushed my knee ejecting out of an airplane a few months ago. It's been bothering me ever since."
I push up her pants and look down at her knee. It's wrapped up in an ACE bandage, which I quickly undo. Her kneecap is swollen and I look up at Jeff, "It looks pretty bad. I want to do an ultra sound and see what's going on."
Just then Abby comes rushing over with the gurney, "Here you go, Carter. What happened?"
"She fell. Jeff, let's get her up here." I say as I motion to him to take her head. With Abby helping, we get up onto the gurney and start to wheel her down to the trauma room. Luckily, the ER is slow today and we can use one right now.
Abby hands me the miniature screen and wand and I squirt the jell onto her knee. I turn it on and then look at the screen.
I sigh and then look at Kirsten, who's holding tightly onto Jeff's hand, "What's wrong, Carter?" she asks.
"What ever tissue you had left from your other operations is now gone. I'm going to call a specialist to come down and look at your knee. I'll be around but I have more patients that I need to see. I'm sorry," I say as I smile at Jeff and Kirsten before heading over to where Abby is, "Can you stay with them while I go call Dr. Matthews?" I ask.
"Sure."
"Bye guys." I say to them as I push open the doors.
"Thanks, John." Jeff calls behind me as I leave. I smile. It's great to have my best friend with me as I start this new aspect of my life.
Abby's POV:
I look over at the young woman who laying down in the gurney, holding tight to, what I assume, is her husband, "Is there anything that I can get you?" I ask, marking down something on her chart.
"No thanks." She says, "I'm Kirsten Horsfield. This is my husband, Jeffrey Taylor."
"Abby Lockhart. Mr. Taylor, I saw you talking to Carter. Do you know him?" I ask the young man.
He smiles, "We went to high school together. Actually, we were best friends."
"That's pretty cool. Do you guys live in Chicago?"
"Jeff's in the Marines and I'm in the Navy but I'm currently on medical leave but I'm planning to go back to D.C. so that I can become a teacher at the Academy. Jeff just got transferred to Great Lakes." Kirsten says.
I smile, "That's cool that you guys are in the military. What do you guys do?"
"I'm a JAG lawyer. I'm a former F/A-18 Hornet pilot but I messed up my shoulder one too many times and had to stop. Kirsten's a former Tomcat pilot and she's currently getting her Master's so that she can teach at the Academy." Jeff says to me.
"That's cool," I say and turn to Kirsten, "How did you mess up your knee?"
She looks at Jeff, who nods, "I was flying a recon mission in the Sea of Japan and was shot down. I already messed it up from another ejection so when I ejected this time, I really did a number."
"Kirsten, I think that it was more than a number. I think that it was more like a whole damn concert." Jeff says.
Kirsten bursts out laughing and I smile at Jeff. I really like Jeff and Kirsten seems pretty nice. Just then Dr. Matthews comes in. He's a small man with brown hair and a smile for everyone, "Okay, what do we have here?"
"42 year old female who recently ejected out an airplane. She has previously crushed her knee and had the tissue repaired. Carter thinks that whatever she had left is now gone."
"Patient's name?" he asks.
"Kirsten Taylor." Kirsten speaks up from the gurney.
"Hello, Kirsten, I'm Dr. Matthews. I think that I'm going to have to take you up to have more tests run so that I can decide what needs to be done. Is this your husband?" Matthews asks, motioning to Jeff.
"Yes sir."
Jeff shakes his hand, "Jeffrey Taylor, Doctor."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Taylor. Why don't we get Kirsten upstairs and then I can run some tests." Matthews says as he heads toward the door.
I unlock the wheels on the gurney and also put up the bars and then follow Dr. Matthews out. Matthews decides to take the stairs up the third floor and I wait with Kirsten and Jeff for the elevator, "I'll take you guys up but then I have to get back to work."
Kirsten smiles, "I'm sure that you do. Thanks, Abby, for all that you have done."
"I'm just doing my job." I say and smile at her before hitting the elevator button.
Carter's POV:
"Hey, Abby, did Kirsten make it upstairs with Matthews?" I ask her as I stop her in the hallway as I'm making my way to the stairs a few hours later.
"Yeah. I hope that she's okay. She seems really nice." She says.
"This is the first time that I've met her but if she can stand Jeff, then she's a pretty good person." I say and smile.
"I like both of them. Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going up to check on them." I say.
"Is your shift over?"
"Yeah. Can I met you at my apartment in about an hour?" I ask.
"Sure. Will you pick up dinner?"
"Of course. What do you want?" I ask.
"Chinese okay?"
"That's fine." I say and kiss her quickly before I smile and head up the stairs. It takes me a few minutes to find Kirsten's room.
"Hey Carter." Jeff says as I head into the room. Jeff's sitting in a chair next to Kirsten's gurney.
"Hey guys. I just wanted to check on Kirsten." I say as I pick up the chart.
"Carter, you didn't have to come check on me. I'm sure that you have plenty of things to do."
"Hey, nothing less than the best for my best friend's wife." I say, putting the chart back down.
Jeff smiles, "I still can't believe that you actually went to med school and became a doctor. It was all that you could talk about when you were growing up."
I smile, "I know. Say, Jeff, did you ever become a pilot? I remember that you were always talking about becoming one."
"Yeah. I was an F/A-18 pilot until my shoulder got all screwed up."
Kirsten, who has been quiet, suddenly asks, "Hey, Carter, I noticed you talking to Abby. And then when she was in with me, I noticed an engagement ring. Are you the lucky guy?"
I smile, "Yeah. I proposed a few months ago."
"Congratulations!" Kirsten says, reaching up to give me a hug.
"John Carter, engaged! Congrats, buddy!" Jeff says, shaking my hand.
"Look who's talking! You got married!" I say to him.
"Yeah, well…"
"Well nothing. It just goes to show that the most popular boys in high school can be tied down." I say and smile. It's great to be back with my best friend.
Abby's POV:
It's been three hours since I left County. I've already taken a shower, washed the dishes, and organized Carter's DVDs and CDs and Carter's still missing. Where the heck is he?
I'm ready to watch the latest Survivor episode when I hear the turning of the lock. "Abby, are you here?" he calls.
"In here." I say, turning on the TV.
"Hey." He says, leaning over the back of the couch to kiss my temple.
I turn around, "Where the hell have you been? You told me that you were going to be home two hours ago!"
"I'm sorry. I was talking with Jeff and Kirsten."
"So you're giving up your time to chat with your friends when I'm sitting here all alone?" I ask, standing up to face him.
"I just went up there to check on them. We got talking and I lost track of time."
"You could have called me on your way. By the way, where's dinner?"
"Dinner? What dinner?" he asks.
"The one that you were supposed to pick up tonight," I say to him, "You promised that tonight we were going to start working on the wedding. I can see what your priorities are, John. I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow." I say, grabbing my jacket and purse.
"Abby, wait!" I hear him call as I slam the door. I've had enough.
Carter's POV:
I sigh as I hear the front door slam. What have I done? I was just catching with some of my good friends. Why can't she understand that?
Jeff and I grew up together. We went through some pretty tough things but we always stuck together. When high school was over, Jeff and I lost touch. I went to med school and Jeff went to the Naval Academy. I'm proud of him. His parents didn't have much money but they raised him well. He was always there when I needed him but we had fun.
I lie down on the couch and hit the play button on the remote for the stereo. Some how I have gotten the Tim McGraw CD and it happens to be on one song. I listen as it starts:
You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend, oh yeah.
I sigh. I honestly don't know where I'd be without Abby. She's the part that makes me whole, that one important thing that was missing in my life. I can't stand knowing that she's upset but I really can't stand knowing that I'm the one who she's upset with. I sit up, an idea coming to my head. I take the CD out of the stereo and grab a piece of paper and a pen. With a flourish I sign my name and grab my car keys and head out the door. God, I hope that this works.
Abby's POV:
I came home and start crying, which is something that I rarely do. I must have cried a river before I finally fell asleep on the couch. I woke up a few hours later with a heavy heart and an empty stomach. As I'm looking around the kitchen for something to eat, I hear a knock on the door. I sigh and go to look through the peep hole. I see Carter standing there, his expression sad. Unlocking the deadbolt, I ask, "What are you doing here?"
Silently, he hands me the yellow roses that he has. What is it with this man and flowers? I mean, not that I'm complaining. There's a note attached to it and I read it:
Abby – I sorry that I forget about our date. I love you more than anything and I can't tell you that enough. You're my best friend, Abby, and nobody-not even Kirsten or Jeff-could take your place. Love you, Carter.
"Carter, that's so sweet." I say, opening the door so that he can come in.
He smiles and silently heads over my stereo and puts in a CD, "May I have this dance?" he asks as soft music comes on.
I never had no one
I could count on
I've been let down so many times
I was tired of hurtin'
So tired of seachin'
'Til you walked into my life
It was a feelin'
I'd never known
And for the first time
I didn't feel alone.
You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend, oh yeah.
"I love you, John Carter, and no one could ever replace you as my best friend." I say to him as I stare into his eyes.
"That's good to know," he says, smiling. He then leans down and kisses me, "I love you, Abby Lockhart."
No person could ever replace this man. No one.
You stand by me
And you believe in me
Like nobody ever has
When my world goes crazy
You're right there to save me
You make me see how much I have
And still tremble
When we touch
And oh the look in your eyes
When we make love
You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend, oh yeah.
You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend (my best friend)
You're my best friend (my best friend)
END PART 6.