A Rush of Blood to the Head

Atlanta Bound

Doug kept his focus on the pamphlets, not noticing that the room was empty. "Okay, I've got one from the NEDA and one from the AAC. Take your pick," After some time, when he didn't get a response right away, he looked up to see a vacant bed. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

He burst through the door and carefully glanced around the ER, under gurneys and desks, despite Haleh, Carol and Jerry occupying it.

"Doctor Ross, I hope you're not trying to catch a glimpse," Haleh said, eyeing him wryly.

"What are you doing?" Carol asked.

"Anyone see the, uh, patient I had earlier?"

Jerry jerked his thumb in the direction of the sliding entry doors behind him. "I think they left."

"Oh, great," Doug muttered.

"Relax, Doug," Carol soothed. "It was just a gomer."

As he rushed outside, he said, "It wasn't just a gomer."

"What?" Soon after, Carol followed him. When the blast of cold air hit her, she instantly shivered. "Hey! What do you mean? Who was it?"

"Carol, get back inside."

"Was it Charlie?"

Doug's quick moving gradually slowed the moment he realised he was long gone. He threw his fists down to his sides. "Damn it!"

"What? What is it, Doug?"

"He's gone! I left him for two fricking minutes, and he–!" He began pacing, his arms tightly folded to keep himself warm and from punching something. "Damn it, damn it, damn it. He's gonna die because I left him."

"Who?"

Doug stopped and intently stared at her. "Promise you won't say anything to Mark or Weaver."

Carol shot him a look of scepticism. "What'd you do now?"

"Just promise me, okay?"

"Yeah, fine," She held up her right hand, as if taking an oath. "Promise."

His breathing became shallow, prepping himself to confess. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous; he just was. With one last deep breath, he responded, "Carter came down here. He seemed... I don't know, panicked? He wanted to go home, but he was off, I could tell. I took him aside to examine him. His heart was in the nineties, he was out of breath. It was like he ran a mile. I left to go get something, and when I came back, he'd disappeared."

Carol harshly exhaled and covered her eyes, then let her hands drop and rest on her hips. "Oh, God. Okay. Maybe he hasn't left yet. I'll have security check for his car."

The two made their way inside, rubbing their hands to warm up.

"Hey, listen, Mark can't know about this," Doug said. "He's stressed enough as it is."

"He's gonna find out somehow."

Right when they reached the front desk, they heard Mark arguing over the phone.

"Define 'gone.'"

Carol outstretched her arms, then let them flop down, all while walking backwards. "Told you."

"Well, if the form isn't there, he lied! No, I don't know if that's legal."

Doug, tucked away in the desk's corner, near the CB radio, scratched aimlessly at his arm. "Problems?" He knew damn well there was.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Thank you," Mark hung up. "For nothing," he mumbled, then gave Doug his undivided attention. "You wouldn't've happened to see Carter around, would you?"