Second Chance: Call Me Back When You Get the Chance




Questions haunted Carter's mind. Why wouldn't Grace talk to him? What was wrong? Was it something that he had done? And if so, what had he done? Unfortunately, he had no answers. And he still hadn't been able to reach her. He kept on leaving messages that said 'Call me back when you get the chance'. He was positive that Grace had 'the chance', but chose not to talk to him.

Towards the end of his shift, he was sitting at the front desk. It had been a week since he had talked to her. He was tired of hearing her answering machine respond to his calls. He was tired of not seeing her, hearing her. He wanted to know what he had done wrong - He wanted to fix it.

"Hey Carter - you would not believe the patient I just had....Blonde, legs you wouldn't....." Dave interrupted his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"What?" Carter asked confused - As usual, he hadn't been paying attention to Dave.

"You're thinking about that Grace chic again, aren't you?" Dave said and looked at Carter's face - which immediately gave him away. "Oh, well - I won't disrupt your little fantasy here......"

"Dave - not like that." Carter said defensively.

"Sure." Dave raised his eyebrows. "Okay - then what are you thinking of?"

"How she still won't talk to me - How she lets her answering machine answer my calls, or she hangs up on me."

"Why don't you just go stand outside her door, or where she works?"

"Because most people consider that stalking, Dave."

"Hey - it always works for me. Nobody wants to talk to me, but when I get face to face with them, they pretty much have to." Dave said and picked up a chart.

"Yeah, sure I'll follow her around......And wait for the cops to arrest me for stalking." He said sarcastically.

However, when his shift ended, he found himself waiting outside the building where she worked. *She'll have to come out eventually,* he thought to himself. She exited the building, with her head down. She looked up and saw Carter, and her face immediately turned to annoyance as she started to walk away from him.

"Grace - wait!" He ran to catch up with her and walked backwards, as he walked facing her, directly in front of her. "Please, tell me what's wrong - Grace." He pleaded. "I'm your friend. Please?" He said looking directly into her eyes as they stopped walking.

"Fine." She said folding her arms across her chest. "I guess I'd have to tell you eventually." She said and led him over to a park bench. He sat beside her as she began to talk

"For all of this to make sense I have to go back a little bit. You don't know this, but I use to be married. I met a man named Andrew and very quickly we fell in love. We got married at city hall with two friends as witnesses - That's how quickly it happened. So quickly that I didn't find out a lot of things about him until after we were married." She sighed, "I did eventually discover all of his not so desirable qualities....Like drinking, gambling, cheating. One night he became abusive." She hung her head down, and lifted it up as she continued. "I had enough. I filed for divorce, I took the job in Chicago. I packed my bags, and was going to leave. But I had forgotten one thing."

She showed him her necklace, and he understood the significance. He knew that the necklace had been given to her by her grandmother. He nodded acknowledging the importance of it.

"I left it by accident. He knew that I would come back for it.....and he was ready for me." She whispered the last part as she rolled up one of her sleeves, showing numerous scars. "These are from a beer bottle that he smashed on my arm." She pushed that sleeve down, and pulled up the other one, revealing a long scar. "A knife - he cut me from elbow to wrist. There use to be bruises, but they've since healed. I remember them, though." She breathed out and pulled her sleeve over her scarred arm. "That night, then he did what most people would call rape. I call it just another example of the person my ex husband is."

"Grace, I'm so......" Carter managed to get out before Grace interrupted him.

"Let me finish. I never pressed charges for the rape, only for the assault. I figured they had enough to keep him in jail, and that's where he is now. So the rape became my secret, except for the last two weeks." She smiled in an odd way, as if she didn't intend to smile. "Anyway, as a result of that night, when I was....attacked, I'm pregnant. I found out two days after we went out." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I didn't want to tell you. I didn't you to have to know. It's not like I really could have hidden it." She slightly laughed. "I'm keeping the baby, John. I'm keeping it." She paused. "I really like you. I wanted a relationship with you, but now - it just can't happen. I thought it would be better if I stopped talking to you all together." She whispered

"Grace - I've known you since we were little. We've been friends for awhile, and I am not about to throw our friendship away. I am going to be here for you." He said, then clarified, "As your friend."

"You want to be just friends?" She questioned.

"It's not a matter of want. Like you said, a relationship can't happen for you. I'm willing to cut the relationship and be your friend. You need someone to be there for you."

"Really?" She said as she wiped her eyes

"Yes. Besides, you're going to need someone to help you assemble the crib for this kid. I know you when it comes to building things." He joked.

She smiled, then looked at him. "Do you mind if I stay here and think for awhile?"

"Not at all. Do you mind if I stay too? I need to think about some things." He said, and she nodded in response.

Carter hadn't lied - he did have to think about some things. He needed to figure out how to fall out of love with her. And fast.



Part 3
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