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The Rainbow After The Storm
Chapter Twelve
The air was filled with tension.
'I don't want to see him' Abby said shaking her head 'I can't, not now'
Sam turned to go.
'Wait' said Carter 'I'll go talk to him, stay here with Abby'
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As soon as Carter approached Eric started talking 'I want to see Abby, she's here right?'
Carter looked at him, trying to control himself, the muscle in his cheek twitched spontaneously.
'Tell me she came to work, I know she's here I want to see her' he continued as Carter reached him and stood opposite him.
'It's best if you leave' Carter replied in a tight controlled voice
'I can't, not 'til I've seen her, please I have to see her, she's my sister' he stopped and observed Carter 'Come on, let me see her, does she know I'm here?'
'She doesn't want to see you right now' Carter told him
'But I have to see her make sure she's okay'
'You should have thought about that last night'
'I didn't know what I was doing; she's okay isn't she? Tell me she's okay?'
'You should go' Carter said clenching his fists in his pockets
Eric started to lose his temper with Carter and spoke loudly 'Abby! Abby!'
'Security' called Luka in the background as he and other staff had gathered around. Luka looked at them knowing that the gossips would have a field day later.
'I've told you she doesn't want to see you, if I were you I'd head back to where you came from, or go see Maggie'
'I don't want to see Maggie all she does is nag me into getting onto a programme'
'Maybe that's what you should do?' suggested Carter
'I did for a bit, now I know why Abby and I had to follow Maggie all around the country, it's too hard'
'You need to try harder'
'Do you know what it's like? DO YOU?' he shouted at Carter
'I know what you're doing to Abby'
'Well I guess that's how you would see it, from her point of view'
'Do you know what you did last night?'
'I didn't do anything'
'Didn't you?'
'I can't remember. We had a fight'
'Unfair fight'
'What you think I'd hurt her on purpose, she's my sister even if she's a pain in the butt'
'You said you don't remember? But you know you hurt her?'
'What? I got a little carried away that's all...'
'A little. You got a little carried away, have you any idea what you did to her? What you could have done if one of you friends hadn't rung, do you?' Carter's hands came out from his pockets and he reached for the collar of Eric's jacket, suddenly Luka appeared and stood between them.
'Don't do anything you'll regret Carter' Luka said putting the palm of his hand on Carters chest, to hold him back at bit.
'I want to see her' Eric said to Luka
'No' Luka said 'Dr Carter has already told you she doesn't want to see you'
'I didn't hurt her like you did' Eric cruelly said to Carter and this time Luka had to pull Carter away as he started to lunge for Eric.
'No what you did was worse' Carter replied
'Carter!' he said firmly 'Get a grip' and to Pratt he said 'Take Eric to the family room, with security' he added nodding to the security man.
With that Carter shook himself free from Luka and headed to the men's rest room, swiftly followed by Luka.
Luka found Carter hunched over the basin trying to control his temper.
'He .. He thinks he can just come in here and demand to see her'
'Carter' Luka said warningly
'Did you see what he did to her? Did you?'
Luka shook his head. 'No, but I know how I felt when her neighbour punched her in the face, much as you're feeling now and punching Eric's lights out isn't going to help you much, might make you feel better. But it's not going to help the situation. You're not going to help Abby like that. Take a walk' Luka told him
'What? What for?'
'To get rid of the tension, anger, you don't want to face Abby or Eric like that. Go on, go. I'll come out and get you after you've cooled down'
Carter took one look at Luka and did as he asked.
Luka went to try and calm Eric down, then went to see Abby.
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'Maybe if he sees what he's done it'll help' suggested Luka later to Carter in the Lounge 'He seems remorseful, know what he did was wrong'
'Do you think Abby will agree?' Carter asked
Luka shrugged 'Ask her, it will be better coming from you. If he sees her injuries and the X-rays it might register more. Don't forget to suggest we call Maggie either'
Carter ran a hand over his face.
'You can stay in there with them, maybe Sam or Caroline too'
Carter finally nodded and said 'Yeah okay it's worth a try'
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Carter spent a tense couple of hours persuading Abby to let Eric see her and to call Maggie. Fortunately the whole thing went okay and he finally went home with Abby, leaving Eric to head back to Abby's apartment. Although Eric saw Abby briefly she still didn't want anything to do with him at that point. And if Carter was honest he had had enough of Eric for a while too.
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'Hey' Susan said hurrying into the ER that evening. 'Sorry I'm late, Chuck was delayed coming over to collect Daniel. Did I miss anything good today?'
'Well' said Chuny slowly, 'there was something'
'What? Don't keep me in suspense?' Susan replied
Chuny and the other members of staff at the desk proceeded to tell her their version of the events of the day.
'Wow! Really. Poor Abby' she said inwardly hoping that everything was okay, with two of her closest friends.
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