Chapter 9

Carter was just headed to see Doug when Doug knocked him on the floor. As Susan helped him up, for the second time that day, he told Susan, "That's weird. It's not like Doug to act out like that. Let me talk to him."

Susan shouted "Good luck!" as Carter walked out of the hospital in search of Doug. Spotting him, he asked, "Hey, Doug, can we talk?" Carter was, to be completely honest, a little bit scared of Doug. After all, this was not the Doug Ross he knew.

"I'm fine, Carter," Doug replied curtly.

"You are not fine. At least let me take a look at that," Carter said motioning to Doug's hand that and the blood dripping from it.

Doug looked down at the ground; he couldn't look his friend in the eye. "Your busy anyway so just leave me alone." All the anger and energy was out of his voice now and he sounded monotone. Doug wrapped his hand in his scarf to soak up the blood and turned to leave. He did want to talk but he was afraid if he stuck around me might see Carol again.

Carter followed Doug, who hadn't been able o get very far. He felt hurt by Doug's words, and it wasn't like Doug to get angry with him. "Fine Doug! Whatever you say! I thought we were friends. Friends who helped each other out. What the hell was that crap back there?" Carter was mad now. In fact, he was practically livid!

Doug put his hand over his eyes and finally stopped walking. His head was pounding. He didn't want to fight with Carter, he had to just calm down. He turned and looked at him. "Look, you don't know what's going on, OK?"

Doug squeezed his fist tight. Which turned out to not be such a hot idea, because it only made the blood seep out of his hand faster and he encountered a sharp pain. 'Damn it! There must still be glass in there,' He thought, knowing that whether or not he wanted to, he was going to have to get it looked at.

"Carter, you are my friend, so I don't want to fight with you. I just...it's just..." Doug trailed off. He cleared he throat and began again. "Something is wrong with me. I don't know what it is, but..." Again he throat was becoming tight. The pain in his injured hand and his conscience of the past twenty minutes brought him to his knees.

Doug his face and dropped his head to the ground. "I think I just lost Carol for good. There no way she is going to forgive me after what I just did." Doug couldn't move. He there on his knees, hoping Carter would understand and not be mad at him too. "I'm sorry, John.

Carter looked at Doug. "Why do you think Carol left you?" He asked him. He wasn't going to leave Doug until he figured out what was wrong with his friend. "You know she left Chicago last time for one reason. She left here for you. She loves you, I do know that much. Why are you angry at her? What did she do? I don't understand. Are you mad that you moved back or do you want to be back? These are things you need to think about Doug."

"Doug, I know in your heart, and her heart, that you two love each other so very much. I watched, and saw, and knew that you two were meant for each other. There are going to be fights from time to time. Hell I fought with a lot of woman in my life," Carter said.

Doug laughed at Carter. It felt good. He hadn't laughed in awhile. "I don't know I just fell like I'm always letting her down. I pretty much hate change, and it has been hard to move back. Once I get a firm job back I'm sure I'll be OK. I just don't know how to talk to her now. The fights we get in can be pretty bad; it's just harder now that we have kids."

Doug looked down at his hand again. Smiling he looked up at Carter. "How about I let you look at this for me?" Doug got up off his knees and walked into the hospital with Carter.

They walked past exam room and Doug saw Susan with Carol. He looked at Carter again. "Thanks again John, you didn't have to go out of your way but you did. Now can you do me just one more favor?" He put his good hand around Carter's neck as they walked into the suture room.

Still inside, as soon as Carter chased off after Doug, Susan walked around the corner, she spotting Carol. It was clear she had been crying. She walked over to her and softly led her into the lounge. Once they were there she pulled Carol into a hug.

After several seconds she looked Carol in the face. "Are you OK? What happened?" Susan was truly concerned. She looked down at Carol's arm and saw a bruise from where Doug had grabbed her. "I have the girls up in day care. So, don't worry about that, OK? Now, did Doug do this to you?" She asked pointing at her arm.

"Yeah, and he through a couple of rocks at me too," She said to her friend. "I'm not sure what's wrong with Doug. He scares me, and the twins. I love him, but the way he's acting right now, I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"Come over here and sit down, I'll get you come coffee to warm you up." Susan wanted to help both her friends. She knew she could make Carol feel better; she just hoped Carter could figure out what was wrong with Doug.

Susan hugged Carol again, she was sad things were going badly for her. "How did Doug act when you decided to move here?" She asked. "Maybe he is just homesick; change was always hard for him."

Carol hugged Susan back. "Actually he agreed with me to come here. If I wasn't happy where I was he would come back here with me."

She didn't want it to seem like she was trying to stick up for Doug, but she wanted to help Carol. "Don't get me wrong, what he did was awful and I would be upset too. However, has he had anything bad happen to him lately? Any extra stress? Or have you two just been fighting a lot?" Once again, she hoped she and Carter could help their two best friends.

"I don't know what's wrong with him lately," Carol said to her friend.

Susan didn't know what to say, she didn't want to say that something was wrong with Doug if she didn't know for sure. Then she turned and saw that Carter had gotten Doug to come back in the hospital with him and that they were going into the suture room. "Well, Carol, I don't know. Maybe you should go talk with him.

"Let Carter fix his hand and relax for awhile. Take your daughters home or something, and then talk to him calmly. I know it will be hard for you, since he is the one, who screwed up, but boys are dumb and we always have to be the bigger person." Susan smiled at her own joke; she wanted Carol to smile too. "Nothing is as bad as it seems. You two can never be far apart."

Carol smiled at Susan. "I know your right." She said to her. She got up and was heading out the door, when she turned and looked at Susan. "Thank you."

Susan smiled. "No problem," She said. "By the way, if you ever need a place to stay, give me a call."

"Thanks Susan, I'll take that offer anytime," Carol said as she went to look for her babies, before she found Doug. She then went to get the twins from Daycare.

As Carter began to prepare to suture Doug's hand, he couldn't help but wonder: Where was Abby. He didn't know and she hadn't called. Though he had called her twice, Carter took out the suture kit to do Doug's hand.

Doug removed the scarf and let Carter check out his hand. He had cut his fist fairly deep and it would require several stitches. "Hey, John, are you worried about something? You seem a little distant."

"I'm just worried about Abby. She was suppose to call me by now"

"I'm sure Abby is just busy, or sleeping in." He looked down at his stitches; Carter always had a knack for good sutures. "Thanks, John, these aren't bad." As they both stood up Doug just gave Carter a look that said all he felt.