ER: Doug and Carol Series

Story #28

The Parent Trap

by: Courtney

“Morning,” Doug says as he enters the kitchen and kisses Carol’s cheek.

“Good morning doctor,” she replies with a smile. Doug goes to the counter to fix himself a cup of coffee. It’s just after 6am and he and Carol are both on at 7am. “You sleep well?” she asks.

“Yeah, fine,” he says as he sits down beside her at the table.

“I heard you get up in the middle of the night. Everything okay?”

“Fine,” he smiles a little at this. “I guess I’m caught. I was checking on Charlie. I heard her come in, but, well, I wanted to be sure she got to sleep okay and everything.”

Carol smiles. “Are we going to ask her about the adoption today?”

“Yeah, I guess we should. She’s definitely involved. I hope she agrees with us,” just as he finishes his sentence, Charlie walks into the kitchen.

“Who agrees about what?” she asks with a yawn.

Doug looks up, surprised to see her there. “It’s a little early on a Saturday for you isn’t it?” he comments as she makes her way to the coffee pot.

“Definitely. But, I promised Kerry I’d be there at 8 o’clock this morning.”

“Now is as good a time as any Doug,” Carol tells him. He looks from Carol to Charlie.

“What? What’s going on here? What are you two up to?” asks the girl between sips from her coffee mug.

Doug sighs, “Sit down. Carol and I need to ask you something. It’s pretty important.” Charlie looks concerned all of the sudden, but does as she’s told. “We were wondering, if you want to, if maybe . . . well, if it’d be alright with you if . . . we want to adopt you,” he finally manages.

Charlie sits still for a long moment, her face showing no distinct reaction to these words. She sets her cup on the table and stares from Doug to Carol and back again. Doug and Carol both watch her, wondering if this reaction is good or bad. They don’t have to wait long for their answer. “You’re kidding, right?” Charlie’s face breaks into a wide grin, “You really want to do that? You’re sure?”

“Of course we are,” Doug says. He and Carol are both smiling now, too, as they begin to see that Charlie is pleased with their suggestion.

“I don’t know what to say,” Charlie tells them, still holding her astonished smile.

“Say you’d be as happy to legally be our daughter as we will be to legally be your parents,” Carol smiles. She gets up from her seat and walks around to hug Charlie. Doug gets up to join them and the three embrace for a moment.

Doug and Carol go on to explain the details they have so far about the adoption and what the chances are, what will be involved. Charlie is thrilled with this decision and hugs them both again before they leave for their day at work.

“She seems okay with this,” Doug says with a grin as he and Carol pull away from the house, headed towards County.

“I’d say,” Carol laughs. “I’m really glad we made this decision. It feels really right.”

“Yeah, it does,” he grins.

“So, any idea about when we can start the process?”

“I’ll call her social worker today. Maybe we can get the paperwork started on Monday. Then I guess we wait and see,” Doug says.

Carol reaches across the seat and laces her arm through his as they continue their ride to work.

“Dr. Ross, message for you,” Randi says as Doug and Carol round the corner by the nurses station. She hands Doug a slip of paper.

“Thanks,” he replies, taking the paper.

“Who’s it from?” Carol asks as they go into the lounge together. They still have 15 minutes before their shifts start.

“Ray,” Doug tells her as he reads the message.

“Well, what’s it say?” she prods.

“Just that I need to call him today. I wonder what he wants now,” Doug’s tone is exasperated. He and his father have been on better terms lately, but things are still strained. Doug’s first inclination towards Ray has always been to assume the worst and sort things out later.

“Don’t get upset about it yet. It could be good news,” Carol tells him as they sit together on one of the sofas.

“Yeah, I’ll just bet,” Doug replies.

“So, call him now,” she says.

“No, I think I’ll wait. I don’t have much time now anyway and I’d much rather spend what little I do have with you instead of on the phone with Ray,” he grins slyly and draws Carol to him for a kiss. They are still kissing when Mark walks in.

“And how’s the happy couple this morning?”

“Mahvelous, simply mahvelous,” Doug tells his friend in his best Billy Crystal impersonation.

“Glad to hear it,” Mark smiles as he sits across from his two colleagues.

“Should we tell him?” Doug asks.

“Sure, why not,” Carol replies.

“What, tell me what?” Mark is anxious to hear the news, whatever it may be.

“We’ve decided to adopt Charlie,” Doug grins.

“That’s great, congratulations,” Mark says.

“Thanks,” Doug says, hugging Carol closer to him and smiling. They sit in the lounge for a few more minutes and explain the few details they have so far about the adoption proceedings to Mark. Before long, it is time for Doug and Carol to start their shifts.

“Good morning, you two look happy today,” Kerry says as Carol and Doug approach the nurses station together.

“We are,” Doug replies, wrapping his arms around Carol’s waist. He and Carol proceed to tell the rest of the staff about their recent decision to adopt Charlie.

“I’m so happy for you. You three make a wonderful family,” Kerry smiles.

“Dr. Ross, MVA coming in with a four year old kid,” Haleh says.

“Got it,” Doug grabs the chart and heads off towards the ambulance bay doors as the child is wheeled in. Carol stays behind at the desk to begin some paper work.

“That’s exciting news,” Carter says to her as he goes over a few charts in front of him.

“Yeah, we’re pretty pleased,” Carol says with a smile.

“Charlie’s happy, too, I’m sure,” he comments.

“I think so. I mean, I’m pretty sure this is what she wants, too,” Carol tells him.

“Oh yeah, I know it is. She’s got to be ecstatic,” Carter says. Carol is glad to hear this from Carter. She knows how good of a friend he is to Charlie. If anyone would know how the girl feels on this subject, it would be John Carter. “Is she coming in today?” he asks.

“Yeah, Kerry asked her to be here at 8 o’clock this morning,” Carol says. She looks at her watch, “She should be here before long.”

“Great, if you see her, tell her to catch up with me, okay?” He signs one last chart and puts it in its place.

“Sure thing,” Carol says. Carter nods a thank you to her and hurries off to help with an incoming patient.

“Hey Doug, can I talk to you a second?” Mark asks as he enters an exam room where Doug is standing, looking over the chart of his last patient.

“Sure Mark, what’s up?” he responds, glancing up at Mark as he enters.

“Well, I just wanted to see how things were with you and Carol. Is everything alright?”

“Of course, why do you ask?” Doug is clearly puzzled by this question.

Mark shrugs, “I don’t know, I just know you’ve both been through a lot in the last few months. And now this thing with Charlie, well, that’s pretty big. So, you’re both okay? Things are going alright?” Mark’s concern is obvious.

Doug smiles, “We’re fine Mark. Thanks for caring, but things are a lot better lately. I think we’re finally getting our lives back on track.”

“That’s good,” Mark smiles. “I know this thing with Sarah has been really rough. We haven’t talked in a while. You know if you ever need to talk . . .”

Doug cuts him off. “I’m fine.”

“I know, you’re always fine. But take it from someone who knows, keeping your emotions hidden is definitely *not* the way to be,” Mark says.

“Ah, so we're back to the Susan Lewis conversation are we?” Doug asks with a small grin.

“No, not at all,” Mark counters. “That’s in the past. I’m just saying, I know what it’s like. If I hadn’t had my friends after Susan left, and then with the attack . . . well, I’m just grateful I had someone to talk to. And I’m always here to repay the favor.”

“I know. You’re a great friend. And, if I feel like talking, you’re the first guy I’ll come to. But, right now, I’m feeling a lot better about life. I think things are looking up for me and Carol. As soon as this adoption gets underway, we can start having a normal life. I know Carol isn’t completely past losing Sarah. She probably never will be. Neither will I,” he admits, “but I think this is a step in the right direction, for both of us.”

“I think so, too,” Mark says with a smile. “So, Charlie’s pretty psyched?”

“Pretty much,” Doug chuckles. “You should have seen her before we left the house. I’ve never seen her so excited. She's really happy about this,” it is obvious that Doug is just as excited at the mere prospect.

“That’s so great. I hope things work out,” Mark says.

“Well, it’s looking better and better,” Doug says. “I talked to her social worker just a little while ago and she seems to be behind us 100 percent. She says the paperwork will be started on Monday. With any luck, they may be out to interview Carol and I within a few weeks.”

“Well, just let me know when and I’ll be sure you have the day off,” Mark offers.

“Thanks, I appreciate that. So, how’s it going with you lately?”

“Not bad. Nina and I have a date tonight.”

“Nina? I thought you two broke up months ago,” Doug comments.

“Yeah, we did,” Mark says, “but we decided we both wanted to give it another try.

“That’s great, I like Nina a lot. So, does this mean you two are getting serious?” Doug grins.

“I guess that depends on what you’d call serious. We’re not getting married in the near future or anything like that, but I think it’s safe to say we’re exclusive. We’ve been back together for a few weeks now.”

“A few weeks? And I’m just hearing about it? Where have I been?” Doug asks.

“Beats me,” Mark grins.

“Yeah, I guess I’m a lousy best friend, huh?” Doug laments. “I always seem to be too wrapped up in my own life I suppose.”

“No, I understand. Things have been pretty rough lately. You’ve had a lot on your mind. Besides, my life is taking a turn for the better so I’m not moping around because we don’t talk as much. I know you’re there when I really need you. The only thing I worry about is that you get so consumed by trying to be everything to everybody and forget you have people to fall back on, too,” Mark says.

“Gee, I just gave almost the exact same speech to Carol less than a week ago,” Doug grins.

“Well, you should practice what you preach, bud. It’s good advice.”

“Yeah,” Doug smiles, “it is.”

“John!” Carter hears behind him. He turns to see Charlie approach.

“Hey, long time no see,” he comments as she nears him. He’s standing at the end of the hall, leaning against a cart and going over a few recent charts. “What’s it been, two weeks since you worked last?”

“Something like that,” she tells him. “I had that show for art class so I was getting things ready.”

“Oh yeah, how’d that go?”

“Good, I won in two different categories,” she tells him. The art class she takes after school participated in a county wide art show the past week and she had gotten several awards, one for pottery and the other for photo realism.

“So, glad to be back?” John inquires.

“Yeah, I am,” Charlie smiles. “I’ve missed everyone. Is Maggie working today?”

“No, she’s off,” he tells her. John, Maggie and Charlie had gotten to be very good friends over the past few months. Over the summer, they had all played pool together at least once a week. “Is she still coming with us Sunday?”

“I’m pretty sure, unless she’s had something come up,” John tells her. They made plans to go out together on Sunday afternoon since they were all off of work and hadn’t seen one another in a while.

“So, where are we going?”

“I’ve been waiting for you two to decide,” Carter says.

“Well, I haven’t seen her any more than I’ve seen you. I guess I’ll call her today and see what she says,” Charlie decides.

“That’s good. Just let me know what you decide. I’m easy.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Charlie laughs. “Speaking of easy, how’d your date with Angel go?”

Carter gives her a sarcastic smirk and says, “Ha, ha, very funny. I don’t understand why you don’t like her. She’s very nice.” Angel is a girl he had met several weeks before at the pool hall. She had been back several times while John, Charlie, and Maggie were there playing. John seemed to hit it off with her, but Maggie and Charlie had continually told him she wasn’t right for him.

“I never said I didn’t like her . . .,” Charlie says.

“Oh no, you and Maggie just find every way in the world to insult her in front of me,” he comments.

Charlie sighs, “I’m sorry, really. How did things go?”

John sighs as well and looks down at a chart. “Not so good,” he replies. “I hate to admit it, but I think maybe you and Maggie were right after all. She’s just not my type.”

Charlie gives him a smug grin but says nothing.

“I know, I know, you told me so,” John chuckles as he picks up his charts and heads down the hall towards the nurses station.

“I didn’t say a word,” Charlie replies as she follows him, but her face says it all.

“Time of death, 10:52am,” Doug says sadly as he looks down at the boy on the table before him. The kid is no more than 13 years old. He had come in less than half an hour before with a gun shot wound to the chest. There was really nothing they could do for him. In effect, he was already dead when he arrived.

“It’s tough, I know,” Mark says, placing his hand on Doug’s shoulder. “It’s a shame. But, until they stop joining these gangs, we just have to keep doing our best with them when we get them. Sometimes even doctors can’t make miracles,” he tells his friend.

“I know,” Doug says as they leave the exam room. “It’s just, lately, every time I lose one, I think of the parents, you know? I thought about it before, too, but know that I really know what it’s like . . . It just makes it so much harder.”

“I know,” Mark says sadly, “I know.”

Doug breaks from his somber mood and looks at his watch. With a slightly annoyed look, he says, “I’ve got to go make a phone call.”

“Something wrong?” Mark asks as he sees Doug is definitely not looking forward to this call.

“Not yet, but I’m calling Ray. He’ll find something, I’m sure,” Doug rolls his eyes and trudges off towards the lounge.

Mark watches him go for a moment, then shakes his head and returns to his work.

Maggie Doyle looks up from her magazine as the phone rings. She reaches over and picks it up. “Hello?”

“Hey, Maggie, it’s Charlie,” comes the greeting.

“Charlie, hey! I haven’t heard from you in ages. What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. I’m working today and John and I were talking about Sunday. We were wondering if you’re still up for it?”

“Sunday? Oh yeah, we’re all supposed to do something. Did we decide what we’re doing?” she asks.

“No, John says it’s up to you and I. What do you think?”

“We could always play pool,” she offers.

“Yeah, I was sort of thinking the same thing.”

“Only thing is,” Maggie says with a grin, “we would run the risk of running into *Angel*.” As she says this last word, her voice drips with sarcasm.

Charlie giggles, “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. They finally went out and John was . . . well, let’s just say he was less than pleased with our pal Angel. Seems they didn’t hit it off so well. So, I guess he’s back on the hunt,” she smiles. One of the most entertaining things about their pool dates is the way John tries to pick up women the whole time. Maggie and Charlie have a pretty good time just watching the show. And, even though they both admit it’s purely evil, they love it when he gets turned down. Not because they don’t want him to succeed or anything, he’s just so silly sometimes they have a hard time keeping straight faces.

“Well, in that case, I am definitely in,” Maggie says with a smile.

“Great, see you tomorrow then. I’ll talk to John at lunch and we’ll decide on a time and call you later, okay?”

“Great, bye.”

“Bye.”

“How’d I know I’d find you up here?” Carol asks as she walks out onto the hospital roof and approaches Doug. He’s standing in his usual spot, looking out over Chicago.

“I have a feeling you had some help from a certain balding doctor we both know,” Doug smirks.

“Maybe just a hint,” Carol smiles. “So, what’s up?”

He shrugs, “Nothing much.”

“Nothing much, huh? That’s why you’re out here? I know you come up here when something’s bothering you. Can’t you talk to me?” she asks.

He sighs and turns to look at Carol. “I called Ray,” he tells her.

“Yeah? Things went that well?” she can see there’s some sort of problem.

“I don’t know, I just can’t figure him out sometimes,” Doug says as he looks back out at the city below.

“Why don’t you tell me about it,” Carol says gently as she wraps her arm around his waist.”

“What’s to tell? He’s just the same old Ray,” Doug tells her.

“What exactly did he say?” she asks.

“Okay, I called him back, like he asked. After I talked to half a dozen secretaries, he gets on the phone and says he has something for me. He wants me to meet him at some bar after work.”

“What else?” Carol wants to know.

“That’s it,” Doug replies.

“Well, how do you know it‘s bad?”

“He’s never given me something without wanting something in return,” Doug explains.

Carol hugs his waist tighter. “I’m sure it’ll turn out okay.” He wraps his arms around her as well and nods, hoping she’s right.

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Created by Courtney Stovall © 1998

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