Recovery
Part 26
A/N: Anything in bold italic is being spoken in Italian
The next morning, Jing-Mei came to the hospital to pick Rusty up and take him home. She stopped by the ER to see Kerry about arranging her schedule. She stopped by the front desk.
Jing-Mei: Randi, where's Dr. Weaver?
Randi, who kept chatting on the phone, completely ignored the doctor. Jing-Mei was getting extremely frustrated. She kept looking at her watch and since she was getting no response out of Randi, she walked into the lounge. There she found Kerry speaking with Luka and Carter.
Jing-Mei: Pardon me.
The three doctors got up and walked over to her. Once close enough, they started to stare at her face, trying not to be so obvious and failing miserably.
Carter: I thought you were on later tonight, Deb?
Jing-Mei, realizing that they were looking at her injured face, she put her hand up and tried to hide it.
Jing-Mei: I have to pick Rusty up. He's being discharged today.
Carter: He's been here for awhile. How come he's just now being discharged?
Jing-Mei: It's only been four days. I know that's long for a tonsillectomy but he developed a small infection and fever and his pediatrician didn't want to expose Antonio. They wanted to monitor him on the antibiotics.
Kerry: How's he doing?
Jing-Mei: Not bad. He still isn't talking which, as you know for a Malucci, is a damn crime but with the medicine he's on should help soothe his throat so he'll be gabbing again soon. The medicine along with plenty of ice cream will help.
Unable to keep quiet any longer, Luka changes the subject.
Luka: Jing-Mei, what happened to your face?
Embarrassed, she tries to hide behind her hand and bypass Luka's question.
Carter: Are you alright, Deb?
Jing-Mei: I'm fine. Just got to start looking where I'm going. I ran into a door.
Kerry: A door? A door named Erik?
Jing-Mei's jaw dropped, wondering just how she knew that.
Kerry: Dr. Legaspi mentioned to me that Erik had another episode---a bit of a violent one as it turns out.
Carter grits his teeth and tries to remain calm but slowly letting out his bitterness.
Carter(angry): He hit you.
Jing-Mei: It was after one of his sessions. He didn't mean it.
Carter: If he's going to act like that, maybe you shouldn't be in on his sessions.
Jing-Mei: I disagree. Erik needs me there. This was a one-time occurrence. It will never happen again.
Luka: You don't know that for sure, though.
Jing-Mei: No, I don't. Look, Erik didn't know what he was doing. He's getting better and he's learning how to control his temper, you'll see. (pause) Kerry, I need to talk to you about my schedule.
Luka: Looking for more hours?
Jing-Mei: Just the opposite. I want to cut back on some hours.
Kerry: Why, Jing-Mei?
Jing-Mei: With Rusty coming home and still under the weather, the baby and Erik's psyche sessions---I just have so much on my mind right now, that I don't think I could give my patients my full attention.
Kerry: Do you want to take a leave of absence?
Jing-Mei: No, not at all. I still want to work. I need an outlet to occupy time that I'm not taking care of my boys, all three of them, it's just that I need to pay more attention to my family right now.
Kerry: I'll have to check my schedules and see if anyone will want to put in any overtime and pull doubles.
Jing-Mei: I know this is sudden and I'm sorry that I'm inconveniencing you but I'll make this up to you guys and it won't be for long. Just until Rusty goes back to school and Erik has adjusted to his therapy.
Kerry: Remember, I'm not making any promises.
Jing-Mei: I know but whatever you can do, I'll appreciate it. (pause)Well, I had better get upstairs and collect my older boy. See you later, everyone.
Jing-Mei enters Rusty's room to find him in a wheelchair and fully dressed, ready to go.
Jing-Mei: How you feeling, sweetheart?
Rusty reaches into the side pocket of the chair and pulls out his paper and pen.
Rusty: Want to go, Mama Jing.
Jing-Mei walks over, squats down to his eye level and runs her hand through his hair.
Jing-Mei: Feel cooler than the last time I felt your head. Throat still hurt?
Rusty: A little. Not as much as yesterday.
Jing-Mei: That's good. The medicine is working then. You know Rusty, you can start trying to talk now, just don't overdo it.
Rusty puts his pad and pen down and reaches for his throat. He lets at a small cough as he clears his throat and tries to speak.
Rusty(hoarsely): You have ice cream at home?
Jing-Mei: Fully stocked.
Rusty: What kind?
Jing-Mei: Chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip mint...
Rusty: And vanilla, right?
Jing-Mei: Definitely vanilla. I know that it's your favorite.
Rusty smiles as his door is opened and his nurse walks in carrying a large vanilla ice cream cone in along with a file.
Rusty(excited): For me?
Nurse: Special treat for our special patients. Here you go. Enjoy, little fellow.
Jing-Mei: What do you say, Rusty.
Rusty: Thank you, nurse.
Rusty takes his cone and starts to lick the dripping ice cream from around the cone.
Jing-Mei: That was very nice of you. You didn't have to do that.
Nurse: I wanted to. He was one of our better behaved patients. Besides, I kind of felt sorry for him after what happened to his daddy.
Jing-Mei: You knew Dave?
Nurse: Very much so.
Jing-Mei put on a jealous face, knowing Dave's reputation as a player and womanizer.
Jing-Mei: Not to be too nosy, just how well did you know my husband?
Nurse(smiling): Not in the way you think. Not that I wouldn't have minded to but I also know his playboy ways. Dr. Malucci use to come up here at least twice a week and play with the children. He'd read to them, play games, do magic, tell jokes, sang and played guitar for them and watch tv with them. The kids loved him and he enjoyed it a lot. I use to tell him he would make a good daddy someday and he said...well, never mind. It's not important what he said.
Jing-Mei: It may be. I mean, I would like to know. Please tell me.
Nurse: He said that he would never know. Having his own kids was not in his game play, but I guess you can only play doctor so many times before you actually become a daddy, as he did.
Jing-Mei: I never knew that Dave came up here and spent time with the children. He was always very good with them in the ER. You're right though, he was an excellent father for the time he was here with his sons.
Jing-Mei started to cry and the nurse comforted her.
Nurse: I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean it.
Jing-Mei: It's not you, it's just...well, I had better get him home and in bed. Thank you for everything.
Nurse: You're welcome. We are going to miss you, Rusty. Come visit us soon.
Rusty, who was just starting to crunch into his cone, smiled at the nurse and nodded his head in response. On the way out, the nurse handed Jing-Mei, Rusty's discharge papers to sign. Jing-Mei started to push Rusty's wheelchair down the hall. She still had tears in her eyes. Not because the nurse believed that Dave was dead and would never be a father to his sons, but because Dave was alive and he still may never be a father to his sons. Jing-Mei thought about taking Rusty up to visit Erik, but in Erik's present state she figured that may not be such a good idea. She decided to wait until Erik was in better spirits.
Jing-Mei and Rusty walked in the house to find Mrs. Peterson sitting on the couch, knitting and Antonio on the floor playing with his blocks. As soon as the front door opened, Rascal came running in. Rusty bent down to hug his dog. Mrs. Peterson got up to greet them.
Mrs. Peterson: Welcome home, Rusty.
Rusty(hoarsely): Hi, Grandma Peterson. Hi, Tonio and Rascal.
Antonio: Mama.
Antonio stretched out his arms and Jing-Mei picked the baby up.
Jing-Mei: Hi, sweetheart. You are getting so heavy.
Mrs. Peterson: He's got a healthy appetite.
Jing-Mei: So did his daddy.
Rusty and Rascal walk up to Jing-Mei and the little boy starts to tug on her skirt.
Rusty: Mama Jing, ice cream.
Jing-Mei: Mrs. Peterson, will you scoop some ice cream out for him? I want to spend some time with Antonio before I go back to work.
Mrs. Peterson, Rusty and Rascal head into the kitchen while Jing-Mei sits on the floor with Antonio and plays with him and his blocks. A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door.
Jing-Mei: I've got it!
Jing-Mei carries Antonio to the door and opens it to see Mr. Santini there.
Mr. Santini: Hello, I heard the big guy was home.
Jing-Mei: Please come in.
Jing-Mei and Mr. Santini walk into the kitchen and see Rusty sitting at the table eating his ice cream and Rascal at his bowl. Mr. Santini hands Rusty a present. Rusty stands up and opens it to see a new game for his X-Box video game. Rascal comes over with his face dripping all over the place. Jing-Mei looks at him.
Jing-Mei: Rascal, what in the world do you have on your face?
Mrs. Peterson: Looks like ice cream.
Rusty: Vanilla.
Jing-Mei: Rusty, I told you that ice cream is no good for Rascal.
Rusty: Sorry. You're mad at me.
Jing-Mei: No, I'm not. Just don't give him any more.
Mr. Santini takes Antonio from Jing-Mei while she cleans Rascal up. He plays with the youngest Malucci while he visits with the family. An hour or so passes and Jing-Mei realizes she has to get to work. She kisses her boys goodbye.
Jing-Mei: Rusty, sometime before tomorrow I want you to give Rascal a bath. He uh, has an appointment with the vet.
Actually, he had another play date with Henrietta, but she didn't want to explain that to him now. She and Mr. Santini left and he walked her to her car. As he turned for his own car, he noticed that she was having trouble getting hers started. She got out and looked under the hood. The battery was definitely dead.
Mr. Santini: If you'd like, I can give you a lift to work.
Jing-Mei: That's great. It'll give me a chance to talk to you.
Jing-Mei and Mr. Santini walk over to his car and get in. As he drives off, she decides it's time to find out more about Erik's past.
Jing-Mei: Mr. Santini, will you answer a question that's been on my mind lately?
Mr. Santini: If I can.
Jing-Mei: When you told me before that you use to go into Dave's apartment back in Italy when he was a baby, you never mentioned his brother. Was Nicholas there?
Mr. Santini: Yeah, he was there. But it's like I said, until his name was mentioned I forgot that Dave had a brother---not out of disrespect I forgot, but it was so long ago. Nicholas was in his own crib on the other side of the room. He wasn't nearly as bad off as his brother. He was desperately in need of a changing and a bath but for some reason he wasn't as hyper as Dave. (pause) I don't understand it. They were twins. Dave's nervousness and hyper activeness came from being born addicted to heroine and fetal alcohol baby syndrome, but I don't know why Nicholas wasn't affected as much. As a matter of fact, Nicholas seemed in much better health than Dave--he was even bigger than Dave, even though Dave was the older brother.
Jing-Mei: Really. I didn't know that. I just assumed Nicholas was older.
Mr. Santini: No, Dave was. By about five minutes, I think. That's how I know when I saw their father and mother carrying Nicholas out of the apartment the day he died that it was Nicholas and not Dave that was sick. Nicholas was the normal size and weight for a two year old but Dave looked as though he was only about ten months old. He was so small, frail and weak. Poor kid.
Jing-Mei: Excuse me, Mr. Santini, but Dave's parents told you about their babies' birth?
Mr. Santini: Of course not. We never had a friendly conversation unless they were trying to kiss up to me because they didn't have the rent. My niece was a nurse in the delivery room when the twins were born. She told me.
Jing-Mei: Isn't it possible that they could have mixed the babies up and Dave was actually the second born?
Mr. Santini: No, my niece saw the babies when they were delivered. She said the first one was unusually scrawny and unhealthy like.
Jing-Mei: Unhealthy?
Mr. Santini: He was blue. They had to help him breathe after he was born. My niece was outside the neo-natal area looking at the babies when she saw the Malucci's looking at the boys. She overheard them talking and saw when the babies' names were put on the crib and incubator. The tiny one's said, David Antonio Malucci and the bigger one's said, Nicholas Mario Malucci.
Jing-Mei: The second born, Nicholas, he was normal size and healthy.
Mr. Santini: Very. He didn't even need help breathing. He took his first breath the moment he came out. Dave, on the other hand, had to be put in an incubator and sustained on a ventilator. My niece said that the doctors didn't expect the older twin to live. He was in the hospital for about three months after he was born. His brother went home after the first week.
Mr. Santini drops Jing-Mei off at work. She enters the ER and begins to work, planning on having a talk with Dr. Legaspi at some point during her shift.
Her last patient of the day was a five year old boy who came in with his father. He had an injured arm.
Jing-Mei: Matthew, how did you hurt your arm?
Matthew remained silent until signaled from his father.
Mr. Donovan: Answer the doctor, Matty.
Matthew: I...I...fell off my bike.
Jing-Mei: Well, you must have fallen pretty hard to hurt it so bad.
Jing-Mei gives him a condescending look.
Jing-Mei: Are you sure that you hurt it on your bike?
Mr. Donovan catches what Jing-Mei is getting at and decides to inadvertently cover his tracks.
Mr. Donovan: Kid he's so clumsy. He's always falling down. I told him a thousand of times not to stand up while he pedals that bike. I guess I should be grateful he was wearing a helmet.
Jing-Mei(skeptical): Right. Matthew, I need you to stretch your arm out as far as possible and then bend it again.
Matthew did as Jing-Mei told him and yelled in pain.
Matthew: OUCH!! It's hurts, daddy.
Mr. Donovan: I know son but maybe next time you'll listen to me when I tell you to do something or not to do something...uh like standing while you pedal.
Jing-Mei: Matthew, can you wiggle your fingers for me?
Matthew does but he's unable to hide the pain.
Jing-Mei: Alright, that's enough.
Mr. Donovan: Is he alright?
Jing-Mei: I'll have to get some x-rays but I think the arm is broken.(pause) Matthew, I need you to climb into this wheelchair and I'll take you down and have some pictures of that arm taken.
Matthew: Don't want to go, daddy.
Jing-Mei: You'll be fine Matthew. This won't hurt. We just want to make you all better.
Matthew looks up at his father's strict face and jumps off the table and settles into the wheelchair. Jing-Mei helps him in the chair and as she starts to push him out the door when she notices his back. She stops in her tracks.
Jing-Mei: Uh Matthew, what happened to your back?
Mr. Donovan: What do you mean?
Jing-Mei: There's a big bruise on it.
Mr. Donovan: He fell out of a tree in the backyard. It's like I told you, he's clumsy.
Jing-Mei: Is that right, Matthew?
Matthew, scared and with tears in his eyes, nods at Jing-Mei. Jing-Mei excuses herself. She calls Malik over to take Matthew down to x-ray.
Jing-Mei: Malik, take Matthew down to x-ray but make sure his father doesn't go with him.
Malik: Sure.
Jing-Mei walks over to admit where Kerry is standing.
Jing-Mei: Kerry, I'm getting off now, so can you have someone sign my patient out when he comes up from x-ray.
Kerry: Sure. What's going on with the kid?
Jing-Mei: Possible broken arm and other injuries, courtesy of his father.
Kerry: Are you sure? Did the little boy say so?
Jing-Mei: Not in so many words but it's obvious what happened. The kid's got bruises on his back. I want to call family services.
Kerry: He's your patient and you do as you see fit but for your sake, I hope you are right.
Jing-Mei: It's a hunch I can't ignore. From the moment I saw that little red headed boy he reminded me of Erik.
Kerry: How?
Jing-Mei: I can't explain it, but from when I first suspected that child was abused, I couldn't get it out of my mind that this is probably what life was like for Erik when he was a child. According to Mr. Santini and Sophie, Erik spent the better part of his childhood in the emergency room and as a patient in the hospital.
Kerry: So it's personal.
Jing-Mei: Partly, but I won't ignore this. Erik was ignored when he was brought in to the ER in Italy and look what happened to him. The abuse continued. If just one doctor or nurse would have stood up for him and saw what was happening or even cared then Erik would have never been this messed up, mentally or even physically.
While Malik was down with Matthew in x-ray, Adele, the hospital social worker came down and spoke with Mr. Donovan. Adele walked out of the room and met up with Jing-Mei.
Jing-Mei: Well how did it go, Adele?
Adele: Actually, not bad. It's a first for me. I've never had a parent admit that he struck his son. Mr. Donovan really isn't a bad guy. He just got divorced from his wife and he's still upset with that.
Jing-Mei: It's an act.
Adele: I don't think so. I saw something that I really don't see much in abusive parents---remorse. He is genuinely sorry and concerned about his son.
Jing-Mei: Are you going to take Matthew away from him?
Adele: I'm going to speak with Matthew's mother and see if she can take him for awhile, so I can meet with Mr. Donovan and get him some counseling and the help that he needs.
Jing-Mei: And he agreed to this?
Adele: Either this or lose joint custody of Matthew.
Jing-Mei: You'll monitor this case closely. You won't let him get Matthew if he's not better, right.
Adele: I'll take good care of the case. It's my job.
Jing-Mei: Thank you. The last thing I want to see is a son taken from his father, but if the child's life is at stake then I will have the child removed from any household where's he's not safe. But on the other hand, I'm all for rehabilitation.
Jing-Mei checks her watch and heads upstairs to see Dr. Legaspi. She catches Dr. Legaspi as she's leaving her office.
Jing-Mei: Dr. Legaspi.
Dr. Legaspi: Dr. Chen, I was just on my way to my session with Erik.
Jing-Mei: I'll walk with you.
They start walking towards the elevator when Dr. Legaspi asks Jing-Mei about her silence.
Dr. Legaspi: Why so quiet today?
Jing-Mei: I don't know what you mean.
Dr. Legaspi: Sure you do. Something's wrong, maybe it's what you came to my office to talk about?
Jing-Mei: My last patient down in the ER, was a little boy abused by his father. He was so scared and I just keep thinking that that's how Erik must have looked when he was a child and brought into the hospital.
Dr. Legaspi: Oh. Scared little boy, just like he looks during our sessions.
Jing-Mei: Scared and hurting and there's nothing I can do for him.
Dr. Legaspi: It may not look like it but you are helping him. You're standing by him which is what he needs right now. A stable family to come home to. Something, I'll bet, he never had.
Jing-Mei: Me and the boys will always be there for him. That's one thing he will never have to worry about.
Dr. Legaspi: That's good. But there's something else wrong.
Jing-Mei: It's something that Mr. Santini said to me earlier.
Dr. Legaspi: That's Erik's friend from Italy.
Jing-Mei: Yeah, he drove me to work today and we talked about Erik and Nicholas. There's just something weird going on.
Dr. Legaspi: Like what?
Jing-Mei: Mr. Santini said that Erik was the older brother by five minutes, yet he was also the smaller, sicker and weaker of the two.
Dr. Legaspi: That is odd but not impossible. It happens.
Jing-Mei: I know but he was telling me that Erik was always the sicker of the boys. Nicholas was healthy and growing at a normal rate, Erik wasn't.
Dr. Legaspi: And your point is?
Jing-Mei: It was Nicholas that died, not Erik. Why?
Dr. Legaspi: Strange, you're right. But as I said before, we won't have any of those answers until we get them from the only person who knows for sure--Erik.
Jing-Mei: Are you going to take Erik back further, today?
Dr. Legaspi: If he'll let us.
Jing-Mei: Could you please try to get him to talk about his father. That's where all his problems lie.
Dr. Legaspi: I'll see what I can do. No promises, but there is something I can use to help the situation along.
To be continued. Please read and review.