Just Another Night

Author's Notes: I didn't do any research into the layout of Chicago or the El train system, so please forgive any errors.

The rest of Lucy's shift was fairly uneventful. The gunshot victim had been stabilized and whisked away to the OR. Three people involved in a minor car accident had been treated and released. It was finally time to leave and she bundled up, regretting that she had left her hat at home. She had wanted to wish Carter a Happy New Year before she left, but he seemed to have disappeared.

Lucy walked towards the admitting area. "Jerry, have you seen Dr. Carter?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen him. I hope you don't take the northbound El."

"Actually, I do. Why?" As she spoke, she followed Jerry's gaze up to the television screen.

"The train went off the track. It could've been a lost worse, but only a few people were injured."

Lucy watched the special news bulletin, now showing a reporter at the scene of the derailment. He was explaining that officials weren't sure when the train would be in service again.

The desk clerk finally took his eyes off the screen and looked down at her. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I could ask my roommate to pick me up, but I don't want her to drive in this weather. I don't feel like walking in it either..." On a normal day she could walk back to her dorm in about half an hour, but not on a night like this. Lucy was at a loss. As much as she loved it in the ER, she had been looking forward to ringing in the new year with friends. She could only hope that the train would be running again soon, but it seemed doubtful. There were only three more hours to go until midnight.

"There he is," Jerry said and Lucy swung around to find Carter striding towards them. He had just gotten off the elevator.

Carter looked from Jerry to Lucy, noticing she looked upset. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, the northbound train was derailed so Lucy's stuck here," Jerry explained.

"A few people were taken to Mercy, but nothing serious. They think some ice formed on the tracks."

Lucy began unbuttoning her coat. "I think I'll just wait around for a while. Maybe it'll be fixed soon." She was trying to remain optimistic, but Carter crushed her hopes with his next words.

"I doubt it. They'll have to fully investigate what happened before they even try to get the train back on track. Probably won't happen until tomorrow morning."

"Oh..." Lucy bit her lip, mentally running through a list of people she could possibly call to come and pick her up. Unfortunately the list was pretty short since most of her friends didn't have a car. Carter's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"No, that's ok," Lucy said, though she was secretly pleased by his offer. "You live in the other direction."

"It's not a problem. I'm picking up Roxanne and she lives out that way." Carter started backing away. "Just give me a minute to get my coat." As he turned towards the lounge he heard Lucy calling out thank you, and he raised his hand.

The lounge was empty and Carter stood stupidly in front of his locker for several moments, just staring at it. Why had he done that? Why had he offered Lucy a ride? He knew the answer, or thought he did, and didn't want to admit it. *Don't just stand here, get moving* he thought, annoyed with himself. He shrugged out of his lab coat and opened his locker. Although Roxanne lived in the north end of the city, it was still fairly out of his way to drive Lucy back to her dorm. In fact, he could have left a half hour ago but instead had checked on a psych patient he'd seen earlier in the day. It was obvious that he was stalling and not looking forward to going out with Roxanne tonight. He gazed at his reflection in the locker mirror, his brown eyes looking back at him accusingly. "What is wrong with you?" he questioned himself out loud.

Carter almost dropped his coat and turned to see Peter Benton watching him with an amused expression on his face. "Dr. Benton! I didn't hear you come in." Considering how slowly he'd been moving before, he now got ready to go with amazing speed.

"Obviously," Peter said dryly, moving to the table with several textbooks under his arm. "So you were saying...?"

"Uh, nothing." As Carter got his bag together, he racked his brain, trying to think of something to say. "Did you hear about the El?"

Peter went to the coffeemaker, only to find the pot empty. "Damn. Yeah, I heard. What a mess. Amazing more people weren't hurt."

Carter nodded. He was standing there with scarf, hat and coat on, bag in hand and ready to leave. Yet he found himself watching Dr. Benton make coffee and hoping to continue the conversation. "So you don't mind working New Year's Eve?" he asked.

"Funny, Dr. Greene said the exact same thing." Carter paused and Dr. Benton remained silent, so apparently their chat was over. "Well, guess I should get going. Happy New Year, Dr. Benton."

"Yeah, same to you Carter." As Carter left, Peter shook his head, wondering what that had been all about.

Lucy was laughing at something Jerry had said, and she finally saw Carter emerge from the lounge. "Well, that was a long minute," she commented. She noticed that he looked rather distracted and for some reason wasn't meeting her eyes.

"Sure." They said goodnight to everyone and headed towards the parking garage. Lucy chattered about her day and for once, Carter was glad she was so talkative. He was happy for the distraction and at the same time felt somewhat guilty for driving her home. If he had left when he'd had the chance, he would have been at Roxanne's by now.

They reached his Jeep and he threw his bag on to the backseat. As Lucy buckled her seat belt, Carter turned the ignition key. Nothing. He frowned and tried again. Still nothing. "Come on," he muttered, slapping the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer, turning the key for a third time. "Damnit!"

"Looks like it. I was thinking of getting it replaced soon, but it was fine this..." Carter's voice trailed off and he groaned.

He gestured towards the headlight switch. "I left the lights on all day. The battery was already weak, so this must have totally drained it. Stupid." He contemplated calling road service to try to jump start the battery but he knew they must be busy with this storm. It would take ages for them to arrive.

"Maybe you can get a boost from someone in the ER," Lucy suggested, trying to think of people who drove to work. "Dr. Greene?"

"He didn't drive today. I overheard him saying he was glad he took the El in with this weather." Carter sighed and gave Lucy an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry."

"Roxanne!" Carter exclaimed suddenly, twisting around to reach for his bag. "She can come and pick us up." He found the cellular phone and started dialing her number.

"Um, I don't think she's going to be too happy about taking me home," Lucy said hesitantly. In fact, she was sure of it. But Carter made a face signifying "don't worry about it".

*This should be interesting* Lucy thought, sitting back and wondering if Roxanne's reaction would be as she anticipated.

"Hi Rox, it's me," Carter began. He started explaining the situation about the El and his car. Although she couldn't make out the words, Lucy could faintly hear Roxanne's voice. Carter continued, "So I've got Lucy in the car with me and was hoping..." He winced and held the phone slightly away from his ear. Lucy raised an eyebrow and tried to pretend she wasn't really paying attention. She could definitely hear the volume of Roxanne's voice going up. Now Carter began explaining why Lucy was with him and the reason for his call. With his free hand he started rubbing his temple, as if a major headache was coming on. "No, Roxanne. You can't do that and just leave her here..."

Lucy leaned towards him and quietly said, "Look, I don't want to be any trouble."

Carter briefly glanced at her, shaking his head. He spoke into the phone through clenched teeth. "That's not the point. I offered her a ride so she's coming with us." Carter silently listened to Roxanne's tirade and then said, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. We'll talk about this later. Ok? Roxanne?" He shut the phone off. "She hung up."

Lucy felt awful and she spoke quickly. "Just call her back and tell her she doesn't have to drive me home. Really, I don't mind. I'll just go back down to the ER." She stopped when she realized he wasn't listening. He was staring into space and suddenly burst out laughing. Lucy gazed at him in bewilderment, her eyes widening. "Uh...are you all right?" she asked with some concern.

Carter took a moment to compose himself before replying. "Yeah," he finally said, grinning. "I'm fine. In fact, this is the best I've felt all day."

Carter looked over at Lucy and almost started laughing again at the expression on her face. Her mouth was open and her eyes were round with confusion. "It's kind of complicated," he said, not wanting to go into details.

"Nope. She called off dinner. So it looks like we both might be stuck here for a while."

Carter stated this fact rather cheerfully but Lucy still felt guilty. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have insisted that she pick me up too."

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault." Carter could see that Lucy wasn't convinced and he reached out to touch her shoulder reassuringly. "Really, Luce." He used his affectionate nickname for her. "To be honest, I'm kind of relieved. I wasn't looking forward to this dinner." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. He really shouldn't be discussing this with Lucy.

Lucy remembered his rather lackluster response back in the lounge when she had asked him about tonight's plans. Again, she was curious about the reason but didn't ask. Although Carter was friendly, he was pretty quiet about his personal life. She figured he preferred it that way, and she had to curb her naturally inquisitive nature. As his medical student, however, she didn't use the same restraint. She knew she sometimes annoyed him with her constant questions, but she couldn't help it. She found the medical world fascinating and wanted to learn everything about it.

Carter still had his hand on Lucy's shoulder, and she found herself wishing she could feel it through her heavy winter coat. *Ugh, snap out of it, Lucy!* she reprimanded herself. For once, she found herself at a loss for words and struggled to find something to say.

Carter broke the moment by removing the keys from the ignition and stating, "Well, we might as well go back. Just sitting here isn't doing us any good."

As they waited for the elevator, Lucy's stomach made an unladylike grumble and they both laughed.

They made their way back to the ER and passed Lydia in the hallway. She was restocking some supplies and looked at them in surprise. "Didn't I just say goodbye to you two?"

"You know how dedicated we are," Carter said, removing his hat and stuffing it in his coat pocket. "We just couldn't tear ourselves away."

"His car won't start," Lucy said. "We were hoping someone could help jump start the battery. Know anyone who drove today?"

After thinking for a moment, Lydia said, "Peter did. He was saying that the roads were getting pretty bad driving in. But he just went up to surgery." She continued stacking boxes and suggested, "You should talk to Jerry. He knows everyone."

They went to the admitting desk next but Jerry had gone on a break. Obviously things were still slow. Elizabeth was on the phone with someone and Lucy said, "That reminds me. I better call my roommate and tell her to leave without me. I don't think I'll be joining them tonight."

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. Some club my friends like." She gave Carter a playful look. "Do you dance, Dr. Carter?"

Elizabeth got off the phone and stood up, seeing Lucy and Carter for the first time. "Well, I would have thought you two were long gone," she said, reaching for her coat draped over a nearby chair. She paused and gave them a questioning glance. "Unless you're stuck because of the El."

"Lucy is," Carter affirmed. "I was going to give her a ride but my car won't start."

"Oh, that's a shame," Elizabeth said in a sympathetic tone. "I wish I could help but I'm just on my way out. Luckily I take the southbound El. What are you going to do?"

Carter took a breath and said, "I guess we'll have some dinner, for now. Then...we'll see what happens."

"Well, best of luck," Elizabeth said, as she slung her purse over her shoulder. She turned to leave but then stopped. "Where are you having dinner?" she asked.

"No you're not." Elizabeth started to rummage around in her purse. "That was my friend Sara on the phone. I was going to go with her to Charlie's Place...that club I told you about, Lucy. But she's taken ill so we're not going. Aha!" she said triumphantly, withdrawing two orange tickets and holding them out. "I'm going to Sara's flat now to keep her company. I would rather you use the tickets than see them go to waste." She looked from Carter to Lucy, aware of their hesitation. "Please take them. It's not far from here and it will be a nice dinner."

"I suppose it's better than a greasy cheeseburger and fries," Lucy said, looking up at Carter hopefully.

"Yes, thank you so much," Lucy said. She liked Doc Magoo's, especially the friendly atmosphere, but their menu was somewhat limited. It was strictly diner food. She found herself looking forward to having a nice meal with Carter. She recalled Dr. Corday mentioning a dance floor and she pictured the two of them dancing closely...She stopped herself before her imagination ran wild. *It's just dinner* she thought. *We'll eat and then come back here to get help with his car*.

Elizabeth gave them directions on how to get to Charlie's Place. They thanked her once more and Lucy was so eager to get going, she forgot to call her roommate until Carter reminded her. Feeling rather foolish, she told herself to calm down and made the phone call from the front desk. By the time she had finished, Jerry still hadn't returned. They debated on whether they should wait a little longer or go straight to the restaurant. Their mutual hunger won out and they braced themselves for the stormy night.

Lucy put her mittens on and Carter started to pull on his hat, glancing down at her dark blond head. "Where's your hat? Your ears are gonna freeze."

"I know. It's at home. It wasn't like this when I left this morning," she said, gesturing at the swirling snow outside.

Carter paused and then tugged his grey knit cap down over her head. It fit quite snugly and Lucy brushed wisps of hair out of her eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tinged with amusement.

"I can't have my favourite med student walking around with frostbitten ears," Carter replied with a smile. Lucy laughed, knowing that he was only teasing, but still feeling a sudden flash of warmth. "Ready?" he said, turning up the collar of his coat. Lucy nodded and together, they ventured out into the storm.

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