137 The rude hospital staff

Sabrina entered Max's hospital room with violent energy surrounding her.

\"Is it true? Zi did this?!\", Sabrina roared.

\"We have her recorded.\", Liz responded calmly, like Sabrina asked about the weather. \"She was going for me, but Max protected me and ended up like this.\"

Sabrina snorted angrily. She glanced through the room and saw that Madeline and Nathan are there.

Sabrina turned to her parents. \"What are you going to do about this?!\"

Nathan lifted his palms, indicating to Sabrina to calm down. \"Max wants to take care of it.\"

At that time, Mia and Hunter entered. Hunter was pulling behind him a suitcase with Liz's and Max's things.

Liz said that she will stay with Max until he is discharged, and Nathan assured them that as long as they are here, their suite 312 will be available for them to use.

Mia offered to bring Liz and Max things they might need, and Liz asked Mia to bring everything because they have no intention of going back to the resort with an explanation that Max's hospital room has a full bathroom and a sofa on the side, and she does not want to leave him by himself. When Max is discharged, they will return to Seattle. Liz already called Franciscan Medical Center and informed them that she will not come to work on Monday and Tuesday.

When Mia and Hunter reached the resort to get things for Liz and Max, they bumped into Sabrina and Jackson who returned from their submarine tour and Sabrina offered to help Mia with packing while Jackson said that he will rest.

Of course, Jackson does not need to rest. But after his painful encounter with Elizabeth during lunch yesterday, he will stay as far as he can from her.

Mia and Hunter used this opportunity to fill in Sabrina with the details of the incident and here they are.

Back to present…

Sabrina is in the full protective-older-sister mode, glaring at Max after Nathan told her that Max will handle the current situation with McKenzie. \"What are you going to do about this? Look at you!\"

As much as she is angry, her heart is aching to see Max in the hospital bed like that.

Max was about to answer, but Liz squeezed his hand, telling him that she will take care of it.

\"Rina, we spoke about this and we all agree that McKenzie is not going anywhere. She spoke to Max when she thought that he is unconscious, and we all confirmed that she is responsible. Current options are to tell her parents, but what will they do? Cut her allowance? Is that enough of a compensation for what she did? The other option is to go to the police. However, other than her saying how she wishes that she pushed me harder, we have nothing. She can twist the story and put it in a different context and wiggle out of it.\"

\"What do you plan to do?\", Rina asked Liz. By now Rina realized that this is in Liz's hands.

\"Right now, we will focus on getting Max back to his feet. If nothing unexpected comes up, in a week or two, he will be back to normal and by then we will have some ideas. Until that time, we hope that all of you can act like you are not aware that she has anything to do with this.\"

Sabrina reluctantly nodded in agreement. \"When you come up with a plan, let me know.\"

Liz agreed.

Andersons (and Mia) didn't stay long. They headed to the resort to pack their things because the time to head back is approaching. Nathan told Liz that by Tuesday morning a private jet will be ready to take them to Seattle as soon as Max is discharged.

On her way out of the room, Mia gave Liz a big hug and told her that she will start gathering information on McKenzie.

\"By the time you come home, I will have something for you. You just focus on Max.\", Mia assured Liz, waved at Max and left with Hunter.

After this, only Liz and Max were left in his hospital room.

\"Let me know if you need something.\", Liz told Max when she started the TV for him and gave him the remote. She wanted to get her laptop and set up the internet connection so that she can work on her research from the sofa, when she saw Max puckering his lips.

\"What?\", Liz asked.

\"I need a kiss.\", Max said sweetly while batting his eyelids.

Liz giggled. Why is he acting like a spoiled child? \"What?\"

\"You said to let you know if I need something, and I need a kiss.\" He puckered his lips more.

\"You should rest.\"

\"Mmm…\", he hummed in confirmation. \"I will. But kiss first. Come on. We didn't kiss in hours, and it feels like an eternity… Look! My aches are increasing… Give me that life-saving kiss now…\"

Liz shook her head helplessly and leaned to kiss the silly man in the bed.

Their lips barely connected when a nurse said from the door angrily: \"You should not move the patient!\"

Liz looked at the overprotective nurse and blinked. \"I am not moving him.\"

\"I saw what you are doing. If you are going to make his condition worse, I will request that you leave the room!\", nurse said and made her way in while carrying tray with lids on it, obviously with Max's lunch.

Liz and Max exchanged glances, but Liz didn't want to argue with the nurse. She is here only to bring lunch, anyway. And the nurse is right, Max should not be moved but there is a nicer way to say it.

Liz stepped to the side to give nurse space to pull the table and set up what Max needs.

While lifting Max's bed so that he can get into a seated position to eat, nurse told Max: \"Let me know if she disturbs you.\"

\"What?\", Liz asked in disbelief. Why is the nurse treating her like she is the troublemaker?

\"You should be grateful that we allowed you to stay here overnight. Non-patients are limited only to visiting hours because they get in the way of our work. Stay away from the patient, or I will make you leave. Do you think that this is a hotel?\", nurse said arrogantly and left the room.

\"Don't bother with her.\", Liz told Max when the nurse left. She can see that Max does not approve of nurse's attitude. \"It's not to our benefit to bicker with the staff of the hospital. And if we have any complaints, that should be handled with her supervisor.\"

Liz gestured to Max to eat and he asked: \"What about you?\"

\"I am not hungry. I will grab something later.\"

Max reached for the hospital phone on the side of the bed. \"This is the best hospital on the island. They should have a service to deliver food for patients AND their guests.\"

\"You know about services available in hospitals.\", Liz teased Max.

Max scratched his nose and admitted: \"When a man parties he ends up in accidents once in a while…\"

Liz waved her hand, indicating him to stop talking. She does not want to know.

Max refused to touch his food until Liz's lunch was there as well so that they can eat together.

It took a while because the person on the other side of the line was unwilling to redirect them to the dining service.

In the meantime, nurse came back twice to remind Max that he needs to eat and not be distracted with the lunch for his girlfriend.

\"You are here to get better, not to feed your lover.\", the nurse said irritably before exiting swiftly, not allowing Max and Liz time to respond.

Another nurse also peeked in, eyed Max and Liz without a word and stepped outside.

\"Excuse me…\", Max called the third nurse who came into his room after some time. \"Can I talk to your supervisor?\"

The nurse lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

\"My supervisor? Why would she talk to you?\", the nurse peeked at his hospital chart and continued mockingly: \"Mr. Anderson, this is a hospital, and we are all busy. At most, you can tell me what you want, and I will leave her a note.\"

Max balled his hands into fists. The people working in this hospital are super-rude. He wanted to make it right, but they are not in Seattle. Who should he call? He thought of calling Nathan to see if he knows someone who can fix this issue.

At the same time, Liz ran out of patience. When the doctor in charge was cold, Liz assumed that he is busy and wants to move on to the next patient, but after seeing the behavior of these nurses, she can see that this whole hospital has attitude issues. And why did their rudeness triple after Nathan and Madeline left? Do they think that without the elders Max and Liz are useless?

Max was about to call Nathan when he saw Liz talking on her phone.

\"Hi dad… did I wake you up? ... \"

Max listened Liz telling her dad in few sentences that she is in the hospital (she said three times how she is not the patient), and that the staff is very rude, treating her like an ignorant tourist.

\"… Thanks, dad. You are the best!\", Liz ended the call and exhaled happily.

\"Your dad?\", Max asked Liz curiously. Liz told him that her father is a surgeon on the East Coast and that she came to Seattle so that she can develop her career without his influence, but nothing more than that.

\"Yeah. My dad knows people.\", Liz vaguely explained.

She didn't talk to Max about her dad much. It's not that she does not trust Max, but she saw more than once people's attitude toward her change drastically as soon as they find out who her father is.

Liz can see that Max is looking at her expectantly, so she added: \"I don't usually call him for these things, but if I don't do this, our options are to suck it up or to argue with them. And arguing will only make it worse for us, so...\" She shrugged and smiled.

Max was curious to see what her dad can do. The call didn't last more than two minutes. She didn't say who is the patient or why they are here, but Liz's confidence in her father is obvious.

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