Disclaimer: I don't pretend for a second to own any of these characters, so please don't sue me!

Author's Note: I know I'm kinda living in the past, but I'm still bitter about Lucy's character being killed off. So after deciding that there really wasn't enough Carter/Lucy fan fic out there, I decided to try my hand at it. I've written other fan fic before, but not for ER, so please be kind and feel free to leave feedback!

The Lucky Ones

Chapter One

"People are crazy, times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed."

Carter laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, only to be bombarded by the haunting images of Lucy lying on the floor, bleeding profusely. He was only a few feet away from her, but the stab wound in his back made it impossible for him to reach out and help her. He whispers her name and sees her eyes close. Carter woke up startled, frantically looking around his hospital room as he got re-oriented to his surroundings. 'It was just a dream. It didn't happen again.' He reminded himself as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He took a deep breath to relax, even though it sent pain throughout his entire body. His thoughts went back to Lucy. She was just trying to do her job well and be a good med student that day. As her teacher, he should've protected her, listened to her, and believed her. He knew that she thought Paul Sobricki had a mental problem, and he knew that the psych consult she had ordered was delayed. He should have kept a closer eye on her and known that she was in danger. There were a million things that he should've done differently. Maybe then she wouldn't be in a coma right now. Maybe then she would be laughing or smiling...or even annoying him with her endless talking. Hearing the door open, he didn't even bother looking to see who it was. It wasn't Lucy, so he didn't really care.

Peter entered the room and took a good look at his friend and former med student. He was doing well physically; his back was starting to heal nicely and with some physical therapy, he'd be walking in a few weeks. But emotionally, he was still a wreck. It had only been two weeks since Paul Sobricki had attacked Lucy and Carter and Peter could only imagine what Carter was going through. He knew Carter well enough to know that he was blaming himself for what happened to Lucy. But Carter wouldn't talk about it with anyone. He just sat in his hospital bed all day, staring out the window and refusing to get any physical therapy. "How are you doing today?" he asked, even though he knew the response he would get. Carter would never answer his question. He would always ask about Lucy instead.

On cue, Carter said, "How's Lucy?"

"She's stable. Still in a coma, but she's able to breathe on her own now." Peter was glad to be able to give him some encouraging news.

Carter just nodded. He knew that Lucy was a fighter; she had to be in order to survive the attack. He had gotten off easy with just one stab wound to the back. He'd be as good as new after some physical therapy. But Lucy, well she was stabbed twice in the stomach and twice in the chest. It would take a lot more work for her to be ok. Suddenly, he remembered Peter was still in the room. "Anything else?" he asked, annoyed. Right now, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

"Maybe you should go see her..."

"No." he refused.

"I really think that she'd like it if you'd visit her..."

"I said no!" Carter yelled. He couldn't go in and visit her...not now. He felt too guilty. He just wished she would wake up and be ok. Maybe then some of the guilt he had would go away.

"Well how about you talk to someone? Everyone is getting worried about you..."

Carter interrupted him again. "No. I don't need to talk to anyone. What I need is for Lucy to wake up and be ok!" he yelled. "Now please get out."

Peter was about to protest, but his pager went off. He was needed in the ER. "Ok, I'll leave. But I'll be back."

"Whatever." Carter replied, going back to staring out the window.

A couple of days later, Peter came back into Carter's room. He found him still staring out the window, and knew that something had to be done before Carter dove deeper into depression. After thinking about it for a while, he had a pretty good idea of how to Carter out of his depression. "Hey Carter. How are you doing?" Peter asked with a smile on his face.

Carter looked at Peter's smile and rolled his eyes. "How's Lucy?" he asked.

"She's the same." Peter replied, sitting in the chair next to Carter's bed. "So, you were supposed to start physical therapy yesterday. Why didn't you?"

"I didn't feel like it." Carter replied harshly.

"So you want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life?" Peter asked.

"Why not?" Carter replied casually.

"Well what's Lucy gonna think when she wakes up and sees that you're in a wheelchair voluntarily? She's not gonna be happy when she finds out that you're in a wheelchair just because you didn't feel like putting any effort into walking again." Peter waited for a moment before continuing. "Look man, the truth is, I don't know what you're going through. No one but Lucy comes close to understanding what you're going through. But Lucy isn't available right now; her body is more focused on healing while she sleeps. However, when she wakes up, she's gonna be depending on you. She's gonna look at the progress that you've made and use you as a model. What do you want her to see when she wakes up? A guy who sits in his room and stares out the window all day? A guy who refuses to go to physical therapy and correct a problem just because he doesn't feel like it? Or do you want her to see the John Carter that she's known for over a year? The John Carter that doesn't give up. Carter you're stronger than this. If you work hard, you could be walking in two or three weeks. But that's not gonna happen if you sit around and mope all the time. So what's it going to be? You gonna stay here or do you want me to take you to physical therapy?"

Carter thought about what Peter was saying to him. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe Peter had a point. Maybe he shouldn't be focusing on his guilt, but instead be trying to get better. Because when Lucy woke up, she would need him. She would need to see that he was doing ok so that she would know that she could be ok. He looked at his one-time teacher. "Can you take me to physical therapy?" he asked softly.

"I'd be glad to." Peter smiled.

Almost two months later, Carter was walking into a meeting with Dr. Weaver and Dr. Romano. After some physical therapy, he had started walking again and was released from the hospital. Now he was meeting with them to see if he could come back to work soon. Lucy still hadn't woken up, and even though he had many opportunities to visit her, he just couldn't do it. "Hello." He greeted as he entered Romano's office and saw Kerry and Romano looking at him.

"Hello Dr. Carter." Romano greeted back. "Please sit."

Carter did was he was told. "So have you made a decision about when I can come back to work?"

"Actually, we have." Kerry replied, looking at Romano.

"You appear to be doing very well in your physical therapy." Romano said, looking over Carter's chart.

"It's going very well. I'm..."

"However, we're still a little concerned about your mental state." Romano interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Carter asked, masking the anger that was coming to the surface.

"We're just not sure that coming back to work so soon is such a good idea." Romano explained. "You've refused earlier attempts of therapy..."

Carter interrupted him. "Because I don't need it. I'm fine. I'm more than ready to come back to work."

"Carter, if you'll let me finish, I was going to tell you that we're going to let you come back to work. But only for five-hour shifts at a time and you won't be allowed to work on trauma cases. We'll re-evaluate your case in six weeks. But we also encourage you to get some counseling." Kerry explained.

"Thank you." Carter replied. He wasn't too happy that they were placing so many conditions on his return, but he knew he had no other choice than to accept it.

"We'll call you about when your first shift back will be." Romano nodded.

"Great." Carter said, leaving the room.

"Do you think it was a good idea letting him come back to work so soon?" Romano asked after Carter was gone.

"I think he'll be ok once Lucy wakes up." Kerry told him.

"Yeah, but who knows when that will be." Romano sighed. "Poor girl. She's gonna have a hard recovery ahead of her when she wakes up."

"Careful Robert, your caring side is showing." Kerry laughed as she left his office.

Song Lyrics: "Things Have Changed" Bob Dylan