Accident Prone 174 Preparations for the fundraiser at FMC

Liz didn't visit Tyler. He will be in hospital for another week. Dr. Shaw said that Tyler can continue his recuperation at home, but Mrs. Wilson said how it's better for her son to stay in the hospital with professionals around him. Since there is time, Liz plans to stop by Tyler's room on Monday, just to remind him that she didn't forget about him. And maybe mess with him a bit.

For the rest of the week, Liz was busy with her work and preparations for the fundraiser. Since the neurology wing is on the list of future plans for the hospital, Liz needed to come up with few pitches for the donors, to interest them into investing. She finds this extremely frustrating, but it's part of the job. 

Liz wonders if chairman Lee will have some rewards for the staff members who secure the most donations, or maybe punishments for the ones who fail. Based on Liz's experience so far, chairman Lee is hasty to scold people, and he is not giving out rewards.

The fact that Max will be there, made the whole boring fundraiser an exciting one because it will be the first official event that the two of them will attend as a couple.

Max said that he will handle Liz's dress and she agreed while thinking how if it does not look good, she can come up with an excuse to wear one of hers. 

On Friday evening, Max came from work with a dazzling smile and two large bags. One bag was for Liz.

Liz's eyes sparkled when her eyes landed on a dark navy blue cocktail dress with off the shoulder sleeves and black lace details on top of the satin fabric. The dress fits her perfectly, and Liz guessed that Max got her measurements from Simon. She has no complaints. 

The dress is accompanied by accessories: pearl earrings and a necklace, as well as a silver clutch and matching, pointed toe pumps with a four-inch (10 cm) stiletto heel.

"You thought of everything.", Liz beamed when she twirled to see how the dress moves and hoped that there will be dancing. At their Hawaii weekend, Liz confirmed that Max is a good dancer. 

Liz urged Max to try his dark navy blue suit on. They definitely look like a couple.

"Ah, I can't wait for tomorrow!", Liz exclaimed while admiring how dashing Max is in that suit.

She stood in front of Max and voiced her observation: "With these shoes on, our lips almost align, so it's easier to kiss you."

"Heels or not, kissing you is not hard.", Max responded and lowered his lips on hers.

Her Saturday is all planned: in the morning there is a staff meeting at the Franciscan Medical Center. After that she can enjoy her time with Max (as usually on Saturdays) and at three in the afternoon is her appointment for hair and makeup. The fundraiser starts at six with doors opening half an hour earlier, so there will be plenty of time for her to return to the apartment, dress up and head to the event with Max. Perfect!

~ Seattle, Franciscan Medical Center ~

Saturday 

10:12 AM

Chairman Lee is in the large conference room with doctors who will be attending the fundraiser later that day. 

He provided everyone with a list of donors who confirmed that they will attend the event and Chairman Lee spoke for almost an hour about guidelines on how to interact with the donors. His goal is to maximize donations, of course.

At the end of the meeting, chairman Lee offered additional information with the hope that everyone will grasp the seriousness of their current situation. "I don't want to hide it from you, we got a memo that the White foundation is going to redirect their resources to different organizations which leaves us desperate for donations."

"How is this different than previous fundraisers we held?", Dr. Shaw asked chairman Lee.

"You know that we depend on donations in order to maintain and improve our facilities. For the last ten years, the White foundation was amassing a large percentage of overall donations. Nearly half. And due to their generosity we were able to follow the latest advancements while expanding at a steady rate. With the White foundation pulling their money, we will be unable to finish the current work. Out of the three wings which have ongoing projects, we are forced to stop two because we can fund only one. And all future plans are on hold effective immediately. We can also forget about acquiring any new equipment for the rest of the year.", chairman Lee ended his explanation dejectedly.

"That bad…?", Dr. Kaviraj said under her breath.

Chairman Lee nodded solemnly. "I hope that everyone here understands the importance of this fundraiser. Every donation counts. Be courteous and professional. You are attending this fundraiser as employees of the Franciscan Medical Center and you need to show to the donors that we stand for high ethics and that their money will be put to good use. If you have any private issues, grievances, or anything personal that can disrupt this fundraiser, leave it outside…"

Liz looked at chairman Lee and met his eyes. She frowned while wondering, is he talking to her? Is he talking about that damned flower delivery again?

Liz glanced at Dr. Snow who is doodling something on the paper in front of him and she felt her temper rising.

'Injustice!', Liz screamed internally. Why is chairman Lee telling her to leave personal things which can disrupt the fundraiser outside and Dr. Snow is idling like that does not apply to him at all? He is the one who ordered the wretched flowers!

Liz had an urge to point her finger at Dr. Snow angrily and to call him out in front of everyone, but she stopped herself. That would be unprofessional, and she would look like a child who is shifting blame. After all, chairman Lee didn't mention flowers or call her out. Him talking while looking at her was something that only the two of them understood. And Liz understood that she is being scolded again, wrongly.

Liz didn't hear what else chairman Lee said. She does not care anyway. As soon as chairman Lee stopped talking, Liz bolted from her chair and left the building.

~ Seattle, the Continental Views building ~

Liz got inside her apartment in low spirits. Her anger subsided by the time she reached home and now she is demoralized. 

"I take that your meeting didn't go well.", Max commented when he saw Liz's expression. 

She shook her head and plopped on the sofa. 

"Tell me…", Max urged her when he sat next to her.

"The meeting was fine all up to last five minutes." Liz took a few deep breaths before continuing: "Chairman Lee gave us a reminder that we should not bring with us private things which can affect the fundraiser."

Max didn't understand how can that upset Liz. "Is that a bad thing?"

"He was looking at me when he said that, and he used the expression: 'anything personal that can disrupt the fundraiser'. Those are more-less the words he used when he reprimanded me because an extravagant delivery of flowers to my office disrupted the work of the hospital."

With this explanation, Max understood. "Was Dr. Snobby there?"

Liz frowned. "Who?"

Max realized that he said this at loud and that is not the man's name. He clarified: "Dr. Snow."

Liz blinked and if she was in any better mood, she would laugh. Olivia calls him Dr. Dreamy, and Max is calling him Dr. Snobby. It seems that everyone is making secret-nicknames for people. Liz wondered if she is the only one who calls people by their real names.

"Yes, he was there. Acting like it does not concern him at all."

Max was not surprised by this. His impression of Dr. Snow (aka Dr. Snobby) is that he is shameless or clueless. One of those two. But whichever it is, there is no way Max will allow him to get close to Elizabeth. In Max's opinion, if Dr. Snobby will hold Liz's hand forcefully in the middle of a packed restaurant, who knows what he will do in private?

"Does your chairman know who sent you flowers?"

Liz shrugged, indicating that she is not sure. "I don't think so. How he sees it, the flowers came to me so it's my fault. And who sent it, it could be anyone so there is no point in investigating. He probably believes that the flowers came from my boyfriend…" 

When Liz said these words, she frowned. Does this mean that if Liz introduces Max as her boyfriend, chairman Lee will assume that Max disrupted the hospital? Will chairman Lee look at Max like he is the troublemaker? Liz does not want chairman Lee or anyone else to have a bad opinion of Max. And this is not Max's fault. He has nothing to do with it. 

Liz thought about how she should seize the next available opportunity to steer the conversation that way and then to expose Dr. Snow as the one who ordered all those flowers. Liz wondered if that would make any difference. After all, chairman Lee is not hiding that he likes Dr. Snow. In her opinion, chairman Lee would probably brush it off with that standard 'boys will be boys' line, or maybe even praise Dr. Snow for making such a gesture without fear of rejection. 

Max is observing Liz's expression and he has a good idea of what is on her mind. In terms of her career, chairman Lee is the one who can push her forward or pull her back. So, no matter what, she needs to leave a good impression. In order not to hinder her, there is only one thing Max can think of…

"We should go separately to the fundraiser."

Max's words pulled Liz out of her thoughts. "Why?"

"Let's not give chairman Lee an additional reason to think badly of you.", Max explained. He saw that Liz's face fell and he added: "Hey, it's just one event. And I will be there. No one other than my dad knows that we are dating. Maybe Dr. Snow knows, but he is not important."

Liz looked at Max with a complex expression. It's not that she disagrees with him, but… "I don't want to hide that we are dating."

"Don't think of it as hiding. It's just not advertising it. As an employee of the Franciscan Medical Center you can't stay by my side for the night because you will need to talk to other donors and that includes me as well. When you interact with others, my eyes will be on you. After the event, we go home together…"

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