Going Home

Doug was packing his suitcase when Carol went into the room. "I'm glad we're finally going home", she smiled as she took a seat on the bed. Doug looked at her and smiled too. "I'm glad too. Hopefully Emery will be ok", he answered and put away another t-shirt. "She's much better already. And, she also wants to come to Seattle after she finished all her exams", Carol said and Doug nodded. "I know…it's just…I don't know", Doug murmured. Carol smiled again. She knew that he missed his children. "I'll miss her too. I miss all of them. But that's life…we did our best to raise them, now it's time for us again", she said and Doug nodded. He took a seat on the bed too and thought about her words. "It was a great journey with them", he chuckled. He thought back to the days he had with his own father, how much he adored that bastard. How afraid he was to be like him. But when it came to his own children, the twins and the triplets, he never wanted to fail them, or to leave them alone. He was a proud father and he loved them. "It really was…and it's not over", Carol chuckled and got up from the bed again. "Now let's finish this, we need to get going", she said and Doug almost jumped up from the bed again to finish his packing.


"One step at the time, young lady", Adam, the physical therapist said to Emery, who just couldn't wait to be the old again. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Adam laughed. "You're getting there, it just needs time. And remember, we can't do anything if you have sore muscles again", he said and Emery nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just hate to be in this position. I want to go back to work again. I want to do sports again", Emery answered and sighed again. "You'll get there. Just not too quickly. You're much better already, but it takes time. Now let's try those steps again, slowly", Adam said and Emery tried her best.

"Is the patient impatient again?" she then heard and turned around to find Connor watching her. "What are you doing here? Go away, that's embarrassing", Emery murmured and rolled her eyes. "I'm on my break. Your parents are here and they sent me to search you", Connor laughed. "Ah, they're a little too early, I still have about 15 minutes left", Emery answered and looked at Adam. "Five steps, up and down. Then you can go", Adam said and Emery nodded. "Alright…let's do this. Watch baby, I'll show you that I can do it", she said to Connor and he smiled at her. Emery took a step and felt every inch of her body hurt. "Slowly, Emery…slowly", Adam said and Emery nodded. Another step…her arms started to tremble and she felt tears welling up in her eyes, but quickly she blinked them away. Giving up? Not Emery Iris Ross. Never. She wanted to get better, no matter how. "Good. Don't forget to breath. Only one step left", Adam said as he watched her, noticing that she wasn't feeling that good. As she took the fifth step, she turned around to get down again. She took a quick glance at Connor who still watched her, but then she focused on the steps again. Going downstairs seemed a little bit easier, but she took her time, doing it right. As she finished the last step, she rushed to Connor who wrapped his arms around her and chuckled as he kissed her. "Good job", he said and Emery, who was exhausted like hell, nodded and smiled. "That wasn't bad, but you do need to remember to breath. I think you held your breath the whole time", Adam said and looked at her. Emery rolled her eyes. "Because it hurts. Everything hurts", Emery told him and he nodded. "I know. It will take time. You can make that exercise anytime you want. And now go to your parents, we'll see us tomorrow again", Adam answered and Emery nodded. "Bye Adam", she and Connor said and then she took her crutches to go to Carol and Doug.

"Hello mom and dad", she smiled as they finally found her parents, who were sitting at the waiting area of the ward. "Aww…hey baby, how are you?" Carol got up from her seat and hugged her daughter. "Good…I'm good…" Emery started. Carol looked at her. "Okay. It hurts like hell. It sucks", Emery then confessed and sighed. Doug chuckled. His little bee missed being a little bee. "I know that feeling. It takes time", Carol nodded, remembering the time after her accident all those years back. "When is your flight?" Emery asked. "We have an hour until we have to be at O'Hare. Wanna grab a coffee?" Carol asked and Emery nodded. "Oh, I need to get back to work, my break is almost over…it was nice meeting you", Connor said and shook hands with Carol and Doug. "Take care", Doug said and smiled. "Nice to meet you too, Connor. Hopefully we'll see each other again soon", Carol said and hugged Connor. Emery smiled seeing this. She was happy that her parents were okay with him. She really loved him. "Of course, we'll come as soon as possible. I want to see where Emery grew up, get to know her siblings", Connor said and then turned to Emery. "I'll see you later", he said and Emery nodded. "Bye", he waved at Doug and Carol and then went to the elevators.


Later they all sat in the cafeteria with a coffee in their hands. "Will you be okay?" Doug asked and stroked over Emery's arm. "Of course, daddy. I have Connor's help, and Adam is great too. I'll miss you, though", Emery answered and smiled a little. "We'll miss you too…but you call if you need anything, okay?" Carol smiled and Emery nodded. "And we'll come to Seattle after I did all exams", she said. "If you need help with anything, just call", Doug said, trying not to sound too overprotective. "I will, dad", Emery answered and smiled at her father. She was so happy that her parents were here, that they helped so much with just being here. "Alright…Doug, we gotta go", Carol said and got up from her seat. "Do you need help with getting back?" Doug asked Emery who gut up from her seat too. "Ah no, thanks…I'll go through the ER, say hello to everybody", Emery said and Carol smiled. Her daughter was reliving her life and she wondered how Emery's future would look like. Would she stay in Chicago or would she go back to Seattle? Would she become head nurse too? Would she work in the ER? So many questions that nobody could answer yet…but she would support her daughter with everything she had in mind. "Take care, bee", she then said and hugged her daughter tight. "I'll miss you", she added with closed eyes, trying not to cry. "Bye mom…I'll miss you too", Emery answered, not wanting to leave that safe place…but Carol separated from her again. She stroke over Emery's hair and smiled a little. Emery then turned to Doug who finally got up from his seat too. "Ahh…Em…don't ever do such things again, promise me", he chuckled as he hugged his daughter. "I promise…I'm sorry I caused so much trouble", Emery chuckled and stroke over her dad's back. "I love you baby", Doug said and snuggled closer to her. "Love you too, daddy", Emery said and felt the tears in her eyes. Carol watched them and love flooded her, seeing father and daughter like this. "Take care, baby", she then said to Emery again and Emery nodded. "I love you. Thanks for everything. Tell Tess and Kate hello", Emery answered and moments later, Doug and Carol left County General again, hoping and praying that their daughter would be okay. But knowing Emery, she was a fighter, never giving up, always trying the best. She would be okay.


"Ah…I'm glad we're flying business, I'm pretty tired", Carol said as she snuggled into Doug's arms when they finally boarded the plane. "Well, I guess you had too much wine yesterday at the Greene's", Doug chuckled and leaned back. Carol smiled. "Yeah well, it was fun, wasn't it", Carol asked and turned around to him. "It was…it's always fun to beat Mark at basketball", he chuckled again and Carol rolled her eyes. "You guys and your ego", she murmured and yawned then. "I can't wait for my bed", she added and closed her eyes. "Our bed", Doug murmured back and closed his eyes too. They both fell asleep then, as the sun went down outside and the dark overtook the sky.

The rain was pouring down hard in Seattle, but both were more than happy to be back. Although they lived in Chicago for so long, Seattle became their city. Not even Carol couldn't imagine anymore, moving back to Chicago. She loved Seattle, not only because Doug was here. She loved the mornings out on the dock, when the fog was over the lake. It was something special. Doug did good with this house. They did good.

The house looked just like they left it some weeks ago. Sure Avery and Jason mowed the grass again and took care of the flowers. It was great to have such good friends. "Aaah…home", Carol said as she opened the door and the smell of the Hathaway-Ross home tickled her nose. Doug hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. "Not tired anymore?" she asked and turned around. She took his face in her hands and looked at him. "I got plenty of sleep on the plane, what about you?" Doug asked, kissing her neck once again. Carol closed her eyes and moaned. "How could I be tired, when you're doing this?" she asked and kissed him then, not wanting to wait anymore. "What about the laundry? Shouldn't we do that before?" Doug asked chuckling. Carol rolled her eyes. "Doug, this will be here tomorrow!" She took his hand in hers and he followed her without any further conversation.

"Oh…you're home! Welcome", they suddenly heard as Kate came out of the living room, the light burning in her still tired eyes. "Kate! What are you doing here?" Carol asked surprised as she turned around to her daughter. "How's Emery?" Kate asked instead of answering and Carol immediately noticed that something wasn't ok. "Emery is doing fine…she's getting better every day", Carol said and went closer to Kate. "She doesn't need us anymore, so we decided to go home", Doug said and took a seat on the stairs. "Kate?" Carol asked silently. Kate looked at her mother and finally rushed to hug her when she burst out in tears. "Kate…what is it?" Carol asked and looked at Doug, who got up from the stairs. "I think…" Kate started but couldn't speak because of her tears. "Shhh…it's okay. It's going to be okay. Stop crying baby", Carol said and handed her daughter a tissue.

Some moments later Kate stopped crying and they all sat on the couch in the living room. "Can you tell us what's going on now?" Carol asked. Kate nodded and looked down. "I think he's cheating on me", she said and finally looked at her parents again.