Chapter Text
The middle of winter, teaching prospective students (who mostly all look bored or ask annoying questions) in a room with no heater. That’s where Carter is this week, and his body is punishing him for it. He’d already been struggling with the whole no heat thing, but apparently winter mixed with being an ER intern has caught up with him just a little extra today, because he woke up with a sore throat and a headache. And, neither of those things are ever a good sign.
He gets through most of the lectures fine — taking short breaks between classes, going to the bathroom to run his hands under the warm taps to try and thaw them out. To blow his nose, because by noon it’s started running worse than just the cold air had been causing in the days prior. And, he knows it’s stupid, it really is… but, he hasn’t really been remembering to carry his inhaler recently.
Just over a year ago, the ER staff treated him for a fairly bad asthma attack brought on by a cold he’d contracted, and ever since then people have been giving him funny looks whenever he has the misfortune to get sick. Especially Mark Greene. Speaking of Mark, he’s the one who’s been prescribing the inhalers each time Carter needs one. And, it’s not his fault he forgot it! He just hasn’t been needing it much lately, and he hasn’t been sick in at least four months. Also, he has a tendency to lose them, which he also knows isn’t very smart. It just happens.
So, today is no different. He sips hot tea throughout the talks, uses his handkerchief subtly if he really needs to — like, when he turns to write something on the backboard. The wheezing isn’t even that bad. Nobody notices, or, if they do they don’t mention it.l to him.
On his way home, with a prospective student, they stumble upon a homeless man with suspected hypothermia. Except… he turns out to just be a drunk, and the prospective student is quick to move to Peter Benton’s side instead. Honestly, Carter can’t really blame her. He’d been speaking to Peter earlier — the pair of them not very pleased with their latest assignment from the big bosses.
~
“You really should get that heater fixed, Carter. It won’t be good for your asthma.”
Carter had blinked in surprise, a little shocked Benton retained that information. “I don’t… I don’t have asthma, remember? It was just a fluke flare up.”
“Sure, Carter. Just try stay warm.”
~
It was kind of nice, in a weird and awkward way, to have his old mentor looking out for him like that. He wasn’t sure if Benton noticed his wheezing, or his oncoming cold, but Carter was not about to ask.
And now, he’s in with Mark Greene, going over charts and mentally preparing himself to be lectured after having to use his handkerchief and sniffling slightly. You see, Mark is like a bloodhound; ever since Carter had the asthma attack, it’s like the older man can always tell when something’s up with him. If he’s getting sick, or having some sort of allergic reaction. Obviously, he knows he’s a doctor, it’s just… a little more than that. Sometimes he knows before Carter does himself. (Or, maybe that’s just the deep rooted denial.)
“So,” Mark begins as nonchalantly as possible. “You getting sick? About time, I guess. This winter’s a pretty harsh one.” He turns a page in the chart he’s observing.
Carter shakes his head, jotting something down.
“So, you gonna lie to me?”
“No.”
“Then, what’s wrong?”
“Nothin’!” Carter insists, swallowing back the urge to cough. “It’s just really cold in that classroom. ‘M warming up in here.”
“You got your inhaler on you? You do sound a little wheezy.” Now that he’s listening intently, Mark can definitely hear it.
Maybe he should have just lied. “Uh, I forgot it?” Carter gives his best smile, in hopes he won’t be lectured further.
“Carter, c’mon. It’s important.”
“I know, I just—“
“I’ll go write you another one up. I’ll be right back.”
Carter just sighs.
——
He went home last night at a fairly sensible time, thanks to Mark. Although, they both knew that getting a good sleep most likely wouldn’t fix much of anything. Carter insisted he wasn’t sick, and yet Mark knew the truth. They both finished their charts and that was that.
Now, it’s morning again and he’s lying in bed wondering whether or not he’ll manage to make it to work in the freezing cold and the snow and still be able to maintain the fact that he’s okay. Also… Anna doesn’t know about the whole not breathing fiasco from the first bad cold he had at work. She doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want her to know. John Carter has a strange relationship with his body, with sickness and everything in between. He doesn’t want to be seen as weak, doesn’t want to relive falling unwell as a child and only having the family Nanny to tend to him. He appreciates the care he gets from his colleagues, he really does, but he’s used to being alone through it all. It’s all just very complicated.
Besides, he’d rather Anna just not have to see him embarrass himself like that again. Not that he plans on it. Because, he’s prepared today! He really is! He takes Tylenol with a slice of toast and a cup of coffee, downs a shot of cough syrup, and takes two puffs of his inhaler. He even remembers to put it in his white coat pocket, before bundling up to head to work.
He's just thankful it’s no more teaching and back to an actual shift, really. Although, walking from the car to the ER entrance is cold enough to have his nose running like a faucet and he’s shivering by the time he reaches his locker in the lounge. Thankfully, he’s alone for now. Carter exhales a whistling sigh, jumping up and down on the spot in an attempt to warm himself, before shoving his coat and bag into the locker and making a beeline for the coffee pot.
“Morning, Carter,” Dr Greene walks in, taking out his own mug for some coffee.
Carter pours it, before mumbling a “morning,” back, hoping his speech doesn’t sound too congested.
“How you feeling?” Mark sips at his coffee, his eyes studying the intern closely. He looks flushed, and his nose is red, but the cold temperatures can do that this time of year. He does sound a little rough, though.
“‘M okay. I’m sure I’ll be fine now I’m back in the warm.” Carter offers a small smile, before making his swift escape back out into the ER.
Please be a normal day. Please please please.
——
There’s a few emergent cases coming in from paramedics, but chairs stays fairly empty for a weekday. With the thick amounts of snow covering the city, it seems that people are struggling to make it in. Although, Carter isn’t exactly complaining. He’s happy to keep busy, but not rushed off his feet, and he’s just finished suturing an arm lac when he bumps into Anna on his way to the bathroom.
“Oh, hey, Carter! I haven’t seen you all day.” She smiles at him, and suddenly he feels a little guilty. He wasn’t avoiding her, not really. He’s just been trying to keep out of everyone’s way. “You wanna grab some lunch while things are under control around here?”
No, not really.
“Oh, uh, sure! Meet you upstairs?” He hovers by the bathroom door, sniffling.
“I can wait here.”
Of course you can.
Carter uses the bathroom, blows his nose yet again, and splashes some water on his face. He takes a small moment to register his breathing… it’s still wheezy, but he isn’t short of breath or struggling to get a breath in. He doesn’t want to use the inhaler too much, and there’s still a strange part of his brain that tells him he doesn’t need it at all.
He joins Anna out in the hallway again, gesturing for her to lead the way.
“How’s your day been so far?” She makes idle conversation as they walk to the stairs.
“It’s been okay,” Carter replies back, keeping his voice quiet. “You?”
“Pretty good, I guess. Nothing exciting, but sometimes it’s nice for us to catch a break. Hey… are you okay? You’re acting a little off today.” They both stop at the bottom of the stairs, and Carter eyes them nervously, looking back over at the elevators.
“I’m fine. Just tired from teaching people who are more interested in foreign objects in rectums than anything else I had to say.” He admits, scratching the back of the neck. “Hey, d’you mind if we wait for the elevator?” He hopes that the fatigue excuse will be enough.
Anna laughs, side stepping over to the elevators instead. “Sure, yeah. So, the teaching was that bad, huh?”
“Eh, it wasn’t awful. Just… I’d rather be here, you know?” He avoids her gaze, clearing his throat and sniffling again. Carter taps his foot, impatient.
The elevator finally gets to their floor, and everyone gets out, leaving the pair alone as they step in and press the button that’ll take them to the correct floor for the cafeteria. Honestly, he’s not even that hungry, but anything to keep up appearances. Plus, he does genuinely like spending time with her.
Carter decides on getting fries and a water, paying for both of their meals and finding an empty table. He pokes at the food on his plate with a plastic fork, resting his chin against his right palm.
“You sure you’re okay, Carter?” Anna’s voice pierces through his momentary trance, just seconds before his body decides to betray him once again.
He leans sideways, away from the table and sneezes twice into cupped hands.
“Bless you…” she trails off, pushing a couple of napkins towards him. “Coming down with something?”
Carter just shakes his head, sniffling sharply and taking a swig of water. “No, I’m fine. Just dust.” He picks up a fry and bites into it.
“If you say so.” Anna watches him avoid her gaze. She hasn’t seen him under the weather before, not like this. She’s seen him suffer a little from allergies here and there, but not unwell. Maybe he’s one of those guys who refuses to admit anything is wrong until they drop. God, she hopes not.