Where We Are
Chapter Eight
'DOUG!' someone shouted and Doug turned as he was about to enter Phoenix Heart hospital. Sprinting towards him, with a huge smile on her face, and her blonde hair bouncing along behind her, was none other than Susan Lewis.
Doug smiled, 'Fancy meeting you here?' he said with a chuckle as Susan hurdled herself into his arms, knocking the wind out of him in the process.
'Susan...I can't breathe!' Doug managed to get out and with a giggle, Susan released him.
For the longest time they stared at each other, both smiling like idiots, remembering good times.
To Doug, Susan had changed a lot. Her hair was that much blonder, no doubt from the intense Phoenix sun. Her skin was a warm, golden brown that seem to shimmer slightly. She was also slimmer and more toned and Doug could help but chuckle again as he took in her changed appeared.
'What?' Susan asked, smiling.
'Have you been working out?' Doug asked, playing squeezing her upper arm.
Susan smacked him away. 'Shut up!' she told him but laughed too.
Doug had changed too, not a lot, but Susan could see it. He was thinner than when she had last saw him, that twinkle in his eye was gone and his hairline had receded quite a bit, not to mention the splotches of grey it now held.
She smiled again. 'You've changed too, Doug' she said.
'Take that as a compliment!' Doug replied, laughing.
'Oh, don't' Susan warned and they both laughed again.
'Good morning, Dr Lewis' someone said from behind the duo and they both turned to find a tall, dark haired, very attractive man striding towards them.
'Morning, Scott. Oh, Scott, this is Dr Doug Ross, he's here for the Emergency Peds conference. Doug, this is Scott West, he's an attending in the ER here' Susan introduced. The men shook hands.
'So, where are you from?' Dr Scott West asked Doug.
Without thinking, Doug was about to say Chicago, but managed to stop himself and answer 'DC' with a smile at the stranger.
Scott West smiled and nodded and then turned back to Susan. 'So, are we still on for Friday night?' he asked.
Doug looked away to hide his smile, but Susan noticed anyway.
When Scott West left to enter the hospital, Doug laughed and Susan smacked him in the arm. 'Don't you dare' she warned, smiling.
'Now, come on, would I? What could a possibly say about my Susie going out a date' Doug teased and Susan hit him again.
They had started to walk towards the doors of the hospital again when Susan asked, 'So, what about you?'.
Doug looked over to her with a puzzled expression, unsure what she meant.
Susan laughed. 'Come on, Doug. There has to be someone! There's always someone!' she insisted.
Doug chuckled again but remained silent.
'Doug!' Susan exclaimed, frustrated, but just then, another doctor approached the pair.
'Dr Lewis, most of our visitors are here now, so maybe you could get started on a tour' he suggested, without looking at Doug.
Susan nodded. 'No, problem. I'll go meet them now. This is Dr Ross by the way, he's one of the doctors here for the conference. Doug, this is Dr Derek Willis, Chief of Emergency Medicine' Susan introduced again and Doug reached forward to shake the new doctor's hand. He smiled and welcomed Doug to Phoenix Heart, then made his excuses and left.
Susan led Doug away down a corridor. 'Let's get this over with so we can have some fun and catch up' she whispered before entering a room full of at least thirty other doctors.
D&C
'Mommy, what are we doing here?' Zach asked.
Carol turned and looked at her son, sitting on the large, king size bed. He was colouring in his colouring book and hadn't even looked up at Carol when he had spoken. Carol started to wonder if dragging him halfway across the country was a good thing. But, she was here now and there was nothing she could do about it. Plus, so far, the sudden upset in his life didn't seem to be affecting him.
'We're just here to see an old friend' Carol told the child and he nodded, without looking up. Carol half smiled and turned towards the window again. The city before her lightened her mood slightly. The blazing sun beat down from the cloudless sky, the difference from Chicago making the nurse smile. Then she took a deep breath and picked up the phone. No time like the present she said to herself before dialling and holding the phone to her ear.
D&C
The conference finished with, Susan and Doug sat in a nearby cafe having lunch.
'So, you going to tell me about this girl you have on the go?' Susan asked, between bites of her mushroom ravioli. Doug chuckled.
'Alright. Her name is Alicia James. She's an accountant' he finally confided.
Susan's eyes widened. She swallowed her food and said, 'Doesn't sound like the usual'.
Doug smiled. 'I suppose she's not. I've been treating her daughter for the last year or so' he told her.
'She has a kid?' Susan almost exclaimed. Wow, he has changed she thought.
Doug nodded. 'Eden. She's five. I've been treating her for B Cell Lymphoma but she's in remission now' he explained.
Susan just stared at Doug. She has been so sure that he still hadn't moved on from Carol but she could tell from the way he talked about them, that he thought highly of both Alicia and her daughter. She smiled.
'So, this Scott guy?' Doug asked and Susan blushed slightly.
'We've been out a few times. It's nothing serious' she insisted.
Doug smiled. Right he thought. He considered whether he should ask...Then decided that they were all friends and asking in a carefree sort of way would show much he was moving on.
'So, how is...she' he asked. He had fully intended to say her name but when it came to it, his heart jumped and a lump rose in his throat, so he settled on she.
Susan sighed. She should have none this was coming.
'She's-' but just then her cell rang from her bag.
'Sorry, one second' she told Doug and pulled the ringing cell from her bag. She got up and walked a few feet away from the table and answered without looking at the caller ID.
'Hello?' she said.
Silence.
'Hello?' Susan repeated.
'Susan?' came a voice Susan had not heard in several months.
'Carol?' she gasped. Wow, coincidence! she thought, glancing back to where Doug sat.
'Yeah, it's me. Are you working or anything?' Carol asked her old friend.
'No, I'm just having lunch. What's up?' Susan replied.
'I'm in Phoenix' Carol said and Susan almost dropped the phone in surprise.
'Are you serious?' Susan asked, starting to smile. Two friends in the same day!
'Yes. I was wondering if we could meet up...now?' Carol asked.
Susan's face feel. 'I'm actually just having lunch with-'
Carol cut her short, 'It's very important'.
Susan glanced back over to Doug and sighed. But she heard the desperation in her friend's voice and knew that it had to be important if Carol had just shown up in Phoenix out of the blue.
'Okay, where?' Susan asked.
'The Hyatt. Room 201' Carol told her.
The Hyatt was only three blocks away. 'Sure, I'll be there as soon as I can' Susan said and she heard Carol sigh with relief.
They hung up and Susan hurried back over to Doug. She thought about telling him who she had been talking to be decided against it considering his question before the phone had rang and Carol's tone of voice.
'I'm sorry, Doug, I've got to run. Little Susie's not well so I've to pick her up. I'll give you a ring later okay?' she explained while digging in her purse for money to pay for her lunch.
'I've got that Susan. And no problem. I'll speak to you later. Say hi to Little Susie for me' Doug replied.
Susan smiled in gratitude and dashed off and hailed a cab.
D&C
Carol paced the room, nervously. What would Susan make of recent events? What would she say about Carol's bruised face? Just then, three knocks on the door broke her chain of thought. Carol took a deep breath and smiled at Zach, who had fallen asleep on the bed. She crossed the room and pulled open the door. Susan Lewis stood there, smiling. Then she spotted the bruises.
'Carol! Oh, what happened?' she asked, entering the room and closing the door behind her. She pulled the nurse into a tight hug and for the first time in hours, Carol began to cry again. Susan released her and smiled at her sympathetically, wiping away her tears.
'What happened?' Susan asked again as they sat down, Susan on the edge of the bed and Carol in the chair, opposite.
'John' Carol whispered, wiping at fresh tears.
Susan gasped. 'Tag did this to you?' she asked and Carol simply nodded and went on to explain what exactly has happened in recent days.
'So, I just had to get away. I was sitting in the airport, wondering where the hell I could go and then I saw Phoenix and thought of you. I hope it's okay that I'm here' Carol finished, her eyes now dry.
'Carol, of course it's okay! I'm so glad you came here. But you are checking out of this hotel and staying with me' Susan replied, smiling.
Carol smiled too. 'I'd like that' she said.
The Carol suddenly thought about Doug for the first time since she had entered the hotel room. Things are about to get complicated she thought to herself.
'Carol, there's something you should know, though. When you rang me earlier, I was having lunch with Doug' Susan said quickly, as if by saying it faster it would have less of an impact. She knew she had been wrong though as she watched the colour drain from Carol's flushed cheeks and her mouth popped open.
'D..Doug...Ross?' Carol gasped, gripping the arms of the chair. Complete and utter shock rolled over her, wave after wave. How could this be? After all her thoughts about him over the last few days, how could he be here? Here, of all places? Carol didn't know whether it was fate or a horrible, horrible coincidence, but whichever it was, it had her frozen in place, afraid to even breathe.
AN: Eleven days? Wow, didn't think it would take me that long! Lol.
I'm not overly happy with the ending of this chapter. It's okay up until Susan's lunch with Doug but that's when my electricity cut out due to the current storm raging outside my window, so I kind of rushed the end so I could post before my laptop battery went dead. Anyways, I hope you like it and I'd love to hear from you, as always :)
Thanks for reading :)
Katelyn x