Title: Adjustments
Author: Listabets
Rating: PG13 may end up R but I'm not sure
Category: Robert and Elizabeth romance
Disclaimer: I do not own Robert or Elizabeth. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit for my own amusement, and hopefully for the amusement of those reading this.
Thank you again to those who take time to review.....it really helps. To answer one person...I am not British but I lived in the UK for 10 years and have a Brit as a husband. I too believe in the complete restorative powers of a cup of milky tea!!! We live in the US now and surprising each other with favorite British fare is a popular activity.
This may be the last chapter for while-going on vacation and not really sure where to take the story. ............................................................................ .....................................................
Robert realized that he was humming for the third time in less then 3 hours. He was not feeling like himself at all. After sharing the most amazing kiss of his life with Elizabeth he felt as if he had developed the ability to fly. Now he was at work and had to struggle not to smile, laugh and hug people at random.
Concentrating on the task at hand was hard, but he was challenged enough by the material to get absorbed in the topic for decent stretches of time. Since being made Chief of ER Robert was attempting to take the role seriously. He had waded through reams of papers and research on what made an effective ER and some of his ideas were beginning to gel. With the large numbers of ER's closing down a heavy load now fell to County. Under funding has been a chronic problem and maintaining high quality staff was getting harder every year. They were competing with some amazing programs and Robert wanted to begin winning more often.
In his research Robert could clearly see a trend toward full-fledged Trauma centers that not only were capable of the regular ER grunt work, but also provided critical care in that golden hour after injury. One of the first steps toward achieving his ultimate goal of being designated a Level 1 center was to get the staff on board and begin doing things a bit differently.
Robert stretched and rolled his shoulders. Glancing at his watch he realized that the senior staff would be joining him in a few moments to go over some of his ideas and plans for the future. He was getting more accustomed to the prosthetic now but it was still disturbing to hear the faint hum of the motor that operated the wrist joint as he had moved the arm to look at the time.
"I wonder if other people notice it or I am just sensitive to it?" Robert thought to himself as he straightened his desk and gathered his thoughts prior to the meeting.
A knock the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in, and leave the door open will you." Robert called from the desk as he organized the last of the things he would need for this meeting. Glancing up he saw Carter and Lewis openly checking out his office, taking in the leather couches and chairs he had moved down from his old office, and the unpacked boxes of accessories that had seemed so important when he was Chief of staff but not so much down here.
"Planning on leaving soon Dr. Romano?" Carter remarked, watching his boss carefully.
"Not at all Carter. I have found ER to be more interesting then I would have suspected and I plan to stay. The purpose of this meeting is to plot a course for the future." Robert rested his eyes on a box containing lithographs for his old office. "Getting this stuff out of boxes has been low on my list of priorities".
There was silence for a few seconds. "Where is Chen?" Robert asked
"Finishing up an internal on a suspected Ectopic, she should be her in just a minute.
As if on cue Chen knocked on the open door and joined the meeting. "Sorry for being a bit late, I've been about 5 minutes behind all day." She apologized.
"Ok, let's get started." Robert handed each of them a report that not only outlined his plans for the ER but also included copies of grant and research proposals that would be submitted over the coming weeks.
"As you are all aware I didn't want this job, and I am aware that you didn't, and probably still don't, want me down here. Frankly I don't give a shit about that because the fact is that I have this job and need to make the best of it." Robert held up the report and continued. "This is my roadmap for making this hell hole the best Trauma center in the Midwest. To get from here to being a Center of Excellence in Critical care, and providing service and training of the highest standard in going to take a huge commitment from not only myself but also the staff." Robert tried to gauge the reaction from the three doctors but was finding them hard to read.
"This looks like a huge undertaking." Carter remarked as he scanned the report. "I'm I reading this correctly? You would like to have facilities to do Critical Trauma Surgery down here." Carter was looking more then a little intrigued.
"Yes, that's exactly what I want. It wastes critical time waiting for Surgeons to get down here for consults." The irony of this statement did not escape anyone in the room. "I have included in your packets an outline proposal for a Critical Care Fellow to be based here in the ER allowing us to treat patients swiftly and effectively during severe traumas." Robert was pleased to see heads nodding and the three doctors beginning to open up to his ideas.
"I really like the concept of having acute and sub acute beds down here." Chen commented. "This is very similar to Vanderbilt's program and the patient through put here is comparable."
Susan was completely absorbed in the report. She stifled a curse as her pager went off forcing her to stop reading. "Damn, MVA coming in. Looks like I'm being called back to the grindstone. This looks great; I'm looking forward to reading it all.
"OK everyone, back to work." Robert dismissed everyone and closed the door of his office. Sinking into his chair he rubbed his eyes. He found it exhausting to elicit cooperation from people. It was so much easier to steam roll over people. Unfortunately he needed the staff to back this plan because they were going to have to fight Kerry tooth and nail to make this happen.
Robert closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He also had to admit, if only to himself, that he was feeling the demands of returning to work. It was only 2 days in and he was looking forward to the weekend with undo enthusiasm.
Robert's thoughts were once again interrupted by a knock on his door. "It better be important." Robert answered crankily.
"I'm not sure that it is, but can I come in anyway?" Elizabeth voice replied through the closed door.
"Lizzie! Exactly the distraction I was waiting for." Robert rose to greet Elizabeth as she slipped into his office and closed the door behind her. She crossed the room and perched on the edge of his desk. Elizabeth wasn't sure how to greet him after last night. With a kiss on the cheek? A kiss on the lips? A hug? She settled for a smile.
"How has your day been?" she asked
"Good. I had a meeting with some of the staff about my plans for this place." Robert reached over and handed Elizabeth a copy of the report. "You might find this interesting and I know that I would like to hear what you think." Robert couldn't believe that this beautiful woman was sitting on his desk and enquiring about his day. She looked lovely with her hair caught up in some sort of twist with curls escaping down her neck.
"How about your day?" He asked surprised at how much it mattered to him.
"Nothing major. I had an Exision Biopsy of a breast mass and an open Herniorrhaphy" Elizabeth didn't raise her eyes from the paper as she answered. 'This looks amazing Robert. You've put a lot of work into this." She looked up to see Robert still standing in front of her at the desk. Sliding back on the wood surface Elizabeth let her legs dangle toward the floor. Robert stood facing her and watched as she quickly took in the highlights contained in the plan.
" Nice way of blending your surgical knowledge with what you are acquiring down here in ER." Elizabeth complimented him.
Robert took the papers from her hands. "I don't really want to talk about this right now. Do you know what I do want?" He stepped forward so that he was now standing between her knees.
"No idea at all, Robert." Elizabeth pretended as the butterflies returned and her pulse rose off the charts.
He reached out his hand and took the end of one of the tendrils of her hair and wrapped it around his index finger. Elizabeth could feel his thighs against the inside of her knees and could smell the combination of his soap and aftershave. Something with limes and a hint of spice. Robert released the curl and watched it spring back to its starting position.
"I've always wanted to do that," He murmured.
"What else have you wanted to do?" Elizabeth was feeling bold as she looked into Roberts's dark eyes unflinchingly. Her hands found their way to his hips resting near his belt.
"This." He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. Softly, fleeting, teasing. "And this" His tongue traced the line of Elizabeth's jaw to her ear. "Oh, and this too." He whispered as he caught her earlobe in his teeth and gently nibbled. Elizabeth was clutching handfuls of his shirt as she softly moaned and arched her neck. Robert came back to her mouth she opened up to him meeting his passion with her own. His lips were firm and supple, his tongue like velvet. Elizabeth's arms circled his waist and pulled Robert in closer. His hand found it's way into her hair and cradled the back of her head.
"Robert are you in?" Kerry's voice intruded "Robert?"
"I locked the door when I came in" Elizabeth whispered into Robert's ear.
"Good thinking," he whispered back. Without really pausing he began to drop little kisses along her jaw, and down her throat, nuzzling and nipping and kissing until he was between her breasts and Elizabeth was arched back inviting him to explore further.
"Robert?" Kerry tried one last time before going away.
Elizabeth had untucked Robert shirt and was scratching her nails gently across his abdomen and as high up his chest as she could reach.
Robert gathered Elizabeth up against him as she slid her arms up his back under his shirt. The texture of his skin was silky smooth and she was enjoying getting to know the feel of him.
"I hate to say this, I mean REALLY hate to say this, but we need to stop." Robert said reluctantly as Elizabeth hands dropped to discover if his ass was as firm as his chest and back. Robert let out a groan and captured her lips again.
"Mmmmm, why?" Elizabeth trailed her hands up his spine again.
" Because, Lizzie, I want to make love to you but not in an office at County with people knocking on the door. I want for us to share something special in private, in comfort, and with hours and hours to enjoy it." Robert eyes searched hers and was glad to see she didn't find this as shocking to hear as he found it to say.
Elizabeth slid off the desk and gave Robert a gentle, soft kiss. "OK, you're right. As much as it pains me to admit it!" With a smile and a naughty wink Elizabeth was through the door and gone.
Robert sank back into his chair and resigned himself to the fact that work was done for the day. He couldn't think of anything else but the extraordinary Elizabeth Corday, and frankly he didn't want to.
Rating: PG13 may end up R but I'm not sure
Category: Robert and Elizabeth romance
Disclaimer: I do not own Robert or Elizabeth. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit for my own amusement, and hopefully for the amusement of those reading this.
Thank you again to those who take time to review.....it really helps. To answer one person...I am not British but I lived in the UK for 10 years and have a Brit as a husband. I too believe in the complete restorative powers of a cup of milky tea!!! We live in the US now and surprising each other with favorite British fare is a popular activity.
This may be the last chapter for while-going on vacation and not really sure where to take the story. ............................................................................ .....................................................
Robert realized that he was humming for the third time in less then 3 hours. He was not feeling like himself at all. After sharing the most amazing kiss of his life with Elizabeth he felt as if he had developed the ability to fly. Now he was at work and had to struggle not to smile, laugh and hug people at random.
Concentrating on the task at hand was hard, but he was challenged enough by the material to get absorbed in the topic for decent stretches of time. Since being made Chief of ER Robert was attempting to take the role seriously. He had waded through reams of papers and research on what made an effective ER and some of his ideas were beginning to gel. With the large numbers of ER's closing down a heavy load now fell to County. Under funding has been a chronic problem and maintaining high quality staff was getting harder every year. They were competing with some amazing programs and Robert wanted to begin winning more often.
In his research Robert could clearly see a trend toward full-fledged Trauma centers that not only were capable of the regular ER grunt work, but also provided critical care in that golden hour after injury. One of the first steps toward achieving his ultimate goal of being designated a Level 1 center was to get the staff on board and begin doing things a bit differently.
Robert stretched and rolled his shoulders. Glancing at his watch he realized that the senior staff would be joining him in a few moments to go over some of his ideas and plans for the future. He was getting more accustomed to the prosthetic now but it was still disturbing to hear the faint hum of the motor that operated the wrist joint as he had moved the arm to look at the time.
"I wonder if other people notice it or I am just sensitive to it?" Robert thought to himself as he straightened his desk and gathered his thoughts prior to the meeting.
A knock the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in, and leave the door open will you." Robert called from the desk as he organized the last of the things he would need for this meeting. Glancing up he saw Carter and Lewis openly checking out his office, taking in the leather couches and chairs he had moved down from his old office, and the unpacked boxes of accessories that had seemed so important when he was Chief of staff but not so much down here.
"Planning on leaving soon Dr. Romano?" Carter remarked, watching his boss carefully.
"Not at all Carter. I have found ER to be more interesting then I would have suspected and I plan to stay. The purpose of this meeting is to plot a course for the future." Robert rested his eyes on a box containing lithographs for his old office. "Getting this stuff out of boxes has been low on my list of priorities".
There was silence for a few seconds. "Where is Chen?" Robert asked
"Finishing up an internal on a suspected Ectopic, she should be her in just a minute.
As if on cue Chen knocked on the open door and joined the meeting. "Sorry for being a bit late, I've been about 5 minutes behind all day." She apologized.
"Ok, let's get started." Robert handed each of them a report that not only outlined his plans for the ER but also included copies of grant and research proposals that would be submitted over the coming weeks.
"As you are all aware I didn't want this job, and I am aware that you didn't, and probably still don't, want me down here. Frankly I don't give a shit about that because the fact is that I have this job and need to make the best of it." Robert held up the report and continued. "This is my roadmap for making this hell hole the best Trauma center in the Midwest. To get from here to being a Center of Excellence in Critical care, and providing service and training of the highest standard in going to take a huge commitment from not only myself but also the staff." Robert tried to gauge the reaction from the three doctors but was finding them hard to read.
"This looks like a huge undertaking." Carter remarked as he scanned the report. "I'm I reading this correctly? You would like to have facilities to do Critical Trauma Surgery down here." Carter was looking more then a little intrigued.
"Yes, that's exactly what I want. It wastes critical time waiting for Surgeons to get down here for consults." The irony of this statement did not escape anyone in the room. "I have included in your packets an outline proposal for a Critical Care Fellow to be based here in the ER allowing us to treat patients swiftly and effectively during severe traumas." Robert was pleased to see heads nodding and the three doctors beginning to open up to his ideas.
"I really like the concept of having acute and sub acute beds down here." Chen commented. "This is very similar to Vanderbilt's program and the patient through put here is comparable."
Susan was completely absorbed in the report. She stifled a curse as her pager went off forcing her to stop reading. "Damn, MVA coming in. Looks like I'm being called back to the grindstone. This looks great; I'm looking forward to reading it all.
"OK everyone, back to work." Robert dismissed everyone and closed the door of his office. Sinking into his chair he rubbed his eyes. He found it exhausting to elicit cooperation from people. It was so much easier to steam roll over people. Unfortunately he needed the staff to back this plan because they were going to have to fight Kerry tooth and nail to make this happen.
Robert closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He also had to admit, if only to himself, that he was feeling the demands of returning to work. It was only 2 days in and he was looking forward to the weekend with undo enthusiasm.
Robert's thoughts were once again interrupted by a knock on his door. "It better be important." Robert answered crankily.
"I'm not sure that it is, but can I come in anyway?" Elizabeth voice replied through the closed door.
"Lizzie! Exactly the distraction I was waiting for." Robert rose to greet Elizabeth as she slipped into his office and closed the door behind her. She crossed the room and perched on the edge of his desk. Elizabeth wasn't sure how to greet him after last night. With a kiss on the cheek? A kiss on the lips? A hug? She settled for a smile.
"How has your day been?" she asked
"Good. I had a meeting with some of the staff about my plans for this place." Robert reached over and handed Elizabeth a copy of the report. "You might find this interesting and I know that I would like to hear what you think." Robert couldn't believe that this beautiful woman was sitting on his desk and enquiring about his day. She looked lovely with her hair caught up in some sort of twist with curls escaping down her neck.
"How about your day?" He asked surprised at how much it mattered to him.
"Nothing major. I had an Exision Biopsy of a breast mass and an open Herniorrhaphy" Elizabeth didn't raise her eyes from the paper as she answered. 'This looks amazing Robert. You've put a lot of work into this." She looked up to see Robert still standing in front of her at the desk. Sliding back on the wood surface Elizabeth let her legs dangle toward the floor. Robert stood facing her and watched as she quickly took in the highlights contained in the plan.
" Nice way of blending your surgical knowledge with what you are acquiring down here in ER." Elizabeth complimented him.
Robert took the papers from her hands. "I don't really want to talk about this right now. Do you know what I do want?" He stepped forward so that he was now standing between her knees.
"No idea at all, Robert." Elizabeth pretended as the butterflies returned and her pulse rose off the charts.
He reached out his hand and took the end of one of the tendrils of her hair and wrapped it around his index finger. Elizabeth could feel his thighs against the inside of her knees and could smell the combination of his soap and aftershave. Something with limes and a hint of spice. Robert released the curl and watched it spring back to its starting position.
"I've always wanted to do that," He murmured.
"What else have you wanted to do?" Elizabeth was feeling bold as she looked into Roberts's dark eyes unflinchingly. Her hands found their way to his hips resting near his belt.
"This." He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. Softly, fleeting, teasing. "And this" His tongue traced the line of Elizabeth's jaw to her ear. "Oh, and this too." He whispered as he caught her earlobe in his teeth and gently nibbled. Elizabeth was clutching handfuls of his shirt as she softly moaned and arched her neck. Robert came back to her mouth she opened up to him meeting his passion with her own. His lips were firm and supple, his tongue like velvet. Elizabeth's arms circled his waist and pulled Robert in closer. His hand found it's way into her hair and cradled the back of her head.
"Robert are you in?" Kerry's voice intruded "Robert?"
"I locked the door when I came in" Elizabeth whispered into Robert's ear.
"Good thinking," he whispered back. Without really pausing he began to drop little kisses along her jaw, and down her throat, nuzzling and nipping and kissing until he was between her breasts and Elizabeth was arched back inviting him to explore further.
"Robert?" Kerry tried one last time before going away.
Elizabeth had untucked Robert shirt and was scratching her nails gently across his abdomen and as high up his chest as she could reach.
Robert gathered Elizabeth up against him as she slid her arms up his back under his shirt. The texture of his skin was silky smooth and she was enjoying getting to know the feel of him.
"I hate to say this, I mean REALLY hate to say this, but we need to stop." Robert said reluctantly as Elizabeth hands dropped to discover if his ass was as firm as his chest and back. Robert let out a groan and captured her lips again.
"Mmmmm, why?" Elizabeth trailed her hands up his spine again.
" Because, Lizzie, I want to make love to you but not in an office at County with people knocking on the door. I want for us to share something special in private, in comfort, and with hours and hours to enjoy it." Robert eyes searched hers and was glad to see she didn't find this as shocking to hear as he found it to say.
Elizabeth slid off the desk and gave Robert a gentle, soft kiss. "OK, you're right. As much as it pains me to admit it!" With a smile and a naughty wink Elizabeth was through the door and gone.
Robert sank back into his chair and resigned himself to the fact that work was done for the day. He couldn't think of anything else but the extraordinary Elizabeth Corday, and frankly he didn't want to.