Stuck with you - (Dave & Kerry)

Spoilers for season 8, up to 'Never say Never'

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Kerry stood by the elevator doors and tried not to think about the meeting she'd just been at with Romano and all the heads of departments. Robert had been worse than usual today. Every time he opened his mouth, there had been a cutting remark on his lips. Kerry hadn't been his only target, but she had born the brunt of it. It made her very uneasy every time he aimed a pointed comment in her direction. She knew that he was just waiting for the right time to let her secret slip.

Kerry mentally cursed the impulse that had led her to 'out' herself to him. It wasn't as if it had done any good. Romano hadn't retracted Kim's dismissal - not that Kim would have wanted her job back under any circumstances - and now he had 'leverage' over *her*, the next time she went up against him for any reason. Worst of all, it hadn't made any difference in her relationship - or should she say 'lack of relationship' with Kim. Kim had listened to Kerry explain what she had done, but all she had said was that she wished Kerry had done it for the right reason, and that had been that.

Lost in thought, Kerry heard the elevator doors open and stepped inside. Automatically she pushed the button for the ER, but it wasn't until the doors had closed, sealing her inside, that she glanced up and realized that she wasn't alone.

Kerry froze in place as she saw Dave Malucci standing silently at the back of the elevator car. "You? What...what are *you* doing here?" she stammered. "You don't work here anymore, Malucci."

Dave looked at her harshly. "Well gee...I just knew when I walked in the doors of this place that there was something I'd forgotten...oh yeah...I'd forgotten that you fired me. Wow, it must have slipped my mind," he added sarcastically.

Kerry flushed as he continued. "If you must know, *Weaver*, I was here meeting with the hospital lawyers. They wanted to talk to me before my deposition for the Marfan's case. Probably to make sure I'm not gonna do or say anything to get the hospital in trouble."

"Don't you mean, in *more* trouble?" snapped Kerry. "Your carelessness and incompetence has already opened the hospital up to a massive lawsuit."

"Pity you weren't around to pick up on my 'mistakes' then," commented Dave, dryly. "I mean that's what Attendings are supposed to do, right? To teach the residents and students so that they *don't* make mistakes...and to help us learn from the ones we *do* make."

"At this stage in your training, you shouldn't need someone to 'hold your hand' like that," replied Kerry, trying to control her temper as she realized that she was alone in an elevator with a man who had already shown himself to have violent tendencies, and who most likely hated her guts. "You should..."

But her words were cut off by the screech of the elevator as it came to a halt. Kerry glanced quickly at the doors, willing them to open. It didn't matter if they weren't at her floor...she'd gladly walk down all the stairs in the hospital...anything to get away from the glowering man a few feet away from her. Nervously she hit the 'open doors' button, but nothing happened.

"Looks like we're stuck," observed Dave.

"With powers of observation like that, I'm surprised you never made Chief Resident," snapped Kerry. So much for not aggravating him, she thought to herself.

"No need to get all snarky on me," replied Dave, with an odd expression on his face.

"You know," he continued, in a carefully neutral tone. "The last time I was stuck in an elevator, I saved a guys life...but then, that time there were plenty of people there to see it...not like now."

Kerry shrank back against the wall...her face draining of color as Dave approached her, and loomed over her. Gripping her crutch tightly, she wondered if she could defend herself against whatever he had planned. She opened her mouth as he stood in front of her, but her mouth was suddenly dry, and she couldn't form the words...not that words were likely to dissuade him...

As he leaned closer to her...his face only a few inches away from her, she heard him say, "I'm sorry," before stepping back.

"Wha...what?" stammered Kerry, unable to believe that she'd heard him correctly.

"You heard me...I'm sorry, okay? I was out of line when I yelled at you in the ER that day...and...and I shouldn't have called you those names in front of everyone..."

This was the last thing Kerry had expected him to say, and she stared at him open-mouthed for a few seconds before she recovered her composure. "Do you think that an apology is going to change anything?" she asked. She was embarrassed to think of how easily unnerved she had been by Malucci's presence, and there was a note of anger in her voice.

Dave shrugged, "Doesn't matter. I didn't do it cause I thought it'd change things...I said it cause I meant it. I *am* sorry...whether you believe it or not. I was angry...upset...I didn't mean what I said...or at least, I didn't mean to say it how I said it...*where* I said it..." He looked away from her. "You didn't ought to have been shown up like that...you deserved an apology."

Kerry's voice was cool as she replied, "If you're planning on apologizing to everybody who deserves one from you, you're going to be kept extremely busy...starting with the family of that Marfan's patient."

Kerry could see a slight flush on Dave's cheeks as he said, "I was gonna do that...but the lawyers laughed me out of it...said that if I went and apologized then *their* lawyers would only use it as an admission of guilt, and take the hospital for all it's worth."

He looked up and caught the expression on Kerry's face. "Hey, I know I screwed up, all right?" he snapped. "I *know* I should have looked at the Goddamned x-rays...hell, even a doctor who 'doesn't know his ass from his elbow' would have copped that *something* was screwy about the guys films. Even if I didn't know what it was...I could have done something...asked someone...maybe waited for the tox screen to come back..."

Turning suddenly, he slammed his hands hard against the wall and leaned there, breathing heavily. "Do you *know* how often I've replayed it in my mind?" he asked, with his back to Kerry. "Do you know how much I've wished that I'd taken a lousy few seconds to really *look* at the x-rays? I'm gonna spend the rest of my life, knowing that a patient of mine died, not because he was too badly hurt to save...not because I didn't know what was wrong with him...but because I was too cocky to even *look* at a simple set of chest films. I was just soooo sure that I knew the answer...I didn't even bother looking at the information."

Turning around, he leaned back against the wall, eyes closed, his face twisted into an expression of despair.

"I didn't realize," said Kerry, quietly.

Dave opened his eyes and looked at her. "Realize what? That Dave Malucci isn't the insensitive bastard that you thought? See, I told you that you don't know a *thing* about me. I..."

Dave's comments were lost in the sound of the elevator motors starting up again.

Kerry's relief at the thought of finally getting moving was short-lived, however, as a few seconds later, the car lurched to an abrupt stop, and the lights went out.

She hung on tightly to the handrail, to keep her balance, and waited in vain for the emergency lights to kick in.

"You okay Chi...Dr. Weaver?" she heard Dave ask...a note of genuine concern in his voice.

"I think so," she said warily, not letting go of the handrail. Dammit...ever since she was a child, she had hated the thought of being stuck in pitch darkness. "Do...do you have a light?"

"Why Dr. Weaver," she heard Dave say in an amused tone. "I thought *you* would be aware of the dangers of smoking."

Kerry glared at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Do you have a light or not," she snapped.

The smile faded from Dave's face and he muttered, "Keep your hair on," as he rummaged blindly in his backpack. Cursing under his breath, he finally crouched down and upended most of the contents onto the floor.

Finally his hand closed over the familiar shape of his cigarette lighter.

"You might want to shield your eyes for a bit," he warned Kerry as he stood up. "Don't look directly at the flame until your eyes get used to it."

Kerry carefully stared at the blackness where she knew her feet to be. She could hear the click of the flint in a lighter...followed by some stifled curses...and then finally a louder click, followed by the sound of a flame.

Cautiously she looked up and saw Dave standing with a lighter in one hand, and using the other to shield the flame. "I didn't know you smoked," she said without thinking.

"I don't," replied Dave. "This used to be my Mom's...before she got quit."

"Oh...okay...I...I guess we'd better try the emergency phone." She moved towards the control panel.

"Probably won't work," said Dave, as he held the lighter to illuminate the panel. "Half the phones in these things don't."

True to Dave's prediction, the phone was out of order. "Now what?" asked Dave, as Kerry replaced the handset.

"Surely someone will notice that this elevator isn't working."

Dave snorted in disgust, "Good luck...we could be here for days before anyone notices." He caught the flash of fear that swept across Kerry's face. "Hey, chill out...it shouldn't take more than an hour or two before someone figures it out."

"And how long will that flame last?" asked Kerry, her voice shaking slightly at the thought of being trapped in the dark for God knows how long. She swayed on her feet.

Dave grabbed at her with his free hand. "Maybe you'd better sit down for a bit."

Kerry would have protested his touch, but she could feel her mouth drying up so she just nodded and allowed him to lower her to the ground.

Dave observed her for a few moments before saying, "So...how long have you had a problem with the dark?" He crouched down in front of her."

Kerry looked at him questioningly as he explained. "Your skin is cold and clammy...you're shaking like a leaf...and I don't think that's it's *my* proximity that's making your pulse race so fast. In short, you have all the classic signs of a panic attack about something. You were doing fine when we were stuck earlier, so it can't be just that. The only thing that's changed has been the light going out, so my guess is you've got a phobia or something about the dark." He sat down in front of her and waited for her reaction.

"And how do you know I'm not a diabetic going into insulin shock?" asked Kerry.

Dave thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah," he said. "If you were diabetic, someone would have copped you shooting up by now, and it'd be all round the ER. Besides, you're too efficient to be not wearing one of those medi-alert thingies if you needed one."

Kerry found herself nodding approvingly at his reasoning. "An accurate diagnosis," she commented. "Yes...I do have a problem with dark places...ever since I was a child."

"Maybe you should see a shrink," said Dave.

"Been there, done that," replied Kerry with a wry smile.

Dave frowned at her comment, but she didn't elaborate. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the wall.

"Just hang in there Chi...Doc," said Dave. "Somebody will get us out...and long before this runs out."

He thought for a minute and then said. "Hey...maybe if I lit some paper or something, maybe it'd save on the lighter fuel."

"Or maybe it'd set off the smoke-alarm," commented Kerry dryly. Opening her eyes, she looked at Dave. "The *smoke* alarm...that's on it's own power circuit...if it went off..."

"Somebody'd be *sure* to realize where we are," finished Dave.

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A few minutes later, Dave was holding his lighter up to the center of the ceiling.

"Can't you reach any higher?" asked Kerry. "I don't think you're close enough."

"Not unless you want me to lift you up," said Dave, stretching further. There was a short beeping sound. "Bingo," he said as the alarm sounded.

It took several minutes for someone to respond...and it was a further half hour before they managed to get the elevator moving again, but by then various torches had been passed in through the emergency hatch. Dave had been given the option of climbing out, but had insisted on staying until Kerry was able to leave the car.

As the elevator, with lighting fully restored, started once again, Kerry turned to Dave. "Dave," she said quietly. "I just want to say thank you. I...I wouldn't have handled things too well if I'd been trapped in the dark on my own."

"And do you think this is going to change anything?"

Kerry shook her head. "No...but it's the right thing to do." Fumbling in her pocket, she pulled out a card and handed it to him. "If...*when* you find another residency program...have them call me for a reference. It won't be a waste of time."

Dave took the card without a word. Shoving it into his pocket, he stood by the doors as they opened. "Goodbye Dr. We...Chief," he said, before stepping out of the elevator and striding away without a backward glance.

Kerry was about to follow when she saw something on the ground. Figuring that Dave must have missed it when he was repacking his backpack, she bent down to pick it up.

It was a photo...of Dave...with a girl of about 4 perched on his shoulders. Kerry turned it over and leaned against the wall as she read the caption. "To Daddy from Nancy"

"I didn't know a thing about you," she said to herself.

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The End