TITLE: Altered Expectations - part 4/?
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh
EMAIL: cein@eircom.net
CATEGORY: humor/other
RATING: PG-15
SPOILERS: last episode seen 'Lockdown'
Last relevant episode 'Blood Sugar Sex Magic'
DISCLAIMER: "ER" and all its characters belong to Warner Bros. No infringement of their copyright is intended. This story was written for the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and may be downloaded for your own pleasure. Altered Expectations
-------------------------------
Part 4
Previously on ER - Kerry found out that she couldn't fire Dave, but had to be content with putting him on 2 months unpaid suspension followed by 6 months probation. She ordered Luka to supervise his probation. On his own initiative, Luka told Dave that he was going to make him into a competent doctor. Dave realized that he was going to find it impossible to make ends meet while on suspension, and decided to become a human guinea pig for a "Merrontex Laboratories' a drugs company. He was accepted into their clinical trials to test out a new 'anti-rejection' drug.
-----------------
Luka put a package down on the admit desk. "Randi, there should be a courier arriving shortly to collect this package. Would you be so kind as to make sure that he gets it?"
Randi eyed the package curiously. "You sending Malucci a present or something?" she asked dryly as she read the address on it.
"These are some medical journals and notes for him to peruse while he is suspended," explained Luka. "I have told him that I expect him to put his 'free time' to good use."
Randi snorted derisively. "No offence Dr. Kovac, but I think any books that he's gonna be reading are going to have a *lot* more pictures in them, if you know what I mean." She winked at Luka.
Kerry was filling in a chart at the other end of the desk. Hearing the conversation she looked up and commented, "I hope that you're not billing County for that courier."
Luka ignored her snide comment and replied to Randi, "If you are referring to such magazines as Playboy or Hustler, I am quite sure that he will not let such publications distract him from his studies."
This time it was Kerry who snorted derisively.
Luka looked at her and said, "Did you wish to say something, Dr. Weaver?"
"Only that I feel you're wasting your time trying to 'educate' Dr. Malucci," she replied. "After two years at County, he's still no better a doctor than he was on his first day."
"Maybe he was just never given adequate training and supervision.an oversight which I intend to remedy," replied Luka, evenly. He could see that the barb had hit home and he congratulated himself. "And you do not need to worry about the courier, I shall of course be covering the cost myself." Turning, he walked away.
"Kovac 1, Weaver 0," thought Randi with amusement. She briefly considered opening the package and sticking something embarrassing in it, but realized that since it was going to Malucci, there was probably nothing sufficiently embarrassing in the entire hospital. Rumor had it that some of the surgical nurses had managed to obtain some nude photos of Romano and were willing to part with them for a sufficient sum. But there was 'embarrassing', and then there was plain scary, and she knew which category *those* would fit in to. Now if there was any nude photos of Dr. *Kovac* going round.those she would pay to see.of course, so would half the nurses in the ER. Mmm, Randi stared after Luka's retreating figure and wished that there was some sort of dress code that would prevent certain of the male doctors from hiding their butts with lab coats. Man, that was one thing to be said for Malucci.he *always* knew how to dress. Mmm, those muscular arms almost bursting out from his scrub tops.those tight jeans that showed off his ass to perfection.and boy, what an ass.
"RANDI!"
Randi pulled herself back to the present to see Weaver looking angrily at her. "Um, yeah Dr. Weaver?"
-----------------
Dave whistled merrily to himself as he packed his rucksack. Or to be more accurate, as he threw a random selection of clothing into it and squashed them down as much as possible. He didn't think he'd need that much clothing. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to be going any place for the next few weeks. So most of the space in the bag was being taken up by CDs, books and stuff like that. He looked at the pile of journals that had been delivered to his apartment the day before and reluctantly put them to one side. It wasn't that he didn't *want* to take them with him.well okay, he *didn't* want to take them. Partly because they weren't exactly his reading matter of choice, but mainly because he didn't want to take the risk that anyone at Merrontex would find out that he was a doctor. It probably wouldn't make any difference. Hell, most likely nobody would even notice.but still, he couldn't take the risk. But he felt slightly guilty as he put them to one side. After all, he *had* promised Luka that he'd 'get his act together'.
Oh crap, thought Dave, realizing that he'd have to tell Luka that he was going to be away for the next few weeks. Not that the guy was going to be keeping tabs on him or anything, but the note with the journals had made it clear that Luka wasn't just going to sit back and wait until Dave returned to County before commencing his 'education'. And while it wasn't really any of Luka's business what Dave did for the next two months, he sort of figured that since the guy was going out of his way to 'help' him, it'd be only good manners to let him know that he wasn't just trying to avoid him but that he had a legitimate reason for not keeping in contact.
Before he could forget about it, he dialed Luka's number - which had been scribbled at the top of the note.
-------------------------
"Go away," muttered Luka, as the noise of the phone ripped through his consciousness. He pulled the pillow over his head and waited for the answering machine to pick it up. Then he remembered that the machine had been broken during his move and he hadn't gotten around to buying a new one. He had meant to replace it, but when he went to the shop, there had been a brand new Playstation on display almost *begging* him to buy it. By the time he had purchased the console and the games and the steering wheel/pedals set that the salesman had assured him were 'must have' accessories, he had forgotten the original purpose of his shopping expedition. He would have gone back on his next day off, but the Zombies had had other ideas. Now he cursed in muffled Croatian as he reached blindly for the phone.
"Odiebi!"
"Uh, Dr. Kovac?" asked Dave, wondering if he'd accidentally misdialed.
Luka frowned as he recognized the voice. "Malucci? What the hell do you mean by phoning me at this hour?"
"Um, it's 10 in the morning. Oh.you were on nights, right? Sorry about that."
Luka sighed as he sat up in the bed. "No, you weren't to know." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What do you want?"
"I just thought you should know.I've got a temporary job.and I'm gonna be away for the next few weeks. Just figured I ought to tell you in case, I dunno, in case you were looking for me." As Dave finished speaking, he realized how lame it sounded. As if Dr. Kovac was going to be bothered about what he was doing for the next two months.
"Oh.fine," said Luka, yawning involuntarily. He slid back down in the bed. "Let me know when you get back."
"I will," promised Dave.
"And have fun in your job," added Luka, sliding the handset back onto the phone and pulling the blankets up around him.
-----------------------
Well, 'fun' wasn't exactly the word he would have used to describe it, thought Dave twenty-four hours later.
Lying flat on his back on a gurney waiting for the 'implantation' procedure to get started, he was feeling half nervous, half excited. Nervous because, well, let's face it, who *wouldn't* be a bit freaked out by having something stuck in their body that had no right being there. But a part of him was also pretty excited. After all, the medical trials he was participating in could easily revolutionize the field of organ transplants.or so the blurb on the 'release form' had said. It had said a lot more, but he had figured that was just a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo and had ignored it.
But anyway, he was getting paid to sit around on his ass all day.what more could a guy want. Well, at this moment, Dave wanted something to eat. But he'd been kept on liquids only, since the previous night when he had checked into the labs. Oh well, he was sure they'd feed him *after* the procedure.pretty sure, anyway.
Of course, there were a few 'perks' to this thing already. As was standard with all surgical procedures, it was necessary to shave the relevant area. Dave hadn't been too happy to hear that.at least until Linda had shown up with the razor. Normally he didn't like to let women with sharp objects within two feet of his 'vital statistics', but when they were as blonde and pretty as Linda was, he thought he'd make an exception, and had willingly stripped to the waist.
"Are you comfortable there, Mr. Malucci?" asked Linda, suddenly appearing beside the gurney.
"Sure am," grinned Dave, "But please.call me Dave."
"Okay Dave," smiled Linda as she pulled up Dave's gown and quickly and expertly started setting up for the procedure.
"Hey, why you're doing that?" asked Dave, as Linda set up a screen, which blocked his view of his now exposed abdomen.
"I'm afraid that Dr. Graham doesn't allow the test subjects to watch the procedure," explained Linda. "He's afraid that it'll make them change their minds."
"Aw," said Dave, a note of disappointment in his voice.
Linda patted his hand. "If you want, I can talk you through what's happening?"
"Thanks.I'd like that," said Dave, flashing her a winning smile.
A few minutes later, Dr. Graham breezed into the room. "Is the subject ready?" he asked Linda, while ignoring Dave.
"He's prepped and ready to go," replied Linda. "Implantation site has been disinfected."
"Good," said Graham. "Lidocaine, please."
"We're just going to give you a shot to numb the area," explained Linda. "You'll just feel a little sting."
Dave stifled an exclamation. Jesus, could that guy be any rougher?
He felt something damp being painted onto his abdomen. "Now we're just going to use an ultrasound machine to make sure that Dr. Graham doesn't hit anything."
The hiss and click of the ultrasound machine was the only noise in the room for a few minutes. Then Dave felt a slight pressure on his abdomen. Before he could ask what it was, it was gone.
"Time of implantation 11.30," said Dr. Graham, looking at the clock.
Dave could hear him ripping off his gloves.
"Time noted," said Linda, writing on the chart.
"Okay then," said Graham, walking away without a backward glance.
Linda smiled down at Dave. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"That's it?" asked Dave, surprised.
Linda nodded. "Congratulations Dave. How does you feel, knowing that you're a part of medical history."
"Hungry," grinned Dave. "When do I eat?"
--------------------------------
To be continued
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh
EMAIL: cein@eircom.net
CATEGORY: humor/other
RATING: PG-15
SPOILERS: last episode seen 'Lockdown'
Last relevant episode 'Blood Sugar Sex Magic'
DISCLAIMER: "ER" and all its characters belong to Warner Bros. No infringement of their copyright is intended. This story was written for the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and may be downloaded for your own pleasure. Altered Expectations
-------------------------------
Part 4
Previously on ER - Kerry found out that she couldn't fire Dave, but had to be content with putting him on 2 months unpaid suspension followed by 6 months probation. She ordered Luka to supervise his probation. On his own initiative, Luka told Dave that he was going to make him into a competent doctor. Dave realized that he was going to find it impossible to make ends meet while on suspension, and decided to become a human guinea pig for a "Merrontex Laboratories' a drugs company. He was accepted into their clinical trials to test out a new 'anti-rejection' drug.
-----------------
Luka put a package down on the admit desk. "Randi, there should be a courier arriving shortly to collect this package. Would you be so kind as to make sure that he gets it?"
Randi eyed the package curiously. "You sending Malucci a present or something?" she asked dryly as she read the address on it.
"These are some medical journals and notes for him to peruse while he is suspended," explained Luka. "I have told him that I expect him to put his 'free time' to good use."
Randi snorted derisively. "No offence Dr. Kovac, but I think any books that he's gonna be reading are going to have a *lot* more pictures in them, if you know what I mean." She winked at Luka.
Kerry was filling in a chart at the other end of the desk. Hearing the conversation she looked up and commented, "I hope that you're not billing County for that courier."
Luka ignored her snide comment and replied to Randi, "If you are referring to such magazines as Playboy or Hustler, I am quite sure that he will not let such publications distract him from his studies."
This time it was Kerry who snorted derisively.
Luka looked at her and said, "Did you wish to say something, Dr. Weaver?"
"Only that I feel you're wasting your time trying to 'educate' Dr. Malucci," she replied. "After two years at County, he's still no better a doctor than he was on his first day."
"Maybe he was just never given adequate training and supervision.an oversight which I intend to remedy," replied Luka, evenly. He could see that the barb had hit home and he congratulated himself. "And you do not need to worry about the courier, I shall of course be covering the cost myself." Turning, he walked away.
"Kovac 1, Weaver 0," thought Randi with amusement. She briefly considered opening the package and sticking something embarrassing in it, but realized that since it was going to Malucci, there was probably nothing sufficiently embarrassing in the entire hospital. Rumor had it that some of the surgical nurses had managed to obtain some nude photos of Romano and were willing to part with them for a sufficient sum. But there was 'embarrassing', and then there was plain scary, and she knew which category *those* would fit in to. Now if there was any nude photos of Dr. *Kovac* going round.those she would pay to see.of course, so would half the nurses in the ER. Mmm, Randi stared after Luka's retreating figure and wished that there was some sort of dress code that would prevent certain of the male doctors from hiding their butts with lab coats. Man, that was one thing to be said for Malucci.he *always* knew how to dress. Mmm, those muscular arms almost bursting out from his scrub tops.those tight jeans that showed off his ass to perfection.and boy, what an ass.
"RANDI!"
Randi pulled herself back to the present to see Weaver looking angrily at her. "Um, yeah Dr. Weaver?"
-----------------
Dave whistled merrily to himself as he packed his rucksack. Or to be more accurate, as he threw a random selection of clothing into it and squashed them down as much as possible. He didn't think he'd need that much clothing. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to be going any place for the next few weeks. So most of the space in the bag was being taken up by CDs, books and stuff like that. He looked at the pile of journals that had been delivered to his apartment the day before and reluctantly put them to one side. It wasn't that he didn't *want* to take them with him.well okay, he *didn't* want to take them. Partly because they weren't exactly his reading matter of choice, but mainly because he didn't want to take the risk that anyone at Merrontex would find out that he was a doctor. It probably wouldn't make any difference. Hell, most likely nobody would even notice.but still, he couldn't take the risk. But he felt slightly guilty as he put them to one side. After all, he *had* promised Luka that he'd 'get his act together'.
Oh crap, thought Dave, realizing that he'd have to tell Luka that he was going to be away for the next few weeks. Not that the guy was going to be keeping tabs on him or anything, but the note with the journals had made it clear that Luka wasn't just going to sit back and wait until Dave returned to County before commencing his 'education'. And while it wasn't really any of Luka's business what Dave did for the next two months, he sort of figured that since the guy was going out of his way to 'help' him, it'd be only good manners to let him know that he wasn't just trying to avoid him but that he had a legitimate reason for not keeping in contact.
Before he could forget about it, he dialed Luka's number - which had been scribbled at the top of the note.
-------------------------
"Go away," muttered Luka, as the noise of the phone ripped through his consciousness. He pulled the pillow over his head and waited for the answering machine to pick it up. Then he remembered that the machine had been broken during his move and he hadn't gotten around to buying a new one. He had meant to replace it, but when he went to the shop, there had been a brand new Playstation on display almost *begging* him to buy it. By the time he had purchased the console and the games and the steering wheel/pedals set that the salesman had assured him were 'must have' accessories, he had forgotten the original purpose of his shopping expedition. He would have gone back on his next day off, but the Zombies had had other ideas. Now he cursed in muffled Croatian as he reached blindly for the phone.
"Odiebi!"
"Uh, Dr. Kovac?" asked Dave, wondering if he'd accidentally misdialed.
Luka frowned as he recognized the voice. "Malucci? What the hell do you mean by phoning me at this hour?"
"Um, it's 10 in the morning. Oh.you were on nights, right? Sorry about that."
Luka sighed as he sat up in the bed. "No, you weren't to know." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What do you want?"
"I just thought you should know.I've got a temporary job.and I'm gonna be away for the next few weeks. Just figured I ought to tell you in case, I dunno, in case you were looking for me." As Dave finished speaking, he realized how lame it sounded. As if Dr. Kovac was going to be bothered about what he was doing for the next two months.
"Oh.fine," said Luka, yawning involuntarily. He slid back down in the bed. "Let me know when you get back."
"I will," promised Dave.
"And have fun in your job," added Luka, sliding the handset back onto the phone and pulling the blankets up around him.
-----------------------
Well, 'fun' wasn't exactly the word he would have used to describe it, thought Dave twenty-four hours later.
Lying flat on his back on a gurney waiting for the 'implantation' procedure to get started, he was feeling half nervous, half excited. Nervous because, well, let's face it, who *wouldn't* be a bit freaked out by having something stuck in their body that had no right being there. But a part of him was also pretty excited. After all, the medical trials he was participating in could easily revolutionize the field of organ transplants.or so the blurb on the 'release form' had said. It had said a lot more, but he had figured that was just a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo and had ignored it.
But anyway, he was getting paid to sit around on his ass all day.what more could a guy want. Well, at this moment, Dave wanted something to eat. But he'd been kept on liquids only, since the previous night when he had checked into the labs. Oh well, he was sure they'd feed him *after* the procedure.pretty sure, anyway.
Of course, there were a few 'perks' to this thing already. As was standard with all surgical procedures, it was necessary to shave the relevant area. Dave hadn't been too happy to hear that.at least until Linda had shown up with the razor. Normally he didn't like to let women with sharp objects within two feet of his 'vital statistics', but when they were as blonde and pretty as Linda was, he thought he'd make an exception, and had willingly stripped to the waist.
"Are you comfortable there, Mr. Malucci?" asked Linda, suddenly appearing beside the gurney.
"Sure am," grinned Dave, "But please.call me Dave."
"Okay Dave," smiled Linda as she pulled up Dave's gown and quickly and expertly started setting up for the procedure.
"Hey, why you're doing that?" asked Dave, as Linda set up a screen, which blocked his view of his now exposed abdomen.
"I'm afraid that Dr. Graham doesn't allow the test subjects to watch the procedure," explained Linda. "He's afraid that it'll make them change their minds."
"Aw," said Dave, a note of disappointment in his voice.
Linda patted his hand. "If you want, I can talk you through what's happening?"
"Thanks.I'd like that," said Dave, flashing her a winning smile.
A few minutes later, Dr. Graham breezed into the room. "Is the subject ready?" he asked Linda, while ignoring Dave.
"He's prepped and ready to go," replied Linda. "Implantation site has been disinfected."
"Good," said Graham. "Lidocaine, please."
"We're just going to give you a shot to numb the area," explained Linda. "You'll just feel a little sting."
Dave stifled an exclamation. Jesus, could that guy be any rougher?
He felt something damp being painted onto his abdomen. "Now we're just going to use an ultrasound machine to make sure that Dr. Graham doesn't hit anything."
The hiss and click of the ultrasound machine was the only noise in the room for a few minutes. Then Dave felt a slight pressure on his abdomen. Before he could ask what it was, it was gone.
"Time of implantation 11.30," said Dr. Graham, looking at the clock.
Dave could hear him ripping off his gloves.
"Time noted," said Linda, writing on the chart.
"Okay then," said Graham, walking away without a backward glance.
Linda smiled down at Dave. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"That's it?" asked Dave, surprised.
Linda nodded. "Congratulations Dave. How does you feel, knowing that you're a part of medical history."
"Hungry," grinned Dave. "When do I eat?"
--------------------------------
To be continued