Respect
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of ER, however, Dr. Ellis, and any other characters that I happen to create are my own, if they bear any resemblance to real people; it is totally coincidental.
Summary: Carter has survived a terrible event, and now three years later, he is thing to get on with his life, however, fate doesn't seem to want to give him a chance.
Chapter three: Adjustments and Repercussions
A few months later .
A young man stood in the lounge of County General's ER, gazing out the window, the snow was falling gently, a half drunk cup of coffee sat on the table, next to a small device.
The door flew open, and Chuni stuck her head in, "You still here Dr. Carter? We've got an MVA coming in. Dr. Carter?"
But Dr. Carter didn't even acknowledge her presence; it was then that she spied his hearing aid sitting on the table. She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, he whirled around startled.
"Sorry." She said, and watched as he grabbed the hearing aid from its perch, and put it on.
Then he smiled at her, blushing slightly at his unawareness. "What did you want Chuni?"
"MVA's coming in; in about 10 minutes, Dr. Greene wanted to know if you wanted to take or if you wanted to head home and leave it to him."
"I'll take it." Carter replied.
Chuni left him, and he returned to his thoughts, it had been a year and a half since, the accident, it had been a struggle, he'd had to put his career on hold for a year, so that he could learn sign language, he'd gotten an operation to help try to correct his hearing, but it hadn't done very much, but with the help of a, then still in trial, hearing aid, he'd managed to get most of his hearing back but only with the small device.
He'd also switched from surgery to the ER, it felt right to be there, where he could talk to the patients, and listen to what they had to say in return.
He sighed, and left the room to prepare for the trauma.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Alright, what have we got?" Carter asked as they pushed the gurney into Trauma 1.
The EMT looked at him before rattling off his report.
"The patient is a 26 year old female, victim of an MVA; she's got, multiple abrasions, a possible concussion, and complains of stomach pain."
"Thanks" Carter distractedly answered, and got to work.
Orders were called for, and soon the patient was on her way to medicine, where she would get an abdominal CT, and if all was well only be held overnight for observation.
Carter left the trauma room, and grabbed is coat from the lounge, hurrying to leave before another trauma came in. He walked into the ambulance bay, his footsteps echoed loudly on the concrete. He didn't see someone watching him, and follow in his wake.
Carter stood by his jeep, fumbling for his keys when he felt someone tap him no his shoulder, he whirled around startled; and came face to face with Peter Benton.
Both doctors stood in the parking garage for what seemed like an eternity, watching each other, both unsure of what to say.
Peter offered an unsure smile, "Hey."
"Hi Dr. Benton." Carter answered his voice unemotional. "Is something wrong?"
Peter flinched at the younger doctor's tone of voice, but shook his head, "no nothing's wrong. I..." The normally sure of himself surgeon, shifted uneasily on his feet, "Listen, you wanna go and grab something to eat?"
Carter blinked unsure if the hearing aid was working properly. Did Peter Benton, the most unemotional and distant person on the earth, just ask him to go get dinner, like friends? The man had barely even looked at him in months, and now.
"It's okay if you don't want to." Peter stuttered out, and Carter's resolve crumbled.
"Sure love to."
It was Peter's turn to blink in surprise. "Okay, let's go. Is Doc Magoo's okay?"
Carter nodded, and the two men made their way to the diner.
They sat in the booth in an uneasy silence, having placed their orders.
"So how have you been, I haven't seen you in a while." Peter started, breaking the tension.
"Been busy, Weaver runs a tight ship. And it's.it's easier to keep busy."
"Oh."
They trailed off, the tension returning.
"This is strange." Carter said shaking his head.
"What?" Peter asked unsure of where this was coming from.
"You." Peter winced at the harshness of the word. "When I came back from the school, you barely even looked at me for months, when you finally decide to talk to me; you acted like you couldn't get away fast enough. Does it bother you that I'm deaf.? Or is it because I quit surgery?"
"Carter." Peter interrupted with a growl.
His former student immediately stopped talking.
"It's not any of that, when you were.gone, before we'd found you, the police came here and. and they told me you were dead, and they wanted me to.to go identify your body." Peter laughed harshly. "When we got to the morgue.it wasn't you, I didn't know whether to be thankful that it wasn't you lying on that slab, or worried sick about where you were. I'm sorry I was. scared to face you and I gave myself excuses. You were only my student anymore so why should I care about you outside of the hospital. But I did, you managed to worm your way past all of my defenses, and that scared me."
Carter stared at his former mentor, that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting, uncomfortable with the scrutiny, Benton turned away.
Carter sighed, this wasn't going as planned, an angry Benton he could handle, he'd been doing it long enough, but a Dr. Benton who wanted to talk and get all emotional just wasn't.normal, at least to him it wasn't.
"And," Peter continued, staring at his hands. "I'm sorry, I know what I did, the way I treated you was wrong. I'd like it if you'd give me another chance."
"I. I need to think for awhile." John said softly, "please? I just need awhile to think this through."
Peter nodded, that was understandable and watched silently as the young doctor stood up.
"I should get going." Carter whispered, so softly that Peter wasn't even sure if Carter had said anything at all, and with that the young doctor stood up, grabbed his coat and was gone.
The surgeon just sat there, it wasn't supposed to be this hard.
Carter was supposed to forgive him and life would go on as normal, unfortunately fate had other plans.
I know it's taken me a looooong time to update, sorry about that but I've got a severe case of writers block no this one, I don't have a clue as to what will happen next, if anyone has any ideas I'd be more then willing to take a look at them.
Until the next time,
Tsuki no Lomelinde ^_^
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of ER, however, Dr. Ellis, and any other characters that I happen to create are my own, if they bear any resemblance to real people; it is totally coincidental.
Summary: Carter has survived a terrible event, and now three years later, he is thing to get on with his life, however, fate doesn't seem to want to give him a chance.
Chapter three: Adjustments and Repercussions
A few months later .
A young man stood in the lounge of County General's ER, gazing out the window, the snow was falling gently, a half drunk cup of coffee sat on the table, next to a small device.
The door flew open, and Chuni stuck her head in, "You still here Dr. Carter? We've got an MVA coming in. Dr. Carter?"
But Dr. Carter didn't even acknowledge her presence; it was then that she spied his hearing aid sitting on the table. She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, he whirled around startled.
"Sorry." She said, and watched as he grabbed the hearing aid from its perch, and put it on.
Then he smiled at her, blushing slightly at his unawareness. "What did you want Chuni?"
"MVA's coming in; in about 10 minutes, Dr. Greene wanted to know if you wanted to take or if you wanted to head home and leave it to him."
"I'll take it." Carter replied.
Chuni left him, and he returned to his thoughts, it had been a year and a half since, the accident, it had been a struggle, he'd had to put his career on hold for a year, so that he could learn sign language, he'd gotten an operation to help try to correct his hearing, but it hadn't done very much, but with the help of a, then still in trial, hearing aid, he'd managed to get most of his hearing back but only with the small device.
He'd also switched from surgery to the ER, it felt right to be there, where he could talk to the patients, and listen to what they had to say in return.
He sighed, and left the room to prepare for the trauma.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Alright, what have we got?" Carter asked as they pushed the gurney into Trauma 1.
The EMT looked at him before rattling off his report.
"The patient is a 26 year old female, victim of an MVA; she's got, multiple abrasions, a possible concussion, and complains of stomach pain."
"Thanks" Carter distractedly answered, and got to work.
Orders were called for, and soon the patient was on her way to medicine, where she would get an abdominal CT, and if all was well only be held overnight for observation.
Carter left the trauma room, and grabbed is coat from the lounge, hurrying to leave before another trauma came in. He walked into the ambulance bay, his footsteps echoed loudly on the concrete. He didn't see someone watching him, and follow in his wake.
Carter stood by his jeep, fumbling for his keys when he felt someone tap him no his shoulder, he whirled around startled; and came face to face with Peter Benton.
Both doctors stood in the parking garage for what seemed like an eternity, watching each other, both unsure of what to say.
Peter offered an unsure smile, "Hey."
"Hi Dr. Benton." Carter answered his voice unemotional. "Is something wrong?"
Peter flinched at the younger doctor's tone of voice, but shook his head, "no nothing's wrong. I..." The normally sure of himself surgeon, shifted uneasily on his feet, "Listen, you wanna go and grab something to eat?"
Carter blinked unsure if the hearing aid was working properly. Did Peter Benton, the most unemotional and distant person on the earth, just ask him to go get dinner, like friends? The man had barely even looked at him in months, and now.
"It's okay if you don't want to." Peter stuttered out, and Carter's resolve crumbled.
"Sure love to."
It was Peter's turn to blink in surprise. "Okay, let's go. Is Doc Magoo's okay?"
Carter nodded, and the two men made their way to the diner.
They sat in the booth in an uneasy silence, having placed their orders.
"So how have you been, I haven't seen you in a while." Peter started, breaking the tension.
"Been busy, Weaver runs a tight ship. And it's.it's easier to keep busy."
"Oh."
They trailed off, the tension returning.
"This is strange." Carter said shaking his head.
"What?" Peter asked unsure of where this was coming from.
"You." Peter winced at the harshness of the word. "When I came back from the school, you barely even looked at me for months, when you finally decide to talk to me; you acted like you couldn't get away fast enough. Does it bother you that I'm deaf.? Or is it because I quit surgery?"
"Carter." Peter interrupted with a growl.
His former student immediately stopped talking.
"It's not any of that, when you were.gone, before we'd found you, the police came here and. and they told me you were dead, and they wanted me to.to go identify your body." Peter laughed harshly. "When we got to the morgue.it wasn't you, I didn't know whether to be thankful that it wasn't you lying on that slab, or worried sick about where you were. I'm sorry I was. scared to face you and I gave myself excuses. You were only my student anymore so why should I care about you outside of the hospital. But I did, you managed to worm your way past all of my defenses, and that scared me."
Carter stared at his former mentor, that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting, uncomfortable with the scrutiny, Benton turned away.
Carter sighed, this wasn't going as planned, an angry Benton he could handle, he'd been doing it long enough, but a Dr. Benton who wanted to talk and get all emotional just wasn't.normal, at least to him it wasn't.
"And," Peter continued, staring at his hands. "I'm sorry, I know what I did, the way I treated you was wrong. I'd like it if you'd give me another chance."
"I. I need to think for awhile." John said softly, "please? I just need awhile to think this through."
Peter nodded, that was understandable and watched silently as the young doctor stood up.
"I should get going." Carter whispered, so softly that Peter wasn't even sure if Carter had said anything at all, and with that the young doctor stood up, grabbed his coat and was gone.
The surgeon just sat there, it wasn't supposed to be this hard.
Carter was supposed to forgive him and life would go on as normal, unfortunately fate had other plans.
I know it's taken me a looooong time to update, sorry about that but I've got a severe case of writers block no this one, I don't have a clue as to what will happen next, if anyone has any ideas I'd be more then willing to take a look at them.
Until the next time,
Tsuki no Lomelinde ^_^