Disclaimer: All characters belong to the show except for the ones I make up later on.

Elisabeth Shannon:

I like to view operating as an art of sorts.

Not the time of art that see hanging in a museum like what they about 500 years ago or more like 85 million years in the future. No, it is like art in a sense where a steady hand is required and where one small slip of the hand and all your hard work comes undone and affects the whole art piece.

Not that I don't like to see my patients as the human beings that they are, it's just easier that way if I view them as art instead of a person who has a mother or a wife waiting for them in the next room worried sick not knowing what's happening.

Back in Chicago this was always the case. People were brought in constantly around the clock due to the lack of sufficient oxygen left in the atmosphere. The poisonous toxins cause significant damage to a person's lungs and immune system often rendering them incapable to breathe on their own.

Knowing that it was up to you alone to save this person's life are a lot a pressure but it is pressure that I love. I found that after years of undergoing twelve to twenty-five surgeries per day, I worked better with it. To me pressure is that surge of adrenaline needed to cross the finish line after a long and horrendous marathon.

Today was almost a day like no other especially with the season we had just entered. Insects are spawning this time of year. Rather large insects who don't appreciate those on agriculture duty to poke around their habitats. These confrontations between bug and man often lead to a nasty bite or sting that often leaves the person infected and in a lot of pain.

It's all just fascinating really.

Sadly my love for the medical arts is not shared with my family. My daughter Maddy tried to develop this passion of mine but I believe that she saw the romantic side of being a doctor rather than seeing the pus and blood that I have come accustomed too. She tried though and I guess that's all I could ask for but Maddy is more of a scientific doctor more than anything.

It's hard to talk about work at home as no one seems to understand what it is I am talking about even if I do cut back on the medical language which I need to describe the patient that I had operated on that day.

Though I wished that someone understood my excitement over the numerous procedures that I perform at the clinic, it doesn't really matter to me as I have a loving family and a new chance of living which I never thought I'd live to see.

Glancing up the digital clock that's inserted into the wall above me I noticed that my day had slipped away from me and that my shift ended in ten minutes.

Happy with the prospect of being with my family soon I hurriedly finished the inventory and did a quick round to the patients who would be remaining in the clinic that night, checking their vitals and ensuring that they were comfortable.

Just as I was gathering my stuff together so that I could head on home a nurse entered the room I was in and said that I was needed on the main floor.

Inwardly groaning I put my stuff away again and entered the other room where I noticed several large bodies clutching various limbs in obvious pain.

"Now what is this all about?" I asked the closest soldier.

"Sorry Mam but today's training session had been particularly rough and we fear that some bones may have been broken."

The Soldier spoke in formality which was clearly refreshing so I got right away in inspecting the suspected breaks and setting them right again before plastering them and sending the men away again telling them to rest up and avoid tense movement with that limb.

….

I was an hour late returning home and clearly exhausted from the long day. I was glad to find once I had entered through the front door that Maddy had already prepared dinner and a steaming plate of food was waiting for me at the table.

Setting down my stuff by my chair I exchanged quick greeting's to my family before taking a large bite of my food.

I ate rather quickly not really tasting the food but I knew that if I had, it would have been delicious.

"The dinner was delicious" I was pretty certain that it was Maddy who had cooked but I did not personalise my praise just in case it was not her that was responsible for dinner.

"Thanks Mum" said Maddy, who confirm my belief that it was her that cooked for us tonight. "I thought I would try something different from what we usually had, so I experimented a little bit and seemed to have worked"

She was beaming, clearly happy with the result of her experimentation.

"Well it seemed to have paid off. Are you working in the Lab tomorrow with Malcolm?"

I was losing track of the days and I am having a hard time determining if today was Wednesday or Thursday.

"Yep" She answered adding a pop to the P at the end.

"Doing anything exciting?" I was curious. I loved research but never found the opportunity to continue on with it with work at the clinic constantly got in my way.

"Not really at the moment. All it is right now is preparation for that OTG trip later on in the week"

She looked disappointed as she loved to learn and did not appreciate the cease of research in order to help Malcolm and those going on the trip prepare. She would find it a waste of time really.

"I'm sure it won't last that much longer" I assured her "How was your day Jim?"

A slight smile flashed across his face before he answered me.

"It was definitely a different experience to say in the least"

He did not press on but I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to so I asked him why that was the case.

"Taylor has put me in temporary command of the soldiers until a replacement for Wash can be found. It was great fun actually. I was able to put many of them in their place when the questioned a deep belief of mine and many paid the price for it"

He continued on what was said and what he did in response leaving us in tears from laughing to hard.

"So you're the one responsible for the numerous broken bones I had to set before I came home"

He only winked at me, confirming my suspicion.

"If it's any consolation, it was not my intention to make you late coming home. I only wanted to insert a sense of authority and of course defend scientists from all over the world. I mean if I had known it would make you late I would not have said anything."

"No Jim, I appreciate that you stood up for scientists and I didn't really mind staying behind to help those men just next time, go a little bit easier on the poor soldiers"

"Yes well I'm not going to tolerate anyone putting down the good work of any scientists even if I do have one and half of them living under my roof"

I only smiled to his response happy that Jim did not put down her passion even though it is a field he does not understand. It just shows his dedication and love for her, something that she can only admire.

I excused myself from my family suddenly exhausted after the long day I just had. I went to be in a great mood despite the fatigue I was feeling.

As I let sleep wash over me I reflected every moment I had lived that led to this moment and how many close calls we have had that may have affected everything. In the past we were fighting for survival now, 85 million years in the past we found that hope to survive, to finally be a family again.

It is at that moment that I realise that no matter what or no matter how, our family will not be torn apart again. I would fight my hardest to ensure that.

What you think?

Thoughts?

Thanks