Speculation: And Baby Makes Three

By: Lori (SixteenOzs)

DISCLAIMER: "ER," the characters and situations depicted within are the property of Warner Brothers Television, Amblin Entertainment, Constant c Productions, NBC, etc. They are borrowed without permission, but without the intent of infringement. The story presented here is written solely for entertainment purposes, and the author is not making a profit.

Please do not post or redistribute without the disclaimer above, or without the consent of the author.

Feedback is welcome. Please send all questions, comments or criticisms to SixteenOzs02@yahoo.com

SUMMARY: An idea for what may happen in Season 7

RATING: PG

Elizabeth stepped off the elevator and walked through the ER, looking around anxiously for Mark. To be perfectly honest, she was hoping she wouldn't run into him. At least not at the moment. Seeing Kerry walk out of Curtain Three, Elizabeth jogged to catch up with her. "Kerry?" she called.

Kerry stopped and turned to face the other doctor. "Good morning, Elizabeth. How are you?"

"I'm okay," Elizabeth nodded. "How about you?"

"Fine," Kerry nodded as they started walking down the hall. "So, what brings you down here this morning? I thought Edson was covering the ER today."

"He is. I was actually wondering if you could draw some blood for me," Elizabeth said as she glanced around nervously.

Kerry looked at her curiously. "What are you thinking?"

"That I'm pregnant," she said quietly.

"Okay," Kerry nodded. She looked in Exam Four, which was empty at the moment. "Let's go in here."

Elizabeth took off her lab coat and sat on the exam table. "Kerry, thank you."

"Don't mention it," she smiled as she closed the door. "Mind if I ask how you feel about this?"

"I'm not sure yet," Elizabeth sighed. "We've talked about it, and said that we'd like to have a child of our own one day. I'm just pretty sure neither of us was thinking this soon."

"You haven't told him?" Kerry wondered as she wrapped the rubber strip around Elizabeth's upper arm and began to feel for a vein.

"Not yet," Elizabeth replied, shaking her head. "I'd really appreciate it if you'd keep this quiet. If it is positive, I want to tell him myself."

"Of course," Kerry nodded as she began to draw the blood.

Elizabeth watched in silence as the vial slowly filled.

"I'll let you know as soon as the results come back," Kerry assured her.

"Thanks," Elizabeth nodded.

An hour later, Frank was standing at the desk sorting through the batch of lab results that had just arrived, matching the results with the appropriate patients' charts. A few minutes later, he asked, "Dr. Weaver? What do I do with this report for 'E. Corday?'" I don't see a chart here, and the name's not on the board."

"I'll take it," Kerry said quickly, reaching for the paper as she cast an anxious glance in Mark's direction.

"Kerry? What's going on?" he questioned immediately. "That's for Elizabeth, right?"

She sighed. This was exactly why she'd advocated more procedures to protect patient confidentiality when she became an attending. Maybe that was a topic she should revisit. Looking to Mark, she said, "Yes, it's for Elizabeth."

"What's going on?" he repeated. His mind went into overdrive, trying to think of any symptoms Elizabeth had been exhibiting over the past few days, and what they could be.

"You should really talk to Elizabeth about that," Kerry said after a moment.

"Damn it, Kerry! I just want to know if there's something wrong," he said, his voice rising as each possible diagnosis he came up with was replaced by one even worse.

She drew in a slow, deliberate breath. "And I'm saying that you need to be asking her."

"Fine!" he said sharply as he stormed off towards the stairs.

Kerry sighed once again as she reached for the phone.

"Another day, another happy customer," Romano said as he stood in the operating room. "Are we ready to close?"

"As soon as I make sure we got all of the bleeders," Elizabeth replied.

A moment later, the familiar sound of a pager filled the room. "Who's is it?" Romano inquired.

Shirley walked to the table on the far side of the room. Picking up the pager and silencing it, she replied, "Dr. Corday, it's 6195."

"That's the ER," Elizabeth commented. "Is it 911?"

"No, just the extension," Shirley explained.

"Can you call it and see what they want?" Elizabeth requested.

"Certainly," Shirley nodded.

"Boyfriend checking up on you?" Romano asked smugly.

"We're ready to close," Elizabeth reported with an annoyed glare at the pompous doctor standing across from her.

"Dr. Corday, it's Dr. Weaver," Shirley informed her. "She said the test results you were waiting on are back, and your hunch was right. She also said Dr. Greene is on his way up here to see you."

"Guess I was right," Romano smirked.

"Thank you, Shirley," Elizabeth nodded. Sighing slightly, she wondered, "Could you go out and meet Mark? Let him know that we're closing now and just have him wait in my office. I should be there in ten minutes."

"Sure," Shirley replied as she left the operating room.

"What's wrong, Lizzie? Trouble in paradise?" Romano asked.

Elizabeth had to smile beneath her mask as she began suturing the incision. If he only knew. "Actually, Robert, things couldn't be better."

A few moments later, they heard Shirley's voice from outside the operating room. "Dr. Greene, you can't go in there right now!"

Elizabeth looked through the window to see Mark pulling on a surgical cap and gown. "Oh, great," she muttered.

"Lizzie, do we need to call security to get your boyfriend out of the OR?" Romano wondered sarcastically.

"Fiancé," Elizabeth corrected without even thinking about it, "and no. This doesn't concern you, Robert, so just stay out of it!"

She saw Mark through the OR door, just as he was about to enter. He stared at her for a moment, and from the look in her eyes, he finally realized that interrupting her surgery at that particular moment would not be a good idea. Reluctantly, he sighed and turned for her office.

"Well, Lizzie, all of this is happening in MY operating room. I think that makes it my concern," Romano said after a moment.

She glared at the other surgeon. Under her breath, she hissed, "Shut up, Robert!"

"Lizzie, what was that?" Romano questioned. "I didn't hear you."

"Nothing," she said aloud. "Nothing."

He stared at her dubiously.

Five minutes later, Elizabeth made a final survey of the monitors, then covered the incision with gauze. "I think Mr. Montana here is ready to head to Recovery. Would you mind taking care of the post op orders, as there is something else to which I must attend at the moment?"

Romano sneered at her. "The FIANCÉ can't wait?"

Elizabeth gave him a disgusted look then turned away from the operating table and walked towards the doors, stripping off her gloves and mask as she left the room.

After scrubbing out, Elizabeth pulled off her surgical cab and checked her appearance in the mirror, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Drawing in a deep breath, she started down the hall towards her office. She could face down a room full of surgeons and hospital administrators without thinking twice, but her stomach was twisting into knots over this. Sure, they'd talked about having a baby, just not this soon. But even though it wasn't what they had planned, she was really starting to like the idea.

She laughed to herself. Mark Greene just seemed to have that effect on her. Never what she had planned, but always just what she wanted. She just hoped that he would be happy about this. She needed him now like she never had before.

Approaching her office, she saw him pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Entering the office, she quietly closed the door behind her. "So, what colors do you think we should use in the nursery?" she wondered with a shy smile.

He stopped sharply at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her. "Elizabeth? What's wrong? Are you okay? Why was Kerry running labs for you?" he asked in rapid succession.

She stared at him. He didn't know she was pregnant? When Kerry said the results were in and Mark was on his way up to the OR, she assumed he knew what they were.

He watched her for several moments. Wait. Did she say 'nursery?'

"Did Kerry tell you what kind of labs I asked her to run?" Elizabeth questioned.

"No," he shook his head slowly. "She told me to talk to you."

Elizabeth smiled softly and bit her lower lip. "I asked her to run a pregnancy test."

A smile slowly spread across his face as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. "And?"

She chuckled softly. "The icon's positive."

"Really?" he questioned, his smile even broader.

"Yeah," she nodded. "What do you think?"

"I think this is amazing," he said softly caressing her cheek.

"You're not upset?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," he shook his head. "Why would I be upset?"

"Um, because we said we didn't want to have a baby right away," she said, looking down at an indeterminable spot on his scrub top.

He gently lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. Smiling, he suggested, "Then maybe we were wrong."

"So you're okay with this?" she asked, just wanting to make certain.

"I'm very okay with this," he assured her. "How about you? What do you think?"

"I think I'm going like it," she said with a smile.

"I love you," he said, pulling her closer until their lips met.

"I love you, too," she whispered as the kiss ended.

"How long have you known?" he wondered

"I've gotten sick for the past few days, and yesterday, I realized I was about two weeks late," she explained. "I talked to Kerry this morning about running the test, and she called me with the results as you were on the way up."

A confused expression came over his face. "She called you in the OR? How'd you take the call?" he questioned.

Elizabeth chuckled. "She paged me. I got Shirley to call her back, and Kerry said that the test results I was waiting on were back, and that my hunch was right. Kerry didn't tell you what the results were?"

"No, she wouldn't even say what the test was for," he shook his head. After a moment, he admitted, "You don't want to know what was going through my head. Everything from that you were anemic to that you suspected leukemia."

"I'm sorry," she said softly as she caressed his cheek. "I never wanted you to worry. I just wanted to know for sure, then tell you myself. That's why I asked Kerry not to say anything."

"That's okay. It wasn't your fault," he reminded her.

"How did you find out about the test anyway?" she questioned.

"Frank was going through the lab results that came in. He came across yours, but didn't have a chart or a name on the board to match it up with, so he asked Kerry what to do with it. I overheard him, and started questioning Kerry," he explained.

She nodded. "Would you mind if we didn't tell anyone right away? I know it's crazy, but I'd rather get through the first trimester. I don't want to jinx it or anything like that."

"That's fine," he smiled. "I completely understand."

Grinning, she pointed out, "You never answered my question."

"What question was that?" he asked as his brow creased.

"What colors should we use in the nursery?" she questioned with a smile.

He laughed, then shrugged, "I don't know. Pink and blue?"

She scrunched her nose. "Too conventional. How about green and yellow? Something bright and cheerful."

"That sounds perfect," he smiled. "Have I mentioned just how beautiful you look right now?"

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

He glanced at his watch. "It's almost twelve-thirty. What do you say I take you two out for lunch?"

"We'd love it," she smiled. "Now that you mention it, I'm starving. Let's go to that place near the lake, with the burritos."

"Burritos?" he questioned. "You hate burritos. I finally stopped getting them because I was tired of hearing you complain about how disgusting they were."

She chuckled. "Apparently your child has other ideas. This should be a very interesting nine months."

He laughed as he slipped his arm around her back and opened the door for her. "Come on, let's get lunch."

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September 19, 2000