It Won't Come Easily Chapter Nine
"Thanks for coming down and taking a look at the patient, Dr. Benton." Lucy said as they exited the trauma room. "I really couldn't figure out if he needed surgery or not."
"It's ok. Those types of injuries are always tricky." Peter sighed. "But now you know what to look for."
"Absolutely." She said. Then she noticed he was looking at her strangely. "What?"
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"Of course I am." She lied.
"I only ask because the past week or two you've seemed out of it. You're not really making mistakes, but you're clearly distracted and losing your focus." He lowered his voice. "Is it about Carter?"
She wasn't sure what to say. It was partially about Carter, but it was more about the baby. She had gone to the doctor two weeks ago after taking the pregnancy test with Betty and found out she was actually already eight weeks pregnant. So now she was ten weeks pregnant and still in shock about the whole thing.
He was right when he said she wasn't focused on work. She knew she was zoning out at times and knew she had to stop because while it hadn't led her to make any mistakes yet, it could very easily and she wanted to avoid that at all costs.
She was happy and kind of excited about the prospect of becoming a mom, but the details of how it would all work out and Carter's reaction to it were making her nervous. And she hadn't told anyone either. So that added to her nervousness.
"No. I'm really fine." She assured him. "I'm sorry I've been distracted. I'll do better."
"Alright." He nodded. "You can talk to me if you need to though."
"Thanks." She gave him a smile before he walked away.
That's when she heard arguing behind her. She turned and saw Mark and Kerry facing off in the hallway.
"I don't want that guy in this ER." Mark argued. "Move him. Now!"
"We can't cherry pick what patients come in here, Mark." Kerry argued. "I don't want him here anymore than you do but the paramedics brought him here and we can't refuse him. We're a county hospital and have to be open to all patients."
"Not ones that almost kill our staff!" Mark yelled. "There has to be a line that we don't cross. And if you won't kick him out, then at least let me put him in restraints so he doesn't hurt anyone else while he is here."
When she heard that, she immediately knew who they were talking about. She gulped. Her heart began to race and she could feel herself sweating. Without thinking it through, she found herself walking towards Mark and Kerry.
"Lucy…" Kerry said. "Um, why don't you go back up to surgery for a while?"
"He's here…isn't he?" She asked.
"Who?" Mark said, playing dumb.
"Sobriki." Just the sound of his name on her lips made her want to throw up. But she had to know. It was some morbid fascination that she couldn't explain.
"Yeah." Kerry replied softly. "I'm sorry. But the paramedics…"
"Where is he?" She asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to see him…"
"Where is he?" She repeated, this time a little louder.
"Exam room two." Kerry replied.
Lucy didn't say anything else as she headed to exam room two. She did hear Kerry tell Mark to go with her though. She took a deep breath as she opened the door and came face to face with the man who almost permanently destroyed her life and could have killed Carter.
She took a certain amount of pleasure in the fact that he started to squirm and look nervous when he saw her.
"Wh—what are you doing here?" Paul Sobriki asked. "Are you my doctor?"
"No." Lucy shook her head. "I'm not here to help you. In fact, I wouldn't pour water on you even if you were on fire. I just came in to show you that you have no power over me anymore. I'm not afraid of you."
"I wasn't…wasn't in my right mind when I did that to you or your friend." He said. "But I'm good now. I take medicine, lots and lots of medicine."
"No amount of medicine can make up for what you did." She told him, realizing that if she stayed in the room much longer she would do something she regretted. She was disgusted with the legal system when they plea bargained him into not getting any jail time in exchange for six months in a mental hospital.
This man almost killed them, caused them emotional and physical pain, but didn't get any real punishment. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She closed her eyes, shook her head and walked out of the room. As soon as she was away from the doorway she started to run, not stopping until she got to the restroom.
She knew what was happening…it was a panic attack. She had them a few other times since the attack. They all were the same. She would hear the music that was blasting at the time in her head and then every time she closed her eyes she would see Carter helplessly laying on the floor covered in blood.
She tried to catch her breath but was having problems doing so. Her hands also couldn't stop shaking so she grabbed on to the sides of the sink in order to try and steady them.
She didn't notice someone else come into the restroom until she felt around her shoulders. Looking over, she saw Kerry standing next to her.
"Just breathe through it." Kerry told her. "You're ok. Just take some deep breaths."
She tried to catch her breath…tried to take deep breaths. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, she felt her breathing go slightly back to normal. A few minutes later she was back to normal again.
"There. That's better." Kerry said.
"Thank you." Lucy said, closing her eyes for a second. "I just…"
"You don't have to explain." Kerry interrupted. "I'm sorry you had to know he was here."
"It's not your fault." Lucy shrugged. "Like you said, we can't say no to a patient because we don't like him."
"Still…I'm sorry." Kerry apologized again. "Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine." Lucy assured her.
Lucy sat straight up in bed, drenched in sweat. Hearing that Elizabeth was pregnant was messing with her mind and making her think about things she didn't want to think about. But she couldn't help it. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 6:20am. Although it was her day off and she didn't have to meet Elizabeth until 12 to shop for dresses, she decided to get up anyway.
"Carter, you have the rings, right? I gave them to you?" Mark asked for the fifth time as they stood outside the room where he would get married once Elizabeth and Lucy arrived.
"Yeah." Carter laughed. "I have them right here in my pocket."
"Good." Mark replied.
"Are you a little nervous?"
"Maybe just a little." Mark laughed. "I don't even know why. I've been married before. I know what the ceremony will be like."
"Well if you have second thoughts during the ceremony, just find a way to casually say pineapple and I'll help you create a diversion so you can escape." Carter smirked.
Mark laughed. "Thanks, but I don't think I'll need that."
"We aren't late, are we?" Lucy asked as she rushed into the hallway with Elizabeth behind her.
Carter turned and couldn't help but stare at Lucy. She was wearing a dark blue cocktail dress with spaghetti straps and she looked beautiful. Now he understood Elizabeth's request that he wear a dark blue dress shirt underneath his suit jacket. She wanted him to match Lucy's dress.
"No. You aren't late. The judge hasn't come out yet." Mark said, going over and kissing Elizabeth. "You look absolutely radiant."
"You don't look so bad yourself." Elizabeth smiled.
Carter noticed that Lucy was staring off into space and wondered what she was thinking. He walked over to her. "You look beautiful, Luce."
"Thanks." He could have sworn she was blushing. "You cleaned up pretty nicely too."
"I tried my best." He smirked. He was going to say something else but the judge came out of the room.
"Corday and Greene?" The judge called out.
"We're here." Mark said, grabbing Elizabeth's hand and walking into the room.
Carter looked at Lucy and held out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?"
"Sure." She smiled, linking her arm with his and walking into the room.
"Ok. I'm Judge Thompson. I will be officiating the wedding ceremony today." He pointed in front of him. "I need the bride and groom to stand here and here, respectively."
Carter watched at Mark and Elizabeth stood in the places the judge told them to. Then he moved over to stand behind Mark, while Lucy stood behind Elizabeth.
"Are we ready to begin?" Judge Thompson asked.
"Yes." Elizabeth answered.
"Ok. We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments—the joining of two people in bonds of marriage. We give recognition to the worth and beauties of love as you vow to love and support each other. Mark Greene, do you take Elizabeth Corday to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"
"I do." Mark smiled.
"Elizabeth Corday, do you take Mark Greene, to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all other and holding only unto him?"
"I do." Elizabeth said.
"Do you have rings to exchange?" Judge Thompson asked.
"Yes." Carter spoke up, getting the rings out of his pocket and handing them to the happy couple.
Judge Thompson looked at Mark. "Please repeat after me and slide the ring on her finger. "I, Mark Greene, take thee, Elizabeth Corday, to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer for as long as we both shall like. With this ring I thee wed."
Mark put the ring on Elizabeth's hand. "I, Mark Greene, take thee, Elizabeth Corday, to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer for as long as we both shall like. With this ring I thee wed."
Judge Thompson then turned to Elizabeth. "Please repeat after me and slide the ring on her finger. "I, Elizabeth Corday, take thee, Mark Greene to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer for as long as we both shall like. With this ring I thee wed."
Elizabeth smiled widely as she slid the ring on Mark's finger. "I, Elizabeth Corday, take thee, Mark Greene to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer for as long as we both shall like. With this ring I thee wed."
"Love should be the core of your marriage and love is the reason you are here. But it will take trust to know in your hearts you want the best for each other. It will take dedication to stay open to one another; to learn and to grow together even when it is not always easy to do. It will take faith, to be willing to go forward tomorrow, never really knowing what tomorrow will bring. In addition, it will take commitment, to hold true to the journey you are undertaking. By the power vested in me by the state of Illinois, I now declare you to be husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Carter watched as Mark and Elizabeth embraced, then looked over at Lucy. She looked happy for her friends, but there was an expression on her face that he couldn't figure out.
Mark took out his cell phone and looked at the judge. "Would you mind maybe taking a picture of the four of us?"
"Sure." Judge Thompson replied.
Carter stood by Mark, while Lucy stood by Elizabeth. The judge took the picture and then gave Mark the phone back.
"Can we get a picture with you and Lucy?" Mark asked.
"Sure." Carter said. He motioned for Lucy to come over to where he was. When she got to him, he put his arm around her waist smiled for the picture. Then he took the phone from Mark and took a few pictures of him with Elizabeth.
"Thank you." Mark told the judge after the paperwork had been signed.
"You're welcome." Judge Thompson replied. "Good luck to you."
The four of them exited the room.
"Congratulations." Lucy smiled, hugging both Mark and Elizabeth.
"We can't thank you two enough for helping us pull this off." Elizabeth replied.
"We were happy to help, right Luce?" Carter spoke up.
"Of course!" Lucy smiled.
"Well if you will excuse us, I think my new bride and I are going to go celebrate. I have a few surprises planned." Mark smiled.
"Oh, surprises?" Elizabeth laughed. "Well lead the way them."
"Bye!" Lucy called after them as they left. She then looked over at Carter.
"So what do you want to do now?" Carter asked. "It's only 4."
"I don't know." Lucy shrugged. "I was going to just go back home."
Carter smirked. "We could always go in there and get married."
Lucy started to laugh. "Wait…are you serious? You're proposing?"
"Of course I am." He assured her. "It would be easy for us to get married right now."
"You're insane." She chuckled.
"What's so wrong with the idea?"
"Lots of things." She sighed. "Like the fact we aren't even dating!"
"That's because of some arcane rule you have chosen to follow." He pointed out.
"I'm not having this conversation with you right now." She shook her head.
"Ok." He conceded. "If you don't want to get married, how about an early dinner? We're all dressed up anyway."
She was quiet for a moment. "I guess dinner would be ok."
"Great." He smiled. "I know just the perfect place."
A short time later they were seated at a fancy steakhouse . "Order whatever you want. It's on me." Carter said.
"You don't have to." Lucy protested.
"Yeah I do." He insisted. "I'm the one who invited you out."
She wanted to argue, but realized it wouldn't do any good at this point. So she would let him pay for dinner. "Ok. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He smiled at her.
After they both ordered, she noticed he was staring at her. "What?"
"Would you like to dance with me? As friends?"
She looked over to the almost empty dance floor and then back at him. "Sure. Why not?"
He held his hand out for her to take and then led her to the dance floor. She felt him wrap his arm around her waist so she put her hand on his back as they danced.
"Do you remember the last time we danced like this?" He asked.
"Yeah." She laughed. "It was the Carter Family Foundation Fundraiser you conned me into going to."
"If it helps, I didn't want to go either." He pointed out.
"No, you didn't." She acknowledged. "But you went anyway because you wanted to be a good grandson."
"Are you sure this dress looks alright? I feel horribly underdressed." She looked around at the other women in fancier dresses.
"You look absolutely breathtaking." He assured her. "You might want to stop fidgeting though."
"I can't help it." She chuckled. "I'm nervous."
"Why?"
"I haven't met any of your family before! What if they don't like me?"
"That's impossible. They will love you." He smiled.
"You're my boyfriend. You have to say that."
"No I don't." He laughed. "Besides, if I thought there was even the slightest chance they wouldn't like you, I wouldn't have asked you to come tonight."
"Fine." She would believe things would be ok. "I'll try not to be so nervous."
"Good." He gave her a quick kiss. "Because my grandparents are over there and we should say hello." He put his hand on the small of her back and led her over to where the two were standing.
"John! It's so good to see you here!" Millicent greeted, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hello Gamma, grandfather. I'd like you both to meet my girlfriend, Lucy Knight. Lucy, these are my grandparents, Millicent and John Truman Carter Sr."
"It's wonderful to meet you both." Lucy smiled.
"It's nice to meet you too, dear." Millicent smiled warmly.
"I'm afraid Johnny here hasn't told us much about you though." John Sr. mentioned.
"I've told you everything you need to know about her." Carter pointed out.
"Don't torture him, darling." Millicent laughed. "I hope you two enjoy yourselves tonight."
"Thanks Gamma." Carter kissed her on the cheek. Then he took Lucy's hand and led her into the ballroom.
"It's beautiful in here." She marveled, looking at the décor.
"Yeah. Gamma always manages to make things more and more grand every year." He paused. "Would you like to dance with me?"
"I'm not a very good dancer."
"Neither am I." He admitted. "C'mon. It will be fun."
"Ok." She consented. They started to dance. "So…I'm curious about something."
"What is it?" He smiled.
"You haven't told your grandparents much about me?" She questioned.
"No." He shook his head. "I don't like to tell them too much about my life. I prefer to keep them at arms' length about most things."
"But you said you told them everything they needed to know about me. So what did they need to know about me?"
"That's easy to answer." He told her. "I just made sure they knew how absolutely invaluable you have been to me these past few months and how I wouldn't have made it through without you."
"We ended up having fun that night though, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." She nodded with a smile. "It was fun." She rested her head on his shoulder so he wouldn't see the smile on her face turn to a frown. Although she hated the thoughts that entered her head, she couldn't help but wonder how bad Carter's addiction was at that time when they went to the fundraiser. Was he stealing medicine from her by then? Was he stealing medicine from the hospital yet?
She couldn't stop those thoughts from popping up in her head and she hated that every memory she had of their relationship was tainted by the realization that he had been slipping into an addiction. She had even started to question whether or not he actually loved her or if he just equated being with her to the feeling he had while he was on drugs.