Count On Me

•• CHAPTER THREE ••

•• CHAPTER THREE ••

Carter awoke the next morning alone in her bed with her head pounding and she looked around in confusion. She groaned as the sun began to brighten her room and she buried her face down into her pillow. Suddenly, the memories of what had happened between her, and Shawn popped into her mind, and she sat upright as if she was shocked by electricity. She remembered them telling each other their true feelings and then making passionate love multiple times until they passed out. Carter quickly jumped out of bed and searched for Shawn throughout their apartment. When she opened Shawn's door to his room, she was left in shock.

All of Shawn's bags and clothes were gone and she felt her heartbreak into a thousand pieces. "Shawn wouldn't just leave me without a good reason. He would never hurt me." She whispered to comfort herself as she jogged to her room and grabbed her phone from the nightstand then dialed Shawn's number. She frowned as she heard his voicemail and tried to calm her racing heart. When she heard the beep, she said, "Hey, it's me. Listen, if last night freaked you out then I just want to apologize. We can pretend it never happened and go back to how it was before if that's what you want, because I don't want to lose my best friend." She took in a ragged breath as she bit her lip and felt tears sting at her eyes. "I love you, Shawn. Please call me back." She whispered then pressed the end button and tossed her phone on her bed.

Shawn fastened his seatbelt and shut off his phone then stuffed it into his backpack and looked out the window of the plane. Shawn had woken up this morning with Carter fast asleep in his arm, when the memories of last night had scared him to the point that he climbed out of bed and booked the earliest flight he could find to New York and left. He cursed at himself for being such a coward and running away from Carter, but he had never felt this way about anyone, and he didn't want to lose her. He was also scared that she would hate him for having sex together while they were drunk. Shawn closed his eyes as he rested his head against the seat and tried to clear his mind by thinking of nothing and hoping that giving her some space might put everything back to normal between them.

Two weeks flew by in a daze as Carter fixed her hair into a ponytail as she got ready for her first shift at the hospital a week later and still hadn't heard anything from Shawn. Carter had called Shawn's Mother yesterday and found out that he went to New York to start his internship early, but she hasn't heard from him since then besides a few text messages letting her know that he was fine. Carter worried about Shawn and wondered why he ran out that night, but she was also angry at the way he was acting and how he just left her with no explanation. She rolled her eyes at her stupidity for trusting another guy, but she felt incredibly hurt by Shawn because he knew what Carter had been through in her past relationships and to her, Shawn wasn't just another guy. He was the only man she had ever truly loved, and she had hoped to spend the rest of her life with him. She shook her head to clear that ridiculous thought from her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying, then took a deep breath as she rubbed her forehead to soothe the headache that was starting to form. She had been crying ever since Shawn left and she hated being alone in their apartment where memories of them together were everywhere she looked.

The drive to the hospital wasn't too bad and Carter was thankful that there wasn't a lot of traffic in Downtown Chicago as she pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. She suddenly felt nervous as she pulled into a parking spot and wished more than anything that she could talk to Shawn because he was always able to calm her nerves, but she realized that she needed to figure out how to be alone and not rely on anyone else. Carter took in a deep breath then walked with determination toward the entrance of the hospital and started her first day of work.

Shawn sat at his desk and stared blankly at the monitor of his computer screen as he thought about Carter. He knew that today was her first day at the hospital and he almost had called her to wish her good luck and to have a great first day, but as soon as he picked up his cell phone, he realized that it wasn't the right time to call her. It had only been two weeks since he left, and Shawn was still too scared to find out how Carter felt about that night they shared together. Shawn didn't regret telling Carter how he felt and them making love, but he feared that she did. "Hello, earth to Shawn." His co-worker, Molly, said waving her hand in front of his face causing Shawn to snap out of his thoughts and look up at Molly in surprise.

  "Sorry," He chuckled as he scratched his neck nervously and gave her a small smile. "Just got lost in thought, what's up?" He asked and she smiled as she nodded towards the exit.

  "I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch with me. You're the only one that I've really made friends with here." She admitted and Shawn looked down at the time on his computer and was surprised to see that it was already noon.

  "Uh, yeah. Sure, let me just grab my keys." He said as opened a drawer in his desk and pulled them out.

  "I don't mean to be nosy, but is that girl in the picture on your desk your girlfriend?" Molly asked and Shawn looked at the picture that he used to have on his nightstand of him and Carter. He quickly shook his head and stood up.

  "She's my best friend. We're kind of going through something right now." He sighed and they started to head towards the exit.

  "You can tell me if you want? I'm a really good listener." Molly suggested politely, but Shawn just shook his head and opened the door for her.

  "I don't really want to talk about it." He sighed and Molly nodded in understanding as she placed her hand gently on his arm.

  "Well, I'm here for you whenever you want to talk." She said giving him a small smile and Shawn smiled back as he nodded his head.

  "Thanks Molly." He said as they walked towards his car, and he wondered if the way Molly was constantly staring and smiling at him meant she wanted to be something more than friends. Molly was really pretty, but his heart would always belong to Carter and no woman on this Earth could ever come close to how beautiful she was in his eyes.