Unexpected Overdose
Part One
By Renee
RA3LuvSug4@aol.com

"Carter! Carter!" Dr. Peter Benton watched as his young student tried to revive his cousin, Chase, who had been in full arrest for over twenty minutes.

"No! He can't be dead! He can't be! Check his pulse just one more time!"

The paramedic did so.

"Weak pulse-heart rate's 50! Let's get him to a hospital!" The paramedics loaded Chase in, shut the doors, and sped off with the siren blaring, leaving Carter and Benton behind. Carter slowly walked to his Jeep and sped off.



The next day Benton came into the lounge, noticing that Carter was already punched in his time clock. He went out to the admit desk.

"Hey Cynthia? Where's Carter?"

"Umm… I think he went up to the ICU-said something about his cousin." Answered the ditsy desk clerk. Oh man, Benton thought. Carter must be really upset. Benton went up to the ICU admit desk and asked who the attending on call was. Dr. Anspaugh walked up.

"Peter, you checking on a patient post-op?" The surgeon asked.

"No, actually, is there a Chase Carter here?"

"Yea. I'll lead you to him." They went down the long corridor and to his room. Benton looked inside and saw Chase on the bed, and Carter sleeping in an awkward position in a chair next to the bed.

"His crit is low, comatose, and he's intubated and stable. There might be brain damage since his brain was deprived of oxygen for more than twenty minutes, but we're waiting for the EEG results. Dr. Carter has been in there all night." Benton thanked him. "Now, Peter, if you'll excuse me, I have an ex-lap on its way up." And he left. Peter walked into the room and sat in the chair next to Carter. He gently nudged him on the shoulder.

"Hmm…wha…what time is it?" asked the groggy doctor.

"It's 7:15 AM"

"Oh man." Carter said, as he combed his fingers through his messy hair. Benton could tell there was something wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Hey Carter, you OK?"

"Yea," was his half-hearted response. Benton was positive Carter was not doing well. He was still thinking about that when the other man said something barely audible.

"It's all my fault."

"No, it's not Carter." Benton answered, keeping his eyes on the man next to him whose eyes were beginning to swell with tears.

"Yes, it is and it's all my fault."

"No Carter, don't say that!" Benton was getting annoyed at him.

"Yes it is! It's all my fault! I knew he had a problem and I didn't do anything about it! I should've helped him! And now I can't!" He stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over, and he backed into the corner. Carter slowly slid to the floor crying.

"Carter-" a nurse walked in, cutting Peter off.

"Hi Dr. Benton. Chase's EEG results are back." She gave them to him and left, not noticing that the figure on the floor had stood up and was now slowly inching towards Benton.

Peter turned the light on and slid the results on them. Slowly, he said, "Looks like there's extensive brain tissue damage." He looked at Carter, whose eyes were filling with tears. Then he ran out of the room.

Benton went over to the phone and called downstairs. "Cynthia?…Yea, it's Benton. Let me talk to Greene. Now!… Hi, it's Peter. Listen, You know about Carter's cousin, right?… Okay, well I just got his EEG results back and there's extensive brain damage… Yea, I know, he's all upset. Listen, If he comes down there, don't let him leave… Well, I just don't think he's in a good emotional state right now… Thanks, Bye."

Benton ran down the stairs to the ER.



Carter ran to the elevator and pushed the down button. He waited for a couple minutes, and was just going to take the stairs when the elevator opened. He went in and pushed the button for the ER and leaned against the elevator wall, with his head in his hands. When the elevator opened, the ER was busy as usual. He went into the lounge and stopped when he saw Mark and Peter sitting at the table, with concerned looks on their faces. Carter wiped the tears from his face, trying not to reveal how upset he was.

"I-uhh…just came for some coffee." said the distraught doctor. Mark and Peter exchanged worried glances.

"Hey Carter, have a seat." Mark said, concern evident in his voice. Carter obediently sat in the chair between the two men, with his coffee cup in his hand.

"So, you, uh, want to tell us what's going on?" Mark asked cautiously.

"Nothing much." Carter said hesitantly.

"What happened with Chase? Peter said you think that what happened to Chase was all your fault." Mark asked and this time looked at Carter with concern, as he started to get upset again.

"It's okay, you can tell us." said the doctor reassuringly.

"Uh…He came to me in the hospital, asking for some Compozine. He was going through withdrawal and needed something do subside the nausea. I wouldn't give it to him and I told him if he was going to do this, he needed to do this without any medication. After my shift, I went over to his house and Anna came over to deliver the Compozine. She stayed with me through the night and helped Chase. His druggie friend came by and was going to sell him some drugs. I kicked him out. I knew Chase had a problem and didn't do anything. I didn't tell anyone! I should've! It's my fault." Carter said hysterically. Then he murmured, "I should have let him die instead of trying to save him." He hoped the two doctors didn't hear him, but they did. He stood up and quickly said, "I have patients to see. Can I go now?" Mark and Peter looked at him and slowly nodded. Carter left.

"I'm not sure about this Mark. He's not in a good emotional state of mind to be working on patients." Peter said.

"He'll be fine." Mark said, silently hoping he was right.

The rest of the day went like normal for everyone else that didn't know what was going on. Since Peter was upstairs in the surgery ward, Mark kept a close eye on Carter. He seems quiet, he thought. Too quiet for Carter. I hope he's all right.

A while later, Carter's throat was sore and he felt like he had a fever. He found Kerry and asked her if he could go home a little early since he wasn't feeling all that well and didn't want to spread whatever he had to his patients. She agreed and he went home.

When he got to his apartment, Carter took a long, hot shower. This calmed him down a little bit. He got out and put his pajamas on. He decided he wanted to watch some TV to get Chase off of his mind so he did. He must have fell asleep, because he was watching the news and he opened his eyes and The Simpsons were on. Just then the doorbell rang. He groaned loudly and opened the door. It was Benton.

"Hi Carter. Just wanted to see how you were doing, since Kerry said you were sick. Hey, you okay? You don't look so good." Benton said with concern in his voice.

Always concern in his voice, always in everyone's voice. Carter thought. "Yea, I'm fine. I was just about to go to Chase's house to bring him some stuff. You know, toothbrush, comb, clothes, the usual. If he comes out of his coma, he can use them."

Benton didn't want him to go alone, considering the previous events that day and how depressed he looked. Carter agreed, knowing that a refusal would just get Peter mad. So Carter got in Peter's car and off they went, while Carter gave directions to Chase's apartment.

At the apartment, Carter opened the door with the key Gamma gave him. He slowly walked in and went to his cousin's room. Benton didn't want to go into Chase's room, so he let Carter go. He sat down and put the TV on.

Carter went to Chase's room and opened the door. It was a mess in there. He went into the drawer and started rummaging around for some clothes when he felt something. He took it out of the drawer and saw it was heroin. His heart sank. Chase's friends must have left it there. Carter had never used heroin before. He wondered why Chase used so much, and why he did it. To Carter, there was only one way to find out.

Thud. Benton thought he heard something.

"Carter?…Carter!" Uh-oh. Peter thought. He rose from the couch and walked over to Chase's room. He got an eerie feeling as he opened the door. When he saw what was inside, he gasped.

Carter was lying on the floor, unconscious, with an empty needle by his side. Benton rushed over to his side.

"Carter! Carter! Wake up, man!" Benton shouted into the unresponsive man's ear. Benton peeled back his eyelids and looked at his pupils. They were equal and reactive. That was a good sign. While Peter was taking his pulse, Carter's eyelids started to flutter.

"Wha?…Peter? Mmmmm…" Carter was rambling about something.

"Carter! Wake up! What did you take?"

"Mmm……Heroin?" Carter responded groggily. Then Carter closed his eyes.

Benton ran to the phone and called Cook County. He explained everything to Jerry and went back to Carter. Carter's lips were blue. Oh shit, he's not getting enough oxygen. Benton started feeling for a pulse, and found there was none. He started doing CPR when the paramedics came barging through the door.

"29 year old male, found him unconscious and unresponsive. Apparent drug overdose, he told me heroin. Can't find a pulse." Benton explained. He stepped back as the paramedics continued CPR. When one of them shouted that there was a pulse, Benton gave a sigh of relief. The paramedics loaded Carter on the backboard and carried him to the ambulance. Benton followed.