Chapter 7: An Intern is Missing!

Mark was looking at the OR board when the Chief walked by scowling.

"Everything okay Chief?"

"I'm missing an intern. On their first day! Can you believe it? One of the most prestigious surgical intern programs in the country and I have a no show! I should have suspected something last night when they didn't show at the mixer."

Mark tried not to laugh and asked, "Let me guess. It's a female. Pregnant or ran off to some other county to study art history? Has this ever happened before?"

Richard turned and said, "Not to me! Never! Never have I had a no show. And it's just like…this….This is a burr under my saddle!" He stalked off talking to himself.

Mark thought to himself, what the hell does that mean?

He went to find Derek and was thankful they were above the rank of being assigned interns. They were only stuck with working with them.

Derek had seen Debbie gathering her stuff after the overnight shift. He asked with great disappointment, "No change?"

"Sorry Dr. Shepherd. I changed her bandages around three am and her vitals are good. But she's still unconscious." She handed him Jane Doe's chart.

"Shit! Sorry…I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Debbie smiled and said, "Don't worry. I say that to myself a lot during a shift." She had never heard Dr. Shepherd swear before. This patient had really gotten to him.

Derek said sheepishly, "Thanks Debbie."

"Goodnight or good morning or whatever."

Derek read the chart and went into his patient's room. He did an exam and notated in the chart that there were no changes. He sat in the uncomfortable chair next to her bed.

"So, little one. You don't want to wake up yet? They are getting ready to serve a good healthy breakfast. But I'm guessing you are more of a snickers and chips girl for some reason. If you wake up, I'll get you whatever you want."

Mark leaned in the doorway and asked softly, "So, now you are trying to bribe a patient to wake up?"

Derek glanced up and said, "Whatever it takes. Why isn't anyone looking for this girl?"

Mark walked into the room and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe no one knows she's missing yet?"

Derek asked, "How can that be? Everyone has someone."

Mark said seriously, "Not everyone is as fortunate as you and I am Derek."

Derek raked his hand through his hair and said, "Yeah. I know. But…"

Dr. Nelson walked into the room and boasted, "So I just finished a successful craniotomy."

Mark said, "That's great Jack."

Dr. Nelson sighed and said, "It's Jim."

Derek stood up and said, "Congratulations."

Dr. Nelson said, "So, I guess you got the short end of the stick with this one. When are you going to transfer her?"

Derek scowled and said, "I'm not going to transfer her."

Dr. Nelson replied, "Well, that's what places like Mayfield nursing home are for. Vegetables, as in the garden. Besides, you can't tie up an ICU bed for this."

Derek hissed, "Get out!"

"I'm just saying…"

Derek advanced on Dr. Nelson and Mark stepped in-between them. He quickly recognized a rare Derek dark mood.

Mark said under his breath to the shadow, "If you value your life, you might want to walk away right now! And if he hits you, I'm letting a brand-new intern suture you up!"

Dr. Nelson scurried away and wondered. Shepherd was always so easy going. What was up with him? A patient he couldn't fix?

Derek turned back to the bed and said softly, "I hope you didn't hear that. But if you did, ignore him. He doesn't know what he is talking about. All your tests came back clear. All you need to do is wake up. Your brain is resting and healing right now." He noticed that her pulse and blood pressure had dropped a few points.

Mark came over to the other side of the bed and started checking her lacerations and hands.

"How is the patient doing?"

Derek glanced up at the person in the doorway and said, "I'll talk to you in the hall."

He walked out and motioned for the man to follow him to the nurse's station.

"She's still unconscious. But all her tests are clear. Hopefully, she'll be waking up soon."

"So I got most of the information from Dr. Bailey about all the patients who were injured. We've identified them all. Your patient is the only one we haven't. Her clothes didn't help. They could have been purchased at any upscale store anywhere. I initially thought she might be a runaway or a throwaway, but that's unlikely with those clothes and shoes."

Derek nodded and asked, "Did you get all the personal belongings back to their owners?"

"Yeah. No left over wallets or purses."

Derek said, "Shit. I was hoping you'd come up with an extra."

"Like a driver's license with her picture on it."

Derek replied, "I know. Too easy."

Mark walked up and handed the chart to one of the nurses.

Derek said to Mark, "You know detective Burke."

Mark shook his hand and said, "Yeah. We've met." Burke usually showed up whenever they got a gunshot wound or a stabbing or any violent crime.

Derek asked, "What about that cruise ship? That might explain why she had nothing with her."

Burke said, "What about it?"

Derek asked, "Can't you find out if they are missing people? They have to have a passenger manifest. I think they are sailing tonight. I think I read they were going to be in port two days."

"That's two thousand people on that ship!"

Mark said, "So, can't be that hard. They have an electronic record when someone gets on and off the ship. You are issued a pass card that you have to use every time. Once everyone gets on board, they will know if someone is missing."

Derek said, "They do all the work."

Burke grumbled and admitted, "Not a bad idea. Is your Mr. Dickerson in good enough shape for me to question him and charge him?"

Derek said, "No. And it's not his fault. He has a medical condition that caused him to crash."

Burke asked, "Care to elaborate with some specifics?"

"No. But I'll ask him if I can provide you with the details."

Burke said, "Still have to charge him. Twenty-three people were hospitalized. Some really bad. The guy with the severed leg and that pregnant woman with glass in her heart to say the least."

Derek said, "The man is eighty-six years old. He barely survived the surgery yesterday."

Burke said, "Not my job to judge. Not my job to sentence. You know what is my job? My job is to gather and present the evidence. And that girl in there is evidence. Try to wake her up will ya?"

Mark said sarcastically, "Yeah. We'll do our job and how about you do yours?"

Burke walked off and said, "Let me know if she dies. Charges will change to homicide."

Derek said softly, "Pompous ass!"

Mark muttered under his breath, "Asshole!"

Derek sighed and said, "I have a surgery scheduled soon. How were her hands healing?"

Mark replied, "Good. I applied more ointment and fresh bandages."

Derek said, "Thanks Mark. I know you could let the nurses do that."

Mark rubbed his fingertips together and said, "Special patient gets the special hands."

Derek was in surgery most of the day. But in-between he spent time with Jane Doe. He had ordered more tests and was certain that she would wake up soon. He talked to her constantly just in case she could hear him. A couple of times, Bailey and Mark had been in there checking up on her too. It was after seven pm and he had showered and changed and was going to stop in before going home.

As he walked into the room, Tyler was changing her IV.

Derek asked, "Extra nutrients like I ordered?"

"Yes Dr. Shepherd."

Derek said, "She can't afford to lose any weight. Any changes?"

Tyler replied, "No. Not really."

Derek raised an eyebrow, "What's not really mean?"

Tyler said, "Well it was almost impeccable."

Derek said, "That's one of the reasons why I put her in ICU. I know you closely monitor the patients and you'll probably notice something before a doctor will. Tell me what you saw."

Tyler said hesitantly, "When I was adjusting the blankets around her, it seemed like she shifted down into the bed a little. Just so slightly, like I might have imagined it. And I thought she made a tiny noise another time."

Derek asked, "What kind of noise?"

"Um…..like a whisper half whimper? It was just a second and there was noise coming from the hall. Like I said, almost impeccable."

"That's good Tyler. She might be coming out of it. I'm sure you didn't imagine it either."

"And I talked to her like you suggested."

Derek said, "That's great." He did an exam as Tyler finished. He watched closely as Tyler tucked the blankets around her.

"Do you need anything else Dr. Shepherd?"

"No, but thank you so much for keeping an extra eye on her."

Derek sat in the chair as Tyler left the room.

He smoothed her hair back and noticed how silky it was. He looked at her long dark lashes. He smiled down at her. He glanced at the monitors and saw again that her pulse and blood pressure dropped a few points since he had been in the room.

"So, little one. I'm starting to think maybe you don't want to wake up. But you should. You don't belong in this bed. I know you didn't just fall from the sky. Someone has to be looking for you. If you don't wake up soon, we'll have to put your picture on the news to see if anyone knows you."

Derek stood up and said, "I'm leaving now, but I'll be back soon. I can't wait to see your beautiful smile. I've cleared my schedule for a few hours tomorrow so maybe we'll try to do some alternative stimuli to get you to wake up. I'd say sleep tight and sweet dreams, but I really need you to wake up. I'll be back before you know it." Derek once again smoothed her hair back.

Derek headed towards the lobby and no one saw her snuggle further into the bed and lightly moan.