That Thing Between Eli and Gwen (17 page)

I tried to take her off of me, but she just wrapped her legs tighter.

What is this?

“Molly, if I promise to come play with you, will you go with your doctors?” I hoped she would loosen up.

She shook her head. “Grown ups lie, you won’t come. Daddy lied, he said I would feel better. The doctors lied, saying the other doctor would me fix me. I want to go home!” She cried harder.

I glanced at her dad, who just looked broken. His shirt was rumpled, his shoulders hunched, and his five o' clock shadow seemed to be working on its tenth hour.

“Okay. I won’t lie then,” I said, shifting her. “You are sick, Ms. Molly, and these people are trying to help. Running away won’t make you feel better, and you won't win in the end. You liked the drawing, right? I can’t come to play, but I can paint you any picture you want. Just tell me.”

“My mommy,” she whispered. “Can you draw her?”

I smiled, nodding. “I will have it to you in a week, and if you don’t receive it, you can tell everyone I am a liar too. But right now, will you go with your doctors?”

She frowned, but nodded.

I handed her to a dark-skinned doctor with glasses. “We will take her to get her labs done, and then she’ll be back in her room,” he said as the trio escorted her away.

Her father—Toby, I now remembered—stood wringing his hands, watching her go. “I know this is a very dumb question, but are you all right?” I asked.

He picked up his head some, turning.

His blank look was like he'd forgotten I was there, which was understandable.

“My daughter called me a liar, and she is in pain. I’m the furthest thing from all right.” He put his hand over his face and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to dump that on you.”

“It’s okay, I said it was a dumb question. You look like you need a mental break. Would you like to sit with me? You're Toby Wesley, right? From my building?”

“Oh, that's why you look familiar. Yes. Ms. Poe, correct?” He followed me to sit in the chairs by the wall. “Is this your work station?” He glanced over at the light sketching on the wall.

“Yes. I officially started on it today.” I leaned back in my chair and followed his gaze. My sketch was pretty hard to see with the naked eye, so I wasn’t worried about anyone figuring it out yet. When the paint came in, that’s when the screen was going to have to go up.

“What's it going to be?”

“It’s a secret for now. Which reminds me, do you have a photo of your wife? Is she here as well, so I can work on Molly's painting?”

He sat taller in the chair, not looking at me. “She passed. It’s all right, you're busy. I wouldn’t want her to—”

“Mr. Wesley, if there is anything I would hate to be called, it’s a liar. I promised her a painting. I have to give her one before the week is out, or else that’s what I would be.”

He glanced back, a small smile on his lips, before pulling out his wallet and handing me a worn photo. “If it’s not good enough—”

“It’s fine.” I brought out my phone and snapped a photo of it. I didn’t want to take it from him.

“Mr. Wesley?”

I turned, and there was Eli in his blue scrubs and white coat, holding a large cup in one hand.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes, Dr. Davenport. Molly ran off, but we found her. I’m going to head back to her room now and wait with her, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. I’ll be there momentarily.”

Toby nodded and turned back to me. “Thank you again.”

“Any time.” I stood when he walked away and turned to Eli, who also watched him go.

“Nothing was going on,” I said quickly.

He turned back to me, eyebrow lifted.

“I found Molly. Well, Molly found me, and I promised her a painting—”

“Why are you explaining this to me?” He looked completely confused, stepping up to me.

“I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and get upset—”

“You’re doing it again. I’m not sure if you realize it, but you are basing what you think my reaction will be on what Sebastian's was.” He sighed, taking my hand and giving me the cup.

He was right, and I hadn’t even thought about it. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m just going to have to work harder to make sure you see the clear difference between him and me.” He smirked, nodding to the drink in my hand. “It’s hot vanilla. Since you can’t drink coffee, I wasn’t sure what to bring you.”

“You didn’t have to bring anything, but thank you.”

“I know, but if I didn’t, what excuse was I going to use to come see you?”

Smiling, I took a sip, and my eyes about popped out of my head. “This is really good.”

“Good to know. I have to head back. See you later?” he said, partially turned.

Taking his arm, I stopped him from going any farther by kissing his cheek. “Thanks.”

“You're welcome. And I’m just going to be honest: your ex sounds like one hell of a douchebag.” He waved, walking away.

When he was gone, I sat again and couldn’t help but wonder if all guys were really like Eli. Sebastian was the only man I had ever seriously dated. When he got jealous over me speaking to other guys, I just thought he was worried about losing me. When he said he didn’t want people at work to know we were going out, I thought it was because he was worried I would be looked down on for dating the boss. The more I thought about the situation, the more it felt like I should have never stayed with him. But hindsight was always twenty-twenty, and it had been hard to see the flaws when I was always staring at him through rose-colored glasses.

Eli

Turning away from the room where Molly lay resting beside her father, I faced the interns in front of me, trying my best not to holler. “She ran away?” I asked softly.

“She’s been through so much chemo, we don’t even know how she got up,” Four Eyes said, and they all nodded along with him.

Bunhead stood straighter. “Besides, we were only gone for a second. We thought the nurses would watch out for her.”

Do not lose it, Eli.
“Why didn’t you let me know? I had to find out from her father,” I managed to say through clenched teeth.

Dr. Stretch shrugged his skinny shoulders. “We didn’t want to bother you with something—”

“Stop talking!” I snapped.
I’m going to kill them.
“I’m going to go in order, so pay attention, because if I have to repeat myself, not only will you be off this service, you will be off this floor. Dr. Four Eyes, the reason why you must watch children who have received chemotherapy is because they are more resilient than adults. Some days can be horrible, even downright painful, but some days they feel well enough to get up and move. Dr. Bunhead, that is the reason why I asked you three to keep an eye on her. Unlike you, the nurses are not my interns. Unlike you, they have over a hundred patients to see to. Dr. Stretch, if you ever fail to inform me about my
missing
patient’s whereabouts, or anything of the sort, I swear you won’t just be off this floor, but you’ll never be able to practice medicine in this state again. Any questions?”

None of them spoke.

“I will ask again. Any questions?”

“No, Dr. Davenport,” they all replied.

“Great, which means you all will pull a night shift here to make sure that not only is Molly all right, but also that you get updated scans in the morning, along with any written thoughts you have on my procedure. For now, just check her blood work.”

Nodding, they ran as fast as they could the other way. In the wrong direction.

I didn’t even bother to stop them, just went to the station up front where Dr. Seo, who seemed to have a lot more free time, leaned back, shaking his head.

“You are so mean to the kids, honey.” He laughed.

“The kids need to stay in school,” I muttered, filling out my chart. “I’m not even sure how they got this far. Who doesn’t tell their attending that their patient is missing? Idiots.”

“So, you excited for your date tonight?” he asked.

“I am not talking about this with you.” I signed my name before putting the chart back and walking away.

He followed. “We’ve been friends since medical school—”

“No, we went to medical school together. You just kept telling people we were friends.”

He sighed. “What do women see in you? You're such an ass.”

“Handsome and successful, what more do they need to see?”

He muttered something under his breath. “Look,” he said when we stepped into the elevator. “I’m just shocked you’re seriously with someone after—”

“Stop.” I sighed. “I don’t completely know what Guinevere and I are yet. We like and are attracted to each other. I feel nice when she is around, and after the year I’ve had…the year we’ve both had, feeling nice isn’t something we take lightly. So yes, to answer your first question, I’m looking forward to tonight. I really hope it works out. But if it doesn’t, it doesn't.” Getting off, I turned back to him as he was about to go back up again. “Your hair better be dyed tomorrow.”

“You are just being spiteful now.” He frowned as the elevator doors closed.

Pulling out my phone as it vibrated, I smiled at her text.

‘
I left for the day. Let me know when you're back.

Go be ‘kinda cool’.

Guinevere’

Chapter Fourteen

Much Ado About Nothing

Eli

I felt like I had been at the hospital forever. My whole body ached, and I was more than ready to just relax with Guinevere. However, when I got off the elevator, I noticed the person waiting at my door was Logan.

He leaned against the wall, looking down at his feet.

“Logan, I’m really busy tonight, you are—”

“I need to talk to you,” he said seriously, his hands in his pockets. “I’m sure after you hear it, I’m not going to be here long.”

“Logan? What is it?” I put my things down, giving him my full attention.

He took a deep breath, looked to me, and then dropped his head again. “I dropped out of medical school today.”

It was like he had pushed me in front of a moving train. “I’m sorry, you what?” I asked slowly.

He nodded. “I dropped out of medical school—”

“Have you lost your damn mind?” I yelled. “What do you mean, you dropped out? You have the highest grades in your class, I spoke to your professor a week ago!”

“I don’t want to be a doctor, Eli!” he hollered back at me. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you this for…years.”

“I can’t believe you are saying this right now. Where is this coming from? Logan—”

“That’s right, me! It’s coming from me, Logan, your younger brother. I don’t like hospitals, Eli. I don’t like sick people. I don’t want to save people's lives with a scalpel, and I don’t want to be like you or Dad. I’m not—”

“Then what
do
you want? Huh? You seem to have yourself all figured out, big kid, so tell me, what are you going to do with your life?”

“I want to make music.”

God help me.
Turning away, I tried to find words, tried to keep calm, but I could feel my pulse quickening at the side of my neck. “Please tell me you are messing with me again.” I finally managed to say. “Please tell me this is just some stupid joke.”

“It’s not stupid or a joke. It’s what I want to do. I’ve already met with a record label and was asked to tour, and I’m going in a week.”

“Like hell you are—”

“Eli, maybe you don’t get it, but I’m sick and tired of waiting and hoping for your blessing! I’m an adult. I’m able to make this choice on my own, and I’ve made it.” He walked around me, back to the elevator.

“So what, you are just going to throw away all your hard work? Drop everything and go sing for a living?”

“Yes, and the only reason the work was so hard was because I hated it so much. I did it because I wanted my big brother to be proud of me. I wanted him to be happy, because I knew he did everything in the world for me growing up to make up for the fact that I never knew my father. You taught me how to play baseball and soccer. You went to NYU, even though you got into the best schools in the country, because you wanted to be near me and Mom. Even after we told you we were fine, you still only chose Yale for medical school so you could drive home every few days to be with us. You’ve always taken care of us, and I wish I wanted the life you want for me. I really do. I wish I wasn’t letting you down right now, but I’m not like you, Eli. I can’t live my life for other people. I just can’t.” He got into the elevator.

I wasn’t even sure what to say. Grabbing my stuff and entering my apartment, I was tempted to go back after him. He was throwing his life away. Why didn’t he see that?

Taking an aspirin, I lay down on my couch, trying to breathe and get a hold of myself, but my headache would not stop.

Guinevere

I waited until about ten before I finally worked up the courage to knock on his door.

It took a while, but he finally opened it, wearing the same clothes he'd worn to work that morning, only more rumpled. His eyes widened as he stared at me, and then down at his watch. “Guinevere, I’m so sorry!” He put his forehead on the back of the hand holding the door.

“Can I come in? I brought Chinese.” I lifted the bag for him to see.

He tried to smile. “Guinevere, I’m in an awful mood—”

“I know. I heard you and Logan. I’m sure the whole building heard you and Logan. I was just going to let it go and pretend I didn’t hear anything if you called. But then I felt like I was lying. I was looking forward to spending time with you so, bad mood or not, I’m here with food.”

He moved aside for me to enter.

I walked to the kitchen, putting the bag on the counter and pulling everything out. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I kind of got one of everything that sounded good. Stevie swears by the place, so I—what?” He was just staring at me when I turned around.

“Nothing. I’m just a little annoyed with myself for falling asleep, and you went through all this trouble. I’m sure you overthought everything, from ordering the food to coming over here,” he replied, moving to get plates.