November 23rd, 2000
"Sandy."
"Kerry. I thought you'd be off for Turkey Day."
"I am." Kerry paused, "I mean, I will be. Are you here for you?"
Sandy shook her head, "No, one of the boys. Is your friend still in town?"
Kerry put down her chart and picked up another one, "No. He's getting settled in Cambridge before they start the next semester."
"Ah, right."
"He's a slow unpacker." Sandy's eyebrows furrowed at that and Kerry sighed, "That was a joke."
Sandy patted the pile of charts, "Keep your day job Kerry."
Kerry put down her pen and turned so that she faced Sandy head on. "Are you making fun of me?"
Sandy smiled, "For today, yes, and hey, if your friend..."
"You don't want to try pronouncing his name."
Sandy stuck her tongue out at the redheaded doctor. "Now who's making fun. Since he's not here I wondered if you had somewhere to go for Turkey Day dinner? My mother said she'd do it later, wait 'til I was off tonight. And she always makes enough to feed an army for a coupla weeks."
"I... I already have plans. Sorry."
Sandy held a hand up, "Don't be sorry. I just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna be alone on the big ole Hallmark family togetherness holiday."
Kerry held up a hand, "No, I promise my plans do not include me alone in my apartment."
Sandy raised an eyebrow, "Swear on your little knee thingie?"
Kerry cracked a half a grin, "Yes, on my reflex hammer and my stethoscope. But I..."
"Have to get back to work. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Kerry Weaver."
As Kerry passed by she gave Sandy's shoulder a touch, "You too Sandy Lopez."
Kerry poked at her eyes, her contact lens, again. The left one just didn't feel right. She wasn't sure when it had shifted, but it was annoying the hell out of her. She'd fix it when she got home, if she ever got home. "Chen and Carter are later."
Randy, who was dressed in a surprisingly subdued manner was the one who responded, "It's pouring outside."
"You know, when I was a Resident I always left early during inclement weather."
Randi mouthed exactly what Kerry was saying and Kerry saw her, but decided to be giving because of the holiday and let it go.
Carter and Chen appeared as Kerry and Randi switched places at the admit desk. While Randi was doing work Kerry was mostly trying to pace away her frustration at not having gotten out of the ER when her shifted ended. "Ooh, boy it's a mess out there."
"Sorry we're late."
They strolled in as if they were on time, but Kerry let it slide, they were finally in the building, she could leave. "John, you've got a drunk with a hand lac in sutures." They joined her at admit, "Chen, a breast abscess in four. If you need an attending Kovac is here, Greene is due in an hour. Happy Thanksgiving."
Kerry stopped her fast retreat as she got Happy Thanksgiving'd and spotted Kim walking next to a tall balm man clutching a live turkey. "Taking Mr. Morgan up."
Kim smiled, "He's a bit anxious."
The man turned to Kerry who had called for the psych consult, but hadn't know that Kim had arrived to perform it. "They were gonna murder Bernadine."
"He's delusional, threatened to blow up his neighbor's house."
Kerry tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, not that she had a whole lot to tuck and Kim glanced over, still with a firm grip on the man's arm. "Did you do something different with your hair?"
"Not really."
Kim studied Kerry as they walked, "You look different somehow."
Kerry nodded, "Contacts." Kim realized that was it. Kerry's face seemed opener. "Broke my glasses."
Kim slowed down as they got to the hallway to the elevators. "Ohh, suits you."
"Thank you. Good luck Mr. Morgan."
Kim smiled, "We'll get Bernie somewhere safe and all have a good Thanksgiving."
Mr. Morgan mumbled, "THey were gonna murder her, they were."
The two women went their separate ways.
"Sandy, my child, are you okay?"
Sandy looked up from her plate, "I'm sorry Mama, what did you say?"
Florina smiled, "You haven't eaten a thing."
Sandy looked down, "Sorry. I... Sorry Mama. It's delicious."
She started to stab some dark meat with her for, but Florina put a hand over her daughter's. "Is it work?"
Sandy shook her head, "No... No. It's..." She closed her eyes, "It'll pass. And there's no way I'm missing your pie Mama, which means that I have to have a bit of Turkey. I'll live Mama, I promise." She leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She looked up at the rest of her family. "I'm fine. Really. Stop starin' at me like I'm on fire and eat. Eat."
"It's not like he swallowed one nail, we're talking pounds of hardware." Kerry threw her hands to either side of her. Kim was laughing and didn't seem to be able to stop laughing at Kerry's story. "Nails and screws and one of those metric socket sets. Pliers. I'm palpating this guy's belly," Kerry mimed palpating her own belly, "And there's a crescent wrench outlined in bass relief, I mean, just smashed up against the skin. And so, my husband says to me, you've gotta go in there and consent this guy."
Kim interrupted Kerry's story, "You were married?"
"Yes, uh, yeah, he was a surgical resident."
Kim's laughter had calmed, but she still smiled. There were layers upon layers to Kerry Weaver. "And so I go in there and say, 'Mr. Judson, how did you get all this stuff down' and he says, 'a good Chablis..." They were both laughing again. Probably disturbing the whole restaurant, but neither could find it in herself to care, "he says a good Chablis..." Kerry was laughing so hard that she nearly bent over the table. And then there was wine flying all over the place, hitting the table, the floor, and mostly Kim.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry."
But even as Kerry apologized Kim was still chuckling. She dabbed at the spill on the table and then her pants, put her napkin down and looked down at herself, "It's fine. No, you missed most of me."
"I will pay for the dry cleaning."
"Kerry, it's fine, really. That's why they make washing machines and stain sticks."
They both quieted down as the waiter appeared. He cleaned up the spill as best he could, shot both the now silent women a look that was not pleased and put their dinners down.
They ate in silence for a bit, and then Kim spoke, "Does he have a name?"
Kerry looked down at her plate. "Tom, aren't they called Tom turkeys?"
Kim smiled, "No. Your ex-husband. Usually if it's a more amicable divorce first names are used post divorce, otherwise it's nicknames that cannot be repeated in polite company. Luckily for you, I'm not polite."
Kerry paused, staring down at her plate, then finally looked up, "Hell, you'll hear it through the grapevine anyway, surprised you haven't. Nosy Mark and Elizabeth found out somehow. Robert. Doctor Romano."
"Whoa..." Kim trailed off, "Really?"
Kerry shrugged, "If I could change it, I would, hell, he's the reason I moved here when I did. Reason I went from surgery to emergency medicine."
"Robert Romano. But, you were here first? In Chicago, at County?"
Kerry nodded, "I was."
"That's something right?" Kerry shrugged again, "Hey. I'm not judging. I'm friends with a lot of my exes. I don't believe that there is only one other out there for each of us. Each person we connect with, love, doesn't mean we didn't love the previous less or will love those who come after less either."
Kerry looked up from her food, "Heady stuff Doctor Legaspi."
Kim made a face at Kerry, "Oh, go eat Tom."
Kerry chuckled and speared a gravy laden piece of white meat.
Carlos poked his sister in the shoulder, "It's Weaver isn't it... Ah, big sis."
Sandy gave her brother a hurf, "Don't start Carlos."
Carlos put his arm around his shorter sister. "Hey, you know I'm there for you, no matter what. But, she just screams straight."
"Oh? You're an expert on gaydar now little brother?" She gave him a bump with her hip.
Carlos smirked, "Better than you sis. Oh yeah." He got serious, "Hey, she screws with you. Just say the word. I know where she works, and I've been brushing up on my hiding a dead body skills too ya know."
Sandy chuckled, "I love you Carlos. Never change."
Carlos gave a faux salute, "Yes, ma'am."
"We're really at the 'why'd you become a doctor' question?"
"Apparently."
Kim gestured to Kerry with her fork, "You first then."
"What, telling you my ex saga wasn't enough?" The two doctors' gazes met. "Okay, okay. It wasn't the leg." Kerry paused, "You haven't asked."
Kim parried Kerry's statement with her own question, "Should I?"
"Congenital Hip Dysplasia."
Kim ate a bite, "So, it wasn't the hip."
"It wasn't. There was a boy in my class. He was so smart, so, so smart, but his body had failed him. I don't even know what was wrong. But I just remember wanting to know why his body could be so broken when his mind was not... not by a long shot, and I wanted to cure him, more than anything in the world."
Kim bit her lip, but a half a smile slipped out anyway. "God, that is so cute Kerry. You had a crush on him. Man, I bet your classmates gave you hell for that. I would have given you hell for that."
Kerry rolled her eyes, "I was in middle school Kim. C'mon. They gave me hell for breathing. Anyway. I don't know what happened to him, he didn't go to our high school so..."
Kim pursed her lips, "Mlungisi. Pretty damn smart too. A professor teaching at MIT. And Romano's an ass, but he's no slouch either. Hmmm... Like 'em smart huh?"
Kerry narrowed her eyes at Kim and changed the subject, "I told you mine, what's yours?"
Kim sobered a bit, "I... uh. You sure you want to hear this, it's not cute and cuddly like yours." Kerry nodded and Kim continued, "I was twelve. I'd had something or other at school that went into the night and I... It was Christmas time I think, definitely winter, colder than usual, but we lived just down the block from the school. My brother was walking me home. There were no sidewalks so we were in the road, but we'd done the same walk so, so many times before, light, dark, summer, winter." Kim trailed off.
"Kim? He... he died?" Kim nodded slowly, "I take back the question. You don't have..."
"No... You told me yours, I'll tell you mine." Kim took a breath and continued, "I never saw the car, but he did. Joe did."
Kim sighed, "Joseph Legaspi Jr. He died instead of me, and I never wanted to let that happen to anyone else. Ever. He was named after my father. He was fifteen. A lot of times I wonder, what if... if he had been four years older than me, sixteen already. If he'd had a car. Would I still be a doctor. Maybe he'd be saving the world as... something. He was such a good painter too. There's one... we went to Hawaii, our family, the four of us. I was ten, he was thirteen. He painted this amazing landscape of the beach and ocean."
She stopped speaking again and closed her eyes, "I came to, and he was sprawled on the side of the road. Still half alive. He was staring up at me from the pavement and with every breath I could see frosted cloud from his mouth," She paused, "get smaller. I just talked to him, tried to reassure him and I held his hand until he died."
Kerry sat forward, "The ambulance never came?"
"He was gone by the time they got there."
Kerry clasped her hands on the table, "Oh my God." She unclasped them as she looked up and continued speaking, "What happened to the driver that hit him?"
"Not enough. He was drunk, but this was nineteen years ago," Kim looked down with a sigh, "They, uh, revoked his license for a while," she brought her head back up and met Kerry's gaze, "and had him pick up trash on Saturday or something. Wow..." Kim put her hands over her face and gave a sad laugh, "I certainly got us off on a very depressing tangent." She put her hand on top of Kerry's in the middle of the table.
Kerry was perfectly still for a moment, then pulled her hand back. Kim looked around with a half smile. "I think we're going to close this place down."
The waiter appeared out of thin air and cleared his throat. Kim was spurred to action, "Oh, I'm sorry I haven't taken care of this..."
"Uh, no, let me..."
They spoke over, on and under each other as they both went for their purses and wallets.
"You know, why don't we just split it?"
"I got it." Kim won. She spoke to the waiter while she handed back the folder with her credit card in it, "Thank you."
They both put their wallets away and Kim looked up. She broached the subject she wasn't sure she wanted to breach. "You know, this is our second meal together, some people," she took a cleansing breath, "might consider a second meal a date."
The uncomfortable smile appeared on Kerry's face and Kim mentally kicked herself, "A date." Kerry shook her head and the smile left Kim's face.
"You know I'm gay, right?"
Kerry answered too fast, "Of course I do. I don't have a problem with that."
"Oh..." Kim dropped her gaze, "Oh, I'm sorry Kerry." She put her hand to her throat, "I misread this."
"No, I... it's I'm so sorry if... I mean. I..." Kerry finally just shut her mouth to stop the flow of insipid babbling.
"It's just that you called me down for eight psych consults in the past. We..."
"...we work well together." Their eyes met.
Kim threw Kerry a bone, a way out, "My instincts are usually a lot more reliable."
"No.. it's..." Kerry trailed off again.
The waiter arrived and Kim thanked him, took a look at the bill, wrote on it for a second and signed it. The blonde looked back up at Kerry and was confused by what she saw in the redhead's eyes. Kerry finally spoke when the silence nearly seemed to go on so long the 1812 Overture could have been played. "I don't... uh, I feel very..." Kerry sighed and put a hand over her heart, which felt as though it was going to escape her chest it was beating so hard and fast. "I should live in a cave somewhere for - for the great social skills I'm exhibiting. No wonder I have an ex. And I'm flattered. I just... I'm good at single. I finally have it down to a science, it's not as easy as it looks."
Kim smiled a little as she sat back, "Do you want to be single?"
Kerry clicked her tongue rhythmically, "Hear that?"
Kim smiled again, "Ticking clock. So, that's a no to my question."
Kerry shrugged, "That would be correct. But, ticking clock or not, I just am plain bad, bad, bad at relationships. Try to hard, don't try hard enough." She glanced around, changing the subject, "We should get out before they throw us out."
They both stood, put on their jackets and left the rest. On the sidewalk they stood there, silent. Kim finally broke the ice, "I'll see you at work?" That wasn't the question that Kim wanted to ask, she wanted to inquire whether or not Kerry was okay with the turn that their not-date had taken, or if she was going to totally freak out. Instead she stayed with a safe topic. Work.
Kerry was staring at something and nothing on the other side of the street. She shook her head, "I don't know, my schedule's crazy in the near future... but eventually though most likely. I'm... home's is right around the corner. So... I..."
Kim nodded, "See you."
"Yeah."
With that Kerry left Kim standing on the sidewalk alone. She watched until Kerry disappeared around the corner, then looked up at the dark sky. "What did I just step in Joey, and why the hell do I never manage to avoid it?"
Kim nearly jumped out of her skin as her phone rang. She picked it up, "Hello."
"What's wrong?"
Kim sighed, "Hey Mom. Nothing's wrong."
There was a pointed silence that only a mother could manufacture over a phone line, and then she spoke, "I called to make sure that you had a good Thanksgiving. Did you celebrate it with Christy?"
Kim leaned her head back against her couch and closed her eyes, "No Mom. She had some sort of dinner at her newest fling's parents' house. I went out with, with a..."
"Man? Ape? Four toed, orange haired bass player?"
Kim laughed, "Mom... She was a... a co-worker."
There was a sigh on the other side of the phone again, "Aren't there enough lesbians in the world Kimberly Legaspi, you have to fall for the straight ones. Ever since..."
"Mom..."
"I'll stop. Just remember that they can't help being straight. It's a biological problem they have, so, if she's a nice woman, don't hold it against her."
A laugh bubbled from Kim's mouth, "Thanks Mom. For cheering me up. I made... another fool of myself tonight. But she's so..., and I thought..." Kim shook her head, "I should get to bed Mom. But, I'll call you this weekend. We can talk about if you guys can come out here for Christmas. I'll probably be stuck working at least part of it, but..."
"I'll let you get your sleep then. I love you little one."
"Love you too Mom."
