Thanks to Sam for Beta reading this, thanks also to Monica and Sarah for their suggestions re the title
February 14th 2001 - part 3
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Kerry sighs as she continues. "The rest of my shift...I
don't know how I got through it without killing any of my
patients. If we hadn't been so short staffed..." Her voice
trails off, as she appears lost in thought. Finally she
continues, "We were already short staffed before the
shooting. Carter...well, Carter hadn't wanted to work that day...I
couldn't really blame him...Dr Greene had called in sick...a bad
reaction to his previous days treatment and Dr Chen was still on
maternity leave. I did my best to keep my mind on the job...but
it wasn't easy when my thoughts were a few floors above the ER."
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"I don't remember anything about the operation," says
Dave. "Well that's hardly surprising," he grins. "Last
thing I remember is Dr Romano coming into pre-op. He comes over
to me and says 'Malatucci, right?'. And I'm saying no...it's
Malucci...and he smirks and says, 'just checking'. Then he tells
me the anesthetist is nearly ready for me...and he says 'you
might feel a little prick' and I'm trying to say something like
'I bet you say that to all the girls' but my tongue feels like
it's filled with lead and all I can do is close my eyes."
Dave shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "I was allowed see
my charts afterwards," he says. "Or rather, I annoyed
the nurses in ICU until they showed it to me. It...it wasn't easy
reading. Apparently I'd needed four units of blood before they'd
even started cutting...and...and I'd crashed midway through the
op." He looks away from the camera and we can see that he is
visibly shaken by his tale.
"It...it was touch and go for a while," he says when he
finally looks back at the camera. "I...I nearly didn't make
it." He swallows hard. "Sort of freaky knowing that you
were technically dead...even just for a few seconds..."
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"When the word came down that Dave was out of surgery,"
Kerry says, "I headed straight upstairs."
"My shift was nearly over," she says in an apparent
effort at justification, whether to herself or to the camera, it
is unclear. "And the ER wasn't that busy...so I told Luka to
take over while I checked on Dave. I told myself it was my duty
as his boss to see for myself how he was doing...but I knew even
then that it was more than that."
She sighs as she continues. "He was in the ICU by the time I
got upstairs. Wired up to all the usual machines...and looking so
pale...so fragile...he didn't look like my 'Dr Dave' anymore.
Dr Romano told me that although he had come through the operation
successfully, there was still a risk of infection, so he wasn't
totally out of the woods. I hardly heard him as he explained
about the possibility that Dave would never regain the full use
of his leg...all I could see was the slight rise and fall of
Dave's chest...the only sign that he was still alive...
I could see the surprise on Robert's face when I told him that
I'd be staying with Dave...at least until he woke up. He looked
as if he was about to make some unpleasant comment about it...but
for some reason he refrained. Not that it would have made any
difference...I was staying there...for however long it took for
Dave to wake up."
Kerry smiles wryly, "Hospital chairs aren't the most
comfortable pieces of furniture, but it's surprising how many
people can sleep in them...of course the fact that I was drained...both
physically and emotionally helped a bit. I don't know how long I
slept...but I was woken by the sound of Dave's heart monitor
bleeping the sound of a flatline...and I tell you, my heart
nearly stopped as well."
----------------------
"Like I said, I don't remember the OR, or being in recovery...the
next clear thing I remember is waking up in the ICU. I remember
staring at the ceiling and wondering why I was there...and I saw
the heart monitor leads on my chest...and for some reason, I
decided that they were tickling me...and I didn't want them...so
I pulled at them until they came off. Of course that's when all
hell broke loose cause everyone thought that I'd crashed again."
He smiles wryly. "Don't think they were too impressed when
they discovered it was just me screwing with the leads. I thought
it was funny...that is until I saw the expression on Kerry's face."
His face falls slightly.
"She...she had tears in her eyes," he says softly.
"Kerry Weaver, the Chief of Emergency Medicine...reputed to
be as tough as old boots and as hard as nails...was crying...crying
over me."
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"The crash team was at Dave's bedside before I realized what
was going on," says Kerry. "I couldn't move...all I
could do was watch as they crowded round the bed...and they
weren't doing anything...and I wanted to scream at them to do
something...to charge the paddles and shock him...to save him...
Of course he didn't need saving...it...it took a few seconds for
them to realize that he had just pulled off the leads...that he
wasn't dying...they weren't too happy," she says wryly.
"Anyway, they packed away the crash cart and replaced the
leads...and then they left us alone...and I said the first thing
that came into my head."
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"She said to me," says Dave with a half smile on his
face, "She said 'Don't you <ever> scare me like that
again, Dave'. I must have been still pretty out of it...cause it
took me a few seconds to realize that she'd called me 'Dave'
instead of 'Malucci'. Think that was the first time I'd ever
heard her do that...but it wasn't the last." He smiles
affectionately at the camera...or perhaps the person behind it.
"Anyway, she was standing there, all upset...and I suddenly
remembered what had happened...and I looked at my leg...and I was
half expecting just to see an empty space...and Kerry saw me
looking and she said...she said I was going to be fine...that she
was going to take care of me...and...and I know I sound like a
wuss...but it just all sort of hit me...how near a miss I'd had...and
I just started crying..." Dave looks away embarrassed.
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"He was looking at his leg like he hadn't expected to see it
there," says Kerry. "And then he looked at me...like a
frightened child...I told him everything was going to be all
right.
Poor Dave...he'd been through such a lot...I guess it all caught
up with him...and he broke down in my arms. I held him...and I
let him cry until he'd exhausted his tears...and then I held him
until he fell asleep. I made him comfortable...and then, just
before I left...I kissed him on the forehead...I don't know why...but
it just seemed right at the time...and his eyes flickered open...and
he said...he said..."
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"I said, 'I love you' to her," says Dave. "I...I
don't know why I picked that particular time to say it...I mean
it wasn't as if it was something I'd just realized...I knew from
the first day I'd met Kerry that she was something special...maybe
a part of me figured that I could always blame it on the drugs
and the anesthetic...you know, if she was offended or shocked or
anything...but she wasn't."
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"I just smiled at him," says Kerry, smiling now as well.
"And I brushed back the hair from his face...and I said
something like, 'I know'...and then I kissed him again...but on
the lips this time...and it just felt so natural...so right...like
something I should have done a long time ago."
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"When she kissed me the second time," says Dave, a half
smile on his face as he remembers. "I could hardly believe
it...for a minute I was sure I was dreaming...but then I knew
that it wasn't a dream. And I reached up and pushed the hair back
out of her face...and I smiled at her...and she was smiling at me...and
I just knew that she was the one...the one I'd been looking for
all my life."
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Kerry smiles, "I suppose that technically it wasn't 'love at
first sight'...after all, we'd known each other for over a year...but
somehow...somehow it was as if the prospect of losing him had
made Dave had made me see him for the first time."
"So that's it," she says to the camera. "The story
of our first kiss."
"But not the last," says Dave as he enters the picture.
We can see that he's favoring his left leg as he limps over to
Kerry. Putting his arms around her, he kisses her again. "Definitely
not the last," he repeats, before flashing a cheeky grin at
the screen. He points a remote control at it and the screen goes
blank.
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We see a hand pressing the eject button on a video player and
Dave - looking several years older than he did on the screen -
takes the tape out. On it is written 'February, 14th 2001 - the
first kiss'. He replaces it on a shelf, which is filled with
other tapes with varying dates, and titles, which include, 'The
Proposal', 'The Wedding', and 'The Birth 1 & 2', before
returning to sit beside Kerry on a couch.
"You realize," he says, as she snuggles up to him.
"You realize that the date should actually be February 15th.
I mean it was well after midnight when I came to." He grins
an evil grin as Kerry swats him gently.
"I'm just wondering if our children will ever want to watch
them," says Kerry thoughtfully.
Dave appears to consider this for a moment, "Nah," he
says, grinning. "They'll probably think the idea of their
parents being romantic is way too gross...but I'm glad we did it."
"So am I," says Kerry, sighing as she relaxes in Dave's
arms. "So am I."
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The End