Indira examined her. "Page Dr. Bey and Dr. Barnett. I need a blood gas. She was fine an hour ago."
Martin sat with Elizabeth in his lap, brushing her hair. He sighed, “What are you thinking?” Elizabeth turned her head to look at him.
Martin slanted his head and pressed his lips to hers. “I thought I was going to lose you again.”
“I’m here thanks to you and your wonderful friends.”
Martin scooted from behind her and pulled an old, small velvet box from his pocket. "I had this whole plan, to take you to our spot and repeat the last time we shared there—a new beginning.” He dropped to one knee, ignoring the throb in his leg. “Here I am in a hospital on one knee to ask the woman I love more than life itself to marry me."
Elizabeth’s eyes dampened, and she raised her hand to her mouth. “Marty.”
Her heart rate didn't jump, but if Martin wore a monitor, his would be red-lining.
"Marty Bailey, I'm yours. Today and always."
Martin rose on shaking legs as air flooded his lungs and he placed his grandmother's ring on her finger. Her eyes shimmered at the one-carat diamond surrounded by smaller stones. "I love you."
Together they shared a chaste kiss, then Elizabeth cocked her head. “Now, Martin Bailey, go wash your hands. Don’t you know how dirty a hospital floor is? And, Tuck, check his leg please; he’s not supposed to bend like that.”
The two PAs and Martin chuckled. “She’s back.” Martin raised his hands over his head, then he did as he was told.
The excitement of the proposal and the congratulations exhausted Elizabeth. Joyce sat crocheting, engaging in quiet conversation with Martin, Ruth, Tucker and Pete. Joyce’s hospital pager fired, dragging Elizabeth from her nap.
Elizabeth sat up, confused, reaching to her own hip before her head cleared. "You work here now, Joyce? What?" Elizabeth focused on her friend's disturbed face.
"What’s wrong, Joyce?" Martin turned pale.
“It's Lola. I need to go. Marty, I wish you had more time to do this. Remember, he loves you." Joyce left the room.
Stoic faces greeted Elizabeth. "Who's Lola?"
Martin took a deep breath. "Sunshine, Lola is an adorable one-month-old who was caught in a trailer park fire. Her momma died, and her great-grandfather is her only living relative. Social Services was going to put her in foster care."
She reached out to brush her fingers against his cheek. "You agreed to foster her? No… You plan to adopt her," she said it with surety.
"I did. She's mine—I want her to be ours.”
She used his shoulder for leverage and kissed him. "Tucker and Pete, I rested for three hours. I would like to meet my daughter."
He pressed his forehead against hers, stitched brow to stitched brow. "You are the most incredible woman in the world."
"Go to her. I'll be there soon." Elizabeth lifted her hand and pointed. "Go, sailor." Her smile followed Martin out the door.
"Tell me what's wrong with her." Elizabeth's tone changed to that of the serious physician as she spoke to the others in the room.
"They admitted her the overnight before you, after a fire. They found NEC. Joyce and Kat Archer operated," Ruth gave her Lola's history.
Pete rolled a wheelchair toward her room as Eric and Jamie were coming on shift. "What's going on?" Jamie asked.
"Eric, Jamie, meet the awake and demanding Dr. Elizabeth Reed." Pete shook his head.
A quick meet and greet later, Tucker and Pete secured her in the wheelchair. The Pediatric ICU staff appeared bewildered when they wheeled Elizabeth and all her tubing onto the floor. She screeched in anger when they tried to stop her. Joyce stepped from Lola's room to quell the battle.
After some logistics, Elizabeth got her first peek at Lola. Marty was leaning over the teeny blue baby. A distressed woman in black scrubs stood nearby, and Pete pulled her into the hall.
"What's her methemoglobin level?" Elizabeth demanded.
Another man stood tense and worried in the corner. "You work with Marty?"
