A/N: Here's another chapter . I'll try to keep the updates coming the best that I can. Thank you to my faithful reviewer, hope you like this chapter as well as you have liked the rest.


Chapter 14: Getting past it all

I am almost 15 minutes late for work now running from the EL stop towards County. I should have made him drive me to work but then with traffic I would have been even later. I had a smile on my face as I ran inside with rosy cheeks. They were red from it being cold outside but from being late, as well, knowing as I did why I was late. I agreed to let David stay at the apartment, at least thru the end of the week. Any apprehensions that I had about it were long gone now. I hoped that I wasn't wrong in giving him a second chance, but then everyone deserved a second chance. He was right I needed to give him time to prove to me that he had changed.

I threw myself into work; it kept me from second-guessing my love life. Wow that felt weird to say, I hadn't had one in so long that I think I was afraid to believe that I could have one.

The days blurred together, one became two, became four, and seven. At the end of the week, I found myself not tossing him out on his ear, inviting him to stay even longer. And by the end of two, I had agreed to reconciliation.

I found a month had passed and thing seemed to still be going okay. We spent evenings over and Doug and Carol's when I wasn't working nights, and when I was, David could often by found over there. He had started to look for work in Chicago and even started talk about selling the house in Kentucky to be able to move up to Chicago again. I had found myself falling into believing him that he had changed and now everything was going to be all right, it had been a mistake on his part one that he seemed willing never to make again.

Life seemed to be going well for the most part. I came home flopping down on the sofa to see David and Doug in the kitchen. David had now been in Chicago for almost 2 months. We were getting along better than we had in ages, I dare say better than we had when we were living in Kentucky.

"Hey babe," I hear David call from the kitchen, "were getting ready to watch the bulls game, you going to watch too."

"No thanks I think I am going to pass." I say, "I have nights all next week. I need to sleep before I turn into a vampire."

"Ah the life of a resident," I hear Doug call from the kitchen.

"Yeah, don't remind me okay." I say as I pull myself up off the couch. "Don't either of you come anywhere near that bathroom I am going in and drowning myself in a tub of hot water. I just pulled 36 hours and I deserve to be left alone."

I watch David come near me now kissing my forehead gently, "oh my poor baby." He mocks me.

I give him a half-evil glance before making my way back to the bathroom and filling the tub. Nights were not my favorite to work but I would find a way to muddle thru next week if it killed me.

Five p.m. to five a.m. that's what the Chief Resident had scheduled me, said that I had been working to many days and now I needed to pull some night shifts. Some, a week, guess that was his idea of payback. Not that I hadn't worked any night, I had done a few, pulled more than one 36 hour shift in the time that David had been in Chicago. Oh well I started in on them with a smile on my face greeting those who got to see the daylight with a smile on my face as I left after my third night in a row.

I rubbed my eyes as I headed up the stairs to the apartment; I had almost fallen asleep on the train again. I let myself into the place expecting David to be either asleep on the couch or sacked out in the bedroom. I pulled the curtains shut trying to make the place as dark as I could, the sun would be coming up in about an hour and I didn't need its bright rays pulling me from my land of dreams. I walked into the bedroom trying to be quiet. I headed into the bathroom to change from my clothes into a t-shirt to sleep in when I heard voices coming from the bedroom.

"David?"

"Just a minute sweetheart," I hear him call back.

I hear the sounds of someone almost tripping. "David what are you doing?"

"Nothing Erica," I hear him answer.

"Yeah right, who are you talking to?"

"No one," He replies.

"Yeah," I say coming out of the bathroom, I do not believe that one for an instant. I knew he was talking to someone.

David turned around caught off guard that I had actually emerged from the bathroom. "Why don't you get some sleep sweetheart?"

"Why don't you tell me who you were talking to?"

"I wasn't talking to anyone." He says staying between the bedroom door, and me his actions are making me more and more suspicious.

"David Timothy Ross." I find myself saying moving closer to the door now, "who was that."

"Shh," I hear him say putting his finger to his lips. "I wasn't talking to anyone I was moving Tess."

I look down and see two sleeping children on my floor.

"Doug asked me if I would mind watching them so he could take Carol to some fund raiser last night and I told him that I didn't mind." David's eyes met mine now, "you thought that I had a woman here didn't you."

"The thought had crossed my mind." I say shrugging my shoulders. "I'm just tired." I say trying to make excuses for my behavior, my sudden abandonment of faith in him.

"There's no one here but the girls." David said leading me over to the bed now and pulling back the blanket and sheets making sure that I climbed in before pulling them over me. I felt his gentle kiss on my forehead now, "get some sleep sweetheart; I'll see that they don't disturb you when they get up."

I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep feeling like a complete ass now. But how was I supposed to know, there were so many temptations that he could fall for in Chicago and now I was gone 12 hours a day there was ample opportunity for him to cheat with out being caught. If I wasn't there how was I going to know, my schedule was set and there was no chance of me coming home early just getting out late. But as if, he hadn't given me a reason in the past to feel the way that I did. After all, he had several women that he was seeing while he was married to me. Surely, he honestly wasn't upset with me. I felt him climb into the bed from the other side and shift his weight as he pulled the covers up around himself, not saying other word to me.

"I'm sorry." I find myself saying to him in my half-asleep state. I didn't want there to be animosity between us and I knew that this was partly my fault.

"Will you ever trust me again?" I hear him ask softly from the other side, his back still towards me now.

"I do trust you," I say with out thinking now, "I'm trying to let the past go and let it be just that the past."

"I understand." His voice was soft.

"I'm trying David really I am." I say rolling over to him my hand reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"I know you are." He said, "It just feels as if sometimes we are never going to move past any of this."

"We are." I say softly now, my stomach is starting to feel as if it's twisted in knots. I'm not sure why it feels like that now. I felt fine when I laid down.

He rolls over towards me, I feel his arms wrapping around me. "I love you." I hear him say.

I am about to answer when my stomach violently protests. I bolt from the bed running as fast as a possibly can for the bathroom. I hit my knees and empty what was left in my stomach from my last meal. I still don't feel any better as another wave washes over me. I can feel my body shudder now, as the cold from the floor is seeping up my legs.

"Baby are you okay?" I hear his familiar voice asking me

I looked up at him for just a second, still not feeling as if my body was done as if it was going to betray me again any minute now.

I feel him next to me, pulling my body against his holding onto me. His touch was gentle and kind as he tried to comfort me the only way he knew how. I feel him lift me up off the floor and then the soft feeling of the bed under my body as he puts me back into our bed. The covers are now up over me as I shivered just a little more, his hand pressing up against my forehead.

"You don't feel warm." I hear him say.

"That's good I guess." I mutter in response feeling horrible yet a little bit better than I did 10 minutes ago. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep now.

When I open them, again I can see daylight peaking thru the windows. I can hear voices coming from the other room. I roll over to find the two sleeping bodies that were there when I came home gone and no sounds of children in the apartment. I listen for a minute; the voices I hear are those of two men. I assume that it must be Doug and David in the other room talking about me. I felt better than I had when I got home just now I was exhausted. I pull the blanket about me as tight as I can before walking into the other room.

"Baby you should be in bed." I hear David say to me.

"I'm fine just tired what time is it?" I ask

"It's a little after 4." I hear him say.

"Oh crap, David why didn't you wake me up. I'm going to be late now." I say turning to head back to the bedroom to get dressed.

"Erica you are sick you should be in bed not going to work at the hospital." David is right behind me now.

"I'm a resident, we don't get sick days." I say as I try to find my scrubs. I try to stand up feeling light headed and dizzy now.

"You're in no shape to go in." I hear Doug's voice from behind me now. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"Just since this morning and really I am fine." I say trying to keep my balance, "I am needed at work tonight." I bend over and pick up my shoes standing upright again as the room starts to spin and everything goes black for a second. It felt like I had just blinked. There David is standing over me with this almost scared look on his face. "I'm fine really I am."

"No honey you're not." I hear him say, feeling him push the hair from my face.

"You are going to the ER but not to work." I hear Doug's voice say as David wraps a blanket around me. I'm not on the ground but in his arms.

"You're both over reacting." I say, "I just ate something that didn't agree with me." I'm starting to protest but it's obvious to me from the start that these two are not going to let me get away with it.

"Come on." David says to me, as if I have much of a choice, wrapped up in a blanket in his arms. "I don't want you to fight me on this one, we are taking you in."

I close my eyes as I can feel sleep taking a hold of me. I thought that I might as well take a catnap if he was going to insist on carrying me. The only thing was that this time when I opened my eyes I found myself on a hard gurney in the ER. I had slept longer than I had intended to.

"What time is it?" I mumble now.

"It's after 6." I hear David answer me, "feel any better?"

"A little," I mutter again, "I was just tired, really I am fine." I am not sure why I keep insisting that I am fine. I think it was because I didn't want them fretting over me like I was going to break at any second. I wasn't made of porcelain. I hear a door open and I looked up to see Dr. Kovac enter the room.

"How are you feeling Erica?"

"Just peachy Doc," I say back to him, "can I go home please? Tell the worry warts in my life that I am just fine, got a bit of gastroenteritis going on and that I can go home."

I watch Dr. Kovac look over at David, "can I have a minute alone with her please."

"Luka, its okay David is my husband." I say without hesitation this time, "whatever it is you can say with him here."

I watch him nod as he pulls a chair up next to the bed, "your lab work came back."

"And," I say, "don't leave me hanging like that, I'm a doctor you can tell me what you found Luka." I find myself wondering what they might have found, what the hell could be wrong with me.

There's a soft smile on his face now, "you're going to be fine, congratulations Erica you are having a baby."