Deb and Mark rolled Rachel over to the small circle of beds, and
rearranged them so that she could be included.
"Dad?" Rachel asked, "I want to be by you and.Deb."
Deb and Mark put Rachel between their beds.
After everyone was settled and in bed, Dave said, "It's weird. I
never imagined myself having a slumber party this late in life."
"Me neither," Kerry responded.
Dave was waiting for a sarcastic comment from someone, but none came.
There was an awkward silence that followed. Finally Dave said, "Dr.Finch went down." "What?" Kerry was confused. Then when she had registered what he had said, she whispered, "Oh." Then Deb put in, "I saw Frank get shot- in the leg, I think." Kerry cracked, "Oh God. Imagine him right now. He's probably calling the cops on anyone that comes within fifty feet of him." That got a few chuckles. Everyone was staring at the ceiling, or towards the crib in the middle. They heard a rustling coming from Rachel. "Rachel, honey, what are you doing?" Mark asked, lifting his head. Rachel was struggling to sit up, "Trying to see Ella." Rachel's breathing was labored, and she winced in pain when she put weight on her right arm. Carter got up, and walked across the circle, "Here you go," He helped Rachel sit up. Rachel looked over and saw Ella sleeping peacefully in the crib. She gazed at her baby sister for a few moments, and then fell back into her pillow. Carter went and got back in bed, having been satisfied that Rachel wouldn't hurt herself by being concerned for her sister. "Damn wires!" "Dave!" Came a few reprimands for his swearing in front of Rachel. Rachel spoke up and said, "It's not like I've never heard the word 'damn' before. Kids at my school have been saying it since I was in second grade." Mark chuckled a bit at Rachel's frankness, and everyone else glanced at him, surprised. Of course, none of them had raised any children, so they didn't know how a parent would feel about someone swearing in front of their child. "Dad?" Rachel asked, after a few minutes, "Did you call mom?" "No. I forgot, I guess. I'm sorry." "It's okay. I'm glad you didn't. How long are we stuck here for?" Kerry piped up and answered, "Tomorrow morning," and then, looking at her watch, corrected herself, "Today, I mean." "What time is it?" Deb asked. "Twelve forty five." Carter asked, "Did that policeman ever mention where we're going tomorrow?" "Yeah," Kerry answered, "Back to Chicago; Northwestern or Mercy, probably." Deb moaned, "I don't want to go back." "Why?" Dave asked "Because then we'll have to find out who." Deb didn't need to finish the sentence. Suddenly, no one else wanted to go back to Chicago. There was silence for a while and then Carter said, "I wonder where everyone else is." No one answered though, because they were all asleep. Carter sighed, and turned over to sleep. **************** Everyone's sleep was restless. Every now and then, someone would wake up in a cold sweat, breathing hard, from a nightmare. Then they would lay down, and go back to sleep, expecting another nightmare. Out in the hall, a nurse went into what was supposed to be Dave, Kerry and Carter's room. "What the-" The nurse said under her breath when she found all the beds were gone. She ran back into the hall and said, "The doctors are gone! They aren't there. Even the beds are gone!" A doctor looked up and said, "I'm still here." "No, not you!" The nurse said, frustrated, "The doctors from Chicago." "What!?" said a few people. There was a mad dash for the rooms. They came to the room that was empty, first. "Where are they?" Some people asked. The logical answer occurred to only one person. A young medical student went to the next room to find all of the doctors sleeping. She went out, and said, "I found them. They're all next door. Be quiet, though, they're sleeping." There was some murmuring among everyone as they walked next door. They looked in on their patients. "It's so sad," Someone commented. Everyone nodded in agreement. Their hearts ached for the doctors who had been through hell on earth. A few tears fell as the group of native doctors and nurses left the room. ********************* Carter sat up, as did everyone else. They had all woken up because Ella was crying. Rachel was carefully walking towards the crib, and every few steps, lost her balance. "Rachel!" Mark said, "What are you doing?" Rachel answered, while still walking, "Getting Ella." "You should stay in bed!" Mark reprimanded. "Yeah, I should," Rachel agreed, "So what?" She had gotten to the crib, and was trying to pick Ella up with one hand. Mark jumped out of bed, this time remembering to grab his IV bag, "Rachel!" he caught her as she lost her balance. Mark reached down and scooped Ella up into his arms, "Here, go back to bed, and I'll put Ella with you." Mark tried to help Rachel back to her bed, but she jerked herself away from him, and said, "I can walk, thanks, I'm not paralyzed." Mark commented, "You will be if you aren't careful," Mark's feet chose that exact moment to trip him up. "Yeah, right," Rachel said dryly, as she climbed into bed. Mark set Ella down with her weight on Rachel's good arm, and went back to bed. He didn't say another word. Everyone else laid back down, and drifted off further into sleep as Ella stopped crying. *************** Kerry's eyes fluttered open. The room was bright. "Must be morning," she thought. After laying in bed, Kerry got up and went into the hall, and found the bathroom. She got dressed, and splashed some water on her face. When she walked out, back into the hall, Mark was walking out from the men's room. His face was slightly damp. "Should we wake them up?" Kerry asked, "It's almost eleven thirty- time for lunch." Mark answered, "The detective said they'd be back today, so I guess we should. You wake Dave up." "No," Kerry said flatly. "Why not?" Mark chuckled, "You've done it plenty before." Mark gently shook Carter awake. "Wha.?" Carter squinted. When he saw Mark standing over him, he said, "Go away. Do you have any idea of what time it is? You don't wake people up at this hour." "Carter! I had no idea you were accustomed to sleeping until noon." Carter shut his eyes again, and asked, "It's noon already?" Mark nodded and said, "Just about. Get up. We're going home today, remember?" Carter sighed, and sat up. When Mark saw that Carter was definitely awake, he moved onto Deb, "Deb?" Mark asked, feeling strange using her first name, "Get up. It's almost noon." "I'm awake," Deb said, opening her eyes, "and have been for the last two hours. I've already had breakfast." She got out of bed to reveal that she was dressed in hospital scrubs, "The food here is better than the crap at County." Mark joked, "It's good everywhere except County," then he went on, "You mind waking Rachel up? I have to take care of Ella." Mark gently lifted Ella out of Rachel's arm. At that, Rachel sat up, and said, "Ella?" When she saw Mark holding her, Rachel said, "Oh." "Time to-" Mark started to say. Rachel cut him off saying, "I know, I know, time to get up." She got out of bed, and immediately put her hand to the back of her head, and sat back down. Deb sat down next to Rachel and said, "Are you okay?" Rachel nodded slightly, and said, "Yeah. My head just hurts. I'm a little dizzy too. Nothing bad. That guy really must have nailed me on the head, huh?" Deb smiled wanly, and said, "Yeah. Don't forget about your arm. You're lucky. The bullet missed your main artery and the bone. Basically all it did was embed itself in muscle." Rachel looked at Deb and said sarcastically, "I really wanted to know that." Then seriously she said, "Actually, my arm feels okay. Just feels kind of like a bad scrape or something." "Don't forget you're still on drugs," Deb reminded her. Rachel looked up at her and said, "You mean my head's gonna hurt more?" Deb nodded, and said, "I hate to tell you." On the other side of the small circle of beds, Kerry and Dave were having an argument about whether Dave would get up or not. "No," Dave said, "I'm tired, and not working. I want to sleep." Kerry said, exasperated, "Malucci! Get up! The detective could be here any time." "Wake me when he gets here, then." Dave said with his eyes closed. "Fine," Kerry said, "Then you don't get lunch until we get back to Chicago." At that, Dave got up, "Fine, I'm up. Happy, Chief?" Kerry didn't answer. Mark changed Ella's diaper. He didn't have any baby clothes for her, so he just took a pillowcase and wrapped it around Ella for the time being.
"Dad?" Rachel asked, "Why are you dressing Ella up as a pillow?" "You have any better ideas?" Rachel shook her head. Soon the group was ready to go downstairs. Deb and Dave were both dressed in hospital scrubs. Everyone else was stuck in the hospital gowns. Just as they were leaving, a doctor came in, and said, "Just a minute, I need to fit you for a sling," he pointed to Rachel. "Whatever," Rachel said, "It doesn't really hurt." "Well," the doctor said, "I want you to keep this arm still for a while. It's very weak," The doctor had put the sling on Rachel's arm already. "Let me show you how to put this on-" the doctor started to say. "My dad's a doctor," Rachel said, "And any way, I already know how to do this. I've broken my arm before." The doctor smiled, and said, "Well, just as a precaution, I'd like to do this." "Look," Dave said irritably, "We are all doctors, and we all know that putting on a sling isn't rocket science. If she has any trouble with it, we'll help her." "Fine," the doctor said, "You seem to get the idea of this." He was not in the mood for arguing with Dave, who had already won all the arguments with the hospital staff. The group was about to go, when Mark remembered Rachel, "Rachel," he said, "I want you in a wheelchair." "You've got to be kidding," she responded, "I can walk. I'm fine." "Rachel," Deb said, "Your Dad's right. You do need a wheelchair." "I do not!" "Just humor us, okay?" Carter asked. "Fine. If I have to," Rachel capitulated. Kerry went into the hall and came back with a wheelchair. Dave started to help Rachel to it, but she said, "At least let me walk to the chair myself. I feel stupid enough already." "If it will make you happy," Mark offered, "You can hold Ella on the way down." "Okay," Rachel reached for Ella. Mark set Ella in Rachel's lap, and Ella seemed amused by the moving chair. She didn't seem to notice that she had a broken arm or an IV coming out of her. Ella was quite happy for the time being. As soon as they were out the door, they met up with the detective from the day before, "I was just coming to see you," he said, "Ready to go?" "We were just going to lunch," Dave said. "The helicopter needs to leave now. We're taking up the hospitals helipad." "We're ready when you are, Detective," Mark said. "Okay, then, let's go back to Chicago." The detective led the way, then he turned around, and said, "I need to talk to you four." "Which four?" Carter asked. "Everyone except Dr.Greene and his daughters." The detective pulled Deb, Dave, Carter, and Kerry off to the side, and said, "When we get back to Chicago, we need you to identify some of the bodies from the hospital. There were quite a few with hospital ID tags."
There was an awkward silence that followed. Finally Dave said, "Dr.Finch went down." "What?" Kerry was confused. Then when she had registered what he had said, she whispered, "Oh." Then Deb put in, "I saw Frank get shot- in the leg, I think." Kerry cracked, "Oh God. Imagine him right now. He's probably calling the cops on anyone that comes within fifty feet of him." That got a few chuckles. Everyone was staring at the ceiling, or towards the crib in the middle. They heard a rustling coming from Rachel. "Rachel, honey, what are you doing?" Mark asked, lifting his head. Rachel was struggling to sit up, "Trying to see Ella." Rachel's breathing was labored, and she winced in pain when she put weight on her right arm. Carter got up, and walked across the circle, "Here you go," He helped Rachel sit up. Rachel looked over and saw Ella sleeping peacefully in the crib. She gazed at her baby sister for a few moments, and then fell back into her pillow. Carter went and got back in bed, having been satisfied that Rachel wouldn't hurt herself by being concerned for her sister. "Damn wires!" "Dave!" Came a few reprimands for his swearing in front of Rachel. Rachel spoke up and said, "It's not like I've never heard the word 'damn' before. Kids at my school have been saying it since I was in second grade." Mark chuckled a bit at Rachel's frankness, and everyone else glanced at him, surprised. Of course, none of them had raised any children, so they didn't know how a parent would feel about someone swearing in front of their child. "Dad?" Rachel asked, after a few minutes, "Did you call mom?" "No. I forgot, I guess. I'm sorry." "It's okay. I'm glad you didn't. How long are we stuck here for?" Kerry piped up and answered, "Tomorrow morning," and then, looking at her watch, corrected herself, "Today, I mean." "What time is it?" Deb asked. "Twelve forty five." Carter asked, "Did that policeman ever mention where we're going tomorrow?" "Yeah," Kerry answered, "Back to Chicago; Northwestern or Mercy, probably." Deb moaned, "I don't want to go back." "Why?" Dave asked "Because then we'll have to find out who." Deb didn't need to finish the sentence. Suddenly, no one else wanted to go back to Chicago. There was silence for a while and then Carter said, "I wonder where everyone else is." No one answered though, because they were all asleep. Carter sighed, and turned over to sleep. **************** Everyone's sleep was restless. Every now and then, someone would wake up in a cold sweat, breathing hard, from a nightmare. Then they would lay down, and go back to sleep, expecting another nightmare. Out in the hall, a nurse went into what was supposed to be Dave, Kerry and Carter's room. "What the-" The nurse said under her breath when she found all the beds were gone. She ran back into the hall and said, "The doctors are gone! They aren't there. Even the beds are gone!" A doctor looked up and said, "I'm still here." "No, not you!" The nurse said, frustrated, "The doctors from Chicago." "What!?" said a few people. There was a mad dash for the rooms. They came to the room that was empty, first. "Where are they?" Some people asked. The logical answer occurred to only one person. A young medical student went to the next room to find all of the doctors sleeping. She went out, and said, "I found them. They're all next door. Be quiet, though, they're sleeping." There was some murmuring among everyone as they walked next door. They looked in on their patients. "It's so sad," Someone commented. Everyone nodded in agreement. Their hearts ached for the doctors who had been through hell on earth. A few tears fell as the group of native doctors and nurses left the room. ********************* Carter sat up, as did everyone else. They had all woken up because Ella was crying. Rachel was carefully walking towards the crib, and every few steps, lost her balance. "Rachel!" Mark said, "What are you doing?" Rachel answered, while still walking, "Getting Ella." "You should stay in bed!" Mark reprimanded. "Yeah, I should," Rachel agreed, "So what?" She had gotten to the crib, and was trying to pick Ella up with one hand. Mark jumped out of bed, this time remembering to grab his IV bag, "Rachel!" he caught her as she lost her balance. Mark reached down and scooped Ella up into his arms, "Here, go back to bed, and I'll put Ella with you." Mark tried to help Rachel back to her bed, but she jerked herself away from him, and said, "I can walk, thanks, I'm not paralyzed." Mark commented, "You will be if you aren't careful," Mark's feet chose that exact moment to trip him up. "Yeah, right," Rachel said dryly, as she climbed into bed. Mark set Ella down with her weight on Rachel's good arm, and went back to bed. He didn't say another word. Everyone else laid back down, and drifted off further into sleep as Ella stopped crying. *************** Kerry's eyes fluttered open. The room was bright. "Must be morning," she thought. After laying in bed, Kerry got up and went into the hall, and found the bathroom. She got dressed, and splashed some water on her face. When she walked out, back into the hall, Mark was walking out from the men's room. His face was slightly damp. "Should we wake them up?" Kerry asked, "It's almost eleven thirty- time for lunch." Mark answered, "The detective said they'd be back today, so I guess we should. You wake Dave up." "No," Kerry said flatly. "Why not?" Mark chuckled, "You've done it plenty before." Mark gently shook Carter awake. "Wha.?" Carter squinted. When he saw Mark standing over him, he said, "Go away. Do you have any idea of what time it is? You don't wake people up at this hour." "Carter! I had no idea you were accustomed to sleeping until noon." Carter shut his eyes again, and asked, "It's noon already?" Mark nodded and said, "Just about. Get up. We're going home today, remember?" Carter sighed, and sat up. When Mark saw that Carter was definitely awake, he moved onto Deb, "Deb?" Mark asked, feeling strange using her first name, "Get up. It's almost noon." "I'm awake," Deb said, opening her eyes, "and have been for the last two hours. I've already had breakfast." She got out of bed to reveal that she was dressed in hospital scrubs, "The food here is better than the crap at County." Mark joked, "It's good everywhere except County," then he went on, "You mind waking Rachel up? I have to take care of Ella." Mark gently lifted Ella out of Rachel's arm. At that, Rachel sat up, and said, "Ella?" When she saw Mark holding her, Rachel said, "Oh." "Time to-" Mark started to say. Rachel cut him off saying, "I know, I know, time to get up." She got out of bed, and immediately put her hand to the back of her head, and sat back down. Deb sat down next to Rachel and said, "Are you okay?" Rachel nodded slightly, and said, "Yeah. My head just hurts. I'm a little dizzy too. Nothing bad. That guy really must have nailed me on the head, huh?" Deb smiled wanly, and said, "Yeah. Don't forget about your arm. You're lucky. The bullet missed your main artery and the bone. Basically all it did was embed itself in muscle." Rachel looked at Deb and said sarcastically, "I really wanted to know that." Then seriously she said, "Actually, my arm feels okay. Just feels kind of like a bad scrape or something." "Don't forget you're still on drugs," Deb reminded her. Rachel looked up at her and said, "You mean my head's gonna hurt more?" Deb nodded, and said, "I hate to tell you." On the other side of the small circle of beds, Kerry and Dave were having an argument about whether Dave would get up or not. "No," Dave said, "I'm tired, and not working. I want to sleep." Kerry said, exasperated, "Malucci! Get up! The detective could be here any time." "Wake me when he gets here, then." Dave said with his eyes closed. "Fine," Kerry said, "Then you don't get lunch until we get back to Chicago." At that, Dave got up, "Fine, I'm up. Happy, Chief?" Kerry didn't answer. Mark changed Ella's diaper. He didn't have any baby clothes for her, so he just took a pillowcase and wrapped it around Ella for the time being.
"Dad?" Rachel asked, "Why are you dressing Ella up as a pillow?" "You have any better ideas?" Rachel shook her head. Soon the group was ready to go downstairs. Deb and Dave were both dressed in hospital scrubs. Everyone else was stuck in the hospital gowns. Just as they were leaving, a doctor came in, and said, "Just a minute, I need to fit you for a sling," he pointed to Rachel. "Whatever," Rachel said, "It doesn't really hurt." "Well," the doctor said, "I want you to keep this arm still for a while. It's very weak," The doctor had put the sling on Rachel's arm already. "Let me show you how to put this on-" the doctor started to say. "My dad's a doctor," Rachel said, "And any way, I already know how to do this. I've broken my arm before." The doctor smiled, and said, "Well, just as a precaution, I'd like to do this." "Look," Dave said irritably, "We are all doctors, and we all know that putting on a sling isn't rocket science. If she has any trouble with it, we'll help her." "Fine," the doctor said, "You seem to get the idea of this." He was not in the mood for arguing with Dave, who had already won all the arguments with the hospital staff. The group was about to go, when Mark remembered Rachel, "Rachel," he said, "I want you in a wheelchair." "You've got to be kidding," she responded, "I can walk. I'm fine." "Rachel," Deb said, "Your Dad's right. You do need a wheelchair." "I do not!" "Just humor us, okay?" Carter asked. "Fine. If I have to," Rachel capitulated. Kerry went into the hall and came back with a wheelchair. Dave started to help Rachel to it, but she said, "At least let me walk to the chair myself. I feel stupid enough already." "If it will make you happy," Mark offered, "You can hold Ella on the way down." "Okay," Rachel reached for Ella. Mark set Ella in Rachel's lap, and Ella seemed amused by the moving chair. She didn't seem to notice that she had a broken arm or an IV coming out of her. Ella was quite happy for the time being. As soon as they were out the door, they met up with the detective from the day before, "I was just coming to see you," he said, "Ready to go?" "We were just going to lunch," Dave said. "The helicopter needs to leave now. We're taking up the hospitals helipad." "We're ready when you are, Detective," Mark said. "Okay, then, let's go back to Chicago." The detective led the way, then he turned around, and said, "I need to talk to you four." "Which four?" Carter asked. "Everyone except Dr.Greene and his daughters." The detective pulled Deb, Dave, Carter, and Kerry off to the side, and said, "When we get back to Chicago, we need you to identify some of the bodies from the hospital. There were quite a few with hospital ID tags."