Christian tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he looked at Riley Sullivan, lying peacefully asleep on the operating table. He knew that Liz and Linda were only waiting for him to begin, but all of a sudden he found himself frozen in place. He had prepared himself for that surgery (he still couldn't believe that he had actually spent most of the weekend hitting the books) but as he looked at the child before him, so fragile and helpless, all the confidence he had felt as he walked into the clinic that morning vanished like a candle blown out.

He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, trying to look like the expert surgeon he was pretty sure he wasn't. Okay, now. You can do this. You're more skilled than you think you are. Christian groaned inwardly: right now, Sean's words of praise seemed to belong to another lifetime rather than three days ago.

He shuffled his feet, the memory of Grace's smile as she complimented him for Friday's surgery only making him more anxious. "Material enough for a good man and a rogue", his ass; life was definitely easier when you weren't trying to be a good man.

"So, what do we have here?" -- Liz's voice brought him back to the present with a start.

"Uh?" -- Christian gave her a puzzled look, and she motioned with her chin towards Riley, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Hare lip and cleft palate," he told her, gathering his wits.

"Isn't this kind of surgery usually done when the child is younger?" Liz asked, giving the boy a curious look.

"His foster parents had some trouble getting Social Services' approval."

Liz sniffed to express her opinion about the kind of officialism that would deprive a child from a surgery he so obviously needed.

"He looks so small!..." she sighed. "You won't have to break any bones, will you?"

"No." -- Christian shook his head, watching Riley's face -- "I'll just make an incision here…" -- he pointed at the left side of the cleft that went from the boy's upper lip to his nostril -- "And, uh… Linda, hand me the scalpel." -- he held out his hand, with his eyes still on the boy, and the nurse promptly placed the scalpel on his waiting hand.

"Here," he repeated as he gingerly made an incision on the left side of the cleft, "and here." -- he made another incision on the right side.

"Will you have to implant something to fill the gap?" Liz asked.

"No," Christian muttered, not raising his eyes as he carefully turned the dark pink outer portion of the cleft down. "Just gotta pull the two sides together like this... muscles and skin..." -- at this point he was totally focused on the procedure, barely aware of Linda's movements as the nurse prepared the needle and surgical thread that she knew he'd need.

He worked steadily for almost three hours, his brow furrowed in concentration, never raising his head as he answered Liz's questions. It wasn't until the surgery was over that it occurred to Christian that the anesthetist had already assisted more than just a few harelip corrective surgeries before. Maybe not enough for her to know the answers to the questions she had just asked him, but enough for her to know how to ask all the right questions, the ones that had subtly guided him through the procedure.

Christian discarded the needle and the remnants of the surgical thread into the trashcan and gave Liz a perplexed look, but she was still wearing the surgical mask and he didn't know how to interpret the look in her eyes as she said amiably:

"Good job."

"Thank you," he muttered, giving her one last curious look before he left the OR.

- x x x x x -

"What's with everyone acting out of character these days?" Linda blurted as she threw her surgical gown in the trashcan and turned to Liz with her hands on her hips.

"Uh?" -- Liz was sitting across the locker room from Linda, tying the laces of her shoes, and she raised her head to give the nurse an innocent look.

"First, it's Dr. Troy suddenly developing an interest for his work," Linda said. "And now, you, of all people, are helping him?"

"Oh, come on, Linda!" Liz said as she stood up and opened her locker. "Anyone could see that he took the time to prepare himself for this surgery; he was just nervous, and needed a little extra push."

"You know me," she said, shrugging as she took a comb out of the locker, "I'm a softy."

"No, you're not."

"Fine," Liz chuckled as she stood in front of the mirror and started to comb her hair. "But I like to think of myself as a generous person. Besides," she added, "if Christian actually decides to take his work more seriously, it's everyone's gain."

"Do you think he will?" Linda asked skeptically.

Liz hesitated for a moment before she turned away from the mirror and back to the other woman.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked, lowering her voice despite the fact that they were alone in the room.

"Sure," Linda said, her eyes glinting with interest.

"I think he has a thing for Grace, and that's why he's behaving like this."

"Grace? Like in, Grace Santiago?" Linda asked, her eyebrows shooting up. "The woman whose paycheck he signs every month?"

"Technically," Liz said, placing the comb back in her locker, "we're paid via direct deposit."

"Don't joke about this, Liz," Linda said. "Dr. McNamara will go ballistic: this has sexual harassment written all over it!"

"That's why I asked if you could keep a secret," Liz said, eyeballing her. "Besides," she added, closing the locker, "I said that I think Christian has a thing for her. I may be wrong."

"For her sake, I hope you are," Linda muttered as they walked out of the locker room together. "I thought you liked Grace," she said, giving Liz a slightly reproachful look.

"I do," Liz said, nodding. "But the girl is made of tough stuff; if Christian thinks he'll walk right over her like he usually does with women, I have a hunch that he's in for the shock of a lifetime."

- x x x x x -

In the meantime, Christian had left the male locker room and was talking to Riley's parents in the waiting room, blissfully unaware of the discussion about his love life that was taking place a few yards away.

"Did everything go well?" Mr. Gates asked anxiously.

"Will he be okay?" -- Mr. Wood's looked calmer than his partner did, but his voice was wavering slightly as he made the question.

"Yes it did," Christian said, his smile widening as the fact that he had indeed healed a little boy started to sink in, "and yes, he will."

"He's going to be just fine," he assured them, smiling when the two men looked at each other, exchanging wide smiles of joy and relief.

"You're a good man, Dr. Troy," Mr. Gates said, reaching out to shake his hand. "You have got some serious positive karma coming your way," he added fervently.

"Thank you very much," Mr. Wood said. "What you did for our son today…" His voice faltered and he uttered hoarsely: "Thank you so much."

"And," Mr. Gates quickly added, "as soon as we get the money…"

"This one is on the house," Christian said, cutting him off.

In the silence that followed his words, he almost laughed at the sight of the two astounded faces turned towards him as the two men digested what he had just said.

"Dr. Troy, we…" Mr. Wood stammered. "We don't, can't let you do that. It's…"

"You can," Christian said, kindly but firmly. "You will. Please. If you can take care of him for the rest of his life," he said earnestly, "I can take care of him for one day."

There was another brief moment as the two men hesitated, and then Mr. Gates suddenly moved forward and hugged Christian. Mr. Wood followed him shortly, and Christian's eyes widened as he found himself in the middle of a group hug. He awkwardly returned the hug, Mr. Gates' words -- you're a good man, Dr. Troy -- making him think of Grace's smile again.

"I, hum…" Christian stammered as the two men let go off him, "You can see Riley as soon as he's out of recovery."

He smiled as they thanked him again. And again. As Christian finally left them and walked out of the waiting room and down the corridor that led to the elevators, he had a smile on his lips and a spring in his step, feeling good about himself in a way that he hadn't felt in quite a long time. He was startled when his lab coat was grabbed from behind and he was pulled back just in time to avoid an empty gurney that was being wheeled out of a nearby room.

"Daydream much?" Grace asked laughingly while a nursing assistant wheeled the unharmed gurney down the corridor.

"I'm coming from Riley Sullivan's surgery," Christian told her, unable to keep a note of pride from his voice.

"And how did it go?" she asked, smiling as the glint in his eyes already told her all she needed to know.

"Right according to plan," Christian said, grinning.

"That's great," Grace said earnestly.

They smiled at each other, unaware of the looks on the faces of Liz and Linda as the two women walked towards them. Linda raised her eyebrows, and Liz elbowed her lightly, giving her a pointed look before addressing Grace:

"Sorry I'm late. Are you ready for lunch?"

"Yes, I'll just stop at my office to get my purse," Grace said. Then, turning to Christian: "Dr. McNamara set an appointment with a chiropractor this afternoon; he asked if you and I could cover for him with Miss Gray's consult at two thirty."

"No problem," Christian said. "I, uh… left something in the locker room," he added, pointing in the general direction of the OR and casting a curious glance at Linda as the nurse's probing stare was starting to make him nervous. "Have a good lunch."

"Thanks," Grace said as she followed Liz and Linda towards the elevators.

As the three women walked down the hall, Christian still stood there for a while, watching them -- her -- go. He was feeling really good about himself because of Riley's surgery, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Grace. He made a point of keeping his eyes on her butt as she walked away, because that was all she meant to him: a fine piece of ass and another notch to his belt. So there.

- x x x x x -

"Am I the only one who finds this guy to be a nuisance?" Christian muttered under his breath as he and Grace walked down the hall.

They had just finished the last consult of the day, with Jude there as a bystander, and by the end of the consult Christian had already thought of five rather painful ways to make Sean pay for leaving him stuck with Julia's classmate all afternoon. He didn't know how to explain it except that the guy rubbed him the wrong way. And if he caught him ogling Grace's legs one more time, the future plastic surgeon wannabe would be the one needing the services of a plastic surgeon.

"He's a nuisance," Grace stated positively, after looking over her shoulder to make sure Jude wasn't within ear reach.

"Why is he even here?" she asked. "It's not like he's any help, as far as I can see."

"He has some classes with Sean's wife," Christian said, shrugging. "Julia has just gone back to med school," he explained when Grace raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"And she asked him to take this guy as an intern?" Grace said, wrinkling her nose. "A man could file for divorce based on this."

Christian laughed heartedly and she insisted in mock gravity:

"Mental cruelty is grounds for divorce!"

They stopped at the door to her office and she said with a smile:

"Well, I need to hurry: I have people coming over tonight and my place is a mess."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Christian said. "And so will Jude," he added slyly, just for the sake of seeing her scrunch up her face again. Not that it was cute or anything.

"Not until noon, he won't," Grace replied with a smug smile of her own. "I have three one on one consults scheduled for tomorrow morning."

She giggled at the disappointment on his face and said softly as she walked into her office to get her purse:

"Bye, Christian."

Christian huffed and made a face on her, but before he could come up with a smart reply her cell phone started to ring, and he had to make do with frowning at her and leaving. He was smiling as he walked to his own office, though, merrily disregarding the warning voice in the back of his head that kept reminding him that his supposedly staunch resolve not to let Grace get under his skin was getting flimsier by the day.

Because he was in a good mood, he turned on his PC and updated Riley's medical file, and also typed in his notes from the consults of the afternoon. As he saved the last file and logged off, Christian was humming contentedly to himself, knowing that for once Sean would have nothing to admonish him about the next morning.

He turned off the computer and left his office, locking the door behind him and heading to the clinic's garage. His good mood quickly vanished when he reached the bottom of the stairs and his eyes fell on his car, more specifically on the word written in his stalker's signature pink paint:

"ASSHOLE"

"Gina." -- Christian's hands balled in fists, the memory of her angry face flashing in his mind and making him see red. He was going to kill that bitch. That crazy, whiny, obsessive… He inhaled deeply, forcing himself to focus. First things first. Right now, he needed two things: a mechanic to fix his car and a taxi to take him home.

While he unclipped his cell phone from his belt and dialed the mechanic shop's number, Christian considered his options. As Gina herself had mentioned during their last confrontation, he didn't know her home address or even her last name. Could he file a restraining order with just her first name and her cell phone number? He doubted it. And he had already tried physical intimidation, clearly with no results, he thought as he glanced darkly at his car.

After giving the clinic's address to the attendant, he disconnected the call and proceeded to call a taxi, deciding that he'd deal with Gina the next day. He knew where to find her, and he'd find out where she lived even if he had to follow her home after one of those goddamn meetings.