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Mike and Carrie Saga by Bradygirl Part 3 It was a wonderful dream. In it she was still in Mike's hospital room. Still in the embrace, foreheads touching. She'd learned so much about her feelings last night. Her feelings for Mike weren't just friendly any more. She had wanted to kiss him. And now she was dreaming that very thing. It was truly a wonderful dream. She felt so good. So relaxed in his arms. She hadn't felt that way in a long time. In the distance Carrie could hear a ringing. She didn't want to let go of the bliss she was feeling and tried to push the noise away, but it slowly got louder and louder. She had to be imagining it because she was asleep. The noise kept nagging at her until she realized it wasn't a dream. It was the phone. Carrie groped in the darkness for the receiver. "Hello?" "Carrie? Hey, it's Mike." "Hi, Mike." Carrie leaned over and brought the digital clock closer to her. "Did I wake you? You sound a little funny." "No, what would I be doing sleeping at..." Carrie looked at the clock one more time just to be sure she was seeing it right. "5:30 in the morning." "Is it really 5:30?. I'm sorry. The clock in here is broken. So much for modern convenience. Anyway, I wanted to catch you before you left for work." "You caught me. What's up?" Carrie, finally a little more awake, managed to sit up and turn on the light. It temporarily blinded her and she threw her hand up to cover her eyes. "Jen and Jack are going to spend a romantic weekend in Chicago and Mom can't get away from her patients. I need you to do me a huge favor. I need some clothes from my apartment." "Why? Are they going to let you out already?" Carrie sounded concerned. Mike liked the way he felt knowing she really cared about him. "Since none of my major organs were damaged, I can heal at home just as well as here. If I get worse, at least I'll be able to tell. I am a doctor after all. It's really just an excuse though. I want to be able to go to John and Marlena's wedding. I'm really happy for them. They've gone through a lot to be together." "Mike, you're so sweet." It was just like Mike to be more concerned about other people's happiness than his own. She always liked that quality about him. "Ok, anything else you want me to get for you?" Mike could think of something, but he knew that it probably would never come true since she loved Austin and not him. "No that's it. Oh, and Carrie? Be careful. Abe said the man who attacked me hasn't been found yet. The only good thing is we got a blood sample from my car keys. When we were struggling, I must have wounded him somewhere. He could be hanging around the hospital." "I'll keep my eye out for anyone suspicious. Don't worry." They said their good-byes and Carrie drug herself into the shower. Franco thought back to last night. It could have been so easy for Mike to recognize him. Thank God he wore that black mask. He couldn't believe he'd let Kate drag him into this. Coming between Bo and Hope was one thing but splitting up Carrie and Mike was another. She wanted them apart. She wanted Austin to be happy no matter what the cost. The cost was going to be bigger than Kate thought. Franco hadn't counted on shooting Mike. The gun had misfired and he nearly shot himself in the process. This would surely throw a wrench into Kate's plans. Maybe it wasn't possible for both of her children to be happy. Fate had other ideas for them. He was grateful to Kate for one thing though. Now Hope was free to love him. When Carrie arrived at Mike's apartment, she looked for the secret spot where he kept the extra key. Five minutes later, she was still searching. Carrie couldn't believe the key was so well hidden. It hadn't been that long since she'd been here, had it? She thought back and realized it had been at least a few years. What kind of friend was she anyway? Here Mike was visiting her all the time and she hadn't been over to his apartment once in two years. That was going to have to change. Finally the key materialized and she walked in the apartment. It was just like she remembered. A couple of shirts were inside out on the couch and it looked like he was reading at least five different medical journals. Other than that, hardly anything else was out of place. There weren't even dirty dishes in the sink. She walked by Mike's desk and a picture caught her eye. It was the one of the two of them in the park. Carrie wondered where he got a real photo of it. Maybe he knew someone at the paper. She sat the picture back on the desk, gathered some clothes for him and headed to the hospital. A few minutes later she arrived at the hospital. "Hey, I brought you your clothes." Carrie walked over to the bed and placed the garments on the night stand. "I really appreciate it." Mike looked a little distracted. He was trying to peek into the bandage on his side. Carrie gave him a strange look. She wondered what he was doing. "It itches." She couldn't help but laugh. Mike wasn't as good a patient as he was a doctor. "Does it hurt?" Carrie lightly touched his side. Mike put his hand over hers, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he said, "Now that you've touched it, it feels so much better. You have healing hands." "You're the doctor, you're the one with the healing hands." Mike reached down and brought her other hand to his side. "Yes, I'm the doctor and I say these hands healed me." top to Part 4 Copyright © 1998, w3PG, inc.