As she left the private room, Elizabeth was very conscious of an eerie silence which had descended over the normally bustling infirmary. The personnel that were on duty were going on with their work as though they were merely shadows and even the patients weren't kicking up the fuss which her infirmary was faced with on a daily basis. At home Elizabeth would have asked what was going on, but somehow it felt intrusive here and she continued on to John's quarters.

Again, as she was walking through the city she was struck by the vacant expressions on many people's faces and when people thought she wasn't looking, she even observed the odd dirty look in her direction. It seemed apparent that people weren't easily going to forgive the scene she had caused in the mess hall. Even she didn't forgive the scene she had caused in the hall, she could never have anticipated that Doctor Beckett would be there and that Lizzie would go into labour, potentially putting Andrew's life at risk. All that trained diplomacy and political skill had been thrown out of the window, as she knew it would if her emotions really became involved in an issue. It was partly for this reason that she had been avoiding her feelings for John for so long.

When she reached his door, she took a deep breath and slid her hand over the bell. The door was immediately opened to reveal John who looked surprised to see her. She stepped into his room and was immediately greeted by Rodney lying on John's bed. The very bed where she and John had...it didn't bare thinking about.

'Oh hey Elizabeth.' Rodney said in a downbeat tone.

Elizabeth looked over at John for some sort of explanation.

'Him and Meredith have had a bit of a tiff.' John said with a roll of the eyes.

Elizabeth smiled slightly and sat down on the small space that was left of the bed.

'Not as perfect as you first thought?' She asked, trying to sound sincere.

'I don't want to talk about it.' Rodney said, turning over away from her and John.

Elizabeth looked up at John and grinned at Rodney's petulance. Even if she hadn't quite achieved what she came for, at least her spirits had been raised slight, though it was at Rodney's expense. Secretly, she was glad that things weren't going as smoothly with Meredith – hopefully it would mean he'd be back on her side.

'Anyway, I just came to see you were doing okay.' Elizabeth lied as she stood up.

'How are Lizzie and the baby?' John asked.

'Well. Both of them.' Elizabeth said with a smile.

With that, she left the room and headed towards her own quarters. It could wait until morning after all. She flopped down onto her bed and was struggling to get to sleep when a persistent ringing emitted from her door. Hurriedly, she ran over to it, worries of a Wraith attack circulating her mind. She opened it to see John. Crying. She immediately let him fall into her arms and guided him on the bed, where he sat with his head in his hands.

'What is it?' She asked nervously.

She had never seen John like this, so clearly raw and hurting, not even when Aiden Ford had left.

'Carson – he's dead.' He said.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter – it is leading up to more excitement.