Disclaimer: I still don't own any of these characters.Dr. Romano, Dr. Corday and Dr. Lewis all belong to other people.

Thank you everyone for your great feedback. This story was originally supposed to be just a short fic about Robert and Elizabeth getting stuck in an elevator and it wasn't my intention to continue it, but after reading you comments I decided to give it a go nevertheless. I'll probably have to change the title of this story eventually as it isn't just about being "stuck" in an elevator anymore, but until I can think of something better, the name will remain the same.

Warning: This chapter contains some *~spoilers~* of upcoming events in the ER.

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The following night Elizabeth found herself unable to sleep. The events of the previous day, particularly the ones that took place in the elevator, kept rushing through her mind, and the look in Robert's eyes when he had stared at her, returned to haunt her dreams whenever she did manage to doze off for a while. But what Elizabeth found even more disturbing was the fact that she couldn't get her mind away from the kiss that almost took place.

She was sure Robert had intended to kiss her. What she wasn't so sure about was how she would have, or should have, reacted. She had never wanted Robert's attentions and she had always kept him at a certain distance. There had always been this line she hadn't allowed Robert to cross. He had almost crossed it that day in the surgeons' lounge when he had caressed her cheek in a moment of "momentary weakness", as he had put it. That day she had escaped and kept the distance, but today she had been the one to cross that delicate line, the line she herself had drawn. Had that too only been a momentary weakness?

After a short consideration, Elizabeth assured herself that it had to be so. Robert was the most selfish, insufferable and annoying person she had ever met. It was sometimes hard enough to work with him, so why would she want to make things any more complicated by starting to think of him also outside of work? It was absolutely ridiculous. No, what she had done in the elevator had indeed been a momentary weakness and it would never happen again. She had been affected by the sadness in Robert's eyes, and whatever it had made her feel was only some form of pity or compassion. If she had felt uncomfortable it was because of the general heat in the elevator, not because she was uncomfortable with her feelings.

Yes, that was it. Elizabeth sighed in relief. What had she been so scared of in the first place anyway? That she'd suddenly find herself in love with Robert Romano? Ridiculous! She settled in her bed, ready to fall asleep after sorting out her thoughts, but for some reason the sleep was still failing her.

'Love? Who said anything about love'. It was the stupid inner voice nagging again, but Elizabeth had to admit herself that her mind still wasn't quite settled. She realized she was in for a long night.

And as if the voice inside of her head wasn't bad enough, the look in Robert's eyes suddenly returned to her mind at full force and stayed there for the rest of the night.

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"Dr. Corday?"

It was the following morning. Elizabeth stood at the ER desk staring blankly at some papers, absentmindedly trying to figure out what she had been doing. The sleepless night had left its marks on her and she was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything.

"Elizabeth?"

At the sound of her Christian name, Elizabeth finally looked up. It was Susan and she appeared to be looking at her hip.

"Yes, Dr. Lewis?"

"Your pager."

Elizabeth looked down at her pager. It had been beeping for God knows how long and she hadn't noticed anything. 'Damn' , she moaned under her breath, before looking up at Susan again.

"Thanks.I -I don't know how that escaped me." Elizabeth blushed slightly and before Susan could make any comment, she added. "I have to run."

On her way to the trauma room Elizabeth bit her lip, trying to gather her thoughts and hoping she wasn't coming too late. She wasn't. The patient, a young girl injured in a car crash, was only just being brought in.

"What do we have?" Elizabeth asked, finally feeling herself at least remotely awake at the face of real action.

"Broken bones, possible injuries in inner organs. She is breathing."

"Has she been conscious?"

"She was for a while when she was being brought in."

The action brought Elizabeth, at least for a moment, back to her normal rhythm. She quickly examined the patient and to her relief nothing too serious was found. The girl's situation was soon stabilized and since there seemed to be no immediate need to bring her to the OR, Elizabeth decided she could let the other doctors treat her and so she soon exited the trauma room.

She was feeling tired. A cup of coffee seemed to be the only thing she could get her mind fixed on at the moment, so after taking a quick look at a couple of her patients, Elizabeth decided to retire for the lounge for a little break. She needed the caffeine and a moment of solitude wouldn't be unwelcome either.

Elizabeth filled her cup and then fell on the nearest chair with a heavy sigh. But she didn't get to sit there for long before it occurred to her that it was the same chair that Robert had been sitting on when he had reached out to stroke her cheek not so long ago. In fact, it was also the same chair she had been sitting on crying, after finding out about Mark's tumor's return. Robert had been so kind to her that day.and Mark - Why did the memory of Mark suddenly seem so distant? Granted, it was almost a year now since his dead, but she was still wearing her wedding ring and until recently she had also felt as if she was still mourning. But now, no matter how hard she tried to bring all the endearing elements of Mark into her mind, she couldn't feel the same sense of loss anymore. Had the time come for her to move on? Elizabeth suddenly remembered how Susan had once said that Mark would have wanted her to do it, to move on with her life.

Elizabeth looked at her left hand, fixing her eyes on the golden wedding ring. She remembered how Robert had retrieved it for her after she had lost it. At the time she hadn't been ready to lose the ring, but now it suddenly looked out of place in her hand. She hadn't had a husband for almost a year now, the ring was there only to remind her of days that would never return. She knew she couldn't live like that forever.

Slowly Elizabeth drew the ring out of her finger, and for a while she sat there, contemplating the piece of jewelry, until she was suddenly startled by a sound of the door opening. Elizabeth quickly looked up to see Robert Romano storming in, clearly upset about something.

He stopped abruptly in the middle of the room as he noticed Elizabeth.

"Lizzie", he exclaimed, seemingly surprised to find her there. "I thought you were on shift."

"I - I was" Elizabeth replied, closing the ring in her hand. "I'm just on a little break." She wondered if he had seen the ring.and wondered why it would make any difference to her whether he had or had not seen it.

"Having a rough day?" Romano asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Apparently he hadn't seen the ring.

"Just trying to get over a sleepless night." Elizabeth blurted, then bit her tongue for revealing the truth. She didn't want Robert to guess the sleeplessness had been on his account.

But Romano didn't seem to be paying much attention to her. Something was troubling him.

"Robert?" Elizabeth tried gently.

"What?" Romano snapped, placing his cup down and turning to face Elizabeth.

"I thought we were having a conversation." Elizabeth said dryly.

"Right." Romano muttered, clearly trying to keep his voice level. "You want to hear something about a rough day?"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow but said nothing. Robert didn't need more to have the flood gates opened.

"I was demoted!" he spat. "Demoted!"

Elizabeth was taken aback. She hadn't expected that one coming. Of course she had sensed something was going on, but now that it came it seemed so sudden. Robert seemed to enraged, and Elizabeth could only silently agree with him.

"You heard me." Romano continued, when Elizabeth didn't seem to be able to manage a reply. "Chief of Surgery, Chief of Staff, all gone." He paused to take in a deep, frustrated breath. "And do you want to hear where they put me?"

Elizabeth didn't know what to say, but Robert didn't seem to need any encouragement after getting started.

"Head of ER! That's where they put me. ER! Of all the rotten places and positions in this town."

"Robert" Elizabeth tried to hush him.

Romano kicked a chair in front him, then fell down on it and sat in silence for a long time. Elizabeth didn't know how to approach him.

Finally she leaned forward on her own chair and whispered gently: "I'm sorry, Robert", but she knew it sounded pathetic.

Romano looked up with an expressionless face. "I bet you are." There was a short pause. "I'd put my money on it that they'll make you the next Chief of Surgery.I wouldn't blame them if they did."

That possibility hadn't yet even crossed Elizabeth's mind. She sat back and tried to take in the information, but Romano stood up and headed for the door. His hand was already on the door handle when Elizabeth suddenly raced after him and, before thinking, placed her hand on top of his on the handle.

Robert stiffened. Elizabeth could hear him taking in a deep breath. She quickly let go of his hand and muttered something unintelligible to her toes. But she could see her action had had the desired effect as Robert let go of the door handle and moved past Elizabeth to return to his seat.

Elizabeth didn't follow him, but stood still for a while, gathering her thoughts. She couldn't explain herself why she had not wanted to let Robert go. She didn't even know what she should say to him.

In the meanwhile, Romano seemed to have fixed his gaze on something that was lying on the chair Elizabeth had just been sitting on. She soon realized it was her ring that she had left there when she had raced after Romano. Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh. This was clearly a day when everything was set to go wrong.

Finally Robert broke the silence, a hint of his old sarcasm in his voice.

"You should be more careful with your ring, Lizzie. I can't always be around to retrieve it for you."

"Actually."Elizabeth started, hesitating a little. "I - I took it away on purpose."

She returned to her seat and picked up the ring. Absentmindedly she almost put it back in her finger before she caught herself at it and quickly placed the ring in her pocket.

"Ah, so I take it you are offering me a new job as your personal ring retriever, not wanting to keep the thing in the same place all the time." Robert retorted. Then he seemed to sigh before he continued, "Well, considering the options, I might even take the job." He sounded bitter.

"Robert." Elizabeth started, but couldn't find anything to say. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how. There was the line she didn't want to cross. Or did she? An awkward silence fell between them.

"Elizabeth, you don't have to do this." Robert suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"Do what?"

"Sit here with me, trying to think of something to say that would make me feel better but would still be meaningless." He stood up again and this time made a quick exit before Elizabeth could even realize he was on his way out.

Elizabeth sighed. She was relieved to be alone again, yet unhappy about how her conversation with Robert had gone. She had wanted to help, but has she only made him feel worse? Did he think she only pitied him? She didn't even know it herself whether it was pity or something else that she was feeling. and if it wasn't pity, then what was it?