by Aiden Bates
"No, you're not. I just need one for this, God or whoever willing. I need someone to help once I've got the baby out of her. You're just an extra set of hands. Follow the nurse's orders and don't be proactive."
Someone showed up and shoved gowns onto both of them, as well as caps and masks. Then they ran over to the treatment bay, and Idoni got to work.
The job went pretty quickly, all things considered. Finn was pretty sure that a C-section was supposed to take longer, but he was also pretty sure that only applied when the patient was living. The smell when Idoni cut the woman open was appalling, and for a second Finn thought that he was going to be sick in his mask.
The baby, a little girl, didn't look so hot herself. She wasn't breathing, and she wasn't moving much either. Finn cut the cord when he was told to do so, and held the baby so that Idoni could check her heart and get her breathing started.
Once Idoni got her breathing going, the little girl gave a loud cry. The nurses got her cleaned off and bundled her up. Then they stuck her back in Finn's arms, making sure to tell him exactly how to hold her while they got a bassinet from the nursery. The baby, known as Baby Doe for the moment, didn't seem to need to know more than that she had someone to cuddle and she was safe. She turned her tiny face into Finn's chest and went to sleep.
"You can let the cops in now." Idoni's voice had softened. He bent over the mother's body. He and one of the nurses were sewing the incisions up. Of course they were, he thought to himself. They had to do something for the funeral.
"I've never seen a dead body before. I mean at funerals," Finn admitted. "But that's different."
Idoni snorted. "I'd say they're probably my least favorite part of the job." The nurse waved him away, and he shrugged and got rid of his bloody gown and gloves. "I feel so bad for that guy."
Finn frowned. "He tried to kill me." Adrenaline flooded his veins as the full realization of what had happened hit him. That bullet had almost hit him. He had almost died.
Idoni smirked. "It's one of his better points." Then he sobered up. "The guy wasn't in his right mind. His wife, or girlfriend, or whatever, had obviously been shot in front of him. I don't know why. It's not on me to make judgments about anyone else's lifestyle, you know? I told him that we could save this baby, and we did." His pager went off. "Awesome. I'm going to go get changed and hope for a less bittersweet delivery, someplace a little better set up for it."
"Without gunfire this time?" Finn tried for a joke.
"That's usually the plan, although sometimes you never know." Idoni winked and took off.
Finn held the newborn close for a long moment. When the nursery team came for her, though, he put her into the bassinet and let her go.
By this point, the police had been allowed into the ER. They weren't thrilled about the suspect being removed to the psychiatric ward without their involvement. Finn didn't mind admitting that he didn't like it either. He'd rather have seen the guy in jail, given that shots had been fired at his head, but he could see Idoni's point. "I was certainly not going to question a physician's medical judgment in the middle of an emergency situation. How you handle it going forward, you can take up with legal and his doctor down in psych. I do agree that the poor man didn't seem to be entirely able to grasp what was happening in the situation."
They also weren't thrilled that Dr. Idoni had taken it upon himself to disarm the attacker, although they admitted that they couldn't have seen any other way that the scenario could have gone down. During the press conference, which Finn had to give despite the fact that he was still shaking, the subject of Idoni's heroics came up.
"During the hostage situation," the Chief of Police droned, "one of the hostages took it upon himself to disarm the assailant. We never recommend this. It's dangerous and it can have consequences to others beyond yourself. That said, Dr. Idoni was in a difficult situation. The assailant had already discharged his firearm toward one of the hostages, and might have killed a patient or a staff member if he hadn't acted. So don't try this at home, but in this particular situation, Dr. Idoni made the right call."
Finn squirmed. He didn’t want to have to praise Idoni, all things considered, but he couldn't avoid it when he thought about what the man had done. "I want to emphasize that Dr. Idoni wasn't looking to harm the attacker. His thoughts were for the safety of everyone in that situation, to include the assailant. His quick thinking, and the smart and calm responses of patients and staff, ensured that we had as happy an outcome as we could. Dr. Idoni is a hero."
A journalist raised her hand. "Where is Dr. Idoni right now?"
Finn chuckled. "Working. He got called to another delivery immediately after that incident. I'm hoping that one went a little more smoothly." The journalists tittered, and the conference wrapped up with a few pleasantries.
Finn returned to his office. He didn't know if he would ever shake the memory of today. That baby would have died if Idoni hadn't saved her. Finn didn't know what would become of the child now, but she had more of a chance that she would have if Idoni's quick thinking hadn't saved the day.
It didn't change anything, not really. Idoni was still an insubordinate firebrand who was making Finn's life miserable. Finn couldn't entirely say that he was more trouble than he was worth.
Chapter Three
Carter rolled his eyes when he saw the headlines the next morning. He wasn't a hero. He was a guy doing a job, nothing more and nothing less. Anyone else in his place would have done the same thing. Okay, anyone else who knew how to cut a baby out of a dead person's stomach would have done the same thing. And the cops were right—under normal circumstances, grabbing for someone's gun would have been stupid, and Carter wouldn't have done it.
Those weren't normal circumstances. He had a baby to save, and an ER full of people who were going to die if he didn't get control of the situation right away. If the cops had come in, guns blazing, it would have increased the body count and the baby still wouldn't have been saved.
He sent flowers to the mother's funeral. When he learned that the family couldn't pay for the funeral, he covered that too. He told the funeral home to keep his involvement anonymous. Anyone who thought that he was in this for glory or praise had to be on drugs. The parents had been a young couple trying to get by and do the best that they could. They'd been caught up in the violence for which their neighborhood was becoming increasingly known.
The District Attorney wanted to press charges against the father, but the hospital psychiatrist firmly declared that the man wasn't competent to participate in his own defense. That perfect, sweet baby girl that Carter had pulled out of the mother's body would go to an aunt in Ithaca. Hopefully the father would follow, when he was able.
Carter tried not to feel too badly about that. The family had been shattered, but they could be reunited someday. Ithaca was safer than the part of Syracuse where little Solange's parents had lived. There was hope, at least.
The week dragged on, and when he finally got to the end of it Allen helpfully reminded him that the Annual Hospital Memorial Day Picnic was on Saturday. Mandatory fun, fantastic. "There are so many thousands of places I would rather be right now than at Green Lakes with a few hundred of my closest colleagues." He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.
"There's an open bar." Allen waggled his eyebrows. "I can't imagine that Finn Riley was willing to shell out for an open bar, but since he did I'm going to take him at his word and go for it. Bring some alpha, make him play designated driver, and get your drink on while Riley has to shell out for it."
"And listen to Riley complain about it for days on end? No thank you." Carter shrugged. "I'll do what I do for parties at Tom's house. I'll put in an appearance, then I'll take off and go work out or go do something fun. Hey, are you up for a trip to Foxtails, maybe tomorrow or Sunday night? It's a holiday weekend, so we should be good."
Allen raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Foxtails? What if you wind up getting called into the hospital?"
Carte
r grinned. "Aren't you the one who was just encouraging me to get plastered on Riley's dime? The resident that just finished up is staying on for an additional couple of years to help pay off his student loans. He's okay in most situations, and he's on call all weekend. I am officially free."
Allen got up from his chair. "And what are you going to do with your freedom? Oh right. Run away from the company picnic, go to a nightclub, and decide you're too responsible to have more than a couple of drinks."
"You're probably not wrong. But I might put my feet up at home and just read, you know? Or I might decide to put in for a trip to that conference down in Atlanta. You know, the one on omega miscarriage outcomes and improving future fertility rates in survivors?" He grinned at Allen and put his feet up on his desk.
"I think I'd rather have you go to the club, to be honest, but let's be real. You'd rather go to Atlanta." Allen nudged him. "You want to see how many continuing and professional education credits you can rack up."
"They are important, I'll have you know. And maybe I'll meet the man of my dreams while I'm down there." Carter affected a coquettish pose as he got up from his chair. "I do so deserve a Southern gentleman, after everything."
Allen laughed at him and ushered him out of the office. "Come on now, Scarlett. Your brain's giving under the strain. We'd better get you home and sit you down with some terrible sci-fi and let you sleep it off."
Carter did head back to his place just south of the city. He didn't put his feet up and watch some terrible sci-fi. He hired someone to do most of the landscaping, since he couldn't be around to handle it as much as the place might deserve. There was one part of the yard that he'd fenced off from the rest, though, and Carter hadn't had much of a chance to pull weeds yet.
He went out into his garden and checked for intruders. Soon the little plot would be full of tomatoes, and summer squash, and winter squash too. He had frames for the lettuce, and the blackberry bushes he'd put in under his windows for security were coming in nicely. Part of him thought that it was a little odd that he enjoyed gardening so much. After a long day of ushering life into the world, he could probably be excused from nurturing life in his off hours.
The life that he created in this little plot was different. It was life that he created, something that was unique to him. He fought for life in the hospital, but it wasn't his. The parent involved might remain his patient, but he would probably never see that baby again. With the garden, everything was his.
He puttered in the garden for a while, and then he headed indoors to work out. If he was going to be forced to participate in the Mandatory Fun, he would do better if his mood improved.
The next day, he went for his morning run, went through another quick workout against the heavy bag in the basement, and cleaned up before heading up to Green Lakes. He felt more relaxed after having worked some of the resentment out of his system, and had even brought some swim trunks to change into should the spirit so move him.
For a moment he wondered if Finn Riley had brought swim trunks too, and what he'd look like in them, but he dismissed it to the back reaches of his mind. These were chemical reactions, and he couldn't be expected to not have them. That didn't mean that Finn Riley was any less of a soulless jackass.
But he intervened for you with Tom! A tiny little chorus of hope cried out from the back of his mind, sounding suspiciously like his thirteen-year-old self.
Carter had been a twerp at thirteen, all hormones and acne. He could safely ignore that cracking voice in the back of his head. Sure, Riley had intervened. He'd probably just been looking for ammunition. Or maybe he'd been as uncomfortable having Carter in a social situation with him, as Carter had been having Riley in a social situation. He could pretend the knowledge didn't give him any pain at all.
Green Lakes was a beautiful park. Carter had fallen a little bit in love with it the first time he'd come up here, with Tom and his dog back when they'd been together and things had been good. They'd hiked on the trails for hours. It had been Carter's first experience with the true natural beauty of Central New York, and he wouldn't ever be able to see the deep and unique lakes or the rolling wooded hills around the place without thinking of Tom.
The email demanding Mandatory Fun had directed employees to use a specific lot. Carter obeyed this directive, since he didn't want to get in the way of regular beachgoers, and headed to the pavilion that the hospital had rented. Just as expected, pretty much everyone was there. He recognized the usual suspects from his department, of course, but he also saw some familiar faces from outside the Obstetrics department. He didn't get to see those people very often, and he made sure that he made a point of saying hello.
Rick Wade, from Emergency, gave him a giant hug and a full ration of grief about the incident with the gunman. "You know that Riley's insurance wonks are going to be in your face for like a thousand years about that right?" he crowed, passing Carter a lemonade. "I mean for real. You're going to need a can of adjuster-b-gone to deal with them."
Carter saw Vic Rinaldi, from Pulmonary Medicine, too. He hadn't seen Vic since the last time they'd had Mandatory Fun, but they regularly exchanged funny memes via email. They had a good time sneaking around and playing pranks on the rest of the staff, and once Allen showed up and joined them the three omegas were unstoppable.
Even the arrival of Finn Riley didn't stop them. It almost did; none of the three omegas could ignore the sudden chill that followed Riley's presence. The bastard was watching them. Carter could feel his icy eyes on his back again. He wasn't going to let that stop him from having fun, though, especially not when that fun was mandatory. "Let's go and rent some canoes, guys," he urged. "He can't chase us out onto the lake."
They changed into their swimsuits, rented the canoes that the lake made available, and headed out onto the lake. They had a decent day for it, in the low seventies. It wasn't quite swimming weather, but being out in the sunshine was a pleasant prospect. He and the others had races and splashed around, ignored the "mandatory fun" and made some fun of their own.
When they heard the whistle on the "beach" side of the lake, they glanced at one another and aimed their canoes toward the swimmers. The whistles only sounded for one reason: a missing swimmer. The swimmer might be found, safe and sound, but they might not. Surely it would be best if a medical doctor were on hand to help out.
Vic found the child, floating face down near the line dividing the swimming area from the rest of the lakes. Carter held his canoe steady while Vic leaned over and hauled the boy into the vessel. The kid might have been eight years old, and Carter could already see small bruises on his ankle and his shoulders. The boy's lips were blue, and he wasn't breathing.
"I've got a pulse," Vic announced.
"Let's get him over to that dock over there; it'll be easier to get him breathing again." Carter folded his lips into a grim line. On the one hand, it would be better to start mouth-to-mouth right away. On the other, the canoes weren't a stable enough surface. If the boy moved wrong, he'd send both himself and Vic back into the drink.
The trio raced over to the dock, which turned out to be another boat rental shack. The crowd made a hole for them as they pulled up alongside the edge. Carter arrived first and hauled himself up onto the surface. He hauled the drowned boy up onto the dock.
Vic sprang up beside him and rolled the boy over onto his side. He checked the boy's pulse again and immediately delivered blows to the child's back. After a second, the boy heaved, and what seemed like an impossible volume of water came rushing out of his mouth and nose.
The child's head fell into the mess for a second, and then he drew a loud gasp of air into his lungs. Just then, paramedics arrived at the dock, along with a man, a woman, and a pair of small children. The adults had gone pale behind their sunburns, while the children looked bored.
"Mikey?" the woman asked.
The paramedics lifted Mikey up and strapped him onto the gurney. Mikey's eyes still weren't open.
Carte
r exchanged glances with the paramedics. When one of them nodded, he put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Are you his mother?" When she nodded, hand to her mouth, he smiled. "You should go with them, ma'am. Mikey's going to need his mom. Dr. Rinaldi saved him, but he's going to be a hurting cookie for a little while."
Mikey's mom followed her son over to the ambulance, while the watching crowd burst into applause.
Carter blushed and turned to his friends, who were in the same straits. "Good Lord, people were recording that. On their phones!" Allen turned away with a grimace. "And I'm here in my swim trunks."
"Maybe we'd better just slink on out of here," Carter suggested, edging back toward the canoes and away from the crowd.
Of course, it couldn't be that easy. Mikey's father wanted to thank them, and the chief lifeguard wanted to know who they were and how they'd known what to do for insurance purposes. That took time, time during which all three omegas had to stand on the dock exposed for all the world to see.
By the time that they got back to the canoe rental shack near the hospital picnic, there was a welcoming committee there to meet them. Rick Wade stood there in his loud Hawaiian print shirt, a huge grin on his face. Finn Riley stood beside him. He had no grin. His eyes were riveted to Carter.
