A Very Odd Couple
Part Five - B
By Céindreadh
ceindreadh@eircom.net

DISCLAMER: "ER," the characters and situations depicted within are the property of Warner Brothers Television, Amblin Entertainment, Constant c Productions, NBC, etc. They are borrowed without permission, but without the intent of infringement. The story presented here is written solely for entertainment purposes, and the author is making no profit.

Thanks to the ERFFCC for their contributions



Chris followed Luka into his house. "Would it be all right if I used your phone?" she asked. "It's just that I have to call work, and let a few people know what's going on. I'll pay for the calls."

"Go right ahead, and don't worry about paying for them. I'll just add them on to Dave's share of the bill." Luka went into the kitchen to make some tea. A few minutes later, he heard her raised voice.

"Yes, I know it's short notice dammit. I know we've had this planned for a few weeks, but I can't help it."
There was a pause while she listened to someone on the other end of the line.
"Well, I'm sorry about that. The next time one of my family wants to get beaten up, I'll ask them to give me a bit of advance warning."
"Look, I'll probably be back in town in a few days. I'll call you then."
"Okay then, I won't bother."

Chris slammed the phone down and started swearing vehemently. She looked up and saw Luka standing in the doorway. "Oh God," she said blushing. "I didn't mean you to hear all that."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Was that your boss you were talking to?"

"Oh no. He was fine, said to stay here as long as I'm needed. No that was Ray. A friend, or rather an ex-friend. We were supposed to go out tomorrow night. We'd booked time off a couple of weeks ago, and he got a little bit nasty when I had to cancel."

"Surely he would understand? I mean if your family needs you?"

"Ray doesn't like anything, or anyone, interfering with his plans. What's going to happen is, he'll let me stew for a couple of hours, and then he'll phone back to apologize. He'll expect me to apologize as well, and then fall in with whatever plans he's made. It's happened before, but not this time."

As Chris was talking, she retrieved her mobile phone from her bag. Markedly, she switched it off. "I do not need this right now. Maybe we can sort things out when I get back to Milwaukee, but I can't deal with this as well as everything else."

Chris looked visibly drained by the phone call. She sat down on the stairs and buried her head in her hands. "You should probably rest for a few hours. The hospital will phone us if there's any change in Dave's condition, and I will be going in this afternoon to see him."

"Yeah. I'd just finished a double shift, when I got your message, and then I didn't get much rest on the bus. I'm bushed."

"I'll show you where Dave's room is. Rest for a few hours, and then I will call the hospital to see how Dave is doing."

Kerry sat by Dave's bed in the ICU. She knew that his condition was stable, and that her presence here was having no effect on his condition, but she hadn't felt like going home. If she was honest with herself, the real reason she had come up to ICU was to assure herself that it really hadn't been Dave that she had been working on earlier. The brief period when she had believed that he was beyond all help, had seemed like an eternity. And the thought that she had once again failed a colleague, well that had been unbearable. Besides, she told herself, if he woke up again, it would be better if someone were with him.  Dave muttered in his sleep and moved restlessly.

Kerry debated with herself whether or not to wake him. On the one hand, he could do with the rest, but on the other hand, he didn't seem to be too relaxed. The decision was made for her when Dave jerked awake in the bed; his eyes wide open in terror. His breathing was ragged, and he was shivering uncontrollably. "It's okay, Dave," said Kerry, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You're in the ICU. Try to calm down."

Dave relaxed visibly at her words. He couldn't remember what he had been dreaming about; all he knew that whatever it was had scared the crap out of him.

"Was it a bad dream?"

"I don't know," said Dave in confusion. "At least I can't remember. I just know that whatever was happening, I had to get away from it." He shuddered.

"How do you feel?"

"As if I've been run over by a steamroller. No, it's not too bad now, at least not as bad as it was earlier."

"We've all been worried about you."

"Guess I gave people a bit of a scare, huh chief?"

"More than you know. Do you want to take something to help you sleep?"

"No chief. Actually I'd rather stay awake for a bit. It seems I've been doing nothing but sleep."

"You do need your rest, but I'll stay for a while, keep you company if you like."

"Thanks. I'd like that."

Kerry carefully rearranged the bedclothes that had been disarranged by Dave's movements. Quickly she checked that his chest tube, and I.V.'s hadn't been dislodged. "There, that's better," she said with a smile.

"Thanks chief. I hate to be a bother like this."

"Hey, that's what we're here for; to take care of people."

"It just feels odd to be on the receiving end. I mean I'm supposed to be the guy who puts in chest tubes and stuff. Not someone who gets them."

"That's probably why doctors make the worst patients. They feel they don't belong in a sick bed."

"Yeah, that's it. I shouldn't be here."

"Well you're here now, so accept it. I promise we'll take care of you."

"Thanks chief." Dave shifted uneasily in the bed, trying unsuccessfully to find a position that didn't hurt.

Kerry noticed his grimace of pain as he moved. "Do you want something for the pain?" she asked him.

"No thanks chief. I'm okay."

"You are not okay. You've been through a lot in the last few hours, and I can see that you're hurting. I hope you're not going to be like that patient with the screw in his leg, who came in a few months ago. You remember, the one that believed painkillers interfered with the healing process."

"Man, that guy was something else. He took on the hurt and won."

"Yes, well. You don't have to do that. It is all right to take painkillers if you need them. Promise me that if you're in pain while you're in here, that you'll take the medication offered."

"Well okay chief." Dave was surprised at Kerry's insistence, but he was sure she knew what she was talking about.

"Good," said Kerry.

It struck her as mildly ironic that a few months ago she had collaborated with her colleagues to force Carter to stop using pain medication, and now here she was encouraging Dave to take it. However the circumstances were different. All the same, she promised herself that she would keep a closer eye on Dave's mental well being than she had on Carter's. She would make him talk to a therapist about his experience, if she had to drag him there by the ear. Dave would not go down the same path as Carter if she had anything to do with it. She had a feeling that Luka would be thinking the same thing.

Dave's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey chief, you still with me? Only I think maybe I will take something for the pain."

"Sorry, I was miles away," replied Kerry. "I'll just get something from the nurse."

Kerry returned a few minutes later and proceeded to administer the painkillers through Dave's I.V. "There," she said.  "That should take effect in a few minutes.  It'll probably make you feel a bit groggy though, so don't fight it.   The sleep will do you good." "Will you stay with me a little while?" "I'll stay until you're sleeping," promised Kerry.

"What were you thinking about, just before you went for my meds?" asked Dave. The chief had looked so intense; Dave was concerned and a little curious.

"I was thinking about you," replied Kerry honestly. "And how you might want to talk to someone about what you've been through."

"You mean like a shrink?"

"It might help. You know, if anything's bothering you."

"What's bothering me most at the moment, is that I can't remember anything about it. And I don't think seeing a shrink can help  with that. But if you think I should."

"It's your decision, but it would probably do no harm to talk to a professional about what's happened. Dave, you have been through a very traumatic experience. Physically your injuries are healing, but I don't want you to underestimate the psychological impact that something like this can have on a person. It's a lot easier to deal with if you get help sooner, rather than later."

"Whatever you say chief."

"I didn't mean to lecture you like that. How's the pain now?"

"It's easing off a bit. I mean my side still hurts like hell, but it was worse."

"Dr Corday told me that your sister was here to see you earlier."

"Chris was here? I wasn't sure whether I'd dreamt her or not. I should' ve known it wasn't a dream."

"The two of you are close, I take it?" Dave was feeling sleepier by the minute.

He struggled to answer Kerry. "Yeah, we always have been. See, she's only a year younger than me. The rest of our sisters are between eight and fifteen years older than me. So Chris and me, we always hung out together, almost like twins."

"Two Malucci's, oh no," said Kerry in mock horror.

"Two Doctor Malucci's," said Dave tiredly. "Cept that was too confusing at home, so we became Dr. Chris and Dr. Dave." His voice trailed off and when Kerry looked at him, she realized he had fallen asleep.

She checked his pulse just to make sure, and then whispered to him, "Sleep well Dr. Dave. I promise we'll take care of you."

To be continued

Authors note:
The song quoted by Chris in Va is 'Millenium' by Robbie Williams used with absolutely no permission from the lyricist


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céindreadh

"I have never understood why it is necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or why it should be necessary to prove it at all"
Kerr Avon

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