~*~ Chapter 4 ~*~
~~~~~ Later that night ~~~~~~~
"It's about time, you two got back, I was ready to send the search party out," Scott said with a grin when Karen and Serena walked through the door.
"Search party, it's only 10 minutes after seven…" Karen retorted.
"I know, but a dad can't be to careful, you know…" he said peeking in the bags that the girls carried in. "What did you do, buy out the mall?"
"Hey, get out of there, it's just clothes…" Serena snapped at Scott as she grabbed the bags and took them to her room.
"I was just looking to see if you brought me anything," Scott defended.
"Yeah we did…we brought your credit card back," Karen said handing him the card.
"Thanks, I'm sure there's a nice bill attached too."
"Would you expect anything less?"
"What did you buy her that she is being so secretive about?" he asked
Taken aback by his line of questioning, Karen shot him a disgusted look before she answered with a poker straight face. "We didn't buy too much, I got her a couple of pair of fish net stockings, this really cool spiked dog collar…oh…and we found this really great tattoo place. Buy two get one half off. She got this really awesome tattoo of a dolphin on her right shoulder and I got Chris' name on my left breast. Wanna see?" She asked as she began to unbutton her blouse.
"KAREN MARIE…" he yelled as he fumed over Karen's answer to his question. "I can't believe that you would…"
"Scott, do you honestly think that I would do something like that? Quit being overprotective jerk dad for a minute and think about the things that I might have bought for a teenage girl that she doesn't want Dad to see!"
Scott suddenly stopped in his tracks as the realization of what Karen had bought for Serena hit him. "Oh…I guess I didn't think about that."
"No, I guess you didn't. Look, I know you are trying to raise a teenage girl on, what seems like, your own, and I can only imagine how hard that is for you. But you're not alone I'm here. Granted, I'm not her mother, but I am her sister and she can open up to me in a way that she can't to you. So," she said taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look her in the eyes, "just trust your daughters, okay?"
"Okay," he said pulling her into a hug, "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you. You and Serena are thing two things that I did right in my life. So, why don't you help overprotective jerk dad set the table." He said with his arm around her as they walked to the Kitchen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris was standing at the nurse's station finishing up the paper work that he had for the day, so exhausted that he could barely think straight. He completed his final thought and tossed the folder into the basket as Eve approached.
"Chris, what are you still doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the firehouse for dinner?" she asked.
"Actually, yes I am. I was in surgery for the last 10 hours. Complications with a heart valve replacement," he explained. "Oh man, I better call the firehouse to let them know that I'm on my way," he said picking up the phone to make the call. He just finished dialing the number when Kayla appeared from the hallway.
"Dr. Ramsey, what the hell is going on here?" she shouted at him.
"Dr. Preston, I assure you that I have no idea what you are talking about," he said hanging up the phone that he had just dialed.
"A heart valve replacement, Dr. Ramsey. You were in surgery all day with Dr. Quartermaine. Why wasn't I brought in to assist with that surgery, especially since there were complications?" she continued refusing to lower her voice.
"Dr. Preston, I was not the head surgeon on the case, I was only asked to assist. Which, I did. If you have a problem with the cases that you are involved in, then I suggest that you resolve that issue with Dr. Quartermaine. Since it is she that you are working under. Furthermore, you have no jurisdiction over me or my colleagues and I suggest that you keep your accusations to yourself," he retorted in defense then turning to Eve. "I'm not going to stand around here and listen to this drivel. I have a dinner to get to. Eve, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Chris…" she said not taking her eye's off of Kayla. "What do you need?"
"Could you check in on Mrs. Carter in 609 a couple of times while you're on duty. She always gets so lonely," he asked before quickly turning around to leave.
"Sure, see you tomorrow Chris," Eve said as she leaned down on to the counter to get a little closer to Kayla. "You're not to smart are you?"
"I beg your pardon…" Kayla replied shocked at Eve's question.
"Around here, there are a couple of people that you should always suck up to, and then there are people who you should never make an enemy out of. And those two groups of people are all intertwined in some way or another. So until you figure out who is who around here, you might want to keep your mouth shut." Eve warned.
"Is that some kind of a threat?"
"No, not at all. Just consider it an advanced friendly warning." Eve said smiling as she walked away and left Kayla standing at the nurse's station to ponder her comment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hello…" Scott said as he answered the ringing telephone. "Oh, hey Chris. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine. I just left the hospital so I will be there shortly for dinner, I didn't want Karen to worry," he explained.
"Okay, I'll tell her. Take your time, it's raining out there. Bye" Scott said hanging up.
"Who was that?" Karen asked bringing plates into the dining room.
"Oh…that was Chris. He just left the hospital, he'll be here soon." He said as he took the plates from her hands and placed them on the table. "I talked to your grandmother this afternoon."
"Oh, good…did she tell you about he present?"
"Present, what present?"
"Aunt Ilene, sent a wedding present here. She didn't have my new address," Karen explained.
"Oh, no…she didn't mention the present, but she did mention that you were asking her some questions about my time in Canada. Is there something bothering you that you want to ask me?" he asked with concern. "You know, you can talk to me about anything."
"I know…But no, nothing is bothering me. I was finally formally introduced to Kayla at the hospital right before I stopped in to see Gail. Apparently, she is going to be working there for a couple of months under Monica Quartermaine. Which got me thinking about our dinner the other night…I started to wonder how close you two were back then and what things may have been like if you had gone back to Canada. That's all, nothing major…I was just letting my curiosity get the best of me."
"Oh, I see…" Deep down Scott knew what this was all about. He knew that it upset Karen that Kayla took her to be his girlfriend and not his daughter and Karen was just fishing for the truth. "Are you sure this isn't about the fact that she thought that you were my girlfriend and not my daughter?"
"No, it's not about that at all…" Karen lied.
"Karen?" he said not believing her.
"Okay, Okay…so that did bother me for a minute. I don't know why, I'm mean, it's not like we were a part of each other's lives or anything."
"I was rather shocked at her assumptions, too, after I had told her so much about you and showed her your picture so many times." He replied.
"Wait, my picture? You had a picture of me?" she asked in complete shock.
"Of course, I did. You're mother had sent me your graduation picture and a wedding picture. I had them both on the mantle next to Serena's school picture."
Karen couldn't help but to smile. All this time, she thought that his life in Canada was just about Serena. But then, maybe it wasn't after all. Maybe he just didn't know how to make the first step with her. "Do you still have them?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course, I have them. They are upstairs. I have your graduation picture in my bedroom, I put your wedding picture in the cedar chest though," he admitted.
Karen hurriedly went upstairs to Scott's bedroom. She had been in there many times and never noticed the picture. But when she entered the room, sure enough, her graduation picture was standing perfectly on top of his dresser. She stood there and just stared at the picture that she had seen a million times at her mothers and in her yearbook. But it never meant anything to her until she saw on her father's dresser.
"Did you think I was lying?" Scott asked coming up from behind.
"No," she said without taking her eyes off of the picture. "I just never knew."
"Well, now you do," he said as they heard the front door open downstairs.
"Hello, is anybody here?" Chris shouted when he didn't see anybody.
Karen ran down to greet Chris and took the bag that he had carried in. "What's all this?" she asked peeking inside.
"I just stopped by the bakery to pick up a fresh loaf of Italian bread and some Danishes for dessert."
"Mmm…Danishes…trying to win over the old man, huh?" she asked with a sly smile then giving him a kiss.
"If he keeps bringing things like that, it won't be too hard…" Scott interjected. "Dinner is ready, I'll bring it out. Karen, you want to run upstairs and get your sister?"
"Sure," she said as Scott left the room then turning to Chris, "Are you okay? You look a bit rattled. Did everything go okay at the hospital?"
"Yeah, everything is fine, I just had an unpleasant run in with Dr. Preston, before I left. That woman has some issues."
"Tell me about it," she replied rolling her eyes, "she definitely rubs me the wrong way. What did she get on you about?"
"She started laying into me because she wasn't included in the heart valve surgery. It wasn't my decision. I think she is trying to throw around weight that she doesn't have."
"She's only going to be here for a couple of months. We should be able to survive that," Karen reasoned.
"Well, I'm not going to let her bother me. I have better things to do," he said giving Karen a kiss then walking toward. "Go get your sister, I'm going to try to keep this a neutral war zone and give your dad a hand in there."
Karen laughed and shook her head as she watched Chris go to the kitchen before leaving the room herself.
~~~~~ Later that night ~~~~~~~
"It's about time, you two got back, I was ready to send the search party out," Scott said with a grin when Karen and Serena walked through the door.
"Search party, it's only 10 minutes after seven…" Karen retorted.
"I know, but a dad can't be to careful, you know…" he said peeking in the bags that the girls carried in. "What did you do, buy out the mall?"
"Hey, get out of there, it's just clothes…" Serena snapped at Scott as she grabbed the bags and took them to her room.
"I was just looking to see if you brought me anything," Scott defended.
"Yeah we did…we brought your credit card back," Karen said handing him the card.
"Thanks, I'm sure there's a nice bill attached too."
"Would you expect anything less?"
"What did you buy her that she is being so secretive about?" he asked
Taken aback by his line of questioning, Karen shot him a disgusted look before she answered with a poker straight face. "We didn't buy too much, I got her a couple of pair of fish net stockings, this really cool spiked dog collar…oh…and we found this really great tattoo place. Buy two get one half off. She got this really awesome tattoo of a dolphin on her right shoulder and I got Chris' name on my left breast. Wanna see?" She asked as she began to unbutton her blouse.
"KAREN MARIE…" he yelled as he fumed over Karen's answer to his question. "I can't believe that you would…"
"Scott, do you honestly think that I would do something like that? Quit being overprotective jerk dad for a minute and think about the things that I might have bought for a teenage girl that she doesn't want Dad to see!"
Scott suddenly stopped in his tracks as the realization of what Karen had bought for Serena hit him. "Oh…I guess I didn't think about that."
"No, I guess you didn't. Look, I know you are trying to raise a teenage girl on, what seems like, your own, and I can only imagine how hard that is for you. But you're not alone I'm here. Granted, I'm not her mother, but I am her sister and she can open up to me in a way that she can't to you. So," she said taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look her in the eyes, "just trust your daughters, okay?"
"Okay," he said pulling her into a hug, "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you. You and Serena are thing two things that I did right in my life. So, why don't you help overprotective jerk dad set the table." He said with his arm around her as they walked to the Kitchen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris was standing at the nurse's station finishing up the paper work that he had for the day, so exhausted that he could barely think straight. He completed his final thought and tossed the folder into the basket as Eve approached.
"Chris, what are you still doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the firehouse for dinner?" she asked.
"Actually, yes I am. I was in surgery for the last 10 hours. Complications with a heart valve replacement," he explained. "Oh man, I better call the firehouse to let them know that I'm on my way," he said picking up the phone to make the call. He just finished dialing the number when Kayla appeared from the hallway.
"Dr. Ramsey, what the hell is going on here?" she shouted at him.
"Dr. Preston, I assure you that I have no idea what you are talking about," he said hanging up the phone that he had just dialed.
"A heart valve replacement, Dr. Ramsey. You were in surgery all day with Dr. Quartermaine. Why wasn't I brought in to assist with that surgery, especially since there were complications?" she continued refusing to lower her voice.
"Dr. Preston, I was not the head surgeon on the case, I was only asked to assist. Which, I did. If you have a problem with the cases that you are involved in, then I suggest that you resolve that issue with Dr. Quartermaine. Since it is she that you are working under. Furthermore, you have no jurisdiction over me or my colleagues and I suggest that you keep your accusations to yourself," he retorted in defense then turning to Eve. "I'm not going to stand around here and listen to this drivel. I have a dinner to get to. Eve, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Chris…" she said not taking her eye's off of Kayla. "What do you need?"
"Could you check in on Mrs. Carter in 609 a couple of times while you're on duty. She always gets so lonely," he asked before quickly turning around to leave.
"Sure, see you tomorrow Chris," Eve said as she leaned down on to the counter to get a little closer to Kayla. "You're not to smart are you?"
"I beg your pardon…" Kayla replied shocked at Eve's question.
"Around here, there are a couple of people that you should always suck up to, and then there are people who you should never make an enemy out of. And those two groups of people are all intertwined in some way or another. So until you figure out who is who around here, you might want to keep your mouth shut." Eve warned.
"Is that some kind of a threat?"
"No, not at all. Just consider it an advanced friendly warning." Eve said smiling as she walked away and left Kayla standing at the nurse's station to ponder her comment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hello…" Scott said as he answered the ringing telephone. "Oh, hey Chris. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine. I just left the hospital so I will be there shortly for dinner, I didn't want Karen to worry," he explained.
"Okay, I'll tell her. Take your time, it's raining out there. Bye" Scott said hanging up.
"Who was that?" Karen asked bringing plates into the dining room.
"Oh…that was Chris. He just left the hospital, he'll be here soon." He said as he took the plates from her hands and placed them on the table. "I talked to your grandmother this afternoon."
"Oh, good…did she tell you about he present?"
"Present, what present?"
"Aunt Ilene, sent a wedding present here. She didn't have my new address," Karen explained.
"Oh, no…she didn't mention the present, but she did mention that you were asking her some questions about my time in Canada. Is there something bothering you that you want to ask me?" he asked with concern. "You know, you can talk to me about anything."
"I know…But no, nothing is bothering me. I was finally formally introduced to Kayla at the hospital right before I stopped in to see Gail. Apparently, she is going to be working there for a couple of months under Monica Quartermaine. Which got me thinking about our dinner the other night…I started to wonder how close you two were back then and what things may have been like if you had gone back to Canada. That's all, nothing major…I was just letting my curiosity get the best of me."
"Oh, I see…" Deep down Scott knew what this was all about. He knew that it upset Karen that Kayla took her to be his girlfriend and not his daughter and Karen was just fishing for the truth. "Are you sure this isn't about the fact that she thought that you were my girlfriend and not my daughter?"
"No, it's not about that at all…" Karen lied.
"Karen?" he said not believing her.
"Okay, Okay…so that did bother me for a minute. I don't know why, I'm mean, it's not like we were a part of each other's lives or anything."
"I was rather shocked at her assumptions, too, after I had told her so much about you and showed her your picture so many times." He replied.
"Wait, my picture? You had a picture of me?" she asked in complete shock.
"Of course, I did. You're mother had sent me your graduation picture and a wedding picture. I had them both on the mantle next to Serena's school picture."
Karen couldn't help but to smile. All this time, she thought that his life in Canada was just about Serena. But then, maybe it wasn't after all. Maybe he just didn't know how to make the first step with her. "Do you still have them?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course, I have them. They are upstairs. I have your graduation picture in my bedroom, I put your wedding picture in the cedar chest though," he admitted.
Karen hurriedly went upstairs to Scott's bedroom. She had been in there many times and never noticed the picture. But when she entered the room, sure enough, her graduation picture was standing perfectly on top of his dresser. She stood there and just stared at the picture that she had seen a million times at her mothers and in her yearbook. But it never meant anything to her until she saw on her father's dresser.
"Did you think I was lying?" Scott asked coming up from behind.
"No," she said without taking her eyes off of the picture. "I just never knew."
"Well, now you do," he said as they heard the front door open downstairs.
"Hello, is anybody here?" Chris shouted when he didn't see anybody.
Karen ran down to greet Chris and took the bag that he had carried in. "What's all this?" she asked peeking inside.
"I just stopped by the bakery to pick up a fresh loaf of Italian bread and some Danishes for dessert."
"Mmm…Danishes…trying to win over the old man, huh?" she asked with a sly smile then giving him a kiss.
"If he keeps bringing things like that, it won't be too hard…" Scott interjected. "Dinner is ready, I'll bring it out. Karen, you want to run upstairs and get your sister?"
"Sure," she said as Scott left the room then turning to Chris, "Are you okay? You look a bit rattled. Did everything go okay at the hospital?"
"Yeah, everything is fine, I just had an unpleasant run in with Dr. Preston, before I left. That woman has some issues."
"Tell me about it," she replied rolling her eyes, "she definitely rubs me the wrong way. What did she get on you about?"
"She started laying into me because she wasn't included in the heart valve surgery. It wasn't my decision. I think she is trying to throw around weight that she doesn't have."
"She's only going to be here for a couple of months. We should be able to survive that," Karen reasoned.
"Well, I'm not going to let her bother me. I have better things to do," he said giving Karen a kiss then walking toward. "Go get your sister, I'm going to try to keep this a neutral war zone and give your dad a hand in there."
Karen laughed and shook her head as she watched Chris go to the kitchen before leaving the room herself.