Hold On

Chapter 4

The Night Takes A Turn

'Cuddy was engaged!' he thought as he watched her quickly retreat from the room. As hard as it was to believe, everyone had a past, and no matter how hard he tried, he didn't know everything about everyone. He just couldn't believe it upset her this much. She was cool as ice. "Well, I guess I should go find her," he thought. He grabbed his cane and rose from the table.

He did a perfunctory glance around the room as he left and didn't see her anywhere. He didn't think she'd stay in there anyway. He looked around the outer hallway where some people were still gathered talking but she wasn't there either. He thought she may have gone into the women's restroom, and any other time he would have just gone in there himself, but he figured she'd be really pissed if he did. So he stopped one of the female caterers and paid her ten dollars to go into the there and call her name t, but he still had no luck. The last place to look was out in the courtyard. He got his coat and hers and headed outside.

He didn't see anyone at first, but right as he was about to head back inside he seen someone sitting on a bench far off to the left. He could tell from the long hair that it was her so he headed over. As he approached he could see she was shivering and was glad he thought to grab her coat.

"You're going to get pneumonia sitting out here like this. Of course, what better place to get sick than at a banquet full of doctors?" he said as he draped her coat over her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said softly, "Sorry for running out on you like that. I know you don't want to be here anyway. I just had to get out of there."

"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't say I don't want to be here. What else would I be doing tonight? Sitting alone in my apartment watching reruns of ER? And I'm used to women running away from me, but usually I've said something to warrant it," he said as he took a seat next to her. "So why did you run away from me? Granted the music sucked and I'm sure the food will too, but that's hardly reason to take off. Or could it be because of Mark and Nicole, was it? Running into an old flame is never any fun."

"I haven't seen either of them since the night I caught them together. He was my first love. We had our life all planned out, all the way down to the two kids and the mutt we were going to have. He broke my heart in a way I didn't know was possible. I changed after that night. And not for the better either. It's like he didn't just break my heart, he broke me, and I haven't been able to put it completely back together since."

"It happens to all of us at some point in our life, Lisa; for some people it's just worse than for others," he said, as he looked at his hands not sure how to react to this sudden candidness.

"Did it happen to you, Gregg?" she asked, looking up at him for the first time since he came out there.

He looked at her, took in the lines on her face a trail of tears had left, the way the moon was making her hair shimmer more than it already did, and the way that wall she always kept up you could always see in her eyes had come down and knew that he could open himself up to her tonight, even if it was just a little.

"Yes, it did. Once. A long time ago."

"How did you handle it?" she asked. He let out a little laugh and looked her in the eye. "I wasn't always this bitter and miserable, Lisa. Sometimes things happen to you that just make you give up on everything, people, friends, and love, all of it. It's just not worth holding hope out for anymore. And I'm not talking about my leg either."

She looked away, saddened by his words. She knew who he was talking about but she wouldn't say her name. No reason for both of them to be miserable the whole evening.

They sat in silence for a few minutes when she finally spoke, "I don't want to go back in there, Gregg."

"Well it's your show, whatever you want to do," he said as he fumbled with his cane.

"I want you to take me to a bar and get me drunk."

"Well, I am more than happy to oblige but you d----," the words died on his lips as she handed him her car keys with a smile.

"You sure you trust a cripple driving your car?"

"Shut up, Gregg," she said as she stood up.

He grabbed his cane, stood up, and they started heading out of the courtyard. They made their way through the hotel lobby and to the main entrance. He kept stealing glances at her and couldn't explain to himself why and he never realized that she was doing the same.

They got to the main entrance and turned in the valet ticket. While they were waiting for the car, without thinking, he put his arm around her. A slow smile crept across her lips as she in turn leaned her head on his shoulder. He took in the smell of her hair, jasmine he thought it was, and it was overwhelming his senses. She took in the smell of his cologne and it was intoxicating her. The valet arrived with the car and they both awkwardly moved away from each other.

After they got in he said, "So what kind of establishment are you in the mood for Dr. Cuddy? Something upscale, a corner bar perhaps, or maybe somewhere with topless dancers? The latter always gets my vote."

Before he could say anymore, she turned and looked at him and put two fingers on his lips to shut him up. He was rambling because the evening was going in a totally different direction than he had imagined, and he didn't really know what to do. Neither did she. But at that moment, looking in each other's eyes, both of them were ready give it a try.

"Just drive."