Chapter 6

Peter scrubbed his hands furiously looking out terrified at Carter being prepped on the OR table.

He didn't even understand what happened. It looked like Carter had been attacked with a bat or a brick or something. Doug said they didn't even know what happened to him. And he was hypothermic. What the hell?

"Peter?" Dr Anspaugh suddenly walked in, looking through the window at Carter and blew out a breath; "So it's true? It's Dr Carter? What happened?"

"We don't know. They just found him down in the ER."

"Well the X-rays are back. You made the right choice bringing him up here so quick. He's got blood in his belly, and it looks like there's some foreign debris in there too. We need to open him up to have a look." Anspaugh moved to start washing his hands too.

"What about his brain? They showed concern there was a brain bleed? And he seized down in the ER."

"I heard about that. We'll push Mannitol and keep an eye on his pressure. The longer we're in the more pressure on his brain, so this will just be a patch job. Nothing pretty. We can go back in later." Then Anspaugh paused to look at Peter; "Are you sure you can do this Peter? I can call someone else in."

"No I'm fine. I'm doing this." No one else was going to operate on Carter and possibly kill him. Carter was going to be fine. He would make sure of it.

0o0o0ooo0ERo0o0o0oo0

When Doug entered the doctor's lounge a little later, somewhat dazed and shaken by what happened with Carter. He saw Mark speaking lowly with two security personnel.

"Hey what's up?"

"Thanks guys." Mark said nodding at them, as they left, Mark crossed his arms turning to face Doug. And it made Doug very nervous.

"What is it?"

"Security searched the hospital. They found Carter's bloody clothes in the men's room. In the trash." Mark gestured at them as they lay on the table. Doug eyed them warily, seeing they were also wet and ripped. Like they had been shredded.

"What do they think happened?"

"There's a few theories. The foremost he was attacked. However, the fact he was changed into scrubs, his arm bandaged, and walking about the ER before collapsing could indicate something else."

"Yeah that doesn't add up."

"I've called the police." Mark replied solemnly, putting his hands on his hips turning to look at Carter's clothes feeling sick; "They're on their way."

Doug eyed him concerned; "You ok Mark?" Wondering if this was bringing back harsh feelings or memories for Mark.

"He could have died. If we hadn't looked for him, and had just been at the party. He could have died. He could still die." Mark shook his head, opening his mouth about to say something but then stopped. He turned away pacing.

"I know Mark. Believe me I know. I can't stop seeing him on the floor on the suture room bleeding."

Mark turned to Doug suddenly nodding; "You did a good job. Finding him and helping him. Thanks Doug."

"I just hope he's ok." Doug frowned angry at Peter.

"I called the OR. They're just starting the surgery. He's ok for now."

"He better stay that way."

There was a heavy silence for a moment.

"Do you think someone attacked him?" Mark asked softly.

Doug studied him for a moment sadly; "I don't know Mark."

"I don't want anyone left alone at the moment. I'm going to have security through the whole ER, and the hospital. Plus two security officers on Carter at all times. This cannot happen again!"

"I know Mark."

"I knew something was going on with him." Mark's jaw hardened kicking himself for not talking to Carter earlier; "If he was in trouble and this is because of that..."

"We couldn't have known Mark. We tried to talk to him, to help him..."

"I sent him home. If I hadn't, if I had confronted him, then maybe none of this would have happened."

"We don't know that Mark. And honestly, it doesn't matter. Ifs and buts won't help Carter now. We just need to make sure he's ok."

"Yeah you're right." Mark paused closing his eyes as something occurred to him; "We need to call Carter's family."

"I'll do that. You handle security and the police. I'll call his family. And I'll have Carol go up to the surgical floor. Personally keep an eye on Carter."

"Yeah thanks good idea."

"He'll be ok Mark." Doug said firmly backing away to the door; "He has to be. He's got the world's best doctors."

0o0o0o0o0ERo0o0o0o0ooo

Four hours into the surgery, Peter glanced a look at Carter's face hidden behind the dressing.

It wasn't going well.

There was a lot of internal bleeding and damage to Carter's organs. His spleen, intestines, lungs, all had damaged that had to be repaired.

Not to mention there was little bits of glass splattered across his insides. A large piece had been close to his spine, which had to be the likely cause of his back pain.

It was crazy.

How did all the glass get inside him?

Then there was his vitals. His temp was still dangerous low, his breathing erratic, and his oxygen levels were dangerous low. He could have brain damage from lack of oxygen and trauma. They really needed to get him to CT fast.

Suddenly, all the monitors started beeping wildly.

Peter snapped his head up startled; "What's going on?"

"His pressure's bottoming out!" The anaesthesiologist shouted, rushing to pump Carter full of drugs to help him; "The stress is just too much. His heart can't take much more than this, and I'm having trouble managing his O2 levels. You need to get out of there now!"

"Alright well luckily we're just finishing up." Anspaugh nodding his brow furrowing as he hurried to finish stitching; "There we go...Now we just need to close and get him up to the ICU."

"He's going into V-fib!"

"What?" Peter looked terrified at the monitors. No no no. They were so close. Come on Carter!

"Paddles! Charge to 200!"

The nurses scrambled to clear the instruments away and uncover Carter's chest.

"Clear!"

Peter shocked Carter and looked pleadingly at the monitors. There were a few beeps but he just flat lined again.

"Dammit!"

"Charge to 300. Push a round of Epi." Anspaugh ordered.

That's when Peter looked up spotting Carol's horrified face looking back at him from the other side of the window outside.

"Clear!"

0o0o0o0oERo0o0ooooo0oo

"And he left the hospital around 3 am?" One of the two detectives asked jotting down notes as he, his partner and Mark stood in the doctor's lounge; "Do you know where he went when he left here?"

"No." Mark shook his head sadly, crossing his arms; "I thought he was sick so I sent him home."

"And where is that?"

"I don't know. He was living as an RA at the local medical campus, but he was fired over a month ago. I don't know where he has been living since."

Nodding, the detective wrote this down; "Alright. And you say his car has been here the whole time?"

"I'm not sure, we think so. It was a few hours ago we noticed it was still here but we couldn't find him."

"Then he was found unconscious in the suture room. By a..." He turned back his notes; "Dr Ross?"

"Yeah."

"His clothes were found in the men's bathroom correct?" The other detective asked gesturing at them laid out on the table; "In the trash can?"

"Yeah yes. By our admin clerk. After we found him and treated him."

"And he was wearing scrubs. Are they easily accessible? Can anyone get access to them, or only the doctors and staff?"

"Well there are some just on shelving units in the ER. So it's possible. But it seems his injuries were somehow partly treated. The blood was cleaned off and his arm bandaged. It was done by someone who knew what they were doing but also by someone one handed."

"What are you saying?"

Sighing Mark shrugged; "By the looks of it, I can only guess Carter himself tried to clean himself up, and treat his injuries. But they were just too severe and he collapsed."

The detectives shared a look before jotting this down.

"Why do you think he would do that?"

"I don't know." Mark cleared his throat; "Listen I'm not sure if you know this but I was attacked here last year, in the men's room. They never got the person who did it."

The detectives paused, faces becoming grim; "I see. This could be a pattern. We will look into it. We'll have a CSU unit sweep the men's room, and we'll get the security cameras of the parking lots and entrances to the hospital. We'll also need to interview the staff as well. See if there was anyone suspicious or unusual hanging around lately."

"Right yeah of course whatever you need."

"One other thing. The victim. Dr Carter. How is he?"

Mark's jaw hardened; "In surgery. It's pretty bad."

"Will he make it?"

He felt like snapping an angry response, before remembering they were just doing their job. And if Carter died, this could be considered murder which is more serious. In a way, it was so twisted because if Carter died and it was murder they would work harder to catch the person who did it, rather than if he was just attacked.

"Honestly. I don't know. He's got some really severe injuries and he's in critical condition. We're going to do everything we can for him. But we just don't know. He's also a friend." Mark added softly sending them a look to take this seriously.

"We understand. We'll do our best as well. We'll contact you if we have any more questions."

"Thank you." Mark shook their hands leading them out. As they walked off, Mark heaved a heavy sigh, noting members of staff eyeing the police warily looking terrified, and whispering harshly.

By now the whole hospital heard what happened to Carter.

It was just so messed up. Carter didn't deserve to be lying on that operating table.

Slowly walking towards the admin area, he was immediately accosted by Jerry; "Hey Dr Greene. What did the police say? Did they get the guy who hurt Carter?"

"They're looking into it." Mark said firmly and reassuringly as he noticed some of the other nurses and doctors looking scared; "But don't worry the detectives have left some patrol officers outside and around the ER, and we have security. It's perfectly safe here. We'll know something soon. Don't worry. Just try to get back to work."

Mark walked around him and entered the admin desk, immediately hearing Doug's raised voice.

"...No it's vital I speak to Mr and Mrs Carter immediately, or another family member right now."

Mark edged closer, watching as Doug stood by the phone, rubbing his forehead angrily with one hand, whilst he held the phone with the other.

"I already told you I'm Dr Doug Ross. I work with John at the hospital and he's been hurt. It's vital I speak to his family immediately! No no no, yes I know they are away but I need to speak to them now. No no don't call me back. Hello?" Doug exclaimed; "Hello?" Frowning, he pulled back the phone to glare at it. And then slammed it down.

"What was that about?" Mark asked looking hesitantly at the phone.

Huffing, Doug slammed a patient chart down; "I've been trying to get hold of Carter's family for the last hour. I keep getting their housekeeper, because apparently the whole Carter family is on a cruise and are unreachable. No exceptions. And well because I'm a doctor I'm not on the special A list to speak to them."

Detecting the angry bite to Doug's tone, Mark chose to let the remark slip. Knowing he was just as upset and worried about Carter.

"The Carter's all went on a cruise? In winter?" Jerry made a face; "Hey how come Carter didn't go? I mean his whole family went without him? Seems a little odd." Seeing Doug and Mark staring at him he backed off; "Just saying."

"Alright. Well I'll try again in a little bit." Mark murmured; "If not maybe Carol can try. Seeing she has a good rapport with Carter's grandmother." He paused spotting the nurse walking over; "Hey here she is now." They both turned.

"Carol." Doug said relieved; "Any news from the OR?"

They froze seeing her distant expression for a moment. And she looked far to pale.

"Carol?" Doug prompted edging closer, alarms going off in his head.

"What is it?"

All the other nurses and staff turned to look anxiously.

"I...erm," Her voice broke and tears slipped down her face. Everyone immediately feared the worst; "It's Carter."