Dave stood on the roof, his feet pressed up against the railing as he leaned out and glanced over the city. A chapped hand rubbed at his nose, swollen and red from the cold as he cupped his fingers over his mouth, blowing on them.
He bent his stiff fingers, cramped from the cold and wondered why on
earth he had said yes to Greene, when he'd been asked to stay past his shift. Dave had been quite pleased to be off at nine, he'd made a point
of telling everyone so.. Then.. Then Lucy's stupid
patient, and his other patients on his roster.. and his nine o'clock
date came and.. went. As did the three other dates he'd had planned
tonight.
He sighed heavily and stomped his cold feet on the ground and wiggled
his toes. Dave wasn't promiscuous to a fault, but... He did
have a few lovely ladies he dated off and on occasionally.. Not to
mention the random dates he'd had with fellow staff. He'd even
gone out with Randi a couple times.
It hadn't been anything serious.. Dinner, Clubbing, and some 'coffee'
back at her place. But it'd obviously been something to Randi.
Something special enough for her to get extremely riled whenever Lucy
was within spitting distance.
Lucy was one woman he wasn't inclined to ask out.. The first reason being that if Chief ever found out.. Dave shuddered. He didn't even want to contemplate what Chief would do.
His breath floated eerily on the air in steamy white clouds that slowly
faded in the February night. Dave was missing dinner for two
at Parrinello with Cindy.. He'd already missed dinner with Janice at
Montparnasse and with Suzette at Cafe Iberico. Slowly he pushed himself
up, the sweaty skin of his palms sticking to the metal barrier.
Dave cursed, kissing at the ripped flesh, sucking at the wound instinctively.
The taste of blood in his mouth was almost calming as
he swallowed and clenched his bleeding hand into a fist. Droplets of
blood slipped from the cracks and fell onto the soft snow and he
slowly stooped to his knees grabbing a handful and balling it in his
hand.
It slowly numbed it, making his fingers jerk from the frigid sphere of ice wrapped in his palm.
The young resident pulled the thin jacket tighter around himself as he walked toward the lighted doorway and down to the ER, shutting it behind him.
"Where's Lucy?" Dave asked off-handedly as he shed his coat and hung it in his locker.
Carter shrugged, not looking up from his journal. "Dunno.. Last I heard she was in the cafeteria.. Why?? Lose the medstudent again?"
"What do you mean THE medstudent? She was assigned to you as far as I can recall.. If she's lost.. It's your fault.. Not mine.." Dave glared at him. "I was just wondering if the whole schizophrenia thing panned out.. I was pretty hard on her earlier.. I was wondering if she had been right after all." Dave said admittedly, slamming the locker and putting his stethoscope around his neck again.
"Yeah.. You were hard on her.. She was ready to have you castrated.. I told her you'd buy her a bottle of champagne though.." Carter said with a smirk.
"Ohh.. So it was you.. Lucy did mention something.. The old 'champagne
tap'.. You guys still do that sort of thing? I can't afford
champagne.. I told her as much." Dave retorted with a scowl.
"Well.. How DID the tap go anyway?? Was it clear?"
"Yeah.. There was a little blood in it, but the bastard came out of
sedation in the middle of the tap, so he started flopping around and
screaming.. I'll get her a case of beer.. I promised her I'd get her
at least that."
Carter nodded approvingly. "Sounds good.. Some good stuff?? Molson Canadian?"
Dave grinned. "You think the kid can handle 5% alcohol?"
"You want to deal with her after you've given her some cheap light beer instead of a good bottle of Pinot Noir?? I sure as hell wouldn't!" Carter returned the smile.
"Well I better go finish my shift. I'll give you a shout if I find her
though." Replied the younger resident as he loped down the halls to
the suture room to bandage his hand up.
*******
"A little tape, a little gauze and good as new.." Dave muttered through
clenched teeth as he ripped a length of medical tape with
his teeth and bandaged his palm. He flexed his hand, wiggled his fingers
experimentally before fixing the tape in place and walking
from the suture room.
Dave grinned at the sight of his friends and colleagues, cheery and enjoying the festivities. "Hey Dave! Have a slice of cake!" Luka smiled at him and shoved the plate in his hands.
"Uhh... Thanks Kovac.. Why is it blue?" Dave poked at the confectionery
and licked his finger. "Shouldn't it be pink or
something?"
Luka shrugged. "I don't know.. Should it? Tastes okay blue.." He stared at his slice and flipped it over on his plate. Taking an
experimental bite, he let the morsel melt on his tongue. "Tastes fine
to m-" Luka looked up from his cake and sighed. Dave had left with his
piece of blue heart and was chatting up Chuny.
"Then we had this guy who had been stung by a jelly fish.. His friend had gotten the bright idea to pee-" Dave looked up and saw Carter staring at him.
"Did you find Lucy yet, Dave?" Carter said curiously as he broke off a chunk of cake with his fork and chewed it slowly. "Did you even look?" He mumbled, crumbs falling from his mouth.
Dave sighed. "She's probably still in the cafeteria." He mumbled putting his slice of cake down on the desk and leaving Admit.
*****
He exited the cafeteria, a baggy of cinnamon hearts in his pocket, a
card from the gift shop in his hand and a bladder full of free pink
'St.Valentine's' lemonade.
Dave hoped Lucy would forgive him and wouldn't think that valentines were dumb. He just wanted to make peace.
He left the elevator to see Mark sipping punch, eating cake and wiping
the patients' names off the board. Only one name remained
and the sign of it sent shivers down his back. Sobriki was still here?
Sticking the valentine in the back pocket of his jeans, he started towards
exam three when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "DAVE!!!!
Just the dude I wanted to see! Your turn to pick a CD.. DJ TIME!!!!!!!"
Malik wrapped his arm around the resident and lead him to admit.
******
"Almost got ourselves caught there Lucy.." Paul said quietly, crouched
beside her still body and running his fingers idly through
her long blonde hair; the only thing not marred by the growing pool
of blood that had formed underneath her small body. "Almost had to do it
again. Almost had to hurt somebody else. Does it hurt? I know it does.
You begged me to stop.. But I didn't stop, and neither did you.. I begged
you to stop too, Lucy.." He cocked his head to the side, listening to the
laughter and the music outside of the room, outside of their little dark
world.
****
"Where DID you get these CDs Malik? I've never heard of any of these bands." Luka remarked as Dave plucked one from his hands and stuck it in the stereo. "They're American most of them..." Malik replied as the music cued up.
"We wrote this song, it's not too short, not too long
It's got back-up voc's in just the right places
It's got a few oohs and ahhs
It takes a little pause
Just before I sing the anthem
Please play this song on the radio
Almost every line is sung on time
Almost every verse ends in a rhyme
The only problem we had was writing enough words
But that's okay, because the chorus is
Coming up again now
Please play this song on the radio
Please play this song on the radio
Right about this time
Some shithead will be drawin a fat fucking line
Over the title on the back sleeve, what an asshole
So Mr. DJ, I hope you already made your segway
Or the FCC is gonna take a shit right on your head
Can't play this song on the radio..."
(copyright. NOFX)
Dave walked into the lounge and double checked the schedule. He had
been right after all, Lucy was off an hour ago. She was probably home right
now, boinking some lucky guy and getting fed strawberries and champagne..
Champagne.. Maybe he'd buy her a bottle after all. Dave sighed with relief
and left the lounge, picking up a chart from the rack on his way by. "I'm
gonna see a few
patients." He yelled over the din and a few hands raised from the fray
in a wave as he walked down the hall.
"Happy Valentine's Day Dave!" Somebody yelled after him.
His pace slowed as he reached the exam three and as he passed it, he
stopped short, his sneakers squeaking on the freshly mopped
floor.
Abby caught up to him, the Valentine in hand. "Randi WAS right! You DO have the hots for Lucy!" She laughed turning the card over and shaking her head.
"Where did you get that!?" Dave glared at her and stuck it in the pocket of his scrub top.
"It was on the floor.. I picked it up." Abby grumbled. "You're welcome."
"Thank you.." Dave sighed, rubbing his face with his bandaged hand. I've got some for the other staff too.. It's just.. I made a mess of things with Lucy earlier. I wanted to apologize, I got her some cinnamon hearts too."
"Cards and candy.. You really know the way to a woman's heart Dave." Abby said sarcastically.
"I know.. Wine them, dine them, then *BAM* I'm in their pants." Dave grinned as Abby stomped off, disgusted.
*****