by Claire Adams
"You girls are nuts." I laughed as I imagined Alex trying to apply highlights to her friend's head.
"Indeed we are." She laughed with me. "Look, can I call you back? We're at a crucial point and -- Liz, sit down and wait! God, she's my best friend, but she's a major pain in the ass!"
"No problem, call me back if you have time," I said as Tesla wandered around holding the ball in her mouth, a sign that she'd had enough catch for one night. "And be careful!"
"I'm trying! Talk to you later!" Alex laughed before the line went dead.
I put the phone back in my pocket and wished I could be there to witness the chaos. I just wanted to be near Alex again. I shook my head and looked down at Tesla.
"I'm nuts, girl." I sighed. "Just flat out nuts. And I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that, so if you've got any ideas, throw them my way, would you?"
Tesla dropped the ball and barked once as she headed for the station door. I sighed as I picked up the ball and tossed it in the toy basket before heading inside.
"You okay?" Newsome asked quietly.
"Yeah, fine." I nodded as I grabbed a soda and sat down to watch television with the guys. My mind was a million miles away as I stared at the screen and thought about the past, present, and future.
#
The next morning, after I got off shift, I drove home and dropped Tesla off before I headed to the CSC offices to find Leo. The remainder of the night had been uneventful at the station, which had left my mind to wander. I wanted to know what information Victor could possibly have and then I wanted to find a way to shut it down.
"Morning, Becky," I said as I entered the office. "Leo in yet?"
"He is, indeed," she said. "Not a good morning, though."
"Why? What's up?" I asked, stopping at the desk.
"It seems Mr. Marini got some bad news this morning and he had a bit of a meltdown." She sighed. "I hate mornings like this."
"I'll see if I can't go turn it around," I said. "Keep your chin up, Becky. It's bound to get better."
"One can only hope, sir." She sighed again as she turned back to the ringing phone.
I walked down the hall to Leo's office and noticed that several of the pictures that had been hanging on the walls were now on the floor. One frame's glass was cracked, and I frowned when I saw it was the shot of the state capitol.
"Leo, what the hell is going on here?" I said as I walked into his office and found him leaning against the floor to ceiling window with both palms pressed to the glass as if he were single-handedly holding up the wall.
"Don't start with me, Cam," he said in a voice that sounded more weary than angry.
"I'm not going to, I just want to know what's going on," I said calmly. "C'mon, tell me what happened and why you're so damn angry."
"The son of a bitch..." he began as he dropped his hands and turned around to look at me. His mouth twisted into an ugly grin.
"Leo, just tell me what's going on and we'll work it out," I said.
"Richard Metzler wants to sign a contract with us for security coverage during the election campaign," Leo said.
"Okay, so what?" I replied as I watched him start to pace in front of the window.
"He's demanding that we limit our work to his campaign alone," Leo said, running his hand through his already messy hair.
"I still don't get what the problem is," I said. "So, we only work for one candidate. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that Metzler isn't really giving us an option, Cam," Leo said. "He's gotten a hold of our financials and he knows all about you."
"How the hell did he get that information, Leo?" I asked as I felt the anger rising. "This was the one reason why I didn’t want to move forward with this idea, and now you're telling me that it's turned out exactly the way I'd feared it would?"
"I don't know how he got it, Cam," Leo said as he moved away from the window and walked to his desk. "I had the lawyers bury it so deep that it would have taken dynamite to uncover it."
"Obviously, Metzler has the necessary explosives," I said bitterly. "Dammit, Leo. I never wanted to go down this road!"
"I know, I know," he said as he dug through a stack of papers and pulled out one sheet. He handed it to me saying, "Look, we can make this work. We can just choose to work with Metzler. The contract is unbelievably generous, and it'll get our name out there for future business."
"What if I don't want to do this, Leo?" I asked. "What happens if I say no?"
"Metzler releases the financials and exposes us in the media," Leo said quietly. "I'm sorry, Cam."
"This is fucked up, and you know it," I said, looking down at the sheet detailing the proposed contract with Metzler's campaign. The amount of money they were willing to pay us for security services bordered on obscene. I looked at Leo. "What in the hell? This figure is more than we would have made from all four campaigns."
"I know." He nodded. "Can't we just take it and run with it, Cam?"
"What? And then be another one of the companies that Richard Metzler bought off on his way up the political ladder?" I asked. "Hell no!"
"Cam, we don't have a choice," Leo pleaded. "We have to take the offer or we'll be exposed."
"No, you've got it all wrong, my friend," I said, shaking my head. "We won't be exposed, I will. And that makes all the difference in the world."
"Cam, I didn't do this on purpose!" Leo yelled. "I really did think that making the move into campaign security was a profitable decision!"
"But you didn't think it all the way through and anticipate every possible outcome!" I shouted. "You didn't think about my life at all!"
"No, I didn't!" Leo yelled, then backing down a bit, he collapsed into his chair and rubbed his eyes before looking up. When he did, I could see the anguish. "I didn't think of you this time, Cam. That's true. But it's because for the past decade I've thought of nothing but you. All day, every day. I think about how every decision will affect you. How every deal will affect you. What about me? When is it my turn to think about me, Cam?"
"Leo, you knew the deal when you took the job," I protested.
"I did, indeed." He nodded. "But it's been ten years, Cam. At what point are you going to let go of the memory and start living? Because until you start living in the world again, I can't."
"Leo..." I said, not knowing how to respond to his raw honesty. He was right on some level. I had been living a life closed off from the rest of the world as I tried to absorb the enormous loss, but now I wondered if it wasn't time to open up a bit and pull down some of the protective walls I'd built. I sank down into one of the soft chairs that faced his desk and dropped my face into my hands.
"Cam, look, I've done everything you've ever asked me to," Leo said quietly. "And I've never complained, but now..."
Leo got up out of his chair, walked around the desk, and perched on the edge of it. He leaned forward and rested his hand on my shoulder.
"But now it's time to come out of the shell and start living again, my friend," he said. There was sadness in his voice, but it was mixed with a bit of hope around the edges. It was as if he thought that he could shock me out of my years of sadness, and maybe he could.
"How am I going to handle this?" I asked as I shrugged off his hand and rubbed my head until my hair was a tangled mess. "We need a plan, Leo. Victor Vangel is going to try to ruin me just out of spite if we don't have a plan."
"Then let's sit down and draw one up and release the information," he said with a hopeful smile. "On our terms, in our own way."
"This is gonna suck, Leo," I said as I sat up and looked at him shaking my head as I played out the scenario. "The guys at the station are gonna be pissed that I kept this a secret, and the news media is going to turn it into a circus. I can't do this."
"You can do it, Cam," Leo said. "You can and you will. And once you do it, you'll be free from it all for good."
"Maybe that's what I'm afraid of," I muttered as I watched Leo grab a notepad and some pens and
move over to the conference table in the corner of the room.
"Maybe it is, but if Vangel or Metzler is going to release the information, you've really got nothing to lose at this point, do you?" he said as he began sketching out a diagram for how we could break the news and maintain control of the flow of information.
Two hours later, I looked up from the rough draft of the report we'd created and, for the first time in a very long time, I smiled at the prospect of telling people what was going on in my life. I’d told Leo a million times that we should hire a PR person to do this work, but he insisted that we were better able to handle our own PR and, besides, he didn’t trust anyone who was able to spin the story better than he was able to.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Alex
I hadn't heard anything from Cam for several days, but since my schedule was filled with studying and ER shifts, I didn't give it a whole lot of thought. Or if I did, I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it. My studies came first, and with graduation in sight, I had to keep my eye on the prize.
Liz and I were scheduled to work the late shift in the ER on Friday after having been absent for a few days, so we'd whipped up a batch of enchiladas for the staff and brought dinner in for everyone. There was a great deal of appreciation in addition to the comments about Liz's new dye job and what role that had played in the enchilada making. After all the fussing over the sink, I'd managed to turn Liz into a platinum blond with blue tips on the ends of her hair. We weren't sure how Mrs. Rikka was going to respond to the change in her charge's hair color, but we figured that at worst, we'd argue that Liz was going for hospital pride by matching her hair to her scrubs.
Around seven, Mrs. Rikka toured the ER on her nightly rounds, and in tow she had Violet, Jessica, and Lydia. Liz and I exchanged looks as the girls followed Mrs. Rikka into the exam rooms and emerged making notes about the condition of each room.
"Now, ladies, you'll see that every well-run ER needs someone who is deeply invested in ensuring that it is stocked and ready to go," she lectured as she walked around the nurses’ station. "And in every ER you'll also notice that there are people designated to be the stockers."
Mrs. Rikka looked at Liz and I pointedly as she explained the way in which it was best to approach assigning jobs in the ER. It took her a few moments, but when it registered, she turned and exclaimed, "Elizabeth Banks, what have you done to your hair?"
"I dyed it," Liz said in a voice she would have used with a small child.
"I can see that," Mrs. Rikka sniffed. "Why on earth would you use such an unnatural color?"
"Oh, it's the rage with all of the scholarship students," Violet interjected as she stared coldly at Liz. "You know, when they can't make their academic mark, they aim lower for shock value."
"Not really sure how much lower one could get than that 80s hairstyle, you sport, Vi," Liz said in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice. "But keep digging!"
"Ladies!" Mrs. Rikka exclaimed. "Enough! This is a hospital not a school yard, and I'll not have you fighting in front of patients and staff!"
"I'm sorry," Violet said, but I could tell she wasn't at all by the way she nudged Jessica and Lydia and then gave Liz a nasty little grin.
"If she leaves me alone, we won't have any problems," Liz said, flashing a big grin at the trio. "But they're always starting something."
"Miss Baker, I don't care who's starting what, I will not have fights in my hospital, is that clear?" Mrs. Rikka asked.
"Crystal." Liz nodded as she turned toward me and rolled her eyes. Then asking in a sweet voice, she said, "Shall we get back to work, Mrs. Rikka?"
"Yes, please do," the supervisor responded as she motioned for the other girls to follow her. I could hear her lecturing them on proper hand washing techniques for each floor as they exited the ER.
"That Violet Metzler is a menace to society," Liz muttered once they were gone. "I wonder if her parents are aware of that."
"Aw, Liz, you need to ease up on her a bit or you're going to get yourself in trouble," I warned.
"I'm not the problem," Liz replied. "She starts everything, I just finish it."
I laughed as I shook my head and went back to stocking the exam areas. It wasn't until midnight that I noticed Liz had disappeared again, but then a string of ambulances flooded the ER and I got busy triaging patients and restocking supplies.
Around two in the morning, when the rush had died down, I heard the front doors swoosh open and a familiar laugh fill the ER. I looked up from the patient charts I was filing and saw Cam walking through the door in full gear. His face was covered with soot and his hair was even wilder than it normally was. I smiled as I watched him scan the ER and find me. His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his lips as he turned and said something to his buddies before taking long strides toward the desk where I was sitting.
"Hi, Alex Pierce." He grinned down at me. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Hello, Cam Connor." I laughed as I stood up and walked around the station. "I'm not sure why it's such a surprise for you, other than maybe you were hit on the head by falling debris at your last call."
"Good one." He laughed as he bent down and leaned on the counter. "No, no falling debris. Just a car fire that got a little out of control."
"Is there ever a car fire that is not out of control?" I asked with a skeptical grin.
"And again with the astute observation." He laughed before adding more quietly, "I'd like to see you again."
I stared at him for a few seconds until he looked down and muttered, "I mean, if you'd like to see me again, that is."
"Silly man, of course I'd like to see you again!" I laughed as he looked up visibly relieved. "I was just trying to think about when I'll have time what with exams, classes, and work this week."
"I could help you study," he said hopefully. "Quiz you on whatever it is you're being tested on."
"You know, that might actually work." I nodded, but when I looked back up at him, I realized that any pretense of studying was likely to be abandoned if we were in a room alone together. I could feel the magnetic pull of his body, and a memory of his lips pressed against mine flashed before my eyes causing me to look away.
"Uh huh, sure it would," Cam said as if he'd just read my mind. "Well, at the very least I could take you to dinner to help keep up your strength."
"I'd like that." I smiled.
"How about tomorrow night?" he asked as the guys from the squad signaled that it was time to get back to the station. "I'll pick you up around seven?"
"Sounds good!" I called as he ran for the door. It was only after he'd left that I wondered where he was taking me.
"Got a date with the firefighter, do you?" Leslie asked with a smile. "He's a hottie."
"Do you all conspire to make that same joke?" I laughed as Leslie laughed with me. I looked around and wondered where Liz had wandered off. I told Leslie I was going to go look for Liz, and she nodded as she updated more patient charts.
#
It took twenty minutes of searching to finally find Liz. She was standing outside the pharmacy, staring at the poster covered with a diverse group of people, presumably employees, which announced Chicago General would soon be part of a larger network of hospitals throughout the area.
"Liz, are you okay?" I asked as I put my hand on her shoulder and turned her around.
"Yeah, fine. Why?" she said in a brisk voice. "Just learning about the changes coming to Chicago General."
"I see," I said. "We've missed you down in the ER. Want to come back with me?"
"Yeah, sure." She nodded as I took her arm and led her back to the department. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but I knew her well enough to know that she wasn't going to give me any answers until she was good and ready.
"Hey, Cam came in a little while ago and asked me out," I said, trying to find a topic that we could discuss, hoping it would draw her out of whatever funk she was in.
"Did he, now?" she replied as we walked
into the ER, then suddenly she was back to normal. "I hope you told him he needs to take you someplace good, not to another of those dive bars he and his coworkers seem to like."
"Liz! That's rude!" I laughed as she gently punched my upper arm and winked at me.
"You've got enough condoms, right?" she asked with a knowing grin.
"Elizabeth Banks!" I half-gasped, half-laughed.
"Oh, don't be an old spoil sport," she said. "We've had the talk, now it's time for you to get some action!"
Something about Liz's nonchalant tone set me off, and I laughed until the tears rolled down my cheeks. She stood looking at me, shaking her head as she watched my complete meltdown, and that made me laugh even harder. When it was over, Liz offered me some water and then said, "But seriously, condoms."
That set off another wave of laugher and it wasn't until Leslie came over to find out what was going on that I was able to stop and catch my breath.
"I have no idea what's got her so hysterical." Liz shrugged as we cleaned up Exam 2. "Something random just set her off."
"Alex, do you think that overnight shifts are a little too much for you to handle?" Leslie asked. "Maybe you aren't cut out for late shifts."
"There's a lot that's a little too much for her to handle," Liz muttered under her breath. "But it ain't overnight shifts, I'll tell you that."
This sent me into a new fit of laughter and made Leslie giggle too. Liz continued sweeping the floor as she looked at both of us and shook her head sadly. For the rest of the night, anytime Liz look at me and said, "But seriously," I broke down in laughter.
On the walk home, Liz chattered about exams and the hope that Violet would fail all of hers, but nothing was said about what had happened outside of the pharmacy. I worried about her, but decided that if she needed something, she'd ask. It was Liz, after all, and she knew she could ask me for anything.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Cam
"All right, girl, here goes nothing," I said to Tesla as I pocketed my wallet and grabbed my keys. "I don't know how this is gonna go, but one thing is for sure: I won't forget about you."
