Chapter 11

The door to Carter's room opened and Carter turned to see Mark enter.

"Dr Greene." Carter tried to offer a smile but it didn't quite meet his eyes.

Doug still in the room, had been keeping Carter company. He gave Mark a nod and went to make some adjustments to Carter's vitals, making notes in his chart.

"Hey Carter." Mark was surprised to see him looking so alert, but pleased; "How you feeling?"

"Alive." Carter quipped before rephrasing; "I'm ok really. Thanks."

"Good."

"No really. Thank you. Both of you. Dr Ross told me what you did for me. How you saved my life. I owe you."

"Oh no Carter, it's just what we do." Doug replied with a smile.

"Just comes with the job Carter." Mark added with a shrug. He moved to pull the chair over to sit beside Doug, so Carter could see them both.

"So I'm not sure if Doug told you or not, but we spoke to your family."

"Wait what?" Carter snapped his gaze between the two men horrified. Suddenly, terrified what they talked about. He tried to see from their expressions, but they weren't giving much away; "You did? Ok. Sure." Carter finished trying to appear casual.

They continued to stare at him, as if studying him, or hesitant to continue. But why? Unless...Carter finally saw their faces and understood.

"They're not coming are they?"

"No they're not. I'm sorry Carter."

Doug furrowed his brow at Carter; "You don't seem surprised they aren't here."

Shrugging one shoulder, Carter played with the bed cover with his good hand feeling self conscious; "Honestly, I'd be more surprised if they were here."

"Because of the ultimatum they gave you?" Mark questioned.

"You know about that?" Carter balked, and gulped; "How much more do you know?"

"Well we know they tried to force you to stop being a doctor, or be kicked out the family a few months ago. And well Kerry told me about the fact you're now taking a paycheque and requested double shifts. It's not that hard to figure out."

"And we know about your second job." Doug added sending Carter a stern look not to deny it.

"You do? Oh." Carter winced, they pretty much knew everything. And judging from their faces, they weren't happy.

"Why didn't you come to us Carter?" Mark demanded; "I could have helped. That's what we're here for. As your bosses. And your friends."

"It doesn't matter now." Carter started, really not wanting to go into it.

"I think it does Carter." Doug said angrily; "This is serious. You've been working non stop, two jobs, 24/7. You were exhausted. That's why you got sick. Your body was trying to tell you to slow down. And the stress you were under from your family...you shouldn't have to go through that alone Carter. They had no right to put you in that position."

"Having to make that kind of decision couldn't have been easy Carter." Mark sympathised; "Choosing between your family and being a doctor."

"Yeah well..." Carter considered coming up with a quippy remark, or outright change the conversation. But honestly, it was kind of nice to be able to talk to someone about it. And he knew they weren't going to let it go until he talked to them; "They've never supported me being a doctor. To them it's just a frivolous hobby, that's beneath them. Now they think I've turned my back on them. But they just don't understand how important it is."

"They shouldn't have given you an ultimatum like that. Family doesn't do that to each other." Doug protested angrily.

Carter just scoffed; "Yeah well you haven't met my family. Trust me, for them that's just natural. Let's just say we were never a close family to start with. More like a business corporation."

"That sounds rough." Mark murmured, realising he had never thought about what Carter had been through as a child.

"You get used to it." Carter said with a wry smile.

"Carter. We know you were fired from the RA job. Why did you take on a second job? Why were you working double shifts?" Mark finally demanded, needing to know; "I mean I know the pay's not great, but are you that desperate for money?"

"It's complicated." Carter said vaguely.

"Try us."

"With all due respect, it's not really any of your business." Carter snapped defensively; "I appreciate everything you did for me. I really do. But my personal life is mine not yours."

"Nice try Carter." Doug retorted; "We're not falling for that again. Now fess up. What's going on?"

He met their gaze, waiting to see if they gave in. But they were unblinking.

They weren't going to let this go.

Exhaling loudly, Carter turned to look at the ceiling. This was so humiliating.

"I need money for an apartment." He finally confessed.

Doug raised an eyebrow as Mark furrowed.

"That's it?" Doug said surprised, expecting something far worse.

"Wait." It all started to click in that moment for Mark; "You were a live in RA until a few months ago. Carter, where have you been living since?" He asked slowly, afraid of the answer.

Carter turned to face Mark apprehensively; "Here?"

"Wait what?" Doug blinked, leaning forward utterly shocked, looking at Mark in horror.

"What do you mean you've been living here?" Mark asked sharply, his eyes widening. Immediately, casting an unsettled and worried look at Doug. This was serious.

Afraid to meet their gaze, and see the disappointment on their faces, Carter just looked down at the blanket, playing with the hem.

"Carter." Mark prompted gently but firmly.

"I lost my RA job, and my place to live. I can't afford another apartment at the moment." His voice became quieter; "That's why I've been picking up double shifts and the other job to help. I try to take naps in between shifts at the hospital, and shower and eat when I can. It's no big deal really. I'll be able to put a deposit down soon." Carter rambled, hoping they weren't too upset about him staying in the hospital.

"No big deal. Are you serious Carter?" Doug looked at him like he was crazy, and Mark's frown was getting deeper by the second. This wasn't good; "You're essentially homeless. I think that's a pretty big deal."

"Why didn't you come to me Carter?" Mark sounded hurt now; "Do you not trust us to help? Were you embarrassed? Because you know you can come to me with anything. I'm not going to judge you. But this is serious now, you should have told us."

"I know I shouldn't be living in the hospital. There's probably some rules and stuff against it, it won't happen anymore."

Rubbing a hand over his face furiously, Mark leant forward; "Carter. Its not that you've been living in the hospital. I don't care about that. I care that you have no where to live at the moment. That's why you got sick, you haven't been taken proper care of yourself."

"Is it us?" Doug questioned; "Did we do something to make you feel you couldn't come to us?"

"No it's not you." Carter said quickly, realising this was heading in a bad direction; "It's just...I mean come on. You don't want to hear about my personal drama. I know what you all think of me."

"And what's that?"

"That I'm some rich spoilt trust fund kid, who hasn't had to work for anything and has had everything just handed to me."

"We don't think that!" Mark insisted snapping his head back in shock.

"That is not true Carter." Doug added with emphasis, shaking his head.

"Why would you...has anyone said anything to you?" Mark was angry now, wondering if someone has been insulting Carter.

"No." Carter rolled his eyes, realising this was getting out of hand.

"Is that what your family thinks?" Doug challenged, and this time Carter stayed silent.

"Oh Carter..."

"I just didn't want this."

"What?"

"The pity and the sympathy. I don't want or need that. It's really not a big deal. The reason I didn't come to you was because I didn't want to cause any fuss. I wasn't going to whine about having no money when other people have it worse off than I do. Besides, you've all been dealing with money issues longer than I have. You don't complain. You just get on with it. Just because I've had a trust fund most of my life, doesn't mean I think I deserve special treatment. Because I don't. And this, I can handle this. I don't need help."

Doug just scoffed; "Carter you really are an idiot."

"Doug." Mark chastised, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry but it's true. We may have all had trouble with money but we've never been homeless Carter. You had ever right to complain and moan about your situation. You've had it way worse than we have. Sure we didn't have trust funds, but we were earning money as kids getting paper rounds and weekend jobs and such. For you it's like you're just starting out, with nothing. That's way more difficult than we had it. It takes a lot of guts and strength to face that and deal with all this alone."

"He's right Carter." Mark admitted surprised at Doug's words; "What you're facing none of us have had to deal with. And we had family to support us. There's nothing wrong with asking for help Carter. We can help you. We want to help you. You don't deserve this."

Carter was in awe, not excepting that response. It sounded like they really cared for him. But he was reluctant to believe that.

"How?" Carter said suspiciously; "I'm not taking any money. I don't want charity."

"Ok well for starters you're not living in the hospital anymore. You can stay with me." Mark said with finality; "For as long as you need."

"What? Really?" Carter blinked totally shocked and wary.

"Yes of course."

"Carol and I would be happy to have you stay with us for a while too if you want." Doug added firmly with a soft smile.

"Oh." Carter was left speechless; "I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing to say. Let's just focus on you getting better." Mark patted Carter's arm with a smile; "Just take it easy and rest for now."

0o0o0oo000ERO0o0o0oo0o

Doug let out a whistle as he and Mark exited Carter's room. They waited until Carter fell back asleep. But they stopped just outside, looking back through the window at him.

"That is just messed up Mark..." Doug crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I know." Mark murmured under his breath, planting his hands on the window sill staring at Carter. Doug could see the anger just rolling off him; "I should have noticed things were so bad for him."

"Come on Mark, none of us knew. He hid it well. He didn't want anyone to know."

"He's stubborn."

Scoffing, Doug went to stand beside him; "Got that right." His jaw hardened; "His family is something else..."

What kind of people treat their own son like a business employee, and just toss him aside like that? They don't even care what happens to him, just that he does what they want. They even had him believing he was spoilt. It just wasn't right. If he ever got a hold of Carter's family...

"He never talks about his family." Mark said tilting his head as he watched Carter; "I guess now we know why."

"Carol said Carter's grandmother was tough, but not like this." Pausing Doug looked at Mark sideways; "What are we going to do about him? Giving him a place to stay is one thing, but the way he's injured, he's going to be out of work for a while, and if he won't accept any money..."

"He's can't stay alone when he leaves here anyway, he'll still be injured. And atleast I can keep an eye on him. Make sure he's getting rest. He can't go through this alone."

"We'll make sure he doesn't."

0o0o0o0oERo0o0ooo

When Peter walked into Carter's room a few hours later, he was surprised to see Carter sitting up in bed, looking though his chart one handed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Peter rushed over and snatched the chart from Carter's hand.

"It is my chart." Carter said in a bitter tone; "I knew you were all lying to me about how bad I was." He paused to glare untrusting at Peter.

Sighing, Peter set aside the chart, knowing how difficult this had to be for Carter.

"You were." Peter admitted reluctantly; "But you're getting better." Then he pulled out a penlight and went to shine it in Carter's eyes. But Carter flinched back.

"Hey!"

"Come on Carter. I have to do a neuro check. You know the drill."

"Yeah well I'm fine. I remember my name, where I am, and what happened to me. I don't have any nausea or dizziness."

Nodding, Peter rested his hands on the railing of Carter's bed; "I get this is tough Carter. But we're just trying to help."

"I know." Carter sad tiredly, leaning back in bed to look at the ceiling; "Sorry."

"So how are you feeling? Any pain?" Peter set about checking Carter's vitals and finishing the exam.

"Yeah. My arm still hurts, and my head's killing me."

"Alright well we'll see about upping your pain meds." Peter murmured making some notes in Carter's chart.

Watching him for a moment, Carter narrowed his eyes; "You know don't you? Dr Greene and Dr Ross told you?"

"Yeah they did."

"So are you going to tell me how stupid I am now, and lecture me?"

Silently turning to look at Carter, Peter set the chart back at the end of his bed before replying; "No Carter I'm not. It's your life, not mine. You can do what you like. But I do agree that you should have talked to one of us about it. As your mentors we're here to teach you, but we're also here to look out for you. You have any problems you can come to us. You have to come to us. Because stuff like this you can't handle alone."

That comment pissed Carter off, making him feel like a small child who had done something wrong, but all he could say in reply was a small; "Ok."