DISCLAIMER: I promise that none of these characters, except my OCs,
aremine, and I'm not using them to make money, yada yada yada.
Hey all! Sorry that it took me so long to update, but here is the next (hopefully intriguing) chapter of the story!
SAVING GRACE—CHAPTER 15
Telling the news to his family hadn't been incredibly eventful. He had gotten a few very negative reactions, and some more positive ones, so they seemed to balance out.
Millicent had been thrilled. She had a grandchild, and she didn't seem to mind too much that Grace was conceived out of wedlock. As terrible as it sounds, the fact that Lucy, the mother of the child, was dead actually played to Carter's advantage in handling the family situation. This fact helped some of his relatives to cope with the news more easily. Because they looked at having a child without being married as wrong, they implied that if Lucy was alive they would be married, so it wasn't an issue, really.
It hadn't taken long for the news to get through the family tree, and everybody knew in, calculating Gamma's phone speed, under an hour. She was already talking about organizing a 'coming out' party for her, to introduce her to the family. Carter had snickered at the thought; he had thought that coming out parties were for the royalty, when the girls had reached the age of 17 or 18, but Millicent insisted on doing something to bring her to formally meet people. Carter had argued that she was only five years old, and that he didn't really have custody of her yet. His Gamma, of course, wanted to have the party anyway.
The topic of the lawyer to hurry along the case was brought up by Millicent herself, without Carter's previously mentioning the issue. She told him not to worry about it one bit, that she would take care of the lawyer to speed up the custody application for him. Carter had thanked her profusely.
When he got home from work that night, he found no less than 24 messages on his answering machine from everybody: Aunts, uncles, cousins, his sister, parents, grandfather, in addition to calls from Susan, Elizabeth, Abby, and several of the other staff members at the hospital.
Carter could hardly sleep that night, waiting anxiously for the dawn of the next day. He didn't want the woman from Social Services to come and take Grace away from him. He knew she would come, though, and nothing that he did would change that. He fell asleep for a short time, knowing that he didn't have to work the next day. When he awoke again at 2:45 am, he couldn't stand the insomnia and decided to rise and start early.
After taking a shower, dressing in his own casual clothes (Khaki cargo pants and a navy blue pullover sweater), he grabbed his bag and went back out into the night. Since he had been assaulted, he was extra cautious of avoiding areas of the street that weren't lit well. He made it to the El safely, and got onto the train, riding over to the hospital. He got off of the train and heard a familiar ambulance siren in the distance as he began the walk back over to County.
He walked through the double doors and into the bright white hospital, finding it remarkably quiet. Randi sat at the desk, blowing bubbles with her chewing gum and reading a fashion magazine. She looked up, hearing the footsteps.
"Hey, Dr. Carter," she said, popping a bubble with her teeth and setting down her magazine. "You are either very early or very late." Carter shook his head.
"I'm actually not on today. If there is a trauma, though, you can go ahead and page me. I'll be upstairs." He saw a flicker of realization flash over her face.
"Oh," she said. "Upstairs, upstairs." Carter nodded slowly, his mouth smiling, but eyes frowning.
"Yes, Randi, upstairs. Okay?" She shrugged and went back to her magazine. Carter rode the elevator up to the floor to find it nearly vacant of nurses. He wandered into Grace's room, and shut the door quietly.
The room was dark, quiet. The other bed in the room was occupied by a girl of around 12, who was sleeping in her bed. She was accompanied by her mother, who was sleeping next to her daughter on a makeshift cot. Carter quietly stepped across the room and closed the curtain that separated the sides of the room. He approached Grace's bed, pulling up a padded chair, and sitting down in it.
He sat there for a long time, precisely how long, he didn't even know. He sat and he watched the small girl sleep. She was so small, defenseless, fragile.
But he knew then, looking at the small girl asleep and peaceful there, that he would do anything for this girl. He was his daughter, and he loved her already more than he thought was possible. He would make any sacrifice that he needed to for her.
Carter didn't remember when exactly it was he fell asleep. He did remember waking up, though, hearing muffled footsteps on the floor. The feet stopped shuffling for a moment, and Carter opened his eyes a fraction of an inch.
The room was dark still, with tiny rays of light streaking into the room through the window from the light in the hallway. He could make out a woman's shadow at Grace's bedside. He squeezed his eyes shut again and opened them, still a bit groggy from falling asleep. The person turned around as Carter stretched his neck, a bit sore from sleeping in the upright chair. He found himself face-to-face with Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth," he said groggily. "What time is it?" He could see her smiling gently in the very dark room.
"It's almost 10 after 5," she said. Carter nodded.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was supposed to have a pancreaticojujunostomy at 5, but it was cancelled."
"No, I mean what are you doing here?" Carter repeated the question, putting special emphasis on the word 'here.'
"Oh," she said, still whispering. "Well, I wanted to see Grace again before she leaves. She does leave today, right?" Carter nodded. He hoped that Elizabeth could not make out the disappointment in his face through the darkness of the room.
"Yeah," he said. He could hear a slight sadness in his own voice. Elizabeth did, too. She pulled over the rolling stool from under the counter of the room and sat down, facing Carter.
"I heard about your being Grace's father," she said, somewhat comfortingly. "Congratulations." Carter snorted, smiling.
"You know, you're the only person who's told me that besides Susan."
"Really?"
"Yeah, everyone else was too appalled to know what to say, or if they should say anything to me at all." Elizabeth nodded. Just then, Carter heard the familiar beeping of a pager. Instinctively, he turned to check his own pager, clipped to the inside of his bag.
"It's me," she said, sighing. "I'm being paged to the ER." She stood up and tucked the pager into waist of her scrubs. "This should be fun."
"You know it," Carter said, smiling. Elizabeth crossed the short distance over to Grace's bedside. She smoothed the little girl's hair and turned towards Carter.
"I'll try to come by later, to say goodbye face to face, if I get a chance," she told him. He nodded. "If I can't, tell her that I said goodbye for me?" she said, more a question than a command. Carter nodded again.
"Of course," he reassured her. Elizabeth nodded.
"Good, thank you," she said, making her way over to the door and opening it quietly. "See you later, Carter." With that, she was gone.
Carter quietly moved his chair to the side of the bed, so as not to disturb Grace, who was sleeping soundly in the bed. He sat down, looking at her face. She looked so peaceful, at ease. He stretched out his hand and stroked her hair softly. It was hard to believe that in less than 12 hours, she would be gone.
"I love you, Grace," he said quietly, so softly that he could barely hear it himself.
"Got any sevens?"
"Nope, go fish," Grace said, pointing to the stack of cards resting on the table.
Grace had woken up early, at around 6:30 that morning, to find Carter still sitting with her in the chair next to the bed. They had sat quietly, as the rays of sunlight gradually crept into the room, watching the early morning television until there was enough light in the room to do something else without having to turn on all of the lights. So they sat, playing the 9th round of Go Fish that morning.
Carter tried to keep the mood light and playful, but Grace seemed to be slightly downtrodden that day. He knew that it was because she would soon leave, but he did the best that he could to push that thought to the back of his mind.
Carter drew another card with a look of reluctance on his face. Grace giggled at him; he was losing profoundly. Both of their heads turned in the direction of the door when the morning nurse came into the room, carrying a tray of food.
"Good morning, Miss Grace," she said cheerily. "I've brought breakfast, if you are ready for it." Grace nodded, and the nurse came to set the tray on the table. Carter cleared the cards off of the surface. The nurse turned to him and gave him a look, studying him.
"Thank you," Grace said from behind her.
"You're welcome, sweetie." She turned back to Carter. "Dr. Carter, could I get you something to eat?" Carter shook his head.
"No, thank you anyway, though."
"How do you take your coffee?"
"Oh, you really don't--"
"Black, cream, sugar?" Carter was defeated, so he decided not to argue.
"No cream, two sugars," he said. "Thank you." The nurse nodded and smiled at him, walking back out the door. Carter shifted in his chair. Grace began to eat her breakfast. "So what time do you have therapy today?"
"From nine until ten," she said before taking a bite of the French toast on the tray. Carter nodded.
"It's early today."
"Yes, the lady comes today at 2 to get me, so it couldn't be at the normal time." Carter nodded, almost mechanically. It was still taking him some time to get used to the idea of her leaving.
They spent time together that morning, and at nine o'clock sharp, he took her up to physical therapy. She insisted on walking on the crutches, so they went slowly. Arriving at the door, Grace stopped short.
"Are you going to come and get me later?" she asked, biting her lower lip. Carter smiled comfortingly at her.
"Of course. I will spend the rest of the day here with you." Grace smiled, and Carter went to check her in to her appointment.
Carter found himself on the roof minutes later, holding a cup of coffee and a bagel. There was a chill in the air; winter would be coming in a few weeks to Chicago. The breeze ruffled through his hair as he drank the coffee, deep in thought.
Two weeks ago, this child had been carried into his life on a gurney, and his plans had changed. It almost gave his life a new direction. He felt a deep-seated love for the girl, and he knew that it was to deep to go away.
His grandmother's lawyer was meeting with him the next day to go over the custody case, to file for permanent custody of the child on paternal rights. The case would be pushed ahead, but Carter did not know exactly when he would see his daughter again after that day. He sighed.
He had had second thoughts, but they lasted only a fraction of a second. There was, after all, a great responsibility attached to adopting a little girl. He would have to alter his work schedule to be with her, rearrange his apartment to give her the other bedroom, save money for her education, buy clothes and other necessities, learn to cook, learn to be a parent. The rewards somehow seemed greater than the consequences.
Carter's pager beeped then. He was so startled by the noise that he almost spilled coffee down the front of his sweater. He looked at the number on the pager. It was the ER. He cleared the number, ignoring the page.
He shivered slightly from his seat on the roof, finishing his bagel and looking out over the city of Chicago in the morning. It was surprisingly quieter than he would have thought, and the ever-present wailing of ambulance sirens was seldom heard. It was probably a slow morning in the ER.
Glancing at his watch after he had been sitting there for a while, he saw that it was almost 10. He needed to get back down to get Grace from her therapy appointment. He made his way down the stairs and across a hallway into the waiting area of the therapy area. Just in the nick of time, he sat down in a chair. A door opened and Grace hobbled out on the crutches, followed by a small black woman with glasses and curly hair that framed her face.
"Make sure that you go see a therapist at home, ok Grace?" The child nodded at her.
"Okay. I'll miss you, Mrs. Pembra," she said. The woman smiled.
"I will miss you too. Have a safe trip home."
"I will. Thank you." Grace made her way over to Carter, who stood. Together, they left the room and went back to the elevator.
"So what did you do today?" Grace shrugged, getting into the elevator. She pressed the button to go back to the Pedes floor.
"I did work with how to go up and down the stairs safely with the crutches." Carter nodded.
"That's important."
"I guess," she responded, sounding a little bit depressed. Carter frowned slightly, noticing this.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? You're being so quiet." Grace shrugged. Carter decided not to push the issue. The elevator came to a halt on the Pedes floor and they got out. Heading up the hallway back to Grace's room, Carter heard someone call his name.
"Carter, hey Carter!" He turned around to see Abby running down the hall toward him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, stopping in the hallway and walking toward her, Grace following.
"Where--have--you--been?" she gasped, breathless. "I--paged you--a few times."
"Slow down, catch your breath. What's wrong?" Abby shook her head.
"No time, there's an emergency, they need you in the ER immediately."
"But--"
"Now!" Abby cut him off. Carter saw that her face held a sense of urgency. He looked at Grace, then back again.
"I have to take--" he began.
"Bring her! Just come, now, follow me. There's no time," she cut him off again. Carter reached down and swooped Grace up in his arms. She still held her crutches, a small smile played at her face.
"All right," he said to the child. "We are going to run, so hold on tight." Grace nodded, and Carter looked back at Abby.
He walked briskly down the hallway, the walk turning into a run as they made a dash for the elevator. They rode down to the ER and Carter bolted out of the elevator, Abby close behind him, Grace in his arms. He looked around, glancing at Abby.
"Drop her off in the lounge," she said. Carter nodded and carried the little girl around to the door quickly, pushing the door open.
"SURPRISE!" the acclamations of his co-workers rang out from inside of the room. Carter's face contorted in slight confusion, turning to amusement. He turned around to face Abby, who wore a grin on her face. She laughed.
"What is this?" he asked, confused.
"Gotcha," Abby said, playfully hitting his shoulder. He turned to face the other people in the room. Susan was there, Neela too, and Gallant, Luka, Lydia, Randi, Sam, Chuny, Malik, among others. All were smiling profusely at him. Carter looked at Chuny and Randi, who were bringing out a small, circular cake, with the words 'Goodbye Grace' etched in frosting on the top. Reading this, the little girl smiled widely. She tugged on Carter's shirt, indicating that she wanted to be let down.
"What it this?" Carter asked, carefully setting Grace on her feet.
"This," said Susan, "is Grace Knight's going-away party." Carter laughed.
"You all like to have parties, don't you?" They just smiled at him, some chuckling.
"Yeah, Lydia actually pulled this one together pretty fast, too."
"Whose idea was this?"
"It was mostly Abby and Susan," Lydia said. Just then, Malik hit a button on the radio and it began to play music.
"Come on, let's get this party started!"
And so it was. The cake was cut and handed around, the stereo played "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," people were dancing, and everybody was having a good time. Grace seemed thrilled by the attention, graciously accepting the wishes from others to get well, have a safe trip, and come back to visit soon. The party was a pleasant surprise for both Grace and Carter, and Grace got a nice surprise when, ten minutes later, Elizabeth came into the lounge.
"Elizabeth!" Grace exclaimed, beaming. Elizabeth smiled at her, making her way over to where the child was sitting.
"Hello, Grace."
"I'm glad you came," she said joyfully. "You should have some cake," she suggested.
"Is it good?"
"The best that the ER can whip up," Carter said. "Hi Elizabeth."
"Hi Carter. So where can I find this cake?"
"It's over there, on the counter, with the coffee." She soon returned with her own slice of the cake. She sat down near the little girl.
"So how long have you known about this little party?" Carter asked Elizabeth. She put a forkful of cake in her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully.
"Only about five hours. It was planned on a dime, if at all." Carter nodded. Then, he heard Malik turn down the music slightly, and the room quieted. People looked at him expectantly.
"Speech!" called Susan and Abby in unison. A few of the people around them laughed, others echoed the cry. Carter stood up, obliging. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Um--" he began, hesitating. "I just want to say, thank you all for doing this." He rested his hand lightly on Grace's shoulder. "I know that you have heard the rumors, and I wanted to let you know, they are true." He looked over at the smiling, not-so-stunned crowd of people. "Thanks again."
"Congrats, Carter," Chuny said. A paroxysm of applause and cheering burst from the people from the ER, and Carter couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, thank you," he said, calming their applause. The clapping quieted. Malik was about to start the music up again, when Abby shot him a look and he lifted his hand from the dial. Everyone was talking quietly as Abby and Susan went to their lockers, bringing out a gift bag and a small, rectangular package, respectively. They set the gifts in front of Grace, who's eyes grew wide.
"Those are for me?" she asked incredulously. Susan nodded.
"Yes, those are from all of us." Grace bit her bottom lip, holding back a question.
"Umm...Could I open them?" A few people chuckled at this.
"Of course you can." Grace beamed as she held the gift bag, and very much like a young child would do, she took the tissue paper out of the bag, until she got to the bottom.
About eighteen of the doctors and nurses had gotten together and each given a little bit of money toward the cause, and decided that Grace needed clothes for the trip home, because they had shredded hers when she first came into the hospital. Grace carefully lifted a dress out of the bag, gazing at it, her mouth half-open, and spread it on the table. It was a periwinkle blue dress, a pique polo-style dress with short sleeves and a tiny daisy embroidered over the breast.
"Oh, wow, it's so pretty!" Grace said, smiling. "Thank you all so much!"
"You're welcome."
"That's not all," Lydia said to her in a gentle voice. "We all signed this card for you, so you can remember us." She produced a greeting card from behind her back. Susan handed the second package, and small, rectangular one wrapped in tissue paper, to the child carefully.
"Open that one, too, but be careful so that it doesn't break." Grace nodded, understanding. She carefully tore the paper off of the gift, revealing a polished wooden photo frame. Inside it was a picture.
It was an old picture, from years and years ago. Carter saw, looking over Grace's shoulder, himself as a young doctor, without a beard, standing next to a smiling Lucy. Her hair was down, and Carter was smiling, too. Both held glasses of soda, as a sort of toast to the camera. It was from the day, he remembered, that she had finished her first ER rotation. They had been celebrating.
Grace smiled. Her face lit up, and the others knew that she had appreciated this gift a great deal.
"Thank you so much," she said happily. "This is my second picture with her in it, and my dad--" her eyes darted toward Carter, as if almost afraid to say that to all of the other people around. Carter nodded reassuringly. "My dad is also in it, so I can have the two of them in one place again!"
Carter smiled and chuckled along with the others, but he couldn't help feeling a little heartache inside. Now, the only place that he and Lucy could be together was in the photographs and memories of long ago. Nevertheless, it was still reassuring.
He thought of a poem that he had read some odd years ago in high school. The poem was Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats. He had never really understood the meaning of the poem, really, but now he mused over the point. In that picture, of him and Lucy together, they were there forever, always there, always together. [If the readers haven't read the poem, I recommend that you do. You'll understand.]
Carter looked down at his daughter. Grace sat with such a rapturous expression on her face that Carter knew she was thankful beyond words for the kindness of the ER staff. All that she could do was smile, but the others understood.
Just then, Jerry stuck his head into the lounge.
"Sorry to break up the party, but we've got an MVA coming in, two major, one minor. We need you all on the floor." The energized atmosphere of the room died quickly, as everyone sat. Jerry informed them that the ETA would be six minutes, so they had that time to prep the trauma rooms, etc.
"You need me?" Carter asked, ready to jump for a pair of scrubs if in fact he was needed. Susan shook her head.
"We'll give you a call if we do," she said, standing up. She made her way around the now-chattering people over to where Grace sat, and squatted down, going to her level. "Bye, honey," she said to the child, touching her shoulder. "Good luck."
"Bye, thanks." Carter saw Susan throw a loving look at the child before pushing the door open and reentering the world.
"See you, kiddo," Carter heard Abby tell Grace. He turned his head to find that she had followed Susan's example, and gave the child a gentle hug.
"Bye, Abby," she said. Carter could tell that she was upset about leaving already.
"Come back and see us, will you?" Abby asked, smiling. She straightened up. Grace nodded at her, looking hopefully at Carter. He gave a small smile. Grace turned back to Abby, beaming.
"Definitely," she said enthusiastically. Abby smiled, too. Carter knew that she couldn't help it; the mood was contagious.
The rest of the staff members in the room decided to leave then, too, and the number of people there dwindled. Elizabeth was the last to say goodbye. She wrapped the small child in a warm hug, touching her hair.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," she said. It was this good-bye which seemed to be hurting Grace the most. She had really taken a liking to Elizabeth, and it would be hard for them to say goodbye.
"Bye, Elizabeth," she said, putting her arms around Elizabeth's neck. "I'll miss you a lot."
"I'll miss you, too, dear, but I can give you my address at home and we can write to each other. That will be okay, won't it?" Unconvinced, the child nodded slowly in agreement.
"Okay," she said in a small voice. They broke from their embrace, and Carter suddenly felt rather awkward, standing there and watching him. Elizabeth gave Grace a loving look, and, bidding a goodbye with her promising to come and see Grace before she left for good, she swept out of the doors, mass of red curls flying behind her.
Now alone in the room, Carter sat with Grace quietly for a moment. They looked at each other, Grace's clear blue eyes seeming to pierce into Carter's own brown ones. Carter gently lay a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly, reassuringly. Grace laid her own head down onto Carter's chest, exhaling softly in a gentle sigh. Carter put his arms around her. They sat there like that for a few minutes, savoring the time that they could be together. Carter was reminded of another gentle embrace like this, up on the roof of the hospital and smiled, enjoying the moment.
Three short hours later, Carter's pager beeped in a steady, pulsating rhythm. Glancing down at the device, he saw that the number was that of the ER. He got up to leave, Grace throwing him a look. The look was a pitiful one, really, clearly an I-know-that-that-woman-is-here-to-get-me look. Carter tried to give her a small smile, but his facial nerves seemed numb, and all he could do was touch her comfortingly on the shoulder, before walking out the door.
As he crossed the corridor to the elevator, he felt numb inside, devoid of all feeling. He knew what waited at the other end of the short journey, he knew that the woman must be here now. He could not ignore the inevitable. Though his arms felt like limp spaghetti, and his feet appeared to be moving themselves down the familiar path to the ER, he resolved to put up a strong appearance for the woman. He did, after all, want to make a good impression.
He forced back control of his limbs, and straightened his shoulders. All too soon, the elevator had arrived and opened its doors to the chaos of the emergency room that he knew so well. Trying to act nonchalant, he crossed the area to the admit desk, and saw Jerry still there, trying to blow a bubble with his chewing gum. She caught sight of him as well.
"Somebody paged me to the ER," he said, hoping for a clue from him. He nodded at him, jerking his head toward Chairs.
"Got a woman here, wants to see you," he told Carter, standing abruptly and aborted his futile attempts at blowing a bubble with the gum when Carter gave him a look. Approaching the chairs area, he glanced around.
"Who is it?"
"Last name Goetz, from some children's services bureau." Carter nodded at this news, not surprised, but not quite ready for it either. He stood out in front of the chairs and swept his gaze over the area where a couple of dozen people sat, in their varying degrees of illness, waiting to be seen by a doctor.
"Ms. Goetz?" he called, craning his neck and raising his voice slightly to be sure he was heard.
A woman stood up from her seat near the back of the room. She was a kind- looking woman, wearing a cream-colored pant suit and a purple blouse underneath. Her smooth auburn hair was swept up in a clip, and a pair of glasses was set on her nose. She could not have been more than 35 years old. When she stood, she picked up a sleek briefcase and a brown cardboard box hoisting it into her arms. She approached Carter, very businesslike in her actions.
"Dr. Carter?"
8
That's all for this one! Sorry again that it took so long to update, but my exams are nearing, and so I have had a lot of studying to do.
So...next chapter, you all get to find out what is in the mystery box that Barbara left to him, and you will see the good-bye when Grace and Carter part for a time.
A REVIEWER SHOUT-OUT:
Psalm57: Wow, I love your enthusiasm! I love that psalm, btw. Anyways, where to begin? I am only 14 (15 in June), so I am far from med school, however, my dad is a doctor, and I volunteer sometimes, in the ER and rarely in the ICU where he works. I only deliver the mail, run stuff to the lab, run memos between floors, stuff like that, but I do pick it up. You might think I am a nut, but when I watch ER and there is a drug, test, etc. that I don't know, I look it up or ask someone. That way, I learn a little bit. In ch5, when Grace says she knows the spleen, she's lying. Like, my cousin knows that we have spleens, but not what they do. That sort of thing. Thank you sooo much for reviewing! Stay tuned. E-mail me w/ any more questions.
Until then, loyal readers, keep up the reviews, and relax. Summer is starting, after all!
Snapdragon
Hey all! Sorry that it took me so long to update, but here is the next (hopefully intriguing) chapter of the story!
SAVING GRACE—CHAPTER 15
Telling the news to his family hadn't been incredibly eventful. He had gotten a few very negative reactions, and some more positive ones, so they seemed to balance out.
Millicent had been thrilled. She had a grandchild, and she didn't seem to mind too much that Grace was conceived out of wedlock. As terrible as it sounds, the fact that Lucy, the mother of the child, was dead actually played to Carter's advantage in handling the family situation. This fact helped some of his relatives to cope with the news more easily. Because they looked at having a child without being married as wrong, they implied that if Lucy was alive they would be married, so it wasn't an issue, really.
It hadn't taken long for the news to get through the family tree, and everybody knew in, calculating Gamma's phone speed, under an hour. She was already talking about organizing a 'coming out' party for her, to introduce her to the family. Carter had snickered at the thought; he had thought that coming out parties were for the royalty, when the girls had reached the age of 17 or 18, but Millicent insisted on doing something to bring her to formally meet people. Carter had argued that she was only five years old, and that he didn't really have custody of her yet. His Gamma, of course, wanted to have the party anyway.
The topic of the lawyer to hurry along the case was brought up by Millicent herself, without Carter's previously mentioning the issue. She told him not to worry about it one bit, that she would take care of the lawyer to speed up the custody application for him. Carter had thanked her profusely.
When he got home from work that night, he found no less than 24 messages on his answering machine from everybody: Aunts, uncles, cousins, his sister, parents, grandfather, in addition to calls from Susan, Elizabeth, Abby, and several of the other staff members at the hospital.
Carter could hardly sleep that night, waiting anxiously for the dawn of the next day. He didn't want the woman from Social Services to come and take Grace away from him. He knew she would come, though, and nothing that he did would change that. He fell asleep for a short time, knowing that he didn't have to work the next day. When he awoke again at 2:45 am, he couldn't stand the insomnia and decided to rise and start early.
After taking a shower, dressing in his own casual clothes (Khaki cargo pants and a navy blue pullover sweater), he grabbed his bag and went back out into the night. Since he had been assaulted, he was extra cautious of avoiding areas of the street that weren't lit well. He made it to the El safely, and got onto the train, riding over to the hospital. He got off of the train and heard a familiar ambulance siren in the distance as he began the walk back over to County.
He walked through the double doors and into the bright white hospital, finding it remarkably quiet. Randi sat at the desk, blowing bubbles with her chewing gum and reading a fashion magazine. She looked up, hearing the footsteps.
"Hey, Dr. Carter," she said, popping a bubble with her teeth and setting down her magazine. "You are either very early or very late." Carter shook his head.
"I'm actually not on today. If there is a trauma, though, you can go ahead and page me. I'll be upstairs." He saw a flicker of realization flash over her face.
"Oh," she said. "Upstairs, upstairs." Carter nodded slowly, his mouth smiling, but eyes frowning.
"Yes, Randi, upstairs. Okay?" She shrugged and went back to her magazine. Carter rode the elevator up to the floor to find it nearly vacant of nurses. He wandered into Grace's room, and shut the door quietly.
The room was dark, quiet. The other bed in the room was occupied by a girl of around 12, who was sleeping in her bed. She was accompanied by her mother, who was sleeping next to her daughter on a makeshift cot. Carter quietly stepped across the room and closed the curtain that separated the sides of the room. He approached Grace's bed, pulling up a padded chair, and sitting down in it.
He sat there for a long time, precisely how long, he didn't even know. He sat and he watched the small girl sleep. She was so small, defenseless, fragile.
But he knew then, looking at the small girl asleep and peaceful there, that he would do anything for this girl. He was his daughter, and he loved her already more than he thought was possible. He would make any sacrifice that he needed to for her.
Carter didn't remember when exactly it was he fell asleep. He did remember waking up, though, hearing muffled footsteps on the floor. The feet stopped shuffling for a moment, and Carter opened his eyes a fraction of an inch.
The room was dark still, with tiny rays of light streaking into the room through the window from the light in the hallway. He could make out a woman's shadow at Grace's bedside. He squeezed his eyes shut again and opened them, still a bit groggy from falling asleep. The person turned around as Carter stretched his neck, a bit sore from sleeping in the upright chair. He found himself face-to-face with Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth," he said groggily. "What time is it?" He could see her smiling gently in the very dark room.
"It's almost 10 after 5," she said. Carter nodded.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was supposed to have a pancreaticojujunostomy at 5, but it was cancelled."
"No, I mean what are you doing here?" Carter repeated the question, putting special emphasis on the word 'here.'
"Oh," she said, still whispering. "Well, I wanted to see Grace again before she leaves. She does leave today, right?" Carter nodded. He hoped that Elizabeth could not make out the disappointment in his face through the darkness of the room.
"Yeah," he said. He could hear a slight sadness in his own voice. Elizabeth did, too. She pulled over the rolling stool from under the counter of the room and sat down, facing Carter.
"I heard about your being Grace's father," she said, somewhat comfortingly. "Congratulations." Carter snorted, smiling.
"You know, you're the only person who's told me that besides Susan."
"Really?"
"Yeah, everyone else was too appalled to know what to say, or if they should say anything to me at all." Elizabeth nodded. Just then, Carter heard the familiar beeping of a pager. Instinctively, he turned to check his own pager, clipped to the inside of his bag.
"It's me," she said, sighing. "I'm being paged to the ER." She stood up and tucked the pager into waist of her scrubs. "This should be fun."
"You know it," Carter said, smiling. Elizabeth crossed the short distance over to Grace's bedside. She smoothed the little girl's hair and turned towards Carter.
"I'll try to come by later, to say goodbye face to face, if I get a chance," she told him. He nodded. "If I can't, tell her that I said goodbye for me?" she said, more a question than a command. Carter nodded again.
"Of course," he reassured her. Elizabeth nodded.
"Good, thank you," she said, making her way over to the door and opening it quietly. "See you later, Carter." With that, she was gone.
Carter quietly moved his chair to the side of the bed, so as not to disturb Grace, who was sleeping soundly in the bed. He sat down, looking at her face. She looked so peaceful, at ease. He stretched out his hand and stroked her hair softly. It was hard to believe that in less than 12 hours, she would be gone.
"I love you, Grace," he said quietly, so softly that he could barely hear it himself.
"Got any sevens?"
"Nope, go fish," Grace said, pointing to the stack of cards resting on the table.
Grace had woken up early, at around 6:30 that morning, to find Carter still sitting with her in the chair next to the bed. They had sat quietly, as the rays of sunlight gradually crept into the room, watching the early morning television until there was enough light in the room to do something else without having to turn on all of the lights. So they sat, playing the 9th round of Go Fish that morning.
Carter tried to keep the mood light and playful, but Grace seemed to be slightly downtrodden that day. He knew that it was because she would soon leave, but he did the best that he could to push that thought to the back of his mind.
Carter drew another card with a look of reluctance on his face. Grace giggled at him; he was losing profoundly. Both of their heads turned in the direction of the door when the morning nurse came into the room, carrying a tray of food.
"Good morning, Miss Grace," she said cheerily. "I've brought breakfast, if you are ready for it." Grace nodded, and the nurse came to set the tray on the table. Carter cleared the cards off of the surface. The nurse turned to him and gave him a look, studying him.
"Thank you," Grace said from behind her.
"You're welcome, sweetie." She turned back to Carter. "Dr. Carter, could I get you something to eat?" Carter shook his head.
"No, thank you anyway, though."
"How do you take your coffee?"
"Oh, you really don't--"
"Black, cream, sugar?" Carter was defeated, so he decided not to argue.
"No cream, two sugars," he said. "Thank you." The nurse nodded and smiled at him, walking back out the door. Carter shifted in his chair. Grace began to eat her breakfast. "So what time do you have therapy today?"
"From nine until ten," she said before taking a bite of the French toast on the tray. Carter nodded.
"It's early today."
"Yes, the lady comes today at 2 to get me, so it couldn't be at the normal time." Carter nodded, almost mechanically. It was still taking him some time to get used to the idea of her leaving.
They spent time together that morning, and at nine o'clock sharp, he took her up to physical therapy. She insisted on walking on the crutches, so they went slowly. Arriving at the door, Grace stopped short.
"Are you going to come and get me later?" she asked, biting her lower lip. Carter smiled comfortingly at her.
"Of course. I will spend the rest of the day here with you." Grace smiled, and Carter went to check her in to her appointment.
Carter found himself on the roof minutes later, holding a cup of coffee and a bagel. There was a chill in the air; winter would be coming in a few weeks to Chicago. The breeze ruffled through his hair as he drank the coffee, deep in thought.
Two weeks ago, this child had been carried into his life on a gurney, and his plans had changed. It almost gave his life a new direction. He felt a deep-seated love for the girl, and he knew that it was to deep to go away.
His grandmother's lawyer was meeting with him the next day to go over the custody case, to file for permanent custody of the child on paternal rights. The case would be pushed ahead, but Carter did not know exactly when he would see his daughter again after that day. He sighed.
He had had second thoughts, but they lasted only a fraction of a second. There was, after all, a great responsibility attached to adopting a little girl. He would have to alter his work schedule to be with her, rearrange his apartment to give her the other bedroom, save money for her education, buy clothes and other necessities, learn to cook, learn to be a parent. The rewards somehow seemed greater than the consequences.
Carter's pager beeped then. He was so startled by the noise that he almost spilled coffee down the front of his sweater. He looked at the number on the pager. It was the ER. He cleared the number, ignoring the page.
He shivered slightly from his seat on the roof, finishing his bagel and looking out over the city of Chicago in the morning. It was surprisingly quieter than he would have thought, and the ever-present wailing of ambulance sirens was seldom heard. It was probably a slow morning in the ER.
Glancing at his watch after he had been sitting there for a while, he saw that it was almost 10. He needed to get back down to get Grace from her therapy appointment. He made his way down the stairs and across a hallway into the waiting area of the therapy area. Just in the nick of time, he sat down in a chair. A door opened and Grace hobbled out on the crutches, followed by a small black woman with glasses and curly hair that framed her face.
"Make sure that you go see a therapist at home, ok Grace?" The child nodded at her.
"Okay. I'll miss you, Mrs. Pembra," she said. The woman smiled.
"I will miss you too. Have a safe trip home."
"I will. Thank you." Grace made her way over to Carter, who stood. Together, they left the room and went back to the elevator.
"So what did you do today?" Grace shrugged, getting into the elevator. She pressed the button to go back to the Pedes floor.
"I did work with how to go up and down the stairs safely with the crutches." Carter nodded.
"That's important."
"I guess," she responded, sounding a little bit depressed. Carter frowned slightly, noticing this.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? You're being so quiet." Grace shrugged. Carter decided not to push the issue. The elevator came to a halt on the Pedes floor and they got out. Heading up the hallway back to Grace's room, Carter heard someone call his name.
"Carter, hey Carter!" He turned around to see Abby running down the hall toward him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, stopping in the hallway and walking toward her, Grace following.
"Where--have--you--been?" she gasped, breathless. "I--paged you--a few times."
"Slow down, catch your breath. What's wrong?" Abby shook her head.
"No time, there's an emergency, they need you in the ER immediately."
"But--"
"Now!" Abby cut him off. Carter saw that her face held a sense of urgency. He looked at Grace, then back again.
"I have to take--" he began.
"Bring her! Just come, now, follow me. There's no time," she cut him off again. Carter reached down and swooped Grace up in his arms. She still held her crutches, a small smile played at her face.
"All right," he said to the child. "We are going to run, so hold on tight." Grace nodded, and Carter looked back at Abby.
He walked briskly down the hallway, the walk turning into a run as they made a dash for the elevator. They rode down to the ER and Carter bolted out of the elevator, Abby close behind him, Grace in his arms. He looked around, glancing at Abby.
"Drop her off in the lounge," she said. Carter nodded and carried the little girl around to the door quickly, pushing the door open.
"SURPRISE!" the acclamations of his co-workers rang out from inside of the room. Carter's face contorted in slight confusion, turning to amusement. He turned around to face Abby, who wore a grin on her face. She laughed.
"What is this?" he asked, confused.
"Gotcha," Abby said, playfully hitting his shoulder. He turned to face the other people in the room. Susan was there, Neela too, and Gallant, Luka, Lydia, Randi, Sam, Chuny, Malik, among others. All were smiling profusely at him. Carter looked at Chuny and Randi, who were bringing out a small, circular cake, with the words 'Goodbye Grace' etched in frosting on the top. Reading this, the little girl smiled widely. She tugged on Carter's shirt, indicating that she wanted to be let down.
"What it this?" Carter asked, carefully setting Grace on her feet.
"This," said Susan, "is Grace Knight's going-away party." Carter laughed.
"You all like to have parties, don't you?" They just smiled at him, some chuckling.
"Yeah, Lydia actually pulled this one together pretty fast, too."
"Whose idea was this?"
"It was mostly Abby and Susan," Lydia said. Just then, Malik hit a button on the radio and it began to play music.
"Come on, let's get this party started!"
And so it was. The cake was cut and handed around, the stereo played "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," people were dancing, and everybody was having a good time. Grace seemed thrilled by the attention, graciously accepting the wishes from others to get well, have a safe trip, and come back to visit soon. The party was a pleasant surprise for both Grace and Carter, and Grace got a nice surprise when, ten minutes later, Elizabeth came into the lounge.
"Elizabeth!" Grace exclaimed, beaming. Elizabeth smiled at her, making her way over to where the child was sitting.
"Hello, Grace."
"I'm glad you came," she said joyfully. "You should have some cake," she suggested.
"Is it good?"
"The best that the ER can whip up," Carter said. "Hi Elizabeth."
"Hi Carter. So where can I find this cake?"
"It's over there, on the counter, with the coffee." She soon returned with her own slice of the cake. She sat down near the little girl.
"So how long have you known about this little party?" Carter asked Elizabeth. She put a forkful of cake in her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully.
"Only about five hours. It was planned on a dime, if at all." Carter nodded. Then, he heard Malik turn down the music slightly, and the room quieted. People looked at him expectantly.
"Speech!" called Susan and Abby in unison. A few of the people around them laughed, others echoed the cry. Carter stood up, obliging. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Um--" he began, hesitating. "I just want to say, thank you all for doing this." He rested his hand lightly on Grace's shoulder. "I know that you have heard the rumors, and I wanted to let you know, they are true." He looked over at the smiling, not-so-stunned crowd of people. "Thanks again."
"Congrats, Carter," Chuny said. A paroxysm of applause and cheering burst from the people from the ER, and Carter couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, thank you," he said, calming their applause. The clapping quieted. Malik was about to start the music up again, when Abby shot him a look and he lifted his hand from the dial. Everyone was talking quietly as Abby and Susan went to their lockers, bringing out a gift bag and a small, rectangular package, respectively. They set the gifts in front of Grace, who's eyes grew wide.
"Those are for me?" she asked incredulously. Susan nodded.
"Yes, those are from all of us." Grace bit her bottom lip, holding back a question.
"Umm...Could I open them?" A few people chuckled at this.
"Of course you can." Grace beamed as she held the gift bag, and very much like a young child would do, she took the tissue paper out of the bag, until she got to the bottom.
About eighteen of the doctors and nurses had gotten together and each given a little bit of money toward the cause, and decided that Grace needed clothes for the trip home, because they had shredded hers when she first came into the hospital. Grace carefully lifted a dress out of the bag, gazing at it, her mouth half-open, and spread it on the table. It was a periwinkle blue dress, a pique polo-style dress with short sleeves and a tiny daisy embroidered over the breast.
"Oh, wow, it's so pretty!" Grace said, smiling. "Thank you all so much!"
"You're welcome."
"That's not all," Lydia said to her in a gentle voice. "We all signed this card for you, so you can remember us." She produced a greeting card from behind her back. Susan handed the second package, and small, rectangular one wrapped in tissue paper, to the child carefully.
"Open that one, too, but be careful so that it doesn't break." Grace nodded, understanding. She carefully tore the paper off of the gift, revealing a polished wooden photo frame. Inside it was a picture.
It was an old picture, from years and years ago. Carter saw, looking over Grace's shoulder, himself as a young doctor, without a beard, standing next to a smiling Lucy. Her hair was down, and Carter was smiling, too. Both held glasses of soda, as a sort of toast to the camera. It was from the day, he remembered, that she had finished her first ER rotation. They had been celebrating.
Grace smiled. Her face lit up, and the others knew that she had appreciated this gift a great deal.
"Thank you so much," she said happily. "This is my second picture with her in it, and my dad--" her eyes darted toward Carter, as if almost afraid to say that to all of the other people around. Carter nodded reassuringly. "My dad is also in it, so I can have the two of them in one place again!"
Carter smiled and chuckled along with the others, but he couldn't help feeling a little heartache inside. Now, the only place that he and Lucy could be together was in the photographs and memories of long ago. Nevertheless, it was still reassuring.
He thought of a poem that he had read some odd years ago in high school. The poem was Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats. He had never really understood the meaning of the poem, really, but now he mused over the point. In that picture, of him and Lucy together, they were there forever, always there, always together. [If the readers haven't read the poem, I recommend that you do. You'll understand.]
Carter looked down at his daughter. Grace sat with such a rapturous expression on her face that Carter knew she was thankful beyond words for the kindness of the ER staff. All that she could do was smile, but the others understood.
Just then, Jerry stuck his head into the lounge.
"Sorry to break up the party, but we've got an MVA coming in, two major, one minor. We need you all on the floor." The energized atmosphere of the room died quickly, as everyone sat. Jerry informed them that the ETA would be six minutes, so they had that time to prep the trauma rooms, etc.
"You need me?" Carter asked, ready to jump for a pair of scrubs if in fact he was needed. Susan shook her head.
"We'll give you a call if we do," she said, standing up. She made her way around the now-chattering people over to where Grace sat, and squatted down, going to her level. "Bye, honey," she said to the child, touching her shoulder. "Good luck."
"Bye, thanks." Carter saw Susan throw a loving look at the child before pushing the door open and reentering the world.
"See you, kiddo," Carter heard Abby tell Grace. He turned his head to find that she had followed Susan's example, and gave the child a gentle hug.
"Bye, Abby," she said. Carter could tell that she was upset about leaving already.
"Come back and see us, will you?" Abby asked, smiling. She straightened up. Grace nodded at her, looking hopefully at Carter. He gave a small smile. Grace turned back to Abby, beaming.
"Definitely," she said enthusiastically. Abby smiled, too. Carter knew that she couldn't help it; the mood was contagious.
The rest of the staff members in the room decided to leave then, too, and the number of people there dwindled. Elizabeth was the last to say goodbye. She wrapped the small child in a warm hug, touching her hair.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," she said. It was this good-bye which seemed to be hurting Grace the most. She had really taken a liking to Elizabeth, and it would be hard for them to say goodbye.
"Bye, Elizabeth," she said, putting her arms around Elizabeth's neck. "I'll miss you a lot."
"I'll miss you, too, dear, but I can give you my address at home and we can write to each other. That will be okay, won't it?" Unconvinced, the child nodded slowly in agreement.
"Okay," she said in a small voice. They broke from their embrace, and Carter suddenly felt rather awkward, standing there and watching him. Elizabeth gave Grace a loving look, and, bidding a goodbye with her promising to come and see Grace before she left for good, she swept out of the doors, mass of red curls flying behind her.
Now alone in the room, Carter sat with Grace quietly for a moment. They looked at each other, Grace's clear blue eyes seeming to pierce into Carter's own brown ones. Carter gently lay a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly, reassuringly. Grace laid her own head down onto Carter's chest, exhaling softly in a gentle sigh. Carter put his arms around her. They sat there like that for a few minutes, savoring the time that they could be together. Carter was reminded of another gentle embrace like this, up on the roof of the hospital and smiled, enjoying the moment.
Three short hours later, Carter's pager beeped in a steady, pulsating rhythm. Glancing down at the device, he saw that the number was that of the ER. He got up to leave, Grace throwing him a look. The look was a pitiful one, really, clearly an I-know-that-that-woman-is-here-to-get-me look. Carter tried to give her a small smile, but his facial nerves seemed numb, and all he could do was touch her comfortingly on the shoulder, before walking out the door.
As he crossed the corridor to the elevator, he felt numb inside, devoid of all feeling. He knew what waited at the other end of the short journey, he knew that the woman must be here now. He could not ignore the inevitable. Though his arms felt like limp spaghetti, and his feet appeared to be moving themselves down the familiar path to the ER, he resolved to put up a strong appearance for the woman. He did, after all, want to make a good impression.
He forced back control of his limbs, and straightened his shoulders. All too soon, the elevator had arrived and opened its doors to the chaos of the emergency room that he knew so well. Trying to act nonchalant, he crossed the area to the admit desk, and saw Jerry still there, trying to blow a bubble with his chewing gum. She caught sight of him as well.
"Somebody paged me to the ER," he said, hoping for a clue from him. He nodded at him, jerking his head toward Chairs.
"Got a woman here, wants to see you," he told Carter, standing abruptly and aborted his futile attempts at blowing a bubble with the gum when Carter gave him a look. Approaching the chairs area, he glanced around.
"Who is it?"
"Last name Goetz, from some children's services bureau." Carter nodded at this news, not surprised, but not quite ready for it either. He stood out in front of the chairs and swept his gaze over the area where a couple of dozen people sat, in their varying degrees of illness, waiting to be seen by a doctor.
"Ms. Goetz?" he called, craning his neck and raising his voice slightly to be sure he was heard.
A woman stood up from her seat near the back of the room. She was a kind- looking woman, wearing a cream-colored pant suit and a purple blouse underneath. Her smooth auburn hair was swept up in a clip, and a pair of glasses was set on her nose. She could not have been more than 35 years old. When she stood, she picked up a sleek briefcase and a brown cardboard box hoisting it into her arms. She approached Carter, very businesslike in her actions.
"Dr. Carter?"
8
That's all for this one! Sorry again that it took so long to update, but my exams are nearing, and so I have had a lot of studying to do.
So...next chapter, you all get to find out what is in the mystery box that Barbara left to him, and you will see the good-bye when Grace and Carter part for a time.
A REVIEWER SHOUT-OUT:
Psalm57: Wow, I love your enthusiasm! I love that psalm, btw. Anyways, where to begin? I am only 14 (15 in June), so I am far from med school, however, my dad is a doctor, and I volunteer sometimes, in the ER and rarely in the ICU where he works. I only deliver the mail, run stuff to the lab, run memos between floors, stuff like that, but I do pick it up. You might think I am a nut, but when I watch ER and there is a drug, test, etc. that I don't know, I look it up or ask someone. That way, I learn a little bit. In ch5, when Grace says she knows the spleen, she's lying. Like, my cousin knows that we have spleens, but not what they do. That sort of thing. Thank you sooo much for reviewing! Stay tuned. E-mail me w/ any more questions.
Until then, loyal readers, keep up the reviews, and relax. Summer is starting, after all!
Snapdragon