Chapter 14 – Rocky Road

As she left the hospital, she was very tired, but anxious to get home, hoping Romano had called. There was an ornate arrangement of flowers waiting for her just outside her apartment door and she whisked it inside. After searching for several minutes, she was unable to find a card and realized it must have fallen out in the delivery van. A little disappointed, she changed her clothes, poured herself a glass of wine, and decided to call him to thank him for the flowers.

She thought she was going to get his voicemail when he answered on the forth ring. "Romano!" He said brusquely.

"Well, hello to you too." She replied.

"Grace, is that you?"

"Uh, yeah. It only took one day for you to forget the sound of my voice."

"Sorry, I'm kind of in the middle of something. I'll have to call you back." and without time to respond, the phone call ended abruptly.

She was left holding the phone in disbelief, and confused at his reaction. Maybe he had not sent the flowers, maybe they weren't even meant for her at all and had been delivered to the wrong apartment. She walked over to them, took a deep breath to inhale their sweet bouquet and slowly sipped her wine.

Trying to get her mind off the odd phone call, she watched tv for a while, but it really didn't hold her attention. She paced the floor of her apartment and walked over to the window which looked out over the Chicago River. She had always felt grounded living somewhere where she could see the water. It usually helped to make her feel at peace with whatever life's stresses had thrown at her. However on this night, she felt anxious and apprehensive and began to question her instincts.

After a restless night of sleep, she woke early. With two days off, she had hoped to spend some of her free time with Romano, but she realized her plans were now up in the air. She moped around her apartment, hoping he would call or stop by. Chicago had been hit with a new wave of brutally cold weather, or she would have gone for a long walk to clear her head. Feeling cooped up only served to make her more agitated, with way too much time to think. By noon of the second day, she was driving herself crazy, wondering if she had made a monumental mistake and chastised herself for giving into temptation with the Chief of Staff.

Finally back at work, she ran into Romano when he came down to help with a trauma in the ER. She merely glanced in his direction as she assisted Chuny and Weaver who were working on a young man, who had been injured in a head on collision. Romano joined the trauma, focusing intently as he always did when he worked, until they got the patient stabilized. He then told Grace to help bring the boy up to the OR.

"You can't take my nurse, Robert. Call for an orderly, we have another trauma coming in." Weaver barked.

"If he codes on the elevator I need someone who can do more than sweep the floor, Kerry."

"Fine, then take Malik. We need Grace for the next trauma, and she's got more experience."

"Grace, bring the patient to the elevator." He ordered, pulling rank as he glared at Weaver. Grace looked up at her, shrugged and did as she was told. Once inside the elevator, she busied herself with the patient, hoping the ride would be quick and painless.

"I was going to call…" He began.

"It's fine." She replied, keeping her eyes on the patient. She couldn't bring herself to look at him for fear she would not be able to keep her emotions in check.

"It's not what you think."

She still refused to look up at him, choosing instead to busy herself writing the patient's vital signs on the chart.

"Whatever, you got what you wanted. I thought I was smarter than that, but I guess I'm always going to be a bad judge of character where men are concerned. At least now I'm clear on what this was really all about." She trailed off as the elevator doors opened. She passed the patient off to Shirley, and left quickly knowing Romano would be tied up for some time in the OR.

Romano, now pissed off and frustrated, worked quickly to save the patient. He was hoping to finish in time to get back downstairs to explain to Grace why he hadn't called her back.

As Grace's shift neared an end, she kept looking up at the clock. Jerry was talking to Luka about advice on buying a new car and trying to kill time, Grace struck up a conversation with them. "I hear you drive a pretty hot car, Luka."

"Yeah, I finally decided to buy myself a Christmas present I could really enjoy. My new toy makes up for having to deal with some of the bullshit around this place."

"You call that a toy?" She smiled.

Grace heard Romano coming down the hallway, yelling at an orderly who'd inadvertently gotten in his way. Hurt and angry, she decided to get back at him by flirting with Luka. She turned on the charm, stared into his eyes and began laughing and touching his arm, just as Romano was approaching. She knew Luka was fond of her and after the big Christmas Eve kiss, she didn't think he would need too much encouragement.

"So, Luka. What does a girl have to do to get on your Christmas list?" She said raising her left eyebrow at him.

He laughed and leaned in a bit closer, looking deeply into her eyes. "You should let me take you for a drive sometime. I can show you what a real adrenaline rush it can be." He said cockily.

"Maybe…if you agree to let me drive. I'm off in ten minutes, why don't we take it for a spin." She said, kicking things into high gear.

"Hey greencard. You're behind on your charts." Romano snapped.

"I'm coming in tomorrow to finish them."

"Wrong answer. I need them by the end of the day."

"But yesterday you said…"

"Well I'm telling you I need them now. Did anyone bother to verify that there really are medical schools in Croatia?" Romano muttered as he walked away.

"I'm sorry, Grace. I guess we'll have to take a test drive another day." He said and then muttered some profanity in Croatian.

"I'm sorry too, but I'll take a raincheck." She returned his smile, but was genuinely sorry for being the reason Luka was being forced to work a double shift, to finish his charts.

"Hey Grace. Why don't you join us? We're heading over to Magoo's." Jerry offered. Grace agreed and as she went into the lounge to get her coat, Romano followed her.

"Not so fast, Jezebel."

"You're really unbelievable." She said, turning to leave, but he stepped in front of her, blocking the door. "I have to go, they're waiting for me. Please move, Robert."

"Okay, I know I didn't call you back, but you're acting like a pouty teenager for Christ sakes."

"I don't like being used, Robert. You were so rude on the phone and I feel like the world's biggest fool. The least you can do is let me leave with a small shred of dignity so I can try to forget this ever happened." She said angrily.

"I don't want to forget. Didn't you get my flowers?"

"Oh, were those were from you?" She said sarcastically. "There was no card."

"I know. I wanted to tell you in person, instead of on some impersonal piece of paper."

"Well impersonal is what you do best, isn't it?"

"That's not fair, Gracie. You know that's not how it is with you."

"No, I don't know how it is. How could I after you hung up the phone in my ear? But please, go ahead. Tell me what was so hell bent important that kept you from calling me? I'm sure it's just another one of the games you like to play."

"My sister is a heroine addict. She called me from a payphone begging for my help and when I finally got to her, she was barely clinging to life. She nearly died from an overdose and I've been overseeing her medical detox, trying to get her into a rehab center. I haven't slept in days and that, Grace, is why I couldn't call you back."

"Oh." She said softly. "I'm so sorry. I guess I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, but how could I have known? When I didn't hear from you I thought you were just…"

"Out for a good time?" He said, sounding hurt.

"Okay, I realize I must sound like such a bitch."

Romano stared back at her, noticeably not jumping in to refute it.

"Hey, at least I admit it, but there's no denying you are a bastard most of the time. Maybe that makes us a good pair?" She smiled coyly.

Romano continued to look into her eyes.

"Well say something, Robert. You scare me when you just look at me like that."

"Scare you or excite you?"

"Both. Not necessarily in that order."

He conceded a small smile. "So, you nearly swept the walking accent off his feet. Was that just for my benefit or were you serious?"

"Did it piss you off?"

"You know it did. I'm sure that's the main reason you did it."

"Come on, he's like the town bicycle. Nearly every nurse here has had a ride. Do you really think that's a road I want to travel down?"

He grinned as he enjoyed her assessment of Kovac. "So you have a hot date at Magoo's?"

"Well, it was the best offer on the table."

"Until now."

"But they're all waiting. What will I say?"

"Tell them you're too tired to go out."

"That sounds lame."

"Then tell them you are insatiably horny and need to have your brains fucked out by the only man who can satisfy you." Grace was frozen for a moment as Robert stood there, his eyes boring into hers as he took her hand and placed it between his legs, so she could feel him, nearly completely hard at the mere thought.

She kissed him forcefully, pushing him up against the wall as he groaned, excited by her aggressive lead. "Mmm, Grace." He said breathlessly. They were making the most of their stolen moment in time when suddenly his pager sounded. "I don't believe this! You have got to be kidding me!" He yelled, looking at her in disbelief. "I will call you later. I promise." He said.

"By the way, the flowers were gorgeous." she said, giving his package a final squeeze.

"Christ, Gracie, are you trying to kill me?"

"It wouldn't be the worst way to go." She grinned evilly.

"I will call you."

"Yes you will."