When In Italy

[Doc]

Lizzie joined him almost immediately, and she was noticeably shorter. A quick glance at her, in an up and down fashion, told him she was barefoot. Doc was about to ask her about her shoes, when she forestalled him by asking him about the surgery. He wanted to point out the shoe issue, but then thought, maybe she didn’t want him to make a big deal of it, thus her immediate question upon seeing him.

“Well..” Lizzie linked her arm with his and looked up expectantly at him. No. Now was not the time to point out the lack of shoes. “I have done intricate surgeries before yes. A few facial reconstructions, but on the whole, no. this will be a first. In the past I had a team of experts to draw on. A bone structure specialist. An ears nose and throat specialist. An anesthesiologist.”

Lizzie seemingly to Doc, listened attentively while she directed them out of the hotel. Doc had a brief but poignant moment of clarity, regarding how relaxing it was to actually talk about something he normally kept to himself. “The best I can hope for is that the patient doesn't die. From what I can tell from the scans and xrays, his breathing shouldn’t be compromised by the surgery before or after… unless he is prone to allergies. Then he is going to find that breathing is going to be a lot harder. To change the structure of the face, means impacting the sinus cavities. If he is prone to allergies.. Making those cavities smaller will mean increased sinus infections, headaches.. Toothaches. And I am not sure that he is aware of those type of complications. But i cannot worry about that. I have to focus on breaking and reconstructing his face.”

By now they were outside the building, when Lizzie abruptly interjected about her clothes. Doc gave her a smile. “And you have no shoes Lizzie..” Doc’s ego had been stroked, Lizzie was so eager to spend time with him, that she forgot her shoes and changing. “It’s been a long couple of days.” He turned the two of them back inside, “Why don’t we do this right? I will get us a rental. No taxi. Just you and I.. no third party, and no time constraint. The sun is about to come up, .. so what do you say,” He pushed the elevator button, “7pm you and I.. and a rental, and we can have more than an hour?”

[Elizabeth]

Elizabeth did not believe herself to be overly paranoid, unless there was reason to be. At times, she had been paranoid, but it could hardly be classified as paranoia because more times than not, she had been right about her potential paranoia. Still, she felt nothing but the sense of being watched as Doc explained just what he was up against. Perhaps, it was not her being watched, but them. Or him. Why would someone be watching her? It seemed an unlikely scenario, unless...Germany? Was it possible someone had followed them from Germany?
Unlikely.

Still, even though she told herself that it was unlikely, Elizabeth felt the sense that something just wasn't right. She looked up at Doc appreciatively, and then offered a small smile. “That sounds...lovely. But time consuming. And while I appreciate the offer...” She was torn. If they spent time together and Doc did not do the job to the satisfaction of the patient, it would be, in essence, her fault. And then, if he did fail and did not return and she rejected the offer...

It was difficult to decide between what was right and what Elizabeth selfishly wanted. “I am much more fond of the idea of more than one night with thee.” She finished the thought, deciding to go with what was right for Doc in the end. “And so, when you return, that will be the first thing we shall do.” She glanced down at her bare feet and shook her head a little. She had not forgotten her shoes, but to tell him her reasoning for not having them would perhaps, seem silly. “So I did.” She instead agreed, appreciating the sense of the ground beneath her bare feet as they walked through the halls and to the elevator. When it opened, the blonde haired telepath entered it, waited until it closed and started to ascend, before she turned towards him and allowed a hand to find the side of his cheek. Her blue irises glanced up at him, while the other hand came to rest upon the other cheek. “I fully expect you to return, in one complete piece. Take your time, Italy, the beach, and I will be here when you return, whenever that is. Do the reconstruction and do it well.” The elevator started to slow, then the doors opened, only to have Elizabeth remove a hand from Doc's face and press the door closed button. Once it snapped close again, she pushed her height up to press a kiss on the corner of the right side of his lips. “I will not leave Italy without knowing that you are in fact, how I expect you to return.”

[Doc]

Doc almost opened his mouth to tell Lizzie it was fine. They could go visit the beach, and see it.. Albeit for a brief few minutes. But the truth of the matter was, she was right. He needed to focus on the job. And once the job was behind him, she would have his undivided attention… except for the Private Investigator he would call to look up information about Enzo.

But you know what? Doc rationalized. He was paying the investigator. The investigator could wait on him. Doc wasn't going to **** this one up. Lizzie was giving him the benefit of the doubt and by god, he wasn’t going to let her down. “We’re going to leave together, Lizzie. I am like a ******* cockroach. People think I am dead and I pop right back.” He smirked to himself. He had once called Ripper a cockroach. It had been meant as an insult at the time. Now? It was a compliment. He would deny he ever called Ripper cockroach.

Brushing a lock of blonde hair from her face as he smirked at her, the smirk turn grin Doc gave her, “Have I ever let you down before?”

Oh yeah, Doc knew he was tempting fate by asking that question. But look at her. Who wouldn't tempt fate for that well put together female? Smart, beautiful, graceful with an innate style of classic dress sense? Some things had to be tempted. If you didn’t try.. You would never know if you could have achieved it. She was out of his league. He knew this. Of the two of them, she had all the spoils of plenty on her side. He had.. Bravado. Somehow, he had engaged her attention long enough that she tolerated him. He wasn’t going to blow this.

“Go get some sleep. Give me two days.. And I will be 100% focused on our quest. I promise.” By this time they had reached her door. “All I ask.. Is to take notes. I do best, when I can refer back to things. The written word helps me. Verbal cues are good. But if I see it in writing.. I remember better somehow..’

((Ooc: Doc has the power of photographic or Eidetic Memory. He remembers what he reads))