Chapter 11 – You're Giving Me A Million Reasons

You're giving me a million reasons to let you go
You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show

(Million Reasons - Lady Gaga)

Naomi had been back in the hospital for less than five minutes and already she was sick of the sympathetic smiles and uncomfortable glances that were following her around the ER. She had no doubt that her fiancé's scene at Andy's funeral had been replayed and dissected in great detail by all those in attendance and although she'd tried to ignore it, she knew that there was a small article in the gossip columns. You didn't get to marry into one of Chicago's most prominent families without your share of headlines and Naomi feared there would be a few more headlines coming her way.
"Hey, sweetie," April said holding a coffee out towards her friend which Naomi took gratefully. Sleep had been hard to come by since Kelly turned up at her door step and even curling up in his arms didn't help much. She suspected that Kelly wasn't sleeping either, although he made a huge show of pretending, probably to encourage Naomi to close her eyes and trust him to protect her, "Welcome back."

Naomi nodded, joining her friend at the Nurse's Station where Maggie was organising patient files.

"Morning Maggs," she managed a smile as the caffeine hit her system and Maggie returned with her brilliant cheeriness.
"There you are, angel!" She dropped the pile of files and a clipboard in front of Naomi, "You've got a busy one today."
Naomi noticed that her morning rounds included pre and post-op patients and knew that the charge Nurse had scrambled together as many cases as she could to keep Naomi busy. She was grateful for the distraction, mouthing silently "Thank you…"

Maggie nodded and then tried to subtly chastise the interns whispering over the paper on the other side of the nurse's station.
Naomi had to crack a smile as she and April made their way towards their first patient, "It's so nice to see that Chicago journalists have nothing to report on but my failure of a love life."

"Was it really that bad?"

She scoffed, "I spent an hour hiding in my dad's office with a bottle of tequila,"
"Oh wow, tequila bad?" April and Naomi would famously crack out the tequila when their relationships became tragic, the age of the tequila usually dictated the severity of the problem.

"Which is ironic because I was pissed at my drunken fiancé…"

"How are you holding up, Doctor Darden?" An attending asked as she reached the ward,

Naomi fought her eyes, although the rolling was now a reflex to that question, "I'm doing okay thank you."

They didn't break their stride as three interns, two nurses and the Head of Ortho all asked Naomi how she was and by the time Naomi and April had finished their rounds, every doctor, orderly and clerk in the hospital had checked on her. She dropped the pile of patient files loudly drawing attention, "Okay, just stop please," she addressed the crowd of whispering doctors with a taint of mild irritation in her voice, "Yes, my brother died and yes, it is awfully sad but I am here to work. I appreciate all of your concern but really I am okay. Please stop asking me if I'm okay, or how I'm holding up or looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I will grieve in my own time, not on the clock."

April raised her eyebrows at Naomi, "When did you start performing monologues?"

"Shut up…" She turned to find Matt staring at her with a similarly impressed expression.

"Are you okay?"

"You're lucky I love you." She pecked his cheek as she walked passed, gesturing him to follow her into the resident's lounge.

"How are you holding up?"

Naomi glared in response, "Don't push your luck."

"I got your message," Matt held up his phone,
She shrugged, "I need your help moving my stuff…"

"Last few boxes into Harrisons?"

"Out of Harrisons," she corrected, settling on one of the sofas and preparing herself for the flurry of questions.

Xxx

Armed with a roll of packing tape and determination, Naomi let herself into Harrison's apartment and silently thanked the schedule that kept her from unpacking the boxes she'd moved over to her new home, "We've got two hours before Harrison gets back from the office…"

"Are you sure about this, Nomes?"

Naomi was already throwing things back into boxes and taping them up, while Matt stood in the hallway nervously, "Those in the living room are ready to go… Are you trying to talk me out of this?"

"Well no… but – you're grieving… are you sure this is the right decision?" Matt picked up some tape and started sealing the boxes that she pointed at.
Laughing, Naomi pulled some coats out of the hallway closet and laid them on top of a sealed box, "If there is one thing I can do for my brother, it's not make this asshole a part of our family."

"Fair enough; I'll start driving all these over."

Naomi was halfway up the stairs with an empty box, ready to pack her wardrobe, "You're my hero, Matt."

Two hours and three trips later, Naomi had packed all her boxes and was waiting on Matt to come back from her house for the final load. She perched at the kitchen island with a glass of wine and starting detangling Harrison's keys from her own. Silently she waited for her fiancé to return home although, secretly she was hoping that Matt would get back first and she could avoid the whole debacle. However, as she heard the key turn in the lock she knew that her luck wouldn't have it any other way.

"Naomi?" She didn't move as she heard Harrison walk through the house, draining the last of her wine, "Oh my god… you're here!"

She didn't say anything just slowly rubbing her hands against each other as he came into the kitchen.
"You unpacked your boxes? Oh thank god, I was getting worried… we've got the meeting with the caterer tomorrow and…"

"Not quite, Harrison." She pushed herself off the island stool as she heard Matt's truck pull up outside the house.

"Where are you going?" Harrison took a look at the key on the counter top and for a moment, as the panic flashed across his eyes, Naomi wondered if she was doing the right thing, "The wedding is in two weeks; it's going to be the event of the season… you can't…"

"I guess it's just going to have to be the 'Event of the Season' without me," Harrison spluttered as Naomi spoke deliberately, twisting the ring off her finger.
"But… you can't…."

She shook her head, "Harrison, if you really think that I was going to marry you after the stunt that you pulled at Andy's funeral… you're only kidding yourself,"
He grabbed her hand, "Naomi, I'm sorry… it was just… he was rubbing my face in it…and… this is about him, isn't it?" She cringed as the doorbell rang through the house, "That's him now isn't it?"

A chuckle escaped her lips, "You really don't get it, do you? Kelly was never a threat to our relationship; you created a problem where the wasn't one… You made me turn my back on my family and I may have forgiven you for that. But you disrespected the memory of my brother, who gave his life for the city of Chicago and for that… There is no forgiveness for that." Quickly, she opened the door to let Matt in, muttering, "There's just two boxes left in the bedroom… give me a minute to sort this?" He nodded, glancing towards Harrison, who was rustling the ice on the bar cart and reaching for the single malt.

"Naomi, I promise… I will make it up to you… I'll…" She reached out for the glass and with a flourish extracted it from his clutches.

"This has caused enough trouble for you, don't you think?"

"Please, Naomi… I'm begging you… Don't do this, don't give up on us…" She could see his brain working overtime for a reason for her to stay.

Shaking her head, she delicately removed the ring from her finger and placed it on the marble work top trying not to smirk at the satisfying clatter that it made, "Harrison, stop embarrassing yourself. It's done. I've made the calls. We're through…"

Hearing Matt behind her, she turned on her heel and followed him out the apartment to his truck although they were both aware of Harrison close on their tails.

"You okay, Nomes?" Matt asked, closing the back of his truck and watching her rub the empty space on her finger.

"Please just take me home…"

Harrison banged on the window as Matt started the truck, "You're going to regret this, Naomi."

She smiled for the first time in weeks, "You know what, Harrison? I don't think I am."

A.N

Hello my darlings,

I promise I have not forgotten about you. I'm so sorry that this chapter is so late and so short – I had a surprise visit from my parents last weekend and I've had to prepare for a couple of job interviews so the last week got away from me. I'm working on the next two chapters as you read this and I will try to get them up ASAP as an apology for being late on this one. Chapter 12 is just about ready to go, so you may get lucky and get it by the end of the day.

There's been a couple of hints to the next big thing that's going to happen in the life of Naomi – let me know if you've figured it out yet! Trust me, it's going to change everything and I promise, I won't disappear for two years again. Naomi has wormed her way into my heart and I intend to see her story through to the end.

In other news, it's my birthday tomorrow and I'm feeling very old. Please make my day and leave your feedback; I always appreciate the reviews.

All my love,

C.I.

xxx