3

'Hello! I'm sorry I took so long, I got dragged to another patient.' Derek says. I was too relieved to pretend that nothing was going on and I let out a big smile at the sight of him.

'Ah, am I glad to see you! Come here and give me a big hug.' Derek leaned into me and gave me a nice, warm hug. He held me so tight I thought he was never going to let me go.
'I can't believe it's been four years, I've missed you so much!' I say, meaning my words. I've missed having my brother around giving me advice on my problems. After I left we didn't talk too much because I had a lot of work to do and we only spoke once a month, if that.

'Well, I'll let you two talk, I'm due to be paged for my surgery anyway. Nice to see you, Rachel.' Mark says. 'Nice to see you too. Good luck!' I let out. I sit down with Derek and talk about my trip and the work and that I am no longer a student, but a professional.

'Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!' He says.
'Thank you. I just wish mom and dad would have been there to see me.' I say. My eyes started to water at the thought of my father dying and my mother resting beside him. We lost him twenty years ago when he was assaulted by a pair of thugs. My father refused to give them his Rolex and they shot him right in the heart. I was seven and Derek was thirteen. Our other sister, Ariadne, was five. I still remember the day it happened perfectly. Our mother passed away seven years ago from terminal liver cancer.
'Don't worry, I'm sure they were, are and always will be watching over you.' He says.
'Over all of us.' I say.
He starts asking me about things with Bruce and about Mark. He asked me if everything was okay with me and Mark and I told him that they weren't. I told him how angry I was about all of the things he did.
'You should have expected this, Rachel. You were dealing with Mark. These things can't surprise you.' He says. He was right. It's of no surprise that Mark would do this. Heck, Addison cheated on Derek with Mark. He later went on to have an endless chain of one-night stands and then started a relationship with Lexie Grey, Meredith's half-sister. His "love" life is a hell of a mess.
'What about you and Bruce. Have you worked anything out?' He asks me. He knows that I've loved Bruce since I was as young as fourteen years old and he was sixteen. He knows our whole history. But most of all, he knows that Bruce and I have shared plenty of memorable moments, many of which were sealed with long, romantic embraces or kisses. Over time nothing really ever happened with Bruce. One night we kiss, a week later he sleeps with a Victoria's Secret supermodel. I've always thought that we had something but he always does something that makes me think that nothing could ever happen. It's a complicated situation. I couldn't hide the fact that he has a special place in my heart though. He's a very special person to me, one that is hard to find.
'Why don't you talk to him?' Derek asks me.
'Because sometimes I don't see the point. He's always going to be Bruce.' I reply.
'Rach, I know Bruce. I know he feels the same way that you do. You just have to talk to him.'
'What if the same thing happens; what if I fall madly in love with Bruce – '
' – What if you fall madly in love with Bruce? More than you are now? Rach, I don't think you realize how much you love this man. You dance around with him, you tell him everything except anything that regards your relationship, and you kiss whenever you see each other. If I didn't know your situation, I'd say you're a very happy couple in a relationship. All you have to do is take the leap.' He says. He has a point. I want to be with Bruce… and I am madly in love with him. I've known him for nineteen years. He helped me through my toughest times and celebrated with me on my most happiest; even if many of my happiest moments were the ones where I was celebrating with him. But I was still unsure.
'… But what if he breaks my heart.' I say. It's hard to think that he would ever do that, but I've trusted people so many times that my trust is no longer given out lightly.
'Then maybe then would be a good time to let go.'

I look at my watch and notice that there's ten minutes till two and I need to pick up my things from Derek's locker and wait for Bruce outside the hospital.

'I'm sorry Derek, I really have to go. I have to meet Bruce in ten minutes. We'll talk later on the phone?'
'Sure. Here are the keys; the locker number is on the tag.' He says.
'Thanks.' I say, giving him a long hug, not wanting to let go myself.
I quickly start walking away to the residents' locker room when I hear Derek's voice in the distance.
'Remember what I told you!' I stop walking and turn around.
'Thanks, I will! Give my best to Mer, Alex, Lexie and Cristina, will you?' I say. He gives me a thumbs up and I start running.

After five minutes I have all of my things ready in a box and leave the hospital. I walk out of the sliding doors and notice the water droplets falling on a photo frame of me and Bruce at a Halloween party from six years ago. I was dressed as snow white and he was dressed as prince charming. I look up at the sky and a heavy rain starts falling down. I phase out the noise from the rain hitting the ground and I hear footsteps heading towards me. I start to hope it's one of the fifth year residents. Instead, I turn my head to find Mark standing beside me on my right, holding an umbrella.

'I couldn't help noticing you were standing out here and I thought you must have been freezing cold.' He says while placing his lab coat over my shoulders.
'Thank you.' I say, loathing his presence. We stood in the rain for some time when finally his words broke our silence.
'I really did love you, you know.' He says.
'I did too, Mark, but it's over now.'
'No, it's not; because I still do.' His words shocked me. He still loves me? He has to be joking.
'You still do? You still what. You still want to keep ripping my heart to pieces? So it's not enough having me miles away from you, but you still want to keep destroying me? Why, Mark. Out of all the things you can say; 'How did you feel seeing Derek for the first time' or 'How do you feel now that you've accomplished a major goal in your life' or maybe just go with the old 'how do you feel'!' I start raising my voice now. He has really pushed my buttons to an extent where I am not in the mood of waiting a minute longer standing here. I take his lab coat off my shoulders and throw it at his chest. I start walking away and I make my way through the pouring rain to my old street. I take off my heels and walk toward the stairway that leads to my apartment building and I sit on the third stair. I put my belongings beside me and I start crying.
I was in love with Mark and he took advantage of my feelings to inflate his ego. This was the first time I opened myself to a relationship and I ended up being hurt. You never really think these things would happen to you when you read it in books or see it in movies. You think that with enough care you can avoid the heartbreakers – those people that you are more prone to being hurt from. But it happens. It's inevitable. And it happened to me. I wonder what Bruce is going to think when he arrives at the hospital and I'm not there. Will he be worried about me? I think I should call him. I start to dial his phone number and press call. I lower my head in my arms and cry some more. Hopefully he'll answer.

'Rachel,' I hear his voice through the phone.
'Are you okay?' He asks.
I try to compose myself and attempt to get some words out.
'No, I'm not. Are you at the hospital?' I say, crying.
'No. Look up.' I quickly look up and spot the Rolls Royce parked across the street and Bruce standing in front of it. He crosses the street and runs towards me. He sits next to me on the staircase and puts his hand around my shoulder and I put my head on his chest.
'I thought that when I had my doctorate I would finally feel complete but I don't.' I say.
'Don't worry; it's all going to be OK.' He says.

We sit in the rain for a while, holding each other until two forty. We'd been sitting here for nearly twenty minutes.
'Come on, let's go home.' He stands up and picks up my belongings with his right hand while holding me with his left hand. He opens the door of his car for me and I get in. I never felt it outside from the crying and the rush of emotions but I'm freezing cold. Bruce gets in the car, turns on the engine and immediately turns on the heater. He drives off and at a red light, he grabs a black wool overcoat from the back seat and puts it over me so that It covers my arms and neck.
'Here, this'll keep you warm for a while.' He says. We start to make our way up to Cicero and I realize that we are on avenue Y, where the hospital is.
'Where are we going?' I say, shivering.
'I'm going to give Mark what he deserves.' He says. My heart starts to race and I start wondering what Bruce is going to do. And how did he know about Mark? I start to think that Derek called him. We arrive at the hospital and Bruce parks across the street from Joe's bar, my old hangout with Derek. Bruce gets out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I start to think that this is serious. I quickly put on my shoes, I get out of the car and I put the coat on properly. I race towards Bruce and ask him,
'Bruce, what are you doing? There's nothing to be done. I'm finished with Mark.'
'You may be, but I'm not.'
He quickly removes his jacket and hands it over to me, leaving him wearing only his dress shirt and vest. He starts rolling up his sleeves.
He quickly walks through the hospital doors and with Mark's poor luck, Bruce spots him talking to a nurse at the front desk.
He quickly walks towards him and I stop a few metres away, afraid of what he will do. Mark sees Bruce walking towards him and greets him.
'Bruce! How are you! Nice to see y – '
Bruce throws a punch at Mark's face and his nose starts bleeding.
'That's what you get for hurting Rachel.' Bruce says. He shakes his right hand in pain when Mark stands upright and punches Bruce in the face, right below his eye.
'Bruce!' I scream.
I run towards him in disbelief and I whisper,
'Are you okay?!'
'Stay back.' He says; his voice slightly rougher than his normal voice.
He quickly composes himself and throws another punch at Mark but this time in his abdomen. I don't think this is going to end either well or soon so I step in. I run to the middle of the fight and break them apart.
'Stop! Stop!' I shout.
'Enough out of both of you!'
I point to the nurse by the desk. 'You, page doctor Torres and doctor Shepherd.'
Callie appears from the elevator and runs towards Mark with a horrified look on her face. I guess there was no need paging her.
'Mark! Are you okay? Mark!' She shouts.
'I'm fine, just get that maniac out of here!' Mark says, signalling to Bruce. I look to Mark and Callie and notice everyone in the room staring at us. I force Bruce to stand up and I help him out the door. We walk towards the car and I place him on the back seat but as soon as I sit in the driver's seat, he walks out the back door and sits next to me at the front and I drive off.
'Where to?' I ask.
'Home.'

A/N: Thank you to WoR for taking time to write a review again! By the way, i have had an idea to make a Polyvore account to reveal what Rachel's outfits are for every chapter. Please feel free to check them out at .com =)