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Chapter 34

That quick nap that Elizabeth planned on didn't happen until seven a.m. when she simply fell asleep leaning on the wall. Epiphany shook her awake and sent her to the on call room for a blissful ninety minutes of uninterrupted sleep. Epiphany said she didn't have to be back until nine. When Liz woke she grabbed a shower in the locker room and some clean clothes. Like most of the staff she kept an extra set of underwear, socks, and scrubs in her locker although showering at the hospital was not something she liked to do. It left her feeling vulnerable.

She was sitting at her locker when Em joined her. "They are sending me home at noon, since I'm scheduled to work tomorrow." The hospital would try to get back to its normal schedule as quickly as possible.

"Where are you?" Elizabeth was going back to the ER.

"I'm in the ER with you." Emily would be relegated to minor injuries and stitch work. Since she wasn't a surgeon or trauma trained she got grunt work.

"Hopefully it will be quiet." Elizabeth said dreaming of a large coffee. Last night had been brutal. When they said bus crash they neglected to mention that two coach buses collided. General Hospital got the bulk of the injured because they had the highest rated trauma center in the area.

At least one hundred people had come through, because not only had the buses collided, but the collision caused a ripple effect as other cars tried to avoid the large vehicles. Patients were triaged and moved through the ER quickly, but when the ORs filled up they had to start treating patients in the trauma rooms. Elizabeth had ended up doing minor surgery on several patients because the doctors were busy. Mercedes had been right there with her.

"I need to call home." Her guys should be up by now.

"Me too." Emily said as she pulled out her phone and moved to another bench.

Elizabeth dialed home. "Hi."

"Hey, baby." Jason was stretched out on the couch. They were officially breaking in the new den. Johnny was across the coffee table, on another section of the couch, also on the phone. "How did it go?"

"Good. We didn't lose too many." Most people who died did so en route to the hospital. "How are things at the house?"

"Good. Cameron was a little worried this morning but Charlie settled him down." Jason knew that was what she was concerned about.

"Good." She was so happy that Cameron was trusting Jason. "I'm not sure when I'll be home." More than likely she wouldn't be asked to work an entire shift.

"Have you eaten?" Jason wanted to know. "Or slept?"

"Yes and yes." Just barely though. When she got home she was probably going to crash.

Jason wasn't fooled he knew those yeses barely qualified. Enough food and rest to keep her conscious. "Hold on. Cam, mommy's on the phone."

The little boy ran over. "Mommy, Ben is here and we are playing with Charlie." He told her excited. Still he kept his voice low enough that his uncle wouldn't hear.

"Are you being gentle?" Elizabeth asked laughing.

Cameron nodded.

"She can't see you nodding buddy." Jason said laughing.

"Yes, we are gentle. Daddy bought Charlie toys. She likes the fuzzy thing on the rope the best. We run and she chases it." Cameron liked that one too.

"Okay, just remember Charlie is still a baby so she will need to rest. Did you give her water?" Elizabeth wanted to know.

"Uh-huh and food. Daddy helped me. I have to go." Cameron gave the phone to his dad and ran back to play.

"I guess he got tired of talking." Jason said laughing. Ben did that to him all the time.

"Yeah. I'll try to call again later." Elizabeth was missing them. Working weekends sucked.

"I'll send you a picture when you hang up. Have a good day baby." Jason said softly.

"You two have fun." Elizabeth said before hanging up. She walked over and sat by Emily just as her phone buzzed. "Look." It was a picture of Cameron, Ben, and Charlie.

"I'm gonna send a text to Jason. I want a copy of that. So that's the cat." Emily had heard all about her from Ben during their brief chat.

"Charlie." Elizabeth said grinning.

"She's freaking cute. Look at those big eyes." Emily just sighed. "Johnny mentioned filling out paperwork. I think we are getting a cat too."

"You don't like pets?" Elizabeth asked her friend. Some people didn't.

"I do. Grandmother has a beautiful dog. I just like things to be neat." Emily said shrugging. "I'd rather have a cat than a dog." She couldn't help her neat freak tendencies.

"Hey you two." Monica came over. She had just finished an emergency surgery.

"Look." Elizabeth held up her phone.

"Oh my goodness. Send me that picture. Both my grandbabies and a cat." Monica looked at Elizabeth.

"Charlie. Jason got her for Cameron." It still left her humbled at how quickly the Quartermaines accepted her son. They saw him as equal to Ben.

"Jason is going to spoil Cameron. I need to sit my son down and tell him that's my job." Monica said smiling. "When do you get yours?" She asked her daughter laughing.

"Probably tomorrow." Emily wasn't going to fight it. She hoped they had one like Charlie.

"We need to get to the ER." Elizabeth said standing.

"I'll see you two later then." Monica had the rest of the day off. Alan was somewhere in the hospital so she'd track him down and see if he could leave too. Her phone buzzed and looking down she saw that Elizabeth had forwarded the picture. She couldn't wait to show the family.

The ER was blissfully quiet when Elizabeth and Emily walked in. Since it was a weekend and most family doctors were off the silence wouldn't last. In the last two hours everything would have been restocked and cleaned to get ready for the new day. They would have a small staff because almost everyone else was either gone or sleeping. Hopefully the craziness would hold off another few hours.

"So you decided to join us." Leyla snarked from behind the desk. "Only two hours late."

"I'm not late." Elizabeth really didn't need this. In her sleep deprived state she was more likely to say something that would get her in trouble.

"The schedule says seven not nine." Leyla would make sure Elizabeth got written up.

"Nurse Webber was here all night." Epiphany said from behind Elizabeth. "Where were you?" The head nurse asked.

"I wasn't on call last night." Leyla responded.

"Neither was I." Elizabeth couldn't believe Leyla. The nurse consistently did only what she had to, and nothing more.

"The hospital sent out an emergency alarm." Mercedes had heard that last statement as she walked up. "I have this Piph." The head nurse was needed on the wards. She would be filling in any gaps the staff shortage caused. "That means you come in whether you are on call or not. Nurse Webber worked all night and was told to get some sleep, that's why she is reporting now. Not because she was late. I'll have your write up filled out by the end of the shift. Go stock the trays." Mercedes ordered when she finished dressing down Leyla. "Are you rested enough to be here?" She asked Elizabeth. The younger woman had been extraordinary last night.

"I am." Elizabeth appreciated the support, but she knew that some of her co-workers were going to spin this as the new assistant head nurse backing the wife of a board member. "Any more causalities?"

"Surprisingly not." Mercedes had been impressed by the entire staff's response. The military couldn't have done it better.

"This is not the first disaster in Port Charles." Emily spoke up handing Elizabeth a cup of coffee. "We know what to do in a crisis."

"Hopefully we won't have to pull that training out too often." Mercedes looked around. "Dr. Ford is sleeping so until he returns Dr. Julian is in charge."

"He's good." Elizabeth liked working with Leo. The man had a wicked sense of humor.

"From what I can tell there are a lot of good doctors and nurses here. A few not so good ones as well." Mercedes needed to figure out what to do about Leyla. Not only was she lazy, but she was toxic too. Workers like her drove workers like Elizabeth away all too often. "Okay ladies, finish your coffee and we'll face the day." The bay doors opened and the paramedics came running in.

"Or not." Elizabeth said putting down her cup and running over.

By noon it was clear that the shift was going to be a slow one. Something everyone was grateful for. Julian cut Emily when two fellows and four residents showed up. Mercedes cut Elizabeth when Nadine arrived. The assistant head nurse intended to put Leyla through some paces and wanted Elizabeth gone while that happened.

The two women were driven home by their guards. Kyle and Max had shown up at eight to relieve the overnight guards. "Everyone is at my place." Elizabeth said as they stepped off the elevator. "I called ahead and Jason said lunch would be waiting."

"Good I'm starving, and I'm dying to see the construction." Penthouse one had been rolled into penthouse two when Sonny owned it. That was why it was so large.

"It looks good. We will have to have a movie night soon. Nadine might like to come. Should I invite Maxie and Diane?" Elizabeth asked hanging up their jackets.

"Sure, I'll even play nice with Maxie." Emily would try.

"Why don't you like Maxie?" Elizabeth wanted to know.

"She was a bit of a troublemaker when she was younger. Being sick made her act out. She had Francis ready to pull his hair out. We started off on the wrong foot, and never really recovered. She thinks I'm a goody two shoes and a know it all. I think she's a bitch and a diva." Emily said shrugging. "We do better with space. Make sure you invite Georgie too." Emily said putting the subject of Maxie away.

"Okay then." Elizabeth led the way to the newest part of the house. "I need to get a dining room table. I want to have the family over." She said as they walked into the den.

"You're home." Jason said smiling. Coming over he gave his wife a soft kiss. "Tired?"

"Yeah." She said leaning into him. "Hungry too."

"Come on, lunch is in the kitchen. The boys are napping." Jason said enjoying having her close. He hadn't slept well with her out of the house.

"Where's the fur ball?" Emily asked from the circle of Johnny's arms.

"Wait till you see her." Johnny was already smitten.

As if on cue Charlie trotted in. With a meow she greeted the group and purring rubbed against Elizabeth's legs. She knew her people. Scooping the soft body up Elizabeth showed her to Emily. "This is Charlie."

"Even cuter in person." Emily gave the cat a scratch and earned a new friend. "Alright I give. We can get one." How could she resist?

"Good." Johnny pulled out his phone. "This is Cera, we can pick her up when our paperwork clears on Tuesday." After breakfast Johnny had caved and they all trooped over to the shelter. He filled out the paperwork while Ben picked a cat. Another Scottish Fold with tucked in ears. Their cat was grey and white with a bit of black thrown in.

"Cera?" Emily looked at another pair of big eyes.

"Triceratops." Johnny had tried to talk Ben into a non-dinosaur name, but it wasn't happening. Cera was the compromise.

"Did you get her cat stuff?" Emily wasn't at all surprised at the dinosaur name.

"Its next door." Johnny said grinning. He had been worried she was going to kill him.

Elizabeth just giggled. "I guess I owe you." They had a bet going. Emily knew that her husband would have picked out a cat by the time they got home.

"You do." Emily said rubbing her hands together.

"Is this going to be painful?" Elizabeth asked starting to worry. Emily wouldn't ask for money because she didn't need it.

"What are the terms of the bet?" Jason asked his wife.

"Winner's choice." Elizabeth told him.

"Never take those terms." Johnny said shaking his head. "It never ends well." His girl was devious.

"She's family, I'll be nice." Emily said insulted. "I want to know what's in the potatoes."

"What?" Johnny looked confused.

"The first night Elizabeth stayed over she cooked. Her potatoes taste like yours." Jason explained to his best friend. "She wouldn't tell us what was in them, because you never did."

"Sorry." Elizabeth said smiling at Johnny. "Although I'm guessing we don't use exactly the same thing." He probably used crème fraiche because of his European upbringing. "I use sour cream."

"That's it?" Jason said surprised.

"That's it." Elizabeth told him.

"You too?" Jason asked Johnny.

"He nodded. Or crème fraiche." Johnny admitted. Sour cream was less expensive which is probably why Elizabeth used that instead.

"Something so simple." Jason would try it the next time he made potatoes. "Come on let's get you guys some food and we can plan the rest of the day."

They stayed in because the boys wanted to play with Charlie. The O'Briens left at seven and Jason did bath time. When he carried a pajama clad Cameron out of his bathroom, Elizabeth was curled up on his bed asleep. "Mommy's tired." Jason whispered.

"Her worked a lot." Cameron said yawning.

"Let's get you in bed too." Jason took the warm child down the hall. He got under the blankets and Charlie jumped up to join him. By the time Jason finished the story they were both asleep. He gave his son a kiss on the forehead before heading back to his room.

Elizabeth hadn't moved. With a chuckle Jason took off her shoes and retrieved a t-shirt from his closet. With the large shirt covering her he peeled off her jeans and removed her blouse before tucking her under the blankets. He showered and got changed. Going downstairs he made sure the door was locked before turning off all the lights and heading to his room. Slipping under the blankets he placed his head on the pillow and watched his wife sleep. The last thing he saw before slipping into sleep was her beautiful face. It was the perfect way to end the day.

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