140 Garden on the 4th floor

From the distance, Dr. Snow saw Liz talking to their radiologist and it didn't take him longer than a second to recognize the man in the wheelchair. He balled his hands into fists while thinking angrily that Liz is neglecting her work and her patients for that despicable man.

Dr. Snow snapped to his senses and moved into the hallway to his right and leaned against the wall in an attempt to avoid being seen while Liz pushed Max's wheelchair out.

Max tilted his head up to look at Liz with a grin. "He said that I am fine."

"No. He said that you should take it easy. That is not fine.", she responded.

"But I can walk and move around freely.", Max protested.

"You can walk ca-re-fu-lly. If you start moving around freely, then you go to work, and I will go to mine."

Max grimaced, like he is in pain. "The left side is killing me! I will need your care for at least two more days… It's serious…" He puckered his lips indicating that kisses will be needed.

Liz laughed. Max is shameless.

That is how much Dr. Snow heard before the door closed behind Liz and Max. He didn't see their faces and gestures, but he heard every word and it confirmed that the friend Liz is taking care of is Max.

Dr. Snow went to the radiologist who was talking to Liz and Max before they left.

"Sorry, Dr. Snow. You know that we should not discuss private information about patients without their consent.", the radiologist said when Dr. Snow asked about the details on the condition of his previous patient.

"I know, Dr. Richards.", Dr. Snow smiled. "I am not asking anything private. As you know, Dr. Williams is my friend, and so is Mr. Anderson. I was only thinking if I should send him a basket of fruits or something more elaborate for get well wishes…"

Dr. Richards hesitated for a second before responding: "Mr. Anderson is recuperating well considering the accident he found himself into. He was lucky. As for the size of the fruit basket, I will leave that to you."

"I see. Thank you.", Dr. Snow made his way out when he realized that this is how much he will find out. Well, he does not care about the details. It seems that Max was injured, but it's nothing serious and Liz is staying home because of him!

Few minutes later, Dr. Snow was in his office nervously squeezing the stress-release ball. The blasted stress-releasing thing is not working!

The gossip spreads fast, and on the way to his office, he heard from the nurses that the man in the wheelchair with Elizabeth is her boyfriend.

Last week Dr. Snow found out how that single bouquet of roses which Elizabeth accepted is from her boyfriend and Dr. Snow had a suspicion that it's Max, but he didn't want to believe it.

Dr. Snow fumed. Why would an amazing woman like Elizabeth end up with a scheming player like Max? Right! He is a scheming player! Now that he thinks about it, Dr. Snow is convinced that Max somehow tricked Elizabeth into being his girlfriend. Just like how he is tricking her to neglect her work and stay with him! Liz is an innocent victim, and Max is a conniving dastard!

…

After Max's appointment at the Franciscan Medical Center, Max and Liz went for lunch and then returned to their apartment building.

Liz got an idea: "How about we go to the garden on the fourth floor?"

Max has no objections. "OK."

The garden occupies about half of the floor which is facing away from the busy street and it has a path made out of stone tiles. The garden beds are elevated, indicating that they are there for the flowers and other plants to thrive, and not for people to bring pets who will dig around and relieve themselves. That is why there is a sign 'no pets allowed' at the door.

Number of tall maple trees are at the outer edges of the garden, and the garden path is lined with neatly trimmed hedge and decorative dwarf trees. Liz counted six benches placed strategically so that people seated on them can enjoy the view, and not be too close to the neighboring bench. In the middle, the path makes a circle and in the middle is a circular cushioned seating with a huge umbrella above it.

"I like this…", Liz said when she stopped in front of one fountain which is in the middle of one of the flower beds.

She looked at Max. "Have you been here before?"

Max confirmed. "Once. When I moved-in, I came to check it out."

"When was that?"

"About five years ago."

Liz was surprised that in five years Max came here only once. "Oh, that is a pity. We should come here more often."

Max likes that she included him, but there is a reason why he didn't come here…"It is nice now, because people are at work. When I stopped by, it was not this private."

Liz nodded. She understands Max's point. No matter how pretty the place is, when it's crowded, it must be noisy and other than the people, you can't enjoy. Crowd and noise kills the point of a garden where you come to relax.

"Well, we can enjoy now. It seems that there is no one else, so this whole place is ours!", Liz smiled and went toward the circular seating in the middle.

Max moved out of the wheelchair to sit next to Liz. He can walk fine, and with painkillers he does not have any discomfort, but Liz told him to sit (or lay down) as much as possible in order to rest his back muscles which got bruised.

Every time she sees purple stripes on his back (or thinks about them), Liz cringes. Those are leftovers from the branches which hit his back as he was falling… with her in his embrace.

They sat in silence, each in their own thoughts.

The noise from the street was barely audible, and they could hear water sounds from the closest small fountain and few birds were chirping. Liz wondered if the birds made nests here.

Max observed Liz's serene expression for some time before asking: "You like gardens?"

"Yes. My mother liked them. In a way, they remind me of her. She always said that when life becomes too hectic, plants will remind us of the beauty in slowing down. You can't see a plant grow, but it is steadily growing. Yet, if the conditions are not right, it will dry quickly. It takes patience to grow a garden, and it brings tranquility but if you mess it up, it can be all gone in a flash… Now that I think about it, her words apply to more than just gardening." Liz sighed. "She said many things, but I didn't listen. I had my own ideas what is important and now that she is gone I regret that I didn't listen more."

"How old were you when she passed away?"

"Thirteen."

"I am sorry."

Liz let out a heavy sigh. "So am I."

"It must have been hard for you.", Max said after a long silence.

Liz smiled sadly before responding: "For some time, I blamed her, like it's her fault for leaving me. Dad grieved in his own way. Every successful surgery filled in a bit of a gap which my mom left behind in his life. As for me… I started reading everything I could get my hands on. It was my way of escaping the reality. I would travel the seas and fight pirates or escape a volcano, I didn't care where books took me as long as it was not the reality, it was fine. One day I saw my dad smiling, and I thought that maybe helping people get better will help me as well. Bonus was that I got closer to my dad."

"Did it help you?"

Liz nodded in confirmation. "Focusing on medicine and helping people gave me a purpose. It is my driving force to get up and do something with my life. There is still that gap, but eventually I got used to the new normal of not having my mother by my side. I never stopped missing her, but I learned to live with it."

Max wanted to know more about Liz's mother, but he saw that Liz's mood dropped. He pulled her to lean on him and ran his fingers through her hair.

Max understood that Liz focuses on her career to block the unpleasant things, such as missing her mother and that is why she is putting her work as number one, because if she doesn't, there will be gaps in her shield and unpleasant things might seep in.

He found that in some way, they are similar. Liz's bad memory is her mother's death and his is Irene leaving him. Both of those memories brought up personal demons they didn't know how to fight against.

Max wondered, how long will Liz be able to avoid her demons? No matter what she does, they are catching up and lingering. After all, her mother died and that is a fact. He sighed… he has no right to ask that question because for years he is doing everything he can to avoid his. At least Liz got her degree in neurosurgery and is helping people and he… he ended up drinking and partying. When he puts it in that way, Max is ashamed of himself.

"You don't need to take more days off for me.", Max said reluctantly. Guilt due to Liz neglecting her work because of him was swelling inside Max. "I already took three workdays away from you."

"You need to rest, and if I am not here, I fear that you will not rest at all.", Liz explained. "Two more days are nothing. Tomorrow is not a big deal because I don't have surgeries scheduled, and on Friday is my shift in Urgent Care. It's easy for hospital to find a stand-in for me on Fridays."

Max looked at Liz and smiled. He knows that her career is her top priority, and she is taking a full week off in order to make sure he does not move much. "Thank you."

"Am I a good girlfriend?", she batted her eyelids at him playfully (in the same way he does when he pretends to be nearly-dying and demands kisses as medicine).

Max laughed. "You are the best."

Liz smiled smugly.

Liz and Max sat in the garden for some time and chatted in a good atmosphere.

They agreed that the next two days they will spend as much as possible time in the garden, to make use of it while it's empty (because others are at work).

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