What’s Opera, Doc?
Part Three A
By Miesque
miesque48@hotmail.com

RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Nothing much, but maybe a reference or two to stuff that happened in S6.
STORY SYNOPSIS: Kerry makes a decision about her future and fights with Luka over a patient.

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Luka Kovac and Kerry Weaver are the sole property of NBC, Warner Brothers, Amblin, and Constant C.

PRAISE TO: Three extraordinary friends who provide continued and loyal support, inspiration, and encouragement (besides top-notch editing!).



It had been a rough week for everyone. The ER was over-run with flu sufferers, shooting victims, accident victims...victims of every kind. It was wearing down everyone from the attendings to the nurses. Tensions were high in almost every trauma and Luka was constantly finding himself in the middle of several arguments, mediating mostly between Kerry and other doctors. He often felt like a translator who had mixed up the meaning of a particular word and caused an even bigger mess as a result. But still, no matter what was happening, he and Kerry still got along fairly well, even though she was testy and short with him most of the time. After the pleasant evening they'd shared at the opera, her behavior gave him the strange feeling he was being tested in some way.

With nerves so rattled, and the situation only seeming to get worse, it didn’t help that it was Halloween. Luka hated the holiday, and as he walked into the hospital, he grimaced to see gaudy decorations hanging everywhere. Cardboard skeletons, plastic pumpkins, and witches were festooned all over the admit desk, and they all annoyed Luka.

In the early afternoon, he was finally able to sit down at the front desk and rest for a few minutes while reading over charts. It was easier, however, to watch Dr. Malucci-who was wearing a painfully ludicrous Shakespearean costume... ‘Hamlet’, maybe?-hit on a pretty nurse from OB. At least this was kind of entertaining. He was clicking his pen again and again until Randi snatched it from his hand.

“Don’t you know that drives people nuts?!” she snapped.

Luka glanced up at the desk clerk, and gave her an innocent smile. She glowered at him for a moment, but then seemed to kind of melt. “Doctors...” she muttered, and went back to answering phones.

“Who’s that?” the nurse said, looking over Malucci’s shoulder at Luka.

“Uh...that’s Dr. Kovac. One of our attendings here in the ER...”

“Is he single?”

“Yeah. I think so. But...uh...”

Dave grimaced. It was always a bad idea to bring any of his potential dates to the ER when Dr. Kovac was around. The guy certainly made no effort to attract their attention, but that didn’t matter. The minute they saw Kovac, they forgot Dave existed.

Even more, Dr. Kovac hadn’t dressed for Halloween, so he looked dignified amongst staff members dressed as ‘O’, from ‘The Story of O’ (Randi), Little Bo Beep (Dr. Corday), and Raggedy Ann (Abby). Any minute now, Luka expected to see someone come in dressed as Lady Godiva and he’d have to hide under the desk until the next morning.

Carter came in and sat down at the desk, closing his eyes. He was dressed as Sherlock Holmes, but had taken off the deerstalker.

“It’s all elementary,” Carter said. “And this is driving me nuts. I think I’ve treated sixteen kids so far who ate too much candy...” He shook his head. “You’d think they’d learn by now...but it does make some interesting colors on the floor when they throw up.

“Just try to make sure they don’t get it on your clothes,” Luka said, politely covering a yawn.

“Too late. I originally came as Dracula. I went home on my break and changed into this costume. I had forgotten how much tweed itches! God, I’d hate to be a sheep!”

Luka chuckled.

Malucci, having moved closer-the OB nurse still at his side-grinned. “Yeah, no wonder Sherlock Holmes was always so irritable.”

Carter cackled, got another chart, and got up, heading toward chairs.

“Hey, who did you come as?” Randi asked, looking at Luka’s clothes and secretly admiring how he looked in them. Or better yet, how he would look out of them, she thought with a smirk.

“A doctor.” Luka answered.

Randi snickered, then answered the phone with a curt “What?”

“Hi.” The nurse Malucci had brought downstairs was smiling at Luka, who barely even looked at her. Instead, his gaze was drawn to the hallway, where he saw Kerry coming toward them. She had been a fireball lately-yelling at everyone. She had been upstairs all morning in the administrative office, on what Luka could only describe as a fool’s mission with the administration and Dr. Romano. Luka didn’t blame her for looking so angry. She looked ready to kill somebody.

“Dr. Malucci, you have patients waiting in chairs. Dr. Chen, why are you just standing there?!”

Dr. Chen sighed and quickly headed toward chairs. Kerry looked at Luka, who raised an eyebrow at her.

“Dr. Kovac, don’t you have any patients?” she asked him. Malucci, still standing there, noted that her voice changed when she talked to the older man. That intrigued him. Kerry had been yelling at everyone all day, but not Dr. Kovac. Weird, he thought, watching the ER chief and the Croatian attending with interest.

“No, I don’t,” Luka answered in a friendly tone of voice. “I’m about to go on my break.” He stood up and pushed his chair under the desk. Kerry glanced up at him, then turned her gaze on Dave again, taking in his costume with an expression of vague annoyance on her face.

Kerry turned her gaze back to the OB nurse, who was still standing there. “Do you have business here?” she asked smartly.

“Uh...no. I’ll see you later, Dave,” the nurse said, smiling at Dave. But she turned back to glance languidly at Luka, who was heading toward the lounge. She sighed and walked away. Kerry looked after the younger woman for a moment, then turned on Dave again.

“Dr. Malucci, you have five seconds to get over to chairs and grab a patient.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Dave said quickly and hopped to it. She turned, slapping a chart into the bin with a little too much force, and went into the lounge. Luka was seated at the table, reading a newspaper. She glanced at the headline and closed her eyes-it wasn’t in English. Croatian, probably, she thought.

“What is it with these people?!” Kerry growled. She flung open the refrigerator door and rummaged for a moment for her bottle of springwater. Finding it, she tried to open it, but was unsuccessful. Almost instinctively, she handed it to Luka, who opened it quickly.

“Eh, you just loosened it for me,” he joked. He glanced at her and gave her a mild smile. “I take it your meeting with Dr. Romano and the administration didn’t go well?” he asked.

“Those meetings never go well,” Kerry said grouchily. “Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother.”

“Then quit,” Luka said, shrugging. “Let somebody else do it.”

Kerry stared at him. “You think I should quit? That I’m not up to the task, Dr. Kovac?” she asked him, her voice sharpening.

“I didn’t say that, Kerry,” Luka answered tiredly. “It’s just obvious that you aren’t enjoying it very much. Why stay in a job that you hate? You did say that you wonder why you bother...”

“I don’t hate it!” she said, her voice rising.

Liar, Luka thought. “So you love this?” He made a sweeping gesture. “The stress, the isolation, the long hours...?”

Kerry looked like she was about boil over, but she somehow managed to pull herself back together. Such a statement from Luka-for him to know how lonely she was...it irritated Kerry, and it scared her.

Haleh and Chuny almost entered the room, but seeing Kerry and Luka there together, they paused, watching and listening with great interest, unnoticed by either doctor, whose backs were turned to them.

“I worked very hard to get to this position, Dr. Kovac,” Kerry snapped.

“Is it worth it, though?” Luka asked sincerely.

She couldn’t answer that. Not now. Instead, she turned and crutched out. Luka sat back in the chair, trying to clear his mind a little. He was accustomed to Kerry’s rampages. But things had changed between them, and it did make for a lot of tension. At least it was interesting. He remembered his ‘relationship’ with Carol and drummed his fingers on the table, wondering why he’d felt drawn to her in the first place. Maybe it had been his loneliness...well, that was definitely part of it. She had befriended him when he so desperately needed it and was willing to reach out-to take a risk. It hadn’t worked, and he had no hard feelings toward her. He felt he had gotten over it pretty well anyway. He missed Carol’s friendship sometimes. He missed the babies. But lately it seemed like he was missing them a little less.

He glanced up at the clock. This was going to be a long shift. Between strangely-dressed doctors who looked like they had escaped from a Renaissance Fair or a French cathouse, recalcitrant children vomiting up tons of orange candy, and bad coffee, Luka figured it was going to be a pretty unpleasant day.



“Kerry! I was meaning to talk to you again before I left for the day.”

Robert Romano came bustling down the hall, hands on his hips, an insincere smile on his face, and Kerry braced herself. God, she hated this little weasel. Sometimes, it took all her strength to refrain from applying her crutch to one of his bodily orifices.

“Yes, Robert?” she answered, forcing herself to smile sweetly.

“Those financial reports from your department...they don’t look good. And the...”

“Robert, I’m doing the best I can under the circumstances. The reason the financial reports don’t look good is because I barely have finances to speak of. If the administration would appropriate us some funds to maintain the high level of care that the community demands...”

“Kerry, Kerry, Kerry...” Robert gave her a cold smile. “Is it all about money?”

Every blood vessel in Kerry’s body wanted to pop. She almost said, ‘Well, you’re the one that brought it up, you bald-headed little jackass!’ Instead, she asked, “Robert, what is it, exactly, that you want?” She struggled to keep her temper under control.

“I need those financial reports on my desk tomorrow morning, Kerry. Complete, in order, and properly worded so that I can look good when we have our big budget pow-wow at the end of this month...”

Kerry’s temper finally got the better of her. “You know what, Robert?” she said, slapping the chart she was carrying onto a passing supply cart. The nurse pushing it jumped, startled, but bowed her head and continued down the hall. “I’ve had enough!”

“Enough of what, Kerry?”

“This...all this garbage. It’s not worth it. I’m sick of it. All the butt-kissing, all the politics. I went into medicine to be a doctor. As chief of this ER, I’m not helping anyone but you. I’d much rather help humans. So I resign. I don’t want it any more.”

Romano peered at her for a moment, momentarily taken aback. “You can’t do this, Kerry. Not now...”

“Oh, yes, I can! Why in the name of God would I want to keep wasting time? Wasting my life, my training and expertise on a job I’ve come to hate? I want to be a doctor. That may mean nothing at all to you, Robert, but it still means something to me.”

“All right, all right, Kerry. Apparently you’re on some kind of hormonal kick, so I’ll leave you to cool off for now. But I still expect those reports...”

“No! No more! I have resigned, effective immediately. I will not attend one more administrative meeting, I will not take part in another back-stabbing, wheel-and-deal or manipulation. You can’t take my attending position from me. You can’t fire me from this hospital. But you can release me from this...this prison. I’m done with it. I wash my hands of the whole thing.”

Romano was even more startled. He didn’t expect this from Kerry. Not now, when things were getting a little difficult in the administration. But he couldn’t argue with her. “All right, Kerry. I accept your resignation.”

“Good,” she said calmly, straightening and suddenly feeling so much better. A huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt like a bird that had been set free from a cage.

“And just who am I supposed to appoint in your place, Kerry?”

“Hmmm...I don’t know, Robert. Amanda Lee, perhaps? No, no. She wasn’t actually a doctor, was she? Let’s see. Mark Greene seems about as good a choice as any. He did a fine job during my suspension.”

Romano stiffened. “So when do you intend to make this little announcement, Kerry?”

“I don’t know. Tonight, I think. Allow me to do it.”

He figured he could give her that much. “Well, Kerry, I’m gonna miss our little sparring sessions.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy your battles with Mark,” Kerry answered sweetly. She turned and crutched away before Robert could say anything more.



Kerry was relieved to get outside for a little while. She stood in the ambulance bay, staring across the street at the neon Doc Magoo’s sign (which read ‘Do Magoo’s’, as the ‘C’ had burned out), thinking about her decision. She felt a little shaky, a little unsure of what the future held, but wasn’t that always the case when you set on a different course?

She shivered and thought about what Luka had said. She hadn’t enjoyed her job as ER chief. Oh, sure, she had enjoyed the little power trip at first-being the one in charge, more or less. But the stress, the long hours, the politics...and the lack of real reward at the end of each day-t had isolated her in so many ways. Damaged her friendships, made her unable to deal with her co-workers on a personal level. Not that she was very socially adept, but she had made friendships in the past-with John, Jeannie, even Carol. If it hadn’t been for her position as ER chief, she would have certainly formed a good friendship with Lucy, as her mentor. Maybe Lucy would even be alive today if she hadn’t...

Kerry tapped her cane on the pavement for a moment, trying to get her mind away from that painful memory. That horrible night still plagued her. She doubted she’d ever get over it. Lucy had possessed such a bright future, so many possibilities, such real talent. But what Kerry regretted most was having done so little to get to know her. Her position as chief had kept her from making any effort toward that end. Of course, Kerry was honest enough with herself to realize that she hardly lived by the adage ‘To be a friend one must be friendly’. ‘Friendly’ was not a word Kerry could use to describe herself. She knew she wasn’t cold, or unfriendly. But she had so few people skills.

She had few regrets about quitting. Some things had been done quite well. She felt that she had brought a good deal of order and routine to the department. She hoped Mark, or whoever got the position, would be able to maintain the same high standards she had set. But her appointment to chief of the ER by Dr. Romano had been a Pyrric victory. In winning the chiefship, she had lost too much, and looking back on it, she wondered if she had enjoyed any kind of personal gain from it, besides a little extra money and a power trip. The hours had been longer. The stress and frustration had been more than she’d expected. She couldn’t call the past year a waste, but it hadn’t been what she’d hoped for.

Now, a new road was stretching out in front of her, and the horizon sure wasn’t clear. Anything could happen.



“Did you hear?” Haleh whispered to Luka, who was trying to take a brief snooze in the lounge. One more kid dressed like a pirate and throwing up those disgusting little orange candies shaped like traffic cones, and he was sure he’d collapse with exhaustion. He was running out of clean shirts, anyway. One more sick kid and he’d have to wear scrubs, and that never helped.

“Hear what?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“A nurse from upstairs swears she heard Dr. Weaver resigned as ER chief!”

“Surely not,” Luka answered. He stood and stretched. Haleh stepped back, smiling a little.

“She swore she heard she quit. That she hated the job, that she hated wasting her life...”

“She...she didn’t quit all together, though, did she?” Luka asked, turning to look at her, brow furrowed.

“Not that I know of.”

“Good.”

Haleh watched Luka leave, and grinned.



“I’m tellin’ ya, Abby, there’s somethin’ goin’ on between Kovac and Weaver,” Dave Malucci said sotto voce to Abby Lockhart, who was doodling on a pad of memo paper.

“I heard she quit as ER chief...is that true?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But if she did quit...then she’s free and clear, isn’t she? To do the horizontal mambo with...”

“Dave, you are truly disgusting,” Abby said, rolling her eyes.

“What? I’m just sayin’...she’s what, forty years old, a spinster...probably has a cat and everything. What kinda life is that?”

Kerry was suddenly right behind the resident and the med student. “Dr. Malucci, Abby, don’t you two have something better to do than stand around gossiping?”

“Uh...sorry, Chief,” Dave said, moving away quickly.

“Oh...that reminds me, Dave. Tell everyone to gather in the lounge in ten minutes. I have an announcement to make.”

“Sure, Chief.”



Luka settled on the couch, finding it more comfortable there. He saw Peter Benton stalk in, followed a few moments later by Carter. John acknowledged Luka with an uneasy smile. Luka waved and waited. He had a pretty good idea of what Kerry was going to announce.

When everyone had gathered-the ER was in the middle of a brief lull- Kerry walked in.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet,” Kerry said, her voice clipped. “I have resigned my position as chief of the ER. Naturally, the candidate I put forward as my replacement was Dr. Greene, but at this point I don’t know what the Board will say about that.”

Everyone stared at Kerry, except Luka, who just looked at his hands.

“However, I am still ER chief until the end of this shift, and will expect things to be done in my ER according to policy until seven o’clock tonight.”

There were several nods, but everyone was still silent. Mark looked flabbergasted, as did Carter and Malucci. When Kerry was satisfied that the news had sunk in with everyone, she turned and left the room.

“Wow,” Carter said, shaking his head in amazement. “Dr. Greene, did you have any idea...?”

“Me? No. Not at all,” Mark answered. He glanced at Luka, having noted the lack of surprise on his colleague’s face. “Did Kerry say anything to you, Luka?”

He glanced up. “No, Mark, she didn’t. As far as I knew, she enjoyed the work.”

“Well, who’m I supposed to call ‘Chief’ now?” Dave asked plaintively.

“Oh, buy yourself a duck and get over it, Dave,” Abby said, getting up and leaving the room. He followed her out, arguing. Dr. Chen stood up and left quietly.

“How has your day been, John?” Luka asked kindly.

“It went well enough, I suppose,” he answered, glancing at Peter, who watched their conversation with narrowed eyes. “I think I could have done without Dave’s practical jokes, though.”

Luka grinned. “We all could. But I’m glad things went well anyway.” Luka stood up. “Just keep up the good work.” With that, he left the room, grabbed a chart, and headed toward exam room two.



Luka had just returned from his dinner break. He saw Kerry crutch by but didn’t call out to her, seeing the expression on her face. He sighed, shaking his head, and sat down behind the admit desk, listening to Frank, who had replaced Randi at four, talk about horoscopes.

“Hey, Dr. Kovac...what’s your birthday?” Lilly asked him, leaning forward and looking around Frank.

“September the ninth,” Luka answered.

“Really?” Haleh said. “Why didn’t you tell anyone? We could have made you a cake or something.” She smiled kindly at Luka.

“I stopped caring about my birthdays back when I was thirteen,” Luka answered. “It’s just another day.”

They all stared at him.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“So you’re a Virgo, huh, Dr. Kovac?” Frank said.

“I think so. I’m not sure.”

Frank shrugged. Haleh tapped Luka on the shoulder. “You really ought to have told us, Luka. I would have been glad to bake you a cake...us nurses could have taken you out to dinner or something.”

“Uh...thank you,” Luka said with a sweet smile. “Maybe next year, huh?”

Haleh smiled and nodded. “Definitely.”

“Hey, EMS just radioed in...suicide attempt coming in-ETA five minutes,” Lilly called.

“Prep trauma two,” Luka said, getting up. “And page Dr. Weaver.”



Luka and Kerry stood in the ambulance bay, waiting, saying nothing. She watched the El shunt by, and sighed. Another two hours, she thought, and I’ll be free. No more administration meetings. No more struggling with finances. No more...

She glanced at Luka, who was shivering a little in the cold October night. He had stuffed his hands in his pockets and was stamping his feet a little to keep warm.

The ambulance backed up to them, Doris and Zandro leaping out. Luka and Kerry opened the doors and helped get the stretcher down.

“Sixty-five year old male with Alzheimer’s, possible suicide attempt, was found in the garage by his son, car idling. Carbon monoxide poisoning. BP’s ninety over fifty, heart rate one-sixty. Administered one-hundred percent oxygen, but patient seized on route.”

Luka looked at the patient, then glanced up at Doris. “He’s cherry red.”

“Yeah...” She said sadly. They knew the man’s chances of survival were very slim.

“How long was he exposed?” Luka asked as they rushed through the ambulance bay doors.

“Oh, my God...” Kerry gasped, staring down at the man’s face. “Oh my God!”

“What? What is it?” Luka snapped.

“It’s Gabe...”

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART B...

--
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
~P.J. O'Rourke, "Parlaiment of Whores"

If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.
~Erma Bombeck

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
~Stephen Wright