Title: Medical Wonders: Just Knowing
Author: Jen Zoromski
All other information is in the first chapter.
Author's Note: I see about three or four more chapters for this story. Thank-you to everyone who continues to read this and just keep in mind that this is a work of fiction in the genre of drama. Other than that I'm very grateful for the support for this story and please keep on reading and reviewing you guys are awesome -- here's more to the story! Enjoy!
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September 30, 2003
County General Hospital
1:15 p.m.
September. In a day it would be a new month and the city of Chicago is having a horrible heat wave -- the last burst of warmth that they'll get for awhile -- an Indian Summer Day.
It has been two months since Elizabeth's accident and just two days since she's been back at work after having gotten rid of her cast just last week. Surprisingly, all she had was a barely unnoticeable limp when walking. She'd been feeling very good for being thirty-one weeks pregnant, but today with the heat and the dull ache in her leg to accompany the one that had just recently appeared in her back she was off in another world.
County is surprisingly quiet for the end of September. The holidays were coming up in the next three months. That's when they'd end up getting slammed. Elizabeth winced at the thought.
But then again quiet was an understatement as Robert storms through the ER.
"Why the hell is everyone standing around? We've got an ER to run," Robert yells. The heat's gotten to him too. County's air conditioning hasn't always been the greatest.
Susan is standing next to Elizabeth looking through charts, writing up her follow-up report, and finally signing them. She looks over to Elizabeth.
"Is he like this at home?"
Elizabeth doesn't respond.
"Hey, Elizabeth?"
"Sorry?" she says.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine--"
Robert stops at the desk.
"Dr. Lewis?"
"Yeah, Dr. Romano?"
"You see that waiting room over there? I want those people treated and cleared out of here now!"
"But I'm the only doctor--"
"Jerry, page the rest of our moronic doctors tell them to get off of their asses and get over here to treat patient or else they're fired."
"Robert you could at least say please," Elizabeth scolds him.
"Not now, Lizzie," he snaps and heads towards the lounge.
"What crawled up his ass?" Elizabeth wonders out loud, angry.
"Whatever it was I feel sorry for it," Susan replies with a smile on her face.
Elizabeth rolls her eyes and angrily headed towards the lounge, throwing the door open and glaring at Robert. He is pouring himself a cup of coffee. Robert sips it and makes a face.
"It's true they are trying to kill me," Robert snaps angry at the cup of coffee, angry at the world.
"Robert?" Elizabeth inquires sharply.
"Lizzie, that was record time. I didn't think you could make it into the lounge with your leg and that protruding stomach," he snarks almost reminiscent of the early days of their relationship six years ago.
"I'm glad to see that you're still in there Robert, I thought I was making you soft. Glad to see you are still an ass deep down," she snarks right back at him.
"Always a pleasure to make you happy, Lizzie, I wouldn't want to do anything but," he tells her sarcastically throwing the half full cup of coffee into the garbage with a lot of force.
He heads for the door, but she puts her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him, but he just pulls away from her. Thoughts about walking out of the lounge and leaving her there to ponder what his problem was went through his mind, but he turns back towards her, reluctantly.
"What is your problem?" Elizabeth snaps.
"My problem? You want to know what my problem is? For the last two months my arm has been improving, but only enough where I can feel some sensation. Nothing more --I had a meeting with Anspaugh," Robert replies still angry.
"And?" Elizabeth inquires starting to soften her tone.
"He said that my improvement was impressive, but --"
"--You'll never operate again," Elizabeth finishes softly for him.
"Good thing to know that everyone knows except me," Robert replies angrily.
"Anspaugh talked to me yesterday."
"Oh, so you're getting buddy-buddy with the hierarchy of surgery now?"
"Robert--"
He leaves her in the lounge -- fuming. She follows him out of the lounge door against her better judgment. How many times had they been like this? Fighting with one another beyond belief. They hadn't had a good fight in a long time. Especially one in the ER with comments that both will soon regret flying every which way.
"Robert!" she yells after him.
He doesn't turn around and heads towards one of the curtain and a patient. Sitting on the examine table is a woman with bright pink hair and a hospital gown.
"Hi, Miss --"
"Jade"
"Miss Jade"
"No its just Jade."
"And 'Jade' what seems to be the problem?"
"Well --"
"Robert, you can't just walk away from me like that!" Elizabeth says coming through the curtain.
He doesn't respond.
"Now what did you say the problem was?"
"It's kind of strange --"
"Robert!"
Again nothing from him.
"I've heard it all."
Elizabeth is fuming now.
"Fine, don't talk to me. I'm done talking to you too!" She leaves the curtain, still angry.
Jade looks at Robert.
"You two make a cute couple."
Robert rolls his eyes and starts a chart for Jade.
6:19 p.m.
Around the front desk in the ER stands Susan, Chuny, Jerry, and Haleh working on charts, answering phones -- the usual. Romano heads up to the front desk with a chart that he had just finished with and puts it away.
"Jerry, will page Dr. Corday for me?"
"You don't need to," Susan replies.
"Why not?"
"She fell asleep in the lounge about half an hour ago and we didn't have the heart to wake. We haven't needed any surgical consults so we just let her sleep."
"Thanks."
Romano heads towards the lounge.
"Dr. Romano," Susan calls.
"What?"
"If I were I'd proceed with caution."
Romano rolls his eyes and heads through the door into the lounge. He's in a better mood now, even feeling guilty for the things that he had said to Elizabeth, but he wouldn't admit that -- well unless she said he couldn't come home tonight.
She's curled up on the couch with her hand resting protectively over their unborn child. Robert watches her sleep with a small smirk on his face. When they went at it with fighting they went all out. Robert recalled that one of the reason that drew him to Elizabeth in the beginning was that she was able to match his wits, match the comments that would come flying out of his mouth. And he admired her for that -- hardly anyone else could do that.
Robert heads over to the freezer and digs deep in the back of it for a well hidden carton of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. He pulls up a chair next to the couch where Elizabeth was sleeping and puts the cold carton on her cheek for a brief moment. Then he kisses her on the cheek. She doesn't awake at first so he continues to kiss her cheeks and then her forehead and finally her lips.
She opens her eyes and glares at him angrily.
"What do you want?" she snaps.
He kisses her again on the lips. She tries to seem uninterested, but it doesn't work.
"I come bearing a peace offering," Robert tells her holding out the carton of ice cream towards her.
"I don't want any," she tells him, crankily.
Robert scoops out some ice cream and puts the spoon next to her lips. She doesn't take it in her mouth.
"I guess I'll just have to eat this all by myself," Robert says teasing her by taking a bite, "You know this is really good, Lizzie, it's such a shame that you don't want any."
He takes another bite.
"Yum."
Again another bite.
"You know what that fight reminded me of?" Robert asks her.
She doesn't respond.
"The early days of our fights. That's what drew me to you right away -- you could match my wits and weren't afraid to let your comments be known, unlike many others. And I just love the way your mind works. Keeps me on my toes," he tells her taking another bite.
Elizabeth smiles at him and grabs the carton again from him.
"Aren't you going to say please?" Robert asks playfully.
She takes the spoon out of his mouth, kissing him in the process and grinning at him.
"I take that as a 'no' then," Robert concludes.
"Thanks," she says taking a bite of the ice cream. Even though their relationship is made up of so many complexities they may have found one thing that is simple in it: when they don't have to apologize -- they just know.
TBC
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More to come! Please R&R!
Thanks
~Jen