DISCLAIMER: The following, while fictional, is in part inspired by
spoilers for upcoming episodes. I have no idea how reliable these spoilers
are, but please, consider yourself warned.
Two days later, for the first time in months, Robert strode into the scrub room to prepare for a surgery he was actually scheduled to participate in. As he turned on the water and selected a scrub sponge. The door swung open, and Elizabeth entered the room with a smile. "Good morning, Robert," she grinned. "You're looking quite chipper this morning."
"Lizzie! How the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?" He quipped brightly.
"What, you think I'd miss your first time back? Robert, I thought you knew me better than that."
"So you came to observe?" His voice was light, but his eyes regarded her with steely suspicion.
"Actually, I was hoping you'd allow me to scrub in."
"On an appendectomy? What, are you bored, or just hoping I'd let you operate with your eyes closed?" His tone was slightly bitter, and Elizabeth sighed heavily. "Ah, I see. It's neither. You're here to baby-sit." He slammed the water off and continued with his prep.
"Robert, please, try not to be so sensitive. Surely you understand."
"Oh, I understand fine, Lizzie!" He sniped angrily. "We can have med students running around the OR with Parkinson's and HIV positive employees sticking their fingers in God knows where, but God forbid we let a surgeon with fifteen plus years of experience behind the table alone."
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped in resignation. She had been told the hospital's insurance would not cover anything that happened were he left unsupervised, but she was not sure how to get through to him without battering his already bruised ego even further. She was about to leave and seek Anspaugh's opinion when Robert's voice barked out once more:
"Are you coming or not?"
She could see his eyes, dark and unflinching above his mask, but knew he had accepted the situation, at least for the time being. She began to scrub herself, a smile of relief on her face.
Once the entire team was prepped and assembled over the patient on the table, Elizabeth gave Shirley a knowing look. "Shirley, I put some music in the stereo. Would you be so kind as to cue it up for us?"
"My pleasure, Dr. Corday." She pressed the appropriate button as Robert picked up the scalpel. The theme from "2001" began to play in the background, and a titter of giggles sounded through the room. "Ha-ha, very funny," Romano deadpanned, and the laughter swelled. Shaking his head impatiently, he put the blade to skin, making a perfect incision.
"Welcome back, Robert," Elizabeth's voice was warm, and he could tell from her eyes that beneath her mask, she wore a smile. Then an air of "business as usual" fell over the room, and the surgery continued. Halfway through, Robert happened to glance up at the observation window. Leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and a small smile on her face, was Erin. Their eyes locked, and he dropped her a small wink. Her smile widened, and she pointed a finger at the patient, as if to say, "Get back to work."
She was still waiting for him when he emerged from the OR. "Congratulations," she breathed softly, leaning in to kiss him tenderly.
"Oh, come on, Windsor. You could have done that procedure." His tone was hard, but his eyes had the smallest twinkle in them.
Erin punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Shut up and take a compliment, you jerk."
He strode down the hall, expecting her to follow him. "You shut up," he quipped. "It wasn't that big a deal."
"So I guess I should call Pathology and tell them you don't want the appy pickled for the mantle as a keepsake after all?" Erin grinned as he shot her a withering look.
"You are twisted, aren't you?" Romano shook his head, realizing he had just opened himself up, wider than wide. And, as expected, she lobbed back:
"You're just figuring that out? I should think it would have been obvious when I allowed myself to get involved with you." She followed him into his office, still grinning, even as he ignored her. "All right, all right, I get it. You've rejoined the ranks of the surgically superior. I'll just leave you to bask in the glow of your victory while I return to my job as a lowly ER peon." She turned to leave, but he called to her from behind his desk.
"Windsor?"
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"Shut the door." She obeyed. "Now come here." She crossed the room, leaning casually on the desk. His dark eyes held her face a moment before he spoke.
"Thank you. For being there."
She smiled at him. "You're welcome."
"I mean it." He spoke urgently. "I never would have been able to step back in that room today if it wasn't for you."
Erin could see how painful it was for him to speak those words. She moved around the desk and knelt in front of him. "Yes, you would have. Even if you were completely alone, you'd have made it." She could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes, and she cleared her throat. "Of course, it probably would have been a hell of a lot harder." He smiled gratefully at her, and pulled her into his embrace. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.
When she finally returned to the ER, she was met by Kerry as she headed for the admit desk. "So, is he out of surgery?" She asked, leaning heavily on her crutch. Erin nodded with a smile. "And everything turned out all right?"
Erin shot her a look. "You sound disappointed, Kerry."
"No, no," Dr. Weaver clarified hurriedly, shaking her head. "I just, well.you never know how things are going to turn out in situations like this, and you can't help but worry. Not just about the patient, mind you, I'm concerned for Robert as well, since he never was one to deal with setbacks very well..."
"Kerry?" Erin cut her off. "You're babbling."
Dr. Weaver closed her mouth with a snap. "I'm sorry. Just - tell him I said 'Congratulations'."
Erin's eyes followed her as she moved off down the hall. I will never understand that woman, she thought to herself, shaking her head. She collected a new chart and headed for chairs. "Mr. Espinoza?"
She continued working for the next couple of hours, reducing a dislocated shoulder, suturing up a scalp lac, and diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy. She was passing Trauma 2 when she heard raised voices from inside. One of them belonged to Robert. Concerned, she stepped into the room.
The state of the area told her immediately that a pretty severe trauma had passed through not long ago. Bloody gloves and drapes littered the floor, Mayo stands with jumbled instruments flanked the portable CT, and there was a splash of spilled blood on the floor. Standing in the middle of the mess, sharing a heated battle of words, were Robert and Kerry.
"Page surgery means exactly that, Kerry - PAGE SURGERY!" Romano spat. "It's not a radio station - you don't get to phone in your personal requests!"
"This was going to be a long and tedious repair, Robert! I felt it necessary to insure that the patient was going to receive the highest standard of care."
"Dale Edson isn't the highest standard of anything! The little weasel needs a roadmap to wipe his own nose!"
"What the hell is going on here?" Erin stepped between the two feuding doctors, who both began firing words at her simultaneously.
"Dr. Windsor, this does not concern you -" Kerry began.
"The Furher of the ER here has decided that from now on, when a trauma comes in, she's going to order up her surgical consults like she was at a fast food restaurant. This isn't Burger King, Kerry. You can't have it your way!" Robert stormed ahead.
Kerry was furious. "Robert, she may be your wife, but when in this hospital, Dr. Windsor is my employee."
"And you are mine!" Robert roared.
"TIME OUT!" Erin hollered. She turned to Robert. "Calm down and tell me - "
He paid her no attention. It was as if he didn't see her at all. "Now, you listen to me, Kerry Weaver." His voice was icy. "Don't think, not even for one second, that I don't know what you're trying to pull here. And I'm telling you now, it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than what you've got to bring me down." He whirled around, and in breeze of blue scrub coat, was gone.
Erin turned her bewildered gaze to Kerry, who held up her hand. "Stay out of it, Erin."
"Like hell I will." Erin snapped. "What the hell are you trying to do to him Kerry? Calling upstairs, trying to make sure he's not brought in for a consult? How sleazy is that?" "This man was going to need at least six hours of delicate exploratory surgery and God only knows what all they were going to find. What if he had gotten him up there and frozen? Or had to quit before the job was done? What would that do to him? Did it ever occur to you that I might have Robert's best interests in mind?"
Erin wanted to believe the woman, but the nagging kernel of doubt in her stomach simply would not fall silent. "No," she answered honestly. "I'd like to believe that, Kerry, but I don't."
Kerry's expression was a mixture of pleading and threatening. "Erin, just stay out of it." She turned and walked away, leaving Erin with the beginnings of a headache. She turned and walked out the direction Robert had gone, needing to find him.
She eventually did, standing over the empty table in OR Three. His jaw was set in iron and his eyes were hooded. She stepped quietly into the room, moving to stand opposite him. "She's a bitch, sometimes Robert, but - " she began.
"Don't start." His voice dripped venom.
Erin sighed heavily, folding her arms over her chest. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I didn't ask you to do a damn thing. I didn't ask you to come join in the fun down there. I didn't ask you to come looking for me. And I'm not asking you to make me feel better. In fact, I'd much prefer it if you just got the hell out of here and left me with my 'paranoid delusions'." He spat the last two words at her like nails.
"Fine." Erin turned on her heel and pulled the door open. She walked brusquely out of the room and down the hall.
"Dammit!" Robert slammed his right hand on the operating table, and strode from the room after her. "Windsor, get your ass back here!" She shot him a cold look over her shoulder. He gritted his teeth before adding, "Please?"
Softening, she turned and closed the distance between them. He was still fuming, the heat of his rage coming off his body in palpable waves. "Look, I know you think this is just my ego at work. But I'm telling you, Erin, that bitch is after my job."
She swallowed hard. "I know, Robert."
Though still furious, a hint of relief passed over his face, as if he were comforted by the fact that she believed him. He reached out and roughly pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around the nape of her neck and resting his chin on top of her head. "It's never going to get any easier, is it?"
Erin wrapped her arms around his back, burying her face in his chest. She wanted to comfort him, but wasn't sure she could. And she suddenly found herself faced with a growing fear inside her - that, this time, Robert may not be able to out-maneuver the challenges that lay ahead.
Two days later, for the first time in months, Robert strode into the scrub room to prepare for a surgery he was actually scheduled to participate in. As he turned on the water and selected a scrub sponge. The door swung open, and Elizabeth entered the room with a smile. "Good morning, Robert," she grinned. "You're looking quite chipper this morning."
"Lizzie! How the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?" He quipped brightly.
"What, you think I'd miss your first time back? Robert, I thought you knew me better than that."
"So you came to observe?" His voice was light, but his eyes regarded her with steely suspicion.
"Actually, I was hoping you'd allow me to scrub in."
"On an appendectomy? What, are you bored, or just hoping I'd let you operate with your eyes closed?" His tone was slightly bitter, and Elizabeth sighed heavily. "Ah, I see. It's neither. You're here to baby-sit." He slammed the water off and continued with his prep.
"Robert, please, try not to be so sensitive. Surely you understand."
"Oh, I understand fine, Lizzie!" He sniped angrily. "We can have med students running around the OR with Parkinson's and HIV positive employees sticking their fingers in God knows where, but God forbid we let a surgeon with fifteen plus years of experience behind the table alone."
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped in resignation. She had been told the hospital's insurance would not cover anything that happened were he left unsupervised, but she was not sure how to get through to him without battering his already bruised ego even further. She was about to leave and seek Anspaugh's opinion when Robert's voice barked out once more:
"Are you coming or not?"
She could see his eyes, dark and unflinching above his mask, but knew he had accepted the situation, at least for the time being. She began to scrub herself, a smile of relief on her face.
Once the entire team was prepped and assembled over the patient on the table, Elizabeth gave Shirley a knowing look. "Shirley, I put some music in the stereo. Would you be so kind as to cue it up for us?"
"My pleasure, Dr. Corday." She pressed the appropriate button as Robert picked up the scalpel. The theme from "2001" began to play in the background, and a titter of giggles sounded through the room. "Ha-ha, very funny," Romano deadpanned, and the laughter swelled. Shaking his head impatiently, he put the blade to skin, making a perfect incision.
"Welcome back, Robert," Elizabeth's voice was warm, and he could tell from her eyes that beneath her mask, she wore a smile. Then an air of "business as usual" fell over the room, and the surgery continued. Halfway through, Robert happened to glance up at the observation window. Leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and a small smile on her face, was Erin. Their eyes locked, and he dropped her a small wink. Her smile widened, and she pointed a finger at the patient, as if to say, "Get back to work."
She was still waiting for him when he emerged from the OR. "Congratulations," she breathed softly, leaning in to kiss him tenderly.
"Oh, come on, Windsor. You could have done that procedure." His tone was hard, but his eyes had the smallest twinkle in them.
Erin punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Shut up and take a compliment, you jerk."
He strode down the hall, expecting her to follow him. "You shut up," he quipped. "It wasn't that big a deal."
"So I guess I should call Pathology and tell them you don't want the appy pickled for the mantle as a keepsake after all?" Erin grinned as he shot her a withering look.
"You are twisted, aren't you?" Romano shook his head, realizing he had just opened himself up, wider than wide. And, as expected, she lobbed back:
"You're just figuring that out? I should think it would have been obvious when I allowed myself to get involved with you." She followed him into his office, still grinning, even as he ignored her. "All right, all right, I get it. You've rejoined the ranks of the surgically superior. I'll just leave you to bask in the glow of your victory while I return to my job as a lowly ER peon." She turned to leave, but he called to her from behind his desk.
"Windsor?"
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"Shut the door." She obeyed. "Now come here." She crossed the room, leaning casually on the desk. His dark eyes held her face a moment before he spoke.
"Thank you. For being there."
She smiled at him. "You're welcome."
"I mean it." He spoke urgently. "I never would have been able to step back in that room today if it wasn't for you."
Erin could see how painful it was for him to speak those words. She moved around the desk and knelt in front of him. "Yes, you would have. Even if you were completely alone, you'd have made it." She could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes, and she cleared her throat. "Of course, it probably would have been a hell of a lot harder." He smiled gratefully at her, and pulled her into his embrace. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.
When she finally returned to the ER, she was met by Kerry as she headed for the admit desk. "So, is he out of surgery?" She asked, leaning heavily on her crutch. Erin nodded with a smile. "And everything turned out all right?"
Erin shot her a look. "You sound disappointed, Kerry."
"No, no," Dr. Weaver clarified hurriedly, shaking her head. "I just, well.you never know how things are going to turn out in situations like this, and you can't help but worry. Not just about the patient, mind you, I'm concerned for Robert as well, since he never was one to deal with setbacks very well..."
"Kerry?" Erin cut her off. "You're babbling."
Dr. Weaver closed her mouth with a snap. "I'm sorry. Just - tell him I said 'Congratulations'."
Erin's eyes followed her as she moved off down the hall. I will never understand that woman, she thought to herself, shaking her head. She collected a new chart and headed for chairs. "Mr. Espinoza?"
She continued working for the next couple of hours, reducing a dislocated shoulder, suturing up a scalp lac, and diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy. She was passing Trauma 2 when she heard raised voices from inside. One of them belonged to Robert. Concerned, she stepped into the room.
The state of the area told her immediately that a pretty severe trauma had passed through not long ago. Bloody gloves and drapes littered the floor, Mayo stands with jumbled instruments flanked the portable CT, and there was a splash of spilled blood on the floor. Standing in the middle of the mess, sharing a heated battle of words, were Robert and Kerry.
"Page surgery means exactly that, Kerry - PAGE SURGERY!" Romano spat. "It's not a radio station - you don't get to phone in your personal requests!"
"This was going to be a long and tedious repair, Robert! I felt it necessary to insure that the patient was going to receive the highest standard of care."
"Dale Edson isn't the highest standard of anything! The little weasel needs a roadmap to wipe his own nose!"
"What the hell is going on here?" Erin stepped between the two feuding doctors, who both began firing words at her simultaneously.
"Dr. Windsor, this does not concern you -" Kerry began.
"The Furher of the ER here has decided that from now on, when a trauma comes in, she's going to order up her surgical consults like she was at a fast food restaurant. This isn't Burger King, Kerry. You can't have it your way!" Robert stormed ahead.
Kerry was furious. "Robert, she may be your wife, but when in this hospital, Dr. Windsor is my employee."
"And you are mine!" Robert roared.
"TIME OUT!" Erin hollered. She turned to Robert. "Calm down and tell me - "
He paid her no attention. It was as if he didn't see her at all. "Now, you listen to me, Kerry Weaver." His voice was icy. "Don't think, not even for one second, that I don't know what you're trying to pull here. And I'm telling you now, it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than what you've got to bring me down." He whirled around, and in breeze of blue scrub coat, was gone.
Erin turned her bewildered gaze to Kerry, who held up her hand. "Stay out of it, Erin."
"Like hell I will." Erin snapped. "What the hell are you trying to do to him Kerry? Calling upstairs, trying to make sure he's not brought in for a consult? How sleazy is that?" "This man was going to need at least six hours of delicate exploratory surgery and God only knows what all they were going to find. What if he had gotten him up there and frozen? Or had to quit before the job was done? What would that do to him? Did it ever occur to you that I might have Robert's best interests in mind?"
Erin wanted to believe the woman, but the nagging kernel of doubt in her stomach simply would not fall silent. "No," she answered honestly. "I'd like to believe that, Kerry, but I don't."
Kerry's expression was a mixture of pleading and threatening. "Erin, just stay out of it." She turned and walked away, leaving Erin with the beginnings of a headache. She turned and walked out the direction Robert had gone, needing to find him.
She eventually did, standing over the empty table in OR Three. His jaw was set in iron and his eyes were hooded. She stepped quietly into the room, moving to stand opposite him. "She's a bitch, sometimes Robert, but - " she began.
"Don't start." His voice dripped venom.
Erin sighed heavily, folding her arms over her chest. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I didn't ask you to do a damn thing. I didn't ask you to come join in the fun down there. I didn't ask you to come looking for me. And I'm not asking you to make me feel better. In fact, I'd much prefer it if you just got the hell out of here and left me with my 'paranoid delusions'." He spat the last two words at her like nails.
"Fine." Erin turned on her heel and pulled the door open. She walked brusquely out of the room and down the hall.
"Dammit!" Robert slammed his right hand on the operating table, and strode from the room after her. "Windsor, get your ass back here!" She shot him a cold look over her shoulder. He gritted his teeth before adding, "Please?"
Softening, she turned and closed the distance between them. He was still fuming, the heat of his rage coming off his body in palpable waves. "Look, I know you think this is just my ego at work. But I'm telling you, Erin, that bitch is after my job."
She swallowed hard. "I know, Robert."
Though still furious, a hint of relief passed over his face, as if he were comforted by the fact that she believed him. He reached out and roughly pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around the nape of her neck and resting his chin on top of her head. "It's never going to get any easier, is it?"
Erin wrapped her arms around his back, burying her face in his chest. She wanted to comfort him, but wasn't sure she could. And she suddenly found herself faced with a growing fear inside her - that, this time, Robert may not be able to out-maneuver the challenges that lay ahead.