Hi Everyone!
I am soooooooo sorry for the HUGE delay in chapters, I feel really, really bad. Being in my final year at university I have just been inundated with work, work, and even more work and there has not been chance for me to sit down and write.
I want to thank everyone who has e-mailed me asking about the story. It was really great of you guys to take the time to write. I am hoping that the story should be back on track now as long as the work doesn't pile up again!
Anyway thanks again and I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Claire
Hide and Seek Part 9
Disclaimer: ER and all it's characters belong to NBC etc and no infringement of their copyright is intended.
As the battered ambulance made its way down the interstate towards downtown Chicago, Benton attended to Carter again, hoping that the time away from his friend had not had any repercussions. The surgeon gently placed his hand against Carter's forehead noticing that the younger doctor's temperature had barely risen. A glance at the overhead monitor told him his BP was holding steady for the time being although it had not increased despite the extra fluids that they had given him. Benton was also disheartened to discover that Carter's resps had increased and that his breathing was becoming more laboured.
He had been hoping against hope that Carter would have regained consciousness by now, praying that the cut on his friend's forehead was exactly that, and that the only reason Carter was unconsciousness was because of his low body temperature. However no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the doctor inside of him was frantically running through all the medical conditions that his friend could be suffering from. And he hated it. He hated not knowing for certain what was wrong with his friend and not being able to fix it. Sure he could make logical assumptions but until there were at the hospital with the proper equipment at their disposal, they could only try to stabilise Carter the best they could.
It was not something he was used to – the waiting game. In his career it was not something they were taught. You learnt to jump in, assess the patient, and then take them to surgery if necessary. You were in control. Something the surgeon felt was lacking in this situation. He certainly didn't feel in control right now. What he felt was sheer helplessness, just sitting there watching Carter fight for his life. He was not familiar with just standing by, waiting.
Lowering his head, the surgeon thought back to when Carter was injured in February. He had jumped right in without a moment to lose. Took control. Took him to surgery and his friend had trusted him. He squeezed his eyes shut at the memory.
I'm glad it's you.
So trusting. Why did Carter place so much trust and admiration in him? He certainly did not deserve it. Had he helped Carter tonight? No. When Carter obviously needed his help tonight what did he do? He walked straight passed him without a care in the world. He couldn't even spare a glance in his direction to see if he was ok. If only he had stopped to get an answer to his question. He would have clearly seen the terror etched on his friend's face. Hey Carter how's it going? The surgeon cursed himself for being so blind. Why the hell didn't he stop? What kind of friend was he?
The events of February 14th ran through his head again. I'm getting you through this
Sure he and Anspaugh had got Carter through surgery but what happened after that? How many times had he seen the younger doctor at work? He couldn't even remember the last time he actually had spoken to Carter without it being a medical matter.
When it came down to it Benton had let Carter down…again. He could twist the facts anyway he wanted to – his overloaded work schedule, his family obligations, Cleo…but at the end of the day he hadn't been a good enough friend to Carter when he had the chance. Now all he could do was sit idly by, watching his friend, and pray that the higher powers gave him the opportunity to rectify that.
Hearing a voice calling him from the front compartment, Benton glanced up, wondering how Mike was doing. It was not every day that the paramedics get attacked and forced off the highway. Standing up he took a couple of steps forward and slowly leaned on the metal separating the compartments.
"Hey Mike, How ya doing?"
Keeping his eyes forward the paramedic gave a brief, humourless chuckle before answering.
"Not bad considering. How's Steve and your friend doing?" He questioned softly tapping his fingers against the steering wheel nervously.
Benton had also examined Steve earlier and noted that his pulse was strong his pupils equal and reactive. They had secured his neck with a neck brace and bandaged his ribs. They could only hope that moving the paramedic from the driver's seat to the passenger seat had not done any serious damage.
"Steve's ok, got a strong pulse and his pupils are equal and reactive. We'll know for sure once we get to County and get a C.T and x-ray. Carter on the other hand…." The surgeon rubbed his tired eyes, wincing slightly when his hand brushed against the spot where he had banged his head earlier. He quickly gave a nervous glance back to Carter before returning his gaze to the road. "I just don't know. He's stable for now but I'd feel a whole lot better if he were at a hospital."
"I'm sorry I can't go faster but in this weather it's just too dangerous. Did you try the radio again?"
"Yeah. I tried everything from twisting the dials to hitting it. That's the extent of my knowledge on radios unfortunately." He shrugged and gave a heart-breaking sigh.
"I wish I had my cell phone with me but I left it back in my car"
The surgeon quickly gazed into the side mirrors before quietly asking Mike the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"You haven't seen any sign of the Porsche have you?"
Mike glanced at him nervously before answering. "Not yet. Do you think we will?"
"Let's hope not."
With a last glance at the road in front of them, Benton checked on Steve again before resuming his position next to his friend.
"I bet you can't wait to get into a dry pair of clothes." Mike called from the driver's seat.
Benton smiled slightly as he glanced down at his damp clothes. With all the excitement he had forgotten that he too had been drenched. Chills still racked his body but the adrenaline from the earlier activities was still coursing through him.
"I'm kinda getting used to being wet."
"Well it won't be for long as we almost there. My guys at the station are never going to believe this." Mike turned to his friend sitting next to him and whispered softly. "That's why you have to be ok Steve. Who else is gonna back up my story?"
The shimmer of the ambulance bay lights never had appeared so welcoming to Benton before tonight. He had not fully appreciated this place until this evening. As the ambulance slowly pulled up Benton felt a slight diminish in the enormous weight that had been laden on his shoulders. His colleagues were in there, people who cared about Carter, people who understood and could share the feelings that had overcome him.
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At the ER reception Kerry Weaver stood glancing at the chart if front of her, making the odd note now and then. The bad weather appeared to be keeping everyone away from the ER so things were fairly quiet inside at the moment. She was praying it would last to the end of her shift. Glancing up at the clock above the board she realised she still had a few hours to go.
Signing off the chart, she was about to hand it to Haleh when a commotion at the ambulance bay doors made her glance up in surprise. Looking up she saw a paramedic burst through the doors and come running up to the desk.
"Hey we need some help out here! Got a hypothermic patient and an injured paramedic."
Kerry quickly limped around the desk and made her way to the doors. She felt confusion at the fact that a paramedic was injured and also why they had never radioed ahead to warn the ER. She was about to question the paramedic but he was already out the door.
Spotting Mark leaving the doctor's lounge up ahead, she called out to let him know the situation.
"Mark we need you outside, an ambulance has just pulled up with two patients."
"Sure thing. Do we know the extent of their injuries?" He asked following Kerry outside and grabbing the ambulances rear door handles.
Kerry was about to reply when the paramedic called at them from the passenger door.
"Hey the paramedic's up front."
"Kerry you take that patient I'll grab the one in the back." Mark told her opening the door. Looking inside the doctor froze in astonishment.
"Oh My God, Peter?! What on earth happened?" Mark exclaimed, shocked at the surgeon's appearance and confused as to why he was accompanying a patient. "You look like you've been to hell and back!"
Benton glanced down dazed and saw that he did look bedraggled; his clothes were still damp and covered in mud, basically he looked a mess. He helped Mike unload Carter's gurney and stared hard at his friend before answering a waiting Mark.
"Believe me, I'm still there." The surgeon replied grimly.
Mark followed his colleague's concerned gaze to the patient and did a double take at the figure that lay there.
"Carter?!"
The last time the doctor had seen Carter was at the start of his shift as the younger doctor was leaving for home. He wondered what tragedy had occurred for his friend to return as a patient.
As the team wheeled Carter inside the emergency room Benton rattled off Carter's vitals, his hands gripping the gurney bars so tightly they somehow turned an even paler shade of white.
The trauma rooms slammed open as the group pushed the gurney inside. They gently transferred Carter onto another gurney and proceeded to check his vitals and hook him up to the monitors.
"We need some warm saline and a heating blanket. Get some heated O2 as well." Mark called out to Lydia. She wordlessly nodded in response.
"What's his temp?" Benton yelled to Haleh. She quickly checked the reading then announced "91.6."
"Damn it. Let's get the warm fluids and O2 going."
The staff quickly cut Carter's shirt off and gave a unanimous gasp when they exposed the deep bruising on the doctor's chest.
"Oh my God." Whispered Haleh, tears forming in her eyes.
"C'mon people we need to focus." Mark ordered, conducting a closer examination of Carter's injuries. He quickly called out the various tests he wanted then glanced up at the surgeon, taking in the cut on his head. "Peter how long was he under?"
Upon receiving no answer he asked again more forcefully. " Peter how long?!"
"Uh…uh… I'm not sure…" Benton's voice faltered as the events of the night replayed in his head. "I think a few minutes." He replied, somewhat dazed, as he paused to stare at his friend. Swallowing hard at seeing Carter's chest in a more brightly lit area, Benton quickly grabbed the stethoscope that was hanging around Mark's neck and bent down to listen to Carter's laboured breathing.
"Peter we got it from here, go get changed you're soaked." Mark admonished.
The surgeon either didn't here him or was blatantly ignoring him.
"Peter go, you are soaked." Mark ordered, raising his voice.
When Benton still did not respond Mark gave a quick glance to Haleh who nodded in response before grabbing Benton's arm and gently pulling him away from the gurney.
"C'mon Peter." She stated trying to pull him away.
"I'm fine!" He bellowed shrugging his arm from her grasp.
"Peter either go with Haleh now or I'll call Security, either way you're getting out of this room. Now go!" Mark ordered.
"C'mon. Catching hypothermia isn't going to do Carter any good is it now? We'll do a quick examination then I'll get you some scrubs and you can quickly change and come back and check on Carter, okay?"
Seeing he was outnumbered Benton heaved a deep sigh before reluctantly handing the stethoscope back to Mark and following Haleh out the Trauma room.
Before Haleh pulled him away from the doorway Benton took a last glance at his friend and gave a silent prayer that this was only the end of Carter's ordeal and not the end for his friend itself.
