Title: Stairway To Heaven

Chapter: Two/?

Rating: R

Pairings: KW/KL, Kerry Weaver, Elizabeth Corday

Genre: Drama

Spoilers: Up to and including season eight

Timeline: After Four Corners

Beta Reader: Scotty Welles



Summary: What if during Witch Hunt, and the following

Episodes it wasn't fear that kept Kerry from helping

Kim. What if there was something else going on with

her. What if Kim had no idea about what that

something was.



Disclaimer: Not mine. All characters belong to Warner

Bros and

Michael Crichton.







The cold wind wrapped around her, as she fingered the

pager. Three residents killed a young man. Two of

her most promising residents had missed a diagnosis

that a second year med student could make. A

diagnosis that she might have needed them to make for

her.



The doctors had failed that young man. Because of one

mistake, he would never get married. He would never

have children. He would never have grandchildren, or

experience his honeymoon. All because they had failed

him. All because doctors were as fallible as the next

guy.



And her. She'd lost her pager. Left it in the stall

of the bathroom. Something that she never would've

done before. Maybe she should just use the rest of

her vacation days. With everything going on in her

life, she just couldn't seem to concentrate.



Now, she was also faced with finding out who her

mother was. That knowledge was finally in her hands,

all she had to do was look. She would finally have

all her questions answered. She would finally have

all the mysteries about her life solved.



"I thought your shift was over?"



Kerry shut her eyes, telling herself that it was her

imagination. There was no possible way that she could

be hearing that voice. "I've finally lost it."



"Not yet."



Her eyes glanced over to the presence beside her,

taking in the gorgeous blonde smiling at her. "I

thought you'd left."



"I needed time to think." Kim stared out at the city

below. "I was so busy looking for reasons not to be

with you, that I forgot about the reasons to stay."



"Lori?"



"You." Kim sighed sadly and handed her the second cup

of coffee. "I was scared of what we had, and when

you... I was looking for an excuse to break up with

you."



Kerry doubted that it was that simple. If what Kim

was saying was true then there's no way she would just

come back for Kerry. "What changed your mind?"



"I took a job at Kennedy Hospital."



She stepped back from Kim, her heart racing at the

single sentence. It told her so much, with so few

words. Kim knew, she'd found out somehow. Did she

feel sorry for Kerry? Is that why she'd come back?

"I see. So now what? You say that you want to take

me back? That you feel sorry for me? That you have

some..."



"No!!" Kim slammed her cup down on the ledge of the

roof, and grabbed her. "I love you. When I found

out, all I could think of was how short life is. How

much I regretted not being there for you. How much I

had lost by breaking up with you."



"That's it? I have a disease, and that makes

everything okay? We just pick up where we were, and

forget everything that's happened?" She felt the

tears streaming down her face as Kim gently kissed

her.



"No. We learn from what happened, and we use it to

make our relationship stronger."



Kerry nodded, moving into Kim's arms, taking comfort

in them that she'd denied herself over the last

months. The tears began to run more freely, soaking

the blonde's blouse. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I

should've told you. I should've been there for you.

I..."



"Shhh. It's okay. It'll be okay."



Kerry relaxed into the stronger woman, believing it

for the first time in months. As long as Kim was by

her side, she would believe just about anything was

possible.











"You're still the chief of the ER?"



Kerry nearly groaned at the non-threatening tone in

Kim's voice. The nonchalance the psychiatrist was

displaying while she joined her at the table for

dinner was absolutely masterful. "Not that much has

changed since you left."



Kim set her fork down to study her with those drilling

blue eyes. "You're not going to step down."



"There's no reason to." Kerry went back to her

dinner, shoveling a fork full of teriyaki chicken into

her mouth.



"You're not serious." Kim grabbed her chin and forced

Kerry to look at her. "Kerry, I may be a

psychiatrist, but I still know a bit about medicine,

and unless there's been some new breakthrough that I

haven't been told about..."



"There hasn't." Kerry sighed at the hurt in her

ex...her lover's eyes. "I know that I need to be

taking it easy, but this is who I am, and nothing can

change that."



"Kerry, you can't just ignore this." Kim grabbed her

hand, pleading desperately with her. "If you keep

this up you're going to kill yourself."



"I'm going to be careful. There's nothing to worry

about."



"Bullshit. The slightest blood based infection could

kill you. Then there's your heart, anything could

trigger a..."



"I know all that, and I'm taking precautions." Kerry

squeezed her hand. "Look, if I think for one second

that it's too much for me, or that it's putting me in

danger, then I'll step down. I promise."



Kim muttered under her breath angrily, giving her a

hard glare. "If I believe that you're doing too much,

swear to me that you will back down."



"I swear. Now, can we finish eating?"



"Sure." Kim poked at the food, her mouth turned into

a small frown. "Is that what's wrong with your hip?"



Kerry laid her fork down and sighed. "Yes."



"You look a little stressed."



"I'm fine."



Kim smirked over at her. "Oh, too bad. I know a fun

way to relieve stress."



Kerry blinked at her plate, then looked over at her

colleague to make sure she wasn't reading too much

into it. But the red tint at the top of Kim's ears

told her exactly what the tall blonde was talking

about. "On second thought, the doctor did say I was

supposed to stay relaxed."



"Race you...!"











"Kerry...?"



'Shit.' She continued around the corner, hoping

beyond hope that the surgeon would get distracted, or

hit by a bus. Just because she was in a better mood

over Kim's return to her life, she still wasn't able

to deal with Corday. At least not today.



"Kerry, there you are. I was looking all over for

you."



'And we all know why, too, but if you do kill me it

won't be justifiable. At least according to Kim it

isn't.' "This really isn't a good time..."



"We need to talk."



She was tempted to shoot Malucci just to have an

excuse to get away from her. "If this is about Mr.

Patterson..."



"I'm talking about you." Elizabeth moved right into

her face. "Now, we can either have this conversation

here or we can have it in your office. I would

recommend your office however, since I doubt you want

your business all over the hospital."



"Fine." She stormed down the hall towards the

elevators, her temper flaring. "MY business is the

key word."



"What was that?"



She glowered at Elizabeth. The glint in the surgeon's

eyes confirming that she'd heard exactly what she

said. "Nothing. Nothing at all."











The only good thing about this was that Elizabeth had

picked her territory to talk on, giving her a little

advantage over this. It wasn't that she didn't like

the surgeon, she did. She even admired the other

woman. Corday was everything she'd ever wanted

in...to be as a woman.



A deadly beauty, that would send most men, and a

number of women, to their knees. Sexy curves that

went on forever and never stopped. A mind as quick

and sharp as any top surgeon or doctor. And she'd

only gotten sexier since she gave birth. Her body

softer, filled out more, in a way only a new mother

could have.



"I can think of any number of diagnosis that would

cover the most obvious symptoms, and I have a feeling

I know what's wrong with you. But I'd like to hear it

from you."



Kerry propped herself up on the front of the desk,

staring at the pacing surgeon with disbelief. "Look,

I know you want to hurt me for the whole thing with

Mark, but..."



"Damn it, Kerry, I am not trying to destroy your

career. I am your colleague, and I respect you. I

would like the chance to give you some sort of

support."



"Marfans's. I have Marfans's."



Elizabeth sank into the chair numbly. "But it's rare

for someone with a deformed aorta to survive this

long."



"They said that if I had waited any longer, that I

would've died."



The surgeon nodded absently, her eyes rapidly moving.

"Have you told your parents? Your family will need to

get tested as soon as possible. If you have it, then

one of them is the carrier."



"Not yet, but I will." Kerry cleared her throat

awkwardly. "I should get back."



"Of course." Elizabeth stood up, waiting for her.

"They have you on blood thinners?"



"And Beta Blockers." Kerry closed the door to her

office, and headed over to the elevators.



"If you need anything..."



Kerry hurried into the elevator. "I'll keep you in

mind."



As the doors closed, she slumped against the wall.