As Mark finishes stitching Doug’s arm, Carol cannot seem to take her eyes off of Doug.  “Okay Buddy, all done”, Mark says with a smile. “I’ll take ‘em out in a week”.

“You could’ve at least made them straight, look at this” pointing to his arm, “it’s all crooked!” Doug criticizes.

“Ingrate” Mark jokes before saying “Go home and get some sleep, you work tomorrow don’t you?”

“Yah, I do.  I’ll see ya tomorrow Mark.”

“Yep, see ya” replies Mark as he slips out of the room, leaving Doug and Carol alone.

Carol, who was silent until now says “I’m surprised at you Doug, you missed a date with Linda Farrell and don’t seem to be upset.”

“What’s a crack like that supposed to mean?” counters Doug rather harshly.

“Relax Doug it was just a joke, don’t get all defensive on me.”

Doug realizes his long day’s stress was just released on the wrong person and chuckles trying to lighten the mood. “At least I didn’t have to wear that stupid outfit.  Linda’s gonna be pretty pissed off though.  She kept on telling me how expensive those tickets were.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand don’t worry about it.”

“I’m really not.  Ah...actually I was thinking about maybe ending the relationship…”

“What, she doesn’t ‘put out’ enough?” jokes Carol. Doug glares at her, and she realizes she stepped over the line.

“That’s beside the point Carol.  It’s just that today made me realize that there are so many other things in life more important than going to bar, getting totally plastered, and bringing home a person I hardly know.  Maybe if I didn’t live my life like that, they’d have renewed my fellowship. If I wasn’t so…uh…I dunno, I would be able to help more kids and still work here.  I dunno, I think I’ve finally realized that I need something more than one night stands. I want a real relationship.” Having said that, Doug lowers is head and tries not to meet her gaze.  Carol stares at him with wide eyes, unable to believe what he has just said.  This was the man she had always seen inside of him, itching to come out.

“Ya know Doug, I’m really gonna miss having you around here.  I hope you’ll come around to visit.”

Doug scoffs, “You’ll be the only one hoping for that. Mark can’t stand to work with me, and Morganstern and Bernstein are always on my back.”

“Well, I’m really gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” And for lack of something to say, Doug starts to exit the room but stops abruptly at the door. “Shit!” he exclaims.

“What?” laughs Carol.

“My car's in Grant Park with a flat.  Guess I’m gonna be taking a cab home."

“Wait!  I’m off in ten minutes, why don’t you stick around and stay over at my place. We can watch a movie and order in pizza.  I haven’t talked to you in awhile, and you could tell me all about your new *high paying* job.”

Doug hesitantly replies, “Okay, yah sure, that would be great.  I’ll just wait in the lounge alright?”

“Terrific, I’ll be done soon.” Carol smiles.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Half an hour later, Doug and Carol arrive at Carol’s place, with Doug still looking a little unsure about agreeing to come over.

“Hey Doug, go make yourself comfortable on the couch.  I’ll grab us a couple beers and order the pizza.”

“Naw, let me help. I’ll go order the pizza while you get the drinks but…ah...could you actually make mine a coke instead?  I’m actually trying to keep the drinking to a minimum.” Carol, touched by Doug’s attempt to stop drinking, reaches out and touches his shoulder, all the while smiling and looking into his eyes.  Being this close to Carol, Doug feels nervous and quickly looks away and says, “ah…on your pizza…you like pepperoni and cheese right?”

Still mesmerized, Carol just simply nods her head as Doug exits the room to get the phone and she goes on her way to get the drinks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later, Doug is sitting on one end of the couch and Carol is sitting on the other with a half-empty pizza box in front of her and a blanket up to her neck, eyes glued to the television.

Poking Doug with her foot she says “Doug, why on earth did you pick ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’? You know how much I hate scary movies and that Quentin Tarantino really creeps me out.”  Waiting for an answer, but getting none, she moves closer to him and whispers his name again, without getting so much as a grunt out of him.  His day’s been long and she’s not surprised he’s asleep.  In fact the only thing she is surprised about is how peaceful he looks.  Watching him sleep was one of the things she had missed during their past relationship, since he never stayed through the night.  Just then a vampire suddenly jumped out in the movie, startling Carol out of her state.  Without any thought she grabs hold of Doug’s sleeping form and closes her eyes, thinking it would only be until the vampire is off the screen.  But the day wasn’t only a long one for Doug, Carol never realized that the day had taken such a toll on her, and soon she drifts off into a peaceful sleep too.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Doug wakes up to the sun shining brightly on his face and the News playing on the television.  Trying to stretch his arms, he notices Carol sound asleep curled up on him.  Backing away a bit from Carol, Doug tries to decide what he remembers last: They were watching a movie and since it was such a long day of work…

“FUCK!” yells Doug as he squints to see the time on the VCR: 9:00 am.  He was supposed to be at work three hours earlier and Carol was late too.  Mark was going to kill them.  Forgetting all about the awkward state he had woken up in, he quickly shakes Carol.

“Carol wake up!  It’s 9:00, we’re both *really* late!”

Sleepily, with her eyes closed, Carol reaches out and pulls Doug’s face towards hers and kisses him deeply.  Doug, surprised by her actions, returns the passionate kiss.

Carol suddenly pulls back with an embarrassed but pleased look on her face and whispers “Good morning Doug.”

Still in shock Doug smiles back saying, “’Morning Carol.”  Abruptly he is pulled back into reality and yells, “Shit Carol, it’s 9:00 I was supposed to be at work at 6:00 am, weren’t you on at 7:00?”

Forgetting all about the occurrences of just moments ago she mutters, “Oh my God, Doug. Mark is going to be so pissed.”

“I know. C’mon get ready fast!”

Since they are in such a hurry, there is no time to discuss the kiss.  Although they are both aware the other is thinking about it, knowing they’ll have time to talk about it later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The second Doug is in the ambulance bay doors he is apologizing to Mark.

“I am *so* sorry, I’ll stay late.  After yesterday I was just so wiped out, I slept right through my alarm”, Doug fibs not wanting to divulge the information to Mark yet.

“Hey, it’s okay. I wasn’t even sure you’d be coming in today”, Mark says coolly, “It’s kind of weird though, Carol’s late too.  I mean she’s *never* late.”

Remembering their plan to come in to work five minutes apart Doug mentions, “Well Mark, I just saw her out front she’ll be right in.  Something must’ve happened, she wouldn’t be late for no reason”.

“Yah, I know” says Mark as Doug heads into the lounge to change into scrubs.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Several hours later Doug walks into the lounge completely drained from his day and lack of sleep the previous night.  He sees Carol sitting on the couch nursing a coffee looking much like the way he feels.  He figures now is as good a time as any to approach the subject of the kiss.

“Hey Carol”, Doug says warmly.

“Hi Doug”, Carol says nervously.

“So ah…this morning was nic…er…ah…”

“Interesting” Carol finishes for him.

Doug decides to bite the bullet and put his feelings out into the open.  “Well, yah but interesting in a good way”, he says, all the while avoiding eye contact.

Not sure she understands, Carol says, “You don’t regret it?”

“Not at all.  Ya know how last night I was telling you about how I wanted a real relationship?” Carol nods so he continues “Well you’re the only person I want to have that relationship with”.  Carol is struck dumb with all this information and says nothing.  Doug mistakes her silence for rejection and lamely adds, “But if you don’t feel the same…don’t wor-” He doesn’t get to finish since his lips become smothered in hers.

When the kiss finishes, Carol holds her finger up to his lips to silence him and says, “I want to be that person in your relationship.”