Friday rolled around, and Valerie found that she had completely forgotten about the conversation she had had with Cynthia earlier in the week. She and Markus had been neck deep in surgery, and when they finally had time to take a breather, a few days had passed.

Valerie walked into Caduceus, smiling. She was in a really good mood – in fact, she even let herself be optimistic about her date with Brian. He had probably just been nervous during their last outing.

She breezed past the nurses' station and waved at Elena happily. Elena grinned at her, a slight look of confusion coming over her small features. Valerie put her key in the lock of the office she shared with Markus, and frowned when she found that it was unlocked.

She was always at work before Markus was. A quick look at her watch told her that it wasn't even 8AM. She opened the door gingerly.

The last thing she expected to see was Markus sleeping at his desk surrounded by piles of paper.

Valerie tiptoed into the office and closed the door behind her softly. She walked over to the desk and tapped Markus on the shoulder.

"Markus?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you sleeping at your desk?"

"Working."

"It's 8AM, Markus."

Markus opened his eyes and looked up at Valerie. She tried to suppress a smile – his face was dusted in stubble and his hair was an absolute mess.

"It's not Stigma," Markus said sleepily, still looking up at her the desk. "So you can sleep easy now."

Valerie's heart dropped. "What do you mean?"

Markus closed his eyes again. "I went to pathology a couple of days ago and ran the tests myself. Did some reading. It's not Stigma."

"Why would you even…?" Valerie trailed off.

"I didn't want you to worry," Markus said, his voice thick with sleep. "So I ran some tests."

"You didn't want me to worry?" Valerie repeated. She felt something akin to butterflies in her stomach – or maybe she was just hungry, she wasn't sure which.

Markus chuckled in his half-awake state. "Hey, did you know that Cynthia asked me out?"

"Oh?" Valerie said. "What did you say?"

"You kidding?" Markus mumbled. "Why the hell would I go out with Cynthia? Got you right here."

Valerie's eyebrows shot up. "Markus, are you even awake?"

"Sorta."

"She meant a date. You and I perform surgeries together."

"Don't see how it's any different," Markus said. His eyes were still closed and he still seemed to be delirious with exhaustion.

"I…"

A sharp knock came at the door and Elena stuck her head in. "Dr. Blaylock…oh."

Valerie shrugged helplessly.

"Coffee," Elena said. It was her solution to everything.

Well, at least she always had a plan.

Valerie sure as hell didn't.

That night, Valerie was putting the finishing touches on her outfit. She thought about how the day had gone – Markus eventually woke up and neither of them had mentioned what he had said. Valerie assumed that he had simply been drunk with sleep and hadn't known what he was saying.

And now she was sitting at her vanity, running her mascara wand through her lashes with Pepita at her feet. Brian had asked her to dress up, so she was wearing a deep purple dress and her favorite pair of heels. She didn't get the chance to dress up often, and so she was taking advantage of the opportunity.

A knock came at the door.

It was Brian.

An hour or so later, the two of them were sitting at a table in an upscale French restaurant. Valerie was happily chattering about Cynthia when Brian interrupted her.

"Val, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Valerie said, still optimistic about the evening. She took a sip of her wine and smiled at him. "What's on your mind?"

"You know I'm going back to Florida tomorrow, right?"

Valerie nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.

"I was just…wondering if you wanna come back with me."

"What?"

"You know, take a chance. Give me a chance. Us."

Valerie was stunned. She looked down at her plate and began to fold her napkin nervously.

"Brian, I…that's so nice of you to offer, but…I just…can't leave Markus. I…also have a job here."

"So? You could find something over in Florida," Brian said.

"It's just…not as simple as that. Working at Caduceus is going to open so many doors for me."

"I'm sure hospitals in Florida will do the same," Brian pressed.

"Caduceus needs me," Valerie said firmly. "I've helped to save hundreds of lives. I can't just turn my back on them now."

"Come on, Val," Brian wheedled. "These last two dates I've realized just how much I've missed you. We were so great together."

"Brian, my work is really important to me," Valerie said. "I just…can't."

"I don't get you," Brian said. "You can just as easily save lives over in Florida. With me."

"I told you – it's not that simple," Valerie said. "Markus and I…"

"Who the hell cares about Markus?" Brian snapped.

"Brian, please," Valerie begged. "Keep your voice down."

"Valerie, I'm talking about starting a life together," Brian said, his voice still loud. "And you bring up fucking Markus?"

Valerie got up, and took Brian's arm. She pulled him outside of the restaurant. They stood outside of the awning in the cloudy night. Valerie shivered.

"He's my partner, Brian," she said. "We work together. I can't abandon him."

"Oh, but you can abandon me," Brian said flatly. "But abandon Markus? Oh no!"

"Markus and I work really well together," Valerie said desperately. "You need to understand. It's not easy to find somebody you love working with."

"It isn't easy to find somebody who'll want to be with you - love you, even - either," Brian said.

"Brian, please." Valerie put a hand on his arm, which he jerked away. "You can't have expected me to say yes. I'm finally happy with the way my life has turned out. I can't just up and leave."

"Well, fortunately for the both of us, I can," Brian said acidly. He turned on his heel and began to walk off.

"Brian!"

"Find your own way home, Val," he said, turning around to look at her. "I'm done trying to win you back."

"Done?!" Valerie snapped. "You barely even tried!"

"High maintenance as always," Brian sneered. "Have a nice life, Val. You seem to think you deserve it."

Valerie rolled her eyes as he walked off.

"Immature as ever," she grumbled.

She retreated back into the restaurant and paid off the bill, too embarrassed to even look at the maître d' or anybody who had seen her storm out of the restaurant with Brian in tow.

She stepped outside and realized that she had no way of getting home. She didn't have any cash on her for a taxi, either.

"This is ridiculous," she growled, pulling out her phone. She scrolled through her list of contacts, and quickly came to the conclusion that Markus was the only person she could call. She didn't want to drag Elena all the way downtown to pick her up.

Markus probably wouldn't mind.