The Lady In Red
The click of the door woke Anna up, and she rolled over and looked at the clock. The fuzzy green numbers came slowly into focus, and they hazily registered themselves on her brain. 6:03. She was beginning to drift off again when she jerked upwards and started racing around the bedroom like a crazy person. Carter was still out cold. She went into the bathroom and hopped back, with a toothbrush in her mouth and one leg in her skirt. The hospital was at least a forty minute ride away at this time of night on New Year's Eve. That now left them with exactly thirteen minutes to get dressed and get out of there. She threw a shoe at Carter and hit him squarely on the nose.
'Ow!' He sat up. 'What the hell was that for?'
'We have a shift in fifty-three - no, make that fifty-two - minutes. Move!'
'What happened?'
In the last nine months since they had started sleeping together, and even more in the six months that they had been engaged, Anna had spent most of her time at Carter's apartment, and she had learned quickly that he was not the best of company if woken up suddenly. She supposed that being whacked in the nose with a shoe counted as 'suddenly'. Rinsing her mouth out, she reminded him.
'We had sex, we went to sleep, and we forgot to switch the alarm on. It's ten past six.'
Slowly, Carter stood up and looked round hazily for his pants. He smiled as the memory of exactly what he and Anna had done before falling asleep resurfaced. The smile disappeared from his face as he recalled who the other attending on the graveyard shift was. He sat down heavily on the bed and remarked perceptively, 'Weaver's going to kill us.'
'Jeez, you think?'
'Remind me again why we're working tonight?' Finally realizing that they were about to be very late, his speed picked up and he began to actually get dressed.
'It was a choice between tonight and Christmas Day.' She stood in front of her fiancé and he slid his hand up the dress that she had chosen to wear as a concession to it being New Year, and pulled her towards him. She slapped his shoulder lightly. 'Not now.'
'I cannot believe I am spending New Year's Eve, for the second year in a row, with sick people. Or, as is more likely, people trying to do the death-by-alcohol-poisoning thing.'
'Why?' Anna's lips twitched mischievously. 'What would you rather be doing?'
Realizing that nothing short of an earthquake would get them out of going into work; he started to put his shirt on as he talked. 'Well, of course, I could be at the Carter family banquet, but I think I prefer the sick people to that option. Or, I could be with you and Kat, which I would like very much, but…'
'But she's out,' Anna completed his sentence. 'Nothing else?'
'Maybe. What I would really like, since my daughter effectively ruined any plans I might have had to spend it with her, is to spend it in bed - with you - and a bottle of champagne. But no. I mean…' He stood up and looked for his shoes. 'It's a holiday. You would've thought people would have better things to do than get sick and come hang out in the ER.'
She laughed. 'I've spent every holiday since I started my third year wondering about that. I can't do the bed and the champagne, but we could always sneak up to the roof about midnight.'
'I like that idea.'
'Me too.'
~~~~~~
As it turned out, between the traffic and the weather, they were over twenty minutes late, and tried to get in without attracting the attention of Kerry. It was an unnecessary measure, as they were informed by Dave, who was as ticked off as they were about working the holiday, that her car was in the shop and the El was down, so she was relying on managing to find a cab to get to the hospital. Partly mollified, they got to work. It was, Anna noted, relatively quiet. But then, she was only responsible for the paeds ER, which was empty. The main ER got the people who had started partying maybe a little too early. An example of which was the drunk John Doe that Carter got stuck treating.
'Ew.' He jumped back, not quite fast enough to avoid his lab coat, pants, and shirt getting covered in vomit. 'Ah, Lily, could you take this gentleman to exam two and get a CBC, tox screen and BAL, please?'
'Sure.'
He disappeared to find scrubs and an extra lab coat to change into. Around eleven, the main ER got quieter. Every last doctor and nurse in the place knew from experience, however, that by one the place would be crawling. People tended to be a lot more drunk and do a lot more half-assed things after midnight than they did just before. At eleven-fifty, when Carter's only patient was the John Doe, whose BA level had come back three times over the legal limit, and who was sleeping it off in an exam room, he went up to the roof, where he was joined five minutes later by Anna.
'It's dead down there,' she commented.
'Yeah. Sometimes I wish it could stay that way.' He pulled her to her feet. 'Dance with me.'
'What?'
He wrapped his arms around her waist. 'You have to love like you've never been hurt and dance like nobody's watching. Dance with me.'
'I like you in these scrubs, Dr Carter,' she told him after a small pause.
'Then maybe I'll have to start wearing them more often.'
'It's midnight,' Anna said softly, looking at her watch. 'Happy New Year.'
'Happy New Year.'
As the fireworks died down, music started playing from the top floor and as they started to dance again, Carter sang.
'I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
Looking for a little romance
Given half a chance
I have never seen that dress you're wearing
Or the highlights in your hair
That catch your eyes
I have been blind
The lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There's nobody here
It's just you and me
It's where I wanna be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never forget the way you look tonight
I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
You were amazing
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side
And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away
I have never had such a feeling such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight
The lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There's nobody here
It's just you and me
It's where I wanna be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never forget the way you look tonight
I never will forget the way you look tonight
The lady in red
My lady in red.
'I love you,' he whispered.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Woohoo! Big milestone here, I'm onto the new bits that were not in 'I Made It Through The Rain'. Otherwise known as, hey, that was a brand new chapter. Which took me two hours without a break to write, so please review it. The song was 'Lady In Red' by Chris De Burgh, which obviously I do not own. Parts 9 and 10 coming very soon, hopefully by Saturday night or Sunday morning at the latest. I would tell you the titles but they will give away the storylines. Also, I'm sorry, I know, no Kat. But I've wanted them to dance on the roof since I started writing this series last November.
The click of the door woke Anna up, and she rolled over and looked at the clock. The fuzzy green numbers came slowly into focus, and they hazily registered themselves on her brain. 6:03. She was beginning to drift off again when she jerked upwards and started racing around the bedroom like a crazy person. Carter was still out cold. She went into the bathroom and hopped back, with a toothbrush in her mouth and one leg in her skirt. The hospital was at least a forty minute ride away at this time of night on New Year's Eve. That now left them with exactly thirteen minutes to get dressed and get out of there. She threw a shoe at Carter and hit him squarely on the nose.
'Ow!' He sat up. 'What the hell was that for?'
'We have a shift in fifty-three - no, make that fifty-two - minutes. Move!'
'What happened?'
In the last nine months since they had started sleeping together, and even more in the six months that they had been engaged, Anna had spent most of her time at Carter's apartment, and she had learned quickly that he was not the best of company if woken up suddenly. She supposed that being whacked in the nose with a shoe counted as 'suddenly'. Rinsing her mouth out, she reminded him.
'We had sex, we went to sleep, and we forgot to switch the alarm on. It's ten past six.'
Slowly, Carter stood up and looked round hazily for his pants. He smiled as the memory of exactly what he and Anna had done before falling asleep resurfaced. The smile disappeared from his face as he recalled who the other attending on the graveyard shift was. He sat down heavily on the bed and remarked perceptively, 'Weaver's going to kill us.'
'Jeez, you think?'
'Remind me again why we're working tonight?' Finally realizing that they were about to be very late, his speed picked up and he began to actually get dressed.
'It was a choice between tonight and Christmas Day.' She stood in front of her fiancé and he slid his hand up the dress that she had chosen to wear as a concession to it being New Year, and pulled her towards him. She slapped his shoulder lightly. 'Not now.'
'I cannot believe I am spending New Year's Eve, for the second year in a row, with sick people. Or, as is more likely, people trying to do the death-by-alcohol-poisoning thing.'
'Why?' Anna's lips twitched mischievously. 'What would you rather be doing?'
Realizing that nothing short of an earthquake would get them out of going into work; he started to put his shirt on as he talked. 'Well, of course, I could be at the Carter family banquet, but I think I prefer the sick people to that option. Or, I could be with you and Kat, which I would like very much, but…'
'But she's out,' Anna completed his sentence. 'Nothing else?'
'Maybe. What I would really like, since my daughter effectively ruined any plans I might have had to spend it with her, is to spend it in bed - with you - and a bottle of champagne. But no. I mean…' He stood up and looked for his shoes. 'It's a holiday. You would've thought people would have better things to do than get sick and come hang out in the ER.'
She laughed. 'I've spent every holiday since I started my third year wondering about that. I can't do the bed and the champagne, but we could always sneak up to the roof about midnight.'
'I like that idea.'
'Me too.'
~~~~~~
As it turned out, between the traffic and the weather, they were over twenty minutes late, and tried to get in without attracting the attention of Kerry. It was an unnecessary measure, as they were informed by Dave, who was as ticked off as they were about working the holiday, that her car was in the shop and the El was down, so she was relying on managing to find a cab to get to the hospital. Partly mollified, they got to work. It was, Anna noted, relatively quiet. But then, she was only responsible for the paeds ER, which was empty. The main ER got the people who had started partying maybe a little too early. An example of which was the drunk John Doe that Carter got stuck treating.
'Ew.' He jumped back, not quite fast enough to avoid his lab coat, pants, and shirt getting covered in vomit. 'Ah, Lily, could you take this gentleman to exam two and get a CBC, tox screen and BAL, please?'
'Sure.'
He disappeared to find scrubs and an extra lab coat to change into. Around eleven, the main ER got quieter. Every last doctor and nurse in the place knew from experience, however, that by one the place would be crawling. People tended to be a lot more drunk and do a lot more half-assed things after midnight than they did just before. At eleven-fifty, when Carter's only patient was the John Doe, whose BA level had come back three times over the legal limit, and who was sleeping it off in an exam room, he went up to the roof, where he was joined five minutes later by Anna.
'It's dead down there,' she commented.
'Yeah. Sometimes I wish it could stay that way.' He pulled her to her feet. 'Dance with me.'
'What?'
He wrapped his arms around her waist. 'You have to love like you've never been hurt and dance like nobody's watching. Dance with me.'
'I like you in these scrubs, Dr Carter,' she told him after a small pause.
'Then maybe I'll have to start wearing them more often.'
'It's midnight,' Anna said softly, looking at her watch. 'Happy New Year.'
'Happy New Year.'
As the fireworks died down, music started playing from the top floor and as they started to dance again, Carter sang.
'I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
Looking for a little romance
Given half a chance
I have never seen that dress you're wearing
Or the highlights in your hair
That catch your eyes
I have been blind
The lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There's nobody here
It's just you and me
It's where I wanna be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never forget the way you look tonight
I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
You were amazing
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side
And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away
I have never had such a feeling such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight
The lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There's nobody here
It's just you and me
It's where I wanna be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never forget the way you look tonight
I never will forget the way you look tonight
The lady in red
My lady in red.
'I love you,' he whispered.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Woohoo! Big milestone here, I'm onto the new bits that were not in 'I Made It Through The Rain'. Otherwise known as, hey, that was a brand new chapter. Which took me two hours without a break to write, so please review it. The song was 'Lady In Red' by Chris De Burgh, which obviously I do not own. Parts 9 and 10 coming very soon, hopefully by Saturday night or Sunday morning at the latest. I would tell you the titles but they will give away the storylines. Also, I'm sorry, I know, no Kat. But I've wanted them to dance on the roof since I started writing this series last November.