Chapter 19

            "I got a call from a certain Lila Bailey today," Abby said, eyeing Carter suspiciously. Carter looked at Abby for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

            Abby scoffed. "Oh, come on, you know you arranged it. She called me about a certain job opening in the Pediatrics department." Still, Carter's face showed no sign of recognition. "At County?" Carter shrugged. "You really didn't arrange it?"

            Carter shook his head. "No, I didn't. I didn't even know we were hiring for Peds nurses." He paused. "You gonna apply?"

            Abby nodded. "Yeah. I've never worked in Peds, but I like kids."

            "I thought you were waiting for an OB job."

            "Carter, I'm unemployed. Right about now I'll just be glad to still be a nurse. If I get this job, maybe after I've been there awhile I'll start looking again."

            Carter twirled his pencil absently. He wished he had mentioned the ER job to her sooner. It sounded like she had all but accepted this job in Pediatrics. "You know, we're hiring for a nurse. The ER, I mean."

            Abby shook her head. "I don't want to work in the ER again; it's too hectic when you have kids. Especially both of us in the same one."

            "Well, it's a thought," Carter said, disappointed. He had hoped that he and Abby would soon be working together again.

            "Are you working today?"

            "Twelve to twelve, why?"

            "She asked me to come in for an interview as soon as possible. Can you watch the kids?"

            Carter sighed loudly. "You don't have to ask, you know. They're my kids."

            Abby was slightly thrown off by his response. "Oh, yeah. Of course. I'll be back by ten, okay? I'm gonna go say goodbye to them."

            Carter nodded. "Okay," he said. Well, Abby working in a different department at County would be better than her not working at County at all. Maybe they could ride to work together. _________________________________________________________________________________

            "Yet another joyous holiday at County," Chen said as she leaned on the admit desk.         "Holiday?" Susan asked, glancing at the calendar. Just as she thought, it was November 18. Was she missing something?

            "Oh, you know, Thanksgiving. It's coming soon," Chen explained.

            "Oh. Of course," Susan said, confused.

            "Hello, ladies," Carter said, breezing through the doors.

            "Hi, Carter. Did you tell Abby about the job?" Susan asked.

            Carter sighed. "Yeah, but a woman in Ped's called her about an opening there. She sounds like she's gonna take it."

            "Oh, yeah, I told Lila that Abby was looking for a job, and she said she'd call her."

            "Oh, so you were the one."

            "Guilty as charged," Susan said, holding up her hands.

            "So, you coming to my Thanksgiving party?" Chen asked.

            Carter looked at the calendar. "Thanksgiving already? Time flies."

            Chen looked at him. "Yeah. Anyway, back to the party…"

            "When is it?"

            "Day before Thanksgiving. I'm inviting everyone in the ER, but so far I haven't had many takers."

            Carter shrugged. "I'll have to see."

            "You could bring Abby," Chen suggested, which brought a grin to Susan's face.

            "Yeah, you could," Susan encouraged.

            Carter shrugged. "Maybe," he said noncommittally, but he was already planning how to ask her.

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            "Hey Abby, Deb's having a Thanksgiving party."

            "That's nice," Abby said absently. Then, seeing the look on his face, "You're not expecting me to go, are you?"

            "Well, no, I was more like asking you to go," Carter corrected.

            Abby smiled at that. "I don't know. It's not like we can just pick up where we left off," she reminded him.

            "I know. I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend or anything crazy like that; I'm just asking if you want to go to a party." Abby appeared to be thinking about it. "C'mon; it'll be fun. All the gang from County will be there; you can catch up with everybody."

            Abby nodded. "I guess. What time is it?"

            "Eight. The kids will already be in bed."

            "Okay," she conceded. "Who knows, it might be fun."

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            "Look who's here! It's Carter and ABBY!" Chen said, shrieking out Abby's name. Immediately, every eye in the room went to Abby, who was standing in the doorway, coat in hand.

            "Nice to see you too, Jing-Mei," she said.

            "Abby! I'm so glad you came!" said Susan, walking over to the door. "Carter said you agreed to come, but I wouldn't believe it until I saw you with my own eyes. How are you?"

            "Good." Abby gestured towards the people crowding the room. "I know I haven't been gone that long; who are all these strangers?"

            Susan laughed. "Let's just say we had a lot of turnover in the past four years. That's Macy; she's been in the ER a year, and that's..."

            Carter stuck his hands in his pockets and surveyed his surroundings. It was such a familiar scene: all the ER employees, gathered together for a party. It had been so long since he had attended one, and even longer since he had been to one with Abby.

            He looked at Abby, who was being dragged around the room by Susan. He couldn't believe that the two of them were actually here at a party. Together. It seemed too good to be true. He couldn't believe that, right before the party, he had kissed his two children goodnight.

His life had changed so much in the past month. But could it change a little more?

            He glanced at Abby once again, and his heart ached with longing. He missed her so much. He missed that close, comfortable familiarity they had had with each other. He missed how they could laugh and joke about almost anything. He had never had that kind of relationship with another woman. Would he ever again?

            Carter started when he realized that someone was talking to him. "What?" he said distractedly.

            Chen gazed at him curiously. "I said, I'm about to put some music on," she said.

            "Will there be dancing?" Susan asked, a mischievous grin coming to her face.

            "Of course!" Chen said eagerly, popping a CD into the player. Dance music began to pulse through the room, and couples appeared from nowhere, spinning each other across the floor.

            Carter smiled and looked at Abby. "Nothing like good music," he said nervously.

            "Nope," Abby said, twirling her hair.

            "You want to dance?"

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            "That was fun."

            Abby nodded in agreement. "I haven't gone dancing in forever."

            "See? And to think that you almost didn't come."

            "What are you talking about? You asked me, and I said yes."

            "I remember a bit of hemming and hawing before you agreed."

            "Well, you remember wrong." Abby sat up higher in her seat. "What are they doing now?"

            Carter craned his neck to look through the window. "Looks like the Limbo."

            "Again?"

            "I guess nobody wanted Deb to retire undefeated."

            Abby laughed. "Think anybody's gonna make it home before sunrise?"

            Carter shrugged. "Somebody's gotta work the ER tomorrow."

            "Hope it's not anybody here. They're pretty riled up."

            "Guess it's a good thing we got out when we did."

            Abby peered through the window again. "Oh, God no."

            "What?" Carter asked, then saw for himself. "Line dancing? They can't be that hard up for entertainment."

            Abby shrugged. "Beats the Limbo, I guess." Noticing Carter's smile, she said, "What?"

            "Just remembering when we were line dancing on Navy Pier with Eric and his girlfriend. That was fun, wasn't it?"

            Abby smiled. "Yeah. I guess it is more fun than it looks." The smile slid off her face.

            "What's wrong?" Carter asked, noticing her change in expression.

            "I hope he's okay."

            "Who?" Carter said, confused.

            "Eric. I still haven't heard from him. He just took off, remember?"

            "Oh, yeah. Well, he wouldn't know where to contact you, so-"

            Abby shot up from her seat. "My neighbor! He had her number, so he might call her if he wanted to get in touch with me! I'll call her!" She headed for the door.

            "Whoa, hold on for a second," Carter said, grabbing her wrist. "It's two AM in Atlanta right now. Don't you think maybe you should wait until tomorrow?"

            Abby sighed. "I guess," she said despondently, plopping back down next to him on the porch swing. "But I want to know now! I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner," she said, biting her lip.

            "You can call first thing in the morning tomorrow," he reassured her.

            "I know," she said. "But I hope he's okay."