As the prom date neared and was only two days away, Conrad and Devon arrived at the ER as Jessica and Irving were talking.
"I have my dress and you have your suit… are you going to get me a corsage?"
"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise," replied Irving.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Devon curiously.
"What didn't you hear?"
"No. What?"
"The school has agreed that the medical staff helping to take care of Sylvia get to go to the prom."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Who are you going to ask Devon?"
He looked panicked. "Do I even want to go?"
"Of course, it'll be fun," replied Jessica. "I finally get to go to the prom with the man I love."
"OK, I've got a few calls to make," replied Devon as he disappeared with his phone in hand.
Jessica turned her attention to Conrad.
"Julia has really outdone herself. I'm sure she must be disappointed to not be able to come."
Conrad frowned. "I thought you said that the medical staff in charge of Sylvia could attend. She's both our patient."
"Yes, but she won't be here."
"What?"
"I'm sorry I thought she would have told you."
"Jess, tell me now."
Jess bit her lower lip and seeing that she was in a delicate situation Irving came to her rescue.
"She got the call an hour ago. She's been convened to the FBI in DC, it's got to do with the whole Red Rock thing."
Without being able to say another word, Conrad walked hastily out of the ER. He took the staircase, going up steps two-by-two until he reached the surgical floor.
He bumped into Al. "Have you seen Julia?"
"Yes, she's in the scrub room, she's prepping for a surgery in OR 4."
"Thanks," replied Conrad as he resumed walking.
He pushed the door to the scrub room seeing she was still inside. Her eyes were on the window overlooking the OR where her patient was being brought in.
"When were you going to tell me?" he asked a bit too harshly.
Her head pivoted in response, not understanding why he was upset. She was the one who was upset.
"I was going to, but then I got called into surgery. I was going to tell you after."
"Do you really have to go?"
"Conrad, this is the FBI, it's not like I can call them and ask for a rain check."
"You're going alone?"
"Yes."
"No way. I'm going with you."
"You can't. I'm the only one they have convened and on top of that you have patients here that need you, and Kit would never give you time off."
She dried off her hands and cautiously walked over to him, making sure to not touch him or anything.
"Look, I get you're upset, I am too. This was not on my planning for this weekend or ever. I wanted to be there to see Sylvia live this amazing moment that I never got to. But it's not my prom, it's hers and that's the most important thing. Nothing changes and I'll get to hear about it and see pictures."
It dawned on him that this was hard enough for her to add more turmoil. He hadn't known that she had never gone to her prom, and he felt a tug at the heart knowing he would have given anything to take her to her first prom.
"I thought Red Rock Medical was behind us," he said in a concerned voice.
"So did I, hopefully this is the last chapter in that book."
She looked at the OR. "I need to go."
"Julia, I didn't mean to lash out."
She smiled at him. "I know. I probably would have lashed out too. And trust me, it's not because I'm not doing it verbally that I'm not just as upset as you are about all of this."
He suddenly realized how selfish he had been. He had thought about himself and her only partly, he had not even thought about what she might be feeling on her end.
She headed toward the door leading to the OR.
"I'll come find you when I'm done."
"OK."
He watched as she entered the OR, walked over to the patient, and talked to him a few minutes before the anesthesiologist took over and she let the nurse prep her.
Three hours later she plopped down in the sofa next to him in the lounge.
He put his arm around her as he put the patient file on the armrest. She lifted her legs and let them rest on his lap.
"Surgery went well?"
"A bit longer than initially planned but yes, patient is in recovery, so I have a bit of time before I need to go check up on him."
"When do you leave?"
"Friday morning. My flight is at 6. I'm not needed until the afternoon, but I couldn't get a later flight out, everything was booked. It's almost like all of Atlanta is relocating to DC."
He saw her look at him from the corner of her eyes.
"But I should be back in the evening, my flight leaves at 7, so I should be able to come and meet you at the prom, hopefully before it's over."
He turned his head. "Shouldn't I be the one to pick you up in a limo to bring you to the prom?"
She smiled. "Technically yes, but it's the 21st century and I'm a grown woman."
He stared at her lovingly. "How I would have died to take you to your senior prom."
"It would have been a night to remember. I would have been the luckiest girl in the gymnasium."