Disclaimer: I don't own ER, or any of its characters. They are the property of NBC and Michael Crighton.
In this story, I've tried to present a happier side of some of the characters, at least to begin with. The story takes place in the summer, and begins with Carter and Abby going off to spend a quiet weekend alone- or so they think.
"Abby, do you have a minute?" my boyfriend, Dr. John Carter- or Carter, as almost everyone I know calls him- yelled.
"Sure," I replied, puzzled. He didn't look like he was asking about a patient, and I didn't think we'd had a patient together yet this morning anyway. I followed him over to an empty exam room.
"Are you on at all this weekend?" he asked.
"Umm, not until Sunday afternoon, I don't think. Why?"
"I was thinking maybe we could do something. My family has this cabin out by a little lake- I thought we could spend a weekend alone there."
"Really?" I said flirtatiously. "And exactly how long have you been planning this 'spur-of-the-moment' weekend trip?"
"Oh, you know, a couple weeks or so," he replied, running his fingers through my hair.
"It sounds great, Carter. I could always use a break from County anyways."
"What time do you get off today?"
"I get off at 3."
"Meet you at my place at 5, then?"
"Sure, that works for me,"
"Great!"
* * *
As I walked out of the exam room, my hand automatically slipped to my coat pocket. There was nothing in it at the moment, but I kept thinking back to five months earlier, when there had been a ring in there. The ring that I had almost proposed to Abby with. And now, I was about to propose for real. I wondered if Abby had any idea this time around. Probably not, I thought to myself. The last time she said anything about it was that night we almost broke up. I shuddered to myself. I didn't want to think about that night ever again- I didn't ever want to think about losing Abby again.
"Carter. Earth to Carter!" a voice shouted. I whipped around, almost running into Susan Lewis, one of my best friends in the ER.
"Oh, sorry," I said.
"It's okay, really," she laughed. "I just wanted to tell you that Weaver needs you up front. There's a trauma coming in, ETA 5 minutes."
"Okay, thanks." Susan looked at me quizzically.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great," I replied. She stared at me for a moment.
"You're proposing again, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah." Susan shook her head and grinned.
"Abby's a great girl. Get it right this time, Carter," she said, walking off.
