Author's Note: So how was Chapter 1? I hope you guys liked it. I just love all that Carby fuzz! Well, here's the next chapter! Please read and review! Next chapter will probably be up soon, although it may be a little short because this is the end of my Spring break and I have to go back to school on Monday. Uggh! I hate school! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1
Rating: PG-13 to be safe, due to a few curse words.
Meant to Be - Chapter 2As soon as Abby entered the hospital lounge, she made a beeline for the coffee pot, not noticing Susan sitting on the couch. Abby was breathing in the strong aroma of coffee when Susan spoke up, nearly causing her friend to drop her cup. "Rough night," Susan questioned, "I didn't know you were working last night." Abby replied, smiling, "I wasn't, and I had a great night." Abby laughed softly at the memory. Susan raised an eyebrow, begging her to continue. "Carter asked me out to dinner last night, we talked about some stuff. He wanted to get back together," Abby explained, forcing herself not to smile.
Susan was a big supporter of Carter and Abby as a couple, despite the previous breakups. She would be thrilled with the news, but it didn't mean that Abby couldn't play her along a tiny bit. Susan's eyes widened at the information, "What did you tell him?" "I don't know, it's still kind of hazy," rubbing her forehead, feigning a headache. "You didn't drink, did you," her friend asked in concern. "No," Abby responded as she took another sip of her coffee. "Then why-" Susan's brow furrowed in contemplation, then her eyes bulged even wider at a thought, "Oh my god! You had sex with Carter!"
"No, but we almost got there," Abby smirked at her friend. "What made you stop," asked Susan, but she raised her hand to object, "never mind, I don't want to know." "Yes you do. I know you're dying to find out," Abby goaded her. Susan threw up her hands in surrender, "You know me too well. Alright, give it to me." Abby heaved a big sigh in preparation for her explanation then began, "Well we were just about to, you know, do it and it kind of hit me that just an hour before, we had renewed our relationship and here we were about to have sex. I couldn't do it. That's why we broke it off last time because we went too fast. I want to take it slow, build it up before we went any further. You know that old saying, 'slow and steady wins the race?' Well that's how I want it to go with Carter."
Susan nodded in understanding. After a few minutes of companionable silence, Susan nudged Abby's shoulder and winked at her, "So, you and Carter, huh?" Abby saw the mischievous glint in her eyes and warningly pointed an index finger at her, "Oh no missy, you better keep your mouth shut about this. I don't want anybody else to know yet." "My lips are sealed," Susan replied, "but what if Carter mentions it?" Abby's eyes got wide as she quickly rose from the couch and ran from the lounge, yelling, "Carter! Where's Carter?" Jerry called from the admit desk, "He's in suture three." "Thanks," Abby shouted back as she jogged down the halls. As soon as Abby found the room, she quickly rushed in and shut the blinds.
Thankfully, Carter was alone, cleaning up and putting everything back in its place. At the sound of the two swinging doors, Carter turned around, "Hey Abby, how are you?" "I'm good," she half-smiled, but then frowned a little, "John, we have to talk." He froze as fear washed over him. Was she experiencing doubts and regret about last night and their getting back together? He hoped not, he loved her too much to let her go this time. "John?" She lightly touched his arm, which brought him out of his trance. "Wh- What did you want to talk about," he asked nervously. "Have you told anyone about us yet," she inquired. "No," he replied, disposing of his gloves. "Good. I don't want everyone to know just yet. I only want Susan to know right now and I've already told her," Abby sighed, "you know everybody loves us as a couple and if they knew, I'd feel… pressured by them. When I get pressured I let people down, disappoint them. I don't want to disappoint you John, I don't want to disappoint myself."
He pulled her into his strong arms for a hug and kissed her on top of her head as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "You could never disappoint me, Abby," he said softly, rubbing her back, "besides, I knew you'd feel this way so I didn't tell anyone." "Thank you," she lifted her head, lightly brushing her lips against his. He gave her a lopsided grin, "You know how Susan likes to spread gossip, she might say something." "She better not, I told her to keep her mouth shut," Abby scowled, "if she knows what's good for her, she will." He laughed and kissed her passionately, hands roaming her back then hers doing the same, pulling him even closer to her.
Susan popped her head into the room at that moment, receiving an eyeful. She pretended to gag at the two disgustingly happy people, "Oh, get a room you two." She smiled and waved as she left the room. "We have got to get her a boyfriend," Carter said, "maybe then she will stop pestering us and the other staff will have something to talk about besides us." Abby chuckled, "Yeah, we need to get her a man. What about Mark or Luka?" "Who do you think she'd prefer: all around great guy and doctor who's had a crush on for a few years or hot, new Croatian doctor," he asked, smiling at her with glints of light dancing in eyes. "I think Mark would be good for her and vice versa. They have a lot in common and I know they both like each other." "So we're going to play matchmakers now," Carter laughed.
"I don't know. I just think that if they got together, things could be great for them, like they are for us," she replied, kissing him. "I missed you last night," he said softly, resting his forehead against hers. "Mmm, I missed you more. The bed was so lonely and cold without you there to keep me warm," she closed her eyes in content, wishing the moment would never end.
Unfortunately, it was interrupted by Dr. Chen poking her head in quickly, looking frazzled. "John, Abby! Thank god I found you two! There was a major accident on the freeway. Couple of semis went out of control, plowed into a bunch of cars. Domino effect if you know what I mean." "Oh god, how many," Abby asked as her hand covered her mouth in shock. "Twelve traumas, ten criticals, and seven with superficial wounds." "What," Carter shouted in disbelief, "we can't handle all those patients! We've already got two traumas, a waiting room full of walk-ins, and we're short on staff!"
Chuny entered the suture room, "Dr. Chen, Dr. Carter? Mercy just closed to trauma so they're sending five traumas here." Carter seethed with rage as he raced to admit, the three women close behind, "The hell they are!" As he dialed the phone number for the ER at Mercy, he asked, "Chuny, are we closed to trauma?" She too was on the phone, "No, but I'm calling it in now." Someone from the Mercy ER picked up the line and Carter spoke, "Hello, this is Dr. Carter at County ER. I was told you were sending us five trauma patients, but we cannot take them. We're closed to trauma due to the accident on the freeway… No, we can't take them, we don't have enough room or doctors on call and we've got twelve traumas of our own coming in. Reroute them to Northwestern… What?! I can't believe this! Alright, I guess we have no choice. Bye."
He slammed the receiver back down onto the phone, "Dammit! Northwestern is closed as well and we have no choice but to take the traumas. We need to get all the doctors and nurses here as soon as possible. I don't care what they're doing of if they were on call last night. Tell them we've had a mass casualty occur and that we need all the help we can get. Page Benton, Corday, and Romano for surgical consults. Where the hell is Weaver and Susan?" Halleh responded as she passed by, arms full of supplies, "Weaver's on break and Susan is in curtain four."
"Alright, page Weaver as well and I'll fill Susan in with the details. After we've treated and stabilized all the traumas and criticals and it's calmed down a bit, I want you, Chuny, and Halleh to work triage," he said, pointing to Abby and the other two nurses. "Yay, fun triage," Chuny replied sarcastically. Abby smiled at the woman, "Yeah. Treat 'em and street 'em. It's what we do." "Abby, you come with me and we'll tell Susan what's going on."
Abby nodded and took his hand as they briskly walked down the hall. Halleh and Chuny gave each other skeptical looks, raising silent suspicion at the casual contact. As the two headed to curtain four, Abby chuckled softly and whispered in his ear, "You're so sexy when you take charge, you know that?" He laughed and replied in her ear, "I think you're sexy all the time." She gave him a quizzical look, "Even with vomit, urine, or blood on me?" "That's the only exception," he responded.
Susan came out of curtain four just as they approached. "Hey guys, what's up," she asked, disposing of her gown into a waste hamper along the wall. They replayed what was happening to her and what they were doing to resolve the situation. "Good job Carter. Let's go to admit to wait for the other doctors and nurses," she told them. Once most of the staff had arrived, Carter and Weaver addressed them about the situation and handed orders out. Just as the group dispersed, Lydia shouted, "Traumas are coming in!" With that came the rush to save people's lives while maintaining their cool under such stressful circumstances with too many patients and not enough doctors.
