Dreams
Part Five
By Carrie Verkman
carebear1025@juno.com

Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway-Soul Mates. (I am aware that these characters are gone from the show, but they are not forgotten!)

Doug Ross tossed and turned as he tried to fall asleep. He hated sleeping alone and he especially hated it since he had a king size bed and no one to share it with. Doug turned on his light. He looked at the picture of Carol Hathaway on his nightstand. I miss her so much, he thought. Doug tossed his head onto the pillow. He lay awake thinking of Carol and his daughters, Tess and Kate. Doug felt terrible since he hadn't been there when they were born. He hadn't even seen what they looked like. Doug wished he could see them growing up.

He finally fell asleep with the thought of Carol and him together, along with their daughters, in his mind.



Doug had come back to Chicago for two reasons. He wanted to spend Thanksgiving with Carol, and hopefully be there when she went into labor since it was close to her due date. His plane had arrived at O' Hare airport early, so he took a cab straight to Carol's house. He got out and knocked on the door. No answer. Well, she probably has trouble getting up, thought Doug. Okay, so the thought of Carol really pregnant made him smile. He knocked again, and no answer. Doug figured she was at the hospital, and that's exactly where he went.

Doug arrived at the hospital. He saw Carter, Kerry and some doctor with greasy hair outside in the snow. They were kneeling to a patient on the ground. Doug ran up to help and nearly fainted when he saw a very pregnant Carol being resuscitated.

"Carol!" Doug kneeled beside her.

"Doug? What are you doing here?" asked Kerry.

"Yeah," said Carter. "Did you plan on getting here at the exact moment she went into labor?"

"Whoa! Carol's in labor?" he asked.

"Yes," said the greasy haired doctor. "Who are you?"

"I'm the father of her twins." he said. Kerry and Carter nodded in agreement.

The greasy haired man looked confused. "We can talk about this later. Let's get her inside." said Kerry.

All four of them rushed Carol into Trauma One. Carol woke up and saw Doug. "Doug, why are you here?" she asked.

"I wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving and possibly see the birth of my children." he answered.

"Oh Doug, I'm so glad you're here!" Carol said. "You don't know how much I've missed you! Please stay with me!"

Doug nodded and followed her into Trauma One. Kerry called Mark and told him he wouldn't have to be Carol's coach, since Doug was there. Mark wished Carol good luck and told Doug a quick hello.

After kicking Carter out of the trauma room, Carol had her first baby. A girl named Tess. Soon after that Carol, survived a critical c-section and had another girl named Kate. Doug went down to the ER to share the news. He noticed the greasy haired doctor wasn't there with all the other doctors. Doug found him in the lounge.

"Hey." he said.

"Hey." The doctor said back.

"You were helping Carol, right?" Doug asked.

"Yes. I'm Luka Kovac. I'm pretty new here."

"Okay. I'm Doug Ross. Carol's baby's father. I used to be a pediatrician here. Now I practice in Seattle."

Luka nodded. "I think Carol has mentioned you before. How is she doing?"

"Oh she's fine. She's upstairs resting. We've got two healthy baby girls. Kate and Tess." Doug answered.

"Well congratulations. You are so lucky to have a family. I wish you all the best." Luka said.

"Thank you. Although sometimes I don't think I deserve it. I've done some naughty things to Carol. First of all being, abandoning her when she was pregnant." Doug confessed.

"No, you should be thankful." said Luka. "A family is a joy to have."

"Do you have any family?" asked Doug.

"No I do not. Not anymore. They were killed in a war."

Doug sighed. "Oh man. I feel terrible. You know, me bragging about my family when you lost everything."

"It's okay. But let me give you some advice. No matter what happens, a family should always stay together." Luka said.

Doug knew Luka was right. "Thank you. It was nice meeting you Dr. Kovac. But I have to get back to Carol."

"Of course. Tell her I said 'hello'." Luka said.



Doug woke up. He thought it was weird how a man whom he'd never seen before, gave him great advice. "No matter what happens a family should always stay together." Doug thought about it again. Maybe it would be a good idea to go back to Chicago.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Doug, it's Carol." said the voice on the other line.

"Hi. I was just thinking about you." Doug said.



Carol hadn't been asleep for more than five minutes, when Tess started to cry. Carol got up and went into the babies' room.

"Don't cry Tess." Carol said soothingly, while picking her up. "You'll wake up Kate."

Tess continued to cry. Carol carried her around the house to see if she could get her back to sleep. As they reached the living room, Carol stopped to look at a picture of her and Doug together. Memories filled her mind. If only you were here Doug, I wouldn't be having such a hard time with these two, Carol thought.

Tess was finally asleep. Carol put her in her crib and then tucked herself into bed. She fell asleep thinking of Doug.

"Just a few more blocks Carol. You can make it." said Luka Kovac. If he hadn't have found Carol, in labor, on the EL, she could have given birth on the train.

Carol winced in pain. "I need to sit down Luka." She sat down on the steps of the EL platform.

"Okay Carol, but we are almost there. Carol?" Luka noticed she had passed out. Using all his strength, Luka picked up Carol and carried her the rest of the way. As he approached the ambulance bay doors, he called, "I need some help!"

Carter and Kerry rushed out to help. Luka set Carol down and they worked on her until they got a gurney. Little did Carol know that Doug was out there with everyone else trying to help. He had showed up for Thanksgiving and came to the hospital to look for her. The next thing she knew she was on a gurney being wheeled into a trauma room. She looked up and saw Doug. "Doug, why are you here?"

Doug explained his appearance and that's when Carol began to cry. She was terribly afraid of having to go through this alone, but now that Doug was here, everything seemed to be just fine.

Carol delivered her first baby in the ER with Kerry's help. Although it was hard work, she felt all her strength coming from Doug, who was by her side the whole time. He even stayed with her during that terrible c-section in which she barely survived. In the end, they had two beautiful baby girls, named Kate and Tess. Doug ran down to the ER to share all the news. Carol stayed in bed and rested. It was all over. No more morning sickness or constant back pain. In the end she had pulled through, but would she have been able to do it if Doug wasn't there?

That's when Carol woke up. She had been able to make on her own, through birth and everything, but she needed her girls to have Doug back as a father and so that Carol could have him for herself too. Carol picked up the phone and dialed for Seattle.

"Hello?" said Doug.

"Doug, it's Carol." she said.

"Hi I was just thinking about you." answered Doug.

"Me too." Carol said.



The End.