Another day in the ER /Open storyline set-up/Joint play
It's setting around 8am on Monday morning...Luka's been on since 6, cleaning up the leftover night-shift messes as he carries a chart to the rack and drops it in the discharge pile. He offers Sam a smile as he sees her.

"Hey, when did you get here?" Sam looks up from her chart, smiling at him brightly,

"Hey you, just a few minutes ago."

Neela sits at the admit desk, searching through the internet doing research for a patient. She frowns when she arrives at another dead end.

"I'll bet money Morris was lead for the night, looks like nothing was finished." He frowns at a stack of charts that he's been left to sort through.

Sam looks back down at her chart and nods, "Looks that way to me."

Lucien is up in his office, shuffling stacks of paperwork from one side of his desk to the other, repeatedly checking his pager and hoping for an excuse to go down to the ER

"I don't know why Weaver puts up with him..." He pulls the stack to him as he settles in the chair at the side desk. Sam shakes her head,

"I don't know either, he doesn't bother me all that much...maybe he still has visions of me undressing at the bar in his head."

With a self-amused grin Lucien sets off his pager himself and shrugs.

"Hmm gee, Dr. Dubenko, maybe you should check out the ER to be on the safe side..." He chuckled to himself as he stood up from his desk and pulled on his lab coat over his dark blue scrubs

Luka laughs, before speaking again.

"Oh, before I forget, there's a guy in sutures who thinks zombies are after him..psych has been called but no sign of them yet.

As an afterthought, Dubenko grabs a stack of charts off his desk and drops them in the hands of his chief resident before heading to the elevators.

Sam scrunches her nose up, "I'll make a mental note to stay away from sutures then."

"See to it that those are handled." He remarked as the woman just stared at him dully.
Albright was obnoxious, but she knew better than to challenge her superiors

"He seems to like it if we do a check under the bed every ten minutes or so, keeps him in the room and relatively quiet. Oh, you wouldn't have a spare pen light would you, I gave him mine and told him it was equipped with a zombie death ray."

Dubenko bounced on his heels as he rode the elevator to the ground floor hoping that Dr. Rasgotra was on, maybe he could get her to agree to a cup of coffee...

Sam laughs out loud, "You're not serious are you?"

He shrugs and lets a smile deepen. "Couldn't find a zombie rifle anywhere."

She shakes her head and looks down at her chart and then back up at him smiling flirtatiously, "Violence never got anyone anywhere Kovac."

Dubenko came out of the elevator and made his way towards the admit area under the guise of asking about who sent the last page to his beeper.

"If you have a better way of dealing with the zombies when they come have at it Nurse Taggart." He flips a chart open and scans it without interest before looking back her way.

Spotting Kovac chatting up Sam he sighed softly and then shrugged off the feeling of petty jealousy. Blondes really weren't his type even if the petite nurse was charming and attractive.

"Ah, well zombies really aren't my specialty anyway."

"Hey, Dr. Kovac...Sam" He nodded by way of greeting "Ah....zombies?"

"Morning Dr. Dubenko...yeah..guy in sutures says they're after him."

Sam smiles at Lucien, "Hey Lucien, how are ya?" She nods towards Luka, "This one's hunting them."

"I'll be staying out of the suture room then."

"I'm fine, though I haven't had my morning quota of java, don't wish to be mistaken for the living dead"

"Chicken..I hear they don't bite..much."

"Neela..you're awful quiet..no zombie pointers from your side?"

Sam rolls her eyes.

Luka rolls his chair out so that he can see the board...checking to see if the chart in his hands is still on it.

"Why is the guy in exam 3 still here? Wasn't he supposed to go upstairs twenty minutes ago?" The question seems posed to no one in particular as he asks it.

Neela shakes her head, concentrating on her research,

"Unless they've got a suggestion on how to treat recurring Mastoiditis, then I don't much rather care."

Luka smiles..unable to stop himself. "They'll just eat it Neela, zombies will eat anything."

Neela rolls her eyes, frustrated that he's not taking her research seriously.

Sam smirks and rolls her eyes as well, looking down at her chart seriously.

"Why don't you have Dr. Dubenko take a look, might have to resort to surgery to relieve it."

Dubenko, arches his eyebrow at that

"Since when do you give surgical consults Dr. Kovac?"

Neela shakes her head, "The patient's mother would rather not move to surgery."

He did, however, move over to where Neela was and peered over her shoulder.

Neela looks back, obviously now overly conscious he's behind her after their kiss.

"I just call for them..." He raises his hands in surrender...

"Don't you have zombies to hunt or something? Let the rest of us concentrate on the research."

Sam laughs at that.

"I'm just insuring they stay in sutures."

He placed a hand on the small of her back as he continues to look over her shoulder, reading

Suddenly there is a loud crash from the direction of the room which has Luka on his feet immediately and charging down the hall toward the room.

Sam's head snaps towards the room crash, jumping slightly.

"Ah, When Zombies Attack, News at 11" Turning his attention back to Neela he asks, his voice lower, "How many times has this mastoiditis recurred? No sense in constantly doing repeated inner ear injections if it isn't working when surgery can solve the problem"

Neela nods towards the chart, "This is the fourth time the child has had it."

"Malik!" Kovac calls for help as he enters the room but ends up having to make a lunge for the guy as he threatens to throw a lamp toward the door. "Calm down Mr. Richards."

Sam moves in with Luka towards the man, making a grab for the patient's arm in hopes of holding him back with her small body.

Before she can manage it the man lands a blow with it striking Luka and they both go down as he wrenches it out of his hands.

Dubenko steps around to lean against the counter, facing Neela, arms crossed over his chest.

"Four times in how many months? What are the intervals between occurrences? And how old is said patient?" He knows he could have simply looked at the chart but he
preferred talking to her instead,

"Careful...ow..." He pulls his hand back as the man bites him in response and braces a knee on him. "Sam..get me 5 of Haldol, and somebody find out where the hell that pysch consult is."

Sam nods and moves up running to the medicine cabinet. She grabs a syringe filling it with a bit more than five of the medication. She walks back over quickly, stabbing the guy with the needle in his neck.

Neela pushes the chart towards Lucien, "He's six years old and it's been three times in six months, the last occurrence was a month and a half ago."

Luka keeps his weight on the guy until he stops struggling then climbs off, shaking his head slightly before picking the man up and putting him on the bed. "Soft restraints."

He shook his head. "And just why is the mother so opposed to the surgery that can permanently relieve the situation?"

Sam raises an eyebrow, "You want those or that's what they had him on?"

Dubenko flipped through the chart, frowning.

"This is ridiculous to let a child continue on like this needlessly."

"He wasn't violent..they didn't have anything on him."

Neela shrugs, "I'm not sure, she said she'd rather not resort to surgery."

Sam raises an eyebrow and situates the man with hard restraints,

"He hit you with a lamp, Luka."

He shook his hand and glanced down at the bite for the first time, surprised to find blood was already running down his fingers, ignoring it for the moment as he tended to the man with the offered straps.

"Would she rather her child suffer permanent hearing loss or facial paralysis instead? Has she been made aware of the seriousness of such a recurring infection? This isn't a simple earache."

"I know, he bit me.. too, but he didn't seem violent before. " He rubbed his eyes with his other hand before moving aside. "Great start to the day."

Lucien shook his head and gave her an apologetic look for his tone, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bite your head off here, Rasgotra."

Neela turned to look at him, slightly perturbed that she'd been spoken too in such a manner, "I'm not sure Dr. Dubenko, however, she's my patient and it's my duty to inform her the best route of medication and then let her make the decision she deems most appropriate for her son."

He grabbed a couple of 4x4s and applied pressure to his hand before starting out of the room.

"Could you call psych again and tell them to get down here now, then maybe grab me a couple ibuprofen?"

Sam nods and places a hand on her arm,

"Luka..." She steps out with him and then nods into the empty room next to them, "Come on, let me get you cleaned up, okay?"

He arched an eyebrow at that. "I'm well aware of what your job description entails, and as a senior attending and someone qualified to give an opinion on the course of treatment I believe the woman should be encouraged to reexamine her treatment options and encouraged to consider surgery. Or at least encourage her to see an ENT, who will tell her the same things I have just reiterated here"

He glances down the hall before nodding, which he immediately regrets as his head pounds. "Okay."

Neela shoves the chart into his hands, "Then you speak with her."

He gives her a surprised look as he takes the chart." Neela..."

Sam takes his arm and leads him into the room next door and sits him down on a gurney before moving a tray over in between them.

He rubs the side of his head as he enters the room. "Headache is going to be a good one I think."

She walks over to the cabinet and grabs what she needs before walking over and turning over his wrist. Dropping the already soaked 4x4's on the floor, she irrigates the wound and nods,

"We'll fix you up no problem."

Neela raises an eyebrow, "Oh so you do know my first name."

"Ow.." he winces as the astringent hits.

She frowns, "I'm sorry. He got you pretty good." She finishes and presses some gauze to it before placing a large bandage over it,

"There you go, good as new." She runs a finger over the bandage before looking up at his head, wincing,

"So..maybe I should spend the night so you can make sure I don't change into a zombie from this."

" She smirks and chuckles, "You think so, huh?"

"Couldn't hurt." He tries to smile then lifts his hand to his head again. "I don't think he broke the skin."

She nods, "Yeah, but you're gonna have a nasty bump."

"Won't be my first but I could use something for the headache."

She nods, "What do you want? Vicodin, morphine, tylenol, or ibuprofen? Or something else?"

"Ibuprofen should be fine..still have to work."

He frowns at Neela. "Of course I know what your name is..."He trails off looking at the chart and then towards the patient area.

"Lead on, Dr. Rasgotra. I'll gladly speak to your patient and his mother if you'd like"

He rubbed his head again before dropping his hand. "And a cold pack."

She nods, leaning in to kiss his forehead. When she pulls away she turns red, unsure as to if that was an okay move, "I'll be right back."

Luka smiles revealing his dimples at her action. "I take it I'll be staying here until you get back."

Neela nods and walks toward the mother, "Mrs. Wilson, this is our Surgical attending, he wanted to speak to you about your options for handling Justin's infections."

Lucien nodded, giving the woman a small smile and then a wink to the boy. " Dr. Rasgotra has pointed out the severity and frequency of Justin's mastoiditis, which is far more serious than a common earache. He isn't responding to the antibiotics as well as we would like and if this continues the lasting effects could be severe." He sits the chart down on the bed and pushes his glasses up on his nose

Sam smirks and nods, "Right here, or else." She points to where he's sitting before leaving. She returns a few moments later with the ibuprofen, "All right, big guy, how many do you want?"

"Half a dozen sound good about now. " He squeezes his eyes shut and reopens them...

She reaches with her free hand to touch his cheek,

"I don't want to alarm you or Justin, however left to continue in this state he could risk serious hearing loss even deafness or facial paralysis. A simple surgical procedure can eliminate that eventuality. I think it would be in your son's best interest to reconsider you options"

"You sure you're okay?"

"Other then feeling like my head is going to explode any minute..fine. Did you bring a cold pack with you too?"

Lucien looks to Neela as he waits for the woman's response

Mrs. Wilson stands stiffly, "I'd like to have our family physician look at Justin."

He nods. "Very well. I was going to offer to refer you to an ENT for a second opinion as it stands. I'd be happy to speak with your family practitioner if you like"

Sam frowns, "I know, I'm sorry." She hands him the ibuprofen and grabs him a cup of water before reaching into her pocket and taking out the cold pack, "Here."

"Thanks..and it was my fault..should have had him restrained instead of humoring him."
He swallows the tablets then breaks the pack and lays it to the side of his head even as
it elicits a wince from him.

She frowns, "Do you need anything else?"

Mrs. Wilson shakes her head, "No, I'd just like Justin to be seen by him and for him to advise me."

"Not right now...but maybe I'll think of something later." He offers a slight smile "Okay,back to work..."

She rolls her eyes, "Are you sure?"

He stands. "Yeah..let's go see how long I can go without something else happening." He motions her to the door.

She nods and moves for the door, opening it, "Back to the grind I guess."

"Sure..." He holds the pack to the side of his head as they make their way back to the nurse's station.

"How long did psych say they'd be?"

Sam shrugs, "They said they'd get here when they have time."

"Nice to see them so committed to their work." He takes a seat back at the desk when they reach the nurse's station again and leans forward, dropping his head into his hands as he supports the pack to the lump.

Lucien nods and picks the chart up, making a few notes.

"Well then, have a good morning Mrs. Wilson, Justin, feel better soon, young man"

Sam sits back in her seat and scoots forward towards him, running a hand over his head and then retreats it, not wanting to be open about whatever their relationship was at work,

"Maybe you should lay down for a while?"

"Can't sleep in case it's a concussion."

Mrs. Wilson smiles at Dr. Dubenko, glad to have had her way and nods, "Thank you."

Sam shakes her head, "I didn't say sleep, I just said lay down."

Lucien nods again and as he turns his back to leave, rolls his eyes in mild disgust.

Neela purses her lips and nods to the woman and her son before heading off towards the lounge at a brisk walk.

Kovac shakes his head slightly and then regrets it as a surge of nausea hits.

"Okay..not doing that again."

Lucien watches Neela take off and frowns, checking his watch and then deciding to follow her into the room.

"Is there a problem, Dr. Rasgotra?"

"How bad is the board?" He asks the question without lifting his head to look.

Sam looks up and frowns, "Bad enough to not tell you where Morris lives so he doesn't get murdered."

Neela turns around and raises an eyebrow, "I don't understand you."

He lowers the pack and lifts his head to look at her.

"I need to get back to work." He doesn't sound overly convincing that he's quite up for that. Sam places a hand on his knee,

"Just go sit down in the lounge for a few, take it easy. There are more than enough of us here. Maybe ask Lucien to help out for a bit?"

"What's there to not understand?" He puts his hands in his pockets

He squints slightly, start to rise only to sit again.

"How about if I just sit here and you see if Dr. Dubenko would mind until I'm not seeing double?" He clamps the pack against his head as he drops it in his palms again and closes his eyes.

Neela raises an eyebrow, "Everything!"

Sam nods and squeezes his knee, "Of course."

He doesn't seem aware that blood from the bite has already soaked through the layers of bandage on his wrist.

He looks stunned "Everything? Neela..."

Sam moves to stand and catches his wrist, "Luka, I'm going to need to re-bandage that. I really think you should just go home."

He lifts his head. "Not going home, I'll be fine..just need for the meds to kick in."

Neela nods, "Yes. Everything! I don't understand how one second I'm Dr. Rasgotra and the next I'm Neela. Pick one and stick with it."

Sam shakes her head, "Please."

"I'll take it easy but I'm staying..besides..better I'm here then home alone if something happened, right?"

He moves towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Which would you prefer?"

He let his head drop as he closed his eyes again.

She rolls her eyes, "Luka, I'm taking you home."

Neela shrugs so his hand falls, "I don't know. Dr. Rasgotra at work perhaps?"

"Not going home..." He doesn't move. "Don't you have patients to check up on?"

She fixes him with a look, "I'm not taking no for an answer, Luka."'

He lowers the pack and lifts his head again to look at her only to squint and then rub his eyes before saying anything. "I'm not leaving Sam...I'm the only attending on."

Catching the rebuke for what it was he nods and takes a step back.

"Fine, Dr. Rasgotra. " He sighs, "About Justin, do you happen to know his primary care physician's name?'

She places a hand on her hips and nudges him with a foot,

"How man fingers am I holding up." She steps farther away from him and holds up three fingers.

Neela nods to the chart, "It's all there in the medical history."

He nods, feeling foolish for asking the question "Of course, thank you." He turns to walk out of the lounge not sure where he stands with her

He closes one eye and concentrates on her hand a moment, tilting his head slightly. "Less then five." He smiles and finally says, "Three?" Not fully sure.

She sighs, frustrated. She leans against her locker, not a clue as to what's going on.

Sam scoffs slightly, "Lucky guess." She looks over to where she sees Lucien leaving the lounge, "Dr. Dubenko, could you do me a favor?"

He looks up at Sam,distracted. "Um, yes?"

When Sam turns her attention elsewhere he drops his head back into his hands and replaces the cold-pack to the knot.

She nods towards Luka, gesturing towards him with a hand as well, "Can you examine this one for me? He's stubborn as hell. Bleeding with a possible concussion. I think he should go home, he believes otherwise."

"I don't need to go home." He doesn't alter positions with the protest.

Lucien groans "I don't treat zombies...or the Jolly Green Giant"

He walks over to where Luka is and pulls out his penlight

"Are you going to cooperate or do we need to call Weaver?"

He lifts his head and squints up at the surgeon. "You wouldn't?"

Sam stands back, "Oh, he would."

He lets the cold-pack drop as he sits up straighter, allowing a glimpse of the blood soaked bandage on his wrist as he does so.

"Okay, okay."

She raises an eyebrow, "Okay, okay...what?"

"If you're asking if I'm going home I can't, I'm the only attending on."

She nods towards the phone, "I'll call someone in, like I did when I called you in on my first day."

"Um, hello, I'm an attending." Lucien waves his hands at Luka

"Sam..I'll be fine once the headache fades...I don't need to leave." He does shift his attention to Dubenko at the offer. "Like you want to cover the ER."

He frowns, thinking about the shift spend with Neela, Dr. Rasgotra he corrects himself. "Not really, no. But I will so that you can go home instead of trying to treat patients while concussed

"I don't have a concussion..I have a headache." He wasn't completely sure that was the case but he tried to sound convincing at his argument.

Sam rolls her eyes, "You just said two minutes ago that you might have a concussion."

He rubbed at his eyes again not remembering it if he did.

Lucien gives him a skeptical look and motions for Luka to roll his chair in closer.

"Are you seriously going to make me give you a neuro exam?:

"You don't need to.." He lifts his gaze to Sam but does as the surgeon asks to avoid further argument.

Lucien frowns as he picks up the other man's forearm, looking at the bandage on his wrist.

"Seeing as this has bled through, Sam, this needs redressing, I'm not going to suture a bite wound." He shines his pen light in Luka's eyes, watching for the pupils to react

Luka squints to the brightness without intending to.

Sam nods and moves off to grab some more dressings for the wound and the irrigation tool.

Tucking the light back in his pocket, Lucien feels the bump on Luka's head.

"You've managed to score yourself a pretty good goose egg there, Zombie Hunter."

"Ow.."He winces and pulls away slightly from the touch. "Could have told you that myself."

He lowers his voice and levels his gaze with the other man, "Honest medical assessment here? You have a mild concussion. My personal opinion? Suck it up and don't make me cover the ER."

"I tried to tell her that...just waiting for the meds to kick in and I'll be fine."

Sam moves in after their conversation and starts to pull the dressings free so she can
irrigate the wound again.

He doesn't resist Sam's efforts and merely bites his lip as the astringent again sears the wound.

Lucien looks at Sam "He's fine,just a bump on that rock hard Croatian head of his."

He glances to Dubenko. "Thanks."

He smiles back, knowing he has one over on the other man for the moment. "Anytime"

Sam rolls her eyes, pressing the gauze and new bandage to the still oozing wound, "Whatever."

"I think I'm done here..."He looks at Luka and Sam questioningly.

"Yeah, I owe you one" He tosses the words to Dubenko before the man walks
away.

Sam finishes dressing the wound and walks away over to admit, grabbing another chart to work on. Angry at both men for not following what she believes is the right course of action.

"And that board isn't going to clear itself." Luka stands as Sam walks away and after steadying himself on the desk goes to take a chart. He walks over behind the small woman and leans down to her before speaking quietly to her.

"Sam, if I start to feel worse I'll leave..okay?"

Sam shakes her head, "It's fine, I don't care anymore."

"He smiles despite himself. "You're mad."

She shrugs, "I'm working is what I am."

"And I should be too..." He reluctantly walks away and goes to take care of the patient whose chart he is carrying.