Remedy




John stood at the window watching Carly's chest rise and fall. He could hear the soft beeping of the dinamap in the background. He could hear the cycling of the IV. Occasionally, he could even hear Carly snoring softly. He watched Dave hold her hand, although she would pull her hand away each time she repositioned herself. He always found her hand and wrapped his fingers tightly around hers.

It was long after both of their sifts were over. Romano had left a few minutes before, so he could start a 24-hour stretch, but he had promised profusely that he would check in now and then just to make sure. Romano had looked terrible. The beeping of the machines kept him awake. His eyes would close and then fly wide open again. Romano would lean forward and whisper in Carly's ear and then push her hair off her face. Their relationship was beautiful. John longed for that kind of relationship with his family. Rather than the aloof, tight-mouthed well wishing, John longed for his mother to hug him. They did not come home for Hong Kong when he was stabbed. They called once or twice, but never bothered to come make sure for themselves that he was okay.

"Is this Carolyn Romano's room," a voice said from behind him.

"Yes, Ms. Del Amico is resting comfortably. Her prognosis is good, but she seems disoriented and forgetful of why she is here. One of her doctors is in with her, but feel free to go in," John said mechanically without missing a beat. He never bothered to turn around to look at the woman talking to him.

"Carter, is that you?" Anna said as she stopped for a minute to observe the man that was staring at her sister.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Carter," John replied with a tone that indicated that he was very tired of her questions.

"It's Anna. You remember me, don't you?" Anna said as she went to hug him, but he had evaded her by picking up Carly's chart and flipping through it.

"Yeah, I remember you. I'm sorry . . . I had a long night," John said as he tried to smile at her.

"Is Carly going to be okay?" Anna said as she put down the flowers that she had picked up at the airport and as she placed the child that she was holding on a chair near the door.

"Yeah, she will be tired for a few days because of the severity of the grand mol, but she'll be fine," John said as he looked at Anna. She was still beautiful. Her hair was done in a bob that grazed her chin . . . her hair was dark . . . a very dark blonde that could be mistaken for a brown. Her figure was just as beautiful as he remembered it. The smile was the same as the one that was etched in his mind. The only thing that was missing was that sassy, sexy attitude that Anna used to have. It was what made him lover her.

"Can Alec go in? He has been vaccinated and he already had all the normal childhood diseases. He has a slight cold, but it isn't serious," Anna rambled as she motioned toward the young boy with the sleepy eyes.

"Her breathing tube came out only a few hours ago, so her membranes probably still are torn and upset. Why don't I take Alec to the cafeteria? That will give you time to time to visit with Carly and Dave," John said as he replaced the chart on the door.

"David Mallucci? I have not seen him in a long time. He still works here, doesn't he?" Anna asked as she handed the boy to John and then pushed her way into the room without waiting for John's answer.

Kerry lay curled in a ball on Kim's bed. Her eyes were dry and red from all the crying that she had done over the last few hours. Kim had tried to comfort her, but that made her cry harder. After an hour of holding Kerry and trying to calm her, Kim had decided that it would be best to let Kerry work this out on her own.

John had not even noticed her as he proceeded to whisper to Carly, to touch her skin lightly, and to try to kiss her. Kerry knew that John had not done this on purpose to hurt her, but the fact that he was in a different world with Carly, let Kerry know that what she had dreamed for years would never happen.

All dreams that she had constructed him her head would never a possibility. There would be no house full of children and dogs. There would be no deck with a wooden swing on it. There would be no one next to her in bed in the morning. She was destined to be alone.

She quickly chastised herself for thinking that John would be out of reach. She told herself that it was a few moments with a beautiful woman. John had been caught in that trap before. He often wore his heart on his sleeve and allowed himself to fall to fast. In her heart, Kerry tried to hang on to her dreams, but the tears of hurt would not stop running down her cheeks.

"Dave, I've missed you," Anna whispered as she ran her long fingers along Dave's broad shoulders.

"Anna, I missed you too," Dave said as he slowly stood up from the chair and drew Anna into a tight hug, "Carly's going to be okay."

"I know," Anna said as she brought her lips to Dave's lips.

None of the feelings Anna had for Dave had died since the night Carly had caught them together. Anna searched in Max for the passion, the desire, and the loyalty that Dave had shown her in the previous years, but nothing she found could ever match Dave's intensity. She pushed her lips tightly against Dave's lips and used her tongue to part his lips. She felt Dave begin to pull away, but he allowed his body to surrender. His tongue greedily batted at her own tongue. His lips greedily caressed and sucked her own lips.

Dave pulled away slowly. He stared into her brown eyes and then pulled her into a tight embrace. His feelings for Anna and Carly merged into one and he could feel his desire mounting. He often times reflected upon his night with Anna. She was sweet and comforting, but she was wild and uninhibited all at the same time. His nights with Carly were much the same, but being with Anna made him feel something new. It was a passion that he searched for today, but with no avail. Anna seemed desperate and hungry . . . Dave thought that she tried to look within others for parts of herself.

"Anna, I can't do this again," Dave whispered as he pulled away from her and stared at Carly. She looked so peaceful. It seemed wrong to hurt her at a time when she was so vulnerable and in so much distress already.

"Dave, I'm getting divorced, and I'm going to enter treatment. I'll get cleaned up and maybe we can try to make us more than a few careless affairs," Anna whispered in his ear. Her breath was hot against his skin and her words made his skin crawl.

After Carly had left him, Dave continued his relationship with Anna for several years off and on. He was normally the man that Anna fell back on whenever Max decided that he would leave Anna to pursue other women and drugs. They never had a real relationship . . . they had sex. Even when Max was with Anna, they would exchange telephone calls weekly or write letters on occasion. Almost everything they talked about centered on what was happening with Carly. It was a superficial friendship. Anna used him for sex, and he used her for information.

"Dave, look at me. I can tell that you want me. You have always wanted me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been so quick to cheat on my sister," Anna purred devilishly in his ear as she pressed up against his growing arousal.

"No, not now. You came here to see Carly. Let's do that now and deal with old business later. Besides, where is my little man?" Dave asked referring to Alec.

"He's in the cafeteria with Carter. He has a cold . . . I do not want him infecting Carly. I need her to take care of him for a couple months while I'm in treatment," Anna said as she ran her hands through Carly's hair.

Anna felt sorry for the woman that was sleeping quietly on the hospital bed. Carly had always been wonderful to her. She tried to help as much as she could with Alec and she often times footed the bill for her and Max to enter quality drug treatment facilities. They had a good relationship. They would call each other and visit each other during the holidays. Anna tried to forget that Carly was the product of an affair that her father had, so she could love the young woman who had no one else to love her. Some days that was hard to do. Her father disapproved of the entire relationship because it upset her mother to hear Anna talking about Carly. Her mother tried endlessly to rebuild the tight-knit Italian family that was shattered by the presence of an illegitimate baby.

Anna's head pounded from the cocaine withdrawals. Her hands were sweaty and they would shake horribly if the withdrawal got too bad. Right now, she wanted either cocaine or a treatment center that would give her methadone to ease her symptoms. Anna just wanted to hand over Alec, so she could get clean and get her life back together . . . with or without a child.

Dave cringed at Anna's intentions for coming to visit her sister. It almost seemed sinister . . . the way that she was only hear to temporarily relinquish the legal rights to her son so she could go enter a four-star, luxury treatment facility. Dave watched how Anna would rub her temples and sweat profusely although the room was freezing cold. He wondered if the withdrawals were so bad that she actually wanted to get cleaned up, so she could be a mother to her son.

John waited for the doors of the elevator to open. He held the sleeping child tightly to his chest. Part of him was terrified to look the child and see how beautiful the product of Max and Anna's love was. John could feel that the child was greatly underweight for his age and that his height was also in the lower percentiles. Alec breathed softly and lightly on John's neck as the young boy tried to sleep amidst the beeping of machines and the chatting of nurses.

The elevator doors opened and Romano stepped off the elevator and stared at John and the child in his arms. At first, it was a look of confusion but then Romano realized that his niece's 'sister' had made her appearance with her son in tow.

"I see Anna has brought Alec to stay with Carly," Romano said dryly as he smoothed a few cowlick brown hairs on the young child's head.

"She's in with Dave and Carly," John responded in a sullen, tired manner as he shifted from side to side trying to minimize the stress on his back.

"Damn her," Romano exclaimed as he ran down the hall to Carly's room.

John turned to follow Romano, but decided that it was best if Alec was not witness to what John imagined would be a passionate fight between Anna and Romano. John stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that would take him directly to the ER. He tried to lean against the wall, so his back would not be as sore as he imagined it would be tomorrow.

"Carter," Dr. Corday said as she got on the elevator so she could also get down to the ER.

"Dr. Corday," John said politely as he shifted Alec around.

"What a handsome boy," Dr. Corday commented, "Is he yours?"

"No, Alec is Anna's son," John said as a slight yawn escaped his body, "She came to Chicago to make sure her sister, Carly, was okay."

"Let me hold him," Dr. Corday said as she swooped the small child out of John's arms, "I heard from Mark about this afternoon. I'm sure Anna is very grateful for what you did for Carolyn."

The doors of the elevator opened to the impending chaos of the ER. With Mark and Luka gone home for the night and Carter and Kerry off on sick leave, the ER was strapped for attendings and residents. Elizabeth placed Alec back in John's arms and asked him to tell Anna that she says hello.

"Frank, Alec and I are going to try to get some sleep in the lounge. Try to make sure it stays quiet around here," John whispered as he cupped his free hand around Alec's ear so the noise would not be as loud.

"Didn't know you had a kid, Dr. Carter," Frank said as John turned to enter the lounge.

"He's not mine. I'm watching him for a friend that is upstairs on one of the units," John said loud enough for Frank to hear.

John placed the young boy on the couch and covered him with a thick blanket that he retrieved from the linen cart. He then tried to make himself comfortable in a chair near Alec. John was hesitant about falling asleep because he tended to sleep heavily when he became this tired. He did not want to fall asleep and have Alec wake up in a strange place swarming with unfamiliar people.

John sat back in his chair and marveled at Alec. The boy's hair was a light brown that was streaked with little blonde highlights. His skin was a creamy white that provided for a sharp contrast from the boy's pale skin. His eyelashes were blonde, long and curly. John watched the little boy's chest slowly rise and fall as he lay on the couch with his little fists clenched with the exception of one finger that was presumably for sucking.
John felt pangs of jealousy stab through his body as he stared at this miracle of life that was granted to two seemingly undeserving people. Anna had become a woman that he did not know anymore . . . and Max was the despicable bastard that possessed control over Anna's mind, soul, and body through the distribution of hard core street drugs. He thought about the irony of this situation as his eyelids drooped and he fell into the depths of sleep.



Part 11
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