Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that appear on the show, however I have made up a few of my own.

The Mistakes We Make: Part Two

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All afternoon she attempted to get him to talk to her. On more than one occasion as she stepped in line with him and started to explain her actions, he slipped into the nearest room and escaped through another door before she even realized he was gone. He kept working long past the time for a normal break, his only conversations remained on business, aside for the normal banter back and forth with Susan. If she knew him well enough, he looked forward to seeing Susan at work just so they could flirt all they want, knowing it wasn't going to go anywhere. Finally she saw her moment. He was standing at admit, reviewing charts all alone, so she quickly began to walk over to him.

"Carter, phone," Frank said.

"Busy," he responded picking up a set of test results placed in front of him and comparing them to a previous set.

"She say's it's urgent."

"John, can we please talk?" Abby asked.

"No," he said sternly to her. "Who is it Frank?" he asked annoyed.

"Angelique?"

Frank didn't have to ask again. "Give me the phone," Carter demanded, nearly ripping the phone from Frank. He lifted the phone to his ear and listened as her French accent cracked through the line. "I can't . . . you have to talk louder." Abby watched as Carter's face went from confusion to white as a sheet in a matter of moments. "Okay. I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and started to walk off. Abby followed.

"Susan, can you cover my patients?"

"Why?"

"I have an emergency. I have to leave now." He opened his locker and grabbed his stuff. "There are only a few. My charts are with Frank."

"Where are you going?" Abby asked, hoping he would answer that one question.

"Africa. Matenda. Luka's missing." Abby reached out for him and Susan watched as Carter pulled his arm out of her grasp. "Don't touch me. Tell Kerry I'll call with more details." And he disappeared out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was hot. More hot than he remembered it being days earlier when he left. For some reason the trip back wasn't as long and wasn't as rough. He knew exactly what to expect. It seemed quiet when he stepped out of the car with Charles and they walked towards the clinic. More sick children, more new faces he didn't remember. When he left, Luka's people must have finally showed up. He got curious stares from doctors he'd never seen, doctors more American than he was, if that was even possible. Then he saw her, standing next to a child and translating for some blonde Adonis who wasn't even looking at the patient, but more stealing glances at Gillian. She happened to glance past the doctor and see him slowly walking over, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Excuse me," she told the doctor before walking towards them. "I hate you," she whispered to him.

"We need to talk," he said.

"You left Luka to do this alone," she said.

"Gillian, let's go outside," he said, his hand curving around her upper arm.

"No," she said, her voice rising. "You were too good for Luka. You left him behind because he told you too. You were too scared to fight him and now look what's happening. He's out in the middle of nowhere and you left him there." She pushed him away but he quickly grabbed her arms and pinned her against him.

"We're just going to go outside," he told Charles before trying his best to usher her out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

He finished tying his shoe and let it fall to the ground just in time to watch Gillian walk out of the housing tent. He sighed, preparing himself for her argument. He nodded to Charles who climbed into the driver's side of the truck, before he started walking to the opposite side.

"I want to go," she called after them.

"No," Carter said forcefully.

"You can't stop me. Luka's out there but he's not alone. You need more people. Those guys could kill you."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," he told her. "They need you here."

"You need me there," she pleaded.

"You're not coming," Carter said climbing to the car. "Let's go," she saw him say to Charles before she was left in a cloud of dust.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Please continue to R&R as I develop this story. And bare with me because I'm working on others, besides these.