It took about an hour to get from the airport parking lot to County General, and the twins were silent most of the trip, with Tess reading a book and Kate sleeping off the airplane ride. Doug had the sneaking suspicion that something had been planned in the ER for their arrival by Mark. He was constantly checking his messages along the trip, and seemed like he was hiding something whenever Doug tried to engage him in a conversation about who would be on duty when they arrived. Tess was eager to go inside and see where her parents worked before she was born. The twins had both been to the hospital Carol worked at and seen their father's office, often decorating it with their paintings and drawings; so a hospital was nothing new or scary for them.
"Mommy, I was born here right?" Tess asked loudly. "I was, right and Kate was born somewhere else, right?"
"Indoor voices, Tess," Carol said, putting a hand softly on Tess' arm to achieve the desired calming affect. "You were born in the ER, but Kate was born in the same hospital, just a different part of it."
"But I was born first, right?" she asked in a loud whisper. Not receiving an immediate response, she asked again loudly, "Mommy? I was born first, right?"
"Tess!" Carol chided. "What did I just tell you about indoor voices? I was looking for something in my backpack; you don't need to yell, okay?"
Tess sniffled, her lower lip quivering. "But I just wanted to know if I was born first or Kate and you didn't have to get mad and it's not fair I have to be quiet because of Kate and I just wanted to know and you said I should be quiet and I was and you didn't answer me!"
That was when the dam broke and tears flowed freely out of Tess' wide eyes as she wailed, waking up her sister and prompting Elizabeth to ask if they should stop for a bit so everything could be figured out. After assuring Elizabeth that this was nothing out of the ordinary, Carol calmed Tess down with an apology and by answering her question, "Yes, Tess you were born first."
"So I'm the big sister, right?" Tess asked, trying to figure out a good volume for her voice after calming down.
"Yes, you are the big sister, Tess." Carol replied, looking to Doug for help in dealing with the two girls who would no doubt cause a commotion in the ER. They pulled up to the hospital and Doug opened the van door as Mark and Elizabeth got out. "Kate, do you want to walk in like a big girl or do you want me to carry you?"
"Carry me Mommy! Carry me!" Tess insisted, after realizing that it would mean Kate wouldn't be leading the way through the big glass doors with her.
Kate began to cry slightly and put her arms out to Carol, who pulled her hair into a partial ponytail before pulling her out of the van. "Kate, we're just going into the ER, it's just like where I work in Seattle, and you're going to get to see all Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth's friends, okay?"
"Carry me too!" Tess insisted again.
"I can't right now sweetie, but your Daddy could carry you if you want." Carol said, holding onto Kate and rubbing her back.
"No! I don't want to get carried like a baby! Me and Daddy are going to walk in, aren't we?" she asked Doug, placing her small hand in his.
"That's right Tess, we don't need no Mommy's to carry us!" he said with a warm smile as they followed Mark through the doors. "Wow, this place sure has changed, hasn't it?"
"Well, you have been away for over half a decade, Doug." Mark said, giving his best friend a punch in the arm as he led the group to the lounge. "Hello? Is there anybody in here?"
"Mark, if you're going to throw us a surprise party you're going to have to be a little less obvious then that." Doug said, chuckling as they headed towards the dark room.
"SURPRISE!" The group of doctors and nurses shouted as the six walked into the room. Tess' eyes grew large as she saw the enormous sheet cake sitting on the table.
"Daddy look! They got us a cake!" Tess exclaimed, completely bypassing the fact that there were tons of 'new' faces just waiting to meet her.
Not to be outdone by her twin, Kate chose that moment to whimper, "Mommy my tummy feels bad."
Hugs and greetings would have to wait for Carol who was already halfway out the door as Kate finished the sentence. As she disappeared into the ladies room, Doug was happy to get hugs and kisses from Chuny, Haleh, Carter, Susan and most of the rest of the ER staff. When it came to Kerry he awkwardly stuck out his hand, and she took it. "Good to see you again Doug. And who is this? Tess?"
"That's me!" Tess said, holding onto Doug's leg with one arm as she looked at the metal crutch attached to Kerry's arm she said, "What's that thing for?"
Everyone laughed nervously, watching this interaction but Kerry answered simply, "It helps me walk."
"Oh." Tess thought for a moment before offering some helpful advice, "My Daddy's a doctor. He can fix it. Go fix it Daddy."
"Tess, we're on vacation remember? I'm not supposed to fix people on vacation or Mommy might get mad." He said, with a wink to Kerry. It had been a few minutes since Carol had fled the room with Kate, and Tess was having a great time explaining her adventures from Seattle to Chicago to her rather captive audience, but Doug was feeling impatient and concerned. Seeing the concern on Doug's face, not wanting to interrupt the others who were back to work or enjoying Tess' stories; Kerry pulled Doug aside for a moment.
"Do you want me to go check on them?" she asked. Seeing Doug wince and try to cover it up she confronted him, "Doug, it's been 6 years… I delivered your daughter… trust me."
Doug scratched his head, knowing that it would be prudent to let her go check on his wife and daughter, "Sure, that would be nice, thanks Kerry."
"Carol?" Kerry asked, knocking on the door as she opened it, not sure what she'd find. "Carol, is everything okay in here?"
"Kerry?" A strained voice asked. As she walked into the room, lined with stalls she saw a dark haired girl seated on a counter as her mother wiped at her face with a wet paper towel.
"Hi," she said to the unhappy looking child. She was amazed at how much both girls looked like Carol, she'd seen it first in Tess, but with identical twins, often times she didn't notice the distinct similarities until she began to analyze their differences in order to be able to tell them apart. "You don't look like you feel too good. Could I see?"
Carol was about to object, but Kerry had already moved over to Kate, feeling her forehead and the back of her neck. "We had a rough flight, and now we're feeling just a little bad in our tummies, huh Kate?"
Kate nodded silently as Kerry continued to examine her. "I bet you'd feel a lot better if your mommy let a doctor take care of you."
"Kerry really, you don't have to. Doug is…"
"Carol, this is a hospital full of doctors, just let someone take a look at her to be sure." Kerry said in her overbearing, patronizing and somewhat dismissive way.
"Does your tummy feel any better?" she asked her daughter. With an affirmative nod, she picked Kate up said, "Is Susan around?"
"Sure, I think she's at the desk, Carol." Then turning back, "Would you like me to tell Doug?"
"Oh, no. No, don't worry about it Kerry… thank you, but I don't want to pull him away from everyone. It's been so long since we've seen you all." She sighed, "And Tess needs all the supervision she can get."
"Hey Carol," Susan said with a friendly smile as Carol approached the once familiar desk, "And who is this big girl?"
"This is Kate, and she's got a little tummy ache from the plane," Carol said, shifting Kate to give Susan a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Kerry suggested I have her checked out."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Susan said with a sarcastic tone in her voice as she led Carol over to a bed. Carol set Kate down, who wasn't the least bit interested in protesting the actions for once. "Kate, my name is Dr. Lewis and I'm a friend of your Mommy and Daddy's; can you tell me where it hurts?"
Kate shook her head and waited for the next question. She knew how doctors' appointments went; the doctor asked where it hurt and no matter what you told them they always gave a shot or stuck a thermometer somewhere it didn't belong.
"Kate, it's okay, this is my friend Susan and she's really nice. If you want to feel better, she can help you; and maybe if you feel better we can have some of that cake that Tess saw in the lounge." She paused, waiting for a reaction. "What do you think?"
Kate looked at her mother silently, her big brown eyes threatening to overflow once again with tears. She knew she had to obey her mother's instructions, but didn't like the idea that she was being forced to have a doctor's appointment. "It feels bad in my tummy and my head."
"Your head too, sweetie?" Carol asked, now much more concerned then previously. "Does your head hurt like bonking it into something, or does it feel bad like when you spin around too much?"
"Like spinning too much," she quietly admitted. She wasn't sure what kind of shot she was going to get, but at that moment she wished she was back home in Seattle and she and Tess had just spun around in their puffy dresses before church.
"Okay Kate, we're just going to take your temperature…" Susan began, and then laughed as Kate's hands flew to her backside, "This one goes in your ear, sweetie."
Doug came over just as Susan put the thermometer in Kate's ear. Tess was happy sitting in the lounge with her piece of cake and telling Haleh, Chuny and Mark all about her life in Seattle. Every detail needed to be covered from her teacher's dogs name to what color the tiles in the bathroom were. "Hey babe, what's going on with Miss Kate?"
"Doug, where's Tess?" she asked immediately.
"She's fine, Carol, she's with Haleh, Mark and Chuny; talking their ears off of course. She's got a piece of cake, she should be happy for at least another 20 minutes." Dough joked.
"101.5 ((38.6 Celsius)), looks like someone has got a fever." Susan interjected. "I think you've got a little case of gastroenteritis on your hands, guys."
"Carol, why don't you go see everyone in the lounge, I'll take care of this little monkey." Doug said, giving her a smile and a kiss.
"It's good to see you again Doug," Susan smiled as she finished up with Kate. "I'd say don't be a stranger, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of you. Let's just hope it's in a good way, right?"
"Carol! Hey girl, how's Kate?" Chuny asked, giving her a big hug and a piece of cake.
"Mommy, look I got cake! Can I give some to Kate too and to Auntie Elizabeth?" Tess asked, a big grin on her face, along with crumbs and frosting at the corners of her mouth and somehow on her nose.
"That's great, Tess. Auntie Elizabeth had to go to work, and your sister isn't feeling so good, but it was sweet of you to think of her." Carol said, brushing Tess' hair back from her face. "So, what have you guys been talking about?"
Carol couldn't help snickering as Tess launched back into her lecture on all things Seattle, and took a seat next to Haleh who immediately asked what Kate had, "Just stomach bug, nothing serious."
"What a way to start a vacation." Haleh teased.
"You have no idea," Carol whined, "I'm just waiting for Tess to get it. Then she'll give it back to Kate who will return the favor; it's just a never-ending cycle with these two."
"Well you know that anytime you and Doug need a little alone time, we'd be happy to keep them busy." Haleh said with a grin.
"Yah, I'm sure we can spare 15 minutes every now and then!" Chuny laughed, giving Carol a little jab.
"What's 15 minutes for?" Tess asked innocently, not understanding the joke.
"Nothing baby, don't worry about it." Carol said quickly before giving her friends little jabs and collapsing back in laughter. "You know I'm going to hold you to that."
"Well, as long as the 15 minutes isn't right now…" Haleh trailed off as the room had become almost completely empty with people needing to get back to work.
"So Carol, should we hit up DocMagoo's for a little dinner?" Mark asked. It was nearly 7pm and despite the piece of cake he'd just eaten, he was definitely hungry. That and he'd promised to pick Rachel up at 7:30 from her friend Gina's house.
"You know what Mark, I think it's a little early to eat for us we're still on Seattle time; and I'd really like to just get Kate to bed." They were subletting the furnished apartment next door to Mark and Elizabeth for the summer and could only hope it had been decorated with young children in mind.
"No problem Carol, why don't you and Tess get all ready to go and I'll go find Elizabeth. She said she was just going to finish up some paperwork." Mark said as he walked towards the door.
"Thanks Mark," Carol smiled, grabbing a napkin to wipe the mess off of Tess and cleaning up the plates with cake crumbs. One thing that definitely hadn't changed was the willingness of ER staffers to dive into a cake party. The cake, which once read, 'Welcome Home Hathaway-Ross Family' now merely said, 'ome Ho ay-Ro'. Smiling to herself, she wondered if the message wasn't meant to entice them to remain in Chicago and come back to the ER, but had to remind herself that she loved Seattle and it was all her girls really knew.
"Okay kiddo, you ready to go and see where we're going to live for the next three months?" Carol asked Tess who was bouncing off the walls after her piece of cake.
"Then can we going to the park or the zoo or the movies?" Tess asked, excited and jumping on the couch. Carol grabbed her hand and helped her hop off the old couch, then kept a good grip as she was dragged out the door by her overly excited child.
"Okay guys, we'll see you later! Thanks so much for the welcome back," Carol said as she waved to her former coworkers. "Say thank you, girls."
"Thanks for my cake! Bye!" Tess called as she skipped out the door with Carol in tow.
"Kate says thank you too," Doug whispered as he carried his sleeping daughter out of the ER, wondering what Mark had planned for them later.