"They're hungry, Morris," Dori said as she handed out packaged muffins to the three children in the chairs outside the exam room. "Mom's food stamp money ran out three days ago." Abby passed out cartons of milk and knelt down with a couple of bananas.
"Well, we can't feed them here. If word gets out that we did, we'll be feeding the entire city of Chicago." he said. "Besides, it's just a sprained wrist."
"We can give them some breakfast," Abby said with a smile.
"Just call Social Work and get some soup kitchen referrals for them." Morris went back into the exam room. He turned around suddenly and studied the bananas Abby was peeling. "Are those my bananas?" Abby shrugged.
"I found them in the fridge in the lounge." Morris groaned.
"That was my lunch!" Dori and Abby smiled at one another.
"Good choice," Dori said.
"Thank you!" Abby high fived her. Morris scowled and went back to their Mom, his patient. Abby pulled an otoscope from her pocket and checked the ears of one of the children in the chairs. She grimaced.
"Has your ear been hurting?" she asked the little boy. He nodded. Abby stood up.
"He has a broken ear drum," she said. "Let's get him on an antibiotic right away and clean that ear out. There's lots of dried pus and blood plugging it up." Dori nodded. Abby smiled as she watched the three of them eat hungrily.
"I think they could probably use a couple of lunch trays from the kitchen as well. I'll call down for some." Dori nodded again and Abby headed for the admit desk and picked up the telephone. She called the kitchen and then smiled when she gave Dori a thumbs up sign. Malik held up a clipboard.
"Double traumas coming in, Abby," he called. "GSW from a drive by." She grabbed a sterile gown from under the gurney and drew it on as Chuny, Malik and Ray waited for the ambulances to pull up.
"Twelve year old with road rash and fractured leg," the paramedic said as the stretcher was lifted from the back of the ambulance.
"I got this one," Ray said.
"The mother fu...plowed right into me," the restrained boy on the stretcher was screaming.
"Yeah and put a cap in it," the paramedic said. "You were the one holding the gun."
"You can't tell me what to do!" the kid screamed as he pulled against the restraints. Ray rolled his eyes as he and Chuny passed Abby and Malik. The second ambulance pulled up and the doors burst open.
"GSW to the right shoulder. BP is 120 over 80," the paramedic said. "The air bag deployed and he was buckled in."
"Hi, I'm Dr. Lockhart," Abby said as she pulled off her stethescope and put the ear pieces in. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Scott Kauffman...is the kid going to be all right?" the man on the gurney asked.
"He's got a broken leg but it sounds like he's going to be just fine," she smiled as she pressed the diaphragm to the man's chest. She nodded and Malik pushed the gurney toward an ER exam room. Luka was waiting for them and had pulled on a sterile gown and gloves.
"BP is 120 over 80 and good breath sounds bilaterally," she said. Luka nodded and began an assessment of the man's neck and head. Abby cut away the bloodied shirt and Malik started a large bore IV of saline in the man's left arm.
'Let's call for an x-ray," Luka said. "And we're going to need a surgical consult." Inez nodded and went to the phone. Abby looked at the bullet wound and lifted his shoulder slightly.
"There's an exit wound in the back," she said. "Scott, can you squeeze my fingers?" She placed her fingers in his right hand and he squeezed tightly.
"That's fine," she smiled.
"Can someone call my Mom?" he asked. "I was on my way to the store for her and she'll worry if I don't come home. My wallet is in my back pocket." Abby glanced at Inez and she retrieved the wallet and took it out to the admit desk.
"Man...eighteen months in Iraq without a scratch and I get shot after three days at home. Stupid kid. He has no idea how lucky he is."
"You're a soldier?" Luka asked as they rolled Scott to his side.
"A Marine," he said. The x-ray tech rolled a portable machine into the trauma room. He slid a film cartridge under Scott and Luka rolled him back gently.
"All clear," the tech said as they backed away from the table and let the machine do it's work. Neela came in just as the x-ray tech was leaving.
"What do you have?" she asked as she pulled on some sterile gloves.
"Scott Kauffman," Abby said. "Gunshot wound to the right shoulder from drive by shooting." Neela carefully examined the entrance and exit wounds.
"This is going to need some debridement," she said. "We'll give him some antibiotics right now." She listened to his breathing. "Lungs sound clear. We'll admit you to the hospital for a few days for observation and antibiotics."
"A few days?" he groaned. "I only have 10 more days of leave left. I don't want to spend them in the hospital."
"Leave?" Neela looked up at Abby.
"He's on leave from his unit in Iraq," she said quietly. Neela's eyes clouded and she sighed. She looked at Scott.
"Okay," she said. "Let's wait for the x-ray to come back and maybe...MAYBE...we'll let you go home if you promise to finish your antibiotics and come back at the slightest hint of any problems." Scott smiled.
"Okay," he said happily and sighed as he relaxed a bit. Neela looked from Abby to Luka and then left without a word. A police officer stepped into the doorway.
"Can we get a statement now?" he asked. Luka pulled his gloves off.
"Sure," he said. "I'm going to go check on those x-rays. You've got this, Abby?" She nodded and pulled a sheet up over Scott's bare chest. She listened as he spoke with the policeman, but her thoughts were on Neela.
Two hours later she sent Scott home with his Mother, his fiancee, a bag of antibiotics and a big bulky bandage over the wound in his shoulder. He'd been very, very lucky. The bullet had missed his lung, his collar bone and his shoulder blade. It was a nice way to end hier shift.
Abby smiled as she finished Scott's chart. Luka rounded the admit desk and moved behind her. She jumped as he pressed up against her and brushed her neck with a quick kiss.
"Hey!" she scolded him and looked around to see if anyone had seen them. Luka grinned.
"You got an email," he said and slipped a paper on top of the file she was holding.
"I did?" Luka nodded and Abby looked down. Her eyes widened and she smiled as she studied the three pictures that filled the page. There was one of Debbie standing between two little girls in school uniforms, one of the two girls together and then a closeup of just one of them. Abby blinked as she took in the huge smile of the little girl with closely cropped back curls. Her dark eyes were actually shining.
"It's Salome," she said quietly and shook her head in disbelief. "Just look at her." Luka's grin widened and he nodded.
"Read it," he said.
"Abby, Mission accomplished!" she read aloud softly. "After you left the staff at the hospital took up a collection so we could send Mary Ruth to school with Salome. For now, anyway, the girls will have one another for support. Sometimes we are most struck by the enormity of the situation here. Thank you for reminding us that we can make a difference to at least one of the star fish we toss back into the sea. I will write again soon. All my love to you and to Luka, Debbie." Abby blinked back tears and looked up at Luka.
"She's beautiful," she sighed as she studied the photos again.
"And happy," Luka added. Abby leaned in close and Luka wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.
"Is something wrong?" Neela asked as she approached them.
"Something is very, very right," Abby sighed. She pulled away from him gently. "Remember one of the patients that I treated in Darfur? The little girl with the machete slices on her legs?" Neela nodded and Abby showed her the email.
"She's in school," she said. Neela looked at the pictures and smiled.
"That's wonderful, Abby." Abby nodded and folded the email and slipped it into her lab coat pocket.
"Christmas will be here before long," she said. "Maybe we can put together a box for them." Luka nodded and watched as she picked up another chart and headed off to another exam room with a little bounce in her step.
"Think one of us ought to tell us that her shift is over?" Neela asked.
"Naw..." Luka said with a smile. "I'll let her handle one more patient before I drag her home."