Chapter 7
Kerry returned from Robert's office rather pleased with herself. She walked past the admittance desk in the ER and went in to the lounge, picking up the phone. She dialed her home, knowing Kim was going to pick up. And after the third of fourth ring she did.
"Hello?" Her voice sent shivers down Kerry's spin.
"Kim, it's me." Kerry suppressed her excitement.
"Are you coming home?" Kim asked.
"Not yet." Kerry smiled.
"Then why are you calling." Kim laughed; Kerry loved her laugh.
"I just got out of a meeting with Romano." Kerry bit her lip.
"Oh, and…" Kim sounded a bit tense.
"I got you your job back. It's yours if you want it."
"Oh, Kerry…" Kim sounded rather excited, "Thank you." She said gently. "When do I have to start?"
"He said to start whenever you felt well enough to start. But he also said that if you have a run in with him he's more than happy to let you go again."
Kim laughed. "Of course he is." Her laugh subsided. "Well hopefully there won't be a run in."
"I'm sure there won't be." Kerry was grinning. "Well I'd better get back to work. I'll probably be there in an hour. What do you want to eat?"
"Doesn't matter, just get anything. You know what I like." Kim leaned back in the bed. Her stomach was still hurting her.
"Okay, well I'll see you soon. Bye, sweetie."
"Bye, honey." Both smiled as they hung up.
Elizabeth was running late. Susan had already gotten Ella from the daycare and sat across the hallway, with Ella in her lap, waiting for Elizabeth to round the corner. "Where's your mommy, Ella?" Susan asked, smiling at the little girl. Ella was the cutest thing, with her blonde hair and cute little face that resembled both Mark and Elizabeth.
Mark. Susan felt awful about him. He was dying in another state and she knew she wouldn't see him again. It was her gut feeling. And what about poor Elizabeth; not knowing if her husband was doing all right or not. Susan had a feeling that Elizabeth would be joining him soon in Hawaii, or wherever he was. But right now she had Elizabeth, and she felt responsible to watch after her. It was as if she was doing Mark a favor by easing his wife's pain.
"Susan?" It was Elizabeth.
"Oh, hey. Are you ready to go?" Susan asked, bouncing Ella on her lap.
"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded, pulling her coat on and grabbing Ella's diaper bag. "Sorry I was late; I got held up in surgery."
"Oh, it's no big deal." Susan waved it off and stood up, holding Ella in her arms. She remembered holding her niece in her arms. She wondered if her sister and niece were doing all right. She hadn't heard from them for a long while.
"Well let's get a move on; I have to be back soon." Elizabeth smiled at her daughter. "Hey Ella, how's my little girl?" Elizabeth grabbed one of Ella's hands and kissed.
"She's a little sleepy, aren't you, El." Susan asked, holding Ella closer to her.
"Yeah, she probably needs a nap." Elizabeth smiled. "So how was the rest of your shift?"
"Boring. We didn't have any traumas. Just the usual riff-raff." Susan said, walking through the door which Elizabeth so graciously held open for her.
"I heard Kerry had a meeting with Romano, do you know what that was about?" Elizabeth asked, stuffing her hands in to her pockets. It was getting colder. Susan held Ella closer to her, shielding her face from the cold Chicago winds.
"No idea, but I had to baby-sit the ER for her." Susan laughed. They reached Doc Magoo's and went in, taking a seat in a nearby booth. Ella, infatuated with Susan, protested when Elizabeth tried to get her to sit by her. She wanted to sit by Susan, not mommy. Once Ella was settled in beside Susan, and the waitress had taken their order, they began a conversation.
"So tell me more about this Kim Legaspi. What exactly happened?" Susan prodded.
"Well I'm not really sure. Dr. Legaspi was a psychiatrist in the psych ward at County and well I guess she just got along really well with Kerry. Well one thing led to the next and suddenly Kerry's a lesbian." Elizabeth felt dirty saying the words in front of her daughter, but she knew her daughter would not remember what she had said, and further more it wasn't like there was anything wrong with being a lesbian. Elizabeth should know. After all she went to an all girl's school…
Susan laughed. "Just like that?" Elizabeth nodded yes. "Wow, I mean she seemed the type." Susan should know. After all that college experimentation.
"I suppose." Elizabeth chuckled.
"So tell me more. Why did Legaspi leave?" Susan asked, leaning forward, her button up shirt, buttoned up except for the top three buttons, revealed a hint of cleavage.
Elizabeth noticed, but quickly looked back at Susan's face. "She basically got fired by Romano."
"For what?" Susan frowned, pretending, or not, that she hadn't noticed where Elizabeth's eyes had wondered.
"She came out to a patient and the patient sued her for sexual harassment, but she didn't do anything. But you know Romano, he can't stand the lesbians." Elizabeth smiled. "Well, I think since Kerry came out he's been a bit more receptive." She leaned forward, her face almost inches from Susan's. "Do you know Kerry came out to him in the men's bathroom on the Surgeon's floor?"
"No way!" Susan got wide-eyed.
"Yes." Elizabeth nodded. She felt like a little school girl again, spreading gossip about the teachers at school. Something about this new found relationship seemed comforting. She enjoyed being with Susan, she felt comfortable with her.
The door to Doc Magoo's opened. Neither noticed, nor cared to look up to see who it was.
Kerry Weaver walked in to Doc Magoo's to find Elizabeth and Susan sitting at a booth, looking rather smug with one another. She noticed Ella also sitting with them. She wasn't sure if she should interrupt or not, so she made her way to the bar and hopped on to a seat. She was ordering take out for Kim and herself.
Elizabeth and Susan were awfully close. She wondered what was up with them.
"Kerry's here." Susan whispered, not taking her eyes off of Elizabeth. But Elizabeth had to look.
"Well then we'd better stop talking about her." Elizabeth laughed, quickly looking back at Susan, so as not to attract Kerry's attention.
Susan leaned back in the seat and smiled, helping Ella take a drink of water. "So how are you, really?" Susan asked, looking back at Elizabeth. She saw her face fall, her momentary happiness vanished.
Elizabeth shook her head, unable to open her mouth, or do anything for that matter. The tears threatened to fall.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry." Susan bit her lip. "I shouldn't have…"
"No, it's good to talk about it. I guess." Elizabeth cut in. "God, I'm a mess." Elizabeth laughed, trying to make herself forget she was about to cry.
"No, no I would be too." Susan already was. She was losing one of her best friends, it was hard enough.
Ella played with a crayon, minding her own business. Elizabeth wondered if she had any idea what was going on. She supposed not, Ella was still so little.
Susan wanted to reach out and touch Elizabeth, she wanted to comfort her, to hold her when she cried, but it seemed like she wouldn't get that opportunity. Elizabeth was a very secretive person. She wasn't sure Elizabeth would open up to her the way she probably had with Mark. But then again Susan hadn't seen them in an actual relationship so she wasn't sure if they had been open with each other.
Susan broke the silence, feeling moved to at least say something. "Well you know if you need me I'm here?" Mindlessly she placed her hand over Elizabeth's.
What the hell was going on over there? Kerry wondered, having glanced back several times, wishing she was in on what they were talking about. They were probably talking about her. It seemed like everyone talked about her. She hated that.
But what about Susan and Elizabeth? That could not just be a friendship, or was it? Was Kerry so self-indulged with lesbianism that any thing such as touch triggered the thought that the two woman who touched were lesbians? Was that it?
A waiter interrupted her thoughts by handing her a bag of take-out and she thanked him, heading out of the restaurant. However before she got to the door, Susan looked up.
"Bye, Kerry." She said.
Kerry stopped in her tracks and looked over at her. "Bye Susan, Elizabeth." Kerry smiled and then left, heading home to be with Kim on her lunch break.
"Why'd you say goodbye?" Elizabeth laughed and gave Susan an evil look.
"What? I wanted to be nice." Susan shrugged as they received their food and began eating. Susan helped to cut up and serve Ella her food. She could get used to helping Ella.
"Well you didn't have to draw attention to us." Elizabeth shook her head and looked up from her own food to see Susan tending to her daughter. She smiled. Susan was very motherly; it was too bad she didn't have her own kids. Elizabeth wondered why Susan was not married. She'd never really thought about it, but she knew better than to ask her. They hardly knew each other, really.
"So why did you come back?" Elizabeth asked instead. She was intrigued to know why Susan had just magically appeared again as if nothing had changed.
"Oh I don't know. I missed Chicago. You know I never wanted to go back to County, it was Mark…" Susan paused, "who pulled me back in." She looked down.
"Oh, Susan." Elizabeth stopped eating and looked at her. She hadn't known Mark's death was affecting other people the way it was affecting herself.
"No, it's okay. I shouldn't be like this…I just…" Susan looked up, "He was a good friend, you know? And it's not fair. If I had known I would have come back sooner." There were tears threatening her eyes now.
What a great lunch this had become. Both were emotionally distraught about the same man and there was something else pulling them together. Susan would come to find out that she enjoyed when they were both so vulnerable, so susceptible to anything for a momentary euphoria.
TBC...haha I have a great surprise ending if my readers and reviewers will stick around. Maybe you didn't want Susan or Elizabeth to become a main character, but like it or not the story took a turn and now I have a great ending planned. True, you might not like it, but bare with me. Lol. Maybe you will. Haha.