Chapter 13 is up! I'm really sorry it took so long. I was out of town for a while and then all of my college friends were in town on break, so I spent most of my free time with them, and now school's just started back and I've been trying to figure out my schedule. I hope the next chapter won't take too long, since I kind of left you hanging. I will do my best to get the next one up soon!! I hope you enjoy the chapter, although it is a little short. It's setting up for well…you know, the birth! Read on…………..

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Three weeks had passed, leaving Elizabeth eight and a half months pregnant and more uncomfortable than she had ever felt before. The only thing that helped soothe her discomfort was Robert. Even through her extreme moodiness, strange food cravings, and ever growing stomach, he was still there with her; hadn't abandoned her when things had gotten tough. This truly amazed her. She felt closer to Robert than she had ever felt to anyone in her life, including Mark and couldn't imagine what her life and pregnancy would have been like without him there.

Right now, Elizabeth was in the middle of a consult down in the ER. She leaned backwards a little, trying to work the kinks out of her aching back and shoulders.

Focusing her attention back on the task at hand, she ordered in a firm voice, "Let's get a CBC and a chem 7." Robert came into the trauma room just as Elizabeth was finishing her orders.

"What's up?" he asked as he went to stand on the opposite side of the bed.

"Right lower abdominal quadrant pain. I came down to rule out an appy."

"Are you feeling ok?" he asked. Lately he was always concerned that she was going to work herself too hard.

"I'm a little tired, but I'll be fine," she told him, stripping off her gloves and tossing them on the floor.

"Oh, Abby!" Elizabeth called to the nurse who was nearly out the door. "Add an ABG and a...," her voice suddenly trailed off and a look of confusion crossed her face, followed quickly by one of fear.

"What's wrong?" Robert asked, hurrying from the patient over to her.

"Um...I think my water just broke," she told him, surprisingly composed for someone who was going into labor.

Suddenly she leaned forward holding her stomach in pain.

"Dr. Corday, are you having contractions?" Abby asked, putting the other patient's chart down on the counter and approaching Elizabeth.

"What does it look like, genius? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out!" was Robert's sarcastic response.

Ignoring his comment, Abby continued on. "Ok, let's go into exam 3, we'll get you into a gown, and then I can check how far you're dilated. There should be plenty of time to get you up to OB then."

Elizabeth nodded and reached for Robert's hand as they made their way to the exam room and got Elizabeth settled onto the bed.

Robert pulled a fresh hospital gown out of a drawer and went over to shut the blinds so that he could help Elizabeth get undressed with some privacy.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth was dressed in her gown and Abby was beginning to examine her.

"You're about four centimeters dilated, Dr. Corday. Everything's looking good so far, and we've got plenty of time to get you up to OB. I'll page Dr Coburn right now so we can get you up there as soon as possible. Are you planning on having an epidural?"

"God, yes!" Elizabeth shouted as another contraction began. She reached for Robert's hand and tightly squeezed it as she tried to keep her breathing under control. "I forgot how much this hurts," she told him, as the contraction faded away.

"I'm beginning to find out," he said, untangling his hand from her tight grasp and moving it out of her reach.

"I'm sorry Robert. I didn't know I was hurting you," she said sincerely.

"No. No, you weren't.," he told her, trying to act tough. "Just didn't realize you were so strong."

Twenty minutes and two contractions later, Elizabeth and Robert were settled up on the OB floor in a cozy private delivery room which Robert had requested months in advance.

"When is the doctor coming to give me the epidural?" Elizabeth asked Robert. It was obvious to him that she was in a lot of pain.

"I'll go check sweetheart, ok? I'll be right back. Just keep breathing." He stepped out into the hall, looking to his right and then his left for any sign of a nurse he knew. No such luck. Well any nurse will do right now, he thought.

"Hey, you!" he shouted to a nurse down the hall. The nurse looked around, confused.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked him.

"Yes I'm talking to you. My girlfriend, Dr. Elizabeth Corday, she's in room 2B and we've been waiting for someone to come give her an epidural for a while now. She's in a lot of pain. Can you find the doctor for us?"

"Certainly," the nurse said, nodding and heading off down the hall to find Dr. Coburn.

Robert turned and started to walk back to Elizabeth's room. Girlfriend, he thought to himself. I've never called her my girlfriend before. I never thought I would have a chance to call her that. A goofy smile spread across his face as he thought about Elizabeth, and Ella, and the new baby. This was probably the happiest he'd ever been.

Snapping back into reality, he stepped back into the room. Elizabeth looked a little calmer than she had when he left. Her eyes were closed and her breathing seemed steady, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

"The doctor should be here in a few minutes," he said, just as the door opened.

Dr. Coburn stepped inside and greeted them. A nurse who had followed the doctor in began to set up a tray of instruments on the other side of the bed as the doctor spoke to them and took another quick look to see how Elizabeth was coming along.

"Ok, Elizabeth, we need you to sit up and lean forward. Can you do that for me?" she asked.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Robert, can you stand in front of her and hold her up, we don't want her falling out of the bed."

"Sure."

The doctor quickly inserted the needle into her back, and before Elizabeth knew it, they were finished, and she leaned back against the pillows. She felt better already.

"Ok, you're up to about six centimeters right now. But I'll be back to check on you in thirty minutes," Coburn said as she gathered up her charts and went on her way.

"Do you feel any better?" Robert asked Elizabeth after everyone else had left the room.

"Yeah a little. I'm just hoping it doesn't get any worse than this…"

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