Tormented | LisRene AU

Chapter 9

Lisa was already in the locker room when Irene walked in. She worried that things would be awkward between them after the episode this morning. But when Lisa just grinned at her and commented on a patient in one of the trauma rooms, Irene was confused. Since being in their old apartment, Irene had thought of something else. The picture on Lisa's fridge stayed on her mind.

Seeing the picture just confused Irene more. She had so many questions, but Lisa was obviously not wanting to discuss anything other than work-related things right now. She promised herself that before the shift was over, she was going to ask Lisa, at least, one of her questions.

"Dr. Park, if I catch even a crumb on the ground tonight," Taeyeon said. "I'm putting you on bedpan duty."

"You can't do that," Rosé argued. "Only Irene can."

Taeyeon kept her eyes on Rosé as she spoke, "Dr. Bae?"

"Whatever Taeyeon said," Irene replied.

Rosé looked at her as if betrayed and put a hand to her chest. "My own best friend!" she shouted, throwing her hands up the air.

Lisa laughed as Rosé stomped off. Rosé was not really upset or mad but she shot Irene glares until disappearing down another hall.

Of course, the night when Irene wanted to stay busy, the ER was slow. They only had on person arrive by ambulance who had an allergic reaction. They did not even get to EpiPen her because Yeji had done it on the way. Her mind was racing and she needed something to distract herself.

"You're filing?" Lisa asked when she found her in the filing closet. "Why?"

"Because there's nothing else to do and I can get this out of the way," she said. "Siwon's been putting it off for months now."

Lisa sat down against the wall and bit into an apple. She was looking up high on the opposite wall as if in a trance.

"Can I ask you something?" Irene asked after five minutes of silence.

Lisa took another bite and swallowed before replying, "Sure."

"Why didn't you move out after we broke up?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Lisa said. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "It was just easier for me to stay. Moving would have been too much with everything else going on."

Irene nodded in understanding. She did see that side of things. Lisa was so depressed at the time. She probably did not care where she lived. Having the familiarity of their apartment was probably a good thing. "Did it make you sad?" Irene asked. "With all of our stuff still in there."

"No," Lisa said, shaking her head. Another bite. "It made me happy."

"How?" Irene asked, her eyes filling with tears now. It felt like Lisa was saying she was glad they broke up and it was heartbreaking. She forgot all about the charts as she stared at her ex-girlfriend. "How did seeing all the things we bought together make you happy?"

"Because it made me think of the good part of my life," Lisa explained. She shrugged. "When I would look at something we had, I could remember the day and where we were. I could remember being happy."

Irene was sad to see the life they built together. For that same reason, Lisa was happy. She was happy thinking about all the memories they made while their memories broke Irene's heart. They had so many good memories and it was that reason that it made Irene sad. She had wanted to make so many more. It felt like Lisa had put a pause on her life when she packed her bags.