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Summer Rain And Roses |
Chapter 9 |
It appeared that the old John Carter everyone knew and loved had returned; or so the ER staff hoped. Some treated him as if he'd never taken a leave of absence; others treaded ground a little more carefully, afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. But without question, they were all glad he no longer appeared depressed or withdrawn.
Summer seemed to pass by in the wink of an eye . Work at the hospital kept John busy and Rose experienced an increased work load when someone in her office quit unexpectedly. Naturally, the company started looking for a replacement immediately but in the meantime, Adam Harris instructed her to pick up some of the slack. She often found herself in the office long after most had gone home and the computer monitor was the only recipient of her grumbled complaints. This, combined with John's hectic and sometimes unpredictable schedule, resulted in the month of August passing by much too quickly. They saw each other as much as they could, but seemed to spend more time talking on the phone.
The coming of September brought some changes. Joshua started 'the big kids' school', as he liked to call it; kindergarten. On his first day, Rose took part of the morning off to take him to class. She'd been a little surprised that Adam hadn't put up much resistance to her request for the time off work. She then surmised that it must be due to the fact they had finally hired a woman to fill the gap in the office. However, she also felt so strongly about accompanying Joshua on his big day, she would have ignored Adam even if he'd ordered her not to go.
From day one, Adam had never liked her. He was a tough supervisor on everyone - a highly intelligent, egotistical, and generally unpleasant man - but he seemed to reserve a particular nastiness just for Rose. She tried to take it in stride but some days were harder than others. It truly puzzled her but for the most part, she didn't think about it. She had better things to occupy her mind. She also happened to love her job and thus, she was able to tolerate him.
***************
"I think I've got it, Carter," Kerry sighed.
"And could you call the lab again for Mrs. Petrovsky's blood work? It should have come back by now." John scribbled on the patient's chart as he walked down the hall with Kerry.
"Yes, I will." Grabbing the chart that was thrust towards her, she resisted the temptation to nudge him along with her cane. "Would you please get going? You've kept her waiting long enough."
He winced as he looked at his watch. "Where did you last see her?"
"By the admit desk, but that was half an hour ago." Picking up speed as she marched away, she called out over her shoulder, "It's the last day of summer, you know. Enjoy it."
John glanced around as he headed back towards the admitting area, but he saw no sign of her. Spotting Randi by the desk, he approached her hopefully. "Have you seen Rose?" he asked.
With a loud snap of her gum, the desk clerk nodded. "Yup. Try the lounge."
"Thanks."
Starting to shrug off his lab coat, he groaned out loud as he realized he'd forgotten to do something. Mentally cursing himself, he decided he'd better see Rose first. He paused for a moment with one hand on the lounge door. The sound of her distinctive laughter floated to his ears, making him smile as always.
"You're making that up!" Rose exclaimed, just as he entered the room.
"I swear it's true," Dave stated, placing his right hand over his heart. He grinned up at John. "Well, well, it's the man himself."
John came towards them with eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What lies have you been telling her now?" he asked in a dry tone, leaning down to greet her with a kiss.
"Me? Tell lies? Surely you jest." Dave's expression was one of pure innocence.
With a reassuring smile, Rose patted John on the arm. "He's just been keeping me company. Are you ready now?"
"Not quite. I've got to go back to OB for a couple of minutes. I won't be much longer."
Since he'd already kept her waiting for forty five minutes, she supposed another few wouldn't make much difference. "Go on. I'll just have Dave tell me some more stories about you." She smiled sweetly, as Dave laughed out loud. She was only kidding but judging by his face, John wasn't thrilled by the idea.
Wondering exactly what Malucci had been telling her, he hurried out the door. While Rose got along well with all of his colleagues, he'd noticed over the past month that she seemed especially friendly with Dave. Since he didn't find the resident all that trustworthy, at least where women were concerned, it was a good thing he trusted Rose implicitly.
She couldn't help but laugh once more, as John left the room. "Did you see the look on his face?"
"Yeah, it was hard to miss. I've gotta say, Rose, you have a bit of the devil in you."
"Well, I've never claimed to be an angel."
The playful glint in her eye made him chuckle softly. He then gave her a more serious look. "You've been really good for Carter. For a while, we were pretty worried about him. He was down in the dumps for too long."
"He's been good for me too. And for Josh. He's always been terribly shy but John seems to bring him out of his shell."
A strong dose of envy surged through Dave's system but he did his best to hide it. He was happy for Carter. He really was. He just seemed to be flaking out in the relationship department lately and wished he could find someone decent in his life too. It briefly crossed his mind to ask Rose if she had a sister, but he mentally scratched that. Not a smooth move. "I guess you're both good for each other," he said finally. "You know, I hate to say this, but I better get back to work before the Chief comes looking for me."
Not wanting to sit in the lounge by herself, Rose accompanied him to the admit area. Leaning across the counter, she opened her mouth to address Randi when something made her glance to the left. Her stomach made an ungraceful nosedive to the soles of her feet, before it managed to settle back into place. The imagined motion left her a little breathless, as she found herself face-to-face with someone she'd never expected to see here. Adam Harris.
With an equally surprised expression, he gazed down at her. "Well, what are you doing here?" he asked.
*Think! Don't hesitate too long or he'll get suspicious. Say something, for God's sakes!* The disjointed thoughts whirled through her mind in a split second.
"A friend of mine works here. I just stopped by for a visit, but I'm leaving now," she said smoothly. She marvelled at how calm she sounded. Why hadn't she ever pondered a career in acting? She noticed his forearm wrapped in a tensile bandage, right down to his wrist. "What happened to you?"
He grimaced and shrugged at the same time. "Hurt myself playing racquetball. It's nothing but thought I'd better get it checked out anyway."
Rose looked away in time to see Dave heading her way with a patient chart already in hand. "Hey, Rose, want me to page Car..."
"No, no need!" she interrupted, her voice a little too loud. "Um, Dave, this is Adam Harris. Adam, this is my friend, Dr. Malucci."
As the two men shook hands, she hoped and prayed that Dave would not try to mention the name 'Carter' again. "It was nice chatting with you, Dave. We don't do it often enough. Oh, I almost forgot, there's something else I need to talk to you about. Please excuse us, Adam. Take care of that arm."
Without waiting for a reply, she gave her boss a little wave and motioned for Dave to follow her down the hall. Coming to a halt a safe distance away, she could sense his puzzlement. "What's going on?" he asked.
Although they were well out of earshot, she kept her voice low. "That's my boss. He can't know that John and I are seeing each other."
"Why not?"
"It's complicated. I can't explain it to you now. Let's just say I would be in a lot of trouble if he found out."
"Okay, so he won't find out. Want me to escort him out the building?"
"No! That would make him even more suspicious."
Dave grinned at her, patting her arm. "I'm kidding! Relax, would you? Your secret's safe with me."
She wanted to look back and see what Adam was doing, but she seemed locked into place. What if he was talking to Randi and she let something slip? It would all be over. "What is he doing?" she asked.
"He's leaving."
"Really?"
Finally gaining the courage to turn her head, she managed to catch a glimpse of his profile before he disappeared around a corner. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she could literally feel her muscles relaxing.
Dave's smile evaporated as he regarded her with genuine concern. "You're really worried about this."
"Yeah," she murmured.
"Does Carter know?"
"He knows."
"Well, the guy's gone and it was probably just coincidence that he showed up here, right? So you have nothing to worry about."
"I hope so." She kept staring down the corridor, almost expecting Adam to come back. But he didn't. Turning her attention back to Dave, she tried to compose herself. "I'm okay. Thanks for the concern. And for not asking any questions."
"Yeah, sure. If I can, uh, do anything, just let me know."
"That's sweet of you. Actually, you can do something for me. When John comes back, tell him I'll be waiting at Docs."
What she needed was a good, strong cup of coffee. That was the only thought she allowed in her mind while she walked over to the diner. Before settling into a booth, she glanced around at the other patrons. It was a pretty slim chance, but she had to be sure Adam wasn't in here. With her second sigh of the day, she dropped onto the vinyl seat and gazed out the window.
***************
"I'm really, really sorry. I know how late I am." With those words, John slipped into the booth across from Rose. "How long have you been here?"
"Well, I'm on my second cup, if that tells you anything."
She spoke in a soft tone that held no hint of accusation, but he still felt bad. His lateness had messed up their plans for the day. "Why don't we switch things around? Have an early dinner, then see the movie," he suggested.
"Honestly, I don't feel like seeing a movie anymore."
Regarding her closely, he could see she was more disturbed by the situation than she was letting on. When he had finally been ready to leave the hospital, he'd run into Dave outside the lounge door. Dave had told him where Rose was and that she was really upset. He could sense that now for himself. "I'm sorry, Rose. I don't have any excuse, except that I just couldn't tear myself away any earlier."
"I'm not upset about that. I know you got here as soon as you could." After a slight pause, she blurted out the news. "Adam was here." When she only received a blank look, she clarified her words. "Adam, my boss."
Pursing his lips, he emitted a long, slow breath. "Did he see you?"
"Oh yes, we had a little chat. Dave started to make a joke about paging you for me, but I managed to interrupt him. Out of all the ERs in Chicago, he had to walk into County. I almost had a heart attack."
"Don't worry, I would have given you CPR," he joked, trying to coax a smile out of her. He received an unappreciative glare instead. "Okay, bad joke. What was he doing here anyway?"
She fiddled with the chipped handle of her empty cup. "He hurt his arm playing racquetball."
"But he's still in the dark about us, right? Nothing was given away?" He was determined to look on the bright side but she continued to frown.
"For now. I know it's probably just one of life's weird coincidences that he showed up here, but now it makes me nervous. What if we run into him at a restaurant somewhere? Or at the same movie theatre? I don't want to feel like I have to keep looking over my shoulder."
"What are you saying then? You want to keep a low profile for a while?"
"I don't know. I don't know if that will solve our problem. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
Sliding out of his seat, he came to sit next to her, drawing an arm around her shoulder. "Everything will be fine. Like you said, it's just a coincidence. Nothing to worry about."
"I hope you're right." Lightly caressing his hand, she leaned into him. "Sorry to be such a downer."
"You're entitled now and then." He playfully nudged against her. "But your time's up in the next two minutes."
"Oh yeah?" The beginnings of a smile crossed her lips.
"Yep. Okay, time's up."
"Come on, I get to be paranoid for at least another minute and a half," she protested with mock seriousness.
With a sudden gasp, he pointed towards the window. "Oh God, there he is!"
"Shit, where?" she demanded, ducking her head and frantically scanning the street. At the sound of a muffled guffaw, she turned back to him with narrowed eyes. "I swear, you're a dead man," she growled, slapping his arm twice in quick succession. Practically crawling on top of him, they were soon dissolving into laughter and almost tumbled onto the floor.
"Ahem," coughed a voice from above. Looking up into the face of an unamused waitress, they quickly scrambled back into an upright position. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked.
"Just the bill please," Rose replied primly.
"Wait a second," John said. "It's a nice, sunny day and we shouldn't waste it. When are we supposed to pick up Josh from the sitter?"
"Around seven or eight."
"We've got lots of time. Why don't we have a picnic?"
"Sure. You...want to get something from here?" Rose sounded hesitant.
"Why not? The sandwiches are pretty good." He waited until the waitress got out her notepad and proceeded to order two ham and cheese sandwiches, a couple of bags of potato chips, and juice. "I don't suppose you have any fruit? Maybe an apple?"
"We got apple pie," she offered.
"Not quite what I had in mind, but okay. Two slices."
Five minutes later, they were on their way with brown paper bags in hand. John was determined to make the most out of what remained of the day, and Adam Harris was the furthest thing from his mind.
***************
"That's definitely a dog," Rose declared. "A golden retriever."
"No way," John disagreed. "It's the dinosaur with the long neck. The leaf eater. If Josh was here, he'd know the name."
Having consumed all of their picnic lunch, they were now resting on their backs, gazing up at the drifting clouds. This was a familiar patch of land on the Carter estate. As a boy, he'd often come to this very spot, climbing trees and wiling away the long summer days.
Although it was still warm, the wind seemed to be picking up. He could hear leaves rustling on nearby branches and the blades of grass rippled in waves across the ground. "Those clouds are starting to get dark. Maybe we should start heading back," he suggested.
"Oh no. I'm having too nice a time. Just a little while longer?" Rolling over so she was facing him, she gave him a beguiling smile.
"All right. Just don't blame me if we get wet."
"What's a little rain? We won't melt." She scooted over a little closer, resting her head against his side. "We've been so busy this summer. I can't believe it's almost over."
"Yeah, it has gone by fast," he agreed. "And things have changed so much these past few months. My back feels so much better, and I feel like I belong in the ER again..." Propping himself up on one elbow, he turned towards her. "Have I even told you how glad I am that you're in my life?"
"I...you...might have mentioned it," she stammered, a hint of pinkness staining her cheeks.
He reached out to brush a soft lock of hair from her eyes. "Well, I'd better make it official, then. Rose, I haven't been this happy for a long, long time. Thank you for taking a risk on me."
"You don't have to thank me," she murmured. "The feeling is mutual. You make me happy too."
Drawing even closer together, their lips met in a light kiss. Before they could deepen the moment, splatters of raindrops began to fall around them and splashed on their skin. With some reluctance, they got to their feet and started folding up the blanket they'd been lying on.
"Hurry, it's going to start pouring," he warned, gathering up the remains of their meal and stuffing it back into the paper bags.
"It won't be so bad. Look, the sun is shining."
Indeed, the weather was a bit strange. While the rain continued to fall, with slightly more force than before, the sun peeked out from behind the grey clouds. The rays of light made everything seem to sparkle and Rose looked positively delighted. With deliberate steps, she came to stand before him and plucked the now soggy bag out of his hand. Her eyes never straying from his, she dropped both the blanket and the bag onto the grass.
Puzzled, he cocked an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"
"Dance with me."
"What?"
"You heard me. Dance with me, John."
He continued to blink the drops from his eyes, without much success. "Here? Now?"
"Here and now," she affirmed, gazing up at him.
"But we don't have any music."
"Just shut up and take me in your arms."
Closing his mouth, he did as he was told and gathered her close, lost in the depths of her lovely eyes. It suddenly didn't seem silly at all to be dancing in the rain. It seemed...right. The only thing missing was music so instead, they swayed in time to the beating of their hearts.
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