Several ER Snippets
Written by Elaine Mc
---------------------
"Carter?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
"But I--"
"Shut up."
"Doctor Benton, I--"
Benton wheeled on him, and Carter hastily backed up, until he was
stopped by a door. "Shut. Up. Shut up. Shut up, shut up, *shut
up*."
And up Carter shut.
---
"Maybe if you-- maybe if you hit it. Just a little,"
Abby
suggested, leaning in a little.
"Even *I* know that won't work," Dave Malucci said,
irritated.
"Maybe if we reboot...."
Chen was still sitting perfectly still, head buried in her hands.
"I can't believe it. We killed Doctor Weaver's laptop."
"I can," Abby said, frankly. "Is it working...?"
"Nope," said Dave. "Maybe if we defrag...."
"Night shifts for the rest of the year," Chen predicted.
"Suppository duty for*ever*."
"Well, it isn't like we did it on purpose," Abby said,
distracted
between being worried and being comforting. "Is it working...?"
"Now it won't even boot up," Dave said, hollowly.
"Oh, *man*.
We're dead."
"And it isn't even noon, yet," said Chen.
---
Luka regarded Carter with narrowed eyes. "You are choking my
chicken, I think."
Carter started to respond, then stopped, at a loss to say
*anything* that wouldn't make the situation worse. Finally, he
settled for, "Huh?"
"Choking my chicken," Luka repeated, more hesitant, now.
"To choke
one's chicken-- like pulling one's leg, yes?" He looked at
Kerry
for confirmation.
"Uh.... no. No, I'm afraid not." She glanced at her
watch.
"Would you look at the time? I have to go. Bye, now."
With a
little more haste than might be considered strictly necessary, or
entirely dignified, she turned and hurried off down the corridor.
Now even more confused, Luka turned back to Carter. "So what
does
it mean, if it doesn't mean what I think it means?"
Carter took a deep, slow breath-- it would be unfair and unkind
to
laugh at his colleague, after all. "Can I ask who *told* you
what
it means?"
"Doctor Malucci." Kovac pronounced the name in a tone
suggesting
that Doctor Dave's immediate health might possibly be in severe
jeopardy, depending on Carter's next words....
---
Overheard in the hallowed halls of CCH...
"You ask him," whispered Jing-Mei Chen.
"Nuh-uh. *You* ask him."
"Dave...."
"I'm *not* asking him. Wait-- Abby-- you ask him."
Abby looked from Dave Malucci to Jing-Mei with disbelief. "Why
me?"
"He likes you best."
"But-- but--"
Resistance, as the saying goes, was futile. Dave on her right,
Jing-Mei on her left, they steered her towards Luka Kovac, who
stood reading a chart, frowning slightly.
"Uh, Doctor Kovac?"
Luka glanced down and smiled. "Hello, Abby. Can I help you?"
"Well, yes, please. It's sort of a favour-- for all of us,
really." She gestured towards Dave and Jing-Mei.
Luka considered. "Is it regarding patient care?"
"Well, no."
Dave added, "Help us out here, please, wouldja?"
"No." Luka's smile vanished. He crossed his arms.
"But--"
"I said *no*, Doctor Dave." He was glowering at them
all, now.
"Every time you ask me for help, it is always something
strange,
and you always say that it won't be any trouble, and it *always*
is, and *I* end up getting yelled at. So, no to whatever it is.
You three," he concluded, "are trouble." He
scooped up an armload
of charts and stalked off, leaving them standing, forlorn.
"I think he's still mad about the spaghetti thing,"
Dave said,
finally.
"Looks like it," Jing-Mei confirmed.
They turned and headed the other direction, somewhat chastened.
---
John Carter trudged down the hall, a lot less cheerful than usual.
He was followed, at quite a distance, by Haleh, Yosh, and Weaver.
Staff and patients alike were clearing a wide path for Carter as
he
passed by.
"Carter?" said Kerry.
"Yeah?"
"The next time I say step back...."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Carter sighed; then gagged, as he
caught a
whiff of his stained scrubs.
"I've never seen glass break like that," Haleh said,
thoughtfully.
"I've never seen someone *barf* like that," Yosh
replied, grinning.
"That's right. Ruuuuuub it in," Carter groused as they
continued
on their way.
--