Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters... But a girl can dream, right?
A/N: I know I haven't updated in a long time, but I've been majorly busy with exams. But here's chapter 15 at last.
Helen (girlintheyankeeshat) – Thanks for the beta-reading :) Much love and lots of cream cheese bagels your way for helping me the way you do…
Thank sooo much for all the feedback, it's highly appreciated. Thanks a lot, Michelle (britgirl2003), Kara, (K-Caedmon) Donna (fairydust135674) , Helen (PinkSparkle02), Amy (savedbygrace), Hallie, Anna, Flick, ercarterfan and of course Helen (girlintheyankeeshat).
Kara (K-Caedmon) – Thanks for kicking my lazy ass into gear. Your review really motivated me to update…
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beta. Hel, here's lanky Tag, just for you.
INTERRUPTION
"It's
gonna be alright." "Carol won't be mad at you forever,"
Doug whispered. He gently put his arm around Susan and hugged her
tightly. At first, Susan stiffened under his embrace, but he didn't
let go. As her scepticism passed and her exhaustion took over, Susan
eventually relaxed in his arms. Her head resting on Doug's
shoulder, her arm curled around his, Susan allowed her eyelids to
drop.
"Try
to catch some sleep," Doug advised her before he closed his eyes
as well. For the next few minutes, they remained silent. Susan was
tired and totally lost in her thoughts. Leaning on Doug, she let her
mind trail off. So maybe he was the one who got her into that mess.
But after all, he was also the only one who really seemed to care
about her. It felt so comfortable to be with Doug. Susan couldn't
say that she didn't enjoy his company.
Opening his eyes again, Doug glanced at Susan's face. She had her eyes shut, her lips were curled up in the semblance of a smile which accentuated her beauty. For the first time in the past few days, she had a relaxed expression on her face again. The sight of Susan looking like this alone was worth dumping Linda for. Doug didn't regret his decision of leaving her at all. Anything he had with Linda had never been more than just superficial physical lust. Things with Susan were totally different. During the past few days, he had developed an emotional connection to Susan. And even if it was only an amicable one, it was something real. Something worth much more than yet another night with Linda.
Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the sound of the door knob turning and a vaguely familiar voice.
"You called for an orthopedic consult, Dr. Lewis?" The very next minute, a grey-haired, lanky-framed doctor entred the room.Startled, Susan quickly backed away from Doug and gazed at the figure at the door. It was none other than John Taglieri, Carol's ex fiancé.
"Oh..Am I interrupting something?" Tag asked gruffly. He leaned heavily against the doorframe.
"No," Doug and Susan answered, almost in unison.
Slightly abashed by the fact that the orthopedic surgeon had found her snuggled against her best friend's ex, Susan felt her cheeks reddening. She couldn't believe that Tag, of all people, had walked in on them. She had him paged about 2 hours ago to check on one of her patients. Tag had still been in surgery at that time and by now, Susan had completely forgotten about him.
"I.. I need you to check on a football player with a torn ACL," Susan said with her eyes cast down. She got up from the bed and walked over to Tag.
"Dr. Ross," Tag said to Doug, a polite but yet firm goodbye.
"Dr. Taglieri."
After Susan had closed the door behind herself and Tag, Doug remained sitting on the bed for a few more minutes. He hated Tag for having walked in on Susan and him. Not only would that make people talk about him and Susan, it had also demolished a very intimate moment. There had been something. Something special. Something real. Something which he had enjoyed every single minute of. Eventually Doug left for the lounge to get himself a Coke.
In the meantime, Susan had taken Tag to her patient. While the orthopedic surgeon was still talking to the football player, Susan made her way back to the on-call room. Getting back there, Susan found Doug gone.
At first she wondered if he had gone home, but then again, she knew he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye.
"Anyone seen Doug?" Susan asked at admittance.
Jerry spoke up. "He isn't on tonight. He left with that pharmaceutical saleswoman hours ago." "Linda Farrell or whatever her name is."
Mixed feelings overcame her as looked at her watch. 01:20 am. Jerry must be wrong. Doug had been right here with her about half an hour ago. "You sure?"
Jerry nodded. "Yeah." "Why?"
Susan brushed aside her concern with a quick wave of the hand. "Doesn't matter," she said as she rushed away from admittance. But it did matter to her. If Doug had really left with Linda earlier that day, he must have come back to her.
Eventually she found Doug with a Coke in the lounge. He was sitting on the sofa, reading yesterday's paper. "Hey."
"Susan." Doug looked up. "How's the football player?" He asked.
"Taglieri is talking to him about conservative treatment."
Susan grabbed a Diet Coke from the refridgerator and plopped onto the sofa next to Doug.
"Do you think he'll tell people we're having an affair or something?" Doug asked, looking at Susan.
Susan shrugged. "Not everybody is like you," she said, with a little grin. "He never seemed to be the rumor-spreading type to me." But Susan didn't want to talk about Tag right now. The only thing she was really interested in was to find out why Doug came back. She couldn't believe that Doug out of all people would dump a beauty like Linda to spend the night in this hellhole of a hospital. Her heart was pounding really fast and she was a little afraid of asking, but she was dying to know."Doug...I need to ask you something," Susan finally began.
"Go ahead."
"Why... why did you come back?" She asked, in a quiet tone of voice.
It didn't take him longer than a second to figure out that Susan had somehow found out about his date with Linda.
"Because I wanted to," Doug claimed.
"But...she's pretty," Susan mumbled, her words scarcely audible. "You shouldn't have..."Doug put his Coke down and turned to Susan. "It's okay. I wanted to come." "My friends are more important to me than she is."
He paused. "You are more important."
Not sure what to make out of Doug's statement, Susan just sat there and gazed at him, trying to interpret his words. For as long as she had known Doug, he had hardly ever missed a chance when it comes to women. "I am?" Susan asked, almost shyly.
"Yeah...I.." Doug wasn't able to finish his sentence, since the door flung open and Kerry Weaver entered the room.
Susan let out an inaudible sigh. How many times are we going to get interrupted today?, she wondered. When Tag had walked in on them earlier that night, it had only been a little embarrasing. It might activate new rumours, but from the way Carol had treated Susan today, the others could probably tell what happened between Susan and Doug anyway. The situation with Kerry was totally different. She hadn't caught them in an ambigious situation but she had ruined a very special moment of friendship for them.
Susan hated Kerry for barging in. If only she had entered the room a little later. Susan was dying to know what Doug had wanted to say, but now she would never find out. Even if Kerry would spin on her heels and walk back out right away, the situation wouldn't be quite the same anymore.
"Kerry," Susan greeted the red-haired woman.
"Hello." Doug said quietly. Please, don't ask me why I'm here, please don't, he thought.
Kerry raised her eyebrows at the sight of Doug. She recalled having seen him leaving with a woman some hours ago. "You're back?" She asked, not really expecting him to answer. "Susan, you can go home now if you want to," Kerry spoke up as she poured some coffee into a green mug.
"Thanks." Susan forced herself to smile.
"But before you go, have a look at this. Friday to Sunday. I want you to go there." Kerry handed her a brochure on a trauma conference in Detroit.
"You're going there too, Doug," Kerry said, handing him a similiar brochure.
"Just fill out the forms and leave them in my inbox. I need them on my desk by tomorrow."
"Kerry, I don't think..." Doug began, but before he could actually finish his sentence, Kerry cut him off. "It's an excellent opportunity for both of you." Her voice expressed loud and clear that there was no discussing over it. With these words, she walked out of the lounge, leaving Doug and Susan on their own.
"Excellent opportunity? More like extra work." Susan rolled her eyes.
"Well...the bad news is, we're going to the most boring symposium of the year," Doug said as he was examining the brochure. "The good news is, the hotel we'll be staying at has got a nice swimming pool" He smirked at her, making her laugh.
"So we're driving to Detroit this weekend?" Susan asked, still grinning.
"Unless you prefer to fly there," Doug said with a wink.
"Like you would get me on a plane that easy." "We're going by car," Susan insisted.
"Fine with me."
Eventually, they both got up from the sofa and grabbed their coats.
"Let's not provoke any more rumors..." "I'll walk out ahead of you." Susan told Doug as she got into her coat.
He nodded understandigly. "Yeah."
Susan zipped up her coat and departed.
Outside the hospital, Susan sat down on the bench near the entrance. There were thousands of stars blazing in a beautiful, crystal clear sky. Susan leaned back and gazed up into the starry night, trying to recall the events of the past few hours. Her fight with Carol. Kerry making her do overtime. Doug. Time had flown so quickly as they had chatted the night away. She was so glad that he had been around... He had been right there when she needed someone to lean on. And still, she couldn't help wondering why Doug come back when he could have been with Linda instead.
One the one hand, she could kill Kerry for having walked in the minute Doug was going to answer her question. But on the other hand, Susan knew that it was probably good that Kerry had interrupted Doug. In that very moment, there had been something between her and Doug, and if only for a second, Susan had felt the undercurrent of something more than friendship. She shouldn't feel that way, of course for it was simply wrong, as he was her best friend's ex. Therefore Susan was actually glad that Kerry had spoiled that moment. Even if unintented, Kerry had happened to help them back on track.
He's Carol's ex...We're friends. Just friends, Susan told herself and pushed all other thoughts out of her mind again. She'd better stop thinking of what could have been. He was a good friend. Somebody she could rely on. A true friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Need a ride home?" Susan heard Doug's voice from behind.
She turned and glanced at him. Eventually, she shook her head. Susan could think of more enjoyable things than taking the El home in the middle of the night, but considering what had happened the last time he'd taken her home, she opted for declining his offer.
"No, it's ok. But thanks anyway." She got up from the bench and smiled at him. "Thank you for...for everything."
Doug smiled back at her. "Anytime." "Goodnight Susan."
"Night, Doug," she said before heading to the El station. Only a few steps later, she turned around again, as there was one more thing left to say. "Doug!" Susan called after him.
"Yeah?" He spun and walked towards her.
On reaching him, Susan brought her arms around him. "I'm glad we're friends," she whispered.
"Me, too." Doug replied, softly kissing her cheek.
After a few minutes of silence had passed, they disengaged from one another, and walked off in separate directions.
...TBC...
Like it? Hate it? Please tell me :)
I live for feedback, just like every writer does. The holidays are coming up... reviews make great Christmas presents, you know...
Anyway, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Update's coming ASAP.