Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!
What happened so far: Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him. Susan tells Mark about it, and he gets really upset. While Mark argues with Doug about the whole topic, Susan makes plans with Carol for the evening, because she wants to tell her about it, too. Susan tells Carol about it and Carol, too, is really upset.
A/N: Thanks for reviewing, saved-by-grace, Grammar, Flick, britgirl2003 & gezzy. I really appreciate that you took the time to drop a few lines for me :)
MONDAY MORNING
That night, Susan fell asleep on her window sill where she'd been sitting all evening. After having hardly slept much longer than 3 hours in a rather uncomfortable sleeping position Susan was woken up by her phone. She must have dropped it while sleeping, because it was lying on the floor besides her. As she got up to pick up the phone, she realized that every inch of her body hurt. Susan yawned and answered the phone, that was still ringing madly. "Hello?" she said, in a voice that really expressed her tiredness.
"Hi Susan, it's me. I just wanted to make sure you won't be late for work again."
Susan laughed when she heard Doug's voice on the other end. She glanced at her watch. If he hadn't called, she would probably have slept in again. Although she could think of a million reasons why she would prefer to stay in bed instead of going to work that day, she was really glad that Doug had called. She had had enough problems with Kerry lately and therefore she couldn't afford to mess with her again.
"Thanks. I really don't need any further trouble with Kerry," Susan said, still being more than surprised that he cared about her. I wonder why he called.... after all it's not really his business if I'm late for work or not...maybe he feels guilty because he left it to me to tell Mark and Carol? "Thanks for caring, Doug. That's really nice of you."
"That's what friends are for," he replied, causing her to smile again. Friends, she thought. She was glad that Doug still wanted to be friends with her. She didn't want to loose yet another friend, now that she'd apparently lost Carol. And Mark probably as well. "Anyway...How are you?" Doug asked her.
"Oh, don't ask... I feel asleep on my window sill...What about you?"
"I've been better. Mark came over last night and Carol left a message on my answering machine."
"Ouch...What did they say?" Susan asked curiously. She sat down on her couch, which was far more comfortable than the window sill while she listened to Doug's story. Eventually, she filled him in about how Mark had left her on the street and Carol had more or less thrown out of her house. After they had been talking for some more time, Susan glanced at her watch. She'd better hurry up now.
"Doug, we'd better stop talking now, otherwise, we'll still be late for work after all." Susan chuckled.
"Right. See you at County."
Susan put the phone down. Reluctantly, she got up again, strechted herself and walked into her bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she could barely recognize herself. Her eyes were swollen and she looked really tired. "Shower....Make-up....Caffeine," she said to herself and glanced at her watch. 7.15 am. She had a little over half an hour before she had to leave. She quickly discarded her clothes and got under the shower. Like most other people, she usually fancied hot showers. However, she knew that a cold shower would be necessary to get her going today. She closed her eyes and let the cool water run down her body. She soon relaxed, realizing that this was just what she needed. Afterwards, she wrapped herself into a big white towel. After getting dressed and applying some make-up, another glance in the mirror confirmed that she looked human again. Her body was carving for her daily dose of caffeine, but she was out of filters and therefore couldn't make coffee. And since Starbucks wasn't exactly on her way to work either, she simply grabbed a bottle of diet coke from the fridge, hoping that it would also do the trick, or at least cover up until she would get a hold of a real coffee at work.
The whole El ride, Susan tried to figure out how she would face Carol. But when it was time for her to get out, she still hadn't come up with anything appropriate.
When descending from the El, Susan noticed that Carol was a standing a few meters away of her, queuing to get in. "Carol!" Susan called out. Carol made no sign that she had heard her. Susan wondered if Carol really hadn't noticed her, or if she was ignoring her. "Carol!" Susan tried again, but Carol passed by and got on the train, without bothering to turn around. Susan sighed and climbed down the stairs, making her way to work. She passed through the doors of the ER inhaling the typical hospital smell. Sometimes, she secretly liked this smell, because it somehow made her feel home. But then there were the days where she despised that smell, and it almost made her sick, just like today. On these days, she really wished she would be a dermatologist or something similar instead of working in the ER of County General Hospital.
"Good morning, " Susan called out as she walked over to the admit desk, where Randi, Haleh and Wendy were busily engaged in a conversation. They all looked up an greeted her.
"Something has happened between Doug and Carol," Wendy filled her in. Susan raised her eyebrows.
"Look, she changed shifts with some of the nurses to make sure she never works with Doug until she leaves for vacation, " Haleh said and showed Susan the schedule. She also never works with me, Susan thought and bit her lip. Carol was really avoiding her. By now, Susan was 100 sure that Carol had in fact seen her at the train station but had simply ignored her.
"Do you know anything about it?" Wendy asked curiously.
Susan had never been a fan of lying, but she couldn't possibly tell anyone what really happened. "Umm...no," she said and looked down at her hands. Luckily, an arriving ambulance rescued her out of the weird situation.
...TBC...
That was finally chapter 11.
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