DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine. I am making no money from them in no way. They belong to NBC, Warner Brothers, Constant C., Micheal Crichten ect.
A Few Steps Forward
Part 1
~~~~~~~~~~ 7:30, May 22
"Hey Luce, ya ready?" John Carter asked as he poked his head into her bathroom as she pushed one last bobby pin into her net of hair at the back of her head.
"How does it look?" Lucy asks turning to face Carter.
"It looks great! The whole think... the outfit... you look... good, great!" John says gawking at her.
"Yeah?... You can stop drooling."
"I'm happy to took my advice." Carter perks up as Lucy walks past him, smiling as she heads to her small foyer to grab her coat.
"Well, you were right. I should stop allowing these scars," Lucy points to her neck , "stop me from living a normal life. Starting tomorrow I'm gonna through out all of my turtlenecks and buy revealing halter tops and spaghetti straps!" Lucy exclaims bemusingly.
"I didn't say that but you know I won't reject to such an offer!"
Lucy laughs as she pulls her boyfriend out the front door of her apartment, "Move it! I'm valedictorian ! I can't be late!"
Carter follows Lucy's lead and trots out to the awaiting limousine outside where Dave, Abby, Barbera Knight and Corrine Knight sat patiently to escort Lucy to her graduation dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~
It had been a month and no one had noticed. Carter and Lucy had kept there relationship private and out of the work place. The way they wanted it and needed it. The only one to know of them as a couple was Abby. Lucy hadn't even told her mother yet.
~~~~~~~~~~ 8:30, May 22
"Lucy dear, what are you having to eat? asked Barbera Knight to her eldest daughter.
"Not much, I'm not that hungry." As she sat in the crowded room of recently graduated medical students, she suddenly felt overwhelmed. It was surprisingly the first time she had ever seriously thought about it. She was now a doctor!
"Are you okay Lucy? You look distracted." whispered Carter into her ear from the chair beside hers.
"I'm fine. I'm just finally here, you know."
"Yeah, I know."
"Hey sis, you did it? Now I know that when you help me cheat on my chemistry and biology homework, it ain't a fluke!" Exclaims a 17 year old Corrine as she returns, past her sister , from the ladies room.
Lucy was screaming with happiness. All her life she fought for the best mark, to be every ones favourite face to remember, it had finally payed off with an excellent job and boyfriend. She loved her life. She had wonderful memories from the past, fun in the present and a hopeful thoughts for the future.
~~~~~~~~~~ 10:30, May 22
Driving down the dark Chicago normally carried a gloomy feeling. A scary thought generally filled the minds of those travelling the streets at night of all the guns and drugs, especially in such an expensive looking car. These thoughts did not enter the minds of those inside of Lucy Knight's limousine. There were only joking colleagues and family members enjoying the company of the others. The first step was for her mother and sister at their nearby hotel and then off to Lucy's.
Opening the door at her destination, Barbera Knight leans over and gives her daughter a hug, "Congratulations Sweety! Don't stay out all night partying or anything!"
"Bye mom. Bye Corrine." Lucy says waving. Corrine and Barbera Knight both step out of the limo and walk up to the room, The driver pulls out and only stops again at Lucy's apartment.
"Bye Abby, Mallucci, Carter. Thanks for making this such a great night!"
"See ya'." Abby and Dave say simultaneously.
"Hey Luce, I'll walk you to your door." Carter turns his head to the other occupants of the car. "You can just go home. I'll take the El back, okay?"
"Sure."
Carter and Lucy step out under the dim street light and into Lucy's apartment building.
Back in the limo, Dr. Dave just can't help but observe the obvious, "You know what Abby?"
"What?"
"They would make a real cute couple."
Abby snickers.
"What?"
"Nothing." she continues to laugh leaving a totally clue less Dave curious why.
~~~~~~~~~~ Inside Lucy's Apartment, 10:35
"So Dr. Knight," Carter emphasises the word doctor, "how would you say your first night as graduated medical student went?"
"The dinner was nice. " Lucy drops her formal coat on the sofa and rapped her arms around him, "But having everyone I love their just makes it that much better." Going up on her tippy toes, she kisses Carter.
"Am I included in the circle of 'Lucy's loved ones'?"
"Oh yeah, your my favourite. Top of the list." Lucy giggles.
Looking down and his girlfriend and her glowing eyes John couldn't help but smile with her. She had that affect on him. Not only were they close intimately but were also tight friends. If they ever did break up, which was highly unlikely at the way things were going now, they would still stay immediate friends.
After taking a minute to just stare at one and others eyes, John spoke. He didn't know where it came from, but he knew that the part of him that said it was telling the truth. "I love you Luce."
With out much thinking on her part, it just felt so natural, she repeated his words, "I love you too John." Nuzzling her head into his chest, he started their path towards her bedroom. Their they stayed the whole night, together, until John had to leave for work the next morning.
~~~~~~~~~~July 6th
"Hey, John?" Lucy asks, sitting on his sofa in his new apartment with a cup of coffee.
"Yeah?" Carter responds, not looking up from The New England Journal of Medicine of which he held in his hand.
"When do I get to meet your family? Ya know, sit down for a cup of cocoa with the folks."
"You want to meet my family? You don't know what you are getting your self into."
"Oh, right, I forgot. When one family raises a guy that is loving, caring, good looking and the least self-conscience person you can ever meet, you know that they are disturbed. Never go near 'em. Feisty one's they are." Lucy remarks sarcastically.
"Are you insulting the Carter gene?" Carter asks jokingly, kneeling down off of his chair and sitting down infront of her.
"Your the one that is making them sound like maniacs! I'm just the innocent girl who is playing along." Lucy leans down and kisses Carter's lips, lingering there for a minute afterward. "I should probrely get ready for work. And so should you."
"When is our shift?"
"We have an hour until we have to be in. I still have to drop by my place and pick up those charts from yesterday. If we don't leave soon, we will be late." Lucy states, knowing that if things went any further, they would never leave on time.
"...So, lets call in sick."
"John? We have already used up six of our sick days to stay here when we weren't sick. I think that Weaver and the whole entire ER staff is getting a little suspicious."
"You and I don't have to worry about getting caught anymore. You are a resident now and I'm not your teacher. If they do find out, we hooked up a little while after your graduation."
"Why are we holding back anyway?... Lets tell them. Today. You and I can go in there, hand in hand, tell them that we are a couple, the nurses can exchange there bet money, offer their congratulations and we won't have to worry about where we are when we want to show our affection."
"Huh." Carter whispers quietly under his breath.
"What?" Lucy pushes him to tell her.
"Took you long enough." He states, trying to sound innocent.
"What? Me? Your the one that was afraid they would find out about us while I was your medical student!"
"And that was over a month ago. I have been telling you to tell them since that night after your grad!"
"And I said give it sometime, not that I never wanted them to know!"
"Well I..." Lucy does not have a chance to finish her sentence before Carter grabs her wrist, throws her her jacket and shoes at her and pushes her out the door.
"Why wait when we can tell them now, eh?"
"Uh, okay." Lucy states, not really sure what they were getting themselves into.
~~~~~~~~~~Cook County General, 10 minutes later
Stepping in through the ambulance bay doors, Carter and Lucy were surprised to find that there were no ambulances awaiting to be attended by the doctors and nurses of the Emergency room. This was generally one of the busiest times of the season yet it seemed abandoned and quiet. Grasping one and others hands for support, they stepped into the department together.
Clasping their grip around each others hand even tighter, they walked towards the biggest crowd of employees and friends, gathered around a computer playing doom II. Standing up straight beside each other obviously wasn't enough to catch their attention. "Good afternoon Everyone!" Carter asks extremely peachy, referring to Chunni, Mark, Dave, Lydia, Abby, Elizabeth, Milik, Lily, Kerry, Randi, and a few other firmiliar faces here and there.
"Hey Carter." They all respond, one at a time, still not taking their eyes off of the computer.
"Mark! You were supposed to kill that guy! You only have one life now!" squeals Elizabeth.
Rolling his eyes, slightly annoyed that his plan wasn't working and no one was giving the time of day to even look in their direction, John screams, trying to bring his voice over everyone else's. "Hey, you know what Luce?!"
"Yes John!" Lucy mimics with the same tone.
"Lets not tell them about us today! They obviously don't care that we are going out!"
"You right! It ain't any of their business who we are seeing anyway!" they do not look at each other once, just continue to grow immense grins across the cheeks.
By the second line, everyone had turned around and were gawking at the joyous couple. No one spook as the only sound came from the computer with guns shooting at the character and the sound of blood splattering.
After taking a minute to recover, they all join in the happy mood, paying up their dues on the poll, of which Randi was the closest.
Randi jumps up from her seat at the desk and walks over to the corner, "Hey Amira, I have been waiting to say this for a while, so, I TOLD YOU SO!" yells Randi to the the other desk clerk who just finished signing in. "You didn't believe that they were together? Well sleep on this for a while!" Randi takes out a wad of wills and stuffs them in her face. "A hundred and fifty bucks just from being right!"
"You know what Randi, we kinda helped you earn it, so you have to split it with us!" demands Carter.
"Over my dead body! Go suck some money out of somebody that doesn't need it!" exclaims Randi Fronczac, stuffing the money into the back pocket of her jeans.
Unknown to everyone, for they were celebrating the coupling of Carter and Lucy, the only one who acknowledged the radio was Dr. Weaver and soon informed them all of an incoming trauma, "Okay people, I think that it is great Carter and Lucy are finally together, but we have three GSW's coming in. A drive by and they are all critical. We are going to need everyone, so if you aren't signed in, I'd do it now!" Sighing, everyone gets to work, but all, sometime along the way, cross paths with Dr.'s Carter and Knight to give their blessings towards their relationship.
~~~~~~~~~~Two Weeks Later, Carter's Apartment, Tuesday
Inside of Carter's apartment was a mess. It had been a month and a half since he moved in but he still hadn't unpacked everything. The only things he had out where the things that were needed, everything else was still stuffed away towards the corners of rooms. He didn't even spend that much time at his place. It was bigger than Lucy's but hers was much more organised and homey. Half of his boxes were still packed up and he only opened up what he had needed. On top of his unmade bed sat Lucy, bemused by the scene he was making, trying to look for some texts of Kerry's he had borrowed over a month ago, before the move. She had asked for them back the other day and he said that he would go and get them. That was now over a week ago and Weaver was starting to get impatient.
Flipping open the four flaps of yet another box, Carter started rummaging through the items it contained which showed to be useless, "I swear, I put the book in here. It shouldn't be this frustrating! It's a book, how many places can it be?"
"John, maybe if you started looking for it the day she asked for it back, you wouldn't have her on your back now. Or, you could just be more organised in your packing. Try not to put our clothes in the same box as your pots and pans, and if you do, at least label it."
"Luce, I really don't need you nagging me about me organization skills."
"Well, if I don't do it, who will? And its not like it is doing any good anyway. Look around, I don't know how you can live like this." Lucy picks up an unidentified object, tries to figure out what it is with no luck and puts it back down where she found it.
"You see, this is why I love you so much, you always try so hard to keep me in line."
Lucy giggles pulling him in again, "I love you too." Just as Carter and Lucy were getting into a in depth conversation about a future they might have together, the phone rang. Pushing himself up off of his seat with his hands, John Carter trots over to the phone beside his bed, answering happily, "John Carter."
"John. It's Gamma. Your parents are in town this weekend and the family is going to have a little get-together. I heard that you were seeing someone and I was thinking. How about you join us, bring the girl, and we all can meet her. What do you say? I'm in a hurry."
"Can you hold on a minute." John requests.
Cupping his hand around the receiver, he turns to Lucy. "What do you say about meeting the family this weekend. You have Saturday off and Mallucci owes me a favour so I can get him to cover for me. You wanted to meet them earlier but if you changed your mind, now's the time to speak."
"Is it gonna be formal?"
"Probrely. If my grandparents are the ones setting it up."
"Sure. I love dressing up."
John laughs, uncovering the phone, "Gamma? Lucy and I will be free Saturday, is that okay with you?"
"Saturday is fine... Lucy, that name sounds firmiliar. She isn't the girl from Valentines, is she?"
"Yes gamma. It's that Lucy, just don't bring it up, okay."
"Fine dear, see you Saturday."
"Bye." As the two acquaintances hang up their end of the line, John turns to his girlfriend.
"I can't believe you agreed to meet them. I wished you'd of said no."
"Why? If you didn't want me to meet your family, you could of just said no to your grandmother and not of asked for my opinion."
"Well, you wanted to meet them and i wanted to give you the opportunity, but now you are gonna know all of my deepest, darkest secrets."
Sitting up, strolling over to where John stood, Lucy raps her arms around him. "And what kind of secrets might we be hiding?"
John accepts her motion and raps his arms around her shorter body, "Well, you see, my family generally doesn't get to meet many of my girlfriends. I'm nice and spare most of 'em. But when the Carter's get a chance, they go for all you got. My parents will bring pictures of me in diapers and some other pictures playing some sports. They will most likely be embarrassing, something you will never drop and continue nagging me about for the rest of my life."
"...You think I'm gonna know you for the rest of your life?"
"Huh, Your a keeper Luce. I'm not letting you slip away."
Cuddling her face into his chest, Lucy closes her eyes for a moment, enjoying the moment and relaxing, "Dido."
~~~~~~~~~~ Two days later, Thursday
After being invited to meet the Carter gene pool, Lucy soon realised she had nothing to wear. There was the dress she wore for her graduation, but it had a snag in it. Lucy ended up calling Abby to go shopping with her. The only day they could both meet was Thursday, so they decided to make a day out of going to the mall and finding the perfect outfit.
"What do think of this one?" Dr. Lucy Knight asked Abby Lockhart, holding up a red sequenced dress, covered in sparkles about ten sizes larger than she would comfortably fit. They both start laughing.
"Uh, too tacky, too big and too tacky! " comments Abby on the dress which is now set back on its hanger. "How about this one." Abby suggests seriously. The dress was black with a halter holding it up. It was floor length with a long slit and by luck, came in Lucy's size.
"Oh, I like. It is perfect." She flips over the tag and her smile fades. "Look at the price. I can not spend this much for a dress I will most likely only wear once."
"Look, if you want to impress the people, you have to spend some money. They have deep pockets, so you have to show that you have some money no matter what your economic standing. If you can't afford it, I will pitch in."
"I can't ask that of you Abby.
"You didn't ask. I offered. So," Abby takes her wallet out of her purse and pulls out numerous American bills, "you can take my money and buy the dress, or you can go and buy some twenty dollar tacky rag. That won't impress a bum on the street."
"I will take your money but I am gonna pay you back."
"Lucy, stop being a pain in the ass and take the money, pretend it is yours."
"Thank you Abby." Lucy takes the cash out of her friends hand and approached the counter to pay for her item.
Abby and Lucy didn't leave the mall until seven o'clock at night and they had everything she would need for Saturday. The shoes, the earrings, the purse and other accessories which all matched the dress. The outfit was going to look perfect.
~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday morning, 10:00
"So what time are you going to pick me up?" Lucy questioned John Carter over the phone.
"About six fourty-five. Is that enough time?"
"Yup. I'll just call and tell Abby to come earlier. Where are we going anyway."
"A French restaurant near Oak Park. My grandparents like the place, so they go their a lot... Is Abby going to need a ride home?"
"Probrely not, but I'll ask anyway."
"Kay, see you tonight."
"Bye." after hanging up the phone, Lucy picked it right back up again. Abby had to work this morning but had the afternoon off which made it perfect since Lucy needed someone to come and do her hair.
Punching in the seven digits of the phone number to County, Lucy allowed it to ring eight times before it was answered by a firmiliar voice, "ER."
"Hey Randi, it's Lucy. Abby around?"
"Yup, just a minute." Lucy could here the distant screams of children and angry patients in the background for about three minutes before someone picked up the phone again.
"Lucy? It's Abby. What's up?"
"I called John and got the times. I was thinking that you should probrely be at my place by five or five-thirty."
"I think I can do that..." Lucy could here a crashing on the other end. "Damn't! Look, I have to go, but I will see you later. Five?"
"Yup." she doesn't get a chance to say goodbye before Abby hangs up, rushing over to attend to her restless casualty.
It wasn't until later that night that Lucy talked to any one again. Everyone was at work and John was out getting ready for tonight. She ended up spending her whole day watching old, black and white movies. Eventually, she got so caught up in the sappy romance scenes that she lost track of time. When the doorbell rang, she jumped out of her seat and realised that she should of been dressed already. Rushing out of her seat and towards the door, she flung it open found who she was looking for. "Hey Abby," she moved aside to allow her room to enter, "Sorry I'm not ready. I was watching TV and I forgot what time it was."
"It's fine. We have lots of time anyway."
"Just wait out here for a minute while I go and put on the dress?"
"Sure." Abby flops her body down onto the comfortable cushions of the sofa and turned the television back on.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Luce. You and Abby done yet?"
"Not quite! Give us another fifteen minutes." yelped Abby from Lucy's bedroom
where she was putting the finishing touches on her friends hair.
"Your early!" Lucy screamed from the same room as Abby.
"Yeah. I had nothing better to do, so I decided why not come and hang out with the two most beautiful ladies in the world." John sits down on the arm of the love seat and starts rummaging through some magazines which were set on the coffee table.
"What did you do!?" Lucy asks, now sounding impatient through the wall. She didn't want to show off her outfit until it was perfect and her hair wasn't quite finished yet.
"Nothing."
"Then what is with the brown nosing."
"I'm just a little cheery today, that's all..."
For the next ten minutes, they both stay in their separate rooms until Abby walks out, "Okay, she is ready." Abby opens to door handle, allowing Lucy to exit.
Her hair was pulled back in twisted strands to a bun in the back. Their were a few loose strands in the front and hanging out of the bun in the back, which were curled. Her dress fit close to the body and covered up the biggest of the scars although you could still see some here and there. No one was going to be looking at her scars. She was wearing her trademark silver necklace with the sideways heart around her neck, like she always does. In her hands she was carrying a small black purse. "What do you think? Is it to much?"
"No. You look great. Wonderful, actually."
"Um, thanks for helping me out Abby, but I think that we better be going. We don't want to be late."
"Right. Go. I'll lock up for you. I still have to tidy up my stuff anyway.
"Okay, thanks again. Bye." Lucy and Carter pick up their jackets and walk to short distance to the door.
"Bye Abby."
~~~~~~~~~~
Oak Park, which just happens to be on the other side of the city, only took twenty five minutes to reach. That had to be a record, they were nearly half an hour early. Sitting in his jeep with Lucy, he did not stop the engine yet, "Do you want to go and wait at the bar or did you want to just drive around for a bit."
"Lets just ride in the car. It can give us some time to chat about what we were talking about earlier."
"Okay. What were we talking about earlier?"
"A future. Commitment. Together."
"Right. About that..."
"John, if you don't want to settle down right away, that is fine with me because it is just an idea."
Putting on his red break lights, Carter drives the car to the side of the road and turns to Lucy, "Like I was saying, I didn't say I didn't want to be with you, I do. And if you want marriage, then that is what I want to, because I would do anything for you. I love you."
"I don't want you to marry me because I asked you to. I want you to because you want to."
"See, that is my point. You made me realised that you are what I want," Carter pulls something square and black out of his jacket pocket, fitting it into his left palm.
"John..." Lucy whispers quietly, getting really nervous.
"I wanted to ask you something."
"John..."
Unfolding the small black object from his hands, he opens the top half revealing
an engagement ring. "Will you marry me?" He gets this hopeful look in his eyes, that is like him saying he loves her with out speaking a word.
Taking a moment to think, Lucy bights her lower lip and picks up the ring, growing an immense grin on her face, "Yes John. Yes I will marry you." she replies, barely above a whisper. As they lean in towards one and other, they kiss passionately as Lucy starts crying.
John laughs at her as she wipes away her tears. "I'm just happy you said yes."
Lucy laughs back, "So am I."
~~~~~~~~~~ 25 minutes later
Lucy was thankful that she had worn waterproof eye make-up. How bad would that look if she walked in the door with black smears all over her face? After she placed the ring on her finger and kissed her 'fiance' she flipped down the mirror on the light shade and made sure everything was where it should be.
Striding over to a table located near the back of the room, she identifies the Carter's from everyone else. First, some of his family carry a striking resemblance and second, their group is much larger than any other, as John previously pointed out. Approaching the others, John greats his immediate family, "Hello gamma, grandpa, mom, dad, Barbera. This is Lucy Knight. Lucy this is everyone."
Lucy forces a nervous simper, to busy contemplating if she would fit on or not, "Hello."
"So this is the Ms. Lucy Knight that we have been hearing so much about." exclaims Millicent Carter.
Blushing, Lucy just continues to smile, taking her seat beside John and the wall.
"So John, how long have you and Ms. Knight been seeing each other?" questions Roland, John's father.
"In fact, it is Dr. Lucy Knight and, literally, we have been going out for about four months now. We were close friends before hand so it is like we've been seeing each other for awhile."
"So, you are saying that you are getting serious than?" persists Lilian Carter, John's mother.
"Isn't that a personal question?"
"I'm your mother, I have the right to ask, don't I?"
Before things got to bad, Lucy jumped in and saved Carter, "Yes, we are getting serious."
"How serious?" John and Lucy both look at one and other, thinking together telepathically with their eyes about whether they should tell anyone yet.
"Look dear, lets talk about something else. How did you two meet?" Roland Carter wasn't nearly as talkative or desperate for information as his wife. He just liked things to stay calm.
Lucy, deciding she wasn't talking enough, jumped in and volunteered to answer the question as everyone at the table listened, "I came to County in September of 1999 as a medical student and John was my resident. I wouldn't say we were friends per- say but that was mostly because I was a medical student at the time. I February, we were both in an accident together and ever since then, till April sometime, we became pretty close. I think that the story writes it's self from there on."
Since she had covered pretty much all of the basics, most of the conversations were based on other people. They had ate their appetisers, main coarse and were working on their dessert when the conversation worked back to them again. It was the one question that neither of them were expecting since the issue didn't exist until two hours previous.
"So, you guys are engaged?" Lilian Carter took it upon herself to share the news with everyone instead of allowing the happy couple to bring it up.
Speechless, Carter and Lucy stare at each other once again, trying to find the right words, "Thank you mother. Yes we are." John didn't sound to happy and his parents sensed it.
"What? She's wearing a ring. Was I supposed to ignore it?... If you didn't want anyone to know, you should of left it at home."
"He would of told us when he was ready Lily. You don't have to push everything."
Sighing, Carter continues to eat his dessert, reaching his hand under the table, he grabs Lucy's hand and mouths 'sorry'.
~~~~~~~~~~
