HEY GUYS HERE'S THE LATEST CHAPTER AND DON'T WORRY I'M GONNA RESOLVE THE CLIFFHANGER FROM BEFORE. ENJOY AND REVIEWS ARE WELCOME
Chapter 45: Communication
ONE WEEK LATER
SCENE: ANDREW'S BEDROOM
(Amber wakes up naked in bed feeling Andrew kissing her collar bone trailing up her neck and to her lips)
Andrew: I think I finally found a house for us.
Amber: (Moans in pleasure) The best way to wake me up in the morning. How many floors?
Andrew: (Kisses her) Two, three bedrooms, two baths and a kitchen island. It's at Queen Anne and not that far from the marina.
Amber: How much?
Andrew: 700 grand.
Amber: (Wide eyes) Well I am wide awake now. We barely make 60 grand a year how are we going to afford this?
Andrew: (Sits up) I have savings don't worry.
Amber: How much are you banking?
Andrew: (Whispers his amount in her ear)
Amber: (Wide eyed and shocked) Are you a long lost member of the Romanov dynasty?
Andrew: No I'm just not an idiot, what the hell have you been doing with your money?
Amber: I grew up with a mom on disability I'm not from a rich Italian mobster family like you because that's only other explanation for this sudden change in your net worth. If you're so damn rich, why didn't you buy a nicer apartment?
Andrew: It's called fiscal responsibility.
Amber: It's called being cheap. Well, we can use what we both have for the house and save the rest for a rainy day. Hopefully when surgeries come back we can kick in more for just us.
Andrew: Or we could hire a PI and find some rich distant uncles on your side.
Amber: I tried that none popped up. This is what you get for choosing to love a poor girl DeLuca.
Andrew: (Grins) Well I happen to love my choice thank you. Do you have peds today?
Amber: No I'm on scut thanks to Pierce who found out my betrayal from Hayes. I wish his accent was thicker, maybe then Maggie wouldn't have understood him. How long is she gonna be mad at me for? You would think being engaged would make her more compassionate.
Andrew: Babe I feel the need to tell you that your engaged and your still not that much happier.
Amber: Have you seen my life?
Andrew: (Chuckles lightly) Don't worry Maggie will cool down, she just canceled her impromptu backyard wedding to wait until the world gets better. That and her favorite resident leaving to pursue peds can cause anyone to be angry.
Amber: (Wide eyes) Wait, did you say Maggie canceled her wedding recently?
Andrew: Um yes.
Amber: (Lips curled) When was this?
Andrew: (See's she's getting angry) …Five days ago?
Amber: (Groans in anger) I cannot believe she didn't invite me, she said she would invite me when the backyard was set and she didn't! I mean it would be one thing to keep me out of a surgery in a professional setting but when it's personal oh no she has crossed the line, she is so over the line she can't even see it! (Gets out of bed naked) Arrogant, entitled, backstabbing, spoiled little genius baby.
(Amber huffs off to the restroom to get ready leaving Andrew in bed still reeling from her ranting)
Andrew: (Yells out) Okay I guess I'll make us breakfast then!
(Andrew gets out of bed to make breakfast)
LATER
SCENE: THE PIT
(Levi rotates between three patients and is shocked to find Nick approaching him in his casual wear wearing a mask)
Nick: Hey.
Levi: (Cold) Hey, what are you doing here?
Nick: Well I've been calling you and texting you since the wedding and you've never replied. Every time I come by the hospital after a call the nurses say you aren't here. I figured I could catch you on my day off and see what's wrong.
Levi: Nothing's wrong and last I checked you told me you had a day off three days ago why didn't you visit me then?
Nick: Um I was busy that day I had to run some errands.
Levi: (Can tell he's holding back) Right errands.
(Nick gets a phone call, pulls out his phone looks at the ID and hangs up)
Levi: Who was that? Friend of yours?
Nick: Hmm? Oh, it was nobody, just a spam. (Levi nods unconvinced) Well how about we catch up tomorrow night? I know this great sushi spot over by the marina.
Levi: (Inhales) No thanks I'm busy that night but how about tonight since it's your day off?
Nick: Oh tonight? Um I can't I have plans with the guys.
Levi: You seem awfully busy these days.
Nick: Yeah well I'm a city worker it's a given. (Checks watch) I should go I have to meet up with a potential landlord. Talk soon though?
Levi: …Yeah maybe I'll call you.
Nick: Kay bye.
(Nick leaves Levi feeling angry just as Amber approaches him with an angry face)
Amber: You are never going to believe what Pierce did, she didn't invite me to the wedding. She found out from Hayes that I'm switching to peds which is my fault I get it I should've been the one to tell her but to not invite me to her wedding?! That is just immature and cruel. I gave her the best years of my life, I was her best resident, I was the best roommate, I washed her underwear for god sake right? I mean…
Levi: (Doesn't respond as he looks down in torment)
Amber: I'm looking for you to agree with me here Levi. (Levi doesn't respond) Levi?
Levi: (Sighs) I think Nick is cheating on me.
Amber: (Wide eyes) What? What makes you think that?
Levi: Well the day of the wedding he answered a call saying it was his mom but I overheard him calling his mom Kieran and how he can't stop thinking about it even when he's with me.
Amber: Okay just so we're clear if it is what you think it is I take your side and I will make his life hell if you want me to.
Levi: (Chuckles ironically) Ah just when I think I'm in a good, healthy relationship some bombshell drops and implodes it. I mean it happened with Nico and now-
Amber: Stop, okay? You and Kim broke up because you couldn't communicate with each other and I just don't think that Nick is-
Levi: He called another man while we were at a wedding. And now that I think about it, he never answers the phone when we're together and he's always making excuses why we can't hang out. It's pretty clear he's hiding something or…someone.
Amber: (Sympathetic) Look talk to Nick about it and if you catch him in another lie and you don't feel like you can trust him then end it with him.
Levi: (Sighs) I really like this guy.
Amber: But can you trust him? Just talk to him. Meanwhile I'm gonna talk to Maggie and see if we can salvage our friendship somehow even though I feel like strangling her. Wish me luck.
(Levi looks down in thought with Amber leaving him in sympathy)
LATER
SCENE: SURGICAL BOARD
(Maggie is erasing and filling in the board when Amber approaches her with restrained fury)
Amber: I know your under a lot of pressure with your job and the pandemic and the engagement but the way you've been acting towards me this past week is unacceptable.
Maggie: (Ignores her as she fills in board)
Amber: I should've told you I was considering switching specialties. I know that and I am sorry, I've been telling you I'm sorry the last week. I know how hard you've worked and how much time you've taken to make me into a great surgeon and I will always be grateful and if you ignored me in the hall, I would be okay. But not inviting me to your wedding? After I took care of the decorators and caterers out of courtesy? Not okay Pierce.
Maggie: (Still not looking at her and says coldly) I wouldn't feel comfortable inviting my ex-boyfriend's fiancé to my wedding.
Amber: (Scoffs) Oh don't give me that you and DeLuca were ancient history and it hasn't been a problem for us or our friendship. I thought we were friends and I thought our friendship would allow you to overlook my humongous mistake and let me attend a very special day in your life but that's clearly not the case. Now look you and I are still gonna work together even if Hayes is my mentor now so-
(Maggie finished the board and promptly walks away from Amber who looks at her in shock)
Amber: (Yells out to her) So we're never talking again? Is that it? (Maggie enters the surgical floor) Oh real mature Maggie!
(Amber growls in fury as Andrew approaches her carefully after seeing the fight)
Andrew: Didn't go well huh?
Amber: No, it didn't and you know what (Pulls out her phone) If she wants to act like a child then I'm gonna treat her like a child.
Andrew: What are you doing? Who are you calling?
Amber: (Holds phone to her ear) She crossed the line first; she caused this do not judge me. (Person answers) Hi this is Dr. Amber Karev do you have anything to do today?
(Andrew looks at Amber worriedly)
LATER
SCENE: KERRY PARK
(Levi is pacing back and forth waiting in anxiety. Nick approaches him six feet away)
Nick: Hey you said you wanted to meet during your break, what's up?
Levi: (Sighs) …Look I broke up with a guy who lied to me to my face and our relationship felt fake because he choose to shut me up with sex instead of talking about the issues.
Nick: Okay…is this where I tell you about my past relationship problems?
Levi: No this is the part where we talk about our problem.
Nick: What problem?
Levi: …I overheard your phone call at the wedding. Do you call your mom Kieran or do you like to talk to other men while you're on a date with me?
Nick: (Pales) …You heard that?
Levi: Yeah and based on your reaction I'm guessing it's the second one. Look if you want to see other people fine but don't drag me along and make me think this is something we both want.
Nick: Levi it's not what you think okay? I'm not seeing anyone but you.
Levi: Then what was that call about? And how about every excuse you've had when I want to set up a date? Or how about all the calls you've had and never answered? Can you explain all of that?
Nick: …I…
Levi: (Scoffs) Look you know I've had a rough year so far and…I'm just not up for being with someone I can't trust and who can't tell me the truth when it matters the most.
(Levi turns around to leave and Nick takes a few moments before speaking)
Nick: Levi wait.
Levi: (Stops and turns around)
Nick: (Inhales and exhales) The reason why I've done those things is something I have to show you in person. There's this restaurant called Mikey's on Fremont it's a little hole in the wall. I want you to come by at 8 tonight if you can.
Levi: Why can't you just tell me right now?
Nick: Levi…just trust me one more time please? I'm putting a lot on the line here and you'll see how hard it is for me to do this.
Levi: (Sees he's genuine) …Fine I get out tonight so I'll see you there.
Nick: Thanks.
(Levi walks away from Nick who exhales in anxiety)
CUT TO BLACK
THAT NIGHT
SCENE: NURSES STATION
(Amber is charting while Maggie talks to a nurse. Maggie's phone rings causing Amber to grin as she answers it)
Maggie: Hey dad, what's up? …What do you mean meet you in the tent outside? …wait dad let me… (Glares at Amber who raises her eyebrow smugly) Yes I will bring Amber…O-Okay we'll meet you right now.
(Maggie hangs up and approaches Amber with contempt)
Maggie: (Venomous tone) Apparently my dad wants us to meet him in the break tent outside. He says he wants to talk to us about our fight…after you called him with these concerns.
Amber: (Smiles smugly) Well we don't want to keep him waiting, do we? Let's go.
(Maggie and Amber walk side by side with Maggie fuming and Amber delighted passing Alex)
Maggie: (To Alex) I blame you for her.
(Alex looks at her confused as they continue walking to their destination)
LATER
SCENE: MIKEY'S RESTAURANT
(Levi arrives outside the restaurant where he see's a small group of people exiting the restaurant with Nick approaching him accompanied by a man in his 40's)
Nick: Hey I'm glad you decided to come.
Levi: Well I decided to trust you one more time and see if you could tell me the truth for once, (Looks at the man) Who is he?
Man: Hi you must Levi, Nick has told me a lot about you.
Levi: He has? Why?
Nick: (Clears throat and gathers the courage) Levi Schmitt, this is Kieran Coster…my AA sponsor.
(Levi's eyes widen in shock as he looks at both of them in shock and confusion)
MEANWHILE
SCENE: BREAK TENT
(Maggie is sitting on the table being scolded by her dad while Amber is standing six feet away from them smiling at the scene)
Bill: Honesty Margaret of all the spiteful and petty things you could do you choose not invite your good friend to your wedding over a professional grudge? Are you a chief of cardio or a kindergartner?
Maggie: Dad if you knew the whole story you would-
Bill: (Stern) Chief of cardio or kindergartener Maggie?
Maggie: (Sighs) Chief of cardio.
Bill: Then start acting like it and apologize to that woman, right now.
Maggie: (Triggered) No, no dad she is the one who-
Bill: Now.
Maggie: (Under breath) …Sorry.
Bill: Your mother and I did not raise a mumbler. Now you better not leave this tent until the two of your work this out, because if I have to drag myself through rush hour traffic to discipline my 37-year-old daughter-
Maggie: (Defeated) Dad you made your point, I'll do what you say.
Bill: Good.
(Bill turns to leave as he sees Amber smiling smugly and proudly causing him to speak to her)
Bill: And you wipe that damn smile off your face your no better. (Amber frowns) Tattling on your boss to her dad that is bush league.
(Bill exits the tent with both women feeling scorned)
LATER
SCENE: MIKEY'S
(Levi and Nick talk privately on the bench outside the restaurant where Nick explains everything to Levi)
Nick: Look when I told you I was a mess after Mateo died I wasn't kidding. If you think I was some perfect guy back in Miami I wasn't by a long shot. I was a totally different person after the accident. After I was discharged they sent me home with painkillers about ten days' worth. After ten days…I couldn't get enough of it, it was like I was away from the world that didn't have Mateo in it. So I went to this dealer in the neighborhood and the rest they say is history.
Levi: How long before you got sober?
Nick: About a year. I hid the stuff from my mom and took the pills in school, snorted oxy and shot up fentanyl. I hung around with assholes mainly. I slept around to score drugs when I ran out of money. There were nights when I would wake up with a needle in my arm and no memory of how it got in there. My mom found me after she tracked my phone and let me tell you the fight, we had that night was something from a child's nightmare.
Levi: And she got you to be sober?
Nick: …No I walked out and cut her off from my life. About a few weeks after that…I ODed on fentanyl and vodka and the guys from the crack house dumped me in a hospital and ran. I didn't have a pulse for three minutes but they brought me back. They found my mom on my cell and I fully expected her to slap me into oblivion…but instead she hugged me and cried. It was then I hit rock bottom and…and I let her check me into a rehab facility. And now here I am four years, six months and three days sober.
Levi: But I've seen you drink beer on our dates and the nurses gave you opiods when you had a beer bottle thrown at you.
Nick: I say I go to the bathroom and tell the waitress to give me nonalcoholic and the opiods I lied to Amber. I didn't want her to figure out her new brother is a pathetic junkie like her dad.
Levi: Okay so why didn't you tell me this to start with?
Nick: …The last guy you dated was a surgeon and he worked for the Seattle Mariners and I'm…going to AA meetings so I don't get high on the job and end up like my father.
Levi: You have nothing to be ashamed about, you went into the deepest hole anyone can go to and you came back and fought like hell to recover. That's admirable and it's something Jimmy Evans couldn't do.
Nick: (Looks at him touched) I'm sorry I should've just been honest with you.
Levi: Yeah, I mean eventually I would think it was pretty weird you called off our dates to hang out with a guy named Kieran. What was your plan with that exactly?
Nick: My plan was…I don't know. I just wasn't planning on liking you this much.
(Levi and Nick look at each other lovingly)
LATER
SCENE: BREAK TENT
(Amber and Maggie sit down on the table silently before Maggie speaks first)
Maggie: You told my dad on me?
Amber: You've barely spoken to me this week and you just walk away anytime I try to talk to you. That didn't exactly leave me with many options. (Maggie shakes her head) Okay would you be reacting like this if I choose to leave cardio for general or neuro? Do you think peds is a waste of my skills and you wasted all your talent and time on me?
Maggie: Don't be ridiculous I don't think peds is a soft specialty.
Amber: Okay so what the hell is your problem with me? Why are you still so mad at me?
Maggie: You went behind my back and talked to Hayes and didn't tell me that you were feeling cardio wasn't enough for you. How long have you felt this way tell me.
Amber: …Two weeks before I talked to Hayes.
Maggie: And you thought I couldn't handle losing my best resident. You thought I couldn't handle bad news like my mom when she got sick or my sister when she started seeing a guy I liked. Everybody thinks I am so fragile and feel the need to protect me from simple information until it's too late and I find out some other way and that hurts me. It hurt me when I found out too late from Hayes instead of you from the beginning. I thought that as my friend and protégé you would get that and you would do things differently but you didn't it's just more of the same.
Amber: …Your right I should've told you how I felt from the beginning. I can already hear my therapist telling me what I did wrong.
Maggie: (Grins slightly)
Amber: Maggie I wasn't completely sure if cardio was what I wanted to do when you took me under your wing. It was great for a while but then the pandemic happened I started to get therapy and…I realized it wasn't bringing me joy anymore. Would you rather have me as your uninterested student or see me pursuing my true passion with someone else?
Maggie: (Sighs) I guess it would be a waste to your skills if you're doing a specialty you're not invested in 100 percent. And…I'm sorry for not inviting you to my wedding.
Amber: (Exhales in relief) Thank you.
Maggie: You still shouldn't have ratted me out to my dad though.
Amber: (Remorseful) Sorry about that. And you know if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have survived this hellish year on the job or the patients I lost. Thank you for that and thank you for teaching me.
Maggie: I might not be your mentor but…maybe we can still be friends?
Amber: (Grins) Always.
(Maggie and Amber elbow bump signifying their renewed friendship)
Andrew: Ah that's nice.
(Maggie and Amber turn to find Winston and Andrew walking toward them relieved to see them making up)
Winston: I see you two finally made up, can we invite her to our wedding then?
Maggie: Yeah, we can as long as she invites us to hers.
Amber: Hmm…I'll think about it.
Andrew: She's messing with you, you're invited of course.
Amber: I said I'm thinking about it.
(Andrew chuckles and walks with Amber back to the building)
Maggie: She better invite us otherwise I'm gonna rat her out to her brother and see how she likes it.
(Winston laughs and walks with Maggie back to the hospital)