~ Seattle, the Franciscan Medical Center ~1:26 PM
Liz is Chairman Lee"s office. She came here after lunch with the intention to secure an invitation for Mrs. Wilson for the Sat.u.r.day"s fundraiser. Just as she guessed, it was easy. The fundraiser is in the hotel which can accommodate many guests and one or two more will not make a big difference. When Liz mentioned that Mrs. Wilson is interested in donating money to the Franciscan Medical Center, Chairman Lee called his secretary and instructed her to send an additional invitation with a note that it came on Liz"s recommendation. This additional note is providing a reason why the invitation is arriving at the last minute, and it also gives Liz credits.
"Thank you for thinking about our hospital.", Chairman Lee told Liz.
"It is not a problem. I know how these things work. When I heard that Mrs. Wilson is interested, I did what should be done." Liz half-lied. Mrs. Wilson was interested in attending, but the reason is slightly off. Liz sees no problem with this white lie. Her goal is to get closer to Mrs. Wilson, because that will threaten Tyler. Liz saw that Tyler is wary of his mother, and so is Mr. Wilson.
Liz smiled and she was about to leave when Chairman Lee called…
"Dr. Williams… I hope you know that I approve of your work. Your results are outstanding." Chairman Lee paused before adding: "I apologize for that time when I sent you home early but… no matter how good you are, our patients and this hospital come first and at that time the only thing on my mind was to remove anything that is disrupting regular flow. Uhm... I"m not saying that you were the disruptive one, but it was connected to you."
Liz pressed her lips into a line when she remembered that Dr. Snow flooded her office with flowers and she was sent home, like a troublemaker in school. The only thing missing was alerting parents to come and pick her up. It was extremely unpleasant.
Liz wanted to end the topic politely and to say how it"s OK and it"s all behind them but… it"s not. "Chairman Lee, I understand your priorities and I don"t disagree with them. I firmly believe in clean work ethics and that patients come first. However, now when the emotions are not overtaking reasoning, I hope that you can see how that was not my fault." Liz saw that Chairman Lee frowned, and she continued: "I didn"t order those flowers and I didn"t know that they are being sent to my office, or that it caused issues with patients. If you don"t want something like that to happen again, I suggest adding rules that large deliveries should be stopped at the reception."
Chairman Lee nodded in understanding with a forced smile and watched Liz leave his office.
He exhaled when the door closed behind her. Ever since that incident, Chairman Lee feels uneasy. He is not happy when he needs to reprimand his employees, but doesn"t she know how many apologies he made and how many discounts he needed to hand over in order to appease angry patients? She probably does not know.
Chairman Lee mentioned that incident because he wanted to clear the stifling air between them and maybe one of them should apologize but this… made it worse.
…
Room 570
2:42 PM
Liz is in Tyler"s room with Dr. Shaw present. Tyler is there as well.
She is looking at the results of Tyler"s MRI.
Dr. Shaw is standing next to Liz in silence and occasionally glancing at Tyler while waiting for Liz to start talking.
Dr. Shaw is a general doctor, a man in his mid-fifties and he finds that standing next to Elizabeth who is about half his age and a neurosurgeon is... intimidating. Her presence reminds him that he got his degree in his mid-thirties and that there is such a thing as exceptional individuals, yet he is not a member of that group.
"It"s no wonder that people are mentioning Dr. Williams and Dr. Snow in the same context frequently...", Dr. Shaw thought.
"What do you think, Dr. Williams?", Dr. Shaw asked Liz reluctantly, as if he is afraid to break her concentration.
"I need at least ten more minutes to a.n.a.lyze these before I can answer that question…", Liz responded without lifting her gaze from the doc.u.ments in her hands.
Dr. Shaw exhaled. He does not like Liz"s att.i.tude. Shouldn"t she be more respectful, or friendlier? He is her senior, after all. But he does not dare voicing his grievances. Dr. Snow is often giving him such a cold treatment as well. Frequently, Dr. Shaw feels in Liz"s and Chris"s presence that he is lacking.
Dr. Shaw smiled awkwardly and glanced at the time. "Is it OK if I go and check on another patient until then?"
"Sure, no problem. I will be here and if I leave before you return, you will get my inputs by three PM in your inbox."
"Thank you, Dr. Williams…", Dr. Shaw bowed slightly and regretted his action the moment he did it. Why is he acting like Liz"s subordinate?
Tyler watched Dr. Shaw leave the room in silence and he swallowed hard when he met Liz"s smug smile directed at him.
Liz kept the papers on the side without removing her gaze from Tyler. "I heard that you don"t remember how you ended up here but based on the way you are looking at me, I believe that is not true."
Tyler flinched when Liz made a step toward him. "What do you want?"
Liz stifled a laugh. "What do I want? You came to me… twice. Even now, you are at my hospital, and that makes it the third time, so I need to ask you: what do you want?"
"Nothing… nothing! Do you think I wanted to come here?", Tyler said nervously while pulling his cover up to his neck.
Liz bobbed her head. "Hmm… I"m not sure. You came to disturb me, two times. How do I know that this is not your scheme to disturb me again? I wonder if I should tell Max about this…"
Tyler visibly paled. "No. Please, don"t tell him!"
Liz stifled a laugh and gestured toward the basket with fruits. "But he knows already. I wonder if he will stop by after work. Or maybe tonight when the security is not so tight…" Liz saw that Tyler"s mouth is half open and she waved her hand indicating him to calm down. "Don"t worry about Max. He is not the one you should worry about."
Tyler"s eyes widened when Liz approached his IV drip. "What are you going to do?"
"What do you think I will do?"
"You can"t hurt me, I am a patient." Tyler shifted slightly under the cover.
"I told you that if you approach me again you will be unable to walk. Twice. Seeing that you can move your feet… that makes me a liar."
Tyler smiled provocatively. "You would not dare. I will tell them it was you."
"I can also make you not talk. You never know how these injuries can turn to worse with sudden internal bleedings and nerve damage."
Liz observed Tyler"s smug expression and her hunch told her that something is off. He is in the bed, under heavy painkillers. Considering their first two encounters, he should know that she can hurt him. From where is his confidence coming from? And his arrogance soared when she said how she can hurt him...
"You are threatening me…", Tyler sneered.
"You should have thought about it before coming to my office. No matter what happens to you, think of it as karma."
"Stay away from my mother.", Tyler said threateningly. "She has nothing to do with this."
Liz was surprised by this change in topic. "You should have stayed away from me. By targeting me, you provoked Max as well."
Liz saw that occasionally Tyler"s eyes are darting to the right side of his bed.
Liz"s eyes moved lower and she tugged the cover. Before Tyler could react, Liz took the recording device from his hand. Luckily, due to the medications, his reflexes and his grip are off.
She smiled and waved it for Tyler to see. "I knew you have something. A person like you who lives from other people"s secrets must have some tools at his disposal, and since your phone is on the side table, I figured that there is a reason why your hand is not moving from that spot… What was your plan for this? To exchange it for some information related to Max? Or something else?"
Tyler has no intention of answering Liz"s questions. What would he do with it? Use it as a leverage for Max to leave him alone. And based on what Liz says, maybe Tyler can use it for something else as well. His goal was to provoke her and to make her talk. And even if she does not say much, he can edit the recording to be incriminating. But now it"s gone.
Liz put the recording device in her pocket and looked at Tyler. "Don"t play games with me, Tyler. Sometimes your opponent is not who you think. Based on how your mother beamed at the sight of the fruit basket which came from Max, I a.s.sume that she does not know what you did and how you ended up here. I wonder... what will your mom do if she finds out that you are not friendly with Maximilian Anderson?"
Tyler clenched his teeth while reminding himself not to respond. He lost the recording device and no matter what he says, it will only make things worse.
Liz observed the changes in Tyler"s expression and confirmed her suspicion: in Wilson household, Tyler"s mom is the boss.
"Are you just leaving?", Tyler asked in disbelief when he saw Liz walk toward the door.
"Yes. I am a busy woman."
Tyler frowned, unsure what to think about this. "Is this… over?"
"What do you think?" Liz laughed and walked out of the room 570.
Tyler swallowed hard while Liz"s sinister smile was dancing in front of his closed eyes.
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