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The Other Side Of Never

Chapter Three

Next Day

Carter woke to the sound of silence. It seemed deafening after the usual hub that he was accustomed to. He glanced at the clock, the red digits told him it was after 10am. As he moved he felt like every muscle in his body ached, then he remembered the previous day's events and groaned inwardly.

He got out of bed slowly and shivered, it was freezing. He felt the radiator, it was cold. Carter donned some jog pants and sweater and headed downstairs. The only sound was the creaking of the stairs.

When he reached the kitchen he saw a note pinned to the fridge.

'Carter' it read 'We have gone grocery shopping. Time 9:00, should be back about midday. Abby'

After a quick breakfast he went upstairs to shower until he remembered that there wasn't one and he would have to take a bath. Putting his hand upon the hot water tank he found it tepid. Carter headed back downstairs and located a torch. He cautiously made his way down to the basement. Carter shone the torch in the darkness as he descended the stairs and then shuffled over to the boiler.

'Abby kicked it yesterday' he thought 'Perhaps I should do the same'

He gave it a light kick and much to his surprise it started.

Elevated with himself Carter didn't pay too much attention to where he was treading on his return to the kitchen.

'Damn!' he said as he trod on something sharp.

When Carter finally hobbled to the kitchen, he sat down and examined his foot. He sighed exasperated with himself for treading on a nail, which he noted, was still embedded in his foot. After extracting it and throwing it in the trash he wrapped his foot in a tea towel.

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Abby, Elise and Toby arrived home a little later than anticipated. Carter was dozing in his room, whilst resting his aching body especially his foot.

'Now Elise!' he heard Abby shout, followed by the pounding of small footsteps running up the stairs and the slamming of a bedroom door. After that it went quiet again and he fell into a heavy sleep. When he awoke a soft shaft of light spilled under his closed bedroom door,

Carter hobbled to the door and opened it, standing on the landing. There was a gentle hum coming from the television downstairs and a light shinning in what he understood was Elise's room.

He walked along the landing and tapped lightly on the door.

'Who's there?' asked Elise

'Me. Carter' he replied 'Can I come in?' he added poking his head around the door.

She smiled 'Sure'

'What are you doing?' he asked standing in the doorway of a very girly looking room. This room had definitely been decorated unlike most of the house.

'Playing Barbie's' she answered

'You've been up here for a while' he stated

'Yeah, I was mean to Toby, Mom got cross. I went down for lunch but I wanted to play without Toby messing up my game. You were asleep, Mom said to leave you at lunchtime'

'Yeah, I guess I was tired' He said looking around 'Who's that?' he asked pointing to a picture on Elise's bedside table.

'My Dad' she replied picking it up and handing it to Carter.

Carter could immediately see a resemblance between the children and this man. Toby had Abby's eyes but this little girl in front of him didn't look like Abby at all.

'Would you like to see some more?' she asked expectantly 'I've got an album full'

Off his nod she rummaged underneath her bad and pulled it out.

'You have'ta come and sit here' she told him. She patted the floor next to her and Carter sat down tentatively, handing back the picture of her father.

They looked through the book together; it began with some pictures of her father as a boy.

'What's you Dad's name?' Carter asked

'Nick. Nicholas James Dirkiss' replied Elise proudly

They came to a picture of an adult Nick with his arm around a pretty woman.

'That's my Mom, Jodie' Elise told Carter.

'Your Mom?' he replied confused

'My real Mom'

'Abby's not your real Mom?'

'No, Jodie died when I was a tiny baby. We met Abby when I was one, I got sick and she fixed me up'

They flicked through some more pictures.

'When Dad and Abby got married I got to be a flower girl' she said proudly 'And I got a new Mom and then a baby brother'

'Where's your Dad now?' Carter asked softly

She looked up at him, her eyes were sad 'He went to heaven before Toby was born'

Carter cleared his throat and said 'How about we go downstairs and see what you Mom and Toby are up to?'

Elise smiled at him and replied 'Yeah'

She put her small hand in his and they went down to the kitchen. On the way she noticed that he was limping.

'You weren't limping yesterday' she noticed

'It's nothing' he told her, but she looked at him knowing otherwise.

'Mom!' Elise said and ran and gave Abby a hug

'You okay?' Abby asked Elise, concerned

'Yeah.... Mom?'

'Yes'

'I think Carter has an 'ow' on his foot' she told Abby ' I'm going to watch TV' she announced and walked off to the lounge.

'Okay sit' Abby said to Carter pulling out a chair for him. She sat next to him and motioned for him to show her his foot, still wrapped in the tea towel.

'You know I wondered where this went' she said to a guilty looking Carter.

'I took the nail out and threw it in the trash' he said

'How did you get a nail in your foot?' she asked

'I went down to the basement to get the boiler working, the nail was down there someplace'

'Without shoes?'

'Uh huh'

'You don't think that that was rather dumb?'

'Not at the time, no, it was freezing in here'

She raised her eyebrows and bit her lip, and then she bent her head and examined his foot.

'Your tetanus shot up to date?' she asked raising her head to catch his nod as he grimaced.

'Nasty' she commented cleaning it up and bandaging it properly. 'Next time wear shoes'

'There won't be a next time, I'm not going back down there'

'Then the next time you are alone you will freeze' she told him getting up and walking past him with a grin on her face. 'Oh by the way, I got the local garage to pick your car out of the ditch. You need to give them a call, the number's by the phone'

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Later that evening.

She poured herself a coffee and joined Carter at the kitchen table. He appeared lost in his thoughts.

'Penny for them' she ventured, he looked up his expression blank 'For your thoughts' she explained.

'Oh' he mouthed

'What brought you this far north?' she asked

'I was looking for some peace and quiet. I tried a couple of deserted beaches first but that didn't work for me'

'Are you still at County?'

He nodded 'Susan said she'd keep my job open for a bit, lets face it they are always crying out for attendings'

'Susan still there then?'

'Yeah, chief of emergency medicine. Most people haven't changed, Gallant has left though'

'How long do you plan to hang around for?'

'Depends if I outstay my welcome'

She smiled at him.

'Why did you leave County?' he asked

'To complete my residency elsewhere' she told him 'It was easier... for me... if I went away I couldn't keep dealing with you together with someone else. Reminding me what a hash I made of things. Maybe not the right thing but the easy option. Running away I guess like you're running now. Who is she?'

Carter laughed 'Ha! Why do you assume it's a woman?'

'Isn't it?'

'Partly, not really, women in general and everything else too, if truth be told'

'This is a fine place to stay, with me, I mean if you are avoiding women'

'Maybe not all women' he admitted staring at her.

'Well..' she started.

The moment was broken when Elise came in to the room asking for a drink of water. Carter wondered if he would find out what happened in the past five and a half years to the woman he knew as Abigail Lockhart, but was now Dr. Abigail Dirkiss. Although she seemed more open now the majority of information, he had got so far had been from Elise. Not that he had been very forthcoming either.

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