"Elizabeth! Wait! Come back here! Elizabeth, please!" Mark ran from the lounge, after his fiancee, catching her arm. "Elizabeth!" He panted. "What happened?! What's wrong!?"
Slowly she turned, tears marring her face. Elizabeth's face reddened,
and flushed scarlet, her eyes puffy and bloodshot as she ran her hand under
her nose as it began to run. As she choked back a sob, Mark lead her to
a chair. "M-malucci.. He.. He kissed me."
***
"Dr.Malucci. I think it's best that we discuss this, but if you're not ready.." DeRaad sighed, glancing up from his notepad and looking at his patient and over at the clock, ticking away on the wall.
"I didn't kiss Dr.Greene... I told you.. I never kissed him.. Never laid lips on the guy. What I said.. I didn't mean it. " Dave replied shakily. DeRaad was writing an awful lot on that pad of his.. He stared at the thin blanket, covering his bed, and ran his thumb along the hem.
"What do you mean Dave?" Carl said with a tinge of fear in his voice. Malucci wasn't going to kiss him was he?
"I kissed Dr.Corday. I kissed Elizabeth.. I didn't kiss Mark Greene."
***
"He kissed you!? I'll kill him.. I swear.. I'm going to kick that little Italian bastard's ass from here to Timbuctu." Mark seethed, his hands clenched.
"Mark... I don't think that's a good idea.."
***
Carter moped along the halls, his crutches dragging slightly with each feeble step. "I don't know what I was thinking, Deb. Doing that.. Did I really think I could replace Malucci? Buying a pair of Rollerblades? Did I really think that buying a $500 pair of rollerskates would make me feel less guilty?"
They stopped outside exam three, Deb grasping his arm to steady him as she helped Carter into a chair against the wall. "Five-hundred dollars?!!!!" She sighed. "John.. Guilty for what? What did you do wrong!? It was an accident.. The man was nuts.."
"I sent Dave looking for Lucy.. I sent him into that room. I nearly got him killed. I was so upset because of Lucy, because she'd come into the lounge all pissed off because Dave wouldn't let her help.. If I'd stayed out of it.. I was so angry at him.. Over nothing.. Over a case of beer versus a bottle of champagne for the spinal tap.. I got Lucy killed over a bottle of wine."
***
"I really enjoyed dinner the other night, Kerry." Luka mumbled.
"I did too, Dr.Kovac. Took our minds off more serious matters at hand. If even for awhile. Thank you for escorting me home." Kerry smiled as she walked into the lounge to put her coat away.
"It was my pleasure. We should do it again sometime." He reddened, as he walked into the lounge, following her. "I mean.. Sharing a cab.. It saves money.." Luka smiled uneasily as she turned to face him and he hurried from the staff room.
He grabbed a chart off the admit desk and leafed through it, watching as Kerry walked from the lounge and coolly brushed past him. "Of course, Dr.Kovac. Sounds like a plan to me." She replied smoothly as she picked up another chart and walked down the hall.
***
"I've written him a drip of Haldol.. Keep him on it for awhile.. He was quite agitated." DeRaad murmured to Ginny as he scribbled the notations onto the chart.
"You want to keep him sedated? You think that's a good idea, Dr.?" Ginny asked worriedly as she watched her Babyduck's chest rise and fall as he slept.
"For now yes.. Let him sleep. I will be back later, to check his progress." The man muttered before slipping the chart into her hands and leaving.
"Progress?" Ginny muttered angrily to herself as she stared sadly at Dave. "How can he make any damn progress if he's drugged?"
***
"I don't care if he's crippled was stabbed only a few days ago.. I'm going to beat him to a pulp anyway." Mark grumbled as he stomped to the elevators.
"No.. Mark.. Don't.. Don't hurt him. He was tired, confused, drugged. He didn't know what he was doing." Elizabeth said hurriedly in Dave's defence.
"The man kissed my fiancee.. I don't care if it was the Pope himself." He growled angrily.
"Hey.. A few minutes ago, when you thought it was Peter, you weren't so quick to be rushing off to kick ass.. What's changed now? Can't handle fist fights with men your own size!?" She sighed.
"No.. But Peter's twice my size!" Mark whined.
"And your twice Dave's size. It was a mistake. Forget about it, the boy's got enough to worry about without you making it worse."
***
Ginny stood in the doorway, watching Dave toss and turn fitfully, battling an imaginary assailant in his dreams. "David.. Ohhh David. I'm so sorry, honey.." She murmured sadly, before turning and exiting the room and shutting out the light.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"All rise. Honourable Judge Harrison presiding." The bailiff announced loudly.
"Case no.3563, Mr.Paul Sobriki vs. Dr.David Malucci and the kin of the deceased, Ms.Lucy Knight." He said loudly as he read off the docket and handed it to the judge.
Harrison looked over the packed crowd, the journalists scribbling madly on notepads in the back row. He exhaled tiredly and sat in the hard oak chair. "Be seated. Will the defendant please rise?"
Paul nodded, clutching his hands on the table before him and pulling himself upright. He smiled slightly, before chewing on the inside of his lip and remaining stoic.
"How do you plead?"
"Not Guilty, Your Honour." He said quietly, his gaze faltering and dropping to the shiny surface of the desk.
"You may be seated. Council.. Will you be calling your first witness?"
Harriet Rupert nodded. "I call Dr.Malucci to the stand, your honor."
Dave rose painfully from his seat, leaning on the cane as he limped to the box.
"Let it be known for the record that Dr.David Malucci was sworn in, prior to the hearing." The bailiff muttered and the court typographer clicked it off, her fingers flying over the keys.
"Dr.Malucci.. You were working, the night of Valentine's Day when the defendent allegedly stabbed you and Ms.Knight?" His lawyer said cooly as she flipped through the notes she'd read over and over and over, prior to the hearing.
"Yes. Yes I was, I was asked to stay on and work the later shift." Dave said nervously, bile rising in his throat.
"In a statement to the police, your Emergency Department Chief said that you had been sifting through charts.. She means you were looking for the easier better emergency cases, am I correct in that assumption?" His lawyer continued, eyeing him as she looked up from her note pad and paced in front of the box.
"Yes. I was looking through the rack. She caught me.." Dave said with a slight smile. "It said migraine headaches.. Dr.Weaver caught me.. Told me it was a good easy teaching case.. and to take Lucy."
"Ms.Knight?"
"Yes."
"You did some routine tests on Mr.Sobriki? am I correct?"
"Yes.. CT scan.. MRI.. Head x-ray.. The usual.. Ran some blood tests.. and we did a tap." Dave said his demeanor faltering, and his hands shaking in his lap. His back was starting to hurt..
"A tap.. That's a Spinal Tap? Also referred to as a Lumbar puncture? What does that do?" She smiled at him encouragingly.
"It's to detect for diseases like Meningitis.. If it's cloudy or bloody, then.." Dave shrugged. "But it wasn't.. it was clear.. Or would have been, if Mr.Sobriki hadn't started to struggle during the puncture."
"He awoke?"
"Yes.. He.. He did.. Started to thrash about.. Got me in the face.. As.. As we were leaving... He.. He said he'd get us back.. Said he'd make us pay.." Dave said as he started tremble.
"OBJECTION YOUR HONOUR! THAT WASN'T PART OF THE QUESTION! I WANT THAT STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD!" The District Attorney boomed.
"Over-ruled.." The judge looked at the pale sweaty doctor concernedly. "Are you okay Dr.Malucci?"
"I.. I'm fine.." Dave muttered uneasily.
Paul stood suddenly and ripped off his dress-jacket.
Dave's eyes widened, and his swallowed convulsively, vomit rising in his throat, as he started to shake.. "Oh... Oh god.. Oh good god.."
A knife jutted from Paul's abdomen and Paul started to scream in animalistic wails. "They wanted my organs!! I never will let them get my organs! They are MINE!!!!!!" With a grunt of pain, he wrenched the blood soaked knife from his gut and watched it mesmerized as it dripped with his own dark blood.
~*~*~*~*~*~