AN: Again sorry for the length of time it is taking me to update. This was originally supposed to be part of chapter 4, but for some reason I put up chapter 4 without this part, so it's now a separate chapter. Chapter 6 coming soon. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: I don't own ER or the characters only Dr Paige Staker.

There She Goes

Chapter 5 - Revelations

Paige and Carter walked a short distance from the hospital and ended up in Ikes.

"We can grab a burger then get some drinks in." Carter explained as he pushed the door open for her. "It's not wise to drink on an empty stomach."

"Guess you're right." She replied as they took a seat, shrugging out of her jacket.

"Hi! What can I get you?" The waitress asked them brightly.

"Can we see a menu please?" He asked politely.

"Of course, can I get you anything to drink?" She asked.

"Vodka and coke, please?" Paige asked softly.

"I'll have a coke." He replied.

"Coming up." The waitress smiled at them as she made a note of their drinks on her notepad.

"So, why did your day suck?" He asked her, taking his jacket off.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Tiredness, general medical student scut I ended up doing for the residents, mainly falling out with Morris. He was one of the only people in the hospital I truly considered as a friend." She confessed, as she rested her head in her hand.

"Thanks." Carter smiled to the waitress as she placed their drinks on the table and handed a menu to each of them.

He turned his attention back to Paige. "I'm sure you guys will make up. What caused the fallout?" He asked softly.

"A few contributing factors." She confessed. "Him trying to protect me, you." She admitted softly, letting her eyes fall to her menu, beginning to study it intensely.

"Me?" Carter chuckled softly. "Why?" He sounded confused.

"He thinks I have a crush on you." She said as casually as she could manage, still studying her menu.

"Do you?" He kept his voice level as he asked her, his expression gentle.

"Of course not. Even if I did, student-teacher relationships are against the rules, I'm not stupid enough to put your job and my ER Rotation, even graduating from Med School, at risk." She spoke quickly, her eyes darting from the menu to his and back to the menu.

"Okay, I was only asking. It wouldn't have bothered me much if you did; I've had med students before who have had crushes on me. I even fell for one of my residents when I was a med student. It happens more often than you think." He informed Paige, setting his eyes on his menu.

"What did she do?" Paige asked intrigued, eyes wide with anticipation.

"Who?" He asked, not completely following her train of thought.

"The resident, the one you fell for? Did she know you liked her?" Paige enquired.

"Yes, she knew I liked her and she actually liked me too. But one Christmas Eve we nearly kissed, and she told me we were both being stupid. She was right of course but I didn't believe that at the time." He admitted with a shrug.

"Wow. Would you have had a fling with her if she let you?" Paige decided to push her luck and pry some more.

"Definitely. I was young and naïve. The funny thing is, I did end up dating her for a while when I was a resident." Carter smiled at the memory.

"These things have a funny way of working themselves out if they're meant to be." She grinned, secretly hoping something similar would happen between Carter and herself.

"Maybe." He mused, sounding as if he were deep in thought.

"Excuse me, are you ready to order?" The young waitress interrupted Carter's thoughts.

"Um, yeah. I'll have a cheeseburger and some fries, Paige?" He asked as he handed his menu back to the waitress.

"The chicken fajitas and fries please" She said politely, as she returned her menu to the waitress.

"Coming up." She smiled down at them.

Paige sighed gently, resting her head in her hand once more, closing her eyes.

"You look exhausted." Carter commented after taking a sip of his coke.

"I am. You interrupted the first decent night's sleep I was going to have since I started me ER Rotation." She replied lazily, without opening her eyes, evidently too tired to argue with him again.

"I should have just taken you home. We could have gone out another night." He said softly, concerned for her wellbeing.

"That's okay. You can take me home after dinner. Here's my address, in case I fall asleep right here right now." She muttered as she pulled a pen out of her bag and messily scrawled her address on a napkin that was on the table and handing it to Carter.

"Thanks." He accepted the napkin from her without argument and as soon as her eyes shut once more he grinned, evidently amused at her actions.

They ate quietly once their food arrived, making small talk about her ER Rotation and med school.

"Do you know what your next rotation is?" He asked as he nibbled on his fries.

"NICU. I'm really not looking forward to it at all, all those tiny fragile babies. It's just a really daunting prospect." She shuddered at the thought as she dipped a fry into some ketchup and popped it in her mouth.

"I don't envy you. I had a baby that died, a son, six years ago. Preemies always remind me of him, they affect me more than any other patients." He whispered gently, a tear slowly escaping from his eye and making its way down his cheek.

"Carter, I'm so sorry." She gasped, unsure how to react. She had not been expecting him to share something so personal with her; they hadn't known each other all that long. She frowned and tentatively reached for his hand that was rested on the table.

He clasped her soft, warm hand gently as her skin came into contact with his. "Thank you." He flashed her a soft smile.

Paige reached across the table with her free hand and carefully brushed the tear away from Carter's cheek with her fingertips. "What was his name, your son?" She asked softly, her green eyes sparkling gently.

"Joshua Carter." He cleared his throat. "I named the Carter Center after him." His eyes dropped from hers. She reached over, sweeping more tears away from under his eyes.

"That's lovely." She smiled. "I'm sure you would have been an amazing dad."

"Thanks." He sniffed and wiped his eyes himself this time. "My wife always found it really tough to talk about him, but; even though it hurts me I like to remember him." Carter explained.

"You're married?" She asked surprised, her face falling slightly.

"We're separated actually. I'd rather not talk about it if you don't mind."

"Okay." Paige replied simply, retracting her hand from his and they both went back to eating in silence.

After they had finished eating Carter paid their bill and offered to give Paige a lift home. "My car is back at the hospital. I can give you a ride home if you like." He smiled gently.

"Thanks that would be great." She replied quietly, taking him up on his offer.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable tonight, talking about your wife and child." Paige told him, gazing out of the window of his jeep as he drove her back to her apartment.

"You didn't make me talk about it; I decided to share it with you." He told her, concentrating hard on his driving.

"Can I share something with you?" She enquired, turning her gaze to him.

"If you're in the mood for sharing, sure. " He replied, relaxing a little now the topic of the conversation was away from him.

"It might actually be easier for me to show you. I haven't told anyone at the hospital." She said shyly.

"Why so cryptic?" He asked confused.

"Because, it's private. I find this particularly hard to tell people I don't know very well." She told him truthfully, gazing out of the window once more.

"Then, why are you telling me?" He enquired, stealing a glance at her.

"Because I trust you." She whispered her reply.

"Okay." He accepted her answer.

"Come on." She said once they had come to a stop outside her apartment, she held her hand out to him as he got out of the car.

Carter didn't know what had possessed him as he accepted her outstretched hand and she began to lead him up to her apartment. Something about Paige really intrigued him and he was drawn to her, but he didn't know why.

"Two seconds." She dropped his hand and began to fumble about in her bag for her keys. Once she had unlocked the door and pushed it open, she reached tentatively for his hand. He smiled reassuringly and took her hand once more. Paige smiled back and pulled him inside her apartment, kicking the door shut behind her.

"What did you want to show me?" Carter asked her softly, still holding her hand. "This." She led him to her bedroom, picked up a photo frame and handed it to him.

He smiled. "Is this you?" They sat down on her bed side by side.

"Yep." She confirmed with a small smile.

"How old are you there?" He enquired.

"That's my twentieth birthday actually." Paige informed him.

"You look cute. Your hair is really long." The word "cute" slipped out of his mouth before he realised he said it.

"Thanks." She grinned, blushing slightly.

"And who is that in the picture with you?" Carter continued to fire questions at her.

"My college boyfriend, Matt."

"And the kid?" He pointed to the baby she was holding in the picture.

Paige took a deep breath and managed to compose herself. "She's my daughter." She whispered incredibly softly, her big green eyes never leaving Carter's brown ones, nervously awaiting his reaction.

"Your daughter? " He repeated, stunned.

"Yes." She breathed.

"Wow! What's her name? How old is she now?" He asked rapidly, keeping his eyes on hers.

"She's called Dana, she's three." She told him.

"Which means you were…?" He trailed off.

"Nineteen." She finished.

"Nineteen" He repeated, closing his eyes. He inhaled deeply.

Paige shut her eyes too, a few tears escaping.

"Hey! What's with the tears?" He put the photo down and pulled her into his arms. He could feel her small body shuddering against his.

"I don't like telling people about her because I get scared about their reactions." She explained as she clung to him desperately.

"I'm not judging you. Teenagers can be great mothers; you're not even a teenager any more." He said softly, rubbing soothing circles with his fingertips on the small of her back.

"I'm still young though, and I don't see her as much as I'd like to." She continued to sob.

"Where is she?" He asked tentatively, still holding her close.

"She lives in New York, with her father. He's a doctor too, second year resident. The only reason she stays with him is because I can't afford to look after her here in Chicago by myself. "She explained.

"Couldn't he stay in Chicago for you? I mean, he obviously loved you if you guys had a child together so young." Carter asked as they separated from their hug, taking her hands in his.

"He matched at his dream hospital in New York. I encouraged him to go and it made sense for Dana to go with him. She confessed.

"You obviously love her very much." He observed.

"I do, more than anything in the world. But good mom's are there for their kids." Her tears started to flow thick and fast again.

"She's in New York, you're here. I'm sure you see her as often as you can." Carter tried to reason with her sobbing form.

"Plane tickets to New York are expensive!" She announced bitterly as she tried to stem the flow of tears.

"I could by you a two way ticket to New York." He offered gently.

"No. Thank-you its very kind but I couldn't accept it from you." Paige choked through her tears. Carter let go of her hands and gently began to wipe the tears away from her face.

"You, are covered, in mascara." He gently tried to wipe her face clean in between words. She chuckled softly as Carter wiped her face and a pink blush crept up on her tear stained cheeks.

"That's more like it. Bit of a smile." Carter grinned.

"Thank-you." Paige smiled sweetly at Carter. "For being so nice, and getting yourself covered in mascara." She gestured to his hands.

"That's what friends are for." He told her gently.

"Friends?" She questioned.

"I'm, drawn to you for some reason, I can't work out why." He frowned, frustrated. "But you're young and sweet and I find it quite refreshing to hang out with you." He told her genuinely.

"Oh." She smiled, surprised that he felt this way about her, but happy nonetheless. "Thanks, I guess."

"Well I guess I should go home and get to bed. I have a nine o'clock shift tomorrow." Carter said getting up from her bed, lifting the photo frame from where he had discarded it and placed it back on her bedside cabinet.

"See you tomorrow." Paige said softly, also standing up.

Carter gently linked their hands together, causing her to blush once more. "What time are you on tomorrow?" He asked, as they gently played with each others fingers.

"Twelve." She replied, looking intently into his eyes.

"I'd love to see some recent pictures of your daughter if you have any." He told her, still playing with her fingers and looking into her eyes.

"I'll bring some in tomorrow." She confirmed.

"See you tomorrow then." He grinned and dropped her hand gently.

She crossed her arms and whispered "Bye." As she heard the door click shut.

She sighed and brushed her hair away from her face with her hand. "I'm well and truly falling for him." She muttered to herself as she flopped down on her bed. She laid there for a few minutes thinking over her relationship with Carter. 'I know I shouldn't be interested in him, he's my attending and I'm a third year medical student. It's completely against the rules! But sometimes in life, you can't help which way you fall.' She thought to herself. Eventually Paige tore her thoughts from Carter and began to get ready for bed. She wiped her mascara streaked face clean with a cleansing make-up wipe and applied some moisturiser to her fresh skin. After this she brushed her teeth, them shimmied out of her skirt and collapsed into bed, pulling the quilt over her and falling asleep almost instantly. Her dreams plagued with images of John Carter.