Recovery
Part 17
A/N: Anything in bold italic is being spoken in Italian
Anything written in between ** is in Dave's dream sequence
A smile covers Jing-Mei's face.
Jing-Mei: Did you guys see that? He not only heard me but he understood. He knows about Antonio and he's happy.
Elizabeth: I'm sure he is.
Peter: We have to get going now.
Jing-Mei: Alright. Erik, you'll be going back to sleep for awhile but I'll be right here when you wake up again. I love you.
Jing-Mei kisses Erik. Elizabeth and Peter wheel him out of his room and head for the OR where the same two scrub nurses, who were in the OR the day that Erik was shot in the head, are waiting for him. They were sworn to secrecy by Dr. Romano---actually threatened by him not to say anything about Dr. Malucci. Jing-Mei watched as the surgeons wheeled him into the elevator.
Jing-Mei: Good luck, all three of you. (as the elevator doors closed)
She waited until the elevator stopped at the third floor before she pushed the button to have it come back up. Once up, she got on it and took it to the ground floor and headed to sign in at the admit desk of the ER.
Up in surgery, Erik has been prepped for surgery and now is waiting for Elizabeth and Peter to finish scrubbing. He's been anesthetized and one of his nurses is charting his vitals as the surgeons enter the OR.
Elizabeth: Mark start time of operation on Erik Evad as 12:45.
Elizabeth takes the betadine and spends it on Erik's exposed muscular chest as Peter prepares the sternal saw to cut through his breastbone and the wire mesh that is currently holding Erik's chest to together. Once through and into the chest cavity, Elizabeth takes the scalpel and makes the first incision into the heart muscle.
Meanwhile Erik drifts back into his past once again.
**Vincenzio comes home after a day in the sheet-metal business and the local bar when he approaches the dining room table. He's obviously had more than his fair share of booze in him and barely makes it into the chair that is pulled out for him.
Vincenzio: Where the fuck is my dinner, bitch!!
Rosa: Coming. We were just having a little discussion that took me out of the kitchen.
Vincenzio: When I fucking come home from work, I expect a hot meal on this goddamn table. Now, move your ass, whore!
Both Davey and Sophie sit at the dining room table, quiet and trading looks. Vincenzio notices the constant glances between his children. He slams his fist down on the table as Rosa brings in the spaghetti.
Vincenzio: Alright, what the shit are you hiding from me, now?!
Rosa: Nothing dear. It can wait until after we eat.
Vincenzio: No, no something is wrong. Those little fuckers over there don't shutup unless there's trouble and I'll bet I know who's responsible. No one eats until we get to the bottom of this!
Rosa: After dinner, we can sit down and discuss...
Vincenzio backhands his wife across the face upsetting the children and infuriating Davey.
Davey: You can't hit my mama like that ,asshole!
Vincenzio: Shut the fuck up, you little piss ant! This is all your fault! I know that! Now, for the last time, WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF TROUBLE DID YOU CAUSE NOW!!!
Rosa hands Vincenzio a note that he rips from her hand.
Davey: No, mama. Please don't.
Rosa: Sit down Davey. He's going to find out soon enough.
Davey sinks back into his chair and starts to cry. Vincenzio reads over the letter and his face turns beet red. He looks up from the letter and gives Davey a death stare. Davey shrinks deeper into his chair.
Vincenzio: Get that fucking, stupid, worthless ass out of that chair and into your room, NOW!!
Davey: But pa`pa...
Vincenzio: NOW!! OR I'LL GET YOU OUT OF IT MYSELF, FUCKER!!!
Rosa: Vincenzio, he hasn't had his supper, yet.
Vincenzio: Listen woman, do you want some more of my hand. DON'T YOU EVER TALK BACK TO ME AGAIN!! DISCIPLINING THESE MAGGOTS IS MY JOB! If you would have kept your legs closed, we wouldn't have these two disasters now.
Looking over at Davey and seeing that he still hasn't moved, Vincenzio walks over to him and grabs him by his throat and picks him up out of the chair and throws him to the floor as Vincenzio heads for the basement and Davey runs into his bedroom and prepares for his punishment.
After an hour of sitting in his room waiting for his father to come in, Davey hears Vincenzio walk towards his room. He hears his mother go into his little sister's room and shut the door. His door opens and in the doorway, stands Vincenzio holding his heated, soldering iron. He slams the door behind him. Davey hears his mother and sister start to cry through the vent in his room. Davey coughs back his own tears and lays face down on his bed, ready to take his punishment like a man.
Vincenzio: So prick, you like getting into trouble at school. Do you have fun being suspended from the first grade. You little idiot, you are 6 years old and you're a juvenile delinquent, who will never amount to anything. You are WORTHLESS. DO YOU HEAR ME--- WORTHLESS. If you are going to get into the trouble, the least you could do was help my business out on the streets. That's all the fuck you're good for his dealing my drugs.
Davey: I'm sorry, pa`pa!!
Vincenzio(mocking Davey): I'm sorry, pa`pa. That's not going to do it anymore, fucker. I thought I taught you discipline---control---power---management.
Vincenzio walks over to Davey and lifts his pajama top up. He takes the soldering iron up in one hand and holds a squirming, terrified Davey down.
Vincenzio: The rule of the street and what I intend to drill into that thick, empty head of yours is---KILL OR BE KILLED!!! IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTROL! WHO HAS IT AND WHO DOESN'T ! AND IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO IN THIS SCREWED UP WORLD IS MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT DISCIPLINE AND RESPECT THAN YOU WILL LEARN IT AND I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU WITH A WHIP, BAT OR SOLDERING IRON EVERY STEP OF THE WAY TO HELP YOU REMEMBER IT!!! TAKE THAT, PUSSY!!!
Vincenzio thrusts the soldering iron into the already seriously scarred and bare-back of Davey. Davey's blood curling screams could be held throughout the apartment but no one came to his aid. Everyone in the building, knew what was happening, but no one had the courage to interfere in fear of their own lives, so they turned a deaf ear to it.
After ten-fifteen minutes, Rosa who couldn't bare her only son's shrieks anymore came running into his room. She grabbed Vincenzio off Davey. Vincenzio backhanded Rosa again and then 2 year old Sophie came running in. Vincenzio started kicking and punching Davey, who attacked him after he once again hit his mama. Then Vincenzio noticed Sophie standing in the doorway of Davey's room, crying.
Vincenzio: You want some of this too, you little whore.
Davey: Sophie, run!
Sophie exited out of Davey's room, leaving the door opened. Vincenzio started towards his daughter when Davey jumped on his back and tried to hold him off. Barely able to stand up in his drunken state, he shook Davey off him and then reached down for him to throw him down the backstairs that led to the fire escape. Instead, he grabbed Rosa, who was still on the floor recovering from her latest blow from Vincenzio. He didn't hesitate and threw her down the stairs, breaking her neck and killing her instantly.
Davey: MAMA!! **
Elizabeth and Peter notice the increase in Erik's blood pressure and heart rate.
Peter: Damn it! He's gone into V-Fib!
Elizabeth: Charge the internal paddles! (pause) Hurry! We're losing him!
Nurse: Charged to 200.
Peter: Clear.
**Sophie came running out of her room, crying. Vincenzio stood at the top of the stairs looking down.
Vincenzio: She's dead. You fucking killed her you, little shit. You worthless little punk, you did this. You're a fucking "mommy killer" and you're going to prison and if you think I'm bad wait until you get there with hundreds of other guys who will just love a little boy like you to play with.
Davey and Sophie ran to their mother's side. She was bleeding and unconscious. Davey knew she was gone but Sophie brought her some coffee to wake her up.
Vincenzio: You're fucking wasting your time, bastards. She's dead and she's not coming back. Now all you have is me. HA, HA, HA!!! I'm going to bed. **
Elizabeth: Still in V-Fib! Charge to 350!
Nurse: Charged!
Elizabeth: Clear!
Peter: Sinus tach! Give him 10 amps of epi. Charge the paddles to 400.
**The entire night, Davey and Sophie sat by their mother's side. Davey held her hand and Sophie kept trying to give her coffee.
Davey(crying): No more coffee, Sophie. Mama can't drink it. We lost her.
Sophie(crying): Mama's sleeping. Mama's gonna want coffee when she wakes up.
Davey: Mama's up in heaven. She's watching over us and we'll see her again.
Sophie: When?
Davey: If pa`pa has his way, soon...very soon.
Davey held his crying little sister in his arms and the two terrified children grieved for their mother.**
Elizabeth: Wait, the epi worked. He's in sinus rhythm. Increase his nitro. Let's get back to work. There's a lot that needs to be patched up inside here.
An hour later and Peter and Elizabeth are putting the closing staples and wires into Erik's chest.
Elizabeth: Mark ending time on Erik Evad as 15:15 hour.
Erik is rolled into recovery. Elizabeth and Peter dress down out of their surgical scrubs and before returning to their other patients, they looked in on Erik who was just starting to come out from the anesthetic. As they checked his vitals, and wrote them in his chart they headed out of the room when they heard a mumbling. Both surgeons turned around.
Down in the ER, Jing-Mei had just hung up the phone. Kerry approached her.
Kerry: Is there a problem, Jing-Mei?
Jing-Mei: That was Mrs. Peterson. She just picked Rusty up from school and now he's in the house and he's real grouchy.
Kerry: What's the matter?
Jing-Mei: He wants to go out and play with Rascal in the back yard.
Kerry: What's wrong with that?
Jing-Mei: Nothing, except he's being punished. I grounded him after that little stunt he pulled at the birthday party the other day.
Kerry: First time you had to punish him?
Jing-Mei: Yes. I told him he was not to go out after school for one week.
Kerry: Not even to the backyard?
Jing-Mei: Right. I know it's a little harsh but I have to set the limits and rules. I told him he's not to go out at all, except to school. If I back down on this, then he'll think he can con his way out of any kind of trouble he gets himself in.
Kerry: It's in the genes. His father is the same way with me. You're right to stick by your guns, of course. That's why I'm so hard on Dave, I mean Erik. When he does wrong, I want him to know it so he won't have the incentive to do it again. I admit it, I'm a little tougher on Erik than I am on any other resident, but I really think that he has the makings of a good doctor. He just needs boundaries and know that if he crosses them then there will be consequences to face.
Jing-Mei: Believe me, Erik knows about discipline. That's why I think he would agree with me on punishing Rusty the way I did. He'd probably have done the same thing if he were...
Jing-Mei is temporarily distracted as she sees Elizabeth walk off the elevator. She and Kerry head over to her.
Jing-Mei: Dr. Corday, how is Erik?
Elizabeth: Can we talk in the lounge?
Jing-Mei: Sure, let's go. Something's wrong, I just know it.
Elizabeth and Kerry head into the lounge when Abby yells to them from behind the admit desk.
Abby: Dr. Weaver, we have a possible M.I. coming in. ETA is 5 minutes.
Kerry: Abby, there are other attendings available. I'm busy right now. Give it to Dr. Green or Dr. Kovac.
The three doctors enter the lounge. Jing-Mei tries to keep calm but seeing the look on Elizabeth's face, she can't help but get upset.
Jing-Mei: Alright Elizabeth, give it to me straight. How serious is it? Erik---he's not dead, is he?
Elizabeth: No, he isn't. Erik is stable and he's in recovery but there is something you should know?
Kerry: What is it?
Elizabeth: I think I need to discuss this with Jing-Mei first, Kerry.
Jing-Mei: It's okay, Elizabeth. Let her stay. Just tell me. What happened?
Elizabeth: We operated and replaced the weakened valve. There was more damage around the area then we originally expected. We were able to repair it but something happened to him.
Jing-Mei (nervous): What? What happened? You're scaring me.
Elizabeth: I'm sorry. I don't mean to do that. Erik went into V-Fib on the table.
Kerry: How long was he down?
Elizabeth: About 20 minutes. We obviously got him back. How that incident is going to affect his recovery in the long run, I'm not sure.
Jing-Mei: But, he's going to survive, right.
Elizabeth: Yes, but...
Kerry: Then what's the problem?
Elizabeth: The problem is that after he was moved into recovery, when Peter and I were checking up on him---he was coming out of the anesthetic so he was still very groggy and he said something.
Jing-Mei(confused): What did he say?
Elizabeth: He was still in a kind of a twilight sleep, but he nevertheless did speak.
Both Kerry and Jing-Mei look at the British surgeon intensely, wondering what Erik could have said that got her so concerned.
Elizabeth: It was very difficult to understand him, with his speech problems, but I managed to make out a couple of words. Erik said, "Sorry Mama, damn sorry" over and over again. Do you know what he meant, Jing-Mei?
Jing-Mei: According to accounts that I got of the story from both Da..Erik and Sophie, Erik was six years old when his mother died...
Kerry: So?
Jing-Mei: She wasn't sick and it's wasn't an accident. She was murdered---by Erik's father---right in front of Erik and his 2 year old sister.
Elizabeth: My god! How?
Jing-Mei: His father broke her neck and she died instantly. Erik had gotten into some trouble that resulted in his father disciplining him. His mother got in the way, trying to protect him so he's always blamed himself for her death.
Kerry: Do you think that's what it is?
Jing-Mei: You think that Erik is feeling guilty about his mother's death after all these years, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth: I'm no shrink but that would be my best educational guess.
Jing-Mei: As soon as he's recovered from his surgery, I have to make sure he gets that psyche consult and the mental help he's desperately needed for so long. (pause) Can I see him now?
Elizabeth: Yes. He's probably back in his room by now.
Jing-Mei: Dr. Weaver, is it okay?
Kerry: I'll go with you.
The doctors exit the lounge and head for the elevator when Malik walks up to Kerry.
Malik: We have a possible M.I. in trauma three.
Kerry: Abby, told me. Get Dr. Green...
Malik: He's in with a knife wound in trauma one.
Kerry: Well then give it to Dr. Kov...
Malik: He's off. Left about ten minutes ago.
Kerry: Very well, I'll take it. You two go ahead up, I'll check on you later.
Jing-Mei and Elizabeth enter the elevator and head up to the sixth floor as Kerry enters Trauma three to care for the possible M.I. patient. She takes the chart off the door.
Kerry: Alright, let's see who do we have here?
On the gurney in front of her, lay a 6'3" tall man about 220lbs. He was conscious and thrashing around in pain and he was on a heart monitor and preparing to have an EKG done.
Kerry: Do you have a lot of tightness in your chest, uh Mr. Vincent Malta?
Unknown to anyone in the room, they were working on Vincenzio Malucci.
To be continued. Please read and review.