A different day in May - part 4
(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 seek help. 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 and
Dave answered it, pretending to be Carter and heard Kerry
apologize to 'John' for confronting him over his addiction. Dave
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.
Kerry asked Dave to keep Carter at the bar until Mark and Peter
arrived. He agreed, and was about to tell them where he was when
he realized that Carter wasn't where he had left him. In his
haste to find Carter, Dave forgot to tell Kerry the location of
the bar.
Disgusted by Dave's lack of help, Peter set out to Carter's
apartment to wait for him to come home.
-----------------------
Carter made his way out the back exit of the bar and circled the
building to get back to his jeep. "Another half hour or so
and I'll be home," he told himself as he fumbled for his
keys. "And no one will be able to bother me."
Carter unlocked the jeep and quickly slid in behind the wheel.
Adjusting the mirror, he cursed under his breath as he saw Dave's
bike in the back. "Damn, damn, damn," he said, banging
his head against the steering wheel in frustration. He couldn't
just drive off and leave Dave stranded here. Okay, it wasn't too
far from his apartment...Dave could easily walk it...but the bike
was Dave's sole means of transportation. Carter couldn't just
drive off with it...especially since he wasn't planning on seeing
Dave any time soon. Carter sighed as he took the keys out of the
ignition. Turning to open the door, he yelped in surprise at the
sight of a face squashed up against the window.
"Malucci, get away from there," snapped Carter. Dave
stepped back and Carter opened the door, and climbed out. "What
the hell did you do that for? You scared the crap out of me."
"Not literally, I hope," said Dave. "I came
looking for you...why'd you run out on me like that?"
"I didn't run out on you," said Carter. "I...um, I
wanted a cigarette and I figured I wouldn't be able to light up
in there...so...so I came out here...and I was just going to use
the car lighter...that's all...I was going to come back in."
"Oh, okay," said Dave, wondering whether to believe him
or not. He supposed that Carter could be telling the truth, but
he wasn't sure.
"What...what did Dr. Weaver want?" Carter asked
hesitantly. Dave didn't seem to be looking at him any
differently, so maybe she hadn't told him anything.
Dave looked Carter in the eye. "She wanted to know if you
were okay...thought you might be a bit upset after today...I
guess she was worried after you quitting like that."
Carter breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God for Kerry and her
discretion. He should have known that she wouldn't tell 'motor
mouth' Malucci about any rumors. "I hope you told her I was
fine," he said to Dave.
Dave shrugged, "You probably shouldn't have run off like
that...earlier I mean. The Chief sounded worried."
"Yeah...well I'll call her in the morning...let her know
there's nothing to worry about," lied Carter.
"So, d'you wanna come back inside?" asked Dave.
"Actually...it's been a busy day...I think I'd rather go
home, if that's all right with you."
"Sure, whatever...our seats are probably gone by now anyway,"
said Dave. "You don't mind giving me a ride to my place?"
Actually all Carter wanted to do was get as far away from Dave
and any reminder of County General as he could, but he knew it
would be bad manners to let Dave cycle.
"Sure...you're not too far from here, right?"
--------------------
Carter pulled up in front of Dave's apartment block and switched
off the ignition. "Need a hand getting the bike out?"
he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," said Dave, wondering what excuse he
could use to get Carter up to his apartment. Usually with a chick
he had the excuse of 'showing them his CD collection'...or
offering them a nightcap...but he didn't think Carter would fall
for either of those lines. But he couldn't just let Carter drive
away to God knows where. Somehow he had to get him up to the
apartment and distract him long enough to call Dr. Weaver. Benton
and Greene were probably in the bar and cursing him by now...shit.
Dave groaned as he realized that in all the commotion he hadn't
managed to tell Weaver where exactly the bar was. "The Chief
is gonna kill me," he said without thinking.
"What's the matter?" asked Carter, hearing Dave's groan.
"What? Uh, nothing...just something I was supposed to do,"
replied Dave quickly.
Carter looked at him suspiciously for a second before getting out
and unlocking the rear of the jeep.
Dave slid out of the jeep and joined Carter as he tried to pull
the bike out.
"It's stuck," grunted Carter, as he pulled
unsuccessfully.
"Be careful," warned Dave, "You'll damage it if
you drag it out."
"Just so long as it doesn't damage my jeep," snapped
Carter.
"Look, it's caught on something," said Dave, "Hang
on a minute, let me climb in and free it."
Dave clambered carefully over the bike and felt around underneath
it. "Try it now," he ordered. "And be careful."
Carter rolled his eyes and yanked strongly on the bike...too
strongly. The bike moved faster than Carter had expected it too.
With a yelp, he jumped back out of the way...lost his balance and
landed in a puddle of water as the bike crashed to the ground a
few inches away from him.
Dave swore as he jumped out of the jeep and crouched down beside
his bike, examining it carefully for signs of damage. He breathed
a sigh of relief as he failed to spot any scratches or dents that
hadn't been there previously. Belatedly he remembered that the
bike might not have been the only casualty of the incident and
looked over at Carter who was sitting up and looking very pissed
off.
"Um, Carter...are you okay?"
"Do I *look* okay to you?" snapped Carter. "Help
me up."
Dave scrambled over to his friend and yanked him up out of the
puddle. "How's your back?" he asked with concern.
"My back is fine," said Carter. "But look at these...they're
ruined." He indicated his trousers. Not only were they
splattered with muddy water but there was also a long streak of
oil down one leg.
"They're not ruined," said Dave, patiently. "A
little bit of soap on the oil stain...toss 'em in the wash and
they'll be good as new."
Carter looked at him coldly. "Do you have any idea how much
these cost? They're dry clean only."
"Yeah? Well you shouldn't have been wearing them in the ER,"
snapped back Dave. "Look...I'll pay for the dry cleaning...okay?"
Carter sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "No...no...you
don't have to do that. It was my fault...I should have been more
careful..." His voice trailed off as he saw a smirk appear
on Dave's face. "What are you grinning at?"
"Take a look at your hands," suggested Dave, trying not
to burst out laughing.
Carter did so, and groaned as he saw the smears of oil on them.
"It's in my hair...right?" he asked resignedly.
"And on your face," snickered Dave. In spite of his
amusement, he suddenly had a great idea. "Look, you can't
drive home like that. Come on up to my place...get rid of that
oil...and I can lend you a pair of sweatpants...okay?"
"Yeah...okay," said Carter reluctantly. All he really
wanted to do was go home, but he supposed he could take the time
to get cleaned up. After all, he didn't really want to ruin his
seat covers by dripping all over them.
Dave refrained from punching the air triumphantly and instead
grabbed his bike. He had successfully gotten Carter away from the
alcohol in the pub...now all that remained was to get any alcohol
in his system away from Carter.
As the two men climbed the stairs to Dave's apartment, he
pondered the problem. Dr. Weaver and Benton had obviously tried
their best to get Carter to go off the booze. But it was clear
that they hadn't succeeded. Now Dave wondered if calling the
Chief and letting them know where Carter was would be such a good
idea. They couldn't exactly drag him back to County kicking and
screaming...and he was unlikely to go willingly. Dave reluctantly
decided that he was the only one in a position to help Carter dry
out...shit, how the hell had he gotten himself mixed up in this.
The right thing to do was to call Kerry and let her handle it...but
then she hadn't exactly done a good job so far.
By the time they reached the apartment, Dave had made a decision.
He wasn't on duty for another 24 hours. That should give him
enough time to get through to Carter...and if he couldn't...well
then he'd call the Chief and let her give it her best shot.
---------------------
"Okay, there should be plenty of hot water," said Dave
as he showed Carter to the bathroom. "If it runs out, then
just kick the boiler a few times." He handed Carter a faded,
almost threadbare bathrobe. "Stick this on you when you're
finished and I'll try and find you something to wear. Oh, and see
that red jar? That works wonders getting oil stains off...there's
plenty of towels." He grinned, "You're lucky I did my
laundry yesterday...anything else you need, just holler."
"I think I've got everything," said Carter quietly.
"Okay then...I'll just put something on for dinner...pasta
okay with you?"
"I'm not really hungry."
Dave shrugged, "Well, I am...I'll do enough for two...if you
don't want it, then it'll do me for tomorrow."
Carter nodded as Dave left the room. A few minutes later, he was
standing naked under the shower jet, letting the water cascade
over his aching body. Ah, that was good, he thought as he slowly
massaged his scalp. Not quite as effective as a quick shot of
fentanyl...but an acceptable temporary substitute...shit...Carter
groaned as he realized that he wouldn't be able to take anything
until he got back home...after all, he couldn't exactly shoot up
with Dave watching...and it would look a bit weird if he insisted
on bringing his jacket with him, going to the toilet. Oh well, he
thought...I can handle it...it'll only be an hour...two at most...I'll
have some pasta with Dave and then I'll go home...and then I can
take something...I'll be fine...I'll be fine, he repeated over
and over as the dirt was washed away.
----------------------
Carter tied the bathrobe around him and opened the door to the
bathroom. He hoped that Dave had found some clean clothes for him.
There was something disconcerting about wandering around a guy's
apartment wearing only a skimpy bathrobe. It just didn't seem
respectable.
All thoughts of respectability fled from his mind when he got as
far as the living area. "What the hell do you think you're
doing?" he snapped angrily.
Dave looked up guiltily from where he had just started to search
Carter's jacket. "Carter...this isn't what it looks like...I
swear."
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To be continued