Story: The Nobel Laureate
Chapter 13
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Robert promised he'd help Abbey fight off Kyle Nelson; Jed learned he may have to split the Nobel Prize in Economics
Summary: The hospital declares Abbey's innocence in Bill Niederlander's surgical complications; Jed and Abbey are off to watch Ellie's soccer game and Liz's cheerleading, but everything doesn't go according to plan
Jed wrinkled his forehead as he fought to pronounce every daunting syllable of the unfamiliar words that crowded his book. It wouldn't be difficult, he had told himself. An accomplished scholar, self-motivated and disciplined, he wondered how hard could it possibly be to learn Swedish in two months?
He scoffed at that question now because he now realized the Scandinavian languages, to an outsider, were as intricately complicated as they were beautiful. He had never struggled with a language the way he did this one. When he learned Latin, he was a boy and it was part of the school curriculum. Greek came easy to him, for he knew that once he had mastered it, he could read Plato and Aristotle the way they were meant to be read. Though he'd hardly call himself flawlessly fluent, he had even dabbled with Italian and French because they happened to be Abbey's favorites.
But there was something about Swedish that mesmerized him, something that captivated his attention for hours every time he attempted to learn. He hadn't yet conquered the vocabulary or the grammar, but he was close enough to string words together with a little preparation.
And to prove it, he leapt to his feet and rushed to the foyer as soon as he heard Abbey open the front door. "God dag, min skön litten cupcake."
She looked at him curiously. "Okay, I caught 'cupcake.' What was the rest?"
"I said 'good morning, my beautiful little cupcake.'" His proud smile made her laugh.
"Oh, well, that is nice, except I'm pretty sure 'dag' means 'day.'"
"It does not," he replied incredulously. "Since when do you speak Swedish?"
"I know a word or two." She followed as Jed turned to retrieve his book.
"Aha!" He opened to an appropriate passage, then handed it to her. "It's right there."
"I stand corrected," Abbey conceded.
"Don't tell me about Swedish. Six weeks I've spent on this."
"You're right, what was I thinking questioning you? I mean, after six weeks..."
Jed narrowed his twinkling eyes. "You're making fun of me." Unable to deny her good-natured ribbing, Abbey nodded. "That's okay, you can make fun. Just remember, when we're in Stockholm and you can't even order breakfast, you're going to be at my mercy."
"I trust you'll order what I want."
"What would be the fun in that?"
She approached him as she slipped her arms out of her coat. "Jed?" Her voice held a serious tone and just when her eyes locked into his, she said, "As far as the hospital is concerned, Bill Niederlander's death was the result of post-op complications that I couldn't have prevented."
The room fell silent for the next several seconds until Jed let out an overwhelming sigh of relief. He took her by the elbow and twirled her into his embrace. With his hands gripping her waist, he picked her up. "I knew it! I told you from the start you weren't to blame for this!"
"I know." Abbey was so amused by his excitement, she could barely get the words out. "But it feels really good to have to the hospital say it too."
He spun her around briefly, stopping when they heard Lizzie shouting from upstairs.
"MOM!"
"I've been home 30 seconds," Abbey mumbled before she shouted back, "I'll be up in a minute!"
Jed let her down. "If you're too tired to go today, I'll talk to the girls."
"No way!" she replied without hesitation. Today, as hectic as it would be, was important. Regardless of how exhausted she was after working an overnight shift, she'd never forgive herself if she missed Ellie's soccer game or Lizzie cheering at her very first basketball game. "I just had my fifth cup of coffee and I'm going strong. As soon as I help Lizzie with her hair, I'll be ready to go!"
"All right, well, hurry up then. We have to leave in exactly fifteen minutes."
"All I need is ten."
He watched as she bounced up the stairs. She stumbled on the fourth step, her legs betraying the energetic facade, but calling her bluff would have done no good. Abbey was determined to attend the girls' activities. So instead of stopping her, Jed headed to the kitchen to pour her another cup of coffee.
Abbey sat on Liz's bed just behind her teenage daughter. In the corner, Ellie laid flat on her tummy while she and Zoey cut thin rectangular pieces of green and red construction paper.
"I want it to be really wavy. Curly even!" Liz handed Abbey a bottle of hair spritz.
"I'll do my best, but, Sweetheart, you don't have curly hair."
"I know. That's why I want a perm."
"You don't need a perm."
"I really want one. Please think about it. I'd love to get it done before we go to Sweden. Curly hair will look great with the purple dress I want to wear to the awards ceremony!"
Abbey turned Liz's head to the side so she could face her. "I just spent a fortune on the black dress you said you wanted for the awards ceremony."
"I changed my mind. I think the purple one I already have is better."
"The purple one is faded and it's too cold outside for spaghetti straps."
"You're wearing a strapless dress. Anyway, I'll wear a coat over it."
"Lizzie, the black dress is beautiful on you. Not to mention it was altered to fit you. I can't take it back."
"Dad said it was okay, as long as I was happy." Liz turned back around.
"You talked to your father?"
"You were at work, so I tried them both on for him and he said the black one didn't look right. He likes the purple one better too."
Abbey scrunched Liz's ponytail a few times to give her some extra waves, then took the edge of the teasing comb to pull down a few locks of hair from the side. "These are too long. I'm going to have to cut them if you want them curled."
"Mommy, will you cut my hair too?" Ellie asked as she brought her the scissors.
"You don't need your hair cut," Abbey replied, snipping a few strands of Liz's hair.
"But I want the sides to fall down by my face just like Lizzie's."
"Ellie, your ponytail looks great just the way it is."
"Please?"
"I really don't have time right now. You're going to be late for your soccer game if I don't get changed."
"Yeah, and they still have to drop me off first, El," Liz added. "By the way, Mom, make sure you're not late. If you're late, you'll miss the first stunt and that's the one I've been working hardest on."
"We won't be late, but why do we have to drop you off first?"
"Because Ellie's soccer game runs till 2 and I have to be at the school by 1:30. It's on the schedule."
The schedule. It was attached to the fridge and color-coded for each child's activities. Jed updated it frequently, but Abbey had been so caught up in her recent troubles at the hospital, she had neglected to check it in over a week.
"You're going to miss your sister's game?" she asked.
"I can't help it. I explained it to Ellie and she's cool."
"It's okay," Ellie confirmed. "Lizzie came to the last one."
Abbey shrugged. "All right. I'm going to go change."
"Mom?" Liz called out to her once more.
"Yeah?"
"You have to be on time. My first stunt is a twist at the top of the pyramid and it's the very first thing I do. It happens right before the music starts. I want you to see it so you can tell me if I'm bending my leg or if I'm getting enough height compared to the girls behind me."
"We'll be there."
Abbey left Liz's room and went to her own. Kicking off her shoes as she stripped out of her scrubs, she grabbed a pair of faded blue jeans and a pink V-neck sweater from her drawer.
"Hey." Jed walked in carrying a mug of steamy coffee.
"Thanks." Abbey placed it on the nightstand, then pulled the sweater over her head. "Did you tell Lizzie she could wear her purple dress in Sweden?"
"Yeah. She really likes it."
"First of all, it's not a winter dress. Secondly, it's old and faded."
"She can wear a jacket. And it didn't look old and faded to me. She looked lovely in it."
"Jed..."
"Abbey, what's the problem? What difference does it make which dress she wears?"
"We spent eight hours shopping for the black dress. I had it altered to fit her body. I'd just appreciate if you'd talk to me about things like this before you tell her she can just throw it in the back of her closet and never wear it."
"That's not what I told her. She asked me which one I liked better and I agreed the purple one was nicer. I didn't talk to you because you were at work at the time."
"I'm sure I came home that night."
"Actually, you came home the next morning." He grinned at her, hoping to lighten her mood.
It didn't work. "I'm not playing around."
"Neither am I, Abbey. If you're going to be as wrapped up in work as you have been for the past three weeks, you're going to have to let me handle some of these things."
"The past three weeks have been hell for me."
"I know that. But life in this house didn't stop. The girls still had problems. They still needed one of us for advice and guidance." When Abbey plopped down on the bed, he joined her. "I had no idea this would bother you so much."
"Well, it does. It's not just the dress. It's the hospital. It's Kyle Nelson. It's everything. When I found out today that I wasn't responsible for what happened to Bill Niederlander, do you have any idea how relieved I was? Jed, I was so scared that I could have killed a patient."
"It's over now."
"But it isn't. For years, I've been dividing my attention between the hospital and my family and everyone's getting shortchanged. You, the girls, my patients. I was up late for a whole week sewing the girls' Halloween costumes. Then, I went into surgery the next day after already working a ten-hour shift. Kyle wasn't totally wrong. I didn't make a mistake, thank God, but I could have. This balancing act is getting harder every day."
"You can take a breath, Abbey. The Niederlander case is behind you and the hospital told you what I've known all along. You didn't mess up. You did all you could to save the man's life. Give yourself some credit." Jed dropped to the floor, a pair of socks in his hand as he prepared to slide them onto her feet. "As soon as we get home, I'll draw you a hot bubble bath and give you a full-body massage. How does that sound?"
"Heavenly." Abbey tipped her head back at the thought of letting the stress pour out of her with a night of rest and relaxation.
"Mom, Dad, are you ready?" Lizzie bellowed from the hall.
"In here!" Jed answered.
Ellie trailed behind her, her small frame shielding a toddling Zoey who emerged from her side to greet her parents. "Hi!"
Zoey's natural red highlights blended unevenly into her wispy strawberry blonde locks, probably because of the way her hair was tied into awkward little pigtails. They looked disheveled. Messy. Jed and Abbey glanced at their youngest daughter, then turned their attention to the other two, their suspicion piqued by the uncomfortable stares they received in response.
Jed walked behind Zoey and held out the two sections of hair. "Look, Honey, it's the Wendy's girl."
"I think she looks good," Liz said.
"Why did you do that to her?" Abbey untangled the silver rubber bands that had been carelessly twisted around the pigtails.
"What makes you think I did it?"
"Because it's too tight to be Ellie's work." As Zoey's thin tresses fell to her shoulders, a horrified Abbey ran her fingers through the layered mess. Zoey's sides were cut up to her ear in disorganized, jagged edges. "What did you do?"
Liz recognized that tone. Before Abbey could say another word, she defended herself. "All I did was put it up."
"Who cut it?"
"It wasn't me! You always accuse me."
"I'm not accusing you. I'm asking you."
"It wasn't Lizzie." Ellie said in a low whisper.
"Ellie did it!" Zoey proudly informed her mother, pointing to the eight-year-old who stood silently across from her.
"Zoey felt left out," Ellie replied.
It was then that Abbey noticed the thin curls that sprinkled out of Ellie's ponytail. "Did you also cut your own hair?"
Ellie looked at Liz who reluctantly interjected. "No, I cut Ellie's hair. She wanted it to look like mine, so I cut it for her."
"And after we left Lizzie's room, Zoey asked me to cut hers so she could look like me and Liz." Ellie stared at her shoes shuffling against the hardwood floor. "But I can't cut as good as Lizzie can."
Abbey straightened out the knots and pulled on the butchered sides of Zoey's hair. "Both of you know better. We don't have time to get into it now. We'll talk about it when we get home. In the meantime, go get me a headband, Ellie." After her middle daughter left, Abbey looked up to see Liz standing out of the way with her arms folded over her chest. "I wasn't accusing you."
She had never felt so disconnected from Elizabeth. Lizzie was her baby doll from the day she was born. So sweet and innocent, the little girl may have clung to her father, but it was her mother who stayed home with her and cared for her every day for the first three years of her life.
Mother and daughter had developed a special bond in that time, one that changed slightly when Abbey started med school. It changed even more when she began residency. And all these years later, that bond was hardly recognizable. She had hoped that when Liz volunteered at the hospital over the summer, they'd re-establish their connection, but somehow, the time spent together emphasized the distance between them.
It was clear that Liz was growing resentful. Initially, Abbey excused it as the behavior of a typical teenager. She'd outgrow it, she thought. But deep down, she secretly wondered if she'd ever reclaim the relationship she once shared with that sweet little girl.
"Are you ready to go?" Liz asked. "I don't want to be late."
Abbey slid a black headband over Zoey's hair and straightened out the frizzy strands with her fingers before standing up. "I'm ready."
That afternoon, Ellie scored two goals for her soccer team. Each time she had control of the ball, Jed launched himself out of his seat, cheering her towards the goal posts. His screaming was so loud, his excitement so intense that it once provoked Zoey right off the stands, forcing Abbey to chase after her when the toddler held out her hand to her big sister and began her descent down the steps while repeatedly chanting Ellie's name.
"I wanna pway too!" the two year old called out as she came dangerously close to losing her balance and tumbling down the stairs.
"ZOEY! Stop walking this instant!" Abbey grabbed her by the arm and picked her up.
"I wanna pay with Ellie!"
"I know you do, but you can't play with her right now. We have to watch her from the stands."
"Is she okay?" Jed asked when they approached him.
"Yeah. She wants to play too."
"Hey, Zo, I'll teach you how to play soccer later. In the meantime, look..." he took Zoey from Abbey's arms and pointed to the field. "Ellie's about to score another goal."
Physically drained, Abbey rubbed her eyes to clear the cobwebs that clouded her view. "She's doing pretty good out there."
"Did we have any doubts?" He looked at her with a grin that immediately faded when he saw the tired expression on her face. "You okay? We can go home if..."
"No, we can't. I want to see Ellie win this game and I can't wait to see Lizzie's routine. We can't go home."
Later, the family rushed to the high school gymnasium to watch Liz cheer for the girl's basketball team. Every girl on the squad looked spectacular in the red, white, and blue uniforms, but Jed and Abbey's eyes scanned the others in search of their daughter.
The chestnut-haired freshman stood in front of her teammates, entertaining them with jokes or stories that were making them laugh hysterically. She was so engrossed in conversation that she didn't even realize her parents had walked in until Zoey called out to her.
"HI IZZIE!" she yelled when they walked past the cheerleaders on the way to the bleachers.
Liz turned to wave to her, then gave her parents a thumbs-up and a smile so wide, it brightened her entire face. She mouthed the words, "The first stunt" to remind them to watch for her before she took her place among the other students.
Throughout the game, Abbey snapped photos of her daughter leaping into the air and cheering for the home team. "She inherited those lungs from you, you know," she told Jed.
"I'm proud of that fact," he returned appreciatively.
"She's great, isn't she?"
The real show would come at half-time when the cheerleaders would take the floor. A three-minute dance routine that had been worked and reworked and practiced to the point of exhaustion had finally come together. Abbey knew how important the first stunt was to Liz. She had talked about nothing else all day. So when her pager went off with six minutes on the clock, she contemplated ignoring it, but the possibilities gnawed at her until she couldn't concentrate on anything else.
One of her patients was teetering on the brink of death and if the on-call doctor needed her consultation, she had to give it. "Jed, I have to take this call."
"You're kidding. Not now, Abbey."
"There's a pay phone right outside."
"It can wait."
"No, it can't. It's the Johnson case. This one's a matter of life and death."
"They all are. There's less than six minutes on the clock."
"Which actually means ten minutes. There are going to be a bunch of fouls just like there have been all afternoon. This might not be able to wait that long." She hated leaving, even for a second, but she vowed to keep the call short, convincing herself she'd be back in plenty of time. "I'm not going to miss it. I promise."
She ran down the bleachers and raced towards the doors so fast that she nearly slipped across the floor. Disappointed, Liz turned to her father for answers. He clapped louder to cheer her up, but she just shook her head in response.
The page had been an error, only soaking up four minutes of Abbey's time. Unfortunately though, by the time she made it back to the gym, the music had just started and Liz's first stunt was over.
"Well?" Jed asked.
"Wrong page. They wanted Dr. Callahan."
She took a seat next to her husband, remorsefully lowering her head when he said, "She'll understand."
It wasn't true and they both knew it.
"I'm sorry." Abbey's apology was met with a cold stare in the locker room afterwards.
"It's fine," Liz answered, an obvious lie to avoid a discussion.
"I saw the entire routine. The only thing I missed was that one stunt."
"I said I'm fine."
"I know what you said, but you're not fine."
"It was just one stunt?" She seemed more stung than angry. "It was the one stunt I had been practicing for weeks! It was the ONLY thing I wanted you to see!"
Abbey reached out a hand to her. "Lizzie, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There were five and a half minutes left on the clock. I assumed that meant more like ten with all the stops. I misjudged it, I'm sorry. I never should have taken the call. The code made me think it was about a patient I've been monitoring for days. This weekend is critical for him."
"It sucks that he's so sick, but why do your patients always come first?"
"They don't."
Liz stepped back, away from her mother. "Cheerleading isn't like anything else. I can't always see if I'm doing everything right or if I'm jumping high enough. And the coach is too busy watching everyone else. That's why I wanted you."
"I know I let you down."
"You know what other mothers do? They show up to every single practice so they can coach their girls, tell them what they're doing wrong and how to do it better. I'm the only one with no one in the stands rooting for me to do it better."
"Your father comes to watch you practice whenever he can."
"He's been so busy with Zoey and Ellie he hasn't been here in weeks. And when was the last time you came to one of my cheerleading practices?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to. I come to all of your events, Liz. I don't make it to the practices, but I've never missed a ballet recital or a basketball game or anything remotely important."
"To YOU, the practices aren't important."
"That's not what I meant. I didn't even know people go to cheerleading practices."
"They do."
"I would too, if I could. But because I work such crazy hours, I have to depend on your father for those kinds of things."
"When did he become a single parent? He has to work too."
"Is that what you're pissed off about? The practices?"
"I accepted it with the practices. I never complain because I know you're busy and all, but then you can't even sit through a whole game?"
She started to walk away, but Abbey grabbed her arm. "I'll see the stunt at your next game. I'll be there early and I won't move. I swear."
Liz shrugged out of her hold. "I wanted it to be perfect by the next game! I wanted your opinion so I could fix it, just like the other girls will. Their mothers were here and they stayed the whole time..."
Already riddled with the guilt of her own inadequacies, Abbey cut her off. "I haven't slept in 30 hours and I'm here. What does that tell you?"
"That you'd sacrifice your sleep for me, but you'd never sacrifice a call from the hospital," Liz shot back louder than Abbey expected.
"If I sacrifice calls from the hospital, people could die, Elizabeth."
"I just wish you had a normal job! Other mothers care about this. All you care about is how I'm doing in my classes and whether or not I have all the electrons in their proper orbitals. You don't give a damn about anything else that I think is fun!"
"Would you lower your voice?" Abbey snapped. "I'm giving you some space because I know this is my fault, but I'd prefer we not stand here and continue this."
"Then you should have believed me when I said I was fine." Liz brushed by her as she stormed out of the locker room.
TBC