A/N: Something crazy. I wrote the first line of this chapter (as with all the other chapters) way back in 2008, and yet, the first line still applies to pretty much every single TV show I'm watching ('cept Castle). Go figure. The more the date changes, the more things stay the same...

oOOOOo

"Such a shame, so many good story lines they could do and yet they stick with drivel." Kim shut off the TV and leaned back in her chair. She sat next to Kerry's bed.

It seemed as if most of the hospital had visited the red head. People Kim barely knew came in and out of the room and truly seemed to know Kerry. "You don't know how many people you've touched."

A voice came from the doorway. "Some more than others."

"Randi..."

Randi stepped in and closed the door, "Is she? Has she woken up yet?" Kim shook her head. "She's gonna kick your ass when she wakes up."

"Oh?"

Randi rested her hands on the bottom of the bed. "This whole hospital knows, or thinks it knows that Kerry is gay."

"Oh, that, yeah..." Kim met Randi's eyes, "She's gonna kill me, but... that would mean that she's alive, and, I will gladly take that trade off."

"Do you love her?"

Kim took her hand off of Kerry's bed and folded them in her lap. "I don't know, I think so. We haven't really, there's been false starts."

Randi took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. "First loves rarely work out, heterosexual or homosexual."

"She's not my first... Hell..." Kim looked over at Kerry, "She's not even my first firmly straight love. Of course, they all went back."

"Is she gay?"

Kim shrugged, "Sexuality is such a... insanely complicated thing. Nurture, Nature, love, like. Do we love who we love because we love them, or because they love us. Or is entirely chemical, or is it... otherworldly. It's... no one understands it, because the second you try to it changes."

Randi moved to the other side of Kerry and put her hand over Kerry's. "I love her.." Randi paused and glanced up at Kim, "I mean, not like... Not in a romantic way. Not my type, I like guys, or well, women more like you." Randi cleared her throat, the tips of her ears turning just a bit red. "All she's ever wanted from me, from everyone down in that cesspool, is for us to live up to our greatness, to be the best we can."

"It's a good way to live."

Randi shook her head and let go. "Except for herself." Kim started to speak, but Randi plowed ahead. "I mean, not at work, but in her life. Hell, have you met her ex-husband?" Kim shook her head, "You think that Kerry gets called opportunistic, her ex'll do anything to get ahead. The less he has to do, the better." Randi shuddered, "Sorry. You don't care about any of this."

"Actually, I've probably learned more about her since she got shot."

"Oh." Randi pushed her hands into her pockets. "I need to go. Are you... going to stay?"

"Yes."

Randi nodded, "Good. You'll..."

It was Kim's turn to nod, "I'll call you if anything happens."

"Thank you."

oOOOOo

The ER staff filtered back into the ER, all glancing around. Mark gave orders to the staff, some listened, most didn't.

They opened back up and slowly patients flooded in. Normality returned.

Chen spoke to Randi, "Have you seen her?"

Randi glanced up from her paperwork, "Most of the ER has Doctor Chen..."

Chen frowned, "Ah, I was waiting 'til after my shift." Randi nodded and went back to her work. Chen nearly walked into Carter. "Sorry." Carter nodded absently, "What is it with everyone. She's not dead yet."

Carter shook his head, "Bust she's not awake either. It's like Lucy all over again."

Carter walked away and Chen shook her head.

oOOOOo

"Are you okay?"

Kim jolted awake, her chair tipped and she wound up face down, sprawled on the floor, uttering an, "Ow." She scrambled to her feet. "Kerry, you're awake."

Kerry blinked and winced, "I guess so. Are you okay?"

Kim laughed nervously, "I should be asking you that."

"My chart tells me how I am... as well as the machines. You, on the other hand, look like hell."

Kim stared at Kerry, "I'm fine. Nary a scratch. I'm sorry Kerry."

Kerry shook her head, "I'm the one who's sorry."

Kim opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Romano. "Took you long enough. Were you planning on dying here?"

"Only to spite you Robert. Have you rehired Kim yet?" Romano was silent. So Kerry launched ahead. "We're all overworked, we were all tired down there, that's the most that... but you can't insinuate that you're going to fire someone every time you get frustrated." Kerry pushed herself up in her bed with a wince, though she bit off the groan before it escaped. No weakness.

"I wasn't insinuating, she's fired."

Kim opened her mouth, but Kerry beat her to it. "You can't do that."

One of Kerry's machine's beeped and Romano spoke, "And yet I did."

Kerry shook her head, "This is a County facility, employees can't be summarily fired."

"Well, Doctor Legaspi was already on probation for that other matter."

"Yeah, she was exonerated."

Romano crossed his arms over his chest, "Since then she's had a history of violation of institutional policies."

Kerry tilted her head to one side. "Like what?"

For the briefest of seconds a smile flashed on Romano's face, but it was gone just as fast. "What do you care, it's not your department."

"I deal with that department and she's a good doctor."

"A doctor who's had as many as thirty delinquent charts awaiting discharge summaries."

"And so does half the staff."

They were going back and forth so fast Kim could hardly keep up. She'd never been fought over in quite the way that Romano and Kerry were doing it.

"She used the County telephone watch line for personal long distance calls."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"She yelled at a patient in a public setting." Kim raised her eyebrows at that one, since she didn't remember doing it.

Kerry sat there and stared at Romano for a few seconds, "You're trying to find a way to fire her."

Romano shook his head, "There's plenty of documentation that has been reviewed by the disciplinary committee." He paused, "Why do you care so much Kerry, she's just another dyke."

Kerry hurfed out a breath, "Because she's my dyke damnit. Because, just- just because."

Romano's gaze went from Kerry to Kim and back to Kerry and Kim swooped in, "We're friends Doctor Romano, and we... we work well together."

"You were willing to give up your little fiefdom down in the ER last time this one got into trouble. You gonna do that again?"

"If I have to... I could also go to the media, ACLU, County Board of Supervisors... Wipe out every inch of good press you've ever gotten."

Romano's face went deadly still. "Are you giving me an ultimatum, because I do not respond well to ULTIMATUM'S." He paused, "You had better choose your battles very carefully. You're the Chief of Emergency Medicine, not the County's lesbian advocate."

Kerry's eyes seemed to spark with fire she was so wound up. They were shouting so loudly that their conversation could be heard from one end of the hall to the other, and nothing much was going on as the staff listened in. "That's where you're wrong Robert, I am both, I am the Chief of Emergency Medicine and I am a LESBIAN."

They stared at each other, neither blinking, neither moving. The only sounds in the room from the machines.

After a couple of minutes, Kerry spoke again, in control of her emotions and in her regular speaking voice. "Will you re-hire Doctor Kimberly Legaspi?"

Romano's eyes flicked to Kim and back to Kerry. "Sure, why not."

"No crap. No vendettas against her. She's not your employee, she's Carl's."

"I think I liked you better unconscious." Kerry stared at Romano, unblinking. "Yes, yes." He shot Kim a glare. "If she wants it of course."

Kim was silent.

Kerry answered for the blonde, "She'll think about it."

Romano shook his head and threw his hand in the air and left. "Women."

"We should tal..."

Kim grasped Kerry's hand, "Not yet. Get better first and we'll finish our conversation later," she squeezed the smaller hand, "now that there will be a later. I'm not going anywhere."

Kerry closed her eyes, "I think I'll sleep some more."

Kim waited until Kerry's breathing had evened out and then carefully extracted her hand and exited the room. She closed the door behind her and moved over to the nurses station. "Ann right?"

The nurse looked up, "Doctor Legaspi, yes, how is Kerry, Doctor Weaver?"

"She's..." Kim shook her head, "I'm pretty sure she only has eight lives left. May I use the phone?"

Ann nodded. "Of course." She handed Kim the handset and asked. "Psych extension?"

"ER actually." She waited for an answer and Ann moved away to give Kim some privacy. "Hey, you can tell the troops she's awake. She decided not to let us wonder for days on end." Kim listened, "No, not yet. She's still weak." Kim smiled, "You could tell her I said that, but remember, she may be the 'mean' one, but I am a trained Psychiatrist." After another moment she hung up and Ann came back. "Thank you."

Ann glanced around and spoke softly, "I think it's dreadful what Doctor Romano gets away with. Doctor Weaver should be running this hospital."

Kim smiled, "For now, she's concentrating on getting better." Ann nodded and went back to work, while Kim went back to Kerry's room.