We Used To Be Friends
Chapter Six
The Next Day
Lucy entered the apartment and found that it was strangely quiet. She walked over to Shelby's room and found that Shelby wasn't there. She's probably spent the night with Dave. Yawning, she walked back into the living room to check and see if there were any messages on the machine. Pushing the blinking button, she waited for the messages to start.
"Hi Lucy, it's just mom. Just wanted to check and see how you are doing. Give me a call back. Love you!" Beep. "Hey Lucy. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm spending the night with Dave. So if you get home and I'm not there, don't freak out. See ya!" Beep. Beep.
The messages ended and Lucy went ahead and deleted them. She was going to go back to her bed and get some much needed sleep, when Shelby came through the door. "Have a good time?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah." Shelby smiled. "How long have you been home?"
"Just long enough to check the messages. But I am exhausted. Last night was a roller coaster. I had my first trauma patient and he ended up dying. Then I had this conversation on the roof with Carter. To make that long story short, we're friends again. So I'm going to go get some sleep before I meet him for lunch..." She got to the hallway before Shelby started yelling.
"You guys are friends again?" Shelby squealed.
Lucy turned to face her. "Yeah." She said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. "Can I go sleep now?"
"You're not even going to tell me what happened? What made you finally give in and forgive him?"
"I don't know." Lucy shrugged.
"Was it anything I said?" Shelby asked.
"I don't know." Lucy replied. "I guess I just didn't want to fight anymore. Like you said, the past should remain in the past. It happened a long time ago, and it would be crazy for me to hold a grudge against him for the rest of my life."
Shelby ran over to her and gave her a big hug. "This is so great! We're all friends again and I'm with Dave! Now all we need to do is get you and Carter together. Then everything will be perfect."
Lucy gave her a funny look. "I don't know why you are so hell-bent on getting me to date Carter."
"It's because you have feelings for him," Shelby smiled, "and I think he might have feelings for you too."
"Yeah right! Whatever!" Lucy rolled her eyes, going back to her bedroom to sleep.
Later that day, after getting a few nice hours of sleep, Lucy entered Doc Magoo's and found Carter already sitting in a nearby booth waiting for her. He seemed to be rifling through some papers. "Hey." She greeted, slipping into the booth so that she was sitting across from him. "I haven't kept you waiting very long, have I?"
"No. I just got here a few minutes ago." Carter replied, a little distracted because of what he was reading.
The waitress soon came by and took their orders. Curious, Lucy looked at what he was doing. "Are you sorting through your mail?"
"Yeah. I've been working so much that I haven't had time to read any of it in about a week." Carter nodded. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, go ahead. I don't like to interrupt people while they read their mail. I find it to be very inconsiderate." She smiled.
He smiled and then went back to reading his mail. When he came across a fancy envelope, he knew immediately what it was and groaned. It was that time of the year again and he was not looking forward to it.
Lucy heard him groan and gave him a strange look. "Why'd you just groan like that? You get a bill or something?"
He held up the fancy envelope. "See this envelope? It is an invitation to the annual fundraiser ball for the Robert Carter Leukemia Foundation."
That name clicked inside Lucy's mind. "Your family started a foundation in your brother's name? When did you do that?"
"About eight years ago. We've managed to raise a lot of money for Leukemia research. I love that we're doing something to help wipe out Leukemia, but I hate going to this fundraiser." He groaned again.
"Can I see the invitation?" Lucy asked, curious about what was so bad about a fundraiser ball.
"Sure." Carter replied, handing her the envelope. He didn't bother to open it because he knew what it would say.
Lucy opened it up. It was a formal ball being held next Saturday at 8 at the Peninsula Hotel. She'd heard nothing but good things about that hotel, but she had never been inside it. "So what's so bad about this?"
"These things are always so incredibly boring. All you do is walk around the room making contacts and trying to get people to give you money. There's a silent auction, good food and dancing, but that's the only good part." He explained. "Besides, I always have to make a speech about Bobby and why we started the foundation, and I hate that part. Even though it's for a good cause, I hate getting up in front of strangers and talking about him just so that we can raise more money."
"That's understandable." Lucy nodded. She knew that Carter hated showing that part of his personality to a large group of people. He liked to keep his emotions private—especially his emotions concerning Bobby.
Their waitress came back to the table and served their food to them. He waited until she had left before continuing on with what he was saying. "Then there's the fact that I don't have a girlfriend right now."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Lucy chuckled.
"Every year, like clockwork, I always end up breaking up with a girl right before the fundraiser." He explained. "So every year I end up going by myself, and Gamma always hates that. She thinks that I should already be married, or at least have a steady girlfriend. Barbara got married when she was 24. I'm 26, so I'm a freak or something because I'm not married also."
"Gosh, I haven't seen her in quite a long time. How is your Gamma?" Lucy asked with a chuckle. "Cause it seems like she hasn't changed one bit."
"She hasn't." He laughed. "But she's doing fine..." he trailed off, beginning to have a light-bulb moment. "Wait, I just had a brilliant idea."
"What?" Lucy dipped her French fry into a huge blob of ketchup.
"Why don't you come with me to this thing? I'm sure that Gamma would love to see you again, and you could save me from being completely bored." He smiled, hoping that she would say yes.
Me? Go to a formal ball? She shook her head. "I don't know if that's such a brilliant idea."
The smile on his face fell. "Why not? I think it's perfect."
Lucy looked down at the invitation. "Well for one thing, the invitation says that clothing is formal wear. I don't have anything in my wardrobe that is formal enough for something like this. Second, your Gamma has most likely forgotten who I am by now. Third..."
"Ok, I think I get your point." Carter sadly interrupted her. "I guess I'll just go alone then and have to spend the whole night bored to death and listening to Gamma tell me how badly I need to get a girlfriend."
She knew what he was doing. He was trying to guilt her into coming with him. The sad part was, that even though she knew that was what he was doing, it was still working. She closed her eyes. "Alright, I'll go with you."
He smiled widely. "Thank you Luce! You won't regret this. Ok, maybe you will when we're bored out of our minds. But at least we'll be bored out of our minds together."
"Well it is for a good cause." She smiled.
"Yes, it is." He noticed that they had both stopped eating. Looking at his watch, he realized that they only had a few minutes before their shifts started. "We should get going. We're on in about five minutes."
"Already?" Lucy exclaimed, confirming his statement by looking at her watch. "Ok. Let's go pay our bills." She went into her purse to dig out her wallet but was stopped by him.
"Don't worry about it. I'll get the check." He told her.
"That's nice of you, but I can pay for my own." She replied.
"Oh come on! Let me pay for this. You could consider it my way of saying thank you for coming with me on Saturday." He knew that if he rationalized it that way, she would have to agree with him.
"Ok. Thanks." She grunted.
He paid the bill, left a tip, and then they started walking across the street to the hospital.
"Lately I've been feeling like I live at the hospital. Do you ever get that feeling?" Lucy asked as they got closer to the ER entrance.
"I get that feeling all the time." He chuckled.
As soon as they entered the ER, Carol walked up to them. "Lucy, Dr. Lewis has been looking for you."
"Did I do something wrong?" Lucy wondered aloud.
"I don't know. She didn't say. She's in exam four right now." Carol replied, hurrying off.
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it Luce. I'm sure you're not in trouble. Dr. Lewis thinks you're great."
Lucy looked over at him and smiled. "Thanks. I needed that."
"Well that's what friends are for."
Lucy thought about his last statement as she followed him into the lounge to get their stuff. She was beyond glad that they were friends again. She had missed the special bond that they seemed to have. He knew how to make her feel better about anything just by smiling at her or placing his hand on her shoulder. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she remembered that she had to go find her teacher. "I better go see what Dr. Lewis wants. See ya!" Lucy waved, leaving Carter in the lounge.
He watched her leave and smiled. It was the first ear-to-ear smile he had experienced in a really long time. It was nice to have her back in his life again. He had almost forgotten what it was like to have her around. When they were friends as kids, just the presence of her was enough to put him in a good mood. She was the only one who was able to make him feel better after Bobby died. He continued to smile as he left the lounge to see some patients.
Lucy entered exam four and saw Susan standing next to a patient's bed writing in their chart. "Excuse me, Dr. Lewis? You wanted to see me?"
Susan looked up and smiled. "Ah, yes. Just let me finish with this patient." She then turned her attention back to the patient. "I've gonna have a nurse come in and take more blood, and then you'll be taken down to radiology. Any questions?"
"No, but thanks." The man nodded.
The smile told Lucy that she wasn't in trouble with her teacher, and that made her relax. She followed as Susan left the room.
"How are you doing?" Susan asked.
Lucy knew that she was referring to the fact that she had seen her first patient die the day before. "I'm fine. It shook me up a little, but now that I've been exposed to death, I think it will get easier." She chuckled. "It will get easier, right?"
Susan didn't know what to tell her. "Well, some deaths are easier to deal with than others. Personally, I find it very hard to watch children die. But after awhile, you start to learn ways to get past it without letting it consume your every thought. It took me a while to learn how to do that." She paused. "I think I may have pushed you into doing a trauma too soon. That's why I'll understand if you want to stay away from them for awhile..."
Lucy didn't mean to rudely interrupt, but she couldn't help herself. "No! I'm fine...really. I want to do traumas."
"Are you sure?" Susan checked.
"I'm sure." Lucy smiled.
She hesitated for a moment. "Ok then." She smiled at her student. "Why don't you take care of Mr. Johansson in exam three?"
"Sure thing!" Lucy replied, hurrying off to take care of her patient.
It was about three in the morning when Lucy slipped into her apartment and quietly set down her keys on the table next to the door. She was beyond tired, and glad that she had today off. After getting some sleep, she would see if Shelby wanted to help her go shopping for a new dress for the fundraiser on Saturday. Walking down the hallway to her room she shook her head, still not believing that Carter had quilted her into going with him. She had reached her door when Shelby's door opened and Dave came out wearing nothing but his boxers.
"Hey Lucy." Dave said, smiling nervously. He silently praised himself for putting on his boxers before leaving Shelby's room. It was bad enough to run into Lucy half-naked, he couldn't and didn't want to imagine how embarrassing it would have been to run into her while being naked.
"Hello Dave." Lucy smiled back, trying to keep her eyes focused on his face.
This is awkward. "So is your shift over?" As soon as he asked that question, he internally berated himself. Of course her shift is over. If it wasn't, she would still be at the hospital.
"Yes it is." Lucy replied, trying not to laugh at the situation. Boy this was awkward.
"I was going to make some coffee before I left for my shift. Would you like some?" Dave asked.
"No thanks. I'm looking forward to getting some sleep." Lucy informed him, while opening her door. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, later." Dave sighed when she closed her door. That was probably the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him in years.
After Lucy closed the door to her room, she went over to her bed and set her alarm clock. Running into Dave while he was only in his boxers was embarrassing. She wasn't used to bumping into guys that Shelby brought home. But that encounter had her mind working overtime trying to figure out if Carter wore boxers or briefs. After debating with herself for a few minutes, she was snapped back to reality. Why am I thinking about the kind of underwear Carter wears? I must really need sleep! She sat her head on the pillow, but found that she couldn't sleep because she was still trying to figure out whether he wore boxers or briefs.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They are very appreciated!