I am new watching ER - I can't believe I waited this long to begin watching it!
Elizabeth is my favorite character and I watched an episode with Dean Rollins so this is inspired by that. I'm only halfway through season 7, so this takes place as a bit of an AU season 8, or the time between those seasons. Hopefully, I can will fill in the story with more details from the show as I continue to watch it.
Please Comment!
Elizabeth Corday groaned as she glanced beyond her window pane. Overnight, her quaint street had been transformed into a winter wonderland, but it wasn't so wondrous to her. Her mailbox was practically nonexistent, a lone silver streak of its top managing to peek beyond the snow, and her car was relegated to nothing more than a powdery hump. She sighed, realizing that getting to work was going to be a challenge.
The clock on the wall told her it was 5:30 am, just an hour short of her starting shift at the hospital. In any other circumstance, she would cancel her electives and bunker down in the house. But today was a stent implantation on a very wealthy CEO who, Romano had not failed to remind her yesterday, had pledged a very generous donation to the hospital. Barring any delays that is.
Elizibeth bent down to her three month old daughter, bundling a blanket around the gaps in her infant car seat. "Okay mate. Looks like we're gonna have to brave the cold."
She eyed the shovel that leaned against the front door frame. She smiled, knowing Mark had dug it out of the shed and put it there on his way out to work last night.
Things sure can change in five years. If on her flight from England to Chicago so many years ago, someone had leaned over and told her that in Chicago she would find friends and build a family, she would have asked for another seat, for that person had to be crazy. But all those things had happened, in more truer ways than she could have imagined. In fact- going back to her home country now seemed to be a crazy thought.
She placed a quick kiss on Ellas cheek, biding her not to fuss before she grabbed the shovel and gingerly descended her front walk. Her breath formed small clouds as she trudged through the snow towards her car, parked in the driveway. She glanced around, taking in her suburban neighborhood. Snow-laden trees lined the streets, their branches drooping under the weight of the snow.
Reaching her car, Elizabeth fumbled with her keys, her fingers numb from the cold. She unlocked the door and climbed inside, grateful for the brief respite from the biting wind. As she started the engine and turned on the heater, she noticed something peculiar.
There was no snow on the front hood of her car.
Furrowing her brow, Elizabeth peered out through the windshield, scanning the area around her. Every other car in the neighborhood was covered in a thick layer of snow, but hers remained curiously untouched. It was as if someone had deliberately cleared the snow away, leaving her hood pristine amidst the winter chaos.
Confused, Elizabeth shook her head and dismissed the thought. Perhaps the wind had blown the snow away, or maybe a passing plow had spared her car from its icy embrace. She reached for the snow shovel and prepared to clear the snow from the rest of her car.
But as she stepped back out into the cold, a nagging feeling tugged at the back of her mind. Something didn't feel right about the situation, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. With a sigh, she pushed the feeling aside and set to work shoveling the snow from her car.
Ten minutes later, she was done, making quick work of grabbing her bag and Ella's diaper bag from inside, and buckling the baby in the backseat. As she turned on the key and pulled out of the driveway her mind wandered. Why was her car the only one without snow on the hood? Who could have cleared it away? And more importantly, why?
Lost in thought, Elizabeth failed to notice the figure lurking in the shadows nearby, watching her every move with a sinister grin. They had been waiting for this moment, counting their time until Elizabeth was alone and vulnerable.
With a devious chuckle, the figure slipped away into the snowy landscape, leaving Elizabeth none the wiser to the danger that lurked beyond.
With every new admittance to the ER, also came piles of snow through the glass sliding doors. Acumlitaling until the pile was at least two feet high and gurneys started to slide on the wet floor. Kerry Weaver eyed the pile angrily from the assistance desk, walking over to it and poking it with her cane. Disdain written on her face. "Someone get some shovels, and some napkins for gods sake!" She yelled, then stopped two unfortunate probies who happened to walk by and put them two work
Mark Green couldn't help but smirk at the scene. Living in Chicago made most people hate the snow, but though he had lived here for years, he always enjoyed it. Maybe because it was the antithesis of the places his childhood had taken place. His father had only been assigned to bases in warm climates. Such as Florida, Texas, and those glorious three years in Hawaii. Snow had signified vacation, and a break from the Army.
He glanced at the clock longingly. It was nearing 6:00 am and his twelve hour shift wouldnt be over until 3 that evening.
Even though Ella was only three months old, maybe he could take her in the backyard and build a snowman with her once his shift was over. That is, if Elizabeth allowed it. He smirked imagining his wife's face if he told her that he wanted to take their newborn out to 'play.'
Life was brighter when colored by the arrival of his daughter. She was everything he had imagined, with light blonde hair and green eyes just like her mother. She was hitting all her milestones, just having started to respond to colors and the toys they had bought for her. He couldn't believe that he was healthy and alive to witness her grow. Just this time last year, he had been undergoing brain surgery and normal days like today had been a wishful thought.
Racheal had come to visit a few times. Though she tried to put on a tough facade, he could see that she really loved her sister. Her and Elizabeth were working on their relationship. Albeit slowly. Mark suspected Jen had something to do with Rachel's attitude towards Elizabeth. His ex-wife could be very nasty when she wanted to, and when she was, she loudly made her opinions known. Nevertheless, he marveled at how Elizibeth took it with grace and constantly extended a kind hand to his daughter.
She had been taking this motherhood and wife thing in stride, which was amazing considering that she had been thrown into both things at virtually the same time. Not to mention juggling his diagnosis on top of it. Their love had deepend over the course of the year. And Mark let his eyes flutter close and a blissful smile fall onto his face as he thought about the time they had shared together just last night.
"Hey Greene! We need you over there, this guy is bleeding out!"
Her commute usually takes fifteen minutes, twenty on a bad day. But forty minutes later, Elizabeth was still in her car, hunched over the wheel and peering forward as it creeped through the streets. First she had been flanked by other commuters. But as the snow began to fall, and roads began to close down, a few turns had landed her on a deserted street that stretched long. The old Branches Factory loomed ominous along, the building having been deserted decades ago. Its broken windows and twisted metal stared back at her like a deformed smile, and the snow mixed with the layers of dirt created a sickly gray mush. She mentally ran through the city in her head, realizing with relief that if she could just make it down this street, she would merge back into the busy main one.
Taking a steading breath, she pressed forward on the gas. Tentatively turning her wheel back in forth in order to get the tires rolling. The bitter wind whipped against her windows and seemed to be pushing her backwards, but she felt the car inching forward a few feet.
Suddenly, the car came to a sudden halt, the engine sputtering and dying with a final gasp. The sound caused her to flinch, letting out gasp that mimicked the cars.
Ella cried from the backseat, sensing her mothers discomfort. Elizabeth turned, reaching an arm that didn't quite reach into the back in an attempt to soothe her. "Its okay, Ella. I'm just going to check it out. Alright?"
As if she understood, Ella cries quieted to small sniffles.
With a sinking feeling in her chest, Elizabeth reluctantly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out into the cold night air. Her footsteps were eerily quiet as they sunk into the snow, and her breath quickened as the frigid air blew down her throat. She vigorously rubbed her hands together, casting a final eye to Ellas car seat before rounding the front of the car.
The hood was steaming, the hot billow multiplied by its interaction with the weather. She popped it, more steam stinging her face as she tried to blink through it and get an eye on the mechanics. She had a more than average understanding of cars, but the problem was, all her learning happened in the UK. The differences between British and American cars weren't extreme, but enough to make her skeptical about her abilities to get this distinctly American Ford going
The cloud cleared, and her eyes ran over the hood. Nothing was dripping, or looked blown up. She hastily checked the oil and found it full.
Then she saw it.
A cheap egg timer wired to the ignition switch, its arrow stock still, on zero.
A sense of unease prickled at the back of Elizabeth's neck as she straightened up, scanning the empty street for any sign of help. In the time that she had been outside the car, the snow seemed to have started falling harder. The flakes casting long shadows that danced ominously on the pavement, heightening her sense of vulnerability.
This was no accident. Her mind flashed back to the driveway. Her car hood suspiciously devoid of snow. Someone must have set this up that morning, blanketed by the darkness of early dawn.
A movement caught her eye, and Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat as she watched a figure emerge from the darkness, advancing toward her with purposeful strides. Fear constricted her chest as she stumbled backward, her heart pounding in her ears.
"Hello?" she called out, her voice trembling with uncertainty.
There was no reply, only the sound of her own rapid breaths echoing off the silent buildings. Elizabeth's fingers fumbled for her phone in her pocket, but her frozen fingers made it difficult to grasp. She glanced desperately at the car, at her baby inside. She wanted to break out into a run, but there was no way she would run away without Ella. Her fingers found her keys, and she decided that getting in the car and locking herself in would at least provide some protection.
Her feet kicked up the snow as she ran to the driver's door, but the figure lunged, slamming their full weight into her and making her collide with the window. Instantly knocking the air out of her and spraying blood from her mouth.
Elizabeth's scream echoed through the empty streets as she struggled against the unseen assailant, her desperate cries falling on deaf ears on the silent city street