Chapter 13
AN: Some quotes taken from Season 6, Episode 1. The lyrics are from Elton John's "Rocket Man"
In exciting news, I finished the cover art for the story!
Also to Aranwyn Nina Song, that was completely my dyslexia making a typo last chapter. Thanks for pointing it out, I edited the line to be correct.
Several weeks had passed, and the heat of summer was beating down on Chicago just as Carol's displeasure was beating down on Elizabeth. The gossip Elizabeth had set into motion at the end of May eventually made its way to Carol. Carol, who was best friends with Mark.
While Carol hadn't traced the gossip back to Elizabeth, she was mad that Elizabeth wouldn't dispute it. She didn't believe that Mark was the type to vote for someone for a Fellowship because he found them attractive. Clearly, the desk clerk named Cynthia didn't ring a bell, nor did the time Carol caught her and Mark having sex in the lounge.
With Carol being cross at her, Elizabeth put more effort into cultivating a friendship with Jo. The idea of having friends outside of work was too great a draw to ignore, and Elizabeth often found herself grabbing breakfast with Jo or squeezing in a weekend Pilates class with her. When Elizabeth's medical license finally came in, it was Jo that proposed they all go out for drinks to celebrate.
It had been the happiest Elizabeth had been in a long while, slowly finding a rhythm of work and pleasure. For the first time since moving to America, Elizabeth felt like she was making a life for herself.
Pity there was no job offer to accompany the new life she was building. Elizabeth had gone forward with applying to the Cardiothoracic Fellowship, but even with Robert's help on that, she felt as if she had a very slim chance of getting it. Her application was late, and the lead surgeon had one foot firmly in the boys' club camp. The pragmatic side of Elizabeth applied to other hospitals, something that caused her grief with Robert initially. He wanted her to stay on at County, but they both knew her options were limited, and so far County hadn't offered a job. The best Robert could do was advise her on which hospitals to pursue programs at and hope for a miracle that allowed them to continue to work together.
That's how Elizabeth found herself elbow deep in a trauma with a Cardiothoracic surgeon from Rush waiting on her. Charles Cameron.
"Well, well, well, this is quite a convention. Charlie Cameron, still at Rush?" Robert had impeccable timing as always. "Haven't seen you in, ah, oh gosh, who really cares. So ah, what brings you out to our fair land?" Robert was ignoring Cameron and was instead watching Elizabeth the entire time.
She had told Robert she was applying at Rush, but while it had the best program, it had been Roberts least favorite, and now she knew why. Charles Camera was a tall and attractive man with a full head of dark brown hair. Robert would have liked the Fellowship better if Cameron was old and ugly.
"Coffee actually, I hear it's the best in the city." Cameron clearly knew he was irritating Robert and just looked on at Elizabeth with a rather knowing smile. Something about his look was familiar in a rather annoying way. Robert left shortly after Cameron's comment in a huff, and Elizabeth knew she'd have to deal with that later.
The rumor mill was alight with the news that Anspaugh was stepping down and that Robert was the most likely replacement. While most of the hospital felt indifferent to the gossip, the ER was not thrilled. They were even less delighted to hear that the vote was taking place today.
The meeting with heads of departments was in full swing, and Robert was enjoying the fact that he had managed to keep Kerry Weaver out of the loop long enough for her to be late. Anspaugh didn't even bother to stop and acknowledge Greene or Weaver or to catch them up. The heads of department finished giving their recommendations, all in Robert's favor, before Anspaugh turned to Greene.
"Mark?"
"Well, I hate to be the voice of dissent. It certainly isn't personal, Robert, but I feel I should be honest."
"Absolutely." Which Robert knew meant not personal my ass. He knew anything Greene had to say would be personal, mainly after it had gotten out that Robert had punished the ER for Greene using the Fellowship to hit on Elizabeth. Half the staff didn't believe the rumors, but the other half had seen Elizabeth turn Greene down enough to think there was something to them.
"As ah acting Chief of the ER for the past few months, Dr. Romano has, well, there hasn't been a great deal of support. His management style is, I guess, abrupt. Ahh. Several members of our staff have ah. Well, they've even found it offensive." Greene paused, seemingly to read the room.
"Go on." Anspaugh encouraged.
"Well, I guess I'd have to say that I'd worry if Dr. Romano was to have the responsibility of the entire staff and faculty."
Robert knew this was coming from the ER and wasn't shocked at Greene's words. He was, however, astonished that Greene had the balls to say them in the first place. One voice out of many wasn't enough to make Robert feel concerned, though.
"Well, thank you, Mark, for your candor. Kerry."
"As any of us who've been in management know it's never easy taking over another department, and I agree with Mark. There have been a few bumps in the road. But I feel that Dr. Romano has succeeded in stabilizing the situation and is now providing some genuine leadership in the Emergency Department." Kerry wasn't as stupid as Robert often liked to imagine and was instead hedging her bets. Toning down the bad in hopes of kissing ass just enough to be spared any blowback from speaking out against him.
"So, you would support him as Chief of Staff?"
"I think it's only fair that we give him all the support that we can."
Robert wanted to yell out liar, liar pants on fire. That would definitely lose him the job, though. Instead, he watched Anspaugh, who was looking back and forth between Weaver and Greene. Greene was glaring daggers at Weaver, and it was clear to everyone that he disagreed with Kerry's words.
"Well. It seems to me that you and Mark are not in agreement Kerry. I value both of your opinions and since the two of you have and the most experience with Robert as an administrator, I take your comments very seriously, yours, in particular, Mark."
Well shit. This was not how Robert envisioned this meeting going. Robert had hoped that Weaver would find out about the meeting, so last minute that she wouldn't have a chance to give her input. Instead, she and Greene show up in the nick of time, bad mouth him, and Anspaugh decides to provide them with serious consideration. Kerry even looked shocked at the turn of events.
"Robert, you stepped up for the ER when it was floundering, and that couldn't have been easy. Jumping into to manage a department that's not your own when alarm bells are going off is a hard place to be as an administrator. But to have two senior members of that department say they have concerns about your management style, and even if they have two different accounts of it, is concerning." Anspaugh gave Robert a serious look, and Robert knew that the meeting was turning away from his favor. For once, the discord between Greene and Weaver was working against him.
"Mark, to show I take your concerns seriously, I'm appointing an Associate Chief of Surgery. Someone to help smooth over the rough edges of the transition and who has more administrative experience to be applied with a more delicate hand than Robert might be capable of at the moment."
"Uhh, that's, great Donald; I think I missed the part where Robert was being made Chief of Surgery as well. Who, ah, did you have in mind to help him?" Greene was struggling to keep up with the conversation, and the confusion on his face was mirrored by the rest of the room's occupants.
"Elizabeth Corday."
Robert didn't bother to hid the look of glee on his face when Donald said Elizabeth's name. It was perfect. The rest of the room, however, looked surprised, notably Weaver. Robert particularly enjoyed the twitch her face made at Lizzy's name.
"I'm a little lost here, Donald, how does Elizabeth Corday meet that criteria?" Greene voiced what easily half the room was thinking.
"What's the matter, Dr. Greene? You certainly thought highly enough of Dr. Corday to ah vote for her in the Trauma Fellowship" Robert couldn't help but get a dig in, delighted at the unexpected turn around that had been presented to him.
"Dr. Corday has been handling the majority of Surgery admin since February, allowing me to spend more time with my daughter. In addition to this, she spent a great deal of time doing admin in England while working for her father. Apparently, it's a Corday family tradition to train your replacement early on. So I do not doubt that she is more than capable of being Associate Chief of Surgery. Unless, of course, you have an issue with this, Robert?"
"Not at all. And this way, we won't lose her to Rush."
"Charles Cameron can go poach from someone else's staff. Unless there are any other concerns, I think this meeting is over. Dr. Romano will be Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery with Dr. Corday as Associate Chief to smooth over the inevitable."
Robert was grinning like the cat that caught the canary and made no attempt to hide it. In one fell swoop, he had secured a promotion for himself, and then thanks to the grumbling man from the ER, Elizabeth had been given a promotion as well based on her own merits. After a round of congratulations and handshakes from the other department heads, Robert managed to escape the conference room. He needed to find Lizzy.
Elizabeth was going over a chart in the Surgeons lounge, trying to make sense of the wildly unexpected turn the interview with Cameron took when Robert walked in, grinning ear to ear.
"If the look on your face is anything to go by, then am I to believe you got the job?"
"No, Lizzy, we got the job." Robert poured a coffee before taking the seat across from her.
"I beg your pardon?" She was confused, there was only one job, and Robert was the one up for it.
Robert took pity on her and filled her in on how the meeting went. Her expression went from one of confusion to shock the more he spoke. Elizabeth took a full minute staring at him open mouth before she could respond.
"So. You walk into a meeting for a job and walk out with jobs for both of us."
"Yes."
"And it was all Anspaugh's idea."
"Yes."
"Because Greene complained that you didn't have leadership skills."
"Yes."
Elizabeth shook her head and laughed. Her day kept getting stranger and stranger. It solved the ultimate problem though of her needing a job and wanting to continue working with Robert. The best part about it was knowing that Anspaugh had genuinely noticed and appreciated all of the hard work she had been putting in. It was a job she had been given based on nothing but her own hard work and qualifications and thus would be the most savored moment of her career yet.
Inevitably Robert got around to asking how her interview with Cameron went, and Elizabeth laughed in response. Charles Cameron was yet another fan of her fathers and had jumped at the chance to interview her. He had been visiting family in London when he was sixteen and had the opportunity to see her father operate and fell in love with surgery. Robert saw the bemused look on her face and knew he was missing something.
"Charles Cameron was with his parents, visiting his father's cousin." Still nothing. "His cousin, who's a surgeon." Nope. Her eyes were laughing at him now.
"Robert, who is my godfather?"
"A man named Malcolm?"
"Malcolm, what?"
"Cameron... Oh! Malcolm Cameron, the Neurosurgeon. Are you saying that?"
"Yes! Charles Cameron is my godfather's baby cousin. I don't remember much of the visit, I was so little, but I do remember Charles's father. He and my Uncle Malcolm look enough alike to be brothers, and I thought he was my godfather at first. Ran right up to him, demanding a hug, and when he asked who I was, I screamed bloody murder. I had seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers recently and thought the pod people had come for my godparents."
"Oh, Lizzy," he managed while laughing, "that's terrible?" She was laughing as well, and he knew he was off the hook for teasing her.
"Yeah. I don't remember meeting Charles after that; I was too busy not letting my godfather out of my sights. But I was sitting on my Grandfather's shoulders during the surgery he observed, and my grandfather took great pride in having me explain it to him. Apparently, it's hard to forget a smart-arsed five-year-old with red curly hair that can give you a basic explanation of a Cardiothoracic procedure."
"Oh don't tell me, you had your own scrubs as well."
"As a matter of fact, yes." She was ver smug. "My grandmother made me a pair for Christmas that year."
It was at that moment that the door to the lounge opened, and Anspaugh walked in.
"Robert, would you excuse us, please."
"Sure. See you later, Lizzy." He smiled at her and was gone, whistling a tune as he walked out the door.
"I guess Robert has already told you the news," Anspaugh said as he took Robert's vacant seat.
"Yes, he did. Rather giddy about it as well."
"I know that you wanted the Trauma Fellowship and that I voted against you in that. But I do agree with Robert, you are a talented surgeon, and I would hate to see your hands tied by a Trauma Fellowship run out of an ER not yet equipped to handle a dedicated Trauma Surgeon."
It was a startling confession from Anspaugh, and Elizabeth had no response. She had been laboring under the impression that for all the hard work she had put in, she hadn't been noticed by anyone capable of making it worthwhile.
"A word of advice. You will be able to shape the Surgical Department into what you'd like it to be, and through Robert, shape the ER. If Trauma Surgery is a long term goal, then work to make the ER a Level One Trauma Center worthy of its own surgical staff. And don't let your relationship with Robert prevent you from doing that."
Elizabeth recoiled back at his statement, shocked that Anspaugh knew when neither she nor Robert had said anything.
"How did?"
"I didn't until you confirmed it just now." He interrupted her. "You're not the only one that listens to Shirley. And I might have placed a rather large bet on the matter at some point."
"Oh, really?" Elizabeth tilted her head, giving Anspaugh a look. Not quite believing the now-former Chief of staff would have gotten involved in the workplace betting pools.
"You two can make an outstanding team when you work together, don't forget that."
"Thanks. We like to think so." Like so many of Elizabeth's conversations with Donald, this had taken a turn for the unexpected. "Do you think I could use the phone in your office for a bit?"
"I'm guessing you'd like to call your father." Her smile was all the confirmation he needed. "Go ahead. Send him my best; I only wish I could have followed his example sooner."
Safely ensconced in Anspaugh's office, Elizabeth took a moment to breathe and try to process her day so far. Madness. She looked at her watch and decided she could probably still catch her father at work.
A little sweet talking later, and Elizabeth gotten her father's secretary to patch her through to the OR where he was about to close up on his last surgery of the day. Concerned at first about what could be so crucial that Elizabeth would call in the middle of a procedure, Charles Corday had taken a moment to process her news before responding with delight and pride. He ignored the collective groans of his colleagues and a comment or two along the lines of "even from America she makes us look bad" before questioning her about the new job. His delight was suppressed momentarily when she informed him that Robert had made Chief of Staff and Surgery. Elizabeth had yet to inform her father that she and Robert were dating and didn't feel that over the phone while he was operating was the best time. A page to the ER finally pulled her away, and she went downstairs to answer it.
Carol was waiting for her. It wasn't a consult; it was the Spanish Inquisition. Carol wanted to be the first to congratulate her on the new job, and it was delivered with a tone that made Elizabeth weary. She crossed her fingers and hoped that this was pregnancy hormones speaking and that Carol would eventually hear her out.
Carol was cross with her, and it was a combination of not telling her if Mark really had been crossing a line then leaving her to hear it from Shirley no less, and for not telling her about all the extra work she had taken on to help Anspaugh. Elizabeth's response to the former about not wanting to add more stress to Carol's life did not go over well, and her comments that the latter seemed trivial when compared to the amount of work she had as an intern made Carol look abashed. Before their conversation could go any further, they were interrupted by general well-wishers and the quickly circulating rumor that Kerry Weaver had just been made Chief of the ER. Naturally, the rumor went about because she had given notice to Carter to find a new apartment and dropped Lucy Knight as her mentee. Elizabeth took the opportunity to hightail it out of the ER. At the same time, all hell broke loose from the latest round of gossip, and Elizabeth ensconced herself in the relative safety of the surgical floor for the remainder of the day.
The end of the day came along relatively quickly, all things considering, and Robert and Elizabeth managed to escape to their favorite bar for a round of drinks. In this case, a round of drinks was a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck, accompanied by several charcuterie boards. Neither Max nor Jo had been able to meet them on such short notice, and instead, one of Robert's med school buddies from Mercy was able to meet them. Matt Williams has been in Robert's year at mead school, and while they had picked different disciples at different hospitals for their residences, they had remained close through the years. Matt was now a well-respected Pediatric Attending, a line of medicine that Robert held in high esteem. It took a special kind of person to work with sick children day in and day out, and Matt, with his warm-hearted nature, was perfectly suited for it. There was also the added benefit on Elizabeth's part of hearing all kinds of fun stories of Robert's med school days. Including that he got the nickname "Rocket" while in his third year.
"Matt, you've got to tell me how! I've been dying to know, and this tosser here refuses to tell me."
"Wait, you don't know? With the way he's talked about you, I thought for sure you'd have heard that story by now."
Robert glared at Matt. It was still a delicate topic for him amongst his friends, just how long he had been pinning after Elizabeth, and this was the second long-term friend he had introduced her to that brought that up.
"Well, Matt, I try not to give everything away all at once; I've got to keep her interested after all."
"Rob. Listen to me very carefully. She. Followed. You. To. Another. Country. If she's dating you after that, I'd say you'd have to work hard to fuck it up." This elicited more glaring from Robert, which Elizabeth noticed.
"Love, he's right. You've got my complete and undivided attention."
Robert couldn't control the serene loon that appeared on his face when she called him love. It was the first time she had referred to him as anything other than Dr. Romano, Rocket, or Robert. He signaled for Matt to tell the story, too busy smiling at his Lizzy.
It was towards the end of their surgery rotation their third year of med school, and their residents had decided the appropriate way to celebrate a successful rotation was to take them to a bar. With both residents having girlfriends, the girlfriends got to pick the bar. A piano bar. Several drinks in, and the group had decided that the man at the piano was mediocre at best. Robert being the one proclaiming loudly that the man was tone-deaf at best, and a five-year-old could play the piano better. So while the musician was on a break, Robert's resident made a bet with him, $200 cash if he could play and sing better than the musician hired for that night. Robert took the bet.
"She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine AM
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight
And I think it's gonna be a long long time
'Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone"
Robert softly sang the first two parts to her, trying not to draw attention to himself, all the while delighting in the look of awe that came over Elizabeth's face as he sang. She was mesmerized by his voice, and it showed plainly for all to see.
"I played "Rocket Man", and it went over so well the bar asked me to come back on Friday nights. They called me Rocket Man at first because of that, and I eventually got them to shorten it to Rocket. It stuck." He smiled at her waiting for a response. A kiss was what he got in return.
"And when were you planning on singing for me if I hadn't weaseled it out of Matt?"
"Lizzy, that just now wasn't singing. You'll have to wait till the time is right for the real deal."
Matt cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the intimate nature the conversation was taking, and he offered up his Amex to pay the tab in an effort to no longer be the third wheel.
After finishing off the last of their drinks, Elizabeth made it back to her flat an hour or so later. A pleasant buzz had overtaken her, and she could still feel Robert's good night kiss lingering on her lips.
And what a kiss.
The man was intoxicating to her, and she often found herself fantasizing about just where she would like to feel his lips upon her. Her neck. Her shoulders. Her breasts. Perhaps in a cold shower, which was clearly what she needed at the moment. Elizabeth turned on the light, dropped her keys on the counter and looked around her flat, the blinking red light of the answering machine illuminating a corner of it. Probably family calling with well wishes, there was no way her father could have kept the news of her promotion a secret. She poured herself a glass of water and walked over to the machine and hit play.
"You have four new messages. Message recorded at 10.23 am. 'Elizabeth, I've got fantastic news! You best stock up on scotch because my holiday time came through. I'm coming to Chicago!' ". Elizabeth didn't hear anything past the first message; it was truly the icing on her cake.
Andrew was coming to Chicago.
