Disclaimer: The majority of characters do not belong to me. They are property of John Wells, Michael Crichton and whatever channel it is that shows ER. The following is separate from ER.
Warning: Facts do not tie in with time-lines, the positions held by staff and the characters present have been taken from different seasons of ER.
Oh, and in my opinion it gets better as it goes along so try not to give-up that quickly!
1
The redhead grinned cheerfully and tucked the wailing baby back down in its cot, "Hey Mr!" The doctor exclaimed, "Doctor Mommy's diagnosis: cranky baby syndrome". She took a minute to lovingly stroke the child's head, "Really, Sandy fusses too much!" Chuckling, she turned from the now-silent baby and limped to the bed, where her crutch lay.
Manoeuvring her arm into the crutch the Chief of the ER picked up a black briefcase and quickly raced for the phone, "Hello?…oh, hi sweetie," the caller was obviously a welcome one for her abrupt tone changed to a soft one, "Really? Again?" Kerry looked over to where Henry wriggled in his crib, "No, no, I'm not angry at you Sandy, it's just that I'm running late…seven…half-six," Kerry stopped, defeated, "I know! I know! But I like to be early, you know that…" As if in agreement Henry let out a friendly squeal and Kerry smiled to herself, "Alright, it's fine, Henry says hi by the way. Oh, and, you can tell your mother that when she's running late she's perfectly able to call me and let me know, not everything has to go through you, you know!…Ok, ok, see you this evening, bye,"
The doctor, who would only be ten minutes early for work at this pace, caringly placed the phone back down onto the receiver. She checked her watch and sighed, but then, seeing Henry, a warm smile erupted on her face. "This is all your fault you know!" Kerry teased lovingly, "If you weren't so damn gorgeous Grandma Lopez would never have wanted to baby-sit in the first place and we could have got someone who'd turn up on time!"
Scooping the squirming baby up into her arms, Kerry adjusted him so he lay against her easily and she could still use her free arm to move the crutch. Her movements were precise and one could easily tell that she had had much practise in these actions.
Making her way down the stairs Kerry chattered confidently to the baby. At home, she was not the formidable woman her work colleagues knew her as. Instead, she was at ease; a stream of unintelligible sounds flowing from her mouth in a fluent conversation with the month-old baby.
"Right, beautiful, there's your Grandma," Kerry explained as the doorbell sounded, "And you remember, Grandma loves you very much, it isn't her fault she's such a bigot!" With Henry giggling and blowing bubbles in one arm Kerry opened the door. A stern face appeared, "Good morning" Kerry greeted.
With no words of greeting and no apologies for her lateness Sandy's mother took immediate hold of the struggling baby, "You shouldn't hold him with one arm," she scolded, "Not when he's this young. You need two good arms. If you walk, you might drop him. And mommy wouldn't be happy then"
Kerry turned so that her expression would not show. There was nothing she'd love more than to attack this old woman for her hateful views but she had to respect Sandy's decisions. Which meant amicable relations. Not that they were even on those terms yet: in the three years they had known each other their relationship had remained tense and cold. Not that Kerry hadn't tried; little did the ER staff know it, but when it really mattered, Kerry was eager to impress. So, she certainly couldn't be blamed for the current hostilities.
"Bye-bye my beautiful," Kerry planted a kiss on Henry's forehead, receiving a disapproving glare, "I'll be home later, okay? Be good for your grandma or no more dummies!"
After issuing warnings about his sleep-deprived state and commenting on the location of various ointments, stuffed animals and teas, Kerry moved to go. As she opened the front door she could hear the old woman cooing delightfully, "You miss your mommy, don't you? That's why you've not slept, you need your mommy to sing to you, Sandy will sing to you later baby, don't worry" It was all she could do to stop herself slamming the door in anger.
The heavy doors of the ER swung open automatically. Kerry was disappointed to see a roomful of patients as she entered the triage area. "Dr Malucci!" The redheaded doctor yelled over the noise of gossiping staff, "Dr. Malucci, what on earth is going on?"
A young doctor was sitting on the floor, nursing a bruised arm. A minute before there had been the 'swoosh' of fabric tearing open as he had flown backwards from a curtained cubical. He looked up, startled, and frowned at the Chief, "Um, I think we'll need security in there," he admitted.
Kerry shook her head and sighed. Then, dropping her briefcase onto the admittance desk she marched into the cubical. Pained expressions were seen on Dave's face as a series of, "Ow!"s, "Ouch!"s and "Hey!"s echoed from behind the curtains and then a triumphant Kerry marched out again. "I think he'll be a little more co-operative now," Kerry informed the floored doctor, "Oh, and you might need to accompany him to suturing,"
Ignoring the protests Kerry grabbed up her briefcase, which, had it remained a moment longer on the cheap desk, would surely have disappeared into the chaos of the ER. "Frank, who's the attending on duty?" without waiting for a reply her eyes had scanned the board, "Kovac!" She screamed out, "Kovac!"
A tall Croatian doctor appeared from the lounge, complete with thick winter coat. "What can I say?" he followed her gaze to the room-full of patients, "We come in, it's empty, you come in…you'll get rid of them all, leave, and five minutes later it'll be full again." He grinned mischievously, "But my shifts officially over, so, see you in twelve hours,"
Kerry shook her head and issued off a series of orders to anyone who happened to walk by: "Mr Grayling requires suturing, but not immediately; Jonathan Rivers was here when I checked out, get him up to radiology straight away; the woman with a sprained ankle in 4 can go home already; why the delay on the abuse case? Phone social services again or go drag them down, either will do; Abby you have to see your patients faster than this, go discharge cubical 4; who's in exam room 2? Shut-them up Yosh; Frank, I'll be in my office, just forward any calls – and I expect this place to be cleared by the time I come down!" With a last thought, "bleep me for any traumas," and she disappeared into an elevator.
Away from the trauma of the ER, life was much quieter for Kerry Weaver. Relaxing in her office chair, she surveyed the pile of paperwork that awaited her. A grim but determined expression entered her face. Even paperwork didn't seem such a gruelling task when she knew just who would be waiting for her on her return from work that evening.
The proud photo-frame that displayed her two most loved ones caught her attention and her face lit-up with a huge grin. She thought suddenly of Mark Greene, he would never have predicted her this happy, with a family, she thought, and then she frowned as she remembered the one he had left behind.
"They're happy Mark, don't worry," she whispered into the surrounding air. Mark had been a good friend to her. He might never have called her a friend, but he had been there for her in her times of weakness, when she was fragile, always supporting her as she tried to gain control. Well, she had betrayed him a few times, but it had worked out okay. And…she may not have been invited to his wedding but…Kerry's mind faltered. She hadn't been the best of friends to him, she had to admit, but they had had a mutual relationship of respect, she was sure, and she tried to do her best for Elizabeth now Mark no longer could. "sorry," she whispered, and felt more comfortable in the accepting office.
All at once, the phone rang, piercing the silence with a high-pitched squeal. Kerry grabbed it up immediately, "What?" she barked. "Who?" Her stomach fluttered and she clutched the receiver fiercely, "You're…you're sure?" Green eyes, misty with confusion, gazed out of the window, trying to make sense of this news, "Okay, put her through,"
There was a gap of what seemed like eternity as Kerry sat, suspended in time. In a room full with the evidence of promotion; at a desk that proudly displayed photos of her new family; in a life where everything had changed since her regretful betrayal, Kerry's world turned upside down.
At last, there was a muffled click. Kerry's stomach churned, her heart throbbed, her pulse beat wildly and her throat ached. Her mouth forced itself open, "Kim?"