Dr Dave Malucci walked in to the ER one evening. This in itself was not unusual. What was unusual was that he wasn't on duty. What was even more unusual was that he was carrying a young child in his arms.
Dave walked up to reception and carefully sat the girl on the counter. "Hey Randi," he called. "Is Cleo around?"
"Exam one," replied Randi distractedly. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Dave with the girl, but the phone call she was taking demanded her complete attention.
Dave grabbed a form from behind the desk and started filling it in. Carter was completing a chart at the other end of the desk. Hearing Dave's voice, he looked up and said, "Isn't she a little young for you Malucci?"
"That's not funny Carter," said Dave without a trace of amusement in his voice.
Carter raised an eyebrow at this. He had expected a better comeback from Dave than that. Shrugging, he returned to his charts. Glancing up a moment later he noticed the girl watching him. "Hello there," he said to her with a smile. "And what's your name?"
The girl tugged at Dave's sleeve and looked questioningly at him. "It's okay sweetheart, you can talk to him. He's a friend of mine."
The girl turned back to Carter and said self-confidently, "My name is Lillian Alexandra Quinn-Malucci. You can call me Lily, but not Lil. Lil's a baby's name."
"I'm very pleased to meet you Lily. My name's John Truman Carter, but you can call me Carter." "Quinn-Malucci?" said Carter to Dave. "Is she a relative of yours?"
Dave finished filling in the form and picked up Lily. "Actually she's my daughter. Catch you later Carter," and he walked off towards Exam one.
Carter watched open-mouthed as Dave walked away with Lily. Turning to Randi, he said, "Did Dave just say that that was his daughter?"
Randi nodded, for once stunned into silence.
Dave pushed open the door to exam one. "Hey Cleo can you take a lo...whoa, excuse me," he said as he saw Cleo and Peter kissing each other passionately. "We'll just wait outside until you're finished." He quickly backed out of the room, but not before Peter and Cleo overheard Lily say, "Daddy, why was he biting that woman?"
Cleo and Peter had hurriedly separated when they heard Dave's voice. Once the door was shut again they resumed their necking. A few seconds later Cleo broke away abruptly and said, "Did that little girl just call Malucci 'Daddy'?"
"Sounded like it," said Peter. They looked at each other in disbelief.
"I'd better see what he wants," said Cleo, moving towards the door.
"He can wait a few minutes longer," said Peter with a grin, pulling her back into his arms.
Cleo kissed him, and then broke free. "I'll see you later," she said, pushing him towards the door.
Dave carried Lily into Exam one and set her down carefully on the bed.
"So, who do we have here?" asked Cleo.
"Cleo, this is my daughter Lily. Lily, this is Dr Finch, she's going to find out what's wrong with you."
Cleo noticed the slight flash of pride in Dave's voice when he said the words 'my daughter'. "Hello there Lily," she said with a smile. "And what's the matter with you?"
"My arm hurts," said Lily, and popped her thumb in her mouth.
Cleo looked questioningly at Dave. Dave slipped into doctor mode. "Five year old female."
"Five and three-quarters," interrupted Lily.
"Excuse me, five and three-quarter years old female. Sustained deep lacerations to her left arm in an MVA a week ago, and got some stitches put in over at Mercy. She's been complaining of pain around the wound."
Lily tugged at Dave's sleeve. "I wasn't being a baby Daddy."
"It's okay sweetheart, if something hurts you, you're right to tell me or your mom."
"Anyway Cleo, her temperature was up this evening, so I thought I'd better get her checked out."
Cleo nodded and scribbled a few notes on the chart. Turning her attention to Lily she asked, "Lily, is it all right if I take a look at your arm?" Lily nodded her assent.
Haleh helped Lily remove her jacket and then unbandaged her arm. Dave watched anxiously as Cleo carefully examined Lily. It had been almost a week ago when he had gotten the phone call from a doctor at Mercy. The few seconds between the doctor telling him that Lily and her mother had been in a car accident, and then saying that their injuries weren't life threatening had seemed like an eternity to him. He been off-duty at the time and had rushed to Mercy on his bike, not caring how many rules of the road he had broken along the way.
Melanie had broken her leg and was going to be in hospital for a couple of weeks. Lily had escaped with cuts and bruises and was only kept in overnight. Dave had insisted on taking care of her until Mel was ready to be discharged. Fortunately Mel had the services of a very reliable and flexible child-minder. It had taken a bit of juggling shifts, but so far all had gone well. That is until Lily started complaining that her arm was hurting. Rather than take her back to Mercy, Dave had decided that the reassurance of having his daughter treated by people he knew and trusted, far outweighed the amount of jokes and gossip he was bound to be subjected to once people found out about him and Lily. Dave was brought back to the present by the sound of Cleo's voice.
"Sorry Cleo, what was that?" he asked.
"I said, Lily's temperature is elevated. The skin around her wound is reddened, and there is localized tenderness and some swelling. I'm going to order some blood work, but it looks like it could be infected."
"But I've checked it every time I changed the dressings. How could I have missed it?"
Cleo looked at Dave's stricken face. "The bacteria would have entered her body when she sustained the injury. You wouldn't have seen anything until the infection reached the surface. Anyway, let's wait until the labs come back, and then we'll see how bad it is."
Dave nodded his acknowledgement and then sat down on the bed beside Lily. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes and asked, "What's going to happen Daddy?"
"Well, Dr Finch wants to test some of your blood, to see what's making your arm hurt. Haleh over there is going to take a little bit out of your arm."
"Will it hurt?" asked Lily, trying to hide her fear.
"It'll sting a bit when she puts the needle in," said Dave honestly. "But she's one the best there is, so it'll only hurt for a little while. Will you let her do it?"
Lily nodded slowly, "But only if you hold my hand."
"I'll be right here," said Dave, putting his arm around her. Lily buried her head in Dave's chest as Haleh quickly took the blood sample.
"All done," she said with a smile.
"Thanks Haleh," said Dave.
"We should have the results in a few hours," said Cleo. "I'll be back as soon as they're in."
"Thanks Cleo," said Dave as the two women left the room. Lily yawned as she watched them go. "You want to lie down and sleep for a bit?" asked Dave. "We could be here for a while."
"Okay," said Lily, lying down on the bed. "Can I have Harry?"
"Of course," smiled Dave, as he retrieved a battered looking Teddy bear from his backpack. Lily snuggled down with Harry, as Dave tucked the blanket around her. "Sleep well, Lily," said Dave, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead.
"Love you Daddy," whispered Lily sleepily.
Dave smiled as he watched her fall asleep. No matter how often he heard Lily call him Daddy, the word still sent a wave of joy surging through his heart. "I'll make you all better Lily," he promised.