Only Us

Chapter 10

Sarah walked back to where the doctors were treating Connor. Natalie, Will, Jay, Erin and now Claire and Russ stood by the glass door of the exam room. "Sarah, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just got this for Connor, he needs a little sugar still and no matter what they tell you, the chocolate they serve isn't real."

"Well that is true." Will smirked. "Ah Ms. Goodwin." Sarah knew this was the hospital where Will worked.

"Hello Dr. Halstead, I was told you were in but I thought you had a wedding to attend to." The older woman said. "I do hope everything is okay?"

"We're making sure it is." Jay assured her.

"Very well, if you need anything, let me know then. I just saw Cornelius Rhodes pacing and got worried all of the sudden; I'm going to inform him everything is alright."

"Thank you." Will said as Ms. Goodwin gave them all a nod and walked away.

Dr. Downey came out a moment later. "I thought we all had an agreement." He said to the group. "If you all miss me so much, you should all drop by not bring me the kid."

Claire smiled. "Yes, we know, but you wouldn't come to the wedding."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't then, I wouldn't want to leave the kid with one of my residents." He joked. "Listen, he's okay for now but I would like to keep him over night since he did hit his head and there's a history of seizures."

Natalie leaned into Will as Sarah looked over at Claire's worried face.

"Can we see him?" Natalie asked.

"Just one of you for now." Dr. Downey said. "I should go and talk to your Dad Claire and you, best get back to your wedding. Connor's already kicking himself over it."

"Well that's too bad because I'm not leaving." Claire said, she had already been in the second dress of the day and the party was really winding down. Claire had asked her friends and Katie to hold down the fort and make sure everyone got home okay.

She saw no point on going back to an almost non existent parent.

"Still, I think you should all go home." David Downey spoke softly.

"I'm going to go talk to him for a minute." Claire replied with a tired sigh as she squeezed Russ's hand.

"Oh, and who's this lovely lady, that girl Connor never shuts up about?"

Sarah blushed.

"Sorry Dr. Downey, I don't think you'd met Dr. Sarah Reese." Will said stepping between Sarah and David. "She's uh…"

"Reese? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Sarah was the godsend that got Connor into staying in PT." Natalie smiled. David then understood.

"Of course, Dr. Reese, could we have a word?" Sarah nodded, the chocolate bar was still in her hand, she was still wearing a dress and she was still Connor's doctor.

David didn't make it too obvious that she was clearly here as more than Connor's therapist though. "I've known Connor since he was ten." David began as he and Sarah walked away from the others. "He happens to end up here more than I'd like. Although less in the last few months."

"He's been working hard."

"And it shows." David agreed. "I honestly didn't think they'd be able to convince him to go back to PT after last time but you being there for him has certainly done the trick."

"I care about Connor."

"Yes, that I can see Sarah, he does about you too. " Dr. Downey said. "He's never had that before. I mean, he has his sister and Russ, his friends, but not a girl, a girl hasn't shown that kind of interest in him before."

"I've heard."

"And I don't want my boy to get hurt."

"Dr. Downey, with all due respect, you don't know me." Sarah said a bit harsher than it was intended.

"Oh no I don't. But I know Connor and that boy, he feels it all, even though he tries to hide it, every time I see him there's this sense of helplessness that he has landed himself back in the hospital. It's not easy for him not to feel guilt, not to spiral down on his own limitations."

Sarah let the older man's words sink in. "Just don't let that get to you; he likes to push people away when he's feeling like this."

"I see." Sarah nodded. David then turned back to the others and then said his goodbyes, promising to come check on Connor soon.

"Everything okay?" Natalie asked Sarah.

"Yeah, is Claire gone?"

"Just about." Will responded as they saw her and Russ come out of Connor's room.

"Well, I was practically thrown out, but he seems okay." Claire sighed. "I should get back to the house."

"I need to go call my parents and check on the kids." Natalie smiled at Will and then walked with Erin who had offered to go with her. "You okay?" Natalie asked Claire before leaving.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know, I'm used to this." The older woman shivered into Russ's arms. "I offered to stay the night but he looked at me like I was crazy. I don't even know how to get tough to him when he gets like this."

"I can stay, it's no problem." Sarah put in.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She said with a smile.. Claire then pulled Reese into a hug. "Go get some rest Claire and don't worry, I've got him."

"Oh Sarah I don't know what we'd do without you." Claire admitted. "I'll have someone drop clothes for you."

"Actually, do you mind having someone bring my car over? I'm kind of overly dressed for a hospital and I do have a change of clothes in my car."

"Of course." Claire smiled. "Honey, could you…"

"Sure." Russ grabbed his phone and called the house. "Thomas told Arthur to come stay too, make sure they are well cared for." Russ said as he hung up a moment later. "Now honey, I think we should go rest."

"Right. of course." Will and Jay stayed with Sarah as the group said goodbye to the newlyweds and Claire thanked her again.

"Everything okay with Dr. Downey Sarah?" Will asked. It was no lie that Sarah was no longer actually Connor's doctor. That job had mostly fallen to April now that they were formally dating but it had not gone unnoticed by her Uncle that their relationship had begun when she was still his doctor.

"Yeah, it was fine. He just wanted to, uh; assess Connor's progress at the clinic. He's still worried about his hips."

Well that wasn't a lie, he had asked her earlier.

"Yeah, they're going to keep monitoring any swelling." Will said.

"How long has it been since he was last here?" Sarah asked the brothers. Jay shoved his hands into his pockets.

"About six months ago, last time was pretty bad. He was admitted for two weeks after a fall, the thing is, uh, he was alone with the kids, and Owen had to call 911."

"Oh" Sarah nodded.

"He took it pretty hard." Will added in. "It's not like he can't take care of himself if he's careful but, uh, he struggles with the idea of not being able to take care of others if they need him."

"That's normal I guess, he wasn't born with the condition so he got both sides of it."

"Right and Connor is a fixer, he's always been trying to fix things, ever since his Mom died and he got hurt." Jay said. "He can't fix himself so he tries and make things better for others."

Sarah walked into the room, Connor was seemingly asleep so she took a seat on the chair. He had now been moved into a private room for the night. "Hey." She said as she realized he was awake. "I thought this would make you feel better." She walked closer to the bed and handed him the chocolate bar. "Jello just doesn't cut it."

She saw a faint smile form on his face. "Thanks."

He tumbled with the wrapping and stared at it. "Eat it. It will make you feel better." She was now sitting beside the bed on a chair and taking his hand as he gave it a bite.

"Is everyone else gone?"

"Yeah, Dr. Downey said you should get some rest."

"Good, I didn't want Claire to be here any longer. I can't believe I landed myself back here on her wedding day, well I guess my father is right, not even today could I avoid being the center of attention. "

Sarah felt her heart dip in her chest. "Connor…"

"Miss Reese, there's someone here for you." A nurse came into the room to let Sarah know her car and clothes had arrived.

"I'll be right back okay?" She said with a smile as she nodded at the woman. "I'm just going to go grab my clothes."

"You don't have to stay Sarah, it's fine." He said. She turned to face the bed as she leaned to kiss him.

"I'm staying, okay?"

"Why?"

"If only to prove your father wrong, how is that?" She saw him smile weakly at her. "I'll be back, try and rest for a bit."

When she came back he had fallen asleep, she went into the bathroom and got into a pair of pants and an old sweatshirt and stayed on the couch in the corner after she'd kissed him on the forehead.

She cuddled into the hard mattress of the made up bed with her phone in her hand, pictures of the day filled her screen as she saw one of Will and Jay she'd taken, one of Erin and Nat, one of Nat and Connor and one of both of them kissing, she had her hands on his cheeks as he smiled into the kiss. He stood up tall with the help of his crutches but it had seemed like they'd faded and he was able to stand solely by the fact she was holding him.

She had told Cornelius she wasn't going anywhere and she planned on keeping her word.

Sarah woke up before him the next morning. "Hey, did you sleep at all?" Connor asked with a sleepy sigh. She was still sitting on chair holding onto a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I did one of the many perks of having worked in a hospital." She smiled standing up and kissing his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Connor sighed. "I just want to go home honestly."

"Well actually, Claire called me to see if you were up to going to the house. She's having a brunch."

"I'm not really in the mood." He admitted, she knew he still felt guilty about the whole thing. "Can't we skip it and just go to your place?"

"Connor, she's worried about you." Sarah spoke. "And I know you feel like what happened yesterday was..."

"Sarah, please don't try to shrink me, you're supposed to be on my side." She was now sitting on the bed.

"Hey, I am on your side. And so is your sister so please will you give her that? She just wants to see you."

"How are we doing in here?" Will poked his head inside, he was in his scrubs. "Listen, uh, Dr. Downey asked me if I could discharge you, he's dealing with an emergency."

"Yeah, it's fine." Connor sighed. Will nodded and began his examination just as Sarah excused herself as she got a call. "So, how's the head?"

"Fine."

"No more dizziness?"

"No, not really." Connor replied as Will helped him sit up.

"Okay, now push down on my hand…" He did as he was told. "So, listen before Sarah comes back in here, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Connor looked up at him as Will tapped on the tablet he was holding. "I know things with Sarah are moving quickly and I'm so happy for you Connor but I think you should just slow down a little bit."

"Huh?"

"She's great and she really cares about you, I'll give her that, but the last time you jumped into the fire for someone it didn't end well and I'm…"

"Wait, you are actually worried about me?" Connor said in disbelief.

"Well yeah, you've been a pain in my ass for almost 20 years so I feel like it's my brotherly duty to do so."

"So now I'm your brother?"

"Well, in a way you are, I do know that even though we haven't always seen eye to eye, and yeah, it kills me to admit it because I know I won't hear the end of it but…" Will sighed. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Connor nodded, clearly surprised. "Yeah, the thing is, Sarah is nothing like Ava Will, but I do appreciate it. Everything man, really, even if I don't say it enough."

Will nodded just as Sarah had come back into the room. "Okay, well, I'll see you later then? I'll get the paperwork ready."

"Thanks Will." Sarah smiled at him as he walked out. "What?"

"Let's go to Claire's, only if you promise me something?" He said with a grin as she helped him into his jacket after he was done getting dressed a moment later.

"What?"

"That we can spend the rest of the afternoon together, just the two of us."

"Okay, deal." Sarah smiled. She could live with that. "But promise me something too."

"Huh?"

"That the pity party is going to stop. The fall was an accident Connor and it wasn't like you meant for it to happen." He hung his head down in defeat. "Promise me Connor or I'm dropping you at home with Claire and leaving you there." She said sternly. "It's important to your sister, she doesn't want you to keep dwelling over it."She retorted.

"Oh, it's getting this serious." Connor half joked.

"Yeah, I am serious." She replied and he smiled at her tone. "So do we have a deal?"

"I'm really not going to win, am I?"

"No, sorry." She said as she handed him his crutches and he stole a kiss from her lips.

They made it to her apartment early, Claire and Russ were leaving for the airport the next day and honestly were tired from the night before, having settled on the couch like many times before Sarah made some popcorn and grabbed a glass of wine for her and some soda for Connor and settled with him as they browsed something on Netflix.

"So, this morning when I went to take that call…" Sarah began. "Will was talking to you…"

"Ah, how much of that did you hear?"

"What exactly did Ava do Connor? I don't mean to stir up old feelings but if your friends are worried about us moving too fast…"

"Ava and I, we were friends, well we used to see each other at social events, the ones my father would let me attend, I honestly think he used me to win on pity points with investors, anyway, Ava is a doctor. A cardiothoracic surgeon." Connor said after a moment. "She used to come to events like that to help fundraise her projects and trusted my father. I trusted her too and I really thought she cared about me, for years we were just friends and then one day I, uh, finally braced up and asked her out."

Sarah held his hand as he looked down at her fingers. "Let's just say, she just, uh, she wasn't ready to take on all that it meant to be with someone like me. She said it would be like having to care for a child her entire life and well, she just didn't have the time to, she had a big career ahead of her, I don't blame her for it, though, but I really did like her."

"I'm sorry," she said honestly. "That should have never happened to you." She traced a finger on his cheek. "Is that why Will is so worried? Because he thinks I'm going to break your heart to?" It wasn't like she was actually asking him, yet she heard herself saying it aloud.

"Well I do go heart first into things and you Sarah Reese are something I can't escape from,"

"No wonder you are a writer." Connor laughed.

"Well, my condition, it offered a lot of time alone with my thoughts." He said. "The thing is, I feel like this is moving fast because…"

"Because you really, really like me?" Sarah said, placing the glass of wine in her hand down on the coffee table and leaning to kiss him.

"I do, I really do." He said into her lips as he pushed her onto the couch, the movie long forgotten.

"And do you think I'm going to hurt you? Because Connor I'm all in if you are." She said as they broke the kiss. Connor was on top of her, his blue eyes shining as she captured his lips again.

He waved his head. "No."

"Good."

She invited him to spend the night and as she watched him sleep, all thoughts on now exactly to show him he was worthy of someone's love were swirling into her mind.

A lot of people had hurt him and she was determined not to be one of them.

Aww so Sarah's got Connor's back for sure and yay I got to bring Dr. Downey back with a twist. Review if you can guys!