Chapter 2 – Did I Say That Out Loud?
Grace braved the elements, dressed like an Eskimo and rode the EL into work the next day. The weather was supposed to break soon, but she feared it could be a while before she could get her car started.
Romano was right. The ER was short staffed with several people away sick with the flu and some, as always, not sick at all, just MIA.
After seeing numerous patients and being on her feet for hours on end, Grace was desperate for a break, but with staffing so low, she knew it would be unlikely she'd get a rest during her shift. She went into the lounge to grab a quick coffee and ran into Carter.
"Hey, it's a real zoo out there today."
"You said it. Hey, Carter, any chance I could bum a ride home? My car's completely dead."
"Really, how'd you get here? Did you take the EL?"
"Yeah, but it's brutal. It was late, cold, and packed with sick people."
"Just like being here." He joked.
"Well, I got lucky last night, I caught a ride home with Romano."
Carter nearly spit out some of his coffee. "Say again?"
"He was walking past me in the parkade as I was cursing out my car, and took pity on me."
"And he didn't run you over? Now that's a Christmas miracle."
"Well, I guess even he can be nice once and a while." They walked out of the lounge and back towards the admit desk.
"Look, I'm sorry Grace, but I have a benefit to go to after work for the Carter Family Foundation. I brought a change of clothes so I could go straight there. Maybe Luka can give you a ride?"
"No time for personal chit chat in the ER, Dr. Carter. Go forth and heal. They're backed up in chairs as we speak."
Carter walked away and ignored Romano. Grace tried to sneak away unnoticed, but Romano noticed everything.
"And you Nurse Hanson? Isn't there an enema waiting in exam 2 with your name on it?"
"Yes, Dr. Romano. I was just on my way."
After catching up to the steady stream of patients, Grace approached Luka to see about catching a ride home, but he too had plans.
"Sorry, Grace. Any other day but today."
"That's okay, I've suffered all day without a break, might as well suffer all the way home on the EL, too." She turned around and found herself standing face to face with Romano.
"Still trying to beguile your way into a ride home?" He said, not moving away from her, as part of his usual intimidation. "Try to keep your whining to a minimum around the patients, Grace."
As he turned away, she sneered at him, causing Carter to snicker. "Hard to believe that guy has a mother." He muttered.
"Probably raised by wolves." She whispered.
Much to their surprise a booming reply came from far down the hall. "I heard that! Don't forget who does the ER schedule people!"
"You've got to be kidding. How is that even possible?" she said in disbelief.
Four hours later and two hours past the time her shift was supposed to end, Grace bundled up to prepare for her journey home and walked down a few blocks to the EL station. Finally arriving home, she made herself a cup of hot chocolate and went to bed with the electric blanket on full blast.
During the next day few days at work, Grace labored through her shifts, with many staff away due to illness or an unwillingness to get out of bed during this cold snap. One day in particular, she heard one of the other nurses talking.
"Yeah, he sure has been down here a lot, more than usual." Chuny commented.
"I know. It's kind of creepy." Abby replied.
Grace piped up trying to engage in the latest gossip. "Something I should know about, girls?"
"Oh, it's just Romano." Abby answered. "He's been down here all week for some reason. Snooping around. I don't know, it's kind of weird, like he's looking for something."
"Or someone!" Lily chimed in.
"Well, we have had a lot of surgical consults lately." Grace offered.
"Not this often. He normally gets his underlings to come to the ER to do most of his dirty work. I've never seen him down here this often in all the years I've been here."
"I think he's covering for Dr. Anspaugh, so he's pulling double duty for a while." Grace added. Although she did wonder why there always seemed to be a reason for him to be in the ER lately. Although she never directly caught him looking at her, she felt at times as though she was being watched. Sometimes, when he was strutting around on one of his tirades, he would brush past her, intentionally making it seem as though she had initiated the contact.
"Hands to yourself, Hanson. I'd hate to have to think about filing sexual harassment charges."
"I was reaching for these charts when you backed into me, Dr. Romano." Grace said, trying to defend herself.
"Robert, are you bothering my nurses again?" Kerry quipped.
"Are you jealous because they don't try to feel you up, Kerry?"
"Speaking of sexual harassment, Robert, I need to speak to you about one of the residents." She said as they went into the lounge for some privacy.
Malik came over to the admit desk and whispered to Grace that the homeless guy who just died had Blackhawks tickets in his pocket.
"Malik, you can't keep those."
"Well he sure can't use them."
"Someone could claim them."
"Yeah, right. Look if no one has by the time I'm off, I'm using them."
Somehow, once again, Dr. Romano had walked by at the opportune moment and overheard the conversation. He demanded Malik give him the tickets.
"Man, I'm never gonna get to go to a Blackhawks game!" He said as he walked away.
"Now here's a game I've never understood. A bunch of men skating around frozen sheet of water, chasing a little black piece of rubber."
"Hockey is the greatest game ever played, Dr. Romano." Grace chimed in.
"Do tell, Hanson. What's so appealing about it?"
"A bunch of ripped, sweaty men skating around, banging into each other. Then the testosterone gets pumping and they start taking shots at each other. It's very sexy."
"And when you put it like that it makes it even less appealing."
"Did you play any sports in college Dr. Romano?" She asked, trying to put him on the spot for a change.
"Only those that involved chasing women around."
"Looks like you didn't win any championships." She commented as she walked away.