Doesn't Surprise Me

Chapter 8

A/N This is the second part of the chapter. I DO NOT OWN 'THE NIGHT SHIFT' OR THEIR CHARACTERS.

10:09PM

"Lori, Doctor Clemmens wants to see you in the O.R. immediately." A nurse informed Lori, who had been talking to Kenny, trying to organise a CT for one of the soldiers that had suffered a neck injury during the crash.

"So. Can you get that organised, please?" She asked the nurse, quickly agreeing he walked towards the phone, files in hand.

Lori couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes as she marched up towards the OR. She knew exactly what Scott wanted from her and she wasn't going to let him undermine her again. As soon as she arrived up towards the observation glass he had started to speak to her.

"I was waiting on the amputation on Captain Lincoln." He started, his concentration still on the soldier he had been operating on. "and I just found out that you did an external emergency bypass."

Lori shook her head, this guy just didn't get it. "He's allowed a chance."

"A chance you know you that won't work. I don't know if you're trying to defy me..." Scott challenged. He was a good surgeon, no denying that, he also didn't have as much ego as Lori but she didn't mind. She was a surgeon, a big ego just makes them better, after all, would you like to have your life in the hands of someone who didn't think they're good enough?

Deep down, Lori knew she was searching for a hail Mary but she didn't have a choice. Rick was struggling to cope, so was her brother and maybe, so was she. "I can't amputate." She sighed, shaking her head.

"You're supposed to be my colleague." The man argued.

"No. Seniority. My decision." Lori huffed, angrily. "So you're trying to say we can't encourgae people with a little hope? He's a soldier, someone who fights wars, he needs to know that we didn't just give up on him."

"Not our job." Scott challenged.

Lori scoffed. "Yeah, cause we amputate the limbs of old people, people who are sick. Not people who fight wars and stand proud for their country." She was military, she knew Rick needed to know that she wasn't giving up. "Now if you excuse me, I've got a leg to save."

"We can't save everyone." The Clemmens said, his eyes piercing Lori's. This woman has a God complex and she was going to get herself into a heap of trouble if she didn't snap out of it.

But I'm sure as hell going to try. Sighing, she turned her back and walked away.

11:25PM

On the other side of the hospital, Drew had taken some time to sit with his partner again. He had been stopping by as much as he could but of course, with him being still on shift and his secret yet to be revealed he had to limit his time.

Rick, however, had wanted nothing more than Drew to comfort him, he had been gone for months now and he returned only to been involved in a horrific accident that had threatened his health and career.

But even though Drew had found the time to sit with Rick, they weren't alone, Landry had come to speak to him regarding the possibility of amputation.

"I'm nothing without my leg." Rick complained, he had been in the military since he was 18, it was all he had ever known. He had worked up the ranks like many soldiers and for it to be ripped away it was a surprise that he wasn't inconsolable. Maybe it had been the military way or maybe he was too angry to even consider being upset. "I'm army. This is what I do."

"Are you afraid that the amputation will take all that away from you?" The psychiatrist asked, her eyes soft and her voice gentle.

Rick scoffed. "I'll have nothing to live for."