It was well into summer time, but Anne had decided to continue working instead of taking a well-deserved vacation. This had delighted both Anne and Robert, since the thought of being away from each other for three months was unbearable.
It was a hot, humid day in August. Once again the air conditioning was broken so fans had been set up everywhere. Anne was helping Robert with paperwork in his office. The windows were all open, but no relief came from the still, outside air. Anne's hair was tied up but she felt hot and sticky. She was not suited for hot weather, it made her very cranky. The very thought of wearing scrubs made her want to cry, so she was dressed in a low-cut tank top, cut-off jeans, whose threads hung down and tickled her knees, and a pair of red sandals. Not exactly dress code, but Robert wasn't going to stop her. He quite enjoyed looking at her legs, and her tank top was most revealing.
"Why can't we bring a fan in here? I'm roasting to death!" Anne asked, rubbing the sweat off the back of her neck.
"'Cause it'll blow all the papers around," Robert replied, waving his hand at the papers spread all over the room. "Why don't you go to the Anatomy Lab if you're so hot, it's always nice and cool there?"
"And hang out with all the dead people? That place gives me the creeps."
"Then you probably wouldn't want to go to the morgue either, I suppose."
Anne shot him a dirty look.
Robert continued, "Why don't you go to the Locker room and take a shower? It's better than nothing."
"Good idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I'll be back in a while," Anne said, heading for the door.
Robert sat and thought. He knew Anne didn't like cutting up cadavers, but he hadn't realized how much she didn't like being around them. An idea popped into his head. He was curious to see how well Anne could take a joke and this was the perfect opportunity, seeing as she wouldn't suspect it unless it was Halloween or April Fool's Day. He made some plans and some phone calls and made all the arrangements for the next day.
Then he sat back and thought about Anne taking a shower. It was a good day.
*****
The next day, Anne was in the ER, helping with various tasks when Robert approached her. "We need to go to the Anatomy Lab. There's a fresh body there and you can practice on it. I'll show you some new techniques," Robert explained to her, walking down the hall with Anne.
Anne was holding a bedpan in her hands. "But I'm busy helping out. Dr. Kovac wanted me to help him with his patient," she said as they walked over to where Dr. Kovac was waiting.
Taking the bed pan out of her hands and thrusting it into Luka's arms, Robert said, "Luka's a big boy, he can take care of his own patient. He's much better suited for that type of work. Besides, I have something much more important for you to do." As he said this, Robert looked Luka in the eye pointedly. Then he turned and walked away, Anne trotted after him to catch up, leaving Dr. Kovac to do the work himself.
"What's so special about this dead guy?" Anne asked.
"He died of a heart attack, so I thought I'd let you see what that looks like," Robert explained.
When they made it to the Anatomy Lab, Anne scrubbed in and put a gown on. Robert explained to her what she needed to do, handed her a scalpel, and stood back to let Anne begin.
Anne took a deep breath and stepped up to the body lying on the cold metal table. She leaned over the body to reach his heart. She was just about to make the first cut, when she noticed the body move slightly. "How long ago did this guy die?"
"A couple of hours ago. He wanted his body donated to science, so I figured, why make him wait?"
"How considerate of you." Anne went back to what she'd been doing. She could have sworn he'd just taken a breath. "Are you sure he's dead, it looks like he just breathed?"
"Oh, you know they do that sometimes. Just ignore it."
Anne pressed the scalpel to the man's skin, when his hand shot out, grabbed the scalpel, and he moaned loudly. Anne gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Suddenly the body sat up, grabbed her by the arms and picked her up, dangling her over the floor. Anne screamed, struggled out of his arms and fell to the ground. She turned around to see Robert doubled over with laughter, unable to control himself.
Anne was fuming with anger. "Do you think this is some kind of funny joke? This is the...I can't believe...AUGH!" She growled at him. "That is the meanest thing anybody has ever done to me in my entire life! You are so dead!"
Finally Robert stopped laughing. Looking at her, he said, "but it was so funny! It was too perfect; I had to do it!"
Taking a deep breath, Anne calmed down. "You're right, it was a good prank." With that she walked out the door, a little too calmly for Robert's comfort.
*****
If Robert wanted to be funny, so could she! Anne thought about what she should do. Over the next few days, she looked around Robert's office for ideas. Leafing through his telephone book, she found his mother's phone number. Jotting it down, Anne came up with a devious plan of her own.
*****
A week and a half had passed and Anne had been really good-natured about his prank. Robert figured she was a good sport and that he was off the hook. He was wrong.
One morning, Robert walked into the ER. The first thing he saw was a huge poster-size blown-up picture of his senior year high school picture, in full color. He was so young; he had a huge fluffy red afro with an afro pick sticking out of it. He was wearing a red tee shirt that said "Keep On Truckin'". He was giving the camera a goofy grin and a peace sign.
Robert was absolutely speechless. He just stared at the picture, mesmerized by its awfulness. Finally his brain started working again, and he wondered how many people had seen it. He couldn't just take it down; it was high enough to require a ladder to reach it.
Carefully avoiding the Admit desk area as he walked to the storage room for a ladder, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to the message board on the wall, he saw another picture of himself. It was a black and white copy made on normal paper. The picture was of Robert as a child, about 3 years old. He was naked except for a cowboy hat. He had a bottle of juice in his hand and was sticking his tongue out at the camera. There was a caption at the bottom that read: "Hail to the chief!"
Ripping it off the board, Robert looked around to see copies of the picture covering every window and wall in the ER. Walking around, he saw she'd put them on the doors, the lockers, inside the elevator, and who knew where else. "I'm going to kill her!" He thought to himself.
Marching up the stairs, Robert pulled down as many pictures as he could. When he made his way to his office, he dropped the pictures on the floor and left again in pursuit of Anne. Ignoring the looks, whistles, hoots, and hollers, Robert went to Elizabeth and asked if she knew where Anne was.
"She's in the locker room still," was her response.
"Who else was in there?"
"Nobody."
"Good," Robert headed for the locker room and ignored Elizabeth's warnings as he stuck his head in the door. Seeing no one, he walked in, locked the door behind him, and looked around. He found Anne standing at her locker, waiting for him, with a huge grin on her face.
"It was too perfect; I had to do it!" Anne quoted at him.
"How many copies did you make?"
"Only seven hundred," she replied. "They're all over the hospital. It'll be fun to take them down, like an Easter egg hunt!"
"Where did you get them from?"
"I made a little call to your mother, who seems to love showing off pictures of her beloved son!"
"I can't believe you did this." Robert said, incredulously.
"If it's any consolation, everybody thinks you're adorable." Anne grinned at Robert.
"Everybody?" Robert asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Everybody," Anne replied, moving closer to him.
Robert knew he'd gotten what he deserved. He couldn't exactly be mad at her, he'd started it. Besides, he truly respected her deviousness and the lengths with which she went to to pull it off. "Truce?"
"Truce"
Robert leaned in, kissed her, then whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry I scared you."
Anne smiled, kissed him back, and whispered, "Let's go take those pictures down."
Anne made sure the coast was clear before Robert stepped out of the women's locker room. Together they hunted for pictures and laughed at themselves.
It was a hot, humid day in August. Once again the air conditioning was broken so fans had been set up everywhere. Anne was helping Robert with paperwork in his office. The windows were all open, but no relief came from the still, outside air. Anne's hair was tied up but she felt hot and sticky. She was not suited for hot weather, it made her very cranky. The very thought of wearing scrubs made her want to cry, so she was dressed in a low-cut tank top, cut-off jeans, whose threads hung down and tickled her knees, and a pair of red sandals. Not exactly dress code, but Robert wasn't going to stop her. He quite enjoyed looking at her legs, and her tank top was most revealing.
"Why can't we bring a fan in here? I'm roasting to death!" Anne asked, rubbing the sweat off the back of her neck.
"'Cause it'll blow all the papers around," Robert replied, waving his hand at the papers spread all over the room. "Why don't you go to the Anatomy Lab if you're so hot, it's always nice and cool there?"
"And hang out with all the dead people? That place gives me the creeps."
"Then you probably wouldn't want to go to the morgue either, I suppose."
Anne shot him a dirty look.
Robert continued, "Why don't you go to the Locker room and take a shower? It's better than nothing."
"Good idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I'll be back in a while," Anne said, heading for the door.
Robert sat and thought. He knew Anne didn't like cutting up cadavers, but he hadn't realized how much she didn't like being around them. An idea popped into his head. He was curious to see how well Anne could take a joke and this was the perfect opportunity, seeing as she wouldn't suspect it unless it was Halloween or April Fool's Day. He made some plans and some phone calls and made all the arrangements for the next day.
Then he sat back and thought about Anne taking a shower. It was a good day.
*****
The next day, Anne was in the ER, helping with various tasks when Robert approached her. "We need to go to the Anatomy Lab. There's a fresh body there and you can practice on it. I'll show you some new techniques," Robert explained to her, walking down the hall with Anne.
Anne was holding a bedpan in her hands. "But I'm busy helping out. Dr. Kovac wanted me to help him with his patient," she said as they walked over to where Dr. Kovac was waiting.
Taking the bed pan out of her hands and thrusting it into Luka's arms, Robert said, "Luka's a big boy, he can take care of his own patient. He's much better suited for that type of work. Besides, I have something much more important for you to do." As he said this, Robert looked Luka in the eye pointedly. Then he turned and walked away, Anne trotted after him to catch up, leaving Dr. Kovac to do the work himself.
"What's so special about this dead guy?" Anne asked.
"He died of a heart attack, so I thought I'd let you see what that looks like," Robert explained.
When they made it to the Anatomy Lab, Anne scrubbed in and put a gown on. Robert explained to her what she needed to do, handed her a scalpel, and stood back to let Anne begin.
Anne took a deep breath and stepped up to the body lying on the cold metal table. She leaned over the body to reach his heart. She was just about to make the first cut, when she noticed the body move slightly. "How long ago did this guy die?"
"A couple of hours ago. He wanted his body donated to science, so I figured, why make him wait?"
"How considerate of you." Anne went back to what she'd been doing. She could have sworn he'd just taken a breath. "Are you sure he's dead, it looks like he just breathed?"
"Oh, you know they do that sometimes. Just ignore it."
Anne pressed the scalpel to the man's skin, when his hand shot out, grabbed the scalpel, and he moaned loudly. Anne gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Suddenly the body sat up, grabbed her by the arms and picked her up, dangling her over the floor. Anne screamed, struggled out of his arms and fell to the ground. She turned around to see Robert doubled over with laughter, unable to control himself.
Anne was fuming with anger. "Do you think this is some kind of funny joke? This is the...I can't believe...AUGH!" She growled at him. "That is the meanest thing anybody has ever done to me in my entire life! You are so dead!"
Finally Robert stopped laughing. Looking at her, he said, "but it was so funny! It was too perfect; I had to do it!"
Taking a deep breath, Anne calmed down. "You're right, it was a good prank." With that she walked out the door, a little too calmly for Robert's comfort.
*****
If Robert wanted to be funny, so could she! Anne thought about what she should do. Over the next few days, she looked around Robert's office for ideas. Leafing through his telephone book, she found his mother's phone number. Jotting it down, Anne came up with a devious plan of her own.
*****
A week and a half had passed and Anne had been really good-natured about his prank. Robert figured she was a good sport and that he was off the hook. He was wrong.
One morning, Robert walked into the ER. The first thing he saw was a huge poster-size blown-up picture of his senior year high school picture, in full color. He was so young; he had a huge fluffy red afro with an afro pick sticking out of it. He was wearing a red tee shirt that said "Keep On Truckin'". He was giving the camera a goofy grin and a peace sign.
Robert was absolutely speechless. He just stared at the picture, mesmerized by its awfulness. Finally his brain started working again, and he wondered how many people had seen it. He couldn't just take it down; it was high enough to require a ladder to reach it.
Carefully avoiding the Admit desk area as he walked to the storage room for a ladder, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to the message board on the wall, he saw another picture of himself. It was a black and white copy made on normal paper. The picture was of Robert as a child, about 3 years old. He was naked except for a cowboy hat. He had a bottle of juice in his hand and was sticking his tongue out at the camera. There was a caption at the bottom that read: "Hail to the chief!"
Ripping it off the board, Robert looked around to see copies of the picture covering every window and wall in the ER. Walking around, he saw she'd put them on the doors, the lockers, inside the elevator, and who knew where else. "I'm going to kill her!" He thought to himself.
Marching up the stairs, Robert pulled down as many pictures as he could. When he made his way to his office, he dropped the pictures on the floor and left again in pursuit of Anne. Ignoring the looks, whistles, hoots, and hollers, Robert went to Elizabeth and asked if she knew where Anne was.
"She's in the locker room still," was her response.
"Who else was in there?"
"Nobody."
"Good," Robert headed for the locker room and ignored Elizabeth's warnings as he stuck his head in the door. Seeing no one, he walked in, locked the door behind him, and looked around. He found Anne standing at her locker, waiting for him, with a huge grin on her face.
"It was too perfect; I had to do it!" Anne quoted at him.
"How many copies did you make?"
"Only seven hundred," she replied. "They're all over the hospital. It'll be fun to take them down, like an Easter egg hunt!"
"Where did you get them from?"
"I made a little call to your mother, who seems to love showing off pictures of her beloved son!"
"I can't believe you did this." Robert said, incredulously.
"If it's any consolation, everybody thinks you're adorable." Anne grinned at Robert.
"Everybody?" Robert asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Everybody," Anne replied, moving closer to him.
Robert knew he'd gotten what he deserved. He couldn't exactly be mad at her, he'd started it. Besides, he truly respected her deviousness and the lengths with which she went to to pull it off. "Truce?"
"Truce"
Robert leaned in, kissed her, then whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry I scared you."
Anne smiled, kissed him back, and whispered, "Let's go take those pictures down."
Anne made sure the coast was clear before Robert stepped out of the women's locker room. Together they hunted for pictures and laughed at themselves.