Phew, finally got this chapter finished :) Hope you like it!

Where We Are

Chapter Nine

'You sure you'll be okay?' Susan asked, while holding out Zach's cold as he slipped his arms into it.

Carol was still in a state of shock, her face still as white as a ghost.

Slowly, the nurse nodded her head. 'I'll be fine. I just have a few calls to make and then I'll follow you' Carol said, finally standing up and running her fingers through Zach's brown curls, absentmindedly. Susan watched her friend closely, unsure. She hadn't expected Carol to be so shocked that Doug was here and had she known what the nurse's reaction would be, she never would have brought it up.

'Where are we going now?' Zach piped up, shaking his mother's hand from his hair. Carol was silence for a few minutes, before taking a deep breath and kneeling down to her son's level.

'Susan is going to take you to her house to play with Susie and I'm going to come over in a little while, okay?' Carol said quietly to the three year old. Zach sighed but nodded and slipped his hand into Susan's.

Susan smiled down at the little boy she had not seen in over a year. He had grown so much and his physical resemblance to Carol was becoming even more prominent. Upon waking, it had taken him a while to remember exactly who Susan was, but once he had, he moved off the bed and given her a big hug and asked where Little Susie was.

'Okay, so I'll see you in an hour or so?' Susan asked and Carol nodded. Susan laid a comforting hand on her friend's arm and smiled. Carol smiled back, reassuringly.

'Come on then kiddo, let's go see Susie' Susan said to Zach, who grinned up at her, enthusiastically.

'See you soon, baby' Carol told Zach, kissing the crown of his head.

Susan said goodbye to Carol and left the room with Zach in tow.

'Where's your house?' Zach asked as the stepped into an elevator.

'Not too far from here. Little Susie's going to really excited to see you' Susan told the toddler, who smiled.

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out into the hotel lobby.

'Why isn't my mommy coming?' Zach asked Susan.

Susan smiled down at the youngster. Boy, was he an inquisitive little thing.

'Soon' she told him, ruffling his hair. He pulled his head away from her and laughed, then skipped happily along beside her as they exited the hotel.

D&C

Doug reached forward and handed the cab driver the money.

'Thanks' the driver said, while quickly counting the bills in his hand.

Doug smiled and made to get out of the cab when he spotted Susan. She was not alone, but it was not Little Susie who clung to her hand and skipped along beside her. It was a little boy, his brown curls bouncing as he skipped. He was no older than maybe three or four years old.

Doug wondered why Susan was here, with a little boy, rather than her niece, who she had said she had to pick up. Why would she lie to him?

He stepped out of the cab and was about to shout after her when he noticed something slipping out of the pocket of the boy's coat and fall to the ground. Then, the two disappeared into a waiting cab and it pulled away from the curb.

Doug approached the fallen object and picked it up. It was a hat. Inside, there was a label reading "Zachary T". Doug's curiosity mounted. He wondered why Susan would lie and who exactly Zachary T was.

'Do you want me to take that?' someone called out.

Doug turned to see a porter standing next to the door. He was pointing at the small hat in Doug's hand.

Doug considered this quickly. He could hand the hat over and forget about what he saw, or he could try to figure out what Susan was hiding from him. He decided on the latter.

'You know that little boy?' he asked, approaching the porter.

'Not exactly. I carried his and his mother's bag up to their room for them earlier. So I can drop off that hat for you if you'd like' he offered again.

Doug smiled his most convincing smile. 'No, that's okay. I'm here to see his mother, I'll bring it up' he told the porter.

'Sorry, could you tell me the room number, I seem to have forgot it' Doug lied easily as he made to walk away.

'201' the porter told him right away. Doug thanked him and entered the hotel.

He knew it was none of his business but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Anyway, he was bringing the kid's hat back so he could easily lie and tell who every his mother was that he had seen them earlier and just wanted to drop the hat back.

Emerging onto the second floor, instead of turning left to go to his own room, he turned right and went in search of Room 201. He found it at the end of the corridor and knocked.

D&C

Carol picked up her cell again and scrolled through her phonebook until she came to Mark Greene and pressed "Call". He answered after just two rings.

'Carol?' he asked.

'Yeah, hey Mark' Carol replied, kicking herself when she realised how much he must have been worrying about her.

'Where are you?' he asked.

'I'm in Phoenix' Carol told him and heard him exhale.

'You're with Susan?' he asked.

'Yeah, she just left with Zach, I'm going to stay in her place for a while. I'm sorry about rushing off like that' she apologised.

'Don't worry about it. As long as you and Zach are okay' he said.

'Yeah, we're fine. Maybe, if you could get a few days off, you could come out here. I'm sure Susan would like to see you' Carol suggested.

There was a pause and Carol bit her lip, wondering if she had put him in an awkward position, given the way things had been between him and Susan before she left.

'Sounds like a great idea, but I don't think I could get the time off' he said, eventually.

'Yeah, I understand' she said. Just then, she heard a knock on the door and turned to face it as if she would be able to see through it to however was standing outside.

'Listen, I have to go. I'll ring again soon, okay' she said.

'Okay, talk to you soon' Mark replied and they hung up. Carol threw her phone down on the bed and headed for the door.

D&C

Doug could hear someone speaking inside but could not make out what they were saying. Then, he heard footsteps coming towards the door and took a deep breath as the doorknob began to twist.

D&C

Carol reached for the doorknob, wondering who could be knocking on her door, when the only person she knew in this whole city had just left. She smiled, thinking maybe they had forgotten something. She pulled the door open.

D&C

They stared at each other in total silence. Shock hit both of them, crashed over them relentlessly. Carol stopped breathing where as Doug's breath quickened so that his chest heaved.

So many memories washed over Carol as her eyes drank in his face. Her heart hammered so hard in her chest, she swore it would practically burst open at any minute. This was all too much! What was he doing here!

Doug felt his eyes bulge as they swept over her every feature and then rested on the yellowing bruise on her face. He couldn't believe he was standing here, face to face with the woman who had blessed his dreams and cursed his nightmares for the last four years. Zachary T...Zachary Tagilieri...Doug's fist tightened over the little boy's hat as he took a step back from the door.

Then Carol slammed it shut in his face.

Carol slumped again the door, then slowly slipped to the ground. He can't be here. This isn't real. How am I meant to cope with this she asked herself, gripping her hair with both hands and forcing herself not to start crying again.

Doug leaned again the wall opposite the door, his mind in overdrive. How is she here? Of all places! Just when I was starting to move on! This can't be happening! Then he remembered the bruise on her face and exhaled deeply. Moving forward he knocked on the door again.

'Carol...Could you open the door...please?' he said quietly. He waited, sure that she would not do as he asked.

Carol closed her eyes at the sound of his voice. She could feel the longing growing in her and couldn't believe she had gotten into this mess. Slowly, she got to her feet. She needed to face him because she knew he would not just go away. She opened the door again.

Relief swept over Doug as Carol opened the door again and forced a small smile.

'Doug' she said, quietly.

'Can I come in?' Doug asked, sure again that this request would be denied, but she shocked him again by standing aside.

Doug entered Carol's hotel room.

AN: Yay, they finally meet again! :D I'm happy I finally got to this point and I'm really excited to get the next one written.

Please review and left me know what you thought about it, whether it's good or bad, I do really want to know :)

Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter should probably be along in the next week, hopefully :)

'Til next time,
Kate

ps. The Harry Potter movie is finally out tomorrow! I'm SOOOOOO excited :D Let me know if you're excited too! :D