Two days had gone by without incident, although Carter’s memory still had not
returned.  Peter was starting to get worried that maybe there was a more serious
problem.  Mark kept trying to explain to Peter to give it a little bit longer.
It was normal for people who have lost their memories to take awhile getting them
back.

   People were starting to relax, and things had started to settle down.  Lucy
returned to work, and insisted on seeing Carter.  As she entered the room she
noticed that Peter wasn’t there.  He had practically been a permanent fixture in
the room for the past three days.  Carter was lying in bed staring at the
ceiling, and the guard sat in the corner reading a magazine. *He looks terrible,*
she thought.  It looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

 “Dr. Carter?” she tentatively asked.  Lucy was still unsure as to whether he
would recognize her or not.

 “Yes?”

 “I don’t know if you remember me.  I’m Lucy Knight; you’re student.”

 “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.  Dr. Benton told me you were with me in the
car accident.  Were we good friends?”

 Lucy didn’t know how to explain their relationship in simple terms.  “You might
say we were friends.  We did have our differences though.  We’re both, uh,
stubborn might be the word.  You can see how that might cause problems.”

 “Yeah, I think I get it.  Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?
You look like there’s something on your mind.”

 “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.  I heard you’re being released this
morning, which is good.”  Lucy was starting to feel a little awkward.  It was
hard talking to him.

 “From what I understand, I owe you for getting help.  I might of gotten
pneumonia or really sick if you hadn’t of gone for help.  Thank you.”

 Lucy couldn’t believe it, she was starting to blush.  She prayed he wouldn’t
notice.  “It was nothing.”

 “I find that hard to believe.  I owe you when I get my memory back.”

 Lucy was starting to get a little nervous.  The only other time she’d seen Dr.
Carter so polite to her was after he had dislocated his shoulder.  “I have to go
back to work Dr. Carter. I hope you get your memory back, and I will see you
later.”

 Carter allowed himself a small smile as she left the room. *That was strange,*
he thought to himself.  He was having a hard time believing that he was a doctor,
and he had a student he was teaching.  Of course he had other more important
issues to think about.  He was thankful the guy hadn’t comeback ever since he’d
visited him that one day.

 It was the nightmares that worried him the most.  Not only the fact that he was
having them, but that they had been predicting what was going to happen.  Peter
hadn’t told him everything that was going on with the strange man who had
threatened him.  Like who exactly the guy was and why he was after him.  Just
enough to keep his curiosity at bay.  He could understand that.  Benton just
didn’t want to worry him more than was necessary. Of course, Carter planned to
get it out of him later on.  Carter just didn’t see how it was possible that he
lost his memory, but has  nightmares with someone he had seen only briefly, a
month ago,  in them.

 The day the man came into the hospital was also the day he had had the nightmare
where the man was in the car.  Also everything the man had spoken to him in the
dream had been written in the letter.  He thought that was more than
coincidence.  More like predictions.  Carter was afraid to tell Benton all this
because he’d probably think he had gone nuts.

***********************

 “Are you sure it’s not too soon to be releasing him?  His memory isn’t back
yet,” Peter demanded.

 “Like I’ve said before Peter.  It’s not totally unexpected with concussions.
Also the stress from the nightmares and this whole situation isn’t helping much
either,” Mark interjected.

 “Yeah, there’s that too.  What the hell are we going to do about this?  Just
because there’s been two days without incident doesn’t mean he’s not gonna try to
hurt Carter after he’s released.”

 “I’ve taken care of that Peter,” Kerry said as she limped back to the admit
desk.  “I’ve been in contact with his grandmother in Switzerland.  She’s wired
over the money for us to hire someone to keep watch on Carter’s place until
Vollmer’s caught.”

 “What the hell good’s that gonna do?” Peter yelled.  “He lives in an apartment!
This guard would have to be in the apartment with Carter to do any good!”

 “I was thinking about that, and I think I have a solution,” Kerry said.  She
allowed a sly smile to pass over her lips as she said this.  “Why doesn’t he stay
with you? Before you say anything, hear me out.  You live in a house that’s big
enough for the two of you right?  Even with his memory gone he’s taken quite a
liking to you.  He trusts you Peter.”

 Peter knew she was right.  It wasn’t such a bad idea after all.  “Okay Kerry.
But I’m gonna need time off to stay with him.”

 “That can be arranged,” Mark said.

 “Alright.  I’m going to take Carter to his place for some things, and then we’ll
head over to my place.  Have the private duty cop waiting outside my place when
we get there.  We shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes at Carter’s place.
Understand?”

 “Don’t worry Peter.”

 As Peter headed towards Carter’s room he could hear Kerry on the phone already
hiring someone.  When he entered the room Carter looked like he was deep in
thought.  The bruises still covered his face, but were not as prominent.

 “Carter?  I’ve got some good news.”

 “They caught the guy?” he asked with hopeful eyes.  Eyes, Peter noticed, that
had developed black bags under them. He’d personally make sure Carter started
getting a full nights sleep.

 “Sorry.  They haven’t got him yet.  As you know you’re being released this
morning.  We’ve decided you’re going to go home with me.  Your grandmother in
Switzerland has wired some money over, and we’re going to hire a private cop to
sit guard outside my house.”

 “I hope I’m not any convenience, Dr. Benton,” Carter started.  “I could just
stay here or something.”

 “No. Definitely not.  Believe me, it’s not a problem.  We’ll stop at your place
first to get some of your things, then we’ll head on over to mine.  I’ve got the
next few days off work, so I’ll be able to stay there with you.”

 “Wow.  Thank you Dr. Benton.”  Things were starting to look a little better.
Maybe once he left the hospital the nightmares would stop.  Thinking about the
nightmare was setting him on edge.  At least the private duty cop will be able to
keep that guy from hurting him.

 “No problem.  Now, we need to get you some clothes to wear.  I’ll have Carol
bring in the paperwork so you can sign out, and I’ll go to the lost and found for
some clothes.”

 Ten minutes later Carter was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for Peter to
come back.  It had surprised him how hard it was to sit up.  Not only from the
pain caused by his broken ribs, but the lack of sleep was making him feel weak.
He hoped he’d be able to stand up without falling over.  Considering he’d only
slept about 2 hours in the past two days, sleep was actually starting to look
pretty good.  Whenever someone came to check at night to make sure he was asleep,
he’d just pretend.  He thought he’d had everybody fooled, but Peter had noticed.
He just didn’t say anything about it.  Yet.

 Peter came back carrying a pair of blue scrub bottoms and a long-sleeved button
up shirt.  He saw Carter staring off into space.

 “Carter?” he asked, getting no response.  He tried again a little more
forcefully.  “Carter?  I’ve got some clothes for you.”

 “Oh.  Didn’t hear you come in.  Thanks,” Carter said.

 “Can you manage?  Or do you need some help.”  Peter knew it was extremely
painful to bend down to put pants on with broken ribs.

 “I can manage,” Carter said, more confidently than he felt.

 “If you’re sure.  I’ll just be outside.  Call if you need me.”  Peter left the
room.  He had a feeling Carter would call for help once he tried to bend down.

 Carter took the scrub bottoms and contemplated how he was going to do this
without aggravating his ribs, or falling over.  He tried holding them low enough
so he could lift his leg and put it in, but moving his leg like that still hurt.
Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d originally thought.

 “Dr. Benton?” he said as loudly as he could.  “I think I might need some help.”

 Peter came in, and as he suspected, Carter was having trouble getting dressed.

 “Here, give me the pants. I’ll help you with those.”

 Carter handed them over, and felt slightly awkward about this.  This man was a
doctor after all.  He’d seen it all before.

 Peter took the pants from Carter and knelt down infront of him.  He gently eased
the pants over both his ankles and just past his knees, careful of the livid
bruise still on his left leg.  He couldn’t get any farther unless Carter stood
up.

 “Carter, you’ve gotta stand up.  I can’t pull these on any farther.”

 Carter shakily slid his feet to the floor.  He stood up, and as he did he felt a
wave of dizziness hit him.  Benton felt Carter start to waver, and used one of
his hands to grab onto his bicep so he wouldn’t topple over.

 “Just take a deep breath, Carter.  Almost done,” Peter said as he waited
patiently for Carter to regain his equilibrium.  He then slid the pants up to his
hips and helped him sit down.

 “Thanks.  I think I can manage the shirt on my own.”

 “Yeah, well, I’ll just hang around incase.”

 Benton watched as Carter gingerly removed the gown and reached for the shirt.
Peter couldn’t help but wince when he saw the bruising on his side that
disappeared under the bandage supporting his ribs.  He was thankful there was a
button-up shirt available.

End 7***********************



After Carter was dressed Peter helped him into the car.  They drove in silence as
Carter was too tired, and not feeling very good, and didn’t feel like making
conversation.  They arrived outside Carter’s place, and together they went up to
his apartment.  The keys had been retrieved from the clothes Carter was wearing
the night of the accident.  As they entered they were greeted by a musty smell,
and the air was thick as a result of windows not being opened in days.

 “This is your place.  Does it ring any bells?” Peter asked hopefully.

 Carter spent a few moments looking around before he answered.  “Sorry, nothing
looks familiar,” he said as he wandered around the room.  He went over to a table
beside the couch to look at the pictures.

 “Carter, we don’t have time to look around.  We’ve gotta get your stuff then go
back to my place.”

 “Just a sec.”  Something small, yellowish and wrinkled sat in a jar of what he
guessed was some kind of preserving fluid.  “What the heck is this?”

 Peter did a double take when he saw it.  Surely he hadn’t been serious all those
years ago.  Had he?

 “Ah, that’s an appendix.  Probably mine.”

 “Yours?  Why’s it here?  That’s kind of a strange thing to keep.”

 “I had appendicitis a few years ago.  You did the operation.  I didn’t think you
were serious when you said you had it on your mantle,” Peter said with a small
smile.

 “I can’t believe I was serious either.”  His focus moved over to a framed photo
of him and a black guy who looked to be about his age.  They had their arms
around each others shoulders, were smiling happily, and were each holding a
beer.  It looked like they had been close friends.
For some reason he got a sad feeling looking at the photo.

 “Who’s this with me?”

 Peter felt his stomach clench as he saw the photo.  “That’s Dennis Gant.  You
were roommates and surgical interns together.”

 “Were?”

 “He died a few years back.  He was hit by the El-train.”

 That’s why he got a bad feeling looking at the photo.  “Why was he hit?  Did he
trip, or was he pushed?”

 “The police said he tripped.  You didn’t believe them.  You thought he jumped.”

 “Jumped?!”

 “He was depressed.”  Peter was starting to get uncomfortable with this line of
questioning.  “Come on, Carter, get a move on.  We’ve got to go.”

 Reluctantly, Carter found the bedroom and quickly put some clothes into a duffel
bag.  On the ride to Benton’s place he found his mind straying back to the
photo.  He wished with all  his might that his memory would come back.  Looking
at the photo of Dennis had left him feeling disconcerted.  He had gotten a sad
feeling while looking at the photo, but just couldn’t remember why.  He knew the
memories were there, he just couldn’t access them.  It was getting frustrating.

 Benton noticed Carter was getting a little agitated.

 “Carter?  What is it?”

 “Oh, it’s nothing,” Carter replied.
 “I know you Carter.  Spit it out.”

 Carter had learned enough about Benton in the past three days to know that he
wouldn’t relent until he had answered truthfully.

 “Why isn’t my memory coming back?  It’s getting so damn frustrating.  I’ve
waited days now.  I know the memories are there; I just can’t get to them,”
Carter confessed.  He needed to hear some form of reassurance.

 “It’s normal for a person’s memory to take this long to return.  It can take
five minutes or five days.  Just give it time.”

 Carter didn’t find that terribly reassuring, but he’d come to expect that from
Benton.  As they pulled up infront of Peter’s house Carter saw a blue car parked
across the street from the house with someone sitting in the front seat.

 “The guard I take it?” he said.

 “Yeah.  Let’s go talk to him.  Come on grab your bag,” Peter said as he got out
of the car.

 Together they walked over to the car.  Carter was still sore and stiff, but he
was covering it up pretty well, Benton noticed.  The man got out of the car to
greet them.

 “You must be Dr.’s Benton and Carter.  I’m Dave McGuinty,” he greeted them as he
reached out to shake their hands.

 “So did Dr. Weaver fill you in on what’s going on?” Benton inquired.

 “Yes, she did.  Kind of a nasty situation isn’t it?  So from what I understand
you want me to watch your house and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
Right?”

 “Yeah.  At the first signs of anything suspicious, let us know.  Understand?”

 “Gotcha.  It was a pleasure meeting you two.  I’ll let you get back on with your
business,” McGuinty said as he turned back to his car.

 As Carter and Benton headed toward the house Peter noticed Carter was having
trouble carrying the bag.  He offered to carry it for him, but Carter said he
could manage. *Still stubborn as always,* Benton thought.

 Once inside, Benton showed Carter to his room and helped him get settled.
Carter told Benton he’d like to rest in his room till dinner was ready.  Of
course by rest Carter meant he’d lay down, but not let himself fall asleep.
Whatever it took.

*********************************
 Benton searched his kitchen for something easy to prepare for dinner.  He
decided on the canned soup.  It should be pretty easy for Carter to handle.
Peter was interrupted in his preparations by the ringing of the telephone.

 “Hello?”

 “Peter?   Good.  It’s Mark.  I was just calling to see how Carter was making
out.”

 “He’s resting now.  He seems pretty on edge though.  Disturbed that his memory
isn’t coming back.”

 “Yeah.  How’s the private duty cop working out?” Mark asked.

 “So far so good.  I just hope that this Mr. McGuinty knows what he’s doing, and
will be able to do his job if Vollmer goes after Carter again.”

 “I wouldn’t worry about it, Peter.  I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.  Listen,
a trauma just came in.  I’ve gotta go.”

*******************************

 Carter could hear Benton’s voice as he talked on the phone.  The comforting
sound was starting to lull him to sleep.  He tried to fight it, but eventually
exhaustion won.  He could still hear Peter’s voice as he drifted off to sleep.

End 8************************



He awoke with a start.  The house was dark.  The window was open, but there was
no sound.  No traffic or anything.  Cautiously, he made his way down the hall to
Peter’s room.  Peter was flat on his back on the bed, apparently asleep.  Quietly
he left the room towards the kitchen.  Something was wrong.  It was too dark, and
too quiet.  Suddenly the ringing of the doorbell pierced the silence.  He felt
panic flood him.  He had to hide before it was too late.  The doorbell wouldn’t
stop.  As fast as he could he ran down the hall to Benton’s room.

 “Dr. Carter!!  You’re not going to make it!” the man hollered as the sound of
the front door creaking open could be heard.

 “Dr. Benton?  Please wake up,” he pleaded.  He tried shaking his shoulder and
got no response.  “Dr. Benton!” he yelled with increasing urgency.  “Get up!
He’s here!”  Benton didn’t budge.

 He heard heavy footsteps echoing as the man walked down the hallway and entered
the bedroom.  Quickly, he crawled under the bed as the man entered the room.  The
man wore a policeman’s badge.  As the man bent down the reach under the bed, he
saw the name inscribed on the badge.  Deadrick.


***************************

 Benton was spooning the soup into two bowls when he heard terrified screams
coming from the room Carter was in.  Immediately he dropped what he was doing and
ran into Carter’s room.  As he entered he was greeted by the sight of Carter
sitting on the edge of the bed, panting for breath.  Peter went over and sat
beside him.

 “Carter?” he softly asked.

 “I’m okay,” Carter responded.  He knew once again he wasn’t fooling Benton.  He
was shaking like a leaf.  This dream had told him something.  If only he could
figure out what.

 “Wanna tell me what was in it this time?” Benton inquired.  He could feel Carter
trembling and knew this dream had been as bad as the others.

 “No...I... just need to think about it,” Carter answered.  The man had worn a
badge that said Deadrick.  Why?  He did know Officer Deadrick was in charge of
the investigation.  He thought back to when he had been in the hospital.  Carter
had thought that the dreams were actually predictions.  What had this one been
saying?  He decided now was the best time to ask Benton what had been on his mind
for awhile.

 “Dr. Benton?  Why is this guy after me?”

 “I told you.  He’s mad at you for something you couldn’t change.”

 “Yeah, but what was it I couldn’t change?  I have a right to know.”

 Benton knew Carter was right.  He wasn’t in the hospital anymore, and didn’t
seem as scared as he’d been when he was in the hospital.  He did seem more
level-headed.

 “About a month ago a man and his wife were brought in after being in a car
accident.  You worked on the wife, but she died.  I guess her husband holds you
responsible.”

 “What was his name?”

 “It was Jason Vollmer.  I don’t know his wife’s name.”
***************************

 “Dr. Greene!” Jerry hollered across the ER.  “There’s an Officer Dalton on the
phone for you!”

 “Thank you, Jerry,” Mark said as he took the phone.

 “Yeah, this is Dr. Greene.  Did you find something?”

 “You could say that,” answered Pete.  “We got the results back on the
fingerprints.  With two matches.”

 “What?!  Two matches?”

 “Yeah.  One for Jason Vollmer, and one for an Al Devreaux.  It looks like he
changed his name for some reason.  I’ll see what else I can find out.
Unfortunately my partner Jack has gone home sick so I’m gonna be working on my
own.  I might be a little slower finding these things out though, so be patient.”

 “I understand, but please try to hurry.”  Mark hung up feeling discouraged.

***********************

  Carter and Benton sat in the kitchen eating lunch.  Carter had been deep in
thought since the nightmare, and didn’t feel like talking.  Benton just wished
Carter could get a good nights sleep without having nightmares.  If he still
wasn’t sleeping well by the next day he was considering getting Carter a
prescription that would put him into a dreamless sleep.  Peter had hoped it
wouldn’t come to that.  He was just thankful Carter was actually eating.  At the
hospital after the nightmares he’d refused to eat.  He’d also have to remind
Carter to take his pain medication after lunch.  It was obvious his ribs were
bothering him.

 “We have to get out of here,” Carter mumbled.

 “What?” Benton asked, taken by surprise.  He had no idea what Carter was talking
about.

 “I just figured out part of what my dream was telling me.”

 “Carter, what the hell are you talking about?  What do you mean your dream told
you something.”

 “So far my dreams have predicted what’s going to happen.  I think this one might
also be predicting something.”  Carter knew Benton was going to think he was
crazy, but he had to tell him.  “He came into the house after us.  We have to
leave before he gets here.”

 Benton couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  Maybe Carter wasn’t as recovered
as he’d originally thought.   Carter was starting to look panicked again.
“Carter?  Relax.  It was just a dream.  No one is coming into the house.  We’ve
got the guard outside.  Remember?”

 Carter got up and started walking towards the front door.  Peter walked over and
stepped infront of Carter.  “Carter, what the hell are you doing, man?”  Peter
could see Carter’s eyes had started to glaze over.  Gently he reached out and
touched his shoulder.  He was shocked when Carter flinched from his touch.

 “Please, Dr. Benton,” he pleaded.

************************

 Quickly, the man hunched down and ran behind the hedge row opposite the car.  He
carefully observed the man in the car, and thought of a plan.  He picked up a
nearby rock, and as inconspicuously as possible hurled it at the car.  It made a
satisfying crack as it bounced off the hood.  The guy in the car got out to
investigate the strange noise, and as he did the man who was hiding behind the
bushes stealthily crept up behind him and brought the butt of his gun down on his
head.

 Jason Vollmer smiled as the guard sank to the ground.

End 9**********************