Title: Ch. 3 Elizabeth Corday

Author: Jen Zoromski

All other information is at the beginning of ch. 1. I'm a busy college student – haha – so updates may be erratic, but I will try my hardest to get at least an update in a week.

Thanks so much for all the reviews. Enjoy!

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February 13, 2004

Surgical Wing, County General Hospital

9:54 p.m.

"Jacy just tell him that he will be sore for a few days and that is perfectly normal after this type of procedure," Elizabeth Corday says curtly as she stands next to the circulation area in the surgical wing talking to Jacy who is smirking on the phone.

Jacy repeats what Elizabeth told her and hangs up the phone, smirking.

"Dr. Corday, he was insistent on talking to you."

"I don't see why, I didn't even do the surgery for him and besides a patient who is getting that kind of procedure done must have a wife or a reason for it."

"Maybe it was post-op love."

"Right. Do you know how many love declarations I've gotten in post op from different men and women?" Elizabeth points out, vaguely remembering one post op declaration of love. Was that really only a year ago? So much has happened since that time. After working with him for six years she never really understood him until he lost everything that he thought he was. He lost his profession and his reason for living – well except for the contact with her, but she realized it too late to do anything about it. Staring at the haunting, intense picture of him just three months ago at his funeral made her regret not having at least tried to do more.

"Dr. Corday?"

"Hmm?"

Elizabeth turns to see Jacy holding onto the phone once again.

"Tell him to put ice on it."

Jacy laughs and holds out the phone, "It's not a patient. It's one of the new med students doing his ER rotation."

"Why is a med student calling up here? I didn't get paged."

"He seems very insistent."

"Well so did my new found love in the vasectomy patient, but you didn't give me the phone then."

"Dr. Corday is busy at the moment," Jacy replies into the phone. Seconds later she hangs up the phone, "He didn't seem very happy."

"He's a med student. They aren't supposed to be happy once they get introduced to the real world of being a doctor. They won't be happy until their bills are all paid off and they are actually in a specialty that they like."

Elizabeth stops and sees that she has lost Jacy's interest, "It's been a long day. Look at me, I'm spouting off nonsense. I'm going to go and grab my coat and go home to my daughter."

"Have a good night, Dr. Corday."

She walks into her office and looks around. Not too long ago it used to be another man's office. A man she never really understood. Maybe more so how he got to that point than why he acted the way he did. Some days she wanted to say the same kind of snarky comment that he would say to someone else – he just beat her to it.

"I've got to snap out of it," Elizabeth tells herself in her darkened office.

"Talking to yourself, that definitely can't be a good sign," a voice, almost familiar to her sneers.

Elizabeth nearly jumps out of her skin at the sound of that cynical sneering tone. Slowly she turns around and is face to face with an intense pair of brown eyes and a lopsided smirk.

"Dr. Corday, I presume?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm not your vasectomy patient," he replies mockingly.

"You're the med student that was on the phone."

"That would be me indeed."

She looks at him closer. He looks so familiar, that voice, those eyes, that smirk – where has she seen that before?

"Trying to catch flies? I would have thought that you heard the gossip by now."

"What gossip?"

"Oh you know, the usual – so and so is dating so and so; somebody's pregnant; and oh yeah your former boss had a son who just happens to be a new med student here."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself," he extends his hand looking at her playfully, "I'm Ethan Romano."

The look on Elizabeth's face is absolutely priceless.

"What can I say, according to my mom, I inherited nearly everything from my father," he replies brushing a hand through his thick auburn curls.

"I think I need to sit down."

"Is it that bad?"

Elizabeth walks over to her desk chair and plops down, unevenly, confused as to what to make of this man that stands before her.

"I'm so confused right now…"

"Confused?"

"Robert never mentioned that he had a son, much less a significant other."

"A long time ago he did."

"What?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Trying to regain some control over her emotions and trying to rid herself of the thoughts that maybe this was Robert being sent back to her for a second try and trying to get being a decent human being towards him right. Sure she was fine in the later days, but she still didn't know who he was as a person.

"Dr. Corday?"

"Yes?"

"Heart still pumping, lungs still working?"

"…"

"Because I wouldn't want to have to try and resuscitate you – although the prospect of it is quite appealing and if I did cause your current state, wouldn't it be the proper thing to do?"

"No it certainly would not!"

"Now, now, now Dr. Corday I didn't come up here to put you in a bad mood—"

"What did you come up here for Mr. Romano?"

"I want to start a relationship—"

"Pardon?"

He laughs with a playful look in his eyes, "A working relationship – I'm 25 years old and not stupid – I wouldn't ever have a relationship with someone at work."

"Such a final statement. I said that too, years ago, but my most significant relationships all were from work."

"Interesting…"

"What exactly did you have in mind for a working relationship?" she asks amused that he is such a child in the ways of the world, but also his eyes hold onto a sort of maturity that she can't quite place her finger on.

"I want to learn everything I can about surgery," Ethan pauses letting his guard down for a brief moment, "and my father."

"Robert was…"

He holds up his hand with a slight grimace on his face, "I can't bear the details right now – might give me nightmares."

"I see that sarcasm is an inherited trait," Elizabeth shakes her head.

Ethan smirks with a sad smile and looks Elizabeth over for the first time. In his rare visits with his dad he talked so little about work, but when he did talk about it – he would always talk about a woman at work.

"I hope someday you get to work with a woman like her – she's amazing."

"Sounds like someone has a crush," 19 year old Ethan teases his normally terse and nonexistent father.

"I admire her skills – "

"Right."

"I do," he protests like a five year old.

"Well in all actuality, I would say go for it."

"When did you become so smart?"

Curtly Ethan replies, "When you weren't around."

Robert winces at the comment and looks away from his son.

"Look, I didn't mean to –" Ethan tries to explain.

"No it's fine. I should really be going anyways."

"Ethan?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I asked what attending you're assigned to."

"Dr. Lewis."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow about trying to work out a way that you can get some observation up here before the rest of your class in surgery."

He sincerely looks at her, "Thanks."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a daughter waiting at home that I haven't seen in nearly a day and a half."

Ethan accompanies Elizabeth out of her office and walks her to the elevator.

"Are you getting in?"

"Nah, I'm going to look around a bit."

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow."

Standing in the middle of the deserted hallway, Ethan is at a loss for words. In the rare occasion when he actually met with his father he would mentally curse this very place for taking away a normal childhood from him.

This place and others like it took from him a father.

And yet somehow it invigorates him.

TBC

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More to come! Please R&R

Jen