Part Three - Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible
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.
Note: This is all Cathy's fault for putting the idea in my head
Spoilers for 'All in the family'
Because I don't want to turn this in to a Carter angst fic.
I'm asserting that the only after-effects Carter suffered from the incident in 'All in the Family' are chronic back pain and a slight limp.
Previously on ER
John and Dave were struck by lightning and woke up in each other's bodies.
They decided to play along, at least until they could figure out how to get back to normal.
Gamma Carter insisted on bringing 'John' and 'Dave' back to her house while they recovered.
Two days later....
Dave finished his third bowl of cereal and pushed himself back from the counter. Wiping away his 'milk moustache' with the back of his hand. Strolling over to the fridge, he took a look inside. "Let's see," he thought to himself. "What to have for dessert?"
Man, this was the life. Living in a mansion, with a bunch of servants to do all the work, and ready cooked food available round the clock. Dave wondered why John had ever moved out. Humming to himself he grabbed an ice cream from the freezer section and went looking for John. They were due to go back to work the next day and he wanted to get a few things sorted out first. Locker combinations and stuff like that.
All in all, these last few days had been like a holiday for Dave. Of course it wasn't all fun. There was the nagging pain from his or rather John's injuries from the stabbing. And then there was 'Gamma', who had brought him breakfast in bed on the first morning he had been there. It had been a thoughtful gesture, and he would have appreciated it even more if he had been wearing anything when she came into the bedroom.
To give her credit, she hadn't seemed fazed by the sight of her 'grandson' standing naked in front of the mirror. All she did was put the tray down on the bedside table and say, 'don't catch a cold dear' before leaving. Dave had been too shocked to say anything.
"John." He heard her voice from below him on the stairs. Turning around he walked down to meet her, quickly finishing his ice cream as he went.
"Hi there," he said, as he reached the spot where she was standing. "You going out tonight?"
"I have to attend an opera. Will you be all right here?"
"Sure thing. Jo..that is, Dave and I will probably watch a few videos, maybe make some popcorn."
Millicent Carter frowned at the mention of Dr Malucci. "I've been meaning to talk to you about your friend," she said to Dave. "Is there something 'strange' about him?"
Dave shrugged his shoulders. "What d'you mean?"
"It's just that I've noticed him staring at me quite a lot. And he has this sort of 'wistful' expression in his eyes."
"He probably just realized how mighty fine you're looking these days," said Dave with a grin. Inwardly he was cursing John.
Millicent swatted Dave gently on the arm. "Well you take it easy. And don't stay up too late. I know you have an early start tomorrow."
"We'll be good, I promise," said Dave, as he helped Millicent into her coat.
She picked up her bag and headed for the door, stopping just to say, "Are you sure that you're ready to go back to work? I'm sure that nice Dr Weaver would let you have some more time off if you needed it."
Dave laughed inwardly at the thought of the Chief's face if he asked her for more time off. "We'll be fine. Now go and enjoy yourself, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Millicent gave Dave a light kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight John."
"Goodnight Gamma," called Dave as she sat into the car.
Alone once more he made his way up the stairs to the guest bedroom, where John was lying on the bed staring moodily at the ceiling.
"Hey," said Dave as he flung open the door. "What's up?"
"Don't you ever knock?" asked John, slightly irritated.
"Lighten up, it's not as if you've got anything I haven't seen before," replied Dave with a grin.
"Yeah right," muttered John. "Has Gamma gone to the opera?"
"She just left. And while we're on the subject of 'Gamma', she told me she's caught you staring at her a lot. You'll have to stop doing it, or she'll think you're some kind of weirdo."
John sighed. Every time he saw his grandmother, he wanted to yell at her, 'don't you recognize me? I'm your grandson.' Of course actually doing that would probably result in a quick trip to the Psych ward and a new wardrobe consisting mainly of straitjackets.
The next day, John and Dave were dropped outside the ER by Gamma's chauffer. Standing outside the doors, they hesitated momentarily, looking at each other for reassurance. "You ready for this?" asked Dave.
John shook his head. "Not really, but we can't put it off much longer. We just have to remember who we're supposed to be."
"Let's do it then." And together they walked into the ER.
Chuny greeted them as they headed for the lounge. "Carter, Malucci, good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," said Dave, easily.
"Well, Dr Weaver's in the lounge. Said she wanted a word with both of you before you started."
"Thanks Chuny," said John, as she headed for reception.
"Just remember to keep calling her Chief," hissed Dave as he pushed open the door of the lounge.
"Call her chief, right, got that," said John. He wished that they didn't have to face Kerry so soon. Of all the people in the ER, she was probably the most observant, as well as the one who knew him best. If anyone was going to realize that something was wrong it would be her.
"Good morning Dr Weaver," said Dave, trying to remember his manners.
"Morning Chief," grunted John, trying to forget his.
"John, Dave, how are you feeling?" asked Kerry, pushing herself up from her seat at the table.
"Bit sore in places," said John as he fumbled with the combination of Dave's locker. Damm, he couldn't remember the combination.
"And you John?" asked Kerry smiling at Dave.
"My hand's still a bit painful, but I'm not too bad otherwise," replied Dave. He could see that John was having trouble and he hoped that the chief would be called away before she got suspicious. Buttoning up the unfamiliar lab-coat, he tried to think of a distraction. Luckily Yosh came in with a question for Kerry. While she was busy explaining to him, Dave took the opportunity to quickly open the locker for John.
John quickly threw Dave's jacket into the locker and grabbed his stethoscope. They were about to leave the lounge, when Kerry looked up from her conversation with Yosh, and said, "Just a minute Carter, I'd like a quick word with you."
"Uh-oh," thought John, wishing that he had been able to fill Dave in on a bit more of his history with Kerry. Still, at least if Dave made any slip ups; he could always blame his concussion.
"I'll catch you later Dave," said Dave as he turned around to face Kerry.
"Sure thing, Carter," said John as he left the room.
Back in the lounge, Kerry sat down on the couch beside Dave.
"So how are you feeling John?" she asked.
"I'm fine," said Dave. "Well, still a little sore in places. But that's to be expected."
"Hmm," said Kerry thoughtfully. "You know, you gave me quite a scare. When I saw you lying there on the ground, it was almost like deja-vu for me."
"Wow, Kerry, I never realized," said Dave. It had never occurred to him that other people had been affected by the accident.
"Well, just try not to do it again. I'm not sure I could stand to see you on a gurney a third time." Kerry patted Dave's hand affectionately.
Dave caught her hand and squeezed it gently. "I'll be careful," he said, looking into Kerry's eyes.
Kerry looked into John's eyes. There was an intensity there that she hadn't noticed before. Tearing her gaze away with difficulty, she pulled away her hand and stood up quickly. "Try...try to take it easy today," she said and hurried out of the room.
Dave watched her limp away. Hmm, if he had done that while in his own body, the Chief would have hit him with her crutch, or worse. "Maybe this body has it's good points after all," he thought to himself as he headed out to work.
to be continued
ceindreadh
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'Ford Prefect weaved his way around the hall. There was no one there, but he weaved his way anyway'
- Douglas Adams
'Three marriages and an adventurous girlhood, had left Nanny Ogg with thigh muscles that could crack coconuts'
- Terry Prachett
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