Peter barged through the doors to Trauma One, blocking Luka's intended path of exit. "What the hell are you doing?" Peter demanded, stalking forward. "Get your ass back in there and help him!"

Luka snorted. "Why? He doesn't need that kind of help."

Peter snarled and lashed out with his fist, catching Luka right above the left eye and knocking him to the floor. Cleo ran in grabbed him from behind, keeping him from following Luka to the floor to finish what he'd started.

"Get up!" Peter growled, pulling against Cleo's arms. "Get up, damn you!"

Luka wiped the small trickle of blood from his lip with the back of his hand and stood slowly, holding his hands out in front of him. "You're not understanding me, Peter. What she's doing in there... she's risking his recovery. I can't be part of that."

"What?" Peter demanded.

"You have to be careful with Narcan when you're dealing with an addict. If you give too much, you risk sending him back into withdrawal again." Luka sighed and leaned forward slightly. "You've seen him go through it once, Peter. Do you really want to watch him go through it again?"

Peter glanced into Trauma Two through the window. He saw Susan Lewis burst into the room, and saw Chuny inject a syringe into the IV bag that hung above Carter's head. He tried to pull away from Cleo, but she held tight. He sighed, and turned down to face her. "I'm done, Cleo. You can let go now." Peter patted her hands lovingly as she unwound them from his chest, and followed when Luka motioned him over to the window.

"His airway is preserved. As long as she keeps him on the vent, he's going to come out of it."

Peter shook his head. "No... no, he needs the Narcan to wake up."

"He doesn't need that much, Peter," Luka said softly. "A small amount given every 60 seconds would be safer for him than a large dose every two minutes. He's going to pull through, one way or the other. I was just thinking about his comfort and safety here. Imagine how he'll feel, waking up on a vent and in restraints."

Peter sighed and lowered his head. "Damn... you're right. I hadn't even thought about that." Peter glanced up at Luka and said softly, "I'm sorry... about... that."

Luka shook his head. "It's understandable." He followed Peter's gaze back through the window, watching as Susan started to remove the bandages Peter had applied to Carter's right wrist to inspect the wounds. "He was depressed all day?"

Peter shook his head. "No. That's why I don't understand this. He's not been depressed at all."

Luka nodded in understanding. "Sudden and shocking. Suicide attempts often are."

The doctors and nurses attending to Carter started moving rapidly when Chuny began to remove his clothing. Peter saw Susan lift Carter's arm, but she blocked his view of the discovery she was sharing. Kerry pulled the bandage from his left wrist quickly, and then started probing his arm with her fingers. The two men watched in silence until Chuny stepped back from Carter, her hand flying to her mouth.

"What's going on?" Luka asked.

"I don't know. But I've got a terrible feeling that..." Peter began, pushing the door open hurriedly. Both men jumped when they heard Kerry's soft voice.

"Someone did this to him."

"Dr. Weaver, look!" Chuny called out in surprise as she began cutting open Carter's sweater.

Kerry looked up and gaped at what she saw. Carter's chest was a mess of dark purple bruises, and a deep red line that Kerry couldn't identify immediately. "What on earth...?" she began.

"It's a rope burn," Susan interrupted. She looked up from where she had been unwrapping the crude bandages on Carter's right wrist, and held his arm up to show Kerry what she had found. "He's got one here too."

Kerry moved quickly to pull the bandages from his left wrist as well, and found the same thing. Not just rope burn, but a deep gash, as if he'd been pulling against them. She moved further up his arm, continuing her inspection. She moved her hands gingerly, not knowing what she would find. "His shoulder's dislocated," she said quietly. "Haleh, call X-ray."

Susan had moved to the top of the gurney, and began checking Carter's head, pushing his hair aside. "Look, Kerry. There's a huge bump here on the back of his head. And there's dried blood in his hair."

Kerry moved to stand beside her, finding another laceration above his ear almost immediately. "How the hell did I miss this?"

"You weren't looking for it," Susan answered. "Suicides don't generally bash themselves over the head."

Kerry leaned down to inspect Carter's face more closely, and saw the faint bruises on his jaw and circling his eyes. The clots were deep, just barely showing through the skin. She looked down at his chest again, at the ugly mass of bruises that covered it. "They usually don't beat the hell out of themselves like this either," she whispered.

Chuny had finished cutting Carter's sweater and was carefully removing the material from around his neck when she gasped and covered her mouth.

"Chuny, what?" Susan asked in alarm.

Fearful that she knew the answer, Kerry picked up the cloth Chuny had dropped and finished pulling it away from Carter's throat, exposing the angry scarlet line that it had previously covered.

"My God," Susan whispered, fighting her impulse to turn away.

"Chuny, call the police." Kerry looked up at Susan across the gurney, watching the blood drain from the woman's face as she spoke. "This isn't a suicide; it's an attempted murder." Kerry swallowed and looked back down at Carter's still face. "Someone did this to him."

Peter and Luka froze in the door, and the look on Cleo's face was one of pure horror. Kerry and Susan still stared at each other across the gurney. Haleh stood motionless by the phone, staring at the still body on the gurney. Chuny stood as if rooted to the floor, her hand holding back the sobs that choked her. The whole room was silent, with the exception of the machines beeping as they counted Carter's heartbeats, and the whoosh of the air forcing its way into his lungs.

Peter broke the stillness first, making his way to Carter's side with only two steps. He pushed Susan out of his way roughly as he grabbed for Carter's wrist, lifting it to get a better view of what Susan had seen moments before. "No," he mumbled to himself, checking Carter's chest, counting the bruises, registering the red burn across his chest. "No, this is impossible." He stopped short when he saw the crimson line that circled Carter's throat, and he reached out slowly with his fingers to touch it. "This is impossible. I was downstairs. I was right outside!"

"Peter..." Kerry began, her voice soft as she struggled to regain her composure.

"I would have seen something, or heard something. Damn it, Carter, I was right outside!"

Cleo rushed forward quickly, grateful that Luka had the same thought. Together, they managed to pull Peter away from the gurney.

Susan and Kerry both swallowed hard and returned to their examination. "We need to reduce that shoulder," Susan said, her voice eerily calm now.

"We're getting close to five minutes on the Narcan, " Kerry pointed out. "Let's be careful. We don't want to risk him waking up in the middle of a reduction..."

"I should have heard something," Peter mumbled as Luka and Cleo guided him back into Trauma One. "I should have seen something, someone...I was right there. Carter, I was right there. I was right..." Peter's voice trailed off and his eyes clouded over. "I left him."

"Oh, Peter, no..." Cleo took his hand in hers and looked down at his fingers.

"I did, Cleo. I left. I left him there. This was happening to him right next to me, and I left him there alone."

"Peter, you didn't know," Cleo soothed, wrapping her arms around him again. "You couldn't have known."

Peter shook his head. "I should have known. I sat there for half an hour before I left. Half an hour, and he was going through this, and I was right there... and I left him! And all I did was get mad at him for making me wait!"

"Peter, you saved his life," Luka pointed out softly.

Peter shook his head again and backed away from Cleo. "I shouldn't have had to," he said forcefully. "I should have been there from the very beginning. I should have been there to take care of him." Peter looked around, glancing once more at Carter's still form through the window. Anger and hatred, fear and frustration flooded through him, and Peter slammed his fist into his hand. "But I will take care of him now."

He turned on his heel and stormed from the room.

"Peter!" Luka and Cleo called after him.

Before either of them could make a move to follow him, Susan burst through the door from Trauma Two.

"Luka! Where's Abby?"