161 Tyler's appointmen

~ Seattle, Franciscan Medical Center ~

Monday

8:37 AM

Liz arrived at her office and confirmed that her first patient for the morning has an appointment at 9 AM.

She put her coat on and checked her emails. She was not at work last week and even though she cleared most of her emails on Wednesday, while Max was in the radiology, more emails piled up after that.

Liz sighed when she saw that Franciscan Medical Center is hosting a fundraiser this upcoming Saturday and as a surgeon employed here, her attendance is mandatory.

The fundraiser will be held at the hotel in the Seattle area and it will include presentations of the hospital (present and future plans), dinner and mingling with potential donors.

It's not that Liz does not like fundraisers, she attended plenty of them so far, but her mood dampened when she saw 'neurology wing' on the list of future plans for expansion. That means how she will need to be extra pleasant and smiling in order to leave a good impression for the donors.

The donors attend the fundraiser with a specific sum on their mind, and they don't care to which department it will go because as long as they make the donation, they will get their tax benefits. Liz's job will be to convince them that neurology is the right place for their money. As usually, most of the donors will be men, in their fifties and above, and some of them will expect hospital staff to be extra-friendly in order for them to invest.

Liz told herself to chill. She is overthinking things. Maybe they will all be nice people, and no one tries anything funny and she does not need to be unpleasant.

But this is Saturday, which means that she will not spend it with Max.

Liz leaned into her chair and thought about the previous weekend and her mood improved to the point of a small smile appearing on her face.

After the surprise visit from Isaac on Friday, and a nearly disastrous dinner at the Anderson family villa on Saturday evening, things turned out quite well.

Mia was nervous when Hunter came to Liz's apartment with Max and Liz (and Isaac), but Liz told her that the more she postpones the inevitable, the worse it gets because both of them are stressed and building up unreasonable scenarios in their minds.

"You trust him, right? Tell him everything and trust in your love for each other.", Liz advised Mia.

Mia and Hunter didn't linger. They went to their apartment with an agenda to talk.

On Sunday morning, Liz saw a 'thank you' text from Mia, and she assumes that the talk between Mia and Hunter went well.

As for Isaac, on Saturday evening, he took his carry-on suitcase to Max's place and stayed there overnight. On Sunday morning he joined them for breakfast, and the four of them chatted in a good atmosphere (Olivia was present as well). Shortly after breakfast, Isaac headed back to New York.

"Next time when you come for a visit, bring Max along…", Isaac told Liz when he gave her a hug on his way out.

Liz and Max didn't talk about the dinner with Max's family for the rest of the weekend. But Liz noticed that Max was much more attentive and gentler.

On Sunday, after Isaac and Olivia left, Liz and Max spent most of the day on their laptops, doing work related research.

They enjoyed dinner (Asian takeout) on the terrace with a great view. Max listened to Liz's progress related to her collaboration with the virologist, Dr. Thomas. Liz is helping out in finding the cure for the virus which attacks the nervous system, and she believes that they are on the verge of a breakthrough. Liz listened about latest projects Max is involved with, and he mentioned that on Friday in the garden, he talked with Isaac about several companies and their stock values, and that Isaac provided valuable insights.

Overall, their Sunday was relaxed, and the Monday morning was nice as well. Liz woke up while clinging onto her bolster pillow (aka Max) who gave her morning hugs and kisses before and after coffee and then some extras on her way out to keep her going through the day until they see each other after work again.

Ah, she could sit in her chair and smile foolishly all day while thinking about Max, but her first patient of the day will be here in few minutes.

…

"Mr. Wilson, please, take a seat…", Liz gestured toward the chair opposite from her desk while taking the notes from the nurse who escorted Liz's first patient in.

"Thank you, Jill…", Liz said to the nurse who left her notes and walked out so that Liz can talk with her patient in private.

"You are experiencing a pain in the neck area?", Liz asked after reading the notes. "Can you tell me if you hurt yourself and about the nature of the pain?"

Liz lifted her gaze toward the young man and met his smile. After few seconds of silence, Liz called: "Mr. Wilson?"

"Please, call me Tyler."

"Uhm… OK. Tyler. I see in the notes that you are here for the neck pain and that you were advised to visit your primary care physician or a chiropractor, but you insisted to be seen by a neurosurgeon. Can you tell me about the reason you are here?", Liz implied to his neck pain.

"I wanted to see you last week, but it is not easy to get ahold of you, Dr. Williams."

"Yes. I was out of office last week. But I am available now."

He smirked. "You are available?"

"As you can see, I am available. Mr. Wilson, we have half an hour for this appointment during which I need to decide what tests you will undergo, if any before I can establish you diagnosis, so… can we resume talking about your neck?"

Tyler observed Liz before asking: "You don't remember me, do you?"

Liz paused. "I am sorry. Do we know each other?"

Tyler leaned closer to Liz. "We met at the marina few weeks ago. You were Max's girlfriend at that time."

It didn't take more than a second for Liz to remember who he is. After all, she was at the marina only once, when she stayed with Max overnight, and she saw only one man, on the next morning. She saw him just briefly before Max whisked her away, and she didn't think that it's important, so she forgot about that incident. And about him.

Now that she looks at Tyler and his smirk, Liz felt that something is off and Max's words that she should stay away from him rang in her mind.

As much as Liz was uneasy on the inside, her expression didn't crack. "Let's clarify one thing. Do you have a problem with your neck or not?"

His smug smile widened. "What do you think?"

"I think that you are wasting my time, Mr. Wilson. I don't know why you are here, but you took the time slot from a person who really needs to see a doctor. Don't you have any shame?"

Tyler shrugged. "This was the only way for me to meet with you."

"Why do you want to meet with me?"

"I am curious about the girl who managed to get Max to acknowledge her as his girlfriend. I saw him with many girls, some of them more attractive than you are, but they didn't stick. So, I wonder, what qualities you have that got his attention? And the equally important question is: are the two of you still together? I said that it's not possible, but the word around is that Max is still not visiting his usual hangouts which leads me to believe that the two of you are still in a relationship."

Liz was not interested in entertaining Tyler. His expression showed that he is here to mess around, and collect gossip, and she is not messing with her work. "Are you going to leave on your own, or do I need to call the security?"

"Ah… why are you eager to kick me out? Do you know that the information on your whereabouts didn't come for free? Suzy is a greedy woman."

Liz wondered, who the hell is Suzy? But that does not matter. At this point, the only thing she wants is to get this pesky man out of her office.

"Mr. Wilson. I am a doctor in this hospital. And unless you have a health related issue, you are wasting my time and hospital's resources."

Tyler saw that Liz is out of patience and he was worried that she will really call the security to kick him out. He thought of an idea… "How about you do a general checkup of my neck?"

Liz put her professional smile on. "Sure…"

She stood up and gestured to the table for examinations. "Please, save a seat…"

"Do I need to remove my top?", Tyler asked with a big smile on his face.

Liz shook her head. "No need. If you unbutton the top three buttons, that will be enough."

Tyler hopped on the exam table and watched with glee as Liz walked behind him.

"Look forward…", Liz instructed, and her fingers landed on his neck. "Let me know when it hurts..."

"So… are you still with Max or…" His mouth opened wide in a mute scream when a sharp pain from his neck assaulted his system. In an instant his back was bathed in cold sweat.

He gritted his teeth and wanted to turn, or leap off the table... anything, but he realized in horror that he can't move. What did the witch do to him?

"Mr. Wilson…", Liz's icy voice sounded next to Tyler's ear. "I believe that you didn't hear me the first time, so I will repeat. I am a doctor in this hospital. Unless you have a health related issue, you are wasting my time and hospital resources. And I hate when someone is wasting my time. Do you think that I attended medical school for the purpose of meeting shameless people like you in my office?"

"Let me go…", Tyler said weakly while big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead from the paralyzing pain he found himself in.

"I will, if you promise that you will leave and not come back."

"OK…", Tyler agreed right away.

"If you change your mind, and decide to bother me again, I will make sure that you can't walk again, and I will say that your neck injury got worse suddenly. No one will suspect a thing. Got it?"

"Yes."

Liz stepped away and the pain in Tyler's body started easing up. When he regained control of his legs, Tyler scrambled off from the examination table and walked out of Liz's office backward while his eyes full of horror didn't leave Elizabeth.

When the door behind Tyler closed, Liz released the breath she was holding and slumped into her chair.

Liz rubbed her temples while thinking how this was unexpected and she has a feeling that it's not over. And who the heck is Suzy?

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