Author's Note: Well, even I was getting sick of all those depressing conversations, so this chapter is definitely a bit happier. It takes place between "Foreign Affairs" and "When Night Meets Day". As always, feedback is always appreciated! Enjoy!

***

"Randi, where's my consult?" Elizabeth asked as she walked through the ER. It was unseasonably warm for early May, and her scrubs were sticking to her skin. She had only been on for two hours, but she was already counting down the minutes until her shift was over.

"Pratt wants you to check out the abdominal pain in exam 4."

"Thank you," Elizabeth said and walked towards the exam room. Before she could enter, she was stopped by Robert.

"Elizabeth, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"I've got a consult…"

"It will only take a minute. I promise."

"Okay," Elizabeth conceded. Robert smiled and walked towards the lounge. He pushed open the door with his good shoulder and held it for Elizabeth.

"What is it, Robert?" Elizabeth asked. Robert waited for the door to shut before he began to talk.

"Have you scheduled that surgery yet? That we spoke about a few days ago?"

"Uh, yeah, I checked the schedule and it looks like we can squeeze you in next Tuesday afternoon."

"Okay, that's great. I'll clear up my schedule," Robert said, glancing over Elizabeth's shoulder.

Elizabeth looked behind her, but no one was there. "Robert? Have you told anyone about this yet?"

"Uh, no, not yet."

"Robert…."

"I know, I know. I'll talk to Kerry this afternoon, and get some time off."

"You might want to think about telling some of your staff members, too. They'll have to pick up your responsibilities while you're recovering."

"I'll think about it."

"Robert, I'm serious," Elizabeth said, exasperated.

"I know you're serious," he snapped back. "I don't want to worry the troops with the news that their fearless leader will be out of commission just yet." With that, he left the lounge.

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. 'At least he's feeling better today,' she thought to herself. 'He's got his biting wit back.'

***

Six hours later, Elizabeth's shift was finally ending. She sat at the ER admit desk, feet propped up on a pile of charts, fanning herself and counting down the minutes until she could finally leave. Behind her, Haleh and Chuny were gossiping, and Elizabeth was quietly catching up on the latest news.

"Elizabeth?"

Startled, Elizabeth hastily took her feet off of the desk, knocking over the charts. She looked up to find Dorsett looking down at her. "Do you need some help?" he laughed.

"No, I'm all right," Elizabeth said, embarrassedly picking up the charts. "So, how are you?"

"I'm doing okay. Haven't seen you in a few days."

"I know, I'm sorry. Ella –my daughter- had a bit of a cold, so I've been at home catching up on paperwork," Elizabeth said, feeling a bit guilty. Yes, she had been at home catching up on paperwork for the past few days, but Ella's cold wasn't the real reason. After she had stood him up, Elizabeth didn't know how to face Dorsett.

"Ah, I see," Dorsett replied. "Listen, I think we need to talk." Elizabeth nodded. "Can we step into the lounge?"

"Uh, sure," Elizabeth said, getting up and following Dorsett into the lounge. As she passed them, Haleh and Chuny stopped talking about Pratt and Chen for a moment. When the lounge door had swung shut behind Elizabeth, they had a new topic of conversation.

***

Elizabeth opened the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of juice. She offered it to Dorsett, but he shook his head and politely refused. Elizabeth sat down at the table, facing Dorsett, who was sitting on the couch. "So, Dr. Dorsett, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, first of all, Elizabeth, please call me Eddie." Elizabeth gave a weak smile and nodded her head. Dorsett took a deep breath. "I think we need to talk about what happened a few nights ago."

"Listen, Eddie…"

"Elizabeth, if you're just going to give me an excuse for why you didn't want to go out that night, I don't want to hear it. I just want to know if this is going to go anywhere." Elizabeth tried to interrupt, but Dorsett silenced her. "If you're not interested, please just tell me now. It's not a big deal. I just don't want to keep going after you if you don't want me to."

'This is it,' Elizabeth thought. 'This is my chance to break it off.' For the past few days, Elizabeth had been thinking a lot about where she was in her relationships with Robert and Eddie. And she had come to the conclusion, finally, that she needed to be there for Robert. Whether it turned romantic or not, Robert was her friend, and being there for him during his surgery was much more important than starting a relationship with someone she barely knew.

"Eddie…" Elizabeth began, trying to think of a way to tell him why she had abruptly left. When she couldn't think of one, she decided to get straight to the point. "Listen, I'm sure you're a wonderful guy, and I really would like to get to know you better, but I'm just not sure if a romance is right for us right now. Do you know what I mean?"

"I understand, Elizabeth," Dorsett said. Elizabeth couldn't read the expression in his eyes.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, it's really okay," he replied. "I just needed to know where we were. You told me. That's all I needed." He got up and left the lounge. Elizabeth, who still hadn't moved from the chair, pulled the clip out of her hair. Her unruly auburn curls tumbled to her shoulders, and she ran her fingers through them, massaging her head. She couldn't help but wonder if she had done the right thing.

***

A few minutes later, Elizabeth emerged from the lounge. The first person she saw was Chuny, who was still giving her strange looks. "Do you know where Dr. Dorsett is?" Elizabeth asked, not caring what Chuny would tell Haleh and Lily later.

"Uh, he just left a minute or two ago," Chuny said. Elizabeth turned, planning to follow him, when Chuny spoke up again. "With someone. That nurse from radiology."

Elizabeth spun around, her hair whipping across her face. "With someone?"

Chuny nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I knew it, I should never have trusted him," Elizabeth muttered furiously. She felt humiliated, angry and cheated. But at the same time, she felt a hint of relief. She couldn't second-guess her decision now, and she knew that was for the best.

Elizabeth sat down on the admit desk, still muttering to herself, when she saw Chris hurrying into the ER with Ella on her hip. Elizabeth quickly stood up again and walked over to her. "Chris, what's going on? Why are you here?"

"I left you a bunch of messages on your phone upstairs, but you never returned them. My sister called a few hours ago, she just had a baby, so I'm flying home in an hour. I'm sorry to be leaving on such short notice, but…"

"Don't worry about it, Chris," Elizabeth said, taking her daughter from her. "Go home and be with your sister and your…is it a niece or a nephew?"

"A nephew," Chris said, smiling. "Kyle."

"Well, congratulations, Aunt Chris, and take your time out there, okay?"

"Thanks, Elizabeth. I'll call you when I get home."

"Bye," Elizabeth shouted, as Chris left the ER. Elizabeth smiled at her daughter, who replied with a huge yawn. "Are you tired, Ella?" The little girl shook her head vigorously. Elizabeth laughed, and sat down at the admit desk. Ella sleepily leaned against her mother.   

"Tough day down in the trenches, Lizzie?" Robert said, coming up behind Elizabeth. Again, Elizabeth was startled.

"You startled me, Robert," she said, trying to regain her composure.

"Sorry," he said, sitting down on the desk next to her. "What's going on?" he said, dropping the humor from his voice.

"It's just been a…bad day," Elizabeth replied.

"What happened?"

"I don't really want to talk…"

"Oh, come on, Lizzie, just tell me about it."

"Well, my nanny just left for a few days with no notice at all, so I don't have anyone to watch Ella this weekend, I'm very hot, my scrubs are sticking to me, I need a shower, and Dorsett…well, Dorsett was Dorsett," Elizabeth rattled off. Robert looked a little surprised.

"Well, three patients refused to let me treat them today because I only have one good arm," he replied, incredibly serious.

Elizabeth suddenly felt horrible. Here she was, complaining about her petty troubles, when he had to face that problem every single day. "Fine, you win," she said, trying to keep the conversation lighthearted.

Luckily, Robert followed her lead. "So, you say you need some help looking after the munchkin this weekend?" Elizabeth nodded. "Maybe I can help out. I've got the day off tomorrow. Ella could come to my house, or I could go over to your house. Either way, I'd be happy to watch her."

"I don't know, Robert, she can be quite a handful…"

"I can handle it, Elizabeth."

"Well, all right. Thank you, Robert." Elizabeth said. She knew Robert had a soft spot for children, and maybe watching Ella would take his mind off of the impending surgery. "I'll call you in the morning so we can work out the details?"

"Sounds good. And Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you go home early. I think Ella could use a nap."

"Thank you, Robert," she said, grateful for an excuse to escape. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Robert gave a little wave to Ella and went off down the hall.