Okay here is Chapter 10. Read, enjoy and review!
Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Just a little note: I will not be writing Robert's death into this story as someone asked. To see it happen once on TV was hard enough, I couldn't bear to write about it happening. Besides it would kind of defeat the purpose of the whole story.
Also, I realize my story is hovering on the line of sappy, but what can I say, I'm not good at writing the drama or conflict. I like to read those kinds of fics but don't really have a clue how to write them. If you've got any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them, you can e mail me at mulderbabe@hotmail.com. But mostly my goal was to just write a lighthearted fic. Both of them have been through enough crap, and they deserve some happiness.
And now, onto the story…
*******************************************************************
The months were flying by and before they knew it, Elizabeth was six months pregnant.
It was a Friday morning, and for once Elizabeth and Robert finally had a few days off together. Elizabeth had taken a couple of sick days, just to get away from the stress of the hospital, and since Robert was chief of the ER, he took the liberty of taking a few days off as well.
Knowing that Elizabeth had stayed up late the past few nights, Robert decided to let her sleep in. She needed her rest.
Chris had volunteered to take Ella to her place for the next few days so that the two of them could enjoy their time off together. Elizabeth was a little reluctant at first, but was finally persuaded by Robert, who convinced her that they could use some time alone together.
Figuring Elizabeth was exhausted and probably just wanted to spend her time resting, Robert's plans for the weekend consisted mainly of the two of them lounging around the house, doing as they pleased.
A little after eleven, Elizabeth awoke and wandered downstairs, finding Robert in the den, checking his e mail.
"Hey, you finally woke up?" he asked, turning around in his chair as she took a seat on the couch.
"That was the best night's sleep I've had in months."
They sat there in silence for a few seconds staring at each other.
"I'm bored," Elizabeth finally said.
"Bored, how can you be bored already? You just woke up."
"I don't know. I'm just restless. I want to get away. Go someplace different."
"Like where?" he asked.
"Anywhere," she said, sighing.
"Well let's go," he told her. "Go pack your stuff."
"You can't be serious."
"Of course I am. We don't have anything else to do, we're off all weekend."
"That's true," she said, a smile spreading across her face.
Helping her up from the couch, they climbed the stairs and began to pack a few clothes and other necessities. They were ready to go in less than forty minutes.
"So, where are we going?" Elizabeth asked.
"I'm not really sure yet." he told her honestly.
"We'll figure that out later."
Packing their stuff in the backseat of Robert's SUV, they got in and set off for wherever it was they were going.
An hour later, Robert had finally figured out what they should do.
"How about we rent a cabin up in Wisconsin. We can spend the weekend there, all alone."
"That sounds lovely," Elizabeth told him. "But can we stop at a bathroom, I have to pee."
"No problem," Robert said, pulling off at the upcoming exit. Elizabeth ran into the gas station to use the bathroom and grab a few snacks, while Robert pumped the gas.
Elizabeth wandered around the small store looking for a somewhat healthy snack that looked appealing to her at the moment. So far she hadn't found anything.
After a few minutes, Robert came into the store to find Elizabeth, wondering what was taking her so long.
"I need to eat something," she said approaching him, as he found her on one of the aisles.
"Like what?"
"Something healthy."
They searched the three tiny isles for a few minutes, finally deciding on a few granola bars, some pretzels, a few bottles of water, and a bottle of juice for Elizabeth.
On the road again, Elizabeth ate two granola bars, and drank nearly the entire bottle of juice before falling asleep in the passenger seat. Meanwhile, Robert continued to drive, heading up to Wisconsin. He knew exactly where he was going. A friend of his owned a campground up there, and knew it would be the perfect place to get away with Elizabeth. It was quiet and comfortable.
A while later, Elizabeth stretched and leaned forward in her seat rubbing her neck. "Are we almost there?" she asked, sounding slightly whiny.
"We've still got another hour or so."
"Can we stop somewhere so I can get out and walk around for a minute, my back is killing me. And I have to go to the bathroom again."
"Already? It's only been like an hour." He was a little irritated.
"I can't help it you know. Do you think I enjoy this?" she said, raising her voice a little.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I know you can't help it. Just give me a minute to find somewhere to stop."
Once they were on the road again, the drive seemed to go quicker, and they finally arrived at the camp ground. Elizabeth waited in the car while Robert went inside to rent the cabin and get the key.
Within a few minutes, they were heading back into the woods, on their way to the cabin.
Coming to a halt in front of a large cabin about ½ a mile down the dirt road, they both climbed out of the car.
Robert grabbed their bags from the backseat, and unlocked the door, pushing it open and allowing Elizabeth to step inside first.
"It's beautiful," Elizabeth breathed, taking in the interior. "This is perfect."
The cabin was quite large, with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, and was decorated in a pretty country theme.
Elizabeth wandered into the bedroom, as Robert followed. She flopped onto the large bed and looked out the window.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Kind of. It was a long drive."
"Take a nap, I'm going to run out to the store and get some food for us to eat. Do we need anything else?"
"I can't think of anything," she told him yawning.
"Ok, I'll be back in a little bit. You take it easy while I'm gone. No strenuous activity or heavy lifting, got it?" he joked with her.
"Yes sir," she replied sarcastically as she curled up on her left side, trying to get comfortable.
It only took a few minutes for her to doze off, and she fell into a deep sleep..
Robert hurried through the small store, grabbing a few things here and there, making sure to pick out healthy foods that would be good for Elizabeth to eat. He picked up some tea for Elizabeth, because he knew she liked to drink a cup of tea before going to bed. It helped her relax, and settled her stomach if she wasn't feeling well.
Hurrying back to the cabin, he returned to find Elizabeth still asleep. After unloading all the groceries, he joined Elizabeth in the bed, wrapping his arms around her and falling asleep as well.
A few hours later, Robert woke up and was suddenly aware that he was alone in the room. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled out of bed, and made his way out of the bedroom.
He found Elizabeth sitting at the table nibbling on the chocolate chip cookies that he had brought back from the store. Out of all the healthy alternatives he had bought she decided to eat the one unwholesome treat that he had allowed himself to buy.
"You know, I bought fruit for you. There's apples in the refrigerator."
"I know, but these looked really good. I couldn't help myself."
"Ok, well anyway, it's nearly five o'clock. I thought for dinner we could take a picnic and eat out by the lake. It's beautiful out there."
"That sounds lovely," she said, finishing the last of her cookie and getting up from the table. "I'm going to go change into something a bit warmer, it's getting pretty cold outside. I'll come help you get the picnic ready in a minute."
After changing into a long sleeved shirt, throwing on a soft sweater and tying her hair back away from her face, she returned to the kitchen to help Robert prepare their dinner.
Stepping out of the cabin into the chilly air, Elizabeth shivered slightly.
"We can eat inside if it's too cold for you," Robert said, concerned. "I don't want you catching pneumonia."
"No it's fine. I like it actually."
They found a lovely spot under a large oak tree, and Robert spread a blanket down for them to sit on. He set the food down on the blanket, and helped Elizabeth sit down so she didn't hurt herself.
The two of them enjoyed the peace and quiet of the outdoors, and each others company. Leaning up against the tree, Elizabeth fell back into Robert's arms as they sat and silently watched the sun casting its hues of pink and orange across the sky as it slowly sank out of view.
Finally when it was nearly completely dark, coldness forced them back inside the cabin due to the lack of sunshine that had been there only moments ago, shedding it's warmth upon them.
Both exhausted, they quickly dressed in their pajamas and fell into bed.
*******************************************************************
After sleeping late the next morning, they spent most of the day wandering around the grounds, doing a little exploring, and mostly relaxing. They took a walk by the lake at around mid afternoon.
The weekend passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and they were packing up the car to begin making the trip home.
Elizabeth had awoken feeling a little strange, but she didn't say anything to Robert. There was a vague aching in her back, but she convinced herself that she had just slept on it wrong, and tried to forget about it. She didn't want to seem whiny, always complaining to Robert that something was wrong.
She dozed off almost as soon as the car had started, and slept soundly for a little while. She woke up when she heard the engine shut off, as Robert was stopping to get gas.
"You want to go to the bathroom?" he asked as she rubbed her eyes and turned to face him.
"Yeah, I'll be back in a minute," she said, opening the door and climbing out.
On the road again, they were getting close to being home. Out of nowhere, Elizabeth leaned forward, placing a hand on her stomach. Her face was scrunched up in pain.
"What's wrong?" Robert asked, suddenly worried.
"It's nothing," she said, trying to sound convincing.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she said, as the pain subsided and she leaned back in her seat. The ache in her back had intensified slightly since the morning.
A few minutes later, the same pain throughout her abdomen and lower back made her double over. This time Robert was not going to let her say it was nothing.
"Elizabeth, are you having contractions?"
"Um, I think so," she told him, wincing.
"Where is the pain?" he asked.
"It started in my back this morning, and now it's in my back and my stomach," she told him.
"Why didn't you say something earlier?" he questioned.
"Well I didn't think it was anything. I just thought I slept on my back wrong."
"Okay, we have to get you to the hospital. You need to be on a monitor. It might just be Braxton-Hicks contractions, but we can't take a chance with your previous history of going into pre-term labor with Ella. Luckily, we're not far from County. We can be there in 15 minutes. Are you going to be ok until then?"
"I'll survive. The contractions are coming every 8 minutes or so," she said, relaxing a little as the next one passed.
Robert drove as fast as he possibly could, arriving at County a few minutes earlier than he had calculated.
He quickly pulled up in the ambulance bay, thrusting the car into park before jumping out and rushing to the other side to help Elizabeth out of the car.
He noticed Abby and Luka standing off to the side, talking, actually in looked like they were arguing. Typical, he thought.
"Hey, we could use a little help over here!" he yelled.
Spotting Robert trying to support Elizabeth, who was doubled over grimacing, Luka ran over to help Robert support her weight, while Abby raced inside to get a wheelchair.
Seconds later, half of the ER staff was rushing outside to help get Elizabeth into the hospital. They wheeled her through the ER and into Exam 3. Abby paged Dr. Coburn to come down right away and hooked Elizabeth up to a fetal monitor.
Robert helped her into the hospital gown, and pulled a chair up next to the bed, sitting down and grasping her hand tightly.
She squeezed his hand as another contraction hit her. Dr. Coburn came flying through the door seconds later yelling orders at the nurses and asking to see a printout of the fetal activity.
"Okay let's get her started on tributylene and try to stop these contractions. Elizabeth, I need to examine you, ok?"
Elizabeth nodded, feeling very uneasy.
"Ok," Dr. Coburn said, pulling the sheet back down over Elizabeth's legs. "You're only about two centimeters effaced, but dimpled, not dilated. We can control that, ok? Everything is going to be fine."
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief, a few tears spilling out onto her cheeks. Robert quickly wiped them away, and gently kissed her cheek.
"See, everything's going to be fine," he told her calmly.
"Keep giving the tributylene. If the contractions continue after thirty minutes, you can start 5 mg of magnesium by IV."
"I'll be back to check on you in about an hour, all right Elizabeth?" Dr. Coburn asked.
"Ok," was Elizabeth's only response.
*******************************************************************
Two hours later, Elizabeth lay resting in her bed, the contractions having stopped over an hour ago. Robert sat quietly in the chair, staring off into space.
"Are you ok?" she asked him.
"Hey, I'm the one who should be asking you that," he said, smiling at her.
"I'm all right," she told him. "You're awfully quiet, is something wrong?"
"I was just scared, that's all. I was so worried about you, and the baby." He sighed.
"Well we're fine, we're going to be fine. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm monitored, and they're keeping me overnight for observation, so nothing bad is going to happen. Now why don't you go home and get some rest, you must be exhausted."
"No, I'm not going to leave you. I'll stay here tonight. Look," he said, pointing to the bed next to her. "That bed is empty, I'll sleep there. But I'm not going to leave this room."
"Fine by me," she said, smiling at him.
He went over and climbed onto the empty bed, curling up on his side. "Goodnight, Elizabeth," he whispered, before his eyes began to flutter closed.
"Good night, Robert. I love you," she told him, but he was already asleep, oblivious to what she had just said.
Hope you liked it!! Tell me what you think!!
Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Just a little note: I will not be writing Robert's death into this story as someone asked. To see it happen once on TV was hard enough, I couldn't bear to write about it happening. Besides it would kind of defeat the purpose of the whole story.
Also, I realize my story is hovering on the line of sappy, but what can I say, I'm not good at writing the drama or conflict. I like to read those kinds of fics but don't really have a clue how to write them. If you've got any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them, you can e mail me at mulderbabe@hotmail.com. But mostly my goal was to just write a lighthearted fic. Both of them have been through enough crap, and they deserve some happiness.
And now, onto the story…
*******************************************************************
The months were flying by and before they knew it, Elizabeth was six months pregnant.
It was a Friday morning, and for once Elizabeth and Robert finally had a few days off together. Elizabeth had taken a couple of sick days, just to get away from the stress of the hospital, and since Robert was chief of the ER, he took the liberty of taking a few days off as well.
Knowing that Elizabeth had stayed up late the past few nights, Robert decided to let her sleep in. She needed her rest.
Chris had volunteered to take Ella to her place for the next few days so that the two of them could enjoy their time off together. Elizabeth was a little reluctant at first, but was finally persuaded by Robert, who convinced her that they could use some time alone together.
Figuring Elizabeth was exhausted and probably just wanted to spend her time resting, Robert's plans for the weekend consisted mainly of the two of them lounging around the house, doing as they pleased.
A little after eleven, Elizabeth awoke and wandered downstairs, finding Robert in the den, checking his e mail.
"Hey, you finally woke up?" he asked, turning around in his chair as she took a seat on the couch.
"That was the best night's sleep I've had in months."
They sat there in silence for a few seconds staring at each other.
"I'm bored," Elizabeth finally said.
"Bored, how can you be bored already? You just woke up."
"I don't know. I'm just restless. I want to get away. Go someplace different."
"Like where?" he asked.
"Anywhere," she said, sighing.
"Well let's go," he told her. "Go pack your stuff."
"You can't be serious."
"Of course I am. We don't have anything else to do, we're off all weekend."
"That's true," she said, a smile spreading across her face.
Helping her up from the couch, they climbed the stairs and began to pack a few clothes and other necessities. They were ready to go in less than forty minutes.
"So, where are we going?" Elizabeth asked.
"I'm not really sure yet." he told her honestly.
"We'll figure that out later."
Packing their stuff in the backseat of Robert's SUV, they got in and set off for wherever it was they were going.
An hour later, Robert had finally figured out what they should do.
"How about we rent a cabin up in Wisconsin. We can spend the weekend there, all alone."
"That sounds lovely," Elizabeth told him. "But can we stop at a bathroom, I have to pee."
"No problem," Robert said, pulling off at the upcoming exit. Elizabeth ran into the gas station to use the bathroom and grab a few snacks, while Robert pumped the gas.
Elizabeth wandered around the small store looking for a somewhat healthy snack that looked appealing to her at the moment. So far she hadn't found anything.
After a few minutes, Robert came into the store to find Elizabeth, wondering what was taking her so long.
"I need to eat something," she said approaching him, as he found her on one of the aisles.
"Like what?"
"Something healthy."
They searched the three tiny isles for a few minutes, finally deciding on a few granola bars, some pretzels, a few bottles of water, and a bottle of juice for Elizabeth.
On the road again, Elizabeth ate two granola bars, and drank nearly the entire bottle of juice before falling asleep in the passenger seat. Meanwhile, Robert continued to drive, heading up to Wisconsin. He knew exactly where he was going. A friend of his owned a campground up there, and knew it would be the perfect place to get away with Elizabeth. It was quiet and comfortable.
A while later, Elizabeth stretched and leaned forward in her seat rubbing her neck. "Are we almost there?" she asked, sounding slightly whiny.
"We've still got another hour or so."
"Can we stop somewhere so I can get out and walk around for a minute, my back is killing me. And I have to go to the bathroom again."
"Already? It's only been like an hour." He was a little irritated.
"I can't help it you know. Do you think I enjoy this?" she said, raising her voice a little.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I know you can't help it. Just give me a minute to find somewhere to stop."
Once they were on the road again, the drive seemed to go quicker, and they finally arrived at the camp ground. Elizabeth waited in the car while Robert went inside to rent the cabin and get the key.
Within a few minutes, they were heading back into the woods, on their way to the cabin.
Coming to a halt in front of a large cabin about ½ a mile down the dirt road, they both climbed out of the car.
Robert grabbed their bags from the backseat, and unlocked the door, pushing it open and allowing Elizabeth to step inside first.
"It's beautiful," Elizabeth breathed, taking in the interior. "This is perfect."
The cabin was quite large, with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, and was decorated in a pretty country theme.
Elizabeth wandered into the bedroom, as Robert followed. She flopped onto the large bed and looked out the window.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Kind of. It was a long drive."
"Take a nap, I'm going to run out to the store and get some food for us to eat. Do we need anything else?"
"I can't think of anything," she told him yawning.
"Ok, I'll be back in a little bit. You take it easy while I'm gone. No strenuous activity or heavy lifting, got it?" he joked with her.
"Yes sir," she replied sarcastically as she curled up on her left side, trying to get comfortable.
It only took a few minutes for her to doze off, and she fell into a deep sleep..
Robert hurried through the small store, grabbing a few things here and there, making sure to pick out healthy foods that would be good for Elizabeth to eat. He picked up some tea for Elizabeth, because he knew she liked to drink a cup of tea before going to bed. It helped her relax, and settled her stomach if she wasn't feeling well.
Hurrying back to the cabin, he returned to find Elizabeth still asleep. After unloading all the groceries, he joined Elizabeth in the bed, wrapping his arms around her and falling asleep as well.
A few hours later, Robert woke up and was suddenly aware that he was alone in the room. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled out of bed, and made his way out of the bedroom.
He found Elizabeth sitting at the table nibbling on the chocolate chip cookies that he had brought back from the store. Out of all the healthy alternatives he had bought she decided to eat the one unwholesome treat that he had allowed himself to buy.
"You know, I bought fruit for you. There's apples in the refrigerator."
"I know, but these looked really good. I couldn't help myself."
"Ok, well anyway, it's nearly five o'clock. I thought for dinner we could take a picnic and eat out by the lake. It's beautiful out there."
"That sounds lovely," she said, finishing the last of her cookie and getting up from the table. "I'm going to go change into something a bit warmer, it's getting pretty cold outside. I'll come help you get the picnic ready in a minute."
After changing into a long sleeved shirt, throwing on a soft sweater and tying her hair back away from her face, she returned to the kitchen to help Robert prepare their dinner.
Stepping out of the cabin into the chilly air, Elizabeth shivered slightly.
"We can eat inside if it's too cold for you," Robert said, concerned. "I don't want you catching pneumonia."
"No it's fine. I like it actually."
They found a lovely spot under a large oak tree, and Robert spread a blanket down for them to sit on. He set the food down on the blanket, and helped Elizabeth sit down so she didn't hurt herself.
The two of them enjoyed the peace and quiet of the outdoors, and each others company. Leaning up against the tree, Elizabeth fell back into Robert's arms as they sat and silently watched the sun casting its hues of pink and orange across the sky as it slowly sank out of view.
Finally when it was nearly completely dark, coldness forced them back inside the cabin due to the lack of sunshine that had been there only moments ago, shedding it's warmth upon them.
Both exhausted, they quickly dressed in their pajamas and fell into bed.
*******************************************************************
After sleeping late the next morning, they spent most of the day wandering around the grounds, doing a little exploring, and mostly relaxing. They took a walk by the lake at around mid afternoon.
The weekend passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and they were packing up the car to begin making the trip home.
Elizabeth had awoken feeling a little strange, but she didn't say anything to Robert. There was a vague aching in her back, but she convinced herself that she had just slept on it wrong, and tried to forget about it. She didn't want to seem whiny, always complaining to Robert that something was wrong.
She dozed off almost as soon as the car had started, and slept soundly for a little while. She woke up when she heard the engine shut off, as Robert was stopping to get gas.
"You want to go to the bathroom?" he asked as she rubbed her eyes and turned to face him.
"Yeah, I'll be back in a minute," she said, opening the door and climbing out.
On the road again, they were getting close to being home. Out of nowhere, Elizabeth leaned forward, placing a hand on her stomach. Her face was scrunched up in pain.
"What's wrong?" Robert asked, suddenly worried.
"It's nothing," she said, trying to sound convincing.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she said, as the pain subsided and she leaned back in her seat. The ache in her back had intensified slightly since the morning.
A few minutes later, the same pain throughout her abdomen and lower back made her double over. This time Robert was not going to let her say it was nothing.
"Elizabeth, are you having contractions?"
"Um, I think so," she told him, wincing.
"Where is the pain?" he asked.
"It started in my back this morning, and now it's in my back and my stomach," she told him.
"Why didn't you say something earlier?" he questioned.
"Well I didn't think it was anything. I just thought I slept on my back wrong."
"Okay, we have to get you to the hospital. You need to be on a monitor. It might just be Braxton-Hicks contractions, but we can't take a chance with your previous history of going into pre-term labor with Ella. Luckily, we're not far from County. We can be there in 15 minutes. Are you going to be ok until then?"
"I'll survive. The contractions are coming every 8 minutes or so," she said, relaxing a little as the next one passed.
Robert drove as fast as he possibly could, arriving at County a few minutes earlier than he had calculated.
He quickly pulled up in the ambulance bay, thrusting the car into park before jumping out and rushing to the other side to help Elizabeth out of the car.
He noticed Abby and Luka standing off to the side, talking, actually in looked like they were arguing. Typical, he thought.
"Hey, we could use a little help over here!" he yelled.
Spotting Robert trying to support Elizabeth, who was doubled over grimacing, Luka ran over to help Robert support her weight, while Abby raced inside to get a wheelchair.
Seconds later, half of the ER staff was rushing outside to help get Elizabeth into the hospital. They wheeled her through the ER and into Exam 3. Abby paged Dr. Coburn to come down right away and hooked Elizabeth up to a fetal monitor.
Robert helped her into the hospital gown, and pulled a chair up next to the bed, sitting down and grasping her hand tightly.
She squeezed his hand as another contraction hit her. Dr. Coburn came flying through the door seconds later yelling orders at the nurses and asking to see a printout of the fetal activity.
"Okay let's get her started on tributylene and try to stop these contractions. Elizabeth, I need to examine you, ok?"
Elizabeth nodded, feeling very uneasy.
"Ok," Dr. Coburn said, pulling the sheet back down over Elizabeth's legs. "You're only about two centimeters effaced, but dimpled, not dilated. We can control that, ok? Everything is going to be fine."
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief, a few tears spilling out onto her cheeks. Robert quickly wiped them away, and gently kissed her cheek.
"See, everything's going to be fine," he told her calmly.
"Keep giving the tributylene. If the contractions continue after thirty minutes, you can start 5 mg of magnesium by IV."
"I'll be back to check on you in about an hour, all right Elizabeth?" Dr. Coburn asked.
"Ok," was Elizabeth's only response.
*******************************************************************
Two hours later, Elizabeth lay resting in her bed, the contractions having stopped over an hour ago. Robert sat quietly in the chair, staring off into space.
"Are you ok?" she asked him.
"Hey, I'm the one who should be asking you that," he said, smiling at her.
"I'm all right," she told him. "You're awfully quiet, is something wrong?"
"I was just scared, that's all. I was so worried about you, and the baby." He sighed.
"Well we're fine, we're going to be fine. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm monitored, and they're keeping me overnight for observation, so nothing bad is going to happen. Now why don't you go home and get some rest, you must be exhausted."
"No, I'm not going to leave you. I'll stay here tonight. Look," he said, pointing to the bed next to her. "That bed is empty, I'll sleep there. But I'm not going to leave this room."
"Fine by me," she said, smiling at him.
He went over and climbed onto the empty bed, curling up on his side. "Goodnight, Elizabeth," he whispered, before his eyes began to flutter closed.
"Good night, Robert. I love you," she told him, but he was already asleep, oblivious to what she had just said.
Hope you liked it!! Tell me what you think!!
