I apologize profusely for the length of time it took me to update this chapter!! I had written the first part a while ago but got stuck in writer's block (the horrors!) for a while and then I was (still am) busy with exams.  I felt the need to finish it today (Yay! Free day tomorrow after my French exam today..grr.) and here it is.

I have mapped out a plan for continuing this story and so far, it looks as if I'll do a 20 chapter fanfic… but I'll wait for feedback on this chapter to see if anybody will even want to keep reading. ;)

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I was walking towards the lock-up to do the weekly tedious chore of restocking when I heard a slightly teasing voice call out, "Oh, Abby…"

I continued walking but glanced pointedly behind me and gave a smirk as Evelyn ran to catch up to me.

"Guess who came to look for you after you left last night?" she asked.

My mind was drawing a complete blank as I rapidly went through lists of names in my head.  I couldn't have gotten into trouble between yesterday and last week when I got caught sneaking in from my break half an hour late.  I swear Gosselin has a stick up his ass. 

Lyn and I made our way into the little area of drugs and materials and other various things only accessible by key and as I was unlocking the cabinet, I shot her a curious look and finally replied, "I don't know, who?"

She smiled mischievously and answered, "A certain John Carter.  Funny, I haven't heard you mention him before.  Who is he? What's the deal?"

I had to grin at Lyn's insistence and nosiness, but at the same time I was surprised to hear that he had come looking for me yesterday.  I turned to face Lyn and simply shrugged, replying, "He was part of the reason why I was late yesterday for my shift.  I met him on the train and when we got to talking, I found out that he is a doctor at County.  When a little boy fainted on the train, I helped John bring the boy to the hospital.  County was closer than here at the time."

Lyn gave me a look that said, 'Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?' but I waved it off and continued, "It wasn't really important.  Now I'm just curious as to why he was looking for me, maybe something went wrong with the boy…" I said, trailing off, "You obviously met him, did he say anything?"

I grabbed the inventory list and started filling out parts of the chart as Lyn started talking again in that sing-song voice of hers, "He came in asking Jay--"

I broke in at this point and asked, "--The new clerk?"

"Yeah," answered Lyn hastily, "Anyway, he came in asking if you were still working but since he didn't even know your last name, Jay couldn't help him since he isn't familiar with everybody yet."

I giggled, "Got it.  I suck at introductions."

Lyn laughed, "It was kind of humourous actually, and I think Jay enjoyed teasing him because by the time I walked by and heard who he was looking for, I swear to god, it looked like he had turned a million shades of red."

I laughed at this and said, "So, what did you say to him?"

"Well, after I charmingly introduced myself properly to the very cute doctor…" teased Lyn.

I gave a thoughtful, yet comical look and said, "He was kind of cute."

Lyn winked and replied, "He looked even cuter when he blushed and after I told him you had left a while ago, his face flashed the most adorable disappointed look."

I rolled my eyes and said sarcastically, "I'm sure."

Evelyn raised her hands in defence, "I swear! Anyway, he just muttered a 'Thanks, good-bye' and left… looking sad might I add!"

"Lyn!" I laughed, "Remember Blake? My boyfriend? Don't get any ideas about setting me up with this guy… in fact, if you think he's so great, how about I set you two up? Last time I checked, you were still available," I said as I poked her arm jokingly.

"Hey, I wasn't trying to set you two up, I was just merely stating the truth," said Lyn, looking as innocent as she could, "Besides, how do we know he isn't already taken? You might be okay with being a home-wrecker but I'm certainly not," laughed Lyn.

By this time, we were walking down the hall towards the lounge and I replied teasingly, "What about that guy you dated several months ago, Leo was it? Didn't he have a girlfriend?"

"Hey!" Lyn replied defensively, "I didn't know!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Carter."

I turned towards the door of the trauma room; Frank had poked his head in and called my name.  "What do you need?" I answered.

"Carter, we need to intubate, get ready to bag," said Deb, taking over since I got distracted.

"Some woman is asking for you at the desk, she was here a couple of days ago…" replied Frank.

I gave a nod of comprehension towards Deb and looked questioningly over at Frank, "Um… tell her I'll be with her in a sec. after I finish up in here.  Do I know her? What's her name?"

"I'm in, bag her," commanded Deb.

As the door began to swing shut behind him, Frank answered, "Her name's Abby Lockhart."

My hand faltered a little when I heard this and I missed the pump that Malik was handing me; it dropped on the floor.

"Carter! I thought you were ready!" exclaimed Deb.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my hand just … shook," I apologized.  I cursed silently at myself and marveled at how much damage a mere mention of her name had caused me.

*                               *                               *                                *                                 *

I yanked off the now bloodied gloves and threw them into the waste on my way out of the trauma room.  I walked through the halls towards the admit area, weaving through rushing incoming paramedics and scanning among the crowds of patients.  I finally caught a glimpse of her standing near the desk, her back towards me, talking to Luka.

I felt a slight pang of jealousy, so faint, but it was there.  As I approached them, I heard her laugh flirtingly. 

God, she was beautiful. 

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to keep cool and calm and when I finally opened my mouth to speak, the first words out of my mouth were, "What are you doing here?"

Smooth, Carter.  Real smooth.

She laughed that musical laugh again and replied, "Well, hello to you too!"

"I-I mean…" I stammered, and then taking a deep breath, I started over again, "Hey Abby, it's a surprise to see you again."

"A nice surprise I hope," she teased.

"Very nice, it's a pleasant surprise," I started to relax.

Luka glanced back and forth between us, "I'll let you two talk," he said, and he turned towards Abby with a smile and added, "Nice to meet you."

She smiled and waved at Luka as he walked away.  "So," she began, "I came here for a reason.  My friend said you were looking for me yesterday."

"Oh, um, yeah, I did come by yesterday but you were already gone," I said.

She nodded, "My shift ended at 7."

"Yeah, I figured," I said.

"So…" she started fiddling with her necklace, "Did you want to see me for a particular reason…?"

I reddened a little, "It was nothing.  I just wanted to thank you again personally for helping me out."

 "Well," she began, "I was on the train too.  By the way, how is he doing? Did you ever find his parents?"

"It wasn't anything major, we think he was simply suffering from heat exhaustion, but they're still monitoring him up in Pediatrics," I replied.

"And his parents?"

"Oh, when he regained consciousness, we got him to tell us that his name was Jamie Brown.  Apparently he was trying to run away from home," I said, "We notified his parents and I think everything is okay now."

Abby gave a little smile, "I'm glad."

And then it happened.  The Awkward Pause.  No matter how much I think I know a person, it still takes time to develop a close enough relationship so that there are no more uncomfortable silences.  I wanted that length of time with Abby.  However, right now, we were still standing in front of the admit desk with nothing to say to each other.  Two perfectly intelligent individuals and there was no subject we could think of.  And here I thought I had gotten over my 'shy' phase. 

Thank god we were interrupted a few agonizing seconds later by Chen, "Hey Carter, the husband is here.  Do you want to break the news?"

I glanced at Abby who said, "Go ahead.  I need to go anyway."

"Um, okay.  I guess I'll talk to you soon…" I heard my voice saying, while my brain was thinking, "This is your chance.  Ask her! Ask her!"

"Alright, um, I'll see you soon," she replied, getting ready to turn around.  "Actually," she started to add, "How about I give you my cell phone number and we could get together for coffee sometime or something?"

I smiled, half for happiness and the other half for relief, "I'd love that."

*                               *                               *                                *                                 *

And 6 hours later I found myself staring at a piece of ripped out notebook paper with the name Abby Lockhart (starred, in case I forgot again) and the number 555-2229 scrawled on it in messy handwriting.

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Sorry for the somewhat corny parts near the middle of this installment.  I was listening to some sappy music and watching generic romantic comedy movies while writing it. Forgive me. ;)