Chapter 10

"Really? You honestly mean I can?" Nick asked Dr. Turtle as he basically jumped up and down in excitement. The young surgeon smiled.

"Yes, Nick, you can run the ER today by yourself and handle all our waiting room patients. I'll be up here in the surgical ward with Dr. Richardson all day but if you need me, you can page me and I'll come. Meanwhile Dr. Littrell should be around and Katie will be on all day as well. I don't really know what Dr. Richardson has planned for AJ, so he may be joining you too." Nick looked scared all of a sudden.

"you really think I'm ready to do this?" She gave him a knowing look.

"Nick, you're an excellent student and I know you'll be an excellent doctor one day. You've been ready for this." He took a deep breath.

"Okay, and I can call you if I need you right?" She nodded.

"Yes, it's no problem. I have my pager on," she told him patting it. "Check in with Dr. Littrell and good luck!" Nick nodded, running off.

"Thanks Dr. Turtle! Thanks a lot!"  He rushed to the elevator and bumped right into AJ, who was exiting as he climbed on. AJ nodded at him in greeting Nick grinned.

"Hey Jay! Guess what?" AJ turned.

"What Blondie?" Nick smirked at the nickname.

"I get to run the ER all by myself today!" AJ's jaw dropped.

"Get outta town!" Nick laughed.

"For real! Dr. Turtle said I could! And she said you could help me!" AJ sighed.

"I wish I could Nick, I really wish I could. But Dr. Richardson wants me to assist him in surgery today." Nick frowned.

"Surgery? What kind?" AJ groaned.

"Some arm surgery...takes 4 hours. I have a feeling his 'assisting' translates into lots of suctioning."  Nick gave AJ a thoughtful look.

"If you finish early come down. I'm sure I'll need the help." AJ saluted him.

"You got it Dr. Nick!" Nick smiled.

"Well, not yet, but I'm moving up in the world." He told the rebel med. student, stepping onto the elevator. He really felt wanted now and he was determined to do a good job. Stepping off on the ground floor, he surveyed the waiting room, seeing about 20 patients waiting to be seen. Nick mumbled under his breath as he walked by and all the patients yelled to him, asking when they were going to be seen.

"They shouldn't call them patients because that's the last thing they are!" He entered the lounge area and found Dr. Littrell relaxing on the couch, his eyes closed. Nick tapped his shoulder and Brian's eyes shot open.

"Oh, hey Nick." The young student frowned at the pediatrician's pale face.

"You okay Bri?" Brian gave him a tired smile and sat up slowly.

"Yeah I was just resting, I think I have a slight fever and I'm not feeling too hot." Nick stepped back warily.

"Are you gonna' throw up?" Dr. Littrell laughed.

"No, I promise. I don't have any nausea. Just the dizziness and fever." Nick looked relieved.

"Thank God, this is a new shirt." Brian smiled at his friend.

"What can I do for you?" Nick jiggled his leg nervously.

"Well, Dr. turtle told me to tell you that she gave me permission to handle cases on my own today." The doctor gave the student a happy look.

"That's excellent Nick! Are you all ready for this?" Nick nodded.

"Yeah, I think I am. But I just wanted to tell you, in case, you know, I need you." He blushed. Brian chuckled.

"Well, I'll be seeing all the kids in that waiting room. But you holler if you need anything, okay?" Nick smiled happily.

"Yup and can I borrow Katie?" The doctor laughed again.

"You most certainly can. I'll only need her if a trauma comes in or if I need extensive testing on a patient, but she can be with you till of if that happens." Nick grabbed his stethoscope and paused for a moment before heading to the door.

"See you later Dr. Littrell and I hope you feel better!" Brian waved him off.

"I'll be fine Nick, it's nothing. Good luck and most importantly, have fun out there. Make Dr. Turtle proud of you though I know she already is."

"Thanks, that means a lot to me." He told the pediatrician as he walked out. "Okay." He whispered viewing all the miserable patients. "Where do I begin?"

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"...Lean...Mr.... McLean?" AJ snapped to attention.

"Yes, Dr. Richardson?" The green eyed surgeon sent him an annoyed look.

"Are you falling asleep over there?" AJ shook his head.

'No, sir, just thinking, that's all." The doctor set his attention back on his patient.

"Well, think later." AJ snickered. He had been holding the suction in the exact same place for two hours...the EXACT same place. And besides that, he hadn't had much sleep last night. He had gotten in late and couldn't sleep because of what had happened to Hazel and because his stomach was still upset. What'd he give for a quick nap...Just a half an hour of sleep... "Mr. McLean!"

Like that would happen.

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"Okay Nick, what do you want to order?" Katie questioned the student as he viewed their patient on the gurney; a 25 year old with a nasty spider bite on his leg. Nick squinted at the chart and turned to the man.

"Now, Mr. Williams, are you positive the spider isn't poisonous? Because if it is, I need to hook you up to some extensive antibiotics right away." The patient shook his head.

"No Doc. I'm sure! I catch these babies for a living. Look! I'll even show you this bad boy!" He reached into his bag and took out a jar which housed a large brown spider. "See? He's friendly until I make him angry. That's why he attacked. I can even show you it in the book. It's not poisonous, I promise." Katie jumped back to the door.

"Put that thing away now!" She told the man, almost freaking out. He noticed her frightened look.

"Okay, sorry miss." He put the spider back into the bag. Nick finished writing on the chart.

"Okay sir, I'm gonna lance the bite and then give you a cream to take home with you. You'll need to apply it once a day for a week and keep the wound clean and dry." The patent nodded.

"That's it?" The student thought for a second.

"Well, come back if it gets worse or infected. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back to do the procedure." He stepped into the hallway and in front of Katie.

"Not a big spider fan?" Katie shuddered.

"I hate bugs, I'm sorry." Nick laughed.

"It's okay, how you doin? You feeling better You still don't look good." He asked her. Katie nodded.

"I'm better thanks. I think it's just the fatigue." Nick frowned.

"I can tell you aren't 100% by your eyes. They give away everything."

Katie blushed. "Guess there's no lying to you huh?" Nick smiled.

"I've seen a lot of sick people and you can always tell by their eyes if they're well or not." The nurse looked surprised.

"Nick, you are going to be a great doctor." It was his turn to blush.

"Aw, thanks Katie. I just like to learn things and I'm learning something new here everyday. I really like it in this hospital." She nodded knowingly.

"Me too, it's the perfect environment for me, I don't like things so incredibly busy where I lose it." The young man grinned, gathering his supplies from the supply closet.

"I would have never guessed that. You're like Super Nurse here." She laughed.

"Well, someone's gotta make sure things stay in order." Nick shut the supply door and went to re enter the room.

"well, you do a good job to that. Just don't let it get to you too much." She rubbed her face, smiling slightly.

"You either."

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"So there's nothing we can do?" Brian looked up at the mother of his four year old patient with sadness on his face.

"I'm sorry ma'am, the cancer is too far advanced for us to perform anymore surgery on her." The mother shook her head, battling tears.

"There...there has to be something! Anything! I don't care how much it costs-" Brian laid his hand on her trembling shoulder. "I'm very sorry. If there was an option, you know I'd jump right on it. Putting Christina through another operation would surely kill her." He told the upset mother. She shut her eyes momentarily.

"I know you would Dr. Littrell. We've been with you since Christina was diagnosed and we trust your judgment. It's just that this is so hard." She whispered, tears making their way down her cheeks. Brian bit his lip and looked at the curly haired little girl that lay in the hospital bed, her father at her side. He had diagnosed her with leukemia about a year and a half ago and had tried everything in his power to send her into remission. The latest test results had shown that the disease was in the end stages though. And there was no more he could do. He was interrupted out of his thoughts by the mother.

"How..how long." Brian sighed sadly.

"I'd say about 2 weeks." Christina's mother nodded, unable to speak because of her emotions. She hugged the young doctor.

"Thank you. For everything. You were Christina's angel through this rough time and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart." Brian hugged her back.

"Well, now she'll get to be a real angel up in heaven." He told her, as she pulled away from his embrace. He said good bye to the father, shaking his hand and patted the curly head of his comatose patient. "Bye sweetie." With that he walked out into the pediatric ICU ward and towards the elevator to go back downstairs to the ER, wiping away his own tears on the way.

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"How many more Katie?" Nick asked the nurse as he glanced into the waiting room. They had been seeing patients all day and were down to their last five or so. Katie glanced over the charts on the almost clean front desk. "Seven, think you can do it?" Nick smiled,

"We came this far didn't we?" He glanced up as the doors opened and Howie came in wheeling a stretcher.

"Nick! I got one for you. But don't worry, it's not critical. just a few broken bones I think." He gestured to the middle aged man on the gurney. "You go this? Cause my shifts over if you do." Nick nodded.

"Thanks Howie. Have a good night." He said to the paramedic. "Hello Sir, my name is Nick Carter. Can you tell me what happened?" The man answered in a gruff voice.

"Fell down the stairs."

"Did you hit your head?" Nick asked, looking at his eyes.

"No, my leg and side are killing me though." Nick nodded sympathetically.

"You probably broke some ribs." He glanced at the open leg fracture. "And I suspect you'll need a rod put in your leg surgically, but I can't be positive till I x-ray it. What's your name? I don't think I caught it." The patient chuckled softly.

"Names Ted." Nick smiled.

"Okay Ted, I'm gonna fix you right up don't you worry about a thing." He called to the nurse. "Katie I'll need a set of leg x-rays and upper torso x-rays and an IV when you get the chance." The nurse nodded tiredly. "Oh and Katie?" She looked up at Nick.

"Now I know I can do it."