Disclaimers: I don't own ER, Kerry Weaver, Henry, or any other characters there of. etc… I don't own Vioxx or Merck, and take no stand on the current bit going on with them, just see them as a potential plot device.
Ten minutes ago, she'd left Henry with his grandparents at their house, which meant he wasn't in the car. Therefore, she was free to curse in several languages, profane the name of the Lord a few dozen colorful ways, and generally enjoy a few free moments of road rage in the car on the way to work. Some idiot had decided to drive on the L tracks (though how he'd-and yes she was sure it was a he, only testosterone and drugs inspire such feats- gotten the car up there was a mystery), and had come tumbling down onto a moving van, which had careened into a dump truck. In other words, though there were, somehow no casualties, the streets were a mess. More than a mess actually. According to the radio, it'd be a good long while before the road was passable again. Ah, gridlock. Gridlock and very strong coffee, what a way to start a Chicago day. Of course it did mean she'd be late for her meeting.
She pressed a button and changed the station, preset number four, mostly music from the late seventies and early to mid eighties. She wasn't in the mood for Pat Benatar's La Belle Age, so tried the next, number four was politics, rednecks and liberals screaming at each other, she was in no mood. When the classical station yielded possibly her least favorite piece, Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons', she gave up on radio and switched to a CD. Johnny Cash, 'The Man Comes Around.' Dying cowboys didn't suit her mood either, so she gave up. Silence, or at least the absence of music, could occasionally be good. She was left alone with her thoughts.
Eventually, Kerry did reach the hospital, though her meeting had already ended, leaving her with a choice- a few minutes in the ER, or catching up on paperwork. The former sounded infinitely more appealing, but it also meant she'd be doing the paperwork at home, a less than pleasant prospect.
She seriously considered flipping a coin, but decided to follow her nose. ER it was, and a fresh trauma rolling in. Susan and Pratt had it, but said there were several minors on the way, small MVA. A side trip to her locker produced a lab coat and stethoscope, she was at the back door when the first of the minors rolled up, just a few lacerations, Kerry handed it off to a med student.
The next was supposed to be a dislocated shoulder, but the patient's stats quickly revealed a more severe problem. A few quick tests to confirm her diagnosis, and the occult splenic bleed was on his way up to the OR. Her watch went off, meeting with security. Delightful, she strongly preferred to remain in the Emergency Department, but duty called.
Their dilemma was reasonably simple- at least fifteen new security guards needed to be hired to cover a small expansion to the pediatric wing, but the budget said that at least twelve currently employed security guards had to be dismissed. The solution turned out to be anything but. An hour later, all parties involved decided to part ways and meet again in three days. A complete waste of time. Finally, Kerry thought to herself, it wasn't over, but it was a temporary reprieve, so all she had to do was create a few hundred thousand dollars out of thin air, and everything would be just peachy. A trip to the cafeteria for coffee was in order.
"Kerry, how'd the meeting go?" Susan appeared out of nowhere, apparently there for the same reason. The coffee in the cafeteria didn't constitute a decent caffeine fix, but it was a step above the sludge in the lounge.
She shook her head, "Honestly, a complete waste of everyone's time," Susan, she judged, had at least some understanding of administrative matters, would understand that much.
That got a slight laugh, much to Kerry's surprise; she hadn't been trying for humor, "Aren't they all."
"Not really optional though."
"Yeah, forget death and taxes, there's cryogenic freezing and expatriation," it seemed that some of Susan's resentment over the tenure issue had dissipated with Carter's departure. They both laughed. Not exactly friends, but not quite enemies either.
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