Gah! It never ends. As I said in the author's notes in You've Got Mail: A Note to all current and future surgeons: when you remove a medical appliance from someone's body because they are rejecting it, remember to remove the stitches that were anchoring it in place as well. Seems fairly straight forward...

Anyway, hopefully I'm back (we've heard that before) and here's the next chapter of Double Take. I have a lot of the next chapter written already, and once I wrap up You've Got Mail, I'll be putting most of my effort into this story.

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Double Take

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Chapter 67

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Red poured Dick a double scotch and set it next to his patient. He had to feel bad for the guy. Not that all the details were there and not that Red thought that Kori would have moved on; he'd put money on the fact that she hadn't. But one thing Red did know was that Kori was trying to reach Dick and the letters were being intercepted by Babs, but Dick wasn't aware of that.

So for it to look like Kori had moved on, or if it were perceived that way to others, it had to be a slap to Dick's ego.

"Want to talk about it?"

Dick snorted. "What, your my friend now? That's what I have the Glenlivet for."

"Ouch. I'm your bartender then."

Dick downed the drink. "All right barkeep, then set me up again. I'm not driving, that's for sure." Red did another long pour.

"How long's your shift my good man?"

"You're in luck. I'm open all night."

Dick chuckled. Maybe Red wasn't bad company. He had been an attentive physician, not that there wasn't an ulterior motive, an angle that Dick hadn't bothered to work through quite yet. But Red had always been a bit friendly, eager for a golf game or night out, so this didn't seem to unusual for him. Dick had just stopped saying no to him so Red just seemed to keep coming around.

Dick looked at him. "Seriously, don't you ever work?"

"Sure, but one, it's summer and as a plastic surgeon, everyone has already had their work done, except for a random teacher or college student; and two, you're my priority patient. High profile. My reputation's on the line."

"How does this have anything to do with my hand injury?"

"Well, there is a connection, you just don't see it at the moment."

Dick furrowed his brow. "I haven't been drinking that much. You being cryptic confirms that you are a dog. In my current state of mind, I like it. You're right. You're the kind of friend I need." He lifted his glass. "Set yourself up one. Let's drink to friendship and then I'll show you where the really good Scotch is."

Red poured a shot in a Grehom glass. Dick cocked a brow at him. "Join me in a double or I won't show you where that good stuff is."

Red laughed and completed his pour and raised his glass. "'Here's to us. Who's like us?'"

Dick cocked his brow. "Ah, you're a Scot, Red? I see... 'Quite few and they're all dead!'"

They clinked glasses, "'More's the pity.'"

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Donna did not press, but Dianna did. Dianna knew Bruce well and had offered to intervene. Kori wouldn't admit it, but it was all wearing on her. She had lost weight and wasn't sleeping well, and much of the benefit she had received from being on Paradise Island was being negated by her time on the main land. It would soon be the time for Kori to get back for Karen and Vic's wedding anyway, but she was still reluctant, not wanting to face Richard and the inevitable until she had to.

And it wasn't just Richard that was on Kori's mind. She did think about Tamaran. Ph'yzzon's friendly gestures gave her pause; was going home an option? Was there anything left for her there? No. Tamaran was her past; her life was in the United States and her brief time in the international spotlight told her that there was no way that she wanted that. It would be wonderful to get back to the US and to be a private citizen, just a practitioner again, caring for patients and families and living a normal life.

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Kori came out of the shower to a flashing red light on her hotel suite's phone. Her chest tightened; could Richard have finally called? She found she was more shaken by the prospect that either it was him than if it wasn't. She was about to call the manor anyway to speak with Bruce...

Kori accessed voice mail and retrieved her message. It was Ph'yzzon. She knew she couldn't ignore him. He stated it was important and Kori immediately called Ph'yzzon back.

"Koriand'r, thank you for returning my call. I was concerned you would not." The General sounded relieved.

"Ph'yzzon, do you perceive me as being someone that would be that rude?"

"No, Prin- I mean, no Kori, it is just that when I brought up Tamaran the other day, you were adamant about staying away from our homeland."

"Well yes, I did say that, and I do apologize for my abrupt departure."

"You do not need to apologize. I was concerned that I had upset you."

"The situation does upset me, but in truth, my current residence is the Tamaranean Embassy in Washington. As such, it is technically Tamaranean soil."

"Well, yes, that is true. I thought better than to point that out last night."

"I appreciate that."

There was a pause before Ph' spoke again. "Kori, I would still like to meet to discuss some matters of a sensitive nature concerning Tamaran. Can we get together later this evening? We can have dinner brought to one of our suite's for privacy or arrange for another location if you would rather."

"Ph'yzzon, anything concerning Tamaran should be discussed with my Uncle Galfore directly. I do not feel comfortable discussing anything that would be labeled the sensitive in his stead."

"I appreciate that Princess, but I implore you, please hear me out. These matter should be discussed in person and not over the telephone or via videoconferencing. You are here and he is not. Please-"

"I am sorry, Ph'. I am not comfortable. Why don't you come to America and speak with Galfore there? Or he can come to see you."

"It cannot wait. Please, Kori."

"If it is urgent, perhaps you can accompany me to the United States on Ambassador Wayne's private jet."

"I appreciate that Kori, but I don't think that would be wise."

Kori let out a sigh. She wasn't going to be swayed. She was not sure if Ph' was using whatever 'information' to spend time with her. She wasn't up for it. And if it was something of an official nature, she now knew that public service, at least for Tamaran, was not something she wanted to pursue, even as Galfore's proxy.

Kori prayed for strength. "I am firm on this, Ph'. If you change your mind, the offer stands as far as the jet and I will be going to the US within a few days. You need to discuss Tamaran with Galfore, not me."

"Very well. Perhaps we can still have dinner together?" Ph' suggested.

Kori paused. Ph' persisted, "or lunch... tea?"

"Thank you for the invitation, Ph', but I must decline. I need to get ready to return to the United States and I have a number of things to do before Mr. Wayne will be sending his jet."

"I understand. Take care of yourself Koriand'r. I do hope our paths cross again. I enjoyed meeting you so very much yesterday."

"Thank you, Ph'yzzon. It was very nice meeting you and the next time you are in Washington to see Galfore, we will be sure talk then or perhaps have tea." Kori wanted to stress the least date-like meal of the day.

"I look forward to it."

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Alfred answered the door and opened it with a bow and a rare roll of the eyes, "Miss Moth, I see you found your way back to Wayne Manor." He had no problem with Richard throwing fairly impromptu parties, but there were certain people he wished were not on the guest list.

"Hmmpf", she said, and stuck her nose in the air, brushing by him. She came without her entourage, assuming she's get lucky. Looking around the mansion she began to call out, "Dickie-Poo, your Kitten has arrived!"

"Allow me to show you to the game room Miss Moth," Alfred offered. "Master Dick and all the guests are there already."

She waived her hand dismissively. "No need, Jeeves. I've played on that pool table before." She looked back at him and gave him a wink that disturbed the poor man greatly. "We weren't playing pool, of course."

Sometimes this job doesn't pay enough. He gave her a curt nod and fought the urge to immediately go shower.

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It was an odd party, really. People were trying to have fun, but mostly they were observing Dick. So few had seen him since the accident, and no one had spent any time with him except for Red and Vic. And the fact that Red was there at all was perplexing. Other than their professional relationship, the two men were hardly friends.

But there was food and alcohol and games and the group of coworkers loosened up quite a bit. Dick did his best to shake off Kitten every time she sat on his lap or draped herself on him, but she was relentless, and he was trying to use the subtle approach, an approach that was basically worthless with her. It was like watching a train wreck, Dick and Kitten again: it wasn't the first time the two had hooked up at a party of course, but no one would have thought that it would have come to this.

There were conversations between Vic and Karen and some of the other ER staff about whether there should be some sort of intervention to stop Dick before he did something really stupid, but it seemed that everyone was waiting for things to get to the point a critical mass before they'd get involved.

Dick was their friend, but if he was trying to mess up his life, they weren't sure how or if they could stop him.

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Kitten was on her way back to the game room when the phone rang and answered it. "Hello, Dickie-Poo's Party House."

"Hello? Uh, yes, is this the Wayne Residence please?"

"Well, d'uh. It's also Dickie-Poo's." Kitten. Why is she answering the phone?

"Oh, uh, yes. May I speak to Richard then, please?"

"Richard? Who's Richard? Oh, you mean Dickie-Poo? No, he's busy... wait is this, wait, what's your name again, you've been gone forever... oh Kori!" Kitten's voice was triumphant.

"Yes, Kitten, this is Kori. May I please speak with Richard?"

"Nah. He's busy."

Alfred had made it to Kitten's side, dismayed when he overhead the conversation. "Miss Moth, please hand me the phone."

Kitten waved him off. "Jeeves, I've got it."

"Miss Moth, I must insist, it is my function as butler to answer the phone at Wayne Manor."

Kitten handed the phone over while 'accidentally' holding down the disconnect button to end the call.

Alfred placed the phone to his ear, "Miss Kori?" He looked at the receiver and saw the word 'END', hit flash and got a dial tone again. "Miss Moth, what did you do?" She shrugged and gave him a smug smile and sauntered away.

Alfred spent the next few minutes trying to get Kori back on the phone with the assistance of the overseas operator. Unable to reestablish the connection, Alfred went to find Dick.

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"Alfred, what's going on?"

"Master Dick, please step into the hallway so we can speak privately?"

"Oh, Dickie-poo, tell him to leave us alone-"

"Miss Moth, please, I need to speak with Master Dick alone"

"Master Dick, it was Miss Anders on the phone asking for you. Unfortunately, Miss Moth answered and therefore intercepted the call and when I attempted to speak with Miss Anders, the line was disconnected, most definitely by Miss Moth. I am trying to reach her back, but have not been able to"

Dick nodded. She's calling now? "And she was asking for me?" he asked, surprised how happy he was at the prospect of her call.

"Yes. I am attempting to return her call. Shall I find you when I make a connection?"

"Yes, Alfred."

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"Everyone OUT!"

"Dickie-poo, how wonderful, we can be alone at last!" Kitten exclaimed.

"Kitten, you are delusional," Karen told her.

"Dick, tell her," Kitten whined.

Dick shook with anger. He really wanted to hit someone and Kitten looked like a great target, but of course that wasn't about to happen.

"I said everyone out, Kitten. Actually, you should be first to go."

"What did I do?"

"What did you do? You're kidding right? You answered the phone in my father's home and hung up on the caller like a drunk teenager!"

"Oh, here we go – this is about Kori! You told me you guys broke up! You lied to me. You just wanted to get into my pants, didn't you. And then she called when I was here and you got caught! Well, I'm no homewrecker!"

"No, Kitten, you're delusional."

"So you're saying you didn't have this party to get me to come over tonight?"

"Yes Kitten, I'm saying I didn't have this party to get you to come over. Why would it be any harder than it ever was before?"

"You asshole! And here I was, thinking I might offer some pity sex or something since that stuck up red head princess left you high and dry!"

"GET OUT!"

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"Everyone's out, man," Vic said when he found Dick with his shirt off, hitting a heavy bag with his left hand in his gym.

Dick grunted. "Not everyone. You're still here."

Vic chuckled. "Yup, and so is Red. He says he's too drunk to drive."

Punch. "What's your excuse?" Punch. "I told everyone to leave." Punch. "Could I be any more clear?" Punch.

Dick stopped to look at him.

"I'm using my bestfriend card." Vic said, his smiling unwavering.

Dick cocked an eyebrow. Through the years one had to beat the sense into the other a number of times. He knew it was one of those times. He wasn't sure if it was going to be a literal or figurative beating this time.

"What is going through that head of yours?"

"Concerning...?"

"Really, Dick. Are you being coy with me?"

"Not in the mood Vic."

"Tough." He edged closer to him, looming over at him at his full height of 6'3". "What is going with you and Kori? What are you going to do?"

"She's made her choice."

"Doubt that."

Dick took his left hand and rubbed his face. He let out a sigh. "When she called tonight, or when I found out she had called, all I wanted to do was to talk to her, make sure she was okay, make sure she was coming back to me. I completely forgot about leaving Mom's ring here, or leaving, or not being in touch..."

Vic waited before commenting. He wasn't sure if Dick was going to continue or not. "What does that tell you?"

Dick shrugged.

"I'll tell you what it means: you miss her, man. You two are meant for each other."

Dick snorted. "She's already seeing someone else."

"What are you talking about?" Vic asked.

"There was a thing in the paper..."

"So what? There was a thing between you and Babs in a car and then in the ER and whatever was gonna happen with Kitten tonite-"

Vic almost didn't block Dick's left hook, but managed to get his right hand up in time before Dick's fist connected with Vic's jaw. Vic's hand was big enough and he was stronger, so he could simply hold onto Dick's hand and stare him down.

"Not smart." Vic growled. Vic pushed Dick away by his hand and added his other hand to Dick's chest for good measure, and Dick landed on his back on the floor.

Dick was stunned, more at his attempt to hit Vic than Vic knocking him on the floor. He suddenly felt lost, the reality of the situation hitting him: Kori had finally reached out, and he wasn't able to respond. He had already be angry, now he almost wanted to cry.

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To be continued...

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Please review.

Traditional Scottish Toast

Here's to us.

Who's like us?'

Quite few and they're all dead!

More's the pity.

(Although the Scottish Surname for Red is Reed)