ER: Doug and Carol Series

Story #32

When Love Finds You

By: Courtney

“Calm down,” Carter says with a slight laugh. “She doesn’t bite, you know.” Anna Del Amico is standing beside him on the front porch of his grandmother’s massive estate. She is wearing a long, black evening dress and heels and she looks very pretty. Still, her nervousness is very apparent. She is fidgeting as she and Carter stand there together.

“I’m sorry, it’s just . . . what if she doesn’t like me, John? What if I don’t measure up to her expectations? I can tell by the way that your family talks that she is the force behind all of them. If she doesn’t like me . . .”

“Anna, she’ll love you! My parents loved you, didn’t they?”

Anna thinks about the Christmas dinner they had with Carter’s parents. It was a little uncomfortable to say the least. “Loved me? How do you figure that? Your mother barely said two words to me and your dad kept asking me about my ‘family background’. It didn’t make me feel too loved, John,” she says indignantly.

He frowns slightly and wraps his arm around her waist to pull her close. “They didn’t mean anything by any of that, Anna. That’s just the way they are. I think they liked you though. And my grandmother is much different. I really was disappointed she was out of the country at Christmas because I’ve been anxious for you two to meet.”

“I don’t know, John . . . I just can’t help but worry about what she’ll think of me.”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough,” he says as he reaches to ring the bell. A man in a black suit answers it almost instantly. “Good evening, Jonathan,” Carter says to the man.

Jonathan steps back to allow Carter and Anna room to enter and replies, “Good evening sir,” in a heavy English accent. Carter removes his coat and hands it to Jonathan, and then he turns to help Anna remove her coat and also hands that to the waiting butler. Once he has both coats, Jonathan says, “Mrs. Carter is waiting for you both in the study.”

“Thank you,” Carter replies and he takes Anna’s arm to lead her towards the study. They walk in to find Mrs. Carter on the velvet settee, waiting. Seeing them enter, she rises and smiles.

“John,” she smiles. “I’m so glad you two could make it tonight. And, you,” she directs her gaze to Anna, “must be Dr. Del Amico. My grandson has had quite a time talking about anything besides you for the last few months.”

Anna blushes. “Please, call me Anna,” she says.

“It’s very good to meet you, Anna.”

“Yes, it’s good to meet you, too, ma’am,” Anna says with a nervous smile.

Mrs. Carter nods slightly and continues to smile. “Have a seat, Anna,” she says. Anna sits on the couch opposite Mrs. Carter’s seat and John sits beside her, clutching her hand.

“So, Gamma, how was Christmas in London?” John asks.

“Fine, John, just fine. John, would you leave us so Anna and I can talk alone please?”

“Uh . . .” he looks at Anna, who looks very uncomfortable with this suggestion. Nonetheless, she nods for him to go, so he gets up and says, “I’ll just go visit with Maria.”

Anna watches him go, then turns nervously back to Mrs. Carter. “What did you want to talk to me about?” she asks.

“I just thought we’d have a more frank discussion without my grandson here.” Anna grows more nervous at this comment. “I heard a bit about your Christmas dinner with my son and his wife. I just wanted you to know that you should ignore everything those two say,” she says. Anna looks shocked, not sure she heard her correctly.

“Excuse me?”

“My son is rich, and he knows it. He enjoys money entirely too much. His wife is the same way. Sometimes, I think the only saving grace this family has is John. His father wanted him to be a businessman and one-day inherit everything. But, John would have no part of it. He was set on being a doctor. Money makes people very different, Anna. It changes the way they see the world. However, my grandson doesn’t see money. He’s part of a wealthy family, yes, but John isn’t a ‘rich person’. I just wanted to make sure that the rest of this family hasn’t changed your opinion of him.”

Anna smiles pleased by Mrs. Carter’s comments. She suddenly realizes she has misjudged John’s grandmother. “Thank you, Mrs. Carter.”

“No, no, thank you. And please, call me Katherine.”

By the time Carter comes back into the study, Anna and his grandmother are talking and laughing like old friends. He stands in the doorway for just a moment and watches with a smile on his face. Then, he goes in and sits with them, picking up the conversation and joining in.

“Emma, Rachel, breakfast!” Mark calls up the stairs of Nina’s apartment. He hears the sound of two sets of feet running down the hallway. He turns back to Nina, who is sitting at the table drinking coffee. “Well, what are our plans for the day?” he asks her as he sits beside her at the table.

“I don’t know . . . what do you feel like doing?” she asks.

Mark smiles rather wickedly. “Well, I feel like . . .” he is cut off as Rachel and Emma come into the kitchen. He decides this is a conversation best kept for later. The girls sit at the table to eat their pancakes and Mark gets up to get them each a glass of juice. “Apple or orange?” he asks from the refrigerator. Both choose orange so he pours the juice and brings it to the girls.

Mark and Nina finish their coffee while the children eat breakfast. They all decide to go see a movie after breakfast so, as soon as everyone has finished, the girls head upstairs to get dressed and Mark and Nina start cleaning up the kitchen while they wait.

“They really seem to get along well,” Nina says as she dries the plate Mark has just rinsed.

“Yeah, they do,” he replies. “I was worried at first that they wouldn’t like each other. I’m glad I was wrong.”

Nina nods. “It’s always been really important to me for the man in my life to also be part of Emma’s life. I could never make a commitment to someone who didn’t understand that.”

Mark nods. He knows where this is going. Lately, they’ve had a lot of discussions that center on the future. He knows Nina is more than hinting at the two of them settling down. And, even though it’s only been a few months since he had told Doug he didn’t see that happening anytime soon, he’s beginning to think that maybe he was wrong. Maybe Nina is the one; and maybe it’s time he gave this whole thing a little more serious thought.

“Okay, what’s the major export of Argentina?” Charlie asks. Josh looks at her from his seat on the bed. He doesn’t answer, just gives her a blank look. “Come on Josh, this test is in two days,” she says. She’s sitting at her desk with half a dozen books and notebooks spread out in front of her.

“Charlie, don’t worry. The test won’t be too hard. Besides, I have a B right now and you have an A. What are you getting so worked up about?”

She sighs and looks at her boyfriend. “I don’t know, Josh. I just want to do well. Doug and Carol have a lot of faith in me. I feel like I should do everything I can to avoid letting them down.”

“You are not going to let them down! Doug and Carol know how hard you work, they don’t expect you to be perfect, Charlie,” he says as he gets up and walks over to put his hand on her shoulder.

She looks up at him. “I know, I just . . . you just don’t know how many mistakes I’ve made, Josh. It’s about time I started making up for them.”

“You know, you’re always talking about the mistakes you’ve made and how much there is I don’t know about you. Why is that? Why can’t you tell me this stuff?”

She looks up and sees the hurt in his eyes, as if she’s withholding this information to somehow keep him at bay. ‘Maybe I am, in a way,’ she thinks. If Josh knew everything about her past, all that she’s done and all that’s been done to her, would he ever really be able to accept that? She’s still considering this when he breaks the silence.

“Don’t you think you can trust me?” he asks.

“I . . . yes, of course. It’s just . . . Josh . . . this isn’t what you want. You don’t want to know about my past. Believe me, you’re better off not knowing. It’s something I wish I could forget,” she says. She hangs her head as a tear slips down her cheek.

“Charlie, how can you say that? How can you think I wouldn’t want to know?” he kneels in front of her and gently tints her chin up so that she’s looking at him. He brushes the tears from her cheeks. “It seems pretty obvious that whatever it is you’re hiding is pretty rough for you to take. I only want you to let me in so I can be there for you, to help you through it. I love you, don’t you know that?” he says. When she looks in his eyes, his expression couldn’t be more sincere.

As she tries to decide if she can handle telling him the truth, more tears flood her cheeks. She brings her hands to her face as she cries. Josh gets up quickly and wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back and telling her, in the most soothing voice, that everything will be all right. “I’m right here,” he says, “and I’m never going anywhere, no matter what.”

“So, what happened then?” Carter asks. He and Charlie are sitting together in the hospital cafeteria. It’s Sunday afternoon and the first weekend of the New Year is almost over. Charlie has been telling him about her afternoon studying with Josh the day before.

“Well, I wasn’t sure what to do. Besides Doug, Carol, you, and a few other people here at the hospital, no one really knows about my past. I’ve never told anyone at school. Even Michelle just knows bits and pieces. Mostly she just knows I’m adopted and that my mom was a flake. I’ve never told anybody about the drugs . . . or Tommy, especially Tommy. The things he did to me . . . the things he got me to do . . . John, how can I tell anyone about that and not expect that to change everything? How could Josh even look at me again if I told him about that stuff?” It’s obvious she is very upset talking about this, even to Carter.

“So, you’re saying you didn’t tell Josh?”

“Well, I told him some stuff. I told him I used to live on the streets, that I’d done some drugs, that I’d had some pretty rough friends. I didn’t tell him about Tommy, though. I don’t want him to know about that.”

Carter nods then looks at his friend. “You know, if he loves you as much as he says he does, this won’t matter.”

“Do you really believe that?” she asks. “I mean, think about it. He’s 17 years old. He’s in high school. If you were in his position and you found out that the girl you were dating used to be a whore, wouldn’t that change how you felt about her?” Charlie has tears in her eyes as she finishes her sentence.

Carter looks pained. He scoots his chair closer to hers and puts his arms around her. “None of that changes who you’ve become. You aren’t that girl anymore.” He sighs, “But I understand what you mean. As much as I’d love to tell you that Josh will understand, I really can’t do that. I have no idea how he’ll react. And, the truth is, this could change things between the two of you. But Charlie,” he pulls back a little and turns her to face him, “if the person you used to be makes Josh decide he doesn’t want you for who you are now, then he’s the biggest jerk in the world. I wouldn’t want you to be with someone who can’t see how great you are. He’s lucky he found you. I hope, for his sake, that he figures that out before it’s too late.”

Charlie smiles at Carter and wipes the tears from her cheeks. “Thanks John. I still don’t know if I’m going to tell Josh, though. You’re probably right that if he doesn’t like who I am then I shouldn’t bother, but I don’t know if I can handle that. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to move on if I have to watch him walk away.”

Carter looks at her and smiles. “Charlie, you’re the strongest person I know.”

“Hello doctor, how has your weekend been?” Doug asks as he walks into the lounge to find Anna going over charts.

“Great, and yours?” she replies.

“Pretty boring,” he says. “Carol worked Friday, we both worked yesterday, and I’m here all day today. I haven’t seen her in anything but scrubs for days.”

“Hmm, sorry to hear that. Maybe next weekend will be better though,” she offers.

“Yeah, it should be. We’re both off Friday and Saturday so I’m working on some big plans,” he smiles.

“That’s good,” Anna smiles back.

“What about you? Anything interesting happen over the weekend?”

“You can stop fishing, Doug,” she laughs. “Yes, I was with Carter this weekend. We had dinner with his grandmother on Friday and last night he took me to the movies.”

“What’d you see?” Doug asks.

“Truthfully, I’m not even sure,” she laughs.

“Sounds like my kind of date,” Doug laughs. “Why is it, every time I hear a story about John Carter, I’m surprised? He seems like the kind of person you know everything about after one conversation but he always manages to be someone I never expected him to be.”

“I guess we’re all full of surprises, Dr. Ross. You should know that,” Anna kids.

“Yeah,” Doug chuckles, “yeah, I guess I should.”

It’s 10 o’clock on Sunday night. Emma’s dad came to get her hours ago and Jenn and Craig just picked up Rachel. Mark and Nina are all alone. “This was a fun weekend,” he says as they sit together in the living room. They’re at his place, snuggled together on the couch in front of the fireplace.

“Yeah, I had a good time,” she replies, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Listen, about what we were talking about before . . .”

“Mark, it’s okay if you aren’t ready to talk about this. We have plenty of time,” Nina assures him.

“I know,” he says. “It’s just that, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I think we’re ready. I think, no I know, that this is right.” He sits up so that they are looking at one another and he kneels down on the couch in front of her. He reaches into his pocket and produces a small, black, velvet box. “So, what I’m trying to say is, would you do me the honor of being my wife?” He opens the box and Nina sees the diamond ring nestled inside. Mark watches her expectantly.

“I . . . I mean, um, Mark . . . are you sure about this?” she fumbles, looking from him to the ring and back.

“Nina, I love you. That is what I’m sure of. And that’s all I need to know. So, will you marry me?”

She looks into his eyes for a moment then her face breaks into a huge grin. “Yes! Yes, Mark, I’ll marry you.”

Mark smiles back and slips the ring onto her finger. He kisses her passionately and they fall back onto the couch together.

“You did what?!?!” Doug says very loudly, almost falling off the couch he is perched on in the hospital lounge.

“I asked her to marry me,” Mark says calmly as he pours himself some coffee.

“You’re kidding, right? This is all a joke. Mark?” Doug looks at Mark’s face as he sits across from him. “Oh my God, you’re serious!”

“Why are you so shocked?”

“Well, I guess . . . it’s just pretty . . . spontaneous,” Doug says.

“Hey, I can be spontaneous when I want to be. I’m not as predictable as you think I am, Ross.”

“Yeah, I guess not. I sure couldn’t have predicted this,” Doug replies. “So, what happened to all that stuff you told me on Christmas Eve? That stuff about how you weren’t ready and you were going to take your time?”

Mark shrugs, “I just started thinking about it and I decided why wait? I love Nina, why should I spend a year dancing around the subject and getting all nervous when I can just take the plunge and get it over with?”

“Thanks,” Doug scoffs.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Mark says. “It’s pretty obvious you and Carol are a different story.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just . . . Mark, I gotta tell you, I don’t know many divorcees who are so quick to ‘take the plunge’. I figured there was some unwritten rule that you couldn’t even use that phrase if you’d been to divorce court,” Doug laughs.

“Like I said, you don’t always know what I’m thinking. I have to throw you a few curves to keep you on your toes.” Mark chuckles and grins at Doug as he gets up to leave the lounge.

Doug watches him leave then sits back on the couch and sips his coffee. Thinking back on his earlier conversation with Anna, Doug mumbles under his breath, “Full of surprises.”

Charlie sits on the back porch and looks up at the night sky. It’s cold out, probably only about 30 degrees, but the cold air seems to refresh her. She just couldn’t take one more minute of sitting in that room and wondering what Josh was doing, what he was thinking . . . what he thinks of her now. She hasn’t heard from him since he left her house on Saturday evening. It’s now almost ten o’clock on Sunday night now and he’s still avoiding her. She’s not sure if he’s at home or not. She was too scared to call him, too frightened of what he might have to say.

She brings her knees up and wraps her arms around them. She shivers a little from the January wind that rushes around her but she’s not quite ready to return to the warmth of the house. She lays her head down atop her knees and sighs heavily. “What in the world have you done?” she asks herself.

Just then, she hears something from the side of the house. Her head jerks up and she looks around. She sees someone approaching and she is just about to scream when he says, “Charlie, it’s me.”

It’s Josh. “Josh! Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?” she says. “God, you scared me half to death.”

“Sorry. I uh, I tried to call you and Carol told me you were really upset about something. She said she wasn’t sure if you’d feel like talking.” He takes a seat beside her on the concrete of the back porch.

“Carol didn’t tell me you called,” she says.

“I know. I asked her not to tell you. It was only about a half an hour ago. I kind of figured I knew why you were upset . . . I thought it would be better if we talked about it in person,” he says.

“Josh, I . . .”

“No, please, just let me tell you what I came here to say, okay?” he looks down at his feet and scuffs the ground with his shoe. “Charlie . . . last night, when you told me all that stuff about you, how you’d bounced around all over the place and how your mom was never there and how you got involved in drugs and lived on the streets . . . well, I guess it just scared me.”

“Josh, I understand. I can’t blame you for not wanting to be with me after you found out . . .”

“Charlie, stop. Let me finish. I don’t mean I was scared away by all that stuff. I was . . . I was scared that I might not know how to help you deal with it.” He turns to her and takes her hands in his. “Charlie, until now, I’ve never had a really serious girlfriend. I always thought it was way too soon for me to commit to one person. Dating never had anything to do with love . . . it was just fun. But then . . . then I met you,” he smiles.

“The first day I saw you in the hallway I knew you were different. Something drew me to you. When we got partnered up in French class, well, I guess fate was taking a hand. Even then, though, I never expected to fall in love. That was the last thing on my mind. But, you know what?”

“What?” she whispers.

“Since our very first date there hasn’t been a night I didn’t fall asleep with you in my thoughts. I haven’t gone to school one day without searching the halls half the morning just to see you.” Josh shakes his head, smiles a little and looks at Charlie. “How’d you do it?”

She looks confused. “How’d I do what?”

“How, in a matter of minutes, did you become someone I could never live without?” He caressed her cheek gently and stares deeply into her eyes.

“Josh . . .”

“I didn’t leave last night because I was put off by what you said. I left because . . . well, I know how much all of that stuff about your past hurts you. I can see that there’s a lot of stuff you keep inside. And, I know that you deserve to have someone who can help you with that. You need somebody who can be there for you and comfort you. I’m just scared to death that I can’t be that guy. If I can’t be there for you the way I know you need someone to be there, I feel like I’m being unfair to you by sticking around. I want what’s best for you, Charlie. I just don’t know how to deal with it if what’s best for you isn’t me,” he says. He looks at her, watching her to gage her reaction to his words.

“Josh,” her eyes well with tears as she looks at the sadness in his face. “You don’t have to understand every fear I have to be there for me. Just being there is what’s important. And I know you’ll always be there.” She smiles at him and blinks back her tears.

Josh leans forward to pull her into his arms. “Yes, I surely will,” he says as he holds her close to block out the cold.

Across town, Carter and Anna are snuggled together in her bed. “Are you sorry we did this?” he asks.

“Do I look sorry?” she grins, raising her head from his chest to look into his eyes. “No, John, I am anything but sorry. This was . . . this was wonderful,” she says.

“Yeah, it was,” he agrees.

Anna lays her head back down and runs her hand over his bare chest. “So, did you ever find out what was bothering Charlie today?” she asks.

“Yeah, actually I did. She was upset because of a conversation she had with her boyfriend, Josh. I think things will work out though.”

“Councilor Carter to the rescue,” Anna kids.

“No, it’s not like that. She’s not just some teenager with stupid problems. The things Charlie’s been through . . . well, it makes most adults problems look insignificant. She’s a tough kid.”

“John, I didn’t mean . . .” Anna begins.

“I know. That’s okay. Hey, I’m sorry. I mean, I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. You were just kidding. It’s just, when it comes to her, I guess I’m kind of protective.”

“Yeah, I guess you are. But, you know what Dr. Carter? That’s what I like about you. You’re never too busy to help other people. You’re a great friend. Oh,” she smiles now and looks up, “and did I mention that you’re good at a few other things, too?”

“No, maybe I could get a little demonstration?” he smiles.

She pulls herself up a little and kisses him deeply. “I think that could be arranged.”

“Mark’s getting married?!” Carol says in an astonished voice when Doug finishes telling her his big news. “Wow, I can’t believe it. Well, I think that’s great though. If he loves Nina then they should get married.”

“So, does that mean we should get married, too?” he asks as he puts his arm across her shoulder and pulls her close to him. They are sitting together on the bed. Doug has just gotten home from work.

Carol smiles, “Am I really ready to be Mrs. Doug Ross?” she asks herself aloud. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a safe bet,” she giggles.

“Oh yeah? What’s that supposed to mean anyway?” he asks with a grin.

She laughs. “Kidding Doug, only kidding.”

“Yeah, you better be, or else.”

“Or else what?” she asks.

“Or else I’ll have to do something about it.”

“Oh right, like what?” she asks. He’s trying to suppress a grin but he’s having a hard time.

“Well, like . . . this,” he says and begins tickling her. She squeals and squirms all around to get out of his grasp but there is no escape.

“Doug, stop!” she giggles. He finally stops and they both catch their breath.

“Carol, would you really marry me?” he asks suddenly.

Her eyes get as big as saucers. “Doug, I . . . is this a proposal?”

“No, I just . . . well, someday I want to marry you. Do you think you’ll want to marry me?” he asks sheepishly, as if afraid of her response.

She grins and puts her head on his chest. “Of course I will. Eventually we’ll be ready Doug, and when we are I’ll say those vows and mean every last word. I could never love anyone more than I love you. I do want to be your wife; I just want us to do it for all the right reasons and when everything is perfect. Isn’t that what you want, too?” she asks, peering up at him.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want,” he replies. He kisses the top of her head. “How did I get lucky enough to get you back anyway?”

“We both got lucky,” she whispers. She closes her eyes and falls asleep in his arms.

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