AUTHOR: higherbeingfriendsfan -
CATEGORY: JC/AL
RATING: PG-13 just in case
SPOILERS: Maybe series 1-8, nothing after
DISCLAIMER: Carter and Abby don't belong to me, nor do any of the other characters. They belong to NBC, and Warner Brothers, and all of the other people who own the rights to ER.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is set in at the time of series 10, but none of series 9 happened! Also Benton and Greene are in, because I really like them! Also this is my first fan fiction so take that into account when you read this! Also I have no knowledge of medical procedures etc. so anything to do with that will more than likely be wrong
Sorry this has taken me a while to update, but hopefully I'll be able to finish this fic soon fingers crossed
Carter looked at Abby, and he felt reassured that she wouldn't think he was stupid for believing this. "Well you see, its just I'm worried, I'm worried that I won't be able to handle the recovery and that I'll turn to drugs again. I mean I know I'm a lot stronger than I was last time...I just...I don't know I'm worried that I'm not as strong as I think I am, and I can't handle it." Tears sprung to his eyes. Although he had thought before that he would be all right, seeing all of his colleagues and friends come into his room maden him feel weaker than they were, and that thought scared him, as he had thought that before, during the time after his stabbing.
Abby looked at Carter shocked, she couldn't believe that he had lost so much confidence since earlier in the day. "John, honey, you will handle it, I promise, because even if you aren't as strong as you were you have more people to turn to, and people who will let you lean on them, if something becomes too much."
"I know, I'm still so scared." Abby looked straight into his eyes and saw fear in them. She gave his hand a squeeze.
"John, don't worry OK, you'll get through this, I'll be here whenever you need me, and if you feel that you're having trouble coping, you can talk to me, or we can go to a meeting. I'll help you through this, you just have to trust that you'll be able to do this, that together we'll be able to do this, OK?"
Carter nodded and gave Abby a quick reassuring smile.
After getting his fears off his chest Carter felt a lot stronger and calmer and a lot of his fear had disappeared. He knew he had been silly for not having faith in both himself, and Abby, but he also knew that if they were to have a good marriage then no matter how stupid his doubts were he had to tell Abby. With this off his chest he closed his eyes, knowing that he would be able to get to sleep without worrying about would he might do during his recovery.
During the next few weeks Carter had visitor after visitor. All of his colleagues visited him whenever they had a break, or had something they needed to do on the floor he was staying in. Although Kerry had given Abby two weeks off, she had needed to go back to work, but every free moment she had was spent there. Carter's grandmother spent most of her free time at the hospital too, although Carter reminded her that she needed her rest and forced her to spend some time at home.
When the day came for Carter to go home, Abby and Susan had taken the day off so that they could get John settled.
"You know it doesn't take both of you to drive me, there's better things you could be doing with your day off Susan," Carter said as he got settled into the wheelchair. Although he was fine to go home his leg was still in a cast, and his side hurt where the ribs had broken. A part from those, he looked quite well, as the bruises and cuts had faded over the time spent in the hospital.
"Don't argue Carter, just be glad that there's only us two," Susan joked.
They rolled him to the elevators and then through to the ER where everyone was waiting. Jing-Mei rushed to give him a hug, even though she had seen him a couple of hours previously, she was just glad that he was well enough to go home. A couple of others gave him "get well soon" wishes. They told him that he had to come back to the ER soon and that the ER needed him back, and it hadn't been the same without him. During it all Carter was smiling, happy that his friends cared about him, and he knew that he would be fine with his recovery as long as they were all there for him.
A/N - OK this chapter may seem a bit rushed, and not very long, I know its both, but I wasn't sure how long to keep him in hospital, since you know that its taken me 6 months to get him to say what was on his mind! LOL I want to try and finish this so some chapters might seem rushed and for that I sincerely apologise its just I don't like having a story up in the air, and as you know I'm not great at updating.
Anyways I'm having a bit of writers block so if anyone has any ideas about how to finish this story email me or put it in a review so hopefully I'll know how to put a good ending to this. I'm not sure how many more chapters it will take but I promise I will finish this, no matter how long it takes :). And hopefully people are still reading it when I do!
Please review, as always criticism welcome
Debzxxx