Mending Hearts

Taylor had invited Sarah to stay with her family for the holidays but she'd declined as her mother had flown to Texas and they had stayed with one of Susan's cousins for Christmas.

Kayla, who was her cousin was 20 years old and had decided to spend the holidays with her mother as well. She was just starting to get the hang of having her own apartment and being alone and felt like she could relate to Sarah, after all, Reese had somehow reset her own life, twice now by quitting Med the first time and then leaving for Baylor after Robert.

Her father and his life choices weren't really known to the Reese family of course, her mother didn't need something else to be judged for in life. She had been mostly a single mother and made her own decisions early on.

"Sarah honey, have you met anyone interesting yet?"

"My roommate, she's got like this bubbly personality that I really don't grasp just yet." Sarah said looking down at her food.

"Any boys you like?" Kayla added in after her mother. Susan looked at Sarah.

Reese's mind clicked to Connor and then she shook the idea of him from her mind, she had brushed him off twice now.

So, there was no reason for him to try for a third time, no one would be that interested.

"No, not really. Residency doesn't leave a lot of time for socializing."

"Of course, but well maybe you should meet more people, I'm sure Kayla can help you out."

Her cousin was closer to Sarah and her mother than any other relative.

"Oh, yeah my friends have brothers…"

"I'm really not looking to date…"

"Sarah, come on, it would be good for you. It's a second chance remember?"

A second chance? Right.

"Dr. Rhodes, your sister called again. She needs to know if you'd be going over tomorrow night." Maggie told him as Connor stopped at the nurse's station. It was December 23rd and he still hadn't made any plans, in fact, he had been avoiding every call his sister had made for the past week.

Will and Nat had offered him a spot at their table with Helen and her parents but he had declined as well, he really just wanted to focus on work and at least allow his friends to have some kind of life. Him? He had none.

"I'll get to it Maggie."

"When, by New Years?" She snorted, the lead nurse had proved to be an essential part of his new Hybrid OR team but she also spoke her mind aloud and had put him in his place a few times. He still had a lot to learn, he guessed. Connor brushed the comment off and went to check on a new patient that had come in but he stopped cold.

"Claire." He spoke in a low voice as Maggie stood behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Looks like this is the only way to get to see you or have you answer my calls." His sister said frustrated. "Do you have a minute?"

"He's got one." Natalie, who had seen it all smiled. "Go, I've got your patient."

Connor nodded and led his sister out the hospital.

"What's up Claire?"

"Are you going to give me an answer or not?" She told him. "Dad keeps insisting you'd be there."

"Since when does he care?" Connor shot back.

"Please, I know it's not the easiest thing to be around him but he wants you to come home Connor."

"It's not my home anymore." He was about to turn back when he saw Maggie running towards him.

"Dr. Rhodes, I'm sorry but we've got an incoming MVA." She said, eyeing Claire.

"I need to go Claire, I'll call you okay?" Before she could reply, he was gone.

Sarah spent Christmas Eve morning glued to her books, she had to hand in a research paper as soon as she went back to work. Kayla sat beside her, glued to her phone as Sarah's own chimed in her pocket. Will Halstead, Dr. Charles, everyone she had ever cared about in Chicago was texting her.

She sighed, Dr. Charles's even seemed something a parent would say, truth be told, Sarah had always wished for a father like Daniel.

"Something wrong?" Kayla smiled.

"No, it's just people I used to work with in Chicago."

"Oh, I wish I could have gone and visited you while you lived there, it sounds amazing."

Sarah shrugged, for a while it had been, she had been so excited to have been on her own at age 24 and then when she began dating Joey everything seemed to click but not for long.

"Girls, come on, why don't we go for a walk, it's warm outside." Her Aunt called to them, Susan had been on a call for most of the morning.

"Sure, Sarah?"

Reese sighed, she gave one last look at her phone, no text from Connor, not that she was expecting him to acknowledge her.

Connor was still amazed about how he always somehow ended up in his old childhood home at Christmas with his sister and Russ, the one guy his father didn't gag about being with Claire without some kind of pedigree but they've known each other since they were both 14.

It was bound to happen.

"Master Connor, Merry Christmas." Arthur, his father's driver said with a smile as Connor got out of his car and handed him the keys.

"Merry Christmas." He said politely just as his sister who he was sure was spying on him from the dining room window smiled at him. "Claire…"

"Merry Christmas Connor, thank you for coming" Connor shrugged. "How was work?"

"Work was fine, I know what small talk is all about Claire. What's really going on?"

His sister sighed.

Sarah woke up on Christmas morning to the smell of pancakes. Her Aunt Rosie was big on traditions and Sarah remembered the few times her mother would make her pancakes, on her birthday and Christmas morning.

"Sarah, honey, good morning. Sit." She did as she was told as her Aunt put a cup of freshly brewed coffee in front of her. "Did you sleep well?"

She had actually, better than she had in years, being at her Aunt's just felt, safe, familiar almost like a real home should have. She nodded. "Where's my Mom?"

"Oh, she got a call from work, I swear that girl works as much as you. Are you done with your paper?"

"Almost." Sarah said with a hand to her hair tiredly. "I'll have it ready for tomorrow though."

"That's a good girl." There was a silence between them. "Sarah, sweetheart, Baylor isn't too far from here, if you'd like I do have a spare bedroom."

"Rosie, no I wouldn't want to impose on you."

"Honey, that's crazy, I'd love to have you, even if I know you are going to be spending long hours in the hospital, it would make me feel much better if I you were here."

For a minute Sarah wondered if her Aunt knew more than she let know but she brushed it off.

"I'll think about it." She smiled weakly.

"That's all I ask." Sarah nodded again and took a sip of her coffee as her Aunt place a plate in front of her.

"Oh, that smells so good Mom." Kayla said coming in and sitting beside Reese. "Nothing like a homemade breakfast at Christmas, huh Sarah?"

Sarah later went for a walk as her phone chimed in her pocket.

Connor had texted and for some reason her heart had skipped a beat.

She really couldn't let go of their last encounter, in reality, she couldn't shake Connor from her mind no matter how hard she tried.

"Connor?" It was Russ, he'd come to spend Christmas morning with Claire. "Everything okay?" The taller man didn't look up from his phone until a minute later.

"Sure." He smiled at him. "I was just…"

"Checking on your patients?" Connor bit his lip. "Or maybe a girl? Claire told me you and Dr. Bekker are not together anymore." He looked over at Russ suspiciously.

"You and my sister discuss my love life?"

"We care Connor, Claire wants you to be happy." Russ said softly. "I think your Mom would have wanted that for you too, I know this past year hasn't been easy with all the changes at the hospital and the Haywood case." Connor forgot Russ made a living by doing his homework.

"Thanks Russ but I'm fine, I think it will be good for me just to be on my own for a while."

He hadn't really been alone in a long time, since returning to Chicago almost 5 years prior.

"If you are sure but if you need anyone to talk to, I'm still your friend Connor and I'm here for you."

His phone chimed back then and a smile crept up his face, upon seeing Sarah's reply.

The next week passed by in a blur between work and her studies so the day before New Years, Sarah found herself in bed in her Aunt's guest room cuddled in bed browsing through Netflix in search of something to watch.

"Mind if I join you?" Her Aunt spoke by the door, her Mom had returned to work and she would be spending New Years with her newest boyfriend but Sarah somehow liked having someone to come home to, someone to talk to, Taylor was just as swamped with her nursing rotation as she was with her residency so they barely had any energy to talk at the end of the day.

"What's going on in that head of yours, I can hear the wheels going…"

"Work, I guess. I've been thinking about my old job in Chicago a lot, I know it's been months but here just feels still not like home and there it was starting to."

"I understand." Her Aunt smiled. "There's nothing wrong with missing them Sarah, they were a big part of your life for four years."

Reese nodded. "Come on, lets get a start on dinner before Kayla comes back from the movies with her friends. You can tell me a little more about Chicago while you peel."

Sarah sighed and stood up from her bed, shoving her phone back in her pocket.

"Dr. Rhodes, as I understand, you will not be working on New Years?" Gwen Garrett had come to find Connor as he was finishing clearing the Hybrid OR.

"Miss Garrett, I hope that's not a problem, I have barely taken any vacation time in all my years at Med."

"It's not that." Garrett said. "Don't get me wrong but…"

"But since I don't appear to have a life…." Connor muttered under his breath.

"Where are you going if you don't mind me asking?"

"Miss Garrett with all due respect, I don't see how that is any of your business."

"It's not Dr. Rhodes, I just wish we had a chance to get to know each other a little better, since you and your OR are a big investment for this hospital."

"Maggie has done all the training required and so has Terry McNeal, I don't see why they can't handle the OR for a few days."

Garrett nodded. "I'm sorry Dr. Rhodes, I'm just…"

"Checking upon me? Making sure I'm performing as you and my father expect?" Connor countered. "He never approved of it, I had to go live in another country, which I knew almost nothing about and find my way there."

"I understand better than you think Connor." He hadn't heard her use his first name before. "But you also do see why I have to make sure my top cardiothoracic surgeon is available since we have lost Dr. Bekker."

"You have Dr. Latham covering for me. He already agreed." Connor said, quickly brushing off her mentioning of Ava. "He's better than me anyway."

Connor turned away before Miss. Garrett was able to say anything else.

He was Connor Rhodes and for the first time in a long time, that was a good thing.

Sarah stayed in the hospital for New Years, she really didn't have anywhere else to go even though her Aunt had insisted they needed to go to the local fair like she always did.

Sarah wasn't really in the mood though, she had only one thought, what was to come after New Years. Robert had finally been indicted and his trial was to begin in January, ergo, Sarah would have to testify and so would Connor.

Sarah shook him from her mind for the third time that day, she hadn't texted him since Christmas.

She sighed, glancing at her phone, a picture, one that Will had sent her a few years before was the first thing she had searched for, back at Owen's Christening when she had stood beside Rhodes in the picture.

She trailed her lips absentmindedly, she had barely been able to forget not one but two kisses, one he had taken the lead on and one she had and she wasn't sure what either of them meant because they really hadn't talked about or seen each other after it happened.

Connor sighed as he grabbed his jacket and suitcase and glanced back at his apartment for a moment.

He was determined to do this. Connor touched down just in time, for once he was glad about what money could do.

He googled the address and grabbed a Lyft to his destination, he just hoped he wasn't too late.

Sarah was grabbing her clothes from the resident's lockers when Kelly, one of the nurses came to find her.

"Sarah, someone is asking for you." She said to her, Reese raised an eyebrow.

"Who is it? A patient?"

"Not sure, he said you'd knew him as soon as you saw him." The brunette told Sarah.

"Linda, uh, Kelly said someone was looking for me."

The older woman turned with a smile. "Oh, right the nice boy."

"What nice boy?" Sarah inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"He said he'd wait for you outside." Linda said with a warm smile. "Happy New Year Sarah."

Sarah nodded and wished the older woman the same as she bundled herself up as the night was turning a little colder than usual. "So, this is Baylor." A voice said behind her. She'd recognize it anywhere.

"Connor?" Her voice was a mere whisper. "What, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to know what the big fuss was about." He admitted to her with a charming smile as she had already turned around, his eyes shining in the late afternoon Texan sky. Sarah smiled softly, she couldn't help it, he had that effect on her. "What, you are not going to give me a hug?"

She did, slowly, unsure, it wasn't like Connor Rhodes was her boyfriend, or her anything for that matter, sure they had kissed but she wasn't sure it had meant something more than an unspoken and unanswered attraction between them and a kiss or two.

"Happy New Year Sarah." He spoke into her embrace, as they broke apart, he smiled at her.

Her heart skipped a beat again. "Connor, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you really doing here?"

"Is there somewhere we could go for coffee?" He asked, a smile still playing on his lips.

Sarah knew just the place, it wasn't far and that was a good thing because she used the bus now as her apartment was near so they walked over.

The small diner was practically empty. "You should try the cherry pie. It's really good." Sarah said, still finding it hard to believe that Connor Rhodes sat across from her.

He laughed. "Why do I feel like soon enough someone is going to break into song or something?"

"Sarah honey, nice to see you and who's this?" An older woman came to their table before Reese could reply.

"This is Connor." Sarah said quickly. The woman adjusted her glasses and smiled.

"A doctor too I presume, from Chicago?" She shot Sarah a knowing look. "His eyes speak honestly, you know you can tell a lot about people from their eyes. She explained. "What are you having?"

They ordered and soon enough, Dora, the waitress was gone, Sarah hadn't noticed her fingers were almost brushing Connor's.

"So, were you heading home?"

"To my Aunt's actually, it's going to be just her and my cousin." Sarah explained. "Don't worry, I told her I had work to finish."

Connor smiled again. "When was the last time you told a lie, Sarah Reese?" He said softly, leaning closer.

"I'm not sure. I'm not really good at lying." She admitted shyly and almost a bit nervous.

"So, if I ask you about how you felt about us kissing, are you going to tell me the truth?"

Sarah bit her lip. "Oh, that."

"Yes that, it's not like it was nothing Sarah, I understand we both had to go back to the what was real life but that doesn't mean it wasn't nothing."

"I didn't say it was…" She said, a little bit too loud. Connor nodded as Sarah looked around, embarrassed.

"But we haven't really talked about it, I mean after I dropped you over to Will and Nat's, we've barely crossed words since then."

"Whose fault is that?" True, he had been swamped in the hospital now that Ava was gone.

"Okay, true but…"

"You could have picked up the phone Connor."

"I didn't think it was something to be discussed on a call." He told her. Sarah held her breath for a moment.

"So, you flew to Texas just so that we could talk?" There was a bit of mockery in her voice even though she hadn't mean to.

"I had to do something Sarah, I... it has been a weird couple of months." He admitted to her. "And the one thing I can't seem to do is get you out of my head.

Sarah didn't answer him. She hadn't dared to face it either, because if she did then it would mean she had feelings for Connor Rhodes and that terrified her.

Still, she hadn't meant to invite him over at her Aunt's, but she couldn't deal with him spending the New Year alone, especially if he had flown to see her.

So, Sarah Reese found herself bringing Connor home. Her Aunt didn't say anything right away and only instructed Sarah to bring out another plate for their guest.

"So, that's Connor?" Kayla hissed at Sarah with a whistle. "He's, well you didn't say he was insanely hot."

"Kayla!" Her mother chided. "Where is he staying honey?"

"I'm not sure." Sarah answered glancing back at Connor who was on the phone, probably checking on his post ops.

"Well, go ask him…" Her Aunt hurried her along, Sarah dragged her feet from the kitchen to the living room.

"Everything okay?" He turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah, it's just, uh, there is this new kid, I'm pretty sure he'll end up in my rotation."

"Oh?"

"Kind of reminds me of someone." He mused at her. "He's unsure but determined and kind of made a last minute career change."

Sarah nodded. "Sounds like you got him all figured out."

"Not quite, but we'll see. I could use my David Downey on him. He's good with patients though, maybe he'd be better off in the ED." There was a bit of nostalgia in his voice.

"Do you miss it? The ED, I mean?" She asked, walking closer.

"I do, I guess, with the Hybrid OR I feel like I can get a little bit of both, but yeah sometimes, I miss it."

"Sometimes I do too." Sarah admitted. "I miss how it felt to be a part of a team…"

Connor smiled at her, shoving his hands on his pants pockets.

"Dr. Rhodes is it?"

"Connor is fine." He replied politely. "I'm sorry to just have showed up like this."

"Actually, we were wondering if you were spending the night?" Rosie spoke up kindly.

Sarah turned tomato red. "We'll make up the sofa bed for you of course but we couldn't possibly leave you welcome the New Year on your own, after all you've just arrived."

Connor smiled charmingly. "I wouldn't really want to impose on you." He said.

"You sound like Sarah." Rosie huffed. "Go wash up both of you, dinner is almost ready."

"Sorry, she's a bit bossy." Sarah said as soon as her aunt disappeared back into the kitchen.

"I really don't want to cause any trouble, I already showed up like this." He told her almost shyly.

"Too late." Sarah said. "Let's go. You don't keep Rosie waiting on her cooking."

Dinner went by slowly for Sarah, she tried not to look over at Connor a lot, although it didn't go amiss by her Aunt and cousin.

"So, Connor, you are a surgeon, right?" Kayla asked.

"Yes, after being a trauma fellow for a while, I decided on surgery." Connor told her.

"Why surgery?" Kayla asked again.

"It was something I didn't expect to happen actually, I mean from an early age I did know I wanted to be a doctor. When my mother died, it only made sense for me to try and keep other kids from having to experience what I did."

Sarah hadn't heard that before. "That's very noble Connor." Rosie said with a smile. "And I'm guessing surgery then gives you a way to fix whatever you see might be broken."

Connor smiled. "Yes, you are actually not the first person to say that to me. I do tend to want to fix things and I suppose surgery is the perfect way to do it."

Rosie nodded. Then Kayla turned to Sarah knowingly who hadn't been able to rip her eyes away from the man in front of her.

When they were done with dinner, Sarah offered to wash the dishes and of course Connor came in behind her. She was so focused on the task at hand that she didn't notice him.

"Want a hand?" She turned around. "What? I can wash dishes, you know? I didn't live in some fancy house my entire life, in fact, I ran away from it."

"Mexico."

"Right, I lived with the family of one of my classmates, Marco, his grandmother would make us wash dishes on weekends. I was grateful for all the things I learned from her and the people I lived with. Marco's brother had Down Syndrome and I think that's one of the reasons he became a doctor, he works at a children's hospital in Guadalajara now."

"You still keep in touch?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I do, he's the one who offered me the job earlier this year."

"Which you turned down."

"Well, I couldn't leave Will hanging, you'd already left and I didn't think he could handle it."

Sarah huffed. "So, this is about Will?"

"No, this is about me not walking away from something I believed in. Two things actually, he kept drying the dishes Sarah handed to him, inching closer. "My father may have funded the OR or named the psych ward after my mother and he says it might be harmless."

"But it's not."

"No, he wants yet another way to be able to control my life." Sarah sighed, her mind instantly drifting to Robert. "But I made a promise to myself a long time ago not to let him."

Connor was now in front of her. "And that's why I came here tonight Sarah, because for most of my life, people have wanted to control me. Even Ava, in a way to keep me from not leaving Chicago." His words stung. "She tried to control me."

Sarah's breath hitched in her throat. "So, for the second time in my life, I jumped on a plane and went in search for answers and they led me to you Sarah Reese."

"Connor I..." She tried to find the words to shut him down for the third time ever since this dance between them had begun but she found herself unable to do so.

"Come on you two!" They pulled apart at the sound of Rosie's voice. "It's almost time."

Sarah coughed as she put the towel aside and pushed the door open. Connor walked in behind her a moment later with a sigh.

They accepted a glass of champagne from Sarah's aunt and clicked their glasses together as the countdown began.

In all honesty, Connor couldn't take his eyes off Sarah. "Happy New Year Connor."

"Happy New Year Reese."

She hadn't known how it happened but she had found herself alone with Connor a few hours later as they made up the sofa bed Rosie had offered.

Once they were done, neither of them spoke for a while. "So, you know there's this tradition that you have to kiss someone by New Years? It's meant to be good luck."

Sarah looked at him. "I know we haven't talked about me kissing you and then you kissing me back but..." He was now inches from her face. "I really, really want to, do it again, kiss you, I mean."

"Connor…"

"Please don't think so hard on this Sarah, just for a second okay? Let me kiss you first and then we can talk about it?"

She didn't know who had leaned in first but the next thing she knew, she was kissing Connor again and for some reason, the upcoming weeks were looking up for her.

Soooo... Connor showed up in Texas? What will happen next? What did you guys think? It's a slow burn but it's Rheese so that is a good thing, they need to heal each other up.