Lessons Learned
Part Three
By Kristen
kdarganin@hotmail.com

Archive: Yes, just let me know.
Disclamier: I do now own the characters of ER I am just borrowing them for fun.

Category: Story/Angst (JC/PB/LK/RR)

Notes: Thank you Jackie for all of your wonderful advice and editing!

Comments: Of course! Kdarganin@hotmail.com

After two hours of being forced to follow the man around the hospital, Peter Benton had finally been able to get rid of Dr. Logan. There was no real reason why he was being forced to listen to the administrator's lectures, but Peter had a feeling it was to keep him off of Romano's back. Then without warning, all hell had broken loose. Romano had approached his nemesis, some piece of paperwork required Logan's signature, but this only resulted in an argument, from which Peter was quickly dismissed. Benton could still hear the screaming match as he walked away in search of something to do.

Peter didn't want to return to the OR, especially since there were no patients pending, so he was forced to find something to do on the ER floor. As he came across the admit desk, he noticed Luka trying to avoid a conversation with an overly aggressive female nurse. It amused him to see the other doctor try to remain friendly and at the same time avoid the woman's advances. The man certainly had an effect on women, it seemed. Normally Peter would let him suffer, but since he was bored, he decided to intercede.

"Dr. Kovac, are there any surgical patients down here?" he asked, knowing full well that he would have been paged if he were needed.

"No, Dr. Benton there are none, but I could use your advice about something. Why don't you follow me into the lounge so we can discuss it in private?" Luka said, with much more vigor then was needed.

Peter couldn't hide his grin over Luka's situation. The man needed to learn some lessons about women, Peter thought to himself.

"I owe you one," Luka whispered when they were far enough away from Linda.

"I think all of us are owed big time for this idiotic assignment," Peter said dryly. He hated it when it was slow over at County, but this misappropriation of faculty was totally inexcusable. The only reason they were here was probably to feed Romano's ego and ridiculous desire to pull others with him into hell, Peter thought.

"Yeah, that Dr. Logan is a real jerk. He's been riding all of us pretty hard all day, and his attitudes towards patient care is repulsive," Luka said with contempt.

"Yeah, he was giving Carter a hard time about his diagnosis of an elderly patient earlier. I happened to agree with Logan's assessment, but he didn't need to grill Carter in front of her. Its just plain disrespectful to do that in front of a patient," Peter responded, his voice rising just a bit louder then he intended.

"He was commenting about Carter's limp behind his back, and then went on to insult Dr. Weaver's handicap. What kind of doctor makes insulting remarks about medical conditions? Does the man lack any kind of respect for others?" Luka asked, already knowing the answer.

Peter scowled in confusion and growing anger. "He was making fun of Carter?" he asked, outraged at such disregard towards a colleague.

Luka was startled by Peter's tone. It was angry, and Luka could emphasize, but he never really suspected the level of protectiveness that was evident in Peter's voice. Luka decided that a confrontation with Logan would not do anyone any good.

"Yeah, he was, but I'm sure he didn't mean it." Luka responded not wanting to cause a confrontation between Peter and Dr. Logan.

"He didn't mean it? What kind of excuse is that, Kovac? What did Logan say?" Peter tersely asked. He didn't notice the fact that he had closed the gap between Luka and himself, and had cornered the other doctor.

Luka stepped to the side; Peter's rapid breathing was making him uncomfortable. "I don't remember, Dr. Benton, I think he called Carter a cripple," Luka responded, almost murmuring the last part.

Peter's frown deepened and he started looking around. The fact that he remained silent was making Luka nervous. Was the surgeon really that upset? He never really showed any concern concerning colleagues before, but he knew that his relationship with Carter was a unique one.

"Don't be looking for trouble. You don't want to make Carter's day any harder, do you?" Luka asked when he became concerned that the surgeon was looking for Dr. Logan.

"Don't worry about me, Kovac. I'm just going to have a little talk with Romano to find out exactly why we were all dragged here for in the first place," Peter replied.

"We're all being subjected for disciplinary actions," Luka told him, knowing Peter didn't like to be reminded about his mix up with Dr. Finch.

"Yeah, I now that," Peter replied, leaving the rest of his thoughts unspoken.

"Except, Carter hasn't been written up for anything, and he knows that. He was talking about it earlier. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Luka asked. He didn't conceal the accusative tone he took, but he knew that Peter Benton had been a bit more involved in overseeing Carter's recovery then he let on.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Peter stated, leaving Luka alone.

Luka watched the other doctor walk away, wondering what he had done to get on his bad side. He knew Peter had a reputation for being a hard ass, but he was Carter's friend, too. He didn't know him as well as Benton, but he never suspected the two to be buddies, or anything similar. Just every once in a while, Peter Benton seemed to surprise him. Benton showed him kindness when he brought in the little girl who had been hurt in a hit and run. 'However, sometimes the man was a jerk,' Luka thought.

Luka went to one of the exam areas where he saw Linda evaluating a new patient. In the meantime, Luka became aware the he had not seen Carter in a while, since he had gone upstairs. 'Still attending to that elderly woman that Peter mentioned, Luka mused. 'I'm sure its more interesting then what his new patient looked like.' Luka grabbed the patient's chart.



Carter scampered out of the room on his hands and knees. He felt the heat on his back as he continued down the hall. One large flame lashed out with the release of the oxygen, but it was sucked back into the storage room. The flames were spreading along the ceiling of the hallway as the fire sought more oxygen to fuel it. The fire was not consuming the walls, but the ceiling tiles were being eaten away. The white smoke was seeping into the hallway, and Carter kept his head down to avoid the fumes.

The combination of the sweat dripping over his face and the smoke was making him disorientated. His throat burned, and he tried to take fewer breaths. Carter moved forward hurriedly, knowing the heat was behind him and gaining.

'Why in the hell weren't the water sprinklers and alarms going off? This damn place,' Carter thought. He made it to the middle of the hall, grateful now that there didn't appear to be any patients. He heard a shout and looked to see a man racing towards him.

A guy in scrubs bent down and grabbed Carter underneath the arms to help him stand. He stood up and swayed a bit. "Whoa, there! What the hell happened? We better get out of here!" the stranger said.

"We need to alert..." Carter was seized by a fit of coughing.

"We need to get out of here!" The man dragged Carter over to the elevator.

"No! The elevator's out, we need to take the stairs!" Carter yelled.

"Okay, can you walk?" the man asked, panicked.

"I'm fine, we need to go back!" Carter indicated by jerking his head back the way they had come. When he looked up, he saw the blurry image of the fire creeping up the ceiling, it was spreading in both directions. The fire was burning its way back to the stairwell and coming in their direction.

"Are you crazy? The fire's blocking our path, there has to be another way!" the man cried out.

"Hey! Calm down, we can't lose our heads. I'm Carter, thanks for grabbing me." Carter needed to keep his cool and having his newfound friend freak out on him wasn't going to help matters.

"My names Taylor, I'm a neurologists tech, all the other docs are either home or wandering around here. Now, we need to get the hell out!"

The two stayed crouched down on the opposite end of the hallway away from the fire and Carter knew that they needed to stop wasting time. The hallway was becoming dense with fumes.

"Okay, put your shirt over your mouth. We'll both take deep breaths and run as fast as we can, it's the only way." Carter watched as Taylor pulled his shirt scrub over his mouth and nodded.

"On the count of three! One...two...three!" Carter yelled, and they both ran right towards the flames that were flooding their path back to the stairwell.



Rocket Romano was not a happy man. He should be ecstatic, even jovial, but instead he was here, depressed. He was here to gloat over Logan's misfortune, but all that he endured was the man's pompous attitude. The last thing he wanted to do was butt heads with Peter Benton, the arrogant surgeon. Not that he didn't admire arrogance, he loved it. Just not when it was in competition with his own. He liked Peter, but he also wanted to keep his distance from the man. Yet, Peter Benton was pacing outside his borrowed office like some enrage lion. 'This is not what I need right now,' Romano thought to himself.

Knowing he couldn't keep the man waiting, he signaled him in, and Benton strode inside, his eyes filled with irritation.

"What can I do for you, Peter?" Romano asked in his most pleasant voice.

"What you can do is tell me what the hell are we doing here?" Peter barked.

"Dr. Benton, as I understand the duties of my position, I don't believe they include telling you my reasons for anything." Romano replied smoothly.

"It does when you've dragged two doctors and myself to this hell of a hospital to endure some little power play with Dr. Logan! I don't appreciate it one bit, and neither do the others." Peter spoke in the loudest voice possible without actually yelling at his Chief.

"For your information, I chose you, Peter, because you're a great surgeon and I wanted to show Logan what he's missing from his staff. I also wanted to teach you and Kovac a little lesson concerning your recent behavior. Do you see the atmosphere around you, Peter?" Romano rose from his seat and motioned around him.

Unable to respond, Peter merely nodded.

"Good. Take a long hard look. Dr. Logan is an incompetent, arrogant son of a bitch, and he let what used to be a great hospital fall to pieces. I wanted you to see for yourself what can happen when all those things like pesky rules and regulation are not followed." Romano stated.

"I don't understand," Peter replied.

"I know. This hospital was run under Dr. Logan's law, not under the proper administration. I wanted you and Kovac to learn what could happen if you didn't have someone like me around," Romano concluded with a smile.

"Fine, thanks for the lesson. This doesn't explain why Carter is here. What lessons does he need to learn?" Peter asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Dr. Carter. Hmmm, well young Dr. Carter is my concern, not yours," Romano replied, obviously not wanting to discuss it.

"Since when is he your concern?" Peter asked, pressing the issue.

Romano got out of his chair once more and strode over to where the other surgeon was standing. "Since when was he yours?" he asked, waiting for Peter to react.

"I was his teacher," he replied simply. Seeing that this wasn't enough to convince his boss, Peter distractedly glanced around the office, not wanting to look Romano in the eye. "I was his surgeon during, you know." Peter didn't want to elaborate.

Romano knew what the other doctor was implying and unconsciously moved his bottom jaw back and forth. "Yes, you were his surgeon, but Dr. Carter is not your patient anymore."

"I want to know why he's here. Is that too much to ask?" Peter was getting agitated.

"Why is there a problem?" Romano was tired of this conversation already. What was causing Benton so much distress?

"I don't like the fact that he's being harassed by Dr. Logan all the time, and he believes that he was sent here because we don't think he can do his job. Is there any truth to that, Dr. Romano?"

"For someone who is so concerned for a fellow colleague, you don't pay too much attention what's going around you, Peter." Romano switched subjects, noting Benton's further irritation with amusement.

"What are you talking about? Is there something going on with Carter?" Peter was becoming fed up with playing games when all he wanted was some straight answers. Romano wasn't quick enough for Peter's liking, and he couldn't hold back his anger anymore.

"Listen here Dr. Romano, its one thing to jerk some one around because he didn't follow every rule to the letter. However, Carter has had a very traumatic experience, and he needs to know that he can do his job without worrying that others are prying into his business." Peter watched Romano for a rebuke, but since he felt like the man was going to ridicule him, he wanted to say one final thing. "Carter is a good doctor--"

"I know quite well Dr. Carter's abilities. That's why I had him sent here in the first place." Romano interrupted. He placed his hand out to signal to Peter that he would have his say. "I lost a good med student that night despite all my effort to save her. We let the lax in hospital policy result in a brutal attack on two of our own. Now one of them is dead, and the other one is doing a good job of pretending that nothing happened that night."

Peter stood there, confused at the direction of the conversation and the fact that Rocket Romano was sharing his feelings with him, of all people. Not knowing what to say, he just listened.

"I may not have an active role in the ER, but I know when one of its doctors is having a difficult time. Surgery is my life. I don't have kids, I don't have a need for a wife. I live and breathe medicine, nothing distracts me. Since I don't let things like the ordinary world deter me, I have noticed that Carter is not adjusting well to his return. I know that his physician signed off on him to returning to work, and some of the staff have concerns about it being too soon. However, concern can get lost in the hustle and bustle of daily life."

Romano paused to make sure his unwilling listener was still with him. Satisfied, continued his train of thought. "I wanted Carter to take it easy, under a less rigorous set of circumstances. Since this place is shutting down, I thought it would be good for him to take it slower and for me to keep an eye on him. After this shift, I'm going to recommend to Kerry that we redefine Carter's workload."

Peter couldn't hold back while Romano told him that his colleague was unfit for work. "Carter is doing fine considering all that's he's been through. I think--"

"This isn't about what you think, Peter, it's about what I think. That being said, I know you're not as much of a tough guy as you let on. Watch him, you used to be his teacher like you said. I'm not just talking about a typical adjustment back to work from an injury. I think there is something more going on and I think he needs someone to look after him. I decided to do that job, but if you think you know him so well, then you do it. Then, after observing his difficulties, I want you to reconsider what I just said, and I'll gladly accept your apology for questioning me."

Romano sat back down and was ready to dismiss Benton. He felt somewhat less gleeful about dressing the surgeon down when he saw his expression of sad realization. Peter Benton looked like someone just told him that his wife was cheating on him and the whole town knew about but him. Romano clasped his hands in front of him and looked up at Peter when he muttered something.

"His last MRI looked fine." Peter said now unconvinced.

"Don't be so glum, Peter, life has a way of sweeping us away sometimes." Before he could add anything else, a staff member burst into the room.

"Sir, we have a fire on the 5th floor!"



After he had said "three," Carter had raced towards the source of the fire, with the help of the tech. He was favoring his left side, but the two managed to sprint a good ways down the hall. As the two neared the destroyed supply closet, Carter heard a tremendous crackling sound, and looked up to see the ceiling cave in around him, sending debris and part of the air conditioning unit crashing on top of them.

Carter fell to the floor and covered his head. After a few seconds, he looked up to see that the fire was raging above him, burning all the structural supports that held the metal piece of equipment in place. He peered over to see, in horror that the air conditioning unit and several beams had landed on Taylor, who was too terrified to scream. The bulky unit was on top of the tech's legs, and hips. The tech seemed to be pinned by the weight and Carter crawled over to the man's side.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Carter rasped. The smoke was really thick, and the fumes were making Carter gag.

"Help me!" Taylor screamed.

Carter remained crouched by the man's side, trying to avoid the flames that were overhead and spilling out of the door. It would only be a matter of moments before the fire overtook the entire hall, as it continued to rage in the empty space between the ceiling tiles and the next floor. Carter couldn't keep his eyes open, they burned from the intense chemical fumes, and he knew that if he remained he would simply be overcome by it all and he wouldn't be any help. Maybe he could find someone to help him move the bulky unit that had pinned the tech to the floor.

Thinking quickly, Carter took off his shirt and balled it up. He put it in Taylor's left hand and instructed him with what little voice he had left. "Put this shirt against you mouth and breathe through it."

"Please..." Taylor was consumed by a coughing fit. "Please don't leave me!" he cried out in desperation. The tech suspected that the doctor felt incapable of helping him and was going to leave him behind.

Carter felt horrible upon hearing such fear, and he knew that he needed to try to help the man. He used his hands to feel where the unit had landed, and used all his strength to push the unit off. He didn't want to further injure the tech, but Carter felt that he didn't have a choice. He felt the metal structure move ever so slightly, but it was too heavy and Taylor began to moan with every inch it moved. Carter knew that Taylor was suffering from burns and each second that the metal unit remained on him would make them worse.

"I know...you hurt, but...try to roll with the movement...it's the only way!" Carter gasped, as his lungs screamed at him from gulping toxic air. He used his body to push against the air conditioner, the hot metal burning his hands and the skin on his side where he removed his shirt. Taylor moved and Carter screamed from the exertion and the pain from the heated unit, but the machine began to slide off. Taylor rolled with the momentum and Carter blindly grabbed at the man. He got a hold on his shirt and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Let's go!" Carter rasped.

Carter painfully crawled towards the door with Taylor directly in front of him. Each movement sent sharp pains through Carter's back and his head pounded furiously. The tech was in obvious pain, as he was barely able to crawl through the door, but both of them felt the stairs beneath their hands, and stumbled down the flight of stairs, landing in a pile at the bottom. Carter's vision was blurry and the stairwell was spinning in front of him. He may have been slightly blinded, but at least the smoke didn't seem to follow them into their temporary area of safety.

He could hear the heat from the fire as it consumed the wing of the fifth floor that the two men just escaped from. Taylor had not said a word, and Carter feared that the man was seriously injured. There wasn't time to examine him and Carter knew he was physically unable to carry him the rest of the way to safety. After a brief moments rest, Carter realized that their situation was volatile. The fire was searching for more sources of fuel, which was oxygen and flammable material. Before he got up his, wayward friend decided to add something to Carter's worries.

"S-s-sounds like the air conditioning is working. Great huh?"

Carter bowed his head for a second as he heard the circulation of air beneath the roar of the fire. The implications didn't bode well, as the fire would start to seek the air out through the vents throughout the hospital. He grabbed his friend's hand and dragged him forward.

"We...have... to keep going." Carter hoped that his luck would change and by some miracle of God that someone would come and help them.