Here With Her
"Susan," he said. "What's going on?"
"Carter."
"Susan, don't use that tone with me, it's frightening."
"Carter, calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down!" he said surprisingly angrily. "What the hell is going on? What's wrong with her? Tell me, Susan!"
"God, Carter," she said. "Give me a chance to talk."
Carter nodded. "What is it?"
"Abby didn't respond to the surgeon's work-"
"No, Susan. Don't say that, Susan."
"-at first."
Carter wasn't sure if he smiled. He'd never remember. He didn't know if it was necessary or not, though. "Oh, my God, she's okay?"
Susan laughed. "Yes, she's okay."
"Oh, my God," Carter said, laughing with joy. "I was so worried. Thank you, Susan!" He hugged her, but after a few seconds she pushed him away. He looked at her, perplexed.
"Don't thank me," she said straightly. "Thank Romano. He saved them both."
Carter looked at her. "He saved Abby and the baby?"
Susan nodded eagerly, with a matching grin. "Saved them both." She smiled broader. "And a few others from Doc's." She laughed, as Carter jumped to her for a hug.
"Oh, my God," he cried. "Oh, my God, I can't believe this."
Susan tightened the hug on her friend. "You have to thank your Abby, too. She's a tough one."
"She is," he said. He let himself cry freely to her shoulder, and mumbled on about how much he loved Abby. This was a speech that she had heard a lot, but she openly welcomed it today.
"Go upstairs and see her, Carter," she said, smiling even more. "She might be sleeping, but I think you should see her. She might wake up to you."
Carter smiled, kissed Susan on the cheek and ran out of the door. He immediately left for the elevator and traveled up to the OR. He asked one of the desk workers to lead him to Abby, but changed his mind at the last second.
"Could I talk to Dr. Romano?" He smiled and breathed out. The receptionist looked over at another someone behind the desk and tilted her head towards Carter. The other receptionist unwillingly picked herself up from the seat and waved to Carter, instructing him to follow her.
They walked down the hallway in silence. She asked him for his name when they neared the room and he gave it to her. Again, hush fell and the only sound was the footsteps in the hallway.
"Romano?"
"Surgeon. Surgery, you know like operating. Like saving someone's life. Kinda like doing a really important job. That's what I do. That's what I am. Surgeon. Need I take you through it again, Denise?"
Denise shook her head. "Dr. Carter is here to talk to you."
"Tell him I'll be there in a minute. He knows the routine. Chair, three hours, boom! Service."
Denise walked out and looked at Carter. "His sarcastic crap is so stupid." She took him to the chairs, and asked him to sit down. Carter nodded quietly in agreement. There were a few others there. A child and an older woman, most likely a grandparent. There was a woman, sleeping against a man's shoulder, who was reading a magazine. Other than that and himself, the chairs were completely empty.
A few minutes passed, before Romano came out. The others waiting perked up, hopeful, until Romano pointed to Carter. Carter stood up and followed him to Abby's door.
"It took a while," he explained. "We were kind of scared." His face took on a rare serious tone, almost astonishing Carter. "The baby was safe, perfect in fact. Your girlfriend came through almost perfectly. She'll have to be on meds for a while, but other than that, she might be able to return home in a few days. Another week and she'll be ready for work."
Carter nodded and then shook his hand. "Thank you so much, Romano. Seriously, I mean it."
Romano nodded. "I guess I don't have to be an ass to you." He smiled. "All part of the job, you know."
Carter grinned. Romano turned around and walked back to the hallway, on to another situation, where he would have to save someone else.
Carter put his hand on the knob, and turned it slowly. He stepped inside the dark room, and closed the door lightly behind him. Abby was lying stiffly on her back, her face turned to one side and resting on the pillow. Her stomach followed in sync with her silent breaths, up and down. He proceeded to the side of her bed, and watched her sleep. Only then did he realize that he was standing and went for a nearby chair. He pulled it as close as he could to the bed and eased himself into it, putting all of the worrying and concern into it. He looked down at his folded hands and knotted them together, not sure about what to think of.
"Hey," she said.
Carter looked up, smiling. Tears started to well up in his eyes, and there was the possibility for her also.
"Hi," he said, taking her hand. She gratefully excepted his invitation and tightened the grip on his hand. He playfully squeezed her hand back, a game they had played in movie theaters, restaurants, and nearly everywhere else where they could hold hands.
"I was waiting for you," she said. "I thought maybe you forgot about me."
He laughed and took another hand to hers, the same that the other hand already had a hold on. "No, I couldn't do that."
There was a moment of quiet where they just looked at each other, just at their eyes. He watched as Abby licked her lips, and waited for her to speak. "We're having a baby."
Carter's eyes lit up. He tried to hold down a smile, but couldn't. It tugged at the corners of his mouth until it was fully released, playing across his lips. She smiled at him. He kissed her hands, then her forehead, and finally her lips.
"We're having a baby," he said. She smiled again. "When did you find out?"
"Yesterday," she said. The smile was as obvious as ever. "I felt sick and it had been there for a while so I just thought I would see what was going on." She stretched her legs underneath the blanket and stared up at the ceiling. "Its gonna be different with a baby around. Its gonna be hard to juggle a job."
"You don't want a nanny, do you?"
"No," Abby said. "Anything but. I don't want someone else raising my child like that."
"They could stay at the nursery in the hospital," he suggested. "We could see the baby whenever we wanted. It would be kind of cool to see it at work."
"I hate the word 'it,'" she said. "Don't call it that."
Carter smiled slightly. "Well, do you have a suggestion?"
"Call it 'him,'" she said, turning to smile at Carter now.
Carter laughed. "You think it's a boy?"
She giggled angelically. Carter could fall for that a million times, if he already hadn't. "I know it's a boy. I know it sounds stupid, but I can feel it. It's intuition or something."
Carter smiled at her. "I think it's a girl."
"How would you know?" she fired with a smile. "It's in me! Not you," she giggled again.
Carter looked at her eyes. How did they always manage to glitter in the dark like that? "I love that laugh."
She smiled at him, as if she was calling him crazy with an identical tone in her voice. "What?"
"I love your laugh. I meant to tell you before, but I-I didn't," he said blushing.
Abby smiled. "Well, Cliché King, if you want, you can keep it. I've had it for a while, I think its time I shared it with someone else."
They both laughed. "Romano saved you, you know. I was out there thanking him. He's a great guy."
"Yeah, he is," Abby confirmed. "I thanked him a million times, too. I asked him to go and get you, but Susan got to you first."
They sat in silence again, soaking up the moment. "I think I'm gonna like having this baby."
Abby grinned at the ceiling. "Me, too. But I want it now. Nine months is too long to wait. I should file a complaint."
"To who, the stork?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, okay."
"Where did that legend come from anyway? Who was so scared to tell their kids about the actual thing? Who went to the length of birds?"
Carter laughed. "I don't know."
"Nine months. Nine months until we have a baby boy. We're having a son, so you can go and take him to Bulls games and stuff."
"Or we're having a girl. We're having a daughter for you to take shopping and apply makeup at the age of four."
