Bad Karma

Carby. Something happens to Abby. Will Carter get to her in time? Will he be able to save her? Read on to find out!

A.N.: I'm not the original author of this story. The original author is carby luva 313. She's decided she doesn't have enough time to write, so she's giving me the honor of finishing it for her. I hope I can do as good a job!

Disclaimer: I do not own ER. It belongs to Michael Crichton and the other members of the production team.

Chapter 6: The Call

Chen looked up about to say something as Gallant burst into the room.

"Dr. Carter, Abby's on the phone!"

"What?" Carter shouted frantically. He ripped out of the chair he was sitting in and tore off to pick up the phone at admit. Deb ran frantically after him. On the way to admit Carter tripped when he tried to avoid an incoming trauma. On the way down he cut his head on the gurney but just got back up again. He grabbed the phone as soon as he reached admit.

"Abby? How are you? Where are you? Are you alright?" Carter frantically screamed into the phone.

"Oh God, John. I'm so glad to hear your voice. I'm fine, but I'm so scared... Please, John, please just get me out of here! Just tell me everything will be okay..." She trailed off.

"Abby, listen to me, everything will be fine, I pro-" He was cut off by the sound of a dial tone.

"Hello, Abby? Are you there? Abby?!?! That bastard hung up the phone!" Screamed Carter.

"Damnit!" Yelled detective Sikowski.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"She wasn't on line long enough for us to get a trace." Replied Bernard.

"Will ANYTHING go right today?" Susan wondered aloud.

"Oh, John, you're bleeding." Deb pointed out.

"What, oh man, I must have hit my head when I fell..." He said in a tone that would have been easy to misinterpret if the situation they were in was different.

"Come on, I'll suture it for you." Said Susan.

"Yeah, thanks." He replied and followed her to an empty suture room.

"I just can't believe this is happening to Abby and Carter. The both of them have been through so much already, neither of them deserve this." Said Mark once the Carter and Deb had disappeared into the room.

"No kidding, I mean nobody deserves this, especially the pair of them." Everyone was shocked at who this comment had come from, Romano. They stared at him in awe.

"What? Can't a guy show compassion for some of his co-workers?" He sniffed incredulously as he walked away.

Suture Room

"Alright, relax Carter, or I might accidentally inject some lidocaine into the wrong area." Said Susan jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. It worked...sort of. At least I got a chuckle out of him Susan thought to herself.

"Oh well, maybe it's just what I need. Some rest. Ow." He said as she numbed the area around the cut.

"Sorry. Are you alright? I don't just mean your head, either..." She trailed off, hoping she wasn't nosing too much into his emotions. Susan however knew it would make it easier if he talked about it.

"It's just, Abby doesn't deserve this to happen to her! I never should have gotten her involved with Alicia Conner... If I was more competent in my bedside manner..." He put himself down.

"Don't even talk like that! It wasn't your fault, all women feel more comfortable talking to other women about issues like that. Trust me, you couldn't have changed a thing." Susan reassured from the sidelines.

"Ow. It's just I shouldn't have even made Alicia talk to the damned social worker." Carter mumbled.

"Sorry, just two more sutures and I'm done. You did the right thing, you were only acting in the best interests of your patient." Susan told Carter quitely. She finished suturing and she didn't quite know why but she found herself leaning in to give Carter a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" He asked surprisedly.

"I just thought you needed to know I'm here for you." She said and got up to leave.

"Thanks, Susan." He said lightly. He meant it.

"No problem, you stay here and rest for a bit, I promise I'll get you if there's any word on Abby." She said and with that she left the room.

John sat in silence for a while, all sorts of thoughts running through his head. What if she was hurt? What if she was dead? If he let anything happen to Abby he'd kill himself, or worse, turn to drugs again. No, he wasn't going to let it happen. Everything would be alright. The stress must have finally gotten to him because the last thing he remembered was hearing a crash before everything went black...

"Shit." Said Elizabeth as she picked up the bedpan she knocked off a cart. She had just gotten out of a surgery and had come down to see if there was any progress with the situation.

"How is everything down here?" Elizabeth questioned no one in particular.

"Better. We heard from Abby, and she's fine. Carter's in the suture room, resting." Luka answered. It seemed as though admit had become a popular hangout this day.

"I'll go see how he is." Elizabeth replied and walked off.

Elizabeth walked into the suture room. It was dark and eerily quiet. She made her way over to the gurney. John looked like he was resting comfortably. She took him by the wrist just to be sure. His pulse was good. As she pulled her hand away, Carter stirred and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Carter, it's alright, it's just me, Elizabeth." She whispered softly.

"What's wrong, did you get another call, did they find Abby?" Carter asked frantically.

"Shh, it's okay. No, I just came to see how you were doing." She replied quietly.

"I'm alright, or as alright as can be expected." He replied tiredly.

"Well, at least now you're resting." She said.

"I just hope she's alright. I keep praying, and telling God I'm sorry, but I feel like it's still not enough." He said with tears forming in his eyes.

"It is NOT your fault. You can't blame yourself. If anyone, blame the insane jerk that wants to hurt you and Abby for his own mistakes. God knows you're sorry, and I'm sure He wants you to know that Abby will be fine. No matter what, all of us are always here for you, John." Elizabeth said. That did it, Carter went over the edge and gave way to a flood of tears that had been dying to escape him all day.

"Shh. It's alright." Elizabeth whispered soothingly and held Carter close to her. He needed to know she was there, and she was. When Carter was done crying, he spoke.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth..." He whispered embarrasedly. It was a long time since he had broken down in front of a colleague, and suddenly memories of Lucy came to his mind. What if the same thing happened to Abby? No. It wouldn't and that was it.

"For what? Don't worry, everything will be okay. I'll let you get some rest now. See you soon. Come get me if you need me." She said and with that she swept out of the room.

Carter lay back down on the gurney and fell into a deep sleep. Dreams of happier times with Abby filled his head while he rested, and he knew it would all work out...


A.N.: My very first ORIGINAL chapter!!! How was it? Tell me what you thought, just click review! The next one might not be up for a while, I have a lot of homework lately! I'm a little blocked in terms of creativity, so if you have any ideas don't hesitate to tell me! Love My Readers! Julia