To whoever is still following this story, thanks for sticking around! i've been really busy with school as of late, not to mebtion wrtiers block kicking in hard. hope this chapter was worth the wait, i promise the next one is going to be much bigger and better :)

Angie Thompson was not one to cry.

But this time, she quite simply could not hold the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes.

Although she was halfway across the country, she could feel the wave of grief and sadness wash over her as though she were there, alongside the staff of Caduceus, solemn as though in prayer.

Yet she knew she no longer deserved to be alongside, let alone be a part of, those brave people who had twice now stopped an epidemic from destroying humanity.

In spite of the tragic loss they had suffered, she simply could not go back, for she feared the pain of seeing him again would break her down to the point where no one but him, and him alone could put her back together.

For it was him who had saved the now elderly man who had passed away in his sleep, and it was none other him who had twice saved her father, a man who had since then spent the rest of his life in prison, willingly atoning for the sins he had played a part in creating.

Speaking of her father, Professor Blackwell had sent her a letter.

"The postal service isn't exactly the quickest form of messaging, but I've always found it far more personal than just using messaging apps."

It had been well over a year since they had last met, but Angie still remembered the gentle chuckle and smile which graced his face, a far cry from his usual, solemn sternness.

His message carried the aura of the latter, it was curt, but still retaining the fatherly affection of which he still did his best to present to Angie.

"To my dearest Angie,

As your father, I would never want to be the one to bring you bad news, but I feel that it is my due responsibility to tell you of a depressing development within Caduceus…"

As Angie's eye scanned the text yet again, she felt her eyes moisten yet again

Curled up in her apartment all alone, she was looking forward to having a small slice of freedom from the hell that was her profession now.

She loved the fact that she was still able to help people, but the fact of the matter was that the people she worked with could never come close to her family back there at Caduceus, not to mention her newest boyfriend had gotten into abusing her verbally, in addition to the adornment of many a bruises and slashes on her petite frame, the pale complexion having long since given way to a pink-purplish hue.

For the first time since she had left, Angie Blackwell Thompson had broken down fully, her sobs racking as she began to feel a shortness in breath from how hard she was crying.

Unlike last time however, there was no warm embrace to soothe the coldness that was attacking her, no words that would console her nor the quiet nod and supportive look that would have come from the man who had loved her so dearly.

"No", She thought to herself, wiping her tears with her forearm, staining it with the mascara she hadn't bothered to remove.

"I left it all behind... and for what?" She shook her head as somehow even more tears poured down her face as she realised the exact extent of her actions.

Tyler and Leslie hadn't talked to her in ages

Chief hadn't messaged her since she had left her position, though his last words were one of support

Now a man so crucial and essential in the establishment of both her and Derek's career had departed from this world, thankfully through no disease or illness, but rather the cold but comforting abyss of sleep that comes with old age.

All she knew was that she fell asleep crying, reminiscing about happier times

Because at the end of the day, she could only realistically go back to him in her dreams, a fictitious landscape where she could do no wrong, and all would be in her favor

She woke up to the unrelenting buzzing of her doorbell.

She squinted and looked at the large, minimalist black and white analog clock placed on the wall near the dining table and, noting that it said a quarter to 2 in the morning, got up from her couch and shuffled towards the door still wearing her scrubs but donning a pair of fluffy bunny slippers.

She had no sooner opened the door than her boyfriend, Dean McConnell, practically shove the door into her and nearly knocking her off balance, with her reflexively saving herself by catching onto the coat stand near the door.

"Hey Ang, sorry i'm late again, duty calls and all." he burst as he kissed Angie on the cheek a bit too energetically given the circumstance of the time, with her unenthusiastically greeting him back with an 'mhm'.

"So listen, I know I'm dropping a huge bomb on you by doing this, but I've accepted a new position as head of the Trinity corporation." He continued to rattle off about the benefits and about how this new position gave him a lot more political control and influence within the medical sector, but the sentence, "relocating to Angeles Bay", caught her off guard enough for her to interrupt his monologue.

"Did you say something about moving to Angeles Bay?" She asked, her voice noticeably stiffer than her earlier greeting, though it would appear Dean hadn't noticed.

"Well, yeah, something to do about me needing to be there to better facilitate Trinity's coordination and partnership with this globally acclaimed organisation, I think it was called.."

"Caduceus' USA division"

"Yeah that's it, how did you know about it"

Angie's heart had somehow fallen even further into the abyss of darkness than it already had, and her mouth and eyes had dried to the point of causing her discomfort.

The stars had aligned to cause her yet again, even more pain for the path she had chosen.