A CHANGE OF HEART
Summary: Cornelius Rhodes likes control. But when it comes to his son and his new girlfriend, nothing he does can break the young couple. And when things start getting serious he has to choose whether to keep messing with their lives or to finally accept his son's choice.
A/N: My first Rheese story. I 've only recently started to watch Chicago Med and I have to say I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do. Having said that, I just die for all the Connor/Sarah scenes, and this little story wouldn't leave me alone for the past few days. So here I am, adding to all the other great Rheese stories in this site.
I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think.
P.S.: Sorry in advance for any mistake, English is not my native language.
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Chapter 1: Disregarding feelings
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Cornelius Rhodes was having a bad day.
No, Cornelius Rhodes was having a horrible day.
First, his assistant had forgotten to remind him of a very important meeting. Fortunately, he had been able to reschedule it for two hours later without much inconvenience. Needless to say, he had fired the woman right then and there.
Then, there had been quite the traffic jam on his way back from said meeting, resulting in him having to wait in his town car for almost an hour before he was able to return to his office.
And now, he was at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center for a Board meeting.
Ever since he had discovered his son had returned to Chicago and accepted a job at the hospital, Cornelius had tried to reach him with no success whatsoever. But instead of finding a way to better communicate with his son, he had simply donated a lot of money to open a new Psych Ward and even he could admit that having it named after his late wife had been a move to get a rise out of Connor.
Of course, the surgeon had reacted just as his father had predicted, lashing out right after the press conference he had been made to attend.
But in the end, it had been Cornelius who had ended un receiving the shock of his life.
Because mere minutes after his son had stormed off the hospital, Cornelius saw him about to reach his car.
And he wasn't alone.
He was walking hand in hand with a curly haired young woman.
He was so shocked he could only see him open the passenger door and kiss the woman before she entered the vehicle. Just as he was about to get in, Connor saw his father, sending him a cold look before getting in too and leaving the parking lot.
Once he recovered from the surprise, Cornelius decided to butt into his son's life once more, striking a deal with the hospital Board and becoming a member himself. It was, to his opinion, the easiest way of finding out more about the mysterious woman he had seen kissing his only son and to make sure he had the right girl by his side.
And if she wasn't… well, he knew exactly how to deal with that situation.
In the end, however, he hadn't needed to use his new influence to identify the girl. One morning, he was walking towards the ED in search of Sharon Goodwin when he saw the young woman practically running past him, accompanying a man in a gurney and shouting instructions to the nurses next to her.
'So she is a doctor, too. This shall be too easy.' He thought, watching her enter one of the treatment rooms and begin working on her new patient.
"That doctor looks awfully young, miss Goodwin." - He commented nonchalantly.
"She is, mister Rhodes. She's a fourth year Med student on her ED rotation."
"And there is no real doctor in there supervising her work?"
"Doctor Reese has shown herself quite capable of dealing with any case here in the ED. She has had quite the development under your son and Dr. Choi's tutelage." – Sharon commented, always proud of her staff.
"I see. Good day, miss Goodwin." - He said, looking at his son's girlfriend one more time before leaving the place, already messaging his assistant to find any information about the young doctor.
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Months later, Cornelius felt like killing someone.
He had gathered all the information available on Doctor Sarah Reese and once had had reviewed it, Cornelius had not been happy in the least.
She was the only child of a middle class single mother. Hardly someone deserving of his son, although he had to admit he had been impressed when finding she was top of her class and despite her socio-economic background, she had no student loans to pay, having worked since a young age to save for college. Still, Cornelius had not been pleased with his son's choice and had tried to talk to him about it after catching them on more that one occasion leaving the hospital together.
Connor proved to be just as difficult, if not more, in this matter as in any other related to his father.
Once he had discovered his father had been digging up Sarah's past, he had warned him to stay away from them both. Cornelius of course, had tried to reason with him, but the young surgeon had simply left his office and had avoided his father ever since.
The man, however, had not stayed idle.
As a member of the Board, he had brought his complaint forward and very soon, both doctors were being examined for their relationship. But not even then had Cornelius been able to do something to keep them apart.
It was true that certain relationships were not acceptable at Gaffney, such as a doctor with a patient, but in the case of Connor and Sarah, there wasn't much the Board could do. It was true that he was a fellow and she a med student, thus making the relationship frowned upon, but there were no actual rules against such relationships so long as it didn't interfere with their work and the senior doctor wasn't involved in the student's evaluations. Unfortunately for him, both had always been respectful of their workplace and had behaved in a professional manner within the hospital. Besides, by the time Cornelius had made the complaint, Sarah was just finishing Med School and had already been offered to do her residency at Med.
But even when there was not much else to do, Cornelius didn't give up.
He found out his daughter Claire had been introduced to Sarah and took advantage of that information, making her believe he was somewhat accepting of the relationship and was interested in learning more about his son's girlfriend. That's how, little by little, his daughter started sharing little tidbits of the life his son and his resident were starting to build together. He learned they would spend almost all their free time together, be it at the hospital or all around the city. That he had taken her to visit his mother's grave and that they would go there quite frequently now, when there use to be a time when Connor had avoided visiting her except on the anniversary of her death. It wasn't until Claire mentioned Connor was thinking of asking her to move in with him and then had confessed to his sister he was planning to propose to his girlfriend that Cornelius decided to do something more radical.
Instead of talking to his son, he decided to reason with the girl.
He went to the hospital after making sure his son wouldn't be there that day and asked to speak to her. Once she met him, he could see the confusion painted on her face. They had never been formally introduced, but he was certain she knew who he was.
"Ah, Miss Reese, good morning." - He greeted the woman once she was within earshot.
"Good morning, Mister Rhodes." - He was actually glad she knew who he was. It would simplify things tremendously. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Actually, there is, Miss Reese."
"Doctor Reese."
"Excuse me?" 'Was she correcting him?' He thought.
"It's Doctor Reese, Mister Rhodes."
"Very well then, Doctor Reese. I'm quite a busy man so I will make this quick." – he took his checkbook out of his coat and looked her straight in the eye. "How much do you want to leave my son alone?"
"Excuse me?" - She asked incredulously.
"Please, Doctor Reese. There's no need to play coy with me. I'm sure we can reach a compromise. Just tell me a number and I'll make sure you can relocate in another city. Of course, you would have to make a convincing break up, otherwise…"
"Mister Rhodes, with all due respect, but you are insulting me."
"No, you are the one insulting me and my family. Did you really think I will accept your relationship with my son? He deserves more than the daughter of a middle class, single mother."
"Are you even listening to yourself?" - Sarah was so stunned she didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. "I think you should leave. Right now." She made to turn around, but the man grabbed her arm with force, making her wince.
"Listen to me, Sarah Reese. Trust me when I tell you that nobody says no to me. So it would be in your best interest to name your price and do as I tell you." - he warned her.
"Or what?" - Sarah freed herself and faced the man, hiding how uncomfortable and afraid she felt.
"Or it would be a shame if, I don't know, your mother were to lose her job. Or if you were to lose yours. So I recommend you think my proposal very carefully. And let me know your decision as soon as possible."
"You don't scare me, Mister Rhodes. So go ahead, do your worst." - She told him with a smile, even though she was shaking on the inside. She was afraid for her mother and for her career as a doctor. But if she was sure of anything in her life, it was that Connor Rhodes loved her and she, in kind, loved him to the point of risking everything for him.
"Very well, Doctor Reese." - He made to leave, but then returned. – "I trust this conversation will remain just between you and me, young lady. Good day."
As soon as he left, Sarah couldn't control her shaking body any longer, falling into the closest chair and breathing deeply to calm herself. Once she regained control of herself, she stood up and started walking back to the ED, knowing that even if she wanted to, she would do as the man had said and wouldn't tell anything to Connor. Their father-son relationship was too explosive already, she didn't need to add more fuel and make Connor lash out at his father. In the end, the only one affected would be Connor, and she would be damned if she let anyone, least of all Cornelius Rhodes, hurt her boyfriend.
But what neither Sarah nor Cornelius knew, was that in just a few months, the man would revise his opinion of her and he would feel so terribly ashamed for his previous actions that he would fight for an opportunity to make it up to the young couple.
And to their child.