Today is Dr. Cassandra Kopelson's last day at Denver Memorial.

It's the only thing Emily has been able to think about since she woke up this morning.

The maturity of adulthood has admittedly mellowed the animosity of their relationship to some extent. Cassandra's tricks are now typically calculated solely for professional gain while Emily is more confident in deflecting pettiness and defending herself. Truth be told, the two have worked relatively well together on several cases over the years, and Emily is even willing to admit a certain amount of respect for Cassandra's skills as a doctor. Still, the fact that the two women have also been in direct competition, requiring Emily to consistently watch her back, has made an already challenging residency experience that much more stressful. The thought that after today Cassandra might finally be out of her life forever is almost too good to be true, especially since Emily had thought the same thing on the day of their high school graduation.

With all these conflicting thoughts running through her mind, the sight of Dr. Kopelson already surrounded by a crowd of people at the nurse's station this morning is nearly unbearable to Emily, especially when she spots one of the nurses wiping away tears.

"Oh, come on! They can't possibly like her THAT much!" she thinks. "Am I the only one in the whole hospital who actually knows what kind of person Cassandra Kopelson really is?"

"Dr. Barnes!"

The sharp sound of Dr. Bandari's voice immediately snaps Emily's attention back to her surroundings. The attending physician is clearly irritated, and Emily has a sudden sinking feeling it isn't the first time she has been addressed.

"Yes, Dr. Bandari?" Emily responds, trying to sound as professional as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the interns standing with them are clearly shocked by Emily's lack of attention, and waiting with bated breaths to see what happens next.

Dr. Bandari rolls her eyes in exasperation before practically throwing the entire stack of charts she is holding into Emily's hands. "If you're going to insist on confusing everybody in the hospital by changing your name, the least you could do is remember it yourself" she huffs, storming past.

As the interns begin to snicker, Emily notices Cassandra looking at her with amusement from across the hall.

"Great." thinks Emily. "As if I needed one more reason to avoid her today!"

Later that afternoon, Micah finds Emily standing lost in thought as she watches people enter and exit Dr. Kopelson's going away party across the hall.

"Hey, you!" he says with a smile, squeezing her elbow affectionately. "I have a few minutes. Do you want to go with me? I heard the cake is really good."

Emily doesn't even glance at him as she shakes her head 'no', seemingly unable to take her eyes off the door leading to the party.

"I'm just too busy right now." She says absently, delivering the line of excuse she has been mentally practicing for the past few hours. Clearly she has forgotten that she is standing trancelike in the middle of the hall, looking the exact opposite of "too busy".

This fact is not lost on Micah who stares at her in bewilderment for a moment before following her gaze to the door and sighing dramatically. "Well then, you leave me no choice. I'm going in alone."

He takes a few steps forward before looking back over his shoulder. She can tell he's laughing at her and she shoots him a scowl. As far as she's concerned, Micah has just never understood.

As luck would have it, she still manages to encounter Dr. Kopelson alone in the locker room at the end of the day. Emily turns to sneak out undetected when the guilt of not having said goodbye begins to weigh on her conscience. Cassandra is standing as if frozen, a slightly lost look on her face and one hand resting sentimentally on her locker. A wave of compassion washes over Emily as she remembers just how fragile and insecure Cassandra really is beneath her usual mask of confident meanness.

"She looks like she needs a friend right now. Come on, Emily! Be the bigger person and leave it in a good place." Emily thinks to herself.

"Hi Cassandra" says Emily gently, startling the other doctor. "I've been meaning to tell you all day that I wish you all the best in Chicago. I know change can be hard, and I want you to know I'm going to miss you being here." Emily says sincerely, sitting down on the bench near where Cassandra is standing.

Just like that, the vulnerable look is gone. Cassandra gives Emily a dubious look and rolls her eyes before finally opening her locker and beginning to stuff her belongings into a bag. "Yeah, like you haven't been dreaming of having me out of the way for years."

Emily is completely taken aback. "I never…"

"But I gotta hand it to you," Cassandra continues suddenly, turning towards her again. "I really underestimated your ambition. Who knew you were the sort of person willing to sleep your way to the top? And I can only imagine what else you've done to get Gina to take such an interest in you! Impressive. Really Impressive."

"Cassandra!..."

Cassandra slams the locker shut with an exasperated sigh and a sympathetic smile. "Look, it's fine. You can have Gina. She's starting to be old news anyway. Really, I'm happy for you. You two are getting ready to publish soon, right? At least you'll have one professional accomplishment before you give it all up to start popping out babies."

Emily finds herself speechless despite the fact that her mind is screaming at her to think of a retort. Why had she thought coming in here was a good idea?

"It's been real, Pits" Cassandra says lightly over her shoulder, closing her locker and breezing past. "I'll think about you changing diapers on snotty nosed kids while I'm publishing my own medical studies. You'll find me under 'Kopelson'. Do you need me to write it down for you? I heard you sometimes even have a problem remembering your own name…."

Cassandra suddenly stops in surprise as the door of the locker room swings open and Micah enters. "Dr. Kopelson!" he says cordially, "Didn't think I'd see you again today. Good luck in Chicago."

"Aww, that's so nice! Thank you, Dr. B!" Cassandra says a little too sweetly, shooting Emily a smug smile as she slips out the door.

While he doesn't see Cassandra's smile, Micah DOES see the look on Emily's face. He looks from Emily's face to the door swinging shut behind him and then back to Emily.

"Uh oh" he says soberly. "What'd she do this time?"

"Oh, you know." Says Emily flippantly. "Only insinuated Gina Bandari is out of date and insulted our future children."

Micah considers this as he sits down beside her. "Well, she's gone now" he says in his "glass-half-full" voice, putting an arm around her as they stare at the door.

"You know, you'd think age and maturity would help in dealing with a person like that, but it doesn't" Emily says with exasperation. "I know she lashes out when she's threatened, but it still gets me every time!"

"Well, at least you know she's wrong" states Micah matter-of-factly. "Gina Bandari is still doing ground breaking work, and has chosen YOU to basically be her personal protégé. You'll be publishing and presenting next year while Cassandra is still trying to get her feet under her in Chicago. And as for our future children," he finishes, looking into her eyes with a smile. "How could they be anything but awesome?"

"How is it you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better?" asks Emily, looking at her husband with affection.

"Speaking of," says Micah, a sudden twinkle entering his eyes. "Do you want to tell me about the name incident from this morning that I keep hearing about?"

Emily just groans as she buries her face in his shoulder. "The gossip in this place is seriously out of control!"