Dr. Mallucci sat down and slumped down in
the chair. He had so many questions to be answered. Did everyone really think of
him as a lazy, sloppy, doctor? Was he? Maybe he could have prevented what
happened if he would have insisted on seeing her. He knew he could have.
"Damn it Dave." He said
out loud cursing himself. He got up from his chair and moved on to his bed.
Shoving a pile of dirty clean clothes intermixed on to the floor.
He felt so terrible. He cared about people that's why he became a doctor, that's
why he did what he did. He was eager to learn to. Which is why he was always in
on the bloodiest, goriest cases. Plus the fact that he was an adrenaline junkie.
He wasn't a doctor for the title. He know he messed up a lot in the past.
Said things he shouldn't have but he just couldn't help it. He knew he wasn't as
slick with the words as Kovac or Carter seemed to be it was the way he was
brought up.
He knew all the stuffed shirts in the ER, like Carter and Corday and some others
he could name, just didn't understand him. He had seen so much pain in his life
he wanted to help some of it. As much as he could. He knew from hearing the
nurses talk that Carter was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And nobody
really had it as hard as Dave did. They just didn't understand why Dave was the
way he was.
He turned his body and moved in to the fetal position and reached up his arm to
cover his face from the street light. "Man." He thought silently.
"If you don't have the approval of the people you work with what do you
have." He thought as a tear streamed down his cheek. He tried to stop but
he couldn't they just kept flowing down uncontrollably. He was a mess. A big
mess.
His tear stained pillowcase spoke volumes without saying anything. Guys like
Dave didn't cry. In Dave's neighborhood you got beat if you cried. No matter
what happened or how much pain you were in you didn't cry. And now here he was
curled up on his bed, crying. Crying for all the times he needed
to but didn't. Crying for what he felt a career gone down the tubes. Crying just
to get it all out. Some might think him a lesser man. But he knew better. In
fact he would probably be more of a man afterwards. After letting all that pent
up tension go.
Dave finally cried himself to sleep that night. It was not a dreamless sleep
like he had hoped for instead he dreamed of his mother. A tall, young, Italian
woman with dark curly hair that went to the middle of her back. "Come on
Dave." She said as she held a five-year-old Malucci's hand. She led him
through a door that said Sarah Mallucci, MD. "Hello Dr. Mallucci." A
fairly young plump woman said.
"Hi Cecile, did anyone call while I was out?" "Yes, Mrs. Thomason
saying she's having repeated chest pain and Miss. Lauper called saying she had
to cancel her 11:00 appointment for Monday. "Hi Davey."
"Hi." He said staring up. "Cecile, can you watch him while I grab
my coat." "Sure Sarah." Then
turning to Dave she said, "Then well go get some Ice Cream."
"Mom." He said signaling her to come down to his level and whispered
in her ear. "Mom, I hate when she calls me 'Davey'." " I
pinky promise she won't." She said holding her hand out. "Okay pinky
promise." He said as she went in to the back room. "So Davey, how's
life treating you?" She asked as his mom poked her head out and gave a
sympathetic smile. He rolled his eyes as she popped her head back in to the
room.
He looked around the office. Not a very nice building but it was a New York City
doctor's office. It was as nice as could be expected for that side of town. The
paint was peeling off of the walls and the paintings on the walls were old and
out of date. But his mom loved the place. Probably because he saw how hard she
worked for it, to be in independent practice.
Then, the silence of the doctor's office was broken. Dave heard arguing and a
man's voice from the back room where his mom was. "Stay here Davey".
Cecile told him as she got up from her chair to see what was going on back there
the arguing got considerably louder and then gunshots were heard. Cecile rushed
and opened the door and let out a terrified yelp at what she saw.
"Oh my god, Sarah". She said as she looked in horror at Dr. Malucci's
body lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor. "Mommy". Dave said
as he jumped off the counter and ran in to the room. "Cecile, call the
cops". Dr. Mallucci said stuttering trying to remain calm while lying on
the floor, knowing she would bleed to death before the paramedics got there.
"Mommy". Dave screamed as he saw his mother lying there on the floor
in a pool of her own blood. "Dave, listen to me she." said gasping
between breaths. " I love you. Just remember that I love you. Please don't
be mad at me for going away Dave. I can't stay here, it's my time to go. But
know that when ever you feel sad or helpless or like there's no way out just
remember mommy is looking out for you from heaven Okay". "Okay
mommy". He said in a tearful voice.
Just then the paramedics arrived to take his mother away, but it was to late she
was already dead. "Mommy." He shouted as Cecile held him and prevented
him from going up to the dead body. "No mommy". He shouted. He
suddenly jolted awake. Sitting straight up in his bed. Beads of sweat
streaming down his face and his t-shirt soaked.
He hadn't thought about that in along time.
He basically just tried to block his mother's death out of his mind. Maybe it
was good for him to remember that now. He thought, maybe it was his mother's way
of assuring him everything would still be alright. He was almost certain of it.
Just then a loud knock at the door. He looked over at his clock it said in big
bold red letters, 6:00am. Who would be coming over at 6 am that he knew. Then
another loud knock at the door. "Hang on I'll be there in a second".
He shouted this time. Man who could it be, he racked his brain but still no answers.
He walked around piles of old pizza boxes and newspapers to get to the door. He
unlocked the chain and deadbolt and opened the door. "Lockhart". He
said astonished what would Abby Lockhart want at 6:00 in the morning? Why was
she here? She lives all the way across town what would be so important that
would cause her to come all the way down here ?