Part Two - Delayed Reactions
By Céindreadh
ceindreadh@eircom.net
DISCLAMER: "ER," the characters and situations depicted within are the property of Warner Brothers Television, Amblin Entertainment, Constant c Productions, NBC, etc. They are borrowed without permission, but without the intent of infringement. The story presented here is written solely for entertainment purposes, and the author is making no profit.
Note: This is all Cathy's fault for putting the idea in my head
Spoilers for 'All in the family'
Because I don't want to turn this in to a Carter angst fic I'm asserting that the only after-effects Carter suffered from the incident in 'All in the Family' are chronic back pain and a slight limp.
Previously on ER:
Carter and Dave were struck by lightning and woke up in each other's bodies
John yawned and stretched as he woke up in Exam two. He failed to notice that the movement caused him less pain than it had in months.
"Man that was some weird dream I had," he thought to himself. "I wonder what time it is?" He moved his hand to bring his watch into his line of vision. It took him a few seconds to realize that this wasn't the watch that he usually wore, and why was his arm so muscular. Oh shit. John sat upright in the bed and looked down at his body. Oh man, this was real. He glanced over to the other bed, where Dave was sprawled. As he watched, Dave changed position and then moaned in pain. John was about to call out to him, when he heard a familiar voice outside the door.
"And why was I not informed of my grandson's accident?" Millicent Carter was saying. "I only found out when I tried to call him at work."
John couldn't hear the other person's response. Whatever it was, it was obviously not acceptable to Gamma.
"Well that's just not good enough. I should have been informed immediately John was injured. I assure you, this matter will not end here."
John hid a smile. This was typical Gamma.
Millicent Carter pushed open the door to exam two. Her eyes swept round the room, barely noticing the young, well muscled, man sitting up in one of the beds, and settled on her grandson, asleep in the far bed. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least this 'accident' didn't appear to be as serious as the previous one.
John's greeting died on his lips as his grandmother barely registered his existence, before turning to Malucci. "Of course," he thought. "She thinks I'm Malucci."
Dave was in the middle of one of his favorite dreams when he felt a hand gently shaking him awake. Torn away from the tropical beach and half naked lifeguards, he opened his eyes and recoiled in horror when he saw Millicent leaning over him staring at him anxiously. "What's going on? Who are you? What are you doing?" he asked frantically.
"John? Don't you know me?" asked Millicent, with some concern. The young doctor, what was his name? Kovac hadn't mentioned anything about memory loss.
"Yeah, don't you remember what happened us Carter," said John, trying to jog Dave's memory.
"What?" said Dave in confusion. His eyes widened as he noticed John or rather himself sitting on the bed a few feet away from him. Suddenly the memories came flooding back. "Oh man," he said, leaning back against the pillows and putting his arm over his face. "Oh man."
"You'll have to excuse Carter," said John. "I think he's still a bit dazed."
"And who are you young man?" asked Millicent.
"I'm Dave Malucci," replied John. "But you can call me Dr Dave." Hearing this, Dave uncovered his eyes and glared at Carter.
"Hmm," said Millicent suspiciously. She had a gut feeling that something was going on. "John," she said, turning to the man she thought was her grandson. "Dr Kovac says that you can be discharged soon. I'm taking you home with me for a few days."
Dave's jaw dropped. This was not good. How the hell was he supposed to pretend to be Carter amongst Carter's own family? Thinking quickly he said, "That'd be cool, er that'd be fine, um, but Dave here said that we could both go back to his place. You know, uh, to keep an eye on each other."
Millicent cast a suspicious eye on John. Now she knew something was wrong. "I won't hear of it." "Dr Malucci?" she said to Dave. "Perhaps you should stay with us for a few days. Until both of you are fully recovered?"
"That sounds like a great idea," replied John, "Thank you for the offer."
Dave looked at John, aghast, wondering what the hell he was thinking.
"Good," said Millicent. "I'll have a car sent round to wait until you're ready to leave. I'll give Harvey instructions to stop by your house Dr Malucci, so that you may collect a few things for your stay." Patting Dave on the shoulder, she said, "I'll see you later John. Try not to get in any more trouble." To John she said, "Good day, Dr Malucci," and left the room.
When the door closed behind her Dave turned to John and said, "What the hell was all that about? Why didn't you back me up and say we'd stay at my place?"
"Dave, I've seen your place. There's hardly enough room to swing a cat, let alone have more than one person stay there. And as for your kitchen..."
"There's nothing wrong with my kitchen," said Dave indignantly.
"Nothing that a good power hosing couldn't fix. Last time I was there, you could hardly see the ceiling for strands of spaghetti."
"Well how else are you to know when it's cooked?"
"And the fridge. Well let's just say that there were burgers in there about to evolve into intelligent life, last time I looked."
"Yeah, well maybe it isn't the most luxurious of apartments, but at least I'm not living with anyone. Do you know how difficult it's going to be to pretend things are normal, while we're living under your family's eagle eye? And who was that old lady anyway?"
John sighed. Loath though he was to admit it, Dave did have a point. "Look, it's too late to do anything about it now. Let's just play it by ear. I'll fill you in on as much as I can, and if you slip up, you can always blame it on the concussion. And by the way, that 'old lady' is my, I mean your grandmother. Only I, that is you call her gamma."
"This is going to be interesting, to say the least," said Dave.
Kerry and Luka discharged John and Dave a few hours later.
Kerry said to John "I suppose I don't have to tell you to watch out for any dizziness, nausea...."
"Blurred vision, headaches, etc etc," said John smiling. "I know the drill Ke..chief. You don't have to worry about us, my.. that is Carter's family will keep an eye on us."
"Good," said Kerry, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Because I'd hate to have to patch you up again Malucci. Now get out of here and I don't want to see either of you back in this ER for at least forty-eight hours."
Over at the other bed, Dave was getting the same lecture from Luka. "Be sure and contact us if you have any further symptoms, okay?"
"Sure thing dude," replied Dave absently as he pulled on his shirt.
Luka frowned and then continued, "What about the painkillers? I can write you a prescription for stronger ones if you wish."
Dave winced slightly as he felt a sharp pain in his back. "No, man, I can handle it. I mean once the bruising heals up, I'll be fine."
"Well then, I will not keep you here any longer. Go home and rest, and I will see you in a few days."
"Whoa," said Dave as they approached the limo. "This is yours? I mean mine?"
"Sorry to disappoint you 'Dave'," said John, "But it belongs to my grandfather."
"Hey, does it have a built-in-bar in the back?"
"Yes it does, and a TV, and a swimming pool."
Dave looked at John in amazement. "You serious?"
"No I'm not," laughed John. "It does have a mini-bar, but there's never anything kept in it." Dave's or rather 'Carter's' face fell. "Don't look so disappointed, there's a well stocked drinks cabinet at my grandparents house."
"Lead on my man, lead on."
They stopped off briefly at Dave's apartment, where he picked out some clothes for John to wear.
"Don't you wear anything other than jeans?" asked John as he surveyed Dave's room. Half the clothes were thrown on the floor and there didn't appear to be one suit among them.
Dave was busy flinging t-shirts and underwear into a beat up backpack. "What else would I wear?" asked Dave in surprise.
"Well a suit would be nice," said John as he picked up a t-shirt from the floor. He noticed the food stains on it and quickly dropped it, wiping his hands horridly on his jeans.
"Too hard to keep properly," said Dave matter of factly. "At least with jeans and scrub tops I can just fire them in the machine. But a suit's a different matter." He saw the look on John's face. "Look, if you really want to wear a suit while you're me, there's one at the back of the closet, that I keep for Mass, and other occasions. You can bring it along if you like."
John pushed aside the other clothes and finally pulled out a suit. To his relief it seemed a relatively conservative dark gray one. "What about a shirt and tie?" he asked Dave, who was rummaging under the bed.
"Don't push it Carter," said Dave, in a muffled tone, as he tried to reach a trainer that was jammed among the books and other stuff crammed under his bed. Finally he retrieved it and threw it into the backpack with its mate. "Besides where are you going to be wearing all that stuff?"
"Well at work...oh, I see what you mean. It would look a bit odd for 'Dr Dave' to be seen in a suit and tie."
"Yeah, unfortunately I'm going to have to wear one." Dave grimaced at the thought. "Still I can always arrange for a little 'accident' so I have to change into scrubs."
"Now wait a minute, you are not going to mess up my clothes," said John indignantly.
"Why the hell do you wear a suit anyway? I mean I know you can afford to get them cleaned, but why go to all that trouble when jeans and a t-shirt are much more comfortable?"
John opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again as he realized that he didn't have a good reason. "I don't know," he shrugged. "When I started my rotations, I just felt that wearing a suit under a lab-coat just seemed more professional. Why do you always wear scrubs?" he countered.
"Can't afford to be dry-cleaning suits all the time. Besides, when I started working on the wards, I sort of felt more confident when I was wearing scrubs, even under a lab-coat. And at least if I got bled on or puked on, I knew it didn't matter. Anyway c'mon, lets get some stuff from your place and then head to your grandparents. Man, I'm hungry."
Dave picked up the backpack and threw it at John. "This should keep you going for a few days."
"How come I have to carry it?" asked John as he followed Dave out of the room.
"Cause it belongs to 'Malucci' of course. It'd look a bit daft if 'Carter' was seen carrying it," replied Dave with a grin as he closed the door.