Chapter 7: Leaving
"Hey, what happened?"
"I'm definitely going to Africa"
"What? Why?"
"Did you know Abby's drinking?"
"Yes"
Carter got surprised and pissed
"And you didn't do anything to stop?"
"No"
"Good"
"What did you want me to do, Carter?"
"I don't know! Stop her!"
"What she does or doesn't do it's not my business" – Susan started to walk away, but she turned – "But it's yours. She started drinking because of you"
"Really?" – Carter said in a sarcastic and surprised tone
"Yeah. She really loved you, unlike you"
"Hey! I really loved her!"
"But it didn't seem so. You don't wait for someone for two years until you finally kiss and date for another year. And you just don't throw it away like this"
"What you wanted me to do?"
"I don't know! First, you shouldn't have sent that stupid letter. It was very immature of you. And second, you shouldn't have got that woman pregnant!"
"I couldn't be stuck on Abby forever"
"I know. But you seemed to move on really fast"
"Yeah, because I wanted to have a kid so bad"
"And you had no idea she was carrying one"
"No, because she was afraid on passing on the disease"
"But she did that for you. She wanted you as the father of her kids, because…"
"Kids? Has she had more than one? Did she make an abortion? Tell me, Susan. I want to know"
"Dr. Lewis, they need you in trauma two"
"Be right there. If you wanna know more, just ask her"
Susan stopped to talk to me at the admitting.
"What's this?"
"Oh, this?" – I pointed to the envelop – "I wanted to volunteer for the Alliance"
"Oh, like Carter and Luka did two years ago?" – She notice the look on my face – "Sorry"
"No, it's ok. And yes, it's the same that they did"
"But why?"
"Because…" – I sighed – "Because Carter's back and I need to stay away from him as much as I can. And also because I don't want my daughter to suffer"
"You know he's going too, right?"
"What? Susan, you need to convince him to stay"
"No"
"C'mon!"
"I'm not interfering anymore. I fought too much with him for you"
"And I appreciate. Please, only this time, I promise"
"Ok"
"Thank you"
I left to solve some things
"Hey Carter"
"What?"
"I need to talk to you"
"Go ahead"
"You're really going to Africa?"
"Yes"
"Why don't you stay?"
"What?" – He looked at her.
"Yeah, I mean. We desperately need doctors"
"So do they. Where's Abby?"
"Oh, she… she needed to solve some things"
"When she comes back?"
"I don't know. So, why don't you consider staying? I mean, you can bring Kem over here"
"Susan, why don't you want me to go?"
"Because… because we need doctors so bad. And you are one of the most important. You're chief resident"
"Ok, if this means so much, I'll stay"
"Yeah, thanks"
Later that night…
"Hey"
"Hey. So?"
"I talked to him and convinced him to stay"
"Really? That's so great! Thanks, Susan"
"Anytime"
"Oh… I'm gonna miss you so much!"
"I know, I'm gonna miss you too"
"You've been so good to me. I don't even have words to start to say how much I am grateful for you coming into my life"
I felt my eyes fill with tears. And I saw Susan's too.
"I don't know where to start explaining how much you changed my life. You're my best friend, you know? For 4 years you've been my best friend"
"I appreciate. You're my best friend too. Thank you for helping me so much. Thank you for always support me and be there. Thank you for everything. You'll always be in my heart"
Susan cried hearing my thanks
"Come with me. I have something to show you"
"What?"
"It's a surprise. I can't tell"
Susan takes me to Lava Lounge and everybody's there but Carter.
"Oh my God!"
"Surprise!"
"Susan! I didn't deserve this!"
"Don't be silly! Of course you did!"
"I wanna make a toast. To this wonderful and amazing person that is Abby. She'll be very missed. She's too important to me"
"Thank you Luka. You're really important to me too"
"Abby, I don't even have words to tell you how much I am going to miss you. I can't find words to describe how much you mean to me and how much County will change without you"
"As much as I want to believe this, I know you guys will be fine, or even great, without me"
"I'm not sure about that"
"I am so thankful to everyone here. Luka, Neela, Sam, Ray, Pratt, Kerry, Chuny, Haleh, Lily… you. I'm thankful to those already left. Carol, Lucy, Mark, Deb, Cleo, Peter, Gallant, Lizzie. You all made me what I am today. Thank you so much. Really. I love you guys"
"You promise to keep in touch?"
"Yeah. Now I need to go. Goodbye"
An hour later, Carter arrives and is surprised to see everybody there
"What are you doing here?"
"We… ah, we decided to go out to drink. Wanna join?"
Carter shakes his head and looks around
"Where's my… Abby?"
"Oh, she already left. She said she needed to do some things"
"She went home?"
"I don't know. Maybe"
"I'm going over there"
"No"
"Why not?"
"Because, if she's busy, you better not to go. You can distract her"
"I need to talk to her"
"You can talk to me. I'll tell her"
"Susan, what's going on? You asked me to stay, you don't want me to go over at Abby's"
She bit her lips
"There's something you don't me to know"
"What? No!"
"Right. You can tell me"
"Carter, I'm not hiding anything"
"Susan"
"Why would I hide something from you?"
"I don't know. But I don't have time for this now. I need to find Abby"
Susan doesn't have time to answer because he rushes to Abby's place
"Oh, great!"
Carter arrives at Abby's and starts to knock on her door nervously
"Abby! Are you there? Abby!"
Nobody answers. He notices that the door is unlocked and opens it
That's strange
He walks in and sees the house is empty. He quickly realizes she moved out
Why didn't she tell me? She moved and I don't even know where
He sits on the floor and puts his head in his hands, frustrated and mad.