Continuing on -- let's find out about this secret, shall we:)
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"Tyler!" Derek snapped "Can you please contribute something besides, 'No way'?"
"Well" Tyler said, pausing momentarily. "It's a good thing you lied to her, man…"
"No kidding" Derek replied quietly.
"C-Can, I.. open, it?"
"Go for it. I need to know your honest opinion, and you can't do that unless you see it"
Tyler and Derek exchanged glances momentarily before he turned his attention back to the box which held Derek's big secret. Slowly, he opened it, revealing its contents.
"No wa –"
"DUDE!"
"Sorry… I forgot. Its just… wow."
Tyler slowly removed the contents of the box, being as careful as Derek had ever seen.
"You know, its okay, right? Be careful with it, of course, but you don't have to hold it like it's a bomb"
Tyler scoffed at the remark "I just.. I've never held one of these before, dude... I can't believe what it looks like up close." He said, examining it from every angle. "Who did you have to kill to get this?"
"Very funny -- I didn't kill anyone. I got it at this place off Third.." Derek replied slowly, getting more and more nervous about what Tyler really thought of the big secret that he held in his hands. "Its pretty hidden, I had never even heard of it, but I was referred there by someone who knows a whole lot about getting these kinds of things… because I definitely don't."
Tyler exhaled. "Yeah, me either. Kinda makes me wish that I was able to do something like this… I like the exhilaration of keeping a secret. And this… its just. Its amazing, Derek."
Derek smiled "So, you like it?"
Tyler grinned, breaking the suspense. "Yeah, I think its awesome. What… I don't know how to ask.. I guess, what, kind is it?" he asked uncertainly.
Derek stopped. "Let me see if I can remember this correctly…"
He looked up at the ceiling, as if it was written directly above his head. "I didn't really care when I bought it, but for information's sake… It's a two and a half carat platinum princess cut engagement ring in a brilliant round cut eternity band setting... I think. Does that sound right to you?" He said, a tad short of breath at the end.
"I couldn't know less about these things if I tried… sounds good to me though" Tyler replied, his eyes still fixated on the sparkling diamond. "How the hell did you know to buy that?"
"I honestly didn't know that when I picked it out… all I knew was that when I saw that one, I knew that was it. I bought that immediately once I found it, but I still spent hours there trying to find the perfect one. Man… it was ridiculous. Good luck when its your turn." he joked, chuckling slightly.
"I can't believe it… you're, GETTING MARRIED, DUDE!" Tyler yelled excitedly, bouncing in his seat.
"SHUT UP" hissed Derek. "See? This is why I don't tell you things. You NEED to keep this quiet…" he paused. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"I think its awesome, dude. She'll love it, no doubt… I'm so happy for you guys!" he slapped him a high five, pulling him into a quick hug. Tyler closed the box, and wrapped the contents back up into their respectful places, handing the bigger box back to Derek. "When are you gonna ask her?" he asked, rising from the couch.
"Well, it'll be three years on the 21st—"
"The 21st! Dude! That's like, 4 days away!"
"I know! I know!" Derek said defensively, cradling his forehead in his left hand. "What Angie doesn't know is that I requested the night shift for this week so that I could have some peace and quiet to think about how to ask her…" he paused, "but I've come up with absolutely nothing… its even got me losing sleep. I'm so nervous, Tyler." He sat back; his eyes glazing over as he began to reminisce.
"I remember that symposium thing that Cybil and I went to… you know, when I was speaking about GUILT? I hate speaking in front of large crowds, I mean, I could barely hold it together. I fumble over every word I say when I'm nervous: anyone who didn't know me there would've just thought I had a speech impediment…" he trailed off, hanging his head.
Tyler nodded sympathetically, slightly giggling.
"But, I would rather do that again 6 times than have to do this… I mean, I want to ask her so badly, I want to marry her… But it needs to be absolutely perfect.
…And, I'm going to screw it up." He paused slightly, then turned his head toward Tyler. "Will you do it for me?" he said sadly, holding out the box towards his friend.
Tyler laughed out loud, smacking him on the back. "Derek… you can do it! Besides, popping the question isn't really the sort of thing you have a pinch hitter for, you know what I'm saying?"
"I know…" Derek started again. "Its just so… God! Look at me! I-I'm… f-freaking out already! And its g-getting worse, because she's kinda onto me! It would be a lot easier if I could just – "
"… throw her off track?" Tyler interrupted.
Derek nodded. "Exactly" He let out a large sigh, setting the box down next to him on the couch. The worried look was immediately replaced with confusion, as he asked "How is it that I can do a million things at once while I'm operating, but I can't figure out how to ask my girlfriend to be my wife?"
Tyler shook his head, unable to give an answer.
"Do you think she knows what's up, or is it just that she knows something's wrong with you?"
"I really don't think that she believed me when I told her that nothing's wrong. I'm a bad liar though, so it doesn't surprise me… we talked about marriage like, wow.. maybe a year and a half ago, nothing really too deep though. We've always been kinda happy just, being together… but I decided that I want our 'being together' to mean something more… To be honest, I don't even know. I hope that she just thinks I'm stressed out or something, you know?"
Tyler grinned. "Well, just let me know how I can help, or something, dude… But don't worry. I'm sure she has no clue… especially if you haven't been actively talking about it. Just think about how you feel, and you'll figure out what to say". He reached out and pounded Derek's fist before turning around to leave. "I'm going to go start rounds… catch ya later!"
"Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
Derek reached into his pocket, grabbing his vibrating cell phone. A picture of Angie in a black dress with curly hair popped up onto the front screen as it buzzed away. He almost always forgot to answer her when she called because he was too busy smiling at that picture… He loved her with curly hair, mostly because she said it 'took too much work' to make it that way, and therefore, she never ended up doing it. "Here I go again!" he thought, flipping open his phone in a frenzy, as the last ring almost completed itself.
"Hey, you" he said softly, grinning from ear to ear.
Tyler Chase shook his head and smiled as he walked out of Derek's office. Once out of sight, he quickly took his cell phone out of his pocket, and called his one and only, nurse Leslie Sears. It rang twice before she picked up, cheery as ever. "Hey, Ty!" came the voice from the other end.
"Hey Leslie! Listen to me for a sec -- are you anywhere around Angie?"
"No," she replied "I'm on my way back to our room though… we were at different parts of the conference today… why?"
Tyler grinned "Have I got news for you…"
