As the morning wore on Kim appeared to be getting worse, not better so Adam called Ellen. "Can you come and look after Polly please?" His mother in law could hear the desperation in his voice, he didn't know what else to do.

"What's wrong? Is Kim alright? Is it the baby?"

Adam had spent the last few hours running between keeping Polly entertained and away from Kim and cleaning up after she vomited again. She was keeping nothing down, not even sips of water and she was cold and clammy and couldn't stop shivering despite the extra blankets she had asked for. It had got to the point where she was dry retching because she had nothing left in her stomach.

"I think she may have a stomach flu, she's been vomiting all day and not eating or drinking. She is not even tolerating water at the moment. I want to take her to get checked out."

He had called Will Halstead who had initially suggested to rest and keep offering her fluids. "Man, she's pregnant." Adam interrupted him. "About three months and it's freaking me out." He didn't want to wait to see what was going to happen. They had waited so long for this baby and having this going on right now scared the shit out of him.

"Bring her in. We'll pop her on some fluids and check out the baby. Any cramping or bleeding?"

"No, I don't think so. Just vomiting, she's shivering and pale and can't even keep water down. It's been going on for four hours now."

Ellen and John were there in no time. John insisted on driving them so that Adam could sit in the back with Kim who didn't have the energy to protest about being taken to hospital. Will Halstead was waiting outside with a wheelchair and took her straight through to the ER and started an IV. Adam sat beside her bed, holding her hand and never taking his eyes off her. He leapt out of his seat every time she started dry retching again and sat nervously waiting for the Doctor to come in between bouts.

Will checked her Blood Pressure which was fine, if not a little low but the dehydration would probably explain that, took her temp and asked about headaches or a stiff neck. They quickly ruled out Meningitis much to Adam's relief; that was one less thing to worry about. They also took some blood and sent that off.

They had been there an hour before OB finally came down. Adam was starting to get annoyed and had been out to the desk every 15mins to find out what was going on. No one ever called Adam Ruzek a patient man; he did everything at a million miles an hour and expected the same in return. Throw in that it was his wife who was sick and her pregnancy and he had even less patience than usual. They looked at her notes and asked Adam a few questions while Kim slept. "Any problems with the pregnancy so far?"

"No, none at all."

"Morning sickness?"

"At bit queasy at times but no vomiting. Not with this pregnancy or the last. It just started suddenly this morning. She's nearly 13 weeks."

"And today, just the vomiting. No cramping, bleeding?" He shook his head as the Doctor added the notes to her file. Once Will had asked him that on the phone he had woken Kim up and asked her and even checked beneath the sheets for any bleeding. "And you've had a dating scan already? Nothing unusual picked up there." He was reading her notes out loud.

"No nothing that they told us. It was only last week. They said everything was fine."

"Now there could be a couple of things going on. It could be just a stomach flu or something she ate or it could be something like Hyperemesis Gravidarum."

"What's that?" Adam started panicking. He had no idea what that was but he certainly didn't like the sound of it.

"It's excessive vomiting bought on by pregnancy. It can get pretty nasty and can last just a few weeks or the whole pregnancy, but we are not there yet."

"Is there a test for that?"

"No, we will just have to wait and see if this bout of vomiting subsides. I would be surprised if it's not just a short-term thing though. Hyperemesis usually starts a bit earlier than 13 weeks. Anyway let's have a look at this baby."

Adam shook Kim lightly. "Honey, OB is here and want to check the baby." She groaned and rolled over. Adam was relieved when they found the baby and it looked perfectly fine, its heartbeat was strong and steady. He knew Kim would also be relieved but she could barely keep her eyes open. She was completely drained. They were keeping her in overnight and on the IV to replace her fluids. They also gave her something to stop the vomiting, which she did not manage to keep down for long enough for it to work so they gave her an injection, the other option was a suppository and while Kim couldn't care less right now he was reluctant to put her through that.

Adam slipped out momentarily while they settled her into her room on the OBGYN ward and called Ellen, whom he knew would be frantic judging by the number of texts her had received.

"The baby is fine but Kim is still vomiting. We are staying the night as Kim's pretty dehydrated so they have her on an IV and given her something to stop the vomiting. She's exhausted."

"Are they sure the baby is okay?"

"It all looks good and they are not worried. They are thinking stomach flu or food poisoning or something" He left out the other possibility because even he didn't have his head around that. "Just really bad timing."

"Oh thank god."

"I'm going to stay here for a while. I want to make sure she is starting to feel better. Are you alright to look after Polly?"

Kim's parents were happy to take Polly home for the night.

Once settled in the room he pulled a chair up beside his wife watched as she slept. She vomited a couple more times before the medication seemed to kick in and Kim started sleeping for longer periods uninterrupted. His phone was on silent but he felt it buzz with a text message in his pocket.

'What chance of sneaking out for a few beers to celebrate your success?' Jay had sent him.

'Zero.' He replied along with a photo of Kim, IV in her arm with her eyes closed with a washcloth on her forehead which was making her feel less clammy. Kim was going to kill him later for sending that, it wasn't her best angle.

Within seconds his phone was ringing. "What the hell man, what's going on?"

"Ah we are spending the night at Chicago Med. Kim has been vomiting since this morning."

"She alright?"

"Yeah Man, they've got her on a drip, giving her something to stop vomiting and checked the baby which is all good."

"Do you need anything?"

Adam's voice caught in his throat. "Nah, I'm good. Not really the weekend we were hoping for."

"I bet" Jay agreed and he could hear how shaky his Buddy sounded. "Sounds like you are in the best spot though. Where's Polly?"

"Kim's parents." Adam suddenly felt weary. He hadn't eaten all day either and now he had the chance to sit everything was catching up with him. "Anyway I am on call this weekend can you let Voight know I won't be available." He chatted to Halstead for a few more minutes before hanging up.

"Hey." Adam had just closed his eyes for a few minutes when he heard Kim's weak voice.

"Darlin.' Hey." He jumped up out of his seat and kissed her forehead lightly. "How you feeling?"

"Like I have been hit by a truck." Her voice was raspy from the previous six hours of vomiting. "I feel like utter crap."

"Well sweetheart you look like crap too." He smoothed her hair back from her forehead and smiled a little, as did Kim.

"Is the baby okay? Where's Polly?"

"The baby is doing fine and Polly is with your Mom and Dad for the night."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment.

"What for?"

"All this. Not much fun for you. Can you help me up?" He tried to object but Kim needed to go to the bathroom and it was all he could do to get her to at least let him call the nurse to check if it was okay to get out of bed. There was no way she was going to stay in bed to pee.

The nurse came in and disconnected her IV so she could get up. Kim was pretty weak, her legs were shaking and she needed to lean on Adam to get to the bathroom. She didn't even have the energy to protest as he leant on the doorframe and watched her pee. Slowly he helped her stand up and she gripped tightly onto his arm as the room swam in front of her and a wave of nausea rose and she gagged a little. Adam had both arms around her waist to keep her upright as her knees buckled and what little colour she had regained disappeared. "Whoa Darlin' back to bed for you."

"Just give me a minute." She sucked in a deep breath as she felt her stomach lurch again and proceeded to vomit down the front of Adam and then burst into tears. "I want it to stop."

"I know Sweetheart. I wish I could make it stop." He picked her up and she laid her head on his shoulder as carried her back to bed. He pressed the call bell and the nurse came and cleaned Kim up, changing her gown and finding some scrubs for Adam to change into.

Kim slept again for another couple of hours. Adam was still sitting by her side when Erin and Jay came by. "How is she?" Erin slipped an arm around his shoulders, rubbing his back lightly.

"Sleeping peacefully at the moment. We haven't vomited for about two hours and considering the day we've had that is actually pretty good."

"What do they think it is?"

"Well either she has a stomach flu, which I guess if that's the case steer clear of me for the next few days because I have been elbow deep in it all day, or food poisoning or worst case is some extreme form of morning sickness." He looked at his watch. "Basically we've been vomiting for eight hours. She hasn't had anything to eat or drink since this morning so she was pretty dehydrated and because of the pregnancy they were a bit more concerned."

"Have you eaten anything?" Adam shook his head as Erin nodded to Jay.

"Come on buddy, let's get you out of here for half hour. Get you something to eat. Erin will stay with Kim." Reluctantly he agreed suddenly realising that he was pretty hungry and Jay wasn't taking no for an answer. "Nice outfit by the way." He nodded at Adam's scrubs.

"Let's just say that Kim's aim was spot on."

Kim was surprised to open her eyes and see Erin beside the bed. "Did you finally drag him out of here?"

"For a little bit yeah, he's gone to get something to eat with Jay. How are you?"

"I've felt better." She rubbed her face wearily "My mouth feels dry." Kim tried to reach for the cup of water on her tray. Erin grabbed it for her and held the straw up for Kim to take a sip. "I wouldn't stand too close." She reminded Erin. "I can't guarantee it will stay down."

But it did stay down which pleased Adam no end when they came back. Erin and Jay stayed a little while but Kim was pretty much asleep most of the time. It was close to 11pm when she woke again and Kim finally convinced Adam to go home. He waited until she had showered with his help. They bought her in a few dry crackers, which she also managed to keep down, and only then did Adam finally leave.

He rang Ellen on the way home, knowing that she would still be up. "She's had something small to eat and kept some water down so that's a good start." Ellen could tell that he was still worried as much as he tried to sound positive. He hated leaving her in the hospital and knew that he'd be lucky to get more than a couple of hours sleep. "Hey How's Polly? She's okay with you? I can come over." He offered.

"Please don't worry about Polly, she is perfectly fine here. Zoe is having a sleepover as well so Polly is in heaven. You need to go get some sleep yourself."

"Great. Thanks Ellen. I appreciate your help. I will call you in the morning to let you know what's going on."

Thankfully Ellen had changed the sheets on their bed and cleaned the bathroom. He was pretty sure she would have taken all the washing home with her so he wouldn't have to deal with it. He honestly believed that the only reason this Ruzek ship stayed on course was because of their families. He grabbed a quick shower and crawled into bed and as he expected he tossed and turned for a few hours before getting up and going for a run about 430am. It was quiet out on the streets and the rhythmic pounding of his stride allowed him to zone out for a little while at least. Some people used running as a time to think but he had always found it a time to completely zone out and think about nothing.

He contemplated dropping by to see Polly for breakfast before he headed back to the hospital but decided against it. The last thing Adam needed was Polly getting upset and wanting to come with him. He was back at Kim's bedside a little after 6am.

Stopping by the Nurses' Station before heading in he caught up on her night. "She was pretty settled all night. The vomiting seems to have stopped for now but she slept all night so we haven't really tested it yet."

That made Adam happier. "So what do we have to do to get out of here?"

"See the Doctor first and start eating and drinking and keeping it down for a start." He didn't particularly like the tone of the nurse but bit his tongue while he shot her a withering stare.

"Good Morning Sweetheart." Kim forced a little smile when she opened her eyes and saw Adam beside her bed again. "How are you feeling?" He kissed her lightly.

"A little better." Pushing herself up slowly until she was sitting a little more upright. "Did you go home?"

"Of course I did. I just missed you so thought I'd come back."

"Did you see Polly?"

"No, thought about it this morning but I didn't want to upset her. Zoe was having a sleep over last night too so I am guessing she didn't even notice we weren't there. We'll call her soon." He sat back down but pulled the chair a little closer and rested his elbows on the bed. "You feel like eating something?"

"Maybe." While she was hungry she was also pretty nervous about eating anything but Adam reminded her that if she didn't at least try there was no way they would let her out.

They bought in some toast and Kim nibbled slowly on a corner. "Can I just say this is so a boy." She laid her hand on her stomach

"What makes you say that?"

"Look how much trouble it's causing. A girl would never do this to its mother." Kim sipped on some water, taking only a small mouthful. "Polly didn't."

"Do you want to find out?"

"Not really. Do you?" she took another small bite while Adam contemplated his answer.

"I'm good with keeping it a surprise. I really liked that with Polly, it made the horror of watching what you go through easier to deal with. I like surprises."

She pushed the tray away suddenly overcome by the surge of nausea. Adam noticed the colour again drain from her face as she dropped her head back on the pillow and sucked in a few deep breaths. Her hands shook every so slightly, but the toast and water stayed put for now. The Doctor was reluctant to take her IV out just yet as she didn't think that Kim had drank enough and was concerned her electrolytes would still be way out of whack. They were confident that either Kim had picked up stomach bug or ate something bad. "What did you eat in the hours before you became ill?"

"I had some stir fry vegetables and rice."

"Cooked yourself or take-out?"

"Take-out. I was on shift. I didn't have any meat or fish though."

"If rice is cooked and not stored properly it can cause food poisoning. It needs to be steaming hot or freshly cooked."

"Really, I did not know that." And judging by Adam's surprised look neither did he.

"Well hopefully that was the problem. I am pretty sure that it's not Hyperemesis Gravidarum at this stage."

Kim looked confused. "What?"

"We discussed this with your husband yesterday. It's an extreme form of morning sickness characterised by vomiting, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue and near constant nausea. It usually presents earlier than 13 weeks though so I would be surprised if that was it. However even if we let you home just be aware if you start vomiting again or still feel nauseous in a few days to come back in."

The Doctor did another Ultrasound and everything still looked fine. The heartbeat was clearly visible and strong and regular. "Will this affect how the baby is growing?" Kim asked somewhat nervously. She couldn't even remember having the scan yesterday.

"Not likely. It was a relatively short illness and bare in mind we do have women who are basically sick their entire pregnancies and have healthy babies." The Doctor did her best to be reassuring. "In saying that we will keep a close eye on you for a while just to make sure everything is okay, but you are at the same level of risk as you were before this. You are three months, young and healthy with a previous history of an unremarkable pregnancy. I don't expect this will be any different. We'll get you back in for a scan next week but if you notice any cramping or bleeding come straight back in."

"So no more take-out rice for us." Adam teased trying to lighten the mood. He knew that Kim would now be solely focussed on looking for any warning sign. He eventually talked her down from the ledge. "You are no more at risk than you were yesterday. She told you that. We'll just make sure you take it easy for a few weeks and it will be fine."

They called Polly and had a chat to her and Adam helped Kim with another shower. She was still a little weak and weary but at least her colour was returning slowly. Breakfast did stay down although she still felt pretty average and she refused any more medication because she didn't like taking anything while pregnant. They tried to convince her that not eating was more of a concern than the medication however Kim wanted to try without it.

As the last of the drugs wore off Kim felt increasingly worse. She tried to eat some of the soup that they bought in for lunch but that didn't stay in her stomach long. Adam finally convinced her to take the medication because if she didn't eat she wasn't going anywhere and that was her best chance to get out of here. Although she felt that crap she didn't really care at that point in time whether she was at home or in hospital. She was forced to sip on an electrolyte solution, which tasted terrible to get it back in balance. Apparently, as they soon learned having your electrolytes out of whack can actually make you feel quite nauseous also.

Things had seemed to have gone backwards a bit in the last hour or so. Again she wasn't tolerating anything, the medication was kicking back in but she just didn't want anything in her stomach and he couldn't blame her. Her voice was raspy from all the vomiting and she complained about the foul taste in her mouth. They had bought in some mouthwash but that made her gag. Adam had never seen her look so miserable.

His mother offered to come in and sit with Kim for a while so that Adam could go home and see Polly. "It's not much fun? How good are you at catching vomit?"

"I am a mother, some things you never forget."

Driving to Kim's folks house he called Halstead and relayed the day's progress or lack there of. They had been called out to a job but if was pretty minor and confident they could wrap it up quickly. "Was Voight pissed?"

"Nah man, he was fine. More concerned that Burgess was doing okay, but it sounds like not so much."

"Not yet. Although since lunch she hasn't spewed so hopefully we've turned the corner. She looks completely trashed though and I know she is stressed about the baby."

Halstead promised to head in later if they were still there. He did offer to bring some food in but wasn't sure if even the sight of it would be good for Kim. "I should be good. I am heading over to see Polly now and I am sure Ellen will have something for me." As long as things were continuing to improve with Kim, who they had already decided wouldn't be coming home today he would head home with Polly.

He spent a bit of time with Polly, taking her to the park to play and had something to eat before returning the to hospital just after Kim had tried to eat some dinner. "How was it?" He kissed her forehead softly. "You look a little better."

"Mashed potato and squash. Very appetising."

"Yes, yes it is." He lifted the lid on the plate cover and wrinkled his nose up at it, "But more importantly has it stayed down." Adam had no idea how much was on the plate but it didn't seem like much had been touched. "And how much did you eat?"

"Are you nagging me?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"A had a couple of mouthfuls and I have drank nearly half a cup of that crap." She pointed at the small bottle of Oral Rehydration Solution they had given her. "Apparently I need to finish that before they will even contemplate taking this out." She lifted up her arm with the IV still attached.

This time the food stayed down. Adam showed her a video of him and Polly singing and dancing which made her feel better, they were so cute together and she was never sure he had more fun, Polly or Adam. They called Ellen and Kim was able to talk to Polly for a few minutes before Adam left to pick up Polly and take her home. His mother would take her in the morning and he had already organised the day off with Voight. "I just need you to keep doing what you are doing."

"I'll do my best."

He tucked Polly up in his bed, read her a story and lay with her until she went to sleep. Fortunately she was a pretty good sleeper, a trait she thankfully got from her mother. Occasionally she would wake and since they had moved her from a cot into a bed she would just appear in their room in the middle of the night. Kim barely woke when she did that and it was usually left to Adam to lift her over in between them. As a rule he didn't let her sleep with him when Kim was on night shift but tonight was different, they both could do with the company.

Adam was just about to doze off when he heard his phone ring downstairs. Luckily Polly was close enough to a deep sleep that she didn't notice him creep out.

He hit redial. "Darlin.' You okay?"

"I am. I just thought I would check in and see how Polly is."

"Asleep, finally. What's going on?" He dropped himself down onto the couch and shoved a pillow behind his head and closed his eyes.

"They have stopped the IV and I've had some apple Jell-O." He laughed at how proud she sounded.

"Tasty." Adam tried to stifle a yawn, unsuccessfully.

"You're tired. I should let you go get some sleep."

"I am tired but I am more than happy to sit and listen to you talk for a while. I haven't heard much from you for the last couple of days, and you sound so husky and sexy right now."

"Are you hitting on me?"

"Yes."