Chapter 21 – Between the Head and the Heart

The next day, Grace stayed in bed until mid-afternoon. Ignoring phone messages from Susan, Carter and Abby, as well as several apologetic ones from Chuny, Grace didn't feel much like talking to anyone. She wondered how the surgery was progressing, but wasn't curious enough to venture down to County to find out.

It was well into the evening when her phone rang again, waking her up. "Grace, it's me. I just wanted to let you know we just finished and everything went well. Looks like Connor's well on his way to making a full recovery." Steven said.

Grace's eyes lit up, "That's wonderful news! I'm so glad to hear it, I knew he was in good hands." She glanced over at the clock to see what time it was. "It's pretty late, did you run into any trouble?"

"It just took a bit longer than we'd hoped, but nothing we couldn't handle."

"And what about Robert?"

"He was his usual charming self."

"You know what I mean, did you two get into it?"

"It was all business, Grace. But we missed you in there."

"I'm sure no one even batted an eye. County has some great nurses and any one of them could have filled in."

"No, they couldn't, Grace. You're one in a million."

Ignoring him as she sensed his compliment rang somewhat hollow, she changed the subject, "So, I guess you'll be leaving tomorrow?"

"I'm on a late afternoon flight. I'll be checking on Connor in the morning and if all's well, I'll leave him in County's capable hands from here on. I was hoping we could get together for lunch before I go."

Grace hesitated.

"Come on, it's the last time you'll ever have to lay eyes on me."

"Actually there is something I'd like to talk to you about." She added.

"My rental had engine trouble so I had to take a cab today. Why don't you swing by the hospital and pick me up around one, and then I can get you to drop me at the airport after lunch. If it's not too much trouble?"

"Fine. Meet me at Doc Magoo's across from the ER and we'll leave from there." Grace was worried she might run into some of the ER staff, but it was safer than waiting for him inside the hospital.

She rolled over and turned on the late news just in time to catch a quick story update on Connor and struggled with wanting to call Romano. Regardless of what had gone on, she admired his surgical skills and knew that a great deal of the success of the day belonged to him. After typing and deleting several drafts, she finally decided to send him an email.

'I saw you on the evening news and wanted to congratulate you and the team on your great success. I'm so glad to hear Connor's doing well and hope you'll give everyone my best wishes.'

Steven got held up in the hospital and was late arriving for lunch, so they decided to eat at Magoo's to avoid him missing his plane. Once they'd ordered, Grace had a few questions for her ex. She couldn't get Romano's comment out of her mind and was bothered by a nagging feeling that Steven knew more than he was letting on.

She stared at him intently across the booth and began firing away. "I know you ran into Robert the other day, after we came back from lunch at Tru. What did you say to him?"

"Nothing much." He shrugged.

She eyed him carefully trying to determine if he was lying to her. Since arriving in Chicago he'd tried on several occasions to show her he had changed, but she didn't want to get taken in by him again. Her gut instinct told her he was lying.

"I don't buy it. You must have said something to push his buttons."

"Why, because it's not like him to berate his own staff? We both know he looks forward to it."

"But not with me. This was different, it was personal." She said, digging in her heels.

"Babe, you need to let it go. You're so much better off without him. Don't upset yourself by dredging all this up."

"You told him about the kiss, didn't you? What exactly did you say?" She demanded.

"You know, just the truth. That we kissed."

"The truth is that you kissed me, while I was distracted by my phone ringing."

"Semantics." He grinned. "You did kiss me back, babe."

"You're completely delusional, Steven! So that's why he was so pissed off when he came into my meeting with Weaver."

"You can't blame me for the way he treated you, Grace, he did that all by himself. It just goes to prove you two couldn't have been very solid if it only took the mention of one little kiss to turn everything upside down. He should have had more faith in you than that."

"You knew exactly how he'd react! The two of you have been in a pissing contest ever since you arrived."

"I just wanted to ruffle his feathers a little, but come on, Grace. I couldn't have known he'd run straight to a disciplinary review and tear you apart. Even I'm not that calculating."

"He never would have been so callous if you hadn't filled his head with jealousy and doubt about us!"

"Romano is what he is, Grace. You and I both know he's not the warm fuzzy type, but I suppose it's easier for you to blame me, than to admit he acted the same way he would have, with or without my little revelation."

Grace stared at Mancini and mulled over his last comment as she tossed the bill at him. "I need to get out of here. I will take great satisfaction dumping you at the airport so I can be sure you get you the hell out of my life once and for all."

"Think about it, Grace. You know I'm right." He said as they walked out of the diner and towards her car.

Susan and Abby had run out into the ambulance bay to wait for the paramedics, and saw the two of them walking together towards Grace's car. Susan called out to Grace, but they were too far away to hear anything over the sound of the approaching ambulance's sirens.

Once the patient had been stabilized, Susan and Abby were talking to Carter about Grace, just as Romano came out of trauma two.

"It's too bad about Grace leaving. She was one of our best nurses." Susan said.

"And a good friend." Carter added. "Have you spoken to her since…?"

"I left her a couple of messages but she hasn't called me back yet. You know I just saw her leaving Doc Magoo's with her ex-husband." Susan said.

"Really?" Carter commented. "I hope she's not planning to go back to Detroit with him."

"I can't believe how good looking he is." Abby added. "Too bad all the hot ones are dogs."

"Some days I think they're all dogs." Susan replied.

As they turned around, they finally noticed Romano standing there, and it was obvious he'd overheard their conversation. They all looked intently at each other, although no one spoke a word. Abby, Carter and Susan each grabbed a chart and took off for the nearest patient, leaving Romano standing alone near the admit desk as everyone else in the vicinity avoided making eye contact with him. While few knew about his personal relationship with Grace, they all knew Romano was the reason she'd quit.

He went back upstairs to his office and checked his email for the first time in days. With hundreds of unread messages, he glanced down the list until his eye caught sight of Grace's name and opened her email immediately. He was surprised she'd bothered to communicate with him after the way they'd left things and reading it made him feel even worse. In spite of everything, she'd opted to take the high road and reach out with a kind word, when he felt he really didn't deserve it.

Grace seethed quietly as she drove her ex to the airport. She kept running over the week's events in her mind trying to decide if what Steven had said to her had any merit. Just as he had done with Romano, Mancini had managed to plant a seed of doubt in her mind and even though he was on his way back to Detroit, he was certain he had caused enough trouble to break them up. My work here is done, he thought smugly as he waved goodbye to Grace as she sped off without looking back.