The Last Straw
Part 26
By Cari
cxcarleo@naz.edu

This piece starts on October 7, moments after the last one ended.

Note: I have no idea what time real estate offices open, just pretend they open early on Sundays.

As always, thanks go to Lori and Rachel for letting me bounce ideas off them. I knew where I wanted to go and they helped me figure out a way to get there.

I do not own any of the characters and make no money from their use.

Please e-mail me with any feedback

As Doug is driving to County, he says to Carol, "Can you call in and let them know we're on our way in? I don't want them to be surprised when they see Suzy being wheeled in because if they look frightened, she will get scared."

"Good call. Do you know if Susan is on?" Carol asked as she dialed.

"I don't think she's scheduled until 11, but you better ask to make sure she wasn't called in early."

Just then, Jerry answered the phone, "County ER, this is Jerry speaking."

"Hi Jerry, it's Carol. Who's on tonight?"

"Kovac, Carter, Lucy, Cleo, Jing Mei, and Abby. Oh, and Kerry is down here doing some administrative stuff."

"Can you put her on the phone, please."

Jerry handed the phone to Kerry and said, "It's Carol. She seems a little upset."

Kerry took the phone quickly. "Hi Carol, is everything OK?"

"Doug and I are on our way in. Rosemarie, our nanny, just called us at Mark and Elizabeth's. She called an ambulance for Suzy because she was having trouble breathing, she has been sick for a few days now."

"Oh my gosh..."

"We just didn't want you guys to be surprised if they wheel her in before we get there. We're about 10 minutes out, I don't know when the ambulance will get there."

"We'll take care of her if she gets here before you guys do."

"Thanks."

Doug made it to County in just under ten minutes, and barely put the car in park before jumping out and hurrying towards the ambulance bay doors. Kerry met them just inside the doors and said, "Their ETA is less than two minutes. She's stable, but they have her on an Oxygen mask. The paramedics seem to think it might be an asthma attack. I have Exam 2 ready."

"Thanks," Doug said. "I'm glad you were down here."

"I am too. Did you reach Susan?"

"No, she has her cell phone off so I left a message telling her to call me ASAP and I paged her."

Just then, the ambulance bay doors crashed open, and the paramedics came in, pushing Suzy on a gurney. Rosemarie followed close behind, holding Emma.

"Exam 2," Kerry said to the paramedics.

Doug followed them in there quickly, while Carol walked over to Rosemarie and took Emma. "I'm glad you called us, you did the right thing."

"It just scared me when she started to wheeze and gasp for breath. Plus, her temperature is almost 104. The paramedics seem to think it's an asthma attack, I wasn't aware she had asthma."

"Neither were we. Once I reach Susan, I'll ask her if she knew."

"You can't reach her either? I tried just after I called you."

"I got the voice mail on her cell phone, and I don't even know where she went with Robert. She is due here at 11, but I wanted her to know before she came in."

"Plus Suzy will probably want her. She asked me earlier when she was coming home and I hated having to break it to her that she wasn't due home until tomorrow."

"It's so hard on Suzy that Susan has to work so much."

"She got a little upset after I told her, but then she was OK. She watched a little TV while I put Emma down to sleep, but then when I told her it was time to go to sleep, she said she didn't want to sleep upstairs alone all night. So I told her she could sleep downstairs for the night. I put a sheet on the couch and got a pillow and blanket and she fell asleep by about 7:30. I guess she had been wheezing pretty much all night, but when she woke up around 8:30 and asked me for a drink, I could tell it was worse. She also felt considerably warmer to the touch, so I took her temperature. I knew there was something wrong because it was so high, and coupled with the wheezing, I didn't want to take any chances."

"I don't blame you. It was good that she slept downstairs."

Just then Kerry walked toward them and said to Carol, "Doug is going to put an IV in, and Suzy wants you to hold her hand while she does it."

"Sure," Carol said, handing the still sleeping Emma back to Rosemarie. "Why don't you go sit in the lounge with her? You will be a little more comfortable. I'll come get you once we know anything."

"OK, thank you."

Carol walked into the room to see Suzy, looking very scared, lying on the bed. She was holding one of the ER's stuffed bears that Doug had taken from the cabinet. Doug was sitting on the edge of the bed, explaining what he was going to do. "What I have to do is put this needle in your arm, and then I will hook up the medicine to the needle so it goes into your body and helps reduce your fever and stop the asthma attack. It's the same way they gave Aunt Carol medicine last spring, do you remember that?"

"Yes," Suzy said. Turning her attention to Carol who had sat down on the other side of the bed, she asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It will pinch a little when Uncle Doug first puts the needle in, but that will be all. Then, you won't even feel it. I will hold your hand while he does it and you can squeeze it if it hurts, ok?"

"Mommy told me that you cried when you got an IV, is it ok if I cry?"

"Of course," Carol said, looking over at Doug with a somewhat confused, somewhat angry look. Carol took Suzy's left hand with hers and put her right arm around Suzy's shoulders. This position allowed her to hold Suzy to keep her from moving.

"Is mommy coming soon?" Suzy asked.

"We're trying to reach her," Carol said. "She'll be here as soon as she can."

Doug said, "Right now, I'm just cleaning off your arm with alcohol. It won't hurt at all, just feels a little cold, right?"

"Yes, it tickles too," Suzy said.

Doug had the needle all prepared and did it as quickly as possible. "Owie," Suzy said, starting to cry.

"It's OK," Carol said reassuringly, kissing the top of Suzy's head. "It's all done. He's just putting some tape on now to hold it in place." Carol took a tissue from the nearby table and gently wiped Suzy's eyes.

Doug said to Suzy, "That medicine is going to help bring your temperature down so you will start to feel better. I'm going to give you another medicine that will make it easier for you to breathe."

"More needles?" Suzy asked, worriedly

"No," Doug promised. "This is something you breathe in through a tube." As Doug prepared the albuterol inhaler, he asked Suzy, "What do you think about Aunt Carol giving you a bath while you take these medicines."

"I already took one today," Suzy said, confused.

"It's not that kind of bath," Carol explained. "You lay in bed like you are and I just wash your body with cool water to help bring down your fever."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not at all," Carol promised, as she got a basin and sponge from the cabinet. "It's just like washing yourself off in the bath, except with no soap."

"OK," Suzy said, clutching the stuffed bear even tighter.

Doug brought over the inhaler and explained to Suzy, "You need to take two deep breaths of this each minute. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes," Suzy said.

"Good," Doug said. "The more you help us, the easier everything is."

While Doug helped Suzy with the inhaler, Carol gave her a cool sponge bath.

About 45 minutes later, around 10:20, Suzy was very close to asleep and Doug whispered to Carol, "She's definitely breathing easier."

"I can barely detect any wheezing."

"Let me get the Thermoscan to check her temperature."

Doug did, and within a few seconds, he said, "102.7, that's an improvement."

"I'm glad. Let me go tell Rosemarie, I promised to keep her updated."

"Ask at the desk to see if anyone has heard from Susan? She should be coming in soon anyway, but..."

As Carol walked to the lounge, she stopped and asked Jerry, "Has Susan called in?"

"No, was she supposed to?"

"Never mind," Carol said, amazed at how oblivious Jerry could be at times. She made her way into the lounge and smiled at the sight. Rosemarie was asleep on the couch, and Emma was sitting contently in Kerry's arms at the table while Kerry looked over some paper work. "You could have come get me if you needed to do work," Carol said.

"It's ok, I was glad to have some company," Kerry said. "She kept me from getting bored out of my mind. How is Suzy?"

"OK. She's breathing much easier and her temperature has come down from the Tylenol and the sponge bath."

"Any sign of Susan yet?"

"Not one. It's kind of aggravating," Carol said, taking a seat next to Kerry at the table, sighing, and taking Emma in her arms. "What if it had been a serious emergency?"

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Kerry asked.

"I don't know. I guess I can handle it. I just don't want to have another big blow out."

"Have you had a lot of those?" Kerry asked.

"It seems so, I think it's the stress we're both under that just causes it. It will all pass soon I hope. A lot of feelings got stifled when I was sick, and now it's just all coming to the surface."

"I imagine that's pretty rough. How are you feeling these days?"

"Pretty good, I see my doctor every two weeks. I see her next Friday, but so far, all the tests have been clear. I'm thinking of coming back full time maybe in a month or so, I don't think I'm quite ready yet."

"Take your time. You have been doing all the admin work from home which is a great help, and if you want to continue these hours indefinitely, that's fine with both Mark and I. Your health is more important."

"Thank you. It has really helped me all along to know that everyone here is so supportive."

"We always will be. We've all worked together for so long, we're like family and we do what we can to help each other out."

"That really means a lot," Carol said.

About 5 minutes later, the lounge door swung open and Susan walked in. She noticed that Carol was there and said, "Didn't expect to see you here tonight." It didn't seem to dawn on her that Emma was asleep in Carol's arms and Rosemarie on the couch.

"Is your cell phone not working?" Carol asked.

"I think it's OK. I had it turned off because we were in a nice restaurant."

"And your pager?"

"As far as I know that's working fine."

"You didn't return any calls though."

"No, I was having a good time and figured it could wait until I saw you tomorrow. I didn't think it was anything major."

Carol knew that if she said anything, she would regret it, so she simply got up and walked out of the room without saying another word. "I wonder what that was all about," Susan said, aloud but to herself at the same time.

"It was pretty important that we get in touch with you," Kerry said.

"Why? It doesn't seem that busy," Susan said, putting on her lab coat. "Did you end up calling in Doug and Carol and she's upset about that?"

"No," Kerry said. "It was because Rosemarie brought in Suzy. She was having difficulty breathing and we wanted to reach you."

All of a sudden, Susan's demeanor changed. "What? Where is she? What happened? Is she ok?"

"She's OK now. She had an asthma attack. I guess Rosemarie called Doug and Carol where they were for the evening and they came in. Doug is treating her in Exam 2."

Kerry had scarcely finished her sentence before Susan was out the door on the way to Exam 2.

Doug saw Susan come in and put a finger to his lips; "She finally fell asleep."

"What happened? She doesn't have asthma..."

"Apparently, she does. It was a moderately acute attack, but she is fine. I had her on an albuterol inhaler and Carol gave her a sponge bath to help lower her fever."

"Can I take her home?"

"Sure. I'll work for you tonight if you want to stay home with her."

"Thank you," Susan said.

They are now in the car on the way home. Carol is driving so that Susan can sit in the back with Suzy. Emma is in her car seat and Rosemarie is riding shotgun. The car ride is virtually silent, but the tension is apparent.

When they arrive home, Rosemarie asked, "Do you guys need me to help put the girls to bed?"

Carol said, "No, you've done more than enough tonight. Why don't you go to bed?"

"Thank you. Just wake me if you need anything."

About 15 minutes later, Carol had put Emma to bed and changed into a robe. She was in the kitchen waiting for soup to heat up because she was hungry. A minute or two later, Susan entered the kitchen and Carol said, "What would you have done if this had been a real emergency and we couldn't reach you?"

"I don't know-but it wasn't so we don't have to worry about that."

"Luckily we don't now, but we should be prepared."

"So what?" Susan asked, angrily. "I should never go out on a date again?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Carol snapped. The camera pans out and you can see Susan and Carol are deep in yet another argument.

The next morning around 7:30 AM Carol, Suzy and Emma are in the kitchen. Carol and Suzy are eating cereal and Carol is holding Emma, who she has already fed, in her lap. It is apparent through looking at Carol that she is upset because her eyes are red and puffy. The phone rings and as Carol answers it, the screen splits.

"Hello?"

"Hey Carol, it's Elizabeth. How are you?"

"I'm OK," Carol says.

"And how is Suzy?"

"She's OK. I'm sorry we didn't call you last night. We ended up getting home late and I didn't want to wake you. It was an asthma attack but they caught it and treated it in time."

"That's good to here. Are you ok? You don't sound yourself."

"Yes," Carol lied. "I'm just tired. It was a late night. Are you on today?"

"Yes, in a half hour."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"If you see Doug, can you have him call me? Or if he's busy, just find out what time he is scheduled to and let me know? He is covering for Susan."

"Sure,"

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"No problem."

As Elizabeth hung up with Carol, it dawned on her that Mark would have the schedule in his files and went to ask him. "Do you have a copy of this week's ER schedule here?"

"Sure," Mark said, taking a copy from his shoulder bag and handing it to Elizabeth. "What do you need it for?"

"I just talked to Carol to check on Suzy and she asked me to ask Doug when I got to work when he was on to or have him call her. It didn't occur to me until after I hung up that you might have a copy of the schedule with you."

"How is Suzy?"

"She's OK. She had an asthma attack, which they caught and treated in time. Carol doesn't sound so great though."

"Is she sick?"

"No, she sounds really upset and I doubt that she's going to like it that Doug is covering for Susan until 10 and then his shift starts at 10 and goes until 6 PM."

"I'm off today. I had planned to take your whole birthday weekend off before I realized you needed to be in today. So I'll go in with you and relieve Doug."

"I'm sure Carol will really appreciate that. I hope she's OK."

"Me too."

Around 8:30 AM, Suzy was laying on the couch in the living room watching cartoons and Emma was sitting in her swing. Carol was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands and she didn't even hear Doug enter the room so she jumped a little when he laid a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't expect you home this early," she said wiping her eyes.

"Mark came on to take the rest of Susan's shift and mine because after Elizabeth talked to you, she sensed that you were upset. From the looks of it, she was right, what's the matter?" Doug asked, sitting in a chair next to Carol and taking her hand in his.

Carol didn't say anything, but pressed her face against his chest and started to cry quietly so that Suzy wouldn't hear. Doug put his arms around her and rubbed her back with one hand while running his fingers through her hair with the other. Doug was confused because he really had no idea what had upset her so much. After a few minutes, an idea occurred to him and he whispered softly in her ear, "Where is Susan?"

Carol didn't answer at first but as she started to calm down, she said, "Apartment hunting."

"Apartment hunting?" Doug asked, surprised, while continuing to rub Carol's back.

"We had a huge fight last night, the worst yet. After I cooled off, I went to talk to her and she suggested that maybe the best way to salvage the friendship was for her to move out. I feel so guilty that it has come to this," Carol said, starting to cry harder again.

Doug didn't know how to respond so he pulled Carol close and soothed her as best he could. Because she spoke so softly, Doug could hardly hear what Carol said. "What did you say, babe?"

"Am I a horrible friend for making Susan feel this way?"

"No, not at all. Sometimes being together a lot just causes friction."

Just then, Suzy came into the kitchen. She could see Carol's tearstained face and asked, "Are you ok?"

Knowing that Carol wasn't in the best shape, Doug answered, "Yes, she just doesn't feel very well."

"I hope I didn't make you sick," Suzy said, climbing into Carol's lap to give her a kiss.

"No sweetie, you didn't. How do you feel?"

"OK, I just wanted something to drink."

As Carol poured Suzy a glass of juice, Doug felt her forehead and listened to her breathing. After, Suzy asked, "Can I make some pictures?"

"Sure," Doug said. "You just need to do quiet things today." After Suzy was settled, Doug walked back into the kitchen and stood behind Carol who was standing near the counter. He put his arms around her waist and asked, "How much sleep did you get?"

"Not much," Carol admitted, leaning back against Doug's chest.

"Come on," Doug said, leading Carol toward the bedroom. "You need some rest. It will help."

"Will you sit with me for a little while?"

"Sure, Emma and I will keep you company." Doug said, taking Emma out of her swing. "Let me just tell Suzy where we'll be."

Carol climbed into bed and Doug lay Emma down next to her. He tucked them in, sat down on the bed and said, "Don't worry, it will all work out."

"I hope so."

Around 1:00 PM, Doug was in the bathroom washing Emma up for her nap. "How's my girl?" he asked. Emma responded by blowing bubbles and smiling at him. Just then, he heard Susan come in to the living room.

Suzy said, "Hi mommy."

"Hey honey, how do you feel?" Susan asked, kissing Suzy's forehead.

"OK."

"What are you working on?"

"A picture for Aunt Carol to make her feel better."

"That's really nice. Where is she?"

"Uncle Doug put her to sleep a few hours ago."

"That's good. Did you have lunch?"

"Yes, chicken soup."

"That's good. I'm going to see Uncle Doug for a minute. I'll be back in a little while."

Susan walked to the nursery where Doug was dressing Emma. "Thanks for working for me," she said tentatively.

"You're welcome. Thank Mark too. He took the last few hours of it."

"I will, how's Carol? Suzy said she was making her a picture to make her feel better..."

"I figured that was the best way to explain why she was crying."

"Probably."

"I don't know what happened and I won't pretend to, but please talk to her."

"Of course, is she awake?"

"Most likely."

"OK, thanks."

Susan walked to Doug and Carol's bedroom and quietly opened the door. Carol was lying on her side, curled up, but Susan could tell she was awake. "Mind if I come in?"

"Nope," Carol said, half sitting up. "Did you have any luck?" she asked, trying to hide any emotion.

Susan sat on the bed and shook her head. "Anything halfway decent was way out of my price range."

"I'm sorry. Maybe you'll have better luck next time," Carol said, looking away.

Susan took Carol's hand and asked quietly, "What if I said I didn't want there to be a next time?"

Carol turned to look at Susan almost as if trying to read Susan's face. Susan saw the tears in Carol's eyes and said, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you so much."

"It's...It's OK," Carol said, wiping her eyes.

"No, it's not. And I need to learn that running away isn't the solution. I want to work this out, if you're still willing."

"I am, and I think we can. What if we give each other the space we need? If one of us needs a break, we just walk away rather than fight. We could then talk about the issue when we've calmed down."

"That's a really good idea. I know I don't want to leave and Suzy gave me the biggest guilt trip when I told her where I was going this morning. I think we can get through this. We've both been under a lot of stress and we've taken it out on each other when what we should be doing is turning to one another for support."

"I'm sorry," Carol said, finally giving into the tears now that the tension was considerably lower and she didn't feel the need to put up a front.

Susan put her arms around her and said, "I'm sorry too." Her eyes were glistening with tears as well."

-September 5, 2000