The Sad Truth
Part Three
By Emily
FallenLilac22@cs.com

DISCLAIMER-I dont own any of these characters (unfortunately, I would literally be the happiest girl alive if I owned Carter. Oh, the things I'd do with him...), and Im obviously no medical expert. You know the drill. Enjoy!

Special thanks to-Most importantly, to Cathy. Thank you for all the awesome advice. also, shoutouts to Melora, Lindsay, Kristen, Lynne, Ashley and Susan. Thanks for the help and suggestions.



Peter Benton awoke from his sleep. He had a strange feeling in his stomach. Apprehension mixed with fear and dread. It was a feeling he could have lived without. He drank a sip of water on his night table, when he heard a thud. A sickening thud. It was a horrible sound that matched the feeling in his stomach. And he knew who it was-sure as hell not Reese, who was away with Carla visiting family in South Carolina. It was Carter. And Peter was almost paralyzed by the growing fear as he walked into the room.

It was dark, and he flicked in the light and gasped. He immediately felt weak and helpless. His knees buckled tightly and his heart started to race. Carter was sprawled out on the floor, turned to the side, completely unresponsive. Peter raced over to him, and looked at his face. It was creepy-so pale and sweaty and thin. He had seen patients with those faces, but none like this. He grabbed his freezing cold hand and felt for a pulse. There was none. "CARTER! Wake up, man. Wake up! UP! You cant do this to me, c'mon man. C'mon. Wake up, Carter!", he kept repeating. Suddenly, he saw a sharp needle sticking out. It turned out to be a syringe, labeled "Fentanyl". "Oh jesus", Peter said shakily. Next to that was an empty one labeled morphine.

Never in his life had Peter felt this way. It was every horrific emotion balled into one. The worst fear and fright ever, with sadness, desperation and anger. Why the fuck would Carter be so stupid and ignorant as to overdose? Was it a suicide? He felt like throwing up. I was supposed to take care of him tonight.

Just then, he became weighed down with immense guilt. But as he saw Carter's small, still body, he knew he had to act. And he had to act fast. He grabbed the cell phone off the table, and called Cook County. He told them it was Dr. Benton and he had an apparent drug overdose with him, he needed and ambulance and he needed one NOW. He was strict and bitter on the phone, but no one could mistake the shaky worry in his voice.

He cupped his hands together and started chest compressions. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, he repeated. Then he tilted Carter's head back, pinched his nose, opened his mouth, and breathed. He tried to breathe life into him. "C'mon man, breathe for me, breathe for me Carter". He repeated this for eight minutes, until the ambulance arrived.

"I've been doing CPR for eight minutes", he told Doris Pickman. "Oh god, it's John Carter. What the hell happened?", she asked sadly, as they administered oxygen, IV's and heart monitors to him.

"Bag him", a paramedic sad out loud.

Peter said nervously "Found him unconscious and not breathing with two empty syringes next to him. He was spending the night". They continued chest compressions, as they boarded him into the ambulance.

"Tachycardic at 150, going into anaphylaxis and respiratory depression. Hypotensive. BP's 72/38"". Carter lay still, pale and in shock. His hands were freezing to the touch and his face was blank. "Constricted pupils, going into v-fib", as they drove up. Kerry Weaver, Mark Greene, Chuny, Haleh, Malucci and Chen were all waiting.

"Gimme the bullet", Greene said. "We have a white male, 28 years old, found unconscious and not breathing, apparent narcotic overdose, tachycardic at 150, hyptonsive at 70/38, in anaphylactic shock and respiratory depression, in cardiac arrest", the paramedic said.

Greene, Weaver and Haleh let out a mutual frightened gasp. "Oh my god, it's Carter", Haleh said. Greene paled.

"Holy shit", squeaked Malucci. He felt nauseous. Chen looked on the verge of tears, and Chuni looked stricken with shock.

"C'mon people, let's intubate! No carotid pulses, In v-fib, get a defibrillator, charge 200 and clear!" Malucci shocked him, with as much as he could put into it. His heart was racing. So was his mind. "Again, charge 250 and clear!", Greene said. "Again, charge and CLEAR!", he said. Dave shocked him. Finally, there was a rhythm. Everyone seemed to breathe sighs of relief
but no one could mask their fear, not even if they tried. Kerry was silently crying, her heart aching. Dave was in shock as he administered an IV. Chen just stood there, looking at Carter so frail and hooked up to tube after tube, his heart monitor barely steady.

And then there was Benton. Benton felt guilty enough to cry. Something he never did. I should have been the one taking care of him, he thought. Now look.

"It'll be ok, Carter", Dave said sadly.

Kerry noticed Benton slumped against the wall. Tears streaked her face. "C'mere, Peter", she said, motioning him to follow into the corridor. What would he tell her?