For the next few weeks, Jeremy supplied Elizabeth with the time and place of several of the Penguin's drug and weapon drop-offs. She would always be lurking, taking pictures of the exchanges for Batman. When she would get back to her apartment, Elizabeth would take out the memory card and put it in an envelope. She hadn't been able to see him recently, so the cards were piling up.
Christmas was approaching quickly and Elizabeth had been fortunate to not to have been caught up in all of the excitement. She hadn't heard from Anne recently about her plans for the holidays so there was no reason to get too over-worked about it.
Elizabeth arrived in the lobby a week and a half before Christmas and found a large tree in the corner of the room. It was decorated nicely, with gold and silver ornaments, bringing that little bit of holiday cheer to the room. Tiffany's desk was decorated with garland and matching ornaments and Elizabeth's desk was decorated similarly. She also saw bouquet of lilies by her phone, a big, blue ribbon tied around the crystal vase. Just then, the elevator 'binged' and Tiffany stood from her desk.
"Good morning, Mr. Wayne," she chirped. Elizabeth's head snapped to the elevator and found Bruce striding through the lobby. He wore a grey suit with a pale gold tie and upon further inspection; the tie had tiny Christmas trees on it.
"Good morning, ladies," he said brightly, looking at Elizabeth. "Nice flowers," he said with a wink, pointing to the bouquet on her desk. Elizabeth had trouble biting back a grin at his behavior.
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne," she said tightly, trying not to burst into laughter. He grinned and disappeared inside his office.
"Mmm. If I wasn't already with Kyle, I'd so tap that," Tiffany remarked, biting her lip.
"Well, it's a good thing you're with Kyle then," Elizabeth said, shuffling the papers on her desk.
"Why? Does someone have a crush?" Tiffany asked. Elizabeth's responding blush made Tiffany burst into giggles. "Oh my god! You totally do! Go for him honey, I'm sure he's great in bed!" Elizabeth kept her head down as she went into the filing room where she filed the papers and waited until her blush disappeared to return to the lobby. Tiffany was on the phone when Elizabeth re-entered the room then she hung up and went into Lucius' office.
Because Lucius was busy, Elizabeth took the faxes she received from one of the board members and went into Bruce's office. Bruce was standing shirtless in front of the mirror above his bar, stitching a nasty looking gash on his chest.
"Oh my god, Bruce! What happened?" She closed the door to his office and set the papers down on his desk then approached the bleeding man in front of her.
"I was ice-climbing and my axe wasn't stuck in the ice as well as I thought and it slipped, causing me to fall. The ice tore through my jacket and nicked me a little bit," he answered quickly. Elizabeth looked up at him, unsure.
"Nicked you? Bruce, this is really deep," she said, worriedly. Bruce waved it away.
"It's not bad. I just need to stitch it up and it'll be fine. Do you think you can help me? This is actually quite difficult."
"A-are you sure?" she asked, paling.
"Yeah, it's not difficult if somebody else is doing it. It's like mending a shirt or a pair of pants. You ever do that?" Elizabeth nodded slowly, tearing her eyes from the gnarly wound. "It's the same concept, just with skin. Here, give it a go," he said, handing her the needle. Gulping, Elizabeth took it with shaky hands and looked up into his eyes one last time for confirmation. Bruce nodded at her to start.
"Okay, um, how about you sit down," she suggested. Bruce moved with her to the couch where they carefully sat down. Minding the needle, Elizabeth scooted closer to Bruce. Practically sitting in his lap, Elizabeth began to sew the skin together. The entire time, she was well aware of his hands on her waist, but managed to remain focused on not messing up the sutures. She reached the end of the wound and looked to Bruce for further instruction.
"Now, take the needle and wrap it around the thread…yeah, like that. Make a loop and pull it through…there. Make another loop and pull the knot through that…ah, there you go," he instructed carefully, his breath tickling Elizabeth's face. She finished the knot and grabbed the scissors, snipping the thread.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Elizabeth grabbed the wet washcloth and began to carefully clean the wound. Bruce's muscles constricted and flexed throughout the process, nearly causing Elizabeth to mess up more than once. Satisfied with the wound's cleanliness, she placed a large piece of gauze on top of the wound and started wrapping a bandage around his torso. Because her arms weren't long enough, Elizabeth had to hug Bruce every time she wrapped the bandage around his back so she could put the roll in her other hand. Embarrassed, yet slightly pleased, Elizabeth sat back and observed her work.
"Nicely done," said Bruce, giving her a genuine smile. Elizabeth felt butterflies erupt inside as she was blinded by his smile. She nodded, unable to say anything in response. Suddenly, Elizabeth noticed their close position and abruptly stood up, tripped over her shoes, and smacked her head on the floor.
