Disclaimer: er/ characters are property
of nbc, warner, constant c, amblin,
etc. I'm just having fun with them. no money involved.
Stuck With You (or Magic)
By Victoria
"That was the worst pudding I have ever had! If it was
pudding." Dave
grumbled as he and John got on the elevator to go back down to
the ER.
"What did you expect, Jello? And no one told you to eat
three bowls of the
stuff Dave. We'll probably be treating you for gastroenteritis in
a couple
minutes." John joked.
"That's not funny. And anyway, I was hungry. I forgot to eat
breakfast."
The elevator stopped and the doors opened on the fourth floor. A
man wearing
black jeans and a black tee-shirt got on the elevator. John and
Dave eyed
the man warily. He was definitely creepy. He eyed them back, and
slowly
withdrew a pack of playing cards from his pocket. He began to
shuffle them
and leaned against the wall in a nonchalant way. John looked
nervously at
Dave who shrugged in return.
The elevator suddenly jolted and stopped moving. The three men
stumbled and
fought to maintain their balance. The stranger had been caught
off guard and
his cards flew into the air, raining down around them. "Shit!"
he muttered
as he quickly scrambled to gather his cards. John and Dave leaned
over to
help and their heads knocked together.
"Ow! What the hell Malucci! Watch what you're doing!"
John cursed.
Disgusted at being blamed for the mishap, Dave replied, "Look
who's talking.
Bump into any walls lately Carter?"
"Shut up." Was all John could muster in response after
being reminded of his
ever present clumsiness. John folded his arms and slumped against
the wall,
pouting.
Dave absentmindedly crossed his own arms and leaned against the
opposite
wall, avoiding John's eyes. He was sorry for even making fun of
John after
everything his friend had been through. If he had ever met the
epitome of
misfortune, it was John Carter. Dave was surprised John managed
to get to
work every day without being run down in the street or mugged, if
not fall
down a manhole or something.
Neither doctor noticed as the stranger finished gathering his
cards and stood
up. He looked at one doctor and then the other. Slowly, the man
began to
smile.
"So, either of you like magic?" The sound of the man's
voice in the silent
elevator made both doctors jump. They looked at him blankly.
"Magic, you know, hocus pocus?" The man began to
shuffle his deck of cards
again.
John nervously cleared his throat before answering. "Um,
yeah, I guess I
like magic. Malucci?"
Dave looked at the strange man sharing the elevator with them.
"Sure, I like
magic. Why, you gonna pull a bunny out of your hat? Oh, right,
you're not
wearing a hat." He replied sarcastically.
The man laughed at Dave's comment. He was used to being ridiculed
far worse
than this. "No, I don't do that kind of magic. But, I do
have some pretty
neat tricks up my sleeve-interested? It'll help pass the time
'til the
elevator starts up again."
John answered, interest peaking in his voice. "Why not?"
He extended his
hand to the man. "Dr. John Carter. And this is Dr. Dave
Malucci. We work
down in the ER."
The man shook their hands. "They call me the Street Magician."
Dave's eyes grew wide. "No way! I've seen you on t.v.! No
way! A real
celebrity. How do you do it? I know it's all staged somehow. Come
on, I
won't tell."
The man laughed. "It's magic, that's how I do it."
John began to feel nervous again. He'd heard of this magician
also. He also
knew that many of the people he performed for thought he was the
devil
incarnate. But he was also intrigued and leaned ever so slightly
forward to
see the first trick.
The man shuffled his cards and asked Dave to pull one out of the
deck. Dave
pulled the jack of diamonds and held it tightly so the man
couldn't see.
"Okay, now put the card back in the deck anywhere. Don't
tell me what it is
and don't let me see it." Dave gently pushed the card back
into the deck and
stood back.
The man shuffled the deck again. He flipped over the top card.
"Is this
it?" It was the ace of spades. Dave shook his head 'no' and
laughed.
'Busted!' he thought. The man turned over another and again it
was wrong.
Finally, the man told Dave to tell him when his card came up, and
he
continued to turn over all the cards. Finally, he reached the
last card. It
wasn't Dave's.
"Hmmm. John, maybe you could help us out here. Did you see
Dave pocket the
card at all?"
"No, he put it back in the deck, I saw him do it."
"Are you sure?" The man asked. "Dave, just to be
sure why don't you check
your pockets for us."
Dave began to pull out his pockets, starting with his pants.
Nothing. Then
he reached into the pocket on his scrubs top. Slowly, he pulled
out a
playing card. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he turned it over.
It was the jack of
diamonds, his card.
"That was great! But I bet you can't levitate can you? I
know that's a
trick." Dave dared the magician.
"I don't want to scare you too. Are you sure you want me to?"
the man asked.
"Hell yeah! Right John? You want him to float don't you?"
"Okay, yeah." Was John's short reply. He could feel the
hair on the back of
his neck begin to rise. He was getting scared, but he wasn't
about to show
that. This was just a magician. It was all fake. He knew that.
It's not
real. But that fact that he was trapped in this elevator with him
made him
uneasy.
The man gestured for the two doctors to stand back. He closed his
eyes and
began to breath deeply. He clenched his fists and his face began
to contort
from the obvious effort he was putting into this.
'Great show' Dave thought, 'but he'll never do it. Not in a
million years.'
Suddenly, John gasped. It looked like the man's feet were
beginning to rise
off the ground. He looked at the man's hands and they were no
where near the
safety bars. He was floating.
"Holy shit!" Dave exclaimed. The man's eyes snapped
open and he dropped back
to the floor.
"How was that?" He asked his companions.
"No way. No way. I don't like this." John closed his
eyes and wished the
elevator would begin moving again.
"Jeez, John. It's just a trick. What else can you do?"
Dave asked.
"One last trick." The man reached into his pocket and
pulled out a small
notepad and a pencil and handed them to John. "Write down
the name of
someone close to you. Then rip it off and fold it up. Don't let
me see it.
You can hold onto the notepad until I am done. Got it?" John
nodded and
wrote something on the paper with trembling fingers. Slowly he
ripped off
the page and folded it several times. He handed the paper to the
man.
The man pulled out a lighter and began to burn the paper. Then he
took the
burning paper and slapped it against his bare arm.
"Hey!" Dave said, "What are you trying to do, burn
yourself? We may be
doctors, but we can't treat you here." Dave was beginning
the suspect the
man needed a psychiatric consult. 'Great, I'm stuck in an
elevator with a
psycho and John. Hmmm, which one is going to snap first?' It was
a crude
thought, but worried Dave just the same.
"Don't worry, I'm not hurt." The man responded. He
lifted his arm so the
men could see. Printed on his arm in ash was the name "Lucy".
Both men
gasped.
"Is that the name you wrote John?"
"Yes." John whispered. "Oh my God! How did you
know?" He stared at the
magician, his eyes wide.
The man stepped closer to John. Softly he said, "Lucy has a
message for you
John. She wants you to know she doesn't blame you. She is happy.
She wants
you to be happy too. She's not in any pain. She said that she
loves you
John." The man stepped away. Suddenly the elevator began to
move again.
The doors opened and the man said, "This is my floor. Thanks
for letting me
pass the time doctors." And then he was gone.
Dave looked at John. His face was white. "Are you okay John?"
John turned his head and looked at Dave, "Yeah, I am now."
He smiled and for
the first time in months, felt relief. Free of some of the guilt
he had
built up. Lucy was happy. Now he could be too.
The elevator stopped at the ER and both doctors got off the
elevator. Kerry
walked up, concern on her face. "Are you both okay? You've
been stuck in
that elevator for over an hour!"
Dave and John looked at each other and laughed. Dave answered
Kerry's
question. "We're fine chief. Better than fine. We're great!"
They walked
away, leaving Kerry with a bewildered look on her face. Slowly
she shook her
head and thought, 'I don't even want to know.'
Stuck with you title page