Softly Awaken

 

 

Chapter Four

 

*****

When I saw, I reflected upon it;

I looked and received instruction eckless words pierce like a sword,

But the tongue of the wise brings healing

                       Prov. 24:32

*****

 

The air was thick with tension in the ER.  John attended to his patient as he watched Luka stroll by.  A thin veil of bile formed in this throat as the dark brooding doctor, who was thought to be 'just misunderstood' by most of the opposite sex, stopped in the exam area across from him.  His deceiving bedside manner made John grit his teeth.

 

"I've been losing so much hair and I'm not sure why doctor?" the older patient explained to John.

 

John turned his attention back to his patient that was holding out a zip-lock bag full of brown hair.  He frowned at the bag and began asking his round of questions.  "Have you been under a lot of stress lately?"

 

The man shook his head.  "No, I…"

 

The patient was interrupted by the loud crash of a metal and loud screaming.  "Let me out of here!  I don't need no doctor!" a woman's voice screamed.

 

John turned around to the exam area across from him where Luka stood over a middle-aged woman, clothed in rags and hair in knots.  He was trying to restrain the obviously drunken woman.  "Nurse!" Luka yelled.

 

Abby appeared from behind a thin white curtain.  "Yeah?"

 

Luka paused a moment to look at Abby a moment.  "Could you hold her down while I examine the gash on her head?" he asked.

 

With an expressionless face, Abby nodded and restrained the patient.  John continued to watch for a moment, and then turned back to his patient.  "Well looking at your chart and after thoroughly examining you, Mr. Martin, it doesn't seem like this is something serious."

 

The older man looked at John incredulously.  "I'm losing hair by the truck load and you're telling me it's nothing serious!" Mr. Martin scoffed.

 

John nodded.  "Have you been taking excess vitamins lately?"

 

He'd speculated it from the beginning.  When he'd first met the patient, John had not stopped hearing how health oriented he was, and how he'd just started up taking vitamin supplements.

 

John waited for the patient's reply.  "Uh, yes.  Why?"

 

John smiled reassuringly at the patient.  "I think you need to stop taking all these vitamins."

 

Mr. Martin shook his head.  "I don't get it.  What has this got to do with vitamins?  They're supposed to be a good thing right?"

 

John patted the patient on the shoulder and handed him his coat, which was lying on the bed.  "But in reasonable amounts Mr. Martin.  Now I suspect that if you stop taking your vitamins, you should be fine and you'll stop losing chunks of hair."

 

Mr. Martin shook John's hand and thanked him as he went home.

 

John peered over to the exam area Luka and Abby were working in.  She seemed to be holding her own.

 

A few nights ago, Abby had walked been waiting on his front steps as he'd just gotten off work that evening in the ER.  She was upset and angry.  As the details of the night's event's were explained, John couldn't believe that Luka had the audacity to arrange such a meeting.

 

"So what happened?" John asked as he led her into his house.

 

Abby shrugged.  "I listened.  I had to."

 

John didn't know what to say.  Part of him felt it was his fault.  He'd started the whole thing.  John had been the one to press Abby about the drinking in front of Luka.  Now the Croatian doctor was obsessed.  "Do you think anything they said was true?" John asked.

 

"Do you?" Abby retorted as she slumped onto the expensive flowery loveseat in the living room.

 

John swallowed.  "I don't know."

 

Abby ran her hands through her hair.  "Neither do I John.  I mean, I'm an alcoholic.  I'm not denying that.  But I haven't gotten drunk since I started AA five years ago."

 

John nodded.  "I understand," he cooed softly in her ear.

 

Abby buried her head in his shoulder.  "John, what if they're right?" she whispered.  "How can I be so stupid?  I should know better than to drink."

 

Silence filled the room with a comforting understanding.  Finally after a few minutes, John pulled Abby up from his shoulder and looked into her chestnut eyes.  "If you're saying what I think you're saying…"

 

John didn't finish his thought.  Abby sighed and looked helplessly at him.  "I don't know what I'm saying John."

 

He smiled half-heartedly.  "We don't have to talk about it now, you know?"

 

Abby nodded.  Then she kissed him lightly on his lips.  The warmth of her lips left a tingling sensation.  But then abruptly, Abby stood up from the loveseat and looked down at John.  "I think I need a meeting."

 

It was out of nowhere, but John saw that it was a desperate need.  She needed to figure things out.

 

"Carter!" Abby called from behind the admin desk.

 

Abby's voice brought him back to the present.  And her smile was enough to wipe the somber look off of John's face.  "Hey there!"  John waggled his eyes suggestively.

 

Abby hit him on the arm.  "What are you doing for supper?" Abby asked.

 

John sighed.  "I've got supper with Gamma tonight.  She insisted that I at least spend one night talking to her about 'what's happening in your life'."  John tried to imitate his Gamma's stern gaze and voice.

 

Abby laughed.  "Okay.  Well, maybe tomorrow?"

 

John nodded.  "Sounds like a date!" he winked.

 

~~~

 

 

Jing Mei wandered through the mall aimlessly.  It had been her day off and she'd been glad of it.  Though John hadn't ignored her completely, Jing Mei knew he'd been upset with her for agreeing with Luka's 'intervention'.

 

"Jing Mei?" Susan called.

 

Jing Mei looked around for the face that belonged to the familiar voice.  "Susan?" Jing Mei called.

 

She felt a tap on her shoulder and as she turned around, Jing Mei saw Dr. Lewis standing before her.  "What are you doing here?" Jing Mei exclaimed.

 

"Oh, just had to run a few errands before my shift tonight."

 

Jing Mei nodded her head.  "Oh."

 

Jing Mei had never really spoken to Susan much except in the ER.  It was weird for her to see her in anything but a lab coat and stethoscope.  There was an awkward silence that hung in between them as the chatter and sounds of the mall surrounded them.

 

"So, uh, have you talked with Abby or Carter lately?" Susan asked, breaking the silence.

 

Jing Mei shook her head.  "No.  I don't think John's speaking to me right now," she sighed.

 

Susan exhaled.  "Yeah.  Same here."

 

Jing Mei bit her lip.  "Do you think we got through to Abby in anyway?"

 

She'd felt like the intervention was all for nothing, except to distance herself even more from her best friend.  Jing Mei shifted a shopping bag from one hand to the other.  "I feel like the two of them are acting like we're ganging up on them."

 

Susan scratched her head.  "Yeah, well, I can't blame them.  We haven't been too supportive about their relationship," Susan pointed out.

 

Jing Mei protested.  "I don't think we've been attacking the both of them.  I mean, the whole point is Abby and if she's all right.  I mean she's working in the ER for pete's sake."

 

Susan tilted her head.  "Well, even I have to say it though, Carter seems more upset about it than Abby does.  Actually, I've talked to Abby, and she's okay with it.  I don't know if she agrees, but she doesn't hold it against us."

 

Suddenly a quiet beep began echoing through the mall.  Both Jing Mei and Susan checked their beeper.  "It's mine!" Susan chuckled.  "I gotta go.  You on tomorrow?"

 

Jing Mei nodded.  "Yup.  For the rest of the week."

 

The two ER doctors parted company and headed off in their separate directions.

 

~ * ~

 

Jing Mei walked into the ER that morning feeling a little more cheerful than she'd been for the past week.  John wasn't working that morning and neither was Abby.  She wouldn't have to worry about being 'professional' around either of them, and experience the cold chill of their gaze.

 

As she opened her locker, Jing Mei sighed and began her ritual of donning the lab coat and stethoscope, giving herself a pep talk to last her through the morning.  "It's going to be a good day…"Jing Mei mumbled to herself when she suddenly realized someone was snickering at her from behind.

 

Turning around, Jing Mei found herself face to face with John.  "John," Jing Mei gasped in surprise.

 

"Deb."

 

His face transformed from one of amusement to sulleness.  John took off his coat and stuffed it into his locker.  "Talking to yourself?"

 

Jing Mei blushed.  'How embarrassing,' Jing Mei thought to herself.  "Uh, yeah," she stammered.  "So you talking to me now?"

 

John frowned.  "I never said I wasn't," he said curtly.

 

It was Jing Mei's turn to frown.  "If you weren't, you were doing a very good imitation," Jing Mei retorted.

 

John's eyes rolled into the back of his head.  "Whatever you say!"

 

He began heading towards the door.  "John, wait!"

 

Jing Mei ran to catch up to him as he walked into the hallway.  “I didn’t mean…wait.  Can we start over again?” she sighed.

 

John walked over to the nurse’s station and picked up a chart.  “Fine.  Sure.”  He paused a moment and put on a huge plastic smile.  “Deb!  Funny seeing you here!”

 

Jing Mei rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.  “Fine.  If you want to be immature about this,” Jing Mei mumbled as she grabbed a chart and headed toward Exam One.

 

Suddenly she was pulled back lightly, to a slow crawl.  “Deb,” John groaned.  “Look, sorry.  I just am having a hard time getting over what you guys did to Abby.”

 

Jing Mei licked her lips.  “Listen John, I didn’t know it would upset you that much,” she answered candidly as she approached her first patient of the day.

 

John scratched his head in a ritual, almost subconscious level, revealing his disbelief and displeasure.  “Well, it didn’t seem that way to me.  I think you knew exactly how I felt.”

 

Then abruptly, Jing Mei stopped walking and turned and faced John.  “Maybe I did know how you might react, but maybe also John.”  Jing Mei paused a moment to collect her thoughts and control the emotions that overwhelmed her.  “Maybe I care about someone who is hurting themselves in an attempt to deny everything that they are feeling and are faced with.”

 

Jing Mei didn’t know if that was for his benefit or hers.  She’d been dealing with a lot of unusual emotions lately, since the small pox incident.  And lately, Jing Mei had been feeling a little less genial towards John and his little fantasies and his not-so-hidden love affair with Abby, not that she returned her feelings – until now.

 

John grabbed her hand.  “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve been acting like you guys are just doing this just to hurt me or Abby.”

 

Jing Mei placed her pen behind her ear and hugged the patient chart to her chest.  “I’m listening.”

 

John pursed his lips.  “But I’m not saying that Luka isn’t, although I don’t think he’s doing this just because I’m dating Abby now.  Look, you and Susan aren’t even in this whole situation and I’m just angry that Luka even dragged you into this feud.”

 

“Dr. Chen?” Wendy called from behind the exam curtain.

 

Jing Mei waved at her, letting the nurse know that she was coming.  “Look John.  If Abby’s really okay, which, too me, doesn’t seem to be the case, then fine.  I’m sorry.  But if she’s not and she’s just beginning to spiral out of control, then you’ve got to let this go.  I don’t care what reason Luka’s doing this for.  And for your information,” Jing Mei cocked her eyebrow and smirked.  “I don’t think it’s just because of you.”

John shrugged.

 

“I do however think he does care for Abby and I think you should let him try to help instead of pitting him and the rest of us against you and Abby.  It’s not a war or a game John.”  Jing Mei grinned tugging on his tie.  “You’re not a white knight in shining armor John.  And Abby’s not the weak damsel in distress.  Although I guess you always did like the type.”

 

Jing Mei walked away towards the exam curtain.  She hoped John would realize that working together and helping Abby was the best thing.  Abby would have to realize she still had a problem and that allowing herself some leeway would not be the wisest choice.

 

She looked back for a second at John.  Jing Mei didn’t want to lose him as a friend and the possibility of being something more.  But this wasn’t something she could think about right now.  Not when John seemed to have everything he’d been wishing for in the past year.