Author's note: I know this is an extremely short chapter. This story is "unique" for me in that the main plot is put into play right from the start instead of taking a few chapters to introduce. I know when I post the second chapter you'll understand why I split it up the way I did!
Please don't let this turn into something it's not
I can only give you everything I've got
I can't be as sorry as you think I should
But I still love you more than anyone else could
All that I keep thinking throughout this whole flight
Is it could take my whole damn life to make this right...
~Snow Patrol~ Make This Go On Forever~
" Natalie! Wait!" yelled Will Halstead as he followed Natalie Manning outside. This was certainly a far cry from how he had planned the evening to go.
" Will…"
" I told you. Nothing happened. I've never regretted something so much," he declared.
" I believe you. Look. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted. We can talk about it
later," Natalie conceded before kissing Will then getting in her car. His heart dropped as she drove away, the box containing his mother's ring suddenly feeling much heavier.
Long after he watched her car drive away, Will reluctantly went back in to the hospital. Glancing at his watch he realized his shift had ended over fifteen minutes ago. Will quickly logged out of the hospital's system then headed for the lounge. He had just tugged on his jeans and a t-shirt when Connor Rhodes entered the room.
" What are you still doing here? I figured you'd be out celebrating after the twins' surgery," Will said as he opened the fridge.
" Long story," Connor replied, watching as Will pulled a bottle of champagne out of the fridge.
Man, that's some expensive champagne. What's the occasion?" Will pulled out the ring box and handed it to Connor.
" You shouldn't have. How did you know my ring size?" joked Connor.
" You're an ass," Will declared, snatching the ring back from Connor.
The ring. The champagne. I was planning to propose to Natalie tonight."
" Wow. I didn't realize...I'm sorry," stuttered Connor.
" She found out that Maya took me to her place after that night at Molly's with the intent of sleeping with me."
" Dr. Frisch?"
" The one and only. We kissed, but that's as far as it went."
" Sounds like we both had rough nights."
" Care to join me on the roof and drown our sorrows in this ridiculously expensive bottle of champagne?"
" Only if you don't ask any questions," Connor challenged.
" No worries. Everyone in the hospital knows you have the hots for Ava," Will said, grabbing two coffee mugs as he walked out the door.
" What time did you wind up leaving last night?" Connor asked Will the next morning.
" I slept in an on-call room. Didn't feel like playing twenty questions with Jay," reasoned Will, taking a long sip of his coffee.
" Have you talked to Natalie?"
" Have you talked to Ava?"
" Dually noted," Connor remarked as Maggie approached the two doctors.
" Rhodes, you're on trauma today, right?"
" Yeah."
" We've got two GSWs pulling up. Bank robbery gone bad," explained the nurse.
" Who the hell robs a bank this early?" asked Will, following Connor and Maggie to the ambulance bay.
" These idiots do," declared a police officer, climbing out of an ambulance.
" Peter Hayes. 22. Exchanged fire with a bank security guard. Took two shots to the stomach," said a paramedic.
" Rhodes and Halstead. Take him to Baghdad," ordered Maggie.
" What about the other guy?" asked Will, stopping in the hall.
" It's just a flesh wound," declared a second paramedic.
" No it's not! I'm dying!" screamed the patient.
" Halstead! Get in here! I need a second set of hands," shouted Connor.
" Sorry Mr. Ferris. Maggie, put him in Trauma 2 and page Choi," Will instructed before running off.
" Hey Will. Nat called while you were upstairs with your patient," April informed Will as he stepped off the elevator.
" Did she leave a message?"
" Just for you to call her back," replied the young nurse.
" Thanks April," said Will, immediately grabbing his phone out of his pocket. Natalie picked up on the first ring.
" Hey."
" Will...I'm so sorry about last night."
" When are you on?"
" I'm actually off today. Owen and I are running errands this morning."
" Can we talk? I missed you. And Owen."
" We missed you too," she confessed.
" How about I take you two to lunch later?"
" Owen, would you like to go to lunch with Mommy and Will?"
" Pizza?" questioned the toddler from the back seat.
" Sure. We can do pizza," responded Will, smiling at Owen's request.
" I need to pay a few bills then go to the store first…" Natalie's sentence was cut short by the loud honking of a horn.
" Nat?" asked Will before the sickening sounds of metal crunching and glass shattering blasted through his cellphone.
" Natalie!" Will screamed, his heart lodging in his chest. An eerie silence fell over the phone, followed by a chorus of car alarms.
" Natalie!" he screamed once again, hoping for a response. Instead he was met with utter silence as the line went dead.