A/N: This chapter was originally planned out to be longer, but I recently found out that a coworker is leaving and my work schedule is going to be shit for a bit. Writing will be hard to do, so I thought I would give you what I've put together so far andmake this into a two-part chapter within the story. Hope you all are well and that you enjoy the story. Don't be afraid to comment.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Riyadh, 2011

Sarah didn't understand.

That wasn't true.

She understood perfectly the orders she was reading. She understood her assignment to the surgical team. That was her job after all. The entire point of her surgical residency- she actually needed to be part of a surgical team and in an operating room to become a surgeon. What she didn't understand was the name of the doctor listed as the fellow.

In big black bold letters.

Dr. Connor Rhodes.

Her brow furrowed. The last she checked he wasn't a fellow. He was some sort of concierge doctor with privileges at the hospital. And by God was privileged a good word for the man. He was not a fellow.

Sarah chewed on the inside of her cheek as she continued to stare uncertainly at the page in her hand. To say that Dr. Rhodes's first impression on the burgeoning surgeon had been a good one was a vast understatement. He had swept into the ED like some sort of avenging angel as Dr. Hassad and she had begun triage on an oil worker who had a piece of equipment fall upon him. She still didn't have the exact specifics of what happened, but there had been blood. A lot of blood.

And Dr. Rhodes.

He had begun barking orders the moment he strode into the trauma room, pulling blue gloves onto his hands. A nurse had trailed behind him like an excited schoolgirl as she recited everything that was in their patient's chart to him. Sarah had thought that Dr. Hassad would kick the other man out. The older surgeon had a low threshold for theatrics and an even lower tolerance for anyone encroaching on what he considered his territory. Instead, Hassad had rolled his eyes and had grumbled something she hadn't caught, but Rhodes had. His responding sharp smirk had made the hairs on her neck stand on edge.

Then he had caught sight of her. Rhodes's electric blue eyes quickly evaluated her and then dismissed her. It had irritated Sarah, but she swallowed that irritation. Being dismissed had become the norm for Sarah long before she had decided to take her residency in Dubai – being moved to the newly partnered hospital in Riyadh had done little to change that. What had ultimately made Sarah place the doctor into the category of asshat was when he made the assumption that she was a nurse and not a resident. Not that she had a problem with nurses, she was learning more from them than she was most of the doctors. The assumption that she could only be a nurse is what irked her.

"Dr. Reese."

The man of her nightmares had appeared. Sarah looked blanky up from her patient's chart as Dr. Rhode's rounded the counter. He was decked out in the hospital scrubs and looked far more at home than she expected as he handed his notes to the charge nurse.

"You ready for surgery this afternoon? Dr. Hassad told me that you'd be observing."

"I am," Sarah answered succinctly, not interested in engaging him in conversation.

"You observed on my last patient here. Have you been able to actually participate in any procedures yet?" Rhodes prodded, more curious about the first-year resident than he was letting on. She was an enigma to him. Obviously, American, but halfway across the world in a place that generally frowned upon outsiders, let alone female outsiders, but she was here despite that. He wanted to know why.

"I have," Sarah answered quietly again, and once again offered no more.

It made Connor frown as he tried to figure out how to keep the conversation going. He remembered his misstep with her last time, and he was fairly sure he had apologized for his mistake, but it seemed he hadn't been forgiven. He quirked a brow at her, "Are you going to answer all my questions with two-word answers?"

Sarah smiled vaguely and picked up her patient's chart, "No."

Connor could only blink as she walked away from him. It took him a minute to process her outright dismissal as he tried not to smile at her clever response, "Alright then."

"She has a boyfriend, so don't bother." A sage voice said to his right.

Connor turned to see the charge nurse leveling him with a pointed glare, "I didn't..."

Sarah was attractive. He'd be blind not to see it. And if he was one hundred percent honest, if she wanted a roll in the hay then he wouldn't say no, but that hadn't been his goal this time around.

"Then stop drooling," Zee uttered waspishly, dismissing him just a clearly as she strolled into a patient's room.

Connor was left standing there, wondering how he had become enemy number one to the hospital females already. It usually took more time than a few days.

Chicago, Present

April arched a brow as she watched the exchange before her. She had never seen Dr. Reese look so... annoyed? If she could call it annoyed. Maybe worried. Sarah had that furrow in her brow that made her look confused and stern at the same time. Her jaw was tense, drawn tight like a strained bungee cord over the back of a pickup. Dr. Charles seemed oblivious to his resident's ire, but the nurse was sure that he was more aware of what was happening than he was letting on.

Dr. Rhodes stood a little off to the side, listening intently to what the older psychiatrist was quietly saying, but his concerned side glances to Reese didn't go unnoticed. April nearly leaned over the counter so she could hear what was being said in the little huddle that was causing so much disquiet.

Maggie appeared equally curious as she came over to drop off her tablet, but unlike April, knew better than to make her interest too overt. She tugged lightly on the back of her younger cohort's scrubs, "Obvious much?"

"I just wanna make sure my girl's okay." April excused.

She liked Dr. Reese. She was quiet, unobtrusive, and always took everything the nurses told her into consideration before she proceeded with a patient. There had been too many doctors that came through the ED who outright dismissed her, but not Sarah.

April still remembered her first day. A good wind could knock Reese over with how thin and pale she had been. It didn't take long for it to be known that she was still recovering from surgery – what surgery, no one really knew, but that information alone had been enough to send both her and Maggie into mother hen mode.

The first two months both nurses had practically sat on Sarah to make sure she didn't miss a lunch break or dinner break. It became obvious rather quickly that Dr. Reese was a workaholic. She spent hours poring over the texts that Dr. Charles had given her to study. Not to mention the time she took to sit in on at least one session with each psychiatrist within her department. She was determined to learn every approach and diagnosis.

Despite all of that, April hadn't seen much beyond Sarah's professional veneer. She kept a polite distance from everyone, but that had been changing recently. Dr. Rhodes's appearance had certainly shaken her up... though April wasn't sure if it was for the better. Neither doctor was aware, but April had born witness to Sarah throwing Connor into a patient's room for a private reprimand – one that hadn't been welcome by the way Connor had been hot on Reese's heels, steam practically venting from his ears, when she had stormed away from him. She was still dying to know what exactly that fight had been about.

"I'm sure Reese is in good hands," Maggie assured, but a glint of uncertainty lingered in her dark eyes.

"What's going on over there?"

The girls jumped. Despite her earlier warning not to be too obvious about their interest, it seemed they had been staring at the trio far longer than either anticipated. Maggie rolled her eyes and huffed faintly, mildly annoyed that she had become so distracted. Will quirked a curious brow at her as he waited for an answer.

"Don't know, but if Reese's jaw clenches any harder, then she's gonna chip a tooth," April murmured with a frown.

"Disagreement over a patient's treatment, you think?" Will guessed as he too became interested in studying the group.

"Maybe." Maggie offered, but she had her suspicions that it had more to do with Reese's anxiety therapy. She was one of the few who were aware of the young doctor's struggles. Though others suspected.

The discussion seemed to finally come to an end as Dr. Charles stepped back. Maggie knew the move, he was gauging reactions, seeing if he had pushed too far, but at the same time giving the person before him the illusion of space by pulling back. An unimpressed glower befell Connor as he seemed to recognize the tactic too. Sarah... Sarah was unreadable. Stiff as a board, but objectively blank-faced. She spoke a few words, missing Rhodes's wince and Charles's weary sigh as she turned on her heel and headed for the elevator.

Maggie assumed to head back to the psych ward, but Connor seemed to think differently. He spared a few reassuring words to the older man before following after Sarah.

"Reese," Connor called firmly as she stepped into the elevator.

Sarah either didn't hear him or was ignoring him as she let the doors slide shut without responding. A glimmer of frustration clouded Connor's visage before his phone was torn from his pocket and he swiftly turned to head up the stairs.

It was only as he disappeared from sight that the trio at the counter realized they were being watched. One by one various degrees of sheepish guilt peered back at the hospital administrator. Goodwin nearly rolled her eyes as she sighed, "Don't you all have work you need to be doing?"

Will quickly slipped a patient's chart from the desk and slid away as quietly as he possibly could. Which with his tall lanky frame was nearly impossible. He was like an overgrown puppy. April was less apologetic as she eyed Dr. Charles and made an excuse about needing his opinion. Maggie was more contained as she fixed Sharon a pointed glance that had the older woman shaking her head before she left to rescue Daniel from her nosey nurse.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket again as Sarah stepped off the elevator and made her way to the rooftop terrace. The persistent buzz was indicative of the caller's impatience. Only Connor could make his presence known through a ring alone. With a hefty sigh, she declined his call and typed back a brief message.

SR: Not now.

Connor didn't give up. She was allowed one brief moment of peace before the screen of her phone lit with his sleeping face. A snapshot she had taken the morning before. It made her smile briefly before she texted.

SR: Connor, let me process. Not. Now.

Sarah shoved the phone back into her pocket before she could see if he would respond. Her focus fell upon the coffee kiosk as she bought a cup and moved the roof's edge to admire the view. Fresh air, coffee, and just a little peace. She just needed a little peace.

She was allowed five before she felt a familiar presence at her back. She bit back a scowl, "If this is your version of an I told you so, I really don't want to hear it."

"Tempting as that may be, I would much rather you talk to me," Connor said firmly as he waited for her to meet his eye.

"And I told you to give me time to process," Sarah said quietly as she turned from the railing. She held her coffee in front of her like a shield, that same impenetrable blankness walling her features.

Connor was familiar with this look. He hated this look. The last time he had seen it was his first day at Med when he had taken her by surprise. Various versions of her walls had appeared since, but not the fully constructed stronghold, "No. You want to process then you do it with me."

A flicker of annoyance sparked at him, but Sarah quickly banished it, "Connor, I am fine. You were right. The ride-a-long was a bad idea. Dr. Charles backed you. Now let me process."

"Backed me?" Connor murmured incredulously, wondering if she thought he had gone to the psychiatrist behind her back. His ire flared and he stepped into her space, smoothing a hand across her belly as her coffee cup came dangerously close to being crushed between them, "Last time I let you process anything by yourself I spent nine months by myself."

"Let me-"

He continued, ignoring her sharp outrage "Sorry if what your beautiful mind may come up with scares the utter crap out of me, but you're taking me on that ride." He softened his voice, but the line of steel hardly wavered, "You're not leaving me behind again."

Sarah huffed through her nose, glaring at him. He was being overly dramatic. She wasn't running from the situation she was in now; she just needed a few minutes to breathe, "And we're not doing this here."

Yet, Connor knew if they didn't do this now then it would only blow up into something bigger later.

"The ride-a-long was only ex-nayed because there were too many factors that were out of your control. You wouldn't be able to account for what type of call you'd be taken on and if your anxiety managed to get control then you'd be a liability to the paramedic, the patient, and yourself." He reiterated all the points that Dr. Charles had made downstairs in his quiet lecture, knowing full well that he was only pissing her off more, but he really needed Sarah to hear him, "It's not fully off the table. He gave you an alternative and he has a few ideas that could build up to doing a ride-a-long."

"His alternative is here, Connor. It's in the hospital, a place I know I am already struggling in. The purpose of the ride-a-long was to see if I'd be triggered outside these walls. Here... Here, I would be-"

"Safe." Connor broke in, "I'd be here. Dr. Charles would be here. He's not asking you to perform surgery, Sarah, but observe. You've done that a million times. And at least half of those times were with me right beside you. It's not an unfamiliar scenario for you and it doesn't run the risk of anyone getting hurt."

"No, just my career. If I have a panic attack in that OR then it's not just you and Dr. Charles and Goodwin who know how screwed up I am. My competency as a doctor will be questioned. This still needs to be run past Zanetti for approval, which means more people being apprised of something that I would rather stay private. Something that I wish this conversation was." Sarah growled back quietly, wishing he desperately that he had given her a chance to let go of the frustration she was feeling by herself. She didn't want to snap at him, didn't want to argue. She understood very clearly where both he and Dr. Charles were coming from, but she needed to know what her limits were – all of her limits. And she already knew how she reacted to an operating room... not good was an understatement, "Please. Can we do this later?"

The stubborn glint in Connor's eye had her biting back a swear, but by some miracle, his pager went off. Connor was the one who swore softly as he shut off the device. They would have to do this later now. He had the sinking feeling in his gut that Sarah was going to do what she wanted regardless of what he or Charles said. The psychiatrist had pointed out potential risks that Connor hadn't even thought of, and with her track record of field medicine... His chest clenched painfully.

"We're not done with this conversation. Do. Not. Make any decisions without talking to me first, please." Connor stressed, because if Sarah was about to go madcap then he wanted to prepare for the worse.

Sullenly, she nodded as she tried not to resent how overbearing he was being. He was worried. She knew that... still it grated her nerves.

Sarah closed her eyes briefly as he pressed his lips to her forehead, "Thank you. I know you're frustrated, but we can figure this out together, Babe."

She merely hummed, not about to entertain this conversation any longer. Her shift was already half over and she just wanted to get through the rest and go home. Connor wouldn't be off until late and he seemed to realize this as he reluctantly stepped away from her.

Sarah forced a smile in a vague attempt to reassure him, but it only made Connor tense more. He sighed quietly and made for the stairs. A sense of wrong following his steps.

A headache had built in the base of Sarah's skull by the time she was ready to leave the hospital. She slung her bag over her shoulder as she trudged out of the psych ward and into the elevator for the hundredth time that day.

A faint buzz from her pocket had her sighing wearily.

CR: Stay at mine tonight. I'll be home by 11. I love you.

Her lips twitched with a tired smile, but the lure of staying at her place was rather strong. They hadn't had a night apart from each other since they had become official and Sarah couldn't help but think that maybe a little space would do them good.

SR: Wishing you all the high notes. Love you too.

Her fingers hit send as she debated about sending a second message stating she was going to hers. The upside of Connor's place was that it was close. She thoughtlessly searched for her keys as she stepped into the lobby, grunting softly as her inattention caused her to bump into another person.

"Sorry." She murmured before glancing up into a pair of twinkling blue eyes. A startled smile spread across her lips, "Kelly."

"Hey, Sarah." Severide grinned, "Fancy seeing you here."

The noise of the ED echoed behind them almost in a jeering agreement. A quiet snort escaped her as she tried not to roll her eyes, "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

"Probably." He said with an amused smirk as he took in her dressed-down appearance, "You off?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day." Sarah murmured crossing her arms as she tilted her head curiously at him, "What are you doing here? You okay? The guys at the firehouse okay?"

Severide shook his head in a quick dismissive gesture, "Oh yeah, no. No one's hurt, swear. I just... I just wanted to check on someone we got out of a crumbling building earlier. April's stonewalling me though."

It was Sarah's turn to smirk, "Ahh, someone, huh? This someone wouldn't happen to be a pretty girl would it?"

"What?" A bashful smile stole across Kelly's lips as he shifted uncomfortably, "No. I wouldn't..." At Sarah's raised brow he backtracked, "Alright I would, but no... not this time."

There was something sincere in the firefighter's expression. A quiet desperation that Sarah understood a little too well. Against her better judgment, she bit the inside of her cheek as she prodded, "Name?"

Kelly perked up like a hopeful puppy as he quickly answered, "Andrew Wilson."

He followed her back into the ED as she slid behind the counter. No one thought twice of her presence and had long grown used to seeing Severide in and out of the hospital as a result of calls that his presence wasn't questioned either. Sarah quickly logged into the system. It didn't take her long to find who Kelly was looking for and she frowned worriedly as she read through his file.

"What?" Severide asked, his hopeful look disappearing at her sudden consternation.

Sarah sighed, "He's in surgery. He has good doctors taking care of him, but I can't tell you any more than that Kelly."

"Well... can you tell me if it's serious? I mean obviously, it's serious if he's in surgery, but like... He'll come out it okay, right?" Kelly pressed and as he was treated to Sarah's impassive expression, he quietly pleaded, "I told his best friend he'd be okay."

Sarah felt her heart break and felt like she could visibly see the weight that was pressing down on his shoulders. She quietly logged off and grabbed his arm, if she was potentially going to break HIPAA then she wasn't going to do it in her place of work, "I can't tell you what the future holds. Every surgery comes with risks. Come on, you can buy me a drink and tell me what happened?"

"Sarah..." Kelly protested faintly, even as he let her drag him out.

It wasn't until they were clear of the hospital that she told him, "I wasn't lying when I said he had good doctors taking care of him. He has the best..." He had Connor, "But he'll have a long recovery ahead of him as long as everything goes well. It must have been a horrible call to respond to."

Kelly ducked his head, swallowing against the memory, "...Yeah. You know, a drink sounds good."

Sarah nodded. She knew better than anyone. Misery loved company.