CHAPTER 3.
Robert groaned to himself as yet another patient was wheeled in to the ER. He was already five minutes late as it was. It was a busy Thursday evening and it seemed that every man and his dog was injured or sick or needing his help.
He watched as Dr Kovac skilfully managed the patient. He was a good doctor, Robert thought. Damn him for being so good looking too – that was really unfair. Robert shook his head – he could have done with a touch of whatever Kovac had - things weren't going his way at all at the moment. Elizabeth seemed to be totally uninterested in anything he had to say – she had already blown him out twice this week, when all he had asked for was a coffee and a bit of company. And then that Dorsett guy had turned up and that was it – Robert might as well have been dog food for all the attention he got. He knew they were seeing each other – Elizabeth had been evasive and cagey when he'd casually mentioned it. Sometimes it sucked being in love with Elizabeth and only having one arm. Other times it really sucked.
"Dr Kovac, I have a prior appointment, I'm sure you can manage." Robert met Kovac's gaze over the patient, cursing the fact that he had to look up a good six inches to do so.
"Of course, Dr Romano," smiled Kovac, who was feeling particularly benevolent towards his boss as he'd just been able to swap his shift and could shortly go home and sleep for the next twenty four hours. "We'll be fine here."
Robert nodded and turned on his heel. He made his way out of the ER, and through the hospital. He made his way towards Jessie's office, humming to himself. He was quite enjoying Jessie's sessions, even though he'd been determined not to. Jessie was interesting to be with, and interested in what he had to say (made a change from the fools he had to work with, he acknowledged). She wasn't bad to look at either, he admitted to himself, as he strolled through the corridors. She was, he guessed, about thirty; slim and dark haired, with big brown eyes, and a ready smile. Obviously not his Lizzie, but definitely pleasant enough.
When he reached her office, he knocked tentatively on the door and was about to push it open, when he noticed a note stuck to the doorframe.
Dr Romano – I've gone to the ER to find you – you're nearly ten minutes late!
Said the note. Robert swore softly under his breath – he'd probably crossed Jessie's path in the elevator; he might have missed her by seconds. He turned on his heel and made his way back towards the ER, grumbling quietly to himself.
When he got to the ER, he stopped short. Jessie was there, talking to Dr Kovac, who was looking as if he was ready to go home. They both looked happy and he could have sworn that Jessie was giggling. Why did he have to have all the women? Robert thought. Just because Kovac was tall, dark and handsome – why were there never any fairy stories written about short, balding geniuses like him? Then he stopped – why should it matter who Jessie chose to talk to? He only had eyes for Elizabeth - there was no-one else. Robert considered the point as he walked towards Jessie. He presumed that the feelings of jealousy stemmed from the fact that Jessie was his doctor, he was her patient, and sharing her with the idiots in the ER was just wrong.
Jessie noticed Robert approach, and smiled in his direction.
"Hey, Romano. There you are. I was wondering where you'd got to, but Luca said that you had already left the ER so I thought I'd wait for you to come back."
"You two know each other?" Robert asked, sneering at Kovac.
"Luca and I are both taking Spanish lessons," Jessie smiled, deliberately ignoring Robert's tone. "We were just discussing this week's homework." She smiled at Kovac and touched his arm. "See you on Monday, Luca. Adios!" She said. Turning away from Kovac, she walked towards Robert. Kovac nodded at Robert, and smiled, as if sharing a secret. Robert returned the gesture but did not smile. He could do without Kovac thinking that he was jealous when, of course, that was the most ridiculous idea. Kovac waved farewell to the ER in general and sauntered out, not noticing the half dozen female patients who glanced at him as he passed.
"…..something a bit different," Jessie was saying.
"W..What?" stammered Robert. He hadn't heard anything she had said because he'd been preoccupied thinking about her with Kovac.
"I said that I think this session should be something a bit different," Jessie repeated.
Robert nodded assent. He was used to this by now. The past six weeks since they had begun the sessions had proved interesting and varied. They hadn't spent the whole time talking about him. There had been physical challenges; quizzes and questionnaires to complete; short videos to watch, and once she had asked him to draw, with crayon, his feelings about the accident. He had worn down the black crayon whilst hardly touching the others. That had been a particularly therapeutic session for him and he had gone home and cried; but he hadn't been able to tell Jessie that just yet.
"Why don't I follow you for an hour in the ER?" Jessie asked. She produced a clipboard and a pen and waved them in front of Robert. "See, I can take notes on the move!"
Robert wracked his brain trying to think of a good reason why Jessie shouldn't accompany him on his rounds. His first thought had been one of acute embarrassment – did everyone know he was being assessed? He watched as Jessie waved at one of the nurses. He shrugged; presumably some people knew about Jessie and what she did. He remembered that she'd been called to the surgical ward to talk to a patient last month, and he was sure he'd spotted her in the ER a couple of days previously. If people knew who she was, they would know that he was obviously her patient and, with luck – if he wasn't too rude to them – they wouldn't ask him stupid questions. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop them talking about him behind his back, though. Not that he cared what they thought.
"Are you ready?" Jessie was at his elbow, looking questioningly into his face. "Would it cause a problem, me being here?"
"I suppose if it did, you'd have to write about it in your report," Robert replied, grumpily. "I don't really have much choice, do I? I am here to be assessed after all."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Jessie. "Just pretend I'm like one of those audit guys. Only you don't need to be quite so rude!"
Jessie watched Robert make his way round the ER, assessing the patients and harassing the staff. He snapped at one of the nurses and ignored a patient who, he said, wasn't going to get the benefit of his wisdom until she "shut the hell up screaming". When one of the nurses pointed out that the screaming was, in all probability, due to the large piece of metal sticking out of her leg, Romano had responded "well, the solution's quite simple then, isn't it?" and stalked off.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Jessie continued to make notes. This was a side of Romano she'd not been exposed to before. Was this how he lived his life? All this anger and bitterness? Excusing herself, she wandered off until she found the nurse Robert had been shouting at earlier.
"Excuse me," She began, hesitantly, "Can I ask you something?
The nurse looked at her, strangely.
"You're doing some kind of report on Dr Romano, right?" She asked.
Jessie nodded.
"I was wondering if this is usual… I mean, does he normally talk to his staff like that?"
The nurse laughed.
"You mean he's actually nice to you? Miss, either your report is very important to him, or he's got the hots for you. Romano isn't nice to anyone." She turned away. "if you ask me, that helicopter could have made our lives easier, not harder. A foot to the right…and you wouldn't need to be here."
"Thanks," Jessie said, absently. She wandered back to Robert thinking about what the nurse had said. Perhaps this assignment was going to be tougher than she'd first thought.
Jessie noticed Robert chatting to a young black guy with a prosthetic leg. The two were laughing about something, Jessie couldn't hear their conversation, and was surprised when Robert turned and pointed in her direction. The young man looked at Jessie and grinned. Jessie tapped her leg with her clipboard and smiled back at him. It seemed that Robert was able to relate to another amputee, Jessie noted. Funny, how he can talk to this guy when he seems incapable of being nice to anyone else.
The time passed quickly, and Robert was surprised to find that he enjoyed having Jessie around. She asked him intelligent, thoughtful questions, and took meticulous notes with her pen and her clipboard. Robert had just started to relax, and was in the middle of explaining to a couple of hapless medical students the proper way to suture a wound, when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elizabeth approach.
"Robert," she said, smoothly, and not without warmth, "how are you?"
"Lizzie. So nice to see you. I'm very well considering I have to work with this bunch of idiots," Robert replied gesturing towards the students, while fixing Elizabeth with his winning smile. "What brings you down to the ER?"
"I'm here for a consult," Elizabeth replied. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ears in a gesture that made Robert's heart lurch. Then she looked over towards where Jessie was stood, quietly watching them. Jessie wasn't stupid; she'd read enough books on body language to know that Romano had feelings for this woman. She'd heard about Dr Corday, and had kept meaning to drop her a note – they were both Englishmen abroad, she figured – but had not had the time. Work at County had kept her busy.
Elizabeth held out her hand towards Jessie.
"Elizabeth Corday," she offered, "I've heard a lot about you, Dr Rhodes."
"Please, call me Jessie." They shook hands. "It's nice to meet you, Dr Corday."
"Go on, get out," Robert snarled at the medical students. "Go and hassle Dr Carter; I've had enough of you." He pushed the students out the door, and watched as the two women in his life traded information. It turned out that they had a few mutual acquaintances and that Jessie's mother had attended the same school as Elizabeth. After a minute or two, Jessie excused herself – leaving Robert and Elizabeth alone with Robert's patient. He turned away from Elizabeth and busied himself with trying to suture the patient's wound himself. It was difficult, but not impossible. One small step for man, he thought to himself.
"Well she seems nice enough," Elizabeth indicated in Jessie's direction, her smile widening as she caught sight of Dr Dorsett heading her way, a satisfied grin on his face. "You just need to remember whose side she's on."
Robert caught her looking over his shoulder and turned slightly to see what had diverted her attention. He might have guessed; the one person he really didn't want to see. Elizabeth was trying, unsuccessfully, not to look as if all her Christmases had come at once. Robert sighed to himself and tried to tie off the thread. It kept sliding through his fingers. Elizabeth watched as Dorsett winked at her through the glass door, and kept walking, in the direction Jessie had gone. She turned back to Robert, who had managed to tie the thread.
"Hey, not bad!" She admitted. The stitches could have been tighter, and neater, and the tie was sloppy and untidy, but it was a pretty good effort.
"Thanks!" Robert's smile was genuine, but it faded as he took in what she had said about Jessie, and he raised his head to look at her. "What do you mean, 'whose side she's on'?"
Elizabeth looked quizzically at Robert.
"Well, she's working for the Board, not for you. She's been hired to assess you, Robert. I'm only looking out for you as your friend." She emphasised the word friend. "I'm just saying that you can't trust her. Remember, if she writes you off then the Board will have no choice but to……" Elizabeth's voice trailed off as Jessie came back into the room.
"Okay, Romano," Jessie said brightly, aware that she had interrupted something, but not knowing what she could do about it. "I've got to go now; time's up. I'll see you in a couple of days?"
Robert nodded, not trusting himself to look at Jessie. He knew that what Elizabeth had said was right, but he couldn't help thinking that it was a bit harsh for her to dismiss Jessie as the enemy without really getting to know her. On the other hand, (what do you mean, the other one, Robert? he thought) Jessie was here to assess him, not to make friends. He was entirely reliant on her saving his career.
"Nice to meet you, Elizabeth," Jessie was saying. The two women shook hands and Jessie walked out of the exam room, holding it open for the two medical students who were sheepishly making their way back in, followed by Chuny with the patient's pain medication and his chart.
Robert shook his head to himself and snapped out of his thoughts. He retrieved his pen from his coat pocket and reached over, scrawling his signature on the chart. Glaring at the medical students, he indicated the patient's wound.
"Right, you two – this task was so easy that even someone with only one arm could do it. Explain to me why you seem unable to sew up a simple clean wound such as this?" He turned to the patient, an old man with a sad smile and shabby clothes. "There you go, Mr Hopkins; as good as new. Now, keep the wound dry and don't stretch the stitches too much. I don't want to see you back here again, okay? I've got better things to do than look after drunks like you who seem unable to remember to look where you're going." He stormed out of the room, Elizabeth on his heels.
"Robert, that was a little harsh," Elizabeth frowned.
"Lizzie – that's the fifth time this month, that guy's come in. I'm fed up doing charity. He should be put out of his misery."
"Okay, Robert, see you later," Elizabeth said, wondering if it wouldn't be more beneficial to put Robert out of his misery. Now, where was Dorsett, she thought, as all thoughts of Robert and his predicament disappeared from her mind. Perhaps she could take him to dinner when their shifts finished?
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