Abby watched as Carter walked out the door from the roof. She smiled to herself, remembering the past year. It hadn't really been a good year, but it had been meaningful. Her first day under Dr. Malucci, the first patient she lost, and her first real conversation with Carter after Lucy's death.
-----11
months earlier-------
"Carter, are you awake?" she asked, peeking into the darkened hospital room, "It's Abby, Abby Lockhart."
"Come in," he said, slowly sitting up, "you can turn on the
lights."
She
flicked on the light switch to see his pain stricken face as he maneuvered his
body into an upright position. "I start my shift in 30 minutes so I thought
I'd come in early and see you,"
Abby explained, holding up a bag, "I brought sandwiches and soup from the
deli by my apartment, sandwich for me, soup for you."
"You didn't have to," John said as his pained face turned into a
smile, "this is really nice considering I've only known you for maybe a
month."
"It's
my pleasure," she said modestly, "so what would you like to talk
about? Probably not anything personal since after my accident the last thing I
wanted to talk about was how I felt."
"What
accident?" he asked.
Abby
looked solemnly away from John, "When I was in 9th grade I was attacked by
a mugger walking back from the library, I spent my summer vacation in the
hospital and after the first week, I was sick of discussing it."
"I
guess you know how I feel then," he said softly.
"I
have no clue how you feel, each person is different," she said handing him
a carton of soup, "I may live in a horrible neighborhood, but the local
deli's vegetable soup is amazing."
"That's
my favorite, thank you," he smiled, "how is life treating you?"
"My
rent is late, my ex is harassing me, Dave screamed at me yesterday, and I think
I'm getting the flu," Abby explained, "things haven't been the
best."
"Then why did you come visit me? It seems like you have more important things to worry about?" Carter asked, looking concerned.
"Because
you deserve my concern more then anyone at the moment, even myself,"
said Abby, "my problems aren't that hard to solve, you need someone."
They sat there in silence for a moment, just looking at each other before Carter spoke up, "Can you just sit with me? I just need someone to be here with me."
-----back to current time----
Abby's
beeper went off again. "Damn it Kerry," she thought as she walked out
the roof door. She started down the flight of stairs cursing Dr. Weaver in her
head, "except for the family, its been silent all day." Abby finally
reached the ER.
"Abby,
can we see you for a moment?" Dr. Greene called out to her, flagging her
into the lounge. She walked into the room to see Carter, Greene, and Weaver
sitting around the table.
"Have
a seat Abby," Kerry said motioning towards the seat next to her.
"What's
this all about?" Abby asked, looking at Carter's equally confused face.
"A
complaint has been registered and we need to discuss your relationship with Dr.
Carter," Mark explained.
John
spoke up, "We're close friends, after the attack I depended on Abby
emotionally to get me through some hard times."
"The
person who registered this complaint says that Abby moved into your
apartment," Kerry questioned, "is this true?"
"Yes,
I moved into his spare room after I was evicted," Abby said simply,
"we both know that anything more than a platonic relationship is against
the rules."
"We
believe you both, we just needed to go over things," Dr. Greene said
standing up. With Dr. Weaver they both left the room leaving Carter and Abby
alone.
Carter
spoke up, "Was I wrong to kiss you?"
"It's
against the rules," Abby said quietly.
"But
was I wrong to kiss you?" he asked again, "because after the months of
waiting, it didn't feel wrong."
"John,
you really hurt me," she said still not looking at him, "you said you
depended on me, but you never came to me to tell me about the drugs."
"I
went to rehab because of you, because I saw how much I was hurting you and I can
promise you I'm done with the drugs," he explained, "I've had feelings
for you since the first time I saw you."
"On
my first day in the ER?" she asked.
"No
actually," he laughed, "when I was still doing a surgical rotation, I
was on a break in the cafeteria and I stood behind you on line. You were still
nursing and we both grabbed for the last chocolate chip muffin."
"Seriously?"
she began laughing with him.
"Yes,
and you smiled at me and let me have it," he finished his story, "I
thought you were one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen, well I still
think that."
Abby
softly blushed, "Thank you."
Haleh
opened the door, "Trauma coming in, ETA 5 minutes."
"Okay,
we're coming," Carter said standing up.
"John,
we're both off in a half and hour, let's get something to eat after we're
done," Abby suggested following him, "we can talk things out
more."
"That
sounds nice," he agreed, "you know that I'll accept whatever choice
you make."
"I
know John," she said, "I just need to think more."