Hi!

Here is the next chapter! I've taken a Rheese approach with it, let me know what you think!

Lots of love,

Coacoa-55

After stepping out of Reese's room, Dr Charles took a deep breath. As far as signs go, it wasn't looking too good. The change in disposition, the unusual vulnerability towards him but not others… She'd be fine in the end, though, right? She had to be. He cared too much about her.

"Oh, um, Dr Charles?" Monique cautiously asked, still fiddling with her badge.

"Oh, hi, Monique, I'm so sorry, I forgot all about the ED with everything going on," he apologised, making red wine flow into the nurse's cheeks.

"No, it's okay, Maggie specifically requested that you go down there urgently," Monique said looking at her shoes nervously.

"Thanks, Mo," the psychiatrist replied, waving her goodbye.

Maggie could have paged him instead of making Monique act like a messenger. Or if it was so urgent, she could've gotten him herself. Nothing was making any sense today. Not Sarah, not Maggie.

"Ground floor- Emergency Department," announced the calm elevator voice as Dr Charles stepped into impending pandemonium. His home.

"Daniel. Where. Have. You. Been?" Maggie snapped "I told Monique to get you almost an hour ago!

"Sorry, Mags, I've been checking up on Dr Reese- "

"Is she hurt badly?" The nurse's eyes widened in anticipation.

"Physically, she's on the mend, but mentally…" he began but lost focus at the end of the sentence, not wanting to voice his thoughts. Because saying things out loud makes them true.

"Hey, I get it," Maggie said reassuringly, placing her hand on the doctor's arm," you care about her."

"Thanks, Mags. Uh, why did you call me down here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to check in on you," she responded, searching her friend's eyes for any signs of hidden emotion.

"Hey, who's the shrink here!" Dr Charles laughed jokingly, causing Maggie to glare at him.

"You don't have to be a shrink to be a concerned friend."

"I know, Mags. Thanks."

*Sarah's room*

'Hi, Dr Reese, how are you feeling?"

Connor Rhodes had stepped into Reese's room to check up on her, even though she wasn't his patient. Everyone cared about her: the kind-hearted, young resident with plenty of ambition and determination. But he cared about her more than he was letting on. He wanted to cover her in bubble-wrap and tell her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted her to know that he'd do anything to keep her safe. And that today, he felt as if he'd failed.

"I think I'm high on pain meds, but otherwise, I feel fine," she responded cheekily, smiles creeping across both of their faces. "So what do my insides look like?"

"Insides?" Connor laughed. "How very medically accurate." He sat down in a chair facing the bed to get better look at Sarah's face. "They looked… healthy."

"Good enough to eat?" she giggled in a way that was foreign to the surgeon.

"Yeah, you're very high on pain meds, Dr Reese." Evidently, someone had topped up her Ketamine since he last saw her.

"Pleeeeaase, call me Sarah, I'm not working."

"Sky high indeed, Dr Re- Sarah," Connor stood up from his chair, grinning broadly. "Sky high. I'm going to let you rest now."

"Pleeeeaase don't go, Dr Rhodes," she said, turning her face into an over-exaggerated pout.

"Don't worry, Sarah, I'll be back soon."

Grinning, he stepped out of the room. A high Sarah Reese certainly was one of those things you only saw once in a lifetime. She looked… perkier, but he was almost certain that was just the drugs doing their work.

"Hey, Connor," Jay called as he walked over to the surgeon, closely followed by Erin. "You think we can talk to the doc yet?"

"Sure, but I doubt you'll get much out of her," he answered to confused expressions, "she's sky high on painkillers."

"Well, can you tell us when we can talk to her? We want to get this investigation up and running as quickly as possible," Erin cut through, her eyes flickering between Sarah's room and Connor's gaze.

"Of course, I completely understand. Have you questioned the other peds vs auto patient yet?"

"No luck, he was an innocent bystander, didn't know anything," she answered, her steely glaze now fixated entirely on Connor.

"Dr Rhodes," a South-African accent interrupted the conversation. "Detectives Halstead, Linsday."

"Dr Bekker," her adversary noted.

"Thank you for checking up on my patient, Dr Rhodes," Ava said, joining their little group.

"Dr Bekker, did you happen to increase Dr Reese's dose of Ketamine?" Connor asked.

"Yes, I did."

"As I just mentioned to Dr Rhodes, could you please tell us before you top it up next so we get a chance to speak to her?" Erin politely questioned with Jay nodding behind her.

"Of course," Ava smiled as the detectives turned away.