Where We Are
Chapter Seven
'Carol' came a whisper at the bedroom door and Carol woke with a start.
It was still dark beyond the curtained windows and Carol struggled to see who was waking her. A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was almost five thirty in the morning.
'Mark?' she mumbled back, still unable to see anything more than a dark figure standing in the door way.
'Yeah, listen I have to go to work. I'm dropping Rachel off at school too so you'll have the place to yourself, okay. I left a key on the table if you want to go out' Mark whispered back.
'Okay, thanks Mark. See you later' Carol said, rolling over again as Mark backed out of the room and closed the door. A few minutes later, she heard the front door close too.
Zach was still asleep beside her and she ran her fingers through his curls and smiled as he exhaled deeply.
As the darkness outside finally gave way to the steely greyness of the cold November morning, Carol lay beside her son and thought over the last few days. Was it really only a week ago that she thought her life was perfect? What was going to happen next?
D&C
It was six thirty in the morning when Doug sat down in the departure area, his thoughts still on his afternoon with Alicia and Eden. Funny how he thought on them as a package deal now when only last week, Alicia was the only one he thought about, and for different reasons than now. He hadn't even spoken to Vanessa since she had left his house a few nights ago and he didn't want to either. He wished he didn't have to go to Phoenix.
He was looking forward to seeing Susan again, catching up on all he had missed at County, but the need to know how she was had lessened.
And, okay, maybe he was naive to think that he could suddenly forget her, get over her, after four years of struggling to do just that, four years of seeing her face in his dreams but things did seem different now.
Dwelling on his thoughts, Doug barely heard his flight being called and by the time he got up and joined the queue, most of the passengers had already boarded. The flight attendant took his ticket and wished him a safe journey and Doug boarded the plant to Phoenix.
D&C
It was a slow day at County General Hospital. Malik and Carter were playing catch with a football in the corridor outside the trauma rooms, Haleh, Lily and Chuny sat at the Nurses Station, filling in some charts. Peter Benton sat at the admit desk, going over details of a surgery he would be assisting Dr Anspaugh on later. Mark sat across from Peter, staring into space and thinking about Carol and her situation. She had barely spoken the day before, after Tag's visit and Mark found himself becoming increasingly angry with the Psychologist.
'Mark, can we talk?' someone said and Mark turned to find Kerry Weaver behind him.
Mark sighed, removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes and replaced the glasses before answering, 'Sure, Kerry. What's up?'
Weaver glanced at Peter, the closest person to them, to make sure he wasn't listening before continuing. 'I'm worried, Mark.'
Mark didn't need to ask what she was talking about. 'There's no need to be, Kerry. Carol's fine' he told the Acting Chief, before standing up and starting to walk away.
'Mark' Weaver said and the compassion in her voice stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned to fine the small doctor gazing at him with an expression he rarely saw her wear. He sighed.
'I promise, Kerry, everything's fine. Carol's going to stay at mine for a while before deciding what to do next' he confided to her.
'But what can she do?' Weaver asked, shrugging her shoulders as if to say, There's nothing she can do.
Mark rubbed a hand over his almost bald head before saying, 'I don't know,' and walking away.
D&C
'Susan, can you pick Little Susie up from school today?' Chloe Lewis asked her younger sister, barging through the front door with the four year old in question behind her.
'I can't today, Chloe. I've a mountain of work to do and an old friend from Chicago is arriving today' Susan replied, while searching the living room for her keys.
'Looking for these?' Susie asked, picking up the keys from the table beside her.
'Yes! Thanks Little Susie' Susan exclaimed, taking her keys from the young girl and planting a kiss on the crown of her head. Susie giggled.
'Okay, Joe will just have to get out of work early then. Which friend?' Chloe asked as all three Lewis woman left the house.
Susan hopped into her car before rolling down the window to answer her sister. 'Doug Ross.'
D&C
It was almost eleven o'clock now and Carol was sitting watching cartoons with Zach. The phone rang and she leaned across the couch to answer it.
'Hello?'
'Carol?' John croaked out and Carol gasped.
'What do you want?' she asked, moving away from Zach and over to the door where she snapped the lock into place.
'Just to talk. Carol, I'm so sorry-'
'I don't want to hear it, John' Carol cut across him.
Zach looked around upon hearing his father's name, so Carol moved into the bedroom.
'Maybe I could call around and we could talk' John insisted.
'NO! Don't you dare come here! I mean it John, you call around here again and I'll call the police' Carol almost shouted down the phone.
'So you were there yesterday when I called?' he asked.
'Where else could I have been since I'm afraid to go back to my own house!' Carol snapped.
'You have no reason to be afraid of me, Carol. Please come home. I'll come and get you right now if you want me to' John begged.
'No, I don't want you to come and get me! I don't want you anywhere near me!' Carol shouted.
Silence followed this outburst and Carol waited, worried that she had sparked his anger again.
'I'm coming over' John said eventually and before Carol could answer, he had hung up.
D&C
'Carol!' Mark called as he came through the door. It was only a little after one in the afternoon, but Mark figured he'd come back home to check how Carol was.
'Carol!' he called again, when he didn't get an answer the first time. The TV was off and there was no other sound from anywhere in the flat. Thinking she might be asleep, Mark headed towards the bedroom but found it empty. Wondering if she had gone out, Mark retreated to the living room, where he just happened to spot a piece of paper on the table. He picked it up.
Mark,
John rang and threatened to come over. I can't deal with seeing him right now so I'm going to head off for a while. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going but I just need some time to myself, to sort myself out. I'm sorry I didn't wait for you to come home, but I wanted to get out before John came calling again. I'll call you when I get to where ever I'm going, okay. And don't worry, okay, I'll be fine.
Thanks for everything,
Carol
Mark sighed heavily and crunched the note in his fist.
D&C
Carol sat in Midway airport, staring at the departures board and all the different destinations wondering where she would go. Zach sat on the ground at her feet, happily playing with a toy. She ran her fingers through his curls as she though. Where will I go?
New York? Boston? Atlanta? Nashville? Seattle? San Francisco? DC?
Her heart stopped beating when she spotted Washington DC on the board. Images and memories flooded her mind. Was this her subconscious telling her that she had indeed made the wrong decision all those years ago, that she had picked the wrong man? Should she go see him now?
No, she told herself, that wouldn't help anyone. But where then? Why was it so hard just to pick a random place, somewhere where she could hide from John and to sort herself out? All she needed was for one place to stick out from the rest, somewhere where she could lie low for a while, and try to put the pieces of her life back together. For she knew she was going to come through this, it wouldn't defeat her, she would come out on top once all this had blown over. Just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, one day it would be as if none of this had happened.
And then she saw it. That one destination where she knew everything would be okay, everything would work out.
'Come on, Zach' she called, jumping out of her seat. There was a plane leaving in thirty minutes and they were going to be on it.
AN: Feeling super productive right now, two chapters in three days :) That's what happens when mid-term comes around!
Hopefully I'll get a chapter for Secrets out soon, too.
So, anyone know where Carol is headed? Yeah I know it's totally obvious and all but hey, you never know, right?
Hope you liked it,
Katelyn x