97 It will get worse before it gets better 1

Tuesday…

Max went to work feeling unsettled.

The previous evening, Elizabeth was clingy which is totally out of character for her unless there is something bothering her. She was like that after work, so he deducted that something happened during those eight-to-nine hours how much she was at the Franciscan Medical Center. Considering that her performance at work is impeccable, it must be something related to that Dr. Snobby. After all, Liz gets uncomfortable in the area of human relationships, while her professional side shines.

Max asked Liz three times how her day was. The first time, she snuggled next to him. The second time she spoke about two surgeries she is going to assist on this week and about a virologist with whom she will collaborate on finding the cure for a new virus which attacks the nervous system before asking him how his day was and listening attentively. The third time she reminded him that they should go to bed.

He enjoyed the snuggles and the fact that he got to sleep next to Liz (again!) without the need to come up with a reason for it. However, nothing she mentioned justifies her clinginess which brought Max back to Dr. Snow.

Max grasped that Liz doesn't want to talk about Dr. Snobby and Max's guess is that Dr. Snobby approached her (probably without impacting her work), and she rejected him successfully. Anything else would result either in her breaking down or her not being so clingy.

The fact that she didn't talk about it tells Max that he still needs to work on getting Elizabeth's trust, but on the other side… if a woman made a move on him at work and he rejected her, he would not tell that to Elizabeth either. Why upset Liz for no reason? It might sound like he is rubbing it in and wanting her to be jealous. After coming up with this point, Max concluded that Liz probably thought on the same lines, and that is why she didn't tell him.

Well, the only thing Max can do is to have faith in Elizabeth and to let her know that he is here for her, whenever she needs him.

That morning he noticed that Elizabeth's mood was much better, and Max chooses to believe that is due to the power of his hugs. In the history of Maximilian Anderson, no woman woke up grumpy after spending the night in his embrace. He is confident in that fact.

…

8:37 AM

That Tuesday morning, Liz entered her office apprehensively. She sighed in a relief when she noticed no flowers or anything else out of place. Dr. Snow got the message, and he will not send her flowers anymore.

Liz was a bit apprehensive for not telling Max about Dr. Snow sending her flowers the previous day, but now that she confirmed how it was a one time thing, she is confident that she made a wise choice. She does not want to risk Max getting upset and punching Dr. Snow again. Drama-free is how she likes her life.

Tuesday is Liz's day for surgeries, but since she has none scheduled, she decided to spend the day in her office reading through the files of two patients on whose surgeries she will assist on Thursday, and the rest of the time she will work on her research paper.

Usually, she would spend her Tuesdays in the Urgent Care, keeping busy by helping out. But on Tuesdays Dr. Snow is in Urgent Care and considering the recent events, Liz does not want to linger there and give him any ideas that she is doing it so that she can be close to him.

The only meeting for today Liz has with Dr. Kaviraj at 11 AM. One of Dr. Kaviraj's patients will come for a pre-surgery checkup and Liz will be there as well so that she can meet with the man on whose surgery she will assist on Thursday.

…

10:02 AM

Dr. Snow is checking the time every few minutes. Why is Elizabeth not here? She always comes to the Urgent Care on Tuesdays.

Is it possible that Elizabeth is so upset at him that she does not want to see him? Not possible. She was always friendly, and he didn't do anything out of line in order for her to avoid him. Right?

Ever since Saturday, his mind is a mess.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

He spilled his heart to Elizabeth (and intentions for the future) and ended up being punched and watched that despicable playboy carry Elizabeth outside the restaurant like he saved the day. Why did that bastard punch him? They were only talking!

To make things worse, everyone in the restaurant gave him reprimanding looks, like he is a villain and he even ended up paying the bill! By the time he got out, there was no sign of Elizabeth.

Dr. Snow wanted to call Elizabeth, but he was not sure what to say. After some deliberation, he understood that he was too sudden and too direct, and it spooked her away. Based on the information he has related to Elizabeth, she never had a serious relationship, so his choice of words like a 'lifelong partner' was too much for her… especially because they are not dating (yet).

However, he is accompanying her for a lunch for weeks, and he noticed that she is oblivious to his intentions, treating him like a mere coworker. That is why he wanted to meet her outside of work and that is why he rushed when he realized how that despicable playboy wants to sink fangs in HIS Elizabeth. Ah, just the thought of that playboy with Elizabeth makes Dr. Snow's blood boil.

All that is in the past, he can't erase it. But he needs to fix it.

Dr. Snow decided on a safe route: flowers to wait for her at work first thing in the morning. He does not know much about flowers, so he bought one of the most extravagant bouquets which store down the street offered.

He was confident that Liz will like the flowers and read the note and call him to say that he is forgiven, and they can go back to casual chats during lunch which will buy him time to work his way into her life gradually (how he originally planned). What can go wrong? But… then he heard that Elizabeth gave the flowers to the nurses so… something did go wrong.

Dr. Snow wanted to look for Liz and talk to her, but because she returned the flowers, he was reluctant to do so. Ah, women are unpredictable like that.

He did a lot of research online and the only thing he came up with is that his gesture was not enough for her to forgive his blunder from Saturday. Was the bouquet too small?

Dr. Snow hoped to talk to Elizabeth today, but she is not showing up in Urgent Care. Usually she is here by 8:30 AM, and it's more than a one-and-a-half hours past that already!

What can he do? He does not want to make the situation worse and in order to fix it, he needs to talk to Elizabeth, to explain to her that his intentions are pure.

Should he look her up in her office? He does not want to intrude on her work hours, he knows that she puts her career first and before he approaches her, he needs to make sure that she is not upset. How can he accomplish that? His mind went back to the point how his gesture was not enough to show sincerity…

…

11:45 AM

In Dr. Kaviraj's office…

"Thank you Elizabeth for coming today.", Dr. Kaviraj thanked Elizabeth when the two of them ended discussing the strategy for the upcoming surgery after the patient left.

"Thank you for including me in this checkup. I always learn a lot when I shadow you.", Elizabeth responded. "Do you have lunch plans?"

Dr. Kaviraj smiled gently. "Yes. I am going out for the rest of the day once we wrap up here. Vihaan and Vivaan have an event in their school. Their whole class set up a play and since these are the last few days of their high school, I don't want to miss any." Dr. Kaviraj ended with a grin while pointing at the camcorder she got out of her purse.

"Sounds exciting."

Dr. Kaviraj confirmed. "I think it's more exciting for me than for my boys. What will you do for lunch?"

"I will probably grab a sandwich from the café downstairs and eat in my office."

"Is it because of the rumor involving Dr. Snow?", Dr. Kaviraj guessed.

Liz didn't deny it. "I don't want to create an opportunity for us to be seen together and to make it worse."

Dr. Kaviraj bobbed her head indistinctly. "I hope you know what you are doing, but keep in mind that you can't avoid him forever."

"Not forever. Just for these few days until the dust settles a bit."

From the general surgery wing on the second floor, Liz headed to the café which is hear the reception in the main lobby.

Other than the variety of coffees and simple beverages, the café  also offers premade sandwiches and small fruit and veggie bowls, and their selection of yogurts is not bad either.

Elizabeth selected a turkey and swiss sandwich, a small veggie bowl and a strawberry yogurt. She is not a fan of sandwiches, but once in a while this is OK. While waiting in the line to pay, she thought how she will probably need to pack lunch from home if she does not want to eat sandwiches for the rest of the week (or longer). After all, she can't count on Dr. Kaviraj to give her lunch-company every day. The woman is busy herself.

Liz's attention got drawn to the three nurses who were standing nearby and giving her meaningful looks.

Liz puffed her cheeks in frustration while trying to ignore them. How irritating! Are they gossiping about her and Dr. Snow? It was just one bouquet of flowers, why are they making such a big deal out of it? Liz realized that Dr. Snow probably has a fan club among FMC employees, and that by rejecting his 'reconciliation efforts' she offended them somehow. Oh, God! At this rate it will get worse before it gets better!

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