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Ok, did the attempt at suspense work? Hope so ;)
Here's where I've chosen to say my 'Thank-you's', cos when you're hyped up on caffeine here seems as good a place as any…
To Valaraiya, for allowing me to gatecrash her house to post new chapters, and for her continued encouragement and confidence in my writing. Much appreciated, my darling, though I don't say so enough… …He does not look like a bear… start running, girlie ;)
To Tawny, for being an absolute star, and for support in the highest degree. Cheers, babe, love starshine ^-^ p.s, we will teach the birds to sing amazing grace…
Penguieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
To Tarya, for persuading me to keep writing… Thank you.
To Concubine, Thank you for listening to me talk about ER for… Oh, must be almost three years… thank you for not beating me to death each time I mention Carter. Thank you for understanding me and knowing that I'm not crazy when I blurt things like 'Luka don't dance…" and "Look at me! I'm a skeleton!" and, from time to time, "I'm sorry, I meant to watch La Boehme on PBS last night but I had to go to the symphony…" Love you.
Anyway, back to the story, my friends.
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"Never."
"As you wish."
Surprisingly calmly, Richard pulled the trigger. Once.
Bang.
Twice
Bang.
He turned and bolted from the large silent room, diving out and off into the night.
The first bullet struck Carter in the shoulder, twisting his body violently. Abby screamed. The second struck him in the stomach. Time seemed to stop for a split second as his body straightened, before he crumpled to the floor.
Abby hit the floor and knelt beside his head, and pulled his head into her lap. His eyelids fluttered, closed, and then opened again.
The couple barely seemed to notice Kerry, Mark, and Susan, almost everyone, rally round.
Someone yelled "Get an ambulance!"
Carter stared blurrily up at Abby.
"I'm sorry."
Abby gently stroked his hair. He was going into shock; his face was pale.
Kerry was trying to stop the blood loss from his stomach with her jacket. Mark was examining his shoulder wound. Susan was checking his pulse.
"He's tachycardic! He needs fluids and an OR now!"
Kerry nodded.
"Get me some towels from the bar. And check on that ambulance!" Luka, who was standing shocked nearby, obliged, racing over to the stunned bartender.
"Abby!" Mark tried to get her attention. She just stared down at Carter.
"Abby!" She looked up at him long enough for him to know she was listening to him.
"Keep him talking. He needs to stay awake."
She nodded.
"Hey, Carter!" She tried a bright, optimistic tone, though her heart was breaking. She noticed with alarm that his eyes were closed. "You can't bow out on me now… Come on, Carter…" She gently brushed his cheek, and his eyes opened again. She sighed, relieved.
"Hey, Abby… What're you doing here? Work isn't for hours yet…"
"You can't sleep now, Carter. It's time to stay with me."
Chuny came and knelt the other side of Carter's head.
"But Abby, I'm not going anywhere. Where am I going?"
"It's the shock." Chuny said, softly.
"Carter. Come on. Tell me about when you were a kid." She sniffed back tears.
"Bobby…"
"Who was Bobby, Carter? Tell me about him."
"Bobby's sick. Mum took him to the hospital. He's sick…"
"Who's Bobby?"
"The doctors said Bobby would be ok. Bobby was very sick."
"Did Bobby die, Carter?"
Before he could answer, two burly male EMT's burst through the door and raced over to them.
Kerry reeled off his injuries as the EMT's, with the help of Mark and Luka, lifted him from the floor onto their gurney.
The first EMT looked at Kerry. "Are you coming with us?"
Mark and Chuny pulled a shaking, confused Abby to her feet. She pulled away from them once she was vertical, and was at the side of Carter's gurney, talking to him once more.
"Yes, and so is she." Kerry ordered, pointing at Abby. The EMT nodded.
Mark nodded. "We'll meet you there." Turning to Luka, Susan, Haleh and Chuny, he motioned for them to follow him. "We'll take my car." No-one objected.
"The rest of you had better hang around. The police are going to want to talk to you."
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EMT = Paramedic
Tachycardic = fast heart rate due to blood loss.
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All the way to the hospital Kerry watched the EMT's work, running an IV, doing their best to stop the bleeding.
She also watched Abby, perched as close to Carter as she could get, attentively talking to him, stroking his hair. It seemed she barely noticed the tears that were rolling down her face.
Kerry could see that Abby felt guilty. It was written in the way she moved, her eyes, her face, her voice. Everything about her cried out: this is my fault.
Kerry had heard most of the exchange before the shooting, and she only partly understood. She wanted to question Abby, but chose not to interrupt her at the moment, though. Soon enough there would be time for explanations and blame.
They passed a different set of sirens and lights hurtling in the opposite direction. Police, Kerry thought. It was too late, however. He would be long gone by now.
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Any medical-ness is from a book called 'the medicine of ER, or how we almost die.'
- Very useful birthday present from Valaraiya. The pages are dog-eared already…
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The team covering the ER were waiting, in the ambulance bay. The ambulance carrying Carter pulled up just a few moments before the Mark's car did.
The EMT's pulled the gurney from the back and raced him inside.
Kerry helped Abby down from the back of the ambulance, and together they hurriedly followed the EMT's and Carter inside.
Susan, Mark, Luka, Haleh and Chuny all piled out of Mark's car and dashed after them
"Randi! What's open?"
"Trauma two is prepped and ready, Dr Greene."
Kerry explained to the team covering the ER that Mark would be taking over, and that the others would be assisting. They stepped aside, though somewhat pissed, and Susan, Mark and Luka pulled on gowns and gloves.
Abby was still beside Carter, holding his hand and talking to him.
Six units of o-neg, type and cross…
"Kerry, can you take Abby and get her checked over?" Mark was working on Carter's stomach.
Kerry nodded.
CBC, page surgery…
"Abby, come with me. We'll go and get some coffee. You have to let them work on him now."
No exit wounds, lets get an x-ray…
"No, I'll stay here. He needs me. It's all my fault…" She couldn't draw her eyes away from Carter's pale cheeks. His eyes were still open, though, and he was responsive, though it was mostly the shock talking.
Kerry placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Come on Abby. There's nothing you can do now."
We need to find the source of that bleeder…
"No."
Carter, hearing Abby's raised voice, tried to focus his hazy vision on her face. "Why are you shouting, Abby? I can hear you."
"It's Ok, honey, I'm here. You just make sure that you don't fall asleep, ok?"
"Abby." Kerry began to steer Abby around and out the door.
"No! ...No! Kerry, let me go! I have to be with him." Abby was almost screaming as she was pulled away.
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The pair of them almost fell out of the door, and Kerry walked Abby to the lounge, where she sat her down on the couch.
"Abby, he's strong. He'll be ok…" she sat down next to her, careful to position herself between Abby and the door, in case she made a dash for it.
"Are you ok?" Kerry gently placed a hand on her back to comfort her.
Abby buried her face in her hands. "Oh god, I've screwed it all up."
Kerry wasn't used to this, and was unsure of how to react.
Tentatively she pulled Abby's limp form into a bundle in front of her, and rocked her as she cried. She seemed like a little lost child, searching for something to cling to.
"He'll be alright. He's with the best."
She could tell, as Abby's racking sobs continued, the only voice she was hearing now was her own accusing conscience inside her head.
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Susan hesitantly pushed open the door of the lounge, and found Abby cradled in Kerry's arms. She looked so small and hopeless, and it tore Susan's heart.
Kerry looked up, expectance touching all of her face. Abby heard the door close behind her and glanced up. There were no tears left to cry now, though her eyes were dewy and red rimmed.
"What is it?" Abby sat bolt upright, staring at Susan. She tried hard to read her face, but found no hints. "Is he… Oh god…"
Susan came and crouched in front of them both, and spoke softly. "We stabilised him, and Dr Corday and Dr Romano have taken him up to the OR. We'll know how it went in a few hours. He should be ok."
Relief swallowed Abby whole and she threw her arms around Susan's neck in gratitude. "Thank you so much, Susan."
Susan pulled Abby into a warm hug. "It was a team effort. Luka and Mark…"
"We have a great team…" Kerry said proudly, bestowing an uncharacteristically broad smile on Susan.
Susan nodded her thanks to Kerry and pulled out of the embrace with Abby. "Do you want to go up to the waiting room?"
Abby nodded, and pulled her fingers across her eyes to wipe them dry. Together, Susan and Abby stood. Abby's legs were still shaky, so Susan supported her as best she could.
"Are you coming, Kerry?" Susan asked, when she saw she wasn't moving.
Kerry wanted to go with them, but felt awkward and out of place. Then an idea dawned on her. "Is there anything you want from home, Abby? I could go get you a change of clothes; you could be here a while."
Abby smiled frailly, and started to nod, but the nodding soon turned to frantic shaking. "No, it's too dangerous. He might be there. You can't… I can't put you in danger too…" Abby's entire body began to shake, and Susan tried to calm her.
"It's Ok, Abby. I'll take Luka or Mark. We'll be in and out in ten minutes. Just tell me what you want."
Abby nodded resignedly. "Ok. Take Mark. But be careful. Just grab me something, anything."
"I'll pick us all up something to eat, too. No way am I going to eat cafeteria food…" Abby's smile fleetingly returned, but was soon lost again in fear.
Kerry touched Abby's arm gently. "I won't be long." With that, she left to find Mark, and Susan and Abby made their way to the surgical waiting room.
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Dr Elizabeth Corday stepped into the waiting room, and found Abby sleeping on the couch, and Susan nursing a cup of coffee at the table with Kerry. Catching Elizabeth out of the corner of her eye, Susan jumped up. "Is he ok?" She managed to keep her tone quiet, so as not to wake Abby, but only just.
"Is there any family here yet?"
Susan shook her head. "We haven't been able to get hold of them yet. Is he…"
"We took out the bullet in his shoulder, but there was some nerve and tendon damage. We'll have to wait and see how he does." Elizabeth's voice was hushed. "There were extensive internal injuries from the GSW to his abdomen. We pulled the bullet from there, too, and managed to repair the wounds, though. He's not out of the woods yet, but he should be fine. We've moved him to recovery."
"You should tell her." Kerry gestured to the sleeping Abby.
"Should I wake her?" Elizabeth looked in her direction. She seemed unsettled, despite her slumber.
Susan nodded. "She'd want to know. They're kind-of… involved."
Elizabeth nodded, understanding.
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Even sleep wasn't a refuge from the incident for Abby. In her troubled dreams she saw the gun, heard the shots, and felt Carter fall at her feet. She heard someone call her name and the banquet hall swirled and morphed into the waiting room, and she was thankful.
"…What is it?" Abby blinked, and rubbed her eyes. "Is it Carter?" Sitting up, she tried to register who it was that had woken her. "Dr Corday?"
"Carter is going to be fine. He's gone through to recovery, and should be able to go to ICU soon." Elizabeth smiled. "He's going to be ok. You can go and see him, if you like."
Abby stood unsteadily, straightened out her rumpled clothes, and nodded.
Suddenly, Elizabeth began to beep. She pulled her pager from her scrub-pants and read.
"I'm sorry, that's the ER. I have to go… Susan, could you take Abby to see Carter?"
"Sure."
Elizabeth hurried out, and Abby turned to Kerry.
"You go. I'll stay here, try the family again."
Susan tipped her head questioningly at Kerry.
"It's ok. You two go."
Abby and Susan didn't move.
"Go…" She made shooing motions with her hands. "Go."
Abby walked over to Kerry, her legs still trembling with sleep and relief.
"Thank you." She squeezed her tight. Kerry was unsure of how to react. Eventually she hugged her back, and Susan looked on in quiet appreciation.
"Now go…" Kerry pulled a hand across her cheek, and If Susan didn't know better, she could have sworn she was wiping away a tear.
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