Chapter 5
"Ready to go, guys?"
"Ready!" shouted the twins in unison.
Abby buckled Jill and Riley into their car seats, then got behind the steering wheel. They had just spent the night sleeping in the car, so she was surprised at their enthusiasm. They didn't even complain when she handed them their peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast.
Abby turned on the car and realized that the needle was almost on E. She headed for the gas station next door.
While Abby was house-sitting, she realized that there was really only one way for her to get money for gas. She didn't have many things that were worth much money, but she had sold her stereo and their VCR for a grand total of $60. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get them to Chicago.
She pulled into the station and pumped $20 dollars worth of gas. She knew they would need every drop of it to get to Chicago.
She went into the store to pay for the gas. "Twenty dollars," said the kid at the counter. She opened her wallet and saw a lone twenty, nestled in a bed of receipts. Reluctantly, she handed it to him. The three slices of bread and scrapings of peanut butter that they had left would have to be enough to make lunch for the kids, but after that, they would have to wait. Hopefully, they would get to Eric's by evening.
"I can't wait to see Uncle Eric!" Riley said once they were on the road.
"What's he like, Mommy?" Jill asked. She had asked the same question yesterday and the day before, but Abby liked talking about him and the twins liked listening, so she answered again.
"Well, he's tall, much taller than me, and he has dark brown curly hair-"
"Like me!" Riley interrupted.
Like Carter, Abby thought. "Like you," she confirmed. "And he tell a lot of jokes-"
"Is he funny?" Jill asked.
"Very funny. He makes everyone around him laugh. And when he smiles, he makes you want to smile-"
"Because he's so nice?"
"Yes, because he's so nice."
"And he's not crazy anymore," Jill added.
Abby almost swerved off the road. "What did you say?"
"He's not crazy anymore. I heard you say that. Was he crazy before?"
Abby vowed to keep her big mouth shut in front of the kids from now on. "Well, he wasn't crazy exactly, but he had a sickness that made him act strangely sometimes."
"But he went to the doctor and the doctor fixed him?" Riley guessed.
"Yes, the doctor fixed him. He has to take medicine now, and it makes him feel better." Abby smiled brightly into the rearview mirror. "Who wants to listen to the radio?"
___________________________________________________________________
"Miss Donovan, what's your diagnosis?" Carter asked.
Lara looked panicked. "Um, um...asthma?" she guessed.
"No, he probably has a tension pneumothorax. How can we confirm that?"
"Endoscopy?"
"No, chest x-ray." Carter sighed. "Lara, have you been keeping up with your studies?"
"Yes, yes!" Lara affirmed. "I do all my work, even the extra."
"Well, that was a pretty basic diagnosis. You should have known that one."
"I know, I'm really sorry-"
"You need to make sure you do all your book work, all your lab work, and get in extra practice whenever you can."
"I do, I do-"
"Well, then you need to do more." As Carter walked away from Lara, he realized that he was being very short with the young med student, but how could she not know something that basic? He wondered what med school she had gone to that hadn't even taught her that.
He was walking as fast as he could. He was in a bad mood, and he just needed some time alone. He hadn't been having a very good day.
As Carter rounded the hall, he came face to face with the supply closet that he tended to avoid. This is where is all happened, he thought. This was where I ruined the best thing I ever had.
He thought of Danielle: the short skirts, the coy smiles, the low-cut shirts. He remembered how, at the time, he had actually been amused by Abby's jealously. "You don't have to worry," he had told her. "I'll take you over her any day."
But Danielle just wouldn't give up. Every time he was alone in an exam room, there would come Danielle, standing way too close and asking some question that she could ask any doctor. She would smile, touch his arm, brush up against him, say, "Thank you, Doctor Carter," in that low, sexy voice.
He had to admit, he was flattered. Danielle was a beautiful woman; she could have had any man at County, yet for some reason she chose him. He had been foolish enough at the time to think that it actually had something to do with him.
Then, that horrible day. He had been in the supply closet, and suddenly, there was Danielle. Neither of them had said a word, and before he knew it their lips were locked.
Things had gotten out of control so fast. Next thing he knew, Danielle had torn off her shirt and had her arms wrapped around him. He was panting with lust when the door opened.
He would never forget the look on Abby's face. It was hurt, embarrassed, sad, furious, and disgusted, all rolled into one. Danielle had a smug smirk on her face, and he realized that this was what she had wanted to happen all along.
Carter had run after Abby, apologizing, trying to explain, but how could he explain? What in the world had motivated him to do something so terrible to Abby?
Abby had had tears streaming down her face, but she wouldn't talk to him. She ignored him all the way out the door, then took a cab just so he couldn't follow her.
He had gone to her apartment, stood at the chained door and begged for another chance. She wouldn't let him in, wouldn't say anything.
At work, the whole ER was tense whenever the two of them were in the same room together. Every time they were alone, he tried to explain, tried to apologize, but she didn't want to hear it. He had betrayed her, and she didn't want anything to do with him.
It was exactly two weeks later that she left. He was floored. So it was really over. She was leaving County, just so she could get away from him.
He had moped around for three weeks, then Susan convinced him to track her down, beg for another chance. He hired a private investigator and found out that she was working in a hospital in Atlanta, as an OB nurse. He got her address and went to Atlanta.
She was living in a shabby, run-down building, and security wasn't too tight. It was easy for him to slip into the building, and once inside, he headed for her apartment.
He had banged on the door, announcing his presence, begging to be let in. There was no answer, but the chain was on. He continued knocking and pleading, hoping that one of those would move her.
When the cops arrived, he was shocked. Abby had called the cops on him? They politely informed him that if he didn't go away, they would take him downtown. Defeated, Carter returned to Chicago.
And that was the last time he had tried to contact her. It had been almost four years, but he still thought of her often. He thought about how much he loved her, and realized how much he had thrown away for a moment of passion. He wished with all his heart that he could take the incident back, but it had happened, and Abby would never forgive him.
Carter turned away from the closet. There was no point in dwelling on the past. He had messed up, big time, but there was nothing he could do to fix it.
He realized that he was still on the clock, and walked towards the stretcher that was being wheeled in the doors. "What do we have?" he asked, going into doctor mode. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the woman lying on the stretcher.
"Abby?"