Destiny Road
Chapther Seven
By Triggersaurus
triggersaurus@hotmail.com

Okay, that big, predictable plot move happens in this fanfic, I hope it’s what you all want to happen, but I’m not sure where I’m going with it yet, I’ll guess you’ll have to wait till the next one. Enjoy people! Triggersaurus

Previously: The ER was swamped with victims from an air crash but none of them were real as it was a training exercise, and Doug misses Ben coming round from the anaesthetic as a result, discovering that the boy had called his name when he wasn’t there.

It is a normal day in the ER, there is a trauma coming in, there are patients in chairs and Carol is running her clinic. Everyone seems to have recovered from the previous day, and Kerry is bestowing praise on everyone, making a couple of people very worried. Jerry is at the main desk, holding a call for Mark who is dealing with a drunk in curtain three. Carol heads over to the desk, leaving Lynette to handle the clinic while she takes a short break.

"Hey Jerry. How’s it going?"

"Fine thank you, Carol, and thank you for asking. Some people do not realise the importance of the role I play here…"

He throws Kerry an evil as she walks past and stops Yosh to congratulate him on his response to the simulated plane crash.

"Come on, Jerry, you know she loves you really. Are those doughnuts?"

"Yep, Mark brought them…" He is cut off by a phone ringing. He answers it, still stuffing in a piece of doughnut as Carol helps herself to the last one.

"Who is it, Jerry?"

He covers the mouthpiece and says, "It’s for me."

"For you?!"

"Yes, you know, I do have a life outside of this desk."

"Okay, okay…"

He goes back to his phone call. Carol takes a seat and looks through a couple of clinic charts. Suddenly she finds herself listening to Jerry’s end of the conversation on the phone.

"Yeah…. no, I will…no, I won’t forget…. yes, I’ll get the flowers…I’ll get the tux at the same time…. come on, you know it’ll be fine…yes, it will…I love you Christine, it’ll be fine…yes, I’m doing my invitations…. yeah…okay, I have to go…yeah, real busy, y’know I’m just not appreciated round here…I know you do…yeah, okay, bye then…yeah, see you tonight…bye…bye."

He hangs up and turns around to see Carol watching him, grinning.

"So, Jerry, who is this Christine?! You sound very close…"

"Yes, well, she just happens to be my fiancé."

"Fiancé!!!! Jerry!! You’ve never said anything!! Why didn’t you tell us??!! That is so great!! When is the wedding?!"

Jerry breathes a deep sigh. "Well, I didn’t tell anyone because I wanted you all to get the invitations first."

"Still! You might have told me that instead of all that stuff about Carter and Weaver!"

"Yeah, I’m sorry about that by the way…but I didn’t know it would reach such epic proportions."

"Not your fault, Jerry. Anyway, when do we get to meet the happy bride to be?"

Just then the ambulance bay doors slam open and before Carol can find out any more, she is called to assist by Carter and Mark.

Upstairs in Peds, Doug sits by Ben’s bed, waiting for him to wake up after a long night of tears and painkillers. It’s his day off. A nurse comes up to him.

"Can we get you anything, Dr. Ross? Would you like us to page the ER to let them know you’ll be late?"

"No, it’s okay, it’s my day off…can I have a glass of water though?"

"Sure…you must be very dedicated to be spending this much time with a patient," she jokes.

"Well, it’s a bit more than that." Doug smiles at her, and she leaves to get a cup of water. She passes the nurses station and sticks her head round the door, where the other nurses sit drinking coffee.

"Oh my God! He gorgeous!" They all laugh and nod back as she disappears out to get the water.

Back by the bed, Ben stirs and twists, trying to move but unable to because of all the bandaging around his legs. He moans and opens his eyes and sees Doug. "It hurts…"

"I know it does, buddy, we’ll get you some more medicine to stop it hurting, okay?"

"Okay…"

Doug smiles at him, and leans over to adjust the drip of morphine into Ben’s arm.

"I don’t think you made my legs better…" Ben says.

"Oh no?"

"I think you made them worse."

Doug laugh out loud, then catches himself so he doesn’t wake the rest of the ward up.

"Well, give it time, they’ll be better in the end. You know why they hurt so much now?"

"No?"

"Because you keep wriggling around. The more you move your legs, the more they’ll hurt…"

"Oh."

"But it’s hard not to move, right? So the doctors who came to see you before are going to come back today and look at how you’re doing…"

He is interrupted. "I don’t like those other doctors. They made my legs go funny and they hurt…and you just said I can’t move…"

"Well, they won’t do that this time, coz they’re going to make sure you can’t move your legs much."

"How?"

"You’re going to have some plaster casts put on."

"What’s a plaster cast?"

"It’s like a huge…well, it’s like…do you see that girl over there?"

He points at a twelve year old asleep in the bed opposite.

"See what she’s got on her arm? That green thing? That’s a cast. Except you’re gonna have two, one on each leg."

"Oh. Okay. When are they coming?"

"Well, in a little while. How about I go and get some toys to play with?"

"Yea! Can you get the cars?"

"The cars? Again? Don’t you want to play with something else?"

"What other toys?"

"Loads! How about I bring some stuff out and you choose?"

"Okay…Can I sit up?"

"Uhh, we’ll talk about that when I get back, okay buddy? Let me go and get this stuff."

"Okay. Bye bye."

"I’ll be back in a minute!"

"2 more O neg!"

"Here!"

"Where’s ortho?"

"On their way."

"Three more of morphine!"

"Check!"

Nurses flurry around the trauma room. Mark is standing at the foot of the gurney, looking at the body on the bed as Carter leans over and says something to the patient.

"Damn, she’s gone again. Can we get some more morphine in here?" He looks up at Mark, who is staring at the problem. The girl on the gurney has a large metal rod sticking out from her foot, entering on the underside and protruding through the top, about a metre on each side. Her shoe is still on, a trainer. Outside the trauma doors a crowd of people stand, watching. Among them, paramedics and a group of teenagers watch in horror. Just then, a tall man pushed through, followed by two more men and a woman.

"Ortho’s here, Mark" Haleh calls, seeing the troop of doctors trying to get through.

"Okay…hey."

"What’s the case?"

"Well. That’s the case." He nods in the direction of the gurney.

"Wow."

"What happened?"

"She was on some sort of climbing trip and slipped, fell, ropes weren’t very secure, and landed foot first on a railing. She’s been in and out of consciousness, blacking out from the pain. We’ve given her 5 mg’s of morphine, but she’s just gone out again."

"X rays?"

"Machine’s on its way."

"We need to get those done first and then we can make a decision about removing the railing…what’s her name?"

"Sarah. Sarah Crintfield. She’s 14."

"Her parents?"

"They’re flying in from LA. Seems this was an adventure camp she was on."

"Who’s responsible for her care while she’s here then?"

"Uhhh, that guy out there, he’s the Head counsellor. He says they have a consent form authorising surgery, someone’s gone back to the camp to get it."

"Good. Ah, this looks like the machine we need."

Malik wheels it past them both, and Carter puts on a protective vest, as does Haleh, then sets the machine up. "Okay, everyone out!"

Everyone else goes into trauma 2 for the few seconds it takes to get the X rays.

"Get these to radiology someone!"

The girl stirs on the gurney and moans, her eyes opening.

"Hi Sarah. Can you remember where you are?"

"Hospital still?"

"Yep. We took some X rays of your foot, and we’re going to see about getting that railing out of your foot. We gave you some more painkillers too - has that helped at all?"

"Yeah…I think so…"

"Good. You let me know if you want any more, won’t you? Don’t want you blacking out on us again."

"Yeah…is my dad here yet?"

"No, Sarah, he’s not. He’s on his way though, both your parents are getting a plane, okay?"

"Okay…what’s going to happen?"

"Well, we’re talking to some specialists and they’ll make the decision, but you are going to have to have surgery to get the railing out of your foot."

Her eyes go wide as Carter says this.

"Surgery? I’ve never had an operation before…."

"It’s nothing to worry about, it’ll be over in moments for you."

Suddenly, she gasps in pain, and Carter swirls round to find an ortho intern pulling at the girl’s injured foot, trying to see where the railing has damaged.

"HEY! Hey," Carter grabs the intern and pushes him away. "She’s in a lot of pain, okay? Don’t touch her foot."

The intern backs off a bit and mouths "Sorry" at Sarah, whose face is still screwed up in pain.

"Another mg of morphine, someone!"

Some time later, Doug is pushing a gurney down a long corridor, decorated with casts of all shapes and sizes, with drawings, paintings, graffiti and messages all over them. On the gurney is Ben, flat on his back. He watches all the casts zoom past on the walls.

"Can I have that one?"

"What, kiddo?"

"That one, I want that cast." He points at an oddly shaped white plaster cast that has a huge purple convertible car spray painted on it.

"Hey, this isn’t a shop! But I tell you what, we’ll try and get someone to paint a car onto both of yours, okay? You can’t have that one because it’s all the wrong size, you’re gonna get two brand new ones instead."

"What colour?"

"Ah, you get to choose!"

"Oh. Can I have blue?"

"We’ll have to ask the lady in here."

A nurse from Peds, who has come with them, pushes open the door to the plaster room and pulls the gurney through. A middle-aged woman leans over the gurney and looks at Ben.

"Hello! And who are you, then?"

"I’m Ben. Who are you?"

"My name’s Linda. Do you know what you’re here for?"

"Yes. Can I have a blue one?"

Linda is looking over her papers and is a bit taken back by this.

"A pardon?"

"A blue one, with a car on it. Please."

Doug, who has been chuckling away behind the gurney, interrupts.

"Uh, he means he wants a blue cast. He saw one in the corridor with a car on it too, but I said we’d do that for him."

"Oh. Well, okay, we’ll give you a blue cast," she turns back to Doug, "Now, it says here that he’s down for two casts, one on each leg. Am I right?"

"Yeah, that’s it…uh, I don’t know if you’ve got it there, but he’s not meant to move his legs at the moment…"

"Ah ha, yes, got that…I may have to ask you to help me with that, so we can get the casts on."

"Sure."

"Okay, well, let’s get started then!"

In the ER, Carter is wheeling Sarah out of the Trauma room and heading towards the elevators. There is a large quantity of material wrapped around the top of the railing now. Corday is with them.

"Okay, well, good luck, Sarah. I’ll come up and see you later, when I know I won’t get stabbed by that thing!"

"Are you going?"

"Yeah, I have to stay down here, but your safe in Dr. Corday’s hands, don’t worry!"

"Oh. Okay then. I’ll see you later then."

"Bye!"

"Bye…"

Carter heads off back to the main desk and clunks the chart into an empty slot. He slumps down onto an office chair and slides over to the board. He groans as he sees a list of patients still without a doctor.

"Hard day, Carter?" Carol surprises him, as she rubs off a patient.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Heard about Jerry yet?"

"No…what about him?"

"He’s getting married!"

"Jerry? Our Jerry? Big guy, kinda clumsy?"

"Yep, that’s the one!"

"Wow! When is it?"

"Don’t know - he wouldn’t say. He says we’ll know when we get the invites!"

Carter shakes his head in amazement.

"I can’t believe it! Jerry getting married!"

Haleh bustles up with several charts. "Who’s getting married?"

"Jerry!"

"No! You’re kidding me! Hey, Jerry!"

"Yeah?" Jerry looks around from the telephone. Carol and Carter are nudging each other in the background, whispering something.

"You getting married?" Haleh shouts across the desk area.

A sudden quiet descends on the area as all the staff turn around to look at Jerry for his reply. Jerry looks around at everyone, phone receiver on his shoulder. He heaves a big sigh.

"Yes, I’m getting married."

The ER breaks out in whoops and whistles, and various members of staff congratulate him and ask questions.

"Who is the lucky lady?"

"When is it?"

"What’s the food gonna be like?"

"Where are you holding the reception?"

Jerry flaps around then announces, so that everyone is quiet again.

"Okay, okay, I didn’t really want you all to find out just yet, but you’ll be getting your invitations sometime soon…when I get round to writing them all."

Everyone laughs and continues to congratulate him.

Half an hour later, Carol grabs a break and disappears up to Peds to see Ben and Doug. The nurses tell her they’re in the plaster room, and she heads off there. She pushes the door open, and stops suddenly. Then she bursts into laughter in the doorway.

In the room, Doug is holding Ben in the air over a large bathtub. Around one leg is a completed blue cast, still slightly wet. On the other one is a whole load of wet bandages as a woman kneels on the floor by the bathtub, her hands dripping with plaster as she pastes in onto Ben’s dangling leg. Doug is trying desperately to keep the mess away from his black trousers, but there are already globs of white plaster stuck all over them. He looks over to Carol, who continues to laugh.

"Oh, you just wait…"

"Hi Carol."

"Well hello Ben. It’s nice to know some one is happy to see me," she says, looking pointedly at Doug, "and how are you, Ben?" She crouches down by the tub.

"I’m okay."

"A blue one, huh? What colour is this one going to be?"

"Green."

"Green and blue…"

"And Doug’s gonna paint a car on them."

"Oh is he really? Doug? I didn’t know you painted?"

"Ah, yeah, well, all these talents I have…

Lydia breaks in. "Okay, I think we’re all done here. What do think Ben? Do they look good?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, that’s good then," she turns to Doug, "You should give them a couple of minutes to dry off before you go back to the ward…if you sort of, well, hang him over there, by the heater…" she collapses in giggles as Doug gives her, and Carol, who is laughing again, a withering look. He turns around and walks to the heater, with Ben dangling at a distance in front of him. As he turns his back, Carol reaches into the tub and sloshes some of the plastery water in his direction. It splashes over the back of his scrub top and he stops walking and turns around very slowly.

"Oh, you are so going to get it now!"

He swings Ben back in the air and then swishes him through the air in the direction of Carol, who covers her face and ducks as the drips off Ben’s new cast fly at her. Most of them miss, but Ben loves it and is giggling hysterically. Before long, it has escalated into a full-blown fight, or as far as it can go without dropping the boy. Five minutes later, Carol sits on the floor in submission as Doug checks Ben’s casts.

"Looks like they’re dry, buddy. Guess it was a better way then standing at the heater! I guess we’d better get you back now, or your nurses are going to start wondering what has happened…"

As he says this, a Peds nurse puts her head around the door. She gasps as she looks at all three of them, covered in plaster water. Doug and Ben are looking very guilty; Carol gets up and goes to the door.

"Um, hi. We had a bit of an accident in here, but we’ll be out shortly…"

She closes the door and starts to laugh again.

"Come on, let’s go. You’ll be talk of the ward now!"

Some hours later, Doug is in the staff lounge in the ER, waiting for Carol who is getting her coat from her locker. The room is silent as Doug stands by the door in his coat already. The silence is broken as Carol closes the locker and comes across the room. Doug puts his arm around her shoulder as they go out of the door, nearly bumping into Mark.

"Hey, long time no see! How’s it going?"

"Okay I guess. Long shift you know…I hear you had a surprise practice!"

"Yeah, Kerry’s spoken to you then?! How was the big farewell the other day?"

"Hard. But I figure it’s not that bad. Rach is coming up for Christmas in a couple of weeks, we’re gonna have a big party then - you’re both invited of course!"

"Great, I’m sure we’ll be there. See you tomorrow buddy."

"See ya."

Carol puts her arm around Doug’s waist and they walk out of the ambulance bay doors. As they walk to the El, Carol is silent despite Doug’s attempts at conversation. They sit down on a bench to wait for the train and Carol turns to Doug. "Doug, there’s something I think we ought to talk about…"

"Uh oh."

"I’ve been thinking about Ben, and I think we should put in an application with DCFS to foster him."

Doug looks a bit blown away by this, and takes a deep breath.

"Carol honey, I’m not sure…"

"You’ve seen how attached he is to you. You can’t tell me that when he leaves the hospital you’re just going to forget about him. You’ve probably been the one person to actually care about him in his whole life."

Doug sits forward and rubs his face in his hands.

"Well, I’m not sure you could say that…"

"Come on, Doug, you know what I’m saying. He’s comfortable with both of us; we’re comfortable with him. Besides, it just fostering. If it doesn’t work out, he can get another home…"

"Okay, if we were going to do this, I am not going to have that. If we want to foster him, then we make the long-term commitment to keep him, not just turf him out to the next people who want a trial run. But I’m really not sure Carol, are we ready for this?"

"I don’t know, Doug, I don’t know. But how else will we find out?"

As she says this, their train pulls in and they get up and move towards it as more snow begins to fall.

Well, there it is! As usual, feedback to triggersaurus@hotmail.com - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!