Okay—this is the last chapter in this story!!! Yay!!! Aren't you glad that
I'm going to finish one! : ) hehe... no but, you should still review. I'm
considering doing a sequel to this one (but I'm not sure... it would probably
be short though). The title would be "Human Nature"... but, let me know—
And review my story please... I've been without reviews for sooooooooo long!
Much Love,
Natalie
Elizabeth woke to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing in her ear. She rubbed her eyes slowly and reached to turn the offending noise off. She stretched her body and felt her toes curl against the crisp white sheets. It was only then that the events of the night previous came flooding back to her. She closed her eyes as a feeling of nausea swept over her body. "Oh God" she exhaled, remembering Robert as he walked from her door.
Her life had been simple. She hadn't asked for any damn complications—she hadn't wished for someone to come along and throw her world out of alignment. In fact, she'd been wishing that everything would stay the same. That she could forever go on depending on herself and herself alone. But, sometimes you don't get what you want—she'd come to realize this cold hard truth.
She rolled out of bed and felt her feet touch the floor—this was going to be one helluva day. She wished she could call in sick—take the easy route and just pretend that nothing ever happened. Maybe she could have done that had she truly felt nothing when those words came from his lips. They weren't words she was virgin to—many a man had fallen in love with her—without her reciprocating the emotions—but, for some reason, Robert was different. Robert had always been different, and, she guessed, Robert would always be different.
There was something about him that made her realize she'd been kidding herself all along. She'd been kidding herself when she pretended that she didn't know how to feel. And today, she was going to have to come face to face with not only Robert—but with the emotions, and yes, some of the demons she'd been hiding, or trying to hide for years.
She sighed, and then stepped into the shower, feeling the stream of hot water rush over her body. 'I can do this' was her mantra as she got ready for work—got ready to change her life.
She got on the El, and waited until her stop, where she got out of the train and felt the brisk Chicago air wash over her face—this was it.
Robert Romano woke in a similar fashion—alarm clock blaring—and rolled out of bed. He wanted to throw that damn thing against a wall. He hated being woken up with such force—such... such...inconsiderateness. He wanted to strangle the inventor of the alarm clock.
But, nonetheless, he got ready for work—another day—another day of hell, of unrequited, oh no, scratch that, unreciprocated love. He was sarcastic even when he was hurting, and oh, how he was hurting.
He tried to pretend that he wasn't, that everything was fine—but it wasn't. He knew in his heart that it wasn't... no matter how much his mind told him to shut the hell up. He had gone out on a limb, and he had fallen and crashed and burned miserably.
But, life, unfortunately, would go on. Life always went on. Through the misery, through the pain, through the undeniable atrocities that were a part of life—the little bastard kept going on. Life amazed him, and disappointed him, and thrilled him, and pissed him off.
He drove his Jag to work, but even the materialistic things in life couldn't ease his pain—not yet anyway. He still felt a dull ache inside of his body, and he wished upon wishes that he could wish it away.
Elizabeth arrived at work prepared to bare her heart—prepared to tell what there was to tell. She made her way to the surgical floor and checked the boards. She was on the ER today, and Robert wasn't due in for another half hour. Damn. Her heart would have to wait.
As she thrust her things into her locker her pager went off—as she got into the elevator she sighed. She exited the elevator and was calmed, somewhat, by the bustle of the ER around her. She found Jerry and asked him who had called her for a consult—he told her Carter, exam 1, and she walked off to examine the patient.
"25 year old female with nausea and vomiting. Severe abdominal pain." Carter reeled off to Elizabeth as she came to the young woman's bedside.
Carter kept talking, but Elizabeth wasn't listening until she heard her own name being called repeatedly "Dr. Corday? Dr. Corday?"
She looked at Dr. Carter, who had, apparently, been calling her name—she shook her head "Sorry, I'm not quite myself today."
He shrugged it off and she proceeded with her examination, ordering another test to be positive—but she was fairly certain the young woman would need an operation—though it wasn't too serious.
As she left the room and headed towards trauma 1, where a critical patient had just been brought, she checked her watch: 8:50. Ten minutes until Robert was supposed to arrive.
-----------
She ripped off the elastic gloves and threw them in the trash-can. The patient had coded, and despite their efforts, the man had died. She hated seeing death—especially on days like this.
She made her way back up to the surgical floor, and again checked her watch: 9:30 this time. She felt her body stiffen as she realized—Romano had to be there.
Romano pulled up in his jag at a quarter to 9, but he sat in his car for at least ten minutes—he had to prepare himself for the day ahead—the awkwardness, the silence, the utter torture he would have to endure. He steeled himself, and stepped out of the car, and walked towards the ambulance bay of the ER.
He entered and went straight for the surgical floor—when he got there, he didn't see any sign of Elizabeth. He went about his business, finishing his first routine surgery for the day—he wanted to see her, but he really didn't.
He walked into the lounge in between surgeries to grab a cup of coffee—he turned on the machine and waited for the coffee to be ready.
Elizabeth walked into the lounge—God, she could use a cup of coffee right about now. She froze, momentarily, when she entered the lounge. There he was. Standing there with his back facing her—her breath caught in her throat, and she seriously considered turning right back around and leaving. But, at that moment, he turned and saw her standing there.
She saw something flash across his face, in between surprise and forced neutrality—it looked like hurt.
He took a deep breath in, and turned back to the coffee pot. When she could no longer see him, he closed his eyes and exhaled silently. The moment of truth.
"Robert... I...." she paused. She didn't know what to say.
He poured the coffee into a mug, and then retrieved a second mug, poured another glass and handed one to her. She smiled briefly and extended a rather meek "thank you."
"How are you?" she asked, with nothing better to say.
"I'm... fine." He said, hesitating only momentarily. She smiled briefly again, knowing he was lying. Just as she started to speak, her pager went off. She stared at him for a moment and then said hurriedly "I better go." She ran out of the room and down to the consult.
He took his mug and sat down in the chair—he hadn't wanted to see her—but... he had. And now that he had, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. He was happy, yet he was also sad at the same time—mixed emotions plagued his mind as he contemplated her face, and the situation in which he found himself.
Damn.
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3 hour later...
Elizabeth had made a resolution: she had to find Robert. She searched high and low—well, the surgical rooms anyway. She asked everyone she saw if they'd seen him. They hadn't. Just her luck.
She decided to duck into the surgical lounge for a moment—not expecting to actually find him there. Which is why, when she saw him sitting there in the dark leather chair, she was taken by complete and utter surprise.
She stopped dead in her tracks, and stared at him—then she inhaled sharply and stepped into the room.
He looked at her solemnly—he wasn't in the mood to pretend to be something he wasn't. "Elizabeth." He offered as his only word.
"Robert." She sighed, "we need to talk."
He turned to look at her, and then said, after clearing his throat "be my guest." Which he followed with a hand gesture towards the chair next to him.
She obliged, and sat down. She took a moment before gathering her thoughts. She began with "Robert, about last night..."
He stopped her "Anything but that, Elizabeth, please."
"Robert, please, I really need to... look, I just have to talk to you about it."
Couldn't she understand that he just wanted to let it go—forget it ever happened. But, as he had said time and time again, anything for her. He sighed—a sign of resignation "okay."
"I really don't know where to begin—but, I'm going to try." She paused "Last night—when you... when you... said... what it is you said... there were so many thoughts racing through my mind, not the least of which was confusion."
He braced himself for what was to follow.
"I'd heard rumors, and I never believed them, though I suppose the rumors coupled with your behavior should have been evidence enough—but I don't think I wanted it to be true."
He winced at this. She realized her mistake and clarified.
"Not... not for that reason. Because..." she took a deep breath "Because, if you did feel that way about me, then I would have to face my own fears, confront my own emotions, and that is so hard for me to do Robert."
He thought he could handle this, he really really did, but now, he knew he couldn't "Please, Elizabeth, spare me. I don't need to hear the 'it's not you it's me' party line, okay?" his words were venomous, but she continued.
"Then let me finish, and that's not what you'll hear. I've been afraid, Robert. And it seems so childish, so immature, but it's the truth. I've been afraid..." she trailed off.
"Afraid of what?" he questioned, but he couldn't look her in the eye.
After a moment, she answered "...of loving you." She looked at her hands coiled in her lap. "It's the truth—I'd convinced myself that I hated you, that I loathed the ground you walked on—but somewhere inside I knew. I knew that I... that I loved you. And when I heard you say it to me last night—I did what I always do. I ran. I did the only thing I knew how—I ran away from everything you said, from everything you felt... from everything I felt. But... I don't want to live my life like that, Robert. I want to be open, I want to be honest, I want to be... with you." She inhaled sharply. "and I'm so sorry for denying it—sorry for not telling you the truth, but, I love you, too, Robert."
She smiled, a heaviness having been lifted from her heart.
He stared in disbelief as an array of emotions washed over him.
He couldn't believe she was doing this—hadn't he been embarrassed enough?
He was livid—he didn't need to be patronized. "Gee, Elizabeth, thank you so much for your concern. But, really, you don't need to do this. Okay? What did you think? That you could just come to me with all of this emotional... CRAP, these lies, and I'd just believe them? I don't need your pity, Elizabeth—thank you so much for offering it. But, I don't want it—I don't want your love, I don't want your sympathy, your empathy, your apathy—I want nothing to do with you." He spat venomously, as she sat there, stunned.
"I-I'm not lying to you, Robert." This isn't what she'd expected.
She'd expected him to kiss her, to say he was thankful, to hold her in his arms—anything but this.
"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever." He said.
She began to get up, and head towards the door.
"Robert, look, I'm sorry if I've hurt you—but, what I said today, in here, in this room, is the truth. I... love you. And if you don't believe me, then I guess there's nothing I can do... but, it's the truth..." her voice broke, and it was then that, for the first time, Robert had actually looked her in the eye... what he saw there, stunned him.
He saw raw emotion, and tears threatening to spill over the lids, an abundance of them piled to the brim, and most of all, he saw love. He saw love in her eyes, and he was shocked, stunned, and he sat there frozen as Elizabeth let a tear slide down her cheek before she turned and closed the door behind her.
He sat there, amazed at what had just transpired, but then, he realized, that now he had to make things right again. Within moments, he was off of his feet and out the door.
Elizabeth heard footsteps pounding loudly behind her, and the moment she turned around, she was face to face with Robert.
He took a moment to look in her eyes, before he placed his hand behind her head and drew her roughly into a kiss. The world stopped moving, and all Elizabeth could feel was Robert's lips pressed against hers, and the world seemed right. As the kiss grew more passionate, both Elizabeth and Robert forgot where they were, the only thing that mattered was that they were together—in one another's arms. Lips against lips, their kiss told a story—a story of heartache, passion, truth, denial, hope, and above all—love.
And when the kiss ended—the world, as both of them knew it, was different.
"I love you so much." Robert said as he pressed his forehead against Elizabeth's.
"And I love you." She said as she smiled, and then leaned in for another kiss.
And the world began turning—but it was no longer separate worlds for Robert and Elizabeth, it was one—and everything was right.
They experienced the ultimate human emotion: They were in love.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
The End
My first fic done! Yay me!
Please REVIEW and let me know how you felt—etc. If you liked it, if you hated it, if you loved it---It would be so wonderful to know!
Thanks!!!
R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natalie
And review my story please... I've been without reviews for sooooooooo long!
Much Love,
Natalie
Elizabeth woke to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing in her ear. She rubbed her eyes slowly and reached to turn the offending noise off. She stretched her body and felt her toes curl against the crisp white sheets. It was only then that the events of the night previous came flooding back to her. She closed her eyes as a feeling of nausea swept over her body. "Oh God" she exhaled, remembering Robert as he walked from her door.
Her life had been simple. She hadn't asked for any damn complications—she hadn't wished for someone to come along and throw her world out of alignment. In fact, she'd been wishing that everything would stay the same. That she could forever go on depending on herself and herself alone. But, sometimes you don't get what you want—she'd come to realize this cold hard truth.
She rolled out of bed and felt her feet touch the floor—this was going to be one helluva day. She wished she could call in sick—take the easy route and just pretend that nothing ever happened. Maybe she could have done that had she truly felt nothing when those words came from his lips. They weren't words she was virgin to—many a man had fallen in love with her—without her reciprocating the emotions—but, for some reason, Robert was different. Robert had always been different, and, she guessed, Robert would always be different.
There was something about him that made her realize she'd been kidding herself all along. She'd been kidding herself when she pretended that she didn't know how to feel. And today, she was going to have to come face to face with not only Robert—but with the emotions, and yes, some of the demons she'd been hiding, or trying to hide for years.
She sighed, and then stepped into the shower, feeling the stream of hot water rush over her body. 'I can do this' was her mantra as she got ready for work—got ready to change her life.
She got on the El, and waited until her stop, where she got out of the train and felt the brisk Chicago air wash over her face—this was it.
Robert Romano woke in a similar fashion—alarm clock blaring—and rolled out of bed. He wanted to throw that damn thing against a wall. He hated being woken up with such force—such... such...inconsiderateness. He wanted to strangle the inventor of the alarm clock.
But, nonetheless, he got ready for work—another day—another day of hell, of unrequited, oh no, scratch that, unreciprocated love. He was sarcastic even when he was hurting, and oh, how he was hurting.
He tried to pretend that he wasn't, that everything was fine—but it wasn't. He knew in his heart that it wasn't... no matter how much his mind told him to shut the hell up. He had gone out on a limb, and he had fallen and crashed and burned miserably.
But, life, unfortunately, would go on. Life always went on. Through the misery, through the pain, through the undeniable atrocities that were a part of life—the little bastard kept going on. Life amazed him, and disappointed him, and thrilled him, and pissed him off.
He drove his Jag to work, but even the materialistic things in life couldn't ease his pain—not yet anyway. He still felt a dull ache inside of his body, and he wished upon wishes that he could wish it away.
Elizabeth arrived at work prepared to bare her heart—prepared to tell what there was to tell. She made her way to the surgical floor and checked the boards. She was on the ER today, and Robert wasn't due in for another half hour. Damn. Her heart would have to wait.
As she thrust her things into her locker her pager went off—as she got into the elevator she sighed. She exited the elevator and was calmed, somewhat, by the bustle of the ER around her. She found Jerry and asked him who had called her for a consult—he told her Carter, exam 1, and she walked off to examine the patient.
"25 year old female with nausea and vomiting. Severe abdominal pain." Carter reeled off to Elizabeth as she came to the young woman's bedside.
Carter kept talking, but Elizabeth wasn't listening until she heard her own name being called repeatedly "Dr. Corday? Dr. Corday?"
She looked at Dr. Carter, who had, apparently, been calling her name—she shook her head "Sorry, I'm not quite myself today."
He shrugged it off and she proceeded with her examination, ordering another test to be positive—but she was fairly certain the young woman would need an operation—though it wasn't too serious.
As she left the room and headed towards trauma 1, where a critical patient had just been brought, she checked her watch: 8:50. Ten minutes until Robert was supposed to arrive.
-----------
She ripped off the elastic gloves and threw them in the trash-can. The patient had coded, and despite their efforts, the man had died. She hated seeing death—especially on days like this.
She made her way back up to the surgical floor, and again checked her watch: 9:30 this time. She felt her body stiffen as she realized—Romano had to be there.
Romano pulled up in his jag at a quarter to 9, but he sat in his car for at least ten minutes—he had to prepare himself for the day ahead—the awkwardness, the silence, the utter torture he would have to endure. He steeled himself, and stepped out of the car, and walked towards the ambulance bay of the ER.
He entered and went straight for the surgical floor—when he got there, he didn't see any sign of Elizabeth. He went about his business, finishing his first routine surgery for the day—he wanted to see her, but he really didn't.
He walked into the lounge in between surgeries to grab a cup of coffee—he turned on the machine and waited for the coffee to be ready.
Elizabeth walked into the lounge—God, she could use a cup of coffee right about now. She froze, momentarily, when she entered the lounge. There he was. Standing there with his back facing her—her breath caught in her throat, and she seriously considered turning right back around and leaving. But, at that moment, he turned and saw her standing there.
She saw something flash across his face, in between surprise and forced neutrality—it looked like hurt.
He took a deep breath in, and turned back to the coffee pot. When she could no longer see him, he closed his eyes and exhaled silently. The moment of truth.
"Robert... I...." she paused. She didn't know what to say.
He poured the coffee into a mug, and then retrieved a second mug, poured another glass and handed one to her. She smiled briefly and extended a rather meek "thank you."
"How are you?" she asked, with nothing better to say.
"I'm... fine." He said, hesitating only momentarily. She smiled briefly again, knowing he was lying. Just as she started to speak, her pager went off. She stared at him for a moment and then said hurriedly "I better go." She ran out of the room and down to the consult.
He took his mug and sat down in the chair—he hadn't wanted to see her—but... he had. And now that he had, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. He was happy, yet he was also sad at the same time—mixed emotions plagued his mind as he contemplated her face, and the situation in which he found himself.
Damn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------
3 hour later...
Elizabeth had made a resolution: she had to find Robert. She searched high and low—well, the surgical rooms anyway. She asked everyone she saw if they'd seen him. They hadn't. Just her luck.
She decided to duck into the surgical lounge for a moment—not expecting to actually find him there. Which is why, when she saw him sitting there in the dark leather chair, she was taken by complete and utter surprise.
She stopped dead in her tracks, and stared at him—then she inhaled sharply and stepped into the room.
He looked at her solemnly—he wasn't in the mood to pretend to be something he wasn't. "Elizabeth." He offered as his only word.
"Robert." She sighed, "we need to talk."
He turned to look at her, and then said, after clearing his throat "be my guest." Which he followed with a hand gesture towards the chair next to him.
She obliged, and sat down. She took a moment before gathering her thoughts. She began with "Robert, about last night..."
He stopped her "Anything but that, Elizabeth, please."
"Robert, please, I really need to... look, I just have to talk to you about it."
Couldn't she understand that he just wanted to let it go—forget it ever happened. But, as he had said time and time again, anything for her. He sighed—a sign of resignation "okay."
"I really don't know where to begin—but, I'm going to try." She paused "Last night—when you... when you... said... what it is you said... there were so many thoughts racing through my mind, not the least of which was confusion."
He braced himself for what was to follow.
"I'd heard rumors, and I never believed them, though I suppose the rumors coupled with your behavior should have been evidence enough—but I don't think I wanted it to be true."
He winced at this. She realized her mistake and clarified.
"Not... not for that reason. Because..." she took a deep breath "Because, if you did feel that way about me, then I would have to face my own fears, confront my own emotions, and that is so hard for me to do Robert."
He thought he could handle this, he really really did, but now, he knew he couldn't "Please, Elizabeth, spare me. I don't need to hear the 'it's not you it's me' party line, okay?" his words were venomous, but she continued.
"Then let me finish, and that's not what you'll hear. I've been afraid, Robert. And it seems so childish, so immature, but it's the truth. I've been afraid..." she trailed off.
"Afraid of what?" he questioned, but he couldn't look her in the eye.
After a moment, she answered "...of loving you." She looked at her hands coiled in her lap. "It's the truth—I'd convinced myself that I hated you, that I loathed the ground you walked on—but somewhere inside I knew. I knew that I... that I loved you. And when I heard you say it to me last night—I did what I always do. I ran. I did the only thing I knew how—I ran away from everything you said, from everything you felt... from everything I felt. But... I don't want to live my life like that, Robert. I want to be open, I want to be honest, I want to be... with you." She inhaled sharply. "and I'm so sorry for denying it—sorry for not telling you the truth, but, I love you, too, Robert."
She smiled, a heaviness having been lifted from her heart.
He stared in disbelief as an array of emotions washed over him.
He couldn't believe she was doing this—hadn't he been embarrassed enough?
He was livid—he didn't need to be patronized. "Gee, Elizabeth, thank you so much for your concern. But, really, you don't need to do this. Okay? What did you think? That you could just come to me with all of this emotional... CRAP, these lies, and I'd just believe them? I don't need your pity, Elizabeth—thank you so much for offering it. But, I don't want it—I don't want your love, I don't want your sympathy, your empathy, your apathy—I want nothing to do with you." He spat venomously, as she sat there, stunned.
"I-I'm not lying to you, Robert." This isn't what she'd expected.
She'd expected him to kiss her, to say he was thankful, to hold her in his arms—anything but this.
"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever." He said.
She began to get up, and head towards the door.
"Robert, look, I'm sorry if I've hurt you—but, what I said today, in here, in this room, is the truth. I... love you. And if you don't believe me, then I guess there's nothing I can do... but, it's the truth..." her voice broke, and it was then that, for the first time, Robert had actually looked her in the eye... what he saw there, stunned him.
He saw raw emotion, and tears threatening to spill over the lids, an abundance of them piled to the brim, and most of all, he saw love. He saw love in her eyes, and he was shocked, stunned, and he sat there frozen as Elizabeth let a tear slide down her cheek before she turned and closed the door behind her.
He sat there, amazed at what had just transpired, but then, he realized, that now he had to make things right again. Within moments, he was off of his feet and out the door.
Elizabeth heard footsteps pounding loudly behind her, and the moment she turned around, she was face to face with Robert.
He took a moment to look in her eyes, before he placed his hand behind her head and drew her roughly into a kiss. The world stopped moving, and all Elizabeth could feel was Robert's lips pressed against hers, and the world seemed right. As the kiss grew more passionate, both Elizabeth and Robert forgot where they were, the only thing that mattered was that they were together—in one another's arms. Lips against lips, their kiss told a story—a story of heartache, passion, truth, denial, hope, and above all—love.
And when the kiss ended—the world, as both of them knew it, was different.
"I love you so much." Robert said as he pressed his forehead against Elizabeth's.
"And I love you." She said as she smiled, and then leaned in for another kiss.
And the world began turning—but it was no longer separate worlds for Robert and Elizabeth, it was one—and everything was right.
They experienced the ultimate human emotion: They were in love.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
The End
My first fic done! Yay me!
Please REVIEW and let me know how you felt—etc. If you liked it, if you hated it, if you loved it---It would be so wonderful to know!
Thanks!!!
R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natalie