Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad people still like Carter/Benton stuff!
Kristen999: Yes this is Megan, great to hear from you again! I tried sending you an email but it didn't work. Did you want to try sending me one? Might work better. It's bree1387yahoo.ca
Dr. Weaver worked at stitching up Lucy's head wound while the cops who had found Lucy questioned her about what had happened.
"So as you approached the intersection, you said it was raining so hard the car was barely visible, right? So Dr. Carter was unable to see the car," Jack confirmed.
"Yeah. It was strange because we had the right of way. I don't think the driver was drunk; he wasn't swerving or anything. I guess it's possible he didn't see us either."
"Can you tell us anything about the car? Colour, model, you know. Anything would be helpful."
Lucy thought back, but was unable to remember much about the car. She could only see its outline. "I don't remember much. It was a sedan. That's all I can tell you."
"Not it's colour?" Pete prodded.
"Pete, some of its paint was probably left on Dr. Carter's car. We'll take a look when we're finished here," Jack answered. "So what happened after it hit you?"
"I heard it speed away. That's all I can tell you."
"Thank you Miss Knight, you've been very helpful. We'll let you know as soon as we find anything." Both officers left to continue their investigation.
"Okay Lucy, I want you to lie down in an exam room. I'll go check on Carter and tell you how he's doing." With that Kerry headed next door to the trauma room while Lucy went to lie down in an exam room.
While Mark updated Kerry on Carter's condition, Peter worked on setting his nose and cleaning up the blood. He had already stitched up the cut on Carter's face, and still had to wrap up his ribs. Peter kept looking at Carter's face, hoping that one of times he'd find his brown eyes looking back. Of course each time he looked he was disappointed to find not only his eyes closed, but bruises and cuts surrounding them.
Peter got Carol to help move Carter to a room where he could rest undisturbed. They kept the heart monitor and pulse-ox attached to be safe. Lucy had a brief visit with him to see for herself that he would be okay. Later in the morning she would be sent home to rest for a few days.
He headed for the admit desk to find Mark. "Hey, I have to go back up for rounds, but if anything changes you page me. Understand?"
"Don't worry Peter," Mark assured him. "We'll take good care of him, and let you know of any changes." Mark watched Peter walk away with a slightly puzzled look on his face. Peter was such a hard person to figure out. He does seem uncaring sometimes. Especially to Carter. He could remember when Carter had been Benton's student. Peter seemed to ignore him, and ride him pretty hard about the smallest things. Now that Carter was hurt, Peter seemed almost protective of him. Like a father protecting a son, Mark thought with a grin. There was an interesting thought.
He was alone in a car; driving somewhere. It was dark, and completely silent. Not even the car's engine could be heard. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the headlights of a car looking at him like eyes. Accusing him. He had to get away, but there was no where to go. The harder he pushed on the gas, the slower the car went. The car behind him was catching up. Something was wrong with it. The headlights died out. The car looked like it had been in an accident. There was a huge indentation on the passenger side, paint was missing, the tires were shredded, the glass where the windows should of been was gone, and there was blood on the cracked windshield. There was an eerie glow coming from somewhere that allowed him to see the interior of the car. He gasped.
Sitting in the passenger seat was a young woman about Lucy's age. Her skin was deathly pale and blotchy. Dried blood covered her hair, clothing, and part of her face. She looked...dead. The driver of the car looked to be about the same age. Slowly he turned his head and looked at him. An accusing stare.
"You did this," the man said in a calm voice. "You did this, and you are going to pay."
"I...I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered, too afraid to speak out loud.
"Look what you did!" he screamed. "Look!"
Slowly he glanced at the young woman to see she had 'awakened' and was staring at him. The colour had drained from her eyes, leaving a grey circle where the pupil should have been. She didn't say a word. Just stared.
"Look what you did!" the man continued to shout, over and over.
"No!!" he yelled. "Get away! I didn't do anything." Hysteria was starting to take over him. He had to get away. Clawing at the doors, the windows, he was trapped. "Noooooo!!!"
It was extremely early in the morning, and there were no patients except Carter, Lucy, and a few drunks sleeping it off. Most of the staff were either catching up on some lost sleep or at Doc Magoo's grabbing some breakfast. Carol and Mark were at the desk catching up on paperwork. Loud, terrified screams pierced the silence. Mark and Carol exchanged worried glances before taking off towards Carter's room. When they entered the room, they were greeted by the sight of Carter, covered in sweat, thrashing and yelling at something in his nightmare.
"Carol, get me 2 mg's Ativan!" Mark ordered. He gently put one hand on Carter's shoulder, and the other over his legs in an attempt to hold him down so he didn't hurt himself. His IV had been ripped out of the back of his hand, and blood now flowed freely from it. Carol came back with the syringe and quickly injected the drug into his hip. Moments later Carter began to calm down.
Mark leaned over so he was close to Carter's ear, and started to whisper soothing words. "Sshhh...it's okay Carter. You're safe, it was just a dream. It's okay." He could feel the young mans body trembling beneath his touch. Whether it was from fright or pain, he didn't know. Just to be safe he ordered Carol to administer a little more morphine.
Carter's breathing and heart rate slowed down, and he looked at Mark with glassy, frightened eyes. "Who are you?" he whispered.
"Carter? Do you know where you are?"
No. I don't remember anything! I..." he started to panic again.
"Calm down. It's okay. You're in the hospital. You were in a car accident. Your name is John Carter. I'm Dr. Mark Greene, and this is Carol Hathaway," he said looking briefly in Carol's direction.
She gave Carter a brief smile as he glanced at her. It was so strange seeing someone you'd worked with closely, and gotten to know over the past 5 years, look at you with blank eyes. She searched his brown eyes for any signs of recognition, but saw none.
"I know you guys?"
"Yes. You're a doctor here, too. I'm just going to go make a phone call. Carol will stay here with you and start another IV. Okay?" Mark asked.
"Okay," Carter tentatively replied. This man seemed nice enough. Even though he was still trembling from the nightmare, and didn't remember anyone or anything, he got the feeling that he could trust these people.
Carol sat down and started cleaning his hand while Mark strode out to the admit desk. He picked up the phone and phoned the surgical floor, hoping to get a hold of Peter Benton. A nurse answered, and once Peter was on the phone, Mark explained what had happened.
"I'll be right there," Peter said and hung up the phone before Mark could reply. He shrugged and headed back to Carter's room in time to see Carol heading out.
"Is he asleep again?" he asked Carol.
"No. He said he'd like to be alone for awhile. I think it has to do with that nightmare he had. Whatever was in it really seems to be bothering him."
"Yeah well the memory loss is probably bothering him too. Anyways, he's not gonna be alone for long. Peter Benton insisted on coming down."
They turned in time to see Peter jog into Carter's room.
Carter didn't know whether to be afraid or just surprised. He'd been trying to remember anything about himself when this strange man burst into his room like he was expecting to find someone being murdered. At that thought Carter felt his stomach clench in fear.
"Who are you? Is something wrong?" he asked, shocked. This man was looking at him like he too had been a close friend.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Carter. I'm Peter Benton."
"Are you a doctor?"
"Yeah. I used to be your teacher," Peter started, hoping to jog Carter's memory. It scared him that Carter couldn't remember anything. He knew it was normal with concussions, but when it happened to someone you knew, it made it seem worse. The thought briefly entered his mind that Carter might have permanent damage and never get his memory back, but Peter promised he'd get Carter's memory back.. Even though he'd never admit it out loud, he cared about Carter.
Half an hour later, Kerry limped through the ambulance bay doors. "How are they doing?" she asked Mark.
"Lucy's still resting, but we had a small problem with Carter. He woke up screaming from a nightmare. It seems he's lost all his memory. Peter's in talking to him now."
"Really. I wonder..." she started, but was interrupted when those two cops came through the ambulance bay doors.
"Morning Dr. Weaver," Jack greeted her. He then turned to Mark. "I don't think we've met. I'm Officer Jack Deadrick, and this is my partner Pete Dalton. We're investigating that hit and run Dr. Carter was involved in.
"I'm Dr. Greene. Have you guys found the guy who did this yet?" he asked. Praying that they'd caught him.
"Nope haven't found the sucker yet," Pete answered, but after a glare from Jack decided he'd better be a little more polite. "We did find red paint on Dr. Carter's car, so we've told everyone to be on the lookout for a red sedan that's been in an accident recently."
"How likely is it that you'll find him with such a vague description of the car?"
"That depends on many things. One, how smart the guy is. He could hide the car, or may drive around in it. He might repaint it, repair it himself, you get the idea," Pete answered for him.
"As soon as we find anything else we'll let you know," Jack said when he saw the somewhat disappointed look on Mark's face. "We've gotta get going."
Mark watched them leave and felt his hope of catching the guy leave with them. Everything seemed to be going wrong. At least he could be grateful for the fact that Carter and Lucy were still alive. It could be a lot worse, he thought. Mark tried to think more pleasant thoughts as he prepared himself for the last 6 hours of his shift. Hopefully before then Carter will regain his memory, the guy will be caught, and he could go home without having to worry. As he focused again on his paperwork he didn't notice the mysterious man who had been looking into Carter's room as he quickly left the hospital.