The Complete First Season

by eomds1

Episodes 1 thru 22 as, I hope, the show creator intended.

13. Chapter 13

Episode 13

Walking out from the bar, Emily handed Tyra her keys. She claimed to feel too tipsy to drive, but Tyra hadn't seen her drink much of anything. Shrugging, Tyra unlocked the driver's side and started the engine, driving towards what she was already thinking of as HER apartment.

Tyra rambled on about necessary changes to THEIR apartment as Emily looked distractedly out the window, her thin finger tapping restlessly on the door. Not one to be ignored, Tyra pushed the conversation forward. "So, I was thinking," she said, "there's that shelf in your bathroom, right? I could just clear your stuff off one that use it, right?"

Emily just gave a vague smile and nod, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Tyra considered what was causing the distraction, and then worried that it might be her moving in.

"Plus, I have this really cute shower curtain that we should use," Tyra plowed ahead. "You'll totally love it. It matches this painting I have of Diana Ross on a bear skin rug-totally retro-it'll go great in the living room. And...Okay seriously, you haven't said one awkward 'okay' since we left the bar? You're not...you're not going to say no are you?"

"Tyra..." Emily said slowly. Tyra clenched the wheel, terrified that she wouldn't have a place to sleep that night. Instead, Emily blurted: "Micah kissed me."

Tyra lost control of the car for a moment as her brain re-calculated. "What?!" She squealed as they both grabbed for the wheel.

On any other night, this would have upset Emily, but she gave no reaction. "He..I don't know, he wanted to ask me something," Emily explained, sounding panicked, "and when I asked what, he just, you know, stepped forward and kissed me."

Tyra felt herself laughing, "Oh my god, what do you do?"

"I...I don't know..." Emily continued, "I let him."

"Well, okay...Was it...good?" Tyra asked, already prepared to tease her friend about this new development. "I mean, did it make you want to, you know, take him home?"

Emily hid her face in her hands. "Tyra...what's happening?" She cried. "Where did that come from? I can't even..." Emily gesticulated wildly, "Like, one minute we were talking and the next he..." she paused, looking ashen. "Oh god."

"What?" Tyra asked, worried.

"Oh no, oh god," Emily breathed, grabbing he bag and rummaging through it, "I need to text him."

Tyra put a hand over the bag. "What is wrong with you?"

Emily allowed herself to be stopped. She looked over at Tyra, stricken, "I just remembered what I said to him."

Tyra knew Emily to be the type who always said exactly the wrong thing, so she simply sat back and prepared herself to be entertained. "What?"

Emily cringed, "I said 'thank you'." She then dove back behind her own hands.

"You...?" Tyra laughed, fully taking in this reaction. "Okay, you so cannot text him. That is a face-to-face conversation."

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Emily said defensively. "I was surprised and...and flabbergasted and oh god, he's going to hate me now."

Tyra rolled her eyes. "He's not going to hate you," she said. "Now, what did you say after...after 'thank you'?"

"Nothing," Emily practically shouted. "I didn't say anything else, because then Will burst out and said..." she turned, if possible, even more pale. "Oh god, he said he'd broken up with Cassandra." Emily's hand shot up to cover her mouth, as though she'd just been caught swearing.

Tyra let her brain wrap around this new fact, suddenly sober. "Shit," she said. "That's...shit. So...what are you going to do?"

"Run away and live deep in the woods?" Emily suggested quickly.

"I would get my the apartment all to myself..." Tyra said thoughtfully. Emily frowned at her. "No, really, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," she replied, rubbing her eyes. "I need to think about it. And I need to sleep. Sleep is good-I'll know what to do in the morning."

...

Emily did not know what to do in the morning, though she certainly had thought about it...and thought about it and thought about it. When she had finally passed out from exhaustion, she had at least simplified the situation to three seemingly simple tasks:

1) She needed to apologize to Micah-saying "thank you" could be misinterpreted and the last thing she wanted was to hurt his feelings. 2) She had to think carefully before getting involved with her boss-dated Micah wasn't like dating a fellow intern-her career could be affected. 3) She had to ignore the tiny spark of hope that had awoken since Will's breakup-he had turned her down while still single, so his being single again was irrelevant.

Emily let Tyra drag her to a coffee shop that morning, insisting that they both deserved a treat. Tyra hadn't uttered a word about the hospital or the people in it, and she even paid for them both. Emily was surprised by this thoughtful behavior, until Tyra leaned over her coffee and demanded, "Alright, dish. What are you going to do?"

Emily sighed. "Well..." she began. It was always a different experience to speak one's thoughts instead of keeping them inside. Now that she was about to voice her resolutions, she felt less sure of them. "I need to...I need to apologize to Micah."

Tyra nodded, considering this. "Okay," she offered, "pretend that I'm him. What are you going to say?"

"Um, okay..." Emily nodded, straightening in her chair. "Hi, Micah!" She said, laughing awkwardly. She toned it down, "Hi, sorry. Um, look, I just wanted to say that I was really surprised, last night. Because I, well I just wasn't expecting that. Um...I'm...I'm really sorry, Micah, for what I said. It was…it was dumb. Like I said, when you kissed me, I was….I was really, really surprised."

Emily finished her pathetic speech, which had been the best she could do, and looked at Tyra expectantly. Tyra answered with a patronizing "Thank you. For that explanation."

"You have to get over the fact that I said thank you. It's not that funny," Emily chided. She turned back to her dilemma, "I'm just so confused, Tyra."

"Are you confused because of Will?" Tyra asked.

Emily was taken off guard by this question. "No. I'm…what do you mean?"

"Just like that?" Tyra asked. "Four years of being in love with him and just overnight it's gone?"

"It's not gone," Emily said, though she had to admit, she found the prospect of continuing to pursue unrequited love more distasteful than ever. "It's just squashed very deep down. And I would rather focus on something very, very good that's right in front of me." It was true: the revelation of Micah's affection didn't change Will's feelings-it wasn't him against Micah, it was Micah against the prospect of mooning after her best friend, forever rejected.

"Good," Tyra said, as though the matter was settled. "Just go for it, then."

"No," Emily balked "I can't just go for it. He's my boss. There's all kinds of professional implications."

Tyra cocked her head, "So you're not going to go out with Micah?"

"I want to," Emily said, thinking about how happy she felt around him. "That's the thing."

...

Cassandra had been sitting around her apartment restlessly awake for hours before deciding to just go into work early. There was always extra work to do, after all, and her empty bed was causing her a great deal of anxiety.

Not that she would admit it to anyone. In Cassandra's long history of dating she had only ever been dumped once. Being dumped was the ultimate sense of powerlessness, and Cassandra didn't do powerless. After that first time, whenever she had seen a relationship on the rocks, she had ended it herself. Even if there had been a sliver of hope...or love.

She didn't want to think about it. Unfortunately, as she turned onto a fourth floor hallway, the subject of her avoided thoughts stood at the other end. Cassandra hesitated, attempted to turn around, and then sucked up her discomfort. The sooner Will realized just how over him she was, the sooner things would settle into a tolerable pattern. Holding her head high, she flounced down the hallway and past him.

Grabbing her arm, Will lead her into an empty room. On edge, she stared at him expectantly, unwilling to initiate an interaction. Will opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and sighed. He scratched his head and paced the room, then directed her to sit.

"So..." Will said as Cassandra smiled benignly at him, "how are you?"

"I'm fine," she beamed. "Thank you for asking."

"You're...you're fine?" Will asked. "That's it? You break up with me last night and you're...fine?"

"It's fine," Cassandra said with a tone of voice that suggested his concern was absurd. "I'm fine."

"So you don't want to talk about it?" He asked.

"About the breakup?" Cassandra asked. "What's to talk about? I'm fine, like I said." Cassandra saw Will's face break into a smile as well, which made her angry. What did he have to smile about? "What's funny?"

"Uh…you," he answered, "your reaction. I'm just…you know, I'm a little…little confused. We did date, right?"

He was confused, Cassandra recognized. She had forgotten how confusing her spontaneous breakups could be. "It's over," she explained. "You chose Emily."

"What are you talking about?" Will shouted. "I didn't choose Emily."

"Yes, you did," Cassandra insisted. "And it's okay. I'm fine. What can you do? Relationships end, right?"

Will didn't say anything more. He stared at her resentfully for a number of minutes, made a variety of frustrated faces, sighed again, and huffed out. Cassandra breathed out the moment he had gone. She didn't know how she had held her smile steady through the encounter, but she knew it had to get easier.

Holding a trembling hand up to her face, she knew at least that it couldn't get any worse.

...

Micah saw Emily coming and held the door open for her. She was looking down and replied with an unseeing thank you. Micah couldn't help but laugh, "Again with the thank you."

Micah had written and deleted many a text message before realizing that "thank you" was not the kind of response he should read too much into. That she hadn't messaged him was slightly disconcerting, but then, a kiss was perhaps something that shouldn't be talked about via technology.

"Micah!" Emily turned and gave him an excited smile, and Micah relaxed-all of his fears falling away. Her smile was radiant and embarrassed and shy, and there was no way she was impartial to him. She began to ramble, "Um, I'm so sorry about that. I was…I was just…I was surprised because I hadn't thought about you that way. I mean, I had thought about you like that, because you're cute, funny…but you're also my boss."

Though deeply appreciative of all these words, Micah was hyper-aware of the eyes that might be watching. "Hey, should we maybe have this conversation in private?"

Emily looked around, as though realizing where she is for the first time. She nodded, "Yeah."

With a hand to guide her, Micah led Emily towards her office.

"I thought about calling you," Emily said, "but that just felt so..."

"Yeah," Micah nodded, "it's a little so. But, you know, I was thinking..."

Micah opened the door of Emily's office to find Will sitting in her chair-the chair HE had gotten for her. He felt the strange desire to grind his teeth or growl.

"Hey," Will said with his usual confidence. Micah looked at Emily, trying to gauge her reaction. He had fretted all night about how she might react to her college crush's new availability. He knew that Will had rejected her, but that wouldn't necessarily stop her from trying to win his affections.

But, to Micah's relief, Emily's eyes were focused on him. He tried to show his desire to be alone with her, and she returned the look.

Will stood, "I was just going to talk to you about, uh…" he began. He must have noticed the look that had passed between them, because he asked, "are you guys, like, working or something?"

Micah bit back laughter. If only that meat-head knew! Did he know? Would Emily tell him?

"We were going to talk about something," Emily said vaguely.

"Okay, no problem," Will nodded, shooting him a suspicious look. "I'll just…"

Micah's excitement to get Will out of the picture was short-lived. His pager beeped. "Oh, Uh," he mumbled, looking down to see that it was a call from his mother, "I have to get this. We'll talk later."

"Okay," Emily said, showing him another shy smile. Micah felt his confidence soar.

...

Will felt an unease in the pit of his stomach as Micah gave Emily one last lingering look. There was something unspoken between them...a familiarity...one that made him feel uncomfortable. He tried to think that she had completely innocent intentions: "You buttering him up so he'll pick you to assist on his triple A repair?"

"Hmm?" Emily asked, looking confused.

"Well, Dr. Bandari's on vacation," Will explained, though his unvoiced question had already been answered. "So…Dr. Barnes is heading the procedure."

"Oh, no," Emily said quietly, "I didn't…I didn't know."

Will thought about it and realized that he had been naive. Their Resident had definitely shown preference to his friend...they seemed to be good friends themselves...yet, if he looked back, there was something more. He wondered if Emily had noticed. "Yeah. I mean, not that you need to butter him up," he said, trying to assess her reaction. "I…I think he actually likes you."

A shadow passed over Emily's eyes, but Will couldn't read it. It upset him that he couldn't tell, as he usually could, what she was thinking. She asked, in a halting voice, "What did you want to, um, talk to me about?"

Nothing. He had come into her office to be near a friendly presence-to at least continue to keep company with the person who, so Cassandra claimed, he had chosen. He clung to this thought as he rambled, "Yeah, um, oh, Just how Cassandra's being crazy…"

"He does!" Emily blurted. "Like me. Micah does."

Will swallowed heavily. He recalled Emily's other relationships and how he had talked freely with her about them...and wondered why he felt uneasy this time. "Uh," he began, trying to sound casual, "do you like him?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Emily said with a sweet smile. Will felt his insides twist, but he heard her say, "But he's my boss."

"Right," he said, clinging to this as the reason for his discomfort. "That's true."

Will swallowed again, his mouth dry. He didn't know what it was that he was feeling or what he wanted to say, but he felt sure that figuring this out was about to change things between them. Emily broke the contact first, excusing herself.

Was Cassandra right? Had he chosen her? He had thought her premise was wrong-namely that he hadn't chosen between one girl and the other, but had rather chosen NOT TO choose, since it had been a completely unreasonable request to begin with. But her words rang in his ears anyway-you chose Emily. He didn't think that he had, but now that another man was choosing her, he had to admit, he felt uneasy.

...

Micah pacing in in sleeping room. As he waited for Emily to arrive, he thought about what she had said in the hallway, before their conversation had been interrupted. He didn't remember all of it, nervous as he had been, but he remembered she had called him cute.

He turned on the same spot yet again, thinking about what he should say. He knew he shouldn't come on too strong, though all he truly wanted was to wrap her in his arms and kiss her. He thought, maybe, he should start instead where she left off.

The door opened and Emily came in. They smiled at one another like school shy children and she went to sit on one of the cots.

"So…" Micah said, stopping himself from sitting next to her. "So, you were surprised."

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "Very."

Micah couldn't help himself-the strength of his feelings seemed too strong to hold. "How did you not know liked you?"

"Because you're my boss." Emily whined, as though this was obvious. "I didn't…I didn't go there."

"Ever?" Micah asked.

"When I did go there," Emily admitted, "I would try not to go there."

"Okay, good," Micah said with finality. "So, then, stop trying no to go there."

Emily nodded, looking unconvinced and turned her face away. She was bathed in sunlight and Micah could barely stop himself from leaning down to kiss her-to place his hand on her halo of golden hair and draw her near. Unable to help himself, he reached out to tuck her stray bangs behind her ear. She looked up.

"I do like you…" she said.

"Then let's go on a date," Micah said.

"…but you're also my boss," Emily continued, "which complicates things and it scares me, so I just…I want to think things through. Look before leaping and…all that."

Micah found this sad, but he nodded. What exactly did looking before leaping entail? It wasn't a no, so that was something. He imagined Emily talking through the pros and cons with her friends...with Will, even...and realized that he had to be a part of the process. "Okay, no problem," he said. "We'll hash it out over lunch." When she gave him a patronizing look, Micah insisted: "I'm not going to stand by while you convince yourself that we shouldn't give this a try. I'm involved now, so…you, we'll…we'll talk about it together."

"Sounds kind of like a date," Emily argued.

"Whoa, whoa, no!" Micah disagreed comically. "No, definitely not a date. I mean, that would…that would be confusing, seeing as how we haven't decided whether it's a good idea to go on a date."

"Right," Emily nodded, still not sounding certain.

Micah considered the places he knew to meet that would offer them privacy but was also innocuous enough to not be considered the place for a date. The lunch and break rooms were obviously out, as was the roof. Then it struck him: "Records room, 1:00PM, bring your own lunch," he instructed. Then, to lighten the air, he added, "Which I would NEVER say if this was a real date."

...

Will was somewhat disconcerted to find himself paired on a case with his now ex-girlfriend, but as he thought about it, he relished the opportunity to see how she was coping with the breakup. He didn't have any illusions that she should be devastated, but he was still uncertain what the problem had been. The night he slept over at Emily's had been completely innocent-the only unpleasant part of it being caused by Cassandra's own uncertainty. His annoyance grew...how many times could he tell a woman he was only interested in her before he lost interest?

They walked down the hall towards their patient's room in an uncomfortable silence. He almost wished she would yell at him...at least then he could deny her fears.

"So, um," he tried again, "are you still planning to go the the pound this weekend and pick a dog?"

Cassandra arched a brow, but didn't look at him. She replied, "Maybe this time I'll let a dog choose me."

Will rolled his eyes. He opened the door patient's door for her and she gave him a patronizing smile before entering.

He walked in, shaking his head to dislodge the annoyance. Luckily his own frustration was drowned out by the two women arguing. Will entertained himself with helping them settle their argument, but Cassandra butted in.

"So what brings you here?" She asked, serious.

The patient touched her companion's arm affectionately, "Oh, this one is a worrywart. I just have this cough. It's..."

"She was having heart palpitations," Julie, the worrywart, interrupted. "And she coughed so hard she collapsed."

Cassandra headed off this new round of banter, "Okay, well, you probably have a spot of pneumonia. We'll get a chest x-ray."

"Just get me out of here before all the kids descend this weekend," the patient begged.

"We're going to do our best," Will smiled. He turned to Cassandra and became serious once more. "You also need an EKG, okay?"

The patient nodded as he began to set things up. She grinned up at him. "You single?"

"Oh, Maggie!" Julie swatted at her.

"Like you weren't thinking it," Maggie replied. She looked back at Will. "We have a daughter. She's very smart, very pretty."

Without meaning to, Will shot a glance at Cassandra, who rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Oh no," Maggie said sheepishly, "did I step in it?"

"No, uh," Cassandra answered coolly, "as it turns out, he is single. Newly. From me."

"Nice going," Julie chided.

"Oh…sorry," Maggie said to Cassandra. "I had no idea."

"It's fine, for the best," she replied quickly. Cassandra said as she left the room, "You run the EKG and I'll order the X ray."

Will nodded and went ahead with his work, frustrated.

Maggie gave him a sympathetic look, "So why'd you dump her?"

"No, I didn't. She, uh…" Will muttered, trying to copy Cassandra's cool smile, "she actually dumped me."

Both women cried out in protest and Will heart warmed. He was glad that other people were able to understand a circumstance that mystified him. "I appreciate that, thank you. But, uh, you know, whatever. Relationships end, right?"

Maggie gave a significant look to her companion. "Until you find the one that doesn't," she said fondly. Looking back to Will, she continued. "Listen, this is all you need to know: look for the person that brings out the best in you-who makes you the best version of yourself."

"Well, see," Will replied, "that's good advice. Because who wouldn't want to be their best?"

A nurse came in and helped him administer the EKG, and Will considered the woman's words. He knew that Cassandra had continued being rude to people despite his attempts to get her to play nice. But that was all tolerable so long as it hadn't rubbed off on him. But had it? He considered the times he had left Emily hanging when Cassandra had been upset-had justified her behavior and therefore abetted it...And now, without a good reason, she was going to start treating him with the same rudeness.

"So, everything okay?" The Patient broke through his thoughts. He examine the EKG and saw that it looked normal.

"Mags, shh," Julie chided. "Let the man do his thing."

Will smiled. "The man has done his thing," he said. "Yes, your EKG looks great." With a prescription for anitbiotics and the instructions to come back if she didn't feel any better, he set her loose.

"No problem. Amy will bring me back," Maggie said with a wink, "Our daughter, the cute one."

"You know, for what it's worth, she really seemed cold," Julie offered. "That doctor that dumped you."

Will felt a moment of discomfort, realizing the nurse was still behind him. He didn't need his personal life broadcast around the hospital. She averted her eyes. He supposed it didn't matter. "She did, though, right?" He asked in earnest. "Which is weird because she was like that with everyone else, but with me it was different, you know."

"Really?" She asked.

"Well, whatever," Will shrugged. "I guess I was wrong." He gave them a smile that wasn't quite convincing.

...

Emily hovered outside of Joyce's hospital room, unsure if she should go in. She was spotted, however, and Micah's Mom called her in with, "Hey honey."

"Hey," Emily said gently. "I just wanted to check in. How are you?"

"Oh, okay, you know," Joyce said, looking a little sad. "My daughter's coming today, so I'm soaking up all the peace and quiet I can get."

"Micah has a sister?" Emily asked, coming into the room. "He didn't tell me. What's she like?"

"Liz?" Joyce looked at the ceiling, considering. "A bit wild, I'm afraid. Though very sweet, just like her big brother."

Emily grinned. "Aw...I bet Micah makes a great big brother."

"Here," Joyce said, patting the bed on her left. "Let me show you something. Have you ever been to Disney World?"

Emily walked around the bed. "Oh, wow, awhile ago, yes."

"So you know the flying elephants..." Joyce said, turning on her iPad and scrolling through the files. She tapped on an icon and handed it over to Emily. "Here, look at this."

Emily looked at the picture of dark-haired child wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt. He was flexing his muscles as the elephants soared behind him. He looked happy and free, and fit with what she knew of him-everything she liked about him.

"Aw!" Emily giggled, smiling down at Joyce. "That might be the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Joyce grabbed her arm and held it warmly. "He loved that shirt. Wouldn't take it off. Now, he doesn't want anyone knowing this, but ever since I've called him my Micah Mouse."

Emily almost choked on her laughter. Yep, cutest thing ever.

"Oh, and here's where he met Mickey..." Joyce said, looking truly happy.

"What are you looking at?" Came Micah's voice from the doorway.

Emily felt herself blush. "Just some old pictures of you…Micah Mouse."

Emily knew that she was the only one who could get away with calling him that. He merely grinned at her. "Did you hear my sister's coming?"

"I did," Emily nodded, "I'm excited to meet her."

"Eh, approach with caution," Micah advised. "Like a wild animal."

"Micah, that's enough," Joyce corrected him.

"Listen, I have some pretty big news,' Micah said, changing the subject. He took the manila folder he was holding and turned it around. "You got into the clinical trial, Mom. The one at Mayo. Now they've had results. Like, real results. Starts in two weeks."

Emily felt herself get excited. Mayo was the best. She shared a happy smile with Micah. Joyce, however, looked like someone had just killed her puppy.

"Who, hey, this is good news," Micah said. "This is what we've been hoping for."

"I know we were," Joyce said, frowning deeply.

Emily knew it was best for her to leave. As with any patient, she knew that the choice of whether not a terminal cancer patient should continue seeking treatment after non-responsive chemo was a very personal issue. She was close to Joyce-and close to Micah-but she had no illusions that she deserved a place in that discussion.

Even if she had, the solutions was nothing but foggy.

Micah moved to sit on the edge of the bed as Emily walked out into the hallway. "Talk to me."

"I've got to be realistic..." Joyce began. Then Emily was out of earshot. She looked at them both from a distance, connected but separate. She wished that she had the chance to meet Joyce under different circumstances.

Micah listened to his mother, then looked at her in fear. Emily's heart fell.

The time had come when Joyce was planning for her death and now her son knew it. Emily's eyes welled with tears. She walked away, wiping at them.

...

[What are you wearing?] Tyra typed and hit send. She looked up while waiting for a response and saw Cassandra become suddenly alert. Looking over, she saw that Will had just entered the break room. This drama was just getting more and more interesting, wasn't it.

[Sexy gym clothes, :p, but I'm going for a shower once I'm done on the treadmill]

[Ooh, hope you're thinking of me] Tyra typed. She looked back up in time to see Cassandra weave her way out the door. Will threw his hands up in frustration. Tyra felt herself smirking.

"Hey, you looking for an apartment?" Emily's voice asked.

"Nah, I'm just IM'ing with an old booty call," Tyra replied, not taking the bait. Seeing Will's attention snap to Emily as soon as she had walked in, Tyra said loudly, "Hey, do you mind clearing out of your place tonight? Roomie? Just sleep at Micah's..."

It worked like a charm. Will stepped forward far too quickly to pretend indifference and asked: "You're sleeping at Micah's?"

"No. I'm..." Emily stammered. She shot a panicked look at Tyra, her face red. "No."

"So you decided not to date him?" Tyra pushed, wishing she had a box of popcorn.

"No, we haven't decided anything," Emily told them both. "We're having lunch today to hash everything out."

"Well, that sounds romantic," Will said with rakish smile. Tyra watched raptly. Will was jealous. He was completely out-of-his-mind jealous.

"It's not romantic, that's the point," Emily explained. "We're deciding whether of not to be romantic."

Will looked at her, his brow raised and skepticism all over his face. Tyra could almost see him thinking about what he would have done instead.

"Trust me, the kiss," Emily added, with just the right amount of self-congratulations, "was very romantic."

Clearly, this was the first Will had heard of this. Ugh, why hadn't she made popcorn?! Tyra saw Will go through shock, denial, and panic. In a harsh voice, he hissed, "You know, you might want to be careful of the whole boss thing at work. It get s a little complicated."

"Yeah, I'm aware," Emily said, remaining calm. "It's why we're having lunch."

They were then surrounded by a palpable silence, so charged that Tyra could hardly keep from grinning. She was sure for a second that Will was about to rush forwards, then sure that Emily was going to storm out. Tyra tingled as the moment drew on.

Then their pagers beeped, and the moment was broken.

Turning back to her computer, Tyra typed [I think we'll need to meet up at your place, I have a feeling my roomie is going to have some company tonight]

...

Liz gave a condescending wave to the girl running to catch the elevator and let the door close. She was a firm believer in sharing her own pain with as many people as possible, and today there was a lot of pain. She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator climbed, and when it reached the floor she'd been sent to, she charged through the door.

Seeing her brother, she shouted his name and charged forward, meeting him with a rough shove.

"What the hell, Micah?" Liz shouted. "How could you not tell me about Mom?" She continued shouting and shoved him again.

"No, okay, come on over here," Micah spoke in a low forceful voice and guided her away from his coworkers. "You need to calm down."

This is not what Liz wanted to hear. "No, don't you dare tell me to calm down! I just saw her, okay? She has…she has no hair, and she's lost all of this weight."

"She asked me not to tell you. It was her thing, so I…I just…" Micah said lamely. "She just felt like you were doing so much better."

Liz's mind flashed red. "You know, I don't even know what that means. It is so condescending!"

"...just that you got a job and you were thinking of going back to school," Micah explained.

"Shut up, Micah. Just shut up!" She shouted. She didn't need another lecture about her life choices. Liz pushed her anger at him aside and tried to focus on her mother's cancer. "So…so-so-so what? So she's…so she's just going to die or something?"

"She could," Micah admitted. "But look, I got her into this new trial and…it's a long shot, but it's still a shot at least."

This was barely able to sink in. Without this trial her Mom didn't stand a chance. She tried to process this, "Okay, so when does that start?"

Micah gave her a serious look. "She doesn't want to do it."

"What?!" Liz cried. "No, she has to do it. Micah, you have to tell her she has to do it."

"Has that ever worked with you?"

Of course not. If Liz was considered obstinate, one didn't have to look too far to see the source. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to try to convince her together," Micah said. Liz nodded, feeling the terror flood through her.

"I'm really mad at you, Mouse," she said, feeling her anger ebb away.

"I know. Oh, come here," Micah said, pulling her into a hug. "Don't call be that at work, okay?"

Liz rolled her eyes.

...

Cassandra rolled her patient-the one who was trying to set up her ex-boyfriend-out to the parking lot. She was probably just imagining the strange looks Maggie kept giving her, but all the same, she kept her eyes averted. She had known that the first day would be difficult.

"Jules drives like an old lady," Maggie said from her chair, trying to lighten the mood. "I could've gotten to the car faster in this chair."

Cassandra smiled, then noticed Will talking to a blonde in line for coffee. He looked up and saw her, then turned away.

She felt Maggie tap her arm. "Why'd you dump him?" she asked.

Cassandra looked at him-tall, fit, endlessly sweet... "I think he's in love with someone else," she allowed herself to say. Just like that, the gravity of the situation hit her. Saying the words out loud is too much. Cassandra drew in a sharp breath and held a hand to mask the pain that came over her face. "Sorry, uh…" she said to Maggie, fanning herself. "My god, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. That's okay," Maggie answered with a generous smile. "You know, Jules and I broke up once and I had to go on antidepressants, and then I realized I just had to suck up my pride and apologize and get her back. You know, that's just what worked for us."

Cassandra nodded, though the prospect of winning Will back didn't seem relevant. Emily would still be there. Wiping her eyes and sniffling, Cassandra turned back with the now-empty wheel chair only to see the cause of her upset standing behind her.

"You okay?" Emily asked, looking concerned.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. This was the last thing she needed. "I'm fine," she said, pushing the chair past Emily without a second glance. Rushing to put the chair away before she lost control, Cassandra then ran to the nearest bathroom, chose an empty stall, and let her tears flow freely for the first time.

...

Will shuffled his feet when he caught Cassandra looking at him from across the parking lot. At least she hadn't smiled at him like a cypher as she had been all day-acting annoyed that he was upset by their breakup. He had every right to be upset-and every right to expect her to be upset.

He looked over again, but this time he saw Emily there. He felt relief and a strange twisting feeling, and waved her over.

Trying to take control of the situation, he ordered for them, "Uh, black, one sugar, and an extra sweet skinny vanilla latte, please"

"Oh, no vanilla," Emily said to the barista. She looked back at Will., "Over the sweet thing."

There was an awkward silence in which Will tried to figure out why this threw him off guard. Then he realized it was probably because the last time he had seen her he had acted like a complete ass. Clearing his throat, he said, "Um, look, I'm sorry I was weird earlier, okay? About you and Micah. You can date whoever you want. Just, obviously, I'm dealing with this whole work relationship breakup thing. So, you know, that's where I was coming from."

"Micah and I are different, though," Emily said. "We got to know each other first."

"Ouch," Will said in reply.

"Just saying," Emily defended.

Well, he supposed that was fair. Hadn't Emily tried to warn him about her old nemesis? Hadn't he ignored the fact that sweet-natured Emily would call ANYONE her nemesis? "Yeah, it's true, you know it's…very true," he said thoughtfully. "Also, you were…you were right about Cassandra. She's not even phased by this whole breakup thing at all."

"She's proud, you know that," Emily said with a shake of her head.

Will felt a little lightheaded. "Wow. First you're over vanilla lattes, and now you're trying to convince me that Cassandra's not that bad, huh?" It had been such a strange day. He had flipped and flopped on everything he thought he knew. His mind felt cloudy and confused, as though in the middle of being completely rearranged. He felt like a jigsaw puzzle that had been put together incorrectly and then broken, except now he was on the way to being put together correctly. Every now and then a piece would fall into place and the picture is was creating became a little clearer. But it wasn't clear yet, but he had a strange sense that he knew what it might be...

Paying for their coffees, Will and Emily walked back towards the door to the hospital. He tried to organize a thought he was having difficulty understanding. "And I also..." he attempted, "I just think maybe the reason I reacted the way I…just the idea of you dating somebody for real is…is kind of weird."

"I get it," Emily said noncommittally. "You're used to having me around, and that would change."

Is that what would happen if she started seeing Micah? Is that why he found the thought so unsettling. He considered it aloud, "What if I don't want things to change?"

"They have to," Emily said.

"Why?" Will asked. "I dated Cassandra, nothing changed."

"You broke up!" Emily shouted.

Okay, yes. And as Cassandra's insistence about his "thing with Emily" demonstrated, the cause was indeed his desire that nothing change. What could he say? He wanted his best friend.

He wondered fleetingly if Cassandra was right-if he HAD chosen Emily, but a panicked honking broke into his thoughts.

"Somebody help!" Julie yelled, an unconscious Maggie in the passenger seat.

...

The smell of nail polish hit Micah's nose before he even entered his mother's room. Liz was doing his Mom's nails and chatting away in her usual state of anger.

"It's totally creepy," she was saying. "It shouldn't even be legal. Stuff that's like, banned in Europe."

Micah couldn't help but announce his presence with the question, "What's banned in Europe?"

"Oh, the chemicals that we put in hair dye," Liz explained coolly. "It was practically poisoning me, breathing it in every day. That's why I had to leave the salon."

Micah met his Mom's eyes and they shared a concerned look. So his sister had left her steady job. He supposed it had been too much to hope that she might get her life together someday.

"What? What?" Liz shouted. "I saw that. What was that? I hate when you guys give looks about me."

"Liz!" Shouted Micah, feeling guilty. "Just calm down."

"No, stop telling me to calm down," Liz shouted back. "You know what? Fine. Fine. I will go back to the salon and I will get cancer. Are you happy?"

Micah could hardly believe that Liz had used the C word in front of his Mom. He gave her a look that spoke of his anger. Joyce looked suddenly serious and avoided eye contact.

"I'm sorry," Liz said, horrified, "I didn't…"

"It's okay," Joyce said, though it clearly wasn't.

Micah thought this was as good a time as any to bring up the trial. "Okay, look. We're all a little emotional right now. You, me, Liz. We know how tired you are."

"I'm not tired," Joyce argued. "Raiding you kids alone, I was tired. This is not tired. I want to leave the hospital. I want to spend time with my children."

Micah felt the blood leave his body. It was one thing for her to have a weak moment with him-he had been there with her these last months-but to tell Liz that she was giving up...

"Mom, stop!" Liz said. "Oh my god, this is so screwed up. This is so screwed up that I have to tell you like this, this way. This is so screwed up."

Micah thought he heard the classic Liz Barnes Oversell being set up, but he tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"What?" Joyce asked, taking the bait.

"No, this is so screwed up!" Liz yelled. She looked helplessly at their mother and then at Micah, who braced himself. "I'm pregnant."

"What?!"

"That is why I left the stupid salon," Liz added quickly. "Not because I can't keep a job, like you guys think. Don't judge me. Stop!"

Micah looked at his Mom to share another of their looks, but she wasn't looking at him. Her attention was eagerly on her daughter, a sparkle in her eyes.

"We're not, but…Is it Oliver's?" Joyce asked, arms outstretched. "Does he know?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't care, okay?" Liz said. "He told me to get rid of it, and I was going to, but when I got there, I just…I couldn't do it."

Micah thought he saw his mother smiling. Her arms practically trembled in excitement.

Micah sighed. "How far along are you?"

"Um, I think like, 11 weeks?" Liz said. "I…I mean, I haven't seen a doctor."

"Okay, look, I'll make you an appointment."

She nodded, and Joyce said quickly, "There's this really great store on 5th Street that sells baby clothes. It's all handmade by a local woman. I've always wanted to shop there. Oh, lets go this weekend."

...

"Well, It kinda depends on how you think a dog will fit into your lifestyle," said the representative Cassandra had been put in touch with. She had been inquiring as to the usual procedure for pet adoption.

"You know, I run a lot, so it's important that they're not low energy," Cassandra considered, "but I'm a doctor and there can be long hours, so they can't have really high energy either. Mostly, I um, I just want some company..."

"Why don't you come in tonight?" He suggested. "We're open until seven. I have a few animals coming to mind already, you can come meet them, see if you form a bond."

Cassandra nodded, turning the corner into the emergency room. "Sounds great. I'll be there."

Slipping her phone into her pocket, she looked up to see the patient that she and Will had seen-Maggie-being covered with a sheet. She felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under her. She quickly dashed back around the corner and hid as the stretched moved past.

Maggie had been so warm and encouraging only a few moments ago. Enough so that Cassandra had admitted what she had been unwilling to tell anyone. It didn't seem fair that the only person she had opened up to was now dead. Or perhaps it was only too fair.

Cassandra took a breath. This kind of reaction, though it made sense the day after breakup, was completely unprofessional. Then she was reminded of a throw-away comment that Maggie had made. She rushed off to check the charts.

...

Micah arrived early in the records room and, choosing an empty aisle, collapsed on the floor. Being around his sister always left him feeling drained-like he'd had the wind knocked out of him.

"You okay?" Asked Emily's voice.

"Yeah," Micah answered without looking. "Just letting the stress of my sister, my pregnant sister, drain from my body." He sighed and started to sit up.

"No, no, no," Emily argued. "Lying down looks nice." She dropped her lunch on a file box and laid alongside him. "I have the saddest case," she said. Then it hit her: "Your sister is pregnant?"

"Apparently," he replied. "Hey, thank god this isn't a first date. Family drama's not great first date material."

"Everybody's got it," Emily said.

Micah recalled their other conversation. "You don't talk about yours."

"True," she said. He looked over at her when she didn't say anything else, though he supposed he couldn't expect anything. Then she said, "Okay. My mom is...complicated. Sometimes she's a train wreck, sometimes she's a whirlwind. She's been through a lot of phases and a lot of men."

"What about your dad?"

"I've only met him once. My mom was...the other woman," Emily explained. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Pretty sordid, huh?" She sighed, "My mom is the queen of mistakes. She just…she drives headlong into everything."

"Doesn't look before she leaps..." Micah observed, recalling her words from earlier.

"Nope," Emily smiled. "And it always ends terribly. Which is why I am the opposite. I think things through. I move at a glacial pace, and then, when I actually do fall for someone, I latch onto them like a barnacle that you can't pry off."

Barnacle? Micah hoped she didn't think of herself as a barnacle...though her connection to Will was pretty intense..."You trying to scare me?"

She looked over, discovered at her own game. "Is it working?"

Emily clinging to him? "No," he said simply. "Thanks for telling me about your mom."

"I like talking to you," she said.

"Not…just talking, I hope," Micah said, looking at her with hope.

She shook her head: "Not just talking."

It wasn't a yes. Micah turned onto his side, "Alright, we got to...let's figure this out."

Emily giggle and turned to face him. "Okay," she agreed.

"Worst case scenario: We date," Micah began, "and then one of us-probably you-is just a huge douche bag. And then…then we have to work together after that and it blows."

"Because you don't pick me for procedures because you're angry," Emily explains.

"No, no! I would never do that," Micah said, shocked to learn that this was her reasoning. "Doesn't even matter how big of a douche bag you were."

"Okay," she nodded, not fully convinced, "or…it's great, but then every time you choose me for something, people think I'm getting special treatment."

"Well, who cares what other people think?" Micah said lamely. He knew both issues were still open. "Look, it's true, a lot could go wrong, but…I also think a lot could go pretty right. Don't you?"

Shyly, Emily nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"So, let's take a leap," Micah said. "I want to take you out on a real date."

Emily looked around, "How could you follow up the records room?"

Micah smiled, already planning. "Just leave that to me. You in?

Biting her lip and closing her eyes, Emily took the leap and nodded her assent.

...

Will was coming back from lunch when Cassandra pulled him into an empty room.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Just come here," she commanded.

"I got to tell you, I'm confused," Will said rudely. "So now, all of a sudden, you want to talk?"

"It's about Maggie. The reason she died," Cassandra clarified. Will was suddenly unsure he wanted to hear this. She continued: "I was going back over everything in my mind to see if we missed something, and I realized she told me she was on antidepressants once, which wasn't in her chart."

No, it wasn't on her chart. If it had been, he would have looked for different things. "Antidepressants, you mean long QT?" Will asked, and Cassandra nodded. "Did you check the EKG?"

"I didn't want to do it out there," she told him.

Will took the file from her, not sure he could believe the implication. He measured the results again, and then felt his world drop from under him. "Oh god," he breathed. "The meds I prescribed..."

"It's so hard to catch," Cassandra said defensively. "Even cardiologists miss it."

"I gave her a fatal arrhythmia," Will allowed himself to admit. Then he let the words sink in. He had killed her.

"It was a mistake," Cassandra insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, you know, I mean, that's what I'll tell her wife, right?" Will shot back, feeling the guilt course through him at the thought of her loving partner. "I'm sorry, I made a mistake."

"No…don't TELL anyone," Cassandra hissed. "Look, the antidepressant thing isn't in the chart. The EKG looks normal. No one will catch it."

Will blinked. Had she just told him to cover up the fact that he had made a fatal mistake? "What are you talking about?"

"It'll be on your record forever," Cassandra explained. "It'll follow you to every interview and every hospital for the rest of your career. And it won't bring her back."

Will nodded. The idea seemed horrifying, but he knew that Cassandra just had his back. She would help him cover up the lie-help him get away with it. He balked at this thought...it wasn't as though he had done it on purpose, so he shouldn't think of it like covering up a crime. It was a mistake. All doctors made them. And the mistakes, in turn, made them better doctors.

He told himself this, but it didn't stop him from seeing Maggie's teasing face.

...

Tyra greeted Emily as she joined the group of waiting interns.

"Has he chosen his, uh, assistant?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Tyra said slyly, "he's about to do it now."

Micah walked up to them, and Tyra couldn't imagine people NOT noticing their shared smile. Who did those two think they were kidding.

"Okay, rumor has it one of you is assisting on the triple A repair," Micah said. He scanned the group, shot Emily a confused look, and announced, "Dr. Kopelson, I'll see you in the OR."

This announcement shocked Tyra. She hadn't pulled her own hat from the ring, but it had seemed more than likely that her friend the favorite would be chosen. Almost inevitable, really.

Tyra turned to see Cassandra's reaction, then turned back to Emily, who had clearly been expecting a different outcome. His choice did seem an odd one, considering Emily was his trusted helper in the operating room, but then, drama wasn't called drama because it always makes sense.

"You, ah, you talked to him, then?" Tyra asked as the walked away.

"Yes!" Emily cried softly. "And I...look, maybe he would have picked Cassandra anyway. Maybe it has nothing to do with...things..."

"Oh please," Tyra said, "this has 'things' written all over it."

"You think so?" Emily asked, collapsing into a seat in the break room. "This is what I was afraid of. And what he assured me wouldn't be a problem."

"Maybe you psyched him out about it," Tyra offered, "you know, during your romantic committee meeting."

"No," Emily considered. "No...it was very cool."

Tyra raised an eyebrow. When had she become so invested in a straight chick's love life? "Then maybe he can't handle it. I bet Will could be talked into a romantic committee meeting."

"What?" Emily cried, "I thought you liked Micah."

"I like the idea of getting you laid," Tyra reminded.

"I don't know why you're bringing up Will anyway," Emily said distractedly. "It's not like anything has changed."

"You should talk to him," Tyra blurted.

"Will? Why, he's probably looking up another of my high school bullies so he can date them," Emily said.

"Wow, nice one," Tyra grinned. "No, Micah. You should talk to him. Maybe he was going to choose Cassandra anyway."

"Yeah..." Emily nodded. "Yeah, it's probably that. You know, I'M probably the one being weird and EXPECTING him to choose me. I'm probably crazy."

"No doubt there," Tyra replied.

...

Micah was on the way to the OR when he spotted a familiar figure in the parking lot smoking. His mind flew into a panic and he rushed outside.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled to Liz, who turned with a disdainful look.

"Oh relax," she said, dropping the cigarette. "I'm not actually pregnant."

The momentum of his charge caused Micah to double back in fury. "Oh! I knew it. I knew it!"

"Yeah, well, so what?" Liz shrugged. "So I lied."

"What were you thinking?!"

"Um, I was thinking," Liz explained, "that I don't want our mother to die."

"Look, I want her to do the trial too…"

"Yeah, well, you heard her. She won't. Unless something changed, she won't. And this way, she has something to live for." Liz yelled back. " No, you know that it's true. And…and once she's in there and started, then…then I'll lose the baby or whatever, but it won't matter because she'll already be in that stupid trial."

Micah remembered his mother's excitement, but felt disgusted at the thought. "Liz, we can't."

"She's going to die, Micah!" Liz shouted. "If we don't do this, she's going to die."

Micah didn't saw anything. He knew it was true. For all that he said their was a chance-that there was hope-his mother was going to die.

"That doesn't mean we can just lie to her," he said weakly.

"Why not?" Liz asked, sounding fiercely reasonable. "If she dies, then she'll never know. But WHEN she lives, she'll thank us for telling her exactly what she needed to hear."

"No, if she dies she'll do it with the regret of never seeing her grandchild," Micah argued. "And if she lives, then she'll feel the same."

"She'll have other grandkids, Micah," Liz shot back. "She told me you're in love with one of your interns, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time."

"Firstly, that's none of your business," Micah said. "And secondly, it doesn't matter what you say, lying is still wrong."

"Fine, Micah, fine," she said. "Then tell me your brilliant plan. Oh wait, you don't have one."

"That's not fair..."

"No, you know what's not fair, Micah? Being doubted by the people you love. Like you and Mom giving each other looks while I'm standing right there. Like you not TELLING me that she had Cancer! That's not fair," Liz fought. "Look, you know all this doctor stuff, but I know how to do the people stuff. Okay? Maybe it's all I know how to do. So let me do it. I know I can do it."

"I know you can too," Micah said softly. He stood and stared at his sister who had, regardless of her methods, done exactly the thing his mother most needed. He took a small step to hug her.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Ugh, don't you have anywhere to be?"

...

Will looked at his patient's ex-wife as she swallowed the information that her ex-husband, who had grown distant after the death of their only son, had lost all memory of the last several years. He had woken up thinking that they were days from being married. Will understood the woman's struggle.

"But you saw him in there," she was saying to he and Emily. "He loves me again. And the minute I tell him, that'll go away. Again." Shaking her head, unable to hold back tears, she walked away.

In some ways Will envied his patient. He wished more than anything that he could go back to the beginning of the day and forget that he had ever met Maggie. He wouldn't want to be told either, that a person had died.

"It's a pretty awful thing to admit to," Will said, deciding that he couldn't do it.

"I know," Emily agreed, "but she'll feel worse if she doesn't tell him."

Will thought about what Cassandra had told him. She would know, and he would know. And Julie wouldn't. Julie would think that Maggie had died randomly, a sad twist of fate. Wasn't that better, somehow, that thinking someone else had made a mistake that had caused her death-had killed her?

He would hold onto his guilt, he decided. And every terrible day that followed, he would see her face.

...

Liz had said she would take care of their mother, and Micah couldn't believe how right she was when he walked in to see Joyce with a full head of hair.

"Hey, looks great," he said to his Mom and Liz combed and styled the thick wig.

"Yeah, it's cause it's real human hair. It's expensive," Liz said impressively. "Stole it from the salon."

Joyce pretended not to hear this. She held tightly to her daughter as she said to Micah, "So, I, uh, changed my mind…about the trial. Got to try to see the grandkid, right?"

Micah looked at Liz, who would forever more be his partner in crime. He considered telling the truth, then decided against it. "Yeah, I think that's a good decision."

Liz hugged her Mom in reply and went back to combing the wig, chatting up a storm.

Micah tried to listen and participate, but he couldn't help the guilt that crept into his mind. It didn't seem fair, to be given only bad choices.

...

Will didn't expect that his patient's ex-wife would return and tell her tale of their dead son, and when she did he found his own resolutions wavering. He imagined himself in a strangely similar situation, telling the hospital legal staff that his inattention had caused the death of a woman...No, how could he?

"I don't know if I'd be able to do that," Will said out loud. He wasn't sure if he said it to Emily, who was standing alongside him, or to himself.

"You would," Emily said without thinking. "I know you. Trust me." A nurse handed her reports, and she took off with a gentle, "See you."

"Yeah…" Will breathed, staring after her.

Emily didn't know what he had done. She didn't know how much trouble he would be in or how his future would forever reflect the actions of today...and yet, she was so sure of him. It was the right thing to do, to tell someone. He could feel that, just as he felt the inherent unfairness of such hard-to-see problems causing a death. But Emily would have told. Emily was good. Emily would not have put her ambitions above the truth. And that is what she thought he was. She thought-no she KNEW-that he was good. Whatever Cassandra may say about the hospital never figuring things out, HE would know. He would know that he had lied. And Emily would continue to idolize him, because that is what she did, and he would feel guilty for every second of it. Unworthy.

More so than when Cassandra had looked him in the eye and asked him to choose, Will felt the choice that stood before him. It was the choice between reckless ambition and caring responsibility. It was the choice between Cassandra and Emily.

Swallowing back his fear, Will turned and walked towards the administrative offices to turn himself in.

...

Emily noticed Micah in the locker room and went in to talk to him. She had decided to take Tyra's advice and talk to Micah about his choice before she let herself over-think it.

"Hey…I wanted to talk to you about something," she said, walking up to him.

"Yeah," Micah agreed, grabbing his coat and closing locker door. Emily almost jumped when she saw that a dark-haired woman was standing behind it. Micah started an introduction, "Oh, Emily, uh, this is my sister, Liz."

"Hi, uh…it's, uh," Emily stammered, recognizing the girl who hadn't held the elevator for her. Searching her mind for good thoughts, she remembered that Micah mentioned she was pregnant. "Congratulations."

Liz gave Micah a withering look, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, thanks."

"Okay," Micah said quickly, gently pushing her to leave. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria."

Liz gave a cynical smile and an eye roll before walking out.

"What's up?" Micah asked.

Emily shook off the unpleasant vibe from his sister-who she had been warned about-and tried to recall her frustration from earlier. "Um…this might be a dumb question, but…" she began. Now that she was about to ask, she felt fearful. He had never felt more like her boss than at this moment. She pressed on, "The triple A repair…Did you not pick me because of the date?"

"No," Micah answered, seeming surprised. "You said you didn't want special treatment."

"Would it have been special treatment?" Emily asked, feeling even more embarrassed. "Or would you have picked me if not for all the other stuff going on?"

Micah made a face as he thought about it. "Probably would have picked you."

Emily's embarrassment turned to fear. Despite all of his assurances to the contrary, even the prospect of them dating had already affected her carrier. She sighed in frustration and looked away from him.

"Okay, so I screwed up and I over-corrected," Micah explained. "I'm not going to let it affect me in the future. I promise."

Emily didn't want promises. She wanted to feel comfortable again. "It's…it's my career, and I don't want to make a mistake."

"Hey, me neither," Micah said with an unnerving smile. "Which is why I'm not going to let you back out. Listen, I need to go get Liz before she burns the hospital down."

As though he knew she was about to put everything into questions, he walked out, and left Emily thinking.

She liked Micah. She REALLY liked Micah...but...but no matter how he claimed that a relationship or breakup wouldn't affect his work-related choices, he only said this because he didn't know any better. Now he had been tested and proved wrong. In some ways, it negated their entire conversation in the records room, including her agreement to give things a try. A new scenario presented itself: they would begin a relationship, but she would be uneasy all the time because every day at work she would wonder if he would overcompensate, and then every day she would ask him if he was over-compensating, which would make the over-compensation even worse. Eventually they would break up, because the drama was too frequent, but the stress and doubt would continue, because the issues of over-compensating would never go away. Not until one or both of them left, that is.

Emily felt herself shiver in dread. She missed Micah, in that moment-the Micah who had been her friend.

Deep in thought, Emily walked down the hallway and spotted Will. His glasses were off and his face was red. Had he been crying?

"Hey…are you okay?" Emily asked.

Will looked over at her, his eyes swollen and red. "Hey, um, yeah," he nodded, sniffling. Then he shook his head, "No, actually. No."

"Do you...want to talk about it?" Emily asked carefully.

Will nodded rapidly, wiping at his eyes and replacing his glasses. "Um, yeah, can we go get a drink?"

"You too, huh?" Emily said honestly.

...

Emily listened to Will's re-telling of the day with her usual sympathetic attention. She reached out and held his arm as he got through the hardest parts of it, and he felt stronger because of her touch. She echoed her agreement in everything that he had done, and never once looked at him in judgment. When he has finished, she said, "It's awful, Will, but it…it happens." She gave him a proud look, "But you admitted to it and that was really brave."

Will had tried to keep his references to Cassandra and her at a minimum, but he had hoped she would have picked up the part she played in his decision to tell. He decided that he wanted her to know. "I told her because of you," he said. "It's the way you see me. This guy who does the right thing. And I want to be that guy."

"It's who you are," Emily said simply.

She still wasn't getting it. Will told her, "It's who I am when I'm with you."

For a moment he thought Emily was comprehending his meaning. He wondered if she was thinking about Micah, and then he hated Micah for steeling away her attention if so. He remembered the countless other times he had told her things...given her little tokens that her obsessing brain could cling to...and though he had at first felt uncomfortable in the knowledge that everything he said to her had a double life in her imagination, he now felt incalculably angry that after saying something so sweet, she might be thinking of someone else.

"I should go," Emily said slowly. "Tyra's sleeping out so I'll finally get some peace and quiet."

"Yeah…" Will replied, feeling jealousy overcome him. "Did you, um, decide what you're doing with Micah? Make a decision?"

Emily returned to her seat, wanting to talk to her friend. "So confused," she said.

"Me too," Will said, feeling lightheaded and ready-ready to admit the conclusion he'd been coming to all day. "I'm confused about you, actually. And I know it's…it's awful timing. It's bad timing." Will saw Emily's look change. He knew that she was understanding him. "It's like, the moment you get over me, I start to think that maybe there's something that could…"

"Yeah..." Emily sighed, frowning. "Really bad timing..." Gathering her coat in a hurry, she prepared herself to leave.

"What was the moment that, uh, you got over me?" Will blurted. He felt panicked that the best part of him was about to be lost. "There had to have been a moment, right? What did I do?"

"You ran after Cassandra when I got that research position," Emily admitted. "And I realized that I wanted to be chosen."

Chosen. Choice. Choose. It was like he couldn't get away from it all. Everything in his life seemed to be pushing him, though, in a single direction. He couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of it all. "Wow," he said, trying to hide his smile.

"What?" Emily asked.

"That is actually why she broke up with me. She wanted me to…" Will said, "she want me to choose between you and her, and I couldn't. She said that meant I chose you." Will realized it was more than that. He didn't want his best friend to feel like the default. He added, "She was right. Emily, I did."

Emily stared at him for what seemed like several minutes. For the first time since he had met her, Emily's face was completely unreadable. Had he been clear enough? Was she even interested? Or was she in love with someone else now in that single-minded, sweet way that she loved?

Emily shook her head violently, seeming almost angry with him. "I…should go." And she did, leaving Will alone at the bar.

Will could barely catch his breath. He knew she intended to be alone tonight...a rare moment of quiet away from her imposed roommate, but what about tomorrow? Would Micah have wooed her by then? Would they have become an official couple? Will didn't dislike Micah, not truly, but he wondered if he could handle his jealousy with as much good humor as Emily and weathered hers.

He had tonight. He had a few short hours before everything changed. Tossing down the money for his bill, Will arose and walked swiftly to his car.

...

"Oh, you're that doctor who called earlier," said the man who worked at the pound, Dan. He let Cassandra in, despite being ready to close, and led her to the back.

Cassandra's eyes flitted around the cages in which a surprising variety of dogs looked anxiously back at her.

"They're a well-behaved bunch," said Dan. "I'll leave you to meet them. Back in a few."

Cassandra nodded and he left. She walked first to the prettiest of the dogs, but didn't feel herself connecting. Not that she would admit it, but Cassandra wanted a dog because of their bright spirits. She wanted unconditional love. She had been expecting a trip to the pound to drive away her sorrows, but the dogs behind bars were only making her feel worse.

Then she came to the last cage. Inside it sat a dingy black mutt, one ear flopped over, the other cocked at attention, his tongue hanging slyly out. He looked at her with a wink and approached the door. She held her hand for him to sniff, which he immediately licked.

"What's your name?" Cassandra said, feeling herself smile.

"He's only a year old," said Dan from the door. He came into the room. "Dog that young deserves a new start, not his prison name. You call him something special."

"Oh, no, I don't know..." Cassandra began. She hadn't thought that she would get such an unremarkable dog, drawn as she was to strong and beautiful. But then, how well had that been serving her recently? "But I guess that makes sense."

"You can't take him tonight," Dan said. "There's paperwork and I need references, but if you say you'll take him, I'll make sure nothing happens to him."

"Why?" Cassandra asked, reaching a hand in the Mutt's cage and petting his soft fur. "What would happen to him?"

"He's been here awhile," Dan said. "Going to be put down tomorrow."

"What? No!" Cassandra shouted, causing other dogs to yip. She looked into the Mutt's dark, soulful eyes, "I want him."

...

Emily stared at her water pitcher attempting to think about how she needed to think things through. She had only had the one beer, yet everything seemed hazy. She had woken up with thoughts of a future with Micah in her head, and now all she could think of was Will.

Had he really just told her that he...wanted to be with her? That couldn't be right. Yet he had said that he chose her.

It didn't matter! Emily had already said that she would go out with Micah. She couldn't just back out on him now. She would give him another shot at work-related things. Today was, as he said, a mistake. And if Will's life-changing mistake was any indication, even the best people made mistakes from time to time.

Even so, Emily's body tingled. It was conditioned, after years of being in love, to be turned on at the thought of Will, and his declaration-was is a declaration-had multiplied the effect. She sipped at her water, hoping it would cool her down.

Inexplicably, there was a knocking on her door. Micah was dealing with his sister tonight, surely he wouldn't be able to come by... Peaking through the peep hole, however, she saw Will. Emily lost control of her body for a moment, heart racing, skin tingling, mind racing. She took several deep breathes, frowned, smiled, broke into a sweat, and shivered.

She didn't know how, but she knew why he had come. And with the same inexplicable clarity she knew that it would be okay. This wasn't the kind of thing she had to think though. It had been thought through for years. There were no problems, no fear of favoritism, no effect on her career. There was nothing to justify. She opened the door.

Will's eyes met hers, his expression hungry. Emily didn't have the presence of mind to invite him in, so Will pushed his way inside. She felt his hand settle on her neck, and the warmth of it took her breath away. And then he was leaning in. There lips met. It was like fireworks were shooting off all around her. She felt every part of herself and every part of him.

Emily lifted her arm around his neck, and felt his strong hands run along her back. He shifted her legs to either side of his sculpted body and lifted her from the floor. Emily felt both completely safe and entirely in danger as she was carried into her to her bed. He set her down and there was a rush to undress. Will bared his torso, his flawless abs that Emily had peeked at so often, and she stared at them with her own heady hunger.

Then...he lowered his weight upon her and they rolled joyously across the bed, kissing, touching, gripping, and caressing. They rolled again and she was on top, looking down upon him, barely able to believe this was real. Will looked up at her, his eyes filled with emotion, and reached up a hand to brush her stray hair behind her ear.

She thought of how Micah had done the same thing earlier and felt a moment of guilt, but then Will's fingers moved to her lips, and thoughts of another man were gone. She smiled uncontrollably She loved him. She had always loved him. There had never been anyone else.