Who Blew Up the Ambulance Bay? Part II
The hospital was filled with commotion as police detectives encircled the area that was once the ambulance bay. Gossip fled the hallways as staff members speculated who could have done such a thing, if anybody.
"If you ask me it was that asthma patient that was here yesterday." Frank said.
"That five year old kid?" Abby questioned with a smirk. She picked up a chart and skimmed it.
"Why not? Pyromania starts in childhood you know." Abby yelped as Frank took the chart away from her and replaced it with a new one.
"What starts in childhood?" Mark asked as he placed his own chart back into the rack.
"Frank was just trying to get that little asthma boy from yesterday convicted of arson." Mark looked up at Frank.
"Nice of you to try to help Frank but I think the police have it covered." He swung behind the desk and grabbed a pen from next to the computer.
"Well Abby thinks it's that new OB intern." Frank replied.
"Let's try to keep the gossip to a minimum huh guys? We are adults here are we not?"
"Only when Weaver's watching!" Chuny joked as she passed the desk.
"Thank you Chuny." Mark said matter-of-factly.
"Your welcome Mark." She winked at him and laughed.
Meanwhile...in Curtain Area 3
"You called for a consult?" Peter pulled the gloves on his hands as he entered the room.
"Yep. Dr. Benton meet Mr. Abrams. Sharp pain in the right lower quadrant. I'm thinking hot appy." Carter handed over the chart and stepped aside. Peter sighed the way he usually did when Carter was his usual self and explored the man's stomach. The man yelped in pain and suddenly Peter's scrubs were covered in vomit.
"Its ok Mr. Abrams, you're going to be fine. Dr. Carter, can I see you outside?" Carter nodded and followed the older man.
"Dr. Benton I..."
"Save it Carter. That man obviously has the stomach flu." Peter started down the hallway and Carter watched him as he slid into the men's room. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Carter, you doing ok there?" He looked up to see a blurry Susan Lewis.
"Oh hey, um, yea I'm good. Just a little tired. I'm on my second double shift this week." They began to walk down the hallway together.
"Ouch, what's Weaver got against you?" She smiled at him and he grinned back.
"Besides the whole drug thing, nothing. So far that is." He cleared his throat.
"Meaning?"
"What? Oh, she still doesn't know that it was me who broke the coffee maker." He whispered.
"Oh that was you? You know if that gets around you'll have more then Weaver coming after you!" Susan laughed just a bit and Carter joined her.
"That's why I was hoping you'd keep it quiet." Susan stopped in front of an exam room.
"What coffee machine?" Carter laughed as she disappeared into the exam room.
Peter sighed as he threw his dirty scrubs into the waste disposal container. Sometimes he wondered if Carter enjoyed annoying him.
"Peter! Hey wait up!" Cleo ran up and joined him as he waited for the elevator.
"Hey Cleo."
"So, are you coming over tonight? We can order out. There's this great sushi place that just opened up down the street from my place." She rambled.
"Oh, um, tonight. Listen, I don't know if I can anymore. Romano scheduled me for a feo at seven." Cleo froze and put her hands on her hips.
"Peter it's our anniversary! I think that's more important then doing a feo for Romano, or are you that scared of the little wimp?"
"Cleo..." He began.
"No Peter, this is important to me. If you don't want to come then that's fine but I'm not going to sit and wait forever. Your call." With that she walked away, just as the elevator opened to reveal Romano and Elizabeth.
"What's the matter Peter? Woman troubles?" Peter just moaned. "Take my advice. They're not worth it."
"No wonder you have no friends Robert." Elizabeth interjected.
"Well Lizzie, I do have you. Not bad if I say so myself."
"In your dreams Robert." She headed towards the front desk where she saw Mark standing.
"Well Lizzie, my dreams always come true."
When Elizabeth reached the front desk she found that Mark was on the phone.
"No, listen nobody knows anything around here. I think that...that would be great. Yes, and please keep me informed on this! Well you said that last time too. Yea, thanks for nothing." He hung the phone up fiercely and jumped a mile high when he noticed Elizabeth.
"Hi Mark."
"Elizabeth, you scared me." He leaned down and kissed her sweetly.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Who was that on the phone? You sounded upset."
"Uh, that was the police detective. They're still not sure what caused the explosion."
"And I thought the American police force was advanced." She said, not removing her arms from his waist.
"They're also very stubborn."
Meanwhile...in the supply room
"Abby is there any Haldol in here?" Luka ran a hand through his hair and looked at Abby, who was standing on a step-stool writing on a chart.
"Um...yea right here." She reached up and brought her hand back down along with a vile of clear liquid.
"Thanks." He paused in the doorway. "Um...have you been interviewed by the police yet?" Abby looked down and stopped writing for a moment.
"Yea actually. I'm clear though, I had an alibi. What about you?"
"Me? What? No I didn't do it." He stuttered. Abby laughed softly.
"Well that's good to know. Weavers going for the jugular on this one. She doesn't mess around when it comes to the County budget."
"Yea, this is all so crazy. Why would one of the staff want to do this?" Abby cocked her head and flipped a hair out of her eyes.
"Good question."
Back at the admit desk, Frank and Randi were again arguing.
"No way, what about the headache guy in Exam 2? He seemed a little...off the handle if you know what I mean." Frank offered. Randi rolled her eyes.
"Yea I know what you mean. I also know that he's dead."
"What? He coded?" Frank furrowed his eyebrows as he entered a file into the computer.
"Yep, check it out." Randi pointed a finger at a sheet-covered corpse in the hallway. "I called transport five times." Frank snapped his fingers and grinned.
"That transport guy! I bet he did it." Randi rolled her eyes again.
"OK. How much?"
"Um..." He dug around in his pocket. "twelve dollars?" Randi pulled the money out of her pocket and laid it next to Franks.
"Done. No take backs." Suddenly the phone rang and Randi sighed as she picked it up. "ER, I'm Randi."
"Me too!" Said a familiar voice. "Oh I mean...yes can I speak to Dr. Carter please?" The voice suddenly changed to a squeaky fake one.
"Sure he's right here." Carter looked up as Randi handed him the phone. "Carter, Dave's on the phone for you."
"Dave?" He questioned. Sighing he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. "Dr. Carter speaking."
"Carter! Hey buddy how's it going? It's been a while."
"Yea, it sure has. Listen I'm working right now Dave, I'll talk to you later ok?"
"But wait Carter!"
"Bye Dave." Carter hung up the phone and sighed again.
"Hey Carter want to get in on this?" Randi held up the money from the bet. "I've got twelve on that psych patient that was in Exam 3. Franks got the transport guy. Jackpots twenty-four so far."
"Uh, no Randi but thanks for the offer. I have a patient." He quickly slipped away leaving Randi to shrug and stuff the money back into the drawer.
That Night
Carter headed into the lounge, exhausted from a long day. Susan turned around at her locker and smiled.
"Hey Carter. Long shift huh?" He smiled and opened his locker.
"You could say that."
"Yea I'm looking forward to heading home myself. All I want to do right now is crawl into my bed with a glass of chardonnay and watch Casablanca until I pass out." Carter smiled again.
"Sounds like the perfect evening." She looked at him oddly.
"Is something wrong Carter? You're not acting like yourself." He turned and shrugged.
"Uh..." He paused and took a deep breath. "Susan, I have something to tell you. It's kind of important."
Susan cocked her head and grew concerned. She opened her mouth to say something when the lounge door flew open. Yosh stuck his head in.
"You guys have to see this! Hurry up!" Susan and Carter met eyes for a moment and then ran out the door. They found the hallway crowded with the ER staff. The hospital was quiet except for Mark's voice on the phone. As soon as he hung up, the tension seemed to grow.
"Yes, they found out the cause of the explosion." He paused. "Fireworks. They think some kids were messing around outside and shot one into the building." The crowd was silent for another moment.
"Fireworks?" Abby asked.
"Is that it?" Frank asked.
"I'm afraid so. Kerry, are you satisfied?" He turned to look at Kerry, who was standing next to him.
"Mark I am just relieved that that is all it was." She sighed. "Now we can all get back to work. Come on people, this is a hospital not a day spa." People started to disperse and go back to their posts.
"So Carter, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Susan asked, raising the tension once again.
"Um...Susan, I..." Once again he was interrupted by a surprise guest. "Dave?"
"Carter I'm here to confess! I did it! I shot the fireworks into the ambulance bay and I burnt it down! I'm tired of lying, you were right Carter, lying is definitely not going to get us out of this!"
At the sound of his loud confession the hospital staff had gathered again, including Kerry and Mark.
"Dave!" Carter said through clenched teeth.
"Listen man, your not going to get her by lying. Now tell her the truth." He pointed at Susan, who stared at Carter expectantly.
"Susan I..." He began.
"Carter set the fireworks off in the ambulance bay." Dave finished.
"Didn't you just say that you did that?" Susan asked, confusion written all over her face. "Is he a psych patient?" She asked Carter.
"No! OK. I shot off the fireworks, but Carter asked me too. See I know this guy who brings them in from Mexico and he owed me a favor because this one time I..."
"Focus Dave!" Abby said.
"Right, Carter likes you Susan. I mean, he really likes you and he was going to bring you up to the roof and I was going to shoot off the fireworks so you guys could, you know, have a moment."
At this point Carter buried his head in his hands and shook it back and forth. He prayed that somehow this was all a dream. But when he opened his eyes he saw Susan staring back at him, along with the rest of the ER staff.
"Is this true Carter?" Susan asked, a smile touching her face. He took a deep breath.
"Yea, yea Dave's telling the truth. All of it." A moment passed and nothing was said, suddenly Susan threw her arms around Carter and hugged him tightly.
"That's the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me. Thank you Carter." Finally, letting the revelation sink in, Carter smiled. Applause erupted throughout the ER and everyone cheered.
The applause was interrupted when Kerry Weaver cleared her throat.
"Uh, Carter? Dave? There's still the little matter of the ambulance bay." She pointed to the large hole in the wall, now covered with plastic. Carter reluctantly let go of Susan and walked slowly towards Weaver.
"Right, um...I'll pay you back no matter how long it takes." Mark stepped forward in place of Kerry.
"OK Carter, but your not the only one that has to pay." All eyes turned to Dave, hovering in the corner.
"Oh come on! I don't even have a job here anymore, how am I supposed to pay?" Kerry smirked at Mark and crossed her arms.
"Well, we'll figure something out." Dave wore a horrified expression.
"Oh no, Carter please save me." He pleaded. Carter laughed.
"Don't worry Dave, I'll make sure it's not too painful." He walked back over to Susan and smiled. "Can I walk you to the El?"
Susan smiled back. "Only if we run. It's cold out there."
The End (Questions? Comments? Please review! I hope you all liked it!)
The hospital was filled with commotion as police detectives encircled the area that was once the ambulance bay. Gossip fled the hallways as staff members speculated who could have done such a thing, if anybody.
"If you ask me it was that asthma patient that was here yesterday." Frank said.
"That five year old kid?" Abby questioned with a smirk. She picked up a chart and skimmed it.
"Why not? Pyromania starts in childhood you know." Abby yelped as Frank took the chart away from her and replaced it with a new one.
"What starts in childhood?" Mark asked as he placed his own chart back into the rack.
"Frank was just trying to get that little asthma boy from yesterday convicted of arson." Mark looked up at Frank.
"Nice of you to try to help Frank but I think the police have it covered." He swung behind the desk and grabbed a pen from next to the computer.
"Well Abby thinks it's that new OB intern." Frank replied.
"Let's try to keep the gossip to a minimum huh guys? We are adults here are we not?"
"Only when Weaver's watching!" Chuny joked as she passed the desk.
"Thank you Chuny." Mark said matter-of-factly.
"Your welcome Mark." She winked at him and laughed.
Meanwhile...in Curtain Area 3
"You called for a consult?" Peter pulled the gloves on his hands as he entered the room.
"Yep. Dr. Benton meet Mr. Abrams. Sharp pain in the right lower quadrant. I'm thinking hot appy." Carter handed over the chart and stepped aside. Peter sighed the way he usually did when Carter was his usual self and explored the man's stomach. The man yelped in pain and suddenly Peter's scrubs were covered in vomit.
"Its ok Mr. Abrams, you're going to be fine. Dr. Carter, can I see you outside?" Carter nodded and followed the older man.
"Dr. Benton I..."
"Save it Carter. That man obviously has the stomach flu." Peter started down the hallway and Carter watched him as he slid into the men's room. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Carter, you doing ok there?" He looked up to see a blurry Susan Lewis.
"Oh hey, um, yea I'm good. Just a little tired. I'm on my second double shift this week." They began to walk down the hallway together.
"Ouch, what's Weaver got against you?" She smiled at him and he grinned back.
"Besides the whole drug thing, nothing. So far that is." He cleared his throat.
"Meaning?"
"What? Oh, she still doesn't know that it was me who broke the coffee maker." He whispered.
"Oh that was you? You know if that gets around you'll have more then Weaver coming after you!" Susan laughed just a bit and Carter joined her.
"That's why I was hoping you'd keep it quiet." Susan stopped in front of an exam room.
"What coffee machine?" Carter laughed as she disappeared into the exam room.
Peter sighed as he threw his dirty scrubs into the waste disposal container. Sometimes he wondered if Carter enjoyed annoying him.
"Peter! Hey wait up!" Cleo ran up and joined him as he waited for the elevator.
"Hey Cleo."
"So, are you coming over tonight? We can order out. There's this great sushi place that just opened up down the street from my place." She rambled.
"Oh, um, tonight. Listen, I don't know if I can anymore. Romano scheduled me for a feo at seven." Cleo froze and put her hands on her hips.
"Peter it's our anniversary! I think that's more important then doing a feo for Romano, or are you that scared of the little wimp?"
"Cleo..." He began.
"No Peter, this is important to me. If you don't want to come then that's fine but I'm not going to sit and wait forever. Your call." With that she walked away, just as the elevator opened to reveal Romano and Elizabeth.
"What's the matter Peter? Woman troubles?" Peter just moaned. "Take my advice. They're not worth it."
"No wonder you have no friends Robert." Elizabeth interjected.
"Well Lizzie, I do have you. Not bad if I say so myself."
"In your dreams Robert." She headed towards the front desk where she saw Mark standing.
"Well Lizzie, my dreams always come true."
When Elizabeth reached the front desk she found that Mark was on the phone.
"No, listen nobody knows anything around here. I think that...that would be great. Yes, and please keep me informed on this! Well you said that last time too. Yea, thanks for nothing." He hung the phone up fiercely and jumped a mile high when he noticed Elizabeth.
"Hi Mark."
"Elizabeth, you scared me." He leaned down and kissed her sweetly.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Who was that on the phone? You sounded upset."
"Uh, that was the police detective. They're still not sure what caused the explosion."
"And I thought the American police force was advanced." She said, not removing her arms from his waist.
"They're also very stubborn."
Meanwhile...in the supply room
"Abby is there any Haldol in here?" Luka ran a hand through his hair and looked at Abby, who was standing on a step-stool writing on a chart.
"Um...yea right here." She reached up and brought her hand back down along with a vile of clear liquid.
"Thanks." He paused in the doorway. "Um...have you been interviewed by the police yet?" Abby looked down and stopped writing for a moment.
"Yea actually. I'm clear though, I had an alibi. What about you?"
"Me? What? No I didn't do it." He stuttered. Abby laughed softly.
"Well that's good to know. Weavers going for the jugular on this one. She doesn't mess around when it comes to the County budget."
"Yea, this is all so crazy. Why would one of the staff want to do this?" Abby cocked her head and flipped a hair out of her eyes.
"Good question."
Back at the admit desk, Frank and Randi were again arguing.
"No way, what about the headache guy in Exam 2? He seemed a little...off the handle if you know what I mean." Frank offered. Randi rolled her eyes.
"Yea I know what you mean. I also know that he's dead."
"What? He coded?" Frank furrowed his eyebrows as he entered a file into the computer.
"Yep, check it out." Randi pointed a finger at a sheet-covered corpse in the hallway. "I called transport five times." Frank snapped his fingers and grinned.
"That transport guy! I bet he did it." Randi rolled her eyes again.
"OK. How much?"
"Um..." He dug around in his pocket. "twelve dollars?" Randi pulled the money out of her pocket and laid it next to Franks.
"Done. No take backs." Suddenly the phone rang and Randi sighed as she picked it up. "ER, I'm Randi."
"Me too!" Said a familiar voice. "Oh I mean...yes can I speak to Dr. Carter please?" The voice suddenly changed to a squeaky fake one.
"Sure he's right here." Carter looked up as Randi handed him the phone. "Carter, Dave's on the phone for you."
"Dave?" He questioned. Sighing he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. "Dr. Carter speaking."
"Carter! Hey buddy how's it going? It's been a while."
"Yea, it sure has. Listen I'm working right now Dave, I'll talk to you later ok?"
"But wait Carter!"
"Bye Dave." Carter hung up the phone and sighed again.
"Hey Carter want to get in on this?" Randi held up the money from the bet. "I've got twelve on that psych patient that was in Exam 3. Franks got the transport guy. Jackpots twenty-four so far."
"Uh, no Randi but thanks for the offer. I have a patient." He quickly slipped away leaving Randi to shrug and stuff the money back into the drawer.
That Night
Carter headed into the lounge, exhausted from a long day. Susan turned around at her locker and smiled.
"Hey Carter. Long shift huh?" He smiled and opened his locker.
"You could say that."
"Yea I'm looking forward to heading home myself. All I want to do right now is crawl into my bed with a glass of chardonnay and watch Casablanca until I pass out." Carter smiled again.
"Sounds like the perfect evening." She looked at him oddly.
"Is something wrong Carter? You're not acting like yourself." He turned and shrugged.
"Uh..." He paused and took a deep breath. "Susan, I have something to tell you. It's kind of important."
Susan cocked her head and grew concerned. She opened her mouth to say something when the lounge door flew open. Yosh stuck his head in.
"You guys have to see this! Hurry up!" Susan and Carter met eyes for a moment and then ran out the door. They found the hallway crowded with the ER staff. The hospital was quiet except for Mark's voice on the phone. As soon as he hung up, the tension seemed to grow.
"Yes, they found out the cause of the explosion." He paused. "Fireworks. They think some kids were messing around outside and shot one into the building." The crowd was silent for another moment.
"Fireworks?" Abby asked.
"Is that it?" Frank asked.
"I'm afraid so. Kerry, are you satisfied?" He turned to look at Kerry, who was standing next to him.
"Mark I am just relieved that that is all it was." She sighed. "Now we can all get back to work. Come on people, this is a hospital not a day spa." People started to disperse and go back to their posts.
"So Carter, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Susan asked, raising the tension once again.
"Um...Susan, I..." Once again he was interrupted by a surprise guest. "Dave?"
"Carter I'm here to confess! I did it! I shot the fireworks into the ambulance bay and I burnt it down! I'm tired of lying, you were right Carter, lying is definitely not going to get us out of this!"
At the sound of his loud confession the hospital staff had gathered again, including Kerry and Mark.
"Dave!" Carter said through clenched teeth.
"Listen man, your not going to get her by lying. Now tell her the truth." He pointed at Susan, who stared at Carter expectantly.
"Susan I..." He began.
"Carter set the fireworks off in the ambulance bay." Dave finished.
"Didn't you just say that you did that?" Susan asked, confusion written all over her face. "Is he a psych patient?" She asked Carter.
"No! OK. I shot off the fireworks, but Carter asked me too. See I know this guy who brings them in from Mexico and he owed me a favor because this one time I..."
"Focus Dave!" Abby said.
"Right, Carter likes you Susan. I mean, he really likes you and he was going to bring you up to the roof and I was going to shoot off the fireworks so you guys could, you know, have a moment."
At this point Carter buried his head in his hands and shook it back and forth. He prayed that somehow this was all a dream. But when he opened his eyes he saw Susan staring back at him, along with the rest of the ER staff.
"Is this true Carter?" Susan asked, a smile touching her face. He took a deep breath.
"Yea, yea Dave's telling the truth. All of it." A moment passed and nothing was said, suddenly Susan threw her arms around Carter and hugged him tightly.
"That's the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me. Thank you Carter." Finally, letting the revelation sink in, Carter smiled. Applause erupted throughout the ER and everyone cheered.
The applause was interrupted when Kerry Weaver cleared her throat.
"Uh, Carter? Dave? There's still the little matter of the ambulance bay." She pointed to the large hole in the wall, now covered with plastic. Carter reluctantly let go of Susan and walked slowly towards Weaver.
"Right, um...I'll pay you back no matter how long it takes." Mark stepped forward in place of Kerry.
"OK Carter, but your not the only one that has to pay." All eyes turned to Dave, hovering in the corner.
"Oh come on! I don't even have a job here anymore, how am I supposed to pay?" Kerry smirked at Mark and crossed her arms.
"Well, we'll figure something out." Dave wore a horrified expression.
"Oh no, Carter please save me." He pleaded. Carter laughed.
"Don't worry Dave, I'll make sure it's not too painful." He walked back over to Susan and smiled. "Can I walk you to the El?"
Susan smiled back. "Only if we run. It's cold out there."
The End (Questions? Comments? Please review! I hope you all liked it!)
