Unreachable AU (M/L) CC/UC (repost) Chapter 5 & 6

Fics using the characters from Roswell, but where the plot does not have anything to do with aliens, nor are any of the characters "not of this Earth."

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LovelyPOM83
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Re: Unreachable AU (M/L) CC/UC (repost) Chapter 5 & 6

Post by LovelyPOM83 »

Chapter 5: Vulnerable

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:30AM]
Max POV

“Good morning Max. Welcome to the team. I'm Dave and I'm the general manager. It's my job to make sure the doctors and nurses can do their jobs… mostly finance and logistics. If you have any questions, go to the head of the nursing staff. She’s going to be like, your number two on the floors and she works almost as much as you will. If you have any questions about anything... she’s the person to go to”, he says. He really has a lot of faith in one nurse… well, either that or a terrible lack of faith in all the other nurses. I wonder what he thinks about the other doctors… or this doctor. I can’t help but stifle a small laugh.

“You’re free to wander around until the staff meeting. Let’s just hope that she’s on time today…”, he says. "…I wouldn't hold my breath though", I hear him mumble as he turns and walks out. Wow, talk about getting straight to the point. No, 'how was your trip' or anything. Oh well, I'm not much for small talk anyway. I don't wanna just stand here in the middle of the ER, just watching people rush around me though so I walked outside to the courtyard, took my cell phone and dialled a number.

“Hey, how are you?”, I say

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:45AM]
Liz POV

“Elizabeth Claudia Parker… for the fiftieth time… get up, get up, get up!!", Maria hollers, "You know that we can’t be late for this employee meeting. Dave has been on all our asses for the past week about it. We cannot be late”

Ungh… since when does she care if we're late? Most of the times we were late, admittedly often, it's her fault. I wouldn’t be like this if we hadn’t come home at two in the morning last night. Wait a minute… how come she's not lying in a semi-coma like me? She's not that much of a morning person, believe me… I know.

“Wait, why are you up before me? Normally, I’m the one trying to get you up”, I say as I sit up in my bed.

“I took one of those Chaser pills… you know the ones that we saw on that commercial the other day and that we laughed and said that it was a sham? Well, I decided to test them out yesterday… who would have thought they would actually work?”, she says calmly, shrugging it off like it's nothing. The woman discovers the holy medicine to a hangover and she’s being casual about it. Me, I have a headache from drinking juice all night... that sweet stuff goes straight to my head.

“So you’re saying that you had alcohol and you made me drink virgin all night? …And don’t even think about pulling the work-card… you have the same shift as me”, I say, quickly adding what I’m sure she would have said. I wonder what excuse she has to say for herself.

“Liz, I have a higher tolerance for alcohol. You enter silly your drunken stage after three drinks… maybe four”, she says. I roll my eyes at this comment, but I can’t really argue with her… *sigh* she does have a point.

I look around and… no Maria. Where the hell did she go? “Come on Liz, get out of bed and get dressed before I drag you to the car in your underwear… and don’t think I won’t. “Come on, Liz! We only have fifteen minutes to get to work, and today they’re going to announce the new nurses’ manager”, she hollers. I actually applied for that position… too bad a dozen other people had done the same thing. I can’t begin to tell how much I want that position. Yeah, maybe I should get out of bed. I jump out of bed and run towards the shower. That should take care of my headache. After that, I quickly get dressed, fix my hair and walk downstairs. Somehow, I have the feeling we’re gonna be late.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:50AM]
Max POV

“Max, you’ve gotta help me out here, man... I know we’re supposed to care for each other but your sister is driving me insane. I’ve had to pack her clothes four times. First, she said that her clothes weren’t in the right order, then she complained that the whites and the colored were mixed and then she started bitching about the wrinkles in her clothes so they had to be ironed again before she would agree to go. I’ve had to deal with a lot in my life, but this takes the cake and I’ve only been here for a few hours. I have to endure an entire plane ride with her… I swear I don’t know how Alex does it”, rambled. Only through years of training can I hold back my laughs. He had a point; Isabel had her ways at making people go crazy.

“Michael, calm down man! She can smell your fear”, I laugh out. Sorry, but that one was so obvious, I just couldn’t hold it in.

“That’s not funny, man… if there’s anyone who knows what I’m going through right now, it’s you”, he says. Yeah, I guess I do.

“Which means that I’m used to it… more or less”, I say, mumbling that last part, “Look, I gotta go; there’s an important staff meeting before I start my shift and since it’s about me, I don’t think I should be late”.

Just as I’m about to hang up, I hear my sister yell into the phone. “Maxwell, Maxwell!”, she squeals.

Come on, Max hang up! Hang up, before it’s too late. I can’t hang up… she knows I heard her and if I hang up now, it would only piss her off… and in case you didn’t get it, she can be one scary woman, and the only thing more challenging than sharing a house with Isabel for a week is sharing a house with an angry Isabel for a week.

“Iz… what’s up?”, I ask as causally as I can before she could start barking her orders into the phone. You know, the usual stuff… what time I should be at the airport, what I should bring, what color shirt I should wear… you know, the usual. I swear she missed her calling as a drill sergeant.

“So, who are you bringing to the party? I’m sure Mom has brought it up”, she asks. Pfff, she’s even worse than my mom. I should have known that she would be incapable of letting this opportunity pass her by.

Shit, it’s eight am… the meeting is gonna start any moment now. I really don’t have time for this.
“Isabel, I know about the party, and you should really talk to Mom for details. I really have to go, but I’ll see all of you guys at the airport promptly at 7PM. Love you, bye”, I quickly say before she can protest against me hanging up on her.

I run back into the hospital and into the meeting room where Dave was already waiting for me. “There you are! I thought you ran back to Boston or something“, he said with a smirk on his face. Now there’s an idea. I try to laugh at his joke but since a part of me wishes I had stayed in Boston...it’s not easy. I think I’m gonna keep quiet during the meeting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 – 8:15AM]
Liz POV

“Liz, we are fifteen minutes late… now if you would have gotten up when I told you to, we wouldn’t be this late”, she says as she hurries through the hallway towards the meeting room. She’s acting as if we’ve never been late before, when the truth is, we’ve been late so many times, our boss Dave would actually be suspicious if we were on time. It’s expected it from us to be late… wait a minute, that’s not good.

“Will you calm down, we’ll just sneak in...”, I say, smiling at Maria’s expression. “You don’t have to go all Chicken Little… the world is not going to fall on your head if you’re late”, I try to reassure her. As we walk into the meeting room, it’s completely packed with doctors, nurses and other hospital staff members… basically everyone who’s not in dire need elsewhere. I immediately curse myself for nor wearing heels today, everyone in the room is so tall that I can’t see squat of what’s happening. As a voice fills the room, I wonder who it is and why on earth it’s causing such frenzy.

“As the new chief of the ER, I will not only be your boss, but also your friend and mentor. I am a hands on doctor, and will be checking up on each and everyone one of you”, I hear. I know that I know that voice from somewhere but I haven’t got a clue who it is. I’ll never see anything with all those people here, so me and Maria just lean back against the back-wall.

“Who is he?”, I whisper to Ryan Devon; one of the ER doctors, who was leaning against the wall next to us, but who was significantly taller so he could look over the massive crowd… not to mention he could fill us in about the fifteen minutes we missed.

“He is the new hotshot doctor replacing Dave Johnsons, he’s like, half his age. I wonder how the hell he could get a ranking this high so fast”, he says. I know he wanted this job too but he doesn’t have to be so obviously jealous. Least he can do is be a good sport about it.

“What happened to Johnsons?” Maria asks him. Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing.

“Oh, He’s retired and this guy was transferred from another hospital. I heard he’s getting paid almost twice as much as Dave did”, Ryan says. Wow, I wonder who this great doctor is… for that much money, he must be a genius.

“He thinks he’s such a charmer”, Ryan continues the jealousy-train. He rolls his eyes and stifles a laugh.

“Why do you say that?”, I whisper, curious to know what dirt he has on him. And don’t call me a gossip; I’m still in denial about that one.

“I mean this guy walks into the room, and all the women just stop what they are doing and rush to the front of the room”, he says. Funny… wait a minute, it’s true! I glance around and, true enough, besides Maria and me, I didn’t see a single female. We were surrounded by all the male doctors and nurses.

“And this concludes the meeting”, I hear someone say and I quickly try to pull Maria out of the room with me in. If Dave caught us, he’d know we were late and we’d never hear the end of it. Not to my surprise, Dave catches us trying to leave and practically drags us back into the room. There were still countless women flocking around him asking him all kinds of questions so I still couldn’t get a good look at him. He really is quite the charmer.

“Liz. Maria. How many times have I told you not to be late for these meetings? You’d better be glad it wasn’t something of real importance”, Dave hollers, “I mean Liz, as the new manager of the nursing staff you are supposed to set an example for everyone now. You can’t just come in and out of your shift whenever you feel like it”. Shit, I knew he wasn’t gonna let it go; he’s…… oh my god! Did he just say that I was the new manager? I look at Maria who wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation, she was just glad that we didn’t get in trouble. I then look at Dave and he confirms what I heard with a small smile.

“I’m the new manager?! Oh my god!! Thank you so much!!”, I exclaim jumping up and down. I can’t believe that I actually got the promotion. Okay, calming down now… “Thank you so much Dave, I promise I will try my best not to be late anymore”, I grin as he tries to calm me down.

“Well, since I’m sure you missed your new boss’ introduction, I’ll introduce you guys”, Dave says. I smile but and I hear Maria say that she was gonna get ready for her shift. I tell her I would just be a few minutes. I look back over towards my new boss and I see the women around him leave one by one… don’t I know him?

“Parker, Meet your new boss”, Dave says. That’s… that’s… no, it can’t be! Why here? Why now? Why?”

I always imagined he was living the life I had wanted since I was eight years old. And he would be living it with the perfect all-American girl that I could never compare to. Is it possible for me to dissolve in the air or make the ground swallow me or something? I want to say something… anything… but I just can’t. I can almost feel the color drain away from my cheeks like I just saw a ghost. I did in a way. A ghost of my past.

“Liz, are you alright?”, Dave asked me with a comforting pat on the back, I nodded.

“Dr. Evans, this is Elizabeth Parker... the new manager of the nurses’ staff”, I can’t help it and I just smile at him like some idiot as I try to push the words through my mouth.

“H-Hi Max”, I whisper as he looks at me with equal surprise.

********************************************************************************************************************


Chapter 6: Hello Again

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 – 8:20AM]
Max POV

Parker? Parker! He can't be serious. I look at him and he can immediately tell he has my attention. I shift my attention from him to the women standing next to him, only a few feet away from me. It's… it's her. Damn, I'm even stuttering in my thoughts. I still find myself getting lost in those beautiful brown eyes of her. Those eyes are exactly as I remember, and yet her eyes show that she's more mature at the same time. I quickly glance over her features and she definitely matured well… not that she wasn't always beautiful. I know it must have hurt her that I didn't keep in touch after I kissed her and told her that I loved her. I know it must have hurt her that I never came back, never called… never looked back. I'm well aware that the rumor that Tessina was pregnant had gotten around and I'm sure that hurt her too. God, I hope she doesn't hate me. Then again, she never contacted me as well.

I can’t help but wonder why the smartest girl I ever knew and the valedictorian of West Roswell High was working as a nurse. I always pictured her as a well-respected scientist doing something important like curing cancer or something. How did a girl like Liz Parker end up here? As soon as I get a chance, I have to ask her that.

Oh right… she said something to me. I know I need to say something back… why is it so hard to say something? It takes a few seconds but I can finally feel my ability to speak come back to me. “Hey Liz”, I just say. Come on Max, pull yourself together and say something intelligent. I can't. I want to but I can’t get any other words out of my mouth so I instead I just stare at this beautiful woman in front of me. God, I love her… okay, where'd that come from? I haven't seen her in years… but I still do. Does she feel the same for me?

“You two already know each other?”, Dave asks, snapping me a out of it… just a little.

I can see Liz is trying to get the words out, but she's having no better luck with it than me. Alright Max, time to take the heat off Liz and answer his question. “Yeah, we went to highschool together”, I say, quickly pushing the words out of my mouth. Since when am I this pathetic? I see a pretty girl and I can barely say a single sentence.

“So, let me guess… you two were highschool sweethearts?”, he asks with a satisfied grin. For about a second there I had actual hope that he wasn’t going to ask questions about it. For heaven’s sake, just let me stare. I don't need a mirror to tell me that my cheeks are red from blushing… much like Liz’ actually. I, almost subconsciously, scratch behind my left ear. I do that when I’m nervous. When I notice myself doing it, I’m very nervous.

Wait a minute, did he just ask if me and Liz were sweethearts? I wish I could say yes. “No”, Liz and I say in unison. I actually sounded pretty funny, the two of us talking like one.

I can see Dave thinks it’s funny too. “What ever you guys say”, he says, grinning widely as he starts to walk away. Just before he walked out the door, he suddenly stops. “Max you’re going to be making your rounds with Elizabeth today, so I guess it’s good that you know at least one person on your first day”, he says. What?! Liz and me, together all day long… are you kidding me? I can’t handle this; the tension is just… it’s too much. Okay Max, you’re gonna have to pull yourself together.

“Moving from a big city like Boston to a small town like Roswell is a big change Max… don’t think I don’t get that. It’s gonna take time to fully adjust. Liz can help you; she’s the most qualified nurse we have at this moment. You two work together and you’ll be caught up in no time. We’re glad to have you on the team, Maxwell”, he says. Wow, quite the welcome. “Oh, and Liz… keep an eye on him”, he adds and I can already feel my ego deflate.

And with that he left the room, and I was left alone… alone with Liz. Damn, my heart is beating like crazy. As a doctor, I can say that’s generally not a good thing.

We stand he, looking to each other for several minutes. This is almost surreal. “So... what are you doing here?”, I finally manage to say, “I thought you’d be in some laboratory, battling cancer or something”

She smiles at me. Such a small action but it’s enough to take my breath away yet again. It’s like her smile literally lights up the room… her smiles have always lighted up the room, even when we were still in highschool. “Well um, that was the plan”, she says softly before she sits down in one of the chairs.

She’s no longer smiling. On her face is a look of pain and anguish. Max, you idiot, you upset her. “What happened, Liz?”, I find myself asking her. I really don’t mean to pry and I certainly don’t want to make her upset… but I have to know what kept Liz in Roswell when she had been itching to get out of this town that she called suffocating.

“My dad”. That’s all she says and I can see her beautiful brown eyes watering. She’s trying to fight it but I obviously hit a sore spot. Damn me for pushing this! I should have known to shut up sooner.

“Liz?”, I say in a calm and caring voice as I sit down next to her and lean towards her so she’s looking straight in my eyes. God, she’s so beautiful… even when she’s hurting.

“Maria left to Los Angles without me so she could get a jumpstart and look for an apartment. I was going to leave three days after that. Meanwhile I helped out in the café and I hired a few extra people so my parents wouldn’t be swamped”, she tells, trying desperately not to break down in front of me, “The day that I was going to leave for Berkeley… my dad had heart-failure and he died in the emergency room”. She’s still been able to keep her composure, and I can feel a tear stickling down my own face; she’s so much stronger than me. As she’s gathering the strength to continue, I can’t help but notice her eyes, it’s almost like the sparkle that was so apparent in her eyes has vanished and a cold wind passed over her… and that scares me more than anything ever did.

“Liz. I’m sorry. I-I should have been there for you. I didn’t mean to desert you”, I say in an almost begging tone. She gives me a small sympatethic smile before continuing.

“I had to stay here and take care of mom. A few days later, I found out that dad left me complete ownership of the Crashdown and I realized I couldn’t just pack up and leave. So, I gave up the dream I had about becoming a scientist and started taking over my father’s business. I couldn’t let my father’s life work go to ruin”, she says, ending in nothing more than a whisper. Well damn, she’s working as much hours as me here and then she’s got another job. Me, I can barely stand the amount of hours I’m making now

“So, how did you get to become a nurse?”, I say. I figure that I better ask all my questions now because I don’t think I’ll ever have the strength to bring this subject up again. I know that there’s a pretty big chance she’ll be annoyed with my prying and leave… but she doesn’t.

“Well, I went to nursing school. My mom didn’t want me to just work at the café for the rest of my life so she convinced me to go to school. Instead of going to a four year university, I chose something closer to home. I attended a nursing school just out side of Las Cruces… that way I commuted back and forth”, she explained and I can already see her expression getting a little better, “I decided that I wanted to help people. I couldn’t help my dad but, but I can help others now. And there’s something about that that fills me with a joy that science never did”. I watch with amazement as all the sadness wiped away from her face like a veil being removed, and she was left with a strange smile… not joy but something that I can’t quite place. But it’s a smile nonetheless.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone”, I say. I so much want to hold her and let her cry on my shoulder but that isn’t my place. Why can’t I come up with some words that are really going to cheer her up? Here she is, struggling with her past with braveness and determination and all I can say is apologize for not being here. She gave up her dreams and life’s passion for her family... and I can’t even say the same to her.

“I wasn’t alone”, she says. She has a boyfriend doesn’t she... a fiancée… a husband? I should have known that a girl like Liz couldn’t be single. How stupid can you be Maxwell? She’s as beautiful as ever… why on earth would she still be on the single? ...Idiot!

“No?”, I finally manage to ask. Oh God, please don’t let her say some guy’s name. Please!

“Maria came back from LA for the funeral, but she left after a few days while I stayed here. She tried to work with the record label, but she decided that she wasn’t happy and she came back to Roswell. She doesn’t talk about it at all, but she decided to enrol to nursing school with me”, she says. So she meant Maria when she said she wasn’t alone. There is a God!

I have so many more questions to ask her, the most important one concerning the men in her life… but I don’t want to upset her even more than I already did. But don’t worry, I’ll find out. I get to work with her all day long. I will find out. I silently watch her as she transforms back into the Liz Parker I knew as she flips her hair, and tucks a strand behind her ear. God I love it when she does that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz POV

I can’t believe I just told him that. I haven't seen the guy in years and I told him my life's story within several minutes. God, I almost cried. He must think I'm such a baby. Looks like I still have fifteen minutes until we have to clock in… and since I told him about my life, it's only fair that he tells me the story of his life. Please let him tell me he's not with that horrible bottled blonde anymore. Oh, who are you kidding; she was pregnant and he probably married her years ago.

“So… how's everything going with you, Max? How's Tess?”, I say as friendly as I can. Wow, I almost believed myself there. It took great effort to say her name out loud with a straight face.

"Well, I followed the plan I had since junior year. I went to Yale to study medicine and you know the story", he says. I let out a small laugh; of course he studied medicine… him being a doctor and all.

“What's so funny?”, he asks, flashing me a small smile. God, he has such a gorgeous smile.

“Nothing”, I say, flashing a smile back. He doesn't seem satisfied with my answer though.

“Come on Parker. If I make you laugh, at least tell me what I said so I can say it again”, he says and I can't help but smile at that.

"It's nothing special…", I say as he stares at me intently, "…It's obvious that you studied medicine, Max". Ever noticed how something is not funny anymore when you have to explain it. He gives me an embarrassed laugh and I think he's actually blushing right now. He looks so cute doing that… too bad he's married to Tess.

“And as for Tessina…", he says, and for a second, I see his expression harden, "She and I are no longer together”. They… are… not? Oh, thank God! Oh, I think I'm gonna faint. No, don't even think about it Liz! Don't you dare faint! I know I shouldn't be jumping for joy when he tells me he and his long time girlfriend aren't together anymore… but I can't help it. I get promoted, I meet Max again and he's single… am I dreaming?

“Oh, I’m sorry Max”, I say in a sympathetic tone. You're way better off without that bimbo… but that's not something I'm gonna be saying out loud. I suddenly find my hand on his back, trying to comfort him. He's not over her… I can see it on his face.

“It’s okay, really. It’s not like it’s big news or anything”, he rationalizes but I don't buy it. He has this sad expression on his face… one you get from a bad break-up. I'm guessing they split up not so long ago… actually a lot like me and Kyle. Oh God, don't let him bring up Kyle. “So what about you? Are you still with Kyle?”, he asks after a few seconds of silence. Damn! That is something I really don't wanna talk about. Well, I suppose I have to tell him.

As I'm about to answer, my cell phone starts ringing. Talk about being saved by the bell. “Sorry”, I mutter to Max and I check who's calling.

“Sorry... I have to take this. Excuse me”, I say. I want to avoid the question about Kyle but that's not the main reason I'm taking this call. You see, it's my mother. I quickly glance at the clock; looks like I have about five minutes until my shift starts. “I’ll meet you at the front desk in seven minutes, okay?”, I say as I wink at him… huh, why am I winking at him? Well, let's just say my body has been taken over by a higher cosmic force because I'm never this weird.

I quickly jump into the next room and answer my phone. “Mom, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”, I shout into the phone. My mother's health is not what it used to be, and I'm a little bit worried every time she calls… add to that the fact that I'm already hyper because of Max and you get this kind of answer from me when I pick up the phone.

“Liz honey, please calm down. I haven’t really been feeling well lately but I'll be fine, really. Honey, I need you to do the inventory tonight”, she says and even though I'm not exactly looking forward to I sigh in a quick relief that nothing serious happened. Still, she said she wasn't feeling well lately…

“Do you have a cold or something? You know, I can set up an appointment for you if you’d like?”, I offered. I know she's going to say no but I have to ask. Maybe someday she'll get wiser.

“Elizabeth, there is no need for that really. And please don’t set one up behind my back”, she says. See? Don't tell me I don't know my mother.

“Fine, but if it gets any worse, please promise to tell me”, I pleaded

"Fine honey, I promise. Now, will you be able to make it tonight?", she asks.

“Of course. I’ll be there around seven when my shift is over, okay?”, I say.

“Alright honey. I’ll see you tonight. Don’t work too hard, okay?”, she says. Funny, she always says that and I never listen. Well, working two jobs does that with you.

“Bye”, I say before hanging up the phone. I better go to the front desk to pick up Max. God, that sounds so weird. I’m going to pick up Max… hmm, I can get used to that.

Okay, I’m at the front desk now and I’m thinking that Max is buried somewhere deep inside that group of nurses. Jeez, I can’t leave him alone for a few minutes. Is there a Max Evans fanclub or something? Oh great, he’s talking to Maria. If she tells him about Kyle I’m gonna… I’m gonna… well, I’m gonna look very sternly at her.

Time to break up this little party. “Come on ladies, stop bugging dr Evans. He’s with me”, I say with a smile. I can get used to this management position. “Ready?” I ask him as the nurses scatter and go to their jobs.

He smiles… ungh, he’s so cute when he does that. “Ready when you are”, he says. Well, I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. This is one day I’m hoping goes by slow. Well, time to check up on our first patient of the day.

TBC.....
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keepsmiling7
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Re: Unreachable AU (M/L) CC/UC (repost) Chapter 5 & 6

Post by keepsmiling7 »

LOL.......Iz made Michael repack her clothes 4 times........and Max said she could smell his fear!
Liz is head of the nursing staff.......Max surprised she ended up there.
Dave guessed they were high school sweethearts.......
Liz's plans changed when her dad died.
One happy thing......Max is no longer with Tess!
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