A Summer Of Change
Part 23
By Cari
cxcarleo@naz.edu

This piece is a hodgepodge of summer scenes. I chose to do it this way because I want to focus more on the later part of Elizabeth's pregnancy as well as some other fall moments without having to write the whole summer. I had many ideas for fall, but very few for the summer. So this piece will have several important scenes from the summer, each dated.

As always, thanks to Rachel and Lori for reading early drafts. Please e-mail me with any feedback. I do not own any of the characters and make no money from their use.

Friday June 2, 2000

It is around 7:30 PM, and Carol is sitting on the back patio, alongside the pool, reading a book. Emma is in bed, and Doug is at work. Susan and Carol have not spoken since their fight on Sunday and the tension can be felt throughout the house.

Susan came out her deck door and tentatively walked down the stairs, holding a magazine in her hand. "Is it buggy out here?"

"Not really, but I have some bug spray if you need it," Carol said, closing her book.

"You don't mind if I join you?"

"No."

Susan pulled a chair over and asked, "Can we talk?"

"Of course."

"I really owe you an apology. You were just trying to alert me to a situation and I blew up, I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Maybe I went about it the wrong way. I'm sorry too."

"It had nothing to do with how you went about it. I was in a foul mood and dumped it on you. That was very wrong of me. I went into our talk with a bad attitude."

"Is it anything that could be helped by talking? I know we both said things in the heat of the moment, but something must have pushed us."

"There is no excuse for stupid jealousy. I just couldn't hold my tongue, I had no reason to be jealous."

"Can I ask what you were jealous of?"

"It was hard for me to come back, and at times I don't feel like I fit in here anymore. When I got home on Saturday I saw Mark and Elizabeth were here taking care of you and I thought that maybe if I hadn't ever left, you would have called me. Like I said, it was stupid."

"It's not that I chose them over you. Elizabeth and I had plans to get together, but I was too sick to do anything so she came over anyway and just took care of me while you and Doug were at work. Mark came over when his shift ended. I am so glad that you came back and are here, I missed you so much. I'm sorry that you felt that way. I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't. You guys have all been great about fitting me into your lives. I was just stressed over money and was using other things as an excuse."

"Are you having money problems?"

"Yes," Susan admitted softly. "I finally got the news from Alan's lawyer about the will. He left everything to his brother, and not a dime to Suzy or I. Not that I really expected him to. Of course there was no insurance money since it was suicide. I applied for a loan to cover attorney's fees and other stuff that I need to pay and I was turned down. Now I don't know what to do."

"Will you let Doug and I help?"

"I feel bad. You guys have already done so much for me. That's why I didn't want to ask you for any more."

"What about a loan? The same as you would get from a bank."

"Would you do it?"

"I will talk to Doug, but I'm sure he'll agree. We want to help you."

"Thank you. It's sad that I've been working for more than three months and I'm still in financial trouble. I hate it."

"I wish you'd told us earlier so we could have helped."

"You have, a lot. That's why I got so angry with myself for blowing up at you. I knew that Id hurt you badly, that's why I left."

"I just figured you needed a break. I understand more now that we've talked."

"I wanted to talk earlier, before we argued, but there was no time. Between the conference and then I took extra shifts to make more money. I was at breaking point on Saturday night. I was hoping we could talk."

"But then I was asleep, I'm sorry. Next time, if you need to talk, just wake me up. I don't care about the time."

"You were sick, I didn't want to wake you."

Carol could see the tears forming in Susan's eyes and tentatively extended her arms. Susan responded by moving into Carol's arms. Carol put her arms around Susan, pulled her head to her shoulder and rubbed her back. "Let it all go," she said softly.

Monday June 26, 2000

The setting is the hospital board room. Those present, among others, are Mark, Kerry, and Don Anspaugh.

Chairman Ferraro announced, "As our first order of business I'd like to formally announce the Board's confirmation of Kerry as Chief of Staff. Kerry, I want to thank you on behalf of the Board for all you have done all along to aid the transition."

"Thank you. I look forward to the new position. I want to thank everyone for helping me and recommending me for the position."

"As a result of Kerry's promotion, we were left with a vacancy in the role of Chief of ER Medicine. Although we conducted a major national search, I'm happy to announce we were able to fill the position in-house. Despite his initial reluctance to take the position, I'm proud to confirm Mark as Chief of ER Medicine."

"Thank you. I am happy to take the position. I hope to keep the same strength in the ER as we had under Kerry's leadership."

"The final position that we needed to fill is that of Chief of Surgery. Our first choice was Elizabeth, a simple well-deserved promotion. However, due to her plans for maternity leave later this year, she and I devised a plan to split the position. So I would like to appoint Elizabeth and Don Anspaugh as co-chiefs. Don, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

"I'd just like to thank you for considering me for the split position. I look forward to working with Elizabeth."

Wednesday July 12, 2000

There is a small party in the ER lounge to celebrate the various promotions. Doug was on break and sitting in the lounge talking to Kerry when Carol walked over to them. Kerry said, "Hey Carol, it's nice to see you here. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good, I am just coming from a doctor's appointment so I thought Id come in before I went home."

"How did the appointment go?" Doug asked, pulling Carol back against his chest.

"Really well, no trace of cancerous cells..." Carol was interrupted by Doug's pager vibrating against her lower back.

"Crap," he said. "That's peds, I gotta go. See you at home?"

"Yup."

As Doug jogged toward the elevator, Carol said to Kerry, "It feels weird to be here again."

"You've been gone a while now. We've missed you."

"I have missed it a lot. I just wanted to get my strength back before I came back."

"That's a smart idea. Are you thinking about coming back?"

"Yes, I actually need to talk to you about that. I just talked to Mark and he wanted me to check with you. I wanted to come back part time at first because I still tire more easily than before. Do you think that's possible?"

"Sure. Just schedule yourself for the hours that you can handle. Don't push yourself too hard, you're still recuperating."

"Maybe I can do the admin stuff from the computer at home."

"If you're up to it. I'm sure you Lydia, and Haleh can work something out. You're a good team."

"Thanks, I look forward to coming back."

"Did you have any idea when you might want to start back?"

"What about next week?"

"Sure."

Just then the lounge door opened and Haleh said, "Hey girl, I didn't know you were here." She walked over and gave Carol a hug.

"I had a doctor's appointment and I needed to talk to Kerry and Mark about something. What are you up to?"

"Lunch. I've been on since 7 AM and I'm famished. Do you want to join me?"

"Sure, it was good to see you Kerry."

A few minutes later, Carol and Haleh are sipping sodas at Magoos. H said, "We've missed you girl."

"Well you won't be missing me for too much longer."

"You coming back?"

"Part time, at least at first. I need to work it out with you and Lydia."

"Whatever you need, you do. We'll just be glad to have you here."

"Thanks."

Sunday August 27th 2000

Mark and Elizabeth are walking through the baby section of Wal-Mart. Elizabeth is almost 19 weeks along and showing, althought not too much. Mark picked out a yellow baby outfit and laid it on Elizabeth's stomach.

Elizabeth laughed quietly and said to Mark, "You are such a goof. I wish we knew what the baby was going to be so we could buy clothes."

"We'll know in just a few weeks," Mark said, putting an arm around Elizabeth's waist. "Do you think we've gotten enough for today or is there more you wanted to take care of?"

"Let's see, four hours of shopping. Crib, changing table, high chair, playpen and endless supplies all taken care of. I think we're done. Want to go for lunch?"

"Sure."