Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.

Gianna Marino - Rachael Taylor

Chapter Twelve: Difficult Questions.

Stepping into Gaffney Chicago Medical Centre ignoring the cold biting at her as the November chill crept in, her coat wrapped around her as she tried to spot the woman that she had travelled all this way to see. The ED was busy, the cold snap sending many to the emergency department and the threat of snow was not making the task of emptying the waiting room any easier for those that worked there.

Just as she was about to ask one of the nurses to point her in the direction of Dr Marino, the woman spotted her and made her way quickly over to the woman that she had come from Seattle to see. Gianna was in the process of giving April directions to have her patient discharged when she spotted the familiar face quickly approaching her with a bright smile on her face.

"Cass what are you doing here?" Gianna asked confused as her sister-in-law wrapped her up in a big hug, she hadn't thought that she would see either of Michael's sisters before the memorial that his parents were throwing. Gianna was due to fly out to Seattle in a couple of weeks to join them, having confirmed her attendance with Nancy who was thrilled and had insisted that Gianna stay with them for the trip.

"Well it's not like you were picking up my calls," Cassandra Nixon pointed out, she smiled at Gianna as if ignoring the fact that the two of them had never really gotten along. Cassandra knew that the question that she had to ask Gianna was not one that would go down well at the memorial and if she wanted to ask her that it was better done in person.

"There's something that I need to talk to you about," Cassandra announced, she hadn't even told her parents yet and she hoped that Gianna would be agreeable for what she had to say to her. Gianna nodded her head, looking to April sure that she could deal with their patients discharge while she spoke with her sister-in-law; she lead Cassandra into the staff room just off the main floor.

"Is everything okay?" Gianna asked not sure what could have brought Cassandra to her door, it wasn't like they were close and Cassandra had partially blamed Gianna for what had happened to Michael. Cassandra took a seat at the table, waiting for Gianna to take a seat opposite her; her hands resting upon the table as she searched Gianna's face for a moment.

"Matthew proposed!" Cassandra announced with glee, her boyfriend of five years had finally asked her to marry him and she couldn't have been happier.

"Congratulations," Gianna replied, her eyes snapping down to Cassandra's hand to see the engagement ring that should have been there only to find that there was nothing. It was strange to see especially since Matthew wasn't hurting for money, he owed his only company and had three houses in the US alone.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Cassandra said with a smile, she knew what Gianna had looked down to see her ring and there was no point beating around the bush about what she wanted. There was silence at Cassandra's words, Gianna didn't have to ask what Cassandra meant when the meaning was more than clear; she wanted the rings that Michael had given to her.

"You want me to give you my wedding ring and engagement ring," Gianna murmured, her eyes casting down to her own hand and the rings that she only removed when she was going to surgery. They were often placed on the necklace that Michael had gifted her when she had started her residency, her stomach hurt knowing what Cassandra wanted and she didn't think she could do it.

"Now that Michael is gone. It's only fair that the rings are returned to the family and since I'm going to be married before Cassidy, the rings would be mine," Cassandra explained as if it were that simple, she believed that they should now be hers since Gianna was a Nixon anymore. They were family heirlooms, they belonged in the family not on the finger of the woman that had caused her brother's death; Gianna should be thankful that they waited a year to claim them back from her.

Gianna didn't say a word, she couldn't as she played with the two rings that were her last connection to her husband; that had been given to him by his grandmother so that he could propose to her. The very idea that Cassandra wanted to take them from her made her want to throw up.

Stepping out of the elevator and turning left, Connor smiled to himself as he walked down the corridor towards the vending machine to grab something to eat after his surgery. Today had been a good day, he had saved lives and that was what mattered to him and he was looking forward to the end of his shift. When he reached the vending machine, he saw that Gianna was already there and he stood behind her waiting for her to finish what she was doing; he rocked on his heels as he thought about what he wanted.

"Gianna?" Connor asked after a second when he realised that she hadn't moved, when she didn't answer him clearly lost in thought; he rested a hand on her shoulder, making her jump in surprise. Gianna blinked taken back turning to look at Connor, she stepped out of his way mumbling an apology; fiddling with her rings as she thought about her talk with Cassandra.

"You okay?" Connor asked turning away from the vending machine, he could see that there was something bothering her; he had never seen Gianna so distracted especially while she was at work. It was one of the things that he admired about her, she always had her head in the game and she worked her hardest to save her patients and to help them.

"My sister-in-law is in town. She's just got engaged and she wants my rings," Gianna told him, she stared down at them knowing that she couldn't bring herself to give them to Cassandra. The very idea of letting go of the last part of Michael that she had made her feel sick, she had lost him and she had lost the future that they'd planned with each other. Connor opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words that he could say to her that would comfort her at this time.

"I can't give them to her. They were from Michael, they were given to him by his grandmother so he could ask me to marry him," Gianna whispered, she wiped her eyes fighting back the tears and she wished that she didn't have to make this decision. It was a selfish decision on her part to keep the rings, she wanted to believe that Michael would want her to keep them; that he would want her to have them.

"They're your rings. This Cassandra has no claim to them, if you don't want to part with them then don't," Connor told her, he gave her arm a squeeze knowing that Michael would have wanted her to keep them.

They were a symbol of his love for her, even if he wasn't here anymore and if Gianna stopped wearing them then they were still a sign that Michael had loved her; that he had wanted her to have them. Gianna was silent for a moment, she looked down at her rings as she pondered what Connor had said before nodding her head; she smiled a little, glad that she had talked to Connor about what was on her mind.

"Thank you," Gianna said, she didn't feel as guilty now for what she was going to say to Cassandra and she could only imagine how upset she was going to be when she found out that she wasn't getting what she wanted. Connor smiled back at her, he liked how her face lite up when she smiled, her eyes got this spark to them that he missed whenever she seemed sad about something.

"Hey you," Robin said approaching the pair, a smile on her face as she wrapped her arm around Connor; she stepped closer to him, not sparing a look at Gianna as she spoke with Connor. It had been a couple of weeks since the Charity Ball and things had been interesting with the Cardiothoracic surgeon; she liked him and the fact that it annoyed her father was certainly a bonus in her book.

"I should go and give Cassandra a call, let her know I'm keeping the rings. Thank you Connor," Gianna said nodding to Connor, she didn't want to get in the way of him and Robin especially when it was clear that the Epidemiologist wanted to speak with him privately. Watching Gianna make a hasty exit, Connor wanted to follow after her but stopped when he looked down at Robin; things had been going so well for them right now and he thought that he liked her. They had fun together and she was sweet, kind everything that he could ever want but there was a part of him that just couldn't help look at Gianna even if he knew that he shouldn't.

"Let's grab lunch. My treat," Connor said distracting himself, he couldn't go down that road especially not when Gianna was her friend and still grieving for the loss of her husband.

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