Diagnosis Murder

No Time for Christmas

Part One

The sun rose high in the morning sapphire sky, but it couldn't stop the chill that filled the air. A brisk wind kept blowing around causing many to shiver except Dr. Mark Sloan. He was taking his third break of the day, leaning up against the door with his white doctor's coat and stethoscope around his neck he sighed. Instead of shivering like many of his other colleagues he welcomed the cold with open arms, it gave him a chance to feel something other than stress.

Every since this morning there has been nothing but floods of patients strolling into Community General Hospital some were merely walk-ins while others were brought in by the EMT's. With Christmas only a few days away he began to see a pattern to it all. From patients brought in from stampedes at various stores to husbands who tried to deep fry their turkeys and got too close to the oil. Yet even after so many cases everyone always seemed to find a little time for their self. Dr. Sloan looked down at his clock it was just a little after one o clock in the afternoon as a blissful silence filled the air. As he walked inside he smiled and nodded to the nurses and other doctors as they settled down to have lunch or disappear for a little break.

During this time of year they are always short staffed with many doctors cashing in on their vacation time. In fact even most of the cooking staff finally took their vacation leaving a skeleton crew to tend to the patient's food. This prompted the rest of the remaining staff to either eat out or bring something in from home.

Dr. Sloan went from room to room checking on the patient's. Amanda stood by the main counter where the head nurse Judy was busy answering a few calls and tending to some paper work. Amanda watched as Mark enter a patient's room and leave with a smile on his face as laughter emulated from that room. She spotted this a few times before she noticed something else, the moment he left the last room on the floor his once big smile slowly turned into a frown even the joy he gave the patient couldn't break his frown.

"He's the only one on this floor and the two above." Judy said.

"Yeah we've all been spread pretty thin now days." Dr. Bentley said.

Before Amanda could say another word Dr. Sloan walked over in her direction with a forced smile upon his lips.

"Ah how's everything on the lower levels? " Dr. Sloan asked.

"Pretty well no new patients but with it being so close to Christmas Eve I wouldn't hold your hopes up." Amanda said.

Dr Sloan let out a content sigh as Amanda gently touched his hand; Mark placed his other hand over hers and tapped it gently with a slight nod.

"Mark…." Amanda said in a concerned tone.

"I know, but I am fine we have a duty here and.…sacrifices have to be made." Dr. Sloan said in a reassuring tone.

Amanda nodded she could hear the sadden tone in her friend's voice. After a few moments she watched him walk down the hall and disappear around the corner. All she could feel was a wave of sadness, with Steve pulling some strings at work he could finally spend Christmas with his dad. But like everything in life it never goes as plan hence Dr. Sloan being stuck at Community General. This was happening to him and many others and it wasn't fair something needed to be done.

Suddenly a thought popped into Amanda's head, a smile formed across her lips as she looks back at Judy who seemed confused by the Doctor sudden change in personality.

"Meeting in the break room in ten minutes." Amanda said with a pair of stern eyes.

Judy could only nod in response as Amanda walk away with her head held high and a confident smile across her face. It was time to make life fair again not just for the patients but for everyone. She was going to need help to make this work and she knew exactly where to start.