"Right, that's it." Abby said, pulling off her gloves, "One more shift until Christmas."
"And one more week until our next rotation." Neela said, checking through her schedule. "You know, I've kind of enjoyed surgery."
"It's fast paced. I'll give it that." Abby sighed, "Come on, before there's another trauma." Neela had to agree. They headed down through the ER to go and get something to eat before they went home. Frank stopped Abby on their way out.
"Hey Abby, Corday left this for you," Abby took the envelope and looked at it,
"What is it?"
"I don't know. I don't read all your mail."
"No, just the good stuff," Abby said, a hint of malice in her voice, "See you tomorrow."
"Merry Christmas, have a nice day!" He called sarcastically. Neela rolled her eyes, and followed Abby out of the automatic doors, while she opened the letter,
"What is it?" She asked her, as Abby read it through quickly.
"Huh? Oh, it's uh… well, I think it's supposed to be confidential," She said, apologetically,
"Oh…" Neela felt awkward for asking, "Sorry. Did you want to get something to eat?" Abby was still reading through the letter,
"Um, well I think I'd better get back home. I've got to leave early tomorrow… and I've got some studying to do." Neela shrugged,
"Alright then. But, we're don't start until twelve tomorrow, are you doing a nurse shift?"
"Sort of," Abby said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you," Neela gave a wave and headed off down the street. When she had gone, Abby read through the letter again,
Abby,
I've been thinking about what you've been repeatedly saying quite a lot. It's quite annoying really. Anyway, I first of all want to thank you for repeatedly saying it, because otherwise I don't think I would have ever come to a conclusion. Robert is leaving the hospital tomorrow, and his sister and niece have just turned up, a nice shock for the both of us. He hasn't told them anything about what has happened, and between now and ten o' clock tomorrow I don't think he's going to get the chance to let them know the full effect the accident has had on him, or if he would tell them anyway, regardless of the time. You were right about his condition, I mean, mentally. The last few weeks have had a profound effect on him, and I don't think that leaving the hospital is going to be a walk in the park. I don't know if you are working tomorrow, but if you are I could use your help. I can't ask anyone else, because Robert would most likely kill me if he knew I'd told anyone else about his problems. Because you have been involved, I feel that he will not object, well, he probably will- but not as much as if I asked Kerry Weaver to keep his family out of the way- but your help would be greatly appreciated. I'm home after eleven thirty if you want to call me, but if its inconvenient in any way, I don't want you to feel obliged.
Elizabeth.
Abby frowned when she had finished the letter. What could she possibly do? And did Elizabeth really think that Abby was the right person to help? She and Robert got on well now, with plenty of arguments and sarcastic comments, and she had to admit that she was beginning to see another side of him, but still… She folded the letter and put it in her pocket as she walked to her apartment.
She got back, and took a few moments to savour the silence before she picked up her phone from it's bracket on the wall and dialled Elizabeth's number. It only rang a few times until she answered,
"Hello?"
"Hey Elizabeth, it's Abby," Abby had taken the letter out again, and was reading through it.
"Abby, hi," Elizabeth still sounded flustered, "Listen I'm sorry about all this, it's such short notice and everything."
"I start at twelve," Abby said, getting straight to the point, "So I can get there at ten if you want. I'm not sure what help I'll be though."
"You would be sure if you had been there tonight." Elizabeth said, Abby could hear that she was exhausted, "His family were horrified about what had happened. Caitlyn, his niece, was asking questions, about the accident, about surgery, about his arm… everything he didn't particularly want to answer. It wasn't her fault, it was his, I suppose, for not telling them in the first place. They don't understand how hard it will be for him to leave the hospital, and I know that having them there will aggravate him, and especially in the ER, people will no doubt be getting in the way so some one who knows what is going on…"
"Your job is to get him home, my job is to make sure no one gets in the way." Abby said, understanding, "I can do that."
"Thank you Abby," Elizabeth said, sounding like some of the weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"So in your letter," Abby said, her eyes flicking to the top of it, "You said, 'I've been thinking about what you've been repeatedly saying quite a lot.' So what conclusion did you come to?" There was silence at the other end of the line, "Look, a few weeks ago, I would have said that any woman who wanted to get involved with Robert Romano needed a CT scan."
"But not any more?"
"He's still an arrogant bastard, and I swear he has nothing better to do with his life so he spends all his time thinking up insults. But over the last few weeks, I've seen a different side to him, and I think it's a very good side." "So your opinion of the situation is?"
"You should go for it. He's obviously head over heels for you, and if you're lucky he won't do anything random like run off to Africa after an argument." She carried on quickly, "If I were you, I wouldn't care what other people think. It's your happiness, not theirs." Elizabeth laughed,
"You seem to have already made your mind up." She said,
"It must be the Christmas spirit," Abby said, "Just give me some arrows and call me cupid. Anyway, I'll let you get to bed, you sound exhausted."
"It's been a long day." Elizabeth agreed, "See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow." Abby said, "Oh, wait, just one thing."
"What?"
"What's Romano's sister like?" Elizabeth paused for a second,
"She's…" She didn't really know how to describe her, "She's quite like him. Very short tempered, slightly less sarcastic than him, but she's not unreasonable. She's got a daughter, who has inherited the family temperament…"
"Lovely."
"I think if she hadn't had the responsibility of being a mother she would be a lot more like Robert." Abby sighed,
"So it's going to be fun for the whole family." She said sarcastically, "Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Susan got home after two, and was surprised to see the lights on in her apartment. She knew that Chuck was staying there tonight. His parents were in town, and to avoid having them to stay with him, she had told him to move some of his stuff into her apartment for a few days. His parents wouldn't want to impose on their privacy. In fact, she had to admit, she had quite enjoyed the last few days. They rarely finished their shifts at the same time, and it was nice to go back after work to some one, instead of just her empty apartment. Still, she normally went home to find him asleep, and all the lights switched off. She opened the door quietly, and slipped inside, locking it behind her. The landing was dark, but the lights were on in the kitchen.
"Chuck?" She said, her voice still quite quiet. He had most likely fallen asleep in front of the television or something. She hung up her coat, and went into the kitchen, and gasped at what she saw,
"Honey, you're home." Chuck said, grinning. Her eyes widened, and she laughed,
"What's all this?" She asked. The table was set for two, and there was even a candle in the middle. "Even for you this is corny." She said, shaking her head,
"What? Can't a guy do something romantic once in a while?" Chuck asked, pouring two glasses of wine. "You always head straight for the fridge after your shift, so I figured tonight we'd dine in style." Susan took the glass of wine offered to her with a grin.
"You're unbelievable," She said, kissing him, "Can you iron? Because if you can, and you can cook, then I don't think I could find a better room mate." They sat down, "Wow, this looks delicious."
"That's what I'm worried about," Chuck admitted, "Nothing's burnt, that's not normal." Susan took a sip of wine, and began tucking in,
"You know, I've been thinking,"
"Woah, good job you're sat down." Susan kicked him under the table,
"I'm trying to be serious here." She said, trying to wipe the smile from her face, that had been there since she had walked into the kitchen, but it wasn't working. "As I was saying. I've been thinking."
"What have you been thinking about?"
"About the last few days." Chuck looked interested, "It's been really good, hasn't it? Living together I mean." Chuck nodded,
"Yeah. Yeah it has."
"So… I was thinking…" She took another sip of wine, enjoying the effect of drawing out the words. "I think you should move in. Permanently I mean."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. The last few days have been really great. I've loved having some one to come home to, you know? And the food is great." He laughed, "So what do you think?"
"I think it's a great idea." Chuck said, "I've kind of been thinking the same thing actually. But I didn't want to jinx anything." Susan smiled and they sat in silence for a few moments. Then she frowned,
"Can you smell burning?" She asked. Chuck frowned too, then jumped up,
"Oh crap, I knew I forgot something!" Susan watched in amusement as he pulled a smouldering tray of… well, it wasn't even clear what it was any more, out of the oven. He waved an oven-glove clad hand at the smoke, and Susan laughed,
"Aren't you just the regular little house wife?" She teased. The smoke cleared, and Chuck looked indignant, but the flowery oven glove didn't do much for him. Susan tried to keep a straight face, but ended up collapsing in a fit of giggles.