139 Back to Seattle from Hawaii

~ Seattle, Max's apartment ~

Wednesday

8:12 AM

Liz is in the bed next to Max (aka her bolster pillow).

They finally got to sleep in Seattle after two full days (and nights) in the hospital in Hawaii.

As soon as he left Max's room after their little chat, in a matter of minutes, Chairman Jarvik made sure that everyone in the hospital knows who is staying in that VIP room and Max and Liz had a wonderful experience: the staff was super-friendly and cooperative, the food was amazing, there are no complaints. Bonus was the bed which is big enough for both of them to sleep on it comfortably side by side (Liz was clinging onto Max, as usually).

The chief surgeon stopped by Max's room twice, once for Liz's autograph, and the second time to discuss current surgery techniques. Liz didn't reject him; Max was busy on his laptop and she had a lot of free time anyway. That man is her first official fan, and she can't neglect him.

On Tuesday after lunch, Max and Liz took the flight back to Seattle (a private jet which Nathan arranged for them) and they landed in time for dinner. Rina, Hunter, and Mia waited for them at the airport with the wheelchair which Liz arranged for Max in advance.

They all had dinner together and then Max and Liz got to his apartment. She thought that they will stay at her place, but Max insisted on his, and because he is the patient, Liz didn't want to argue with him.

The first forty-eight hours passed, and Max can move now, but Liz demands that he takes it slowly.

"Liz, I am fine.", Max said while pulling Liz closer to him with a sly smile.

"Yeah, yeah…", Liz said sarcastically while getting out of his reach. "That is only because of the painkillers. Let us wait and see what the doctor will say. OK?"

Max wanted to say that Liz IS a doctor, but she is telling him to stay put and take it easy, so he reminded himself not to bring that point up.

He has an appointment with the rheumatologist at the Franciscan Medical Center at 10 AM on Wednesday, and Liz wants to hear an opinion of an expert. You can never be too careful.

Liz took Wednesday off from work as well in order to accompany Max to his appointment and for the rest of the day.

Back to present…

Liz is thinking about the morning: she will need to go to her place to get clothes for Max's appointment and leave her clothes from Hawaii for Olivia to wash.

'Oh, Olivia!', Liz remembered. 'She is coming at nine, and I can ask her to bring something for breakfast.'

Liz turned to get her phone and started texting Olivia.

"And fruits for me…", Max's husky voice sounded next to Liz's ear. "…Pineapples."

Liz stifled a laugh. Can this man think of anything else? Why is he looking at her text messages behind her back?

"Good morning.", she wished him.

"Good morning…", he smiled and extended his hand to pull her closer.

Liz's eyes flashed in panic. "Don't move… don't move…", she said while scooting closer to him.

"Mmm…", he hummed in approval. "If you get this close to me, I have no reason to move."

"Did you sleep well? How is your back? It's almost time for you to take medicine. And we need to shower and have breakfast…" Liz paused when she felt his hands moving under her top (his t-shirt), from her waist going higher. "What are you doing?"

"Hmm?", Max hummed questionably. "What do you mean?"

"Your hands… what are you doing?"

"Checking if you lost any weight during last two days in the hospital.", he lied with a straight face.

"No one checks weight loss like that.", Liz moved and slapped his hands away. "Can you be serious? Stop moving around. The more you move, the longer it will take for you to recuperate."

Max pouted. He thought that Liz sticking to him for two days will be a good chance for moving forward, but she is not letting him do anything. How he sees it, this is them moving backward to 'no touching' status. He exhaled in frustration. "How long?"

"What?"

"For how long I need to not move much?"

Liz thought how to answer this, realizing that Max will probably find a way to turn it to his advantage. "Let's see what the doctor says today."

"If doctor says that I am OK to move, then I am OK to move. Right?"

"Right.", Liz agreed reluctantly.

…

9:08 AM

Liz is walking backward into her apartment and pulling the wheelchair with Max on it.

"…If you were obedient we would not take so long in the shower. Now we need to rush with the breakfast.", Liz grumbled.

Max chuckled. "If you were not resisting, it would be all done in a flash."

Liz snorted. "Yeah, right…"

Liz turned to the back and saw Olivia who is staring at the two of them. "Good morning, Olivia!"

"Good morning…", Olivia said absentmindedly while processing the image in front of her.

"What happened?", Olivia asked while gesturing to Max who is in the wheelchair.

"He fell off a cliff with me.", Liz responded. "Let's get breakfast set up and we can tell you the details. We have about twenty minutes and then we need to head out…"

During breakfast Olivia found out what happened in Hawaii (related to Max's accident) and how they ended up staying longer because of he was in the hospital. They didn't mention McKenzie, but the rest was there.

"Oh, and Hunter and Mia got engaged.", Liz added.

"Who and who got what?!", Olivia asked while blinking rapidly.

"That is another story… and we don't have much time…" Liz was already on her feet. "Max has a doctor's appointment, and we don't want to be late…"

Olivia saw them last Sunday when both Liz and Mia freshly announced their relationship. Olivia can't believe how many things happened in just over one week.

Hungry-for-gossip Olivia was left by herself in Liz's apartment, wondering if she will see Liz tomorrow or she needs to wait until Saturday to get a better scoop on the happenings.

…

~ Franciscan Medical Center ~

Max is in the radiology, getting his MRI scans with and without dye injected. Each of the two scans will take about 45 minutes, and Liz can't go inside with him, so she has an hour and a half to spend and she decided to go to her office and check her work emails.

"Is that your boyfriend in the radiology, getting the imaging done of his back?", a nurse asked from the door of Liz's office.

Liz was not sure if she should roll her eyes, shoo her away or laugh. This is the third nurse who stopped by to ask the same question.

"Yes. Is there anything else you want to know?", Liz asked sarcastically.

Nurse missed the sarcasm and made a step inside while talking: "Yes, yes. How long do you know each other? How did you meet? How long are you together? Is he really the heir of the Alpha group? Did you meet him before or after Dr. Snow? Are you…?"

"Get out!", Liz interrupted her while throwing a pencil at the nurse. "Don't you have patients to take care of?"

"No need to be snappy…", nurse pursed her lips.

"Out!", Liz bellowed.

The second pencil hit the closed door after the nurse left.

Liz huffed in frustration. Don't those nurses have any work to do?

She checked the time and was relieved to see that Max should finish with his scans in a bit. Liz locked her PC and made her way to the radiology department.

Liz didn't reach far when she heard a familiar voice calling: "Elizabeth! … Dr. Williams! …"

Liz stopped her steps and turned toward the man who jogged toward her.

"Dr. Snow.", Liz said icily. This is the first time he approached her since the incident with flowers which caused her to be sent home early.

"You are not coming to work, I was worried.", he said when he reached her.

"I am fine. Thank you for your concern."

He noticed that she is not wearing her doctor's coat. "You are not here to work?"

Liz was distracted by two nurses who passed by them, and Liz is sure that they slowed their steps and craned their necks to hear better.

Liz sighed and turned to Dr. Snow. "Sorry, what?"

"When will you be back to work?", he rephrased his question.

"I'm not sure. Is there anything you need?", Liz asked.

Dr. Snow shook his head. "I was concerned if there were any other issues with Chairman Lee. I am truly sorry for the mess I caused. It was not intentional."

Liz nodded slightly. "Don't worry about it. I'm not at work because I am taking care of a sick friend."

She didn't say Max's name or 'boyfriend' because she does not want to give Dr. Snow any other points to talk about. And it's not his business anyway. Since she confirmed that Dr. Snow stopped her to chat casually, Liz has no intention to stick around because she does not want to talk to him about anything that is not work related.

"If you excuse me…"

Dr. Snow watched Liz until she turned behind the corner to the left, toward the radiology department.

Dr. Snow stood there for some time, ignoring the nurses who walked by him with hearts in their eyes. He never cared about any of them. The only woman who got his attention is Elizabeth Williams. And he knows that she is… that way…

Without thinking, his legs moved, and he found himself in the radiology department.

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