"So, how did it go?" Doris was the first person to grab Sarah the next morning in work, soon followed by Monique, Natalie and April circling her.
"It was good, I had a nice time." Sarah said sincerely, trying to side step any questions and not reveal the fact that her dress now had hints of Connor's cologne on it. She put her head down and got to work.
She was going through a case with April when Joey turned up in the ED, surveying it as if he would pick up a disease by just being near patients.
"Sarah." He called and she looked up at the familiar voice.
"Joey." She blinked.
"I have to give these back to you." He said, handing her a small cardboard box, containing a rubix cube, photo frames and the sweater she had been missing. "I have a new girlfriend."
Sarah bit her lip, "I heard." She took the box from him.
"And you?" He asked.
"Me what?" Sarah asked.
"I heard some idle gossip, I know what the nurses are like." He joked but it didn't land with Sarah. The nurses were better than most doctors in her opinion.
"What gossip?"
"That you're dating that posh Rhodes guy." He scoffed. Ah, the realization dawned on Sarah, it had hit a nerve with her ex-boyfriend. Maybe Maggie had been right.
"You mean Connor?" Sarah clarified before her name was called for an incoming trauma.
She quickly deposited the box on the shelf under the medical counters and pushed all thoughts of her previous relationship out of her head and went to meet the ambulance, leaving Joey alone.
Sarah knew that she should have gotten the medical student to get the results for her but she was still getting used to delegating work instead of vying for it.
Now, there she was, still waiting outside the pathology labs for results she had put in her hours ago.
"Sarah? Hey." Connor greeted her as he exited the elevator on the way to the ICU, following a few other doctors.
"Hi Connor." Sarah replied, standing up from where she had been leaning on the wall in boredom and frustration.
He excused himself from the group and came to a stop beside her. "Everything okay?" He asked. She wondered how he did that. Since the very first day they had met, he was able to read her like nobody else could. Picking up on signs everyone else missed.
"Yeah." She tried to lie, but never really could, not with Connor Rhodes. He gave her one his looks, the patient one that told her he could wait her out for a response. "Kind of, I think they're delaying my results." She nodded toward the lab window.
"What? Why…" Sarah could see the realization dawn on Connor's face. "You're joking?"
"It's fine. It's my own fault, I should have gotten my student to…"
"That is not okay and it's not your fault." Connor told her as seriously as he had told her that Pathology wasn't for her. "That's unprofessional." He had started walking towards the lab reception before Sarah could stop him.
"Dr Rhodes, Cardiothoracic Fellow." He stated, "I need to put in a request for Dr Reeses' results, they are needed urgently." He told the young resident behind the counter.
"Just a moment." The younger man said, picking up the phone and whispering urgently down the line.
"Connor, you really don't have to." Sarah whispered her own protests.
Connor looked at her, "I know." He said, "But it's not fair on you if these two are letting their personal lives interfere with your job. I might as well throw my name around if it helps." He shrugged as if it meant nothing. But Sarah knew it did, Connor never liked for his name and Chicago prestige to precede him.
The younger doctor got up and went behind a door into the lab only to return seconds later with the results. "Apologies for the delay Doctor Rhodes." He said, handing the file to Connor who wordlessly passed it to Sarah.
"Thank you."
"Nothing to thank me for." He told her with a smile before going to answer a page and rushing off.
"Alert, Miss Perfect is here." Maggie whispered fervently to Sarah, Natalie and Madison. They were going over the details of a case at the medical bay. "On my six o'clock."
Sarah briefly threw a glance over Maggie's shoulder to see Rachel walking through the ED, "You know I'm fine right? Joey can do what he wants."
"Yes but you are not that replaceable Sarah." Maggie argued. Sarah wasn't so sure.
"Well your rumors have done their trick, so you can stop that now." Sarah said.
Doris raised her eyebrows from where she was teaching Monique something on the other side of the desks. "Oh hell no."
"Why not?" Natalie asked as the group that had somehow gathered.
At this rate Sarah was wondering if Maggie and Will would start calling weekly meetings to discuss Sarah's relationship status. She tried to remember that they all had her best interests at heart.
"Because a lot of the people I've talked to said that Rachel said that Sarah was never going to be able to land someone like Connor." Doris said, insulted on Sarah's behalf. "So we need to keep going and prove her wrong."
The doubt wound itself into Sarah's stomach, it was true though, wasn't it?
"Oh, now we really don't like her." Natalie agreed.
"I never liked Joey when I started, gave me a bad vibe." Madison practically shuddered, "You can do so much better Sarah." Her friend said loyally.
"It really doesn't matter." Sarah argued weakly, desperate to have her biggest doubts and worst fears broadcast with the entire department.
"They said what?" Connor asked in a quiet but firm voice, making Sarah jump slightly. She didn't know he had logged into a computer just down from the group. The fury in his expression made her stomach twist, and not in a bad way.
"Don't worry about it." Sarah told everyone. "It's over. Joey and Rachel are just being petty."
"Sarah…" Whatever Connor was going to say got lost in the bedlam of the ED as Sarah took a chance and practically ran over to check on her latest patient. She really didn't need any more pity being tossed around. She knew how pathetic her situation was already.
It wasn't until the end of their shift that she found out that Connor wasn't going to pity her, he was concocting a plan.
Joey and Rachel appeared out of the elevator and Sarah caught sight of them. Freezing and thinking about how Joey's hand used to fit into hers. She knew it was a completely unnecessary journey for them to go through the ED to the exit the building when there was a perfectly acceptable exit near the pathology lab.
They were just rubbing salt in the wound.
It was when they were nearing her that Connor came into view. Sarah stood frozen as she watched him bump into Joey with a bit too much force if it were to be considered accidental.
"Oh sorry." He said, as if distracted and looked towards Sarah.
"Hey Babe," He greeted her, placing an arm around her just like he had the night before, but this time placing a kiss to her temple. "Pick you up for our date at seven yeah?"
She look up at him, lost for words and could only weakly nodded her head. "See you later." He winked at her as he untangled himself from her and walked toward the staff lounge, leaving Joey and Rachel looking stunned in his wake before collecting themselves and walking on towards the exit.