Four Attendings and a PA
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Thanks to my reviewers! And apologies for taking so long to post this – I've been having problems with my floppy discs. Most of the ones in my room seem to have got corrupted. Grrr.
Sad news: for fellow Brits, you'll already know this. The great Ronnie Barker has died, aged 76. Pure comedy genius. We rarely see the likes of him. May his legacy live on forever.
Gloat: I've just realised I have yet to gloat about how WE WON THE ASHES!
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Part 4
"Ah, Doctor Weaver. Up to date with those charts yet?" Romano inquired a fortnight later as he poked his head into the ER lounge. Kerry didn't respond and Romano realised then that she was fast asleep. "Charts!" he barked at her. It startled her, and she jerked awake. The shock caused her to kick her crutch over.
"What, sorry?" she mumbled as she came round properly, blinking blearily at him.
"Charts?" he repeated, slightly more politely this time.
"Uh, they're on the front desk. Randi knows." Kerry waved her hand in the general direction of the front desk. "Can I go back to sleep now? I did finish at midday and it's one now. I'm on again in a few hours."
"Yeah, yeah. Course you can." He disappeared, and Kerry dozed off again.
"Dr. Weaver's charts, please?" he asked of Randi.
Randi obligingly handed them over, snapping her gum as she did so. "All ready and waiting for you, Dr. Romano."
He nodded to her. "Thank you, Miss Fronczak." He briskly strode off, whistling to himself.
"Still the new, reformed Rocket?" Doug asked, ambling into the ER and putting two large boxes of doughnuts down on the desk.
"Yep. I kinda like him this way. Least he's not having a go at the rest of us." Randi responded, helping herself to a doughnut. "Hey, Dr. Ross!" she called after him as he headed towards the lounge.
"What?"
"Be quiet. Weaver's in there. I think she's asleep, but if you want to come out alive, don't wake her. She's kinda tired; pulled a double shift and she's on again later."
Doug went in and noticed Kerry, lying on the sofa, and was careful not to wake her. He didn't really like the idea of waking her, anyway. He valued his life.
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Coburn leaned back in her seat and smiled dreamily. A notebook on her desk lay open, hearts with 'Robert' written inside them drawn all over the page. Things were wonderful in her life. Robert Romano was the best man – definitely a man, she thought knowingly to herself – she could ever have met. She found herself thinking what a wonderful thing it was that her so-called 'secret admirer' hadn't shown, and neither had Robert's. The previous evening, they'd sat and talked about all sorts of things, from the Presidential elections to the state of affairs on the London Underground in England. He really was the most wonderful listener, and he knew so much. He was her man.
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"So, who's the lucky girl?" Donald Anspaugh questioned Romano as they scrubbed for surgery.
"Sorry?" Romano looked up, distracted. Anspaugh grinned to himself and repeated the question.
"Oh, just a special woman. I met her a few weeks ago. Nothing big, just a good friend."
"Mmmm-hmmm," Anspaugh agreed, sounding sceptical. But Romano was too busy daydreaming. Tonight he'd take her out to Gianni's, a posh Italian restaurant out of town. He knew the guy who ran it. It was a wonderfully romantic place – soft lights, candles, waiters in white shirts, black waistcoats and suits with white towels draped over their arms, and romantic music. Perfect. Tonight he'd tell her he loved her.
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He took in the sight of Janet in front of him. The skirt of the dark forest green dress hung loosely from her waist to her ankles. It was strappy, and low-cut. A pale green silk stole was tossed casually around her neck and her shoulders, and the look was completed by the black heels she wore on her feet. Her hair was half up, and curly wisps fell down the side of her face, framing it perfectly.
"Wow," Robert breathed. "You look stunning."
"You're not so bad yourself."
"May I escort Madam to Gianni's?" he asked, reaching for the hand she offered.
"Why, certainly." She noticed every detail about him – the plain, dark suit, the green shirt that was so pale it was almost white. Great minds think alike, she thought. He even wore a tie. Very few men did now, out of work. She liked it. Although her plans for later on in the evening – with which she was sure that he was more than willing to comply – involved the romoval of said tie.
She giggled to herself.
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They arrived at the restaurant in the taxi. Clearly, Robert had spared no expense, and Janet felt honoured to be the woman he had chosen.
By pure coincidence, unbeknown to the two attendings, Doug Ross had also come to Gianni's with Carol Hathaway, and would be seated next to them. Neither couple knew about the other.
"This is amazing," Janet breathed in his ear, gazing round the restaurant in awe.
He squeezed her hand. "That's why I wanted to bring you here," he told her. He'd never been this happy since he'd made the school baseball team in sixth grade, and smashed a basketball in Tom Hartley's face for calling him Shorty.
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"You ever been here before?" Doug asked Carol as they waited for their main meal to arrive.
She nodded hesitantly. "Tag brought me here once, when it was a French restaurant. But I prefer it here with you," she assured him quickly as a man and a woman walking past her back were seated in the section (there was a thin partition between each table, three-quarters the height of the walls). She looked puzzled as Doug stared after the couple. "What's up?" she inquired.
"Rom – Romano and…and…C-C-Coburn," he spluttered, not taking his eyes off the wall behind Carol.
A confused look flitted across her face, then realisation dawned. "You mean…" she hissed, cocking her head towards the partition behind her. Doug just nodded, mouth open.
"Oh, hell," Carol muttered. Just what they didn't want. Then an idea hit her and she leaned forwards. "Have you got that mini-tape recorder?"
"Yeah. Why – oh!" Doug's eyes widened as comprehension dawned. "You want to record the conversation!"
"Too right. And I can think of a PA and another attending who'd be very interested…" Carol said as the waiter arrived with their meal.
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"And they didn't notice you?"
"Nope. They were too busy gazing into each other's eyes."
"How romantic," Jeanie sighed dreamily.
Doug groaned. "Don't you go all romantic on me as well."
"Why? Did Carol?"
"No; she just found it hilarious. Actually, I meant Kerry. That was after she got the giggles for ten minutes." Doug rolled his eyes. "Are all women the same?"
"Probably," Jeanie replied cheerfully.
The lounge door opened and Kerry came in. "Sorry. Maggie Doyle wanted to ask me something."
Doug pulled the tape recorder out of his locker and placed it on the table. He signalled for the other two to quieten and pressed "Play".
"Thank you so much for this, Robert." A knife and fork clinked together on a plate.
"I wanted to show you how much you mean to me." There was a gurgling noise as wine was poured.
A pause, presumably while they drank the wine.
"I – erm." Romano coughed nervously.
"What? Is something wrong?" Coburn's voice sounded genuinely concerned.
"No, no. Not at all. I, er, I just wanted to say –" another pause "– how much I love you."
Long pause. Doug clicked off the tape. "Well?"
"Wahoo!" Jeanie cried, as she and Kerry high-fived and hugged each other, before turning to Doug and doing the same with him.
"I never envisioned Romano saying that to anyone, let alone Coburn!" Kerry exclaimed, a grin on her face.
At that moment, Mark stuck his head into the lounge. "Multiple MVA, guys. Told them we could take four major, six minor."
"ETA?" Doug asked, hurriedly stashing the tape recorder in his locker.
"Five minutes."
"Coming."
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TBC