~
"Dr. Corday?" Abby asked, hesitantly. She was just coming off night shift and had stopped in to use the bathroom - only to see Elizabeth Corday leaning against the counter, tears running down her face.
As she spoke, the surgeon looked up wildly, making as if to leave, but Abby instinctively crossed the room, putting an arm around the other woman's shoulder. She knew this reaction, knew it too well - more than once it had fallen to her to tell a new mother that her baby hadn't made it, or break the news to a husband that his wife had died during the delivery.
Almost as though her comforting touch had been the catalyst, Elizabeth sagged, breaking into true sobs. For a long time they stood that way. Abby's heart ached nearly as much as the other's did - she didn't know Mark Green well, but it was enough to feel the pain of the woman who loved him.
Gradually, the tears slowed, and Abby blotted at Elizabeth's streaked face with a wet paper towel. For a moment, the surgeon looked as if she were trying to be embarrassed, but couldn't quite manage it. Instead, she gave a soft, simple "Thank you."
Abby only nodded, guiding the other woman to one of the hard plastic chairs and sitting down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Elizabeth sighed, taking in a shuddering breath. "He's getting worse, Abby." He's...there's not much...time...left." Shaking her head, she added almost as an afterthought, "I never thought we'd run out of time this way..."
Unwilling to pry, Abby stayed silent, but Elizabeth kept on. "We were living apart, but I never wanted to leave him, really. Never thought I'd stay away forever. I just thought that if we stayed apart long enough, everything would fix itself, and then I could go back home. I...I didn't know then that I was wasting the only time I'd have."
~
Mindless of Susan's arm across her shoulders, comforting her as she herself had comforted another, Abby Lockhart could only whisper, "I didn't know..."
~
A/N - Part one is set sometime after 'Bygones', part two takes place during 'What Now?'.
"Dr. Corday?" Abby asked, hesitantly. She was just coming off night shift and had stopped in to use the bathroom - only to see Elizabeth Corday leaning against the counter, tears running down her face.
As she spoke, the surgeon looked up wildly, making as if to leave, but Abby instinctively crossed the room, putting an arm around the other woman's shoulder. She knew this reaction, knew it too well - more than once it had fallen to her to tell a new mother that her baby hadn't made it, or break the news to a husband that his wife had died during the delivery.
Almost as though her comforting touch had been the catalyst, Elizabeth sagged, breaking into true sobs. For a long time they stood that way. Abby's heart ached nearly as much as the other's did - she didn't know Mark Green well, but it was enough to feel the pain of the woman who loved him.
Gradually, the tears slowed, and Abby blotted at Elizabeth's streaked face with a wet paper towel. For a moment, the surgeon looked as if she were trying to be embarrassed, but couldn't quite manage it. Instead, she gave a soft, simple "Thank you."
Abby only nodded, guiding the other woman to one of the hard plastic chairs and sitting down beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Elizabeth sighed, taking in a shuddering breath. "He's getting worse, Abby." He's...there's not much...time...left." Shaking her head, she added almost as an afterthought, "I never thought we'd run out of time this way..."
Unwilling to pry, Abby stayed silent, but Elizabeth kept on. "We were living apart, but I never wanted to leave him, really. Never thought I'd stay away forever. I just thought that if we stayed apart long enough, everything would fix itself, and then I could go back home. I...I didn't know then that I was wasting the only time I'd have."
~
Mindless of Susan's arm across her shoulders, comforting her as she herself had comforted another, Abby Lockhart could only whisper, "I didn't know..."
~
A/N - Part one is set sometime after 'Bygones', part two takes place during 'What Now?'.