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ER
"The Dad Thing"
Part One
Dr. Doug Ross came out of the doctor's lounge adjusting the stethoscope around his neck.
"Hey Mark." He greeted Dr. Mark Greene who was standing at the nurses' station doing some paper-work.
"Hey Doug." Mark glanced up at Doug before going back to the chart.
"Anything for a baby doctor, Jerry?" Doug asked the tall, giant-like Emergency
Service Coordinator, Jerry Markovic.
"Kid who won't stop throwing up in four." Jerry handed Doug a chart.
"The best part about being a pediatrician is dealing with puking kids." Doug
muttered as he headed for exam four. He opened the door and stopped short.
"Oh my....." His voice trailed off, "Jacqui?"
"Doug." Jacqui Merced said. She was as surprised to see Doug as he was to
see her.
"I'm gonna hurl again Mom." Ten-year-old Nick Merced winced and folded
his arms across his stomach. Doug looked at Nick for a minute, and then
looked at Jacqui again.
"So.... Nick, " Doug read the name off the chart, "Your stomach is giving
you problems, huh?"
"Yeah." Nick said, feeling a little bit better, "I can't stop hurling."
"Well, let's see if we can fix that." Doug proceeded to examine Nick. He
pronounced Nick's ailment food poisoning, and then asked if he could see
Jacqui outside for a minute.
"So you made it. I always knew you would." Jacqui said as soon as they
stepped outside the door.
"Nick...he's..um...?" Doug said.
"Our son." Jacqui nodded. Doug looked through the window at his son laying
on the bed and took a deep breath.
"What are you doing back in Chicago? I thought you moved to New York."
Doug turned back to Jacqui.
"I couldn't stay away. I love this windy city." Jacqui looked straight
into Doug's eyes and he knew she meant she couldn't stay away from him.
She loved him. He had loved her before, but now......he wasn't sure.
They had been young and very much in love. He had wanted to be a doctor and
she an actress. She had unexpectedly gotten pregnant, ruining all their plans.
When Jacqui's father heard about her pregnancy he became enraged and
insisted on her getting an abortion and moving to New York. Jacqui and Doug
protested. The night after they had a big argument with him, Jacqui's father died
of a heart-attack. Jacqui blamed herself and moved to New York to live with her
aunt. A heart-broken Doug became a play-boy, having a different girl each night.
Terribly scared of commitment.
"Doug?" Nurse Carol Hathaway tapped Doug on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" Doug raised his eyes to her face.
"Trauma coming in, kid fell out his window." Carol handed Doug a robe thingy
and headed back for the ambulance doors.
"I have to go Jacqui. Um meet me tonight at Kenny's, OK?" Doug said starting
after Carol. When they were young Kenny's had been Doug and Jacqui's
favorite place for a date.
"Doug...I....I guess." Jacqui nodded.
"Seven o'clock." Doug said starting to run as he heard the ambulance pull up.
Jacqui sighed. She wasn't sure she was ready for this.
At seven Jacqui was sitting at a table in the corner of Kenny's all alone. She
glanced at her watch.
"He's not gonna show." She said to herself. She grabbed her purse and headed
for the door only to bump into Doug who was on his way in.
"I...I thought you weren't coming." Jacqui said.
"You could have given me five minutes." Doug said as he steered her back to
the table, "A trauma came in just as I was getting ready to go."
"I'm sorry. I'm just kinda......" She let the sentence hang.
"I know." Doug said, "It's been eleven years." They sat there silently for a
minute.
"Are you ready to order?" A waiter asked them.
"Um I'll have a coffee and a....banana split." Doug said.
"Coffee." Jacqui said.
"Be right back." The waiter said. Jacqui and Doug didn't say anything until after
the waiter had brought them their order.
"I'm sorry for leaving." Jacqui said as she stirred sugar and cream into
her coffee.
"God knows I can't blame you." Doug said.
"Doug?" Jacqui said. Doug looked up from his banana split.
"Let's let the past go and start over." She said. Doug nodded. "Um..I want Nick
to know you're his father." Jacqui said.
"OK." He said after a minute. He didn't know exactly how he felt about being a
father, but he did know he wanted to be a better father to his son than his dad
was to him. And he couldn't waste anymore time, he was already ten years late.
"Thank you for understanding." Jacqui said.
"What's to understand? He's...he's my son." Doug said.
Jacqui smiled. "I missed you." She said.
"Yeah." Doug said giving her that lop-sided smile, "I missed you too."
Three days later at four in the afternoon Jacqui and Nick, who had recovered
quickly from his food poisoning, showed up at the ER. "The waiting room is
that way." Carol said as she passed them in the hall.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me where Dr. Ross is?" Jacqui said. Carol
stopped walking and looked more closely at Jacqui recognizing her from a few
days before.
"He's with a patient right now, but you can wait for him over there." She said
pointing a the chairs that lined the wall at the end of the hall.
"Thanks." Jacqui smiled.
"So it's not his fault that he didn't come see me?" Nick said as him and his mom
sat down in the chairs. Jacqui had already explained everything to Nick and he
had taken it very well, him being an easy-going kid and all.
"No Nick. It was my fault." Jacqui said.
"Do you still love him?" Nick asked.
"Well...um..yeah. I think I do." Jacqui smiled at Nick and messed up his hair.
"Doug," Carol stuck her head into the exam room where Doug was examining a
baby with a fever, "There's a lady and a kid here to see you."
"Thanks." Doug said looking up briefly. "Say Carol?" He said just as she
started to leave. She turned back to him. "When did you and Jerry trade
places?" Doug asked. Carol chose to ignore his question and continued on her
way. Doug chuckled.
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