| Such Sweet Sorrow |
Opens at Gamma’s house.
Carter is in bed, not sleeping. He gets up, and walks outside. He stops by the pool to smoke a cigarette.
CUT TO: Carol’s house.
She is awakened by the sound of a crying baby. She slowly gets out of bed and heads towards the nursery.
Carol: to Kate Hey sweetie, go back to sleep, okay?
to Tess Yeah, yeah, yeah, shh, shh, shh. laughs What happened, did you have a bad dream? Oh, man Tess, you’re killing me.
CUT TO: The hospital
Abby is asleep in an exam room when Haleh walks in.
Haleh: Abby? Abby?
Abby: sleepily Yeah?
Haleh: Paramedics are bringing in a 22-year-old woman. Pelvic pain.
Abby: Okay.
Haleh: You getting up?
Abby: Yep.
Haleh: You want me to wake Malucci?
Abby: sits up and sighs Nope, I’m up. I’m sorry. How long was I out?
Haleh: About 20 minutes.
Abby: Oh, well that must be why I feel so refreshed.
They walk out the room towards the ambulance bay. Lydia joins them outside.
Abby: Is this, um, some kind of med student hazing, or do you just hate me?
Haleh: You’re younger than us, prettier than us, and skinnier than us. We hate you.
Abby: Thanks for the candor.
Haleh: Any time.
Abby puts her hair up and shivers.
Abby: It’s cold out here. I should have brought my jacket.
Lydia: So go back in. We don’t need you to help us push in a gurney.
Abby: You know, I never even thought I’d get into med school. I was just looking for a change.
Haleh: You really want to stop talking before one of us hits you.
CUT TO: Mark’s house.
Mark is sorting through some old photos. He pauses when he comes to one of his parents. He goes over to where Rachel is sleeping and strokes her hair.
Mark: I love you. Do I tell you that enough? I love you.
Opening Credits roll
CUT TO: Ambulance Bay.
Luka is attempting, but failing, to play basketball. Carol walks up, carrying Tess and pushing Kate in her stroller. They start fussing.
Carol: Hey.
Luka: Hey.
Carol: I didn’t know you played basketball.
Luka: I don’t. to Tess Hello Tess. Did you let your mommy sleep for a change?
Carol: No, she did not.
Luka: Did I make you angry?
Carol looks confused.
The flowers on your birthday?
Carol: No, they were beautiful.
Luka: They weren’t animal crackers, huh?
Carol: You heard about that, huh?
Luka: Are you still in love with him?
Carol: I don’t know. You know, I think I’m still too angry with him to think straight.
Luka: I would think so.
Carol: Why?
He taps Tess’ hat.
Carol: No, it wasn’t like that. Doug didn’t know I was pregnant when he left.
Luka: He didn’t come back when he found out.
Carol: Well, it wasn’t all Doug. I could have gone with him. He asked me to.
Luka: Why didn’t you?
Carol: pauses Pride. I wanted him to stay here for me. I thought I should at least be that important to him.
Luka: I still love my wife. But it’s time to get on with my life. Kate starts fussing. Hey, let’s help your mommy get inside, huh? He lifts her out of the stroller into the air. Oh yeah, here we go, like a cowboy. He laughs and turns around to look at Carol and smile before going inside.
CUT TO: An exam room.
Abby is doing a pelvic exam on a young woman.
Abby: Slide your bottom down a little bit.
Patient: God, I hate these.
Abby: How many sexual partners have you had in the last year?
Patient: One.
Abby: Do you use condoms?
Patient: Most of the time. Do you think I’m pregnant?
Abby: No. The urine test came back negative.
Patient: Wow, that didn’t hurt at all.
Abby: Warm water. I know a few tricks.
Patient: I thought you guys kept these in the freezer.
Chuny: I got to remember to tell my gynecologist.
Abby: Cultures?
Haleh: G.C. and chlamydia?
Abby nods.
Patient: You think I might have chlamydia?
Abby: We check everyone for sexually transmitted diseases. There’s a purulent discharge around the cervix.
Patient: I’ve been with my boyfriend for over a year. If he gave me syphilis or something, I’m going to kill him.
Abby: We haven’t made a diagnosis yet. Speculum’s coming out. I’m going to move your cervix. Tell me if this hurts.
The patient cries out in pain.
Sorry, there’s no other way to do that. I’ll try to be gentle when I examine your ovaries. Okay, you can put your legs down now, everything seems fine. It’s probably P.I.D.
Patient: P.I.D.?
Abby: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. We’ll give you a shot of antibiotics, some pills, and I’ll throw in something for the pain. Okay, you can go ahead and get dressed.
She leaves and walks down the hall with Haleh and Chuny.
250 of ceftriaxone I.M., a gram of zithromax P.O. and 550 of anaprox. Hang on to her for 30 minutes. Make sure she doesn’t have an allergic reaction.
Chuny: You want me to get Malucci to sign off?
Abby: No, I’ve seen more of these than he has. Let him sleep.
Chuny: I could find Weaver.
Haleh: I wouldn’t go there. She’s on her second double this week. Been here since yesterday morning.
Abby: Weaver’s upstairs with a code in the C.C.U.
Abby walks off.
Chuny: I heard Mark’s coming back today.
Haleh: Thank God. If Weaver gets any nastier, we’re going to have to call Animal Control.
CUT TO: Weaver crutching down the hallway, screaming loudly.
Kerry: Amira! Amira!
Desk Clerk: Frank.
Kerry: Where’s Amira.
Frank: She got off at seven.
Kerry: Who are you?
Frank: Frank. Personnel sent me down.
Kerry: You have any experience, Frank?
Frank: 26 years as a Chicago cop.
Kerry: In medicine?
Frank: I had my knee replaced about 6 months ago.
Kerry: Oh, this is great. What the hell are all those people doing out there?
Frank: Sick, I guess.
Kerry: Well, thank you for that astute and penetrating observation, Frank. Why aren’t they being seen by doctors?
Frank: I don’t know, I just got here.
Lydia: No docs. Abby’s down in sutures.
Kerry: Dr. Malucci’s here.
Lydia: I think he’s asleep in Exam 1.
Kerry: What about Kovac?
Frank: Foreign guy?
Kerry: Yes.
Frank: He and some nurse came in together, brought her babies upstairs to daycare.
Kerry: Dr. Chen, Dr. Carter?
Frank: Some people came in when I did. I think they’re in the lounge.
Kerry: It’s five after seven. Is there some kind of natural disaster that I’m unaware of? An earthquake, or half of Chicago swallowed up by a giant sinkhole?
Frank: Could you stop yelling at me? I was here on time.
Lydia: Mark Greene called, said he’d be in after 10. Had to stop by the mortuary.
Kerry: Okay, hey, Lydia, you still have that rape whistle thing?
Lydia pulls out the whistle and hands it to her.
Get on the phone to everyone who’s supposed to be here and scream on their machines that they’re late. And if they answer, tell them they’re fired.
Kerry walks towards Exam 1, where Malucci is asleep.
Kerry: Rise and shine, patients are waiting.
She blows the whistle, causing Malucci to sit up quickly and hit his head on a lamp.
Dr. Malucci, if I don’t see you standing over a sick patient in the next 30 seconds looking compassionate and engaged, you’ll spend the next week doing nothing but disempactions and yeast infections.
Malucci: I’m up Chief, I’m up.
Kerry walks back over to Frank.
Kerry: They’re in the lounge?
Frank Uh-huh. to Lydia She uses a whistle?
CUT TO: The lounge.
Chen and Carter are standing at their lockers.
Chen: You okay, Carter?
Carter: Yeah, fine.
Chen: You look terrible.
Carter: Thank you.
Kerry knocks on the window and walks in.
Kerry: Dr. Carter, what time do you have?
Carter: Five minutes after seven.
Kerry: So why are you two still in the lounge? The 7 o’clock shift starts at 7. That means you get here in time to be seeing patients at 7. Is that clear? Move it, County’s not paying you to drink coffee.
She exits.
Chen: Whoo, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the coffin.
Carter: Today ought to be a lot of fun.
They walk out.
CUT TO: Admit desk and board.
Kerry is assigning patients to the staff.
Kerry: Chen, weak and dizzy in Exam 2 and abdominal pain in Curtain 1. Malucci, bleeding hemorrhoids in Exam 8.
Malucci: Oh, oh, come on Chief.
Kerry: Hemorrhoids in 8 and a boil that needs lancing in 5.
Malucci: Oh, terrific.
Kerry: I hope that voice is one of unbridled enthusiasm.
Malucci: Oh, I can’t wait.
Kerry: Oh, and keep an eye on your med student for a change. Where is Abby?
Haleh: P.I.D. down in sutures.
Kerry: You’re supervising, Malucci?
Malucci: Uh, yeah.
Kerry: Carter, take the pyelo lady in Curtain 3. Kovac, rule out M.I. or a nail through the hand still waiting in chairs.
Luka: Both.
Malik: EMS is bringing in a terminal cancer patient. 5 minutes out.
Kerry: Okay, Carol, that’ll be us. Let’s get cracking people. There’s plenty more where those came from.
They head off in their separate directions. Malucci and Carter walk down the hall together.
Malucci: Butt boil and hemorrhoids. This is what I went to medical school for.
Carter: It could be worse. There’s an explosive diarrhea up there.
Malucci: You okay Hoss, you don’t look so good.
Carter: So everybody keeps telling me. I’m having trouble sleeping.
Malucci: Try reading the annals at bedtime. That-that usually puts me right out.
Malik walks up.
Malik: You want me to dip a urine on our pyelo?
Carter: Yeah, yeah, in fact I’ll be right in. I’m just going to use the bathroom. to Malucci You on all night?
Malucci: Yeah, I was supposed to be off today. I swapped with Cleo. She’s taking my Saturday night. Got tickets for Rage Against The Machine, my friend. Right in the pit, baby.
Carter: Hey, lucky you.
Malucci: I think Weaver’s got it in for me. I don’t know what I did to Festus to get her so pissed.
Carter: Well, maybe it was calling her Festus.
Malucci: Well never to her face.
Carter enters the bathroom and goes to the sink. A toilet flushes and a man walks up beside him.
Carter: How’s it going?
Man: All right.
He leaves. Carter continues to stare into the mirror.
CUT TO: A hallway.
Paramedics are wheeling a woman on a gurney down the hall with Kerry, Carol, a man, and 2 young girls.
Man: I couldn’t wake her.
Paramedic: BP is 85 over 60. Tachy at 122. Mr. O’Brien said she hadn’t eaten anything in a couple days.
Carol: Has she had any fluids?
Mr. O’Brien: A little ginger ale yesterday. She was operated on for a bowel obstruction last month. They said the tumor spread to her liver and diaphragm.
They push the gurney into an exam room.
Kerry: She could be encephelopathic from liver failure.
Mr. O’Brien: What does that mean?
Kerry: Your wife’s liver isn’t removing toxins from her blood. That might explain why she isn’t waking up. Okay, here we go now, 1, 2, 3. Carol get a C.B.C., lytes, liver panel, and a P.T.
Conni: Resps are down to 8.
Kerry: Mr. O’Brien, your wife’s breathing is very slow. We may have to decide whether or not to intubate.
Mr. O’Brien: Oh, God.
Carol: Does she have a Do Not Resuscitate order?
Mr. O’Brien: Yes, she doesn’t want any machines. Is…is there any way you can help her?
Kerry: We’ll give her some I.V. fluids and see if that makes her more comfortable, all right? Carol, could you show Mr. O’Brien and his family to where they can wait, please?
Carol: Sure. Let’s go see if we can find some crayons and coloring books, okay?
Younger girl: Bye-bye Mommy! waves
Carol: to older girl holding a box Come on, sweetheart.
Older girl: I brought her things. That’s my job when we go to the hospital. She likes to have her things with her.