Three weeks later…
It had been three weeks and they had fallen into a good routine together. Kate would come home in the morning after her shift and Rick would tell her about his day the day before as she unwound after a long shift. When he was done, she'd head up to get the grime off her body that the ER caused that day by taking a long soothing hot shower. When she came down from washing up, she sat at the table in a loose t-shirt and leggings and then she was treated to a new dish he made every day. She knew what he was trying to do to her. He was testing a new dish on her to get her reaction on how good or bad it was. The problem was that everything he made was so good to eat she never wanted him to stop. But she couldn't figure out why. By the time she had finished eating and they were done talking it was close to noon and she had her daily shot of caffeine and then he woke her up about an hour before she had to be at work.
Kate had the option to swing her shift to a rotating one, but in the long run, she turned it down. She loved working the overnight and she doubted that she'd ever leave. She was back on a straight five days on and then dropping one day to give her two days off during the week. She'd work Monday through Friday and then have two days off. Start on Monday night and end on a Saturday morning, adding a day each time a week had ended.
But what puzzled her the most was her friend Jessie. He had become more protective of her and she noticed that whenever she mentioned Rick or something he and Alexis had done either for her or just in general to the house, he became more defensive towards her and she wanted to know why.
"Kim, are you going to restock the crash cart?" Kate asked as she rolled it towards the stockroom.
"I will. Kenzie needs it first then I'll restock it when she's finished with it."
"Okay just make sure it gets done before the end of the shift," Kate added.
Xx
"Kate, can you give me a hand with this patent's cast?" Jess asked about an hour later.
"Sure thing Jess." Thinking this might be a good time to talk to him she agreed to help him with his patient.
He had most of the material almost ready for a short arm cast when she walked into the exam room. All they needed was warm water and the patient. Who at the time was talking to the doctor and his parents about what was going to happen next.
He watched her as she pulled the cotton from the drawer and put it next to the fiberglass cast kit. He was itching to ask her his question. So, he did.
"Kate, how is your new housemate doing? Is he getting enough rest when you are home?" Jess asked a little snidely.
He is her friend, but the way he just asked her that question he was implying that Rick was something more than just a housemate to her. So, she answered him with a standard answer when she wanted to keep her private life private.
"How he does is no concern of yours, Jess. And I'd like it if you kept personal questions about my private life to yourself and out of the workplace."
"Really Kate? We've known each other for years and this is how you answer a friendly question?"
"Friendly question? Are you serious right now? You practically accused me of sleeping with him Jess. You've never met him to make an assumption like that."
"Well if the shoe fits…"
"Jess don't you dare finish that sentence. Or else."
"Or else what?"
"Just don't. That's all I'm saying."
Jess walked out of the treatment room to check on what was taking his patient so long and Kate thought it was a good time to retreat. She would send in Kim or Kenzie to help him with the cast.
Xx
God, he's such an idiot. He knew that she was going to move into a new place sometime after her loft burnt up but he never thought it would happen so fast, and with another man no less. Maybe he should have just told her how he felt to start with way back when. Now he knows that comment about her housemate just pushed her that much further away. But now that ship might have sailed.
What he needs to do is apologize to her she is a good friend and he can't lose her as one. He listens to the doctor as he explains what is going to happen to his patient that he is going to put a cast on. The mother is obviously worried about what this will do for his lifestyle but the doctor promises that it won't affect him that much. He'll only need to wear it for six weeks until his bone heals and then it'll come off. Jess rolls the gurney with his patient back in through the treatment room and finds it empty. He pulls the curtain around his patient walks out to the nurse's station and asks where Kate went to. Kim responds with she went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. And that she was to help him with the cast for his patient now.
Xx
Kate walks down to the cafeteria and sees that it's basically the same old stuff just reheated again. They never have a decent selection to choose from for the night shift which is one of the things she doesn't like about this shift. They receive all the left-over day shift food kept warm under heat lamps. She picks six chicken tenders that look like they could have been rocks at one time. Along with this, she selects sweet and sour sauce hoping to mask the taste of the nuggets which she knows will be terrible. She takes a seat at one of the tables and the attempts to eat her dinner. She takes a sip of her water from the bottle to help wash down the tenders.
She is just about to get up from the table when her phone rings. She doesn't recognize the number at first, but then she figures it out. It's the landline for the house so she answers.
"Hello, Rick?"
"Something's wrong. She's not conscious. I can't wake her up. Kate, I need help."
In all the time she knew him she never heard the fear in his voice until this moment.
"Rick tell me what's happening. I need you to describe what's wrong with her to me. Who won't wake up?" Kate asks.
"Kate it's Alexis. She went up to bed about two hours ago and everything was fine. She wasn't complaining about anything and now she won't wake up." Rick rushes out.
Her training had her running through every possible scenario of what could be wrong. So she tried to narrow it down.
"Rick, feel her forehead is she warm to your touch?"
"Yeah, she is."
"Rick lift up her pajama top and see if her abdomen is swollen in any way."
She waits for him to do that and when he returns to the line, he confirmed her fears.
"It looks like she's bloated and it's hard when I touched her."
"Rick don't waste any more time. Get her to Baylor ER right now." Kate practically screamed into the phone.
"Kate? What's wrong with her?" Rick asks.
"Rick there's no time for me to tell you what I think it might be. By the time I did, you could already be here. So move your ass."
He doesn't remember the trip to Baylor at all. He knows his phone is somewhere in Alexis' bedroom. He remembers dropping it on the nightstand as he went to pick her up. After that everything is a big blank. When he did pick her up there was no response from her at all. He rushed out of the house so fast making sure that Alexis was secure in the car, that he forgot all about Eli. He ran back into the house up to his room and shook him violently. When he woke up, he just threw him over his shoulder and started running down the stairs back to the car. Eli still shocked about why he was awoken so roughly wanted to know what was going on.
"Listen Eli there is something wrong with Alexis. I don't know why she isn't waking up. We're going to go see your mom at the hospital."
Eli always wanting to help gave him a shortcut to the hospital that cut off eight minutes from the way he knew how to get there. Not less than twelve minutes later they were pulling up to the ER bay.
Xx
Kate was waiting patiently at the ER doors for any sign of his car. She was ready to run out to the car to get Alexis into the ER to be seen by a doctor. She informed the attending that she was en route to the ER and could she be ready for just about anything that came through the door. She said that she'd be ready.
Then she felt like someone was breathing down her neck. She turns to see Jess right behind her.
Not knowing how to confront him she just comes out and asks.
"Jess, what do you want?"
"Listen, Kate, I need to apologize for my behavior before. I was an idiot…"
Kate not wanting to hear another word cuts him off.
"Jess now is not the time. There are more important issues I need to deal with right now."
"Kate? What's going on?"
She really did not want to get into this right now, not after his earlier remarks about Rick. So, she just bent the truth a little.
"There is a ten-year-old patient coming in with a high fever and she's unconscious."
"ETA?" He asks.
"Unknown at this time. But I'm sure it won't be long."
Just as Jess was going to ask why she was waiting here instead of getting prepared for the emergency he notices an older Ford Taurus as it rips into the ER bay and screeches to a halt. The driver jumps from the car and he is around the front of the car and opening the passenger side door in seconds.
"Any change?" Kate asks.
His one-word answer is 'no'
He carries her into the ER and places her in a gurney. Rick turns to find Kate and she's not behind him so he stands next to his daughter and gently brushes the hair out of her face.
Not ten seconds pass when Kate and the attending doctor enter the exam room. Kate takes Alexis' pulse and other vital information while the doctor checks out Alexis' abdomen. Both women are trying to find out what the issue is until Kate gets an idea.
"Dr. Graff, ultrasound!" Kate says excitedly.
"Excellent thought nurse Beckett."
Dr. Graff rolls the ultrasound machine over to the gurney and turned it on. Squirting the warm gel on Alexis' stomach she places the transducer against her skin. The picture emerges and they both stare at something that they never expected to see in a ten-year-old girl….