Code Blue by RokofAges75, Bianca, Louise, Rose, Drama_Queens, starbeamz2
Summary: *Also co-written with Sabra, Shauna, & Rachel



The members of Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync deal with life and death on a daily basis as the staff of a North Carolina hospital. (Inspired by the popular TV medical drama, "ER.")

Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys, Fanfiction > Music > NSYNC Characters: AJ, Brian, Group, Howie, Kevin, Nick
Genres: Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Humor, Romance
Warnings: Child Abuse, Death, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault/Rape, Sexual Content, Violence
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 21 Completed: No Word count: 214046 Read: 47762 Published: 11/11/06 Updated: 06/12/07
Story Notes:

1. Welcome to Memorial, Part I by RokofAges75

2. Welcome to Memorial, Part 2 by RokofAges75

3. Too Much Pressure by RokofAges75

4. Even Heroes Fall by RokofAges75

5. Fatal Error by RokofAges75

6. Feelings of Depression by RokofAges75

7. Forgot About J by RokofAges75

8. Revelations by RokofAges75

9. In My Prayers by RokofAges75

10. White and Black by RokofAges75

11. Homecoming by RokofAges75

12. The Hurricane - Part I by RokofAges75

13. The Hurricane - Part II by RokofAges75

14. Something to Be Thankful For by RokofAges75

15. Good News and Bad News by RokofAges75

16. Night Shift by RokofAges75

17. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream by RokofAges75

18. Time of Death by RokofAges75

19. 'Tis the Season by RokofAges75

20. Lost and Found by RokofAges75

21. Burning Love by RokofAges75

Welcome to Memorial, Part I by RokofAges75
Author's Notes:
Inspired by the TV show "ER," Code Blue was one of the first known "medical dramas" of the Bsb/'N Sync fanfiction world. The story has been in existence since 2001, and after several long hiatuses and some major changes in the writing line-up, it's back in progress.

Like a TV show, the story is written in episodes, rather than chapters, and eventually there will be different seasons. For now, consider this Season 1. For more information and "extras" for the story, visit the Code Blue site at http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/codeblue/
Episode 1: Welcome to Memorial – Part 1


Twenty-four-year-old Nick Carter entered the lobby of Atlantic City Memorial Hospital, the largest hospital in the coastal town of Atlantic City, North Carolina, his heart pounding with nervousness. A feeling of slight intimidation came over him, as he looked around the large room, with its high ceiling, shiny floor, and fine armchairs.

“Excuse me, but could you point me in the right direction of the ER?” he asked the receptionist at the counter on one side of the room.

“Go down that hall, past the elevators. You’ll see a sign,” she replied curtly, without even looking at him.

Friendly place, Nick thought sarcastically, his nervousness increasing. He noticed a sign across the lobby that read “Elevators” and had an arrow pointing ahead. He strode across tiled floor and entered a wide hallway. Just around the corner was a bank of elevators, right across from a gift shop. After the elevators and gift shop, the hallway branched out in three different directions. A sign hung overhead, pointing visitors in the right direction. Emergency Room à, Nick read and immediately turned the corner into the hallway to the right. He walked slowly down it, his anxiety building with every step.

Today was the day he had been looking forward to for six years now. It was not only the first day of his third year of medical school, but also his first day actually working in a hospital. For the past six years, he had slowly made his way through four years of college and two years of med school, learning mainly from books and lectures. Now he would finally be able to watch and perform procedures on his own, something he had been waiting to do for years. He was excited, but very scared. What if he messed up? Made a mistake? Killed someone?

Nick stopped when he reached a pair of double doors. Looking up at the sign mounted over the doorway, he gulped. This was it, the Emergency Room, where he was expected to be promptly at seven that morning. Nick glanced down at his watch. It read 6:55. He had better get going or he would be late. But now that he was here in front of these doors, his stomach was cramping up horribly with nerves, and he felt slightly nauseous.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies (which felt more like large birds) in his stomach. He was so busy worrying and trying to get up the courage to open those doors that he didn’t even notice the soft footsteps of someone walking down the hall towards him. It was only when he heard the voice that he realized someone had come up behind him.

“Let me guess – med student?”

Nick whirled around, surprised, to find a petite young woman standing behind him. “Uh… yeah,” he choked out, his heart pounding. “How did you guess?”

She smiled. “It was pretty obvious.” Laughing, she added, “You look terrified.”

For some reason, Nick suddenly felt much more at ease. Her smile and laugh were contagious, and he couldn’t help but sheepishly smile himself. “Yeah, I’m pretty nervous,” he admitted. “So, how about you? Are you a med student too?”

She slid the strap of the large bag she was carrying back onto her shoulder and nodded. “Yup. Isabel Rivera. I’m a third year too.” She held out a hand, and Nick shook it. Now that he had relaxed a bit, he had a chance to step back and take a good look at her. She was quite pretty, Hispanic, with bronze skin, dark curly hair, and chocolate brown eyes.

“I’m Nick Carter,” he introduced himself. “So, are you working in the ER too?” He motioned to the double doors that he still had not opened.

She nodded. “Sure am. And I think we’re running late too, so you wanna walk in there with me?”

“Sure,” Nick said, quickly tugging one of the doors open and holding it for her to walk through.

“Thank you,” she said, beaming at him. He grinned back and followed her through the doors.

“So, do you know who you’re assigned to?” Isabel asked, as they walked down a hallway.

“Um, yeah… Dr. Littrell. Pediatric resident,” said Nick. “You?”

“Dr. Jack Palmer, ER physician,” Isabel replied. “Oh, there’s the receptionist’s desk. Let’s go ask where we’re supposed to be.”

She led him over to a circular counter area, where a man who looked to be in his late twenties sat, typing something into a computer. He had a solid build and hair that looked slightly out of place in a hospital – spiky and dark brown, with streaks of bright red here and there.

Isabel walked right up to the counter. “Excuse me,” she said. The desk clerk looked up in surprise at her. “I’m Isabel Rivera,” Isabel continued, “and this is Nick Carter. We’re third year med students and were wondering where we could find the doctors we’ve been assigned to.”

“Oh, right,” said the man. “What doctors are you looking for?”

“Dr. Palmer and Dr… what did you say his name was, Nick?”

“Littrell,” Nick answered, speaking for the first time.

“Littrell’s got a meeting first thing this morning, but Palmer just got here,” the receptionist said. “Hey, Mel!”

A dark-haired young woman dressed in purple scrubs came over. “Yeah, Joey?”

“These two here are two of the new med students. Could you take them to the lounge?” the receptionist, Joey, asked. “She’s looking for Jack,” he added, pointing at Isabel.

“Sure,” the woman replied, smiling at Nick and Isabel. “Right this way, guys.” She led them down a hall to the left. “So, are you two nervous?” she asked with a smile, as they walked along.

“Yeah,” Nick admitted, just as Isabel said, “Not really. I can’t wait to get started!”

The woman laughed. “I just hope you’re still as enthusiastic by tomorrow. I’m Melissa Ruffino, by the way. Mel for short. I’m an R.N.” (AN: R.N. = registered nurse)

Melissa hung another left and led them down a shorter hallway, stopping at a doorway to the right. “This is the lounge in here,” she said, opening the door. Nick and Isabel found themselves in a spacious, well-furnished room. Against the wall to their left was a row of small lockers. The opposite side of the room was like a small kitchen area, with a counter, cupboards, microwave, and refrigerator. There was a large table with chairs around it and two couches pushed up against the wall across from them. The lounge was nearly deserted, except for a man and woman, both dressed in scrubs, sitting at the table, a Dunkin’ Donuts box between them. Both turned around when the door opened.

“Hey,” said the man, immediately standing up. The first thing Nick noticed about him was that he was very tall, even taller than Nick himself. Nick figured he had to be at least 6’3” or 6’4”. He wasn’t much older than Nick either, probably in his late twenties. With his gelled brown hair and round blue eyes, he had a boyish look to him. “New med students, Mel?” he asked Melissa, looking from her to Nick and Isabel.

“That’s right,” said Melissa. “This one’s yours.” She gave Isabel a little push forward.

“Are you Dr. Palmer?” Isabel asked, walking up to the man, her hand out.

“The one and only,” Dr. Palmer said with a grin. “And you must be Miss Rivera then, right?”

“Yes,” said Isabel, and they shook hands.

“And how about you? What’s your name?” Dr. Palmer asked Nick.

“Nick Carter,” Nick replied.

“What doc are you with?”

“Dr. Littrell.”

“Ah, pediatrics, huh? You’ll like Littrell, he’s awesome,” said the doctor.

“Yeah, he’s a wonderful doctor and great with kids,” added the woman who had been sitting at the table with him. “I’m Addie Burke, by the way. I’m a nurse here.” She shook hands with both Nick and Isabel.

“Hey, you guys want a donut?” Dr. Palmer offered, holding out the box to first Isabel, then Nick, and finally Melissa. Isabel politely declined. Now that his stomach had settled down a bit, Nick was hungry, and those powdered sugar donuts did look heavenly, but he figured it would look unprofessional to meet Dr. Littrell with powered sugar all over his face, so he refused as well. Melissa just glanced at the two med students, shrugged, and helped herself to a glazed cake donut.

Dr. Palmer set the box back down on the table and smiled at Isabel. “Well, I’m sure there are some patients around here to see. You ready to get started, Isabel?”

“Sure!” Isabel said, her dark eyes lighting up.

Dr. Palmer chuckled. “Okay then,” he said. “Let’s roll.” He turned long enough to give Addie a quick peck on the cheek – Nick blinked in surprise, then realized they must be a couple – and led Isabel to the door. He held it open as she walked out and started to follow her, then stopped and turned back. “Oh, hey, Carter,” he said, catching Nick by surprise again. “Welcome to Memorial.”

+++

Meghan Lambert turned on the lights to the Atlantic City Memorial Hospital’s day care center. Usually she wouldn’t even think of opening up the day care at this time of day, which according to her watch was six in the morning, but this morning, a huge staff meeting was set to begin at seven, and some of the hospital employees needed to drop their children off beforehand. Meghan looked up as the door to the day care opened softly and her assistant, Kayla Taylor, entered, with several shopping bags in hand and a huge smile on her face.

“Good morning,” Kayla greeted.

“Morning!” replied Meghan, raising an eyebrow at the shopping bags now resting on a vacant table.

Kayla followed Meghan’s gaze and smiled. “For the kids,” she said simply.

Fifteen minutes later, a knock was heard at the door, and paramedic Howie Dorough entered the room, holding the hand of a very sleepy Danielle Dorough, his six-year-old daughter.

Howie bent down and talked to his daughter softly for a few moments then placed a kiss on Danielle’s head before standing up, directing his attention to the two young women in the room.

“I can’t thank you guys enough for being here this early. If it wouldn’t have been for you guys, I would have had to take her with me to the meeting.” Howie then sighed. “Can you imagine Brunson’s reaction?”

Meghan and Kayla laughed politely and watched moments later as Howie walked out of the room on his way to the staff meeting.

“So Danielle, you excited about your first day of school tomorrow?”

+++

Jaela Miller ran around her bedroom, searching frantically for her white work shoes. She remembered she had come home around eight the night before and had kicked off her shoes somewhere in the bedroom. She glanced nervously at the clock, realizing she had twenty-five minutes to get to the staff meeting; she hoped for the sake of her perfect driving records that there would be no speed traps set up - knowing her luck, she would get busted for speeding, and that would make her even later. She located her shoes under the bed and quickly put them on, lacing them tightly and looking over at the sleeping figure in the bed one last time. It was her husband Paul. Jaela loved him dearly, but recently she noticed that Paul had changed from the once loving husband to a man who only spoke to her when needed and rarely interacted with her children. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Jaela picked up her purse off of the back of the vanity chair and ran down the stairs to the living room where she left her three children, Rayna, Joshua, and Alexandra, to watch the Cartoon Network to keep them occupied. Within minutes the children were loaded up into Jaela’s SUV and they were on their way to the hospital; exceeding the speed limit only by twenty miles per hour.

Dropping the three children off at the day care center, Jaela quickly ran to the elevator bank. Figuring it would take more time to wait for the elevator, she decided to take the stairs. Looking at her watch, she noticed she only had six minutes left to make it to the nurse’s station to drop her things off and make it to the conference room on the fifth floor. The countdown was now on.

+++

The air in the conference room was still, mixed in with anxiousness and nervousness. The people in the room sat in stiff-backed chairs surrounding a huge oak table, pens poised above pads of paper in preparation for the so-called leader of the meeting, Holli Brunson, to walk into the door. Starting at the left corner of the table sat the heads of departments within a section of the hospital and one affiliated with the hospital. ER physicians sat beside surgeons, who sat beside nurses, who had paramedics by their side. They were all here for one purpose, for the staff meeting to go over procedures for receiving new med students. They had this same meeting every year; they all knew the rules by heart, but it was policy that each time they conduct a meeting, just in case they forgot anything they supposed.

The door opened quietly and everyone turned to see who entered, some sighing in relief when Jaela Miller walked in, others slightly annoyed. Jaela slipped into her seat between fellow nurse Chris Kirkpatrick and paramedic Harry Littrell. It seemed as if at the exact same moment she got comfortable in her seat, the conference room doors swung open, and in stepped Holli Brunson, the chief-of-staff of the hospital and the head of the surgery department.

“So nice of you to join us, Nurse Miller,” Holli said with a sneer, a permanent expression on her cold face.

Jaela blushed and looked down at the notepad in front of her, cursing Holli’s very existence under her breath.

“So now that everyone is here,” Holli said, looking around the room with one glance of her sharp eyes, “let’s get started.”

Twenty-five minutes later, the meeting was adjourned, and everyone filed out of the room, ready to get a head start on their designated tasks.

“Brian!”

ER pediatrician Brian Littrell spun around as the voice of his brother reached his ears.

“You want to grab a cup of coffee before we have to get back to work?”

Brian glanced down at the watch on his left wrist and shook his head. “I can’t, Harry, my med student is probably already here waiting for me. Thanks though.”

Before Harry could respond, Brian was gone.

+++

Bianca Parker whipped her silver Dodge Neon into a space in the staff parking lot of the hospital, shut off the ignition, and practically leapt out of the car. Of course the one day she overslept was the day they were getting new third-year med students. She imagined some poor, lost, young man waiting for her to arrive to show him the ropes. She knew most doctors dreaded getting new med students to teach, but she was actually looking forward to it. Since she was only twenty-seven and had just completed med school a few years earlier herself, this would be her first time mentoring a med student. She remembered how terrified she had been her first day working in at this hospital and hoped her poor student hadn’t been waiting on her too long.

“Morning, Joey!” she greeted the on-duty receptionist in the ER, Joey Fatone.

“Hey, Dr. Parker,” he replied.

“Hey, has my new med student gotten here yet?” Bianca asked. “His name’s Justin Timberlake.”

“Uh... I saw two of ‘em earlier, and one was a guy. Don’t remember what his name was, but I guess that was him,” said Joey with a shrug.

“Okay. Do you know where he went?”

“Yeah, Melissa took them both to the lounge a little while ago,” Joey replied.

“Great, thanks,” said Bianca, breezing past the main desk on her way to the staff lounge. Opening the door to the lounge, she saw that the room was practically abandoned, with the exception of a tall, broad, blonde young man slouched back on one of the couches. He quickly straightened up when she came in.

“Hi,” said Bianca, smiling at him. “You must be Justin Timberlake.”

The man looked at her in surprise. “Uh… no, I’m not,” he said, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “My name’s Nick Carter. I-I’m a med student here; it’s my first day.”

“Ohh! I’m sorry!” apologized Bianca, feeling extremely stupid. “I’m looking for a different med student, Justin. Joey told me the students came in here, and I assumed you were him.”

“That’s okay,” said Nick.

“Do you know Justin? Have you seen him yet today?” Bianca asked, wondering where her student could be.

“Oh, no, I’ve only met one other med student, Isabel,” Nick replied.

“Okay... well, maybe he’s running later than me this morning,” Bianca said with a laugh, going to her locker. “So, Nick, what doctor have you been assigned to?” she asked, as she spun the combination lock.

“Dr. Littrell,” answered Nick. “I haven’t met him though; the guy at the desk said he’s at a meeting.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s the assistant head of the ER. They had some meeting this morning for the heads of all the departments this morning, so he and Dr. O’Brien – she’s the head of the ER – both had to be there. I’m sure it’ll be over soon though,” Bianca told him.

“Okay. So you’re an ER physician too?” Nick asked, watching as Bianca draped her stethoscope around her neck.

“Yeah,” said Bianca. “Oh, my name’s Bianca Parker, by the way. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I’m a little frazzled this morning, if you can’t already tell. Overslept.”

Nick chuckled. “That’s okay,” he said. “I was really nervous when I first got here. Still sort of am, actually.”

Bianca smiled at him. She could tell he was nervous just by looking at him, the way he kept fidgeting and shifting around on the couch. He was cute in a little-boy sort of way, blonde and blue-eyed with an uncertain sort of half smile that was just endearing. I hope my own med student is just as cute, Bianca thought, turning to hide her smile.

“Well, I’m going to go see if I can track down Mr. Timberlake,” she said to Nick. “See you later. Good luck on your first day!”

“Thanks,” said Nick, smiling at her. She returned the smile and left the lounge, hoping to find the yet unknown Justin Timberlake.

+++

At that very moment, the unknown Justin Timberlake was slowly awakening. He blinked, the sunlight streaming through his bedroom window stinging his eyes. Groggily, half-consciously, he rolled over and found himself face to face with his girlfriend, Britney Spears. He had known Britney since they were both twelve, and they had dated in high school, then drifted apart in college (well, while he was in college anyway – she had amounted to nothing but a waitress at the local Hooters), and hooked up again the year before. They had been dating for almost a whole year now and had recently rented an apartment in Atlantic City, North Carolina, where Justin had accepted a position at one of the local hospitals to complete his final two years of med school.

Today was Justin’s first day on the job, but at the moment, that realization that it was going on eight in the morning and he was almost an hour late for work already had not yet hit him. Instead, he gazed through half-closed eyes at Britney’s sleeping face and slowly began to remember the night before, a night full of passion and pleasure, a night so late it caused him to oversleep more than two hours.

Justin suddenly jolted upright and looked past Britney to the clock on the nightstand. Its red digits glared accusingly at him – 7:51. He was to have been at Atlantic City Memorial exactly fifty-one minutes earlier.

“Ohh, shit!” Justin cried. “Shit, shit, shit, shit…” He continued to chant this as he launched himself out of bed and stumbled across the small bedroom to the chat under the narrow window, where he had laid out his clothes for that morning. He hurried to pull them on, stubbing his toe on the leg of his dresser in the process and causing another chain of obscenities to fly out of his mouth.

It was this that finally awoke Britney. “Justy?” she moaned, half asleep, pulling herself with effort into a sitting position. She squinted at him, her bleached-blonde hair falling in tangles over her face.

“My alarm!” Justin cried, still in a panic. “It didn’t go off! It’s almost eight; I’m late!”

Britney giggled. “That rhymed,” she said, smiling bemusedly.

“I’m so dead!” Justin moaned, raking a hand through his tousled curls, which were an odd blondish-brown mix, the result of one too many dye jobs.

“Just tell them the truth – your alarm clock didn’t go off,” Britney said with a flippant shrug.

“Brit, this ain’t high school; I’m supposed to be an adult now. The alarm clock excuse ain’t gonna work no more!”

“But it’s not just an excuse; it’s true!”

“Nobody’s gonna buy it,” Justin said despondently, sitting on the edge of the bed long enough to tug on his shoes. “Look, I’m sorry to run off on you like this, Brit, but I gotta go. See you tonight.”

He grabbed his keys and wallet, shoved them in his pocket, and left the apartment. In a matter of seconds, he was back, having forgotten all about personal hygiene. He disappeared into the bathroom, put on his deodorant and cologne, gave his hair and teeth a quick brushing, and was out the door again without so much as kissing Britney goodbye.

+++

The atmosphere at the rescue squad station was one of nervousness and excitement. Kylie McCartney sat on the couch in the lounge beside of the newest addition to the squad, Amelia Caston, whose first day was actually set to start as soon as Harry Littrell and Howie Dorough came back from a meeting at the hospital.

The other occupants of the room were in a total state of relaxation while there wasn’t a call. Josh McCartney and AJ McLean sat at the small table in the corner of the room playing poker as Allison Brooks sat Indian-style on the floor, listening to her portable CD player.

“They’re here,” AJ spoke up, not once looking up from the cards in his hands.

Amelia felt her heart rate increase when she heard those words. What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t think I’m good enough for the job?

Amelia looked up as two young men entered the room. Both were of average height and build, but one had brown hair and stormy blue eyes, the other with dark hair and friendly brown eyes.

Amelia took a deep breath and rose out of her seat on the couch, walking over to the young men and sticking out her hand. “I’m Amelia Caston, and you are?” she inquired.

She almost laughed out loud as the two looked at her in astonishment, which only lasted for a few moments.

“Harry Littrell,” the one with the brown hair and blue eyes introduced before shaking her hand.

“Howie Dorough, nice to meet you,” the other man said with a bright smile and a firm handshake.

Without warning, the silence was shattered by a radio going off, asking for squad 137. Harry unlatched the radio from his belt and confirmed the squad was available and listened as the dispatched described a minor traffic accident at the intersection of Bob White and Altavista Boulevards.

Amelia was immediately sectioned off with the people who would be responding to the call, which included Josh, Howie, and Allison. Then, even before she gave it a second thought, they were on their way to the accident scene. This was about as real as it gets.

+++

Brian had no sooner gotten out of his meeting and made it to the ER when he was approached by Dr. Ivory Harnett, who was not only one of his colleagues, but his girlfriend as well.

“Morning, Bri,” she chirped, then, before he could get a word in, rushed on, “There’s a pedes case in Exam 3; could you take it? I’m swamped.”

“Well, I need to find my new med student, so I can’t really-“

“Sure you can. You can put him to work right away,” Ivory insisted, grinning at Brian as she pushed the chart into his hands.

He rolled his eyes and smacked her playfully in the arm as she hustled off down the hall. He started to look down at the new chart, when he was interrupted again.

“Hey, Brian, just letting you know your student’s waiting for you in the lounge,” said nurse Melissa Ruffino as she passed Brian in the hall.

“Thanks, Mel!” he called over his shoulder as she walked on, slipping the chart under one arm and heading straight to the staff lounge. A young blonde man sat in the otherwise empty room. When Brian walked in, he stood up.

“Dr. Littrell?” he asked, his tone hopeful.

“Yeah. Nick Carter?” Brian asked.

Nick nodded and hurried over to shake Brian’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Littrell,” he said politely.

“You too,” replied Brian. “Well, it looks like you’ve been hanging out here for long enough. I just got a new patient here.” He flashed Nick the chart. “You want to get started now?”

Nick grinned nervously. “Sure,” he said.

Brian smiled. “Well, okay then. Follow me,” he said, and led Nick to Exam 3. He stopped outside the closed door and turned to him. Glancing at the chart in his hands, Brian said, “Okay, this is an eleven-year-old girl, Bailey Cole. Her complaint is flu-like symptoms that she can’t shake - headache, nausea, fatigue, the works. Got it?”

Nick, who had been listening attentively, nodded. “Got it.”

“Okay then. Let’s go in,” Brian said, and opened the door.

Nick followed Dr. Littrell into the patient’s room, a flutter of excitement rushing through his veins as the thought of seeing the very first patient of his medical career.

Propped up in the bed in the center of the room was a pre-teenage girl, quite thin and pale, with straight brown hair that fell to her shoulders and serious brown eyes.

“Good morning, Bailey,” Dr. Littrell greeted, flashing her a friendly smile. “My name is Dr. Littrell, and this,” he motioned to Nick, “is one of my colleagues, Nick.”

Nick’s heart swelled with pride at being referred to as a “colleague” and not just a lowly student. “Hi, Bailey,” he said, smiling at the girl in the bed.

“Hi,” Bailey replied sullenly.

“So, how are we doing today, Bailey?” Dr. Littrell asked.

“We’re doing just fine,” Bailey replied, her voice laden with sarcasm.

Nick’s eyebrows raised in surprise; this girl sure didn’t talk like he would expect an eleven year old to.

Dr. Littrell didn’t seem phased. Nick figured he was used to dealing with kids like that.

“That’s good,” he said, ignoring her tone. “Are your parents around here, Bailey?”

“I don’t have any parents.” Her reply was not at all melancholic, but toneless and matter-of-fact.

“Your guardians?” Dr. Littrell reiterated.

“My foster parents aren’t here; they’re coming later,” Bailey told him.

“Okay then. Well, Nick and I just need to ask you some questions, alright?” Bailey just nodded. “Alright. Well, I hear you haven’t been feeling too well lately. You’ve been tired a lot? Had a lot of headaches and things?” Dr. Littrell reported. Bailey nodded again. “How long have you been feeling sick?”

“A few weeks,” Bailey said.

Dr. Littrell nodded. “Okay. I’m going to examine you now, okay? Just like your regular doctor does.”

Bailey nodded for a third time, and Dr. Littrell put his stethoscope in his ears and slide the other end under Bailey’s hospital gown. “Take a deep breath,” he said, and Bailey did so. He moved the end of the stethoscope to her back and listened some more.

Then, pulling the stethoscope out of his ears, he motioned to Nick. “Come and have a listen,” he said. He stood up from the stool he was sitting on to let Nick sit down and handed him his stethoscope. “We’ll get you one of your own later, but for now, use mine.”

“Okay,” Nick said, taking the stethoscope and putting it to his own ears. “Alright, sweetie, can I have you breathe in for me again?” he asked Bailey, gently sliding the stethoscope down the front of her gown again.

Bailey obeyed, then asked, “Are you a medical student?”

“Yes, I am,” Nick replied, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that he was inexperienced.

Bailey rolled her eyes. “Great. Excuse me, Doctor, but I’d feel much more comfortable with someone that actually knew what they were doing.” She glared at Nick.

Nick whirled around to look at Dr. Littrell with wide eyes. He’d barely even done anything yet; how could Bailey accuse him of not knowing what he was doing?

“I’m sorry, but this is a teaching hospital, and doctors like me are here to teach students like Nick how to take care of people so they will know what they’re doing,” Dr. Littrell explained patiently. “And he’s doing a fine job so far.” He flashed Nick a smile of assurance, and he relaxed and continued listening to Bailey’s heart and lungs.

“Well?” Dr. Littrell asked when Nick was done.

“Everything sounds fine,” Nick replied, hoping he hadn’t missed anything. “Lungs are clear, heartbeat sounds normal.”

Dr. Littrell nodded. “Good job.”

Nick grinned. It hadn’t been much, but it was his first step in becoming a doctor.

+++

Disheveled and out of breath, Justin arrived in Memorial’s ER Department and found himself surrounded by chaos. Staff members bustled through the halls around him, pushing gurneys and wheelchairs and carrying supplies. The waiting area he passed on his way to the main desk was crowded with impatient people. Patients on gurneys lined the hall.

Looking around, Justin couldn’t help but think, What have I gotten myself into?

“Hi there,” a female voice whispered in his ear, causing Justin to jump in surprise. He turned and found him looking down at a beautiful, busty, blonde young woman dressed in an extremely short, extremely tight skirt and a clingy blouse that showed lots of cleavage.

“Hi,” Justin said eagerly, trying to not make it obvious that he was sneaking a peak at her chest.

“You another newbie?” the woman asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him in question.

“Uh… yeah, I’m a med student. Do… do you work here?” She certainly didn’t look like a staff member in that outfit of hers, but the question had made her sound like it…

“Sure do,” the woman said, tapping a small gold nametag pinned to the front of her blouse. It read, Mariah Johnson. Somehow, in his observation of that area of her, he had missed it.

“Oh,” Justin said, blushing. “Well, I’m, uh, looking for a Dr. Parker. Is-“

“I can page her for you,” said Mariah. “Just come up to the counter area with me; that’s where I work. I’m a receptionist here,” she informed him, leading him to an oblong-shaped counter area. She led him behind the counter, picked up the phone, and punched in a string of numbers. Then, replacing the receiver, she said, “So, what’s your name, hon?”

“Justin Timberlake,” he replied.

“Well, it’s definitely a pleasure to meet you,” said Mariah, with another lift of her right eyebrow.

“You too,” Justin said automatically, then, remembering his manners, held out his hand to shake. Mariah gently took it and seemed to caress it more than shake it. She smiled and gave him a quick wink, then turned and said, “Oh, look, there’s Dr. Parker now. Good luck with your first day.”

She winked again, then pointed out an auburn-haired young woman making her way through the crowded hallway towards the counter area. Justin, wondering whether Mariah had some kind of eye twitch or just liked to wink a lot, nodded and awkwardly approached Dr. Parker.

The doctor almost brushed past him on her way to the counter, but, catching sight of him, abruptly stopped. “Are you Justin Timberlake?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Yeah,” said Justin.

“Nice of you to show up, Mr. Timberlake,” Dr. Parker replied. “You do realize you’re over an hour late, don’t you?”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Justin said quickly. “I…” He struggled for words, finally finishing lamely, “… overslept.”

The doctor nodded. “Well, it’s your first day, you’re not going to get penalized for it yet. Just try not to let it happen again, and we won’t have any problems, ‘kay?”

“’Kay,” Justin said, relieved.

“Great. Well, I’m Dr. Bianca Parker, and I’ll be working with you for the next few months, helping you through your ER rotation. I just finished up with the patient I was seeing, so if you want, I can take you on a tour of the ER right now.”

“Okay, sure,” said Justin.

“Alrighty then. This area, that you’ve already seen, is admit. Then over here we have Trauma 1, one of the rooms where the critical patients are taken. Trauma 2 is across the hall from that, and down here we have Exam rooms 1-4. Come on with me, and I’ll show you those…”

+++

“Hey, Jaela!” Brian yelled, calling for the nurse at the end of the hall.

Jaela Miller turned around and hurried up the hall to meet Brian. “Yeah?”

“This is my med student, Nick Carter,” Brian introduced, nodding to the man at this side. “Nick, this is Jaela Miller, head nurse of the ER.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nick said, shaking Jaela’s hand.

“Jaela, I’ve got a patient in 630 that needs some blood drawn. Can you do it?”

“Sure,” Jaela said. “You want me to show Nick?”

“That would be great,” Brian said. “Nick, go on with Jaela, and she’ll teach you how to draw blood, so you’ll know how when it comes time to practice, okay?”

“Okay,” Nick said and followed Jaela back down the hall to Bailey’s room.

Brian smiled. Nick was a nice kid and seemed like he was going to be a great student, but Brian got sick of babysitting the students and wanted to take some cases alone so he wouldn’t have to explain everything to him and take twice as long on everything.

He wandered up to the main desk to get a new patient and found his girlfriend Ivory there as well.

Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he whispered, “Hey, baby,” into her ear.

“Ah ah ah, no PDA in the work place, mister,” she shot back, turning around to grin at him.

Brian grinned back, thinking of how lucky he was to have someone like Ivory. She was such a beautiful person, both inside and out. She was short, only 5’3”, and slender and had shoulder-length, dark brown hair and expressive hazel eyes that changed color with her mood. When she was in a good mood, like she seemed to be now, they looked green. They usually were greenish because Ivory was one of those people that was very hard to get mad. Brian always joked that when she did get mad, her eyes turned red, for when Ivory got mad, she was mad. He’d seen her in arguments before, and it was not pretty, to say the least. But normally, Ivory was very sweet and sensitive, which made her the understanding and compassionate kind of doctor that was sometimes hard to come by these days.

“What time is it?” Ivory asked.

Brian glanced at his watch. “Eleven,” he replied. “I’m meeting the gang for lunch at Sully’s at noon, okay?”

Ivory nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“Okay, great,” Brian said.

“Well, I’ve got to go now,” Ivory said, looking down at the chart on the counter in front of her. “Later.”

“Later,” Brian echoed, grabbed a chart of his own, and went off to see his new patient.

+++

“Time of death: 11:13,” said Dr. Kevin Richardson in defeat, jerking off his latex gloves and the bloody gown that went over his scrubs and tossing them into the waste bin. “Get him cleaned up. I’ll go talk to the parents,” he muttered over his shoulder, banging through the double doors of the operating room.

Dr. Amory Cannon, who had assisted Kevin on the surgery, quickly removed her gloves and gown and hurried after him.

“Kevin,” she called, stopping him in the hall.

He turned to face her, his face angry and frustrated.

“You tried your best, Kev,” Amory said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “There was nothing any of us could have done to save him.”

“I know,” Kevin said, sighing. “I just hate having to tell the mother that.”

“We all do,” Amory said knowingly. “If you want, I’ll do it.”

“Nah, that’s alright. He was my patient; I’ll do it,” Kevin replied.

Amory nodded. “Well, if you need to talk later or something, I’ll be around,” she said, and went on her way.

Kevin felt a little better; Amory always knew just what to say to comfort him. He knew the loss was upsetting to her too; like him, she was a perfectionist and hated to lose a patient. But she was also able to forget her own problems and help others with theirs when they needed it. And right then, Kevin had definitely needed it.

Kevin walked down the hall and stopped at the nurses station.

“Hey, Hayley?”

Hayley Aldworth, one of the surgical nurses and a good friend of Kevin’s, turned around. “Oh, hey, Kev. What’s up?”

“Is Mrs. Ferrell around here somewhere?” he asked, referring to the mother of his patient.

”Oh, yeah. I think she’s in the room across the hall,” Hayley said, pointing to the closed door of the small waiting room.

“Thanks, Hayley,” Kevin said and walked slowly across the hall. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Mrs. Ferrell?” he addressed the middle-aged woman, who sat forlornly in a chair, lines of worry creasing her forehead.

Mrs. Ferrell sat up straight and looked at him with wide, concerned eyes. “Dr. Richardson. How’s Mark?”

Kevin swallowed hard. “Ma’am, your son was very critically injured in the crash. We tried to repair his injuries, but they were just too serious and widespread. During the operation, Mark’s heart stopped beating. We used all of our best efforts to get him back, but nothing worked… and he died. I’m so very sorry.”

It was basically the same speech every time. Kevin could recite it in his sleep. But it never got any easier, and Kevin knew it never would.

Now came the hardest part of all, harder than any surgery Kevin would ever have to do – the family’s reaction.

Mrs. Ferrell’s grim face fell, and her shoulders began to shake with tears. Kevin rested a compassionate hand lightly on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“C-could I see him?” she asked through tears.

“Of course,” Kevin replied. “Come with me.” He offered her his hand and helped her up from his chair. Then, with slow, solemn footsteps, he led her to the room where her dead son lay.

+++

“And that’s how you draw blood,” Jaela said, as she and Nick left Bailey’s room. “Now I’ll just send this to the lab, and the results will be back in about an hour or so.”

Nick nodded. “When will I get to practice drawing blood myself?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. Whenever Bri-, I mean Dr. Littrell, thinks you’re ready. He’ll probably have a cadaver for you to work on within the next few days.”

Nick grimaced; he had forgotten about having to practice his skills on dead bodies before he got to work on live patients. The thought was not exactly appealing, but it was something all med students had to do.

Oh well, Nick thought, at least I can’t screw up and hurt them when they’re already dead.

+++

Howie, Josh, Allison, and Amelia slowly walked out of the emergency entrance of Memorial, finding themselves in the ambulance bay, where their own ambulance was parked.

“Well, guys…” Howie glanced quickly down at his watch. “It’s about noon. How about a quick lunch before we get another call?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Allison. “Sully’s?”

“Naturally,” said Josh, with a quick roll of his eyes and a smile.

“What’s Sully’s?” Amelia asked, feeling out of place with the other three, all of whom had been on the squad for at least a few years.

“It’s this café a few blocks from the hospital. It’s not exactly gourmet, but the food’s decent – better than the hospital cafeteria’s anyway – and it’s close. Everyone goes there for lunch and dinner,” explained Howie.

“Oh okay, cool,” said Amelia. “Let’s go then.”

+++

The small brass bell attached to the entrance of Sully’s rang loudly as Howie Dorough and his crew walked inside. Immediately spotting the large table in the back, Howie led the way towards it, following the laughter and chatter from his friends.

“Hey guys,” Howie said with a smile before taking a seat beside of surgeon Kevin Richardson, noticing a new face at the table. “I would like to introduce you to Amelia Caston, the new paramedic to our squad.”

“And this is my med student, Nick Carter,” Brian said as he pointed cartoonishly at a young man with floppy blonde hair sitting at the end of the table. “Nick, this is Howie, Josh, and Allison.”

Nick looked up from his plate and smiled faintly, immediately turning his attention back to his cheeseburger and fries. He was happy to be there, having been invited to lunch with “the gang” by Brian, his supervisor. Looking around the table at all the others, he knew he was the only med student to have received this honor so far.

Brian’s lunch group consisted of his girlfriend, Dr. Ivory Harnett, an ER Physician at Memorial, and his cousin, Dr. Kevin Richardson, a surgeon. Next to Kevin was his girlfriend, Elizabeth O’Brien, whom Nick had already met when interviewing for this position. She was not only an ER physician, but head of the whole ER.

But that was not all. The bell on the door to Sully’s soon jingled again, and another small group of people arrived and pulled a table up next to the one Nick sat at. From beside him, Brian introduced them all to Nick.

“Nick, meet Kylie McCartney. She’s a paramedic and Josh’s wife.” He motioned quickly to one of the men who had come in with the previous group of paramedics. “Then this is my friend AJ McLean – a paramedic as well – and his girlfriend Bianca Parker. She-“

“We’ve already met,” said Nick, smiling at the auburn-haired doctor he had met in the lounge that morning.

Brian smiled. “Great,” he said. “Well, this guy here-“ He pointed to a man with brown hair and blue eyes dressed in a paramedic uniform. “-is my older brother, Harry. And those two are Addie Burke and Jack Palmer. She’s a nurse, he’s an ER physician; they’re a couple.”

Nick nodded; those were the two he had met in the lounge that morning.

Brian then turned to the girl who had sat down on the other side of Jack. “And that’s…”

“Isabel!” said Nick, suddenly recognizing her as the pretty med student he had met that morning.

Isabel looked over his way, and her face brightened. “Hey, Nick! How’s it going?”

Nick dragged his chair over towards her so they could talk. “Pretty good,” he said. “How’s your day been so far?”

“Okay,” Isabel replied. “I haven’t gotten to do much yet, have you?”

“Nah, I haven’t actually done anything either, except listen to a girl’s heartbeat. I did get to learn how to draw blood, but I haven’t practiced yet,” Nick explained.

“Maybe tomorrow they’ll actually let us do something,” Isabel said hopefully.

Nick raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure he felt ready to actually do something. He had only been there half a day and didn’t feel qualified to be turned loose on a patient yet. But he didn’t want to admit that. Isabel seemed confident and fired up to get to work, not a bit nervous like he was.

Around them, the doctors, nurses, and paramedics were already deep in conversation.

“So, how has everyone’s day been going?” Kylie asked, looking around the table at her group of friends.

“Pretty easy so far,” Jack answered. “My med student’s been great.” He saw Isabel’s head jerk in his direction, and he flashed her a grin.

“Well, so has mine,” Brian bragged, winking at Nick.

“Well, mine hasn’t,” Bianca said flatly.

AJ laughed. “Why, what happened?”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Well, he was like an hour late this morning. More than that, actually. He ‘overslept’ on his first day; can you believe that? Other than that, I guess I can’t complain. I haven’t really had him do anything yet though, so I have no idea what he’s like in that area. Notice he’s not with me though – he hasn’t given me anything to brag to y’all about yet.”

They all laughed.

“Kylie, how’s the new paramedic?” Addie asked.

Kylie shrugged. “I think she’s going to be okay,” she said. “She seems pretty nice.”

“That’s good,” Addie replied, nodding. “Kev, do you have a student this year?”

“No,” Kevin said solemnly.

“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth whispered, leaning close to him. Kevin was serious a lot of the time, but today he seemed more than just serious. She could tell something had happened.

He glanced at her. “Lost a patient,” he said. “Teenage boy in a motorcycle crash.”

“Aww, I’m sorry, hon,” Elizabeth said, rubbing his back.

Kevin offered her a small smile, grateful to have someone like her to comfort him. He had lots of friends in the hospital, specifically in the OR, but none that understood him like Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was like his double, intelligent, serious, and hard-working, a leader rather than a follower. She also loved sports and was very competitive, like him. She strove to be the best, always. And he admired her for that. But sometimes, he wished she was not so serious. He knew people who didn’t know him well probably felt the same about him, for he came off as also very serious and even stern. But under that, he also had a sense of humor and liked to have a good time. Elizabeth liked to laugh too, but she was also the type that liked to follow the rules and play things safe. Around others, she rarely expressed her feelings or showed any extreme emotions. In the year he had been dating her, he had gotten her to open up a bit and trust him, and since then, their relationship had been much better. Kevin loved her, and he knew she loved him too. That was one feeling she could express to him.

From his own seat near Isabel, Nick looked around him happily. He recalled how nervous he had been that morning, coming into a new place, with new people he didn’t know. Now, in just a few short hours, he felt like he was becoming part of a group, a special family that worked together to save lives. One day, he hoped, he would be a doctor and save lives with them. One day, he would be part of that special family.

+++
Welcome to Memorial, Part 2 by RokofAges75
Episode 2: Welcome to Memorial – Part 2


“Well, back to work,” said Elizabeth O’Brien, sighing. Lunch was over, and Elizabeth and her boyfriend Kevin Richardson had just gotten back to Atlantic City Memorial Hospital, where they were both employed, Elizabeth as a physician in the ER and Kevin as a surgeon.

“Only a few hours to go,” Kevin told her, giving her a quick kiss. “See you at home.”

“Alright. Bye, honey,” Elizabeth said and watched as her boyfriend went to the elevators to head back up to the surgical floor. She waited until he had gotten in the elevator, and then she went back to the ER.

As soon as the elevator doors opened on the second floor, Kevin wanted to go back downstairs again. There, standing at the nurses’ station right outside the elevator bay, was Dr. Holli Brunson, chief of staff, head surgeon, and the most dreaded woman of Atlantic City Memorial.

“Kevin,” Holli greeted. “So nice to see you.” The fake warmth immediately left her voice, and her eyes narrowed. “Where have you been?”

“On my lunch break,” Kevin replied through clenched teeth. “We mere mortals do have to eat occasionally, you know.”

Holli ignored his last comment. “I heard you lost another patient today,” she said, raising an eyebrow sharply.

“Yes,” Kevin said slowly. “It happens.”

“That’s the second this week. Are you losing your touch, Dr. Richardson?” she asked, smirking.

“Shove it, Holli,” Kevin wanted to say, but he couldn’t. “Who knows,” he just mumbled instead.

Kevin’s head turned towards one of the OR rooms, as the double doors banged open, and several nurses came through, pushing a gurney with a patient on it. Hayley, one of the nurses, saw Kevin and flashed him a smile. He managed a weak smile back, suddenly in a bad mood as a result of Holli.

“Dr. Veers, come here!” Holli called suddenly, pulling Kevin’s attention away from Hayley. He looked back towards the OR to see a woman walk out. The woman was all gowned up from surgery, her petite figure lost in the baggy scrubs she was wearing. She pulled off her surgical cap, exposing a head of red hair, and pulled down her mask to reveal the pretty face of a woman in her mid-thirties.

“Yes, Dr. Brunson?” she asked, looking from Holli to Kevin.

“Allow me to introduce Dr. Kevin Richardson, one of our general surgeons. Kevin, this is Dr. Risha Veers, our new neurosurgeon,” Holli introduced quickly.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Kevin said, holding out his hand.

“You too,” Risha said, shaking his hand lightly. “Dr. Brunson, may I take my lunch break now?”

“Of course,” Holli said. “Go.”

Kevin frowned; Holli was never that nice to him. He figured she must be on her best behavior for the new surgeon. But he was sure Risha would see Holli’s turbo-bitch side soon enough.

+++

The double doors to the ER burst open, and Dr. Bianca Parker looked up, startled. In came paramedics AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and Josh McCartney, wheeling a stretcher.

“I got this,” Bianca announced and hurried over to them. “What do we got?” she asked the paramedics.

“Seventeen-year-old male involved in MVA. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the car. Complains of back and neck pain and numbness in lower region of body. BP 140/70,” AJ fired off expertly.

“Mel, what’s open?” Bianca yelled to nurse Melissa Ruffino, hurrying alongside the paramedics.

“Um… try Trauma 3,” Melissa shouted back from the nurses’ station.

“This way, guys,” Bianca directed, leading them to the empty trauma room.

“What do we got?” Dr. Jack Palmer asked, pulling on his latex gloves as he swept into the room, followed by his med student, Isabel Rivera, who was looking rather excited, for it was her first trauma.

AJ repeated the information he had given Bianca minutes earlier.

“Jack, have you seen Justin, my student?” Bianca asked. She had just gotten back from lunch minutes earlier and hadn’t seen him yet.

“Um… I’m not sure. Sorry,” he said, bending over the patient. “What’s your name?” he asked, looking into the teenage boy’s scared blue eyes.

“Caleb,” the kid whispered hoarsely.

“Hi, Caleb, I’m Dr. Palmer. You just relax and don’t worry; we’re going to take good care of you,” Jack said, with a reassuring smile.

“You guys need some help in here?” asked nurse Lance Bass, coming into the room.

“Yeah, we do,” Bianca said. “Have you seen Justin around here? You know, my med student?”

“Oh… no, I haven’t,” Lance said, sliding on a pair of gloves and coming up beside Jack. While he explained the case to him, Bianca ran out into the hall, just in time to see Justin strolling down the hall, half a cheeseburger in his hand.

“Justin!” she yelled.

“Oh hey, doc,” Justin greeted. “What’s up? We got a patient?”

“Yes, we ‘got a patient!’ ” Bianca spat, glaring at Justin. “Where have you been?”

“Just finishing up lunch,” Justin replied.

“Hate to break it to you, but lunchtime’s over, buddy. You had at least half an hour. I told you to be back here by 12:30.”

“Well, I-“ Justin started to sputter, but Bianca interrupted.

“Stop stammering, and get your butt in here right now; we’ve got a trauma.” She turned and hurried back to the trauma room, turning around once to shout back, “And get rid of that burger!”

Justin’s shoulders sunk in disappointment, and he halfheartedly tossed his burger into the nearest waste can and quickly followed after Dr. Parker.

He entered the trauma room to find Dr. Parker, Dr. Palmer, another med student named Isabel and two nurses hovering over a patient on a stretcher in the middle of the room. Three paramedics stood off to the side, watching.

“What can I do?” Justin asked Dr. Parker.

“Just watch,” Dr. Parker said curtly and went back to her work, ignoring Justin.

Jack Palmer tried not to snicker at the spat going on between Bianca and Justin. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, only that Justin had not been where he was supposed to be. And Bianca looked pissed. Jack had worked alongside Bianca for three years, ever since she first came to the hospital as a med student, so he knew her well. Well enough to know that while Bianca was normally sweet, kind, and understanding, she liked things to run smoothly and people to be in the right place at the right time, and when they weren’t, she got mad.

Jack couldn’t really blame Justin, since this was only his first day, but he was glad Bianca was teaching him a lesson. He knew he would have done the same, for he didn’t tolerate things like that either from his med students. (Luckily, it seemed he had gotten the cream of the crop with Isabel, who was nothing but enthusiastic, intelligent, and eager to learn). In this career, you had to be on the ball at all times. From now on, he was sure Justin would be.

“Okay, guys, we need to move him to the cot,” said Jack, taking charge of the trauma. “Be careful now; he might have a neck or spine injury. On my count – 1… 2… 3.”

The trauma team carefully lifted Caleb from the paramedics’ stretcher to the cot in the room. Caleb moaned in discomfort.

“You doing okay, Caleb?” Lance asked, doing his best to keep the boy calm.

“Yeah,” Caleb said uncertainly, his blue eyes shifting around the room nervously.

“Is there anyone you want us to call?” Lance asked.

“Um… well, my parents are out of town for the weekend; they’re visiting my older brother at college.”

“Do you know the number?” Lance asked.

“No,” Caleb said miserably.

“Okay… what college does your brother go to? I’m sure we could get a hold of him somehow.”

“He goes to Duke,” Caleb replied. “His name’s Elijah Valiant.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll try to reach them as soon as possible,” Lance said and hurried out of the room.

“Okay, Caleb, I’m going to feel your stomach now. Tell me if anything hurts, okay?” Jack said.

“Okay.”

Jack began to poke and probe at Caleb’s stomach. “Any pain?”

“No… I can’t feel anything. Are you touching me?”

Jack looked up and across the cot, his eyes meeting Bianca’s. She bit her lip, worried that he was going paralyzed.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked when Jack did not answer him, his voice rising in panic. “I… I can’t feel anything! Am I paralyzed?!”

“Shh, calm down, honey,” Bianca said, taking his hand, not knowing if he could even feel it. “Don’t worry, it could just be temporary. That’s often the case.”

“How long will it last?” Caleb asked, as Jack continued to examine him.

“I don’t know. Once we’re done examining you, we’ll have a specialist come down and examine you, and he’ll be able to tell you more,” Bianca explained.

“Okay,” Caleb said.

Just then, Lance came back. “Caleb, the receptionist is working on trying to contact your parents, okay?

“Okay, Thanks,” Caleb said.

“Lance, could you go page someone from neurology, please?” Jack asked.

“Sure,” Lance said and left again.

“Okay, Caleb, everything else looks fine. You don’t have any internal bleeding, which is good. We’re going to get a neurologist to come down here and check out your back and neck,” Jack explained.

“Okay,” Caleb replied. “Do I have to keep this neck brace on?” He made a face of discomfort.

“Yeah, unfortunately. I know it sucks, but if we take it off and you do have a neck injury, it could get worse. This is just a precaution,” Jack said.

“I understand,” Caleb said grimly.

“Alright. Well, kiddo, we’ll see you later, okay?” Jack said.

“’Kay,” Caleb mumbled.

Jack nodded, and he, Isabel, and Bianca left. Slowly and silently, Justin followed after them.

“What do we do now, Dr. Parker?” he asked hesitantly, once they were in the hall.

“Well, I’m going to go find another patient to look at,” said Bianca. “How about you go back in that room and keep Caleb company until someone from neurology comes?”

“But… but isn’t that like a nurse’s job or something?” Justin protested.

Bianca’s eyes narrowed dangerously at him. “Not today. Go on; you’ve earned it. I’ll find you later when I need you,” she said and left before Justin could say anything else.

“Jeez, go take a Midol,” Justin muttered under his breath as he watched her walk off. Turning to Jack, he asked, “Is she always like this?”

Jack gazed coolly at him. “Be where you’re supposed to be and do what you’re supposed to do, and she won’t be,” he said matter-of-factly. “Come on, Isabel, let’s find you a patient to work on.”

“Okay,” Isabel said eagerly, and the two walked off together.

Justin remained behind, confused, disappointed, and overwhelmed.

+++

Meanwhile, Brian Littrell and his own med student, Nick Carter, put their lab coats on in the staff lounge, ready to get back to work. Dr. Littrell had found a stethoscope for Nick, which he slung around his neck now.

“You ready?” Dr. Littrell asked.

Nick nodded. “Ready.”

With that, they left the lounge and went to the nurses station to check in.

“Oh good, Brian, you’re back,” said nurse Addie Burke, looking up to find him standing there. “The results on the blood test on your patient in Exam 3 are back.”

“Oh good. Thanks, Addie,” Dr. Littrell said, taking the results. He stepped aside and stopped to look through them.

Nick watched a frown came over his face. “What is it?” he asked.

Dr. Littrell handed the paper to him. “Can you tell what’s wrong with that?”

Nick’s eyes scanned the paper, and he gasped. “Her white count’s two hundred thousand! Normal is ten thousand, isn’t it?”

Dr. Littrell nodded grimly. “So… what kind of illnesses do you think would cause that to happen?”

“Well… a bad infection might, I guess. Like mono or something,” Nick said slowly. But even as a beginner, he was fairly sure that wasn’t what Bailey had. “Or maybe…” He swallowed hard. “It could be cancer. Leukemia, Hodgkins, something like that.”

Dr. Littrell nodded. “Right,” he said. “We’ll need to do some more tests on her to find out. What would you order?”

“Um… a bone marrow?” Nick suggested.

Dr. Littrell nodded again. “That’s a good, conclusive one.”

Nick grimaced, remembering what he had learned in med school. It’s also a real painful one.

+++
Thirty-year-old ER nurse Jaela Miller walked down the hall, her left hand massaging her forehead. She could feel one hell of a headache developing, and she hoped that she could get it under control in time.
“Jaela, you have a call on line one!” a voice called out. Jaela turned in the general direction of the voice to see Joey Fatone waving to her from the receptionist’s counter.
“Thanks, Joey.” Jaela went behind the counter and picked up the phone. “This is Jaela, how may I help you?” she asked, silently hoping this phone call would be a short one.
“Hey, babe.”
Jaela’s breathing stopped as she recognized the voice of her husband, Paul.
“Paul,” she greeted as coolly as possible. In the background, she could hear the babbling of her two-year-old daughter, Rayna, and the playful laughter of her five-year-old twins, Alexandra and Joshua.
“I just wanted to call and tell you that I’m going out tonight. There is a company dinner in B-burg at six, and they want us all to attend.”
“So who is going to watch the kids tonight Paul? I don’t get off until 8:30,” Jaela asked with a sigh, as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Um, I will drop them off at your sister’s place. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, whatever, Paul. I have to go. There are patients I need to see,” Jaela said without waiting for a response and slammed down the phone. She knew Paul wasn’t going to a company dinner, but she didn’t have the guts to speak up about it. The only thing his excuse accomplished was verifying her suspicions.
Paying no attention to the tears silently streaming down her face, she walked away, feeling completely void of any emotion.
+++

“Hey, did somebody page me?”

“Oh, Alana, I’m glad to see you,” said Dr. Palmer, turning around to face a young, African-American woman in a white lab coat. “I have a seventeen-year-old boy, Caleb Valiant, who was involved in an MVA. He was thrown from the vehicle and complains of numbness from the chest down,” he explained.

“Alright, show me the way,” said the woman, Alana.

“Isabel,” Dr. Palmer said, turning to his med student, “This is Alana Hill, from Neurology. Will you take her to Caleb’s room so she can examine him? You can stay and observe if it’s okay with her.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” said Dr. Hill.

“Okay, great,” Isabel said with a smile. “Come with me; he’s in Trauma 3.”

They arrived at the right room and went inside. Lying on a cot in the middle of the room, right where they had left him before, was Caleb. Now that there were not so many doctors and nurses bustling around him, Isabel took a good look at him. Although he was pale and scraped up from the crash, she could see right away that he was very good looking, big and muscular, with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Good afternoon, Caleb,” Dr. Hill said professionally. “I’m Dr. Hill, from Neurology, and this is-“

“Isabel Rivera,” said Isabel. “I’m a med student; I was in here when you were brought in, but you probably don’t remember.”

“It was kind of a blur,” Caleb admitted, unable to raise his head to look at either of them, for he was strapped onto a backboard and wearing a neck brace.

“I’m going to examine you now, Caleb,” said Dr. Hill. “Just relax.”

Isabel watched as the doctor carefully examined Caleb.

“Okay, I’m going to prick you with a needle, and I want you to tell me if you can feel it or not, okay?”

“Alright,” Caleb said.

Dr. Hill started with one of his bare feet, gently sticking the needle into his big toe. “Anything?”

“No, nothing,” Caleb said.

“Okay. How about this?” Dr. Hill pricked him in the thigh.

“No.”

Isabel bit her lip, feeling sorry for poor Caleb. She prayed that he would say he felt something soon. But it just kept getting worse. Dr. Hill pricked his abdomen, but he felt nothing. Finally, when he got to his upper chest, Caleb gasped.

“There, I felt that,” he said, sounding relieved and panicked at the same time.

Isabel felt the same way, not knowing if that was a good thing or not. For one thing, at least he could feel his chest and wasn’t paralyzed from the neck down. But he still couldn’t feel anything below his chest.

“Will this get better, Dr. Hill?” Caleb asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Dr. Hill replied. “We’ll need to run some tests and see where exactly you’re injured and how severe the injury is. Many patients with neck or spinal cord injuries regain full or at least partial use of their bodies.”

“That’s good,” Caleb said, sounding uncertain.

“Right. Well, I’m going to go now and make some calls and get some things arranged. You’ll be moved up to the neurology floor as soon as possible, and we’ll continue from there, okay?”

“Alright,” Caleb said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you in a little bit,” Dr. Hill said.

“See you,” Isabel echoed and followed the neurologist out of the room, feeling completely helpless.

“How bad do you think it is?” she whispered to Dr. Hill, once they were out of earshot.

“It’s too soon to say. Like I told Caleb, I need to run some tests first,” Dr. Hill replied.

Isabel nodded sadly, making a mental note to include Caleb in her prayers that night.

+++

“Okay, Nick, I need you to get on the other side of her and hold her down, just like Addie is on this side,” Dr. Littrell instructed Nick.

Nick nodded and moved around to the other side of the padded table that Bailey was laying on, facedown. It was time for the bone marrow exam.

“You doing okay, Bailey?” Dr. Littrell asked.

Nick waited for some smartass comment from her, but none came, just a small, “I guess.”

“Alright. You just hold still and try to relax. First I’m going to rub some iodine on your back to clean it off. It’ll be a little cold.”

He dabbed some of the brown liquid onto Bailey’s back, and she winced from its coldness. Dr. Littrell rubbed it around in a circle, staining her lower back.

“Okay. Now I’m going to give you a shot. This is the local anesthetic, which will numb your back so it won’t be painful. The shot will hurt for a little bit, but after that, it shouldn’t be too bad,” Dr. Littrell said.

He prepared a syringe and inserted it into her back, right over the iodine stain. Bailey winced again, her face contorting in pain.

”It’s alright,” Nick whispered soothingly. “Only one part left, and then you’re done.”

Unfortunately, the last part was the worst.

“Okay, Bailey, now comes the real thing. I’m going to put a needle into your hipbone here, and it’s going to collect some of the bone marrow that’s inside. You’re going to feel some pressure, but it shouldn’t be too painful. Alright?”

“Alright,” Bailey replied slowly.

Addie got into position, holding down Bailey’s left arm and leg. Nick held onto the right side of her body. He watched as Dr. Littrell prepared the needle, and when he saw him bring it over, he inwardly cringed. It was giant, and he could only imagine how much it would hurt to have it thrust into your back. He clenched his jaw and held Bailey tighter.

“Okay, Bailey, here we go. Hold still,” Dr. Littrell said, slowly inserting the needle.

Bailey flinched at first and then started to jerk, releasing a strangled moan. The sound of her painful cries made Nick want to cry himself.

“Hold her, Nick,” Dr. Littrell snapped, as Bailey jerked.

Nick nodded quickly, pressing down firmly on Bailey’s shoulder blade and thigh to keep her in position. “Lie still, honey, it’s almost over,” he whispered shakily.

Finally, the painful process ended, as Dr. Littrell took out the needle and bandaged the puncture wound.

“All done, Bailey,” he announced.

Bailey burst into tears.

+++

Bianca stifled back a yawn and glanced at her watch. It was five till seven, five minutes until her shift ended.

“Hey, Justin,” she said to her student, who was standing at the main desk, flirting with Mariah Johnson, the large-chested blonde receptionist that most men seemed to be incapable of not flirting with. Bianca rolled her eyes in disgust when Justin did not hear her the first time, and shouted, “Justin!”

Justin startled and scurried over to her. “Sorry, Dr. Parker,” he said sheepishly.

Bianca chuckled. “It’s about seven, so you can head home now. Unless, of course, you’re planning on taking a certain someone out after your shift ends.” Her eyes shifted to Mariah, and she winked at Justin, who blushed.

“Thanks, Dr. Parker,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh yeah, and I’m sorry about earlier.”

“That’s okay. Now you know,” said Bianca. “Goodnight, Justin.” She punched out behind the desk and headed off for the lounge to get her things. There she found Brian, sitting at the table and studying what looked like a patient’s chart.

“Hey, Brian,” she said casually, as she went to her locker.

“Oh, hey, Bean,” he replied, using her nickname, Bean (she still wasn’t sure exactly why people called her that, but someone had called her it once, and it had stuck). Then, as if struck by sudden inspiration, he exclaimed, “Bianca! I need a second opinion. Can you take a look at this chart real quick?” He looked at her hopefully.

Bianca smiled. “Sure, Bri,” she said, then added teasingly, “But you owe me.”

“Thanks, Bianca,” he said, as she came over to the table. “Here it is. Patient presented with persistent flu-like symptoms. Original blood test showed a high white count, so I ordered a bone marrow and more blood work done. Here’s the results.”

Bianca already had her suspicions, and the results of the patient’s tests confirmed them. “Looks like ALL,” she diagnosed.

Brian nodded sadly. “That’s what I thought too.”

The two of them exchanged grim looks. Eleven-year-old Bailey Cole had just been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Cancer.

+++

Jack sat on a bench just outside the main entrance to the hospital, jiggling his foot and watching the revolving doors impatiently. Suddenly, the doors turned, and a woman stepped out.

“Hey, Bean!” he called to her.

Bianca smiled. “Hey, Jack! I thought you were off.”

“I am,” replied Jack. “Just waiting for Addie.”

“Oh, I see. You guys doing anything tonight?”

“Eh, not really. We’re just going back to the apartment to hang out, and then I think Josh and Kylie McCartney are coming over when they get off.”

“Cool beans,” said Bianca.

“How about you? Going out with AJ tonight?”

“No, actually, I need to get home. My friend Brianna and I are leaving for Raleigh in about half an hour.”

“Raleigh? Why are you – ohh, wait, your concert’s tomorrow, isn’t it?”

Bianca grinned. “Yup.”

“Wow, I’d almost forgotten about that! Well, have fun!”

“Thanks, we will!” said Bianca. “See you in a few days, Jack!”

“Alrighty. ‘Night, Bianca.”

Bianca walked off towards the parking lot to her car, and Jack went back to staring at the doors, waiting for his girlfriend to emerge.

+++
“Here, honey,” Addie said, a couple of hours later, as she stepped out of the small kitchen and placed a bowl of freshly popped popcorn in Jack’s lap.
“Thanks,” was all that he said as he automatically grabbed a fistful of popcorn and put it in his mouth with his eyes glued to the TV the whole time.
Addie just rolled her eyes and scooted back against the couch, wishing that Kylie and Josh would hurry up so she wouldn’t have to watch much more of what seemed to her a boring basketball game. She didn’t have the heart to tell Jack to change the channel as soon as she saw his eyes light up when his team got the ball into the basket.
One look at the clock told her it was now after 9:30, and Kylie and Josh were supposed to be there at nine. When Josh and Kylie said 9 o’clock, they meant 9 o’clock, not a minute later. This somewhat sent Addie’s nerves on edge. She knew that Josh had gotten off at seven, but had wanted to wait for Kylie, who got off at 7:30. She figured that two hours had been long enough for them both to make the usual fifteen-minute drive to the apartment. Now anger was slowly starting to replace her feelings of worry.
She got up from the couch and walked to the patio door, looking out and seeing the ocean, which calmed her somewhat down. When Addie had first laid her eyes on that apartment, she knew she had to live there and had been for three years now, with no plans to move out anytime soon if she could help it. At first, she and Kylie had shared the apartment. But after Kylie married Josh that summer, she moved out, and Jack moved in. Addie and Jack had been dating for almost two years, but the decision to start living together was a tough one. Addie’s mother hadn’t approved – “You shouldn’t live with a man until you’re married to him!” she had scolded when Addie told her the news – but she didn’t care. She was twenty-seven and old enough to make her own decisions. If she wanted to live with Jack, which she did, she would. And besides, if she had it her way, she would eventually be married to him anyway, so what did it matter? They had now been living together for just over a month, and so far, things were going fine. The living arrangement had definitely taken some getting used to, but they had adjusted by now and were very happy together in that beautiful seaside abode.
As Addie turned away from the patio door and walked to the couch to sit down, a soft knock was heard at the door. She slowly walked over and opened the door, prepared to ask why in the hell Kylie and Josh were so late, but her words stopped in her throat as she saw what was before her.
“MacKayla!” she said as she took Josh’s newborn niece out of Kylie’s arms. “How’s my girl doing?”
“Nice to see you too, Addie,” Josh said as he walked through the doorway, holding a diaper bag and some toys in his arms. He threw them in the living room floor and sat down heavily beside Jack.
“What’s up?” Addie found herself asking as MacKayla squirmed in her arms.
“Darrin got an emergency call, and Brandy had just gotten to work so they had no one to watch MacKayla so we said we would,” Kylie explained as she walked into the living room to retrieve a bottle to feed MacKayla with.
“What kind of emergency?”
“A major traffic accident on the interstate. Something about a truck overturning and a few cars piled into each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if they call other squads from the area to help, so I dunno how long I will be here.”
Addie nodded, knowing that Josh’s brother and Kylie soon to be brother-in-law, Darrin, was a paramedic in the town of Indian Valley, which was approximately forty-five minutes away.
“C’mon, the movie is starting!” Jack yelled from the living room, causing Kylie to jump and almost spill formula all over her. Kylie placed MacKayla in Addie’s arms and ran into the living room to tell Jack what was on her mind about his little stunt.
As Addie listened to the playful arguing going on around her, she grinned slightly, knowing that this was just another crazy day in her crazy life. She then stood up and carried MacKayla into the living room to settle down and watch the movie.
+++
Long after her shift had ended, long after Dr. Palmer had gone home, Isabel Rivera sat in the lounge, poring over a medical book Dr. Palmer had given her. She was looking up information on spinal cord injuries.

Caleb Valiant had been finally moved to the neurology floor towards the end of her shift, and Dr. Palmer had told her the neurologists would probably hold off on the tests until the next morning, since it was so late in the evening. So Isabel had decided to do some research of her own on Caleb’s injuries, wanting to know as much as possible on the topic.

The door to the lounge suddenly opened, startling Isabel, who practically jumped a foot off the couch she was sprawled on.

“Hey, aren’t you Jack’s student?” asked nurse Melissa Ruffino.

“Yeah,” Isabel replied.

“Well, what are you still doing here then? He left hours ago,” Melissa said.

“I’m just doing some research,” Isabel explained.

Melissa chuckled. “Well, it’s good to see you’re ambitious, but Dr. Palmer would rather have you come in refreshed and ready to work tomorrow, not exhausted from staying up studying all night,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Isabel smiled sheepishly. “I know. I’ll leave in a few minutes.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow,” Melissa said, taking a sip of her coffee and leaving the lounge.

“Bye,” Isabel said softly and reluctantly put down her book. She got her things from her locker and left the lounge, ready to go home and relax after her very first day working at the hospital. But before she could leave, there was something else she wanted to do.

Isabel took the elevator upstairs, to Floor 3, Neurology. She stopped briefly at the nurses station to question one of the nurses. Then she walked slowly down one of the hallways, stopping at the door of room 345. Quietly, she turned the knob and crept inside. The room was dim, and the patient lying in bed in the middle of the room was motionless. But he was not asleep.

“Hello? Who’s there?” he asked, unable to see her in the doorway.

“Hi, Caleb,” Isabel said softly. “It’s Isabel Rivera, from earlier today, in the ER. The med student.”

“Oh yeah, I remember you,” Caleb replied. “Are you still working? You’ve been here all day, haven’t you?”

“Nah, my shift’s over. I was just looking over some charts and researching some things. I thought I’d check on you before I left, see if you needed anything.”

“Oh. Well, isn’t that what nurses are supposed to do?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. But… well, you’re my first patient, kind of, and I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. Sorry if I’m intruding, but I just… I…” Isabel trailed off, unable to explain the reason for her visit.

Caleb chuckled. “I think I understand,” he said. “Well, I’m doing okay. Under the circumstances, I mean.”

“That’s good. So, are you all alone here? Have your parents or anyone come to see you yet?” Isabel frowned, realizing she hadn’t seen his parents around at all.

“No… they’re in Durham, visiting my brother at Duke for the weekend,” he said sadly. “One of the nurses in the Emergency Room said he would try to get a hold of them, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Isabel said. Poor kid, all alone and scared in the hospital, without even his parents there to comfort him. “Do… do you want me to stick around for awhile and keep you company?”

There was a slight hesitation, then came Caleb’s voice, sounding more like a little boy’s than a deep, masculine teenager’s. “Would you?”

Isabel smiled tenderly. “Of course I would,” she replied. She pulled up a chair to the side of his bed and turned on his bedside lamp, lighting the room.

Caleb looked up at her, seeing her up close for the first time. “Wow… you’re pretty,” he commented.

Isabel blushed. “Thank you,” she giggled.

“You got a boyfriend?” Caleb asked, winking at her.

“Not yet,” Isabel replied, winking back. Oh my God, I’m flirting with my seventeen-year-old patient. I doubt that’s allowed, Isabel though, laughing inwardly.

“So… was today your first day?” Caleb asked.

“Yup,” Isabel replied.

“How was it?”

She thought for a moment before answering. “Well… I don’t know. It was nerve-wracking at first, but it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t do as many things as I would have liked, but I guess that’s the way it goes at first.”

“Yeah.”

“Guess your day didn’t go so well, huh?” Isabel asked sympathetically.

”Sure didn’t.” Caleb let out a rueful chuckle. “I guess I won’t be playing in the football game on Friday, huh?”

Isabel smiled sadly at him. “I guess not.”

Caleb was silent, and Isabel could sense how much that upset him. “So, you’re a football player, huh?” she asked, trying to take his mind off is injury.

“Uh-huh.”

“What position?” Isabel asked.

“Fullback,” he replied.

“So, are you a big football star?”

Caleb smiled. “Actually, football’s the one thing I’m good at. The one thing I can do better than my brother.”

Isabel frowned, sensing some major sibling rivalry. She knew how it felt to be the baby of the family and have an older sibling who was better at everything. Her older sister Alicia was a skilled brain surgeon and had always excelled in everything from academics to sports. Isabel had always done well in school and was good at sports, especially volleyball and track, and dance, particularly ballet. But compared to her sister, she had always felt inferior, stupid, not good enough. Her parents had pushed her to go into medicine, as both her father and sister had, and that was why Isabel was there. She liked medicine, she really did, but she felt like there was so much pressure on her to succeed and become a great doctor, like her father, like Alicia. She had a feeling Caleb felt the same way. If his brother was going to Duke, he had to be a well-rounded, intelligent person, much like Alicia was. Isabel could definitely empathize with that, and she told him so.

After quite a while of talking, Isabel glanced at her watch, shocked to see it was after ten o’clock.

“I’m sorry, Caleb, but I need to get going now. I was supposed to be out of here like three hours ago.”

Caleb chuckled. “Well, get going then,” he said.

She smiled. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Get some rest.”

“I’ll try to,” Caleb said, making a face at the neck brace he was still forced to wear.

Isabel smiled sympathetically and turned to leave. But Caleb stopped her.

“Hey, Dr. Rivera!”

Isabel turned back around, her heart swelling with pride at what he had just called her. “Yeah?”

“I just wanted to thank you so much for coming to talk to me. That really means a lot,” Caleb said sincerely.

Isabel smiled. “It was my pleasure,” she replied. “And I’m not a doctor yet. This is only my first day as a third-year med student, remember?”

“I know,” Caleb said, returning her smile. “But you will be a doctor someday. And you’ll make a great one.”

Isabel could have cried right then. Here he was, a seventeen-year-old kid with his whole life in front of him, possibly permanently paralyzed from the chest down, telling her, an inexperienced med student, that she was going to make a good doctor.

Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, Isabel whispered, “Thank you, Caleb. That means more to me than you’ll ever know. Thank you.”

And with that, she turned and left the room, bringing an end to her first day at Memorial.

+++
Too Much Pressure by RokofAges75
Episode 3:

Too Much Pressure


AN: Thanks to Louise for inspiring us to write this episode. We wouldn’t have thought of the idea for it without her.


“Don’t fall away and leave me to myself. Don’t fall away and leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands, again…” sang two off-key female voices.

“I can’t believe we’re actually seeing Fuel tomorrow night!” Bianca Parker exclaimed over the song, Fuel’s “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)”, which she had cranked up so that it blared through her car speakers.

“I know!” cried her best friend, Brianna Chambers, from the passenger seat. “It’s gonna kick ass!”

Fuel was one of the two best friends’ favorite music groups, and they had gotten tickets to see them in concert the following night in Raleigh, about two hours away from their hometown of Atlantic City, North Carolina. They both had managed to get the next two days off of work, so they had decided to drive to Raleigh that night and spend the next day shopping and getting ready for the concert.

Bianca was relieved, for as an ER physician, it wasn’t always easy for her to get off work. But she had saved up some vacation time, so she felt she deserved it and was prepared to argue if Elizabeth O’Brien, the head of the ER, had not given her the days off. Luckily, Dr. O’Brien did so without a fuss.

Bianca yawned and immediately was glad they had the music so loud. It was helping her stay awake. She had worked a long day at the hospital, gotten off at 7:30, and come home to the apartment she shared with Brianna just long enough to change clothes. They had been on the road by quarter till eight. It was now just after eight-thirty, and Bianca still had another fifteen minutes to go before she and Brianna stopped to switch places halfway through the drive.

“Bean, take the next exit,” Brianna said, noticing a sign for the exit that would take them to Indian Valley, a city just a few miles away from where they were, and eventually Raleigh, which was still almost an hour and a half away.

“’What?” Bianca asked, trying to hear her friend over the loud music. She leaned down towards the radio to adjust the volume.

“Bianca!” Brianna suddenly shrieked, causing Bianca to jerk up immediately.

Bianca looked up just in time to see the car in front of her stop suddenly, and she moved her foot from the accelerator to the brake as fast as her reaction time allowed. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough. In a split second, her car rammed into the back of the one in front of her at seventy miles per hour, sending the air bag on Bianca’s side bursting open and her body thrusting forward. Although somewhat cushioned by the air bag, the impact was hard and painful, and before she knew it, the world around Bianca faded into darkness, as she instantly fell unconscious.

+++

“Dr. O’Brien! Dr. O’Brien!”

Elizabeth O’Brien went quickly to the nurses’ station of the ER, where nurse Natalie Spade was calling her.

“What is it, Natalie?”

“There’s been a bad MVA – an overturned semi and a multi-car pileup – on the interstate near Indian Valley. The hospitals near there are filled up and closed to trauma, and they want us to life-flight some of the patients here. How many can we take?” Natalie asked.

“Uh… two criticals, no more. We can handle a few stables, however many they need us to take,” Elizabeth said, thinking quickly about how much room they had left in the ER.

“Alright. I’ll have them dispatch our life flight units,” Natalie said, immediately getting back on the radio.

“We’re going to need more doctors,” Elizabeth said to herself, going over the line-up of those who were working that night. It was not enough to handle two critical patients and several other more stable ones from this MVA, as well as the usual number of patients they saw each night.

Memorial had been having financial problems for the past few months and had been forced to lay off many of their staff members, leaving the hospital severely understaffed, especially in the ER. Fewer doctors meant longer hours, and sometimes, when things got hectic, it meant coming back in to help out when you had already worked your shift.

“Hey, Melissa!” she shouted to nurse Melissa Ruffino, who was still on duty.

“Yeah?” Melissa called back.

“I need you to page Jack and Bianca and tell them to get their asses down here right now; we’ve got some traumas coming in, and we need their help,” Elizabeth ordered.

“Bianca’s gone; she was heading to Raleigh for that concert, remember?” Melissa reminded Elizabeth.

Elizabeth rubbed her temples warily. “So call someone else in!” she snapped.

“Who?” Melissa inquired.

“Um…” Elizabeth racked her brain, trying to think of someone who wasn’t already on duty and wasn’t on vacation that could come back in. “Page Bianca’s med student.”

“Her med student? But he just started; he won’t know-“

“I don’t care, page him!” Elizabeth barked. “And then call up to surgery and get someone to come down here for surgical cases.” With that, she stormed off down the hall to make sure things were in order for the traumas that would be coming in.

“Lance,” she said to Lance Bass, another over-worked, over-tired ER nurse that had been there most of the day. “Make sure we have at least two trauma rooms set up for critical patients, and then get all the other rooms ready for stable patients.”

“Sure, boss,” Lance said, immediately getting to work.

Elizabeth gave him a tight smile. She liked Lance; he was young, only twenty-six, but he was serious and seemed to be on top of things and in control. This wasn’t exactly true, she would later find out, but Lance was better at hiding his feelings than anyone ever realized.

“Siara!” Elizabeth called to Dr. Siara Reily, one of the pediatric ER residents. “We’ve got a couple critical patients being flown in from an MVA outside Indian Valley and then probably some stables arriving by ambulance. Palmer and one of the new med students, Timberlake, are supposed to come in to help cover everything.”

“Okay,” Siara said, nodding calmly. “What’s the arrival time?”

“I’m not sure yet. Natalie was going to page the paramedics and have the life-flights dispatched ASAP, but it’s forty-five minutes away, so I don’t know how long it will take for them to get back here.”

“Okay,” Siara said. “Well, back to work. Let me know when they get here.”

She hurried off to tend to one of her patients, and Elizabeth went back to the nurses’ station to make sure everything was running smoothly.

+++
"Man, I wish we could have gone to that Fuel concert tomorrow night," Addie commented as she stared at the picture of Fuel's lead singer, Brett Scallions, as it flashed across the screen as part of a commercial for Fuel's concert in Raleigh the following night. "He is so hot!"
"Riiiggghhht," Jack said with a snort.
"Whatever!"
"Be right back, guys," Kylie commented as her pager began to go off.
Addie just nodded and leaned against Jack's embrace, feeling warm and protected as she closed her eyes.
"Guys!" Kylie's panicked voice yelled from the small kitchen.
The three others looked at each other in confusion and concern, wondering what had happened. Their confusion didn't last for long as Kylie entered the living room a moment later, reaching for her jacket.
"Where are you going?" Josh asked as Kylie searched through his jacket pocket for his car keys. "And why are you taking my car keys?"
"You know that major MVA near Indian Valley, that Darrin had to go to? Well, they need as much help as they can get. Our life flights are going to go help and bring some critical patients to Memorial, and Harry needs me to go with them," Kylie explained. "And we are taking your car because we were the last ones to get here, therefore your car would be easiest to get out with."
"Do you think they need people to come help at the hospital?" Addie asked, gently touching Jack’s arm.
"I dunno. If they need me, they'll call," Jack replied, wrapping an arm around Addie.
Addie nodded and took a step back as Kylie ran out the door.
As if on cue, Jack's pager began to vibrate. Snickering, he glanced at it; sure enough, it was the hospital. He hurried to the kitchen to get the phone and call back to the ER. Nurse Natalie Spade answered.
"Oh, Jack, good," she said in relief. "Listen, there's been a bad MVA on the interstate outside Indian Valley, and our life flight crews are going to pick up some of the critical patients and fly them in. We need some extra help in the ER. Can you come back in?"
Inwardly, Jack groaned, not wanting to give up his relaxing evening and his time with his girlfriend. But he nodded and professionally replied, "I'm on my way."
Hanging up the phone, he headed back into the living room and made a face at Addie. "I'm sorry, but I have to go to the hospital," he told her. "Duty calls."
"It's okay, Jack, I understand," Addie replied, patting his arm. "Call me when you get home, okay?"
"Sure, honey. Sorry about this," he apologized again.
"No problem. Just go save some lives," she told him with a smile, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before he left the apartment.
When Jack had gone, it was just Addie, Josh, and baby MacKayla left.
"So what are we gonna do?" Josh asked. "Do you think one of us should go to the hospital too and see if they need more help?"
"Yeah, probably so," Addie said.
"Okay. One of us needs to stay here with MacKayla. Who's going to go?"
"I don't know," Addie replied she looked at the sleeping baby on the couch. "You go, I will stay and watch her."
"Are you sure?”
"Yeah, I’m sure. They might need more paramedics on the scene; I better go.”
“Okay.”
Josh offered Addie a tight-lipped smile as Addie picked up Kylie's car keys and threw them at Josh.
"Good luck," she said as the door slammed behind Josh. Then she smiled at MacKayla’s sleeping form. “Well, Mac, I guess it’s just you and me.”
+++

Justin Timberlake was lying in bed when his pager, which was sitting on his night stand, went off. He rolled over, away from his girlfriend Britney, who lay naked at his side, to get it.

“It’s the hospital,” he told her.

Britney made a face. “So? Ignore it.”

“I can’t. I work there, and besides, it’s a 911. That means it’s important,” he replied with a sigh.

“Justin!” Britney hissed, as he picked up the phone to answer the page.

“Just a minute, Brit, let me find out what’s up,” he said, putting a finger to his lips to silence her as someone in the emergency room picked up.

“Hi… this is Justin Timberlake. I was just paged,” he said uncertainly to the woman who answered.

“Oh good. Mr. Timberlake. This is Natalie Spade, one of the ER nurses. We have at least two major traumas coming in from a bad MVA on the interstate, and we’re severely understaffed. We need you to come back in.”

“But I already got off,” Justin protested. “I worked all day; my shift’s over! And besides, this is only my first day, and I…“

At the nurses station in the ER, Natalie rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” asked Elizabeth, who had stopped to listen to Natalie’s side of the conversation.

Natalie cupped her hand over the receiver. “He doesn’t want to come in. He ‘worked all day and his shift’s over and it’s only his first day!’” she mocked in a whiny tone.

Elizabeth’s lips pressed together tightly, and her eyes narrowed, a sure-fire sign she was pissed off. “Give me the phone,” she demanded, stalking over to Natalie.

Natalie couldn’t help but smile as she obediently handed over the phone to Elizabeth.

“Justin??” Elizabeth asked.

There was a pause, then came Justin’s hesitant “Yeah…”

“Elizabeth O’Brien, chief resident of the ER. I don’t know what kind of crap you’ve been giving Natalie here, but this is a hospital, not a Dairy Queen. Your work is not always over when your ‘shift’ ends. You come in when we need you, or you lose your job. Right now, there’s an emergency, and you either get your ass in here, or you’re out of here for good, med student or not. You got that??”

Another long pause, then a tiny “Yeah.”

“’Yeah?’ I’m your superior, Justin. It’s common courtesy to address me or any other doctor or nurse here with more than a ‘yeah’,” Elizabeth snapped.

“Yes, ma’am,” Justin replied, his tone sarcastic.

“Keep it up, Timberlake. Just keep it up,” Elizabeth growled and slammed down the phone. To Natalie she barked, “If he doesn’t get here in twenty minutes, page him again, and this time, he’ll really hear it!”

“Sure, Dr. O’Brien,” Natalie replied, trying to hold back her laughter as Elizabeth stormed off. She actually almost felt sorry for Justin. Almost.

+++

“You’re leaving?” Britney screeched, as Justin stormed around his bedroom in his boxers, rounding up his clothes from the floor.

“I have to. If I don’t, I’m fired,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Fired?! You’re only a med student; they can’t fire you! Can they??”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out,” Justin said. “My mom would kill me.”

“Your mom? Justin, give it up with your mom! You can’t do things just to please her; you have to do them for you!” Britney shouted.

“Look, my mom’s the one putting me through med school, so just shut up about her. I’m grateful to have a mom like her.”

“Well, who would you rather have? Her or me?” Britney demanded, leaping out of bed and grabbing her bra and panties from the carpet.

“Britney, don’t start,” Justin sighed.

“You know you’re going to have to choose sometime. Your mom hates me! So either you go against her, and we get married, or it’s over between us!”

“Brit, it’s just going to take some time, baby. My mom will like you once she gets to know you. She just has to warm up to you first,” Justin insisted.

“She said I was a white trash whore!” Britney screeched. “Face it, Justin, she’s never going to like me!”

Justin sighed again. “Look, honey, I really have to go. We’ll talk later, okay?” He hurried pulled his pants up, grabbed his shoes and keys, and left the bedroom before she could protest.

“Justin!” she called, but he went on without looking back, walking out the door and leaving her standing in the hallway of their apartment in nothing but her underwear.

+++
Howie Dorough slumped down at a table at Sully’s and rubbed his eyes exhaustedly. It was after ten and his shift was finally over. He hated the long days, but that came with the job. Thank God for Sully’s – their coffee and chocolate cake was what got him through nights like these.

The bell on the door of the restaurant jingled, and Howie looked up to see Dr. JC Chasez walk in. JC was an ER physician, and a doctor that Howie did not particularly get along with. He thought of JC as arrogant, demanding, and extremely hard to work with. Luckily, they managed to stay out of one another’s way. Even when their paths did cross, they were polite and courteous to each other, but that didn’t change Howie’s feelings for him.
“Hello, Howie,” JC said, politely, but coolly, as he passed by Howie’s table.

“Hi, JC,” Howie replied, forcing a quick smile at his colleague.

But as he looked at JC’s face, all he could think of was Molly Woods.

Molly was a patient Howie had brought in only two years earlier. Her heart had been destroyed by rheumatic fever, which she had gotten from an untreated case of strep throat. She needed a heart transplant to survive, but in order to get one, she had to have the consent of her main physician, after a consult with her physician in the emergency room. And that physician was JC.

Howie remembered the day clearly. He had been exhausted that day like he was right then, and as soon as they got Molly to the hospital, his shift would be over. He could remember the terrified look in her pale blue eyes as they transported her from the ambulance to the ER. She was used to hospital visits, but that didn’t make her any more comfortable. Just as Howie was leaving the hospital, Molly gave him a pleading look and scrambled around signaling that she wanted to write him a message. After finding a legal pad and pen at the nurses’ station, Howie sat on the edge of the bed as Molly frantically scrawled the words onto the white, lined paper.

Will you stay here with me?

Howie could feel his heart breaking for this little girl who seemed so scared. How could he possibly say no? So, he stayed with her until she fell asleep and then decided to go have a chat with Dr. Chasez.

Molly had been born with cerebral palsy and needed to be seen by her main physician if JC felt that she was a good candidate to receive a new heart. Her case of cerebral palsy was severe and had crippled her from the waist down, causing her to spend her life in a wheelchair. It had also affected her speech, making it difficult for her to communicate.

But it didn’t affect her mind, Howie thought bitterly. Molly may not have been able to talk, but she was bright child. Even though he didn’t know her long, he could tell that. She could not speak, but she could write or type her thoughts into a special computer that spoke for her, and he could tell by communicating with her that way how smart she was. Her body may have been handicapped by her disease, but her mind wasn’t. She deserved a chance to live, to have a future. She deserved to get a heart transplant.

JC, on the other hand, did not believe so.

“She’s practically an invalid,” he had argued with Howie. “Look at her – the kid can’t walk, she can’t talk. She’s going to be in that wheelchair the rest of her life, and she’ll probably never be able to talk. It’s pointless to waste a perfectly good heart on her when you could give it to someone who would otherwise be healthy. Her quality of life isn’t going to improve much anyway. You should give it to someone whose would.”

“Molly’s not some vegetable; she’s a little girl with a mind of her own! She has her whole life ahead of her, and she has plans for her future. So what if she can’t walk or talk right now? How do you know she’ll stay like that for the rest of her life? And even if she does, that doesn’t mean she has to be restricted. Have you ever heard of Stephen Hawking, Dr. Chasez? Famous physicist with Lou Gehrig’s disease? He’s spent the last few decades of his life strapped into a wheelchair like a rag doll, unable to talk except through his computer. But you know what? That man is a genius, Dr. Chasez. He may not look it, but he’s a genius. Molly’s like that too. She has a brain, JC, she’s not just some lump of nothing. She could go places, do things. That is, if you’ll let someone give her the chance to!” Howie had yelled.

“Mr. Dorough, when you become a physician, you will have every right to tell me what you think should be done to help treat patients. Until that day comes, you should just stay to hauling the patients to be treated. Is that clear?” and without giving Howie a chance to respond, JC turned and walked away without a second glance.

JC had not given Molly a consult and recommendation to her doctor to be seen by a cardiologist. The heart had gone to a fifty-year-old ex-smoker who had ruined his old one. Molly had died two weeks later from heart failure, and Howie had never forgiven JC. To that day, it still disgusted him to look at that man, the man who had taken away a little girl’s future.

+++
Lance Bass stifled back a loud yawn as he walked by the ER receptionist’s desk on his way towards the nurses station. He nearly jumped two feet in the air when the metal ER doors swung open with a loud bang. Turning around, he saw three paramedics pushing a stretcher and running down the hall.
“Which trauma room is open?” one of the paramedics yelled out.
Lance immediately burst out of his tired state and snapped into action. “Trauma 4’s empty,” he replied before calling for the ER physician on duty to report to Trauma 4 immediately. “What do we have here?”
“A sixteen-year-old male, pulse is sluggish, breathing rapid, suicide attempt. Supposedly took a whole bottle of his father’s prescription sleeping pills,” explained one of the paramedics, who Lance recognized as one from the rescue squad way on the other end of town.
Elizabeth walked in as the paramedic explained the boy’s condition, but before she could comment, the young man’s body began to shake tremendously as the monitors by his side began to go off.
“Lance! Call some help in here now! We need back up!” Elizabeth called out as she jumped up on the gurney and started to administer CPR, which proved to be a difficult feat amongst the severe convulsions of his body. Finally after a few moments the convulsions ceased and a very faint rhythm from his heart was detected.
“Good job, doctor,” one of the paramedics who had helped commented. Elizabeth gave him a tight smile before tending to her patient once again. The way things were going that night, she knew it would only get worse before it got better.
+++

“Hey, Jack,” said Siara Reily, as Jack Palmer hurried into the ER.

“Hey, Siara,” he greeted his fellow ER physician, heading immediately off to get changed for work.

Minutes later, he emerged from one of the bathrooms, dressed in a pair of blue scrubs, and headed to the lounge to get his lab coat and stethoscope. But before he could get there, he heard a raspy voice call his name.

“Jack!”

Jack turned to see paramedic AJ McLean running up the hall towards him, dressed in his uniform. Jack knew AJ well, for they saw each other often when AJ brought patients into the ER, and also because he was dating Bianca Parker, Jack’s friend and coworker.

Jack, like the others who knew Bianca and AJ well, had been shocked to find out the two were a couple. AJ and Bianca were as different as night and day. He was an outgoing, flirty, wild rebel, while she was quieter, at least around people she didn’t know well, and sensitive. AJ was a party animal and people person, while Bianca enjoyed spending time alone. But they also shared some of the same qualities – both had short tempers, both were good at what they did and were very serious about it, and both loved to make people laugh. But still, it was an odd hook-up. Jack was happy for them though; they had only been dating a couple months, but they seemed to go together well. He hoped things would work out for them.

“Jack, we’re taking the life flight copters to that MVA near Indian Valley, and we need a doctor to come with and help. You feel like doing a ride-along?” AJ asked.

“Sure,” Jack replied. He had done several ride-alongs before - it was a required part of his residency – and he had enjoyed getting out of the hospital and seeing the action that the paramedics got to see on a regular basis. He had only done life-flight once, but he had enjoyed it a lot.

“Alright, come on,” AJ said, and the two hurried off to join the rest of the paramedic squad.

+++
Bianca awoke to sirens, flashing lights, and loud drilling noises. Panicked, she thought quickly, trying to remember where she was and what had happened. Recognizing the white mass in front of her as an inflated airbag, the memory of the car accident came flooding back to her in one terrifying wave.

“Brianna!” Bianca cried out, her voice sounding shrill and choked with fear. “Brianna!”

No sound was heard from her best friend, and Bianca could barely turn her head with the airbag in her face to see much of anything. Not to mention her body ached all over, and she was not sure where exactly she was hurt and how bad.

As a doctor herself, she knew that moving too much could do serious damage if she was injured, especially if she had some kind of neck injury. As she thought of that, she realized her neck and right shoulder both hurt, but she prayed it was just a combination of whiplash and the impact of the seatbelt. Her stomach ached also, but she figured it was also the result of the lap belt digging into her flesh as it restrained her.

“Brianna?” Bianca asked again, trying hard to keep the panic from her voice, in case her friend could hear her. She didn’t want her to be afraid. “Brie, can you hear me??”

But again, there was no answer. Bianca squeezed her eyes shut and whispered a hurried prayer, hoping with all her heart that Brianna was not critically injured, or worse, dead.

+++

AJ’s eyes widened as he looked down on the crash site from the helicopter windows. A large semi truck was turned on its side, blocking most of the road, and engulfed in flames. Fire trucks were parked around it, the firefighters working to put out the blaze. There were at least seven smashed cars that were crunched together near the semi and surrounded by a circle of ambulances, their lights flashing eerily.

The helicopter began to lower and landed in a field near the interstate.

“Alright, guys, let’s do this,” AJ said to his crew, which consisted of Jack and his fellow paramedic, Allison Brooks. Three other paramedics, Kylie McCartney, Harry Littrell, and Amelia Caston, had ridden in the other of the squad’s two life flight helicopters.

The three of them grabbed their medical bags and climbed out of the helicopter. Ducking down to avoid the spinning propeller above him, AJ ran across the field, towards the massive wreckage. Jack and Allison ran along behind him.

They quickly made it to the blocked-off interstate, which was a mass of confusion and chaos. AJ didn’t bother to ask any of the paramedics that were already there where to go; he just led his team to a car that wasn’t already being tended to by the others.

When he got to the car, AJ immediately put his face close to the driver’s window, trying to see inside. He could see a woman slumped over and knocked on the window, trying to get her to wake up. She did not respond. He jerked on the door handle, trying to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Allison, try the passenger side,” he said. Allison nodded and hurried around to the passenger side to try to get in the car. Again, it was stuck, as were both of the back doors. The car was stuck in the middle of the pile-up, its front and back ends crumpled in from other cars. The doors were all too battered to open.

The windshield was surprisingly still intact, with just a few cracks in it, but the back window looked like it could shatter at any moment. AJ used this to his advantage. Hurrying around to the back of the car, he climbed onto the trunk and kicked at the large window, shattering the already fractured glass with just a few blows from his booted foot.

“Jack, go on down the line and see if you can help anyone that they’ve already gotten out. Allison and I will check on this one and try to get her out,” AJ said to Jack.

Jack nodded and hurried off to look for any critical patients he could help.

+++
“Get ready you guys!” Harry Littrell called out as the helicopter landed roughly in a field near the interstate. Once the chopper had landed completely, the door burst open and Harry, Kylie, and fellow paramedic Amelia Caston jumped out immediately running towards the ambulances and fire trucks.
“Doug, what do you need us to do?” Harry called out to one of his old friends from college, who was also a paramedic.
“We need to find people and determine which are injured more seriously so they can be treated first,” Doug replied.
Harry nodded and took off in a run before turning around to motion for Amelia and Kylie to follow him. The area he took them towards seemed to be nearest to the tail end of the wreck and the one where hardly any medical personnel were.
“Help me, Ky,” Amelia called out as she grabbed Kylie’s arm and dragged her towards a random car.
+++

As Jack went along, he surveyed the crash scene, looking all around for trapped people or paramedics that could use his assistance. And that’s when he saw the car. A small Dodge Neon that looked to be silver, but it was hard to tell in the dim light. The car, like the other he had seen, was crumpled in at both ends, but the car that had rear ended it had bounced off enough that he had a good view of the back end of the car. Good enough to read the bended license plate. Bean 77.

Jack’s heart lurched. Bean 77. The license number rang through his head, sounding frighteningly familiar. From working with her for three years, Jack knew that “Bean” was Bianca Parker’s nickname. If anyone had asked him before what kind of car she drove, Jack would have never remembered, but now, looking at that little silver Neon, he recognized it. It sat nearly every morning only two spaces away from his in the Memorial Hospital parking lot.

“Oh, God, Bianca!” Jack cried, snapping into action as the realization hit him that one of his colleagues, a woman he knew and liked well, was inside that car, possibly seriously injured. Forgetting about helping anyone but her, he ran to the car. Through the driver’s window, he could barely see Bianca, for the airbag had been inflated and still was.

He ran around to the passenger side of the car, hoping to get in that way. Being a cheap car, the Neon didn’t have an airbag on the passenger side, so it was easier to see in. Jack pressed his face up to the window and squinted into the car. On the passenger side, he saw a dark-haired woman, slumped forward against the dashboard. He pulled at the door handle, but like the other car, it was jammed. The windshield was broken in though, and so Jack did what AJ would have done and climbed onto the hood of the car.

“Bianca!” he called through the hole where the windshield once was. “Bianca!?” He leaned into the car, desperately straining to her a reply. And then, to his relief, one came.

“Help!” she cried, her voice muffled by the airbag in her face. “Please help me!”

“Bean, it’s me, Jack!” he cried, unzipping his medical bag.

“Jack?!” she cried in shock.

“That’s right. Don’t worry, Bianca, I’m gonna get you out of here,” he shouted, pulling a scalpel out of his bag and stabbing at the airbag to deflate it. When the big white mass finally sunk down, Jack could finally see Bianca, sitting back in her seat, looking at him, her blue-gray eyes wide.

“Oh my God, it is you,” Bianca said in amazement. “I thought I was hallucinating.”

Jack chuckled, relieved that she was awake and talking. “Nope, it’s really me. Your guardian angel, I guess.” He offered her one of his most charming grins. “So how you doing? Where do you hurt?” he asked, getting back to business.

“I… I don’t really know. I sort of ache all over, but it’s mostly my stomach, my shoulder, and my face.”

“Your face stings from the airbag probably,” he said. “And the rest-“

“From the seatbelt, I hope,” Bianca interjected. Before he could continue questioning her, she asked, “What about Brianna?”

Jack remembered the girl in the passenger side and immediately turned his attention to her. She was still slumped over, unconscious. Bianca turned towards her friend too, getting a good look at her for the first time.

“Oh my God, Brie!” she screamed. “Jack, is she, is she breathing? Oh God, Brie…”

“Shh, sit tight, Bianca,” Jack said. “I’ll take care of her; just sit still till I can examine you better.”

Lying on his stomach on the hood of the car, he leaned inside the windshield and reached out to touch the girl’s neck. He felt for her pulse, terrified he was going to find that she was dead and have to tell Bianca that. But luckily, he could feel it. It was slow, but it was there.

“She’s got a pulse,” he said to Bianca. Leaning close to her, he heard her breathing in light, shallow pants. “She’s breathing too,” he added, although it did not sound good.

“Bianca, I need to go get some more help to get you guys out of here, okay?” Jack said, knowing he would be better able to examine and help both women once they were out of the car. But he realized he was going to need help to get them out, especially the unconscious Brianna.

“Hurry back,” Bianca whispered, as Jack leapt off the hood and raced away to find help.

+++

AJ crawled into the car through the back window he had broken. He climbed down into the backseat, which was empty, and squeezed between the two front seats so that he could get into the front passenger seat.

Finally making it there, he turned to the driver, a woman, who was slumped over, unconscious.

“Ma’am?” he asked loudly, gently squeezing her shoulder. “Ma’am, can you hear me? Ma’am?”

But when he pressed his fingers to her neck to check for a pulse, he realized she could not hear him. She was dead.

Gently lifting her head up, he saw that her face was a bloody mess, her forehead bashed in from the impact of her head hitting the steering wheel. She had died instantly.

“Allison!” he called back to Allison, who was perched on the trunk, looking in, waiting to see if AJ needed more help. “This one’s dead. Just help me get her out, and then we’ll go find someone else to help.”

Allison climbed into the car, and together, they managed to move the woman, who, luckily, was petite, from the driver’s seat into the back, and from there, out the back window. They placed her on their stretcher and slid her into one of their black body bags. That was something they hated to do more than anything else, but unfortunately, it had to be done.

“Go on and see what else you can do; I’ll take care of this,” AJ said, zipping up the body bag. Allison nodded and hurried off to see where she was needed.

Meanwhile, AJ climbed back into the woman’s car to look for some sort of ID. He found her purse under the passenger seat, got out her wallet, and opened it up. Looking at her driver’s license, he found out that she was thirty-two, and her name was Brandy McCartney.

“McCartney?” AJ said out loud, tossing the last name around in his head. There were only three McCartney’s that he knew of: Paul, the legendary Beatle, and Josh and Kylie - his fellow paramedics. He hoped this woman wasn’t related somehow.

A few minutes later, as AJ wheeled the stretcher towards one of the many ambulances parked around the area, he noticed Kylie talking to another paramedic, one he did not recognize.

“Kylie!” he called to her.

Kylie said something to the man beside her and hurried over to him. “Yeah, AJ?”

“Um… does Josh have a sister or anyone in his family named Brandy?” he asked hesitantly.

Kylie’s face paled. “His sister-in-law,” she said. “Why??”

AJ bit his lip and unzipped the body bag just enough to let Kylie get a glimpse of the dead woman’s face.

“Oh my God!” she shrieked, clapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh God…”

“I’m so sorry, Ky,” AJ said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Kylie shook her head, tears rising in her eyes. “Her… her husband… he’s right over there,” Kylie choked out, pointing to the man she had been talking to earlier. “Darrin McCartney. Josh’s brother. He’s a paramedic for Indian Valley.”

“Oh God,” AJ whispered, his eyes widening. “D-do you think he should see this?”

“I-I don’t know,” she said, swallowing hard. “He would want to know right away… but it’s just so horrible to look at.”

He put a hand on her shaking shoulder. “Okay, wait a few minutes, until the ambulance has taken her away to Indian Valley General, and then tell him. That way, he won’t have to see her like this. They’ll get her cleaned up at the hospital before they let him see her.”

Kylie nodded. “Okay. Let’s get her into the ambulance. I don’t think I can look him in the eye and not tell him that his wife’s dead.”

AJ offered her a sympathetic glance.

“I don’t even know how this could have happened,” Kylie said shakily. “Darrin called Josh before he left for this accident – he needed us to watch his daughter, MacKayla – and he said that Brandy was already at work.”

Darrin and Brandy lived in a small town that was twenty minutes away from the city of Indian Valley, but both of them worked in Indian Valley, Darrin as a paramedic, and Brandy as a receptionist at the hospital. She worked nights often, and Josh frequently babysat MacKayla in times like these, when Darrin was called to an emergency, and no one else could take care of her. Kylie often helped out too, when Josh couldn’t. Being his wife, she was close to his family and had always been. Even though she and Brandy were only related by their marriages, her death hit Kylie hard.

“Maybe she forgot something and was on her way back home,” AJ suggested.

Kylie nodded. “Probably so. Talk about bad timing.”

“Yeah,” AJ said glumly.

Together, they loaded Brandy into the ambulance. Some of the Indian Valley paramedics climbed in with her, and a few minutes later, the ambulance left. Only, unlike many of the others that had already departed, this one left without lights, without sirens. There was no emergency this time; Brandy McCartney was already dead.

+++

With paramedics Allison and Amelia in tow, Jack ran back to Bianca’s car. Both Brianna and Bianca were just as he had left them, Brianna slouched over in her seat, unconscious, and Bianca sitting nervously in the driver’s seat. Only now, Bianca was gripping Brianna’s hand tightly in hers, as if she was holding on to her for dear life.

“How’s she doing?” Jack asked Bianca, knowing that she had been keeping a close check on Brianna in his absence.

“She’s still breathing, and her pulse is weak, but steady,” Bianca replied.

“Alright, guys, we need to get Brianna here out of the car,” Jack said to the two female paramedics. They both nodded, Amelia patting one of the two stretchers they had brought with them.

Both Allison and Amelia climbed onto the hood of the car and directed Jack in helping them carefully lift Brianna and move her through the hole where the windshield had been. They got her onto the stretcher, and Jack took over her care from there, able to better examine her out in the open.

Meanwhile, Allison and Amelia helped Bianca out and placed her on the other stretcher. Seeing that Bianca was in better condition than Brianna, Amelia went to help Jack with Brianna, leaving Allison to help Bianca.

Bianca lay helplessly on the stretcher, answering Allison’s questions absently, as she tried to listen to what was going on with Brianna. She couldn’t catch much, only bits and pieces of what Jack and Amelia were saying as they worked on her friend.

But when Jack announced, “We have to fly her out of here now!”, Bianca heard every word and immediately tried to sit upright, knowing that if they were life-flighting Brianna to Memorial, it had to be serious.

“Whoa, lie back down, Dr. Parker,” Allison said, easing her back down onto the stretcher.

“Jack!” Bianca cried, ignoring Allison. “Jack, what’s wrong with her? How bad is she?”

“Shh, don’t worry, Bianca,” Jack tried to tell her, as he and Amelia pushed Brianna’s stretcher past.

“Wait!” Bianca cried. Grabbing Allison’s wrist, she asked, “Can I go on the life flight with them? Please?”

Allison bit her lip. “I don’t know, Dr. Parker. I’m not sure if there’s enough room…”

“I’ve been on those life-flights before, Allison, I know how big they are. There’s enough room for me. You don’t have to bring the stretcher for me; I’m fine,” Bianca argued.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Parker, but it’s standard procedure. We-“

“I’m a doctor, God damnit, I can assess my own condition. I’m telling you, I’m fine. A little bruised, a little beat up, but I’ll live. Now please, take me to my friend. Please, I’m begging you!” Bianca pleaded, refusing to back down.

Allison sighed. “Alright, fine,” she finally said, after some hesitation.

Bianca smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Allison,” she said, starting to sit up again.

“Ah, ah, ah, wait a minute. Stay on the stretcher until we get to the copter at least,” Allison told her, holding her down.

Bianca rolled her eyes, but compromised, as Allison wheeled her off towards the helicopter.

+++
“Help me somebody help me please!” twenty-two-year-old Cameron Hendrickson, better known as Cammie, yelled fearfully as she heard yelling outside her crushed car.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?” a male voice was heard through the darkness which started to envelope Cammie’s mind.
“Yes, sir,” Cammie replied meekly, hoping the man had heard her.
“Stay awake for me please, ma’am, we are almost to you. We will get you out shortly.”
Cammie nodded, feeling too weak to even respond. She sat in the driver’s seat of her now severely damaged Mustang, which was a graduation present from her husband, Ron, moaning softly in pain as she subconsciously ran a hand over her swollen belly. She felt a cry rise within her throat as she became aware of the pain shooting through her body, literally from head to toe. Before she could stop herself she cried out but bit her lip stubbornly, secretly hoping that no one would notice her moment of weakness.
“We are almost in, Kylie,” she heard the young man’s voice say, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her, temporarily masking the pain.
“We got it, Harry!” a female voice she assumed belong to Kylie yelled out.
Suddenly the car seemed to let out a groan as the cut away portion of the passenger’s door gave way. Cammie subconsciously began to wonder why they didn’t cut away a portion of the driver’s side door, but quickly noted that it was probably for the best, just in case some freak accident of nature caused something to fall on her, injuring her worse. Cammie looked to the side as someone crawled into the darkened car towards her.
“Hi, I’m Kylie. Can you tell me where you feel pain?” the woman asked as she pointed the flashlight in her hands away from Cammie and turned it on so it wouldn’t hurt Cammie’s eyes. “Oh god, are you feeling any pain in your stomach?” she asked as the flashlight’s beam fell across Cammie’s obviously pregnant stomach.
“Yeah,” Cammie replied glumly. “Please don’t let my baby die,” she begged as tears filled her eyes at the thought of losing her and Ron’s first child before it was even born.
“We won’t,” Kylie replied as she gently unbuckled Cammie’s seatbelt. “How far along are you?”
“About seven months.”
“Okay. Do you feel pain anywhere else?”
“Yeah, just mainly in my stomach and head, minor pain in my left knee,” Cammie replied, praying that she would get out of this prison that was formally her car.
“Alright,” Kylie replied before reaching to her side and taking out a small radio to inform Harry about the patient’s condition without yelling that could possibly make Cammie’s pain more intense, especially in her head. “Harry, can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” the voice Cammie recognized as the first paramedic said. “What’s the situation?”
“We have a pregnant female, pain is most intense in abdomen area and there is a possibility of a head trauma. And patient says there is pain felt in the left knee. Patient is currently conscious but appears to be drifting in and out of consciousness.”
“Okay, Kylie, good job. Let’s get her out of here as quickly as possible and have her transported to the hospital.”
“Okay, Harry,” was the short reply as Kylie placed the small radio back where she got it and began to examine Cammie’s body for more injuries.
“I’m Cammie, by the way,” she said with a tight smile before she tensed up in pain before moaning loudly.
Kylie didn’t say anything just gave Cammie’s hand a firm squeeze before she lost consciousness.
+++
Once they reached the life-flight helicopter, Allison quickly examined Bianca once more and reluctantly let her get off of the stretcher and walk, when Bianca again insisted she was fine. Her legs were a little shaky at first, but with Allison at her side to support her, Bianca made it to the helicopter without any problems.

“Bianca?” Jack asked, looking up in surprise as Allison helped Bianca into the copter.

“Don’t think I’m not coming along for the ride,” Bianca declared, flashing him a mischievous smile, obviously proud of how she had talked Allison into letting her ride with Brianna.

“You got this, Allison?” Amelia asked, as Allison climbed into the helicopter. “I need to get back to the other life-flight and help Kylie and Harry.”

‘Yup, go ahead,” Allison said, as she traded places with Amelia. Amelia climbed out of the helicopter and disappeared into the night, just as AJ came running up.

“What do we got?” he asked breathlessly, boarding the helicopter.

“AJ!” Bianca cried.

“Bean, what are you doing here?” AJ asked in shock. Seeing her face, which was slightly scraped and bruised, he gasped. “Oh God, Bianca, you weren’t… you weren’t in the crash, were you?”

She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m fine, AJ,” she told him quickly, as his eyes widened. “But Brie’s not.” She motioned to the gurney, where Brianna lay, nearly hidden from AJ’s view by Jack and Allison.

“Oh no,” AJ moaned, getting a good look at Bianca’s best friend. Brianna and Bianca shared an apartment, which AJ spent a lot of time at, so he had gotten to know her quite well. He now felt like he was losing a friend too.

“You ready to go?” asked the pilot, turning around to address Allison.

“We’re ready,” she said with a nod. The pilot closed the helicopter door and immediately lifted the helicopter off the ground.

“Alright, what’s her vitals, Jack?” Allison asked, as he hovered over Brianna.

Bianca’s heart sunk as she was again reminded of what she was doing there. This was not just one of her ride-alongs with the paramedics; she was there as a friend of a patient, not as a doctor. And her friend was not doing well.

+++
The next time Cammie woke up, she was surrounded by several people. Momentarily, she started panicking, before she remembered what had happened. She looked around wildly before her eyes settled on the only person she recognized, the paramedic named Kylie.
“Kylie,” Cammie whispered. Kylie immediately walked over to Cammie’s side peering anxiously down at her.
“Is my baby okay?” Cammie’s eyes widened in fear as Kylie, Harry, and another young paramedic exchanged glances. “Well?” she asked with a trembling voice, silently bracing herself for the worse.
“The baby is still alive, Cammie, but you need to go to the hospital so they can treat you for your injuries and monitor the baby to make sure it is alright,” Kylie replied gently.
Cammie nodded and stared at the ceiling until Kylie grasped her shoulder and wished her good luck before she had to exit the ambulance so Cammie could be transported to the hospital.
“Thank you,” was all Cammie said before she again welcomed the sweet darkness that surrounded her.
+++

Halfway through the fifteen-minute flight, Bianca was staring out the window of the helicopter, absently chewing on her bottom lip. Jack had hooked Brianna up to a portable electrocardiograph, and the sound of the steady beep as it measured her heartbeat was comforting to Bianca. As long as it kept beating, it meant Brianna was alive.

Jack sat at Brianna’s side, keeping a close eye on her vital signs. There wasn’t much else he could do for her until he got to the hospital, where he would be able to better assess her condition. At that point, she seemed stable, but he was concerned about her unconscious state. He was worried about her having a head injury from hitting the dashboard, but so far, he had yet to see swelling appear on her head, just some minor bruising. He held out hope that if she had hit her head, it wasn’t hard, just enough to give her a concussion, but not cause major damage.

Both of the bones in her right forearm were broken, and the underside of her left arm was cut up with glass, leading him to believe she had pushed against the dashboard with her right arm right before they had crashed to keep her from flying into it. It had broken her arm, but had hopefully lessened the impact of her head against the dashboard, which could have been severe enough to kill her, since there was no airbag on her side to cushion her. From the glass in her left arm, he assumed she had put that arm up to cover her face when the windshield had shattered, showering her with a cascade of glass.

Jack was interrupted from his theorizing by a grip on his arm.

“Jack,” Allison whispered, motioning to Brianna. Jack leaned close to her to see her eyes flutter open.

“Brianna?” he said loudly, causing Bianca to sit up alertly.

“She’s awake?” she asked excitedly.

“Brianna, I’m Jack Palmer. I’m a doctor,” Jack said to Brianna, who was finally beginning to regain consciousness. “You were in a car accident, and you’re being taken to Atlantic City Memorial Hospital by helicopter. Do you understand?”

Brianna gave a short, frightened nod. Her mouth opened beneath the oxygen mask that was strapped over her face, and the clear plastic mask fogged up as she tried to talk. Jack pulled the mask away from her mouth, and Brianna gasped out, “Bianca?”

“I’m right here, Brie,” Bianca said, scooting forward and grabbing Brianna’s hand. “I’m fine. How are you feeling, girl?”

“My chest hurts,” Brianna moaned hoarsely.

“Probably just a broken rib,” Jack said quickly, looking at Bianca, who was obviously worried.

“I… I can’t breathe,” Brianna cried, gasping for air.

“Shh, calm down. Take deep breaths,” Jack urged her, thinking she was hyperventilating from panic.

“I-I can’t… it hurts!” Brianna cried, tears rising in her eyes. “Please… I can’t… breathe!”

Jack put the oxygen mask back over her mouth. “Deep breaths. Slow, deep breaths,” he coached her.

But seconds later, Brianna’s wide, frightened eyes rolled back into her head and then closed. Her monitors began to beep wildly, signaling something was very wrong.

“No breath sounds,” Jack said, listening to Brianna’s chest with his stethoscope. “Allison, bag her!”

“What is it?” Bianca asked, terrified. “Tension pneumothorax?”

“Yes. Her broken rib pierced her lung and collapsed it,” Jack replied, hurriedly fishing through his bag for supplies, as Allison began to bag Brianna to give her oxygen. “There’s too much pressure in her chest, and her heart doesn’t have room to beat. I need to relieve the pressure.”

He quickly swabbed some iodine onto Brianna’s chest and carefully inserted a long needle into her, which was supposed to ease the pressure around her heart. But as he did so, the helicopter jerked with turbulence.

“Shit,” Jack cursed, praying the jostle hadn’t caused his hand to jerk. But as he slid the needle back out, blood appeared instantly from the tiny pinprick in Brianna’s chest. “Shit,” he said again. “AJ, get me some gauze.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Bianca asked in alarm, as AJ grabbed the gauze from the bag and handed it to Jack. “Crap, Jack, she’s bleeding! What did you do??”

“I must have hit an artery when the copter shook. Oh damnit,” Jack moaned, pressing the gauze against Brianna’s chest to stop the bleeding. But in just minutes, the gauze was soaked with her blood, and it was still gushing.

“Excuse me, sir?” Jack called up to the pilot. “How much longer till we get to the hospital?”

“Only five minutes or so,” the pilot called back.

“That’s five minutes too many,” Jack growled under his breath, frustrated and angry with himself for messing up. It wasn’t like he could help it; he had been jostled. But he didn’t like making mistakes, especially on the best friend of one of his colleagues, when she was sitting right there to see it all happen.

Jack turned to glance at Bianca. She didn’t look mad at him, thank God, just terribly upset. Her eyes had filled with tears, and she had begun to chew on her nails again.

“Don’t worry, we’ll fix it in the ER. She’ll be okay,” he told Bianca, not sure if he was saying it to comfort her or assure himself.

Suddenly, the heart monitor’s beeps grew irregular and slow, then stopped altogether, morphing into one continuous beep. The ragged line on the monitor fell and went flat.

“Lost a pulse. Starting CPR,” Jack announced, bending over Brianna and starting chest compressions. To Allison, he said, “Keep bagging her.”

Allison nodded, continually squeezing and releasing the bag that was pumping air into Brianna’s lungs.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” AJ demanded to the pilot. “We need to get this girl to the ER now!”

“I’m going as fast as I can; we’ll be there in three minutes,” the pilot assured him.

“Oh my God, Brianna,” Bianca sobbed, watching in horror as Jack tried to revive her friend. She had seen him do CPR on many patients in the ER, but now that it was on Brianna, it was something totally new. She was terrified, but she had faith in Jack. He was young, like her, but he was a good doctor. He would pull Brianna through. He had to.

AJ crawled over to Bianca and put his arm around her, letting her cry on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. “It’ll be okay, sweetie.”

He just hoped his words were not going to end up a lie.

“AJ, let’s try the defibrillator. Charge it to 200!” Jack’s words jerked AJ out of his thoughts and sent him into action, as he got out the defibrillator, the device used to shock hearts, and charged it up.

“Charged,” he said a moment later, holding the paddles out to Jack. Jack took them, smearing them with the blood that coated his hands. Brianna’s blood.

“Clear!”

Bianca squeezed her eyes shut as Brianna’s body jolted with electricity, praying to hear the short beeps start up again on the electrocardiograph.

But all that could be heard was the same, long, continuous beep.

+++
Even Heroes Fall by RokofAges75
Episode 4:

Even Heroes Fall


"Dr. Reily!"

Dr. Siara Reily spun around quickly when a deep voice yelled out her name as she was exiting one of the trauma rooms.

"Yes, Lance?" she asked as she quickly scribbled down some notes on the patient's chart.

"Dr. O'Brien needs your assistance; it’s urgent," Lance Bass replied calmly, but as Siara looked into his eyes, she could see the fear within them.

"Which room?"

Lance didn't reply as he ran towards Trauma 4, the room he had exited moments before, now with Siara right on his heels. They both entered the room to see that the situation was seemingly under control. The patient, the sixteen-year-old boy who had attempted suicide, had been stabilized.

"You needed me, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Siara, I need you to please help me set this patient up for transfer to an ICU room. We need to keep as many trauma rooms open as we can for the critical patients from the MVA."

Siara nodded before setting her chart down and walking over to help Elizabeth. Lance turned around, feeling unneeded and began to exit the room in search for another doctor he could assist.

"Lance?" Elizabeth's voice called out.

"Can you please go to the ER waiting room and speak with this young man's parents about what happened? The paramedics were unable to get much information before."

Lance gave Elizabeth a half-hearted smile as he nodded and walked towards the waiting room, knowing that one of the things he hated to do the most was waiting for him right around the corner.

+++
Paramedic Kylie Hunter turned away from the ambulance and started off to look for the rest of her EMT squad, consisting of her fellow paramedics Allison Brooks and Harry Littrell, who had gone on to help rescue others involved in the huge interstate pile-up.
She had gone no more than a few yards when a voice shouted her name, causing her to turn around in surprise. She saw one of the paramedics from the Indian Valley ambulance she had just left running towards her.
“What’s wrong?” Kylie asked, immediately worrying that something had gone wrong with Cammie, the pregnant woman she had just helped load into that ambulance.
Her suspicions were quickly confirmed. “Cammie’s water just broke. It looks like she’s going into early labor. Probably a result of the trauma.”
“She’s not even quite seven months. It’ll be a preemie,” Kylie said, frowning.
“I know. I was thinking maybe we should transfer her to your life flight and fly her to Memorial instead. I know you have a better NICU and OB team down there then we do at Indian Valley,” the paramedic said.
Kylie nodded. “That’s true…”
“We need to make a decision here quickly so we can get her to a hospital ASAP. Her labor could progress quickly since her water broke. It’ll take about the same amount of time to get to Memorial by copter as it would to Indian Valley by ambulance, so I say we transfer her.”
Kylie nodded again. “Sounds good. Let’s go,” she said, following him back to his ambulance.
“Kylie?” Cammie said, when Kylie returned.
“Hey, Cammie,” Kylie said, giving her a calm smile.
“I’m in labor, Kylie,” Cammie cried, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m only seven months; this isn’t supposed to be happening now!”
“It happens sometimes after traumatic events like the car accident you were in,” Kylie said sympathetically. “It puts stress on the mother and baby and sends her into labor early.”
“Is there anything you can do to stop it? Keep it from happening for another two months?” Cammie asked desperately.
Kylie shook her head regrettably. “No, not at this point. But don’t worry; you’re in good hands. We’re going to fly you to Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic City. It has the best Neonatal care in the area, so that your baby will have the best chance to live. And anyway, you’re only two months early; we’ve had babies much younger survive. And hey, look on the bright side – you’re going to be a Mommy tonight.” She offered Cammie a smile.
Cammie managed a weak smile back, but she was obviously too worried to be happy at that point. Kylie couldn’t blame her one bit. She knew that in her position, she would be just as terrified.
+++

As quietly as possible, Lance timidly entered the ER waiting room, immediately knowing that the family was the young man's. He walked across the tile floor and stood before the man and woman until he found an appropriate time to interrupt their grieving.

"Sir, ma'am, I'm Lance Bass, a nurse here at Memorial. I need to ask you a few questions so we can better treat your son," he introduced professionally, sticking out his hand.

"Hello, Lance, I'm James Williams, and this is my wife, Caroline," the man introduced as shook Lance's hand and signaled for him to have a seat.

Lance nodded at the woman politely and sat down at the end of the large couch, clearing his throat before he spoke. "I wish we could have met under better circumstance," Lance began, but decided to cut the small talk and go directly into what he was sent to find out. "Can you please explain to me what may have caused your son to do this?"

"Oliver," the sobbing woman spoke up suddenly.

Lance looked at her questioningly, raising his eyebrows waiting for her to continue.

"His name is Oliver," she repeated before breaking into sobs once again.

Lance nodded and quickly wrote down the name in his notebook he kept to write down important information.

The fifteen-minutes it took for Lance to get all the information passed by extremely slow but he had learned a lot. When Mr. Williams was done speaking about what had happened to his son, Lance looked up at the family in sympathy, he himself also reliving something similar that had happened earlier in his life.

Lance's older sister Stacey was the vision of perfection, with her blonde hair, green eyes, a family that loved her unconditionally, and a friendly smile that always seemed to light up her face. The year Lance was thirteen and Stacey was sixteen, all hell broke loose within the Bass household. Lance's parents just weren't getting along and were planning on getting a divorce, which struck both children hard.

On this particular night, Lance was in the living room watching his favorite TV program with Stacey as his parents argued in the kitchen about something that had happened that day…

Lance tuned out the argument, but from the few words he had heard, he figured it was about Stacey, who was sitting on the couch looking down at her feet. When the show went to commercial, Stacey stood up and walked off, after mumbling about getting something out of her room. Lance just nodded and giggled at the stupid local car dealer commercial that was on the screen, unintentionally forgetting about his sister.

Fifteen minutes later, when the show ended, Lance turned off the TV and walked up the stairs, wishing his parents would quit their yelling for a few moments at least. He entered his darkened room, quietly singing a country song under his breath, and turned on the light.

Throughout the house, a blood-curling scream echoed within the walls.

At least for the moment, the yelling had stopped.

As Lance quickly left the waiting room, he wished the family good luck and set off to find Dr. O'Brien, hoping that the morbid visions wouldn't haunt him tonight, not when so many lives were at stake.

+++

A short while later, Elizabeth stood on the roof of the hospital, her brown hair blowing wildly as the life-flight helicopter gently lowered to the landing pad.

As soon as it had touched the cement of the roof, Elizabeth took off running towards it, ducking her head as she neared the propellers. Lance and nurse Natalie Spade followed her.

The door to the helicopter opened, and out jumped paramedic AJ McLean, followed by Allison Brooks, who was busily bagging her patient, a girl in her late twenties who lay unconscious on the gurney. Jack Palmer was on the gurney as well, straddling the girl as he gave her chest compressions.

“Twenty-eight-year-old female involved in MVA. Possibly blunt trauma to the head and tension pneumothorax from a broken rib,” AJ shouted to Elizabeth over the loud whirring of the helicopter’s propellers. “Palmer nicked her artery while doing needle thoracostomy. Lost a pulse about five minutes ago.”

“Alright, let’s get her inside!” Elizabeth shouted, as they lowered the gurney to the ground.

“AJ, wait!” called Bianca Parker, as she painfully climbed out of the helicopter.

“Come on,” AJ said, grabbing her hand and dragging her along with him as they ran back inside.

“Bianca, what are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked, once they had made it back inside, noticing her colleague for the first time. “I thought you were in Raleigh.”

“We were on the way, but we got into the wreck,” Bianca said, rubbing at her tearstained cheeks.

“Are you alright?!” Elizabeth asked in concern, looking back at Bianca as she hurried alongside the gurney.

“I’m fine,” Bianca said, nodding quickly. “But Brianna…” she trailed off, blinking back tears.

“You know we’ll do our best to help her,” Elizabeth said assuredly, giving her a quick pat on the arm as they made it to the elevator and took it downstairs to the ER.

“Trauma 3,” Lance announced, leading the group into the empty trauma room.

“Hook her up to the heart monitor and get me a crash cart!” Jack cried, still giving Brianna chest compressions.

The nurses sprang into action. Lance hurriedly attached small pads to Brianna’s chest that lead to the heart monitor. Natalie ran out of the room and was back in less than a minute, wheeling the crash cart that contained the paddles to shock Brianna’s heart.

“Charge to 300,” Jack said, climbing off the gurney.

“Charged,” Natalie said, handing the paddles to him.

“Clear!”

Jack pressed the paddles to Brianna’s chest, and again, her body jumped with the charge. But this time, the line on the heart monitor, which had been flat since it had been turned on, peaked slightly and then again, this time even higher.

“We’ve got a rhythm,” Jack announced, letting out a loud sigh of relief. “Alright, we need to put in a chest tube. And get a surgeon down here. I hit her artery, and she’s losing a lot of blood. It needs to be repaired right away.”

“Lance, get a surgeon!” Elizabeth commanded, sending Lance running out of the room.

Noticing Bianca, who was standing off to the side, watching with wide eyes, Elizabeth said gently, “Bianca, I think you should leave.”

Bianca looked up at her dazedly. “What?”

“You shouldn’t be in here. Why don’t you go get yourself checked out; you look pretty banged up,” Elizabeth said. “Natalie, would you take Bianca-“

“No, please, I want to stay,” Bianca interrupted.

“No, really, Bianca, you-“

“But I can help!” Bianca argued, her voice rising.

“You’re not supposed to help on friends or family; it’s a policy here,” Elizabeth said. “Now, please, go with Natalie and get yourself examined.”

“Elizabeth, please,” Bianca pleaded. “I’ll just watch if you want; I won’t help. But please let me stay; she’s my friend!”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Jack’s sudden shout, “Her chest’s full of blood!”

Elizabeth whirled around to see blood flowing rapidly from the small hole he had made to insert the chest tube into Brianna. “Where’s Lance?” she demanded, her gentle tone vanishing. “We need a surgeon right now, damnit!”

“Natalie, get me a thoracotomy tray, stat!” Jack cried.

Elizabeth hurried to help Jack, forgetting about Bianca for the time being.

Bianca stood in shock, watching helplessly as the blood spilled from her best friend’s chest. She had seen many critical patients, many bloody patients, but it had never affected her, not like this. It was a lot different when your best friend was the one lying on that gurney.

“What do we got here?”

Surgeon Kevin Richardson burst through the doors, startling Bianca.

“Tension pneumothorax with a hole in the intercostal artery,” Elizabeth said. “She’s got a chestful of blood, and her pressure’s dropping.”

Kevin nodded, pushing Jack aside so he could work on repairing Brianna’s artery.

“Jack, why don’t you go take a look at Bianca in one of the exam rooms?” Elizabeth suggested, realizing Bianca was still in the room.

“Sure,” Jack said, removing his bloodied gloves and gown. “Come on, Bianca.”

“Jack, please,” Bianca tried to argue again, but he grabbed her hand and gave her a tug.

“You shouldn’t be seeing all this. Don’t you worry, Brianna’s in good hands. Now we need to get you checked out,” Jack said gently.

“I’m fine,” Bianca snapped, pulling out of his grasp. “I want to stay.”

“Dr. Parker, this is not your patient. Get out of here now,” Elizabeth said, her tone turning sharp and boss-like. She didn’t want to be hard on Bianca, but she knew how stubborn Bianca could be. Elizabeth was going to have to play superior to get her to leave.

Bianca glared tearfully at Elizabeth, but reluctantly allowed Jack to lead her out of the trauma room.

+++
“Twenty-two year old woman, seven months pregnant with first child, involved in the MVA. Short LOC on scene, but injuries look to be minor. Her water broke almost half an hour ago, probably a result of the trauma on the baby,” Kylie spouted off to Ivory Harnett, who had met the life flight helicopter on the roof of the hospital to take over Cammie’s care.
“Let’s take her to Trauma 2,” Ivory directed, once they reached the Emergency Room. They pushed the stretcher into the second trauma room and quickly transferred Cammie over to the gurney in the center of the room. “Alright, first of all, Melissa, page OB and get someone down here to examine Cammie. Then I need…”
“Cammie, I have to go now, alright?” Kylie said to Cammie, once she was in the hands of Dr. Harnett and her team.
“Alright,” Cammie said, her voice shaky. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Good luck with your baby,” Kylie said, giving her a confident smile. Then she followed Harry and Allison out of the trauma room.
It was part of Kylie’s job to not get emotionally attached to any of the patients she worked on because she was with them for such a short time, and sometimes, they did make it. But there were times when Kylie could not help but get attached. There were some people, like Cammie, that just affected her more than others. She could relate to poor Cammie, a young woman who was pregnant with her first baby and terrified that it was not going to make it. Kylie didn’t have any children of her own yet, but she wanted to start a family and could not wait till she had a baby of her own.
Please keep Cammie and her baby safe, Lord, Kylie whispered in her mind, as she lagged along behind Harry and Allison.
+++

“There. Good as new,” Jack said awhile later, as he slapped a band-aid over a freshly-sutured cut on Bianca’s forehead.

“Thanks, Jack,” she said.

“Now, are you sure you don’t have any pain anywhere else? I mean, I really should give you a thorough exam, just in case-“

“I’m fine,” Bianca said abruptly. “And no offense or anything, but that would be really weird. You know, having you examine me. I mean-”

“I know what you mean,” Jack said with a nod. “You’d feel weird being the patient instead of the doctor and having one of your colleagues examine you.”

She smiled slightly and nodded. “Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem. But listen, if you start feeling funny, make sure you get someone to check you out, okay? Another doctor, a nurse… AJ…” He winked, causing her to blush and smile for just an instant. But the smile faded just as quickly.

“Hey, speaking of AJ, you want me to get him for you?” Jack asked.

“He’s still on duty,” Bianca replied, her voice dull.

“I’m sure he could take a break,” Jack said. “You want me to see if I can find him?”

Bianca bit her lip, and Jack could see in her eyes that she really did want her boyfriend with her. But she didn’t want to call him away from his work if he was needed.

“I’ll get him,” Jack said. “But first, let’s go to the lounge, okay? I’m sure you’d rather wait there than in this exam room.”

Bianca nodded and let Jack help her down from the examining table. Taking her by the arm, Jack led her to the lounge. He sat her down at the table and got her a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” Bianca mumbled, taking a tiny sip of the hot liquid from the little styrofoam cup. Then she pushed it away, folded her arms on top of the table, and buried her head in them.

Jack watched her in sympathy for a moment, then sat down beside her and silently began to rub his hand soothingly across her back. He knew how Addie liked that when she was upset and hoped it would work to comfort Bianca as well.

Suddenly, the door to the lounge burst open, and a curly-haired blonde came sauntering in.

“Hey, Dr. Palmer,” he said. “Boy, I’m glad to see you here. You got anything for me to do? I’ve been doing some crap for Dr. O’Brien, but-“

“Justin!” Jack snapped, halting his med student. “Can’t you see I’m busy right now? Get out of here!”

Justin’s eyes shifted to Bianca, who was looking up at him with a red face and watery eyes. “Dr. Parker? What are you doing here? I thought you were-“

“Get out, Timberlake!” Jack shouted.

“Okay… sorry,” he mumbled, turning around and leaving as quickly as he could.

Bianca sniffed. “That was kinda harsh, Jack, don’t you think? He couldn’t help it,” she said softly.

Jack rolled his eyes, but he knew she was right. Bianca’s student was young, inexperienced, and seemingly immature for his age. He was going to have to learn some manners, but it was only his first day, and he had even come back that night to work extra hours, so Jack couldn’t really be mad at him.

“I’d better go talk to him,” Bianca continued, wiping her eyes. “Let him know what’s going on.”

“No, no, you stay here. I’ll go talk to him, give him something else to do. Be right back,” Jack said, patting Bianca’s shoulder.

Outside the lounge, he saw Justin at the nurses’ station, talking to one of the nurses.

“Hey, Justin!” Jack called.

Justin turned around, his face falling when he saw Jack. “Look, Dr. Palmer, I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize-“

“I know, Justin. It’s alright. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” Jack interrupted. “One of Dr. Parker’s friends was just brought in in critical condition, and they’re working on her right now. She’s really upset.”

“I’m sorry,” Justin said sympathetically.

Jack nodded. “I do have something you could do for me though. Would you see if you can find AJ McLean somewhere around here? He’s a paramedic with dark, spiky hair and lots of tattoos. You’ll know him when you see him. He might have already left to go on a call, but if he comes back here to bring in a patient anytime soon, tell him that Bianca’s in the lounge and really needs to talk to him.”

“Okay,” Justin said, nodding.

“Thanks,” Jack said and went down the hall to Trauma 3 to check on Brianna. As he reached the room, Elizabeth was just coming out, tossing her bloodied gown and gloves into the garbage as she crossed the threshold.

“How’s she doing?” Jack said.

“She’ll make it,” Elizabeth said. “Richardson repaired her artery; he’s in there closing her chest now. Where’s Bianca?”

“She’s in the lounge. She’s really upset,” Jack replied.

“Well, tell her Brianna’s stable now, but don’t bring her in yet. It’s pretty bloody in there. Tell her she can see her in a little bit, once Richardson’s done, and the nurses have gotten her cleaned up and bandaged.”

“Alright. Thanks, Elizabeth,” Jack said and headed back to the lounge to tell Bianca the good news.

+++
“Good job, Cammie. You’re doing great,” Ivory said to her patient, whose premature labor was progressing rapidly, more quickly than Ivory had expected.
Taking Melissa aside, she whispered, “When the hell is OB going to get down here? She’s going to be ready to push before we know it, and I really don’t want to have to deliver this baby myself.”
At twenty-seven, Ivory wasn’t completely new to this, but there were still things that she had yet to experience. She had delivered babies before, but not very many, and only under heavy supervision. Now she was on her own, with a mother with complications and a baby that was premature.
“I’ll go page them again,” Melissa said, leaving the room.
“Is everything okay?” Cammie asked from the bed, breathing hard.
“Everything’s just fine,” Ivory assured her, smiling. “We’re just waiting for one of the obstetricians to come down and help with your delivery.”
“Okay,” Cammie said, hoping that that part of labor would come soon, for she was growing more and more apprehensive with each contraction. She wished her husband Ron was there with her. They had been taking Lamaze classes together, and he was supposed to have been her coach for when she was in labor. But he was away on business, and the hospital hadn’t been able to reach him yet. She was going to be doing this all alone.
All of a sudden, an alarming beep started to sound. Ivory glanced down at the fetal monitor attached to Cammie, shocked to see that the baby’s heart rate was dropping.
“What’s wrong?” Cammie cried, her eyes wide. “Is something wrong with the baby??”
“Its heart rate is going down,” Ivory said, watching the monitor carefully.
“Well, what does that mean?”
“It means the baby is in distress. It’s not getting enough oxygen,” Ivory said. She knew the baby was going to have to be delivered soon, probably by Caesarean section, for Cammie was not far enough to push yet. She was not qualified for doing a C-section though; she needed an obstetrician. “Cammie, I need to get some from OB down here right now, in case we have to do a C-section. I’ll be right back. Just hang tight,” Ivory said quickly, darting out of the room.
Melissa was just returning. “OB said someone will be down in a little while,” he told Ivory.
“That’s not good enough; I need them now! The baby’s in distress. Cammie might need a C-section, and I can’t do that!” Ivory cried.
“Well, what do you want me to do? Call them again?”
“No, get in there with Cammie; she’s probably freaking out. I’ll make sure someone gets down there. Be right back,” Ivory said determinedly, hurrying past him.
The first person she saw in the hall was Justin, Bianca’s med student. Deciding he was perfect for the job she needed done, she called, “Justin!”
“Yeah?” he asked, coming over to her.
“Justin, go to the receptionist’s desk and make someone call the OB floor and get an OB down here ASAP. This is an emergency, tell them that!” Ivory said breathlessly.
“Okay,” Justin said with a confident nod and took off running for the receptionist’s desk.
+++

Mariah Johnson sat at the receptionist’s desk in the ER, carefully applying red lipstick to her lips. Puckering up, she blew a kiss into her compact mirror, then gave her lips another coat.

She was startled by loud footsteps running down the hall, and her hand jerked.

“Excuse me!” came a breathless voice.

“What do you want?” Mariah asked in annoyance. Setting down her compact, she looked up to find the new med student, Justin, leaning up against the counter, obviously winded. Her eyes roamed over him with newfound interest. She found him so strikingly attractive, tall and buff with blonde, curly hair and blue eyes. Smiling flirtatiously, she said sweetly, “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to sound so rude. So, what can I do for you?”

“I need you to call an obstetrician down here right away. It’s an emergency,” he panted.

“Well, everything down here’s an emergency, now isn’t it? That’s why they call it the Emergency Room.” She giggled, as if what she had said was actually funny.

“Please, it really is. Dr. Harnett said to ‘get an obstetrician down here ASAP’,” he said, quoting the doctor.

“Alright, alright, hold your horses.” Mariah picked up the phone, dialed, and pressed it to her ear, staring at Justin the whole time. He shifted uncomfortable under her surveillance. “Helloooo there, this is Mariah down in the ER. Can you send an OB down here right now? Pretty please?” She giggled, winking at Justin. “Alrightie, thank you!” Hanging up the phone, she said to Justin, “Dr. Reyes should be down in a few minutes.”

“Thanks,” said Justin and hurried away.

Mariah smiled, admiring Justin’s ass as he ran off. Once he was gone, she picked up her compact again. The smile immediately left her face when she noticed a big red streak of lipstick smeared across her cheek.

+++
“Oh good, Dr. Reyes, you’re here,” Ivory said, sighing in relief when she saw the obstetrician, Melanie Reyes, come into the room.
“No problem. What do we have?”
Ivory updated her on Cammie’s condition. As Melanie studied the fetal heart monitor and ultrasound, her expression grew very serious. Leaning close to Ivory and speaking low so that Cammie would not hear, she said, “She needs a C-section right away, and I’m going to have to do it here. There’s no time to move her. I need you to page OB and have them send a couple of nurses down. Then I need you to page Siara Reily to come in here and take care of the baby once it’s born. Okay?”
“Got it,” Ivory said and hurried out of the room to round everyone up.
Turning to Cammie, Melanie said, “Okay, Cammie, here’s the problem. Your baby is suffering from fetal distress syndrome, which is a lack of oxygen. The umbilical cord is wrapped around his neck, and that’s what’s causing it. We need to do a C-section right away so that we can get him out and cut the cord before it strangles him.”
Cammie nodded. “Do it,” she said, her voice shaking with tears. “Do anything you have to; just please, please save him.”
+++
“Here, Bianca. I’ll leave you alone with her for a little bit, okay?”
Bianca smiled gratefully at Jack, as he led her into Brianna’s room. “Thanks,” she whispered.
He gave her an encouraging smile and nodded. “No problem,” he said, leaving the room.
Once he was gone, Bianca walked up to Brianna’s bedside and pulled up a chair to sit in. A lump rose in her throat, and she blinked back tears. She felt for all the families of patients she had treated before; now she knew exactly what they went through.
“Brianna,” she said softly, grabbing a hold of her friend’s pale hand. She knew that Brianna was probably able to hear her, especially since she was not even in a coma really, just unconscious. “Brie, it’s me, Bean. Can you open your eyes for me?” She knew that Brianna could regain consciousness at any time, and she hoped it was soon, knowing she would feel much better once her friend was awake and talking. “Okay, well, that’s fine. I know how you like to sleep.” Bianca swallowed hard; she was having a tough time trying to keep calm and talk normally to Brianna. “How about squeezing my hand then? Can you do that?”
Biting her lip in concentration, Bianca sat stock still and waited, willing Brianna to squeeze her hand. Seconds later, she felt it – a weak squeeze. Breaking into a smile, she exclaimed, “Good, Brie! That’s great! Now all you have to do is wake up for me. We’ve got our concert to get to, remember?” She chuckled cynically, knowing there was no way they’d be going to see Fuel now. She didn’t care though; all she wanted was her best friend back.
As she sat there, a sensation of nausea suddenly came over her. Rubbing her stomach in discomfort, Bianca frowned, slightly worried. But, looking back to Brianna, she quickly attributed her queasiness to the traumatic events of that night and seeing her friend like that, so still and pale. Or maybe it was just from not eating. After all, she hadn’t had anything since dinner, and that was hours ago. She didn’t feel like eating, but she knew she would probably feel better if she got something into her stomach. She made a mental note to get something from the cafeteria when she was done visiting Brianna.
Suddenly, over the intercom, Bianca heard the call, “Code blue in Trauma 4! Code blue in Trauma 4!”
A code blue meant cardiac arrest. Her doctor’s instinct kicking in, Bianca immediately jerked up, knowing that Trauma 4 was the room right next door to Brianna’s. Letting go of Brianna’s hand, she ran through the door connecting the two trauma rooms and into Trauma 4, where a teenage boy lay, a flat line running across his heart monitor, the machine wailing, as it had been earlier for Brianna.
The only one there at that moment to save him, Bianca dragged the crash cart, which was positioned in the corner of the room, over to the boy’s gurney. She quickly charged the paddles and pressed them to the boy’s chest, sending a jolt of electricity through his body. His heart did not respond, and she charged them again.
“Bianca?!” she heard in the background, as she shocked him again.
Bianca turned around to see Elizabeth bustle in to the room, looking at Bianca with wide, surprised eyes. “What are you doing??” she demanded.
“Saving this kid’s life. He’s not a DNR, right?”
“No, but Oliver is my patient! You’re not even on duty; you’re not supposed to be treating anyone!” Elizabeth protested.
“Too bad; you weren’t here,” Bianca fired back, as she charged the paddles again. This time, when she shocked him, the electrocardiograph sprung to life, the flat line rising and falling irregularly. “He’s got a rhythm,” Bianca said, putting the paddles down. “There. Now you can take care of him.”
She flashed Elizabeth a rather smug smile and breezed out of the room, leaving Elizabeth to roll her eyes and tend to Oliver.
Bianca was going to head back into Brianna’s room, but once she made it to the hallway, the nausea returned. Telling herself she would was fine, she went back to Brianna’s room anyway and quickly sat down in the chair beside the bed, hoping that sitting down would make her feel better.
But in the next few minutes, the nausea steadily grew worse, until Bianca felt awful. Afraid she was going to throw up, she stood abruptly, clutching her stomach. The sudden movement sent her stomach churning and the room spinning, as a wave of dizziness hit her.
“I’ll be right back, Brianna. I have to hit the bathroom,” Bianca choked out. Although she felt horrible, her main concern was still Brianna, and she didn’t want her friend to worry if she left suddenly. With that, she hurried out of the room and headed towards the nearest bathroom.
“Hey, Bianca, you alright?” asked Lance, looking at her strangely as she hurried past him in the hallway.
Bianca didn’t answer; her focus on only one thing – getting to the bathroom in time.
Choking back bile, she flung open the bathroom door and ran in, relieved to find that no one else was in it. Ducking into the last stall, she slammed the door shut and knelt down in front of the toilet just in time. Seconds later, she was praying to the porcelain gods, as she retched and heaved into the toilet bowl. She was shocked to find that her vomit was not a pukey tannish-beige, like it usually was. This time, it was a dark brownish-red. The color alarmed her, but it was the bitter, metallic taste in her mouth that confirmed her worst fears. It was blood.
“Oh my God,” Bianca gasped aloud, cold sweat dripping in between her shoulder blades, her face pasty and wet with perspiration. “Oh…”
She tried to get up, knowing she had to get herself some help, but her knees were weak and would not support her. And then, before she could even try to drag herself from the stall, the nausea hit her again, and she leaned back over the toilet and sent another waterfall of bloody vomit spewing into the toilet with a sickening plop.
Her breath coming in short, shallow gasps, her body shaky and clammy, her stomach cramping with fiery pain, Bianca gripped the seat of the toilet and used it to pull herself up from the floor. She made it to her feet and turned, fumbling with the lock on the door, trying to get out of the stall. The door flung open, and she staggered out dizzily. Her vision blackened with each faltering step, as her body went hot, then cold, and she felt the sensation of falling. And finally, she did fall, unable to hold herself any more. The blackness closed in on her, and like the light, she quickly faded away.
+++
AJ entered the ER lounge and looked around, surprised to find it unoccupied. One of the med students had caught him after he had dropped off a patient a few minutes earlier and told him that Bianca was in the lounge and needed to talk to him, but she was not there.
With a shrug, AJ left the lounge and walked down the hallway, looking for someone who might know where Bianca had gone. He figured she was probably visiting Brianna, but he was not sure where Brianna was.
Spotting Jack walking out of one of the exam rooms, AJ called to him.
“Hey, AJ,” Jack said. “What’s up? Have you talked to Bianca yet?”
“No, I was just looking for her. She’s not in the lounge. Do you know where she went?” he asked.
“Yeah, she went to Brianna’s room. Trauma 3,” Jack replied.
“Okay, thanks, Jack,” AJ said and went on down the hall to Brianna’s room. But when he got there, the only one in the room with Brianna was Natalie, who was busy taking her vitals.
“Hey, Natalie, was Bianca just in here?” AJ asked her from the doorway.
Natalie stopped what she was doing and looked up at AJ. “Oh… I don’t know. I haven’t seen her. Sorry,” she replied.
“That’s okay. So, how’s she doing?” AJ asked, motioning to Brianna.
“She’s going to be okay. She’s stabilized, and it looks like she’s going to regain consciousness soon. She’s been moving around a lot in the last few minutes.”
“That’s great,” AJ said. “Well, I need to go find Bianca now. See you later.”
“Bye,” said Natalie, getting back to her work.
Frowning, AJ went back into the hallway, wondering where Bianca would be. He saw Ivory up ahead and started to call to her to ask if she’d seen Bianca, but she ducked into the ladies restroom before he could.
Sighing, AJ decided to go back to the lounge and wait around for her there. She had probably just gone to get something to eat and would be back anytime.
+++

Ivory strolled into the bathroom, immediately wrinkling her nose at the rancid odor in the room. It was bad enough to make her stomach churn.

God, ever heard of air fresheners? she thought, trying to hold her breath as she quickly checked her appearance in the mirror. Giving her dark ponytail a tug, she smiled tightly at her reflection and went into the first stall.

She sat down on the toilet and did her business as quickly as possible, for the smell seemed even stronger there, and she was desperate to get out. Flushing, she stepped out of the stall, still tying the drawstring of her green scrub pants.

Looking down, something poking out from the very last stall caught her eye. Turning to get a better look, she gasped, realizing it was an arm.

“Oh my God,” she cried, rushing over to the stall. Kneeling down to look under it, she saw a woman lying slumped on her side, her back towards Ivory. “Ma’am! Ma’am!” Ivory shouted, reaching in under the stall to shake the woman’s shoulder.

Taking hold of her shoulder with both hands, Ivory carefully rolled her over on to her back. And when she brushed the woman’s auburn hair back and got a good look at her face, she screamed.

+++

“Alright, people, let’s get this baby born,” Melanie said to the team Ivory had rounded up to assist him with the emergency C-section.

“What about anesthesia?” asked one of the nurses, looking at Cammie, who was still wide awake.

“I’m sorry, but there’s not enough time. We need to do this now. Melissa gave her some painkillers, but that’s really all we can do for her at this point,” Melanie said. Raising her voice, she said, “Alright, Cammie, we’re going to start now. I’ll be honest with you; this is going to be painful. But we have to do it for the safety of your baby.”

“I know,” Cammie said weakly.

“Alright. Scalpel please.”

One of the OB nurses handed Melanie her scalpel, and the procedure began.

+++

“Bianca! Oh God!” Ivory cried, as she recognized the woman on the floor.

Scrambling to her feet, Ivory ran out of the bathroom as fast as she could, nearly colliding with Elizabeth, who was walking down the hallway.

“Ivory! Watch where you’re-“

“Elizabeth, get in here quick!” Ivory cried, grabbing Elizabeth’s shoulder. “It’s Bianca!”

Her green eyes wide with confusion, Elizabeth followed Ivory back into the bathroom. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed when she saw Bianca sprawled on the floor on the other side of the stall. “Ivory, go get some more help in here! Hurry!”

Ivory ran out of the bathroom again, and Elizabeth gave the door to the stall a mighty kick, trying to break it in so that she could get to Bianca better. The first kick failed, but with another powerful one, the door burst inward. Breathing hard, Elizabeth entered the stall.

She immediately saw the dark red substance in the toilet and on Bianca’s chin and realized she had been vomiting blood, a sign of internal bleeding. She took Bianca’s pulse, finding it weak and thready.

“Bianca,” she said sharply, slapping at Bianca’s cheeks, trying to wake her up. “Come on, Bianca, wake up!”

The door to the bathroom burst open, and in came Ivory, followed by Lance and AJ. They were wheeling a gurney with them.

“Bianca!” AJ cried in horror when he saw her.

“What’s he doing here?” Elizabeth demanded, looking sharply up at Ivory. Even she knew that AJ and Bianca were dating and didn’t think AJ should be there. To AJ, she said, “You shouldn’t be around to see this. Go on; we’ll take care of her.”

“No, no, I want to help,” AJ insisted. “Please.”

“Fine. She’s breathing, but her pulse is weak and thready. It looks like she’s been vomiting blood; she probably has internal bleeding from the MVA. We need to get her out of here and do an ultrasound right away,” Elizabeth said. “Lance, go page surgery and tell them to hold an OR room. AJ, Ivory, help me lift her onto the gurney.”

Lance darted out of the bathroom, while Ivory and AJ gathered around Bianca. Together, the three of them lifted her from the ground and put her on the gurney.

“Let’s take her to Trauma 1,” Elizabeth said, and they pushed the gurney rapidly down the hall to the very first trauma room.

Chris came in behind them. “OR’s got a room,” he said.

“Good. Ivory, hook up the ultrasound, and let’s see what we’re dealing with,” Elizabeth directed. “Lance, insert an IV and start her on saline; she’s dehydrated.”

“What can I do?” AJ asked.

“Just stay out of the way,” Elizabeth said, hooking Bianca up to oxygen and attaching her to the monitors in the room to measure her vital signs.

Almost right away, the monitors started to beep wildly. “Pressure’s crashing!”

“Her belly’s full of blood,” Ivory said shakily, turning the ultrasound monitor so that Elizabeth could see it.

Elizabeth looked at it quickly and nodded. “It’s probably her liver or spleen. We need to get her to the OR right now!”

+++

“Well, well, what do we have here?” asked surgeon Holli Brunson, looking down at the unconscious Bianca, as Elizabeth, Lance, and Ivory wheeled her onto the surgical floor, AJ tagging along behind, looking scared to death.

“Dr. Parker was involved in that MVA near Indian Valley; I’m sure you heard about that. She and her friend where on their way to Raleigh. She seemed alright to me, but Ivory here found her passed out in the bathroom a few minutes ago. She had been vomiting blood,” Elizabeth explained hurriedly. “Ultrasound revealed abdominal bleeding.”

“Why wasn’t it caught earlier?” asked Holli, as her surgical team took over, moving Bianca into one of the operating rooms to prep her for surgery.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t examine her,” Elizabeth said, remaining in the hall with Holli.

“Well, who did?”

“I believe Jack Palmer did,” Elizabeth replied. “I didn’t hear anything about her condition. But she must have felt okay at first because she was scrambling around trying to resuscitate one of my patients the last time I saw her.”

“Well, I don’t know what the hell Palmer was doing, but this shouldn’t have gone on so long. Even if she didn’t have symptoms, he should have checked her more thoroughly. We could have gotten her into the OR while she was still stable. I can’t believe he didn’t catch it,” Holli ranted. “Excuse me, but I need to get scrubbed in now.”

She banged through the double doors of the OR, leaving the four others standing in the hall, looking at one another in defeat. One of their own was behind those doors, and they were powerless to save her. It was out of their hands now.

+++
“Alright, he’s out,” Melanie announced, as she lifted Cammie’s premature infant son out from her womb. The baby’s skin was bluish from lack of oxygen, and like Melanie had thought, the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck. “Melissa, cut the cord, quick.”
Melissa expertly sliced through the cord and untangled it from the baby’s neck. She then carried it over to the small table that had been set up at the side of the room, where pediatrician Siara Reily was waiting.
“He’s in respiratory distress. Let’s get him on oxygen,” she said to her team. One of her nurses put an oxygen mask over the baby’s face.
“What’s wrong? He’s not crying. Is he okay??” Cammie asked, her voice panicked and tearful. A sheet was hanging in front of her face, so that she could not even see her baby, just hear the murmuring voices of the doctors and nurses working on him.
“He’s having some trouble breathing,” Melanie told her. “It could just be from the cord that was around his neck, or it might be because his lungs aren’t fully developed yet. Dr. Reily is doing everything she can to help him.”
Cammie nodded and waited in suspense for some kind of sign that he would be okay. Finally, after minutes that seemed more like hours, it came. A soft whimper, then a loud baby’s cry filled the room. As her son cried, Cammie burst into tears as well, tears of joy and relief.
“He’s pinking up,” Melissa commented, as the color slowly returned to the baby’s skin.
Melanie smiled at Cammie and patted her shoulder. “Good job, Mom.”
+++

“Come on, AJ, there’s a waiting room down the hall here,” said Ivory, playing the part of nurse as she led AJ to an unoccupied surgical waiting room. “Stick around here and come update us when she’s out of surgery, okay?”

“Sure,” AJ said dully. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what?”

“When you get back down to the ER, will you tell Kylie or Harry or one of the other paramedics what happened? Tell them I need to take the rest of the night off. My shift’s almost over anyway.”

“Of course,” Ivory said. Offering AJ a slight smile, she added, “And don’t worry, AJ. She’s in good hands. She’s going to be just fine.”

AJ smiled tightly. “I hope so.”

+++

“Hurry up and get her ready; I want to cut in five minutes!” Holli yelled, poking her head into the operating room as she scrubbed her hands.

“She’s starting to wake up, Dr. Brunson!” called Hayley, one of the ER nurses. “You should come here and talk to her real quick, explain what’s happening.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Holli said, pulling on a pair of latex gloves over her spotlessly clean hands.

Once she was fully gowned up, she went into the room and strode up to the operating table. Bianca’s eyes were open, and she was looking up at Holli in fright.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

“You’ve got abdominal bleeding, Dr. Parker,” Holli replied bluntly. “We’re anesthetizing you right now so we can fix it.”

“Is it bad?” Bianca asked, sounding weak and groggy from the drugs being inserted in her IV line to put her down.

“Well, it’s certainly not good! I can’t believe nobody down in that ER caught it before now. Especially you.”

“Well, I was-“

“Oh, I already heard what you were up to,” Holli interrupted. “You were trying to be a hero, trying to save everyone. Well, you know what, Dr. Parker?”

“What?” Bianca asked, her eyes drooping as she drifted off.

Holli smirked, as her patient’s eyes closed. “Even heroes fall.”

+++
Fatal Error by RokofAges75
Episode 5:

Fatal Error

Paramedics Kylie McCartney and Harry Littrell took a seat in the vacant employee lounge as fellow paramedic Kym Jennings ran down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. Kylie sat silently as the table twirling a plastic fork between her fingers until Harry grabbed it out of her hand and pitched it into the nearby trashcan.

“So what’s up, Ky? You aren’t acting yourself tonight,” Harry asked as he threw his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair.

Kylie’s green eyes widened in surprise because it seemed AJ had not told Harry anything about what happened, which was rare for the usually vocal AJ. “Brandy died,” she said quietly while resting her elbows on the table.

“Oh God, what happened?”

“She was one of the victims in the MVA near Indian Valley, it seems she died instantly, which is a blessing in disguise considering all the injuries she sustained.”

“Gosh, I’m sorry, Ky,” Harry said sympathetically as he reached across the table to give her shoulder a supporting squeeze.

“Thanks, Har,” Kylie said with a grim smile. “I’m going to go find Josh real quick and see when he expects to be done here.”

Without waiting for a response, Kylie walked out of the room, hoping for the strength to get through telling her fiancée the terrible news.

+++

“Jack!”

Jack Palmer looked up from the chart he was looking over to see Elizabeth O’Brien storming towards him.

“Yes, Elizabeth?” he asked, rather resentfully. It was late, he was working overtime, and he was exhausted. He could tell she was pissed off about something, and he was not in any mood to hear her bitch about whatever it was.

“Let me give you a little hypothetical question here – a woman is brought in from an MVA, LOC on the scene. Minor cuts and abrasions on body, but complains of no other symptoms. Do you still give her a thorough examination or take her word for it that she’s not injured?”

Jack frowned. “I’d examine her,” he said slowly. “Is this a trick question or something?”

“You tell me, Jack. I don’t think it’s tricky at all. When a trauma patient comes in, you examine her fully, no matter what. Better to be safe than sorry, right?”

“Right,” Jack said. Suddenly, he began to realize where this was leading. “Elizabeth, is this about Bianca?” Before she could answer, he went on, “Look, I’m sorry. I know I should have done the full examination, but she said not to. Normally I would examine a patient anyway, you know, but Bianca’s a doctor herself, so I knew she knew whether she was okay or not. I just wanted to respect her wishes, since she’s a colleague and a friend of mine. But I’m sorry; it won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” Elizabeth said sharply. “Because you know what, Jack? Your irresponsibility and poor judgment could have killed someone tonight.”

Jack looked up at her in fear. “What? Did something-“

“Bianca’s upstairs in the OR right now, undergoing emergency surgery to repair the abdominal bleeding you could have caught hours ago,” Elizabeth snapped.

Jack’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Oh my God! Is-is she going to be okay??”

“Probably, but there’s no guarantee,” Elizabeth said. “I do know that her chances would be better if she had been sent up to surgery when she was brought in, when you were supposed to have been examining her.”

Jack hung his head. “God, I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I’m so sorry.” There wasn’t much more he could say than that; he felt absolutely horrible. No longer was it just a small error on his part. Elizabeth was right – his bad decision could have killed Bianca. And she wasn’t out of the woods yet by any means.

“I think you need to tell Bianca that, not me,” Elizabeth said. Her tone softening, she said, “Hayley, one of the surgical nurses, has promised to call down here as soon as she’s out of the OR. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Jack nodded, feeling completely numb. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t made mistakes before, but this was one of the worst he had. He had lost patients before, but never on account of his own irresponsibility. And if his first one ended up being one of his friends, he didn’t know what he would do. If Bianca died because of him, it could damage his career. But more importantly, it could ruin his life.

+++

“Oh, good, Ky, there you are,” said Josh, entering the staff lounge on the ER floor, where Kylie sat, sipping a cup of coffee. Sitting down at the table with her, he asked, “So, what did you need to talk about?”

Kylie pursed her lips grimly. Resting her hand on top of Josh’s, she slowly began, “Josh, something bad has happened.”

The color drained from Josh’s face. “What is it?” he asked, his voice scarcely a whisper.

“It’s Brandy. She was involved in that big car accident tonight.”

“Oh, God. She… she’s okay, right?” Josh asked. A lump rising in her throat, Kylie shook her head.

“AJ was the first to get to her. She was already dead. She had a major head injury. She died instantly, no pain,” Kylie said softly.

Josh nodded sadly, running his hands down his cheeks tiredly. “Somehow, I knew that,” he murmured. “I knew she was dead, even before you actually said it.” He sighed. “Does Darrin know?”

“I don’t know. He was working still when we left, and we decided not to tell him until things calmed down. I’m sure someone from the hospital has told him by now know.”

“I need to call him. God, just think of what he’s going through. I can’t imagine it at all, what it would be like to lose the love of your life.” He looked into Kylie’s eyes and squeezed her hand. “If it was you, I don’t think I’d be able to go on.”

Kylie smiled sadly. “Me either.”

“And what about little MacKayla? Her mommy’s dead.”

“MacKayla… she’s still at my apartment, with Addie. Addie doesn’t know about any of this yet either,” Kylie said. “I need to head home and tell her. I suppose we’ll probably keep MacKayla at our place overnight. Either that, or you can take her. I doubt Darrin will want to drive all the way over here to pick her up. He needs some time alone anyway.”

Josh nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s both go to your place. You can talk to Addie, and I’ll call Darrin from there. We’ll get some arranges made for MacKayla.”

“Okay,” Kylie said. “Let’s go.”

Hand in hand, they left the lounge and headed for the parking lot.

+++

“Hayley, is there anyone waiting up here for Bianca Parker?” Holli Brunson asked nurse Hayley Aldworth.

“Yeah, her boyfriend, AJ McLean, is in the room across the hall,” Hayley replied, pointing to the waiting room. “Everything go okay?”

“Fine,” Holli replied brusquely, walking across the hall to the waiting room. She opened the door and found a dark-haired man sitting in one of the chairs, his chin in his hands. He was still dressed in his navy blue paramedic uniform. “Mr. McLean?”

AJ looked up quickly. “How’s Bianca?” he asked.

“Dr. Parker’s in recovery now. Her surgery was successful, and I expect her to make a complete recovery,” Holli said.

“How bad was the damage?”

“There was some minor damage to her liver, which we repaired, but we had to remove her spleen,” Holli replied. “If you’d like to see her, you can visit her in recovery for about ten minutes, no longer. She needs her rest.”

“Thank you,” AJ said and decided not to ask any more questions. He did not personally know Holli Brunson well, but he had heard more than enough about her from Bianca and other members of the hospital staff. They all said the same thing – her surgical skills were excellent; her personality was not. She was not the kind of person he wanted to deal with.

Holli left, and AJ waited until she was gone to leave the waiting room. He stopped at the nurses’ station and asked the tall red-head, Hayley, where the recovery room was.

“Come with me. I’ll show you,” she said kindly.

“Thanks,” AJ said gratefully and followed her down the hall.

+++

Jack was sitting in the lounge, his head in his hands, when Bianca’s med student, Justin Timberlake, came in, his feet dragging.

“Just need a cup of coffee,” he mumbled, heading straight for the coffeepot.

Jack glanced at his watch. It was three in the morning, and Justin had been there for nearly five hours, not counting the twelve hours he had worked earlier. The action in the ER was finally dying down, and the regular night shift was covering things.

“You can go home now, Timberlake,” Jack said tiredly.

Justin set down the coffeepot. “You sure?”

“Yup. The night shift’s got things covered. Go home and get some sleep; you’ve got the night shift tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Justin said. He went to his locker and traded his stethoscope and lab coat for a light jacket. “Well, see you tomorrow night, Dr. Palmer.”

“Yup,” Jack said absently. “Seven pm.”

”Okay. Goodnight,” Justin said. He started to leave the lounge and then stopped. “You’re not going home yet?” he asked, turning back to Jack.

Jack raked a hand through his short brown hair. “No, not yet. I’m waiting for an update on Bianca.”

“Ohh,” Justin said knowingly. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Jack replied.

“Well… see ya,” Justin said hesitantly and continued on his way, leaving Jack alone in the lounge.

He was not alone for long though. Moments later, a disheveled AJ McLean came in.

“AJ… how is she?” Jack asked cautiously, unable to read AJ’s expression.

“She’s gonna be alright,” AJ said. “I just saw her in recovery. She’s groggy and in pain, but she’s alright.”

“Thank God,” Jack said, releasing his breath in a long sigh of relief. “Listen, AJ, this is all my fault. I know this isn’t enough, but I’m so sorry.”

AJ shrugged. “I don’t blame you, man,” he said. “Bianca’s stubborn and independent; she likes to have her way, and she doesn’t like to be treated like an invalid. It’s not your fault she convinced you that she was fine; she’s good that way.”

Jack smiled slightly. “Thanks, but I still feel horrible about it. A lot of patients come in here that aren’t exactly thrilled to be poked and prodded, but we do it anyway. That’s our job. I shouldn’t have let my relationship with her get in the way of doing my job.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s over and done with,” AJ said. “I’m just glad she’s going to be okay.”

“Me too,” Jack replied softly. “Me too.”

“Are you off yet, Jack? You really look like you could use some sleep,” AJ commented.

“Yeah, I’m off. I was just waiting around for word on Bianca,” Jack said.

“Well, now you have it, so get your ass home and get to bed. You look like shit,” said AJ, flashing Jack a teasing smile.

“Thanks, AJ,” Jack said dryly, smiling back. He hauled himself up from the couch he was seated on and went to his locker. Pulling his jacket on over his scrubs, he said goodnight to AJ and left the lounge, wanting nothing more than to slide beneath his covers and forget about this whole horrible night.

+++

Howie Dorough awoke to the sound of his doorbell ringing, over and over again.

“What the hell?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He glanced at his clock. “Five in the morning? Who the hell would be here at-“ Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Oh no!”

Leaping out of bed, he fled from his bedroom and raced down the stairs, shouting, “Coming!”

He flung open the front door and smiled sheepishly at the woman standing on his front porch, drenched from the rain that was steadily falling.

“Morning, Sophie. Come on in,” he said, stepping back to let her in. Realizing she was alone, he asked, “Where’s Dani?”

“She’s asleep in the car,” said Sophie McCallister, glaring at Howie as she entered the house. She dropped a pink duffel bag on the tiled floor. “There’s her stuff. You can go out into the pouring rain and bring Danielle in,” she spat, enunciating the words ‘pouring rain’ as she ran her hands though her hair, which had been dampened and flattened by the rain.

“Sophie, I’m sorry. I overslept,” Howie apologized.

“You’d think you’d remember your own daughter,” Sophie shot back.

Howie sighed. Why did Sophie always have to make him feel like a horrible father? He couldn’t help that he worked all the time; they both did. He couldn’t help that the judge had given her custody of their daughter, Danielle, after their divorce three years earlier, giving him only every other weekend to see her. He always made sure to have that weekend off work so he could spend every minute with her, and he tried to be the best father he could. But that just never seemed to be enough for his ex-wife.

“I didn’t forget; my alarm just didn’t go off. Must be broken or something,” Howie said.

“Yeah. Right.”

“You want some coffee or something?” he offered.

“No, I need to go. I have a flight to catch,” she replied. “Now come on and get Dani so I can get to the airport.”

Howie nodded, quickly tugged on a pair of shoes, and followed her out the door. Sophie was flying to Boston that morning on business and leaving six-year-old Danielle in Howie’s care. She wouldn’t be back until late Saturday night and had told Howie she would pick up Danielle Sunday morning. That gave Howie five whole days to spend with her, rather than his usual two.

“She’s in the back,” Sophie called, hurriedly climbing into her car to get out of the rain. Shivering in just his boxers, Howie flung open the back door of the car and leaned in to get Danielle, who was sprawled out across the backseat, sound asleep. He scooped her into his arms, trying not to wake her, and grabbed a corner of her pillow in between two of his fingers. He hurriedly closed the door with his foot and hurried back up to the porch, trying to keep Danielle out of the rain.

Sophie gave him a short wave and started the car, backing quickly out of the driveway. Howie shifted Danielle over his shoulder and fumbled with his doorknob. He finally got into the house and carefully carried Danielle upstairs to her bedroom. As he lay her down in bed, she stirred, and her dark brown eyes opened.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said sleepily.

“Morning, baby,” Howie said, bending over to kiss her cheek. “Listen, it’s early in the morning, so you go back to sleep, okay? You have another two hours before you have to get up for school.”

“Okay,” Danielle mumbled, rolling over and closing her eyes. She was out within a few minutes. Pulling the covers up around her, Howie gave her another kiss and left the room, ready to get back to bed himself.

+++

“Daddy? Daddy?”

Howie moaned and opened his eyes. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was only six-thirty. He still had another half an hour to sleep until he had to get Danielle up for school. Rolling over, he found Danielle standing beside his bed, sucking her thumb.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” he asked. Danielle had quit sucking her thumb two years ago, when she was four. Now she only did it when she was scared, sick, or sleepy.

“My head hurts,” she said, her hand absently rubbing the side of her head.

“Let me see. Did you bump it?” Howie asked, sitting up to inspect Danielle’s head.

“No. I have a headache,” she replied.

“Oh. Well, come here, Daddy will get you some Tylenol to make it feel better,” Howie said, getting out of bed and leading Danielle into his bathroom, where he was hoping he still had some Children’s Tylenol around. But, searching through his medicine cabinet, he discovered he did not. All he had was regular Tylenol capsules, and those were too strong and too hard to swallow for Danielle. She needed one of the grape chewable kind.

“Dani, I don’t have any medicine. How bad does it hurt?”

“Bad,” she whined.

He sighed. “Baby, I’m sorry, but there’s not much I can do about it now. Go back to bed, and we’ll see how it is in a little bit.”

“Okay,” Danielle said grudgingly, plodding off back to bed.

Yawning, Howie went back to his own bedroom and sunk beneath the sheets of his bed, grateful for another half-hour of sleep. He closed his eyes and was back to sleep in just minutes.

+++

Right at seven o’clock, Howie’s alarm went off, startling him from his sleep. Groaning, he shut the alarm up and pulled himself out of bed. He padded down the hall to Danielle’s room to find her sound asleep in bed. She looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to wake her.

Lightly, he touched her forehead, to see if she had a fever. If she was really sick, he wouldn’t make her go to school. But she felt normal.

“Danielle,” he whispered, gently shaking her. “Dani, wake up. It’s time to get up for school.”

Danielle slowly opened her eyes. “Do I have to?” she moaned.

“Does your head still hurt?” Howie asked.

Danielle thought about it for a moment. “A little,” she finally answered.

Howie pursed his lips, trying to decide what to do. He didn’t want her to be miserable at school, but he also didn’t want to keep her home for just a little headache. Besides, he had to work a shift in the afternoon and didn’t want to have to bring her to the daycare at the hospital unless he absolutely had to.

“Well, I think you should try to go to school,” he said. “I’m sure your headache will be gone by the time you get there. And if it gets worse, just tell your teacher, and you can come home. I don’t have to go to work until afternoon, so I’ll be around to come pick you up if you need me to.”

”Okay,” Danielle replied.

“You get dressed and come on downstairs. I’ll make breakfast,” Howie said. He started for the door and then stopped. Turning around he added, “And no stalling, young lady.” He smiled, and Danielle grinned back. Then he went downstairs to start breakfast.

+++

Isabel Rivera walked into the lobby of Atlantic City Memorial, ready to start her second day. She was much calmer and relaxed that day, and she couldn’t help but smile as she thought of how rushed and jittery she had been the previous morning.

She passed through the lobby and went down the hall that led to the ER. Standing just in front of the double doors marked Emergency Room was a familiar-looking blonde man.

“Nick?” she asked, coming up behind him.

Nick Carter turned around in surprise, his blue eyes lighting up when he saw her. “Hey, Isabel!”

“Hey, how’s it going? Ready for our second day?”

Nick nodded. “You bet. So, how did the rest of your day go yesterday? Did you finally get to see some patients?”

Isabel nodded. “Yup, a few. My first was a seventeen-year-old boy that was in a car accident. He might be paralyzed from the waist down.” Her smile faded as she thought of Caleb, the charismatic football player she had spent hours talking to the night before.

“Oh man. That really sucks,” Nick said glumly.

“Yeah,” Isabel agreed. “He’s scheduled to go through some tests today to find out how bad it is. Hopefully it’s not permanent.”

“Yeah. Poor kid.”

Nick pulled back one of the doors and held it open for Isabel to go through, then followed her into the ER.

“So, how was your day?” Isabel asked him as they walked down the busy hall to the staff lounge.

“It went pretty well. I got to see a few patients too,” Nick replied. “It’s kind of tough, seeing all those people so sick or hurt. But I guess you get used to it, huh?”

Isabel smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

They reached the staff lounge and went inside, immediately going to the lockers they had been assigned. “Hey, you got any plans for lunch?” Isabel asked suddenly, spinning her combination lock.

“Um… no, not yet,” Nick replied, banging on his locker in an attempt to un-jam it. Why was it that the med students got stuck with the crappy lockers?

“Well, you wanna maybe do lunch together? I saw a little Chinese place just down the street from that café we were all in yesterday,” Isabel said.

“Hey, sure, that sounds great,” Nick replied. “What time do you want to try to meet?”

“Um… how about sometime around noon? Down by the gift shop?” she suggested.

“Sure. I’ll see you then,” Nick said, grinning at her.

Isabel returned his smile. “Okay then. See ya, Nick.” She slammed her locker closed, draped her stethoscope around her neck, and left the lounge.

Grinning from ear to ear, Nick tried his own locker again. This time, it flew open with ease. He pulled on his white lab coat, slung his stethoscope around his neck, and walked out of the lounge to find Dr. Littrell, still smiling.

+++

“Good morning, Dr. Littrell,” said Nick a few minutes later, coming up to Dr. Littrell, who stood at the admit desk, hunched over something.

“Morning, Nick,” Dr. Littrell replied, sounding distracted and hurried. He barely even looked up from the chart he was reading.

Nick frowned. “Is something wrong, Dr. Littrell?” he asked.

He pursed his lips together. “Well, Bailey’s tests results came in last night, right after you left.”

Nick’s heart began to thud. He could tell by the look on the doctor’s face that they didn’t turn out well. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much; he barely knew Bailey and thought of her as a snotty little brat. But for some reason, he couldn’t help but care. Bailey was his first patient and, despite being a brat, was only an eleven-year-old kid. She didn’t deserve whatever the tests determined she had.

“What is it?” Nick asked.

“Leukemia,” Dr. Littrell replied grimly.

Nick’s heart sank, for Bailey’s sake. “Poor kid,” he said softly.

“Yeah, poor kid is right,” Dr. Littrell echoed.

“Does she know yet?” Nick asked, looking up into Dr. Littrell’s serious blue eyes.

He shook his head. “I could have told her late last night, when I found out, but I didn’t think it needed to be said yet. I didn’t want to tell her right before bed, give her nightmares. I figured it could wait till morning.”

Nick nodded. “So, is that our job, to tell her?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We’ll break the news to her, and then Dr. Sterling, the oncologist, will be down to explain things further to her. Then she’ll be moved upstairs to oncology once they get a bed for her, and she’ll be out of our care.”

Nick bit his lip. “So… when are we telling her?”

“Right now.”

+++

When Brian and Nick got to Bailey’s room, there was a man and a woman with her.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cole?” asked Brian.

“No, I’m Patricia Jenkins, and this is my husband, Brad. We’re Bailey’s foster parents,” the woman explained.

“Ohh, alright. Well, I’m Dr. Littrell, and this is Nick Carter. We’ve been treating Bailey,” Brian said, introducing himself and Nick. “As I’m sure you know, we ran some tests on Bailey yesterday. We got the results back last night. I’m very sorry, but the tests show that Bailey has a form of leukemia.”

“Oh dear,” gasped Patricia, turning to look at her foster daughter with wide eyes. Then she exchanged a worried glance with her husband.

“Bailey, leukemia is a disease of the blood. It’s a type of can-“

“I know what it is,” Bailey snapped, glaring at Brian. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

“Hopefully not. This type of leukemia is treatable. Many people who get it don’t die,” Brian said. “You’re lucky.”

Bailey snorted. “Oh yeah, right. I have leukemia. You call that lucky?? Feel free to trade me places.”

“He means you’re lucky to have this type instead of another kind of cancer,” Nick inserted, glancing at Brian. He gave him a quick smile of gratitude and nodded.

“So, how do you go about treating this exactly? Will she need chemo?” asked Brad, Bailey’s foster father.

“Yes, chemo is the first method of treatment we usually use,” Brian said.

“So will she have to stay in the hospital?” Patricia asked.

“Yes. We’ll move her up to the oncology floor later today, and she’ll be transferred to another doctor, an oncologist, who will be able to treat her better.”

“How long will she have to stay?” Patricia grilled.

“I’m not sure. That’s up to her oncologist. Probably until she goes into remission though, which could take a few weeks or even months,” Brian answered.

Patricia and Brad exchanged glances again.

“Well, if you have any more questions, Dr. Sterling, the oncologist, will talk to you later, once Bailey has been moved upstairs. She’ll be able to tell you more than I can,” Brian said. “Again, I’m very sorry to have to break this news to you.”

Brad and Patricia nodded, while Bailey just sat there, staring down at her hands, which were clasped tightly over her covers. “Thank you, Dr. Littrell,” Patricia said, shaking his hand quickly.

“You’re welcome,” Brian said, nodding at her. Then he started to the door.

“Good luck, Bailey,” Nick said, offering Bailey a gentle smile. Bailey looked up and scowled at him. Keeping the smile pasted on his face, Nick just turned and followed Brian out the door. He had to admit, he was more than ready to be free of Bailey.

+++

At eleven-thirty, Howie was just stepping out of the shower. As he lazily dried himself off, the phone rang. Wrapping his towel around his waist, Howie grabbed the phone that was mounted in the spacious bathroom.

“Dorough residence,” he answered.

“Mr. Dorough, this is Nurse Kimball from Cannon Elementary School. I’m calling about your daughter, Danielle.”

Inwardly, Howie groaned, figuring he was going to have to take Danielle to work with him after all. “Is she sick?” he asked.

“No, she fainted in PE class,” the nurse replied.

“Fainted?!” Howie exclaimed. “What was she doing??”

“The students were playing dodgeball, and according to her teacher, she just collapsed. She lost consciousness only momentarily, and now I have her lying down in my office. She’s complaining of dizziness and a headache.”

“Yeah, she had a headache this morning,” Howie said, cursing himself for sending Danielle to school. “Did she get hit in the head with the ball or something, or did she just collapse?”

“She said she didn’t get hit,” the nurse replied.

“Okay…” Howie said, sighing worriedly. “Well, I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick her up.”

“Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Dorough.”

“Bye,” Howie replied, hung up, and quickly finished drying himself off.

+++

“So, what happened, sweetheart? Did you just get dizzy?” Howie asked, taking his eyes from the road to Danielle, who sat next to him in the passenger seat of the car.

“Yeah,” Danielle said, her voice tiny.

“Well, how do you feel now? Still dizzy?”

“No… but my head still hurts,” Danielle replied.

Howie bit his lip. He was worried about her. He wondered if he should take a sick day and just keep her at home, not wanting to abandon her at the hospital’s daycare center. But then again, if he was going to bring her to the hospital, he could get Brian to check her out before his shift started. Brian Littrell was one of his good friends; he could surely find time for a quick exam, even just to soothe Howie’s nerves.

Some might have called him an overreacting father, but he knew that six-year-olds didn’t just pass out for no reason. And he was worried that reason might be more than just over-exertion in gym class.

+++

Howie drove silently, turning off the highway onto the street that led to his neighborhood.

“We’re almost home, Dani,” he murmured absently, his attention focused on the road in front of him.

“Daddy…” she moaned.

Glancing quickly at her, he asked, “What’s wrong, baby? You feel sick?”

“I…” Danielle trailed off, and Howie took his attention off her briefly to glance at the road. He looked back just in time to see Danielle’s dark eyes roll back into her head and her hands clench in tight fists.

“Dani!” he cried, as her body went rigid and started to jerk in convulsions. His mind racing, Howie began to panic. What should he do? Pull over and try to help her or get her to the hospital as soon as possible.

He opted for the second option, knowing he couldn’t stop her seizure, and jerked the steering wheel to his left, pulling a sharp U-turn on the road. Cars honked, brakes slammed, but Howie didn’t care. He was blind to the other traffic. Pushing the pedal to the floor, he gunned the engine and sped off down the road.

To his relief, when he made it back to the intersection, the highway was nearly clear. He slowed enough to let one car pass by and then made a quick turn onto the highway and sped up again. His speedometer rose to 65, then 70, but Howie made no attempt to slow. He just prayed that the traffic cops were on their lunch breaks, as he continued to drive fifteen miles over the speed limit.

But then, up ahead, he saw the stoplight change from green to yellow. The cars in front of him began to slow, and Howie had no other choice but to slow with them. Beside him, Danielle’s thrashing slowed, then finally ceased.

“Dani? Dani?” he asked, letting go of the wheel while he was stopped to grab her shoulder. “Dani, wake up. Open your eyes, sweetheart. Danielle? Come on, sweetie, wake up,” he urged, gently shaking her.

The light changed, and Howie grabbed the wheel and pressed the accelerator down again. “We’re almost there, Dani,” he murmured, gripping the wheel so tightly it hurt. “Almost there.”

+++

“Help! I need some help, please!” Howie cried, as he burst through the double doors of the ER, carrying a limp, unconscious Danielle.

“Howie?” asked JC Chasez in surprise. “Here, bring her in here,” he said, leading Howie to one of the exam rooms.

Howie lay Danielle down on the gurney in the room. “This is my daughter, Danielle Dorough. She just had a seizure in the car.”

“Okay,” JC said. Turning towards the door of the room, he called out, “I need a nurse in here!”

Moments later, nurse Melissa Ruffino. “What do we got?” she asked.

“Danielle Dorough, Howie’s daughter. She had a seizure,” JC said. “Pulse is thready, breathing shallow. Pupils are sluggish. Get her started on oxygen and Dilantin and order a chem panel, CBC, and lytes.”

“Sure thing,” Melissa said.

“Temp’s normal,” Lance said.

“Do you know if she took anything?” JC asked Howie without looking at him.

“No, I know she didn’t. She’s been at school. She was complaining of a headache all morning, and then she passed out at school. I was on my way home from picking her up,” Howie replied.

“Okay, I’m going to run a neuro exam,” JC said.

“You think it might be some kind of neurological disorder? Like epilepsy or something?” Howie asked. He was a paramedic, not a neurologist, so he wasn’t really familiar with the symptoms of epilepsy.

“There’s no way to say at this time. It’s a possibility though, with her symptoms,” JC said.

“Okay,” Howie said, running a hand through his thick, dark hair and sighing heavily.

“Howie, maybe you should go sit in chairs. I’ll come get you when we no more or when she wakes up, okay?” JC suggested.

“Alright,” Howie replied with some reluctance. “But please, let me know the minute she wakes up.”

“I will,” JC promised.

Howie nodded and hesitantly left the room and took a seat in one of the chairs in the hall across it. Melissa shut the door behind him, sealing him off from his daughter.

+++

At noon, Isabel was wandering aimlessly through the gift shop in the lobby, waiting for Nick to come so they could go to lunch. She came to a display of stuffed animals and saw a stuffed, plush football. It made her think of Caleb. She wondered if he would ever be able to play football again. The results of the tests he was probably undergoing right at that moment would determine that.

“Hey, Isabel.”

Isabel turned around to find that Nick had come into the gift shop. She hadn’t even noticed him.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

Isabel smiled. “Yup, let’s go,” she said. The two of them left the hospital and started down the street, heading for the Chinese restaurant Nick had spoken of that morning.

The restaurant was not crowded, so they got a table and ordered right away. As they waited for their food to come, Isabel struck up a conversation.

“So, what kind of stuff are you into? Do you play any sports?” He had an athlete’s build – tall and somewhat muscular. She could see him as a football or basketball player.

“Yeah, basketball,” he said. “I used to play in high school, but now it’s just for fun. I’m really into computers and video games too. And music.”

“Music?” Isabel’s eyes lit up. “I love music too.”

“Really? Do you sing?” Nick asked with interest.

“Somewhat. I mean, I like to sing, but I don’t do it seriously. Just for a hobby. Dance is what is really my thing.”

“Really? What kind of dance do you do?”

“Oh, everything. Pointe’s my main thing, but I like Latin dancing too.”

Nick grinned. “That’s cool!” he said. “What other kind of stuff do you do?”

“I ran track and played volleyball in high school, like your basketball. And I used to play the flute too. Do you play any instruments?”

“Drums,” Nick replied. “And I sing too.”

“Wow, cool. Hey, you could start a band!” Isabel said, laughing.

Nick chuckled, his cheeks growing pink. “This is gonna sound stupid, but I used to actually want to be a rock star,” he said.

“That’s not stupid at all! I mean, who doesn’t want to be a celebrity? I always thought it would be cool to be like Jennifer Lopez. Dancer, actress, and singer.”

Nick smiled. “That would be cool.” Jokingly, he added, “When I start my rock band, you can be the lead singer.”

Isabel giggled. “You got it, Carter.”

+++

“Dr. Chasez, she’s waking up,” commented Melissa, motioning to Danielle. Glancing over at the bed, JC saw that the little girl indeed was beginning to regain consciousness.

“Danielle?” Melissa asked softly, smiling down at the child, who was looking around the room with wide eyes, startled to find herself in a foreign place. “Danielle, my name is Melissa, and this is Dr. Chasez. You’re in a hospital, and we’re taking very good care of you. Your daddy is right outside; do you want to see him?”

Danielle nodded dazedly, a little disoriented from her seizure.

“Okay, I’ll go get him,” Melissa said and hurried out of the room. She returned moments later with Howie.

“Dani!” he cried, coming up to her side and taking her little hand in his big one. “How are you feeling, baby?”

“Sleepy,” she murmured.

“Excuse me, Dr. Dorough,” JC said, nudging Howie aside as he hovered over Danielle. “Danielle, I need you to follow this light with your eyes, okay? Only your eyes; don’t move your head.”

“Daddy?” Danielle asked, blindly reaching out her hand, which had been torn away from her father’s.

“I’m here, baby,” Howie said from the side of the room. “Do what Dr. Chasez tells you.”

“Follow the light please, Danielle,” JC said again, shining his penlight back and forth. Danielle’s eyes followed it obediently. “Pupils are equal and reactive,” he mumbled. “Alright, I’m going to take her upstairs for a CAT scan.”

“Can I come with her?” Howie asked.

“Yeah, you can come upstairs, but you can’t be in the room while we’re doing the scan,” JC replied. “Come on.”

He raised the rails on Danielle’s gurney, and with Melissa’s help, they wheeled her out of the room and towards the elevators, Howie tagging along anxiously behind.

+++

“Hey, Dorough, can I speak with you outside, please?”

Howie looked up to see JC enter the ER exam room, where Danielle had been returned to following her CAT scan.

“Sure. Dani, I’ll be right back,” he said to Danielle, who was drifting off to sleep.

“So, what did the scan show?” Howie asked JC, once they were out in the hall, safely out of Danielle’s earshot.

“Nothing. It looked fine,” JC replied.

“Well, what caused her seizure then? What’s making her have these headaches?” Howie demanded, not satisfied with JC’s answer.

“Sometimes small children have seizures like this for no apparent reason at all and end up being perfectly healthy. And as for the headaches, they could be all in her mind. You know how little kids tend to exaggerate symptoms.”

“No, I don’t,” Howie said, frowning. “And I don’t see how you could either, considering you don’t have any of your own.”

JC rolled his eyes. “Whatever. All I’m saying is the scan was inconclusive, and your daughter seems perfectly fine now, so I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s probably just a fluke. Like I said, I’ve seen it happen before.”

“Well, I don’t accept that,” Howie said. “I want you to run more tests. I want to get to the bottom of this and make sure it really is nothing to worry about.”

“You’re not a doctor; I am,” JC replied.

“Don’t give me that ‘not a doctor’ bullshit. I do know a thing or two about medicine, and if you won’t listen to me, I’ll get a second opinion,” Howie fired back.

“Fine, get a second opinion. It’s not going to be any different from mine,” JC said with a shrug.

Howie glared at him. “JC, I think you should do an MRI. Just to be sure. It might catch something the CAT scan didn’t.”

“So you want to spend more time and money and put your kid through even more tests than necessary just to find that there’s nothing wrong with her?” JC asked sarcastically.

“Yes,” Howie said through gritted teeth. “If I can prove that there really is nothing wrong with her, that’s what I want to do. But one CAT scan doesn’t prove anything to me.”

“You’re not the doctor here.”

“Yes, we’ve already established that. But I’ve just got this feeling that there’s something behind this, something that didn’t show up on that scan. I’ll feel much better if you would just do an MRI.”

“Oh, so you want me to run another test based on some ‘feeling’ you’ve got? Don’t tell me you’re psychic, Howie,” JC said, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t have time for this crap, Chasez,” Howie snapped. “Either run the test or get another doctor who will.”

“You know, Howie, you can trust me here. I’m an educated, certified physician. I know what I’m doing. And just because you think I flubbed with the Woods case two years ago doesn’t mean you have to go getting in my face about every decision I make,” JC said bitterly.

“You did flub with Molly Woods,” Howie spat, remembering the little girl who died because JC would not give his consent to let her have a heart transplant. “You killed that girl!”

“Look, that’s ancient history! Get over it!” JC yelled.

“You’re the one that brought it up!” Howie shouted back.

“Well, I’m sorry I did! I didn’t know you would get so worked up over it still!”

“Well, excuse me for caring!”

“Guys, shhh!” hissed Melissa, pushing the two men away from each other. “Jesus Christ, you’re grown men, and here you are arguing like two little kids. You’re staff here; you’re supposed to set an example. Now quiet down, or go settle it outside.”

JC glanced at his feet, and Howie’s expression grew sheepish.

“Alright, Dorough,” JC finally said reluctantly. “I’ll run the MRI. But when I turn out to be right, don’t go complaining about how much it cost.”

“Thanks, Chasez,” Howie said smugly. “And this may be a new concept to you, but my daughter’s health is much more important than any amount of money.”

+++

“Hey, Dr. Chasez, you need to take a look at this quick.”

JC turned to look at the technician that had spoken. “What?”

“This MRI you ordered. Look,” the technician said, motioning to the scan of Danielle Dorough’s brain that he just run fifteen minutes earlier.

JC squinted as he looked at the scan and suddenly paled. “Oh, my God. She’s got a cerebral aneurysm,” he gasped.

“Yup. You better get her to surgery before that sucker bursts, and she strokes out,” the technician said.

JC did not even reply, just dashed out of the room, hurrying to get back down to the ER before it was too late. Danielle Dorough had a blood vessel in her brain that was close to rupturing… and if it did, the consequences could be fatal.

+++

“Melissa, page surgery, tell them to prepare a room right away, and make sure they have a neurosurgeon available. I know they just hired a new one, so someone should be around,” JC said breathlessly, as he dashed past the nurses station of the ER.

“Sure,” Melissa said, watching him run off with wide eyes. She picked up the phone and immediately set to work, knowing this was an emergency of some sort.

“Howie!” JC cried, bursting into Exam 2. All his anger towards Howie had faded, as the harsh reality of the circumstances hit him.

“What? What’s wrong?” Howie asked, looking up with wide eyes.

“What’s going on, Daddy?” Danielle asked, looking at her father, frightened by the abruptness of his and JC’s tones.

“Outside,” JC said quickly, grabbing Howie and dragging him into the hall. “She’s got a cerebral aneurysm that could rupture anytime,” JC burst. “We need to take her to surgery ASAP.”

“Oh my God!” Howie gasped. “Dani…”

“Go back in with her, prepare her if you can. I’ll go make sure they have things ready in the OR, and I’ll be right back,” JC said, running back up to the nurses station, as Howie turned and went back into Danielle’s room, his heart pounding with fear.

“What’sa matter, Daddy?” Danielle asked.

“Dani, sweetie, you’re going to have an operation,” Howie said, his voice shaking. “There’s something wrong inside your brain, which is why you’ve been having headaches all day. You need to have an operation to fix it.”

“I don’t want to,” Danielle whimpered, tears filling her eyes.

“I know, baby, but you have to.”

“When?”

“In a few minutes.” When Danielle’s eyes widened, Howie quickly continued, “But it will be over before you know it, and you’ll feel much better.”

“I’m scared, Daddy,” Danielle said, beginning to cry.

Me too, Howie thought, pulling his daughter into a hug. Me too.

+++
Feelings of Depression by RokofAges75
Episode 6:

Feelings of Depression


“Dr. Veers? Excuse me, Dr. Veers?”

Dr. Risha Veers jumped, startled out of her daydreams by a deep male voice. Lifting her head from her desk, she looked up to find a tall, muscular, dark-haired man in a white coat standing in her doorway. “Oh, Dr…” she paused, struggling to remember his name. What was it? Something with an R…

“Richardson,” the man supplied without a smile. “Kevin Richardson. We met yesterday.”

“Of course,” Risha said, blushing. “I know who you are. I just… forgot your last name. I apologize; I’m not the best with names.” She glanced down at her desk, cheeks flaming.

“It’s okay,” Kevin said shortly. “Look, I know it’s only your second day, and your shift’s almost over, but I need you to stick around and do one more surgery. It’s an emergency.”

Risha looked back up. Without complaint or protest, she rose from her desk. “What’s the emergency?” she asked, removing her white coat and leaving it draped over her chair, following Kevin out of her office in just her blue scrubs.

“A six-year-old girl with a cerebral aneurysm,” Kevin said. “Can you do it? I know you must be tired; you’ve been here all day, but you’re the only neurosurgeon on call, and I know you’re good, and-“

“Sure, I can do it,” Risha said quickly. “Do you have her films?”

“Right here.” Kevin handed her a manila envelope containing the scans of Danielle Dorough’s brain.

“Good. I’ll just look these over, and then I need to get scrubbed in; I’ll be ready to cut in ten minutes if she’s prepped by then.”

Kevin offered her a tight smile. “Thank you,” he said gratefully. “I, uh, know I don’t need to tell you this, but… please… please do a good job. She’s the daughter of one of my best friends; he’s also a doctor at this hospital. If he lost her…”

Risha pursed her lips in sympathy and gave a slight nod. “I will,” she promised. Then, without another word, she turned and went down the hallway to get ready.

+++

“Howie!”

Howie Dorough spun around at the sound of his name. He found his good friend Kevin Richardson sprinting down the hall towards him.

“She can do it,” Kevin said breathlessly. “She’s scrubbing in now.”

Howie sagged in relief. “Thank God. And you say she’s good?”

“I’ve heard she is. Brunson said she had excellent credentials. I haven’t seen her operate yet, but I’m sure she’s very skilled. Brunson said so, and you know how hard it is to get a compliment from her.”

Howie didn’t firsthand, but he had heard enough from Kevin to know it was next to impossible. Kevin was a great surgeon, bright, talented, and serious about his work, and even he had to take crap from his superior, the chief of surgery and of staff, Dr. Holli Brunson.

“Okay,” he said nervously. As a member of the medical community who knew many of the staff members at the hospital, he expected the very best for his family, and he was not comfortable with his daughter going under the knife in the hands of a newcomer he did not know. But he trusted Kevin. Kevin was his friend, Kevin was smart, and if Kevin said this woman was good, she must be. Besides, time was running out; he really didn’t have a choice if he wanted to save Danielle’s life.

“Why don’t you come with me to pre-op and see her real quick before they take her to surgery?” Kevin suggested, putting a hand on Howie’s shoulder. “Come on.”

“Thanks,” Howie said gratefully, leaning slightly against Kevin as the taller man led him down the hall to the pre-op area.

He found Danielle there, lying small and scared on a gurney, sucking her thumb again. He could tell she was groggy from the medications she had been given, but she noticed him at once and popped the thumb out of her mouth. “Daddy,” she cried, her voice whimpering.

“Hey, Dani,” he greeted her, bending over to smooth her dark hair off her forehead and gently kiss her there. Tears stung his eyes, but he fought them. He couldn’t cry in front of Dani; he would have plenty of time to do that later. “They’re almost ready to take you into the operating room. I know you’re scared, baby, but everything’s going to be fine.” He patted her hand, hoping his voice sounded more reassuring to her than it did to him.

Danielle nodded. The look in her eyes nearly broke Howie’s heart. It was a look of absolute trust. She was still scared, yes, but she trusted him. She believed him. He was her father; he would not lie to her. He was her daddy; he could make all the big, scary things go away and make everything alright again. He would not tell her everything was going to be fine if it wasn’t.

But the reality was, Howie didn’t know everything, and he couldn’t just make all the bad things go away. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe and warm and happy, but he couldn’t. Not now. She was in God’s hands; only he, with the help of this new surgeon, could protect Dani, protect her from death, which was slowly creeping up behind her. Howie, her father, could do nothing, nothing but make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep. The helpless feeling was overpowering and very depressing.

“Mr. Dorough?”

A soft voice from a few feet away caused Howie to turn away from his daughter. A tall red-headed nurse had come up behind him.

“I need to take Danielle to the OR now; Dr. Veers is ready,” she said.

“Okay,” Howie said, trying to keep calm, but panic was rising within him. Panic at the thought that this could be the last time he would ever spend with his daughter.

Make it worthwhile, he told himself quickly, bending over to kiss Danielle’s baby-soft cheek. “I love you, Dani,” he whispered, hugging her as best he could with her lying there, tangled in IV tubes. “I’ll see you in a few hours, when your operation is all done.”

“I love you too, Daddy,” her tiny voice echoed shakily.

Howie kissed her one last time, gave her hand one last squeeze, and sadly stepped away, as the nurses and orderlies wheeled her gurney out of the room.

When they were gone, he found Kevin standing in the doorway.

“Anything I can get you?” he asked Howie. “You want something to eat? I can order something to be brought up here. You can hang around in the staff lounge or in my office.”

“I’m not hungry,” Howie said, his voice a husky whisper. He swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I… I need to make some phone calls.”

“Oh, of course. Well, come on, you can use the phone in my office,” Kevin said, taking hold of Howie’s arm. Together, the two men left the pre-op area and went down the hall to the lounge.

+++

Kevin left Howie in his office to call his ex-wife, Sophie, Danielle’s mother, who did not yet know what was going on with her daughter. He wandered down the hall towards the staff lounge, when he was stopped by a voice calling his name.

He turned to see a petite Asian woman hurrying towards him. It was Howie’s girlfriend, Rita Sumari. “Kevin!” she cried, her almond-shaped eyes wide with fright. “I just heard! Where’s Howie?”

“He’s in my office,” Kevin said, pointing to his closed door. “How did you find out?” Rita, a cardiovascular surgeon, was evidently still on duty, for she was dressed in scrubs and a lab coat.

“JC Chasez called up and told me. He said Howie had just run up here. Where’s Dani; have they put her under yet?”

“Just did,” Kevin replied. “Howie’s calling Sophie now; he should be done in a little bit. He’ll be glad to see you. He’s really upset.”

“Well, of course he is. I’ll go wait outside your office for him to get done,” Rita said, bustling back off in the direction she came.

Kevin smiled sadly, knowing that this was hurting Rita too. She had been dating Howie for two years now and absolutely adored Danielle. If she and Howie ever got married, he knew she would be a perfect step-mother for the child.

Rita was a wonderful person, cute both inside and out, bright, spirited, and charming, full of personality. She was perky and fun-loving, the kind of person who loved to laugh and make others laugh. She was always there to help cheer someone up, a quality that made her an excellent doctor, for she had some of the best bedside manner Kevin had seen, always treating her patients like they were her friends, not just “things” with diseases she had to treat. This quality was more often seen in nurses than doctors; to find a doctor who was both skilled and personable could be somewhat difficult. Rita was all that and more.

Glancing back once more at Rita, who had sunk down in a chair outside his office door, Kevin continued on his way to the lounge.

+++

Raking a hand through his head of thick, dark hair, Howie left Kevin’s office, feeling worse than he had when he had come in. Just as he had expected, Sophie hadn’t taken the news well. She had shouted at him, told him it was his fault. Despite all the medical evidence he gave her to show her it wasn’t, she had to blame someone, and he was it. That was the problem with Sophie – she was irrational and quick to jump to conclusions.

Deep down, Howie knew it wasn’t his fault at all, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty. What kind of father was he, making his little girl go to school when she had a blood vessel in her brain that was about to pop? Obviously, he couldn’t have known, but he felt like he should have taken her to the hospital that morning. It could have been detected earlier, and she could have been in the OR before it got to this critical stage.

“Howie, are you okay?”

Howie jumped, startled, and realized that his girlfriend, Rita, was sitting in a chair in the hall outside Kevin’s office. “Rita,” he murmured. Rita jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her petite body. “I heard about Danielle,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

A lump rose in Howie’s throat, and, embracing Rita, he felt overcome with emotion. Finally, the dam holding his river of tears back broke, and they came flooding from his eyes. Holding Rita, he sobbed, terrified of what was going to happen, terrified that Danielle was not going to make it. That little girl was the most important thing to him; he loved her more than life itself, and he had only had six years with her. She couldn’t die now; it was too soon. She still had years and years of growing up to do. She had a whole life ahead of her.

“Howie,” Rita murmured, stroking his hair. He felt her back begin to tremble beneath his fingertips and pulled her back from him to see that she too was crying. She loves Danielle like she was her daughter too, Howie reminded himself. It was something he had always been grateful of, for if he ever decided to propose to Rita, he knew she would make a wonderful step-mother for Danielle.

“Come on,” Rita said, looking up at him with tear-filled brown eyes. “Let’s go find somewhere to sit down.”

“The lounge,” Howie said, putting his arm around her waist. They walked very slowly down the hall, their bodies close together, leaned up against one another for support, both physically and emotionally.

+++

Risha Veers entered the lounge on the surgical floor, exhausted both mentally and physically after the grueling brain surgery she had just finished.

She had been told Howie Dorough, the father of her patient, was waiting for her in the lounge. When she got there, there were several people sitting around, but she recognized Howie at once, for although she had not met him, he looked just like his daughter, with the same dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin, although his was quite pale looking at the moment.

“Mr. Dorough?” she asked for confirmation.

“Yes,” Howie said, jumping up. A petite Asian woman at his side stood up with him. “Are you Dr. Veers?” Howie asked.

“Yes,” Risha said, extending her hand in greeting.

Howie shook it quickly, then asked, “How’s Danielle?”

“I just finished the surgery, and it was a success,” Risha told him. “I repaired the blood vessel in her brain before it ruptured, and she’s going to be just fine.”

“Oh, thank God,” Howie gasped, grabbing the hand of the woman next to him. “When can I see her?”

“She’s just been taken to recovery and won’t wake up for awhile yet. I’ll have you notified when she does so you can go see her,” Risha said.

“Thank you, Dr. Veers,” Howie replied gratefully, shaking her hand again. “It’s good to meet you, by the way. Welcome to Atlantic City. Do you like it here so far?”

Risha’s eyes widened slightly, taken back by Howie’s friendliness. She barely knew anyone on the staff yet, except the few doctors and nurses she had met on the surgical floor so far, and while everyone had been kind, no one had made an effort to make her feel especially welcome. But now here was a paramedic, shaken up and stressed out over the near loss of his daughter, taking the time to welcome her. She smiled genuinely for the first time that day.

“Thank you,” she replied. “Yes, I like it just fine here so far.”

“Good,” Howie said. “I’ve heard wonderful things about your surgical skills, and now I know they were true. Thank you so much for saving my daughter’s life.”

“Thank you,” Risha said. “Thank you for your kindness.”

+++

Nick Carter hummed to himself as he strolled down the hall of the Emergency Room. It was almost six o’clock in the evening, and that meant he only had a little over an hour left of his shift. Then he could go home. The day had been good though, not as stressful or as nerve-wracking as the previous one. He was getting used to his work and the people who worked with him, and he felt more at ease.

And then, of course, there was Isabel. Nick couldn’t help but like her – she was sweet, smart, and funny, not to mention beautiful. He had only known her two days, but he could already feel a serious crush coming on. He knew it was only wishful thinking to think he could actually have some kind of relationship with her though. After all, he barely knew her. He knew nothing about her. She probably already had a boyfriend. Besides, even if she didn’t, that didn’t mean she was going to fall for him. She had been nice to him, but it was only because they were both med students and were experiencing the same things.

But still, Nick couldn’t help but wonder if there was a possibility of the two of them hooking up. With the stress of med school, Nick hadn’t had a serious girlfriend in over a year. He missed being in a relationship, missed having a companion like that, someone he could talk to, someone who would understand him. He wished Isabel would be that someone.

As Nick passed by a patient’s room, his thoughts were interrupted by a shrill beeping sound. Startled, he realized it was coming from the room he had just passed. The door was ajar, and he went back and looked inside to see an elderly man lying motionless in his bed, the heart monitor beside the bed registering a flat line.

Nick’s eyes went wide. The man was dying. What was he supposed to do? To his relief, a door down the hall opened, and out walked Brian Littrell.

“Dr. Littrell!” he shouted. “Dr. Littrell!”

Nearly dropping the chart she was holding in surprise, Brian looked up in confusion at Nick.

“Come here, Dr. Littrell, hurry!” Nick cried, beckoning furiously to him. Not waiting for him to catch up, he ran into the old man’s room and prepared to start doing CPR, which he had been trained in during medical school.
“Nick, wait!” Brian cried, bursting into the room as Nick cupped his hands over the man’s chest. “He’s a DNR.”

“Huh?” Nick spun around to look at him.

“Mr. Olsen has end-stage pancreatic cancer. He didn’t want us to try to resuscitate him when he went into cardiac arrest. We just have to let him go now; it’s his time,” Brian said gently.

“Oh,” Nick whispered, his shoulders slumping.

With a solemn face, Brian shut off the wailing heart monitor. Silence filled the room. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he said, “Time of death – 17:53. I’ll go mark it on his chart.”

He went into the hall to get his chart from the slot outside his door. Nick remained in the room, staring in pity at the old man. He looked very weak and frail, very sick. But he also looked at peace. Still, Nick felt uncomfortable. He had never seen someone die before. Even though it was probably a blessing in disguise that the man had finally passed, it was very depressing too. He looked like someone’s grandfather; he surely had a family that loved him very much and would be very upset to find out he had died while they were not with him.

A lump rose in Nick’s throat at the thought of it, but he swallowed it back. If he wanted to be a doctor someday, he was going to have to learn not to get emotionally attached to his patients, for many of them, especially in cases like this, did not make it.

“Are you okay, Nick?” Brian asked softly, coming back into the room.

Nick nodded quickly. “I’ve just… never seen someone die before,” he said quietly.

Brian nodded. “I know. It’s a hard thing to watch. It’s even harder when it’s someone you’ve known and treated before.”

“So this was one of your patients?” Nick asked, looking at him in sympathy.

“Yeah, you could say that. I’ve treated him before anyway,” Brian said. “He’s been into this ER several times. He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and just relapsed a few months ago. By then, his cancer had spread throughout his body. The docs up in Oncology did what they could, but it was just too advanced. He and his family were prepared though; they knew it was coming. And he was in so much pain towards the end that it’s almost a relief he’s gone. He’s in a better place now. He isn’t suffering.”

“Yeah,” Nick said dully. “So, I guess it doesn’t get any easier, does it?” He watched Brian’s face. It looked calm, but in his eyes, he could see the sorrow and knew that he wasn’t some emotionless doctor who didn’t care. He did care, and he wanted nothing more than to give his patient’s a happy ending. But as Nick had seen, that didn’t always happen.

“No, it never gets any easier,” Brian replied, smiling sadly at him. “That’s something you’ll learn as you get older and more experienced. Even if you don’t really know your patient on a personal level, it’s always sad when one dies.”

Nick nodded. Part of him wished her answer had been different, that eventually, doctors got used to seeing people die, and it didn’t bother them anymore. But really, he was glad it still did. What kind of person would he be if he could watch a patient die without feeling any kind of sadness or sorrow? He wouldn’t be human. This job might be emotionally tumultuous on him, but at least it wouldn’t dull his senses and make him not care any more. No matter what happened, he would always care.

+++

“How long are you going to be working night shift like this, Justin?” whined Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend, Britney.

Justin sighed heavily, as he pulled on his green scrub pants. “Brit, I told you, I don’t know! Now that Dr. Parker is laid up from her car accident, I’m with Dr. Palmer, and I work whatever shift he works. If he’s stuck with night shift, so am I. But he’s a third-year resident, so hopefully he won’t have to work night shift too often. He just has to now cause we’re short doctors, with Dr. Parker being gone.”

Britney stuck out her bottom lip. “But, Justy, what about us? If I work all day, and you work all night, when will we ever have time together?”

“We’ll work it out, Brit,” Justin said. “I’m off tomorrow, so we can do something then, okay?”

“Okay,” Britney replied sullenly. With a sigh, she slid off the bed. “Well, I’m going to change into something more comfortable.”

Justin nodded, tying the waist of his pants. He stopped to watch Britney as she pulled off her work “uniform”, the white Hooters t-shirt and orange short-shorts that all the Hooters waitresses wore. Now in just her black lacy thong and bra, Britney turned sideways to examine herself in the mirror. Cupping her breasts in her hands, Britney asked, “Justy, do you think I should get more implants? Go up a few cup sizes?”

A slow grin spread over Justin’s face. “Sure, babe, that would look great!” he said enthusiastically, trying to picture Britney’s boobs any larger than they already were. She had gone from an A cup to a C with her last implant surgery in 1999, but it was Justin’s opinion that bigger was better.

Britney continued to study herself in the mirror. She nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Maybe I’ll go to an E…”

+++

“Addie!”

Addie Burke was just climbing into her car when the familiar voice called to her. Stopping, she turned to find her boyfriend, Jack Palmer, jogging towards her. He was just arriving at the hospital for his shift, which started at seven. He was early though; it was only six-thirty.

“Hey, Jack,” she said, as they hugged each other. Looking into his blue eyes, she asked, “How are you doing?”

He could tell by her voice that she had heard about Bianca and about what he had done. His Addie, she knew how upset he was, without even talking about it with him.

He gave a half-hearted shrug and sighed. “I don’t know. I take it you’ve heard about Bianca.”

Addie nodded. “Yeah, the other nurses filled me in. Do you know how she’s doing? I thought about going up to see her, but I didn’t know if she would feel up to visitors yet; I didn’t want to bug her.”

Jack nodded. “I don’t know; I haven’t been to see her yet either. I think I’m gonna stop by before my shift starts though; that’s why I cam early.”

Bianca nodded. “So… what did Brunson have to say about all this?”

Jack grimaced. “I haven’t heard anything from her yet, surprisingly, just O’Brien.”

“What did she say? Are you going to get in trouble for this?”

“I don’t think so. I got a lecture, of course, but Bianca’s going to be all right, thank God, and I don’t think she’s going to press charges or anything. I’m going to go see her now; that’s why I came early.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll let you go then. Are you working tomorrow?”

“No, I’m off,” Jack replied.

“Okay. I’m working regular schedule tomorrow, so maybe we can do something when I get off. I’ll call you when I get home.”

“Okay,” Jack said, leaning down to kiss her quickly. “Night, Addie.”

“Goodnight,” Addie replied, turning to get back into her car, while Jack continued on his way to the building.

+++

Brianna Chambers shifted painfully in her wheelchair.

“You okay?” her best friend Bianca Parker asked from the bed she was lying in.

“Yeah, fine,” Brianna said through gritted teeth. “Just sore. Probably not as sore as you though.”

Bianca chuckled, which she quickly found to be a huge mistake. A ball of fire sizzled through her stomach, which was freshly sutured from the surgery she had had the night before to fix her internal bleeding from the car accident. She was on a morphine drip to control the pain, but it still hurt something awful.

She felt for poor Brianna, who had come all the way up from the first floor in a wheelchair to visit her. Brianna had to be just as sore, probably even worse, for she had suffered a broken rib, collapsed lung, and a torn artery in the crash. Both women were very lucky they were still alive after all they had been through. It could have been much worse.

A soft knock on Bianca’s door interrupted their conversation.

“Come in,” Bianca called, her voice slightly hoarse from the breathing tube that had been inserted in her throat during her surgery.

The door opened, and a tall man in scrubs came walking slowly in. When he saw Bianca and Brianna, he came them a tentative smile. “Hi, Bianca, Brianna,” he said awkwardly.

“Hey, Jack,” Bianca said, breaking into a grin as she recognized her Jack Palmer, who worked with her as a physician in the ER.

Brianna’s gaze flicked between the two doctors, and she slowly wheeled herself backwards. “I’ll leave you guys alone to talk,” she said knowingly, wheeling herself out the door.

When Brianna was gone, Bianca asked, “So, how are you doing?”

“How am I doing?” Jack laughed. “Who cares about me. How are you doing?”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Well, you know, I’ve had my better days. But I’m gonna be fine.”

“That’s a relief. Look, Bianca, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” The smile had left Jack’s lips, and his face was serious, his blue eyes pained.

Bianca smiled sympathetically. “AJ told me you were feeling guilty. Look, Jack, it’s just as much my fault as it is yours. I’m the one who refused treatment. I should have realized that I was more injured than I thought or at least should have known I needed to be checked out better, just in case. It was my own stupidity that landed me in this situation.”

“I should have insisted you let someone examine you,” Jack said, shaking his head regrettably. “I know how stubborn you can be. I was the doctor; I should have been more forceful about it.”

“You were just trying to be a friend and respect my wishes, not put me in an uncomfortable position. I don’t blame you, Jack. I don’t know what kind of crap other people have been giving you about this, but it’s no more your fault than it is my own. I guess we both could have used better judgment. But whatever, it’s over and done with now. There’s no harm done; Dr. Brunson says I’m going to be fine. I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble for this.”

Jack bit his lip. “Bianca, I deserve to get in trouble for this. I could have killed you!”

“But you didn’t,” Bianca said firmly. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. We all make mistakes. We’re both young doctors, and we both made bad choices. But no one’s going to punish me for it, and I won’t let anyone punish you either. Like I said, it’s my fault too.”

Jack sighed. “Thanks, Bianca. If there’s one good thing to come out of this, it’s that I learned my lesson. I guess we’ll both be better doctors after this.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I guess we will.”

“So, speaking of that, do you have any idea when you’ll be ready to go back to work?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. Probably not for a few weeks. I’m gonna be really sore,” Bianca said.

Jack nodded. “Don’t be in any hurry to come back. Take your time and don’t try to work again until you feel one hundred percent.”

Bianca snorted. “Ha, like Elizabeth will let me off the hook that easily. I’ll be lucky if she gives me two weeks.”

Jack rolled his eyes, grinning. “Aw, Elizabeth isn’t that much of a bitch. She acts tough, but she’s not that bad underneath. She likes you; she’ll give you as much time as you need. I’ll make sure of that.” He winked, and Bianca smiled tiredly. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin, he said, “Well, I better get going. It’s almost time for my shift to start. I just wanted to come check on you and tell you how sorry I was.”

“Thanks, Jack,” Bianca said. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you,” Jack replied, patting her hand. He gave her a gentle smile and backed out of the room, feeling utterly relieved that Bianca was so forgiving.

+++

“Hi, Dr. Palmer.”

Jack looked up to find his med student coming down the hall towards him, adjusting his stethoscope around his neck.

“Hey, Justin,” he said. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was exactly seven o’clock. Justin was on time, just like he had promised.

“So, what are we going to do first, doc?” Justin asked, looking around the ER.

“It’s actually pretty tame down here right now, so I thought we could get you started practicing IV’s,” Jack said.

“Okay,” Justin replied. Leaning closer to Jack, he added, “How ‘bout givin’ me a fine girl to practice on?” He winked.

Jack grinned. “Sure, Justin,” he said. “I’ll give you a fine one alright. Follow me.”

“Okay!” Justin said eagerly, and the two men started off down the hall.

+++

“B-but… she’s dead!” Justin cried in horror, looking down on the pale, cold body of the “fine girl” Jack had promised him.

Jack grinned devilishly. “I never said she was going to be a living fine girl,” he replied, laughing. “We don’t give live people to med students to practice things like this on. Did you honestly think some girl would want you poking her all over while you tried to find her vein for an IV?”

Justin’s cheeks reddened as he realized how naïve he had been. “So I have to practice on… on this??” He motioned to the body lying on the table.

“Sure do,” Jack replied. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to bite.”

Justin shuddered, looking around him. The hospital morgue was not as dark and creepy as morgues were portrayed on TV, but it was still eerie to be there, surrounded by dead bodies. The thought of actually touching one was even more frightening. Justin began to think maybe being a doctor wasn’t the right job for him.

Seeing how uncomfortable Justin was, Jack’s playful tone softened. “Seriously, Justin, I know it’s not exactly fun, but try not to let it bother you. She’s not rotting or anything yet; she’s only been dead a few hours. And the good thing is, you can screw up royally and not hurt her. Now, let’s get started so we can get out of here, okay?”

Justin nodded. “So… what do I do first?”

“First, you clean off the area with antiseptic.” Jack handed him a cotton ball and a bottle of antiseptic and motioned the back of the girl’s hand. Gingerly, Justin wet the cotton ball and lightly wiped it over the motionless hand, without touching the girl.

“Good. Now you need to find a vein. There’s one right here, see?” Jack pointed to a faint blue line beneath the girl’s pasty skin. Justin nodded again. “Okay, now you just slide this needle under her skin and into the vein.”

Justin took the needle and very carefully did as Jack had told him, his tongue sticking slightly out of his mouth in concentration. It only took two tries, and he got the needle into her vein.

“There, you did it!” Jack said. “Now, we’ll keep practicing until you’re a pro at this, and then you can do it on live girls, okay?”

Justin grinned, feeling more at ease. “Okay!”

+++

Lance Bass fumbled around with the keys to his apartment as he tried to insert the key into the keyhole, but only succeeded in dropping the keys on the floor. Before bending down to pick up the keys, Lance leaned his head against the wall and sighed deeply because his double shift at the hospital was finally over. A few minutes later, Lance unlocked the door and entered the small, but cozy apartment that he had been calling home since he left his home state of Mississippi four years ago.

After a hot shower and a change of clothes, Lance finally felt human again. Reminders of the past two days’ events ran a course through Lance’s over-exhausted mind, and the familiar feelings of forgotten depression reared its ugly head.

Shaking his head to get rid of the horrible thoughts, Lance flung open his medicine cabinet and pushed aside frequently used medication until he found the bottle he was looking for. Without a second thought, Lance struggled to pop open the lid, and once he did, he poured out two pills and swallowed them quickly.

Without even bothering to turn off the lights in the apartment, Lance walked into his bedroom and dropped down onto his bed, waiting for the effects of the pills to overtake his senses. Minutes later, as he was drifting off to sleep, he remembered the sweet effects the medication had on him years earlier, and he smiled.

+++
Forgot About J by RokofAges75
Episode 7:

Forgot About J


“Good morning, Justin,” Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien said quickly as she passed med student Justin Timberlake on his way into the hospital.

“Morning, Dr. O’Brien,” Justin replied tiredly. It was a Saturday morning in mid-September, and after a late night with Britney, Justin was exhausted, having gotten only a few hours of sleep. He was glad he at least had Sunday off so that he could catch up on sleep.

Justin made his way into the lounge, where his temporary supervisor, Dr. Jack Palmer, was also getting ready to start his shift.

“Hey, Dr. Palmer,” Justin said, opening up his locker.

“Hey, Justin,” Jack greeted. He waited until Justin was ready, and then the two men walked out into the hall together. They went first to the nurses station, where nurse Natalie Spade was sorting through charts.

“Hey, Natalie,” Jack greeted her.

Natalie looked up and smiled. “Oh, hi, Jack. I’m glad you’re here. I have a patient for you. Seventy-five-year-old man complaining of fatigue and dizziness. Exam 3.” She handed him a chart.

“Should I come with you or take somebody else?” Justin asked. Now that he had been working at the hospital for almost a month, Jack had been letting Justin exam patients himself, rather than tag around with him all the time.

“Nat, you got another patient Justin can have?” Jack asked.

“Yeah… here you go,” she said, giving a chart to Justin. “Thirteen-year-old girl, complains of abdominal pain. Exam 4.”

“Thanks,” Justin replied, glancing at the chart as he walked down the hall to the exam room. Kristine Miller, age thirteen, abdominal pain. Justin tossed the information around in his mind. He reached Exam 4 and walked in to find a girl sitting on the gurney. She looked small for thirteen and had wavy brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. In a chair beside the gurney sat a woman, probably Kristine’s mother.

“Hi, Kristine,” Justin addressed the girl, offering a slight smile.

“Hi,” Kristine replied softly, gazing at him with pale blue eyes.

“And are you Kristine’s mother?” he asked the woman.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m Ellen Miller.” Studying him for a minute, she asked, “Are you a doctor? You look awfully young.”

“I’m a med student,” Justin replied. “My name’s Justin Timberlake.”

“I see,” said Ellen, continuing to scrutinize him. Her gaze made him uncomfortable. After a pause, Ellen added, “Kristine will be examined by a real doctor, won’t she?”

“Don’t worry, ma’am, I’m required to show all my patients’ charts to a resident before I can treat or discharge them,” Justin said, trying to hold back his anger. She obviously thought of him as some incompetent kid. Well, he would show her.

“So, Kristine,” Justin started in, ignoring Ellen’s stare, “I hear you’ve been having some stomach pain.”

Kristine nodded.

“Okay. Well, I’m going to ask you some questions first, and then I’ll examine you, and we’ll get to the bottom of this, okay?”

“Okay,” Kristine said.

“Okay, first of all, what other kinds of symptoms have you had? Any fever, nausea, vomiting?”

“Yeah, everything except the fever part,” Kristine replied.

“Okay,” Justin said, writing it down on her chart. “Have you eaten anything out of the ordinary lately?”

Kristine frowned, thinking. Then she shook her head. “Not that I can think of.”

“How about allergies? Do you have any allergies?”

“No,” Kristine said, glancing at her mother.

“No, no allergies,” Ellen confirmed.

“Okay…” Justin noted it on the chart. To her mother, he said, “Well, it’s probably just a stomach bug, but I’ll examine Kristine to make sure it’s not anything serious. I’ll send someone in to get a gown for Kristine, and I’ll be back in a little bit to do the examination.”

With that, he went back into the hall, where he met up with nurse Lance Bass.

”Lance, could you get a gown for the patient in Exam 4?”

“Sure,” Lance replied.

“Oh, and do you know where Dr. Palmer is?” Justin asked.

“Uh… last time I saw him, he was with a patient in Exam 3,” said Lance.

“Thanks,” Justin replied and went next door to Exam 3 to find Dr. Palmer. Sure enough, there he was, examining an elderly man. Justin stepped into the room and asked tentatively, “Dr. Palmer?”

Jack glanced away from his patient. “Yeah, Justin?”

“Um, can I talk to you in the hall when you get a chance?”

“Sure,” Jack said. Turning back to his patient, he said, “Excuse me for a minute, Mr. Franklin.” He stood up and followed Justin out into the hall. “What is it?”

Justin handed him Kristine’s chart. “Thirteen-year-old complaining of abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. No allergies, and she hasn’t eaten anything weird lately.”

Jack nodded, skimming over the chart. “Okay. So, what do you think it could be?”

“Gastroenteritis or appendicitis,” Justin replied.

“Good,” Jack said. “Check her belly, and if anything feels strange, come get me, and we’ll do an ultrasound.”

“Okay,” Justin replied. “Thanks, Dr. Palmer.” With that, he turned and went back next door to examine Kristine.

+++

Psychiatrist Dr. Lynn Michaels looked up from her desk as she heard someone knock on her closed office door.

“Come in!” she called. The door opened to reveal the tall, thin frame of a teenage boy. Lynn smiled. “Good morning, Oliver,” she greeted. “Come on in and have a seat.”

The boy walked slowly into Lynn’s office and sat down in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. He clasped his hands tightly together in his lap and fidgeted, looking nervously around the room.

“Relax, Oliver,” Lynn said gently. Oliver glanced at her and stopped fidgeting. But he continued to sit stiffly on the edge of the chair and look anywhere but into her eyes. “So, Oliver… how are you doing?” Lynn asked.

“Fine,” came Oliver’s quick reply.

“Are you really? You look much better physically, but what about emotionally?”

Oliver raised his head sharply and glared at her with his deep brown eyes. “I’m not crazy,” he hissed.

“I know you’re not. You know, psychiatrists help more than just insane people,” Lynn said.

“I don’t need a shrink,” Oliver muttered, glancing down at his hands.

“I’m not a ‘shrink’,” Lynn replied. “I’m a psychiatrist, a doctor. I help people. I’d like to help you, if you’ll let me.”

“I don’t need any help. I’m better now.” But Lynn could clearly see that he was not.

On the outside, sixteen-year-old Oliver Williams seemed like the kind of boy who had everything he could ever want. He was good-looking, with light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was popular at school, especially with the girls. He was a good student who had always tried hard and made A’s and B’s in all his subjects. But the thing he prided himself most upon was soccer. Oliver loved soccer. He had played the sport ever since he was a little boy and had always excelled at it. He had been playing on his school’s varsity team ever since he was a freshman, and now, as a junior, he was the captain and star of the team. Oliver had everything going for him. At least, that’s what people thought.

In reality, Oliver had been suffering from depression for two years, ever since the death of his younger brother, Johnny. No one in his family had ever really recovered from Johnny’s death; each of them were suffering in their own ways and making others suffer as well. Since Oliver was now his family’s only child, he had been put under an incredible amount of stress and pressure to succeed. His father, without meaning to, always pushed Oliver beyond his limit. The one who had gotten Oliver interested in soccer as a child, James Williams wanted his son be the best. He demanded Oliver devote all his free time to soccer, and Oliver feared that if he messed up, he would be letting his father down. Oliver’s mother, Caroline, was not much better, for she refused to let go of her dead youngest son. For two years, she had lived her life in a daze, thinking of nothing but Johnny. Her marriage had suffered from this, and so had her son.

By the start of his junior year, Oliver was desperate. His life was a living hell. He and his friends were drifting apart, for after so many months of Oliver avoiding doing things with them, they had stopped trying to include him. His grades, which had once been good, had slipped and were now mere D’s and C’s at best. The only thing he could concentrate on anymore was soccer. It was the one thing that was still going right for him, the one thing that still mattered. The problem was, it mattered too much.

Thirty seconds left in the game. The score was all tied up. The other team had the ball. Oliver stood in the goal, his eyes focused on the black and white soccer ball, as it came steadily towards him from the opposite end of the field. He knew the other team was going to try to score a goal in the last few seconds. All he had to do was block it, and the game would go into overtime, giving his team another chance to win. But if he missed it, the game would be over. His team would lose one of the most important games of their season, the game against their biggest rivals. He couldn’t let that ball get by him. He couldn’t let them score.

The ball came nearer. Oliver saw the kicker’s foot go back and come forward swiftly to connect with the ball. The ball soared through the air, coming towards the goal, just to the left of him. His arms outstretched, Oliver dove to the left, trying to stop that ball from reaching the goal. But he failed. He went too far left; the ball sailed past his right side and hit the net with a light swishing sound.

Immediately, the field erupted in cheers. But they were not coming from his teammates. The other team leaped up and down, hitting each other on the back and hugging. With that final goal, they had won the game by a single point. And it was all Oliver’s fault.

That night, nearly a month ago, was utterly miserable for Oliver. His coach and teammates tried to console him, to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. But he knew it was, and he knew he had let everyone down – his coach, his team, his school, and most of all, his father. Later that night, Oliver was brought into the ER. He had overdosed on his father’s sleeping pills in a suicide attempt.

Miraculously, Oliver survived the overdose and had been discharged the previous week. While he recovered in the hospital, Lynn had been called in on a psychiatric consult and had spoken with him several times. This was her first appointment with him as an outpatient. Oliver obviously hadn’t wanted to come, but his parents had forced him to. Lynn was glad they had, for Oliver needed help, and she hoped she could give him that help.

+++

Jack was just leaving a patient’s room, when his med student, Justin, approached him.

“Dr. Palmer?” asked Justin.

“Yes, Justin?”

“I examined the girl in Exam 4, and her belly felt normal,” said Justin. “She said the pain is mostly on her right side, but her belly was soft, not rigid, and it didn’t hurt her any worse when I touched her.”

“Did you get some bloodwork done to check for infection?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, but the results aren’t back yet,” Justin replied.

“Okay. Well, I don’t think it’s appendicitis, but wait for the bloodwork to come back just to make sure.”

“What if the bloodwork comes back fine? Do we just send her home? She seems to be in a lot of pain, more than stomach flu or something.”

Jack thought for a moment. “Well, we could do an ultrasound, just to be sure.”

Justin nodded. “Okay. I’ll come get you when her bloodwork gets back.”

“Okay, thanks, Justin.”

Jack glanced at his watch as Justin walked away. It was almost nine-thirty in the morning. Time for a coffee break.

+++

Justin strode into Exam 4, the results of Kristine’s bloodwork in his hand.

“Mrs. Miller, these are the results of Kristine’s blood test,” he said, holding up the packet he held in his hand. “They showed no sign of infection, which pretty much rules out appendicitis. However, I’m concerned about the amount of pain Kristine is in, and I’d like to do an ultrasound to make sure it’s nothing serious.”

“What’s that?” Kristine asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all,” Justin said. “It’s just a way to see inside your stomach, to make sure nothing is wrong.”

“Okay,” Kristine said nervously.

Justin smiled slightly at her. “Don’t worry,” he said again. “We’re just being cautious. You probably just have the flu.”

+++

“Hi, Nurse Bass,” said a tentative male voice, surprising Lance, who nearly dropped the suture kit he was holding.

“Oliver!” he exclaimed, turning around to find the lanky teen standing behind him, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “What are you doing here? Can I help you with anything? Or do you just want-“

“I just came from my first counseling session,” Oliver interrupted. “Thought I’d drop in and say hey.”

“Oh.” Lance smiled. “Well, hey yourself. How did your appointment go?”

The boy shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”

”Are you seeing Dr. Michaels?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s good. You like her?”

“She’s okay.”

“That’s good. How are things going at home?”

Oliver shrugged again. “My mom rarely lets me out of her sight, and my dad took the damn door off my bedroom and locked up all the meds. What do you think?”

“Sorry,” Lance said with a sympathetic smile. “But you know they’re just doing that because they love you.”

“Yeah,” Oliver said hollowly, “I know. Well, I guess I should be going now. You’re probably busy.”

Lance nodded slowly. “Well, listen, you take care of yourself, and if you ever need to talk to someone other than Dr. Michaels, stop by. I can always make some time to talk to you.”

Oliver smiled slightly. “Thanks, Nurse Bass.”

“Lance,” Lance corrected. “Just call me Lance, Oliver.”

“Okay. See you later… Lance.”

Lance watched as Oliver schlepped away down the hall, a strange feeling gnawing at his stomach. Though he didn’t know the teenager very well at all, Lance felt a strong connection with him.

There was a rule about getting too involved with patients, and Lance had broken it with this particular one. He had spoken with Oliver while he was in the ER. At the time, he was sullen and angry, angry at himself for failing at his suicide attempt, angry at his parents for finding him and calling the paramedics before the drugs he had ingested could finish him off, angry at the hospital staff for saving his life. Basically angry at the world. Going against policy, Lance had told the boy about his own demons, about his sister’s suicide and his own battle with clinical depression. He thought that if only Oliver knew that other people could empathize with what he was going through, it would help him deal. And it had seemed to thus far. Oliver had opened up to him that day, sharing his feelings, telling him what sent him over the edge that night.

When Oliver had been moved from the ER to another room, Lance had come to visit him a couple times. And now that Oliver was discharged, he was coming back to visit Lance. It seemed to be the beginning of a friendship. An unconventional friendship, maybe, for there was a ten-year age difference between them, and other than depression, they had little in common. But that was enough. The thing that brought them together was the very thing that alienated Oliver from his family and friends. And a sufferer of depression himself, Lance knew Oliver needed someone he could relate to, a sort of confidant. And Lance was willing to be that for him.

Shaking his head, Lance delivered the suture kit he was holding to one of the exam rooms, hoping all the while that Oliver was going to be okay.

+++

“So, Kristine, what kind of stuff are you interested in?” Justin asked casually, as Dr. Palmer performed the ultrasound on his patient. He watched the screen the ultrasound showed up on with interest.

“I play volleyball,” Kristine said softly.

“Volleyball. That’s cool,” replied Justin. “So, are you on your school’s team?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Cool. What grade are you in?”

“Eighth.”

“So, do you like school?”

“It’s okay.”

“You get good grades?”

“Sometimes.”

“Cool. So… uh… you gotta boyfriend?”

Kristine gave her mother a quick sidelong glance, then said quickly, “No.”

Justin smiled and nodded, trying to think of something else to ask her. His thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Palmer.

“Justin, take a look at this.”

Justin glanced back at the ultrasound monitor and squinted. He couldn’t make out anything abnormal.

“Do you see anything?” Dr. Palmer asked.

“Uh… no?”

“Neither do I,” Dr. Palmer replied, and Justin nodded, relieved. To Kristine’s mother, Dr. Palmer said, “Mrs. Miller, everything looks fine. It’s probably just a stomach virus or something she ate. Have her take some ibuprofen or antacid tablets for the pain, and if it’s not better in a few days, bring her back in, or call your family doctor.”

“Okay,” said Ellen Miller. “Thank you, doctor.”

“Kristine, go ahead and get changed, and then you can go home,” said Justin.

“Okay,” said Kristine in relief.

Dr. Palmer and Justin left the room.

+++

“Hey, Siara, if Elizabeth asks where I am, tell her I went on lunch break,” Jack announced to his fellow ER doctor, Siara Reily, right at noon.

“Sure, Jack,” Siara replied, as Jack pulled a jacket on over his green scrubs and left the lounge. He made his way out of the ER and walked the two blocks to Sully’s, the little café where many of the Memorial staff members ate lunch and dinner.

Inside the restaurant, he found several of his good friends from the hospital – Josh McCartney, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, and Brian’s girlfriend, Ivory Harnett.

“Hey, Jack!” they all called to him, waving him over to the two tables they had pulled together.

“Hey, guys,” said Jack, taking a seat next to Josh. “What’s up?” He got a mumble of the usual, “not much” and “nothing”.

Jenny, one of the waitresses at Sully’s, who was always there at lunchtime, came up to their table right away to take Jack’s order. He ordered his usual double cheeseburger, fries, and Mountain Dew, and sat back to wait for his food to come. The others had already ordered, but were still waiting for their food as well.

“So, Aje, how’s Bianca doing?” Jack asked.

“Really good,” AJ replied. “She was thinking about coming back to work on Monday, but I told her to wait another week. She doesn’t realize how much it’s going to take out of her, going back to work.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, tell her to take her time. She’s only been gone three weeks; she should take at least another week off.”

“So, is Howie off today, AJ?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, he’s got Dani for the weekend, so he’s off,” AJ replied.

“How is Dani, anyway?” asked Jack.

“She’s doing pretty good. She’s not back at school yet, but Howie said she’s recovering just fine from her surgery,” AJ replied.

“That’s a relief,” said Jack. “God, I couldn’t imagine going through something like that. If it was my daughter…” He shuddered at the thought. The others nodded in agreement, falling into a solemn silence.

“So…” AJ said, to break the pause, “you guys all ready for tonight?”

The five men of the group exchanged grins, while Ivory just looked confused.

“Guys night out tonight, honey,” Brian informed her.

“Oh really? And you were going to tell me when?” Ivory asked, miffed.

Brian smirked. “Right now.”

“Yeah.” Ivory rolled her eyes.

“What’s the big deal? You and your chick friends are always going out together.”

”So where are you guys going then?” Ivory asked, ignoring her boyfriend.

“Just J’s house,” Jack chimed in. “The remodeling in the basement’s finally done; we gotta celebrate!”

“Oh.” Ivory smiled. “Well, have fun then.”

At the moment, Jenny came back, carrying a large tray of food for them. As everyone began to eat, the conversation died, and they fell into silence again.

+++

Around four o’clock that afternoon, Justin sat in the lounge on his break, playing a video game on the hospital’s Nintendo Gamecube with nurse Lance Bass, who was also taking a break. The Gamecube was supposed to be there to entertain patients, but for some reason, it always ended up in the staff lounge.

Justin’s concentration on the game was interrupted when Addie Burke burst into the lounge. “Justin!”

“Just a minute; I’m almost done with this level,” Justin murmured, his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration, his body jerking back and forth as he steered his sports car on the screen.

“Justin, now!” Addie demanded, causing Justin’s car to veer off the road.

Slamming his controller down, he stood up. “I’m on break; what is it?” he asked, none too kindly.

“Did you treat a Kristine Miller earlier today?” Addie asked.

“Yeah; she went home hours ago,” Justin replied.

“Well, she’s back now, and she’s in bad shape. Jack’s working on her in Trauma 1. You better get in there,” said Addie with a grim expression, turning and hurrying out of the lounge before Justin could utter a word.

“Shit,” Justin whispered, his eyes wide. What could have happened to her? Worried, Justin ran out of the lounge and down to Trauma 1 as fast as he could.

+++

“She was complaining of a stabbing pain in her stomach, and then she just collapsed!” cried Ellen Miller, Kristine’s mother, her eyes filled with frantic tears as she looked down on her daughter, who lay unconscious on the gurney.

“We’re going to do everything we can for her, Mrs. Miller,” Jack promised.

“But what happened? You said it was just a stomach virus! You said she’d be fine!” Ellen shouted, her voice rising shrilly.

“We don’t know yet; we’re trying to find out what’s wrong with her now,” Jack said. “Addie, could you show Mrs. Miller to chairs now?”

“Sure,” replied Addie, who had just come back into the room. “Come with me, Mrs. Miller. You can’t be in here while the doctors are trying to work.” Putting her hand on Ellen’s back, she led the hysterical mother out of the room.

“What happened?” Justin cried, bursting into the room just after Addie and Ellen had left.

“I don’t know yet,” Jack told him gravely. “She was just brought in by the paramedics a few minutes ago. Her pulse is weak, and her blood pressure is extremely low. Her mother said she was complaining of a stabbing pain in her abdomen, and then she collapsed.”

“Let’s get an ultrasound,” said Siara Reily.

“But we did one this morning!” Justin exclaimed. “Everything looked fine, right Jack?”

Jack didn’t reply. Instead, he helped Siara get the ultrasound equipment ready. While Siara rubbed the transducer across Kristine’s stomach, Jack watched the monitor. Suddenly, he gasped. “She’s bleeding internally! Belly’s full of blood!’

“What happened??” Justin asked again. “It was fine just a few hours ago!”

Jack shook his head. “I have no idea. Addie, page the OR and have them get a room ready. This girl’s going to need surgery right away.”

Addie, who had just come back into the room, immediately got on the phone in the room, while the other doctors and nurses bustled around Kristine, inserting drugs into her IV lines and checking her monitors.

To one of the other nurses, Jack said, “Go get Dr. O’Brien. We need to find out what’s wrong with this girl.”

The nurse ran out of the room and returned minutes later with Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien, who was head of the ER.

“What do we have here?” she asked, and Jack explained everything, starting with when he and Justin had examined Kristine that morning.

“Someone get me a copy of her ultrasound from this morning,” Elizabeth said.

One of the nurses got the ultrasound films from Kristine’s chart and handed them to Elizabeth, who took them out in the hall to study them. She came back in a few minutes later.

“Could you make out anything?” Jack asked.

“It’s hard to tell,” Elizabeth said. “Her chart doesn’t mention it, but could she be pregnant? It looks like it could be an eptopic.”

“Pregnant?” Justin asked in disbelief. “But… but she’s only thirteen!”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Believe me, thirteen-year-olds these days do more than we think they do.”

“So you think she’s got an eptopic pregnancy?” Jack asked in surprise. Eptopic pregnancies, which occurred when the fetus was growing inside one of the fallopian tubes instead the uterus, were rare, and in a thirteen-year-old girl, it was something he would have never suspected.

“I’m not positive; the ultrasounds don’t reveal anything. But her symptoms all add up to it – sharp pain on one side of her abdomen, vomiting from morning sickness, and now internal bleeding. Her fallopian tube has burst. She needs to get to surgery right away.”

“We already paged surgery,” said Siara

“Good. Someone page OB too and get someone to come look at the ultrasound.”

Suddenly, all at once, it seemed, all the machines Kristine was hooked up to went haywire.

“She’s dropped her pressure!” cried one nurse.

“We’re losing her pulse!” shouted another.

“She’s in V-fib,” said Siara. “Get the crash cart; charge the paddles to 200!”

Addie wheeled the crash cart up to the gurney. “Charging paddles.”

“Here, let Justin shock her,” said Jack, when the paddles were charged. Addie handed the paddles to Justin, who took them in awe, having never used them before. “Just say clear and then press them to the pads on her chest,” Jack instructed.

“Okay. Clear!” Justin said nervously and pressed the paddles to Kristine’s chest. Her body jumped with the jolt, and so did Justin, in surprise.

“Still in V-fib. Charge again,” Siara said. Justin handed the paddles back to Addie, who charged them up and gave them to Justin again.

“Clear!”

The process repeated again and again. The paddles were charged to a higher voltage each time, but Kristine’s heart did not respond. Finally, the line on the heart monitor went completely flat.

“She’s in asystole,” said Siara.

“Start CPR,” said Jack, nodding at Justin.

Justin nodded in reply and cupped his hands together to start doing chest compressions on Kristine, as he had been taught in med school. For nearly half an hour, he pushed down on her chest repeatedly, praying with each compression that her heart would beat. But each time, he was disappointed.

Finally, Siara said, “Hold compressions.”

Justin pulled away, exhausted. The heart monitor continued to wail, the line running flatly across the screen.

“That’s it,” said Siara. “She’s gone.”

Justin was tired, and his arms ached from doing the CPR for so long, but the thought of giving up was too much to bear. “No!” he cried. “No, she’s not gone! Just a few more minutes. Give me a few more minutes. I can get her back!” Gasping for breath, he bent over her body again and started chest compressions once more. “1 and 2 and 3 and…”

“Justin,” Jack said. “Justin, stop.”

But Justin ignored him and kept going. “4 and 5…”

“Justin, she’s already dead,” Siara said gently. “You’re not going to get her back. It’s too late.”

“No!” Justin cried, shaking his head furiously. “No, I…” He let out a breath of air and stopped, his body sagging in defeat.

Siara watched him in sympathy. Jack looked at his watch. “Time of death – 17:10.”

Addie turned off the beeping monitors, and the other nurses disconnected Kristine from them and removed the IV’s from her arms until her body lay alone on the gurney, a sheet covering her lower half. Slowly, Addie pulled the sheet up to her chin.

Just then, a woman appeared in the doorway. “Is this where they needed the OB consult?” she asked in surprise. Jack turned to see that it was Dr. Melanie Reyes, one of Memorial’s obstetricians.

“Yeah,” he said. “We think this girl might have had an eptopic pregnancy. She came in this morning with abdominal pain on her right side and complained of vomiting. We ruled out appendicitis and sent her home, thinking it was just the flu or a virus. She came back in about an hour ago with internal bleeding and arrested half an hour ago.”

Melanie nodded. “Sounds like an eptopic,” she said. “Did she know she was pregnant?”

“No,” Jack said. “No one thought to do a pregnancy test on her. She’s only thirteen.”

“Did you do an ultrasound?” asked Melanie.

“Yeah. Come on; I’ll show you the films. My student and I both looked at them, and so did Elizabeth O’Brien, and none of us could see anything wrong,” Jack said, as he led her out of the room.

“Yeah, they can be tricky to read sometimes,” Melanie replied.

“Hey, Jack, do you want me to talk to the mother?” Addie called, as Jack started down the hall.

Jack stopped and turned around. “No, I’ll do it,” he replied. Then he continued on down the hall with Melanie.

+++

Justin sat in the lounge, his chin in his hands. He stared out the window without really seeing anything. He felt so empty, so depressed, so devastated. He now knew what it was like to lose a patient. Kristine had been his first. The feeling was horrible. He wasn’t grieving for Kristine as a person; he hadn’t really known her as a person, just as a patient. But it was awful knowing that he had had a chance to save her life, and he had failed. Like Susanna had said, maybe there really was nothing he could do for her. But he couldn’t help but feel that if he had just tried harder, she might still be alive.

“Justin?”

Justin slowly looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway. He did not reply.

Jack walked into the room and sat down beside him. “You win some; you lose some,” he said, glancing over at Justin. “I know that’s hard to accept, but that’s the reality of being in the medical field. You can’t fix everyone.”

Justin hung his head. “I know,” he murmured softly. “But I feel like we should’ve caught this earlier. If we had known this morning what was really wrong with her, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I know, Justin, but there’s really no way we could have known. Even Elizabeth said that. Dr. Reyes, the OB, looked at her ultrasound, and sure enough, she had an eptopic pregnancy. But how were we supposed to guess that? She was only thirteen; most people don’t get pregnant at thirteen. She was only a couple months along, so it was impossible to tell that by looking at her. She had morning sickness and had probably missed her period, but at thirteen, the menstrual cycle isn’t always regular anyway, so I’m sure she never suspected she was pregnant.”

”But what about the ultrasound?” Justin asked. “Shouldn’t it have showed that?”

“If it was a normal pregnancy, we would have been able to see it. Sometimes you can detect an eptopic on an ultrasound film too, but not always. I couldn’t make it out either. If we had known this girl was pregnant, we would have gotten an OB consult this morning, and it could have been discovered. But we didn’t know she was pregnant, so no one thought that was necessary.”

Justin nodded. He understood that it wasn’t really his or Jack’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just a horrible tragedy. But he still blamed himself. “So did you talk to her mother?” he asked Jack.

Jack nodded. “Yeah. It was one of the harder ones. Not only did she find out her daughter was dead, but she also discovered that her thirteen-year-old had been having sex behind her back with a boyfriend her mom had forbidden her to see.”

Justin remembered Kristine’s expression when he had asked her if she had a boyfriend, the look she had shot at her mother, and her quick no. He understood now.

“Was she mad?” Justin asked. “That we didn’t know what was wrong this morning?”

“Yeah, she was,” Jack said, sighing. “A lot of people get that way. Some try to sue the hospital for malpractice.”

Justin’s head shot up in alarm. “Do you think she’ll do that??”

“She might. But I already asked Elizabeth about it, and she said she doesn’t think the mother would win if she tried. She’s an experienced doctor, and she couldn’t even see anything on the ultrasound. Probably only an OB or maybe a surgeon would be able to tell it was an eptopic pregnancy, and under the circumstances, we didn’t see the need for a consult. That would be our defense if we needed it in court. But it probably won’t get that far, even if the mother does threaten to sue.”

“That’s good,” Justin said, sighing with relief. The last thing he needed was to be accused of killing a girl one month into his third year of med school.

Jack glanced at his watch. “Well, we’re off at six, and it’s quarter till now.”

“Good,” Justin said. He sighed and buried his face in his hands again. “I just want this day to be over with,” he moaned, his voice muffled.

Jack studied him for a moment, then got an idea. “Hey, Justin,” he said.

Justin looked up. “What?” he asked wearily.

“Some of the guys and I are having sort of a ‘guys’ night in’ at AJ McLean’s house – he’s one of the paramedics. Why don’t you come? You need something to get your mind off this.”

“Really?” Justin asked, surprised at being included in something Jack and the other staff members were doing.

“Sure,” Jack replied, smiling. “You did a good job today, Justin, even if you did lose someone.”

Justin broke into a slight smile, touched by Jack’s compliment. “Well… okay,” he said finally. “I’ll come. Where is it and what time?”

Jack gave him the directions to AJ’s house and told Justin to be there at eight. “Well,” he said, standing up. “I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Justin said. “See you tonight.”

+++

“But, Justy, I thought we were going to spend tonight together!” Britney protested.

“I know, Brit, but I already told Dr. Palmer I was coming. Besides, I want to go. It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, for you. But what do you expect me to do? Just sit around here and wait for you to get home?” Britney glared at him.

“Well… I dunno. But I won’t be there the whole night. I’ll come home, and we can have sex then,” Justin said brightly.

“Ha, we’ll see about that,” said Britney with a smirk.

Justin rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Britney, you want me, and you know it,” he said smugly.

“I can have any guy I want,” Britney continued, tossing her hair. “Why should I stay tied down to some arrogant doctor wannabe who’s never around?”

“Because this arrogant doctor wannabe is gonna be rich someday, that’s why,” Justin said. “You’re going to need someone to support you and pay for all your boob jobs, you know.” Seeing Britney’s look of rage, he quickly added, “Besides, this arrogant doctor wannabe loves you.” He kissed her lips, and when he pulled back, there was a smile on her face.

“I love you too, Justy,” Britney cooed, and the couple kissed again.

+++

Hours later, the party was in full swing, with AJ and his friends from both the hospital and outside of work gathered around his newly-remodeled basement.

Having already downed several beers, Justin was having a great time. He had already forgotten the depression he had suffered from earlier that evening. Now he just wanted to get drunk and have fun.

“Hey, Dr. Palmer,” he said, waving, as he headed for the bar.

“It’s Jack, Justin,” Jack replied. “You can call me Jack.”

“Jack,” Justin said, nodding. “This is a great time, eh?”

“Sure is,” Jack replied. “I can tell you’re having fun,” he added under his breath, snickering as he saw Justin weave his way to the bar. He couldn’t poke too much fun at Justin though; he was already pretty loaded himself. Normally, he tried to watch himself with the alcohol because Addie didn’t like it when he was drunk off his ass. But tonight, there was no Addie to reprimand him, and he planned to take full advantage of that fact.

“Hey, Jack,” said Kevin, coming up to Jack. “How’s it going?”

“Great,” Jack replied. “I’m having fun. How ‘bout you?”

“Yup,” Kevin said.

In the background, Jack heard the music blaring from the stereo change, and Dr. Dre and Eminem’s “Forgot About Dre” came on. He paid no attention until he heard a familiar, whiny voice attempting to rap along at the top of his lungs. Both he and Kevin turned and stared in disbelief as they watched Justin climb on top of the counter of the bar and rap right along. Well, try to rap anyway.

“Oh my God, who the hell is that?” snickered Kevin, his green eyes dancing with amusement at the curly-haired white guy trying to be Dr. Dre.

“That would be Bianca’s med student, Justin Timberlake,” replied Jack, never taking his eyes off Justin, who was making a complete ass of himself in front of the rest of the crowd, who had stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

“Nowadays, everybody wanna talk like they got somethin’ ta say, but nothin’ comes out when they move their lips, just a buncha gibberish, and muthah’-f*ck that ‘cause they forgot about Dre,” rapped Justin, waving his arms around in an attempt to be “ghetto”.

Before they knew it, Chris Kirkpatrick had leapt onto the counter as well. “Whoo! Go Justin! Go Justin! It’s your birthday! Go Justin!” he shouted, mocking Justin.

The crowd began to chant along, and poor Justin, who didn’t realize he was being made fun of, continued to act like a big rap star and make a complete idiot of himself.

“Oh my God,” Jack gasped, out of breath from laughing so hard. “I hope he doesn’t remember this once he’s sober. He’s never gonna live it down at the hospital.”

Kevin grinned. “That’s for sure.”

+++

“Hey, that was one tight act you put on there, Justin,” commented AJ teasingly as he passed by Justin an hour after his “performance”.

“Yo, you can jus’ call me J-Dawg from now on, g,” slurred Justin in ebonics, staggering towards the bar once again. He helped himself to a beer and nearly missed the bar stool when he tried to sit down. He just laughed idiotically at himself, popped the top on his beer, and finished off the can in three gulps.

“Your med student’s completely smashed over there, dude,” AJ said to Jack, pointing at Justin.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Not my problem. I’m not in charge of him here. He’ll regret it when he wakes up tomorrow with the world’s worst hangover.” He took a sip of his own beer and sidled over to where AJ’s hired strippers were dancing for Josh and the rest of the men crowded eagerly around him.

+++

By midnight, most of the guys had left. Only a few of them remained, some stumbling drunkenly around AJ’s basement, helping him pick up, while others sat at the bar or in front of the TV, still drinking. Justin, who had spent much of the latter portion of the night in the bathroom, was passed out on one of the couches.

“Somebody should probably go wake him up now,” Josh said casually to Jack, nodding to Justin.

Jack snickered, remembering Justin’s rapping. “He’d probably rather sleep forever than face going back to work on Monday. I have a feeling by the time Chris gets to work, the whole ER will know.”

Josh laughed. “True.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by Doug, one of AJ’s friends from college, who called out, “Hey, could one of you doctor people come over here?” He was leaning over the unconscious form of Justin.

Jack and Josh exchanged worried glances. “Shit, I forgot all about him,” Jack muttered, as the two hurried over to the couch where Justin was passed out.

“I don’t think he’s doin’ so good,” Doug said, motioning down at Justin. “His breathing sounds really weird.” Sure enough, Justin’s breathing was very slow and shallow.

”Check his pulse,” Josh said, and Jack knelt down and felt Justin’s wrist.

“Shit, his pulse is weak,” Jack said. “He’s had way too much to drink.”

“Alcohol poisoning?” Josh asked.

“I think so,” Jack said grimly. Raising his voice, he shouted, “Somebody call 911!”

+++
Revelations by RokofAges75
Episode 8:

Revelations


AJ looked up from the bar, where he was shoving heaps of empty beer cans into a garbage bag. “What’s wrong?” he asked in alarm, upon hearing Jack’s shrill cry of “Somebody call 911!”

“Justin’s got alcohol poisoning!” Jack exclaimed. “Call an ambulance, quick!”

AJ dropped the bag of cans and grabbed his cordless phone, while Jack and Josh heaved Justin’s body off of the couch and lay him flat on the carpet. Suddenly, a gurgling sound was heard from Justin’s throat, and he began to gag and choke unconsciously.

“He’s vomiting,” Jack cried. “Roll him over, quick, or he’ll choke.” The two men rolled Justin over onto his side, and he threw up all over AJ’s carpet. Doug jumped back, watching in disgust.

When Justin’s vomiting had ceased, Jack knelt down beside him and checked his pulse. It was abnormally slow. “Come on, ambulance, get here,” he muttered, feeling a wave of panic rush over him.

He wasn’t sure exactly how much alcohol Justin had consumed, but it was obviously a dangerously large amount. Alcohol was a depressant, and at this rate, it would continue to slow Justin’s heart until it just stopped beating. Jack was determined not to let that happen. He knew he couldn’t blame himself for Justin’s decisions that night – after all, Justin was an adult and was responsible for his own actions. But he still felt guilty. After all, he had invited Justin to the party that night, knowing he was depressed and upset over Kristine’s death that day. He should have expected something like this; it was one of the number one reasons why people drank - to loosen up and forget their problems. Justin, wanting to fit in with the older, more experienced guys and put his horrible day behind him, had done just that.

I should have watched him more closely, Jack thought. I knew how drunk he was getting, and I should have cut him off from the bar hours ago. He wasn’t Justin’s father or his babysitter, and he wasn’t responsible for Justin’s actions outside of the workplace, but he was one of the only ones Justin knew well at the party, the only “friend” he had to make sure he didn’t get himself into trouble. And as a friend, Jack had failed.

The other men still there had come up to observe Justin. They all just stood there in silence, looking guiltily around at each other, remembering how they had egged a plastered Justin on during his Dr. Dre imitation. But Justin was not rapping now – he was laying on the floor, clammy and ghost-white, his breathing ragged, his heartbeat slowing as the massive quantities of alcohol took their toll.

+++

Kylie McCartney yawned loudly, as Harry Littrell drove the ambulance down the highway. The two, along with their fellow paramedic Allison Brooks, were working the night shift that night. Nights were usually much calmer and less hectic than days, but they were also boring and exhausting most of the time. Kylie was already tired, after a long day of shopping with Addie, and she wished she could just go to bed.

Harry was nearing the station when a call came over their radio.

“Squad 209, come in, over” said the woman from dispatch, her voice muffled over the static of the radio.

“This is squad 209, over,” Kylie replied.

“We’ve got a call at 1004 Dayton Avenue, male in twenties suffering from alcohol poisoning, over” said the dispatch woman.

“We’re on it, over” replied Kylie automatically. “Did you get that address?” she asked Harry. “Dayton Avenue – that’s AJ’s street.”

“That’s right… I was thinking that address sounded familiar,” Harry replied thoughtfully. “Do you happen to know what AJ’s house number is? Alcohol poisoning… God, I hope it wasn’t somebody at the party.”

The color drained from Kylie’s face. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “The party, that’s right! God, I hope it’s not Josh!”

“I hope it’s not AJ!” Harry cried. “You know how he used to struggle with alcoholism…”

“I know,” Kylie said, remembering AJ’s stint in rehab just the year before. “But AJ’s responsible now; he’s been sober for over a year. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Brian was at that party too,” Harry said, thinking of his younger brother. “But I know it couldn’t be him. He’s never been a heavy drinker.”

“I hope it’s not Jack,” Kylie said. “He’s never gone out of control before, but I do know he likes to party.”

The whole ride to the house, they kept tossing names back and forth, worrying about their friends. When they reached Dayton Avenue, Kylie and Allison watched the house numbers flash by on the mailboxes. 1001… 1002… 1003…

“It is AJ’s house,” Kylie said with a sinking sensation as they read the number on the mailbox in front of AJ’s familiar home, which was lit up like a torch, even though it was after midnight.

“Alright, guys, let’s go,” Harry said with a sigh, parking the ambulance on the street, for AJ’s driveway was full with cars of the men still there.

Harry, Kylie, and Allison got out their supplies and their stretcher and hurriedly went up the driveway and to the front door. It flung open immediately, and a grim-faced AJ stood waiting to greet them.

“Who is it?” Kylie demanded, relieved that it was not AJ, but worrying even more about her husband. Like Jack, Josh usually knew when to quit, but also liked to party, and she was worried he had gone overboard.

“It’s Justin Timberlake, Bianca’s med student,” AJ replied.

Kylie tried not to sigh aloud, although she was extremely relieved. She pictured the awkward, curly-haired blonde med student that worked in the ER and felt bad for him, but glad that it was not her Josh.

AJ led the three paramedics down to his basement, where they found an unconscious Justin laying on the floor, a trail of vomit running from the corner of his mouth to a puddle at his side. He was pale and clammy, and his breathing was very ragged and slow.

Kylie caught sight of Josh sitting at his side, but she said nothing to him, just focused her attention on Justin.

“Does anyone know how much he drank?” Allison asked. The men, who were in various states of intoxication themselves, looked around at each other and shrugged guiltily.

The three paramedics immediately set to work, hooking Justin up to IV’s and oxygen and checking his vitals. As quickly as possible, they got him ready for transport and loaded him onto the stretcher. A few of the doctors followed them up the stairs and out into the cool night.

As the paramedics loaded Justin into the ambulance, Jack hopped into the back as well, muttering, “I’m coming with.”

“I’ll call and check up on him later,” said AJ. The others grunted in agreement.

Harry climbed into the driver’s seat and started the ambulance, while the two female paramedics got into the back with Jack. Then, the lights whirling and sirens wailing, they sped down Dayton Avenue and headed straight for Atlantic City Memorial.

+++

Nick Carter wandered down one of the hallways of the oncology floor while taking a short break from his duties. He was working the night shift in the ER, and though it was unpredictable, he needed a break so he decided to pay someone a little visit.

Most of the patients Nick caught glimpses of were sound asleep, for it was well after midnight. But when he came to Bailey Cole’s room, he found the eleven-year-old still up, reading by the light of her dim bedside lamp.

Standing in the doorway of her room, he cleared his throat casually. Bailey’s head jerked up, her concentration ruined.

“It’s a little late to be up, ya know,” Nick said with a smile.

“I can’t sleep,” Bailey mumbled. “Reading helps.”

Nick shrugged. “I’m not much of a reader myself. So, what are you reading?” He cautiously approached her bed.

Bailey Cole was well-known around the ER and now the oncology floor for her quick temper and sarcastic sense of humor. She had been diagnosed with leukemia three weeks ago and had been on the floor ever since. It had saddened Nick to watch her body deteriorate from the chemo treatments she had to undergo; her brown hair, which had once hung down to her shoulders, was rapidly falling out, and her already-thin body was gaunt and bony from the amount of weight she had lost. Still, despite how ill and weak she was most of the time, Bailey was strong on the inside. She kept her wit, her sarcasm, her temper. And as much as she could be a pain in the ass, Nick admired her for it.

“Great Expectations,” the eleven-year-old replied, smugly holding out the thick book for him to see.

Nick raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Dickens, eh?”

“Have you read it?”

Nick had – it had been a requirement for one of his high school English courses – but the only thing he really remembered about it was the parody they had done of it on an episode of Southpark. “Yeah,” he replied, hoping Bailey wouldn’t quiz him over its plot. She most certainly would understand it better than he, even if she was only eleven. It was already obvious to Nick that she was highly intelligent.

Bailey nodded. “Did you like it?”

“Uh…” Nick blushed.

Bailey shrugged. “I don’t think it’s all that great either,” she replied. “A Tale of Two Cities was better.”

“Oh yeah,” Nick agreed quickly. “Definitely.”

Bailey studied him with a smirk, until Nick, feeling her eyes boring into him, glanced quickly at his watch and announced, “Well, I better get going. I’ve gotta get back to work. Goodnight, Bailey.”

“Night,” Bailey replied shortly and went back to her book. Nick turned around, rolling his eyes once his back was to her, and left the room.

+++

When the ambulance pulled up outside the ER, Kylie flung the back doors opened, and she, Allison, and Jack lifted Justin’s stretcher out and set it on the ground. Harry came around back to join them, and the four quickly wheeled Justin into the ER.

“What do we got?” Siara Reily asked automatically, joining the paramedics. She did a double-take as she saw Jack among them. “Jack, what are you doing here? Weren’t you going to that party at AJ’s tonight?”

“That’s where we came from,” he replied, glancing grimly down at Justin.

Siara, getting a good look at the patient on the gurney, did another double-take. “Oh my God!” she gasped. “Justin! What happened??”

Ignoring the fact that this was a med-student that worked there in that very ER, Allison rattled off Justin’s information as she did with all her other patients. “Twenty-four-year-old male suffering from alcohol poisoning, unconscious when we arrived on the scene…”

Siara, still stunned, said, “Let’s take him to Trauma 2.”

“Justin?!” cried a shocked voice.

Jack looked up to see that Meghan had come to join them. Allison again gave her Justin’s symptoms and vital signs. Meghan just shook her head. “Shit, Jack, how much did you guys give him to drink?”

She hadn’t been seriously accusing him, but that’s the way Jack took it. He felt even more horrible than before. Still, knowing he couldn’t let his emotions take over, he ignored his guilt and focused on his patient, trying to push the fact that it was Justin out of his mind.

“Let’s order a chem pan and BAL,” Jack said, as the others transferred Justin’s lifeless body from the stretcher to the gurney in the room. Lifting Justin’s eyelids, he moved a penlight back and forth in front of his eyes. “Pupils are sluggish.”

“Uh, Jack, what do you think you’re doing?” Siara asked suddenly.

Jack looked up. “Huh?”

“You’re intoxicated, Jack. I can smell the alcohol on your breath. You can’t be working on patients.”

“What? But, Siara, I-”

“But what? You’ve been drinking, Jack, and it’s illegal for you to treat patients under the influence,” Siara replied matter-of-factly.

“I didn’t have that much to drink!” Jack protested. “Please, I want to help him!”

“We can take care of that, Jack,” Siara said. “If you want to wait for an update, you can go sit in chairs.”

Jack’s mouth opened in surprise, unable to believe that Siara had just kicked him out. But, despite his state of intoxication, he still had some reasoning left, and he knew she was right.

“Alright,” he said with a sigh. “Someone come get me when you’ve got him stabilized. I’ll be in the lounge, okay?”

“Okay, Jack,” Siara said and went back to her work.

Feeling cut off from the activity around him, Jack slowly left the room and walked down the hall to the lounge.

+++

Half an hour later, the door to the lounge opened, and in walked Siara. Jack, who was sitting at the table, sipping black coffee, immediately looked up and asked, “How is he?”

“It looks like he’s going to be all right, Jack,” she replied, pulling up a chair next to him. “He’s stabilized anyway. We won’t know any long-term effects until we run some tests in the morning though.”

Jack nodded, thinking of all the internal organs high quantities of alcohol affected, mainly the liver. He hoped Justin would come out of this lucky and learn something from it.

“Jack, I’m sorry for snapping at you like that in the trauma room,” Siara apologized suddenly.

“What? Oh, it’s okay, Siara,” Jack replied. “I understand. I would have done the same thing if it was you. You did the right thing.”

Siara smiled. “Good. I’m glad you’re not pissed at me about it.”

Jack returned her smile. “You can’t let friendship get in the way of your work. I already learned that lesson a few weeks ago.” He shook his head guiltily, remembering Bianca.

Siara smiled knowingly and nodded. “Well, I need to get back to work,” she said, standing up. “And you, you should go home. You’re working tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Not till noon though. I’ve got a half-shift, thank God,” Jack replied.

“Oh, good. Well, go home anyway. You look like you could use some sleep.”

Jack smiled wearily. “I agree,” he said, both emotionally and physically exhausted after his long day. “Goodnight, Siara.”

“’Night, Jack.”

+++

Josh McCartney was awakened the next morning by a horrible retching sound coming from the bathroom. Disoriented, he pulled herself up and squinted at the clock, unable to read the numbers without her contacts in. Leaning closer, he saw that it was only 5:30. He had hours to sleep before he had to get up for his noon shift.

The retching sounds continued, and concerned, Josh climbed out of bed and left the bedroom, padding down the short hallway of the apartment to the bathroom. The door was closed, and a small strip of light shined through the crack beneath the door, illuminating the dim hallway. Josh knocked lightly. “Ky?” he called softly.

His wife did not answer, and so Josh slowly opened the door and peered in. He found Kylie kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet, holding back her dark hair with one hand as she vomited into the toilet bowl.

Josh hurried into the bathroom and rubbed Kylie’s back as she continued to throw up. When she finally finished, Josh wet a washcloth and handed it to Kylie to wipe off her mouth.

“You okay now, Ky?” Josh asked, looking at Kylie in sympathy.

“I hope so,” Kylie moaned, still looking slightly green. “God, this better not be the flu or something. That’s the last thing I need.”

“Are you running a fever?” Josh asked.

Kylie pressed her palm to her forehead for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. It’s just my stomach. I’m so nauseous. I woke up like this the other morning too; you were still at the hospital finishing up the night shift.”

Josh frowned. “How did you feel yesterday?” she asked.

Kylie shrugged. “Fine. I don’t know what it is. It’s weird.”

“Could it be morning sickness?” Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kylie rolled her eyes with a grin. “I’m sure it’s not,” she replied.

“Have you had your period lately?” he pressed.

Kylie thought for a moment, counting the weeks in her head. “I had it towards the end of August,” she said slowly. “So I guess it’s a little late, but only by a few days.” She gave him a look. “I know what you’re thinking, Josh. Don’t get all worked up about that yet; I’m sure I’m not.”

He cocked his head at her. “You sound like you don’t want to be. I thought you wanted children.”

“Well, I do, but not now!” Kylie exclaimed in exasperation. Seeing the look he was giving her, she sighed and added, “I didn’t mean it like that… it’s just, we’ve only been married a few months, and I think it’s a little soon. But I’m sure I’m not pregnant anyway.”

Josh nodded. “Yeah, probably not,” he said. Still, he couldn’t help but think maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she was. The thought of having a baby was definitely a little intimidating, but he was sure they could handle it. Fatherhood would be more than rewarding enough to balance out the extra expenses and stress of having a child, he was sure. At least that’s what Darrin had told him after MacKayla had been born. And with Brandy’s recent death, Josh needed a little joy in his life.

+++

“Damn, Joey, you look like shit,” remarked Melissa Ruffino to her boyfriend, Joey Fatone, as he staggered into the staff lounge.

“Why, thank you, Melly,” he replied with a sarcastic smile, raking a hand exhaustedly through his thick brown hair as he spun the dial on his locker. “I only got about three or four hours of sleep last night.”

“Jeez, how long were you at that party?” she asked in surprise.

“Till about one. But then I couldn’t get to sleep when I got home. You know what happened, right?”

“You mean to that Timberlake kid?”

“Yeah. Okay, so you do know. You have any idea how he’s doing?”

“He’s been admitted for observation and taken upstairs, I think, but it looks like he was lucky.”

“That’s a relief,” said Joey. “I was worried; the poor kid looked pretty bad off last night.”

“Who looked bad?”

The couple looked up to see Mariah Johnson, one of the other ER receptionists, saunter into the room. Hearing the word “bad” and seeing Mariah at the same time, Joey suddenly got a visual of the shapely blonde woman dressed in a tight leather top and booty shorts, singing Willa Ford’s “I Wanna Be Bad”.

Melissa glanced over at Joey and saw him staring directly at Mariah’s surgically-enhanced breasts. She elbowed him hard in the ribs and said quickly to Mariah, “We were just talking about one of the med students who got alcohol poisoning at AJ McLean’s party last night.”

“Oh… which med student? Is it that blonde one?” Mariah asked, arching one of her thin, perfectly-plucked eyebrows.

“Yeah, the one with the ‘fro, right Joey?”

Joey chuckled. “Yeah, the one with the ‘fro,” he echoed, trying not to laugh as he pictured the curly-haired blonde trying to be Dr. Dre. If Justin wasn’t in such a serious situation, Joey knew that story would be spreading like wildfire by now.

“Oh no, poor baby!” Mariah gasped, her lower lip sticking out in sympathy. “Is he here in the hospital?”

“Yeah, he was here in the ER, but Mel said they’ve moved him to a different room,” Joey replied.

“Hmm… well, maybe a visit from Mariah would make him feel better.” Smiling superiorly, she turned and left the lounge, her hips wagging as she walked.

Melissa rolled her eyes and started to make a snide comment about her to Joey, but when she turned to her boyfriend, she found him gazing hungrily at Mariah’s ass as she walked away. Glaring, Melissa gave him another hard jab in the side.

+++

Justin Timberlake weakly raised his head off his pillow at the sound of a knock coming from the closed door of his hospital room.

“Come in,” he called hoarsely, his head throbbing with the sound of his own voice. He didn’t know it was possible to have a hangover so bad. Of course, with the amount of alcohol had had drunken the night before, he should have realized what misery he was going to be in the next morning. He hadn’t expected any of this though; waking up to find himself in the Memorial ER as a patient rather than student was quite a shock to his system.

The door to his room opened and a beautiful blonde woman came in.

Am I hallucinating? Justin thought, wondering how many drugs he had been given.

“Hi, Justin,” the blonde said softly, smiling, her eyelashes batting furiously over her gray eyes. “Remember me?”

Justin blinked, confused. He wasn’t sure who she was or if she even really existed, for that matter. How many brain cells had all that alcohol killed off anyway?

“I’m Mariah,” the woman said, lingering over her own name. “Mariah Johnson. I’m one of the ER receptionists, but I usually work the night shift. We met a few weeks ago, I believe.”

Justin thought for a moment. His knew some of his memories were fuzzy; he had no idea what had gone on the night before. But as he thought some more and tried to remember, he did recall seeing her before, on one of his first few days at the hospital, when a pregnant woman from a car accident had been brought in, and he’d had to have someone call up to OB. He also remembered she’d had a big streak of bright red lipstick smeared across her cheek, and he chuckled. That was a big mistake, for it sent waves of pain radiating through his head.

“What’s so funny?” Mariah demanded, frowning.

“Nothing,” Justin grunted, groaning in pain. “But yeah, I remember you.”

“Oh.” Mariah smiled, pleased. “Good.” She paused, as if waiting for Justin to say something, but he didn’t, so she went on, “Well, I heard you were here in the hospital, so I knew I just had to come visit you right away!”

I wish you hadn’t, Justin thought, wanting to be left alone, but as his eyes wandered from her face to her chest, which her scrub shirt was pulled tightly over, he decided having her there wasn’t too bad. Her breasts were as big as Britney’s, and Justin liked breasts.

Grinning, despite his pain, Justin replied, “I’m glad you did.”

+++

Kylie’s shift did not start until noon that day, but she left for the hospital at ten. Josh’s suspicions had made her curious… could her nausea and vomiting be something other than the stomach flu? Maybe it was just her being her usual worrywart self, but she decided to go to the hospital early anyway, in hopes she could get in for a quick appointment with her gynecologist before she had to be at the rescue squad station.

Kylie parked in the large visitor lot of the hospital and entered through the main entrance, not the ER entrance, as she was so accustomed to doing. She took the elevator to the fifth floor, the maternity floor, where her OB/Gyn, Dr. Melanie Reyes, had her office.

She stopped at the receptionist’s desk after she got off the elevator.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes, is Dr. Reyes working today?” Kylie asked. She suddenly felt stupid, realizing she had taken a chance coming there. She didn’t even know if Melanie was there, let alone if she could find time to examine Kylie without an appointment.

To her relief, Kylie was in luck. “Yes, she’s here,” replied the receptionist. “Do you have an appointment with her?”

“Uh… no. I… uh… I just need to talk to her about something, if she has a chance,” Kylie replied.

“Well, I believe she’s with a patient now, but if you’d like to wait in chairs, I’ll let her know you’re here,” the receptionist said. “Can I get your name?”

“Kylie McCartney,” Kylie replied, thanked her, and went over to the waiting area. She sat down, picked up the Sunday paper, and skimmed through the headlines.

Before long, Dr. Reyes finished whatever she was doing and arrived in the waiting room. “Hi, Kylie,” she said with a smile. Kylie looked up and smiled in return, standing up to greet the doctor. “So, what’s up?” asked Dr. Reyes.

“Well, I was just wondering if – if you have time, of course – you could see me real quick. I, uh…” Kylie glanced quickly around the room, not wanting to reveal everything to the whole waiting room.

Dr. Reyes seemed to understand. “Sure, Kylie, I think I could fit you in,” she said with a nod and a smile. “Wait here for a few more minutes, and I’ll have a nurse come get you.”

Kylie smiled in relief. “Thanks, Dr. Reyes,” she said gratefully.

“No problem,” replied the doctor, returning Kylie’s smile and leaving the waiting room to get back to work.

Kylie waited for awhile longer, watching as a few of the women in the room were called back for their appointments. Finally, a nurse came into the waiting room.

“Kylie McCartney?” she called, and Kylie stood, offering the young nurse a slight smile. “Come on back,” the nurse said and led Kylie down one of the halls to an examining room. She tossed her a gown and said, “Dr. Reyes will be in in a bit.” With that, she left the room.

Kylie changed into the gown and sat on the examining table, anxiously waiting for the gynecologist to come in. She glanced at the clock on the wall, hoping the examination would be done in time for her to make it to the station by noon.

Luckily, Dr. Reyes didn’t seem to be too busy and arrived in Kylie’s room within ten minutes. She sat down on the wheeling stool in the room and said, “So, Kylie, what’s the problem?”

“Well, this may sound stupid, but I’ve been feeling really nauseated lately, usually early in the morning, and I was thinking maybe it could be morning sickness, instead of a stomach bug,” said Kylie.

Melanie nodded. Repeating Josh’s earlier question, she asked, “And when was your last period?”

“Toward the end of August,” Kylie replied. “Now that I think about it, it should have started last week, but it didn’t. It didn’t even cross my mind until this morning, but it is a few days late. Still, it’s probably nothing. I just wasn’t sure, and I-“

Dr. Reyes smiled and said, “I’ll order a pregnancy test.”

Kylie smiled, a rush of nervousness speeding through her. She tried not to think too much about it, but she couldn’t help but wonder… was it true? Could she and Josh really be having a baby?

+++

Jaela Miller pulled into the parking lot of George Washington Carver Elementary School at approximately four p.m., half an hour after she received the call from the twins’ teacher that their father had not picked them up.

Jaela, at this point and time, had given up on depending on her husband, Paul. This had been the third time in two weeks Jaela had had to leave her job at the hospital as an RN to go pick up Alexandra and Joshua. Of course, she didn’t mind picking up her children, but Paul was supposed to do it when he got off from work early, while Jaela was working. She was very thankful that she worked with such an awesome and understanding team of nurses at the hospital, who always covered for her when she needed to leave early.

Calm down, Jaela thought to herself as she walked across the parking lot to the large brick schools entrance. She walked the familiar path to Mrs. Bishop’s kindergarten class and immediately saw her two blonde children sitting on either side of their teacher as she read them a story. Mrs. Bishop looked up when she noticed a presence in the room and handed the book to Joshua to look at as she walked to the door.

“Mrs. Bishop, I’m so sorry about this. My husband was supposed to pick them up today,” Jaela apologized.

“It is no problem, Mrs. Miller. Things like this happen, and I don’t mind staying with the children. They are a pleasure to be around,” the young teacher reassured Jaela with a smile.

Jaela smiled back at the teacher and after once again thanking the kind teacher, she walked into the room and, a few minutes later, exited with her two young children in tow. When Paul got home, he would have some major explaining to do.

+++

After picking up her two-year-old daughter from daycare, Jaela was now in her kitchen, making a cup of tea. She hoped the warm liquid would somehow calm her nerves. She had come home to an empty house and had received no word from Paul on if he was okay or not. Deep down inside, she didn’t really care, but her love for him overshadowed these feelings, and she was genuinely worried.

As she was sitting at the table, sipping at the tea and going through her mail, the phone rang. Jaela quickly walked over to the phone, ready to pick it up, but withdrew her hand when an unrecognizable name and number appeared on the Caller ID. She picked up the phone anyways, and when she greeted the caller, all she heard was silence.

“Hello?” she said again, becoming irritated with the caller.

“Is Paul there?” the cold voice of a woman asked.

“No, I’m sorry, but he is still at work,” Jaela replied, and before she could ask who was speaking, the caller hung up the phone.

That was strange, Jaela thought as an uneasy feeling stirred from within her stomach.

Not even five minutes later, the phone rang again. This time Paul’s cell phone number was displayed on the screen, and Jaela picked up immediately. After Paul apologized for not being able to pick up the kids and explained he had to work late tonight, Jaela hung up on him, thoroughly disgusted. After almost seven years of a marriage Jaela thought was perfect, her world had come tumbling down.

Paul was cheating on her.

+++

Kylie pulled into the parking lot outside the apartment building, her heart fluttering with excitement. She saw Addie’s silver Beetle parked in its usual spot, her boyfriend Jack’s black Mercury Cougar right next to it.

She shut off her own car and climbed out, eager to get up to the apartment and talk to Addie. She went inside the two-story building and hurried up the stairs to the second floor. Jogging down the hallway, she came to her friend’s apartment and rapped her knuckles lightly against the door. “Addie? It’s me, Ky!” she called.

“Come on in!” she heard Addie yell from within the apartment, and she immediately turned the knob and opened the door, stepping inside. She found Addie and Jack sitting closely together on the couch.

“Hey, Ky,” said Jack, scooting over to make room for Kylie.

Kylie perched on the edge of the couch and fidgeted with anxiety, unable to hold back her excitement for too long. Addie noticed this.

“So what’s up, Kylie?” she asked. “You sure look excited about something.”

“Yeah,” Kylie said with a grin. “Well, I went to see…“ She stopped, remembering Jack was there. Should she tell him the news too or wait until she could get Addie alone? She shrugged; what did it matter if Jack found out now? “…I went to see Melanie Reyes today,” she continued, “and I found out…”

Addie leaned forward in eager anticipation. Kylie could tell by the excitement in her friend’s blue eyes that she had already guessed Kylie’s news, but was waiting for Kylie to say the words.

“… I’m pregnant,” she finalized. It was the first time she had heard herself say the words aloud; she hadn’t told Josh yet. It sounded strange to say it, but she was getting used to the idea. She had to admit, though she had been shocked when Dr. Reyes had delivered the news, she was excited now. She had always wanted children, and though she hadn’t expected one so soon after marrying Josh, she was now glad.

Addie let out a high-pitched squeal and threw her arms around Kylie. “Oh my gosh, Kylie!” she cried, bouncing on the spring couch. “Ooh, does Josh know yet?”

“Not yet,” Kylie replied, grinning widely. “I want to wait and surprise him. I thought I’d make it special.” She glanced at Jack and said sternly, “And a certain friend of his better not ruin it by letting something slip.”

Jack chuckled. “You know I wouldn’t do that, Ky,” he said. “And congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Kylie beamed.

“Oh, I can’t believe it!” Addie went on, her eyes flashing animatedly. “And to think, a few years ago, you thought I would be the first to get pregnant!”

Jack eyed his girlfriend. “Well, we need to get going on that then, don’t we, babe?” he asked teasingly.

Addie giggled and smacked him playfully.

Kylie just watched the two of them, a smile playing on her lips. She had a feeling that at the rate they were going, it wouldn’t be long before she was expecting as well.

+++

It was just after one in the morning, a week later, when Elizabeth O’Brien hurried over to the entrance of the ER, as paramedics AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and Josh McCartney burst through the double doors, wheeling a stretcher. A man and a woman came hurrying in behind them, crying, the woman hysterical.

“Sixteen-year-old male, tried to hang himself in his closet, no pulse on scene,” Howie said quickly.

“Trauma 1,” commanded Elizabeth, hurrying the group into the nearest trauma room. The boy’s parents followed, but Elizabeth stopped them at the door. “I’m sorry, but it would best if you would go wait in chairs until we’re done working on your son,” she told them, pointing to the waiting room.

The parents nodded tearfully. The man wrapped his arm around his wife and led her dejectedly off to the waiting room. Elizabeth, after calling several of the nurses into the room, closed the door and went back to his patient, who had been in cardiac arrest for some time.

Glancing at the heart monitor he had just been hooked up to, she said, “He’s in asystole. Natalie, start CPR. I’ll intubate him.”

Nurse Natalie Spade immediately began giving the boy chest compressions, while Elizabeth prepared to insert a tube in the boy’s throat to help him breathe. Leaning over him, she got a good look at his face for the first time. He looked familiar to her, and she tried to place him. Suddenly, recognizing him, she gasped.

+++

The next morning, Lance Bass entered the lobby of Memorial with a box tucked tightly under his arm and his hat pulled down tightly over his head.

Today he didn’t have to report to work until the evening shift, so he was going to spend his free morning going through his belongings in his locker when he should be sleeping.

He entered the staff lounge and sat the box on a nearby table. With shaking hands, Lance turned the combination lock on his locker, and, after a few failed attempts, he finally got it opened. He uncharacteristically threw the locker back and slightly grinned at the loud bang the sound of metal hitting against metal produced.

Without a second thought, Lance put his arm inside the locker and pushed all the contents into the floor, quickly bending to sort through everything.

It all took just ten minutes for Lance to pack up an important part of his life and shove it into a box, then close it up so no one else could see.

Again setting the box on the table, Lance reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper, which he slipped into his friend and co-worker Chris Kirkpatrick’s locker. Then he took one last look across the room as he picked up the box, hoping he wouldn’t see this place again for a long time.

+++

Lance walked quickly through the lobby, lost in his thoughts. Next thing he knew, he had hit something and had fallen on his butt in the middle of the large lobby, his belongings scattered all about him. He looked around, stunned, and scrambled to get up and gather everything that had fallen before anyone recognized him and asked any questions. In all his haste, he had not realized what, or who, he had bumped into, and when he realized, he blushed a deep crimson.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he said sheepishly, embarrassed by his rude behavior.

“It’s all right,” a pretty, red-headed woman said with a shy laugh. “Here, let me help you,” she offered. But before she could reach for the picture and notebook that were within her reach, Lance yelled at her to stop. The woman looked up at him in confusion, but withdrew her hand, which was in mid-reach for the picture.

“Hey, don’t you work here?” she asked as she got a closer look at the young man who had moments before plowed her down in the hallway.

Lance stopped what he was doing and looked up. Busted , he thought.

“Yeah,” he said with a short nod.

The young woman smiled at him before extending her hand. “Risha Veers; nice to meet you. I know I had seen you around here before. Plus, it was kind of strange that you were carrying a box full of stuff. Are you planning on leaving?”

“Yeah,” Lance said as he closed up his box and got up off the floor, extending Risha a hand to assist her in getting up. I guess you could say that.

“So do you have a name?” Risha asked with a slight grin, trying to get the young man to open up to her.

“Yeah, Lance Bass.”

Risha looked up at the clock located on the wall in the lobby, quickly noting she only had five minutes to get ready and make it up to her floor before her scheduled time.

“Lance, I need to get going and report to the Surgery Ward. It was nice meeting you. Maybe we can meet one day for coffee or something.”

“Yeah, that would be fun,” Lance said nervously, hopping from one foot to another.

“Good luck in everything, Lance,” Risha said as she headed on past him for the elevators.

Lance watched sadly as the elevator doors closed behind Risha, realizing that she had been the only kind face he had seen since early morning the day before, and it saddened him.

With all that had gone on in his life in the past twenty-four hours, Lance needed a kind person who was willing to listen and he had found that person in Risha.

Too bad it was too late to make any difference.

+++

Entering Lance Bass’s apartment, you would have felt like it was nighttime because it was so dark inside. Every blind in the apartment was pulled tightly shut, not allowing any light from the outside world enter Lance’s dark chamber. All lights but one were turned off, giving the apartment an eerie glow.

Lance was now seated on his bed, unpacking his box of belongings and deciding where to put them. Ever since the call he had received that morning, Lance had turned from his normal, level-headed self to someone who was angry at the world…

It was almost eight in the morning, and Lance, having just gotten home from a twelve-hour shift at the hospital, immediately collapsed in his bed without bothering to undress. Just as he closed his eyes, the phone at his bedside rang shrilly, and Lance groaned, guessing that it was probably the hospital wanting him to come back to work for someone who had called in. He looked at the Caller ID, and his suspicions were confirmed when one of the hospital phone numbers popped up on the screen.

“Hello?” Lance asked as he picked up the phone despite his common sense telling him not to.

“Lance?” a shaky voice questioned. Lance’s face transformed to a look of confusion as he tried to place the voice he knew had heard before.

“Lance, this is James Williams, Oliver’s father.”
Lance shot up out of bed as the caller identified himself - he could immediately tell something was frighteningly wrong.

“Sir? What is wrong?” Lance asked, although he knew deep inside what had happened, but had to feed his curiosity by asking.

“Oliver is gone,” Mr. Williams said softly.

“Oh God…”

“He hung himself in his closet late last night or early this morning. His mother had gotten up and saw his light on.” The man at the other end of the line swallowed heavily before continuing his story. “She went in and Oliver was ha...hanging from his closet, dead. There was nothing the paramedics could do, but they brought his body to the hospital to be evaluated.”

“Was he an organ donor?” Lance asked, realizing how stupid that question had sounded but he needed to know.

“Yes,” Oliver’s father replied. “He was.”

Lance nodded and closed his eyes tightly to fight back the wave of tears that threatened to escape.

Lance and Oliver had become close friends soon after Oliver had been admitted a month earlier, when he overdosed on his father’s medications. Oliver had survived the ordeal, and Lance revealed a similar story, determined to help the young man even though it brought back painful memories. It seemed to have worked for a while, for Oliver’s attitude appeared to have changed, and he was again starting to live life the way it was meant to be lived. He also had frequent counseling sessions with the hospital psychiatrist, and Lance had even been asked to go to one with Oliver to help relate his problems to Oliver’s, which had made Lance happy that Oliver seemed to trust him. Lance remembered the last time he saw Oliver, just the day before. Oliver had seemed down when Lance had first approached him, but Oliver quickly reassured him he was okay and seemed to brighten when Lance challenged him to a game of basketball, which was another one of Oliver’s favorite sports.

As tears flowed down Lance’s flushed face, he came to his senses and held the phone far away, the dial tone hurting his sensitive ears...

Lance took one last look around his bedroom, as if to engrave it in his memory. Before he could change his mind, he opened the nightstand drawer and took out an object that would bring him the happiness he craved.

Surrounded by pictures of his loved ones and the possessions he held so dear, Lance took a deep breath.

A second later, the only sound heard was a loud bang.

And then there was silence.

+++
In My Prayers by RokofAges75
Episode 9:

In My Prayers


ER nurse Chris Kirkpatrick entered the staff lounge, the effects of his hangover, a result of AJ McLean’s party the night before, still lingering. His headache pounded with such intensity he had even considered calling in sick, but decided it wouldn’t be very professional of him and came in after swallowing down a few Tylenol.

As he opened his locker to take out his scrubs, he jumped back as a sheet of paper fell out of the locker and fluttered to the floor. Not thinking twice about the paper, Chris removed the scrubs from the hanger and closed his locker. It was then and only then his curiosity about the paper overtook him, and he reached down the retrieve it. He read the letter once, then twice, and finally three times before a scream got caught in his throat. As he ran to the corner of the room where a phone was located, the letter fell the floor, almost as forgotten as the person who wrote it.

+++

The direct phone line into the rescue station began ringing at 12:02 p.m., as paramedic AJ McLean strutted on by singing along to the radio at the top of his voice.

He sprinted towards the radio and quickly turned it off before he answered the phone. “Atlantic City Rescue Squad, what is your emergency?”

“AJ?”

“Hey, Chris man, is that you?” AJ asked, relieved that it didn’t seem like an emergency, just an old friend calling.

“Yeah. AJ, man, we have a problem! You have to get to Lance’s apartment at 1066 Locust Avenue, Apartment 2A! It’s a major emergency!”

“Back up, Chris, you need to tell me what is going on. You need to calm down!”

AJ could hear Chris take a few shaky breaths before he answered. “I came to work today, and there was a letter in my locker.”

How in the hell is that an emergency? Did he get a fucking paper cut or something? AJ thought while waiting patiently for Chris to continue.

“It was a suicide letter from Lance. Oh God!” The only sound now heard over the line was Chris’s heartbreaking sobbing.

“Amelia! Allison! Get over here we have a emergency!” AJ called over his shoulder.

“Chris, man, just calm down. We are on our way to Lance’s now,” AJ assured his friend. “I will need to let you go now, Chris. Just hang in there, okay? We will be there soon.”

AJ didn’t wait for a response before he hung up the phone, quickly hopping into the driver’s seat of the waiting ambulance.

On the other side of town, Chris sunk to the floor in shock. He felt disgusted in himself for not paying enough attention to his friend. Now look what happened. If I would have actually been there for him this would have never happened. What a great friend I am! Chris thought as he fought an internal battle to accept himself for what he had done. It was only a battle, but the war was yet to come.

+++

AJ swallowed hard as he pulled up in front of 1066 Locust Drive. It was a cute little apartment building with cheery yellow siding, two stories tall, with two apartments on each floor. The tiny parking area was deserted, except for a blue Honda that had to belong to Lance.

AJ shut off the engine and climbed out of the ambulance. Allison and Amelia got out as well, and the three hurried up the walkway to the front door. They went inside and found themselves in a small entryway, a door on each side of them, marked 1A and 1B, and a staircase in front of them.

“Which apartment is it again?” asked Amelia.

“2A,” replied AJ, and they climbed the stairs to the second story, where another two doors greeted them, 2A and 2B. AJ knocked quickly on the door to 2A. There was no answer, so he tried the knob, which turned easily. He pushed open the unlocked door and entered the apartment. The two women followed him.

The inside of Lance’s apartment was a stark contrast to the cheery yellow outside of the apartment building. It was dim; all the blinds and curtains were closed, and the lights were off.

AJ’s fingers explored the wall to his left, searching for a light switch. A bad feeling made its way into his stomach as his fingers ran over the smooth plastic of the switch plate. Slowly, afraid of what he was going to see when the lights came on, he pushed the switch up. Light flooded the dim apartment. The three EMTs peered hesitantly into the room.

Nothing.

Letting out his breath in a shuddering gasp, AJ led his posse through the small kitchenette and living room. To their right was a short hallway with a door on each side. One door stood partway open; it was a bathroom. The other was closed.

“He must be in the bedroom,” AJ said, surprised at how strange his own voice sounded. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was scared. He was not particularly close to Lance, but it was still very frightening to be at the apartment of someone he worked with, knowing that when he opened that door, he was going to be greeted with a horrible sight. Knowing that when he opened that door, Lance was going to be lying there. Or hanging there.

With a trembling hand, AJ gripped the knob and gave it a turn. The door opened slowly. The bedroom was even darker than the rest of the apartment, but AJ could just made out a still form lying on the bed. He quickly reached his hand out to the wall and found the light switch. Flipping it on, he saw very clearly the sight he had been dreading.

Lance was on the bed, his feet dangling over the side, his upper body slumped unnaturally to the right side, his back to them. A gleam of metal beside him caught AJ’s attention. On a closer look, AJ realized that it was a gun. Lance had shot himself.

Amelia let out a strangled cry at the scene that greeted her. Allison gasped in horror. For a moment, the three of them just stood there, frozen in place. Finally, it was Allison who pushed past AJ and entered the room. She carefully rolled Lance’s body over onto his back, revealing his face for the first time. It was streaked with wet, sticky blood, which flowed from a small, round wound on the left side of his forehead. A bullet hole.

A choked sob escaped Amelia’s lips, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. At twenty-two, Amelia was the youngest and most inexperienced of the three paramedics on the scene. She had not seen many cases like this, and the realization that this was someone she knew was nightmarish.

Allison, who was older and more accustomed to tragedies like this, took charge. “AJ, get over here,” she barked. “Let’s get him on oxygen right away. Amelia, start an IV.”

“What?” AJ asked in disbelief. “You mean he’s not…”

“He has a pulse,” Allison replied. “Very weak, but it’s there. Now let’s get going, guys, we might have a chance to save him. Come on.”

A glimmer of hope shining within them, AJ and Louise sprang into action and hurried over to Lance. Indeed, he had a weak pulse, and he was breathing, very slowly and shallowly. By some miracle, the gunshot had not been fatal. Not yet, anyway.

+++

Chris’s breath caught in his throat at the all-too-familiar sound of an ambulance siren nearing the hospital. Please, God, don’t let it be Lance, he prayed. He had been repeating this prayer every time one of the ambulances pulled up to the ER entrance, and so far, his prayers had been answered every time. But he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that his luck wasn’t going to last forever.

Standing in the middle of the hallway, Chris watched as the ambulance pulled into the bay outside the entrance. Allison Brooks hopped out of the driver’s seat, while AJ McLean and Amelia Caston emerged from the back. Together, the three EMTs unloaded a stretcher and quickly wheeled it towards the entrance.

The double doors burst open, and in they came. Jack Palmer came hurrying up from behind Chris, ready to take charge of the trauma. “What-“ he started, but suddenly stopped, his mouth still hanging open, his eyes growing wide.

Chris squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of what he was going to see when he looked down on that stretcher. And when he opened them again, the one thing he was dreading to see was there – a pale, blonde man lying motionless on the stretcher, a bloody bullet wound one on side of his forehead. He was almost unrecognizable because of all the blood that coated his face, but Chris knew who it was.

“Lance! What happened?” Jack cried, his voice a hoarse gasp.

“Suicide attempt,” Allison said grimly. “What room?”

“Uh…” Jack didn’t even look at Allison; his gaze was still fixed on Lance, his expression shocked.

“Trauma 2,” Chris said, swallowing hard. “Come on.”

He took a hold of part of the stretcher and helped the paramedics wheel Lance into the trauma room. Jack, snapping out of his shock, hurried along behind them.

“What are his vitals?” he asked, trying to get back into professional mode.

As Allison gave him Lance’s vitals, nurse Addie Burke came into the room. She had no more stepped inside the door when Chris ordered, “Addie, go get Elizabeth.”

“Sure,” Addie replied quickly, turning and hurrying off to find Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien.

“There’s no exit wound for the bullet,” Jack commented, after lifting Lance’s head slightly. “That means the bullet must still be in his brain.”

“D-do you think there’s any chance that he’ll make…” Chris trailed off, looking at Lance hopelessly. His friend had shot himself in the head; there was no way he would survive. Even if he hadn’t completely blown his brains out, the bullet had surely done too much damage for him to survive.

Jack didn’t reply, and Chris saw the grim expression on his face.

Addie returned a few minutes later with Elizabeth O’Brien in tow. The two women burst into the trauma room, completely oblivious to the fact that one of their own was the patient they were about to help treat. Addie got sight of Lance first, and the blood immediately drained from her face.

“Oh my God…” Clapping her hand over her mouth in shock, Addie stumbled backwards, her blue eyes wide, her face white.

Elizabeth drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening in shock as well. But Elizabeth, always the serious, cool-headed, sensible one, kept her professionalism and immediately set to work.

“We need to get a CT scan,” said Jack, after showing Elizabeth that there was no exit wound for the bullet.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “And page surgery.”

“Do you think one of the surgeons could save him?” Chris asked hopefully.

“Honestly, I doubt it. But he’s made it this far; maybe it’s not as bad as it looks. We have some of the best neurosurgeons in the area, so if he lives long enough to make it into the OR, there’s always a chance,” Elizabeth said, trying to be honest without making Chris lose all hope. She knew Lance and Chris were good friends, and she knew how hard it had to be for him to be in that room right then.

“Do you want to go sit in chairs and wait, Chris?” she asked gently. “It’s always very hard to work on a friend.”

Chris shook his head quickly. “No, I want to do everything I can to help,” he replied. “Besides, he’s not just my friend. He worked with all of us.”

The others in the room, including the three paramedics, who stood near the door, watching in concern, bowed their heads sadly. In his four years as an ER nurse, Lance had always been conscientious, enthusiastic, and hard-working. He had always done his part to help save others. Now they had to come together save him.

+++

Neurosurgeon Risha Veers was having a very normal day so far. She had performed a successful tumor-removal on a forty-year-old man that morning and was feeling pretty good. That is, until nurse Hayley Aldworth came bursting into her office without even knocking. Risha looked up questioningly at the tall redhead.

“The ER just paged us,” Hayley said breathlessly. “One of the nurses down there, Lance Bass, shot himself in the head!”

Lance Bass. The name sounded frighteningly familiar, and, with a start, Risha remembered her encounter with him that morning on her way up to surgery.


“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the blonde man said sheepishly.

“It is alright,” Risha said with a shy laugh. “Here, let me help you,” she offered. But before she could reach for the picture and notebook that were within her reach, the man yelled at her to stop. Risha looked up at him in confusion, but withdrew her hand, which was in mid-reach for the picture.

“Hey, don’t you work here?” she asked as she got a closer look at the young man who had moments before plowed her down in the hallway.

Lance stopped what he was doing and looked up, a guilty look coming over his face.

“Yeah,” he said with a short nod.

Risha smiled at him before extending her hand. “Risha Veers; nice to meet you. I know I had seen you around here before. Plus, it was kind of strange that you were carrying a box full of stuff. Are you planning on leaving?”

“Yeah,” he said as he closed up his box and got up off the floor, extending Risha a hand to assist her in getting up.

“So do you have a name?” Risha asked with a slight grin, trying to get the young man to open up to her.

“Yeah, Lance Bass."


“Oh, my God…” Risha murmured. Just hours earlier, she had talked to him, invited him out for coffee sometime. It was a big step for her to do something like that. She had always been shy, and after John’s…

Risha quickly stopped herself from thinking about the past, reliving her bad memories. She had to focus on the here and now.

“They brought him into the ER,” Hayley went on, talking quickly. “He’s still alive! The bullet is still in his brain, and they need you to take it out and see if you can fix whatever damage is done.”

Risha’s mouth dropped open in surprise. It was very rare for a person who had shot himself in the head to survive. With the gun that close to their head when they fired, the speed of the bullet caused it to do severe damage to the skull and brain, more so than a bullet fired at a further distance would do. But she was willing to give it a shot, to try her best to save Lance’s life. There was always a chance.

“Okay,” Risha replied. “I’ll do it. Book a room and have them send up his scans.”

Hayley nodded. “Thanks, Dr. Veers. Sorry for barging in on you like that.”

“That’s alright,” Risha replied, giving the nurse a slight smile. Hayley left, and Risha remained sitting at her desk, trying to slow her racing heart. If she was going to do this operation, she would need to be calm and relaxed, not upset like she was now. She closed her eyes and let her mind go blank, trying to block out the bad memories of her past and the tragic events of that morning.

+++

“So, how’s your day going, honey?” Ivory Harnett asked her boyfriend, Brian Littrell, as they sat at a two-person table at Sully’s, waiting for their late lunch to arrive. As physicians in the ER, the two doctors usually saw each other often throughout the day, but that day, things had been hectic, and they hadn’t had much of a chance to talk.

“Good,” Brian replied. “Crazy, but good.”

Ivory nodded. “Crazy is right. You know about Lance Bass, right?”

Brian nodded, his blue eyes wide as saucers. “I can’t believe it,” he said, his voice hushed. “I guess I don’t know the guy that well, but I never thought…” He trailed off as the little bell on the door of the café jingled, causing them both to look up.

Dr. JC Chasez came strolling his, his arm around the waist of a tall brunette dressed in a pair of flowered scrubs. Brian recognized her as one of the nurses that worked in surgery, though he could not remember her name.

“Hi, Brian, Ivory,” JC said with a casual smile, stopping by their table.

“Hey, what’s up, JC?” Brian replied.

“Not much. You know Mandie Smith, right? She’s a surgical nurse,” JC said, referring to the young woman at his side.

“Sure,” Brian said with a nod. “Hi, Mandie.”

“Hi,” Mandie replied sweetly, flashing them both a smile that brightened her hazel eyes, making them look almost green.

As the two of them walked on and took a seat at another table, Ivory leaned forward and whispered to Brian, “Jeez, how old is she?? She looks like she’s still in high school, for God’s sakes! Chasez certainly goes for the younger women.”

Brian chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Oh, come on, she can’t be that young. She’s a nurse, isn’t she?”

“Too young for him,” Ivory replied. “He’s pushing thirty, and she can’t be much older than twenty-three or so.”

“Ah, you’re just jealous,” Brian teased. “Cause she’s young and has the figure of a model, and you’re a little ol’ shortie.”

“Uh!” Ivory cried defiantly. “For one thing, I am not old! I’m only twenty-seven! You’re pushing thirty yourself! And 5’3” isn’t that short, Mr. I’m Only 5’7”!”

Brian laughed. “Chill, baby, I’m just playin’ with ya,” he chuckled. Flashing her a grin, he added, “You know I just like to see you get all worked up. And it worked – see, your eyes are already turning red!”

Ivory feigned a glare and refused to look at him, but he could see the corners of her lips twitching as she tried not to smile.

“Oh, come on now, don’t pout,” Brian teased. “You know I love you the exact way you are. I wouldn’t change anything about you.” He saw Ivory smile, then impishly added, “Short stuff.”

“Argh, you!” Ivory raised her hand to give him a playful smack, but Brian’s hand shot out first, grabbed hers, and pulled her in for a kiss.

“What was that for?” Ivory laughed, pulling away.

Brian shrugged. “Just because I love you,” he replied. Ivory smiled, and all was forgotten.

+++

Josh and Kylie sat across from one another in a small restaurant enjoying a nice dinner together. They had both gotten the weekend off and decided to enjoy it together.

Suddenly, Kylie jumped up and made a beeline for the ladies’ room. Because this was the second time during their dinner, Josh was becoming used to Kylie suddenly jumping up and running to the bathroom. He was also becoming increasingly worried.

Without a second of hesitation, Josh quickly placed his napkin on the table and calmly walked through the intimate restaurant towards the restroom, thankful no one was waiting in line this time.

“Ky?” he asked as he quietly knocked on the door. No response came from inside, but a click was heard as the door was unlocked. Josh opened the door just wide enough for him to fit inside and entered the small bathroom.

“You going to be okay, Ky?” Josh asked while rubbing Kylie’s back as she again heaved.

The pale, sweaty figure before him nodded and leaned back, resting her head on Josh’s shoulder. “I can’t take this anymore,” Josh heard Kylie whine.

Josh raised his eyebrow in question. How long had this been going on? “What’s wrong? How long have you been feeling sick?” he asked, his doctor instincts stepping into gear. He looked into Kylie’s green eyes and saw anxiousness and fear.

“A little over a week,” Kylie mumbled.

“Over a week? Have you even seen a doctor this whole time?” Josh demanded.

“Actually Josh, I did see a doctor, and she said it was normal,” Kylie explained, while getting out of Josh’s embrace and getting up out of the floor.

“Oh, and what doctor was this?”

“Melanie Reyes,” Kylie replied with a smug grin gracing her tired face.

“Melanie Reyes? But she is the gynecologist; why would you go see her?” Josh asked as he tried his hardest to come up with an answer in his exhausted mind.

“Oh my God!” he exclaimed suddenly. “Are you pregnant, Kylie?”

Kylie rolled her eyes at her husband’s slow thought process and nodded her head, wondering how he would react now that she had broken the news to him.

A grin lit up Josh’s face, and he grabbed Kylie into a hug. It was then that Kylie knew everything would be alright.

+++

Risha went over Lance’s head CT’s and brain scans once more before going to scrub in.

From what she could see, he might be lucky. The bullet had done damage that was certainly irreparable, but it had missed his brain stem, which would have killed him instantly, and gone instead into his cerebrum, the largest part of the brain.

She determined he must have pointed the gun at his forehead instead of the side of his head, for the bullet had gone in towards the left side his forehead and had traveled straight back through his brain, finally stopping near the back of his cerebrum, in the parietal lobe.

Because it had not hit his brain stem, the part that controlled his heartbeat and breathing, his chances of surviving were much better, but even if he lived through surgery, there was a good chance he would never be the same. He could become severely impaired, both mentally and physically, or he could fall into a coma and never wake up, becoming a vegetable for the rest of his life.

All the grim possibilities of what could happen to Lance were devastating. Here was a young man, only in his twenties, with his whole life still ahead of him. What, Risha wondered, would ever drive him to do something like this to himself? She had experienced feelings of depression before; she knew what it was like to feel helpless and alone. But even in her time of grief, she had never gotten to the point of suicide. Things hadn’t always gone wonderfully for her, but even so, she loved life, and the thought of taking it away from herself like that was unimaginable. She didn’t see how anyone could really want to do that to themselves.

Surely Lance hadn’t really wanted to kill himself. Surely he would take another chance at life if he could get one.

Risha was determined to give him that chance.

+++

“Hey, Brian, we’ve got a four-year-old male coming in with a high fever and vomiting,” said nurse Melissa Ruffino, as Brian passed by the nurses station. He had just gotten back on duty after his lunch with Ivory.

“ETA?” Brian asked.

“Should be here in about five minutes,” Melissa said.

“Okee doke,” Brian replied, heading off to find an exam room that was clear. He passed by Exam 4 and peeked inside. The lights were off, and the room was empty, or so he thought. He pushed open the door and went in to get thing straightened up and ready for the little boy that was about to arrive.

Suddenly, he stopped, as he noticed a hunched figure sitting on a stool in the corner of the room, facing the wall, his back to Brian. Recognizing the man’s short, dark hair and light teal scrubs, Brian said gently, “Chris?”

“Go away,” muttered the nurse.

Brian did not obey; instead he stood there a moment, watching Chris in sympathy. He had been there earlier when Lance Bass had been brought in. Brian was not especially close with either Chris or Lance, but he knew them through mutual friends and from work. Chris had a great sense of humor, and Lance had always seemed very nice. The two of them had always been good friends with each other, and Brian knew that Lance’s suicide attempt had been a horrible thing for Chris to go through. Why he was still there in the ER when Lance had already been taken up to surgery was a mystery to Brian, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he just said, “I’m sorry, man.”

“Yeah,” came Chris’s hollow reply.

“I know how tough this has got to be on you,” Brian continued softly. He knew he probably wasn’t helping Chris any, but he thought he should at least try to talk to him, to show him he cared. “Are you alright? Is there anything I can get for you?”

“No.”

Brian bit his lip, his heart aching for Chris. He had never seen Chris look so miserable before; all the other times he had been around Chris, he was always cracking stupid jokes and making fun of people. But now Brian saw his other side, his emotional side, the part of him that was hurting something awful for his friend right now.

“Okay,” Brian said finally, deciding Chris would probably rather be alone. “Well, I’m sorry for barging in. I didn’t know anyone was in here. I’m going to go now, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

“Thanks, Brian,” Chris replied, putting two words together for the first time since his “go away”.

“He’ll be in my prayers,” Brian said softly, then turned, and walked out of the room.

+++

He’ll be in my prayers. Brian Littrell’s words of encouragement kept running through Chris’ mind. He knew he had sounded ungrateful and insensitive when Brian had offered his help, but at that time his grief over took his manners.

Chris had been dreading having to do this since Lance had been brought in, but he knew someone had to do it. He knew the hospital would contact Lance’s immediate family, but he knew that it would be best if someone close to Lance gave the horrible news.

Chris forced himself to get up from the stool in the small trauma room and walked with heavy footsteps to the small sink against the opposite wall. The man staring back at him in the mirror shocked Chris. His normally bright hazel eyes were now red and puffy from crying. His face held an statement of intense sorrow, which made him look older than his thirty-four years. He turned the faucet on and as he bent down to attempt to wash the tear tracts off of his face, the dam broke again and his tears came together as one with the water.

+++

Kevin Richardson sat in the lounge on the surgical floor, studying his schedule. He had just finished doing an appendectomy and was relieved to see he didn’t have any other patients scheduled until later that afternoon. Of course, an emergency could always pop up, but for now, he was free.

“Hey, Kev,” said Hayley Aldworth, entering the lounge and grabbing a bottled water from the refrigerator. “How’s it going?”

“Just great,” Kevin replied, giving her a smile. “I don’t have any patients for a few hours, it looks like. Are there any interesting procedures going on right now?”

“Dr. Veers is about to start an evacuation surgery on Lance Bass,” Hayley replied.

Kevin cocked his head. “Lance Bass? Why, what happened?

“Oh, you haven’t heard! He shot himself this morning!” Hayley exclaimed.

Kevin gasped. “Oh my God,” he said slowly, shaking his head in disbelief. Like many other members of the staff, Kevin was not really a friend of Lance’s, but he knew him fairly well from working with him in the ER, whenever he came down to do a consult, and through mutual friends.

“I know,” Hayley said. “It’s so sad. He’s so nice! I can’t believe he would do something like that to himself!”

“What time does the surgery start?” Kevin asked, glancing at his watch.

“Soon. I think Dr. Veers is scrubbing in now. Speaking of which, I need to go get ready. I’m part of her surgical team. You wanna observe?”

“Sure,” Kevin replied.

“Well, go get scrubbed in then. I’m sure Dr. Veers won’t mind,” Hayley replied. “See ya in a few.”

“See ya,” Kevin echoed and left the lounge to go get gowned up and scrubbed in for the surgery.

+++

“Mr. and Mrs. Bass, this is Chris Kirkpatrick from Atlantic City Memorial. If you will please give me a call at 555-3254 extension 125, it would be appreciated. Thanks!”

Chris hung up the phone and stretched his arms in front of him, his hands shaking uncontrollably. He had tried to sound as cheerful as possible when he left the message on the Bass family answering machine, and he hoped they wouldn’t pick up on the pain that filled his voice. He had figured it would be best to give them the direct number to the lounge so it would give him a sense of privacy when he shared the horrible news with the soon to be grieving family.

As he waited for the call to come in, Chris walked around the lounge, wondering what Lance was thinking in those final moments before the gun went off. Chris suddenly stopped pacing and stopped directly in front of Lance’s locker. Lance had once given Chris the combination to his locker “just in case he needed it”, but Chris had never tried to open the locker without Lance around, feeling like it was an invasion of Lance’s precious privacy.

But now it was different. His hands were shaking so bad he could barely turned the knob on the combination lock, but finally he succeeded and carefully flung the locker door open. Thinking back on it moments later, Chris realized it was the cleanest Lance’s locker had been in awhile. Lance wasn’t a very messy person, but usually his locker was decorated with pictures of his family and drawings from the young patients he helped treat; but now the locker was bare except for a pair of teal scrubs and a few medical books. Before Chris had a chance to react, the phone in the locker room rang. and Chris’ heart rate intensified. How would he ever be able to do this?

“Atlantic City Memorial, this is Chris speaking,” he answered the phone professionally, hoping for some miracle that the person on the other line wasn’t a member of Lance’s family.

“Hello, Chris,” the heavy southern accented voice of Diane Bass greeted. “It was quite a shock to receive a call from you. How is everything?”

Now was the moment of truth. “Diane, we need to talk. You might want to get Jim on the other line.”

When Chris hung up the phone a few minutes later, it felt like an immense weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn’t give much detail about what had happened to Lance, but he knew his parents had probably figured it out. Not more than ten or fifteen words were said by the couple the whole conversation. Chris could just feel the shock and grief radiating through the phone lines. This had definitely been the hardest thing he had ever done in his life, and he knew he had to go somewhere to get guidance. He sure as hell needed it.

+++

“Blair Cartier, four years old, suffering from nausea and vomiting, temp 99.6, pulse 110,” said new paramedic Amelia Caston, as she helped push the stretcher down the hall.

“Exam 2,” Brian said, directing the paramedics into the exam room. As they pulled the stretcher up alongside the gurney in the room, Brian glanced down at the patient, a tiny four-year-old boy with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and plump, dimpled cheeks, rosy and flushed with fever. He reminded Brian of one of those little angels you see on Christmas cards.

“You need help, Dr. Littrell?” asked Melissa, coming into the room.

”Yeah, thanks, Mel,” Brian replied, as the nurse came in to help him move Blair from the stretcher onto the gurney. “So, Blair, buddy, how are you feeling?” Brian asked gently to little Blair, whose blue eyes were wide with fright.

“My tummy hurts,” Blair moaned softly, his bottom lip quivering.

“Aww, that’s no fun, is it?” Brian asked sympathetically. “Well, my name is Dr. Littrell, and I’m going to get you feeling better pretty soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Melissa, can you start him on a saline drip? He’s dehydrated,” Brian said. While Melissa prepared to insert the needle in the back of Blair’s hand, Brian said, “So, Blair, you like cartoons?”

“Uh-huh,” Blair replied, nodding slightly.

“Do you like Donald Duck?” Brian asked, as he listened to Blair’s heart with his stethoscope.

“Yeah,” said Blair.

“Oh boy!” exclaimed Brian in his Donald Duck voice, which was one of his best impressions. Blair grinned widely and did not even notice when Melissa slid the needle into his hand.

A few minutes later, a woman in her late thirties or early forties came running in, out of breath and panicked-looking.

“Are you Blair’s mother?” Brian asked.

“Yes, stepmother. Carrie Cartier,” the woman said quickly. “Blair’s been running a low-grade temp all day, and then he started throwing up about an hour ago and couldn’t stop. I was worried, so I brought him in.”

Brian nodded. “You did the right thing, Mrs. Cartier,” he assured her. “It’s probably just the stomach flu; there’s a pretty bad form of it going around here. But we’re checking Blair out just to be sure.”

“Carrie?”

Brian looked up to see a boy who looked to be about ten or eleven standing in the doorway. A sullen-faced girl about the same age stood next to him, and two more little girls, one about Blair’s age, the other a bit older, peeked curiously into the room.

“David, you and Meg take Sarah and Jackie over to those chairs across the hall and sit down. I’ll be out in a little bit, okay?”

“Okay.” The boy grabbed his little sisters’ hands, and he and the older girl disappeared into the hallway.

“My other kids,” Carrie explained to Brian. “Their father isn’t home to watch them, so I had to bring them with. I hope they won’t be any trouble.”

“Oh no, family is always welcome,” Brian replied. “They look like well-behaved kids.”

Carrie gave an exasperated smile and was about to reply, when all of a sudden, a loud crash was heard, as the metal tray of supplies beside the gurney was knocked to the floor. Carrie screamed, and Brian turned around to find that Blair’s small body was convulsing in a violent seizure.

“Melissa, start him on Dilantin right away,” Brian said. Hurrying past Carrie, he stuck his head out into the hall, looking around for another doctor. He spotted Ivory coming down the hall at that very moment and smiled despite himself. “Hey, Dr. Harnett!” he called, grinning when she looked at him in surprise, amused at being called “Dr. Harnett” instead of just “Ivory” like she was used to.

“What?” she called back.

“Can you help me in here a minute?”

“Oh, I suppose,” Ivory said, heaving an exaggerated sigh and winking at Brian as she came up to him.

“In here,” Brian said, leading her into the room. “Four-year-old suffering from mild temp, nausea, and vomiting. I thought it was probably just stomach flu, but now he’s having a grand-mal seizure,” Brian explained quickly to her.

“Is that the mother?” Ivory asked, nodding to Carrie, who was standing in the corner of the room, watching her stepson with a look of horror.

Brian nodded, and the Ivory went over to Carrie. “Ma’am, I’m Dr. Harnett. How long has your son been sick?”

“Just this morning – he woke up with a slight fever, but other than that, he seemed okay. He just got really sick about an hour ago and started vomiting, and now this! What’s wrong with him?” Carrie asked, her voice shrill with panic.

“Do you know if he could have swallowed anything toxic?” Ivory went on.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t think so. We keep all our medications up high in the medicine cabinet, and the cabinets were we have our cleaning supplies are child proof. Blair can’t get into any of them.”

“Let’s get a tox screen anyway, just to be sure, and order a chem panel, CBC, and lytes,” said Brian, nodding to Melissa to order to the tests.

Within a few minutes, the drugs that had been inserted into Blair’s IV worked their magic, and his weak body fell back limply against the gurney.

“Blair? Blair?” Carrie asked frantically, from her stepson’s side. Looking up at Brian, she asked worriedly, “Why won’t he wake up? He was conscious and talking earlier!”

“It’s just an effect of the seizure, Mrs. Cartier,” Brian said. “I think maybe you should go wait in chairs with your other children while we work on Blair, okay?”

“No, no, I want to be here with him. He was so scared,” Carrie said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Brian patted her shoulder gently. “It’s really better if you’re not in here. Someone will come get you the minute Blair regains consciousness, and you can come back in then. But for now, we need some space to work. Alright?”

“Alright,” Carrie relented. Brian showed her out to the waiting area, where her four other children were anxiously waiting.

+++

It pained Risha to see all the damage Lance had done to himself when he put that bullet through his brain. His skull had been shattered in the spot where the bullet had gone, and his brain had swollen to the point where part of it actually had started to show through the hole in his forehead. The bullet had traveled back through his brain and had been imbedded in the back. It would take extensive surgery to remove the bullet and repair the damage it had done. Of course, some things would never be fixed. Even if Lance survived the risky surgery, it was almost certain that he was never going to be the same. He had a long road of recovery ahead of him, and that was the best case scenario. Worst case – he either died or lived the rest of his life as an invalid, a vegetable. And what kind of life was that?

Standing there in the OR, her scalpel in hand, Risha was determined not to let that happen. She had to do her best; she had to help Lance through his, help give him his life back, give him another chance.

Please, God, help me through this. Help me save him, Risha pleaded silently. She had practically given up on God years ago, her faith shattered by a tragedy that had nearly ruined her life. She never attended church anymore, never read the Bible, never even prayed. But she prayed now, knowing that it could take one of God’s miracles to give Lance back the life he had tried to extinguish.

+++

Brian looked up in shock as the monitors attached to Blair suddenly went berserk.

“He’s in V-fib!” cried Melissa, looking at the heart monitor.

“Grab the crash cart,” Brian said quickly. “What could be making this kid so sick?” he wondered aloud.

Just then, Ivory came running in. “I’ve got the results of his tox screen!” she announced. “He’s got toxins in his bloodstream. He’s ingested something, but I don’t know what.”

“Where’s the mother? Somebody get the mother,” Brian ordered.

“I’ve got the crash cart,” said Melissa, wheeling it up to Blair’s bedside. “What should I charge to?”

“Charge to 100. Ivory, go find his mother. She’s waiting in chairs,” Brian said. Melissa charged up the paddles, while Ivory hurried out to find Carrie.

“Clear!” Brian shouted, pressing the paddles to Blair’s chest. His small body jolted, and to Brian’s relief, the heart monitor peaked, registering a heartbeat.

“What’s wrong? What happened to him?” cried Carrie, rushing into the room. A man, most likely her husband, followed her, gazing at Blair with wide, terrified eyes.

“Mrs. Cartier, Blair’s tox screen shows that he has toxins in his bloodstream. He must have swallowed something. Do you have any idea what it could be?”

Carrie and the man next to her exchanged bewildered glances. “I… oh, I don’t know!” Carrie cried helplessly, wringing her hands. “Brad, all the cleaners and medicines are locked up where Blair can’t get to, right? There’s no way he could have gotten into anything.”

Brad, Blair’s father, sighed. “Well, he obviously got into something, Carrie,” he said. “Where were you anyway? Weren’t you watching him?”

“Oh, don’t blame me for this, Brad!” Carrie cried defensively, throwing up her hands. “You know I can’t watch all five kids every second!”

“You should at least have your eye on Blair and Jackie. They’re only four! You can’t leave four-year-old twins alone!” Brad argued.

“Brad, I didn’t! I mean, I…” Carrie broke down into sobs.

Brad’s angry face softened. “Car, I’m sorry,” he said quickly, putting his arms around her. “I know it’s not your fault.”

“Come on, Mr. and Mrs. Cartier,” said Ivory. “Come back out to the waiting room with me, and we’ll try to find out what happened. Maybe your other children will know.”

She led the couple back out into the waiting room, where the four other children sat. Mr. Cartier quickly introduced Ivory to them. Meg, Carrie’s daughter from her previous marriage, was twelve. Brad had four children from his previous marriage – David, who was eleven, Sarah, who was six, and Jackie, who was Blair’s four-year-old twin sister.

“Is Blair going to be okay, Dad?” David asked, his blue eyes very serious.

“We’re not sure yet, Dave,” Brad told his son. “The doctors think that Blair swallowed something poisonous. Do any of you kids know what he could have swallowed?”

David and Sarah looked at each other and shrugged. Jackie, who was too little to understand, just swung her feet and didn’t say anything. Meg sat with her arms crossed over her chest, a solemn pout on her lips, and refused to speak.

“Meg?” Brad asked. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Why would I?” Meg muttered, without even looking at her stepfather.

“Did anyone leave any medicine out on the counter where Blair could have gotten it?” Ivory asked, desperately trying to get some answers. They couldn’t help Blair until they knew exactly what he had consumed. “Or any kind of cleaner? Was anyone cleaning the house today?”

“Just vacuuming and dusting,” Carrie said. “And laundry. You know, the usual housework.”

“Laundry? Could you have left the detergent out where Blair could get it?” Ivory pressed.

“Meg, you put the detergent back up on the shelf when you were done putting the clothes in the washer, right?” Carrie asked her daughter.

“Yes, mom,” Meg replied automatically, rolling her eyes.

“What about medicines? Were there any pills out for him to get?” Ivory asked again.

“No, I don’t-“

All of a sudden, Meg jerked up from her slouched position. “Wait!” she cried.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“Did you leave pills out?” Brad demanded, his eyes narrowing.

“No, I… I…” Meg’s eyes were wide and scared, and she looked guiltily at her mother and stepfather.

“What? What did you do?” Brad asked, grabbing her roughly by the arm.

“I… I think I left the detergent out,” she choked out meekly. “I-I was putting the clothes in the washer, and I poured the detergent into the cap, but then Lizzie McGuire came on TV, and I went to watch it, and… I guess I forgot about the laundry…” She trailed off, looking terrified.

“You what?!” Brad exploded, grabbing onto her other arm and giving her a shake. “You left a damn cap of detergent sitting on the washer, right where Blair could get to it?!”

“Oh, Meg, how could you be so irresponsible?!” Carrie cried, her eyes bright with tears.

“She probably did it on purpose, knowing her!” Brad yelled.

“Brad! How could you say that?” Carrie gasped. “Meg would never intentionally hurt Blair!”

“Meg hates Blair! She hates all my kids and me too! You know she does; she’s said it!”

“Shut up!” screamed Meg. “I would never try to poison him!” She burst into tears, and Carrie quickly pulled her into a hug, rubbing her hair soothingly.

“It’s okay, baby, he doesn’t mean it,” she whispered. To Brad, she said, “Get away from us! How dare you accuse my daughter of such a horrible thing?!”

“Fine! I don’t want my children near her anyway!” Brad shouted angrily, scooping Jackie into his arms and grabbing Sarah’s hand. “Come on, guys. We’ll go wait somewhere else.”

“I’ll show you where you can wait,” Ivory said softly, leading Brad and his three kids away. She got them situated in a different waiting area and ran back to Blair’s room to tell Brian what she had found out.

+++

Back in the OR, Risha was just finishing up Lance’s operation.

“Well, I think that’s everything,” Risha said wearily. “I’m going to close up now.”

“You did a good job,” said Kevin, who had observed Lance’s long brain surgery. “I think he’s got a good chance of surviving this.”

“I hope so,” Risha said with a sigh.

Her hopes were suddenly crushed when the monitors attached to Lance suddenly began to beep wildly.

“His pressure’s crashing!” cried Hayley.

“Oh no, not now!” Risha moaned.

“He must have a brain bleed,” said Kevin. “We’ve got to find the source and fix it before it’s too late.”

Risha nodded. She only hoped she could find the problem and correct it in time. After all this, she couldn’t let Lance die of a brain hemorrhage. “Come on, Lance, you’d made it this far. Don’t die on me now,” she muttered under her breath.

The line on the heart monitor went flat.

+++
White and Black by RokofAges75
Episode 10:

White and Black


White.

That was all Lance Bass could see.

Just white.

It surrounded him, a bright white light, growing increasingly brighter as he grew closer to it. And yet, it did not make him squint. It was not blinding, but comforting and peaceful. He walked towards it, yearning to be in that light, where his pain and suffering would vanish forever.

All around him, he could hear voices. They faded in and out, distorted murmurs, unrecognizable. Every once in awhile, he could make out a phrase or two.

“… pressure’s crashing…”

“… cardiac arrest…”

“… charge the paddles…”

Somehow, he managed to ignore these voices. They did not affect him. He did not realize that they were pertaining to him at all. Not until he heard his own name.

“Come on, Lance… don’t die on me now…”

Die? Lance jerked to a stop, as if suddenly realizing what was happening. What was happening? Was he dying??
It was a woman who had spoken his name, who had pleaded for him not to die. He did not recognize her voice. Who was it? Who was saying his name?

The voices continued, confusing Lance, keeping him frozen in place as he tried to make out what they were saying.

“… not responding… shock him again…”

“… come on, Lance…”

Come on and what? Lance wondered. He had no idea where he was or what he was supposed to do. Was this Heaven? Or was he on his way to Heaven? He did not know. He stood still. In one direction, the bright white light shined welcomingly. In the other, he saw nothing but blackness. He wanted to go to the light. Was that where Heaven was? If he went to the light, would that mean he was dead?

On the other hand, where did the blackness lead? Back to Earth, back to life? Or to Hell?

“… still in V-fib… charge again…”

All of a sudden, through the vortex of voices, one familiar voice stood out crystal clear. A girl’s voice.

A soft, familiar girl’s voice.

“Lance?”

Lance’s head shot in the direction of the light.

Squinting, he saw a misty figure approaching him. As the figure got closer and closer, Lance blinked, his mouth dropping open as he recognized it.

“Stacey…”

It was his sister. Stacey. The older sister he had lost years and years ago. The sister who had committed suicide one night when she was sixteen, leaving him suddenly an only child.

“Lance.” She said his name, her voice sounding young and sweet.

Tears rose in Lance’s eyes as he stared at his sister.

She looked exactly the same as when she died; she had not aged at all. While he was now a grown man, she was still a pretty, young sixteen-year-old girl. But it was a relief to see her, looking happy and vibrant again, not pale and lifeless, as she had been when he had seen her dead body in the hospital morgue. That was the last time he had glimpsed her; they had had a closed casket at her funeral. He knew that although she was talking and moving in front of him now, she was not alive. But then again, neither was he. Or was he? He did not know.

“Stacey, I…” Lance was at a loss for words. After all, what do you say to the dead sister you haven’t seen in over a decade. He had always told himself that when he was reunited with Stacey in the afterlife, he would ask her why she had done such a horrible thing to herself.

But now here he was, in the exact same position.

With a start, he realized he had done the same thing Stacey had. He had committed suicide. He had done what he had resented Stacey for doing for many years. He suddenly felt very guilty and very selfish. What were his family and friends doing right now? What were they thinking? They were in horrible pain, no doubt, like the pain he had been in after Stacey’s death. His poor parents… the thought of how much grief they must be in pained Lance. They had to be hurting something awful, and he was the cause of it. How could he do such a thing to the people he loved, especially after Stacey had done it? Why hadn’t he realized what he was doing until now, when it was too late?

“It’s not too late,” Stacey said softly.

Lance jerked his head up. “How did you-“ he started, but Stacey smiled gently.

“I have my ways,” she said. “Listen, Lance, it isn’t your time yet. You’re still needed down on Earth. You have wonderful parents and great friends there who are beside themselves with misery right now. Go home to them, Lance.”

“But… but I thought I was… dead,” Lance stammered, looking towards the white light Stacey had come from. “I thought this was Heaven.”

“You’re on the way there.” Stacey motioned back towards the white light. “But if you fight to live, you can go back to Earth again.” She pointed to the blackness behind Lance. “Where you belong,” she added.

Lance glanced back at the darkness. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go back there. He sensed pain and suffering in the blackness, while the light brought nothing but a sense of peace and happiness. Did he really want to go back to Earth and fight to live when he could go on to Heaven and live an eternity of happiness?

But, thinking again of his friends and family, Lance knew he had to go back. Stacey had gone into the light, but he had to go into the blackness. The Bass family could not lose two of their children. He had to go back to them. He had to live.

“That’s right,” Stacey said. “Go back home, Lance. I’ll be waiting for you in Heaven when it is your time.”

Her words had a sense of closing to them, and before he knew it, she had turned, and her shimmering, translucent figure started slowly back towards the light.

“Stacey, wait!” Lance cried, running towards her. “No, wait, come back!” He chased after the spirit of his sister, begging her to come back. He hadn’t even had a real chance to talk to her yet. But Stacey kept walking, and before he knew it, she had disappeared.

“Stacey…” Lance breathed, staring in despair at the place where she had stood. He had been so close to her, and yet, he had not touched her, not told her he loved her. Not told her goodbye, something he had never gotten to do when she had died. But he would do it now. Maybe she could still hear him, even though he could not see her.

“Goodbye, Stacey,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Then, knowing he could go no further into the white light, he turned and headed back towards the blackness. As he got nearer and nearer to it, he became more and more uncomfortable. A dark fog swirled around the blackness, making it look even darker and more foreboding. The calmness he had felt when he was close to the light was replaced with a sense of panic and pain. But he kept going.

As he reached the edge of the blackness, the fog parted, and something appeared below it. Bending down to look, Lance found himself peering down into a large room, which was very bright and adorned in white and stainless steel. It was an operating room, he realized. He saw several people dressed in scrubs, gowns, masks, and surgical caps hovering over a person lying on the operating table.

As he leaned closer, his vision seemed to zoom in on the room so that he could get a closer look. He realized that one of the men in the room was Kevin Richardson, and he recognized one of the nurses as Hayley Aldworth. The head surgeon was a petite woman with a few wisps of red hair poking out from under her cap. She was busy pressing the defibrillator paddles to her patient’s chest, shocking his heart, which had stopped beating.
“… been down for almost half an hour,” he heard Kevin comment to the woman. “Are you going to call it?”

“Not yet,” the woman said determinedly. “Let’s shock him once more.”

As he watched the scene before him, Lance suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He realized what was going on, why he was seeing this. His heart lodging in his throat, Lance focused his gaze on the patient. Although he could not see the man’s face because of the blue cloth covering it, he instinctively knew who he was. Himself.

I’m watching myself die, Lance realized, his stomach turning, his body trembling at the thought. He watched in awe for a few more seconds, as the woman charged up the paddles again. Then he rose and looked into the darkness. If she was going to bring him back, that was where he had to go. And so, he did.

Slowly, he stepped into the darkness. As he walked further and further, everything around him grew progressively darker. Finally, the blackness closed in around him, all his senses left him, and he knew no more.

+++

Just when Dr. Risha Veers had lost all hope that she would ever get her patient back, the long, whining beep of the heart monitor suddenly cut short and began to blip very slowly.

Risha’s head shot up to look at the screen of the heart monitor. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she saw the flat green line rise and fall, slowly at first, and then faster.

“He’s got a rhythm,” announced nurse Hayley Aldworth, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Surgeon Kevin Richardson, who was observing the operation, grinned at Risha. “Good save, Dr. Veers,” he told her.

Risha managed a relieved smile and softly said, “Welcome back, Lance.”

+++

Chris Kirkpatrick had made his way up the surgical floor and was sitting in a small, private waiting room, nervously thumbing through a magazine without actually looking at the pages.

What’s taking so long? he asked himself anxiously, glancing at the closed door every few seconds and hoping that someone from surgery could come in and talk to him soon. If Lance was dead, he would rather just hear it now and not have to wait any longer. That was the worst part – waiting, not knowing whether Lance was dead or alive. Chris knew the chances of him living were very slim, and he had prepared himself for the worst. Not that anyone really could prepare for it, but he had tried.
Chris’s stomach suddenly growled, and he realized he had not eaten since breakfast that morning. It was now late afternoon. But although his stomach was empty, he didn’t really feel hungry. There was no way he could eat in a time like this. He felt like anything he ate would just come right back up again.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Chris jumped, startled by the sudden noise. He had been sitting in silence for at least two hours. As nurse Hayley Aldworth walked into the room, Chris’s heart leapt into his throat. Moment of truth, he thought.

But to his surprise, the tall red-haired nurse was smiling. “Hey, Chris,” she said. “Just wanted to let you know that Dr. Veers just finished up the surgery. From what we can tell, it was a success. Lance has been taken to Recovery.”

At first, Chris thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. He had told himself so many times that Lance was never going to make it through surgery that he could not believe her words. But she was still smiling. It had to be true.

“H-he’s alive?” Chris asked, his voice hoarse.

“Yes. He had a close call, but we got him back. He’s very, very lucky to have made it this far,” Hayley replied.

Chris suddenly felt light-headed with total relief. He smiled weakly. “Yeah…” he whispered. “He’s very lucky. Thank you so much, Hayley.”

“You can thank Dr. Veers,” Hayley told him. “She’s the miracle worker.”

Chris nodded eagerly. “Oh, I will,” he replied. “I definitely will.”

+++

“Hey, Hayley, you off?”

Hayley was just unclipping her nametag from the front pocket of her scrub shirt when Kevin sauntered into the lounge.

“Yup,” she replied. “You?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Just finished up Mr. Brown’s surgery. He’s in Recovery, and I’m outta here.”

“You heading straight home?” Hayley asked.

Kevin glanced at the clock. It was now past seven, and he hadn’t eaten since before noon. “Nah, I think I’m gonna stop for a bite to eat somewhere first,” he replied. “You wanna come with me?”

Hayley’s stomach grumbled at that very moment, sending them both into a fit of laughter.

“So I guess that’s a yes?”

“Sure,” Hayley laughed. “What about Elizabeth? Is she off yet?”

“Nah, she got stuck working the late shift tonight,” answered Kevin.

“Aw, that sucks. Well, are you ready?”

“Yup. Let’s go,” replied Kevin, and the two of them left the lounge together.

On their way down the hall, they met up with Risha, who was just coming out of her office, wearing a jacket over her scrubs, her purse slung over one shoulder.

“Are you off too, Dr. Veers?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah,” Risha replied. “And you can call me Risha if you want.”

“Okay, Risha,” Kevin said with a smile. He preferred calling his colleagues by their first names, but having known Risha for just over a month, he wasn’t sure they knew each other well enough to be on a first-name basis. But all it took was the near-death of a co-worker to bring strangers together, and after working side by side with Risha, he felt a connection that had not been there before. “Hayley and I were headed out to grab a bite to eat. You wanna come with us?” He gave Hayley a sidelong glance, and she nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, come with us,” Hayley added.

Risha glanced at the two of them hesitantly. “Oh, I don’t know…” she said slowly. “Three’s a crowd, you know.” She eyed them again.

Hayley and Kevin exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

“Oh no, it’s not like that at all,” Kevin said quickly. “Hayley and I are just friends.”

Hayley nodded, although with not as much certainty as Kevin.

“Oh,” Risha said, smiling slightly. “Sorry. I’ve just seen you guys talk to each other so much up here that I assumed…” She shrugged, blushing.

Kevin laughed again. “Nah, Hayley’s just my buddy. I’m dating Elizabeth O’Brien, one of the ER docs. Do you know her yet?”

“No, I don’t believe we’ve met,” Risha replied.

“I’ll introduce you guys sometime. You’d probably get along well,” Kevin said. “So… about dinner… are you coming with us?”

“Oh… no, I don’t think so,” Risha said. “I really need to get home. I’m exhausted.”

“Oh. Okay then. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Kevin said. “Goodnight.”

Risha gave him a small smile. “Goodnight,” she echoed.

The three of them took the elevator downstairs to the ground floor and went out into the parking lot, where they parted ways.

“Where do you want to eat?” Kevin asked, as he walked Hayley to her car.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Hayley replied with a shrug.

“What about Capretti’s?” Kevin suggested, naming one of Atlantic City’s best Italian restaurants.

“Sounds good,” said Hayley. “I’ll meet ya there in a few.”

“Alright. See ya.” Kevin left her at her car and went off to find his own in the large lot.

+++

Risha came home to a pitch-black apartment. It was seven-thirty at night, and now that it was well into fall, it was getting darker earlier in the evening.

Fumbling around, Risha found the light switch near the door, and the living room was flooded with light, making the apartment look warm and cozy. Risha headed straight back to her bedroom, where she changed out of her scrubs into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a large t-shirt.
Risha then went into the kitchen, where she took a can of tomato soup out of her cupboard and began to heat it up on the stove. As she absently stirred the red liquid, her thoughts drifted to Lance. The high she had gotten after the surgery was gone. She had saved his life, brought him back, but at what cost? Would he ever have a normal life again? Would he ever be his old self? Would he ever even wake up from the surgery? When she had left the hospital, he had just been moved from Recovery into the NeuroICU, where he could be monitored closely. Tests showed he was in a coma, but how deep of one, Risha did now know. But she was afraid that he might never wake up from it, that he might be a vegetable for the rest of his life. And what kind of life would that be? It seemed to Risha that death was the better choice. Better than being a vegetable.

Like John would have been, Risha thought suddenly. A sudden rush of emotion ran through her body. The spoon she had been stirring the soup with slipped from her hand and sank into the small pot with a clatter.

Unexpectedly, stinging tears filled her eyes.

Why am I doing this? Risha thought miserably. Why am I reliving this again? It happened over ten years ago. I have to let it go.

But she couldn’t. Sliding down to the smooth linoleum floor, she began to cry, for John, for Lance, for what she could have been, and for what she had become.

+++

The headlights from the approaching car lit up the Miller living room. Jaela set down the novel she was reading and walked over to the window, peeling back the curtains to take a good look. She sighed in relief as the Sentra her husband drove pulled into the driveway. She quickly ran to her favorite chair and picked up the novel, trying to look as occupied as she possibly could. The back door opened slowly, and footsteps were heard quietly creeping through the kitchen.

“Paul?” Jaela called out.

The footsteps stopped suddenly, and a quiet “shit” was heard through the silent house. Jaela turned around as her husband entered the room. The caring man she had married was now an angry man she didn’t want to be around anymore.

Setting down her book and taking her glasses off, Jaela placed them on the small coffee table and walked over to her husband, hugging him to cover up the uneasiness she felt. She was shocked as Paul forcefully pushed her down. What shocked her even more was the strong smell of women’s perfume that lingered on Paul’s clothes. She watched with wide eyes as Paul turned around and stormed up towards their bedroom. Jaela quickly followed and entered the room before her husband could slam the door shut.

“What do you want?” Paul sneered as he removed his tie and dress shoes, part of the outfit he wore to work each day.

“Where have you been?” Jaela demanded, her courage she had only gained in the moment deteriorated as she met Paul’s cold, blue eyes.

“Why is it any of your business, bitch?”

Jaela gasped at the obscenity she heard from her husband. Not once in all their years of marriage and through all their arguments had Paul ever called her a name.

“You are my husband,” she began lamely. “I was worried about you.”

“I’m a big boy now; I can take care of myself. Why don’t you go play Mommy to those brats of yours; they sure need it.”

Paul said nothing else as he walked out of the room and slammed the door to the guestroom across the hall.

Paul’s hurtful words still ran through Jaela’s mind, as she got ready for bed minutes later. She hoped this would be the only time Paul was like this, but deep inside her heart she knew it was just the beginning.

+++

The next morning, Chris staggered into the ER, only half-awake. He had come home from the hospital very late the night before (or very early that morning, actually), exhausted after his trying day at the hospital, but unable to sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, he saw Lance, unconscious and bloody, as he had been when they brought him into the ER that afternoon.

Lance’s parents had arrived shortly after the surgery was over, and Chris had filled them in on everything that had happened. Lance’s surgeon, Dr. Veers, had give them a more detailed account of the operation and allowed them to see Lance in Recovery. He hadn’t looked much better there than he had when he was first brought into the ER, except for the fact that his head was not bathed in blood. Dr. Veers had been very honest in telling Chris and the Bass family that although Lance had made it through surgery, he was by no means out of the woods yet, and it was not sure whether he would ever be the same person he once was.

Chris had finally gone home, at Mrs. Bass’s insistence, but he might as well have stayed at the hospital, for he did not get to sleep until very early in the morning and was awakened just a few hours later by his alarm clock. He got up, got dressed, and decided to go to the hospital to work his shift. He knew he could easily call in and get the day off, but he was determined to keep himself busy, knowing that if he didn’t work, he would do nothing but worry about Lance all day, and that wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“Chris!” Melissa Ruffino gasped as he appeared at the nurses station. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “You look like hell!”

“Thanks,” Chris replied dryly, giving her a tired smile.

“No, seriously, Chris, are you actually planning to work today?” Melissa asked, looking at him in concern.

Chris shrugged. “Got nothing else to do,” he said. “I need to take my mind off things.”

“But Chris, you look like you haven’t slept at all!”

“I haven’t,” Chris said flatly, chuckling ruefully.

“Go lie down in one of the exam rooms then,” Melissa said. “Get some sleep. You can’t work like this.”

“I couldn’t sleep, even if I tried,” Chris told her.

“Alright, fine. But you’re not seeing patients today, not like that. You can have set-up duty.”

“Oh, come on, Mel,” Chris started to protest, but stopped, realizing she was right. He was in no state to be treating people, not on the few hours of sleep he had gotten. “Okay,” he relented.

“Have you been up to see Lance yet this morning?” Melissa asked.

“No, not yet. Do you know where he’s been moved to?”

“He’s in NeuroICU,” Melissa replied. “I called up there earlier and talked to Alana Hill. She said she’s taken over his case and that there hasn’t been any change in his condition since last night.”

“Oh,” Chris said with a frown. Shrugging, he added, “Well, I guess that’s kind of a good thing. At least he didn’t take a turn for the worse.”

Melissa nodded. “I’m sure everything’s going to be alright,” she said, but Chris could see through her false bravado. She was just as uncertain about Lance’s future as he was.

+++

“Good morning, Dr. Littrell.”

“Morning, Nick,” Brian Littrell said to his med student, Nick Carter, as he passed her on his way to the nurses station.

“Hi, Mel,” he said to Melissa. “Do you know if Blair Cartier has been taken up to pedes yet? He was supposed to have been sent up last night after I left, but the ER was crazy yesterday, so who knows…”

“Blair Cartier… oh, you mean the four-year-old poisoning victim?” Melissa asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Yeah, he’s in the PICU,” Melissa replied. “Dr. Moore has been overseeing his case.”

“Okay, good. Thanks, Melissa,” Brian said and headed straight for that floor.

Upon entering the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Brian found Blair’s father sitting beside his son’s bed.

“Good morning, Mr. Cartier,” Brian said quietly, approaching her.

Brad Cartier turned and gave him a grim smile. “’Morning, Doctor,” he said dully.

Seeing the dark circles under Brad’s eyes, Brian asked, “Were you here all night?”

Brad nodded. “Carrie took the kids home to sleep, but I just couldn’t leave him here alone, just in case he woke up.”

“Did you talk to Dr. Moore at all?” Brian asked, referring to pediatrician Julianna Moore, who had been on call during the night.

“Yeah. She said he’s in a… in a coma.” Brad’s voice cracked on the last word.

“It’s probably a light coma,” Brian told him. “Blair will most likely wake up from it very soon, within a few days at most. It’s just a way for his body to recover.”

“So he’s not going to die?”

“I can’t promise that. Poisoning cases like this are very serious. But the odds are in his favor.”

Brad nodded emotionlessly. He let out a sigh. “I can’t believe something like this could happen. My step-daughter… Meg… how could she accidentally leave a cup of detergent sitting on the washer? How could anyone be that irresponsible?”

“She’s only a kid,” Brian said gently. “Kids make mistakes. I’m sure she’s very sorry about what happened.”

Brad looked doubtful. “She doesn’t like Blair. She doesn’t like me or any of my kids. She’s picked on them constantly ever since Carrie and I got married last year. I thought she just needed some time to adjust, but it’s been months, and she hasn’t gotten any better. And when it comes to Meg, it’s like Carrie’s blind, like she doesn’t see what Meg is like.”

“Have you thought about seeing a marriage or family counselor sometime?” Brian suggested, not wanting to get dragged in the middle of his family problems.

“No,” Brad said quickly. “We don’t need anything like that.”

“Alright. Well, if you do want to look into it, I can give you some referrals,” said Brian.

“Thanks,” Brad said. “Well, I’m going to go get a cup of coffee now.” He stood up quickly and hurried out of the room like a caged animal who had just been set free.

Brian just shook his head and turned to examine Blair.

+++

Justin Timberlake looked up as the double doors of the ER burst open, and a hysterical old woman came running in, screaming. He set down the chart he was filling and hurried over to her.

“Ma’am? Ma’am, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Mein Ehemann! Mein Ehemann! Er ist im Auto... etwas falsch mit ihm! Er kann nicht atmen! Helfen Sie ihm, bitte!”

(AN: Sorry if the German isn’t quite correct. I’m in my third year of German right now, but I’m certainly no expert, and the Altavista translator doesn’t always translate things right.)

Justin gaped at her. “Uh… what?”

“Bitte! Er benötigt Hilfe!”

Justin looked around desperately for someone who could figure out what she was saying. Something was obviously very wrong, but he couldn’t understand her. He saw Jack Palmer walking out of one of the exam rooms and shouted, “Dr. Palmer! Dr. Palmer, c’mere, quick!”

Jack hurried over. “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking from the sobbing woman to the panicked Justin.

“Bitte Doktor, können Sie meinem Ehemann helfen?” the woman asked pleadingly, reaching out to Jack.

“Can you understand what she’s saying?” Justin asked.

“It’s her husband,” Jack said after a moment’s hesitation. Noticing the astonished expression on Justin’s face, he added, “I took two years of German in high school. Don’t remember much of it anymore, but I understood ‘please’, ‘doctor’, ‘husband’, and ‘help’.” To the woman, he asked, “Wo ist dein Herr?”

The German came out rather brokenly, but it got the point across. An expression of relief came over the woman’s face, and she cried, “Im Auto!”

“He’s out in the car,” Jack told Justin, and the two men followed the woman outside, where an old, beige car was parked right outside the door. The woman flung open the door to the backseat, and they peered inside to find an old man slumped across the backseat, breathing in ragged gasps, his chest heaving. His skin was clammy and pale, and his whole body was shaking.

“It’s alright, sir, we’re going to help you,” Jack said, leaning into the car. He doubted the man couldn’t understand him, and he didn’t know how to say the words in German, but he hoped his tone of voice was at least reassuring. “Justin, run back inside and get a gurney. Hurry.”

Justin ran off, and Jack crawled into the car. “Wo… wo…” He tried to think of how to ask the man where he was in pain in German. “Um… wo… wo hast du… Schmerz?”

He doubted that was correct grammar-wise, but the man understood him and gasped out, “Mein Herz!”

Justin returned a moment later with Melissa Ruffino, wheeling a gurney.

“Justin, he’s having a heart attack,” Jack said. “Let’s get him inside.” He climbed back out of the car, and together, he and Justin eased the man out of the backseat and onto the gurney.

They rushed him into the ER, his wife tagging along behind, still sobbing and crying, “Was ist mit ihm los? Was ist mit ihm los?”

“Hey, Mel, you know German?” Jack asked as they pushed the man into one of the rooms.

“Spanish. Sorry,” she replied.

“Do you know anyone who can speak it fluently?” Jack asked. “I’ve had two years, but I don’t remember enough to really talk to these people.”

“Um…” Melissa racked her brain. “No… not that I can think of.”

“Get Addie then. She had four years in high school; she might be able to help. Justin, go track down Addie Burke, will you?”

Justin nodded and took off looking for the nurse, while Jack and Melissa hooked the man up to monitors. He was still conscious at first, but almost immediately, his eyes rolled back into his head, and the heart monitor went wild.

“Sir! Sir, can you hear me?” Jack called, while Melissa inserted an IV into his arm. Turning to his crying wife, Jack asked, “Wie heisst er?”

“Peter. Was ist mit ihm los? Stirbt er?” She watched her husband with wide, frightened, tear-filled eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand you,” Jack said apologetically. Turning back to the man, he called his name. “Peter! Peter!” Peter did not respond.

“Dr. Palmer, Addie’s with a patient right now,” Justin said breathlessly, as he made it back to the room.

“I don’t care, go get her,” Jack ordered. “The wife’s freaking out, and I don’t know what to say.” Justin nodded and darted back out of the room.

“He’s in V-fib,” Melissa said, directing his attention back to the heart monitor. “Paddles?”

“Yeah,” Jack replied, and she hurried to get a crash cart. “Charge to 200… clear!”

Peter’s wife cried out as Jack shocked his chest. “Peter!” she moaned. “Bitte retten Sie ihn!”

“No response. Charge to 300… clear!’

“Bitte! Bitte!” The woman’s pleas rose over the whine of the heart monitor, as Jack desperately tried to bring her husband back.

+++

Justin turned the corner and started to run down the hall where nurse Natalie Spade had claimed to have seen Addie working. Not seeing the yellow sign marked “Wet Floor”, he immediately slipped, skidded across the freshly-mopped tile, and fell flat on his backside.

“Ohh…” he groaned, lying there for a moment, wondering if he had broken his tailbone. He squeezed his eyes closed in pain.

“You okay, dude?”

Justin’s eyes instantly opened, and he looked up into the amused-looking face of a young blonde man. Nick Carter, fellow ER med student. Glaring and avoiding Nick’s laughing blue eyes, Justin scrambled his feet, trying his best to ignore the throbbing in his butt.

“Ya might wanna pay attention to the sign next time,” Nick said, pointing out the yellow sign.

“Thanks,” Justin spat dryly, his cheeks growing hot.

Nick smirked. “What do you need?”

“I’m looking for Addie Burke,” Justin replied, remembering why he was there.

“I think she’s with a patient right now,” the man said.

“Yeah, that’s what Natalie told me. We need her in Trauma 2. It’s an emergency.”

Nick frowned, but shrugged and nodded. “I’ll go get her.”

He disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later, followed by the short brunette nurse. “Here he is,” he said to her.

“Thanks, Nick,” she replied. To Justin, she asked, “Did Jack send you?”

“Yeah,” Justin said. “How’d you know that?”

Addie smiled. “Trust me, it wasn’t too hard to guess. Tell him to save his ‘emergencies’ for another time; I’m a little busy right now.”

Confused, Justin said, “No, really, it’s an emergency. There’s this German couple downstairs, and the guy’s having a heart attack, and the woman’s hysterical, and none of us know German well enough to talk to her. Dr. Palmer said you do.”

“Ohhh.” Addie’s cheeks grew pink. “Sorry, I thought he was just making up excuses just to get me to come in there.” Seeing Justin’s face grow more confused, she laughed and added, “He’s my boyfriend, you know. He’s notorious for inventing ‘emergencies’ that I need to come down for.”

“Oh.” Justin laughed slightly.

“Nick, do you happen to know German? I’m probably a little rusty; I haven’t had it since high school.”

“Um… ich liebe dich?” Nick said with a shrug.

Addie laughed at his bad pronunciation (AN: Anyone who knows German and has seen the “Backstreet Boys Live in Concert” video that was filmed in Frankfurt in ’97 will probably know what I’m talking about LOL) and replied, “I love you too.” To Justin, she said, “Well, let’s go then. Nick, can you finish up with Mr. Germaine?”

“Sure,” said Nick. Dr. Burke hurried off down the hall, and Justin tagged along behind her, rubbing his tender behind.

+++

“Mel, can you please take her out of here?” Jack asked, shocking Peter’s chest for yet another time. Lowering his voice, even though he knew Peter’s wife couldn’t understand him, he added, “I don’t think we’re going to get him back.”

Melissa nodded and lay her hand gently on the woman’s shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and looked at Jack.

“Geh mit ihr,” said Jack, motioning out the door.

“Aber…” the woman started, then stopped and nodded. She let Melissa lead her out of the room and to the chairs across the hall.

The pattern on the heart monitor changed as Melissa came back in. “He’s in asystole,” Jack said, putting down the paddles. They would do no good at this state.

“He’s been down for at least half an hour. You gonna call it?” Melissa asked.

Jack watched the flat green line run across the monitor for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Time of death: 10:19.”

Just then, Justin came in, followed by Jack’s girlfriend, Addie Burke.

“You lost him?” she asked sympathetically.

Jack nodded. “Looks like a massive coronary.”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Addie said. “There was probably just too much damage done. Is that his wife out in the hall?”

“Yeah. Could you go tell her?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, hopefully, if I can remember enough German to get it right.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jack said.

“Me too,” Justin added, and the three walked out into the hall. Peter’s wife sat in a chair across the hall from the room, dabbing her eyes with a lacy handkerchief. She reminded Jack of his grandmother, and he dreaded having to give her such horrible news. She and her husband had probably been married for at least fifty years.

“Entschuldigung, Frau?” Addie asked gently. (Excuse me, ma’am?)

The woman looked up. “Wie ist er, Doktor?” she asked plaintively. (How is he, doctor?)

Addie pursed her lips. “Dein Mann hatte einen Herzanfall. Er war sehr…” She searched for the right word, wishing her German were better. “… schlecht. Es tut mir leid, aber… er hat gestorben.” (Your husband had a heart attack. It was very… bad. I’m sorry, but… he died.)

“Nein! Nein, nicht meiner Peter! Peter!” (No! No, not my Peter! Peter!) The woman began to sob again, her frail shoulders shaking.

Justin didn’t have a clue what Addie and the woman were actually saying, but German or English, the grief was the same. He swallowed hard and bowed his head in sorrow as the old woman cried.

+++

Around noon, the little string of bells hanging from the door of Sully’s jangled as JC Chasez walked in, followed by Isabel Rivera.

“There they are, over there,” Isabel said to JC, pointing to a four-person table, where Nick Carter sat across from Mandy Smith, JC’s girlfriend, who was a surgical nurse.

JC smiled and strode over to the table, wrapping his arms around Mandy from behind. “JC!” she giggled, turning around to greet him. He pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, Isabel going around to the other side of the table to sit next to Nick.

JC had taken Isabel under his wing while Jack Palmer had been supervising Bianca Parker’s med student Justin. After all, Isabel was the smart, enthusiastic one that didn’t need to be told what to do all the time, and Justin was an insecure, awkward moron. Since he and Mandy met at Sully’s for lunch nearly every day, and Isabel and Nick did the same, the four of them had eaten together the day before and had decided to do the same thing again.

While they waited for their food to come, they talked about their day so far. Nick amused them all with a story about Justin Timberlake slipping and falling on his ass in the hall, while Isabel told them about the sweet old man who had suffered a stroke that she had taken care of that morning.

“So how’s Lance Bass doing?” Mandy asked after awhile. She did not know Lance well, but the nurses in the hospital often got together for things, and so she was acquainted with him.

JC sighed solemnly. Having done a neurology round with Alana Hill, who was now Lance’s doctor, he was familiar enough with her to go and ask about Lance’s condition earlier that day, and she had told him the hard truth.

“It’s hard to say at this point,” JC said. “He’s in a coma, and his Glasgow scores don’t look too good right now. If he does pull through, he’s going to have a huge recovery to make. It’s unlikely he’d ever be normal again.”

The four of them lapsed into silence, sobered by the harsh reality that one of their own was in such a critical state. At that point, their waitress arrived with a large tray of food, and they started to eat quietly, glad for the distraction, the break from their world of injury, sickness, and death.

+++

“Someone help! My wife’s in labor! Please, someone!”

ER Physician Elizabeth O’Brien quickly dropped the chart she was filling out and hurried over to the young couple that had just staggered through the ER doors. The man was practically holding up his panting wife, who was obviously very pregnant.

Addie Burke appeared with a wheelchair, and she and Elizabeth eased the woman down into it and took her into one of the exam rooms. They helped her up onto the table.

“What’s your name, ma’am?” Elizabeth asked, as Addie inserted an IV into her arm.

“Brooke Calley,” the woman gasped, grimacing in pain.

“And how far along are you, Mrs. Calley?”

“Thirty-three weeks. And it’s triplets.”

“Triplets? Well, how exciting. Addie, can you page OB?”

“Sure.” Addie got on the phone right away, while Elizabeth fit Brooke’s legs into the stirrups at the end of the bed so she could examine her.

“Okay, Brooke, you’re almost fully dilated already, so it won’t be much longer,” Elizabeth told her. “How long have you been in labor?”

“Only a few hours. I thought we’d have plenty of time, but it just happened so quick.”

“You’re lucky then,” said Elizabeth with a smile. “Some women spend whole days in here in labor before giving birth.”

Brooke nodded, trying to smile weakly, but she was obviously in pain. “Can I get an epidural or anything?” she asked.

“Sure. Addie, can you take care of that?”

Addie, who had just hung up the phone, nodded. “Sure,” she replied. “Oh, and just so you know, one of the OB’s will be down soon.”

”Thanks, Addie,” Elizabeth said, and Addie left the room. She returned a few minutes to administer the epidural, as Elizabeth ran an ultrasound.

“Your babies look perfectly fine, Mr. and Mrs. Calley,” she said to Brooke and her nervous-looking husband, Bryan. “Have you been told the sexes yet?”

“No. We don’t want to know until they’re born,” Bryan said, smiling widely.

Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile back. “Are these your first children?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Brooke said, relaxing a bit as a contraction passed. “We’re so excited. We tried for years to get pregnant, but we couldn’t, so we ended up using fertility drugs. It cost a fortune, but it’s worth it.”

“Is this the triplets?” asked a deep voice. Elizabeth turned to see OB Melanie Reyes sweep into the room.

“Yes,” she said. “This is Brooke and Bryan Calley.”

“Good to meet you,” said Melanie, shaking Bryan’s hand. “I’m just going to examine you real quick, Mrs. Calley.” She sat down in Elizabeth’s chair and repeated the examinations Elizabeth had given Brooke. “Everything looks great,” she said when he was done. “We should be ready to head up to the delivery room within a couple hours at the latest.”

Brooke nodded, grinning nervously, and grabbed her husband’s hand.

+++

An hour and a half later, Brooke had been moved to a room on the maternity floor and was moaning in agony as another contraction hit. They were coming only minutes apart now, and the pain was bad, even with the epidural. Brooke couldn’t imagine trying to give birth naturally, with no drugs.

“How are we doing, Mrs. Calley?” asked Melanie, coming into the room.

“I think they’re close,” Brooke gasped.

“Let’s check.” Melanie sat down and examined her again and nodded. “Yeah, I think we’d better head down to delivery now.”

“Bryan.” Brooke reached out for her husband’s hand again. He took it, looking slightly queasy, and walked alongside her as Melanie Reyes and two nurses wheeled her on a gurney down the hall to one of the delivery rooms.

“Could you page pediatrics and get two of them up here, please?” Melanie asked one of the nurses.

“Sure, Dr. Reyes,” the woman replied and got on the phone that was located in the delivery room.

“Alright, Mrs. Calley, we’re going to wait out a couple more contractions, and then I think it will be time to push,” Melanie instructed Brooke.

She nodded, gritting her teeth as she went into another contraction.

Before long, Brian Littrell and Siara Reily, both pediatricians, had arrived to take care of the babies once they were born. Brooke had gone through another contraction, and it was finally time to deliver.

“Okay, Mrs. Calley, on the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can for me,” Melanie said, positioning herself at the end of the bed.

The contraction hit, and Brooke pushed with all her might, clenching her jaw in pain.

“That’s it, baby, push hard,” Bryan coached, his voice shaking with excited nervousness.

“Good, good. Keep pushing,” said Melanie. “I can see the head of the first baby.”

Moments later, a shrill cry sounded, as Melanie pulled the first baby out. “It’s a boy,” she said, as one of the nurses cut the umbilical cord, wrapped the baby in a towel, and handed him off to Brian.

The contraction stopped, and Brooke fell back onto the gurney, panting.

“You’re doing a great job,” Melanie told her. “On the next contraction, I want you to push again, and we’ll get Baby Number Two out.”

Brooke nodded, and when the next contraction came, she again pushed as hard as she could. Her energy was beginning to fail her, but she kept pushing, and finally, the second of the triplets was delivered.

“Another boy,” Melanie said, holding him up so Brooke could see. “If this keeps up, you might have three identical boys.”

Brooke and Bryan exchanged excited grins. There were tears in Brooke’s eyes, but not just from the pain.

“How are they?” Bryan asked anxiously. “Are they healthy?”

“They both look perfect, Mr. Calley,” Siara answered from the corner of the room, where three clear plastic cribs sat, two containing babies.

Brooke and Bryan smiled happily. But suddenly, Melanie said, “Oh no.”

“What is it?” Brooke asked, her head snapping back to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

“The third baby’s shifted positions. It’s breech now.”

“Breech?” Bryan repeated.

“It’s upside down, feet-first instead of head-first. It will make for a harder delivery.”

“Oh no,” Brooke moaned.

Another contraction came. “Push,” Melanie instructed. “Push as hard as you can.”

She pushed, knowing that this would be the last time. But it was also the hardest time. She kept pushing, and Melanie kept trying to get it out, but it was a struggle, for the baby’s positioning made it twice as hard as the other two.

Finally, Melanie pulled the baby out. But unlike the other two, there was no cry.

“What’s wrong? Why isn’t it crying?” Brooke asked, her voice trembling with panic and exhaustion.

The baby was not breathing. “Come on, little guy,” Melanie said softly, massaging the baby’s tiny chest. Natalie cut the umbilical cord and passed the baby on to Brian and Siara to work on.

“Why isn’t it crying?” Bryan asked, repeating his wife’s question.

“Your baby’s not breathing,” Melanie told them grimly. “Dr. Littrell and Dr. Reily are working on him. This happens sometimes, where babies aren’t breathing when they’re delivered, but most of them come around right away. Just hold on.”

It was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity to Brooke and Bryan, who waited in suspense to hear the cry of their third-born. But finally, it came, a newborn’s squawking cry.

“Congratulations,” Brian said from across the room. “You have three healthy boys.”

“Three boys,” Bryan whispered, grinning proudly. He bent over and hugged Brooke as best he could.

“Would you like to hold them?” asked Ivory, carrying the first baby over to Brooke.

Brooke tearfully took her son and cradled him lovingly in her arms, while Bryan sat in a chair next to her, holding the two others, one in each arm.

Looking at them all, Bryan grinned again and repeated, “Three boys!”

+++

While the happy couple celebrated three new lives, Chris Kirkpatrick sat in a darkened cubicle, five floors below, staring dazedly at the still, ghost white face of Lance Bass, who lay motionless on the bed, comatose. Monitors around him beeped softly, their screens giving off an acid green glow that illuminated the dim room, creating an eerie atmosphere.

“Excuse me, Chris?”

Chris turned slowly towards the voice and found neurologist Alana Hill standing there. He did not reply.

“I, uh, was just about to head out and wanted to know if I could get you anything before I left.” Chris had been sitting there for over an hour, never moving, never speaking, just sitting there.

“No,” Chris said, his voice hoarse. “Thanks.”

“No problem. If there’s ever anything I can do…” Alana trailed off, shrugging. “Well… goodnight.”

She left.

Chris remained, keeping watch over Lance. But really, he was not sure Lance was even still there with him. His body was, of course. But his soul hovered between life and death, between the light and the darkness, the white and the black.

After awhile, Chris’s eyelids began to grow heavy. Despite his efforts to stay awake, his head slumped to the side, and his eyes slowly shut. And all he saw was black.

Black.

+++
Homecoming by RokofAges75
Episode 11:

Homecoming


It was 6:45 in the morning when AJ McLean’s black jeep pulled up in front of the ER entrance of Atlantic City Memorial Hospital. He screeched to a stop, put the car into park, and turned to his girlfriend, Bianca Parker.

“You sure you’re up to this, Bean?” he asked.

Bianca rolled her grayish-blue eyes. “Aje, it’s been over a month. I’m fine.”

“I know you say that now, but you have a demanding job. You’re going to be exhausted trying to keep up after being away for five weeks.”

“I know. And that’s exactly why I’m coming back. The longer I wait, the harder it will be to get back into the swing of things.” AJ opened his mouth to protest, but she leaned over, kissed him quickly on the lips, and said, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” She gave him a little smile, opened the door, and climbed carefully out of the jeep.

It had been over a month since the accident she and her best friend Brianna Chambers had been in, and although she was almost fully-recovered from the emergency surgery she had undergone to fix internal bleeding, she still had to take things slow. She knew that going back to work was going to be a shock to her system, but she didn’t care. She had been lying around, recuperating, for a month, and she couldn’t stand it any longer. She was ready to get back to her job as an ER physician. And from what she had heard, she was desperately needed.

It was bad enough that she had been forced to take a month-long break, but now Lance Bass was no longer able to work, and the ER was missing two of its staff members.

It was AJ who had told her about Lance, that he had attempted suicide just six days earlier. Bianca had been unable to believe him. Lance was such a nice person and had always seemed happy to her. Come to find out, he had suffered from clinical depression before and the suicide of a patient he had bonded with had put him over the edge and driven him to a similar fate. Lance had survived the near-fatal gunshot wound to his head, but from what AJ had been telling Bianca, it didn’t look very good for him. He had been in a coma ever since, and although his doctors were fairly sure he would live, no one knew how much damage had been done.

“I’ll pick you up at noon,” AJ called to Bianca from the driver’s seat.

“Alright. See ya then, babe,” Bianca called back, waving as he reluctantly drove away, heading for the EMT station. Bianca was about to head through the sliding double doors into the ER when a siren sounded behind her. She turned to see an ambulance pull up and paramedics Allison Brooks, Howie Dorough, and Amelia Caston hop out. She immediately hurried over.

“What do you got?” she asked, as they pulled a stretcher out of the back.

“Homeless man found unconscious in an alleyway,” said Allison. “He’s severely dehydrated. We started him on saline, IV drip.”

Bianca wrinkled her nose at the odor wafting up from the man’s body. “Lovely. What a way to start a day, huh?” she commented dryly.

Seeing the look on her face, Howie laughed. “Welcome back, Dr. Parker.”

+++

Nick Carter hummed softly to himself as he walked through the doors marked Oncology that morning. He had a few minutes to spare before heading to the ER to start his shift and he wanted to check up on someone before work.

Stopping outside Bailey Cole’s room, he lifted her chart from the door as a smile slowly spread across his handsome face.

“Hey, good morning,” Nick said softly, entering the room. He closed the curtain dividing the room and perched on the edge of her bed.

“Morning,” Bailey greeted him, setting down her book.

“You’re up early,” Nick remarked. It was just after seven.

Bailey shrugged. “I woke up about six and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“Well, I heard you got some good news yesterday,” Nick started, unable to suppress a smile. “Your leukemia’s in remission? You’ll probably be going home soon?”

Bailey’s reaction was not exactly what Nick was expecting. She simply nodded and looked down at her covers.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked immediately, frowning. “This is great news, Bailey.”

“I guess so,” Bailey replied with a half-hearted shrug.

“Don’t you want to go home?” asked Nick, confused.

Bailey looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. His eyes were filled with puzzlement, hers with forlornness. “Home? I don’t have a home, Nick,” she said bitterly. “ ‘Home’ for me means going to live with perfect strangers for a few months, then getting shipped back to the children’s home until I can get placed into yet another foster home. But I can never really ‘go home’.”

“Bailey, your foster parents have come every day to see you. They care about you, and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to find out you’re finally coming to live with them. I know it’s not the same as having your real family and a permanent home, but who knows - maybe this foster family will adopt you, and then you will have a real family and a real home.”

Bailey shook her head. “I’ve given up wishing for that,” she said. “Nobody wants to adopt an eleven-year-old. They only want babies or cute little kids. Nobody would want an ugly, diseased thing like me.” Her eyes had filled with tears, but she blinked them back furiously, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

“Bailey…” Nick started, but he had no idea what to say. He had no idea what her life had been like, and anything he thought of to tell her sounded generic and fake. He reached out tentatively and laid his hand on one of her bony shoulders. “It’ll be okay, Bailey,” he said, almost pleadingly, wishing he could make her happy. “Everything’ll be okay.”

Bailey’s shoulder had begun to shake beneath his hand, as tears streamed silently down her cheeks. She looked so alone and helpless, her skinny form hunched over in bed, her head bowed to hide her tears. Impulsively, Nick leaned forward and gave her a hug. He meant it to only be a quick one, but she suddenly thrust her head up against his chest and began to cry harder. Slowly, he felt her small arms lock around him. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Nick awkwardly patted her back, soothing her until her trembling body relaxed.

“Thank you,” Bailey said finally, her voice thick, as she pulled away from him. “I needed that.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded. “Anytime,” he replied, and he meant it.

+++

Justin Timberlake strolled out of the lounge, looping his stethoscope around his neck, prepared to start his shift. Right as he walked out into the hallway, the ER doors slid open, and four women came in, pushing a stretcher. Three were paramedics, and the other one was wearing a jacket over a pair of scrubs, her purse still slung over one shoulder. Justin recognized her at once and offered a hesitant smile.

“Good morning, Dr. Parker,” he said. Even though she was supposed to be his supervisor, he didn’t know Dr. Bianca Parker well; she hadn’t worked since her car accident on his first night. He had had somewhat of a run-in with her earlier that day and knew he hadn’t given her a very good first impression. But now that she was back at work, he hoped he could change that.

“Hi, Justin!” Bianca replied. “How are you? Been getting along okay with out me?” She winked.

“Yup,” Justin said proudly. “How are you doing? Looks like you just got here; you want me to take that patient off your hands?”

Bianca started to insist that she was fine; she didn’t want to be treated like she was weak or fragile all day. But then a devious smile crossed her face. “Why, sure, Justin, thank you,” she said with exaggerated gratitude. “The EMTs will fill you in on his condition.” Then she breezed by him and headed into the lounge, snickering as soon as she was out of earshot.

As Justin approached the stretcher, he instantly regretted offering to take her patient as the rancid smell of rotten garbage, body odor, and urine wafted into his nose. He turned back to Bianca, but she had already disappeared into the lounge.

Turning around to face the dirty man on the stretcher, he noticed the three EMTs giggling.

“Looks like you just got screwed over, dude,” laughed Amelia.

Justin sighed heavily and tried not to breathe. “Yeah,” he said grudgingly. “Looks like it. Let’s take him to Exam 3.”

+++

Justin made a face as he leaned over the unconscious man. He pulled out his penlight and tentatively reached out to hold the man’s eyelids open while he flashed the light into them.

“Pupils are equal and reactive,” he said, his voice breathy, for he was still attempting to hold his breath.

“Oh, would you grow up?” snapped Allison, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “If you’re going to be an ER doc, you’re going to see people like this, so you better get used to it.”

Justin didn’t reply, but glared at her as soon as she turned away. “Geesh, what’s up her ass today?” he muttered under his breath to Amelia, who was standing beside him.

“What did you say?” asked Allison, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing,” Justin said quickly, his face getting hot. “Oh, sick, this dude’s got some kind of rash here,” he commented, pointing at the man’s neck, which was covered in small red blotches.

Allison peered closer. “Ah, you get a real treat today. He’s got scabies. Mites.”

Amelia couldn’t help but shudder; the thought of tiny parasites crawling around on her made her skin crawl.

Justin grimaced in repulsion. “Oh, God, this is just not going to be my day,” he moaned.

“Well, we better get going now. Get one of the nurses in here to help you,” announced Howie, grinning devilishly. “Have fun.”

The three paramedics breezed out of the room, leaving Justin alone.

“Great… now what am I supposed to do with him?” he muttered aloud, shooting the man a resentful glare.

“Talking to yourself, Timberlake?” nurse Natalie Spade laughed, as she walked into the room. “You need some help in here?”

Justin had begun to blush again, but he quickly regained his composure and grinned wickedly. “Yeah, I sure do. I think this guy’s gonna need a bath. And isn’t that a nurse’s job?”

Natalie took one look at the patient, then at Justin’s devilish face, and sighed. “Lovely.”

+++

Jaela Miller entered the hospital through the rarely used back entrance, her daughter held protectively against her chest. She was now running twenty-five minutes late, the result of another argument between herself and her husband, Paul. Jaela was running so late this morning, she had no time to drop her youngest daughter off at the daycare center, which was located at the opposite end of town. Jaela made it to the ER without incident as she balanced Rayna on her hip.

“Good morning, Jaela!”

Jaela spun around and saw nurse Mandie Smith down the hall, coming her way.

“Good morning, Mandie. What can I do for you today?” Jaela asked as she turned around and greeted the young nurse with a smile.

Mandie suppressed her gasp of surprise and returned the smile. “Well, I just needed to know if I could talk to you about something, whenever you are ready, of course.”

Jaela ignored the look of surprise on Mandie’s face and nodded her head in approval. “Just meet me back here around three; if my plans change suddenly, I will let you know. Can you do me a favor and take Rayna down the hospital day care center? I was running late today and didn’t have enough time to drop her off, so this is the best alternative.”

“Of course, no problem,” Mandie replied as she took the young child from Jaela’s arms.

“Thank you, Mandie. Now if you will excuse me, I have some things I need to accomplish before I start my shift.”

Mandie stood in a daze, moments after the other nurse had exited. She now knew she had a lot to tell JC at lunch today. Beginning with the bruises on Jaela’s face not hidden by the makeup she wore.

+++

Home. A hotel room was now their place of residence. Jim Bass sat in a chair positioned beside the bed, wrapped in a veil of silence.

Jim had been at his son, Lance’s, bedside almost every possible moment since he and his wife had received the news of Lance’s suicide attempt, which Jim would prefer to call an “accident”.

Now he again sat alone, silently willing his only son to wake up and fully recover, to shock the hell out of the doctors who had said it was impossible. The reason he sat alone was that his wife had flat out refused to come see their son anymore, and Jim figured she probably wouldn’t come unless the worse happened, and Lance did pass on. Jim knew Diane was disappointed in their son, but why couldn’t she just put that behind her and be there for their son? He knew it hurt Diane more than she showed, and she was just handling this by not viewing the source of her anguish.

Jim sighed and slumped over in his seat, his back muscles screaming in protest.

Suddenly, the form on the other side of the small hospital bed let out a muffled groan, and then all was silent in the room, except for the beeping of the monitors by Lance’s bedside.

Jim looked over at the sleeping form of Chris Kirkpatrick with a sad smile. He was thankful Chris stuck by his friend and was there for him. He also knew that Chris placed a majority of the blame for what happened to Lance upon his own shoulders, when he was not at fault.

Lance was the type of person, much like his mother, who kept many of his emotions to himself. Jim himself wished he could have been there for his son and possibly might have noticed the signs and talked his son out of what he did, but deep in his subconscious, he knew it would have done no good at all.

Jim stood up from his seat when a soft knock echoed throughout the small room. Slowly, the door opened, and Dr. Alana Hill stuck her head inside the room. Jim followed her outside, internally dreading bad news.
As the old saying goes, no news is good news.

All Dr. Hill had come to say was that she and a few colleagues would have a consultation about Lance’s condition later that day. Dr. Hill stressed that they had not and didn’t plan on giving up hope for Lance, and neither should Lance’s family, no matter how easy it may seem to just give up. Dr. Hill had seen plenty of miracles happen within the walls of this hospital, and she never planned on ceasing to believe miracles did exist.

After the doctor left, Jim quietly walked out of the NeuroICU in search for a pay phone. He had an important phone call to make.

+++

“Consultation meeting in five minutes. Be ready!” Holli Brunson announced to Alana Hill, as Risha Veers, Kevin Richardson, and Dr. King, an older, more experienced neurologist, followed her into the conference room.

Alana immediately excused herself from the conversation she was having with one of the nurses and rushed into his office, grabbing a large manila envelope and a stack of papers from her desk.

Walking into the conference room and shutting the large oak doors, Alana walked over to the equipment she would use to allow everyone to view the x-rays and flipped the switch, a bright light instantly coming on. As Alana arranged everything she would need, her fellow colleagues talked quietly amongst themselves. Alana took a seat at the head of the table and cleared her throat before she began to speak.

“Dr. Brunson, Dr. Richardson, Dr. Veers, Dr. King, thank you for taking time to come to this meeting,” Alana said in greeting. “Today we need to discuss the Lance Bass case. As you all know, Lance was brought in with a bullet wound to the head, which was operated on by Dr. Veers. Lance is now currently in the NeuroICU, and I need your input on how I can best deal with this very delicate situation.”

“Right,” Dr. King said, taking control over the meeting. “As Dr. Hill said, this is a very delicate situation, and we need to go over the options thoroughly. As you know, we all have been handed information in this case so we can be better prepared.”

Alana sat back and allowed her superior, Dr. King, to take over. She only spoke when she needed to add information, for Dr. King knew exactly what he was doing and projected the information as if Lance had been his own case.

The meeting lasted for approximately thirty minutes, and then it was decision time. At first, they decided to try and draw Lance out of the coma he was in. Although risky, the information presented led three fourths of the group to agree to this procedure. This was the plan, until Risha suggested that they try a newly developed combination of physical therapy and cessation of painkillers that may help bring Lance out of the deep coma before moving to the last resort, the risky procedure of bringing Lance out of the coma before his body was technically ready.

Lance’s life was now resting on a decision made in a large, impersonal conference room. They couldn’t back out now. This decision would either be a success or a failure. Everybody hoped for the first option.

+++

Around noon, Kevin Richardson took the elevator down to the ER to meet his girlfriend, Elizabeth O’Brien, for lunch. She had just finished with a patient and was there to greet him when he stepped out of the elevator.

“You ready to go?” he asked, and she nodded.

“All set.”

He took her hand, and the two of them left the ER. They walked down the sidewalk for two blocks, stopping when they came to Sully’s, the little café they ate in nearly every day. The food wasn’t exceptional, but it beat the cafeteria food, and it was the close to the hospital.

The couple waved to a few of their coworkers and sat down at a little two-person table together. A waitress came right over to take their order. Kevin ordered a club sandwich and fries; Elizabeth, a salad and soup.

While they waited for their food, Kevin remarked, “It’s Homecoming at Johnson tonight. They’re playing Indian Valley. Should be a pretty good game. You wanna go?”

Johnson High School, one of Atlantic City’s two public high schools, was not Kevin’s alma mater (he was originally from Kentucky), but it had one of the best football programs in the area, and it had not taken much for Kevin, who had played football in high school, to become a fan. He didn’t get to go to as many of their games as he wanted, for he was usually either working or out with Elizabeth on Friday nights, but since it was Homecoming, and since he was off that night, he decided he would go.

Elizabeth made a face. “You know I hate football,” she replied.

Kevin chuckled. “That’s only ‘cause you don’t understand it.”

“I don’t. What’s the point? It’s a stupid game.”

“It’s not stupid, if you knew what was going on. I’d explain it to you, if you’d just-“

“No, Kevin, I don’t want to spend the night at some stupid high school football game. Besides, it looks like it’s going to rain.” She glanced out the window at the cloudy, light gray sky.

“Oh, a little rain’ll never hurt, you big wuss,” Kevin said lightly, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Sometimes he felt so connected to Elizabeth, he could finish her sentences, and other times, it was like they were polar opposites. Personality-wise, they were very similar – both hard-working, rather serious perfectionists. But as far as interests went, the only things they really seemed to have in common were their loves for medicine and music. Elizabeth played the violin, and Kevin the piano. He also loved to sing and had an exceptionally good voice, which he had developed through years of singing in his church and school choirs. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was tone deaf. He thought it would be a riot to karaoke with her sometime, but Elizabeth wasn’t the kind of person you would take to karaoke night. Or to a football game, I guess, Kevin thought dejectedly.

“So, what should we do tonight?” Elizabeth asked.

Kevin frowned at her. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to the game,” he replied.

Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to frown. She looked like she wanted to protest, but she stopped herself, closed her mouth, and just shrugged. “Alright, fine,” she said simply and looked away from him. The conversation died down after that, and they didn’t say much more until the waitress brought their food.

+++

“Hey, Hayley!” Kevin called, on seeing the redheaded nurse in the hall when he arrived back on the surgical floor.

“Hey, ‘sup, Kev?” Hayley greeted him, smiling casually.

“You wanna come to the Johnson football game with me tonight? Elizabeth doesn’t want to go.”

Hayley wasn’t much of a football fan either; in fact, she seemed to enjoy making fun of the players and cheerleaders more than actually watching the game. But that was okay; it made her fun to take along. The two had attended other football games together, on nights when Elizabeth was working or refused to come with Kevin, and they always had a good time.

“Sure, I guess so,” Hayley said. “Is it supposed to rain tonight?”

“I dunno,” answered Kevin. “It’s cloudy, but hopefully it’ll hold off till tomorrow.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Hayley replied. “Well, I better get going. I’m assisting Holli on a gastric bypass in a little bit. See ya around.”

“Have fun,” Kevin said with a smirk.

Hayley rolled her eyes. “Oh, I will,” she said with sarcastic enthusiasm, smiling at him as she turned and walked back down the hall.

+++

“Hey, Addie, are you ready to go?” Jack Palmer called to his girlfriend, Addie, who was getting ready in the bathroom.

“Yup,” she said, emerging. She came out into the apartment’s tiny living room and slung her purse over her shoulder with a tired sigh. After a long day at work, Addie couldn’t wait to get home from the football game they were going to, sink into bed beside Josh, and go to sleep.

“Alright, let’s go ahead and leave now then. I need to make a quick stop at the hospital on the way; I have to pick up some charts that I haven’t reviewed yet,” Jack said.

“Okay,” replied Addie, and the two of them went down to the parking lot outside their apartment house. They climbed into Jack’s black Mercury Cougar and were on their way.

When they reached Memorial, Jack parked in the staff lot and turned off the engine. “Just wait here,” he told Addie. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she said, as he climbed out of the car. She watched as he hurried off towards the brightly lit entrance of the hospital and disappeared through its revolving glass door.

Jack raced through the hospital, making his way towards the ER. When he got there, he ran straight to the nurses station, where a tearful woman stood, hysterically shouting at Natalie Spade.

“Please, I have to find my daughter! Her name is Abby James. She was in a car accident! Please, where is she? Is she okay?”

“Ma’am, you have to calm down,” Natalie was saying patiently. “The doctors are still working on your daughter, and when they’re done, someone will come talk to you. If you could please just wait over their in chairs…”

“No, I can’t wait! Not until I know what’s wrong with her! Please, please just let me see her!”

“Ma’am, you need to go sit in chairs right now,” Natalie said again. “Just calm down and go wait. Someone will be out as soon as they know something. You aren’t allowed in the room while they’re working.”

She finally coaxed the woman into going to sit down in the waiting area and then gave Jack a frazzled smile. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re not working tonight, are you?”

“No,” Jack said. “I’m looking for Justin, actually. He’s still here, right?”

“Yeah, you just got him in time. He gets off in half an hour,” Natalie replied.

“Oh good. Do you know where he is?”

“Um, I think he’s with a patient right now. Try Exam 4,” said Natalie.

“Thanks,” Jack told her gratefully and rushed off to Exam 4. He found Justin suturing a little girl’s finger. “Hey, Justin?”

Justin looked up. “Oh, hi, Dr. Palmer,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re off at seven, right?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you do me a huge favor?”

“What is it?” asked Justin

“Come here,” Jack said, motioning Justin away from his patient.

“Just a minute, honey,” Justin said to the little girl, who nodded shyly. “Okay, what is it?” Justin asked, as Jack led him out into the hall.

“Alright,” Jack said, his voice low and secretive. “Here’s what I need you to do…”

+++

It smelled like rain, and the dark clouds hanging low on the horizon looked awfully foreboding, but excitement permeated the atmosphere. It was Homecoming at Johnson High School, and their football team, the Cobras, was playing the Indian Valley Panthers, who had not driven forty-five minutes to Atlantic City to lose. Emotions were high as the two teams took the field.

Kevin and Hayley sat together near the top of the stands, right on the fifty-yard-line. Kevin had been carrying on a conversation with her the whole time they had been sitting there, but as soon as the long line of Cobras ran onto the field, he rose from his seat and began to cheer, ignoring Hayley. She just rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him and let him have his fun.

When the teams began to warm up, the crowd calmed down, and Kevin took his seat again. “You want anything before the game starts?” he asked Hayley, watching as a rather hefty woman waddled by with a large container of nachos.

“No, I’m fine for now,” she replied. “Maybe at halftime.”

Her eyes drifted over the football field, snickering as the watched the players frolic across the field as part of their warm-ups. Then her eyes roamed down to the track, where the cheerleaders were practicing their stunts. She made a face at the skinny redhead who was standing in the other girls’ hands, a smile plastered on her face as she raised a fist in the air.

“Oh wow, did you see that kick?” Kevin was nudging her excitedly in the side. “Did you see that kick, Hay? It looked like it could have been a 50-yarder!” Hayley glanced at the Johnson kicker, who had begun to practice his field goals.

“Jeez, don’t wet yourself, Kev,” Hayley teased, grinning at him. “No, I didn’t see it.”

“Watch, just watch him. He’s got a good leg on him, that kid.”

Hayley nodded, but soon lost interest in the kicker. She instead occupied herself with watching the other people in the crowd. That is, until a large red-haired woman squeezed in front of Hayley, blocking her view.

“Sorry, excuse me, excuse me, sorry,” the woman kept repeating, as she made her way through the rows of people, trying to find a seat on the bleachers. She sat down heavily on the empty spot next to Hayley and began immediately chatting to the woman on her other side, obviously one of her friends.

“Pam! How are you doing, dear? I haven’t talked to you in forever!” Hayley heard the woman exclaim. Hayley didn’t hear the other woman’s reply, but then the red-haired woman said, “Oh, look! They’ve got Angel on the top of that pyramid! That’s my girl! She’s the best flyer on the squad!”

Hayley glanced down at the cheerleaders and saw that they had moved into another formation, the skinny redhead again on top. Hayley glanced at the girl’s mother from the corner of her eye and saw that she was wearing a green sweatshirt embroidered with “Cheerleader Mom” in yellow (green and yellow were the Johnson colors). She had a button pinned to her sweatshirt with a picture of her daughter posing in her cheerleading uniform. Hayley rolled her eyes and looked away from the woman.

Suddenly, the speakers overhead crackled, and a man’s voice projected over the stands. “Welcome to Johnson High’s Homecoming game, against the Indian Valley Panthers! Would you all please rise and join the Johnson High School Marching Cobras in their playing of the national anthem!”

Hayley looked back to the field and saw that the football players were lined up on the sidelines. The marching band had taken their place in the middle of the field, in a formation that looked crudely like a large “JHS”.

As the band raised their instruments, Hayley dutifully rose, turned towards the flag waving in the end zone, and put her hand over her heart.

+++

Three minutes before halftime, the Cobras were up 21-10 and had just recovered a Panther fumble. Things looked promising for Johnson.

“You want to get something to eat now?” Kevin asked Hayley. “We can beat the rush if we head down to the concession stand now.”

“Yeah, sure,” Hayley replied, standing up. Kevin made his way through the crowd, Hayley following closely behind him. They climbed down the bleachers and walked to the concession area next to the stands.

“What do you want?” Kevin asked, when it came time for them to order. He took out his wallet from his back pocket.

“Oh, no, I’ll get it,” Hayley said. She had already removed her own billfold from her purse.

“No, no, it’s my treat,” Kevin insisted. “What do you want?”

“Popcorn and a bottled water,” Hayley replied. “But really, I can pay for myself.”

Kevin ignored her and ordered her popcorn and bottled water, along with his Coke and pork chop.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Hayley said, when he handed her her food a few minutes later.

“I know. I wanted to,” replied Kevin, grinning. “You ready to head back up?” Hayley nodded, and they made their way back to the bleachers, pushing past the swarm of fans heading towards the concession stand.

They had to stand next to the fence that surrounded the track and football field for a few minutes, as they waited to get back up into the stands. The cheerleaders were on the other side of the fence, fanning themselves and talking animatedly to each other. Hayley noticed the skinny redhead she had seen earlier sitting by herself on the track, her back pressed against the fence, sipping a bottled water. Her skin looked pale and sweaty.

“You okay, Angel?” asked a tall, tan blonde, noticing the redhead.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” replied Angel, but her voice sounded oddly shaky. “I just don’t feel that great. I think I’m coming down with something.”

“You look really pale. You should eat something. Want me to get you a sandwich?” the blonde asked.

Angel shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I’m fine. Thanks anyway though.”

“Well… okay,” the blonde said uncertainly. “I’m going to go get some more water. Be right back.”

She walked away, leaving Angel by herself again. Meanwhile, the bleachers had cleared out, and Kevin and Hayley left the fence, heading towards the steps leading up into the stands.

Hayley stopped when she heard a scream. She turned back towards the track and saw Angel slumped over on the ground. Another cheerleader had rushed over to her, and the others quickly huddled around her as well, blocking her from view.

One of their voices rose over the others. “Somebody get help!”

+++

AJ, Harry, and Kylie sat in the back of an ambulance, which was parked near the stands on the visitors’ side of the football field. The Atlantic City EMT squad was required to send one ambulance and three EMTs to all of the Johnson football games, and that night, it had been their turn to go.

Kylie and Harry perched at the back of the ambulance, dangling their legs out the back and squinting at the field, trying to tell what was going on in the game. It was hard to see from where they were though.

AJ had brought a Gameboy along and was busy playing that, totally ignoring the game. He had never been into sports that much. He preferred music and acting, both of which he had done as a child. While other kids his age had played Little League, he had been acting in plays and taking voice lessons. For awhile, he had aspired to be an actor or singer, but had decided instead to become a paramedic, which was more realistic and guaranteed a salary, which acting and singing did not.

Suddenly, the radio in the ambulance crackled. “EMT squad, please bring your rig around to the home side of the field. We’ve got a cheerleader down.”

AJ jumped up. “Guys, one of the cheerleaders collapsed,” he said to Kylie and Harry. They immediately slid off the back of the ambulance and went around to the front, Harry climbing into the driver’s seat, and Kylie into the passenger side. AJ shut the back doors, and the ambulance started up, quickly pulling out onto the track.

+++

Hayley glanced back at Kevin to see that he had noticed the cheerleaders too. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and ran back, pushing past people to get to the fence. Hayley followed behind him.

“I’m a doctor!” he called to the cheerleaders. He quickly climbed the chain-length fence and dropped down on the other side. “Move back, girls,” he said to the cheerleaders, gently pushing them away from their friend.

Hayley hoisted herself over the fence as well and knelt down beside Kevin, who was already hovering over the girl, taking her pulse.

“Her heart’s racing. She’s tachycardic,” he said to Hayley, trying to keep his voice low so that the frightened girls wouldn’t hear. Looking up at the cheerleaders, he asked, “Girls, do you know if she took anything? Any kind of drugs?”

“No, no way,” one of them said shakily. “Angel would never do drugs.”

“Could it be because she hasn’t eaten?” another one asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen her eat all evening.”

Hayley studied Angel’s pale, skinny body. She didn’t look like she weighed anything over a hundred pounds. “Maybe she’s anorexic,” she whispered to Kevin. “Look how skinny she is.”

“Could be,” he said. “She’s severely dehydrated. Are the EMTs bringing the ambulance around yet? We need to get some fluids into her.”

Hayley looked over to the other side of the field. The ambulance had just pulled out on the track and was coming around to their side. “Yeah, they’re coming,” she told Kevin.

“What’s wrong with her?” one of the cheerleaders cried tearfully. “Is she dying?”

The ambulance pulled up next to them and came to a stop. The back doors were flung open, and AJ climbed out. Harry and Kylie joined him a moment later, and the three paramedics lifted a stretcher out and set it up on wheels. They wheeled it over to where Angel was lying.

“She’s tachycardic and dehydrated,” Kevin told them, as they bent over to lift Angel onto the stretcher.

“Thanks, Kev,” said Harry. “Kylie, insert an IV and start her on saline, and let’s get a pulse and BP.”

“Pulse is 170. She’s in V-tach. Her heart’s beating itself to death. We gotta defibrillate her,” AJ said quickly.

“Let’s get her into the ambulance first,” Harry said. “We don’t want all these people to see that.”

AJ and Kylie nodded, and the three paramedics quickly transferred Angel into the ambulance.

“You guys need any help?” Kevin asked.

“No, we got it,” Harry called back. To his team, he said, “Let’s go ahead and transport her to Memorial now. Kylie, you drive. AJ, get her hooked up to the monitors. I’ll charge the defibrillator.”

They sprung into action, Kylie hopping out of the back and getting behind the wheel, AJ closing the ambulance doors. Moments later, the ambulance sped off, lights flashing. The cheerleaders huddled together, frightened tears streaming down their cheeks.

But things went on. Over the loudspeaker, the announcer said, “Please direct your attention to the track on the home side, where we will now announce this year’s Homecoming court.”

Kevin and Hayley exchanged glances and slowly made their way back to their seats.

+++

“Dr. O’Brien, Harry Littrell and his squad are en route to the hospital with a seventeen-year-old girl that collapsed at a football game. They should be here in about five minutes,” said Natalie Spade to Elizabeth O’Brien.

“Okay. Get a room ready,” Elizabeth replied. “Siara, can you assist me on a patient that’s coming in in about five minutes?”

“Sure, Dr. O’Brien,” answered Dr. Siara Reily.

When the ambulance pulled up, the two doctors rushed out to meet the EMTs. Together, they unloaded the patient, a skinny red-haired girl in a cheerleading uniform.

“Her name is Angel, she’s seventeen, collapsed during the football game, severely dehydrated, tachycardic on the scene, lost her pulse in the ambulance. She’s been down for about five minutes,” fired off Harry, as they whisked the stretcher into the ER.

“Let’s move her on three,” Elizabeth said, as soon as they got into a room. “One… two… three.” They all quickly lifted Angel up and moved her onto the gurney in the room. “Let’s get her hooked up to the monitors.” The heart monitor registered a rapid, irregular beat. “She’s in V-fib,” Elizabeth said. “Charge the paddles to 200… and clear!”

+++

“Natalie, do you know if anyone for that cheerleader, Angel, has come in?” Elizabeth asked Natalie, stepping up to the counter of the nurses station.

“Uh… yeah, a Mrs. McGrail came in a little while ago, looking for her daughter Angel,” Natalie replied. “She’s sitting over there in chairs.” She pointed out a heavy set redhead in a green and yellow “Cheerleader Mom” sweatshirt.

“Thanks, Natalie,” Elizabeth said and went over to the woman. “Mrs. McGrail?” she asked.

“Yes.” The woman looked up, her face lined with worry. “Are you Angel’s doctor? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“Yes, I’m Dr. O’Brien, and your daughter has been stabilized. You can go in and see her in a few minutes, but first I’d like to talk to you about her condition,” said Elizabeth. “When the paramedics got to Angel on the scene, she was tachycardic, meaning her heart was beating extremely fast. She was also severely dehydrated. Upon closer examination here at the hospital, we found that her skin is very dry and cracked, her hair is thinning, and she is extremely underweight for her height. All of these symptoms are surefire signs of an eating disorder, particularly anorexia nervosa.”

“What?! Anorexia!” Mrs. McGrail cried, horrified. “Nonsense! Angel’s not anorexic. She just likes to watch her weight. She’s a cheerleader, you know, and she also runs track. She has to keep in shape.”

“Well, she’s most certainly not in shape right now,” Elizabeth said, rather sharply. “Your daughter is starving herself to death, Mrs. McGrail. If she keeps this up, she could die. I’d like your consent to check her into a treatment program we have here at the hospital for people with eating disorders. There she can get the medial treatment and counseling she needs.”

“Counseling? What, are you suggesting that Angel’s crazy now too or something?!” Mrs. McGrail cried, her voice rising defensively.

“Of course not. But anorexia is just as much as physical disorder as it is a mental one. It gives its victims a distorted view of their bodies,” said Elizabeth. “Angel needs some counseling to help her overcome that. That does not mean she’s ‘crazy’ though.”

“Well, you’re not getting my consent for anything!” Mrs. McGrail argued. “I’d just like to take my daughter home now, thank you very much.”

“Angel’s condition is very serious. She’s stabilized now, but she was close to death earlier,” Elizabeth said. “She’ll need to stay the night at least and maybe even another day or two, until we can get her re-hydrated.”

“Fine then,” Mrs. McGrail practically spat. “Can I see her now?”

“Certainly,” Elizabeth said briskly. “Follow me.”

+++

Addie sighed happily as Jack pulled his black Cougar into the small parking lot outside her apartment house. “Home sweet home,” she said. “I’m so glad this day is over. I just wanna take a long, hot bath and go to bed.”

He turned and smiled at her. “I’ll join you,” he replied, and Addie matched his devilish grin. He got out of the car and came around to open her door for her and help her out.

“My, my,” she said impishly. “Aren’t you just the gentleman tonight, taking me out to a gourmet Hardees meal and all?”

Jack grinned, shook his head, and led her into the apartment house. They walked slowly up the stairs, hand in hand. When they reached their apartment, Addie took out her key and reached out to unlock the door, but Jack grabbed her hand.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just close your eyes,” Jack repeated. She gave him a strange look, but closed her eyes. He waved his hand over her face to make sure they were really closed, then took the key from her hand and unlocked the apartment. He opened the door, took her by the hand, and led her slowly in. He did a quick survey of the living room, making sure everything was in order.

Good job, Timberlake, he thought with a relieved smile.

“What have you been plotting, Jack?” Addie asked, a hint of laughter in her voice. “Can I open my eyes yet?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “Open your eyes.”

Addie did so, slowly, and when she looked into the small living room, she gasped. “Oh, Jack!”

The room was bathed in golden light, illuminated by many flickering candles positioned around the room. On the coffee table sat a bottle of champagne and two goblets. Jack grinned, strode over to the CD player, and hit play. Soft, romantic, piano music began to play.

“Oh, Jack!” Addie breathed again. “It’s beautiful! How… how did you…”

“With a little help from my trusty med student,” Jack said with a grin. “The kid finally got something right.”

Addie giggled and smiled at him, absolutely charmed and in awe. After a football game and a fast food dinner, the last thing she was expecting was to come home to such a romantic atmosphere. It wasn’t exactly original, but she loved traditional sappy things, and Jack had never done anything like this before.

“Come here,” Jack said, sitting down on the worn couch and pulling her into his lap. “Do you know how much I love you?”

“I think I do now,” replied Addie, kissing him gently. “You’re so sweet. I had no idea.”

Jack smiled. “Here, how about some champagne?” He opened the bottle and poured champagne into the two glasses. “To us,” he toasted, and they gently clinked their goblets together.

Jack took a sip and set his glass down on the coffee table. When Addie set down hers as well, he took her hand and turned to face her. “Addie, can I ask you something?” he asked.

Addie’s heart began to pound. “What?”

Jack licked his lips, something he always did when he was nervous, and reached into the pocket of his jeans. With his large sweatshirt, Addie had not noticed the bulge in the pocket. But she saw it now, and she knew instinctively what was coming. Her palms began to sweat as he pulled out a small, black velvet box.

“I love you, Addie. That’s really all I can say. You’re my best friend and my other half. Will you marry me?” He flipped open the little box to reveal a sparkling diamond.

“Oh, Jack!” Addie cried for the third time that night, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes!”

Jack grinned and carefully plucked the ring from the box. Addie held out her left hand, and he slid it onto her finger. Addie held her hand up and admired the ring. It was white gold (Jack knew she didn’t like yellow gold) and simple, but elegant, with just one beautiful diamond glittering up at her.

“Is the ring okay?” he asked, watching her face.

“It’s perfect!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him. “I just love it… and you.” She pulled back gently and pressed her lips to his. She had waited years for this, to have her own place, her own career, and the beginnings of her own family. In that moment, she felt like all her dreams had just come true.

Jack pulled back and smiled at her affectionately. “I love you too.”

+++
The Hurricane - Part I by RokofAges75
Episode 12:

Hurricane – Part 1


A loud crackle of thunder sliced through the once silent night sky.

Brian Littrell sat up in his bed with a gasp, his sweat-soaked hair plastered to his forehead. Brian pushed back the layers of blankets on his bed and placed his feet on the cold wooden floor just as flash of lightening illuminated his bedroom, followed by another loud crack of thunder.

Glancing at the alarm clock with bleary eyes, Brian let out a sigh and began to walk out of the room before stopping and grabbing a sweatshirt.

It was now 4:23 on a Monday morning, just a little under two hours before Brian’s usual wake up time. It had been raining almost nonstop since Saturday morning, and instead of the weather letting up, rain continued to pound mercilessly on the earth below.

Brian gave up on his battle to stay awake and trudged towards the direction of his bedroom. He had some sleep to catch up on.

+++

Two hours later, Brian again woke up to the sound of thunder. A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed Brian’s senses as he again exited his room and walked towards the kitchen.

After turning on the coffee machine and retrieving a cup
for himself, Brian sat down in a chair placed in front of the picturesque window of his home, just watching the rain continue to beat down. It was now that Brian noticed the winds had picked up considerably since the night before, signaled by the intense swinging of the tree branches in the front yard.

Brian took one last sip of his coffee and placed the cup in the sink on his way back to his bedroom. It was another wonderful start to another wonderful day.

+++

Addie Burke exited her apartment with a bounce in her step, a jacket thrown over her head to block out a large percentage of the rain.

Pushing a small button on her key ring to unlock her car, Addie quickly threw open the door and tossed the jacket inside before she entered the car, temporary hidden from the pouring rain.

As she drove through the town to get to her destination, she observed that the grocery store and pharmacy parking lots were packed, along with the hardware store, which was, for the most part, vacated of customers during the week.

Without giving it a second thought, she turned off on the next street over and drove for another mile before pulling into the parking lot of a well taken care of apartment complex, the home of her best friend, Kylie McCartney, and Kylie’s husband Josh.

Taking off in a jog with the jacket again thrown over her head, Addie barely reached the doors leading to the stairway before another strong burst of wind picked up and rustled the tree branches with severe intensity.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Addie stood in front of apartment 2-E, hand raised to knock on the door. She stood away from the door as footsteps were heard from within the apartment, greeting the person who opened the door.

“Morning, Josh.”

“Hey, Addie. Come on in,” Josh invited as he stopped by the kitchen table to take one last sip of the soothing liquid inside before emptying the cup in the sink, the coffee swirling down the drain like a whirlwind.

“Kylie is in our room getting ready for work if you want to go on in there. I have a meeting this morning so I need to get going.”

Addie nodded in response and walked down the narrow hallway towards the last bedroom on the left side and entered after announcing her arrival with a short knock on the door.

“Hey, Addie!”

“Morning, Kylie.”

“Some storm we are having isn’t it?” Kylie asked for lack of anything better to say.

Addie looked out the window and nodded. She actually happened to love storms, especially the kind with lots of rain, thunder, and lightning. But even she had to admit that this one was making her a little nervous. The winds were stronger than she had seen them in a long time, and the rain had poured down relentlessly for two days.

“Josh told me you would probably be here,” Kylie said as she turned her gaze towards her best friend.

“How did he know?” Addie wondered out loud her only answer being an uninterested shrug from Kylie who again turned her gaze to the window.

“He is a dork.”

“Yeah,” Addie agreed. “Turn around here, Kylie, I don’t like talking to your back. What is up with you today?”

“Sorry,” Kylie apologized. “I had a bad morning, and I’m just not in the best of moods.”

“Aww, what happened?”

“Morning sickness decided to visit at two this morning, and in combination with the storm and Josh’s snoring, I got no sleep at all.”

“That sucks,” Addie said in sympathy. “Oh guess what?”

“What?” Kylie asked, her curiosity being sparked by the simple question and the beaming smile on Addie’s face.

Addie didn’t answer, just placed her left had in front of Kylie’s face. “Ohh!!” Kylie said with a squeal of excitement and a hug. “Congrats!”

“Thanks! He proposed Friday night after the game.”

“Too cute,” Kylie said with a smile, taking a trip down memory lane to when Josh proposed to her and the excitement she felt, knowing exactly how wonderful Addie must be feeling.

The girls began to talk excitedly about the plans Addie had for her wedding, which she had yet to discuss with Jack in all the excitement.

“You wanna grab some breakfast down at Sully’s?” Addie asked as she walked towards the doorway.

As soon as the two best friends battled the raging storm outside and entered the car, Kylie immediately set out to find the music she wanted to listen to on the way to the small restaurant. She flipped through the buttons on Addie’s radio, all preset to various rock and pop stations.

“Whoa, stop switching the channels! Listen!”

A horrendous beeping sound filled the small car and a computerized voice came over the airwaves. The message sent fear racing through their hearts, for now they understood the uncharacteristic way in which the townspeople were acting and why the stores and streets were so jam-packed.

They both felt like idiots for not even thinking about the possibilities.

There was a hurricane coming straight for Atlantic City.

+++

“Get out of the road!” Brian Littrell roared as his brakes again squealed as he skidded to a halt. A small group of people raced across the road, for what, Brian didn’t know. He turned on his turn signal and pulled into the crowded parking lot of the grocery store that had the best breakfast sandwiches in town.

Entering the small store, Brian immediately made a beeline for the deli, grumbling as a line of people greeted him and dutifully took his place in line. Looking at his watch, he decided he could wait about ten minutes, knowing it would be best to just forget the sandwich and attempt to force down what the hospital cafeteria classified as breakfast.

As Brian got closer and closer to the clerk, he looked around. The store was very busy for a Monday morning, especially that early.

“What is going on?” Brian wondered out loud, jumping as the elderly man turned around and looked at Brian questionably.

“Did ya not hear about the hurricane, son? Everybody is getting ready for the big storm by stocking up. But you can’t stock up on a empty stomach, eh?” the man said with a chuckle and turned back around to socialize with the other people around him, the young man who knew nothing about what was going on becoming his topic of conversation.

Brian turned around and ran out of the small store, his breakfast long forgotten. His heart pounding, Brian got in his car and quickly exited the parking lot, speeding towards the hospital and hoping that no unsuspecting pedestrian would cross in front of his path.

Flipping on the radio - for the first time in days, he realized - Brian didn’t need to search far for a channel reporting the hurricane warnings and path. It was amazing how much you could miss in a period of one day of not paying attention to the radio or TV broadcasts.

Screeching to a halt again in the hospital parking lot, Brian found a parking spot and ran up the hospital entrance, not caring that he was coming in over an hour early. He knew he, along with everybody else, would be needed today. He just hoped the hurricane had other plans and would miraculously take a different route and miss them.

Wishful thinking.

+++

Holli Brunson entered the hospital entrance, a scowl permanently etched in her cold features. Soaked to the bone by the rain and a hot temper to accompany it, Holli was someone nobody wanted to mess with.

Making her way towards the conference room, Holli took in the sights around her; the ER waiting room was packed, the OR section of the hospital was virtually deserted because all surgical procedures had been called off, and staff members ran down the halls, finding things to do in preparation for the upcoming crisis.

Holli entered the conference room, and the small group immediately fell silent. Holli had called upon staff members in small groups for an overview of emergency procedures, along with anything else she thought of within that time. She allowed a small smile to grace her face - when no one was looking, of course - when she noted that all staff members she had requested had shown up, even on their days off. This proved to Holli how dedicated they were. She had to give them credit for that.

Looking around the room, she realized a large percentage of this group had not been involved in the last hurricane that swept through the area five years ago, Hurricane Cammie. She would have a lot to go over.

Twenty minutes later, the meeting was over. Holli felt she had gone over everything pretty well, considering how much she was pressed for time, making sure she made clear if anyone on staff was currently not with a patient, they were to help other members of the staff and/or help the maintenance crew in boarding up the windows to help protect against broken glass and debris when the hurricane roared through.

“One more thing!” Holli bellowed as the staff began to rise out of their seats. “I must offer this option - if any of you want to evacuate, feel free to. TIMBERLAKE!”

The yell echoed throughout the room, the young man who was trying to escape through a side door blushing in embarrassment as all eyes turned towards him. “As I was trying to say, if you want to evacuate, feel free to, but there is a chance you will not have your job when and if you return. I will not tolerate people who do a half ass job, especially in these situations. That is all. Keep safe, everybody.”

Holli finished her speech and pushed her way through the small group, exiting through the door Justin had moments before been eyeing as an escape route.

“What does she want us to do, stay here and die?” Justin questioned once he was sure Brunson was out of hearing distance.

“Just remember why you got into this profession. We aren’t here to save our own asses; we are here to help others. Quit being so stuck on yourself”

Justin spun around to give the source of the voice a piece of his mind; but stopped when he realized something.

The voice was right.

+++

“Dr. Littrell, where should I go next?” Nick asked, looking around the crowded ER. In a short time, it had turned into one of the busiest days he had ever seen, due to the approaching hurricane and the frenzied residents of Atlantic City. The waiting room was packed with people waiting to be examined, and the hallways were lined with patients, for they had run out of rooms.

“We are closed to traumas,” Elizabeth O’Brien was saying firmly to Jaela Miller. “Tell them we can’t handle any more patients right now. We’re already packed, and we’re understaffed.”

“Alright, Dr. O’Brien,” Jaela said dutifully. Everyone knew better than to cross Elizabeth when she was in one of her moods, which she definitely seemed to be in that day. Justin couldn’t blame her though, with all this going on. And he had to admit, she was doing a good job of trying to keep things organized and under control. It could have been a lot worse. And at least she wasn’t as irritable as Holli. He always appreciated Elizabeth more after a run-in with the infamous Dr. Brunson.

“Go find somebody from the waiting room to examine,” Brian Littrell told his student. “Chris is keeping a list of names. Just call whoever is next on the list.”

“Okay,” Nick said. He found nurse Chris Kirkpatrick, who was back after taking a week off of work. “You have a list of people waiting to be examined, Chris?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Chris handed him a clipboard with a list of names. Some of them had been crossed out. Nick ran his finger down the list, stopping at the first non-crossed-out one he came to. “Hannah Gregory?” he called into the waiting room.

A young woman came over to him, a little girl tagging along behind her, clutching her hand.

“Are you Hannah Gregory?” he asked the woman.

“No, I’m her mother. This is Hannah,” the woman replied, gently pulling the little girl out from behind her legs.

“I’m Nick Carter, and I’ll be examining her,” Nick said. “If you’ll just follow me…”

He led the way to an examining room that had just been cleared. “Can you hop up here for me?” he asked Hannah, patting the gurney on one side of the room. Hannah climbed up on to it and lay down listlessly. Her cheeks looked flushed.

Nick pulled up a swiveling stool and sat down on it, facing her. “Okay, so what seems to be the problem today?” he asked, looking from Hannah to her mother.

“She’s been running a fever for a few days now, and it just keeps getting worse,” Mrs. Gregory said. “And she’s been so tired lately. She hasn’t had any energy. I thought it was just the flu, but she hasn’t been nauseous at all, and it hasn’t seemed to go away. I kept her home from school today, and I’ve noticed she’s gotten worse just since she woke up.”

“Lucky you kept her home from school, huh? Saved you the trip back to pick her up. I heard all the schools are shutting down ‘cause of the hurricane.”

Mrs. Gregory gave a little shudder. “I know. Do you think it’s going to hit?”

“Who knows. But if it does, you couldn’t be any safer here at the hospital. I heard Dr. O’Brien – she’s in charge of the ER – say that Memorial and the other hospitals around here were all built to withstand even the worst hurricanes. We’ve got backup generators and everything too, in case the power goes out.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Mrs. Gregory said, though she didn’t look quite relieved.

“Well, let’s start by taking your temperature, okay, Hannah?” Nick said. He gently put the thermometer in her ear. It beeped a moment later, and he pulled it back out, frowning as he read it. “Yeah, she is running a high fever,” he said to Mrs. Gregory. “103.2.”

“It was only 102.7 before we left,” Mrs. Gregory said, looking worried.

“Okay, I’m going to listen to your heart now, Hannah, okay?” Nick put his stethoscope in his ears and gently slid the end of it down Hannah’s shirt, pressing it against her chest. “Take a deep breath,” he instructed. “And let it out.” He listened for a minute, then removed the stethoscope.

“So, how old are you, Hannah?” he asked.

“Seven,” she replied in a tiny voice.

“Wow, seven. You’re a big girl, huh? What grade are you in? Second?”

Hannah nodded, smiling a little.

“Do you like school?” Nick went on, as he wrote out a chart for her.

“Sometimes,” answered Hannah.

Nick chuckled. “Just sometimes, huh?” He set her chart down in his lap and turned to Mrs. Gregory. “Because of her high temperature, I’d like to run some more tests. It could just be the flu, since we are approaching flu season, but I’d like to be sure.”

Mrs. Gregory nodded. “Alright.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” Nick said and left the room. He immediately tracked down Brian.

“Hey, Dr. Littrell?”

“Hey, what?” Brian replied.

“I’ve got a seven-year-old girl in Exam 5 with a 103.2 temp. Her mother says she’s had it for a few days, and it just keeps getting worse. I listened to her heart, and I heard a murmur. Do you want to come examine her, or should I page cardiology? It could be a defect or an infection or something.”

“Yeah, go ahead and get someone from cardiology to come down. I’m really swamped already,” Brian replied.

“Okay,” Nick said and headed to the nurses station to use the phone.

+++

“… again, meteorologists have discovered that Hurricane Cortney, which originated near the Bahamas, has shifted courses and is heading directly for the North Carolina coastline. In Beach, Camden, and Walter County, evacuations have just been ordered. Residents living in those counties are asked to pack up necessary belongings, as little as possible, lock their homes, and head inland. For those of you who do not want to leave the effected towns, you should take cover in designated shelters. Here is a list of these shelters…”

Addie watched the news broadcast with wide eyes as a list of shelters scrolled down the screen.

“Can you believe this?” a voice behind her asked. She turned around to find cardiologist Shannon Chung standing at the counter behind her. She, too, had been watching the news on the TV overhead.

Addie offered Shannon a grim smile. “I sure wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “We’re almost out of hurricane season, and this one came so suddenly. Usually we get more warning.”

“Yeah,” Shannon said. “So, did someone page me down here?”

“Oh, yeah, Nick did,” she replied. “He was checking on his patient last time I saw him. Try Exam 5.”

“Thanks,” said Shannon and headed to the examining room, nearly colliding into Nick himself. “Oh, there you are,” Shannon said with a laugh. “You need a consult?”

Nick explained his patient’s condition to Shannon and sent her on in to her room.

“Hi there,” Shannon to the little girl who was lying on the gurney in the room. “You must be Hannah.”

Hannah smiled shyly.

“And you’re her mother?” Shannon asked the woman sitting next to her.

“Yes. Alice Gregory,” the woman introduced herself.

“I’m Dr. Chung. Mr. Carter asked me to come down to look at your daughter,” Shannon said.

“Yeah, he told me you were a cardiologist,” said Hannah’s mother. Lowering her voice so Hannah wouldn’t hear, she asked, “Is there something wrong with Hannah’s heart? The other doctor didn’t explain why he wanted her to see a cardiologist.”

“Well, don’t be alarmed. It’s just that when he listened to Hannah’s heart, he heard a murmur, or an irregular heartbeat. It’s really common with children, and it’s not something to worry about, but with her other symptoms, it could be an indicator of something other than the flu, like an infection. I’m just going to examine her myself, get some bloodwork and an EKG, and we’ll go from there.”

+++

“Yes, baby, you have to go. It’s not safe to stay here,” Justin insisted to his girlfriend, Britney.

“No, Justy!” she cried over the phone. “I won’t evacuate, not without you!”

“I’ll be fine here, Brit. We’ve got this place hurricane-proofed. We’ll be fine. But the apartment isn’t safe. You need to go inland, wherever everyone else is going.”

“Why can’t you leave that stupid place and come with me?” she whined.

“I’ll get fired! Dr. Brunson already said that this morning during our meeting!”

“So you’re saying your stupid job is more important than your life? More important than me?” she screeched.

“No, not at all, Brit! I’m perfectly safe here, and this isn’t even about you. I want to protect you! That’s how much I love you!”

“You do not! If you loved me, you’d come home!”

“Brit,” Justin started, but she refused to listen.

“Fine then! Just stay there and die, for all I care! I hate you!” Britney screamed and hung up the phone.

“Brit? Britney? Are you there? Please, Brit, say something!” Justin pleaded.

After a few minutes, an automated voice came over the phone. “If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again…”

Justin sighed heavily and slammed the phone down.

+++

AJ McLean ducked his head against the wind and hurried to avoid that rain that pelted down on him as he helped wheel a patient into the ER.

“Wow, you’re drenched,” said his girlfriend, Bianca Parker, her eyes widening when she met him and the other paramedics at the door.

“No shit,” AJ said with a short laugh. “It’s getting worse out there.”

Bianca shivered and helped them wheel the patient inside. “So what do we got here?” she asked.

“Audrey Rogers, fifty-six-years-old, got trampled outside a grocery store. Complains of back and shoulder pain, looks like a dislocated shoulder,” AJ said. “Vitals are normal.”

“Okay, Audrey, we’re going to help you out,” Bianca said soothingly to the woman. “How bad is your pain?”

“It’s pretty bad,” said Audrey, her voice shaking slightly. “My shoulder…”

“Yeah, that definitely looks dislocated,” said Bianca, as they pushed Audrey into a room. “We’ll give you some medicine for the pain, and then we’ll fix your shoulder. Do you hurt anywhere else other than your shoulder and back?”

AJ, Josh, and Allison left Bianca to take care of Audrey.

“How about a quick coffee break before we head out again?” Allison suggested, shivering. It was freezing outside, and they were all soaked to the skin.

“That sounds great,” Josh replied, relieved, and AJ nodded vigorously. The three headed for the staff lounge, when AJ heard someone calling his name.

He turned around to see Howie Dorough waving to him from down the hall. “Hey, AJ!” he called.

“I’ll be right back,” AJ said to Josh and Allison and jogged down the hall to Howie. “Hey, D, what’s up?”

“Jeez, Aje, you’re soaked,” Howie said, his eyes widening when he saw AJ up close.

“Thanks, Howie, I didn’t know that,” AJ said dryly, rolling his eyes and grinning. “And how come you’re so dry anyway?”

Howie shrugged. “I’ve had time to dry out, I guess. We decided to just hang out here until we got another call; it’s nasty outside.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” remarked AJ with sarcasm in his voice. “Well, we’re taking a coffee break. You got a few minutes?”

“Well, I was just on my way up to surgery to get Rita. We were gonna head down to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. Too bad out to walk to Sully’s. You wanna come with; you can get a cappuccino or something down there.”

“Eh, I don’t wanna be a third wheel…” AJ hesitated.

“You won’t be,” Howie assured him. “Come on, it’s just Rita.”

“Well, okay, I guess,” AJ said with a shrug.

The two men headed to the elevators, where two familiar figures already stood, waiting.

“Hey, Brian, hey Ivory,” AJ said to the couple, who both turned and smiled at him and Howie.

“Hey, guys,” said Brian. “Whatcha up to?”

“Going to get Rita and then having lunch. You?”

“We’re on break; just thought we’d head up to the eighth floor to get a better look at that storm out there,” Ivory answered with a grin.

The elevator did not seem to be coming, so AJ impatiently punched the up button again, and they continued to wait. Finally, elevator doors slid open, two nurses walked out, and the two doctors and two paramedics walked in. As the doors began to close, they heard two more voices shout, “Hold the elevator!”

AJ shot out his arm, stopping the doors and pushing them back open just in time for one of the med students (a particularly good-looking Hispanic one, AJ thought), to dart in, extending her own arm for what had to be a second med student, a tall, blonde young man, who was pushing a little girl on a gurney.

“Thanks,” the guy said breathlessly, grinning at the elevator’s occupants, while the female student giggled and released the door once the guy and his patient were safely inside. “Hey, Dr. Littrell,” he added, noticing Brian.

“Carter,” Brian nodded with a smile.

“Where you guys headed?” Howie asked them.

“Cardiology,” replied the man.

Howie hit the buttons for the second floor, surgery, where Rita worked, the eighth floor, and the fourth floor, Cardiology. “Man, this storm is sure something, huh?” the girl commented, as the elevator began to rise.

“Tell me about it,” said AJ, looking down at his wet uniform. “It just came on all of a sudden. I mean, it was storming yesterday and all, but a hurricane? I had no idea.”

“I don’t think anybody did. The weathermen didn’t even know,” said Ivory in her Southern drawl, rolling her eyes. “In this day and age, you’d think they’d be able to predict a hurricane by now.”

“I heard it shifted courses,” Howie said. “It wasn’t supposed to hit us.”

Their conversation was interrupted as the elevator stopped on the second floor, and surgeon Kevin Richardson stepped in. Howie and AJ made to step out, then realized they were blocked by the gurney the two med students had brought in.

“Um…” AJ said uncertainly, eyeing the gurney.

“Oh no, is this your floor?” the girl asked. “Nick, maybe we can just move her out and then-“

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Howie interrupted. “Too much of a hassle. We’ll just go on up to Cardiology so you guys can get off first and then come back to this floor.”

“Oh… well, okay,” said the guy, looking a little relieved.

“Hey, guys,” Kevin greeted finally, as the doors slid shut.

“Hey, Kev,” AJ and Howie both replied, the med students nodding in acknowledgement.

“What floor?” asked Howie, who was manning the buttons.

“First,” Kevin said. “I’m heading down to the ER to help. Hear they’re pretty swamped down there. All our elective surgeries have been cancelled, so there’s not much I can do up here right now anyway.”

“Yeah, they’re really busy down in the ER,” Howie said with a nod, as the elevator began to rise again. “I’ve been hanging around there, waiting for another call, and it’s been a madhouse.”

The elevator rose upward again, heading for the cardiology floor. But all of a sudden, the lights flickered, and the elevator gave a sharp jerk, sending the seven people stumbling. The child let out a whimper from her gurney, as the elevator stopped abruptly.

The eight of them stared at each other, wide-eyed.

“Um… why aren’t we moving?” asked the blonde man, looking nervously around the small enclosure.

“Did it break?” asked the little girl, her voice rising. She looked up at the med student in fright.

“It’s alright, honey,” he said quickly. “Don’t worry. If it is broken, someone will come fix it right away. We’ll just be stopped here for a little bit.”

“Oh God, Nick…” murmured the young woman, her dark eyes frantically scanning the elevator. “Please don’t say that. I can’t stand to be in elevators for too long. I get claustrophobic.”

“Oh great,” AJ muttered with a sigh.

Howie hit the button to open the doors, but nothing happened. He tried the emergency call button. Again, nothing.

“Don’t they check these things?” Kevin asked exasperatedly. “This is a hospital, for God’s sakes. Elevators shouldn’t be malfunctioning like this.”

“What do we do?” Brian asked. “Will they know we’re stuck?”

“I guess they’ll figure it out eventually,” said Howie with a shrug. “We’re probably stuck between levels. I wonder if anyone would hear us if we made noise.” To test his own question, he banged against the metal doors and shouted, “Help! Can anyone hear us?! The elevator broke down!”

They all started shouting then and banged against the walls for a few minutes, finally stopping when it became clear that no one was coming to their rescue.

“Well, this is just lovely,” said AJ, his voice laden with sarcasm. He pressed his back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. His wet back left a streak of water on the shiny metal wall. “I’m going to get pneumonia sitting in these wet clothes, and then I’ll sue Memorial for their crappy, unreliable elevators.”

The young Hispanic woman let out a shuddering breath and slowly slid to the ground as well, burying her head in her knees. She was breathing hard.

“Hey, don’t freak out now,” AJ said softly, reaching out and lightly touching her shoulder.

She jerked when he did so and looked up, her eyes wide. “I-I need to get out of here,” she said. “I can’t stand being in enclosed spaces.”

The blonde man sat down beside her. “Shh, it’s okay, Isabel. Just try not to think about it. Take deep breaths, close your eyes, and don’t think about it.”

Isabel squeezed her eyes shut, scrunching her face up as she tried to imagine herself being anywhere but there, in a large, open area. It seemed to work, for her breathing eventually slowed. After a few minutes, she tentatively opened her eyes.

“You okay?” asked the blonde beside her.

“Yeah,” she said uncertainly, looking around. She gave another little shudder, but kept calm.

Brian and Kevin had sat down as well. The male med student, Nick, rose back up to stand beside his patient. She had sat up and was looking around. Her fear had seemed to diminish though, luckily.

“So… you’re seven, right, Hannah?” Nick asked, breaking the tense silence that had filled the elevator.

“Yeah,” came Hannah’s reply.

“I have a daughter who’s about your age,” Howie piped up. “She’s six.”

“What’s her name?” Hannah asked interestedly.

“Her name’s Danielle. We call her Dani though usually,” answered Howie.

“Hey, how is Dani anyway, Howie?” piped up Kevin from the floor.

“She’s great,” Howie said. “She’s almost fully recovered. She’ll probably be back in school next week.”

“That’s wonderful,” said Kevin. AJ and Brian nodded in agreement. Then silence enveloped them all again.

“So…” AJ searched for a new conversation topic. His eyes focusing on the young man and woman next to him, he asked, “You two are med students, right? I’ve seen you around the ER.”

“Yeah,” said the man. “I’m Nick Carter.”

“He’s my student,” Brian added with a grin.

“I’m Isabel Rivera,” Isabel introduced. “And I’m Dr. Palmer’s student. Oh, and this is Hannah,” she added, smiling at the patient she was helping Nick transport upstairs.

“I’m Howie Dorough,” he nodded to Isabel and Nick. “And this here is AJ McLean; we’re both EMTs. And this is Kevin Richardson; he’s a surgeon.”

Once introductions were made, the group settled into silence again.

“This sucks,” Nick said after awhile, his voice flat.

“No shi… I mean, no duh,” AJ agreed, his face reddening as he glanced quickly at Hannah. He knew better than to swear in front of a seven-year-old.

Kevin snickered.

“You think anyone’s missed us by now?” Isabel wondered aloud. Nick only shrugged.

“I dunno about you, but everyone thinks we’re on break. No one will be missing us for awhile,” said Howie.

“Allison and Josh will be wondering where the hell I am,” AJ said.

“Ummm…” Hannah said softly, staring at AJ with wide eyes. “You said the H-word.”

AJ’s face reddened again as he realized he’d forgotten to catch himself that time. He was not used to being around little kids.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I meant ‘heck’.”

Kevin snickered again.

“I wonder what it’s like outside,” Brian said absently.

“It’s probably getting pretty bad,” replied Howie. “Look on the bright side – at least we’re stuck in here and not out there.”

“I might have to agree with you there, D,” AJ said, looking down at his still-damp clothes.

“Take off your jacket,” suggested Ivory. “Then you won’t be so wet.”

“I’ll freeze,” said AJ, but he removed the jacket anyway. Underneath, he was wearing only a white wifebeater, but it was only slightly damp and much better than the wet, heavy jacket.

“You have lots of tattoos,” said Hannah, again staring at AJ with widened eyes. AJ’s muscular arms were nearly covered in ink.

“Yup,” he said, rather proudly.

“I have some tattoos too,” Nick piped up. He pushed up the sleeves of his blue scrub top to reveal a band of something going around one of his upper arms and a shark on the other.

“Cool,” said Hannah, staring at his arms. “I like the shark.”

“Thanks.” Nick smiled at her. “I have another one on my back. A music note.”

“Oh, you’re into music?” Brian asked in interest.

“Yup. I’ve been singing ever since I was little,” Nick replied, his cheeks growing slightly pink.

“Me too. I used to sing all the time in church,” said Brian.

“Same here,” added Kevin. “Brian and I practically grew up together. He’s my cousin. I’ve known him my whole life.” (AN: I just had to have him say that there. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up LOL)

“Oh really? And you both became doctors here? That’s neat,” said Isabel with a smile.

AJ laughed. “Oh, that’s not all,” he told Isabel. “Bri’s brother Harry is an EMT here too. It’s a whole Littrell-Richardson family thing, I guess.”

Isabel laughed. “Music and medicine must run in your blood then,” she said to Brian and Kevin. “It’s the same way with my family… the medicine part, that is. My dad’s a cardiologist, and my older sister’s a neurosurgeon. I have a lot to live up to.” She chuckled wryly.

“That’s tough,” Howie said, looking at her in sympathy. “Are you really interested in medicine, or are you only becoming a doctor because your family wants you to?”

She frowned. “Of course I’m interested in it,” she said in a defensive tone. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that,” Howie said, holding up his hands. “I was just wondering.”

Isabel smiled sheepishly. “I know. Sorry for snapping at you.”

“No problem.”

AJ looked up at Hannah and saw that she had lay back down on the gurney. Her face looked flushed and feverish. He cleared his throat and gave Howie a meaningful look, nodding towards Hannah. Nick looked down at her and gently pressed his hand to her forehead.

“How you feel, Hannah?” he asked.

“Tired,” she said softly.

“How about taking a nap?” he suggested.

“I want my mommy. When can we get out of here?”

Nick pressed his lips together in sympathy. “I’m not sure, sweetheart. We have to wait for someone to fix the elevator.”

Brian stood up and came over to the other side of Hannah’s gurney. “Why don’t you try to go to sleep?” he said, repeating Nick’s suggestion. “Maybe if you take a little nap, we’ll be out of here by the time you wake up.”

“Okay,” Hannah said. She rolled over on her side and closed her eyes. Brian smiled and gently smoothed back Hannah’s hair, just as a mother or father would. Before long, Hannah had drifted to sleep.

“She’s a cutie,” Ivory said, smiling as Brian sat back down. “What’s wrong with her, Nick?”

Nick pursed his lips. “She’s pretty sick,” he said. “I hope we get out of here soon. She needs to be started on antibiotics right away. She has bacterial endocarditis, according to Dr. Chung.”

Brian’s head shot up sharply, and he sucked in a breath. “That’s what I had,” he said quietly.

Nick cocked his head at him. “Really? When?”

“When I was five. I skinned my knee, and it set in then. No one discovered it for two weeks, and by then, it was so far advanced, the doctors said I had no chance of recovery.”

Nick’s mouth dropped open. The others looked equally shocked.

“You never told me that,” Ivory said, seeming slightly hurt. “I knew you used to have a heart condition, but I didn’t know that.”

Brian shrugged. “It’s not something you talk about a lot, I guess,” he said with a chuckle.

“No chance of recovery?” Nick asked, his eyebrows raised.

“That’s what they said,” Brian replied. “They said it was a miracle when I pulled through.”

“Wow.”

Ivory sighed. “They have to have noticed that we’re gone by now. And they have to have realized that the elevator’s broken. Why hasn’t anyone come to help us yet?” she complained.

“The repair people probably can’t even get to the hospital,” Kevin realized. “I hate to say it, but we could be stuck here for awhile.”

“Couldn’t someone pry open the doors with a crow bar and help us out?” asked AJ, frowning.

“We’re probably between floors though,” Howie pointed out. “They probably wouldn’t be able to get to us.”

“God, this sucks ass,” AJ muttered, banging his head back against the wall. “Ow…”

“It’s the end of the world as we know it…” Nick began to sing softly.

“Don’t,” Isabel hissed, smacking him playfully.

“Everything you say to me, takes me one step closer to the edge, and I’m about to break,” he went on, changing songs and grinning devilishly at Isabel. “I need a little room to breathe, cause I’m one step closer to the edge, and I’m about to break…”

“Oh, don’t sing about needing room to breathe,” Isabel moaned, looking around the tiny elevator.

AJ grinned mischievously at Nick. “There’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface… consuming, confusing… this lack of self control I fear is never-ending… controlling… I can’t seem… to find myself again… my walls are closing in…”

“Oh, stop it!” Isabel cried, clapping her hands over her ears.

Brian snickered. “Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out,” he sang.

“Help… I need somebody… help… not just anybody… help… you know I need someone… heeeelp…” Kevin joined in.

“Rescue me, and let me in your heart… rescue me… I don’t know the rest of the words…” Ivory sang, laughing.

Isabel stuck her bottom lip out and glared playfully at the others. Then she opened her mouth and sang, “Oh, I… I will survive… oh, as long as I know how to love…” She trailed off, dissolving into giggles, and the others joined in laughing.

“Join us next week for Atlantic City Memorial Karaoke Night,” joked Howie. They all laughed again, glad for the diversion from their situation.

+++

“Excuse me! Excuse me, sir?”

Justin turned around when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind. He found himself face to face with a panicked looking woman. “Can I help you with something, ma’am?” he asked dutifully.

“I’m looking for my daughter, Hannah. She was down here, and then they supposedly sent her up to cardiology, but I went up there, and she’s not there! Do you know where they might have taken her? Can you find out for me?”

“Um… I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. I’ll page cardiology and see what I can find out though. Just sit in chairs and wait.”

“Alright. Thank you,” Mrs. Gregory said, reluctantly heading back to the waiting area.

Justin was about to have Chris Kirkpatrick page the cardiology ward for him when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind. He jumped, startled, and spun around, coming face to face with his girlfriend, Britney Spears.

“Brit!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here??”

“Oh, Justy, I’m so sorry!” Britney cried, flinging her arms around him and kissing him on the lips. “I packed my things, and I was about to leave without you, but I just couldn’t do it! So I came here instead. We’ll be safe here, right?”

“That’s right,” Justin said. “Oh, Brit, baby, I’m so glad you came here. Now we can be together.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

“Timberlake!” shouted a voice. Justin looked up over Britney’s shoulder to see Holli Brunson marching towards him. “Break it up! This is a hospital, and you’re a med student! Please set an example. No public displays of affection!”

“Sorry, Dr. Brunson,” Justin mumbled, his face growing hot.

“Find something productive to do or get the hell out of here,” Holli snapped and stalked off.

“Who was that?” Britney asked, making a face at Holli.

“Holli Brunson. She’s in charge of, like, everything here, and I’ve already gotten in trouble with her once today. I thought Dr. O’Brien was bad enough. I’m so glad Brunson is a surgeon and not an ER physician, or it would be absolute hell working here.”

“It sounds like it already is,” Britney said, looking around the crowded ER and shuddering. “All these nasty sick people… how can you stand it?”

Justin just shrugged. “Hey, Brit,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

Justin grinned devilishly. “You wanna go do something ‘productive’?”

+++

“Hey, Dr. Veers?”

Risha Veers turned around to find nurse Hayley Aldworth coming down the hall toward her. “Yes?”

“Have you seen Kevin Richardson around lately?” Hayley asked. “He was supposed to go down to the ER for a consult a little while ago, and I thought I saw him leave, but the ER keeps calling up here and saying they need more surgeons and that he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“Hm…” Risha frowned. “No, I haven’t seen him,” she said. “Should I go down there and help?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Sounds like they’re swamped down there.”

“Okay. I’ll head down there in a few minutes. I need to go look for something real quick first,” said Risha.

“What are you looking for?” Hayley asked.

“A ring. I think I took it off to scrub in for a surgery last night and left it in the scrub-in area. I’m going to go check there now,” Risha replied.

“Aw. I hope you find it. Is it really valuable?”

“It wasn’t expensive, if that’s what you mean, but it’s priceless to me,” answered Risha and walked away before Hayley could ask any more questions. She went into the scrub-in area and looked around, praying she would see it laying on a counter somewhere.

How could I be so stupid? she wondered. Usually, she left her ring in her office before she went to scrub in for a surgery, but she had been pulled into an emergency surgery the night before and had forgotten. She remembered taking it off and setting it down on the counter before scrubbing in, and she had meant to pick it up again when she was done with the surgery, but it was late, and she had completely forgotten about it.

Risha wandered around the small room several times, thoroughly checking every nook and cranny. The ring was nowhere to be seen.

Someone must have found it, she told herself. I’ll ask the other doctors and nurses about it when I see them. Someone has to have it. Surely it couldn’t have fallen down the drain or something. She eyed the sinks warily, imagining how easily a ring could have gotten knocked off the counter and fallen into the sink and down the drain. She sighed and tried not to get too emotional about it. It’s just a stupid ring, she scolded herself. It wasn’t even expensive. I can buy myself another one.

But it wouldn’t be the same, her heart argued. It just wouldn’t be the same.

Giving up her search for the time being, Risha sighed again and was about to go down to the ER like she had promised, when she noticed that there was a light on in one of the operating rooms down the hall. There weren’t supposed to be any lights on in any of the OR’s, for all elective and non-emergency surgeries had been cancelled. Figuring someone had just forgotten to shut off the lights, she went down the hall to do it herself. She saw that the blinds over the windows on the double doors were closed, but thought nothing of it. She grabbed the handles of both doors and swung them open. The sight that greeted her made her gasp in utter shock.

Lying on the stainless steel operating table was a woman, and straddled over her was a man. Both were stark naked, and both were gasping in passion. It was not too hard to tell what they were doing.

Risha’s mouth dropped open, but she said nothing. She was too shocked to speak. Her first instinct was to leave right away, but the sight of two people having sex on an operating table was so unexpected that she felt frozen with astonishment.

The door must have made a sound when it opened, or the woman must have sensed someone watching them, because she sat up suddenly, pushing the man off of her. When she sat up, Risha got a good look at her face… and everything else. She was a young, pretty woman, but she was wearing way too much make-up, her hair was way too bleached, and her breasts were way too massive to be real. The man turned around, a horrified expression on his face, and Risha caught a good look at him too. He had curly blondish hair, blue eyes, and looked very familiar to her.

“Who are you?” Risha asked, finally finding her voice, as the two people scrambled to cover themselves. “Do you work here?”

The man and woman exchanged glances. “Uh… I do,” the man finally admitted, hanging his head.

“I thought you looked familiar,” Risha said, frowning at him. “What’s your name?”

“Justin Timberlake,” he answered in a gravy whisper. His face had gone from red to ashy gray.

“Mr. Timberlake, do you have any idea how much trouble you could get in if Dr. Brunson or anyone else found out about this?”

Justin’s eyes widened in terror. “Oh God, please don’t tell Brunson! Please, I’ll do anything! I-I’m only a med student here, and I’ve already gotten yelled at by her twice today! Please, you can’t tell her! I’m so sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking! Please, it’ll never happen again!”

Risha just stared at him in disgust. She had no patience for this today. “Just get dressed,” she said exasperatedly. “And get back to work.”

She turned around and walked back down the hall, debating over what to do. In the end, she decided not to tell Holli. The kid had done something incredibly wrong and stupid, but he was young, inexperienced, and in love (hopefully). Risha remembered those days when she felt the same way. It seemed so long ago, but she would never forget how it felt to be young and in love, no matter how painful the memories were now. And she also remembered how it felt to be a med student, young and ambitious. She was not sure exactly what would happen to him if Holli did find out, but she had a feeling it would not be pretty, and she decided it was not worth ruining his career over.

And so, she did not tell Holli, nor did she tell anyone else. As she passed the nurses station on her way to the elevators, all she said to Hayley was, “You might want to call housekeeping and have them clean OR 4 again. It might be a little… uh… messy in there.”

+++

“Unit 309, what is your location?” a voice crackled over the small radio.

“This is unit 309, we are exiting Atlantic City Memorial, over.”

“Unit 309, we have a twenty-one-year-old male down at Chaser’s Bar and Grill on Oceanview Drive. Victim was involved in a bar scuffle. Labored breathing, suspected head and facial injuries, over.”

“We are on our way Dispatch. ETA five minutes.” Harry Littrell placed the radio back in its holder and looked around for his partners Kylie McCartney and AJ McLean. Spotting Kylie helping move a patient towards a trauma room, Harry jogged over towards her.

“Kylie, we have a call. Let’s get going.”

Kylie looked up at him sheepishly and walked towards him. “Sorry, Harry. I had my radio turned down, and I didn’t hear it.”

“It’s okay. Where’s Amelia?”

“Right here.” Amelia Caston, the youngest member of the EMT squad, came up behind Harry. “Are we ready to go?”

The three paramedics quickly put on their rain gear and scrambled out to the ambulance waiting by one of the side doors. Harry climbed behind the driver’s seat and put on his seatbelt, flipping the switch that put on the sirens and flashing lights.

“We will have to get there by the back roads,” he informed the women as they exited the hospital parking lot. “The main roads are packed because of evacuation.”

Exactly six minutes later, the ambulance pulled up at the entrance of the town bar and grill, Chaser’s. Chaser’s was very popular with residents and tourists alike with their full service bar and wonderful food.

Kylie and Harry both jumped out of the front of the ambulance, and Amelia opened the back door. The three of them lifted out a gurney, along with some equipment, including a defibrillator and neck collar, not knowing exactly what the situation would be. Entering the large bar, they were astonished to see customers still sitting in the bar.

“Why are these people here?” Kylie whispered. “Don’t these idiots realize a hurricane is coming?”

Harry and Amelia just shrugged their shoulders and approached the man behind the bar. “Go through those double doors and out back, just look for a crowd. The cops are already there,” the man said before Harry asked. Harry nodded his thanks and they walked through the double doors, immediately spotting a small group and several police officers mixed within.

“What’s the situation, Williams?” Harry asked the closest officer to the scene.

“He was drunk and started a fight in the bar with a local gang, and they brought it out here and beat him shitless and ran. We suspect he has head and facial trauma, and his ribs may be broken. He’s experiencing labored breathing. Nice guy though.”

“What is his name?”

“Adam Anderson,” the officer replied.

“Adam, can you hear me? My name is Harry Littrell and these are my partners, Amelia Caston and Kylie McCartney. Can you tell me where you feel the most pain?”

Instead of receiving a response, Harry watched as the young man’s breathing sped up, and his eyes grew wide.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m just going to put this tube in here to suction out any vomit you may have in your lungs and put an oxygen mask on your face when I’m done,” Kylie explained as she performed the procedures. For personal experience, she knew most patients felt better about what was going on when it was explained to them.

“My chest hurts,” Adam gasped behind the mask, terror filling his dark eyes.

“I know, sweetie. We are almost finished here, and then we will take you to the hospital.”

Once they evaluated Adam, the EMTs carefully put on a neck brace and placed Adam on a backboard as a precaution. Carefully loading him into the back of the ambulance, Amelia jumped in and began to hook Adam up to various IV’s and a heart monitor.

While Harry drove, Kylie was on the radio, spouting out information to the hospital, as Adam lay still on the backboard, pain radiating throughout his body. Without warning, Adam’s body went rigid and his eyes rolled back into his head the beeping on the monitor changing erratically.

“Shit, Harry, step on it!” Amelia yelled.

As suddenly as the seizure had started, it stopped, the beeping of the heart monitor immediately following suit. The eerie flat tone filled the ambulance as Harry pulled into the hospital parking lot with sirens wailing.

Amelia warmed up the defibrillator machine before placing the paddles onto the still chest.

“Come on, come on!” she chanted as each attempt had negative results. She and Kylie sagged against the wall in relief when a slow beeping sound replaced the wailing of the machine. Adam was going to be okay, for now.

+++


To be continued…
The Hurricane - Part II by RokofAges75
Episode 13:

Hurricane – Part 2


Hospital staff members bustled down the hall in an effort to prepare the hospital for the incoming hurricane. As all this commotion was going on around him, Jim Bass sat in a stiff backed chair again at his son’s bedside, oblivious to all the chaos.

Breaking his gaze on his son only to take a sip of lukewarm coffee, he again fell into the usual routine he had established of speaking to Lance and holding his hand reassuringly; even though he figured Lance didn’t know what was going on, it gave Jim a small sense of closure.

Anger mixed in with guilt, confusion, and sadness brewed within Jim.

Anger at his wife for not being with her son when he needed her, thanks to her stupid foolish pride.

Guilt because he wasn’t there for Lance when he needed someone to talk to; maybe, just maybe, Jim could have been that link that broke Lance’s determination to hurt himself.

Confusion because after Lance saw what happened to his own sister Stacey, how could he turn around a few years later and do it to himself?

And last, sadness because the brilliant, caring young man would be a totally different person; the young man that had such a bright future ahead of him was now reduce to an immobile figure lying in an intensive care unit with a bullet wound through his head.

“Mr. Bass? Your wife is in the waiting room,” neurology nurse Katie McGraw announced as she rushed by the room on her way to check on other patients.

“I’m going to go talk some sense into your mother, son. Wish me luck.” And then Jim exited the room, confident that when he returned, he would have the one person that Lance needed the most - his mother.

+++

The reception desk was a very boring place that afternoon, as it usually was. There were no phone calls coming in and no visitors coming and going because it was just too bad outside. Staff-members from other areas of the hospital had gone down to the ER to see how they could help; others stayed behind to take care of the patients they did have.

Receptionist Mariah Johnson swaggered down the hallways looking for something to do.

“Well, hello, Joey,” she said, greeting fellow receptionist Joey Fatone as she sauntered up to the reception desk.

“Hey, Mariah,” he greeted dutifully.

Mariah glanced at her watch. “Time for a break. Wanna go get a soda with me?”

“I’ve got some stuff I really need to be doing,” replied Joey.

“Oh, it can wait. Come on, let’s go to the lounge. You look like you need a break,” Mariah insisted.

“You go ahead. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Joey said.

“Okay. Don’t be too long,” Mariah said, giving him a flirty smile and walked off toward the lounge, wagging her hips back and forth.

Joey couldn’t help but stare after her as she went down the hall. Finally, when she turned the corner, he shook his head, blinking, and went back to his task at hand.

+++

Chris Kirkpatrick stared out the sliding doors of the ER entrance, which were currently being boarded up by several maintenance men. The actual hurricane had not yet hit, but from the looks of it, it was getting close. The wind whipped the branches of the trees outside with violent force, and the heavy rain blew sideways. Thunder sounded, and lightning illuminated the sky, which was nearly pitch black, even though it was only afternoon.

The lights flickered, and he shuddered. “You think the power’s going to go out?” he asked nurse Addie Burke.

“I’m sure it will. But the hospital has back-up generators, so it’s not a big deal,” she replied.

“What if the generators break down?” asked Chris. He was thinking of Lance Bass, upstairs in the NeuroICU on life support. Without electricity, Lance would surely die.

Addie bit her lip. “Then I guess we’re screwed.” Seeing Chris’s eyes widen, she laughed and added, “But I’m sure that won’t happen. The maintenance people check all that stuff. It’ll be okay.”

Chris nodded. “Well, I’m taking my break now. I’ll be up in the NeuroICU, if anyone needs me.”

“Alright. Don’t bother trying to take the elevators though. They’ve been blocked off. The elevators shut down when the power goes out, and the generators don’t power them. You wouldn’t want to get caught in one during a power outage,” Addie advised.

“Oh. Thanks for telling me,” said Chris and went to the stairwell instead.

+++

“What the hell is going on out there?” AJ complained. “Why hasn’t anyone come looking for us yet? Is it that hard to figure out that one of the elevators isn’t working and that seven staff members and a patient are missing?”

Brian shrugged. “With everything else going on, maybe not. Perfect time for the elevator to break down, huh?”

“Well, look on the bright side. At least we’ve still got power. How would you like to be stuck in here in the dark?” Ivory said.

Just seconds later, the lights flickered, then went out.

Isabel screamed.

“Good going, Ivory. You jinxed us,” Brian said with a nervous chuckle.

Ivory just groaned. “Well who couldn’t see that coming?”

+++

“Oh, there you are, Joey,” Mariah said from the couch, as Joey entered the lounge. “I was about ready to go looking for you.”

Joey gave her a weak smile and headed to the soda machine, opening his wallet. He removed a dollar bill and tried to shove it into the slot on the machine. It was expelled right back at though. Rolling his eyes, Joey tried to flatten it against the machine and push it in again, but the machine refused to take it. He opened his wallet again and flipped through the bills, looking for a crisper dollar. All he found was twenties and tens though. He tried the change section, but there were only a few dimes and nickels, not enough to make a dollar.

“Mariah?” he asked, turning to her. “You got a dollar I could borrow? A flat one?” He held up his crinkled bill sheepishly.

Mariah pursed her red lips. “Hm… let me see,” she said. She made a huge show of bending over to reach her purse, which was sitting on the floor in front of her. Joey tried not to stare at her cleavage as she took her time fishing out her billfold from the purse.

“Here you go,” Mariah said, smiling as she handed him a crisp dollar bill.

“Thanks,” Joey replied, smiling back as he took the bill and put it into the vending machine. He bought a bottle of Coke and removed it from the bottom. As he twisted the cap to open it, Mariah took a sip of her bottle of Cherry Coke, licking her lips slowly when she finished, her eyes fixed on him.

Joey couldn’t help but stare back. He knew Mariah was just a flirt, and he knew he had a girlfriend, but Mariah was beautiful. Any man would have a hard time not staring at her. She made any other woman, even his Melissa, look physically inferior standing next to her.

“Come sit over here,” Mariah said, gently patting a spot next to her on the couch. Wordlessly, Joey started to walk over to her. And that’s when the lights went out.

Mariah jumped and let out a little scream of surprise. Joey, startled by both her scream and the sudden darkness, stumbled over something (probably Mariah’s purse, but he was not sure) and fell forward. He outstretched his hands to break his fall, and rather than coming in contact with the hard floor or soft couch, he found himself touching something firm and round and covered with scrub material. Mariah let out a gasp of surprise, and before Joey could regain his balance, the lights came back on, as the generators kicked in, and Joey found himself leaning over Mariah, his hands on her chest.

“Oh my God!” he gasped, quickly pulling his hands back. “I’m so sorry! That wasn’t on purpose, I swear!” Thoughts of sexual harassment suits were running threateningly through his mind.

To his surprise, Mariah just laughed. Before he knew what was happening, she reached out and grabbed his hands and placed them back on her breasts. Then she wrapped her arms around him, pulled him down close to her, and kissed him fervently on the lips.

Stunned, shocked, not really comprehending what was happening, Joey kissed back.

+++

Chris was in the stairwell when the lights went out. Enveloped in sudden darkness, he tripped and fell hard on his knees.

“Aw, crap,” he muttered, rubbing his knees. Slowly, the emergency lights in the stairwell came on, growing brighter and brighter until the stairwell was lit enough to see. Climbing painfully to his feet, Chris continued up the stairs to the third floor. As he opened the door to leave the stairwell, he found himself face to face with Jack Palmer.

“Oh, hi, Chris,” said Jack. “Have you seen my med student, Isabel Rivera? You know what she looks like, right?”

“Yeah.” Who in the ER didn’t know what Isabel looked like? The girl was fine. “I haven’t seen her though,” said Chris.

“Oh.” Jack frowned. “She supposedly went upstairs to cardiology to transport a patient, but that was hours ago. I just went up there to look for her, just in case, but she wasn’t there. No one’s seen her.”

“Maybe she left,” said Chris. “I mean, Brunson said we could evacuate if we wanted to.” He shrugged.

“Maybe,” Jack said, but he was shaking his head in doubt. “I don’t think she did though. Isabel’s not like that. She’s one of the most hard-working and dedicated students I’ve met. She wouldn’t bail like that. So you haven’t seen her helping in the ER?”

“No,” said Chris, “but it’s a madhouse down there, so maybe she is helping down there, and I just didn’t notice her. Have you tried paging her?”

“Yes, but she hasn’t answered. So either she’s not wearing her pager, or… well, I don’t know what.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll let you know if I see her,” Chris said with a shrug.

“Thanks,” replied Jack, and the two went in their separate ways. Chris took the now familiar route to the NeuroICU. He was relieved to see that while the lights were dimmer than usual, everything seemed to be running perfectly, despite the power outage.

When he reached Lance’s bed, he found one of the neurology nurses, Katie McGraw, checking the equipment Lance was hooked up to.

“Hey, Chris,” she said, looking up and giving him a small smile.

“How’s he doing?” Chris asked.

Katie shrugged. “No change.”

Chris nodded solemnly. “Are Jim and Diane here?” he asked, referring to Lance’s parents.

“Yeah, Jim’s been here all day, and his wife just got here a little while ago. He went to go see her; you just missed him. I think they’re both in the waiting room,” she replied.

“Diane’s here?” That was a new one. Lance’s mother had been downright horrible, not coming to visit her son. Maybe she had finally had a change of heart.

Pulling up a chair beside Lance’s bed, Chris said loudly, “Hey, Lance. It’s me, Chris. Wish you would wake up and look outside. It’s pretty freaky-looking out there. We haven’t had a storm like this in years.” Having grown accustomed to not receiving replies, Chris chattered on, trying to sound as normal as possible. He knew that even thought Lance was in a coma, he might still be able to hear Chris’s voice. Hearing was the last sense to go when a person died.

Lance isn’t going to die, Chris told himself fiercely. He glared at Lance’s still form, trying to assure himself that his friend would be okay. The sight wasn’t very reassuring though. Lance looked just like everyone else in the NeuroICU – a vegetable. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t even breathe on his own. Even though he had survived the surgery a week earlier, his chances of recovering were very slim. That is, unless the doctors could bring him out of his coma, which was their plan. Chris prayed it would work. If they couldn’t bring Lance out of the coma, it was unlikely anything would.

+++

The small, cramped, and now pitch-black elevator was brightened slightly when Brian whipped out his penlight and flicked it on. The light it gave off was very little, but it was enough to at least be able to see through the darkness.

“Good thinking, Bri,” said Kevin, flipping on his penlight as well. The others followed. The elevator was brightened slightly by the glow of the seven tiny lights.

“I don’t like this,” Isabel said with a shudder, looking around the small, shadowy enclosure. “God, get me out of here! I can’t stand being in here for much longer.”

“You think any of us can?” Ivory snapped.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Nick spoke up angrily.

“Well, tell her to grow up and quit whining then. None of us want to be here, alright?” Ivory replied irritably.

“I’m not whining,” Isabel protested. “Jeez, all I said was that I didn’t like this. Chill out!”

“You chill out!” Ivory fired back.

“Would you two both chill out?” AJ erupted. “Jesus Christ, the last thing we need is a catfight in here!”

“Oh, shut up, AJ, nobody asked you,” Ivory replied.

“Dude, take a fucking Midol, why don’t you?” AJ retorted, glaring at Ivory.

Brian chuckled slightly. Ivory was one of the sweetest people he knew, but she did have a horrible temper, and when something pissed her off, she didn’t let go of it easily. It was somewhat funny to see her provoked like that.

“What are you laughing at?” Ivory cried, turning on her boyfriend. “You’re supposed to be sticking up for me, you know!” Brian continued to laugh. “Argh!” Ivory growled in frustration. “God, get me out of here!”

“That’s what I said!” Isabel said, a hint of laughter in her voice.

“There, you agree. Now will you stop fighting?” Howie asked pleadingly.

Ivory and Isabel squinted through the darkness at each other, and Isabel burst out laughing. After a moment, Ivory joined in.

A small, groggy, frightened-sounding voice stopped them. “What’s going on?”

It was Hannah. She had awoken.

The laughter ceased, and Howie said, “Hannah? You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” came her tiny reply. “What’s happening?”

“We’re still in the elevator, sweetie,” said Howie. “The power went out, so it’s kinda dark.”

“I hate the dark,” Hannah whispered. In the dim light created by the tiny penlights, they could see her looking around in apprehension.

“Here,” Howie said. “You take my little flashlight here. Will that help?” He offered her his penlight.

“Yeah,” Hannah said, taking the light. She played with it for awhile, clicking it on and off and flashing it around the room, and soon forgot about being afraid of the dark.

+++

Jim entered the scarcely populated waiting room; his wife very easy to spot, for, in truth, she was the only occupant of the room.

“Jim!” Diane exclaimed as her husband entered the room. She felt sympathy for her husband surge through her; he looked like the walking dead. Skin pale, eyes pale, and revealing emotions Diane herself couldn’t decipher. She knew what Lance had done affected Jim deeply, but this was ridiculous!

“I’m glad you are here to see Lance,” Jim said. Diane raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow and glared at her husband.

“Actually, Jim, I’m not here to see Lance. I’m here to pick you up so we can head on home or inland at least before this dreadful storm hits.”

Shocked turned to rage within a fraction of a second. “How could you, Diane? That is our son in there, Diane! The whole time we have been here, you have visited him once! Once! Count it, Diane. He needs you, and you are too stubborn to act upon it.”

“As if he knows I am there anyways, Jim. Face it, Jim, Lance is dead. He is only being kept alive by machines, and you people’s refusal to let him go. Let him die in peace, Jim! Don’t make him suffer anymore,” Diane shot back, tears stinging her eyes momentarily before she blinked them away.

“At least we believe in him, Diane, which is more than I can say for yourself.”

Diane looked on in shock as her husband turned his back on her and walked out of the room heading back towards the room that was now in a sense Lance’s prison cell. Pushing back her stubborn pride, Diane took the first step in her own healing process; she followed Jim to Lance’s room.

+++

By the light of a battery-powered lantern, five paramedics sat huddled together. A map sat in the center of the circle as the leader of the group talked in hushed tones to his partners.

“You guys have any questions?” Harry Littrell asked Josh McCartney, Amelia Caston, Kylie McCartney, Kym Jennings, and Allison Brooks, the two teams of paramedics that were on duty that day. Receiving no response, Harry stood up and stretched. “Also, you guys, if you happen to see AJ or Howie, brief them on what we discussed, okay?”

“Where could they be?” Allison asked as she popped the gum she was chewing.

“I have no clue, Allison,” Harry answered patiently. “If I did know, I would have gotten them both down here for our little meeting. They’re probably on another floor helping with patients or something. I’m sure they’re fine. If there is nothing else we need to discuss, you guys are dismissed. Just make sure you stay close by.”

Allison, Josh, and Amelia immediately set off for the packed waiting room, hoping to be of some assistance, for the storm was quickly approaching, and patients needed to be treated as quickly as possible.

Harry, Kym, and Kylie set off on a different route towards the already occupied rooms where patients were being held. Even though the generators had been supplying minimal electrical services to the hospital, patients on ventilators and other various machines still needed to be checked periodically.

Entering the NeuroICU, both paramedics were greeted by a frenzy of various staff members rushing from Point A to Point B and on to Point C of their destination. Amongst all the chaos, it wasn’t too hard to find someone to help, the thunder and rain from the storm their background music.

+++

The low existence of lights in Lance’s ICU room made the area look eerie, in Diane’s opinion. This had been the first time she has visited her son since she first arrived, and a feeling of guilt set heavily on her chest.

“Hey, Lance, look who is here,” Jim said, as if Lance was actually awake and well. “It’s Mom.”

Diane stayed as far away from the single bed as she could, fearing that if she saw what the bed held, all her defenses would come crumbling down.

“Um, how is he doing? Any better since last time?”

“No, not too much improvement, but he is alive; that is all that matters.”

Diane nodded in agreement, wishing she could say the same for her daughter that died all those years ago. Stacey was everything Diane wanted in a daughter; smart, beautiful, wonderful personality and in one night it had all changed when Stacey had made the decision she no longer wanted to live and took her own life.

At first, Diane blamed Lance. If he would have checked on his sister when she didn’t come back this would have never happened right? Then after awhile the guilt shifted to her and Jim where she assumed it properly belonged.

Now those feelings of guilt and rage she had felt years ago towards Lance hit Diane with a crushing force when she receive the phone call from Chris about what had happened to Lance. Lance had known what grief Stacey’s suicide had caused the family, how dare he make them relive that part of their lives Diane wished she could put behind her.

A pair of arms engulfed Diane in a hug and Diane was brought out of her deep thoughts.

“It will be ok, I promise Diane,” she heard her husband say. It was then she realized tears were streaming down her cheeks. She had now reached the second step of the healing process and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

+++

The minutes slowly ticked by, and still, no help came. The elevator was getting hot and stuffy with the body heat of eight people, so it was a great surprise when Hannah whined, “I’m cold.”

The seven adults exchanged glances. Nick rose to his feet and pressed his palm gently to Hannah’s forehead. “She’s burning up,” he whispered down to Brian. “She feels hotter than before. Do any of you have a thermometer?”

The other three doctors, two med students, and one EMT shook their heads. Nick grabbed his lab coat off the floor and removed his stethoscope from its pocket. He put it in his ears and slid the round end of it under Hannah’s gown.

“Her heart’s racing. We really need to cool her body down,” he said worriedly, looking around the elevator, as if he was going to find something there to help him.

“Here,” AJ said, handing Howie his jacket, which was still damp from being outside. “It’s not very cold anymore, but maybe it will help,” he added, shrugging.

“Thanks, Aje,” replied Howie. He took the jacket, folded one of the long sleeves over, and awkwardly pressed it against Hannah’s hot, clammy forehead.

The jacket did little good. Hannah slowly grew delirious with fever and kept drifting off to a restless sleep and then waking up again. Nick could feel the heat rising from her body, and her face was flushed, but her teeth chattered, and her body shook with chills.

“I want my mommy,” she murmured dazedly, her eyes open, but unfocused.

“I know, sweetheart,” Nick said, squeezing her hot little hand. “You can see your mommy very soon, as soon as we get out of here.”

Hannah continued to mumble inexplicably for awhile, until her eyes suddenly rolled back in her head, and her body went limp.

“Hannah?” Nick asked sharply, leaning over her. “Hannah?” The little girl did not respond. Nick again pressed the end of his stethoscope to her chest and listened.

“No breath or heart sounds. I’m gonna start CPR,” he announced grimly, cupping his hands over Hannah’s chest.

“Alright, Nick, you give her chest compressions. Isabel, you start artificial respiration. Ivory, take a couple pen lights and hold them up so they can see,” Kevin directed, jumping into command. “The rest of you – we need to find a way out of here. Maybe we could pry these doors open…”

“With what?” AJ asked doubtfully, looking around.

Kevin sighed. “I don’t know. If only we had a crowbar or something.”

“Should we try yelling again?” Brian suggested. “If someone knew we were in here, they could pry the doors open from the outside and at least get some supplies down here.”

Kevin shrugged. “I guess it’s all we can do now.” So they went back to banging on the doors and yelling at the top of their lungs, praying someone would hear them in time.

+++

“Dear God, I can’t believe you guys are actually going to do this!” Siara Reily yelled from the abandoned hallway of the emergency room. Her voice echoed off the thick walls and the sound bounced down the hallway. “Can’t you wait until the storm is completely over? Going out in the eye of the storm is crazy!”

“Siara, we know what we are doing. At the rate that the storm is moving now, we would have about forty minutes to go a short distance and help the most critically injured and get some people to safety before phase two of the storm hits. Quit treating us like we are stupid,” Harry reprimanded his girlfriend.

“Just trust us. We wouldn’t go out there if it was dangerous. We have a plan set up to where we only go within a few mile radius of the hospital so we can get back quickly, and a thirty minute time limit is set up so we will meet back here in plenty of time before the storm hits,” Kylie explained, placing her hand on Siara’s tense shoulder.

“I don’t like this at all,” she said. “Just wait until the whole storm has passed, then you all will have more than thirty minutes to help somebody - you would have hours.”

“No.”

“You aren’t going, and that is final, Harry! This idea is completely suicidal.”

Siara and Harry stayed stared silently at one another for a moment before he finally spoke up. He knew that Siara was only looking out for him and she didn’t want anything to happen, but this was all apart of his job. “I’m going, Siara, and that is final. You have no right to tell me how to do my job.”

“Fine,” Siara said with a sigh of defeat. “You do have a point there. I just don’t want any of you guys to get hurt.”

“I know, baby. We will be careful. Right, Kylie?”

“Of course,” she said with a chuckle.

“Well, I better get back to where everybody else is,” Siara said as a loud rumble of thunder caused the boarded up windows to rattle. “Looks like we are going to meet this storm pretty soon.”

+++

“Dr. Sterling?”

Alexandra Sterling, head of the Oncology department, smiled as she saw Addie Burke coming down the hall towards her. “Hi, Addie,” she said. “How is everything going?”

“Alright, I guess, under the circumstances. The patients are all pretty scared, but the windows and everything have been boarded up, and things are under control. But I was wondering – have you seen Brian Littrell or Ivory Harnett? They’re both ER doctors… Ivory said they were going to come up here to look out at th storm, I thought, but that was hours ago, and neither of them are anywhere to be found in the ER. Have you seen them up here? They’re not answering their pages.”

Alexandra pursed her lips. “No, I don’t think so,” she replied slowly.

Addie nodded. “Well, thanks anyway,” she said. “If you do happen to run into either of them, tell him we need them back down in ER.”

“Sure, I will,” replied Alexandra.

“Well, I guess I’m headed back down to the ER then,” Addie said.

“Oh okay. You’ll have to take the stairs though. They’ve shut down the elevators to conserve energy now that we’re running on generators.”

“Oh great,” Addie groaned. Oncology was on the eighth floor, ER the first. “Oh well, I need to burn some calories anyway. Gotta lose some weight if I want to look good on my wedding day.”

Alexandra gasped, and her eyes immediately went to the glittering diamond on Addie’s left hand. “Oh, Addie, congratulations, dear!” she cried, hugging the younger woman.

Addie grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Thanks, Dr. Sterling,” she said. She had looked up to Alexandra ever since she had worked in oncology with her.

“It’s that Palmer from the ER, right? The one who always used to find excuses to come see you when you worked up here?”

“That’s right,” Addie said with a laugh.

“Aww. Well, congratulations to the both of you,” Alexandra said again. “I’ll let you get back to work now.”

“Thank you, Dr. Sterling,” said Addie. “I’ll see you later.”

She headed for the staircase, and Alexandra continued making her rounds.

+++

There were only a few people left on the surgical floor, for most of the surgeons, including Kevin and Holli Brunson, had gone down to the ER to help out. Doctors Risha Veers and Amory Cannon were the only surgeons left on the floor, and they were making rounds, helping the nurses check on the patients they had on the floor.

Nurse Hayley Aldworth was just coming out of one of the rooms when the door to the stairwell down the hall burst open and a breathless Addie Burke appeared in the hallway.

“Hi, Addie,” Hayley said, coming over to here. “Jeez, did you take the stairs all the way down here from Oncology?”

“Yeah,” Addie panted. “The elevator’s aren’t working.”

“Oh yeah. So, what brings you down here?”

“I just came to see if you’d seen Brian or Ivory around. Did they maybe bring up a patient or something? We can’t find either of them in the ER.”

“Oh, no, haven’t seen either of them,” Hayley replied, frowning.

Addie sighed. “Okay. Just thought I’d check.”

She noticed a drinking fountain down the hall and headed for it, parched from her wild goose chase around the hospital. As she passed the elevators, she suddenly came to a stop. Frowning, she cocked her head to the side and listened. She could hear noises, muffled banging and shouting. It seemed to be coming from the ceiling. What are they doing up in Neurology? she wondered, her eyes drifting upwards, towards the third floor. She listened further and realized that the sound seemed to be coming not from the ceiling, but from inside the wall that the elevators were on.

That’s when it hit her.

There’s people in the elevators, she realized, her eyes widening. She immediately began to bang on the doors of the elevator closest to where the sound was coming from. She banged three times, then stopped to listen. The banging behind the doors had stopped too. Then it came again, three distinct bangs, echoing hers.

“Hello?” she shouted. “Can you hear me?”

“Help!” came a chorus of voices.

“There’s a little girl in cardiac arrest in here!” rang out a man’s deep, raspy voice. “We need help!”

Addie’s heart was racing. “Let me go find some help!” she called. “I’ll be right back!” Before they could answer, she took off down the hall. She stopped at the nurses station and called the number for maintenance.

“ ‘Ello,” came a man’s voice.

“Hi, this is Addie Burke, calling from surgery. There are people trapped in an elevator down here. Someone needs to come down here ASAP and get them out,” Addie said very quickly.

“The elevators are shut down, Miss,” the man on the phone replied in a slow drawl. “Ain’t nobody s’posed to be in ‘em.”

“I know that, but there are, and one of them is in trouble. Please, you have to get somebody down here right now to help them!” Addie insisted.

“Most of our workers are boardin’ up windows and all that. Ain’t nobody around right now.”

“No, there’s got to be! Please, this is an emergency!” Addie cried.

“Alright, Miss, I’ll get somebody down there to help ya as soon as I can,” the man said and hung up the phone before Addie could beg him to hurry. Infuriated, she slammed down the phone.

“What’s wrong?” a voice behind her asked. She turned around to find Hayley looking at her in astonishment.

“Hayley,” Addie gasped. “You’ve got to help me! There’s people stuck in the elevator over there, and they said there’s a little girl in cardiac arrest in there!”

Hayley’s eyes widened. “We need to call maintenance right away!”

“That’s who I just got off the phone with. Doesn’t sound like they’re going to get down here anytime soon. We’re going to have to try to get them out ourselves,” said Addie. “Can you go find some other people to help us?”

Hayley ran off, and Addie went back to the elevators. “We’re going to try to get you out of there!” she shouted towards the doors. “Just hang on!”

Hayley returned a few minutes later with Amory Cannon and Risha Veers in tow. The four women gathered around the elevator, looking at it uncertainly, not sure what to do.

“We need to pry these doors open,” said Addie. “Anyone know where there would be crowbars?”

“Let’s try one of the janitor’s closets,” suggested Hayley.

“Okay. You go check and try to find some,” said Addie, sending Hayley running off toward the nearest janitor’s closet.

“Any chance the sternal saw would work to saw through the doors?” Amory asked doubtfully.

“I don’t think so,” said Risha. “That’s for cutting through bone, not through metal.”

“Just an idea,” Amory replied with a shrug.

Hayley returned a few minutes later, carrying a large, rusty crowbar. “I found one!” she announced breathlessly. “Someone go to a different floor and try another janitor’s closet. If there’s one in this one, there’s probably another one in a different closet.”

“I’ll go,” Risha offered. “You three start prying with that one.” She disappeared into the stairwell, leaving the three women and one crowbar behind.

“Okay. Who wants to start with the crowbar?” Addie asked.

“I will,” said Hayley, who was holding it. “Alright, here goes.” She jammed the end of it into the crack between the double doors and began to pry.

“We’re trying to pry the doors open!” Amory called towards the elevator.

“Thank God!” came the raspy male voice that Hayley had heard earlier. “We’ve been in here for hours!”

“What happened?” Amory asked.

“We don’t know. The elevator just came to a stop between the second and third floor. Nothing would work, and then the lights went out,” came a different voice, another deep male voice. It sounded awfully familiar to Hayley and Amory.

“Kevin?” Hayley cried, her voice strained with exertion. “Is that you?”

“Hayley!” came Kevin’s reply. “Yeah, it’s me. Me, Brian, Ivory, AJ, Howie, Nick, Isabel, and Howie’s patient, Hannah.”

“Brian and Ivory are in there?” Addie asked in surprise. “Well, no wonder.”

“Oh, guys, I think I’m getting it!” Hayley cried. Amory and Addie looked over to see that she had gotten the doors open a crack. “Oh God, help me!”

“We need something to stick in there to prop them open,” Addie said, looking wildly around. “I know!” She took off down the hall, ducking into the nearest waiting room, and returning with a stack of magazines. While Hayley struggled to hold the doors open, she shoved a magazine into the tiny opening between the two doors.

Hayley let out a breath and loosened her grip on the crowbar. “Here, one of you try,” she said, handing Amory the crowbar. Amory stuck it into the crack – it went in very easily now that the doors were partway open – and began to pry. She managed to open the doors a few inches wider, and Addie stuffed more magazines in to hold them in place.

“Do you think you can get a flashlight up here?” they heard a woman call from the elevator above. “It’s really dark, and all we have is our penlights.”

“I’ll go find one,” Hayley said. “You guys try to get the doors open wide enough to fit a flashlight through.”

Amory and Addie worked on prying the doors open further and managed to push them far enough apart to get a flashlight through the crack. A tattooed arm reached down from the elevator above to grab the light.

“Thanks,” came his raspy voice, now recognizable as AJ McLean’s.

“I found one!” a woman’s voice shouted from behind the three women. They turned around to see Risha running up the hall with another crowbar.

“Alright! Now we’ll be able to get them all the way open,” Hayley said.

Amory and Risha got on either side of the elevator and stuck their crowbars into the space between the doors. They both began to tug at the same time, and the doors slowly slid open.

“I think I can reach in between them and push them open now,” said Addie. She stuck both of her hands in between the doors and began to push on one of them. It slid slowly open. Hayley pushed back the other door, and finally they were open.

The women looked up into the elevator shaft. They could see the bottom of the elevator car above their heads, nearly at the top of the doorway. There was a small space in the front where they could see into the car. AJ McLean was lying on his stomach, looking down at them.

“Good going, girls,” he said, both surprised and relieved. “Thank you so much!”

“I don’t know how we’re going to get you out of there,” Addie said, knowing that it was not over yet. “Do you need any supplies.”

“Yeah. Get us a portable defibrillator, an intubation kit, a thermometer, and a bunch of ice packs,” AJ fired off.

“Alright. Addie, run down to the ER and find a portable defibrillator – we don’t have portables up here. Risha, get an intubation kit. Amory, grab a thermometer. I’ll go find the ice packs,” Hayley directed, and the four women ran off in different directions.

+++

“How you doing, Nick?” Brian asked Nick, who was still giving Hannah chest compressions. “Are you getting tired? Want me to take over?”

“No,” Nick puffed. “I’m good.”

“Here’s a thermometer,” came Amory’s voice from the floor below. AJ reached down to take it from her hand.

“Here, Bri, take her temperature,” he said, handing Brian the thermometer. He stuck it in her ear, waited a moment, and took it out when it beeped.

“106,” he gasped, his eyes widening.

“Damn! Do we have the ice packs yet?” AJ called down.

“Here,” Hayley said, handing them up. Brian packed them around Hannah’s body as best he could with Nick and Isabel hovering over her.

“I’ve got the intubation kit,” shouted Risha. It was passed up to AJ a moment later.

“Here, Kev,” he said, giving it to Kevin. “You can intubate.”

“You can step back now, Isabel,” Kevin said to the med student, who had been breathing into Hannah’s mouth and nose for over half an hour. “I’d let you try to intubate her, but time’s running out.”

“That’s okay,” Isabel said, backing away and letting Kevin take over to insert the breathing tube down Hannah’s throat.

“Here,” they heard Addie pant a few minutes later. “I’ve got the defibrillator.” With some difficulty, she managed to lift the machine up to AJ, who took it and immediately charged up the paddles to shock Hannah’s heart.

“Back off, Nick,” he said, as Ivory pulled back Hannah’s hospital gown and placed pads on her chest. Nick backed away, and AJ rubbed the paddles together. “Clear!” Everyone stepped back, and AJ pressed the paddles to the pads on Hannah’s chest. Her small body jolted with electricity.

Ivory pressed her stethoscope to Hannah’s chest. “No rhythm,” she said grimly. “Shock her again.”

“Clear!”

Ivory checked again. “Still nothing.”

“She’s been down for so long,” Howie said, chewing on his bottom lip. “It’s going to be hard to get her back now.”

“There’s a chance,” Brian said stubbornly. “We’ve been doing CPR, keeping her blood flowing. There’s a chance. Defibrillate again, AJ.”

“Clear!”

Ivory sighed. “Nothing.”

“Should we call it?” Nick asked, looking from Ivory to Brian.

Ivory sighed again and listened again to Hannah’s chest. “She’s been without cardiac activity for probably an hour now. I guess this is it. Nick, ask the women down there for the time.”

“No, wait!” Brian cried suddenly. “One more time. Just shock her one more time.”

“Brian,” Kevin started gently, but Brian interrupted him.

“Please,” he went on stubbornly. “I know it doesn’t look good right now, but we could still get her back. I’ve seen it happen before. It happened to me.”

“You were down for like thirty seconds, Brian, not a whole hour,” Kevin said quietly.

Brian glared at him. “I don’t care,” he snapped. “Just shock her once more.” He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was determined not to let Hannah die. Maybe it was because he had lived through the same kind of illness she had when he was little, or maybe it was because he had been stuck in the elevator with her for so long, but felt like they had to get her back. “Just once more,” he repeated softly.

Ivory and Kevin exchanged doubtful glances, and Isabel looked near tears, but AJ nodded and said vigorously, “Charging paddles.”

The elevator waited in suspense as the paddles charged.

“Clear!”

Ivory dutifully placed the stethoscope to Hannah’s chest, her expression grave. She shook his head slowly in defeat, and Isabel let out a little whimper. Ivory pressed her lips together and moved the stethoscope across Hannah’s chest, checking one last time. And then, suddenly, her face changed. Her hazel eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

“What is it?” Kevin asked, staring at her. “Don’t even tell me she-“

“She’s got a rhythm,” Ivory interrupted him. “I don’t believe it. She’s got a rhythm. You got her back, Aje.”

“We got her back,” AJ corrected, looking from Ivory to Kevin to Brian to Nick to Howie, and finally, to Isabel. “Good save, guys.”

+++

Allison Brooks drove the designated route at a low rate of speed, expertly dodging tree limbs, trashcans, and other debris. Luckily I haven’t had to dodge any bodies in the road, Allison thought with a shudder. Suddenly, the crew approached a small trailer park that was sickeningly destroyed like a giant had stepped on it and squashed the area like a bug.

“Let’s check for survivors here,” the youngest member of the squad, Amelia Caston, suggested. The two older members agreed, and Allison pulled over in a small area where much debris was not present.

“Let’s split up, and if we find anybody, we yell because communications are still down. Hopefully, most of these people evacuated when they had the chance. We don’t have much time,” Kym Jennings ordered as she looked nervously up at the sky, which was now a scary shade of blue. “Let’s go.”

+++

Amelia Caston was slowly starting to reach the conclusion that all of the residents of the trailer park had already evacuated. Amelia had come up with nothing except for many damaged possessions and trailers, which were about to cave in if they hadn’t already.

As she was getting ready to head back towards the emergency vehicle, a strange sound reached her ears and she listened closely.

“Allison, Kym! Over here!” Amelia yelled. A child was trapped under the rubble.

+++

Kylie and Harry were both relieved that their route was not heavily damaged by the hurricane, for most of the damage was caused by the high winds, hail, and driving rains, but they both had a bad feeling the hurricane would be coming this way for round two, even though this area wasn’t too far from the coastal area.

“What’s that up there, Har?” Kylie asked as she squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at the white object on the side of the road in front of them.

Harry was silent for a few seconds as he also tried to get a better look. “I think it is a car, Ky. Let’s check and see if it is abandoned.”

Harry quickly approached the vehicle and put the ambulance in park, he and Kylie rushing over to the vehicle. They immediately noticed a hunched over figure in the driver’s seat, and luckily, the passenger’s side door was unlocked. Harry climbed inside as Kylie ran back to the ambulance to get a neck collar and backboard, just in case the victim was alive.

Without hesitation, Harry reached out and touched the person’s shoulder, jumping back as she sat up. A pretty young woman with curly light brown hair and light eyes stared up at Harry. Harry took a visual examination of the woman’s body to check for injuries. The only thing he found was minor scratches and bruises on the woman’s face and arms.

“My name is Harry Littrell, and I’m with the Atlantic City Rescue Squad. Are you injured anywhere else?”

The young woman gave a small laugh and then winced. “I would be in tip top shape if my leg wasn’t broken. I knew I couldn’t go anywhere so I, uh, decided to take a nap until somebody saw my car here. I am exhausted,” she said sheepishly.

Harry offered the young woman a small smile and yelled out the open door for Kylie to go ahead and put the backboard away and to find a brace and bandages to stabilize the leg until they could reach the hospital.

“What is your name, by the way?” Harry asked the young woman as he reached around her to try to lodge the door open.

“Natalie Brenner, but you can call me Nattie if you want to.”

“Ahh, here we go,” Harry announced with a grunt as the
door gave way to the weight and popped open. “I’m going to go around to your side and help you out, and then we will get in the ambulance and go en route to the hospital,” Harry explained.

Nattie nodded and subconsciously braced herself for the pain she knew would come once her leg was moved. Harry quickly ran to the other side as Kylie came running out from the ambulance and over to the car.

“Thanks, Ky. Nattie, meet my partner Kylie McCartney; Kylie, meet Natalie Brenner,” Harry introduced the two young women as he grasped Nattie under her arms and carefully lifted her up as Kylie gently supported her legs.

The two paramedics quickly transported Nattie over to the open backdoor of the ambulance and sat her down. Harry and Kylie worked quickly together to wrap the knee and place the brace on it.

“All done,” Harry announced with a smile. “We need to get going; it is almost time to be back at Memorial, Ky.”

Kylie nodded and looked up at the sky, her green eyes growing wide with fright. “Uh, Harry, we need to get going now! I think the eye of the storm is passing a lot quicker than we thought.” Climbing into the back of the ambulance with Nattie, Kylie quickly slammed the doors shut and took a seat beside of Nattie on one of the benches.

In just seconds, the winds had picked up, and the sky was starting to turn dark much quicker than any of the paramedics had suspected. Harry drove as quickly as he safely could during the weather conditions.

“Guys, we need to evacuate!”

+++

Kym and Allison approached Amelia, their breathing rate slightly increased.

“What’s up, Amelia?” Kym questioned.

“Shh, listen.”

Kym opened her mouth to report that she heard nothing until a soft crying was heard.

“Oh my gosh,” Allison whispered. “It sounds like it is coming from over there,” she said pointing towards a pile of rubble that once was a trailer.

The three young paramedics raised towards the location, knowing that time was precious and nearly non existent. With their bare hands, they began to tear at the rubble, the crying getting even louder as each section was tossed away. Suddenly, the crying stopped, and the three women exchanged glances; they weren’t going to give up on this child.

“I’m there!” the voice of Amelia announced and Allison and Josh rushed over. “Help me move this piece, and I think we can get them out.”

The three EMTs grasped a hold of the large piece that was formerly a thin wall and pulled with all their might, finally moving it up enough to scoot it out of the way.

“Two victims - one appears to be a Caucasian female in her early twenties, no heart rhythm or breath sounds. Second appears to be a Caucasian female age approximately six months of age. Breath sounds and heart rhythm present. Appears to be unconscious,” Amelia spouted off as she checked both victims. She carefully picked up the baby and supported her neck and back as she and her colleagues raced towards the ambulance.

Amelia and Allison hopped into the back after gently placing the baby on a portable stretcher, as Kym hopped into the drover’s seat and sped off towards the hospital.

Minutes later, they reached the hospital, just as the thirty minute time limit was about to end. The baby was quickly placed in the care of Siara Reily and her team. Looking through a crack in one of the boarded up windows, the three paramedics realized they had arrived just in time for the second part of the storm had arrived a lot sooner than expected.

The only question was, where were Kylie and Harry?

+++

“Oh gosh, I can’t believe we made it!” Nattie exclaimed as Kylie and Harry placed her down on the floor of an old abandoned building they were currently seeking shelter in.

The storm had approached quickly, and the trio had evacuated their emergency vehicle. Kylie and Harry had run towards the building as they carried Nattie because she herself couldn’t run or walk, for that matter. The building had turned out to be the old abandoned city recreation center, which had been shut down years earlier when a new and improved center was constructed on the opposite side of town. Harry had recognized the building because he and his younger brother, Brian, would always come to the recreation center to play basketball during the summer, a fond memory for Harry.

Outside, the roaring of the wind, hail, and rain that was heard just under an hour ago raged, and the occupants of the building could tell within seconds they would be hit by the storm. Lying flat on the floor close to each other with their arms protecting their heads, they began to pray as the debris fell around them.

+++

Jack Palmer walked down the hallway leading to the ER, looking over the list complied by ER nurse Chris Kirkpatrick about the patients in the waiting rooms and their conditions.

Nearing the ER, a familiar voice reached Jack’s ears, and he broke into a jog, the panic and anger in the voice sparking Jack’s curiosity. As Jack ran through the open double doors, he saw pediatrician Brian Littrell in the middle of a poorly constructed circle consisting of Siara Reilly, Holli Brunson, and paramedics Josh McCartney, Amelia Caston, Allison Brooks, and Kym Jennings.

“You had better hope he is okay! Whose crazy idea was it for them to go out in this weather, a hurricane of all things!?” Brian yelled, his blue eyes blazing in anger.

“It was, for the most part, his idea,” Allison spoke calmly, hoping to calm Brian down, for many occupants of the waiting room were turning their attention to the small group. “I’m sure he is all right, Brian. He and Kylie have good heads on their shoulders; they wouldn’t do anything that would put them or anyone else in danger.”

Except go out in the middle of a hurricane, Jack thought, but despite his sarcasm, his heart had begun to beat a little faster with anxiety. He knew exactly who they were talking about – Brian’s brother, Harry… and his own best friend’s wife. He glanced over at Josh, who looked rather pale.

Brian snorted in disbelief. “Then why haven’t they contacted us? For all we know, they could be on the roadside dead or something.” A distressed gasp from Siara was heard, bringing more realization to the situation.

“The communications are still down, Brian. Even if they wanted to contact us, they wouldn’t be able to.”

“Alright, alright. Enough!” Holli Brunson interrupted. “Let’s discuss this in an orderly manner.”

“I’m going out to look for them.”

“You are not going alone, Dr. Littrell. Along with Harry and Kylie, they might have also been transporting patients, and you cannot and will not handle this alone. Dr. Reily, you may accompany Dr. Littrell because Harry is your boyfriend and I’m sure you will want to be there,” Holli said with a distasteful sneer.

“I’m going too,” Josh announced.

“Fine. So you three are heading out to fetch our irresponsible paramedics. That settles that. Good luck,” Holli said flatly, and without allowing anyone else to speak, turned and exited the room.

“Well, let’s get going,” Brian said.

The small group that had accumulated in the room watched silently as the three young doctors exited the room. They weren’t out to save a random person; they were out to save two of their own.

+++

Siara stared pensively out the window as Brian drove slowly down the ravaged streets of Atlantic City. All around them, there was destruction. There were trees and electrical lines down everywhere. Windows were shattered, road signs flattened, debris littering the flooded ground. But that didn’t faze her; that didn’t matter. Only one thing did, and that was finding Harry and the others.

She glanced up at Brian and Josh from the backseat. Brian was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white, and Josh’s hands were trembling. She could not forget that she was not the only one in that car with a loved one missing. Josh’s wife Kylie was out there, and Brian was Harry’s brother. Both of them were experiencing the same thing she was – the fear that something terrible had happened to the paramedics. Just the thought of it made an icy block form in Siara’s stomach, so she tried not to think it. But that was near impossible.

“Look!” Josh gasped suddenly, making Siara jump. “Up ahead, on the side of the road! Oh God…”

Siara felt sick to her stomach as she saw what Josh did. Lying on its side, a telephone poll on top of it, was a familiar-looking ambulance.

+++

When the raging winds had stopped blowing, and the rain had stopped pelting fiercely on the roof of the old building, Harry stood up.

“I’m gonna head back to the rig, see how much damage there is,” he said. “You stay here with Nattie. If the ambulance is drivable, I’ll be back to pick you two up. If not, I’m going to stay there. Someone’s gotta come looking for us sooner or later, and there’s no way they’re going to find us in here.”

Kylie nodded. “Alright. Be careful,” she said. “If it gets bad again, come right back in here.”

“Yes, Mother,” Harry said with a grin and left the two women, as he made his way outside. His mouth opened slightly as he surveyed the scene around him. Shaking his head in disbelief, he walked slowly to the place where they had left the ambulance, on the side of the road near the former recreation center.

At first, he did not see it. On second glance, he realized why. The once-white ambulance was no longer parked upright in the spot where they had left it. It was turned on its side, spattered with mud, and smashed in, a telephone pole leaning on top of it. Loose wires snaked from the poll, shooting sparks out.

Warily, Harry headed towards the road, keeping a safe distance away from the ambulance. That’s when he noticed a blue Honda parked a ways back, behind the ambulance. He squinted at it. It looked awfully familiar…

“Harry?”

“Harry!”

Suddenly, three people were running toward him from the opposite direction. He barely had time to recognize them before a pretty blonde hurtled herself into his arms. “Siara!” he gasped, hugging her tightly. “What are you doing out here?”

“We came to look for you,” answered a male voice, and Harry looked up to see his younger brother Brian, the owner of the blue Honda, standing there as well.

“Thank God you’re okay!” Siara cried. “The ambulance…”

“Where’s Kylie?” interrupted the third person, Kylie’s husband Josh. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Harry assured him quickly. “She’s over there, in that building.” He pointed to the recreation center. “There’s a girl in there with a broken leg.”

“Well, let’s go then,” Josh said, anxious to see Kylie for himself, to assure himself she was okay. He was very worried, not just about her, but about their unborn baby. Surely all this stress and panic couldn’t be good on either of them.

Harry nodded, and the four of them walked swiftly towards the abandoned building.

+++

“Wow… look at all that,” Nick murmured. Hours later, when the storm was finally over, he and Isabel had ventured out of the hospital and were now slowly walking down the sidewalk, observing all the damage done. The front window of Sully’s was shattered, the wooden sign that usually hung overhead gone. Trees and power lines were down everywhere, and there was standing water in the street.

“Had you ever been in a hurricane before this?” Isabel asked Nick.

“Oh sure, several of them. I grew up in Florida,” he replied. “How about you? Was this your first?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m from Michigan. We don’t get hurricanes up there. Tornadoes, yeah, but not hurricanes.”

“Welcome to the coast,” he said with a laugh. “So… that was pretty tense in that elevator today, huh?”

Isabel shivered. “Yeah. Sorry for freaking out like that, when we first got stuck. I get claustrophobic.”

“I know,” Nick replied. “It’s okay. I understand. And you stayed calm after that, even with Hannah and everything. I know a lot of people who would have been freaking out then.”

“I was freaking out inside,” she admitted. “I’m so glad we got her back. She was so sweet. It would have been horrible to see her die.”

“I know.”

They walked on in silence for a few minutes. The streets were unusually empty, except for the rescue workers, electrical crews, and construction workers out helping to clean up the damage. It was very eerie outside, with the dark, cloud-laden twilight sky looming down on them and the evacuated, damaged houses and buildings surrounding them.

“I wonder what my apartment looks like,” Isabel said suddenly.

“Where is your apartment? It’s not on the other side of town, is it? By the coast?”

“No,” she said. “It’s on this side of town, luckily.”

“It will probably be okay then. You might have some broken windows or something, but there shouldn’t be too much damage.”

“Okay. What about you? Where do you live?”

“I’ve got a place on this side of town too. It should be okay,” Nick replied.

“That’s good. So… what time are you off?”

“Me? Seven. How about you?”

“Seven too. You want to come over to my apartment when we get off and check out the damage? I can make us dinner if the place isn’t too messed up.”

“Sure,” Nick said, smiling. “I’d love to.” He gently reached out and took her hand, and they continued down the street.

+++

Addie was very nervous driving home that night. Her beautiful little apartment, right next to the ocean… what would it look like? She had seen the damage to the buildings near the hospital, which was on the side of Atlantic City farthest from the coast. Her apartment complex was on the other side of town. As she drove in that direction, she could tell that the damage got worse and worse the closer she got to the coast.

When she reached the street her apartment was located on, she found that it was blocked off. Fire trucks and electrical and construction crews were all over the street. Addie rolled down her window and slowly pulled up to a parked fire truck, where several fire fighters stood.

“Excuse me,” she said politely, “but I live on this street. Are you not letting people past?”

“No, ma’am, I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of damage. Nobody on this street will be able to go back to their homes tonight.”

“H-how bad is the damage?” Addie asked.

“It’s bad, ma’am,” one of the firefighters told her. “Some of the buildings will be able to be restored, but others will probably have to be torn down and rebuilt. Lots of damage done. Worst hurricane I’ve seen in a long time.”

Addie craned her neck, looking for apartment building down the street. She could just see the top of it, but it was impossible to tell how much damage had been done to it. At least it’s still standing, she told herself. She and Jack’s apartment was on the second floor, so maybe there wouldn’t be too much damage done.

“Do you have anywhere to stay, ma’am?” the firefighter asked. “They have shelters set up in local schools, and they’re letting people stay the night there. Or you could check into a hotel.”

“No, that’s okay. I can stay with one of my friends,” Addie replied. “Thanks for your help.”

Slowly, she backed out of the street and went back in the direction she had come. Many of the streets near her own were barricaded off, the houses damaged too much to be used. As she observed the destruction, her eyes filled with tears. Her vision growing blurry, she pulled to the side of the road and got out her cell phone. She punched in a number, hung up, and waited. A few minutes later, the phone in her hand rang.

“Addie?”

“Jack!” Addie cried. “Jack, the apartment – I-I can’t even get to it; there’s too much damage. Almost all the streets in our neighborhood are blocked off.” She wasn’t sure why she was crying; the apartment was still standing at least, and she and Jack were both safe. That was the important thing. But all the pent-up emotions she had tried to block all day were finally coming out, and she sobbed over the phone.

“Shh… it’s okay, honey,” Jack soothed. “It’s okay. You go to Kylie and Josh’s place, okay? I’m sure they’ll let us stay the night at least, and we’ll figure out something in the morning.”

“Okay,” Addie said, her voice thick with tears. “When are you getting off?”

“I don’t know, baby. Probably not till late. We have a lot of patients coming in with injuries from the storm. But I’ll get off as soon as I can.”

“Okay,” Addie said again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jack replied. He blew her a kiss over the phone, and they hung up. Sniffling and wiping her eyes, Addie put her phone away and slowly pulled back onto the road, heading straight for Kylie and Josh’s apartment.

+++

“Mmm, that smells good,” Nick said, inhaling deeply as Isabel stirred the contents of the pot on the stove. The two had gotten back to Isabel’s apartment over an hour earlier. There was not much damage, just a broken window and a tree down in the front yard.

“Thanks,” Isabel replied, beaming. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Homemade spaghetti and meatballs. I haven’t made it in a long time. I hope you like it.”

“If it tastes as good as it smells, I know I’ll love it,” said Nick. “Where did you learn to cook?”

Isabel shrugged. “From my mom and grandma, I guess. They were both the kind of women that made their families nice dinners every night and all that. I want to be like that someday.”

“Well, I love a girl who can cook,” said Nick, then hastily added, “Not that I would expect a woman to do all the cooking and cleaning and everything. I’m not, like, sexist or anything. I think that, uh, the man and woman should both share the household responsibilities.”

Isabel laughed as Nick blushed. “Good save, Carter,” she said teasingly. She set down her wooden spoon and came to sit down with him at her old, wooden kitchen table, which had been her mother’s. It was a square table with two benches on opposite sides of it, rather than chairs. She sat down on the bench beside Nick, rather than across from him, and slid close to him. He gazed at her for a moment, then lightly put his arm around her. She relaxed against him, and he held her closer. Sitting so close to him, her head against his shoulder, a pot of spaghetti boiling on the stove, Isabel felt very content. She tipped her head up to look at Nick. He looked very sexy in the golden light of the kitchen, and his pouty lips were nearly irresistible. She wanted to kiss him. Looking down at her, at her beautiful chocolate eyes and red lips, he wanted the same. Slowly, he bent his head down, and she raised her chin, and their lips touched. The kiss was very soft and gentle, not passionate, but tender and romantic. Nick put his other arm around Isabel and felt her arms come up around his neck. They broke the kiss softly and slowly pulled back. Isabel rubbed her lips together and smiled coyly up at Nick. He smiled back, color again creeping up his cheeks.

“I better stir the sauce,” Isabel said softly, reluctantly rising from the bench.

“Yeah,” Nick said dazedly, a dreamy _expression on his face as he watched her walk to the stove. “You stir that sauce.”

Isabel glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled, feeling even more content. The storm was over, and for her, it seemed a new relationship had just begun.

+++
Something to Be Thankful For by RokofAges75
Episode 14:

Something to Be Thankful For
(Hungryman Dinners and the Cartoon Network)


AN: A big thanks goes out to Ash for her help with this episode.


According to the small, silver watch on her wrist, it was 6:50 in the morning when Susan Walker walked through the rotating glass doors that led into the lobby of Atlantic City Memorial Hospital. She had walked through this lobby twice recently, but both times, she had gone to the second floor, to the office of Dr. Holli Brunson, the chief of staff at Memorial. This time, she was heading for the ER.

As she strode through the lobby, Susan held her head high, trying to seem confident. But it was all an act. At twenty-seven, she had just moved from her home state of Utah to North Carolina and secured herself her second ever nursing position, at Memorial. Although she had worked as a nurse for several years already at a hospital in Utah, she was still very nervous starting this new job. Though she had never been a very shy person, she was uncomfortable coming into a place where she was all alone and knew no one.

Don’t stress out about it, Susan thought, giving herself a mental pep talk. After today, everything will be much better. By the end of today, you’ll know a lot more people, and this won’t be so new anymore. Everything will be fine.

Feeling slightly better, Susan took a deep breath and found the double doors marked “Emergency Room”. She was glad she had taken the time after her last interview to take a quick tour of the hospital and find the ER, in hopes she would soon have a job there. Now she had the job, and it was time to begin. Taking another deep breath to calm her nerves, Susan pushed open the doors and walked through.

+++

Jack Palmer had just arrived in the ER for his seven o’clock shift. Looking at the clock in the lounge, he saw that he was almost ten minutes early. Ten minutes – that was plenty of time for a quick game of Madden Football 2002. He checked to see that the Playstation 2 was plugged in to the TV in the lounge and sat down on the floor in front of it, grabbing one of the controllers.

The door to the lounge swung open, and Jack turned around, hoping to see Chris, Justin, Bianca, or anyone else that would play a quick game with him, but instead, he found himself staring at a young, pretty woman.

“Hi there,” Jack said, setting down the controller and jumping to his feet, watching the woman in interest. “Do you work here?” He had definitely never seen her before, but she was wearing a pair of purple scrubs, and no one but staff was allowed in the lounge.

“Today’s my first day,” said the woman with a smile. Stepping forward, she held out her hand. “I’m Susan Walker. I was just hired as the new ER nurse.”

Lance’s replacement, Jack thought. It was about time they hired one – it was now late November (the day before Thanksgiving, in fact) and Lance had tried to… well, he had been in the hospital since the end of September. For the past two months, the whole ER staff had been very overworked, with Lance’s absence and Bianca’s before that. Now Bianca had recovered totally and working full-time again, and finally, they had hired another nurse to take on Lance’s share of the work.

“Jack Palmer,” Jack introduced himself, shaking her hand warmly and giving her his most charming smile. “I’m an ER physician.”

“Great to meet you,” Susan said, smiling again. She had a very nice smile, Jack noticed. It lit up her eyes and gave her a sparkle that enhanced her features. She was not a knock-out, but she was pretty and very friendly looking. Jack was glad they had hired a woman to replace Lance, instead of another guy. Guys were cool to hang out with, but Jack had always loved the ladies.

Remember, you’re engaged, he told himself sternly, before he let himself get too excited over the newest hospital employee.

“Well, if you need any help finding your way around or anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” Jack told Susan kindly.

“Thanks. I really appreciate that,” Susan said genuinely. She found her locker (which happened to be Lance’s old one – Jack noticed someone had finally removed his name from the front of it) and fumbled with the combination lock.

Jack glanced up at the clock – six minutes till seven. He still had some time. Quickly, he turned on the Playstation and grabbed his controller.

+++

“You’re late, Timberlake, aren’t you?” said Jack, half an hour later, as Justin Timberlake staggered into the ER, more than twenty minutes later for his seven a.m. shift.

“Sorry,” Justin mumbled. “I overslept.” Jack couldn’t help but snicker at him. He had obviously jumped out of bed and come just as he was - his curly hair was standing on end, and there was still a red imprint on his cheek from sleeping on something. However, his skin looked pale, and there were circles under his eyes.

“You look like you haven’t gotten enough sleep,” Jack observed, studying his sallow face. “You feeling okay?”

Justin shrugged. “I dunno. I’m just tired,” he replied.

“You better not be coming down with something. You shouldn’t be here if you’re sick.”

“I’m fine,” Justin said irritably. “You’re right – I just haven’t been getting enough sleep.”

Jack grinned devilishly and leaned close to his student. “That girlfriend of yours been keeping you up?” he asked slyly. Justin blushed. “Where did you ever find her?” Jack continued. “She’s hot!”

Now Justin grinned. “I met her at Hooters,” he replied. “That’s where she works. I go there all the time – lotsa hot chicks there.

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Hooters girl, huh? I should have known.” Justin grinned again. “Well, Timberlake, tell Bianca to go easy on you today if you’re tired. Start out with some simple patients. I think Bianca just went to look at one in Exam 2, if you’re looking for her.”

“Okay,” Justin replied and walked off to find Bianca in Exam 2.

Jack went away to find a patient of his own, an picture of Justin’s girlfriend in a skin-tight Hooters shirt and orange short-shorts flashing into his mind. Then, for the second time that morning, he remembered he was engaged.

Wonder if I could get Addie to get a boob job too…

+++

“Dr. Parker? I’m here; sorry I’m late. Dr. Palmer said you were in here.”

Bianca Parker looked away from her patient as Justin entered the exam room. “”Morning, Justin,” she greeted him casually, thankfully not mentioning anything about his lateness. “Here, you can finish taking her history.” She handed Justin the chart she had started for her patient, a twenty-year-old girl with an ankle injury.

Justin glanced at the girl sitting up on the examining table, her feet propped up in front of her. She was red-haired and petite and dressed in a pair of shorts made of sweatpants material and a gray hooded sweatshirt. One of her feet was bare, and Justin could see that it was swollen and turning various shades of black and blue. On the other foot, she was wearing an ice skate.

“I hurt my ankle skating,” she explained to Justin when she saw him looking strangely at the ice skate, as if that wasn’t obvious. Justin was wondering why she hadn’t taken her skate off yet, but he didn’t ask.

“So, um…” he glanced down at the chart and read that her name was Cortney Philips, “… Cortney…”

“My partner and I – he’s also my boyfriend – were practicing for a Christmas show that we’re going to be in. We’re pairs skaters. I used to skate solo, but now I skate pairs with him instead.”

“Oh. Cool,” said Justin. Glancing back down at the chart, he started to ask, “So, Cortney, do you have any aller-“

“Hey, speaking of pairs skaters, you know the Canadian pair from this year’s Olympics? The one that got the silver, when they should have gotten the gold, but then they ended up getting a gold after all with the Russian pair? Jamie and David, you know?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I wrote them a letter, and I sent them one of my own skating medals, and they got my letter – I know because I saw it on TV – and then they wrote back to me! Cool, huh?”

“Yeah, cool. Well, anyway, do you have any allerg-“

“Hey, do you wanna see a picture of my niece? I have one in my wallet here.” Before Justin could answer, Cortney was digging through her purse, which was sitting on the table beside her. A moment later, she was pulling something out of her wallet and handing it to him. “Isn’t she adorable?”

Justin looked briefly at a photo of a grinning baby. “Yeah, she’s cute,” he replied, glancing over his shoulder at Bianca, who was sitting on a stool on one side of the room, snickering silently. She beamed at him, and he glared in return. Turning back to Cortney, he tried to again ask, “But really, do you have any aller-“

“Her name is-“

“DO YOU HAVE ANY ALLERGIES?” Justin shouted, his voice rising over hers.

Cortney stopped and looked up at him, blinking. Then, after just a moment’s hesitation, she replied, “Oh yeah, I’m allergic to tons of things. Chocolate, strawberries, bees, dust…”

“Any medications?” Justin asked, as Cortney continued to list the things she was allergic to.

“Yeah, penicillin. I’m also allergic to cat dander, weeds, nuts…”

“Thanks, that’s enough,” Justin said quickly, setting down the chart . “So, um… could you tell me how you hurt your ankle?”

“Well, duh! I already told you – I was ice skating!”

“Well, I know, but I mean, did you twist it or fall or what?”

“I was doing a jump – a double axle – and I landed wrong and twisted my ankle, and it gave out on me, and I fell right on my ass. And then my boyfriend laughed at me! I was like, ‘Oh, some boyfriend you are, laughing at me when I’m hurt! Can’t you show some sympathy? Jeez!’, and so then he came over to look at it, and he tried to help me up, but I couldn’t put any weight on it, it hurt so bad, so he just picked me up and carried me off the ice. It was throbbing something awful by then, so we only stopped to get the skate off that foot (that hurt like a bitch!) and put the blade cover on my other skate – I didn’t want to bother with shoes, I just wanted to get here – and then he brought me here, and I had to wait like over a freaking hour for someone to get in here, and it’s still throbbing! You’d think someone would have given me some pain meds by now! Jeez!”

She said this all very fast, and Justin just blinked at her. “Um… okay, thanks…” he said, still watching her warily. “Dr. Parker, could you go get one of the nurses to bring her some painkillers?” he asked, turning around to face Bianca.

“Sure,” replied Bianca, slowly rising and backing out of the room, staring strangely at Cortney the whole time.

“It’s about time!” Cortney snapped. “Jeez!”

“Okay, I need to examine your ankle now,” Justin said, pulling a pair of latex gloves on. He gently started to lift up her ankle. Cortney gasped out in pain, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw something jerk. Before he had time to dodge it, Cortney’s other foot – the one with the skate on it – came swiftly up and connected with the left side of Justin’s face.

“OW!” he shrieked, roughly letting go of Cortney’s injured ankle as he reached up to clutch his face in pain. He stumbled backwards, tripped over the stool he had been sitting on, and tumbled over it, landing hard on the floor.

“You bastard! That hurt!” Cortney screamed angrily. Justin just lay on the floor, moaning in agony, his left cheek burning from the impact of the skate blade, his back and butt throbbing from the impact of the tiled floor.

Bianca ran into the room, skidding to a stop when she caught sight of Justin on the floor. “Justin! What happened?” she cried, looking from him to Cortney. Cortney looked mad; Justin looked about ready to cry.

“She kicked me!” Justin moaned, his hands still clamped tightly over the left side of his face.

“He grabbed my ankle, and then he dropped it!” Cortney screeched, angry pink streaks rising in her cheeks.

“You kicked him? With your ice skate?” Bianca asked, eyeing the skate in disbelief.

“Not on purpose! Jeez!”

Shaking her head, Bianca knelt down beside Justin. “Here, Justin, let me see,” she said tenderly, gently trying to pry his hands away from his face. When she did, she saw an angry red mark going across his left cheek. There was no blood, but she could tell it was going to leave a bad bruise. “It’s okay, Justin, it’s not bleeding,” she told him. “Luckily she had a cover on that blade – otherwise it probably would have slashed your cheek open!”

“It hurts,” Justin moaned. He blinked furiously, and Bianca looked away, pretending not to notice him trying not to cry. She felt bad for him.

“Come on, Justin,” she said, offering him her hand. “Get up and go put some ice on it. That’ll make it feel better.”

He reluctantly accepted her hand, and she struggled to pull him to his feet. Finally, he got up, tenderly rubbing his backside, and hobbled out of the room, gingerly running his hand over his cheek.

“Okay, let’s take a look at your ankle,” Bianca said, turning her attention back to Cortney. Touching it as little as possible, Bianca inspected Cortney’s ankle. “I’d like to get some x-rays, to make sure it’s not broken. It looks like just a bad sprain to me, but I want to be sure. I’ll order the x-rays, and someone will be here to take you to radiology soon,” she told Cortney and left the room as quickly as possible.

+++

Around noon that day, Kevin Richardson led his girlfriend Elizabeth O’Brien through the brand new door of Sully’s. The door and front window of the small café had both been replaced since the hurricane that had ravaged Atlantic City over a month earlier. Sully’s old, hand-painted sign had also been knocked down and had been replaced with a neon, light-up sign. It seemed to be a good thing that the restaurant had suffered so much damage, for it now looked better than it had in years.

“Hey, Kev, Elizabeth, over here!” called Jack Palmer, who was sitting with his new fiancée, Addie Burke, and their best friends, Josh and Kylie McCartney.

Kevin grinned at the four of them, and he and Elizabeth walked over. He sat down next to Addie, and Elizabeth took the empty seat across from him, next to Jack.

“How long have you guys been here?” Kevin asked, pulling one of the laminated menus out from the slot that sat in the middle of the table. He absently skimmed over it, not sure why he was even bothering to look. He had been coming to Sully’s on a regular basis since he had been hired at Memorial five years earlier, and he had the menu practically memorized by now.

“We just got here a few minutes before you did,” Addie replied.

“So, how is everyone’s day going?” Kylie asked.

“Pretty boring. All I’ve done so far is remove an old lady’s gall bladder,” Kevin said. “I’ve got a quadruple bypass scheduled for this afternoon though.”

“Yeah, the ER’s been pretty low-key today too,” Elizabeth chimed in. “That new nurse, Susan, is a godsend.”

“Oh yeah, she’s wonderful,” Jack agreed, his eyes lighting up. Addie raised her eyebrows suspiciously at him from across the table. “Not as wonderful as you are though, of course, babe,” he added, grinning. Addie just rolled her eyes, unable to stop herself from returning his playful smile. Looking at Addie, he suddenly remembered his conversation with Justin that morning.

“Hey, Addie,” he said suddenly.

“Hey what?”

“You ever considered getting a boob job?”

In a flash, Addie’s hand whipped up and slapped him lightly across the cheek.

“Ow!” Jack cried exaggeratedly, rubbing his cheek.

Addie glared at him, half amused, half offended. “You ever say anything like that to me again, mister, and you won’t have a girlfriend to ask to get a boob job.”

“Justin’s girlfriend gets boob jobs for him,” he muttered poutily, the corner of his mouth turning up in a sly half-smile to let her know he was just playing.

“Well, she’s obviously got some body image issues then. For your information, I’m comfortable with my body as it is, thunder thighs and all, thank you very much,” Addie retorted.

“If you got a boob job though, you could have thunder boobs to match your thunder-“ Jack stopped as Addie playfully raised her hand, threatening to slap him again. But suddenly, her attention was diverted to the door, as the little bells overhead jingled, and two people walked in. She let her hand fall absently and cocked her head to one side. “Who’s that?” she asked Kevin.

Kevin turned around. Following her gaze, he saw that Hayley had just walked in, accompanied by a tall man he did not recognize. The man had tousled brown hair and green eyes framed with a pair of glasses. His eyes narrowed as he watched them look around the café. Hayley spotted Kevin and the others and grinned, waving. She took hold of the man’s hand and marched him over to their table.

“Heya, Kev!” she said brightly. “This is Tyler. Tyler, this is Kevin. We work together – he’s a surgeon.”

Kevin just stared at Tyler and didn’t say a word. After a pause, Tyler said, “Good to meet you” and held out his hand. Kevin looked down at it for a moment and the reluctantly shook it.

“Same,” he grunted.

Addie noticed Hayley’s eyes narrow as she looked from Kevin to Tyler. But then she just shrugged and introduced the others to Tyler. When they had all said their hellos, she said, “Well, talk to you guys later,” and led Tyler off to a two-person table. Addie watched as Kevin continued to stare at the two of them. From across the table, she saw Elizabeth look up at Kevin, then over at Hayley and Tyler. She frowned.

Sensing some tension, Addie cleared her throat loudly, finally causing Kevin to look away from the couple. Elizabeth looked down, and Addie, sneaking a quick peek at Tyler, commented, “Is it just me, or does he look kinda like an adult Harry Potter?”

Jack snorted loudly and muttered something under his breath, but Kylie looked over at Tyler, tilting her head to one side. “Actually,” she said, “He kinda does…”

+++
Justin entered Exam 2 hesitantly, not knowing what would be waiting for him behind the door. Last time he had been in the room, a skate had not so gently hit him on the left side of his face, resulting in a swollen and bruised left cheek along with a sore backside.
With the manila folder clasped tightly in his hand, Justin entered the room, shooting a distasteful glance over at Cortney. Cortney, oblivious to Justin’s presence, just kept on talking to a figure that was sitting at her side, his back turned to Justin. Justin sighed in relief to himself and cleared his throat, ready to give Cortney her diagnosis.
“Cortney…” Justin started to say as he looked down at the notes about the x-rays written in the folder. Out of the corner of his eye, Justin saw a flash of pink coming straight for him and before he could react, he was knocked to the floor.
“You bastard!” a shrill voice screamed.
Justin forced his eyes open, and if the situation hadn’t been so serious, he would have laughed. The shrill voice yelling at him belonged to no other than a young man clothed in a pink frilly shirt, which looked like a blouse in Justin’s eyes, and tight, sparkly, white spandex pants.
“How dare you hurt the love of my life? You hurt her, you hurt her!” the young man again screeched as he tried to get a few good punches in as Justin thrashed around with his hands shielding his face. If anything his mother had told him had gone through his thick skull, it was not to fight with patients, no matter what happened, for he knew it would probably terminate his short medical career at Memorial, and his mother would kick his ass if that happened.
“Lionell!”
“Umph!”
“LIONELL! Listen to me!!”
“LIONELL!”
Suddenly, the punches stopped, and Justin relaxed, thinking it was over. Without warning, his hands were jerked away from his face, and a fist came straight for him, hitting him on the left side. The small man that attacked the med student got up from the floor and sashayed over to where his girlfriend lay, propping a jewelry clad arm protectively around her shoulders as Justin lay flat on his back, moaning loudly in pain.
“Justin, are you finished yet?” a voice called from outside the doorway, the owner of the voice entering the room seconds later.
“Justin!” Bianca cried as she bent down at Justin’s side and tried to help him up into the sitting position. “What happened?”
Justin didn’t answer, just looked over at the couple in front of him and pointed at the young man. Bianca bit back a laugh as she got a good look at Justin’s attacker. The man looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, his face cherubic and innocent.
“Come on, Justin, go to the restroom and get yourself cleaned up. You poor thing,” Bianca said, as she helped Justin rise unsteadily to his feet. After assisting him with taking the first few steps, Bianca turned and pulled a seat up to Cortney’s bedside.
“Well, Cortney, you have what is called a malleolar fracture.”
“But…”
“No, Cortney, let me finish, and then you can talk all you want to,” Bianca said as she turned her head to look at the opposite wall to hide the rolling of her eyes. “What we will do is set your ankle in a cast, and you will wear this cast for approximately six to eight weeks, possibly longer depending on your progress. And don’t worry, there is a good chance you won’t have any long-term complications from this injury.”
“But what about the Christmas show?” Cortney asked in panicked voice, her face turning as red as her hair.
“Unless the Christmas show will be postponed until after Christmas, you will not be able to participate in it. As I said before, you will be wearing the cast six to eight weeks and Christmas is in four weeks. I’m sorry. I will be back in about ten minutes to start putting on the cast.”
As Bianca walked towards the door the voice of Cortney had turned from panicked to demanding and she was letting out on her boyfriend. Bianca felt sorry for the guy, almost.
“We need to call David, Jamie, Thomas, Andrea, Kathy, Tony, Tonya, Stephie, Bryna, John, Paul, Tyler, Matt, Lauren, Mary, Tammy, Barry, Heather….”
+++
“So, what’s up with that Tyler guy?” Kevin asked Hayley that afternoon during his scheduled bypass, trying to make his tone sound casual. “Scalpel, please.”

Hayley handed him the scalpel. “Tyler? He’s one of my old friends from high school. His parents live near Wilson, and he flew out here to spend Thanksgiving with them. He came to visit me first, and we had lunch,” she replied nonchalantly. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she watched him cut carefully into their patient’s abdomen for a moment, then asked, “Why?”

Kevin paused and glanced quickly at her. Then he shrugged. “Just wondering, that’s all.” He continued to cut and purposely did not look at her again.

+++

“I can’t believe you were scheduled to work on Thanksgiving,” Addie grumbled as she kissed Jack goodbye the next morning.

“I know, babe, but you know how it is. We measly second-year residents don’t exactly get first pick at what shift we want. It’s only for a few hours. I’ll be done at ten, and you can pick me up, and we’ll go to the airport.”

It was Thanksgiving Day, and as soon as Jack finished his shift at the hospital that morning, he and Addie were catching a flight to Iowa, where Jack’s family lived. They had spent Thanksgiving at Addie’s parents’ house in Illinois the year before.

“You have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Jack,” said Alexandra Sterling, one of the hospital’s oncologists, smiling at him as she came into the foyer to say goodbye. Addie and Jack had been staying with Alexandra and her husband Roger for over a month, while their apartment was being repaired and treated for water damage from the hurricane. Addie had always looked up to Alexandra, ever since she had worked under her as a nurse in the oncology ward for her first two years at Atlantic City Memorial, and when Alexandra had heard that Addie and Jack’s apartment was damaged, she had graciously accepted her former colleague and her fiancée into her home. She and Roger, who was a lawyer, had a nice, large home with plenty of room, since it was just the two of them living there, but still, Addie was taken aback by her generosity. And grateful too, for she and Jack weren’t sure where else they would have gone. Most of their friends, like Kylie and Josh, also lived in apartments or small houses which simply were not large enough to accommodate two extra people.

“Thanks, you too, Alexandra,” replied Jack. “What time is your company coming?” Alexandra had spent all week getting ready for Thanksgiving; she and Roger’s family were all coming to their house for dinner.

“Around one,” said Alexandra. “Oh, I hope everything goes okay. This is the first time I’ve done Thanksgiving dinner on my own.”

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Addie assured her. “Trust me, you’re an excellent cook. The food will be perfect.”

“Aw, thanks, hon,” Alexandra beamed. “I just hope my relatives will think so.”

“Trust me, if they’re used to anything like Addie’s cooking, this will be heaven for them,” Jack said, shooting Addie a devilish grin.

“Uh!” she gasped in mock offense, giving him a playful shove. “My cooking’s getting better!”

“I have to admit, you can whip up a mean box of Kraft macaroni and cheese,” Jack teased. Then he leaned over, pecked her on the cheek, and darted out the door before she could smack him.

+++

“Hey, happy Thanksgiving, Bean,” Jack said as he entered the staff lounge and found Bianca closing her locker.

“Thanks, you too, Jack,” she replied. “So, how long do you have to work today?”

“Just till ten luckily, and then Addie and I are flying to my parents’ house in Iowa. How about you?”

“Noon. AJ gets off then too, and we’re heading to my parents’ house. They only live a couple hours away, so it’s not a long drive,” said Bianca.

“That’s cool. Well, ya ready?”

“Yup. Let’s get this morning over with,” said Bianca determinedly, and the two doctors left the lounge. On their way out, they practically ran into Justin, who was slowly slouching his way in, his face glum.

“Dude, they really got you, didn’t they?” Jack asked, noticing Justin’s left cheek, which was a lovely mix of black, blue, purple, and red and was swollen to nearly twice the size of his other cheek, making his face looked oddly lopsided and misshapen. His left eye was black and swelled nearly shut from Lionell’s punches.

Justin didn’t reply.

“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Jack asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Justin muttered. “I’m only working the entire day. It’s Thanksgiving, for crying out loud!”

Bianca shrugged. “That doesn’t mean people don’t get hurt,” she said.

He glared at her and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. “It’s not fair,” he muttered.

“Believe me, we know,” Jack said. “We were both med students once too, remember. We’ve worked our share of holiday shifts.” Rolling his eyes at Bianca, he continued down the hall, and she followed, leaving Justin behind to stew.

Passing the nurses station, Jack grinned widely when he saw the new nurse, Susan, jotting down something on a chart. “Hey there,” he said, coming up to her. “I see they’re making you work on Thanksgiving too.”

“Yeah,” she said, “but it’s okay. I’m the new girl, after all. Besides, all my family’s back in Utah, and I don’t have the money to make it up there anyway, so I don’t mind working all day.”

“I admire your optimistic attitude about it,” Jack said with a chuckle. “I can’t say I wouldn’t be complaining if it was me.”

She smiled. “So, you don’t have to work all day?”

“Nope, just till ten,” he replied. “Then my girl and I are flying to Iowa, to my parents’ house.”

“Oh, you’ve got a girlfriend?” Susan asked.

“Yeah… Addie,” he said casually, shrugging.

“Yeah, Addie. His fiancée,” added Bianca from behind him, giving Jack a stern look.

“Oh, really? Congratulations!” Susan said genuinely.

“Thanks,” Jack said, blushing and glancing sheepishly at Bianca, who just laughed and went to check the patient board.

“Hey, Jack, Susan!” called nurse Chris Kirkpatrick suddenly.

“Yeah?” Jack asked, turning around to see him standing next to the radio.

“We’ve got a big trauma coming in. Bad accident on the interstate – a semi plowed into a car with a family of four in it. Two of the family members are being life-flighted in, and the other two and the semi driver are being transported by ambulance. ETA for the life flight is five minutes,” Chris said.

“Alright, I’ll get on it,” Jack said. “Susan, you wanna come with me?”

“Sure,” said Susan.

“I’ll go with Bianca, and we’ll take one of the criticals. Natalie and Elizabeth can take the two other family members, and Timberlake can take the truck driver. He’s not too badly hurt.”

“Oh, Elizabeth’s here this morning?”

“Yeah, she worked the night shift. She’s supposed to be off at eight, but I don’t know if she’ll be leaving then or not. We need her,” said Chris.

“Oh,” said Jack. “Well, come on, Susan, let’s go up to the roof and wait for the copter to get here.”

He led her towards the elevators, while Chris went to find the others that were on call that morning.

+++

“Thirty-four-year-old male, name’s Ken, unconscious on scene, absent breath sounds in both lungs, pulse is crashing,” said Kym Jennings as she and her team lifted a stretcher out of the helicopter, ducking under its propeller.

Bianca looked down at the patient and found a young man lying lifelessly on the stretcher, covered in blood. “Let’s get him inside,” she said, she and Chris both taking hold of the sides of the stretcher. Jack and Susan hung back, waiting for the second patient to be brought out of the helicopter.

“Six-year-old female, drifting in and out of consciousness. She’s in respiratory distress, pulse is weak and thready,” said AJ, helping lower a second stretcher. A sweet-faced blonde little girl lay on it. Looking down at her, Jack saw that she was awake. Her hazel eyes shifted back and forth nervously, and her face scrunched up in pain.

“My name’s Jack, sweetheart, what’s yours?” Jack asked over the sound of the helicopter’s whirling blades, as he and Chris grabbed hold of the stretcher and pushed her away from the copter.

“Kelsie,” came her shaky reply. “Where’s my mommy? I want my mommy! It hurts!”

Jack glanced at AJ and mouthed, “Mom?”

“Your mommy’s coming to the hospital in an ambulance,” AJ told Kelsie. “She’ll be here soon, and you can see her once we’re done helping both you and her, okay?”

“Okay,” Kelsie whimpered. “It hurts!” she cried out again.

“Where do you hurt, sweetie?” Jack asked.

“Everywhere!”

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll get you something for the pain as soon as we get into the hospital. We’re going to take very good care of you,” Chris assured her, as they rushed her into the hospital and towards the nearest elevator bank.

+++

A short while later, three ambulances pulled up in front of the ER, and more paramedics jumped out, pushing three stretchers. On the first one was a man who appeared to be in his early fifties. He had bloody gauze taped over his forehead, but was awake and alert and seemed otherwise fine.

“You take this one, Timberlake,” Elizabeth O’Brien said to Justin, who was standing with her, JC Chasez, and nurse Natalie Spade, waiting for the accident victims to arrive.

“Frank Black, age fifty-three,” said Amelia Caston to Justin, as he helped her wheel the man into an exam room. “He was driving the semi that hit the family’s car. He bumped his head on the steering wheel, but there was no LOC on the scene, and he doesn’t complain of any other pain.”

“I didn’t even see them,” Frank murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. “Th-they were in the merge lane… they just came out of nowhere… I didn’t even see them… ran right into them… sideswiped them…”

“Looks like he might be going into shock,” Justin observed. “Mr. Black? Mr. Black, do you know where you are?”

Frank looked up at Justin as if he had grown a second head. “Well, of course I know that, kid. I’m in a hospital.”

Justin chuckled and nodded. “Okay then. So you say you aren’t having any pain anywhere besides your head?”

“No, no, I’m fine. What about the people in the other car though? How bad are they?”

“I don’t know yet, sir.”

“I swear, I didn’t even see them. They just came out of nowhere,” Frank said again.

“I know. It’s not your fault,” said Justin. “The driver of the other car should have looked. It’s his fault, not yours.”

“Still… I hit them…”

“You couldn’t have stopped. It’s not your fault,” Justin assured him. “Now, I need to take off this gauze so I can check out your head. You probably need suturing.”

But Frank didn’t seem to be paying a bit of attention to what he was saying. He kept shaking his head, looking shocked and terrified. “I hit them…”

+++

“Where are my children and my husband?” the woman lying on the table in Trauma 1 was crying frantically, as doctors and nurses bustled around her, hooking her up to monitors and examining her.

“Ma’am, we need to examine you first, and then someone will go find out about your family,” JC Chasez told her. “Now, can you tell me your name?”

“Tammy. Tammy Lupin. Please, I’m alright, can you just go find out how the others are? My husband, Ken, he was unconscious. And my daughter, Kelsie, they put her in the helicopter too. She was bad… and Kyle, my son, how is he?”

“We’ll find out soon for you, I promise,” JC said. “The other doctors are working on them now. They’re in very good hands, I assure you. Now, I’m going to feel your stomach, and you tell me if you feel any pain, okay?”

“Okay,” Tammy said with a sigh, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to cooperate before she could find out how the rest of her family was doing. JC watched her face, creased with worry, and felt a wave of pity rush through him. If only she knew that her husband was in the room right next door, rapidly going downhill…

+++

“Lost his pulse! Starting chest compressions,” said Bianca, cupping her hands over Ken Lupin’s chest and pressing down. “Chris, get the paddles ready.”

“Charging paddles,” Chris said obediently. “Here.” He handed them to her, and she took them, rubbing them together. “Somebody get the ultrasound ready too; he probably has internal bleeding… clear!” The staff backed away as Bianca pressed the paddles against Ken’s chest. “No response. Chris, charge to 300… clear!”

“I’ve got the ultrasound ready,” said another nurse.

“Okay, Chris, resume chest compressions, and I’ll check for internal bleeding,” said Bianca, watching the ultrasound screen as she ran the ultrasound. “There’s some blood in the belly, but it doesn’t look like too much. There’s got to be something else that made his pressure crash like this. Let’s check the chest.” She moved the ultrasound equipment up to Ken’s chest area and gasped. “Oh yeah, his chest cavity is filled with blood! Someone go get Dr. O’Brien, stat, and page surgery! We’re going to have to crack his chest.”

Elizabeth came rushing in a few minutes later. “Bianca, I’ve got this. You can take the son; he’s in Trauma 3.”

“Alright, I’m on it,” said Bianca, hurrying out of the room.

+++

Bianca entered Trauma 3 to find a little boy who looked about nine or ten lying on the table, his face contorted in pain, his cheeks tearstained.

“Hi, honey, I’m Dr. Parker. What’s your name?” she asked, leaning over him.

“Kyle,” he replied.

“Okay, Kyle, can you tell me where it hurts?” Bianca asked. He looked all right, in much better condition than his father.

“My chest,” he said.

“Elizabeth already ordered a chest x-ray,” said Natalie, writing down something on Kyle’s chart. “His lungs are all right, but he probably has some bruised ribs.”

Bianca nodded. “Alright. Has anyone checked the belly?”

“Yeah, belly’s clear. Just take him down to radiology and get the x-ray done. Everything else seems to be okay.”

Just then, the door to the adjoining trauma room burst open, and Susan stuck her head in. “Excuse me, Natalie, are you busy? We really could use another nurse in here.”

Bianca looked past her to see Jack leaning over the patient in the other room. It was the little girl, Kyle’s sister.

“No, we’ve got things under control in here, right, Bianca?” asked Natalie.

“What? Oh, yeah, yeah, go ahead,” Bianca said, and Natalie followed Susan into the other room.

“Is that my sister?” Kyle asked suddenly, trying to sit up. He gasped out in pain, and Bianca eased him back down again.

“Yeah, your sister’s in there,” she said.

“Is she hurt bad? Can I see her?” he asked anxiously.

Bianca glanced through the window of the door separating the two rooms. Susan was off to one side of the room, on the phone, while Jack and Natalie examined the girl. Bianca was relieved to see that she was awake and seemed to be talking to them. She went over and opened the door and stuck her head in. “Hey, Jack, I’ve got her brother in here,” she said. “Can we open the door so he can see her?”

Jack glanced over at her. “Sure, for a few minutes,” he said. “Then we have to get her up to surgery. She’s got internal bleeding.”

“Alright, great,” said Bianca, and she opened the door wider, stepping back so Kyle could see into the other room. “There’s your sister,” she said to him. “They’re going to take her upstairs in a few minutes for an operation.”

“Kelsie?” Kyle called.

The little girl’s head turned towards the other room. “Kyle?” she cried, her voice shrill and frightened-sounding.

“I’m right here, Kels!” he called. “I’m okay! How do you feel?”

But Kelsie did not answer him. All of a sudden, the monitors around her began to beep wildly. “She’s crashing!” Bianca heard Jack cry.

“Kelsie?!” Kyle called wildly. “Kelsie, answer me!” Looking up at Bianca, he asked hysterically, “Why won’t she answer me? What’s happening to her?”

Susan suddenly appeared at the door and quickly shut it, blocking Kelsie from Kyle’s view. Through the window, she met Bianca’s eyes and shook her head once. Bianca bit her lip and looked down at Kyle. “They’re working on her, honey,” she said.

“Is she going to die?”

Bianca watched as Natalie pushed up and down on Kelsie’s chest, giving her CPR, while Susan squeezed a bag over her mouth, giving her oxygen.

“They’re doing everything they can for her,” Bianca told Kyle, avoiding his eyes. “She’s in good hands.”

+++

“His aorta’s shredded. There’s no way we’re going to get him back. I’m going to call it,” Elizabeth said heavily, pulling her hands out of Ken’s open chest. “Time of death: 9:16.” She let out a sigh and slowly peeled off her bloody gloves, dropping them in a disposal bin on her way out of the trauma room.

“Where’s his wife?” Chris asked, following her out.

“In Trauma 1, I believe,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll go talk to her. Get him cleaned up.”

Chris nodded shortly and went back into the room..

+++

“God, I can’t believe this is happening,” moaned Tammy Lupin, letting out a shuddering breath. “We were on our way to Ken’s parents’ house. We were merging onto the interstate, and this semi just came out of nowhere. Ken looked back, I’m sure he did, but he didn’t see it. We left the merge lane, and it slammed right into us. Ken and Kelsie, they were on that side of the car. God, I hope they’re okay.”

The young mother was near tears with worry, and JC didn’t blame her a bit. This waiting, not knowing if her husband and children were all right, was probably more torturous than the accident itself and any of the physical pain that went with it.

“Would you like me to go check on them?” he offered. “The doctors might still be working on them, but I can check and see.”

“Would you?” Tammy asked gratefully, and JC nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” He left the room and went out into the hall, where he met up with a grim-faced Elizabeth.

“Is the mother in there?” she asked. “Mrs. Lupin?”

“Yes,” said JC. “How’s the rest of the family?”

“I don’t know about the children, but her husband’s dead,” Elizabeth said shortly. “He must have smashed into the steering wheel – there’s an imprint of it across his chest. No airbags, I guess. He broke several ribs, and they punctured both his lungs and hit his aorta. He arrested, and there was nothing we could have done to save him.”

JC sighed. “Are you going to tell Mrs. Lupin, or do you want me to?”

“I’ll tell her,” said Elizabeth. “Maybe I should wait and find out about the children first though. I suppose if I have to give her bad news, I should give it to her all at once.”

She didn’t have to wait long. Jack suddenly came out of Trauma 4 and walked slowly towards them. The two women could tell right away by his face that whoever he had had did not make it.

“The little girl’s dead,” he said quietly. “Too much internal bleeding. We tried to get her back, but we couldn’t. I just called it.”

“The father’s dead too,” said Elizabeth. “Anyone know about the boy?”

“I think he’s all right,” Jack replied. “He was in the room next door, and he was alert and talking and everything. I think Bianca took him for a chest x-ray.”

“At least one of them made it,” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah, at least the mother has something to be thankful for,” JC said sadly.

Jack sighed and raked a hand through his short brown hair. “Why do things like this have to happen? It’s Thanksgiving, and this poor woman just lost her husband and daughter. Her son lost his sister and father. Yeah, I bet they’re real thankful.” His voice was laden with sarcasm.

“Well, come on, Jack,” said Elizabeth. “We need to go tell her.”

Jack nodded, a feeling of dread growing in his stomach. It was bad enough to lose a patient, especially a little six-year-old. But it was worse having to tell the family. And this was going to be doubly hard.

+++

At ten o’clock, Jack slowly trudged out of the hospital, looking around the staff parking lot for Addie’s car. Ahead of him, he saw Howie Dorough walking out to his own car, an old Corvette that he had restored and painted purple.

Howie spotted Jack as he was unlocking his car door and waved. “You getting off too, Jack?” he called.

Jack walked over to talk to him. “Yeah,” he said. “You too?”

“Yup. We’re doing Thanksgiving dinner at my place this year. Rita’s been up since five in the morning getting the turkey ready. My family’s coming up from Florida, and Dani spent last Thanksgiving with Sophie, so she’ll be with us this year too.”

“That’s great,” said Jack. “Do me a favor, Howie, and make sure you give Danielle a hug when you get home.” Howie stared at him strangely, and Jack explained, “I just lost a six-year-old girl. She and her family got in an accident on their way to her grandparents’ house. She and her father are both dead, and I just had to tell the mother.”

“Oh, God,” Howie said sadly, his forehead creasing in sorrow. “That’s awful.”

Jack nodded and sighed. “Well, Addie’s waiting for me somewhere around here. I’m going to go find her, and then we’re headed to the airport. You have a great holiday, Howie.”

“You too, Jack, thanks,” Howie replied. He got in his car, and Jack spotted Addie’s silver Beetle and walked off toward it.

+++

“Daddy!”

Howie arrived home to the pattering of feet running to greet him. His six-year-old daughter Danielle flung herself into his arms. “Happy Thanksgiving, Daddy!” she cried.

“Happy Thanksgiving, baby,” he replied, hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head. It had been over two months since Danielle had undergone the operation to fix the aneurysm in her brain, and she was now completely recovered. That’s really something to be thankful for, he thought, reluctantly letting her go.

“Where’s Rita?” he asked Dani. “In the kitchen?”

“Yup,” Dani replied, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the kitchen. “She’s making whipped cream for the pie, and I get to lick the beaters when she’s done!”

Howie followed Dani into the kitchen, where he found his girlfriend of two years, Rita Sumari, blending a small bowl of white liquid with the mixer. Glancing back over her shoulder, she smiled at Howie and shut off the mixer. “Hey, you!” she said cheerfully, removing one of the beaters from the mixer. She tapped it on the side of the bowl and handed it to Dani, who took it gleefully and began to lick the whipped cream off of it.

“Hey,” Howie replied, grinning at her. He sniffed the air. “Turkey’s starting to smell good. So, what time did Dani get here?”

“Sophie dropped her off about half an hour ago,” answered Rita. “And your family’s flight gets in at noon, right?”

“Yup. I’ll leave in about an hour to go pick them up,” said Howie.

“Can I go with, Daddy? I wanna see Grandma and Grandpa too. And Uncle John and Aunt Polly and Aunt Angie.”

“Sure, Dani,” Howie replied with a smile. He was excited to have his whole family coming for Thanksgiving. Usually they all gathered at his parents’ house in Florida. But this year, he and Rita had volunteered to have the festivities at their house. Rita’s family lived in Hawaii, and there was no way they would be able to come, nor would she be able to go there for Thanksgiving. But she loved Howie’s big, close family and liked the idea of being domestic and preparing a Thanksgiving meal all by herself for them all.

And so far, Howie thought, opening the refrigerator to find a perfect-looking pumpkin pie sitting on the top shelf, she’s done a great job.

+++

It was dinnertime at Harold and Jackie Littrell’s home in Lexington, Kentucky, and the dining room table was more crowded than it had ever been. Harold sat at one end of the long table, Jackie at the other. Their sons, Brian and Harry, sat on one side, their girlfriends Ivory and Siara next to them. Jackie and Harold’s youngest nephew, Kevin, and his girlfriend Elizabeth, sat there as well. On the other side was Kevin’s mother, Anne Richardson, who also happened to be Harold’s sister. With her sat her two older sons, Jerald and Tim, and their wives. The only one absent from the table was Kevin’s father, Jerald Sr., who had passed away over a decade earlier from colon cancer.

As they bowed their heads to say grace, Harold leading, Kevin could not help but think of his late father and all the past Thanksgivings his family had spent together when he was younger. But he forced himself to push his thoughts of his father out of his mind and concentrate on all the wonderful things he had, all the things he was thankful for. His wonderful family, his friends, Elizabeth, his health, and a successful career.

“Amen,” they all murmured as Harold closed off the prayer, and when everyone had raised their heads, platters of food were passed around the long table.

“If only Lily could see all this,” Elizabeth commented, chuckling slightly as she helped herself to some turkey. “She’d be in heaven.”

Kevin laughed and rolled his eyes. “You and that dog.”

Lily was Elizabeth’s cocker spaniel and was more like her daughter than her pet. Elizabeth doted on that dog, and sometimes it seemed she paid more attention to Lily than she did to Kevin. It had been torturous for her to have to leave Lily in a kennel while she went to Kentucky with Kevin for Thanksgiving weekend.

Down the table, Kevin saw Brian pick off a tiny bit of his turkey with his fingers and lean over, ducking under the table. “Speaking of dogs,” he said with another roll of his eyes, motioning to Brian, who was obviously feeding turkey to his tiny chihuahua, Tyke. If Lily was like a daughter to Elizabeth, Tyke was like Brian’s son. He took that dog everywhere with him – even to work sometimes.

“Brian, do you have to do that now? Sit up and eat,” Jackie reprimanded in her motherly tone, smiling exasperatedly at her son. Brian just grinned, patted Tyke’s little head, and picked up his fork.

Sitting next to Brian, Ivory Harnett couldn’t help but smile. She knew how close Brian and his mother were. He was a total mama’s boy, which she teased him about often, but really, she thought it was adorable. She loved being in the midst of the Littrell/Richardson family for Thanksgiving. It was like the perfect family holiday.

+++

While families enjoyed their Thanksgiving dinners in the comfort of their homes, Chris Kirkpatrick sat in his usual post beside Lance’s bed. He was working all day and had chosen to spend his break with Lance, since no one else had come to see him on Thanksgiving. His parents, who had rented an apartment so they could stay in Atlantic City for however long they needed to, were eating in a restaurant.

“I really need to get a girlfriend or something,” Chris said out loud, feeling sorry for himself as he thought of his pathetic existence. He was spending Thanksgiving working and sitting with his vegetable-like friend, and if he hadn’t had to work, he would have mostly been pondering his pathetic life in the comfort of his shabby apartment, eating a Hungryman TV dinner and watching the Cartoon Network. At least he was doing something productive, though sitting with Lance and talking to him didn’t seem quite “productive”. It was basically like talking to a wall, a parking meter, or any other inanimate object.

“And now I’m talking to myself,” he went on, chuckling. “Cause it’s not like you’re comprehending anything I say, buddy.” As usual, Lance remained in his motionless state and did not reply.

Chris glanced at his watch. “Well, I guess I should get back to the ER now. I’ll see you later, Lance.” He rose from his chair and started to slowly leave the room, when suddenly, the beeping of Lance’s heart monitor began to speed up.

“Lance?” Chris said, turning back and sitting down on the edge of the chair again. He checked the levels on Lance’s monitors. Everything seemed fine, but there was a definite increase in Lance’s heart rate. He frowned, not sure what would make that happen all of a sudden, but he shrugged and stood up again. He picked Lance’s pale hand up from the bed and gave it a squeeze. “See ya, dude.”

And that’s when he felt it. A very slight squeeze back.

+++

Risha Veers shuffled absently through the pile of papers that covered her desk. I really need to clean my office, she thought, looking around her. Her organizational skills weren’t usually that horrible, but somehow things had gotten away from her, and her office was in a state of disarray.

“Where is that stupid pen?” she asked aloud, continuing to search through the papers for her misplaced pen. Why do I keep losing things? First her ring, now her pen. Not to mention John, but that was a whole other thing, and she didn’t want to start thinking about it now. Still, it was hard not to on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was a family holiday, and she had no family. None that was close anyway. That was why she had offered to work all day on Thanksgiving, knowing that it would do her no good to sit and home and brood. She would rather be occupied at work.

Unfortunately, the surgical ward was practically dead that day. There were no surgeries scheduled because of the holiday, and unless an emergency came up, it didn’t look like she’d be doing much except checking up on the patients that were already there recovering from surgeries and doing consults in the ER. Most of the other surgeons were off spending time with their families. Risha and Holli Brunson were among the few left there. From what Risha had seen so far, Holli was a workaholic and didn’t seem to have any family either.

Deciding that since she didn’t have any operations scheduled, she would take the down time to straighten up her office, Risha began to carefully sort through the heaps of paper on her desk, filing some away, pitching others. Toward the bottom of the stack, her fingers brushed across something small and hard. Looking down to see what it was, she gasped in astonishment. There, taped to a small piece of paper, was a ring, the very ring she had lost over a month earlier when she had taken it off to scrub in and forgotten about it. She pulled the ring off the paper, peeled the tape off of it, and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand. Tilting her hand towards the light, she admired the way the stone, a cubic zircon, sparkled in its gold setting. Tears rose in her eyes, making them gleam just as much as the ring, and before she could stop herself, she had begun to cry silently, overwhelmed with emotion and relieved beyond words to find her ring after all this time.

Through her tears, she looked down at the paper the ring had been taped to. Scrawled across it in messy doctor’s cursive was a note.

Risha,

Is this yours? I thought I’ve seen you wearing a ring like this before, and I found it in the scrub-in room. If it’s not yours, just take it to the lost and found box at the nurses station.

- Kevin

Risha blinked, the words blurring on the page. Her heart swelled with gratitude for Kevin. When did he leave this? she wondered. Since it had been under the whole huge mound of papers, she figured it had been left there awhile ago, probably right after she lost it. She must have set something down on top of it without even noticing it.

Suddenly, someone knocked on her closed office door.

“Veers, are you in there?” came the brisk, familiar voice of Holli Brunson.

Risha stood up, quickly wiped her eyes, and opened the door.

“One of the-“ Holli started to say, then stopped. Narrowing her eyes, she studied Risha’s face for a moment, then asked disdainfully, “Have you been crying?”

“Oh… uh…” Risha took a swipe at her eyes again. “… no, I’m just… tired. I was yawning, and my eyes water when I yawn.”

She could tell right away that Holli didn’t believe her, but Holli didn’t press the subject and continued saying, “One of the nurses from Neurology came down here and wants to talk to you right away. She said it’s important. Why she didn’t just page you, I don’t know, but she’s waiting by the nurses station.”

“Oh.” Risha frowned, slightly perplexed. “Okay.”

Holli went in one direction, and Risha went in the other, heading for the nurses station. There she found Nurse Katie McGraw standing there. When she saw Risha, she ran toward her.

“Dr. Veers!” she cried, her hazel eyes wide and excited behind her glasses. “Lance Bass woke up, Dr. Veers!”

Risha’s mouth opened in surprise. “Really? When?”

“Just a few minutes ago. His friend Chris was in the room with him, and Lance squeezed his hand. Chris called me, and by the time I got there, his eyes were open. He seems really disoriented, and he’s not talking, but at least he’s awake. Dr. McCartney’s not here, and I know you operated on him, so I thought you’d want to know. Maybe you’d like to come examine him.”

“Sure,” Risha replied. “I’ll go up right now. Do his parents know yet?”

“No, Chris said they’re out to dinner. They’ll be so happy. His poor father still comes to visit him every day,” Katie said, as they got into one of the elevators.

“At least someone was keeping the faith. I have to admit, I’d pretty much given up on him,” said Risha. “It’s been a month since we tried to bring him out of the coma.”

“I know,” Katie said. “I can’t wait to see the look on his parents’ face, especially with it being Thanksgiving and all. This is the miracle they’ve been hoping for.”

“I hope so,” said Risha. “But it might not be all they expected. Now that he’s finally woken up, he’s out of the woods, but who knows how much brain damage he’s going to have.”

“I know,” Katie replied solemnly. “But he’s come this far. Maybe he’ll be alright after some therapy.”

“I hope so,” said Risha. “I hope so.”

+++
Jim and Diane Bass sat in the small restaurant, waiting for the waitress to bring their meal. A small shudder ran through Diane’s body as the chilly air of the restaurant hit her arms, and she glanced around to the other patrons to see if anyone else had this reaction.
“You alright, Diane?”
“Hmm?”
Diane turned her attention to her husband and allowed a small smile to grace her features.
“Did you say something, Jim?”
“I asked if you was alright,” Jim said with a small smirk, trying his best to make this holiday as normal as possible.
“Yes, yes I am alright.”
“Good.”
After that, the conversation at the table died, and Diane silently wished this day would be over with. Even though it was Thanksgiving, this day wasn’t much different than any other day. Her son was still fighting for his life at the hospital where he was formerly employed at, and it didn’t look like he was going to make it. In a way, Diane just wished they would just let him die peacefully - that way he wouldn’t have to suffer. On the other hand, she wanted him to fight this battle and win. She had already lost one child and was by no means interested in losing another.
The placement of a plate of steaming food on the table broke Diane out of her trance, and she smiled at the young waitress. Once the waitress left, Diane and Jim began to eat in silence. Without warning, Jim jumped in his seat and reached into his pants pocket, as Diane looked on in confusion. Her confusion was resolved as Jim placed a small cell phone to his ear and greeted the caller.
Diane watched as a range of emotions came over Jim’s face, ranging from serious to shocked, and ending with tears filling his eyes. Diane felt her heart stop and a lump take residence in her throat as tears filled Jim’s green eyes; from that one reaction, Diane knew the call must have been to tell them that their son was dead, that he would suffer no more.
“Lance is awake.”
Diane looked up at her husband, ready to yell at him for playing such a cruel joke on her; she knew for a fact that Lance was dead.
Without waiting for a response from Diane, Jim waved the waitress over and asked for the check. Opening his wallet and whipping out a $20 bill, Jim gave it to the waitress and told her to keep the change. Next thing Diane knew, Jim was at her side, grasping her hand and gently tugging her to her feet.
“I can’t go, Jim.”
“What? Why?”
“Lance is dead, Jim. No need to break the news to me gently by lying about it.”
A strangled laugh escaped Jim’s lips as the words his wife spoke registered in his brain. How could she think this was a joke?
“Diane, trust me. Lance isn’t dead. Chris was in his room earlier, and Lance squeezed his hand, and Chris just called to tell us he just woke up a few minutes ago. I would never lie about our son like this, never.”
Once Diane realized Jim wasn’t lying, hope soared within her. “Let’s go then. I want to see Lance.”
Jim nodded in response, and they quickly walked to the black rental car, their source of transportation since most of their belongings, including their cars, were still in Mississippi. Since Jim had refused to leave his son’s side since that fateful September day, and Diane was too stubborn and insecure in this situation to leave her husband behind, the couple had been renting a small apartment in the vicinity of the hospital and had bought all the clothes and supplies they would need. They never lost the hope that one day they would be able to leave the North Carolina city knowing that Lance would be alright without them and he had no last defects from his rash decision to try and end his life.
As they settled into the car and Jim began to drive to the hospital, Diane had a new perspective on this day. Not only was in Thanksgiving day but it was also the day Lance in a sense started a new life.
+++
Chris was in a state of euphoria. His depressing Thanksgiving had suddenly become much better. After being in a coma for two long months, Lance was finally awake. Not that everything was suddenly perfect. Although Lance’s life was no longer hanging in balance, it was not yet known how much damage had been done. Right now, he was unable to respond to people, except for the occasional hand squeeze, but for all Chris knew, that could have just been a reflex. The worst-case scenario now was that Lance was so brain damaged that he would stay like this for the rest of his life, awake, but unable to communicate. But Chris was determined not to think of the worst. He focused on the fact that Lance had already leaped two major hurdles. First of all, he had survived the gunshot wound and the surgery to remove the bullet against overwhelming odds. And now, he had finally regained consciousness after a two-month-long coma. As far as Chris was concerned, if Lance had made it that far, he could go all the way and recover. Maybe not totally, but he could recover to the point where he could function on his own again.

At seven o’clock that evening, Chris walked through the lobby of Memorial, ready to go home, pull out that Hungryman TV dinner and turn on the Cartoon Network. It didn’t seem quite as bad as before now that he was in a good mood, but still, he wished he had someone to be with that night. He wanted to celebrate, not sit by himself in his lonely little apartment.

Behind him, he heard the elevator doors slide open, and he subconsciously glanced back in time to see Risha Veers step out of the elevator. He stopped and waited as she came toward him, ready to leave the hospital as well.

“Hi, Dr. Veers,” he said, smiling.

“Oh, hi, Mr. Kirkpatrick,” Risha replied, giving him a tentative smile back.

“You can call me Chris,” said Chris with a chuckle. “ ‘Mr. Kirkpatrick’ sounds way too formal.”

Risha laughed slightly. “Okay.”

“So, you got any Thanksgiving plans for tonight?” Chris asked.

“No,” Risha said, a little sadly. “I’m just going to go home and take a hot bath. How about you?”

“Heat myself up a Hungryman dinner and turn on the Cartoon Network,” Chris said matter-of-factly. The corners of Risha’s mouth turned up. “But I’d really rather go out to eat somewhere and celebrate, you know, about Lance waking up and everything. How about it?”

Risha stared at him in surprise. “You’re asking me to go with you?” she asked uncertainly.

“Well, yeah,” Chris said, laughing. “That is, if you want to. I just thought, since you aren’t really doing anything else, and neither am I, that we could at least go have a nice Thanksgiving dinner somewhere. Just to celebrate, like I said.”

“Well…” Risha hesitated.

“Oh, come on. You can go home and take a bath afterwards,” Chris persuaded.

“Alright…” Risha said slowly. “I guess so.”

Chris’s face split into a grin. “Great,” he said. “Guess I won’t be having Hungryman tonight after all. Um… how about we both go home and get changed and then meet somewhere? Where do you want to go?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. You probably know the town better. Where do you want to go?” Risha said.

They decided on a nice restaurant which was sure to have a good turkey dinner and left the hospital together, splitting apart only to go to their separate cars. As Risha climbed into hers and pulled out of her parking space, she couldn’t help but smile. Go out to dinner? With a guy? She hadn’t done that in ten years.

Wow, Chris thought, as he left the parking lot. I have Thanksgiving plans. Guess I’m not such a loser after all. And he headed home, glad that his Hungryman dinner would remain frozen, and he would not have to sit through another episode of Powerpuff Girls.

+++
Good News and Bad News by RokofAges75
Episode 15:

Good News and Bad News


AN: A big thanks goes out to Ash for her help with this episode.


Joey Fatone stepped out of the lounge, his girlfriend Melissa Ruffino right alongside him. He liked the days when the two worked the same hours – they could ride in to work together, eat lunch together, and go home together. But that morning, he suddenly wished Melissa weren’t with him, for he spotted Mariah Johnson waggling up the hall towards him.

“Hi, Joey,” she cooed, smiling and winking at him. Joey could sense Melissa’s eyes boring into him and felt his face grow hot.

“Hey, Mariah, wassup?” he muttered in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

“Oh, nothing. Just about to start my shift. See you later.” She grinned again and made sure she brushed against Joey as she went past him.

“God, I hate her,” Melissa growled at his side. “Why Brunson hired her is beyond me. If she could only see what that tramp acts like up here!”

“Aw, you’re just jealous, Mel,” Joey chided, grinning at her. He had only meant it as a joke, but Melissa looked as if she had been slapped. She stared up at him for a moment, a wounded expression on her face, then stalked off past him without looking back.

Joey sighed and shook his head. He was a horrible boyfriend. Why was he always messing up, doing and saying the complete wrong things? He should have known how self-conscious Melissa was about her weight, and indicating that she had a reason to be jealous of beautiful Mariah, with her perfect body, was probably more offensive than he realized.

As Joey thought about Mariah, he felt even more like a horrible boyfriend. It had been a month since the day of the hurricane, when he had accidentally ended up almost on top of her, and they had kissed without really meaning to. Well, he hadn’t meant to anyway. He wasn’t sure about her. If it had just been one kiss, Joey wouldn’t have felt so bad about it, but it wasn’t just one kiss. Sparks had flown between the two – kissing Mariah was unlike kissing anyone else. Melissa was cute enough, but she was no Mariah. And so, the two of them had hooked up and had been secretly seeing each other for a month. Joey wasn’t sure whether “seeing each other” was really the right term for it – they didn’t really go out together, for fear of someone seeing them and ratting Joey out, but he had been over to her apartment many times. Joey felt bad about it; he had been trying to make himself break it off with her almost since it had started. But with every kiss, he wanted her more and more and regretted it less and less.

Raking a hand through his thick brown hair, Joey sighed as he watched Melissa disappear around a corner. Then he slowly followed her to the staff lounge to get ready to start his shift.

+++

“Good morning, Risha!”

Risha Veers jumped at the sudden voice behind her. She spun around to find Chris Kirkpatrick standing in the doorway of her office, a wide grin on his face.

“Oh… Chris,” Risha breathed. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” Chris said, still smiling. “So, how are you this morning?”

“Fine, thanks. How about you?”

“I’m great,” said Chris. His endless smile was beginning to unnerve her.

“That’s good,” Risha said, shifting uncomfortably. “So… uh… did you need anything?”

“I just came up to say hi,” Chris replied. “Did you have a good time last night?”

“Sure… it was nice,” said Risha. She had gone out with Chris the night before to a nice restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. It had been a spur of the moment thing, and doing something like that was completely out of the ordinary for Risha, who was anything but impulsive or spontaneous. They had had an okay time, but she didn’t know Chris very well and had been rather uncomfortable the whole night. Thanksgiving was supposed to be a time for family, not random, unfamiliar men.

“I’m glad you had fun. I know I did,” Chris said. “It was great getting to know you.”

Risha raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Yeah, same here,” she replied automatically, all the while feeling as though she had barely gotten to know Chris at all. She knew nothing about him, except for that he repeatedly cracked bad jokes and thought he was funny when he was not. And that he was a nurse in the ER. That was it. She didn’t see how he could have gotten to know her either, for she hadn’t told him much about herself, only that she was not married or engaged (he had asked when he saw the ring on her left hand). Although, Risha thought now, maybe I should have told him I was married. Then he would have left me alone. She didn’t want to be antisocial, but there was just something about him that she found slightly annoying.

“Well, I have to get ready to scrub in for a surgery at eight,” said Risha, starting for the door.

“Oh, okay, I’d better let you go then,” Chris said, stepping back to let her out of the office. “I wouldn’t want to cut into your operating time.” He began to laugh hysterically. “Get it?” he snorted through wild giggles. “Cut? Get it?”

Risha stared at him for a moment, then forced a laugh. “I get it. Good one,” she said with a weak smile. “See you later.”

“Hey, you have any plans for lunch? Maybe we could go for a slice of pizza together,” Chris suggested. Then he began to laugh again. “Get it? Slice? You get it, Risha?”

“Uh-huh,” Risha replied. “But no, I don’t think I can today. I have a surgery scheduled for noon. But maybe another time.” It was a lie, but she didn’t think she could sit through lunch with him make lame surgical puns every few minutes. She made a mental note to grab something from the vending machines and lock herself in her office for lunch.

“Okay. Well, maybe I’ll see you tonight then. Or should I say to-knife?” He began to crack up again, slapping his knee and gasping for breath.

“Maybe,” Risha said through gritted teeth, turning and hurrying away.

+++

“Hey, Dr. Parker, can you take a patient right now?” asked Susan Walker, the new ER nurse, her arms full of charts. “The waiting room’s filled with people waiting to be seen.”

“Uh… I’m pretty swamped myself, but maybe I can take another one. What are the symptoms?” Bianca Parker asked.

“Eight-year-old boy with shortness of breath,” said Susan.

“Find Siara Reily; she’s the ER pediatrician,” said Bianca. “She can take him.”

“Okay,” Susan replied, looking around the ER, wondering where she was supposed to find this Siara Reily. It was only her third day, and there were a lot of staff members she hadn’t met yet. Siara was one of them. Luckily, she spotted Natalie Spade, one of the nurses she had met, and hurried up to her.

“Natalie, do you know where Dr. Reily is?” Susan asked.

“Oh, she’s not working today. Try Dr. Harnett,” Natalie replied.

“Where can I find her?”

“Um… try Exam 4, I think she went in there.”

“Thanks,” Susan said, and went down the hall to the exam room. She got there just as a young, dark-haired woman was walking out. Glancing at the gold nametag pinned to the woman’s lab coat, she read Dr. Ivory Harnett. “Excuse me, Dr. Harnett?” she asked.

“Hi there, are you the new nurse down here?” asked Ivory.

“Yeah, I’m Susan Jennings,” Susan replied.

“Ivory Harnett, nice to meet you. So what do you need?”

“There’s an eight-year-old boy in Exam 2 with shortness of breath. Do you think you could take him?”

“Sure,” said Ivory.

“Thanks. Here, I started a chart for him already and hooked him up to oxygen,” said Susan, handing Ivory a clipboard from the top of the stack in her arms.

“Okay, great,” Ivory replied. She took the chart and went up the hall to Exam 2. Inside she found a little boy lying on the exam table, his worried-looking mother hovered over him. “Good morning, I’m Dr. Harnett,” she introduced herself quickly, going over to the little boy. Glancing at his name on the chart, she continued, “So, Brandon, you’re having some trouble breathing?”

Brandon nodded, his hazel eyes wide.

“He was outside playing football in the backyard with some of his friends,” Brandon’s mother said. “He got tackled and got the wind knocked out of him, but he hasn’t been able to catch his breath since. I got worried and drove him in here.”

“That’s completely understandable, Mrs. Levis,” said Ivory. “Does Brandon suffer from asthma or any other kind of respiratory condition?”

“No, nothing! He’s always been perfectly healthy,” Mrs. Levis said anxiously.

“Okay. Brandon, do you have any pain in your chest?”

“A little,” Brandon replied, his voice slightly breathy, even with the oxygen canula in his nostrils.

“Okay, Mrs. Levis, if you could just step back for a minute, I’m going to listen to Brandon’s heart and lungs,” Ivory said, putting her stethoscope in her ears.

Brandon’s mother moved out of the way, and Ivory slid the other end of her stethoscope down Brandon’s mud-stained sweatshirt. She listened, pursing her lips in concentration, then removed the stethoscope.

“I’d like to get a chest x-ray, just to make sure there wasn’t any damage done,” she said to the mother. “From what you said, it sounds like he got knocked around pretty hard. There’s a possibility he could have bruised or cracked a rib.”

Mrs. Levis nodded. “Okay.”

“Brandon, what we’re going to do is get an x-ray of your chest, just to make sure you didn’t get hurt too bad when you got tackled,” Ivory explained to Brandon. “All it is is just a picture of the inside of your chest; it won’t hurt at all.”

Brandon nodded. “I know what an x-ray is,” he said.

“Okay, great. Well, I need to go see some other patients right now, but I’ll order the x-ray, and someone will be down here to take you to x-ray soon. I’ll be back later to check up on you,” said Ivory. She gave him a reassuring smile and left the room.

+++

“Yo, Kev, what’s up?” Nurse Hayley Aldworth burst into the surgical lounge, where Kevin Richardson was sitting, sipping coffee.

“Morning, Hay,” he greeted her. “Did you have a good Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah, it was fine. How about you?”

“Mine was good. Liz and I got back from Lexington last night,” Kevin replied. “And she managed to get the morning off today, so she’s probably still in bed right now.”

“Lucky her,” said Hayley. “So, you got any lunch plans? I mean, if you’re not meeting her, maybe we could grab something together.”

“What, you’re not meeting Tyler again?” Kevin asked derisively.

Hayley frowned. “No, he’s at his parents house,” she said stiffly. “I told you already, he just stopped here on his way to visit me. Do you have some kind of problem with that?”

Kevin could feel his face heating up. He hadn’t meant to come across so… jealous-sounding. “No, sorry, Hay,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“Well, so anyway, what about lunch?” Hayley asked.

“That sounds great,” Kevin told her. “I should be out of surgery by about 12:30 or one, so if you wanna meet then…”

“Sounds good to me,” replied Hayley. “’Scuse me, I need a cup of coffee.” She crossed the room to the coffeemaker, just as the door to the lounge opened again, and Risha Veers came in.

“Oh, Kevin,” she said, smiling shyly. “There you are. I was looking for you.”

“Oh, is there some kind of emergency?” Kevin asked, jumping up.

“No! I just… wanted to thank you. For finding my ring.”

Kevin stared at her, confused for a moment, but then she held up her left hand, and he could see the gold ring gleaming on her ring finger. He remembered how he had found it in the scrub-in room, but that had been at least a month ago. He had assumed it wasn’t hers, that she had put it in the lost and found box when she found it taped to a note on her desk.

“Oh… so that was yours then?”

“Yes,” said Risha. “I just found it the other night, actually.” She gave a little laugh. “My desk’s a mess; it got buried under stuff, and I didn’t know it was there.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I should have made it more noticeable,” said Kevin.

“Oh no, it’s not your fault! I just need to get organized. But anyway, thank you so much. This ring… it means a lot to me…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down, twisting the ring back and forth on her finger.

“You’re welcome,” Kevin said, frowning as he watched her. Risha was a mystery to him. He had known her for three months now, but he felt like he barely knew her at all. He knew nothing about her family, her social life, or anything else outside her career. She didn’t seem to like to talk much, unless it was about a patient. She was always very polite to everyone, unlike Holli, but she wasn’t exactly friendly. She spoke when she was spoken to and asked questions when she needed to, but rarely struck up a conversation with anyone. He wasn’t sure if she was anti-social or just shy, but he could sense that it was something more than either of those things. It was as if she was afraid to get to know people, afraid to get close. Something had happened to her, something had made her this way. But what?

+++

“Ivory, there’s a nine-year-old with a wrist injury in Exam 3. Can you see her?” Melissa Ruffino asked, tracking down Ivory in the hall later that morning.

“Oh, sure,” said Ivory, taking the patient’s chart from Melissa. She went into the exam room and found a small, skinny little girl with stringy blonde hair sitting on the examining table, her legs dangling off one side. She glanced down at her chart and read the name. Alicia Rivers.

“Hi, Alicia,” Ivory said warmly. “I’m Dr. Harnett. Is anyone here with you?” She had noticed that Alicia was all alone; there was no one else in the room with her.

“My daddy’s here,” Alicia replied shyly. She had a soft, whispery voice. “He went to the cafeteria.”

“Oh okay. Well, I hear you hurt your wrist,” said Ivory. “Can you tell me how that happened?”

“I was playing outside, and I fell,” she said quickly.

“Aww, I’m sure that hurt. Well, I need to look at your wrist now; it might be broken or fractured. Can you wiggle your fingers for me?”

Alicia did, and Ivory carefully examined her wrist, then said, “Well, I need to get an x-ray of your wrist to see if it’s broken or not. I’ll call x-ray, and someone will be here to take you in a little while.”

“Take her where?” came a deep voice behind Ivory. She spun around, startled, to find a tall man standing in the doorway.

“Are you Alicia’s father?” Ivory asked.

“Yes,” the man said. “Where are you taking my daughter?”

“To x-ray,” Ivory replied. “She might have a broken wrist.”

“Oh,” said Mr. Rivers. “How long will that take?”

“The x-ray itself will only take a few minutes, and then I’ll have to set it in a cast if it’s broken, which takes a little while. Otherwise she’ll just get a brace for it.”

Mr. Rivers just grunted in reply. He didn’t seem like the friendliest person.

“Well, like I was saying, I’ll go call the radiology department and have someone come get Alicia when they’re ready for her. I’ll be back to talk to you later, Alicia, once I’ve seen your x-rays.”

She left the room and went to call the radiology department yet again.

+++

Around eleven, the doors to the ER burst open and in rushed EMTS AJ McLean, Allison Brooks, and Amelia Caston. The three of them were pushing in a gurney, followed by a hysterical young woman who looked to be around the age of 27 or 28.

Ivory Harnett took the opportunity to hurry over to them. "What do we have here?" she asked as she pulled her stethoscope from around her neck to hear for a pulse on the patient.

"One and a half year old female. Mother called in saying she found her daughter unconscious after walking back into the child’s room. Clammy skin, high fever, no evident breathing or heart rhythm upon arrival at child’s home. Heart resuscitated after performing CPR, child has a weak pulse, BP is 80/60. Still no breath sounds performed by child on her own," AJ McLean rattled off to Ivory.

"Natalie, what trauma room is free?" Ivory called out to nurse Natalie Spade as they began to wheel the child down the hall.

"3 and 4 are free," Natalie answered.

"I don’t want you treating my daughter," the obvious mother of the child said, tugging on Ivory’s arm in a frantic manner.

"Excuse me?" Ivory asked in confusion as they hurried along.

"I want Dr. Siara Reily to help me daughter!"

"I’m sorry, but Dr. Reily isn’t on call today-"

"I don’t want anyone else but her working on my daughter! Please, I want Dr. Reily!" the mother screamed out.

Ivory looked back at AJ and the other two paramedics with a questioning look, but only got three shrugs back in reply. Finally, she looked back over her shoulder and yelled out, "Natalie, page Dr. Reily and get her in here! Stat!"

+++

Siara Reily directed her 2002 Volkswagen Jetta into the parking-lot outside the Rescue Squad Station, where she had arrived to visit with her boyfriend, Harry Littrell, who was the squad leader of the station, and her good friend Kylie McCartney, who was one of the head paramedics there.

Siara wasn’t on call at the hospital that day, so she and Harry had made plans to head out to lunch when he got the chance and he was supposed to meet her somewhere. But Kylie had phoned Siara up earlier that day and told her to just stop by the station and pick Harry up, because she had something to tell both her and Harry, quote-unquote "news" in Kylie’s own words.

Siara could only wonder what it was that Kylie had to tell her and Harry, but whatever it was, Siara knew it wasn’t anything bad. Far from it in fact, for she had detected strict happiness in Kylie’s voice.

Stepping out of her car and making sure her sunglasses were securely fastened over her eyes, she shut the door and used the automatic lock feature on the key chain to lock the car and set the alarm. By sound of the "beep" the car made in return when she pressed the correct button, Siara tossed the keys in her purse and headed towards the double glass doors.

Reaching the doors, she pulled one open and stepped into the overly-air conditioned building. Why they always had the air conditioning up higher then it needed to be was beyond her, but, she figured, it was probably all Harry’s fault. He was always turning the air conditioning up extremely high at their apartment and Siara was always having to turn it down. Sadly, the two of them had gotten into several heated arguments over the stupid thing, and usually in the end, Siara would end up freezing because Harry would win. All she knew though, was that if she and Harry ever bought a house together, the air conditioning would never be set this high.

"Hello?" Siara called out as she stepped further into the building, but all she got back in return was a whole bunch of nothing. Silence bounced back at her off the walls and she looked around in question.

The place almost seemed abnormally quiet as the paramedics of the station were usually running amuck, goofing off when they had nothing to do or weren’t called out to respond to a situation. But none of them were in sight.

‘Where are you guys?’ she thought to herself as she did a slow 360° turn, taking in her surrounding. Surely they weren’t all out on call. That only happened when there was a major accident, and still, at least one paramedic stayed back at the station.

Siara headed towards the door on the other side of the room that lead out into the enormous garage of the station. "Harry?" she called out, listening as her voice echoed off the concrete walls when she opened the door.

Looking around, she noticed that one of the two ambulances belonging to the station was gone. Well, that gave answer to why the place was so quiet. But still, where were the others that stayed behind?

"Kylie? Anyone?" she mumbled out, turning around to go check the other rooms of the building. But no sooner did she turn around, did she squeal out in surprise as she ran into the arms of someone.

"Looking for me, babe?" Harry chuckled, grinning as he stared into Siara’s sapphire eyes. His lips curled up into even more amusement as the two of them stood there, Siara’s face masked with shock at the sudden appearance of her boyfriend.

Siara stared at Harry for a moment before she finally reached out and smacked his left shoulder as hard as she could. She shot him a stern glare, placing her hands on her hips.

"Don’t scare me like that," she scolded, but it wasn’t long before she laughed out loud at the pouting look he was giving her as he gingerly rubbed the shoulder she had smacked. "You’re such a big baby," she teased, leaning up and placing a small kiss on his lips.

"But that’s why you love me so much," Harry replied, returning the kiss.

"Maybe I do…heh, maybe I don’t," Siara teased further. "So, where is everyone?"

"AJ, Allison, and Amelia are out responding to a call across town," Kylie answered as she stepped into the room. "Hey girl!"

"Hey Ky!" Siara greeted with a smile and gave Kylie a friendly hug. "I was beginning to think that this place had been deserted when I saw no one around. I was about to go haywire, thinking Harry had skipped out on our lunch date."

"Never babe, never," Harry was quick to assure Siara.
"Geez, Har…Si’s got you wrapped around her finger," Kylie giggled.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Harry grinned and kissed his girlfriend’s cheek. "I happen to love Siara very much. Our relationship is a 50/50 thing."

"Anyway," Siara interrupted with a wry grin. "You called me over here because you said there was some news you needed to tell Harry and I. So, well, what’s the news?"

Kylie felt a smile creeping up on her lips. She knew Siara would be ecstatic when she found out exactly what it was that Kylie had to tell, so she decided to drag it on for a while. "What news?" she asked innocently.

"That’s what I would like to know," Siara answered.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You lie so bad, Ky! You do too know what I’m talking about."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do. You told me on the phone this morning that you had some news to tell Harry and I, and that’s why I was supposed to come pick him up for lunch instead of him coming to meet me somewhere. So spill it before I get Harry to make you spill it!"

Harry laughed at his girlfriend’s antics and points of reasoning. "Yeah, Ky…I do remember you mentioning to me earlier that there was something you wanted to tell the two of us."

"Tell you what?" fellow paramedic, Kym Jennings, asked as she walked through the doors, carrying a fresh bag of hot McDonald’s food in one hand and a drink in the other.

"Hey Kym," Siara greeted. "We’re still trying to figure it out."

"You have a secret you haven’t yet told me?" Kym glared playfully at Kylie, but upon receiving the look back from her friend, she nodded her head, a mysterious look washing over her face. "Ah, I get it. Yeah, proceed to tell them. I’m gonna go eat my lunch. Bye!" And she quickly hurried from the room.

"Even she knows?" Siara asked.

"Maybe…" Kylie shrugged.

"Dangit, girl! Just tell me already!"

"Alright! I’m…"

"You’re…?"

"I’m pregnant!"

"You’re what?!" Harry coughed out, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open.

"Pregnant, Har. Pregnant. P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T," Kylie spelled out in amusement.

"Nah, you’re joking."

"Actually, I’m quite serious."

"Wow, pregnant?" Siara asked in shock as she stared at her friend.

Kylie nodded. "I’m nearly three months along."

"And you’re just now telling me?!"

"Well, I’m just now pretty much telling everybody," Kylie grinned impishly. "Sorry, I just didn’t know how you all would react."

"I’m ecstatic!’ Siara grinned and pulled Kylie in for a tight hug. "I’m so happy for you and Josh! I bet he’s excited that he’s going to be a daddy?"

"Very much so."

"And I get to be Auntie Siara, right?"

"Of course!"

Siara turned to her boyfriend. "Say something, Harry!"

"Congratulations, Ky!" Harry grinned, also giving Kylie a hug and a small kiss on the cheek after he was prompted to by Siara. "Give Josh my congrats."

"I will be sure to," Kylie nodded.

"So that means pretty soon we won’t be having you on the squad because you’ll be on maternity leave?"

"Unfortunately, but you won’t miss me," Kylie answered.

"Very true," Harry teased and received a smack from both girls. "Ouch!" he cried out, backing a few feet away.

"Wow, Kylie’s gonna be a mommy," Siara drawled in amazement, but before she could say anything else, the pager which was attached to her belt loop began to beep like crazy and she quickly reached for it to find out who was paging her on her day off.

She knew it had to be someone from the hospital, for that was basically the only reason why she had the pager. If the hospital needed her there on her day off and she wasn’t at home, they could always get a hold of her by paging her. Very rarely would Harry ever call the paging number, and besides, she was with him at the moment.

Sure enough, though, by looking at the little screen, she saw the hospital’s number. Immediately, she reached back into her purse for her cell phone, but a look of dismay crossed her face when she came up with nothing. "Crap, where is it?" she muttered to herself.

"Who’s the page from?" Harry asked.

"Hospital, and I can’t find my cell," Siara answered distractedly, still digging in her purse.

"Use the phone in the lounge," Kylie suggested.

Siara nodded her thanks and quickly ran off to the lounge. Kym, who was in there eating her lunch, said a hello as Siara rushed into the room, but Siara chose to ignore Kym’s greeting as she hurried over to the phone. Siara grasped the receiver and quickly dialed the seven-digit number that took her straight to the ER.

"Atlantic City Memorial Hospital-" Nurse Natalie Spade answered.

"Natalie, it’s Siara Reily. I was just paged."

"Yeah, Dr. Harnett had me page you. There’s a trauma going on and she needs you here."

"Can’t she handle it?" Siara asked in confusion.

"Let me transfer you to the trauma room Dr. Harnett is in."

Siara waited impatiently as she was put on quick hold. It was only a mere seconds that she had to wait before the line was picked up again and someone else spoke out to her. This time it was Dr. Harnett.

"Siara, where are you at the moment?" Dr. Harnett asked quickly.

Siara’s mind grew fuzzy as she listened to the background noises. ‘No heart rhythm or breath sounds! Quick, bag her!’ What was going on?

"I’m with Harry at the station. Why? What is going on?"

"How quickly can you get over here?"

"Two minutes at the most-"

"Good, we need you over here!"

"Alright, I’m on my way!" Siara slammed the phone down and hurried from the room, not giving an explanation to Kym‘s questioning stare.

She ran back out to where Harry and Kylie were still standing, talking quietly amongst themselves. "There’s an emergency at the hospital and they need my assistance," she told Harry. "I’m sorry babe, but I can’t do lunch today."

"It’s alright," Harry told her, giving her a quick kiss. "Just go."

+++

Siara rushed through the ER doors approximately two and a half minutes later. She saw nurse Natalie Spade, the one who had answered the phone when Siara had called back and she hurried over to her. "What trauma room is Dr. Harnett in?" she quickly asked, gripping the edge of the counters with her hands.

"Trauma room 7, and you need to hurry. The little girl’s mother is in there and she’s refusing to leave until you get there," Natalie answered.

"Thanks," Siara mumbled and she ran off down the hall. As she neared the correct trauma room, Siara could begin to hear the desperate cries and pleadings of help from a hysterical voice that she couldn’t quite decipher as to who it belonged to. "Alright, what’s the situation?" she called as she burst into the room. Immediately, she was bombarded by someone, but it wasn’t a doctor.

"Oh God, Siara! You have to help her!" the person cried out as she gripped Siara’s shoulders tightly and shook her.

Siara squinted her eyes at the tears streaming down the person’s face, and then her heart skipped a beat. "Sam?" she gasped out in shock and confusion.

"You have to help her, Siara! You have to help Cassidy!" the woman continued to cry.

Siara felt her mind whirl as she stared into one of her closest friend’s panicked eyes for a slight moment. The woman’s name was Samantha McGuire and Samantha’s one and a half year old daughter’s name was Cassidy McGuire. She and Samantha had been close friends ever since the two of them were in high school together and Siara had grown especially close to little Cassidy.

"Dr. Reily, we need you over here right now!" Dr. Harnett ordered, looking back over her shoulder Siara.

Siara shook herself out of her daze and rushed over the gathering of nurses and ER physicians. She looked at the pediatrician on call in the ER that day, Dr. Harnett, and down at the little girl on the ER gurney. Amidst the hands that were reaching out to her and the tubes that were already hooked up to her little body, Siara could barely recognize who she saw.

Little Cassidy’s body was adorned with extremely pale skin, her head of blonde curls was matted to her forehead with a cold sweat. "W-what’s the situation?" Siara asked again, taking a stethoscope from one of the nurses and pressing it to Cassidy’s chest.

"Paramedics brought her in approximately five minutes ago. No heart rhythms or existence of breath sounds on arrival. Pulse was brought back, weak pulse ever since, still no existence of breath sounds. BP is 70/50," Dr. Harnett rattled off as Siara continued listening to Cassidy’s heart rhythm. It indeed was a very weak rhythm, and the heart monitor hooked up to the little girl showed that.

"Continue bagging her!" Siara instructed to nurse Chris Kirkpatrick, who had the bag-valve mask positioned over the little girl’s mouth. She reached for the pen with the little light on the end that she always kept in her purse and brought it up to Cassidy’s closed eyes. Using two fingers, Siara carefully popped one of the eyelids open and shined the light into the eye. The pupil wasn’t dilated, and when she checked the other eye, it was the same case and both eyes were nearly rolled into the back of the child’s head. Siara felt her heart racing at that moment as Samantha seemed to become even more hysterical in the background.

"What’s wrong with her?!" Samantha cried out.

"We don’t know," Dr. Harnett answered.

"The child is extremely dehydrated. Lack of fluids is possible cause for loss of consciousness," Siara explained thoughtfully with determination as she continued to check Cassidy’s vitals. "I want her started on a 35 ml saline IV right away. Has she been sick lately?" When Siara got no answer from the mother, she quickly looked back over her shoulder. "Samantha, has Cassidy been sick lately?"

"Sh-she…she’s had a case of the flu for the past weak," Samantha answered as best she could, stuttering over her words.

"What have her symptoms been?" Siara continued to ask. "BP is dropping!"

"Oh God!" Samantha cried.

"What kind of symptoms has she had?!"

"She’s been throwing up since she became sick-"

"When was that?"

"Last Wednesday."

"What else?"

"A really harsh cough, wheezing-"

"Trouble breathing," Siara nodded. "Someone take Mrs. McGuire to the waiting-area."

"I don’t want to leave my daughter!" Samantha yelled out as Chris Kirkpatrick handed the bag-valve mask over to Dr. Harnett and began to lead her from the room.

"You can’t be in here any longer ma’am," Chris told her gently and he directed her towards the door.

"But my daughter-"

"Dr. Reily and the rest of the team are working on her. We’ll send someone out to speak with you soon. Now if you’ll follow me, I will take you to the waiting area," Chris answered, leading Samantha from the room.

But no sooner had she and Chris walked out of the room and the door was shut, did the slow unsteady raising line on the heart monitor flatten., and a long steady beep sounded, a very high shrill sound.

"Starting CPR," Siara cried out as she leaned over Cassidy’s little body and placed her hands on the correct spot, in the correct position on her chest. "On my count…1...2...3...breath…"

Siara stole a quick glance at the heart monitor, but the line hadn’t changed and the machine was still whining.

‘C’mon Cassie!’ Siara’s mind begged as she continued giving gentle chest compressions to the little girl. "1...2...3...breath!"

Slowly, but still weak, the line on the monitor rose and made a rhythm tic beep. "Alright, we have a steady heart beat, but it’s still weak. Let’s also get her started on a 10mg IV of Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole, and after that a penicillin IV. Move her up to the ICU of the Pediatrics ward."

"Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole is for Pneumococcal pneumonia," Dr. Harnett mentioned.

"I know, but it’s also used to prevent it," Siara answered. "Cassidy has always had a weak immune system since birth, and I’m afraid she may already have Pneumococcal pneumonia from her influenza infection."

+++

At ten till noon, Elizabeth O’Brien breezed into the lobby of the hospital, ready to get to the ER and start her afternoon shift. As she passed by the elevators, one of them dinged and opened, and two people stepped out, laughing. Elizabeth stopped and turned back as a deep, familiar-sounding chuckle greeted her ears.

“Kevin?”

Her boyfriend, Kevin Richardson, stopped and spun around. “Liz!” he cried. “I didn’t even see you there!”

“Hi, Elizabeth!” said the woman with Kevin, Hayley Aldworth. Hayley and Elizabeth didn’t know each other well, only through Kevin. Hayley and Kevin had been friends for a few years, since they started working together, before he and Elizabeth had even become a couple.

“Hello, Hayley,” Elizabeth greeted her rather coolly, looking from her to Kevin. “Where are you two going?”

“Lunch,” Kevin replied.

“Oh. I thought you told me you had a surgery scheduled and wouldn’t be able to take your lunch break until later this afternoon,” Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow at Kevin. She was quite sure he had said he wouldn’t be out of surgery until around one and wouldn’t be able to meet her for lunch before her shift started.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I would be, but my patient crashed and died in the middle of surgery,” Kevin explained. “I just got done talking to the family.”

Elizabeth nodded, studying his face.

Kevin shifted his weight. “Well, we better let you get to the ER. See you later, honey.”

“Have a good lunch,” Elizabeth said briskly, turning on her heel and walking quickly away. She glanced back once to see Kevin and Hayley walking in the other direction. Hayley was talking animatedly to Kevin, her hands flying as she spoke, and he was laughing again. Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed as she watched them. Then she forced herself to turn away and walked on to the ER without a second backward glance.

+++

“How’s your day been so far, sweetie?” Ivory’s boyfriend Brian Littrell asked, as the two of them walked down the street to Sully’s for lunch.

“Hectic, but alright,” Ivory replied.

“Seen any good cases?”

“Yeah, I just got done with a trauma about an hour ago. A baby came in in full arrest, but the mother was friends with Siara or something and insisted that she treat the baby. So I paged Siara, and she came right in. We got the little girl stabilized, but she’s really sick. Pneumonia. Other than that, most patients I’ve seen have been the run of the mill stuff. Girl with a broken wrist, kid with a football injury, stuff like that. I’m basically just waiting on x-rays for a lot of them right now.”

They reached the small restaurant. Brian pulled open the door and held it for Ivory. Inside, they saw Brian’s cousin Kevin and his friend Hayley sitting at one of the tables.

“Hey, cuz!” Kevin called, waving them over. “You wanna pull up a table?”

“Sure,” said Brian, and he and Ivory pushed another two-person table up to Kevin and Hayley’s and sat down.

“Liz working day?” Brian asked Kevin, as he skimmed over the menu.

“Yeah, she just got on,” Kevin replied.

“And she didn’t look too happy to see us together,” Hayley added.

“You think?” Kevin asked in surprise. “I thought she sounded sort of distant…”

Hayley raised her eyebrows. “Well, I dunno, maybe I was reading her wrong, but she didn’t seem very thrilled to see me with you.”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s it, Hay. Elizabeth isn’t like that. I’m sure she was just…”

But what Elizabeth was, they never found out, for as Kevin trailed off, a waitress came up to take their orders, and the matter was forgotten.

+++

Alana Hill walked briskly down the hall of the ICU ward of the hospital, studying over the file she had clutched in her hands as she made her way to the patient's room.

It was her last check-up before she could finally leave for a lunch break, and she was really dying for a bite to eat since she had pretty much skipped breakfast that morning.

This patient wouldn't be hard at all to check over, just a quick check of the vitals and then she was out of there. The patient she was going to see was Lance Bass.

Ever since Lance had woken up on Thanksgiving day, the day before, Alana had been making more frequent visits to his room to check up on his condition. She was by far amazed that Lance had woken up at all, when she believed inside all along that the man never would wake up.

It was a miracle.

Upon entering the room, Alana looked up from Lance's file to see both of Lance's parents sitting on both sides of his bed. He peered at the inferior man laying stationary on the bed between them and saw that Lance was indeed conscious at that moment, which she was thankful for.

"Afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Bass," she greeted as she walked over to them.

"Hello Dr. Hill," Diane Bass said back in return with a small smile.

"Afternoon," Jim Bass also greeted.

"I see that Lance is awake?" Alana nodded as she immediately went over to the machines that were hooked up to Lance's body.

"Yeah, he has been for about the past fifteen minutes, though he's starting to drift in and out," Jim answered.

"Dr. Hill, how exactly is our son doing, now that he has woken up?" Diane asked, pleading with Alana for an answer.

“Sorry, Lance,” Alana told her patient as she lifted the bandage off his scalp to examine the site of surgery, causing Lance to close his eyes tightly. “It’s okay.”

Turning her attention back to the hopeful parents, Alana cleared her throat, a nervous habit developed over the years. “He is doing a lot better than we thought he would be at this point. Your son is very strong willed, any other patient and they probably would have given up at this point.” Now comes the hard part, she thought to herself.

“The bullet did damage to the parietal lobe of Lance’s brain which controls stimulation, touch, sensory, amongst other things. So far we have concluded that Lance is paralyzed on one side of his body, probably temporary and with a lot of physical therapy and determination on his side, he should overcome this with minimal problems.”

“Anything else, Dr. Hill?” Jim Bass questioned the young neurologist, knowing from the look in the doctor’s eyes she wasn’t done with giving the diagnosis.

"Well..." Alana sucked in a deep breath. "The parietal lobe also controls parts of speech, so there is a chance, a high chance, he will have trouble speaking. He may have to learn how to speak all over again."

"Is that for sure?" came Diane's question.

"We won't know for sure until we run some more tests," Alana answered. "I'm going to be quite frank with you, Mr. and Mrs. Bass. Though Lance may seem to recover from his injury in many ways, there is a very high chance that he will never be the same person he used to be, that he won't be the same Lance as you used to know him as. His personality could be totally changed because of this."

“What do you mean?”

“It has been shown in patients whom have been in similar situations, that sometimes they come out of this ordeal as let’s say a new person. They are different from the person their friends and family remember, sometimes it is minor and other times it is drastic.”

“When will we know?”

“Well right now, it is a touch and go situation, Mr. and Mrs. Bass. Lance is unable to speak so until we can get him to succeed in speech therapy, we may not know until then. It could be weeks or even months; in some cases years.”

“Oh God,” the trembling voice of Diane echoed throughout the room. Alana watched in sympathy as her frail shoulders began to shake with suppressed sobs.

"But we're not going to give up on your son. Rest assured that we are going to do everything we can to help him recover in the best way possible," Alana told her softly. "All you can do is be there for him with all of your love and support, it's the best thing for him coming from you."

"Thank you, Dr. Hill,” Jim nodded gratefully as he got up to embrace his wife in a tight hug.

"I will leave you to have time alone with your son again, now. I'm currently heading out for lunch, but I will be back in about an hour. So if you feel the need to speak with me, just have me paged." Alana waited until Lance's parents nodded in understanding, then he exited from the room.

+++

“Oh, Ivory, there you are!” cried Bianca Parker as Ivory came back to the ER after lunch. “Someone from radiology has been looking for you. The x-rays are back on the kid in Exam 2.”

“Oh, great, thanks, Bianca,” said Ivory. She rounded up Brandon Levis’s chest x-ray films and took them to the light board outside his room to read them. She put up one from the front view first and turned on the board. Ivory looked up at the film, prepared to see nothing more than a bruised rib or two. What she did see made her gasp aloud in horror.

“Oh man…” said a voice behind her. Ivory turned around to see Bianca standing behind her, her blue eyes fixed on the x-ray as well. Bianca shook her head sadly. “That’s got to be at least a stage three.”

Ivory nodded numbly. “This is just an eight-year-old little boy,” she said softly. “He was playing football with his friends, got tackled, and was having trouble breathing. I was thinking he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him and maybe had a bruised rib or something. I never suspected he had a tumor in his lung!”

“Oh god… so this isn’t a recurring thing?”

“I don’t think so. His records don’t say anything about being treated for cancer. Nobody knew about it. And it’s so big…”

“He probably hasn’t got a chance,” Bianca finished quietly.

Ivory bit her lip, staring at the dark shape that had invaded the little boy’s left lung, and slowly nodded again.

+++

“Hi, Brandon,” Ivory said, swallowing hard as she walked into Exam 2. “Mrs. Levis, could I talk to you outside?”

Brandon’s mother gave Ivory a puzzled expression. “Of course,” she said, standing up and following Ivory into the hall. “Is something wrong?”

Ivory took a deep breath. “I got back Brandon’s chest x-rays,” she began, “and I’m afraid there’s a problem.”

“What? Did he break a rib or something?”

I wish it was that simple, Ivory thought, but she just shook her head. “No, his ribs look fine. But I know why he was having trouble breathing. Mrs. Levis, your son has a tumor in his lung.”

The mother gasped, her eyes widening in horror. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “How… how bad is it?”

Ivory placed the first x-ray back on the light board and turned it on. “This is the tumor,” she said grimly, circling the large, dark mass with her finger.

“God… it’s huge!” Mrs. Levis cried, clapping a hand over her mouth. “H-how could we not know about this?” Her voice was choked with tears, and Ivory could tell she was close to breaking down. She put a hand lightly on Mrs. Levis’s shoulder.

“Sometimes, things like this come without symptoms. It’s probably been growing for months, and Brandon seemed perfectly fine until now. There was no way you could have known.”

Mrs. Levis’s eyes filled. “A tumor this size… is it treatable?” she asked. “We… we have good insurance. We’ll do whatever it takes – chemo, radiation, surgery… anything!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really know. This isn’t my area of expertise. I’m going to call an oncologist down her for a consult, and then you’ll be able to find out more about your options,” Ivory said.

Mrs. Levis nodded slowly. “How am I going to tell Brandon about this?” she asked softly, blinking back tears.

“I can talk to him if you want me to,” Ivory offered.

“Would you?” Mrs. Levis asked, looking grateful. “It’s just that… I wouldn’t know what to say, how to explain it to him. And I don’t want him to see me cry.” With those words, she broke down, the tears escaping from the corners of her eyes and running down her cheeks.

“I know, Mrs. Levis, I know,” said Ivory. “I’ll tell him. Why don’t you come with me - I’ll take you to somewhere more private so you can be by yourself for a little while.”

“Thank you,” the woman whispered, allowing Ivory to lead her down the hall to a smaller waiting room with just a few chairs.

“Just stay here for awhile,” said Ivory, “and come back when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Levis said again.

“You’re welcome,” Ivory replied. Then she left Mrs. Levis alone and went back down the hall, trying to prepare herself for the dreaded task of telling an eight-year-old boy he was dying.

+++

“Excuse me, doc, but we’ve been waiting here for hours! Haven’t you gotten Ali’s x-rays back yet?”

Ivory rolled her eyes and turned to Alicia Rivers’ father, who had come up behind her in the hall. “I’m sorry, sir, but I haven’t had a chance to look at them yet,” she said. “I’ll be back to talk to you soon, but I have another patient I need to see right now.”

“Well, what about us? We’ve been here forever!”

“So has this patient, and he’s in worse shape than your daughter, so if you’d please just wait patiently, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can,” Ivory said through gritted teeth.

“This is bullshit,” Mr. Rivers muttered, stalking off.

Ivory rolled her eyes again, realizing what a wise decision Brian had made in specializing in pediatrics, treating children instead of adults – some adults could be much more obnoxious than any child. But as she reached Brandon’s room, her irritation melted away and was replaced by a feeling of dismay. Taking a moment to collect herself, she slowly walked into the room.

“Where’s my mom?” Brandon asked casually, as Ivory sat down in the chair Mrs. Levis had previously occupied.

“She’s just down the hall. She’ll be back soon,” Ivory told him. “Brandon, I need to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Brandon asked, looking at her. His large hazel eyes were questioning, but not fearful. He had no idea what she was about to tell him.

“Brandon, there’s a reason why you’ve been having some trouble breathing lately, and it’s not because of football,” Ivory began slowly. “You have what’s called a tumor in one of your lungs. Have you heard of a tumor before?”

“Yeah…” Brandon said uncertainly, “But I don’t really know what it is. Is it bad?”

“Well, a tumor is like a big blob thing that grows inside your body,” said Ivory. “There are different kinds of tumors, and they can grow in different places. Some of them are harmless; they don’t do anything. But others are what we call malignant, and that means they have cancer in them. Do you know what cancer is?”

Brandon nodded. “My grandma had cancer,” he said, his expression serious. “You can die from it, can’t you?”

“Yes,” said Ivory, “but not always. It depends on what kind of cancer and how bad it is.”

“So I have cancer?”

“Well… I’m not sure yet. Another doctor, one that takes care of people with cancer, is going to run some tests on you and figure out what kind of tumor you have. It might be cancer, but there’s a chance it isn’t,” Ivory explained, though she was pretty certain the tumor was malignant. Still, she couldn’t bear to leave him without hope.

“What if it is cancer? Am I going to die?” Brandon asked. She could see the fear in his eyes now, but his voice was steady. Kids were surprising like that. If Ivory had just been told this news, she knew she would have been crying. But Brandon was not.

“I don’t know, sweetie,” Ivory said, and at this point, her own voice trembled slightly. She swallowed hard and continued, “Your new doctor will be able to explain some more to you, about how they can get rid of your tumor and make you better. I’m not a cancer doctor, so I don’t know.”

Brandon nodded. “So I’m going to get better?”

Ivory managed what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “We have some very good doctors at this hospital, and they’re going to do everything they can to make you get better.” It wasn’t exactly an answer to his question, but Brandon nodded again and accepted it.

+++

“Haven’t you looked at her x-rays yet?” a voice exploded in Ivory’s ears.

Ivory spun around to find Mr. Rivers standing behind her again. She had just sent Brandon up to the Oncology Floor for further testing and was about to head to the lounge for a break. After all that, she needed one.

“Oh, Mr. Rivers,” she groaned, “Yes, I was just about to look at them. I’ll be right back.” Before he could say anything else, she turned and hurried away to find the x-rays of Alicia’s wrist.

Knowing my luck, she’ll probably have bone cancer or something, Ivory thought to herself as she put the x-rays up on a light board. But all she saw there was a hairline fracture. Taking the x-rays down, Ivory went into Alicia’s room, hoping to put her wrist in a brace and send her on her way before Mr. Rivers could pester her any further.

“Hi, Alicia,” Ivory said, smiling at the little girl as she entered the room. “Where’d your dad go?”

“I dunno. He left a few minutes ago to find you, and he hasn’t come back yet,” Alicia said softly, shrugging.

“Okay. Well, I have good news and bad news. I just took a look at your x-rays, and your wrist isn’t broken. That’s the good news.” She smiled at Alicia again, but Alicia just nodded, her expression blank. “The bad news is that you do have a fracture, which means the bone is not broken, but cracked. I don’t have to put your arm in a cast, but you will have to wear a wrist brace for a little while. I need to go find one of those for you, but I’ll be right back, and then you can get out of this place, okay?”

She gave Alicia’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but Alicia winced and quickly jerked away.

“I’m sorry!” Ivory apologized quickly, looking at Alicia in surprise. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. No, I’m okay,” Alicia said hurriedly.

Ivory’s eyes narrowed. “Hold still a minute. I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to look at something,” she said, gently reaching for Alicia’s shoulder again. She pulled lightly on the neck of Alicia’s t-shirt, exposing one of her shoulders. Ivory could see a large, severe-looking bruise on it. “How did you get this, honey?” she asked.

Alicia shrugged. “I fell,” she said simply, looking down.

“You fell? Do you fall and get hurt a lot?”

Alicia nodded. “My daddy says I’m a klutz.”

“I see. Do you have other bruises like this.”

Alicia just shrugged again and didn’t answer. Very slowly and gently, Ivory lifted the back of her shirt up. Sure enough, Alicia’s back was covered in black and blue marks.

“I… I fell down the stairs a few days ago,” Alicia said. “I hit my back.”

“Is that really what happened?” Ivory asked, sure that Alicia was lying. Alicia did not reply. “Alicia, honey, did someone do this to you? Did someone hurt you?” Again, Alicia did not answer, but Ivory could see that her shoulders had begun to shake. “Sweetie, don’t be afraid, you can tell me. Is it your dad? Does he hit you?”

Very slightly, Alicia nodded.

Ivory bit her lip. That’s what she had suspected. “Does he do other things too, Alicia? Does he… touch you in places? Private places?” She closed her eyes momentarily, praying the answer would be no.

“No,” Alicia said.

Ivory nodded, relieved. “But he hits you,” she went on seriously. “What about your mom? Does he hurt her too?”

“My mommy’s dead,” Alicia replied. “She died when I was five.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Ivory said. “Did this start after your mommy died? Your dad hitting you?”

Alicia nodded, her bottom lip quivering. “I’m bad,” she whimpered. “I… I’m a bad girl, and he has to punish me.”

Ivory shook her head. “No,” she said firmly. “That’s not punishment. That’s abuse. It’s wrong. No one should ever hurt you like this.” Alicia began to cry. “Shh,” Ivory said soothingly, resting a hand on Alicia’s head and lightly stroking her hair. “It’s all right, sweetie. I’m going to make sure your daddy can’t do this to you anymore. Everything is going to be all right.”

“What is going on here?” a sudden voice boomed. Alicia’s father stormed into the room. “What did you do to her?” he demanded, glaring at Ivory. “Did you hurt her?”

“No,” Ivory said, standing up and glaring back at him. “But you did.”

Mr. Rivers’ eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice low and menacing.

“I saw the bruises,” Ivory said, gazing defiantly at him. “I know the truth.”

“What truth? That Alicia’s clumsy? She falls a lot, gets hurt a lot. She’s always climbing around on stuff. I don’t have any control over her getting hurt; I can’t watch her every minute of the day, you know!”

“You hit her,” Ivory hissed. “She told me.”

“What?!” he roared, and Ivory saw Alicia flinch. “That’s bullshit!” her father cried. “She’s making it up! I… I’m her father; I would never hit her!”

He was lying through his teeth; it was obvious. Ivory saw red. “You bastard,” she whispered. “Come with me.” She grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away, out into the hall. She slammed the door shut behind her and turned to face him. “What do you get out of hitting your daughter? Does it make you feel good, inflicting pain on some poor defenseless little girl? Do you feel big when you do that?”

“You have no right to-“ Mr. Rivers started, but Ivory went on.

“You lying bastard, stop pretending it’s not true! I suspected the truth, and Alicia confirmed it! You’ve been abusing your daughter, and you’re going to pay for it! There is no way that girl is going back to live with you; I’ll make sure of that!”

“You bitch!” Mr. Rivers spat, and Ivory could see the rage in his eyes. Was this how he looked when he struck Alicia?

Feeling some of her bravado fade, Ivory took a step back. And then Mr. Rivers lunged at her. Reacting just at the right moment, Ivory jumped out of the way, sending the large man into a wall. Before he could turn around, she grabbed him from behind and shoved him hard into the wall again with such force that she nearly went tumbling into him. He turned around, his hands clenched into fists. Acting on a rush of adrenaline, Ivory let out a shriek and sent her own fist flying into his face. He grabbed his eye and staggered back, and Ivory was all set to hit him again, when a shrill voice screamed, “Ivory!”

A hand came from behind and grabbed her fist; then suddenly, two security guards were restraining Mr. Rivers while someone pulled her roughly away. Turning around, Ivory came face to face with Elizabeth O’Brien, who was in charge of the ER. Her face was livid, her green eyes wide with disbelief.

“Ivory!” she cried angrily. “What the… I… argh, come with me, right now!” She grabbed Ivory’s wrist, and before Ivory could protest, dragged her into the lounge. “Susanna, get out,” Elizabeth growled to Susanna Larson, who was sitting at the table, drinking a soda and doing paperwork.

Susanna’s eyes widened in surprise, but she knew better than to question Elizabeth when she was angry and grabbed her things and left without a word.

“Ivory, what in the hell where you doing?!” Elizabeth screamed.

“Defending myself!” Ivory shouted back. “That guy was about to attack me!”

“Did you provoke him? What in the hell happened?” Elizabeth demanded, her nostrils flaring.

“He’s a god-damn child abuser, and he’s been hitting his daughter!” Ivory cried.

“So you report him to social services, and let them take care of it! What, did you think you were going to cure him of his ways by lecturing him about it or something?”

“No, I wanted him to know he’s not getting away with anything here, that I was on to him!”

“Well, that was a pretty dumb-ass thing to do! You can’t just go accusing someone of abusing his daughter; of course he’s going to get angry! And if he hits his daughter, he’s not going to have much of a problem hitting you, is he?” Ivory fell silent, not sure what to say to that. Elizabeth took the opportunity to continue with her rampage. “And besides, Ivory, you’re a doctor! You do not attack patients or their families, verbally or physically!”

“I’m sorry,” Ivory mumbled. “I was angry.”

“Well, that’s evident. But you can’t let yourself get out of control like this! You should have just reported it to social services and let it be.”

“I know, Elizabeth, you said that already,” Ivory muttered, rolling her eyes. She knew Elizabeth was right, but she couldn’t help but feel that the guy had deserved what he had gotten.

“I’m going to have to report this to Dr. Brunson, Ivory,” said Elizabeth. “She’s going to hear about it whether I report it or not.”

Ivory hung her head. She was afraid of that. Elizabeth was nothing compared to how angry Holli was going to be.

“Am I going to get in serious trouble for this?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” said Elizabeth, her tone softening slightly. “I’m sure you’ll get some kind of punishment, but I doubt you’ll get fired or anything that serious.” Ivory started to relax, but Elizabeth continued, “However, if you do something like this again, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be out a job.”

Ivory sighed and nodded. “It won’t happen again,” she said softly. “I promise.”

+++
Night Shift by RokofAges75
Episode 16:

Night Shift


Bianca Parker stood outside Memorial Hospital in the crisp December evening. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was 6:54; her shift started at 7. Taking in a deep breath of cold air, she turned and strode through the automatic doors hoping for a relatively calm night. This week was her week to work the night shift, and while she didn't really have a problem working nights, she preferred the day shifts because it normally seemed more interesting.

"Hey Joey," Bianca greeted as she walked past the Admit desk heading for the staff lounge.

"Hey Doc," he grinned widely from behind the desk.

Entering the staff lounge, she strode over to her locker and quickly traded her thick jacket for a white lab coat. As she was draping her stethoscope around her neck the door to the lounge opened and she turned to see med student Isabel Rivera. "Hey," Bianca greeted her with a smile.

"Hi," Isabel returned the smile.

"Well, well, tell me I'm not dreaming," a loud voice startled both the women. "Do I actually have the privilege of working with Dr. Bianca Parker tonight?"

Bianca groaned inwardly when she turned and saw JC Chasez standing in the doorway his arms spread wide. "Dr. Chasez," Bianca replied coolly.

"Now, Bianca, you know that colleagues should be on a first name basis," his voice carried an arrogant tone.

"If you'll excuse me, Dr. Chasez, I have to get to work now. My shift started five minutes ago," she curtly replied and marched past JC and into the ER.

+++

Brian Littrell looked at the clock and then across the table at his girlfriend, Ivory. “Well, Ives,” he said, “it’s getting to be that time.”

“Yeah…” Ivory said slowly, checking the clock herself. “You better go, or you’re gonna be late.”

“I know,” said Brian, scooting back his chair and standing up. “But it doesn’t really matter, I guess. I can afford to be late once in awhile. They’re more lenient about that stuff on the night shift anyway.” He retrieved his jacket from the stand in the corner and pulled it on.

“True,” said Ivory and smiled. “Guess that’s the one good thing about being suspended – no all-nighters in the ER.”

Brian made a face. “I still can’t believe Brunson suspended you for two weeks. All that for hitting some kid’s dad?”

“A dad who beat his little girl,” Ivory added.

“Exactly. If you ask me, the guy had it coming to him. You’re a doctor – you were just giving him a little taste of his own medicine,” Brian said with a grin.

Ivory giggled. “Good one. I would have tried telling Brunson that, but somehow I don’t think she would have laughed.”

“Nah, you know she’s lacking in that thing called a sense of humor,” Brian enunciated, rolling his eyes. “Oh well, you’ll be back on Monday, and this whole thing will have blown over.”

“Yeah, I’m not concerned. Being suspended wasn’t exactly a joy, but hey, it was kinda nice to get a little break.”

“That’s a good way of looking at it,” Brian replied with a smile. “Well, I really do gotta get going now. Thanks for dinner.”

“My pleasure,” Ivory smiled back. “See you tomorrow?”

“For sure. I’ll be sleeping in, but I’ll call ya when I get up, okay?”

Ivory nodded. “Sounds good. Have a good shift.”

“Thanks,” Brian said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “And you have a good night.”

+++

Across town, Justin Timberlake was saying goodbye to his own girlfriend, Britney. But he was not having a good night, and he was on his way to what he was sure would not be a good night shift. No night shift was good, in his opinion, and Britney couldn’t have agreed more.

“But I never get to spend time with you when you work the all-night shifts!” she protested. “If I work days, and you work nights, we never see each other!”

“Brit, I told you,” Justin said for the hundredth time through clenched teeth, “I have no control over when I work. When I’m a resident, I’ll have a little more control over my schedule, but I still have another year of med school and an internship to get through until then.”

“So what are you saying? Deal with it?” Britney spat. “Well what if I don’t wanna deal with it? Maybe I’ll just find a new guy who actually wants to spend time with me!”

“Brit, please!” pleaded Justin. “You know I want to spend time with you! I just can’t all the time…”

“Okay, then maybe I’ll find someone who can.”

Justin sighed loudly and turned away from her, closing his eyes briefly to calm himself down, keep him from saying something he would regret. After a moment, he looked back at her and said softly, “I love you, Brit.”

She didn’t say anything; she was pouting again. He shook his head, and, surrendering to her silent treatment, left without another word.

As Justin drove to Memorial, his mind was on anything but the road in front of him. He was worried about his relationship with Britney. He knew she wasn’t serious; she was just pouting. But she complained constantly and said things like this all the time lately, and it was beginning to make him nervous. What if someday she was serious? Would she leave him just because of his career choice?

“Maybe it’s not the right career choice for me,” he muttered, not even considering the possibility that maybe Britney wasn’t the right choice of girlfriends. Maybe he just wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. His ER rotation had not gone as well as he had hoped so far. In the three months he’d been there, he’d been reamed out right and left by more than one of his superiors, embarrassed in front of his colleagues, forced to do procedures on dead bodies, beat up by a patient and her boyfriend, and sexually harassed by the desk clerk. As far as his actual practice went, he knew his clinical skills needed improvement, his bedside manner could use work, and he’d already lost patients.

He had sailed right through the first two years of medical school, but this semester had taken the wind out of his sails and snatched his confidence with it. Maybe he was trying to get into the wrong profession. Maybe he was only kidding himself, trying to be some bigshot doctor.

The sign to Atlantic City Memorial Hospital loomed ahead of him, and his stomach clenched. Another night, another shift, another chance for all kinds of bad things to happen to him.

Please, he thought, please just let me get through this shift without taking an ice skate to the face…

+++

Howie Dorough silenced the shrill ring of his cell phone as he crept to a stop at a red light. "Hello?"

"Howie?" his longtime girlfriend, Rita Sumari asked sounding quite confused.

"Yeah babe?" he balanced the cell phone between his ear and shoulder as he accelerated through the light.

"Where are you? I thought we were having dinner tonight?"

"No… didn't you get my message today? Josh asked me to trade shifts with him."

"Oh…" Rita said sounding a little disappointed. Chuckling slightly she added, "I guess I need to check my messages more often, huh?"

"That would help," he teased gently.

"But," she tried to sound forceful, "You could make more of an effort to let me know these things."

"Okay, okay… you win," Howie relented with an exaggerated sigh. Wheeling his vehicle into the station parking lot and into a vacant space, he cut the engine and sat there for a minute. "Well, babe, I've gotta let you go. Duty calls."

"Okay, hun," she said sweetly.

"Sorry dinner was cancelled. Rain check?"

"Absolutely. Have a good night."

"I'll try," he smiled to himself. "I'll call you later if I get a free minute."

Ending the call, Howie climbed out of his car and headed inside. He nodded a greeting to everyone in the room and went to put his things away. As soon as he had put his stuff down, a call for his squad came over the radio. "I guess it's gonna be a wild night," Howie said to himself as he hopped into the ambulance.

+++

The slender, skillful fingers of neurosurgeon Risha Veers expertly fit a tiny silver key into the lock of her bottom desk drawer. Turning the key once, she gave the handle a pull, and the heavy metal drawer came rattling open. She slid off her stethoscope and folded it once, placing it carefully on top of the neat stack of papers that sat in the bottom of the drawer. Pulling her long, dark red hair out of its ponytail, she dropped her hairtie in with the stethoscope and closed the drawer. Running a hand through her hair, she took the key out of its lock and set it just behind a small, framed picture that sat on her desk, hiding it from view. She stopped to study the picture for a moment, her delicate facial features tightening as she frowned. She was sure it made a sharp contrast to the smile on the glowing face of one of the people in the photograph. The woman looked so happy that it was hard to believe she was an eleven-year-younger version of Risha herself.

But I was that happy back then, Risha thought, her eyes shifting to the face pressed up against her own, cheek-to-cheek. Her face had aged over a decade since this picture had been taken, but his never would. In her mind’s eye, he would always look the same as he did here, forever a young man, his looks immortal. She gazed, captivated, into his eyes, feeling as if he were staring right back at her, and felt her throat close up. His face began to blur as tears swam in her eyes, and she blinked, forcing herself to look away.

Don’t do this to yourself. Not now, not here.

It was probably a mistake to even have the picture sitting there, but she could not help herself. She had to remember; she couldn’t forget. She couldn’t let go.

But for now, she would have to. Refusing to let herself look back at the photograph, she stood up from her desk and pushed in her chair. Slowly, she crossed the small office to the wooden coat rack that stood in the corner and lifted her winter coat from its hook, swapping it with her white lab coat. She pulled on the long, gray, woolen coat, ready to brave the night’s December chill, fetched her purse from behind her desk, and walked out of her office, shutting off the light and closing the door behind her. Just as she was locking the door, she heard a deep, drawling voice say, “’Evening, Risha.”

Startled, she turned to find Kevin Richardson standing there, a smile gracing his handsome face. She returned the smile and replied, “Hello. Are you just coming on?”

“Yep, got stuck with the night shift tonight.”

“Shame,” said Risha. “Well, I hope your shift goes well then.”

“Thanks,” Kevin replied. “So are you taking off? Heading home?”

“Yes,” she said, hitching the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder.

He nodded. “I’ll let you go then. Have a good night.”

“You too,” smiled Risha, and they walked in opposite directions.

Risha had just reached the stairs when the door to the stairwell burst open, and Chris Kirkpatrick trotted out, nearly plowing her down.

“Risha!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “Just the lady I was looking for! I was hoping I hadn’t missed you.”

Inwardly, Risha groaned, but she pasted what she hoped was a pleasant smile on her face and replied, “Really? I’m just getting off… did you need a consult?”

“What? No. No, I knew you were getting off now; I was just hoping I would catch you before you left. I’m working a double shift tonight, but I’m taking my dinner break now, and I was hoping you’d join me.”

How convenient for you to take your break at 7:30, right when I get off, Risha thought, but of course she did not say that. Instead, she replied, “Sure,” afraid that any excuse she tried to come up with on the spot would sound lame. As much as she didn’t want to go out to dinner with him, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. So she reluctantly let him hook his arm through hers and escort her down the stairs to the ground level of the hospital.

+++

Risha sighed to herself and stared out the window to avoid the sight of Chris trying to shove a massive burrito oozing with beans, beef, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole into his mouth. Unfortunately, all she could see in the window was a reflection of everything in the fast food restaurant, and she caught the whole unappetizing sight anyway.

Who takes a woman out to Taco Bell for dinner? she wondered as she looked down at her small taco salad, which she’d only picked at while Chris shoveled his food in between bad jokes and lame attempts at conversation. She just wanted him to take her back to the hospital so she could get her car and go home.

“Yo quiero Taco Bell,” Chris randomly said in a bad Spanish accent. It was at least the fifth time he’d repeated that phrase in the last fifteen minutes, much to Risha’s chagrin. Taking a noisy slurp from his soda, he added, “You’re quiet tonight, Rish. Got something on your mind?” Before she could even answer that she was fine, he burst out laughing. “Hey, no pun intended there. Something on your mind… mind – brain – you’re a neurosurgeon… get it?”

She wasn’t sure the pun hadn’t been intended, and either way, it wasn’t funny. She stared at him, straight-faced, and said quietly, “The mind and the brain are not the same thing. The mind is believed to be a separate entity from the body.”

Chris gaped at her for a few seconds, open-mouthed, a little green bit of guacamole showing between his two front teeth, and then replied, “I-I… um, sorry. I was just making a joke. I… never mind.” He went back to his burrito, and Risha smiled discretely down into her salad, satisfied that she had shut him up for the time being.

After a few minutes, she asked, “Have you been up to see Lance Bass lately?” Surely that was a subject he could not crack jokes about.

“Yeah, I visited him earlier today,” Chris replied, solemn at last. “He was conscious, and he can blink his eyes and squeeze hands with his left hand, but he’s still paralyzed on the right side of his body, and he can’t talk, of course. Sometimes he moans though. It’s hard to tell if he’s trying to say something, or if it’s just a reaction to pain or discomfort or whatever.” He sighed. “He’s got a long road ahead of him, you know.”

“I know,” Risha said, “but at least he’s alive and out of the woods. Hopefully his recovery will be just as miraculous."

Chris nodded and held up his giant soda in a sort of toast. “Let’s hope,” he agreed and took another large gulp.

***

“You got skills, Doc, you know what I’m sayin’?” said Justin in reverence, darting forward to collect the rebound of the three-pointer Brian had just sunk – nothing but net.

“Hey, I do okay, for a short white guy,” Brian chuckled, guarding Justin carefully as he pivoted, dribbling the basketball in front of him.

“You play in high school?” Justin asked, attempting a fake to the right. No such luck – Brian was right on him.

“No,” replied Brian, trying to steal the ball. “Got cut from the team – too short. I played on a church league though.” He successfully batted the ball away from the med student and recovered it himself, dribbling it toward the rusty hoop that was mounted just outside the ER entrance, in the ambulance bay. He rose up on his toes and took a shot, pumping his fist in victory as it bounced once on the rim and then fell into the hoop.

“Good shot, Dr. Littrell,” muttered Justin, rebounding again.

“Thanks,” the pediatrician replied.

The two of them had only been on call for half an hour, but already, it seemed the night shift was going to be utterly dull that night. The ER was not busy, and there were no pediatric cases for Brian to tend to yet. Not that he was disappointed – a night in which no sick or injured children came in would be a good night for anyone. Unlikely though.

Just as that thought passed through Brian’s head, he heard sirens approaching, and a minute later, an ambulance pulled into the bay.

“Guess it’s game over,” Brian said to Justin, moving out of the way so the emergency vehicle could pull in.

“Yeah… you win,” grudgingly replied Justin. Standing side by side, they watched and waited as the ambulance slowed to a stop, and the doors in the back flew open.

Brian dropped the basketball and hurried over to meet his older brother Harry and fellow EMT Kylie McCartney, who had jumped out of the back of the rig and were now unloading a stretcher. “What do you guys got?” he asked.

“Pregnant female, approximate age 17-20. We found her in the bathrooms at the park; her water had broke. Couldn’t tell us how far along she is. I think she’s high on something – pupils are dilated, heart rate is fast – 110, and BP is high too - 140/90.”

“I’m not high,” murmured the young woman on the stretcher.

Brian looked down at her as they wheeled her through the emergency doors. She would have been a pretty girl – brown hair streaked with blonde, blue eyes, full lips, nice complexion – but her face looked haggard, her eyes bloodshot. Her ears were pierced all the way up and down, and they were bright red, either from infection from the piercings or the cold.

“Can you tell us your name?” Brian asked, guiding the gurney toward one of the exam rooms.

The girl hesitated, then answered, “Ashlynn.”

“I’m Dr. Littrell, Ashlynn. I’m going to take good care of you,” Brian promised. “Let’s move her to the bed on the count of 1, 2, 3.” With the help of Justin and the two paramedics, they transferred Ashlynn from the stretcher to the bed in the center of the room.

“Thanks, guys,” Brian said to Harry and Kylie as they left, ready to go out on another run. Once they were gone, nurse Addie Burke popped her head through the doorway.

“Need any help in here?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” answered Brian. “We have a pregnant woman here, her name is Ashlynn, her water’s already broken. Don’t know her age or how far along her pregnancy is yet. Let’s get her in a gown first. Justin, will you step outside please?”

The medical student blinked in surprise and then obediently backed out of the room, while Brian and Addie set to work helping Ashlynn remove her clothes, a pair of baggy black pants and an oversized t-shirt with the emblem of a music group Brian had never heard of – he assumed it was some punk rock band or something similar. Beneath the t-shirt, the young woman’s body was thin and bony, except for her rounded stomach.

“I’d guess she’s about eight months,” Addie said quietly to Brian, as they sat Ashlynn up and helped her into a loose-fitting hospital gown.

Brian nodded. “That looks about right to me. Would you go get an ultrasound and a fetal monitor? And tell Justin to come back in as well – he can start the IV while I examine her.”

Addie nodded and left the room. Justin came back in. “You need an IV, Dr. Littrell?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes,” replied Brian, “if you’re comfortable.” He gave Justin a meaningful look, but Justin nodded quickly.

“I can do it,” he said, “I’ve been practicing.”

Brian nodded and let Justin set to work while he guided Ashlynn’s feet into the stirrups at the edge of the bed. “Ashlynn, I need you to put your knees up and spread your legs apart so I can examine you,” he instructed his patient. “Good. Mr. Timberlake, how’s it coming?”

“Um… fine,” replied the student, though his voice was missing the confidence it had held a minute earlier. “Just looking for a good vein…”

“Hey, does he even know what he’s doing?” Ashlynn demanded.

Brian rose from his stool to look up over her knees. “Mr. Timberlake is one of our finest medical students,” he assured her, hoping Justin was not going to mess this up.

“Got the equipment,” a voice announced. Brian turned to see Addie wheeling an ultrasound machine and a fetal heart monitor into the room.

“Great,” Brian said with relief. “Get those set up and then help Mr. Timberlake if he needs it. I’m going to go get another nurse in here to help. She’s only six centimeters dilated so far, so we have some breathing room.”

Addie nodded, and Brian hurried out of the room. The first nurse he ran into was Natalie Spade, so he brought her back with him. “Natalie, I need you to take a quick history and then order a CBC, lytes, chem panel, urine dip, and a tox screen.”

“Sure,” replied Natalie, scribbling down the orders on a fresh chart, and coming up to the head of the bed. “Can I get your full name and age please, honey?” she asked the patient.

“Ashlynn Bryarson,” mumbled the young woman. “I’m nineteen.”

Nineteen and pregnant, Brian thought sadly, shaking his head as he looked upon the girl, who was glaring belligerently at Justin as he bumbled with the IV, the tip of his tongue sticking between his teeth in concentration.

“Shoot, I missed the vein again,” the med student sighed. “Lemme try again.”

“No!” snapped Ashlynn, roughly pulling her arm away. “I want someone who fucking knows what they’re doing!”

“Addie,” Brian said quietly, “will you start the IV?”

“I can do it!” Justin insisted, but Addie abandoned the ultrasound and came around to the other side of the bed. Moving Justin aside, she sat down and expertly threaded the IV into a vein in the crook of Ashlynn’s arm.

Meanwhile, Brian took over running the ultrasound. He was concerned about Ashlynn’s baby – now that her water had broken, there was nothing they could do to stop her labor. The baby would be approximately five weeks premature. Studying the screen of the ultrasound carefully, he watched the black and white shapes, trying to make out the baby and estimate its size. He waited for movement on the screen, which would help him to identify the baby’s position. But all was still.

Frowning, he moved the transducer lower on Ashlynn’s abdomen and tried again. Still, there was no sign of motion on the screen.

“Addie?” he asked quietly. Addie, who had been charting Ashlynn’s vital signs, looked up from her clipboard. “I’m, uh… I think I’m having trouble finding the baby. Can you try?”

“Sure,” Addie replied with a smile, taking the transducer from him and moving it around, staring intently at the screen. “I think that’s it right there,” she said, pointing out a shape Brian had noticed earlier. “But I don’t…” She lowered her voice and leaned closer to Brian to finish her sentence. “I don’t see any movement.”

Brian bit his lip, fearing the worst. “Let’s, uh… let’s get her on the fetal monitor. See if we can get anything from that.”

“I’m going to go order her tests now,” spoke up Natalie, walking past Brian. “Do you want me to page OB?”

“Yes,” Brian answered quickly. “Yes, get one of the OB residents down here.”

Natalie nodded and left the room. Meanwhile, Justin came up behind Addie. “Is there a problem?” he asked, staring over her shoulder at the ultrasound monitor.

“What?” cried Ashlynn, struggling to sit up. “What’s the problem?”

Brian caught the dagger eyes Addie shot Justin as she pushed past him to get a hold of Ashlynn and ease her back down. “We need you to lie back and hold still, Ashlynn,” she said. “We’re trying to examine your baby right now.”

She looked back at Brian, who met her with grave eyes. The fetal monitor he’d strapped to Ashlynn’s belly wasn’t registering the baby’s heartbeat. One look at Addie, and he could tell she knew. The look on her face said it all.

“Ashlynn,” Brian said gently. “When the last time you felt the baby move around or kick?”

The teenager’s forehead creased as she thought. Finally, she shook her head, looking frustrated. “I dunno,” she spat, “I don’t keep track. Why, what’s wrong?”

Brian and Addie exchanged glances. Brian came around to one side of Ashlynn’s bed and took her hand. “The ultrasound did not pick up any movement from the baby,” he said. “The fetal heart monitor could not find a heartbeat.” He took a deep breath, dreading the next words that were going to leave his mouth, yet knowing he had to say them. “I’m very sorry, Ashlynn,” he continued softly, “but it looks like your baby has died.”

The young woman’s mouth fell open slightly, and she looked down, taking a few deep breaths. When she looked back up, Brian was surprised to see that her bloodshot eyes were dry. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?” she muttered flatly.

Brian pursed his lips, wondering how he was supposed to handle this. While he hesitated, Addie spoke. “Have you been taking drugs during your pregnancy, Ashlynn?” she asked quietly. Her tone was not accusatory, but knowing. She knew as well as Brian that this young mother-to-be had been brought into the ER high on something, probably crack or crystal meth, based on her symptoms, and that that was probably what had killed her baby.

Ashlynn stayed silent, refusing to answer. Putting his hand on one of her slumped shoulders, Brian tried a different approach. “There are a lot of reasons that babies come out stillborns,” he said gently. “We won’t know for sure what caused it until the baby has been delivered and examined. It could be that the baby had a disorder that caused it to die in the womb, or that its umbilical cord got wrapped around its neck. Or a whole host of other possibilities. We’ll know more once we run some tests and deliver the baby.”

Ashlynn’s eyes narrowed. “I still have to deliver it?” she asked incredulously, her voice rising. “Why?? Can’t you just cut it out of me?!”

“It’s much more advisable to go through labor and delivery,” said Addie. “A c-section usually isn’t recommended in a situation like this.”

“But… but I don’t want to go through labor!” Ashlynn cried, growing hysterical. “I just want it out! Get it out of me!! I WANT IT OUT!”

+++

Isabel Rivera paced back and forth behind the admit desk heaving a sigh. She hadn't expected to be overwhelmed with patients during a night shift, but she hadn't expected to be completely without a thing to do. All of this downtime was causing her to grow restless.

"Are you okay?" Joey Fatone asked with a quizzical look.

"I just thought there would be more to do. I'm not used to having absolutely nothing to keep me occupied at work."

"Learn to love it," he smiled and looked down at the sports section of the local newspaper. "Night shifts are better when things aren't crazy."

That's just because you're lazy, Isabel thought with a smirk as she leaned against the counter. Sliding her hand into the pocket of her lab coat, she felt something there she hadn't noticed before. Pulling out a small, folded piece of paper, she tried not to act surprised. She really didn't want Joey being nosey. Carefully, she opened the paper as quietly as possibly glancing up to make sure he was still engrossed in yesterday's sports news.

As soon as she caught sight of the sloppy words scrawled across the paper, a smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth. Now, when did he get this into my pocket without me knowing?

Isabel's smile grew wider with every word on the page.

Iz,
Just wanted to say that I hope you have a good shift and I'll see you later. You… me… break time. Remember that.
Nick

Reading over it once more, Isabel folded the paper and slipped it back into her pocket. She and Nick had only been dating for a couple of weeks, but she knew already what a great guy he was. Might have to talk to him about the nickname, she thought amusedly.

"What are you smiling about?" Joey's voice broke through her thoughts just as the doors to the ER burst open.

"Can't talk, gotta work," she grinned in his direction as Dr. Chasez called her over to assist with the patient.

"What do we have?" JC asked Howie Dorough and AJ McLean as they wheeled in a teenage girl.

"17 year old rape victim. BP and heart rate are both normal. Her sister found her and called 911," Howie answered quickly.

"Can you tell me your name sweetheart?" JC questioned the frightened looking girl once she was inside the exam room.

"Manda… Pouliot," her voice was soft. Biting her bottom lip, she asked in a quivering voice, "You-you're not my doctor are you?""

JC looked almost taken aback. "Yes, sweetheart, I am. Is that okay?"

She shook her head no. "I don't feel comfortable with a male doctor; isn't there a woman that can help me?"

Sucking in a deep breath, JC gave a short nod and left the exam room, bumping into Bianca on his way out. "Oh, great, here ya go," he said and placed the chart that had been started into Bianca's hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked, completely caught off guard.

"That's your new patient," he answered without stopping.

Bianca just stared after him for a second, still shocked by his abruptness. "What a dick."

+++

“Lab results are back on the patient in Exam 1, the pregnant girl,” said Natalie, handing Brian a packet of papers.

“What did the tox screen show?” he asked, glancing over the results of the tests he’d ordered for Ashlynn.

“Positive for cocaine metabolites,” she replied grimly.

Brian sighed and raked a hand through his curly hair. “I knew it. Nineteen-year-old girl, pregnant and smoking crack or snorting coke or whatever she was doing to get her fix. What is wrong with the world? Where are her parents; how could they let their daughter do this?”

Natalie shook her head. “Who knows. Maybe they don’t know what she’s doing to herself.”

“Not just to herself,” a voice added from behind. Brian turned to see Addie standing there, her features contorted with disgust. “To her unborn child too. She killed her baby.”

Brian knew she was probably right, but he smiled crookedly and said, “We can’t jump to conclusions yet. It could have been something else entirely.”

“Right,” Addie snorted. “And now what? Are we supposed to go back in there and comfort her? Because I don’t know if I can do that.”

“She’ll be taken up to maternity soon to deliver,” said Brian. “They’ll take care of the bulk of that. But we do need to be there for her while she’s down here. If you’re not comfortable-“

“No,” Addie interrupted, “it’s fine. I can handle it. I’d better go back in there now to check on her; her contractions are starting to come closer together.” She paused. “You do realize this baby must have died about two weeks ago, if she’s going into labor on her own at only eight months.” Brian gave a short nod of confirmation – he had thought of that already. Most mothers of stillborns found out not long after their babies died in the womb, after they realized the baby had not moved in awhile, and labor was often induced to deliver the baby. But if not induced, labor would occur naturally approximately two weeks after the death.

Addie scowled. “How could she not even know? H-how could she not feel it?”

Brian shook his head. “She’s just a kid… probably got pregnant by accident. And if she was doing drugs during her pregnancy, maybe she just didn’t care enough to notice it.”

“Damn right. She just didn’t care. And yet we’re supposed to care for her?”

“Addie,” Brian said quietly, giving her a meaningful look.

She sighed and looked away. “Sorry,” she whispered. “We’re supposed to care through every patient that comes through these doors, I know. It’s just hard sometimes.”

“I know it is,” Brian nodded. “I know. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Yes,” Addie said confidently. “I’m going in there now.”

“I’ll come with you,” Brian offered.

Together, they went back to the exam room, where Ashlynn lay curled up in the fetal position, her knees drawn up to her swollen belly. She did not even raise her head to look at them when they came in.

“How are you feeling, Ashlynn?” Brian asked, sitting down on one side of the bed, facing her.

“Like shit,” she moaned.

Brian took a deep breath. “We got your test results back,” he said. “We tested a sample of your urine, and it came back positive for cocaine. I’m sure that’s not a surprise to you.”

Ashlynn was silent, burying her face in her pillow.

Brian watched her for a moment, going between feelings of anger, at a woman who had poisoned her unborn child with illegal drugs, and feeling of sympathy, for a girl who had made a mistake and was now facing its consequences, the painful labor and delivery of a dead baby. He hesitated, then put a hand on her shoulder. “Someone will take you upstairs to maternity sometime in the next half hour,” he said. “It will all be over soon.”

He gave her shoulder a squeeze and stood up, looking at Addie. “Can you stay with her?”

“Sure,” said Addie and took his seat. Brian flashed her a quick smile of gratitude and walked out of the room, expelling a huge sigh as soon as he was out of hearing range.

Addie’s right, he thought. It’s definitely hard sometimes.

+++

"Hi, Manda, I'm Dr. Parker, I'll be taking over for Dr. Chasez," Bianca smiled politely as she sat down on a stool beside the bed. Glancing up at her from the chart, she saw that her young face held a slightly panicked expression. "Let's just get the basics out of the way, okay?"

Manda only nodded slightly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Bianca asked and waited patiently for a response.

After a silent moment, Manda shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing. My sister just overreacts sometimes. I was bleeding a little after… you know… and she walked into the bathroom while I was in there. She just automatically jumped to conclusions, that's all."

Looking down at the chart, Bianca tried not to let Manda see her grim expression. "I know you must be scared right now, Manda, but I can assure you that you're safe here and you have nothing to worry about by telling me the truth. You don't have to lie for anyone."

"I'm not lying," she answered defensively. "Tom and I used to date and he just gets a little rough sometimes."

"Does he force you to have sex with him?" Bianca's voice was soothing as she tried to gently get the truth from her young patient. The look in Manda's scared green eyes said it all, but that wasn't enough; she had to tell her. "I can't make you tell me anything you don't want to, and I can't force you to talk to the police, but this is serious. If you say 'no' even once and he still forces you to go through with it, that is still considered rape."

"Tom's not like that… he loves me," her voice broke as she spoke.

Placing an assuring hand atop of Manda's, Bianca spoke quietly, "I know you think he loves you, but if he's doing these things to you without your permission, it's wrong. And he has no right to make you do anything you don't want to. "

Finally, Manda looked up letting her tear filled eyes meet Bianca's. Without a word, she nodded.

Lips pursed, Bianca nodded also. "The first thing I need to do is a rape kit, do you know what that is?" When Manda nodded, Bianca continued, "Then I'd like to do some blood tests. I think you should be tested for various STDs. And have you been sexually active with Tom or anyone else in the last three to six months?"

"Only Tom… why?"

"Because, I think it would be a good idea to be tested for HIV," Bianca said honestly, and watched as Manda's face paled. "I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it's necessary."

Manda only nodded slightly, her face still pale.

Patting her hand again, Bianca stood up and headed toward the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes to start the rape kit."

+++

"Isabel," Bianca stopped in front of the admit desk to sign off on a chart to discharge a patient, "I've got a patient who needs a rape kit. Would you mind helping me out in a few minutes?"

"Sure, Dr. Parker," Isabel nodded.

"Great, thanks," Bianca smiled and continued on her way.

Things seemed to have died down for a few minutes again and Isabel was once again standing at the admit desk, watching everyone who walked past. Fiddling with the note still folded in her pocket, she smiled again thinking about its contents. Checking her watch, she saw that she still had a few hours before she got a break (if things didn't get too crazy). For once, she found herself giddy and almost impatient; she couldn't wait for break time.

"You know, if you keep smiling like that, someone will think you're up to something," Joey commented casually.

"Well, I guess you'll have to think I'm up to something," Isabel only shrugged. Thankfully, Dr. Parker was ready for her to help with the patient in Exam 4.

+++

"Thank you, Isabel," Bianca said quietly as she placed the "evidence" seals on the rape kit box.

Isabel nodded. "Do you need me to stay?"

"No, if you would, please give this to Officer Brooks and let him know that he can speak with Manda in a little while. He should be right outside."

"Okay," Isabel nodded and took the box Bianca was handing her.

Turning back to Manda, Bianca took a seat on the stool beside the bed. "I know none of this is easy for you, but there is an officer outside… Officer Brooks… and he needs to speak with you, okay?" Manda nodded silently and Bianca continued talking quietly, "Your blood tests won't all come in at the same time so I would suggest you wait until they all come back in. I would say about one to two weeks. I'll put a note in your chart that you're to come back here and I'll personally sit down with you and go over the results. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes," Manda's voice was barely audible.

"Okay, I'll be back after Officer Brooks speaks with you and then you'll be able to go," she offered a supportive smile and turned to leave the exam room.

"Dr. Parker?" Manda called suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," her voice quivered slightly and a tear slipped down her cheek.

Bianca smiled sadly and shook her head. "You don't have to thank me, sweetie."

+++

Isabel looked at the clock for the third time in two minutes. She only had fifteen minutes until her break and she could hardly wait. Glancing towards the doors leading into the ER she half expected to see Nick, but there was no sign of him. She had almost called him three times to keep him from coming because she knew that he was working a twelve hour shift the next day and he really shouldn't be wasting valuable sleeping time to come on break with her. Then again, how could she resist when he was giving up the time to be there with her? She grinned. This was something she was fairly new. With a father and sister both in the medical field pressuring her to follow in their footsteps, she never really had time to go out or date, and since she and Nick started dating, everything seemed a little different. In a good way, of course. She couldn't help but feel giddy just by thinking of him. God, she had missed out on so much.

She smiled and checked the clock again, but this time she was pleased to see that ten minutes had already passed by. Five more minutes! she thought giddily.

"Are you still sitting up here grinning like a fool?" Joey laughed as he took his seat behind the desk.

"Can't someone just be happy?" Isabel gave him a pointed glance.

"Sure they can!" he replied exuberantly. "But you look like you just won the lottery or something."

Slipping from the counter, Isabel only smiled widely and shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe I did."

Stepping out into the cold night air, she wrapped her coat tightly around her small frame and tried not to shiver. Starting for her car, Isabel's wide smile grew even wider when she spotted Nick waiting for her.

"Hey," he greeted her with a soft kiss. "How's your shift going?"

"It's good, but my night just got a whole lot better," she leaned in for another kiss. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd changed your mind."

"Nah…just thought that I'd better stay out here. Knowing the way things work, if they saw me in there on my night off, they'd put me to work and still make me work my shift tomorrow," he said jokingly and opened his car door for her. Hurrying around to the driver's side, he jumped in and cranked the heat. "So, any particular place you want to go? I hear they have a great special at Mc Donald's."

Isabel laughed. McDonald's was just about the only place still open this time of night. "That sounds great," she said as Nick made a left turn out of the hospital parking lot. She stared out the window as Nick drove down the deserted streets of Atlantic City. When she felt his hand cover hers, she couldn't help but start smiling again. Yes, she had missed out on so much!

+++

Elizabeth O’Brien picked up the phone in the lounge and quickly punched a few buttons. Two rings later, a brisk voice answered, “Surgery.”

“This is Dr. O’Brien calling from the ER. I was just wondering if Dr. Richardson was out of surgery yet,” Elizabeth spoke into the phone.

“Yes, he just finished. Do you need him down for a consult?”

“No, I’ll come up. Thank you.” Elizabeth hung up the phone and walked over to the counter, where the coffee maker was set up. She filled two styrofoam cups and secured lids over the steaming black liquid.

“No cream or sugar in that, Dr. B?” a voice behind her asked. Elizabeth turned to find Justin staring up at her from the couch. She hadn’t even noticed him there; he was lying down, his lanky body stretched across the length of the couch, his ankles crossed leisurely.

“I drink it black,” she replied flatly, frowning at the med student’s lazy pose. “And it would be Dr. O, not Dr. B… but I prefer Dr. O’Brien, please.”

“Oh, right… O’Brien… sorry, Dr. O… Dr. O’Brien,” Justin stumbled awkwardly. “My bad.” He offered her a sheepish smile.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she carried her coffee out of the lounge. I better never hear him saying that to a patient, she thought, as she headed for the stairs, scoffing. ‘My bad’… ugh.

+++

“… and I don’t know if you noticed or not, but that guy’s nostrils… they were freaking huge!” Hayley Aldworth enunciated under her breath, her widened green eyes flashing.

Kevin smirked. “And why would I notice that? I was a little preoccupied with repairing the hernia in his belly.”

“Well, take it from me, they were huge. I couldn’t help but notice when I was getting him prepped… I mean, jeez, you could fit a whole kindergarten class in one of those things! They were bigger than Brian’s!”

“Very professional, Hay,” Kevin said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly at her. “And how come you always give my cousin a hard time?”

Hayley shrugged. “Cause he has big nostrils?”

Kevin shook his head. “You’re hopeless. And way too picky.”

“I’m not picky! I never said there was anything wrong with big nostrils; I was just making an observation,” Hayley stated innocently. “Besides, maybe I find cavernous nostrils sexy.”

“Cavernous,” Kevin snorted. “You’re a riot, Hay. I’m gonna tell Brian you said that too.”

“What, cavernous nostrils?”

“No, that you find them sexy,” he replied with a grin.

She snickered. “Don’t you dare… Ivory would punch my face in, like she did to that poor kid’s dad.”

“Eh, you could take her.”

“Damn right I could,” said Hayley, ripping off her surgical cap and shaking out her short red hair. “I’d kick her ass.”

Kevin laughed again. “So I guess I better not tell Liz that you find my eyebrows sexy too?”

“Those things?” Hayley asked skeptically, lifting her own eyebrows as her eyes shot up to his. “They’re like caterpillars!”

“Sexy caterpillars though… right?” Kevin joked, wiggling them suggestively.

Hayley snorted and patted him twice on the arm, hard. “In your dreams, pal,” she said sardonically, and winked.

+++

Elizabeth approached the nurses station on the surgical floor, prepared to ask if anyone had seen her boyfriend. But even before she could attract the attention of Mandie Smith, who was bent over some paperwork, writing furiously, she heard his voice. She passed the nurses station and continued in the direction of the familiar sound. Rounding the corner, she found him.

Kevin was standing halfway down the hall with Hayley Aldworth, who said something to him before pulling off her surgical cap and tossing her head, sending her hair flopping in all directions. Elizabeth frowned and tightened her grip on the coffee cup in each hand, fighting the compulsion to smooth down her own mane of frizzy brown hair, which she’d pulled back into a short ponytail at the nape of her neck. She watched as Kevin, oblivious to her presence, started laughing at whatever Hayley had said. Must have been a good one, she thought. She never saw him laugh that way, unless he was watching South Park, a guilty pleasure of his which she despised.

Her frown grew as Hayley reached out and patted Kevin on the arm, then said something and winked. Shaking her head, Elizabeth started towards them, walking briskly so that the short heels of her shoes clacked against the tiled floor, making her presence known.

“Hey, speaking of Liz,” Hayley said as she approached, shooting Elizabeth a smile. “Hey. How’s it going?”

“Hi,” Elizabeth greeted Hayley coolly, barely looking at her before shifting her eyes to Kevin, who gave her a baffled smile.

“Hi… what’s up?” he asked uncertainly. “You look pissed.”

“Do I?” Elizabeth’s reply was curt. She didn’t break her stare, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hayley looking between her and Kevin.

“Well, Kev, I’m gonna go grab something from the vending machines. Want anything?”

“No thanks, Hay, I’m good,” replied Kevin and cocked his head at Elizabeth as Hayley walked away. “Liz? What’s wrong?”

“I brought you coffee,” said Elizabeth, thrusting one of the cups forward for him to take.

He accepted it warily. “I appreciate it, thanks.” He lifted the warm cup to his lips and then paused. “It’s not poisoned, is it?” he asked.

Elizabeth was momentarily confused. “What do you mean, poisoned?”

“I mean, the way you’re looking at me right now, it’s a reasonable suspicion,” Kevin defended, his eyebrows furrowing. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

“I think you know,” Elizabeth said flatly. “Or maybe you didn’t realize I stood here and watched you flirt with Hayley for at least two minutes before you even noticed me.”

“What? Flirt with Hayley??” Kevin repeated, incredulous. “For Christ’s sake, Elizabeth, we were just talking. Talking… like normal people do; like friends do. Why are you so determined to make something out of nothing?”

“It sure didn’t look like ‘nothing,’ Kevin. I saw the way you were looking at her and the way she touched you; I was only a few feet away.”

Kevin shook his head in exasperation. “I am not going to stand here and discuss this with you. You’re crazy if that’s what you honestly think.”

“Oh, sure, insult me. That’ll make the situation so much better.”

“What situation? There is no situation, Liz; you’re just blowing everything out of proportion. Hayley and I had just gotten out of the OR; we were discussing our patient; that’s all.” Elizabeth remained silent, staring at him with eyes as hard as she could make them, eyes that could penetrate into his very soul and make him at least feel guilty. Whether it was working or not, she did not know, for after a moment of silence, he said, “Fine. I’m taking my break now while I can get one. Go back to work, Liz.”

He blew past her, striding off in the direction Hayley had gone. Elizabeth was left standing alone in the hall, her coffee beginning to cool in the cup she still clutched in her hand. Swallowing hard, she turned and stalked back towards the stairs, dumping her full coffee cup in the trash on her way.

+++

Bianca came out of the staff lounge and looked around the emergency room. There had been a few times during the night that had been quite active, but now was definitely not one of those times. There were only a few patients in the waiting room waiting to be called back and there were fewer people actually waiting to be examined by a doctor. Walking up to the desk she saw most of the female nurses were standing around talking. She stopped beside Addie Burke and looked at the group of grinning women. "Anything interesting going on that I should know about?" she laughed.

"Not really," one of the other nurses said as she casually handed a chart to Bianca. "I think this patient has been here for a while."

"Okay," Bianca took the chart without masking her suspicious expression. Shrugging it off, she headed for exam two glancing over the chart as she entered the room. "Hi, Mr. Bainbridge, I'm Dr. Parker."

"Please, call me Aaron," he said politely.

"Aaron," she smiled but kept her eyes on the chart in her hands. Finally she looked up and knew why the nurses had all been grouped outside talking. This man was gorgeous. He had curly dark brown hair and dark eyes and was nicely tanned. He looked like he stepped right out of an Abercrombie ad except for the fact that he was propped up on a hospital bed. Regaining her professional attitude, Bianca began speaking again, "I see you were injured earlier tonight in a lacrosse match."

"Yeah," he smiled sheepishly. "I, uh, don't really remember what happened. All I know is one minute I was in the game and the next thing I knew I woke up on the sidelines and the whole team was standing around me."

Bianca nodded and made a note on the chart. "Have you been experiencing any dizziness, fatigue, headache, nausea or vomiting?"

"I wasn't at first, but I did start feeling a little dizzy after I got back home. I also have a headache now, but nothing else."

"It sounds like you might have a concussion, Aaron," she said stepping beside the bed. She motioned for him to sit forward and then began checking his heart and breath sounds. After the standard procedure, she stepped back making another note on the chart. "I'd like for you to have a CT Scan just to be sure, but I'm fairly positive it's a concussion. I'll be back in a just a few minutes."

"Take your time," he said sweetly.

Stepping out of the room Bianca couldn't help but laugh when she saw the group of women had still not broken up. She joined them once again and they all seemed to be waiting to hear what she had to say. "You girls might need a bucket after a while… I'm starting to see some drool."

"Oh, come on Bianca," Addie started, "you know he's gorgeous."

"Gorgeous is an understatement," Natalie Spade interrupted. "He's only built like a Greek god and the best part is that he doesn't seem to know it!"

"I wonder if he's single," someone mentioned casually.

Bianca only laughed in reply because she wasn't about to admit aloud that she had noticed all of those features as well as the fact that he didn't seem to be wearing a ring on that special finger. Hey, a girl couldn't help but appreciate the male form sometimes. Besides, it's not like they were lucky enough to have someone that good looking come in every day. "Okay, girls, I think it's time we end our break and get back to work."

They all groaned good naturedly and everyone except Addie began to disperse.

Bianca looked at Addie and laughed as she leaned against the counter.

"Now if every night shift had someone like him, I'd happily work it all the time. And it's times like these that I really envy you."

Bianca laughed aloud this time, "And why is that?"

"I don't think I have to explain," she offered a devilish grin.

"What would our loyal men think, Addie?"

"Hey, it's okay to window shop. As long as we don't sample the product all is well."

"Good point," Bianca nodded and they both laughed.

+++

Whistling “Ice, Ice Baby” to himself, Justin Timberlake strolled up the hall, a patient chart in one of his swinging hands. Ahead of him, he noticed Dr. Parker and Addie Burke leaning against a wall, giggling together like a couple of teenage girls. “What’s so funny?” he asked, smirking in amusement as he stopped before them.

The two women stopped laughing instantly and looked at him as if he were some kind of household pest. Wondering why doctors and nurses seemed to hate med students so much, Justin muttered “Sorry” and passed them quickly. He dropped his chart into a bin at the admit desk just as the Emergency Room doors banged open. Looking up, Justin saw three EMTs barreling towards him with a gurney. Before he even had time to react, he heard his name barked out by Dr. O’Brien, who motioned for him to follow as she jogged past him to meet the paramedics.

“Woman in her late twenties, early thirties, shot in the upper left quadrant during a carjacking,” said Kylie McCartney and fired off the patient’s vitals as she helped guide the gurney down the hallway.

“Let’s take her to Trauma 1,” Dr. O’Brien directed promptly.

Inside the trauma room, they transferred the woman onto the table, and the paramedics were replaced by nurses, who immediately started hooking her up to monitors, reading off vitals, threading IVs… each person had his or her own task, and it never failed to impress Justin how quickly and efficiently they all did what needed to be done. He watched them work for a moment before turning his attention to the patient in front of him.

The woman was still conscious, though her skin was pale and clammy, her breathing erratic. Her bright red hair, damp with perspiration, was matted to her sweaty forehead. “She’s diaphoretic,” he observed out loud and snatched his penlight from his lab coat pocket. “Ma’am, can you follow this light with your eyes, please?” he asked, leaning over her. He shined the penlight into her green eyes and watched them carefully as he moved the light from side to side. “Pupils equal and reactive.”

“Thank you, Justin. Why don’t you move down here and take a look at her injury,” said Dr. O’Brien, trading places with Justin as she moved to the head of the table. “Ma’am, I’m Dr. O’Brien. Can you tell me your name?”

“My last name’s… O’Brian… too,” the woman panted, clearly in pain. “Willow… Willow O’Brian. S-someone attacked me… stole my car... i-it was brand new… I s-saved forever for it. I-I didn’t want to… let him take it... so he… he shot me.”

“We’re going to take good care of you, Ms. O’Brian,” said Dr. O’Brien, patting Willow’s shoulder. “Mr. Timberlake, what can you tell us?”

“Uh… looks like there’s an entrance wound in the left upper quadrant,” Justin said, staring at the bloody bullet hole in the woman’s stomach. “We should roll her to check for an exit wound.”

They did and saw that her back was unmarred. “The bullet must still be inside. Mr. Timberlake, what next?”

“Surgical consult. And in the meantime, an ultrasound?”

Dr. O’Brien nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Call surgery, and Natalie, would you get the ultrasound set up?” As Justin hurried to the phone and dialed the extension for surgery, Dr. O’Brien turned back to Willow. “Is there anyone you’d like us to call, Ms. O’Brian?” she asked.

“My sister… Myrtle. 555… 8733. And you can… call me… Willow.”

“We’ll call your sister right away, Willow. Addie, would you take care of that?”

“Sure,” replied Addie Burke and ducked out of the room. She was met in the hall by Kylie, who stood with Harry and Allison while they sipped coffee.

“How’s she doing?” Kylie asked, nodding towards the trauma room.

“They’re still assessing the injury and trying to get her stabilized,” replied Addie. “I need to call her sister; I’ll be right back.” She went to the desk and dialed the number Willow had given her. She left a brief message on Myrtle O’Brian’s voicemail and hung up, stopping to talk to Kylie on her way back in to the trauma.

“How is the pregnant girl we brought in earlier?” asked Kylie. “Do you know if she’s delivered yet?”

Addie sighed. “I haven’t heard if she’s delivered or not, but… it’s a stillborn.”

Kylie’s shoulders slumped, a saddened look dulling her features. “How horrible…” Addie noticed her hand move to her stomach. At only three months, Kylie hadn’t begun to show yet, but it was hard to forget she was pregnant. Addie knew how excited her best friend was about the pregnancy; Kylie talked about it all the time. She was going to be such a great mother… not at all like Ashlynn Bryarson upstairs.

Don’t judge, Addie warned herself internally, remembering her conversation with Brian earlier. “She tested positive for cocaine… I’m sure that’s what caused it,” Addie told Kylie.

Kylie shook her head. “I don’t understand how women can do that to their unborn children… it’s terrible.”

“I know,” Addie nodded solemnly. “Well, I need to get back into the trauma… I’ll catch you later, Ky.”

“Alright. Bye, Addie.”

Giving a wave to Allison and Harry as they downed the rest of their coffee and got ready to head out again, Addie went back into Trauma 1. “Willow, I left a message for Myrtle; she should be coming as soon as she gets it…”

+++

"Good news," Bianca entered the exam room with a smile, "everything looks good on your scan, Aaron. I'm still concerned by the fact that you lost consciousness because that indicates a more serious concussion, but everything appears normal. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I feel fine," he nodded and returned her smile.

Bianca nodded and made a note on his chart. "I really don't see the point in admitting you over night, but if your symptoms return, you should come back immediately. I would suggest getting some Tylenol in case you need a pain reliever. You may also want to schedule a follow up with your primary physician some time next week just to be on the safe side."

"Sure thing."

"And I also think you should take it easy for a couple of weeks. I don't think it would be a good idea to jump right back into sports; I think two weeks will be sufficient."

He sighed forlornly. "I was afraid you would say that."

Bianca smiled sympathetically and slipped her hands into the pockets on her lab coat. "I know how men and sports work, but if you go right back to playing, you are putting yourself at risk for serious injury. Something more serious than what you experienced tonight."

"I understand," he offered a megawatt smile.

"Good. You're all done here, Aaron. I'll send in a nurse with your discharge papers shortly."

+++

"Melissa, could you please take these discharge papers to Mr. Bainbridge? He's all set to go."

"Absolutely," Melissa Ruffino said with a grin and headed toward the exam room. She tapped lightly on the door out of habit before entering, "Mr. Bainbridge?"

"Please, call me Aaron," he answered as he slid from the edge of the hospital bed. "I guess this means that I'm finally free?"

Melissa laughed. "Yes. Dr. Parker wanted me to remind you about her suggestion to follow up with your primary physician sometime in the coming week."

"Consider it done."

Melissa felt herself smile. For some reason she felt her cheeks begin to warm and she suddenly felt awkward. "Well, you have a nice night, Mr. Bainbridge."

"Um," he craned his neck so he could read her nametag, "…Melissa?"

"Yes?"

"I know this might be a little forward of me, but I was wondering if I could get your number and give you a call? I thought it might be nice to meet over coffee sometime?"

She felt her cheeks flush once more and gently bit her lip to keep from grinning like a complete idiot. "I, uh, I think that would be nice," she said and pulled a small slip of paper from her pocket and quickly jotting down her cell phone number. Sure, she was dating Joey, but he was being such an ass lately. It seemed like he was always flirting openly with Mariah Johnson with no regard for how it might make her feel. It was nice to have someone flirting with her for a change, especially someone like Aaron.

"Great," the smile never left his face. "I'll give you a call, Melissa."

"Okay," she smiled as well. Leaving the exam room, she made a beeline for the nurses' station. The group that had been there earlier had come back between patients and she was excited to spill the gossip.

"What are you grinning about?" Natalie Spade questioned as soon as Melissa joined the group of women.

She just stood there for a few minutes, smiling broadly but not offering an explanation. Glancing around, she noticed Joey was sitting at the reception desk staring at the group of women with a questioning expression on his face. "Well…"

"Well what?" someone asked quickly.

Melissa giggled. "Guess who just asked for my number?"

"Mr. Lacrosse Hottie?" Natalie gasped.

She nodded excitedly and saw Joey from the corner of her eye; he was trying desperately to hear what all the sudden giggling was about.

"Did you give it to him?" Addie asked.

She nodded again. "He said he thought I would be nice to get coffee. And you know how I love coffee…"

Everyone laughed. "Well, girl, you got it!" Melissa joined in with everyone's laughed and enjoyed the satisfaction she got from seeing the look on Joey's face.

+++

“Did someone call for a surgical consult here?” asked Kevin as he burst through the doors of Trauma 1. He instantly spotted Elizabeth working on the patient and swallowed hard, remembering the harsh words they’d exchanged not two hours earlier. Forcing his professionalism to overpower his personal feelings, he strode across the room anyway and listened while the med student, Justin, filled him on the patient’s condition.

“Her blood pressure’s low, and the ultrasound shows a lot of blood in belly. We think the bullet has damaged her spleen.”

“She’ll be lucky if that’s all it damaged,” said Kevin, “but either way, she’ll need surgery.”

“Surgery?” Willow O’Brian’s voice rose weakly.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m afraid you’re bleeding internally, and we’ll need to operate to fix the damage caused by the bullet. Right now it appears that-“ But Kevin’s voice was drowned out by a high-pitched beeping coming from one of the monitors.

“Pressure’s dropping fast!” Natalie Spade called out.

“She’s tachycardic and unresponsive; pulse is weak,” another nurse added.

“Come on, Willow, stay with us,” urged Elizabeth. “Addie, let’s run in another unit of O-neg. We need to get her pressure back up.”

“She needs surgery immediately,” spoke up Kevin.

“Well, you don’t expect us to send her upstairs when she’s on the verge of arresting, do you?” Elizabeth responded sharply. “I’m not handing my patient over to you until we have her stabilized.”

“I didn’t expect you to,” said Kevin with a frown. “I was just saying…”

“Yes, I think we’ve established that she needs surgery, Dr. Richardson.” Elizabeth’s voice was curt. “Justin, do you see a crash cart anywhere around here? We should have one handy in case she starts to arrest.”

The curly-haired med student looked around the trauma room wildly. “Um, I don’t see one, Dr. O’Brien,” he replied nervously.

“Go find one then,” ordered Elizabeth. Without hesitation, Justin darted out of the room. The rest of them waited anxiously while Addie hooked up a fresh bag of blood to run into Willow’s IV. “Vitals?” Elizabeth snapped after a few minutes.

“Pressure’s starting to come up,” replied Natalie.

“Good. Let’s get the rest of this blood into her and then, Dr. Richardson, you will hopefully be able to take her up for surgery.”

“Excellent; thank you, Dr. O’Brien,” Kevin replied with the same stiff cordialness, staring evenly at Elizabeth.

She immediately looked away. Turning to Natalie instead, she asked crossly, “Where the hell did Justin disappear to?”

+++

Justin charged up the hallway, wheeling the crash cart in front of him as fast as he could. The bulky cart was awkward, and as it hit a piece of chipped tile, it skidded away from him, causing him to stumble forward and nearly fall flat on his face. Regaining his balance, he straightened and cast a nervous look around him, expecting to be laughed at by someone who had seen him almost fall. Luckily, no one seemed to be paying any attention. No one, that is, except a familiar-looking woman who was hurrying toward him.

Narrowing his eyes as the women approached, he gasped out loud. Bright red hair, green eyes, porcelain skin… “Y-you!” he cried breathlessly, pointing in shock. It was the very same woman he’d just been treating. But Willow O’Brien was lying on a table in Trauma 1 with a gunshot wound to her stomach. It couldn’t be… unless…? In that instant, a million crazy thoughts rushed through Justin’s mind – he was witnessing a real-life out of body experience… in the few minutes he had been gone, searching for a crash cart, Willow had died or was about to die in the trauma room, and this was her spirit, her ghost…

His patient’s ghost narrowed her green eyes at him and tipped her head to the side, studying him for a moment. Then she shook her head and said, “Excuse me, maybe you can help me. I’m looking for my sister, Willow O’Brien. I got a voicemail saying she’d been brought here.”

“S-sister?” Justin stammered, blinking a few times.

“Yes…” The ghost… or sister, whoever she was, gave him that look again, like she thought he belonged in the psych ward wearing a straight jacket rather than in the ER with a lab coat on. “My twin sister… Willow O’Brien? If you could just point me in the right direction to get some information about her…”

“Ohh… your twin. You’re Willow’s sister… Myrtle, is it?”

A brief smile crossed the woman’s face. “Yes. So you’ve seen my sister?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been working on her,” Justin replied quickly, then looked down at the crash cart he had his hand on. “Uh… actually, they’re still working on her, so, um… why don’t you take a seat here, and someone will be back to talk to you in a minute.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Myrtle sat down in the nearest chair, and Justin took off again, pushing the crash cart back to Trauma 1. By the time he got there, he was relieved to find that Willow was stabilizing; there was no need for the crash cart after all.

“What took you so long?” Dr. O’Brien demanded, looking annoyed with him usual.

“Sorry. I ran into Willow’s sister Myrtle in the hall; she’s here,” replied Justin.

“I’ll go talk to her. Dr. Richardson, do you think you can handle it from here?”

“I think I can manage it, Dr. O’Brien,” replied Dr. Richardson.

“Wonderful.” Dr. O’Brien left the room quickly, letting the doors bang shut behind her.

Justin frowned in confusion as he watched her leave. Aren’t they dating?

+++

The sun was just beginning to come up as Addie wearily pushed through the doors of the maternity ward. She stopped at the desk just inside and was greeted by a receptionist who looked just as tired as Addie felt. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m looking for Ashlynn Bryarson, please.”

“Room 526.”

“Thank you.” Addie made her way slowly down the hall, reading the numbers on the doors as she passed. 518… 520… She rounded a corner and was surprised to find a familiar figure walking towards her. “Brian?”

“Mornin’, Addie,” Brian greeted her with a tired smile. “Didn’t expect to see you up here.”

Addie shrugged. “I thought I’d check on Ashlynn before I left, see how she’s doing. Didn’t expect to you see here either. Doctors aren’t supposed to care about their patients, didn’t you know? That’s a nurse’s job.”

Brian gave her a wry smile. “Guess I didn’t get that memo.”

“So how is Ashlynn?”

“About as well as you’d expect, I guess,” answered Brian with a grim shrug. “They told me she was pretty distraught earlier. She’s been given a sedative though. Hopefully she’ll sleep most of today. She needs it after the night she had.”

Addie pressed her lips together and nodded. “I feel bad for her… and then again, I don’t. It sounds cruel to say that, but… she did this to herself, you know? She did this to her baby.”

“I know,” said Brian. “But here you are anyway.”

“Yeah,” Addie sighed. “Here I am. Just doing my job, I guess… caring for my patient.”

Brian smiled. “You’re a good nurse, Addie. Go check on her, see for yourself. But don’t stick around here for too long; go home and get some rest – you probably need it as much she does.”

As if on cue, Addie yawned, and they both laughed. “Gotta love the night shift, huh?” she said with a chuckle.

“Oh yeah,” Brian matched her sarcasm, shaking his head. “The night shift… nothing quite like it.”

Addie smiled. “Goodnight, Brian.”

Brian nodded. “’Night, Addie.” He gave her a little wave goodbye, then walked past her, disappearing around the corner.

Stifling another yawn, Addie continued on down the hallway. 522… 524…

+++
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream by RokofAges75
Episode 17:

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream


AN: This is a special episode, outside the norm of the typical CB chapters. This episode is all characters’ dreams. Or almost all dreams; the parts not in italics are real. Most of the episode takes place in dreams, however. The idea to do an episode like this came several years ago from Louise, who was then a reader and is now a member of the writing team! We loved the idea then and still loved it when it came time to plan out this episode with the Code Team. It gave us a chance to be creative and write something fun and different, and we thought it would be a good way for you to get some more insight into what is happening, has happened, or will happen to some of the characters. Many of the dreams are symbolic, and if some of them don’t quite make sense, remember them for later because they should at some point. ;) Enjoy the episode, and thanks for reading!!


Kevin sighed loudly to himself as he pulled his bloody gloves off. This was the second person this week to die on his operating table, and he didn’t like that one bit. Sure, the man may have been half-dead when he was rolled into his OR, but wasn’t his job to save people?

“Don’t take it too hard, Kevin, you did all you could for that gentleman,” Hayley said as she finished washing her hands, placing one on the back of his shoulder.

Kevin ran a tired hand down his face. “I know,” he said dryly as he looked out the window that was beside the door. The family was there, sitting in the hard chairs of the waiting room, waiting for good news that he couldn’t bring them. “I guess I should go tell the family now.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” Hayley asked as she took in Kevin’s worn-out stature.

“No, really, it’s okay. It’s been a long shift; you should go on and head home.” Kevin was pulling off his blood-covered gown; the family didn’t need to see that.

“Are you sure? It’s really no problem. Maybe we can get a bite to eat and talk about it?”

Kevin almost said yes, but then remembered he was supposed to have dinner with Elizabeth once his shift had ended. Looking at his watch, he realized that was almost two hours ago. “I would, but I’m supposed to catch up with Liz before I head home. Maybe tomorrow though.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Kev; I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Hayley gave him one last friendly smile before she made her way out the door.

Kevin pulled the cap off from his head as he slowly made his way to the family whose heart he was about to break. He may have done this many times, but it still was never easy.

+++

“That was over two hours ago, Kevin. Sorry, but I already ate… by myself, thank you very much,” Elizabeth said gruffly as she looked over a patient’s chart.

Kevin was taken aback by her attitude; she of all people should understand. “I had them page you to let you know that an emergency Lap had been brought up. What did you expect me to do, not try to help the guy?”

Elizabeth didn’t even look up from her chart. “Well, he died anyway, right?”

Kevin just stared at her for a moment. “I’m just gonna forget you even said that and blame it on the 36-hour shift that you’re in the middle of, and that I just finished. Are you gonna at least still come by my place when you get done?”

Elizabeth finally looked up at him and met his eyes. “Yeah, I plan to.” Her look seemed to soften a little.

“Just wake me up when you get there. I’ll make you breakfast or something, okay?” He let a smile cross his face for a moment before he leaned in to kiss her goodbye.

She wanted none of that, however, and lightly pushed him away. “Kevin, we’re at work.”

Kevin blinked. “I… ummm… okay…” He lightly squeezed her hand. “Until then…” Kevin slowly made his way out into the parking lot; his body felt so drained.

Once he got home, he jumped in the shower. The warm water cascading down his tired body almost caused him to fall asleep right there, standing up. With a shake of his head, he leaned over and turned off the water. Once dried-off, he wrapped the towel around his waist with a big yawn. He hated the 36-hour shifts; luckily, they didn’t happen too often.

Quickly, he pulled on his boxers and climbed into his warm, comfy bed. He was asleep before his head even touched the pillow…


“Wake up, sleepy head.” The soft feminine voice filled his mind. A giggle soon followed, “Come on, wakey wakey…”

Kevin let out a moan when the voice began to shake his arm. “I’m up…” His voice sounded extremely rough.

“Well, it’s about time. I’ve been waiting forever.”

Kevin slowly blinked his eyes open, clearing away some of the grime that seemed to nearly seal his eyes shut. “Is it already morning, Liz?” He felt like he had hardly slept.

Through blurry eyes, he saw her nod. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted last night. I was just tired and aggravated is all. Do you forgive me?” she asked with a pout.

Kevin smiled sleepily at her. “Of course I do; I know all too well how it is.”

“Well, I just don’t want you mad at me. Maybe this will help?” She then slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Kevin, of course, welcomed the kiss, morning breath and all; he didn’t care. He began to smile against her lips as the kiss grew more heated, more passionate. He almost let out a whimper when she pulled away for a second.

He felt her move her lips over next to his ear. “We’re still friends, right?” she whispered huskily. Kevin blinked in confusion; what in the world was she talking about? Her lips once again captured his heatedly, and he was forced to open his eyes. Red hair?? What in the…??

Alarms started going off in his head. Hayley… what was Hayley doing in his bedroom? Never mind that! What was he doing kissing her??



Kevin shot up suddenly from his bed, quickly glancing around his empty room. Reaching over, he turned his alarm clock towards him to check the time. It was only two in the morning; he still had hours to go before it was time for his next shift. Hours before Elizabeth got off.

Licking his lips, he noticed the tingle they still held. Had he really just dreamed about Hayley?? In that way??

“I must really have been tired,” Kevin said out loud to himself, rolling over and burying his head in his pillow once more.

+++

Josh punched in figures on the calculator and frowned as the number that had popped up did not in any way come close to the one he’d been hoping for. He hated doing the bills, and, just once, he would have liked to see the credit card company charge him incorrectly. But no, the jackasses were always right.

“Damn, bloodsucking leeches,” he mumbled under his breath.

When he heard the faint cries from the baby monitor, he sighed. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to stare at the bill for a while. He pushed away from the table and made his way towards the nursery.

He froze with his hand on the nursery’s doorknob.

“What the hell is going on?”

He didn’t have a kid. Last he checked, Kylie was only a couple months along. There was no way there was a kid in that room. It was obvious that his tired mind was getting confused because he was tired, cranky, didn’t want to pay the bills, and was anxious about the coming baby. That was it. His brain was jumbling things up and making him hallucinate.

Shaking his head at himself and deciding it was time to hit the sack, Josh turned away from the closed door and headed towards the bedroom. Kylie wasn’t home because she’d gotten stuck with the night shift. He hoped she didn’t overdo it because, as he’d often joked with her already, he didn’t want their kid coming out with wrinkles from all the stress Mommy caused him. He shook his head again. The joke was starting to get old—even for him.

The baby was crying again. Josh smacked himself on the head and shook his head, hoping he was really hallucinating from a lack of sleep. There was no way he was really hearing a baby crying because there was no baby in his home. Not for the next few months, anyway.

When the wailing didn’t subside but grew steadily louder, he gnawed on his lower lip anxiously. What the heck was he supposed to do? Open the door and see if there really was a baby? Maybe no one had told him that the place was haunted when he and Kylie were first getting ready to move in. Maybe a baby had died there a long time ago, and its ghost was stuck in limbo now.

“Maybe, maybe, maybe! Jesus, Josh, there’s no such thing as ghosts! Just go in the room and see what’s what. It’s probably just your imagination,” he scolded himself, trying to goad himself into opening the door. “Jesus, if one of the guys from work saw me, he’d laugh himself silly.”

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door…and sighed happily. He could feel all the love he had for his child flow through him and fill him up to bursting.

Josh walked over to the crib and gazed down at the wailing baby, its face scrunched up as it screamed its lungs out.

A grin breaking out on his face, he reached in and lifted the little boy out and, placing him on his shoulder, began to rock him. “It’s okay, buddy. It’s all right. Shh, daddy’s here. You don’t have to cry anymore,” he soothed the baby.

As the cries subsided and the baby’s breathing grew even again, Josh knew he had fallen asleep again. Careful not to wake him, he carried the baby towards the crib and stopped when wails filled the air again. Though he winced a little, he began to pat the baby’s back again and stopped again when he realized the baby in his arms was sleeping peacefully.

“What the…” Josh leaned over and looked in the crib again. There was another child crying, lying on his back. “How…?”

Knowing he didn’t want the baby in his arms to wake again, he set the sleeping child down in the crib and lifted the weeping one. As soon as he had managed to quiet the second one down, another’s sobbing filled the room. And then another. Followed by yet another.

Josh looked over at the crib and found three more babies accompanied by the one that had initially been awake. All of them were screaming. As panic began to fill him, he heard more crying and found another couple babies in a rocking chair. There were two more on the changing table. He noticed three more in the playpen.

“Oh, man, oh, jeez. Oh, god,” he muttered as he placed the toddler in his arms in the crib and tried to soothe the children in the crib. When they wouldn’t stop screaming and the screams from the others in the room grew in volume, panic had him nearly screaming. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to quiet all of them when they were all wailing like he’d committed the biggest injustice towards them? He wished for Kylie desperately.

Taking deep breaths, he decided to pick one, or two, to start with and go from there. Deciding on the ones in the rocking chair, he picked them up and tried to sing a song. When their shrieking didn’t quiet down so much as a decibel, he shook his head. What the hell had he been thinking, singing a song? That was Dr. Littrell’s territory, not his.

“Okay, okay. Stay calm, Josh. What would you do if this was an accident?” he asked himself. Then he laughed. Like this would ever happen.

When the screaming behind him started up again, he frowned down at the children in his arms. “Weren’t you the ones I picked up from that rocking chair?” he wondered, knowing the rocking chair was behind him.

He turned around slowly and tried not to yelp. There were two more toddlers wailing away in the rocking chair. As he looked around the room, he realized that, not only were there more babies in the playpen, crib, and on top of the changing table, he was surrounded by more on the floor. Every last one was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Knowing he was going to pass out from the sheer terror that was enveloping him as he knew, just knew, that he’d never be able to help them all, Josh tried to grab onto something to keep himself from falling over. In front of his eyes, more babies appeared from God knew where, and the stress had his heart pounding and his breath clogging in his throat.

“Help!”



Josh sat up, gasping, and tried to shake off the disorienting feeling the dream—no, no, nightmare, he reminded himself—had left him. What the heck had happened in that damned nursery, he wondered, dazedly.

He looked down at Kylie, who slept on peacefully by his side. Reaching over, he lay a hand gently on her still-flat stomach where he knew their child was sleeping. Thank God, it had all been a dream. Just a dream because, if they ended up having more than one child at a time, he was afraid his mind would be blown.

Lying back down next to his wife, he moved closer to her, keeping his hand on her belly. When their baby arrived, he was going to be ready. He would not panic as he had in that stupid dream.

“I’ll be the best daddy,” he whispered and drifted back to sleep.

+++

“Andele, andele mami, E.I., E.I., uh-ohhhhhhh! What’s poppin’ tonight??” Justin sang along to his Nelly album, waving his arms from side to side above his head as he stood on his bed, using the mattress for his stage.

Britney giggled softly at his feet. “I just love your dope rhymes, Justy,” she cooed, her Southern drawl as thick and syrupy sweet as molasses. She batted her heavily-mascaraed eyelashes up at him. “You sing ‘em even better than Nelly himself.”

“St. Lou, representin’,” said Justin, even though he was originally from Tennessee and had never even been to St. Louis. He bounced on the balls of his feet to the phat beats of the song, until Britney shifted her weight on the bed, causing the mattress to jiggle. Before he knew it, he was careening over the edge. He heard Britney giggling again as hit the floor. Luckily, it didn’t hurt, and he looked up to find her hand reaching down to help him up.

“No more Nelly,” she purred, her voice low and husky, the unmistakable look of seduction in her pretty brown eyes. “This mami wants her sexy Justy to pop her tonight.”

Justin crept towards her on his hands and knees, like a tiger stalking its prey. He felt like a hungry tiger too; he was certainly hungry for her. He had a perfect view of her ample cleavage as she leaned over the side of the bed, and he could practically feel himself starting to salivate as he drank in the sight. Rising up onto his haunches, he leaned close to her so that his lips were right at her ear. “Gonna have you nekkid by da end of dis song,” he growled. And then he pounced.

“Ohhhhhh!!! Ohhhhhhh, Justy!!!” Britney moaned throatily as he tore away her sheer camisole and buried his face in her bosom, his tongue dipping into the crevasse he’d been eyeing earlier, thirstily lapping up the sheen of perspiration that glistened on her soft skin. God, she tasted good.

“I used to dream about dis when I was a li’l boy,” he murmured into her breasts, realizing how lucky he was to have a girlfriend that looked like the centerfolds he’d used to ogle in his Dad’s Playboys as a teenager. “Nevah thought it would end up dis way…”

“I love it when you talk like a dirty black man,” she whispered breathlessly, her long fingernails clawing through his tight curls.

He smiled as he heard her sultry voice in his ear, her warm breath on his neck as she leaned down, her lips caressing his skin. He let out a soft moan, which quickly turned into a yelp of pain. “Ow!” he exclaimed, his head jerking up in surprise. He’d felt a sharp prick on the side of his neck, almost like a bee sting or a needle stick. She’d bitten him! “What, you wanna get kinky tonight, babe?” he asked, excitement starting to melt his shock as he considered the possibilities.

When Britney raised her head, there was a wicked look in her eyes… but not the kind of wicked he was interested in. Her eyes were suddenly bright red – literally! They were practically glowing scarlet and emanating an evil that practically caused his heart to stop. “What the fuck!” he cried, leaping back, away from her. He nearly toppled backwards off the foot of the bed, catching himself just in time and landing shakily on his feet. “Wh-what’s wrong with you?” he stammered nervously, slowly backing away, step by step.

Her eyes gleamed with seduction and sin, and slowly, her lips began to curve back, revealing a set of pointy, pearly white fangs. Fangs that dripped with a drop of crimson blood. His blood.

He gasped in horror. “You’re… you’re a… a vampire!” he cried hoarsely, his throat as tight as if he were being strangled. He raised a trembling hand to his gently throbbing neck and felt the beads of blood quivering where her fangs had sunk through his flesh. “Does this mean I’m a vampire too?”

Britney just arched an eyebrow, never answering him. Not that he waited long. Within a few seconds, his brain delivered the message to his feet – run! He scrambled out of the apartment and down several flights of stairs before he burst out into the cold December night and raced for his car.

He drove blindly, and in a matter of seconds, or so it seemed, he found himself sitting at the bar of a trendy club, the kind you saw on TV, not the kind you found in small, coastal North Carolina cities. And certainly not the kind impoverished med students could afford to drink in. Nevertheless, there he was, sipping on Courvoisier and feeling much like the pimp he often wished he was.

It didn’t take long for a hot woman to make her way up to him and slide onto the stool next to him. He turned to her, prepared to switch on the old Timberlake charm and make up for the fact that his girlfriend was now a member of the undead. But as soon as she met his eyes, a look of fright crossed the girl’s face, and she scrambled off the stool and disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

He was too surprised to react at first, but before he had a chance, another woman took his place. Yet she soon hurried away, before he even had a chance to introduce himself. This happened several more times with several more women who came up and then backed away from him, as if he were carrying the plague.

What’s wrong with me? he thought anxiously. He ran his tongue cautiously over his teeth, feeling for sharp points, in case he was starting to grow fangs. But he felt perfectly normal. He couldn’t be… like her, could he?

He was distracted when yet another woman slipped onto the again empty stool next to him. He cast her a nervous look out of the corner of his eye, afraid of scaring her off the way he had the others. But he instantly knew she was not like them. She only confirmed his suspicions when she turned to him and, without blinking, extended her hand. “I’m Ivy. Ivy Hill,” she said, her voice low and silky. It had almost an eerie calmness to it, like the way the atmosphere feels right before the winds of a storm. And yet, he was instantly intrigued by her.

“Hi, Ivy,” he said slowly, shaking her hand. “I’m Justin. Justin Timberlake.”

“I know who you are.” She never blinked.

Okay, so that was a little creepy. But he was glad to at least have found a woman who would look at him, so he didn’t let it phase him. “Have we met?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. He couldn’t place her and thought for sure that he would have remembered her if he had. Maybe she’d been a patient at the hospital?

“Not directly. We’ve crossed paths, I suppose you could say. I know your girlfriend well.”

“Britney? She’s a vampire!” Justin blurted, and he felt the familiar tremor of horror that ran down his spine every time he pictured her glowing red eyes.

Ivy licked her lips, her pink tongue lingering on her dark red lips. It was then that he saw them – her fangs. “You are too!” he gasped, nearly falling off his stool. “You’re just like her!”

“No,” Ivy inhaled, shaking her head. “I’m not just like her… I’m a part of her now. We are one.”

“… What?”

“Beware… or you shall become one with me too…”

Justin couldn’t say why, but all of a sudden, he was terrified. His chest felt tight; he couldn’t breathe. His heart pounded rapidly in his ears, but above the rush of blood, he could just make out a faint cry, like that of a distressed infant. His own scream joined the other as Ivy reached her scarlet-clawed hand out to him…



Justin jerked and found himself surrounded by darkness. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, but gradually he realized he was in Britney’s bedroom, twisted up in her hot pink sheets. A dream, he thought with relief. Just a dream. He turned his head, and there was Britney, sound asleep at his side, her blonde hair framing her face in loose tangles. She looked perfectly innocent, like an angel, not the monster she’d been in his nightmare.

His heart was still racing as he leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek, mostly to assure himself that she still felt and tasted like the Hooters waitress he loved. When he brought his head back up, his eyes found the clock on the bedside table. It was just after 3:00 a.m. He still had a couple hours to sleep before he had to get up for his early shift at the hospital.

Sighing, he flopped back onto his pillows and closed his eyes, hoping the image of Britney with red eyes and fangs would disappear. He wanted to awake from sweet dreams to the sight of her pretty brown eyes and sexy smile as she leaned over him, begging for a quickie before he had to get ready for work.

+++

Melissa stirred as he climbed onto the bed, the mattress caving beneath his weight. Raising her head off the pillow, she looked at him blearily through a curtain of tangled hair. “Joey? What time is it?” she croaked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

He swallowed, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. He was terrified she would hear the deception in his voice; he was such a bad liar. “It’s only 3:30, babe. Go back to sleep,” he whispered.

She grunted in response, flopping back against her pillows. A few seconds later, her muffled voice asked, “How was the graveyard shift?”

Joey hesitated a moment before answering. “Dead,” he said finally, smirking, but without humor. He couldn’t laugh; he was too tense, too afraid to let down his guard. What if she found out? Don’t start acting weird, dude, he scolded himself. Then she really will notice something’s going on.

But not tonight. With a few seconds, she was out like a light again, a sleepy smile plumping her lips. Slithering under the covers next to her, he leaned over and lightly kissed them, but as he did, his stomach did a somersault. He was kissing Mel… but all he could taste was Mariah.

He’d told her not to call him, but she had, earlier that night. Melissa had picked up the line in his apartment before he could stop her. Thankfully, Mariah was smarter than she pretended to be. His stomach had clenched when Mel cupped her hand over the mouthpiece and said, “Joey, it’s Mariah from the hospital.” But then she’d added, “She’s calling to see if you can work graveyard tonight… Shawn was supposed to, but she had some kind of family emergency.”

Joey knew that wasn’t the real reason Mariah was calling. Taking the phone from Melissa, he turned his back to her as he asked, “Mariah? Uhh… you can’t find anybody to work the desk tonight?”

“Not the desk,” Mariah purred, her voice turning much more sexual that it must have been when she was talking to Melissa. “I’m looking for someone to work me tonight… would you like the job?”

Joey could feel his face getting hot and was glad he wasn’t facing his girlfriend. God damn you, Mariah, he thought, groaning inwardly. He’d been annoyed with her… and yet, somehow he’d ended up in her apartment again that night, taking out his aggravation in a tangle of sweat-soaked sheets and twisted limbs. Even worse, Melissa had stayed behind at his apartment, waiting for him to get home in the morning.

Why had he gone and left her? Joey didn’t know. He loved Mel… didn’t he? Maybe… maybe not. He cared about her, but… she didn’t make his pulse race the way Mariah did. She didn’t excite him to the point that he would lie and leave someone he loved in the middle of the night just for sex. But, any reason aside, he knew what he was doing was horribly wrong, and he felt guiltier and guiltier every day it continued. And yet he couldn’t stop. Mariah was like an addiction and he, the addict.

He tossed and turned, his mind alternating between lust for Mariah and guilt towards Melissa, until he finally drifted into a restless sleep…


A string quartet played Pachelbel’s “Canon” as she came down the flower-lined aisle toward him. He couldn’t see her feet beneath the long, full skirt of her gown; it was almost as if she were floating. Like an angel dressed in white, her wings carried her down the aisle, her veil fluttering delicately in front of her face, masking her features.

He took her hand, and together, they climbed the altar to stand before the minister and the Lord. The minister’s words were a blur as he went through the sermon; Joey barely comprehended a word until it was time for the vows. And even then, only certain phrases stood out.

“… do you take Melissa to be your wedded wife…? Will you love her… honor and keep her… and forsaking all others, be faithful to her…?”

He felt a stabbing sensation in his chest, but he answered, “I do.”

A few moments later, she whispered the same, and before he knew it, he had slid a ring on her finger, and a gold band gleamed on his.

There was a kindly smile on the minister’s noble, lined face as he looked between the two of them. “By the power vested in me and in the name of the state of North Carolina, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

He took a step towards her then, moving more on instinct than his own conscious direction. It was as if someone else were controlling his limbs; he felt like a robot. He reached for the wispy white tulle that covered her face and gently lifted it back. When, for the first time, he got a clear view of her face, he gasped and backpedaled in shock.

The beautiful face beneath the veil of his angelic bride was not the face of his angel at all. It wasn’t Mel. It was the succubus herself… Mariah.

No, he thought in shock, this is a mistake. This is all a huge mistake. I don’t love you. I don’t want to marry you.

He tried to say this, but he couldn’t get the words out. He just stood there on the altar, his mouth hanging open as he gaped at his unintended bride.

Mariah took hold of the opportunity and pounced, flinging her arms around him and shoving her tongue down his throat as she kissed him deeply. A chorus of shocked gasps rang through the church, but all of a sudden, Joey no longer cared. His heart started to race again as his arms snaked around the lacy bodice of her wedding gown and pulled her close, kissing back with a sudden burst of fiery passion.

It no longer mattered whether it was Melissa he was kissing or not, or whether or not he loved Mariah. All he could think was that he couldn’t wait for the honeymoon…



The honeymoon?! Joey’s mind seemed to exclaim as he woke up in a panic, the image of Mariah in a bridal gown fresh in his mind, the taste of her still on his tongue. He looked around wildly, but gone were the beautifully decorated church and the shocked faces of its guests. He was surrounded by darkness and twisted up in his covers, which he’d managed to pull off of Melissa.

Melissa…

She was still sleeping soundly next to him, curled up in a little ball… looking cute, yet sort of forlorn. Or maybe she only looked that way because of how he felt – guilty, like he’d abandoned her. She didn’t deserve that. She was a good person, far better than him. She deserved better. As he watched her sleep, he became more and more sure of that and knew that something had to change.

+++

Holli ran through the field, content, happy. The field around her shone with spring, colorful flowers popping up everywhere. Before her was her future, and a tall figure she couldn’t make out. Everything was perfect. She laughed as she picked up her medical degree from the top of a flower. She kept running further with joy, picking up awards that appeared on flowers along her path. Up ahead was the figure, holding his arms out to her with happiness.

A bright light suddenly flashed, blinding her for a moment…

She shrieked in terrible pain as the ground fell from under her and she slammed hard to the ground. Pain radiated throughout her body. Her legs felt numb. She screamed in panic. She tried to get up but was unable to get her lower half to work. The sound of a young girl’s laughter surrounded her mockingly. A pungent smell filled the air. She couldn’t breathe…



The phone rang shrilly, and Holli rolled over, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She sighed as the pain from her dream still ached within her. She answered the phone, annoyed at the early wake up since she didn’t have the night shift for once.

“Hello?” she listened for a moment before nodding sharply. “I’ll be right there.”

+++

Rita stood in front of the stove frying bacon, eggs and pancakes when Howie came downstairs, dressed in his suit and tie, ready for his day. Greeting Rita with a smile, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Good morning, darling,” he said.

“Good morning, sweetheart… breakfast is almost ready. Did you wake Dani up?”

“Yes, she should be down any minute.”

Howie then took his seat at the table, where, as always, his newspaper was waiting for him. He glanced over it as Rita served him his breakfast.

“Here you go, darling,” she said.

“It looks wonderful, Rita. Honestly, I don’t know how you do it. You’re a surgeon, mother, the president of the PTA at Dani’s school, and yet you still have time to cook me and Dani a hot breakfast every morning.”

“It’s all in a day’s work, sweetheart. You’re my husband; I want everything to be perfect for you.”

At that moment, Dani came skipping down the stairs, her pigtails swinging from side to side.

“Good morning, Daddy,” she said cheerfully.

“How’s my girl this morning?” Howie asked her.

“I’m terrific, Daddy; today my class is taking a field trip to the zoo.”

“I bet you’re going to see-” Dani and Howie finished the sentence together, “-lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

Dani then took her seat at the table.

“Here’s your pancakes, sweetheart,” Rita said, serving Dani. “They’re blueberry, just how you like them.”

“You’re too good to me, Mommy,” the little girl said happily.

“Anything for my best girl. Now eat up so Daddy can drive you to school before his shift at the hospital.”



Rita awoke with a start. “Dear God, I must be losing my mind,” she said, as she reflected on the dream. “Who do I look like, June Cleaver?” Needless to say, the dream had not projected her life at all.

Her breakfast on most days consisted of a Pop-Tart that she grabbed on her way out the door or whatever the vending machine at the hospital offered on a given day. She hated cooking and hadn’t fixed a decent meal for anyone in years….well okay, make that never. When the hospital asked what everyone was bringing to their annual dinners, she was the first to volunteer to bring the napkins or bottles of soda.

Rita at last lay back and closed her eyes, vowing that Howie would never ever hear about the dream. Then right before she fell asleep, Rita snickered to herself, thinking: Howard Cleaver. She would never be able to look at him the same way again.

+++

Isabel Rivera sighed, as she sat on her bed surrounded by different medical books. Her eyes blinked several times before she rubbed them, her curly brown locks tied back, with a few framing her tired face. She scribbled something down as she turned a page. She needed to get this case profile done tonight. She flipped open another book and started searching. She couldn’t let anyone down. If she got it done tonight, she could spend time with Nick tomorrow. Or would that be today? She glanced at the clock, 4:30 a.m. The young student sighed once more. She wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. A yawn escaped her as her eyes kept attempting to close. She leaned back against her pillow with a book still propped up in her arms. She skimmed the page, but not absorbing any of the material within. Her eyes begin to close once again…


She looked around as she walked along the dark path, unsure of where she was going. Her gaze could find nothing recognizable in her sight. Her mind pictured Nick and she smiled; maybe she could see if she could find him and sort out this mess.

“Your sister has gone on to great things.” Her father’s voice boomed around her, echoing throughout the area. Suddenly a huge back of bricks dropped into her arms and she grunted painfully, forced to catch them. She turned and looked around for a source as she stumbled backwards from the force.

“Dancing?! Ha, there’s no way you could make it in dancing…” Another load of bricks fell towards her and she caught it once again, not sure of why she had to do so. She stepped backwards again.

“Look at your sister and father, Isabel; you could be great if you only put the effort into it….”

“You’re not working nearly hard enough…”

“Why can’t you be more like your sister?”

More bags of bricks began to fall at her, with the expectation of her to catch them all. The voices became a critical, loud blur around her. There were just so many…

“You can’t do this; why are you trying?”

“You need to pay more attention in class if you are to succeed…”

“Isabel, you were never meant to be a dancer. You don’t have the strength.”

She screamed as they kept pounding upon her in a massive rain. She stepped back to slowly try to escape it. Suddenly she stepped back to feel no ground beneath her. The piles of bags of bricks within her arms fell from her grasp, and she screamed with a deathly fear as she began to tumble into the dark abyss below…

She tossed and turned in the bed, the books falling to the floor in the room. Her skin was damp with sweat as the bed sheets tangled about her squirming body, unable to escape the nightmare her mind created…

She fell, still hearing the voices. They were yelling at her now. All in agreement about one thing. She couldn’t do this. Isabel had given up her first dream to accept her new one of being a doctor like her father and sister before her. Now she was just going to fail. She was never enough.

“You were never adequate enough to be a member of this family.”

“NO!” she shrieked back, “I’m trying!”

Her coffee eyes searched about for something, anything to hold onto to stop her endless fall into what seemed to be a bottomless pit. She couldn’t die like this. No. Her eyes almost bugged out when she spotted a branch, and she reached for it wildly, barely holding on. She screamed when she heard it begin to crack. She looked up to see the top of a ledge above her, but it was too far to reach…

“SOMEBODY HELP!” she screamed in desperate hope that someone would hear. The voices continued to fill her head, confirming her doubts and fears.

“Isabel!?” she heard a familiar voice cry out.

No, it couldn’t be could it? “Nick!?”

“Iz! Where are you?”

“I’m below the ledge! Nick hurry! The branch is gonna break!”

“I’m coming!” She could hear him run towards her. She looked up and was relieved when she saw his beautiful, comforting, sapphire eyes, where she saw his fear for her within. The voices silenced at that moment. She could see a soft pale light coming from behind him. She sighed with obvious relief.

“Nick, oh…” The branch cracked, and she knew there wasn’t much time left. “Thank God.”

He leaned over as far as he could, hanging on to something beyond her vision to support himself. His arm stretched for her desperately, his blonde hair getting in his eyes a little. “I need you to reach for my hand! I can’t reach you on my own!”

Isabel stared up at him, fear pounding fiercely in her heart like an Indian drum. She hesitated for a moment before she slowly moved her arm while the other clung to the thick branch for her life. She felt herself waver before grabbing it again with both hands.

“I can’t!”

“You have to! I know you can!”

She shook her head rapidly at him. “I can’t!”

His eyes widened in horror, and Isabel felt the branch start to fully give. “ISABEL! Trust me! You have to reach for it!”

Before she could respond, it was too late; what was left broke in two, and she fell back into the darkness. All she could see was the pain and horror within his blue eyes as she fell.

“ISABEL!”

“NIIIIIIIICK!”


+++

Nick yawned as he crawled into bed from another seemingly never ending night shift. Sure, he wanted to become a doctor and make something of himself, but sometimes, he did feel the exhaustion that came with it. It had been a long night and he’d had to watch as they lost two patients. It wasn’t easy, and he doubted it would ever get easier.

He turned off the light as he turned his radio on softly; he never liked silence as he slept. Growing up, he’d used music as a comfort, and had he thought he had the talent, he would have gone on to be a musician. He yawned again and let his thoughts settle so he could get the rest he needed…


Nick looked around and saw himself in bright red overalls and the cheesiest cap. He hated hats and tried to take it off, but it wouldn’t budge. He ran along the brick path without any sure purpose. He glanced about, noticing that everything surrounding him was about twice his size. He skidded to a stop. What the-? A large bush-type mushroom, one could call it, stood in his way.

“NIIIIIIIIIICK!”

“Isabel?!” he yelled out, wondering what she was doing there.

“Nick! Save me, Koopa Holli has me traaaapped! I’m-” A fierce shriek could be heard, and then there was silence.

“ISABEL!” he yelled once more, before taking a step back, running as fast as he could and leaping over the giant bush… thing. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, which wasn’t very fast. He stopped, frustrated. He then jumped and winced when he hit his head on a blinking block above him.

“Ow!” he whined. He then saw this small mushroom pop out and float along the ground. His stomach grumbled. He wasn’t one for mushrooms, but still. He picked up the mushroom, and his eyes widened as he suddenly began to grow.

“Whoa, so this is what it’s like to do drugs,” he mused sarcastically. “I eat a ‘shroom, and then I get high.” He shook his head at himself and ran ahead. He had to save the Princess Isabel!

He jumped down a tube into a dungeon area. Maybe this was where she was. He hit his head against the bricks, knowing it was worth the pain if he got what he was looking for. Nick had finally made the connection a few minutes ago. He was Mario! He grinned when a bright flower popped out, and he chased it and smirked when he was able to shoot fire. He ran down the path, leaping from step to step when the bridge broke off in pieces, shooting at any turtle he saw.

“I’m gonna win.”

He raced to the lava, jumping from step to step. He was about to jump again but froze when the fireballs rose from the lava, almost killing him.

“Shit, okay, note to self – be more careful.” He threw fireballs just to amuse himself, and he snickered. “Okay, time to save Isabel!”

“HELLLLP!”

“I’m coming, Isabel!” he yelled, but jumped too soon. For as he finally saw the lovely princess, Koopa Holli threw her flame lines at him and hit him off balance. He grabbed for the ledge and barely held on. He got up and started attacking Holli mercilessly.

“NOOOOOOOO,” she wailed as she combusted into pieces around him. Nick grabbed the key and ran to his princess. Now she was free! He hugged her tightly in his arms…

“Oh Nick, my hero.”



Nick turned over in his sleep. A soft smile played upon his peaceful face as he rested soundly, knowing that Isabel would always be safe within his tight, warm embrace.

+++

Brian Littrell stepped out of the examining room, grinning as he heard his patient’s squeal behind him.

“Daddy! It’s a pink cast! My favoritest color in the whole, widest world!”

He loved working with kids for this very reason, Brian mused. The little girl had a fracture, should’ve been in pain, and, instead, was thrilled with the idea of a pink cast. He hoped it wouldn’t stop her from running around. He had gotten the impression that she was a very active child.

Brian dropped off the little girl’s chart at the nurses’ station and looked over to see Ivory Harnett hurrying towards the station, frowning and checking off something on a chart.

“Ivory?”

She stopped, looked up and around, then broke into a smile when she saw him. “Brian, hi! I was wondering if you were supposed to be in this morning. Guess you were.”

He smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “I’ve been here for a couple hours. I was looking for you, too.”

Ivory turned back to the chart she held. “It’s been a crazy morning. I think my last patient may be lying about being high off his ass when his car crashed into a parked police vehicle. I need blood work done on the patient in four,” she told one of the nurses manning the desk, handing her the chart. She turned back to Brian. “So, how’s your morning been?”

Brian shrugged and, reaching out, twirled one of her dark locks absently. “Gave a seven year old her first cast. Broken wrist,” he explained, seeing her frown.

“How’d she break it?”

He grinned. “She wants to be a professional ice skater, so she was practicing her spinning, and BAM. She fell and put out her hands to break her fall. Instant broken wrist.”

“Was she a screamer?” Ivory asked, referring to the children that often blew their doctors’ eardrums because they were in pain.

Brian shook his head. “She was great! She loves the cast because it’s pink. She’ll be fine.” He paused and was about to say something more when the ER doors burst open.

“We’ve got a five-year-old, male, went into cardiac arrest ten seconds ago!” Brian and Ivory heard paramedic AJ McLean call out.

Pedes, Brian thought and rushed over to the gurney that held the little boy. As AJ began rattling off more information about what had happened to the little boy, Brian looked down at the gurney and froze.

Blue eyes dulled with pain and shock peeked out from under chestnut locks. The little boy was small for his age, but there was something about him that jerked Brian’s heart. He looked up towards AJ to ask him about something and found he couldn’t speak. His vision suddenly hazed and he felt himself falling.

“Brian?” he heard a woman’s tearful voice call from somewhere near him and dizzily thought, Ivory. The woman’s face appeared above his and her eyes were full of fear, grief, and love. “Honey, hang in there. The doctors are going to take care of you, okay? It’s going to be okay, baby duck,” she whispered, taking his hand in hers.

Mommy? Brian wondered, confused at what was happening. Suddenly, his heart started beating loudly, irregularly, and he could hear it as though it were being held next to his ear instead of inside his body. What’s going on?

He could hear someone crying out his name repeatedly and tried to lift his head to see who it was. To try to offer comfort. There was nothing wrong with him, he knew. Except he couldn’t move. He tried to lift his arms, his head, and found he couldn’t move. Fear paralyzed him as effectively as whatever was preventing him from moving.

As a dark mist slithered around his senses, he could hear snatches of voices from around him.

“We’re going to have to put him in surgery…”

“His chances are slim…”

“I’m so sorry…”

“It’s best if you begin funeral preparations…”

With a suddenness that left him breathless, Brian felt himself being jerked upwards. Knowing he couldn’t grab onto anything, he tried to get his breath back…and couldn’t. His heart continued to pound louder, louder, and the beats became increasingly irregular. He couldn’t breathe and felt as though there were a pillow pressing into his face.

No! God, help me!

He didn’t know how much longer his lungs could go without oxygen and knew, as everything around him grew fainter, as the voices faded, that it wouldn’t be much longer.

I’m going to die.



He woke up sweat-soaked, gasping for air, and found his legs tangled up in the sheets. His heart was racing as he tried to get rid of the dregs of the nightmare that had just taken him down memory lane. And not a lane that he had ever really wanted to return to again.

“It’s okay, Brian,” he told himself out loud. “It was all a dream.”

+++

He sat at a table in the Cafeteria, amazed at all the food in front of him. Platters were piled high with tacos, burritos, fried chicken, pizza, cheeseburgers, fries, mounds of potatoes with gravy, juicy roast beef, sizzling steaks, chicken wings...

He was drooling before he touched the first piece of food.

Everything looked so good, and it was all free!

Just as he lifted a large spoonful of mashed potatoes to his mouth, a hand gripped his arm. Surprised, he turned to see the hand's owner.

“R-Risha?”

“My, doesn't it look... delectable,” she said, her voice silky and low.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Man, and the best part is there's no charge, and it's all you can eat!”

“That's not the best part,” she purred. “And I wasn't referring to the food.”

“Huh?”

He looked closely at her, belatedly realizing she wasn't dressed normally.

She wore a very short white lab coat with black lace stockings covering her shapely legs. Shiny black stilettos, a strappy sexy style, made her several inches taller. Her hair was loose and flowing... even slightly mussed... instead of pulled back in its usual ponytail or bun. Her lips were hot cherry red... gleaming in the light, looking wet and inviting.

“Uh... isn't that a new look for you?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“It's about time I made some changes, don't you think?” She pouted. “Don't you like?”

“Oh, yeah, I like just fine,” he said quickly. Her sly smile sent his temperature up several degrees.

“Good,” she breathed. “Because it's all for you.”

“W-what do you mean?” he stuttered.

Instead of answering, she lifted his spoon to her mouth and licked her lips. Opening wide, she slowly put the spoon of potatoes into her mouth, then rolled her eyes in pleasure.

“Mmmmm,” she murmured.

“Ah, are... are you feeling alright?” he asked, mouth suddenly dry.

“Funny you should mention feeling,” she said, releasing the spoon. “You know, my job is all about feeling... nerves and sensations and responses.”

“Uh huh,” he said, putting down the now empty spoon. “Did you accidentally take some kind of drug? Because this-”

“Being near you, fantasizing about you, is the only drug I need,” she said, grinning. With a quick twist, she undid the top button of her lab coat.

“Look, I don't know what-”

“Enough talk,” she said, her voice breathless. “I want you, Chris. You're all I want in a man. Don't deny me!”

“Deny? I-”

He stopped when she ripped open her lab coat to reveal the few scraps of black lace that she wore. Her figure was full and voluptuous, which surprised him somewhat. He didn't recall her being quite that busty-

“Like what you see?” she said throatily.

“Well yeah, sure... who wouldn't?” he replied, feeling a flush of heat race across his skin.

“Good,” she whispered, moving to straddle him. “Because it's all yours.”

Before he could speak, she kissed him lustily, nearly taking the breath out of his lungs. As she extended the kiss, she boldly employed her tongue as well, teasing him with her obvious skill.

He broke away breathlessly, both shocked and turned-on by her behavior. He initiated the next kiss, hearing her moan in response to his manly technique.

“I knew you'd be like this,” he said when he drew back, leaving her gasping. “Beneath that cool, aloof and non-funny exterior, I knew there was a hot babe lusting after a real man.”

“You're right, I can't deny it any longer,” she said, trailing kisses down his neck in a flurry of passion. “Make me a real woman, you sexy beast!”

He paused long enough to sweep clear a section of the table. Ignoring the dishes that crashed to the floor, he lifted her up so she was sitting on the edge. While he began the next round of frantic kisses, he fumbled to undo her bra hooks. When they refused to release, he ignored them; time for that technicality later.

She wrapped her stocking-clad legs around him and he felt a tug at his pants zipper. With his free hand, he grabbed a chicken wing from nearby, taking a bite in between kisses.

“Tell me a joke,” she whispered desperately in his ear. “Your jokes really turn me on. You are a true master of wit and humor...”

“There were these three guys in this bar, see,” he began.

“Yes,” she said, her voice tight with passion. “Yes..”

“And the first one, did I mention one was a midget?” he asked as he tossed away the chicken bone.

“Oh, god, yes, yes, don't stop,” she said, hands racing across his body.

“Well, the midget... he says... ah... mmm, right there, yeah...”

“Don't stop,” she pleaded. “Keep talking!”

“The midget says, ya know, I once was in the circus...”

“Yes, yes, YES!”

He pushed her back on the table, reaching for the nearest scrap of lace...

“Chris? Wake up, dude.”

Why had her voice deepened so much?



“CHRIS!”

In a second, it all vanished... the food, the woman, the lace...

“Wha-? What the hell?” he said, bolting upright.

“Easy, dude,” said the face in front of him. “Man, that was some dream, huh?”

“Dream?”

“Sounded like a nightmare, you were moaning and everything.”

“What do you want?”

Justin Timberlake cleared his throat. “They sent me to find you. I heard you were doing double shift and figured you'd be here in the lounge catching a few.”

“Who wants me? I'm not on duty for... for another half-hour yet,” he said, squinting at the clock overhead.

Justin's face sobered. “It's about your friend Lance.”

+++

He'd been walking forever, constantly moving but never really getting anywhere. He stopped, more from boredom than fatigue.

In this strange place, there was a whole lot of nothing. No real sky, no horizon, no lightsource, no shadow. Occasionally a sound reached him, but it seemed directionless. His feet left no prints- not that there was any real 'ground'. Shouting seemed out of place here; he felt foolish the few times he'd tried.

Oddly, he wasn't hot, nor cold, nor hungry nor tired. The only thing he felt, besides boredom, was loneliness. Great, deep-seated loneliness.

“Where am I?” he asked aloud. “Is this a dream?”

No answer came.

He sighed. This can't be a dream. This is a... a nothing. A void. Dreams at least have things in them, people and places and sounds and colors. He looked upwards. There's not even a sky.

He turned around, arms spread wide. “Am I the only one here?”

Then, a thought.

Punishment... that's what this was. Punishment for something terrible he'd done.

He concentrated, trying to grasp elusive memories. There was a gun... his grandfather's prized Smith & Wesson .38 caliber handgun, to be precise. Standard police issue, given to him with great pride and trust. That was the gun he saw. That was the gun he...

He blinked.

That was the gun I shot myself with.

The realization made him gasp. Then, he understood.

“This is Hell,” he said. “I'm dead, and now I'm in Hell for taking my own life.”

A surge of despair and regret swept through him. An eternity of nothingness? Void of... everything?

“No, this isn't Hell,” said a voice from behind.

He spun around, startled. “O...Oliver?”

“Yeah,” the young man said. “I've been sent to talk to you.”

“Where are we? If this isn't Hell, then-”

“It's kind of complicated,” Oliver said. “And you're not supposed to be here any longer.”

“Where am I supposed to be?”

“You realize you tried to take your own life...”

“There didn't seem to be any other answer,” he said sadly.

“I understand... trust me. But you failed, you didn't die. A lot of people worked very hard to keep you alive, and you survived. Remember your visit with Stacy?”

“Yeah,” he answered slowly.

“You decided to live. You even fought to go back to life on Earth. And it worked, to a point.”

“What do you mean, to a point?”

Oliver bit his lip as he searched for words. “Your body's alive, functioning independently. But your soul, your spirit... the real you... is here.”

“But I'm... how can that be?”

“If you were dead, your body wouldn't be functioning and your spirit would be in the Next Place.”

“Hell?”

“Not Hell. It's... That's not for me to explain, okay? What I'm here to do is to show you your choices. You don't belong in this Between.”

“Choices? What kind of choices?”

“I'd rather show you than tell you. Look.”

A large-screen television materialized where Oliver pointed. A picture, sharp and clear, blinked on.

“That's me,” he breathed.

“Yes, it is. Well, it's your body. They're getting ready to move you to a permanent care facility.”

“I don't look so good...”

Oliver laughed. “Understatement, Lance. You look like crap. But then again, you're alive, and that's enough for those who love you.”

“If I go back, then I'll wake up, right?”

“You did some major damage with that bullet,” Oliver said. “What you see there is what you'll be until you actually succumb to a natural death. And that's years away.”

“So, what, I'll just... sleep? What kind of choice is that?”

“You'll be locked in your body, yes,” he explained. “Able to hear everything around you, even able to feel touch. But you won't have the ability to react. You won't dream. You'll just... be.”

“What kind of life is that?” he asked.

The picture changed.

“Your parents pray for your life every day,” Oliver said. “They hope with all their hearts that you'll wake up some day and come back to them. Even though seeing you as you are now brings them incredible pain.”

“But you said I won't wake up.”

“They don't know that,” he said. “They'll continue to hope and wish and pray. They'll cling to the tiny chance that you'll open your eyes and all will be well. You'll be the main focus of their lives for years to come.”

“And if I die...”

“There isn't a deeper pain than what a parent feels losing a child,” Oliver said solemnly. “Your sister's death nearly destroyed them. You are all they have left.”

He blinked back tears. Either way, he'd be damned. So much pain...

An image of Chris appeared on the television screen; he was going about his duties at the hospital.

“Your friend Chris has been by your side every day,” Oliver continued. “He blames himself for not noticing your troubles. If you live, at least he'll have you to talk to, to visit. If you die...”

“He'll have to face the pain and grief of my being gone, alone.”

“Right.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “What should I do?” he whispered.

“Only you can answer that one,” Oliver said. “Hindsight is 20/20... remember I made the ultimate stupid choice myself.”

He looked at his companion. “You're dead, though... why are you here?”

“This is my... my assignment,” the young man said. “I'm here to help others, people like you, to see things clearly and to make a choice. Eventually I might be allowed to move on. But I have a lot of making-up to do.”

“How can I decide this?” he said, shaking his head.

“Search your heart,” Oliver advised. “When you finally make a decision, go through one of those doors.” He pointed to where two doors had suddenly appeared.

“Life on Earth,” he said, reading the small sign above the left door. “Next Place,” he murmured as he studied the right.

“It's up to you, Lance,” Oliver said. “There is no right or wrong choice. Just what you feel. I've got to go now, so you can think about things. It was... well, I want to say it was good seeing you again, but I wish it were under better circumstances. I just wanted you to know that I appreciated all the effort you put into my recovery, back when I was alive. Your caring meant a lot.”

“Don't leave,” he said, reaching out a hand.

“Think about your choice,” Oliver said. “Do what's in your heart.”

With that, he and the television vanished.

It didn't take long. No matter what he chose, great pain would result; he was only now beginning to understand that. He knew what awaited him back on Earth...

He took a deep breath, and approached the door. With a shaking hand he touched the doorknob; despite his trepidation, he turned it.

He crossed the threshold and passed through.


+++

A bright light flashed in Risha’s eyes, and she promptly blocked them with her arms. Her mother was laughing and holding a camera. Risha jokingly groaned.

“Mom! I’m getting married, not going to the Oscars!” she said. Her mother walked towards Risha and held her hands.

“You really do look beautiful, Rish. Look in the mirror.” Risha turned around and gasped. Her mother was right. Her dress was a white halter with gold beads accenting the neckline and straps and along the bodice. The bottom was full and long, with gold beads scattered on the train.

“Wow…” she said. “Wait till John sees me in this!” Risha was one of those girls who rarely dressed up, let alone wear a dress or skirt. In the three years John and Risha had known each other, he might have seen her wearing a skirt about 7 times.

“Nooo! He has to wait! It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!” her maid of honor, Kimmy, exclaimed. She was holding a matching veil with a stunning tiara attached. Risha gasped.

“Kimmy! I can’t afford that! Put it back!” Risha whispered loudly. Instead of putting it back, Kimmy just smiled and handed it to her.

“You don’t recognize it?” she asked. Risha studied the tiara for a bit, but quickly gave it back to Kimmy. It was Kimmy’s Miss Illinois Teen tiara.

“No! You won that! I can’t possibly wear your tiara!” Risha handed the tiara back to Kimmy.

“Why not? It’s been in storage for seven years, and it’s mine to give. Besides, consider it to be your ‘something borrowed’.”

“Awww…but I’m already wearing my grandmother’s bracelet as my ‘something borrowed’…” Risha started twirling the bracelet around her wrist. It was a gold band with diamonds encased in little swirls.

“Well…that can be your ‘something old’. Now let’s see how it looks on you.” Risha ducked her head down so Kimmy could place the tiara on her head. She fluffed out the veil, made sure the tiara was secure on Risha’s head, and turned Risha around so she could see the result. Risha smiled, and Kimmy started to giggle. Risha’s mother grabbed her camera and took another picture.

“Here she is… Mrs. John Anderson!!” Kimmy sang to the tune of the “Ms. America” theme. Risha laughed and sang along, pretending to be a weeping beauty queen.

“Can you believe it? Two more days, and then I’m married!” Risha gushed while she spun around, getting the full view of the dress. She then heard a familiar buzzing sound. It kept buzzing and wouldn’t stop, even though her mother had answered her cell phone.



Risha woke up, startled by the buzz of her pager. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. It read 6:31 AM. Normally she’d be at work by now, but she wasn’t scheduled to work that day and had been looking forward to sleeping in.

What could possibly be happening at this time in the morning? she thought. Risha pondered that question for a moment, and then looked for the nearest phone. When she found one, she called the hospital’s number. After the phone dialed, Risha heard Chris say the routine greeting that she heard every time she called.

“This is Dr. Risha Veers. I was just paged a minute ago. What’s going on?” she asked. On the other side of the line, she heard Chris sigh.

“It’s about Lance.”

+++
Time of Death by RokofAges75
Episode 18:

Time of Death


Risha drove down the street, yawning as she turned left into the employee parking lot at the hospital. She was still puzzled about the phone call from Chris earlier. Did Lance say something? Did he move his arm?

As she parked the car, Risha looked up at the sky. It was still dark. She rushed inside, knowing that it must have been really important if she was called before sunrise.

When Risha walked into Lance's room, she wasn't shocked to see Chris, Holli, and a few staff members and Lance's parents there. What shocked her was that instead of happy, smiling faces, she saw tears in their eyes. In that moment, Risha knew why she was called.

Lance was dying.

She looked at Lance and felt tears in her eyes as well. Why had he chosen that path? He had so much to live for.

Before she could dwell on that thought, she heard it. The one sound that had caused her nightmares for the past ten years. The one sound that she could never forget, no matter how hard she tried.

It was the manic sound of a person flatlining.

She distantly saw people running to Lance with defibrillators, trying to revive the fallen ER nurse. She also saw Mr. and Mrs. Bass being whisked away from their dying son, most likely to a special waiting room.

"I'm sorry, but there wasn't much we can do..."

"Too much damage to the brain..."

"Code Blue! We have a Code Blue!"

“The helmet didn't do much to help. Even if the car had hit him at a slower speed, he wouldn't have survived..."

"Lost his pressure!"

"It was a head-on collision. The driver didn't see your fiancée or his motorcycle, and even admitted to not stopping at the stop sign..."

"We're losing him!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Veers..."

"Just hang on, Lance!"

"I'm afraid we lost him, Risha..."

"Risha..."

"Risha?" Risha looked up at Holli. When had she zoned out? Holli was staring at her and had put her hand on Risha’s shoulder.

“It’s over. We have to go now…” she said.

Risha gave one final look at Lance. The attending doctor and one nurse were draping a white sheet over Lance’s body, while another nurse was unhooking Lance from the machines that were keeping him alive. All the monitors were blank, just like him.

“Goodbye, Lance,” Risha said as she walked out of the room.

+++

Ivory tried to focus on the chart in front of her and forced herself to write down what needed to be done for the patient with the broken rib. She hadn’t been able to focus since she’d arrived at work and heard that Lance Bass had passed away. True, she hadn’t known him that well, but he was one of the nurses, one of the team. And now, he was gone.

Before she could think about Lance’s death any further, the doors at the end of the hall burst open and a flurry of movement caught her attention.

“We need a doctor! Assault victim, female, mid-thirties!” Kylie called out as the paramedics wheeled a woman on a stretcher into the ER.

Ivory hurried over and helped guide the profusely bleeding woman on the stretcher into one of the trauma rooms, where she was hooked up to machines that would monitor her vitals.

“What happened?” she asked Kylie as she began to examine the wounds.

The woman was unconscious, but her blood was staining everything. Kylie rattled off the injuries, including possible broken ribs, which could have punctured a lung. One of the ribs had broken skin and looked dangerously fatal from its position. From the amount of blood pouring out of the woman, Ivory knew they’d have to work fast if they wanted her to live.

“My car…” Ivory looked down into her patient’s gray eyes, open now and clouded with pain and shock.

“Hold on, ma’am. We’re going to help you,” Ivory assured her as they began hooking her up to different monitors and X-rays were taken.

As she called out orders for one of the nurses to call radiology to schedule a MRI, then call surgery, a police officer entered the trauma room and greeted her.

“Is she awake?” he asked Ivory, gesturing to the woman.

Ivory looked over at him and nodded. “We’re trying to stabilize her right now, so if you’d like to wait a bit…”

“No, I can talk to you now,” the woman spoke in a scratchy, breathless voice. “Please.”

Ivory shrugged, and the officer stepped up and took out a pen and pad of paper.

“Mrs. Lowell, I’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened earlier today,” Officer Henry spoke to Ivory’s patient while Ivory stood by, keeping an eye on the woman’s sats.

Though she was currently more stable than critical, there was a strong possibility that there was blood leaking into the woman’s lungs, which could internally suffocate her. Ivory needed to get an MRI done to see the full extent of the damage, but she knew from the woman’s low blood pressure that there was bleeding somewhere. And the rib looked disturbingly dangerous and in immediate need of treatment. Being an ER doctor, Ivory had been able to pop it back under the skin, but Abie Lowell needed a proper surgeon to ensure everything was going to be okay. Unfortunately, the police needed Abie’s account of the car-jacking she had been a victim of earlier before anything could be done.

“I was… waiting at the… traffic light,” Abie spoke, gasping a little. “All of a sudden… a man broke open the window. He had dark blonde hair to his chin, kind of curly… brown eyes… He was wearing a brown shirt… with the word Fubu on it… um… I think he was wearing jeans.” She paused to try to breathe easier, and Ivory adjusted the tube for her. “Thanks, doctor… Could you call my husband please? His number’s in my cell phone. It says Dan.” When Ivory nodded, the woman turned back to the officer. “He told me to get out, but I refused. I just remember pain… lots of pain… and being thrown out of the car… then I woke up here.”

Henry jotted everything down then smiled at Abie. “We’re going to do everything we can do to find the man who did this, ma’am. Thank you for helping.”

Abie nodded. Then her hands flew to her throat as she began to gasp. Ivory looked up at the monitors. Her heart rate was tachy, and she realized a rib really must have punctured a lung. “We need to get her stabilized, now! She needs to get up to surgery! Let’s intubate her; she can’t breathe!”

After five minutes of frantic intubation and yelling at the morons in radiology who were putting her patient in line to be examined, Ivory managed to stabilize Abie and get her a priority slot for the MRI.

“Okay, people!” Ivory turned to those in the trauma room with her. “She’s next in line up in radiology, and then she’ll be examined by a surgeon. I’m calling surgery so they can send a doctor to meet you up at the end of the MRI.” She looked down into Abie’s pain-filled eyes. “Mrs. Lowell, you’re going to be treated and prepped for surgery. We’re going to do everything it takes to get you back on your feet, okay?”

Abie began to nod, but her eyes rolled back in her head. At the same time, the heart rate monitor began beeping wildly.

“She’s coding! Get me the crash cart,” Ivory called to one of the nurses, who hurried off to get one. “Come on, Abie, don’t die on me,” Ivory muttered as she pressed on the woman’s chest.

The heart monitor continued to beep while her blood pressure bottomed out, and Ivory glanced over as the nurse wheeled in the crash cart.

“Charge it,” Ivory ordered and grabbed the paddles. As she pressed them to Abie’s chest and watched it rise, she noted that nothing changed on the monitor. “Again!” and then, “Again!”

After nearly thirty minutes with no heart rate, Ivory sighed and looked over at the clock. “Time of death, 12:23.”

As she left the trauma room, leaving a dead woman behind her, Ivory couldn’t help but think that death was filling the hospital today. First Lance, now her own patient. When she spotted Brian, she pasted a smile on her face.

“What happened?” he asked immediately.

She shrugged. “I lost a patient. A woman, assaulted during a car-jacking.” She looked over at one of the nurses that had worked with her on Abie. “Susan? Did you get through to Mrs. Lowell’s husband?”

Susan nodded. “Yeah. He’s on his way in, but he doesn’t know what happened.”

“Guess I’m the lucky one who gets to tell him, huh?” Ivory murmured.

Brian rubbed her arm comfortingly. “You can do it. I’m sorry that you couldn’t save her, though. After Lance…”

“Yeah, I know. I was just thinking about how death, doom, and gloom-filled today has been,” she told him.

He gave her a small smile. “We must be crazy to want to work here, then, huh?”

“Must be,” she responded dryly.

“Dr. Harnett?” one of the nurses called out to her. “Mr. Lowell is here. He’s in the waiting room around the corner.” The nurse gestured in the direction of the room.

Ivory nodded. “Thanks.” She turned to Brian. “I hate this part.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, sensing she needed comfort, too. “I have faith in you,” he murmured. “We’ll go see some comedy tonight, after work. You know, to forget all about today.”

She smiled. “I’d rather just stay in. With you.” When he nodded, she sighed and squared her shoulders. “Well, here I go.”

Brian watched her go and mentally wished her luck. Telling a patient’s family that they had just lost a loved one was one of the only parts of his job he could do without. Remembering his dream, he frowned and rubbed a hand over his heart. Don’t think about it, he reminded himself and headed off to find his own patient.

+++

Ivory entered the waiting room and spotted a man pacing the length of the room nervously. She pegged him to be around forty and watched as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair.

“Mr. Lowell?”

He turned and hurried over. “My wife. They said my wife was brought here. Is she okay? Are you her doctor? What happened?”

Ivory gestured to a chair. “Mr. Lowell, why don’t you have a seat and I’ll explain why your wife was brought here today?”

“Dan, call me Dan,” he told her and sat. When Ivory took the seat next to him, he looked at her expectantly. “What’s going on? Where’s Abie?”

Ivory took a deep breath and steeled herself. “Mr. Low—Dan. When Abie was brought here, she had broken ribs and a punctured lung.” She heard his breath suck in sharply and continued, knowing she couldn’t stop. “She was a victim of an armed carjacking this morning, and, when they brought her here, we had stabilized her respiration and were getting ready to send her up to be scanned for internal injuries. She was to head to surgery afterwards, to repair her lung. Unfortunately, there was probably internal bleeding that we were unable to be certain of before she coded. I’m so sorry, Dan.”

Dan Lowell was trembling, his eyes full of tears, pain, and shock. “She’s… gone? Oh, God. Abie… my Abie’s gone?”

As the newly-widowed man broke down and sobbed, Ivory sat by his side, unable to prevent his grief from affecting her. After several moments, he lifted a tear-stained face to hers.

“What do I tell our kids? How do I tell them that their mother is gone?”

He turned away to stare blindly at a wall. Ivory could tell he wasn’t really seeing anything, except maybe his once-intact family. She knew he didn’t really want an answer to his questions, just someone to sit with him.

“Katie’s only three, and Jamie’s a year-and-a-half. We waited to have kids, you know,” he told her, his voice wavering. “We’ve been married for thirteen years, but we wanted to wait until she was established in the courts. So we had Katie and then Jamie, but now…” He began to sob again and buried his face in his hands. “How am I supposed to make it through without her? How are Katie and Jamie going to handle not having Abie around? How do you raise your kids without a mom?”

Ivory didn’t know and couldn’t tell him, so she continued to sit with him. In her head, she tried not to think that, if she ever got a hold of that bastard who’d hurt Abie Lowell, he was a dead man. Of course, that wasn’t the type of comfort Dan Lowell needed at the moment.

“Dan, if you have any more questions or simply need someone to talk to, I can give you the number for a very good grief counselor here at the hospital,” she told him when he seemed a bit more calm.

He wiped his face and nodded. “Yeah, thanks. Thank you, Doctor. You tried to save her, so I have to thank you for that.”

Ivory stood. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“But you tried. That’s all that counts.” Dan turned to stare at the wall across from him again, and Ivory left the grief counselor’s card on the table next to him and hurried out.

+++

As Risha sat down at her desk, the shocking event of that morning still played in her mind. She couldn't believe that Lance had died. He had seemed so much better the night before.

Risha opened the bottom drawer of her desk and took out a small picture frame. She twirled her ring as she set the picture on her desk and looked at it. It was of John and her, a few days before John's accident. They looked so happy then... why couldn't it have stayed the way it had been?

"I'm sorry, John... I couldn't save him... just like I couldn't save you..." Risha muttered to the picture. She continued to look at the photograph. They were so young back then. The past ten years had been rough, and she had changed so much.

"Risha?" she heard a voice say. She instantly threw the picture in the bottom drawer and closed it. When the drawer was closed, she looked up toward the voice. It was Kevin.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Risha nodded. She hated lying, but she would have felt uncomfortable if she said everything she felt to someone she barely knew.

"Are you sure?”

By looking at his eyes, Risha knew that Kevin wasn't buying her act. Risha brushed the excess hair from her eyes.

"Yeah... I'll be fine. No need to worry," she said, forcing a smile. She knew that it wasn't working and could tell that Kevin felt the same way.

"Well, okay. But if you ever need to talk to someone, I'll be here to listen. Okay?" Kevin gave her a comforting smile and walked out of the door, leaving Risha to the emptiness that she wasn't sure she needed.

When the coast was clear, Risha opened the bottom drawer up again, and checked the picture frame for cracks. There weren't any. With a sigh of relief, Risha looked at the picture again.

"I'm sorry, John, but I'm not ready to open up yet..."

+++

Nick sighed as he went to check a little girl’s vitals. She was a little Hispanic girl with curly black hair and big brown eyes, a bit of what he figured Isabel had to have looked like when she was younger. She was calm for now. Her parents, however, were yelling frantically in Spanish.

Brian looked at Nick. “I’ll take care of the little girl. See if you can get from them specifically what’s wrong.”

Nick nodded. “Do you understand English?” He watched the parents, who were frantic and arguing amongst themselves. Arguing - that was something he knew better than he ever wanted to, no matter what language it was in.

“Ayude a mi hija tomó también muchas píldoras durmientes porque ella pensó eran caramelo que ella tomó también muchos y hará que su enfermo por favor ayuda a mi hija! (Help, my daughter took too many sleeping pills because she thought they were candy! She took too many, and it will make her sick! Please help my daughter!)” the mother yelled frantically. (AN: Sorry about the rough Spanish; all I had were the online translators that don’t work all 100% well.)

“Can you say that in English?”

The mother and father stared at him in confusion, and the young blonde medical student looked to Dr. Littrell for help. “You know Spanish?”

“Not since high school.”

“Shit, all I know is some German.”

“Nick, go get Isabel! Maybe she can translate. From the mother’s tone, the child swallowed something serious. I need to run a few tests, but I can’t if I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

Nick nodded and ran off down the hall.

+++

Isabel sat at a table in the café, enjoying her lunch break. She wished Nick could enjoy it with her, but she’d heard he had a patient with Brian to take care of. She yawned tiredly; she had pulled an all-nighter and was definitely feeling the results. She looked like she felt - worn out and exhausted. She had heard the news that Lance had died as well, and although she did not know him terribly well, it had hit her hard. He had shot himself cause he felt he couldn’t handle it all. She knew all too well how overwhelming that could become, the only difference being that she hadn’t let it consume her like he had.

“Izzy!”

She looked up and raised a brow at Nick with a small grin as she saw her boyfriend run up to her. She definitely needed to talk to him about working on that nickname.

“Hey,” she smiled, brightening a bit at his appearance. “Your patient taken care of?”

“No, Iz, how fluent are you in Spanish?”

“Pretty well, growing up with it-”

He grabbed her and pulled her along behind him. It would almost have been comical if she hadn’t sensed it was important. Still, Nick was such a dork sometimes that it was endearing. “Good, I need you to translate for us.”

They headed for Trauma 1, where Brian and the family were waiting. As Isabel went to talk to the parents, Mariah came up and pulled Nick aside. “You have a call on line one, Nick.”

Nick stared at her. “I have a child to-”

“It’s your mother; she sounds frantic.”

He sighed, “Alright, I’ll take it.” He could hear Isabel translate to Brian that the little girl had taken too many NighQuil capsules as candy. Her parents had found her as she was finishing them and rushed her here. Nick went to the phone as Brian nodded at him in understanding as he took care of the little girl, Gina. Nick felt himself become tense and unconsciously started humming Nirvana’s “All Apologies,” a habit he had picked up to calm himself a long time ago.

Isabel smiled at Brian as he thanked her, and she waited for Nick, also staying in case she needed to translate anything else for them. Her eyes gazed upon the young blond man before her.

“Hi, Mom…” She watched his demeanor shift into one of hurt and frustration in seconds. “No, I don’t know where Aaron is… or where your glasses are…. why would I know? Mom, I don’t even live in Florida with you guys now, how would I know? I can’t talk right now..”

“She’s coding!” they both heard Brian cry.

“Mom… Mom! I can’t talk right now; I have a trauma!” The look of sadness in those ocean eyes was heartbreaking. “Mom, of course I still love you… I’m not abandoning you! Mom, remember I’m interning at a hospital… yes… yes, I have to go now… bye!” He hung up, but before she could say anything, he just sighed and said, “I’ll call you tonight, Izzy; thanks for the help,” before rushing to help Brian pump the stomach of the little girl.

But anyone with eyes could see there was something darker seeded within the seemingly happy and content young man before her, something that caused him a pain he chose to hide from everyone. Including her.

+++

When Joey Fatone walked into the ER that afternoon, he could tell instantly that something was wrong. The waiting room was its usual mass of chaos, the seats full of people waiting to be triaged and taken to rooms. But the main desk area was unusually quiet.

Joey ran that desk; he knew better than anyone what went on there. It was the heart of the ER; all of the doctors and nurses stopped there or passed by constantly, and therefore, it was as much a gossip post as a place of administration. It was where the staff stopped to chat as they handled patient charts, ordered tests, or waited for lab results. Usually it was teaming with action, people in scrubs milling around it like ants, ten different conversations flowing at the same time.

Today, the desk looked lifeless.

There was life there, of course; Joey’s stomach performed its now familiar somersault when he saw the top of Mariah’s head behind her computer screen. She had worked the desk this morning and would be getting off now that he was there to take over. There were a few other staff members around, filling out paperwork or erasing newly-discharged patients from the large marker board they used to keep track of them all. But no one was talking.

Melissa was among them, and she spotted Joey right away. Setting down her pen, she walked briskly over to meet him.

A wave of guilt swept through him as he watched her; last night still haunted him. The phone call from Mariah. The late night visit to Mariah’s apartment. The lies he had told Mel. The dream.

It had taken him a long time to get back to sleep after he’d woken up from that dream – long enough to think things through and come to a decision. He had to break up with Melissa. For her sake, not his. She was looking for a serious relationship, someone she could settle down with. That someone was not him. The affair with Mariah made him sure he wasn’t ready to commit to one person, and Melissa deserved better than him. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he knew that’s exactly what he would end up doing if they stayed together. Even if he ended things with Mariah, Melissa was destined to find out – he had watched enough movies to know that the scorned woman always did – and then she would be devastated. He would just tell her the half-truth – that a long-term commitment wasn’t going to work for him. And that it was his fault, not hers.

He’d been all set to do that today, but when he saw the look on Melissa’s face, every word he had planned to say to her erased from his brain. She looked serious. Too serious. He felt his heart start to race as she walked toward him.

She knew.

His mind joined his heart, racing with worried thoughts and questions. How could she have found out? Had Mariah said something? Was she coming over to dump him on the spot?

“H-hey,” he greeted her weakly, not knowing what else to say. He braced himself, waiting for her hurt tirade to begin.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with sadness, and he felt his stomach turn again. But the words that came out of her mouth next would make him forget everything he had been thinking about on the drive in.

“Lance Bass died this morning.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. When they did, Joey was shocked. “What?!” he asked in disbelief, sure he must have heard her wrong. That was about the last thing he’d expected to hear from her right then. But when she just nodded, slowly, he knew he’d heard right. “Oh my-“ He raised his hand to his head, his fingers brushing the gelled tips of his hair. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Joey had known Lance quite well. As a desk clerk, he interacted with the nurses often, and he had always gotten along especially well with the two male nurses, Lance and Chris. In the good old days, the three of them could always be found crowded around the desk, going over the highlights of the last Carolina Panthers football game, rating the female nurses on how well their asses looked in scrubs, or debating whether or not Dr. O’Brien needed a Midol for her perpetual state of PMS.

Things hadn’t been quite the same around the ER since Lance’s attempted suicide that October. But ever since Thanksgiving, things had been looking up. Joey had heard that Lance was starting to show some improvement. He shook his head at Melissa now, trying to understand. “What happened??”

She mirrored his movements, shaking her head as well. “I don’t know too many details,” she said, her voice a grave hush. “From what heard, he just coded early this morning, and… they couldn’t get him back.”

Joey swallowed hard and reached out to her, resting his hands on her upper arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. The ER nurses were a tight group, and Melissa had been working with Lance just as long as he had. In fact, she and Lance had started at Memorial the same year, when they were both fresh out of nursing school. She had to be taking this hard. “Can I get you anything?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I’m alright, thanks. I need to get back to work anyway.” She shrugged, her shoulders falling limply, and heaved a sigh. “Life goes on, you know?”

Joey watched her walk away, his stomach somersaulting again. He knew he wasn’t going to get around to that important talk with Mel today. She needed time to recover from this; he wasn’t going to add a break-up to the grief already on her plate.

Forcing himself to turn, he headed towards the desk, dreading having to come face to face with Mariah. Ever since they’d started sleeping together, he hated being around her at work. He was constantly on edge, paranoid, afraid that the rest of his co-workers would be able to tell something was going on. They know… they know, the voices in his head threatened. Mariah liked to play on his fears; whenever she thought no one else was looking, she’d catch his eye and wink or waggle her eyebrows, lick her lips, do anything to make him blush and send his stomach rolling all over the place.

But today, when he came up to the receptionist’s station… nothing. Even Mariah was subdued by the tragedy the ER family had suffered. She glanced up from her computer, and when she saw him, all she said was, “Hi. I guess you heard?”

Joey nodded solemnly, swallowing again.

Mariah pursed her full, red lips. “Well, I’m off. Have a good shift.” Then she slid out of her chair, grabbed her purse from beneath the desk, and only brushed against him slightly as she walked off, her narrow heels clicking against the tile. Joey watched her leave, astonished by her lack of flirtation.

Then again, the death of a co-worker had that effect on people.

+++

Ivory made her way back to the emergency room area after a late lunch and hoped that not too many more people would manage to get injured and show up at the hospital. There were only four hours left before she could clock out, and, after seeing Chris Kirkpatrick and Dan Lowell’s devastated faces, she needed to be away from the hospital. Spending time with Brian would be a great way to not think about work and life - or, rather, death, she mused - and she was looking forward to it.

“Just four hours, God. That’s all I’m asking for,” she muttered as she made her way to the nurses’ station, hoping that they wouldn’t give her a complicated patient.

As she reached the desk, the emergency room doors snapped open, and she had a moment of déjà vu before she hurried towards Howie and the man he was wheeling in on a stretcher.

“I’m fine! Let me off of this damn gurney!” The man appeared to be in his late twenties with dark blonde curls and angry brown eyes. He was also covered in blood and raging.

“He was trying to rob a jewelry store when the cops caught him,” Howie explained to Ivory as he and AJ wrestled the man’s hands and legs down to stop his thrashing.

“He pulled a gun on them and probably would have shot someone, but the cops shot him down,” AJ spoke through gritted teeth, trying to keep the man down. “I think they said he jacked someone’s car earlier today.”

Ivory stopped just inside the doors to the trauma room and stared while two nurses began to attach wires to monitor the man’s vitals. She saw the brown shirt, the blonde curls, and brown eyes and remembered Dan and Abie Lowell. This was the bastard who’d killed a mother and taken her from her family. Katie and Jamie Lowell were out there without a mother to care for them, and Dan Lowell was without the woman he loved. And it was all this man’s fault.

“Dr. Harnett!” Susan, one of the nurses who was helping with the patient, snapped Ivory out of her thoughts. “He’s not conscious, and his heart rate is dropping. What do you want us to do?”

Ivory knew she was supposed to save the man, even if he was a carjacking, mother-killing bastard. She’d taken an oath to care for human life, but sometimes it really bothered her. If she did nothing, she’d give Brunson a heart attack and probably lose her job. On the other hand, it would be justice, wouldn’t it?

As she stood mentally debating the issue, she missed the way Susan narrowed her eyes when she noted Ivory making no move to help the man lying on the table, his life in her hands.

“Where’s the bullet lodged?” Ivory finally asked, making her decision.

An intern had been sent in to help her, and he turned from the X-ray. “Left side of the chest. It looks like it’s inside the pericardium. If we don’t stabilize him and get him up to surgery fast, he’ll die.”

Ivory nodded and instructed the nurse to inject saline and medication to try to stabilize the heart. She noted the copious amounts of blood that were covering her hands and asked Susan to add actual blood to the fluids being inserted into the patient’s blood stream. Between the bullet and all the blood lost, she didn’t think they’d be able to get him up to surgery. Maybe she had better get Brunson in here to cart him up to surgery.

“His name’s Carl,” Susan murmured, as she watched Ivory work.

Ivory turned away from the X-rays and barely glanced at the other woman as she moved to call Brunson. “Excuse me?”

Susan gestured to the man lying on the table between them. “His name’s Carl. He’s a living, breathing human being. I became a nurse so I could help people survive their accidents. What’s your excuse?”

Ivory stared at the nurse, not sure what the hell she was talking about. Before she could formulate a response, every monitor in the room began beeping crazily.

“He’s tachy,” the intern called out.

“Blood pressure’s dropping…”

“Oxygen sats’ falling… ninety one…”

Ivory added more meds to the dosage, but, when the sats continued dropping, she knew there was something else going on.

“Is there another wound we’re missing?” she wondered, running her hands over Carl’s chest. There was too much blood, making a wound impossible to see.

“There’s another one!” the intern called out, as he searched the X-rays.

“Where?”

“In the third intercostal space… Shit.”

“What?” Ivory was seriously going to kill this intern if he didn’t stop beating around the bush.

He looked at her then at the heart rate monitor. “The bullet looks like it’s lodged between the ventricles of his heart. Heart rate’s at forty three.”

Ivory stared down at the blood-covered chest and spotted the small hole where the second bullet must have entered. She was going to have to do a lot of fancywork to save this man, especially since she’d decided she’d rather let the courts punish him.

“All right. There’s no time to move him up to surgery, so we’re going to have to do this here and very carefully,” Ivory began. “Somebody call Brunson…”

+++

Still dressed in his EMT uniform, Howie Dorough sat behind the wheel of his SUV, waiting for his daughter outside of her school. He was glad he’d made it there on time, for the last paramedic’s call he’d been out on had been particularly messy. A carjacker, shot by the police while trying to flee. AJ was still at the hospital, giving his statement, which was really irrelevant since the ambulance had gotten there long after the action had taken place. But in a situation like this, the police wanted to interview everyone involved. Howie had been lucky to get away before Danielle’s school let out.

He’d wanted to pick Danielle up himself that day so that he’d have a chance to talk to her. But now that he was here, he was a nervous wreck, to put it lightly. He didn’t know how he was going to explain to Dani his feelings for Rita and the fact that he wanted to marry her. He didn’t want Dani to think that Rita was trying to take the place of her mother, and even though Dani and Rita got along great, he worried that she would be jealous of Rita’s place in his life. For the longest time, Dani had been the only “woman” in his life.

Seeing Dani exit the school at last, Howie leaned over and unlocked her door. “Hi princess,” he greeted her

“Hi Daddy,” Dani greeted him cheerfully.

“How was school?” he asked her.

Howie let the six-year-old ramble on about the events of her day; all the while, he tried to get up his courage to bring up the marriage subject.

“Sweetie, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” Howie said, catching a lull in the conversation.

“What is it, Daddy?” the little girl asked curiously.

“You like Rita, don’t you?”

“Yeah, she’s nice,” Dani said.

“I like her too. I’ve decided I wanted to ask her to marry me. Are you okay with that?”

Howie wasn’t prepared for the reaction he got. However, he was thrilled.

Dani’s eyes lit up. “Yay!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Does that mean she’ll come to stay with us?”

“Well yes, honey, provided she says yes, she would move in with us. She’ll be your stepmother. But you’ll still have your Mommy too. You’ll just have two mommies.”

“When are you going to ask her?”

“I was thinking Christmas.”

“Can I help you pick out the ring?”

That caught Howie off-guard. He hadn’t even thought about the engagement ring because he was worried about how Dani would react to the news. But since she was fine with it, he saw no harm in letting her help choose the ring.

“I can’t think of anyone else I would want to help me,” Howie told her with a smile.

+++

“Time of death… 16:22.”

Ivory yanked the gloves off her hands and removed the bloody gown. Two deaths in one day lay on her hands. She knew it was a personal record for her and hated that death seemed to be on the agenda for the day. She avoided looking into Holli Brunson’s eyes, knowing the chief would probably berate her on something. In Brunson’s eyes, Ivory could do no right, and here she had been unable to save a man right in front of the chief.

She turned to her team. “Good work, guys. I’m sorry we couldn’t save him. You save some, you lose some,” she added, watching the nurses clean up around the body and cover him.

“You lose some if you want to,” Susan muttered, hoping Ivory hadn’t heard her. She was convinced Dr. Harnett had wanted the man to die. Sure, the guy had shot the poor woman who’d come in earlier, but that was no excuse to hesitate long enough for a man to die.

Brunson looked at the nurse sharply. “What makes you say that?”

Ivory hadn’t heard Susan’s comment as she’d already left the trauma room, so she didn’t hear Brunson’s question. She was tired of the death and was even more desperate for her shift to end. If it wasn’t too much to ask, she hoped God was listening because she didn’t want another patient to die on her watch - for at least a week.

+++

That Saturday, Howie awoke Dani early and took her out to breakfast before dropping by his favorite jeweler.

“Which one do you like, Dani?” Howie asked.

“That one,” Dani said immediately, pointing to a ring on the left side of the case.

Howie directed the jeweler to Dani’s choice, and he removed it from the case for Howie to inspect.

He turned it, admiring how the diamonds sparkled as they caught the light.

“What do you think, Daddy? Do you like it?”

Howie smiled. “I think it’s perfect,” he said.

“Beautiful choice, sir,” the jeweler commented. “What color box would you like?”

“Black,” Howie replied.

The jeweler finished packaging up the ring while Howie finished writing the check for the payment. Finally, he presented Howie with the ring.

“Do you think Rita will like it, Daddy?” Dani asked him.

“I hope so, sweetheart,” Howie said.

He then lost himself in thought at where his life was going. If Rita said yes, he would be the happiest man on the face of the earth. He would have everything he ever wanted. He sometimes wondered how he’d deserved for his life to work out so well. But, he thanked God everyday for it.

+++

“I’m being what?!” Ivory stared at Siara, trying to comprehend what the other woman had just said to her.

She was being investigated for doing her job? What the heck was going on? Ivory couldn’t understand it at all.

“Apparently, someone told Brunson that your patient, the carjacker, could have lived, but you didn’t do your job to the best of your ability,” Siara elaborated. “I just heard Brunson talking about it to one of the members on the board. They’re going back through all of your notes.” When Ivory’s face turned red enough that Siara was convinced she would start steaming visibly, she held up her hands in defense. “Hey, don’t kill the messenger. I just thought I’d let you know what’s going on.”

Ivory nodded, unable to speak for fear that she would regret her words. “Thanks,” she managed through gritted teeth.

As she watched Siara walk away, Ivory stewed. Who had told Brunson that she hadn’t done her job properly? She’d done everything she could to save the man’s life, but it wasn’t her fault the heart wasn’t good at handling a foreign object lodged in it. No one on her team had realized there was another bullet in the heart until it was too late. They couldn’t fault her for that, could they? Besides, hadn’t Brunson been there to ascertain what had happened? Hadn’t she been the one who told Ivory to call the death?

She knew she was already on Brunson’s shit list because of her “altercation” with a patient’s father weeks ago. This was sure to move her up to the top of that list. She had to know who had ratted her out if for no other reason than to set them straight. She’d done everything possible, and that hesitation? It wouldn’t have saved Carl’s life if she’d jumped right in to the situation because that second bullet would have killed him no matter what the doctors—ER or surgery—would and could have done.

Deciding to keep her eyes and ears open, Ivory headed towards the exam room where her current patient was waiting for her. As she passed another exam room, she heard voices. Pausing to note that there was no patient in that room, she was about to move on when she heard her name.

“I had to tell the chief that she didn’t do her job properly,” a woman’s voice explained.

There was a sigh. “Susan, you’re new here, so I don’t think you know exactly who it is you just put under investigation. Dr. Harnett’s a great doctor with a stellar temper. If she ever finds out you are the reason she might lose her job, she’s going to make your life hell. Besides, you don’t know for sure that she meant for the patient to die.”

“I watched her stop and stare at the guy. She didn’t move for over a minute! She could’ve saved the guy if we’d made use of that minute,” Susan defended her decision.

Ivory decided she’d heard enough. Whoever the other woman Susan was talking to was, she was right about the temper. It was all she could do to stop herself from running into the room and clocking the interfering nurse.

“Save it, Harnett,” she told herself. “You’ve got a patient to deal with. Confrontation is for later.”

+++

Her opportunity came as she was speaking to another nurse about the medication that one of her patients needed. Susan returned to the nurses’ station and was flipping through a chart, so Ivory quickly finished up and thanked the other nurse. She counted to ten in her head and managed a smile.

“Susan?” She waited until the nurse looked up and acknowledged her. “Hi. I was wondering if I could speak to you for a few minutes? Do you have time?”

Susan was starting to look nervous, but nodded. “Sure. How about right now?”

“Absolutely. Let’s go get some fresh air,” Ivory suggested.

When the two women were standing outside the hospital, away from the ER ambulance bay, Ivory turned to the nurse.

“I wanted to thank you for being so professional when we worked on the carjacker,” she began. “I know you understood that we did everything we could to save him, and I’m glad that you took in stride. You’re new here, and the first few deaths you witness can really get to you.”

“His death didn’t get to me because we took all the necessary measures to save him,” Susan replied. “It’s because you didn’t do your job the best you could and let a man die. That’s what’s bothering me so much, Doctor Harnett.”

Ivory narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t been here long enough, Nurse Roberts, to tell me how to do my job. I did everything in my power to save that man. Maybe I didn’t want to because he’d killed an innocent wife and mother earlier that day, but I knew I still had to do my job. And I did.”

“You hesitated! That’s not doing your job!”

“And your job is not to snitch out every doctor that does something you may not agree with!” Ivory countered. She could feel herself turning red and knew her temper was close to snapping.

“It is if a patient could have lived!”

“He died because there was a bullet in his damn heart, and we didn’t see it until it was too late!” Ivory failed to keep her voice low.

Susan shook her head, her eyes flashing angrily. “If you hadn’t waited to begin working on him, we could’ve found that bullet soon enough to save him. Admit it, Doctor. You wanted him to die because it was your own little form of justice.”

“That’s not true! That’s-that’s bullshit!” Ivory sputtered.

Susan raised a brow. “We’re not supposed to pass judgment on patients, we’re supposed to save their lives. You didn’t do that when you stopped before helping him. I had to tell the chief because I think she should know what really happened.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Ivory wondered. “Since when do nurses have self-righteous attitudes? Especially ones fresh out of the nursing program. I’ve been here longer than you, and you can bet your ass they won’t believe your word over mine.”

“Oh yeah? Then why are you sweating over this?” Susan asked with a smirk. Shaking her head, she turned to walk back into the hospital. “Good luck, Dr. Harnett. I hope justice works both ways,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing inside the building.

Ivory saw red and turned to kick the wall. “What a bitch. We’ll see who comes out on top with justice,” she muttered.

Knowing she was useless to patients when she was this angry, she set off to walk around the building, hoping the cold air would cool her temper.

+++

Chris read the Departmental memo one more time, still unwilling to process the words.


To All Staff members, All Departments:
Today at 1:30 pm a brief memorial service will be held for Lance Bass, ER Nurse, in the hospital chapel. Any members who wish to attend will be allowed to do so as long as their duties are not neglected. Condolence messages may be left for the family at the service.
- Holli Brunson


A brief memorial service... for a brief life, ended far too soon. The words on the paper blurred for a moment, and he wiped his eyes clear of wetness. He could still hear the words announcing his best friend's death, still feel the overwhelming sense of loss. The look on Lance's parents faces as they, in turn, were told the news. The empty feeling deep in his gut as he realized he'd never see or speak to Lance again.

He'd been asked to do the eulogy at the memorial service. He'd protested at first, but then realized that no one knew Lance better. It was the last, final favor he could do for his friend. It was also the toughest thing he'd ever had to face.

Glancing at the time, he realized there was no more delaying. With a heavy heart, he headed towards the tiny chapel, wondering how on Earth he was going to keep it together in front of his peers.

His journey ended quicker than he'd wanted; no one else had arrived yet. The floral displays at the front of the chapel were tasteful and simple; a framed photograph of Lance rested on an easel on the opposite side of the podium. Chris couldn't bring himself to look at the smiling image.

Luckily, people began to filter in soon thereafter. Chris was a bit surprised, and gratified, to see the large number of faces before him. Suddenly, it was time. After wiping his hands on his shirt and clearing his throat several times, he stepped up to the podium.

“Thanks for coming,” he began awkwardly. “We're here to say goodbye to one of Atlantic's own, Lance Bass. He was a familiar sight in the ER; he was always quick to do any task asked of him, without complaint. He thought nothing of giving his all, whether it was reassuring a worried family or working an extra shift to help out when things got crazy. He was also a very private person, who never troubled others with his own difficulties. I think that-” Chris stopped, the words stuck in his throat. Emotions threatened to overwhelm, but he gripped the edges of the podium and pushed them back. After several seconds, he forced himself to continue.

“I think that if he shared his life a little more, maybe he wouldn't have felt as desperate and alone as he did in the end. Maybe that's something for all of us to think about. I was his friend; I should have seen how troubled he was. But I didn't. I took things for granted, things I'll never know again. Maybe that's a reminder for everyone here. To not take each other for granted, and to be brave enough to open up to others when we feel there's no hope. Maybe we should take a look at those around us... really look. Reach out a hand. Life's too short to make the journey alone.” He drew a shaky breath. “If we remember that, then Lance's death won't be in vain.”

He stepped down, signaling the end of the eulogy. He heard the sounds of movement and subdued voices as the attendees rose from their seats. He looked up a minute later, seeing a few people lingering.

Jaela Miller and Addie Burke, fellow ER nurses, were talking quietly off to the side, while Doctors O'Brien, Parker and Littrell were at the condolences box, preparing to write notes to the family. Dr. Richardson was waiting by the door, no doubt for Dr. O'Brien to finish.

Richardson caught his glance and gave him a small nod; Chris tried to return a smile but it didn't quite manifest. But he knew the surgeon understood.

It was then that he noticed the quiet figure in the last row. Even in the dim light of the chapel she looked pale; he wondered at her stricken look.

Risha Veers had surprised him with her reaction to Lance's death. He'd figured that, to her, Lance was just another case. After all, they hadn't known one another.

Still, he knew she had fought extremely hard for Lance when he'd first been brought in; she'd literally saved his life. It had been a miracle he'd survived; everyone said so. In the end it had been in vain, but at least she'd tried.

She had been in the room when Lance had been pronounced. He'd seen her reaction, and wanted to ask if she was okay, but she'd fled before he could say a word. The few times he'd seen her since, she had been even more withdrawn and somber than usual. It was a puzzle.

“That was a nice eulogy,” Jaela said, startling him.

“It was,” Addie agreed. “Simple but thought-provoking.”

“Thanks,” he said uncertainly.

“I know I'll miss him around the ER,” Addie continued. “You could always count on him to lend a hand, like you said.”

“Take care, Chris. See you next shift,” Jaela said, touching him on the arm briefly.

He managed a nod as the two women left.

“Are you okay?” came a soft voice behind him.

He turned, surprised to see Risha.

“Yeah, I'm good,” he replied.

She waited a moment. “I don't think that's really true,” she said. “No one can do a eulogy for someone close and be 'good' with it.”

He shifted uncomfortably. No one had really asked how he had been holding up, and he wasn't sure of the truth. “I guess I'm as good as can be expected,” he answered.

She accepted his reply, then gazed at him with sorrow-filled eyes. “I'm really sorry for your loss,” she said. “I know that this is all like a whirlwind to you... but if you want to talk or anything, afterwards, well... I'm here. It's just a shame that this ended up like it did.”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice tight with emotion. They stood in an awkward silence for a bit.

“Well, I should probably get home,” she said.

“Home? Not back to work?”

“No, I'm off today.”

Chris blinked. “You came in, just for the memorial service?”

“Yes.”

It touched Chris in a way he hadn't expected. “But... you hardly knew him.”

“He still mattered to me,” she said quietly. “I... I really thought he had a chance.”

“Me too,” came the saddened reply.

“I'll see you later, then,” she said as she turned to leave.

“Risha, wait,” Chris said suddenly.

“What?”

“Will you... could you come to the funeral? It's going to be really small, just his parents and me. I'd appreciate your company.”

Her eyes widened; clearly he had surprised her. He watched emotions wash across her face, and knew that her answer would be no. His heart sank just a little more.

“I don't know... I don't do well at funerals, and-”

“Please,” he said, a bit more desperately than he wanted. “I don't think I can face this by myself.”

She searched his eyes. For a long moment, she didn't reply.

“You shouldn't be alone,” she finally said. “If it will help, then... yes, I'll come.”

He felt a surprising amount of relief at her words.

“Thanks, this means a lot. Do you know the cemetery on Adler street?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“The funeral is there at four this afternoon. Should I come pick you up, or...”

“I'll meet you there,” she said.

“Well I really appreciate this,” he said again. “And thanks for coming today.”

“It was the least I could do,” came her quiet reply. He watched her leave the chapel and sighed. Even with her support, the funeral would be nearly impossible to make it through.

+++

The small group watched as the casket was lowered into the ground. Diane Bass broke into another bout of pain-filled sobs, and her husband wrapped his arms around her. With the final words spoken, it was over.

They walked silently back to the single building on the grounds which served as a gathering place for the bereaved. Jim steered his wife to a chair and sat beside her, a devastated look on his face.

Chris couldn't think of a thing to say. They had lost their only remaining child; their hopes and prayers for Lance's recovery had been for nothing. He couldn't imagine the depth of their pain.

It was Risha that broke the silence.

“I've been thinking a lot about your son,” she said, sitting across from the grieving parents. “I'm a neurosurgeon, and I see a lot of trauma in my line of work. When he was first brought in, I was told he'd tried to commit suicide. But I have to wonder about how serious he was.”

Diane looked up, confused.

“If he truly meant to kill himself,” Risha continued, “he would have aimed better. But from the angle of the wound, I wonder if at the last moment he moved his hand. If he realized that he didn't want to die.” She looked from Diane to Jim. “The reason I even bring this up is because of how hard he fought to survive afterwards. A surgeon can only do so much. A patient's will can mean the difference between survival and demise... I've seen it hundreds of times. And one thing I'm sure of is that Lance was a fighter the entire time he was under my care.”

Chris raised his eyebrows at her statement but didn't interrupt.

“I believe that Lance didn't die by his own hand,” she said. “That, he survived. His wounds were healing nicely, and he was fairly stable. It goes against medical reason... by all rights, he should have died on my table. But he hung in there for a long time.” She studied her hands for a moment. “In the end, I think it was too much for him to overcome. I think he tried. I think he wanted to survive, but it wasn't meant to be.”

Diane Bass stared at the floor for several long minutes. At last, she raised her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said in a shaky voice. “Thank you for that, Dr. Veers.”

Jim remained silent, but there was a tiny light that rose in his eyes at the doctor's words.

Chris didn't know what to say.

Everyone stood, and Diane embraced him tightly, murmuring her thanks into his shoulder. Then, she turned and gave a quick embrace to a surprised Risha. Jim shook Chris' hand, did the same to Risha, then escorted his wife out of the building.

Chris sank back down in a chair. “Damn.”

“Chris?”

“Damn, that was hard,” he said, feeling tears starting to well. He felt a delicate touch on his arm.

“I know,” she said.

“What you said... to them...” He sniffed. “Did you really mean that?”

“Yes, I did,” she said. “I don't know if it's true, but that's what I believe.”

“I wish... I wish I just knew if he's... happy now. If he's at peace, or...” He stopped.

“I can't tell you that,” she whispered. “I wish I knew, too.”

Silent tears began rolling down his face, despite his resolve not to cry in front of her. He turned slightly, pretending to look at the white floral display that decorated the small table to the left.

Suddenly, his eye caught movement. His head snapped up as a petal broke off and began to rise.

What in the hell?

It took a moment for him to realize it wasn't a petal. He heard a small gasp from his side and knew that Risha saw it too.

A butterfly.

A tiny, pure white, inexplicable butterfly had launched itself from the flowers and now fluttered around the room.

A butterfly, in December.

Chris stood, amazed.

“But that's...”

“Impossible,” he finished.

Then he realized what had happened. He had wanted to know if Lance was all right, if he was happy. And there, fluttering above their heads, was his answer.

For the first time in four days, Chris smiled.

+++
'Tis the Season by RokofAges75
Episode 19:

‘Tis the Season


December 20

Chris took one final, wistful look at his apartment before he shut the door. It was like an island... a sanctuary away from all the lights and glitter and stupid happy songs that were everywhere he went. He made his way to his car, noting that the skies were gray... a perfect reflection of his mood. By the time he reached the hospital he was quite sure the day was going to suck. Just like they all had, since-

He shook his head, not wanting to finish that train of thought. It would be hard enough trying not to go postal with all the damned smiles he was bound to see on his fellow Atlantic staffers' faces. Gritting his teeth, he crossed the threshold to begin his workday.

“Hi Chris,” Jack said, passing him the sign-in clipboard. “Listen, you never gave me a definite answer about tomorrow night. It'll just be a few of us, after shift, heading over to Green's for a few drinks and some laughs.”

“No thanks,” came the subdued reply. “Not much in a partying mood.”

Jack’s eyes softened a bit. “Well, if you change your mind, you know you're always welcome. Six thirty.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Chris said distractedly.

He walked away, not noticing his friend's look of sympathy.

+++

“’Tis the season to be joooooo-llllllyyyyy!!” Brian grinned to himself as he stuck another sprig of mistletoe over the nurses station.

“Brian! You didn’t!”

He turned to look down at Mandie. “Of course, I did! It’s Christmas time, and mistletoe is a must because we need some major love in this emergency room!”

Mandie couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, good idea. Maybe I’ll try to get JC under one of them.”

“Under one of what?” JC wondered, coming up behind her. When he saw Brian’s work, he scowled. “Littrell, quit it. Not everyone wants your holiday cheer.”

Brian’s loony smile didn’t disappear. “Oh, JC. I think someone needs a little holiday loving!” he cheered in a sing-song voice.

“He better,” Mandie said, poking JC’s side. “And, maybe if he’s good, he’ll get some holiday loving.” She took the chart he held and headed off towards an exam room.

JC’s scowl deepened as he watched Brian hum his way off the chair he’d been using. “Mistletoe and wreaths,” he muttered, remembering the one Brian had tacked to his office door. “What’s next? Brian in a Santa suit?”

“Why, JC! You’re absolutely right!” Brian turned, grinning widely. He’d heard all of his colleague’s griping and vowed to bring holiday cheer to the man’s day. “I get to dress up and go to the children’s ward on Christmas Eve. You should come! I’m sure I could find an elf suit somewhere. Let me see, where could I get an elf outfit from?” He tapped his chin, deep in thought.

Not wanting to get sucked into his co-worker’s holiday schemes, JC escaped. Snapping his fingers, Brian turned. “I know! Wait…JC?” He looked around and, not seeing the other doctor, shrugged. “Maybe Nick could play the elf,” he said to himself, spotting the med student and waving him over.

“I’m not doing it,” Nick said as soon as he saw the light in Brian’s eyes.

Brian’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I get it. No one wants to be Santa’s helper on Christmas. It’s okay.” He shrugged and pulled out another sprig of mistletoe from his sack. “Since you don’t want to help with that, could you stick this up in that doorway over there?” He gestured. “You’re taller than me, anyway.”

Nick shrugged. “Sure.”

+++

Chris was kept hopping the entire morning; a multiple victim car accident, a few broken bones, a woman in false labor, and two hysterical patients didn't give him any time to dwell on his earlier thoughts. It wasn't until he was instructed to take his lunch break that he even noticed the disturbing change in the staff lounge.

Mistletoe. Bunches of the stuff. And garland... someone had strung yards of it along the walls. The myriad teeny tiny blinking lights on the artificial tree, nestled in the corner, gave him an instant headache. And, of course, someone had programmed endlessly looping Christmas tunes through the sound system.

He fought the urge to scream.

“Bah, humbug,” he muttered instead. “Scrooge had it right.”

“Scrooge?”

He turned around, surprised. Feeling a blush color his cheeks, he cleared his throat.

“Hi Jaela. Um, yeah... didn't mean to say that out loud.”

She smiled. “Holiday cheer getting on your nerves?” she asked.

“And then some,” he said, relieved someone understood.

“This is supposed to be a fun, happy time,” she said. “But try having a two-year old and five-year old twins and keeping presents secret.”

Chris grinned, despite himself. “No thanks. I like kids, but they get so hyper this time of year.”

“Don't I know it,” she said, fixing herself a cup of coffee. “Christmas eve and Christmas morning are fun, but I'm not sure it makes up for the stress of the rest of December.”

“Especially this December,” he commented. He winced a second later when he realized what he'd said. When he glanced at Jaela, though, he saw understanding.

“You know, he'd want you to try and have a good time,” she said gently.

“I suppose,” Chris said. “But... Jae, it's only been two weeks. I keep expecting to see him just around the corner. I mean... I can remember last year so clearly, when we had the staff party...”

“When Dr. Littrell dressed up like Santa, but his pants kept falling down because he lacked the proper girth?”

He smiled. “Yeah, that... and how much fun it all was. How much Lance and I laughed when people kept getting caught under the mistletoe. How mad Brunson was when she found out someone had spiked the punch...”

“She turned seven shades of purple,” Jaela said with a slight chuckle.

“Didn't stop her from sneaking a cup when she thought no one was looking,” he said. “I swear, Lance made dumb jokes about that for at least a week.” His expression fell. “I'd give anything to hear one of his lame jokes again, you know?”

“I know,” she said. “Just... treasure those good times. Be grateful you have those memories. And try to think of what Lance would want you to be doing right about now.”

“He'd probably be kicking my butt, telling me to get on with it already. He'd want me to make the most of the holidays.”

“Sounds like good advice.” Jaela tossed her now empty cup into the trashcan. “Although I know it's easier said than done.”

She left, and Chris let out a long sigh. He knew she was right; Lance would want him to move on. And she was also right about it being easier said than done. For the moment, he knew that his best bet would be to stay busy and not to dwell on what he'd lost.

To that end, he tossed away his empty instant-noodle cup and headed back to work.

+++

Nick smiled as the little girl got her new crutches and hobbled away on them with her father happily. A spunky girl who had broken her leg climbing up trees in the middle of December. Reminded himself of what he had been like growing up. Always hyper, always outside, always trying to do exactly what he was told not to do. When he was happy at least.

He sighed as he heard Brian sing Christmas carols happily as he decorated the halls of that particular room.

“So Nick, what are you doing for Christmas?” Brian continued humming. He was beginning to drive the staff crazy. Well, more specifically, Holli, Dr. Chasez, and Elizabeth. The whole thing was amusing, really. Besides, Brian did seem to keep the sick children in brighter spirits, like the cancer patients. The man would be a good father some day.

The young blonde’s eyes shifted away. “Probably working.”

“Actually, I don’t think they’re scheduling you, but I could be wrong.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I will anyway. I’m going to take my break.” He left immediately to escape the conversation and headed down the hall.

Nick heard a laugh and turned to spy Isabel talking to Bianca Parker down the hall. A smile immediately appeared on his face once more. It was funny how she seemed to have that effect on him so easily.

He slipped into a room, after shifting one of the many mistletoes Brian had hung about the halls to the doorframe, and waited for her to come down. He grinned as she turned and started walking in his direction. As soon as she was in reach, his arm snuck out, grabbed her, and pulled her to him under the mistletoe. She squealed in surprise, her coffee brown curls bouncing about, her eyes sparkling with surprise and laughter.

“Nick!” She swatted him playfully. “You scared me, and if Dr. Brunson sees us fooling around, she’ll have our heads on a platter. She’s in a bad mood cause of what’s happening with Ivory.”

He just smirked. “Well, it is now beyond our control.” He pointed up at the mistletoe. “She hasn’t gotten Dr. Littrell to pull them down yet, and I doubt she will.” He pulled her in for a sweet kiss, deepening it as it continued.

A loud crash disturbed them, and they both jumped, thinking it was someone who would get them in trouble… until they discovered the other young, curly-haired med student who jumped when they did. Justin, just crashing into something.

Nick shook his head. How Justin Timberlake had gotten into medical school was beyond him. It was a hard road to get to this point, and it seemed like Justin didn’t see or respect that. It sort of rubbed Nick the wrong way.

“Nick? You okay?” Isabel asked softly.

There he’d gone again, letting his thoughts take over. Nick shook his head. “I’m fine; let’s go get some food.”

They strolled along to the café together, holding each other’s hands, their fingers interlocking sweetly.

“So what are you doing for Christmas?” she asked him. “I’m going to have to deal with this big family thing.” She made a playful face. “Crazy excited family, good food, my aunt will take over the kitchen, make tamales on Christmas Eve… what about you?” Sometimes her family pushed the pressure on her, but around the holidays, they were always a blast.

There was that annoying question again. “Probably working.”

“Is your family coming up when you get off?”

“Probably not.”

Isabel frowned a bit at the abrupt tone. What was bugging him? Before she could ask him, however, Mariah approached them.

“There you are, Nick. You have a call.”

He sighed, “An important one, right?” He watched her nod. “Alright, I’ll take it.” Nick turned to Isabel and put on a smile. “I’ll meet you there after I get the call okay?”

“Okay. But hey, why don’t you join my family for Christmas, since yours isn’t coming down?”

Nick smiled at that. “I’d love that. Let me go handle this call, and then we can go back to our earlier activities.” His eyebrows wiggled in a playful, exaggerated way. He kissed her nose cutely before following Mariah to the phone. He watched Isabel go and picked up the phone.

“Yes, Mom?”

“Nickolas, why aren’t you down here yet?”

“Mom, I’m here working on my ER rotation; I can’t afford to come down. You know what this means to me.”

“You’re acting like your father, abandoning us the first chance you get.”

His ocean eyes blazed angrily. “I am NOTHING like that.” He tried to keep his tone down when he saw that his miniature outburst had attracted some of the nurses’ attention. He saw Susan watching him until she saw he noticed and then immediately looked away.

“Then come home, get control of your siblings and-”

“Isn’t that your job? I’ve worked for this for years, Mom, I can’t lose it by going back to do what dad should have done.”

“Do you even care about us anymore?” He heard her voice crack and knew she was about to cry.

“Mom, Mom, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, of course I care. I love you guys, you know that. I just can’t come down right now. I gotta go…”

She sniffed. “Don’t forget your responsibility to this family.”

He sighed again. “I won’t, Mom.”

+++

Walkin’ in a winter wonderland…

The lyrics seemed fitting as Joey walked into the ER that afternoon, a few minutes before his shift was scheduled to begin. In just a day, the department had been transformed from its usual bland sterility into a showcase for every Christmas decoration imaginable. Following the trail of garland and fake snowflakes to the admit desk, Joey knew one thing – Brian Littrell had been working that day.

The doctors typically left any holiday decorating up to the receptionists, the housekeeping department, the nurses, or whoever would do it. Brian was the exception. For the last few years, he’d headed the unofficial Christmas decorating committee, making the ER look more festive than any department store in Oceanside Mall. The “Scrooges” of the hospital – Holli Brunson and her ER cronies, Elizabeth O’Brien and JC Chasez – always complained, but the rest of the staff and the patients seemed to enjoy it. Joey certainly did. He liked Christmas decorations; he just hated putting them up. Thanks to Brian, he got to enjoy the festivities without raising a finger, which was ideal in his book.

“I see Brian’s been here,” said a voice behind him, and Joey turned to see Kylie and Josh walking in, hand in hand.

He grinned. “Looks like he has.” Looking at the couple more closely, he wondered, “Hey, what are you guys doing here? Not working today?” Neither of them were in their usual EMT uniforms; they both had jeans on underneath their winter coats.

Kylie shook her head, grinning back. “Nope. We’ve got an appointment in OB,” she said, her hand slipping inside her coat to rest on her stomach.

“Ohh… cool. Well, good luck!” said Joey, nodding to both of them. With her red hair, dark green coat, and pregnant glow, Kylie looked like she could be a Christmas decoration herself. Josh squeezed her hand tighter, and they hurried around Joey, eager to get upstairs for their appointment. Smiling as he watched them scurry off, Joey continued his leisurely pace, in no real hurry to get to his station.

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening… in the lane, snow is glistening,” he sang in his smooth baritone as he strolled up to the desk. Mariah was bending over to get her purse from her workstation. He stopped to admire the view of her delectably round ass, hugged by tight black pants, and the few inches of her smooth, tanned back that showed as her red blouse rode up. “A beautiful sight,” he continued behind her, “we’re happy tonight… walkin’ in a winter wonderland.”

Mariah straightened up and turned around, a seductive smile on her scarlet lips. “I see you noticed the decorations,” she said, gesturing around.

Joey nodded, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Stop it, stop looking at her that way, he scolded himself, knowing he had to end this, but he couldn’t help it. She was a knock-out; any man would have a hard time not staring. “Beautiful,” he commented, not just referring to the décor.

She smiled and brushed against him as she sidled around him. “Well,” she said, slowly pulling on her jacket, “I guess I’m off. You should have plenty to keep you busy; it’s been a little crazy in here today. I guess the holiday rush applies to everything, even emergencies.” She zipped the form-fitting leather jacket up slowly, her hand drifting from just below her waist up to her chest, where the usual amount of cleavage was showing. He watched its path hungrily, still unable to look away.

All of a sudden, she let out a little squeal. “Oh! Oh, no! Look, I got my hair stuck in my zipper!” she exclaimed, tugging gently at the long lock of blonde hair that seemed to have somehow woven itself into the metal teeth of her zipper. “It won’t come out! Oh, Joey, help me, please!”

Joey took a step towards her, reaching for the zipper, but she took a few steps back, still fiddling with it. He came after her, saying, “Mariah, hang on, lemme look at it. I can’t do anything if you don’t-”

She looked up suddenly, and then she gasped. “Joey! Look where we’re standing,” she said with a giggle, her eyebrows raised to the ceiling. He followed her gaze up and saw the sprig of mistletoe hanging directly over their heads.

In his head, he celebrated and cursed her all at once, realizing she had lured him to this spot on purpose. His eyes bored into hers as they met his. Did you have to do that? he chided her silently. Do you want everyone in the ER to realize what we’ve been doing? Do you want Mel to know?

But it was too late to get away now. Nick, who had just slammed the phone down at the desk, suddenly spotted them and crowed, “Ohh-ho, look who’s under the mistletoe! Kiss, kiss, you two!” His blue eyes twinkling wickedly, the blonde med student puckered his lips and made exaggerated kissing noises, suddenly seeming a full decade younger than his twenty-four years.

Joey rolled his eyes and felt his face getting hot. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kiss Mariah; Lord knew he loved kissing her, which was exactly why he didn’t want to be in this position now. If she kissed him the way she kissed him in her apartment, he was terrified everyone would see. Not just see them kissing, but see, really see exactly what was going on between them.

But there was no time to get out of it; Mariah wouldn’t let him. Before he knew it, she had taken his cheeks in her red-clawed fingers and pulled his face down to meet hers, kissing him deeply on the lips. Her arms encircled his neck in a vice-like grip, keeping him in the kiss for much longer than he would have liked, knowing that Nick and God knew who else were watching.

“Muah!” exhaled Mariah as she finally released him, grinning mischievously as he staggered back, his fingers traveling to his lips. He rubbed them, and his fingertips came away red from her lipstick. Guiltily, he glanced over his shoulder at Nick, who was staring wide-eyed, the boyish, taunting expression gone from his face.

“Wow,” Nick said simply, once Mariah had slung her purse over her shoulder and click-clacked away on her heels. “That was… Wow, dude.”

Joey slumped into his chair, ducking his head behind the computer screen. “You can say that again,” he mumbled.

Behind the glass window that separated Trauma room 1 from the admit area, Melissa reached up to close the blinds, trying hard to blink away her tears before she turned back to her patient.

+++

“You both must be so excited, huh? This time next year, you’ll have a baby to spoil with presents,” Dr. Melanie Reyes said as she readied the ultrasound machine for Kylie’s visit.

Josh grinned. “You bet! I mean, I’ve already got a list: a tricycle, one of those basketball hoop things, and, if we can afford it, a laptop. You can never get started with education too soon, right?”

Kylie rolled her eyes and patted his hand. “Josh, I don’t think a baby who’s barely a year old will be able to work a laptop, a trike, or play basketball. Heck, I don’t think he, or she, will be able to crawl by then, either. Right?” she asked Melanie.

“Very true. Most babies crawl around seven or eight months, sometimes even nine. So, I’m afraid a tricycle and basketball equipment will have to go in storage, Josh. Kylie, let’s lift your top here, so we can get started, okay?”

Kylie shifted the bottom of her sweater up and leaned back, Josh’s hand clutched in hers. They were going to hear their baby’s heartbeat today, and she was full of nerves and excitement. She couldn’t believe she was going to be a mother soon, but that was life. Unpredictable, right?

Melanie ran the sensor over Kylie’s belly, and, slowly, the first sounds of life reverberated through the room. Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Josh felt amazement flood him. The baby had been an idea before now, but, being able to hear its heart, it suddenly became much more real to him. He was going to be a father—a good one, he told himself and tightened his grip on Kylie’s hand.

She looked up at him and grinned. “That’s amazing! Josh, it’s our baby’s heartbeat! I can’t wait until we do the sonogram and can see it, too.”

“Do you” he swallowed. “Do we want to know what it is? Girl or boy?”

Kylie watched Melanie fiddle with the setting on the machine and shook her head. “Let’s make it a surprise. It’ll be more exciting that way.”

“Well, if you can stand another surprise,” Melanie interrupted them, “I have one for you. Just listen to this.”

She ran the sensor over Kylie’s belly again, and they heard the heartbeat again. But then…

“Josh! It’s two! There’re two heartbeats!” Kylie gasped.

“What? But…oh, God. Two? Twins?” Josh gaped at Kylie and Melanie. “We’re having twins?!”

“Congratulations,” Melanie said enthusiastically. “And Merry Christmas, too! What a present!”

“Yeah.” The shock was slowly disappearing and a grin broke out on his face. “Kylie, we’re gonna have to get two of everything, now. Twins!”

“Twins!” Kylie echoed. She pressed a hand to her belly and thought of her child—no, children, she corrected herself. Merry Christmas, for sure!

+++

“Hey, Mel,” said Joey, when Melissa appeared with a wheelchair to whisk away the little girl in ice skates who had just come in, carried by her father. She was the third skating injury he’d seen in the three hours he’d been on duty.

“Yeah?” asked Melissa, her voice brusque. He wasn’t surprised by its tone; he knew she was busy. Just as Mariah had warned him, the ER had seen a steady stream of patients all afternoon and into the evening.

“Got time for a break in awhile? I was thinking of grabbing dinner soon,” Joey said, patting his rumbling stomach.

Melissa hesitated, her hands gripping the handles of the wheelchair. She glanced at the clock, then at Joey, the expression on her face odd. Finally, she said, “Sure. Lemme just get her set up in one of the exam rooms, and then I’ll be back.” Before he could reply, she leaned over to the little girl in the wheelchair. “Okay, sweetheart, let’s get you back to a room and get these skates off so the doctor can look at your ankle.”

“See you in awhile!” Joey called, as she pushed the girl away, the father worriedly following at her heels.

True to her word, Melissa was back in half an hour. “Cafeteria okay?” Joey asked, when she didn’t say anything.

“That’s fine.” Her voice was distant. He assumed she had other things on her mind, though he had no idea what.

They walked out of the ER and followed the hallway to the large cafeteria, where they each grabbed a tray and got in the a la carte line. “So, how’s your shift going?” Joey asked, desperate for conversation as they made their way slowly through the line.

Melissa reached for an apple. “Swell,” she said flatly.

“Swell?” Joey repeated, laughing. “I sense some sarcasm there. It’s been a little crazy, huh?”

“A little, yes,” she said vaguely, leaving him to frown and wonder what her tone was implying. He knew it was implying something; she was acting weird. But then, women did that. Sometimes he just couldn’t figure them out.

As they neared the cash register, he noticed a small cluster of mistletoe swaying right over the spot where you stood to pay. “Look, mistletoe,” he commented, nudging her shoulder. “Guess we better put this together, eh?” He pointed to their two trays.

She turned around, her expression humorless. “Why? Going to kiss me the way you did Mariah earlier?” she asked sharply.

Joey winced. Nick said something, didn’t he? Little prick, he thought. “What, have you been talking to Carter or something? Cause whatever he said, I’m sure he was just playing around. We ended up under the stupid mistletoe together, and well, it’s tradition – it was just a little peck; it meant nothing,” he insisted, surprised by how smoothly the lie rolled out of him.

“Oh, is that so?” Melissa raised her eyebrows. “Just a little peck, huh? Didn’t look like that to me.”

Joey swallowed hard. “What do you mean? You telling me you saw it?”

Melissa had reached the cashier. Clearing his throat, Joey pushed his tray up against hers and told the woman, “This is all together.” But before she could start ringing up their suppers, Melissa pushed her tray another inch down the counter.

“No, it’s not. Just this tray,” she countered, touching her own.

The cashier’s eyes flitted between them, but finally she nodded and started punching in Melissa’s food. “$4.18,” she said.

Melissa pulled a wad of cash from her billfold and counted out four dollars. Handing the cashier the bills and a quarter, she said, “Keep the change,” and picked up her tray.

The cashier gave Joey a funny look as he sighed and pushed his own tray ahead. “$6.63,” she said when she rang up his dinner, and he absently pulled a five and two ones from his wallet, stuffing the change she gave him into his pocket without bothering to count it.

Melissa had already started walking off towards the wide area with tables, at which a few of their colleagues were scattered. Joey hurried to catch up, his soda wobbling precariously on his tray. “You saw it??” he asked breathlessly when he finally caught her.

Melissa whirled around, her blue eyes pure ice. “Yes, I saw it,” she snapped. “We must have different standards for kisses, because that was not what I would consider a ‘peck’ by any means. If that was a peck, you must not feel anything towards me at all, because all I get are ‘pecks’ from you.”

Joey sighed. “Okay, okay, it wasn’t a peck. But it wasn’t my fault! She kissed me! I couldn’t exactly stop her; I was just as shocked as you!” Well, the first part was true, and he supposed he had been shocked, but there was still a lot he wasn’t telling her. He wondered if she could see the lies written all over his face. He could feel it getting warm anyway.

“Oh, oh, I see,” said Melissa, her voice rising. “You’re the victim here; I get it. It was all her fault. It’s not like you had any part in it… I know you would never want to kiss her.”

“I-I don’t!” Joey lied.

“Oh, no, of course not. When you stare at her ass or her boobs every time she’s in the same room as you, you would never think of kissing her. When she flirts with you, and you flirt right back with no regard to me... you wouldn’t want to kiss her then, would you? Oh no, I’m sure that thought’s never crossed your mind. It’s not like you don’t sit there and watch her every time she whips that tube of red lipstick out of her purse or anything.”

Melissa normally wasn’t the sarcastic type, but somehow she’d mastered the art without Joey ever knowing. “Mel…” he started, but he was glad she interrupted him because he had no idea what he would have said next.

“Don’t,” she warned, gripping her tray tightly, her eyes flashing right at his. “Before you say anything else, I just want you to answer one thing for me.”

Joey swallowed. “Okay.”

Melissa spoke slowly, her voice low. “I need to know… Was this the first time you kissed her?”

He had been lying to her so long that it seemed only natural to keep it up. But as he looked around the cafeteria, desperate for some way out, and saw the Christmas wreaths with the white candle lights inside, giving off such soft, serene light, he knew he couldn’t keep doing this to her. It was Christmas, and New Year’s was just over a week away, and he didn’t want to start the new year off in a relationship that was fill of dishonesty. He had to come clean with her. From there, the ball would be on her court, and she could play it as she wanted.

He took a deep breath and held it. Then, letting it out in a rush, he answered, “… No.”

Melissa’s face crumpled.

Swallowing, Joey knew he had to explain himself, or at least try. “It was an accident at first. Well, sort of. It happened during Hurricane Cortney… when we had the black-out, remember? We were in the lounge together, and I tripped when the lights went out and sort of… fell-on-top-of-her,” he mumbled quickly, his eyes dropping. It was true, but Melissa probably wouldn’t see it that way. “I didn’t mean to, and by the time I realized it, she’d already made a move and started kissing me. I… I know I should have pushed her off, but I was just… shocked, and I… I guess I let it happen.”

“You fell on top of her?” Melissa asked skeptically. “Why not just say she tripped you and made you fall on top of her, Joey? Since it seems to be all her fault.”

“Hey, you know what she’s like! She flirts with every guy in this hospital!” Joey defended himself, momentarily forgetting he was really just as much to blame as Mariah was.

“Yeah, but I don’t see every guy in this hospital falling all over her – literally – and making out with her under a mistletoe in front of everyone!” Melissa spat, angry tears springing to her eyes.

Joey hung his head. He wanted to retort that they hadn’t been “making out,” but what was the use? The truth was, maybe he hadn’t exactly made out with Mariah under the mistletoe, but they certainly had many other times when Melissa wasn’t around. He was a cheater, a rotten cheater, and she was on the verge of finding out just how rotten. He was definitely going to be on Santa’s naughty list this year, that was for sure.

“Look, I’m… I’m sorry, Mel,” he said quietly. Then, looking around, he realized they were still standing in the middle of the cafeteria, and a few people were watching them by now. Embarrassed, he leaned closer to her and asked in a low voice, “Can we at least go sit down or something and, you know, talk about this? People are starting to stare.”

“Yeah, well, they stared when you and Mariah were under the mistletoe too,” Melissa snapped unforgivingly, refusing to meet his eyes.

He closed his eyes and nodded, knowing he deserved that one. With his eyes still closed, he mumbled, “Okay… you’re angry… I understand. You have every right to be. You and me… I think we need some time apart.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Melissa’s voice rose. “You shove your tongue down another woman’s throat in the middle of the ER, and now you’re breaking up with me? I should be dumping you! But I guess that’s probably what you want, isn’t it? Then you’ll be free to do whatever you want with Mariah!”

Joey kept his eyes closed, bracing himself. He couldn’t say anything.

“You just gonna stand there and not say anything?” Melissa demanded, her voice growing angrier still. “Well, FINE! Consider this your gift then – we’re through. I can’t take this shit from you anymore, Joey! You’ve been flirting with her and undressing her with your eyes for months. Now you can go drag her under the mistletoe and do it for real! Merry fucking Christmas!”

Joey opened his eyes just in time to see her dinner tray flying towards his face. On instinct, he raised his arms to shield himself, but his reaction came too late; the tray dropped and caught him right in the chest, while her sandwich smacked him across the face, and her apple ricocheted off his forehead. That was going to leave a mark.

Merry Christmas indeed, he thought sadly as he stood in the middle of the cafeteria, painfully rubbing his forehead, hardly aware of the slimy chunks of chicken salad clinging to his cheeks or the fact that every pair of eyes in the room was now trained on him.

+++


December 24

The short straw. He couldn’t believe he’d drawn the short straw. He always ended up drawing the short straw.

Life wasn’t fair, or at least Justin Timberlake’s life certainly wasn’t. First he’d gotten stuck working on Thanksgiving, and now here he was, trudging into the ER for his Christmas Eve shift.

“We’re going to need one of you to work on Christmas Eve,” Dr. O’Brien had addressed the three med students last week. “It tends to get pretty chaotic in here; people are out shopping, traveling, cooking… lots of accidents happen. We’ll need a fully-staffed ER. I don’t care which one of you it is; I’m just expecting to see one of you here on the 24th. Decide for yourselves and let Joey know so he can add it to the schedule. You can draw straws, if that’s what it takes.”

They’d settled for drawing tongue depressors. Nick had snapped one in half, and naturally, that was the one Justin had drawn. He’d even gotten a splinter from the jagged bottom, which Addie had had to dig out with his finger with a pair of tweezers.

Yes, life sucked, and so did this Christmas. Bah humbug, thought Justin, feeling like a regular Scrooge as he passed through the ER doors.

The ER looked like an all-out winter wonderland, courtesy of Dr. Littrell, who’d decked the halls with bows of holly, swags of garland, strands of lights, sprigs of mistletoe, paper snowflakes, snowman cutouts, Santa and reindeer decals, and, at the nurses station, even a fully-decorated Christmas tree and a Santa that started singing and dancing whenever someone passed by it.

It certainly didn’t fit Justin’s mood, but he couldn’t help but smile as he saw Joey hastily reach over and slap the ‘off’ button on the dancing Santa just as Dr. Brunson emerged from the elevator. When he noticed Dr. Scrooge herself look around at the decorations in disgust, Justin ducked into the staff lounge and out of her line of sight. The last thing he needed was an unnecessary confrontation with Brunson today. It was bad enough that he had to be here at all.

As he hung up his jacket and scarf in his locker, trading them for his lab coat and stethoscope, Justin thought about Britney. They had planned to spend Christmas together. He’d even told his poor mother in Tennessee that he wasn’t going to be able to make it home for the holidays because he knew she wouldn’t want Britney to come. Britney had talked about them both traveling to Louisiana to spend Christmas with her family, but there wasn’t enough room for guests in her parents’ trailer, and with medical school bills and a waitress’s salary, there wasn’t enough money for a hotel either, let alone the traveling expenses. And so they’d counted on spending a quiet Christmas together here in Atlantic City, just the two of them.

It really wasn’t such a bad idea; in fact, Justin had been looking forward to it. Especially Christmas Eve. He’d bought an early Christmas gift for Britney last week, a sheer red teddy with white feather trim around the bottom and a matching thong. It looked like what Mrs. Claus the stripper might wear, and Britney had been saving it to wear for him on Christmas Eve. She hadn’t been too pleased to find out he would be working yet another holiday and wouldn’t be back till late on Christmas Eve, assuming there were no major traumas that kept him at the hospital even longer.

Adjusting his stethoscope around his neck, he closed his eyes briefly and prayed, Please God, don’t let anything too bad happen on Christmas Eve. And if you do, please make sure it happens closer to St. John’s so we don’t have to take it. It’s Christmas; I really want to get home to my girlfriend on time tonight.

Satisfied, he slammed his locker shut and walked back out into the merrily-decorated hallway.

+++

She hated tiptoeing around the hospital. Metaphorically speaking. Everyone knew she was under review by the hospital board, and Holli Brunson had used every opportunity to snub her—starting with the decrease in her workload. They hadn’t suspended her while she was under suspicion, but, instead, they’d simply cut the number of shifts she had per week.

“Which is completely unfair,” Ivory muttered under her breath as she headed in for her Christmas Eve shift.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like to be home and relax, it was that she didn’t have much to do when she was home. At least, not when Brian was still working. He’d been nothing but supportive, but she wondered if he, too, believed she was guilty. He’d never say it to her face, but, occasionally, she’d caught him studying her with a serious expression on his face.

Shrugging it off, she moved through the ER and into the lounge. The first thing she noticed was the Christmas decorations, which hadn’t been up when she’d last worked, several days ago. “Brian has been here,” she said to herself, smiling. Brian was always hyped up about Christmas and had already turned her apartment into a Christmas wonderland, complete with a singing Santa, trimmed Christmas tree, and lots of garlands draped over everything. It appeared the hospital was now under his siege.

Ivory stored her belongings and, when she left the lounge, she spotted him deep in argument with Brunson. He was also wearing a Santa suit, a beard, and a white wig. The beard had managed to slip off his chin, though, while he gestured wildly with his Santa hat.

“It’s for a good cause! Besides, I’m supposed to have a break now, anyway,” he was telling Holli as Ivory drew near.

“Be that as it may, I still don’t understand why the ER looks like a circus,” Holli told him in a stern voice.

Brian rolled his eyes and grinned when he saw Ivory behind Holli. “Duh. Because it’s Christmas! Have you no Christmas cheer, Dr. Brunson? Everyone has Christmas cheer! Don’t you have Christmas cheer, Mariah?” he asked the receptionist manning the admit desk.

Mariah smiled brightly at Brian and Holli. “Jingle bells, jingle bells!”

“See!” Brian pointed to her. “You’re missing out, Dr. B. The mistletoe and garland is absolutely necessary. As is my trip up to the children’s ward.” He adjusted the beard and slid his hat over his head. “I’m off! Ho, ho, ho!”

He brushed past Holli and caught Ivory up in a hug. “Merry Christmas, baby! Santa has thirty seconds to find out what you want for Christmas,” he told her in deep tones, his blue eyes dancing beneath the bushy white wig.

Ivory laughed, ignoring the way Holli’s eyes were boring holes in the back of her head. “Can I just have a kiss, Santa? That’s all I really want.”

“Really? Well, that’s easy enough. Tell me, dear, have you been a good girl this year?” He wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to giggle.

“I hope so, Santa,” she said sheepishly.

Brian shrugged, enjoying the way she played along though the chief was glaring at her. He hated that she was being investigated and wasn’t allowed to work to her full capacity. Still, he knew it was something he couldn’t fix, but he could take her mind off of it for a few minutes and make her smile.

“Well, I guess I can give you that kiss. Smile pretty, darling.” He cupped her face and brushed her lips with his. “Mmm. Tonight, seven o’clock, my place,” he murmured against her lips. “Be there. I promise it’ll be good.” He let her go then and, fixing his beard again, turned to head towards the elevator. “Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas everyone!” he called over his shoulder, causing more than a few people to smile appreciatively.

Ivory watched him go, glad he could put some cheer in her day, then turned to look into Holli’s disapproving face.

“Dr. Harnett. The board wishes to speak with you again on the twenty-seventh. You will be at my office by nine AM. Is that clear?”

She bit back a groan and nodded. “Of course.”

+++

“Hi, Lily! Why don’t you hop on up into Santa’s lap?” Brian held out his arms for the little girl with the bandanna wrapped around her head. Leukemia, Brian knew, and smiled at her hesitation. “It’s okay, honey. Santa just wants to know what you want for Christmas.”

She nodded and cautiously allowed herself to be lifted into his arms. “Are you really Santa?” she asked, her large brown eyes studying him curiously.

Brian grinned. “Of course, I am! And this is Santa’s helper, my elf friend, Justin.” Brian gestured to the med student he’d managed to snag for the role. Justin shifted uncomfortably in the green tights, red, fuzzy costume shirt, a felt, green hat, and pointy shoes with bells on them. Brian stifled a chuckle at the younger man’s obvious embarrassment and turned back to Lily. “Have you been a good girl this year, Lily?”

Brian had been expecting an enthusiastic nod from his last visitor, but instead, Lily’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know!” she wailed. “I’m sick, and my hair went bye-bye! I don’t wanna throw up anymore! And, I-I wanna go home!”

His heart broke a little, and he held her close, rubbing a soothing hand over her back. “It’s okay, Lily. Shh, honey, don’t cry. I know it’s tough being sick all the time, but the doctors at the hospital are going to help you feel better, I promise.” When her crying continued, Brian shook his head at the nurse who offered to take the little girl and, instead, gestured to Justin. Justin nodded, surprisingly seeming to understand the little girl’s predicament, and picked up the sack Brian had brought with him. “Hey, Lily, would you like an early Christmas present? Would that make you feel a little bit better?”

She sniffled and looked into his eyes. He wondered what she’d seen for she nodded after a moment and wiped some of the tears from her cheeks. “Uh-huh. Please?”

Brian smiled. “That’s a girl! Justin, why don’t you give Lily the present we brought all the way from the North Pole for her?”

Justin knelt so he was eye-level with Lily and smiled as he held out a wrapped box. “Here you go, Lily. Merry Christmas!”

She took the box from him and, unwrapping it, she squealed and launched herself at him. “Thank you!”

Brian laughed as Justin’s discomfort was obvious as he patted the little girl’s back awkwardly. “What about Santa, Lily? Don’t I get a hug?” he wondered, pouting a little.

Lily wrapped her little arms around him and giggled. “Thanks, Santa! Thanks Justin! I’m gonna go play with my present now!”

The two men watched her go before Brian chuckled and patted Justin’s shoulder. “You did good, Timberlake. Thanks for helping me out.”

Justin shrugged. It had felt good. “No problem, Dr. Littrell. But, next time, could you make Carter do this instead?”

+++

The little jingle bells on his shoes jangled with each step. Justin looked down at the bright green, curly-toed monstrosities and scowled. He had to admit, dressing up like an elf for the kids upstairs on the pedes floor had felt good… while he was on the pedes floor. But now that he was back in the ER, he felt like an idiot.

Everyone was staring at him as he walked by, trying to hide their smirks, and he felt his face getting redder and redder. Soon it was going to match the brim of the stupid felt hat Brian had crammed over his curls.

He couldn’t wait to get back to the lounge so he could get out of this crappy costume. Although… Justin thought on sudden inspiration, looking down at the festive attire… maybe he could sneak this stuff home to wear for Britney. It would go well with her sexy Santa outfit. Maybe we could do a little roleplaying, he thought with a smirk, rounding the corner to get to the lounge.

He had no more set foot into the sanctuary of the lounge when a voice called, “Hey, Twinkletoes! Come here, I’ve got a patient for you!”

Scowling, Justin turned to see Dr. Parker standing a few feet away, looking amused and harried at the same time. “I can’t see patients looking like this; I gotta change first,” he whined.

“Too bad. It’s not called the Emergency Room for nothing, Twinkletoes – I mean, Timberlake.” The doctor winked, and Justin flushed redder, wishing the floor would just suck him up right now, starting with his jingly feet. “Emergencies come first; now come on.”

Justin knew he had no choice; Dr. Parker was his supervisor. God, I’m gonna be glad when my ER rotation is over next month, he thought, grudgingly following her to the patient.

He quickly discovered that his patient was not an emergency, just a regular pain in the ass dressed in a Santa suit. The man looked less like Santa than scrawny little Brian Littrell did, slumped over in a wheelchair, mumbling incoherently and reeking of booze and cigarettes, his bedraggled-looking beard under his chin. He was sporting a blackening shiner on one eye, and his nose was red and bleeding.

“Nose like a cherry, they say,” joked the policeman standing next to his wheelchair, handing the drunk a fresh tissue to stop the nosebleed.

“Shut up,” slurred “Santa,” barely swiping at his nose. “I didn’t do nothin’… just tryin’ to… to enjoy my Christmas Eve. Yoooou’d wanna… have a few drinks too, if you’ere ringin’ them little bells on the corner all day. I can hear ‘em ringin’ all the time… all the time… even when I… sleep…”

On the word “sleep,” the drunk fell forward in his chair, passing out. The police officer rolled his eyes at Justin. “Have fun with this one,” he said, starting to walk away. Then he stopped and looked back, doing a double take at Justin. “Hey, you two know each other?” he asked, looking between Justin and the drunk Santa he’d just picked up with obvious amusement.

Justin rolled his eyes and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, jerking the drunk guy towards the nearest open room before the officer and Dr. Parker could have some more fun at his expense.

“Hey, make sure you get a BAL on Mr. Claus there!” called the officer behind him. “Once you mop him up, I’m gonna take him straight over to the county jail and book him for public intoxication. Guy started a fight in the middle of a bar on Jefferson, dressed up as Santa, on Christmas Eve! He’s gonna spend Christmas morning in the slammer; that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Justin muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he pushed his patient into Exam 3. Why did he always get stuck doing the dirty work?

+++

“More eggnog?” Brian held out another cup to AJ, who shook his head.

“No thanks, Brian. I think if you’d spiked the stuff, I’d be falling over drunk by now because I’ve had so much. If I see more eggnog, I might throw up,” AJ told him.

Brian shrugged and pushed his beard back on straight. The thing kept slipping so the mustache was over his lips. He’d just have to buy a better one for next Christmas. “Eggnog, anyone else?”

“I’ll have some,” Addie offered, making her way towards the refreshment table that had been set up in one of the hospital’s lounges for the staff Christmas party. “Every time I drink eggnog, it reminds me of Christmas.”

Brian grinned. “That’s the spirit! Merry Christmas!” He waved Harry and Siara over. “Hey, you two! There’s a little bit of eggnog left. Get it while it’s still here!” He leaned conspiratorially towards them. “And before someone spikes it, of course. I don’t know if I can trust the doctors here, you know. They know how to get their hands on those chemicals and all.”

Siara rolled her eyes, but Harry grinned. “Well, don’t talk to me, Doctor Littrell. I’m just a measly EMT; I’d never do something like that. But I’ll take some before we get out of here.”

“Great! And, Har, I have your Christmas present at home. Let me know when I can bring it by.”

Harry frowned. “I should be home tomorrow, so, when you come, I can give you yours, too.”

“Yay! Presents!” Brian waved his arms around and laughed. “Don’t you love Christmas, Siara?”

She frowned. “I do, but I think you’re going a little overboard, Brian.”

He gaped at her. “Overboard? There’s no such thing as ‘overboard’ this time of the year. You need more spirit! Did you find the mistletoe, yet?” he asked, wiggling his brows at them.

Harry chuckled. “Maybe. You did good this year,” he told Brian. “I came down into the ER, and the place looks like Santa’s elves attacked it.”

“They might have.” Brian grinned and checked his watch. “Well, I have to leave this awesome party, now. Ivory’s coming over tonight,” he explained.

Siara nodded. “How’s the investigation going?”

Brian tried not to let the thought ruin his mood. “It’s going. She’s not so happy, which is why I’m going to spend tonight making sure she forgets all about it. So, I gotta go!” He patted Harry’s shoulder and headed for the door where he stopped. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

+++

“Merry Christmas, honey!” Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Jaela’s parents, said as they hugged their daughter. Jaela had invited her parents and her in-laws to celebrate Christmas at their home. Jaela placed her parents’ coats on the nearby coat rack, placed the Christmas gifts under the tree, and led them to the living room, where Paul’s parents already sat with her three children. Jaela smiled as Joshua and Alexandra showed them their art and crafts projects from kindergarten and saw that Paul’s mother was bouncing two-year old Rayna on her knee. Joshua was the first to see Jaela’s parents and ran towards them.

“Grandma! Grandpa!” Joshua yelled as he hugged their legs. Mr. Evans picked him up and hugged him back.

“Hey there, Josh! Merry Christmas!” he said. Alexandra ran to them as well, and Mrs. Evans gave her a hug in return.

“How’s my little Allie today?” she asked. Alexandra hugged her and enthusiastically showed off her pretty dress and art projects from school. Jaela smiled and walked to the kitchen to check on their dinner. She had barely started to stir the gravy when she heard footsteps behind her. Jaela turned around to see her mother staring critically at her.

Oh no… did I do something wrong? Jaela thought. Even though they’d had Christmas at her home a few times before, Jaela was still nervous about making the Christmas Eve dinner perfect.

“Jaela, the gravy’s fine. Sit down,” her mother said, pulling a chair from the kitchen table. Jaela sighed as she sat down.

“Is everything okay, Mom?” Jaela asked. Her mother took Jaela’s right hand.

“Jaela, I may be old, but I still remember fixing Christmas dinner for my parents and for your father’s parents, and trust me, it’s not worth all the stress. Is everything okay?” her mother asked.

Jaela subconsciously looked down. She didn’t want to ruin her mother’s Christmas by telling her everything that was going on with Paul. She looked at the clock. It was 6:00 PM. He should have been home by then. Jaela nodded and swallowed all the doubts she had.

“Yeah, Mom…. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” she said, although she barely believed it herself.

+++

“Dani, do you want to put the star on top of the tree?” Howie called. He smiled as he immediately heard the sound of his daughter’s footsteps running into the living room. He unearthed the star from underneath the various other Christmas ornaments his family had collected over the years.

“Here you go,” he said handing it to her. “Okay, you ready?”

Dani nodded and giggled as Howie lifted her up. She painstakingly placed the star on top and, after she had positioned it for several seconds, allowed Howie to place her back on the ground.

“When will Rita be here?” Dani asked, grinning, fully aware of the question her father planned on asking Rita that night.

“Soon. She called earlier; she’s just finishing up her shift at the hospital.”

“How come you didn’t have to work on Christmas, Daddy?” Dani asked.

“I got lucky,” Howie said honestly. This was the first Christmas in several years Howie had managed to escape working, and he was extremely thankful. He cherished what little time he got to spend with his daughter, which was even less than normal since the divorce.

“Listen, why don’t you go grab the present we got for Rita, and I’ll help you wrap it?” Howie said.

“Okay,” Dani said cheerfully and took off through the house again. The “present” was an ornament that Howie had had made with Rita’s name on it. Everyone in the family had one, even Dani’s mother, although hers had gone with her after the divorce.

Dani returned. She held the ornament in both hands, cradling it as if it were precious gold. Howie took it from her with a slight smile.

“Okay,” he said. “I bought a little bag especially for this. It should be in the bag in the den with the other Christmas stuff.”

“I’ll get it,” Dani said and hurried away. She returned triumphant a minute later. After wrapping it carefully in tissue paper, Howie placed the ornament in the bag under Dani’s supervision.

“Okay, we’re all set,” he said, leaning down to place it under the tree. “And not a minute too soon; Rita should be here any minute.”

As if Howie had said the magic words, at that moment, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Dani said excitedly.

A smile forming on his lips, Howie followed his daughter to the door. Dani pulled the door open and revealed Rita, her head barely visible over the tall stack of presents she was holding.

“Here, let me give you a hand with those,” he said quickly.

“Thanks,” Rita replied gratefully, allowing him to remove some of the packages. “Am I late?” she asked.

“No, just in time. Dani and I were just finishing up the tree.”

“How was your shift?”

“Not bad,” she replied. “Dr. Littrell kept everyone’s sprits up. He’s been hanging mistletoe everywhere and singing Christmas carols all day. He even dressed up as Santa for the kids.”

“That sounds typical for Brian. He loves this time of year.” Howie smiled. “Well anyway, the food’s ready. I guess we can go ahead and eat.

“I’m impressed,” Rita said. “You cooked this whole meal by yourself.”

“Dani helped, and besides, I love cooking. It wasn’t a big deal.”

The three of them sat down to the meal Howie had prepared. Rita returned the smile Dani gave her as Howie’s head was bowed in prayer, thanking God for allowing Rita to join them for Christmas dinner. It was almost as if the little girl knew something she didn’t. But in the end, Rita shook it off as Dani just being excited because it was Christmas Eve.

After dinner, Howie told Rita rather nervously, “I… we,” he added with a glance at Dani, “have a present for you.”

“Isn’t that supposed to wait until in the morning?” Rita asked

“Well, this one’s special,” Howie said. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a black velvet box.

Rita took it, smiling, and opened it. Her eyes immediately filled with tears when she saw the ring. “Oh my gosh… Howie, it’s beautiful… I don’t know what to say!”

Rita glanced up to see Howie on one knee. “Say you’ll marry me,” he said.

“Yes… Yes, I will!” Rita said tearfully.

Dani squealed with delight as she watched her father kiss his new fiancée.

She then retrieved the wrapped ornament from under the tree and allowed Rita to hang it between Howie’s and her ornaments.

+++

Back at the hospital, JC signed the orders and handed the clipboard back to Chris. He watched as the nurse wheeled the gurney out of the small room and thought, not for the first time that night, that more than a few people were having lousy Christmas Eves.

At least he wasn't alone in that respect.

From Chris' subdued behavior, and a few casual comments, he also knew that he wasn't the only one that found the entire Christmas cheer thing to be annoying. If he thought he could get away with it, he would have either throttled Littrell, the self-appointed 'Spirit of Christmas Present', or locked the man in a closet until New Year's. Well, what was done was done. Brunson would have the decorations down within a few days.

He stripped off his gloves, tossed them into the bin, and washed his hands. Most people hated working on Christmas Eve, but he didn’t mind. He'd worked last Christmas Eve as well. After all, he had no family to speak of, at least none he wanted to be around, and he hated dwelling on memories of holidays past. Christmas hadn't been all cookies and cheer, even as a child. It was a holiday he simply wanted to get through. ER duty kept him busy, and not caught up in memory land. It worked out well for everyone involved.

Plus, with Mandie working up in surgery; any chance of a pleasant evening vanished with her absence.

He wondered if she would be working on the patient he'd just sent up to her floor; another stupid mishap involving a ladder, a roof, and lights had produced a fractured pelvis, broken leg, and a substantial concussion in a man who was certainly old enough to know better. All in the name of holiday cheer.

JC shook his head. Stupid holiday.

He left the room and got a cup of coffee, taking advantage of the brief quiet. He finished in time to see Chris exit the elevators and nod a greeting.

Before he could say anything, the ER doors burst open and he rushed to greet the paramedics as they wheeled a victim inside.

“Hit and run, victim was crossing the street when a car ran a red. Female, age 22, in and out of consciousness, abdominal and leg trauma indicated...”

He took in the vitals as the young woman was brought to the nearest trauma room. He began his assessment before the gurney had fully stopped; as Chris and another nurse hooked the woman up to various monitors, he focused on a few unusual aspects of her condition.

Her pulse was rapid; not unexpected, but it was a bit too high for an unconscious person. And her color... it was off, but he couldn't quite nail it. She was pale, but her skin had a strange tinge. Could it be a factor of the cold?

As the monitors came online, he shifted his attention to the readouts. Oxygen saturation was far too low...

An examination of her torso revealed massive bruising along the ribcage; gentle palpitation confirmed his guess of broken ribs. She wasn't able to take in deep enough breaths, thus the low oxygen count.

“Three possible broken ribs, maybe four... check for fractures also, both sides. Bruising indicates internal bleeding, although there are no lacerations. X-ray, stat, then up to the O.R. She'll need exploratory-”

“But I have to see her!” a voice shrilled from the hallway. “I'm her best friend! Where is she, where have you taken her? Oh my god, her parents don't even know-”

JC frowned. He heard someone trying to calm the obviously hysterical girl, but apparently it wasn't working.

“You don't understand, it was my fault she got hit, I was talking when we should have been really watching- No, I don't know her parents’ phone number, we're spending Christmas break together and-”

“Chris,” JC said, clenching his jaw.

“On it, Doc,” Chris answered, knowing the girl had to be handled quickly. Grabbing a clipboard, he left the room.

JC turned back to his patient, continuing his evaluation.

+++

Chris took the young girl by the arm and steered her out of hearing range of the room where JC was working. In a calm, firm voice, he caught her attention.

“Your friend is being looked at by one of the docs right now,” he said. “You need to amp down a bit so we can get some helpful information.”

“But she-”

“What's your name?”

“Uh... Amber. Amber Gleason. What-”

“Amber. Okay. Now, let's get some basic stuff down. Tell me about your friend... what's her name?”

“Chloe... Chloe Faith Morgan,” she said, then burst into tears.

Chris wrote the information down, then handed the sobbing girl a tissue from a nearby box. “Come on, Amber, keep it together. Dr. Chasez is a great doc, Chloe is in the best hands. The more you tell us, the more we'll be able to help, okay?”

Amber nodded, blowing her nose miserably. “S-sorry,” she said.

“It's okay,” he assured her. “Now, tell me what happened.”

“We were shopping, you know? We're roommates... in college, I mean... and since my family is kinda far away, she invited me to stay with her at her folks' place. See, we go to-”

“You were shopping, and went to cross the street, right?” he interrupted.

“Um, yeah, we had just come from Caputo's, that little shop that sells Italian shoes and these awesome purses-”

“The street?”

“We were crossing the street, headed for a pipe and tobacco shop, Chloe's dad smokes a pipe, see, and-”

“Amber.”

“Right,” the young girl said, sniffing. “We waited for the cross light... I know it was on 'walk', so we did... it was cold, though, so we didn't pause for a second before starting like we normally would. We were talking about... about...” She clenched her fist and gave a frustrated noise. “I can't remember what it was!”

“Doesn't matter,” Chris said. “Was Chloe on the outside?”

“Yeah, she was on my left side, and then out of nowhere- we were about halfway across- this huge car just comes zooming down the street, not even slowing down, and-” A sob caught in her throat. “It never stopped! It just hit her and kept on going!”

“Was she conscious after she was struck?”

“She... she was moaning a bit, and her eyes were squeezed shut... there was traffic, I was so scared that we'd get run over by someone else...”

“But she wasn't really ever awake?”

“No,” Amber said shakily. “Even when I screamed her name, she didn't wake up!”

“How long was it until the paramedics got there?”

She twisted the tissue in her hand. “I... I don't know, it seemed like forever, then all of a sudden there were cops and the ambulance and all these people-”

“Okay, that's all right. Now, do you have her home phone number? Address, date of birth, stuff like that?”

“Not her home phone, just her cell... but- oh, I have her purse! There's got to be something in there, right?”

“Good, very good. Why don't you look through it and I'll check with the doc, see if there's any news, okay?”

“Okay.”

Chris left the girl rifling through a small purse and re-entered the ER room. JC was just stepping back from the now-stabilized woman.

“She's headed up to O.R. right after x-ray,” the doctor said. “Her vitals aren't that bad, we stabilized her fairly easily. Oxygen helped; I think she should be okay for surgery. Who's on call there tonight?”

“Dr. Richardson, I think,” Chris answered.

“That'll do,” JC said. “I hope he didn't have plans tonight.”

“She ready to go?”

“Yes, they're waiting to take some films. Can you take her or should I get someone else?”

“I'll find someone, her friend out there has some information I need to finish getting.”

“Fine,” JC said. “And Chris?”

“Yeah, doc?”

“Thanks for handling her.”

“No problemo,” Chris said, exiting the room with a nod.

Tiredly, JC looked down at the pale woman and sighed. Yet another person who wouldn't be enjoying Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays, indeed.

+++

Kevin topped off Elizabeth's glass and handed it to her with a smile. It wasn't often that she drank alcohol, but Christmas Eve eggnog was a traditional exception.

“I wish you could join me,” she said, giving her boyfriend a smile.

“Me too,” he said, settling back onto the couch. “Maybe I'll have better luck on New Year's Eve and won't be on call then.”

“Well, no drinking, but...” She gave him a sly glance. “There's no rule against other things.”

He raised an eyebrow. There was no mistaking the 'come hither' look in her sparkling eyes; he wondered if the eggnog had been spiked a bit too much. “I suppose not,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulder.

She snuggled close as she sipped her drink. “Isn't it beautiful?” she asked.

“It sure is,” he answered, looking down at her.

“I always hate the fuss that comes before Christmas,” she said, watching the twinkling lights on their tiny tree. “But when it's finally the night before... it all seems right.”

Kevin smiled. It was unusual to find Elizabeth so relaxed and amiable, especially after a full week's shift in the ER. He decided he liked it. A lot.

Several minutes elapsed without conversation; the softly playing carols from the stereo and the bright lights made words unnecessary.

Elizabeth finished her eggnog and took the empty glass into the kitchen... no excuses for clutter, even on Christmas Eve... and returned to the couch. There, she surprised Kevin by straddling his lap.

“Well,” he said, grinning. “What's this?”

She smiled rather wickedly. “This is a very needy woman,” she said, kissing him intently. “It's been a while,” she added.

“Mmm,” he murmured, returning the gesture. “It has. Between my schedule and yours-”

“Less talk,” she instructed. “More action.”

Kevin was surprised at her passion... it had been a very long time since she'd been the slightest bit interested in making love. Lately, they'd had more fights than sex. He'd chalked it up to stress and hectic rounds at work...

She began unbuttoning his shirt, and he abandoned his train of thought. This was a side of Elizabeth that he hadn't seen.... or felt... in a long, long time. Being no fool, he went gladly with the flow. It didn't take long for things to really heat up.

He had just unhooked her bra when it happened. He froze, praying that it had been his imagination. But then it sounded again.

Beep... beep... beep...

Elizabeth moaned in protest when his hands stopped, but he couldn't ignore the noise.

“Pager,” he muttered into her hair.

“Mmph,” she said, lifting her head. “Ignore it.”

“I'm on call,” he said with a groan.

“You're third on the list,” she said, nibbling at his neck.

“I have to answer, you know I do,” he said, slightly frowning.

“Let them call number four,” she protested, drawing back unhappily.

“Elizabeth, you know I can't do that,” he said, shifting slightly under her. “I have a responsibility-”

A flash of anger glinted in her eyes. “That's always the problem,” she said. “Why can't we enjoy ourselves once in a while? Just us?”

“Because we're doctors,” he said, pushing her completely off his lap. “It comes with the territory.”

She suddenly stood, hands clenched at her sides. “Fine, go ahead and call.”

“I'm not getting into this now,” he said, reaching for the nearby phone.

“No kidding,” she said. She shrugged her blouse back on and began buttoning it up.

Kevin groaned, but dialed without comment. He watched as she stormed out of the room.

“Atlantic, Hayley speaking,” came a familiar voice on the line.

“Hi Hayley, this is Kevin. I got a page...”

“We're backed up in surgery,” she said at once. “Dr. Caldecott and Dr. Emerson are already in the middle of procedures and we've got two more on their way up. The last one is critical.”

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” he said.

“I'll have a room prepped for you,” she promised, then hung up.

He quickly found his shoes and adjusted his shirt, mind already on the short trip ahead. Grabbing his jacket, he pocketed his pager and hesitated.

“Liz, I've got to go, they're backed up and I don't know how long it'll take. Hopefully I'll just have to do a single procedure...”

“Or, more likely, you'll be there all night,” came the bitter reply from the vicinity of their bedroom.

“Don't be like this,” he said, a bit of anger rising in his own voice.

“Like what, a normal woman?” she called. A second later she stalked down the hallway, fully covered in a thick robe.

He clenched his jaw, trying to stem his annoyance. “We'll talk about this when I get home.” He pocketed his keys and reached for the doorknob.

“Don't bother to wake me,” she said.

With a sigh, he left the suddenly cold apartment.

+++

By 7:30 PM, the Miller/Evans family dinner was underway, and everyone was enjoying the meal. Joshua, Rayna, and Alexandra were playing with the toy Santa’s that were being used as decorations at the kid’s table, and the adults were sitting at a larger table next to them. Paul’s place was still vacant, as he still hadn’t come home yet.

“Everything’s excellent, Jaela! I may just have to take some of your recipes home with me!” Paul’s mother said. The adults chuckled, but Jaela couldn’t bring herself to really enjoy the meal. She was starting to get worried about Paul. He used to call if he would be late, but the phone hadn’t rang once the entire evening.

She felt her mother’s hand on top of hers, and looked back at her mother. By looking at her eyes, Jaela knew her mother could tell she was stressed and worried. Jaela tried to smile, but she could barely even do that anymore.

Suddenly, they heard the front door open and loud footsteps enter the hallway. Paul was home.

Jaela rose from her seat and saw that Joshua and Alexandra had stood up.

“Daddy’s home!” they both said excitedly and started to run towards the front hallway. Jaela, knowing that it would be better if she saw what kind of mood Paul was in first, stopped them and squatted down to their level.

“Hey, don’t you want to tell everyone about your field trip to the museum?” she whispered to them. Both sets of little eyes lit up. The twins turned around and told everyone their story. Jaela, on the other hand, walked around them and went to meet Paul.

Jaela half-ran to the front hallway and saw Paul kicking his shoes off in a violent matter. Jaela knew it was a bad sign.

“Paul! Where have you been? Dinner started twenty minutes ago! And you were supposed to be home an hour and a half before that!” Jaela asked quietly. Paul gave her a dirty look and walked upstairs. As he turned towards the stairs, Jaela smelled the air around him. It smelled highly of liquor and women’s perfume. He had been with that other woman.

Jaela followed him up the stairs, still saying nothing.

Once in their room, Paul had taken off his shirt and looked in the closet for another one. When he was putting on his new shirt, he looked straight at Jaela.

“What do you want?” he asked angrily. He was having an issue with a button on the front of the shirt.

“I want to know where exactly you were, Paul. You were late, so I want an explanation,” she said, surprisingly calm.

“I was at the office. Didn’t you see the note?” he growled. He soon forgot about the shirt altogether and left it open for the moment.

“Then why do you smell like liquor?” she asked. This question seemed to hit Paul hard, and he walked up to her.

“Why the twenty questions, bitch?” he asked. Jaela gasped. What had happened to the nice, loving man she married? “Oh, not so comfortable when you’re not asking all the questions, huh?”

“Why didn’t you just call, Paul?” Jaela cried. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

“It was busy at the office! We were swamped!” he said, getting louder by the minute.

“Well, what was I supposed to believe? There was no phone call, no voice message, no anything! The only thing I had was a little note saying that you had to go to work for an emergency! And that was at God knows WHEN because you were gone when I woke up! Do you know how hard it was to try to explain to your parents –” Paul groaned.

“My parents are here?” he said. He sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Paul! You’ve known for MONTHS that they were coming! YOU were the one who invited them! For the record, my parents are also.” Paul angrily grabbed the knob on the end post of their bed.

“So I have to be nice to the in-laws, too??” He grasped the knob even tighter.

“Paul!” she gasped. At every family event, Paul seemed to love her parents. Was that all a lie? Jaela walked over to her husband and tried to hug him, but Paul pushed her off immediately.

“Hey! I’m thirty-three years old! I don’t need you to ‘mommy’ me!” he yelled.

“Well, you should act more like I -” Jaela didn’t get to end her sentence before Paul slapped her hard on the face.

Jaela was stunned. Neither of them moved for a moment.

Before she could stop them, the tears fell from her eyes. Jaela blindly grabbed her makeup kit and opened the bedroom door so she could go to the bathroom.

“Oh, and Merry Christmas, Paul,” she cried as she closed the door behind her.

+++

Kevin was scrubbing up when Hayley joined him in the pre-op area. As she put up the x-rays, she gave him run-down on the young girl being prepped nearby.

“...and Dr. Chasez warns that there might be liver or spleen damage,” she finished. “X-rays aren't very helpful, I'm afraid...”

“All the whited-out areas indicate massive bleeding,” he said, nodding as he studied the films. “We can't wait for an ultrasound or scan. Carol,” he called to the woman at the head of the gurney, “is she ready?”

“Yes, Doctor,” the operating nurse said. “I'll get her hooked up to the overhead monitors in just a second.”

He turned to Hayley. “Well here we go again,” he said as she helped him don his gloves.

“Let's hope we can make this a merrier Christmas for her, huh?” Hayley said.

He nodded, and together they entered the operating arena.

+++

“Clamp,” he said as he looked through the magnifier. An instant later the instrument was in his hand. He carefully maneuvered the clamp as he called for suction. “Okay, it's clamped... sponge,” he requested.

Hayley's steady hand held the gauze sponge in place, clearing the area of blood.

“Good,” he muttered, surveying the surrounding tissue. “Suture number zero, please.”

“Number zero,” Carol repeated, handing him the requested item.

With deft skill and a delicate touch, he repaired the bleeder and scanned for further hidden damage. “Vitals.”

Hayley read from the monitor display, then turned her gaze back to Kevin. He was frowning behind his mask.

“There's got to be something else,” he said. “BP is too low, with the unit we've given her already she should be up higher. Unless...” He gently probed a new area. “Spleen looks intact... I'm not seeing any blood there...” He drew a deep breath.

“Doctor, what are you thinking?” Hayley asked.

“The slight laceration on the liver has been repaired... maybe we missed something.” He moved tissue with ultimate care. Then, he saw it...

“Have the blood gases come back yet?” he asked, focusing on the anomaly he'd found.

“Not yet,” Hayley answered. “They're backed up in the Lab...” She leaned over and followed where his gaze was locked.

“Tumor,” he confirmed. “No wonder it didn't show in the films, it was obscured. Let's do a biopsy on this one-” He stopped, his sharp eyes finding something else. “Oh.”

Hayley saw his eyebrows crease.

“Look,” he said, indicating a new area. “See, to the left?”

“Another tumor?”

“I'm afraid so.” He inhaled deeply. “This... I'm not liking this.” He made a small noise as he discovered yet another mass where it didn't belong, this time near the stomach.

He looked up, meeting her hazel eyes for a moment. She had no trouble reading his thoughts.

“I want a rush on the biopsies,” he said, his voice low. He fell silent as he began removing samples.

Half an hour later, he stepped back.

“Well done, Doctor,” Carol said, giving the surgeon a nod.

“Thanks to the both of you,” he said to the two women. Tiredly, he exited the operating room.

+++

Later, after a reluctant Dani had been put to bed (Howie had finally managed to convince her that Santa wasn’t going to come as long as she was awake), Howie sat on the sofa, huddled in a blanket, holding Rita in his arms. “Well, what do you know,” Howie said with surprise.

“What?” Rita asked and then followed his gaze out the window. “Oh my gosh, it’s snowing! We haven’t had a white Christmas in years! I’ve always loved snow; it reminds me of the fairy tales my mother used to tell me when I was a little girl.”

Howie smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. Her description was perfect. It was like a fairy tale. He could see them clearly living happily ever after.

+++

Hayley found Kevin in the doctor's lounge, eyes closed and leaning back on the small couch. She knew he wasn't asleep, however.

“I have the biopsy results,” she said in a soft voice. His emerald eyes opened.

He knew what he'd find before he read the papers; a minute later, he lowered the pages and leaned forward. “Damn,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

Hayley sat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

He didn't answer at first. She watched as he struggled with a reply.

“This kind of thing is always so damned hard,” he said.

“I know,” she said, voice full of sympathy. “I can come with you; the family is in the surgical waiting room.”

“I...” he cleared his throat. “I'd like that, thanks.”

When he didn't rise, she simply waited.

“She's so young,” he said, pain lacing his words.

“I know.”

“It's Christmas Eve, for God's sake.”

“Yeah.”

“It's not fair,” he whispered.

“It never is.”

He stood, struggling to compose himself. Seeing how hard it was for him, Hayley stepped forward and gave him a long hug. After a second's hesitation, he returned it, glad she was there.

They made the short journey together, neither one really ready for the revelation. Fifteen minutes later, the news had been delivered and a family had been changed forever by two simple words.

Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Cancer. Too far advanced to combat. Spread throughout Chloe Morgan's body, cutting short her far too brief life. Extinguishing her hopes, her dreams, her future.

Sometimes, Kevin Richardson hated his job.

+++

“And there we go… great job, everyone,” Risha said to the rest of her team. She had finished her last patient for the night – Alison Matthews, a woman in her mid twenties who had some bleeding in her brain from a severe concussion she’d received when she accidentally fell and hit her head while trying to hang last-minute Christmas decorations. It had been a close call, one of the worst concussions Risha had seen in some time, but Alison had made it through surgery and would recover nicely.

Honestly, Risha had been a little shaky ever since Lance’s death. He had been one of her first patients here at Memorial, and with as surprisingly serious as her head injury had been, she’d been scared that Alison might end up the same way. But after some reassurance and advice, she’d been able to perform the surgery with flying colors. She wrote Alison’s statistics on her chart, and Alison was wheeled to a recovery room.

Risha cleaned up in the scrub room and started to walk out. Instead of taking her normal route to her car, Risha decided to cut through the ER. In a way, it reminded her of her days as a med student. Back then, she couldn’t wait to get out of there, but now she missed the hustle and bustle of the ER.

She started to sigh a bit as she saw Chris walk towards her. Chris was nice and all, but all she wanted to do at the moment was go home. Maybe he wouldn’t notice her….

“Hi, Risha!” he said, finally meeting up with her. Risha put on a smile and faced him. It was the holidays, after all. She should be nice and be social.

“Hey, Chris. What’s going on?” she said.

“Not much. Are you going home?” Chris asked as Risha started to put on her coat.

“Yeah… just got done with my last surgery. What about you?”

“Nah. I’m trying to keep myself busy since… you know…” Risha nodded. She understood how Chris felt. It had been two weeks, yet it still felt like it was just the other day.

“Umm… Risha?” Chris asked. He seemed to be looking at something.

“What?” Risha looked around, trying to see what Chris was looking at.

“Look up.” Sure enough, they were underneath the mistletoe. Someone had thought of putting mistletoe near the exit.

“Um… well… yeah…” Risha started to blush. She didn’t really want to kiss Chris, even if it was tradition.

“Must be one of Brian’s…” she heard Chris mutter. “Hey, if you really don’t want to…”

Risha was a little taken back. “No… it’s okay… really…”

“No one’s around, you can just go…”

“You sure?” Risha was pretty sure she heard a bit of sadness in Chris’s voice. Did he really like her?

“It’s empty around here. No one would -” Before Chris could finish his sentence, Shannon Chung, a cardiologist, walked around the corner and noticed both of them.

“AWWW! You guys are under the mistletoe! You know the tradition!” she said excitedly.

It must be a boring day in Cardiology if she’s excited that much about mistletoe… Risha thought. Chris and Risha looked at each other, and then Risha gave Chris a peck on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Chris,” Risha said as she walked out of the door.

+++

By the time he pulled up in front of his apartment that night, Justin’s Scrooge mood had vanished. There was no point in being annoyed anymore, now that work was over and drunken Santa Claus had been driven out of sight in a black and white “sleigh” with flashing lights. It was Christmas Eve, and it was finally time for him and Britney to celebrate.

Putting his car into park, he shut off the windshield wipers and sat to watch for a moment as tiny snowflakes collected on the glass. It didn’t snow much in North Carolina, so a snowfall on Christmas, even a light one, was especially miraculous.

Finally feeling in the Christmas spirit again, Justin shut off the ignition and climbed out of the car. The atmosphere outside was very peaceful and still, and the starry sky and the snow made it seem almost magical. He lingered in the crisp winter air for a moment before finally going into the building, eager to see Britney. He took the steps two at a time, fumbling with his keys as he approached his apartment. Britney had promised to be waiting for him there.

He unlocked the apartment and stepped inside. The lights were turned on, and the Christmas tree was lit as well, but Britney wasn’t waiting for him in the small kitchen or living room. He looked around as he pulled off his jacket and tossed it over a chair. “Brit? I’m home! Merry Christmas, babe!” he called, starting for the bedroom.

The door was closed, but it was his bedroom, so he didn’t think twice before throwing it open. He blinked in surprise at what he found.

Britney was standing naked in the middle of the room, one of his pillows covering her front. Behind her, his bed was unmade. Her slinky Santa teddy lay next to it in a heap on the floor.

“Justy! You’re home earlier than I thought you’d be!” Britney exclaimed, her voice high. “I… well, what a nice Christmas surprise!” She smiled, adjusting the pillow. “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready for you… I wanted to have everything ready when you came home. I was just gonna get into that sexy Santa lingerie you got me, and then I was gonna finish turning down the bed so it’d be all set for us.”

“Ohh,” said Justin. Now it made sense why she was naked in his room, without him there. “Well, I’m sorry, babe. Lemme just change my clothes, and you can finish changing, and then we’ll make some Christmas magic, eh?” He winked, and she smiled wider.

“Sure! But uh… wait!” she cried, grabbing his arm as he started for the closet. “Wait, don’t open up your closet. I’ve got presents for you in there; they’re not wrapped yet!”

Justin gave her a weird look. “You hid my presents in my closet?”

“Well, I was gonna just bring them over wrapped, but I ran out of paper, so I thought I’d wrap them here while you were gone. Only I… I ran out of time, as you can see.” She gestured to the rumpled bed. “Can you just… just…”

He nodded knowingly. “It’s alright, I gotta hit the john anyway. Brian’s eggnog gave me the runs. You should have a few minutes to do something with those; I won’t peek.” He winked again.

She wrinkled her nose. “How romantic, Justin.”

He shrugged, giving her a ‘When you gotta go, you gotta go’ look, and went into the bathroom. As he sank down on the toilet, he heard her open the closet door and the sound of footsteps in the bedroom. Moments later, he heard the apartment door open and close. But he thought nothing of it and went ahead with the ‘business’ at hand, humming “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” to drown out the unpleasant noises that followed.

+++

Hayley watched as Kevin signed off his shift, noting that it was now officially Christmas. She added her signature to the list and the pair walked to the elevators in silence.

“Wanna go for some coffee?” she offered.

He gave her a tiny smile. “No, thanks. I'm beat, and I just want to go home, you know?”

She nodded. “I know. Kevin,” she said, shifting from work mode to friend mode, “are you really okay? I know how hard a cancer diagnosis always is for you...”

He cleared his throat, pushing raw emotions back. “It's harder for the family,” he said.

“True, but I know it brings back awful memories for you,” she said. “I just wanted you to remember that I'm always ready to talk, or listen, if it can help.”

He gave her a truer smile, then. “I know that,” he said. “And I know how lucky I am to have a great friend like you, Hay. But I'll be okay, I promise.”

“Well, I'm sure you and Elizabeth have plans to help take this off your mind,” she said, stepping out onto the main floor. “After all, it's Christmas, right?”

She missed the darkening in his eyes.

“Right,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. “Listen, have a great holiday and I'll see you in a couple days.”

“Merry Christmas, Kev,” she said, giving him one last quick hug.

He watched until she was safely at her car in the parking lot.

“Merry Christmas,” he said softly.

Wrapping his jacket around him a bit more tightly, he headed for his own car, and home.

+++

Risha unlocked the door to her apartment and sighed. Since she’d been so busy with work, she hadn’t decorated the place. She hadn’t even gotten a Christmas tree since moving to Atlantic City. She used to love Christmas time and went all out with decorating, but since she was by herself, she never really saw the point.

“John used to love decorating too,” she muttered to herself, getting lost in her memories…


“John! Do we REALLY need that singing Santa?” Risha asked while laughing herself to stitches. It looked silly, even when it wasn’t singing.

John pretended to look hurt. “Rish! It’s SANTA we’re talking about here! He knows when you’re sleeping…” John said as he turned on the singing Santa. He pretended to dance like the Santa in the aisle of the store, and Risha started to laugh at him. As they walked away from the Christmas items, Risha looked back at the singing Santa.

‘Maybe it’s not that bad…’ she thought as she jotted it down in her mental list of things to get John for Christmas.



Risha looked around her apartment again. It looked really sad. It was Christmas Eve, after all.

“I know what to do,” she said to herself. Risha grabbed her coat and purse as she walked out of the door.

Risha walked to a Walgreen’s that was down the street from her apartment. She walked in and immediately went to the Christmas display. She saw tons of stockings and cute cards (and even some singing Santa’s) and finally found what she was looking for. A small Christmas tree. Risha smiled and grabbed one of them, along with garland, lights, a wreath, and ornaments. After paying, she happily walked home.

She got home and started to decorate the apartment. She placed the small tree on a small cabinet, and after it was decorated, she turned off the lights and turned on the Christmas tree. Everything sparkled and shined. She turned on the lights again and strung the garland around the cabinet and around the window. She also placed the Christmas wreath on the front of her door. After she put the wreath on the door, she looked at her apartment again. It looked a lot better than before. It looked warm and inviting. She turned off the lights, sat on the couch, and looked at the lighted up Christmas tree. It truly looked magical.

“Have yourself a Merry little Christmas…” she sang softly while watching the Christmas tree glitter and shine.

+++

Entering the apartment as quietly as possible, Kevin Richardson was eager to put the night behind him. Wanting nothing more than to get some much-needed sleep, he crept down the hallway to the bedroom he and Elizabeth had shared for over a year.

On a day known for surprises, Kevin received a big one.

The door was not only shut, it was locked.

Blinking in disbelief, he tried to turn the knob again, but it wouldn't budge.

Elizabeth had locked him out of their bedroom.

For a suspended moment, he was at a loss. Pounding on the door wasn't the answer... if she was angry enough to lock him out, there would be a nasty confrontation for sure. He couldn't handle that, not after his disturbing stint in surgery.

What, then? With a bone-weary sigh, he turned and trudged back down the hall. His remaining options were limited to the floor or the couch. After a second he chose the couch, kicking off his shoes and whumping one of the pillows in hopes of making it softer. It didn't really make a difference.

He scrunched his tall frame into the confines of the couch, wishing once again that Elizabeth hadn't insisted on choosing furniture that focused on style rather than comfort. True, his over six-foot frame would challenge any couch, but still...

Despite his fatigue, he couldn't fall asleep. He finally got up after an hour, wandering into the kitchen in hopes of finding some remaining eggnog. Perhaps that would relax him enough to fall asleep.

The kitchen was, as usual, spotless. There was no trace whatsoever of the eggnog he'd made earlier; no doubt Elizabeth had gotten rid of it soon after he'd left. He settled for a glass of milk instead, supplementing it with several cookies from the tin his mother had sent them as a gift.

Thoughts of his mother naturally led to darker memories of his father; familiar, sharp pain welled in his chest as he remembered the final days of his father's life, unable to battle the cancer that claimed him. It was that singular, painful event that had propelled him towards medicine. Towards dedicating his life to healing, to helping.

He'd worked hard to become the best doctor and surgeon he could be; he wondered if his father would have been proud of his accomplishments. His mom had reassured him countless times that of course he'd have been proud, just as proud as she was of her youngest son.

He ate a bell-shaped cookie, savoring the wonderfully nostalgic taste of it. He remembered how awesome Christmases had been when he was growing up; how much fun and excitement there was around the Richardson home during the holidays. He could still see his father pulling his mother under the mistletoe that always was hung in the parlor doorway, making her laugh with his exaggerated eyebrow wiggling and subsequent dramatic kisses. Still see them dancing to Christmas carols despite her protest that dinner needed tending to... Still feel the love that radiated from them as they gazed into each other's eyes on Christmas morning, amidst the colored paper confetti storm he and his brothers always managed to create.

Although his father was no longer living, at least his mother had known many years of happiness with him. Kevin reluctantly admitted he had yet to experience that level of love.

He had truly thought that Elizabeth was the one; at the beginning, every touch was electric, every word profound, every glance, magic. She was beautiful, intelligent, and competitive... different enough in tastes and temperament to be interesting, but alike in all the important ways. She loved medicine, both the discipline and rewards that went with it; she understood dedication and pride in a job well done. She had introduced him to art films, modern paintings, and authors he'd never even heard about. He'd shown her the joys of home-style Southern cooking, classic movies and the intrinsic beauty to be found in hiking the surrounding countryside.

As he took a long drink of milk, he wondered how they had arrived at the place they were now. Earlier that evening, he had noted that it had been quite a while since Elizabeth had wanted intimacy. Thinking about it again, he realized that it had been a startling long time since they'd expressed real passion. Lovemaking, when it had happened, had been more of a familiar comfort than an exciting exchange. More often than not, their evenings and days had been filled with silences, work, or tension.

What had happened?

He still loved her; that wasn't in question. But her reaction to the evening's events had made him re-examine their current connection. Obviously, Liz wasn't happy. It had to be deeper than a thwarted lovemaking session. No, something fundamental was wrong.

Finishing his snack, he took his glass to the sink, automatically rinsing it out and stacking it in the dishwasher. Certain he wouldn't be able to sleep, he curled up on the couch anyway. At least he could try and rest.

+++


December 25

Elizabeth rolled over, automatically reaching out to touch Kevin's side. When her hand met empty space, she woke fully.

It took a second for her to sort her thoughts... then, the evening came back in vivid clarity. With a groan, she put a hand over her eyes, belatedly realizing she had a roaring headache.

She had been anticipating a romantic Christmas Eve, just her and Kevin for once. No work, no arguing, none of the odd distance that had crept between them as of late. She had arranged the schedule so that neither one of them would be working. The fact that he was chosen to be on call had been a mere technicality.

She was sure that she'd finally gotten Kevin's interest; the way he'd reacted to her advances was gratifying. But then, just when things were getting good, that stupid pager had thrown ice-water on the entire evening.

She didn't understand why he seemed so eager to get to the hospital. Almost like he was happy for the reprieve. Without a second thought, he'd turned away her advances and left her hanging. Unsatisfied, unfulfilled, unwanted. But then again, it had been an eternity since Kevin had truly seemed interested in her wants, her needs. In her.

It wasn't fair. She worked hard, gave her all to the hospital and her patients... surely she deserved a little happiness, a little satisfaction, in her private life. And yet the man she loved seemed ambivalent. Sure, he'd been more than ready to have a little romance last night, but if she hadn't initiated the entire thing, would he have made the first move? Unlikely.

Standing, she waited for the room to come back into focus... her headache was brutal... and wondered who had truly captured his interest lately. An answer popped up almost at once, and she frowned.

It was no secret that Kevin spent a lot of time with Hayley Aldworth. Hayley was attractive, outgoing, and apparently fun to be with. And the fact that he spent much more time with the surgical nurse than he did with his own girlfriend on a day-to-day basis didn't help.

Of course, Hayley would be attracted to Kevin. After all, he was handsome, respected, and well-off. She was single, and most likely saw Kevin as available. After all, it wasn't like he was engaged.

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip. Sure, they hadn't made an official commitment, but they had an understanding. At least, she thought they did.

But the more she considered it, the more it made sense. Hayley was there. Nearly every shift, they worked together. He talked about her all the time; although he insisted they were just good friends, Elizabeth wondered just how close their relationship had gotten lately.

Wrapping the robe around herself, she tied the belt tightly and marched to the door. She had a few questions to ask of her so-called boyfriend.

It made her angry that he hadn't even knocked on the door when he got home. He probably hadn't even come down the hall... if he made it home at all.

She found him sprawled half-on, half-off the couch. Sleeping like he didn't have a care in the world. For some reason, it tweaked her anger.

Not bothering to keep quiet, she went into the kitchen and began making coffee. Hopefully, it would help clear her head. And if the banging woke him up, so be it.

+++

The aroma of fresh brewed coffee propelled him out of sleep. Slowly, Kevin opened his eyes and abruptly winced as sore muscles announced their presence. So much for rest.

Awkwardly he sat up. He saw Elizabeth, back towards him, snatching a coffee cup from the cupboard. He briefly shut his eyes as he realized she was still in a mood.

“Mornin',” he mumbled, trying to break the hostile silence.

She didn't reply, save for clanking her cup on the counter. Groaning, he rose.

“Liz-”

“Who, exactly, answered that page last night?” she asked, seemingly out of the blue.

“Huh? It was Hayley,” he said with confusion. “As usual.”

Her shoulders tensed. Spinning around, she gave him an accusatory glare. “Now there's a surprise.”

“What?” he said, coming fully awake. “What's that supposed to mean? She's my surgical nurse, of course she's the one that calls if she's on duty.”

“And you didn't waste any time getting to the hospital either, I bet.”

He scowled. “No, I didn't.”

She gave him another glare and grabbed her coffee, turning her back on him as she went to sit at the small kitchen table.

“Are you going to explain that glare?” he said, his patience evaporated.

“Do I need to?”

“Damnit, Liz, I don't want to play games. Either speak your mind or get a grip.”

“Let's just say I don't like to be tossed aside.”

“Tossed aside?”

“You knew I wanted to be with you last night, yet the second a call comes in you go running-”

“I was on call!”

“You were third on the call list, they would have tried the fourth if you hadn't answered. We could have had the entire night to ourselves.”

“What? Why does it matter where I was on the call list? Obviously I was the only one that answered the page, they were in need of a surgeon-”

“I wonder if your Hayley even tried the first two,” she snapped.

“Wait... my Hayley?”

“You heard me. Don't think I haven't noticed how much time you two spend together, Kevin. I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid.”

“We work together!” he exclaimed.

“What about lunches, dinners?”

“When we're working,” he grated. “Sometimes we grab a meal together, it's not a crime!”

“I've seen how she looks at you,” Elizabeth countered. “When she thinks she's unobserved.”

Kevin threw up his hands. “This is absurd, Liz. Where on earth do you come up with this stuff?”

“Ask anyone,” she said. “They'll tell you the same.”

“You're... jealous? Of Hayley and me? Liz, there is no Hayley and me!”

She refused to answer.

“Is that why you locked the damned door on me?” he said, coming around to face her. “Over some ridiculous idea?”

“It's not ridiculous,” she said. “And stop shouting, I have a headache.”

“I suppose that's my fault too,” he said. “Or maybe it's Hayley's.”

“You really disappointed me last night, Kevin,” she said, putting down her cup. “It hurt, more than you can imagine.” She sniffed. “And it's not the first time. Things haven't been right for months now.”

He stood there, unable to make sense of anything she was saying. He ran a hand through his hair. After a bit of pacing, he turned to her once again.

“All I wanted last night was to come home, crawl into bed, and put the day behind me. I was looking forward to today, to spending Christmas with you, here. But I come home to find the door locked, and you on this ridiculous rant this morning. You know what? I'm going to go take a hot shower and get into some clean clothes. Maybe by then you'll be able to tell me what it is you want.”

She looked up, her golden-green eyes unreadable. “I don't know what I want, Kevin,” she said in a low voice. “Or what I need. But... I don't think it's you. Not anymore.”

With that simple statement, Kevin's heart broke.

+++

He stood before the door, a pumpkin pie in his hand. He hoped it was a pumpkin pie anyway. Nick honestly wasn’t sure.

He’d spent the last two days trying to make what should have been a simple pie. First, it had been apple. After he’d gone through four of those getting burnt all day Christmas Eve, he’d given up on apple. His neighbors had even banged on his door asking if there had been a fire. All they had gotten in response, however, was Nick cursing the kitchen, loudly and colorfully.

After the apple debacle, he’d considered cherry, but realized that would have been as hard as the apple.

He’d then gone to the store, got a cooking magazine which had the recipe for a “simple” pumpkin pie, and bought the ingredients. Nick didn’t have to bring something, but he felt he should. He wanted to impress Isabel’s family. Do something to show he really appreciated the invitation. It was obviously much better than yet another Christmas in his apartment alone with random phone calls from the people he wanted to avoid.

So after three more attempts that morning, the last one looked the least hazardous, and he went with that, hoping he wasn’t going to poison his girlfriend’s family.

Now here he was, standing in the snow, holding gifts Isabel and a pie in his hand, wondering how he was going to ring the doorbell with his hands full without setting anything down and wondering if he wanted to ring it to begin with. The blond groaned. The way this was going, he might as well sleep outside the door like a Golden Retriever.

As he debated this, the door suddenly opened, catching him by surprise. He stumbled back, slipping on the ice. The items flew into the air, and he raced to catch the pie. He sighed with relief when it landed safely in his hands. As he picked up the gifts from the snow, he looked up to see a giggling Isabel.

“Nick, what are you doing?” She raised a brow at him, still full of giggles. He blushed furiously as he stood quickly.

“I was about to knock on he door,” he replied smoothly, wondering if his cheeks would stop being red any time soon.

More giggles. Nick watched her with a small smile he couldn’t hide. It wasn’t THAT funny. “Sure you were, Nicky Poo.”

“Nicky Poo?”

“If I’m Izzy, you’re Nicky Poo.” She smirked. Her eyes spotted the pie. “Did you make this?”

He nodded modestly; maybe he didn’t want to take credit for that just yet. It hadn’t been tasted, so it wasn’t sure to be safe yet… “I thought I’d bring something.”

“Aww, this is so sweet!” She took the pie and kissed his cheek. “Come on in. Don’t mind the fam; they can be a little loud.”

Isabel headed into the kitchen and tasted a little bit of the pie. Her eyes widened. Were pumpkin pies supposed to have bones? After pulling a tiny one out, she snuck the pie into the back of the fridge and pulled out the store bought pumpkin pie when Nick’s gaze had shifted elsewhere. Sometimes, ignorance was truly bliss.

“Can’t be too bad…” Nick’s mind wandered. Just before he had put that last pie in the oven, he’d knocked a bowl over by accident… Those chicken wing remains didn’t fall in, did they? He considered it… Nah, he doubted it strongly. He hoped. Well, it was too late now.

“Trust me…” They heard a bunch of excited yelling, followed by a tiny crash. She laughed, “They can get that way.”

Nick chuckled, “I’m used to loud…”

+++

Nick was NOT used to loud. It was twenty versions of the Isabel he knew: male forms, female forms, forms that only had a slight resemblance. All loud, vocal, talkative, and speaking mainly in a language he had no comprehension of. All reaching for food after the very quick prayer before dinner.

He looked over across the table, where Isabel’s father, Adrian Rivera, was sitting. Beside him was Alicia, Isabel’s sister. She was identical to Isabel; you couldn’t tell the two apart at first glance, until you saw how Alicia looked a bit older, more adult, more self-assured, but not in the good way.

These were the doctors Iz had told him about.

“So, you’re the Nick my daughter keeps talking about.”

Oh boy, the father talk. The large family chattered on and fought over food animatedly with no notice to them. Nick sat up, trying not to let his eyes run away from Adrian‘s. The man had an air about him that made you feel you‘re not worthy of his presence. “Um, yes sir.”

Alicia smirked a bit. “What do you do? All she talks about is how sweet you are. She doesn‘t discuss her job at the hospital much, only school.”

Nick gave Alicia a look. Okay, perhaps it was too soon, but he didn’t like her. She seemed too confident. His azure eyes glanced over to Isabel. She was looking down, eating quietly. It was such a sudden mood change, and it caught him by surprise. “I’m a med student too.”

“Just a third-year?” The older sister nodded and ate the food. “Good for you then.” She smirked. “It’s hard work; few can handle getting past that. I’m a neurologist,” she informed them all too smugly.

“You going to treat my daughter right, young man.” Isabel’s father stared Nick down, after having stayed quiet for a short while. It unnerved Nick a bit.

“Of course, Sir.”

“How about some pie? Nick made it for us.” The table suddenly cheered, and Nick tried very hard to surpass a chuckle and thank Isabel mentally for the distraction. She gave Nick, Adrian, and Alicia each a piece before going down to serve the rest of the secretly-switched store-bought pie. She got a slice for herself and sat next to Nick to see his reaction.

He took a bite and blinked, his bright blue eyes showing his obvious surprise. “I am a good cook!” he said quietly to Isabel.

The young Hispanic woman smiled, silently reminding herself not to let the family taste the other pie. Isabel watched her father and sister closely. They were going to try and chase him away. She could feel it.

She grabbed Nick’s hand and stood. “We’re going outside for a walk.”

He looked at her and nodded in understanding as he rose as well, following her out the door before any of the family could say anything. On the way, he grabbed the main gift of the few he had brought for her. They put on their coats and went out, as the rare Christmas snow slowly fell upon them outside.

“Having fun?” she asked, gazing at him gently.

He smiled and gave her her present. She opened it happily, to discover an obviously expensive charm bracelet with little medical tools and symbols between little hearts. It had a larger heart in the middle, and inscribed on it were their names and the day they had met. She squealed with joy, as she hugged him tight.

“You didn’t have to get me that. But thank you; I love it.”

She handed him a small box as well. He opened it to find a necklace with a golden stethoscope on the end, glittering in the evening sun. On the back it said, Dr. Nickolas Carter.

“I know we’re not doctors yet, but I thought this would be an early sign of what we will be.”

He pulled her close, kissing her deeply after putting it on. “Thank you,” he said to her softly. Nick smiled; it was turning out to be a good day after all.

It was then that he heard laughter of a family, and his whole demeanor changed. The two started walking, enjoying the overall serenity with the child’s laughter being the only sound between them for several moments. His hand interlocked with hers as they walked along.

“You’re so tense. What’s been wrong?”

“Nothing…” He looked away again. Could he not talk about his family? It seemed horrible not to want to think of them on Christmas Day, but really, it was all he wanted. Was it a lot for Nick to ask for?

She stopped, grabbing his shoulders and turned him towards her. Her soft, caring coffee eyes looked determinedly into his sad, lost ocean ones. “What’s wrong? Could you just tell me.”

“You wouldn’t understand, Iz.”

“Try me.”

“I just know you wouldn’t, alright?!” He moved away, watching a father and son happily build a snowman, revealing patches of dead grass as they rolled the light coating of snow into three balls. Something so simple, forever denied from him.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around him from behind, setting her head on his shoulder. “It’s about your family, isn’t it.”

“I just want a normal one, Iz. Is that a lot to ask for?”

“No family is normal.”

“No, trust me, your family is normal. Everyone’s is, almost, compared to mine. Not having to grow up living in a rest home and then out of your car. Then when you finally get this tiny home in Orlando where no tourist would ever dare go near, your father acts like a chicken shit and leaves the first time a whore looks at him. I’ve been the father since then to them. I had to raise my brother, my three sisters, my mother even cause after he left, she hasn’t been the same. It took me forever to get here, Iz, and now my family seems to be falling apart again back home. My siblings are doing things I can’t comprehend, and I don’t know how to stop it. I can’t go back to Florida, I can’t give this all up, but I can’t be like my father! I can’t! I’m not abandoning them, but I want my own life too! My mother keeps wanting me home, but I know once I go back, they won’t let me leave…”

Tears stung his eyes, and Nick was shocked at letting his emotions go so freely this time. He didn’t even say it all. Yet, the pain of it wouldn’t stop coming.

He let his loving girlfriend hug him, as the pain escaped his heart, through the tears coming from his deep blue eyes, and vanished into the Christmas night sky.

+++
Lost and Found by RokofAges75
Episode 20:

Lost and Found


Justin Timberlake woke up to a pitch-black room. He glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed and groaned. It was only 5:02 AM, and his alarm was set for 6:00 AM. He tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t. In all honesty, Justin was both nervous and excited. It was a new year, meaning that he would now be assigned to a new doctor. Not that he hated working with Dr. Parker – she was great. He just was dead sure that she hated him.

“Although, I haven’t been that great of a student myself,” he admitted to himself.

Justin stared at the darkness for a moment, reflecting on all the mistakes he had made in the past semester. Looking back at the clock, Justin decided that he might as well get up and make himself something to eat. After all, he didn’t want to be late, like he had been last semester. He stretched his arms and looked back at his bed, where Britney was sleeping.

She looks so peaceful when she sleeps, he thought. After giving Britney one last look, Justin walked out of the room and quietly closed the door.

+++

Elizabeth O'Brien gave the apartment one final glance: everything was neat, in perfect order. She nodded, satisfied. It was the way she preferred things.

Stepping around her small suitcase, she reached in the closet for her coat. For a split second, she wondered why it seemed so empty. Then her jaw clenched.

“It's for the best,” she said, pushing back the threatening twinge of pain. “Now we're both free to find real happiness.” Grabbing her coat, she ignored the sudden waft of cologne that drifted past. Kevin's favorite... but why did her coat smell of it? He must have hugged her at some point, the fragrance transferring to the wool. She drew the garment closer to her face, inhaling deeply.

A second later, she pulled back. Angry at herself for her emotionality, she donned the coat and fastened it with fervor. After placing her suitcases out in the hallway, she turned and locked the apartment.

As soon as this conference is over, she thought to herself, I'm getting this coat dry-cleaned. It wouldn't do to have unnecessary reminders of that which was firmly in the past.

+++

Kevin finished going through his email and turned off his computer. With the week's schedule in hand, he left his office and walked down the hallway. He was so engrossed in what he was reading he made the turn into the lounge without conscious thought.

“Want a cup?”

Startled, he looked up from the papers and blinked. “Oh, Hayley... hi. Um, sure, I could use a boost.”

The redhead nodded and reached for Kevin's mug from the wall hook. “Rough night?” she asked.

“Didn't sleep very well,” he said elusively. “I'll take that with-”

“Two sugars, one creamer,” Hayley finished. “I know. I've been fixing you coffee for years now.”

He smiled. “I guess you have,” he said, taking the offered cup gratefully. “Thanks.”

“So wanna tell me what's been on your mind lately?”

He quickly raised the coffee to his lips and took a long sip.

“Delay tactics won't help,” she said, smiling. “Spill.”

“Hay...”

“Come on, we're alone here, you can talk. It's been obvious that you've been out of sorts. What's up? Or is it really none of my business?”

Knowing his long-time friend would find out eventually, he sighed. Nodding at the small table, he sat down; she joined him a moment later.

“Elizabeth and I broke up,” he said, shoulders slumping.

Hayley's eyes grew wide. “What? When did this happen?”

“Christmas,” he said.

“But didn't you go to the New Year's Eve gala at the Carlton?”

He toyed with the rim of his cup. “It was a last ditch effort. One final try.”

“Which obviously didn't work,” she said, voice full of sympathy. “I thought you two were happy.”

“I was,” he said, then paused. “She wasn't.”

“Oh, Kev,” Hayley said, taking his hand. He returned her squeeze and gave her a wry smile.

“It's strange,” he said. “Getting used to being alone. I haven't been single for two years.”

“Trust me,” she replied, “you haven't missed much.” She drank from her cup. “So where are you staying?”

He grimaced. “The Cavalier Apartments.”

“What! That's a total dive! You're a doctor, surely you can afford-”

“It's only temporary,” he quickly reassured her. “And it was the only place I could find on really short notice.”

“It's not in the best part of town,” she said. “I bet our residents wouldn't even live there.”

He gave her a grin. “Well, the paper thin walls make for interesting entertainment,” he said, leaning back. “And most of my stuff is safely locked away in storage. Besides, it's kind of nostalgic; reminds me of my salad days.”

She rolled her eyes. “You could always crash at my place,” she offered. “I can guarantee there's not nightly cockroach races there.”

“I appreciate it,” he said, “but I only have thirteen days left there. I can make do; I have a place at the Addison lined up.”

“Now, that's more like it,” she said. “Wow, it'll really be going from rags to riches. From filth to fab. From awful to awesome. From-”

“Hayley...”

“-prison to penthouse,” she continued, eyes sparkling.

Kevin laughed at her teasing expression. “All right, all right... enough.” He drained the last of his coffee and smiled at her. “You always know how to make me laugh,” he said. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” she said, standing up. “But seriously, we'll have to go have dinner or something soon. And definitely not at your place, until you move.”

“Deal,” he said.

“Oh,” she said as she reached the doorway, “don’t forget. Today you get your new shadow.”

“Shadow?”

“Med student.”

Kevin groaned as he remembered. “Cartwright? Carson?...”

“Carter,” she corrected. “Have fun!”

“Right,” he said, gathering his papers and steeling himself for the day.

+++

It was 6:50 AM when Justin arrived at the hospital, a full ten minutes early for his first day on his new rotation. He was assigned to Dr. Amory Cannon in surgery. Being in the ER his first semester, Justin didn’t really know Dr. Cannon too well, which he was partly glad for. He didn’t want Dr. Cannon to judge him based on his mistakes in the ER.

Walking towards the surgery ward, Justin suddenly saw Isabel napping on a chair in the waiting room.

“Hey… Isabel… wake up,” he said, shaking her shoulder. Isabel moved a bit, and then looked straight at Justin.

“Justin?? What time is it?” she asked, looking for a nearby clock.

“Relax… it’s only 6:52 AM. Did you spend the night here so you won’t be late?” he asked. Though they weren’t really close to each other, Justin and Isabel were friends. Isabel had helped him throughout med school, and they had chatted a few times this past semester.

“Nah… I couldn’t sleep last night. I’m excited, you know?” Justin nodded his head. “And if I slept here, at least I wouldn’t be late like you were last semester…” Justin groaned as Isabel giggled.

“Ha ha… not funny. Am I ever gonna live that down?” Justin ran his fingers in his hair, remembering the disaster his first day last semester had been.

“Nope! Anyways, where are you assigned?”

“I’m in surgery with Dr. Cannon. You?”

“Cardiology with Dr. Chung. By the way, what time is it now?”

Justin looked at his watch. “6:55, which means I have five minutes to check in and find Dr. Cannon. Good luck in cardiology!”

“Thanks! And good luck to you in surgery!”

Justin gave one last smile and walked upstairs to the surgery ward. Finally, he was having a good day at the hospital.

+++

Isabel was flustered as she set off for the cardiology ward. She thought she’d been smart, spending the night at the hospital to make absolutely sure she was there on time for her first shift of her new rotation. But her plan had almost backfired; somehow, she’d slept through the alarm she thought she had set, and if Justin hadn’t woken her up…

She shuddered at the thought of being late; it made her break out in a cold sweat. What a horrible first impression to make.

As she waited anxiously for the elevator, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out her cell phone. She had promised Nick she would give him a wake-up call to make sure he didn’t oversleep; she hoped to God he had gotten up on his own. He was starting his surgical rotation today, and if he was late, Dr. Brunson would surely know. She was, after all, the Head of Surgery.

As the phone began to ring in her ear, she checked her watch; only four minutes now. Where was the elevator??

Starting to feel panicked now, Isabel gave up and darted into the stairwell, jogging up the steps as fast as she could, her phone still pressed tightly to the side of her head.

“’Lo?” she heard Nick’s voice answer finally, through a crackle of static.

“Nick!” she shouted. “Please tell me you’re here!”

“At – ‘spital? Ye- -‘ere.”

Isabel blinked; he was cutting out badly. “Sorry, I’m in the stairwell! You’re here??” she asked breathlessly, just as she reached the fourth floor landing. Thank God, she thought, sighing with relief as she opened the door marked Cardiology.

Nick’s voice came back in, “Yeah, I just got off the elevator. Listen, I gotta go find Dr. Richardson. Catch ya later?”

Now the elevator comes! Isabel thought in exasperation. She must have just missed it – and him.

“Yeah,” she sighed, feeling relieved again at the knowledge that he had made it on time. “Good luck; I’ll see you later!”

Before he could even respond, she hurriedly snapped the phone shut, knowing she shouldn’t be caught using her cell phone in the middle of a hospital, on the cardiology floor, nonetheless. She shut off the phone and dropped it into her bag as she strode towards the nurses station in the center of the ward, walking with much more confidence than she felt.

Clearing her throat, she stepped up to the counter. “Hi, I’m Isabel Rivera, third-year med student. I’m starting my cardiology rotation with Dr. Chung today.”

A curly-haired, blonde nurse whose nametag said Maggie smiled and replied, “Well, you’re in luck. Here comes Dr. Chung now.”

She pointed, and Isabel turned to see her mentor doctor walking towards her. She had seen Dr. Shannon Chung in the ER for consults on the cardiology patients, but they had never been formerly introduced.

“Dr. Chung?” she asked, holding out her hand to the other woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties. “I’m your new student, Isabel Rivera.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Rivera,” said Dr. Chung with a professional smile and firm handshake. Though she was slightly shorter than Isabel – a difficult feat, as Isabel was only five-foot-three herself – Dr. Chung had a manner about her that was slightly intimidating.

She was very smart; Isabel made that observation in less than five seconds. Of course, she had to be smart to be a cardiology resident, but everything about her, from her appearance to her mannerisms, conveyed intelligence. Her almond eyes were sharp, and while one was dark brown, almost black, the other was surprisingly blue.

Isabel blinked, caught off-guard by this peculiarity, and forced herself to respond, “It’s nice to meet you too. I’m really excited to be working with you this semester.”

Dr. Chung nodded. “And I’m glad to teach you. I hope you will learn a great plenty here in the Cardio ward.”

Isabel smiled, looking around. “Oh, I’m sure I will.”

+++

Kevin glanced at his watch as he saw the tall blond emerge from the elevator. Right on time... a good start, anyway. Lord, but they get younger every year...

“Dr. Richardson?” the newcomer asked tentatively. “I'm Nick, Nick Carter.”

He nodded. They had met before; Carter had been Brian’s student. And not a bad one at that, if he remembered last semester’s conversations with his cousin correctly. That was a relief, though it was still a pain to have to be responsible for a med student, on top of all the other stresses of his job.

“Mr. Carter,” he said, holding out a hand. He was rewarded with a surprisingly firm handshake. “Looking forward to your surgical rotation?”

“Yes, sir,” the blond said, perhaps a bit eagerly.

Kevin smiled, remembering his own early days. “Well, let me show you around the floor while things are quiet. I have no surgeries scheduled today because there’s supposed to be a big ice storm heading our way – they cancelled all the electives, so we'll have to take what comes in from the ER.”

The younger man lost a good deal of his nervousness as Kevin familiarized him with the various areas of the surgical wing. When quizzed on various aspects of surgical prep procedure, Nick seemed to know his stuff... another plus. The pair ended up in the lounge.

“Normally I'd be in my office, doing paperwork or reading over case files and surgical journals,” he explained. “But it's kind of small for two, so we'll just stay here.”

“Sounds good,” the student said. “It's kind of strange, all this quiet.”

“I imagine after doing your ER rotation, it would be,” Kevin said. “But believe me, things can get pretty chaotic up here. You'll learn to appreciate the quiet times when they come.”

He settled at a table, spreading his paperwork across the surface. When Nick moved towards the bookshelves that lined one wall of the lounge, he suggested a well-used anatomy book to help pass the time. Once the student was settled, Kevin turned to his own work.

Nearly an hour and a half later, he put his paperwork in a neat stack, grateful it was finally finished. Glancing out the window, he saw that the predicted winter storm had already begun. Unfortunately, that meant an upswing in activity in both the ER and surgery. People never learned.

He knew Nick was restless and, no doubt, bored. One of Nick's friends, a young man whose name eluded him, came into the lounge, semi-complaining about the lack of action. Secretly, Kevin agreed.

Their rescue came from Holli Brunson, surprisingly enough. In her usual brusque way, she announced an incoming surgical case and did an impromptu interrogation on two somewhat startled med students. Kevin was rather proud that it was Nick who proved the most knowledgeable. As he followed Brunson out of the lounge, his focus narrowed as he mentally reviews procedure, all thoughts of boredom gone.

+++

Nick’s first impression of the surgical department was that it was much less chaotic than the ER. This floor was sparse and sterile, not at all like the cramped and bustling halls and trauma rooms in the Emergency department.

At first, this came as a breath of fresh air, but as the day went on, he quickly started to get bored. He was itching to get into an OR to observe an operation, but all elective procedures had been cancelled as a result of the ice storm that was due to hit the North Carolina coastline at any minute.

He couldn’t keep himself from looking out the window every few seconds as he sat in the lounge with Dr. Richardson, an anatomy textbook open in front of him. “Here, why don’t you brush up on your A&P?” his mentor surgeon had suggested, dropping the thick book down on the table in front of him before settling back to work on some of his own paperwork. “You never know when it will come in handy; if the roads get bad with this storm, we could have some emergencies coming in. There’s always a lot of bad MVAs in a storm.” (AN: MVA = Motor Vehicle Accident)

Nick had nodded agreeably and opened the book, but after flipping through a few pages, he had quickly lost interest in studying. The whole point of being a third-year, he thought, was that you got to get away from the classroom, away from the textbooks, and actually put your knowledge to use, actually do something. He wanted to do something interesting, or at least watch something interesting, but for now, the most interesting thing in the vicinity was the sleet that had started to come down outside.

He watched it for a few minutes, stealing glances in between pretending to study the diagrams in his book, but within minutes, the window was fogged up and iced over, and he could no longer see out of it.

“Looks like it’s starting to get bad,” he observed, pointing to the window.

Dr. Richardson looked up. “Yep. The MVAs should start rolling in any minute. Stupid people, out driving in this when they should just stay in…” he muttered, shaking his head as he went back to his work.

Was it wrong to secretly hope for some of those stupid people to wreck? Nick felt guilty for it, but he was really hoping for a surgery to happen soon. He didn’t have the attention span to sit around like this, just waiting, not even sure what to study for because he didn’t know what procedure he’d be observing first, or even if he would get to observe a procedure at all.

Justin Timberlake apparently felt the same way. Nick looked up as his fellow-third year came banging into the lounge, his body slouched. “Man, this sucks,” he complained to Nick as he went to the refrigerator, pulling out a twenty-four ounce bottle of Mountain Dew. Twisting open the top, he took a long slurp and exhaled loudly. “You seen any procedures yet, Carter?”

“Nope… you?” Nick was afraid to complain about the lack of excitement around Dr. Richardson; the man seemed nice enough from the few occasions Nick had been around him, but he also had a seriousness about him that was intimidating. Nick didn’t want to get on his bad side on the first day.

Justin snorted. “No… man, Dr. Cannon’s got me practicing reading X-rays to classify bone fractures. I learned how to read a friggin’ x-ray in the ER; I’m ready for some action!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw Dr. Richardson look up, but the older surgeon didn’t say anything.

As if answering their prayers, Dr. Brunson, whom Nick never would have thought of as an answer to any prayer, suddenly burst into the lounge.

“We’ve got a patient coming down with severe peritonitis. I’ve booked OR 1 for emergency surgery. Richardson, would you like to assist?”

Dr. Richardson jumped up, setting his charts aside. “Of course.” He looked over at Nick and started to add, “Can-”

“Ahh, Mr. Timberlake. And Mr. Carter,” interrupted Dr. Brunson, who had followed Kevin’s gaze and was now looking at each of the students in turn. “I take it you’re both on surgical rotation as of today?”

The two students nodded, and Justin added a rather squeaky “Yes, ma’am.”

Suck-up, thought Nick, smirking over at him. He couldn’t blame Justin for trying though; he’d had more than his fair share of run-ins with the formidable Dr. Brunson during their fall semester.

“Well, perhaps one of you would like to observe the procedure then?” Brunson suggested, and they both nodded eagerly. “Alright then, who can tell me what peritonitis is?”

Nick and Justin exchanged looks, only to realize at the same time that they were being quizzed. Nick’s mind started to race, but luckily, this was a fairly easy one. “It’s an inflammation of the peritoneum, caused by infection?” he managed to get out, while Justin was still on an “Uhh…,” his face all screwed up in concentration.

“Are you asking me or telling me, Carter?” barked Dr. Brunson

“Telling you,” Nick quickly replied.

“Good. And I assume you know your anatomy – the peritoneum is what, exactly?”

Nick had already known that answer before today, but by the hand of fate, the page of the anatomy textbook he had been staring at for the last half hour was the gastrointestinal system. “It’s the membrane that lines the abdominal wall,” he answered easily. “It covers most of the organs, especially the gastrointestinal ones.”

“Correct – not that I would have expected any less from a third-year. That’s basic anatomy,” snapped Dr. Brunson, glaring over at Justin, whose mouth was gaping soundlessly. “And what can you tell me about the presentation of peritonitis?”

“Infection!” Justin blurted, so quickly and so loudly that, this time, Nick was rendered speechless, in order to stop and look at him. Blushing, Justin stammered, “I-I mean, the patient will present with… with signs of an infection.”

“Well, of course, seeing as how Mr. Carter has already informed us that peritonitis is caused by infection,” Brunson said irritably. “Could you possibly grace us with some more specific symptoms, Mr. Timberlake?”

Justin opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally asking, “High white blood count?”

Dr. Brunson made a tutting noise. “Not if the patient has already become septic; then he or she would probably be leucopenic. Mr. Carter, do you know of any characteristic signs that present themselves upon physical examination?”

“Uh… well, they’d be tender to palpitation of the abdomen,” said Nick, thinking back to the many physical examinations he’d done in the ER. “And the abdomen would be stiff, maybe even distended? They could be nauseous or vomiting too.”

Dr. Brunson nodded shortly. “That’s a start anyway. This particular patient was admitted several days ago with a small bowel obstruction due to Crohn’s disease. Dr. Emerson performed the surgery to remove the blockage. Today, three days post-op, the patient developed severe abdominal pain, high-grade fever, tachycardia, vomiting, and decreased urine output. I consulted with the physician; diagnosis is peritonitis. What would you suspect is the cause, Mr. Carter?”

Nick thought quickly, trying to process all the information she had given him. “Well, since he just had surgery, it could have been caused by a complication – maybe his intestines got punctured?”

“Good hypothesis. We won’t know until we open her up, but yes, a tear in the bowel is a definite possibility. Too bad Emerson isn’t on call today to repair his mistake, if that’s the case. As it is, Dr. Richardson is here to assist, and Mr. Carter, since you seem to have a solid understanding of the condition, why don’t you tag along and learn the surgical remedy?”

Nick’s heart leapt. “I can observe?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes, if you’re available to scrub in the next two minutes,” replied Dr. Brunson. Nick nodded eagerly, and Dr. Richardson smiled at him over Dr. Brunson’s shoulder.

“Can I… um, Dr. Brunson, would you mind if I came too?” Justin asked tentatively. “I haven’t seen a procedure yet, and-”

“And you won’t, until you can prove you have a solid understanding of the cause for the procedure,” snapped Dr. Brunson, rounding on him, her sharp, hawkish eyes flashing dangerously. “I’m sure Dr. Cannon can provide you with some reading material to help enlighten you, Mr. Timberlake. Or there’s always chart work to be done.” With that, she stalked away, calling over her shoulder, “Richardson, Carter, we need to scrub in now, or we’ll have a septic patient on our table!”

“Come on, Nick,” said Dr. Richardson, putting a hand on his shoulder as he steered Nick out of the room. Nick felt a rush of excitement that was only curbed slightly when he glanced back to see the dejected look on Justin’s face.

+++

“What do you think?” Brian sat back and watched the little girl examine the row of neat, dark stitches on her palm.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she announced after a few moments.

Brian smiled at the little girl’s mother, who watched her daughter nervously. “Good. Now, I won’t have to give you any medicine if you follow my directions. How’s that sound?”

“Awesome!” She grinned, showing off a missing tooth.

“I can assure you, Stella’s going to do everything you tell her, Dr. Littrell. She’s certainly not going near the ice from now on. I don’t ever want her to have to go through this again,” the mother spoke anxiously, her gaze darting from her daughter’s face to the stitches.

Brian nodded. “I don’t want Stella to have to go through it either, but I don’t think she has to be banned from ice skating. You can relax, Mrs. Matthews. All Stella has to do when she gets home is change into warm clothes, drink hot chocolate, and not go outside for the rest of the day. It’s getting dangerous out there.”

“That’s all?” Stella asked, in wonder at the fact that she could just have fun and get better easily.

“That’s it,” Brian assured her. “Oh, and remember to clean the stitches and change the bandage every day. I think your mom can help you with that, right?”

Mrs. Matthews nodded, a relieved smile forming on her face. “I absolutely will help. Anything it takes to fix this.”

Brian jotted down his notes on the chart. “Great! Well, you’re all set here. Remember to come back in ten days to have the stitches removed. And drive carefully on your way home. It’s getting icy outside.”

Ruffling Stella’s hair and hearing her giggle, Brian smiled to himself and headed back into the fray of chaos that the ER had been all morning.

+++

“… and there’s number eleven. Damn Howie, guess I owe you twenty bucks,” AJ grumbled as they passed their tenth abandoned car on the side of the road.

Howie chuckled as he won their little bet. “Sorry man, but you were the stupid one to think there wouldn’t be more then ten cars on the side of the road. But now you can buy me dinner.” Howie smirked as he made sure to glance into the car to just be sure no one was sitting it in.

“The hell if I’m buying you dinner; I’ll give you your twenty bucks for you to buy your own dinner. And I just figured these backroads hillbillies would be stupid enough to be out on the road.” AJ carefully turned down a road, slowing down enough to keep from spinning or sliding on the newly-forming ice.

Howie glanced at his friend with a smirk. “Um, AJ… in case you didn’t realize, you’re one of those ‘backroads hillbillies,’ as you so blatantly put it. May I remind you that you live on Billy Joe Road? Now if that’s not a backroads street name, I don’t know what is.” Howie laughed so hard at his own joke that he was grasping his stomach.

AJ rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you already have yourself a woman, D, cause with that sense of humor, you’d never get another one.” He momentarily took his eyes off the road to get Howie a good sneer.

Howie was just about to flip his friend off when suddenly he saw a car coming around the next corner rather out of control. “AJ, LOOK OUT!”

AJ swiftly took his foot off of the gas pedal, fighting not to act on instinct and hit the breaks. Luckily for the two paramedics, the out of control car slid across the pavement a few feet away. Unluckily for them, as their rig came to a slow halt, they witnessed the car bounce harshly against the side of the nearby ditch.

“Son of a…” AJ mumbled.

Howie’s eyes went wide as he saw the passenger sail right through the windshield. After sitting there for a moment in complete shock, he snapped into action. “AJ, radio this in. I’ll get the passenger; you check the driver.” After barking out the orders, he grabbed his bag and a backboard and slid out onto the slick street, making his way to the person that was sprawled out on the cold, hard ground.

It wasn’t often that they witnessed the actual accident, especially one to this extent. All too soon, he found himself crouched down next to the young woman who was laid out on her side. “Miss? Miss? Can you hear me??” Howie began unzipping his medical bag.

The girl let out a moan; tears were streaming down her face. “Oh no… oh no, oh no.”

“Can you tell me your name, Miss?” Howie asked as he quickly worked to strap a neck brace on her.

The girl visibly swallowed hard, her voice shaking. “A…Anna… Anna Spencer. James?? Where’s James???!”

“I need you to stay as still as possible, Anna; I’m worried about your injuries. Were you not wearing your seatbelt?”

“You didn’t answer me, WHERE’S JAMES?!! JAMES! JAMES!” She tried yelling out for her boyfriend.

“Calm down, dear, he’s still in the car. My partner is tending to him. Now can you tell me if anything hurts? Does it hurt to breathe?”

Her teeth chattered a little. “Um... actually, not much is hurting; is that bad?”

Howie bit his lip briefly, trying to not show his worry. “I’m sure it’s just the shock, honey.”

Her whole body had started to quiver, her rapid breath coming in small clouds. “It’s so icy…” she murmured, her teeth chattering harder. “Th-they let us out of sc-school early, be-because of the st-storm… J-James is a good driver, but he… he lost control. The road was so s-slippery…”

Howie looked at her in sympathy and wondered how the boy was doing. “Do you think you can just stay very still for me while I go check on your friend and get some help from my partner?”

“J-just make sure James is okay, please?”

Howie nodded and gave her hand a slight squeeze before hopping up to his feet and heading towards the mangled car. He noticed that AJ had been able to get the car door open and had also placed a neck brace on the victim. “Hey J, give me his stats.”

AJ was quick to ramble off the information Howie had asked for. “Male driver, late teens maybe early twenties, unconscious from the get go. He has severe trauma to his chest and abdomen from the impact of the steering wheel. BP is way low; I started an IV, but I think we’re gonna have to tube him once we get him on the stretcher. We need to get him to the hospital fast!” AJ had managed to rush over to the ambulance during his exchange and pull the stretcher out.

“Okay, let’s do this; the girl isn’t faring much better either. I’m worried about some kinda spinal injury and she’s losing a lot of blood from her abdomen and legs.”

Both men worked together quickly as they get both of their patients into the awaiting ambulance just as the police cars began to pull up. With the sirens blaring, Howie began tending to them in the back, while AJ carefully made his way through the icy streets, hoping to get to the hospital in time to save these two.

+++

Half an hour later, still reeling from the horrific accident scene that he and Howie had just witnessed, AJ stood just outside of the ambulance bay smoking a cigarette in attempts to calm his nerves. Howie exited the hospital and handed him a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” he said, taking a draw off the cigarette and slowly exhaling the smoke.

“Dani make it home okay?”

Howie nodded. “I had to listen to Sophie rant for a few minutes though. Apparently, she took it as a direct insult to her parenting skills that I was checking up on our daughter.”

The sudden crackle of static over the ambulance radio interrupted the conversation, and both AJ and Howie ran to the ambulance…

“We have just received reports of a missing eight-year-old male, Luke Carlton, sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen leaving Cannon Elementary school at around eleven-thirty this morning. Apparently, he decided to walk home from school because no one was available to pick him up.”

“Dear Lord, a kid’s lost in this weather?” AJ asked in disbelief.

“He goes to Dani’s school,” Howie stated worriedly.

“Do you know him?” AJ asked.

Howie shook his head.

“Still, AJ… that’s someone’s child out there. The police are going to need all the help they can get.”

AJ nodded in agreement as he looked up at the quickly darkening sky.

“Well, either way, it would be good to have medical personnel around when the little boy is found.”

Howie smiled, knowing that was AJ’s way of saying he was all for helping find Luke. With the decision made, AJ and Howie quickly got into the ambulance, both praying that Luke would be found soon and return home safely.

+++

Nick Carter had proved himself eager to learn and fairly capable in the OR, despite his lack of prior experience. Kevin had caught Holli's look of approval - when the younger man wasn't aware, of course - and his estimation of the student hitched up a degree. With time and training, and a lot of experience, Carter had a real chance of being a sound doctor.

Once Holli had gone, and Nick was observing proper closure procedures, Kevin spoke.

“This was an easy one,” he said. “Fairly cut and dried, if you'll excuse the expression. But you can learn from every case if you pay attention.”

“It's amazing how small that laceration was; I almost missed it even when you pointed it out,” Nick admitted.

“Dr. Brunson is one of the best,” Kevin acknowledged. “Eyes of an eagle. Not much gets by her, as you'll come to find out.”

“I can believe it,” Nick muttered, causing Kevin to smile

Turning back to the task at hand, he continued his demonstration.

+++

“So, Carter, what did you think?” asked Dr. Richardson as he and Nick walked out of the OR.

Nick grinned. “That was cool,” he admitted, not caring how young he sounded for saying so.

Though he had done nothing more than hold tools and, occasionally, suction during the surgery, it had still been fascinating to have stood there, all gowned up and sterilized, like a real surgeon, and watch as Drs. Brunson and Richardson had cut into the middle-aged woman on the operating table, draining the infection that had spread throughout her abdomen, and repairing the small tear in her large intestine that had caused it. The surgery had gone well, and Brunson had even let Dr. Richardson take extra time in closing to show Nick the proper way to apply the sutures and steri-strips that would help seal the woman’s incision.

Dr. Richardson laughed, crinkles appearing at the corners of his green eyes. “Well, if you thought that was ‘cool,’ just wait. You’ll see a lot more interesting surgical cases than peritonitis this semester.”

Nick nodded, half-eager, half-worried. He had learned a lot just from this operation alone, yet he didn’t see how he would ever be able to master as much as the two elder surgeons obviously had. The inside of the human body looked very little like the colorful diagrams in his anatomy textbooks; most of the organs were similar in color, and with all of the connective tissue to prod through, he’d found it hard to tell what was what at first. How would he ever learn to spot the smallest of holes, as Dr. Brunson had, and skillfully repair them without tearing anything else?

Nick had always had good hand-eye coordination, and it had served him well in the ER, especially with the smaller proportions of the pediatric patients he had treated under Dr. Littrell, but surgical procedures were much more intense and invasive than the procedures he’d learned to do in the ER. It made him nervous to think that one small knick could result in a patient getting very sick, possibly even dying.

“Well, why don’t you take a break, grab some lunch,” Dr. Richardson suggested. “Just like in the ER, you never know when there might be an emergency, so it’s always good to grab something to eat when you can.”

Nick nodded obediently; he really wasn’t hungry, after observing the operation, but a semester in the ER had demonstrated how right Kevin was. They could be called for a consult or whisked away to scrub in for an unscheduled surgery at any time.

“I’ll be in the lounge if you need me,” Dr. Richardson added. “I brown-bagged it today.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I think I’m just gonna grab something from the vending machine,” said Nick, motioning towards a waiting area, where there were two of them. He didn’t feel like a big lunch; a bag of chips or a candy bar would serve him fine for now.

“Suit yourself,” said Dr. Richardson, turning to head back to the lounge.

Nick had just started towards the vending machines, when he heard someone call, “Kevin!” He turned at the same time Dr. Richardson did; the tall, red-haired head nurse of the surgery, Hayley, was bustling out from the nurses station. “Chris Kirkpatrick just called from the ER; they had a major MVA come in, and there are two patients in need of a surgical consult down there. He said one’s critical,” she added.

Dr. Richardson nodded. “Thanks, Hayley; I’ll head down right now.” Turning, he noticed Nick and called, “So, Nick, you wanna see some action?”

Abandoning all thoughts of a candy bar, Nick nodded. “Yeah, totally!” he exclaimed, jogging over to fall in step with his mentor.

Together, the two men ducked into the stairwell and followed the flight of stairs down to the ER.

+++

“In here,” said Chris Kirkpatrick when he saw Kevin and Nick in the ER, beckoning them into one of the trauma rooms. JC Chasez and two other nurses surrounded the patient, a teenage boy, Nick realized, as he followed Kevin to the foot of the gurney.

“Patient is James Buckley, eighteen years old, victim of a single-car MVA,” Chris filled them in. “He was smashed against the steering wheel in the collision and has trauma to the chest and abdomen from the impact.”

Nick could see the bruises already starting to form on the unconscious boy’s torso. Other than the contusions and a few scratches on his face, he looked unharmed, but Nick knew from experience that his insides could look a lot worse.

“We suspect internal hemorrhaging,” added Dr. Chasez, confirming Nick’s suspicions. Dr. Richardson seemed to have guessed the same, for he gave a short nod and came around to one side of the gurney, motioning for Nick to follow.

Dr. Richardson looked at the monitors keeping track of James’s vital signs; his heart rate was high, his blood pressure low. The trauma team had already started him on oxygen and blood transfusions.

“What are his breath sounds like?”

“Decreased on the left; he had a tension pneumo when he was brought in, but I already did a thoracostomy and placed a chest tube,” said Dr. Chasez promptly, motioning to the thin tubing that snaked out of the side of the boy’s chest.

“Set up for ultrasound,” Dr. Richardson directed. “Nick, examine the belly; check for tenderness or distention.”

Nodding, Nick carefully pressed his fingers into the boy’s abdomen, as he had learned to do during his ER rotation. Though unconscious, James moaned lightly as his touch. “His abdomen is tender,” Nick observed, continuing to prod.

He was vaguely aware of the sound of doors crashing open and glanced up briefly to see nurse Natalie Spade stick her head through the doors that connected to the adjoining trauma room. “Dr. Richardson, Dr. O’Brien said to tell you that we need a surgical consult in here as well.”

Dr. Richardson’s voice sounded annoyed when he asked, “What’s the situation?”

“We’ve got a female adolescent, victim of an MVA, with massive trauma to the lower half of her body, particularly the legs. She’s going to need surgery.”

“Another MVA?” Nick asked curiously, looking up again.

“She’s his girlfriend,” Chris informed him, gesturing to the patient whose belly Nick was palpitating.

“What are her vitals? Is she critical?” Dr. Richardson grilled Natalie.

“No, she’s in shock, but stable.”

“Well, this boy could be critical; he has chest and abdominal trauma. Yours sounds like it could be more of an orthopedic case. Call back up to surgery and get Amory Cannon to come down and take a look at her,” said Dr. Richardson, dismissing her.

When Natalie had gone back into the other room, Nick spoke up, “Dr. Richardson? He’s distended, especially on the left.” He felt a place on the boy’s belly which seemed swollen and firm.

“Good. Step back,” instructed Dr. Richardson, taking Nick’s place. He repeated the exam briefly and nodded. “You’re right; distention on the left. It could be the spleen. Let’s look on the ultrasound.”

One of the nurses handed him the probe that was connected to the ultrasound monitor; Dr. Richardson ran it slowly across James’s torso, studying the images on the screen intensely. “What do you see, Nick?” he asked.

Nick squinted at the monitor. He still found ultrasounds hard to read at times, and this one was especially tough; he could barely distinguish the different organs because everything seemed to be blurred by… “Blood? Is that blood?”

Dr. Richardson nodded grimly. “There’s definitely hemorrhaging; the spleen is probably lacerated, and based on the amount of blood in the belly, the injuries could be more intensive than that. I’d like to get a CT of the chest, but there’s no time; his pressure could bottom out at any minute. We need to get him up to the OR while he’s still fairly stable. Chris, could you call ahead upstairs and tell them to book us an OR immediately?”

Chris nodded, immediately reaching for the phone in the trauma room, while the other nurses got James ready to move.

“Can I scrub in?” Nick asked breathlessly as he ran alongside the gurney, helping Dr. Richardson and the nurses transport James to the elevator.

Dr. Richardson nodded. “Of course.”

Though Nick felt bad for the teenage boy on the gurney, a faint smile shone on his distorted reflection as he stood in front of stainless steel doors, waiting for the elevator.

+++

Back in the ER already, thought Isabel with a rueful smile as the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival on the first floor. Standing alongside Dr. Chung, she waited anxiously for the doors to open. They were responding to a call for a cardiology consult that had come in just minutes ago.

As the steel doors slid open, Isabel caught sight of a group of doctors and nurses waiting with a patient a few feet from the elevator. She hurried out so that they could get in, but not before a familiar voice called her name.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Nick waving at her as he helped back the gurney into the elevator. She smiled, feeling a rush of warmth travel through her, as if she’d just downed a cup of hot cocoa (which sounded very good right about now, in the midst of the ice storm raging outside). She waved back, giving him a quick thumbs up, before the elevator doors started to close, and Dr. Chung said, “Miss Rivera? Are you coming?”

Fast on her mentor’s heels, Isabel followed Dr. Chung’s brisk pace to the correct examining room. There, she was surprised to find her former mentor, Dr. Jack Palmer, standing over the patient.

“Well, well,” Dr. Palmer said with a grin when he spotted Isabel. “Welcome back, Isabel.”

Isabel smiled; it made her feel important to be coming to the ER as a consult now. Well, accompanying the consulting physician, in any case.

“What do we have here?” asked Dr. Chung, stepping up to observe the patient in the bed, an elderly man. He was conscious and propped up in bed, his bare chest covered with white, sticky pads. Isabel’s eyes followed the lead wires from the pads up to the heart monitor, which was beeping out an irregular rhythm.

“Walter Marriott, age seventy-four, MI while attempting to scrape ice in his driveway,” said Dr. Palmer. “Mr. Marriott experienced sudden angina and trouble breathing. Luckily, his wife looked out the window and called 911 as soon as she saw he was having trouble. You’re lucky you have such an attentive wife, sir,” he added to Mr. Marriott, smiling.

“Oh, I’ll never live this down now,” the old man said wheezily, giving a tired smile in return. “She’s always worrying about me, and now I’ve given her an actual reason.”

Isabel and Dr. Palmer both chuckled, but Dr. Chung was more serious. “Have you done an ECG?”

“Right here,” said Dr. Palmer, handing her a long strip of paper that had recorded Mr. Marriott’s heart rhythm. “He showed all the classic signs of an MI, so we gave him aspirin, heparin, beta blockers, and nitroglycerin. We got his heart rate down, but he’s still experiencing arrhythmia with ST elevation.”

Dr. Chung spent a few minutes reviewing the patient’s chart and looking over the ECG, pointing out certain distinguishing characteristics to Isabel. “What further treatment would you recommend, Miss Rivera?” she asked finally.

“He seems like a good candidate for PTCA,” said Isabel, suspecting that Mr. Marriott needed an angioplasty procedure to widen the narrowed coronary arteries that had caused his heart attack. During her ER rotation, she had seen many patients come in with the same situation, though she had never observed an actual angioplasty.

Dr. Chung nodded. “I agree. Call up to the cath lab. We’ll need to get him upstairs right away.”

Isabel nodded and immediately picked up the phone.

+++

After half a day of doing nothing but charts, Justin was pretty bored. But he didn’t complain much. He would rather be doing charts than be quizzed by Dr. Brunson again. He felt even more foolish hours later than he had when he was being quizzed.

And, of course, Nick had to be Mr. Perfect… again, he thought. Justin couldn’t help but feel like an idiot compared to him. That’s how it had always been, ever since their first year of med school. The professors would praise Nick, while Justin would get scolded for making one simple mistake.

He was about to sink further into a sea of despair when he heard Dr. Cannon yell at him. “Timberlake! Scrub in! We have a young girl who needs our help!” she said, rushing to the nearby sink.

Justin didn’t hesitate for one second. He quickly stood up and ran to the sink. After scrubbing in, Justin rushed to Dr. Cannon’s side as the patient was wheeled in. As the young girl was getting prepared for the surgery, Justin turned pale.

Her legs were mangled, and her stomach was covered in blood. She had a few scratches on her face and her upper body, but her lower body was a mess, for a lack of better words.

“Anna Spencer, age seventeen. Thrown out of the vehicle when she and her boyfriend wrecked on the way home from school. Her lower body was smashed against the dashboard as she was thrown out. Her legs are broken, her pelvic bone smashed, deep cuts on each leg and on her stomach, and both ACLs in her legs are torn. Looks like we have a long surgery ahead of us,” Dr. Cannon said.

Justin stared at the poor girl again. He felt bile coming up his throat.

“Timberlake, could you PLEASE act more mature with this? You’re going to see more patients like this, perhaps even worse. And I pray that day won’t come. Come on!” Dr. Cannon said.

Justin swallowed whatever was in his throat and went to watch the surgeons do their jobs.

+++

In the OR, Nick looked down into James Buckley’s open belly with dismay. There was so much blood that he could barely tell the digestive organs apart. Dr. Richardson had already removed the lacerated spleen, and still, the blood kept coming.

“Nick, more suction,” ordered Dr. Richardson, his voice unusually sharp. Nick had been suctioning the whole time, sending a steady stream of blood into a machine called the cell saver, which cleaned it and sent it pumping back into James’s body. But the blood was leaking faster than the machine could suction it, and the patient’s vital signs were getting progressively worse.

“I’m trying,” said Nick, his voice cracking. “There’s just so much blood…” His throat felt tight; he swallowed hard, moving the suction hose around, to no effect.

Feeling slightly queasy by the sight of such massive hemorrhaging, Nick looked up and over the table. The strip of face he could see between Dr. Richardson’s surgical mask and cap was covered in a sheen of perspiration.

The sight unnerved Nick; he had never seen the surgeon look anything but cool and composed. Yet as James’s blood pressure steadily dropped, Dr. Richardson’s stress skyrocketed.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” he finally cursed, expelling a sigh of frustration beneath his mask. “How am I supposed to repair the colon when I can’t even see what I’m doing?”

“Do you want me to call Brunson?” asked Hayley, the nurse who was assisting. Her eyes looked wary above her mask.

Dr. Richardson seemed to hesitate. “Not yet,” he said finally. “Give me a few more minutes. Nick, more suction.”

Nick dutifully moved the suction hose about, clearing as much blood as he could.

For a moment, things seemed to be going better; Hayley wiped the sweat from Dr. Richardson’s forehead, and the surgeon dove back in, his thick eyebrows furrowed with determination.

Then, all hell broke loose. As Dr. Richardson lifted the colon, a geyser of blood gushed out at him, splattering the front of his surgical gown with a fresh splash of bright red. Seconds later, all of the monitors went haywire.

“Pressure’s bottoming out… Lost his pressure!” Hayley called out, staring fretfully at the monitor. The erratic beep that signified James’s heartbeat became a shrill wail. “Flatline.”

“Get Brunson,” Dr. Richardson barked. “I’m gonna crack his chest. Nick, hand me the sternal saw.”

Abandoning the suction, Nick followed the surgeon’s pointing finger and retrieved the saw that was meant to slice through ribs and sternum to open up a patient’s chest. He passed it to Dr. Richardson, who didn’t hesitate one moment before applying it expertly to the ashen teenager on the table. The mere sound of the saw made Nick cringe, but he kept his composure, admiring his mentor surgeon’s quick work.

“Hayley, charge the defibrillator,” Dr. Richardson commanded to the nurse, who had just finished paging the chief of surgery. “Ever shocked anyone from inside the chest, Nick?”

“No,” said Nick, almost breathless.

“After today, you will have. Internal paddles?” Hayley passed a set of small, tong-like paddles to Dr. Richardson. Nick watched in wonder as he stuck them straight into James’s open chest, placing them in position on either side of his unbeating heart. “Here, Nick… take them,” he ordered, and Nick put his hands over the older man’s, taking command of the paddles.

“Charge to 50?”

“Charged,” said Hayley.

“Then whenever you’re ready, Nick.”

Nick hesitated not even a second. “Clear!” his voice shook, and he closed his eyes as he delivered the shock straight into the boy’s heart.

+++

“Clear!”

Isabel squeezed her eyes shut as the word was issued. She opened them in dismay when she heard the nurse’s voice say, “No change. Still in V-fib.”

“Charge again. 250,” came Dr. Chung’s curt command.

“Charging…”

Isabel watched, this time, as Dr. Chung pressed the paddles against Mr. Marriott’s chest. His old, feeble body jumped on the table with the surge of electricity, but when her eyes flew to the heart monitor, the faltering line did not change.

Her own heart hurt with sorrow. The angioplasty was supposed to been a routine procedure; though she had never observed one until now, Isabel had read all about them. They were a very common way of treating patients with blood clots and narrowed coronaries.

Mr. Marriott should have sailed through, but instead, he’d suffered a second heart attack in the middle of the procedure. It had been over fifteen minutes, and his damaged heart had still not recovered a rhythm that would sustain life.

“Asystole,” the nurse said suddenly, and Isabel looked up again to see that the line on the heart monitor had flattened completely.

“Should I do chest compressions?” she asked Dr. Chung, moving forward. She stopped when the petite cardiologist shook her head, her mouth pressed into a narrow, firm line.

“It’s too late,” she said, her voice soft, but sure. “His heart has been unresponsive for nearly twenty minutes; we will not get him back. Too much damage has been done.”

Isabel let out a shaky breath, feeling helpless. She wanted to protest that they should at least try CPR, but the decision had already been made. Dr. Chung was stripping off her gloves and looking toward the clock. “Time of death: 16: 37.”

***

“Time of death: 16: 45,” murmured Dr. Richardson, staring up at the clock on the OR wall. Sighing, he looked across the table at Nick, who was staring down at the mutilated body of James Buckley. “For what it was worth, you did a good job assisting, Carter.”

Nick looked up. “Thanks,” he muttered, feeling he didn’t deserve any kind of praise. The patient had died.

“You’ll close and clean up, I assume?” asked Dr. Brunson, her heavy, dark eyebrows arching above her mask. She had come in just to witness the last-ditch attempt to save the boy’s life. It had been she who had declared it a lost cause and ordered Dr. Richardson to call his death.

Dr. Richardson nodded, and the head of surgery promptly left, tossing her clean surgical garb in the waste bin on her way out.

“Well, Nick, you can close if you want. Sad as it is to say, this is a good opportunity for you to get some practice at good suturing. It won’t matter what this kid’s scar looks like.”

The thought of sewing the poor teenager’s dead body back together made Nick feel sick, but he swallowed hard and nodded, listening closely as Dr. Richardson demonstrated how to do it.

+++

Hayley Aldworth watched warily as Kevin called the time of death. Her sharp ears had no trouble detecting the pain in his voice; he had given his all, but it hadn't been enough. Normally, she knew, he wouldn't have lingered in the OR, faced with his so-called failure, but there was still work to be done. Sad as it was, it was still a learning opportunity for the young student under Kevin's care. As she began gathering bloodied instruments onto the rolling tray, she absently listened to him instructing Carter on technique. Although Nick looked a bit green, he went ahead with the poignant duty of stitching together the lifeless body on the table.

The job was quickly finished, and Nick was the first one out of the room. She waited for Kevin, silently accompanying him to the adjoining area and helping him strip off his blood-soaked gown.

“Thanks,” he said, his voice low and tired.

“You did what you could,” she offered.

“I know.”

She gave his shoulder a squeeze. “It's hard when they're so young.”

“Always.”

“Go home, get some rest, okay? We'll fight the good fight tomorrow.”

He managed a small smile. “That we will.”

She left, giving him the bit of solitude she knew he needed. Ten minutes later, purse and coat in hand, she watched the elevator doors close shut, putting the day behind her at last.

+++

With each passing minute, Howie knew that Luke’s chances were decreasing. The temperature was dropping steadily. As the sun set, it was well below freezing, and Luke’s risk of developing hypothermia from the cold was rising steadily. What worried AJ and Howie the most was the fact that it was a rural area, meaning there was a lot of trees and other landscape that would conceal a scared and lost little boy in the darkness.

It had been AJ’s idea to start at the elementary school where Luke was last seen and then move in the direction of his home. It had been a very logical choice, but so far had proved unsuccessful.

AJ drove along slowly. He and Howie were both looking around for any sign of Luke.

“AJ, we’re not really getting anywhere… and we’re running out of time,” he added worriedly. “Do you want to try on foot?”

“Where, D? I mean, did you have a particular area in mind?”

“I’m trying to think like a lost little boy,” Howie said. “At this point, he’s probably disoriented from the hypothermia and extremely scared, I’m sure. He would probably seek shelter. Listen, there’s wooded areas all around here. Why don’t we grab the medical bag and flashlights and look around?”

“It can’t hurt. No one else seems to be having any luck.”

AJ and Howie chose a small cluster of forest that was about midway between the school and Luke’s home. Grabbing medical supplies, blankets and flashlights, the two paramedics set out in search of Luke.

It wasn’t easy going; the icy ground made walking a difficult task, and the flashlights provided little light to penetrate the winter darkness.

They trudged on, flashlights scanning everywhere as they called Luke’s name. They were almost ready to give up hope, Howie questioning his reasons for setting out on foot. Suddenly, Howie’s flashlight caught something red lying on the icy ground. Upon closer investigation, he realized it was a backpack… a Spiderman backpack. Moving the flashlight inches forward, Howie saw the little boy lying on his stomach, face down and apparently unconscious.

“AJ, I found him!’ Howie shouted

Howie’s heart sank, his first thought being that Luke was dead. “Luke,” he said leaning down to touch the little boy’s back. He felt immensely relieved when he felt Luke stir beneath his touch.

“Luke, can you hear me?” he asked gently.

The little boy’s reply was muffled and barely above a whisper, but it was there nonetheless.

“Luke, listen to me, my name is Howie. I’m here to help you. You just have to stay with me, okay?”

“Okay,” Luke mumbled weakly.

“Are you hurt?” Howie asked.

“No… just c-cold,” Luke said through chattering teeth.

“Don’t worry, son. We’re gonna get you out of here,” AJ spoke up reassuringly. He and Howie bundled Luke in blankets, and Howie carefully lifted the little boy’s light frame into his arms.

“Luke, keep talking to me, kiddo,” Howie said, knowing it was important to keep Luke awake. “Tell me how you got lost.”

“I was walking home from school after we got out. Mommy and Daddy work during the day and couldn’t come and get me. I got turned around and got lost.”

Howie continued asking Luke a variety of trivial questions in attempts to keep him awake, everything from who his favorite baseball team was, to which one of Spiderman’s powers was his favorite.

After what seemed like forever, they reached the highway and the parked ambulance. They quickly alerted the hospital to inform them that Luke had been found. As AJ drove the speeding ambulance to the hospital, Howie checked Luke’s vitals and hooked the little boy up to an IV of warm saline to bring his body temperature back up. He certainly wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Howie removed Luke’s shoes. “Luke, can you feel your toes?” he asked.

“No, they’re numb,” Luke replied.

Howie was saddened at the possibly that Luke could lose some toes. He tried to keep a positive attitude as he continued examining Luke.

They reached the hospital at last, and Luke was taken into the care of the awaiting staff of doctors and nurses. Howie and AJ hung back, both exhausted from their ordeal.

“You think he’s gonna be okay?” AJ asked.

“I don’t know,” Howie said. “He’s been through a lot. He obviously a tough kid, though. We’ll just have to wait and pray.”

+++

“Dr. Harnett, you’ve got a call on line three,” an exhausted Melissa at the nurses’ station held a phone out to Ivory. “I think it’s your cousin, Tom. At least, I think that’s what he said his name was.” She smiled wearily. “It’s been kind of a crazy day, so I’m not too sharp at the moment.”

Ivory patted her hand. “It’s okay. It has been wild, what with the storm and all. I’m glad we didn’t lose power because you know how awful that generator is.”

“Tell me about it.” Melissa rolled her eyes. “You’d think being a hospital where people need electricity to operate the machines that help them live, we’d get a decent generator. Of course not. Anyway, phone for you.”

Ivory took the receiver. “Thanks, Mel. Hello?” she spoke into the phone.

“Ives! Hey, it’s Tommy,” a familiar male voice on the other end responded cheerily. “Remember me?”

“How could I forget?” Ivory smiled. “How’ve you been? How’s your clinic running?” she added, remembering the place he’d opened in downtown Seattle two years earlier.

“I’m all right. The clinic… well, it’s not too great.” He sighed. “Actually, it’s sort of why I called you. I know you’re at work and all, but I had this idea and need your help.”

“It couldn’t wait another three hours until I got home?”

“Ivory, you know I forget stuff like that. Sorry,” he apologized. “Besides, I wanted to find out how things are going with that investigation.”

Awful. She closed her eyes briefly as the humiliation swarmed through her again. “It sucks,” she admitted. “They keep calling me in front of a panel, asking me the same questions, and letting me go. On top of that, they won’t let me work more than thirty-five hours a week. Do you know how terrible that is?”

“Honestly? I don’t, but I can feel your pain. My partner quit last week,” he told her. “I’m trying to run this clinic single-handedly, and I’m in desperate need of some help.”

“Wish I could help,” she replied.

“Well, you know if you ever decide you’re tired of the yo-yo sensation the hospital’s giving you, you’re absolutely welcome to come and help me out,” Tom offered.

Ivory frowned, unsure whether he was joking or not. “Are you serious?”

“Uh, not really. I know how much you love Atlantic City, Ives. You’d never want to move all the way across the country from it.” He paused. “Anyway, the idea I wanted to ask you about was: if you know of any doctor who’d be willing to take the empty position at my clinic, let me know. Get me their number, and I’ll definitely call them up. I need all the help I can get.”

“Of course, I’ll help! I’m sorry about the partner, and I’ll let you know the second I run into anyone who might want to take the job. Good luck in the meantime.”

“Yeah, you, too. Oh, and I like the DVDs you sent me for Christmas. Good stuff.”

Ivory smiled. “I’m glad you liked them. Anyway, I have to get going. I’ll call you later?”

“Yeah, absolutely. That is, if the clinic hasn’t eaten my soul,” he answered, jokingly.

“Fight that beast, Tommy. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Ivory.”

She hung up and stood thinking for a few moments. Who did she know who might want to uproot themselves three thousand miles for work? The only doctors she knew were the ones she worked with, or friends at other practices. None of them were unhappy with their positions… not like she was.

Tom had been joking when he’d offered her the job, but what if she took it? What if she quit her job before they got around to dismissing her? She could start fresh in a new city where none of her past could really follow her. Certainly not Brunson. And no Brunson sounded like a great idea.

Wait a minute. Am I seriously considering calling Tom back and offering myself for the post? Ivory frowned at the packed waiting room, not really seeing them as she was lost in thought. Could I really leave this hospital, my friends, Brian?

Brian.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” An arm slid around her waist, and she looked up into weary, but cheerful, blue eyes.

“Hi.” She relaxed in his hold. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine.” Of course, she couldn’t leave this man. He made the whole mess worthwhile for her. She couldn’t go.

Brian kissed her lightly. “You’re sure everything’s okay? You were frowning at the patients like they were the plague.”

“I was talking to my cousin,” she told him. “He’s got a clinic in Seattle, but his partner walked out and left him swamped. He wanted to know if I could get him in touch with anyone that might want to take the job. I was just trying to think of people I know that might be interested. That’s all.” She smiled. “How’s your day been?”

“Almost over. Thank God.” Brian smiled back, glad that it hadn’t been something about the investigation making her upset. “This storm has given me plenty of patients since I got in this morning.”

“Oh, I know.” She walked with him towards the lounge. “I’ve had nothing but broken bones and stitches all day. If I have to see another X-ray of a fracture, it’ll be too soon.”

In the lounge, Brian poured a mug of stale coffee and grimaced when he sipped. “I know what you mean. I’ve had kids come in who’ve fallen on the ice and split skin. Others broke wrists, ankles, and a couple tailbones here and there.”

Ivory grinned. “I bet spending time with the good Dr. Littrell fixed them right up.”

“You know it.” Smiling, he was leaning towards her when the door swung open.

“Brian! There’s a kid coming in with hypothermia,” a rushed Susan told him. “Dorough and McLean called ahead to alert you. The little boy’s been out in the storm all day, and they’re not sure he’ll make it.”

Brian hurried out the door after her and reached the ER in time to see Howie and AJ roll in a gurney with a small child strapped into it.

“We found him wandering. He’s been outside since this morning,” Howie explained as he helped Brian get the child into a trauma room. “He’s frozen to the bone. BP’s not doing too well, his temp’s dropped extremely low.”

Brian noted the blue lips, the icy skin, and ordered one of the nurses to aid him in stripping off the boy’s clothes. They seemed to be frozen to him, and ice clung to every inch of his clothing and hair.

When he moaned a little and opened his eyes halfway, Brian shone a light in his eyes. “Pupils are dilated,” he muttered to himself before raising his voice. “Hey there, big guy. I hear you’ve been out in the cold for quite some time.”

“Hurts,” came the reply.

“I know, buddy. We’re going to try to fix you up good as new, okay?” Brian checked the pulse and noted it was dipping dangerously low. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Luke,” he whispered. “I want my mom.”

Brian glanced over at one of the nurses. “Can you call his parents for me? I know they’re probably really worried about him.” He looked back down at the child. “Hang in there, okay? We’re going to get your parents here and have you feeling better in no time.”

Luke tried to nod, but his eyes drooped shut, and the heart rate monitor began wildly beeping.

“He’s dropping rapidly!” Susan called out.

Brian snapped out an order for the crash cart. “And where are those heated blankets I asked for three minutes ago?”

“In the waiting room,” Susan answered. “They’ve been handing them out to the homeless who’ve gathered in there.”

“Well, can you round some up for me? This little boy needs them more! And Addie, can you get a core temp?”

The nurses sprang into action, Susan running for the supplies he had requested, while Addie tried to measure Luke’s temperature. Brian turned back to the little boy.

“He has an arrhythmia,” said Jaela, pointing to the heart monitor, which had registered the irregular heart rhythm.

Brian took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s be very gentle with him, everyone. He’s in an advanced stage of hypothermia, and if we jostle him too much, he could arrest. Jaela, let’s give him bretylium, 5 mgs per kilogram IV, and another round of warm saline. I’m going to intubate him; then we can keep him oxygenated with heated O2.”

Brian had just finished guiding the tube down the boy’s narrow throat when the heart monitor changed its pattern. “He’s in V-fib!” cried Jaela. Brian jumped around from the head of the bed.

“Jaela, start chest compressions. Addie, you bag him. Susan, did you bring that crash cart?”

“Right here, Dr. Littrell.”

“Good. Let’s try shocking him. Charge to fifty.”

Susan charged the defibrillator and slapped a couple of pads onto Luke’s cold, pale chest, before handing Brian the paddles. “Clear!” he called and put them against their targets, causing the boy’s body to jump stiffly. There was no change on the monitors. He shocked again, two more times. Still no change.

Then the line on the heart monitor went flat. “Asystole,” Jaela said quietly. “No pulse.”

“Resume CPR,” Brian urged, and the nurse went back to her chest compressions. “Come on, buddy,” he spoke quietly to his young patient, as the nurses tried diligently to bring him back. “I know you’ve been through a lot, I know you’re cold, but we’re warming you up… you’ll be okay now; you just need to come back to us. Come back, Luke.” He wrapped his warm hand around the boy’s small, cold one, squeezing hard, willing some warmth back into the lifeless body in front of him.

“Dr. Littrell… Brian,” Jaela spoke after some time, her voice cracking. “It’s been almost half an hour, he’s been down… no pulse…”

She was still diligently pushing on Luke’s chest, but he could see that she was getting tired and had lost hope. When she looked up, meeting his gaze across the table, he saw there were tears in her eyes. Jaela was a mother, he knew; she didn’t want to lose this little boy any more than he did. But she was right… he had been without a heartbeat for a long time…

Suddenly, Susan spoke up. “Don’t give up yet. We could still get him back.” When Jaela and Addie both looked at her like she was delusional, the newer nurse argued, “I used to work at a trauma center in Utah. We saw a lot of hypothermia cases, mostly people up in the mountains. Severe hypothermia can mimic death, but the cold temperatures slow down metabolism and delay cell damage. I’ve seen patients revived who had been down longer than this. As they say, ‘You’re not dead till you’re warm and dead.’”

The other two women still looked skeptical, but Brian offered her a slight smile and a nod. “I’ve heard that too.” Checking a reading, he added, “His temp is still too low. If we can warm him up and get his heart beating again, we have a shot. Keep going with CPR, and Susan, call up to surgery and get someone down here; maybe we can set him up on bypass to warm his blood faster.”

Susan nodded and got on the phone, while Brian took over chest compressions for the exhausted Jaela. After a few more minutes, the heart monitor suddenly registered it – a heartbeat. All heads in the room looked up as it beeped once… then twice… then again, slowly, hesitantly, again.

“He has a faint pulse,” whispered Jaela in almost disbelief, as the heart monitor continued to beep, faster and faster, like an accelerating train. “Normal sinus rhythm.”

“You were right, Susan,” Brian smiled at the other nurse before looking back down at the boy. “Welcome back, Luke.”

“What do we have here?” asked another voice, and Brian looked to see Rita Sumari, the cardiothoracic surgeon, coming in. He explained quickly what had happened and assisted her in placing two catheters in Luke’s body, which would be used to filter blood in and out of his body, through a bypass machine, warming it in the process.

Once Luke was stable on the bypass machine, Brian left Rita in charge and went to talk to the boy’s parents, who had arrived. His mother was tearful, his father practically trembling. They both thanked him profusely, even when he told them that Luke wasn’t quite out of the woods yet.

“At least he’s here now. The police office told us he probably would have died if he had been lost any longer,” Luke’s mother said tremulously. “Thank God those paramedics found him when they did.”

His father jumped in with, “Do you know how we could get in contact with them? The paramedics that saved Luke? We want to thank them.”

Brian smiled. “I should be able to get them over here for you.” Going back into the trauma room, he said, “Hey, Rita, you think you can get a hold of that boyfriend of yours? I’ve got two parents in the waiting room who are eager to thank him and his partner.”

Rita smiled with pride. “I think I could manage that.”

+++

“We can never thank you enough. You went out on a limb to find him, and if it hadn’t been for you, he probably would have died. You saved his life,” gushed Luke’s mother, speaking over her son’s bedside.

Howie smiled down at the little boy, who was sleeping, but warm again and finally out of danger. It was a great relief to Howie to see that his and AJ’s efforts had been worth it. Luke had survived, and that was all that mattered.

“I’m a dad myself,” he told the boy’s parents. “I have a little girl, Danielle, who’s close to Luke’s age. I can’t imagine how terrified I would have been if it had been her lost in the cold. It was just second nature to want to help find Luke.”

“God bless you both,” said Luke’s father, shaking Howie’s hand and then AJ’s.

The two paramedics left the room a few minutes later with smiles on their faces. “We did good, J,” said Howie, putting his arm playfully around AJ’s shoulders.

“It was your idea, D,” AJ pointed out. “You’re the one who found him.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who got him here without sliding into a ditch,” Howie replied, glancing out the ER doors, into the ambulance bay. The bright lights outside lit up the otherwise dark sky and illuminated the thick sheet of ice on the ground. “That in itself is a miracle.”

AJ smiled. “All in a day’s work, my friend. All in a day’s work.”

Glad that their trying shift had at least had a happy end, the two set out into the ice.

+++

After her surgery, Anna Spencer was wheeled to the ICU, where she was hooked up to all sorts of machines. Justin sat in a chair on the other side of the room, deep in thought. Anna had survived, but she would be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. The nerve damage was too intense to fully repair. Her legs were scarred from the cuts, and she was wrapped in casts and bandages from her stomach to her toes. To make matters worse, her boyfriend had died on the operating table, and Justin had to break the news to her. Dr. Cannon would be there, too, but Justin would be the one speaking.

What do I say? “Sorry, you’re paralyzed for the rest of your life, your legs are horribly scarred, and oh, your boyfriend died?” he thought, running his fingers though his hair.

After a half an hour, Anna was waking up.

“Now Justin, remember. This is a highly sensitive situation. Be as gentle and understanding as you can,” Dr. Cannon whispered to the young medical student.

“Wha…what happened? Where’s James?” Anna asked.

Justin swallowed excess saliva and stood up. “Miss Spencer? My name’s Justin Timberlake, and I watched over your surgery. You had major cuts on your stomach and your legs. Your legs were broken, and you tore both ACLs and severed many nerves in both legs. Your pelvic bone was smashed. The bones should heal nicely, but I’m afraid that you will carry the scars and be paralyzed for the rest of your life. The nerve damage was too massive to fix. I’m really sorry, Miss Spencer,” Justin said.

Anna started to cry. “And… what about James?” she asked, looking straight at him. Justin looked at the floor.

“He was admitted to the hospital and taken to surgery… but he didn’t make it.” Justin continued to look at the floor. He didn’t want to see her cry.

“Oh God! James!!” she sobbed. Justin started to tear up too. This was the part of being a doctor that he really hated. “No one’s going to love me now! Not when I’m paralyzed and have ugly scars!” Justin couldn’t take it anymore. It broke his heart to see people crying. Justin ran to Anna’s bed and held her hands.

“Shhhh… don’t cry… listen, Anna. It’s going to be okay. You’re not ugly, and any guy would be lucky to be with you. You’re going to get the best help you can get, and get better, all right? I promise,” Justin said.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah… your parents are in the waiting room, and I bet they’ll be excited to see you.” Justin then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“Wow… I didn’t know you had that in you, Mr. Timberlake,” Dr. Cannon said.

“Neither did I…” he responded.

Justin stared at the floor as they walked to the waiting room. He kept quiet, reflecting on the past events of the day.

“Hey… why don’t you just take a break? I’ll deal with the family. It’s been a hard day for you,” Dr. Cannon said, sensing that Justin could break down at any moment.

“Really? I mean, I need to learn –,”

“Justin, no offense, but you look like you could use a break. Go. I’ll take it from here.”

He gave Dr. Cannon a thankful look as he nodded and headed towards the break room. As soon as he walked in, Justin closed the door and cried. He hated breaking bad news to people. Just hated it. He cried for Anna, her family, and even for James. But mostly he cried because he could do nothing else to help.

+++

Isabel felt utterly drained as she plodded down the fourth floor staircase at the end of the day. Though she’d seen many patients die after working over four months in the hospital, it hadn’t gotten any easier to accept death. The death of Mr. Marriott had hit her just as hard as the first death she’d witnessed in the ER. And accompanying Dr. Chung to break the news to his poor wife had been even harder.

She’d been at the hospital for far more than twenty-four hours now and couldn’t wait to get home to her own bed. She was glad her body felt as tired as it did, for even though her mind, too, felt thick with exhaustion, she was afraid she would lay awake, dwelling on the events of the day as she often did, if she did not first succumb to her physical weariness.

She stopped off at the second floor landing, entering the surgery ward in search of Nick. He should have been off then too, if he had not gotten tied up in an emergency surgery. Looking around, she started to walk over to the nurse’s station to ask about him, when she heard his voice call her name.

“Isabel?”

Turning, she found him coming out of the staff room, his jacket draped haphazardly over one shoulder. He looked as exhausted as she felt.

“Ready to go?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“Never been readier,” he smiled back tiredly. He reached for her hand, and they walked back to the stairs together.

In the privacy of the stairwell, she brought his hand to her lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “Mmm,” she sighed, inhaling the scent of antiseptic soap beneath his fingernails, “you smell… clean.”

“All that scrubbing will do that to a person,” he remarked with a wry smile.

“So you got to scrub in?”

“Yep.”

“How was it?” she asked eagerly.

He shrugged. “You win some, you lose some. We lost bad. A teenage kid who got into an accident on the way home from school with his girlfriend. She lived, according to Timberlake. He died on our table. Massive hemorrhaging. I felt like I was in a scene from The Shining. You know that part with the waves of blood coming out from behind the doors?”

Isabel shrugged. “I don’t really like scary movies. But I know what you mean. I’m sorry,” she said sympathetically, patting his arm. She knew just how he felt. “I lost a patient too,” she told him. “An old man. He had an MI while he was out trying to scrape ice. He was doing pretty well after he was brought in, but he coded in the cath lab.”

“Sorry,” Nick returned the sentiments, putting his arm around her and giving her a little squeeze.

They continued down the stairs slowly, their arms around each other. They barely broke their hold as they passed through the ER, still bustling with traumas in the aftermath of the ice storm; it was as if they almost needed to lean on each other, literally.

When they passed through ambulance bay, Isabel straightened, but held onto Nick’s arm even tighter. The maintenance workers had done a good job at keeping the bay clear of ice, but once they got past the path of clear, wet pavement, it was a mess. There was no snow, but nearly an inch of pure, solid ice coating everything.

“I wish we had ice skates,” Isabel managed to joke as she and Nick both slipped and slid, clinging to what little traction their shoes provided. His had more than hers, so he held onto her tightly, keeping her upright. They took short, quick steps, like a couple of penguins, as they made their way toward their cars.

Behind them, they heard a sudden shout, followed by the unmistakable sound of a pair of feet skidding across the ice. They both turned just in time to see Holli Brunson fall hard on her hip upon the icy ground.

“Oh, shit,” Nick swore, letting go of Isabel so that he could hurry back to Dr. Brunson. Isabel shuffled after him, sliding with each step. “Are you okay, Dr. Brunson?” she heard him ask as he knelt down beside her, putting his knee against the wet, cold ice.

Dr. Brunson’s reply was surprisingly sharp. “I’m fine!” she snarled, looking rather like a turtle who had been turned over on its shell as she struggled to get up.

“Hang on, lemme help you,” Nick said determinedly, gritting his teeth as he reached to put his arm around her, but she swatted his hand away.

“I told you, I’m fine, Carter! Go on; I can get up on my own,” Brunson insisted with a ferociousness that was severe, even for her.

Isabel bit her lip as she watched the older woman struggle, in obvious frustration and humiliation. “You really shouldn’t move!” she called out, against her better judgment. “You might have hurt your hip.”

“I’m not that old, Miss Rivera! My hip’s fine; just a contusion, I’m sure,” spat Brunson. “Now, if the two of you would just scram and let me have some dignity-“

Nick and Isabel exchanged worried glances; Nick was still poised to help her, but she was steadfastly refusing to let him so much as touch her. Isabel was just beginning to wonder if the chief of staff had also struck her head during the fall and was possibly mentally altered when another voice joined the mix.

“Dr. Brunson? Are you alright?”

Another woman was coming toward them; she was older than Isabel, but younger than Brunson, and she wore blue scrubs beneath her winter coat. Isabel did not know her, but Nick said, “Hey, Dr. Cannon. She just took a pretty bad fall, and she won’t let us help her up.”

Isabel fully expected the other doctor to insist that Brunson let Nick help her, but instead, Dr. Cannon looked between the two med students for a moment and then said, “I can take it from here. You two go on home. Here, Holli.”

Gently nudging Nick aside, the younger doctor bent down and put her arm around Brunson. To Isabel’s surprise, Brunson did not recoil this time, but let her. Still on the ground, Dr. Cannon looked up, and when she saw that the two students were still standing there, staring at her, she added, “Drive safely.”

She was clearly insinuating that they should leave. Shrugging, Nick finally gave up and made his way back over to Isabel. She gave him a questioning look, and he returned it with one that was equally clueless. “I guess we’ll go,” he muttered, taking her arm again.

She felt bad about leaving Dr. Brunson on the ground, no matter how spiteful the older doctor could be, but when she chanced a look back over her shoulder, Dr. Cannon had Brunson sitting up and was talking to her quietly. She appeared to be okay.

“You wanna come over to my place for awhile?” asked Nick, when they finally reached her car.

Isabel really just wanted to sleep, but she hadn’t seen her boyfriend all day, except for the brief few seconds they’d crossed paths at the elevator, and she knew that with him working in surgery this semester, their time together might be scarce as it was. Besides, it would be good to talk to him for awhile, get some of her feelings out before she tried to sleep.

“How about you come over to my place?” she suggested. “I can make us some cocoa.”

Nick smiled. “Cocoa sounds awesome.”

+++

Kevin walked towards the lounge, heading for a final half cup of coffee and reviewing the Buckley case in his head. Could he have done things differently? Acted faster, more decisively? Had he waited too long to call Brunson?

No, he concluded. He'd done everything he knew of to save the boy. Even Brunson had told him there wasn't anything else to be done. Still, the loss hurt.

He opened the door to the lounge and was taken aback by the sound of muffled crying. There, head bowed and faced covered, was Nick's friend, the curly-haired student from earlier. Not knowing what to say, he simply walked over to the coffee machine and grabbed a Styrofoam cup. There was a hitch in the crying, and he turned.

The young man's eyes were red as he desperately tried to wipe the wetness from his cheeks. Sniffling loudly, he said, “S-sorry, Doctor. I didn't mean to...”

“It's okay,” Kevin replied smoothly. “I take it you had a rough day?”

“Yes, sir,” came the miserable reply. Another sniffle.

“What's your name? I know you're Carter's friend, but-”

After a fleetingly puzzled look, the young man said, “My name's Justin. Timberlake.”

“Justin. Right.”

“You're not gonna- gonna report me or anything, are you?” he said shakily.

“Report you? For what?” Kevin asked, surprised.

“For being... well... like this. I mean...”

Kevin mixed sugar into his cup. “We all have bad days, Justin. It's part of the territory, something you have to learn to live with.”

“But there was this girl… it was so unfair; she was in this accident, and now her whole life is messed up forever,” he said tightly.

“At least she has a life,” Kevin replied flatly after a moment.

Justin sniffled once more. “Well, yeah, I guess...”

“The hardest part of being a doctor is knowing that you can't save them all, you can't wave a magic wand and have happy endings all the time. You have to accept that, and find a way to cope.”

“I don't see anyone else crying like some wimp,” Justin said bitterly.

“I think it just proves that you're human, that you care about other people. That's not a bad thing. Far from it. Without compassion, without true caring, we'd be nothing more than robots or machines.” He tested his coffee, finding it acceptable. “Tell me, when Dr. Brunson was quizzing you today, did you actually know the answers?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking down. “Well, most of them. But I got flustered.”

“Your emotions got the best of you, in other words. It's the same here. You're going to have to figure out how to channel your emotions into something productive. If you can't do it, or aren't willing to work at it, then you aren't cut out to be a doctor.”

Justin remained silent.

“Think about it,” Kevin said, putting a lid on his cup and snapping it in place. “Being a doctor isn't something you can take on lightly. It's not a temporary job, it's a lifetime career. Be real sure it's something you truly want to commit to, because believe me, it's not easy.”

He was almost to the door when Justin spoke.

“Are you glad you became a doctor?”

Kevin didn't hesitate. “Every day, Justin. Every day.”

+++

All Risha Veers wanted was to go home. It had been a long, tiring day. Too many people slipping on the ice, or being reckless enough to drive in the dangerous icy weather. She headed outside. It was good to go home, even if it was cold and alone.

From her pocket, she took out a salt shaker with a smile. Remembering was easy; it was when she forgot he was gone that really killed her. Risha stared at the object in her hand wistfully. Some things, she just couldn’t forget…


The young redhead ran to her class hurriedly. Who cared about the snow? She was going to be so late. Again. Damn that alarm!

The cold nipped at her face, making her cheeks seem rosy. She tried to be careful, but she felt herself lose balance on the icy ground and fell flat on her behind as the students walking back laughed at her. She turned bright red.

“Great start today, Risha,” she scolded herself quietly.

A hand came into her view. “Want some help?” a kind voice offered. She looked up to see a gentle face, a sympathetic gaze that held no false pretenses. She smiled and took his hand, letting him help her up.

“Thanks,” she said shyly, hoping her cheeks would stop feeling so warm soon.

“I’m John.” He grinned.

“My name’s Risha. Nice to meet you.”

“Want to know a trick for not falling? I’ve never tried it as I was racing somewhere though,” he joked with a chuckle.

Risha couldn’t help but smile. “Oh yeah? What?”

He pulled out a salt shaker, waving a hand around it like it was a lump of gold in his hand. “Ta-da!”

She laughed. “A salt shaker…?”

John shook some on the sidewalk around them. “Yep, makes it less slippery.” He handed the salt shaker to her. “You can have mine; I have spares at home.”

“What’s the catch?”

He laughed, his smile bright and full of life. “We meet for cocoa tomorrow afternoon. I’d say morning, but I have Child Development then.”

Risha nodded. “I’d like that.” She caught sight of her watch with a groan. “I am so late.”

He wrote his number on her arm and smiled. “We’ll talk,” he winked and headed off to his own class. She watched him go, class forgotten again as she stared down at the salt shaker in her hand…



… the same one that was in her hand now. So many years later, and she still had it; she’d kept it as her prized possession.

She was lost in the memory so much that she didn’t hear Kevin approach her, as she shook some salt in front of her. Then she looked up. He smiled, his jade eyes dazzling in the winter night light.

“Hey.”

“Hey. If you don’t mind me asking… what’s with the salt shaker?”

Risha grinned as her red hair blew in the wind. “Just a trick I learned for weather like this.”

As Kevin looked after her in curiosity, she headed off into the cold, warmed by times before.

+++
Burning Love by RokofAges75
Episode 21:

Burning Love


“Choose your attitude,” Nick had once been advised by a wise college professor of his; it was one of four sayings that accompanied the professor’s philosophy on how to live life and make a difference. Choosing your attitude meant that you got decide how to feel about or react to the situations that came your way. But to Nick, on this particular day, there was no choice in the matter.

Today was going to suck – that was a fact – and the most positive attitude in the world was not going to change it.

It was Valentine’s Day, a day which normally sucked anyway, because it was mushy and gushy, expensive and full of expectations if you had a girlfriend, and lonely and pathetic if you didn’t.

For years, Nick had been in the latter category, one of the poor pathetic souls in his class at school who couldn’t get a girlfriend because he was scrawny and the girls thought he was weird, that loner who drummed in the marching band, sang in the show choir, and played video games in his free time. He’d never had many friends; at his school, the cool kids were the jocks, not the music geeks, and while Nick had been on the basketball team, technically, he had spent more time warming the bench than actually playing.

Then puberty had finally hit in full force, and Nick had quickly entered the former, the club of guys with girlfriends, girlfriends who liked him more for his looks than anything else and expected roses, chocolates, and a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Day. As Nick, too, had dated the vast majority of his string of high school and college girlfriends more for their looks than anything else, he had quickly come to loathe the “holiday” even more than he had when he was pathetic and single. He hated blowing his hard-earned money on girls he didn’t really care about anyway.

But this year, it was different. He poorer than ever, but now that he was with Isabel, he found that he really did care. He wanted to give her a nice gift and take her out for a romantic dinner. She was the only thing in his life that had been keeping him sane lately, as his surgical rotation had been intense. She was what he looked forward to, even more than sleep, on the rare days they both had off.

Though he was working today, he had managed to avoid being scheduled for the night shift and had looked forward to being able to spend the evening of Valentine’s Day with Isabel.

The only problem was, she had been stuck with the night shift. And all of her attempts to trade shifts had failed. No one wanted to work the night of Valentine’s Day, and she was the lowest rung on the ladder in the cardiology department. And so, while other couples were out trading heart-shaped Valentine’s cards and sampling chocolates from heart-shaped boxes, Isabel would be examining real hearts at the hospital.

It was valiant, sure… but it sucked. It sucked big time.

So as Nick changed into his scrubs and sterile gown and went to scrub in for his first surgery of the morning, it was hard to follow his professor’s advice. He was working while Isabel was off, and as soon as he got off, she would be starting her shift. There wouldn’t even be time to meet for dinner.

And his mentor wasn’t even on call today. Dr. Richardson had the day off, and he didn’t even have a girlfriend anymore. It wasn’t fair. Now Nick would be stuck working under the critical eye of Dr. Brunson all day, which made his predicament even worse.

Yes, choosing a positive attitude was going to be near impossible.

+++

Kevin Richardson looked around his apartment with a critical eye. To his disappointment, not a thing was out of place... every book was arranged (in alphabetical order) on the shelves, his DVD collection was categorized by genre (with sub-sections in alphabetical order, of course), his current magazines were stacked neatly on his otherwise immaculate coffee table (not alphabetized, but in date-of-publication order), and not a mote of dust could be seen on a single surface (even his mother would be in awe).

The rug had been vacuumed several times (although it was brand-new), the furniture had been arranged and re-arranged a dozen ways until everything was just right. There wasn't a streak on the expansive windows that overlooked the scenic view of the river and surrounding woods; indeed, there wasn't a thing out of place.

Which left him with an entire day off and not a single thing left to do.

Oh, he'd tried to get in a shift at the hospital; had practically begged, but Brunson had declared that he was taking the day off, no arguments. She said that he had put in far too much time in the last two months and that she wouldn't allow him to burn out, not while she was in charge of things. When the Chief of Staff said such, in that tone, one didn't bother to protest.

Glancing at the clock, Kevin wondered what in the world he was going to do for the ten remaining hours that marked Valentine's Day.

Without Elizabeth... without a significant other... the day sort of sucked. A whole day devoted to love and romance... fine, if you were connected. Lousy if you weren't.

He sighed, then was struck by a thought. Groceries! Surely he needed to re-stock on some basics. If he took his time, and went to the market across town, it'd take him at least an hour. Happily, he grabbed his coat, grateful for something to do.

To his chagrin, the grocery store didn't provide the escape from Valentine's that he had hoped for. Instead, the aisles were packed full of bouquets, chocolates, decadent treats, cards, balloons... when had grocery stores turned into mini-malls, anyway?... and a hundred other reminders of romance. By the time he'd turned his cart down the coffee aisle, he was muttering under his breath about hating the color red.

He looked up at the sound of a familiar laugh.

“Now there's something... a surgeon hating the color red.”

“Hayley!”

“What you doing here, Kev, slumming?” she teased, her hazel eyes full of laughter.

“I just kind of needed to get out of my apartment for a while, decided to get a change of scenery. What about you?”

“I was down to a can of tuna and some bendable celery. Desperation set in, so I figured it was time to get some supplies.”

A silence settled between the two friends for a moment. Hayley looked into his cart and raised an eyebrow. “Three frozen dinners, six eggs, and a head of lettuce? Wow, you're going all out.”

“Well... I haven't gotten to the pasta section yet...” he defended.

She rolled her eyes. “I know you can cook, I've seen you do it. And don't tell me you can't afford stuff, not on your extravagant salary.”

“I deserve every penny I make,” he said, a small grin appearing. “Especially for putting up with certain surgical nurses on my team.”

“Oh? Who are they? I'll have a talk with them.”

Kevin finally laughed. “I knew coming here was a good idea.” He looked down for a second. “Truth is, it's been hard being alone since Liz and I broke up. I mean... why cook, just for one person?”

“I know what you mean,” Hayley said. “There are days when my dinner consists of popcorn and Hershey bars.”

He made a face. “That's sad, Hay.”

“Don't I know it,” she said, shrugging. Then, her eyes narrowed. “You don't have any plans for tonight, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Neither do I. And you know what? The last thing I want to do is sit home feeling sorry for myself, and I bet you feel the same.”

“Well, I sure don't want to sit home feeling sorry for you, that's true.”

She gave him a smack on the arm. “Kev, you're such a doofus. You know what I mean.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I do. So what are you suggesting?”

“Let's go out to dinner. Someplace where we can talk and laugh and have someone else cook, serve, and do the dishes afterwards.”

“Tonight? But it's Valentine's Day-”

“And?”

He blinked. Hayley was right.

“That sure sounds better than scrambled eggs with a side of self-pity,” he said.

“Great!” she said. “I'll pick a place and you can buy dinner. Sound fair?”

“Wait a minute, how come I-”

“Because you make the big bucks,” she interrupted with a smirk. “Deal?”

He laughed once again. “Deal, you crazy woman. How about I pick you up around seven?”

“Perfect. It'll be our Un-Valentine's dinner.”

With a smile, she gave him a wink and continued down the aisle. By the time Kevin had paid for his purchases, he was truly looking forward to a fun dinner with his best friend, romance be damned.

+++

Imagine having your appendix burst on Valentine’s Day. Nick shook his head as he walked out of the OR, feeling sorry for the woman he had just assisted Dr. Brunson in operating on. Valerie Abrams would not be feeling up to eating a box of chocolates anytime today. He still thought it sucked that he and Isabel would not get to do anything special for the holiday, but at least they’d be here at the hospital as staff, rather than patients. Things could always be worse.

He disposed of his surgical gown and washed his hands before heading to his locker in the lounge to grab his lab coat. Slipping the white coat on over his scrubs, he instinctively shoved his hands in the pockets of it as he wandered back out. His fingers brushed something stiff, a smallish, thickish piece of paper. Confused as to what he might have put in his coat pocket (he didn’t remember sticking anything in there), he pulled the paper out.

It was a small index card, he saw, folded over once. He didn’t recognize it, but when he opened it up, he did recognize the handwriting.

Big, loopy, and flowing, it was undeniably Isabel’s.


It said:

You’ve been working hard with surgical tools,
But I hope that you didn’t forget…
It’s Valentine’s Day, and I have a gift for you.
To find it, go to where we first met.


Nick smiled. A treasure hunt; she was sending him on some kind of treasure hunt for his “gift.” He could recognize a clue when he found one in his pocket. It even rhymed. He wasn’t surprised. Isabel was just the type of girl who would take the time to make her clue rhyme.

He read it over again, focusing on the last line. Go to where we first met.

That was easy. They’d met here at the hospital, though not on this floor. Downstairs, on their way into the ER, the first day of their rotation. He would never forget how nervous he had been, and how confident she had seemed, and how her smile had both relaxed him and twisted his stomach into even tighter knots because it was such a beautiful smile.

His own smile growing, he slipped the clue back into his pocket and ducked out of the lounge, stopping by the nurses’ station just long enough to announce that he was running downstairs and would be back in a minute. He hoped Brunson wouldn’t be looking for him, but he didn’t really care. At this particular moment, he would gladly endure a lecture from the head surgeon just to satisfy his curiosity about Isabel’s note.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Nick trotted down to ground level and wove his way through the ER, which was bustling as usual. He waved a few quick hellos to the nurses he’d gotten to know, but was glad they seemed too busy to stop and chat. He was on a mission.

He slowed as he reached the entrance on the other side of the emergency department. This was where he had met Isabel, when they’d arrived together that first morning. Looking around, he wondered where the clue might be. There weren’t exactly a lot of places to stick a piece of paper and not worry about someone else picking it up.

He didn’t see it anywhere on this side of the double doors, so he pushed through them and stood on the other side. It was quieter here and, for now, deserted. He took his time, hunting for any place where a note could be wedged. His eyes were drawn upward, to the sign over the doors that said Emergency Room, and as he stared up at it, he was taken back to the first time he’d lain eyes on it.


Looking up at the sign mounted over the doorway, he gulped. Now that he was here in front of these doors, his stomach was cramping up horribly with nerves, and he felt slightly nauseous.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. He was so busy worrying and trying to get up the courage to open those doors that he didn’t even notice the soft footsteps of someone walking down the hall towards him. It was only when he heard the voice that he realized someone had come up behind him.

“Let me guess – med student?”

Nick whirled around, surprised, to find a petite young woman standing behind him. “Uh… yeah,” he choked out, his heart pounding. “How did you guess?”

She smiled. “It was pretty obvious.” Laughing, she added, “You look terrified.”

For some reason, Nick suddenly felt much more at ease. Her smile and laugh were contagious, and he couldn’t help but sheepishly smile himself. “Yeah, I’m pretty nervous,” he admitted. “So, how about you? Are you a med student too?”

She slid the strap of the large bag she was carrying back onto her shoulder and nodded. “Yup. Isabel Rivera. I’m a third year too.” She held out a hand, and Nick shook it. Now that he had relaxed a bit, he had a chance to step back and take a good look at her. She was quite pretty, Hispanic, with bronze skin, dark curly hair, and chocolate brown eyes.

“I’m Nick Carter.”


Nick grinned now, not just because of the memory, but because he had spotted a small bit of white poking out from behind the gray sign. Reaching up, he pulled out another folded index card that had been wedged behind the sign so that only a corner was peeking out for him to find.

Unfolding the card, he read the second message.


Hello, Nick! You’re well on your way
To getting your gift for Valentine’s Day,
But while you’re down here, you might as well stop
At Memorial’s own handy gift shop.


More rhyming, he thought and smiled, pocketing the note as he walked down the hall to the gift shop. He hadn’t the slightest idea where to even begin to find a clue hidden in here, but thankfully, he didn’t have to look. As soon as he walked into the shop, the woman behind the counter looked up, smiled, and motioned him over.

“Mr. Carter,” she said, reading his ID badge. “I believe I have something for you.” And she reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a third note.

“Thank you,” replied Nick as he took it, surprised at how easy that had been. He stepped back to read the third clue.


By now you’ve read clues two and one,
And now you’re onto the third.
Could this be the charm? Just ask Dr. Chung!
P.S. Put in a good word!


Nick chuckled; apparently her mentor, Dr. Shannon Chung, was in on this charade too. Guessing he was to head up to cardiology next, he thanked the gift shop cashier for the clue and hurried to the elevators.

He was lucky to bump into Dr. Chung right in the hallway of the cardiology department. Clearing his throat, he said to her, “Hi, um, I’m Nick Carter; I’m a med student in surgery. Um, do you by chance have anything for me from your student, Isabel?”

“Oh! Mr. Carter.” The cardiologist’s almond eyes brightened with recognition, and Nick felt a surge of triumph, which quickly turned to confusion when she said, “I thought you came up for your EKG.”

“Huh?” Nick was puzzled. “What EKG?”

Dr. Chung arched one slender brow. “I thought your mentor would have told you. The administration is requiring that all staff members undergo a routine EKG, just as a precautionary measure.”

Nick frowned. “Why? I’ve never heard of that.”

“They don’t want any liability issues, I suppose. Over in Indian Valley last year, a nurse died of an MI while on duty. His family tried to blame it on the hospital – rigors of the job and such – but the autopsy showed he had an abnormality which could have been detected with a simple EKG. If they’d caught it earlier, they could have treated it and prevented his death. Such a tragedy,” she added regrettably, shaking her head. “If you’d like, we could get your EKG out of the way now.”

“What? No, I can’t,” Nick said quickly, “I’m on call in surgery, and I’m not even really on a break; I just came down to-”

“No worries. If they page you, the tech can stop it early,” Dr. Chung replied breezily. “I’m on good terms with the head of surgery. You won’t be in any trouble.”

“Brunson?” Nick was surprised that anyone could be on good terms with Holli Brunson. Dr. Richardson was the closest, but Nick had seen even him butt heads with Brunson.

“We’re slow today. I can get you set up right now; it won’t take long. Why don’t you come with me?”

Nick’s first impulse was to keep resisting; he didn’t want to do this. But Dr. Chung, in her subdued, patient way, was oddly persuasive, and before he knew it, Nick found himself on a cot in a room with her telling him to take his scrub top off. “The tech will be here in just a few minutes to get you started,” she promised when he did, and left.

What am I getting myself into? thought Nick, as he sat shirtless on the cot, looking around the room. He felt jumpy; something about this just didn’t seem right. Why hadn’t he heard anything about this requirement?

Then the door opened, and the tech walked in, and Nick felt, if anything, more uneasy. She – he could tell she was a woman only because she was short – was gowned up fully, the way he dressed for the OR, in baggy scrubs, a surgical gown that hid her body, a cap over her hair, and a mask over her mouth and nose. All he could see of her was her eyes, and just as he opened his mouth to tell her that she must be in the wrong place, he recognized them.

Her eyes. Deep brown and sparkling, like two pools of molten chocolate, he could gaze into them for hours.

He swallowed, a sigh of relief escaping his throat, where his heart had been lodged. “Are you here to check my heart, Dr. Rivera?” he asked, smirking up at her.

As the mask came down, Isabel’s grin was revealed. “Did it skip a beat when you recognized me?” she returned, her lovely lips curving upwards.

“It did,” Nick nodded.

Isabel smiled again, radiant. “Then there’s no need. Things are just the way they should be.”

Nick snickered. “You just wanted an excuse to get me without a shirt.”

Shrugging, Isabel turned and shot him a devilish smile over her shoulder. “Maybe,” she quipped as she walked to the door, closing and locking it. Then she tore off her cap, shook out her mane of shiny, black hair, and started to strip off her surgical garb, one garment at a time. First came the mask, which she tossed across the room, strings flying. Then the papery gown, which she dropped to a heap at her feet, leaving her in just a pair of blue scrubs.

“Is your heart rate climbing?” she asked as she stalked back towards him, almost panther-like, her eyes seductive.

“Oh yeah. Lose those scrubs, and I’ll be downright tachycardic.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we? How about a compromise?” She pulled her scrub top up over her head, and he was disappointed to see she had on a tank top underneath. Disappointed, that was, until he took in the sight of her lean, toned arms, her collarbones rising above her smooth, caramel skin, and the gentle swell of her breasts beneath the thin, white material. He’d never been with anyone more perfect, he couldn’t help but think.

Still cat-like in her movements, she climbed gracefully onto the cot and into his lap, straddling him so that they were face to face and almost touching, her legs wrapped around his waist. His pulse had quickened, the way it always did when he was near her, and he gently took her hand and placed it in the center of his bare chest. He watched the smile spread across her face as she felt his heart beat.

“You’re not tachycardic,” she said after a few moments, “just horny.” She winked, and he grinned broadly.

“A fair assessment, doctor,” he concurred and pulled her closer, capturing her mouth in a deep kiss.

“How’d you like my treasure hunt?” she asked, in between kisses.

He smiled and kissed her smooth forehead. “I liked it,” he replied. “It led me to my treasure, didn’t it?”

Grinning back, Isabel seemed to glow. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nick,” she said, before pulling him back to her again. She knew as well as Nick that they had to make the most of his “break.”

+++

“What do you think of summer?” Rita said as she walked over to Howie. It had only been 2 months since they became engaged, and they were just starting to get into the hard part – deciding and planning a wedding. By some luck, they both had breaks at the moment and had ended up in the emergency department together. The staff lounge’s table looked like it had exploded with bridal magazines and calendars. With two weddings being planned at the same time, Howie and Rita and Jack and Addie, the staff lounge suddenly became Wedding Central.

“Wouldn’t it be too hot? You know how it gets during the summer months…” Howie responded. Rita sat in a chair next to Howie and glanced at the calendar.

“Yeah… I don’t want us to sweat on our wedding day,” she said, chuckling at her remark. It was simple little things like that that made Howie love her. She could be serious at some times, but totally relaxed and bubbly at other times.

“And I take it you don’t want to freeze on our wedding day either,” Howie remarked. Rita smiled and looked at one of the bridal magazines’ winter specials.

“True, but they make lovely formal coats…” Howie flipped through the calendar and stopped at the picture that accompanied September. It was a simple picture – a small pond in fall. It had fallen leaves everywhere, which illuminated the pond with their orange and gold colors.

“What about fall? It won’t be cold from winter yet, but it won’t be that hot either,” he said, showing Rita the picture.

“Hmm….” was all that Rita was able to say, before his pager went off. He checked it, and Rita gave him a small kiss before they both walked toward the door.

“Duty calls,” he said. Rita gave him an understanding look. She knew all too well that sometimes, work had to come before life.

“See you at home?” she asked.

“Yup. Tell Dani that I’m really sorry. From the look of the page, it’s really bad.”

“Of course. Now go do your job.” Howie gave Rita a quick kiss before joining Harry and the others, who were down the hall.

“If there was any time I want to kill that pager that would have been one of them,” Rita thought, returning to the Cardiology department.

+++

Risha headed to her desk after a long, tiring surgery. One that had ended with the patient’s death due to complications she couldn’t control. It just added on to her saddened mood. It was hard not to feel sad on Valentine’s Day, a day she hated, began to love, and now hated once more.

However, on the desk, she spied something she far from expected that day.

It was covered in roses of every color, balloons trying to escape through the doorway as she entered. And then, her ocean-like orbs caught sight of the final treat, a… No… Was that a dancing stuffed Hershey’s Kiss with an Elvis wig and sunglasses on, shaking its booty on the desk as it played the tune “Burning Love”??

There she saw a note, and only skimmed the name.

Chris, she thought. Great.

Obviously he had gotten the wrong message, so how was she going to tell the obviously eager young man she wasn’t interested, or even near ready for a relationship?

It had been awhile since she had received anything like this, however. She picked up a chocolate despite herself, eating slowly as she pondered quietly. Most guys had gotten the “not ready” vibe she had been sending off ever since John’s accident.

A sigh came. As hard as it was to move on, it was natural to think of him on Valentine’s Day.


She had been out late. Between her rotations at the hospital and trying to keep up with school, she didn’t have as much time for John as she liked. The idea saddened her, and she resolved to work on that more.

She had gone to pick up John’s Valentine’s Day gift, the most she could afford. A simple, yet handsome watch laid upon a long delicate gold chain with his name engraved on it. It would set her back a bit, but he was worth it. Also, she would never tell him how much it did cost her, or how much she could not afford it, even though she had bought it anyway.

The young red-headed woman trekked up the stairs to her apartment, when an odd smell reached her nose as she wrinkled it in distaste. Was that smoke? Shaking her head and heading to the door, she saw the note from her roommate, Kimmy, taped to it.


Rishie,
Out with my lover boy tee hee! Be back tomorrow-ish!
Hugs, Kissies and Wishies!
Kimmy


She opened the door and was seemingly almost attacked with smoke. Coughing she waved it by, leaving the door open so it could air out.

Risha went in further, to the source of it, worried. Did Kimmy leave an oven mitt on top of one of the stove burners? She raced to the oven quickly, only to find the most surprising yet interesting sight.

There stood John, fanning the stove with an oven mitt frantically. His light brown hair stood out in tufts under a big chef’s hat. He wore an apron splattered with different types of food. His bright blue eyes sadly went to – well, Risha wasn’t sure what it had started out as, but it was now nothing more than possible coal.

She started laughing, uncontrollably, and grabbed her stomach as she entered a complete fit of giggles. John turned around, his gentle, slightly-freckled face giving an apologetic look at the chaos that surrounded him.

“Happy Valentines Day?” He said, with a shrug of hopelessness, seeing his doom.

She laughed and hugged him tightly. “I love you, you goober. Happy Valentine’s Day.”


The Hershey’s Kiss Elvis… thing brought her back to the present when it belted out its final note in an odd manner. She ignored it and smiled at the memory. At least she had those. She’d try to sort the Chris ordeal out later and just hoped she wouldn’t run into him today.

Suddenly, she spotted her watch and realized her break was over. She sighed and looked up.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, John,” she whispered and headed out, back to where she was needed.

+++

“Dr. Harnett! They need a doctor with the team coming into the ER. ETA is two minutes!” a nurse interrupted Ivory’s thoughts as she walked through the emergency room.

Ivory hastily set down the mug of coffee she’d been carrying with her on her way to a ten-minute break. “What’s the condition?”

“Forty-three year old female in heart failure. Her husband found her clutching her chest as she lay on the floor of the bathroom. She’s on the transplant list at the moment, but you know how those things work,” the nurse answered as the phone at her station rang again. “Excuse me, Dr. Harnett.”

Ivory nodded and began to make her way towards the doors to the ER. She’d had a relatively peaceful day with a few broken bones, some stitches, and an ice skater with a concussion. If she had it her way, the rest of the day would be just as peaceful. After all, it was Valentine’s Day, and she needed a way to figure out how to tell Brian that she was almost definitely taking the job at her cousin’s clinic in Seattle.

“But that can wait for a better time,” she muttered to herself and rolled up her sleeves as the sound of an ambulance’s sirens became increasingly louder.

When the gurney was wheeled off the ambulance, she rushed over to it. AJ glanced over at her as they pushed the cart into the hospital. “She was pretty bad when we got there,” he spoke low and fast, hoping the woman’s husband wouldn’t hear. “Her heart sounds are irregular and too slow. We stabilized her on the way over, but it’s definitely not over for her yet. You good to take her?”

Ivory let the gurney get wheeled into a room and looked over her shoulder at AJ. “We’re good. Thanks.”

“No problem. Happy V-Day.”

“Yeah,” Ivory murmured, whipping out her stethoscope. “You, too.” She moved over to the bed and tried to listen to the heartbeat even as she watched it show up on the monitor that the nurses worked to hook the woman up to. AJ was right—it was too slow and very irregular. If this woman didn’t get a transplant soon…

“Doctor?” The woman’s husband stepped up next to the bed, worry etched in every feature of his face as he took his wife’s hand between his. “Is she going to be okay?”

Ivory managed a grim smile. “I can’t promise anything, Mr…”

“Donnelly. Michael.” He squeezed his wife’s hand again. “And this is my Kate, who’s been trying so desperately to hold on, but the doctors can’t find a damn heart in the whole world for her.” His voice grew angry. “It’s not right nor fair. I can’t lose the woman I love because the doctors are slow, so please, Doctor, please help us.”

Ivory sighed, handing a note to one of the nurses for the meds that Mrs. Donnelly would need before turning back to the woman’s husband. “Mr. Donnelly, I’m going to try my hardest, but you should know that it is very difficult to obtain a heart for a transplant anywhere. Kate’s not the only one on the list; there are thousands just like her.”

“No. No, they aren’t like her because I’m not married to them.” He looked up at Ivory now with a heartbreaking face. “I can’t lose her.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Michael.” The voice was weak and faint, but Ivory moved closer to Kate.

“Mrs. Donnelly, I’m Dr. Harnett. How are you feeling?”

Kate licked her dry lips. “Like a thousand pound anvil is weighing on my chest,” she whispered. “How bad am I this time?”

Ivory didn’t know how to answer other than with the truth. “I’m not going to lie. It’s not good. We’re going to run a couple of tests, but, in the meantime, we’ve got you on medication that will keep your heart stable. I’m going to go call in to see if there are any possibilities for available donors any time soon, and I need you to stay as comfortable as possible. How’s that sound?”

Kate nodded and smiled weakly up at Michael before turning to Ivory. “That’s fine. I’m not expecting any miracles, Doctor. I’ve been on the list for five years, and they’ve yet to find me a heart.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Ivory replied with a smile. “Rest, and I’ll be back in a little while.”

+++

“Brian, I’ve got one for you in room two.” Melissa held out a chart as Brian made his way towards the nurses’ station. “Bad asthma attack coupled with a possible onset of pneumonia. You good for it?”

Brian tore his mind from the plans he’d made for Valentine’s Day for himself and Ivory. His apartment was currently a mess involving a few dozen various scented candles, what seemed like a thousand different CDs full of romantic music, and the beginnings of a homemade dinner of Ivory’s favorite foods. Tonight would, if all went right, be a way to get Ivory’s mind off of her investigation and hopefully make her relax. He hadn’t seen her relax in weeks, months. Tonight, he vowed that he’d see her let loose and laugh. Really laugh.

But that was for later. Right now, it was time to get back into work.

He nodded at Melissa as he took the file from her. “I’ve got time. Thanks.”

“No problem. Got any plans for later tonight?” she asked, leaning against the counter so she could hear him over the squawking cries from a fussy toddler.

Brian smiled. “Oh, yeah. Ivory needs a real night off.”

“You won’t hear any arguments from me on that one,” Melissa agreed. “What do you have up your crafty sleeve, Dr. Littrell?”

“You’ll just have to ask Ivory tomorrow, won’t you?” he teased her.

Melissa rolled her eyes. “I can keep a secret, Brian. Come on. I’ve got to get my Valentine’s Day kicks from somewhere if I’m going to spend it single.” When he remained firm, she shook her head. “You’re good, Brian. She’s lucky to have you. And speaking of Ivory, how’s the investigation going?”

The sparkle vanished from his eyes. “Not good,” he admitted. “It seems like they can’t make up their minds, but Ivory’s convinced that, because Brunson hates her, she’s not going to rest until Ivory’s out of Atlantic Memorial.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. That witch!” Melissa added heatedly. “She has no feelings, does she? I wonder how she’d like it if-”

Brian spotted Brunson making her way down the hall and drew his finger across his throat in an exaggerated motion. “Thanks for the file, Melissa. I’ll get right on that patient.”

Melissa’s eyes widened for a moment as she saw the older woman, too, before she cleared her throat and nodded at Brian. “No problem, Dr. Littrell.”

Avoiding Brunson’s hard stare, he sped down the hall, weaving his way around other doctors, nurses, and patients to get to his patient. He was practically under scrutiny, too—at least, he was under Brunson’s scrutiny because he was involved with the woman who was number one on her personal Wanted list. That was nearly as bad as being the one who was under suspicion, and he was determined to avoid the older woman as long as he could.

Knocking on exam room two’s door briskly before he pushed open the door, he stepped in and found himself face-to-face with a teenager whose pretty face was tear-streaked. From the look of her formal dress, he figured she must have been getting ready for a Valentine’s Day date. Glancing down at his chart, he noted her name.

“Hello, Sabra.” Brian pulled out his stethoscope and slid a pair of latex gloves on his hands. “I’m Dr. Littrell. I’m not going to ask how you are because I bet you’re hating being here tonight, but I’ll ask if you’re able to breathe any more easily.” He listened to her breath sounds and heartbeat before settling her back.

Sabra wiped the tears out of her large, blue eyes before she lifted the oxygen mask to speak. “I’m supposed to be at a dance. How long am I going to be here before I can go back to it?”

Brian pulled a chair over to her bedside and sat. “You know why you’re here, right?” When she nodded reluctantly, he continued. “Sabra, you had a pretty bad asthma attack tonight. Would you mind telling me what exactly happened?”

She rolled her eyes, and Brian had to hold back a smile at her stubbornness. She was obviously in pain, but she didn’t want anyone to really know. More set on getting her way and getting back to a certainly more important social function, she seemed to be debating whether telling him would get her back to the dance quicker or if she should just ignore him all together. To be a teenager again, he thought briefly.

“I couldn’t breathe right at lunch today,” she admitted finally. “I just thought it was a tiny attack, but I didn’t really think about it because I was too excited about the dance—the one I’m supposed to be at right now,” she added for emphasis. “Ryan McCourt actually asked me to the dance, and I’ve been, like, over the moon for the last two weeks.”

“Ryan must be a lucky guy,” Brian said with a smile. Poor thing was stuck in the hospital on what was supposed to be a special night. He remembered being a teenager and wanting to go with that special girl to the Winter Ball. He’d gotten to go, but Sabra was stuck in the hospital.

Sabra shrugged. “Not really. I’m the lucky one because Ryan’s never looked at me twice before this year, and, all of a sudden, we’re lab partners for chemistry. I hate chemistry, by the way,” she added. “So, anyway, Ryan’s not so good at it, and I start tutoring him. And then he asked me to go to the dance. It’s been a total fairytale come true.” She sighed. “And now I’m being forced to stay here even though I feel fine.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” Brian replied. “So, you had a tiny attack at lunch?”

“Yeah, but, like I said, I just ignored it. It sort of got worse as the day went on, so I used my inhaler. Nothing happened, though, so I just thought if I ignored it…”

“It would get better?” Brian finished. “Sabra, did you think that maybe if your inhaler didn’t help you feel better, maybe it was because it wasn’t working properly?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, the nurse told me that. Said she’d have you fill out a prescription for a new one.”

“And I will,” Brian agreed. “So what made you come to the hospital?”

Sabra slumped lower on the bed. “My older sister. She was doing my hair for the dance, and, all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe at all. I guess she freaked out when I passed out. Next thing I know, I’m in an ambulance.” She sighed sadly. “Ryan’s never going to ask me out again.”

“If he really likes you, he will.” Brian checked her vitals again and jotted down a few notes on her chart. “I’m afraid you’re going to miss the dance, Sabra. You’ve got a fever, and you’re displaying a few signs of pneumonia. We’re going to keep you a little longer than you’d like, but we want to make sure you’re safe and healthy.”

She let out a little moan of anguish and smacked a hand to her forehead. “This is the worst night of my life!”

Brian waited until he was out of the room before he laughed a little. “Kid, you’re gonna have a thousand worst nights of your life.”

+++

“Step 6… stir the sauce. Easy enough,” Logan Cole said, walking four steps from the tiny kitchen counter to the stove, where a small pot sat over the burner. He stirred the sauce and looked around the small apartment. Everything had to be perfect. The candles were lit on the table, rose petals were scattered in a pathway from the door to the table, and dinner was almost done. The only thing left was to put dinner on the table and have Carrie walk through the door.

“Step 7… pour sauce on chicken and place on plate. Okay. I can do this!” Turning off the stove, Logan took the sauce pot off of the burner and grabbed a serving spoon. The two plates of chicken and mashed potatoes were sitting on the counter, waiting to be complete. Surprising himself, he poured the sauce with ease. When both plates were finished, Logan grabbed both of them and walked to the table. He placed one at one chair, and reached to place the other one. His elbow accidentally hit the large candle in the middle, knocking it over. It proceeded to hit the other candles, knocking them down as well.

“Oh my god!” Logan yelled, running to grab the fire extinguisher. When he came back with it, the entire table, as well as the drapes, was entirely on fire.

“No…no, no, no, no, no!” he screamed, using the fire extinguisher as much as he could. He used half of its contents, but the fire still burned. It then reached the kitchen.

“Oh n-” was all Logan could fit in before the flames met the gas from the stove. The stove exploded, and Logan held his arms in front of his face so it could be protected. He howled in pain, as he could feel his arms burning. He then heard the fire alarms ring and ran out of the apartment, unable to think of anything but getting away from the fire.

He saw other tenants frantically running out of their houses, trying to figure out where the fire was. The fire was rapidly growing, and smoke filled the entire building. Logan saw that someone was already on their cell phone, calling 911.

As soon as he was out of the building, he looked back on his former home. There was no way he would be returning that night. At that moment, he felt a familiar box shape in his pocket.

“At least that wasn’t lost…” he thought, as he started to cry. What was he going to tell Carrie?

+++

“...and then I looked up, and down the hall comes the patient, buck-naked and making kissy noises!” Hayley said, giggling.

“Naked?” Kevin asked, trying not to snort.

“Buck-naked,” she affirmed. “Apparently the security straps weren't all that secure. He was fairly out of it, thank goodness, so we just kind of steered him back to his room and settled him back down.”

“That's not exactly a common reaction to anesthetic,” Kevin said, taking a sip of their complimentary champagne.

“You're telling me,” she said. “He didn't remember a thing afterwards, and I didn't have the heart to tell him what an exhibitionist he'd been. Can you imagine what a shock that would have been to a fifty year old English teacher?”

Kevin sat back and grinned. “I don't know, maybe he wanted bragging rights.” He watched as she drained her glass; picking up the nearly-finished bottle, he poured them both a final portion. “Ya know, Hay, this was such a great idea. I haven't laughed this much in a long time.”

“To friends,” she said, raising her glass.

“To friends,” he echoed. After a clink, they finished the last of the bubbly.

He sat his glass down and looked at the woman across from him. Hayley's cheeks were flushed from laughter and champagne, her eyes bright with their usual spark. In the candlelight, she looked positively alluring. Beautiful, even. The way she had her hair, upswept...

“Earth to Kev,” came her voice. “What, do I have spinach in my teeth or something?”

“What? Oh, no, sorry... I was just thinking there for a second.”

She tilted her head in consideration. “Thinking about what?”

He was quiet for several seconds. “About you. How wonderful all this is, how beautiful you look... how things seem different tonight.”

She blinked, clearly not expecting his reply. “Different?” she finally managed.

He leaned forward. “I always laugh and relax when I'm with you, Hay. I never feel pressure to be something or someone I'm not. I never realized that until now.” His hand moved up, almost of its own volition. With the gentlest of touches, he brushed her cheek. “You are really something else, Hayley.”

Her look of astonishment blossomed into a tentative smile. “I could say the same about you,” she said, her heartbeat quickening. “But... why all this now?”

“Maybe it's the magic of the day, maybe it's the champagne or the fine meal or the ambiance of this place...” He paused. “Or maybe I just woke up.”

“Kind of seems like a dream to me,” she said, wondering at the glimmer in his deep green eyes.

“Have you ever considered... I mean, thought about... us?”

“Us, like in a not-just-a-friend us? Like an us us?”

“Yeah.”

Hayley shifted slightly in her chair. “You never really indicated that kind of interest before,” she said, eluding a direct answer.

“But would you be willing to explore the possibility?”

His words sent a sensual shiver up her spine. Are you kidding? After all these years I've wondered what it would be like...

“Maybe,” she heard herself say.

“We've always had a great friendship,” he said. “But maybe... that's not all it has to be.”

“This feels weird, talking about it in such a public place,” she said. “Perhaps we should go elsewhere.”

With a smile, Kevin signaled for their dinner check. Soon the pair were making their way to his car.

“Are you okay to drive?” she asked.

“I'm fine,” he assured her. “That champagne was really good, but we didn't have that much.”

“I have another bottle collecting dust in my cupboard,” she said. “A remnant from New Year's. I was going to pop the cork for a midnight toast, but ended up falling asleep on my couch.”

Kevin chuckled. “I can so see you doing just that,” he said. “Well, maybe we could take advantage of that poor, neglected bottle tonight. Maybe talk about a few things.”

“You know the way,” she said, fastening her seatbelt.

+++

Harry Littrell drove down the street, racing to the scene of the fire that had just been called in to the dispatcher. Harry already knew how to get to the apartments – they were old, dilapidated, and always having some sort of problems. He knew that most new couples and college graduates lived there since the rent was cheap. In fact, when he had first moved to Atlantic City, he had considered living there. When they arrived, Harry parked the car and looked for a group of people outside. Chances would be that anyone who needed help would be with other people.

He ran to the first group of people, eying who would need the most help before he reached the group. There was a man sitting on the ground crying, trying to hold his arms, and looking at the apartment building in shock. Harry knew by instinct that he would have burns on his arms, so he was mentally prepared for the worst.

“Sir? My name is Harry Littrell, from Atlantic City Memorial Hospital. What happened?” he asked the man. The man couldn’t have been older than twenty-five, and he continued to look at the apartment, crying.

“I… it was… I…” was all he said. Harry started wrapping the man’s arms, and the man didn’t even notice.

“What happened?” he asked again. “What’s your name?” Finally, the man acknowledged Harry’s presence.

“Logan Cole. I… I didn’t mean to! I was just…” Logan cried. The fire had gotten worse since Harry and the paramedics arrived. The flames had just reached the third floor of the five-story building.

“Okay… Logan? I need to know exactly what happened. What were you doing when the fire started?”

“I… I was cooking dinner for my girlfriend. She works as a waitress at Le Château, and she gets off work late because it’s Valentine’s Day, you know? So I thought it would be nice to cook for her. But now… aah! I’m so stupid!” Logan said, and tears were still running down his face. Because the fire was so bright then, Harry looked at Logan’s face. It was a little burnt, but not as bad as his arms. Logan must have tried to protect his face by putting his arms across it.

“Shhh… it’s okay. We’re here to help. Now, how did the fire start? Do you know?”

“I was putting the chicken onto a plate on the table, and I accidentally knocked over a candle. It was a huge candle, and started burning everything instantly. I tried to stop it with the fire extinguisher, but it didn’t help. The fire reached the stove within a few minutes, and… and...” Logan looked at the ground, looking as if he was cursing himself.

“It’s going to be okay, Logan. We’re –“

“No! It’s not fine! Where will we live? Where will we go? This was the only place we could afford. But now… now what will we do?” Harry felt bad for the guy. He couldn’t imagine losing everything he had in one night.

“Listen, I have to take you to the hospital to look over those burns. The Red Cross will take you in for as long as you need, okay? You’ll get free food and a place to stay until you are able to find a new house. Was your girlfriend in the apartment during the fire?”

“No. It was supposed to be a surprise. Guess this is more of surprise than any engagement ring, huh?”

“You mean…”

“Yeah. Cheesy, huh?” Finally, Logan cracked a little smile. Suddenly, Harry heard a voice screaming and saw a girl running towards them. It had to be Logan’s girlfriend.

“Logan? Logan?? Where are you??” a young woman asked. She had blonde hair and was still wearing a work uniform.

“Carrie! I’m right here!” Logan said. Carrie tried to hug him, but stopped as soon as she saw the bandages.

“I came as soon as I could. I overheard someone talking about the apartment, so I just left. Are you okay?” Carrie then noticed Harry standing next to Logan. “Will he have to go to the hospital??”

Logan then looked at Harry, with a twinkle in his eye. “Yeah, but Carrie? I have something to ask you.” Logan leaned towards Harry. “Reach into my left pocket and grab the box in there,” he whispered. Harry, knowing what was going to happen next, grabbed the box in Logan’s pocket. “Okay… now open it towards her.”

Harry did.

“Well… I can’t use my arms right now, and I know we don’t have a home anymore, but Carrie Reinwald, will you marry me?” Logan asked.

The ring was a simple band with one diamond on it. Carrie started to cry.

“Of course I will!” she said. “Umm… does he have to put it on my finger?” All three of them laughed.

“Logan? It’s your call. But I have to take you to the hospital soon, so make up your mind quick,” Harry said, smiling at the newly engaged couple.

“I think I can kinda hold the ring. The tips of my fingers aren’t burnt.” Harry took the ring out of the box and placed it so Logan could sort of hold on to it. Carrie moved her finger into the ring. As soon as it was on her finger, she held her hand out, looking at the ring.

“Guess you got the perfect night after all. Well… besides the fire. Congrats, Logan.”

+++

Bianca rushed down the hall, looking for an empty trauma room as AJ and Howie followed her, wheeling a gurney. Their current ER patient was a woman who’d gone into labor as her apartment building had filled with smoke and flames.

“Mrs. McHeart,” AJ spoke to her gently as she struggled against the hands that kept her from sitting up. “We promise that your husband and son are fine. They’ll be here soon. You need to worry about giving birth right now. Dr. Parker is going to make sure your lungs weren’t damaged by the smoke inhalation before she gets you checked into the maternity ward. Everything will be fine. We promise.” He exchanged a sympathetic glance with Bianca and knew they were both thinking the same thing. The unexpected fire had forced them to cancel their romantic dinner plans. But there wasn’t much they could do about it.

Bianca guided them into a trauma room just as Lianna pushed AJ’s hands from her shoulders and managed to sit up. “I can’t be giving birth tonight. I’m not going to have my baby until my husband and Sam are here. Please,” she reached for Bianca’s hand, “find my husband first. I can’t do this without him.” Even as she spoke the words, she struggled through the first contraction. “I can’t,” she added, even as she clutched her belly. “I need Matthew and Sam. They have to be okay.”

Bianca nodded and pressed Lianna back gently, even as nurses rushed to hook the woman up to sensors to detect the baby’s heartbeat and an ultrasound machine was rolled into the room. One nurse gently stripped Lianna’s nightgown off and slid a hospital gown on instead. Another nurse applied gel to Lianna’s belly while Bianca set up the ultrasound machine. Noting her patient’s heart rate, blood oxygen level, and the fetal heartbeat, she positioned the ultrasound wand on Lianna’s abdomen, and the first flickering images of the eight month old fetus appeared on the screen.

“Lianna, your baby is in the perfect position for birth,” Bianca told the laboring woman. “How fast have your contractions been coming?” she asked, even as the next contraction had Lianna moaning a little. “Three minutes,” Bianca answered herself. “Great! You’re almost through this part.”

Lianna shook her head emphatically. “I can’t do this now! My baby’s not even supposed to be born yet! I’m only eight months along, and I can’t be having my baby right now. Not as long as Matthew and Sam are still missing!”

Bianca took Lianna’s hand in her own, knowing that, the more hysterical Lianna became, the more dangerous it was for her baby’s health. “Lianna, I can’t promise you that Matthew and Sam are going to be here before your baby is born. Your baby is ready to enter this world, and, if you wait and worry, you’ll hurt both of you. Don’t you think your husband would want you to take care of your nearly-born baby the same way you’re trusting him to take care of your son?”

Lianna seemed to consider Bianca’s words even as she struggled through another contraction. When the woman didn’t say anything, Bianca sighed and moved away. As she checked Lianna’s cervix, the eight-and-a-half centimeter dilation told her what she already knew. Lianna was speeding through labor and, whether or not her husband arrived in time, her baby was going to make an entrance. Soon.

“Doctor?” Lianna’s labored breathing made her voice waver. “You’re right. Matthew would want me to concentrate on having our baby. I’ll just pray that he and Sam make it through safely.”

Bianca nodded. “Great. Let’s get you into a delivery room. You’re almost ready to deliver.”

+++

As Bianca and one of the ER nurses wheeled Lianna’s gurney towards an elevator to send her up to the maternity ward and into one of the delivery rooms, there was a shout from down the hall. Glancing back to see what was going on, Bianca saw a man in his early thirties rushing towards them, clutching a little boy in his arms. Both their faces wore light streaks of soot, but the cry of relief from Lianna confirmed what Bianca had already figured out. The McHearts were going to be just fine.

“Matthew!” Lianna’s arms went around her husband even as her son burrowed his face against her neck. “I was so worried about both of you. I didn’t know if you’d gotten out or not, and then the medics said that I was in labor, so-”

“I found Sam, and I’m so glad you’re alright. But… labor?” Matthew broke off, confused, and glanced from his wife to Bianca. “She’s only eight months along. How is she in labor? Isn’t that bad?”

Bianca shook her head. “Everything will be just fine. The stress from the fire and worry pushed her into labor, but so far your wife and baby appear to be perfectly fine. In fact, we’re taking her up to the delivery room because she’s just about ready to give birth. So if you’d like to join us…” The elevator doors opened, and the gurney was pushed onto it. She noticed the shocked look on Matthew’s face as he stood rooted to the spot. “Mr. McHeart? Would you like to come up with us? I’m sure Lianna would appreciate your presence enormously.”

That seemed to push him out of his shocked state. “Yeah, of course.” He clambered aboard, Sam held tightly in one arm. With his free hand, he reached down and took Lianna’s hand in his own. “How are you feeling?”

“Now that you and Sam are here, I’m perfect.” Lianna squeezed his hand and smiled. “What a Valentine’s Day!”

“You can say that again,” Bianca murmured to herself. Even as she smiled at the happy family with her, she couldn’t help but think that it was too bad she and AJ had to cancel their plans. So much for that romantic dinner for two.

+++

Justin was sitting at a table in the lounge, reading one of his textbooks. It was slow, since not many people had surgeries scheduled on Valentine’s Day. While he wanted to concentrate on his book, he couldn’t. All he could think about was what Dr. Richardson had said to him. It’s all he had been thinking about for the past month.

“Am I not cut out to be a doctor? What if I chose the wrong path?” he thought, turning the page in the textbook.

“Timberlake! Come on! We have to go to the ER!” Dr. Cannon yelled through the lounge door. Justin closed the textbook and was a little happy that something was going on.

“Huh? Why?” he asked as he stood up and walked out of the lounge.

“There was a serious fire, and all of the ER staff is taking care of them. They need us to help take care of those who need help, but weren’t involved in the fire.” Dr. Cannon explained.

As soon as they got to the ER, Justin was amazed at how packed it was. Many of the doctors he knew were rushing around, trying to get to each patient. Justin couldn’t help but like the feeling of being busy again. He couldn’t stand being bored. He looked to his left, where Dr. Cannon was, but she was already gone. Justin hadn’t stepped more than 10 steps forward when Dr. Parker stopped him.

“Hey! Are you busy right now?” she asked quickly, looking around a bit.

“I – “he started to say, but Dr. Parker had already shoved a chart in his hands.

“Good. Room 2. He’s all yours…” Dr. Parker ran to another room, leaving Justin to wonder why she was in such a hurry.

“Odd…” he thought, walking to the room. He opened the door and found….a guy lying on the bed, with an erection. Justin’s eyes bulged.

“No wonder Dr. Parker was in a hurry…Maybe I should have looked at the chart first…” he thought. Sure enough, the chart said “prolonged erection due to Viagra.”

“Err….umm….hello…my name is Justin Timberlake and I’ll be – “he started, but then Dr. Cannon rushed through the door.

“Oh god…they sent you in here by yourself?” she whispered to him, shaking her head. She took the clipboard from Justin and walked towards the patient. “Hello, my name is Dr. Amory Cannon, and I’ll be your doctor tonight. Can you tell me how long this has been going on?” she said as calmly as she could. Justin couldn’t help but be in awe of how she handled the situation.

“The… condition… you have is known as a priapism. We’ll perform a procedure to fix it, so don’t you worry. It won’t take very long, and if all goes well, you might be able to go home tomorrow.” She leaned towards Justin, and handed him back the clipboard. “Have you seen one of these before?” she asked.

“No…but I’ve read about them…” he said, trying not to stare at the man.

“Well…you’re going to find out.”

+++

Andy Coburn was sure he would die of embarrassment. Fear and desperation had finally compelled him to go to the emergency room, but now he wasn't so sure that he could live through the humiliation. Why had he been so stupid?

He'd walked in to the ER with his jacket over one arm, draped in front of his hips. It had taken almost two minutes to explain his 'problem' to the receptionist; he hadn't even been able to look her in the eye. Amazingly, she had taken the description in stride, making notes on a chart and handing him paperwork to fill out while he waited.

He could feel everyone staring at him as he tried to answer the trivial questions on the forms; he knew they were secretly laughing behind his back. It was almost a relief when he was finally called back to an examination room. Almost.

He was horrified to find a female doctor standing before him, asking him to describe his problem. Face flushed red, the words choked in his throat until he finally was able to ask if there wasn't a male doctor on duty instead. The woman had raised an eyebrow, given him a disapproving frown, but didn't try to argue. Instead, she had turned on her heel and left without further comment.

Less than a minute later the curtain had opened and a young man entered the room. After a surprised look and a long stare, he introduced himself.

“Err... umm, hello... my name is Justin Timberlake and I'll be-”

Another doctor, a woman, came into the room. Andy shrank back on the examining table as he felt his face redden once again.

“Hello,” she said, glancing at the chart in her hand. “My name is Dr. Amory Cannon, and I'll be your doctor tonight. Can you tell me how long this has been going on?”

“I... I asked for a male doctor,” Andy said, licking his suddenly dry lips. “I don't think-”

She lowered her clipboard and spoke in a clear, no-nonsense voice. “Mr. Coburn, I am the doctor that has been assigned to you. Your condition is serious and must be attended to ASAP. This is not the time to be prudish; trust me, I've seen it all. The ER is very busy and no other doctor is available, but if you want to risk the possible loss of penile function permanently, or worse...”

“W-worse?” Andy croaked, his horror hiking up a degree.

“Much worse,” Dr. Cannon asserted. “Mr. Timberlake is going to be here, assisting me, and I assure you we are professionals. Now... shall I proceed, or did you want to wait-”

“No, no, I don't want to wait,” he said in a shaky voice.

“Very well then,” the doctor said with a nod. “Now, according to my information here, you took four tablets of Viagra all in one dose, correct?”

Andy could only nod.

“Where did you get the prescription?”

He mumbled something, then looked up when the doctor cleared her throat.

“I, ah, bought them online. One of those internet sites you see everywhere.”

“No prescription required, correct?” When he nodded, she made a notation. “Very dangerous thing to do, as you obviously have discovered,” she said. “At least you came in to seek treatment.”

“It had b-been, like, four hours, you know, and...”

“The condition you have is called priapism,” she said in an even voice. “There are treatments we can try, and with any luck there will be no permanent damage.”

“O-okay,” he said.

“First thing we have to do is draw a blood sample.”

“I'd be glad to do that, Doctor,” Justin piped up, eager to participate in something. He didn't notice Amory's flash of a grin.

“Very well. We'll need two vials pulled, and I'll get them to the lab stat.” She opened a drawer and got out the blood kit.

When Justin stepped up to the examination table and reached for Andy's arm, Dr. Cannon cleared her throat.

“Not from his arm, Mr. Timberlake.”

“But-”

“First we must examine the area affected,” she explained. “Then, you'll need to draw blood directly from-”

Andy felt the room begin to spin as he realized what the doctor was saying. He'd never liked needles, and now they wanted to stick him there? Right in his-

“Mr. Coburn!” the doctor was saying, her hand gripping his upper arm. “Deep breaths, nice and slow. Focus, okay?”

He did as requested, finding the dizziness easing a bit with each breath.

“Are you with us now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said in a hollow voice. “I just... the idea... do you really have to draw blood from, from there?”

“I'm afraid so,” she said. “Hopefully, the treatment will be much less... invasive.”

“Like what?”

“Believe it or not, if the blood gases are what I expect they'll be, we can treat you with what amounts to a decongestant.”

“Like, for a cold?”

“Yes. If all goes well.”

“And if... if not?”

She caught his glance and held it. “Let's cross that bridge if we come to it,” she said. “But trust me when I say that we're hoping the first treatment works.”

Andy swallowed against the lump in his throat, his fear and anxiety replacing his humiliation. He shut his eyes and tried to think of other things.

Justin stood with a blank look on his face until Amory nudged him. “If you feel you can't do the procedure,” she began in a low voice.

“No, no, I can do it,” he said. “Just the idea... I mean, my God, right in the-”

“Just be thankful you're not the one on the bed,” she whispered.

With a heartfelt nod of agreement, Justin prepared to draw the needed blood. As he swabbed the area, he wondered, once again, if his place truly was being a doctor. This is the kind of stuff they don't really warn you about in the classroom, he thought as he clenched his jaw and prayed for a clean stick.

Amory Cannon watched closely, noting to herself that Justin's face was as pale as Andy's. However, the young resident went forward with the draw and did as required. With approval, she accepted the vials and headed for the lab.

“You, ah, okay, Mr. Coburn?” Justin asked in a slightly unsteady voice.

“I guess so,” Andy mumbled.

“Can I ask... why you took four? I mean, you're so young and all-”

Andy gave a groan. “There was this girl I met,” he said miserably. “I mean, she was hot, you know? But every time I was alone with her I got nervous. We had a big date all lined up for tonight, and I was hoping... well, you know.”

“I know.”

“I wanted to be ready. I figured that if one pill was good, four pills would be awesome. I didn't think the damn things would act so quick! At first I thought, great, but then when it wouldn't... ah... go away...”

Justin shook his head. “Not what you had in mind.”

“No way. Man, this is the worst day of my entire life. I hate Valentine's Day.”

“I guess I'm just lucky,” Justin said, thinking of Britney and the evening they had planned. With her around, he'd never need artificial stimulation. And after seeing what had happened to the young man on the bed, he swore he'd never take a single pill of that nature.

+++

Ivory was livid, furious, downright outraged. Of all the nights that the hospital board wanted to see her, tonight was not only last-minute but certainly inconvenient. She had plans with Brian, and she didn’t want to cancel or delay them. This hospital, she thought as she made her way back to see how Mrs. Donnelly was doing, was driving her crazy. She was more than halfway convinced that she should just quit and take Tom up on his offer to be his partner at his Seattle clinic.

Shaking her head at the thought of leaving behind everything she’d worked hard to attain since finishing her residency, Ivory stepped into Kate Donnelly’s room. The machines were beeping steadily, though the heart rate wasn’t any more regular than it had been an hour earlier. The medicine pumping through the woman’s system simply made it less erratic.

Though Michael Donnelly was nowhere to be found in the room, Kate’s weary gaze shifted towards the door when Ivory stepped into the room.

“Dr. Harnett. Anything?” she asked in a scratchy, weakened voice that was barely above a whisper.

Ivory sighed and shook her head as she moved over to the bed. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Donnelly. There’s nothing.”

“I’m out of time, aren’t I?”

“No.” Ivory shook her head again. “You’re certainly not a lost cause. There are so many different treatments we can put you on while we wait for a heart. Don’t lose hope yet. Modern medicine’s made a lot of headway in ways to keep your heart functioning in its diminished capacity.”

Kate gave her a small smile. “Dr. Harnett, what if I told you that I didn’t want any of those procedures? That, at this point, I don’t really want to spend anymore time in a hospital waiting for a heart that will never come?”

“If you go home, it’ll only be a matter of time before you’re back here again,” Ivory pointed out. “Actually, the instant we take you off the medicine, perhaps even before, you could go into cardiac arrest again, and then you’ll be back to the stage you’re at right now.”

“That’s only going to happen if you administer some sort of treatment to stabilize me again, right?” Kate asked.

“That’s right.”

“Well, I’d rather you not give me any more treatments. If something goes wrong, I’d rather you, or other doctors, did nothing.”

Ivory swallowed. Hard. “Are you saying you’d rather pass away than undergo more procedures to help save you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” There was a faint gleam in the older woman’s eyes. “I’d like my file to have the ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ classification. Please.”

“I think you should speak with your husband about this first,” Ivory began, but Kate cut her off.

“Michael would never agree. He doesn’t understand how tired I am of this constant fatigue, the attacks, the hospital visits. He loves me too much to believe that I’d rather just let nature take its course with my heart,” she explained. “He would never agree, so I’m asking you, on my own, to please help me fill out the proper paperwork. I want to die on my own terms.”

Duty warred with wanting to help a patient. Despite her internal conflict, though, Ivory understood. She may not have agreed, but she understood and would help Kate Donnelly sign the necessary papers to prevent any further life-saving treatments. “All right. I’ll get the papers together, as long as you’re sure this is what you want.”

“More than anything,” Kate replied firmly. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Yeah.” Ivory jotted down the woman’s vitals on her chart before moving towards the door again as Michael came back into the room. “I’ll be back in a bit, Mrs. Donnelly. Just try to relax.”

She offered a sympathetic smile to Michael before stepping into the hallway again. She hadn’t even made it ten steps down the hall before the alarms from Kate’s room beeped. Rushing back to it, she discovered that Kate had coded.

It was the hardest thing she’d ever done to step back and, while Michael Donnelly alternated between raging at her to do something and tearfully holding his wife’s hand, watch Kate Donnelly pass on.

+++

“Isabel,” said Dr. Chung, “I need to run down to the ER. There’s been some sort of incident; a heart patient of mine died, and the husband is blaming the ER physician who treated her. I need to go and help sort out this mess. Can you carry on with rounds without me?”

“Sure,” Isabel replied with an understanding smile, watching her mentor hurry off to the elevators. She couldn’t complain about being left up on the lonely cardiology floor while Dr. Chung went to where the action was; after this morning, she owed her mentor a big one. Dr. Chung was hard to read; she was a kind woman, but very reserved and straight-laced, not the sort of person Isabel normally would have involved in something as frivolous as a Valentine’s Day surprise for her boyfriend, especially with her assessment for this rotation on the line.

But Dr. Chung had walked into the lounge yesterday when she was there on her break, writing the little poems she planned to leave as clues for Nick, and when she’d asked Isabel what she was doing, Isabel found herself explaining all about how she and Nick were working different schedules on Valentine’s Day and would not have time to do anything together, so she was planning a little surprise for him. And to her surprise, the doctor had smiled and asked if she needed any help. “I know it’s hard,” she’d said, in her quiet, gentle way, “trying to date and live your life with all of this hard work and pressure. It’s a lot to balance, even after your years of medical school.”

Isabel was amazed at how understanding she could be, and to her amazement, the women had spent their break conspiring the whole EKG story to give Nick and her a moment of privacy. Isabel had a new admiration for her mentor after that. Not only was she an intelligent and talented cardiologist, but beneath her conservative outward appearance, there was a sense of humor just waiting to be coaxed out.

Isabel was so happy with her mentor and her rotation and how well this morning had gone, she really didn’t even mind having to be here on the evening of Valentine’s Day. True, she would rather be with Nick, but at least they’d gotten to see each other. And maybe, if it stayed slow, she’d be able to leave early and drop by his place. Normally she liked to catch up on her chartwork before she left the hospital, but tonight, that could wait. She’d just come in early tomorrow and finish.

She was just finishing her rounds when one of the nurses on the floor, Tricia, approached her. “Isabel, Dr. Chung just called from the ER. A man is being flown in on the life flight chopper in full arrest; she wants you to meet her up on the roof.”

“Oh… okay!” Isabel was a little surprised; she’d been up at the landing pad to meet life flight patients many times during her ER rotation, but as a cardiology student, she usually didn’t see patients until after the ER physicians had worked on them and called for a consult. But she wasted no time in getting upstairs. Throwing open the door that led out to the roof, she was glad to see that there was no sign of a helicopter yet; she had made it with time to spare. Made it before even her mentor, it appeared, for there was no one anywhere near the landing pad.

She looked around, wondering where everyone was, and as she was wondering, her ears picked up the faint sound of music, music which was gradually getting louder. Frowning in suspicion, she realized it sounded like it was coming from the roof, and so she went looking for the source. Edging along the building, lest she get too close to a sudden landing helicopter and lose an appendage, she rounded a corner and found herself staring in surprise at a small band, complete with a guitarist, bass player, keyboardist, drummer, and… Nick.

Nick, standing front and center behind a microphone. Nick, grinning briefly at her before opening his mouth to sing.

She recognized the instrumentation of the song seconds before the first lyric flowed smoothly from his lips. “I’ve got sunshine… on a cloudy day…”

It was “My Girl.”

“When it’s cold outside,” Nick crooned, “I’ve got the month of May…”

It was, in fact, chilly up on the roof, but even so, Isabel could feel her heart melting and knew that the goosebumps rising on her arms had little to do with the cold.

“We-ell, I… guess… you’d… say… what can make me feel this way? My girl… talkin’ bout my girl… my girl.”

He had a good voice. A really good voice, Isabel realized, staring at her boyfriend in awe as he sang to her. Nick Carter… was amazing. How had he pulled this off?? The band, the roof, everything… it was all so romantic and incredible. Isabel had never had a guy put together something so special and elaborately simple for her.

But right now, she didn’t care how he had done it, what strings he’d had to pull to make this work. All she could focus on was his smooth voice and his vivid blue eyes, which gazed directly into hers as he sang.

“I’ve got soooo much honey, the bees envy me. I’ve got a sweeter song… than the birds in the trees…”

Isabel grinned at the smile he gave her; he was too adorable. And as he launched into the chorus again, she knew it was true…

“My girl… talkin’ bout my girl… my girl.”

She was his.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby,” he said over the mic when the song finished, but then he put the equipment down and left his band to join her.

She practically threw himself into his arms, grateful for the warmth they offered as much as the comfort of his embrace, and as they hugged, she replied, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nick. That was incredible!!”

“The least I could do after your little treasure hunt this morning,” Nick returned, winking, as he released her.

She chuckled; in her mind, her little surprise had paled in comparison to the display of sweetness she had just seen from him. “That was nothing. This was really amazing, Nick. You made me feel so special.”

“You are special. You’re my girl,” Nick smiled. Pulling her close again, he tipped her chin towards his and bent to kiss her lips. He drew the kiss out, making it long and sensuous, and when it ended, he whispered, “I love you.”

Logic would have told Isabel that was it too early to say such things; they had only known each other six months, only been together for a few. She had never said those words to a guy and meant them, but right now, looking up into Nick’s eyes, logic was thrown out the window. She was not a medical student on call anymore; she was a puddle at Nick’s feet, formerly a woman who felt more in love than she’d ever been. It was Valentine’s Day, and her heart was pounding faster than Nick’s had been this morning, and so it just seemed natural to say it. And when she did, the words slid out easily, comfortably.

“I love you, too.”

+++

Not bothering with formalities, niceties, and any sort of regard for decorum, Ivory stalked into the meeting room and let the door slam shut behind her. The nine members of the board turned their identically disapproving stares on her.

“Dr. Harnett,” the director of the hospital greeted her coolly. “We’ve received a very recent report regarding the admittance, subsequent lack of treatment, and death of a patient of yours. The incidence took place less than an hour ago, in fact.”

Ivory didn’t bother to sit and leaned against the table, turning a glare on each member separately. “Would you mind giving me a minute to explain?” After a moment, they all nodded, and she took aim carefully. “I came to this hospital because I’d heard all about its fantastic programs, its integrity, and its outstanding reputation among hospitals in this state. With all of those credentials, I’d expected to gain far more than I’ve received during my time here. Several weeks ago, I acted on impulse and did harm a patient’s father. I regret that unfortunate action on my part, but, whatever else I’ve done, I stand behind fully. I did not intentionally cause the man who car-jacked another patient of mine to die. I did everything I could to save him, yet this board is determined to believe the word of a young, fairly inexperienced nurse over mine.”

She took a breath to steady herself before continuing. “Today, Katherine Donnelly passed away on my watch because she was a DNR patient.”

At her words, the members of the board murmured to each other before Holli Brunson spoke. “Dr. Harnett. Nowhere in Mrs. Donnelly’s file does it specify her wishes to be filed as a Do Not Resuscitate patient. Please explain how you could make such a horrid mistake and not help save a woman’s life.”

God, I hate you. Ivory shoved the thought back and focused. “Minutes before she coded, Mrs. Donnelly explained her wishes to me, and I had been on my way to get her paperwork to complete when she coded. Her husband did not know of her wishes because she believed that he would not support her actions. I, however, did know of her request and followed through on it. This board may not believe me, and that’s fine. I have decided that I can no longer wait and have you play games with my career. I am a damn good doctor, and I have provided outstanding treatment to hundreds of patients at Atlantic Memorial. Unfortunately, the working environment here is not conducive to my practicing medicine, so I’ll do you all, and myself, a favor. I quit.” She took a deep breath at the words she’d just spoken and barreled on before she lost her nerve. “I have two weeks of sick leave and two weeks of vacation time coming because I’ve been working round the clock for the last three years, so consider that my month’s notice.”

Not bothering to wait for their reactions, she stormed out of the room and didn’t let herself think until she reached the lounge. She fumbled through her bag for her cell phone and, flipping it open, dialed a number.

When she’d made the necessary calls and put the next chapter of her life in motion, Ivory let the horrible pressure in her chest ease as hot tears spilled over her cheeks. She hated letting them win. She’d loved her job at this hospital, and she’d made so many good friends here. She’d done her work eagerly, even when she’d been pulling thirty-hour shifts. Medicine was her life—but Atlantic Memorial no longer was a part of that life.

She wondered how she’d tell the people she cared for most at this hospital that she was leaving. That she’d quit her job. Some of her closest friends were doctors here, and she couldn’t imagine not seeing them, working side by side with them day after day.

And Brian. She closed her eyes as the painful thought of leaving him worked its way through her heart and mind.

“Ivory.”

Her eyes popped open. How had he known where to find her? How could he have known that she’d needed him at that moment? Swiping the tears from her face, she turned to face him. The watery smile she’d mustered up was wiped off at the cold look on his usually cheerful face.

“Brian. What’s going on?”

He didn’t come closer, though he could see she’d been weeping. A tiny part of his anger broke off at her sorrowful face, but he needed to know what the hell she’d been thinking. “How could you let a woman die just because there was no heart readily available for her heart transplant?”

The accusatory words slapped at her, and she felt herself bleed from a dozen new wounds. “I don’t have to explain anything, Brian, but I can tell you that she’d requested to be a DNR. I couldn’t just up and deny a patient’s wishes.”

“She wasn’t officially a DNR, Ivory. She hadn’t signed the paperwork, and you could have saved her. She might still be alive if you’d abided by the oath you took when you became a doctor instead of following your personal agendas.”

Ivory nearly sputtered in shock at his words. “I can’t believe this. Oh, God. How could you be the one who won’t believe me? Brian,” she pleaded with him, but the coldness remained.

“You know how I feel about patients with heart problems, Ivory,” he replied, reminding her that he, too, had once gone under the knife for his heart troubles. “There’s always something you can do to save a patient, and you could have helped that woman. You chose not to for reasons that escape me, and I can’t agree with it. I’m sorry, Ivory, but she wasn’t officially DNR, and you let her die.”

Frustrated, hurt, and devastated that the one person she’d relied on as support was abandoning her, too, Ivory stood and gathered her things. “Well, it’s done now, and there’s nothing I can do to change it.” She slipped into her coat and blinked back the tears in order to see him clearly. “I suppose it’s best that we’re at such odds,” she said quietly.

Brian frowned at her uncharacteristic meekness. “Why is that?”

“Because I’m leaving in a few days for Seattle. Permanently,” she explained. “I quit today, and I’m going to move to Seattle to help my cousin with his clinic. It’s going to make the move easier to know that there’s not much I’m leaving behind,” she added, tears clogging her throat and making it difficult for her voice to stay steady.

The shock of her news punched through the wall of anger he’d built up against her and had him taking steps towards her, but she was already at the door. “Ivory. You can’t just-”

She smiled sadly. “I can, and I am. I do want to thank you, Brian, for being my rock during all the craziness of the last few months. I guess a rock has to crack sometime, too, though. Either way, I wouldn’t have lasted this long without you.”

“Ivory, don’t do this.” Brian wracked his brain for reasons why she should stay. “Look, I can get past whatever happened today, but you don’t have to leave. Come on, Ivory. You don’t have to go all the way to Seattle. We’ll talk to the board together, and they’ll let you stay. You’ll see.” Even as he spoke, he knew his arguments were fruitless. “Ivory,” he whispered, his blue eyes full of devastation. “Don’t leave me.”

Setting her bag down, she crossed to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice fierce with emotion. “Thank you for everything. I’m going to miss you.”

His arms banded around her tightly. “I’ll miss you, too.” He leaned back and brushed at her bangs before laying his lips over hers in a soft kiss. “There’s still time for you to stay,” he tried again, knowing he was wasting his breath.

Pressing a kiss to his cheek, Ivory slid out of his hold and picked her things up again. “Goodbye, Brian.” And she was gone.

+++

Justin walked into the small apartment, with roses in one hand and his present for Britney in the other. He was emotionally drained, a bit traumatized from his last patient, and all he wanted to do was have a nice night with Britney. He was just about to turn on the lights when he heard moaning from another room.

“Maybe Brit’s watching a movie,” he thought as he walked toward the sound. With each footstep, the moaning got louder. Finally, he was at their bedroom door.

“Odd…” With a quiet breath, Justin let his curiosity get the better of him and opened the door. He looked around the dark room and saw Britney on the bed. With another man. Frustrated and hurt, Justin threw on the lights. Britney pushed the man off of her, but it was too late. Justin dropped the roses and her present on the floor. After a moment of silence, Justin finally spoke.

“How long?” Justin asked quietly. He stared directly at the pair, not letting either of them out of his sight. Britney and the other man looked down at the bed.

“How long?” Justin asked again, a little louder. There was still no response from either of them.

“How long, Britney? How long have you slept with him??” Justin yelled, not caring if the neighbors heard or not. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes.

“Um…well…you see…I…um…got lonely when you were working late, Justy!” Britney finally answered.

“Don’t call me that anymore! And you STILL haven’t answered my question!” Justin now was furious. It was obvious that she was stalling.

“Umm…Jacob and I met last year, during the hurricane. We were evacuated to the same place, and we just started to talk.” Britney said, looking at Jacob for approval.

“The HURRICANE?!” Justin still couldn’t believe it. Those two had been together for 4 months. And all behind his back.

“So we hit it off, and exchanged phone numbers. But, when you worked late again on Thanksgiving, I was lonely and depressed, so we decided to go drinking and dancing. Then…one thing led to another…and here we are.” Britney continued.

“So…at Christmas….” Justin started to say. He didn’t even want to know the rest.

“Yes…he was there. I’m so sorry, Justy,” Britney said, reaching toward Justin. Her arm almost touched his, but Justin slapped it away.

“NO! Don’t touch me. I was an idiot to think that I could trust you. I…I thought we were happy, Britney. Weren’t you?” Justin could feel a tear running down his face. He didn’t care how he looked. Not anymore.

“I was, Justin! But you kept on working late! What was I supposed to do?”

“Wait for me to come home! Stay loyal! But instead, you meet up with some guy not even a month after I started working at the hospital! Just….go away. Get out.” Justin pointed to the door.

“But Justin!”

“No! Just get OUT. I don’t want to see you anymore.” Britney held Jacob’s hand, trying to find support.

“But…where will I go?”

“I don’t care. Go stay with him if you want. Just get out.”

“But…”

“Get OUT, Britney. We’re over.” Britney and Jacob walked to the front door. Jacob put his arm around Britney’s waist, and Britney had the sheet wrapped around her like a strapless dress.

“I’ll come by for my stuff later.” She said angrily. And with the resulting slam of the door, Justin knew they were gone. Stunned by the past event, Justin walked to the bedroom. He saw the roses and present on the floor, looking sad and forgotten. Justin growled angrily and threw them across the room. Then he sat with his knees tucked in, held his head in his hands, and let the tears flow down his face.

+++

“So then I dropped them all off with Lianna’s OB/GYN who showed up just as we got off the elevator. I stuck around for a while.” Bianca followed AJ up the stairs of his apartment building and recounted her time with the McHeart family.

AJ stopped in front of his door and fished his keys out of his pocket. “So, the baby was delivered normally? Everyone end up healthy?”

“Sure, yeah.” She ran her hand through her hair, making it stick it out a little more than it already did from her harried shift in the ER. “Neither the dad or the little boy had any real medical problems. Just a little smoke inhalation. Nothing a little time breathing clean oxygen couldn’t cure. Lianna came through labor pretty well.” Bianca leaned against the wall next to AJ’s door as he frowned and fumbled through all the keys on his key ring, looking for the right one.

“That’s good. Damn it, I know which key goes in this lock! Where’d it go?” AJ tried one of his keys in the lock and cursed under his breath when it didn’t work.

Bianca chuckled at his consternation. “It’s okay. Besides, you can hear the most romantic part of the whole story. I know how much you love romance,” she joked.

“Oh, yeah. Me and romance go hand in hand.”

“So Lianna gave birth to a little girl,” Bianca continued, as though AJ wasn’t becoming grouchier by the moment. “They named her Amanda. Don’t you want to know why?”

“Amanda’s not exactly the most unique of names, Bianca.” He stuck another key into the lock, and, this time, it opened the lock. “Finally!”

Bianca followed him into the apartment still recounting the story. “AJ, they named her Amanda because it means ‘love’ or ‘worthy of love’ is how Matthew explained it to me afterwards. It’s like a…” Her voice trailed off as she stepped into the living room and was dazzled.

Dozens of glowing candles were scattered about the room and, in the center of the room, a table set with dinner for two sat. A fingertip vase with a single red rose was in the middle of the table, flanked by two long, white tapers whose glow matched that of the other candles in the room.

“AJ, I don’t know what to say.” She finally managed to speak in an awestruck voice.

He grinned and held out another beautifully red rose. “Say you’ll be my Valentine.”

Her bedazzled eyes swept the room once more before returning to land on him and the delicate bloom he offered her. As her fingers reached out to stroke the petals and wrap around the slim stem, a smile spread across her features. “You know I will.”

+++

The wick of the candle was starting to get as long as Jaela’s index finger. The food was getting cold, and the flowers had wilted hours ago. And yet, Paul wasn’t home. Jaela couldn’t understand where he could be. It was Valentine’s Day, for crying out loud. She sat at the table, hoping hear Paul walk through the front door. The materialistic side of her wanted him to walk through the door with a present and a good explanation. But in reality, all she wanted was her husband to come home.

After another half an hour of waiting, Jaela finally heard the front door open. But something was wrong. Was he…sneaking in? Curiosity got the best of her, and she creped toward the front door for a better look. He was quietly closing the door and taking off his shoes. He was acting like he had done something wrong, and didn’t want her to find out. Jaela couldn’t stand it anymore. She walked up to Paul and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hi, Paul. Where have you been?” she asked. Paul jumped a bit and turned to face Jaela.

“Oh geez!” he yelled. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you’re late. Where have you been?”

“I was out with some friends. I thought I told you already.” Jaela sighed. She’s heard this excuse before.

“Well, you hadn’t. I had dinner prepared and everything, Paul. You were supposed to be home at 7…and now it’s past midnight.” Jaela started to walk away. She was too tired to fight…again, and she had work the next morning. “I’m not waiting anymore, Paul. I’m tired, and I have work tomorrow. Your present is on the table. Goodnight, Paul.” She turned around, and walked to the stairs. She paused at the pictures on the wall, especially on their wedding picture. They looked so happy…so hopeful…so promising…is this what they were waiting for? Arguments and forgotten dinners?

“Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day.” Jaela said, walking fully up the stairs, leaving a stunned Paul to his thoughts.

+++

Brian wandered the halls not knowing what to do with himself. His shift had ended hours ago, and he’d gone home…to nothing. Seeing the candles, the flowers, the beginnings of the dinner he would’ve cooked had caused him misery. It had driven home the point that he was alone, that he should’ve had dinner with the woman he cared about, but it was over. That part of his life was over.

The worst of it was that she hadn’t let him fight for them. She’d just given up.

Unable to sit in his apartment alone, Brian had returned to the hospital. And, like a small town, news of Ivory’s departure had spread like wildfire through the staff so that he was greeted with sympathetic glances from everyone upon his return. Hating the looks, however well-meaning they were, and hating the situation he’d found himself in, he avoided speaking to anyone.

When he saw the room and the accompanying chart, he smiled for the first time in hours and pushed the door open.

“Dr. Littrell?” Sabra looked up from the magazines she’d taken to flipping through aimlessly.

Brian offered her a sympathetic smile as he settled down in the chair he’d been seated in earlier. “Hi, Sabra. How’re you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Okay. I still wish I didn’t have to be here, but I know it’s for the best,” she added, resigned. “What are you doing here? Is there something wrong with my lab results because you told me I was okay before. Did something change?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not.” Brian patted her arm. “You’re fine. Barring any complications, which I don’t think there will be, you’ll be on your way home tomorrow morning.”

“Oh.” She nodded slowly, looking him over. He was no longer wearing the requisite lab coat, and she had to admit, though it made her squirm, that he was pretty cute for a doctor. And that thought made her cheeks pink. “Uh, are you off-duty?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Actually, I am. I’m a regular old person now, and I just thought I’d drop by to see how you were doing. And I brought these.” He held out the box of chocolates he’d initially bought to go along with the dessert he’d planned on making for Ivory. While that had gone down the drain, he hadn’t seen any reason why the chocolates had to, so, when he’d thought of going back to the hospital, he’d brought them with him, thinking that he’d just pass them on to somebody else. Besides, it was too feminine to spend Valentine’s Day eating chocolate and sighing over past loves. Not that he was against getting in touch with his feminine side, but…he was thinking too much again, he realized. And his patient was staring at him like he’d grown three heads.

“Thanks.” Sabra took the box and set it next to her. “Why are you still in the hospital and not on some V-Day date somewhere?”

Brian frowned. “What makes you think I should be on a date?” Was his pain that transparent?

“Because, uh…” How could she tell him she thought any woman would be lucky to have him because he was just too cute? He was her doctor, for crying out loud. “I don’t know, you just seem like the kind of guy who should have a girlfriend?” Sabra mentally smacked herself. God, could she sound any lamer?

“That’s a nice thought,” Brian replied with a smile. “Actually, my girlfriend and I broke up today.” It was interesting, he thought, to finally admit it out loud. He and Ivory were broken up. It would no longer be Brian-and-Ivory or Ivory-and-Brian. No more Harnett-and-Littrell or Littrell-and-Harnett. He blinked and refocused when he realized Sabra had asked him a question. “Sorry, what?”

She felt bad for him because he looked sad. Still cute, but sad. “Would it be too weird if I asked why?” And then quickly, she added, “You don’t have to tell me or anything if you don’t want to or whatever.”

“I, uh, it’s okay. She worked at this hospital until today,” Brian began. “But the people who run this hospital didn’t always agree with how she practiced medicine. Hell, I didn’t entirely agree with Ivory all the time, either, but she got fed up and quit. She’s moving to Seattle in a couple days to work with her cousin in a clinic there.”

“Wow, she found a job that fast?” Sabra thought maybe it would be best to steer clear of the relationship aspect of her doctor’s life and focus on something else. Otherwise, it was just too awkward.

Brian frowned. “No, no. I guess it wasn’t really that fast. I mean, she’d been talking to her cousin lately because he asked her to find him someone to be his partner. I just didn’t realize that she’d been thinking about doing it herself,” he finished, thinking it over as he spoke.

It had been a rather quick decision on her part, he realized. How could she just have gone from working at the hospital then switching within hours to working with her cousin? Hadn’t she given herself time to be upset over the loss of a job at all? Most people would’ve needed at least a few days to regroup, but, apparently, not Ivory. It was almost as though…As though she’d been thinking about it for a while, and the decision had been practically made before she’d even quit.

As that puzzle began to fall into place, his heart broke again. If she’d been planning it all along, Ivory hadn’t told him. She’d never said a thing about contemplating switching jobs, switching coasts. Had she stopped trusting him lately? Was he just like everyone else to her?

“Maybe she forgot to tell you? Or maybe she meant to tell you, but everything happened really fast today?” Sabra, having read far too many romance novels during her fifteen years, figured he had to have been thinking along those lines. He was a man, after all, and most romance novel men thought like that. And it was really weird, she decided, that she was thinking about romance novel male leads during a time such as this.

Brian sighed. “Yeah, maybe. Either way,” he looked over at her and managed a brilliant smile, “looks like you’re not the only one with a bad ending to Valentine’s Day, huh?”

“I guess.”

“Dr. Littrell?” Susan, the nurse who’d been a part of the reason Ivory had been under suspicion, poked her head in the door. “Could I see you for a second?”

Brian patted Sabra’s hand. “Be back in a bit.” Once outside, he watched Susan coolly, knowing he was irrationally partly blaming her for the loss of his relationship. “What did you need?”

Susan gestured behind her, so that Brian noticed the suit-clad teenage boy standing nervously to the side. He had a bunch of flowers and a large bag under one arm as he used his other hand to tug at the dark hair that fell over his eyes. “That’s Sabra Elliott’s dance date. He just showed up a couple minutes ago, asking if he could surprise her. I was hoping, since you’re in there with her anyway, if you could get her out for a few minutes so he can do his set-up. Please?”

Brian had to smile at the hopeful look on the boy’s face, which made him think that Sabra would be over the moon once she found out Ryan McCourt really did care about her. “Okay. He’d better hide, so I can bring her out of the room.” Stepping back in to see Sabra, he smiled. “Wanna go for a walk, Miss Elliott? I bet you’re tired of being cooped into this room for the last few hours, huh?”

Sabra’s jaw dropped. “I’m gonna be let out of this crappy room?” She winced. “I mean, it’s a really nice room and all, but…”

Brian laughed. “It’s okay. It is pretty dull.” He held out his arm. “Shall we?”

“Yeah!” Sabra enthusiastically leapt out of the bed and let him lead her out and down the hall.

Twenty minutes later, after he’d given her a tour of the ER, Brian brought his young patient back to her room and watched her eyes widen as she saw the flowers, balloons, and the table her date had set up for her.

“Ryan!” She was in shock, and Brian didn’t need to be a doctor to know that.

Ryan took her hand and led her to the table, and Brian decided he’d leave the two lovebirds alone. As he made his way back to his car, once again avoiding everyone’s knowing looks, he found he had to smile. Despite the terribly unexpected twist to what should have been a good day, things, when he really thought about it, weren’t as bad as they could have been. He had ended a good, solid relationship, but it didn’t have to mean that he and Ivory could never see each other again. If nothing else, he thought as he turned his car on, they could keep in touch. He did hope she would do well in Seattle and wished her all the best.

And, he decided, turning his car onto the road, he would be okay, too. Because, despite the obstacles it often hurdled, the human heart always endured.

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