Disclaimer: No, I don't own ER or any of its characters. Don't sue me.
The rating's going up a bit. I'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary yet, but it would probably have to go up sooner or later anyway. Don't kill me, though, because it's not a Cordano scene that's causing it at this point.…but we're making progress, I promise.
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Two Can Play The GameThe following days went by without another conflict, mostly due to the fact that Elizabeth was spending more time at the OR, trying to rid her mind of Robert once and for all, but in the end of the week she found herself covering the ER again. The morning passed smoothly enough, but by midday Elizabeth was beginning to suspect that Romano was avoiding her. At first she didn't mind the distance as she convinced herself it was exactly what she needed and had been trying to achieve all week anyway, but after a while it began to bother her. It had been easy enough to avoid Robert, but the feeling of being avoided was much more difficult to swallow. Elizabeth had barely seen Robert at all during the day and whenever she did arrive to a room he was already in, it turned out he had just been on his way out. When this was repeated for the fifth time –Elizabeth couldn't believe she was actually counting the times – and Robert was trying to make another hasty exit, she decided to follow him.
"Robert, wait!" she called after him.
He stopped and swirled around to face Elizabeth.
"Don't tell me you need my help in making a diagnose." he snapped.
Elizabeth ignored his remark. She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice so that other people around them would not hear and make a fuss:
"I think we should talk."
"Aren't we talking now?" Robert retorted, beginning to walk again. Elizabeth followed him and started pacing by his side.
"Not like this" she hissed. "I meant somewhere more private."
Romano briefly turned to look at her with an unreadable expression, but did not reply. Elizabeth took this as a sign that he was, however, listening.
"Look…", she began, not sure of what she even wanted to say. Asking straight out if and why he was avoiding her just didn't seem like a good idea. "Um…Is something bothering you?"
"No." Romano replied, not turning to face Elizabeth. "Nothing but the fact that these idiots here can't do anything right and I must stand in guard of them all the time. So, if you'd excuse me…"
Elizabeth sighed, but decided to try once more before Robert would escape again:
"When does your shift end?" she asked, hoping to be able to catch up with him after work.
"In three hours."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I have a surgery in two. I thought we could have gone to…maybe grab some coffee after work…I mean, I really wish we could talk… but I'm not sure if I can finish the operation in an hour, unless…" she stopped abruptly.
"Unless what?" Robert turned to look at her suspiciously.
"Forget about it." she replied. "I can't do it in an hour."
"But you know someone who can?"
"No." Elizabeth lied. "But if you can wait, or if you'd stop by later…"
"Elizabeth, didn't I already tell you you're a pathetic liar?" he snapped. "It's quite obvious you want to do the surgery with Dorsett, so why don't you just say so?"
"I'm glad you've finally learnt his name." Elizabeth tried to reply lightly, but Robert was not in the mood to respond to the jest.
"Why don't you just go and ask your Eddie then?" he spat. "You're wasting your time with me."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She had done her best, and if Robert wasn't willing to meet her halfway, what was there for her to do?
"Fine" Elizabeth snapped. "Forget about it." She turned around and began storming towards the opposite direction, but before she could even look up at where she was going, she had bumped into someone coming from the other direction. As she looked up to apologize, Elizabeth could not repress a gasp. She realized she had come face to face with Dr. Dorsett.
The man seemed pleased enough with himself to find Elizabeth in his arms and he wasn't willing to let her go too easily:
"Hey", he greeted, placing his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders to stop her from escaping. "I would have come sooner if I'd known I'd get such a warm welcome here."
"I-I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you.", Elizabeth stammered, acutely aware of the fact that a lot of people were staring at them, including Romano who had stopped and turned around to see what the bustle was about. She made an attempt to flee from the situation, but Dorsett got the hold of her arm before she could get far. He drew her closer and smiled seductively.
"Trying to run away from me again?" he asked playfully, lowering his voice slightly.
Elizabeth blushed and then tried to laugh, but she only managed to sound nervous as she spoke:
"I don't know what you're talking about, Dr. Dorsett."
"Oh, I think you do," he replied, placing a hand on Elizabeth's waist and directing her to the nearest room that was unoccupied.
"Now, this is better. A bit of privacy." He said, returning his attention to Elizabeth after closing the door behind them. Elizabeth was beginning to lose her temper. The temper which already had been strained by Robert:
"I don't think I have time for this right now, Dr.Dorsett, I…"
"Could we just drop the formalities already?" he interjected, stepping closer to Elizabeth and placing a finger on her lips to shut her down. Then he lowered his voice again: "I rather liked it when you called me Edward in the phone, Elizabeth."
"Oh, that was just…I didn't…" Elizabeth found herself losing her anger and focus at the man's sudden nearness. She couldn't even remember the last time anyone had touch her like that…Not until a memory of a dimly lit lounge and Robert sitting defeated in the large armchair, reaching out to stroke her cheek, returned to Elizabeth's mind. Closing her eyes, she could still feel the touch - even though she had been so quick to pull away at the time. But it had been too soon, it had caught her totally off guard, she had been scared…but this… As Elizabeth closed her eyes she could still feel the touch of Robert's hand on her face, and suddenly it didn't scare her anymore, but…Elizabeth abruptly opened her eyes and remembered it was not Robert who was touching her –it was Eddie, and he was slowly moving his fingers from her cheek back to her lips again. Elizabeth tried to break away from him, but only ended up being held closer.
"Don't run away, Lizzie," he whispered, now using his free hand to lift Elizabeth's face so that he could see her eyes. "You don't mind if I call you Lizzie, do you?" The smile that played on his lips told Elizabeth that the man was sure of his success. "Lizzie and Eddie…" he continued. "Now wouldn't that just go so well together?"
This time Elizabeth's attempt to break herself free succeeded. She couldn't do it. For a while she had thought she could, feeling the need of a man's touch, but something was stopping her. Was it Mark? Was this still too soon? Or was it…Robert? No, ridiculous. Elizabeth could barely even allow herself to name the possibility, but then…why did she have to think about Robert, of all people, when Edward was touching her? Why not Mark?
"I'd rather you not call me Lizzie." She finally said when she realized she was expected to speak.
"Oh." Dorsett was slightly, but only slightly, taken aback. "I understand."
"Do you?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. - 'Because I don't', she added to herself.
"Of course. I should have thought about that… When someone you love has called you 'Lizzie' for so long, it must be difficult to hear it from someone else."
"B-But, how do you…?" Elizabeth was startled. How could the man know about her and Robert? Hell, there wasn't even any such thing as her and Robert!
"I know about you husband." Dorsett replied soothingly after seeing Elizabeth's reaction and misreading it. "And I'm sorry. I should have realized he'd have called you Lizzie. After all, it is a name of endearment."
Elizabeth blushed at her own mistake – why did everything have to remind her of Robert these days? – and was about to correct him, but then thought the better of it. She didn't want to drag Robert into this conversation, especially as there was no reasonable explanation she could give as to why she wouldn't let Dorsett call her Lizzie if another colleague was allowed to do so.
Eddie continued when Elizabeth did not reply:
"Is that also the reason you have been avoiding me?" he asked. "Look, if you're still thinking about your husband…"
"No, it's not that", Elizabeth replied, shaking her head. She was by now almost certain she was over the period of grieving, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to take the next step yet…nor was she convinced that Fast Eddie was the man he wanted to do it with.
"Then why are you always trying to run away?" Dorsett made another move to get closer to Elizabeth again. He put on a seductive smile as he continued: "Could it be that you don't find me at all attractive?"
The man was smooth and Elizabeth could tell he knew exactly his own level of attractiveness, yet a part of her wanted to just give in to the temptation and get it all over and done with. Sooner or later she would have to move on anyway, unless she wanted to stay alone for the rest of her life, and she could just as well do it sooner rather than later. Maybe this was exactly what she needed anyway. Something casual with a good looking man, not too many feelings attached, like the good old days with Benton. Elizabeth grinned slightly at the memory. Besides, whatever feelings she might have for Robert…it was all too complicated, she wouldn't be able to handle it. They had barely even spoken to each other all week. It would never work out. She needed something more simple, someone like Edward Dorsett.
Elizabeth turned to look at Eddie, a smile slowly forming on her lips as she had made up her mind.
"Could it be that someone has a bit too high opinion of their own attractiveness?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I have no idea what you are talking about" he replied innocently. "But if you have any doubts…perhaps I should provide you with further proof."
He slowly leaned closer to Elizabeth, taking her face between his hands, and finally, when there were no protests from Elizabeth's part, he kissed her softly on the lips. At first Elizabeth remained completely frozen, she wasn't sure if it was shock or simply lack of any feeling, but after a while she opened her mouth and slowly began to respond to the kisses. She moaned softly, taking in the sensation she hadn't even realized she had been missing so much. 'This can't be right', she heard a voice inside of her nag, but she silenced it as the kiss began to turn deeper and more passionate. Elizabeth closed her eyes to be able enjoy every sensation the kiss could offer, but the moment she lost the sight of Eddie, she found herself imagining herself in different arms – or, actually, there only was one arm. Startled by the sudden fantasy, Elizabeth quickly broke the kiss. She could hardly believe the tricks her mind was playing on her. Dorsett, however, mistook this action.
"Do you want me to lock the door?" he half-whispered, placing another kiss on her lips before Elizabeth could turn away.
"I'm not sure…if that is… such a good idea…" Elizabeth breathed between the kisses "…Someone might need this room."
"They don't call me Fast Eddie for nothing." Dorsett replied huskily, flashing a smile that spoke volumes of the high opinion the man had of himself. That was too much for Elizabeth. She pulled away and quickly made her way to the door before he could stop her or another moment of weakness come upon her.
"I have no doubt you have earned your name, Dr. Dorsett, so there's hardly any need for me to stay and witness any further attempts to prove it," she spoke, satisfied to see the look of disbelief on Eddie's face as she opened the door and strode out.
The satisfaction, however, quickly turned into discomfort as Elizabeth made her way out of the room and found herself trying to avoid the looks that she knew, or at least felt like, she was receiving from everywhere as she moved forward. It almost looked as if some people had purposefully sited themselves so that they could try to see what was going on in the room –or maybe it was all just her own imagination. At least Robert wasn't anywhere to be seen. Elizabeth only wished she could escape to the calm and silence of the OR already. But alas, she still had more than an hour left of her ER call.
Suddenly she stopped dead on her feet as she noticed Robert further away. He was escorting a beautiful blonde woman out of an exam room and the two slowly began walking in Elizabeth's direction. She hurriedly picked up her pager and turned to look at it as if it was the center of her world, hoping that Robert would just pass her by without any notice. She didn't feel like she was ready to face him just yet. But it turned out she was worried for nothing as Romano only seemed to have eyes for the lady he was walking with. As they drew closer, Elizabeth could hear their conversation:
"I assure you, Miss Hewitt, your brother is going to be just fine. He will get home in a matter of hours. We'll just have to run some more tests to make sure everything is alright."
"You are very kind, Dr. Romano. But can you tell me where I might wait until Tony is released?"
At that moment they both stopped. Elizabeth had to look up to see what was going on and she noticed that the way was blocked; Dorsett had finally emerged from the room where she had left him, while Susan had appeared from out of nowhere and nearly stumbled on the man. The moment was awkward for Elizabeth, to say the least. Robert and his companion had to stop right in front of her to wait for Susan and Dorsett get out of the way.
At first it looked like Romano wasn't going to look at Elizabeth at all, but just as she had sighed in relief – or was it disappointment? - he suddenly turned his head to where she was standing and Elizabeth felt forced to look up. She blushed as their eyes met and for a moment she felt like…well, she did not know how she felt like, because she had never had the feeling before, but somehow it seemed like everything else around them was suddenly disappearing and all she could see was the look in Robert's eyes. The feeling was intoxicating, but it only lasted for a few seconds. It was broken by Susan's comment which made Romano swiftly break the eye contact and look at Dr. Dorsett instead.
Apparently Susan had noticed some marks of lipstick on Dorsett's face and had made a joke about it, but the only one laughing was Eddie, and even he sounded awkward. Elizabeth bit her lip and the looked away in embarrassment. Before she even knew, Robert's eyes were upon her again, but this time the expression was closed, even cold. After taking a quick glance at him, Elizabeth could not bring herself to meet those eyes again. She could hardly hear what Dorsett had to say in response to Susan, but apparently he stayed true to his name and reputation and got away from the situation easily enough, because the next thing Elizabeth could register was the fact that Robert and his little Miss Hewitt were on their way again. She could hear them continuing their conversation:
"You know, this is a crappy place", she heard Robert say. "My shift ends in a few minutes so maybe we could go out to grab some coffee while they do the tests on your brother."
"Oh, that would be lovely, Dr. Romano, you are so…"
"Just call me Rocket."
That was the last thing Elizabeth could hear. In fact, she didn't even want to hear more. She swirled around and began walking in the other direction, trying to get a grip of herself. If Robert wanted to grab some coffee with some bimbo, then it was absolutely fine by her. It was not like she had ever cared what he did after work anyway. She never had and never would care.
But the rest of the day Elizabeth found herself thinking of nothing else. Whenever she tried to banish the thought of Robert talking and laughing with the pretty looking woman by trying to replace the image with memories of her earlier activities with Dorsett, she only ended up feeling worse. The woman never even returned to retrieve her brother – although Elizabeth never would admit to herself that she was actually keeping an eye on the room where she knew Mr. Hewitt was waiting.
It was only when Elizabeth was on her way out, after the end of her shift, that she ran into Robert and the woman again. They were walking down the street towards the hospital as Elizabeth stepped out. Even from the distance she could see they were having fun and Robert was apparently laughing at something Miss Hewitt had just said. The smile died on his lips, however, as soon as he noticed her standing at the doorway.
Elizabeth would have preferred to get away without exchanging any words with Robert, but she would have to go to the same direction from which the two of them were arriving, so there seemed to be no way to escape.
"Lizzie." Robert greeted as soon as they were within a short enough distance from each other. "You finished you operation already?"
"Yes." Elizabeth replied curtly, stealing a glance at Romano's companion.
"Oh, excuse me, I'm being rude." Robert spoke lightly, too lightly to Elizabeth's liking. "Let me introduce you Miss Rebecca Hewitt." He turned to his companion. "Rebecca, this is Dr. Elizabeth Corday."
"Nice to meet you." The woman twittered, smiling broadly.
"A pleasure indeed." Elizabeth returned dryly, forcing herself to smile.
"Do you know anything about my brother, Dr. Corday?"
"Mr. Anthony Hewitt? He was ready to leave an hour ago." Elizabeth retorted dryly. She realized she was sounding grumpy, but she told herself she was tired and in no mood to humor some woman Robert chose to take around the town while he was supposed to be tending to her brother. She would really have to remind Robert of his responsibilities as a doctor - the ones which did not include going out with a patient's sister while the patient himself was still in want of medical help. But that would have to wait for tomorrow.
"Well, it was good to meet you Miss Hewitt." Elizabeth hastened to add before either Robert or his new friend could say anything. "I really have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow, Robert." She nodded briefly at the two and then hurried away, muttering something about having the El to catch.
Tbc
Please R&R. I'd love to get any feedback.
