Instead, Carter does neither, preferring to roam aimlessly until he arrives in the mansion's study, whereupon he gazes pensively at a portrait of two young boys that I'll wager are the young brothers Carter. The butler interrupts his trance to alert him that he's got a friend waiting to see him.

Naturally, Carter's mystery friend is Luka. No! Abby. Sorry, I mixed up the legs of the love triangle. She informs him that, moments after he slammed down the telephone in a blaze of testosterone, the chagrined Dr. Wiseman hurried over to admit Holly and get her settled in a proper hospital room. "Amazing what a little 'pull your thumb out' can do," she chuckles. Abby looks great. I've always loved Maura Tierney; anyone who can turn in a composed, clever performance opposite the wailing banshee Sally Field has run my gauntlet. Carter politely asks whether Abby nibbled on anything from the buffet. "I couldn't decide between smoked tongue pâté and the whitefish mousse," she grins. They giggle, because it's such a ridiculous choice -- obviously, the mousse wins every time. Carter cracks that they're fresh out of pigs in a blanket.

The duo ceases strolling at a bench near a broken birdbath. Carter recalls that his grandfather loved riding around the lawn on his power mower. "He drove into the birdbath?" snorts Abby. "Well, he was having a fatal M.I. at the time," Carter answers calmly. Abby coughs and hides her face, so far beyond a mere foot in her mouth that she's actually chewing on her own upper thigh. Carter's probably envious. They both try to stifle laughter, but can't, especially when Carter keeps talking: "Not a bad way to go. Sunny day...get on the mower..." Abby sobers up long enough to apologize for crashing the reception, but she claims she felt overwhelmed with distress at the idea that Carter's grandfather died and he kept it quiet.

Ice Cube interrupts the warm bonding between the two colleagues, demanding that Carter fetch Gamma immediately. He introduces Abby; Abby is met with zero interest from the Ice Queen, who drifts away after uttering some other rude command to Carter and temporarily freezing his chin. She's actually making me want to put on sweats and a flannel shirt. "[My parents] don't handle loss well," Carter understates. Abby is sympathetic, especially when Carter reveals that they haven't faced death since Carter's brother passed away. Abby shoos him away to complete his mission, spotting Chill Factor darting another aggravated glare their way.