New Year
Part Two - What becomes of the broken hearted?
By Anna M. and Natalie
anna_783@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, neither Natalie or Anna own ER.
RATING: PG-13
CATAGORY: CARTER and LUCY.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:

NATALIE: This was my first fan-fic and I want to say thanks for Anna’s help in co writing this.

ANNA: Okay, I was hit by writers block! Until, I saw the pre-view (not the film, just the pre-view) of the movie, ‘The Family Guy,’ and ever since then I’ve been writing! There’s a lot of refrences in this story, national lampoons Christmas Vacation, the bbc show Casualty, Elvis and of course me, Nat and our editor Sarah written into the story.

SPECIAL THANKS: Thank-you to Sarah, for her wonderful editing!

 -In Memory Of Jimmy Stewart, "I’ll lasso The Moon"-

The noise filled Dr. Carter's ears, the smoky bar was unusually quiet, maybe it was because it was only early afternoon, but the young man was all ready drunk as a skunk.

"Why is it?" Carter asked. "When ever anybody has a broken heart, they always play the most depressing songs?"

"Tough day, buddy?" The bar tender asked, as he sorted through New Year's Eve decorations.

"My girlfriend left me," Carter laughed, he wasn't even thinking straight. There were a few minutes of silence between them.

"You're not driving are you?" The bar tender asked.

"Nope!" Carter replied.

"Another beer?" The bar tender offered.

"You know me well, my good man," Carter added.

"On the house, buddy, on the house," The bar tender replied.

One way or another, I'm gonna find ya, I'm gonna get ya', get ya', get ya'!

Lucy downed another shot of tequila, she no longer felt pain for Frank, but now was developing a large hatred for the entire male species.

"Hon, you look mighty down," The bar tender stated.

"Let me guess, your boyfriend cheated on you with the... um... dog walker?"

"Valet." Lucy replied.

"Ouch." The woman added. "Hi, I'm Anna MacArthur."

"Lucy Knight," Lucy replied.

"So you wanna try something that'll fix ya' right up?" Anna asked.

"Sure," Lucy answered, her voice slurred.

"You know," Anna began, as she poured various liquids into a large glass. "You can always go by my motto, all men are pigs."

"Good motto," Lucy replied.

"Here ya' go," Anna handed Lucy the glass. "One two-timer on the house."

Lucy sipped it, it tasted like v8, vodka and tequila with a splash of cough syrup. Lucy pushed it down, the entire concoction tasted like floor cleaner, but with every sip, her troubles grew farther and farther away.

"What have we got?" Kerry asked.

"Two drunks, ETA 4 minutes. The paramedics found one on the street and the other passed out in a Ladies bar." Jerry explained.

"Drunks, already, it's only 4," Kerry laughed.

"Guess some people couldn't wait 'till the ball dropped." Chunni joked.

"Well, give them exam 6, get some restraints, and hangover kits, you know the drill," Kerry explained.

Moments later the ambulance appeared; the paramedics pulled the first person out. "29 year old male, found drunk on the streets." The paramedic informed. Kerry looked down, it was Carter with his neck-tie slung loosely across his shirt.

"Carter?" Kerry asked, she realized he was unresponsive. Kerry looked over at Mark and gave him a look.

"His girlfriend broke up with him," Mark replied. The paramedic began to pull out the next person.

"26 year old female," The paramedic began.

"Mark, it's Lucy," Kerry stated.

"Sheesh," Mark replied, as they wheeled the two through the hallways, the staff gave each other looks.

"They were at different bars? And they both came here? And they're both in that room?" Chunni asked.

Jerry nodded in response. "Damn, if I had chemistry like that, I'd be making a move as fast as I could."

Kerry looked down at Lucy; she looked pale and sickly. She hadn't seen her since she took up the job at the private practice. Putting Lucy in the right position, on her side so she wouldn't choke on vomit, she slowly tied the restraints. On the other side, Mark did the same thing, it was obligatory, all patients who were intoxicated had to be held back, but this was Carter and Lucy. Both Mark and Kerry knew that they probably hadn't even had a glass of wine before this little binge.

"Hmph," Kerry grunted. "Damn kids, don't know what they're getting themselves into."

Mark laughed at Kerry's joke. "They'll be fine, they'll have bad hangovers, but they'll be fine." Kerry left Mark alone in the room, Carter and Lucy were both out like a light. Mark smiled as he flicked out the lights, "Good night." He mouthed before shutting the door.

Lucy moaned in her sleep, she was slowly regaining consciousness and her head ached. Not only did it ache but it pounded, so hard that it felt like her whole body was stiff. Carter on the other bed was slowly beginning to wake up, he too was beginning to remember the last few sips of beer before passing out, and now felt the physical pain. Outside, Jerry slipped on the wet floor and knocked over a medical cabinet, creating a final loud noise that woke them both up. On either side of the beds, their eyes flittering open, it took them a second to register who the person on the other side was. Lucy was the first one to scream.

"Shhh!" Carter groaned. "My head."

"Sorry, I just had this horrible thought," Lucy snapped.

"Nice to see you too." Carter replied, trying to rub his head, as both of them discovered the restraints.

"God, could this day get any worse." Lucy yelled

"You think you're the only one who's had a bad day?" Carter asked angrily.

"God I thought I'd left this behind me, this damn constant bickering!" Lucy hissed, getting more and more annoyed.

"So did I!" Carter yelled, this was the last straw for Lucy.

"God Carter! Can't we just get along, for once!" Lucy questioned sarcastically.

"You're asking me! What is your problem?" Carter yelled, his voice reaching a high; the room grew quiet.

"My problem? You wanna know what my problem is! My problem is having my boyfriend complain that I don't spend enough time with him then coming home and finding him fucking Lola, the valet!" Lucy yelled, her voice sounded jagged and hurt. Silence hit the room.

"Oh." Carter stated softly. "Join the club."

"You too!" Lucy exclaimed, giving a weak smile. "What happened?"

"She left me because I wouldn't fly to New York to party down with Dick, Cindy and Tyra."

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked, showing true concern.

"Yeah, but I wasn't. I went down to the bar."

"Same mistake," Lucy added.

"And I got drunk," Carter finished.

"As I said earlier, same mistake."

"At least you still don't work here," Carter implied.

"Yeah, but I'm sure someone will find out." Lucy replied.

"You know what is the worst part?" Carter chided, looking over at Lucy.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"You know that song, Heart Break Hotel? It kept playing over and over while I was passed out," Carter replied. Lucy laughed, even though it hurt to do so, she kept on laughing.

"Oh since my baby left me," Lucy sang.

"I find a new place to dwell," Carter joined in.

"It's at the end of lonely street in a place called heart break hotel," They sang in unison, before breaking up into laughter.

"Oh Carter," Lucy laughed. "Whoever she is, she doesn't know what she's missing."

"Really?" Carter asked.

"Really." Lucy replied. "What other guy, will sing Elvis to you when you're feeling down with a hangover."

Carter smiled over at her. "Well Lucy, you cheered me up."

"Good," Lucy replied. "Because you really do annoy me when you're upset."

"So what was he like?" Carter asked.

"Who? Frank." Lucy paused. "He was nice, but then he got all upset when I wasn't near him, later I found out he was screwing Lola."

"Did it mean anything?" Carter asked.

"Not really, it hurt being betrayed in (perhaps you mean "and"?) all. But really he was too much of a hassle." Lucy replied.

"What do you mean?" Carter continued, then felt as if he was being nosey. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"No it's okay." Lucy responded. "What I mean, is that, I didn't feel anything, I would work so hard, just to make sure everything was okay and so our relationship would work. When really, shouldn't love be natural? Like I should have been happy with just Frank, just as he was."

"He should have been happy with just you," Carter replied. Lucy's stomach completely flipped, her heart skipped a beat and she felt herself beam from Carter's response. Carter looked over at Lucy, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Did I say something wrong?" Carter asked worriedly.

"No, Carter that has to be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me," Lucy beamed, their eyes met, Carter inched his fingers through the bars, slightly touching Lucy's fingertips. Lucy sighed, seconds later the door flew open.

"So how are my two little Boris Yeltsin's? Feeling any better?" Chunni asked, the light from the outside world penetrated their eyes painfully.

"What time is it?" Carter asked.

"Almost twelve, that's why I got you up," Chunni smiled. "Come and watch the ball drop."

"How long have we been here?" Lucy asked, rubbing her head.

"Since four," Chunni replied. "We sure did get a kick out of seeing you again, Lucy."

Lucy smiled and blushed, this wasn't her idea of a good reunion. Lucy made her way to the bathroom, she could still taste the vomit in her mouth. After taking two alkaseltzers and washing her mouth out, she entered the lounge again.

"Well it was nice seeing you all again, but I'm going to go back home," Lucy explained, Carter could see her embarrassment.

"Stay, Luce. We were just going to open a bottle of bubbly," Carter joked.

Lucy smiled, but she felt uncomfortable staying here. "No, I still feel a bit uh, ill," She lied.

"Oh, okay," Carter replied. Everyone said their goodbyes, yet Carter kept his eyes on Lucy as he watched her leave. Something had returned to him, he had missed having her around.

"Look, it's almost midnight!" Amira announced. The ER staff began to count.

"Ten!"

Carter felt the urge in him.

"Nine!"

Carter pushed the door open.

"Eight!"

Carter ran through the hall.

"Seven!"

He saw her at the ambulance bay.

"Six!"

Lucy turned, sensing he was near.

"Five!"

"Lucy!" He called.

"Four!"

"Carter?" She called back.

"Three!"

Carter ran up to her, breathless.

"Two!"

"Happy New Year, Luce."

"One!"

He put his hands through her hair, taking a moment to smell the sweet essence of it. Smiling down at her,there lips met and they kissed. It was a beautiful kiss, with no holding back, just everything it should be. They pulled apart, Lucy still in his arms.

"Happy new year" She replied, removing herself from his arms. "Are you coming?" She asked.

"Where?"

"If you have to ask, you should really know," Lucy laughed, Carter never followed anybody quicker then he had before.

"You ready?" Lucy asked, seductively removing her cardigan, underneath she wore a lacy-some-what-see through-tank underneath.

"Actually, can I use your bathroom?" Carter asked, noticing his breath still smelled like throw-up.

"Right-down the hall," Lucy smiled, pointing him to the bathroom. An idea slowly crept into her mind, she went over to Frank's large CD selection and put on Miles Davis; she knew Carter loved jazz. She lit the few candles she had around the room and quickly took the last remaining picture of Frank and threw it out the window. Her gaze kept to the window, and she didn't hear him come until he crept around her.

"Hey," He whispered, Lucy turned around and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, keeping her warm breath near his chest. The music continued as they danced and undressed, it wasn't a wild frenzy of clothes flying everywhere, it was slow and seductive. They made love passionately throughout the night, it was like a fire in their bodies, that grew every time they touched each other. They collapsed later on in each other's arms after a long satisfy string of divine climaxes. Carter awoke the next morning and rolled over, he smiled seeing Lucy's bare back covered by a simple white sheet. He put a hand on her shoulder and she rolled over onto his chest, they shared a brief kiss, which made Carter wrap his arms around her.

"That was unbelievable," Lucy whispered.

"Mhmmm," Carter replied, necking Lucy a bit.

"Carter," Lucy began, brushing him off slightly. "I think we should talk."

"After I kiss you." Carter whispered into her ear.

"No, now," Lucy stated. "John. I was thinking about last night. I mean it was great, no it was amazing, but I was thinking about what we were talking about before. You know about just being happy, and well, John you make me happy. Last night you comforted me, cheered me up and I would really like it if we tried, to you know, be an 'us.' Do you think it's a good idea?" Lucy asked, looking down into his dark brownish eyes.

Carter didn't know how to break the silence, but something told him to be straight forward. "No." Carter stated.

"What?" Lucy said, her voice sounding shocked.

"Luce, last night, it had to be a one time thing, you were hurting, I was hurting, it was rebound," Carter explained.

"John!" Lucy cried. "Last night I felt like I loved you, it had to be more then rebound sex, I don't even have rebound sex, who do you think I am? A girl who lays the nearest man in sight because she feels bad? John I made love to you because I thought you felt the same way about me!"

"Lucy, I haven't seen you since June until last night. And do you remember, before this we couldn't stand the sight of each other, we never got along."

"Never?" Lucy yelled. "How about we 'fought the good fight Luce,' or how about when you protected me from Dale? Or even that day, the day we kissed in exam 6? Do you do this for kicks, huh?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy, I," Carter tried to think of a response.

"Carter, just leave, if you don't want me, just go," Lucy said coldly. Carter retreated with shame to the door after getting dressed. She stood at the door way, dressed in a bath robe.

"Goodbye, John. I hope you find someone." Lucy sniffled, tears dripped down her eyes. Carter felt the need to hug her, to comfort her, to do whatever it took to make her feel loved, but he knew he had to leave. Not knowing what he had just lost, the greatest gift he could have received slipped away. Later that day, a flight to London held Lucy and a few bags of possessions, she made a wish on that plane, that fate would never bring them back together.