Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to Lifetime Television.





Chapter One: A Busy Day





"Well, how is everything lookin', Lu?" Miranda Kollier asked her doctor as she buttoned her blouse. Dr. Luisa Delgado put her stethoscope around her neck, and threw her latex gloves into the trash.

"Everything looks great, Randee. If all goes well, you should deliver in about 8 weeks."

"Good. I can hardly wait. Bryan is hoping for a boy. And Taylor can hardly wait to be a big sister." Lu smiled.

"The time will go fast. But until then, just take it easy and call if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks, Lu."



"Hey Lana, who's my next patient?" Lu handed Miranda's file to the receptionist. Lana handed her another one.

"Kourtney Williams. Look Lu, don't you think you should take a break? You've been goin' steady since you got here this morning."

"I don't have time for a break, Lana" Lu answered with a sigh. "I have a full schedule of patients today. But if all goes well, I should actually be able to leave at 5."

"Yeah, right." Lana Hawkins replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She knew that Lu very seldom left the clinic by 5:00...most nights it was often after 7.

"Oh come on, Lana. You know perfectly well I need to be here. I can't..." Lu started, but Lana interrupted.

"I know, I know, you can't let your patients down. I've heard that song before. Go on, Kid. Kourtney's waiting." Lu smiled as she grabbed the file from her friend and headed towards her office.



Lu poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at a table in the cafeteria, glad for a chance to finally sit down. As she had predicted, it had been a busy day. In between her own patients, she had been paged several times to the emergency room, which had caused her to fall behind in her own patients.

"Mind if I sit down?" Lu glanced up at the sound of a male voice.

"Sure, Peter. What are you still doing here?" Lu asked the nurse.

"Delivery. Maribeth Rollings. How about you? I thought you'd be gone by now." Lu took a sip of her coffee.

"Busy day. I should be out of here by 9."

"Lu, you've really been putting in some long hours lately. You can't keep up at this pace." Lu took a deep breath.

"Peter, I've already been through this with Lana. And I don't need to go through it again with you. My job is to take care of my patients. And sickness doesn't just come between the hours of 9am and 5pm. My job is to provide care for them no matter what time of the day or night it is. My patients count on me, and I need to be there for them. I think..." At that moment, Lu's pager beeped. She quickly glanced down at it.

"ER. Gotta run."

"But Lu..." Lu took one last drink of her coffee.

"Gotta run, Peter." Lu said quickly. "I'll see you later." With that, Lu hurried from the cafeteria.