Second Chances: Smoke Screen
Jason looked around the living room of the penthouse and smiled thinking what a difference a few weeks made. To the naked eye nothing appeared to be all that different. The room was still sparsely filled with only his beloved pool table, brown leather couch and chair and the desk sitting off in the corner. But to him the random placement of Elizabeth's things, her sweater draped over the leather office chair, her shoes left either under the desk or beside the couch, an occasional mug half filled with hot chocolate she had left sitting here or there, it finally felt like home to him.
He heard her upstairs getting ready for her final appointment with Dr. Jones that morning. He had accompanied her to every physical therapy session for her shoulder and helped her with her exercises at home too. It seemed as though they were inseparable, partly because Jason was still being cautious but mostly because he couldn't stand being away from her for very long.
While things had quieted down considerably since Elizabeth had moved in, there was still a part of him waiting for the other shoe to drop. He checked in daily with Max for reports on Ric Lansing which proved to be rather uneventful. It was almost as if he knew he was being watched and that made Jason all the more leery. The only red flag that Max had been able to give him was the fact that Faith Roscoe seemed to come and go freely from Lansing's home. That thought forced him to recall Sonny's comments about Faith being behind everything that had happened. Yet he couldn't make the pieces fit with all off the things concerning Elizabeth. For Faith, Elizabeth had only been an obstacle that stood between her and what she wanted - Ric Lansing. Now that Elizabeth was no longer part of that equation for Jason it all just didn't add up. In his gut he knew that whatever part Faith played in this Ric was at the heart of it.
"Hey you," Elizabeth's soft voice startled him.
"Hey."
"You must be losing your touch."
"Huh?"
"I didn't think you ever let anyone sneak up on you?" She grinned.
"Who says you did?" Jason turned around and captured her in his arms kissing her lightly on the mouth.
"If you say so." Elizabeth said as she moved away from him to collect her purse and compact from the table.
"I was just thinking that's all." Jason offered sensing she knew he was being less than truthful. "I didn't expect you to be ready yet."
"I'm past ready. I can't wait to get my life back." Immediately she saw his features fall. "You know what I mean." She reached up and brought his eyes to meet her own. "I love being here with you. You are my life but I need to get back to the business of living. I need to get back to work. I need to feel useful. Can you understand that?"
"Yeah." He smiled softly. That was the Elizabeth he knew and loved. She was always such a major part of everything around her. He knew that it was difficult for her to be cooped up not being able to do the things she loved.
"You didn't think that you'd get rid of me that easily did you?" she laughed. "What were you thinking about when I came in?" she asked casually not expecting to get a response.
"Nothing really."
"You sure?" She didn't want to push him but in the several weeks she had been living there it was hard not to notice the rather strained relationship Jason suddenly was having with Sonny. "Is Sonny upset I'm living here? Is he angry about what happened with Carly the other day?"
"I don't know and really it doesn't make much difference to me," Jason said flatly.
"Jason, I don't want our relationship to cost you your friendship with Sonny." Elizabeth reached for his hand as a gentle reminder of how much she cared for him and hated to see him hurting. "Sonny's your family."
"No," he interrupted her. "You're my family. Sonny's just my business partner." Before she was able to make a reply to his comment the phone on the desk let out a shrill ring. "Yeah?" Elizabeth laced her fingers through his as she stood and listened to his end of the conversation. "No, I can't come to the warehouse right now. No, you'll have to handle it. Hang on," he said when she tugged at his hand.
"Sounds important. You should probably take care of it."
"No, I'm taking you to your appointment."
"I'll be fine. It's only a formality anyway. You go take care of what you need to."
"Elizabeth." Before he could say anymore she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"I only have one request. I would like Max to take me to the hospital instead of Marco."
Jason tore his eyes away from her and focused his attention to the person on the other end of the line. "I'll be there when I can. Did Marco do something?" Jason asked as he replaced the receiver in its cradle. "Is that why you don't want him to take you?" Jason had caught the younger guard staring intently at Elizabeth on several occasions when he thought no one was looking.
"No, nothing like that." Elizabeth could tell by his hard stare what was going through Jason's mind at the moment. The last thing she wanted was for poor Marco to meet with the enforcer's wrath. "I just know Max better. I feel more comfortable around him. It's me it has nothing to do with Marco."
"Well Max is actually working on something for me right now. I'd rather not pull him off of it." Jason watched Elizabeth's lower lip jut out into a playful pout. He felt himself smirk thinking how perfectly she knew how to play her part. "I'll call him." Jason relented.
"Thank you," she giggled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth and Max stepped off the elevator on the third floor and ran into Monica and Zander. They were standing off to the side and it was easy to tell that both were upset.
"Hi," Elizabeth said as she approached them. Quickly Monica wiped the remnants of tears from her beneath her eyes.
Elizabeth's heart ached for them. She had let herself get so wrapped in her own life that she had forgotten about those still grieving Emily's death. Zander looked like a shadow of his former self and it was easy to see that Monica was just going through the necessary motions.
"Elizabeth." Monica embraced her tightly. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you," she said as she saw the young girl hide a wince.
"I'm fine really." Elizabeth reassured. "So fine in fact I am expecting to be released from Dr. Jones' care by this afternoon."
"Dr. Jones?" Zander questioned. "What happened?" He couldn't help but think back to that day in the cemetery when he had stumbled onto Ric almost accosting her.
"Jason and I had a little accident on his bike."
"How is Jason?" Monica asked.
"He's good." Elizabeth always felt bad when it came to the tenuous relationship between Monica and her son. It was almost as if she knew more about him than his own mother, perhaps she did. "I don't mean to cut this short but I have to get to my appointment. Do you think you might have a few minutes later this morning?" she said to Monica. "We could grab some coffee in the cafeteria."
"I'd like that. Thank you. Page me when you are finished with Tony."
"I'll do that."
Zander and Monica watched as she and Max headed up the corridor to Tony Jones' office.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason looked over the shipment sitting on the pallets in front of him. He understood why his presence was so urgent. He ran his hands through the contents of the crates and rather than coming up with just handfuls of coffee beans they were laced with a fine white powder. The entire shipment had been contaminated.
"Are they all like this?" he asked.
"Yeah." The foreman answered.
"Damn it!" Jason threw the crowbar to the floor not bothering to open the last remaining bins.
"What do you want us to do with all of them?" the man asked.
"We don't have much choice do we. Burn them all," Jason responded. "There can't be a trace of any of this shipment. I can't risk Taggert or Baldwin getting wind of this.."
"Getting wind of what?" Sonny asked.
Jason dropped his head, closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "This latest shipment is filled with cocaine, maybe heroin."
"Show me," Sonny instructed. The foreman cracked open a crate to confirm what Jason had just told him. "This doesn't make any sense. It's just scattered there loose."
"That's what I was thinking. It didn't make sense to me either."
"Are you sure it's drugs and not something else?" Sonny questioned.
"Do you want to have it tested?"
"Don't you?" Sonny retorted. "Given Faith's penchant poison we can't be too careful."
Jason just nodded his head not wanting to have the same old tired argument with his friend. Besides for once he actually agreed with him on who the culprit for this latest scheme had been. "I'll get a sample to Meyer right away."
"Glad we can finally agree on something," Sonny remarked before turning and leaving as quickly as he had come.
Jason almost stopped him but resisted the urge. Normally he would have tried to make things right between the two of them, but this time he wasn't sure if that was possible.
He scooped up a sample of the white powder intermingled with the coffee beans and placed it in a plastic bag and headed for Meyer. Part of him wanted it to be Faith's signature poison. At least then maybe he could work off some of his pent up aggression and hell if Ric Lansing got caught in the crossfire of taking care of Ms. Roscoe so be it, Jason thought.
A half hour later Jason returned to the warehouse. He had wanted to go to the hospital and surprise Elizabeth but Meyer assured him he would have an answer for him and Sonny in a few hours so it was worthless to go only to be pulled away from her again.
He settled down at his desk and began to calculate just how much this little mishap would cost them in terms of dollars. It was then that he noticed the brown paper bag perched on the corner of the desk. Instantly it reminded him of all the times Elizabeth had brought him food from Kelly's in those very same bags. She always accused him of not eating enough. He wondered if this was her way of reminding him of that fact.
Even though he wasn't hungry he opened the bag eagerly certain that there would be a note tucked inside from Elizabeth. She had always been so good about leaving them for him. Suddenly he felt like some lovesick schoolboy but a part of him didn't even care. If this was what it felt like to be full on in love with someone - Elizabeth - then he was more than happy with the sensations.
He emptied the contents of the bag on the desk before him. If he had been a man with a squeamish stomach the site of the dead mouse would have done him in. Instead though Jason picked it up by its rigid tail and found the note affixed to the rodent. He pulled at the piece of paper and read it.
'Next time it could be you!'
Immediately Jason pulled out his cell phone and began to dial. "Meyer, I've got something else I need you to look at," Jason said as he dropped the mouse back in the brown sack and headed for the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth exited Tony Jones' office with a clean bill of health. It felt good to no longer have her arm in a sling. She was looking forward to getting back to the normal routine of her life. But then again what was normal she thought? Nothing about her life since she had met Jason had been what most people would term normal then factor into the mix Ric Lansing and any semblance of normal went right out the window.
But Elizabeth didn't care about normal anymore. All that mattered to her was that she and Jason loved each other and the rest of it would fall into place - she hoped.
"Elizabeth?" Max's voice startled her. "Are you all right?" he asked trying to gauge her expression.
"I'm fine Max. No need to call Jason," she winked. "I promise."
Max felt himself blush a bit. He couldn't help but be as protective of her as his boss was. There was just something about Elizabeth Webber that made men want to protect her. "You ready to go back to the penthouse?"
"Actually I told Monica that I would have coffee with her. I just have to go to the nurse's station and page her."
"Okay."
Max followed her to the third floor nurses station. "Hi Elizabeth," Maxie Jones said.
"Hi, could you page Dr. Quatermaine for me?"
"Alan or Monica? They are both on today."
"Monica please."
"Elizabeth," Max tapped her on the shoulder. "I have to take this call."
"Sure go ahead."
"I'll be right around the corner."
"I'll be fine Max." She stressed with a smile.
After hearing the page for Monica over the hospital intercom, Elizabeth took a seat on one of the sofas in the lounge area and waited for Jason's mother to arrive.
"Elizabeth." Her body tensed at the sight of Ric and sound of his voice. "Is everything all right?"
"I'm fine Ric. What do you want?" Her tone curt. "What are you even doing here?" Immediately she thought he was following her.
"I was here to see a client," he said in his sincerest voice. "I had no idea you would be here. But I am glad that you are. I have something for you." Elizabeth pulled back as he reached into his briefcase. He stifled his anger at how fearful she was of him.
"What?" she questioned wearily almost ready to scream so that Max would come running.
"Here." He handed her an envelope with Alexis' return address in the corner. "I apologize for dragging my feet in signing those. I know that you want our marriage dissolved as soon as possible. I agreed not to contest the divorce."
Elizabeth was stunned. Had she just heard him right? He wasn't going to contest their divorce? "What's the catch, Ric?" she said with disbelief.
"No catch. All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy.."
"Lansing," Max's booming voice drowned out any further words Ric might have been saying. "If you know what's good for you you will walk away right now."
"Max," Elizabeth's soft tone crept between the two men who were suddenly at a stand off. "I'm fine. Ric was just giving me my divorce papers."
"I'd like to see them," the guard said.
Elizabeth handed them over to him without reservation. She knew he wanted to be sure that they were indeed her divorce papers and not just some rouse like before. Ric watched patiently as the large man looked over the documents as if had been his soon to be ex-wife's attorney.
"Everything in order?" Ric asked smartly.
"Thank you for this," Elizabeth said to Ric as Max handed her back the envelope.
"Elizabeth," Maxie called to her from the nurse's station. "Monica was called to consult on an emergency surgery. She's not going to be able to meet you after all."
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know. It looks like we are done here," she said turning to Max.
"Back to the penthouse?" he questioned never taking his eyes off of a man he considered a predator.
"Actually I'd like to go to Kelly's and let them know that they can start putting me back on the schedule. Dr. Jones cleared me to return to work."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Did you need something more?" Elizabeth inquired to Ric who had yet to leave. "Don't you have a client you need to see?"
"Right..goodbye Elizabeth."
"Goodbye Ric."
He looked on as she and Max boarded the elevator. He felt his chest tighten as the doors closed and he could no longer see her. He wasn't about to let this be goodbye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max sat at one of the round tables at Kelly's drinking coffee as he waited for Elizabeth to take care of getting herself put back on the waitress schedule. He wished he could have gotten in touch with Jason. He was sure that having Elizabeth back working was the last thing Jason would have wanted even though he wouldn't have tired to stop her. Something just didn't feel right about this and as the door behind him swung open he instantly knew why. Faith Roscoe had just waltzed into Kelly's and made a beeline for the counter where Elizabeth was standing.
Jason looked around the living room of the penthouse and smiled thinking what a difference a few weeks made. To the naked eye nothing appeared to be all that different. The room was still sparsely filled with only his beloved pool table, brown leather couch and chair and the desk sitting off in the corner. But to him the random placement of Elizabeth's things, her sweater draped over the leather office chair, her shoes left either under the desk or beside the couch, an occasional mug half filled with hot chocolate she had left sitting here or there, it finally felt like home to him.
He heard her upstairs getting ready for her final appointment with Dr. Jones that morning. He had accompanied her to every physical therapy session for her shoulder and helped her with her exercises at home too. It seemed as though they were inseparable, partly because Jason was still being cautious but mostly because he couldn't stand being away from her for very long.
While things had quieted down considerably since Elizabeth had moved in, there was still a part of him waiting for the other shoe to drop. He checked in daily with Max for reports on Ric Lansing which proved to be rather uneventful. It was almost as if he knew he was being watched and that made Jason all the more leery. The only red flag that Max had been able to give him was the fact that Faith Roscoe seemed to come and go freely from Lansing's home. That thought forced him to recall Sonny's comments about Faith being behind everything that had happened. Yet he couldn't make the pieces fit with all off the things concerning Elizabeth. For Faith, Elizabeth had only been an obstacle that stood between her and what she wanted - Ric Lansing. Now that Elizabeth was no longer part of that equation for Jason it all just didn't add up. In his gut he knew that whatever part Faith played in this Ric was at the heart of it.
"Hey you," Elizabeth's soft voice startled him.
"Hey."
"You must be losing your touch."
"Huh?"
"I didn't think you ever let anyone sneak up on you?" She grinned.
"Who says you did?" Jason turned around and captured her in his arms kissing her lightly on the mouth.
"If you say so." Elizabeth said as she moved away from him to collect her purse and compact from the table.
"I was just thinking that's all." Jason offered sensing she knew he was being less than truthful. "I didn't expect you to be ready yet."
"I'm past ready. I can't wait to get my life back." Immediately she saw his features fall. "You know what I mean." She reached up and brought his eyes to meet her own. "I love being here with you. You are my life but I need to get back to the business of living. I need to get back to work. I need to feel useful. Can you understand that?"
"Yeah." He smiled softly. That was the Elizabeth he knew and loved. She was always such a major part of everything around her. He knew that it was difficult for her to be cooped up not being able to do the things she loved.
"You didn't think that you'd get rid of me that easily did you?" she laughed. "What were you thinking about when I came in?" she asked casually not expecting to get a response.
"Nothing really."
"You sure?" She didn't want to push him but in the several weeks she had been living there it was hard not to notice the rather strained relationship Jason suddenly was having with Sonny. "Is Sonny upset I'm living here? Is he angry about what happened with Carly the other day?"
"I don't know and really it doesn't make much difference to me," Jason said flatly.
"Jason, I don't want our relationship to cost you your friendship with Sonny." Elizabeth reached for his hand as a gentle reminder of how much she cared for him and hated to see him hurting. "Sonny's your family."
"No," he interrupted her. "You're my family. Sonny's just my business partner." Before she was able to make a reply to his comment the phone on the desk let out a shrill ring. "Yeah?" Elizabeth laced her fingers through his as she stood and listened to his end of the conversation. "No, I can't come to the warehouse right now. No, you'll have to handle it. Hang on," he said when she tugged at his hand.
"Sounds important. You should probably take care of it."
"No, I'm taking you to your appointment."
"I'll be fine. It's only a formality anyway. You go take care of what you need to."
"Elizabeth." Before he could say anymore she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"I only have one request. I would like Max to take me to the hospital instead of Marco."
Jason tore his eyes away from her and focused his attention to the person on the other end of the line. "I'll be there when I can. Did Marco do something?" Jason asked as he replaced the receiver in its cradle. "Is that why you don't want him to take you?" Jason had caught the younger guard staring intently at Elizabeth on several occasions when he thought no one was looking.
"No, nothing like that." Elizabeth could tell by his hard stare what was going through Jason's mind at the moment. The last thing she wanted was for poor Marco to meet with the enforcer's wrath. "I just know Max better. I feel more comfortable around him. It's me it has nothing to do with Marco."
"Well Max is actually working on something for me right now. I'd rather not pull him off of it." Jason watched Elizabeth's lower lip jut out into a playful pout. He felt himself smirk thinking how perfectly she knew how to play her part. "I'll call him." Jason relented.
"Thank you," she giggled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth and Max stepped off the elevator on the third floor and ran into Monica and Zander. They were standing off to the side and it was easy to tell that both were upset.
"Hi," Elizabeth said as she approached them. Quickly Monica wiped the remnants of tears from her beneath her eyes.
Elizabeth's heart ached for them. She had let herself get so wrapped in her own life that she had forgotten about those still grieving Emily's death. Zander looked like a shadow of his former self and it was easy to see that Monica was just going through the necessary motions.
"Elizabeth." Monica embraced her tightly. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you," she said as she saw the young girl hide a wince.
"I'm fine really." Elizabeth reassured. "So fine in fact I am expecting to be released from Dr. Jones' care by this afternoon."
"Dr. Jones?" Zander questioned. "What happened?" He couldn't help but think back to that day in the cemetery when he had stumbled onto Ric almost accosting her.
"Jason and I had a little accident on his bike."
"How is Jason?" Monica asked.
"He's good." Elizabeth always felt bad when it came to the tenuous relationship between Monica and her son. It was almost as if she knew more about him than his own mother, perhaps she did. "I don't mean to cut this short but I have to get to my appointment. Do you think you might have a few minutes later this morning?" she said to Monica. "We could grab some coffee in the cafeteria."
"I'd like that. Thank you. Page me when you are finished with Tony."
"I'll do that."
Zander and Monica watched as she and Max headed up the corridor to Tony Jones' office.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason looked over the shipment sitting on the pallets in front of him. He understood why his presence was so urgent. He ran his hands through the contents of the crates and rather than coming up with just handfuls of coffee beans they were laced with a fine white powder. The entire shipment had been contaminated.
"Are they all like this?" he asked.
"Yeah." The foreman answered.
"Damn it!" Jason threw the crowbar to the floor not bothering to open the last remaining bins.
"What do you want us to do with all of them?" the man asked.
"We don't have much choice do we. Burn them all," Jason responded. "There can't be a trace of any of this shipment. I can't risk Taggert or Baldwin getting wind of this.."
"Getting wind of what?" Sonny asked.
Jason dropped his head, closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "This latest shipment is filled with cocaine, maybe heroin."
"Show me," Sonny instructed. The foreman cracked open a crate to confirm what Jason had just told him. "This doesn't make any sense. It's just scattered there loose."
"That's what I was thinking. It didn't make sense to me either."
"Are you sure it's drugs and not something else?" Sonny questioned.
"Do you want to have it tested?"
"Don't you?" Sonny retorted. "Given Faith's penchant poison we can't be too careful."
Jason just nodded his head not wanting to have the same old tired argument with his friend. Besides for once he actually agreed with him on who the culprit for this latest scheme had been. "I'll get a sample to Meyer right away."
"Glad we can finally agree on something," Sonny remarked before turning and leaving as quickly as he had come.
Jason almost stopped him but resisted the urge. Normally he would have tried to make things right between the two of them, but this time he wasn't sure if that was possible.
He scooped up a sample of the white powder intermingled with the coffee beans and placed it in a plastic bag and headed for Meyer. Part of him wanted it to be Faith's signature poison. At least then maybe he could work off some of his pent up aggression and hell if Ric Lansing got caught in the crossfire of taking care of Ms. Roscoe so be it, Jason thought.
A half hour later Jason returned to the warehouse. He had wanted to go to the hospital and surprise Elizabeth but Meyer assured him he would have an answer for him and Sonny in a few hours so it was worthless to go only to be pulled away from her again.
He settled down at his desk and began to calculate just how much this little mishap would cost them in terms of dollars. It was then that he noticed the brown paper bag perched on the corner of the desk. Instantly it reminded him of all the times Elizabeth had brought him food from Kelly's in those very same bags. She always accused him of not eating enough. He wondered if this was her way of reminding him of that fact.
Even though he wasn't hungry he opened the bag eagerly certain that there would be a note tucked inside from Elizabeth. She had always been so good about leaving them for him. Suddenly he felt like some lovesick schoolboy but a part of him didn't even care. If this was what it felt like to be full on in love with someone - Elizabeth - then he was more than happy with the sensations.
He emptied the contents of the bag on the desk before him. If he had been a man with a squeamish stomach the site of the dead mouse would have done him in. Instead though Jason picked it up by its rigid tail and found the note affixed to the rodent. He pulled at the piece of paper and read it.
'Next time it could be you!'
Immediately Jason pulled out his cell phone and began to dial. "Meyer, I've got something else I need you to look at," Jason said as he dropped the mouse back in the brown sack and headed for the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth exited Tony Jones' office with a clean bill of health. It felt good to no longer have her arm in a sling. She was looking forward to getting back to the normal routine of her life. But then again what was normal she thought? Nothing about her life since she had met Jason had been what most people would term normal then factor into the mix Ric Lansing and any semblance of normal went right out the window.
But Elizabeth didn't care about normal anymore. All that mattered to her was that she and Jason loved each other and the rest of it would fall into place - she hoped.
"Elizabeth?" Max's voice startled her. "Are you all right?" he asked trying to gauge her expression.
"I'm fine Max. No need to call Jason," she winked. "I promise."
Max felt himself blush a bit. He couldn't help but be as protective of her as his boss was. There was just something about Elizabeth Webber that made men want to protect her. "You ready to go back to the penthouse?"
"Actually I told Monica that I would have coffee with her. I just have to go to the nurse's station and page her."
"Okay."
Max followed her to the third floor nurses station. "Hi Elizabeth," Maxie Jones said.
"Hi, could you page Dr. Quatermaine for me?"
"Alan or Monica? They are both on today."
"Monica please."
"Elizabeth," Max tapped her on the shoulder. "I have to take this call."
"Sure go ahead."
"I'll be right around the corner."
"I'll be fine Max." She stressed with a smile.
After hearing the page for Monica over the hospital intercom, Elizabeth took a seat on one of the sofas in the lounge area and waited for Jason's mother to arrive.
"Elizabeth." Her body tensed at the sight of Ric and sound of his voice. "Is everything all right?"
"I'm fine Ric. What do you want?" Her tone curt. "What are you even doing here?" Immediately she thought he was following her.
"I was here to see a client," he said in his sincerest voice. "I had no idea you would be here. But I am glad that you are. I have something for you." Elizabeth pulled back as he reached into his briefcase. He stifled his anger at how fearful she was of him.
"What?" she questioned wearily almost ready to scream so that Max would come running.
"Here." He handed her an envelope with Alexis' return address in the corner. "I apologize for dragging my feet in signing those. I know that you want our marriage dissolved as soon as possible. I agreed not to contest the divorce."
Elizabeth was stunned. Had she just heard him right? He wasn't going to contest their divorce? "What's the catch, Ric?" she said with disbelief.
"No catch. All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy.."
"Lansing," Max's booming voice drowned out any further words Ric might have been saying. "If you know what's good for you you will walk away right now."
"Max," Elizabeth's soft tone crept between the two men who were suddenly at a stand off. "I'm fine. Ric was just giving me my divorce papers."
"I'd like to see them," the guard said.
Elizabeth handed them over to him without reservation. She knew he wanted to be sure that they were indeed her divorce papers and not just some rouse like before. Ric watched patiently as the large man looked over the documents as if had been his soon to be ex-wife's attorney.
"Everything in order?" Ric asked smartly.
"Thank you for this," Elizabeth said to Ric as Max handed her back the envelope.
"Elizabeth," Maxie called to her from the nurse's station. "Monica was called to consult on an emergency surgery. She's not going to be able to meet you after all."
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know. It looks like we are done here," she said turning to Max.
"Back to the penthouse?" he questioned never taking his eyes off of a man he considered a predator.
"Actually I'd like to go to Kelly's and let them know that they can start putting me back on the schedule. Dr. Jones cleared me to return to work."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Did you need something more?" Elizabeth inquired to Ric who had yet to leave. "Don't you have a client you need to see?"
"Right..goodbye Elizabeth."
"Goodbye Ric."
He looked on as she and Max boarded the elevator. He felt his chest tighten as the doors closed and he could no longer see her. He wasn't about to let this be goodbye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max sat at one of the round tables at Kelly's drinking coffee as he waited for Elizabeth to take care of getting herself put back on the waitress schedule. He wished he could have gotten in touch with Jason. He was sure that having Elizabeth back working was the last thing Jason would have wanted even though he wouldn't have tired to stop her. Something just didn't feel right about this and as the door behind him swung open he instantly knew why. Faith Roscoe had just waltzed into Kelly's and made a beeline for the counter where Elizabeth was standing.