A/N: I will try to update this as much as humanly possible, but with my class schedule there may be some delays in getting up but I'll try and do my best, sorry but classes have to come first right now.

Chapter 21:

The plane had landed, after what seemed like an eternity and Doug and Carol grabbed what little they had brought with them and hailed a cab. They could have taken the EL but right now time was of the essence to them.

The reached County and with one glance at the board they both knew where they needed to go, without stopping to say anything to anyone right now, more important to them, more pressing was the fact that their child was lying in a trauma room.

They burst inside the sterile smelling room, "oh baby." Carol said as she rushed to Tess's side taking her hand into hers trying not to notice all the tubes that were attached. Doug didn't make it much further than the inside of the room, the sight before him was overpowering and left him with a newfound sense of being helpless right now for things here were outside his control.

Elizabeth and Carter had both looked up when they had heard Carol's voice watching her rush to her child's side. While Carter was more focused on Carol, Elizabeth's attention had fallen upon Doug who had a deer in the headlight look upon his face that combined with stress worry and fear.

She got up and moved over to where he was standing. "It's not as bad as it looks Doug." She said softly.

Doug couldn't believe that. Tess was laying in the bed, while she looked like she was sleeping, she was extremely pale. That didn't look like the same child he had just left not more than a few days ago.

Slowly Doug moved towards where Elizabeth had been sitting, barely finding the will to move inside him. Fear had struck deep inside his heart and he knew right there at that moment in time it was a fear that only a parent could ever truly feel. He sat down his legs about to give out on him, taking her smaller hand into his.

"Dad's here baby." He said as he gently kissed her hand, "don't you worry Daddy's hear."

No one in the room knew if Doug was saying that for Tess's benefit or more for his own. His voice was so soft; you could see the gentleness in the way he acted with her right now showing nothing but a father's love. For no one that had ever really seen father and daughter together. Doug had left Chicago before the girls were born and they never were back there together again. While Elizabeth had seen Doug and Tess together, this was a side that even she hadn't seen from him before.

Silence filled the room now as no one wanted to say anything, no one wanted to be the person to shattered it. Finally Doug was able to find his voice, "what happened?"

Carter looked over at Elizabeth not knowing if she wanted to be the one to say anything or if they should go and wake up Abby and Ryan now that they were there. Elizabeth moved closer to Doug now.

"She passed out." Elizabeth said, "she was here working, complained of not being able to breath and passed out. Abby was with her when she collapsed."

"What… what caused this? Does anyone know yet?" Carol interjected now wanting to know if they had any idea on how they were going to get Tess better.

"She has pneumonia." Abby said as she walked in unable to sleep and hearing the commotion. "Ryan said that she hasn't been feeling well and that while they were talking in the hall she stopped breathing."

"Stopped?" Carol gasped. That struck fear deep inside a mother's heart to hear that her child had stopped breathing.

Abby moved over and put her hand on Carol's arm, "her lungs are very wet right now and she has consolidations in both lungs. She just couldn't make them move on her own anymore. But she's breathing now Carol. We have her sedated and the vent is breathing for her."

Both her mother and her father now had to hold back the urge to cry. This was not the news that they were hoping for. They both honestly thought that they would get there and find her sick and weak but not unconscious and attached to a vent.

Doug didn't move he just kept a hold of her hand. What Abby was telling them was not good news, not good at all. His eyes went from Tess, to Carol and then to Abby unable to find any words to say.

"In all honesty, she's very sick. We are working on getting her a bed up in the ICU right now and she will probably be there for several days if not weeks." Abby knew both Doug and Carol worked in emergency medicine and that they were well aware of what they were up against right now. "I wish I better news, more promising news, but right now it's a wait and see." She paused for a minute, "Ryan wanted to know when you got here, I'm going to go and tell him, if you need anything just let me know."

"We will." Carol said softly now as she looked at her daughter and then over at Doug, never in her worst nightmares had she dreamt that they would be facing something like this. And the prospect of this being one giant waiting game wasn't what she wanted either.

Abby silently left the room, letting the door close as she walked a little further down the hallway before leaning against the wall and letting out a giant sigh. She knew that this had to be hard on Doug and Carol, but right now, at this moment in time Tess was still with them. She was hanging in there.

Abby was just about to move to get Ryan from where she had left him sleeping when the sound of alarms from monitors caught her attention. She fought not to run back in the direction she had just come from. "What's going on?"

"Arrhythmia." Carter said with a rather sober tone to his voice right now.

This was definitely an even worse sign that complications were taking a hold now. "What do you want me to do?" Abby asked moving closer to where he and Elizabeth had started to work to stabilize Tess.

"Start a central line." Carter said. "We've got to get her rhythm normal again."

The room was filled with tension as Doug and Carol right now could do nothing more than watch the three other highly experienced doctors work. The people that Doug trusted the most in the world were in there taking care of their daughter and he knew no matter how hard it was to just watch, that was all he could do. If he tried to help his emotions would get in he way and there was no way that he would do anything to compromise the care that she was getting. He had faith that they would do what they could, that was all that anyone could do.

They had all expected some form of complications especially after her blood pressure had dropped earlier that evening. This was just one that they knew they were up against. Abby knew that Tess faced the possibility of multiple organ system failure, pulmonary fibrosis, irreversible lung damage and the looming possibility of brain damage. She didn't want to think of those things happening but right now it just made her that much more on toes of what could happen.

They had them come in and take another set of x-rays and as Abby threw them up didn't like what she saw. "Carter she's needs a chest tube, pneumomediastinum." Abby walked away from the x-rays and back over to the Tess. She had just be talking Tess through doing this herself and now here she was about to put one in. She made quick work of finding the site between the ribs and getting the tract but the tube just didn't want to go, she kept her finger in the tract this time sliding the tube along until she knew that she had in it place. "Hook me up to the water seal." She called out as she started to stitch the newly place chest tube and hope that Tess's lung would now re-inflate.

Time had seemed to stand still, after some very hair rising moments they had gotten things with Tess to settle down. Her heart rate was back to where it needed to be, her oxygen levels were border line but there wasn't much more that they could do for her there. Her lungs needed time to heal once they had started to do that then and only then would her oxygenation improve. They wouldn't' know if she had suffered any brain damage until they were able to wake her up, right now her chances were better and she would be in less pain if they kept her sedated.

They did a repeat chest film to make sure that the tube was in place and that they were good to go now. Abby, Carter and Elizabeth were finally able to take in a deep breath now that it seemed that all was on the calm side of the storm. Repeat blood gasses were sent off again, something that had become common since Tess had gotten there, her not oxygenating enough right now was a major concern.

Another few hours passed before they were able to move her up to the ICU and it had been a long night for everyone there. Once she was moved Carter was able to convince Abby to get some sleep and Elizabeth against much protesting was able to get Carol to leave with her. Doug would stay there overnight with her and then Carol would come back in the morning and then Doug could go back to Elizabeth's and take a shower, eat something before going back. No one knew how long Doug and Carol would be staying in Chicago this trip, all they knew for certain was that they would be staying until Tess was back on her feet and not in any danger.