Selfish Mistakes

20 - The Letdown

Liz stared blankly on the screen of her phone.  Jeremy went to her apartment to pick up a few of her personal belongings and some of her clothes because he wanted her to move into his house.  It wasn't asking politely, more like a mandate that she cannot refuse with a valid and logical excuse.

*****

"I'm grabbing a few of your things.  I'll see you later.  I left the spare key to Casey, she said you were in a meeting."

*****

"Have you told him already about your life-threatening condition?"   Hank shook her out of her musings by trying to make her feel guilty.  Admittedly, he was secretly reveling in his own success to rub the ugly reality in her face.

"I was kinda hoping he'd figure it out for himself.  He just proclaimed to my NICU staff Casey that I'm moving in with him."  Showing her friend the text message Jeremy sent about picking up her things.

"Give him a week.  No, as we speak, he probably rummaged through your things specifically the bathroom medicine cabinets."

Liz felt a huge wave of relief to know that today wasn't the big revelation day.  "No, I always carry all of my meds here in my bag."

"Clever girl.  I admire his character for not snooping inside your bag ever since you started dating him."  If Hank ever tried to be honest about how he felt towards Jeremy, he'd still praise the Pedia Surgeon about the minuscule details of how the man was making Liz happy.  Jeremy might be the infamous playboy socially related to an even more boorish womanizer Kevin Lyndon but Hank was confident enough that Liz was in good hands.

"Surprisingly, he's particular about privacy."  Recalling how she found out unintentionally about a 'Darlene' who was mentioned to be in his bed a few days ago during Jeremy's phone conversation with Kevin.

Liz was having mixed feelings about that issue.  She wasn't jealous of the woman from his past who suddenly found a way back into his house and into his bed.  Although Liz would feel comfortable to discuss about his association with that woman before any 'moving in' could happen.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~#####~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Liz was patiently waiting by the fire escape staircase.  Her backside felt numb from sitting nearly over an hour on the concrete landing.  Jeremy was called in for an emergency surgery after they agreed to meet to have the talk over a cup of coffee when she left Hank's office.

Her stomach felt horrible with anxiety attack as she pretended to find interest in an e-book she had downloaded to pass the time while waiting for him.  It was a literature about what to expect when you're expecting a baby.  She felt stupid as though she was reviewing for a medical exam about the topic of fetal weekly development.

Finally, her phone rang.

"Liz, can you wait for me at the lobby?  I still have to finish up with the chart."

"Ok."

"Thanks."  

She felt dismissed like a little schoolgirl given instructions as soon as he hung up the call so abruptly.

Shoving her phone inside her bag, she dusted the back of her jeans before leaving the staircase to go back inside the building to head for the halls.  She decided to take the elevator instead to reach the hospital lobby.

The moment she pulled the fire escape door open, she saw Jeremy standing at the end of the hall talking to a very beautiful woman wearing a chic red dress standing tall in those absurdly expensive stilettos.  The woman's hand was fondly resting on his chest as she leaned closer to whisper something in his ear while her lips curved in a cunning smile.

Liz was caught off guard to witness an intimate familiarity shared between the two.  She felt her heart skipping a beat as she looked away, carefully retreating behind the fire escape door without catching Jeremy's attention.

Releasing a heavy sigh, she climbed down the stairs to reach the next lower level of the building where she silently faded through the halls amidst the crowd as she got onto one of the elevators.

Her phone rang, stirring curiosity from those who shared the elevator with her.  Trembling hands fumbled inside her bag to fish out the device to take the call from Jeremy.

"Change of plans.  I'll pick you up for dinner later, say seven thirty."

Liz heard his hurried voice in the other end of the line.  She was tempted to decline, but thought logically to get things over with the 'talk' as soon as he could manage to squeeze his time for her.

"Ok."  Pressing the end call icon before he could say more to rouse another wave of stinging pain like acid being poured down her chest.  She hated that feeling.  It had been years since she got rid of that pain when she left her ex.

Deep down she was getting bored of his re-schedule habits lately.  Liz knew better than to wait for him later to fulfill that promise to meet her.  She turned off her phone and stifled a sigh while holding back her tears.

It felt like an eternity for the elevator to reach the ground level, adding impatience to her already waning temper.  When the doors finally opened, people pushed against each other to empty the elevator.  Liz had to wait until everyone in front of her disappeared into the busy traffic of people passing in and out of the hospital lobby before she made her own exit.

Walking absentmindedly as she tried to cross the street, her wits were blown away by the loud sound of the car horn that told her she was about to be run over by someone.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The voice sounded familiar but she was too preoccupied trying to get over the shock of the blaring sound as she pressed her hand against her chest pounding with fear.

"Ma'am, are you ok?"  The woman who passed by placed a hand over her shoulder that offered some sort of stability while Liz was gathering her wits together.

"Liz, damn it.  I almost killed you!"

She looked up to see Kevin standing in front of her, his hands held her shoulders.