" What?!" shouted the blonde doctor.


" Calm down. It's not like I'm pregnant."


" Are you sure?" she asked logically


" Yes." Abby rolled her eyes.


" I'm sorry this is just a hell of a lot to digest before breakfast, Abby."


" Bagel?" asked Abby grabbing one from the basket Yosh brought in earlier that morning.


" Funny. Got any cream cheese?"


" Fridge, but don't be surprised if it's got something growing on it."


" Eww. Speaking of gross things, are you gonna talk to him?"


" Maybe. I've thought about it. How about in five years?" she suggested


" You have to talk to him. You and Carter can't just have a one-night-stand and forget it. The both of you have too much freakin' history to just up and forget THAT!"


" Susan, we've done THAT before you know. I don't date virgins. They're too much of a challenge."


" Especially ones who lose it at age eleven."


" Ha-Ha. You're a regular Gilda Radner."


" Talk." said Susan simply


" You're sincerely wasting your time"


And with that, she walked out.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Tick-Tock. Tock-Tick. The sound of the clock was starting to annoy him. Wasting time by himself in the apartment was not doing any good. Then, the shift he had in an hour laced his mind. Great. Thirty-six hours of blood, barf, and all around good fun!


He made his way into the kitchen to make his infamous cup of coffee. Black. Apparently like his soul. He noticed the paper napkin sitting next to a capped, black, felt tip pen on his marbled counter top. She had left him a note. This incredible experience they embraced and what does she do? Leave a note. He looked over the familiar scrawl, but only two words were clear: I'm Sorry.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*


" I'm so sorry, Mrs. Castello. Is there anyone I can call? A family member perhaps?" asked Deb


" My husband had a sister in Tucson, Arizona. Her name is Joey Adams. Well, Josephine in the Yellow Pages."


" Of course Mrs. Castello. We'll do anything we can."


At the admit desk, Jerry, Randi, and Chuny watched Jing-Mei console the elderly woman who thought her husband had died. Lydia had found earlier in her pockets at least fifteen-hundred dollars' worth of anti-depressants. Now, the guessing game had begun.


" 425?" suggested Chuny


" You're an amateur! It's at least 475." exclaimed Jerry


" God Jerry! It's got to be 500 or more." stated Randi


" Hey Malik," shouted Jerry " blood/alcohol on Mrs. Castello?"


" Hmm. Put me down for 550!"


The staff members chuckled.


" You're all wrong." stated Deb matter-of-factly


" What?" they gasped


" It's 575," she replied grabbing the coffee can full of cash from various colleagues "thank you."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


" Hey, I didn't see you come in!" said Susan walking in the lounge.


" Who are you? The paparazzi?" snapped Carter.


" Sorry. What did you do on your night off?"


" Oh nothing really. Mr. Chow's take-out. I watched Tony and Camilla kick ass."


" This from the man who thinks television is one of the four horses of the apocalypse."


" I said that about Survivor not Drea de Mattea, thank you."


" So, The Sopranos are definitely not in sub-exile territory."


" Exactly."


" You're a strange man, John Carter. By the way, I happen to know that you weren't anywhere near Tony Soprano last night. It was more like Carrie, Samantha, and Charlotte came to visit you."


" Susan, I can assure you I did not watch.......Sex And The City."


She stood there with her famous smirk.


" Carter, it's not like women don't talk. We're friends. That's what we do," she replied " the color has drained from your face, sweetheart. Do you need some juice?"


" It's not what you think."


" Then what is it because I sure as hell don't know."


" Nothing happened."


" What the hell do you mean by nothing happened? You had sex, correct?"


" Oh yeah, we had sex. Nothing really happened simply because she left."


" She left? Like, during the night she left?"


" She left one of those sob story letters on a napkin. It was like one of those chick flicks."


" You have to talk to her, Carter. From what I've heard, she's waiting on you."


" If she wants to talk, she'll talk. Although, I'm done, Susan."


" What? You're done?"


" I'm done. I'm done with Abby. I'm done with bad timing. I'm done with our flip-flop relationship. I'm done with all of this superficial crap," he got up off the sofa and walked towards the lounge door, " screw Abby."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Whew! I hated writing this chapter. I realize it's practically all dialogue, but the most of it, especially Carter's rant at the end, was very important. I threw in the bet in the middle just for fun. It goes good with the title. Speaking of the title, it was taken from The Doors' classic hit. Some might not know the words or understand why I used it for the title so here are the lines that made me use it, 'People are strange when you're a stranger/ Faces look ugly when you're alone/ Women seem wicked when you're unwanted/ Streets are uneven when you're down.' Do you understand, now? I hope so. In this chapter, I used a few references. The 'digest before breakfast' line was taken from a conversation had between Pacey Witter and Dawson Leary on, you guessed it, Dawson's Creek. The 'virgins being a challenge' phrase was first said by Steven Hyde on Fox's hilarious sitcom: That '70s Show. It's incredibly funny, and I highly recommend it. 'Black. Apparently like my soul' was coined by Karen Walker on the gayest show on television: Will and Grace. 'Especially those who lose it at eleven' was, of course, referring to the epp. 'Secrets and Lies'. Gilda Radner, if you're wondering, was one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live. She was an amazing comic and died of ovarian cancer. That line was sort of a dedication to her. The bet on the patient's blood/alcohol level was, believe it or not, from the Pilot. I saw it in syndication not too long ago. My, My how things have changed!

'The four horses of the apocalypse' was yet another reference to 'Secrets and Lies'. I also name dropped for HBO meaning 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex And The City'. They are both awesome shows. Finally, the last part of Carter and Susan's conversation was taken from a similar conversation had between the Coffee and Pie Twins at the end of 'Next of Kin'. Whew! I'm glad I got that over with. Please review!!! Kudos- not-so-dumb-blonde