by Christi
The steady flow of patients had thinned out after 5:30am. Dave figured that they had seen almost every drunk in the city, and the one’s that they hadn’t seen were laying passed out at
home and would be in the ER on his next shift. He still had a few minutes until this shift was over, so he decided to go sit at the admit desk and do some paperwork. "Great," he thought,"Randi is on, here comes a fresh load of bull!" As he sat down, he noticed that Randi was starring at him. "What!" he said fairly loud.
"I saw you drive up in a new car. Did you steal it or did your mommy buy it for you?" Randi said while painting her nails a very bright shade of lime green.
Dave only looked at her and smiled. He would never be able to steal a car like that, and he wouldn’t have excepted it if his mother had bought it. "No," he explained, " I’ve been saving my
milk money." He didn’t know why he said that. It made him sound like more of a moron. He just thought that it would get him out of being a thief or a mama’s boy.
"I thought you lived close enough to ride your bike to work, so what do you need a car for?" Randi had a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"I have to drive a friend to school, if you must know." He was starting to get annoyed with the subject. When his shift was over it was 6am. He headed for the lounge to get his things and
change out of his scrubs, which he had changed twice already. A little brat with the flu and a drunk, (that had had more than "one more for the road") throw up all over him, with no
warning . He had to admit though, he was jealous.
In the lounge, he found Kerry and Carter just getting on. "So, you heading home Malucci?" Carter said , opening his locker.
"Yup, and it’s about time too." Dave said with a sigh, knowing what he has to do once he gets home. He wouldn’t even get to sleep between his shifts. But who he was doing it for was
worth it.
Kerry looked at the clock, "Don’t you have another shift in 3 hours?" She wished that his shifts weren’t so close together, because he looked very tiered . But he would just have to stick it
out.
"Yeah, so I’d better get going, I have a lot of things to do. I don’t think that I’ll even get to sleep." He said, and he knew what Kerry’s response would be.
"Then why go home? You could stay here and catch up on some paperwork, which I know you have." Kerry’s words sliced through him, giving him the knowledge that he was right.
"I already did that, and I told you that I have a lot of things to do before my next shift." He repeated as he headed for the door. "I’ll see ‘ya later."
Malucci knew that he could’ve road his bike today. But he thought of her, at home, and he wanted the car to be warmed up for her. She was awake when he got in the door. He knew
because he could hear the water going in the bathroom, and the smell of mint toothpaste was filling the small apartment. He sat her shoes by the door and waited for her to emerge from the
bathroom. When she did, not a word was spoken between the two of them. Instead, he watched her, smiling, as she put on her shoes and then handed her her bookbag, (which was much
too heavy for her or anyone) and they walked out to the car. Once in the car, they were fighting over the radio station. And of course whatever she wanted usually goes, because he loved
her.
It was 6:45, and still dark. When he glanced over at her, she was looking out the window. As they stopped at the light, they looked at each other. Each knowing that the other wanted to
say something. So, nether of them spoke. Then the light turned green, and Malucci turned back to the road, pulling ahead. She was still looking at him when they were sidestruck and sent
spinning into the other cars.
End of Chapter One