Jordan opened her eyes tiredly as she heard footsteps near her door.
"Hello Ms. McCullen, do you remember who I am?" Dr. Romano asked shortly as he walked into her room. Jordan stared at him for a few moments and blinked, trying to summon the energy to talk.
"Didn't you call me Shortcake?" she replied tiredly, and Romano nodded.
"That I did. I'm glad to see your memory is functioning," he said dryly, and Jordan smiled slightly.
"That would be the only part of me that's still functioning then, I believe," she replied, and Romano shook his head.
"Nonsense. We'll have you up and at 'em in a few days," he assured her, but Jordan rolled her eyes. "What, you don't believe me?" he asked, and Jordan shrugged weakly.
"That's what they always say doc," she muttered, and Romano sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I see we've managed to move the conversation to the cancer rather smoothly," he said, and Jordan looked away. "So you know that it's back," he asked, and she nodded.
"Sort of hard to ignore," she replied shortly, her face growing bitter.
"Well then, what do you want to do about it?" Romano asked, and Jordan looked over at him. "I'm sure you know your options."
"What would you suggest?" she asked him, and Romano glanced down at her chart again.
"Personally, I'd opt for the chemotherapy in rather aggressive doses, if you can handle it," he replied and Jordan sighed.
"Sure, why not," she said, a defeated tone in her voice.
"Cheer up shorty, you're under my care now," Romano said cheerfully, and Jordan raised her eyebrows.
"I feel so much better already," she said sarcastically, and Romano stood up.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice taking on a sincere tone, and Jordan gazed up at him. "We won't let it beat you," he said confidently, and Jordan sighed. "I have a surgery to attend to now but I'll stop down and check on you again when you're more awake, alright?" he said, and Jordan nodded as her eyes began to close. "Sleep tight."
"Have fun cutting people open," Jordan murmured, and Romano snorted.
"I will," he replied with a shake of his head, walking out of the room. "She's a feisty one, isn't she?" he asked Frankie as he passed her in the hall.
"Wouldn't know, she hasn't said a word to me," Frankie responded without looking up. Romano's step faltered slightly and he opened his mouth to respond, but he changed his mind and fell silent. A confused expression gracing his face, he glanced over his shoulder at Frankie before hurrying up to the OR.
-----------------------------------------
Kerry Weaver hurried down the hall to where Mr. and Mrs. McCullen were waiting. "So they've been here for over an hour? That's great.is Robert on his way?" she asked in a tired voice, and the nurse next to her nodded.
"I paged him and his secretary said he'd be down in a few, he was just finishing up in surgery," she replied, and Kerry smiled.
"Alright, thank you Frankie," she said as she glanced at the nurse's nametag. Frankie nodded in response before turning and hurrying in the other direction. Glancing over Jordan's chart once more, she noticed the date she was admitted on. "These people couldn't have come three days ago when their daughter was in surgery?" Kerry muttered to herself, spotting the couple ahead of her. "Mr. and Mrs. McCullen?" she asked, her voice taking on a professional tone.
"Yes?" responded the richly dressed man, and she smiled at them.
"Hello, my name is Dr. Weaver," she said, extending her hand to each of them. "Jordan was admitted with multiple internal injuries-"
"Yes, we know that nurse, how is she now?" Mrs. McCullen said with a wave of her hand, and Kerry raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Um.my name is **Dr**, Weaver, Mr. McCullen."
"Oh, terribly sorry," Mr. McCullen said distractedly, and Kerry frowned to herself.
"She's stable now, she woke up a few hours after the surgery. One of our surgeons was able to repair the damage done to her internal organs, however he could not fully repair the damage done to her spine. Jordan will have limited use of her legs, at best, for the rest of her life," Kerry said sympathetically. She paused, suddenly wondering if the parents were actually paying attention. "She also suffered some head trauma from the accident, and as a result currently has limited use of her right arm; however, we believe that with physical therapy she should regain full use-"
"So she's alright?" Mr. McCullen interrupted again, and Kerry clenched her jaw and nodded. Somehow, this mans presence alone seemed to annoy her.
"Yes, she's conscious and on the road to recovery. However, it does appear that her cancer has returned.she was hospitalized for a year a few months ago due to AML, correct?" she said, and the parents nodded as they glanced over Kerry's shoulder. Hearing footsteps, she turned and saw Dr. Romano headed briskly towards them.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. McCullen.glad to see you've finally arrived," Romano said dryly as he walked up, interrupting Kerry's conversation with them.
"Who is this?" Mr. McCullen demanded, and Kerry opened her mouth to introduce them.
"I'm Dr. Romano, the one who preformed surgery on your daughter and her current doctor," Romano cut her off, and Kerry thought she heard a hint of anger in his voice.
"Why weren't you down here when we got here?" Mrs. McCullen asked.
"I'm sorry I was in the OR, why weren't you down here when your daughter was dying?" Romano replied coolly, and Mr. McCullen cleared his throat. "Tell me," Robert continued before Mr. McCullen could speak, "are you aware that your daughters cancer has returned?"
"She had been complaining that she wasn't feeling well -"
"Yet you didn't bring her to the doctor?"
"We didn't think it was that serious."
"Well it is," Romano snapped, his carefully controlled anger slipping through. Sighing slightly, he tried to regain his composure. "I think it would be best if Jordan was kept in the hospital-"
"How would you know what's best for our daughter, you've only known her for three days!" Mrs. McCullen interjected, and Kerry's mouth dropped open slightly.
"He's a doctor!" she found herself exclaiming in shock, but Romano cut her off again.
"That's **exactly** my point, Mrs. McCullen," he said strongly. "I've known her for three days and you've known her for, let me think.her whole life!"
"Dr. Romano." Kerry said warningly, but he ignored her.
"Yet you refuse to see what's right in front of you-"
"Dr. Romano."
"Your daughter needs help - she is dying, and you are just standing there with your heads in your asses and letting her die-"
"Robert that's enough!" Kerry shouted, and Romano blinked. Raising his chin, he glared evenly at the furious parents.
"I'm her doctor, and I intend on treating Jordan with her best possible interests in mind."
"Then what would you suggest, **doctor**," Mr. McCullen said through clenched teeth.
"For you to shut up before I sue you for stupidity," he muttered, and Kerry glared at him. "Oh, you mean for Jordan?" he raised his voice again sarcastically. "Chemotherapy right away, and perhaps new parents," he snapped. "I'm going to my office, page me if you need me," he said shortly to Kerry. Before she could respond he turned on his heel and was gone. Kerry blinked after him, her hand gripping the crutch tensely.
"He's our daughters doctor?" Mr. McCullen asked with carefully controlled anger, and Kerry sighed.
"As of now-"
"I want a different doctor," Mrs. McCullen interrupted her, and Kerry frowned.
"Dr. Romano is.one of our best," she forced herself to say it, although at times she'd rather not admit it.
"I don't care, he's a bastard," Mr. McCullen said angrily.
"Dr. Romano can be very hot-tempered at times but -"
"Can you put Jordan under the care of a pediatrician?" Mrs. McCullen interrupted again, and Kerry gritted her teeth.
"If that's what you what," she said tensely. "I'll put her under Doug Ross' care then, if it's alright with you."
"As long as it's not that ass," Mr. McCullen said hotly, putting his arm around his wife. "And if chemo is what you prescribe, then we agree to it. Thank you for your help," he said, turning to leave.
"Where are you going?" Kerry asked in surprise. "Don't you want to see Jordan?"
"Oh, we're sure she's alright here," Mrs. McCullen said coolly, "and we have a lunch date that we have to keep."
"Thanks again," Mr. McCullen said with a smile, but Kerry didn't return it.
"I really think that you should reconsider-"
"No, thank you," Mr. McCullen said shortly. "Goodbye **Dr**. Weaver," he said, turning and walking away.
"Robert was right to yell at those two," Kerry muttered to herself with a frown. Sighing, she turned to go find Dr. Ross.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knocking gently on Jordan's door, Romano walked in slowly. Seeing Jordan watching him, he smiled at her.
"Glad to see you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," he said dryly, and Jordan smiled slightly.
"I'm glad to see me awake too, since this hospital seems to have a lack of charming princes to wake me up - Grumpy," Jordan countered.
"Me? Grumpy? I wouldn't be talking, you just about bit my head off before," Romano countered, and Jordan gave a laughing sigh.
"You appear to have survived the attack well."
"I'm a strong man. You look better," Romano nearly ran the sentence together, causing Jordan to pause for a moment and decipher what he had said.
"You look stressed," she finally replied, and he glanced at her.
"I've.spoken with your parents," he said shortly.
"From the expression on your face, I believe the correct phrase would be "I beat the crap out of your parents"," Jordan said. "When did they leave?" she asked, and Romano glanced up.
"You mean they didn't visit you?" he asked, and Jordan looked away with a shrug. He saw a cold expression fade over her face, as if he could see the silence setting in. "Well Jordan, I believe your parents are very sick," he said solemnly.
"What do they have doctor?" Jordan played along, but her voice was quieter and less enthusiastic than it had been.
"A chronic case of crappy-parent-it is."
"Is there any cure?"
"Only one that I know of, and I hope it's never presented to them."
"And why not?" Jordan asked, glancing up at Romano curiously.
"Because," he replied after a pause, "the cure would be the death of the child," he busied himself with rearranging some of the medical supplies in the room.
"You sound like you know from experience," Jordan said calmly, and Robert paused in his work.
"Of course I do, I'm a doctor," he said after a beat, glancing at Jordan. "Anyway," he continued gruffly, "I just wanted to let you know that I spoke to them about you starting chemotherapy."
"What did they say?" she asked, and Romano paused again.
"I.sort of left halfway through, but I'm sure Dr. Weaver got them to agree to the chemo," he said. "I'm off-duty now, so I'm going to go home," he continued abruptly, and Jordan knotted her brow. "Frankie will be by in a little to see if you need anything-"
"When will you be back?" she asked, and Romano glanced at her.
"I'm not.I'll stop by tomorrow morning," he said with a small sigh, seeing the relief on her young face. "Jordan," he said with a serious tone, "I can't be here all the time.I'm a surgeon and to be frank, I don't usually even spend half this time with patients when they're conscious," he said, and she nodded.
"How come you spend time with me?" she asked as he turned to walk out, and he gave her a small twisted grin.
"You remind me of myself," he winked at her, and she chuckled.
"And who ever said you were vain," she called sarcastically after him with a laugh as he disappeared into the hall.
"Hello Ms. McCullen, do you remember who I am?" Dr. Romano asked shortly as he walked into her room. Jordan stared at him for a few moments and blinked, trying to summon the energy to talk.
"Didn't you call me Shortcake?" she replied tiredly, and Romano nodded.
"That I did. I'm glad to see your memory is functioning," he said dryly, and Jordan smiled slightly.
"That would be the only part of me that's still functioning then, I believe," she replied, and Romano shook his head.
"Nonsense. We'll have you up and at 'em in a few days," he assured her, but Jordan rolled her eyes. "What, you don't believe me?" he asked, and Jordan shrugged weakly.
"That's what they always say doc," she muttered, and Romano sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I see we've managed to move the conversation to the cancer rather smoothly," he said, and Jordan looked away. "So you know that it's back," he asked, and she nodded.
"Sort of hard to ignore," she replied shortly, her face growing bitter.
"Well then, what do you want to do about it?" Romano asked, and Jordan looked over at him. "I'm sure you know your options."
"What would you suggest?" she asked him, and Romano glanced down at her chart again.
"Personally, I'd opt for the chemotherapy in rather aggressive doses, if you can handle it," he replied and Jordan sighed.
"Sure, why not," she said, a defeated tone in her voice.
"Cheer up shorty, you're under my care now," Romano said cheerfully, and Jordan raised her eyebrows.
"I feel so much better already," she said sarcastically, and Romano stood up.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice taking on a sincere tone, and Jordan gazed up at him. "We won't let it beat you," he said confidently, and Jordan sighed. "I have a surgery to attend to now but I'll stop down and check on you again when you're more awake, alright?" he said, and Jordan nodded as her eyes began to close. "Sleep tight."
"Have fun cutting people open," Jordan murmured, and Romano snorted.
"I will," he replied with a shake of his head, walking out of the room. "She's a feisty one, isn't she?" he asked Frankie as he passed her in the hall.
"Wouldn't know, she hasn't said a word to me," Frankie responded without looking up. Romano's step faltered slightly and he opened his mouth to respond, but he changed his mind and fell silent. A confused expression gracing his face, he glanced over his shoulder at Frankie before hurrying up to the OR.
-----------------------------------------
Kerry Weaver hurried down the hall to where Mr. and Mrs. McCullen were waiting. "So they've been here for over an hour? That's great.is Robert on his way?" she asked in a tired voice, and the nurse next to her nodded.
"I paged him and his secretary said he'd be down in a few, he was just finishing up in surgery," she replied, and Kerry smiled.
"Alright, thank you Frankie," she said as she glanced at the nurse's nametag. Frankie nodded in response before turning and hurrying in the other direction. Glancing over Jordan's chart once more, she noticed the date she was admitted on. "These people couldn't have come three days ago when their daughter was in surgery?" Kerry muttered to herself, spotting the couple ahead of her. "Mr. and Mrs. McCullen?" she asked, her voice taking on a professional tone.
"Yes?" responded the richly dressed man, and she smiled at them.
"Hello, my name is Dr. Weaver," she said, extending her hand to each of them. "Jordan was admitted with multiple internal injuries-"
"Yes, we know that nurse, how is she now?" Mrs. McCullen said with a wave of her hand, and Kerry raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Um.my name is **Dr**, Weaver, Mr. McCullen."
"Oh, terribly sorry," Mr. McCullen said distractedly, and Kerry frowned to herself.
"She's stable now, she woke up a few hours after the surgery. One of our surgeons was able to repair the damage done to her internal organs, however he could not fully repair the damage done to her spine. Jordan will have limited use of her legs, at best, for the rest of her life," Kerry said sympathetically. She paused, suddenly wondering if the parents were actually paying attention. "She also suffered some head trauma from the accident, and as a result currently has limited use of her right arm; however, we believe that with physical therapy she should regain full use-"
"So she's alright?" Mr. McCullen interrupted again, and Kerry clenched her jaw and nodded. Somehow, this mans presence alone seemed to annoy her.
"Yes, she's conscious and on the road to recovery. However, it does appear that her cancer has returned.she was hospitalized for a year a few months ago due to AML, correct?" she said, and the parents nodded as they glanced over Kerry's shoulder. Hearing footsteps, she turned and saw Dr. Romano headed briskly towards them.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. McCullen.glad to see you've finally arrived," Romano said dryly as he walked up, interrupting Kerry's conversation with them.
"Who is this?" Mr. McCullen demanded, and Kerry opened her mouth to introduce them.
"I'm Dr. Romano, the one who preformed surgery on your daughter and her current doctor," Romano cut her off, and Kerry thought she heard a hint of anger in his voice.
"Why weren't you down here when we got here?" Mrs. McCullen asked.
"I'm sorry I was in the OR, why weren't you down here when your daughter was dying?" Romano replied coolly, and Mr. McCullen cleared his throat. "Tell me," Robert continued before Mr. McCullen could speak, "are you aware that your daughters cancer has returned?"
"She had been complaining that she wasn't feeling well -"
"Yet you didn't bring her to the doctor?"
"We didn't think it was that serious."
"Well it is," Romano snapped, his carefully controlled anger slipping through. Sighing slightly, he tried to regain his composure. "I think it would be best if Jordan was kept in the hospital-"
"How would you know what's best for our daughter, you've only known her for three days!" Mrs. McCullen interjected, and Kerry's mouth dropped open slightly.
"He's a doctor!" she found herself exclaiming in shock, but Romano cut her off again.
"That's **exactly** my point, Mrs. McCullen," he said strongly. "I've known her for three days and you've known her for, let me think.her whole life!"
"Dr. Romano." Kerry said warningly, but he ignored her.
"Yet you refuse to see what's right in front of you-"
"Dr. Romano."
"Your daughter needs help - she is dying, and you are just standing there with your heads in your asses and letting her die-"
"Robert that's enough!" Kerry shouted, and Romano blinked. Raising his chin, he glared evenly at the furious parents.
"I'm her doctor, and I intend on treating Jordan with her best possible interests in mind."
"Then what would you suggest, **doctor**," Mr. McCullen said through clenched teeth.
"For you to shut up before I sue you for stupidity," he muttered, and Kerry glared at him. "Oh, you mean for Jordan?" he raised his voice again sarcastically. "Chemotherapy right away, and perhaps new parents," he snapped. "I'm going to my office, page me if you need me," he said shortly to Kerry. Before she could respond he turned on his heel and was gone. Kerry blinked after him, her hand gripping the crutch tensely.
"He's our daughters doctor?" Mr. McCullen asked with carefully controlled anger, and Kerry sighed.
"As of now-"
"I want a different doctor," Mrs. McCullen interrupted her, and Kerry frowned.
"Dr. Romano is.one of our best," she forced herself to say it, although at times she'd rather not admit it.
"I don't care, he's a bastard," Mr. McCullen said angrily.
"Dr. Romano can be very hot-tempered at times but -"
"Can you put Jordan under the care of a pediatrician?" Mrs. McCullen interrupted again, and Kerry gritted her teeth.
"If that's what you what," she said tensely. "I'll put her under Doug Ross' care then, if it's alright with you."
"As long as it's not that ass," Mr. McCullen said hotly, putting his arm around his wife. "And if chemo is what you prescribe, then we agree to it. Thank you for your help," he said, turning to leave.
"Where are you going?" Kerry asked in surprise. "Don't you want to see Jordan?"
"Oh, we're sure she's alright here," Mrs. McCullen said coolly, "and we have a lunch date that we have to keep."
"Thanks again," Mr. McCullen said with a smile, but Kerry didn't return it.
"I really think that you should reconsider-"
"No, thank you," Mr. McCullen said shortly. "Goodbye **Dr**. Weaver," he said, turning and walking away.
"Robert was right to yell at those two," Kerry muttered to herself with a frown. Sighing, she turned to go find Dr. Ross.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knocking gently on Jordan's door, Romano walked in slowly. Seeing Jordan watching him, he smiled at her.
"Glad to see you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," he said dryly, and Jordan smiled slightly.
"I'm glad to see me awake too, since this hospital seems to have a lack of charming princes to wake me up - Grumpy," Jordan countered.
"Me? Grumpy? I wouldn't be talking, you just about bit my head off before," Romano countered, and Jordan gave a laughing sigh.
"You appear to have survived the attack well."
"I'm a strong man. You look better," Romano nearly ran the sentence together, causing Jordan to pause for a moment and decipher what he had said.
"You look stressed," she finally replied, and he glanced at her.
"I've.spoken with your parents," he said shortly.
"From the expression on your face, I believe the correct phrase would be "I beat the crap out of your parents"," Jordan said. "When did they leave?" she asked, and Romano glanced up.
"You mean they didn't visit you?" he asked, and Jordan looked away with a shrug. He saw a cold expression fade over her face, as if he could see the silence setting in. "Well Jordan, I believe your parents are very sick," he said solemnly.
"What do they have doctor?" Jordan played along, but her voice was quieter and less enthusiastic than it had been.
"A chronic case of crappy-parent-it is."
"Is there any cure?"
"Only one that I know of, and I hope it's never presented to them."
"And why not?" Jordan asked, glancing up at Romano curiously.
"Because," he replied after a pause, "the cure would be the death of the child," he busied himself with rearranging some of the medical supplies in the room.
"You sound like you know from experience," Jordan said calmly, and Robert paused in his work.
"Of course I do, I'm a doctor," he said after a beat, glancing at Jordan. "Anyway," he continued gruffly, "I just wanted to let you know that I spoke to them about you starting chemotherapy."
"What did they say?" she asked, and Romano paused again.
"I.sort of left halfway through, but I'm sure Dr. Weaver got them to agree to the chemo," he said. "I'm off-duty now, so I'm going to go home," he continued abruptly, and Jordan knotted her brow. "Frankie will be by in a little to see if you need anything-"
"When will you be back?" she asked, and Romano glanced at her.
"I'm not.I'll stop by tomorrow morning," he said with a small sigh, seeing the relief on her young face. "Jordan," he said with a serious tone, "I can't be here all the time.I'm a surgeon and to be frank, I don't usually even spend half this time with patients when they're conscious," he said, and she nodded.
"How come you spend time with me?" she asked as he turned to walk out, and he gave her a small twisted grin.
"You remind me of myself," he winked at her, and she chuckled.
"And who ever said you were vain," she called sarcastically after him with a laugh as he disappeared into the hall.