Ribbon of Glass
Part Four
By Pebbles
pebbles@ukgateway.net
RATING: Over 13?
TIMELINE: December 2000 - Spring 2001 but ignoring almost all events of Season 7
DISCLAIMER: ER and its characters are the property of Warner Bros. Entertainment,
Amblin Television, NBC, Michael Crichton and Constant C Productions. There is no copyright
infringement intended. This has been written purely for the enjoyment of ER fans
everywhere. I am receiving no monetary compensation for my work. These ideas belong to
this author and in no way reflect the values or intentions of the creators and writers of
ER. - Sophie O'Neill & Simon Tweedale are my own inventions.
“Everything I possess
Given with tenderness
Wrapped in a ribbon of glass” - Annie Lennox (Cold)
December 9th – about 2a.m.
Outside the snowstorm was over but a fine covering of powder snow
still lay on the ground lending an unearthly stillness to the Ambulance bay. The peace was
soon shattered when the young patient they were expecting arrived via the back seat of a
Chicago PD squad car. Luka was conscious that Sophie had returned to his side as the
police officer began to explain how he had found the young girl sleeping rough in a dark
alleyway.
“Didn’t notice she was pregnant at first.” His voice
droned on. “She was just groaning a little. Then after I help her into the car she
starts screaming that her waters have broke. Not in my car for Christ’s sake I say
and I tried to get her out but then I thinks –what the hell, it’s too late
anyway.”
“OK, officer. I think we can take it from here. Sophie –
can you get a wheelchair?” Luka did not take his eyes off the frightened little face
peering at him from the back seat of the car. She couldn’t be more than thirteen
surely?
“Her name’s Mandy. She wouldn’t tell me any more
and she’s got no ID.” The police officer was starting to get on Luka’s nerves. Luckily Sophie arrived back with a
wheelchair just at that moment and the two of them helped Mandy out of the car. It was easy to see how the policeman
had not noticed her condition, as she was so skinny and her body was swamped by what
looked like an army surplus greatcoat.
They rushed her inside out of the freezing night
air and soon had her installed in one of the exam rooms.
“OK Mandy, do you know how far gone you
are?” Luka asked
just as soon as she was up on the bed. There was no reply. “Your baby is going to be born soon Mandy – do you
understand?” He
spoke slowly and deliberately watching her face for a sign that she comprehended
him.
When he failed to make any headway he stood back
and catching sight of a passing figure dressed in pink scrubs called after her. “Lydia! Get an ultra sound in here
now!” Turning back
he saw that Sophie had sat down on the edge of the bed and had taken the young girls hand. He moved closer to catch what she was
saying.
“…my name’s Sophie and this is Dr
Kovac. We’re here to
help you and your baby – OK” There was still no answer from the frightened girl except for a low groan as
another contraction took charge of her body. Sophie did not let go of her hand but continued to talk in a low voice.
“We need to find out how the baby is doing
and check you out too - so that we can help you better. Is that OK? We’ll explain everything to you
as we go along and we won’t do anything that you don’t want.”
“OK.” She was finally rewarded with an
affirmative response from Mandy who also visibly relaxed as the last contraction passed.
Luka smiled at Sophie’s confident bedside
manner and broke his silence. “Mandy?” The young girl transferred her gaze to him. “I’m going to get Sophie to
put in an IV so that we can give you fluids. Then, maybe if you want some pain medication we can give it to you that
way?” All the time
he made sure she knew that they were asking for her consent. “And then I’d like to take
a look at your baby with the ultrasound machine so we can get some idea how big he
is.”
“OK– I guess you know best.” Her voice sounded surprisingly
educated so it now seemed unlikely that she habitually slept on the streets.
Sophie and Luka exchanged a look of relief –
the first hurdle was over. Lydia arrived with the ultrasound and the news that Obstetrics was completely
backed up. “They
said they would send someone down just as soon as they could.” She pulled a face like they all knew
what that meant.
“Well, it looks like you will be staying with
us for a while longer.” Luka smiled at their young patient. All the test’s they’d done so far were satisfactory although Mandy
was somewhat dehydrated. The
saline IV would soon put that right.
“Oh that’s good – I’d rather
stay here with you guys.” Mandy smiled at Sophie and Luka and then her lips turned down into a grimace
as the next contraction came along.
“Well Sophie, have you ever delivered a baby
before?” Luka
watched Sophie’s expression with amusement as her eyes lit up at the prospect.
“No, Dr Kovac.” Her voice wavered a
little.
“You’ll do fine. First we need to give Mandy a internal examination to see how far the cervix is dilated.” He turned his attention to Mandy. “This will be a bit uncomfortable for you I’m afraid but it’s very important. We’ll let Sophie do it as her hands are somewhat smaller than mine.”
Guided by Luka’s calm and deliberate voice,
Sophie examined Mandy’s cervix, which had already reached six centimetres. Although she had never done this
before Sophie found it easy to follow his detailed instructions and in fact all the
earlier awkwardness she had felt in his presence vanished as she found herself in the
familiar role of pupil to his experienced teacher.
“Good.” Luka was satisfied that everything
was progressing nicely. “I’ll
leave you in Sophie’s capable hands for now and check back later.” He turned to Sophie. “Can I have a word?” He nodded towards the door and Sophie
followed him outside.
“Try and find out if there are parents or
someone that we could get down here for her? And let me know if there are any changes. You know what to look for?”
“Yes. Sure, Dr Kovac.” Sophie nodded to convince herself
more than anyone of her abilities but she was encouraged by his confidence in her. She had certainly landed on her feet
in finding such an excellent teacher. As she headed back to her patient she reflected on the tall-distinguished
doctor and quickly decided that it wasn’t just his abilities as a teacher that
impressed her but the complete absence of the usual over-inflated ego, which so often
beset senior doctors.
The next couple of hours passed slowly. Mandy’s contractions worked
gradually to do their job of preparing the birth canal for the main event. Sophie encouraged her to stay on her
feet finding a comfortable position just leaning her elbows on the bed. In between she managed to tease out
of Mandy the story behind her present condition. It transpired that she was in fact fifteen and had gotten herself into
‘trouble’ with a high school boyfriend. She hadn’t told anyone and had finally run away from home two weeks ago
when she thought her mother had begun to look at her suspiciously. She was terrified of what her parents
would do when they found out.
“Don’t you think your parents love
you?” Sophie asked
when Mandy had come to the end of her sorry story.
“They won’t love me now!” Mandy began to sob.
“Hey – sssh now. Don’t cry.” Sophie put her arm around her. “You know they love you, Mandy. Parents don’t stop loving us no
matter how much we mess up. They might be upset at first but they’ll get over it and you can be sure
they’ll still love you.” Sophie’s reasoning didn’t fall on deaf ears although Mandy
continued to sniff.
“Don’t you realise how worried they must
be with you disappearing like that? They must imagining all sorts of terrible things.”
“Yeah – I guess so. I…… er…..I didn’t
think of that. I was only
thinking about how mad they’d be with me.”
Mandy looked up into Sophie’s face her face streaked with
tears.
“Would you like me to let them know that
you’re safe?” Sophie
hoped that the girl would give her permission to get them down there but she didn’t
want to push it and have Mandy clam up again.
“Yes please.” Then her face crumpled again. “Can you get my Mom? Please – I want my Mom!” And she started sobbing again in
earnest. When Sophie had
managed to calm her down once more she got the phone number and went to make the call,
leaving Mandy in Lydia’s capable hands.
On her way back from talking to Mandy’s Mum
who had broken down in tears of relief at the news, Sophie ran into Luka.
“How’s it going?” He had noticed the lightness of her
step the shine in her eyes.
“Oh, really well – Dr Kovac! Her parents are on their way and I
think she’s almost ready to start to push.”
“No one’s come down from
Obstetrics?” He
already knew the answer to this but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease
Sophie. He wasn’t
disappointed. Her face
fell and she almost begged him to allow her to follow the case through. He had to struggle to keep his
composure as he watched her face betray every feeling that coursed through her veins.
The next hour flew by as Mandy pushed and panted
in turn according to their instructions. Although underweight she was young and fit and the birth was completely free
of complications. At 5.20
a.m. the air was filled with the wonderful cry of a healthy baby boy. Mandy was flushed with the exertion
and the wonder of holding her own tiny son in her arms. Looking across at Sophie Luka saw a
bright flush on her cheeks too – he could hardly tear his eyes away. Mother and baby were doing fine
– he wasn’t really needed - so he quietly exited the room.
He had planned to take a quick break to top up his
caffeine levels and try and put Sophie out of his mind but he was waylaid by the arrival
of Mandy’s parents. Luka
noticed immediately that the father was reluctant to enter the exam room. He made an excuse and set off back
down the hallway whilst Mandy’s mother went in to see her daughter and
grandson.
“Excuse me, sir!” Luka called after him. When the man stopped in his tracks
Luka quickly caught up with him. “Excuse me. I’m Dr Kovac and I’ve just helped deliver your
grandson.”
“I don’t want to know!” The older man turned away.
“Don’t you want to even know how your
daughter is doing?” Luka’s
voice betrayed his incomprehension of the father’s attitude and the man hesitated
before laying into Luka verbally.
“She got herself in this mess!” The man’s voice was angry but
underneath Luka could detect another emotion. “How could she do this to me? I didn’t bring her up to do this – this kind of thing!”
“I’m sure you didn’t but children
make mistakes.” Luka countered – all the time trying to make eye contact with
him. “She’s a
very frightened young girl. She was so afraid of what you would think that she ran away and tried to cope
with all this on her own.” At last Luka could see that he was getting though. The man’s mouth began to work as
he struggled to contain his emotions. Luka moved in for the kill.
“She’s very vulnerable right now. She needs to know that you still love
her.” The following
silence was so palpable that Luka felt the man would hear his heart beating.
“I – I’m sorry. I – of course I love my
daughter.” The
man’s shoulders sagged. Looking up at Luka he mumbled “She’s alright – isn’t
she?” Luka nodded. “And the baby?”
“He’s a very healthy little
boy.”
“Thank you doctor. I – I think I’ll
go in and see them now if that’s alright?”
The shift was almost over when a nurse from
Obstetrics finally arrived to take Mandy and her baby upstairs. Luka accompanied her into the exam
room where Sophie was chatting with Mandy’s parents. At his entrance there was a sudden
hush and Mandy spoke up.
“Dr Kovac – do you mind if I ask -
what’s your first name?” Luka guessed immediately where this was leading and felt suddenly ill at
ease.
“Luka.” He mumbled so low you could barely
catch it. Mandy
frowned.
“Luka – Luke? I don’t know.” She looked at each of her
parents.
Luka cleared his throat. “You would honour me
more if – er – if you wanted to – er - you could name him for my
son.”
Mandy brightened. “Your son? What’s his name
then?”
“Marko.” The moment the name left his lips
Luka felt as if he had dropped a stone in a deep pool and the ripples began to spread
outward - taking on a life of their own.
“Oh that’s lovely!” Mandy beamed. “Marko – or Mark when he’s grown up.” They all seemed happy with this choice. Luka wished them well and swiftly departed. All the time Sophie had been watching him, noticing his expression change. For a moment she saw behind his guard – saw the pain in his eyes. Then it was gone.
End of part 4