Remedy




Robert's shoes made a loud thudding noise as he trudged down the dimly lit hallway to Carly's hospital room. He prepared himself for the worst as he neared her door. He knew from the very little information that Carly had given him that Anna and Dave were a dangerous combination. Robert had seen indications of that during a Christmas long ago, when they had all gathered together in Chicago. Dave was obviously comfortable with Carly, but there was a sexual tension between Dave and Anna that was not hard to pick up on.

He stared through the window at Dave and Anna. He watched Dave hold her closely . . . taking in the scent of her hair and of her pale white skin. He watched Dave's hands press her closer to him as Anna ground her hips into Dave's pelvis. Robert watched them kiss passionately right next to the bed where Carly lay sleeping . . . oblivious to the fact that her friend and her sister had betrayed her again.

"Get out of here you whore," Robert demanded quietly as he pointed at Anna.

Dave and Anna quickly leapt apart from each other. Dave turned red with embarrassment, but Anna stared at Robert with eyes full of rage and hatred. Anna turned to Carly and kissed her on the forehead. She stalked out of the room without a word or a glance backward.

"Dr. Romano, I'm so sorry," Dave tried to mumble as Robert stepped closer to him.

"You can't fucking toy with her like this for the rest of your life," Robert snapped as he grabbed hold of the collar on Dave's navy scrub top.

"I'm sorry," Dave apologized profusely as he began to feel increasingly threatened by Robert.

"Either you go with the whore or you stay and be loyal to someone that you hurt in one of the cruelest most self-centered ways that I have ever heard of," Robert growled at Dave.

With that comment, Robert released Dave. For a moment, Dave stood still and looked at Robert with fear and shock in his eyes. He debated whether to stay or to leave the room to find Anna. Dave pushed past Robert and ran down the hall towards Anna.

"I am so sorry, Carly," Robert said as he smoothed her hair back wondering how two people could be so hurtful.

"Anna, Anna, please wait," Dave called out as he ran towards the elevator where she stood waiting for the next car.

"Anna, are you okay?" Dave asked as he drew her into another tight embrace.

"Robert and I have always been like this. It is no big deal. Dave, can I take you somewhere?" Anna asked bluntly as they entered the elevator car.

"Sure, I guess," Dave said confused as what intentions this trip would bear.

Anna pressed a button for the basement of the hospital. She pressed herself tightly against Dave and began to kiss him again. Anna let her hands roam all over his body, touching and caressing all the sensitive spots that Dave began to forget existed. Her kisses were hard, deep, and angry. Dave knew these kisses very well . . . they were rebellious and without regard to the feelings of anyone besides Anna. They were a prelude to the sexual safe haven Anna created . . . Anna dominated.

Carly awoke from her deep sleep wondering where everyone was. Robert, John, and Dave had promised to take turns keeping her company . . . although she never asked, but the room was dim and empty. The darkness and quiet comforted her. Carly was keenly aware that in a few hours, Anna would be here and the cycle would start again. Dave would swoon over Anna and Anna would swoon over John . . . and she would be the one to get hurt . . . again.

For the first time in hours, Carly became keenly aware of the pain surging through her back and her neck. Her stomach seized and churned violently. All Carly could do was cry out and pray that someone would come in and ease the pain. A million causations ran through her mind as she tried to guess what could possibly be happening inside of her. Her chest clenched tightly and she could feel her lungs contract and expand rapidly. Crushing pain consumed her body as she pressed the emergency light. She tried to scream, but the sound was stuck in her throat.

"Oh, God. I am throwing a clot," Carly thought as she continued to recoil in pain.

Robert stared at a patient's chart without reading a single word. He had no idea as to what should be done about the inevitable Anna-Dave problem. They could all lie to Carly . . . maybe tell her that Dave never saw Anna while she was here. Robert could be straight with her and tell her what he saw. The latter of the two seemed to be the best idea, but Robert didn't want to hurt Carly while she is in so much pain.

Memories of Isabella flooded his mind. His sister was beautiful and strong. She was a wonderful mother to Carolyn . . . responsible and supportive. Isabella busted her ass for years in a sub-par dinner making less than minimum wage, but she could really bring in the tips. She made sure Carly had everything she needed and some of the things that she wanted.

A year before she died, Sean came in to her life. Sean was a hardworking man who Robert became fond of very quickly. Sean was a social worker at Rush Hospital and he did some counseling on the side. He had a home, a car, and most importantly a special place in his heart for Robert's niece and his sister. It did not take long for Sean to think of Carolyn as his own. Robert occasionally witnessed Sean warning Carly about boys and grades. Sean was the father figure that Carly so desperately needed in her life.

Carly was keenly aware of how her birth father had treated her mother. More importantly, Carly was aware of how her birth father regarded her. On each birthday, there was a short telephone call from Joe, Carly's and Anna's father. He would ask about her grades and wish her a happy birthday. That was the extent of the telephone call. Carly was distrustful of men in general, but Sean was striving to help her overcome her fear and her negative feelings toward her father.

Everything had happened so fast that night. Robert was finishing a shift as a third year medical student, when the ER paged him. He was angry that he would not be going home nearly as soon as he wanted to, but he trudged down the stairs to see what was waiting for him.

He could remember how empty the ER was the night. A younger Anspaugh pulled him aside to tell him that his sister and her boyfriend were brought in that night. Anspaugh heard that it was a terrible car accident and they were lucky to be in critical condition. A million thoughts whirled about Robert's head . . . where was Carolyn was the first. Anspaugh explained that Carolyn was in stable condition, but would require a few days in the unit to recover from subdermal hematomas and a few fractured bones.

Robert remembered watching Isabella die after the emergency surgery to repair her liver and a perforated bowel. The renal failure set in very fast, as did the jaundice. Robert knew that his sister would be gone soon. Isabella would occasionally fade into consciousness and ask about her daughter. Robert assured her that he would take care of Carolyn no matter what happened. After four gruesome days, Isabella died of a pulmonary embolism that had traveled to her heart. Only then did the staff mention that Sean had died during surgery four days earlier.

His sister looked so beautiful on the day of her funeral. Her hair was combed and straightened. Her pale white cheeks were highlighted with a soft pink. Her lips were painted a beautiful shade of pearly, pink. Isabella was finally at peace after four days of a maddening hell that would end in the release of her spirit.

Robert decided that he would have Isabella and Sean buried next to each other in a cemetery on the north side. It was near the neighborhood where they had all grown up. Few people attended the ceremony. Carly's teacher was there along with her principal. A few of Robert's coworkers and a few family friends that had known Isabella. Of course, Sean's family was there . . . a huge pack of them. Carolyn's father never showed up to see the mother of his daughter put to rest and by then Carolyn was old enough to understand the hurt that came along with that.

"Robert, your pager is going off," Elizabeth commented as she walked by where Robert was seated.

"Oh, shit," Robert said as he ran out of the room.

"John, your pager is going off," Deb said as she gently shook his shoulder.

John's eyes flew open. He felt horribly exhausted as he pulled his pager out of his carrying case.

"Deb, can you watch Alec for a little bit? The med. unit is paging me to Carly's room," John said as he yawned loudly and stretched.

"Go. Just try to come back as soon as you can?" Deb said as she slumped into the chair that John had just vacated.

"Thanks, Deb," John said as he pushed open the door.

John slowly walked to the elevators. He rubbed his eyes and tried to force himself into consciousness. His body was absolutely exhausted and all he desired was just a few more hours of sleep . . . in his own bed, in his own home.

"Carter, are you headed upstairs?" Frank called out to him as John passed by the reception desk.

"Yeah, Deb's with Alec in the lounge," John replied as he continued to stroll to the elevator.

"Your friend coded about fifteen minutes ago," Frank said as he drew his eyes down to the chart that he had previously been entering into the computer.

"Damn," John said as he ran to the nearest stairwell.

John ran up the four flights of stairs to the medicine unit. Crushing pain spread through his chest, as he became increasingly physically exhausted. He knew that his recent addiction to cigarettes was probably the culprit and made a mental note to quit very soon. His feet made a dull thudding noise as he continued to run to her room. A million thoughts ran through his mind as he closed in on the room. John could hear a surgical forcefully being flung at the wall. The sharp clanking of metal scared the hell out of him and was his only insight as to what Carly's condition was.

A stream of doctors and respiratory therapists exited Carly's room. They were muttering among themselves about how they had made a good effort. John's mouth instantly became dry and vomit began to swell in his throat. His pace picked up as he ran to the door.

He stared through the window at Romano. Romano was sitting next to Carly with his head resting on her stomach. He was openly sobbing as he clung tighter and tighter to his last of kin. John tried to bring himself to look at Carly, but he was terrified. He had not feared death this intensely since Bobbie had died.

"She threw a pulmonary embolism, Dr. Carter. It started in her lungs and traveled to her heart. We tried everything in our power to bring her back, but the embolism was to far along to transfer her to have a green filter. We are sorry for your loss. I heard she was your student . . . a looker, huh? Shitty luck you have with students, Carter," Dale Edison said as he repeated his monologue in a monotone, rehearsed way.

"Bastard," John said as he turned around and punched Dale in the face as hard as he possibly could, "You fucking, bastard. Don't you dare trivialize this the way you did Lucy's death."

"Chill out, Carter. Go smoke some crack, and you'll be fine," Dale muttered as he regained his footing.

"Fuck off," John spit angrily as he punched him again.

John pushed his way into Carly's room. Death had sprung upon her so cruelly. Her lips were a dark blue and her brown eyes were still partially open. The beginnings of rigor mortis began to show in her muscle tone. Her blonde hair fell victim to several wrappers from intubation kits and pre-filled syringes of epinephrine.

"I am sorry, Dr. Romano," John said softly as he tried to choke back the tears ebbing in his throat.

"So am I," Robert said as he began to weep openly again.

John quickly turned on his heel and ran out of the room. He ran across the hall into the restroom. John vomited as pictures of Carly alive and dead ran through his mind. Once he was finished, he leaned heavily against the door wondering what to do next.




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