Disclaimer: I don't own any of the ER characters, etc.

Author's Note: As some of you may be in a pre-mourning phase as I am, I've been reminiscing about my favorite years of ER and decided that even if they felt the need to emasculate and kill off one of the best characters, there was still a story to tell about Dr. 'Rocket' Romano. Hopefully I do him justice.

Chapter 1 – Car Trouble

"Shit, not again!" Grace said. "Please start, please!" she implored of her tired old chevy. It was 20 below as she sat pleading inside the front seat of her crappy vehicle, in the parkade of County General. Finally conceding defeat, she got out, slammed the door in disgust and yelled obscenities at her car which had once again let her down in her hour of need.

"Useless piece of shit!" She yelled out.

"Now, now, Miss Hanson, that's no way to talk about the Chief of Staff."

Recognizing the voice, she spun around completely embarrassed and a little terrified. A little surprised he even knew who she was, responded, "Dr. Romano. I'm so, so sorry. I was talking to my car."

"Does it talk back?" He said sarcastically.

Grinning slightly, she replied, "No, I think it's DOA actually."

"Well then, my sympathies. Do you need a ride home?"

"Oh, no, that's okay. I'll take the EL."

"In this weather? You realize you're risking frostbite and hypothermia just walking a couple of blocks in this weather? My ER spies tell me you're a lot smarter than that. Come on, my car's over here."

She looked at him, unsure of what to do. It seemed weird to have Dr. 'Rocket' Romano offering her a ride home.

"It's got seat warmers."

"Sold!" She agreed and gladly climbed inside. "Wow, this is a beautiful car." As she noticed it was a Jaguar.

"I know. Nothing like yours, is it?"

"Hey now, I'm just a poor nurse, remember? You don't pay me enough to drive a car like this."

"You're paid a fair salary, Miss Hanson. If you don't like it, you are welcome to go elsewhere."

"Well right now I'm glad to be going home, riding in the lap of luxury." She was not going to bite at his comment. She had worked at County about six months, long enough to know he enjoyed provoking people into impulsive arguments which usually ended in him coming out as the winner.

"Where do you live?"

"It's not far, just take the 94 and exit near the lake. It's an apartment building over near the waterfront."

"How quaint."

"It's lovely, thank you."

They sat in silence for the next few minutes until they reached her street.

"Just over there, on the left, Dr. Romano. I can't thank you enough for the ride. I hope it didn't take you out of your way too much."

"Well I can't have you calling in sick, Hanson. God knows I've got enough slackers in the ER right now and we need all able bodies on deck."

"Thanks so much, Dr. Romano. Goodnight."