"Remember? Last October.. Dave was sleeping off a hangover in an exam room and.." Chen laughed sadly, wiping away a tear. "I don't think I've ever seen 'Dusty Rose' lipstick and 'Seabreeze' eyeshadow work so well with olive tones.. It was quite.." She snickered and slipped her coffee.
"You painted him with make-up? I don't remember that.." Luka murmured.
"Well I think he was more upset about the false eyelashes.. You were... Uhh.. 'Off'." Lydia sighed and pulled herself from the booth to get more coffee.
Luka nodded. 'off.' Kerry had fired him.. He swallowed and changed the subject. "Just regular old false eyelashes?" Luka sipped his tea, and stirred it with his finger.
"Well.. yes... and no... They were regular lashes that we stuck on with fabric glue..." Chen smiled slightly.
"He must have just gone-" Luka shook his head in disbelief.
"Nuts... Yeah.. He did... When he finally found out.." Haleh smiled.
"You told him?"
"Hell no.. A patient told him." Lydia chuckled softly as she placed the hot mugs of coffee on the table.
"A patient?"
"Yeah.. This kid with a skinned knee.. Malucci was supposed to stitch him up.. He wouldn't let the 'scary ugly lady' within two feet of him.. Finally Malucci got so pissed off he stormed off into the bathroom..." Chuni trailed off with a grin.
"And found himself part of Dame Edna's worst nightmare?" Abby laughed softly and nuzzled into Luka. "Did it come off?? The makeup?"
Haleh nodded. "Yes.. It did.. The lashes didn't though.. He went around the rest of his shift looking like a reject from 'Bambi: The musical.'.." She smiled and looked up as Andrew joined them.
"Anyone remember that time Malucci and Lucy cornered that kid? Dave had caught him red-handed trying to steal his bike.. I'm not exactly sure what went on in that trauma room.. But what ever happened.. It scared that kid stiff.." Luka laughed quietly and sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"HEY!!!!!!!!! You little!" Dave stood in the doorway of the ambulance bay to see a boy about twelve, kneeled beside his bike and jimmying the lock.. Before Dave could get any closer, he leaned forward on his heel, hopped on the bike and made a break for it. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!!" The resident had screamed angrily, running out into the parking lot as his only mode of transportation slowly disappeared in the distance.
"Dave!" Lucy stood in the doorway and watched him run frantically out onto the street and narrowly miss getting clipped by a truck.
"That little bastard stole my bike!" The man grumbled, turning around and stomping back into the ER.
"I'm sure we can get it back Dave.." She said helpfully. "He can't have gone that far with it."
***
The two sat in the lounge sipping cold coffee as Dave plotted his revenge. "I swear.. When I get my hands on that ki-"
The lounge door swung open and Kerry stuck her head in. "Mini-van versus kid on a bike.. ETA's... NOW... So get your asses in gear.."
She slid the door closed and stomped off to the trauma room.
"LEMME GO! LEMME GO!" The brat screamed, squirming on the table as Dave and Lucy entered.
"THAT'S HIM! That's the little asshole who stole my bike!" Dave yelped.
"Fuck you mister!" The kid glared at him, splatting a fairly large loogie on Dave's scrubs as he squirmed in the grasp of Luka and Malik.
"The kid's fine.." Shep muttered. "It's the guy he rode out in front of that ran into a telephone pole to avoid him that you gotta worry about... Doris is bringing him in on the next rig.."
"What in the hell did you bring him in for then!!?" Kerry glared at the paramedic.
"The brat was screaming bloody murder.. I figured he was hurt.. Then he tried to hijack the damn rig.. I wanted to get him here so I could beat the living shit out of him and then you could patch him up, you know.. nice like..." Shep glared at the kid.
"If he's okay then, can I have a talk with him for a second, Chief?" Dave cocked a brow at Evil Beaver Cleaver and smiled at Weaver.
"Of course Malucci.. You'll be civil?" She raised her eyebrows and clucked her tongue.
"Of course.. Civil is my middle name... Isn't that a cat or something?"
"That's Civet..." She murmured, leaving the trauma room.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight... Gotcha.." Dave smiled as the doors swung closed leaving him alone with the bike thief..
"Now... Kid... I'd like to have a little chat with you..." Dave's voice lowered and he looked sideways as Lucy entered.
**
"Okay Dr.Malucci.. I'll see you next week.. You sure it'll be okay with my Mom.. Cleaning your apartment?" The kid slipped off the gurney, favouring his right ankle.
"I'm sure it's fine, Gordie.. Lucy phoned her.. She's well aware of the situation. She wanted to ground you until you reached pension age.. But I think my arrangement is much better... Don't you?" Dave smiled solemnly.
"Yes sir.." He said meekly before wincing as he tried to walk from the room.
"Commere squirt, sit up on the gurney again.. I want to take a look at that ankle.." Dave grinned evilly. "Do you want to see something cool?"
Gordie smiled nervously as he hopped back up onto the gurney and Dave pulled over a stool. "What is it?"
"Pictures of another doctor here... Dr.Greene... I don't know WHY he was trampolining in spandex and Saran Wrap.. But I kept them for blackmail purposes..." Dave murmured nefariously.
"Blackmail?"
"It's bad... Here..." The doctor rifled through the bottom drawer of the cabinet and pulled it out from underneath the drawer.
"Oh.. Oh crap... Holy cow!" The colour dropped from the young boy's face as he turned the pictures.. His eyes as round as saucers, his lip quivered in fear. "That.. That's disgusting... You... You can see his... Yuck!"
Dave grinned. "Try to steal my bike again kid and I'll show you the black mail photos I found for a Dr.Romano.. You DON'T want to see those... Trust me.."
~~~~~~~~
"I was told I could find a Dr.Romano or a Dr.Corday here?" The woman tugged nervously on a blonde curl, her long lashes blinked back tears from her red-rimmed eyes. Her voice was soft and wavered as she struggled to keep her composure.
Carter focused on his chart. His hand clenched around his pen and his eyes narrowed. It had been like this for the past few hours.. One little bus crash and he had all of Chicago's worried mothers on his doorstep. It didn't help that no matter what he said he couldn't convince the mommies of the hooky playing bastards who hadn't BEEN on the bus that their kids were fine.. All the kids were fine.. The mother of three who had been in the mini-van was not, she was up in the morgue.. Her eleven-month old daughter in the PICU... The stupid kids on the bus were FINE! Why couldn't people just leave him alone?
"Dr.Corday and Dr.Romano are surgeons.." He mumbled, not looking up from his paperwork. "You can probably find them upstairs on the surgical floor."
"I.. I was told they could be paged... I.. My daughter... There was an accident.. I was told there was an accident. She said if Dr.Romano and Dr.Corday couldn't be paged.. To page her..." The woman shuffled her feet and left a wet puddle of snow beneath her.
"Who is sh-??" Carter let his pen slip from his fingers and bounce across the desk as he looked up at the woman. Those eyes. Fierce, blue... and sad... These eyes were sad. She wasn't old.. Forty or so, at the most. Those eyes...
"Dr.Weaver.. Dr.Kerry Weaver." The woman's voice wavered again.
"I'll page them Ms.Knight." Randi murmured softly from behind Carter, startling him and causing the young doctor to clutch his chest in fright. She glared at Carter, snapping up the phone and dialling the pager numbers with a deft, quick ease that was unknown for three-inch long nails in 'Melon-tastic'. "I'm sure they'll be down in a minute. If you'd like.. I could make a fresh pot of coffee and you could wait in the lounge."
Ms.Knight smiled weakly and nodded, following the clerk to the lounge. Once she was settled in, Randi stormed from the room, stomped up to the desk and clipped Carter in the back of the head. "ASSHOLE!" She hissed tearfully.
"OW!" Carter yelped, turning around and glaring at her. "What did you do that for!?"
"Because you're a prick. Do you know who that was?! That was Lucy's Mom! That woman..." Randi's eyes narrowed as she snatched a mug off the counter.
"I didn't do anything!" He protested, rubbing the back of his head.
"YOU! You were awful to her! What gives you the right to do that!? To do that to somebody who just found out their daughter was-"
She broke off and looked up to see Ms.Knight standing in the doorway of the lounge. She smiled and waved the cup in her direction.. "I'll be right there, Barbara.. I just needed to find a clean mug!" Randi called cheerily to the woman.
Barbara Knight smiled gratefully and walked back into the lounge, shutting the door.
"Look... The woman just lost her only daughter.. and you were going to send her on a wild goose chase.. You really are a prick, Carter.." Randi clenched her fists, considering punching the man in the nose... But she couldn't... Her parole.. She couldn't violate her parole.. She instead took his mug and walked back into the lounge.
Carter stared at the closed door and sighed heavily.
"Dr.Carter... You paged us?" Romano slammed his palm down on the counter and Carter turned dazedly and looked at the man.
"No... I mean.. Yes. Yeah.. She's in the lounge.. She's in the lounge with Randi.." Carter said distractedly.
"Who?"
"Ms.Knight... Barbara Knight.. Lucy's Mom.. She's in the lounge.."
The two surgeons looked at each other, nodded slightly and walked past the desk.
"Dr.Corday?"
Elizabeth turned, looking at Carter. "Yes?"
"Is she?" He sighed shaking his head in disbelief and running a hand through his hair.
"Yes, Carter... She is.. Now I have to explain to her mother... How.. and why..."
******
Abby chuckled breathlessly, wiping away a tear of laughter. "Lucy REALLY did a rectal and enema on a circus clown?"
Chen grinned. "Yeah! You should have seen Malucci's face when he walked in the exam room. It was priceless."
**