© 2004 Kate

CHAPTER 7

CARTER'S POV

STILL FLASHBACK

I study the nurse in front of me as she finishes unpacking. She is small, shorter than my shoulder actually. I didn't notice the height at first because she has this presence. She's confident. He hair and eye color match my own. She seems nice enough. I look at her a little while longer until she finishes. He throws a scrub shirt over her black shirt and pins her name tag on. "Abigail Wyzinski RN." I read aloud.

"Please never call me Abigail. Always Abby."

"Well, Always Abby. I hope you're ready for hell." I joke.

She begins to walk out of the lounge but she stops and decides against leaving. Slowly she turns towards me. "Funny Dr. Carter. Is that how you managed to get rid of five nurses in a month?"

I cringe. So she heard about that? Ever since my Grandfather died I've had some issues with women. I let out a nervous laugh.

She rolls her eyes and inspects my own face before continuing. "I have to go. I'll see you later." With that she turns and leaves.

I still have twenty minutes before my shift. I just stand there looking at the spot she occupied thirty seconds previously. I shake my head. I like her. She's different. It's time this ER got some new blood. I decide to start early. I open the door and head out to find Abby talking with a group of nurses. I guess I'm not the only one who enjoys her company.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-

LATER

"Hey Carter."

I turn around to spot Susan coming towards me. "Hey Susan. What's up?"

"Kid puking in 3. Abby could use some help."

"Sure. She's nice."

"Who?"

"Abby."

"Oh no you don't Carter. She's too good. We can't loose her. Anyways, I thought you vowed to stop dating nurses."

"I did...I did. I was just commenting that she was nice. She seems to have her act together. She knows what she is doing. It's nice to have an experienced nurse on the floor."

"Yeah." Susan keeps looking at my face.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just go help her. No matter how much experience she has she can't deal with a screaming, puking kid alone."

"Sure." I smile at Susan and head towards Exam 3.

As I approach the door I can hear the screams. Then all of a sudden they stop. Now I'm worried. I poke my head in the door first and see exactly what I wasn't expecting. Abby is on the floor and the screaming had only stopped because the little boy was now laughing. I step fully into the room and smile down at Abby. "How you doing?"

She glares at me and shoves her hand in front of me. I grab it and pull her up. She turns back to the boy. "Now Thomas. This is Dr. Carter. He is going to give you a shot if you don't stop screaming." The boy looks scared.

"Hi Thomas. What seems to be the matter?" With that he pukes right on Abby. I use all of my power not to laugh. Abby looks at me and then hands me the chart. She looks once again between me and Thomas then leaves. I look at Thomas and check his stomach. He seems to just have a bug. I give his mother, who was no help at all, a prescription and then leave to check on Abby.

I walk into the lounge to see Abby taking advantage of her extra clothing stash she has in her locker. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah." She sighs. "Tough first day."

"I can see that." She smiles. At least she has a good attitude. "What time are you off?"

She looks at me. She scrutinizes me before answering carefully. "Seven, why?"

"I was wondering if you want to get a cup of coffee. The stuff across the street is much better than the sludge we have in the lounge."

"I thought you weren't supposed to hit on nurses." She jokes.

My face turns bright red. "Uhhh.."

Before I can say anything stupid she cuts me off. "Sure. I'll meet you here at seven." I nod, still embarrassed and she leaves laughing.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*

Ugh. Today was not a good day. I walk into the lounge to see Abby flipping through the latest Cosmo waiting for me. She looks up when I walk in and smiles at me. "Hey." I say.

"Hello." She replies. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I grab my coat and we leave. We walk in a comfortable silence across the street to Doc Magoo's. We sit in a booth across from each other and order two coffees. Nothing is awkward. It seems as though I've known her for a long time.

"So when did you start working at County?" She's trying to make small talk.

"Oh god. I don't know." I pause while I count. "Sixteen years. I did my student rotations here, my internship, and now I'm an attending."

"Wow." Good come back Abby. "I was an OB nurse at a hospital in the suburbs and then I had to get out of there. The town was too small. Then I moved to Mercy. Things didn't go great for me there either and now I'm here."

"Why'd you move to the ER?" I ask.

"Couldn't stand the small department. Everyone knew everything about everyone,"

This is laugh at. She looks at me so I explain. "The gossip here is horrible. They nurses probably have us married and you pregnant by now."

"And whose fault is that?" She counters. She tries to stare me down but ends up laughing.

We finish our coffee and head towards the El. We continue with the small chitchat as we wait for the train. When one finally arrives it is packed. I'm surprised it even stopped to let people on. I see one open seat in the back corner and rush for it. Moments later, Abby is standing in front of me looking down on me. I smile up at her. She looks at me until I stand up. "For you my lady." She just laughs and sits down. We go fours stops and then we come to my stop. I turn to say goodnight to Abby only to find her standing.

"You can have the seat now Carter."

"I don't need it. I get off here."

She smiles at my response. "Me too." We leave the train together and we actually both turn in the same direction. "You know, I can find my way home."

"I'm not following you." I reply. "This happens to be the direction of where I live as well." We walk for a while until she stops and turns into her building. "So this is where you live...interesting."

"What?" She looks at me. "Where do you live?"

I point to the building across the street and a look that I can't figure comes across the street. "What time is your shift tomorrow?" I ask.

"Nine. You?"

"Same. You want to walk together?"

"Sure. Meet me here around 8:30."

"Okay." I turn and begin to walk across the street when I hear her voice. I turn around.

"Carter, which one is your apartment?"

I look at her. "That one." I point to the fourth floor, the one on the corner.

She begins to crack up and run inside. That is one interesting lady.

"What?" I yell after her. Now I am definitely confused.

"Nothing." She replies as the door closes behind her. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

REVIEW RESPONSES

hyperpiper91-more is coming, the flashback i might have to shorten because it is really long

SargeCruz-here ya go

nikki-ok, it's not supposed to be deep and meaningful, just light and funny

Sci Fi Fan Gillian- thank you