fix you // liam payne

chapter seven // optimism.

ellie's pov

After a long afternoon of helping Dr. Frenette deal with scatter-brained doctors freaking out Liam and all the publicity he carries around with him, I finally get a moment to myself. I guess that word got out that he's been injured, since One Direction had to cancel the remainder of their world tour. Now the doctors are beyond nervous that his fanbase will figure out where he is and harass the hospital, interfering with their work. 

I drag my feet as I enter the break room, holding my packed lunch - that consists of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup of applesauce, a baggy of dill pickle flavored chips and the last cookie from the batch I cooked little over a week ago - in my hand. Chelsea always teases me for my juvenile packed lunches - princess lunchbox and all - but I simply shrug it off. Why force myself to eat things I don't like, like salads, when I could eat something I do like. 

Feeling so exhausted, I plop myself down at the small table located in the middle of the vacant break room. Enjoying the peace and quiet, I start to dig into my lunch, knowing I only have fifteen short minutes. The radio in the background quietly plays songs that were undoubtedly very popular when my parents were my age. 

Unfortunately, the peace and quiet doesn't last very long. As soon as I bite into my sandwich, several other med students burst into the break room, talking loudly with one another. A few see me and their conversations cease. I receive several still bitter glares as they hold their own lunches in their hands. The awkwardness radiates off of me.

"So Ellie," One of the girls - who is known for being rather catty and a gossip, "Or wait, are we supposed to address you as Dr. Vandergelt now that you're top dog around here?" She snickers, causing several other med students around her to giggle to themselves, avoiding my eyes.

I simply stare at them, confused as to what it is that I did to deserve this? They were there; they know that I wasn't jumping up and down with my eager hand in the air, fighting for Dr. Frenette to choose me.

 Nobody wants to sit down beside me at the table, instead they eat their lunches right from their bags, standing around the place. I can feel my face flushing the longer everyone ignores me - beside the occasional smirk in my direction. Of course, coming along with the flushed, embarrassed face, I can feel tears fogging my vision. 

As hastily as possible, I pack my lunch back up quickly, my hands trembling as I fight off tears. Nobody seems to pay any attention to me as I quickly disappear from the room, clumsily weaving through people as I flee the painfully awkward break room. Never before have I felt so uncomfortable and so outcasted.

Standing there with my packed lunch, fogged vision and an uneasy feeling of solitude, I contemplate my solutions. 

I could one, go sit in the bathroom and eat my lunch like the beginning of every stereotypical teenage movie. Two, I could sneak my lunch into an on-call room, which isn't supposed to have any food in it, which would be breaking the rules. Or three...

My mind wanders back to a certain patient that I'm sure is eating his lunch all by himself, since his visitors were escorted out the back discreetly by a fleet of bodyguards. Though the moment I take a step towards his room, I stop myself.

Is that really considered professional? Would I consider eating lunch with any of my other patients? If Dr. Frenette knew what I was doing, would he approve? An ethical dilemma tears me in two as I stand there, trying to stay out of everyone's way with my pathetic childish packed lunch in my hand. 

But as the loud laughter of all the other med students rings out into the hallway, I make an impulse decision. I justify it by trying to make Liam feel more comfortable and to cheer him up, as Dr. Frenette had asked me to do yesterday.