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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…

+++