A/N: Yes this is an RPG, and it started back in August of 2003 and has been going on since then. There have been people who have come and gone but the story line continues to grow and evolve and we've written on this for officially 2 years as of August 25, 2005. We've had fun writting it and are glad to see that other's are now getting to enjoy our "adventure."

Chapter 43

Romano looked at his beeping pager and headed over to the desk. "Ahh, Doug I was wondering how long it would take you to get here. Come walk with me a minute." Romano said as he started to walk deeper into the SICU. "There's something here that I think you will want to see." He stopped in front of a room.

Doug rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood to play any games. "Look, just tell me so I can get back home ok?" he said shortly.

Romano looked at Doug, "Home, yeah sure I'll tell you so that you can just go home, I just spent 9 hours working on saving her and you want to go home" He said getting serious like he was talking to a family member rather than an ER doc, "you should know that after you left, we all thought she was gone, but her heart for some unknown reason decided it was going to spontaneously restart itself." Romano brought his hand up to push the door open, "She's a fighter I'll give her that, so I called in a favor with a neurosurgeon at Mercy who specializes in these kinds of traumatic brain injuries. I don't call in favors for just anyone, and I'll be damned I won't give up on someone who has such a strong will. It's not often I get such a talented and beautiful doctor on my staff. She's alive Doug. Her heart is beating, she's breathing on her own, the EEG showed solid brain activity." He paused a minute to let what he was saying sink in, "She's stable for now but it's touch and go for now, in another 12 hours we will know more where we stand. I can't guarantee that she is out of the woods, and I can't promise that she's going to be the same person she was before all of this happened. We had to crack her when her heart stopped on the table. She's going to be very sleepy for awhile and has a long recovery ahead of her. She comes and goes in and out of consciousness but we have her pretty drugged up. She's alert to person and place however when she's awake. She responds to voice commands and can move a little on her own, she's pretty weak overall but that's to be expected with someone who was injured as badly as she was, but I'll give her credit for being stubborn and fighting her way back to the world of the living. I thought that since you seemed to be her friend you would want to know."

the expression melted off of Doug's face. he could feel the pain coming back into his heart. he tried to look into the room but he couldn't make himself. instead he just stared at Romano and shook his head. this couldn't be real. "I watched her die...I held her hand. so if this is your idea of a sick joke I'm going to beat the..." Doug clenched his fist to keep him from finishing the remark. He wanted to believe that the news he heard was true, but he couldn't get hurt like that again. he shook his head again and leaned against the wall for stability. "I watched her die...it's not possible."

"Look Doug, I might be many things, but I am not cold hearted." He said to him, "I'm telling you the god honest truth, that's Anna laying in that bed, alive."

"All right "Carol said to him. She went to take a shower, a nice hot one, and instead decided to take a bath. She was glad to be back with Doug. She was worried about him. He had seemed down since Anna's death

Carter was trying to focus, on other things but the man had caught him. He didn't know why, but it was scaring him. All he could think about was Abby. Man: you thinking about your woman" He asked him. "Yes, "He told him. what's her name? ""I don't want to give you her name.

Doug stared at him; his feet wouldn't let him move. gradually he got his eyes to drift into the room to the right of him. he saw Anna lying in her bed asleep, the way he had left her. his heart sped up when he saw her chest rise and fall. "my god" he whispered to himself. he put his hands behind the back of his neck. It was some kind of miracle. "is she...umm..." Doug didn't know what to do or say. he had finally made peace with her and now she was back. her letter had changed so much, but he still felt the same for her...conflicted. finally he focused his thoughts enough to ask the question he wanted to. "can i go in?"

"Yeah," Romano said, "I don't see a problem with that. She might like seeing someone else's face besides my handsomeness. Besides, I can't keep such a golden beauty all to myself."

Doug smiled at Romano. He had hated him for such a long time. But seeing him like this, he realized he actually had the ability to be human. Doug took a step to the door and turned around. "Thank you. You're a brilliant surgeon." Doug said sticking out his hand.

"I know I am." Romano said as he shook Doug's hand, "but give her the credit." He turned and walked over, stopping for a minute, "don't you dare tell anyone that I was nice." And continued off to his office to take a nap.

Doug laughed. "Sure thing." He turned and looked at Anna before deciding what to do. He knew their relationship had changed...for him at least. She probably didn't know that he had read that letter. He knew that when she wrote it she didn't plan on seeing him again. He didn't know if. once she got better, he could convince her to stay or what was left between them. Doug was about to walk away when something pulled him into the room. "I'll just see how she's doing." he told himself. "Five minutes max." Doug pushed open the door and walked over to her bed. Noticing that her eyes were closed he grabbed her chart. He could be in and out without her knowing he was even there. He read the notes Romano had written and couldn't believe it. "You must be a miracle." he said out loud. "Maybe Carol was right..."

She could hear a familiar voice in the distance. It was fuzzy to her ears. But she could hear someone saying she must be a miracle. Her eyelids were still heavy and she just didn't feel like making them open. Softly she spoke, "no just stubborn as hell."

Doug winced when he heard her voice. Hearing it brought pain. "You could have won an academy award for that one." he said setting the chart back on the foot of her bed. "I just came to check you're chart. I didn't mean to wake you. Do you need anything before I go?"

"An academy award huh. Not that this was in my plans at all." She shifted her weight on the bed, "oh god that hurt. I won't keep ya; I'm sure your busy with other stuff. Would you just pull that other blanket up here before you leave this place is a fridge."

Doug rolled his eyes. "Yeah...other stuff." He reached down and grabbed the blanket off her feet and spread it out over her chest. He tucked in the corners under her arms. "I'm glad you decided to stay with us. I would have hated you coming back to haunt me." he said with a grin.

"Yeah, I suppose not." She said opening her eyes just long enough to see his grin. She reached out to touch his hand. "No it was Weaver at the end of the tunnel that made me want to run away, and now I owe Romano of all people one."

"Yeah he's a good doctor." he said tucking her in a little more. He stood up straight and stuff his hands in his pockets. He knew he must look like hell. "I'll be back later...feel better ok?" Doug walked to the door and turned back around. "Heh, if Weaver is ever at the end of my tunnel I'll know I'm going to hell." he said with a laugh. He held up his hand to wave goodbye. "Take care."

"Yeah." She quietly replied. As she drifted back into her happy drug induced sleep. Unsure of where she stood, knowing that they all took her for dead. Things definitely weren't the same, she could sense that when he pulled away when she reached for his hand. That she had been dead was hard for her to swallow. Her heart fell when she realized that someone would have probably cleaned out her locker. That she had asked Doug to get stuff out of there for her. The letter, he had to have read the letter knowing that she was leaving. She would deal with everything later; right now she was too exhausted to deal with it.