Chapter 27 – Out of Control

"Can you take this patient?" Carter asked looking agitated, thrusting the chart at Neela.

"Sorry I'm busy" She replied walking past him.

He shook his head and looked around for anyone else. He sees Abby walking towards the admit desk heading to the elevators. She noticed him watching her, the way she moves. Abby looked back at him nervously then tilted her head down to avoid him.

"Take this patient"

"No, I'm dealing with one right now" Abby waved.

"Doesn't look like you are…"

Abby stopped dead and turned round.

"Excuse me?" She tilted her head forward to look up at him.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go and get the X-ray results" she replied and sneered "Why do I have to tell you what I'm doing, where I'm going?" Waving her arms "You're not my boss"

"I am the Attending here"

"Whoopee do!" She said sarcastically. "I will follow your orders when you cut that shitty attitude of yours" Oh dear… Abby has snapped wrongfully at a senior member of staff. She stormed off to the stairs by the elevators.

Carter watched Abby running up the stairs, suddenly his withdrawal symptoms started to take over him.

Carter rushed to the Men's room and checked every stall to see if they're empty. He entered the farthest one and locks the door. He is trembling with beads of sweat running down his temples. He is agitated with trying to get his next fix. Carter puts his hand in his lab coat pocket and grabbed a handful of syringes. He opened his fist to look at them, two different types - Fentanyl and an Anabolic Steroid.

A Steroid! Carter is taking them too, for him to cope with the endurance of long gruelling hours he works, with the depression it would make you lethargic that he wouldn't be able to keep up. He feels that they would make him more in control and powerful, you can see why bodybuilders who take them get moody, aggressive and controlling due to excessive testosterone running riot through their system.

He finds his fix less fiddly now that the syringes are pre-filled so he doesn't have to mess about with little vial bottles like he did 6 years ago. Carter pulled off the needle lid with his mouth and rolled up his sleeve. He pulled a strap out from the other pocket and wrapped it around his elbow. Tightened it. He looked down at his arm to study any protruding veins so he can slide in the needle.

"Shit! That little bitch is always right," He muttered to himself. He knows that Abby is very smart woman to work things out especially about her suspecting he's taking Fentanyl. He is thinking 'She needs knocking down to size so she doesn't succeed over me. I might even report her to Weaver, that will make her think'

"Susan, have you seen Carter?" Abby asked her boss, who is busy working through the paperwork.

"No" The blonde replied, "I'm not talking to him"

"Oh?" Abby rubbed both hands together "Has he upset you too?"

"Well you could say that, his attitude stinks and I am upset about what he did to you, I can't understand that you still acknowledge him!"

"I've been avoiding him, well I tried to… I just want to help sort out his problem"

"After what he put you through?" Susan scoffed.

"Susan, you know that he's not like that and there is a logical explanation for his behaviour, ok?"

"Whatever you say," Susan said, shrugging her shoulders at Abby and carried on with the paperwork.

"Right… I better go and find him"

Susan looked up again and asked, "Why do you want him?"

"Because he has abandoned his patient in the next curtain," Abby said levering her arms.

"You're kidding me! I hope this isn't the patient that he tried to give to half the staff here?"

Abby nodded "Well the guy is suffering with chest pains and I 'm trying to do two, three things at once here"

"I'll better go and check on this patient and you go drag Carter's sorry ass back here!"

"Ok, Curtain 4" Abby said, walking away from the admit desk. Her eyes are scanning round the ER, popping her head to look, room after room and the ambulance bay. He is nowhere to be seen. She sighed, trying to think over where he could be and she focused at the door that she took a glimpse of.

"Ah" Abby sprang with surprise, realising that there's a possibility he could be in the men's toilet. She looked around to makes sure no one see her entering the room.

Carter inserted the needle into the protruding vein on his arm; he sees a ripple of his blood that he drew out, mixing in with the clear substance, then pushes the contents into his system. His body jerked and shuddered after he shoots up his dose of Fentanyl. He can feel the effect of the drug burning in his blood vessels throughout his anatomy. Repeated the shoot up with the Steroid.

Abby shuts the door carefully without making a noise and tiptoed around the room. She noticed that all the toilets are vacant except the one at the end. She heard a moan coming from that stall and a little' ping' noise, something has hit the floor. Abby squatted on her all fours and looked under the door of the cubicle. She can see a pair of black shoes standing in there and a used syringe rolling across the floor. She mouthed to herself "Oh my god". Abby gets up and the rubber on the sole of her shoes squeaked against the shiny floor. Carter flinched at the little noise and flew open the toilet door. She tensed her shoulders to cringe and stepped back to the sinks. Abby is frightened now because she cannot predict what Carter is going to do next. Carter stepped forward; he is intimidating her with his stare.

"Hi" Abby grinned, swallowing nervously with a loud 'gulp' noise.

"You won't back off will you?" Carter snarled and grabbed her throat.

"Ergh!" She gagged.

"You better not breathe a fucking word what you saw"

Carter's adrenalin rush took over his rage and his strength managed to throw Abby by the throat into a nearby stall. Abby cracked her head on the toilet cistern when she landed. She lays there unconscious…