A/N: Sorry for how long the update has taken me, life has it's way of
running away from you but I hope that I can finish this one soon, I
hate having unfinished fan fictions running around, please read and
review, input negative or positive is always appreciated.
Closing Doors
Carter was just getting ready to get off his shift and up to see Anna once again. It seemed as if that was what he had done every night after he got off work since she had been admitted almost a week ago. She would be ready to go home soon. Abby seemed to be taking the time that Carter had been spending keeping Anna company better than he thought she would have. With them both working in the ER, it seemed as if they had less and less time for each other. The time that he had been spending with Anna had eaten into that time even more.
Carter took off his lab coat and tucked it in his locker before leaning his head against the cold metal. He was running out of time to figure out where to send Anna when she was discharged. He knew he could not keep her here forever in the safety of the hospital.
"Hey there stranger," Abby said as she walked into the lounge filling up her coffee cup looking at him a minute.
Carter lifted up his head, "hey Abs."
"Lost in thought there?" She asked softly.
"You could say that." Carter said, "Just preoccupied, I have a lot on my mind. Sorry about everything, you have been really understanding about all of this Abby."
"There's really not all that much to be understanding about Carter." Abby said still looking at him, unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend standing there looking so worried, "she's your friend Carter, it's really touching to see how much you really care about people."
Carter sighed now softly as he looked into her eyes from across the room. He took a few steps across the lounge to get to her wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. "It's not just that, I would hate to see something happen to her when I know that it could be prevented. I hate to see anyone hurt by someone who supposedly loves them."
"I know Carter." Abby said her free arm around his waist now her head resting on his chest. "You are doing the right thing by helping her, there's not much that we can do, but at least Anna is willing to accept your help and see that she's in a bad situation right now."
"That she is but I don't know how much help I am actually going to be right now." Carter said, "I've got to find her someplace where she will be safe and away from Max and I have no idea where I could send her that would be both. Chicago is out, he knows her friends here."
'What about sending her up to stay with Maggie and Eric, granted neither of them is stable but Max doesn't know me and he doesn't know my family." Abby said trying to help him out.
"I wouldn't have anyway to get her a job there in any of the hospitals, and I can't just send her off somewhere after convincing her to leave her husband where she won't know anyone and doesn't have a job."
"That makes sense," Abby said thinking back, "are there any other doctors that you know that might have worked here that she would know but that Max wouldn't know."
"Well she knows Benton, but he and Cleo are still in the Chicago area, and I think it might be better to send her a little further away from Max than Illinois." He was silent for a minute as he thought back on everyone who had ever worked at County.
"What about Carol?" Abby asked, "The nurse that I helped deliver her twins. Didn't she date a doctor from here and move to the coast with him; do you think that she might be able to help out?"
"I hadn't thought about Doug Ross." Carter said thinking now about, "I mean he met Max, but I don't think that it was anymore than that. He shouldn't be that hard to find, I mean how big can the Seattle area be."
"You check it out." Abby said heading for the lounge door, "sorry but I have to get back to work before Weaver has my head."
Carter gave her a soft kiss on her cheek, "have a good shift honey." He called out as he watched her walk out the lounge. Carter thought and wondered how he would find Doug. He did not know the Seattle area that well but he walked out and grabbed a computer that was hooked to the internet. He started a search in the greater Seattle area for Dr. Doug Ross; it took him about a half hour before he found anything. He got a general idea of where he was before finding online yellow pages for the area and found a phone number for Doug. He walked out into the ambulance bay to place the call on his cell phone. He dialed the number and waited for Doug to pick up the phone.
"Doug Ross." Doug said as he answered his cell phone.
"Hey Doug, its John Carter," Carter said when he heard Doug answer the phone.
"Hey Carter long time since I've heard from you, what's up?" Doug replied.
"Nothing much, well everything I need to ask you a big favor, I mean a really big favor." Carter answered, "And if you have to say no you have to say no."
Doug was quiet for a second, "what is it Carter?"
"Do you remember Anna Del Amico?" Carter asked him.
"Yeah she was the over achiever that worked in the ER, a pediatrician who was working on becoming double boarded did a summer rotation at county a few years ago." Doug remembered whom he was talking about, "blonde, her boyfriend did the feasibility study for the peds ER there."
"That's Anna," Carter said almost laughing at how Doug remembered her.
"So what about her Carter?" Doug asked.
"I need your help to get her to a safe place." Carter remembered how Doug felt about any one being abused, "her husband is beating her up."
"I'll do what I can Carter, is she willing to relocate?" Doug asked him.
"As far as I can tell she is." Carter said, "She's worried about him coming after her if she stays anywhere over here. Seattle was the next best thing that I could think of where I might know anyone. I need someone who can maybe get her a job and a safe place to stay until I can get her an apartment and up on her feet again. I didn't want to send her someplace where I didn't have anyone to keep and eye on her or where she wouldn't know anyone."
"I can try to see what I can find for her here." Doug said, "I know a few people who are looking for doctors, she's a good doctor, she'll be safe here, I can help get her settled and into a new life here with out that husband of hers."
"Thanks Doug." Carter answered, "I'll talk to her here in a little bit she's still in County right now, she was pretty banged up in a car accident and is recovering here."
"Not a problem Carter," Doug said, "I'll talk to you when you are ready to send her out here, but I'll make sure that someone here can take her so that she will have some work."
"Later Doug," Carter hung up the phone with that and headed up to visit with Anna now that he was off work. At least Carter had a place for her to go, to stay and possibly somewhere to work. Anna needed a fresh start with out having to worry about Max finding her. Carter knew that Seattle would provide just that for her. Carter took the elevator up to see Anna, hidden away in the hospital. He knocked on her door before going in.
"Come in." Anna called out as she tried to pull herself up a little further in the bed. It was getting easier for her to move now but she was still sore and the physical therapy people were working her to death now that she was mobile.
"Hey there," Carter said as he walked into the room.
"Hey yourself John," Anna said giving him a small smile, "are you here to tell me that I am free and that I can leave this joint?"
"Biting at the bullet already to get out of here?" Carter asked her.
"A little, you know doctors make the worst patients, and I am about ready to strangle the physical therapy people they are working me to death. I know it's for my own good but really, they are pushing me." Anna said giving Carter a small smile.
"Well yeah it is for your own good, and it will help to get you out of here." Carter said pulling a chair up beside her bed sitting down so that he could talk to her.
Anna sensed the change in Carter's demeanor and mood, "what is it Carter?"
"We need to talk here for a minute," he said looking more at the floor than at Anna now, although he was not sure why right now he could not look at her. She was still the same person that he had become friends with all those years ago.
Anna looked at him now a little puzzled and a little worried, "what is Max in the hospital, did he find out I haven't left yet?"
"No, oh no Anna honey I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Carter had watched her tense of thinking that she had been discovered. He could not imagine living his life in fear of someone who at one time loved him. "I found a safe place for you to go, someone to help you get back up on your feet, get your life back."
"When you say it like that, you make it sound like my whole life has been horrible." Anna now played with the blanket on her bed, "Go on, Carter where am I being banished to, Alaska, a ranger station in the middle of Yellowstone National Park?"
"Anna, you are not being banished anywhere." Carter said softly as he reached out taking her hand into his, "you need to be safe; you need to be away from Max, you are still that beautiful stubborn woman, one who wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind, or to let people know where you stood. You are a brilliant doctor who is full of life and talent." Carter was trying to get her small smile to come back again, "but staying here isn't good for you. Do you remember Doug Ross?"
Anna thought back for a minute, "Yeah I think I do, who could forget an arrogant, ER cowboy, do what I want to do and bend the rules every chance I can get doctor like that. Not to mention he was pretty good looking."
Carter had to laugh and shake his head a little, "you both have odd ways of remember the other, but Doug is living in Seattle right now and said that he would be more than happy to help get you settled in there after we get you out of here. However, I am not going to send you somewhere if you are not willing to go. You need to want to do this for you Anna, not because we are forcing you or telling you, you have to go."
It took Anna a minute to pull herself together so that she could form words once more, "no Carter you are not forcing me to go, I'm going because I know it's what I need to do." She sighed, "Staying with Max isn't an option right now. If you think that I will be safe there, and Doug doesn't mind having me, I'll go and it's because I want to not because you are telling me that I have to go."
Carter leaned back again smiling softly at her, "good, I'm glad to here that. Well get you on the road to having the life that a woman who is as beautiful and talented as you deserves Anna." He said softly now. He could not believe that anyone could have ever raised a hand against some like her, yet he did not know how she could have allowed it to go on as long as it did.
Closing Doors
Carter was just getting ready to get off his shift and up to see Anna once again. It seemed as if that was what he had done every night after he got off work since she had been admitted almost a week ago. She would be ready to go home soon. Abby seemed to be taking the time that Carter had been spending keeping Anna company better than he thought she would have. With them both working in the ER, it seemed as if they had less and less time for each other. The time that he had been spending with Anna had eaten into that time even more.
Carter took off his lab coat and tucked it in his locker before leaning his head against the cold metal. He was running out of time to figure out where to send Anna when she was discharged. He knew he could not keep her here forever in the safety of the hospital.
"Hey there stranger," Abby said as she walked into the lounge filling up her coffee cup looking at him a minute.
Carter lifted up his head, "hey Abs."
"Lost in thought there?" She asked softly.
"You could say that." Carter said, "Just preoccupied, I have a lot on my mind. Sorry about everything, you have been really understanding about all of this Abby."
"There's really not all that much to be understanding about Carter." Abby said still looking at him, unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend standing there looking so worried, "she's your friend Carter, it's really touching to see how much you really care about people."
Carter sighed now softly as he looked into her eyes from across the room. He took a few steps across the lounge to get to her wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. "It's not just that, I would hate to see something happen to her when I know that it could be prevented. I hate to see anyone hurt by someone who supposedly loves them."
"I know Carter." Abby said her free arm around his waist now her head resting on his chest. "You are doing the right thing by helping her, there's not much that we can do, but at least Anna is willing to accept your help and see that she's in a bad situation right now."
"That she is but I don't know how much help I am actually going to be right now." Carter said, "I've got to find her someplace where she will be safe and away from Max and I have no idea where I could send her that would be both. Chicago is out, he knows her friends here."
'What about sending her up to stay with Maggie and Eric, granted neither of them is stable but Max doesn't know me and he doesn't know my family." Abby said trying to help him out.
"I wouldn't have anyway to get her a job there in any of the hospitals, and I can't just send her off somewhere after convincing her to leave her husband where she won't know anyone and doesn't have a job."
"That makes sense," Abby said thinking back, "are there any other doctors that you know that might have worked here that she would know but that Max wouldn't know."
"Well she knows Benton, but he and Cleo are still in the Chicago area, and I think it might be better to send her a little further away from Max than Illinois." He was silent for a minute as he thought back on everyone who had ever worked at County.
"What about Carol?" Abby asked, "The nurse that I helped deliver her twins. Didn't she date a doctor from here and move to the coast with him; do you think that she might be able to help out?"
"I hadn't thought about Doug Ross." Carter said thinking now about, "I mean he met Max, but I don't think that it was anymore than that. He shouldn't be that hard to find, I mean how big can the Seattle area be."
"You check it out." Abby said heading for the lounge door, "sorry but I have to get back to work before Weaver has my head."
Carter gave her a soft kiss on her cheek, "have a good shift honey." He called out as he watched her walk out the lounge. Carter thought and wondered how he would find Doug. He did not know the Seattle area that well but he walked out and grabbed a computer that was hooked to the internet. He started a search in the greater Seattle area for Dr. Doug Ross; it took him about a half hour before he found anything. He got a general idea of where he was before finding online yellow pages for the area and found a phone number for Doug. He walked out into the ambulance bay to place the call on his cell phone. He dialed the number and waited for Doug to pick up the phone.
"Doug Ross." Doug said as he answered his cell phone.
"Hey Doug, its John Carter," Carter said when he heard Doug answer the phone.
"Hey Carter long time since I've heard from you, what's up?" Doug replied.
"Nothing much, well everything I need to ask you a big favor, I mean a really big favor." Carter answered, "And if you have to say no you have to say no."
Doug was quiet for a second, "what is it Carter?"
"Do you remember Anna Del Amico?" Carter asked him.
"Yeah she was the over achiever that worked in the ER, a pediatrician who was working on becoming double boarded did a summer rotation at county a few years ago." Doug remembered whom he was talking about, "blonde, her boyfriend did the feasibility study for the peds ER there."
"That's Anna," Carter said almost laughing at how Doug remembered her.
"So what about her Carter?" Doug asked.
"I need your help to get her to a safe place." Carter remembered how Doug felt about any one being abused, "her husband is beating her up."
"I'll do what I can Carter, is she willing to relocate?" Doug asked him.
"As far as I can tell she is." Carter said, "She's worried about him coming after her if she stays anywhere over here. Seattle was the next best thing that I could think of where I might know anyone. I need someone who can maybe get her a job and a safe place to stay until I can get her an apartment and up on her feet again. I didn't want to send her someplace where I didn't have anyone to keep and eye on her or where she wouldn't know anyone."
"I can try to see what I can find for her here." Doug said, "I know a few people who are looking for doctors, she's a good doctor, she'll be safe here, I can help get her settled and into a new life here with out that husband of hers."
"Thanks Doug." Carter answered, "I'll talk to her here in a little bit she's still in County right now, she was pretty banged up in a car accident and is recovering here."
"Not a problem Carter," Doug said, "I'll talk to you when you are ready to send her out here, but I'll make sure that someone here can take her so that she will have some work."
"Later Doug," Carter hung up the phone with that and headed up to visit with Anna now that he was off work. At least Carter had a place for her to go, to stay and possibly somewhere to work. Anna needed a fresh start with out having to worry about Max finding her. Carter knew that Seattle would provide just that for her. Carter took the elevator up to see Anna, hidden away in the hospital. He knocked on her door before going in.
"Come in." Anna called out as she tried to pull herself up a little further in the bed. It was getting easier for her to move now but she was still sore and the physical therapy people were working her to death now that she was mobile.
"Hey there," Carter said as he walked into the room.
"Hey yourself John," Anna said giving him a small smile, "are you here to tell me that I am free and that I can leave this joint?"
"Biting at the bullet already to get out of here?" Carter asked her.
"A little, you know doctors make the worst patients, and I am about ready to strangle the physical therapy people they are working me to death. I know it's for my own good but really, they are pushing me." Anna said giving Carter a small smile.
"Well yeah it is for your own good, and it will help to get you out of here." Carter said pulling a chair up beside her bed sitting down so that he could talk to her.
Anna sensed the change in Carter's demeanor and mood, "what is it Carter?"
"We need to talk here for a minute," he said looking more at the floor than at Anna now, although he was not sure why right now he could not look at her. She was still the same person that he had become friends with all those years ago.
Anna looked at him now a little puzzled and a little worried, "what is Max in the hospital, did he find out I haven't left yet?"
"No, oh no Anna honey I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Carter had watched her tense of thinking that she had been discovered. He could not imagine living his life in fear of someone who at one time loved him. "I found a safe place for you to go, someone to help you get back up on your feet, get your life back."
"When you say it like that, you make it sound like my whole life has been horrible." Anna now played with the blanket on her bed, "Go on, Carter where am I being banished to, Alaska, a ranger station in the middle of Yellowstone National Park?"
"Anna, you are not being banished anywhere." Carter said softly as he reached out taking her hand into his, "you need to be safe; you need to be away from Max, you are still that beautiful stubborn woman, one who wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind, or to let people know where you stood. You are a brilliant doctor who is full of life and talent." Carter was trying to get her small smile to come back again, "but staying here isn't good for you. Do you remember Doug Ross?"
Anna thought back for a minute, "Yeah I think I do, who could forget an arrogant, ER cowboy, do what I want to do and bend the rules every chance I can get doctor like that. Not to mention he was pretty good looking."
Carter had to laugh and shake his head a little, "you both have odd ways of remember the other, but Doug is living in Seattle right now and said that he would be more than happy to help get you settled in there after we get you out of here. However, I am not going to send you somewhere if you are not willing to go. You need to want to do this for you Anna, not because we are forcing you or telling you, you have to go."
It took Anna a minute to pull herself together so that she could form words once more, "no Carter you are not forcing me to go, I'm going because I know it's what I need to do." She sighed, "Staying with Max isn't an option right now. If you think that I will be safe there, and Doug doesn't mind having me, I'll go and it's because I want to not because you are telling me that I have to go."
Carter leaned back again smiling softly at her, "good, I'm glad to here that. Well get you on the road to having the life that a woman who is as beautiful and talented as you deserves Anna." He said softly now. He could not believe that anyone could have ever raised a hand against some like her, yet he did not know how she could have allowed it to go on as long as it did.