Author's Note, 10-05-03: Sorry for the delay. I had a little case of
writer's block. Blech. I think my anxiousness to get to the intense stuff
is making it hard to concentrate on setting up the story. But no worries,
I'll get there soon enough.
---
"May we entertain you? May we see you smile? I will do some kicks./ I will do some tricks./ I'll tell you a story./ I'll dance when she's done./ By the time we're through entertaining you, you'll have a barrel of fun! You'll have a barrel of fun!" - Baby June & Louise [Gypsy]
*
Chapter 3: "The Trouble with Angels"
Once, at the age of fifteen, Susan had used a month's worth of saved up allowances to buy a dictionary of vulgar slang and phrases - her goal, to memorize them from A to Z. There was no point behind it, just a fun little exercise in linguistics that might come in handy during confrontations with snooty cheerleaders or arguments with Cookie Lewis, whom Susan was fairly certain had invented a good chunk of the terminology found in the book. But now all those homemade flashcards and vocabulary quizzes, which she had spent more time constructing and studying than she did for most 10th grade English assignments, were proving useful. As she and Abby walked away from the bathroom, leaving Chen behind, Susan was literally able to call Chen every name in the book. She wished she could give her fifteen-year-old self a pat on the back.
"Do you think the hospital carries an adhesive strong enough to seal that door shut?" Susan jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the ladies room. She hadn't actually cussed Chen out for anyone but her own seething mind to hear, but she wasn't above voicing a few digs as well. She knew Abby wouldn't care. Their main form of entertainment during long, tedious shifts was making fun of others.
Abby tilted her head thoughtfully. "Maybe. But I doubt it would hold very long."
"Why not?" Susan sounded truly disappointed, as if barricading Chen in the bathroom had been a plausible idea.
"Well, eventually she'd pick up the scent of a virile young man, and that door wouldn't stand a chance."
"Virile young man?" Susan snickered and pretended to scan the busy reception area for someone of that description. The only male in sight was Frank, the ER's scrappy old desk clerk who was making Suzy giggle by doing the worst Bullwinkle impression Susan had ever heard. It was hard to picture the retired cop as a sexy twenty-something, trim and debonair in his Chicago PD uniform. Images of him parking his squad car outside Krispy Kreme, a box of donuts in his lap and a dollop of strawberry filling on his chin, were much easier to conjure.
"Yeah, or Frank. They'd make a cute couple, I think." Abby sidled up to the burly man who had pressed a thumb to either of his temples, eight other extended, wiggling fingers substituting as antlers, and was making a strange lowing sound. "Hey Frank, would you get it on with Chen? She told us she thinks you're a major stud muffin."
Susan struggled to keep a straight face while a wide range of emotions passed over Frank's bulldog features, from surprise to disgust. He quickly lowered his hands and glared at the women like they were a pair of mischievous children he meant to scold.
"Tell her I'll slap a sexual harassment suit on her horny little ass if she gets fresh with me," he said gruffly. "Same goes for you two."
"Aww..." Susan pushed her bottom lip out in a childish pout. "You're just a tease. You know your Bullwinkle impression drives the girls wild."
"Bullwinkle??" said Frank, galled. "I was impersonating Jerry."
"There's no Jerry in the Bullwinkle cartoons." Abby had a wicked gleam in her eye as she leaned her elbows on the countertop next to Frank, blocking his left side while Susan and Suzy, who was watching intently from her seat next to a stack of charts on the desk, remained at his right.
"Jerry Markovic, Lockhart," Frank snapped. "The goon they let fill in for me on occasion. You should recognize him... or haven't you slept with him yet?"
Unfazed, Abby shook her head and absentmindedly fiddled with a rock-shaped paperweight that was positioned in front of her. She tapped it against the edge of the desk a few times like it was an egg she wanted to crack. "I'm still working on that. Gotta cover Gallant, Romano and Weaver first." Clink, clink, clink went the paperweight, ticking off each name.
Susan cleared her throat, hands propped sassily on her hips. "When's it my turn?"
Muttering to himself about young women these days and their loose morals, Frank snatched the paperweight from Abby's grasp and put it back where it belonged. "It was nice to meet you, Suzy," he said, turning soft long enough to shake the little girl's hand. He gave Bernadette an uncertain pat on the head when Suzy held her out to him. "You and your dolly keep Auntie Susan in line for me, okay?"
"Okay. Bye, Frank."
"Bye, Frank!" Susan and Abby echoed in helium-voiced unison. They made a big show of waving and blowing kisses to the irritated man until he stalked away, disappearing around the nearest corner. Susan spirits had lifted considerably, and she watched with amusement as Abby searched for a place to hide the paperweight, finally concealing it behind a scrawny potted plant that someone had brought to work in a vain attempt to perk up the atmosphere. The poor thing looked as though it hadn't been watered for months.
"Who's she?" Suzy asked, leaning over to whisper in Susan's ear as her curious gaze flickered in Abby's direction.
"This is my friend Abby. She's a nurse here in the ER and she helps me pick on Frank a lot." Susan stressed the last word and winked at the girl. "Abby, this is my niece Suzy."
"Hi." Abby smiled sweetly at Suzy and gave up arranging the shriveled brown plant, tucking her hands behind her back as if she had been caught raiding Mom's cookie jar. Suzy ducked her head bashfully and began twisting a lock of Bernadette's hair around her index finger.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Who's this?" Abby pointed at the doll that was cradled protectively in Suzy's arms.
Susan hadn't even thought to introduce Suzy's little companion, and she was about to make amends by speaking in place of her silent niece, but Abby had chosen the perfect question to get the girl talking. Suzy abandoned peering up through her blonde bangs and looked straight at Abby with eyes that sparkled. Clearly, few grown-ups had ever taken the time to notice just how special this doll was.
"She's Bernadette," Suzy said proudly. "She belongs to me. I got her as a birthday present from my mom long time ago. I take her everywhere. She used to have a diff'rent outfit than this one, but I lost it. You wanna hold her?"
"Sure." Copying Suzy, Abby handled the doll gingerly and held it in the crook of her arm like it was a real baby. Her gaze slid in Susan's direction and they traded faint smiles, but Abby was earnest as she spoke to Suzy. "She's very pretty. I like her nail polish." Bright splotches of purple and green adorned Bernadette's fingers. "It matches her clothes."
"I did that myself." Suzy was beaming.
It impressed Susan as she watched Abby interact with the girl. There was no baby talk or gushiness, none of that impatience some adults seemed unable to mask when it came to devoting their attention to a small child. Abby spoke to Suzy as if she was an equal, and Suzy responded with enthusiasm. They had never discussed motherhood, but Susan found herself wondering if Abby had ever planned on having kids. She would be a good mother.
The conversation had turned to a doll Abby had owned when she was Suzy's age, and Abby was going into detail about the complete wardrobe her mother had sewn for it.
"What was the doll's name?" Suzy wanted to know.
"Crayola."
"After the crayons??" Suzy demanded, incredulous. Susan noted with amusement that instead of 'crayons', her niece pronounced the word more like 'crowns'. She had done the exact same thing as a child and never once considered it to be incorrect until she was ten and Chloe laughed at her for saying it that way.
"I thought it sounded exotic." Abby grinned sheepishly.
"I think it sounds weird."
When she and Abby had finished laughing at Suzy's bluntness, Susan asked, "So where'd you think up a name like Bernadette?"
"Bernadette Peters," Suzy answered, almost exasperated. Like her aunt should already have figured out something that simple. "Don't you remember? We used to watch the Annie movie together all the time. Bernadette is Lily St. Regis, the one who kicks Pepper. And she's Annie-get-your-gun too, and you played that music for me all the time."
"And she's the witch in Into the Woods," Susan continued happily. She was delighted to know her niece could still recall such things; it had been quite a while since they last watched a musical together. Suzy was the only other person Susan knew who liked them, and they had spent many an evening curled up together on the couch watching the classics -- Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St. Louis and so on. They had even banned Chloe from entering the room during those times because they didn't want to see her rolling her eyes while they belted out songs with Judy Garland or did the Hand Jive through an entire five minute scene of Grease.
"'The giant is a woman!'" Suzy quoted, throwing her hands into the air so melodramatically that a few curious patients in Chairs glanced up from the papers they were filling out. Abby was watching with the same perplexity.
"It's really funny, if you've seen the video," Susan explained.
"I gathered."
Suzy clapped her hands together and wiggled her body like an excited puppy that anticipated a treat. "I got a idea! Abby can come over later and watch it with us. You will, won't you? Please, please?"
"Well..." Abby glanced at Susan. "I'm free tonight, but it's really up to your aunt."
If Susan knew Abby well enough, she was pretty certain the nurse had absolutely no interest whatsoever in a musical, especially one based on characters from fairy tales. But Suzy looked so hopeful and Abby didn't seem reluctant, so Susan didn't see any harm in having her friend over for a movie night. They could go a step further and make it a slumber party, maybe goof off just enough to forget about certain troubles that loomed overhead.
"Sounds good to me."
Before any specific arrangements could be made, a familiar figure beelined past the front desk in a blur of white lab coat and fiery red hair. "Save the girl talk for Star Jones, ladies. Lewis, Trauma 1. Now," Kerry Weaver barked, her presence disappearing long before the order did, giving the eerie impression that her voice was detached from her body and might be hanging around to yell again. She would have made one hell of a ventriloquist, Susan thought.
"Go. Suzy can keep me company," Abby said.
"Thanks." A grateful nod and one hasty kiss at the air in her niece's general direction, and Susan was gone.
"Geez, people come and go so quick here," Suzy commented as Abby helped her down from the desk and handed over Bernadette.
---
"May we entertain you? May we see you smile? I will do some kicks./ I will do some tricks./ I'll tell you a story./ I'll dance when she's done./ By the time we're through entertaining you, you'll have a barrel of fun! You'll have a barrel of fun!" - Baby June & Louise [Gypsy]
*
Chapter 3: "The Trouble with Angels"
Once, at the age of fifteen, Susan had used a month's worth of saved up allowances to buy a dictionary of vulgar slang and phrases - her goal, to memorize them from A to Z. There was no point behind it, just a fun little exercise in linguistics that might come in handy during confrontations with snooty cheerleaders or arguments with Cookie Lewis, whom Susan was fairly certain had invented a good chunk of the terminology found in the book. But now all those homemade flashcards and vocabulary quizzes, which she had spent more time constructing and studying than she did for most 10th grade English assignments, were proving useful. As she and Abby walked away from the bathroom, leaving Chen behind, Susan was literally able to call Chen every name in the book. She wished she could give her fifteen-year-old self a pat on the back.
"Do you think the hospital carries an adhesive strong enough to seal that door shut?" Susan jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the ladies room. She hadn't actually cussed Chen out for anyone but her own seething mind to hear, but she wasn't above voicing a few digs as well. She knew Abby wouldn't care. Their main form of entertainment during long, tedious shifts was making fun of others.
Abby tilted her head thoughtfully. "Maybe. But I doubt it would hold very long."
"Why not?" Susan sounded truly disappointed, as if barricading Chen in the bathroom had been a plausible idea.
"Well, eventually she'd pick up the scent of a virile young man, and that door wouldn't stand a chance."
"Virile young man?" Susan snickered and pretended to scan the busy reception area for someone of that description. The only male in sight was Frank, the ER's scrappy old desk clerk who was making Suzy giggle by doing the worst Bullwinkle impression Susan had ever heard. It was hard to picture the retired cop as a sexy twenty-something, trim and debonair in his Chicago PD uniform. Images of him parking his squad car outside Krispy Kreme, a box of donuts in his lap and a dollop of strawberry filling on his chin, were much easier to conjure.
"Yeah, or Frank. They'd make a cute couple, I think." Abby sidled up to the burly man who had pressed a thumb to either of his temples, eight other extended, wiggling fingers substituting as antlers, and was making a strange lowing sound. "Hey Frank, would you get it on with Chen? She told us she thinks you're a major stud muffin."
Susan struggled to keep a straight face while a wide range of emotions passed over Frank's bulldog features, from surprise to disgust. He quickly lowered his hands and glared at the women like they were a pair of mischievous children he meant to scold.
"Tell her I'll slap a sexual harassment suit on her horny little ass if she gets fresh with me," he said gruffly. "Same goes for you two."
"Aww..." Susan pushed her bottom lip out in a childish pout. "You're just a tease. You know your Bullwinkle impression drives the girls wild."
"Bullwinkle??" said Frank, galled. "I was impersonating Jerry."
"There's no Jerry in the Bullwinkle cartoons." Abby had a wicked gleam in her eye as she leaned her elbows on the countertop next to Frank, blocking his left side while Susan and Suzy, who was watching intently from her seat next to a stack of charts on the desk, remained at his right.
"Jerry Markovic, Lockhart," Frank snapped. "The goon they let fill in for me on occasion. You should recognize him... or haven't you slept with him yet?"
Unfazed, Abby shook her head and absentmindedly fiddled with a rock-shaped paperweight that was positioned in front of her. She tapped it against the edge of the desk a few times like it was an egg she wanted to crack. "I'm still working on that. Gotta cover Gallant, Romano and Weaver first." Clink, clink, clink went the paperweight, ticking off each name.
Susan cleared her throat, hands propped sassily on her hips. "When's it my turn?"
Muttering to himself about young women these days and their loose morals, Frank snatched the paperweight from Abby's grasp and put it back where it belonged. "It was nice to meet you, Suzy," he said, turning soft long enough to shake the little girl's hand. He gave Bernadette an uncertain pat on the head when Suzy held her out to him. "You and your dolly keep Auntie Susan in line for me, okay?"
"Okay. Bye, Frank."
"Bye, Frank!" Susan and Abby echoed in helium-voiced unison. They made a big show of waving and blowing kisses to the irritated man until he stalked away, disappearing around the nearest corner. Susan spirits had lifted considerably, and she watched with amusement as Abby searched for a place to hide the paperweight, finally concealing it behind a scrawny potted plant that someone had brought to work in a vain attempt to perk up the atmosphere. The poor thing looked as though it hadn't been watered for months.
"Who's she?" Suzy asked, leaning over to whisper in Susan's ear as her curious gaze flickered in Abby's direction.
"This is my friend Abby. She's a nurse here in the ER and she helps me pick on Frank a lot." Susan stressed the last word and winked at the girl. "Abby, this is my niece Suzy."
"Hi." Abby smiled sweetly at Suzy and gave up arranging the shriveled brown plant, tucking her hands behind her back as if she had been caught raiding Mom's cookie jar. Suzy ducked her head bashfully and began twisting a lock of Bernadette's hair around her index finger.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Who's this?" Abby pointed at the doll that was cradled protectively in Suzy's arms.
Susan hadn't even thought to introduce Suzy's little companion, and she was about to make amends by speaking in place of her silent niece, but Abby had chosen the perfect question to get the girl talking. Suzy abandoned peering up through her blonde bangs and looked straight at Abby with eyes that sparkled. Clearly, few grown-ups had ever taken the time to notice just how special this doll was.
"She's Bernadette," Suzy said proudly. "She belongs to me. I got her as a birthday present from my mom long time ago. I take her everywhere. She used to have a diff'rent outfit than this one, but I lost it. You wanna hold her?"
"Sure." Copying Suzy, Abby handled the doll gingerly and held it in the crook of her arm like it was a real baby. Her gaze slid in Susan's direction and they traded faint smiles, but Abby was earnest as she spoke to Suzy. "She's very pretty. I like her nail polish." Bright splotches of purple and green adorned Bernadette's fingers. "It matches her clothes."
"I did that myself." Suzy was beaming.
It impressed Susan as she watched Abby interact with the girl. There was no baby talk or gushiness, none of that impatience some adults seemed unable to mask when it came to devoting their attention to a small child. Abby spoke to Suzy as if she was an equal, and Suzy responded with enthusiasm. They had never discussed motherhood, but Susan found herself wondering if Abby had ever planned on having kids. She would be a good mother.
The conversation had turned to a doll Abby had owned when she was Suzy's age, and Abby was going into detail about the complete wardrobe her mother had sewn for it.
"What was the doll's name?" Suzy wanted to know.
"Crayola."
"After the crayons??" Suzy demanded, incredulous. Susan noted with amusement that instead of 'crayons', her niece pronounced the word more like 'crowns'. She had done the exact same thing as a child and never once considered it to be incorrect until she was ten and Chloe laughed at her for saying it that way.
"I thought it sounded exotic." Abby grinned sheepishly.
"I think it sounds weird."
When she and Abby had finished laughing at Suzy's bluntness, Susan asked, "So where'd you think up a name like Bernadette?"
"Bernadette Peters," Suzy answered, almost exasperated. Like her aunt should already have figured out something that simple. "Don't you remember? We used to watch the Annie movie together all the time. Bernadette is Lily St. Regis, the one who kicks Pepper. And she's Annie-get-your-gun too, and you played that music for me all the time."
"And she's the witch in Into the Woods," Susan continued happily. She was delighted to know her niece could still recall such things; it had been quite a while since they last watched a musical together. Suzy was the only other person Susan knew who liked them, and they had spent many an evening curled up together on the couch watching the classics -- Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St. Louis and so on. They had even banned Chloe from entering the room during those times because they didn't want to see her rolling her eyes while they belted out songs with Judy Garland or did the Hand Jive through an entire five minute scene of Grease.
"'The giant is a woman!'" Suzy quoted, throwing her hands into the air so melodramatically that a few curious patients in Chairs glanced up from the papers they were filling out. Abby was watching with the same perplexity.
"It's really funny, if you've seen the video," Susan explained.
"I gathered."
Suzy clapped her hands together and wiggled her body like an excited puppy that anticipated a treat. "I got a idea! Abby can come over later and watch it with us. You will, won't you? Please, please?"
"Well..." Abby glanced at Susan. "I'm free tonight, but it's really up to your aunt."
If Susan knew Abby well enough, she was pretty certain the nurse had absolutely no interest whatsoever in a musical, especially one based on characters from fairy tales. But Suzy looked so hopeful and Abby didn't seem reluctant, so Susan didn't see any harm in having her friend over for a movie night. They could go a step further and make it a slumber party, maybe goof off just enough to forget about certain troubles that loomed overhead.
"Sounds good to me."
Before any specific arrangements could be made, a familiar figure beelined past the front desk in a blur of white lab coat and fiery red hair. "Save the girl talk for Star Jones, ladies. Lewis, Trauma 1. Now," Kerry Weaver barked, her presence disappearing long before the order did, giving the eerie impression that her voice was detached from her body and might be hanging around to yell again. She would have made one hell of a ventriloquist, Susan thought.
"Go. Suzy can keep me company," Abby said.
"Thanks." A grateful nod and one hasty kiss at the air in her niece's general direction, and Susan was gone.
"Geez, people come and go so quick here," Suzy commented as Abby helped her down from the desk and handed over Bernadette.