"J.T. - It's Not Easy Doing Greene, Part 6
By: Cathy and Melissa
Carter hung up the pay phone feeling a strange mixture of guilt and something that he couldn't quite describe. Was it relief? Calm? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that as he had told Roger that he couldn't make his appointment for the evening, he had felt that he was doing the right thing. All day long, he had remembered how tender and loving Mark had been the night before. And each time he thought about the fact that he would leave work at the hospital and go to a customer he felt guilty. It was almost as if he were acting as if Mark didn't matter to him, and nothing could be further from the truth. And, last night, he had seen that he really did matter to Mark. From the way that he had tended to his wounds to the way he held him, everything in what Mark did screamed out to Carter that he cared. And knowing that, it was difficult to think about going out and having sex with another man, even if he was getting paid for it.
In a way it was funny that he should feel that way. When he had been working and still seeing Roxanne, he had not felt as if he were cheating on her when he had a customer. But, that's the way it felt to him now that he was seeing Mark. He had felt that way Saturday night when he had been with Walter and Fox. And he had felt that way on Friday night, when all he had done was watch Walter and Fox. Oh, he knew that the sexual side of his and Mark's relationship was still being conducted on a business basis, but that was mainly because Mark wasn't asking him to go to bed with him on those nights they hung around together. Went out on dates together. Surely that's what the concert had been, right? A date. Mark had asked him to go there with him, then bought him something to eat later. That made it a date. And this morning, when Mark knew they were alone in the lounge, he had stolen another kiss by asking him his name. Maybe, just maybe, he could quit working for Roger and concentrate on Mark.
"What's Carter so happy about?" Chuny asked Jerry as she stepped around the grinning resident.
"Who knows? He just got off of the phone, maybe he won a million dollars or something," Jerry kept his attention on the computer screen. There was a really hot sex site he was trying to break into and he could tell that he was about to see some good stuff if he just kept at it for a few more minutes.
"Did you?" she asked him.
"What?" Carter asked, having missed the entire conversation.
Chuny laughed. "Did you win a million dollars? Is that why you're so happy today?"
"No million dollars. Can't a guy be happy just because he's, well, happy?"
"Sure he can. It's just so good to see you really smiling again." She elbowed him lightly in the ribs, then disappeared into the lounge.
Carter nodded, agreeing with her. It felt good to be really happy again. Real good. Grabbing a file, he headed off for exam three.
Around noon, Randi had arrived for her shift and she was busy taking praise from the female nurses for the clothing designs she was passing around.
"Girl, you are just wasting your time here," Conni told her.
"I need something to pay the rent until I can actually get my clothing line off of the ground. What I need are backers. Rich backers."
"It's a shame you don't have your trust fund anymore," Chuny remarked as she passed one of the drawings to Carter. "I think you'd be making an excellent investment if you backed Randi."
Carter eyed the drawing critically. While Randi's sense of fashion was in no way anywhere near his sense of style, he had to admit that her designs looked good.
"Randi, if you can come up with a prospectus, I think I can do something to help you out." He handed the drawing back to her.
"Really? That would be great. Thanks." She gave him a big hug, then started putting away the drawings.
"And what did Carter do that was so great he got a hug?" Mark asked as he approached the desk.
"He believes in Randi Wear," she answered him.
"Him? Randi, I think you need to think that over again. You're talking about a man who is never caught in anything even remotely approaching casual," Mark joked.
"Hey, I do have some casual clothes."
"Sure you do, Carter," Malik laughed. "You expect us to believe that when you're home on your days off you end up in jeans just like the rest of us? Right!"
"And it's such a shame, too," Chuny said, her eyes twinkling. "Because I'm pretty sure that you would look pretty good in a nice fitting pair of jeans."
"Chuny, there's a big difference between nice fitting and tight." Randi observed. "And I think that it would be nice to see Carter in tight jeans."
"Keep talking like that and I just might not be able to help you out after all, Randi," Carter said, trying to keep a straight face.
"On the other hand, your inherent sense of style is excellent. I always like to see a well dressed man."
"That's better." Carter grabbed a chart and walked away.
"Especially when his well tailored pants hug his ass," Randi sighed.
The other women nodded and Mark found himself nodding as well. Then he realized what he was doing and stopped before one of them happened to notice that he was agreeing with their assessment of Carter's ass. If they only had a clue as to how good he looked without clothes, then there would be no peace at all at work. Once again, he felt a pang of jealousy as he remembered that he wasn't the only person who got to see Carter like that. He was going to have to do something about that. Following through on the plans he had made last night was looking like the right thing to do.
"So, there's a game on t.v. tonight," Mark casually remarked as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He was getting pretty good about making sure that only he and Carter were the only people present in the lounge when he wanted to say something personal. Or kiss him. Like he had this morning. He grinned as he remembered that. Carter had looked a little displeased that the kiss had to end.
"Is there? Who's playing?" Carter looked up from the magazine he had been reading while on break.
"Does it matter?"
Carter pursed his lips, thinking. Finally, he shook his head. "No. It doesn't matter."
"What time do you get off from work?"
"Seven."
"Me, too. Do you have to go home or would you like to just come straight on over to my place?"
"I don't have to go home." Carter smiled up at him and Mark had to restrain himself from shouting out loud. Carter was actually willing to spend time with him without any flimsy excuses. Maybe he wouldn't need to put his plan into action after all.
When seven rolled around, Mark found himself stuck with a case. He told Carter to head on over without him and even gave him the key to his apartment. He was therefore surprised when he was finally finished and could hear Carter's voice over at the admit desk.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to Magoo's with us?" Malik asked. "Everyone's going to be there."
"No thanks. I really need to be somewhere else tonight."
"There's someone I want you to meet, Carter." Chuny said. "You liked Gina, didn't you? She'll be there -- come on."
Carter shook his head and put a hand up in protest. "No more blind dates for me. I'm seeing someone."
"Uh oh, sounds like Carter has a new girl friend," Chuny said. "Who is she? Did you finally break down and decide to date Lucy Knight?"
"God, no," he laughed. "But, I am seeing someone pretty special. As a matter of fact, I should be going now or I'll be late. See you guys tomorrow."
"Bye."
Mark waited until he was sure that Carter had left, then he walked into view.
"Hey, Mark, want to join a bunch of us at Magoo's?" Chuny asked.
He shook his head. "Sounds like it will be fun, but I've got a date for tonight."
Malik shook his head. "Man, what's up with you guys? First Carter has a new girlfriend and now you're dating again. When is it going to be my turn?"
"Malik, sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands. If you sit around waiting for the right person to come along, then you're going to be waiting for a long time. A very long time."
"So that means you gave up waiting?" Chuny asked.
"Exactly."
"Well, if "Ms. Right" is waiting on you, then you had better get going. You don't want to keep her waiting," Chuny joked.
"I'm doing my best to get out of here. All I have to do is ditch the lab coat and stethoscope, grab my stuff and I'm homeward bound." He headed for the lounge.
"Have a good time."
"You, too."
Mark was sure that he would get to his place before Carter. After all, he had his van and Carter would have ridden the El to get there. Much to his surprise though, when he parked, he could see a light on in his place. When he reached the apartment, he knocked and found it slightly strange to be the one standing in the hallway waiting for Carter to let him inside.
When Carter opened the door, Mark could see that he was already on his way to relaxing. He had undone his tie and it lay draped over his shoulders. His suspenders were hanging down and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. Mark knew it wouldn't take much effort to get his clothing totally off, but he figured that he would be better off if he didn't push for that. At least not right away.
"I'm glad this day is over," Mark said as he shut and locked the door, then followed Carter to the couch.
"Yeah, it was a little rough. I guess you were running late, huh?"
"As if you didn't know. I know when you left. What I want to know is how you still managed to get here first?" Mark asked with a grin.
Carter grinned back. "That's a secret."
"I can keep a secret, Carter. Certainly you should know that by now."
"Ah, but if you really want something to remain a secret, then you should never tell anyone. Ever."
Mark kicked off his shoes and stretched out, thinking he could use a beer right about then. Or a naked Carter in his arms. He figured he had a better chance of getting the beer.
"Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure. I just put some beers in the refrigerator. My treat this time."
"You stopped at a store? How did you get here first?" Mark asked as he headed for the kitchen.
He came back with two bottles of beer, and resumed his stretched out position. He could see Carter twisting his head around, trying to work out the kinks in his muscles.
"Come over here and turn your back to me," Mark said.
Carter sat sideways with his back to Mark and he softly groaned as Mark's nimble fingers began to work out the knots in his neck and shoulders. Despite the fact that the massage was supposed to be therapeutic in nature, Mark's cock began to harden from that sound. He did his best to ignore it.
"Do you always get this tense?" Mark asked.
"I guess. Sometimes it's worse than others."
"You need to relax more."
"Tell that to my bosses, okay? They keep giving me these twelve hour shifts."
"I'll have you know that your bosses would love to have enough doctors on the payroll so that no one had to work that kind of shift anymore." Mark began to massage lower down on Carter's back, but he stopped when he heard Carter hiss in pain.
"What?"
"Nothing. You can keep on doing that."
Then Mark remembered the large bruise in the middle of Carter's back and he mentally kicked himself for forgetting all about Carter's injuries.
He leaned back. "Take off your shirt."
"Excuse me?" Carter turned to look at him, an odd look in his eyes.
"I want to check you over to make sure that your burns and bruises are healing all right. Take off your shirt."
Carter turned back around and Mark was afraid that he was going to ignore him. Then he saw Carter's arms moving and shortly after that the shirt was sliding down Carter's back as he shook it off.
Mark reached out and gingerly touched the largest bruise. It looked worse than it had last night, but Mark was sure that the pain level was at the same intensity. He wanted to put some more ointment on those burns and welts though.
"Stay right here." He got up and went to the bathroom to get the antibiotic cream. He knew he should have put more on Carter last night after he had just about licked him clean, but he hadn't. Somehow it had just seemed more important to hold Carter than to make sure he put more cream on him.
When he returned to the living room, he found that Carter had only partially obeyed him. He was still on the couch. He was just now on his stomach on the couch. Mark was able to sit on the edge of the cushion.
"Um, if I'm going to do this right, then I need to put this on your welts, too."
"They're fine."
"Humor me. I want to check."
"If you were anyone else, I would swear that you were just trying to get my clothes off." Carter said as he lifted his hips off of the cushion and pushed his pants and undershorts down, then he laid back down on his stomach.
As Mark began to rub the cream on Carter's ass, he thought about how right Carter was. He did want to get Carter undressed. But, he also wanted to make sure that he was okay first. When Carter suddenly turned his head so that he was facing the back of the couch, Mark knew that what he was doing to Carter's ass was beginning to affect other parts of his body as well. He quickly applied the cream to his burns.
"Okay, you can roll over now."
"What?" Carter sounded anxious about that.
"I need to check the burns and bruises on your chest and stomach. Roll over please."
"I can take care of those myself."
"Carter."
Neither one spoke for a few moments.
"Fine," Carter snapped as he rolled over. He still kept his face averted though. Mark was pleased to see that he had been right about Carter's other body parts. He was hard as a rock and seeing Carter like that quickly renewed his own hard on. It would be so easy to push those pants the rest of the way off.
Mark slowly rubbed the ointment over Carter's entire chest, making sure that his hands were touching areas that had not been injured over the weekend. Then he turned his attention to Carter's stomach -- and that caused a lot more moaning. Good Lord, Mark thought, he's blushing. He has never blushed like this.
Leaning down, Mark brushed a kiss against Carter's neck, then whispered into his ear. "What's your name?"