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 after the accident, so Dave brought her to the ER. Dave had only found out about Lily a little over a year ago, and she was the reason he was doing his residency in Chicago.
Kerry stopped Cleo as she was heading back to exam one. "Have Lily Malucci's test results come back yet?" she asked.
Cleo nodded. "It's a minor infection. I'm giving her a script for some higher strength antibiotics and a topical cream. That should clear it up."
"Good," nodded Kerry. She was about to say something more when they heard the familiar sounds of an incoming trauma.
"Cleo," called Carter, as he ran alongside the gurney. "We've got a ten year old, hit by a car."
"I'll take care of Dave and Lily," said Kerry, "you take this one."
Cleo nodded and handed the script to Kerry before running after the gurney. Kerry carefully checked what was on the script. She knew that Cleo was unlikely to make a mistake, but she wasn't taking any chances.
Pushing open the door to exam one, she was greeted by a 'shh' from Lily, who was sitting up on the end of the bed reading her book. Dave was fast asleep at the other end.
Kerry walked quietly up to the bed. Lily looked up at her and said, "Daddy fell asleep."
Kerry nodded. She knew how hard Dave had been working over the last week taking care of Lily, visiting Mel in hospital and doing a full days work.
"Would you like to take a walk around the ER while your Daddy's asleep?" she asked.
Lily considered the offer. Her Mommy and Daddy had both warned her about strangers, but this was Daddy's boss and she had been introduced to her.
"Okay," she said, scrambling down off the bed. "But what if Daddy wakes up and I'm not here?"
"I'll leave him a note to let him know you're with me," said Kerry. Taking out her note-pad, she quickly scribbled a note. 'Dave, I'm giving Lily a tour of the ER. Be back soon. Dr Kerry Weaver, Chief of Emergency Medicine'.
"There," said Kerry as she left the note beside Dave. "Now he won't be worried when he wakes up."
Lily walked over to the door. Kerry was about to open it when Lily ran back to the bed and carefully tucked her teddy bear into Dave's folded arms. With an impish grin, she returned to the door. "Now Daddy won't be lonely when he wakes up."
Kerry stifled a laugh as she followed Lily out the door.
"And this is the suture room," said Kerry. "When people get cut in accidents, this is where we put their stitches in."
"I've got stitches in my arm," volunteered Lily.
"How many stitches?" asked Kerry. She was enjoying their little tour of the ER.
Lily thought for a moment, "Ten," she replied. "My Daddy said that when they come out, I can keep them as a reminder."
"That sounds like your Daddy all right."
The lounge was the next stop. Kerry opened the fridge. "There's not much of a choice, I'm afraid. But we have milk and fruit juice. Which would you prefer?"
"Hmm, I'd like a cup of coffee please."
Kerry looked up suspiciously. "Do your parents allow you to drink coffee?" she asked, thinking that if the answer was yes, then Dave was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
Lily wrestled with her conscience. "No," she said reluctantly. "But my Daddy says I should always try new things when I get the chance." Her face had the same apparently innocent expression that Kerry had seen so often on Dave.
"Nice try, Lily, but no chance," said Kerry with a smile.
"Okay then I'll have milk."
"Good," said Kerry, as she poured out a glass. "It'll make your bones nice and strong."
Lily took the glass of milk and sat on the couch sipping it thoughtfully. Kerry poured herself a mug of coffee and sat down beside her.
"Did you not drink your milk?" asked Lily suddenly.
"What?" asked Kerry, puzzled.
Lily pointed to Kerry's crutch. "Is that why you have that? Because you didn't drink your milk and your bones aren't strong?"
"Did your father tell you to ask me this?" asked Kerry, suspiciously
Lily shook her head. This time the expression of innocence on her face seemed legitimate. "He told me if I wanted to know something, I should ask."
Kerry nodded, "The reason I use a crutch isn't because I didn't drink enough milk. When I was in high school, I broke my leg very badly. The doctors did their best but they weren't able to fix it properly, so I have to use the crutch."
"My Mommy broke her leg," said Lily, thoughtfully. "Will she have to use a crutch?"
"Probably for a little while when she gets out of hospital," replied Kerry, trying to remember what Dave had told her about Mel's injuries. "She'll have a cast on her leg until the bones heal. And when the cast is taken off, her leg will be very weak for a while. But once she gets the strength back in it, she won't have to use crutches."
Lily nodded. "She has a big cast on her leg. She let me write on it. Daddy wrote something on it as well, but Mom made him scribble it out, before I could see it."
Kerry looked at her watch. "It's getting late, we'd better get back to exam one, so you can go home."
Dave slowly opened his eyes. Hmm, exam one, he thought as he took in his surroundings. Must be a slow shift if no one's woken me. Yawning, he stretched, knocking the both the teddy bear and the note onto the floor.
Seeing the toy, he suddenly remembered what he was doing in Exam one.
"Lily!" he exclaimed, sitting up on the bed. "C'mon kid, where are you?" asked Dave, as he looked around the room. "Oh crap," he thought, as he surveyed the empty room.
"Don't panic, Dave," he told himself. "She's got to be around here somewhere. Probably just exploring," he said, while trying to suppress the rising feeling of dread.
He cursed himself for falling asleep. He had promised Mel from day one that he would take care of Lily, and now she had disappeared on him.
A year earlier.
Dave looked Mel straight in the eye, "Did you really think that I'd just walk away? Did you honestly imagine that I'd abandon you?"
Dave took Mel's hands in his. "You should have told me about Lily when she was born. I would have stood by you, helped you raise her. You shouldn't have had to do it alone."
"You'd have come back from Grenada? Given up Med School?"
"Yes," said Dave, without hesitation.
"That's why I couldn't tell you. Dave, ever since I've known you, you've wanted to be a doctor. Going to Grenada was your only chance. I couldn't let you throw it all away."
Dave started to speak, but Mel silenced him with a finger on his lips.
"I know I should have told you; given you the chance to decide for yourself. I was wrong not to tell you."
"So what's changed? I mean, you've had all this time to tell me, why pick now? Is it because I'm back in the States?"
Mel was silent, not meeting Dave's eyes. "Mel?"
"About a month ago, I was examining myself... and I found a lump."
"Oh Mel, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, it turned out to be benign, but it started me thinking. I suddenly realized how unfair I was being to Lily. I know that if anything happened to me, that my father would take care of Lily, but he's not going to be around forever. I felt that Lily deserved to know her father." Mel looked Dave straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry Dave; I had no right to keep her from you. I just hope you can forgive me."
"What's done is done. You made the decision you believed was right for you and Lily. I wish you'd told me earlier, but I'm glad you've decided to tell me now. I promise, I'll take care of her."
"I promise I'll take care of her." The words echoed in Dave's head as he hurried over to the door. Lily was wandering around the ER, with an infected arm. God knows what sort of trouble she could be in.
To be continued.
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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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