ER Season 16 Episode 1: "Greetings Dr. Martin"

Starring:

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

Special Guest Stars:

John Alyward (Dr. Donald Anspaugh)

Sam Jones III (Chaz Pratt)

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Grace Summers)

Guest Starring:

Abraham Benrubi (Jerry Markovic)

Troy Evans (Frank)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Deezer D (Malik McGrath)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh)

Montae Russell (Zadro)

Scene 1:

"Donald, you don't understand the kind of strain that my staff is under," Lucien Dubenko said as he continued to plead with County General's venerable Chief of Staff. "Ever since Neela left, the surgery department has been extremely thin."

Dr. Anspaugh frowned as he furled his brow. "Lucien, I have a budget that I have to stick to. Right now we don't have money to go out and bring in another surgeon, especially not a veteran one."

Dubenko was growing more impatient with every passing second. "Find some money! Do something Donald! This hospital will not do anyone any good if there are no surgeons around to patch people back together. Donald, you are a surgeon. You've spent a good deal of time in the OR's in this hospital. You know how important it is to have enough coverage on the surgery floor!"

The older doctor gave Dr. Dubenko a long look before letting out a sigh and giving County General's Chief of Surgery a slight nod.

Scene 2:

Dr. Simon Brenner walked into the ER with coffee in hand. The sun was shining brightly, and it had all the makings of being a beautiful September day. That was until we walked in and looked at the patient board. Brenner looked quizzically at the board before looking around for someone who could give him some answers. "Frank, why do we have a full patient board?"

Frank searched for one of those quick sarcastic remarks that he was famous for around the ER. "Well, Dr. Brenner, let me explain how it works here in America. People get sick or hurt and they decide that instead of going out for coffee and doughnuts, they might want to go get their problem checked out. I know that in Australia your people like to roam the Outback and hunt crocodiles, but here in America, people go to the hospital when they need to!"

Brenner just smiled, realizing that Frank was up to his old sarcastic self. "Who's on right now? Who is running the board?"

"It certainly isn't me," the veteran desk clerk proclaimed. "Which means that it has to be an attending…and since you're the only attending here…looks like you're running the board mate!"

"Where's Dr. Banfield? Carter? Morris?"

"Banfield called and said she would be in later. Something about baby problems. Morris isn't on until tonight. And Carter is probably off saving some underprivileged child or maybe a baby elephant."

Brenner suddenly realized that this might not be the most perfect day after all. But he was determined not to let anything get to him today. "What about residents Frank?"

"Dr. Martin is with a drunk in exam one," Frank said in between bites of his doughnut.

"And?" Brenner asked impatiently.

"And what? That's it. Oh, and Pratt is around here somewhere. Probably running around collecting urine samples or whatever second year medical students do."

"So my current staff is me, a first year resident, and a second year med student? Who makes the schedule around here?"

"Don't look at me, I can't do everything around here."

The outlook of the day had just gotten significantly worse for Dr. Brenner. He quickly finished his coffee and put his lab coat on. "It doesn't matter" he thought to himself. "I guess I'll just have to handle everything."

Scene 3:

"What is Mr. Franklin's problem?" Brenner asked Dr. Martin as he hurriedly walked in to Exam 1.

Dr. Martin appeared to be a bit nervous. This was the first time she had to be responsible for a patient by herself. Sure, she had seen many patients during her time as an intern, but she always had someone like Dr. Gates looking over her, and making sure that she did not mess things up. "He's complaining of a headache."

"I'm sure he is Tracy. The man is clearly hungover. Get him something for his headache, tell him to stop drinking and discharge him."

"But Dr. Brenner…" Tracy started before her voice trailed off. Dr. Brenner turned around and waited for the rest of her sentence. "What if he has cirrhosis or something like that do to his drinking?"

"Does he have signs of jaundice Dr. Martin?"

"No…"

"Then discharge him. I know you are trying to be thorough and not make any mistakes in your first day as a resident"

"But, what if…?"

"Dr. Martin, discharge your patient and then meet me at admit. We have an entire board to clear."

"Who is we?" Dr. Martin asked.

"Just discharge your patient and meet me out front. I no longer have the time to discuss this with you any further. And if you cannot do what I ask, I think you know where the door is."

Dr. Brenner stormed out of Exam 1 and Tracy knew that he meant business. She motioned over to the big veteran nurse who was restocking one of the crash carts. "Malik, I need you to take care of Mr. Franklin here."

Malik gave the drunk man a quick look-over and the dejection in his face became hard to hide. "Let me guess. First you want me to clean him up. Then you are going to want me to sober him up. And once that's done, you want me to get him out of here, right?"

"Thanks so much Malik," Tracy said as she hurriedly left the room.

The big male nurse just rolled his eyes and looked at the drunk man that he was now in charge of. "Alright Mr. Franklin, I'm going to call you Benjamin, and Benjamin owes me after this one."

Scene 4:

"How was your first day of classes Rachel?" John Carter asked as the two of them sat down for lunch outside in the backyard of the Carter mansion. It was a beautiful September day, the birds were chirping and the sun was out. Carter seemed very content to enjoy his afternoon before he had to go into work at his newly opened Carter Center later that evening. Carter had the day off at County today so he planned on spending the day doing what he loved to do: enjoy the beautiful outdoors and spend time with Rachel Greene. Carter had promised Dr. Corday that he would keep an eye on her in exchange for her letting Rachel go to med school at County.

"Class is boring. Human physiology is not very much fun and the stuff we're learning in human anatomy is stuff I already know so far," the young 22 year old said as she started to eat her sandwich.

Carter just laughed. "Don't worry Rachel, class will get more exciting. And more difficult. Do you have any good professors?"

"There was this old doctor in there today. He had someone helping him teach. He seemed really brilliant one minute and then didn't appear to know where he was or what he was talking about the next minute. I think his name is Dr. Lawrence."

Carter sat back in his chair, completely stunned to hear that name. Gabriel Lawrence was a name he had not heard in quite some time. "Dr. Lawrence was your professor today?"

"Yeah, but Dr. Anspaugh was in there and said Dr. Lawrence was just going to be here until the professor who is supposed to teach the class gets here next week or something. Why is it so shocking that Dr. Lawrence was teaching my ER procedure class?"

Carter took a drink of his Coca Cola and put his hands behind his head. "Dr. Lawrence was an attending in the ER probably 9 years ago now. One of the most brilliant doctors I have ever had the privilege of working with."

"Does that mean that he worked with my dad?"

"Oh yeah, Dr. Greene and Dr. Lawrence were both attendings at the same time. They did not get along very well however."

"Why not? I don't remember Dad ever mentioning a Dr. Lawrence."

"Dr. Lawrence was hired by Dr. Weaver to be the third attending in the ER. You see, Dr. Weaver had just been named Chief of Emergency Medicine over Dr. Greene, and hired Dr. Lawrence because Dr. Lawrence taught Dr. Weaver everything she knows. Your dad and him didn't really see eye to eye. He had a different way of doing things than your dad did, and he routinely forgot whose patients were whose and all sorts of things."

Scene 5:

Dr. Brenner waited impatiently at the desk for Dr. Martin to join him. "Frank, where is Chaz at?"

"Hell if I know," the desk clerk replied. "Do I look like a psychic?"

"Frank do us both a favor and go find him," Brenner said, his impatience growing.

Just then, both Chaz Pratt and Tracy Martin arrived at the admit desk where Brenner was waiting. Chaz had just gotten finished running a chart up to Dr. Cason in cardiology, and Tracy still appeared to be a little bit shaken up from her conversation with Brenner just minutes before.

"Nice of both of you to join me this afternoon," Brenner said as he motioned towards the full patient board. He took an eraser and erased Mr. Franklin's name from the board. "Can either of you tell me what is wrong with this picture?" he asked, now going into teacher mode. Earlier in Exam 1 with Tracy, it is all business.

Pratt was the first one to speak. "It looks pretty full Dr. Brenner."

"That would be a correct assessment Chaz. Dr. Martin, do you know what the three of us are going to do now?"

Dr. Martin looked up at the board and wished she was still a med student. As a med student, one of the residents would tell her what to do and where to go, but at least then she did not have such a huge responsibility. "From what you said in Exam 1, I think we are supposed to clear the board."

Pratt looked at both older doctors and was completely stunned. "Dr. Brenner, I'm just in my second year. I don't think I'm supposed to be seeing patients by myself."

Brenner looked back at the board as he responded to Pratt, not even looking at the young med student as he spoke to him. "You know how to do sutures right Chaz?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Then you have the patients in Exam 2. All need suturing of some kind. Read their charts and make sure you stitch them up properly. And don't worry, Haleh is in there right now and she'll monitor you. She might have the best hands for suturing in this entire hospital."

"What do I do when I'm done with them?"

"Once you're done and Haleh thinks you've done a good enough job, bring me the charts so I can sign off on them and then discharge them. Make sure you erase their names from the board. By the time Banfield gets here I want this board to be clear."

Scene 6:

Dr. Brenner and Dr. Martin started on their task to discharge as many patients as possible. "Dr. Martin, diagnose and treat as many people in Curtain 1 and Curtain 2 as possible. And then take Chuny with you and clear those people out of the waiting room."

"And if I need you?"

"Bring me all the charts to have my sign off on them, but trust your instincts and make the correct calls. You're a resident now. And you're a good doctor. If I didn't think so, then I wouldn't leave you by yourself."

Just then Frank yelled across the room to Brenner. "Paramedics are bringing in some guy complaining of belly pain. Fell off a ladder trying to clean his gutters. ETA 5 minutes."

With that Dr. Brenner went outside to meet the paramedics and Dr. Martin was left alone. "You can do this" she thought to herself. As she entered Curtain 1 she was greeted by a young mother with an 8 year old son. "Hello, my name is Dr. Martin. What seems to be the problem today?"

The mother spoke first. "My son was doing something that he said was "jumping rope without a rope" in gym class and he fell down and hurt his ankle. I'm not that old, but back in my day, if you were going to jump rope, then they would at least give you the rope. The educational system is falling apart, let me tell you. Do you have children Dr. Martin?"

Tracy was more concerned with treating this child and getting him out of there instead of listening to some crazy woman rant. "No, I don't. I'm not married." She turned to the crazy woman's son. "Hey buddy, what's your name?"

He was a little shy at first, but that didn't last long. "Ricky," he said.

"Ricky can you tell me where it hurts?" Ricky touched his right ankle. "Ok, I am going to turn your ankle from side to side slightly and you tell me if it hurts, ok?" Ricky nodded and Tracy began the procedure. It was not long before he let out a shriek of pain.

Tracy turned back to the boy's mother. "Ma'am, your son has a grade one sprain of his right ankle. Nothing too serious, but he'll need to stay out of gym class for a couple weeks. Chuny will wrap it up and fit your son for crutches."

"What should I do about the pain?" the mother asked.

"Just give your son some Tylenol or Advil." Tracy then turned back to Ricky. "Ricky, I want you to stay off your ankle for at least two weeks, ok? Stay on the crutches that Chuny gives you until your ankle starts to feel better. Can you do that for me?"

Ricky nodded and Tracy wrote down the instructions for Chuny on the boy's chart.

Scene 7:

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Chaz Pratt asked himself as he walked in to Exam 2. Haleh, the veteran nurse who had been at County for more than 30 years was in there waiting for him. Haleh was a straight-shooter who always got right to the point.

"Come on Dr. Pratt, these sutures aren't going to suture themselves. Let's go, we have a lot of work to do.

Pratt looked at the three people, two men and one woman sitting there waiting for him. He hadn't been this nervous since the time that Dr. Morris let him do procedures. But at least with Dr. Morris there was someone there who could catch him if he fell. Today he was on his own with three strangers and one overly intimidating nurse.

"Earth to Dr. Pratt," Haleh audibled from across the room. "We can start any day now."

Chaz took a deep breath. "What would Gregg do if he was here?" he thought to himself. Then he remembered his older brother's last words…"Don't screw up."

Chaz walked over to the first man, a construction worker who got hit in the head with a beam. Haleh offered to show him the first one and then let him go at the next two by himself. Pratt watched as Haleh made the procedure look easy. Brenner was right about her hands…she made this whole process look so effortless. Pratt continued to watch as Haleh finished up with the first patient and closed up his stitches.

"Alright Dr. Pratt, it's that simple. Do you think you can do this?" Haleh asked him as she directed him over to the other two patients. Pratt nodded hesitantly.

"Don't worry so much hunny," Haleh said reassuringly. "Gregg wasn't a pro at it his first time either. Oh, and then there's Carter. Talk about a doctor who had no clue. When he first got here 16 years ago, he knew nothing about medicine. And now look at him, opening his own clinic and all. If he can do it, anyone can."

Chaz then sat down in front of the next patient. She was a high school soccer player and had a nasty gash on her left leg from where she had been cleated at soccer practice the day before. Pratt's hands were shaky, but then he remembered his brother and settled down.

"So you like soccer, huh?" he asked the girl as he started to stitch her up.

"I love it!" she responded emphatically and then went on talking up a storm. "I've been playing since I was 5 years old. I play all year. When it gets cold out and snows, then I play in indoor leagues. I travel too. All over the place. This weekend we're going to Texas for a big tournament. It is going to be so much fun!"

With all of the talking the girl was doing, Chaz was surprised how fast he got done.

Scene 8:

Dr. Brenner met Zadro out in the ambulance bay. "What have you got for me?"

"34 year old male fell off of a ladder trying to clean his gutters. Complaining of belly pain. No visible bleeding that we could see, but we started him on saline. His name is Mr. Jenkins."

"Thanks Zadro," Brenner said as he took the cart from him. He saw Sam checking on some charts at the desk. "Sam I could use a hand. Frank, what's open?"

"Pratt just cleared those three suture people out of Exam 1. You could take your ladder climbing friend there."

Brenner and Sam wheeled Mr. Jenkins in to Exam 1. "Mr. Jenkins, my name is Dr. Brenner and this is Nurse Taggart. Can you tell me what happened?"

The man had scrapes on his face and hands and he was obviously in a lot of pain. "I was cleaning out my gutters and then Shelby my dog ran into the ladder and I lost my balance and fell."

"Can you tell me where it hurts Mr. Jenkins?" Mr. Jenkins put his hand near his stomach. "Are you allergic to any medications?" The injured man shook his head no, obviously still in a lot of pain.

"Sam start him on two liters of morphine," Dr. Brenner instructed. "Now Mr. Jenkins, I am going to feel around with my hands and if you feel any discomfort, let me know right away."

Jenkins nodded in agreement and Dr. Brenner began looking for the injury. Just then, Mr. Jenkins winced in tremendous pain.

"Looks like he may have burst his appendix," Sam observed. "Should I call for surgery to come down here?"

"Yeah, get a surgeon down here right away. This man has a blown appendix that needs to be taken out now."

Sam got on the phone to the OR but the news was not good. "Dubenko is in surgery right now and Crenshaw isn't supposed to be on until 4:00."

Brenner thought for a moment and then made a quick decision. "We'll have to take him up then. Tell Dubenko that he'll have a patient waiting for him when he gets out of surgery."

Just as Sam and Brenner started to move Mr. Jenkins, Dr. Brenner heard a voice that he had been dreading all day. Brenner told Sam to take Mr. Jenkins up to the OR as he dealt with it.

"Dr. Brenner, what in the hell is going on down here?" Dr. Cate Banfield demanded.

Scene 9:

"Dr. Carter do you need anything while I'm up?" Rachel Greene asked.

"No, I'm fine. You better get back to your studies anyway. Both your mother and Elizabeth will kill me if you don't keep up with your schoolwork."

"I will, I will," the younger Greene said. "I just want to hear the rest of the story about my dad and Dr. Lawrence. All those years living with my mom, I really didn't get to hear a lot of stories about what my dad did at work."

Carter continued to reminisce about the past. That was back when Weaver ran the ER, Dr. Greene was still alive, Dr. Benton was still running around in surgery, and then he thought about his med student Lucy Knight and the attack that left him abusing pain killers and ended up killing her. The thought of Lucy brought a frown to Carter's face; a frown that he could not hide from Rachel.

"What's wrong Dr. Carter?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's been a long time since back then. I really looked up to your dad a lot. He didn't let me quit when I wanted to and he was tough on me when he needed to be. I miss Dr. Greene a lot."

Dr. Greene's daughter's happy and chipper attitude suddenly became very somber as well. "I know. I miss him too. I miss him every day. But at least I have memories of him. Poor Lea will never know what an amazing dad she had."

Carter could sense the sadness in Rachel's words and he figured that he needed to get back to the story. "Ok, so back to Dr. Lawrence," Carter began. "He began forgetting people's names and ordering tests that were used back in the 70's. He finally blew up at Dr. Weaver in front of a patient over some new suture kits. Then he lost his glasses and Malik found them in the fridge. At that point, Dr. Weaver and your dad decided that they needed to let him go."

"How did he take the news?" Rachel asked, as interested in the story as ever.

"Dr. Lawrence knew it was coming for some time, because he just couldn't remember anything anymore. But he really saved me on his last day right before leaving the ER."

"What did he do?"

Carter smiled, remembering how the old senile man was able to diagnose and treat a case that he had no clue about. "I had this patient who was presenting with all these symptoms. Then he flat-lined and I had no idea what to do. I saw him in the hall and he came in and pulled off a miracle. That was the last time he ever had a patient."

Scene 10:

"Malik, hold the elevator," Sam called out as she hurriedly pushed Mr. Jenkins into it.

"Where are we going?"

"Mr. Jenkins has to go to the OR and Dubenko was busy so I'm taking him up and finding a surgeon to perform an appendectomy."

The doors of the elevator blew open and Sam started pushing Mr. Jenkins down the hall, looking for any surgeon who could take this poor man's appendix out before it ended up killing him. "Just don't crash on me until I can get you some help," Sam said to Mr. Jenkins, who was very unconscious.

Sam wheeled Mr. Jenkins into one of the OR's and was confronted by a nurse once arriving there.

"Who is this and why is he here?" the OR nurse asked Sam.

"This is Mr. Jenkins and he is in need of an emergency appendectomy," Sam explained. "If someone doesn't get his appendix out now this man will die!"

The nurse could see how serious Nurse Taggart was, but there was nothing she could do for her. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Dubenko and all of the other surgeons are currently in surgery. There is no one who will be able to help you."

Sam was not about to accept that answer. "Well get in there and tell someone that they need to get their ass out here and take care of this patient!" Sam proclaimed. "Or find me someone, anyone who will be able to take this man's appendix out!"

The nurse looked at her watch. "Well, it is only 3:45. Dr. Anspaugh should still be here. If you can convince him to help your patient then go for it. If not, then I really can't help you, I'm sorry."

Sam rushed out of the OR and ran down the hallway, knocking over anything and anyone in her way. "This man will not die here today because we are understaffed!" Sam thought to herself. "I cannot, will not, allow that to happen!"

Sam finally got to the end of the long hallway and rushed into Dr. Anspaugh's office without even knocking. Anspaugh was looking over some of the paperwork that was his responsibility as Chief of Staff. "Nurse Taggart, can I help you?" Anspaugh asked as he looked up from his desk.

Sam explained the condition that Mr. Jenkins was in and the fact that all of the surgeons were busy. Anspaugh agreed to do the procedure on one condition. "I know you have been taking shifts up here Nurse Taggart," Anspaugh began. "I want you to scrub in on this one."

"I'll be glad to help," Sam said triumphantly.

Scene 11:

Dr. Martin was proud of herself as she dealt with Ricky. She was confident and knew what she was doing, and she gave Chuny perfect notes as to how to proceed with the young eight year old. Now it was time for her next challenge.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Martin," she said as she approached the next bed. "And you are?"

"I'm Grace. Grace Summers." The young woman said in response. Grace had nice, natural blonde hair and what looked like a pretty smile. Her nose was pretty unique, but Tracy assumed that was something that Grace was proud of. Her nose made her part of who she was.

"Miss Summers can you tell me what the problem is?" Tracy asked her, pen in hand, ready to take thorough notes.

"You can call me Grace," she replied smiling. "I've been throwing up every morning for the last three weeks, and I'm always really hungry. And my appetite has been really strange lately."

Tracy thought about the symptoms and all of the signs pointed to one thing. "Grace, do you have a boyfriend or are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

Grace gave Tracy a sheepish smile. "Yeah, his name is Angel and he is the best thing I could ever ask for," Grace said, her face lighting up noticeably at the mention of her boyfriend. "Why do you ask?"

"From the symptoms you listed, it sounds like you could be pregnant. Have you two been trying to get pregnant?"

Grace looked confused. "We would both love to have kids, but I didn't that was possible for us. Are you sure I'm pregnant?"

Chuny was just finishing up with Ricky when Tracy called her over. "Chuny, can you get me an ultra-sound machine."

"You got it."

Tracy then explained what she was going to do to Grace. "I'm going to perform an ultrasound. That will either confirm or deny your pregnancy. Once we know for sure what we're dealing with, we will be more able to give you the appropriate treatment."

"Will I have to stay here overnight?"

"Yes, I want to keep you overnight for observation. If everything checks out you'll be able to go home tomorrow." Just then Dr. Banfield walked in and requested her presence.

Scene 12:

Dr. Martin followed Dr. Banfield into the staff lounge to find both Dr. Brenner and Chaz Pratt there waiting as well. She could tell right away that this was not going to be a real positive meeting. She noticed the look of disdain on Dr. Banfield's face and decided that it was time to brace for impact.

"Would someone like to let me know what the hell is going on in my ER today?" Banfield demanded. "I walk in here and there are patients everywhere. There's a med student sitting in Exam 2 performing sutures on patients and a resident on her first day on the job, her first day, without any supervision! Who would like to start explaining?"

All three doctors just looked at each other as Dr. Gates walked into the lounge to put his stuff away. He looked from Brenner to Martin to Pratt and was afraid he was missing something. "Was there supposed to be a staff meeting that I didn't know about?" he asked.

Banfield's ire now turned to Gates. "Dr. Gates, I highly suggest that you leave this room right now and go see if Frank has any new patients for you. Unless you really want to be included in this!"

Gates looked at the three doctors again and decided it was in his better health to leave as quickly as possible. He then approached Frank at the desk and asked, "Frank, what's wrong with Banfield today?"

"She's in one of her moods," the desk clerk explained. "She was supposed to be here at 7:00 AM and it's 4:00 and she's just getting here. Just be thankful you haven't been here all day, Brenner has had his Aussie hands full."

Back in the staff lounge, Banfield demanded an explanation for the mass chaos that she had witnessed when she first walked in. After scolding Pratt for doing procedures by himself, she sent him home. Next up was Dr. Martin.

"Dr. Martin, do you know that this is your first shift as a resident around here?"

"Yes ma'am," Tracy replied nervously.

"And do you know that an attending needs to sign off on all your cases before they can leave?"

Dr. Brenner now spoke up for the first time. "Tracy has kept me informed with all of her cases and if you look at all her discharge papers, my name is at the bottom. And as for what you saw when you walked in, we have had a full ER all day and the only people here were Dr. Martin and Dr. Pratt. I did what I thought was best to take care of as many people as we could."

"That doesn't make sense. We should never be that short. Who does the schedule?" Banfield asked him before realizing that none of this would have happened if she scheduled people better.

Scene 13:

Dr. Martin left the staff lounge after being dismissed by Banfield and went to go pick up a chart at the desk. She looked at her watch, which read 5:30 PM. "Good, only a half-hour before I can go home and forget about this miserable day," she thought to herself. Just then she heard Chuny coming up beside her.

"Dr. Martin, I have the ultrasound machine in Grace Summers' room. Do you want to do the ultrasound or should I have Gates do it?"

Tracy remembered her patient Grace Summers was sitting in Exam 1 patiently waiting to find out what was wrong with her. "I'll do it, thanks for reminding me Chuny."

Tracy went back and started the ultrasound on Grace Summers. She looked a little frazzled, something that wasn't lost on Grace.

"Is everything ok Dr. Martin?" she asked. "After that other doctor came in here and got you, you seem like something is bothering you."

"Oh, it's nothing. This is my first day as a resident and it's just been a really long one," Tracy explained.

"I think it has something to do with that bitchy doctor," Grace observed. "She seems like a demon or something. Maybe she needs to be staked."

Tracy looked up from the ultrasound. "What did you just say Grace?" she asked. "You have quite a funny sense of humor. Really, Dr. Banfield is fine, she's just a little headstrong."

"If you ever have reason to believe that she's an evil being that needs to be taken out, let me know. Me and the people I work with specialize in getting rid of…uh…let's say pests," Grace explained as Tracy was finishing up the ultrasound.

"Ok Grace, I see a mass that looks like it could be a baby. We won't know for sure until we do some blood tests. We'll have those results tomorrow morning for you. But I still want you to stay overnight for observation." Tracy looked at her watch. "I'm off, but I'll see you tomorrow."

Grace Summers was extremely happy to finally be getting some answers. "Thank you so much Dr. Martin," she exclaimed. "Since I have to stay overnight, is it alright if my boyfriend stays with me?"

Tracy finished making notations on Grace's chart. "That won't be a problem at all. I will let the desk clerk know that he is coming. What is his name again?"

"Angel."

Scene 14:

Dr. Martin went to her locker to get her things, as she was done for the day. This twelve hour shift, 6 AM to 6 PM had left her completely exhausted. Dr. Brenner was also getting his things so that he could leave for the day.

"How was your first day Tracy?" the Australian doctor asked her.

Tracy looked at the attending and could think of only one thing to say. "How do you do it every day Dr. Brenner?" she asked.

The Australian shut his locker and the two of them walked out together. "You do the best job possible every single day. Then you go home and start from scratch the next day. You can't let the good cases get you too high or the bad cases get you too low. You just come in here every day and remind yourself that you are going to make a difference in someone's life."

Martin thanked him and told him that she would see him tomorrow. She promised Grace Summers that she would left the desk know that her boyfriend would be stopping by later that night. Frank had gone home for the night and was replaced by the big, massive desk clerk with the thick grey beard.

"Jerry, I have a patient in Exam 1 who is staying overnight for observation. I told her that we would let her boyfriend stay with her. His name is Angel."

"If he's such an angel, then why does he have a pregnant girlfriend here?" Gates joked with Jerry. "Don't worry Tracy, we'll let the guy in."

Tracy finally got outside of the hospital and was glad to breathe some fresh air. The sun was still out and she was looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the night until her shift started at 6:00 AM tomorrow.

"Greetings, Dr. Martin," came Archie Morris' voice as he walked through the ambulance bay. Morris, one of the four attending physicians currently on staff in the ER was working the night shift tonight with Gates, Banfield, and med student Julia Wise. "How was your first day as a resident?"

"Are they all that hard?" Tracy asked.

"Some are harder than others, but do you know what I do when I am getting stressed out?"

"No what?"

"I go around and play tricks on Frank and Jerry. You know, hide their paperwork and stuff like that. It really works too. Try it sometime," Morris joked as he walked in to start his shift.