I know conflict isn't exactly what us Zade shippers need right now but it is necessary. Hope you enjoy it nevertheless (:

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'It's Thursday.'

'Yes Jonah I am well aware of what day it is.'

'One day away from Friday, the end of the week…'

'I am also aware of that.'

'Hmm I wonder what is happening on Friday…who is calling on Friday. That is the question.'

'Spit it out you little brat.'

'Spit what out? The fact that there is a position open for you in one of the best hospitals in the country and they need an answer by tomorrow and oh yeah you still haven't told your husband about it. Spit that out?'

'Why don't you have any job offers? Job offers far far away from here.'

'Aww come on. We all know you're going to miss me when I go…if I go. I'm starting to realise how much I've missed home you know treating like 3 patients then spending the rest of the day chilling with buddies drinking beer. Buddies like Wade, you know Wade right?'

'Jonah you have three seconds to get out of my sight or I will kick you so hard up the ass your grandchildren will have bruised butt cheeks, now go!.'

Jonah walked out of her office laughing to himself as Zoe slammed the door shut and grunted. Jonah Breeland was making her life a living hell and the worst part was she couldn't tell anyone about her frustration especially Wade because that would mean telling him about the job offer and she didn't have the nerve to do it. She didn't know why, they had discussed that if one day a job came up that she really wanted they would consider their options but now was not the right time especially not now, he had finally started work on the bar, real work…the floors had been laid down and the ceiling was almost plastered and for the first time ever he was actually excited about something other than her.
She pulled open her drawer and picked up the piece of paper with the Chiefs number. It was as if the words were jumping out at her on the page, her stomach felt sick, she had spoken to him again, the day after he called her. After the shock had worn off and she had time to ask all the appropriate questions about the position. It was too late to tell Wade, he would be so angry at her for not telling him straight away and she couldn't lie and say she just got the phone call because then he would say she hadn't been given enough time to think. Her head was exploding.
She had told Jesse but only because she couldn't keep it to herself anymore and the fear of Wade finding out from Jonah was too much so she figured if Jesse knew then he would be able to calm Wade down after Jonah spilled the beans. Jesse was shocked, he could have flown of the handle about her perfect timing, just as they had started work on the bar but she was close to tears so he held his tongue and instead comforted her and encouraged her to tell Wade before it was too late.

'Hey…'

Zoe lifted her head to see Wade standing there, god he looked amazing and he wasn't even trying. Who knew one person could make a 10 dollar pair of jeans look so good, topped off by a red and black plaid shirt he looked angelic.

There was an awkward atmosphere.

'Hey…'

'You were gone this mornin' before I got out of the shower.'

'Yeah sorry, Jonah rang to say we were swamped so I took Logan to Lavon's in case you were wondering where he had disappeared to.'

Wade looked behind his shoulder; he was the only person in the building apart from Zoe and Jonah…even Addie had gone off to an early lunch. He knew Zoe was avoiding him, all week long she had been coming home as late as possible and leaving as early as possible all why saying as little as possible. He didn't know what he had done to piss her off so much he knew she had been hurt by the pregnancy scare but he didn't expect her to take it this badly.

'Zoe…are you okay? Did I do somethin' to piss you off cause-'

'No, you did nothing wrong.' She smiled at him to ease his pain and signalled for him to come closer to her, resting against the desk and grabbing a hold of his shirt 'You did nothing wrong, at all. Trust me.'

'Then what is it? Is it cause of the pregnancy cause-'

'No. It's not that, well its kinda cause of that but..' she paused, now was her chance to tell Wade, he was calm and relaxed and he had that desperate look in his eye, that look he got when he just wanted to see her smile, to see her happy.

'But what?'

Okay this was it; she took a deep breath 'Wade that call Jonah was talking about….' And as she uttered his name Jonah came bursting through the door 'Zoe we have to go. Now.'

'What why?'

'Brick rang to say there was an accident on the Jenson's farm just outside of town and he needs us there until the ambulance arrives. I got the stuff in the car, come on'

Zoe sighed, she didn't want to let go of Wade's shirt but she had to 'Okay fine, just give me a minute please?' She wasn't messing with him and neither was he; he nodded and walked out feeling bad he had walked in on what he presumed was Zoe telling Wade about the job.

'Zoe, what's goin' on?'

'I have to go but can we talk later please?'

'Yeah sure.' He was upset 'Go.' He let out a little smile to show her it was okay to leave but his heart was telling him he wasn't going to like what she had to tell him.

'Okay…' she reached up and kissed him gently on the cheek 'Bye…'

XXXXXXXXX

Please pick up, please pick up, Come on Zoe thought to herself as she held her cell to her ear, pacing the empty corridor of the hospital. She was so tired that at one stage she considered taking a quick nap in one of the wards.

'Hello…' Wade said sleepily on the other end of the line.

'Wade. Finally I have been trying to call you for ages, were you asleep?'

'Logan and I fell asleep on the couch, I just moved him up and left my phone downstairs, I figured since you didn't call you got caught up at the hospital…How is everyone?'

'They're going to be fine, Mr. Jenson is in surgery to repair a-'she paused, he didn't know or care about all that medical mumbo jumbo 'he's going to be fine. They all are.'

'That's good, so you and Jonah on your way back or do you need me to come get you?'

'We're leaving in a few minutes. I should be home by nine.'

'Alright I'll see ya then.' He said coldly through the phone as Zoe's heart sunk.

The ride home was silent. Zoe was tired and grump and her feet her and she was most definitely in no mood to listen to Jonah Breeland. He himself was silent, it had been a long day and having to sit with Zoe, who barely said two words all day, was painful.

'You did good today …' Jonah said finally breaking the ice.

'A compliment from Jonah Breeland, wow I'm honoured.'

'I like to dish 'em out every now and then.' He gave her a smile as she held her head up with the support of her bent arm against the window.

'Eyes on the road, I'd like to get home alive please.'

'But if you get home alive that means you will have to tell Wade? Wait a minute, is Zoe Hart actually going to tell her husband the truth?'

'Okay first of all I didn't lie to him, I just haven't figured out a way to tell him yet.'

'To tell him that you have been offered a job others would kill for? He'll be happy for you.'

'It's not as easy as that. I'm not afraid of his reaction I'm afraid of how he won't react if you get me.'

'No…'

'His whole life he's given in, he's put his happiness on hold heck he put his life on hold for others, his mom, his dad, Jesse and he's finally doing something for him, achieving his dream and I don't want to deny him of that, I can't….I love him too much to just let him put everything on hold, again.'

'You can't just jump to conclusions until you talk to him Zoe, your shooting this down before it even has the chance to take off.'

'Why do you want me to take this job so badly? I mean I know you want to take the practice from me but-'

'What do you mean 'take the practice'?'

'Well that's why you're back right? To work with Brick to snake the practice from me?'

'I'm back to see my family until I get a job offer, I have no interest in working with Brick in that stuffy practice all day, thank you very much.'

Zoe scoffed, she had been wrong about him this whole time. She felt bad, she had been a serious bitch to a guy who was actually nice, arrogant yes but nice.

'You're too good for that backwards town you know that right? All those years of med-school the gruelling hours, being an intern? All for what? Treating swollen ankles and common colds in a town that gets 70 degree heat in January?' He scoffed 'Wade deserves to be happy, and he is, with you. He made all those decisions because he had to and he'll help you with this one too but for god sake Zoe, you go on about how great a guy Wade is, how he is this martyr so why don't you let him be that guy?'

Jonah pulled up outside the house as Zoe sat there dumbstruck by Jonah's outburst, she didn't know what to say no one had ever spoken to her like that before except for Wade. Jonah was right she needed to be honest with him but mostly with herself.

'I've grown up with Wade and never have I seen him as happy as he is now. Just remember that okay?' he smiled at her as he reached over and pulled open the door, Zoe slowly climbed out of the car giving him a soft smile as a thank you as he drove away. She took a long drawn out breath before slowly walking up the porch steps. The lights were on and the door slightly open.

She decided the best way to approach this was to keep calm, to the point and to not be distracted by his angelic features.

'Wade…?'

She looked around the empty living room, maybe he was in bed? She heard noises from the kitchen and walked in to discover Wade standing at the fridge in nothing but his boxers and a towel hanging around his shoulders, his hair was still damp from what she presumed was him having a shower.
Zoe felt her knees quiver, why did he have to look so beautiful?

'You hungry? Logan and I ate at the Rammer Jammer but I can make some pasta or somethin', if you like.'

'No I'm fine thanks, Jonah and I ate while was in surgery.'

'Okay.' He slammed the fridge door shut and moved into the living room. Zoe sensed he was being distant and she knew she had to speak now before she broke down in tears.

'That thing I wanted to talk about earlier today…you think we could pick that up again now?'

Wade sighed and nodded as she took his hand and led him to the couch. She tried to sit in a number of positions in order to feel less awkward but nothing worked all she had to do was to look into his eyes and feel crushed.

Zoe opened her mouth to speak but Wade cut her off 'Look I know you have been actin' weird all week and I don't think I have done anythin' wrong I mean I know I'm always with Jesse at the bar but that's only cause we wanna get the brunt of it done-'

'Wade that's not it-'

'No let me finish, I thought it was that but then I thought maybe it was because of the pregnancy test, And Zoe.' He gripped her hand in his 'If that's it. If that's the reason you've been acting so weird, that you want a second kid so badly then I'm gonna do somethin' bout it' Zoe started to smile at his desperation to make her happy 'I'm serious we can go upstairs and do it right now. I'm ready, I'm always ready!'

Zoe laughed but he kept a serious face. All he wanted to do was see her happy and this past week she had not been happy.

'Wade it's not that but thanks for the offer however romantic it was.'

Wade smirked 'So what is it?'

Zoe breathed in an endless breath and closed her eyes to compose herself 'That phone call Jonah was talking about a few days the one he was listening in on. It wasn't a call from the hospital in Mobile…It was a call from a hospital in New York, Columbia actually.'

'What's wrong? is it your mom? Is she sick?'

'No my mom's fine. It was the chief of surgery, turns out he is quite the fan of mine….and well he offered me a job.'

Wade froze. He wanted to speak, he did but he just couldn't, the words wouldn't come out.

'It's not permanent, it's for 3 months at most until one of their Cardio fellows is back from their retreat which is society speak for rehab.' She chuckled nervously hoping it would spark a reaction from him 'I have to give him an answer by tomorrow.'

Zoe looked at Wade who sat there silently, even more silent than usual. She was beginning to get emotional and he had to say something, anything or else she would just drop to her knees in floods of tears.

'Wade please say something, anything. Even if you it's just to scream at me….'

'So, New York.'

'What?'

'We'd have to go to New York?'

'Well yes but no…no okay look we are not moving anywhere. We are going to talk about this together and make a decision together.'

'But you've kinda made that decision for us already haven't you? By not tellin' me til now you've decided. You wanna go.'

'No, Wade that's not true-'she watched as he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. He was upset and frustrated and she knew he was doing all he could to stay calm.

'Yeah it is. I'm not givin' out to you for it. It's who you are.'

'It kinda seems like you are.'

Wade took a deep breath 'Look Zo, I don't want to fight with you over this but I can't help but feel like that's what we're gonna do.'

'Fine! Let's fight about it!' She said in a slightly higher tone 'Tell me your opinion on this; tell me what you think seen as you seem to know so much about me and who I am.'

'I think you've already decided that you're going. I mean you don't know how you're gonna, where you're gonna stay, if me and Logan are gonna go with you but YOU have decided, I know you, you want this. Don't tell me otherwise.'

'No.' she shook her head.

'Come one Doc…'

'No, you're wrong.'

'Doc..'

'Okay fine! I WANNA GO. Is it such a crime that a surgeon wants to work as a surgeon?! Is that such a horrible thing?'

'NO!' he snapped back 'The horrible thing was leaving it til now to tell me! I'm your husband Zoe I should have been the first one to you told! Not Jonah!'

'I told you, Jonah walked in while I was on the phone and I have spent the past week at his beck and call just so he wouldn't tell you before I had the chance!'

'And you want a medal or something now? Congrats you told me.'

'I'm sorry…okay I screwed up but it all just happened so fast that I panicked!'

Wade shifted around in a fit of anger before storming out the front door, Zoe followed quickly after as she was not about to let him storm out like he did every other time they fought.

'Where the hell do you think you're going you're half naked?' she screamed at him as he stood there in his boxers as he began to feel the nights dipping temperature against his skin.

'I'm going outside so that we don't wake Logan because he has not had a good night's sleep in a long time and he doesn't need to hear us scream at each other.'

Zoe shook her head as she felt the tears forming, she didn't know why she was about to cry, she wasn't the one being told her partner had gotten a job a couple thousand miles away and failed to tell her for a week. He was the one who should be upset, he was but he wasn't showing it very well. He tried to mask it by pacing the porch in his bare feet and making as less eye contact with her as possible because he knew, like always, once he stared into her eyes he would cave and get that feeling, the feeling of picking her up and kissing her for hours on end but he had to stand strong, they had to deal with this, like adults.

He took a deep breath and decided the best thing to do was to start fresh, to take deep breaths and start again.

Wade rested his weight against the porch railing with his back to the front garden. Thinking of what to say... thinking of what to do.

'3 months huh?'

'Yeah.'

'And um, could it be longer than that?'

'He said that there could be a permanent position afterwards but I'm not interested in that. That you need to know okay, I don't want to leave Bluebell for good.'

'You just want to leave for 3 months.'

'Don't put it like that please.'

'Well how do you want me to put it? That we're all gonna go on a nice vacation for 3 months and come back with sun tans? There is no other way to put it.'

'I know, you're right and you have every right to be mad at me for lying to you but I just, I never expected it to happen like this'

'Like what?' He asked in a slightly calmer tone.

'All of this. I always thought that our first few months of marriage would be carefree and fun but so far it has been filled with chicken pox and pregnancy tests, and now this has come along and I just… I feel stuck.'

Wade sighed 'I mean I'm no expert on this stuff but I'm fairly sure that this is a marriage, you know we gotta deal with this crap sometimes and this crap just happens to be your dreams, our dreams.'

Zoe let out a little laugh as Wade held out his arms as a signal for her to come closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she pressed her cheek against his bare chest. She felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders as she listened to the rhythm of his heart.

'New York…' he whispered to himself but Zoe could still hear him.

'No… we haven't decided anything yet.'

'Yeah we have, I'm playin' the husband card here and sayin' that you're takin' the job, it's your dream. I'll talk to Jesse.'

Zoe winced 'He already knows, I had to tell someone and he was there.'

Wade gave a soft chuckle and pulled her in closer 'Well at least he will have time to calm down before I tell him to stall the bar.'

'Wait what?' Zoe pulled away and looked up at him 'What do you mean stall. Why would you stall?'

'Well I can hardly be in Bluebell and New York at the same time.'

'Why would you be in New York?'

'To be with you.'

'Wade you're not stopping work on the bar to go New York with me. I'm not letting you.'

'You're not lettin' me?'

'That's right. This is your dream, that bar is what you have been working for and I'm not going to get in the way of that again. I'm playing the wife card.'

Wade smiled at her stubbornness 'But how will we manage, it's a long time, what about Logan? He can't go that long without seein' you. I can't go that long without seein' you. I'll go crazy!'

'See they have these magical things called aeroplanes-.' She began to laugh as Wade knocked his head back and smiled at her sarcasm and her attempt to cheer him up. 'You guys can fly up all the time and I will fly home every free chance I get which will be most weekends and the odd Monday and we will be on the phone all the time. It can work, but Wade I am not letting you give up on your dream; I won't do that to you.'

Wade took a long pause 'It's gonna suck.'

'Yeah it is but think of all the fun we're gonna have when we are together.' She whispered up to him as he felt her hands move down his torso and onto the band of his boxers. He smiled at her and laughed.
They were both fairly sure that the experts out there would criticize their method of dealing with issues but they thought it was sound. In the space of half an hour they had gone from lies and tears to a solution and sexual propositions.

Deep down both Wade and Zoe hated the idea of being apart for 3 months but it was the best compromise as neither was willing to let the other one put their dreams on hold.

'I really really love you Wade Kinsella you know that?'

'I could say the same bout you Doc.' He bent down and kissed her nose.

'And I especially love you when you stand outside in the middle of the night in just your boxers.' She said laughing as Wade looked down feeling slightly embarrassed.

'Well I figured that you're gonna need to see as much as it as possible before you go!' he kissed her again but this time on the lips.

Wade dropped his hands so that they were resting on the top of her legs, once he had a firm grip he hoisted her up allowing her to wrap her legs around his body. He made his way back towards the house and pushed open the door as Zoe showered his neck in kisses.

'Hey Doc…'

'Yeah..' she whispered as he set her down on the couch.

'You know what we're gonna have to do now?'

'What?'

'Tell Lavon.'

Zoe began to laugh, it seemed like the easiest thing to do because they both knew telling Lavon was going to be rough but she decided that it could wait until tomorrow as right now all she wanted to do was be with her husband.

I really wanted to address Zoe's career because I feel like at some stage the writers are really going to have to address it cause let's be honest eventually she is going to want to work in a real hospital, do surgeries so I felt that this would be the easiest way to write it…. Please let me know what you thought and thanks