Summary: A big snowstorm hits Chicago and leaves the ER docs patientless
for a little while. Susan and Elizabeth have some fun. Kerry treats a
patient that hits a bit too close home.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None that I could think of. There isn't a particular timeline for this story, I just guess it takes place sometime in season 9.
A/N: Just few things you might wanna know:
I don't live in the US and haven't seen season 9 yet.
English isn't my first language. Go easy on me but feel free to point out any mistake! I'm also looking for a beta-reader so if you wanna step in just let me know!
I'm no doctor and I have no medical knowledge whatsoever. I tried to put a little medicine in this, though, so forgive my many mistakes.
Snow is in the air
By Elisa
Splish splash, splish splash.
Susan's feet squashed the snow beneath them.
Susan breathed in deeply, the fizzy, terse snowy air tickling her lungs. She looked up to the white cloudy sky and watched the light snow-flakes gently falling down. One of them landed on the tip of hr cold-red nose and quickly melted into a small water drop that trickled down her face to her lips.
She licked her upper lip and smiled broadly.
"I really love the first big snowstorm" she murmured as she resumed her walking.
No one was around and Chicago looked a different city covered in white. Even Cook County General ambulance bay was peaceful, no traces of tires on its white mantle.
"Brrr" Susan shivered as she tried to shrug the snow off her coat, standing right in front of the ER admin desk.
" 'Morning Dr. Lewis" Jerry greeted her while chomping a donut, slouched on his chair with his feet up on the admin desk.
"Slow day, uh?" Susan said, her words more a statement rather than a question, as she scanned the empty hallway.
"Dead's more like it, doc" Jerry replied, brushing the icing sugar off of the front of his lab-coat.
"Not a single patient is in and the board is clear. It's freezing out there and there are at least twenty inches of snow. Don't you miss Phoenix on days like this, Dr. Lewis?"
"Not at all, Jerry, not at all. That's why I love blizzards so much. There's no way something like this could happen in Phoenix. I mean, patients aren't going to stay home when it gets 98 degrees. They just would run on the streets crazier than ever" she told him smiling, stuffing her gloves in her pockets.
"Who's on?" she then asked while heading towards the lounge.
"Weaver's doing inventory while Carter is sleeping in 2. Dr. Corday's in the lounge"
Susan entered the lounge and spotted Elizabeth reading some medical journals. Elizabeth tucked a curly lock behind her ear and raised her head.
"Good morning Susan"
"Good morning Elizabeth. How are you doing?" she asked as she put her stuff away and retrieved her lab-coat and stethoscope from her locker.
"Fine, thank you."
Elizabeth suddenly slammed the New England Journal of Medicine shut. " I'm bored to death, actually. This place is a tomb."
"Yeah, it's always like this when it snows so much. Honestly I don't mind some peace around here. How about the O.R. ?"
"Just a few routine cases. Romano and Edison are handling them. I'm covering the ER today, anyway."
"Come on, it's not that bad!" Susan replied cheerfully as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Don't you like some quietness once in a while?"
"Yeah" Elizabeth nodded and checked her pager "it's just that when you live with a twenty-month-old you just like some action at work."
"I can understand. When I still had little Susie with me, sometimes I got so frustrated that I couldn't wait to get to work just to have some sort of grown up conversation. I remember that ba-ba was the only word I could get out of her for months.Not a much stimulant kind of talk."
"You have kids Susan?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow quizzically.
Susan shook her head "No, Susie is my niece. She lived with me for a while." Then she opened her locker. There were a couple of pictures of a little girl taped on the inside.
"She looks like you an awful lot.she's so cute. How old is she now?"
"She's six years old, almost seven, actually."
"I'm happy you could make it to work Susan. At least we can talk a little bit, because Weaver is busy and Carter is nowhere to be seen."
"Jerry told me he's sleeping in Exam 2.Can't blame him.He was on all night." Susan plopped on the couch next to Elizabeth.
"I think he's on a double, covering for Chen; she got the flu or something.it looks like there's nothing left to do other than waiting for someone to slip while shoveling and hit their head!" Elizabeth added chuckling.
Susan looked at her with a devilish smile "I think there's something more fun we could do in the meantime."
Right on cue Malik passed them buy, carrying a large box.
"Malik, what are you doing?" Susan asked.
" Weaver recruited me to help her with the inventory.That woman is unbelievable.She's already been over the whole supply room and now she's going through the drug lock-up"
" What's in that box, anyway?" Elizabeth asked more out of boredom than curiosity.
" Dr. Lewis remember that dominatrix, that one that came in with that guy who had fallen from that torture swing on her ceiling? She forgot her stuff here and somehow it winded up under a gurney in the supply room."
"How could I forget it? Her stuff got me into that sexual harassment seminar last year. I can't believe it's still around here!"
"It's not gonna be for long, doc, 'cause Weaver told me to throw it all away and that's what I'm going to do" Malik replied.
"Wait a sec, Malik!" Susan exclaimed grabbing his arm " There might be something that could come in handy in there, you never know."
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"Malik, where the hell is gone our Lasix supply?" Kerry yelled, bent over the drug cabinet, trying to explore its every nook and cranny to find the missing Lasix.
The black nurse approached her coolly "We ran out of it two days ago."
"Did you order some more? 'Cause I can't find it anywhere."
"Sure, Abby did it. The supplier musta been snowplowed like everyone else." Malik replied.
"I guess I'm done here, then" the doctor said while getting up "What about the other attendings?"
"Carter is sleeping and Lewis has just gotten here. Dr. Corday is also down here."
Kerry nodded with satisfaction " And the nurses?"
"Abby has called saying she's stuck home due to the traffic problems. Other than that, everyone that's supposed to is here."
"Good" she stated "still no patients?"
Malik nodded.
" Well, I guess I have plenty of time to catch up with my paperwork, and maybe I'll manage to read something for the new project that's been examined by the hospital Long-time Saving and Efficiency Policy committee I'm on."
" If that's it , Dr. Weaver, then."
"Yeah you can go now, Malik. Thanks.
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The room was pitch dark. A faint snoring could be heard.
The door slowly creaked open and some cautious steps echoed around.
" I can't see a thing! It's bloody dark in here!" a British voice exclaimed "We should have taken some torches!"
" Shush! No we couldn't, we can't risk to wake him up!"
More steps. A sudden thud and a muffled swearing.
"I hit the gurney.anyway it's here."
"Did you take everything?"
"Yes, I did. Come on take out the syringe."
A swish and some noise.
"Found it!"
"And.Haldol!"
"Haldol"
A pop. Some gurgling.
"I'm ready. Take his arm"
"Gimme your hand first!"
"Why?"
"Just do it! I knew it.it's frigging cold, you could wake him. let me rub it a bit."
Rubbing noises.
"Ok.just hope to find the vein, I've never done it blind.Alright, I'm in"
Tossing and turning noises. The gurney was moving.
"These damn mosquitoes."
Yawning. Tossing and turning again.
"That was SO close."
"Come on, it's almost done. the Haldol should be working any minute."
"Do you think it was necessary? He seems like a deep sleeper to me"
"You never know.last time I did something like this he was Benton's student and he was doing his appalling hours, no wonder he slept like a log!"
"Yeah, Peter never slept more than three hours when he was on call. dunno how he managed to function."
"Ok.Now, restraints!"
"Restraints!"
"And. "
Giggles.
"I feel really silly, you know?"
"Don't! Last time Mark and I put a cast on him and then called him into a trauma. That was silly! But the fun part was that then we had an emergency mass disaster protocol going on and he couldn't get the cast off so he had to work it through with it.oh, my gosh!"
More giggling and noises of unsuccessful attempts to stop the laughter.
"The final touch"
A click and a tin.
"Now we just have to wait an half an hour for the Haldol to wear off"
Giggling, steps and the door closing.
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Jerry covered his ears with his hands. Nothing. It didn't work. He could still hear it. That damn kid had a set of lungs. He had been crying non- stop for the last forty-five minutes. He needed a break. It was really driving him nuts.
"Hey, you!" he yelled to the man that was holding the baby.
"Yes?" yelled back the man to make himself heard over the baby's cries.
"What's the matter with him?"
"Dunno, sir. She's crying!" yelled the man.
"I noticed that too, wiseass" said Jerry under his breath.
"Jerry, are Mrs. Stopak's labs back?" asked Kerry.
"What?" asked loudly the desk clerk.
"I said if Mrs. Stopak's labs are back" yelled Kerry stepping closer.
"Sorry Dr. Weaver. That's kid is crying like a madman. I think you should give her a look before you have to check my hearing, too."
"I'll see her when it's their turn" Kerry replied sternly " What about Mrs. Stopak's labs?"
"They're not here yet. Radiology must be backed up."
"Call them and tell them I need those results stat. When they start going on their lunch break it gets too damn slow."
Kerry looked at the baby in Chairs.
"I'll visit your kid in the meantime."
Kerry approached the man who was pretty agitated himself.
"Good morning. I'm Dr. Weaver. Follow me, please."
The man got up and followed her with short, robot-like steps.
"Here we are Mr." said Kerry while opening a curtain.
"Leery. My name's Joe Leery but you can call me Joe." The man smiled broadly.
"OK, Joe. What seems to be the problem with your little one?"
"I don't know, ma'am. I couldn't get her to stop crying."
"And how long' s she been crying like this?"
"Since this morning."
Kerry took the baby in her arms and examined her carefully. She seemed to be fine.
"When did you last feed her Joe?"
"This morning, ma'am. We had breakfast, ma'am. Like in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", ma'am. Have you seen it, ma'am? It's a wonderful film. Wonderful film."
Kerry stayed silent for a moment. Joe Leery was evidently a retarded man. She wondered what his IQ was. Probably not much higher than seventy. The equivalent of a seven-year-old.
"Isn't there anyone who can help you with the baby, Joe? What about her mother?"
"She's gone. Like "Gone in the wind". With Clark Gable. She said she didn't want to have a baby with me. She just wanted a place to sleep."
"I see, Joe."
"Gone with the wind, gone with the wind."
"Do you like cinema , uh?"
"Oh yeah, " said Joe his child-like face suddenly lit up " very much, very much."
" I like it very much myself. What about TV? Do you like it as well?"
"Yes, ma'am. It's not as good as cinema but it's cheaper. I watch it all the time."
"That's good, Joe. Lucy's crying because she's hungry. Babies need feeding every two hours."
"Uh-oh. I didn't know that."
" It doesn't matter, Joe. You know now. Now you listen to me, very, very carefully. So, when you get home you tune your TV on Nickleodeon. You need to feed Lucy first when " Hogan heroes" comes on, then again when "I dream of Jeannie" comes on, and then when "Sabrina the teenage witch" comes on. You got it?"
" Yeah. Hogan's heroes. I dream of Jeannie. Sabrina the teenage witch. Got it."
"Very good. Don't forget it. Haleh, could you go up to OB and bring me a baby's bottle? Then go in the lounge and search the fridge for some milk. Check the expiring date, you never know what you can find in there."
"Now we're gonna give Lucy some thing to eat and she'll be a lot better."
"Excuse me Kerry but don't you think we should alert Social Services about this? I'm not sure this man can take care of a baby" asked Haleh, a bit concerned.
"Lucy seems perfectly fine an well taken care of. Why don't we give him a chance, shall we?"
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"OK, it's time" Susan as she hurried her colleagues to the admin desk.
"Come on, Lydia it's your turn!" said Elizabeth prodding the nurse.
Lydia headed towards Exam 3 and abruptly opened the door.
"Carter, wake up! We've got a kid in respiratory distress in Trauma 1!"
Carter mumbled something incoherent and rolled over.
" Carter, come on, get up!"
"Carter, we need you! The kid is crashing!" Susan yelled trying to speed things a bit.
Lydia ran back to the admin desk to enjoy the show.
Carter got up abruptly fumbling in the dark for his stethoscope. They all heard a loud crash as he tripped over something.
He emerged from Exam 3 trying to make his way through a web of I.V. tubes he had found himself tangled in. Then he made for Trauma 1 but something held him back and he fell to the floor.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed as he got back to his feet.
His coworkers were standing in front of him, laughing madly.
Carter looked back and found out he was tied with restraints to a gurney that was stuck through the Exam 3 door. His left hand was also handcuffed to it.
"Ok, so you had some fun, right. Whose idea was this?" he asked as he removed the restraint that tied his waist to the gurney.
Susan and Elizabeth wiped away the tears that had formed in their eyes from the laughing and high-fived each other.
"So it was you two." Carter said as he removed the gurney from the door.
Kerry got out of the lounge.
"What is this all about?" she barked.
" Thelma and Louise here played a joke on me." Carter said pointing at the two doctors.
"Well, you had your fair share of fun so free Dr. Carter, please." Kerry added.
"Right away. Malik where's the box?" Susan asked.
" I thrown it all away. Dr. Weaver's orders." The nurse explained apologetically.
"What?!?" exclaimed Carter "Are you telling me you don't have the keys anymore?" he shook his cuffed hand.
"I'm sorry Carter" said Elizabeth, unable to contain some more laughter.
"This is crazy, man." Said Malik, laughing, too.
"Malik, would you bring me the sternal saw, please?" Kerry ordered.
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Susan looked at the almost empty board and smiled, then she massaged her back.
In that very moment the radio cracked to life.
"County General do you read?"
She grabbed the receiver " Yeah dispatch, go ahead."
"We've got a possible concussion coming in"
"Ah-ah, what's the ETA?"
"Three minutes"
"What's the bullet?"
"Fifty-five year-old man, slipped while shoveling. ALOC and probable hip dislocation."
"10-4 dispatch."
Susan grabbed a pen and wrote her name on the board. Then she shouted " Elizabeth, it looks like your wish has come true, we've got a man with a possible concussion coming in. He hit his head while shoveling!"
"Susan!"
Cater caught up with her.
"Susan, I've got a twenty-eight year-old woman with probable STD. I need to do a pelvic exam to confirm it and I think she would be more comfortable with a female doctor doing the procedure. Could you do it for me?"
"Sure." Susan replied " You take the concussion, then. It must be here any minute. Where's your patient and what's her name?"
" Vanessa Ruiz. She's in Curtain 3." He replied handing here the chart " Thanks Susan, I owe you one."
"Anytime, Carter."
Susan took a look at the chart and drew the curtain open " Good morning Miss Ruiz. I'm Dr. Lewis, Dr. Carter asked me to do your pelvic examination."
The young, heavily made-up, black woman looked up to her.
The doctor grabbed a stool and gloved up.
" I'm afraid this is gonna feel a bit cold, Miss Ruiz, I'm sorry." Then she parted her patient's legs and lifted her hospital gown a bit.
Then she started palpating her groin. She frowned a bit when she felt a couple soft, small masses under her fingers.
"I'm feeling some abnormalities here, Miss Ruiz. Has your gynecologist ever talked you about any cyst?"
"No, I've never heard of this before" the patient replied, a slightly worried expression on her face.
Susan dug a bit further. Then she felt a third, bigger mass. It was hard, very hard. She palpated it a little more. Suddenly she felt something wet on her hand. She lifted the gown completely and gasped.
"There's no need to worry about cysts *Mr* Ruiz!"
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Officer Al Garbasky opened the ER ambulance bay doors.
"I'm freezing. This damn snow! Everything is a mess and I'm stuck directing traffic."
"Al, what are you doing here?" asked Nurse Lydia passing by the admin dek.
" I found her naked on the 6 th right in front of Bloomingale, honey" he said dragging a old woman wrapped in a blanket.
"I'm glad you caught her, Al" said Lydia while helping the woman sit on a wheelchair " She was probably going to Bloomingale to buy a hat, which would have been a mistake, as most hats are."
"See you for dinner, honey"
"See ya, Al"
"Dr. Weaver, I've got this Jane Doe here. Altered stated of mind and hypothermia."
"I'll be with you in a minute Lydia. Bring her to Trauma 2 and start her on a warmed IV."
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"Don't worry Mr. Showlemitz, you're gonna be just fine. We're taking you here overnight just for observation" Carter said as he patted on the shoulder of the man.
Haleh wheeled the patient away.
" Funny, very funny Carter, making me do a pelvic on Mr. Ruiz!"
Carter looked at Susan trying to suppress a chuckle. "Who?"
"Vanessa Ruiz. What's his real name, by the way?"
"Vanessa" Carter smirked " as in Vanessa the drag queen. "You did a good job Susan, she was very pleased."
"I could see that myself, prankster!" she said punching him on the shoulder.
"Prankster is my middle name!" he told her.
"What about Elizabeth?"
" Don't worry, I'm taking care of it, too!"
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"Radius and ulna all appear normal. Middle low density in the soft tissue near the elbow. Impression: foreign body with no apparent fragmentation consistent with a bullet" said the radiologist into a recorder while looking at a set of x-rays on the light-board that covered all the walls of the room.
"Hi, Steve" said Carter cheerfully, breezing into the room.
"Hi John. How can I help you?"
" Look," he said handing him a x-ray " does it look like a fracture to you?"
"Yup."
" Thanks. Let me tell you that Weaver is on the warpath because you guys are pretty late with a number of x-rays."
"Oh, so we're not entitled to our lunch break, anymore?" snapped Steve while switching off the board.
" Hey, man, don't take it out no me. I was just warning you" replied carter while raising his hands in a peace sign.
" Ok, do you need some other advice or can I try to catch up with those x- rays for your boss?"
" Actually I still need your help. Could you please take a x-ray of me?" he said while taking off his lab-coat.
" Why? Are you in any pain?"
"Not really. I'm just getting back to Elizabeth Corday for a prank she played on me earlier."
" I see." Steve replied watching him tape a pair of keys on his chest.
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"So, could you tell me your last name too, Bonnie?" asked Kerry to the utterly agitated woman.
" Please, let me go, I need to feed my baby!" the woman cried trying to get up from The Trauma 2 table.
"Lydia, restraints!"
"It will take no time if you just told me your last name and you could go back to your baby" repeated Kerry.
"No I need to go back now!" she cried again, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Give her five Haldol, too!"
"I'll go get someone for a psych consult. Star her on a normal saline, she's dehydrated."
"Bonnie, calm down. Everything's gonna be alright."
"My last name's Doyle. Can I go back to my baby now?"
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"Lizzie! I was just looking for you!" exclaimed Robert "Rocket" Romano getting out of the elevator.
"You know what, Lizzie? I knew it that working with this lunatics in the ER would have gotten to you sooner or later."
"What are you talking about, Robert? I don't really have time now for your guessing games."
"I don't like wasting my time with jokes, too, Lizzie. Imagine my surprise when I opened up Mr. Xiang and found out there was nothing wrong with his duodenum!"
"What? That's not possible, Robert!" exclaimed Elizabeth with incredulity "The x-rays clearly shoed a set of keys stuck between the descending colon and the first tract of the duodenum!"
" I assure you there was absolutely nothing. It was a perfectly healthy gut." Romano told her " Radiology must have mixed up the x-ray. Double check the labels next time, Lizzie. You don't want to waste another five thousand bucks worth exploratory laparatomy , do you?"
"Radiology! Carter!"
"What about him, Lizzie my dear?"
"It was him who gave me the x-rays!"
"I see you're having a lot of fun here. Well, good for you. Let me go back to the OR, we do have to work up there."
"I'm sure you do. I'll go back to this kind of kindergarten, instead" she replied sarcastically.
"I'll describe it better as a zoo!"
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"I found her old chart, Dr. Weaver. She was admitted here once, a long time ago" Lydia handed her the chart.
"Let me see. She had a C-section.gave birth to a girl. it was April 13, 1964."
Kerry turned the page frantically. It was her birth date.
"Social services put her up for adoption."
She leaned back on a gurney and brought her hand to her mouth, shocked.
"Are you alright, doc?"
"Sure Lydia. Get a psych consult, stat."
Kerry headed towards the lounge.
"Kerry" Susan Lewis approached her " I need your opinion on this patient, his name is."
"Not now, Susan" Kerry cut her off.
" Dr. Weaver!" Jerry shouted across the hallway " There was a major pile-up on the Loop, we've got eight critical coming in ten minutes!"
"Tell the nurses to prepare Trauma 1 and 2. Get Carter, Lewis and page Corday and all the surgical residents on call. I'll meet them in the ambulance bay in five."
Kerry entered the lounge and locked herself in. She got to the phone and quickly dialed a number she knew by heart.
"Jameson investigation? It's Dr. Kerry Weaver here. I need you to check this person. Bonnie Doyle. Fifty-six years old. She was admitted to County on April 13 1964. She gave birth to a girl who was later given up for adoption. Yeah. I see. Call me anytime. Night or day. You have my page number. Bye."
Then she hang up the phone and stood there, overwhelmed.
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"Carl, did you see that patient?" Kerry asked to Carl De Raad, the head of the department of Psychiatric Services.
"Yes, I did."
"And why didn't you admit her, then?"
"She's just dehydrate, she's not a psychiatric case."
"I beg to differ. I can recognize senile dementia when I see it" she urged him.
" I told you I can't admit her, do you want me to turn away psychotics or schizophrenics because I gave her one of my beds?"
"Come on, Carl" she pleaded, a hint of desperation in her tone.
"She can be treated as an outpatient, Kerry, and you know it."
"She has no one to make sure she stays on her meds, eats and drinks and."
"That's what Social Services are for!" he snapped.
And with that the elevator doors closed behind De Raad's back.
" Damn!" Kerry exclaimed.
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Bonnie Doyle was crying softly.
"Please, I have to go, my baby, they're gonna take her away, my bay, oh, my little girl.oh no, it's too later, my little baby, oh, oh."
Kerry took her hand and gently caressed her white hair.
"Don't worry Bonnie, I'm here."
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"Kerry! Kerry!" shouted Lydia.
"What's up Lydia? The last one was DOA and we're eventually done" she said tossing away her bloodied gown and gloves.
"It's not that. I can't find Bonnie Doyle. I'm afraid she might have wandered off again."
"Don't worry Lydia, I signed her out a few minutes ago."
"But we couldn't find her next of kin or the home she has escaped from."
" I told you not to worry, I'll bring her home with me."
"Oh."
""Could you just find her something warm to wear, please?"
When Lydia returned with a winter coat, a hat and a pair of gloves Kerry helped Bonnie into it. Then she walked her out of the ER.
"I'm off" she shouted to Jerry.
" Bye, chief" he told her as he watched the two women go.
They slowly walked in the snow. Bonnie slipped but Kerry held her.
"Lean on me, mom."
Slowly the two figures disappeared in the snow.
Fine
A/N: I got the idea from this because it was snowing so I thought it was good time to watch Blizzard again and I couldn't help notice there used to be a lot more humor in ER in the good ol' days. I've never liked that they didn't do anything with Kerry's adoption storyline so I wrote this up. Hope you liked it. Please, please, pretty please review!
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None that I could think of. There isn't a particular timeline for this story, I just guess it takes place sometime in season 9.
A/N: Just few things you might wanna know:
I don't live in the US and haven't seen season 9 yet.
English isn't my first language. Go easy on me but feel free to point out any mistake! I'm also looking for a beta-reader so if you wanna step in just let me know!
I'm no doctor and I have no medical knowledge whatsoever. I tried to put a little medicine in this, though, so forgive my many mistakes.
Snow is in the air
By Elisa
Splish splash, splish splash.
Susan's feet squashed the snow beneath them.
Susan breathed in deeply, the fizzy, terse snowy air tickling her lungs. She looked up to the white cloudy sky and watched the light snow-flakes gently falling down. One of them landed on the tip of hr cold-red nose and quickly melted into a small water drop that trickled down her face to her lips.
She licked her upper lip and smiled broadly.
"I really love the first big snowstorm" she murmured as she resumed her walking.
No one was around and Chicago looked a different city covered in white. Even Cook County General ambulance bay was peaceful, no traces of tires on its white mantle.
"Brrr" Susan shivered as she tried to shrug the snow off her coat, standing right in front of the ER admin desk.
" 'Morning Dr. Lewis" Jerry greeted her while chomping a donut, slouched on his chair with his feet up on the admin desk.
"Slow day, uh?" Susan said, her words more a statement rather than a question, as she scanned the empty hallway.
"Dead's more like it, doc" Jerry replied, brushing the icing sugar off of the front of his lab-coat.
"Not a single patient is in and the board is clear. It's freezing out there and there are at least twenty inches of snow. Don't you miss Phoenix on days like this, Dr. Lewis?"
"Not at all, Jerry, not at all. That's why I love blizzards so much. There's no way something like this could happen in Phoenix. I mean, patients aren't going to stay home when it gets 98 degrees. They just would run on the streets crazier than ever" she told him smiling, stuffing her gloves in her pockets.
"Who's on?" she then asked while heading towards the lounge.
"Weaver's doing inventory while Carter is sleeping in 2. Dr. Corday's in the lounge"
Susan entered the lounge and spotted Elizabeth reading some medical journals. Elizabeth tucked a curly lock behind her ear and raised her head.
"Good morning Susan"
"Good morning Elizabeth. How are you doing?" she asked as she put her stuff away and retrieved her lab-coat and stethoscope from her locker.
"Fine, thank you."
Elizabeth suddenly slammed the New England Journal of Medicine shut. " I'm bored to death, actually. This place is a tomb."
"Yeah, it's always like this when it snows so much. Honestly I don't mind some peace around here. How about the O.R. ?"
"Just a few routine cases. Romano and Edison are handling them. I'm covering the ER today, anyway."
"Come on, it's not that bad!" Susan replied cheerfully as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Don't you like some quietness once in a while?"
"Yeah" Elizabeth nodded and checked her pager "it's just that when you live with a twenty-month-old you just like some action at work."
"I can understand. When I still had little Susie with me, sometimes I got so frustrated that I couldn't wait to get to work just to have some sort of grown up conversation. I remember that ba-ba was the only word I could get out of her for months.Not a much stimulant kind of talk."
"You have kids Susan?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow quizzically.
Susan shook her head "No, Susie is my niece. She lived with me for a while." Then she opened her locker. There were a couple of pictures of a little girl taped on the inside.
"She looks like you an awful lot.she's so cute. How old is she now?"
"She's six years old, almost seven, actually."
"I'm happy you could make it to work Susan. At least we can talk a little bit, because Weaver is busy and Carter is nowhere to be seen."
"Jerry told me he's sleeping in Exam 2.Can't blame him.He was on all night." Susan plopped on the couch next to Elizabeth.
"I think he's on a double, covering for Chen; she got the flu or something.it looks like there's nothing left to do other than waiting for someone to slip while shoveling and hit their head!" Elizabeth added chuckling.
Susan looked at her with a devilish smile "I think there's something more fun we could do in the meantime."
Right on cue Malik passed them buy, carrying a large box.
"Malik, what are you doing?" Susan asked.
" Weaver recruited me to help her with the inventory.That woman is unbelievable.She's already been over the whole supply room and now she's going through the drug lock-up"
" What's in that box, anyway?" Elizabeth asked more out of boredom than curiosity.
" Dr. Lewis remember that dominatrix, that one that came in with that guy who had fallen from that torture swing on her ceiling? She forgot her stuff here and somehow it winded up under a gurney in the supply room."
"How could I forget it? Her stuff got me into that sexual harassment seminar last year. I can't believe it's still around here!"
"It's not gonna be for long, doc, 'cause Weaver told me to throw it all away and that's what I'm going to do" Malik replied.
"Wait a sec, Malik!" Susan exclaimed grabbing his arm " There might be something that could come in handy in there, you never know."
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"Malik, where the hell is gone our Lasix supply?" Kerry yelled, bent over the drug cabinet, trying to explore its every nook and cranny to find the missing Lasix.
The black nurse approached her coolly "We ran out of it two days ago."
"Did you order some more? 'Cause I can't find it anywhere."
"Sure, Abby did it. The supplier musta been snowplowed like everyone else." Malik replied.
"I guess I'm done here, then" the doctor said while getting up "What about the other attendings?"
"Carter is sleeping and Lewis has just gotten here. Dr. Corday is also down here."
Kerry nodded with satisfaction " And the nurses?"
"Abby has called saying she's stuck home due to the traffic problems. Other than that, everyone that's supposed to is here."
"Good" she stated "still no patients?"
Malik nodded.
" Well, I guess I have plenty of time to catch up with my paperwork, and maybe I'll manage to read something for the new project that's been examined by the hospital Long-time Saving and Efficiency Policy committee I'm on."
" If that's it , Dr. Weaver, then."
"Yeah you can go now, Malik. Thanks.
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The room was pitch dark. A faint snoring could be heard.
The door slowly creaked open and some cautious steps echoed around.
" I can't see a thing! It's bloody dark in here!" a British voice exclaimed "We should have taken some torches!"
" Shush! No we couldn't, we can't risk to wake him up!"
More steps. A sudden thud and a muffled swearing.
"I hit the gurney.anyway it's here."
"Did you take everything?"
"Yes, I did. Come on take out the syringe."
A swish and some noise.
"Found it!"
"And.Haldol!"
"Haldol"
A pop. Some gurgling.
"I'm ready. Take his arm"
"Gimme your hand first!"
"Why?"
"Just do it! I knew it.it's frigging cold, you could wake him. let me rub it a bit."
Rubbing noises.
"Ok.just hope to find the vein, I've never done it blind.Alright, I'm in"
Tossing and turning noises. The gurney was moving.
"These damn mosquitoes."
Yawning. Tossing and turning again.
"That was SO close."
"Come on, it's almost done. the Haldol should be working any minute."
"Do you think it was necessary? He seems like a deep sleeper to me"
"You never know.last time I did something like this he was Benton's student and he was doing his appalling hours, no wonder he slept like a log!"
"Yeah, Peter never slept more than three hours when he was on call. dunno how he managed to function."
"Ok.Now, restraints!"
"Restraints!"
"And. "
Giggles.
"I feel really silly, you know?"
"Don't! Last time Mark and I put a cast on him and then called him into a trauma. That was silly! But the fun part was that then we had an emergency mass disaster protocol going on and he couldn't get the cast off so he had to work it through with it.oh, my gosh!"
More giggling and noises of unsuccessful attempts to stop the laughter.
"The final touch"
A click and a tin.
"Now we just have to wait an half an hour for the Haldol to wear off"
Giggling, steps and the door closing.
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Jerry covered his ears with his hands. Nothing. It didn't work. He could still hear it. That damn kid had a set of lungs. He had been crying non- stop for the last forty-five minutes. He needed a break. It was really driving him nuts.
"Hey, you!" he yelled to the man that was holding the baby.
"Yes?" yelled back the man to make himself heard over the baby's cries.
"What's the matter with him?"
"Dunno, sir. She's crying!" yelled the man.
"I noticed that too, wiseass" said Jerry under his breath.
"Jerry, are Mrs. Stopak's labs back?" asked Kerry.
"What?" asked loudly the desk clerk.
"I said if Mrs. Stopak's labs are back" yelled Kerry stepping closer.
"Sorry Dr. Weaver. That's kid is crying like a madman. I think you should give her a look before you have to check my hearing, too."
"I'll see her when it's their turn" Kerry replied sternly " What about Mrs. Stopak's labs?"
"They're not here yet. Radiology must be backed up."
"Call them and tell them I need those results stat. When they start going on their lunch break it gets too damn slow."
Kerry looked at the baby in Chairs.
"I'll visit your kid in the meantime."
Kerry approached the man who was pretty agitated himself.
"Good morning. I'm Dr. Weaver. Follow me, please."
The man got up and followed her with short, robot-like steps.
"Here we are Mr." said Kerry while opening a curtain.
"Leery. My name's Joe Leery but you can call me Joe." The man smiled broadly.
"OK, Joe. What seems to be the problem with your little one?"
"I don't know, ma'am. I couldn't get her to stop crying."
"And how long' s she been crying like this?"
"Since this morning."
Kerry took the baby in her arms and examined her carefully. She seemed to be fine.
"When did you last feed her Joe?"
"This morning, ma'am. We had breakfast, ma'am. Like in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", ma'am. Have you seen it, ma'am? It's a wonderful film. Wonderful film."
Kerry stayed silent for a moment. Joe Leery was evidently a retarded man. She wondered what his IQ was. Probably not much higher than seventy. The equivalent of a seven-year-old.
"Isn't there anyone who can help you with the baby, Joe? What about her mother?"
"She's gone. Like "Gone in the wind". With Clark Gable. She said she didn't want to have a baby with me. She just wanted a place to sleep."
"I see, Joe."
"Gone with the wind, gone with the wind."
"Do you like cinema , uh?"
"Oh yeah, " said Joe his child-like face suddenly lit up " very much, very much."
" I like it very much myself. What about TV? Do you like it as well?"
"Yes, ma'am. It's not as good as cinema but it's cheaper. I watch it all the time."
"That's good, Joe. Lucy's crying because she's hungry. Babies need feeding every two hours."
"Uh-oh. I didn't know that."
" It doesn't matter, Joe. You know now. Now you listen to me, very, very carefully. So, when you get home you tune your TV on Nickleodeon. You need to feed Lucy first when " Hogan heroes" comes on, then again when "I dream of Jeannie" comes on, and then when "Sabrina the teenage witch" comes on. You got it?"
" Yeah. Hogan's heroes. I dream of Jeannie. Sabrina the teenage witch. Got it."
"Very good. Don't forget it. Haleh, could you go up to OB and bring me a baby's bottle? Then go in the lounge and search the fridge for some milk. Check the expiring date, you never know what you can find in there."
"Now we're gonna give Lucy some thing to eat and she'll be a lot better."
"Excuse me Kerry but don't you think we should alert Social Services about this? I'm not sure this man can take care of a baby" asked Haleh, a bit concerned.
"Lucy seems perfectly fine an well taken care of. Why don't we give him a chance, shall we?"
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"OK, it's time" Susan as she hurried her colleagues to the admin desk.
"Come on, Lydia it's your turn!" said Elizabeth prodding the nurse.
Lydia headed towards Exam 3 and abruptly opened the door.
"Carter, wake up! We've got a kid in respiratory distress in Trauma 1!"
Carter mumbled something incoherent and rolled over.
" Carter, come on, get up!"
"Carter, we need you! The kid is crashing!" Susan yelled trying to speed things a bit.
Lydia ran back to the admin desk to enjoy the show.
Carter got up abruptly fumbling in the dark for his stethoscope. They all heard a loud crash as he tripped over something.
He emerged from Exam 3 trying to make his way through a web of I.V. tubes he had found himself tangled in. Then he made for Trauma 1 but something held him back and he fell to the floor.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed as he got back to his feet.
His coworkers were standing in front of him, laughing madly.
Carter looked back and found out he was tied with restraints to a gurney that was stuck through the Exam 3 door. His left hand was also handcuffed to it.
"Ok, so you had some fun, right. Whose idea was this?" he asked as he removed the restraint that tied his waist to the gurney.
Susan and Elizabeth wiped away the tears that had formed in their eyes from the laughing and high-fived each other.
"So it was you two." Carter said as he removed the gurney from the door.
Kerry got out of the lounge.
"What is this all about?" she barked.
" Thelma and Louise here played a joke on me." Carter said pointing at the two doctors.
"Well, you had your fair share of fun so free Dr. Carter, please." Kerry added.
"Right away. Malik where's the box?" Susan asked.
" I thrown it all away. Dr. Weaver's orders." The nurse explained apologetically.
"What?!?" exclaimed Carter "Are you telling me you don't have the keys anymore?" he shook his cuffed hand.
"I'm sorry Carter" said Elizabeth, unable to contain some more laughter.
"This is crazy, man." Said Malik, laughing, too.
"Malik, would you bring me the sternal saw, please?" Kerry ordered.
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Susan looked at the almost empty board and smiled, then she massaged her back.
In that very moment the radio cracked to life.
"County General do you read?"
She grabbed the receiver " Yeah dispatch, go ahead."
"We've got a possible concussion coming in"
"Ah-ah, what's the ETA?"
"Three minutes"
"What's the bullet?"
"Fifty-five year-old man, slipped while shoveling. ALOC and probable hip dislocation."
"10-4 dispatch."
Susan grabbed a pen and wrote her name on the board. Then she shouted " Elizabeth, it looks like your wish has come true, we've got a man with a possible concussion coming in. He hit his head while shoveling!"
"Susan!"
Cater caught up with her.
"Susan, I've got a twenty-eight year-old woman with probable STD. I need to do a pelvic exam to confirm it and I think she would be more comfortable with a female doctor doing the procedure. Could you do it for me?"
"Sure." Susan replied " You take the concussion, then. It must be here any minute. Where's your patient and what's her name?"
" Vanessa Ruiz. She's in Curtain 3." He replied handing here the chart " Thanks Susan, I owe you one."
"Anytime, Carter."
Susan took a look at the chart and drew the curtain open " Good morning Miss Ruiz. I'm Dr. Lewis, Dr. Carter asked me to do your pelvic examination."
The young, heavily made-up, black woman looked up to her.
The doctor grabbed a stool and gloved up.
" I'm afraid this is gonna feel a bit cold, Miss Ruiz, I'm sorry." Then she parted her patient's legs and lifted her hospital gown a bit.
Then she started palpating her groin. She frowned a bit when she felt a couple soft, small masses under her fingers.
"I'm feeling some abnormalities here, Miss Ruiz. Has your gynecologist ever talked you about any cyst?"
"No, I've never heard of this before" the patient replied, a slightly worried expression on her face.
Susan dug a bit further. Then she felt a third, bigger mass. It was hard, very hard. She palpated it a little more. Suddenly she felt something wet on her hand. She lifted the gown completely and gasped.
"There's no need to worry about cysts *Mr* Ruiz!"
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Officer Al Garbasky opened the ER ambulance bay doors.
"I'm freezing. This damn snow! Everything is a mess and I'm stuck directing traffic."
"Al, what are you doing here?" asked Nurse Lydia passing by the admin dek.
" I found her naked on the 6 th right in front of Bloomingale, honey" he said dragging a old woman wrapped in a blanket.
"I'm glad you caught her, Al" said Lydia while helping the woman sit on a wheelchair " She was probably going to Bloomingale to buy a hat, which would have been a mistake, as most hats are."
"See you for dinner, honey"
"See ya, Al"
"Dr. Weaver, I've got this Jane Doe here. Altered stated of mind and hypothermia."
"I'll be with you in a minute Lydia. Bring her to Trauma 2 and start her on a warmed IV."
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"Don't worry Mr. Showlemitz, you're gonna be just fine. We're taking you here overnight just for observation" Carter said as he patted on the shoulder of the man.
Haleh wheeled the patient away.
" Funny, very funny Carter, making me do a pelvic on Mr. Ruiz!"
Carter looked at Susan trying to suppress a chuckle. "Who?"
"Vanessa Ruiz. What's his real name, by the way?"
"Vanessa" Carter smirked " as in Vanessa the drag queen. "You did a good job Susan, she was very pleased."
"I could see that myself, prankster!" she said punching him on the shoulder.
"Prankster is my middle name!" he told her.
"What about Elizabeth?"
" Don't worry, I'm taking care of it, too!"
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"Radius and ulna all appear normal. Middle low density in the soft tissue near the elbow. Impression: foreign body with no apparent fragmentation consistent with a bullet" said the radiologist into a recorder while looking at a set of x-rays on the light-board that covered all the walls of the room.
"Hi, Steve" said Carter cheerfully, breezing into the room.
"Hi John. How can I help you?"
" Look," he said handing him a x-ray " does it look like a fracture to you?"
"Yup."
" Thanks. Let me tell you that Weaver is on the warpath because you guys are pretty late with a number of x-rays."
"Oh, so we're not entitled to our lunch break, anymore?" snapped Steve while switching off the board.
" Hey, man, don't take it out no me. I was just warning you" replied carter while raising his hands in a peace sign.
" Ok, do you need some other advice or can I try to catch up with those x- rays for your boss?"
" Actually I still need your help. Could you please take a x-ray of me?" he said while taking off his lab-coat.
" Why? Are you in any pain?"
"Not really. I'm just getting back to Elizabeth Corday for a prank she played on me earlier."
" I see." Steve replied watching him tape a pair of keys on his chest.
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"So, could you tell me your last name too, Bonnie?" asked Kerry to the utterly agitated woman.
" Please, let me go, I need to feed my baby!" the woman cried trying to get up from The Trauma 2 table.
"Lydia, restraints!"
"It will take no time if you just told me your last name and you could go back to your baby" repeated Kerry.
"No I need to go back now!" she cried again, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Give her five Haldol, too!"
"I'll go get someone for a psych consult. Star her on a normal saline, she's dehydrated."
"Bonnie, calm down. Everything's gonna be alright."
"My last name's Doyle. Can I go back to my baby now?"
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"Lizzie! I was just looking for you!" exclaimed Robert "Rocket" Romano getting out of the elevator.
"You know what, Lizzie? I knew it that working with this lunatics in the ER would have gotten to you sooner or later."
"What are you talking about, Robert? I don't really have time now for your guessing games."
"I don't like wasting my time with jokes, too, Lizzie. Imagine my surprise when I opened up Mr. Xiang and found out there was nothing wrong with his duodenum!"
"What? That's not possible, Robert!" exclaimed Elizabeth with incredulity "The x-rays clearly shoed a set of keys stuck between the descending colon and the first tract of the duodenum!"
" I assure you there was absolutely nothing. It was a perfectly healthy gut." Romano told her " Radiology must have mixed up the x-ray. Double check the labels next time, Lizzie. You don't want to waste another five thousand bucks worth exploratory laparatomy , do you?"
"Radiology! Carter!"
"What about him, Lizzie my dear?"
"It was him who gave me the x-rays!"
"I see you're having a lot of fun here. Well, good for you. Let me go back to the OR, we do have to work up there."
"I'm sure you do. I'll go back to this kind of kindergarten, instead" she replied sarcastically.
"I'll describe it better as a zoo!"
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"I found her old chart, Dr. Weaver. She was admitted here once, a long time ago" Lydia handed her the chart.
"Let me see. She had a C-section.gave birth to a girl. it was April 13, 1964."
Kerry turned the page frantically. It was her birth date.
"Social services put her up for adoption."
She leaned back on a gurney and brought her hand to her mouth, shocked.
"Are you alright, doc?"
"Sure Lydia. Get a psych consult, stat."
Kerry headed towards the lounge.
"Kerry" Susan Lewis approached her " I need your opinion on this patient, his name is."
"Not now, Susan" Kerry cut her off.
" Dr. Weaver!" Jerry shouted across the hallway " There was a major pile-up on the Loop, we've got eight critical coming in ten minutes!"
"Tell the nurses to prepare Trauma 1 and 2. Get Carter, Lewis and page Corday and all the surgical residents on call. I'll meet them in the ambulance bay in five."
Kerry entered the lounge and locked herself in. She got to the phone and quickly dialed a number she knew by heart.
"Jameson investigation? It's Dr. Kerry Weaver here. I need you to check this person. Bonnie Doyle. Fifty-six years old. She was admitted to County on April 13 1964. She gave birth to a girl who was later given up for adoption. Yeah. I see. Call me anytime. Night or day. You have my page number. Bye."
Then she hang up the phone and stood there, overwhelmed.
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"Carl, did you see that patient?" Kerry asked to Carl De Raad, the head of the department of Psychiatric Services.
"Yes, I did."
"And why didn't you admit her, then?"
"She's just dehydrate, she's not a psychiatric case."
"I beg to differ. I can recognize senile dementia when I see it" she urged him.
" I told you I can't admit her, do you want me to turn away psychotics or schizophrenics because I gave her one of my beds?"
"Come on, Carl" she pleaded, a hint of desperation in her tone.
"She can be treated as an outpatient, Kerry, and you know it."
"She has no one to make sure she stays on her meds, eats and drinks and."
"That's what Social Services are for!" he snapped.
And with that the elevator doors closed behind De Raad's back.
" Damn!" Kerry exclaimed.
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Bonnie Doyle was crying softly.
"Please, I have to go, my baby, they're gonna take her away, my bay, oh, my little girl.oh no, it's too later, my little baby, oh, oh."
Kerry took her hand and gently caressed her white hair.
"Don't worry Bonnie, I'm here."
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"Kerry! Kerry!" shouted Lydia.
"What's up Lydia? The last one was DOA and we're eventually done" she said tossing away her bloodied gown and gloves.
"It's not that. I can't find Bonnie Doyle. I'm afraid she might have wandered off again."
"Don't worry Lydia, I signed her out a few minutes ago."
"But we couldn't find her next of kin or the home she has escaped from."
" I told you not to worry, I'll bring her home with me."
"Oh."
""Could you just find her something warm to wear, please?"
When Lydia returned with a winter coat, a hat and a pair of gloves Kerry helped Bonnie into it. Then she walked her out of the ER.
"I'm off" she shouted to Jerry.
" Bye, chief" he told her as he watched the two women go.
They slowly walked in the snow. Bonnie slipped but Kerry held her.
"Lean on me, mom."
Slowly the two figures disappeared in the snow.
Fine
A/N: I got the idea from this because it was snowing so I thought it was good time to watch Blizzard again and I couldn't help notice there used to be a lot more humor in ER in the good ol' days. I've never liked that they didn't do anything with Kerry's adoption storyline so I wrote this up. Hope you liked it. Please, please, pretty please review!