A/N: Just a short one for now. Alicia, Angela and Diane are having dinner.
Truly Madly Deeply (Savage Garden)
Chicago, November 2015
"How can you do it? Your job I mean. Doesn't anything get to you? I certainly take baggage from some cases home with me," Alicia asked Angela.
"I enjoy it. But, yes, it would be foolish to say I don't get emotional at times." She took a sip of her wine before continuing. "Kids," she sighed, "kids and old people get at me when they come into the ER – opposite ends of the spectrum – those whose lives are only just beginning and those that have lived and been through every emotion. Kids, especially babies, got to Will. There were a few cases that really affected him and I think proved to him that despite what he thought, he really could get emotionally involved."
"The Willoughby case," Alicia said quietly.
"Yes," Angela nodded, "that's one that sticks in my mind. Another I recall from Baltimore involved a delay in giving a patient a C-section and, as a result, the mother and baby both died. I was actually involved in that as she presented in the ER and we admitted her, sent her up to OB/GYN, recommending and expecting them to perform emergency surgery and we later found out she and her baby died. It was awful; two colleagues and I were subpoenaed, along with the guys in gynae. Will was part of the husband's legal team and was suing the hospital. They won, but the whole process made me sick."
"I remember that," Diane began, "it was the first time you had to testify. Your Dad was worried about you but he said your boyfriend was very supportive. I didn't know him at the time, but that was Will."
Angela agreed with Diane, "Yes, he was great," she smiled remembering. "We couldn't discuss what was happening in court until it was all over, but he did explain exactly what I'd have to do. Thankfully, he was second chair and his co-counsel questioned me. But, more than that, he was there to pick up the pieces the night it happened, that was before his firm got involved," she waved her wine glass across the table before taking a sip, "I couldn't believe that both the mother and baby, a little girl, had died, it was just so tragic. I was angry, sad and at the end of my shift I just sat in the corridor and cried. It was one of those, why the fuck do I bother moments, pardon my French."
Alicia looked mournfully at her wine, running the stem between her thumb and forefinger. She sighed before saying, "It was during the Willoughby case that Will and I first kissed." She let the comment hang in the air, waiting for the other women to catch up.
"I see," said Diane, "it was certainly an emotional time." The older woman was unsure of what to say or think. Ideas of a long flirtation, even a relationship between her law partner and, at that time, a junior associate, were flying through her mind.
"I knew," Angela said clearly, "he wasn't about to keep that to himself!"
Alicia looked a little taken aback, but was coming to realise that the friendship that existed between Will and Angela was something special and included an intimacy that most of her friendships lacked. Maybe getting to know Dr Austen wasn't so bad? She could fill the space in Angela's life and vice versa.
Angela continued, "He called me several times during the trial asking questions about Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, prognosis, et cetera. I'm not a specialist so could only give him the basics. He also let off steam and talked about what had happened between you," she paused, "good and bad," smiling at Alicia.
"Will felt so bad. He blamed himself that the trial didn't go our way – said he played craps with the baby's life. It was before the Insurance Commissioner got involved and we thought all hope for the Willoughby child was lost." Alicia finished her drink and refilled it from the bottle on the table, gesturing to the others – Angela proffered her glass and Alicia poured some red into it. "It was the culmination of lots of things, but it was powerful," she sighed, "an almost overpowering urge between us."
"Uh-huh," Diane let slip as she took her glasses off and folded them in her hands.
"Nothing else happened," Alicia spoke quickly to reassure Diane, "at least, not then. Not for a long time."
"Okay," Diane took a drink of her wine and smiled at Alicia, "it is in the past. Keep your memories," she added, nodding her acceptance.
"Thank you," Alicia responded, tears forming in her eyes. She cleared her throat and her voice took on a different tone, "Afterwards, I did something I am not proud of. I went home and made love to Peter. It wasn't a romantic connection, but an outlet for my pent-up passion and lust for Will. Peter was there. I used him, just as he had used me."
….
A/N: Hope you like it - please review. In coming chapters we will see more AW moments alongside how Alicia confronts the 'voicemail of love'.
