Bring. Bring. Lucy sighed in disgust. She reached out and flimsily
groped around mindlessly for the cordless phone lying on her bedside table.
She reached it, and clicked on the Power button and brought it to her ear.
"Hello?" she muttered, sleepily.
"Morning, sleepyhead," laughed Carol.
"Uhh, go back to work. I need sleep. Anyway, what's up?" she answered, yawning.
"Well, Carter's doing fine. We got him stabilized again. He's awake and he wants to talk to you right now," she teased.
"No, don't put him! Hi, Carter," she greeted, grinning.
"I heard your 'No, don't put him on!' before I even had a chance to say hi!" he joked. "Well, hi."
She laughed a bit. "Hey. You going back to work?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah. Dragon-Lady Weaver wouldn't let me not go to work," he laughed.
"Hey, you board with the Dragon-Lady!" countered Kerry, loudly.
Everyone in the room laughed. Lucy laughed over the phone and she could hear him shout, "Lucy's laughing too, you guys!"
"Hey!" she replied, pretending to be offended. "Thanks for tattling to the Dragon-Lady!"
"Would everyone STOP referring to me, Chief-of-staff of the ER, Dr. Kerry Weaver, as the Dragon-Lady?!" she yelled, frustrated, which made everyone laugh even more.
She stomped out of the room, fuming and muttering things under her breath. "Who knows? Maybe Kerry's one of those voodoo, black magic witches from the ol' South," joked Cleo. "Not that I don't appreciate my African roots, it's just cursing people and pricking straw dolls with needles doesn't seem like my cup of tea."
They all chuckled at her joke. "Carter, it's", she paused, sandwiching the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder, while rotating her alarm clock to glance at the time. "One 'o' clock in the morning! Can I please go back to sleep now?"
"Sure," he relented.
She yawned and clicked the phone off. "Oops! I forgot to say good-bye or good night or something," she thought. "Oh well." Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep. Beep. Beep. Beep. God! This was annoying her so much right now! She opened her eyes lazily and grabbed the beeping pager. She pressed the button and dialed the number.
"This is your morning wake up call. My name is Carol Hathaway and I am at the Cook County General Hospital. How may I serve you today? Would you like the $2.99 Denny's special?" she asked, squeaking.
"Good morning, Carol. Time," she greeted.
"Six 'o' clock exactly! Tsk, didn't your mother teach you to be on time?" she joked.
"Urg, I'm not even sure I want to go to work now. I'm coming," she moaned, crawling out of bed, yawning.
"Now, come on, sweetie. You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Be sure to make your bed and brush your teeth and wash your hands before you prepare anything," she commanded.
"Since when did you go Brady Bunch on me?" Lucy asked, sandwiching the cordless phone in between her shoulder and her ear, whilst brushing her teeth.
"I don't know, actually," laughed Carol. "Hang on a second?"
Lucy mumbled what sounded like a sure before spitting and rinsing. Then, she wiped her mouth with a paper towel and she continued on. She applied all necessary make-up and she walked downstairs. "Hello?" she asked, not sure if the phone had disconnected.
"Good morning. And where might you be, my darling med student? You are approximately", he paused, glancing at his watch, "Three minutes late. Two more minutes before Kerry and I both get on your case."
"I take it that you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she mumbled.
"No. Actually, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You have six minutes before Kerry comes out and flatly gives you the lecture", he paused and gave a rueful chuckle. "Go."
She clicked the phone off as soon as she heard the dial tone. She raced off, tossing stuff out of her closet and finally chose a blue t-shirt with a pair of flare jeans. She raced down the stairs and tripped, hitting her head on the door. "Ow," she groaned, rubbing her head delicately.
She continued on and raced to the kitchen, grabbed a "Chewy" granola bar out of the box, which was half-empty, and she pulled on her socks and leaped into her sneakers. She raced out the door and hopped into her car and raced off.
"I'm here," she panted, running through the emergency room doors.
"Three, two, one," Carter teased, counting down.
"LUCY!" Kerry screamed. "You're late for the fourth time this month! Get some self-control and wake yourself up. Now, come into my office. I would like to discuss something with you!"
Lucy groaned in disgust and slowly drudged over, a step being the equivalent to a centimeter, if that. "Lucy! NOW!" ordered Kerry. Lucy ran into the office where Kerry slammed the door shut.
"You think she'll make it out of there alive?" asked Chuny, mid- erasing a name off of the giant board.
"She has gotten out of there alive three times, so why not a fourth?" interjected Lydia, with a grin on her face.
"Someone's happy and cheerful this morning. What'd you do? Steal Mary Poppin's spoonful of sugar?" Carol spat.
"Oh, I see what's going on here. You woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or, rather, the wrong side of Doug's bed," taunted Haleh.
"Bite me," Carol growled, walking off.
"Ah. I see. Is that what you Americans do nowadays? Bite each other?" asked Elizabeth, innocently.
"It's an idiom, Liz. It means, 'Go the fuck away,'. Basically," Chuny bluntly stated.
"That's a way of keeping it subtle," Mark commented, walking past. "Fill the ER with profane language. Go ahead."
"Hey, Mark!" yelled Lydia.
"Hmm?" he asked, turning around to face her.
"It's not like our patients don't fill it up with profane language already. So, we're not exactly going to get in trouble if we say the word 'fuck'. There, I said it. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck," Lydia replied, coolly.
"Ah. Good-bye, strange, psychotic people I do not know," he murmured.
"WE HEARD THAT!" the nurses yelled in unison.
He grinned slightly and he continued walking on. He walked off into an exam room and shut the door and closed the blinds. The nurses continued chattering, when Lucy waltzed out of Kerry's "office".
"Ah! She stumbles out alive again," laughed Haleh.
"Don't be late again," clucked Kerry.
Lucy shook her head no and she walked into the lounge. "Can I go home?" she asked.
"Home? You just got here!" Kerry replied, harshly.
"Can I go on a break?!" she brashly shot back.
Kerry waved her hand with a reluctant kind of air and Lucy sniffed angrily and grabbed her jacket and ran out of the emergency room sliding doors. Carter was walking down the stairs and saw her cross the street to the new Starbucks.
He ran out of the hospital before any of the nurses could say anything. As soon as he left though, they started gossiping. "Do you think he likes Lucy?" asked Chuny to Haleh.
"Oh, I'd bet on it."
Carter glanced both ways and darted across the semi-large road to the Starbucks across the street. Lucy was sitting on a green bench, which was cluttered with graffiti, and was sipping a frappucino.
"Hi."
"Hi," she murmured.
He sat down as she scooted over to the other end of the bench. "You cold?" he asked.
"Why would you care?" she replied, coldly.
"I don't know," he honestly replied.
"Hmm," she snorted.
She slurped her frappucino and when she finished it, she tossed the paper cup in the litter bin and missed. She walked up and she picked up the cup and tossed it in the trash. "Why do you even bother? Half the people in this god forsaken town litter anyway," Carter stated, bluntly.
"Because I care about the environment! I don't know!" she yelled, angrily, storming off into a dark alley. She felt a pair of coarse hands grab her and she felt a coldness at her temple.
"Put down the gun!" mediated Carter.
"What do you know, asshole?!" yelled the man.
"Put the gun down."
The man refused, using several profane words. Carter kicked the gun out of his hand and grasped it the chance he got. He held the gun, in his quivering hands, poised at the man. "Now, you tell me why you're after Lucy and I won't shoot you."
"Well, the reason I'm after your precious Lucy here is because I'm a hit man. Her father hired me to kill her," he admitted. "I'm leaving. Hey! I promise that I won't ever come after your chick again."
Carter dropped the gun and walked over to Lucy. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think so."
He walked with her back to the hospital. "Hey, Kerry! I'm going to the Y! See ya!" Lucy yelled, quickly, rushing out the door.
"Wait!" she mumbled, but noticing that the automatic doors were shutting, she sighed unhappily and trudged back inside.
Lucy hopped in her car. She had always been one to break rules, especially Dr. Carter's rules, but breaking Kerry's rules?! Was she nuts?! Well, she needed to relax and the only stress relief that came to her mind was swimming. She changed and she got into the warm, heated pool. She started swimming around. When she came up for air, she noticed the hit man from previously.
"What are you doing here?" she spat.
"To kill you."
"I thought you", she mumbled, before her words slurred. He had struck her on the back of the head with a lead pipe before tossing it into the shallow end of the pool. She sank back into the water and blood leaked from her head. She had a large gash on her head.
Carter hopped in his jeep. He was wondering if Lucy was attempting something crazy and idiotic. Like suicide. "Suicide? Lucy? No. But, she has been through a traumatic experience. God, let me get to her in time," he mumbled, while skittering in and out of Chicago traffic. He arrived at the Y to see her floating, face down, which was tentatively nicknamed, by children no less, dead man's float. He rushed into the pool and dragged her out. As he confirmed that she still had a pulse, he propped her up on poolside. The mysterious hit man had gone. He performed CPR from still inside the shallow end of the pool. As he walked up the step, his shoe slipped on the water, and he fell, his head hitting the lead pipe which had been carelessly tossed in. He fell into unconsciousness and he had a huge gash on his skull, which was bleeding profusely.
"Morning, sleepyhead," laughed Carol.
"Uhh, go back to work. I need sleep. Anyway, what's up?" she answered, yawning.
"Well, Carter's doing fine. We got him stabilized again. He's awake and he wants to talk to you right now," she teased.
"No, don't put him! Hi, Carter," she greeted, grinning.
"I heard your 'No, don't put him on!' before I even had a chance to say hi!" he joked. "Well, hi."
She laughed a bit. "Hey. You going back to work?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah. Dragon-Lady Weaver wouldn't let me not go to work," he laughed.
"Hey, you board with the Dragon-Lady!" countered Kerry, loudly.
Everyone in the room laughed. Lucy laughed over the phone and she could hear him shout, "Lucy's laughing too, you guys!"
"Hey!" she replied, pretending to be offended. "Thanks for tattling to the Dragon-Lady!"
"Would everyone STOP referring to me, Chief-of-staff of the ER, Dr. Kerry Weaver, as the Dragon-Lady?!" she yelled, frustrated, which made everyone laugh even more.
She stomped out of the room, fuming and muttering things under her breath. "Who knows? Maybe Kerry's one of those voodoo, black magic witches from the ol' South," joked Cleo. "Not that I don't appreciate my African roots, it's just cursing people and pricking straw dolls with needles doesn't seem like my cup of tea."
They all chuckled at her joke. "Carter, it's", she paused, sandwiching the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder, while rotating her alarm clock to glance at the time. "One 'o' clock in the morning! Can I please go back to sleep now?"
"Sure," he relented.
She yawned and clicked the phone off. "Oops! I forgot to say good-bye or good night or something," she thought. "Oh well." Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep. Beep. Beep. Beep. God! This was annoying her so much right now! She opened her eyes lazily and grabbed the beeping pager. She pressed the button and dialed the number.
"This is your morning wake up call. My name is Carol Hathaway and I am at the Cook County General Hospital. How may I serve you today? Would you like the $2.99 Denny's special?" she asked, squeaking.
"Good morning, Carol. Time," she greeted.
"Six 'o' clock exactly! Tsk, didn't your mother teach you to be on time?" she joked.
"Urg, I'm not even sure I want to go to work now. I'm coming," she moaned, crawling out of bed, yawning.
"Now, come on, sweetie. You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Be sure to make your bed and brush your teeth and wash your hands before you prepare anything," she commanded.
"Since when did you go Brady Bunch on me?" Lucy asked, sandwiching the cordless phone in between her shoulder and her ear, whilst brushing her teeth.
"I don't know, actually," laughed Carol. "Hang on a second?"
Lucy mumbled what sounded like a sure before spitting and rinsing. Then, she wiped her mouth with a paper towel and she continued on. She applied all necessary make-up and she walked downstairs. "Hello?" she asked, not sure if the phone had disconnected.
"Good morning. And where might you be, my darling med student? You are approximately", he paused, glancing at his watch, "Three minutes late. Two more minutes before Kerry and I both get on your case."
"I take it that you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she mumbled.
"No. Actually, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You have six minutes before Kerry comes out and flatly gives you the lecture", he paused and gave a rueful chuckle. "Go."
She clicked the phone off as soon as she heard the dial tone. She raced off, tossing stuff out of her closet and finally chose a blue t-shirt with a pair of flare jeans. She raced down the stairs and tripped, hitting her head on the door. "Ow," she groaned, rubbing her head delicately.
She continued on and raced to the kitchen, grabbed a "Chewy" granola bar out of the box, which was half-empty, and she pulled on her socks and leaped into her sneakers. She raced out the door and hopped into her car and raced off.
"I'm here," she panted, running through the emergency room doors.
"Three, two, one," Carter teased, counting down.
"LUCY!" Kerry screamed. "You're late for the fourth time this month! Get some self-control and wake yourself up. Now, come into my office. I would like to discuss something with you!"
Lucy groaned in disgust and slowly drudged over, a step being the equivalent to a centimeter, if that. "Lucy! NOW!" ordered Kerry. Lucy ran into the office where Kerry slammed the door shut.
"You think she'll make it out of there alive?" asked Chuny, mid- erasing a name off of the giant board.
"She has gotten out of there alive three times, so why not a fourth?" interjected Lydia, with a grin on her face.
"Someone's happy and cheerful this morning. What'd you do? Steal Mary Poppin's spoonful of sugar?" Carol spat.
"Oh, I see what's going on here. You woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or, rather, the wrong side of Doug's bed," taunted Haleh.
"Bite me," Carol growled, walking off.
"Ah. I see. Is that what you Americans do nowadays? Bite each other?" asked Elizabeth, innocently.
"It's an idiom, Liz. It means, 'Go the fuck away,'. Basically," Chuny bluntly stated.
"That's a way of keeping it subtle," Mark commented, walking past. "Fill the ER with profane language. Go ahead."
"Hey, Mark!" yelled Lydia.
"Hmm?" he asked, turning around to face her.
"It's not like our patients don't fill it up with profane language already. So, we're not exactly going to get in trouble if we say the word 'fuck'. There, I said it. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck," Lydia replied, coolly.
"Ah. Good-bye, strange, psychotic people I do not know," he murmured.
"WE HEARD THAT!" the nurses yelled in unison.
He grinned slightly and he continued walking on. He walked off into an exam room and shut the door and closed the blinds. The nurses continued chattering, when Lucy waltzed out of Kerry's "office".
"Ah! She stumbles out alive again," laughed Haleh.
"Don't be late again," clucked Kerry.
Lucy shook her head no and she walked into the lounge. "Can I go home?" she asked.
"Home? You just got here!" Kerry replied, harshly.
"Can I go on a break?!" she brashly shot back.
Kerry waved her hand with a reluctant kind of air and Lucy sniffed angrily and grabbed her jacket and ran out of the emergency room sliding doors. Carter was walking down the stairs and saw her cross the street to the new Starbucks.
He ran out of the hospital before any of the nurses could say anything. As soon as he left though, they started gossiping. "Do you think he likes Lucy?" asked Chuny to Haleh.
"Oh, I'd bet on it."
Carter glanced both ways and darted across the semi-large road to the Starbucks across the street. Lucy was sitting on a green bench, which was cluttered with graffiti, and was sipping a frappucino.
"Hi."
"Hi," she murmured.
He sat down as she scooted over to the other end of the bench. "You cold?" he asked.
"Why would you care?" she replied, coldly.
"I don't know," he honestly replied.
"Hmm," she snorted.
She slurped her frappucino and when she finished it, she tossed the paper cup in the litter bin and missed. She walked up and she picked up the cup and tossed it in the trash. "Why do you even bother? Half the people in this god forsaken town litter anyway," Carter stated, bluntly.
"Because I care about the environment! I don't know!" she yelled, angrily, storming off into a dark alley. She felt a pair of coarse hands grab her and she felt a coldness at her temple.
"Put down the gun!" mediated Carter.
"What do you know, asshole?!" yelled the man.
"Put the gun down."
The man refused, using several profane words. Carter kicked the gun out of his hand and grasped it the chance he got. He held the gun, in his quivering hands, poised at the man. "Now, you tell me why you're after Lucy and I won't shoot you."
"Well, the reason I'm after your precious Lucy here is because I'm a hit man. Her father hired me to kill her," he admitted. "I'm leaving. Hey! I promise that I won't ever come after your chick again."
Carter dropped the gun and walked over to Lucy. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think so."
He walked with her back to the hospital. "Hey, Kerry! I'm going to the Y! See ya!" Lucy yelled, quickly, rushing out the door.
"Wait!" she mumbled, but noticing that the automatic doors were shutting, she sighed unhappily and trudged back inside.
Lucy hopped in her car. She had always been one to break rules, especially Dr. Carter's rules, but breaking Kerry's rules?! Was she nuts?! Well, she needed to relax and the only stress relief that came to her mind was swimming. She changed and she got into the warm, heated pool. She started swimming around. When she came up for air, she noticed the hit man from previously.
"What are you doing here?" she spat.
"To kill you."
"I thought you", she mumbled, before her words slurred. He had struck her on the back of the head with a lead pipe before tossing it into the shallow end of the pool. She sank back into the water and blood leaked from her head. She had a large gash on her head.
Carter hopped in his jeep. He was wondering if Lucy was attempting something crazy and idiotic. Like suicide. "Suicide? Lucy? No. But, she has been through a traumatic experience. God, let me get to her in time," he mumbled, while skittering in and out of Chicago traffic. He arrived at the Y to see her floating, face down, which was tentatively nicknamed, by children no less, dead man's float. He rushed into the pool and dragged her out. As he confirmed that she still had a pulse, he propped her up on poolside. The mysterious hit man had gone. He performed CPR from still inside the shallow end of the pool. As he walked up the step, his shoe slipped on the water, and he fell, his head hitting the lead pipe which had been carelessly tossed in. He fell into unconsciousness and he had a huge gash on his skull, which was bleeding profusely.