by Céindreadh
ceindreadh@eircom.net
(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