Doctor's Notes
Rampart Hospital's new Emergency head tries to steer a grieving man back to work.
Inspired by a scene in "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act," with background on Dixie from Season 2's "Syndrome" and Season 5's "Involvement."
And I admit to a little inspiration from the M*A*S*H episode "Mulcahy's War." There's no crossover, however.
1967
Light raindrops fell as Dr. Kelly Brackett pulled his Coupe DeVille into the parking lot. Through the drops, he saw a bright, yellow sign: "The Corner. Live Jazz Nightly."
The new director of Rampart Hospital's Emergency Medicine division sighed.
The blonde woman next to him snickered. "Come on, Kel. It's not that bad."
Kel looked at the woman and gave his customary half-smile. Nurse Dixie McCall - veteran of the Korean War and San Francisco General Hospital - almost read minds.
"Not with you it isn't, Dix," he agreed.
Dixie had transferred from San Francisco to Rampart in 1961, the same year that Kel had come to the hospital from the Mayo Clinic. The reasons for Dixie's move were unclear, but Kel had suspected a broken romance. He'd never asked her.
To say so out loud, besides being a violation of propriety, would have also been an insult to Dixie's skill as a nurse. Millie Eastman, Rampart's tough-as-nails emergency head nurse, had come to rely on Dixie. It was perceived that when Millie decided to retire, Dixie would succeed her.
"But why do I listen to you?" Kel asked.
"Because I'm smart," Dixie joked.
Indeed, she was. And that - rather than a simple date - was the reason the pair was at a seemingly run-down jazz club on a rainy Friday night.
They were there to scout a pianist - but not for music.
Kel parked the car and Dixie handed him the large umbrella. He made haste in exiting his side, opening the umbrella, locking his car door and running to fetch his companion, who locked her door. They walked swiftly to the entrance.
To Kel, at least, the atmosphere inside was no less bleak than the atmosphere outside. There was little need for him to adjust his eyesight to the darkness. But what got his attention was the piano music.
It got Dixie's attention, too. "There he is," she said. "Let's sit at the piano."
"Uh… piano?" Kel didn't mind music, but he wasn't a big piano bar fan.
"Well, sure. You want to speak to him."
"Well, Dix, the truth is, YOU said I want to speak to him."
Dixie gave her companion a forceful look. "Do I have to drag you over there?" she asked.
Kel's mouth twitched. "I thought you were."
Dixie sighed and gently pulled Kel's hand. The pair walked over to the piano bar and sat down to the tune of "Autumn Leaves."
The salt-and-pepper-haired pianist looked up at the pair in surprise. "Any requests?" he asked.
Kel looked at Dixie, then back at the pianist. "Yeah," Kel said. "That you take a break, so we can have a conversation."
The pianist stopped to glance at his watch, then back at Kel. "It so happens I have a break coming up," he said. He changed the tune to "Route 66."*
Kel had a half-chuckle as the pianist skillfully performed the notes - with hands, Kel knew, that were far more skilled at surgery.
Somehow, he had to get the "Doctor" back in front of Joe Early's name.
Kel believed it would be far more productive than "Pianist."
E!E!E!
* Of course, "Route 66" was written by Bobby Troup, who played Dr. Joe Early.