A Much Needed Phone Call
Part 22
By Cari
cxcarleo@naz.edu

I do not own any of the characters and make no money from their use.

Notes: There is one swear word in this piece. Elizabeth is describing how she acted in recent days. It leads up to a crucial scene, so if you do not wish to read it, skip the third paragraph preceding the "flashback."

This is probably rated PG-13 for sexual references, but no sex.

Also, the events of All in the Family and the episodes that followed never happened so Isabelle never came to Chicago, never met Mark, etc. and Elizabeth hasn't seen either of her parents in a few years.

It is Saturday morning around 10:30 AM. The telephone rang at Doug and Carol's house and when Rosemarie answered it, the screen splits.

"Hello,"

"Hi Rosemarie, it's Elizabeth. How are you?"

"Good thanks, yourself?"

"Pretty good, thanks. Is Carol around?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure right now is a good time."

"Is she OK?"

"She's not feeling well at all. Do you want me to get Doug if he has a second?"

"No, don't do that. I will come over. Is there anything you need me to bring?"

"No, thanks."

Within twenty minutes, Elizabeth was pulling up to Doug, Carol and Susan's house. Rosemarie met her at the door. When they walked into the kitchen, they saw Doug on the telephone.

"Yes, 102. Severe sore throat and sinus pain with discharge, no difficulty breathing...Already running with saline solution for dehydration...That would be great...I really appreciate this...I will, thanks." Doug hung up the telephone and shook his head sadly.

Elizabeth walked over and asked, "Is everything OK?"

"I didn't hear you come in. Carol got pretty sick during the night. Did Kerry send you over?"

"No, was she trying to reach me?"

"I don't know. I called in to say I wasn't coming in until someone could stay with Carol and Kerry said she'd try to find someone to take my shift or come here."

"Actually, Carol and I had plans but when I called, Rosemarie told me she was ill so I came over. I'd be more than happy to stay with her."

"I'd really appreciate that. I have to warn you, she's not in a great mood. Rosemarie is here, but I wanted to have someone who could do Ivs or whatever she ended up needing."

"Im glad that I can be here."

"Dr. Reilly is sending IV antibiotics over via messenger so that should help the situation. How late can you stay?"

"As long as you need. I'm not on until tomorrow at 3 PM."

"I was scheduled until 10 PM today but I'll see what I can do. I really do not want to be gone that long. Rosemarie, are you sure you don't mind doing the food shopping?"

"Of course not. I'll take the girls with me."

"Thanks." Doug walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Feeling Carol's forehead while smoothing her hair back, he said, "Elizabeth is here, so I should head to work. Will you be OK?"

"Yes."

"Dr. Reilly is sending over IV Amoxicillan via messenger. I'll call you later to check on you, OK?"

"OK," Carol said softly. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"You're welcome," Doug said, kissing Carol.

Doug left and Elizabeth came into the bedroom. She sat next to Carol on the bed and asked, "How are you doing?"

Carol just shook her head sadly and said, "I'm not really up to doing anything today. I'm sorry."

"That's OK," Elizabeth said reassuringly. "I just want to spend time with you."

"Thanks. I may not be the best company, but I'll try. If I snap at you, I don't mean it, I just really don't feel well and am very edgy."

"It's OK, Im here for you," Elizabeth said, leaning over and giving Carol a hug.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Carol said.

Rosemarie came in with a box; "A delivery person just brought this."

"Thanks. That was really quick."

"I'm going to run some errands with the girls. Is there anything you need me to get?"

"Just orange juice if you don't mind."

"Sure. I will see you later."

Elizabeth was rummaging through the box and Carol said, "I hope you don't mind playing doctor on your day off."

"I don't. She thought to include everything," Elizabeth said, hanging the bag of Amoxicillan and hooking it into the IV port. "She also sent over Acetaminophen for your fever."

"I had some left over from last time, and Doug gave it to me before he left. We weren't sure who would be coming so..."

"I understand. Mark told me you had a rough night on Thursday. Have you been sick ever since you had the chemo?"

"Pretty much. I had the normal nausea into yesterday and then I started getting sick in the evening. I felt bad that Mark worked all day and then came here for like three hours. The next morning he even went in early so Doug could be home. I was glad he did it though. I hope that didn't take him away from you if you needed him."

"I was on from Thursday until late yesterday, so it was OK. He wouldn't have wanted to be around me either of those days, so I was glad he was able to be here for you."

"Why wouldn't he have wanted to be around you?"

"Let's just say I wasn't the most pleasant person," Elizabeth said with a slight smile.

"Is everything OK?" Carol asked, concerned. "The other day you mentioned wanting to talk to me about something but you said you'd get too emotional. Do you still want to talk about it?"

"If you don't mind listening. I still will get emotional, but I don't mind if that happens here."

"Of course I will listen."

Elizabeth shifted the way she was sitting and said; "It all started last Friday evening, the same day that I met Alicia and the day before the OB appointment. I got home from work and found a message from my dad saying that he needed to talk to me about something and that he would call me on Saturday in the early afternoon. That was the call I had to go home and wait for after the OB appointment. That's also why I lost it in the restaurant, I was so nervous."

"I knew you were worried about something, but didn't want to push. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready."

"Thanks. Well, instead of the telephone call, I got a message saying he had an emergency at work and would not be able to call. That didn't help matters because I was so scared, I had no idea why he was calling. I hadn't heard from him since before the wedding when he let me know that he wasn't coming. He and I played telephone tag all week and as time passed, I got more stressed and I couldn't hide it. By yesterday afternoon, I was a total bitch to everyone because I was so edgy. It was wrong, and I know that. But I just couldn't take the stress anymore," Elizabeth said, with tears in her eyes.

Carol took her hand and squeezed it gently saying, "It's OK, let it go. I'm sure people understand and if they don't that's their problem."

Elizabeth wiped her eyes and continued. "I got home and found a message saying he would be home for the rest of the night. So I called him back and finally reached him."


FLASHBACK


Charles said, "Hello"

"Hi dad, it's me. Is this a good time?"

"Of course. I'm glad we finally caught up with each other."

"Me too."

"We really need to talk, or more specifically, I do."

"Is everything OK?"

"Yes. I need to apologize for what I did. I'm not going to make excuses for why I didn't attend your wedding because none would be adequate. I've thought a lot lately about what I did, and I regret it more each day. I'm just going to say that I am very sorry and hope that maybe at some point you can forgive me."

Elizabeth could hear the tears in her dad's voice and could feel them sliding down her cheeks. "It did hurt me, a lot," Elizabeth admitted. "But you're still my father and I love you. I can always forgive you."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was afraid you wouldn't even want to talk to me. It took me a while to get up the courage to make the call."

"I'm glad you called. I was afraid to call you out of fear that you were angry with me over something. I thought that was why you didn't come."

"Oh baby," Charles said. "I'm so sorry." He could hear that Elizabeth was crying fairly hard and didn't know what to do. "I feel I have upset you even more by calling."

"No, you haven't. I'm very happy to talk to you. I've just been under a lot of stress recently with work and my personal life and I just couldn't hold it in any longer," Elizabeth said, trying to calm herself down.

"Is everything OK?"

"Yes, there has just been a lot going on in the last month or so."

"Was the wedding OK?"

"Yes, it was very nice. My close friend Doug, who was Mark's best man, walked me down the aisle. It was a small ceremony with friends and some of Mark's family."

"And Isabelle?"

Elizabeth choked up again and said softly, "She didn't come either."

"Oh honey," Charles said. "I can't imagine...I'm so sorry that neither of us were there."

"It's not your fault. She was busy and I guess she couldn't get away. It's typical. She didn't RSVP so I never really knew if she was coming or not until it came time for the wedding and she wasn't there."

"That had to have been hard. So what else has been going on that has you so stressed? Is there anything I can help with?"

"No, but thanks. I'll save the best news for last and tell you the most interesting now. They are interviewing here for a new ER Chief because our current Chief is taking over the position of Chief of Staff. I was looking at the list of candidates and whose name do I see but Alicia's."

"Wow, that must have been a shock. I didn't know she was thinking of relocating. Did you see her when she interviewed?"

"Yes. My friend Doug was the one who conducted the interview and I happened to pass them in the corridor."

"How is she doing?"

"OK, it seemed. We didn't get to talk long," Elizabeth said, not wanting to tell the whole story. "I was on my way to check on a patient."

"I can see why that caused you some stress. Do you think you two might end up working together?"

"No, at least not right now. She didn't have all the necessary qualifications for the position."

"That might be better off for you. I'm anxious to hear your good news."

"OK, this news affects you to, In a positive way, of course. You're going to be a grandfather again."

"Oh sweetie, congratulations. When are you due?"

"January."

"I'm so happy for you and Mark. Will you keep me updated with the baby's progress?"

"Of course. We will definitely stay in better touch. My schedule is pretty crazy so it's hard to plan in advance when I can call."

"My schedule is as well. But if you leave me a message, I'll call you back at first chance. Is there anything you and Mark need?"

"Not at the moment, but thanks for the offer. I'm really glad we got to talk. I needed this."

"I did too."


END FLASHBACK


Elizabeth was crying after telling Carol the story. Carol gave her a long hug and tried to comfort her. "I can't imagine what that was like for you."

"It's hard to describe. I was shocked by his initial call, but even more so by the conversation. I'm very glad we talked. I truly do forgive him. It did hurt, but life is too short to hold it against him. He sincerely apologized and I know he meant it."

"You're right. Since my mom died, I have always wished things could have been different. I have hoped that she knew how much I loved her. I spent a considerable amount of time angry with her for various reasons and now I would do anything to take that back." Carol had tears in her eyes, and Elizabeth gave her a hug.

"Thanks for letting me talk. It helped a lot to get it out."

"I'm glad."

"It scared me how much the tension of all this has effected me. It's never happened to me before."

"It's probably because of everything that is going on. The hormones from pregnancy affect your body in many ways. You saw how I was. It's hard to predict how you will react to anything. What I found was that I was hyper sensitive."

"Yes, that has happened to me as well. I burned dinner the other night and I was inconsolable. I thought Mark would laugh at me, but he just took me in his arms and comforted me until I calmed down."

"Doug was the same way with me. I'm glad Mark was there for you when you needed him.

"I was too. He just let me get the tears out and deal with everything. He knew it was about more than dinner, but didn't push."

"That's great."

Elizabeth got up to go to the bathroom and when she returned, she noticed that Carol's eyes were closed. When she sat on the bed, Carol opened her eyes. "You can go to sleep," Elizabeth said.

"I feel bad. You came to spend the day with me."

"I'd rather you sleep today and recuperate so we can enjoy another day. I'll lay down with you. I'm pretty tired from this week." Elizabeth lay down next to Carol and said, "If I fall asleep and you need anything, just wake me."

"I will." Elizabeth took Carol's hand in hers and Carol said, "Thanks."

Carol drifted off almost immediately, as Elizabeth could tell because Carol's grip on her hand lessened.

Around 3:30 PM, Rosemarie was in the kitchen and Suzy was coloring at the table. Elizabeth was sitting in the chair next to the bed reading a book. She saw Carol start to stir and closed the book. When Carol opened her eyes, Elizabeth asked, "How did you sleep?"

"Really well. The nap made me feel a little better."

"That's good to hear," Elizabeth said, feeling Carol's forehead.

"Do I still have a fever?"

"Yes, but you feel cooler."

"I'm glad. I can't believe it's 3:30. I guess I was really tired."

"Your body needs its rest."

"I'm surprised Doug hasn't called."

"He did, about an hour ago."

"I didn't even hear the phone ring. I must have really been out of it."

"He was just calling to check in on you. He wanted you to call when you woke up."

"I'll call him in a few minutes. I need to wake up a little more. What feels really good is that I'm actually a little hungry for the first time since Thursday."

"That's good. Did you want me to fix you something?"

"I'll come to the kitchen. I need to get out of bed. Can you just help me? I don't know how dizzy I will be."

"Of course." Elizabeth said, reaching her arms out so Carol could use them for support.

Carol and Elizabeth walked into the kitchen where Suzy greeted them exuberantly. "Hi Aunt Carol, how do you feel?"

"Pretty good," Carol said, giving Suzy a hug before sitting down. Emma was bouncing in her seat on the table. Although Carol couldn't pick her up because of the IV and because she was weak, she still let Emma grab hold of her finger and start to bite on it. "Still teething," Carol said with a smile as she kissed Emma's forehead.

"I'm glad to hear that you're feeling a little better," Rosemarie said. "Can I fix you something to eat? I just made some chicken soup and it's just about ready."

"That sounds good." As Carol waited for the soup to be ready, she played with Emma. She was about to reach for the phone to call Doug when the phone rang.

It was Mark. "Hey Carol, how do you feel?"

"A little better. I took a long nap."

"That's good."

"It's funny that you called. I was just about to call Doug back."

"He's right here. I'll give him the phone. I'll talk to Elizabeth when you two are done."

"OK, thanks."

Mark handed Doug the phone and he said, "Hey sweetie, how do you feel?"

"Better. I had a nice nap, which helped a lot. I'm up and out of bed. I'm even a little hungry."

"That's good. Mark is off in a few and he offered to stay for the rest of my shift so I could leave early if you needed me. Do you want us to switch?"

"You don't have to. I'm doing OK and you know Elizabeth and Rosemarie are here with me. Tell Mark I really appreciate it though."

"I will. I get off at 10 so I shouldn't be too late. Do you guys mind if Mark joins you for dinner?"

"Of course not. I'd be glad to see him at a time when I can enjoy his company."

"I'll let him know. I'll try to call you again later or else I'll see you when I get home, OK?"

"Yup. Enjoy the rest of your shift. I love you."

"Love you too."

They passed the phones to Mark and Elizabeth who talked briefly. When Elizabeth hung up she said, "Mark will be here in a little while."

After they ate, they talked for a while. Around 6 PM, Carol got Emma ready for bed with some help from Rosemarie. After she got her in bed, she paused for a few minutes over Emma's crib to reflect on how glad she was that she would be able to see her grow up. Carol got tears in here eyes and quickly wiped them away as she walked back into the living room where Mark, Elizabeth, Rosemarie and Suzy were.

Elizabeth had just finished getting Suzy's bath done. Suzy asked, "Aunt Carol, will you tuck me in?"

"I can't do the stairs with the IV. How about I read to you and everything down here and then Mark, Elizabeth, or Rosemarie can tuck you in?"

Suzy got tears in here eyes and ran from the room. "I'll go after her," Carol said. She followed Suzy into the den where she had thrown herself on the couch.

Carol sat down next to her and gently asked, "Can you talk to me about what's bothering you?"

Suzy didn't answer at first so Carol gently rubbed her back. After a minute or two, Suzy said, "No one has time for me anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Mommy is never home and when she is, she's too busy or tired to do anything with me. And I know I'm not supposed to ask you to do anything, but..."

"You can always ask me. I have an idea. I'll read to you and tuck you in my bed. You can fall asleep there and then someone will bring you up later. Is that OK?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you go choose a book and say goodnight to everyone and then meet me in my room."

Suzy came back and Carol asked, "What book did you choose?"

"The Best Nest. Is that OK?"

"Sure, I love that one." Suzy climbed into bed and Carol sat on the edge. She pulled the sheets up around her and gave her a kiss. "I love you sweetie. If you wake up in your room and mommy isn't home yet, just come back down, OK?"

"I will."

Suzy fell asleep before Carol even finished reading so Carol went back into the living room. Mark and Elizabeth were sitting together on the couch, but they moved over to make room for her. She curled up on the couch with her knees to her chest. Mark asked, "How is she?"

"She fell asleep. She feels left out and wishes Susan was around more. I can see her point, and will talk to Susan tonight or tomorrow depending on what time she gets home."

Carol got the chills and asked Rosemarie, "Can you pass me the blanket, please?"

Elizabeth, who was next to her on the couch spread the blanket over her and felt her forehead. "You're warmer than before. Do you think you can take Tylenol?"

"I don't want to chance it. My stomach is still a little shaky and my throat hurts badly."

Rosemarie got up and left the room briefly. When she came back, she had a cool compress and a cup of ice chips. "They will soothe your throat."

"Thanks."

Mark asked, "Do you want me to bring Suzy up so you can lie in bed?"

"There is too much chance of her waking up alone. I'm not going to bring her up until close to when I think Susan might be home."

Elizabeth lay the compress on Carol's forehead and asked softly, "Do you want me to give you the Acetaminophen that Doug gave you earlier?"

"If you don't mind."

Mark courteously turned his attention to Carol and Doug's movie collection and Rosemarie left the room, citing a need to make a phone call. Carol said softly, "We should probably find out what my temperature is."

"OK," Elizabeth said, rubbing Carol's lower back reassuringly. A little more than a minute later, Elizabeth said "103," before quickly giving Carol the meds.

"It's even up from this morning."

"Don't worry yet. The antibiotics need 24 hours to have an effect."

Carol started to cry and she asked softly, "Can I have a hug?"

"Of course," Elizabeth said, taking her into her arms. Carol leaned forward and lay her head on Elizabeth's shoulder.

Mark walked behind Carol and began to gently rub her back. He then whispered to Elizabeth, "She's all sweaty. I'll get her a fresh night shirt."

Mark came back into the room and saw that Carol was still upset, but calming down. After Elizabeth helped Carol to change, Mark asked, "Did you two want to watch a movie?"

"OK," Elizabeth said. "Carol, what do you think?"

"I guess so."

"If you're not up to it, we don't have to."

"I want to, but can we watch it in my room? I know I'm going to fall asleep and I want to lie in bed."

"Sure, I'll carry Suzy up."

As Mark did that, Elizabeth helped Carol into bed. Elizabeth lay next to Carol in bed and when Mark came in; he sat in the rocking chair. "We can make room for you on the bed," Carol said.

"Much as I like the idea of being in bed with two gorgeous women, I'm fine here," Mark said with a smile.

Carol laughed and asked, "What movie did you choose?"

"Dogma, it's supposed to be good."

"That's what I heard too. I didn't know Doug bought it."

"It's taped off TV. I think it might be Susan's handwriting."

Carol didn't last long through the movie, falling asleep within about 45 minutes.

Around 9 PM, the phone rang. Mark answered it quickly, and it was Doug.

"Hey, how is everything there?"

"Good, we have a movie on and Carol fell asleep. How's work?"

"Fine until about 10 minutes ago when I was asked if I could stay until 11:30 because we're so short staffed."

"Do you want me to come in so you can come home?"

"You don't have to as long as one of you doesn't mind staying with Carol until I can get home."

"We'll stay. It's been a good evening. Carol's temp is back up, but once the antibiotics have been in her system for 24 hours, it should come down."

"Yeah, I've spoken with Dr. Reilly and she's not overly concerned because overall, Carol is healthy. Getting sick with chemo is almost a given. Crap, my pager just went off. Thanks for staying, call me if Carol needs anything."

"We will."

Around 10:30, Carol and Elizabeth were asleep and Mark was reading the paper. He looked up to see Susan at the bedroom door. He got up and met her in the hall, quietly pulling the door shut behind him. "How was work?"

"So so. I've been off since five. Does Carol have two IVs now?"

"Yes, saline and Amoxicillan."

"Has she been asleep for a long time?"

"Two hours or so. She fell asleep not long after we put the movie on."

"So she's probably asleep for the night?"

"I would think so. Why?"

"She left a note for me with my mail saying that she needed to talk with me as soon as I got home. Do you know why?"

"Not totally. It can wait until morning. I'd rather not wake her up right now. She needs a good night's sleep to fight off the infection."

"Well if she wakes up, tell her I did come to see her."

Mark could sense some tension in Susan's voice and asked, "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, it's just been a long day and I'm wiped out. Do you need me to stay with Carol until Doug comes home?"

"That's OK. Go to bed, Elizabeth and I can stay."

"OK."

Mark could tell that something was definitely up, but decided to let it go.

Doug didn't get in until 12:15 and he went into the living room where Mark was watching TV. "Hi, sorry that I'm so late. I didn't think I was ever getting out."

"It's OK. Carol and Elizabeth are both asleep and I raided your movie collection."

"Hope you found something good. If you want to spend the night so you don't have to wake up Elizabeth, you're more than welcome to do so."

"I think Susan and Carol are going to talk in the morning and it's better if we're not here."

Just then Elizabeth walked drowsily into the room, "Hey Doug, I didn't know you were home."

"I just got here."

"I guess we're trading places. I just got paged to come in. I can't wait until we're fully staffed again. This is getting crazy."

"I agree," Mark said. "See you later today at home?"

"I hope I get home before my scheduled shift."

"Call me either way."

"OK."

The next morning, Carol woke up to the sound of Emma gurgling. When she opened her eyes, she saw Doug had Emma lying on his stomach. "Morning, sweetie," Doug said. "How do you feel?"

"A little better. I slept really well which helped a lot."

"That's good. Emma slept really well too...I didn't hear a peep from her until 7:30."

"That's great. Let me sit up and I'll take her."

As Doug passed Emma to Carol, he heard the sound of footsteps running upstairs. "I guess I better go get Suzy before she wakes up Susan."

"That's right. Rosemarie is off. Could you do me a favor this morning?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Maybe take Suzy out for breakfast. I need to talk to Susan."

"Sure. Mark mentioned that you two needed to talk last night. Did something happen?"

"It's a long story. Can I fill you in later?

"Sure."

"If Susan is up when you go get Suzy, can you let her know that I'm up?"

"Sure, let me just get dressed so Suzy and I can leave right away. Do you want me to take Emma too?"

"No, that's ok." Doug carried Emma into the kitchen and settled her in her high chair when he and Carol walked into the kitchen. "I'll take the cell phone with me, call me if you need me."

"I will. Have fun."

Carol made herself some plain toast and started to feed Emma at the same time. After a few minutes, she heard the kitchen door open and Susan came in. "Good morning."

"Morning, how are you?"

"OK, how do you feel?"

"OK. I got a good night's sleep, which helped. I just wish I could get rid of this," Carol said, indicating the IV.

"If you can eat and drink, you should be able to get rid of the saline. And maybe you can switch to oral antibiotics. But sleep is one of the best things you can do. I saw that you got to sleep early last night."

"I'm sorry about that. I really did want to talk, but I had a relapse. I spiked a fever and was miserable. You wouldn't have wanted to talk to me."

"What did you need to talk to me about? Your note sounded serious."

"I wanted to let you know about some stuff that's going on. Suzy is pretty upset that you haven't been around much lately, and I thought you should be aware of that."

"Because of the conference?"

"And when you are around she feels that you're too busy or tired to do anything with her. Last night she asked me to tuck her in and when I said I couldn't because of the IV, she just burst into tears. I was able to calm her down and talk to her, but...."

"Damnit," Susan snapped. "I've had to work a lot because we're so understaffed and because we really need the money right now. It's hard to make ends meet on one salary, and she needs to understand that I'm going to be working a lot."

Carol could see that Susan had tensed up and she reached for her hand to try to calm her. "Do you need money? You know that Doug and I will help you."

Susan pulled her hand away and said, "No, I just need to work. Suzy needs to understand that. This isn't easy to do on my own, I hate being a single mother."

Carol didn't get angry because she knew Susan was frustrated, and not necessarily mad. "I think she's trying to understand, but she is only 5 years old. And remember, you don't have to do this on your own. Tell us what you need and we can help you out."

"You don't get it, do you? I don't want your help and charity."

Carol was shaken by Susan's comment but fought hard not to let it show. "We're just trying to help," Carol said, looking away so that Susan wouldn't see the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"It's too hard, you wouldn't understand. Maybe I made a mistake coming back and trying to fit in again," Susan snapped before turning around and running upstairs.

Moments later, Carol heard the outside door slam and Susan's car start up and pull out. For a few seconds, Carol attempted to finish feeding Emma who had banged on her high chair tray throughout the noise, but then the tears overcame her.

She started to sob uncontrollably and reached for the phone...