PROBLEM(ATIC)
Torn Between the Two
Chapter Two
"It was a Mistake"

"Loving can cost a lot but not loving always costs more, and those who fear to love often find that want of love is an emptiness that robs the joy from life."

After a long night of thinking, Sam and Gates both come to the conclusion that no matter what they love about one another, no matter what they have in common, they cannot fall in love. Will it affect their work?

…

The ER was bustling with patients today as Tony walked into the ER. 'I should have called in sick' he thought as he headed towards the break room, dodging patients along with way. He heard Skye say there was a motor vehicle collision victim coming in. Why do so many people have to be accident-prone? Why can't they just drive right?

"Gates!" came a voice from behind him and Tony turned around slowly, seeing a tiny brunette run towards him.

"Gates," Sam said as she finally reached him, "Can we talk?" she asked, her voice low as she looked around, hoping no one seen her. The last thing she wanted was for Morris or Frank to start teasing her about talking to Gates, she already had enough problems with them.

"Sure," Gates said, knowing exactly what she would want to talk about. She was going to tell him that she didn't mean for last night to happen. That is was all a mistake.

"About last night…" the nurse started, "I…didn't…" she continued to search for words before Gates cut her off, his voice short and sharp.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled, "It was a mistake."

Sam stood there for a moment, her eyes widened, before she nodded, her hands going directly to her hips as Gates walked away before she could respond. She didn't have to say anything though; he could feel her eyes bore into the back of his head like fire.

Gates finally made it to the break room before Sam said anything more to him. He went to his locker and unlocked it, roughly pulling the metal contraption off the door. He threw his winter coat inside and then grabbed his stethoscope, placing it around his neck.

The resident slammed the locker door and sat down on the bench in the middle of the room. He put his head in his hands and sighed for a moment, upset with what just happened. Did he really just break it off with Sam?

How could you break it off with her? His mind asked, It didn't even start! You didn't even give it a chance!

Gates sighed again, before looking up at the lockers in front of him.

Pratt walked into the room, interrupting Gates's thoughts, "Hey!" his voice deep and anxious, "We need you out here!"

"Got it!" Gates replied, getting up from the bench and following Pratt out the door, "So, what we got?"

"Twenty-seven year-old male, Nikolas Kovalez," Pratt explained as they rushed to Trauma 2, "Bank Robbery. Broken rib pierced and deflated his left lung. Possible bone shards in the chest cavity."

Gates nodded as he entered the Trauma Room doors, he grabbed a pair of gloves and quickly snapped them on, and headed towards the patient, "How ya doing, buddy?" Gates asked as he came to the patient's side.

Sam looked up at Gates from across the table, "Central line is done," she said, her voice bitter and annoyed. Gates looked at her, confused for a moment, and Sam glared at him. Pratt noticed but decided to not mention it.

"Sam, I need a chest tube," Pratt bellowed as he looked at the screen of the monitor beside him.

Sam quickly got the large tube and stood by the patient's head. Because of her previous experience in the E.R, Sam was able to get the tube in rather quickly and Pratt smiled when he received a 'Got it' from her.

"Good job, guys," Pratt smiled, "Get him up the O.R." he said and followed the other nurse in the room out the door.

Sam took off her gloves and threw them in the trash and then began to strip the area around her, getting ready to clean. Gates watched her for a moment.

"What do you want, Gates?" she asked in an irritated tone.

Tony sighed, "Why are you acting all bitchy?" he asked, walking beside her and putting his hand on her shoulder.

Sam quickly pushed his hand away and turned to face him, looking him right in the eyes. She stood on the balls of her feet and placed her hands squarely on her hips, "None of your business," she warned, "Now if you'd like to leave me alone, I have some cleaning to do before another trauma rolls around."

Sam was about to swing around and continue to clean but Gates walked along the other side of her to look her in the face.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing!" Sam glared up at him, "I just am not going to listen to you."

Gates looked at her for a moment longer then stormed out of the Trauma Room, shoving past Morris who stood there holding charts.

"Gates, wait up!" he hollered, running after him, "I have something for you!"

"Not now, Morris, I'm trying to…" he began but the short redhead cut him off.

"It's from Julia," he teased and Gates spun around to look at him, "Okay, okay. I got it, here" Morris said, handing the envelope to him.

Gates opened the white paper and smiled at the note inside. It asked him to join her for dinner, mentioning that last time was fun. Gates placed the note inside the pocket of his blue shrubs and continued to walk off, leaving a forgotten Archie behind.

…

Sam groaned as she finished cleaning and began to leave the Trauma Room. The brunette started walking towards the admit desk to get some paperwork she needed. She had just reached the desk when she seen Chuny.

"Chuny!" Sam yelled at the tall brunette, who swung around at the sound of her voice and began to walk towards her.

"Hey Sam!" Chuny said with a smile, "When did you get on?"

"About an hour ago," she responded, "You?"

"I'm off in an hour," Chuny replied and Sam smacked her arm gently.

"Lucky!" she said as she grabbed the paperwork she was looking for, " I have a long while to go."

"You going out with Ethen after work?" Chuny asked, as Sam grabbed a pen and began to fill out the paperwork.

"Maybe. Haven't spoke to him since last time," Sam responded, not looking up from the sheet.

Chuny nodded, "How did that go?" she asked, "You guys seem to be getting along."

"He's okay,"

"Just okay,"

"Yup," Sam replied, looking up at Chuny, "Just okay."

"What about Officer Litchman?"

"He's okay, too"

"You're not impressed by them, are you?" Chuny said and Sam laughed.

"They're okay," the nurse responded, "It's not a big deal anyway. I'm having fun, and that's all that matters."

"That's right," Chuny cheered, " At least you're getting some."

Sam laughed, "Who said I was 'getting some'?"

"Are you?"

"Maybe…" Sam said then laughed, "It doesn't matter anyway."

"I have to get back to work, but you're going to tell me about what's going on between you and you're men" Chuny said and Sam laughed.

"Yeah, right!" Sam giggled and Chuny waved goodbye as she headed towards one of the patients.

TEASER

Gates continued on throughout his shift, trying so hard to get earlier out of his mind. He tried to think about Julia, about what they would do later, what she had in store. He really admired her for her mind. She was very open to almost everything that the world could offer her. But she wasn't special. She lacked that something. She lacked that extra flair that made him want to smile.

So when Tony's shift finally ended over ten hours later, he spent his entire date with the Chaplain thinking about his 'something'. About that tiny brunette that ran around County with a little trot and a hop in her walk. The one girl that could get up in his face and not be scared to hurt his feelings or tell him how it was.