The next day, Elizabeth met Abby at the doors to the ER. It was almost ten, and it was already very busy.
"Christmas is always the best time of year." Abby said, bitterly, stepping back as an ambulance sped past. "I thought it might be an idea for me to keep an eye on the front desk, pay attention to the phones in case I hear about a chopper landing. It wouldn't be very fortunate to step outside the hospital and meet one flying to the helipad."
"That's a good idea." Elizabeth said, "I hadn't thought of that." They both smiled at Sam Taggart when she waved on her way into work. Elizabeth let out a breath, misting the air in front of her. She dug her hands deeper into her pockets to keep warm. "There's Emma and Caitlyn," She said to Abby, indicated two people walking down the street. Abby looked in the direction she was,
"Aha. There's my mission, should I chose to accept it."
"Indeed." Elizabeth said. She waved back to Emma across the street. "I've ordered a taxi to drive up to the side doors,"
"This would be so much easier if he's just go to the psyche consult,"
"Just like he would send a patient in the same condition." Elizabeth agreed, "Still, when has Robert ever done anything to make our lives easier?" Abby shrugged, and cleared her throat as Emma and her daughter approached.
"Good morning," Elizabeth greeted them, "Abby, this is Caitlyn, and Emma Romano." Abby smiled, "Robert is Abby's patient."
"You're one of the people who saved him?" Emma inquired, "Did he thank you?"
"Uh, yeah. Sort of." Abby said, remembering,
"Well, thanks again anyway." Emma said.
"Let's go inside," Elizabeth suggested, "It's freezing out here." The others agreed and they went into the hospital, where the ER was just as manic as usual. Luka, Jing-Mei and Gregg Pratt were all near to the front desk, and Elizabeth could see Kerry down the hall. Elizabeth glanced at Abby as they passed through and Abby detached herself from the group, telling them she would be just a moment. She slipped behind the desk and made sure Jerry was busy while she checked the helipad schedule. There was nothing written in for the whole day. Abby closed the file and took a quick look at the board, making sure she hadn't missed anything. Sometimes an incoming patient was written on the board before it made it into the file. Nothing. They were all clear. She said hi to Luka and sped off down the hall after Elizabeth.
"Anything?" Elizabeth asked her when she drew level with her. Abby shook her head,
"All clear. All day." They stepped into the elevator and Elizabeth pushed the button to take them upstairs. Caitlyn looked barely rested, and was cracking her knuckles repeatedly. Emma nudged her to stop, and it seemed like it was some sort of nervous habit,
"So he's got a new arm today then?" Caitlyn asked, ignoring her mother. Elizabeth nodded,
"It should have been fitted this morning. It wouldn't have been practical for him to go home without it."
"He won't readily admit it, but he needs crutches to walk," Abby said, "The hairline fractures in his leg aren't anything to worry about, but there are so many of them from the impact, that it should be a few more weeks before he can walk unaided."
"That's the idea anyway," Elizabeth added, as the doors opened. They went into the room, Abby standing in the doorway, and Elizabeth stood near to her, with Emma and Caitlyn heading further into the room.
"Hey, no autographs today." Robert said, when the four people came in. "What, do I need an armed guard to get me out of this place?" Caitlyn sat down on the end of his bed.
"How does it work?" She asked, eyeing the arm. Robert shrugged,
"It just does." He said, "See look, fingers move and everything." He moved the fingers, if not a little awkwardly. Emma raised an eyebrow,
"Sure, the terminator look really works for you." She said, sarcastically. Abby moved out of the doorway,
"Doctor Romano, if your vision's okay today then I think you can leave the dressing off when you go home." Robert sat up,
"Sounds good to me." He said. She sat down in the chair beside the bed, and began unravelling the bandages. Elizabeth caught Emma's eye,
"Could I have a word?" She asked quietly. Caitlyn was watching as Abby pulled off the bandage. Emma looked surprised, and slightly suspicious, but she followed Elizabeth outside the door anyway.
"Are you Nurse Abby or Doctor Lockhart today?" Robert asked, when Abby peeled off the last of the surgical tape. She hesitated,
"Uh… you know, I don't even remember anymore." She said, evasively. "I'm on rotation at twelve today," She told him,
"Aren't you done in surgery now?"
"Extra week," She said, "The next rotation wants us to wait a week for some reason. I'm not complaining though."
"What's next?"
"NICU." Abby said. Robert raised an eyebrow,
"Lucky you. Worst few weeks of my life." Abby laughed,
"After all this, your NICU rotation is the worst days of your life?" Robert shrugged, "Oh, this is going to be fun."
"What's NICU?" Caitlyn asked, confused,
"Neo-natal intensive care unit," Abby explained, "It's full of really sick little babies."
"It's hard," Robert said, "It's difficult to perform procedures on kids, especially babies. Because everything's so small."
"And you have to do it?" Caitlyn asked Abby,
"We have to do everything. To find what speciality we suit most." Caitlyn looked interested. She hadn't been born when Robert had been a med student, and didn't know what it entailed.
Elizabeth closed the door quietly, and turned to see Emma looking at her inquisitively. She took in a deep breath,
"I don't think that you and Caitlyn being here is going to help Robert." She said quickly. Before Emma had time to react, she carried on. "I don't mean here as in Chicago, I mean here right now. If there's a big group of us leaving the hospital, it's going to attract attention, and I know he wants to leave quietly." Emma narrowed her eyes, "I can see what is happening," Elizabeth explained, "He's beginning to put on a front with you here, and because of this, it's quite likely that you aren't aware of his full condition." Emma frowned,
"Full condition? What do you mean his full condition?" Her tone was sharp, and Elizabeth knew that whatever way she said what she wanted to say, there was no way Emma wouldn't get offended,
"Robert is suffering from trauma induced agoraphobia." She explained, "Notice the curtains in the room are always closed. He's been well enough to leave for a few days now, and he hasn't." Emma said nothing, "I'm worried that if he's concentrating on pretending to you that everything's alright, then he won't be able to concentrate on his own situation."
"We're his family." Emma said, slowly and warningly, "Who are you to say that I can't help my brother?"
"I'm not saying that." Elizabeth protested calmly, "But you must admit you noticed it yourself. You said that Robert only ever wanted to be a surgeon. And he was the finest surgeon in this hospital, in every hospital in the state. He lost everything when he lost his arm, and one of the first things that Caitlyn brought up was surgery." Emma glared,
"So now it's Caitlyn's fault? You know what? I love my brother, and I've known him a hell of a lot longer than you have."
"But not since he lost his arm." Elizabeth pointed out. "Listen, Emma, we both want the same thing. We both want Robert to get better as soon as possible. Please just consider what is most important here." Emma didn't look at Elizabeth.
"I will always be here for him." She said, looking through the small window in the door, "I don't need you doing your preachy Doctor thing to tell me how to take care of my family. You know our mother died when Robert was eleven? Dad was a bastard, a gambler and a drunk. I've been his Mom, his Dad and his sister since I was sixteen. And as for Cait, she always speaks her mind. She gets that from him. If you'd thought your uncle was fine and dandy for two years, and then turned up and found him like that, I imagine you'd say something like, 'Holy crap, your arm's gone' too." Elizabeth said nothing. "Are we finished?"
"Yes. I suppose we are." Elizabeth said, pushing the door open. Emma brushed past her into the room, her smile reappearing on her face. She went over to Caitlyn, and Abby looked to Elizabeth. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, and Abby turned back to Robert,
"Hows your vision?" She asked, checking the stitches on the side of his face as well.
"Better than yesterday," Robert said, looking around the room,
"Up to eighty yet?"
"I'd say seventy five." Abby nodded,
"The stitches are almost fully healed. It doesn't look bloodshot at all, and that grey tint's definitely faded since the last time I checked." Abby rolled up the bandages, "It's looking good. And I'd say it should be back to a hundred percent vision in a week, maybe less."
"Sounds promising." Robert said. Elizabeth could tell he was relieved, but she could also detect the hint of well masked apprehension in his voice. Emma glanced at her with an 'I told you so' look. Obviously she hadn't picked up on the same apprehension as Elizabeth had.
"You all packed?" Emma asked him, picking up the half full bag from the floor at the end of the bed. It was quite light. Robert nodded,
"Got my crutches and everything," He said. "If Kerry hasn't redecorate already, my coat's still in my office." Emma was hoping that Elizabeth would offer to fetch it. But instead, Abby stood up,
"I'll go." She said, "In fact, Caitlyn, why don't you come with me? You can bring the bag and we can meet you guys at the cab?" Caitlyn stood up and picked up the bag,
"Sure. See you guys in a few." She followed Abby out of the room, and down the hall to the elevator. Robert glanced at Elizabeth, who had been watching him.
"Ready?" She asked him. Emma was standing a little behind Elizabeth, and couldn't help noticing, now that she had mentioned it, the fact that the curtains were pulled tightly shut.
"Nope." Robert said brightly. "Guess that means it's time to get out of this dump then?" Elizabeth nodded,
"I guess it does." She handed him the crutches, and he made to stand up, but it looked like it was proving difficult with the new arm. Emma pushed past Elizabeth and took hold of her brother's arm to help him stand up. Elizabeth said nothing, but had to bite her lip to stop herself from doing so. In her attempt to help, Emma had grabbed his good arm, without realising that it was in fact covered in scars from the burns from the crash. She let go pretty quickly, though more likely it was because she knew her brother's sense of pride, and wouldn't want to insinuate that he needed her help just to stand up. Emma held the door open, and looked set to go through it, but at the doorway, neither Robert nor Elizabeth followed.
"The sooner you get out of here, the sooner you'll be home." Emma pointed out.
"There's no need rush." Elizabeth said, looking up at Emma, "Just wait until you're ready." Emma frowned at the other woman's words.
"You're dragging it out." She said, sharply.
"I'm trying to help." Elizabeth said, her tone quieter than Emma's. "I am a Doctor,"
"And I'm his sister, goddamn it." Emma said, her voice getting more aggressive,
"Will both of you shut up!" Robert yelled. Emma stood glaring for a few seconds, then pushed the door until it was jammed open.
"I'll go find Caitlyn." She said, "You two obviously don't need some one as simple minded as me. I'm sorry, I didn't go to med school." She stormed off down the hall to the elevator where Abby and Caitlyn had gone before. Elizabeth stared dumbly at the empty doorway, before pulling herself together,
"I'm sorry Robert," She said sincerely, "I didn't think…"
"Emma's short tempered." Robert said, dismissively, "She'll be alright by the time we get home."
"I'm not sure." Elizabeth said, "I think I really offended her. After yesterday, it was clear to me that your family didn't understand how hard this would be."
"This is exactly why I didn't want them to know." Robert said, "If I could have just sorted it all out by myself, worked out what's been going on in my head, I could cope with the arguments, the yelling, the storming out etcetera… You see now why I wanted you here?" Elizabeth nodded,
"Yes." She paused, "Robert, you should tell Emma everything. You should tell her what you've told me."
"I can't." Robert said, shaking his head, "Emma and Cait live in some crummy apartment in California. Emma's got no career because she had to take care of me when she was sixteen. I pay for Cait's school, but they don't get child support or anything. Cait's dad didn't even stick around until morning." Elizabeth couldn't believe how much she was discovering about Robert these past few days. It was alarming that she knew him better than anyone else at County, yet there was so much she didn't know.
"Because you support your sister, you don't want her to know you need support yourself."
"I don't need support." Robert said indignantly. Elizabeth didn't argue.
"Come on," She said, "The taxi's waiting."
It didn't take long for Robert to get used to the crutches. They made their way down the hall, and into the elevator in silence. Elizabeth paused,
"We're going to have to go past the ER," She said, when the doors closed. "The taxi's waiting at the side entrance." She glanced at him, "Are you alright?" She felt the elevator moving, sinking down through the building.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Robert said, but Elizabeth could see that he was lying. She opened the panel and typed a code on the keypad. The elevator stopped between floors. She knew it was only an amount of time before someone pressed the button on the ground floor and started it moving again.
"Breathe." She told him, "Like I said before, you can take as much time as you need,"
"God this is ridiculous," Robert said angrily, "How many times have I left this place? I should just be able to walk out."
"It's not ridiculous." Elizabeth said firmly, turning his face towards her, "Stay calm, and everything will be fine." Robert closed his eyes and breathed, and Elizabeth laid her hand on his, "You can do this Robert." She said, "You've been through so much already, you can get through this too." Their faces were just inches apart. Robert opened his eyes, and lifted his hand off the rest on the crutch so that their fingers laced together.
Perfect timing for a first kiss, Elizabeth thought. Unfortunately for fate, the familiar bell of the elevator rang, and they felt the jolt as it started moving. She stepped back suddenly, and Robert let go of her hand, and took hold of the crutch again. The doors slid open, and the bustling mania that was the ER was revealed. For a second, Elizabeth was reminded of the time when she was been waiting for the El, and Paul Nathan, a med student with Parkinson's disease hadn't been able to move. However, when people began filing in, Robert seemed to regain the use of his legs, and pushed past, out into the ER. He stopped for a split second when he saw the double doors leading to the street outside, but Elizabeth's gentle push made him move quickly thought the crowded hall. Kerry spotted them,
"Robert," She said, "Feeling better?"
"Getting away from this place," Robert said, in his normal voice, "Rest assured I'm feeling great."
"Well, have a good Christmas," Kerry said, her eyes following them down the hall.
"Merry Christmas Kerry," Elizabeth said, with a smile. She knew Robert wouldn't have anything pleasant to say.
"Hey guys, the cab's out there," Caitlyn said, from the door, "And it's snowing out here, so a little speed please?" Abby darted through the sliding doors from the snow, and saw Kerry still in the hall way,
"Doctor Weaver, I've been meaning to talk to you," She said, quickly trying to think of something she needed to talk to her about, "I've got a patient who I've been trying to get a transfer to Mercy for treatment, but they won't accept him. Could you back up the case for me?"
"I'd have to see the patient for myself," Kerry answered, "If I agree with you I'm sure they'll rethink their refusal." Abby walked further down the hall, taking Kerry with her,
"His vitals are good, and there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to make the transfer…" Abby was saying. Her voice faded out down the hall, and Elizabeth realised they were now free of ER employees. Robert moved determinedly forward, and Elizabeth followed, until she heard a familiar voice behind her,
"Elizabeth!" She turned to see Kris, her nanny, with her daughter.
"Kris, what are you doing here? I said I'd pick Ella up," Elizabeth said, taking her daughter, "You didn't need to come all the way down here,"
"I'm on my way to the airport," Kris explained, "I thought I'd save you a job." She handed over the night bag, "I'll see you after Christmas sweetie," She said to Ella.
"Bye-bye!" Ella said, waving exaggeratedly, and causing Elizabeth to have to adjust her grip,
"Have a lovely Christmas," Elizabeth said to Kris, "I'll see you at the end of the week." Kris nodded and headed back through the hospital, to the front entrance where she must have left her car.
"Bye!" She called, before the doors closed. Elizabeth turned just in time to hear Robert yell at Caitlyn to 'get in the damn cab'. Not missed too much then. She thought to herself, and hurried along to meet them,
"What's wrong?" She asked, to them both. Caitlyn stood back,
"I'll get in the damn cab," She said, not sarcastically, but carefully. She knew she was treading on thin ice. Elizabeth looked at Robert, who was avoiding her eyes,
"Ten steps to the car," She said, "If that." He nodded, "If I can yell at Dorsett you can walk to the taxi."