A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for the awesome reviews on the last chapter! Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I could try coming up with excuses, but really? I've just had pretty bad writer's block. Anyways, this is a future chapter and yes, it has more of little Robbie Chase.
"Excuse me, I need to speak to Dr. Cuddy."
Remy smiled politely at the young receptionist sitting outside of Cuddy's office, though inside she wanted nothing more than to simply barge into the office and give Cuddy a piece of her mind.
Three weeks she had been back, eighteen days really since she got one day off a week, and Cuddy hadn't bothered to mention that, oh yeah, the father of her daughter still worked in the hospital and could potentially bump into her at any time. Not to mention he worked in pediatrics, so if anything ever happened at the daycare he was likely to show up. Just like he had that morning.
"Just a moment please Dr…"
"Hadley" Remy filled in and the receptionist nodded, her eyes fixed on the little girl in the doctor's arms as she pushed a button on the phone. She waited a moment, phone to ear, and then hung up.
"Dr. Cuddy is on a call right now. If you don't mind waiting a moment I can give her the message."
"Sure, that's fine"
The receptionist stood up and opened the door to Cuddy's office just enough to slip in, before shutting it again. Remy sighed, looking down at Leia in her arms. The little girl had been good so far, staying quiet while her parents had talked briefly in the daycare, planning to meet later that night to discuss things. She had only whined a little when Remy had taken her up to the pediatric ward and her normal pediatrician had examined her before writing a prescription for the medicine she needed to overcome the scarlet fever. Now though she was quiet again, almost asleep in her mother's arms, but Remy still felt bad. She knew Leia couldn't be very comfortable, and wanted nothing more than to go back to their apartment and get her to bed, but this was something she had to take care of first. She wasn't just going to let Cuddy get away with not telling her about Kutner.
"You can go in now." The receptionist said, pulling Remy out of her thoughts as she exited Cuddy's office and returned to her desk. Taking a final deep breath to keep herself from screaming, Remy pulled open the door to Cuddy's office and stepped inside. Cuddy was looking up at her nervously,
"Dr. Hadley, is everything alright?" Cuddy asked, quite obviously referring to the fact that Leia was nearly passed out in Remy's arms. The receptionist must have told Cuddy that she had Leia with her, Remy realized letting out the breath she had taken in and smiling a forced smile.
"Actually Dr. Cuddy, everything is not alright," Remy said and Cuddy's expression went from worried to confused, "See Leia caught scarlet fever in daycare. Which is obviously treatable, she'll be fine. But they found out because they had one of the pediatric residents come down and check out all the kids. Guess who the resident was."
There was a moment where Cuddy realized what had happened and looked down at her desk with a sigh,
"Dr. Hadley, please sit down." She said finally, gesturing to the chair opposite her desk. Remy hesitated for a moment, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of doing what she said, but also not wanting to seem like a small child refusing to listen to their parents just because they were angry with them. Finally, she sat down, adjusting Leia in her arms. Cuddy didn't say anything at first, and Remy knew she must have felt at least a little bit bad about what had happened.
"Look," Cuddy began, catching Remy's gaze and holding it, "As much as you're going to try to villainizes me here, this isn't my fault."
Remy felt a surge of anger well up inside of her. Not her fault? How could it not be her fault. She knew that Leia was Kutner's. She was one of the few that Remy had trusted with the information (although, originally, Remy had no intentions of telling her. Fate had taken care of that decision for her.) and she had completely abused it. But as Remy opened her mouth to protest Cuddy held up one finger and gave her a look that warned against interrupting,
"As Dean of Medicine it isn't my job to inform new employees of anyone else on the staff they may or may not have had an illegitimate child with three or so years ago. But I guess it is partially my fault. It wasn't fair to not let you know what you were getting into when you accepted the job. And for that I apologize."
Remy stared at Cuddy, wondering how she could stay so calm and professional at a time like this.
"Why did you even hire me?" Remy asked finally, her voice cracking slightly. She noticed for the first time the hot tears of betrayal that threatened to spill and reflexively held Leia tighter to her.
"Because you're a good doctor and because I needed another attending in the E.R."
"You didn't even think that maybe you should have mentioned Kutner was still working here?"
"Dr. Hadley, I-"
"No," Remy stood up angrily, causing Leia to give a start in her arms, "Do you realize the situation you've put me in? Kutner knows now. He knows and I have to try to explain to him why I kept him in the dark the past three years!" She could hear her voice begin to rise, but didn't care, "I have to tell him that he has a two and a half year old daughter! How the hell do you tell someone that?" She would have continued the tirade, but suddenly there was a small whimper from her arms. Her anger was forgotten as she looked down into the big blue eyes staring up at her.
"Shhh, Leia, it's okay." Remy cooed softly, forgetting about Cuddy for a moment as she rubbed her daughter's back. The little girl let out another quiet whimper, then settled back against Remy's chest burying her face in her mother's shoulder. Remy bit her bottom lip, looking back up at Cuddy who was watching her sympathetically.
"Dr. Hadley, I am sorry for putting you in this position, but yelling at me isn't going to change anything."
"I know. I just… Do you think I could take the rest of the day off?" Remy gestured down at Leia, "She's really sick."
"You'll have to ask Dr. Cameron, it's not up to me."
Remy nodded, looking down and turning to leave. As she was halfway out the door though, Cuddy stopped her,
"Dr. Hadley."
Remy turned around silently,
"I need to know in advance if you're going to quit."
"I'm not quitting," Remy said, "I have a responsibility to my daughter, to support her and make sure she has the best life possible," she laughed dryly, "I'm not really sure quitting my job is going to make that any easier. And after all, it's a little too late for that now."
Before Cuddy could say anything else, Remy was gone. She fought off the urge to cry again as she hurried down the hallway towards the E.R. Her anger was back, this time not only at Cuddy for causing the whole mess, but at herself for scaring Leia the way she had. She kissed Leia on the top of the head and sighed; the poor little girl couldn't help but get caught in the middle of everything.
"I'm sorry Princess, we can go home soon." Remy whispered over the whoosh of the automatic doors to the ER opening. She could feel that Leia's breathing was evening out again. Remy bet that she'd be asleep before they got home. She smiled slightly, thinking about her beautiful daughter, but that was short lived as she looked up and saw an anxious looking Cameron hurrying towards her.
"Remy, thank god you're back. Dr. Hamilton is out today, it's the new intern's first ER shift so she's totally useless, and we've got four hours worth of work in triage right now." Cameron said breathlessly. Then she noticed Leia in Remy's arms and frowned,
"Is she sick too?"
Remy nodded,
"Scarlet fever from the daycare. Why, did Robbie catch it?"
Cameron didn't answer, but turned around, waving for Remy to follow her as she wove through the crowds of nurses and patients in the room. Finally, she came to a small area in the corner that was curtained off. She pushed back the curtain and Remy couldn't help but give a small, "Awww"
Behind the curtain was one of the E.R. beds where little Robbie Chase lay fast asleep. His floppy blond hair was scattered messily about the pillow, and he wore a tiny pair of scrubs, much like his mothers, only in green instead of pink. Cameron smirked, walking over to stand next to the bed.
"We've been mobbed down here, and Robert is in the middle of a surgery so I snagged this bed and asked the intern to check in on him from time to time, it's about the only thing she's good for."
Remy smirked too, "Nice. But what's with the scrubs?"
Cameron blushed slightly, reaching down and brushing a few strands of hair from Robbie's face, "He was getting overheated in his other outfit, so I found him something lighter to wear." She explained, smiling as Robbie blinked up at her, yawning,
"Hey buddy." She said quietly, picking up the little boy. Remy smiled, watching as Robbie blinked a few more times, and then surveyed his surroundings.
"Leia!" He said happily after a moment and both Remy and Cameron grinned,
"That's right Robbie, its Leia, she's sick too." Cameron explained as Leia looked sleepily over at Robbie. Leia smiled slightly reaching one arm out to Robbie and keeping one around Remy's neck.
"Do you want to leave her here with him so we can actually get some work done?" Cameron asked. Remy sighed, looking down at Leia and nodding slightly,
"I don't really think I have much of a choice." She said sadly, not wanting to let go of her daughter. She had really wanted to get home, but Cameron needed her in the E.R., and she needed something to keep her mind off of the inevitable meeting with Kutner that night anyways. Following Cameron's lead she put Leia on the bed next to Robbie. The little girl seemed a bit upset at first, but quickly curled up with her friend. In a matter of moments the two were sleeping peacefully, their mothers watching over them.
"They're so cute." Remy said with a smile, holding Leia's tiny hand. Cameron nodded and suddenly a grin broke out on her face,
"They really are like a married couple, sharing a bed and everything."
For the first time that day Remy laughed, remembering the "wedding" she had attended at the daycare. She looked up at Cameron and for a moment contemplated asking her advice on the whole Kutner situation. The opportunity was ruined however by the sound of the intern calling Cameron's name. Quickly, Cameron dashed off and Remy sighed, casting one more glance at Leia before doing the same. There would be time to worry about her own life later; right now she had other lives to save.
A/N: Awww. Just a note, there are some things referenced in this chapter (i.e. Cuddy knowing that Leia is Kutner's and Robbie and Leia's "wedding") that will be mentioned in upcoming chapters, so if it doesn't really make sense now it will soon. So anyways please review and I'll try to be faster with the next chapter.
-Remy
