**************************************************************
"Because that means you have to go grocery shopping.." Kerry replied, turning her attention back to the movie. "Go." She waved him away with a handful of Croatian Kunas.
"But.."
"Take Luka, Doug and Peter with you.."
"Luka and Doug aren't here... They went to look for Carter and Abby.." Dave said tiredly as he munched on the remnants of the apple.
********
"Where's all the blood coming from Carter?" Luka dead panned, looking
at the trails of red on the pavement.
"Blood?" Carter said fearfully, patting himself down to make sure he
was intact. Slowly a smile crept on his lips. "Ohh.. Blood.. Riiiiight...
I-" A hand went to his back pocket and extracted the remnants of the
offending bleeders. "I knew we were running out of food, so when we were in town
last week at the McDonald's, I hoarded the ketchup and BBQ sauces."
"Why was it still in your pocket?" Nikola murmured, confused as he
stared at the deflated, mucky condiment packets in Carter's hands
and wondering if it was all over his upholstery.
"With no food in the house, Dave started eating them. So I started
keeping them on me, or rather I 'kept' them on me before, you, Jacques Villenueve
over here ran me over." Carter muttered, eyeing the truck. "You guys going
grocery shopping? It's about time."
"Actually Carter, I came out here to kill y-" Luka smiled calmly, his
lips pursed in irritation as Doug interrupted him.
"The Yuromov's... Our neighbours.. They said if we came over and
slaughtered a pig ourselves we could have it for half-price." Doug said hastily.
Nikola cocked his brow. "The Yuromovs? They haven't had livestock
since-" he murmured to himself till he caught Doug glaring at him.
"Yes... Luka phoned me.. I was coming to help.. Slaughtering animals is
hard work.." Nikola said quickly, looking at his former son-in-law.
Carter looked at them. "I have money.. We don't have to go out and
slaughter animals.. I have money.. Just take us to the store.." To further his
point, he reached back into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Slick, red
and sticky with ketchup he held it between his thumb and forefinger and
pried it open with his middle finger. The Italian leather protesting slightly as
it flopped open, his gold cards a shiny orange hue as they too were
covered in the tomato condiment.
"That is pretty disgusting, Carter.." Abby remarked, watching him
extract each card and wipe them into his handkerchief.
"Yeah.. Well, if somebody hadn't been standing in the middle of the
road yelling at me, maybe a car wouldn't have hit me as I saved their life."
Carter snorted angrily, staring at the Visa card and wondering if
hickory barbeque sauce tasted richer if it was licked off a goldcard.
"Saved my life!? Well then!" Abby snapped angrily. "Thank you Sir
Lancelot.. Thanks to you, I smell like a wet dog that rolled in manure! How's
your ankle, poor baby.." She snarled.
"Oohhh the demeanor of the evil bitch has changed! Wow.. A few hours
ago you were remarking that I was your saviour.. That I helped you get back
into med school that I was the wonderful angel that I am.. Now I get patronizing
bullshit?!" Carter sighed dramatically, and stared out the window.
"Stop it now you two. Or I'm letting you back out onto the road!"
Nikola barked, Luka and Doug following close behind in the truck. "We are
going grocery shopping. Dr. Carter will pay since he's so graciously offered.
I will take you two to the hospital first."
****
"How's Reese doing??" Peter smiled, laying back on the bed. The
obnoxious and nauseating sounds of Mark and Elizabeth going at it in the next
room filtered underneath the closed door of the bedroom that Peter and Kerry
had shared.
Over the months the rooming arrangements had changed and morphed.
Lately Kerry and Dave had started sharing the same bed, much to the chagrin of
Carter who begged Peter to have the empty bed that was now in his room.
So now Kerry and Dave slept in Carter's old room; in the same bed. and
Doug and Carol shared a room, and Mark and Elizabeth.. They more than just slept
in the same bed... Peter shuddered. He didn't want to think about things
like that.
"Reese is fine.." Cleo looked at the boy who was rough housing with the
Ross twins, their brother and sister, Ella Greene and her younger brother
Theo. "Reese... St-" She paused, smacking her forehead with her palm. Yelling
at a deaf kid.. Yeahhhh right, that would work.. "One second, Peter- Tess..
Tell Reese to get off Sam.."
The dark-eyed child with long brown curls grinned at her baby-sitter.
"Sure Cleo.." Her perfect lips parting as she smiled, the dimple on her cheek
like her mother. It was amazing how much they looked like Carol.. It was
amazing how much all the children acted like their parents. The twin terrors of County Gen' had turned into beautiful young women, and Doug was already threaten to enroll them in private school, or a nunnery. He wasn't sure which. She watched as Tess
carefully tapped the elder boy on the shoulder and signed to him, to put Sam the
right way up.
Sam crashed onto the lawn in a fit of giggles, the purple-lish hue that
had clouded his face, receding, his cheeks pink with the cool Chicago air.
The offspring of the ER clan all tearing around Cleo's lawn like a mad
whirling dervish.
Jane Lily Del Amico had grabbed a fistful of fresh mown grass and
shoved it in her mouth, as Kate came up behind her and batted it out of her
little hand. "No.. Sweetie.. Nooooo." The older girl tutted disapprovingly, as the infant's face crumpled in tears. If Anna had just used birth-control and hadn't acted like such a slut.. At least that's what she'd overheard her Dad telling Mark. It was one night of rebound sex after Anna had been dating a narcissistic pilot with butt
boils and one night of unplanned sex and out came Jane.. Her father's dark
eyes and her mother's light hair and rose coloured lips. She was a sweet
child, just a bit- "NO Jane..." Kate said again, pulling the muck from the
little girl's fingers, "No. Don't eat dirt..." No.. She was alot like her
parents.
Luka, being the saviour of all living beings had done everything for Anna.. Had even been her Lamaze coach.. Anna repaid him by making Luka, Jane's god- father. When Abby found out, she'd cursed, sweared, and cried. She had shed so many tears over the man, it seemed that he wasn't worth it. Before his little god-daughter was born, she had thought that. It was a
certainty in fact. Men were scum.. Then she met Luka the god-father, things
changed.
'All these kids,' Cleo thought. '-and none of them are mine.. not a one..
I've just become the baby-sitter...' "The spinster-bitch." she said aloud to
herself.
"Cleo? You say something?" Peter said confused, rolling onto his
stomach as it started to growl fiercely. He hoped somebody else had discovered
that he'd eaten the last can of food in the house and went to get more. Although, his stomach seemed to be regretting the pickled beets, hopefully that one can of them would be the last of it.
"N-nope.. Not a word, tell the rest of them that their kids are okay..
I gotta go tuck them into bed.." Cleo said with a laugh as Tess and Kate
struggled with a sibling. Tess with Sam in a piggy-back and Kate
pulling Terri up onto her shoulders. The Chicago night had settled quickly and
Reese had caught Cleo's quick signing, as he grabbed Ella in a tackle onto
the lawn, their laughter becoming infectious as they all ran into the
house, giggling. The back door slammed and Cleo winced. All those kids in her
house for four months now, it was amazing nothing valuable had been broken..
Her face contorted with pain as she heard the sound of shattering glass. If
that was her mother's crystal...
"Okay, Cleo.. Thanks for taking care of them," Peter said quickly.
"Tell Reese I love him."
"I will, Peter.." She hung up the phone with a sigh. For a moment
there, she was actually thinking he was actually going to say it for once.. Not
that they were together anymore.. They hadn't been together in years. Still
there was always that chance..
********
"So Doug.. If you don't love Carol.. You still love your children... I
don't know how something so wondrous as four children can be created in such
a dysfunctional family setting." Luka grumbled, his knuckles whitening on the
wheel.
"Yeah well.. You got a daughter, and you didn't even have to fuck anybody.. How messed up is that!? All holy fucking Croatian Virgin. Gets himself a kid without ever burdening the loins of a woman.. God Father my ass.. You are NOT Brando." Doug snorted, in a sing-song voice. "Besides, my infidelities are none of your business. Carol isn't any of your business.. She isn't, and you remember that. Tonight I will have sex with my wife and I will enjoy it. I never said I didn't love her. I said getting back together with her after Seattle was a mistake. She's with me now, and I'm not about to end it because you say so. I have children with her. She sleeps beside me, and with me and not with you and that's the way it will always be, no matter how many strippers I have slept with or will sleep with. We've grown apart, that year she spent in Chicago when I was in Seattle.. It was a crucial year. She should have come with me, she chose not to.. Are you expecting a normal male to not have sex for a year on the basis that his ex-girlfriend MIGHT show up on his doorstep? That's what she was, Kovac.. So I slept with my receptionist, and my nurse, and my PA... I wasn't tied down anymore." Doug sighed. "And that was her decision."
"What about the wedding?? The rest of the kids.. When you came back.. You are tied down now.. And yet.. You still..." He trailed off with a heavy sigh.. 'Doug Ross is a pig.' Luka surmised. "Why?"
"I'm assuming that you've not heard the tales then, Kovac!" Doug snarled, rolling down the window. It was getting too hot in here. "I've always been the roving dog, humping the master's leg... You never heard of that girl I brought in.. She died.. I-I didn't even know her name. It scared me into real relationships.. I had some close ones over the years.."
"No.. Actually that's legend.. Are you basically saying you can't change a leopard's spots? After all this time, after having four children, you're still sleeping with other women?" Luka snorted. His excuses were weak.
"Yes.. That's what I'm saying. I love my children, I like Carol. She's a wonderful woman. But if you're expecting me to stay home and play Daddy day after day, you're wrong Kovac. We're not the same people. I'm not like you.. I can't dote myself after one tiresome female." Doug sighed, Kovac had a real knack for making him feel like shit. Why did he come along again? He
couldn't remember.
"Yes, well you've obviously never lost anyone you've loved before Ross. Until that happens, I don't think we're anything alike at all Ross.. None. I love Abby.. That is one thing I'm sure of, and one day, I'll have children with her, and it will be everything that I smell, and breathe and live
for the rest of my life. Family is what counts, Doug. Not the next patient, or paycheque or sexual conquest. Your family matters. It's too bad you'll never figure that out." Luka said sadly, the truck slowing to a stop as Nikola had pulled in front of the hospital. They had arrived. "Get out, take care of them. I will park." He said quietly, watching Doug get out of the vehicle and help Carter and Abby from the car in front of them.
****
"Malucci... What's that in your pocket?" Carol said suspicious, the candy bar sized bulge moving in his jeans as he stumbled backwards.
"My pocket? Nothing.." Dave said nervously, the two women up off the couch now and backing him into a corner. "I... I swear.. There's nothing in my pockets.."
The wounded animalistic screams of a male being stripped and revoked of his Eatmore bar resonated over the flat farm lands of the Croatian landscape. Dave trembled, huddled in a corner, his hands over his head as he eyed them. "I.. I don't have anything else.." He stammered almost tearfully, his clothes thrown in a corner and thoroughly searched. That wasn't the only thing that had been thoroughly examined for any contraband food items.
Kerry nodded, removing the lubricated rubber glove and putting it in the trash. "I was just saying.. I wouldn't have put it past you to hide M&Ms up there. I had to check Malucci.."
Carol smiled in agreement, "I know it wasn't pleasant, Dave. But don't you feel better now that you have no secrets?"
Dave winced uncomfortably, his buttocks clenching and unclenching almost spasmodically. He felt like somebody had driven a Volkswagen bus up his ass. Getting anally probed over a little bit of food. "No." He replied glumly. He should have thought twice before pissing off a bunch of medical professionals.
Kerry paced the room wildly, walking to and fro and contemplating giving the man an impromptu high-colonic to see if the guy had any jube-jubes.
***
As the screams had died down to pitiful whimpering, Peter crawled off the bed and wandered downstairs. "What's going on down here? It sounds like you're beating an anim-" He stopped at the foot of the stairs and saw naked Dave huddled in the corner. "What in the hell?"
"He was hiding food on us, Peter.." Kerry said, her eyes crazed as she crutched to a chair and glared at Malucci.
Peter looked at the baggie of candy in Kerry's hand. It looked like it had been... Noo.. It.. eww.. "Kerry? Uhhmmm! You stripped and did an exploratory rectal on Malucci for a candy bar?" The woman was seriously deranged.
"They have chewy nougat centres!" Kerry said angrily, thrusting the bag in Peter's face.
"The bastard!" Peter glared at Dave, grabbing the tube of KY and a rubber glove off the table. "I want to see if he has any Tootsie Rolls. Bend over Malucci!"
Malucci burst into tears. "Even the beef-jerky guy on Survivor wasn't treated like a prison in-mate.. Come on g-guys.." He blubbered as the three of them closed in. "I honestly don't have any-thiiiiiing else!" Dave yelped as a freshly gloved hand went in for the kill.
"That's what you said last time!" Carol growled, holding him firmly in the jackknife position, her arms pinning his legs to the floor, with Kerry placing her weight firmly on his back, and pinning his arms down so his ass stuck up in the air. Watching him struggle, she sighed, she sure hoped they got home with some groceries soon, because this was just getting weird.
***
"Yes, Dr.Carter. You have a mild concussion, a broken wrist and that laceration is going to need stitches." Dr. Pavic replied, stripping off his gloves and tossing them in the bin. "You were flagging down a car to have breakfast?" He asked confused, standing up from the stool he'd been seated on while examining the Attending physician.
"Yeah.. We didn't have any food back at the farm.. I was hungry." Carter stammered, holding the gauze pack over his forehead.
"Yeah well, you're lucky the old man wasn't going so fast. I'm going to go check on your friend. Another doctor will do your stitches for you, he'll be with you in a moment." Dan Pavic walked into the adjoining exam room, Abby sitting on the gurney, her legs swinging back and forth as she attempted to decipher the Croatian words on the charts and posters that were stuck around the room.
"It's about time you showed up." She grunted impatiently, as she glanced at her watch. Abby sighed, drumming her index finger on the glass casing and shaking her wrist. "Fucking thing's broken.." She muttered angrily before turning from the doctor and yelling towards exam two. "Thanks alot Carter!"
"He saved your life, Dr.Kovac." Pavic said kindly, handing her a gown. "Put this on please, I'll be back in a moment."
Abby cocked a brow, "Wait, my name's not-" her lips parted as she was about to finish her sentence, but the man had already left. "Kovac."
Nikola stood in the door. "I know Luka would like it to be, Abby." He said gruffly. It had surprised him at first. Seeing the woman at the grocery store, those months ago. Kunas and coins falling from her hands as she'd stumbled from the market with her hands full of bags. His heart had swelled and boiled with rage when he'd found out that his slime of a son in law had been dating this woman for so many years now. It was about time they got married, Nik figured.
"You told them that I..." Abby stared at him. "Why? Why would you do that?" What sort of ulterior motive could the man have? The fact that he didn't want his son in law fucking out of wedlock? That he didn't want the city to know that Luka was only dating her and disgracing him by having premarital sex with another woman? What was his angle?
"Because, you're good for him. He has to move on with his life. His life isn't here in Zagreb, it's in Chicago with you." He said tiredly, the woman was entirely too paranoid for her own good. "He should have married you years ago."
"Nikola..." Abby said dumbfounded, the gown clutched in her hands. "I.." Her mouth flapped open, her bottom jaw dangling. "I.."
"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." Nikola eyed the doctor pacing outside and pointed back at the gown. "Better put that on, Doctor's getting impatient." He muttered, walking from the room and shutting the door.
Abby got off the gurney, shedding her clothing, her legs coming up in scratches and bruises, It looked like she was okay. Just a little bumped around. Maybe Carter DID save her life.
"Hey.... Lockfart.. Nice arse!" Carter snickered, waving from the doorway that connected the two rooms. He sat on the bed in the exam two, grinning at her, admiring her ass, as Abby peeked at him upside down from in between her legs and glared angrily.
"Carter, you're a pig.." Abby growled, slamming the door, and forcibly shoving on the gown, the sleeves pushed up and the back gaping open.
"You're ready now, Dr.Kovac?" Pavic entered the room, closing the door behind him as Abby hopped back up on the gurney.
****
Kerry sat beside the weeping Dave, holding his naked body in his arms as she rocked him, "I'm sorry honey.. We're all just a little starved around here.. I didn't mean to hurt you.." She said softly, planting a loving kiss in his tousled dark hair that now creeped over his shoulders in a shagged unkempt 'do.
"Y-you.. violated me for candy.." He whimpered, snuggling into her arms, too weak to move. Peter had explored him every which way from Sunday. Dave had a sneaking suspicion the man still held grudges from years ago and found this afternoon the perfect time for revenge, he'd done everything except grab his crotch and tell him to turn his head and cough.
"Aww.. Sweetie.." Kerry said comfortingly. "I'm so sorry.. We didn't mean to get that crazy on you.. It's just when Carol saw that candy bar.."
"I.. I know.. Rabid females, chocolate, PMS.. Never withhold candy from females.. I.. I know that now." Dave said weakly, trembling as he played with a length of hair on his legs, twirling it around in his fingers absently.
******
"Have you had a physical lately, Dr.Kovac?" Abby shook her head, staring at the ceiling as she lay back on the examining table.
"Nope.. It's probably been about a year.. I gotta make an appointment with gyno when I get back," she said absently.
"You have some regional midline tenderness.. It's probably nothing, but I'd like to order a pelvic exam. I can do it now, if you like." He offered. "If you have the time.." He glanced over at the exam room next door, to see the other doctor reduce the fracture and start to set it.
Abby looked at him. A gyno exam in a strange country.. With a male doctor.. Life seemed strange. She smelled like manure and she was getting a pelvic. "Can I take a shower first?" She asked almost nervously.
"Yes, certainly." He said kindly, directing her to the showers and helping her disrobe.
A few minutes later, she reemerged from the showers and sat on the table, the stirrups pulled out as the doctor prepped the room. "You know the procedure. We'll draw some blood, do some routine tests..." A young nurse entered the room, smiling at Abby as she walked to the table and started setting up the instruments. "Abby, this is Reina.. She's the supervising nurse and will be watching the procedure today. So if you'll lay back and extend your arm, she can take some blood and I'll begin the exam.
Abby nodded staring up at the ceiling again as her legs were placed in the stirrups and the muzak piped into the room addled her brain.
****
"Is she okay?" Carter said worriedly, trying to peek into Abby's exam room, but the blinds had been shut, and the doctor conveniently stood in his view through the window in the door.
"I'm sure she's fine Dr.Carter. She only had a few bumps and scratches from what I could see. You took most of the hit from the car." He finished casting the arm, smoothing out the plaster and started wrapping it in green fibreglass.
***
"Dave.. I'm sorry.. Please talk to me." Kerry murmured, a kind hand brushing the hair from his tear streaked face. "Honey.. Please.. It's not like you to be so quiet."
"Yeah. Well it's not like you guys to forcibly grab me and search me for food.." Dave said wounded, now clothed in a long t-shirt and baggy jeans and sitting on the couch, facing away from her. "You guys were wrong. Y-you hurt me.." He whimpered almost tearfully, the shaking returning.
Kerry sighed, climbing onto the couch with him, sitting at his feet. "Dave.. I told you I was sorry. We had no right at all to do what we did." She grasped his hands in hers and pulled him towards her into her arms again. "Please, sweetie.. Don't be mad at me.." Enveloping the trembling man in her arms, she stroked his head fondly, till he fell asleep in her arms.
Peter stomped through the room again, on a mission of finding food that hadn't been up Dave's ass. So far he hadn't any luck. "Peter.." Kerry said in an exasperated tone, throwing her keys at his head. "Take the station wagon.. Go get some fucking groceries will you!?" She hissed, rocking her Dave slowly in her arms.
"Ohhhh Kerry.. Don't act so innocent, Carol said you were the first one to pin the little bastard down and shove your hand up his ass.. Not me." Peter snarled, grabbing the keys in mid-air.
"Yeah! But at least I'm sorry about it!" Kerry called after him as the surgeon stomped out of the house and could be heard squealing out of the drive way. She was sorry about it.. It had been an extreme moment of weakness. Something of such an extreme violation that she wasn't sure Dave would ever fully trust her again. Even if there WASN'T nougat filled candybars near by.
******
"Abby.. Your labs have come back.. Perhaps you'd like your husband in here with you, do you want Reina to fetch him?" Pavic said kindly,
Abby watched him fearfully wondering if she was reading him correctly. Maybe he was being kind because he was a nice guy.. OR maybe she had cancer.. Abby shuddered, nodding her head. "Yes please.."
Soon Luka sat on the bed with Abby, a comforting arm around her as he pulled her close. "It will be okay honey.. Everything will be fine." He said soothingly.
"Doctors Kovac.." Pavic smiled, grasping Luka's hand and shaking it vigorously. "You're pregnant."
"WHAT!?" Luka's eyes widened and he passed out cold on the floor.
"Is.. Is he okay?" Pavic said worriedly and Abby nodded, shrugging.
"Yeah.. he's fine.. It's a guy thing I guess eh?? He got excited about being a Dad so all the blood rushed to his groin. He'll be okay soon." Abby said with a smile, her hands over her belly, stroking it. She was going to be a mama.. She was killing 2 birds with one stone. She was getting married AND she was going to be a Dr. Mama Kovac.. With a deep sigh of relief, she lay back on the gurney and hummed happily to herself. Life was good.
"Because that means you have to go grocery shopping.." Kerry replied, turning her attention back to the movie. "Go." She waved him away with a handful of Croatian Kunas.
"But.."
"Take Luka, Doug and Peter with you.."
"Luka and Doug aren't here... They went to look for Carter and Abby.." Dave said tiredly as he munched on the remnants of the apple.
********
"Where's all the blood coming from Carter?" Luka dead panned, looking
at the trails of red on the pavement.
"Blood?" Carter said fearfully, patting himself down to make sure he
was intact. Slowly a smile crept on his lips. "Ohh.. Blood.. Riiiiight...
I-" A hand went to his back pocket and extracted the remnants of the
offending bleeders. "I knew we were running out of food, so when we were in town
last week at the McDonald's, I hoarded the ketchup and BBQ sauces."
"Why was it still in your pocket?" Nikola murmured, confused as he
stared at the deflated, mucky condiment packets in Carter's hands
and wondering if it was all over his upholstery.
"With no food in the house, Dave started eating them. So I started
keeping them on me, or rather I 'kept' them on me before, you, Jacques Villenueve
over here ran me over." Carter muttered, eyeing the truck. "You guys going
grocery shopping? It's about time."
"Actually Carter, I came out here to kill y-" Luka smiled calmly, his
lips pursed in irritation as Doug interrupted him.
"The Yuromov's... Our neighbours.. They said if we came over and
slaughtered a pig ourselves we could have it for half-price." Doug said hastily.
Nikola cocked his brow. "The Yuromovs? They haven't had livestock
since-" he murmured to himself till he caught Doug glaring at him.
"Yes... Luka phoned me.. I was coming to help.. Slaughtering animals is
hard work.." Nikola said quickly, looking at his former son-in-law.
Carter looked at them. "I have money.. We don't have to go out and
slaughter animals.. I have money.. Just take us to the store.." To further his
point, he reached back into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Slick, red
and sticky with ketchup he held it between his thumb and forefinger and
pried it open with his middle finger. The Italian leather protesting slightly as
it flopped open, his gold cards a shiny orange hue as they too were
covered in the tomato condiment.
"That is pretty disgusting, Carter.." Abby remarked, watching him
extract each card and wipe them into his handkerchief.
"Yeah.. Well, if somebody hadn't been standing in the middle of the
road yelling at me, maybe a car wouldn't have hit me as I saved their life."
Carter snorted angrily, staring at the Visa card and wondering if
hickory barbeque sauce tasted richer if it was licked off a goldcard.
"Saved my life!? Well then!" Abby snapped angrily. "Thank you Sir
Lancelot.. Thanks to you, I smell like a wet dog that rolled in manure! How's
your ankle, poor baby.." She snarled.
"Oohhh the demeanor of the evil bitch has changed! Wow.. A few hours
ago you were remarking that I was your saviour.. That I helped you get back
into med school that I was the wonderful angel that I am.. Now I get patronizing
bullshit?!" Carter sighed dramatically, and stared out the window.
"Stop it now you two. Or I'm letting you back out onto the road!"
Nikola barked, Luka and Doug following close behind in the truck. "We are
going grocery shopping. Dr. Carter will pay since he's so graciously offered.
I will take you two to the hospital first."
****
"How's Reese doing??" Peter smiled, laying back on the bed. The
obnoxious and nauseating sounds of Mark and Elizabeth going at it in the next
room filtered underneath the closed door of the bedroom that Peter and Kerry
had shared.
Over the months the rooming arrangements had changed and morphed.
Lately Kerry and Dave had started sharing the same bed, much to the chagrin of
Carter who begged Peter to have the empty bed that was now in his room.
So now Kerry and Dave slept in Carter's old room; in the same bed. and
Doug and Carol shared a room, and Mark and Elizabeth.. They more than just slept
in the same bed... Peter shuddered. He didn't want to think about things
like that.
"Reese is fine.." Cleo looked at the boy who was rough housing with the
Ross twins, their brother and sister, Ella Greene and her younger brother
Theo. "Reese... St-" She paused, smacking her forehead with her palm. Yelling
at a deaf kid.. Yeahhhh right, that would work.. "One second, Peter- Tess..
Tell Reese to get off Sam.."
The dark-eyed child with long brown curls grinned at her baby-sitter.
"Sure Cleo.." Her perfect lips parting as she smiled, the dimple on her cheek
like her mother. It was amazing how much they looked like Carol.. It was
amazing how much all the children acted like their parents. The twin terrors of County Gen' had turned into beautiful young women, and Doug was already threaten to enroll them in private school, or a nunnery. He wasn't sure which. She watched as Tess
carefully tapped the elder boy on the shoulder and signed to him, to put Sam the
right way up.
Sam crashed onto the lawn in a fit of giggles, the purple-lish hue that
had clouded his face, receding, his cheeks pink with the cool Chicago air.
The offspring of the ER clan all tearing around Cleo's lawn like a mad
whirling dervish.
Jane Lily Del Amico had grabbed a fistful of fresh mown grass and
shoved it in her mouth, as Kate came up behind her and batted it out of her
little hand. "No.. Sweetie.. Nooooo." The older girl tutted disapprovingly, as the infant's face crumpled in tears. If Anna had just used birth-control and hadn't acted like such a slut.. At least that's what she'd overheard her Dad telling Mark. It was one night of rebound sex after Anna had been dating a narcissistic pilot with butt
boils and one night of unplanned sex and out came Jane.. Her father's dark
eyes and her mother's light hair and rose coloured lips. She was a sweet
child, just a bit- "NO Jane..." Kate said again, pulling the muck from the
little girl's fingers, "No. Don't eat dirt..." No.. She was alot like her
parents.
Luka, being the saviour of all living beings had done everything for Anna.. Had even been her Lamaze coach.. Anna repaid him by making Luka, Jane's god- father. When Abby found out, she'd cursed, sweared, and cried. She had shed so many tears over the man, it seemed that he wasn't worth it. Before his little god-daughter was born, she had thought that. It was a
certainty in fact. Men were scum.. Then she met Luka the god-father, things
changed.
'All these kids,' Cleo thought. '-and none of them are mine.. not a one..
I've just become the baby-sitter...' "The spinster-bitch." she said aloud to
herself.
"Cleo? You say something?" Peter said confused, rolling onto his
stomach as it started to growl fiercely. He hoped somebody else had discovered
that he'd eaten the last can of food in the house and went to get more. Although, his stomach seemed to be regretting the pickled beets, hopefully that one can of them would be the last of it.
"N-nope.. Not a word, tell the rest of them that their kids are okay..
I gotta go tuck them into bed.." Cleo said with a laugh as Tess and Kate
struggled with a sibling. Tess with Sam in a piggy-back and Kate
pulling Terri up onto her shoulders. The Chicago night had settled quickly and
Reese had caught Cleo's quick signing, as he grabbed Ella in a tackle onto
the lawn, their laughter becoming infectious as they all ran into the
house, giggling. The back door slammed and Cleo winced. All those kids in her
house for four months now, it was amazing nothing valuable had been broken..
Her face contorted with pain as she heard the sound of shattering glass. If
that was her mother's crystal...
"Okay, Cleo.. Thanks for taking care of them," Peter said quickly.
"Tell Reese I love him."
"I will, Peter.." She hung up the phone with a sigh. For a moment
there, she was actually thinking he was actually going to say it for once.. Not
that they were together anymore.. They hadn't been together in years. Still
there was always that chance..
********
"So Doug.. If you don't love Carol.. You still love your children... I
don't know how something so wondrous as four children can be created in such
a dysfunctional family setting." Luka grumbled, his knuckles whitening on the
wheel.
"Yeah well.. You got a daughter, and you didn't even have to fuck anybody.. How messed up is that!? All holy fucking Croatian Virgin. Gets himself a kid without ever burdening the loins of a woman.. God Father my ass.. You are NOT Brando." Doug snorted, in a sing-song voice. "Besides, my infidelities are none of your business. Carol isn't any of your business.. She isn't, and you remember that. Tonight I will have sex with my wife and I will enjoy it. I never said I didn't love her. I said getting back together with her after Seattle was a mistake. She's with me now, and I'm not about to end it because you say so. I have children with her. She sleeps beside me, and with me and not with you and that's the way it will always be, no matter how many strippers I have slept with or will sleep with. We've grown apart, that year she spent in Chicago when I was in Seattle.. It was a crucial year. She should have come with me, she chose not to.. Are you expecting a normal male to not have sex for a year on the basis that his ex-girlfriend MIGHT show up on his doorstep? That's what she was, Kovac.. So I slept with my receptionist, and my nurse, and my PA... I wasn't tied down anymore." Doug sighed. "And that was her decision."
"What about the wedding?? The rest of the kids.. When you came back.. You are tied down now.. And yet.. You still..." He trailed off with a heavy sigh.. 'Doug Ross is a pig.' Luka surmised. "Why?"
"I'm assuming that you've not heard the tales then, Kovac!" Doug snarled, rolling down the window. It was getting too hot in here. "I've always been the roving dog, humping the master's leg... You never heard of that girl I brought in.. She died.. I-I didn't even know her name. It scared me into real relationships.. I had some close ones over the years.."
"No.. Actually that's legend.. Are you basically saying you can't change a leopard's spots? After all this time, after having four children, you're still sleeping with other women?" Luka snorted. His excuses were weak.
"Yes.. That's what I'm saying. I love my children, I like Carol. She's a wonderful woman. But if you're expecting me to stay home and play Daddy day after day, you're wrong Kovac. We're not the same people. I'm not like you.. I can't dote myself after one tiresome female." Doug sighed, Kovac had a real knack for making him feel like shit. Why did he come along again? He
couldn't remember.
"Yes, well you've obviously never lost anyone you've loved before Ross. Until that happens, I don't think we're anything alike at all Ross.. None. I love Abby.. That is one thing I'm sure of, and one day, I'll have children with her, and it will be everything that I smell, and breathe and live
for the rest of my life. Family is what counts, Doug. Not the next patient, or paycheque or sexual conquest. Your family matters. It's too bad you'll never figure that out." Luka said sadly, the truck slowing to a stop as Nikola had pulled in front of the hospital. They had arrived. "Get out, take care of them. I will park." He said quietly, watching Doug get out of the vehicle and help Carter and Abby from the car in front of them.
****
"Malucci... What's that in your pocket?" Carol said suspicious, the candy bar sized bulge moving in his jeans as he stumbled backwards.
"My pocket? Nothing.." Dave said nervously, the two women up off the couch now and backing him into a corner. "I... I swear.. There's nothing in my pockets.."
The wounded animalistic screams of a male being stripped and revoked of his Eatmore bar resonated over the flat farm lands of the Croatian landscape. Dave trembled, huddled in a corner, his hands over his head as he eyed them. "I.. I don't have anything else.." He stammered almost tearfully, his clothes thrown in a corner and thoroughly searched. That wasn't the only thing that had been thoroughly examined for any contraband food items.
Kerry nodded, removing the lubricated rubber glove and putting it in the trash. "I was just saying.. I wouldn't have put it past you to hide M&Ms up there. I had to check Malucci.."
Carol smiled in agreement, "I know it wasn't pleasant, Dave. But don't you feel better now that you have no secrets?"
Dave winced uncomfortably, his buttocks clenching and unclenching almost spasmodically. He felt like somebody had driven a Volkswagen bus up his ass. Getting anally probed over a little bit of food. "No." He replied glumly. He should have thought twice before pissing off a bunch of medical professionals.
Kerry paced the room wildly, walking to and fro and contemplating giving the man an impromptu high-colonic to see if the guy had any jube-jubes.
***
As the screams had died down to pitiful whimpering, Peter crawled off the bed and wandered downstairs. "What's going on down here? It sounds like you're beating an anim-" He stopped at the foot of the stairs and saw naked Dave huddled in the corner. "What in the hell?"
"He was hiding food on us, Peter.." Kerry said, her eyes crazed as she crutched to a chair and glared at Malucci.
Peter looked at the baggie of candy in Kerry's hand. It looked like it had been... Noo.. It.. eww.. "Kerry? Uhhmmm! You stripped and did an exploratory rectal on Malucci for a candy bar?" The woman was seriously deranged.
"They have chewy nougat centres!" Kerry said angrily, thrusting the bag in Peter's face.
"The bastard!" Peter glared at Dave, grabbing the tube of KY and a rubber glove off the table. "I want to see if he has any Tootsie Rolls. Bend over Malucci!"
Malucci burst into tears. "Even the beef-jerky guy on Survivor wasn't treated like a prison in-mate.. Come on g-guys.." He blubbered as the three of them closed in. "I honestly don't have any-thiiiiiing else!" Dave yelped as a freshly gloved hand went in for the kill.
"That's what you said last time!" Carol growled, holding him firmly in the jackknife position, her arms pinning his legs to the floor, with Kerry placing her weight firmly on his back, and pinning his arms down so his ass stuck up in the air. Watching him struggle, she sighed, she sure hoped they got home with some groceries soon, because this was just getting weird.
***
"Yes, Dr.Carter. You have a mild concussion, a broken wrist and that laceration is going to need stitches." Dr. Pavic replied, stripping off his gloves and tossing them in the bin. "You were flagging down a car to have breakfast?" He asked confused, standing up from the stool he'd been seated on while examining the Attending physician.
"Yeah.. We didn't have any food back at the farm.. I was hungry." Carter stammered, holding the gauze pack over his forehead.
"Yeah well, you're lucky the old man wasn't going so fast. I'm going to go check on your friend. Another doctor will do your stitches for you, he'll be with you in a moment." Dan Pavic walked into the adjoining exam room, Abby sitting on the gurney, her legs swinging back and forth as she attempted to decipher the Croatian words on the charts and posters that were stuck around the room.
"It's about time you showed up." She grunted impatiently, as she glanced at her watch. Abby sighed, drumming her index finger on the glass casing and shaking her wrist. "Fucking thing's broken.." She muttered angrily before turning from the doctor and yelling towards exam two. "Thanks alot Carter!"
"He saved your life, Dr.Kovac." Pavic said kindly, handing her a gown. "Put this on please, I'll be back in a moment."
Abby cocked a brow, "Wait, my name's not-" her lips parted as she was about to finish her sentence, but the man had already left. "Kovac."
Nikola stood in the door. "I know Luka would like it to be, Abby." He said gruffly. It had surprised him at first. Seeing the woman at the grocery store, those months ago. Kunas and coins falling from her hands as she'd stumbled from the market with her hands full of bags. His heart had swelled and boiled with rage when he'd found out that his slime of a son in law had been dating this woman for so many years now. It was about time they got married, Nik figured.
"You told them that I..." Abby stared at him. "Why? Why would you do that?" What sort of ulterior motive could the man have? The fact that he didn't want his son in law fucking out of wedlock? That he didn't want the city to know that Luka was only dating her and disgracing him by having premarital sex with another woman? What was his angle?
"Because, you're good for him. He has to move on with his life. His life isn't here in Zagreb, it's in Chicago with you." He said tiredly, the woman was entirely too paranoid for her own good. "He should have married you years ago."
"Nikola..." Abby said dumbfounded, the gown clutched in her hands. "I.." Her mouth flapped open, her bottom jaw dangling. "I.."
"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." Nikola eyed the doctor pacing outside and pointed back at the gown. "Better put that on, Doctor's getting impatient." He muttered, walking from the room and shutting the door.
Abby got off the gurney, shedding her clothing, her legs coming up in scratches and bruises, It looked like she was okay. Just a little bumped around. Maybe Carter DID save her life.
"Hey.... Lockfart.. Nice arse!" Carter snickered, waving from the doorway that connected the two rooms. He sat on the bed in the exam two, grinning at her, admiring her ass, as Abby peeked at him upside down from in between her legs and glared angrily.
"Carter, you're a pig.." Abby growled, slamming the door, and forcibly shoving on the gown, the sleeves pushed up and the back gaping open.
"You're ready now, Dr.Kovac?" Pavic entered the room, closing the door behind him as Abby hopped back up on the gurney.
****
Kerry sat beside the weeping Dave, holding his naked body in his arms as she rocked him, "I'm sorry honey.. We're all just a little starved around here.. I didn't mean to hurt you.." She said softly, planting a loving kiss in his tousled dark hair that now creeped over his shoulders in a shagged unkempt 'do.
"Y-you.. violated me for candy.." He whimpered, snuggling into her arms, too weak to move. Peter had explored him every which way from Sunday. Dave had a sneaking suspicion the man still held grudges from years ago and found this afternoon the perfect time for revenge, he'd done everything except grab his crotch and tell him to turn his head and cough.
"Aww.. Sweetie.." Kerry said comfortingly. "I'm so sorry.. We didn't mean to get that crazy on you.. It's just when Carol saw that candy bar.."
"I.. I know.. Rabid females, chocolate, PMS.. Never withhold candy from females.. I.. I know that now." Dave said weakly, trembling as he played with a length of hair on his legs, twirling it around in his fingers absently.
******
"Have you had a physical lately, Dr.Kovac?" Abby shook her head, staring at the ceiling as she lay back on the examining table.
"Nope.. It's probably been about a year.. I gotta make an appointment with gyno when I get back," she said absently.
"You have some regional midline tenderness.. It's probably nothing, but I'd like to order a pelvic exam. I can do it now, if you like." He offered. "If you have the time.." He glanced over at the exam room next door, to see the other doctor reduce the fracture and start to set it.
Abby looked at him. A gyno exam in a strange country.. With a male doctor.. Life seemed strange. She smelled like manure and she was getting a pelvic. "Can I take a shower first?" She asked almost nervously.
"Yes, certainly." He said kindly, directing her to the showers and helping her disrobe.
A few minutes later, she reemerged from the showers and sat on the table, the stirrups pulled out as the doctor prepped the room. "You know the procedure. We'll draw some blood, do some routine tests..." A young nurse entered the room, smiling at Abby as she walked to the table and started setting up the instruments. "Abby, this is Reina.. She's the supervising nurse and will be watching the procedure today. So if you'll lay back and extend your arm, she can take some blood and I'll begin the exam.
Abby nodded staring up at the ceiling again as her legs were placed in the stirrups and the muzak piped into the room addled her brain.
****
"Is she okay?" Carter said worriedly, trying to peek into Abby's exam room, but the blinds had been shut, and the doctor conveniently stood in his view through the window in the door.
"I'm sure she's fine Dr.Carter. She only had a few bumps and scratches from what I could see. You took most of the hit from the car." He finished casting the arm, smoothing out the plaster and started wrapping it in green fibreglass.
***
"Dave.. I'm sorry.. Please talk to me." Kerry murmured, a kind hand brushing the hair from his tear streaked face. "Honey.. Please.. It's not like you to be so quiet."
"Yeah. Well it's not like you guys to forcibly grab me and search me for food.." Dave said wounded, now clothed in a long t-shirt and baggy jeans and sitting on the couch, facing away from her. "You guys were wrong. Y-you hurt me.." He whimpered almost tearfully, the shaking returning.
Kerry sighed, climbing onto the couch with him, sitting at his feet. "Dave.. I told you I was sorry. We had no right at all to do what we did." She grasped his hands in hers and pulled him towards her into her arms again. "Please, sweetie.. Don't be mad at me.." Enveloping the trembling man in her arms, she stroked his head fondly, till he fell asleep in her arms.
Peter stomped through the room again, on a mission of finding food that hadn't been up Dave's ass. So far he hadn't any luck. "Peter.." Kerry said in an exasperated tone, throwing her keys at his head. "Take the station wagon.. Go get some fucking groceries will you!?" She hissed, rocking her Dave slowly in her arms.
"Ohhhh Kerry.. Don't act so innocent, Carol said you were the first one to pin the little bastard down and shove your hand up his ass.. Not me." Peter snarled, grabbing the keys in mid-air.
"Yeah! But at least I'm sorry about it!" Kerry called after him as the surgeon stomped out of the house and could be heard squealing out of the drive way. She was sorry about it.. It had been an extreme moment of weakness. Something of such an extreme violation that she wasn't sure Dave would ever fully trust her again. Even if there WASN'T nougat filled candybars near by.
******
"Abby.. Your labs have come back.. Perhaps you'd like your husband in here with you, do you want Reina to fetch him?" Pavic said kindly,
Abby watched him fearfully wondering if she was reading him correctly. Maybe he was being kind because he was a nice guy.. OR maybe she had cancer.. Abby shuddered, nodding her head. "Yes please.."
Soon Luka sat on the bed with Abby, a comforting arm around her as he pulled her close. "It will be okay honey.. Everything will be fine." He said soothingly.
"Doctors Kovac.." Pavic smiled, grasping Luka's hand and shaking it vigorously. "You're pregnant."
"WHAT!?" Luka's eyes widened and he passed out cold on the floor.
"Is.. Is he okay?" Pavic said worriedly and Abby nodded, shrugging.
"Yeah.. he's fine.. It's a guy thing I guess eh?? He got excited about being a Dad so all the blood rushed to his groin. He'll be okay soon." Abby said with a smile, her hands over her belly, stroking it. She was going to be a mama.. She was killing 2 birds with one stone. She was getting married AND she was going to be a Dr. Mama Kovac.. With a deep sigh of relief, she lay back on the gurney and hummed happily to herself. Life was good.