"You're fine," she said into the phone.

On the other end, her father's voice was listing off the endless list of reasons why he was not, in fact, fine. He was going on about something, and Willa was only paying half attention.

"Nurse Brenda isn't trying to kill you," she assured him for the third time in as many minutes. "Listen, dad, I have to go. My shift starts soon."

The sound of the door opening and closing made her turn around. Connor lingered by the coffee machine. They made eye contact, but Connor didn't say a word when he noticed the phone pressed against her ear. She held up a finger to indicate that she'd only be a moment.

She turned back to her locker. "I'll speak to you a bit later, okay?" She waited for him to reply, but when he didn't, she assumed he'd just nodded and forgotten she couldn't see him. "I love you. Bye."

After hanging up, she put the phone in her locker before turning her attention to Connor. "Sorry about that," she said and approached the coffee machine.

He poured coffee into a mug and handed it to her. "How's he doing?"

Her smile fell. "Today's a bad day," she told him. About a week after she'd started her job at Chicago Med, her father's care facility in New York had called to let her know he wasn't coping as well as they'd hoped. Sensing that something was bothering her, Connor had forced Willa to tell him what was going on, and she'd laid her entire sob story out for him. He listened to every word without interrupting and had not judged her for any of it. That was the beginning of their friendship.

"What are you doing down here anyway?"

"Your coffee's better," he joked.

"Then why are you always bragging about your fancy coffee maker upstairs?"

"Point taken," he said and clinked his mug with hers.

The door opened, and Will's head of red hair appeared in the doorway. Spotting Connor, his brows furrowed. "What are you doing down here?" Halstead asked as he walked past them to his locker.

"On-call for trauma," he answered as Will shrugged off his coat and hung it up. Connor said goodbye to them and disappeared out the door to go back upstairs, where he had to check in a patient.

"You ready?" Will asked and opened the door out the ED where Maggie was barking orders at nurses and doctors, a child was crying somewhere out of view, and April argued with a patient.

"As I'll ever be," she mumbled and passed through the door.

She had not set more than one foot through the doctor's lounge door before Maggie caught both her and Will's eye. "We got incoming," she shouted. "Triple vehicle collision, it's looking pretty bad. Get ready!"

This was exactly what she had always dreamed of doing, and the adrenaline of saving lives never ceased to amaze her.


"Push one of Epi!"

"Clear!" The sound of electricity tearing through the heart to restart it was a sound Willa was all too familiar with, but even after all these years, it still made her hold her breath.

The patient's vitals came back on the screen, with the beeping sounding more steady. She placed to fingers on his neck, checking his pulse. "He's back," Willa said and caught the eye of Dr. Rhodes, who nodded.

"Alright, people," he said. "Let's get him up to the OR now." They rushed off with the gurney as Willa and Dr. Halstead stood back, catching their breaths.

"Good job," he said and took his gloves off. They threw them in the waste bin and left the treatment room together, but Will stopped in his tracks. She followed his line of sight and found Will looking at a man with a very prominent cut at his hairline, the beginning of a nasty bruise around his eye, and a police badge around his neck.

"Will?" She asked, brows furrowed. Instead, he smiled, which was not the reaction she had expected. He set off towards the man, and Willa followed, intrigued to see why he was smiling at an injured patient.

"Banged up again?" Halstead asked.

The man shrugged. "You should see the other guy."

Will chuckled and grabbed the man's face to inspect his injuries. "I bet."

She was almost sure that they could have launched into a conversation about football or some other sport if she hadn't chosen that moment to clear her throat to get their attention.

"Oh," Will said and finally acknowledged his colleague's presence. "Dr. Atticus, this knucklehead is my brother, Jay Halstead."

She reached out her hand. "Willa Atticus."

He quirked a brow but winced ever so slightly as the movement pulled at his sore eye. He took her hand and gave it a short but firm shake. "That's not confusing at all."

"That's what I said," she told him, letting go of his hand.

He looked at his brother again. "Can you fix me up?" He asked. "Sarge insisted."

Will looked at his watch. "I have patients to check on, but Dr. Atticus is excellent with a needle and thread; she'll take great care of you." He sent a wink at his brother then wandered off. Willa locked eyes with Jay, and they both chuckled.

"Guess you're stuck with me," she said and motioned for him to follow her.

She caught Maggie's eye. "Treatment room?"

"Go to two," she said with half a grin. "Detective Halstead." Willa led him to treatment two and had him sit down on the bed while she got the stitching kit ready. Monique came in to place a local anesthetic on the detective so he wouldn't feel it when she started patching him up. Willa thanked her, and the nurse left.

"I gather that this is not your first time getting stitched up?"

Jay shrugged. "Probably won't be the last either." He let her work in silence. The only sounds that filled the room were her rustling gloves as she wove the needle in and out of his skin.

"How long have you been here?" The question was meant to be casual, but it didn't quite come across that way. "I haven't seen you around before."

Willa didn't let her expression change. "And you make a point of knowing all your brother's co-workers?"

He chuckled but flinched when it pulled at the cut. "No," he said after a moment. "But I'm pretty familiar with the ED staff, lots of gunshots in Chicago."

"So I'm finding out," she agreed with a smile. "And to answer your question, I started about a month ago." He didn't reply right away but just let Willa do her job. She tied the final knot on the thread.

"There," she said, admiring her handiwork and the five stitches of blue thread. "Let me put some bandage strips on it to protect it. When was your last tetanus shot?"

He laughed, which took her by surprise. "Last year."

Her brows were drawn together. "Do I want to know what happened?" She placed the first strip on his cut and the second one before he got around to answering her question.

"I got shot," he said and shrugged. "Comes with the job."

"Was it bad?"

"No," he said as she put the last strip in place. "Flesh wound, Will took care of it."

She smiled, taking off her gloves. "You're all set. Stitches should be ready to come out in four to five days, so just stop by here, and we'll get you sorted."

He slipped off the bed and grabbed his coat. "Thanks, doc." They walked together into the main area, where Willa dropped his chart on one of the desks.

She followed him to the doors. "If that gives you any problems, call the ED, and someone will check you out."

He nodded. "Or I could just call Will."

"Right," she said. "Must be nice to have a doctor in the family."

"It's not bad," he agreed. "You got any brothers or sisters?"

"Only child."

He nodded again. "Thanks, Willa. I'll see you around." He walked out of the ED, putting his coat on as he went. Willa couldn't help but watch him go, so she jumped a little when Maggie appeared next to her.

She grinned. "Detective Halstead, huh?"

"Shut up," she warned, but she couldn't keep the smile from creeping onto her lips.

Hours later, after her shift was over, Willa was putting her stethoscope in her locker when Will came into the doctor's lounge.

"You didn't make my brother look too ugly?"

She shrugged. "I think he'll manage."

He snorted. "I'm sure he will," he replied. "Some of us are heading to Molly's for a few drinks; you should come." She thought about the alternative, which involved medical textbooks and cold pizza. She shuddered at the idea of yet another evening like that.

"Yeah, okay," she agreed. Natalie walked in with a smile on her face, and she gave Will a quick peck on the lips.

"I heard your brother came in."

He nodded. "Yeah, Willa stitched him up," he said. "And she finally agreed to go to Molly's with us."

The size of Natalie's eyes grew exponentially, and if possible, her smile widened. "That's great. You want a lift?" Willa agreed, and a few minutes later, they were on their way to Molly's.

Looking out the window of the car, she found herself wondering if one Jay Halstead might be there as she knew Chicago's police force frequented the bar.

She brushed the thought away as they pulled into a parking spot. Why she was even thinking about him was beyond her own understanding - sure, he was handsome, but they'd hardly been flirting with each other, and besides, she had no interest in dating, let alone the time.


Author's Note: I've been so nervous and excited to post this fic for a long time. I've had the first three-ish chapters written for years. I'm pretty proud of it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think. Follow me on tumblr at itscapokaybye.