The Right Match
Part Two
By Lisa Brown
ERDrLewis@aol.com
"Maybe my keys are in here," Lucy said looking through her purse. "Oh, great!"
"What?" Carter asked.
"I really can’t find my keys. They’re supposed to be in here…"
Lucy started to empty her purse in search of the missing keys. She pulled out a pack of gum, lipstick, a hairbrush, her hospital ID and her wallet. She sighed.
"They aren’t in here. How am I supposed to get to my dorm? Just my luck!" Lucy said. "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Sure," Carter said, pointing across the basement to the bathroom door.
"Thanks a lot. Oh, and Dr. Carter? Could you look in my wallet and see if I have an extra key in there?" Lucy asked as she entered the bathroom.
Carter nodded and picked up her wallet. It was a brown leather one. He opened it and looked inside in search of the key. He found an ATM card, her driver’s license, twenty bucks, a paper with a few names and numbers (including *his*), and some pictures. Well, he hadn’t found the key, so he decided to look at the pictures she had. There looked like there were three or four. He pulled them out of the little compartment. The first one was of Lucy and an older lady…maybe her mom? He turned it over to see if anything was written on the back. Sure enough, it said simply, "Me and Mom". The next one was of Lucy and some other people-they looked like college kids like her. In fact, was that that one student, Bernard? They seemed to be at some sort of party. He turned it over for any clues, but nothing was written. The last one was of Lucy and…was that him? Yes, sure enough, it was him. He wasn’t quite sure when it was taken. They were both in the lounge at the ER though. He looked on the back to see if she had written on that one, and on the back it said "Me and Carter" in blue ink. Hmmm….She had always called him Dr. Carter, she seemed almost afraid to call him just plain Carter. He looked more closely, and he saw that little hearts had been drawn on the back with a pencil. He blushed. Did she feel the same about his as he did for her? He heard the toilet flush and quickly put the pictures back in her wallet so he wouldn’t be caught in the act.
"Did you find one?" Lucy asked coming out of the bathroom.
"No," Carter said. "But you can stay here tonight if you want. Your keys are probably at the ER somewhere."
"Oh, Dr. Carter, I couldn’t impose-" Lucy said. She couldn’t believe what she was saying. Her drop-dead-gorgeous teacher had just invited her to spend the night and she had turned him down? Was she crazy?
"Lucy, I insist. It’s almost one-thirty in the morning. Let’s try and get some sleep okay? I’ll sleep on the floor and you can have the bed."
"Dr. Carter-"
"Lucy," he replied, mimicking her. "You have your tests tomorrow. You need a good night’s sleep. Don’t argue with me. Did you get to study at all?" Carter asked grabbing a pillow off the bed.
"Not much," Lucy said.
"Oh well, it’s not too hard, you’ll do fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to try and get some sleep," Carter said, getting an extra blanket from the closet and making himself comfortable on the floor.
Oh, great. He’s going to sleep on me, Lucy thought to herself. I guess I’ll just make myself comfortable too. She took off her coat and shoes and laid them on a chair with her purse. Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to sleep in this, Lucy thought, looking down at her shirt and pants. I can just pretend that I’m at the ER and they got new, larger, softer patient beds. She climbed into Carter’s bed and fell fast asleep.
*Ring, ring*
Carter and Lucy both woke up instantly and sat upright.
*Ring, ring*
Carter picked up the phone. "John Carter…oh, hi Roxanne…yeah, you did wake me up…what time is it?…eight already…wow…yeah…Roxanne, I was wondering if we could get breakfast somewhere and talk…okay…my shift starts at eleven…I’ll meet you at Doc Magoo’s at ten, okay?….thanks….see you then."
Carter turned to face Lucy. "Sorry about that."
"That’s okay. I needed to get up anyway."
"Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah, fine," Lucy said. She had been sleeping fine. In fact, she was having a nice dream and Roxanne ruined it. It was about her and Carter…
What time do you have to take your exam?" Carter asked, before she could remember much more of her dream.
"It’s at eleven."
"If you want, I can drive you by the ER to search for your keys. I’m going by there in about an hour and a half…"
"That would be great! Dr. Carter? Thanks…for everything," Lucy said.
"No problem, Lucy. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get another hour of sleep before…." Carter trailed off.
"Before we leave?"
"Yeah. I was thinking about something else, but that’ll do."
"What were you thinking of?"
There was a pause.
"Before….before I break up with Roxanne."
"You’re breaking up with her?"
"Big time. Anyway, if you want me to take you by the ER, be ready at 9:30."
"Okay, sure Dr. Carter. Dr Carter?" He had already fallen asleep again. Oh, well. He was breaking up with Roxanne. She finally processed it. Maybe since she was out of the picture, she would actually have a chance. Now, come on, Lucy, she thought to herself. He’s your teacher and-ut oh. After today, she was going to have to get a new excuse, since she would move to her surgery rotation, thus making Dr. Carter NOT her teacher…she smiled, realizing that now there was no excuse…since he wouldn’t be her teacher…she yawned. Maybe another hour of sleep would do her good.
Carter was sitting in the lounge at the ER. Lucy walked in.
"So, how’d thing’s go, Lucy?"
"Great!" she said, sitting down next to him. "Thanks so much for all you help!" She then leaned over and kissed him
Carter kissed her back. They continued to kiss and Lucy started to unbutton Carter’s shirt. She nuzzled his neck and began kissing down his chest--
Carter suddenly woke up. Damn it. It had been a dream. Carter sat up and grabbed his watch from the dresser. Ten till nine. He stood up and began to fold the blanket he had been using. Oh, shit, he thought, looking down at the sweat pants he had been wearing. He had better change before Lucy got up! He grabbed some clothes from the dresser and went into the bathroom.
Carter shut the bathroom door a little too loud, waking Lucy up. She got out of bed and got her watch out of her purse. Almost nine. She put it on and pulled her brush out. She was in the middle of brushing her hair when Carter came out of the bathroom.
"Good morning!" Lucy said cheerfully.
"Good morning to you too. Are you hungry?" Carter replied.
"A little."
"Ah, well, now, you get to see Kerry’s kitchen! Just let me make sure she’s gone, because if she’s not, she’ll see you and jump to conclusions," Carter said. "’Carter, do you know the trouble you’re getting into? She’s your med. student! I run a hospital, not a dating service!’" Carter said, imitating Kerry.
They both laughed. "Aren’t you going to eat later wit Roxanne though?"
"Not really. I want to make that meal short and sweet. Be right back." Carter stepped out of the basement and a few seconds later he called down, "The coast’s clear!"
Lucy came up from the basement. "So, what’s in the fridge?"
"Not much. Kerry needs to go to the store. We have eggs though. But I can’t cook."
"I can make scrambled eggs. You want?"
"Sure, we just have to clean up."
"No problem!" Lucy said as she turned the stove on.
Carter got out the coffee and put some in the coffee maker. They fiddled around in silence for a few minutes. Then, they heard the coffee maker ding. Carter grabbed two coffee mugs out of the cupboard.
"Cream or sugar?" Carter asked.
"Please," Lucy replied. "Where can I find some plates?"
Carter walked to the cabinet again, and got out two plates. Lucy put the eggs on the plates and they ate.
"Wow, these are really good!" Carter said, breaking the silence.
"Thanks. My mom taught me how to make them."
When they were finished, Carter got the dishes together and washed them. "You cooked, I’ll clean!"
"It’s a deal!" Lucy replied. "But I insist on helping a little."
"Fine, I suppose. If you insist!" Carter told Lucy. "Here, I’ll wash them and you can put them in the dishwasher."
Carter began washing the few plates and glasses in the sink. He handed a plate to Lucy and their hands brushed. They looked at each other in silence for a brief moment. Lucy shook her head, as if to get out of her daydream, and put the dish in the dishwasher. Carter resumed washing.
When they were finished, Carter said, "Well, go get you things and I’ll drive you to County.
Lucy and Carter got their stuff together and got into Carter’s jeep. They drove to County in silence. Carter parked and they both walked into the ER lounge. They each went to their lockers. Lucy said, "My keys aren’t here. I’m going to check the lost and found."
"Okay Lucy. If I don’t see you, good luck on your test," Carter said. He put his stuff in his locker and said, "Well, here goes nothing." He shut his locker and walked over to Doc Magoo’s.
