PG - Just a couple of bad words. Things are gettin' goin' now. Can you feel the tension in the air?
Chapter 14 - Wait
The next day, Kerry went down to the hospital early; around 7:30. Doctors and nurses in the ER were getting antsy as one shift was about to be over and a new one start. Susan, Luka and Deb had worked the night shift. Carter and Pratt were to be in by 8. Weaver had it planned to work down in the ER from now until they found a replacement for Robert.
When Weaver had phoned Anspaugh yesterday to fill him in on recent events, he was a little shocked. He didn't approve, but he acted like he understood and even though he may have thought it a rash move on her part, she was Chief of Staff now. And he told her that if she wanted to take risks, it was her prerogative. However, she was going to have to do the work necessary to find a replacement.
Kerry was more stressed now than ever. She looked around and saw paperwork and things stashed here and there. She didn't understand what on earth were Robert's organization methods. When she looked around, it all looked a mess to her.
"What is all this crap?! I can sure see I made the right decision now," Kerry said as she went through stuff that was piled up at the admit desk. "He's in charge for not even a year and the place goes to pot. Why haven't these things been filed?"
"Oh, he was gonna do that the other night, but he...didn't get around to it," replied Randi after popping a humungous bubble she had blown with her bubble gum.
Kerry got defensive. "Oh, so you're saying it's my fault!?"
"I didn't say that."
Just then Carter strode in with a smile on his face. "Hey, Kerry."
Before Carter could even ask what she was doing there, Kerry decided to just tell him anyway. She spit out harshly, "I fired Romano."
Carter was a little surprised. "Hey, great. When did this happen?"
"Yesterday." Kerry was still being short.
"Sooooo, you're back down here for good?"
"No, just until I can find a replacement. John, I'm gonna really need your help today. I can't make heads or tails of anything down here. I've got paperwork upstairs I need to do plus fix whatever Robert screwed up down here."
"Sure, sure, whatever you need me to do."
"Thanks. Hey, how come Gallant isn't working? I don't see him on the schedule anywhere."
Carter was about to answer when Randi piped up and answered for him, "He quit."
"What?!" asked Kerry alarmed.
"Yeah, somethin' about some military thing. He just stopped showing up. He's been gone a couple of months now."
"Why didn't somebody tell me?!" asked Kerry again.
No one answered. They were a little scared to.
Kerry was definitely feeling the stress and it was coming out loudly to everyone around her. She had a very hectic position to deal with now in being Chief of Staff, as well as Chief of Emergency Medicine since she fired Robert. These were both major full-time jobs. But that wasn't what was causing the majority of her stress. She knew she was delaying calling Jonathan Bright back. She didn't want to do it and she was dreading having to talk to him. The more she put it off, the more the dread weighted on her.
She just glared at both Carter and Randi waiting for an answer, which they never gave. Carter just looked sheepish. Randi blew another bubble that made a loud pop.
"So we've been shorthanded down here all this time and no one did anything?" Kerry asked, but she knew the answer. Still no one spoke.
Kerry gave up, grabbed a pile of files and headed for the lounge.
"I'll be in the lounge," she said. "Please don't come get me unless you have to."
As she was leaving, Carter shouted out to her, "You gonna be here all day?"
"Looks like it. You have a problem with that?"
"No, no." Carter responded immediately. After she went into the lounge, Carter just turned around and started patting his fingers on the desk just thinking for a second. "Did she really fire Romano?" he asked Randi.
"That's the rumor. I heard she slapped him, too."
"Huh. Wow." Carter was just sort of smiling, not knowing what to make of it all. "Wish I'd been here."
Kerry stayed in the lounge all morning doing paperwork. She hadn't seen a patient in a long time. All she ever did now was paperwork. She was getting tired of it. She felt herself starting to doze when she shook herself awake. She thought about taking a break and going out there to take a patient just for a change. But when she thought about it, she realized she couldn't afford the time to do that. She decided she just needed some food and a change of setting. She got up and walked out of the lounge.
She looked around for Carter, but couldn't find him. She saw Pratt a little ways a way, though. "Pratt!" she yelled. He stopped and turned around.
"Yeah," he answered.
"I'll be up in my office the next few hours. Can you tell Carter to call me if he needs anything?"
"Sure thing, boss. Oh, and Dr. Weaver, good job gettin' rid o' the old jerk off."
Kerry just stared at him a second as he walked away. "Yeah," she answered softly to herself unconvincingly.
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About a half an hour after Kerry left, Romano charged through the ambulance bay doors. His expression was harsh and crisp, yet unreadable. He said not a word to anyone and no one said a word to him. He marched straight into the lounge. As soon as this happened, Randi got on the phone immediately.
As Robert strode into the lounge, he just stood there a second collecting his thoughts. He went to the refrigerator first. He opened the door and cringed. He grabbed a trashcan and started throwing things away in there that had been his. He saw a few other things in there that had gone bad, so he just threw those things away, too, while he was there. He noticed a brown paper bag marked "Weaver" with today's date on it. He took it out and looked at the contents inside. It had a sandwich and some sort of potato salad or something. He took a quick look around him to make sure no one was coming. He threw the contents of the bag in the trash and filled the bag with some moldy cheese he found, something that reeked so bad, he didn't know what it was and some egg salad that had probably been there since the turn of the millennium. He wrapped the bag back up and put it back where he had found it.
He shut the fridge and headed towards his locker. He looked around himself for an empty box. He looked up and saw some on top of the lockers. He scooted a chair over and stood on it to reach over the lockers. Just as he was on the chair reaching as high as he could, Elizabeth stepped into the lounge carefully. He didn't notice her come in and she just looked at him curiously for a moment before speaking.
"Robert?"
He got startled and almost fell off the chair, but he braced himself on the lockers. He jerked quickly around when she said his name. He didn't say anything to her right away. He just turned back around and grabbed the empty box he was looking for. He got down and put the chair back before he said anything. He hadn't really wanted to see her. Well, he did, but he also didn't.
He spoke awkwardly. "Well, Lizzie, that was quick. Glad to see your Romano Radar still works. I thought you ran when it went off."
She didn't budge. He always said the weirdest things. She just stood there studying him compassionately. She didn't know what to say. "I told Randi to page me on the slight chance you might come in today." She didn't drop her gaze. He just responded with a fidgety little nod and went over to his locker. He picked up the empty box off the floor and realized he didn't have a place to put it by his locker unless he kept it on the floor. So, he dropped the box on the floor and went over to the chair he had just put back. He dragged it back again to the lockers and placed the cardboard box on it.
Elizabeth saw all this and knew it wasn't like him. His comments and movements were usually very purposeful. He rarely ever did anything like move something somewhere then realize he made a mistake and move it back. This was trivial, of course, but it made her see he was shaken up and upset. The tables were turned it seemed. She was usually the one nervous, and he the one grounded.
He opened his locker and started putting things in the box. "What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He subsequently threw some small thing in the box rather harshly.
"Looks to me like you're giving up."
He sighed loudly and shook his head. "Elizabeth, just leave me alone."
She just glared at him for a second, then said, "Fine," rather defiantly. She knew that was her cue to leave, but she didn't. She just stood there staring at his back. "You shouldn't let her get away with this." Robert just kept throwing things in the box...slowly. He didn't respond to Elizabeth, so she continued a little more forcefully. "She can't do this."
"Actually, she can."
"No, she can't!" Elizabeth got louder.
Robert stopped and turned her way, "What would you have me do Elizabeth?!" He was getting upset with her.
"Go to Anspaugh. Go above Anspaugh if necessary and above that, too."
Robert just shook his head and laughed under his breath. He turned back around to the locker. Elizabeth just stood there with her lips pursed. "The Robert I know wouldn't give up without a fight." She was still speaking strongly, trying to make him see reason.
"I'm all outta fight," he said pathetically. This made Elizabeth stop. She dropped her strong voice and became more sympathetic.
"Well...I could help you."
"It's not worth it. I just wanna get outta here."
There was a long pause as Robert was still facing his locker, but not getting things out too quickly. Finally Elizabeth broke it. She was looking down at the floor and mumbled, "It's all my fault."
"What?" He turned around questioningly.
She looked up at him hesitatingly. "I feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn't told you to stay, you would have taken that job in New York and you'd be fine right now."
Robert just sighed. "Lizzie, I told you. I had already made up my mind to stay before you told me to."
"Yes, but I'm not stupid. And I know why you decided to stay in the first place."
He just turned back around to face the locker. He couldn't argue with that.
"Can you still get that job in New York?" she asked.
"I don't think so."
He put a few more things in the box and then he stopped abruptly. He was looking at the last thing in the locker. It was sitting in the back of the shelf. Originally this thing had been in his office. He had noticed it when he cleaned out his office for Kerry to move in. He had thrown a lot of things away when he cleaned out his office and took a lot of things home, but this he kept here with him. It was the first thing he had stuffed in the locker and he hadn't seen or thought of it since. He slowly took it out.
"Here," he said abruptly as he held it out for Elizabeth to take. She took it from him and just looked down at it. It was a box carefully wrapped with shiny silver wrapping paper. It was also wrapped with a gold ribbon tied on the front with a bow. There was no name or any markings on it of any kind. The box seemed to be shaped into a perfect square about 6" long. It was a present and it was very beautiful.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Going away present," he stated without emotion or any inflection in his voice at all whatsoever. He had a hard time showing emotion, so he just rarely did. He was actually a very passionate man and he had always been afraid of getting taken advantage of if he showed any weakness.
"But I'm not the one going away. You are." She also was staying very unemotional and cordial as usual when she talked with Romano. She didn't want to sound too caring or he might get the wrong idea.
"Detail," he said. She started to open it, but he stopped her. "Oh, uh, unh-unh...um...wait." She stopped and just looked at him trying to give the appearance of not caring too much that he was leaving. She took pride in her ability to control herself when she needed to.
He slammed the locker shut, grabbed the box under his arm holding it against his hip and walked over to her to say his last good-bye. He didn't really think he'd see her again if he didn't work here anymore.
"Lizzie,' he stated plainly and coolly while standing in front of her. His lips were pressed tight together.
She just stared at him blank faced keeping her composure. "You know I never liked that name."
"Sorry."
She couldn't tell if he was hiding anger or hurt. "But, for some reason it never bothered me when you said it." She was having a harder time controlling her feelings now. She started to look nervously at the floor and bite her bottom lip. Elizabeth had always had a hard time understanding her emotions and feelings. It was as if they came without warning like a tornado. She'd keep them bottled up and then they would blow out strongly all of a sudden and she wouldn't even know what hit her or what she was feeling until afterwards. Sometimes even then she wouldn't know what she was feeling or why. Many times in her life she would just rely on other people to tell her what she was feeling, like her parents or Mark. They didn't tell her how to feel. That was impossible. But, her brain could never understand her own feelings. Other people usually just helped her understand. She hated this about herself. She had no clue of what she was feeling right now, so all she knew to do was try her hardest to suppress it.
He stared at her. He should do something. Something drastic. Like kiss her or something. This was the second time he thought he'd never see her again. The first time he had no warning. She was just gone. This time she was standing in front of him looking down at the floor biting her lip and holding his present in her hands. This was his last chance. It was now or never. If he didn't say something or do something, he knew he'd regret it forever. His heart quickened and he felt himself automatically stare at her lips. She didn't see this. She was too focused on her shoe. He took a deep breath and parted his lips.
"Good-bye, Elizabeth."
She looked up suddenly and took a deep breath herself. "Good-bye, Robert."
He slowly walked around her and left.
She just stared at the door where he walked out for a moment until it shut all the way. She immediately began to unwrap to package in her hand. She sat down as she did and revealed a black case. It was fancy and felt of velvet. She was nervous about opening it; a little scared of what might be inside. She shut her eyes for a second to build up her courage. She opened them and took a deep breath. She looked around to make sure no one was anywhere close to coming in. Slowly and with great care, she lifted the lid. Shining back at her was an unbelievably elegant diamond necklace. It was stunning. It took her breath away. The chain was obviously of real gold and at the bottom of the necklace was a conglomeration of at least 50 or so small diamonds. They were clustered together to form the shape of a 'V' about three inches long. It was the most dazzling thing she had ever seen. She put her hand over her mouth, shocked at what she had in front of her. It had to have cost hundreds of dollars, maybe more.
Also inside the box was a small note written in calligraphy. It read, "I know this doesn't compare to your beauty, but I thought you could make it look good. Robert."
She stood up out of breath and ran out the door. She was still holding the necklace closed tight up in its case. She just stopped and looked at Randi who noticed her immediately burst out. Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Randi just pointed toward the ambulance bay doors. Elizabeth looked at the doors, then looked back at Randi.
"Thank you," was all Elizabeth could get out. She literally ran out of the hospital and stopped in the middle of the ambulance bay parking lot. She just looked around frantically.
"Robert!" she yelled. But he was nowhere to be found. She wasn't going to give up. She started walking briskly toward the EL station. After a brief moment, her pace got even faster. Then she couldn't help it. She started to run. She turned a corner and practically ran into someone.
"Oh, sorry," she said to the man with his hands in his pockets. He just backed up.
"Hey, watch it, lady."
"Sorry," she breathed out again quickly as she just went around him, not stopping or slowing down in the slightest.
She got to the stairs and there were people coming down. Just her luck, she thought. Everyone was going down and no one was going up.
"Excuse me," she said. "Excuse me," she said again. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry. Excuse me."
She finally got up there and saw him at a stopped train. The doors of the EL opened and he moved to step on.
"Robert!" she yelled out of breath about fifty feet away. He jerked and turned her way immediately. Other people around turned too, but then just looked away and proceeded to get on the train. Robert, however, did not. He just stared at her as she ran his way. She wasn't running as fast as she had been, but even now, she was running. As she was coming his way, the doors on the train closed. He looked just for a second at the doors as they did this, then turned immediately back toward Elizabeth. The train sounded its horn loudly before setting off. She reached him and stopped before him bending down in exhaustion. She leaned her hands on her knees, looking down and trying to catch her breath. He just gawked at her in astonishment. After what seemed like an eternity, but wasn't even a full minute, she stood up.
"I can't take this," she proclaimed still out of breath. She was handing him back his gift. He just sighed and turned away a little agitated.
"Just take it, Elizabeth."
"No...no, I can't."
"Just take it!" His voice rose, as he looked straight at her. He turned away again and sighed, lowering his voice and his anger. "I can't return it, anyway."
She stared at him oddly, "Why not?" She was still out of breath.
"Because I bought it four years ago."
"What?"
"I bought it four year-"
"I heard you!" she spat. She just stood there looking at the ground trying to understand. He was staring away agitated. Then the light dawned to Elizabeth and her expression changed to almost amusement as she smirked at him. She was no longer breathless anymore.
"Oh, I see. Who for?"
He jerked her way; his eyes drilling into hers with anger. "For you!"
She just looked at him dumbfounded. "I don't understand."
"Look, you weren't with Peter anymore, but I didn't have the courage to give it to you. And then you were with Mark and it wasn't appropriate. Okay? So just keep it and let it rest, Elizabeth." He said all that at break-neck speed and turned to walk away. She followed him.
"Wait. I'm sorry, Robert, I can't. It's too much."
He halted immediately and turned around. This caught her off guard and they were unnaturally close. He was mere inches from her face talking straight at her unflinchingly.
"Look, Elizabeth, it doesn't mean anything. Alright? It's not like I'll probably ever see you again, anyway." He pulled away from her.
"What? What do you mean you'll never see me again? Are you leaving town?"
"I don't know."
"Well...maybe you won't."
"So what? It's not like we get together for beers and football on Friday night." She just stood there confused so he went on. "Have you ever seen me outside of work, Elizabeth?"
She realized he was right and just stood there bemused. They could both hear the sound of another train coming their way. He looked away from her and walked a little bit a ways waiting for the train to stop.
"Well, wait," she said, not sure of what to say next. He just looked at her. This was getting awkward for her. "I know this may seem hard to believe, but...I don't want to never see you again." Again, she tried to stay unemotional and said it the way a mother might say it to her son who was going away to college.
He was a little taken aback by that. "Okay...I'll...I'll call ya," he replied uneasily. He turned away again looking at the train coming toward them.
She thought he was just saying that and didn't think he really would. "Wait," she said again. This time he glared as he turned back to her. "I...I don't believe you."
"What do you want from me, Elizabeth?!" He was upset again. The train pulled up and the doors opened, but he didn't get on. He just kept his focus on her.
"Nothing," she concluded apologetically. She was being silly. He said he'd call her. What did she want? "You're right. I'm sorry. You should go." She just looked down at her hands, which still held the exquisite diamond necklace. Why was she feeling this strongly about him leaving? Why did she care so much?
She didn't give him the answer he wanted. He stepped onto the train with his back to her and the doors closed behind him. What was he doing? He was just leaving her. What was wrong with him? He instantly jerked around and looked at her through the glass. She saw this movement in her peripheral vision and jolted up, almost with tears in her eyes.
"Have dinner with me," he yelled loudly from inside the car. He was breathless and nervous as hell, but he got it out. She just barely heard him from outside.
"Alright," she yelled back suddenly, also breathing hard. Her heart and mouth had worked together against her mind. She knew it was the only way she would ever see him again.
He stopped breathing as the train began to leave. They were still staring at each other, though. "I'll call you," he said again. She didn't hear him, but she read his lips and knew what he said. He had said that before, only this time she knew he really would.
Once she was out of sight, he sat down a little shaken up. He leaned back against the seat staring into space. A small smile spread across his face. She said 'yes'.
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P.S. - The necklace was a real necklace I saw and liked. Just in case you're curious, it cost $700.
Chapter 14 - Wait
The next day, Kerry went down to the hospital early; around 7:30. Doctors and nurses in the ER were getting antsy as one shift was about to be over and a new one start. Susan, Luka and Deb had worked the night shift. Carter and Pratt were to be in by 8. Weaver had it planned to work down in the ER from now until they found a replacement for Robert.
When Weaver had phoned Anspaugh yesterday to fill him in on recent events, he was a little shocked. He didn't approve, but he acted like he understood and even though he may have thought it a rash move on her part, she was Chief of Staff now. And he told her that if she wanted to take risks, it was her prerogative. However, she was going to have to do the work necessary to find a replacement.
Kerry was more stressed now than ever. She looked around and saw paperwork and things stashed here and there. She didn't understand what on earth were Robert's organization methods. When she looked around, it all looked a mess to her.
"What is all this crap?! I can sure see I made the right decision now," Kerry said as she went through stuff that was piled up at the admit desk. "He's in charge for not even a year and the place goes to pot. Why haven't these things been filed?"
"Oh, he was gonna do that the other night, but he...didn't get around to it," replied Randi after popping a humungous bubble she had blown with her bubble gum.
Kerry got defensive. "Oh, so you're saying it's my fault!?"
"I didn't say that."
Just then Carter strode in with a smile on his face. "Hey, Kerry."
Before Carter could even ask what she was doing there, Kerry decided to just tell him anyway. She spit out harshly, "I fired Romano."
Carter was a little surprised. "Hey, great. When did this happen?"
"Yesterday." Kerry was still being short.
"Sooooo, you're back down here for good?"
"No, just until I can find a replacement. John, I'm gonna really need your help today. I can't make heads or tails of anything down here. I've got paperwork upstairs I need to do plus fix whatever Robert screwed up down here."
"Sure, sure, whatever you need me to do."
"Thanks. Hey, how come Gallant isn't working? I don't see him on the schedule anywhere."
Carter was about to answer when Randi piped up and answered for him, "He quit."
"What?!" asked Kerry alarmed.
"Yeah, somethin' about some military thing. He just stopped showing up. He's been gone a couple of months now."
"Why didn't somebody tell me?!" asked Kerry again.
No one answered. They were a little scared to.
Kerry was definitely feeling the stress and it was coming out loudly to everyone around her. She had a very hectic position to deal with now in being Chief of Staff, as well as Chief of Emergency Medicine since she fired Robert. These were both major full-time jobs. But that wasn't what was causing the majority of her stress. She knew she was delaying calling Jonathan Bright back. She didn't want to do it and she was dreading having to talk to him. The more she put it off, the more the dread weighted on her.
She just glared at both Carter and Randi waiting for an answer, which they never gave. Carter just looked sheepish. Randi blew another bubble that made a loud pop.
"So we've been shorthanded down here all this time and no one did anything?" Kerry asked, but she knew the answer. Still no one spoke.
Kerry gave up, grabbed a pile of files and headed for the lounge.
"I'll be in the lounge," she said. "Please don't come get me unless you have to."
As she was leaving, Carter shouted out to her, "You gonna be here all day?"
"Looks like it. You have a problem with that?"
"No, no." Carter responded immediately. After she went into the lounge, Carter just turned around and started patting his fingers on the desk just thinking for a second. "Did she really fire Romano?" he asked Randi.
"That's the rumor. I heard she slapped him, too."
"Huh. Wow." Carter was just sort of smiling, not knowing what to make of it all. "Wish I'd been here."
Kerry stayed in the lounge all morning doing paperwork. She hadn't seen a patient in a long time. All she ever did now was paperwork. She was getting tired of it. She felt herself starting to doze when she shook herself awake. She thought about taking a break and going out there to take a patient just for a change. But when she thought about it, she realized she couldn't afford the time to do that. She decided she just needed some food and a change of setting. She got up and walked out of the lounge.
She looked around for Carter, but couldn't find him. She saw Pratt a little ways a way, though. "Pratt!" she yelled. He stopped and turned around.
"Yeah," he answered.
"I'll be up in my office the next few hours. Can you tell Carter to call me if he needs anything?"
"Sure thing, boss. Oh, and Dr. Weaver, good job gettin' rid o' the old jerk off."
Kerry just stared at him a second as he walked away. "Yeah," she answered softly to herself unconvincingly.
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About a half an hour after Kerry left, Romano charged through the ambulance bay doors. His expression was harsh and crisp, yet unreadable. He said not a word to anyone and no one said a word to him. He marched straight into the lounge. As soon as this happened, Randi got on the phone immediately.
As Robert strode into the lounge, he just stood there a second collecting his thoughts. He went to the refrigerator first. He opened the door and cringed. He grabbed a trashcan and started throwing things away in there that had been his. He saw a few other things in there that had gone bad, so he just threw those things away, too, while he was there. He noticed a brown paper bag marked "Weaver" with today's date on it. He took it out and looked at the contents inside. It had a sandwich and some sort of potato salad or something. He took a quick look around him to make sure no one was coming. He threw the contents of the bag in the trash and filled the bag with some moldy cheese he found, something that reeked so bad, he didn't know what it was and some egg salad that had probably been there since the turn of the millennium. He wrapped the bag back up and put it back where he had found it.
He shut the fridge and headed towards his locker. He looked around himself for an empty box. He looked up and saw some on top of the lockers. He scooted a chair over and stood on it to reach over the lockers. Just as he was on the chair reaching as high as he could, Elizabeth stepped into the lounge carefully. He didn't notice her come in and she just looked at him curiously for a moment before speaking.
"Robert?"
He got startled and almost fell off the chair, but he braced himself on the lockers. He jerked quickly around when she said his name. He didn't say anything to her right away. He just turned back around and grabbed the empty box he was looking for. He got down and put the chair back before he said anything. He hadn't really wanted to see her. Well, he did, but he also didn't.
He spoke awkwardly. "Well, Lizzie, that was quick. Glad to see your Romano Radar still works. I thought you ran when it went off."
She didn't budge. He always said the weirdest things. She just stood there studying him compassionately. She didn't know what to say. "I told Randi to page me on the slight chance you might come in today." She didn't drop her gaze. He just responded with a fidgety little nod and went over to his locker. He picked up the empty box off the floor and realized he didn't have a place to put it by his locker unless he kept it on the floor. So, he dropped the box on the floor and went over to the chair he had just put back. He dragged it back again to the lockers and placed the cardboard box on it.
Elizabeth saw all this and knew it wasn't like him. His comments and movements were usually very purposeful. He rarely ever did anything like move something somewhere then realize he made a mistake and move it back. This was trivial, of course, but it made her see he was shaken up and upset. The tables were turned it seemed. She was usually the one nervous, and he the one grounded.
He opened his locker and started putting things in the box. "What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He subsequently threw some small thing in the box rather harshly.
"Looks to me like you're giving up."
He sighed loudly and shook his head. "Elizabeth, just leave me alone."
She just glared at him for a second, then said, "Fine," rather defiantly. She knew that was her cue to leave, but she didn't. She just stood there staring at his back. "You shouldn't let her get away with this." Robert just kept throwing things in the box...slowly. He didn't respond to Elizabeth, so she continued a little more forcefully. "She can't do this."
"Actually, she can."
"No, she can't!" Elizabeth got louder.
Robert stopped and turned her way, "What would you have me do Elizabeth?!" He was getting upset with her.
"Go to Anspaugh. Go above Anspaugh if necessary and above that, too."
Robert just shook his head and laughed under his breath. He turned back around to the locker. Elizabeth just stood there with her lips pursed. "The Robert I know wouldn't give up without a fight." She was still speaking strongly, trying to make him see reason.
"I'm all outta fight," he said pathetically. This made Elizabeth stop. She dropped her strong voice and became more sympathetic.
"Well...I could help you."
"It's not worth it. I just wanna get outta here."
There was a long pause as Robert was still facing his locker, but not getting things out too quickly. Finally Elizabeth broke it. She was looking down at the floor and mumbled, "It's all my fault."
"What?" He turned around questioningly.
She looked up at him hesitatingly. "I feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn't told you to stay, you would have taken that job in New York and you'd be fine right now."
Robert just sighed. "Lizzie, I told you. I had already made up my mind to stay before you told me to."
"Yes, but I'm not stupid. And I know why you decided to stay in the first place."
He just turned back around to face the locker. He couldn't argue with that.
"Can you still get that job in New York?" she asked.
"I don't think so."
He put a few more things in the box and then he stopped abruptly. He was looking at the last thing in the locker. It was sitting in the back of the shelf. Originally this thing had been in his office. He had noticed it when he cleaned out his office for Kerry to move in. He had thrown a lot of things away when he cleaned out his office and took a lot of things home, but this he kept here with him. It was the first thing he had stuffed in the locker and he hadn't seen or thought of it since. He slowly took it out.
"Here," he said abruptly as he held it out for Elizabeth to take. She took it from him and just looked down at it. It was a box carefully wrapped with shiny silver wrapping paper. It was also wrapped with a gold ribbon tied on the front with a bow. There was no name or any markings on it of any kind. The box seemed to be shaped into a perfect square about 6" long. It was a present and it was very beautiful.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Going away present," he stated without emotion or any inflection in his voice at all whatsoever. He had a hard time showing emotion, so he just rarely did. He was actually a very passionate man and he had always been afraid of getting taken advantage of if he showed any weakness.
"But I'm not the one going away. You are." She also was staying very unemotional and cordial as usual when she talked with Romano. She didn't want to sound too caring or he might get the wrong idea.
"Detail," he said. She started to open it, but he stopped her. "Oh, uh, unh-unh...um...wait." She stopped and just looked at him trying to give the appearance of not caring too much that he was leaving. She took pride in her ability to control herself when she needed to.
He slammed the locker shut, grabbed the box under his arm holding it against his hip and walked over to her to say his last good-bye. He didn't really think he'd see her again if he didn't work here anymore.
"Lizzie,' he stated plainly and coolly while standing in front of her. His lips were pressed tight together.
She just stared at him blank faced keeping her composure. "You know I never liked that name."
"Sorry."
She couldn't tell if he was hiding anger or hurt. "But, for some reason it never bothered me when you said it." She was having a harder time controlling her feelings now. She started to look nervously at the floor and bite her bottom lip. Elizabeth had always had a hard time understanding her emotions and feelings. It was as if they came without warning like a tornado. She'd keep them bottled up and then they would blow out strongly all of a sudden and she wouldn't even know what hit her or what she was feeling until afterwards. Sometimes even then she wouldn't know what she was feeling or why. Many times in her life she would just rely on other people to tell her what she was feeling, like her parents or Mark. They didn't tell her how to feel. That was impossible. But, her brain could never understand her own feelings. Other people usually just helped her understand. She hated this about herself. She had no clue of what she was feeling right now, so all she knew to do was try her hardest to suppress it.
He stared at her. He should do something. Something drastic. Like kiss her or something. This was the second time he thought he'd never see her again. The first time he had no warning. She was just gone. This time she was standing in front of him looking down at the floor biting her lip and holding his present in her hands. This was his last chance. It was now or never. If he didn't say something or do something, he knew he'd regret it forever. His heart quickened and he felt himself automatically stare at her lips. She didn't see this. She was too focused on her shoe. He took a deep breath and parted his lips.
"Good-bye, Elizabeth."
She looked up suddenly and took a deep breath herself. "Good-bye, Robert."
He slowly walked around her and left.
She just stared at the door where he walked out for a moment until it shut all the way. She immediately began to unwrap to package in her hand. She sat down as she did and revealed a black case. It was fancy and felt of velvet. She was nervous about opening it; a little scared of what might be inside. She shut her eyes for a second to build up her courage. She opened them and took a deep breath. She looked around to make sure no one was anywhere close to coming in. Slowly and with great care, she lifted the lid. Shining back at her was an unbelievably elegant diamond necklace. It was stunning. It took her breath away. The chain was obviously of real gold and at the bottom of the necklace was a conglomeration of at least 50 or so small diamonds. They were clustered together to form the shape of a 'V' about three inches long. It was the most dazzling thing she had ever seen. She put her hand over her mouth, shocked at what she had in front of her. It had to have cost hundreds of dollars, maybe more.
Also inside the box was a small note written in calligraphy. It read, "I know this doesn't compare to your beauty, but I thought you could make it look good. Robert."
She stood up out of breath and ran out the door. She was still holding the necklace closed tight up in its case. She just stopped and looked at Randi who noticed her immediately burst out. Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Randi just pointed toward the ambulance bay doors. Elizabeth looked at the doors, then looked back at Randi.
"Thank you," was all Elizabeth could get out. She literally ran out of the hospital and stopped in the middle of the ambulance bay parking lot. She just looked around frantically.
"Robert!" she yelled. But he was nowhere to be found. She wasn't going to give up. She started walking briskly toward the EL station. After a brief moment, her pace got even faster. Then she couldn't help it. She started to run. She turned a corner and practically ran into someone.
"Oh, sorry," she said to the man with his hands in his pockets. He just backed up.
"Hey, watch it, lady."
"Sorry," she breathed out again quickly as she just went around him, not stopping or slowing down in the slightest.
She got to the stairs and there were people coming down. Just her luck, she thought. Everyone was going down and no one was going up.
"Excuse me," she said. "Excuse me," she said again. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry. Excuse me."
She finally got up there and saw him at a stopped train. The doors of the EL opened and he moved to step on.
"Robert!" she yelled out of breath about fifty feet away. He jerked and turned her way immediately. Other people around turned too, but then just looked away and proceeded to get on the train. Robert, however, did not. He just stared at her as she ran his way. She wasn't running as fast as she had been, but even now, she was running. As she was coming his way, the doors on the train closed. He looked just for a second at the doors as they did this, then turned immediately back toward Elizabeth. The train sounded its horn loudly before setting off. She reached him and stopped before him bending down in exhaustion. She leaned her hands on her knees, looking down and trying to catch her breath. He just gawked at her in astonishment. After what seemed like an eternity, but wasn't even a full minute, she stood up.
"I can't take this," she proclaimed still out of breath. She was handing him back his gift. He just sighed and turned away a little agitated.
"Just take it, Elizabeth."
"No...no, I can't."
"Just take it!" His voice rose, as he looked straight at her. He turned away again and sighed, lowering his voice and his anger. "I can't return it, anyway."
She stared at him oddly, "Why not?" She was still out of breath.
"Because I bought it four years ago."
"What?"
"I bought it four year-"
"I heard you!" she spat. She just stood there looking at the ground trying to understand. He was staring away agitated. Then the light dawned to Elizabeth and her expression changed to almost amusement as she smirked at him. She was no longer breathless anymore.
"Oh, I see. Who for?"
He jerked her way; his eyes drilling into hers with anger. "For you!"
She just looked at him dumbfounded. "I don't understand."
"Look, you weren't with Peter anymore, but I didn't have the courage to give it to you. And then you were with Mark and it wasn't appropriate. Okay? So just keep it and let it rest, Elizabeth." He said all that at break-neck speed and turned to walk away. She followed him.
"Wait. I'm sorry, Robert, I can't. It's too much."
He halted immediately and turned around. This caught her off guard and they were unnaturally close. He was mere inches from her face talking straight at her unflinchingly.
"Look, Elizabeth, it doesn't mean anything. Alright? It's not like I'll probably ever see you again, anyway." He pulled away from her.
"What? What do you mean you'll never see me again? Are you leaving town?"
"I don't know."
"Well...maybe you won't."
"So what? It's not like we get together for beers and football on Friday night." She just stood there confused so he went on. "Have you ever seen me outside of work, Elizabeth?"
She realized he was right and just stood there bemused. They could both hear the sound of another train coming their way. He looked away from her and walked a little bit a ways waiting for the train to stop.
"Well, wait," she said, not sure of what to say next. He just looked at her. This was getting awkward for her. "I know this may seem hard to believe, but...I don't want to never see you again." Again, she tried to stay unemotional and said it the way a mother might say it to her son who was going away to college.
He was a little taken aback by that. "Okay...I'll...I'll call ya," he replied uneasily. He turned away again looking at the train coming toward them.
She thought he was just saying that and didn't think he really would. "Wait," she said again. This time he glared as he turned back to her. "I...I don't believe you."
"What do you want from me, Elizabeth?!" He was upset again. The train pulled up and the doors opened, but he didn't get on. He just kept his focus on her.
"Nothing," she concluded apologetically. She was being silly. He said he'd call her. What did she want? "You're right. I'm sorry. You should go." She just looked down at her hands, which still held the exquisite diamond necklace. Why was she feeling this strongly about him leaving? Why did she care so much?
She didn't give him the answer he wanted. He stepped onto the train with his back to her and the doors closed behind him. What was he doing? He was just leaving her. What was wrong with him? He instantly jerked around and looked at her through the glass. She saw this movement in her peripheral vision and jolted up, almost with tears in her eyes.
"Have dinner with me," he yelled loudly from inside the car. He was breathless and nervous as hell, but he got it out. She just barely heard him from outside.
"Alright," she yelled back suddenly, also breathing hard. Her heart and mouth had worked together against her mind. She knew it was the only way she would ever see him again.
He stopped breathing as the train began to leave. They were still staring at each other, though. "I'll call you," he said again. She didn't hear him, but she read his lips and knew what he said. He had said that before, only this time she knew he really would.
Once she was out of sight, he sat down a little shaken up. He leaned back against the seat staring into space. A small smile spread across his face. She said 'yes'.
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P.S. - The necklace was a real necklace I saw and liked. Just in case you're curious, it cost $700.
