Disclaimer: see all the other chapters, same song, new verse!
Sara was brought to a holding area in the radiology department to await various studies. She succumbed to the lingering effects of the morphine and total exhaustion, especially now with no one prodding and poking on her any more. She was in a deep sleep despite the hard stretcher, the constant blip of the monitor, and the makeshift traction for her broken arm.
Dr. Vincent Lurie and his team were just walking in the department to view films of their patients before starting their evening rounds. He was lucky to have an extremely competent chief resident on this rotation, so he could delegate more to this gifted young doctor. Bill Brailey organized the team better than some of the other staff surgeons did. Just about then, the text page came in, "No rest for the weary, gang. We have a consult, but if we time this right we can catch the patient before she leaves the department!" Bill took the information and dispatched a medical student to go find the chart.
The information was gleaned from the chart, summarized into a problem list, and under each problem, a list was generated including what had been done, what was pending, and what still needed to be watched or obtained. "Ok, let's go find this woman."
After reading the account of her adventure, no one was surprised to see her condition; not the deep sleep, the injuries, nor the unkept, filthy appearance. "Boy, I really hate to do this," Dr. Brailey commented as he reached up to awaken Sara. "Ms. Sidle?" he spoke forcefully as he shook her shoulder.
Sara awoke with a start, instinctively thrashed about, looking up in shock, not knowing where she was, and scaring the medical students right out of their little white jackets. She was trying to focus on the young doctor's face speaking to her, but everything was a blur.
"Whoa there, relax Ma'am," he said grabbing her shoulders and holding her to the stretcher. "I'm Dr. Brailey, this is my staff, Dr. Lurie, and you're at Desert Palms Hospital, but right now you're on a tiny stretcher, so if you keep this up, you're going to add to those injuries you already have."
"Oh, my, I'm so sorry," she lamented in a low voice. "I'm still a little out of it I guess, I had no idea where I was just then."
Vincent Lurie suddenly turned ashen as his heart raced. Even with the matted hair and the abrasions and the dirt, he saw Debbie. The resemblance frightened him to his core. Then a longing came over him. He was losing his objectivety as her physician, as he was mesmerized by the sight of her. He thought ahead; she would not always be his patient. I might have another chance! Finally, he turned away, trying to stay outwardly calm, smiled and motioned to Bill to continue.
Dr. Brailey briefly examined her, and upon finding nothing new from the exam recorded in the ER, he began to summarize her condition for her.
To Sara it sounded like a foreign language film with no subtitles. "Dr., um, oh darn," she slurred, "what did you say your name was?"
"Brailey, ma'am."
"Ok, well, not to be rude, but I'm not catching any of what you're telling me, my head is spinning a bit, I really need you to call my boyfriend, and tell all this stuff to him."
Boyfriend! Well, that's better than husband.Lurie mused to himself.
"Usually it's better if you have a relative I could contact," he replied somewhat dejectedly as rounds were being further drawn out.
"Actually, I don't,…but this man has my medical power of attorney, he's the appropriate person."
Who gives medical power of attorney to a boyfriend? This sounds serious.
"OK, Ms. Sidle," Dr. Brailey pulled out a notepad, "name and number please"
"Thank you," she replied, obviously relieved, "Gil Grissom, 750-9544."
Success in Vincent Lurie's profession required meticulous control of emotion, and he was a master of it. But, this was too much even for this ice man. He discretely reached for the chart and ducked out of the room. Finding a vacant office, he entered it and shut the door. Letting out a muffled scream, banging the desk, and hyperventilating; he had never been so out of control, at least not since that fateful night. Trying to clear his mind, calm his body, he was totally numb by the knowledge that his obsession with Debbie was returning with one glimpse of Sara. Worse than the powerlessness he felt over that, was the fact that he would have to go through the man who was hell bent on him spending the rest of his life in prison over her. He could never forget that name. Yet, as his mind recovered, he began to think out loud, What are the odds that there are two Gil Grissom's in this town?He flipped through the chart to the sheet containing the personal information. Employer: LVPD Crime Lab. Damn!
Dr. Lurie quickly scribbled down Sara's contact information, cursing under his breath as he noticed it was the same as her emergency contact, Grissom. Damn him! What happened to "I couldn't do it, risk everything I worked for."? Lying hypocritical bastard.
Lurie had to reign in his composure, and fast. He ventured out of the office once he was in complete command of his emotions once again, but his mind was occupied with the specter of Debbie and the knowledge that he was likely to confront his nemesis, Dr. Gil Grissom.
Rejoining the team, Dr. Brailey had already started the call, "Catch up with us when you're done," Dr. Lurie whispered to Bill as he handed him her chart, glanced over at Sara once more, and proceeded out of radiology motioning the team to follow. Sara was already back asleep, never picking up on Dr. Lurie's presence.
TBC……