6

Broken Dreams

The flight had served as a mixture of huge relief and long suffering for Robin Charles as the aircraft finally touched down at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport. The last couple of months had been a strange mix of heaven and hell; something that was too raw for her to really process and contemplate about any time soon.

When she arrived back to Chicago, Illinois, she had been confident, self-assured and on top of her game. She was considered to be one of the best epidemiologists at the University of Minnesota Medical Centre and when she'd gotten the opportunity to fill a position at Gaffney Medical Centre in Chicago, she'd accepted the offer and headed back to the city where she'd grown up.

She'd been a bit nervous at first, considering the fact that she hadn't spoken to her father in several years due to a falling out several years earlier. The position in Chicago had offered her a chance to reconcile but it had also offered her something else – something she hadn't been looking for so soon after her breakup with her boyfriend – true love. It had started as a flirt at first, mainly because she liked what she was seeing. Connor was ready to argue for his cause and he appeared to have his feet solidly placed on the ground. She had no idea who he was at first but she saw the troubled look on her father's face every time he saw them together. Robin wondered why as she had never cared for rumors and status the way some of the nurses and colleagues around her did.

She smiled sadly as she remembered Doris, the ED nurse, gently grabbing her arm and steering her into the more private doctors' lounge. "Is it true?" she had asked curiously. "Have you actually managed to grab the nicest catch around here right under our noses?"

Robin had frowned at that and shaken her head, not sure what she was on about. "I think you have to give me a little bit more than that," she had replied.

"Doctor Rhodes – you know – tall, dark and handsome. Perhaps a little mysterious, son of a millionaire, who just happens to be the golden boy up on CT right now?"

Robin smiled teasingly. "Oh, you mean Connor?" she asked nonchalantly, knowing Doris was one of the worst gossipers around the place. "Who knows," she hinted and opened the door to walk out, leaving the nurse flabbergasted inside.

Robin felt a knot form in her stomach as she thought back at that moment – as she thought back at what Connor and she had; what could have been. She figured he must be furious right about now, she could easily picture his face before her displaying a mix of hurt, anger and despair. Her heart nearly broke at that but she couldn't stay – she was suffocating in the apartment. She loathed the looks she received back at the hospital. They looked at her differently after everything that had happened. She could see it in their eyes; they pitied her, probably wondering if she was sane enough to work. Robin was a proud woman and like she had told her father; she didn't want to be seen as a walking disease. She wanted to be seen the way she was – like a vibrant young woman who wanted nothing else than to help others through her profession.

She walked out of the aircraft and out on the tarmac as if in a daze, her emotions raw and her body numb. She pressed on and went to retrieve her bags and moved around just in time to see her mother's troubled face as she walked up to her.

Robin swallowed as Caroline reached out for her and gently wrapped her arms around her.

"My baby," she whispered as a tear trickled down her cheek. "My baby. Welcome home."

"Mom, please don't make a fuss," Robin said. "I am a grown woman."

Caroline let go of her daughter and held her at an arm's length, studying her. "No one's died from a little love, darling," she chided seriously.

"Don't look at me like that, mom please. I felt suffocated in Chicago. Dad and Connor looked at me like that – like I was made of glass – like I was going to break at any second."

Caroline's eyes darkened. "Well, okay. If it makes you feel any better," she said and then shook her head. "I am still mad at you for not letting me know you had a tumor. God, woman, if you had died on that operating table I would personally have found some way to revive you and kill you myself."

Robin chuckled, unable to help herself.

"That's better," Caroline encouraged. "That's the Robin I know. Let me take the luggage. We'll be home in no time. I have fluffed up the pillows in the guest room and lit the fire."

"Thanks mom, I really appreciate it," she said sincerely.

"Just promise me one thing honey? Leave whatever problems that has accompanied you here outside the door."

Robin hesitated and then nodded as she thought back upon what she'd left behind – who she'd left behind – then she remembered the doubts in his eyes and the way he had started to look at her recently. She felt like she had been reduced to one of his patients and she didn't want that. She wanted the whole package; every side of Connor Rhodes.

OOOOOO

Locked into a troubled sleep, Connor was right back into his apartment, a few weeks earlier, reliving bits and pieces of a conversation he would never forget. Unfortunately, his hazy brain could no longer sort out the memories correctly and various fractions mixed and blended together in a jumbled mess.

"Wanting to save someone-," Robin Charles began as she looked at him sadly, "-Needing to save someone. It's not the same thing as love."

"You're my knight in shining armor," Robin whispered.

Then his apartment and Robin faded; returning to the back of his mind where the memory would remain locked away forever. The image of Robin, twisting and turning on the gurney while being wheeled into the ER, popped up out of nowhere. The appearance of a very angry, hurt and surprisingly emotional Doctor Charles startled him.

"You did this!" Daniel called accusingly. "It's all on you!"

Before he could even begin to understand what the psychologist meant, his CT fellow, the blonde petite South African woman, Ava Bekker, was looking at him – or smirking might have been a better word.

"You're quite a gossip magnet," Ava said with a teasing smile. "Apparently your mother committed suicide, your girlfriend went nuts and you killed your consultant."

Then, as a direct contrast to the slightly playful woman, his father - stern and disapproving – suddenly stood opposite him in the old study room back at the Rhodes' mansion.

"Get a grip, you're a Rhodes," Cornelius chastised to the younger version of him. "You need to grow up and get rid of those self-liberating thoughts. You are going to take over the family business."

"No, dad." He'd never felt this angry or humiliated before. "No, I am done dancing after your pipe. You can't force me anymore; I am out of here," he shouted over his shoulder as he stormed out of the room.

Cornelius gently stirred his drink with a neutral face as he watched his son get close to the main door. He fixed him with a glare, his voice cold when he finally spoke up. "So, you're leaving? I am disappointed in you. I was obviously expecting more. I thought you had the balls to-,"

"Shut up," Connor shouted angrily. It took all his willpower not to be overcome by the stormy emotions inside of him. "I don't need you nor your money to get somewhere in life. I am my own."

"What about your sister?" Cornelius deadpanned. "Doesn't she mean anything to you?"

That stopped Connor dead in his tracks, his hand hovering inches from the doorhandle. He turned around to face Rhodes' senior. "You're done pushing me around. Tomorrow morning, I'll step onto a flight to Mexico. Who knows where I might end up after that?"

Cornelius snorted. "That's ridiculous. What are you supposed to do there?"

"Nothing that concerns you," he fired back.

As he walked out the door, leaving his father behind, he got caught up in another memory and saw himself sitting at his mother's bedside when he was a kid. She had her arms wrapped around him and she smelled of roses and lilacs. He had always loved the scent of her, the soft raven black hair and her expressive green eyes which had always seemed to twinkle at him. Elizabeth gently placed her hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eyes.

"I love you, Connor," she said, her voice lilting. Whatever happens, I'll always love you with all my heart. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

The little boy, no more than seven years old nodded.

"Connor-," she said, calling on his attention. "-in Scotland, it means the wise one. And that's what you are – my wise little boy. Then, when you grow up you can do wonders, all you have to do is to believe in yourself."

His eyes were moist as he finally blinked heavy lids open, the ache for his mother's warm embrace worse than ever before. It took a moment for him to orient himself and realize he was not in his apartment. With a slight grimace he tried to get comfortable in the hospital bed he was obviously residing in at the moment. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to bring order to chaos, trying to sort his memories, trying to get a grip of what had happened and how he'd ended up where he was.

"Connor?"

The familiar voice startled him momentarily and he craned his neck to see Ethan Choi slowly detangling himself from the shadows at the far corner of the room. He cringed as he realized his colleague had been with him while he'd been unconscious. Connor had never been particularly fond of letting anyone see him vulnerable.

"Hey man," Ethan said softly as he came to stand next to him, looming over him, casting a surreptitious glance at the monitors. "How are you doing?"

The question seemed to trigger his nervous system into doing a self-inventory. He refrained from grimacing as he realized that aches were more or less pronounced almost everywhere – some dull, some sharp. He nearly cried out as he shifted into a much less favorable position but managed to clamp down his response. However, Ethan was a good doctor and could easily see the signs.

"I'll adjust your pain medications if you tell me where it hurts," Choi reasoned kindly.

"It's all right," Connor replied feebly.

The Korean, a former navy veteran, crossed his arms over his chest as he raised a skeptical eyebrow at the surgeon. "I am sure it is but you don't need to suffer any more than necessary."

Rhodes sighed wearily, having had time to catalogue his aches and pains during the conversation, and also come to some troubling conclusions. "Spleen injury? Broken ribs?" he guessed, searching Ethan's face.

The other doctor looked grim as he moved over to the chart and started to read. "Yes and no. Blunt force trauma resulting in rib fractures, a bruised kidney and an untreated spleen laceration that led to a hematoma."

Connor took a deep breath.

Ethan looked up from the chart for a moment and pursed his lips, obviously not liking what he was reading. "You also have a mild concussion, most likely from the-," he paused and studied his friend and colleague for a moment. "What is the last thing you remember?"

The surgeon seemed annoyed at the question, practically ignoring it at first. "From the airbag?" he deduced sarcastically, finishing off the sentence. "I was in a car accident. I helped out at the site and I did walk into the ED attending a patient – in case you had forgotten" he added indignantly.

Choi nodded as he put down the chart and walked up to stand next to Connor again. "If you hadn't been such a stubborn fool and accepted some help, taking care of yourself instead of others, then perhaps we could have avoided some of the drama in the ED," he said seriously.

Rhodes shook his head. "In hindsight maybe but we both know none of us would have left a patient that needed our help unattended," he pointed out.

The look on Ethan's face told him he was right.

"Besides, our nanny did say I could be a little drama queen at times," he replied lightly with a faint smirk.

Choi chuckled and shook his head. His friend was in pain and his energy was starting to drain as his eyelids began to drop. He had kept the patient from his much-needed rest for too long. He should have known better but Connor was not just a patient, he was a colleague and more importantly; he was a friend.

"It's good to have you back with us. Get some rest while you can. There's a whole bunch of people waiting to see you," he said.

Connor barely registered the last few words but he heard enough to know company was coming. If he hadn't been so tired, he'd objected.

OOOOOO

"Hey," Will greeted his brother.

Jay said nothing, hands in his pockets, as he nodded towards the doctors' lounge.

Will followed him into the empty room. "Any news?" he asked, referring to the accident.

Jay sighed as he scratched his forehead. "It's still pretty early but our patrols have finished taking witness accounts. It paints a grim picture," he said.

Will shook his head, eager for his brother to continue. "Well, don't keep me in suspense," he encouraged as Maggie walked into the room with Natalie and April in tow.

Jay hesitated for a moment.

"We want to know too," the charge nurse said, her tone demanding yet soft.

"It's an ongoing investigation," the detective reminded them seriously.

"And we're all involved, one way or another," April replied.

"Wedged beneath the trailer of the truck was an expensive sportscar," Jay began. "From what it looks like, the driver was pushing the car aggressively through some heavy traffic. He ran a red light, jarring the family wagon, pushing it into the path of a speeding car from the opposite direction, before he crashed into the truck. The family wagon tried to escape the oncoming car by veering into the car in the other file – Doctor Rhodes' BMW – but the SUV is quite sturdy and not easily moved so the speeding car slammed into the family wagon with full force and by doing so it pushed both cars against the trailer and the jammed sportscar beneath it."

Natalie grimaced as she envisioned the course of event unfolding.

Will's eyes darkened as he handed over a pad to his brother. "Then maybe you'd like to know the test results of your man in the speeding car?" he suggested. "It just came through."

Jay gave a low whistle. "The guy is full of narcotics," he stated. "Stoned."

"Unfortunately, we might never get to know why though," Will replied. "He was wheeled to the morgue an hour ago. However, we're doing our best to reach out to any relatives he might have."

Jay ran a hand through his hair. "Anything about the driver of the sportscar?" he asked hopefully.

"Our best coroner is performing an autopsy as we speak," Maggie replied, not knowing Doctor Shore had already finished it.

"How's the family?" Jay asked carefully.

"No fatalities yet but it was touch and go for their mother," Natalie informed sadly. "Those boys have been through so much; I'd hate to see them losing a parent."

Only one question remained - the question everyone wanted the answer to but didn't want to ask.

"How's Doctor Rhodes?" Jay finally asked.

"Awake and expected to make a full recovery," Ethan said with a smile as he walked through the door.

An audible collective sigh of relief went through the room.

"I figured you wanted to see him?" Ethan added.

Will slapped him on the shoulder. "Sure man," he said.

As the group began to disperse, heading in various directions to continue their work, Will gently clasped Jay's shoulder and gave his brother a nod. "I'll talk to you later."

"Actually, I need to talk to Rhodes," Jay reminded him.

"He just woke up, give him a moment, okay?" Will reasoned.

OOOOOO

To be continued