DISCLAIMER: Anything that you recognize, I don't own. I do, however, own
Grace...my very own OC!!! Yeah...anyways...
Okay, so, here's chapter 7! It's kinda short, but bear with me.
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SAVING GRACE- CHAPTER SEVEN
******************************************
Speechless, Carter looked up from the photo to the smiling child in the hospital bed. For the first time, he saw her eyes. Really saw them. They were deep, clear blue eyes, with just a hint of grey. But this time, he wasn't looking into a little girl's eyes.
He was looking into Lucy's eyes.
Carter gaped, his mouth falling open. He had to get out. Without thinking, he pushed the photo back into the child's hands, without looking into her eyes. He stood up so quickly that his chair was nearly overturned.
Carter turned and nearly ran out of the room.
**********************
"Wait--" Grace called after him sadly as he fled the room, pushing the door open so fast that it crashed into the wall when it swung open. Carter walked, walked as quickly as he could. He was so shocked, that he was unable to think at all. He was aware of his own footsteps pattering down the nearly empty hall of the Pediatric floor of Cook County Hospital.
Carter's walk grew into a run, and he ran until he reached the elevator. he jammed the button with his fist several times, willing it to come faster so that he could have some time to think. He put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He lay his forehead on the cool wall and tried to gather his thoughts. The problem was, though, that up until that point he hadn't been able to think. His heart raced.
So this child was Lucy's little girl. But when had Lucy had a child? If she was 5 years old, that would mean that she had been pregnant during her time at County. How did she manage to keep that hidden? What was going to happen to the child now? He had to call the police.
He needed to find Kerry. Kerry was off, though, and would be on again at seven the next morning. Carter wasn't sure that he could wait that long to talk to her.
A bell dinged as the silver-gray doors of the elevator slid open. Carter took his hand off of the wall and got onto the elevator, jamming on the button that would take him back down to the ER. Carter leaned back on the wall of the elevator and shut his eyes.
He needed to talk to someone, namely Kerry. He didn't know what to do. He knew that he should probably call the Chicago PD and report the girl's identity. Jane Doe was no longer a Jane Doe: she was now Grace Knight.
At least, Carter suspected that that was the child's last name. It would figure if Lucy truly was her mother. He shook himself. Of course Lucy was her mother. Just looking at her eyes, into her eyes, that was proof enough for him. Probably enough proof, actually, for anyone who really remembered Lucy.
The elevator stopped as it reached ground level. The doors opened and Carter stepped out as a couple of doctors, probably from surgery, got onto the elevator, reviewing a patient's case. Carter hardly glanced at them as he swept past. It was now midnight. He headed for the lounge. Carter had to get out of County for a while. He was on again at nine the next morning anyway,, and he needed time to gather his thoughts.
Carter found his way past the chaos of the emergency room into the staff lounge. To his relief,, it was unoccupied. Carter hung his lab coat on the hook in his locker, and changed into his normal shoes. Grabbing his apartment keys off of the shelf, he slammed the metal door shut and left the lounge.
Clocking out at the admit desk, he turned to leave. The double doors slid open, and Abby came striding in, looking less than thrilled about being back for another night shift. She greeted him, and he tried to smile nonchalantly.
"Hey Abby. You back on?" She rolled her eyes.
"No, I just love this place so much that I would come here at midnight on a day that I had off. Of course I'm on again," she said to Carter. He forced a small smile, mind not really on it.
"Such sarcasm, Abby, it is dripping and I am getting soaked." She smiled at him.
"Rough night?" she asked. Carter shrugged.
"Not too bad, just...shocking." Abby shot him a questioning look.
"How so?" Carter didn't want to answer, so he chose to ignore her. He avoided her eyes and looked around. He saw Elizabeth Corday at that moment in the ambulance bay. She would be a good person to tell, as she understood a little of what the news would truly mean. Abby tapped her foot, playfully annoyed.
"Well, I'm gonna go...I'm a little late for my shift. See you later, Carter," she called back as she turned to leave.
"Sure thing," Carter answered her. He rushed out the double doors and into the ambulance bay. He saw Corday coming up, and she caught sight of him and smiled. He tried to smile back, and she sensed something was wrong. She approached him, arms crossed over her chest.
"Hey, rough night?" Carter shrugged, responding to the question again.
"Not really that rough," Carter told her. She uncrossed her arms and looked at him, concerned.
"Well, you look shaken by something. What is it?" She sounded concerned, and Carter couldn't help but answer her.
"Well," he began, trying to find the right way to start the conversation. "It's about my Jane Doe, who really isn't a Jane Doe anymore."
"What's up with her?" Carter spotted a nearby bench and gestured toward it. They sat down, and he talked to her.
"She's a runaway, and an orphan," he sighed. "She ran away from her foster parents to look for her father, who worked somewhere in this city around 5 years ago."
"Oh, that's awful. The poor thing," Elizabeth said sympathetically. "How's she doing?"
"She's recovering very well, up in the normal Peds recovery area. She was awake earlier, was scared to death when she first got here, but we calmed her down. She is doing just fine though." He answered. There was a pause, a moment of silence. Elizabeth asked the question, then, that Carter had been dreading.
"What's her name?" Carter looked at her, trying to find the words to explain. He took a short breath.
"Grace Knight," he said. Elizabeth's face froze at these words. She turned and looked straight at Carter, searching his face for clues, indications that he was joking. He wasn't. Her mouth fell open. It couldn't be... She closed her mouth and turned away from Carter.
"Knight?" Carter nodded. Elizabeth recovered for a moment from the shock. "Yes, well, isn't Knight a pretty common last name in this country?" Carter exhaled slowly. Elizabeth whipped back around and stared at him.
"What?" she asked. "Just because the child has the same last name doesn't mean she's related!" At this remark, Carter let out a small laugh under his breath. "What?" she asked again.
"Um," Carter began. Elizabeth's gaze intensified. Her eyes grew wide.
"No, you're not telling me that--" she began. He cut her off.
"She showed me a photo of Lucy," Carter said quietly, looking straight into Elizabeth's eyes. Elizabeth bit her lip.
"Are you sure?" Carter nodded.
"I could not see a picture of Lucy and not recognize it," he told her. She bent forward and put her elbows on her knees, holding her head in her hands. She let out a quick breath.
"Oh my God," she said under her breath. She sat there like that for a moment. Carter didn't know what to do, so he made a move to stand up. "Wait," she said quietly.
"Yeah?" Elizabeth sat up again, then stood to meet him.
"I want to see her," she said. Carter slowly nodded his head.
"I'm on my way out, but I'll be back on at nine. Will you still be here?" he asked. She nodded.
"I'm on until noon," she glanced at her watch. It was after midnight, but only by a few minutes. She looked back up at him, tugging a stray lock of her red hair.
"Alright," she said, resolved. Carter checked his own watch.
"I'll meet you in the lounge or something before my shift. I'll come early," he told her. She gave a small smile.
"I'd better get going. It's past time for my shift," she told him. She turned to leave.
"Hey, Dr. Corday," he called. She turned and looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Um, could you please not tell Kerry? I wanted to tell her myself." Elizabeth, nodding, agreed. He thanked her, and they parted and went their separate ways.
Carter walked to pick up the El. A cool breeze was blowing; winter was coming. Carter began to climb the stairs to the station platform. Hand touching the metal rail, a thought hit him.
Turning, he leapt down five steps to reach ground level and ran across the street, a minivan nearly missing him. He whipped around the corner, into the ambulance bay. The sliding doors opened and he went inside, looking around. Frank saw him from the desk.
"Carter, didn't you just leave?" He called to him. Carter looked over at him.
"Yeah, yeah...hey Frank, have you seen Abby anywhere around?"
"Yeah, exam 2 with a possible wrist fracture," Frank said as Carter hurried away. He nearly ran down to Exam 2, and burst into the door, scaring both Abby and her patient. She threw him a look that clearly said "what the hell are you doing?" He regained as much of his professional composure as he could at the moment.
"Nurse Lockhart, could I see you outside for just a moment?" Abby looked at him, her brow slightly furrowed in mild confusion. She stood up and tuned to her patient: a middle-aged lanky man with slightly thinning brown hair.
"Mr. Tamany, I'm sorry. I'll be right with you," she told him. He started to rise from the bed where he sat.
"But--" he started. Abby cut him off and waved her hand for him to sit down.
"I'll just be a minute." Carter held the door open for her as she walked out of the room. He let the door swing shut. He cornered her in the hallway against a medical supply rack.
"Geez, where's the fire, Carter? I was with a patient," Abby said, looking both annoyed and confused. Carter chose to ignore this coment.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her seriously, a tone in his voice demnding an answer. Abby frowned, very confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"My patient, my Jane Doe. You went through her backpack--"
"You did too!" Abby interrupted him. He held up his index finger, for her to shut up and let him finish. She did so.
"You went through her photos. The ones of her family," he accused. Abby still didn't get it. She didn't seem to have a clue what he was talking about.
"Yeah, so? You were right there with me, so I wasn't doing anything illegal, was I?"
"Abby, do you remember Lucy?" Abby gave a small, confused laugh.
"Of course, how could I forget Lucy? She was--"
"Do you remember the pictures? The ones that you saw? Lucy's photo is in that box with the rest of them!" he said to her. She was rendered speechless. She gaped at Carter for a moment.
"You mean, this girl knew Lucy? Was related to her?" Carter nodded. "Unbelievable."
"Believe it. The girl says her name is Grace Knight. She told me earlier that Lucy was her mother," Carter told her. Abby looked shocked.
"Wow," was the only word that she could manage. "Wow." There was an awkward pause. Then Abby spoke again.
"Carter, go home. You're off. Back on again in like seven hours. Get some sleep," she told him. Before he could stop her, she slipped past him and into the exam room where a patient was waiting for her.
All that Carter could do was stare at the exam room door after her.
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That's all for chapter 7! Chapter eight coming shortly...
How does Carter react? What will Elizabeth do? Will Carter tell Kerry about this?
Find out in the next installment of Saving Grace ;)
Hehe...just thought I'd try out the teasers (
Until next time,
Snapdragon
Okay, so, here's chapter 7! It's kinda short, but bear with me.
******************************************
SAVING GRACE- CHAPTER SEVEN
******************************************
Speechless, Carter looked up from the photo to the smiling child in the hospital bed. For the first time, he saw her eyes. Really saw them. They were deep, clear blue eyes, with just a hint of grey. But this time, he wasn't looking into a little girl's eyes.
He was looking into Lucy's eyes.
Carter gaped, his mouth falling open. He had to get out. Without thinking, he pushed the photo back into the child's hands, without looking into her eyes. He stood up so quickly that his chair was nearly overturned.
Carter turned and nearly ran out of the room.
**********************
"Wait--" Grace called after him sadly as he fled the room, pushing the door open so fast that it crashed into the wall when it swung open. Carter walked, walked as quickly as he could. He was so shocked, that he was unable to think at all. He was aware of his own footsteps pattering down the nearly empty hall of the Pediatric floor of Cook County Hospital.
Carter's walk grew into a run, and he ran until he reached the elevator. he jammed the button with his fist several times, willing it to come faster so that he could have some time to think. He put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He lay his forehead on the cool wall and tried to gather his thoughts. The problem was, though, that up until that point he hadn't been able to think. His heart raced.
So this child was Lucy's little girl. But when had Lucy had a child? If she was 5 years old, that would mean that she had been pregnant during her time at County. How did she manage to keep that hidden? What was going to happen to the child now? He had to call the police.
He needed to find Kerry. Kerry was off, though, and would be on again at seven the next morning. Carter wasn't sure that he could wait that long to talk to her.
A bell dinged as the silver-gray doors of the elevator slid open. Carter took his hand off of the wall and got onto the elevator, jamming on the button that would take him back down to the ER. Carter leaned back on the wall of the elevator and shut his eyes.
He needed to talk to someone, namely Kerry. He didn't know what to do. He knew that he should probably call the Chicago PD and report the girl's identity. Jane Doe was no longer a Jane Doe: she was now Grace Knight.
At least, Carter suspected that that was the child's last name. It would figure if Lucy truly was her mother. He shook himself. Of course Lucy was her mother. Just looking at her eyes, into her eyes, that was proof enough for him. Probably enough proof, actually, for anyone who really remembered Lucy.
The elevator stopped as it reached ground level. The doors opened and Carter stepped out as a couple of doctors, probably from surgery, got onto the elevator, reviewing a patient's case. Carter hardly glanced at them as he swept past. It was now midnight. He headed for the lounge. Carter had to get out of County for a while. He was on again at nine the next morning anyway,, and he needed time to gather his thoughts.
Carter found his way past the chaos of the emergency room into the staff lounge. To his relief,, it was unoccupied. Carter hung his lab coat on the hook in his locker, and changed into his normal shoes. Grabbing his apartment keys off of the shelf, he slammed the metal door shut and left the lounge.
Clocking out at the admit desk, he turned to leave. The double doors slid open, and Abby came striding in, looking less than thrilled about being back for another night shift. She greeted him, and he tried to smile nonchalantly.
"Hey Abby. You back on?" She rolled her eyes.
"No, I just love this place so much that I would come here at midnight on a day that I had off. Of course I'm on again," she said to Carter. He forced a small smile, mind not really on it.
"Such sarcasm, Abby, it is dripping and I am getting soaked." She smiled at him.
"Rough night?" she asked. Carter shrugged.
"Not too bad, just...shocking." Abby shot him a questioning look.
"How so?" Carter didn't want to answer, so he chose to ignore her. He avoided her eyes and looked around. He saw Elizabeth Corday at that moment in the ambulance bay. She would be a good person to tell, as she understood a little of what the news would truly mean. Abby tapped her foot, playfully annoyed.
"Well, I'm gonna go...I'm a little late for my shift. See you later, Carter," she called back as she turned to leave.
"Sure thing," Carter answered her. He rushed out the double doors and into the ambulance bay. He saw Corday coming up, and she caught sight of him and smiled. He tried to smile back, and she sensed something was wrong. She approached him, arms crossed over her chest.
"Hey, rough night?" Carter shrugged, responding to the question again.
"Not really that rough," Carter told her. She uncrossed her arms and looked at him, concerned.
"Well, you look shaken by something. What is it?" She sounded concerned, and Carter couldn't help but answer her.
"Well," he began, trying to find the right way to start the conversation. "It's about my Jane Doe, who really isn't a Jane Doe anymore."
"What's up with her?" Carter spotted a nearby bench and gestured toward it. They sat down, and he talked to her.
"She's a runaway, and an orphan," he sighed. "She ran away from her foster parents to look for her father, who worked somewhere in this city around 5 years ago."
"Oh, that's awful. The poor thing," Elizabeth said sympathetically. "How's she doing?"
"She's recovering very well, up in the normal Peds recovery area. She was awake earlier, was scared to death when she first got here, but we calmed her down. She is doing just fine though." He answered. There was a pause, a moment of silence. Elizabeth asked the question, then, that Carter had been dreading.
"What's her name?" Carter looked at her, trying to find the words to explain. He took a short breath.
"Grace Knight," he said. Elizabeth's face froze at these words. She turned and looked straight at Carter, searching his face for clues, indications that he was joking. He wasn't. Her mouth fell open. It couldn't be... She closed her mouth and turned away from Carter.
"Knight?" Carter nodded. Elizabeth recovered for a moment from the shock. "Yes, well, isn't Knight a pretty common last name in this country?" Carter exhaled slowly. Elizabeth whipped back around and stared at him.
"What?" she asked. "Just because the child has the same last name doesn't mean she's related!" At this remark, Carter let out a small laugh under his breath. "What?" she asked again.
"Um," Carter began. Elizabeth's gaze intensified. Her eyes grew wide.
"No, you're not telling me that--" she began. He cut her off.
"She showed me a photo of Lucy," Carter said quietly, looking straight into Elizabeth's eyes. Elizabeth bit her lip.
"Are you sure?" Carter nodded.
"I could not see a picture of Lucy and not recognize it," he told her. She bent forward and put her elbows on her knees, holding her head in her hands. She let out a quick breath.
"Oh my God," she said under her breath. She sat there like that for a moment. Carter didn't know what to do, so he made a move to stand up. "Wait," she said quietly.
"Yeah?" Elizabeth sat up again, then stood to meet him.
"I want to see her," she said. Carter slowly nodded his head.
"I'm on my way out, but I'll be back on at nine. Will you still be here?" he asked. She nodded.
"I'm on until noon," she glanced at her watch. It was after midnight, but only by a few minutes. She looked back up at him, tugging a stray lock of her red hair.
"Alright," she said, resolved. Carter checked his own watch.
"I'll meet you in the lounge or something before my shift. I'll come early," he told her. She gave a small smile.
"I'd better get going. It's past time for my shift," she told him. She turned to leave.
"Hey, Dr. Corday," he called. She turned and looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Um, could you please not tell Kerry? I wanted to tell her myself." Elizabeth, nodding, agreed. He thanked her, and they parted and went their separate ways.
Carter walked to pick up the El. A cool breeze was blowing; winter was coming. Carter began to climb the stairs to the station platform. Hand touching the metal rail, a thought hit him.
Turning, he leapt down five steps to reach ground level and ran across the street, a minivan nearly missing him. He whipped around the corner, into the ambulance bay. The sliding doors opened and he went inside, looking around. Frank saw him from the desk.
"Carter, didn't you just leave?" He called to him. Carter looked over at him.
"Yeah, yeah...hey Frank, have you seen Abby anywhere around?"
"Yeah, exam 2 with a possible wrist fracture," Frank said as Carter hurried away. He nearly ran down to Exam 2, and burst into the door, scaring both Abby and her patient. She threw him a look that clearly said "what the hell are you doing?" He regained as much of his professional composure as he could at the moment.
"Nurse Lockhart, could I see you outside for just a moment?" Abby looked at him, her brow slightly furrowed in mild confusion. She stood up and tuned to her patient: a middle-aged lanky man with slightly thinning brown hair.
"Mr. Tamany, I'm sorry. I'll be right with you," she told him. He started to rise from the bed where he sat.
"But--" he started. Abby cut him off and waved her hand for him to sit down.
"I'll just be a minute." Carter held the door open for her as she walked out of the room. He let the door swing shut. He cornered her in the hallway against a medical supply rack.
"Geez, where's the fire, Carter? I was with a patient," Abby said, looking both annoyed and confused. Carter chose to ignore this coment.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her seriously, a tone in his voice demnding an answer. Abby frowned, very confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"My patient, my Jane Doe. You went through her backpack--"
"You did too!" Abby interrupted him. He held up his index finger, for her to shut up and let him finish. She did so.
"You went through her photos. The ones of her family," he accused. Abby still didn't get it. She didn't seem to have a clue what he was talking about.
"Yeah, so? You were right there with me, so I wasn't doing anything illegal, was I?"
"Abby, do you remember Lucy?" Abby gave a small, confused laugh.
"Of course, how could I forget Lucy? She was--"
"Do you remember the pictures? The ones that you saw? Lucy's photo is in that box with the rest of them!" he said to her. She was rendered speechless. She gaped at Carter for a moment.
"You mean, this girl knew Lucy? Was related to her?" Carter nodded. "Unbelievable."
"Believe it. The girl says her name is Grace Knight. She told me earlier that Lucy was her mother," Carter told her. Abby looked shocked.
"Wow," was the only word that she could manage. "Wow." There was an awkward pause. Then Abby spoke again.
"Carter, go home. You're off. Back on again in like seven hours. Get some sleep," she told him. Before he could stop her, she slipped past him and into the exam room where a patient was waiting for her.
All that Carter could do was stare at the exam room door after her.
*************************************8
That's all for chapter 7! Chapter eight coming shortly...
How does Carter react? What will Elizabeth do? Will Carter tell Kerry about this?
Find out in the next installment of Saving Grace ;)
Hehe...just thought I'd try out the teasers (
Until next time,
Snapdragon