Thanks to everyone at the ERFFCC who made suggestions and comments
Previously on ER.
Dave was looking after his daughter Lily, while her mother was in hospital recovering from a car accident. Lily was complaining of pain in her arm a few days after the accident, so Dave brought her to the ER
Dave watched the rise and fall of Lily's chest as she slept. It was hard to believe that it had been such a short time since he had found out about her.
He remembered it as if it was yesterday.
Melanie, an old friend of his, had phoned him unexpectedly one day. Dave hadn't seen her since they were in college together and since he was going to be in Chicago for an interview he readily agreed to meet her and catch up on old times.
"You haven't changed a bit, Mel," said Dave with a grin as he gave her a quick hug before sitting down in the café. "Still as beautiful as ever."
"And you still know how to flatter a girl, Malucci," said Mel with a smile. They had chatted about inconsequentials for several minutes before Dave asked, "So what about you, Mel, any jealous husbands or boyfriends I should be on the lookout for?"
"Not at the moment, but I do have someone I'd like to tell you about." Reaching into her handbag, she produced a photo. "This is my daughter Lily," she said, handing the photo to Dave.
"Your daughter? Hey, congratulations Mel," said Dave, looking at the photo of a brown-haired, blue-eyed girl. "She's beautiful. So who's the lucky guy?"
"You are, Dave."
Dave's smile died away as he stared at Mel.
"You're her father Dave," said Mel anxiously, waiting for his reaction.
"But how? I mean, we were careful. It was only once." Dave's mind was filled with a thousand questions.
"I don't think I need to answer the how," said Mel in an effort to lighten the mood. "And we all know it only takes one time..."
Dave looked at the photo again, trying to take it in. He and Mel had been best buds all through college. But one night, midway through their last semester, they had been more than just friends. Mel was depressed after having being dumped by her boyfriend and Dave had just heard that he hadn't been accepted into any Med Schools in the U.S. The next morning they had decided that they were better off as just friends. A few months later Dave was headed to Grenada and Mel was off to Law School.
A sudden thought struck Dave. "Mel, please don't hate me for saying this, but are you sure she's mine? I mean, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you were with Tony for months, and we were only once, and..." Dave's voice trailed off.
"But what a once," said Mel. "I don't blame you for asking. I probably would if the positions were reversed." She sighed. "When I first found out, I assumed that Tony was the father. I didn't tell him because, well, because I'd decided to have the baby adopted, and I didn't want him or anyone else to know."
"What changed your mind?"
"There were complications, and Lily was born prematurely. She fought so hard to survive; I just knew I couldn't give her up. Then when they were doing the usual tests on her, I discovered that her blood group was the same as yours and not Tony's. There was no way he could be her father, and there was no one else, I promise you Dave."
"I believe you," said Dave. He remembered back in college there had been a blood drive and Mel had pestered everyone in their gang until they had agreed to donate. Tony had been B-, Mel had been O- and Dave had been A+.
"I know blood tests aren't conclusive, so I won't object if you want a D.N.A. test done."
Dave looked at Mel uncertainly. She continued. "That is if you want to be a part of her life. I haven't asked you for anything before and I'm not going to ask now. If you want, you can get up from this table and walk away. I won't follow you and I won't contact you again. I would like my daughter to have her father in her life, but I'm not going to force you. It's your decision, Dave."
Her speech made, Mel dropped her gaze from Dave's face. She had been planning her words for weeks now, ever since she had decided that Lily needed to know her father. Now that the truth was out, she was anxious to know what Dave's reaction would be. The touch of Dave's hand on hers startled her out of her reverie.
Dave looked her straight in the eye, "Did you really think that I'd just walk away?"
The sound of a door opening brought Dave back to the present day. He smiled as Kerry limped in. "Hey, Chief," he said softly.
Kerry crutched her way over and sat beside him. "So, this is Lily?" she asked.
"Yep, that's my girl," said Dave looking affectionately at Lily's sleeping form.
"You should have told me you were here. I only found out when I overheard Randi and Carter talking."
"Didn't want to bother you." Before this night Kerry had been the only person in the ER who had known about Lily.
A week ago, after Dave had been reassured that both Lily and Mel were going to be fine, he had told Mel that he would take care of Lily until she was fit again. He quickly realized that it was going to be necessary to rearrange his schedules. Not wishing to wait until morning, he had persuaded Andrew to give him Kerry's address and headed for her house.
Ringing on her doorbell, it occurred to him that waking the chief at three in the morning, may not have been the best idea he had ever had. But by then the lights had come on in the house and it was too late to change his mind.
Kerry limped downstairs, grumbling to herself, wondering just who the hell was ringing her doorbell at three in the morning. She looked through the spy-hole. "Malucci?" she said to herself, "What the hell?"
Flinging open the door, she said, "Malucci, this had better be important."
"It is, Chief," replied Dave. "I need to talk to you, it's really important."
Kerry realized that it was raining heavily, and that Dave was soaked through. "You'd better come in," she said.
"Thanks, Chief," said Dave as he followed Kerry into the kitchen. He sat at the counter in silence as Kerry put the kettle on.
"Drink this," ordered Kerry, putting a steaming mug of tea in front of him.
"Thanks, Chief," said Dave, sipping it gratefully. He hadn't realized how cold he had become.
"So Malucci, what the hell was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"
"I need to rearrange my shifts so I'm not working nights or weekends for the next few weeks," said Dave.
Kerry put down her mug with a thump, slopping tea onto the counter. "You come over to my house and wake me in the middle of the night, just to get your shift changed?" she said incredulously.
Dave nodded.
"Why? And this had better be good."
"I need some extra time off.....to look after my daughter."
Kerry choked on her drink when Dave said this. She coughed and spluttered for a few minutes, waving aside Dave's offer of assistance. When she had recovered, she said, "Did you just say 'your daughter'?" Dave nodded. "I think you need to explain what's going on."
Dave quickly filled Kerry in. "So you see, Chief, I can't look after Lily if I'm working the shifts I'm listed for."
Kerry nodded. "I understand. But what I don't understand is why you've never mentioned her before."
"I'm not ashamed of her," said Dave quickly. "I love her. Hell, she's the reason I took the residency program in Chicago instead of New York. I wanted to be a part of her life, to make up for the years that I missed out on."
"It's okay, Dave," said Kerry, patting him gently on the hand. "I wasn't accusing you of anything. I was just curious."
Dave sighed. "You know what the ER is like, the way gossip gets spread around. I just didn't want it to be like that with Lily."
"I understand," said Kerry thoughtfully. "So do you have a picture of this daughter of yours?"
A smile lit up Dave's face as he pulled Lily's picture out of a battered wallet.
"She's beautiful," said Kerry, smiling.
"Takes after her mother."
"How's she doing?" asked Kerry, indicating the sleeping child.
"Cleo thinks her wound might be infected," said Dave unhappily. "We're just waiting for the blood work to come back."
"I'll get on to the lab, see if I can speed it up a bit."
"Trying to get rid of me already?"
"One Malucci a day I can handle. Two of them, I don't know," said Kerry, smiling at him.
Lily shifted position in the bed and opened her eyes. "Mom?" she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
"No, Lily," said Dave. "This is Dr Weaver; she runs the ER."
"With a little help from your father," said Kerry. "Hi there Lily."
"Hello, Dr Weaver," said Lily, sticking her thumb in her mouth. She thought for a moment and then said, "My daddy's a doctor too."
"Yes I know. He works for me."
Kerry pushed herself up from the chair. "I'll get onto the lab Dave. See what's keeping them. Lily, it was very nice meeting you."
"Bye," said Lily.
"Thanks, Chief," said Dave as Kerry left the room. "So kid, do you want to go back to sleep, or will I read you a story?"
"A story, please."
"Move over, then." Dave pulled out a book from his backpack and sat on the bed. Lily climbed onto his lap and he put his arm around her and started reading.
to be continued.
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ceindreadh
"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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http://homepage.eircom.net/~ceindreadh/index.htm