A/N: First off, thank you to the two of you who reviewed on the first chapter, hrhdana and to lazy to log in(whoever you are)... Here's the second one as promised. Hope you guys like it too... Please review your thoughts and ideas... the storyline is still very much open to changes and I would love to hear from you and incorporate your ideas if I could.

:)

Chapter 02

Doctor Fitzwilliam Henry Darcy was sick of it... he was so freakin sick of it that if he could, he would just slit his wrists with his own scalpel if it got him out of attending another boring and pointless administrative meeting at the Angel of Mercy Hospital when there were patients waiting for his time and attention. But Catherine De Bourgh, the CFO of the hospital and his Aunt... or so she called herself, wouldn't hear of his missing even a single meeting when she was around.

Will almost groaned out loud with his head in his hands as her incredibly loud voice once again grated on his nerves... nerves that were already shot because he had run from one surgery to another for pretty much the whole day, going without any rest for more than thirty hours now. Will knew that it worked only and only because he was still young... having not crossed the dreaded 30 yet, but he couldn't afford to take so many patients and hope to succeed in every operation he handled once he grew even a bit older. Sooner or later, he would either lose control over himself or his confidence and make a mistake. And the way things seemed to be heading, it would be sooner, rather than later.

Ever since she had taken over the position of CFO at his father's death, Ms. De Bourgh had not only led the hospital with an iron fist, but also a will of steel and a no tolerance policy. It might have been beneficial for the hospital and it's staff, had she not had such antiquated views and anachronistic ideas. Even though Will Darcy was the leading Neurosurgeon and the CEO of the hospital, he could not over rule his Aunt's decisions as the position had come to her by way of his late father's wish.

Ms. De Bourgh always called herself Anne Darcy's sister, while Will knew that the truth was that she was actually his mother's cousin and they hadn't even been that close when his mom had been alive, After Anne Darcy's death during a difficult childbirth bearing the Darcy's second child when Will had been just 9 years old, George Darcy had felt that his children needed a woman's influence in their lives. He had categorically refused to even consider marrying again, as he had been head over heels in love with his late wife. His preoccupation with his work, as a leading Cardiologist of his time, had left him little time to spend with his children and under pressure, he had come to a decision that he might not have arrived at in normal circumstances.

He had invited the widowed cousin of Anne, Catherine De Bourgh and her daughter Anne, who had been named after his late wife, to come and live with them. While Catherine had been overjoyed to get her hands on the Darcy home and fortune, she had regretfully declined the offer to come to Pemberley, siting the poor health of her own child. While Anne De Bourgh had never had a very sturdy constitution, she was not a sick child. Catherine had offered instead to take both children with her to Rosings, her home estate, far from Pemberley and Boston, an offer Will was sad to know his father had accepted with alacrity. While George Darcy wasn't what you would call an absent parent, he had somehow given more importance in those later years of his life, to his work and the biggest mistake of his life... his secretary's son George Wickham.

And so William and his baby sister Georgiana had spent eight long and hard years at Rosings, where while their every whim was catered to, their freedom of speech, thought and movement were curbed quite strictly. Ms. De Bourgh was a woman of antiquated ideals, who believed in the superiority of the upper class, giving more importance to money and society than the basic humane qualities that a person required. William knew even as a child that her views were unsuitable to him and had quietly but stubbornly pursued his own path, unable to rebel outright, but unwilling to give up on the ideals his mother had taught him when he was younger. Had it not been for their other cousins, Frederick and Richard Fitzwilliam, who were the children of Anne and Catherine's brother Andrew Fitzwilliam, spending their holidays with the Darcy and De Bourgh children, Will knew that his childhood might have ended up being very, very different.

While Fred had given him the necessary support and confidence as an older brother, Rich had been the one who truly understood and complimented the often-too-serious-for-his-own-good Will's personality. Will and Rich had spent so much time together, even though Rich was almost three years younger, that they had become more brothers than cousins over the years of having to suffer Rosings. Their close relationship had survived high school, Pre-Med and Med School on Will's part and Pre-Law and Law School on Rich's side... and was strong as ever now that they were both free from the oppression of Rosings but still stuck under the thumb of Ms. De Bourgh. While Will had followed his dream of becoming a Doctor and climbed the ladder of Angel of Mercy General like any other intern, Rich had opened a law firm with a couple of his buddies after Law School and under pressure from his father and aunt, agreed to act as Legal Counsel for the hospital.

It was his jovial but calm presence that enabled Will to weather most of the admin meetings that their aunt pushed them into attending regularly, but this particular day, Rich had seen fit to ditch his cousin to face the two hour self glorifying monologue from their aunt alone. And as a result, he was fast losing whatever bit of patience he had retained from dealing with less than ideal operating conditions, unimpressive staff and completely untrained interns. So involved in wallowing in his own misery was he, that Will had completely stopped listening to whatever was happening in the room and when the phone beside his aunt rang stridently, interrupting her equally loud voice, he was the only one in the room who wasn't all that relieved.

Frowning down at the instrument as if it had done something incredibly offensive, the older woman picked up the receiver to bark a hello into it

"What is it?"

The reply from the other side could not be heard but it was clear from her face that Ms. De Bourgh did not appreciate being interrupted and was about to give the caller a piece of her mind...a big piece. But something the caller had said made her desist and with a sniff, she replaced the phone back into its position and turned to face the table... and Will

"Fitzwilliam... you are being summoned in the ICU... it was your... friend"

She said the last word as if it was an infectious disease... and a recently attentive Will made the mental connection. His best friend besides Rich was his room mate from College and Med School, Charles Bingley. While the Bingley's were rich people, his family owning a Pharmaceutical company, according to Ms. De Bourgh, they were the noveau riche and so beneath her notice. She was often noted bragging about how both the Darcy's and Fitzwilliam's had come to the US on the Mayflower, something no one had ever seen or heard the proof of... not that anybody even bothered to listen to one of her long speeches on family lines and her relation to the Royal family of England.

With a poorly suppressed sigh of relief, William all but bolted out of the board room, his aunt's admonitions of how he lacked the manners a man in his position needed, how he could not sigh or run when in company, ringing in his ears as he hurried around the bend to the corridor that would lead him to the ICU.

Inside the ICU, Will was surprised to find that his friend wasn't there, in fact he hadn't even been around the ICU since that morning. Charles Bingley could be forgiven for not making the rounds of the ICU because he was an anesthesiologist, one of the best in the business in fact. He and Will had become fast friends from the day Will had saved Charlie from being unmercifully ragged in Med School. Finding that they were each other's room mates had just been the icing on an already sweet cake. While Will gave Charlie the necessary self confidence and support that he needed, Charlie did for Will what only Rich could do otherwise... lighten him up and help him enjoy life at his own pace, while making sure that Will did not stand in a corner and glower at the others at any social event that Charlie could drag him to... which were many in number.

Walking back to Charlie's office at a leisurely pace now that he had found that no emergency awaited him in the ICU, he could only think of thanking his friend for getting him out of the meeting... no matter that he had lied about the reason for his exit. While Will was ordinarily strictly against lying or subterfuge of any sort, at this moment, he could find no wrong in Charlie's actions as they had gotten him out of the meeting before he had bashed his own head in with the overly ornate silver flower vase that stood impossibly huge in the middle of the board room, serving no purpose other than blocking the people sitting around it from one another. While meetings in that room were always uncomfortable, no one had found the guts to tell Ms. De Bourgh that and the ones who could, Will and Rich to be precise, were too used to their Aunt's ways and knew that any objection would be met only with a brick wall of her resolute indifference to their opinions.

If Catherine De Bourgh wanted something done a certain way, she got it done that way... or she fired the person she had hired for the job and hired another one who would do it the way she liked... it didn't matter whether the person she had hired was qualified for the job or not. The Angel of Mercy had once been a premier healthcare giver in the state of Massachusetts... but with Ms. De Bourgh at the helm, the standards had only gone down and the way Will saw it, that was the only way they were gonna go if this management continued.

He'd had so many ideas and ideals about running the hospital that his family had started and run for so many years but somehow, his aunt had found ways to stop him from executing each and every one of them. Over the years, Will had completely lost any liking he'd had for the woman and also his will to change the way things were run at the hospital. His only concern now were his patients and doing as much as he could for he people of the city. Thus the super tight schedule and complete absence of social life.

With all these sombre thoughts making rounds of his mind, he entered his friend's office to come face to face with not only Charlie but also the smirking face of Richard Fitzwilliam

"Rich!... you bas****... I swear... one day I am gonna kill you, chop you up in little pieces and feed you to Catherine..."

"Good to see ya too Willie boy"

"You ditched me... "

His voice sounded faintly petulant even to Will

"Forgive me my sweet... I was unaware we had a date..."

"Oh shut it Rich... You know you were supposed to attend the meeting with me... Thank you Charles for the rescue by the way..."

"Oh you can thank Richard for it... It was his idea... in fact it was him on the phone with your Aunt..."

A grudging smile started across the young doctor's face as he faced his cousin, who was standing up from his seat on the couch in Charlie's office to take a mock bow at an invisible audience. Sitting back in the comfortable sofa, Richard put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him and asked

"So... gentlemen... Friday night. What are our plans?"

"Nothing for you I am afraid... Don't tell me you forgot!"

The mock serious expression on Darcy's face, accompanied by the barely concealed glee in his voice made the younger cousin sit up and pay attention

"What did I forget this time?"

"You are supposed to go to that concert... with Georgie and her friends tonight... It's in... two hours I think..."

"Oh shit!... I totally forgot about that. F**k!... why the hell did I agree to go?... Why the hell didn't you stop me Darce? You know how I hate it when Georgie's friends flirt with me and make her uncomfortable... It's gonna be a disaster... I already know it"

"Hey... don't look at me... you made your bed. Now lay in it. I'd get going if I were you..."

Richard left with a glare at his cousin, as if Will had been the cause for all his trouble, leaving behind a smirking Will and an amused Charlie. Dropping on to the seat that his cousin had vacated, Will turned to his friend

"So... Charlie... Any plans?"

"Oh yeah... I forgot to ask you... Are you free this weekend?"

"Why?... What's up?"

"Do you remember that estate Netherfield that my uncle left me in his will?... Well of course you do... You were the one who helped me with getting the right contractors for renovation. Well, it's been renovated and the work is finally done. I was gonna go over there to check it out... wanna join me? I figured it'll be a nice change of pace... you know, just relax for a couple of days away from the crush of the city... maybe get to know the locals a bit"

"Where is it again?"

"New Haven... Near the Yale campus I guess... I've been there only once before. So, what do you think?"

"Are any of your sisters gonna be there?"

Will's grimace matched Charlie's expression at the mention of the man's sisters. While Charles Bingley was the best friend a man could ask for, his sisters were a whole other issue. If Charles hadn't been the nice guy he was, Will might've thought about dropping him from his circle by virtue of his having Caroline Bingley as his sister. While the other sister Louisa, was married and just slightly daft, Caroline Bingley had all the instincts of a shark... a social ladder climbing shark. And she had unfortunately set her sights on Fitzwilliam Darcy from the day they had been introduced. While Will had tried, he found that he couldn't hate Charlie for the relations he had, just like he couldn't blame himself for having an aunt like Catherine. But Caroline was the one thing that could induce the usually imperturbable William Darcy to run like a man chased by a tiger... a man eating one at that.

Almost declining the invite at Charlie's less than enthusiastic nod, Will was forced to reconsider when he remembered that if he spent the weekend at Boston, he would have to spend time with Anne and his aunt. Anne was the only other woman he knew who could give Caroline a run for her money. And mother and daughter together, that too, over the whole weekend, was a thought that could not be borne. As a result, Will found himself nodding his yes, taking in Charlie's grateful smile while already regretting his decision.

A/N: And there we have introduced the yummy doctors Will Darcy and Charlie Bingley, along with the lawyer Richard and the ever hated Ms. De Bourgh... So what did you think of it?

Please send in your thoughts and ideas... any and all feedback is welcome...

Lotsa luv and cookies

MB