Fic: Dream Awake - Pt. 4 [Eli Stone]
Title: Dream Awake
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Eli, Nate, others
Summary: After the fight with his brother, after the nosebleed, Eli wakes up in hospital. He's not prepared for what happens next. Post episode 209
Eli recuperated at Nate's for a couple of days, after which his brother had to go back to work. Their parents offered to take over but Eli decided that he needed to be at work, too. Nate took some convincing, but after Eli had stopped talking about the aneurysm and everything else from his other life, he agreed he could go into the office for a few hours. Eli was under strict instructions to go home if these errant thoughts returned.
He knew Nate was only looking out for him, but Eli was relieved that he was able to go back to work. He needed to be around familiar things and people if he was going to discover how he could put things right. Of that he was sure.
He paused when he saw the Wethersby, Posner and Klein sign when he entered the law firm. Even after such a relatively short time since the inception of the new firm, Eli felt strange seeing the old partners' names. When he stepped out of the elevator the office was bustling with lawyers, paralegals and assistants. He wasn't used to seeing so many people anymore, either.
Instinctively he headed for the law library, greeting staff along the way, then had to remind himself that he still had an office. It was little details like that he was struggling to recall - having to put himself back two years before his life changed so dramatically with the discovery of his aneurysm. Eli turned sheepishly and made his way to his office instead. Patti was already at her desk but she got up quickly when she saw him.
"Oh Eli, are you alright?" Patti looked concerned but she didn't go so far as to give him a hug. It wasn't Christmas yet after all. "Should you even be back at work yet? Your brother said you had a bad concussion."
"I'm fine, Patti. Don't worry about it," Eli said.
"Good," she replied, her voice regaining its usual mix of sass and disdain. "There are messages piled up all over your desk and I've had to reschedule all your meetings so forget about taking a lunch break until you're caught up. Jordan's still waiting for your notes on the Spencer depositions and needs you to take over the Torres case that starts next week. And you're late for the morning briefing."
She proceeded to dump a thick wad of files into Eli's arms.
"Do you think I could have a cup of coffee?" he asked, already feeling tired.
"Are your arms painted on?" Patti replied before taking a seat at her desk. She pressed a finger to her earpiece. "Eli Stone's office."
Eli sighed. At least some things hadn't changed.
0 0 0 0
A few minutes later he sat in the WPK conference room and let his eyes wander over the familiar faces of his old colleagues. So few had stayed with Jordan and Eli's firm that he couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled as he looked at them now. He caught himself glaring at one or two in particular who had disappointed him with their defection, then had to cover it when he realized Matt Dowd was staring at him from the next seat with a bemused look on his face.
Thanks to his absence from the office for a few days Eli wasn't called upon to provide a summary of his current case load. In fact if he didn't know better Eli could have sworn Jordan was avoiding looking at him at all. He grimaced when he realized what Taylor must have told her father. Jordan, for all his stoicism and dislike of emotional interactions, was still fiercely protective of his only daughter and Eli knew he was in for a rough patch with the managing partner. His friend. Although, he reminded himself, Jordan wasn't his friend yet, not really. Wethersby, Stone and Associates didn't exist here.
He decided to avoid the confrontation for as long as possible and moved quickly out of the conference room after the meeting was over, ducking between a couple of senior associates before Jordan could turn his piercing gaze on him. He headed down the stairs to his office, intent on burying himself in work for now. At least that was easy to deal with. Getting himself back to where he was supposed to be was another matter entirely.
His hopes for a peaceful morning where shattered, however, when he arrived to find Taylor sitting in his office. Patti glared at him, annoyed that he hadn't given her any advance warning that she was coming, but Eli couldn't deal with her mood at the same time. He closed his door quietly behind him.
Taylor looked up, obviously trying to remain cool and composed. Eli felt a wave of guilt again that he had blurted out the demise of their relationship so abruptly and in front of his family. He knew she would have been mortified, given how closely she guarded her privacy.
"Hi, Taylor," he said gently.
"I take it you're feeling better," she replied politely, her voice a little clipped.
"Head doesn't hurt anymore." He didn't bother to add that was the least of his problems. He walked over and took a seat beside her.
"I know you're probably busy, but I thought it best if we talked face to face rather than over the phone. Not that you called."
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to say."
"How about it was all a big misunderstanding and you didn't just break up with me for no reason?"
"There's a reason, Taylor..."
"Of course. You think I'm having an affair with Matt Dowd," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"No, I don't. I know you're not. But you will... What I mean is, in a few months time..."
Taylor stiffened. "Stop. Don't tell me what I'm going to do, Eli. That I'll be better off. Just be honest and tell me you don't want to marry me and be done with it."
"Taylor..."
"I don't understand. I thought we were happy. But you take a knock to the head and suddenly everything between us is over?"
Eli wanted to explain, to make her understand, but professing that he knew her future was not going to help convince Nate and everyone else that he wasn't delusional. It wasn't going to help him work out how to make things right again.
"I'm sorry," he said again. It came out more weakly than he intended.
Taylor got up swiftly before emotion got the better of her. "So am I. For trusting you. For letting myself love you."
"Taylor, wait." Eli grabbed her hand and stood up as well. He laid his other hand on her shoulder and patted it tentatively. His awkwardness just seemed to hurt her more.
"I'll organize to have my things collected from the apartment," she stated dully.
"You don't have to... You don't have to leave." He saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes before adding, "I can stay with Nate for a while."
Taylor blinked away the sting in her eyes, her expression hardening. "It's your place, Eli, not mine. I was only ever a visitor. In your life as well, apparently."
Eli opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock on his door and Matt poked his head in.
"Stone? Oh, sorry. I didn't know you had company," he said when he saw Taylor. But rather than leave he took a step inside with a widening grin. "It's bad enough you're marrying the boss's daughter, now you have to rub our noses in it by having her come visit you at the office? Not that it isn't good to see you as always, Taylor."
"We're not getting married," Taylor said in a low voice, her eyes not leaving Eli's.
"No?" Matt brightened at the unexpected announcement. "Well, I always said you had better sense than to end up with Stone."
Taylor threw him a distasteful glance, then looked back at Eli. "This guy?" she said derisively. "I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye. Goodbye, Eli."
Matt didn't move from the doorway so she had to squeeze past him, which caused her to glare at him even harder. He smiled to himself when she was gone.
"Nice going, buddy," Matt said. "I'm sure this is going to do wonders for your career progression. But, hey, anytime you want to piss Jordan off is fine with me."
"What do you want, Matt?" Eli said with a sigh.
"Nothing much, just wanted to stop by and let you know that while you were off nursing your headache I settled the Beutel matter."
Eli's blood ran cold. He had forgotten all about it, and the timing. "What?"
"Keller changed her mind and accepted the $90,000 we offered. Non disclosure agreement signed, sealed and delivered."
Eli sank into a seat, lost for words.
"Well, don't bother to thank me," Matt said.
"She settled?"
"What else was she going to do? It's a gift. Beutel only agreed to pay her off to avoid the publicity of a trial. And we wouldn't have even had to go to 90 if you hadn't opened your fat mouth. We could've gotten her for 60, no problem."
"What about the preservative?"
Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The preservative in Mercuritol - is Beutel going to stop using it?" he asked urgently.
"No. I don't know. Why?"
"Because that was the point of this case…" Eli dropped his head into his hands and swore under his breath.
"Please, the point of this case was money. Beth Keller got it, end of story." Matt turned to go. "You're welcome, by the way."
Eli didn't look up until Matt shut the door behind him. He didn't know if he should call Beth, having no idea what he would say to her. His helping her with the Beutel matter not only got the company to stop using the potentially harmful preservative in their vaccine, it was also why they rekindled their friendship and she got to know Nate. But already everything was different. He hadn't won Beth's case.
Eli slumped further in his seat, feeling more lost than before. Without the visions he didn't know how he was supposed to do his job properly. There were people who needed help but he'd always been given some kind of sign that helped him work out who they were. Eli wasn't a hotshot litigator anymore. He certainly didn't want to live out his life stuck where he'd been before the aneurysm.
He had to get back, and quickly, before he destroyed anything else.
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Eli, Nate, others
Summary: After the fight with his brother, after the nosebleed, Eli wakes up in hospital. He's not prepared for what happens next. Post episode 209
Eli recuperated at Nate's for a couple of days, after which his brother had to go back to work. Their parents offered to take over but Eli decided that he needed to be at work, too. Nate took some convincing, but after Eli had stopped talking about the aneurysm and everything else from his other life, he agreed he could go into the office for a few hours. Eli was under strict instructions to go home if these errant thoughts returned.
He knew Nate was only looking out for him, but Eli was relieved that he was able to go back to work. He needed to be around familiar things and people if he was going to discover how he could put things right. Of that he was sure.
He paused when he saw the Wethersby, Posner and Klein sign when he entered the law firm. Even after such a relatively short time since the inception of the new firm, Eli felt strange seeing the old partners' names. When he stepped out of the elevator the office was bustling with lawyers, paralegals and assistants. He wasn't used to seeing so many people anymore, either.
Instinctively he headed for the law library, greeting staff along the way, then had to remind himself that he still had an office. It was little details like that he was struggling to recall - having to put himself back two years before his life changed so dramatically with the discovery of his aneurysm. Eli turned sheepishly and made his way to his office instead. Patti was already at her desk but she got up quickly when she saw him.
"Oh Eli, are you alright?" Patti looked concerned but she didn't go so far as to give him a hug. It wasn't Christmas yet after all. "Should you even be back at work yet? Your brother said you had a bad concussion."
"I'm fine, Patti. Don't worry about it," Eli said.
"Good," she replied, her voice regaining its usual mix of sass and disdain. "There are messages piled up all over your desk and I've had to reschedule all your meetings so forget about taking a lunch break until you're caught up. Jordan's still waiting for your notes on the Spencer depositions and needs you to take over the Torres case that starts next week. And you're late for the morning briefing."
She proceeded to dump a thick wad of files into Eli's arms.
"Do you think I could have a cup of coffee?" he asked, already feeling tired.
"Are your arms painted on?" Patti replied before taking a seat at her desk. She pressed a finger to her earpiece. "Eli Stone's office."
Eli sighed. At least some things hadn't changed.
0 0 0 0
A few minutes later he sat in the WPK conference room and let his eyes wander over the familiar faces of his old colleagues. So few had stayed with Jordan and Eli's firm that he couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled as he looked at them now. He caught himself glaring at one or two in particular who had disappointed him with their defection, then had to cover it when he realized Matt Dowd was staring at him from the next seat with a bemused look on his face.
Thanks to his absence from the office for a few days Eli wasn't called upon to provide a summary of his current case load. In fact if he didn't know better Eli could have sworn Jordan was avoiding looking at him at all. He grimaced when he realized what Taylor must have told her father. Jordan, for all his stoicism and dislike of emotional interactions, was still fiercely protective of his only daughter and Eli knew he was in for a rough patch with the managing partner. His friend. Although, he reminded himself, Jordan wasn't his friend yet, not really. Wethersby, Stone and Associates didn't exist here.
He decided to avoid the confrontation for as long as possible and moved quickly out of the conference room after the meeting was over, ducking between a couple of senior associates before Jordan could turn his piercing gaze on him. He headed down the stairs to his office, intent on burying himself in work for now. At least that was easy to deal with. Getting himself back to where he was supposed to be was another matter entirely.
His hopes for a peaceful morning where shattered, however, when he arrived to find Taylor sitting in his office. Patti glared at him, annoyed that he hadn't given her any advance warning that she was coming, but Eli couldn't deal with her mood at the same time. He closed his door quietly behind him.
Taylor looked up, obviously trying to remain cool and composed. Eli felt a wave of guilt again that he had blurted out the demise of their relationship so abruptly and in front of his family. He knew she would have been mortified, given how closely she guarded her privacy.
"Hi, Taylor," he said gently.
"I take it you're feeling better," she replied politely, her voice a little clipped.
"Head doesn't hurt anymore." He didn't bother to add that was the least of his problems. He walked over and took a seat beside her.
"I know you're probably busy, but I thought it best if we talked face to face rather than over the phone. Not that you called."
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to say."
"How about it was all a big misunderstanding and you didn't just break up with me for no reason?"
"There's a reason, Taylor..."
"Of course. You think I'm having an affair with Matt Dowd," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"No, I don't. I know you're not. But you will... What I mean is, in a few months time..."
Taylor stiffened. "Stop. Don't tell me what I'm going to do, Eli. That I'll be better off. Just be honest and tell me you don't want to marry me and be done with it."
"Taylor..."
"I don't understand. I thought we were happy. But you take a knock to the head and suddenly everything between us is over?"
Eli wanted to explain, to make her understand, but professing that he knew her future was not going to help convince Nate and everyone else that he wasn't delusional. It wasn't going to help him work out how to make things right again.
"I'm sorry," he said again. It came out more weakly than he intended.
Taylor got up swiftly before emotion got the better of her. "So am I. For trusting you. For letting myself love you."
"Taylor, wait." Eli grabbed her hand and stood up as well. He laid his other hand on her shoulder and patted it tentatively. His awkwardness just seemed to hurt her more.
"I'll organize to have my things collected from the apartment," she stated dully.
"You don't have to... You don't have to leave." He saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes before adding, "I can stay with Nate for a while."
Taylor blinked away the sting in her eyes, her expression hardening. "It's your place, Eli, not mine. I was only ever a visitor. In your life as well, apparently."
Eli opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock on his door and Matt poked his head in.
"Stone? Oh, sorry. I didn't know you had company," he said when he saw Taylor. But rather than leave he took a step inside with a widening grin. "It's bad enough you're marrying the boss's daughter, now you have to rub our noses in it by having her come visit you at the office? Not that it isn't good to see you as always, Taylor."
"We're not getting married," Taylor said in a low voice, her eyes not leaving Eli's.
"No?" Matt brightened at the unexpected announcement. "Well, I always said you had better sense than to end up with Stone."
Taylor threw him a distasteful glance, then looked back at Eli. "This guy?" she said derisively. "I'd rather stick a hot poker in my eye. Goodbye, Eli."
Matt didn't move from the doorway so she had to squeeze past him, which caused her to glare at him even harder. He smiled to himself when she was gone.
"Nice going, buddy," Matt said. "I'm sure this is going to do wonders for your career progression. But, hey, anytime you want to piss Jordan off is fine with me."
"What do you want, Matt?" Eli said with a sigh.
"Nothing much, just wanted to stop by and let you know that while you were off nursing your headache I settled the Beutel matter."
Eli's blood ran cold. He had forgotten all about it, and the timing. "What?"
"Keller changed her mind and accepted the $90,000 we offered. Non disclosure agreement signed, sealed and delivered."
Eli sank into a seat, lost for words.
"Well, don't bother to thank me," Matt said.
"She settled?"
"What else was she going to do? It's a gift. Beutel only agreed to pay her off to avoid the publicity of a trial. And we wouldn't have even had to go to 90 if you hadn't opened your fat mouth. We could've gotten her for 60, no problem."
"What about the preservative?"
Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The preservative in Mercuritol - is Beutel going to stop using it?" he asked urgently.
"No. I don't know. Why?"
"Because that was the point of this case…" Eli dropped his head into his hands and swore under his breath.
"Please, the point of this case was money. Beth Keller got it, end of story." Matt turned to go. "You're welcome, by the way."
Eli didn't look up until Matt shut the door behind him. He didn't know if he should call Beth, having no idea what he would say to her. His helping her with the Beutel matter not only got the company to stop using the potentially harmful preservative in their vaccine, it was also why they rekindled their friendship and she got to know Nate. But already everything was different. He hadn't won Beth's case.
Eli slumped further in his seat, feeling more lost than before. Without the visions he didn't know how he was supposed to do his job properly. There were people who needed help but he'd always been given some kind of sign that helped him work out who they were. Eli wasn't a hotshot litigator anymore. He certainly didn't want to live out his life stuck where he'd been before the aneurysm.
He had to get back, and quickly, before he destroyed anything else.