Ok here comes chapter 3, which you all have been waiting in suspense for, right? No?  You mean you haven't been waiting in suspense? Ok, well, here it is anyway. 

      Thank you all for your reviews!! I really appreciate them!

      So here it is...hope you like it...Read on and don't forget to review!

      P.S. I know nothing about medicine, so if my whole trauma scene with the penetrating chest trauma makes no sense, then don't be too angry. I was just trying to make it sound cool!

      The surgeons moved quickly and concisely as they worked on detaching the arm of their former boss.  Elizabeth had arrived to scrub in just a few minutes after Robert was put under.  She had hoped to get there earlier but a trauma down in the ER had held her up for longer than she expected, and by the time she had arrived he was already out. 

      Since she wasn't the operating surgeon, there wasn't much for her to do.  In fact, really there was nothing for her to do, she just sat and observed.  The room was irritatingly quiet which unnerved Elizabeth.  Every once in a while, one of her coughs that she desperately tried to hold in escaped, and everyone in the room would turn to look at her in an odd way, like she was somehow disturbing them.

      Maybe I shouldn't be here, she thought.  But as soon as she remembered her conversation with Robert earlier that morning, she knew she had to stay, for him. 

      "You know you can come in if you want, if you're bored, or curious."

      That was his way of letting her know he needed her there.  And so, for that simple reason alone, she would stay.  It wouldn't be much longer anyway.

      Robert's eyes blinked open and squinted against the harsh light that was flooding in through the open curtains.  Slowly his eyes adjusted to the light and he glanced around, taking in his surroundings.

      The room was slightly nicer than he expected, being at County and all.   At least he had a private room, not having to share such a small space with some of the moronic miscreants that he'd dealt with in the past at this hospital.

      Through all his looking around the room, there was one place his curious glances avoided- his arm.  He just wasn't ready to look at it yet, to actually see it, and so, he didn't. 

      Still a little groggy from the anesthesia, a few minutes later he drifted off to sleep again.

      Beep. Beep. Beep. 

      Elizabeth's pager sounded again for about the 20th time that day.

      "What now?" she complained aloud to her empty office.

      Pulling the annoying device off of where it was clipped to her waist, she read the screen.  "Emergency".  Great, she thought, jumping out of her seat and flying out the door.

      Downstairs, Elizabeth pushed through the doors of trauma one.

      "What've we got?" she called out to the other doctors in the room.

      "Penetrating chest trauma," Susan told her.  "He's going to need an aortic dissection right away.  He's all yours," Susan said, stepping off to the side to let Elizabeth do her job.

      "Thanks," Elizabeth said sarcastically. 

      "Dr. Romano,...Dr. Romano, I need you to wake up," called Shirley, as she entered Robert's hospital room. 

      He opened one eye and glared at her.  Then he opened the other.

      "Dr. Gunn is here to check on your arm."  Robert could see Gunn hovering outside the door, waiting for a cue from Shirley that it was indeed safe to enter.

      Robert looked grumpy, which was no surprise to Shirley.  Who wouldn't be grumpy after having their arm amputated and then being woken up by annoying hospital staff?

      "Now?" he questioned, sounding incredibly whiny and not entirely awake yet.

      "Yes now.  It's been four hours since the surgery. You know you're supposed to be checked at least every five hours during the first twenty four hours after surgery. 

      "Fine," he said flatly. 

      Shirley nodded towards Gunn, and he stepped inside the room.

      "How are you Robert?" he asked cautiously. 

      "I'm wonderful.  Life couldn't be better," he told the doctor bitterly.  "How the hell do you think I am?" he asked, anger obvious in his tone.

      Dr. Gunn decided to ignore his angry comments, saying instead, "The surgery went very well.  No complications."

      The doctor sat down in a chair next to the bed and began to unwrap Robert's bandaged arm.  Robert looked away. 

      "Robert, I need to check sensation, this might hurt a little."

      He just nodded.  Gunn gently touched his gloved hand to the stump and Robert let out a hiss of pain.  "Son of a bitch," he mumbled under his breath.

      "Are you all right?" Gunn asked.

      "I'm fine, let's just get this over with," he replied anxiously. 

All he wanted was to go back to sleep.  Maybe next time he woke up this hell would all just be a horrible nightmare and his life would go back to normal.  The words "fat chance" flashed through his mind.      

Dr. Gunn finished checking Robert's arm, wrapped it back up and wished Robert a speedy recovery as he quickly exited the room.

12:26 AM

      Elizabeth slammed the last chart into the rack at the OR desk and slumped into her office, collapsing into her desk chair.  She breathed out a heavy sigh, which turned into a long, painful cough that made her feel dizzy.

      She wanted nothing more than to go home, take a nice long shower, curl up in bed and sleep for 24 hours straight.  The going home, showering and sleeping was actually possible, although not for 24 hours.  But she knew there was something she needed to do before she left.

      The day had been so busy that she hadn't had a chance to see Robert after the surgery.  She had stayed with him briefly in recovery, but was called away for another trauma before he was moved into his actual room.

      Even though she knew fully well that he would be sleeping at this time of night, she felt as though she needed to see him anyway.  She wouldn't sleep unless she knew how he was doing.

      Stepping into the elevator, she pressed the button for the 3rd floor and made her way up.  The halls were dimly lit and she could barely make out the room numbers.  Finally she came upon Robert's.  

      She listened outside for a second to see if she could hear any movement, or perhaps the sound of the television, but her ears were met only by silence. 

      Slowly she pushed the door open and stepped inside the dark room.  She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving to sit in the large upholstered chair next to the bed. 

      Robert lay in his bed, sound asleep, his head turned to the other side, and his mouth hanging slightly open.  Elizabeth had to force herself not to laugh.

      Now that she was sitting there, she wasn't exactly sure why she had come.  It's not like he was awake or would even know she had come to visit.  But she stayed just the same.  It didn't matter if he knew she was there or not, it just felt good to be there for him.

      She scooted the chair a little closer and leaned over, her head resting on the bed.  A few minutes turned into 30, and before she knew it, she had actually fallen asleep.

      A twinge of pain in his upper arm awoke Robert from his slumber.  Finally, after avoiding it all day, he turned his head to look at what was left of his arm, and was surprised to find Elizabeth asleep at his bedside.

      Even in the darkness of the room, he could tell her face was more pale than usual.  He reached out with his good arm, and touched her forehead which was burning up.  She stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.

      Robert reached for the call button right away.  Elizabeth needed to get home to bed, and he was in desperate need of some more pain medication.

      Luckily Shirley was still on, though her shift was just about to end, and she was the one to respond to Robert's call.

      She cautiously entered the room and whispered, "Dr. Romano? Are you ok?"

      She stepped closer to the bed, when she realized that someone else was in the room as well.  It was Dr. Corday.

      "It's Elizabeth.  She's got a fever."

      "Did she mention anything about being sick?" Shirley asked.

      "She said something about having a cold, but I don't think she was being totally honest with me.  She doesn't look well at all."

      "I'll go get her a blanket.  We'll just let her sleep here for the night and see how she is in the morning.  If she isn't feeling any better, I'll make sure she goes down to the ER.  Is there anything I can get for you?"

      "I could use some more pain meds," he said, with a slight grimace of pain on his face.

      "Sure thing, doc.  I'll be right back."

      Robert pushed a strand of Elizabeth's hair out of her face, and gently leaned down and kissed the top of her head before settling back onto his pillows and drifting back to sleep.

      When Shirley returned with the medicine and blanket, the two of them were both sound asleep.  She injected Robert's pain meds into his IV, carefully spread a blanket over Elizabeth's shoulders, and quietly slipped out the door, hoping they would both get some much needed rest.

Hope you enjoyed it!!

Let me know what you thought.

I love reviews!!!

Danielle