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Lucy gave up on Kerry’s audio tour of the ER. As…informative as she found it (although she kept getting lost and didn’t understand why Bernard wanted to keep taking it), she was starting to get tired, and it felt like her first day would never end. She took the headphones and Walkman back to the front desk and noticed that Rachel was still hanging out.
“Do you know where I can put these?” she asked Rachel, who she noticed acted like a miniature boss in some ways.
“I’ll take them,” Rachel replied. “Dad said he doesn’t know why Kerry wasted her time on this when there’s more important things to be done. He said you should just show someone around like a normal person.”
Lucy couldn’t help but giggle. “It’s OK; I think Kerry was just trying to help. Hey, if she or your dad asks about me, tell them I went to get a coffee. What did you say that breakfast place was called?”
“The Roach Coach.”
“Thanks.” She took her wallet out of her backpack, which was still sitting under the front desk by the box of lab coats, and headed outside.
After picking up her coffee, she took a few minutes to reflect on her day so far. To be honest, she didn’t feel accomplished, and she had to remind herself that of course, being in the weeds at County wasn’t going to be as comfortable as the classroom or the procedures lab. Now she had to take care of real patients and think on her feet in a trauma. If she had it her way, she would’ve never done an ER rotation, but it was one of her required rotations to graduate.
She also had to call her mom later with a recap of her first day. She didn’t know where to start. Should she talk about how she moved someone’s head while they were lying on the pavement bleeding heavily, which resulted in blood getting on her new lab coat? No. That sounded too dramatic, and she didn’t want to seem like she hadn't grasped one of the most basic parts of her training. Or maybe about the guy Maggie had to suture up after he walked through a plate glass window? That could be interesting. However, she decided that she didn’t want to talk about how most of the ER staff had virtually ignored her so far. It may make Barbara worry too much that Lucy couldn’t get her bearings and wouldn’t make it through the rotation.
It’s OK. Lucy would figure out how to make the shift sound as fun as possible.
When she came back inside, she noticed another doctor quickly walking by and calling to Jerry about some lab results he was still waiting on. She tried to duck out of the way, but immediately bumped into the other doctor, her fresh coffee going on the floor and on to his lab coat.
“Ugh, damn it!” he muttered.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I think they gave me some napkins…” Lucy fumbled in the pocket of the too-big lab coat she was wearing but realized she had only grabbed one napkin. “Looks like this is all I have.” She handed the napkin to him, and she stopped for a second. He was tall with brown hair and had a bushy beard, but he clearly looked like he knew where he was going, and dare she admit it, he was kind of cute.
“It’s not a big deal,” he replied. “I’m sorry. I’ve been here since last night and...you’re clearly new. I shouldn’t take it out on you. At least I think you’re new. We have a lot of people coming and going these days.”
“I am. Lucy Knight, third-year medical student. I started my ER rotation today.”
“John Carter, second-year resident; you can just call me Dr. Carter or Carter. Welcome to the trenches. Settling in?”
“Not exactly…everyone’s been kind of brushing me off and just telling me to pick up a chart. I haven’t even been assigned to a resident yet.”
“You should ask Dr. Greene or Dr. Weaver about that. Greene is an attending; Weaver’s the interim chief of the ER. You did meet them, right?”
"Yeah. I've met both of them, and I just finished Dr. Weaver's audio tour, but I still can’t find my way around. Is it really that hard? I feel like it shouldn’t be.”
“You’ll figure it out. And look, don’t worry about the lab coat. I’ll just find a spare scrub top.” Carter smiled when he saw another blonde woman approaching the desk. “Nice lab coat stain. What happened to you?” she asked, giving him a kiss.
“Oh, I just had an introduction to our newest med student by way of coffee spill,” he replied. He kissed her back and then turned to Lucy. “Lucy, this is Anna Del Amico, ER and pediatrics dual residency. Dr. Del Amico, Lucy is starting her ER rotation today and is still finding her way around. Maybe she can tag along with you once you put your stuff away and are ready to see patients.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Anna smiled. “Welcome aboard. And hey, uh, next time you need to spill your coffee, can you aim it upwards toward the beard? I’ve been begging him to shave; it gets itchy when he brushes up against me at night or goes in for the smooch.”
“You two are dating?” Lucy asked.
“We started as friends and then decided to take the next step over the summer. So far, no complaints. And I know I may sound biased, but John—sorry, Dr. Carter— is one of our best residents. You’ll learn a lot. Just let me go to my locker really quick and you can tag along with me. I see every type of patient around here; you won’t be bored for a minute.”
“Thanks! And uh, it’s a deal on the coffee spill.”
“You’re a student,” Carter jokingly reminded her. “Don’t piss off the other residents in this place.”
“Yeah, but I am supposed to be learning from you guys, right?”
“Then I guess your rotation just got a lot more interesting.”
It sure did, Lucy thought.
“How’s everything going?” Carol asked her once Carter had walked away to call the lab. “Did you save any lives yet?”
“Not yet, but I did just meet Dr. Del Amico and Dr. Carter. They make a cute couple, it seems like.”
“Oh, please; we waited ages for those two to finally decide to hook up. I won the betting pool when they did. Long story. But my advice is, try to stay tight-lipped if you don’t want to share too much of your personal life. The nurses get kind of nosy, especially about interhospital dating.”
“Thanks. And I know it’s not appropriate, so keep it quiet, but it’s kind of too bad Dr. Carter’s off the market. I feel like he’d make any woman really happy.” Maybe me, but I am a third year and shouldn’t think that. I can be stupid sometimes.
“Well, he comes from a wealthy family; he’s cute, compassionate, popular…but he has a girlfriend and you’re a student, so keep it to yourself. That said, I don’t blame you.” Carol winked and walked away, carrying nursing orders with her.
“Ready to go?” Anna asked Lucy, having emerged from the lounge.
“Whenever you are.”
“Great. You shouldn’t have to drown on your first day.” She glanced down at the chart she’d picked up. “Looks like we have sudden onset migraines. Let’s see what’s in store.”
Lucy tried to keep up with Anna’s quick walking pace as they headed towards Curtain 3. Now she had a good story to tell Barbara once she got back to her dorm.