-----
Mark picks up the hand-held MICU.
"This is County General, go ahead." Mark says into the mouthpiece.
"County, this is Unit 37. We've got a three year old, got hit by a car, unconscious. Barely breathing and a weak, thready pulse." Mark listens intently.
"Mark!" Someone in the background shouts. Mark hears it and his heart stops as he recognizes the voice.
"Doug?" He asks.
"Mark, it's Madison!" Doug says.
"Oh God. Alright, what's your ETA?" Mark asks.
"Two minutes." The paramedic says.
"Alright, we'll be ready." Mark says. He turns around, coming face-to-face with everyone in the ER. They all heard the conversation. Kerry walks up in the midst of it all, not having heard the call.
"What the hell? Let's get to work people!" She says.
"Okay! Chuny, I need you to make sure we have a trauma room and get 8 units of O neg! Lily call surgery and get someone down here now! Everyone gown up! Haleh, Lydia, and Carter come with me." Mark says. He gloves up and puts his gown on, followed by Haleh, Lydia, and Carter.
"Mark, what's going on?" Kerry asks.
"Madison got hit by a car." Mark says and he runs to the ambulance bay followed by Carter, Haleh, and Lydia. Kerry stands there, shocked, before she runs around, making sure they have everything. Outside the two men and women stand there, waiting impatiently.
"I wonder what happened." Lydia says.
"That girl better be alright. Carol will be crushed." Haleh says.
"So will Doug." Mark says. Haleh nods just as an ambulance pulls up. The paramedic hops out of the back, followed by Carol and Doug. Carol is crying and Doug is holding her hand. Mark starts to shout out orders as they wheel the gurney into the hospital. Doug and Carol are walking quickly behind it. They push the the doors of trauma one. Doug pulls Carol back, moving out of the way so they can work.
"Doug." Carol says, shakily. She feels like she is going to faint. He pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her as they watch Mark work on their daughter.
"What have we got?" Elizabeth asks, pushing into the door. Mark looks at her.
"Madison got hit by a car." Mark says. Elizabeth gasps, looking back and Doug and Carol who are clinging to each other. "She's got a weak, thready pulse. She might have internal bleeding. Broken right tib-fib." Mark says. Elizabeth immediately jumps into action. Carol starts to sob.
"I'm so sorry baby." She whispers. Doug squeezes her tightly.
"Shh...Carol...shh.." Doug says. She buries her face into his neck, keeping one eye on her daughter.
"Her belly's distended." Elizabeth calls out.
"Dammit." Doug mutters under his breath.
"Alright, she's stable, let's get her up to the OR." Elizabeth says. They start to push the gurney out of the room. "Doug, Carol, I'll take care of her." Elizabeth says. Doug nods as Carol pushes her way through them. She takes her daughter's hand and runs alongside the gurney.
"Baby, I'm here. You're going to be alright. Aunt Lizabeth is going to fix you right up. Hang in there sweetheart." She says. The elevator opens and Carol lets go, immediately reaching for Doug. He takes her hand into his and watches as the elevator door closes. Mark looks at them.
"What happened?" Mark asks.
"We've gotta get upstairs. We'll talk later." Doug says as the next elevator opens. Mark nods as they enter the elevator. Once inside Carol turns to Doug.
"Why did this happen?" She asks.
"Shh..Carol. She's going to be fine." Doug says.
"She has internal bleeding, Doug. She's only three years old. She's too little." Carol says. Doug takes her face into his hands.
"She's going to be fine, Carol. I don't want you..or anyone else to try and tell me otherwise. We have to have hope. She's our daughter, Carol. We're the two most stubborn people in the world." Doug says, smiling slightly. Carol manages to smile back through her tears. "There's that beautiful smile I love to see. Remember Carol, you've gotta have faith." Doug says. She nods as the elevator door opens on the surgical floor. They step out. Peter runs by them, but stops when he sees them.
"Carol, Doug. I'm about to go assist Elizabeth. We'll send you news as soon as we can, okay?" Peter asks. Doug nods.
"Thanks Peter." He says as Peter nods, running off. Doug leads Carol to the waiting room. There's a couch, so he sits down, pulling her into his lap. She buries her face into his neck, crying softly as she clings to him. He rubs her back soothingly, as he waits anxiously.
-----
About an hour later, Mark walks into the waiting room. Doug is sitting on the couch and Carol is laying down, her head in his lap as she sleeps lightly. Mark sits in a chair beside the couch.
"She asleep?" Mark whispers. Doug nods.
"She cried herself to sleep." Doug replies, whispering.
"What happened?" Mark asks.
"It's all my fault." Doug says. Mark gives him a puzzled look.
"Carol and I were sitting on the front porch. Madison was playing in the front yard. We were talking and not paying much attention to Madison. I heard a car coming and looked up. Madison's ball rolled into the road and she was going after it. The driver tried to swerve but he still hit her. He called 911 on his cell phone while Carol and I made sure she was breathing and had a pulse. Then we just waited." Doug says, tears coming to his eyes.
"So why is it your fault?" Mark asks.
"I should have been watching her but instead I was blabbing on about how much I had screwed up." Doug says. Mark shakes his head.
"Even if you had been watching her, you may not have been able to stop her from going into the street and getting hit." Mark says.
"But I may have been able to stop it. Or else, I would have at least known it wasn't my fault because I was watching her, but I wasn't." Doug says.
"If that's the case, it's just as much Carol's fault as it is yours." Mark says. Doug looks up quickly.
"Don't even blame her. She didn't do anything." Doug says fiercely.
"Seems to me she did as much as you did. And if you think it's not her fault, then it's not yours either." Mark says. Doug shakes his head, not believing it. Right now, he is too scared to argue with Mark.
"No, Mark." Doug says. Mark sighs, rubbing his hand across his face.
-----
An hour after Mark arrived, the doors to the OR opened and Elizabeth and Peter walked out. Doug stands, pulling Carol, who had woken earlier, up beside him. Mark stands.
"Is she okay?" Doug asks. Elizabeth sighs.
"We stopped the bleeding. But she crashed and we had to shock her. I'm afraid she slipped into a coma." Elizabeth says. Carol gasps, her knees buckling beneath her. Doug catches her, pulling her back into a standing position.
"Oh..damn. Can we go see her?" Doug asks, supporting Carol with his arms.
"She's up in the NICU. I'll head up there and then I'll come get you and take you up." Elizabeth says. Doug nods, stroking Carol's hair. She buries her face into his neck and sobs as Elizabeth and Peter leave.
"Oh God, Doug. Our baby." She says.
"Shhh..shh. I know, Carol. Remember, we have to have faith." Doug says. She shakes her head, sobbing.
"No..no." Carol says.
"She's still alive. She'll make it." Doug says, kissing Carol's forehead. Her whole body is shaking in his arms. He looks at Mark who gives him a sympathetic look. Doug rocks Carol, reassuringly.
-----
Elizabeth walks down the hall in front of Carol and Doug, who are walking closely, holding hands. They are headed towards Madison's room for the first time since the surgery. Elizabeth stops and looks at them, before opening the door for them. Carol and Doug walk through it slowly, their eyes scanning the room until they rest on their daughter. Carol, seeing her daughter bandaged and lying so still, gasps.
"Oh Doug." Carol says. Doug walks closer to his daughter's bed. His eyes fill with tears for the first time since the accident.
"Carol, look at her." Doug says. Carol nods, the tears falling rapidly over her cheeks. Doug takes Madison's tiny hand into his and strokes her fingers. He places his daughter's hand back on the bed and reaches his hands up, covering his face, trying to wipe of the tears so Carol won't see him. She does notice and she squeezes his hand reassuringly. Carol reaches up and touches her daughter's dark curls. Carol lets go of Doug, moving closer to her daughter. She bends down, kissing her daughter's cheek.
"You'll be okay baby. I have faith in you. I won't leave you." Carol says. She steps back from the bed, moving out of the way, so Doug can get closer. Doug bends down over his daughter, much like Carol just did. He kisses her forehead gently and brushes her cheek with the back of his index finger.
"Madison..it's Daddy. I just want you to know that Mommy and I love you very much and we're here for you. Always." Doug says. He looks back up at Carol, tears in both of their eyes. She moves closer to him, moving into his embrace, needing to feel the comfort of his arms. He holds her, as they watch the rise and fall of their daughter's chest and listen to her heart monitor.
-----
Carol was sitting beside Madison's bed, watching her. Mark walks into the room.
"Carol?" He asks. She looks up and smiles, sitting up.
"Hey Mark." She says softly.
"You should go home. Get some rest." Mark says. Carol shakes her head.
"Mark, I'm fine really. Have you seen Doug lately?" She asks.
"Yeah, he was with a patient last I saw him." Mark says.
"When was that?" Carol asks.
"About 20 minutes ago, why?" Mark asks.
"I just wanted to know what he's doing. I've barely seen him all day." Carol says.
"He told me he was going to come up after his shift was over. That's in an hour." Mark says. Carol nods.
"Thanks Mark." She says. He nods.
"Why don't you go get you something to eat. I'll sit up here with her." Mark says.
"I don't know Mark." Carol says.
"Don't argue with me. Go." Mark says, walking over to her. He pulls her into a standing position. She sighs.
"Alright, I'll go down to the cafeteria and get me something to eat, but I'm coming right back up." Carol says. He nods.
"Go." He says. She smiles and walks out of the room. She decides to go ask Doug to join her before she goes. She walks into the ER and spots him at the admit desk.
"Doug." She says softly. He turns to her and smiles slightly.
"Hey Carol." He says. She smiles back at him.
"Mark's making me go get something to eat. Wanna hit the cafeteria with me?" Carol asks. He looks up at the board then back at her.
"I better not. I've only got an hour left and there's a couple of patients left. I'll get something after my shift, then I'll come up to Madison's room." Doug says. Carol nods and kisses his cheek gently.
"Alright then. I'll see you up there." She says. He nods at her and touches her cheek gently before she leaves.
-----
Doug walks into Madison's room. Carol is sitting in a chair beside Madison's bed, her head laying on the pillow beside Madison, sound asleep. Doug smiles. He walks over to Carol and places his hands on her back. He bends down and kisses her cheek gently.
"Carol." He says softly. She stirs.
"Doug?" She asks.
"Yeah, it's me. You fell asleep." He says. She sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
"Mmm..what time is it?" She asks.
"It's a quarter after nine." Doug says. She stretches and looks up at him.
"Did you just get off?" She asks. He nods.
"Yeah, I got me a sandwich at the cafeteria and came here." He says. She nods and stands up, turning to him. He holds her upper arms in his hands, stroking her with his thumbs. "Why don't we go home." Doug says. Carol shakes her head.
"Doug.." She starts to protest but he stops her.
"Carol..Carol, she hasn't changed in a week. You need your rest. You haven't been home for longer then two hours since the accident. She'll be fine here. Mark will keep an eye out for us. If anything changes, he'll make sure we know as soon as possible. There's nothing you can do by sitting here all night." Doug says. Carol sighs and her eyes fill with tears, turning to look at her daughter.
"I just...I don't want my baby to be all alone." Carol says. He smiles at her, touching her cheek, turning her back to face him.
"She's not alone. I'll have Mark and Elizabeth come and check on her regularly. Madison wouldn't want you to stay with her all night if it meant you weren't getting your healthy rest." Doug says. Carol bites her lip and rests her forehead against Doug's cheek.
"Okay. We can go home tonight." Carol says. He smiles and kisses the side of her face.
"She'll be fine." Doug says. Carol nods, watching her daughter.
-----
"I'll sleep on the couch. If you need me, just come and get me." Doug says. Carol shakes her head.
"Sleep in my bed with me, please. I don't want to be alone tonight." Carol says. He smiles.
"Are you sure?" He asks. She nods.
"Please." She says. He nods.
"I will." He says.
-----
Carol was lying in bed, waiting for Doug to join her. He lifted the covers on his side of the bed and slipped in beside her. He smiled sweetly at her. She smiles weakly back at him.
"It's so strange, being here and knowing she's not in her bed upstairs...or at least somewhere where she'd be with someone she knew." Carol says. Doug strokes Carol's face gently.
"She's fine, Carol." Doug says. Carol nods, biting her lip softly, trying not to cry.
"What did we do to deserve this?" She asks. He smiles slightly.
"Maybe someone out there was trying to tell us we were acting childish and that our family is what's important." Doug says. Carol nods.
"We should have paid more attention to her." Carol says. He nods his head.
"If I hadn't been blabbing about how much of a screw-up I am, we might have been able to catch her. I'm sorry Carol." Doug says.
"You're not a screw up." Carol says. Doug nods.
"I've screwed up everything in my life that has ever made me happy. I screwed up my job. With you. And now with my daughter. I'm a screw-up." Doug says.
"You didn't screw up with me. Or with your daughter. And your job, you just made a stupid mistake and it happened to cost you your job." Carol says. Doug shakes his head.
"I'd hate to see who you'd call a screw-up." Doug says, smiling slightly, trying to lighten up the situation. Carol shakes her head at him. She rolls over, leaning out of the bed, slightly, and turning off the lamp. Darkness engulfs the room. Carol moves back onto her side, snuggling into Doug's arms. He smiles and leans down, kissing her gently.
"G'night Carol." He says.
"Night Doug." She says, burying herself into him. He rests his head in her dark curls, smelling her. He is so glad to be back in her arms, only wishing it was under different circumstances that they got there.
-----
Doug woke to the sound of the telephone ringing. He looked at the clock. 12:32. He and Carol had only went to bed at a quarter after 11. He reached over top of Carol's body to her side of the bed, and picked up the phone, trying not to wake her.
"Hello?" He asks groggily into the phone. Carol shifts under him, moving out from under his arm and looking at him in the darkness, concern on her face.
"Doug! It's Mark! You've gotta get here now!" Mark says. Oh God. Madison.
"Mark..what's going on?" Doug asks. Carol starts to panic.
"She's awake!" Mark says. Oh God. Relief washes over Doug.
"She's awake? Oh..we're coming!" Doug exclaims, shoving the phone onto the receiver.
"She's awake?" Carol asks. A huge smile spreads over his face.
"Yes." He says.
"Oh God!" Carol says. She squeezes Doug's arms and then jumps out of bed. They rush into their clothes and shoes, running out the door and jumping into the jeep.
-----
Carol runs into Madison's room, followed by Doug. She rushes to Madison's bed, seeing Madison looking back up at her.
"Oh Baby!" Carol says, hugging Madison. Doug bends over his daughter as the two fuss over her. She doesn't talk, she's intubated, but you can see the happiness in her eyes that her parents are there. Mark and Elizabeth stand off the to side, watching and smiling. Carol stands up, wiping the tears from her face. She walks over to Mark and Elizabeth.
"Thank you so much." She says. They smile.
"No problem." Mark replies. Carol pulls him into a hug and hugs him tightly. Then she moves to Elizabeth and hugs her. Mark chuckles and Elizabeth smiles, relieved for her friends. Carol then walks back over to her daughter, smiling down at her happily.
-----
Mark picks up the hand-held MICU.
"This is County General, go ahead." Mark says into the mouthpiece.
"County, this is Unit 37. We've got a three year old, got hit by a car, unconscious. Barely breathing and a weak, thready pulse." Mark listens intently.
"Mark!" Someone in the background shouts. Mark hears it and his heart stops as he recognizes the voice.
"Doug?" He asks.
"Mark, it's Madison!" Doug says.
"Oh God. Alright, what's your ETA?" Mark asks.
"Two minutes." The paramedic says.
"Alright, we'll be ready." Mark says. He turns around, coming face-to-face with everyone in the ER. They all heard the conversation. Kerry walks up in the midst of it all, not having heard the call.
"What the hell? Let's get to work people!" She says.
"Okay! Chuny, I need you to make sure we have a trauma room and get 8 units of O neg! Lily call surgery and get someone down here now! Everyone gown up! Haleh, Lydia, and Carter come with me." Mark says. He gloves up and puts his gown on, followed by Haleh, Lydia, and Carter.
"Mark, what's going on?" Kerry asks.
"Madison got hit by a car." Mark says and he runs to the ambulance bay followed by Carter, Haleh, and Lydia. Kerry stands there, shocked, before she runs around, making sure they have everything. Outside the two men and women stand there, waiting impatiently.
"I wonder what happened." Lydia says.
"That girl better be alright. Carol will be crushed." Haleh says.
"So will Doug." Mark says. Haleh nods just as an ambulance pulls up. The paramedic hops out of the back, followed by Carol and Doug. Carol is crying and Doug is holding her hand. Mark starts to shout out orders as they wheel the gurney into the hospital. Doug and Carol are walking quickly behind it. They push the the doors of trauma one. Doug pulls Carol back, moving out of the way so they can work.
"Doug." Carol says, shakily. She feels like she is going to faint. He pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her as they watch Mark work on their daughter.
"What have we got?" Elizabeth asks, pushing into the door. Mark looks at her.
"Madison got hit by a car." Mark says. Elizabeth gasps, looking back and Doug and Carol who are clinging to each other. "She's got a weak, thready pulse. She might have internal bleeding. Broken right tib-fib." Mark says. Elizabeth immediately jumps into action. Carol starts to sob.
"I'm so sorry baby." She whispers. Doug squeezes her tightly.
"Shh...Carol...shh.." Doug says. She buries her face into his neck, keeping one eye on her daughter.
"Her belly's distended." Elizabeth calls out.
"Dammit." Doug mutters under his breath.
"Alright, she's stable, let's get her up to the OR." Elizabeth says. They start to push the gurney out of the room. "Doug, Carol, I'll take care of her." Elizabeth says. Doug nods as Carol pushes her way through them. She takes her daughter's hand and runs alongside the gurney.
"Baby, I'm here. You're going to be alright. Aunt Lizabeth is going to fix you right up. Hang in there sweetheart." She says. The elevator opens and Carol lets go, immediately reaching for Doug. He takes her hand into his and watches as the elevator door closes. Mark looks at them.
"What happened?" Mark asks.
"We've gotta get upstairs. We'll talk later." Doug says as the next elevator opens. Mark nods as they enter the elevator. Once inside Carol turns to Doug.
"Why did this happen?" She asks.
"Shh..Carol. She's going to be fine." Doug says.
"She has internal bleeding, Doug. She's only three years old. She's too little." Carol says. Doug takes her face into his hands.
"She's going to be fine, Carol. I don't want you..or anyone else to try and tell me otherwise. We have to have hope. She's our daughter, Carol. We're the two most stubborn people in the world." Doug says, smiling slightly. Carol manages to smile back through her tears. "There's that beautiful smile I love to see. Remember Carol, you've gotta have faith." Doug says. She nods as the elevator door opens on the surgical floor. They step out. Peter runs by them, but stops when he sees them.
"Carol, Doug. I'm about to go assist Elizabeth. We'll send you news as soon as we can, okay?" Peter asks. Doug nods.
"Thanks Peter." He says as Peter nods, running off. Doug leads Carol to the waiting room. There's a couch, so he sits down, pulling her into his lap. She buries her face into his neck, crying softly as she clings to him. He rubs her back soothingly, as he waits anxiously.
-----
About an hour later, Mark walks into the waiting room. Doug is sitting on the couch and Carol is laying down, her head in his lap as she sleeps lightly. Mark sits in a chair beside the couch.
"She asleep?" Mark whispers. Doug nods.
"She cried herself to sleep." Doug replies, whispering.
"What happened?" Mark asks.
"It's all my fault." Doug says. Mark gives him a puzzled look.
"Carol and I were sitting on the front porch. Madison was playing in the front yard. We were talking and not paying much attention to Madison. I heard a car coming and looked up. Madison's ball rolled into the road and she was going after it. The driver tried to swerve but he still hit her. He called 911 on his cell phone while Carol and I made sure she was breathing and had a pulse. Then we just waited." Doug says, tears coming to his eyes.
"So why is it your fault?" Mark asks.
"I should have been watching her but instead I was blabbing on about how much I had screwed up." Doug says. Mark shakes his head.
"Even if you had been watching her, you may not have been able to stop her from going into the street and getting hit." Mark says.
"But I may have been able to stop it. Or else, I would have at least known it wasn't my fault because I was watching her, but I wasn't." Doug says.
"If that's the case, it's just as much Carol's fault as it is yours." Mark says. Doug looks up quickly.
"Don't even blame her. She didn't do anything." Doug says fiercely.
"Seems to me she did as much as you did. And if you think it's not her fault, then it's not yours either." Mark says. Doug shakes his head, not believing it. Right now, he is too scared to argue with Mark.
"No, Mark." Doug says. Mark sighs, rubbing his hand across his face.
-----
An hour after Mark arrived, the doors to the OR opened and Elizabeth and Peter walked out. Doug stands, pulling Carol, who had woken earlier, up beside him. Mark stands.
"Is she okay?" Doug asks. Elizabeth sighs.
"We stopped the bleeding. But she crashed and we had to shock her. I'm afraid she slipped into a coma." Elizabeth says. Carol gasps, her knees buckling beneath her. Doug catches her, pulling her back into a standing position.
"Oh..damn. Can we go see her?" Doug asks, supporting Carol with his arms.
"She's up in the NICU. I'll head up there and then I'll come get you and take you up." Elizabeth says. Doug nods, stroking Carol's hair. She buries her face into his neck and sobs as Elizabeth and Peter leave.
"Oh God, Doug. Our baby." She says.
"Shhh..shh. I know, Carol. Remember, we have to have faith." Doug says. She shakes her head, sobbing.
"No..no." Carol says.
"She's still alive. She'll make it." Doug says, kissing Carol's forehead. Her whole body is shaking in his arms. He looks at Mark who gives him a sympathetic look. Doug rocks Carol, reassuringly.
-----
Elizabeth walks down the hall in front of Carol and Doug, who are walking closely, holding hands. They are headed towards Madison's room for the first time since the surgery. Elizabeth stops and looks at them, before opening the door for them. Carol and Doug walk through it slowly, their eyes scanning the room until they rest on their daughter. Carol, seeing her daughter bandaged and lying so still, gasps.
"Oh Doug." Carol says. Doug walks closer to his daughter's bed. His eyes fill with tears for the first time since the accident.
"Carol, look at her." Doug says. Carol nods, the tears falling rapidly over her cheeks. Doug takes Madison's tiny hand into his and strokes her fingers. He places his daughter's hand back on the bed and reaches his hands up, covering his face, trying to wipe of the tears so Carol won't see him. She does notice and she squeezes his hand reassuringly. Carol reaches up and touches her daughter's dark curls. Carol lets go of Doug, moving closer to her daughter. She bends down, kissing her daughter's cheek.
"You'll be okay baby. I have faith in you. I won't leave you." Carol says. She steps back from the bed, moving out of the way, so Doug can get closer. Doug bends down over his daughter, much like Carol just did. He kisses her forehead gently and brushes her cheek with the back of his index finger.
"Madison..it's Daddy. I just want you to know that Mommy and I love you very much and we're here for you. Always." Doug says. He looks back up at Carol, tears in both of their eyes. She moves closer to him, moving into his embrace, needing to feel the comfort of his arms. He holds her, as they watch the rise and fall of their daughter's chest and listen to her heart monitor.
-----
Carol was sitting beside Madison's bed, watching her. Mark walks into the room.
"Carol?" He asks. She looks up and smiles, sitting up.
"Hey Mark." She says softly.
"You should go home. Get some rest." Mark says. Carol shakes her head.
"Mark, I'm fine really. Have you seen Doug lately?" She asks.
"Yeah, he was with a patient last I saw him." Mark says.
"When was that?" Carol asks.
"About 20 minutes ago, why?" Mark asks.
"I just wanted to know what he's doing. I've barely seen him all day." Carol says.
"He told me he was going to come up after his shift was over. That's in an hour." Mark says. Carol nods.
"Thanks Mark." She says. He nods.
"Why don't you go get you something to eat. I'll sit up here with her." Mark says.
"I don't know Mark." Carol says.
"Don't argue with me. Go." Mark says, walking over to her. He pulls her into a standing position. She sighs.
"Alright, I'll go down to the cafeteria and get me something to eat, but I'm coming right back up." Carol says. He nods.
"Go." He says. She smiles and walks out of the room. She decides to go ask Doug to join her before she goes. She walks into the ER and spots him at the admit desk.
"Doug." She says softly. He turns to her and smiles slightly.
"Hey Carol." He says. She smiles back at him.
"Mark's making me go get something to eat. Wanna hit the cafeteria with me?" Carol asks. He looks up at the board then back at her.
"I better not. I've only got an hour left and there's a couple of patients left. I'll get something after my shift, then I'll come up to Madison's room." Doug says. Carol nods and kisses his cheek gently.
"Alright then. I'll see you up there." She says. He nods at her and touches her cheek gently before she leaves.
-----
Doug walks into Madison's room. Carol is sitting in a chair beside Madison's bed, her head laying on the pillow beside Madison, sound asleep. Doug smiles. He walks over to Carol and places his hands on her back. He bends down and kisses her cheek gently.
"Carol." He says softly. She stirs.
"Doug?" She asks.
"Yeah, it's me. You fell asleep." He says. She sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
"Mmm..what time is it?" She asks.
"It's a quarter after nine." Doug says. She stretches and looks up at him.
"Did you just get off?" She asks. He nods.
"Yeah, I got me a sandwich at the cafeteria and came here." He says. She nods and stands up, turning to him. He holds her upper arms in his hands, stroking her with his thumbs. "Why don't we go home." Doug says. Carol shakes her head.
"Doug.." She starts to protest but he stops her.
"Carol..Carol, she hasn't changed in a week. You need your rest. You haven't been home for longer then two hours since the accident. She'll be fine here. Mark will keep an eye out for us. If anything changes, he'll make sure we know as soon as possible. There's nothing you can do by sitting here all night." Doug says. Carol sighs and her eyes fill with tears, turning to look at her daughter.
"I just...I don't want my baby to be all alone." Carol says. He smiles at her, touching her cheek, turning her back to face him.
"She's not alone. I'll have Mark and Elizabeth come and check on her regularly. Madison wouldn't want you to stay with her all night if it meant you weren't getting your healthy rest." Doug says. Carol bites her lip and rests her forehead against Doug's cheek.
"Okay. We can go home tonight." Carol says. He smiles and kisses the side of her face.
"She'll be fine." Doug says. Carol nods, watching her daughter.
-----
"I'll sleep on the couch. If you need me, just come and get me." Doug says. Carol shakes her head.
"Sleep in my bed with me, please. I don't want to be alone tonight." Carol says. He smiles.
"Are you sure?" He asks. She nods.
"Please." She says. He nods.
"I will." He says.
-----
Carol was lying in bed, waiting for Doug to join her. He lifted the covers on his side of the bed and slipped in beside her. He smiled sweetly at her. She smiles weakly back at him.
"It's so strange, being here and knowing she's not in her bed upstairs...or at least somewhere where she'd be with someone she knew." Carol says. Doug strokes Carol's face gently.
"She's fine, Carol." Doug says. Carol nods, biting her lip softly, trying not to cry.
"What did we do to deserve this?" She asks. He smiles slightly.
"Maybe someone out there was trying to tell us we were acting childish and that our family is what's important." Doug says. Carol nods.
"We should have paid more attention to her." Carol says. He nods his head.
"If I hadn't been blabbing about how much of a screw-up I am, we might have been able to catch her. I'm sorry Carol." Doug says.
"You're not a screw up." Carol says. Doug nods.
"I've screwed up everything in my life that has ever made me happy. I screwed up my job. With you. And now with my daughter. I'm a screw-up." Doug says.
"You didn't screw up with me. Or with your daughter. And your job, you just made a stupid mistake and it happened to cost you your job." Carol says. Doug shakes his head.
"I'd hate to see who you'd call a screw-up." Doug says, smiling slightly, trying to lighten up the situation. Carol shakes her head at him. She rolls over, leaning out of the bed, slightly, and turning off the lamp. Darkness engulfs the room. Carol moves back onto her side, snuggling into Doug's arms. He smiles and leans down, kissing her gently.
"G'night Carol." He says.
"Night Doug." She says, burying herself into him. He rests his head in her dark curls, smelling her. He is so glad to be back in her arms, only wishing it was under different circumstances that they got there.
-----
Doug woke to the sound of the telephone ringing. He looked at the clock. 12:32. He and Carol had only went to bed at a quarter after 11. He reached over top of Carol's body to her side of the bed, and picked up the phone, trying not to wake her.
"Hello?" He asks groggily into the phone. Carol shifts under him, moving out from under his arm and looking at him in the darkness, concern on her face.
"Doug! It's Mark! You've gotta get here now!" Mark says. Oh God. Madison.
"Mark..what's going on?" Doug asks. Carol starts to panic.
"She's awake!" Mark says. Oh God. Relief washes over Doug.
"She's awake? Oh..we're coming!" Doug exclaims, shoving the phone onto the receiver.
"She's awake?" Carol asks. A huge smile spreads over his face.
"Yes." He says.
"Oh God!" Carol says. She squeezes Doug's arms and then jumps out of bed. They rush into their clothes and shoes, running out the door and jumping into the jeep.
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Carol runs into Madison's room, followed by Doug. She rushes to Madison's bed, seeing Madison looking back up at her.
"Oh Baby!" Carol says, hugging Madison. Doug bends over his daughter as the two fuss over her. She doesn't talk, she's intubated, but you can see the happiness in her eyes that her parents are there. Mark and Elizabeth stand off the to side, watching and smiling. Carol stands up, wiping the tears from her face. She walks over to Mark and Elizabeth.
"Thank you so much." She says. They smile.
"No problem." Mark replies. Carol pulls him into a hug and hugs him tightly. Then she moves to Elizabeth and hugs her. Mark chuckles and Elizabeth smiles, relieved for her friends. Carol then walks back over to her daughter, smiling down at her happily.
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