Title: Medical Wonders: False Alarm
Author: Jen Zoromski
All other information is in the first chapter.
Author's Note: Thanks for the awesome feedback. You guys are what keep people writing. Please continue with the great support!
Anyways here's more. Enjoy!
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November 27, 2003
County General Hospital
5:04 p.m.
Elizabeth walks through the doors of the ER with Ella in her arms. She's huge and due in three weeks. Outside light fluffy snow is falling from the gray Chicago sky. It's the day before Thanksgiving and people are literally running through the ER like chickens with their heads cut off -- or more appropriately -- turkeys.
She walks towards the front desk placing Ella down as she does so. Elizabeth can hold Ella for a short period of time without her back starting ache. And now the sharp pain in her back is almost unbearable.
"Dr. Corday, what are you doing here?" Jerry asks her placing his hand of the phone.
"I'm looking for Dr. Romano."
"Well he's here somewhere," Jerry responds.
"Thanks," she says sarcastically.
"But if I were you I wouldn't want to find him," Jerry tells her.
"Has he really been that bad?"
Susan comes up to the desk having heard part of their conversation.
"Elizabeth, how're you feeling?"
"Like I swallowed a bloody watermelon," she replies rubbing her back with the hand that isn't holding onto Ella.
"Aren't you on maternity leave?"
"Yeah for the last week, but I need to find Robert."
Susan's eyes light up, "Is it time?"
"No it's not time," Elizabeth replies angrily, "My mother flew in from England yesterday and I can't deal with her any more."
"Did you leave her at home?" Susan asks laughing.
"Yeah. I told her that Ella and I are going for a drive. She's probably burned the house down by now."
"That'd probably explain why Dr. Romano's been in such a foul mood," Susan speculates.
"My mother doesn't particularly care for Robert and I think he shares that mutual feeling with her," Elizabeth sighs, "And its been like a bloody war zone ever since she got here yesterday afternoon."
"Mommy, where's Rahba?" Ella asks pulling on her mother's arm.
Elizabeth looks down at Ella with a small smile on her face, "I don't know, sweetheart. We'll have to find him."
The little girl's face lights up, "Like a treasure hunt?"
Susan and Elizabeth both laugh at the working of the two and a half year old mind of Ella's. She's a bright little girl and some of the things she has come up with about Robert have been very funny. Elizabeth has seen her daughter take complete control of Robert and at times making him do things that even Elizabeth would have never even thought he'd be doing. Just last week Robert and Ella ended up going outside and making a snow family at Ella's request of course. And coloring time with the two of them has become a weekly ritual. Ella dictating what colors he gets to use -- usually pink and purple.
"I guess it could be a treasure hunt," Elizabeth starts.
"But you might not like the pirate you'll find," Susan tells Ella making a face at her.
"Pirate? Rahba's a pirate?" Ella asks.
"No sweetie, he's just been acting like one lately," Elizabeth tells her.
"Oh," Ella answers, still looking a little bit confused.
"Susan would you happen to know where our pirate is hiding?"
"Behind Curtain Three, but I'd proceed with caution."
"Always around Robert," Elizabeth laughs.
She heads over towards curtain three just as Robert flies out from behind it.
"Mommy, there's Rahba!" Ella exclaims.
"Yeah, sweetie, but he doesn't look too happy."
Robert's eyes are glazed over with anger. He doesn't even see the two of them as he storms past, well not at first. Romano makes it to the desk before he turns around quickly and looks at them, questioning his own eyesight.
He heads back over to Elizabeth, the anger starting to melt away.
"Lizzie, is it time?" he asks concerned.
She rubs her large belly and grins at him, "No, I just needed a break from my mother."
"So you came here?"
"Well, I figure you were off at five, but obviously that isn't going to happen."
"I can leave now," Robert tells her.
But Elizabeth directs his gaze over towards the emergency bay doors. A trauma has just been wheeled through.
"Crap!" Robert replies angrily.
"Just look at it this way. The longer the trauma takes the longer we get to stay away from my mother."
Robert leans in to kiss her quickly with a smirk on his face.
"I love the way your mind works."
"Yeah, I know."
Robert waves at Ella and heads towards Trauma One.
"Come on, Ella," Elizabeth says as she starts to walk towards the admit desk.
A sharp pain goes across her abdomen and she stops abruptly, nearly doubling over in pain.
"Mommy, you okay?" Ella asks.
The pain subsides a little as Elizabeth bites her lip and nodding her head as she tries not to alarm her daughter. Susan on the other hand has seen this and walks over to Elizabeth.
"Are you having contractions?" Susan asks her.
"I don't think so," Elizabeth replies as another cramping pain shoots across her stomach.
She doubles over in pain this time.
"Yeah, it sure looks that way," Susan tells her as she helps her into a wheel chair.
"Susan, really, I'm sure its just Braxton Hicks contractions," Elizabeth tells her as Susan wheels Elizabeth to the elevator with Ella holding onto Susan's hand now.
"Well, it won't hurt for you to be looked at by your OB," Susan responds.
The elevator door dings open and Elizabeth cringes again as a slightly less painful contraction shoots across her abdomen.
"How much time has been between contractions?"
"A few minutes," Elizabeth replies as she clenches her teeth.
In the ER
5:49 p.m.
Robert Romano walks out of Trauma One stripping off the blood covered smock. They lost the patient. Seventeen year old who wasn't wearing a seat belt who ended up flying through the windshield and landing twenty feet away from her car.
"Damn," he mutters. The kid was just too young. In any other case they would have called it some thirty minutes earlier, but they wanted to give that kid a chance -- a chance to live.
Romano heads into the lounge -- already forty-nine minutes past when he should have gotten done with work -- looking for Elizabeth and Ella. Swinging open the door he expected to see them giggling on the sofa or coloring -- always laughing, but they weren't anywhere to be found.
He heads out of the lounge heading towards the cafeteria -- maybe they went to get something to eat -- it is supper time, he tries to reason with himself. Susan is the first person to see him.
"Dr. Romano!"
"Have you see Elizabeth and Ella?"
"They're on the fourth floor --"
"Oh my God, did she go into labor?"
"No."
"Well then what the hell are they doing on the fourth floor?"
"Elizabeth had a few contractions and I insisted that she go up there and get it checked out."
"Is she all right?"
"Yeah. She probably had three contractions and then it stopped. Her doctor checked everything out and she hasn't dilated any and the baby's looking fine."
As if on cue Elizabeth walks out of the elevator with Ella holding onto her hand. Robert heads over to them.
"Lizzie, you okay?"
"I told Susan it was just Braxton Hick's contractions, but she insisted I go upstairs. But everything's fine. I had false contractions while I was pregnant with Ella too and I actually went over my due date."
Robert places his hand over her large belly and rubs it, "It looks like you're going to pop."
"Oh, Robert, you have such a way with words," Elizabeth replies sarcastically.
"You were just trying to get out of going home to that astrologist of a mother you have."
"Astronomer," Elizabeth corrects.
"Whatever," Robert replies picking Ella up, "I suppose we should get out of this hell hole before it sucks me back in."
"What's a hell hole?" Ella asks, innocently.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Robert responds, laughing.
He starts to walk towards the door, but turns back to watch as Elizabeth literally waddles as she walks.
"If I wouldn't know any better I'd have to say that I was in love with a duck."
"A duck?" Ella asks wide eyed.
"Well you're mom, she kind of waddles when she walks -- like a duck," Robert teases.
Elizabeth glares at him as he takes a few steps back towards her and kisses her on the lips. She doesn't kiss him back.
"Ah, Lizzie you're no fun. I guess I'm just going to have to stand here kissing you until you kiss back."
He kisses her again on the lips and she still doesn't respond.
Robert leans in and kisses her again. Ella giggles.
"What're you laughing at, Miss Ella?"
"Mommy's mad at you."
"I know." Robert leans in and kisses Elizabeth again.
"Robert, you're making a scene!" Elizabeth retorts.
"Does that surprise you?" Robert kisses her again. This time as he pulls away she pulls his head back to hers and kisses him forcefully on the lips -- her face turning a shade of crimson red.
"See I knew you'd come around," Robert responds as he and Elizabeth head out the door.
"No more fat jokes, Robert," Elizabeth tells him seriously.
"Only as long as you stop with the bald, one armed man jokes," Robert replies, sarcastically.
Elizabeth laughs, "I don't think I can manage."
"Well then I guess we're about even," Robert replies laughing as they head out the doors of the ambulance bay into the swirling snow. Snow is piled up all around the streets of Chicago. Surprisingly, it has actually been a very snowy November.
Elizabeth places her hand around Robert's back as they head towards Elizabeth's minivan.
"Ella, sweetheart, look at all the snow. When you get home there will be plenty of it to play in. You can make a snowman and a snow angel."
"Mommy, you make snow angel too."
"Lizzie, I'd love to see that," Robert laughs.
"If I had to lay on the ground I probably wouldn't get up. You'd have to roll me into the house."
"Sounds like fun," Robert replies.
"Yeah maybe you'd be able to get my mother out there too."
"I'd like to roll her somewhere too --" Robert snaps.
"Don't worry. She'll be gone by the weekend."
"I sure hope so."
"Let's go home."
Robert places Ella into her booster seat in the back of the minivan and buckles her in. Over the months he has actually gotten really good at putting Ella into her car seat -- even if he only has one good functioning arm.
He slides the mini van door shut and climbs into driver side of the van. Robert looks over at Elizabeth who is now situated into the passenger seat.
"My God, Lizzie, I think you've domesticated me!"
"That's just to name a few things that we've done to you."
Robert smiles at her, his facial expressions turning soft, "But it was well worth it."
Even though around Elizabeth and Ella he has mellowed out a lot -- he has not lost his hard assed, comments in your face type of attitude at work -- he has gotten worse. And on some occasions both he and Elizabeth slip back into their pre-romance/ family mode and have some very heated fights with comments that neither one of them would like to repeat in a normal sitting. Robert smiles at the fact that now they can actually make up after fighting -- unlike before when both would go to their respective offices still extremely angry -- providing fuel for later fights.
Robert drives the car off towards their home -- and towards their first Thanksgiving together as a couple. He smiles at the thought -- Thanksgiving with Lizzie -- not even in his wildest dreams years ago would he have thought he'd be spending a holiday with her.
TBC
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One more chapter left in this lovely saga! Please R&R! Thanks!
~Jen