'I'm transferring my residency.'

The simpleness of that phrase had caught him off guard. He had come to her unit prepared for her to tell him that she had either fallen for Morgenstern, had problems that he had been unaware of but Morgenstern had – or, he had hoped, was not really in love with Morgenstern.

Now the weight of those words, and the idea of Phoenix, crept onto him in silence.

'…like I'm finally moving on with my life.'

He caught the choking in her voice as she said those words. He knew how much the past few months had been for her. Between Chloe and the baby, losing the baby and all the other instances in between, he hadn't seen her truly emotional for a reason that wasn't related to Chloe.

'That's great…'

A million messages flickered between their eyes. She had made up her mind, and he had no idea how to respond. He wasn't going to ask her to stay – what could he offer her that could be greater than her family? She was finally moving on from all the pain he'd caused her by not treasuring what they had, and stopping her would be entirely selfish.

'God…so you're sure?'

Please don't be – he thought. But she was. He would miss her and she would miss him. There seemed like a thousand things that were left unsaid in that one moment. He looked away, unsure where to glance, but sure that if he looked at her he would betray more emotion than he was willing to let out at the moment. He remained lost for words as she leant over and hugged him – he could only pretend to be genuinely happy back.

'I'm going to miss you'.

'I know. I'm going to miss you too.'

Her voice quivered as she pulled away from the hug and looked at his face. She had no idea what this meant, or what the future would hold, but she knew that she needed to move away from everything she knew here. Finally, he lifted his gaze and met her eyes. This might be the last time I get to talk to her…

'I…I don't know what to say. God…'

He sighed. Her eyes searched on his face for a fight, something that showed her he would fight to make her stay. He looked at her silently once again, meeting her gaze, and even though he knew now was wrong – it was all not meant to happen like this – he leant forward and brushed her lips with his. Not resisting, she sat up and pressed her lips against his, doing what she had wanted to for a long time, but had been afraid to. None of that seemed to matter, now that they were certain their lives would part after this. As he responded, kissing her, trying to grab onto any memory or any feelings inside her that would remind her that staying back was the right thing, her fingers reached behind him awkwardly as they fumbled in search of a reason and an explanation.

"My, your Aunt Susan's more forgetful than you!" Susan laughed, as she scooped up Susie for their walk in the park.

"What do you say to lamb chops tonight?"

Susie clapped her hands at the grin on Susan's face, and Susan strapped her tight into her

stroller.

"It's getting late, the wind is going to pick up, I'll just go grab you a coat," giggled Susan as she walked into the baby's room. Suddenly, the world seemed to spin for a moment as Susan grabbed the dresser table for balance. Shaking her head, she vowed to sleep earlier.

If she could sleep. If Mark would stop appearing in her thoughts every time she closed her eyes, then maybe she could get some rest.

Smiling away the small shock of being unsteady on her feet, Susan decided she was coming down with something and she'd better grab some asprin whilst they were in the shops. Bending down, she tickled Susie's chin as she grabbed her keys and purse, and pushed Susie's pram out the front door into the Arizona sunset.