Disclaimer: I don't own ER, or its characters.
Chapter Two: Information Flow
Springvale, Georgia, 9:45PM
"I haven't heard anything." Lauren calmly replied to the small group of people in front of her.
"Lauren…"
"Nope, I know exactly what you know, and we both know that ain't much." She added. "Now if ya'll will let me, I'm heading over to the hospital right now. What phone do you want me to call?"
Six numbers were yelled out at the same time. "Okay, I'll call Flora's, she's open, and I'm sure she'll stay late."
As the small group of people slowly made their way to the dinner two blocks away Lauren sat down in her car and sighed. She had to lie to them, at least until something was more concrete. She couldn't tell them Larry, the EMS supervisor, had told her it was a gunshot wound to the abdomen with the loss of at least four units of blood, with an unstable heart beat. Taking a deep breathe she started her car.
"Hey." Lauren quietly said as she moved into Kelly's room. Fighting the urge to have a reaction to her friend's appearance she gently held her hand. "So…A broken arm, three broken ribs, a concussion, and some minor internal bleeding." She said with fake sarcasm.
"Hurts like hell." Kelly replied with a faint smile.
"Yeah." Lauren smiled back. "Everybody sends their best." She added.
Kelly's voice choked up. "How's…Abby?"
"She is still in surgery." Lauren answered.
"I tried." Kelly said with tears running down her face. "I tried to call for help. To get to her. To help her."
"Shhhh, it's okay." Lauren replied as she wiped the hair out of Kelly's face. "I know you did, and so does Abby."
Kelly continued to cry. "Where's your parents?" Lauren asked.
"They went to get some coffee. They'll be right back." Kelly answered. "We should call someone."
"What?" Lauren asked.
"We should call someone in Chicago, tell them what happened."
"We don't know their numbers." Lauren stated as she thought about it.
"We know the hospital." Kelly countered.
"Cooke County General."
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll call right now." Lauren agreed as she got out her cell phone. "I need the number for Chicago, Illinois, Cooke County General Hospital, emergency room. Please…Okay." Lauren said as she motioned for pen and paper. Kelly pointed to the small counter on the other side of the room. "Thank you very much." Lauren politely replied to the operator as she hung up the phone.
"Ask for Susan Lewis." Kelly stated, as Lauren dialed the numbers.
Chicago, Illinois
"John Carter!" Susan yelled enthusiastically as he entered the ER.
"Good evening to you too." He replied.
"Lets go through the board." She stated as she stood in front of it.
"Can I put my things away?" He asked.
"I guess I could let you do that." She said with a smile.
"Alright, lets have it." He said as he reemerged from the lounge, swinging his stethoscope around his neck.
"Okay in curtain one…And I think that is everything." Susan ended as she took a breathe.
"That has got to be some kind of record." He said with a smile. "What do you have going on tonight?"
"Chuck leaves tomorrow for a conference. So I'm just anxious to get home to…"
"Bid him a fond farewell." Carter interjected with a slight smile.
"Yes." Susan answered, almost embarrassed. "You look pretty happy yourself, who is she?"
"No one." Carter answered defensively. "I've decided to go to Fiji for a week... Alone."
"Good for you, although those trips can be more fun with a friend."
"This from the woman who is going to get lucky tonight."
"Fair enough." She agreed with her hands in the air. "But I'm still happy for you."
"It only took nearly two years." He said is a heavier tone.
"John, that was tough. Some of the toughest stuff I've seen some one go through, but you made it."
"I did."
"It won't be too long before your luck starts to look better." Susan said with a devious tone.
"Go home and give Chuck some lovin'."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that.." She replied as she walked away.
Turning around to face the busy ER Carter took a deep breathe. Thank God Susan was still here. With out her he wasn't sure what things would be like. Few people remained. Kerry had gone into private practice for her son. Elizabeth left, Peter had been gone for years. Mark, Doug, Carol, Abby, all the people he had come to love and respect. His mentors, and colleagues, they were like a family, at least to him. One by one they had moved away. Not that it was wrong, County had simply been the one stable thing in John Carter's life. The fact that his attempt at a family had blown up in his face only made the fact that more obvious.
Realizing he was staring at nothing he coughed, grabbed a chart, and headed to curtain three.
"ER." Jerry stated as he picked the phone.
"Yes, I need to speak to Susan Lewis, it's an emergency." Lauren politely but seriously stated.
"Carter is Susan here?" Jerry asked loudly causing John to turn.
"No, she left a few minutes ago. Take a message."
"They said it was an emergency." Jerry replied as Carter began to walk towards him.
"This is Dr. Carter." He stated as he took the phone from Jerry.
"This is Laura Davis, from Springvale. I work for Abby Lockhart." She explained.
"What's the emergency? Is Abby okay?" He asked as he tried to hear over the noise and commotion of the ER.
"There was an incident at her office and…I'm sorry…" Lauren stated shakily, "She's been shot." She hadn't meant to say it so plainly, but she didn't know what else to say. After the sentence left her mouth she was taken by the nausea that came from telling him.
"When…How…Is she…When did it happen?" He asked, trying to stop from falling apart over the phone.
"A little over an hour ago. She was shot in the abdomen and they rushed her to the nearest hospital."
"What hospital are you at?"
"Blake Memorial. It's not in Springvale though it's about one hundred miles east, in Dawson."
"I'll get there as soon as I can."
"Here's my number," Laura managed to add before he hung up, "394-886-8127"
"Got it. Mine is 716-229-9374, call me if anything changes."
"I will." Laura replied.
"Thank you for calling, I'm leaving now."
"I'll see you when you get here." Laura replied as they hung up their phones.
"Uh, Jerry…I've got to go." He hastily said as he moved towards the lounge.
"Are you okay John?" He asked.
"Abby's been shot, and I've got to get there."
"Who should I call to cover?" Jerry asked.
"Pratt, then try Mitchell or Bryan. If you can't reach anybody call Susan."
"Be careful." Jerry yelled as Carter moved hastily from the lounge to the exit.
"Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for flying delta. We should be touching down in Atlanta in a little over three hours." The pilots voice stated in a mechanical way. John Carter pushed his seat back and sighed.
He didn't even know how long it would take to get there. He didn't know how her surgery was going, he didn't know anything. Trying to somewhat rest he shut his eyes, to his surprise he drifted into a light sleep, still able to hear what was going on around him and yet unable to control his own thoughts that were becoming faint dreams.
"What's going on?" He emotional asked, tears in his eyes. "I don't understand why you won't just talk to me."
"I'm sorry but I…" She tried to finish her sentence but couldn't.
"We can't fix this if you won't try to…"
"There's someone else." Her words stung him to silence, his facial expression showing everything he was thinking and feeling.
"What?"
"John I'm sorry. After…After George…"
"Don't say his name. Don't bring him into this. It isn't his fault." He said angrily, almost yelling as she brought their son into the situation.
"I know it isn't. But I couldn't be happy, I couldn't move on…" She stopped before she finished her sentence.
"You couldn't move on…" She sat on the couch, covering his eyes as his tears hit the floor. "You couldn't move on with me." He said softly.
"I'm sorry John." She softly said as her own tears were flowing freely now.
"Just go Kem."
"I'm sorry John."
"Just go." He yelled, startling her. He sat there weeping alone in the home he had bought to raise his family in. He sat on his couch as she silently walked out and gently shut the door. He sat there alone.
"Hey, wake up…" The man in the seat next to him said kindly. "We're here."
"Thank you." John replied as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Pulling his car into a spot at the hospital he was exhausted. It had been almost four hours since he had gotten on the road after arriving in Atlanta, and it had taken everything in him to keep it under eighty five. As he stood in the lobby of Blake Memorial he pulled out the small piece of paper that Lauren's number was written on. Within the first ring she had answered.
"Lauren, this is John Carter. I'm in the lobby."
"I'm at room 437. Come on up."
"Thanks." He replied as he hung up the phone.
He was on the elevator when he realized he was walking into Abby's new life. People who cared about her and knew her. People who spent their days with her. He was walking into something he had no idea about. She had told him about the people, the town, her practice, but to be here in it was totally different.
Walking down the hall he looked at the room numbers. 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437. Standing in front of the door, he gently knocked and entered.
"John," A woman with sandy blonde hair warmly said, "I'm Lauren one of Abby's nurses."
"Nice to meet you." He replied, comforted by her warmth.
"This is Kelly." She added as she pointed to the sleeping girl. "Her parents should be back in the morning, but I guess you'd like to hear about Abby."
"Yes." He replied as he moved his gaze off of the badly beaten girl.
"She's out of surgery and in the intensive care recovery. They said in about two hours they'll move her to the ICU."
"Can I see her?"
"When she gets into ICU. One person at a time, and you can stay as long as you like."
"Thank you so much…for calling…for everything."
"I know Abby would have wanted me to." Lauren replied.
"She loves it here, she loves you guys." John stated out of the blue.
"She loves her memories too, don't think she doesn't."
John smiled at Lauren as she placed her hand on his back. "Is there a rest room I can use?" He asked.