Weaver crutched from the lounge and down the hall, her belly filled with warm coffee and the stale crullers that had been left in a box on the counter. She picked up a chart from the growing stack and flipped through it. "Is ANYONE seeing patients today?!" Kerry asked sarcastically, glaring at the group of doctors clustered at the desk.
"I am, Dr.Weaver." Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen announced proudly. "I've got a favour to ask you actually. My patient swallowed this and the lab refuses to test it because he's not showing any symptoms of poisoning."
"Is there an ingredient list?" Kerry murmured, taking the bottle from the resident.
"Hermoine's Magical Erection Elixir." Chen blushed red.
"How old is your patient exactly?" Kerry cocked a brow, turning the bottle over in her hands.
"Two."
"and does he have an erection?" Kerry said with a smirk.
"Well no.." Deb turned purple.
"Well.. I'll take it. I'll get toxicology to test it for you." The ER
chief took the bottle and continued down the hall, when she heard
somebody chasing after her.
"Kerry! You're here!"
Weaver turned around to see a relieved Luka chasing her down the hall. "Yes Luka? You've known I was here for an hour now.. Is there a problem?"
"No.. Not really. I just realized that I'm off shift now. That's all.." He smiled sheepishly.
"Well then.. Off you go. You have any patients to get me up to speed on?" Kerry replied mildly irritated.
A few.. Cupid in exam 4.. He was mobbed by a bunch of bitter, drunken
women coming out of a singles bar. Exposure, mild
hypothermia and frostbite. The cops found him hanging and duct-taped
to the street sign outside the bar..." Luka paused, blushing.
"Wearing nothing but his wings.."
"Anything else?"
"Well.. He had his little bow and arrow.." He admitted.
"No... I mean patients.." She said frustrated. "Any other patients?"
"Lucy and Dave's patient I guess.. We've all been a little preoccupied to discharge him." Luka stared at his feet and sighed.
"You mean the head-ache? I thought we were waiting on a psych consult?" Kerry took the chart from Luka and looked through it.
"Hi Kerry.. Happy Valentine's Day.." Karl DeRaad muttered cheerfully.
Better late than never, he thought to himself. He
remembered he'd told Lucy three hours.. But.. It was Valentine's day..
He had a lot of nutty people upstairs. Lucy also had a tendency to over-react
as well.. He was here now though.. "I guess it's not technically Valentine's
Day anymore.."
Luka nodded sadly. He wanted his party music back.
"Do you know where I can find a.." Karl looked down at his chart. "Paul Sobriki?"
"We were all wondering about that ourselves actually." Kerry muttered.
"Hey.. Dr.Weaver.. The films are back on the screamer in exam two..
Can you take a look at them?" Carter handed the doctor the
envelope. She nodded slipping from from the manila and tacking them
up on the lightboard.
It popped and the switch clicked, the bulb was dead. "Aww for christ's
sake!" Kerry ripped them down and stomped to another
board down the hall and pinned them up. She bit her lip, cocking her
head slightly. "Is that my.."
Carter grinned. "Yeah.. He disappeared.. I figured he'd discharged himself AMA when I was getting some shut eye in exam one.. That's your watch. A pair of tweezers, a syringe, a pair of rubber gloves.. That there is one of Dave's rings.. That.. I think is.. Hey! That's my pen!! Awww gross.."
Kerry chuckled.. "I don't think my watch will ever keep time again.. He can keep it.. As for the other things.. Try an endoscopy and page a surgical consult just in case. Hopefully they can get here a little quicker than psych manages to."
DeRaad reddened and shuffled his feet. "Kerry.. I..."
She slipped the films back into the envelope and handed them back to Carter. "Sobriki's in exam th..reee.." Kerry murmured glancing back at the board. "That's right.. I gave it to Malucci.. Teaching case.. Probably stress related or a low-grade tumour.. Why did Lucy call you again?"
Her hand went to the door and she paused. "Carter.."
"Yeah, Dr.Wea- Hey.. Shit.. Look at that!!" Carter pointed to the mark on the floor next to Kerry's crutch. The hand print on the floor, the finger marks trailing back into the room as if the hand had been blindly groping for something to hold onto.
The colour dropped from her face and the hand grasping her crutch started to shake. "Carter.. Go get security." She whispered softly.
Her hand pressed inward on the door as it slipped open and the dark
room cast in a grey haze as it was hit by light. Taking a few
tentative steps forward, Kerry flubbed for the light and realized it
was blown.. She moved farther into the room, not daring to breathe before
she nearly collapsed at the sight.
"Oh.. Oh.. Oh my god.." Her knuckles whitened around the cane as Kerry
struggled to stand upright. She walked further, her voice
cracking and filled with tears, her body shaking with exertion and
fear. "Oh god.." Kerry murmured.
Luka and DeRaad followed close, their mouths agape. Kerry turned burying her face into Luka's shirt. "Luka.." She moaned softly. "Was.. Is.. Is that Malucci and Lucy?!"
Luka stood, stunned.. The ER Chief, County's Rock, bawling into his shirt. A doctor and a medstudent bleeding all over the clean tile. All he could see was Malucci's sneakers. Feeling like he was going to be sick, all he could do was slowly raise his arms and encircle them around her trembling body. His hand rubbed her back as he spoke comfortingly. "Yes.. Kerry.. I think it may be.." He replied in solemn disbelief.. This couldn't be happening.
*****
"Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to. Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you."Mark grinned, holding Elizabeth's hand and kissing it softly as she joined in, horribly off-key.
"Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand, Vanished
from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not
sleeping. My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet, I have no
one to meet And the ancient empty street's too dead for drea-
ming." She broke off in fits of giggles and the parents at the table
exchanged harried glances.
"Those two are awful aren't they?" David Greene grimaced and sipped his beer.
Isabelle Corday nodded in agreement. "She had singing lessons as a child, but even the best opera singers couldn't help her. She's tone deaf. Poor thing.. She gets it from her father's side of the family." Her hand went up half-heartedly in a wave as Elizabeth waved madly from the stage. "Whose idea was it to go to a karaoke bar again?"
David 'dropped his fork' and as he bent down, he nonchalantly stuffed
small wads of napkin in his ears. "Not mine.. I wanted to stay
home and watch the Patton war-recreation marathon on DISCOVERY." He
grumbled. "I need a good strong scotch."
"Make that two." Isabelle muttered raising her hand and waving over the waiter.
********
"We paged the O.R.. Benton should be down in a minute.." Lily murmured as she watched Lucy being wheeled into a trauma room.
"Does he know it's them?" Lydia said sadly as she helped the doctors and nurses transfer Lucy to the gurney in the trauma two.
"I didn't think to tell him.. Haleh.. Have you phoned the police yet?" Lily murmured, staring at Lucy's bloodied labcoat as she cut it off.
"I AM! The bastards put me on hold.. " Haleh hissed at her, turning back to the phone. "Hello?! Just get somebody here! Everyone in the damn city knows where Cook County is for chrissakes!"
"Haleh.. Get over here.. Bag her.." Kerry barked, struggling to keep her hands steady. She'd done this. She'd given the chart to Dave.. She had told him to take Lucy along.. "Call for blood and get two units on the rapid infuser.. Now!!"
Her gaze floated upwards and saw Luka and Carter working on Malucci.. God help them both.. This was all her fault.
****
"Dave!? Can you hear me Dave? Dave?? Come on Dave.." Carter pleaded with him sadly.
"His airway's clear.." Luka said as he backed away from Malucci and
walked around the gurney as Carter assessed Dave's alertness,
although it was a little more forward than he would have liked. "Set
up the rapid infuser and notify the OR.." He ordered to Chuni who ran to
the phone.
"For fuck's sake, Malucci! Open your eyes!" Carter yelled at him, gripping the man's shoulders and shaking him slightly.
Dave's head bobbed with the movement, and rolled to the side, a trickle
of blood ran from his mouth. Luka bit his lip and closed his
eyes for a second to compose himself. "N-no response to command.. Glascow
Coma scale seven..."
"What are his resps, pulse and BP!?" Luka said as he started to cut off Dave's scrub top.. It slid off from the body easily, his chest slick with his own blood. Dave's firm six-pack and pecs shone with a brilliant red as the overhead light beat down on the residents like a morning sun.
"Resps are 32, Pulse is 126 and his BP's 90.." Lily said as she pulled the velcroed cuff away from the muscled arm, the only body part that wasn't covered in blood.
"God.. He must have been laying there for hours.. Did you see the handprint in the doorway? He.. He was trying to get out.. I.. I wonder if he yelled for help? What if he did and we didn't hear him?" Abby said tearfully.
"I can't believe it.. How come NOBODY saw any of this?!" Wendy squeaked in disbelief.
"We were too busy eating cutty pie hearts and listening to Fresh Children
on the Cube" Luka murmured before shaking his head.
"What are his vitals now?"
"Breath sounds are good in the left and right lung.. Resps are up to 24.. Blood Pressure's at 125 and pulse is 100.." Wendy said as Luka nodded, relieved.
"He's improving.." Luka murmured softly.
Dave's eyelids started to flutter as he moaned.
"Dave!? Dave.. Can you hear me?!" Carter asked with sudden relief as he looked over into trauma two and Kerry was waving him in.
**