Chapter 4:

Carter walked into his apartment. He hadn't been there for several days and there was very little to eat. He realized that he had been spending most of his time over at Abby's. Now it looked like he was going to be spending more time here than over there. Maybe now would be a good time to make a decision about going off with Doctors with out Boarders.

He wouldn't have to worry about what Abby would do with him gone. It would also give her a chance to figure out what she wanted with out having to see him every day. It might also give him a chance to reflect on what he wanted. He was sure that Kerry would give him the time off to do this since his vacation had been cut short by Eric's disappearance. Although he would be gone longer than just a few days.

He looked at the manila envelope sitting on his kitchen table. It had the information in it about going on a mission. He walked over and picked it up. Carefully taking the contents out, he flopped down on the couch and started to read over the material to see just what he would be doing if or rather when he went. His mind had been made up. He would be taking a short trip to help where medical attention was needed the most. There was nothing to keep him tied down in Chicago now. His family could deal with him being gone for awhile.

Carter was starting to drift off to sleep when he heard the phone ring. He debated answering it. "Let the machine get it," he thought to himself. There was really no one that he wanted to talk to tonight anyway. He had said all that he had to say to Abby earlier today.

"John, it's Abby, I know you're home please pick up." Abby's voice said over the machine.

John just sat there, he wanted to run to the machine and pick up the phone but he knew that would be a mistake. What could she have to say to him. There was nothing that was going to change his mind about where they stood. She couldn't have made her decision that fast. Changing wasn't something that she could do overnight.

"John, I need to talk to you, come on please pick up." Her voice sounded almost desperate.

John sat there glued to the couch he was forcing himself not to get up and run to the phone.

"John when you get this would you please call me. I know that you think that I can't open up to you, and that I am hiding things that I should share with you. But this is really important." She said.

John heard the sound of her hanging up the phone. He wasn't sure what he should do. A voice in his heart told him to call her back right away, but the voice in his head told him to wait. What could be so important that she would leave a message like that on his machine?

He sat on the couch, pondering what to do. Should he call her back or let it go. She did call him so maybe he should call her back, it could be something important, or it could be that she was trying to get him to talk to her about something else. Changing the subject was something she could do well, but he had gotten tired of the whole poor Abby routine. She seemed to love misery all by herself, letting those who cared about her was something that Abby just didn't do.

John heard his pager begin to beep. What could be going on at county that needed his attention right away? Surely they couldn't be swamped and in need of another doctor already. He had just put in twelve hours there and wasn't ready to go back he wanted some down time. He got up and walked over and picked up the pager. The number said 911.

That was his cue to get back over there. They didn't use 911 unless it was absolutely necessary. Being the chief resident sometimes had its downside. He could ever get away from there fully. He was once told, the longer you stay, the longer you stay. It was so true. The ER had a way of sucking you in and never letting you go. He grabbed his coat and headed back out the door. He got in his jeep and headed toward the ER.

Things were a nightmare when he got there. There had been an accident at a high school. People were piling up everywhere. Some bleachers had collapsed at a football game and at least 50 people had been seriously injured when they were trapped under them and the majority of them were coming into county. He threw his bag into his locker, grabbed his stethoscope, lab coat, and dug in treating those who were injured the worst. He bumped into Susan.

"Carter, sorry that you got called back in here, but we are getting buried. We had to call in extra help for this tonight. There was no way that Kovach, Weaver and Chen could have handled this all themselves." She said wheeling a gurney into a trauma room.

"No problem." He said following her in, "on my count one… two… three."

They moved the patient from the paramedics' gurney on to a hospital one. Carter listened as the paramedic rambled off a report to them and began working the girl over.

"Susan, go I've got this." He said as he listened to the girl's chest. "She's stable. Really I got this. I'm sure that there are more that need help."

Susan walked out of the trauma room as Carter worked to make sure the girl made it. He had Gallant and Pratt in there helping him. He couldn't see the need to keep another doc tied up. The three of them could handle it. He saw Kerry peek her head in.

"What you got in here Carter." Kerry asked.

"Multiple fractures, LOC at scene, possible spleen fracture." He replied.

"Can you move her out of here? We have three more coming in. Two of them are critical."

"Yeah Kerry." He said turning to his med student, "Gallant go with her up to CT we'll move her into an exam room when she gets back down. Unless she needs to go to surgery." Carter barked at his med student. "Pratt page surgery and let Corday know what we have coming up. Then go find Dr. Lewis and see if she needs anything."

Carter followed Kerry out to the ambulance bay as Gallant headed up to the CT scanner with the young girl. There was nothing else that Carter could do for her until they knew what the CT showed.

"Sorry about calling you in for this but we were getting overwhelmed." She said.

"Understandable Kerry. Don't worry about it." He said.

"Is everything okay with you and Abby? I noticed that there was some tension between you two earlier today?" She asked making small talk while they waited for the ambulance to get there.

"Just a lover's quarrel Kerry nothing more than that." He replied.

"Okay just so that you know, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you. Not as your boss, but as a friend." She said smiling up at him.

He knew that Kerry cared about him as a friend. She had shown that during his rehab. She might have been hard on him, but Carter now knew that was only for his own good. She didn't want to see him throw away his career. She thought that he was a good doctor.

"Thanks Kerry, but I think that we can work this one out on our own." He said as the ambulance pulled into the bay.

Carter threw open the back door, "what we got?"

"Found him under the bleachers at the bottom of the pile. Intubated him at the scene. Good breath sounds on both sides. BP 90/60 pulse is 120. Started a 14 right arm bolus on the way in." The paramedic rattled off. John and Kerry headed into the trauma room that he had just left.

"On my count, one, two, three." Carter said as they moved him onto a hospital gurney and dug in treating the young man.

After they got the boy stable and headed up to CT, John walked out to the admit desk. It was two in the morning now and he was completely exhausted. He had to be back for his shift in five hours. That wasn't going to give him much time to go home and get sleep, if he even could get sleep. He decided that he would just crash in the hospital until he was on again.

"Chen," He called as he saw her standing there at the admit desk.

"What John." She answered.

"Are you on the rest of the night?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm off at seven."

"Could you do me a favor?" He asked.

"What do you need?"

"I'll be sleeping in my office could you wake me up at shift change please. I am on in the morning at seven, but there really isn't enough time to go home and get any kind of good decent sleep so I am going to just crash at the office." He said laughing.

"Not a problem. Thanks for coming in tonight to bail us out." She said, "goodnight."

"Thanks." John said taking a piece of paper he had written on and headed down to what used to be the old pediatrics unit. He plastered the sign on the door. "Working in the office, don't disturb" the sign said. He stretched out on a gurney and tried to get some sleep it was turning out to be a long 24 hours indeed.