He walked into the hospital the same way he had for almost 13 years now. It was almost ironical the way nothing had changed and everything had changed. You don't realise the big changes until you live through them or leave for a period of time. For everyone here, this was the normal building that they had gotten used to. For him it was changed, different, better. He walked through security, pushing in his new code that Kerry had provided for him. The security was defintely better and it was partially because of him. He remembered the insurrection. That was quite a day. He quickly walked into the lounge, which wasn't the lounge anymore, it was a bed area. Okay first day back, and he's lost. He walked towards the desk, and saw Jerry sitting behind it playing a game, so some things don't change.

"Jerry, where's the lounge?"

He got the shake of Jerry's hand, pointing in the complete opposite direction. He headed towards it. So its his first day back and its like he never left. He saw the sign on the door that said "Authorized Personal Only" so he assumed it was the doctor's lounge and headed in. He saw Susan's blonde hair and headed over to her. She was working on some charts, probably hoping to get out of there.

"Hey."

He noticed she was a bit thrown back by his appearance, but suddenly a smile formed and she headed over to him to give him a hug.

"Welcome back. Again."

He laughed a little. It's great to be back. Home as they call it. He'll never actually be home. Home is a word you attach to something with meaning. This had no meaning for him. This was Chicago, or his residency, or whatever. Not home. He didn't know where home actually was.

"Thanks."

She sat back down at her desk, and he headed over to his locker which suprizingly hadn't been taken away. He opened it, and threw his stuff in. He took out his lab coat, which was a bit dusty from the lack of wear, hell everything in his locker gathered dust.

"So who's on tonight?"

She started to laugh a little and he could tell she was tired.

"This morning was crazy. Now it's pretty much settled. Kovac is on call. Pratt and Gallant are due any minute, and Abby's been on since 12 so let her grab a break sometime."

He hoped he wouldn't have the awkwardness or the silence that they had before.

"Okay. Can do. And you?"

She shook her head, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Hell I've been on for 36 hours straight. My back hurts, my eyes are refusing to open, and I have had loosing battles with morning sickness for weeks."

He walks closer to her.

"Morning sickness?"

She nods her head.

"Yeah, that thing you get during pregnancy."

She's a bit bitter, it's probably the combination of horomones and work.

"Congratulations."

She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah.. Please.."

She grabs her coat off the back of the chair and starts to head towards the door.

"Good luck, good night, and listen to Abby. She's the only one who knows what the hell is going on."

Right. That's another akward moment. He's just planning to stay out of her way, otherwise they will probably end up not agreeing with each other and a fight can start. And that's the last thing he needs. He's in charge tonight. He need her to cooperate with him in every way possible, especially during trauma.

He walks out the door, Susan's charts in hand. He needs to check up on her patients and try to get some admits. He begins to read the charts and feels the force of someone in front of him. He goes stubbling back. He looks up to see Abby, suited in scrubs and her lab coat, pile of charts in one hand, a container of coffee in the other. Her eyes shoot him a death glance and he decides to step back for his ultimate safety. This wasn't how he had expected the first encounter to be like.