A Family Matter
Part Two - On The Line
By Martha Mills
martheeny@yahoo.com

Thanks also to Sharon, Debbie, Cathy and Ally for their invaluable feedback, encouragement and support. And to everyone else who sent along a kind message, or enjoyed this story.

Note: This story was somewhat inspired by a movie called "Liar’s Moon." I highly recommend it.

It took Abbie a moment to realize the phone was ringing. She turned over in her bed, to face the nightstand. The clock said 7:36 a.m. Ugh! she thought. I can't believe this. I overslept. She picked up the handset. "Hello?"

"Hi Abbie! It's Mom. I was hoping I'd catch you before you went to work."

"Hello, Mom. Good thing you called. I'm just waking up." Abbie rubbed her eyes. "I got in late last night."

"Really? Are you making friends in Chicago?" Peggy Carmichael always worried about her daughter. She wasn't thrilled when Abbie told her about the stay in the Windy City, but there wasn't much either of them could do about it. She didn't want her only child to be lonely, or alone. Not when there were people like her father in the world.

Abbie sighed. "Yeah, mom. I actually had a date last night. With a doctor." She explained how she had cut her hand, and gone to the emergency room for stitches. "That's where I met John. He stitched me up. Then he took me to dinner."

Peggy listened carefully. "So, it's John, eh? Dr. John? Is that all the name he has?"

Abbie shook her head at her mother's tone. "Carter. Dr. John Carter. He's tall, dark and handsome. And single."

The phone was silent. Peggy, on the other end in Texas, was wide eyed with panic. Surely not! she thought. He couldn't be the same John Carter there's no way! Chicago is a big city, I'm sure, with hundreds of Carters

"Mom? Are you there?" Abbie thought they had been disconnected.

"Uh, sweetie, let me call you back." Peggy was having mild pains in her chest. Oh god, oh god, oh god! She was trying her damnedest to sound calm.

"Okay. I'll let you go." She thought it was strange that her mother wasn't going into interrogation mode. "Call back tonight. If I'm not here, leave a message with the front desk. I may have another date tonight."

Peggy was filled with dread. No! Please lord, for Abbie's sake, let me be wrong! "I love you, Abbie."

"I love you too, mom. Talk to you later." She hung up the phone and made a mad dash for the shower.

John's cell phone rang. He excused himself from his patient, and walked over to the corner of the room to answer it. "John Carter," he said in his "doctor voice." Hoping it might be Abbie, he closed his eyes, and crossed his fingers.

"Hello, John." Yessss! It was her. He felt his pulse quicken. "Are you still free tonight?" Abbie had finally gotten caught up on the case-at-hand, and was going to be able to leave work early.

"Absolutely." John fought the eagerness in his voice. "Are you?"

"Absolutely," she said. "I'll be free any time after 4:00. Are you at work?" She conjured up the image of him in his white-doctor-coat. She was definitely looking forward to their second date.

"I am. But I'll be done here at 6:00. Can I pick you up around 6:30?" He was floating on air. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. It was just what he needed to help him get past the attack, and losing his med student. Abbie was the best medicine he could have asked for.

"I'll be ready. Can't wait." She couldn't think of anything else to say.

John repeated the words in his mind. Can't wait! She can't wait! Well, neither can I! "Okay, see you then. Bye."

Roland Carter was dictating a memo, when a voice came through on his intercom. "Mr. Carter, there's a call for you on your personal line. It sounds urgent."

"Thank you, Anita." He picked up the phone. "This is Roland Carter."

An agitated voice with a southern accent was booming in his ear. "Roland? Is your son a doctor?"

Roland's annoyance level shot way up. He was much too important to be bothered like this. "Who is this? And how did you get this number?"

The caller was getting close to hysterical. "It's Peggy Carmichael, dammit! Is your son a doctor or not?"

Cool as a cucumber, he replied, "I really don't see where that is any of your business, Ms. Carmichael. Now, please, I'm really busy and I must ask you not to call this number aga "

"Damn you!" She interrupted him, which he wasn't used to. "My Abbie had a date last night with a Dr. John Carter. Now if that's your son, we have big trouble!"

Roland's attention was definitely caught by what she said. "You mean to tell me that Abbie is here, in Chicago? And that she went on a date with a doctor named John Carter?"

His tone made her stomach sink. "Yes, for god's sake! Is he your son?"

"John is a doctor, yes. But there's no way .they couldn't .they wouldn't ." he knew he had to find out what was going on. And fast. "I'll look into it, Peggy, and I'll let you know what I find out."

"Don't you tell her ANYTHING, Roland Carter, do you hear me?" She was like a mother lion, protecting her cub. "If I'm wrong about this, and it's not your son she's seeing, you leave her alone. Don't go near her!"

"I'll call you when I know something," he said. And he hung up on her.

He pressed the intercom button. "Anita. Get my son on the line for me."

"Yes, sir."

END PART TWO.