Lessons Learned
Part Five
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

Last time on Lessons...


"Mrs. Cobb wasn't down there, was she?" Carter repeated from a few steps above the surgeon. Seeing that Peter wasn't going to answer him, he turned around and starting hobbling back up the stairs. He decided to tell Peter what he was planning on doing. "Get Taylor to safety, I'm going to get Mrs. Cobb!" Carter yelled over his shoulder.

Peter was stunned, but he couldn't move to go after Carter, who was now out of sight. "Carter, get your ass back down here!" Carter!" he shouted. It was no use, the other doctor had managed to climb the next flight of stairs, and he left Peter no other choice but to carry Taylor outside without him.

The technician moved a little and whispered in Peter's ear, "He's nuts to go back up there, but he saved my life."

Peter reached the door to the lobby; the entrance to the hospital was only a few hundred feet away. "Yeah, but who's going to help him?"



Carter struggled back up the stairs, stopping every few seconds to catch his breath. He was mentally reviewing the reasons why he shouldn't be racing back towards a raging inferno: he could not see, the hallway felt like it was spinning, and his lungs were in constant competition with his back over how much pain could be exerted. With every medical reason he came up with for not limping back, there was the most important one screaming in his head. He would not leave knowing there was a chance that Mrs. Cobb was on the fourth floor, forgotten because nobody cared or were too busy to notice her.

Carter could tell by the increased temperature that the fire was spreading, and smoke was filling the stairwell. 'How did it spread this fast when we were just up here?' he asked himself. Carter made it to the door leading to the fourth floor and saw smoke pouring from beneath it. He tentatively placed his hand on it to feel for heat. The door was warm, but it didn't seem hot enough to indicate that the fire was right behind it.

Carter cursed when it dawned on him that he had nothing to filter his breathing through when he was about to enter a hallway filled with dense smoke. Knowing he didn't have a choice, Carter opened the door and ran in as fast as his condition would allow. He remembered to stay low, but that was nearly impossible because it fiercely hurt to bend over. Carter knew that if he attempted crawling on the floor, chances were he wouldn't be able to get back up.

As he entered the horribly long hallway, he saw smoke billowing out the air conditioning vents. Taking into consideration how fast it was spreading, he realized he didn't have much time. Carter raced down towards the opposite end of the hall.



Luka paced up and down the grass, watching for any sign of his co-workers. The feeling of helplessness was something he would never get used it; he despised it. He never stood by before when there was danger or when someone was in need of help, just because he was in another country didn't mean he had changed his convictions. He scanned the lawn looking for anything he could use if he went back for his friends. He locked eyes with Romano, who was waving his hand in his direction. Luka reluctantly walked over, seeing Dr. Logan screaming at Romano.

"What the hell is going on here, Romano?!" Logan was shaking with rage and wildly gesturing with is hands. "I leave to go to lunch and when I return I see that my hospital is on fire! What the hell did you do? I'll have you on report for your incompetence you son of---"

Luka was appalled at Dr. Logan's lack of concern for his patients, and interrupted the angry man. "There is a missing patient up there, Dr. Logan. Two of our doctors are up there right now trying to locate her, and there is also a missing technician! If I were you, I would show them a little concern!" Luka yelled at the administrator.

Dr. Logan spun around into the face of the foreign doctor, his own face red and full of fury. "Shut up you little..."

"Be quiet, both of you!" Romano shouted. "Dr. Kovac, keep your opinions to yourself." Romano turned back to face Dr. Logan. "And you, Chuck, don't you ever talk to one of my doctors like that again!" Romano growled.

"It's Dr. Logan; I never gave you permission to use my first name. Why were so many people left up there, did you not follow the evacuation plan?" Logan asked, his voice full of contempt.

"Wipe the spit of your chin, Logan, it's rather unbecoming. Dr. Carter was unaccounted for and was last spotted on the fifth floor. Dr. Benton went after him, the missing patient, and the Grady employee. All the other staff and patients are safe, just in case you were concerned for them," Romano added, sarcasm evident.

Logan rubbed his chin and stared at the burning building. "I expect a complete report in triplicate, Dr. Romano. I want to be informed when you locate all that are missing. I don't want you covering anything up, since one of you employees seems to be involved in all of this," Logan spat.

"What are you talking about?" Luka exclaimed, still enraged that the man had no concern for anyone's safety.

Romano glared at Luka and smiled coolly at Logan. "The only way my employees were involved in this were as victims of a faulty security system that could not be activated when the fire broke out." Romano stepped closer to Logan, staring up at the Chief's face.

"If anyone is hurt because of your negligence, I'll have your head on a platter, Dr. Logan," Romano told him calmly.

"If one of yours had a role in this, I'll make sure they never practice again. I'm going see what is taking the fire units so long," Logan replied, and walked away.

Romano was about to grab the other man's sleeve when he heard Luka shouting his name.

"Dr. Romano, people are coming out of the building!" Luka announced, and then ran to meet those returning from the fire.

Romano sprinted to the parking lot to help Luka. Peter Benton was carrying someone while barking orders.

"I've got a male in his twenties, with a possible broken pelvis, fractured leg, and burns. He's been semi-conscious and suffering from smoke inhalation. I need a backboard and oxygen!" Peter shouted to the other assembling doctors.

Romano pulled the surgeon aside as several other doctors came to help the injured tech. "Peter, are you all right?" Romano asked the agitated surgeon, placing his hand on Benton's shoulder.

"I'm fine, I have to go back for Carter," he said tersely, twisting out of Romano's grasp.

"What? Where is Dr. Carter?" Romano was confused. Luka ran over to the duo, as it appeared that Dr. Logan himself was overseeing the technician's care.

Peter was irritated; he didn't have time to explain. "I found him, but he went back up to Radiology to go after the patient he was treating. Now let go of me, he's going to need some help."

"I'll go with you," Luka said.

Peter didn't have time to argue and simply nodded. "Let's go, we need to hurry!"



Running was something Carter's body wasn't going to tolerate for long despite how much he willed it to ignore the strain. He doubled over from the pain and leaned against the wall. Panting from the exertion, Carter rested his forehead against the wall. He would not let his pain defeat him, instead he used the agony, re-directing it to fuel the situation's urgency, and screamed Mrs. Cobb's name.

"Judith!" he shouted. "Judith, it's Dr. Carter!"

Carter used the hallway wall for guidance and moved forward, hoping he was heading in the right direction. He called out again, never taking his hand away from the wall, he feared if he moved away he would become helplessly lost as effect of the vertigo. He opened each door he came across in hopes that he would find the elderly woman. As he reached one of the last doors, he heard a small voice a few yards away.

"Dr. Carter?"

Carter's mind filled with relief, and he squinted at the person coming out of one of the imaging rooms. "Judith, come over here!" Carter yelled, and was immediately seized by another coughing fit. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and glanced up to see Judith's blurry face.

"I-I-I am s-s-so glad to see you. Are you all right?" Judith asked in a quivering voice. She was shocked to see her calm, professional physician with his suspenders hanging down the sides of his pants, no longer in possession of his shirt. She diverted her eyes to the recent scars that marred his chest, and a large burn on his side. The strangest part was the fact that his bloodshot eyes were not even focusing on her.

"I'm fine," Carter rasped. "I'm having a hard time seeing, Judith, so I need you to guide me a little. Can you do that?" Carter asked in a hoarse voice.

"Dear God, young m-m-man! You look t-t-terrible. Where's your shirt?" The woman asked, as if he were a young child who left his coat outside.

Carter stifled a laugh despite their dire situation. "It's a long story, Judith. Come on, let's go back to the stairs." Carter stayed beside the wall and the elderly woman held Carter's hand, leading the way. The duo made dreadfully slow progress, as Judith could not walk very fast and Carter was stumbling around like a drunk.

"Why can't you walk straight, Dr. Carter?" Judith was struck by such odd behavior.

"I think it's because of some of the chemicals I breathed in, there's nothing to worry about," Carter tried to reassure her. Carter decided he needed to keep her mind off his health, and asked her a question in return.

"Why were you in the imaging room?" he asked.

"I-I-I heard the explosion and th-the tech guy left to c-ch-check it out. He never came back. After a while, smoke was filling in from the air vents and w-w-when I went out to the h-h-hallway I saw the fire coming though the vents there," she told him as they inched towards the seemingly distant stairway.

"That was in the other wing?" Carter asked, trying to figure out where the fire was heading.

"Yes," she replied.

So, that meant that they were in the only safe part of the floor, and the fire was about to cut them off. The door to the stairwell was right in front of them now and as they approached it, an explosion erupted, rocking the hallway. Carter instinctively pulled Judith down to the floor, covering her with his body. When he didn't feel any overwhelming heat or burns, he peered up into the darkness. The lights no longer worked, and in the distance, he heard the crashing sounds of the ceiling giving way just a few feet in front of them. Judith was shaking in terror so he released his protective grip on her.

Carter stood motionless in disbelief, unable to think of where they could run to next if the fire blocked their only escape route. How were they going to get out now? He wouldn't reveal to Mrs. Cobb how panicked he felt, so he turned back to the direction they came.

"We'll just have to find another way," he told her in a confident voice.

"The smoke is getting worse, Dr. Carter." Fear was evident in her voice.

"We'll stay low." Carter used all of his remaining strength, and pulled Judith close so he could guide her back down the hallway.



Luka and Peter ran back towards the hospital entrance, ignoring the cursing and yelling from their boss. They entered the lobby when Luka stopped.

"We should get some oxygen masks before going up there." Luka ran towards one of the supply shelves and grabbed an oxygen tank on wheels. He also found two dusk masks and two pair of protective goggles.

Peter moved beside him and began searching along the wall. He located a small fire extinguisher and carried it back to the lobby. "We will probably encounter some of the fire. If we do, I'll clear a path and you go through. We should stay low, we'll find Carter then get the hell out." Peter attached the dusk mask and eye protectors over his face, and tried to read Luka's expression. Peter knew why he was going back into the fire, but why was Luka Kovac helping him? Did the other doctor know the risks of entering such a dangerous situation? Peter wondered for a brief second if he could actually complete the task in front of him, and promptly cursed himself for even briefly thinking he wouldn't be able to. Benton told himself he wouldn't let Carter down again.



Carter continued to use the wall for guidance and as a support system. The smoke cloud followed them into the darkness. The emergency lights flickered, casting an eerie glow around them, bringing forth images reminiscent of a horror movie. Judith stayed by Carter's left side, her arm wrapped around his as he escorted her.

They passed the imaging room where he had originally found her; she tugged at his arm to keep him from colliding with a gurney.

"Stop a minute!" Carter shouted, and he fumbled with the sheets on the bed. He tried to strip them quickly, noting the smoke and Judith's slight coughing. He attempted to take shallow breaths, trying to ignore the burning sensation in his chest that had worsened since leaving the stairwell. He ripped one of the sheets in half, and dizzily glanced about the hallway.

"Do you see a water fountain?" he asked Judith; his vision was now useless.

"I know what you're thinking, I'll go do it." Judith took the sheets from Carter's hands and hurried over to the water fountain, pouring water over the sheets. When they were sufficiently drenched, she carried them back, handing one to Carter.

"Now breathe through these, and let's keep going." Carter suppressed another cough and they proceeded down the hall.

When they finally reached the end of the hallway, Carter fumbled with the doorknob of the last room and opened it. He ushered Judith in and closed the door behind them. He could make out the blurry shape of an exam bed, and pulled the sheets off. He took the linen and stuffed it in the cracks of the door. There wasn't as much smoke in the room as there had been in the hallway, but some was seeping in from the air vent above the door, unfortunately neither of them could reach it in order to close it.

"There might be a window in here," Carter told the older woman who maintained her death-grip with his hand.

"There's one in the corner, Dr. Carter," Judith told him, her voice hopeful.

"Good." Another coughing fit seized Carter, and he leaned over the exam bed. When he finally caught his breath, he hobbled over to the window and opened it. Fresh air blew in and Carter signaled Judith to come over and stand next to him. Carter moved aside, allowing Judith more room. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and he put a supportive hand on her shoulder, carefully trying not to put any weight on her. He didn't know how much longer he could stay standing; his body was signaling that it had had enough strain. The burning sensation in his chest was reaching an almost unbearable crescendo, and his head was pounding unmercifully.

"We'll wait here for the firefighters," he whispered to the older woman. Carter tried taking in the fresh oxygen, but his lungs seemed to protest the effort. The burning feeling in his chest was quickly becoming a sharp pain that he was unsuccessfully trying to ignore.

"It s-s-seems to me that you underestimate yourself, Dr. C-c-Carter." Judith noticed him become rigid from some sort of pain, so she simply hugged the young doctor.

Judith heard his ragged breathing and rubbed her hand up and down his back. Her left eye continued to water from her medical condition, but fresh tears from her right eye joined. Judith held on to her young protector, who came back for her when the other doctors had simply forgotten. Judith tried not to think about the fact that there were no sounds of sirens, and that the room was slowly filling with more smoke. It occurred to her that, if it came down to it, the doctor could jump out the window with the possibility that he might survive. Judith also knew she would never withstand the fall with the same confidence that she understood the young man would probably never leave her behind, because of the kind of man he was. She closed her eyes and buried her head into Carter's side, hoping that someone would help them.



"Are you ready for this?" Peter asked as they ran towards the door that led to the stairwell.

"Yeah, it's going to be hot and hard to see when we get in there. Use one of your hands to feel for someone on the floor. Stay focused, and don't let yourself get disoriented," Luka instructed the surgeon.

"I don't want to now how you know all that," Peter told him. The surgeon was about to open the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at Luka, a serious and concerned expression on his face.

"We can't stay up there more the a few minutes. We must face the possibility they we won't find them." Luka said gravely.

Peter squared his shoulders and lifted the fire extinguisher. "I think we both underestimate Carter. We'll find him." Peter opened the door, and both doctors headed for the heart of the inferno.



Dr. Rocket Romano stared at the fire, raging out of control. Of all the things to have happen to his people, he never imagined a more horrid situation. He was annoyed and irritated that he couldn't do anything, so he wandered over to the rescued technician. They were waiting for an ambulance, and Romano squatted next to the injured man despite Logan's presence.

Taylor looked over at the bald doctor and sensed that he was one of the men in charge. "Hey, that doc saved my life. The air conditioning unit landed on me, and he stuck around and carried me to safety. I hope he's all right," the technician said fearfully.

Romano gave the tech and tried to reassure the tech with a sympathetic nod. "Don't worry, my guys will be fine. I'm glad that Dr. Carter was able to help you. When you get better, I hope you will be able to aid the investigators in this matter."

Taylor nodded his affirmatively, and Logan put his oxygen mask back on. He looked up at Romano. "Why don't you go keep an eye out for your people." Dr. Logan watched the visiting chief walk away and turned his attention back to his employee. He stared at the frightened man and whispered in his ear.

"Don't you mention a word about what happened, understand? We had a deal, and you had better keep your mouth shut. Things didn't go off as planned, but the end result is what's important," Dr. Logan uttered menacingly, staying near the tech to reassure his safe distance from Dr. Romano.