Max looked up as the door opened; the people that had hurt Aunt Rex were back. They both stood and stared at him as he did his best to hide her behind him. He tried not to cry but the tears betrayed his strong façade as they spilled down his cheeks.

"Lexie!" The old, bald man that had been with them before, yelled as he ran over to them, the younger man behind him.

"What in the hell happened?" The younger one asked as the older one turned her over, incidentally push Max away from Lexie.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Max screamed as he pushed himself back in between them and her. He was pushed away again.

Carter was in a state of shock and was relying on his autopilot to help her. His shaking hands searched for a pulse as Robert tried to assess her injuries that seemed to be everywhere.

"Oh God." Robert muttered as he pulled off her shirt to reveal the huge gash that was on her lower back.

"Call for the paramedics!" Carter yelled as he tried to feel for an airway through the blood that was pooling in her mouth and down her throat. Robert grabbed the hotel phone on the end table next to him and dialed the operator.

"Call 911! We need paramedics now!" He yelled into the phone and hung up. Both men were trying to keep their cool and failing. They both knew that if they panicked now she was dead. Max was still crying and kept trying to protect Lexie from what he thought was them hurting her but they did nothing but ignore him. Robert's mind was working at the maximum rate and a sudden concern for the child was unthinkably normal for him. He had never liked kids. Ever. And even Carter looked up as Robert took Max in his arms and tried to calm him.

"Max, you need to stop and listen to me." For some reason Robert's voice seemed soothing to him and he stopped and looked at him wide eyed. "She needs our help right now and you need to stop and let us help her. Can you do that?" Max nodded. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Robert's voice was almost a coo. Max shook his head. "Ok, then please let us help her." Max stood back and continued to cry but didn't try to stop them.

Lexie started to cough as John's fingers cleared her throat as best he could. The coughing was turning into a gagging sound and Carter turned her on her side as the blood poured out of her mouth.

The pounding started on the door and Robert leaped up to answer it. The paramedics invaded the room. Lexie had been lucky. The men had been at the restaurant across the street eating dinner when they got the call.

"What have we got?" One paramedic asked as the other two started an IV and assessed her most relevant injuries.

Both men shook their heads. What had happened was the one question they both wanted answered but it seemed irrelevant until they knew she would all right. The paramedics loaded her onto the stretcher and Carter followed them out. Robert didn't even stop to think, he grabbed Max into his arms and ran out after them.

Robert set Max down in one of the hard plastic chairs in the ER waiting area. The irony of the whole situation was mind blowing. He would have laughed if he thought for a second it was funny but as it was all he could do was stand in the waiting room of the hospital that their lives together had started in and wait. Someone walked through the trauma room door and as the door opened he saw a flash of her. She was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and machines, all of which he had used a million times but couldn't remember a single name of one of them. What if something happened to her? What if her injuries were too much and she couldn't fight? He felt a wave of guilt mixed with fear wash over him as he thought of the baby for the first time. As a doctor he knew that there was a good chance that the baby wouldn't make it. The father that he had found himself becoming wanted to hit himself for thinking it. They would both make it; they had no choice but to.

Being on the other side of the doctor patient role was not like anything Carter had ever experienced. He had seen it a million times, a family waiting eagerly for word on their loved ones condition but had never known what it felt like to sit there helplessly and do nothing. He was sure that the doctors were doing everything they could to fix her but the selfish side of himself wanted to be in there to make sure that they were doing it right. His mind was trying to understand what could have happened. He had never made it a secret that he didn't like Romano. He was the worst kind of doctor, a good one. He had always been such an ass to everyone, never caring about anything or anyone other than himself. That all changed the minute his sister had walked into the ER that night. Everyone had seen a side of Romano that no one knew existed and Carter had wondered if maybe he would become human, but he hadn't, with everyone except Barbara. He truly seemed to worship the ground she walked on and Carter had found himself respecting a small part of Romano despite his resistance. Carter had thought a million things about Romano over the years but he couldn't imagine that he had done this to his sister. The problem with his brain agreeing was the fact that it was the only scenario that made any sense. Romano had said that he had to take a breather, so they had been fighting. But John couldn't believe it was the truth. Something about it didn't make any sense.

Jason Hubert had been having a bad day. The ER was filling up quicker than they could get them streeted and they were piling up. He walked into the lounge to get his first cup of coffee of the day and he had been there almost 7 hours. He was just adding the forth packet of sugar when Dr. Chapman walked in.

"Jason, we have a trauma coming in that you need to handle."

Jason turned around and glared at the old man. He needed to retire and Jason would have preferred if he chose to do it that day.

"Ed, I need a minute." He said through gritted teeth. He understood that Senior Attending was a great honor for him to have received but he was sick of being the go to guy.

"I know Jason, but just take this one and you can have a break. We are getting slammed out there." Jason took a deep breath and threw his coffee in the trash.

"What do we have?" He asked as he pulled on the gloves the nurse handed him as he met the paramedics.

"35 year old female, unsure cause of injury." The younger paramedic spouted off as they pushed her down the hall.

"I would say she got the hell beaten out of her. Five bucks says that the husband did it." The other paramedic joked and Jason finally looked down at the patient and his heart rate sped up. He knew her.

"Get Dr. Chapman in here now!" He yelled as they pushed through the trauma room doors.

"Dr. Romano?" Jason asked as he walked out into the waiting room looking for Lexie's family.

"Hubert?" Robert questioned in an exhausted voice as John stood up next to him.

"Yes sir. Are you here with Lexie?" He questioned and Robert nodded. Jason gestured to them back towards the trauma room, stopping just outside the doors. John stared at his sister on the table. He hadn't cried yet although this sight was enough to push him over the edge. She looked like she was dead and John swore to himself that if this doctor told them that they had done everything they could do, he would kill him right where he stood. An older man came in and looked down at her with such compassion that John wanted to hug him. The man touched Barbara's cheek and John's breath caught as her hand moved to touch his. She was awake. He pushed through the doors and walked in to her. Jason went to stop him but Robert let him go in.

"So she is going to be fine?" Robert questioned and Jason nodded. "And the baby?" Jason looked over the chart.

"Everything seems to be fine. We found a strong heartbeat and he seemed to be healthy as a horse."

Robert grinned. "He?" Jason looked up and realized that he had just given away the sex of the baby.

"You didn't know the sex did you?" Robert shook his head. "Great." Jason muttered and Robert shook his head and walked into the trauma room. Carter was holding Lexie's hand and talking to her softly.

"Tell me Barbi." Lexie shook her head and closed her eyes. "Barbara." She said nothing. "Barbara!" She opened her eyes and looked at him. Robert walked around to the other side of the bed and she looked at him. He had tears in his eyes that he was doing everything he could to not let them fall but they started to fall anyway. She tried to smile at him but her face was too sore. "Barbi!" John said with an amount of force. He didn't want to have to ask her if it were Romano, it would break his heart if she said yes.

"Tell him Lex." Robert said quietly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Landon." She whispered. John nodded and walked out the door. Robert walked after him and grabbed his shoulder to turn him around.

"No Carter." Robert said in a hushed tone and Carter looked at him like he was crazy.

"You want me to sit back and let him get away with this again?" He couldn't believe that he wasn't out there with him gathering a search party and lighting the torches.

Romano shook his head. "Stay with your sister." His voice reminded Carter of a growl. Romano turned and went back into the room with Lexie. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead and walked past Carter and out the door.