Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews, especially to those who have been keeping up with the story. Don't own anything but this story.
Episode 6: Sins of the Fathers
"Gerald, you don't have to be so nervous. You can't even tie your tie properly." She chuckled as Gerald struggled to tie his tie.
"I know Pheebs, but I want to make a good impression. The last time we had dinner at your parents' place your father didn't seem to like me that much." He continued struggling with his tie.
"Oh, let me do that." Phoebe reached over and tied his tie. She smiled at him.
"Now, don't worry about impressing my parents. Just be yourself. My mother already likes you, and maybe this time my father will be more open now that your hair is shorter and your clothes are nicer." He chuckled and kissed her.
"Do we really have to go? I mean maybe we should just hit the sack early; it has been a hectic day." She smiled.
"Yes."
"You know, Sid, I really can't thank you enough for this."
"It's not a problem, Arnold, and besides, we've been friends for a long time. It's the least I could do.
"So there really are some good lawyers?" They laughed. They sat quietly on a bench outside the courtroom. Arnold was wearing a black suit and tie. Sid no longer wore a backwards baseball cap and was dressed in similar fashion.
"You remember what we went over? Be respectful, answer the questions directly, and above all, do not lose your temper."
"Yeah, I remember." Sid sighed.
"You know, Arnold, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but in the majority of theses cases, the woman always wins regardless of the circumstance. It's the courts' sick little way of repairing the gender gap." He gave Sid a small smile.
"We'll see pretty soon."
"Thank goodness we finally have coffee." Helga poured herself a hot cup and sat next to Phoebe on the couch.
"Yeah, too bad Arnold isn't here to enjoy it."
"He has his custody case today, doesn't he?" They sipped their coffee quietly.
"Yeah, he won't be in today at all."
"I hope everything turns out ok."
"Yeah, I can't imagine how hard it would be for him if he didn't get to see Sean as often." Phoebe finished her coffee and stood up.
"Well, I'm going to make my rounds."
"Have fun. Oh, aren't you and Gerald having dinner at your parents' tonight?" Phoebe chuckled.
"Yeah, wish me luck." They laughed and Phoebe left the lounge. Helga continued drinking her coffee.
"Dr. Pataki?" Debbie stuck her head into the lounge. Helga looked up.
"We've got an incoming GSW."
"All right, I'm on it." She walked quickly out of the lounge. The EMT's wheeled in a burly, middle aged man with a noticeable bald spot.
"What happened?"
"Gun-shot wound to the chest; this guy gets shot in his beeper store like some mob-style hit. Crazy." Helga looked down at the patient and froze.
"Hey, Doc. Doc, are you all right?" The EMT asked as they moved quickly. Helga shook herself.
"Yeah, yeah I'm all right. Ok, let's move."
"All right, Mr. Richards, I'll let you begin." Walter Richards was a senior partner at her law firm. He was well reputed for having won several large medical mal-practice cases. In short, he wasn't exactly a favorite amongst the medical community.
"Just like rubbing salt in the wounds." Arnold said to himself when he saw Richards pacing around. Lila had probably asked him specifically to represent her, knowing full well what Arnold thought of him. She looked especially beautiful today, wearing a black suit and a somewhat revealing skirt. She was in full lawyer mode.
"Now, Mrs. Greene..." She cut him off.
"Miss Sawyer." He smiled.
"I'm sorry. Miss Sawyer, you and Dr. Greene had been married for nine years, is that correct?"
"Yes, it is."
"And you raised your son for?"
"Six of the nine years."
"And would you say that you had a good relationship with your son?"
"Yes. I was the one who would wake him up in the morning; I picked him up from school and helped him with his homework. I did everything a mother should do." Arnold rolled his eyes and forced himself not to chuckle.
"And why should you have custody over your son rather than your husband?"
"Well, it's important for children to have their mothers. I mean, more and more women are choosing to be single parents while at the same time holding a job; it's not a new issue. Also, I think that I would be able to be there for Sean more often simply because of the nature of my job. The only times I had to work late are during major cases but other than that, I can be there for him more often than my husband who spends more time with drug addicts and drunks than he does with his son." She smirked at him from the stand.
"Miss Sawyer." The judge's voice boomed from his seat.
"Sorry, your honor." Richards smiled quietly.
"That's all for now." Lila walked confidently off the stand. The judge turned to Sid.
"Would you like to cross the witness?" Sid shook his head.
"No, your honor." Arnold looked at him in shock. Sid whispered to him. Arnold nodded reluctantly.
"I call, Dr. Greene to the stand."
"Just relax, Gerald. I'm telling you everything will be fine." They stood outside Phoebe's house. The door opened and an attractive red-head answered the door.
"Phoebe! Oh, it's so good to see you."
"Mother, yes, it has been a long time." The two women embraced.
"Gerald, it's good to see you too. It's been too long." She hugged him tightly.
"Please, come in." They entered the house and hung up their coats.
"Kyo! Your daughter is here, and so is Gerald." Gerald took a deep breath. An older, Japanese man walked slowly down the stairs. He smiled when he saw them.
"Phoebe!" He walked towards her with his arms wide open.
"Father, it's good to see you." They embraced lightly. He looked at Gerald and nodded his head coolly.
"Gerald." They shook hands.
"Well, how about we get started. I'm starving." They walked towards the dining room.
"He's going into shock."
"Crimeny, let's get an IV into him. 2 liters of saline. Call the blood bank; see if they have any O-negative. Let's bag him." Helga inserted the IV into the man's arm, and Debbie prepared the tube for intubation. Helga took the tube and gently eased it into the man's windpipe. While she was doing that, two women banged on the window of Trauma 1, trying to get any information on the patient.
"Get those visitors out of here, Debbie!" Debbie rushed outside and led them to the waiting room.
"Heart-rate's falling; he's losing too much blood." Sheena looked frantically at the monitor.
"Where's my O-negative?"
"They're running low."
"Ok, more saline. Give me some electrolytes as well." The monitor was beeping like crazy.
"He's going into arrest."
"Defibrillator, please." Helga rubbed the pads together.
"1, 2, 3, clear." She plunged the pads on his chest causing him to jerk and the graph to spike.
"Come on, come on." She rubbed the pads together again.
"1, 2, 3, clear." She plunged them again on his chest. The graph rose slightly.
"Crimeny! Come on!" She rubbed the pads together, one last time.
"1, 2, 3, clear!" She plunged them again, but the graph didn't rise.
"He's lost too much blood," Sheena said quietly.
"We are not giving up!" Helga started doing chest compressions.
"Dr. Pataki..." Helga didn't stop.
"Dr. Pataki." She stopped and looked at Sheena with a pained expression.
"12:30 P.M. Time of death. Dr. Helga Pataki. Hillwood Memorial." She sighed heavily and walked out the double doors. Debbie met her on the way out.
"They're asking about him." Helga threw away her gloves and her yellow gown.
"I'll tell them myself."
"Would you like to cross the witness?"
"Yes, your honor, I would." Walter Richards paced around. Arnold took a deep breath.
"Now, Dr. Greene you and your wife were married for nine years, correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"And how long have you worked at Hillwood Memorial?"
"Seven years. We lived in Connecticut while we finished school."
"Now, Dr. Greene, you are trained in emergency medicine is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"So you specialized? You spent extra years in med school to specialize."
"Yes, that's how it works." Arnold responded with a bit of frustration.
"So you are trained as a family physician as well?"
"Yes, after your internship, you are automatically trained to be a family physician."
"Would you say that the hours of a family physician are greater or less than the hours you put in as an ER doctor?"
"Well, obviously, a family doctor in private practice would not spend as many hours as an ER physician."
"And how is the pay compared to your current salary?"
"I'm not sure. I don't have any numbers with me."
"Well I'm sure you know that you could earn more money in private practice, Dr. Greene."
"It's not all about the money, Mr. Richards." Arnold responded tersely. Richards smiled.
"Tell me Dr. Greene, did you and your wife discuss the option of you going into private practice?"
"Yes, we have."
"What were your wife's main concerns about you remaining in the ER?"
"She was concerned about the hours and the pay. She thought we wouldn't be able to support ourselves comfortably. I told her that we would be fine, and we've been fine for these past years."
"Was this before or after you had your son?"
"Both. We talked about it when we first got married and after Sean turned a year old."
"So your wife was concerned about the hours?"
"Yes, she was, but the hours are not an issue. I spend quality time with my son." Richards smiled slyly.
"So, Dr. Greene would it be fair to say that you were unwilling to sacrifice your job for your family? That you put your profession ahead of your son?"
"That's not true. The hospital is already understaffed; we can't afford to lose anymore doctors."
"You could have easily chosen a path as a private physician early in your marriage."
"Hindsight is certainly twenty-twenty, isn't it?"
"You made a choice, Dr. Greene. You chose your career over your wife and son."
"That's not true." Arnold's voice rose.
"A little jumpy are we? Perhaps you can't handle the truth, Dr. Greene."
"I have been a good father to Sean. I woke him up, made him breakfast, helped him with his homework, and tucked him in at night while his mother was doing God knows what." The judge banged his gavel.
"Gentlemen, I've heard quite enough. Please, return to your places." Richards grinned at Lila and walked towards his seat. Arnold sighed and sat next to Sid.
"Based on the arguments I have heard, I will come to a decision in an hour. Court is in recess until further notice."
"That was a lovely dinner, mother." The four of them sat back at the table.
"Yes, Mrs. Heyerdahl, it was delicious."
"Well, I'm glad someone appreciates my cooking." She shot a playful glance at her husband.
"I thought you already knew." They laughed. Mrs. Heyerdahl stood up.
"Who wants to help with the dishes?" Gerald rose to his feet.
"I'll help. It's the least I can do after a meal like that."
"I'll help as well, mother." Phoebe stood up but stopped when her father raised his hand.
"Phoebe, can we talk? In private?" She gave him a surprised look but nodded her head. They walked out of the dining room.
"I think you know what I'm about to ask." He gave her a stern look.
"You do this every time, father, of course I know, and you should know that my answer is the same." He sighed.
"It's just that you can do so much better." Phoebe shot her father an angry look.
"It's not about doing better. It's about being happy."
"And you can be happy with someone else."
"Gerald is a good person. Why can't you see that? Mother loves him."
"It's not that, Phoebe. I just think you could do better. What about Mark? You were happy with him in college. He seemed perfect for you. Stockbroker, on his way up the company." Phoebe sighed in frustration.
"I only went out with Mark because you and mother liked him so much."
"Even at his worst, he's better than Gerald."
"How can you talk about him like that? Before the dinner, Gerald was so nervous about meeting with you that he couldn't even tie his tie properly. He just wants to win your approval." Phoebe was growing increasingly irate.
"I want the best for you, Phoebe, and he is not the best you can get. I taught you to strive for the best in everything; in school; in sports; in clubs; in your friends. You never disappointed me, Phoebe. Why do you insist on disappointing me now?" She was ready snap.
"That's all I've been doing, father. All those grades, the fencing, the clubs; even going into medicine. I cheated on a poetry contest just to please you." He reared back in shock.
"I thought you always wanted to be a doctor."
"I love what I do, but sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if I didn't. I wonder if I would have had the strength to tell you that I wanted to do something else. I wonder if I would have the strength to stay with Gerald now despite your disapproval." His face dropped at those words. His features hardened.
"If you choose him, you are no daughter of mine." Tears started welling up in her eyes.
"Fine!" She stormed off.
"Phoebe..." He cut off his own words and stared silently as his only daughter walked away from him.
Helga stood in front of the waiting room doors and took a deep breath.
"Ok, you can do this." She opened the door and walked slowly into the room. Her mother was wiping tears from her eyes, while her sister was trying to comfort her. Beside her were her husband, Martin, and their twin boys. Helga cleared her throat and they looked up quickly.
"Hi." Olga ran towards her and caught her in a tearful hug.
"Oh, baby sister, it is so good to see you! I didn't know that you were working here!" She buried her head on Helga's shoulder. Helga tried to squirm away but couldn't escape her sister's tight embrace.
"It's good to see you too, I guess." Olga broke off the embrace and looked at Helga with pleading eyes.
"So how is he? Did he make it?" Helga sighed.
"I'm sorry. He was bleeding too much, and his heart gave out." At those words Olga buried her head into Helga's shoulder again. Her husband came over and pulled Olga away, trying to console her. Helga looked down at her feet. Her mother ran over towards her in a craze.
"Helga, please tell me this isn't true. Helga, please?" She sobbed into her daughter's shoulder. Helga sighed. Her coat was getting wet with tears.
"Look. Mir-, I mean, Mom. We did everything we could. I'm sorry." Helga pulled away from her mother.
"I have to make my rounds. I'll check on you guys later." Helga turned and left quickly. She stopped in the corner and sighed again.
"I did everything I could, but why do I still feel like I didn't. And why can't I cry over my own father's death?"
Arnold fidgeted nervously as he waited for the judge's decision. Lila, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm. Their eyes met accidentally and she gave him a little smirk. He turned away quickly.
"Sid, I got torn to shreds up there." Sid sighed.
"I'm sorry Arnold, but Richards is at the top of his game. I was afraid that would happen." They became silent as the judge reentered the room and sat in his chair. He scanned the room and took a deep breath before he began.
"I have been a judge for almost thirty years. I have to say that in all my years, my least favorite cases are custody disputes. Nobody wins here; the father and the mother are angry if either of them loses time with their child. The child loses when he can't see his mommy or daddy as often as he or she would like. Decisions like these are never easy on anyone. Who am I to decide which parent loves his or her child more? Who am I to decide how the child will be raised?" He paused and took a sip of water before continuing."
"But the law says that I must decide. This particular case was not easy for me." He turned towards Arnold.
"Dr. Greene, I must commend you on your efforts as a father. Many men in your situation would have used their work to excuse the lack of time they spend with their children. It is refreshing to see a good father in a time where fatherhood has been so often neglected and unwanted." Arnold nodded his head in thanks.
"However, I must look out for the interests of the child. Dr. Greene, as much as you love your son, as much as you devote all your free time to him, it is true that your job requires a significant amount of time. Time spent working late nights in the hospital. Time spent away from your son. Your wife also has a demanding job. However, her profession as a lawyer has a degree of flexibility that yours as a physician does not. You as a physician are always on call; anytime of the day, twenty-four/seven." He paused again.
"It is due to the extent of your work schedule Dr. Greene and the fact that Miss Sawyer's profession allows for more flexibility that I award full custody of Sean Greene to Miss Lila Sawyer. Dr. Greene, you will have full visitation rights on weekends, and any other times at the discretion of Miss Sawyer. This court is adjourned." He banged his gavel and walked slowly off the steps. Lila smiled triumphantly and hugged her attorney. Arnold sighed and held his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Arnold. I, I should have done more." Sid put his hand on Arnold's shoulder.
"No. No, it's all-right, Sid. You did what you could. And besides I can still see him on weekends." He looked up at Sid with a half-smile. Sid grinned half-heartedly.
"Sometimes, for your sake, I wish you weren't always such an optimist."
"Pheebs, slow down. What happened back there?" Gerald called as he struggled to catch up to her. She slowed down to let him catch up. She sighed.
"I'm sorry, Gerald. It's my father again. Sometimes he just drives me up the wall." He put his arm around her and they continued walking.
"I guess it's me again?"
"It's not you; it's him."
"Look Pheebs, maybe one day he'll come around." She sniffed back some tears.
"It's just that I've spent my whole life trying to prove myself to him, and it's never good enough." Gerald wiped away a tear running down her cheek.
"You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You especially shouldn't have to prove anything to your father."
"Thanks, Gerald." She buried her head into his shoulder and he held her tightly for a long time.
"Helga, why don't you go home?"
"Vince, I'm fine." They walked out of the OR after an appendectomy.
"I can't imagine you would be after losing your father." She shot him a frustrated look.
"I'm fine. I've got two more operations and then I'll go home."
"I can get them, Helga. Go home. Talk to your family. Don't come back until you're feeling better."
"Vince."
"I don't want to hear it. Go home, Helga." Helga sighed and threw away her glove.
"All-right, Vince." She walked off to the lounge and changed out of her scrubs. She drank a cup of water from the large water jug and walked quickly out of the lounge.
"Good-night, Debbie." The nurse smiled.
"Good-night, Dr. Pataki. I'm sorry about your father."
"Yeah, thanks." Helga walked quickly out of the double doors, not even noticing the well dressed man entering at the same time. He looked quickly in surprise at her but shrugged his shoulders and continued inside.
"Dr. Greene? I thought you weren't coming in today?"
"Well, Debbie, I don't really have much else to do, so I figured why not." Arnold signed his name on the marker board. He read through some charts lying around the desk and started walking towards exam room 2, when Wartz entered and called him out.
"Greene, you're not supposed to be in today."
"Well, I don't really have anywhere else to go, Vince." Vince examined him carefully.
"Straight out of court?"
"You noticed?"
"You didn't even bother to change."
"I don't really have anything to look forward to at home." Vince sighed.
"You're the second doctor here who's throwing themselves into the job to cover something up."
"I'll go home eventually Vince, I just want to help out."
"Hiding out here isn't going to solve anything."
"You're starting to sound like me." Vince chuckled.
"Maybe you're starting to rub off on me." Arnold put the chart down.
"I guess I'll head home."
"You do that, and talk to Pataki if you get a chance. Her father died today." Arnold stepped back in surprise.
"What? How did that happen?"
"He was shot in his beeper store." Arnold shook his head.
"Well, I better catch up to Helga. She didn't even notice me when I walked in. Thanks, Vince." He turned and walked quickly out of the ER.
"Helga, wait!" She was several blocks ahead of him and he ran to catch up to her. She looked back and quickly turned around.
"Helga, aren't you going to slow down?" He managed to catch up to her and they walked in silence for a while. She turned to him with a tired expression.
"I'm sorry, Arnold. I guess I have a lot on my mind." They stood face to face on the sidewalk.
"I'm sorry about your father, Helga." She smiled sadly.
"Always like you to put others before yourself, football-head." He smiled grimly.
"Yeah, and it cost me custody of Sean."
"I'm sorry about that. The courts are never fair." Silence fell again.
"I just wish I could have done more. I let that lawyer tear me to shreds and I couldn't do anything about it." She looked away quickly and stopped walking.
"Why didn't I shock him earlier?" She was speaking in a near whisper.
"What?"
"I didn't shock him until it was too late, Arnold. I should have shocked him."
"Was he bleeding badly?" She nodded her head.
"Your priority was to stop the bleeding. Then, you shock them. You did the right thing, Helga." She turned to him with a pleading look.
"It's not that, Arnold. It's the fact that I don't know that if I would have shocked him if I could." Arnold raised an eye.
"How can you say that, Helga? Of course you would." She shook her head rapidly.
"I don't know if I would. I mean, I never really loved my father, Arnold."
"Of course you did, Helga."
"I couldn't even cry when he died. My mother and Olga were running faucets and I couldn't even shed one tear."
"People grieve in different ways. Maybe you're not a crier." She stared at her feet and shook her head.
"My father was right about me; he was right that I was nothing compared to Olga; I mean look at me; I'm not married; I don't have any kids..." Arnold cut her off.
"And you're a skilled trauma surgeon who saves lives." She continued on as if she didn't hear him.
"The fact that he died under my care just proves that he was right about me." Arnold decided that he had heard enough.
"That's enough, Helga. You did your best already."
"At least you have Sean to love you, I don't have anyone."
"That's not true."
"I couldn't even hug my mother or my sister. I don't know my twin nephews."
"That's enough..."
"I could barely perform an appendectomy today."
"That's enough..."
"God, I'm pathetic; both as a doctor and as a person."
"That's enough! Stop it!"
"I..." She was cut off when he pulled her roughly towards him and kissed her hard on the mouth.