:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
CHAPTER TWO
Carter stumbled as he made his way to the door of the hospital. The sidewalk had just been frosted over from the suddenly dropped temperatures and had been salted, but there was a thin sheet of ice left that he couldn't get past. After a minute or so of trying not to slip, he gave up. He shoe-skated clumsily along the bumpy layer of ice. When he tried to walk again to get to the door, he flew forward. He grabbed the door handle, swinging himself along with the door into the entrance. A few receptionists turned their heads as the yelling Carter swung in, nearly hanging off the door. His face flushed red in embarrassment as he looked for a face he could laugh with. Of course, Mark!
"Hey Mark!" Carter called, following him to the ER.
"Hey, Carter," he greeted back.
"You guys really have to salt that or something. The emergency doors are clear, right?" Carter asked with concern.
"Yea, those are done first. Man, the frost came early this year."
"You're telling me," Carter said with a yawn.
"You okay?" Mark asked, looking at Carter's face. "You look tired, Carter."
"Uh, yea. I'm fine. Just uh... Just a bad dream," Carter answered, not wanting to talk to anyone in particular about his nightmares.
"Oh, okay." Mark didn't prod. He understood the look on Carter's face.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Carter had been sitting for about an hour (with nothing to do in that time save for restraining a psychotic woman) when he finally saw the dream- face. He froze when he looked at Abby: something had struck him. A feeling, not an object for once. It was a good feeling, too. He didn't know why, but seeing her made him feel happy and safe.
"Hey Abby!" he called after her, finally moving.
Abby turned around to see the now standing Carter smiling at her.
"Hey Mr. Social, she replied, walking toward him. "Long time to speak."
"Well," Carter started, "I've just needed some time to think, that's all."
"I know," she said understandingly.
Cater searched for something to say. "Oh, well, uh... anyway, I guess I just wanted to say thanks." (That is, if he hadn't already. He wasn't too sure at the moment.)
"For what?"
"Everything," Carter answered with a smile gleaming on his face.
"You're very welcome," she said when she suddenly glanced at her watch. "Oh jeez, I'm really sorry. I have to go. Maybe I'll see you a little later or something."
"Yea," Carter said quietly.
"Bye, Carter!" she called, running down the hall.
"Bye, Abby!" he shouted behind her. He had liked the sound of his name in her voice.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
"We need some help over here!"
With a resounding entrance slam of the ER doors, the action had begun.
"Twenty-seven-year-old male, he T-boned an oncoming car. BP's low, poor respiration. We've got the man he hit coming in, ETA three minutes," one of the young paramedics rattled to the surrounding crowd of doctors who understood every word with ease.
Mark and Carter ran to his aide and pulled the gurney from him into the closest trauma room.
"We're going to need some O-neg. ready," Mark called out.
One of the nearby nurses fished out a blood donor's gift, prepared it, and waited for Mark to take it. Meanwhile, Mark was having trouble with the intervenes that he had taken over when he noticed no one else was on it.
"What, no vein?" he asked aloud.
Carter pulled out the man's left arm. He was shocked with a sort of terror with what he saw. He gazed down at the near empty syringe stuck in the man's arm, dropped the appendage, and stepped back, eyes wide.
"No," Carter answered.
They both stared at the problem tool, now realizing just who the root of the situation was. He obviously was shooting up, but why in a car?
"Oh sweet Jesus, not this again," Carter said pleadingly.
"Well, let's get to work!" Mark called. "Carter, we have to do our job. No matter what got the person in here, it's our top priority to save them."
"I know. Trust me, I already know that," Carter said, suddenly remembering the ordeal with the rapist from which he had almost withheld treatment long ago.
Jing-Mei, who had entered the room some time ago, looked at Carter apologetically, even though she did not fully understand.
"If you want to go, I'll get someone to cover you. I'll even do it if I have to," she offered.
"No thanks, Deb. I know what I have to do," Carter answered, ten began an IV with no second thoughts.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
"Hey Carter," Weaver said, waking him from his blank daydreaming expression.
"Hey," he answered.
"I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute," she informed him.
"Sorry."
"Paul's still waiting for you in curtain three."
"What?" Carter almost yelled in horror, followed by holding his breath in fear. The name 'Paul' and 'curtain three' did not go together for him anymore.
"Oh God, Carter, I'm so sorry..." Kerri started, forgetting the name that had haunted Carter for so long. "Paul Smith," she corrected herself sheepishly.
"Oh. Well in that case, it's okay," Carter said, exhaling and finally breathing. He took the chart that she held and walked to curtain three again.
When he first entered the room, Carter stayed close to the entrance, knowing that too much had happened in the room since his last visit. He then walked to the bed slowly, evading any reason to go to the other side... Lucy's side.
"So," Carter said, trying to sound cheerful while reading the chart, "I see you dislocated your right shoulder a week ago, and now you're back because it's really starting to bother you, right?"
The man nodded.
"I also see that you're a weightlifter," he added, looking at the muscular figure in the bed.
The man nodded again.
"Have you been lifting?" Carter asked.
The man nodded a third time, but sheepishly.
"You know you have to give it a rest, it's not going to work like that right away."
The man spoke. "I know, I know. I just needed something to do."
"Well, do something... anything, but don't, use, this, arm," Carter said, enunciating the last four words very clearly. "I'll give you some aspirin and advice, but that's about all I can do. You have to let that shoulder heal."
"Okie dokey," The man agreed whole-heartedly.
"Good," Carter said as he gestured to the nurse. He smacked his head as he left the room and ran his hand down his face.
"Sometimes you just have to wonder," he said to himself.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Jerry looked at the clock from where he stood at the desk. 7:14.
"Oh crap!" he exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Jing-Mei asked from across the desk.
"Uh, could you wait here for like, two minutes? Just to watch the phone? I mean, I know it's not your job, but could you? Please?" he pleaded.
"Sure, but why?" she asked.
Jerry looked at the clock again. 7:15.
"I was supposed to wake up Carter fifteen minutes ago!" And with that, he darted down the hall.
Jerry whipped open the door to the break room and saw Carter fast asleep.
'Just like a baby,' Jerry thought sarcastically, making himself laugh at the sight in front of him.
He walked over to Carter, who was curled up on two chairs with his white coat lain over him. Jerry placed a hand on Carter's shoulder and shook him just enough that he stirred.
"Carter, time to get up now. I was fifteen minutes late, so come on."
Carter opened his eyes slowly and stretched, pushing the chair that held his feet further away from him.
"Seven fifteen, right Jerry?"
"Yea," he replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"I knew you'd forget."
"I didn't forget! I lost track of time!"
"That's alright," Carter assured him. "Who's at the desk?" he asked.
"Jing-Mei," he answered calmly. Then it hit him that someone who wasn't a receptionist and had better things to do was doing his job. "Oh man, Jing- Mei!" And with that he was running back to the desk.
Carter laughed and remembered that he had about forty-five minutes of free time, so he decided to get some water and sip it on the roof to wake himself with the cool, nighttime, October breeze.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Carter went out to the chair on the roof, took a seat, and set his water glass down in front of him. Suddenly, a harsh breeze sent a chill down his spine. He heard a crunch of snow behind him and searched unsuccessfully for a reflection in his glass. The cold and ironic fear that resembled his nightmare froze him. When he heard slow, advancing footsteps behind him, he closed his eyes. In an instant, he whirled around to see the advancing person. He then opened his eyes, ready to bear whatever sight lay before him. A total shock shot through him at the figure that stood on the roof in the frosty air, looking down on him.
CHAPTER TWO
Carter stumbled as he made his way to the door of the hospital. The sidewalk had just been frosted over from the suddenly dropped temperatures and had been salted, but there was a thin sheet of ice left that he couldn't get past. After a minute or so of trying not to slip, he gave up. He shoe-skated clumsily along the bumpy layer of ice. When he tried to walk again to get to the door, he flew forward. He grabbed the door handle, swinging himself along with the door into the entrance. A few receptionists turned their heads as the yelling Carter swung in, nearly hanging off the door. His face flushed red in embarrassment as he looked for a face he could laugh with. Of course, Mark!
"Hey Mark!" Carter called, following him to the ER.
"Hey, Carter," he greeted back.
"You guys really have to salt that or something. The emergency doors are clear, right?" Carter asked with concern.
"Yea, those are done first. Man, the frost came early this year."
"You're telling me," Carter said with a yawn.
"You okay?" Mark asked, looking at Carter's face. "You look tired, Carter."
"Uh, yea. I'm fine. Just uh... Just a bad dream," Carter answered, not wanting to talk to anyone in particular about his nightmares.
"Oh, okay." Mark didn't prod. He understood the look on Carter's face.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Carter had been sitting for about an hour (with nothing to do in that time save for restraining a psychotic woman) when he finally saw the dream- face. He froze when he looked at Abby: something had struck him. A feeling, not an object for once. It was a good feeling, too. He didn't know why, but seeing her made him feel happy and safe.
"Hey Abby!" he called after her, finally moving.
Abby turned around to see the now standing Carter smiling at her.
"Hey Mr. Social, she replied, walking toward him. "Long time to speak."
"Well," Carter started, "I've just needed some time to think, that's all."
"I know," she said understandingly.
Cater searched for something to say. "Oh, well, uh... anyway, I guess I just wanted to say thanks." (That is, if he hadn't already. He wasn't too sure at the moment.)
"For what?"
"Everything," Carter answered with a smile gleaming on his face.
"You're very welcome," she said when she suddenly glanced at her watch. "Oh jeez, I'm really sorry. I have to go. Maybe I'll see you a little later or something."
"Yea," Carter said quietly.
"Bye, Carter!" she called, running down the hall.
"Bye, Abby!" he shouted behind her. He had liked the sound of his name in her voice.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
"We need some help over here!"
With a resounding entrance slam of the ER doors, the action had begun.
"Twenty-seven-year-old male, he T-boned an oncoming car. BP's low, poor respiration. We've got the man he hit coming in, ETA three minutes," one of the young paramedics rattled to the surrounding crowd of doctors who understood every word with ease.
Mark and Carter ran to his aide and pulled the gurney from him into the closest trauma room.
"We're going to need some O-neg. ready," Mark called out.
One of the nearby nurses fished out a blood donor's gift, prepared it, and waited for Mark to take it. Meanwhile, Mark was having trouble with the intervenes that he had taken over when he noticed no one else was on it.
"What, no vein?" he asked aloud.
Carter pulled out the man's left arm. He was shocked with a sort of terror with what he saw. He gazed down at the near empty syringe stuck in the man's arm, dropped the appendage, and stepped back, eyes wide.
"No," Carter answered.
They both stared at the problem tool, now realizing just who the root of the situation was. He obviously was shooting up, but why in a car?
"Oh sweet Jesus, not this again," Carter said pleadingly.
"Well, let's get to work!" Mark called. "Carter, we have to do our job. No matter what got the person in here, it's our top priority to save them."
"I know. Trust me, I already know that," Carter said, suddenly remembering the ordeal with the rapist from which he had almost withheld treatment long ago.
Jing-Mei, who had entered the room some time ago, looked at Carter apologetically, even though she did not fully understand.
"If you want to go, I'll get someone to cover you. I'll even do it if I have to," she offered.
"No thanks, Deb. I know what I have to do," Carter answered, ten began an IV with no second thoughts.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
"Hey Carter," Weaver said, waking him from his blank daydreaming expression.
"Hey," he answered.
"I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute," she informed him.
"Sorry."
"Paul's still waiting for you in curtain three."
"What?" Carter almost yelled in horror, followed by holding his breath in fear. The name 'Paul' and 'curtain three' did not go together for him anymore.
"Oh God, Carter, I'm so sorry..." Kerri started, forgetting the name that had haunted Carter for so long. "Paul Smith," she corrected herself sheepishly.
"Oh. Well in that case, it's okay," Carter said, exhaling and finally breathing. He took the chart that she held and walked to curtain three again.
When he first entered the room, Carter stayed close to the entrance, knowing that too much had happened in the room since his last visit. He then walked to the bed slowly, evading any reason to go to the other side... Lucy's side.
"So," Carter said, trying to sound cheerful while reading the chart, "I see you dislocated your right shoulder a week ago, and now you're back because it's really starting to bother you, right?"
The man nodded.
"I also see that you're a weightlifter," he added, looking at the muscular figure in the bed.
The man nodded again.
"Have you been lifting?" Carter asked.
The man nodded a third time, but sheepishly.
"You know you have to give it a rest, it's not going to work like that right away."
The man spoke. "I know, I know. I just needed something to do."
"Well, do something... anything, but don't, use, this, arm," Carter said, enunciating the last four words very clearly. "I'll give you some aspirin and advice, but that's about all I can do. You have to let that shoulder heal."
"Okie dokey," The man agreed whole-heartedly.
"Good," Carter said as he gestured to the nurse. He smacked his head as he left the room and ran his hand down his face.
"Sometimes you just have to wonder," he said to himself.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Jerry looked at the clock from where he stood at the desk. 7:14.
"Oh crap!" he exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Jing-Mei asked from across the desk.
"Uh, could you wait here for like, two minutes? Just to watch the phone? I mean, I know it's not your job, but could you? Please?" he pleaded.
"Sure, but why?" she asked.
Jerry looked at the clock again. 7:15.
"I was supposed to wake up Carter fifteen minutes ago!" And with that, he darted down the hall.
Jerry whipped open the door to the break room and saw Carter fast asleep.
'Just like a baby,' Jerry thought sarcastically, making himself laugh at the sight in front of him.
He walked over to Carter, who was curled up on two chairs with his white coat lain over him. Jerry placed a hand on Carter's shoulder and shook him just enough that he stirred.
"Carter, time to get up now. I was fifteen minutes late, so come on."
Carter opened his eyes slowly and stretched, pushing the chair that held his feet further away from him.
"Seven fifteen, right Jerry?"
"Yea," he replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"I knew you'd forget."
"I didn't forget! I lost track of time!"
"That's alright," Carter assured him. "Who's at the desk?" he asked.
"Jing-Mei," he answered calmly. Then it hit him that someone who wasn't a receptionist and had better things to do was doing his job. "Oh man, Jing- Mei!" And with that he was running back to the desk.
Carter laughed and remembered that he had about forty-five minutes of free time, so he decided to get some water and sip it on the roof to wake himself with the cool, nighttime, October breeze.
:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:
Carter went out to the chair on the roof, took a seat, and set his water glass down in front of him. Suddenly, a harsh breeze sent a chill down his spine. He heard a crunch of snow behind him and searched unsuccessfully for a reflection in his glass. The cold and ironic fear that resembled his nightmare froze him. When he heard slow, advancing footsteps behind him, he closed his eyes. In an instant, he whirled around to see the advancing person. He then opened his eyes, ready to bear whatever sight lay before him. A total shock shot through him at the figure that stood on the roof in the frosty air, looking down on him.