Notes:

Ok, there's not really much more to say about this, there's nothing graphic coming up in the near future so I say enjoy part four! Oh yeah.the lyrics that Dave sings belong to Rage against the machine not me, I remember in an episode of ER he mentions he has tickets to RATM so I figured it'd work! And if you want to download the song it's called 'Settle for nothing'.

Disclaimer:

Don't own ER or Dave.*boo hoo*

Where do we go from here?

Chapter Four: Back to the grind

Dave nodded his head in time to the music as he wrote up a chart. He'd managed to sneak in his personal CD player. He had also managed to hide it in the over-sized pocket of his scrub pants. Dave smiled smugly, at least he had his tunes to pass the time, and the best part was that Weaver had no idea. "If ignorance is bliss then knock the smile off my face, yeah"! Dave sung aloud. He didn't have a particularly bad singing voice, he could at least hold a note. "Dr Malucci, since you seem to be in such a good mood, you can assist Dr Kovac and I on an incoming trauma" Kerry Weaver spat at the junior resident. Dave continued to listen to the song, unaware that his boss had just spoken to him. Kerry noticed the wire coming out of Dave's left ear and gave it a sharp tug. "Ouch"! Dave yelped as his music was cut off by a painful yank.

"Dr Malucci, I suggest if you value your job you put this back in your locker and assist Dr Kovac and I on this incoming trauma" Kerry ordered waving the earphone at Dave.

"You got it Chief"! Dave said, a little sheepishly. He dashed into the lounge to safely deposit his CD player and by the time he emerged the trauma had already arrived. He pulled on his gloves and gown and raced into Trauma Two. "We've got a twenty-nine year old woman, flatline" Luka informed Dave as he entered the trauma room.

"How long has she been down"? Kerry asked the paramedic.

"We don't know, her boyfriend found her on the bathroom floor" The paramedic replied. "We gave her two rounds of eppy and two rounds of atrophine" "Any signs of life"? Dave asked.

"We got her back twice, but we lost her again"

"Dr Malucci, get her on a monitor" Kerry ordered. Dave nodded and set about doing his given task. "Any sign of drugs? Possible suicide attempt"?

"Her boyfriend said that she told him she had a headache, he thought she was just avoiding sex, she went for a nap and just never woke up, so he called us" The paramedic explained.

"It sounds like a suberacnoid haemorrhage to me" Luka replied.

"The monitor's up chief, but no readable pulse" Dave said.

"Asystole" Luka added.

"No spontaneous respiration and no response to pain" Dave continued, looking at Kerry.

"Pupils fixed and dilated" Luka said as he checked the patients eyes.

"Then let's try and get her back" Kerry ordered. "a high dose appy, pulse ox and a CO2 detector"

~*~

Abby had been watching the young man for a few minutes now. He was pacing around Chairs, obviously very agitated. He was constantly running his hands through his sandy blonde hair and he kept tutting and sighing. Abby decided to see what this guy was about. She approached him slowly and cautiously. "Uh.Sir"? she asked timidly. "Can I help you"?

"Yeah, I want to know how my girlfriend is and what the hell they're doing to her"! The young man replied angrily. He'd stopped pacing but was now stood a little too close to Abby for comfort. "The doctors will be doing the best they can, why don't you sit down and I'll have someone bring you a nice hot drink"? Abby suggested gently. She was used to relatives and friends of patients acting this way, she'd dealt with it a million times before. "I don't *want* a nice hot drink, I want to see my girlfriend"! The young man yelled directly in Abby's face, causing Carter to look up from the charts he was working on at the admit desk. "Sir if you would just calm down" Abby said, trying to remain calm.

"No I won't calm down! Let me see my girlfriend dammit"! The young man shouted, pushing past Abby and heading in the direction of the trauma room.

"Sir..sir..that's not a good idea right now" Abby replied, placing her hand on the young man's arm in an effort to restrain him.

"I didn't ask you bitch"! He yelled and slapped Abby hard across the face. Carter, who had witnessed the scene unfolding ran over to his friend.

"Malik! Get security"! Carter ordered as he approached Abby. "Are you ok"? He asked, a concerned look distorting his features. "I'm fine." Abby said quietly. She watched as two security guards grabbed the man by his shoulders and began to 'escort' him out of the ER.

~*~

"How long have you been doing compressions for Dr Malucci"? Kerry asked.

"11 minutes" Luka replied on Dave's behalf.

"Check her rhythm" Kerry ordered.

"Still no pulse" Luka answered sadly. "Asystole" "Continue Dr Malucci" Kerry asked Dave, who was beginning to slow down. "10 of appy on board, apply another, 7 milligrams"

"Ok" Luka replied.

~*~

"Thank you" Abby said gratefully as Carter handed her the steaming hot cup of coffee. The pair had retired to the lounge so that Abby could relax a while after the assault. "Are you going to charge him with anything? He basically assaulted you" Carter asked, taking a seat next to the nurse.

"No, it's all over now, besides that sort of thing comes with the territory" Abby replied, taking a sip of her drink.

"Let me check that out" Carter ordered, indicating the vicious looking red mark on Abby's cheek.

"It's ok Carter, it just stings a little" Abby said adamantly.

"C'mon, I just want to make sure" Carter urged. Abby sighed and rolled her eyes a little, exasperated.

"Ok, if it'll make you happy" She said with a small smile. Carter nodded and leaned over the table, gently touching the red mark. Although there was no obvious damage except for bruising, Carter still enjoyed the feel of Abby's skin. It was smooth and soft...what was that old cliché? Carter thought as he gently caressed her cheek.like silk. He looked into Abby's eye, sparkling orbs of melted chocolate, he leaned in..this was going to be so good.. "Carter"? Abby asked. Carter blinked, coming back into reality.

"Sorry, everything seems to be fine" Carter replied hastily, trying hard not to blush. He couldn't believe how close he'd just been to kissing his friend. It was something he'd always wanted to do, but did she want the same? Carter realised that was something he'd have to wait for to find out.

~*~

"Hold the compressions Dr Malucci, do we have any sign of rhythm Dr Kovac"? Kerry asked, she was beginning to give up on the patient.

"Flatline" Luka replied sadly.

"I'll call it" Kerry said. "Time of death, 11:51" Kerry limped out, pausing only to throw her gloves and gown in the bin on the way. "I hate losing patients" Dave said sadly, hoping to break the silence between the two men.

"Yes, it never gets any easier" Luka agreed. "We did all we could though"

Dave nodded and bit his lip for a second before asking. "Did you mean what you said"?

"Excuse me"? Luka gave Dave a strange look.

"Last night, in the bar, about getting to know me" Dave explained.

"Of course I did" Luka replied, smiling at his co-worker to show he meant it. Dave and Luka left the trauma room, allowing the nurses to take care of the body. "Thanks" Dave said, sounding genuinely pleased. "and I don't just mean for last night, for that time on the roof too..I really needed someone then and you were there".

"No problem Dave, I was happy to help" Luka said as he pulled off his gloves and gown. Dave nodded and shuffled with his feet a bit. He swallowed hard. Why was he so nervous? Dave usually prided himself on being the epitome of cool. "Hey..y'know if you wanted, maybe one night you could come to mine....and maybe we could have a takeaway" Dave asked.

"I'd love to" Luka answered happily.

"Dr Malucci may I remind you that you have patients to see"? Kerry interrupted in a harsh tone as she limped by.

"I'm on it Chief" Dave replied. He dug around in his pocket and pulled out a pen. He took Luka's hand and proceeded to write his address on it. "Here's my address, tomorrow night alright for you"?

"Tomorrow night it is, well, I better go and see some patients, I don't want Kerry on my back too" Luka nodded at Dave and went in the direction of the admit desk. Dave watched Luka go and allowed his famous smile to alight his lips. Dave could hardly believe his luck, he'd made a genuine friend here at County!

~*~

Abby was sorting through some charts when Dave came up to the admit desk. "Hey Dave, how are you today"? She asked kindly.

"Yeah, any good patients"? Carter added, looking up from the computer. Dave smiled. "Ah..I see Luka laid the old guilt trip on you then" He said, smirking. Abby and Carter just smiled back at Dave, both looking somewhat sheepish. "Don't worry about it, you guys weren't on my Christmas card list anyway" He joked as he grabbed his next chart and went in the direction of exam one.

~*~

Dave yawned as he sipped his cup of freshly made hot chocolate and flicked through the latest copy of Rolling Stone. He'd had to deal with another couple of traumas as well as a very difficult kid in Exam one. Dave took a minute to rub the up and coming bruise on his shin, that kid certainly had some power in those kicks. Dave let the magazine slid off his knee as he leant back on the sofa. He raised the cup to his lips and inhaled the glorious, rich aroma of the hot chocolate, a scent he had always found comforting. Dave was seconds away from dropping off to sleep when Kerry Weaver barged through the door. Dave quickly opened his eyes and stood up, ready to get back to work. He'd already been in trouble twice today and he didn't want to jeopardise his job any further by sleeping when he should be working. "Stay there Dr Malucci, I want to have a quick word with you" Kerry ordered, taking a seat at the table. Dave remained on the sofa. "I've decided that for now, it would be best for you to not handle any more abuse cases brought in to this ER"

"What"? Dave asked, disbelieving.

"From the way you react to such cases I feel that it's in the best interests of both your self, the patients and this ER if you no longer deal with them. Should a case be given to you which presents itself as an abuse case, then you will hand it over to another doctor. I will review this in one month from now but I am confidence I have made the fair and correct decision" Kerry explained.

"I understand" Dave said quietly. Normally he would've blown up at Festus but he couldn't afford to lose his job, he had Michael to think about. "I have also called Dr Legaspi" Kerry added.

"Woah Chief..now I might be the Love expert, but I'm not exactly clued up on the lesbian scene" Dave joked.

"I booked an appointment for you to see her tomorrow morning before your shift begins" Kerry replied, not even smiling slightly at Dave's joke. Instead, her expression remained as stony-faced as ever. "Why"? Dave stuttered out.

"From what I have seen from your attitude to abuse cases I believe it will do you some good" Kerry answered.

"It's none of your business"! Dave yelled, rising from the sofa.

"As you are a member of staff at this hospital Dr Malucci I must remind you that any behaviour that affects your work is my business" Dave glared at Kerry, stalked towards the door and walked out, slamming the door behind him. Kerry took off her glasses and rubbed her temples, sighing deeply.