Chapter 9
The constant beeping and hissing was both annoying and reassuring.
It reminded him Carter's heart was still beating and he was still breathing.
He was still alive. That's what mattered.
Doug paused to stare down at Carter in the bed, taking in all his injuries. They had moved him to his own room a hours ago, and had been monitoring him constantly. His right arm had been bandaged with pins between each of his fingers to make sure they stayed straight, and his right leg was up on a stirrup in a last cast.
Between that and the breathing vent, IV stand, heart monitor and pain medication machine, it didn't leave much room for anything else. And with all the wires connected to him, it made Carter seem so small.
He went about doing another examination on Carter checking his brain swelling, his temp and vitals, and adjusted his medication.
But there was no change.
Exhaling, Doug rolled a stool over to beside his bed and sat down, making notes to his chart. He just felt useless. They were doing everything they could to help him, but the rest was up to Carter.
0o0ooo0o0oERo0o0o0ooo0
It was some time later when Mark walked into Carter's room, his face showing surprise when he spotted Doug there. His arms on the bed railing, with his head resting on them appearing to be asleep.
Checking on Carter first, Mark then moved around to gently shake Doug's shoulder; "Hey Doug?"
Jumping, Doug sat up startled; "Carter?"
"He's ok. He's fine. You fell asleep." Mark assured him, moving to stand on the other side of the bed opposite him; "How long have you been here?" He finished in a frown.
Rubbing a hand over his face, Doug sat up glancing at Carter to see for himself he was ok and then at Mark; "I don't know. What time is it?"
"Late. It's 2am. What are you even still doing here? Your shift ended hours ago."
"It didn't feel right to just leave, when Carter's...you know. And someone had to sit with him. Someone had to care." Then he frowned; "Isn't your shift over? Why are you still here?"
"Same as you." Then wordlessly, pulled another chair over to sit by Carter's bedside; "How is he?"
"No change." Doug ground out bitterly; "His fever is still high and won't come down. He still has pneumonia and can't breathe on his own. The swelling in his brain is coming down and it seems to be clotting but it's not healing fast enough."
"He's getting better." Mark nodded pleased. Even if it was minor, Carter was showing signs of improvement.
"Maybe. Peter's not to optimistic."
"Where is Peter?"
"He had another surgery. Said he'd be back to check on Carter later."
"What does Peter think then?"
"That he lost too much oxygen to his brain. That even if his injuries recover, he may not wake up."
Silence overtook them, the only sound being the sounds coming from the machines.
"I spoke to the police. They interviewed all the kids, and they refused to speak at first, but the cops managed to get through to them about the gravity of the situation. With that they were able to track down the hit and run driver."
"That's good." Doug sat up alert at that.
"Not in the way you think. It turns out the driver is over in Memorial's ER. He had a heart attack whilst driving which is what caused him to run into Carter. The car crashed the next block over."
"Oh." Doug frowned surprised and unsure what to say. He had expected some kind of reasoning and justice to this. That in some way if it was a drunk driver and they caught him and he went to jail, it would make sense. But this. An accident? There was no reasoning behind it at all; "More like being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Mark shrugged; "Depends on how you look at it. If Carter hadn't been there, that kid would have been hit instead. Maybe more than one. Whether it was a drunk driver or not, Carter saved their lives."
"And look where he is now. The price of a good deed." He just shook his head; "What happened with the kids?"
"The police couldn't do anything else with them. Seeing as they were really just witnesses. They had to send them home. I got CPS going to Archie and Danny's home though. To make sure nothing like this happens again. Those kids shouldn't have been out there in the first place."
"Nice thought but that's not going to change anything." Doug retorted, followed by a beeping coming from Carter's vitals machine alerting to a slight rise in his heart rate. Standing up, Doug adjusted the machine and then his pain machine to add some more to help him rest.
"I got Carter's phone and pager back from the kids. He had some missed calls from someone. It turns out, Carter has been working as a cleaner at another campus on his off days and hours."
"Really?" Doug frowned as he sat back down.
"Yeah so not only as he been doing double shifts, but working a second job when he's not here. He's basically been working 24/7."
"No wonder he got sick. He had to be exhausted."
"I should have seen it sooner." Mark grumbled rubbing his hands together, and then leant back in the chair crossing his arms; "I knew something was going on with him. I should have noticed he was working too hard and wasn't feeling well. Maybe if I had..."
"It's not your fault Mark."
"I'm the one who sent him home. I should have kept him here, done some tests. We would have caught his cold before it got to pneumonia and he wouldn't have got hit by that car."
"The kid would be here instead." Doug challenged earning a look from Mark. Doug then just shrugged, replaying what Carol said to him; "I'd love to find some reasoning behind this too. You know people come in here hurt day after day, we treat them and send them back out with no idea how their lives turn out. We have control in here but out there..." He just shook his head; "We can only do so much. We're doctors not God. If Carter wasn't here, someone else would be. It just effects us more because it's someone we know."
"Yeah." Mark looked at Carter for a moment, cringing at seeing the bruises on his head and his other injuries. Doug was right. They were used to seeing people hurt, and dying. But when it came to people they knew, and cared about. That was a different story. It hurt more. Because unlike their patients and their families, they knew the real seriousness of their injuries. And they knew that there was a high probability that Carter wouldn't make it through this. No matter how much they tried to help him, the medication, surgery, they were doing everything they could. But was it going to be enough?
Mark couldn't fathom Carter dying. He seriously couldn't. It was true he hadn't know Carter very long. Only a few years, and even then he barely knew him. Didn't know anything about his personal life. But he knew enough. Carter was one of the best doctor's he had ever seen, and one of the most genuine, nicest people. In a way it would make sense for Carter to get hurt saving someone else's life. It's just who he was. But he didn't deserve this.
Mark just wished he could do more.
"Do you think he'll make it?"
Doug looked at Mark for a moment without answering, really considering the question. Glancing briefly at Carter, he offered a small smile; "Yeah I do. I mean it's Carter. He'll be fine. He has to be."
"Carter's tough." Mark added in agreement a small smile.
"We'll help him through this." Doug added with sharpness that Mark knew was because he was still furious at Carter's family for not coming. He was too, but probably not as much. It was probably more of a sore subject for Doug, given the issues with his own father abandoning him. Mark had his own family issues, everyone did. But Carter's family is just messed up.
A wave of protectiveness hit Mark. As the resident, Carter was like the baby doctor of the ER. Everyone looked out for him.
If Carter's family weren't going to care, then they would be his family.
0o0o0o0o0o0ERo0o0oooo
Two days later...
There was the first sign of Carter truly getting better.
His fever finally broke, and the swelling in brain started to go down.
The pneumonia was still pretty bad, so he wasn't able to breath on his own yet, but it was looking good.
Doug and Mark had taken turns sitting with Carter, along with Peter, Carol and the others. To make sure he was never alone.
His family never called. They called them repeatedly with updates, with not much in return.
It was despicable.
Mark was beginning to get as infuriated as Doug about it.
But all that mattered was Carter was getting better.
Then it happened one day when Mark was sitting with Carter.
He woke up.
When he was running a standard neuro test on Carter, his eyes opened.
"Carter?" Mark said stunned, standing there for a moment; "Carter it's Mark."
He watched as Carter's eyes looked around slowly, before landing on him. His eyes were glazed and unfocused. Like he wasn't quite looking at him.
The heart monitor picked up his heart rate rising, and he let out a groan, choking on the vent.
"It's ok Carter. You're going to be ok. We got you." Mark murmured softly, pumping up Carter's pain meds to help him go back to sleep; "That's it go back to sleep. You're going to be ok." He finished gently tapping Carter's shoulder, unable to stop the smile from forming on his face.
Carter woke up. Albeit brief. He woke up.
And Mark just knew Carter was going to be ok.
