I walked into Fulton County Hospital. I had moved to Atlanta. It took me about a month but I was finally settled with an apartment and a new job. I headed over to the admin desk.

"Hi," I said to the girl at the desk. "I'm John Carter, I'm supposed to start work here today."

She looked up briefly. "Yeah. Um, I'll get someone to show you around."

She disappeared for a minute and returned with a one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had long hair the color of . . .autumn. That was the first word that came into my mind. It was the redish, orangey, golden color that leaves turn in the fall. Her skin was like ivory and he eyes were deep brown. She smiled at me.

"Hi, I'm Rosie Harris. I'm an attending." She offered me her hand.

I took it. "John Carter," I said. "Pleased to meet you." She took me around the ER, point out various things but I hardly heard a word she said.

Somehow I managed to get through an entire shift without accidentally killing anyone. I ran into Rosie on my way out.

"How was your first day?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Not too bad. I think I'll be alright here."

"That's good to know," she said and smiled at me. "You moved here from Chicago, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I was just looking for a change of scene really. I lived in Chicago for practically my whole life."

"Well, Atlanta's not a bad place to be," Rosie said. "It gets kinda hot in the summer but other than that it's a great city."

"Yeah, I spent three months here when I was. . ." I paused. I didn't really want to tell someone I hardly knew about my time in rehab. "When I was visiting my sick aunt," I lied.

"Oh, so you probably know your way around already," she said. She seemed slightly disappointed.

"No. I didn't go out much when I was here. I had to stay with my aunt."

Rosie grinned. "So, you need someone to show you all the good restaurants?"

****************************************

"Is Carter on today?" I asked Susan. We were standing at our lockers. Susan looked at my strangely.

"Um, no. He doesn't work here anymore . . .remember?"

I stared at Susan. Was she kidding? I hadn't seen him in a month but I assumed he was just planning his shifts around mine so we wouldn't run into each other. "What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"Oh my God," Susan touched my arm. "Do you not know?"

I shook my head. "I guess not."

"Carter moved to Atlanta, Abby," she said. "He sold the mansion and just left." All of a sudden the room started to spin. I grabbed onto the back of the couch to steady myself. How could he? How could he just leave?

I walked around to the front of the couch and sat down. Susan sat next to me. "He sold the mansion?" I asked. Susan nodded. That meant he was seriously gone. If there were ever any chance of him coming back then he wouldn't have sold his grandmother's house.

I looked up at Susan. "I needed to tell him. . .I needed to talk to him about something." I stood up and, without another word, walked out of the lounge. Susan followed me.

***************************

I lay the three sticks side by side so I could see them all at once. They all said the same thing. Well, that's not totally true. One had two blue lines, one had a single pink line, and the other had a little red plus sign. But they all meant the same thing.

I was pregnant. I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Susan stroked my hair. "Are you gonna try and call him?" she asked.

I laughed. "No. It's his own damn fault for leaving."

"But he probably wouldn't have left if he'd known about the baby."

"I only just found out for sure two minutes ago," I said raising my voice. I didn't want to fight with Susan but I was mad at Carter and since he wasn't around I was going to take it out on the nearest human being.

"I know," she said, clearly not wanting to fight either.
I rolled over onto my stomach and propped my head up on my hands. "I think I'm going to keep it."

"The baby?" Susan asked.

"No, the new shirt I bought at The Gap yesterday," I said sarcastically. "Yes, the baby! What else?"

Susan shook her head. "I don't know. I guess I didn't think that not keeping the baby was an option you were considering."

I looked at her and briefly considered telling her about my abortion but decided not to. Instead, I ignored her comment completely. "It'll be hard but I think I can manage. I'll have to make some adjustments but. . ."

Susan smiled. "If anyone can do, Abby, it's you."

This is the longest chapter yet! Yay for me! OK, anyway, review please. Thanks!