Elizabeth had to go to work. For the past day, she'd done little more than read Robert's journal entries, stopping occasionally to tend to Ella. The entries had reeled her in - there were many of them, some of them about the hospital, and the staff who worked there, Robert's cases, etc. However Elizabeth was most drawn to the entries that mentioned her, and she found herself flipping through the journal to find more. Exhausted, she finally fell into a deep sleep, and when she woke up in the morning, she was tempted to do more reading. She didn't though, because she she knew she'd get sidetracked and she wouldn't be able to get to work on time.

It was a typical day at the hospital, maybe a little quieter than usual. After finishing a consult in the ER, she found herself stopping by the admit desk. None of the desk clerks were around - Jerry had stepped away and left the desk unattended. Elizabeth hesitated and then went over to Jerry's computer. She typed some words into a search engine and waited to see what came up.

"Hey, Elizabeth," Susan said warmly, as she walked up behind Elizabeth. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," Elizabeth said, making an attempt to minimize the web page.

Susan was too quick though. "Paranormal Happenings?" Susan said curiously, as she looked over Elizabeth's shoulder. "What's this?"

"It's nothing," Elizabeth said, laughing nervously. "Something that someone told me about for a gag."

"They must have a weird sense of humor, huh," Susan remarked. "Stay away from that stuff. It's too freaky."

"Yeah," Elizabeth said. She paused. "So, you don't believe in that kind of thing then?"

"What kind of thing?" Susan said. "You mean ghosts?"

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Kerry Weaver said. She approached the front desk just as Elizabeth and Susan managed to close the web page. "Susan, Elizabeth. What's going on?"

"We were just talking," Susan said, in her best "It's none of your business" voice.

"Sounds like a strange conversation topic," Kerry said critically. She walked to the board, shook her head and sighed. "These patients are going to turn into ghosts if this board doesn't get cleared."

"Hey, don't look at me," Susan said. "I'm only one doctor."

"I know," Kerry said, "I'm not blaming you, it's just we're short-staffed, and ever since - well since Robert passed, there's no one to run the ER. I'm coming down here as much as I can but I have Chief of Staff responsibilities and I can't delegate most of them."

'Yeah, I guess Romano did a pretty good job down here," Susan said. "When he wasn't--" she hesitated, "Well, you know. I don't want to say ill of the dead," she said good-naturedly.

"When he wasn't belittling and abusing people?" Kerry said.

"He was hurting," Elizabeth said sharply. The two women turned to her and stared, surprised. "He was upset and in pain and going through things that you can't imagine."

"Elizabeth, I know Robert had problems," Kerry said patiently. "But that doesn't excuse-"

"You don't know what he's been through," Elizabeth said. "He's been through a horrible time--"

"The man needed therapy," Kerry said. "If he had lived, I would have dragged him to a psychologist and made him go. He would have had to - OUCH!"

"What's wrong, Kerry?" Susan said, surprised.

Kerry looked around. "I felt like someone just threw something at my head." She rubbed the back of her head.

"There's nothing there," Susan said, amused. "You sure you're okay?"

"I felt it earlier today too. It gave me a flashback to the days of Dave Malucci," Kerry said. "He used to throw those paper airplanes."

"Maybe his ghost has come back to haunt you." Susan said. Elizabeth drew in her breath sharply. "Elizabeth? What's wrong? You look white as a sheet."

"Nothing," Elizabeth said. She put her hand to her forehead. "I just - that thing about a ghost, it struck me as funny. Because Dave didn't die." Elizabeth laughed. Kerry and Elizabeth stared at her. "I should - get some water. Excuse me. " She went off to the water fountain.

Kerry looked at Susan. "Maybe she needs some time off," Kerry said. "She's been acting strangely ever since Robert died."

"She'll be okay," Susan said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Coming home from the hospital, Elizabeth got her keys out of the pocket. She walked up to her front door in the darkness, and as she did she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and spun around. "Robert?"

"Sorry," he said with a small smile. "I just thought if I met you outside it wouldn't be as shocking for you."

"Oh," she said. "Well, it's still pretty shocking."

"I know," he said. "Listen, I'm not going to stay this time--" she started to protest but he cut her off. "I have to go right now, but I just wanted to stop by and uh, thank you for what you said today. At the hospital."

"You were listening," she said. "I knew it. The whole time?"

"Well, Kerry mentioned my name, and there I was."

"And then you threw something at the back of her head," Elizabeth said coolly.

"It was just a paper ball," Robert admitted. "It didn't really hurt her, it was just to give her a little shock. Come on, don't be mad."

Elizabeth looked at him, and then smiled despite herself. "I'm not mad. It was kind of funny."

"It was definitely funny," he said. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I don't know," Elizabeth said. He looked at her and she smiled again. She rubbed the arms of her coat. "It's getting cold out," she said. "I should go in. Won't you come in?"

"Not tonight," he said. "You're still reading the journal?"

"Yes," she said, "But then, you probably knew that."

"Sort of," he admitted.

"Well, I hope you weren't spying on me." she said, half-joking.

"I just kind of came in, took a peek, saw you were still reading, and left again," he said. "Honest."

"Well, it's very interesting," she said. "The journal, I mean."

"I know what you mean," he said casually, and smiled. That little self-deprecating smile, Elizabeth thought. He's always had that.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up, startled. "Sorry."

"So, I'm going to go," he said, "Let you get some sleep, or whatever." He looked up at her hopefully. "See you later?"

"Yes, of course," she said. "When?"

"I don't know," he said. "Another night this week." He caressed her shoulder, very gently.

She nodded, and turned to opened her door. She went inside, said hello to Ella, and said hello and goodbye to her nanny, who left. Elizabeth shrugged off her coat and poured herself a glass of wine. She sipped the wine slowly, feeling chilled. She turned up the heat a little bit. She walked over to the front door to see if Kris had remembered to lock it. Elizabeth hated to be inside an unlocked house, even for a moment.

Kris had locked it. Elizabeth turned away from the door, but as she did, she felt a slight twinge of something. She unlocked and opened the door cautiously, and peeked outside.

"Robert?"

"Just leaving," he said, and smiled, but his eyes were serious.

"Is everything all right?" she said. "I mean, are you sure you don't want to come in."

"Yeah, I just - I saw the lights of your house from outside, and I was just watching for a minute." He ran his hand over his head. "Must be nice to have a home where you belong, a place that's yours. A family."

"Yes," Elizabeth said uncertainly. She didn't want to tell him the emptiness she sometimes felt being in this house alone, even with Ella for comfort. She couldn't bear to tell him that, not when he looked at her with such longing in his dark eyes. "It is nice here," she said. "Why don't you come in, Robert. You can't just stay out there all night."

"Oh, I'll find some place to go," he said. "Don't worry. Thanks, though."

"Of course."

"Good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night."

When she looked back, he had vanished.