Hey! It's the second installment- sorry it took so long, but a fevered trip to Atlanta always interrupts the writing process.

As you know, I don't own any of these characters, except for Melissa, and that's because she is without price. *grins*

Enjoy! Please read, review, and yes, this isn't the end! At least 6 more installments!








A few weeks later-

Melissa is moving into her new apartment, which is in
Malucci's building. It took a while to finish everything up, getting the paperwork signed, the utilities hooked up, all of her belongings shipped up, and adjusting to the craziness of the ER, but she was finally moving in. Dave is helping her carry stuff up to her small place. It seems almost chaos, but to her, it's perfect.

"That's the last of it," Dave comments, as he puts the
last box on the floor near the door.

"Dave, have I told you how much I appreciate all of
your help this weekend? You've been an angel. And I
owe you, hugely!" She runs, and embraces him in a big
hug.

Dave shifts uncomfortably. What should he say?
"Umm...anything for a friend." God, he didn't
need some child mooning over him, especially since she
was living practically on top of him.

She sighs, happily, flopping down on her couch. "You
know, since we've been moving all my stuff...we haven't
talked. I know nothing about you, except that you
seem to be an okay guy. How about sticking around?
I'll treat you to beer and pizza. You know, friend
bonding stuff, and all that."

Dave was tempted, but wasn't sure. "I don't know,
Melissa..."

"Oh my god! How insensitive am I? DUH- you probably
have a date or something." She feels like a complete
moron for not thinking of it before. "Dave, I
apologize. I should have thought...."

He laughs. "No, Melissa, not at all. It's just
that..."

"Well, Dave, don't let me keep you from the ladies who
must run panting to your door. Thank god I'll never
be one of them." She grins.

Dave thinks about this for a second. Now, her wanting
him was one thing, but... "Why not? Why won't you ever
pant after me?"

"Because Dave Malucci, I have more sense." With that,
she runs up and tickles his ribcage.



The next morning, Melissa and Dave hop out of her
small car at County. She locks it, and they cut up
and laugh their way into the ER.

Carter notices the two of them walking in together,
and comments, "Don't they just look chummy?"

Abby glances over, sees Melissa snickering at Dave,
and says, "They are just being friendly. She moved
into his apartment building."

"Well, isn't that just cozy!" Carter remarks. "Hey
Dave!"

"Yeah Carter, what is it?"

"I have a heart murmur in One, can you take it?"

"Carter, can I hang up my coat first?"

"No. Let your girlfriend hang it up for you." Carter cracks a smile.

Dave sighs as Melissa rolls her eyes at Carter. "Hey, put this in my locker for me, will you?"

"Sure, Dave. Just don't get used to the treatment."

Melissa walks into the lounge, and hangs up Malucci's
jacket in his locker. Then she looks to the end of the row, and there it was. Her own personal space, with a name: M. Bynum.

She was official, now. And it felt damn good.

She opens the door, puts her jacket away, and sees the little belongings that she keeps at work. Extra scrubs for those messy situations, packs of crackers for hunger, a little bag with change for the drink machine, and the other niceties that you want at work. She had been at work over a week now, and was just getting used to it.

County General was a good ER, with a good staff. They seemed friendly enough to her, and she had found a good friend in Dave Malucci. She was getting to know the others, a little at a time. The only person she hadn't met was Dr. Romano, who was the Chief of Staff, and she'd been warned about him.

Abby stuck her head in the door. "Melissa- we have a trauma coming in, five minutes, you almost ready?"

"Sure. Just a second."

She walks out, professional, ready to face the world another day.



"You did good work back there, Melissa." Peter Benton complimented her easily.

"And you weren't too bad yourself. You think quickly- I like that." Melissa nodded to him in appreciation. The young man who had come in almost dead had been revived by Peter's hands. The patient had fallen off a chair in his house, and cracked his head solidly on a countertop, causing massive bleeding in the brain. Peter had drained the blood, and gotten him up to surgery. He would be just fine.

Cleo walked up to Peter, clearly upset. "Peter, can I have a word?"

"Absolutely." Peter took her hand, and led her to one of the empty exam rooms.

"What's going on, Cleo?"

"It's my mother. She's very ill. She was diagnosed with lung cancer yesterday," she confided tearfully. "I have to go home."

"Oh, baby, that's awful. When are you leaving?"

"Right away, Peter. She's in stage 4. They've only given her weeks to live. I am going there to try to make as many things comfortable with her as I can."

"Where's Billy? Can you find him?" He knew that Cleo's brother was a constant pain in the ass, but maybe...

"I've called. Left a couple of messages, but he's out of town. I'll call him when I get to Mom's."

"If you don't call me Cleo- and let me know what's going on..." Peter spoke, tremors setting in his voice.

Cleo smiled a bit. That would be the only way she knew Peter cared. The small things. "Of course I'll call you."

She kissed him, long and hard, and with that, she was gone.


Mark was on his way to find some labs when he heard, "Mark, what the hell is going on?"

He knew that voice. "Already back from vacation, Dr. Romano?"

"Yeah, and I come back to find employment papers on a PA for the ER? Was I not clear in the fact that we were waiting on my return and approval?" the voice projected, angrily.

"Dr. Anspaugh..." Mark started, but was interrupted.

"You have Anspaugh, Kerry, yourself, and this PA in the conference room at 2 PM sharp today," he said, voice rising steadily.

He didn't wait for an answer, but walked down the hall, slamming the door to his office behind him.

"Damn it." Mark headed back to the ER. Kerry needed to know about this.


Carter was standing at the desk when Mark got back. "Hey Dr. Greene, is something wrong?"

"Where's Kerry?" was all he could muster to say. Romano was pissed, and it was time to do damage control.

"She's in exam three. Some patient with really bad allergies. Definitely interruptible." Carter said, jokingly.

"Thanks, Carter." He walks toward exam three, with a heavy sigh.

Abby puts a chart down, and notices Carter. "Is something going on?"

"I'm not actually sure, Abby."

Kerry was in exam three, conferring with Luka about their patient. "Dr. Kovac, have you done everything possible to find the source of her breathing problems?"

"In my opinion, yes, I have." Luka knew that suggesting the allergy test was an expensive, yet well needed medical procedure for the girl. She was sixteen, a child, yet the allergies she was facing was leaving her with hives, breathing problems, and other abnormalities.

"Order the tests, then." Kerry replied.

"Kerry- a moment?" Mark stuck his head into the room. By his face, Kerry could tell that something was amiss.

"Sure." She follows him out into the hallway. "What's going on?"

"Our friend Romano is back from vacation, and is just waiting to bust us on the PA situation. He wants us, Anspaugh, and Melissa upstairs today at 2 pm to discuss the situation."

"This isn't going to be pleasant, Mark. But I like Melissa- she gets along well with the staff, her patients like her, and her work is good. We need to have her stick around."

"We'll just have to see. If you could tell Melissa that we're..."

"We're what?" Melissa strolls up in the middle of the conversation. "You two are looking serious. Is something wrong?"

Kerry sighs. She didn't want Melissa meeting Dr. Romano this way, but it couldn't be helped. "Robert Romano wants to have a meeting with you today at 2 pm. Mark, Dr. Anspaugh, and I will be there with you."

Melissa raised her eyebrows. This wasn't a cheerful meeting being planned, and she knew it. "What am I missing?"

Mark decided to comment. "We weren't supposed to hire a PA without Dr. Romano's approval. And when Dr. Anspaugh did..."

"Oh, so he's annoyed that you did something without his approval." Melissa spoke without thinking, and sighs. "This isn't good."

Kerry, ever the optimistic, spoke up. "It may not be so bad."

Melissa just stared at her. "I've never even met the man, but I am living proof that someone stepped on his toes. He's going to be enraged."

"We'll handle it, Melissa." Mark remarked firmly.

"Well, I am going to deal with patients- hopefully it won't be the last patients I see at here at County." She throws over her shoulder as she walks away.

"What do you think he'll do, Mark?" Kerry questions.

Mark just shrugs. "I don't know, Kerry. I just don't know."


"Carter! Benton! Ambulance!"

Carter and Benton rush to the bay just in time to see an ambulance pull up. The EMTs are already making their way around the vehicle when it comes to a stop.

"44 year old male, hit by a mini-van. Suffering from lower back pain, several abrasions to the skin, and a nice bump on the head."

"We need a CT, chem. Panel, and is trauma two open?" Benton started, as Carter just seemed to follow his lead.

"Yes." Carter replied, just pushing the gurney with the man moaning in pain.

"Let's get him in there people, let's move!" Peter impatiently sputtered, as they went down the hall.

Abby saw the crowd that was following Peter, and decided she would just be in the way. So she started doing checkup on patients- making sure that everyone was comfortable. She had just finished up the exam rooms, when she saw Dave, reading to a young child.

Dave looked up at her, smiled, and went back to his reading. "Dave could be sweet," she thought to herself, "if only he weren't so hardheaded."

Melissa walked up on the scene, behind Abby, and whispered, "Fantasing, Abby?"

Abby laughs, a full hearty laugh. "I think not. Dave's not quite my type. More yours, I'd think."

Melissa laughs back. "Dave would never be interested in me. And besides, we are just friends. He just doesn't light that fire in me. But speaking of fire, I have a meeting with the devil himself today."

"With Dr. Romano? What did you do?"

"Well, it was something about being hired while he was on vacation."

Abby sighed. Romano wasn't nice on a good day. This would be awful. "Well, good luck."

"Yeah, thanks."

Melissa walks towards the elevators. It's around 1:50- but it wouldn't hurt to be a little early for the meeting.

A voice out of exam three says, "Hey, come help me!"

Melissa moves quickly to the exam room, where she sees Luka, trying to restrain a patient. "STOP IT. Leave me alone!" The patient is furiously trying to get off the bed, and away from the hospital. She immediately runs to the bed, and lays across the patient, while Luka closes the restraints. "Thanks. Can you help me get some blood from him, too, while you are here?"

"Sure, if it's a quick stick. I have to be upstairs in a few."

She gets out the vials and needles, and prepares all the instruments. "Will he jump when I stick him? I just want to be prepared for it."

"You bet I'll jump. No needles!" The man on the bed is irate, struggling against his bonds.

"He shouldn't. He's restrained."

She got everything ready, and made the stick. No vein. "I'm going to be late, if I don't hit blood soon," she thinks to herself. She keeps trying. His veins were rolling, and the patient's comments were starting to play in her mind.

"Get this bloodsucker away from me. She's hurting!"

"Calm down, Sir, it'll only take..."

"Damn it! Stop that!"

She finally hit a vein, after a few minutes of trying. She watched the blood seep into the vial, closed off the needle, and discarded it, handing Luka the blood for the labwork.

"Thanks, Melissa. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Luka."

She left the room, and headed for the elevator.


"So where is this amazing prodigy of yours, Donald?" She couldn't be on time for her own meeting?" Dr. Romano remarked, as the foursome waited on the last party to arrive.

"She was waiting on patients, Robert. The ER isn't the slowest department in this building, that's for sure." Mark said snidely. He was tired of Romano's attitude.

Dr. Anspaugh defended himself. "She's a good PA Robert. I called all her references, and even her school and internship coordinator. She's beyond reproach. If I hadn't hired her, we'd have lost her to another hospital."

"I told you before I left, this matter was to be settled..."

Kerry piped up. "She's doing a good job, Robert, why not just let the matter ride?"

Melissa walks into the outside office, and is ready to knock on the conference room door, when she hears Romano rant.

"Because, if you must know Kerry, I have a real problem with a woman, who is barely old enough to be a candy striper, working as a PA in the busiest ER in Chicago! She's a KID for god sakes! How much experience can she really have? Besides, we've all seen the hiring Anspaugh has done. There was that woman who faked her credentials, and locked Mark in an MRI room. We won't even go into Malucci, or that Croatian guy."

Melissa knocks politely, and before anyone can answers, walks in the room.

"Good afternoon. Sorry, I got tied up with a patient." She walks right up to Dr. Romano, and puts on her best chesire cat smile. "Hi, I am Melissa Bynum, physicians assistant or resident candy striper. Take your pick, but my salary stays the same."

Kerry arched a brow. This could be interesting.

"Yes, well, Ms. Bynum, we were just discussing the hasty decision we made hiring you. Missy, to be perfectly honest..."

"Unless you want to be called Robbie or Bob, Dr. Romano, I would suggest sticking to Ms. Bynum or Melissa," she says tartly.

"Ah a youngster who has a problem with authority. How cute." Romano's humor is dry.

"I applied for, and was hired on this job for my merits, not based on age, sex, or other factors. My work is done, and done well. The patients enjoy me, the other faculty members seem to appreciate my talents. I don't see the point of this meeting at all."

Dr. Anspaugh clears his throat. "If I may say something, I think Melissa is a wonderful asset to this hospital."

"I was wary at first too, Robert. But her ethic is exceptional, and she has a good reputation with the patients." Mark chimed in, smiling at Melissa.

"If we stepped on your toes, Robert, I apologize. But Melissa is truly a good breath of fresh air for the ER." Kerry inserts.

Robert Romano looks around the room, and then his eyes glaze over the young one.

"The point of this meeting was for me to meet the new PA and approve of her. And I do approve. I do, however, want to speak with her for a moment in private. The rest of you may go."

Kerry and Mark look at each other. This wasn't what they expected. But they rise to their feet, and walk out the door. Dr. Anspaugh touches Melissa's shoulder before he exits, as a sign of faith.

"Ms. Bynum," Dr. Romano began, "I want you to understand something. This is my hospital. And the way I want it run in under my command. Now, with that said, I want it to be perfectly clear that if you make light of my authority again, I will see to it that your days at County are numbered."

"Dr. Romano," she replied, "My being hired was not my fault. Granted, I applied for the job, but I had no idea that you were chief, and you were in control of the personnel at the hospital. But with that in mind, you bring me up here, and try to humilate and intimidate your coworkers because they didn't do things the way you wanted them to be done. If you ever insult me, my age, or my work ethic again, don't worry about me trying to destroy your authority. You'll have a bigger fish to fry."

With that, she walks out, slamming the door to the conference room.