Invisible String

Chapter 6: Crisis of My Faith

"You're a crisis of my faith,
would've, could've, should've,
if I'd played it safe..."

🦷

The clock on the wall showed that it was way past 5 a.m. as Lizzie played with the guitar strings. She was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor with Will's old guitar, trying a few melodies, when the sound of keys turning in the door startled her. Her fingers slipped, and the strings made a strangled sound in response.

"Hey." Will greeted when he entered the apartment.

"Hey. How was the shift?"

He shrugged, meaning it was as normal as it could be. Her brother had been taking extra shifts this past two weeks, usually the graveyard shift. He also had been sleeping on her couch since his break up with Nina.

"You're still up?" he asked, sitting on the couch.

"I couldn't sleep." admitted Lizzie, her eyes still on the strings. Outside, the sun was rising, morning light coming through the curtains. Elizabeth wasn't even sure how long she had been sitting in the same position.

There was a half empty mug on the floor beside her with chamomile tea she had prepared in an attempt to help her sleep. Her eyelids felt heavy and her legs were numb, but she knew that if she laid down, she would spend the next hours staring at the ceiling instead of actually sleeping.

"You replaced the strings." he pointed out.

Lizzie nodded. Even with the new strings, her fingers were sore. She hadn't played in quite some time.

"Any news from Natalie?" she tried to change the subject before he could ask more questions.

"I left a couple of messages, but I don't think she heard it." he shook his head. Natalie Manning had left for, in her own words, a "sabbatical" and no one had heard from her ever since. Will had barely worked up the courage to act on his feelings for her when Natalie left, leaving Maggie to tell everyone she would be away for a while. Elizabeth couldn't blame her for wanting to escape the turmoil that seemed to happen everyday at the hospital. After the incident when Dr. Charles was shot by a patient just outside the ED, everyone had been uneasy and concerned.

Will leaned in and lightly squeezed her shoulder. He had been the one working night shifts, but her under eyes circles were just as bad as his.

"Why don't you go try to have some sleep?" he offered. "We can go out to lunch later, what do you think? We can even drag Jay along."

"Sure."

Lizzie stood up and put the guitar away. She knew sleep wouldn't come any easier now, but Will needed the couch, so she made her way to her bedroom so at least one of them could have a few hours of rest.

After rolling around in bed for some time, she managed to get an incredible 48 minutes of sleep, which felt like a small victory. By the time her brother woke up, Lizzie was already up and on her third cup of coffee.

"Did you actually sleep?" Will asked, raising his eyebrow in suspicion.

"Don't worry about it." she handed him a mug with coffee.

If she thought it would be an adjustment to suddenly see each other everyday, living together had been a challenge. Will had always been a bit too controlling, although Lizzie knew he meant well.

"I texted Jay." Lizzie said while washing the dishes from last night. "He got called into work. A new case, I think. He said he can't leave now, but asked if I could bring him something to eat at the district."