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Sarah woke with a start, her t-shirt drenched in sweat.

Another nightmare, she exhaled. Just a nightmare.

She gulped and took her phone from her nightstand: 4:25 a.m. She collapsed again on the bed and ran a hand through her now moist hair, her mind still on edge after the vivid dream. It had been the same one over and over again: The ER; the unsettling patient; the incident.

She stayed in that position for a while, replaying the thoughts in her head before ultimately deciding to get up and pour herself a cup of coffee. There was no use in trying to get back to sleep when she knew pretty well that it wouldn't work. Besides, she had to be early at the hospital anyways. She wanted to get as much work done as possible on her first day back.

The med student sat on one of the high chairs of her kitchen counter and blinked hard, trying to stay awake. A week ago she would've called Connor by now, but now she felt she needed to try and sort this out on her own. Try to get better gradually without having to absolutely depend on him.

This week had been stressful for everyone. A new case had taken Connor and Dr. Choi almost three days to diagnose. Natalie was just released from maternity leave and Will had been busy trying to work her hours and his while she was still resting. The numerous daily incoming patients also took over Maggie and April's free hours, so spending time by herself had been the main activity that had consumed her time.

The vibration of an incoming call made her jolt awake. She started running her thumb across the screen out of habit but furrowed her brow when she saw the caller's number. She blinked once or twice before confirming the number again.

Joey was calling her.

She placed the device on the counter as if scared that it might answer the call by itself. After less than a minute, the ringing stopped. She studied the phone considering the possibility of a misdial from his part, but instantly rejected the idea. She had changed her phone number not much later after their breakup. Joey had clearly gotten her number from someone, but who? But most importantly, why was he calling her at five in the morning?

Her mind wandered to multiple possibilities. Was if it was an emergency? What if he needed her for something? What if-?

She abruptly stopped her train of thought and shook her head. No. She wasn't going to do this. Not again. She didn't want to deal with ex-boyfriend drama right now. Mostly because of how things had ended between Joey and her. She'd rather focus on the work that awaited her at the hospital.

She got up lazily and took a shower, letting her thoughts flush away with the cascading cold water. On days like these, the icy water helped her distract herself from unwanted thoughts. Once she got out, she carefully redressed her bandages. Her stitched arm was still a little swollen, not to mention the stitches had started to cause her discomfort, but she ignored the mishap and got dressed, did her hair in a messy bun, grabbed her coat and gloves, and drove to the hospital, ready to face the challenges that expected her that day.

The usual morning frenzy that greeted her at the main entrance oddly calmed her down. She made her way through doctors and incoming patients and quickly went to the locker room to put her things away before heading to the lab. Despite Joey's call unsettling her a little, she now felt unusually cheerful, the reason behind it perhaps being that she was finally going to see Connor after days of nonstop work.

She pondered on how they were supposed to behave around each other now. After all, he was a doctor…and she was a student. If they were ever caught being affectionate by any authority or someone they didn't trust, the possibility of both getting fired was pretty much understandable. She knew she wasn't going to let her feelings for him affect her medical performance in any way, but other people might not see it the way that she did.

She scratched the back of her neck, exasperated. She was glad she didn't have to work alone that day at the lab. The doctors she was assigned to work with were, to her taste, uncharacteristically chatty, but on days like this the incessant talking came in handy as a distraction. She had a lot of things on her mind that she wished to ignore as of now: graduation… pathology… Joey.

"Reese. We need you at Lab 1. Blood tests." Said a familiar doctor as she passed by the labs.

"On it."

She shook her head and pushed away her thoughts. There was work to be done, and it wasn't going to be done by itself. She reached the elevators and pushed the button to go down, waiting a bit impatiently. Once she got inside, a hand suddenly got in between the doors, keeping them apart.

The sudden intrusion made her jump. She relaxed once she recognized Connor, but couldn't help a slight crease in her brow when she realized he wasn't alone. The blonde doctor that had given her a hard time with the school bus driver was with him. What was her name again?

"Reese. Good morning." He said nonchalantly making his way inside, followed by the doctor. He stood at Sarah's left after clicking on one of the top floors, and the blonde girl at her right, leaving her in the middle. Sarah looked slightly to the elevator's ceiling, feeling uncomfortable by her stare.

"You remember Dr. Zanetti." added Connor a few seconds later.

Sarah nodded and smiled briefly, looking at her. Zanetti nodded back at her once, but the smile was not returned.

An awkward silence set between the three until Zanetti spoke.

"So I guess I'll see you tonight?" she said dismissing Sarah's presence. "We can meet at my place and then leave from there."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Be sure to bring your key."

Sarah kept any expression away from her face, listening painfully alert to the conversation. She wasn't one to jump to conclusions without being certain about things, but the conversation she had heard made her put her defenses up. She knew there must be a perfect explanation behind it, yet she crossed her arms and hugged herself, motion that didn't go unnoticed by Connor. The doors finally opened and Zanetti started to exit but stopped with a hand to the door when she noticed Connor not moving.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I'll meet you there." He replied sternly, leaving no room for discussion. Sarah noticed Zanetti eye the both of them before leaving the elevator.

Once the doors closed, Connor turned her way and put a hand on her upper arm, unlocking her arms.

"I know how that must've sounded like. I'm going to a patient's house to check out if he had possession of drugs. Nothing else." He said, searching her eyes. "Zanetti is my partner, so she's-"

"Look, I don't want to hear it." She said interrupting him.

He looked at her slightly taken aback. "Sarah-"

"I don't want to hear about it because I trust you, Connor." She replied calmly. "I know that I tend to be insecure, and that's something I'll have to work on. But I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I know that you've been nothing but honest with me, and I owe my trust in return. There's nothing you need to explain."

Connor looked at her a few moments before kissing her softly. Her hand went instinctively to his cheek, a little surprised by his advance. The sound of the doors opening indicated Sarah had reached her floor, but Connor punched another number before the doors could actually give any outsider clear visibility of what was going on inside, the elevator slowly climbing up. Sarah broke apart from the kiss, her brow furrowed.

"What are you doing? I'm supposed to-" she started protesting, but Connor kissed her again. She slowly felt herself get lost in the kiss. She had missed him, but it was until now that she realized how much. His hands went to the back of her neck, holding her lightly in place, and hers went to hold the collar of his white coat, trying to draw him closer to her.

Both pulled apart after a few seconds later, breathing heavily.

"Do you have any idea of what you do to me?" he said, his gray eyes piercing through hers and kissing her lightly one last time. She let out a breath, dizzy, and looked down and licked her lips before looking back at him.

The sudden opening of the elevator doors made them quickly draw apart, Sarah placing a hand to his chest to practically jump away from him. They managed to compose themselves before doctors and nurses started crowding the metallic box. Connor walked briskly out of it, not before giving her one last look and a wink that Sarah prayed was unnoticed by the others present.

Once the doors closed again and she had clicked on her floor number again, she managed to regulate her breathing.

"Nice morning, isn't it?" said a familiar nurse with wavy hair trying to start a conversation.

"Very." She replied casually trying not to give herself away and looking into space, thinking about what just had happened.

The incoming of tests and files didn't appear to cease any time soon. She had been working for almost five hours straight, and a quick break seemed to be an attractive option at the moment. She left the lab and made her way to the main lounge, knowing that at this time of day it was probably empty. She looked through the cabinets and found some old packets of coffee that she set to brew before dropping on the couch, her legs dangling from the arm rest. A hand went to her temple, massaging it in circular motions and sighed.

A text got her attention making her pull her phone out, but froze once she glimpsed at the screen.

Why didn't you answer my calls? Can we talk?

She debated on whether she should type back, but her thoughts were once again interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She waited three seconds before deciding to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Sarah? It's J-"

"What do you want, Joey?" she said beating around the bush. She wasn't at all thrilled that he was calling her, so she wanted to make this call as brief as possible.

She heard a pause on his side. "I just, you know, wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard what happened at the ER."

"I'm fine."

"Ok." He replied dryly. "Look, if you ever want to talk about anything-"

"Listen, Joey. I get why you're calling, and I don't need any comfort or anything of the sort from you. It's over between us."

"Sarah, it's just… how many times do I have to apologize for what I did? Give me another chance and I promise that I will make it up to you."

"You had plenty."

"Sarah come on, we were on a break. I made a mistake. Everyone does these days."

"We were on a break for three weeks." She responded angrily.

The door to the lounge opened and Dr. Choi walked in, looking at her curiously.

"Don't ever call me again." She said finally and hung up harshly. She placed her phone on the small table in front of her and put her face on her hands, stressed.

"Everything okay?" asked Choi while he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Yes, Dr. Choi, everything's fine." She said trying to mask her tone into a more calmed one.

"You sounded pretty agitated." He said, not actually looking at her.

She tensed her jaw, not wanting to talk about it. "I said it's nothing."

Ethan looked at her finally. "Look, Reese. I may not be the best person with whom to share worries with, but you've been through a lot. Stress is only going to make it worse. Try to take things one step at a time, okay?"

She looked down. "I'm sorry, Dr. Choi. I didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay. Just… talk to someone about what's bothering you. It might help." He said with a brief smile before exiting the room and leaving Sarah alone to think about his proposal.

She got back to the lab after her quick break and continued working, only this time the incessant talking from any doctor couldn't help her keep her mind off of Joey's call. Was she supposed to tell Connor about it, or would that only cause more problems? She scratched the back of her neck and tried to focus on what was in front of her instead of worrying too much.

It had been almost eight months since she and Joey had broken up definitely and seven months since she discovered he had been cheating on her. But ever since Sarah refused to get back together, he had been doing everything in his power to get her back. Of course he would take advantage of what happened to her for his own benefit she thought to herself, angry at him.

After a few hours of more testing and classifying blood samples, she called it a day. She was exhausted, and her dismissal was granted due to her situation. She got to the locker room and got her things before arriving to the upper floor which gave view to the main entrance downstairs. She rested her arms on the rail while she looked down, enjoying the sight of people coming and going.

"Hey."

She spotted Connor walking towards her and smiled.

"Hey. How was your day?"

"Exhausting." He replied after a while.

"Everything okay?" she asked with concern. She wanted to hug him. Be near him in some way, but they were in an area that was completely visible to everyone else's eyes, so she stayed put.

"Everything's fine, darling."

She looked at him, furrowing her brow and smiling, confused. "Darling?"

He looked like a deer caught in headlights. "What? Am I not allowed to call you that?"

"No, it's just that I've never heard anyone call someone darling before. At least not in this century." She replied, laughing, making him laugh as well.

"Call me old-fashioned then. But I won't say it anymore if you don't like it."

"I do like it." She said smiling, looking again at the bottom floor. Suddenly her heart stopped as she spotted a familiar figure walk through the doors, a bouquet of flowers in hand and making a beeline to the receptionist.

Connor noticed her change of expression. "Sarah?"

The voice from downstairs echoed to the top floor. "Hey. I'm looking for Sarah Reese, medical student?"

Sarah saw as the receptionist pointed straight at her and felt her heart drop to her stomach. This simply couldn't be happening to her right now.

"Who is that?" asked Connor, a slight defensiveness in his tone.

Sarah didn't respond. She watched as Joey spotted her and started climbing up the stairs towards her until they were face to face.

"Hey, Sarah." He said, confidently. "I just wanted to get a chance to talk about some things, I hope you have the time. Oh! And these are for you." He said extending the flowers to her.

"Reese, who is this?" asked Connor again, visibly annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, doctor. Joey Thomas. I'm her boyfriend." He said extending his hand towards Connor, which he did not shook.

"Ex- boyfriend." Stated Sarah clearly and angry at his comment.

"Yeah, well. Still working on that."

"I don't know if anybody has told you, Thomas, but this hospital is no place for these kinds of displays." Said Connor through gritted teeth. "Please leave."

"It's no problem, doc. I used to work here." He then turned to Sarah. "Can we talk in private? And aren't you going to take my flowers? They're orchids, your favorite."

Connor spoke before Sarah could formulate a thought. "Reese is working her shift. I won't say it again, kid. Leave."

Joey furrowed his brow, maddened. "You seem pretty concerned about her for a normal doctor."

"I am pretty concerned about her." He replied, advancing towards him. "She's my student, and you're distracting her from her work."

"I don't see her working right now."

"Are you trying to be a smartass?"

Sarah noticed the direction the conversation was going. "Dr. Rhodes…"

"What is your problem, man? I'm just trying to talk to my girlfriend!"

"I'm not your girlfriend, Joey." Sarah intervened, irritated, before Connor could make a more threatening advance. "Please do as he says and leave."

"I have every right to be here, same as his. I'm not leaving until we talk."

"I don't want to talk to you. I told you, it's over between us." she said, getting agitated.

"Babe, come on…" he said grabbing at her injured arm covered by her sleeve, making her recoil instinctively from the pain and him looked confused.

Before she could react in any other way, Connor had already dragged him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him harshly against the wall.

"Don't you ever touch her again." He said spitting venom. Sarah had never seen him so angry before and she stepped backwards, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly security started climbing up the stairs as they spotted the altercation.

"Dr. Rhodes, is there a problem?" said one of them, his hand on his pocket at the ready.

"A minor disturbance officer. Please walk Mr. Thomas out, I'm sure he won't make the same mistake of coming here." He answered, his eyes not leaving Joey's. He then released him to the officers.

"Hey, you caused the disturbance, doc, and I have proof! Show them the message I sent you, Sarah! I just wanted to have a conversation with her."

The officers turned to the med student, but she shook her head. "Leave, Joey."

They took that as a sign to carry on and drive Joey out of the hospital and give him an infraction for disturbing the peace. Sarah didn't move from where she was. She felt every nerve on her body on edge and Connor's gaze directly on her.

"He called you?" he asked, still angry. They had moved out of the people's sight to one of the abandoned hallways of the floor they were at.

He sounded disappointed and disbelieving. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"It happened this morning. I didn't have the time to explain it. I was still processing it had happened."

Connor ignored her response. "Why did you answer? Why didn't you hang up on him? He's your ex, isn't he?" he said, the last question a little uncertain.

"Yes, he is." She said quickly "And I don't know why I did." She replied honestly.

Connor pursed his lips and looked away. He was furious, Sarah could tell by his clenched jaw and his fists balled at his sides. She felt guilty and looked at the floor tiles, somewhat ashamed.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a while still not looking at her. "Your arm. Did he hurt you?"

"I'm okay."

He then walked towards her, releasing a breath that he had been holding. "Look Sarah. I'm not angry about you not telling me. I get it. It's your private life and it's not my business to know about your past. I just…" he paused. "I worry about you, okay? And I don't want any stupid kid lurking around trying to bother you. I don't want him near you, or talking to you or sending you texts. I want you to be okay, and happy and…"

He was interrupted by Sarah holding him close to her. She didn't know what drove her to hug him, but she simply felt the need to have him close. Her mind was a mixture of things, and the only thing she wanted right now is to have him close to her. Connor breathed and calmed down, resting his chin at the top of her head, still serious, but wrapping his arms around her anyways.

They stayed like that for a few moments, Sarah feeling Connor calm his breathing with every passing second.

"Promise me you won't talk to him again. He'll just hurt you."

Sarah nodded into his chest.

"I promise."

Can I get a review? :D