A.N. I appreciate hearing from anyone who is still out there following this story. I know it's been a long time since the last update, but you have my word that the final chapter will soon follow.

Chapter 29 - One Life, One Love

After several minutes in the car, Grace looked around trying to get her bearings in the dark and demanded, "Shouldn't we be there already?"

"We're not going to Mercy. I'm taking you to County." Romano answered forcefully.

"You know my OB's at Mercy, Robert. Don't you dare humiliate me by bringing me to County with her in tow. Turn the car around, now!"

"No can do, we're already on the Kennedy."

"What were you thinking? You should have taken the Eisenhower!" She moaned as another contraction hit her hard. After several minutes, Grace piped up again, feeling her contractions coming faster and becoming quite concerned as they had slowed to a grinding halt. "What's wrong? Why aren't we moving?"

"Looks like there's an accident up ahead. Son of a bitch!" Romano barked.

"Could this day get any worse?" Grace said, as tears ran down her cheeks and she was forced to look over at Corday, who was trying her best to be supportive under the circumstances.

"Try not to worry, Grace. I'm sure you have plenty of time. First babies are notorious for taking their time to arrive." She smiled. "When I had Ella…"

"You're right, Elizabeth. What could I possibly have to worry about?" She said sarcastically, cutting her off mid-sentence, determined to halt her water works and lash back at Corday instead. "After all, I'm in labor, trapped on the freeway in a car with the woman who's ruined my life and the man who betrayed me when I needed him the most. I just can't imagine a more blissful setting for me to bring my baby into this world and if my run of good luck continues, I'm going to have this kid on the side of the expressway!"

"Hang in back there, love. I won't let that happen." Romano offered as he kept trying to maneuver the car from one lane to the other in a desperate attempt to make progress, his attention darting back and forth from Grace to the road ahead, while the noise of approaching sirens was nearly deafening.

"Forgive me if I don't feel reassured, Robert. It's just one lie after another with you, isn't it…Oh God!" she blurted, as another contraction interrupted her own rant.

"Grace, you need to focus on your breathing. Now take a couple of deep, slow breaths, yes, that's it…good. You need to try to forget about what transpired earlier. It's really not what you think."

"So you weren't standing in our living room, half-naked, draped all over Robert? Well thank God for clearing that up!"

"Grace, you have to understand, I never meant to hurt you. I had no idea you and Robert were together. I mean really, how could I? You certainly didn't go out of your way to clarify your situation, not even when I offered to be your sounding board a couple of weeks ago."

"Well you'll have to forgive me for not shouting the news from the rooftops, especially to you of all people."

"Well if you had, it might have avoided us all from being in this unfortunate situation now, Grace." She chastised.

"You sure have a back-handed way of apologizing, Elizabeth. Is that how the British do it, by throwing in an insult for good measure?"

"Finally, we're making some headway!" Romano yelled from the front seat as they were past the accident and well on their way to County. "Don't worry, Grace. It won't be long now." He said, as much trying to convince himself as the others. With the noise of the traffic and sirens as they passed the scene of the accident, it was impossible to make out more than bits and pieces of the conversation going on in the back seat, which only added to his anxiety.

Corday continued, "I am sorry, Grace. But you can't blame me for something I had no knowledge of, and it's not as though you're blameless in all this!"

Grace took a couple of short breaths as she focused inwardly, making her way through another painful contraction and then shook her head in disbelief as she spoke to Corday with controlled fury. "Well, I'm sorry too, Elizabeth. I'm sorry Mark died, I am. I'm sorry you moved back to Chicago. I'm sorry your daughter will never know her father and that you're desperately clinging to a life in the past. I'm sorry Robert spent so many years pining for someone who never returned his feelings, treated him like shit most of the time from what I can gather, and that even after all these years, he still has feelings for you. And finally, I'm sorry that the birth of my child has severely hampered your plans for a night of uninhibited lascivious adultery."

Tires squealed as they pulled up to the ambulance bay, and Romano helped Grace out of the car.

Corday tried to jump out of the car, but it was parked too close to the building on the passenger's side. After fumbling with the door to no avail, she had to slide over and get out from the other side. "Grace wait! You need to know! You need to know that he didn't…" Corday trailed off as the ER doors closed with Grace well out of earshot.

Bursting in as only he could do, Romano ordered the staff to immediately find a room for Grace. With trauma 1 free, he soon had her up on a gurney as the ER staff were all buzzing about who had brought Grace in to deliver her baby.

Carter, Chuny and Abby rushed in to look after Grace as Romano barked, "Snap to it Carter, Grace is in a lot of pain here."

"It's okay, John. I don't want any drugs if I can help it." She panted.

"Are you sure? I think Elizabeth here can attest to the wonders of an epidural." He smiled as Corday walked into the room apprehensively.

"Of course, Saint Elizabeth is the expert on everything." She muttered, making it difficult for Carter to hear her.

"Sorry, what?"

"Never mind, I don't want anything!" Grace snapped, and looking up at Corday added, "and can you please get her out of here?"

Bewildered, Abby walked Corday out of the room and watched her head towards the doctor's lounge.

"Dr. Romano?" Chuny said.

"You remember my name." He shot back sarcastically.

"Shouldn't you be leaving too? We've got it all under control in here."

"Oh I'm sorry, did you not get the memo?"

"What memo?"

"The one that says I run the place."

Chuny backed away and exchanged confused looks with Abby, who was on her way back into the trauma room.

Checking Grace's progress, Carter realized the baby was coming much faster than anyone initially anticipated. "Grace, I don't think we have time to get you up to the delivery room."

"No, I can't have my baby down here in the ER, please Carter!"

"Don't you trust us?" He grinned. "Relax you're in good hands." He smiled reassuringly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I know, but…can you at least close the blinds? I feel like I'm the star of a peep show in here." She said, as in nearly every direction, another member of the ER staff was blatantly staring in at her. "Oh, oh, shit…this is a bad one!" She wailed.

"You're doing great, Grace. Here, squeeze my hand." Romano instructed. Carter continued on with the delivery as the rest of the staff seemed completely bewildered. Dr. Romano was the last person they'd expected to see by Grace's side as she delivered her baby and even as it became blatantly obvious as to why he was there, they still couldn't believe it was true.

"I'm liable to crush it, Robert. You'd better let go." She glared at him. The pain of delivery was overwhelming, nothing like she could have ever imagined and it was only exacerbated by the stress of earlier events of the day.

"You're almost 10 cms, Grace. You'll be able to push soon." Carter said.

Abby walked over to help Grace with her breathing. She held a cold cloth on her forehead and tried to make her comfortable. This night was certainly not what Grace had envisioned, but she was relieved to have Carter and Abby by her side.

"Here, I brought you some ice chips." Abby offered, smiling.

"Thanks, Abby. You're the best." Grace replied. Abby winked back at Grace and then bent down to whisper, "It'll all be over soon."

Grace wondered if indeed, everything – good or bad would really soon be over.

"Okay, the baby's crowning. You can go ahead and push, Grace."

Grace pushed hard, grunting through the contraction.

"That was a good one." Carter nodded.

Grace relaxed momentarily, but the pain returned almost immediately. "Oh God, I think another one's coming."

"Keep breathing, Grace. Slow, deep breaths. That's it, good. It won't be much longer."

"If you're lying Carter I'll key your Jeep."

"Scouts honor, I promise. You're in the home stretch Grace."

Romano was intently focused on Grace. "You're doing great, Gracie. You're almost there."

She moaned in pain and reached over to take his hand. After several more pushes, Grace could barely recover in between contractions, as they kept coming nearly one on top of the other.

"I can't, I can't!" She panted.

"Yes you can, Grace. The baby's nearly here. It's almost over."

"You keep saying that!" She yelled. "But I'm exhausted and I haven't any strength left. I can't…I just can't." She began to sob, defeated and feeling as though she was not up to the task. She had never felt so drained in her entire life, and as though she simply couldn't go on.

"You're the strongest woman I know, Grace. You can do this." Romano urged as he looked lovingly into her eyes. "It's time to meet our baby."

Carter jumped in as another contraction began. "Okay, last push, Grace. Take it slow and easy and stop when I tell you so we can get the cord. It's partially wrapped around the baby's neck."

"Oh, God!"

"No it's okay, it's loose, but we just need to remove it slowly." With the final push, the baby was born and the sound of immediate crying was a joy and relief to everyone within earshot.

"It's a girl, Grace. Congratulations!" Carter beamed as the baby cried. "Dr. Romano, do you want to do the honors?" Carter offered.

Romano proudly cut the umbilical cord and lifted the baby up so Grace could hold her.

"She's here, she's finally here and oh, just look at her…she's so beautiful!" Grace cried, completely overcome at seeing her daughter for the first time.

"Just like you." Romano added, as tears flowed down his cheeks as well, and for that matter, there was not a dry eye in the room.

"We did it! I can't believe we have a daughter." Grace beamed.

"You did it all. Everything from morning sickness to labor on the freeway, and delivery without any drugs. I'm completely in awe of you, Gracie. Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Well, she is a pretty big girl." She said, cringing a little as she repositioned herself on the gurney.

"With a fat head, just like the old man. I'm so sorry, Gracie."

"I'm sure I'll feel better in a few days. At least I don't need any stitches."

"No, about Elizabeth. It wasn't my fault. I got home and she was there, somehow, just waiting for me."

"Not now, Robert, please." Grace replied, blinking hard, as she could feel her vision beginning to blur. She tried to focus, first looking down at her baby and then back up towards Abby and Carter who were across the room, giving the new parents some privacy while they updated the chart.

"Yes, now. Right now. You need to listen to what I have to say!"

"I don't want to hear it, Robert! Can't you just let me enjoy this moment? Seeing you two together, it was just like it was with Steven and I…I…I feel like…"Grace suddenly went limp, as her eyes rolled back and Romano grabbed the baby from her arms just in time.

"Grace? Grace!"

Carter looked over and soon jumped into action to try to revive her. "Grace, Grace. Come on, Grace, stay with me!" He shook his head in concern, as he was unable to bring her around. "There's no response to pain."

"Sats are falling, bp is 60/40." Abby added.

"She's hemorrhaging. The placenta's not separating from the uterus."

"She's tachycardic. Let's get some oxytocin on board, she's going into hypovolemic shock!"

"Let's get two more units of saline. Abby, type and cross for four!"

"I've lost her pulse. Get a crash cart in here! We're losing her…"