"Good," he said to Susan. "She hates it in there. Said she's bored to death."
Susan chuckled. "That's Abby."
They walked a little further. He would meet Abby in half an hour for her much-anticipated walk with him. He would have gone sooner, but the doctor was busy with her. He had an alternate plan, though, because he was afraid of it happening. Susan and he had walked to a different coffee shop, Doc Magoo's being ravaged. It was a nice place, but never the same as Doc's.
"You know the entire staff is gonna know in a month, if they already don't." Susan looked at him, then back to her coffee.
"Yeah," he said. He shrugged it off. "In a way we both knew it would turn into something serious. We've only been waiting for it to happen." He sipped his own coffee, then returned to his speaking after licking his lips. "We already talked about it and just decided to make it public. Not like hold our hands in the air and proclaim it, but just act like we do at home and stuff."
Susan wiped a finger over her mouth to remove the coffee that had stuck to her upper lip. "Please don't act like you do at home." She laughed.
"Ha ha," he said. "Just the whole holding hands thing and the kisses."
"Ew, gross," she said sarcastically. She held her coffee to her lips before she spoke again. "In all seriousness, though, I'm very happy for you two."
Carter looked at her thoughtfully. "Thanks. It's always nice to hear something like that."
"Yeah," she answered. "Let's get back. Doctor should be finished with Abby."
"Okay."
They took their coffees outside, after paying the waitress. "Do you have like, a pet name for her or something?"
Carter looked at her. Susan grinned, and shrugged. "What?"
She shrugged again. "You know, are you one of those cheesy boyfriends who call their girlfriends 'Sugar,' or 'Cookie,' or 'Cupcake' or something?"
Carter laughed. "Um, no. Not so much. I mean, I've called her, like, 'Sweetie,' and stuff. I don't mean to or anything. I just do."
Susan said. "Just asking. You are so the mushy type."
Carter stared at the puddles in the pavement. "Yeah, I never thought I would be, but I guess I kind of am. I've just never had a relationship like this."
"Ick," Susan said jokingly. "Please stop before I wring your neck."
"Okay, okay."
"Wow," Susan said as they neared the entrance to the ER.
"What?" he said, barely paying attention. You could say he was focusing more on his coffee than Susan.
"There's like a million ambulances over there."
"Aw, crap." Carter held his forehead. "I wanted to go and see Abby."
Susan giggled. "It's the safety test. Get out of here."
Carter playfully slapped her shoulder and left for the building. He took the same express route as always, as the morning and was there in a minute. She was eating her lunch, devouring the salad.
"Slow down," he said. He kissed her again, as it was part of the pattern. "Up for that walk after lunch?"
She put down her fork. "I suddenly have a new respect for patients. This is not that good."
Carter laughed as she continued.
She smiled sweetly. "Wanna go now?"
"You done?"
She pushed the tray away from her. "Yes," she said, nodding, her IV caught in the blanket. "Damn thing."
Carter brought her out of the bed, and untangled her from the blanket mess.
"Anything hanging out from behind?"
Carter laughed as he glanced at the back of her gown. "Nope, you're covered. Literally."
Abby smiled and wiggled her toes. "It feels so good to finally get up. Never knew I would miss walking around so much. I was going to the bathroom, and when I came back, I thought I would just sit in a chair. Stupid nurse came in and told me to 'go back to bed.'" She said this in a mock tone, like that of a witch or something. "Let's go."
They left the room. "You know that you're a nurse, too."
Abby smiled. "Yeah but I'm a good nurse. A nurse who knows what she's doing."
"You could say that."
"Shut up."
He held her hand, bending his elbow to hold it a little higher. He looked down and watched their feet move rhythmically together. Him in work shoes, she in hospital slippers. He rubbed her hand thoughtfully and sighed at the moment.
"What did the doctor want? Just to check up?"
She breathed out. "Yep."
They walked again, a little quicker as Abby adjusted to the feeling. Carter glanced upward. "I'm not working tomorrow, so I'll be by about eleven-thirty to get you ready and to pick you up, okay?"
"Okay," she said.
"If you want, I can come by earlier or something. But you really can't leave until noon."
"That's okay. I'll probably just be visited by doctors and everything. Then I'll sleep until eleven-thirty and leave."
"Sounds like a plan."
"It's half of my day here."
He laughed slightly. She squeezed his hand. "Thanks, John."
"Why are you so giggly, Dr. Carter?" Pratt nagged.
"What are you talking about?"
"Giggly," he said. "You're all giddy and crap. You've been all smiles all day. Spill."
"Please," he said. "Get back to work."
Pratt sighed in his usual way and left for work, an incoming ambulance.
"I got this one, Carter." Weaver limped to position. "Stop daydreaming and get yourself to work."
"What goes around comes around." Pratt laughed at his own joke, unlike many of the others staring at him. "What?"
"I think it's cute, Carter." Haleh smiled. "It's like a book or something."
The storybook thing. It was just like that.
"What is?" someone asked.
"His thing for Abby," Haleh said. "They're an icon."
"Icon?" Jerry asked. "Really?"
"We're not an 'icon,'" Carter laughed, emphasizing the word "icon."
"Well, you're going out aren't you?" Haleh insinuated.
He smiled, almost childlike. He found that he wasn't afraid to admit it. Not that he had been before. It's just that there never was a time to admit it. "Yes. Yes, we are."
They all smiled at him dreamily.
"Book love my ass," Pratt said. "We got patients coming in."
"Not for me," Carter said. "I'm off. See you later."
He left for the same place as he had been visiting for a few days now. He rushed to Abby's room, to find her sitting quietly. She was clothed again in her regular garb. She was looking out the window, holding a bag labeled "Patient's Belongings." Her back was to him as he opened the door and closed it again.
"Hey, Abby." He hugged her with one arm and kissed her head. "Ready to leave?"
She smiled. It was a fake, weak smile. "Yeah, let's go."
Carter was suspicious of something. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She smiled again in the same way. Carter noticed something definitely wrong and different about her. He left it alone for the moment, remembering their trip home. He took her hand and led her to the door. They began their quiet journey home, where Carter had wanted to go with her for a while.
Romano had informed him to keep her from doing anything work-related for a week before she went back to work. She wasn't bedridden, and that was a good thing. He still wanted to take her on walks through parks and stuff, so he looked forward to it.
