Chapter 78

Anna didn't hear her alarm until it was past seven. She bolted off the couch and ran in brushing her teeth as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt. She grabbed a thing of crackers as she rushed out the door. Thanks god she wasn't far from County. She ran inside and threw her things into her locked. She put the crackers in her lab coat pocket and tried to straighten herself out the best she could. She looked up at the clock she was over 30 minutes late when she finally made her way to the admit desk to get her day started.

Doug had gotten up early since he couldn't sleep. He had been in long before Anna showed up late. He looked at the clock when she came out of the lounge and up to admit. He didn't say anything to her at first, just kept working on the budget report. He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. 'God she looks like hell. Maybe she's still sick' he thought to himself. After a few minutes he spoke up, not breaking his gaze from the report he was reading. "Are you feeling any better?" he asked casually. "I don't want you throwing up down the hall today."

Anna froze her in tracks about choking on her cracker. "Yeah, I'm absolutely peachy today Dr. Ross, thanks for asking." She answered. "Can't make any promises about not throwing up in the hall." She grabbed a chart from the rack as she shoved the last of the cracker into her mouth. As Anna started to walk away she rolled her eyes, "oh what I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee."

"Hey Anna." Doug said to make her stop in the hall. he was a little upset about her not saying anything about being late...and he couldn't figure out why all of a sudden she was calling him Dr. Ross. Was she trying to make him dislike her even more? "Since you're feeling better, try to add punctuality to your list too." he said in an overly sarcastic tone.

Anna bit down on her lip. She took in a couple of deep breaths, how she would have loved to have told him where to shove it since it was partially his fault that she was so tired and not feeling overly well. "Doug," Anna said softly, "excuuuuse me for being late. I am not feeling hot today, my temper is short, and I really, really don't have the energy or the willpower to butt heads with you today. Now I am going to take my chart and go down the hallway before I say something that I really don't want to."

Doug rolled his eyes, "Hey, I have nothing to do with your extracurricular life anymore, and I don't really give a damn if you don't feel well. You either call in sick or you get yourself here on time and ready to see patients. And you're right, I don't want to hear anything you might regret so why don't you go down that hall and get to work." Doug didn't know why he was being so rude to her, although she deserved it from yesterday. He couldn't help but think that unless they got their issue taken care of, they were going to have some long shifts.

Anna started to walk away fuming now, "bastard." She said as she walked into the exam room. If they had been any place other than work she would have screamed at him at the top of her lungs...her extracurricular activities...they were not going to be able to get along until she told him, and even then she highly doubted that they ever would. Was she trying to get him to fire her so that she wouldn't have to work with him...oh well she said as she treated her patient.

Doug set his head on the counter. "What a great way to start off the day" he said out loud. Susan, Abby, Carter, and Carol were all supposed to be on today. Doug hoped one of them would be around soon. He needed some small talk...and a friend

Abby came into the ER and threw her stuff under the desk at admit. "Hey there stranger working hard already."

Anna came back out. She slowly approached the desk, as she composed herself with a smile on her face. She was planning on killing him with kindness. She would just have to bite her tongue every now and then as her hormones swung, but that should only last for a few more weeks. Surely she could survive that. "Excuse me for interrupting but I have a 4 yr old high fever, neck pain, and vomiting. Has a headache and doesn't want to turn his head. I need another set of hands, Doug can you help me with a LP please? He's in three. I just gave him versede to relax him while it's being done."

Doug lifted his head up and smiled at Abby. "No rest for the weary." he said before seeing Anna. "Great" he muttered before she was in earshot. Doug was surprised Anna asked him for help...and in such a polite manner, it almost threw him off. "Uhhh yeah sure...ill be right there."

Abby watched Anna walk back down the hall, "what's with Dr. Happy there? God that was sickening." She said, "You two haven't made up or something have you?" She asked as she headed off. "Triage duty again. What is it with me and short straws?"

Doug smiled at her joke. "I don't even want to hazard a guess." it took him a second to get up and grab his crutches, but he was in the room within five minutes. After making his way over to the bed he stopped to look at Anna. He didn't know what was up but she seemed better. "You want me to do the LP or hold him?"

She smiled, "I thought it might be easier for you if you tap it. I can hold him still." She said softly, keeping her tone even and extremely professional with him, "the trays right there for you. Do you want me to bring the bed up a little more for you or is it high enough?"

"No its ok" Doug said moving to the other side of the bed. It was strange to find Anna so pleasant all of a sudden. Doug sat down and waited for Anna to roll the child up. "Ok buddy, my name's Dr. Ross. This isn't going to be too bad I promise. Just stay real still ok?" he said in a soft voice to the young boy. He took the needle and started the procedure. After he got clear fluid out he filled up the jar. "There ya go...you're such a brave guy." Doug said scooting back in the chair. "Thanks Dr. Del Amico." he said grabbing his crutches and standing up. "Can I speak with you in the hall for a second?"

"Yes of course," She said still smiling, she unrolled the child and made sure he was safely in the bed pulling up the rail before walking away outside the door.

Doug closed the door once Anna was out. He rubbed his face and leaned against the door hinge. Doug was more comfortable talking to her now that she was a little more under control. "Good work with the kid..."he said giving a quick grin."I just wanted to know...I got your message last night. You said you wanted to talk about something."

She fought to keep the smile on her face, "yes I do want to talk to you, but I don't think that this is the right place. Uhm, what we need to talk about is not something that we should be talking about in the hallway. I'm sorry I can't tell you, not here."

Doug let the pained expression creep into his face. "Ok...sorry" he said moving to walk away from her. Whatever it was it must have been more serious than he thought. "I set your stuff in the lounge that was left at my house." he said turning around briefly and walking away. He knew he was going to get some kind of degree for what he had put in the bag. All she had really left was a brush, some jeans and shirts and a CD but Doug stuck in there a shirt of his that she had worn and a picture of them Haleh had taken before he had even moved to Seattle. It was from the party Mark threw that turned out so badly... they all still had a good time. Doug had a copy at home and thought she might like one too. He hoped that didn't upset her but he knew the note he had written would.