ER: Doug and Carol Series

Story #11

Between Friends

by: Courtney

Charlie walks into the ER and approaches the nurses station. Carol turns around as she walks up and smiles. “Hi, you’re here early,” she comments.

“I know, I just decided to come straight from school.” She is wearing a short, red sweater and dark colored blue jeans. Her book bag is flung over one shoulder.

“Hey Charlie, how’s it going?” asks Mark as he comes over to the nurses station.

“Pretty good,” she says with a smile.

“She’s getting her cast off today,” Carol says.

“Oh, you must be happy about that,” he comments.

“Yeah, it itches pretty bad,” she replies.

Mark nods knowingly and gathers up a few charts. “Good luck, see ya,” he smiles, gives a short wave and turns to go.

“Bye,” Charlie says.

Carol says, “Well, Doug’s not quite ready. If you want, you can wait in the lounge. He’s upstairs checking on some lab work, it could be half an hour or so.”

“Okay,” Charlie smiles and heads for the lounge.

As she enters, she sees Dr. John Carter sitting at a table with his head on top of a chart. He seems to have fallen asleep right in the middle of his work. She grins at the sight. Quietly, so as not to disturb him, she eases around him and sits down on the couch. For a few minutes, all is silent. Then, out of nowhere, Carter gasps and bolts up in his seat.

“What?” Charlie says from behind him.

He jumps and spins around. “Charlie! You scared me. What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Doug so he can take my cast off. What do you mean I scared you? I didn’t say a word, you just sat up all of the sudden.”

“Oh, I must have been dreaming. I meant that you scared me after I woke up,” she looks skeptically at Carter.

“You feeling okay?” she asks.

He smiles, “Yeah, just haven’t had much sleep this week, that’s all.” She nods. “So, the cast finally comes off today, huh? Bet you can’t wait.”

“I’m so sick of it!” she says.

Carter chuckles, “I broke my arm once. I fell off of my bike and landed on it when I was 12. I hated that cast so much!” He smiles at Charlie. She is sitting on the sofa and he is still at the table, turned around so they are facing.

“Well, I can’t wait to get rid of this thing,” she nods towards the cast.

“So, how’s school going? Did you finish that report about the Revolutionary War?”

“Yeah, I got a C. Doug wasn’t too happy with that,” she frowns.

“No, I guess not. He just knows you can do better.” Carter gives her a smile.

“What makes you say that?” she asks, looking up in surprise.

“Nothing, just a feeling. You don’t apply yourself enough.” These words coming from anyone else would have angered Charlie. She would never allow someone to critique her like this. But, somehow, coming from John, they seem okay. She likes the fact that he believes she has the potential to do better. The honest truth is, she knew that paper could have been better, she just didn’t care. Maybe it was time to rethink things a little.

“So, when do you get out for Christmas?” Carter asks her.

“This Friday,” she tells him.

“Any big holiday plans?” he inquires.

“Not really. Carol’s mom and Doug’s mom are supposed to come over to Carol’s for dinner on Christmas Day. That should be interesting,” her tone is laced with sarcasm.

Carter smiles, “Yeah, sometimes I wish we just had a little family get together. In my family, Christmas really is an entire season. They have the first party at Thanksgiving and it doesn’t stop till after New Year’s. It gets old after a while.”

“Going to parties? Doesn’t sound like you have it too rough,” she smirks.

“No, I guess not. It just becomes this huge deal and sometimes I’d just like to have dinner with my parents, exchange a few gifts and call it a day. It’s never that simple with them.”

Charlie is surprised at how Carter seems to feel so comfortable talking to her about his life. Even though they don’t know each other well, he treats her like a friend. He never talks to her like she’s fifteen either, he treats her like any other friend. “Why do you tell me this stuff, John?” she asks, her curiosity overcoming her manners.

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry if I bore you . . .,” he begins.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I just thought, well, it’s kind of weird how you don’t really know me and yet you tell me all of this personal stuff. I’m not complaining, I just wondered.” She hopes she hasn’t said too much. She doesn’t want to offend him. He’s the only person besides Doug and Carol that she ever really talks to.

But, Carter is his usual, understanding self. He smiles at her, “I don’t know. You just seem like a nice person and you listen so why not be friends? I guess I’m just like that, I’ve never been good at keeping my life very private.”

“Well, I’m really glad you trust me enough to tell me stuff about yourself. I don’t really have any other friends.” She blushes as she reveals this personal piece of her life. This stuff doesn’t come nearly as easy for her as it does for Carter.

He grins, “Well, I can never have enough friends.” They continue talking about this and that for about half an hour. They are both laughing at some story Carter has just finished relaying as Doug enters the lounge.

“What’s so funny?” he asks them as he enters, a small smile perched on his lips.

“Oh, nothing,” Carter replies, “just this story I was telling Charlie.”

“Well, it must have been some story. I’ll have to remind you to tell it to me sometime.” He shakes his head and continues to smile lightly as the two try to control their laughter. “You ready to get that cast off?” Doug asks Charlie.

“Definitely!” she replies. She gets up from her seat on the couch. “Bye John. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Sure thing, Charlie,” he replies and goes back to his stack of unfinished charts.

Doug and Charlie exit the lounge and go down the hall to an empty exam room. “So, you and Carter seem to be pretty buddy-buddy,” he comments as she sits on the exam table.

“John’s nice,” is her only reply, but she smiles just a little.

‘Uh oh,’ Doug thinks. He knows exactly where this is leading and he can feel a headache approaching even as he thinks about it.

“Hey Hon,” Doug says, coming up behind Carol at the nurses station and kissing her cheek.

“Hi,” she smiles. “Charlie go home?”

“Yeah, she had homework. She went over to your place to do some typing.” Carol has an old typewriter from school that she let Charlie keep in her room there. “Did you happen to see her talking to Carter in the lounge today?” he inquires.

Carol thinks this is a strange question and turns to face Doug. “No, but I told her to wait for you there. I guess Carter probably was in there at the time. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason,” he smiles, “I just think Charlie might have a little crush on young Dr. Carter.”

“What makes you say that?” she smiles.

“Well, to start with, she calls him John and laughs at everything he says,” Doug grins.

“You’d better not tease her about this, just in case it’s true,” Carol warns.

“I won’t,” Doug promises.

She grabs his arm and pulls him closer. “You don’t think Carter . . . “

“No way! He’s too old for her. You know Carter, he’s nice to everyone. It’s all completely harmless, I’m sure.”

Carol nods and smiles, “I think it’s kind of cute, actually.”

Doug chuckles. Changing the subject, he says, “She sure was glad to have that cast off today, though.”

“I’ll bet,” she says. “Was she going to stay at the house or take the typewriter back to the apartment with her?” Carol asks him as he stares at the board behind her to find his next patient.

He turns her way, “Uh, I think she’s staying at your place. What time are you off?”

“Eight o’clock. You?”

“Nine. I guess I’ll sleep over at your place then. That is, if that’s okay with you,” he walks over and laces his arms around her waist.

She smiles, “Fine by me. But, if you plan to leave at nine, you’d better get to work,” she turns back to the counter and picks up three charts. Handing them to Doug, she says, “There’s a three year old in four who has a fever of 102, a ten year old in two with poison oak, and a four month old in three with an ear infection.”

Doug groans. He takes the charts and turns towards the exam rooms. “Wish me luck,” he calls and heads off towards the awaiting children.

Eight o’clock arrives and Carol is in the locker room gathering her things to leave. Doug walks by as she is exiting. “Leaving?” he inquires.

“Yep. I thought I’d go get some dinner ready for Charlie. She probably hasn’t eaten yet.”

“Okay, well, I talked to Mark earlier and he wants to know if I want to grab a bite after work. Would you mind?”

“No, of course not. What time do you think you’ll be home?”

“Oh, eleven or a little after. I shouldn’t be too late. I just haven’t seen much of him lately and . . .”

“Doug, it’s okay. I understand,” she smiles. “I’ll see you later tonight, okay?”

He smiles and kisses her, “You bet.”

Carol turns towards the door and exits the hospital.

Mark and Doug enter the restaurant at a little after nine that night. They take a seat at one of the empty booths and mull over the menus. The restaurant is nothing fancy, just a little local place like the ones all over Chicago. The menu consists of mostly hamburgers and sandwiches so both men order hamburgers and fries and each get a bottle of beer.

“So,” Doug looks at Mark after the waitress has delivered their beers, “what’s on your mind?”

Mark looks up from his bottle. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you asked me to come to dinner. I just assumed there was something you wanted to talk about.”

“No, nothing really. I just haven’t seen you around much. I thought we could catch up a little,” Mark says.

“Oh, okay, great. I mean, if there is anything you want to talk about, that’s fine, too. But, if you just want to catch up, great.” Doug isn’t sure what he’s talking about. He doesn’t want to make Mark uncomfortable, so he’s trying to fill in the conversation. Lately, Mark has been pretty down. Really, it’s been this way since Susan left. That’s been almost a year now. He’s been seeing Nina on and off, but it’s still evident that something isn’t there. There’s a part of the old Mark that left with Susan. Maybe it’s something he can never truly find again. “So, what have you been up to?” Doug tries to start up the conversation.

“Not much, really. Nina and I have still been seeing each other.” Mark’s eyes seem distant and Doug can tell that the thought of dating Nina seems just a little wrong to Mark. He wants to be happy and put all of the feelings he had for Susan behind him, but it isn’t that easy. “I’m still seeing Dr. Cortez,” he says. Dr. Anita Cortez is a psychiatrist that Mark has been seeing for several months. Doug and he talked briefly about it about a month ago when he was worried about Carol and asked Mark if he thought Nina would talk to her. Mark had told him he was sure that she would and he had then confided that he was also seeing a psychiatrist, but not Nina. Nina had recommended her colleague, Dr. Cortez, because it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to treat him herself due to their relationship.

“How’s that going anyway?” Doug asks his friend.

“Good. I mean, I feel a little better than I did a month ago, so I guess it’s going okay. How about you? Nina says you, Charlie and Carol have all come in together a few times?”

“Yeah, we have. We still see her privately too though. It seems to be helping a lot.” Mark nods and looks back to his beer. “Are you sure there’s nothing you’d like to talk about, Mark?” Doug asks.

Mark finishes off his beer and looks down at the table. “I don’t know. I don’t know what there is to talk about.”

Doug is suddenly worried about his friend and feels a wave of guilt wash over him. He hasn’t been a very good friend lately, he knows that. He’s been so preoccupied, first with Carol, then with Charlie. He’s really neglected his friendship with Mark and now, sitting here across the table from him, seeing that hopeless look he has, he realizes how much he’s let his best friend down. ‘How often has Mark been there for me,’ Doug thinks. ‘How many times has he stood by me when no one else would?’ He knows they’ve had their ups and downs this past year, but he’s still the best friend Doug has ever had. Doug frowns and reaches across the table to touch Mark’s shoulder.

“Hey buddy, you can tell me anything, you know that right?”

Mark nods his head and continues to focus on the empty bottle in front of him. Doug looks around at the bustle of people filling the restaurant. For a Wednesday night, it sure it packed. The Bulls are playing, so it’s drawing in the crowd. “How about we get those burgers to go and eat at my place? Charlie is sleeping at Carol’s, no one’s home. We need to talk anyway.” Mark nods his approval to this and Doug goes off to find their waitress and let her know they’d like their order to go.

Doug unlocks the door and he and Mark walk into his apartment. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen this place,” Mark says. He walks behind Doug into the living room. Doug puts the two to go boxes that contain their dinner onto the coffee table and heads off to the kitchen to grab a few beers. Mark looks around and stops as he eyes the Christmas tree in one corner. Under it are about twenty packages of various sizes and shapes, all neatly wrapped.

Doug returns and hands a cold bottle to his friend. “Nice tree,” Mark says.

“Thanks, Charlie and Carol decorated it. You should see the one at Carol’s! Those two got very into the holiday spirit this year!” He chuckles a little and opens his beer.

“I didn’t get one,” Mark says, his face reflecting his somber mood.

“What? A tree? Why not?” Doug asks.

“Why should I? I mean, it’s just me there, it would be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Well, what about Rachel? Won’t she be visiting you soon?”

“No, Jenn is taking her to Oregon to visit her husband’s parents. They leave on Friday and they won’t be back until New Year’s Day.”

“That hardly seems fair. Did you tell her you’d like to see Rachel on the holidays? She has to know she can’t just take her away for the whole time like that,” Doug’s concern grows as Mark seems to get more and more depressed by the minute.

“I said all of that, and Jenn agreed. She said Rachel could stay here and fly up to Oregon on Christmas morning. But, Rachel was just so excited and she begged me to let her go. What could I do? She didn’t want to stay with me, I won’t force her.” He hangs his head as he says these final words.

Doug can’t believe his ears. How could he be so blind to his friend’s pain these past few weeks? Why hasn’t he noticed this side of Mark before now? “Hey, don’t worry, buddy,” he sits on the couch beside Mark and lays a friendly hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. You know how kids are, she probably just has some cousins or something up there that she wants to play with. Don’t take it so hard.”

“You’re right,” Mark says, but doesn’t change his tone. “I’ll be fine. Rachel will be out of school for a week after New Year’s and she’s coming then. We’ll just celebrate late this year.”

“So, this isn’t all about Rachel, then?” Doug already knew that before the conversation began. This latest blow was just the icing on the cake for Mark.

Mark sighs deeply and looks away, staring at the Christmas tree. “I miss her. I don’t want to, but I can’t help it.”

Doug knows that Mark is no longer talking about his daughter. When he says ‘her’ he means Susan Lewis. “She’s gone, Mark. You have to get past it. I know how hard it is. Well, actually, I guess I don’t know, I can just imagine and it must hurt to lose someone you love so much. But, Susan is getting on with her life. You have to do that, too.”

Mark looks at Doug. There is so much pain in his eyes. “Why don’t I just stop loving her? Why am I such a jerk that I can’t tell when I’ve been rejected?” he sighs and blinks several times to fight back tears.

“You have to stop trying not to love her. That might not ever happen. But, you can get on with your life. She’ll always be a part of your past, you just have to face that fact that she won’t be part of your future.” Doug tries to make these words as gentle as possible, but he knows it still hurts. What would he ever do if he had to contemplate a future without Carol? He had done that before and he’d rather die than go through that again.

“I’m sorry,” Mark says to him. “I know I have to move on. I hate myself for even thinking of her. But, I close my eyes and . . .,” he stops as though the air has caught in his throat. He inhales a deep, labored breath and swallows hard.

“Hey, don’t apologize. I should apologize to you. I have been a sorry excuse for a friend lately. I’m really sorry for that. I should have been around more.”

“No, it’s not you Doug. I just haven’t felt much like talking. I’ve tried my best to keep all of this to myself. Tonight, I just felt really alone. Thanks for doing this. You don’t know how much it helps to just talk about it.”

“I don’t feel like I’m much help. But, if you think it helps, that’s all that matters I guess.” Mark smiles, slightly. “So, what are your plans for Christmas?”

Mark frowns, “I don’t know. Nina will be at her parents house. I’m not sure I can do that this year.”

“Well, how about a little holiday entertainment at my expense?” Doug smiles at Mark, then continues: “Carol’s mom and my mom are coming over for dinner on Christmas Day. I have a feeling we’re in for a bumpy ride!” he laughs and tries to brighten Mark’s spirits a little.

“I don’t know, sounds like kind of a private thing to me. Carol might not like it.”

“Are you kidding? Helen *hates* me! Anything or anybody that will distract her attention for five seconds will thrill Carol to death.”

Mark smiles, “Helen doesn’t really hate you.”

“Come to dinner, Mark. You’ll see,” he says with a rye smile.

In the end, Mark agree to join them, as long as Doug runs the idea by Carol and she says it’s okay. They turn to their hamburgers, which are getting cold. They spend the rest of the evening talking about more light-hearted things like Carol, the latest hospital gossip and how Doug’s adjusting to his new roommate. Doug tells Mark that he is planning to talk to Carol about them moving in together soon. He has already run the idea by Charlie and she is all for it. They have even talked to her social worker, who said that she didn’t see any problems with it. On Christmas Eve, he plans to tell Carol the news. Mark wishes him luck, though he is sure Doug won’t need it. This is what Carol want too, why would she turn him down?

Doug doesn’t get in until after midnight. Still, he manages to slip into the bed without waking Carol. The next morning, he awakes at 6am. Carol isn’t in bed and he can hear her in the bathroom. It sounds as though she is sick.

Carol emerges from the bathroom to find Doug sitting up in the bed. Her complexion is rather green as she walks into the morning sunlight peeking through the drapes.

“Everything okay? You don’t look so good. You feeling alright?” Doug is concerned as she sits beside him on the bed.

“I’m fine. I probably just caught a bug from the hospital. You know, it never fails. Every year, no matter how many shots I get, I always manage to pick something up.”

Doug reaches up and feels her head. “You don’t feel warm. Any aching or soreness or just the vomiting?” he asks.

Carol sighs, “Always the doctor,” she replies. “I’ll be fine, Doug. I’ll take a few aspirin and go get ready for work.” She rises from the bed and starts for the door. But, halfway there, the nausea returns and she rushes for the bathroom.

This time, Doug goes in with her. He stands behind her and rubs her back as she is sick again. She gets up and her eyes are watering. She turns on the faucet and splashes cold water on her face, then rinses her mouth. Doug hands her a towel and she dries her face with it. “Come on,” he says, gently guiding her out of the bathroom.

“What? Where are we going?”

“Back to bed. You aren’t going to work today.”

“Doug, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll be fine. It’s probably just something I ate.”

“Well, you still need to rest. I’m not taking no for an answer Carol. I’ll call Kerry Weaver and have her get a replacement for you today.” Carol sighs, but sits back on the bed and allows Doug to pull the covers back over her. “I’ll go get Charlie up for school, then I’ll call Kerry. You go back to sleep.” After delivering these orders, Doug kisses her forehead and turns towards the door.

Carol isn’t sure what’s come over her. She’s sure it’s just a bug she’s picked up at the hospital though. She always seems to catch everything that goes around there. She still isn’t feeling well, though, so she closes her eyes and tries to get some rest.

Doug has the day off, so he stays home to take care of Carol. She seems to be feeling better by lunch time, which makes her theory of having had something bad to eat seem plausible. She ends up almost glad of her sickness because it gives her the opportunity to spend the entire day alone with Doug. He makes her chicken soup and sits with her on the couch and watches movies. She thinks about her life and how so many people would think this was the most boring way to spend an afternoon. But, as she snuggles herself close to Doug on the couch, she can’t think of any place she’d rather be.

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Created by Courtney Stovall © 1998

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