Racing Hearts

AU. When Sarah's father returns to her life years later claiming he wants to make amends she struggles a bit with the decision of letting the man who once betrayed her into her heart again? Will her family make her see there's forgiveness after all?

I own nothing.

Thanks to Eilis for helping me out with grammar :)

"Sarah, will you stop worrying?" Connor told her as he changed, getting ready for their date with Ethan, April, Natalie and Will. Yeah, the first two had been a last-minute addition to their much needed night out. "Amy's done this before."

"I know." Sarah told him. "It's just been a while since we've left them this late."

"That's exactly why we're doing this." Connor said, leaning to kiss her neck. "We need a break."

So, a break they had, Sarah said goodbye to her boys, Luke and Finn barely noticed her as they were having dinner in front of the TV but Ollie turned to wave at both her and his daddy at the last minute and it almost made her back out.

"Let's go, super mom come on." Connor said goodnight to Amy and led Sarah out of the door, they made it down to the car before she started freaking out again.

"I can't remember if I told Amy how to turn on the alarm on Ollie's watch." Sarah said. The little boy now had to wear a small device that measured his heart-rate and he had to wear it mostly at night so they would know if he his heart was having trouble functioning.

"She knows babe and if something happens, we're close enough to come back, don't worry." Connor opened the door for her. Sarah sighed.

They drove to the restaurant in silence mostly, he knew she'd probably be texting Amy. "Sarah, what was the deal?"

"Focus on us?"

"Focus on us." He agreed, taking her hand and kissing it. They soon arrived and realized the guys were already there. "Sorry we're late."

"You are not, we just got here." Natalie smiled. "Owen was pretty hyper when we left so it took us longer to get out of the house."

"Kids, right?" Ethan turned to April. Things had certainly changed for Ethan and April since welcoming Kayley. They were a little busier but happy to finally be able to take that next step in their lives.

"Kids." Will agreed.

"I honestly can't wait for Kayley to be a little older." April smiled. She was barely a year old. "The staying up all night? That's something I could get past."

"Oh no, hold on to those baby years, they're the best." Natalie laughed. "Owen is like a little teenager sometimes...Oh we should probably stop talking about the kids, right?"

Sarah excused herself to go to the bathroom and after a quick kiss on Connor's cheek, disappeared to the back. "Everything okay man?" Will asked Connor.

"Yeah, she's just dealing with a lot, her dad was released a few weeks ago but he's on the brink." Connor said. "His chances are slim."

"Poor Sarah..." Natalie pointed out. "How's Ollie?"

Natalie noticed Connor became more tense. "He's fine, it's better to take it one day at a time."

"But he will need a new heart?" Ethan said and Connor nodded. "What does Dr. Latham say?"

"It's not really up to him, Dr. Frisch is the lead on the case but I asked Ava to be involved in it."

"And she agreed?" Connor nodded again.

"Sarah trusts her and honestly so do I." Sarah came back in that moment, taking hold of her drink. "Something wrong?" Connor asked her.

"Actually, I was thinking I could enjoy myself a bit more, since you keep nagging me about it. " She kissed his cheek. "And you're driving so how about some wine?"

"Oh, I'm up for wine." April said, grabbing the menu.

"Me too, boys are driving tonight anyway." Natalie said kissing Will softly on the lips.

The rest of the night went smoothly and Sarah was able to actually enjoy herself. They were in the middle of desert when their phones started to beep. "It's all of us?"

"Yeah, apparently." Ethan started to reach out for his jacket. "Can we please get the check?" The waiter nodded as they all began to get ready to leave.

"No rest for the wicked I guess." Connor sighed as they all headed outside to get into their cars.

"I get why you were all paged but why was I?" Sarah said putting her hair into a bun as Connor drove.

Robert had been rushed to the hospital again. He was having a heart attack.


"I'm afraid he's running out of time." Ava told them once they had made it inside, Sarah had not yet seen her father as he'd been taken up to the Cath lab. Connor was there by her side.

"I see." Sarah felt Connor's hand on the small of her back.

"We are doing all we can but the truth is, if you want to say goodbye, I would consider doing it today." Ava told Sarah.

"Alright, thank you."

"We'll let you know as soon as I have him down." Dr. Bekker nodded in their direction and headed back to the elevators.

Sarah sighed. "You don't have to do anything, I'll take care of it." Connor told her sweetly.

"No, I have to face him eventually..." She told him. "I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but it doesn't work like that babe."

"Dr. Rhodes?" Maggie called. "Major casualties, we need everyone on deck..." Connor turned around to face Sarah.

"Let me know as soon as he's brought down, you might want to do this but not alone, okay?"

Sarah nodded. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, she was thankful to have found some scrubs that fitted her and a pair of comfortable pants and sneakers that were in her locker.

This was going to be a long night, she had texted Amy to ask her to stay longer with the boys.

"Dr. Reese?" It was Daniel. "They told me your father was back."

"Yeah, he had a heart attack." Sarah told him. Daniel smiled at her.

"I'm sorry." He said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, thank you. Connor's here too."

Sarah didn't know whether she was mad at Dr. Charles for his recommendation or for not pushing harder on her impulse of wanting to talk to her father a few weeks back, after having found out just what was wrong with her father, Sarah felt horrible, she felt as if she was not careful, she'd end up not caring for her children or Connor.

"I see, well if you need me, I'm around."


According to Ava there had been a pedestrian hit by one of the cars in the accident and he was brain dead, he seemed to be a match for Sarah's dad apparently but Dr. Stohl had insisted there was no use for the heart.

Not if Connor had anything to say about it, he might not have been able to intervene directly with Robert but a simple valve repair would not take long. "You'll kill the recipient on the table." Ava had told him.

"He's a match for Sarah's dad, Ava...I at least have to try." Connor told her. "You don't have to do it, It's on me, you just have to put in the heart."

Ava looked at him disapprovingly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." He told her. Ava took a minute to agree with him but she did.

Dr. Latham could possibly have their heads over this. "Good luck, Dr. Rhodes."

Connor scrubbed in on a valve repair while Sarah waited, not by her father's side but helping Maggie with the patients that were in the accident. She was not ready to face Robert just yet, she was actually scared to see him on her own and Doris had told her Connor had been called up to the OR for an emergency procedure.

"So, there's nothing to be done?" Ethan said. He was discussing the course of action for a little boy whose family had been involved in the crash, his mother and father were up in surgery while his sisters were being treated for minor injuries.

"All indications are that he is braindead." Sam said. Ethan turned to April.

"Can we just wait until the parents come out of surgery so they can say goodbye?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's hard but we also have to get their consent for organ donation." Ethan agreed.


Sarah sighed as she texted Connor again. "Where were you?" she asked as soon as she saw him dash over her.

"Sorry, I got called into the OR. Is he awake?"

"Yeah." Sarah looked conflicted and Connor understood. "The thing is, Dr. Charles, he said if I didn't say goodbye to him I might regret but I don't feel like I would, how could I? I don't even know the man, Connor... but then there's this part of me that just wants to get it over with so I don't feel this... thing eating me up inside."

"There's something I need to tell you." He said after a minute. "We found your father a heart."

"What? Ava didn't say anything..."

"It needed a valve repair..."

"Is that where you were? You were trying to get him a heart?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah."

Sarah didn't know whether to be mad at him or not for going behind her back. "Sarah?" They heard Robert's voice coming from the inside of the room.

Reese sighed and moved inside. Connor was not too far behind. "There you are."

"Hey, Dad." Sarah went into Robert's room. The man looked sick and tired, he was clearly running out of time.

"Sarah so nice of you to come." He told her. "Hello Dr. Rhodes, the protective partner I see."

"I just wanted to, um, see how you're doing." Sarah said, hesitantly. Connor didn't move.

It took Robert a minute to reply, mainly because he was watching Sarah's husband. "Did you? No ulterior motive?" Sarah glanced at him confused. Connor felt how his muscles were starting to tense up.

"What?" She inquired.

"Sure, you didn't come here to make yourself feel better by doing the right thing? That this visit isn't all about you?"

"Dad, No..." Sarah felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. Connor watched the exchange carefully, ready to jump in in the first opportunity he was allowed to.

"Maybe I'm not the only one with personality disorder." Robert continued. Connor couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey!" Connor warned him. "This is a courtesy visit buddy, you don't even deserve her being here, but she is because she's not a heartless ass like you."

"Connor..." Sarah begged. "This was clearly a mistake." She told Robert.

"Let's go." Connor told her, leading her outside.

"Goodbye Dad."

"Oh, don't be so sensitive. Come now. Let's see what I can do to leave you with a good memory." Connor almost turned around to say something else to the man but Sarah's body language forced him to focus on her.

"Sarah?" It was Dr. Bekker. "I trust Connor told you we found your father a heart."

Sarah who was trying to compose herself nodded. "We're about to go and do the transplant now."

Connor sighed, this clearly had been a mistake. He shouldn't have fought so hard to save Robert.

"Thank you." Sarah said and she walked away without even acknowledging Connor.


Will had been walking to his car when he found Connor sitting on a bench outside the hospital. He threw a puzzle look at his friend. "Connor?"

"Hey." He said softly. "I thought you'd gone home."

"No, we still have to discharge some of the patients from the accident, I was just getting something for Nat. Are you okay?"

"I screwed up." He told him. "I screwed up big time."

Will smiled. "Did you and Sarah have a fight about her dad? I heard he was brought in."

"I found him a heart, I fixed it so he could have one." Will shot him a confused look. "And it might have become the biggest mistake of my life. It might cost me Sarah."

"I'm not following buddy." Will said. "She's mad because you tried to save him?"

"I don't even know, she won't even let me near her." Connor said. He'd gone after her as soon as Ava had gone into the room to get Robert but she pushed him away.

"Connor, you were just trying to do the right thing."

"What for?" Rhodes said bitterly. "So, I could play god and prove something to myself? To try and be better than Ava by fixing a useless organ for a man that maybe, the world is better off not having around? It would be better for Sarah if he wasn't man."

Will smiled softly at him. "You'll make it work."

"Can we talk?" It was Reese. Will excused himself and headed in the direction of his car, giving both his friends a small nod as he went.

She sat there beside him for a minute. "I'm sorry." He began.

"What are you sorry for?" She replied. Connor sighed. "You were trying to save him, you didn't know he would..."

"I should have known..." He told her. "I've been fixating on the fact that he's sick, that he's not normal and you..."

"You did it for me, didn't you?"

"Well I certainly wouldn't have done it for him." Connor told her, running his fingers through his hair. She took his free hand in hers. She made him turn around and kissed him softly. "But honestly? I don't know why I did it."

"I do." She told him softly. "He might not deserve it but it just proves what kind of man you are and he's not."

Connor closed his eyes at the feeling of her fingers on his cheeks. "You are a good person babe, I should be the one apologizing. I guess I let my emotions get the best of me."

He could see she was struggling not to cry. "So, I guess date night is a bust?"

Connor laughed. "Do you want to go home?"


It wasn't as late as they thought when they got home so Connor got Amy an Uber and she promised to text them as soon as she got in safely. Sarah went to check on the boys as Connor got them some tea from the kitchen.

"Thank you." Sarah smiled as soon as he joined her on the bed. She kissed his cheek softly.

"Always." He took a hold of her hand and held it in between his, kissing it softly. "Kids okay?"

"They're fine." Sarah smiled. It took them a minute to speak again. "Amy said Ollie was just great."

"We'll get him through this Sarah..." Connor assured her. "We will I promise."

"I know." She turned to kiss him, she moved to the side so she could push him a little further down on the bed. "You know...our date might have ended up ruined but the night isn't over." She whispered in his ear.

Connor smirked, kissing her again. "I love you Sarah."

Sarah giggled when she was flipped over so he was on top, he silenced her by kissing her more deeply.

"I love you so much." She felt tears fall down. "I'm sorry if I don't say it enough."

"Sarah..." He warned, breaking the kiss. "Don't do this baby, okay? Let's just enjoy tonight."

Sarah nodded as he kissed her cheek, his lips lingering a little longer in every spot he touched to assure her just how much he loved her.


So... a lot has happened in this chapter! What did you think? Will Ethan manage to get that heart for Ollie?