Title- "A Job Well Done"

Author- Jarodsangel33, aka Charmingchick33 -Katelyn

Email- jarodsangel33@netscape.net

Category- drama

Rating- PG

Spoilers-takes place right after the episode 8x03 "Blood Sugar, Sex, Magic"

Archive- Anyone's free to read... if they want to link to this, or add it to their pages... email me first for verification and permission. ^.^

Author's Note- This is a fic... dedicated to my friends... although at times they call me crazy for my.. habits of show addiction... this is my first ER fic... and my medical terminology is low... ... ... I only know what I hear on the show.

Disclaimer- I don't own ER or any of the characters, they belong to NBC, and their writers and creators. Just using them for the story.

Summary- Kerry has second thoughts after firing Malucci, She feels bad so she gets his things that he... Left in his locker and takes them to his residence... then later has a run in with him in the hospital.

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County General- Kerry had just lost a young patient who had suffered a head trauma after a severe car accident and was on her way to tell the parents when she bumped into Carter,

"Sorry," she muttered as she tried to clear her mind, "Nazi dike:" Dave's words kept repeating over and over in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about the confrontation, then Mark's answer, "You can't fire everyone you don't get along with, heck if u could none of us would be here," The words stung a place deep inside Kerry, not that anyone knew it... to them she was just the sad cold hearted Chief of Emergency medicine at county.

"Hey Kerry, do u want me to talk to those parents for you?" Mark said as he came up behind her.

"No, I think I got it..." She muttered as she was pulled back into her thoughts.

"Kerry, you look like hell, go home, take a shower, and the night off." Mark said.

"I can't... I have a double shift coming up and we're short without Malucci." She said.

"We'll manage ourselves just fine... go." he said reassuringly.

"Well alright, if you are sure," she said as she went towards the lounge. She opened her locker and grabbed her coat. She looked over at Dave's locker, 'that's right, he never took his stuff...' she remembered. She got one of the extra storage boxes and the combination to Malucci's locker. She slowly opened it up and gasped. On the front of his locker was a red ribbon, and a picture of a young woman, on the picture were the words "In Loving Memory ~Catherine Malucci~ Around the photo were a bunch of pictures of a boy and girl. The boy was quite handsome, and the girl had the faint resemblance of that Catherine woman. She laughed at the realization that the pictures were of Dave and Catherine as children... On the other part of the locker were more pictures of a little girl. She had pretty blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. She looked to be about four or five... 'Malucci's daughter...' she thought.

She gently took off all the pictures and put them in the box along with Malucci's Dr. equipment and extra scrubs. She smiled when she found the last picture of his daughter and him. He had her on his shoulders and they were both smiling.

Malucci's Route Home- Dave had just got home from the end of his medical career at County. He didn't have the heart to tell his daughter that he'd lost his job. He thought about his last words to Kerry. They were so hurtful... but true he thought to himself... he just couldn't clear his conscious. Even though he fooled around a lot, he still had the common courtesy to be nice to others... his outburst with Kerry was troubling him... that's when it hit him... he'd been so angry with Kerry that he'd forgotten to get the things out of his locker. 'How could you be so stupid,' he thought to himself. He checked the time from his car and noticed it was 4:30. He didn't have enough time to go back to get the stuff and pick up his daughter from the sitter in time so he decided he'd go back tomorrow... hopefully Kerry would have the decency to not destroy his stuff until he came back for it.

Dave's House: "Ok sweetie, what do u want for dinner?" He asked as he picked her up so she could see the cabinet with all the food in it.

"I want that!," she yelled and pointed to a box of pasta.

"Spaghetti it is then." He said and put his daughter on the island part of the kitchen.

"Cheese too!" the girl said through giggles.

"Molly, do u want meat sauce or meatballs?" he asked and began to tickle her.

"Meatballs!! Meatballs!!" she yelled between laughs..

"Meatballs it is then!!" he said in a power-hungry voice as he picked her off the kitchen island and plopped her down on the sofa for her favorite show, dragon tails... She became totally interested on the show while he began to cook and got interested in his own thoughts.



Kerry's route to Dave's- She flicked on the radio but found nothing but talk shows and some of the newer... music... if she could even call it that. She looked at her clock, it was going on 5:15, she'd probably be there at around 5:30. She hoped he wasn't eating when she showed up.

Dave's House- She pulled her car into the driveway, and got out. She grabbed the box from the trunk of her car and went up to the door. She was having second thoughts but proceeded to ring the bell. She heard running footsteps and then "daddy, daddy, a lady on a stick is at the door." Kerry felt the urge to burst out laughing at the girl's comment.

"Geeze now what does she want?" Dave grumbled as he walked to the door, still wearing his oven mits.

"What do u want?" he said coldly when he saw Kerry.

"I believe this is yours," She said and handed him the box.

"What is it?" He asked and took the box.

"It's the stuff from your locker, I got it for you, thought it'd save you a trip." She said thoughtfully.

"I was going to come back tomorrow to get it." he said and set the box down.

"Well I guess it saves u a trip then," Kerry said and turned to go.

"Do you want to come in?" Malucci offered being a gentleman and all...

"I don't want to keep you, it's been a long day." she said.

"Nah, come on inside, I just finished cooking dinner, you can stay if you'd like." he said trying to make up for his earlier behavior. "I insist," he said and nearly shoved her through the door.

"Alright, I guess,' She said once she was inside his house. She took her coat off and set it on the bench near the door. He led her into the kitchen and grabbed her an extra plate. He dished up the food and took a seat. Kerry began to make conversation.

"So this must be your daughter," She said.

"Yea, her name's Molly, I told you I had a kid... do you believe me now?" he asked.

"Yes, I guess I have to," Kerry said,

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said, I just don't know what you find so... " He paused trying to find the right words to say in front of his daughter.

"It's not entirely your fault, we can talk later," She said trying to help him change the subject.

"Why are you walking with a stick?" Molly asked curiously from her place at the table.

"Well Molly. This is my crutch, it helps me walk because I have a leg brace. When I was a little girl, I was in a terrible accident which severely damaged my leg. They put it in a brace and gave me a crutch." She explained.

"Was it a fracture?" Molly asked trying to show her medical terminology.

"No, it was broken, worse than a fracture." Kerry responded.

"I had no idea," Dave said.

After Dinner- Dave told Kerry to wait in the living room while he put his little girl in the bathtub. He came back downstairs, his shirt a bit wet from her splashing.



"She's in her room playing." He said and sighed.

"She's a great kid," Kerry said and smiled.

"Yea, she's mature for her age."

"I believe I have an apology," Kerry said.

"Yea, you and me both," He said and grinned.

"I shouldn't be able to fire you because I don't like you, it's just that you don't seem dedicated to your job. You party often, show up late, leave your shift early," Kerry continued,

"Look. I have my faults but like I said I am a good doctor,." he defended himself.

"I'm not saying that you aren't a good doctor, I'm just saying that you need to be a bit more dedicated to your job than you are." She said firmly.

"Well I may not kiss up to my boss but I do try." He said.

"Well show up bright and early tomorrow, and we'll see about a review committee hearing." Kerry said and grabbed her coat.

"Oh I set up an interview with St. Joan of Arcs' Hospital for tomorrow." he said and sighed.

"Well. If it doesn't pan out, you can always come back I guess." Kerry said as she went outside.

"Have a good night." Dave said.

"You too." She said as she got in her car and pulled out.



~*THE NEXT DAY*~

County General- Kerry came into work expecting the same as the day before, excluding the big war at the front desk between her and Dave. It was 13:30pm, and she was on her little "lunch break" at the front desk enjoying a sub.



"Somebody, I need help here," Malucci yelled as he came running into County general with a small figure in his arms.

"Get a gurney," Kerry yelled as she put down her food.

"What happened?"She asked.

"I think she fell, off the monkey bars... at her daycare, they paged me when it happened, 10 minutes ago. I rushed her here in my car." Dave said. He insisted on gowning up and going in.

"Get a head CT stat." Kerry said. "And a chest x-ray"

"Her pulse is falling, "

"At her daycare, are there any berry bushes?" Kerry asked,

"Uh, yea some red and green ones," Dave replied.

"Oh God, we need to pump her," Kerry said and got the equipment. After the contents of her stomach was emptied, it was confirmed that she had been poisoned from berries. After being given antibiotics, she'd be fine.

"Thank God," Dave said and kissed his daughter's forehead as she was being taken to exam room 4.

"Did the job work for you?" Kerry asked

"Yea, I start work next week Monday," Dave said.

"Why didn't u take her to your new Hospital?" Kerry asked,

"Because if I ever needed medical treatment, I'd trust you all at County before I'd trust anybody else. You all taught me well." he said and with that went into exam room 4 to be with his daughter.