The father, the mother and Stacy 4.
I slept, I slept and I slept so badly that night. Of course, I was exhausted last night. And with that, I got into bed by midnight because I had been at Magoos until eleven when they closed. Carter gave me lift home, again. I was almost too thrilled about our whole conversation that I couldn't sleep. But man, I was too tired.
From what I remember, the last thing Carter said to me was, "I had a really great time tonight."
Then I said I though the same before walking out of his car.
When I woke up it was almost noon. I heard Denise doing the dished and I was just too happy in my bed even wanting to get up yet.
Soon I realised I was on again in four hours, I would have my first night shift going until seven am tomorrow. No way I was getting out of bed yet.
But I was stupid even believing I was gonna have that luxury when I heard the door knocking. I closed my eyes even harder and heard Denise's fast steps.
"Julie! How are you?" she yelled. I was mad. She didn't see I was sleeping!? Man, she has to understand more how it is to work shift in the hospitals.
"Who's that?" I heard the unfamiliar voice say.
"That's my new roomie, she came from Sweden four days ago."
They didn't even know I was hearing them?
"Yeah? I haven't seen her."
"She's in the ER, that's why she sleeps all day."
"I'm not sleeping if you want to know that", I said quietly and heard Denise laugh a bit.
"Sorry Joe. You were on late yesterday?" Denise asked and now I looked up at them and got sight on another black tall woman that smiled at me.
"Seven."
"And you came back here at midnight?"
It was quiet for a few seconds. I didn't know what to say. Denise smiled and blinked at me. No, now she thought something.
"I was getting dinner", I said and she just laughed. This wasn't good. She would do whatever it takes to get everything out of me. But I didn't have anything to hide, I didn't.
"That's really funny, now tell me the truth."
I was too tired even come up with a lie. I wanted to lie because I was too exhausted to even come in a discussion with her. She would think the "worst."
But it wasn't at all such a thing she would think. We just got to know each other a bit. That's no harm. But Denise would of course see it a lot more than that.
"Met someone?" she raised her brows and smiled with her friend. I was way too tired to even give it a thought what I would answer.
"Kind of."
My choose for an answer was a mistake I would regret for the last of my life.
Denise jumped in the bed over my legs and it hurted like hell. Even her friend sat down on the bed. But Denise was lying all over me. I groaned.
"Tell us all about him", Denise shouted. Maybe this Denise was more involved about boys than I ever wanted.
"I'm on very soon, let me sleep!" I groaned and that didn't help a bit, it just made it worse. She started to shake me really hard when I closed my eyes.
"Night shift!" I yelled but she wouldn't stop. I wanted to scream in her face.
"Just tell us one thing! One!"
I sighed.
"We just ate some after work, he's a doctor."
Denise gave me that surprised look when she heard the word doctor.
"Don't say a word! We just had a chat, nothing else", I protested before she would say anything.
Denise just smiled like I was just talking shit.
"We all know about the hospital policy, do not get involved as a student with a doctor, but man, who cares?"
Her friend agreed with her. I sighed again.
"I haven't said anything about getting involved. I just got to know my colleague a bit", I protested.
"But maybe you will be", she said smiling. I was laughing. Me and Carter? Yeah right, like that would ever happen.
"So he's cute?" was her second question.
"I've already answered one question, now leave me alone."
And luckily they did.
"And remember, it was not a date. He's a doctor. I'm not even interested in him!"
Denise and her friend still seemed to not believe me because they just laughed in the kitchen. Why was it so hard to believe? It was true! They hadn't even been there, so the couldn't know.
Now when I got the chance to sleep again I couldn't at all. Because now I got last night on my mind again. Everything we spoke about, the delicious pancakes, every little thing I could look at at Carter. I had a really great time with him. I can't get it out of my mind. I just got to know my teacher a bit. What's wrong with that? Nothing.
But of course is that stuff the only stuff Denise has in her mind when it involves and a man and a woman.
But I just gave it all a laugh before getting into the bathroom. It was now useless to even get to sleep again. Now I was a bit anxious to get to work again.
Denise and her friend, Charlene were off to school an then I was kind of relieved. They kept giggling like little girls all the time when we made lunch and they talked about guys, all the time, by that I mean all the time!
I gave it a thought, why they even are in medical school when they just seem to care about doctors looks. They seem too immature.
Now I didn't feel so immature myself anymore, because these guys are! I just want to be an professional doctor, help people. Not jagging about how the cute doctors all the time. Okey, I think many doctors are cute, but I don't keep talking about it all day.
About Carter, that doesn't count, because he is just gorgeous, that's a fact. But I'm still not talking about him or any other guy like they do.
Man, it will be like the end of humanity if they ever see Carter. That's almost a really funny thought, how it would be. I looked at the clock when I sat down in the coach in the now quiet apartment. Now I just had one hour left to relax.
I sighed deeply and laid my head on a pillow, finally some peace.
I felt like snowman when I came into the ER. I had made the risk to take the subway and surprisingly I got to the right train and station. But the short way from the subway to the hospital was a very very snowy short way.
By the entrance the floor was all wet. This was dangerous. People were going to slip all the time.
I walked up to the board and said hello to Jerry and Elisabeth.
"That floor is dangerous", I said and pointed at the floor by the entrance.
"You got that right, somebody should take care of it", Elisabeth said smiling at me.
"It won't be me", Jerry said and I laughed a bit and smiled back at Elisabeth before walking in to the lounge.
When I opened my locker in the empty lounge I could feel this was gonna be a good day, or at least better than yesterday, except that dinner with John.
I was in the mood for patients, and a cute doctor would not be so bad now either.
Just in the second I had got on my white coat and stethoscope and locked my locker somebody walked in, Carter… John. I have to admit I was very glad so see him.
"Hello there", he said with a smile. That smile wasn't like his other ones. This one was something different, I don't know what, but I loved it more than the other ones. I did the same back as best as I could and said hello.
"Slept tight now?" he asked when he was at the sink and took a glass of water.
"Yes, except that my roommate is like a high school kid."
Carter gave it a laugh. I kept smiling. He looked like he always did, incredible.
"I hope I didn't hold you up too late last night", he said later and I shook my head immediately.
"I had a great time so that doesn't matter", I said and we kept smiling. This constant smiling gave me training ache in my dimples, but I don't care because I was smiling to him.
"I had too", Carter said before walking out the room. I was fast behind him.
Then I saw it wasn't as much people in the waiting room as yesterday. I said it was gonna be a good day.
"Catch a patient; I have to speak with Benton if I can ever find him up in the OR."
Carter was stepping away from me and I couldn't really get what he just said. He wasn't going to supervise me?
"Trust me, after watching you yesterday, I know you can handle much without me", Carter continued giving me a last smile after seeing my confused look and walked away to the elevators.
I stood there a while a bit surprised. Was Carter really giving me the opportunity to take care of patients on my own? On my third day? I had no idea he could do such a thing. I thought he was the opposite. At least when it's about students.
When I had thought it all over twice I was fast "catching a patient." This was kind of great. Except I wasn't gonna have Carter around as much as before.
After like ten patients I was kind of tired and took a cup of coffee in the lounge before getting out there again and dealing with ten more patients with easy problems like headache or stained feet. The only fun I had these past two hours was when I met Elizabeth in an exam room looking at some x-rays.
We had a nice little chat.
Elizabeth actually told me much about her relationship with Mark! I was a bit surprised. I thought that was kind of personal. But I guess it is. So I was happy she told me about it.
She told things like how they got together in the first place, that I already knew of course. But it was nice to hear it from her.
She asked some questions about Sweden (of course, everyone is interested in that) and my studies there. It was very nice talking to Liz, it felt like I could tell her everything. Okey, not everything!
Then we just discussed the x-rays from my patient and soon saw he had broken two ribs. When I was on my way out to get back to my patient Elizabeth said something that made me almost cry.
"You will be a great doctor Jojo."
I stood there by the door frozen looking at Liz that smiled at me. I didn't know what to say. I was so chocked she told me that. It felt like since I got into this crazy world people appreciated me more than no one ever did to be in the "real" world. It felt so strange. I asked myself why it was like that. Did people see my real talent here or something? And was I really becoming a good doctor? For a week ago I would had never believed that.
"That's a very nice thing of you to say, I've never heard that before", I finally said and smiled back at her.
"That's a surprise, because you are very talented", Liz said and now I could feel a tear coming up.
"Thank you very much", I said before walking out.
When I walked down the isle I felt so happy. I never wanted to leave this place. It was like made for me. Everybody seemed to notice and like me all the time. Like I was a rock star, world-leader or doctor of the year. But I was just a med student. It was kind of weird but hell I loved it!
I hadn't got so many comments since I was playing violin in a contest last month. I've been playing Irish Folk on violin since I was like seven.
That's when I just to get that much comments, but now I get it on work.
When I thought the day couldn't get better Carter was walking towards me looking as good as always. We stopped just in front each other and he gave one of those smiles.
"Doing good?" he asked and I just nodded smiling really wide.
"You?"
"Okey, just realised that Dr Romano always is going to be an asshole, watch out for him", Carter answered and I gave it a laugh. Yeah, Dr Robert Romano is not to play with. Everyone hates him and he hates everybody expect his dog. He's an hairless prick working up in the OR.
"I've heard about that one", I said and Carter gave it a laugh too before I walked into an exam room with him behind me.
I saw my middle aged patient lying on the bed with his big wife leaning over him and screaming in his hear. She had argued with him since they got here.
"Dr Anderson, thanks for coming back", the women screamed in my ears when I came up by his bed with Carter right behind me. I could feel him smiling in a way.
"Mrs Glass, it's Ms Anderson, and this is Dr Carter", I said to her and she just gave Carter a quick disgusted look before walking to her husbands bed again.
"Mr Glass, you have two broken ribs. Did you really fall of a bike?" I asked Mr Glass and could feel his wife looking at me like I was a threat to her. Maybe I was?
"Not really", Mr Glass answered and now his wife looked at him fast looking surprised.
"Yes you did!" she screamed and Carter was fast besides her lying one hand on her shoulder.
"Just take it easy, Mrs Glass", he encouraged and she just took away his hand and he took a step back. She was double as big than him.
"My wife did it", he said quietly after a while looking down guilty. Carter and me exchanged looks for a second before looking at that huge woman again.
"You asshole! I told you not tell them!" she screamed and was all over him.
Me and Carter were all over her and tried to pull her off her poor skinny husband. No way I could hold her one more minute in her arm because she was so strong. And Carter held her by her other arm and finally we got her off him and then Carter screamed.
"Get security Jojo!" he screamed when Mrs Glass had got me to the floor and Carter was still holding her. But not for long, I knew that. So I ran out of the room and screamed for security.
Jerry, Mark, Weaver and Kovac was fast behind me when I walked in again and then we saw Carter lying on the floor red as a tomato in his face when Mrs Glass laid over him. I screamed and jumped on her and felt like a little bug crawling on a big bear. She was huge and I knew she was crushing Carter.
Then Mark, Jerry and Kovac was in there to help me and soon got her off Carter that seemed to not have gotten any air at all. I fell to the floor besides him while Luka and Jerry where trying to pull out Mrs Glass out the room. Soon Weaver left too and I was left there with Carter and Mr Glass that just sat there in the bed looking chocked. I was sitting up and leaned over to Carter that still was all red in his face.
"Carter, how are you feeling?" I asked him and laid a hand on his chest and checked his pulse. He didn't answer, he just looked everywhere in the room like he was all coco.
"Carter!"
"John!"
Now he looked at me.
"How are you? Can you breathe?"
He nodded.
"I'm fine", he said before sitting up with his hair standing up. He still looked quite messy. So I was still worried about him.
"You're sure?" I asked and stared at him. He looked at me too and nodded with a smile.
"That was one hell of a lady", he said after a while and I laughed pretty hard. I wasn't worried anymore. He laughed too and there we where on the floor just laughing a while before realising Mr Glass sat there in the bed staring at us.
"Sorry Mr Glass, but I think you're wife is a great danger", I said after stop laughing and helped Carter to his feet.
"I thank god that bitch is gone!" he said and leaned back in the bed like he hadn't gotten any sleep since he married that woman. Me and Carter just looked at each other and started to laugh a bit again.
"I think you should get a divorce", I said with Carter walking really slow out of the room.
"Hell I am!" he yelled before I walked after Carter that held a hand on his back.
"She gave me a back problem", he said with a laugh and I laughed once again and then we both saw two police men dragging out that crazy Glass woman out of the ER.
"One heck of a woman!" Luka said when he came up to us with a messy hair as well. Now I couldn't stop laughing with those two hot guys with messy haircuts.
"You're alright?" Luka then asked Carter that just nodded and took away his hand from his back and stretched his neck.
"And you?"
Luka looked at me smiling and I just smiled back nodding too.
"I need coffee", I said after a while fast.
"Dear god, me too", Carter said walking as fast as he could after me that was half way to the lounge.
I sat down in front of Carter in the lounge and took a gulp of my coffee and so did he. And Elizabeth stood by the sink just taking some deep breaths.
"I heard about that crazy woman", Elizabeth laughed and Carter and I just laughed too.
"Carter looked like a small ant compare to her", I said and now Elizabeth laughed harder but Carter seemed to take a bit too personal. Because he just gave me that look like he was angry in the same time he smiled.
"And she almost crushed you like you were one too", I continued and heard Elizabeth still laughing behind me. Carter just shook his head smiling.
"Hey, if you look really close, he really looks like one as well", Elizabeth said when Carter and I had got up and she was walking a bit closer to him. He still shook his head and smiled. I just laughed along with Liz. It was really fun to mess with him.
"Haha, very funny, now go do something useful", Carter said and pushed us two out of the lounge.
"Whatever you say… ant Carter", I said and looked up at him just smiling. He smiled back but I could see that ant-talk really bugged him. I could hear Elizabeth laugh when she was walking away. Me and Carter just stood there a while looking at each other in the middle of the isle before we heard some sirens from outside. We where fast out the entrance behind Green and an ambulance backed up and the back doors opened. Two familiar ambulance men jumped out and we all helped to get down the stretcher where a woman was lying with oxygen by her nose and mouth.
"She's stabbed three times in the chest and she's bleeding really hard", one of the ambulance men told us when we rolled her in with me besides Carter and Green and the ambulance man on the other side of the barrow. Soon I saw all this blood and I told myself not to feel sick.
But it wasn't so bad this time, I had been through this one time. I could do it this time. I would help them too, I had too.
But suddenly we heard another siren and I exchanged looks with Carter for a second.
"Carter, take care of this!" Green yelled before he was running back to the entrance. Me and Carter continued to trauma room 1. It was only me and him with the hard wounded woman.
"Jojo, you have to get to intubate her really fast", Carter yelled at me and I looked up at him and just nodded.
"I have to stop this bleeding, we need help in here!" Carter yelled.
When I started to feel really nervous preparing that IV really fast I tried to pull myself together. I would not mess this up now.
In the same second I was about to stick down that tube in her throat Chuny rushed in and started to help Carter. When I had got that tube in her throat my heart beat harder than ever and I could almost not push on that balloon. It was the first time I did intubate on a real person. I had just done it on dolls before.
Soon I just stood there watching Carter and Chuny trying to stop her bleeding and saw Green and two nurses in the other trauma room trying to rescue a man. I was all sweaty and shook like I had a fever.
After a long time the woman was quite stabled but Carter said it was useless to give her a surgery. She was dying and there was nothing to do about it. The tube in her throat was keeping her alive, at least for a while.
Carol walked in and asked all about her and Carter told her everything and soon she was up at me and laid a hand on my shoulder.
"I can take this over now Jojo", she said and I gave her a quick smile taking a step back.
"You did well", Carter said and looked at me. I just nodded before walking out. I was still kind of chocked of all this and needed to collect myself again.
In the second I got out Green walked up to me.
"It was a little girl with the woman in the ambulance, these two are her parents", Green told me and looked away at a little girl sitting down on a chair. She looked like she was in the age of six.
"Can you check if she's okay and talk to her a bit?" Green asked and now looked at me. I looked back at him and nodded.
"Of course", I said before Green gave me a quick smile before walking in to the trauma room again.
I took a deep breath before walking up to that little girl sitting in a chair alone. Poor little one. I wandered what happened to her parents.
I bent down in front of her and she looked at me. She wasn't crying or anything.
"Hello, I'm Jojo, what's your name?" I asked her and she took off her pink hat. She had long curly brown hair. She was so cute.
"I'm Stacy, how's my parents?" she asked and looked over to the trauma rooms and then I just laid a hand on her arm and stroked it a bit. This was very hard for me. She was young and now her parents maybe would die. And the thought of that she was actually here made me think that she had been with them at this accident, or whatever it was. Something very traumatic in any case.
"The doctors are working on saving them", I answered. It was really for the best to be honest with her. I think she has her right as their daughter to know, even if she's very young.
"I understand that, I saw how hurt they were", she said and I was surprised at her. She wasn't looking sad and the way she talked, she seemed to be very mature.
"Can you come with me and talk in another room?" I asked her with a smile and she just nodded. I took her hand and we walked away to an empty exam room. We took sits on two chairs.
"Do you know what happened?" I asked her and she nodded fast.
"Can you tell me?"
She nodded once again. Then she was quiet for a while.
"My mother were angry at my father, as usual, but this time she was really angry at him", she started and I had no idea how this story would end.
"He's usually drunk and hits my mother but now he hurted her with one of those knifes we have in the kitchen."
I was chocked. What was this little girl really telling me? That the father tried to kill her mother?
"My mother hit my father while he was hurting her and he fell back on the kitchen table and hurt his head. I called 911 when I saw them lying there on the floor sleeping."
I couldn't believe it! This story and this little girl who had seen all this.
"Did he hurt you?" I asked after a while of collecting all this in my head. She shook her head.
"Do you have any relatives?" I asked her further and then she shook her head again.
"Are you alright?" She now nodded and I hugged her. It was such a strong girl, she wasn't even crying. And she seemed to be so smart. She had called 911 and all.
"Can you just wait her a second, I get a nurse to be with you. I'm going to check how your parents are and talk to a police officer", I told Stacy after a while and she nodded again. I gave her a pat on her cheek before walking out. With my luck I caught Abby just when I got out of the room.
"You heard about those traumas?" I asked and Abby said yes.
"The daughter to both of them are in here, she's been through a traumatic experience, you have time to be with her for a while? I have to talk to Mark."
Abby just said yes with a smile before walking in to the room.
I was fast on my way back to the trauma rooms and got into the one with that man. It was kind of scary, he had actually stabbed a woman.
There I found Mark by his bed.
"The daughter's okay?" he asked and I nodded.
"How's the father?" I asked and took a look at that man and Mark just shook his head.
"He's dead, he had a serious fracture in his head."
"Yeah I know", I said and Mark looked at me strangely.
"I actually know a lot more than that", I continued and could feel my hand shaking a bit. I was still in a chock of this story and would now have to tell Mark about it.
Carter looked at that terribly wounded woman with Chuny and sighed. Another one who would not survive. When he leaved his eyes from her for the first time he saw Jojo and Mark rushing out of the other trauma room and he was fast out himself and walked up to them that were on their way down the isle.
"How's the daughter?" he asked when he was close behind them.
"She's okay actually", Jojo answered and both she and Mark looked very stressed in a way.
"She told me that her dad stabbed her mother, we have to talk to the police", she continued and Carter was chocked, the father!?
"But he's dead", Mark said when they walked up the board.
Me and Mark had a talk with an officer and he contacted some investigators. Myself couldn't figure out what it was to investigate. But I guess they have to hear it themselves from the little girl.
But it felt kind of wrong to have her share her horrible experience again. But it was nothing to do. Mark then asked me to meet the investigator and show him to Stacy. Both him and Carter soon disappeared back to the trauma rooms to check of the mother was doing. Some part of me didn't want to be any part of this mess. I that always asked for drama before in my "old" life. Now I just wanted it to be quite easy going just taking care of patients with small wounds and just lying in bed home watching this show, watching the drama instead. Now I felt it was even more comfortable than be a part of the drama.
But soon I changed my mind, when I came here. I wanted this. I wanted to help people as much as I could. I haven't got that opportunity before back in Sweden. But the moment I got here I got it handful.
So it's time for me to get used to this. It's not like in Sweden anymore. And the only thing I want now is to take care of that little girl.
The investigator soon came into the ER when I was at the board talking with Jerry, about this trauma of course. I could guess it was him from a long distance. It was a quite young man, a bit older than me in a suit and a briefcase. I walked up to him and introduced myself and asked him if he was the investigator. Of course I was right. His name was George Wade and he asked to see Stacy as we had predicted.
When we both walked down the isle on the way to the exam room I saw that George was staring at me quite… disturbing. I couldn't see any feelings in his eyes about this family tragic. He smiled at me with one of those smiles I've been quite use to over this years. Looks coming from men.
But now the difference was that it surprised me, concerning both of us we're call and with that were in the middle of a tragic thing.
"So, you look very young to be a doctor", he said in the other moment and then I became upset. Especially when I saw him smiling when he said it.
"I'm not a doctor yet, I'm a third year med", I said without giving him a look and sighed. He was probably one of those heartless bastards just caring about themselves and their sexlife. I got a bad feeling that he was going to be the one to speak with the girl. And now he didn't give that any respect at all.
"And you look very young to be an officer", I said and now gave him a look and he just laughed some and I could see some embarrassment in his eyes.
"Well…" he said and scratched his head and an elder man walked up besides him with a hand on his shoulder. I grey haired man with glasses and an almost same looking suit as Wade.
"I've told you to not run away like that Wade", he said and I looked up confused at them.
"And you are?" I asked the man who now gave me a look.
"I'm Officer Gray, excuse my partner here. He's just new in this."
It was almost too bad to be true that Wade where the one who was going to speak to the girl. I was relieved.
"It's alright, I know how it is wanting to be on your own in the beginning", I started and Gray gave me a smile and Wade just looked down in the floor embarrassed as hell. I kind of liked to watch it.
"I'm Jojo Anderson, third year med student", I continued and shook Greys hand. It felt good with an professional man taking this seriously.
"Stacy is in here, I presume you know about her situation", I said when we came up by the door. Grey just nodded and thanked me before opening the door. Wade was walking behind as he was his trained little dog with the tale between his legs. He didn't dare to look at me anymore.
In the other moment they disappeared Abby walked out and looked a bit sad. Just as I did after talking to that girl. Maybe she had heard the story too.
"How are you?" I asked her and she sighed a bit and laid some hair behind her ear.
"A bit shaken I think, that little girl has been through more than I ever had."
I nodded and started to feel sad again. Stacy couldn't get out of my mind. Soon when Abby seamed to have collected herself a bit we started walking down the isle. I laid my hands in the pockets on the coat and sighed myself.
"She said she feels tired almost all the time and sleeps a lot, I think we should exam her", Abby said after a moment after I thought it couldn't get any worse. Maybe it could. But I collected myself a bit; I can't think the worst all the time. It doesn't have to mean she is sick.
"I'm going to talk with Green about it", Abby continued when we arrived outside the trauma rooms. And then we saw Green and Carter on each side of the bed where that mother lied with the tube in her throat. Both of us sighed once again before walking in. Then both of them looked up at us with the same looks as us.
"The investigators is talking to Stacy now", I said to Mark who just nodded when Abby came up to him and I walked up besides Carter who gave me a look.
"How is she?" I asked and he sighed before opening his mouth and looked at the mother. I could feel this day would include a lot of sighing.
This day which started kind of good now felt like the worst day I would ever have in the ER. It never felt so tragic to watch it on TV, because then you knew it wasn't real. But now it was.
"She's stabled right now, but the intubation is keeping her alive."
I sighed again, of course.
"Her daughter is her last relative", he continued. Great, just great. Now we have to ask that poor girl to kill her mother or not. It's just too much.
The others just sighed a bit too. I saw in their eyes they hated days like this at work.
"Mark, can I have a word with you?" Abby said after a while. Mark just nodded before following her out of the room. Now Carter and I where left there not doing anything. We just looked at that woman.
"Are you alright?" Carter suddenly asked after a long quiet moment. Then I looked up at him who looked at me. I didn't care so much but man he looked good in that moment, the lightings where perfect, the hair which was a bit messy after these past two hours.
But it soon slipped my mind when I looked back at that mother. Another sigh.
"I don't know really", I sighed. "A bit freaked out I think", I continued and saw Carter smiling quite weak.
"It's going to be okey", he tried to support when I looked back at the mother. That didn't help so much but in the moment I felt his hand on my back it felt a bit better.
"I hope so", I said without sighing and then felt how he took away his hand. Darn. That really made this crazy day feel a bit lighter.
"Let's get back to work for a bit, what do you say?" Carter asked after a while and I gave him a quick smile. The first smile in two hours.
He gave a one back and that now made it all better. I was ready to work again. I can go see how Stacy is doing later.
So I nodded while looking at Carter before we walked out when Chuny and Yosh entered the room and said they where gonna get a room for Stacy's mother.