Where to start? (2a/?)
A/N Holly damn me! Ummm...Patricia THANK YOU AGAIN! :D
Ok! Few words of explanation: There's new character in this chapter Mrs. Delma Paluch and she's a figment of my girlfriend's imagination. "Delma" is a margarine here in Europe. And paluch means toe in polish! I thought that I will keep her for a while in this story.
According Patricia's one comment in edited version of this chapter I think there's one thing that some of you might be waiting for ;P!
Ok lets bring that crap!
P.S. about photos... Erica's new house was "built" from 4 totally different houses ;) hope you will like it!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to start? (2a/?)
The next day started with a surprise for Erica. While she was in the hotel’s lobby, one of the receptionists called after her.
“Dr. Hahn, there’s a letter for you.”
“Thank you.” Erica took the simple brown envelope and headed towards her car. She was supposed to meet Kevin in 30 minutes to see the house he had found. When she finally got to her car, she took the brown envelope, opened it, and read the letter which was inside.
“Erica,
Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. I slept like a child thanks to you. I know that you have plans with Kevin today, but maybe later we can go somewhere if you would like to. Please call me; my number is on the back. Thank you again,
Laura.”
Erica exhaled loudly. She didn’t even notice that she had been holding her breath . “Ahh… what the hell…” She fished her cell from her purse and dialed Laura’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Laura. This is Erica… I… you…” Erica rolled her eyes. “I’ve got your letter.”
“Hi!” Erica could hear her smiling. “So, do you have any plans after your meeting with Kevin?”
“No. That’s why I am calling.”
“Right!” Laura chuckled. “Can I invite you for diner?”
“You can.”
“Do you always respond in that way?” She asked.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.” Erica said lightly embarrassed.
“It’s ok.” Laura laughed. “Does that mean yes?”
“Yes.”
“There’s an Indian restaurant, Indigma, On North Charles Street.”
“Yes, it’s not so far from the Hospital.”
“Yeah. Can we meet there? I’m sorry I would love to pick you up from your Hotel or whenever you will be, but I have to finish a few things with my friend. I’m out of town at the moment.”
“It’s ok. What time do you want me to be there?” Erica asked.
“Is seven ok?”
“Yes.”
“Great!” said Laura with enthusiasm. “So, I’ll meet you there.”
“Ok. Bye.” Erica hung up and looked at her phone for a while like she was expecting that Laura would jump out from it.
Nearly half an hour later, Erica pulled over on the driveway of the property she was going to look at with Kevin. She stepped out of the car and looked at the house, speechless.
“Nice! Isn’t it?” Kevin appeared next to her.
“It’s amazing. It looks better that in the picture you gave me.” She said, still looking at the building.
“Wait until you see the interior.” He gently pushed her towards the entrance.
“You already saw it?”
“Yes. I decided to take a quick walk. It’s practically 5 minutes on foot across the forest.”
Erica stopped near the front porch and moved to the little garden in front.
“You like it?” A grey haired woman came outside to meet them. “Hello. I’m Delma Paluch.” She was in her late 70’s but looked much younger.
“Erica Hahn, and this is my friend…” Erica started.
“Yes, Kevin. We met a few days ago. I am his new neighbor. We moved to our son’s house and want to sell this one.” She smiled.
“Well, I don’t think you will have any problems with that. It’s amazing. And this garden is…”
“You like it!” Delma cut her off again. “So you will like the one in the back, too.”
They walked into the house passing through a little hallway and walking into the bright, spacious living room. On the other side of the living they could see the kitchen. Both rooms had big windows and doors that lead to the garden.
“It’s so bright in here.” Erica said walking toward the kitchen.
“There are also two bedrooms and bathrooms if you would like to see them.” Delma smiled.
“Yes, of course.”
They moved back to the hallway and turned left to a small corridor with 3 doors. The first one lead to a not so big bedroom. The second one, to a small bathroom. And the last one to the big bedroom with the master bathroom. Also, this room had big patio doors. They went outside into the garden. There were flowers around the building and a big lawn with a few trees and bushes.
“Come, you will love this part.” The older woman led Erica towards the kitchen. “What do you think?”
She showed her the kitchen window, which was covered with ivy and a few other creepers.
Kevin was watching Erica all this time. He had never seen her like that. She was literally amazed and… happy. Kevin saw her smiling before, even laughing but never like that. He smiled at this thought. He was really hoping that she would buy this house. Before Erica arrived, he had asked Mrs. Paluch about the condition of the house and a few other things. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal.
“It was built 15 years ago, and we had a general renovation 6 years ago. The whole building is in perfect state. The only minus is the lack of a garage. But the whole neighborhood of Wetheredsville is safe.” She took few steps towards the kitchen door.
“There’s a security alarm of course, but to be honest, we didn’t use it too often.”
Erica asked her few more questions as they walked back into the house and the older woman answered all of them. With every answer Erica became more excited and Delma could see it very clearly. Kevin could tell that they had both decided that Erica was going to buy this house.
And he was right. A few minutes later, both women shook hands and made an appointment with their respective lawyers to finish all the necessary arrangements.
When they finally said their goodbyes, and Kevin walked Erica to her car, her pager went off.
“I thought that you had the day off.” He said.
Erica checked her pager. “911.” She said, throwing her things onto the passenger seat. “I have to go. Thank you again.” She smiled.
“You’re welcome! I am really glad that you like it.” He closed her door and waved.
“What’s going on?” Erica asked, taking her place in the OR.
“He was shot three times. One bullet hit his artery and two caused big lung damage.”
Erica immediately started to operate. She liked to work in this hospital. There wasn’t any space for gossip or unprofessional behavior. She never thought that she would meet nurses who wanted to learn more than just about the sexual life of their co-workers. Erica liked to work with a few of them and they also appreciated her. When the chief of surgery offered her a job as the head of cardio, she’d never thought that she would be enjoying working in another teaching hospital so much.
A few hours later she finished the surgery. While she was leaving the OR, someone stopped her.
“Dr. Hahn?” The very same female voice from yesterday, called her from the hospital hallway.
Erica moved her gaze from the floor to Julia Lien.
“Captain Lien? What can I do for you?” She sighed.
“I wanted to ask how my partner is doing.” Julia asked stiffly.
“Your partner?”
“Thomas Caine. One of the nurses told me that you were paged to operate on him because they couldn’t manage to stop the bleeding.”
Erica looked at her closely. Yesterday, she didn’t notice the cut on her lip that Kevin had mentioned. She also didn’t notice how tired this woman looked. All she could notice was her annoying police mode. Like some kind of robot. She was like damn Robocop.
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you that.” Erica said finally.
“What?”
“If you’re not family, I cannot tell you anything. You have to wait until someone comes. One of the nurses has already called someone.” Erica said coldly and started to walk away.
“What is wrong with you?” Julia said out loud after the blonde.
“Excuse me?” Erica turned around, bewildered.
“What is wrong with you? He’s my partner. There was this fucking shootout and he got shot just in front of me. And you don’t want to tell me how he is?!” Julia was getting angrier with every second. “I am a bloody police officer, so you’d better tell me…”
“Or what?” Erica cut her. “You what? You will arrest me?” She snorted. “I told you, I can’t tell you that. These are the rules I have to follow. I am sorry he got shot, but I can’t.” She raised her voice and started to walk again.
“I am not finished, Dr. Hahn!” Lien shouted.
“But I am, captain Lien.” Erica yelled back as she continued walking.
A couple minutes later, Erica’s pager went off again. She glanced at it and started to run towards the ICU.
“What happened?” She asked trying to find a pulse on her new patient.
“He…” One of the nurses started, but Caine coded.
Erica grabbed the paddles and the nurse charged them.
“Ok, clear!” Erica said and everyone stepped back.
1st shot! Nothing.
The nurse charged again.
“Clear!” Erica ordered again.
2nd shot! Erica watched the man’s chest intensively and didn’t move.
Everybody was looking at her.
“Doctor Hahn?” The nurse asked her, uncertain of what to do next.
“Wait!”
“Why is she standing like that?” Erica could hear Julia’s voice somewhere behind her.
Erica didn’t stop staring at the man’s chest and suddenly the monitor “beeped” again.
“We’ve got a pulse!” The nurse said with visible relief on her face.
Erica checked her patient’s vitals and wrote something on his chart.
“I want an update every 20 minutes.” She ordered to the nurse.
“Yes doctor Hahn.”
Erica stepped out of his room and passed by Julia who was still standing near the doors.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Erica said quietly.
Julia looked at her even angrier than earlier in the corridor.
Erica sighed and set her jaw. “He should be alright. But this night will be crucial.” With those words she left Julia alone outside her partner’s room.
With every 20 minutes that passed, just like Erica had said, the nurse was updating her. It looked as if Caine was getting better, but just like she told Julia, this night would decide. She was sitting in her office doing some research for her surgery that she was supposed to perform in a few days, when someone knocked.
“Yes?”
The doors opened and Julia stepped inside. Erica rolled her eyes.
“What is it this time, captain Lien?”
“I came here because Tom’s wife asked me. She’s with him now and doesn’t want to leave him.” Julia said looking straight into Erica’s eyes.
“And?”
“And she asked me to thank you for saving his life.” She turned around and opened the door.
Erica snorted quietly.
“You really have a problem!” Julia turned back to the blonde.
Erica just looked at her.
“I told you that someone is thanking you for saving hers husband life and you snorted?!” The brunette shook her head. “I don’t know what Kevin sees in you. He surely should have surgery performed on his own brain.”
Erica stood up. She was much taller than Julia. She had about 15 centimeters over her. But the policewoman wasn’t afraid of these kind of psychological games. She crossed her arms as Erica came closer to her.
“I didn’t snort at her thanking. I snorted at you.” Erica said, also crossing her arms.
“And what did I do this time that was so hilarious? Wait, I’ve already amused you with asking you about the life of a man who saved my life a few times, so what is it now?” Again, she looked into Erica’s eyes. “Maybe it’s, that I clearly don’t give a shit about how you treat people, and at least I have the guts to come here and tell your highness that someone wants to thank you for doing your damn job!”
“You are impossible!” Erica shook her head.
“Thank you!”
“That wasn’t a compliment.” Erica whined.
“But it was taken as one!” Julia shrugged and left Erica’s office slamming her doors.
Julia was impossible. Why couldn’t she understand that Erica was just doing her job? She couldn’t tell her about his condition because these are the rules. Besides, eventually, she told her about his state. And she was right about her not being allowed in the ICU. Right? Right?! And this whole thing with Kevin? She should talk to him and let him know that his little friend is clearly jealous of her. If this woman hadn’t stormed out of this place, Erica would have told her that she’s not the competition. But it’s what police people do. They are slamming doors instead of talking. She saw that in movies. Mostly bad ones.
When she checked on Caine one last time before leaving, she finally met his wife (they had missed each other a few times earlier) who thanked her again. She was very nice, and obviously didn’t know about Erica’s disagreement with little Robocop. She told her everything about what happened and that with every hour her husband was getting stronger.
(end of part 2a)
part 2b:
mean-manic.livejournal.com/2793.html
Ok! Few words of explanation: There's new character in this chapter Mrs. Delma Paluch and she's a figment of my girlfriend's imagination. "Delma" is a margarine here in Europe. And paluch means toe in polish! I thought that I will keep her for a while in this story.
According Patricia's one comment in edited version of this chapter I think there's one thing that some of you might be waiting for ;P!
Ok lets bring that crap!
P.S. about photos... Erica's new house was "built" from 4 totally different houses ;) hope you will like it!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to start? (2a/?)
The next day started with a surprise for Erica. While she was in the hotel’s lobby, one of the receptionists called after her.
“Dr. Hahn, there’s a letter for you.”
“Thank you.” Erica took the simple brown envelope and headed towards her car. She was supposed to meet Kevin in 30 minutes to see the house he had found. When she finally got to her car, she took the brown envelope, opened it, and read the letter which was inside.
“Erica,
Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. I slept like a child thanks to you. I know that you have plans with Kevin today, but maybe later we can go somewhere if you would like to. Please call me; my number is on the back. Thank you again,
Laura.”
Erica exhaled loudly. She didn’t even notice that she had been holding her breath . “Ahh… what the hell…” She fished her cell from her purse and dialed Laura’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Laura. This is Erica… I… you…” Erica rolled her eyes. “I’ve got your letter.”
“Hi!” Erica could hear her smiling. “So, do you have any plans after your meeting with Kevin?”
“No. That’s why I am calling.”
“Right!” Laura chuckled. “Can I invite you for diner?”
“You can.”
“Do you always respond in that way?” She asked.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.” Erica said lightly embarrassed.
“It’s ok.” Laura laughed. “Does that mean yes?”
“Yes.”
“There’s an Indian restaurant, Indigma, On North Charles Street.”
“Yes, it’s not so far from the Hospital.”
“Yeah. Can we meet there? I’m sorry I would love to pick you up from your Hotel or whenever you will be, but I have to finish a few things with my friend. I’m out of town at the moment.”
“It’s ok. What time do you want me to be there?” Erica asked.
“Is seven ok?”
“Yes.”
“Great!” said Laura with enthusiasm. “So, I’ll meet you there.”
“Ok. Bye.” Erica hung up and looked at her phone for a while like she was expecting that Laura would jump out from it.
Nearly half an hour later, Erica pulled over on the driveway of the property she was going to look at with Kevin. She stepped out of the car and looked at the house, speechless.
“Nice! Isn’t it?” Kevin appeared next to her.
“It’s amazing. It looks better that in the picture you gave me.” She said, still looking at the building.
“Wait until you see the interior.” He gently pushed her towards the entrance.
“You already saw it?”
“Yes. I decided to take a quick walk. It’s practically 5 minutes on foot across the forest.”
Erica stopped near the front porch and moved to the little garden in front.
“You like it?” A grey haired woman came outside to meet them. “Hello. I’m Delma Paluch.” She was in her late 70’s but looked much younger.
“Erica Hahn, and this is my friend…” Erica started.
“Yes, Kevin. We met a few days ago. I am his new neighbor. We moved to our son’s house and want to sell this one.” She smiled.
“Well, I don’t think you will have any problems with that. It’s amazing. And this garden is…”
“You like it!” Delma cut her off again. “So you will like the one in the back, too.”
They walked into the house passing through a little hallway and walking into the bright, spacious living room. On the other side of the living they could see the kitchen. Both rooms had big windows and doors that lead to the garden.
“It’s so bright in here.” Erica said walking toward the kitchen.
“There are also two bedrooms and bathrooms if you would like to see them.” Delma smiled.
“Yes, of course.”
They moved back to the hallway and turned left to a small corridor with 3 doors. The first one lead to a not so big bedroom. The second one, to a small bathroom. And the last one to the big bedroom with the master bathroom. Also, this room had big patio doors. They went outside into the garden. There were flowers around the building and a big lawn with a few trees and bushes.
“Come, you will love this part.” The older woman led Erica towards the kitchen. “What do you think?”
She showed her the kitchen window, which was covered with ivy and a few other creepers.
Kevin was watching Erica all this time. He had never seen her like that. She was literally amazed and… happy. Kevin saw her smiling before, even laughing but never like that. He smiled at this thought. He was really hoping that she would buy this house. Before Erica arrived, he had asked Mrs. Paluch about the condition of the house and a few other things. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal.
“It was built 15 years ago, and we had a general renovation 6 years ago. The whole building is in perfect state. The only minus is the lack of a garage. But the whole neighborhood of Wetheredsville is safe.” She took few steps towards the kitchen door.
“There’s a security alarm of course, but to be honest, we didn’t use it too often.”
Erica asked her few more questions as they walked back into the house and the older woman answered all of them. With every answer Erica became more excited and Delma could see it very clearly. Kevin could tell that they had both decided that Erica was going to buy this house.
And he was right. A few minutes later, both women shook hands and made an appointment with their respective lawyers to finish all the necessary arrangements.
When they finally said their goodbyes, and Kevin walked Erica to her car, her pager went off.
“I thought that you had the day off.” He said.
Erica checked her pager. “911.” She said, throwing her things onto the passenger seat. “I have to go. Thank you again.” She smiled.
“You’re welcome! I am really glad that you like it.” He closed her door and waved.
“What’s going on?” Erica asked, taking her place in the OR.
“He was shot three times. One bullet hit his artery and two caused big lung damage.”
Erica immediately started to operate. She liked to work in this hospital. There wasn’t any space for gossip or unprofessional behavior. She never thought that she would meet nurses who wanted to learn more than just about the sexual life of their co-workers. Erica liked to work with a few of them and they also appreciated her. When the chief of surgery offered her a job as the head of cardio, she’d never thought that she would be enjoying working in another teaching hospital so much.
A few hours later she finished the surgery. While she was leaving the OR, someone stopped her.
“Dr. Hahn?” The very same female voice from yesterday, called her from the hospital hallway.
Erica moved her gaze from the floor to Julia Lien.
“Captain Lien? What can I do for you?” She sighed.
“I wanted to ask how my partner is doing.” Julia asked stiffly.
“Your partner?”
“Thomas Caine. One of the nurses told me that you were paged to operate on him because they couldn’t manage to stop the bleeding.”
Erica looked at her closely. Yesterday, she didn’t notice the cut on her lip that Kevin had mentioned. She also didn’t notice how tired this woman looked. All she could notice was her annoying police mode. Like some kind of robot. She was like damn Robocop.
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you that.” Erica said finally.
“What?”
“If you’re not family, I cannot tell you anything. You have to wait until someone comes. One of the nurses has already called someone.” Erica said coldly and started to walk away.
“What is wrong with you?” Julia said out loud after the blonde.
“Excuse me?” Erica turned around, bewildered.
“What is wrong with you? He’s my partner. There was this fucking shootout and he got shot just in front of me. And you don’t want to tell me how he is?!” Julia was getting angrier with every second. “I am a bloody police officer, so you’d better tell me…”
“Or what?” Erica cut her. “You what? You will arrest me?” She snorted. “I told you, I can’t tell you that. These are the rules I have to follow. I am sorry he got shot, but I can’t.” She raised her voice and started to walk again.
“I am not finished, Dr. Hahn!” Lien shouted.
“But I am, captain Lien.” Erica yelled back as she continued walking.
A couple minutes later, Erica’s pager went off again. She glanced at it and started to run towards the ICU.
“What happened?” She asked trying to find a pulse on her new patient.
“He…” One of the nurses started, but Caine coded.
Erica grabbed the paddles and the nurse charged them.
“Ok, clear!” Erica said and everyone stepped back.
1st shot! Nothing.
The nurse charged again.
“Clear!” Erica ordered again.
2nd shot! Erica watched the man’s chest intensively and didn’t move.
Everybody was looking at her.
“Doctor Hahn?” The nurse asked her, uncertain of what to do next.
“Wait!”
“Why is she standing like that?” Erica could hear Julia’s voice somewhere behind her.
Erica didn’t stop staring at the man’s chest and suddenly the monitor “beeped” again.
“We’ve got a pulse!” The nurse said with visible relief on her face.
Erica checked her patient’s vitals and wrote something on his chart.
“I want an update every 20 minutes.” She ordered to the nurse.
“Yes doctor Hahn.”
Erica stepped out of his room and passed by Julia who was still standing near the doors.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Erica said quietly.
Julia looked at her even angrier than earlier in the corridor.
Erica sighed and set her jaw. “He should be alright. But this night will be crucial.” With those words she left Julia alone outside her partner’s room.
With every 20 minutes that passed, just like Erica had said, the nurse was updating her. It looked as if Caine was getting better, but just like she told Julia, this night would decide. She was sitting in her office doing some research for her surgery that she was supposed to perform in a few days, when someone knocked.
“Yes?”
The doors opened and Julia stepped inside. Erica rolled her eyes.
“What is it this time, captain Lien?”
“I came here because Tom’s wife asked me. She’s with him now and doesn’t want to leave him.” Julia said looking straight into Erica’s eyes.
“And?”
“And she asked me to thank you for saving his life.” She turned around and opened the door.
Erica snorted quietly.
“You really have a problem!” Julia turned back to the blonde.
Erica just looked at her.
“I told you that someone is thanking you for saving hers husband life and you snorted?!” The brunette shook her head. “I don’t know what Kevin sees in you. He surely should have surgery performed on his own brain.”
Erica stood up. She was much taller than Julia. She had about 15 centimeters over her. But the policewoman wasn’t afraid of these kind of psychological games. She crossed her arms as Erica came closer to her.
“I didn’t snort at her thanking. I snorted at you.” Erica said, also crossing her arms.
“And what did I do this time that was so hilarious? Wait, I’ve already amused you with asking you about the life of a man who saved my life a few times, so what is it now?” Again, she looked into Erica’s eyes. “Maybe it’s, that I clearly don’t give a shit about how you treat people, and at least I have the guts to come here and tell your highness that someone wants to thank you for doing your damn job!”
“You are impossible!” Erica shook her head.
“Thank you!”
“That wasn’t a compliment.” Erica whined.
“But it was taken as one!” Julia shrugged and left Erica’s office slamming her doors.
Julia was impossible. Why couldn’t she understand that Erica was just doing her job? She couldn’t tell her about his condition because these are the rules. Besides, eventually, she told her about his state. And she was right about her not being allowed in the ICU. Right? Right?! And this whole thing with Kevin? She should talk to him and let him know that his little friend is clearly jealous of her. If this woman hadn’t stormed out of this place, Erica would have told her that she’s not the competition. But it’s what police people do. They are slamming doors instead of talking. She saw that in movies. Mostly bad ones.
When she checked on Caine one last time before leaving, she finally met his wife (they had missed each other a few times earlier) who thanked her again. She was very nice, and obviously didn’t know about Erica’s disagreement with little Robocop. She told her everything about what happened and that with every hour her husband was getting stronger.
(end of part 2a)
part 2b:
mean-manic.livejournal.com/2793.html