A different day in May - part 3
(An alternative universe fic featuring Dave
and Carter)
Previously on ER
As Carter hurried away from the Intervention in Curtain 3, Dave
caught up with him and invited him for drinks. Carter accepted in
order to avoid Benton trying to persuade him to go to Rehab.
Later in the bar, Carter told Dave that he had quit working at
County. While Carter left to go to the bathroom, his cell phone
rang. Dave answered it, pretending to be Carter and heard Kerry
apologize to 'John' for confronting him over his addiction. He
hung up, but not before jumping to the conclusion that Carter was
an alcoholic. Carter returned from the bathroom feeling a lot
more confident. Meanwhile, Kerry and the other 'interventionists'
debated how best to help Carter, finally coming to the conclusion
that they should phone Dave on his cell phone, but not tell him
about Carter's problem.
----------------
Dave's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a cell phone.
Pulling it out of his pocket, he frowned as he recognized the
number.
"Looks like it's the hospital," he said to Carter.
Carter's face drained of color. "Do...do you have to answer
it?" he asked, hesitantly.
"I don't know Carter," said Dave, evenly. "It
could be important."
The phone continued to ring.
---------------
"Don't answer it," said Carter, trying to control
himself. "They probably just want to ask you about a patient
or something. You're off-duty...they've no right to hassle you."
Dave looked sharply at Carter. This more than anything else told
him that something was badly wrong with his friend. After all,
this was the guy who reputedly had traveled the length and
breadth of Chicago trying to find a blood donor for a little girl...and
he had been off-duty at the time.
"I'd better answer it," said Dave finally as he pressed
the button.
"Malucci here," he said into the phone. "Wassup?"
Kerry breathed a sigh of relief as Dave finally answered. "Dave,
it's Dr. Weaver here. I...we...is Carter there with you? Just
answer yes or no," she added hastily.
"Yes," replied Dave, looking Carter in the eye.
"Okay, I want you to listen to me carefully. It's important
that John comes back to the hospital. I want to send Dr. Benton
and Dr. Greene to pick him up. Can you keep him there?"
"Hang on a minute, Chief," said Dave, "It's pretty
noisy here, just let me go somewhere a bit quieter."
Putting his hand over the mouthpiece, he said to Carter, "I'll
be back in a minute."
Dave didn't really want to leave Carter alone, but he didn't want
to discuss things in front of him either. He figured that by
standing near the doorway he'd be able to talk in private *and*
make sure that Carter didn't do a runner.
"Okay Chief, he can't hear me...what were you saying?"
"It's imperative that Carter comes back to the hospital
immediately," said Kerry.
"Why's it so important?" asked Dave. "I mean, he
told me he'd quit working there...wouldn't say why though. Has
that got something to do with it?"
Kerry hesitated before replying. "Partly. I'd rather not go
into it now...do you think you'll be able to keep him with you?"
"Yeah...yeah I guess so...might be easier if I knew what was
bugging him..." Dave waited, but Kerry didn't reply.
"Okay," said Dave, finally. "I'll try and keep him
here."
-----------------------
Carter gulped down a mouthful of his drink, grimacing slightly at
the taste. He wondered what Kerry was telling Dave. Shit, shit,
shit, she was probably telling him all about the intervention...or
would she. Carter pondered the question. Kerry had gone to great
lengths to keep the intervention secret from the rest of the ER
staff...he was sure of it. After he had stormed out of Curtain 3,
nobody in the corridor had so much as given him a second glance...well
except Abby of course, he thought with a surge of anger. Little
telltale. What business of her was it if he chose to take his
medication in an exam room? And injecting oneself in the wrist,
while unconventional wasn't unheard of. Okay, he *had* denied it
to Mark and Kerry afterwards, but it wasn't any of their business.
He needed his medication, and when or how he took it was up to
him. They obviously had no concept of how hard it was to force
himself to go through his daily routine at work. They had no idea
what it was like to work until his body was screaming in pain and
the only relief was a quick jab of morphine...and oh, what a
relief it was...the soothing feeling as he pulled the needle out
and knew that the pain was going to fade far far away. He knew
people wouldn't understand. That was why he never made a big deal
about it. He came into work on time. He did whatever they told
him to. He never complained. He just kept working. So what if he
needed medication to help him...nobody complained if a diabetic
needed insulin...and he needed painkillers...he did...really.
--------------------
"Yeah Chief," Dave said. "I'll keep him here until
Benton and Greene get here."
"They might get there a little faster if you actually told
me where you are," said Kerry, dryly.
"Oh yeah," said Dave, smiling involuntarily. "Yeah,
we're at..." The sudden entrance of a crowd of people
interrupted Dave. They pushed past Dave, chattering noisily and
milled around him as they argued about who was getting the first
round in. Dave started to tell Kerry where they were but soon
realized that she couldn't hear him over the noise.
Dave cursed under his breath as he waited for the crowd to
disperse. This was bad...he hadn't wanted to leave Carter alone
for too long...God only knew how much he would have drunk by the
time he got back to the table.
Shit, swore Dave under his breath as the crowd of people managed
to obstruct his view of the table where he'd left Carter. He
pushed his way through the crowd, trying to get a clear line of
sight, but it seemed like everyone was going in a different
direction and he was jostled several times, nearly dropping the
phone in the process. Finally, the crowd thinned out and Dave was
able to see the table.
"Oh shit," he groaned.
---------------------
Carter watched nervously as Dave spoke on the phone. Why the hell
couldn't Kerry let it rest? She wasn't his mother...hell; as of a
couple of hours ago she wasn't even his boss. He was a free agent...he
could go anywhere, do anything...he didn't need anyone's
permission or approval anymore. The only person he had to please
was himself. If he wanted to use morphine to control his pain...to
help him function, then that was his business. It wasn't as if
anyone had suffered because of it...he had never put his patients
at risk...hell, they'd have been at risk if he *hadn't* been
taking anything. Trying to work without any medication would have
left him tired and distracted...he wouldn't have been able to
concentrate and he could have put patient's lives in danger.
"But what about that woman who you wrote the wrong orders
for?" said a little voice in his mind. "She could have
died because you forgot about her allergy."
"That's not my fault," Carter told himself. "Well
okay...it *was* my fault...but I just wasn't concentrating
properly...but it had nothing to do with my meds."
John sipped from his glass as he remembered that day. He was
pretty certain that Deb had gone and blabbed to Kerry about his
mistake. What right did *she* have to accuse him of endangering
patients. "Lost any guide wires lately Deb." That's
what he should have said to her at the intervention. He supposed
he was lucky that Dave's screw-up that day had been serious
enough to divert attention from him.
As Carter watched, Dave looked over in his direction and nodded
at something he was being told on the phone. Then a crowd of
people surged into the bar, momentarily blocking Dave from his
view. Acting on impulse, Carter grabbed his jacket and moved
towards the back of the bar, figuring that there was probably
another exit there. He could easily get to his jeep and be gone
before Dave was finished talking. It was probably for the best,
he reasoned. Dave didn't need to have Kerry and Mark on his back
any more than they already were.
Carter sighed as he followed the exit signs. He was going to miss
his friends at County...but there was no way he could have
continued to work there...not when people whom he had thought
were his friends could believe that he was an addict.
-----------------
Dave stared at the empty table and swore. "Dammit Chief,
he's gone...he was only out of sight for a minute...I'll catch up
with him and call you back." He quickly disconnected and
headed back to the table to grab his jacket.
A barmaid was clearing the table of glasses when he got there.
"Hey," said Dave. "The guy who was at this table,
6-1, brown hair, sort of worried looking...did you see where he
went?"
"Sure, he asked me was there another way out of this place...so
I pointed him towards the back way."
"There's another way out? Oh shit," said Dave, before
hurrying off in the direction she had indicated, and praying that
he'd catch up with Carter before he got too far.
-------------------
"No wait," said Kerry, "Tell us where you are
first." But the connection was already broken. She looked
round at the expectant faces in the room with her and shook her
head.
"I knew Malucci wouldn't be any help," said Peter in
disgust.
"He was going to tell me where they were when he realized
that John had left. He's going to catch up with him and call us
back. I'm guessing that John figured out what was going on and
didn't want to face us."
"So what do we do now?" asked Jing-Mei.
Mark shrugged, "I don't think there's anything more we can
do. We've already left messages on his answering machine and with
his grandparents asking him to come back to the hospital. We've
done all we can. Until Carter realizes that he needs help...there's
nothing more to be done."
"Maybe Dave will catch him and bring him back," said
Jing-Mei hopefully.
"And maybe Romano will grow an Afro," said Peter.
"No, Carter's only hope is if we find him and get him to
Atlanta."
"Chicago's a big city," said Kerry, "Where were
you planning on starting to look?"
"I'm going to go to his apartment and wait. He'll have to
come home sooner or later."
He looked around at the skeptical faces. "Any of you got a
better idea?"
There was silence. "Okay then," said Peter, pulling his
jacket on. "I'll call you when I find him."
-------------------
To be continued