Code Blue by RokofAges75
Story Notes:
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.

+++


This story archived at http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8174