Against The Odds
Chapther Thirteen
By Triggersaurus
triggersaurus@hotmail.com

I am TOO good! Three in five days! Just kidding - I’m on a roll at the moment, I’ve had my storyline planned for so long, and I really want to get to it! There’s suspense for you! No, really, I’m enjoying having the time to do this. As a result, I have only painted one wall of my bedroom, but never mind! Hope you enjoy it - and thanks to all the webmasters who work so hard to get these up for me. Triggersaurus

Previously: Ben has his casts taken off, Doug inadvertently meets the Taylor family and Jerry gets married.

"I still can’t believe it!"

"Kerry! Of all people!"

"I know!"

"What was he thinking?!"

"A relative of Weaver!"

"I would not want to be there for the family reunion!"

"Hi guys. What’s up?"

"Oh, hey Dr. Ross. Everyone’s just telling me about Weaver being a bridesmaid at the wedding!"

"Uh huh. You’re still talking about that? It was two weeks ago. Any peds cases?"

"None at the moment. So, now she’s his sister-in-law?"

"Yeah!"

Doug backs up a bit.

"Whoa. What was that?!"
"Kerry! She was a bridesmaid because she’s the brides sister!"

An evil grin appears on Doug’s face.

"Nah, you’re kidding me."

"I swear! It’s true!"
"Ask her!"

"That’s okay, I’ll take your word. How did you find out?"

"Jerry got back from his honeymoon yesterday, and he was on last night, so I asked what she was doing there…and he told me!"

"Jeez! Poor Jerry!"

Carol thwacks him. "Hey, you never know, she could be a really nice person outside the ER!"

Everyone snorts and chuckles.

"No, come on you guys. I think she’s okay."

A head pops into the circle. It’s Mark.

"Okay people, I know you need to catch up, but can we do it later? There are patients waiting."

The crowd disperses, back to work.

"Dr.Ross!! Dr. Ross! Trauma coming in, little girl with intense abdominal pain, ETA three minutes!"

"Okay Randi. Seen any gloves anywhere?"

"Here." She throws a pair at him. He snaps them on.

"Doug, you want a hand?"

"No, it’s okay, I think I got this one."

"Okay. Who’s assisting?"

"Uhhhh…" he swivels round on the spot, looking for staff.

"Haleh’s free, and Yosh. They’re stock taking."

"Okay, yeah, I’ll get them then. Is Carter around? This would probably make a good case."

"Yeah, but he’s with a patient at the moment. I’ll send him in when he’s done."

"Thanks."

Sirens outside can be heard as the ambulance pulls up, and Doug goes out to it, followed by Haleh and then Yosh behind her. The EMT’s pull out a gurney on to the concrete, with a girl of about seven lying in the middle, on her side curled up into a ball. Her face is screwed up and her arms are around her stomach. A car pulls up behind the ambulance as the paramedics start to shout the bullet and wheel the gurney in. A woman jumps out of the car and rushes up to them, running along side the gurney.

"Amy? Amy? Can you hear me? It’s mommy, I’m here…can you hear me? Why can’t she hear me?" She looks up at Doug, who is concentrated on the corner he is taking into the Trauma room.

"Ah. Ah…Mommy…"

"Amy?! I’m here honey, I’m here. Mommy’s not leaving…"

"On three…" Doug tells the nurses.

"One, two three. Okay, Amy? Amy, I’m Dr. Ross, listen to me a moment. I need you to tell me where it hurts."

"My tummy…"

"Okay, can you lie flat for me? I can’t help you if you’re all balled up like that."

She unwraps a little, and Doug pulls her legs out some more as she lets out a small wail and her eyes tear up and overspill.

"Okay. Amy, I’m going to…" He notices that the girl is paying no attention to him, but to her mother who is crouched down by her head, talking to her.

"Is it gas pains again? Why did you make such a fuss? See, now we’re going to waste these people’s time. I knew you should’ve stayed home today…"

Doug looks at Haleh, and gives her a nod. She comes round to the mother and pulls her up gently by the arm.

"Mrs. Rogers, you have to wait outside so we can treat your daughter. Come with me please."

"But it’s just gas pains! She’s wasting your time! She’s had them before, she just makes a lot of fuss is all!"

"Just wait outside please ma’am."

"But…"

Haleh takes her out and Doug continues. He presses on the four quadrants, getting the most response from the upper left.

"We need an MRI, CAT scan and a Chem. 7. Let’s get some painkillers too." Haleh comes back in, and goes to Doug.

"She’s in chairs."

"Thanks. This isn’t gas pain, I tell you that. I need to know how long she’s been having attacks like this."

"Okay."

Haleh leaves again, and Doug goes to the phone, watching the girl curl up again. As he turns back around to look at the phone, Haleh comes back in with a smile on her face.

"Dr. Ross, you might wanna come out here for a while, if she’s okay for the moment."

He hangs the phone up, looks back at the bed and Yosh, who nods okay. "Amy, I’ll be back in a moment. Yosh will look after you, okay?"

"Okay."

He goes to the doors, looking at Haleh, confused. She points down the corridor to the elevator bank, as Doug comes out of the room to see. At the end of the corridor, there is a woman in a white coat, with a small figure on two very small crutches. The figure is coming down the corridor towards Doug, taking small, slow steps, taking most of the weight on the arms. As it gets nearer, Ben’s face becomes clearer, and he is wearing a huge, beaming smile. Sarah, his physical therapist, is walking beside him, and she also looks up at Doug to smile. They move nearer and nearer, and Carol appears from an exam room next door and gasps, hand clamped over her mouth. She looks back and sees Doug, who is grinning inanely, and she turns back to watch Ben’s progression. He is puffing a bit now with all the effort, and Doug crouches down to his level.

"Just a few more steps, Ben, go on, you can do it! Yeah!"

He picks him up, having made it, and swings him round carefully in the air.

"You did it buddy! How does it feel?" he says, dropping into an impersonation of a news reporter, holding out an imaginary microphone.

Ben just laughs, and the observing staff join in. Doug bends down, and puts Ben carefully back on the ground, handing him the crutches.

"You there? Steady. Okay? Now how about you walk over to Carol?"

"Okay…"

Doug taps him, and he swings off in her direction. She stands watching him, now also the possessor of an ear-to-ear smile. He just about gets there, with Sarah catching him as he nearly drops. He grins up at Carol, who picks him up.

"That was great! You’re a star Ben!" She kisses him on the cheek, and he throws his arms around her neck, then smiles at everyone else.

A while later, Doug is at the main desk, looking at the board for his next patient. Mark strolls up to him, taps his right shoulder and then goes to the right of him to scrub a patient off. Doug looks behind him to the right, and then sees Mark.

"Hey."

"Hi. You find what was wrong with the girl?"

"Yeah, pancreatitis. Her mother was convinced it was gas; she’s had it for about 6 months now. Don’t know how she did it, adults with pancreatitis are put on morphine for the pain."

"Wow."

"Dr. Greene? Someone from…Alamos Films on the phone for you…"

"Films?"

"I don’t know, don’t shoot the messenger!"

He takes the receiver, frowning in confusion. Doug watches his face.

"Yeah, I am…Dr. Greene…Mark…well, if…okay….really?…okay…..yeah, quite big, all on the one floor….sure, they’d be okay with that…no, it’s…uh huh….um, I guess so…well, I’ll have to check that…oh, you have? Okay then…no problem…thanks…bye."

"What was that about?"

"Some company want to use the hospital in a film they’re making. The ER actually."

"You’re kidding."

"A film?!" Randi leaps over from the other end of the desk. "They want to film here?!"
"Yeah…they’ve cleared it with the authorities and the chiefs. So Tuesday 2nd March, the ER is shut for the morning, so they can film."

"Wow. They want any extras?"

"Well, you know what? They asked if all our staff could be in so the scene has "and authentic feel"!"

"No kidding? I’m gonna be in a film!" Doug saunters off with a gleam in his eye and a lopsided grin, hands in pockets.

"Doug. Doug! There’s a kid with anaemia waiting for you in curtain three!"

"Okay…"

"This is so cool! Can I let everyone else know?"

"Okay Randi, but not too loudly, okay? I don’t need any hysterics just now. We’ll scare the patients off."

"Okay, sure, whatever."

That evening, Carol and Doug have come off shift and are on the peds ward. Despite the fact that the nurses are desperately trying to serve dinner, Ben is swinging up and down the ward on his crutches, collapsing at intervals to get his strength back. Carol and Doug sit on his bed, watching him and talking.

"He won’t quit, will he?!"

"Nope. I can’t decide whether it’s enthusiasm or determination!"

"Both I think. He looks so happy to be on his feet."

Doug nods. Ben swings over to the bed, and Doug hauls him up onto it to sit in between them.

"You tired yet?"

"No!"

"I think you should take a break now anyway, Ben - look, it’s supper time."

A nurse puts a dish down on the table by Ben’s bed.

"What is it?"

"Fish and chips today Ben, and peas."

"Ooh."

"You like that?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Okay, well sit up a bit, and then you can eat it!"

Carol moves him up the bed a little, and swings the table round so that it is reachable. She hands him a knife and fork, and watches him stab at the fish. Before she can interrupt to help, the piece of fish slides off the plate, off the table and into the bed.

"Oops." He picks it up by one end and dumps it back onto the plate.

"Oh Ben. Here, give me those." Carol takes the knife and fork and cuts up the fish into manageable pieces. "There. That’s better, huh?"

"Yeah…thank you."

"No problem."

Doug, who has been watching with amusement, hears a noise from the ward doors and looks up. A familiar family is headed towards the bed, and Doug taps Carol, who is watching Ben’s table manners. He leans over.

"That’s them…"

"Oh. The Taylors?"

"Yeah…"

Before he can say anymore, a loud voice booms into the area.

"Well hello! A regular little party we have here, isn’t it?!"

"Hi there Ben. How are you feeling?"

"I’m okay…" He drops some more fish from the fork, which Carol grabs off the blankets.

"Fish and chips! Wow! I bet that’s nice, huh? You enjoying it?"

"Yeah."

"Say hello kids."

"Hey Ben."

"Hi Ben."

"Hello."

Mrs. Taylor takes a seat on the bed, close to Doug, who shifts a bit, moving up some more to get some space. But she moves up some more as well, getting comfortable. She pats Ben’s legs.

"So, we hear someone has something to show us? Something about, maybe, walking?!"

"Yeah!" Ben sits up, exited. "You wanna see?"

"Do I want to see?! Of course I want to see, honey! This is so important!"

Ben scrambles to the edge of the bed, and Mrs. Taylor plonks him down on the floor, as the kids hand him crutches from the floor. As he gets up and wobbles off, with the Taylors whooping and cheering behind him, Doug and Carol collect the supper that flew onto the bed and floor when he shoved the table aside in excitement. They exchange a look that says everything about the way they feel. Just as they are staring at each other, hanging halfway between the bed and the floor, hands full of chips and peas, Doug feels a weight pressing down on his side.

"He’s so cute, don’t you think?"

He grunts and sits up, to find Mrs. Taylor leaning over to him, still watching Ben manoeuvre his way around the ward. She snaps out of the trance and looks over to Doug and Carol.

"Why, hello. You must be the nurse that has been watching over Ben as well. Hi. I’m Mrs. Taylor…"

Carol interrupts. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh! Okay! I guess you heard from Dr. Ross here. Well, actually, I’m glad we caught you, we have something for you. Rick honey, have you got…" She ferrets around in the bag her husband is holding. "Here it is!" She gets out a fancily wrapped box, and hands it to Doug. "This is for you, just to say thank you for everything you’ve done for Benny. We just had the second home visit today, and the DCFS lady told us that they are just finalising some things, but basically we have him!" She beams at them both.

An hour later, Mark is coming off shift, and he heads into the lounge to get his jacket and a bunch of papers to read at home. As he comes in, he sees Doug and Carol. They are wrapped in each other’s arms, coats on, both facing away from Mark, rocking slightly. Mark steps back, then turns and leaves the room.

So, what next? Predictions, and other comments, to triggersaurus@hotmail.com