Jo & Lise xx
Part Nine
It was early in the morning, the sun beginning to rise on the horizon. Carter sat next to Debbie in the front of the truck, while Gillian sat in the back, in a haze of smoke from her cigarette.
Gillian noticed that there was an uncomfortable silence descended on the vehicle...whether or not it was the prospect of finally finding Luka, or something else entirely, she didn't know.
"What made you change your mind?" Carter asked suddenly, his voice seeming loud after the long period of silence.
"About what?" Debbie asked not making eye contact, Gillian observed.
"You've come a long way, figured the least I could do was help you get the last ten miles..." she continued, coughing slightly from the cigarette fumes.
"Gillian! How can you smoke this early in the morning?"
Once again, no one spoke for a while; they drove along not speaking just occasionally bobbing out of their seats as the truck navigated down the beaten track.
"It is gonna cost you though..." Debbie spoke first this time.
"What is?" Carter replied, pulling himself out of the daze he was in, staring out of the window.
"I had to bribe the Mai Mai to get them to bring us out here..."
"I thought you were against anything that would compromise your neutrality... how much?"
"Not money, your digital gizmo"
"The Mai Mai want an I-Pod?" he queried in disbelief, she nodded in reply. "And that won't get you into any sort of trouble?"
"They can't eat it or use it a weapon, I think we're safe..." They both smiled at each other, as the truck drew to a halt.
"Here we go..."
The three words escaped Debbie's mouth, and ran down Gillian's spine...
***
Abby turned the page of the magazine over absentmindedly, only staring at the page and not really reading it. It wasn't that interesting anyway, just a tacky gossip magazine, but even if it had been it wouldn't have held her attention. Her mind was elsewhere. In The Congo, to be exact. She'd kept herself occupied for the evening by watching The West Wing, but now that it had finished there was nothing to do but think about him. And pretend to read this magazine.
She stood up, throwing the magazine onto the floor next to the TV. It was pointless sitting around at home doing nothing, she may as well take a late night walk. She grabbed her bag, and made her way out of the door. She didn't know where she was going, just that she was going to walk somewhere. Wherever her feet took her.
The first place she found herself was the El station. She shrugged to herself, laughing at her mind's strange idea of a 'walk'. Despite this, she got on the next train that pulled up. She might as well just take a ride, now that she was here.
The train rattled along, from station to station. Abby sat, watching all the people getting on and off, going about their business, unaware that a lovesick nurse was sitting staring at them, wondering who they were and what they were doing. Eventually she tired of her task, and stepped off the train at a random station. She wasn't sure where it was, but knew she could immediately get a train back the other way if she was stuck in the middle of no where.
Looking at the sign on the station, she realised she'd managed to find her way to the El station nearest to the Carter mansion. Without even thinking about it, she could still manage to get herself back to him. Except he wasn't here. There wasn't any harm in taking a little walk around, though. No one could stop her, she was the future Mrs. Carter, after all. Well, sort of...if he'd ask her again after all this.
She ran down the stairs from the station, and then began her walk towards the mansion. She noticed as she walked what a long way it was: of course, you wouldn't build a railway line next to the house of the richest family in Chicago! Twenty minutes later, she found herself standing at the end of the Carter drive. It would be easiest just to turn around and go back home now. There was nothing to see or do at the house.
But something made her start the ten minute walk up the long driveway. She noticed as she walked that the lights came on along the driveway as she approached them. She'd never noticed that before. Then again, you didn't exactly expect there to be sensor lights along a driveway. Most people didn't have driveways that long! It occurred to her halfway along that this would be the perfect setting for a movie to be filmed. She could just picture the movie's heroine, running down the driveway towards her love, rain pouring down and drenching her.
As if on cue, the rain began to fall. She laughed at the situation, before realising that she was over twenty minutes walk from the El station. It would have to be a taxi, she decided, delving into her bag for her cell. As she rummaged around her hand grasped around an unfamiliar feeling key chain. She pulled it out, and after a moments thought realised it was the key Carter had left with her the morning he left for Africa, so that she could lock up when she left.
Five minutes more to the house. Five minutes back to the end of the road where she could wait for a taxi to arrive, once she'd called. The house certainly sounded more appealing, she decided. And he wouldn't mind. She increased her pace as she walked the final distance to the house, the rain soaking her. Stepping up to the front door, she lifted the key and inserted it into the lock. It felt strange, letting herself into a mansion.
The door swung open, revealing the large hallway. She stepped in shyly, making sure to shut the door quietly. There may be no one here, but she still felt like she had to be quiet, in order to please the non-existent inhabitants. She shivered in her wet clothes, and realised she'd have to change into something. There must be a laundry room in this place, she'd just have to change into one of Carter's t-shirts and go dry her clothes.
***
Debbie stood behind Gillian & Carter, not wanting to intrude on the difficult situation.
"Ready?" He whispered to her gently.
She nodded, looking the most vulnerable he had ever seen her. He took her hand in his, and they approached the young Mai Mai boy at the entrance; he couldn't have been more than 15 years old.
"Nous devons trouver quelqu'un, nous le croyons est ici?" [we need to find someone, we believe he is here] Gillian enquired, her voice trembling slightly.
"Avez-vous une image?" [do you have a picture?] The Mai Mai boy replied robotically.
"Oui..." [yes] She dug Carter in the ribs with her elbow, and whispered urgently "The ID card..."
"Le prêtre..." [The priest] The Boy spoke softly, and walked into the schoolhouse. Carter looked in confusion at Gillian, who pulled his arm along as they both followed the boy inside.
***
After finding the right room, which was no easy feat in this house, Abby managed to find herself a pair of jogging pants and a sweater. She pulled them on, and then picked up her wet clothes, ready to go to the drying room, which she had already found in her search for his bedroom. As she walked past the mirror she realised what a mess her hair was. Well, he was sure to have a comb or brush somewhere. She opened the top drawer of the dressing table, looking through for something to brush her hair with.
As she searched around, her hand fell on the now familiar blue box. She picked it up out of the drawer, opened it, and stared at the sparkling diamond. She sighed sadly. That ring belonged on her finger, but she had been so stupid, and now it lived in a drawer in a bedroom in an old mansion. She carefully took it out of the box, and stared at it intently. She may have promised herself she wouldn't just go and get the ring, but it felt wrong to leave it sitting here now. She carefully slid it onto her finger, and sighed happily. It would feel better to have him slide it on, but right now she needed it. She needed something to feel closer to him, while he was off in a war zone, and this was it.
Realising her quest for a hairbrush was futile, she decided she'd wash her hair. Taking one last look at the ring, she headed off to the door to her right, into the en-suite bathroom.
***
The walk into the building seemed to last a lifetime, every step taken with great care, not really wanting to face whatever awaited them.
Gillian tugged on his hand leading him forwards, yet she paused for reasons unknown to him. That is until it hit him. He stepped back for a second, gasping for clean intoxicated air. Yet the smell still filled his nostrils, catching on the back on his throat... the smell of rotting flesh mixed with tremendous heat and decay. The smell of death, quite simply.
The Mai-Mai boy carried on wading through the corpses, unaware of the disgust of the two visitors. He'd reached a dark, damp corner now; several freshly murdered bodies lay by, entry wounds through their heads. Both Carter and Gillian were feeling extremely faint and repulsed by what they had seen, but something kept their attention to that spot.
In the very back of the corner, a mass lay beneath a dirt blanket - the only way to distinguishing this ray of hope being that is was moving...something below it was moving backwards then forwards almost in a motion on bowing to some unknown figure.
The boy pulled away the fabric to reveal a man with long, dark, straggly hair, someone very familiar who had been distorted almost beyond recognition by the cruel regime, only recognisable was by accented, delirious mutterings in Croatian.
***
"I'm hanging by a moment here with you, letting go of all I've held onto, I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you!" Abby sang at the top of her voice as she stood in the shower. She may as well take the opportunity to sing as loud as she liked in the shower with no chance of anyone hearing. Rubbing the shampoo into her hair, she continued with the song. "Forgetting all I'm lacking, completely incomplete, I'll take you invitation and you take all of me!" She loved this song. It always made her think of her and John. He'd taken all of her, completely captured her heart and her mind.
As she thought about him, her hair caught on the ring. She grinned to herself as she untangled the mass of wet shampoo-y hair from the diamond. She intended to have this problem for the rest of her life now. "There's nothing else to lose, there's nothing else to fight, there's nothing in the wor...argh!" she exclaimed, as her hair once more caught around the ring. Despite her best intentions, the constant tangling was beginning to annoy her. She carefully slipped the ring off, mentally apologising to her fiancé, all those thousands of miles away. Carefully placing it with her towel next to the sink she returned to wash the shampoo out of her hair.
Ten minutes, and a rendition of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" later, she stepped out of the shower. Blindly she reached for the towel, and wiped at the water in her eyes with it. Then she wrapped the towel around herself, and turned to retrieve her engagement ring.
"No!" she exclaimed, seeing no sign of the ring. She stared at the sink next to where it had sat before. "No, please not the sink..." She stared down into the plughole, but couldn't see anything. Sighing angrily she turned and stormed out of the bathroom, on a mission to retrieve her ring. How she was going to shut off the water and find something to undo the pipes was debatable, but right now she'd try anything.
The basement seemed a likely place, and so she made her way down there. She'd never seen a basement so big. She probably hadn't even seen a room so big. All around were shelves, any of which could contain the tools she needed. How was she ever going to find them? And did she even know what tools she even needed?
Once more sighing angrily, she started her search. Looking on shelves, in cupboards, under shelves. Not knowing what you were looking for really didn't help.
"Can I help you?" Abby froze. There wasn't meant to be anyone else here...
"Hello." She turned around to face the visitor, blushing and self consciously clutching the towel that was the only thing covering her.
"Did you need something?"
"No, I...er, yes." She paused, staring at the both friendly and intimidating elderly man. "I was trying to shut the water off." He raised an eyebrow. "I lost my engagement ring down the sink." She could tell he was thinking she was some loony who'd broken into the mansion. "Sorry, who are you?"
"Hubert. I was one of the housekeepers, I live at the end of the drive. I noticed some lights on, and since Dr. Carter's away I thought I'd come and investigate." He paused. "I could ask the same of you."
"Me? Oh, I..." She was suddenly at a loss for words. How did she explain the absurd circumstances that had brought her to the house this evening? "Abby," she provided eventually, smiling broadly at him. She held out a hand, which he shook cautiously. "Nice to meet you Hubert."
"And you...Abby." He stared at her once more, a quizzical expression on his face. She realised telling him her name hadn't explained why she was here.
"I'm John's fiancé. Dr. Carter. He gave me a key." Hubert looked her up and down, taking in the sight before him. She realised she didn't give a very good impression. Wrapped in a towel barely large enough to cover her, hair dripping all over the floor, and cheeks flushed from her hurried search for her ring.
"Of course."
"Sorry, I'm a bit..." she paused, looking down at herself. "I only just got out of the shower. That's when I lost the ring." Abby smiled, and Hubert returned it, moving off to another area of the basement.
Fifteen minutes later the water had been shut off, Abby had put an old t-shirt of John's on, and she and Hubert were sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor, attempting to unscrew the outlet pipe. Hubert whistled as he twisted the bolt, slowly coming closer to finding the ring. Abby recognised the tune, but couldn't quite place it. When she realised what it was she laughed out loud: it certainly wasn't something she expected Hubert to know.
"Is something amusing, miss?" he asked politely, his whole attitude to have having changed since he discovered she was his master's fiancée.
"Did you hear me singing in the shower earlier?" He shook his head. "You must have done! How else do you know Hanging By A Moment? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Lifehouse is exactly your kind of music."
"Dr. Carter used to sing it, I suppose I picked it up." Abby grinned, thinking of John singing it like she had, and thinking of them when he sang it like she did. She imagined him now, in Africa, humming or singing it to while away the time, and remind him of her. "Here you are."
"What?" she looked up, surprised at his voice after being lost in her thoughts. He held the ring in front of her, and she smiled. "Thank you Hubert!" She slid it back onto her finger, before pulling herself to stand. "I think this mess can wait till the morning. Coffee, Hubert?"
***
Somehow...he had no idea how but they had done it. With a lot of negotiating help from Debbie, they had managed the one thing that seemed so impossible from the outset.
They had managed to remove Luka from the tainted schoolhouse, despite the fact he was weak, and delirious.
"Is this wise?!" Carter queried to Debbie and Gillian quietly, helping them support the large, limp frame.
"If you want to get your friend away from this, yes."
"But he has malaria, Debbie."
"Don't treat me like a fool because I'm not a doctor! I do realise what symptoms he is showing - sweating, shivering, nausea, fever..."
"Can we just go please children?!" Gillian snapped, aware of the growing uproar from some of the Mai-Mai at letting Luka go.
"Good idea." Debbie replied, shooting a look of contempt at Carter.
***
Abby lay on her back in John's bed, staring up at the ceiling. After Hubert had very politely refused her offer of coffee, she'd sent him off back home and then decided it was bedtime. She'd briefly thought about whether she should call a taxi and go home, in case he rang her there tonight. But, she had realised, that wouldn't be very practical as her clothes were still soaking wet and she'd been wearing his t-shirt.
So now she was lying in his bed, fiddling with the soft fabric of the duvet, which undoubtedly cost a large amount of money, and being unable to fall asleep. "Thinking of you's working up my appetite," she sang quietly, more in tune now that he wasn't lying next to her making her laugh. "Looking forward to a little afternoon delight." If only he were here. She splayed herself out across the whole bed. As a kid she'd longed for the space of a double bed. Now it felt like there was too much space, without him here. "Rubbing sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite. And the thought of loving you is getting so exciting." If only she could sing those words to him now. She remembered singing this to him not so long ago, and pretending she'd forgotten those words. She hadn't been ready to admit them yet. But now, she wanted to sing them as loud as she could. "And the thought of loving you is getting so exciting," she sang once again, louder this time, relishing the words.
This really wasn't helping her get to sleep. She sighed once more, picking a hole in the cover. The very expensive cover. "And the thought of loving you..." this time she sang more softly, and thoughtfully. "Sky rockets in flight, afternoon delight." Her eyelids slowly began to droop. "...loving you is getting so exciting."
***
Night had descended when they returned to the clinic, Carter had one thing on his mind.
The temperamental phone whirred noisily as he tried to dial the digits, but there was no answer at her apartment, and he didn't feel like making conversation with Frank or Jerry at County.
"Hey John..." Gillian walked into the small room, and sat at the table. He replaced the phone, and sat opposite her.
"I just...can't believe this is happening," she said breaking the silence.
"I mean, I've prepared myself ever since I found out he'd been killed. I told myself I'd never see him again... never touch him, never be with him. Yet he's alive and I don't quite know how to deal with that."
He held her hand gently, while she examined the grain of the aged table.
"Who were you trying to ring then?"
"What? Oh right."
"Well?!"" she prodded.
Realising his earlier lie, he blushed slightly. "I was ringing Abby... my fia-... well girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" she looked vaguely amused and slightly angry. "So you've let me try and set you up... how long you been together?!"
"Just over a year, it seems so much longer though... I was kinda drawn to her the first time I met her, and that's never really faded."
He smiled to himself, and continued.
"We're so incompatible in so many ways, but yet still we go back for more...that must show something right?"
"I just hope that I can make someone smile like that one day when they talk about me!" she teased wistfully.
"Someone already does..."
They raised a silent toast with the mis-matched cups.
"To Luka."
***
"Okay gorgeous?" Carter asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She nodded, grinning, and coming round to sit in front of him.
"So, what do you want to do this evening?" she asked, smiling seductively.
"Oh I don't know..." he trailed off, looking away, and then laughed.
"Well what about this?" Their lips met in a passionate kiss.
"That was great." He ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "You're beautiful Danni."
"Hmm, so you keep telling me." She smiled, leaning in for another kiss...
"No!" Abby screamed as sat bolt upright in bed. She breathed heavily, trying to get her bearings. She reached out next to her, to feel his body and reassure herself. He wasn't there. Her heart began to beat faster as she panicked about what he was doing. Off with some blonde somewhere? "No, John, please don't. I need you, I love you." Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and she just sat in bed crying.
Gradually the shape of the dresser at the end of the bed came into her view, as her tear filled eyes adjusted to the dark. She stared at it hard, trying to figure out what it was. She definitely didn't have a dresser like that at home...
And it all came back to her. The mansion. Africa. The ring. She wiped away the tears, angry at herself for getting so worked up. She lay back down, attempting once again to sleep. "And the thought of loving you..."
***
"Hey this is Abby...I'm not here right now so leave a message, and I'll get back to you! Byeeeee." If he listened carefully he could hear himself laughing in the background - she'd re-recorded it with a falsely chirpy voice after he had teased her about sounding really fed-up.
The loud beep brought him back to reality, and signalled him to leave a message.
"Hey Abby, it's me...I can't get through to you here or on your cell, I'm getting quite worried. I'll try and ring you again later. Take care, bye."
"Take care?" Why did he say that? That sounded guilty...he sighed at himself for being so dumb, and pushed all memories of that moment with Debbie out of his mind.
Then he remembered - he was so wrapped up in his own problems, he'd completely forgotten to tell her about Luka! It'd have to wait 'til he actually spoke to her he supposed.
***
Abby groaned as she awoke to the smell of bacon. Bacon was very nice, but she really hadn't been planning on waking up just yet, she wasn't on until eleven. She glanced sideways at the clock, seeing that it was nine already. Maybe she ought to get up, so that she could go back to her place and change before work. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood up slowly.
She made her way downstairs, in search of something that could pass as coffee. When she reached the kitchen, she stepped inside, and was shocked to find a woman standing by the cooker. She blinked in surprise, unsure what to do. Of course, she should have realised that the smell of bacon meant there was someone else around, but it hadn't occurred to her.
Had the woman seen her? She didn't seem to have reacted to her presence. Looking down at John's t-shirt, just covering her ass, she decided it might be best to make a quick escape. She turned quietly, ready to slip out of the door.
"Don't you want some bacon, dear?" she stopped dead in her tracks. So she had been seen. "Didn't think you'd been seen, did you?" Abby laughed quietly, as she slowly turned round.
"I guess I didn't." The woman flipped the bacon over, leaving them silent for a moment.
"Oh, I didn't introduce myself! How rude!" She laughed loudly. "I'm Anneliese, Hubert's wife."
"Hi." Abby cautiously stepped further into the kitchen.
"Don't be scared dear, take a seat!" Anneliese laughed, her bubbly personality obvious to Abby. "Hubert thought you might need a hand with breakfast, he recalled Dr. Carter mentioning that his girlfriend wasn't much of a cook."
"He said that about me?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well he's not much better."
"You know, we're all so happy for you both." Anneliese lifted the frying pan up, and moved along to where she'd placed a plate with some bread. "We were beginning to wonder whether he'd ever find the right woman!" She laughed loudly once again, as if it were some in joke.
"Yeah..." Abby hesitated as the plate was handed to her. "Thanks."
"You look a bit scared dear." Abby smiled cautiously. "Don't worry, we know you're the one! He never talked about any other girl like he talked about you." She sighed happily, and Abby couldn't help the overwhelming happiness that she felt, knowing that John hadn't kept her a secret. "Sorry the breakfast isn't much, but a bacon sandwich is quick and easy, and I didn't think you'd mind it."
"More than I usually have." She munched on the sandwich, watching Anneliese watch her.
"It's a shame there's not going to be anything for us to do here anymore, I enjoyed my time with Millicent and her family so much." Abby could see sadness in her eyes as she mentioned Gamma.
"Well I'm sure we'll need you." She made an emphasis of the word 'we'. "It's not like the house is going to be suddenly abandoned. Anneliese nodded cautiously, causing Abby to feel a bit suspicious. Was there something going on here that she hadn't been let in on? "Well, I'd better go, I have to go home and change before my shift." She stood up quickly, turning to leave. "I'll just grab my bag and go."
"Err, Abby dear!" Anneliese's voice halted her in the doorway.
"Hmm?"
"Clothes?" Abby looked down at herself, and the t-shirt.
"Ah." Anneliese grinned, and winked at her. "Right, I'll go get changed, grab my bag and go. Thanks for breakfast!"
***
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