"Daddy!" Ella exclaimed excitedly as Elizabeth carried her into Mark's oncology suite.
"Hey baby." Mark smiled as he saw his wife and daughter. "I missed you." He said to them both, kissing Elizabeth as he took Ella from her.
"How's the titration?" Elizabeth asked him gently, rubbing his arm to reassure him.
"Better than yesterday." Mark admitted with a smirk. "I think most of the nausea yesterday was from the chemo, not the Amunyx."
"Good." Elizabeth said, taking a seat in the recliner next to Mark's bed. "I took Rachel to the airport this morning."
Mark nodded. "Thank you." He said earnestly. "I know you think I'm giving up."
Elizabeth shrugged. "I'm not going to fight you on this. She's your daughter."
"Normally I would want to talk about this more, but I am so exhausted…" Mark replied with a smile.
"Do you think it's the Amunyx?" Elizabeth asked, immediately concerned.
Mark shrugged. "I have no idea." He admitted. "I'm not showing any of potentially severe symptoms, but neither have any of the other patients. We just have to make sure I'm not the super lucky one."
"Mark." Elizabeth stopped him, the tone in her voice indicating she didn't find the conversation amusing.
"Sorry." He apologized immediately. "Too morbid?"
"Just a touch." Elizabeth replied, laughing as Ella grabbed onto Mark's glasses. "Sweetie, don't." She took the glasses from her daughter's hands. "We don't need broken glasses on top of everything else."
Mark rolled his eyes. "What do I have to see anyway?" He asked with a smirk. "That wall has been the same color of beige for the last three days."
"Ella do you want to show Daddy?" Elizabeth suddenly asked, pulling a large manilla envelope from the diaper bag.
"Yes, yes!" Ella replied excitedly. "Look Daddy!" She insisted as she grabbed the envelope from her mother.
Mark laughed as he helped his daughter open the envelope, causing several pieces of construction paper to fall out. "What are these?" He asked her with interest as Ella began to lay the pictures out carefully around the bed.
"Pictures!" Ella exclaimed.
"Did you draw all of these?" Mark asked, looking at the pictures.
"No." Ella said with a frown. "Tess drew those." Ella said pointing to three pictures at the end of the bed. "Kate drew this." She showed him a picture of a rainbow.
"Did you draw the rest?" Mark asked, looking at one picture in particular.
"Mommy!" Ella grabbed her mother's arm. "Show Daddy!"
Elizabeth laughed before picking up a stick drawing on the side nearest her. "I drew this one." She said, feigning pride.
"It's my favorite." Mark whispered loudly with a smirk toward Ella.
Ella pouted. "What about this one?" She asked, holding up a picture of a house.
"It's also my favorite." Mark assured her with a kiss.
"Ella do you want to help me hang these up for Daddy?" Elizabeth asked her daughter gently, taking a roll of tape from the bag.
"Yes!" Ella replied excitedly, clamoring off the bed.
Mark watched with a smile as Elizabeth helped Ella place each of the pictures on the wall. "They look great Elle." Mark assured his daughter when she looked over at him nervously. "I love it." Ella smiled before running back to him, allowing him to help her back onto his bed. She curled into Mark's arms causing him to smile slightly.
"Do you want to watch something?" Mark asked motioning to the remote next to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm fine."
"Is something up?" Mark asked her curiously. He could tell whatever was on her mind wasn't necessarily bad, but it was obviously taking up her head space.
Elizabeth sighed. "Robert called this morning."
"Oh and what did that troll want?" Mark asked with a laugh.
"Mark!" Elizabeth chided him. "He is my boss." Mark shrugged in response before she continued. "He wants to know if I can come back early. They're prepping for a donor marathon."
"A donor marathon?" Mark asked with interest.
Elizabeth smirked. "Bone marrow donation." She explained quickly. "We're not planning a mass murder if that's what you were thinking."
"Well it would certainly be more exciting." Mark replied with a smirk.
"Apparently there have been thirty whole-matches and ten half-matches for leukemia patients in the oncology unit at both County and Chicago Memorial." Elizabeth explained.
"That's unprecedented." Mark replied, eyebrows cocked in interest.
Elizabeth nodded. "Apparently there was a rally for the child of a rich politician who needed a transplant. They got nearly three hundred people to be tested for donation."
"Wow." Mark replied, his face clearly showing interest.
"And of course Robert has devised a way for this to benefit him, so County is now doing a donor marathon." Elizabeth explained. "I don't even know if I want to go…"
"Elizabeth you should go." Mark interrupted her immediately.
Elizabeth looked at him in confusion. "Mark I would have to leave Friday."
Mark nodded. "You should go."
"I don't want you to think…" Elizabeth tried to protest.
"I know you care about me. I have to stay to finish the titration week and then out-patient observation week, but you don't need to be here." Mark assured her. "You can take Ella and go home early. I promise I'll be alright."
"Mark…" Elizabeth looked at him in confusion, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. "Why do you want me to go?"
Mark sighed. "I know what it's like… to be a cancer patient hoping for a miracle." He said quietly. "You can be part of a miracle for forty people Elizabeth. You can help them in a way that will change their lives forever. Their families lives forever."
Elizabeth looked at him, eyes glistening with tears. "Okay." She finally said. "But I'm coming back. I'm leaving Friday night and I'll be back by Sunday morning."
"You don't have to come back." Mark said with a smirk. "I will be fine."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't leave you here alone." She insisted. "I know you're just doing basic checks next week, but I want to be here."
"Fine. You get to go be a hero over the weekend and I'll stay here with Ella." Mark replied with a smile. "Someone has clearly won the weekend lottery."
"You of course." Elizabeth replied with a laugh. "You get the whole weekend with our amazing daughter."
"Meanwhile you'll be stuck saving lives. What a terrible fate." Mark teased.
"I just don't know how I'll manage."
"Ella sweetheart I have to finish packing." Elizabeth said to her daughter, obviously frustrated as she lifted her from her suitcase for the fourth time.
Ella pouted as she was set on the floor. "Don't go." She whimpered quietly.
Elizabeth sighed. "I have to go into work for a couple of days." She said gently as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "I'll be back before you know it." She assured her before moving to fold the clothing sitting on the bed. She continued to juggle packing and entertaining her daughter until Carol knocked on the door to the bedroom.
"Hey." Carol greeted the two of them, taking Ella from Elizabeth. "The taxi will be here in about ten minutes."
Elizabeth groaned before zipping up her suitcase. "Remind me why I'm choosing to spend half of this weekend traveling and the other half in surgery?" She requested, leaning back slightly to stretch out her back.
Carol shrugged. "Honestly it's beyond me." She said with a smirk before laughing. "I promise we've got everything taken care of." She said noting Elizabeth's nervous glances towards Ella. "I'll take care of Ella and the girls and Doug is on Mark duty."
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Alright then I guess I'm heading to Chicago." She said before taking Ella back for a moment to hug her gently. "Please be good for Doug and Carol." She whispered quietly into her daughter's hair.
"Momma." Ella whimpered softly. "I wanna go."
Elizabeth shook her head. "This trip is just for Mum." She informed her importantly. "But Daddy is coming home tomorrow morning and you'll get to spend the whole weekend with him."
Elizabeth continued to comfort her daughter until Doug's voice carried through the house. "Elizabeth! The taxi's here!"
"I'll see you in a couple of days." She promised her daughter before gently handing her to Carol.
"Good Luck!" Carol called after her, watching from the window as her friend disappeared into the taxi out front.
"Doctor Corday!" John Carter exclaimed as he saw the surgeon enter through the ambulance bay doors. "How was your break?"
Elizabeth smiled softly. "It's been a welcome break." She admitted with a smile. "You'll have to excuse me I have to get up to Surgery." She excused herself quickly before heading to the elevator.
Once she was in the elevator she looked down at her stomach and sighed. The oversized tunic she was wearing disguised the growing curve of her abdomen, but she knew it would show obviously once she changed into scrubs. She gently rubbed her stomach until the doors slid open revealing more people in the surgery waiting room than she had ever seen.
"Lizzie!" Romano's voice penetrated through the noise of the crowd. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show!"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Good to see you too Robert." She affirmed as she followed him back into the surgeon's lounge. She was surprised to find not only the current County surgical staff, but several previous County surgeons.
"Peter!" She greeted Doctor Benton in surprise. "I thought you swore to never step foot in this hospital again." She teased.
"I thought you were on sabbatical." He replied with a smile. "How are you and Mark?"
"Good." Elizabeth affirmed, not wanting to elaborate. "How have you been?" She asked, trying to shift the focus from herself.
"Also good." He replied with a smile. "I'm sure that's about to change though." He smirked, pointing at Robert who had stood on a table and was vying for the attention of the staff.
"Alright everybody I've divided you all up into surgical teams." Robert began to explain. "We'll be using all six ORs on a continuous rotation. The goal is to perform all forty donor procedures within the next twelve hours, but that does not mean to rush the procedure." He warned before taking the clipboard which Shirley was handing to him. "Alright we have nine teams which will be working throughout the next several hours. You have been put on your teams based on skill level and my personal preference."
Elizabeth snorted softly causing Peter to shush her quietly. "We don't want to get called out." He warned with a laugh.
"Team one is pre-op, they already know who they are but for the interest of the rest of you… Doctor Anspaugh and our standard pre-op nurses will be taking care of donors pre-op. Team two is post-op. Doctor Edson will be with our post-op nurses taking care of all forty post-ops. If Edson pages you, you reply immediately. I will not have any of our donors suffering long-term complications." Robert instructed loudly before carrying on. "Finally our six surgical teams. Each of these teams have been assigned nurses who will meet you in your respective ORs. Be prepared to scrub in for your first procedure at 09:00. Understood?"
Robert waited until he had heard a positive response from the group of doctors before continuing. "In OR one, Doctor Hicks and Doctor Klein. In OR two, Doctor Benton. In OR three, Doctor Keaton and Doctor Wells. In OR Four, Myself. In OR Five, Doctor Morgenstern. In OR Six, Doctor Corday."
Elizabeth sighed when she heard she wasn't assigned an assisting surgeon.
"What did you want help?" Benton asked her with a smirk. "It's just bone marrow."
Elizabeth nodded. "Twelve hours of bone marrow." She replied quietly before realizing she had missed the majority of what Robert had been saying.
"If you have any problems, you can head out the door. I have a team of back-up surgeons on call." Robert said before climbing down from the table and heading out the door.
The lounge quickly filled with noise and Elizabeth sighed. "I have to go." She said quickly to Benton. "I'll see you later." She said before hastily following Robert towards his office. "Robert!" She called after him, barely catching his office door before it closed behind him.
"Lizzie!" He replied in surprise. "I thought you would be pleased to have your own OR today, especially after nearly two months without a single surgery."
She sighed, closing the door behind her. "I didn't realize when I agreed to this I would be preforming twelve hours of uninterrupted surgery."
Robert sat down behind his desk. "You do it constantly for trauma, marrow donation is simple, I have confidence you can handle it."
"I need an assistant." Elizabeth replied, her tone indicating she wasn't there to negotiate.
"No you don't." He replied curtly. "You're the associate chief, and associate chiefs of surgery can handle marrow transplants without a problem."
Elizabeth began to rub her temples gently. "You have to know soon anyway since I'll be needing time off."
Robert cocked an eyebrow. "More time off?" He asked curiously.
"I'm pregnant Robert." She finally managed to confess.
Robert looked taken aback for a moment before he nodded. "Okay." He replied.
"Okay?" Elizabeth questioned, not expecting anything less than a lecture about how she was throwing her career away for children.
"Yes. Don't make me re-evaluate my choice to let you work on this at all." Robert replied curtly.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Thank you Robert." She said, standing to leave the room.
"Don't thank me, thank the law." He replied, not looking up at her.
Elizabeth nodded with a smirk. "Alright, then my thanks go to the law." She said quietly before heading to the scrub room to prepare for her first procedure.
Elizabeth was scrubbing out from her third surgery of the day when Doctor Romano came into the scrub room. "Lizzie I'm doing a press junket in ten with Halsey and her donor, you're the only other surgeon currently scrubbed out so I'll need you to join me."
"Halsey?" She asked in confusion, drying her hands.
"Halsey Short." Robert replied. "The kid of Senator Short… The reason we're doing all of these surgeries."
Elizabeth nodded. "Alright. How long will it last?"
"What?" Robert questioned her as they headed out of the scrub room.
"The press junket." She replied as they walked toward her office.
"Oh, no more than an hour." Robert replied. "We'll be in the press room for oncology, it's much nicer than the surgical one."
Elizabeth sighed. "Alright I'll be there, but I have to call Mark and Ella during this break, so if you leave me now I'll see you in ten minutes."
Robert nodded. "See you then."
Elizabeth waited until the door closed behind him and picked up the phone. She quickly dialed Mark's number and waited.
"Hey hero." Mark's voice filled her ears.
Elizabeth smiled. "Hello." She greeted him. "I was just calling to check-in but I don't have much time."
"They working you that hard?" Mark asked.
"I'm doing a press junket during my break." Elizabeth replied.
"Ah. The joys of working at a County facility." Mark reminisced. "How have your surgeries gone?"
"Well." Elizabeth affirmed. "I've done three marrow extractions, I have two more scheduled."
"Don't overwork yourself." Mark warned.
"I won't." Elizabeth promised him. "I'm sorry to make this so short. I have to get to oncology in five."
"My home away from home." Mark teased her.
"Don't remind me." Elizabeth said tiredly. "I'm not going to make it through this 'cancer miracle' day if I make it personal."
Mark sighed. "Sorry." He apologized. "I love you."
"I love you too." Elizabeth replied with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Chicago County General is thrilled to be involved in such a momentous event in oncologic history. Today so far we have performed fifteen bone marrow extractions in our surgical department. The oncology department has performed nearly fifty PBSC extractions. By the end of today forty bone marrow extractions and one hundred and five PBSC extractions will be conducted. The bone marrow will be delivered to Leukemic patients both here and at Chicago Memorial. The PBSC will be transported to children's hospitals nationwide. For this historic day we have Halsey Short to thank." Robert said before pausing for applause. "Halsey." He ushered her to the microphone.
Halsey was small for her age, she was fourteen but looked as if she were eleven. She stepped onto the stool behind the podium and adjusted the microphone. "Hello everyone, my name is Halsey Short. Many of you know me as the senator's daughter or as Young Miss Chicago. Who most of you don't know me as is the kid with cancer. Last year I was diagnosed with AML, acute myeloid leukemia. After two different recurrences it became clear I wouldn't survive without a bone marrow donation. Unfortunately neither my sister Olivia or my brother Jake were matches. People like me rely on amazing people who decide to take time out of their own lives to donate their bone marrow. Most people don't get to meet their donors but I did." She said with a smile before gesturing to another teenage girl who looked to be about seventeen. "This is Anna." Halsey said with a smile. "She's my whole-match, and I am so happy to get to know her."
Elizabeth was startled when Robert elbowed her. "You're next." He whispered quietly.
She glanced at him, obviously confused. "What?"
"You're doing Anna's marrow donation, Halsey wants to meet you." He replied as if it were obvious.
"So you thought doing it here would be appropriate?" Elizabeth asked him incredulously.
Robert shrugged. "This isn't personal, it's press."
"Is that what you think of these patients? It's all just press?" She asked him, starting to get angry.
"Well yeah." Robert replied with a smirk. "We're getting a huge grant out of this from Short. So go up there, tell some story about how Greene's tumor inspired you to help out, and make sure it looks good."
Elizabeth took a deep breath, trying not to scream. Her eyes flared with anger. She was about to respond when she heard her name. She immediately smiled at Halsey before joining her an Anna at the podium.
"I'm Doctor Elizabeth Corday, I'll be preforming Anna's procedure this afternoon." She said steadily. "Bone marrow donation is an incredibly important resource for children and adults living with Leukemia. I'm honored to be a part of these historic procedures." She looked down at Halsey, seeing her eyes looking up at her expectantly she took a deep breath before continuing. "Cancer is something that affects us all. Everyone knows and loves someone who has or had cancer, and each of us pray for the day when those loved ones find their cure. Today Anna is Halsey's best chance for her own cure, and that is a miracle." She finished quickly before motioning for Robert to take over again as she stepped away from the podium, wiping the tears from her eyes as she turned around.
Robert looked at her, clearly confused. He briefly considered asking her what was wrong but stopped when he realized he was standing in front of a microphone. "Alright Doctor Corday and myself will be taking any questions you have for the next half-hour." He said directly before pointing to the first hand he saw. "Yes sir."
"What risks are there when so many operations are conducted in succession?"
"None whatsoever. Our surgical teams are incredibly competent. Most days we perform surgeries for much longer hours…"
Elizabeth had just finished her last procedure and was making her way to her office when her pager went off. She sighed as she saw Robert's number on the screen, summoning her to his own office. Tiredly she made her way to his office, knocking on the door.
"Come in!" Robert's voice flooded through the door.
"You wanted to see me?" Elizabeth asked him, clearly exhausted.
"Sit down." He replied awkwardly, waiting for her to take a seat. "I just wanted to check-in on how your assistant did today." He quickly lied.
"Fine." Elizabeth replied. "Is that all you need? I'm scheduled to leave in under an hour and I'd like to check on all of my patients in post-op."
Robert glanced at the ceiling, seemingly willing himself to say what was on his mind. "I need to apologize." He finally said.
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "What?" She questioned, her eyes clearly showing she didn't believe he was sincere.
"I put you in a terrible position today. I was not aware of what I was doing and I'm sorry." Robert said quietly. When Elizabeth didn't respond he sighed. "I received a call from Northwestern. They requested a trial patient transfer to our oncology department for long-term care."
Elizabeth stared at her feet, unable to make eye contact. "For Mark."
Robert nodded. "I shouldn't have... I was incredibly insensitive."
Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't want to be treated any differently over this." She requested quietly.
"Are you alright to work next week?" He asked her seriously. "I need to know if I should keep your temporary replacement on staff."
"No." Elizabeth stopped him. "I have to work."
"Alright." Robert replied. "I'll see you next week."
Elizabeth stood to leave and was almost out the door before she turned around. "Please don't tell anyone." She said, obviously concerned. "About Mark I mean… He hasn't told anyone in the ER and I…"
"I won't Lizzie." Robert stopped her.
"Thank you." She replied honestly before heading back to her own office where she found an envelope sitting on her desk.