“Five more hours,” Kelly Riley thought to herself. “I can hardly think in this place. Could it get any busier? God, it feels good to sit down for a second.” Just then over the loudspeaker came the page, “Dr. Riley, please report to the front office. Code red.” Kelly got up from the chair in the doctor’s lounge, and rolled her gray, tired eyes. “Five more hours, five million years left,” she mumbled to herself as she passed through the doors back into the emergency room at New York County Hospital.
“Come on people. We have got a huge emergency on our hands. Let’s go, let’s go!!” Kelly said to her staff as the ambulances brought in a large number of people from a building explosion. “Riley, get your ass over here. We have got a huge bleeder,” Dr. Baldwin yelled from the other trauma room. “Coming, coming.” Kelly ran into the room in a hurry. She took a quick look at the patient and hurriedly pushed Dr. Baldwin away. “Move out of the way Austin. You’re not ready to cover this yet.” The nurses pulled Kelly’s long blond hair up behind her doctor’s mask and put her surgical gown on. “ You can help me though Austin. Come around to the other side of this guy’s bed. Hold the scalpel. We can keep this guy alive if we work fast.” All of a sudden their patient flat lined. “Charge the paddles to 200 volts. Clear!!” The nurses charged the machine and called that it was ready. Dr. Riley put the paddles on the man’s chest and released the button. His chest jumped under the pressure. No difference. “Clear, charge up to 400. Now!!” She put the paddles on his chest again. The nurse called, “Clear!” Kelly released the button again. His chest heaved and then came the slow beat of his heart. “We got him back Austin. Clean him up and move him up to the post-op floor.” “Sure Riley. See you in ten in the lounge?” Austin asked. “I’ll see if they need me anymore on these cases they just brought in and then yeah, see you in the lounge,” Kelly said tiredly.
Austin was waiting for Kelly in the lounge for a while before she came in and immediately dropped on the couch. “God, what a day, huh Austin,” she said. “Riley, I got to talk to you.” Kelly smiled as Austin called her Riley. It was her last name, but it had become a nickname that he had given her when they were dating, but that was a long time ago but the name seemed to stick. “Sure, Austin, speak up. What’s on your mind?” she asked concerned by his careful tone. “You really got to start trusting me Ri. You can’t keep kicking me off patients because you don’t think I’m experienced enough. I may have started later than you, but if you don’t let me learn, I won’t get better. And I’m worried about you too. Ever since you got named chief of staff here in the ER you seem to think that you have to do it all. You don’t girl. You have colleagues to help you. You’re so skinny and tired lately. Have you eaten today?” Kelly moved closer to him and looked him into the eye. “Aus, I know that you’re a good doctor, but my butt is on the line with this new promotion. You have to give me a chance to get used to all this leadership. I just want things to be perfect. I swear I’ll work on not trying to get everything so perfect. And yes, I am tired and no I have not eaten. Want to go grab a salad at McGee’s?” “Why not. I’m not going to eat just a salad though. That may please your little appetite, but not mine. I guess we can go. We’re done here tonight. Hey Ri?” Austin asked. “What?” Kelly asked as she put her coat on and put her scarf on around her neck. “How come it didn’t work between us. We are the best of friends and I don’t see how we ever even broke up. Why didn’t it work?” Austin asked hopefully. Kelly slammed her locker in the lounge and gave him a feisty look and walked out the door without answering him. Austin got up shaking his head smiling, “Man, what a girl. What I wouldn’t do for her.” Just then Kelly’s blond hair and striking gray eyes popped back in the doorway, “It didn’t work because it didn’t work. That’s why. Enough now, come on. Let’s go.” He slammed his locker, offered his arm to Kelly and they walked out of the ER doors. It was snowing very hard. Kelly and Austin went through the parking lot and ended up in front of her new shiny black Jeep. “Austin, I wanted to show you my new Jeep, but with all this snow I guess you’ll have to wait,” Kelly said. Austin laughed, “You really think that I want to see your new car when you rightfully know that my Corvette is in the shop broken.” Kelly was laughing so hard that she was crying, and the snow was making her tears freeze, “Just get in and shut up. At least you get to ride in it. Hurry up, I’m not hungry but I’m freezing and I’ll watch you eat your big ole’ dinner while sitting in warm restaurant,” Kelly said happily.