My name is Elizabeth Carter, but my friends call me Lizzy. I live in
Chicago, Illinois. I am a tenth grader at the John A Welsh School, a
small private school in the city of Chicago. At the end of the summer
my brother, John was going to give me a surprise and I had no clue to
what it was. What made it even better was that summer was just around
the corner. With all the excitement, I had a hard time staying focused
in class and staying still waiting for school to end and waiting to
find out what the surprise was. With spring drawing to a close, the end
of school was near and the big surprise was almost revealed.
My brother, John Carter, is a doctor at County General Hospital here in
Chicago. Because he is my only sibling, we have a great relationship. He
taught me how to walk and to ride my bike. He was also the subject of my
first word, doctor. I even said it in the perfect place with all the family
around. It was my usual day at the hospital day care. When I said it the
"sitter" paged my brother and told him to come up immediately. Thinking
that it was something urgent like I had fallen or something he dropped
everything and ran up to see me. The sitter tried to get me to say it again
and I did. Then Carter ran downstairs back to work and told what had
happened. It was actually very cute from what I have heard.
We did have another sibling but he died before I was born. My brother does not talk about it much because it brings back such bad memories. It was actually my brother's death that made John want to become a doctor. Bobby, my brother, had leukemia and was about 13 when he died. It was a really hard time for my whole family. My parents had such a hard time and ever since then they have hardly been home. Because they are not home that much, my brother has taken the responsibilities of a father.
Actually our family has gone through a lot. Bobby's death was what started it all. My brother got stabbed and in the same stabbing his medical student died. After that my brother fought a drug addiction but got over it sort of quickly. I don't remember any of that though because I was too young. And just a couple months ago my grandfather died and it hit the family really hard. We have defiantly been through a lot, but our relationship has gotten us through it. All of this bad stuff that has happened has made John and me even closer than we are and because we are so close, he tells me everything. When he comes home, I like to hear about the people he has taken care of. I love hearing about his patients and about the people he has helped that day. It makes me feel proud for what he has done. When he has late shifts I try to stay up and wait for him but sometimes he just gets home too late. I don't have to worry about getting taken care of though when he does have a late shift because there are a lot of people around the house who make dinner and help me get ready for bed. Oh yeah there is also Gamma, as we call her. I love her and she also helps out when my brother is not home so I don't worry when he is not around. I've actually been to work with him a few times while on vacation and it sort of made me want to become a doctor myself. He has always been my role model. While we are at the hospital he tries to teach me about things like how to read and understand the different monitors. Although I help him sometimes, sometimes I get in the way. Although I don't do the big procedures I do help my brother get the things that he needs. By now I practically know where everything is even if I don't know what it does. I actually like being at the hospital and like it so much that I became a candy striper. It is so cool to work with my brother and other doctors. Sometimes though he gets a little on my nerves, but the two of us always laugh. People usually use me to help with the kids. They think that I can keep them busy and they are right. Sometimes I find it hard to start the conversation, but it finally gets rolling. I have made many friends at the hospital that way. Many people feel scared in hospitals, but since I practically grew up in them it is no sweat off my nose. I remember one kid who was really scared when she saw my brother getting ready to take some blood. I knew how she felt too. Just because I feel comfortable in the hospital does not mean that I like needles. That's where I came in. I told her that there was nothing to worry about and that my brother was a great doctor. As my brother got ready, the girl and I tried to think of ways to help her get through the pain.
"Try looking at my brother's ID card and his silly picture," I whispered. The two of us giggled as Carter rolled his eyes at me. I also told her that she could hold on to my hand if she thought that it would help and as soon as she grabbed my hand I knew that she was ready and gave the signal to my brother. I could see her eyes focusing on his hospital ID and silly picture. Before we knew it my brother told us that he was done. When the girl let go of my hand I thought that it was broken because she had squeezed it so hard. I said that I thought I needed an x-ray but I was only joking and we all giggled. Sometimes being a part of the Carter family is really annoying. Since my brother is a doctor there is no place that we can't go and we don't get Dr. Cartered. Everywhere we go there is someone who recognizes my brother because he has taken care of them at the hospital. It is really embarrassing and I hate it, but I am glad to see that my brother has helped a lot of people and changed their lives forever. Sometimes having a brother that is a doctor is good and sometimes it is bad. Having a doctor around the house means being able to bring all my medical problems to him. Although when I don't want to go to school this could be a bad thing. Being a doctor my brother knows when I am faking it and when I am actually sick. It kind of stinks. Another down side to my brother's job is that he works really weird hours and there is no pattern. One day I could come home from school and he is waiting for me and then the next day he might not be home until 6:00 in the morning. The times that we can see each other we take every chance we get to play jokes on each other. Sometimes we play the same jokes so often they get kind of old, but we still make them. Sometimes we even get some of the people at the hospital in on our little jokes. Last year was one of the best jokes that either of us has played on each other. Last year, I some how managed to plan a surprise party for my brother's thirtieth birthday. When the ER was at one of its quite moments a bunch of us gathered in the lounge and got ready. It was hard keeping my brother busy while we got into action, but we did it. Abby tried everything to keep him out of that lounge. She asked him about patients even if she did not need to. When the door opened, we all shouted surprise and, oh boy, you should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. We got him so good. He told me that he would get me back but I am still waiting. Sometimes after school, when my brother does not have a late shift, I walk over to the hospital to meet Carter, a name that all of his friends call him. When he has a late shift my driver picks me up, because we don't know when my brother is coming home and I need to go home, do homework, and go to sleep so that I can go to school the next morning. Sometimes though Carter picks me up from school, and we go home together. But when I do go met him at work, I walk in the door everyone is so nice. When I see them in the hallway they say "Hi" since they have known me my whole life. Because I am like family and not a patient, I make my way over to the doctors' lounge, where I put my backpack and start my homework. It is so hard to concentrate there with all the noises. What is weird is that one minute it can be quiet and the next could be really noisy. It totally throws off my concentration. It does not help that much either, when my brother comes behind me and puts his hands over my eyes, but it does make me laugh. That joke is so old that it is almost not even funny now. When I have trouble with my subjects I search for someone who can help me. By now I know who can help me with each subject. Like Chuny, the nurse helps me with my Spanish homework, my brother helps me with science, Abby helps with math, Susan helps with English and Mark is great with history. I love being around so many different people whose job is to help their patients although helping with homework is not in their job description. Fridays are special days. When I get to the hospital I put my stuff away in my brother's locker (since I have learned the combination), and because I have all weekend to do homework I procrastinate and don't start it yet. When I go to the front desk Frank tells me where the suspect is hiding and I get ready to cause trouble. I know my way around with my eyes closed by now so I go by myself. When I finally get to his fortress is the hard part, waiting for my brother to get done. When I see him stand up, I get ready to make like a lion and pounce on my prey. Carter always knows that I am there but he always pretends that he doesn't and acts scared anyway. Carter tells me that we are almost done and my second favorite part of the day, dinnertime is on its way. To pass the time I go shoot some hoops outside. I need to work on my shots. When Carter is done he gives me a taste of my own medicine and tries to scare me while I am playing basketball. When the ball drops from my hand, he takes advantage of it and steals the ball. When the both of us are tired out of our minds from playing basketball, we go back inside and wait for dinnertime to arrive. On Fridays dinner is special. The whole gang usually orders something and we eat it in the lounge. Sometimes it is pizza and sometimes it is Chinese. But no matter what we have to eat we all have a fun time just eating and talking. There is always one topic that we talk about that is of no interest of me just because we talk about it all the time and the fact that I don't understand it. Sometimes I think they bring up the subject just to annoy me. But we all laugh at the end because it annoys me so much. Everything at the hospital is routine. Everything from the time you get in from the time that you leave. Part of our leaving routine is when my brother putting away his white doctor coat. While he takes care of his routine I take care of mine and make sure that I have all of my stuff. When the door to his locker opens, I get a peek. He keeps a picture of me inside his locker door, which makes me feel good. When Carter closes his locker I know that it is time to go. As we walk to the door everyone tells us goodnight and that we will see them soon. Once we are out of the door the race starts. We glance at each other and get ready. "On your marks, get set. Go," says Carter and we have a race to his usual parking spot in the hospital parking lot. No matter what he wins every race. And every time I think that he is cheating. It is unlikely to win every race that you run, but no matter what he always wins. I get so annoyed that I give him the "next time I'll get you" glare as we get into the car. When we get home we usually just go to bed from our long day at work. Carter usually stays downstairs and tells me that he'll be up in a minute to tuck me in. While I wait I prepare my plan of attack. I hear him coming up the stairs. You would think that after fifteen years of listening that I would recognize his footsteps. His footsteps hit the ground so hard that I can feel the vibrations all the way in my room. It is so hard for me to pretend that I am asleep because I am so excited about my plan to scare him. My feet twitch, I can hear myself breathe loudly, my eyes won't stay shut and I can't help but not smile. I wiggle a bit lower in my bed so that I can pull the covers over my mouth. I don't want him to realize that I am not really asleep. I wonder if I should pretend to snore but I don't know if I snore when I am asleep. I figure that I don't and don't make any noise. My eyes won't stay shut and I can hear my heart sounding like a drum. Just as the door opens, I get a really bad itch on my leg. I try so hard to not scratch it because then he will know that I am not really asleep. I almost jump and scare him but I wait until I can feel the bed dip down as he sits on it. I can feel his lips kiss me on the cheek, giving me a good night kiss and I know that it is time. POP! My head comes out like a turtle coming out of its shell. And again it does not even make a mark, but I get paid back for it in the worst way. The horrible, terrible, awful, tickle machine comes out. I don't think that there is one moment where there are no sounds of laughter. We laugh so hard that I feel like I could almost pee in my pants, although I never do. I was glad that school was almost over so that there would be a lot more laughing, fun and playing jokes. It's the laughing that tires me out and puts me to sleep.
We did have another sibling but he died before I was born. My brother does not talk about it much because it brings back such bad memories. It was actually my brother's death that made John want to become a doctor. Bobby, my brother, had leukemia and was about 13 when he died. It was a really hard time for my whole family. My parents had such a hard time and ever since then they have hardly been home. Because they are not home that much, my brother has taken the responsibilities of a father.
Actually our family has gone through a lot. Bobby's death was what started it all. My brother got stabbed and in the same stabbing his medical student died. After that my brother fought a drug addiction but got over it sort of quickly. I don't remember any of that though because I was too young. And just a couple months ago my grandfather died and it hit the family really hard. We have defiantly been through a lot, but our relationship has gotten us through it. All of this bad stuff that has happened has made John and me even closer than we are and because we are so close, he tells me everything. When he comes home, I like to hear about the people he has taken care of. I love hearing about his patients and about the people he has helped that day. It makes me feel proud for what he has done. When he has late shifts I try to stay up and wait for him but sometimes he just gets home too late. I don't have to worry about getting taken care of though when he does have a late shift because there are a lot of people around the house who make dinner and help me get ready for bed. Oh yeah there is also Gamma, as we call her. I love her and she also helps out when my brother is not home so I don't worry when he is not around. I've actually been to work with him a few times while on vacation and it sort of made me want to become a doctor myself. He has always been my role model. While we are at the hospital he tries to teach me about things like how to read and understand the different monitors. Although I help him sometimes, sometimes I get in the way. Although I don't do the big procedures I do help my brother get the things that he needs. By now I practically know where everything is even if I don't know what it does. I actually like being at the hospital and like it so much that I became a candy striper. It is so cool to work with my brother and other doctors. Sometimes though he gets a little on my nerves, but the two of us always laugh. People usually use me to help with the kids. They think that I can keep them busy and they are right. Sometimes I find it hard to start the conversation, but it finally gets rolling. I have made many friends at the hospital that way. Many people feel scared in hospitals, but since I practically grew up in them it is no sweat off my nose. I remember one kid who was really scared when she saw my brother getting ready to take some blood. I knew how she felt too. Just because I feel comfortable in the hospital does not mean that I like needles. That's where I came in. I told her that there was nothing to worry about and that my brother was a great doctor. As my brother got ready, the girl and I tried to think of ways to help her get through the pain.
"Try looking at my brother's ID card and his silly picture," I whispered. The two of us giggled as Carter rolled his eyes at me. I also told her that she could hold on to my hand if she thought that it would help and as soon as she grabbed my hand I knew that she was ready and gave the signal to my brother. I could see her eyes focusing on his hospital ID and silly picture. Before we knew it my brother told us that he was done. When the girl let go of my hand I thought that it was broken because she had squeezed it so hard. I said that I thought I needed an x-ray but I was only joking and we all giggled. Sometimes being a part of the Carter family is really annoying. Since my brother is a doctor there is no place that we can't go and we don't get Dr. Cartered. Everywhere we go there is someone who recognizes my brother because he has taken care of them at the hospital. It is really embarrassing and I hate it, but I am glad to see that my brother has helped a lot of people and changed their lives forever. Sometimes having a brother that is a doctor is good and sometimes it is bad. Having a doctor around the house means being able to bring all my medical problems to him. Although when I don't want to go to school this could be a bad thing. Being a doctor my brother knows when I am faking it and when I am actually sick. It kind of stinks. Another down side to my brother's job is that he works really weird hours and there is no pattern. One day I could come home from school and he is waiting for me and then the next day he might not be home until 6:00 in the morning. The times that we can see each other we take every chance we get to play jokes on each other. Sometimes we play the same jokes so often they get kind of old, but we still make them. Sometimes we even get some of the people at the hospital in on our little jokes. Last year was one of the best jokes that either of us has played on each other. Last year, I some how managed to plan a surprise party for my brother's thirtieth birthday. When the ER was at one of its quite moments a bunch of us gathered in the lounge and got ready. It was hard keeping my brother busy while we got into action, but we did it. Abby tried everything to keep him out of that lounge. She asked him about patients even if she did not need to. When the door opened, we all shouted surprise and, oh boy, you should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. We got him so good. He told me that he would get me back but I am still waiting. Sometimes after school, when my brother does not have a late shift, I walk over to the hospital to meet Carter, a name that all of his friends call him. When he has a late shift my driver picks me up, because we don't know when my brother is coming home and I need to go home, do homework, and go to sleep so that I can go to school the next morning. Sometimes though Carter picks me up from school, and we go home together. But when I do go met him at work, I walk in the door everyone is so nice. When I see them in the hallway they say "Hi" since they have known me my whole life. Because I am like family and not a patient, I make my way over to the doctors' lounge, where I put my backpack and start my homework. It is so hard to concentrate there with all the noises. What is weird is that one minute it can be quiet and the next could be really noisy. It totally throws off my concentration. It does not help that much either, when my brother comes behind me and puts his hands over my eyes, but it does make me laugh. That joke is so old that it is almost not even funny now. When I have trouble with my subjects I search for someone who can help me. By now I know who can help me with each subject. Like Chuny, the nurse helps me with my Spanish homework, my brother helps me with science, Abby helps with math, Susan helps with English and Mark is great with history. I love being around so many different people whose job is to help their patients although helping with homework is not in their job description. Fridays are special days. When I get to the hospital I put my stuff away in my brother's locker (since I have learned the combination), and because I have all weekend to do homework I procrastinate and don't start it yet. When I go to the front desk Frank tells me where the suspect is hiding and I get ready to cause trouble. I know my way around with my eyes closed by now so I go by myself. When I finally get to his fortress is the hard part, waiting for my brother to get done. When I see him stand up, I get ready to make like a lion and pounce on my prey. Carter always knows that I am there but he always pretends that he doesn't and acts scared anyway. Carter tells me that we are almost done and my second favorite part of the day, dinnertime is on its way. To pass the time I go shoot some hoops outside. I need to work on my shots. When Carter is done he gives me a taste of my own medicine and tries to scare me while I am playing basketball. When the ball drops from my hand, he takes advantage of it and steals the ball. When the both of us are tired out of our minds from playing basketball, we go back inside and wait for dinnertime to arrive. On Fridays dinner is special. The whole gang usually orders something and we eat it in the lounge. Sometimes it is pizza and sometimes it is Chinese. But no matter what we have to eat we all have a fun time just eating and talking. There is always one topic that we talk about that is of no interest of me just because we talk about it all the time and the fact that I don't understand it. Sometimes I think they bring up the subject just to annoy me. But we all laugh at the end because it annoys me so much. Everything at the hospital is routine. Everything from the time you get in from the time that you leave. Part of our leaving routine is when my brother putting away his white doctor coat. While he takes care of his routine I take care of mine and make sure that I have all of my stuff. When the door to his locker opens, I get a peek. He keeps a picture of me inside his locker door, which makes me feel good. When Carter closes his locker I know that it is time to go. As we walk to the door everyone tells us goodnight and that we will see them soon. Once we are out of the door the race starts. We glance at each other and get ready. "On your marks, get set. Go," says Carter and we have a race to his usual parking spot in the hospital parking lot. No matter what he wins every race. And every time I think that he is cheating. It is unlikely to win every race that you run, but no matter what he always wins. I get so annoyed that I give him the "next time I'll get you" glare as we get into the car. When we get home we usually just go to bed from our long day at work. Carter usually stays downstairs and tells me that he'll be up in a minute to tuck me in. While I wait I prepare my plan of attack. I hear him coming up the stairs. You would think that after fifteen years of listening that I would recognize his footsteps. His footsteps hit the ground so hard that I can feel the vibrations all the way in my room. It is so hard for me to pretend that I am asleep because I am so excited about my plan to scare him. My feet twitch, I can hear myself breathe loudly, my eyes won't stay shut and I can't help but not smile. I wiggle a bit lower in my bed so that I can pull the covers over my mouth. I don't want him to realize that I am not really asleep. I wonder if I should pretend to snore but I don't know if I snore when I am asleep. I figure that I don't and don't make any noise. My eyes won't stay shut and I can hear my heart sounding like a drum. Just as the door opens, I get a really bad itch on my leg. I try so hard to not scratch it because then he will know that I am not really asleep. I almost jump and scare him but I wait until I can feel the bed dip down as he sits on it. I can feel his lips kiss me on the cheek, giving me a good night kiss and I know that it is time. POP! My head comes out like a turtle coming out of its shell. And again it does not even make a mark, but I get paid back for it in the worst way. The horrible, terrible, awful, tickle machine comes out. I don't think that there is one moment where there are no sounds of laughter. We laugh so hard that I feel like I could almost pee in my pants, although I never do. I was glad that school was almost over so that there would be a lot more laughing, fun and playing jokes. It's the laughing that tires me out and puts me to sleep.