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“You don’t have sprinklers!”
Carter looked up in confusion. He was sure there were sprinklers, there had to be, this was a hospital! But sure enough as he looked at Lydia, his fears were confirmed. Damn budget cuts. Now that he had lost the his edge, Carter was unsure of what to do. He was aware of Dr Benton behind him walking towards the trauma room. The man made a sudden move that caused everyone behind Carter to step back. Carter stood his ground and raised his hands up apprehensively.
“Now let’s just all take a deep br-“
Carter’s sentence was cut off by a scream and suddenly before he knew what was happening the man in front of him had lit the lighter by the gasoline tank and a small explosion caused him to be thrown to the floor.
Everyone ducked behind the nearest thing they could find as they heard the explosion go off and alarms started blaring as a fire started in the middle of the hallway. Drs Greene and Benton ran towards the sound, looking around in confusion as smoke blocked their vision. Dr Greene could vaguely see Doug and Carol coming out of the trauma room and Lydia and Susan seemed to be on the other side of the hallway.
“Everyone out of the Hallway!” Dr Greene called out trying to calm everyone and avoid unnecessary injury.
“Anyone have a fire extinguisher?” Carol said looking around in search for said item. Benton remembered there were two by the elevators and strolled over, as far as he had seen everyone had evacuated the hallway so he wasn’t afraid for anyone’s safety. That’s when he heard Lydia shout over the flames,
“Whe-“ she coughed backing away from the smoke “Where’s Carter?”
This got his attention and pushed him to move faster towards the extinguisher, at the same time Doug called out
“What do you mean where’s Carter I thought he was with you?”
Benton came running back towards the flames, fire extinguisher poised and ready. Lydia responded
“He was but we started to back away and then I lost sight of him after the explosion.” This was all the motivation Peter had needed as he started spraying trying to tame the flames and praying that his student hadn’t been caught in the middle. Mark Greene was beside him hoping for the same thing as his eyes eagerly searched for the young intern somewhere past the flames and smoke. Suddenly Carols voice could be heard
“I see him! He’s by that gurney!” She exclaimed gesturing with relief at a tall body that was unmistakably John Carter. Lydia and Susan moved away from the wall, as Peter finished putting out the last of the flames, and started checking his vitals. Drs Greene, Ross and Benton had hurriedly made their way over hovering by Lydias shoulder eagerly waiting for the initial assessment.
“No Burns as far as I can see and his resps are normal so hopefully not a bad case of smoke inhalation”
“Yeah he just seems to have hit his head on the gurney, probably after the explosion. We should observe for signs of a concussion” Susan rounded off breathing a sigh of relief that her young colleague had no serious injuries. She moved back as Ross and Benton moved to lift Carter onto the gurney and once they did Mark started to do a more thorough medical examination listening to his chest.
“Okay let’s get him to curtain 3 and get an oxygen mask on him till he wakes up” Dr Greene commanded taking charge of treatment.
“Lydia start an IV” Benton commented while he rolled the gurney with his student into said room. He was also now listening to his chest, not trusting anyone’s judgement but his own.
As they checked Carter over they ruled out all injuries other than a concussion and some smoke inhalation.
“Get 5 litres going by Mask Carol and his lungs should clear up” Mark said as the other nurses brought him back from his CT. Peter Benton was still hovering, despite the lack of surgical procedures going on in the ER. This caused him to get a lot of sceptical looks from the room as Peter was usually looking to spend the least amount of time possible in the ER. After a particularly long look from Haleh, he sighed loudly and moved a couple of steps forward giving Carter another once over. He looked towards Mark and said quietly “Page me when he wakes up.” Mark nodded slightly and watched as Peter stalked out of the room. Doug Ross snorted opposite Mark,
“Who would have thought Peter Benton would be worried about what happened to a med student” he gazed amusedly at Mark and grinned cheekily at Carol who chuckled quietly as well, as she set up Carter’s masks. The two doctors then left, satisfied that their patient would wake up in due course. Carol was left to note his vitals and was just about to leave when she heard a groan from the bed. She looked over at Carter’s face and realised that sure enough, he was waking up. She first paged Benton and told Lydia who was passing by to get Drs Ross and Greene. Carol then sat slowly by Carter and started to ask him a few questions to gage the damage done by the concussion,
“So Carter, How do you feel?”
Carter shifted slightly, his eyes reflecting the discomfort he felt due to the head injury.
“What happened?” He whispered from behind the mask. Memory loss of the event was normal with this kind of concussion so Carol took that into consideration but didn’t panic.
“There was a small explosion when you tried to talk that guy down. It was a brave effort but next time I would leave it to psych. We wouldn’t want our best med student being wheeled into the OR now would we?” Carol smiled hoping to ease the man in front of her with some banter. Instead more confusion filled the young mans eyes and he mumbled, “Med student?” Behind his mask. Before Carter could ask any more questions Doug came through the doors and grinned as he saw Carter awake and seemingly chatting with Carol.
“Ah the young prodigy returns. I’m glad you’re awake Carter, Marks tied up in a trauma right now so unfortunately your stuck with your good old paediatrician” chuckled Doug as he shone a light into Carters eyes. He was checking over the rest of Carter’s reflexes when the patient in question asked “Paediatrician? Isn’t that someone who treats kids?” Doug looked up confused but not fazed
“Must have hit your head a little harder than we thought huh Carter? I hope everything we’ve been teaching you is still in that head of yours” Doug bantered as he looked into the eyes of Carter. However all that met him was a look of bewilderment. Looking between both Doug and Carol Carter stated firmly
“I’ve never seen either of you in my life”
***
Mark Greene had just finished up with the most recent trauma when he got paged stat by Doug Ross. Suddenly he remembered that the Doctor was with Carter and this fact hurried him along slightly as he feared the worst. However as he walked into trauma one and saw Carter up and seemingly alert, he wondered why he had been paged. He walked up to the gurney and nodded at Doug. Doug then handed Carters chart to Mark and turned to young Carter while speaking to Mark.
“It seems, Dr Greene, that young John Carter here has quite a severe case of amnesia” this led Mark to do a double take as he looked towards Ross and then to Carol, who nodded in confirmation.
“Uh okay. Do we know how far back he CAN remember?” Mark asked. Doug stepped back gesturing for Mark to find out. Mark walked towards the young med student on the bed and saw the confusion and apprehension clearly in his eyes. “Hey Carter, do you remember who I am?” Carter shook his head and slowly mumbled a “Sorry.”
“No need to apologise, it’s a common enough thing to happen after a concussion. Now, what year is it?”
“1993” Carter said, hesitating slightly. ‘Oh boy’ thought Mark. That wasn’t ideal.
“Okay” Mark Greene nodded and noted something on Carters chart. It was at this moment that Peter Benton decided to make an entrance, bursting through the door.
“Carter! How are you feeling?” Slight concern slipping through his usually stoic demeanour.
“Uh, Fine, I guess.” Carter was slightly baffled by all the attention he was getting because from what he could tell there were now three doctors and two nurses tending to him. He concluded that this meant his injuries were more serious than the doctors were letting on and his heart rate started to increase as he panicked slightly. Benton looked over at the monitor and then looked at Carter’s panic stricken expression.
“What the hell is going on?” Benton looked around the room for answers. Mark sighed as he realised he would have to break the news to the surgeon. He looked pointedly at Doug and then at Carter, hoping he got across the message that he should try and calm their patient down. Dougs nod was all he needed,
“Peter, a word outside please” Mark made eye contact with Benton and walked out, hearing the man shuffle and follow him out. Once they were outside Benton launched straight into his interrogation,
“What’s going on Mark? What aren’t you telling me?” Peter Benton stared intensely at his colleague, waiting anxiously. Sure he had been a bit cold to Carter but that didn’t mean he was a complete monster. The kid was starting to grow on him and he had seen a lot of potential, Peter would hate for that to be cut short due to some stupid injury because of some maniac in the ER.
“Carter seems to be suffering from Amnesia”
“What?” Peter asked coldly.
“Yeah it seems he can’t remember past the year 1993, so he doesn’t remember anyone from the hospital or even coming here. Hopefully his memory should come back eventually as there was no significant internal bleeding or damage in his brain” Mark tried to reassure the man in front of him who was glaring at the floor. Peter couldn’t believe it. Everything he had taught Carter, the things they had gone through and the kid couldn’t remember any of it. Mark slowly put a hand on Peters shoulder and said “You and I are gonna have to try and get his memory back as soon as possible. We both know how much passing this rotation meant-means” Mark chastised himself, the boy wasn’t dead, “to Carter and he probably saw us the most, so I hope that’s okay?” Peter shifted uncomfortably as Mark looked at him expectantly. Sure he wanted Carter to get his memory back as soon as possible but was he really the best person?
“Yeah, alright” he was about to find out.
***
Carter saw the concerned faces of Dr Benton and Dr Greene as they entered the room. Dr Ross had ‘reintroduced’ everyone while the two had been talking so Carter was a little more familiar with names and how he knew people. Apparently he was on his ER rotation. He wondered how that was going. If he was being honest he was pretty sure he didn’t even know how to start an IV.
Mark nodded to Doug indicating he could leave, so Doug turned to Carter and gave him a small smile,
“I’ll be back to check on you later Carter.” He winked at him as he left and even though Carter did not have any memory of the man he felt a lot more at ease after the gesture. He looked up at the two seemingly senior doctors and tried to start a conversation
“So, I’m a medical student here huh? Are you guys my teachers?” Peter looked at Mark and then quickly returned his gaze to Carter.
“Yeah, I’m who your assigned to but you learn from all the residents here seeing as it’s your ER rotation” Mark nodded along. Carter slowly processed that. He didn’t know what to think of the man in front of him. He felt slightly uneasy when the man, Benton he remembered, looked at him but he also felt this strange sense of awe and like he wanted nothing more than to impress him. It felt like a weird form of hero worship. However when he looked at the man with glasses (Mark?) he felt that same feeling of hero worship but without the discomfort. He found it strange that he felt such strong connections to both of these people who he felt he barely knew but he must have made some kind of bond with them if he was feeling these emotions so strongly.
“So how am I?” Carter asked curiously glancing between both of the men. Mark snorted and Benton gave him a slightly bewildered look.
“How are you?” He asked incredulously.
“Yeah, you know, as a student? As far as I remember I was pretty nervous starting my rotations” Carter looked at him intently as Benton rubbed his neck awkwardly.
“Uh, I guess, you were Okay” Mark was grinning as Benton was clearly out of his comfort zone in complimenting Carter but he knew he could not be his usual cold self as that could scare the young guy in front of them and they didn’t want him to not trust them. Benton looked at Mark, his eyes pleading for him to take over but Mark was enjoying this way too much so shook his head slightly watched as Benton struggled to go on.
“You were a bit clumsy, and you tend to spend way to much time talking to patients, but you had the makings of a good Doctor, Carter. I could see that much from the day you babysat Madame X for the whole day.” Benton looked up, smiling slightly at the memory. He looked into Carters eyes hoping to have sparked some memory of the time they had spent together.
Carter felt a wave of relief and happiness overcome him at Bentons words. He wasn’t sure why but it seemed like those were words he had been dying to hear for a long time.
“Thanks, Uh Dr Benton. It feels like that means a lot, I’m not entirely sure why, but it does” Carter looked up at him and realised that, the man in front of him had obviously become a mentor for him during this rotation, there would be no one else he would feel so strongly about their praise for him. Benton looked down at Carter and saw the earnestness and sincerity in his eyes, and for the first time realised how much his approval actually meant to the young Med Student. He chuckled quietly to himself. No wonder the kid followed him around like a lost puppy. Mark Greene watched the interaction contently, glad the teacher and student were opening up about how much the other meant to them. It was nice to see Benton, for once, not so cold to a colleague and to see Carter express himself without fear of his mentor.
***
Carter woke up from his nap. He had fallen asleep shortly after talking with Dr Benton and Dr Greene having not regained any memory and them clearing him of any serious brain damage. He needed to pee but he couldn’t see anyone around to help him. He got up from the bed slowly and holding onto his IV pole tried to stand. However as soon as he got to his feet the room began to blur. He closed his eyes as a killer head ache took over. He swayed slightly but still tried to take a step forward. That was a big mistake as he collapsed into a heap on the floor. As he blacked out he heard his name being called but was unable to answer.
***
Carol and Susan were both walking to the suture room to check on a patient and were talking about what Mark had told them had happened between Benton and Carter.
“I can’t believe Peter Benton was not a stone cold surgeon and we missed it” Susan Lewis laughed. Carol Hathaway nodded along.
“You would think the shock of that would be enough to bring all of Carter’s memory back” she said as she glanced into the trauma room they were passing. Suddenly she remembered she had forgotten to check the med student, as he was supposed to be waking up soon. Benton had given her strict instructions to page him as soon as Carter was to wake up and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a pissed Peter Benton today.
“Sorry Susan, I just remembered I have to check on Carter, he should be waking up soon. I’ll be there as soon as I’m done alright?” Susan waved her off and Carol turned on her heel heading to where they had moved the patient in question. As Carol approached Exam room 2, she saw Carter was standing with his eyes closed, seemingly in pain. She moved a bit faster and entered the room just as Carter collapsed onto the floor.
“Damn. Carter! Carter!” Carol shook his shoulder trying to get a response when she got none she rolled him into the recovery position and went towards the door.
“We need a Doctor in here, Carter’s just collapsed!” Doug Ross and Mark Greene were both at the desk doing charts and hurried towards the room. As they approached the young med student on the floor, Mark asked Carol
“What happened?”
“I was coming to see whether he had woken up and I saw through the window he seemed to be in pain. Next thing I know he’s on the floor” she crouched by Carter, checking his vitals as Doug checked his pupils.
“Pupils are equal and reactive”
“Vitals are stable, with a steady pulse and normal breath sounds”
“Alright” Mark Greene looked over the kid and nodded “let’s move him”
Carol grabbed his legs and Doug grabbed his arms but as Mark positioned himself next to Carter the door flew open and a groan was stifled by Carol as she saw a fuming Benton walk into the room.
“What the hell happened?” His voice boomed as he walked over to where the trio were preparing to lift Carter.
“One sec Peter” Doug Ross looked at Mark amused as he counted to three and they lifted Carter onto the bed. As soon as they had, Benton walked over and started checking his vitals.
“Vitals seem normal”
Carol rolled her eyes as she gazed fondly on Benton concernedly checking over Carter.
“He has a slight bump on his head. How the hell did this happen? He wasn’t supposed to be out of bed yet” Benton turned around his fury hitting his colleagues at full force:
“Well clearly our young Mr Carter didn’t know that and tried to get up and at ‘em” Doug said trying to hide his mischievous grin. He loved seeing Peter riled up.
“Yeah but I thought I left instructions to check on him” he said staring intently at Carol.
“And I was but he had gotten out of bed before I got there” Carol defended herself.
“Yeah well maybe you should have stayed in the room” Peter fired back
“She has other patients Peter she can’t just stay in Carter’s room” Mark Greene also defended his colleague. As the three doctors and Nurse started arguing, Carter in the corner of the room, slowly opened his eyes. He groaned as the fighting reached his ears and tried to get someone’s attention. Luckily Susan Lewis has just entered from the trauma room after she heard the commotion. She glanced at the fighting adults who had yet to notice her presence and then walked towards Carter.
“Hey Carter, How are you feeling?” She asked him checking his chart and noting his vitals. Carter winced slightly as he tried to sit up.
“I’m better thanks Dr Lewis. What are they fighting about?” Carter asked apprehensively glancing at the group who were still deep in their debate. Dr Lewis chuckled and simply said,
“You.” She grinned at the shocked look on his face. Then she paused as she realised Carter had called her Dr Lewis. He had seen her after the memory loss but she hadn’t said her name.
“Carter, what year is it?”
“Uh 1994, as far as I’m aware”
“And you remember that?”
“Sure?”
“What else do you remember?”
“Umm I don’t remember what happened after that crazy guy with the lighter and gasoline. I assumed that’s why I’m in this bed?”
Susan breathed a sigh of relief. He had regained his memory. Well most of it. She decided it was time to get the attention of the others so they could fully explain what happened to Carter. She strolled over the group, “Hey, HEY!” Everyone turned with a slightly puzzled look as they hadn’t noticed Susan enter the room. “If you guys you could shift your attention elsewhere for a second you would have noticed your patient is awake and alert” she reprimanded and grinned as they all turned to see a sheepish Carter, indeed awake and staring at them. Mark was the first one to break from his shocked state and walked over to Carter with Susan.
“Hey Carter! I’m glad to see your awake!” Slowly everyone else followed Marks lead and gathered around the students bed.
“Yeah, you gave us all a bit of a fright there Carter. Especially a certain surgeon” Doug winked at Carter as he nodded slightly to Peter Benton. Peter grunted and moved to check Carters pupils.
“Do you remember anything from before you collapsed Carter?” Benton asked him.
“No, as I was just telling Dr Lewis, I only remember as far as the guy with the lighter. I have no idea what happened after that” Carter was getting slightly agitated as everyone stared at him like he was going to break at any moment. Realisation dawned on everyone as they realised what Carter had just said. Doug and Carol grinned, Mark smiled slightly and ruffled Carters hair while Peter let out a sigh of relief while looking down.
“Wait, What happened? Did I miss something?”
“No Carter, we just missed you” smiled Mark despite being very tempted to tell the young med student about Bentons amusing levels of concern for him during his brief term of memory loss. But as he looked at Carter ,following Bentons careful movements as he checked the student over, with an expression of confusion and slight amusement, he had a feeling the kid knew. Despite Bentons best efforts to hide it.