Iverson 6

The choir began to sing Ave Maria as the bridal party lined up behind the closed oak doors. A small breeze came through an open window at the end of the corridor. The doors opened and Cate and Tess began their procession down the aisle. They threw yellow and white Rose petals onto the ground. Following the twins were Doug and Carol, arm in arm. Three steps, four, now five. It was Abby's turn to move; to walk down that aisle alone. Not realizing she had been holding her breath waiting for Carter to arrive miraculously, she took her first step.

Susan fluffed her dress and picked at her bouquet as she watched Abby pass the first set of pews. She could see Chuck smiling at her from the front of the church. Susan gave him a playful wink. With a cue from the conductor, the organ started to play. A sudden blow to her left shoulder interrupted Susan's focus. Someone had tripped over her train and collided with her shoulder. Turning around, she discovered the culprit had vanished. Her head whipped back to her wedding and she saw Carter gracefully catching up with Abby and elegantly sliding his arm into hers.

Abby was startled by the touch of Carter's arm slipping into hers. She looked at him and smiled as she let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought you weren't coming." Abby whispered.

"You look beautiful." was all he could think to say in return.

Haleh and Chuny almost clapped as Carter and Abby passed their pew. Ray and Neela were surprised by the nurses' sudden burst of happiness and ventured to question them but the organ picked up its tune and Susan walked through the door.

The night was clear and filled with stars, a warm breeze swayed here and there. The lively music of the reception could be heard a mile away and across the sandy shore of the lake. White tents graced the lake's shoreline and stringed lights glittered against the dark background. Besides Susan and Chuck, all anyone could really talk about was Carter and Abby.

Carter looked around anxiously for Abby as he held two glasses of ginger ale. They hadn't spoken since their walk down the aisle and they had both ridden in separate limos on the way to the reception. Abby was relieved and upset at Carter's arrival to Susan's wedding. She didn't know what to make of it. She really wanted some wine but didn't give into her temptation. Neela had mentioned something about ginger ale and Abby made a beeline for it.

The band began to play a slow melody and Susan led Chuck onto the dance floor. Doug and Carol followed, then Luka and Sam. Carter glanced around for Abby. He saw Neela and Ray talking over some roasted ham, Haleh and Chuny gossiping about something, and then he saw her. Abby was leaning up against one of the poles watching Susan and Chuck dance. Carter slowly made his way towards Abby so that she wouldn't see him and walk away. "May I have this dance?" has asked.

"Carter, you know I don't dance." She said, not taking her eyes off of Susan and Chuck.

"What about my Gamma's gala?"

"You mean that charity ball?" she turned to face him.

"Yeh, and we slit Richard's tire."

They both laughed. Carter looked at Abby in a way that made her heart skip a beat and her skin crawl with goosebumps. Their faces were almost touching, their noses rubbing against each other. "I love you Abby." He whispered as he leaned in.

"John-" she started to say. Right as her lips brushed against his, Abby took a step back. She looked at Carter in a confused stare and headed for the parking lot.

"Abby wait!" Carter yelled as he ran after her. Neela caught all of this from the corner of her eye, so did Ray.

Crap! Abby thought to herself. Neela was her ride home. She didn't want to look like a fool standing idle, so she pretended to look for her car. Carter reached her and almost reached for her arm but decided against it. "Abby, stop please." Carter heaved out, hands on knees, sucking in air.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm trying to be with you."

"And so was I until you ran away to Africa and-"

"You dumped me remember?"

"I only asked for my key back…I wanted to think."

"I wanted to talk to you, but then Luka…I wanted to stay"

"It wasn't fair to me."

"I thought about you everyday."
"What, until you sent me that letter and got Kem pregnant?" she paused, "Everyone read it too, dug it out of the trashcan."

He paused to think her last statement over and decided it was irrelevant. The wind picked up in the starry sky, so Abby ran her fingers through her hair. He smiled.

"I'm not going to lie. I loved Kem, you know that, but only because she was carrying my son. Only because of that; I love you for Abby. Not past Abby, not would be Abby, just Abby." He took a step closer.

"John."

"Yes?" he asked carelessly with a hint of hope.

"We'd better get back."

Carter's heart sank as he threw his hands up in the air as Abby turned her back on him and headed towards the tents. Just as he was about to head back himself, he heard his name in the distance. A car pulled up with its brights on, and a figure emerged and gave him a hug.

"I've missed you so much."

It was Kem.

The ER was busy as usual. Ray, Neela, Abby, and Pratt were the underlings for the day and Luka was the only other attending besides Susan. Kerry was coming at six and no one had seen Carter for a week. Abby was filled with a rush of emotions as his name was mentioned periodically. She replayed the parking lot scene over in her head and could not get Carter out of her mind.

Two GSWs came in, one lived and the other went into a systole within two minutes. Ray and Abby headed towards the lounge after peeling off their bloody gloves. Ray handed Abby a cup of coffee and she was immediately caught off guard by his friendly gesture. "Neela and I know." Ray started.

"Figures; saw you staring us down at the wedding."

"That obvious?" he joked then paused, "Wanna talk about it?"

"With you?" Abby laughed.

"Mocking me?"

"No…but…"

"But what?" he asked firmly placing his cup on the table

"There's nothing to talk about." Abby said, glancing towards the door.

"Wanna know what I think?"

"Not particularly."

"I think you two are in love with each other and are afraid to admit it."

Abby froze before the door. It made her uneasy to think that Ray could dissect her like that. She looked at him in disbelief. Ray continued,

"You two are constantly flirting and when you and Carter are in Trauma, it's as if you two were telepathic or something. You two just take over while Neela and I just watch."

Ray tried to decipher her expression, but with uncertainty continued. "Everyone knows it. We all talk about. And thanks to Dr. Lewis' wedding, Neela and I were let in on the dramatic history between you two."

"Thank you Obi Wan." Abby said plainly and left the lounge leaving Ray sipping his hot coffee.

Twenty minutes later Abby clocked out and headed towards Doc Magoo's. She spotted the back of Carter's head occupying her booth. Ok, her and Carter's booth. Abby hadn't seen him since the wedding. She slid in across from him as he looked up from his newspaper in astonishment.

"Abby" was all that he could think to say. He was still in shock. They needed to talk. The waitress came and refilled Carter's coffee mug and asked if Abby wanted anything. After ordering the usual coffee and pie, she looked at him.

"You disappeared after we…"

"Something happened." He cut her off. They sat in a strained silence. He poked his fork into the pie and took a bite. He nudged the plate back towards Abby who did the same.

"What happened so late at night, and don't tell me you were mugged." She gave a nervous laugh.

Carter watched her for a second, not exactly knowing how to tell her about Kem's unexpected arrival; especially after what he said to Abby. But it was true; he was in love with Abby.

"Kem, she's back in Chicago." He said hesitantly. Abby's fork slipped from her grasp and crashed onto the table. Her heart felt like lead.

"Oh…ok." She said, trying to fight back a whirlwind of emotions.

"No, it's not ok." Carter said placing her fork gently back on her plate. Abby looked at him in a confused stare.

"She's staying at the Hotel Dauphine for an AIDS conference. When I saw her something happened that I thought would never happen…I didn't enjoy her company. She's changed, I've changed, and so have you whether you like it or not…When I was with her all I could think about was you."

Carter waited for her response. Abby stared out the window into the ambulance bay doors. She was reliving their conversation on the roof two years ago.

"I wanna marry you!" he had shouted as a helicopter flew overhead in the thick snow and her just finishing a cigarette.

"You're crazy!" Abby had shouted back.

"Then I'll fit right in."

But then, Abby remembered the their date the following night. He had the ring, but something stopped him. Something she had said. "I don't think people change Carter."

Kem walked into the busy ER timidly spotting Frank on the phone. Sam, who was working triage, spotted Kem and immediately informed Dr. Lewis. They didn't know what to do. Kem gave a warm smile to everyone but got blank stares in return. Kem held up a tiny box and shrugged her shoulders, "Where's John, I've bought him something?"

Jerry blurted out that he was across the street at Magoo's. After the doors closed, Jerry received many blows to the arm from Chuny, Haleh, Sam, and Susan. Even Kerry seemed annoyed. "Abby's over at Magoo's." said Haleh. Jerry stammered out a weak 'sorry' to everyone still left at the desk. "I didn't know." He said when Susan glared at him.

"If anything bad comes out of this, we blame you…and your future children." She quickly added.

Jerry sank back to the phones as Frank muttered 'retard'.

Carter heard the jingle of the doors opening, and out of mere habit, turned his head. Kem. She quickly walked over to where he was sitting. Abby closed the bathroom stall door behind her and began to wash her hands. Kem tried to kiss Carter, but he turned his head to receive it on his left cheek and gave her a pat on the back. Saddened by his gesture, Kem took a seat next to him not noticing the pie with two forks, and the abandoned lab coat sitting on the other side.

Kem slid the box over to him smiling, saying that she picked it up in Kisangani, where they first met. "Did you miss me?" she asked in an annoyingly teasing voice.

"At first yes." He shot back.

"What's wrong?" she asked, taken back by his hostile attitude. She tried wrapping her hands around his shoulder, but he shrugged them off and scooted towards the window. "John?" she started.

"Don't call me that."

"It's you name silly." She laughed.

"No one calls me that." Carter said. "I think you should leave." He added as he saw Abby rounding the corner looking down at her hands.

Abby was thinking so hard about what to say that she didn't notice Kem trying to plant another kiss on Carter. Finally looking up, she saw Kem quickly get up to leave and handing him a box. Kem, hurried out the diner embarrassed and didn't notice Abby staring at her and Carter. Jerry saw Kem exit and thought to himself, one down two to go.

Abby walked slowly back to the booth and gathered up her lab coat. She placed a five dollar bill in front of the pie. "I have to go." She said quietly at a loss of words.

"I understand." He said sadly, fiddling with the box in his hands, his head hanging low.

"I have to meet with Dr. Dubenko anyways to write a thesis." She lied, try to make this easier. She was on the verge of tears, her heart being ripped in two. He looked at her. "Not now." She said.

"Then when?" he stated more to himself. Abby gave him a sad smile and left.

It took Carter a while to realize that he needed to take action. He left enough change on the table to compensate for Abby's five dollars. Jerry watched patiently through the window. First he saw Abby leaving in a hurry, turning the corner to catch the El. About a minute later he saw Carter running out of the diner after her not knowing which way to go.

Jerry pushed past patients and those waiting in triage to reach the ambulance bay doors. "She went left!" he yelled across the street at Carter who gave Jerry and broad smile. Carter broke out in a run towards the El. Running up the stairs, skipping every two steps, he spotted Abby boarding her line. "Abby!" he yelled desperately, but his voice was drowned by the daily bustle of traffic. Miraculously Carter made it onto the train and looked around for her anxiously. He spotted her, standing, brushing away a stray tear and holding onto the pole as the train lurched forward. Abby saw him rushing towards her and their eyes met. Her face lit up so much that it weakened Carter's knees and made him almost blush.

Out of impulse, Carter stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, staring into her deep brown eyes. Abby slowly stood on her toes and kissed him on his forehead. He laughed as she swung her arms around his neck. She looked at him again in utter joy as he leaned in to deepen their kiss, which seemed to pour out everything they had been feeling for each other. It consumed them.

They heard someone suggesting they get a room and they both started to laugh. Abby buried her face into his chest and hugged him tightly. Carter smiled. This was perfection for him. This is where they both wanted to be; together. Abby pulled away and smiled. "I love you." She mouthed.

"I love you so much." He said as he bent down for another kiss.

Jerry let out a sigh of relief.

6