Vows and Promises
Part Ten
By Susan
lilichild@aol.com

ARCHIVE: Sure, just tell me where
TIMELINE: Well, this part takes place in the summer before season 7 and goes from there, the other parts will take place later, it’ll make more sense once you read the fic.
SPOILERS: I don’t read ‘em. You shouldn’t either J That said, anything that I didn’t beyond the latest aired episode is pure speculation.
DISCLAIMER: The story is mine, the characters aren’t. They belong to Warner Brothers, don’t waste your time suing, I have no money
NOTE: This is part one of a series and is my first fic, be kind J Comments welcome
PREVIOUSLY: Doug and Carol got engaged (yes, again), and decided upon a post Thanksgiving wedding at the house in Seattle. Doug called Mark to share the good news and asked him to be his best man. Mark accepted, Chuni, Haleh, and Conni overheard and put two and two together so to speak and asked if they were right in their assumption. Mark told them yes, and the three nearly knocked him over hugging.
PREVIOUSLY: Doug and Carol became engaged “again”. They planned a post Thanksgiving wedding and the list of attendants became rather large. Susan Lewis was to be maid of honor and Mark best man.
NOTE: As always I assume that moving doesn’t mean you stop talking to your friends, unlike ER. This is kind of a season 6/7 backstory, which I think you’re probably aware of by now. As you probably also see by now, this is really a Cast fic. Surprise!
PREVIOUSLY: I hate recapping, it’s why I don’t write episode summaries. Okay, okay. Doug and Carol are engaged. Mark is best man, Susan maid of honor. Both are fine with the arrangement as is Elizabeth. Yes, Mark told her about his “past” with Susan. Carol and Doug decided to call Carter at rehab and ask him to be an usher (yes they know about the addiction, as does Susan). Carter was happy for them but got mad and accused them or judging him and making “pity calls”. Carol came to the end of her patience and passed the phone to Doug. Doug tried to be gentle, but Carter’s yelling at him pissed him off and Doug exploded and told Carter “to get his head out of his ass”. Carter was quiet after that and told Doug he’d get back to him. Then, he went to his room and started crying. Got it?

SEATTLE

“Doug, what the hell did you do?” Carol exclaimed

“What?” Doug asked, unnerved by Carol’s anger.

“Well, you exploded at him” Carol responded. Geez, she thought Doug would calm Carter down. Instead he yelled at him loudly.

“I didn’t see you being any more patient, Carol” Doug pointed out.

“God, Doug. I only handed you the phone because I figured you’d talk some sense into him.” Carol stated.

“I did” Doug said simply

“The hell you did” Carol responded angrily “Talking sense into someone does not involve you yelling at them “to get their f-ing head out of their ass”

“Sometimes, it does” Doug said calmly. He was starting to worry he’d gone too far with Carter. Carter was in rehab and probably going through withdrawl not to mention all the other kinds of hell he’d been through and the last thing he needed was Doug yelling at him.

“Okay, I went too far.” Doug admitted “But I couldn’t get through to him. He just kept yelling, accusing us of ‘pitying the junkie’”.

Just then Kate started to cry.

Carol stood with her head in her hands.

“Okay, Doug. Go get Kate, while I figure out what the hell to do” Carol said

“All right” Doug said, he knew it wasn’t worth it to argue with Carol when she gets like this. He retreated to the nursery.

If I only knew what the hell to do, Carol thought worriedly. Carter had in fact reacted a way she had never seen or heard him before. She had no idea how to deal with this John Carter. Yet, she knew someone who might. She picked up the phone and dialed Mark’s familiar number. One ring… two… three… four… answering machine. He must be at Elizabeth’s tonight, Carol thought, and I don’t have the number. Not that she would call him there anyway. Only two other people would be able to decipher Carter’s behavior. She thought of calling Kerry but dismissed the thought. After all, as much as she respected Kerry she remembered what Mark had told her about Kerry’s upset about Carter’s addiction. She didn’t think that Kerry would be able to deal with this. Shoot, that only leaves Benton, Carol thought. Sure she had Benton’s number from her County days, but how would Peter Benton react to hearing from her? She decided that having Peter Benton mad at her couldn’t be worse than the way she suspected Carter was reacting in Atlanta.

“Here goes nothing” She muttered and picked up the phone and began to dial.

One ring… two

“Hello” a female voice said that Carol didn’t recognize.

“Hi, is Peter there?” Carol asked gathering up her courage.

“Is this Cleo?” The woman said with disgust

“No, my name is Carol. I used to work with Peter.” Carol explained glad she wasn’t Cleo.

“Hold on, I’ll get him” The woman replied.

While Carol waiting she was trying to figure out who this Cleo was that this woman was obviously disgusted with. She thought it could possibly be Cleo Finch from county. In any case, Carol was glad she wasn’t Cleo. The woman on the phone sounded like she’d rip Cleo apart.

“Yeah” Benton came on the line

“Hi, Peter” Carol began “This is Carol Hathaway”

“Hi Carol” Peter responded wondering why the hell Carol was calling him. Didn’t she move to Portland, or Phoenix or something?

“Doug and I are getting married-“

“Congratulations” Peter interjected in a slightly annoyed voice. What the hell did he care if she was going to marry Doug Ross?

“Thanks, well we thought we’d ask Carter to be an usher” Carol continued

Peter snorted

“Excuse me?” Carol asked

“Sorry” Peter replied “Look I really don’t think you guys should call Carter right now, the guy’s a wreck”

“We kind of found out the hard way” Carol responded

“You what?!” Benton exclaimed.

“We called him it just didn’t work out well” Carol said, bracing herself to get yelled at by Benton

“That was as a stupid thing to do. 9 times out of 10 he’s in a nasty mood these days” Benton replied, marveling at how Carol could be so stupid

“Well, I found that out.” Carol responded “Here’s the problem, I tried to calm him down, then Doug did”

“Let me guess” Benton interrupted “Carter started yelling a bunch of crap at you about how he doesn’t want pity and drug tests”

“Yes, and searches” Carol confirmed.

Benton chuckled.

“It’s not funny, Peter.” Carol replied

“No, no I know it’s not” Benton responded “But I just can’t believe you guys didn’t expect a response like that.”

“Well, I did” Carol admitted “But no where near that bad”

“So what else happened?” Benton asked with amusement. He wasn’t laughing at Carter, he was laughing at Carol and Doug, who he felt should know better.

“Well, I raised my voice” Carol said “And then I handed the phone to Doug, who tried to calm him down and then Doug exploded at him”

Benton chuckled some more “I figured”

“Peter, it’s not funny” Carol admonished “Anyway, after Doug yelled at him he was really quiet and now we’re worried about him”

“You yell at him and then you worry about it?” Benton asked in amazement

Carol ignored the question “Can you call and make sure he’s okay. I would but –“

“He probably won’t take your call” Benton finished

“Yes” Carol admitted sadly

“Look, I’ll fix it” Benton assured her “And next time, don’t call him up and yell at him”

“Okay” Carol said, swallowing the urge to tell Benton off.

“Bye” Benton said and hung up

“I knew there was a reason I never liked him” Carol muttered, hanging up the phone.