Disclaimer: I own neither ER nor any of its characters and I'm not trying to make any profit by writing this story.
Author's note: This story takes place somewhere during the summer between seasons 9 and 10, about a month after the Evil Amputation. It's about Romano and Elizabeth and how they find themselves in each other's company during the time of Romano's medical leave. I've read no spoilers for season 10, so there won't be any of them in this story either. Whatever will be written, will be pure speculation of what might happen.
I'm not American and I don't speak English as my first language, so there might be occasional errors in grammar, general lack of versatility, and a tendency to use British terms rather than American, because I'm European and better accustomed writing and speaking in the British way. But I'll do my best to avoid any mistakes.
Rated PG-13 for now, but the rating may go up in later chapters.
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Chapter 2 ~ The Long Hours of Loneliness
About an hour later Robert was back to where he had started his stroll; his own porch. Reaching for his key and shoving it into the tiny hole in the door he was happy to hear loud barking coming from inside. For the second time that day someone was able to bring a smile on his lips. First it was Elizabeth, now Gretel, his dog. Maybe there really was light in the end of the tunnel that only a few days ago had seemed so endless.
As soon as the door was open, Robert had to reach for the wall for support, because a large bouvier immediately rushed panting from the hall to greet her master.
"Hey, beauty. Did you miss me or are you just waiting for dinner?" Robert spoke affectionately to the dog, patting her with the one hand he had. Without hesitation Gretel replied by getting up on her back feet, resting the front paws on her owner's chest chest, and starting to lick his face.
At least someone still found him worthy of a long, wet kiss - if anyone but another dog could call that a kiss. But enough was enough. Even though the drool would probably mingle well with all the sweat he had already produced, Robert was quite ready to leave the sun behind him and get inside the house to cool down. So, once Gretel had finished wetting his face, he gently pushed her aside, keeping up their little conversation:
"Okay, okay. That's enough." He muttered to the dog. "You'll get your meal. No need to eat me."
But as Robert entered the house and closed the door behind him, he felt some of his earlier unhappy feelings return, as if everything that had happened outside had only been a dream and he had just been brought back to reality. The dull air that instantly met his nostrils inside of the house was more than enough to remind him of all the endless hours he had spent there alone after the amputation. He had locked himself in, trying to lock the rest of the world out, as if that was going to save him from other people's pitying stares. But now that he had spent one afternoon outdoors, returning home wasn't as easy as he had thought, especially as he had been reminded of the one person he missed the most.
The meeting with Elizabeth had been bittersweet. Seeing her, looking as beautiful and smiling as she did, and hearing her say that Dorsett no longer was a part of her life, was more than he could ever have dreamt of when he had left his home. Hell, just a fleeting glance at her from a distance would have been more than he could have dared to hope for, and the kind of conversation they had had was something that was only supposed to take place in his wildest dreams. Or, well, the wildest ones went of course far beyond that, but that was beside the point. She had agreed to meet him again later. Not without hesitation, but still, she had agreed to see him somewhere outside work, and that was the only thing that mattered.. She had even smiled while delivering the response. The bitter part just happened to be that she had only consented after he had ruled out the possibility of it being a date.
Was the idea of dating him really that repulsive to her?
The thought that had often haunted Robert, returned to him once more. Yet, she hadn't really seemed disgusted by the suggestion, just uncertain of how to reply. Now that Robert thought about it, he began to wonder if she might even have been considering the possibility of accepting. At least she hadn't turned him down immediately, which had to be a good sign.
'Well, a guy can always dream', Robert sighed to himself as he wandered through the empty house, eventually making it to the kitchen after taking his time in the bathroom to wash his hand and face. It was time to start preparing some food for both him and Gretel, and for the first time after being admitted home from the hospital, he actually felt like eating.
As it turned out, making food wasn't an easy task to do with the help of only one hand, but Robert had been determined from the beginning to get by without any help, and by now he had already learnt to make the simple dishes on his own. If any food did fall on the floor in the process of cooking, Gretel was there to make sure it wouldn't stay there for long.
Before too long the meal was ready and everything set on the table. Watching the dinner on his plate, Robert could not help feeling pleased with himself. If only Elizabeth could see him now; see that he was still capable of taking care of himself and making better food than most people ever learned to make even if they had both of their hands. At least she would have one reason less to pity him.
This thought soon brought Robert a new idea: What if he'd invite her over for a dinner? For him the thought was more than appealing, but would that sound too much like a date for her? Elizabeth probably expected that they'd just meet somewhere in public, sit down for a while to have a little chat and then go their separate ways. A perfectly innocent non-date.
Robert sighed. Of course even that would be millions of times better than not seeing her at all, but was it enough for him? He didn't need to answer the question. In his heart he knew it would never be enough, but he'd take it anyway. Pathetic maybe, but true.
Robert and Gretel finished their respective meals in silence. She was happily concentrating on the food while he kept staring across the table, trying to imagine Elizabeth sitting there, smiling at him. The thought was tempting and, as Robert finally made up his mind, definitely worth trying. He could at least suggest it and then try something else if she freaked out.
Yes. That would be his plan. But it was still too early to get up and make the call. He didn't want to appear to eager.
After a while he stood up from the table, silently did the dishes and then went on to his office, planning to pass the time by reading a book. Looking at his watch, he decided he'd have to wait at least two hours, maybe three, before he could pick up the phone and call - he'd just have to make sure he'd make the call before it was Ella's bed time. If he wanted to impress the mother he'd have to take everything into consideration, and waking up the child just after she had fallen asleep would not make him look good in Elizabeth's eyes.
The evening seemed to drag on endlessly and Robert had already begun to wonder if he had managed to pick up the most boring book of his collection when he finally looked up at the clock on the wall and decided it was time:
He slowly set down the book and, once he had freed his hand, reached out for the telephone. He didn't have to look up the number. He had never called Elizabeth at home before, but he had often been sitting and staring at the number, toying with the idea of calling her. In fact, he had done so almost every night after his last surgery, the one in which he had been the patient, but then he had always talked himself out of it. This time he would actually pick up the phone and dial the number.
Waiting for Elizabeth to pick up was harder than he had expected:
One ring. Two. What if she was already trying to put Ella to bed? Three. What if she was taking a bath? Four. Was she just sitting in front of the telephone and waiting for him to give up? Had she changed her mind?
Finally Robert let out a relieved sigh as he could hear Elizabeth's voice from the other end of the line.
"Hello?" The voice sounded a bit uncertain. Was she as nervous as he was?
"Uh…Hi, it's me, Robert."
"Hi." The voice seemed to relax a bit. In fact, it soon caught a slightly teasing tone as Elizabeth continued: "I was beginning to wonder if you had actually forgotten all about our conversation."
'As if.'
"Well, I would have called earlier, but I was reading this very exciting book and then the time just kind of flew by." Robert replied in the same easy manner. He knew he was lying and Elizabeth probably knew it too, but he had to at least try and keep up the appearances.
"I hope neither of you were sleeping yet," he then continued in a more serious tone.
"No. Amazingly enough your timing was perfect. I was just planning to put Ella to bed soon. Now she's still watching the cartoons."
Robert sighed in relief. So far so good. If only he knew how to go on and make his proposition. He was surprised of how soon Elizabeth came to the rescue.
"So, have you thought about…about what we should do together?" The words came out quickly, as if she just wanted to get them out. Maybe she really was as nervous as he was? Not that he should be surprised about it. The situation was new to both of them, probably even more so for Elizabeth. He at least had been going through these conversations several times in his dreams. She had probably only done so in her nightmares.
Funny how things could change.
"Right…" Robert had to remind himself that this time it was all real and he'd actually have to say something instead of just drifting off to his dreams. "I was thinking…I mean, it's just an idea and we can think of something else if you don't want to…but…"
"Yes?"
"I could serve you dinner at my place…if that's okay for you, of course" Robert finally managed to spit it out.
He was met with a silence from the other end of the line.
"I mean, we could always go to the Burger King's or something," he hastened to add. "But I don't know if that's…"
"It sounds lovely." Elizabeth interrupted him.
"What? The Burger King's?" Robert was hoping she meant the first suggestion, but he wasn't going to beg for it.
Fortunately he didn't have to.
"Very funny, Robert." Elizabeth retorted. Robert could almost picture her rolling her eyes. "Of course I meant the dinner at your place. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever seen your house before."
Robert could hardly believe his own luck, but he carefully repressed any signs of his excitement. Instead, he chose to speak calmly:
"Well, it's about the time you see it then. It's a fine house. When would you be ready to come?"
"When will you be ready to have me?"
"Would tomorrow night be too soon?" Robert bit his lip. He hadn't intended to suggest a time so near. As if he couldn't wait another day to see her. Well, maybe he couldn't, but she didn't have to know it.
"Tomorrow sounds good actually." He was relieved to hear her response. "Chris already offered to come and take care of Ella tomorrow night. Apparently she thought I might want to go somewhere on my first day off. I was going to decline as I had no plans for the night, but maybe I'll take her up for her offer after all."
"Great. Then it's all settled?" Robert still had a hard time believing this was all really happening.
"I'll be there tomorrow. What time do you think you'll be ready?"
"Would 6 o'clock be fine?"
"Sounds good to me. I'll see you then."
They both exchanged 'good nights' and then the conversation was over. Robert set down the telephone and leaned back in his chair. He had to sit still for a long time before everything began to sink in to him. It was hard to get rid of the feeling that this was all too good to be true. If he'd only pinch himself he'd probably wake up and realize it had all been a dream. But he did not pinch himself. If this was a dream, he did not wish to wake up.
To be continued….