Disclaimer: I don't own anything retaining to ER, the powers that be do. Arianne and Shane come from my imagination so if that means I own them…then I do, but I make no monies off of them.

Author's Note: Please review! I love reading them!

Arianne had patient after patient right up until seven. To her it seems like the whole of Chicago's youth had to come to County that day. There were broken bones, two GSWs, a burn victim, and a troop of scouts who all had poison oak. Cardio had no beds for a six year old that needed treatment for a murmur. The girl was sleeping in curtain two, her mother saying the rosary in Spanish over her.  Overall, today was just one of those days that ever seemed to end.

Arianne was thankful that she could now get out of her doggie print scrubs, and go out for dinner. Going out Shane seemed like just the thing that could lift her spirits. She didn't go out much, not from the lack of wanting to, but rather the lack of time that she had to go out and meet people. Shane seemed nice enough, and if things didn't work out, he was only going to be here for a week. That was one thing that she got from her father, the knack for being able to find relationships that were free of snags, and could be just walked away from. John never told Arianne about his numerous failed relationships, but others had. Between Chuny and Abby, Arianne knew a lot about how her father was when he was younger, before he married her mother.

By seven-thirty Arianne looked presentable. She brushed out her long black hair, and braided two front sections, which she then secured at the back of her head. She was dressed on the conservative side things, a pair of black capris and a pale sage colored peasant short sleeve top and a pair of leather sandals that had flowers punched out of them. Abby came in the door just as Arianne was looking in the mirror to make sure she didn't overlook anything.

"Got a hot date, Carter?"

"Yeah, we're going to that little café down the street from here."

"So what's his name?" Abby asked, leaning against the wall

"Shane. Shane Ross."

"Ahh…I'm guessing that this is the guy that you nearly wiped out earlier today?"

Arianne laughed her easing laugh, and Abby smiled.

"You could say that. Turns out that he is going to be here for a week so I don't think that it will go anywhere, but it should be fun."

"Just like your father."

"Trust me, I won't do anything stupid. It's just dinner at the café and then I'll go home. End of story."

"If you say so."

Arianne nodded as she left the locker room and headed out the door. She got into her little sports car and headed to Starry Dream. The mugginess of the air seemed to press in and wouldn't let her go. Everything insight was wet and sticky.

"Summer in Chicago, gotta love it." Arianne said to herself

The drive to the café was short, and she got there fifteen minutes earlier than she said she would. To her amazement, Shane was sitting on a bench that was in front of the café. He was holding something in his hands, but she could see what. Parking her car under a tree, she got out and walked over to her date, her sandals loudly slapping the hot concrete.


When she got to the bench were Shane was sitting, he stood up.

"Hi, Arianne."

"Hi."

"I …I got this for you." He said with a nervous stutter.

Shane handed her a simple white box. When she opened it, she was astonished at what she saw. Inside was a tasteful halo made of wildflowers sitting in cream-colored tissue paper.

"Shane, this is so pretty. Thank you very much."

"Do you want me to put it on for you?" 

"Yes, I would. This was so nice of you to do this, you know."

"It's nothing." Shane said while placing the halo on Arianne's head, and securing it with the bobby pins that came with it. "Shall we go in?"

"Let's, it's so muggy out here."

The café was blessedly air-conditioned, and the two sat underneath a blower. The waitress took their drink order and made a bit of small talk about the weather.

"So what do you do in Seattle?" Arianne asked

"I'm a reporter for the local newspaper."

"Sounds interesting."

 "Well it's not like your job is boring. From what I saw, it seems like there is always something going on." Shane stated as he reached for two menus, handing one off to his companion "What's good here?"

"I'd say the burgers are best bet along with the chicken platter, is really good too.  Salads are pretty deceit, just don't get the tuna salad."

"Well, I'll just get what your having then."

"Ok, sounds good to me."

As if on cue, the waitress came over, asking for their order.

"We'd like two house salads, and two grilled chicken sandwiches."

"Ok, that will be up in a few minutes hun."

The waitress walked off to the kitchen to place the order and the two could hear their order being yelled in short order.

"I hate being called 'hun' by perfect strangers."

"When total strangers call me 'buddy' I just want to go, 'I've ever in my life have seen you before, so how can I be your buddy?'"

"Amen to that!"

Shane laughed at that, making is soft dimples come out, and causing his reddish brown hair to fall into his green eyes. Arianne thought that he was beautiful, and had that sweetness about him that was so hard to find these days.

"Was this sweetness what brought my parents together?" she thought to herself

"So, Arianne, I hate to tell you this, but I am a really bad conversationalist."

"Really, you being a reporter and all?"

"That's not really conversation. All you have to do is ask questions about things, and your job is done."

"So, what sort of reporting do you do?"

"Mostly local, but I do some investigative stuff too."

"Ahh…I see." Arianne said, taking a sip of her water

"So tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

The waitress who placed their order on the table interrupted their conversation.

"This is to your satisfaction?"

"Yes ma'am, it is. Thank you very much." Shane said and was met by a rather annoyed look from the waitress who started to walk off

"What was that all about?" Arianne asked

"Getting back at her for calling you 'hun'."

"Really, you didn't have to do that."

"It's fine. Besides, she was bugging me too. So where were we?"

 "You wanted to know about me."

"Well then, tell me about your job."

"I take care of the kids that come through the doors of the ER. I am also in charge of putting the med students with someone. That's the part that I hate the most. I'm sure that you have heard about Lucy Knight, correct?"

"Yeah, my mom on valentines, always will go to the church and burn a candle for her."

"Poppa always calls Lucy's mom on valentines and talks to her for a bit, well that was before her mom died. He also always goes to her gave and puts a single white rose there."

There was a brief silence between the two. Finally Arianne spoke up.

"That happened along time ago though. I mean no one talks about it anymore. In fact there are only a few who know about it."

The conversation then picked up again. Arianne hadn't had this much fun in a long while, and had a feeling that Shane felt the same way. They talked and talked until the café was going to close, and the manager kicked them out. Slowly making there way out into the night the conversation continued.

"Hey, Arianne, tonight was really great. Do you want to go and check out a movie tomorrow night?"

"I'd love too. I had a lot of fun myself. In fact, I can't remember when I had this much fun."

"Don't say stuff you don't mean."

"Really, I mean it."

Arianne leaned in and gave Shane a quick kiss on the forehead.

"What was that for?"

"Being you." Arianne whispered while she was getting in her car "Tomorrow my break is at one-thirty, so if you want to stop by…"

"Good night, Arianne."

" 'Night."

With that Arianne drove off, leaving Shane with a feeling of satisfaction and peace that he hadn't known before. He got in his car, and drove to the hotel that they all were staying at. The whole time, all he could think about was Arianne Carter.