Sarah's day off had been going well. She got a few extra hours of much needed sleep and then Madison called her to meet up for brunch.
Sarah ate her food while Madison told her about the date she was going on that evening. One that she needed a new outfit for. Immediately. And that was how Sarah found herself strolling around the stores of seemingly the entire city of Chicago with her best friend.
They only hit a snag when Sarah noticed the name over the doorway of the next store.
"Madison…" Sarah hissed at her friend, "This is the Rhodes department store, we can't just go in there."
"Why not? I need a new outfit and we might as well see your lover boy has to inherit, hey?" Madison declared, turning to look at Sarah. "Come on."
"He's not my lover boy." Sarah muttered as she followed Madison inside. Funnily enough, in all her time in Chicago, it was one place that Sarah had never visited. She had never wanted Connor to think she was friendly with him because of his family legacy.
"How is Connor anyway?" Her friend asked and Sarah swallowed down any mention of the night before.
The fake dating stuff, that seemed like fair game to her friends at work, but the night before had been private time. Just for Connor and Sarah, not for show and she found herself wanting to keep it close to her chest.
Sarah shrugged, "I didn't see him much yesterday."
Madison paused, looking at Sarah as if putting the knowledge from their psychiatry modules into practice, trying to get a read on her best friend. "You now it's okay if you do like him right?"
"I didn't. I don't." Sarah replied weakly, "I mean I guess I did when we met, but everyone did at the time." It was the first time she had ever admitted it out loud, even to herself.
"Well it wouldn't be the strangest thing to fall for him, I mean you are technically dating him."
"Fake dating." Sarah reminded her, flicking her hand through the clothes rack to the side, to try and avoid the conversation.
"Yeah but you're spending time together as if you were a couple, it would be natural to develop feelings." Madison kept going.
"Well it will probably be coming to an end soon anyway." Sarah said, "I'm sure that Joey and Rachel have got the point by now."
She wasn't going to mention the fact that that very thought had kept her awake last night, along with the conflicting thought that now her and Connor could spend time together without their fake relationship then there could be a chance they could keep this new and puzzling relationship going.
"Anyway." Sarah said, deciding to book end that particular tangent and put it away for some other sleepless night, "Don't you need an outfit for tonight?"
"Yes I do." Madison took the bait, whether she wanted to or not and let Sarah off the hook before pulling her further into the store.
Sarah was in the middle of laughing with Madison at one of the outfits she held up when someone called her name, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.
"Sarah, isn't it?" Claire Rhodes asked, appearing amidst the racks of clothing.
"Yeah, it is. Hi Claire." Sarah replied, feeling like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been doing.
"Apologies, Claire Rhodes, pleasure to meet you." Ever the business woman, Claire reached over and shook hands with Madison.
"Claire, this is my friend Madison, she's a resident at Gaffney with me. Madison this is Claire, Connor's sister." Sarah had never felt more awkward but Madison seemed completely bemused by the situation.
"It's so nice to meet you." Madison replied.
"Do you two need any help? Are you looking for anything in particular?" Claire asked.
"I have a date this evening, early Valentine's Day present because I'm working the night shift tomorrow night." Madison explained.
"Oh I'll get one of our personal shoppers to help you out." Claire waved a hand to the assistant at her side, taking notes.
"Oh no, you don't have to do that." Sarah tried to protest before Claire turned her attention to her.
"I hope that my brother has something nice planned for the two of you." At Sarah's blank look, Claire continued, "For Valentine's Day? Tomorrow?"
"Oh," Sarah tried to grasp at words, how the heck was she supposed to explain her and Connor's relationship?
Claire huffed, "My brother, the romantic." She said with a dry tone towards Madison. "Well that won't do. You'll come out with Russell and I for dinner."
"Like a double date?" Madison chimed in when Sarah couldn't form words.
"Exactly, I have to get the know the woman that has captured my brother's attention. I don't think I've ever seen him look at someone the way he looks at Sarah." She told Madison.
As Claire was called off for a business emergency and Madison was left with a personal shopper, all Sarah could think about was how the hell she was going to explain this all to Connor.
"So, we're going on a date?"
"Yes."
"A double date?"
"Yes."
"With my sister?"
"Exactly." Sarah confirmed, "But I'm not entirely sure how we got there. One minute Madison was looking for clothes and the next…"
"That's Claire for you." Connor said in a mixture of fondness and slight frustration.
"I didn't know how to get out of it." Sarah explained.
Connor smiled at her, "I don't blame you. How would we explain this situation to my sister?"
"Oi, you two, get a room." Will smirked as he walked passed the two with their heads together in the middle of the ED, "Or you know, a supply closet." He laughed to himself as he ducked under some red balloons that a woman was holding, awaiting news on her wife in trauma three.
Sarah may have completely forgotten about Valentines Day. But it seemed, the entirety of the staff and patients at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center had not.
The reception desk on her way into the ED was brimming with flower bouquets and some of the patients awaiting treatment seemed to be there as a result of the day itself. Within the first half an hour of her shift Sarah had to deal with a severed finger from an ill-attempt at cooking a romantic breakfast and a teenager with severe concussion from a fall while trying to hang a romantic sign for his girlfriend.
Any type of holiday always made work crazier.
"It's my fault, I should have organized something for you to throw her off the scent." Connor concluded after scowling at the retreating form of Will.
"Why on earth would you think of that, for your fake girlfriend of all things?" Sarah asked.
"Well I'm not a great fake work boyfriend am I?" He asked and she tried to not react when he referred to himself as any type of boyfriend to her. "Letting you walk around here and not having people think I'm spoiling you." He said, "For Joey's sake." He added.
"Connor you really don't have to. Valentine's Day is just like any other day to me. It's never been anything special."
"Well, now that's not right, I'll have to fix that." She was suddenly suspicious of the grin on his face.
She had a right to be.
When she went to the canteen to pick up a morning snack, she had to endure seeing Rachel in the queue behind of her and talking about the special night Joey had planned for her. He had never planned anything for Sarah.
Sarah was about to pay for her coffee and snack when the barista told her that her bill were covered for the day.
"Sorry?" Sarah asked, sure that they had made a mistake.
"Your Dr Sarah Reese right? Another doctor came in, tall, dark hair, said it was a Valentine's Day present?" She handed Sarah a coffee cup that instead of having her name scribbled on it, had My Valentine. The whole scenario may have been based on fake rumors and lies but it still made Sarah smile.
It was when she got back to the ED, that the flowers started arriving.
The first time, a delivery man was directed to her at the medical bay with a bunch of perfect red roses.
The second time, exactly an hour later, a delivery woman arrived with a gift box of flower scented perfumes
On the dot of her third hour, she got another brightly coloured bouquet of flowers and finally noticed Connor across the bay. He couldn't keep the smile off his face.
One of the residents that usually worked on opposite shifts from Sarah complimented the bouquet, "They're lovely. You're boyfriend is smitten."
"He sure is." Doris interjected from where she was refilling supplies with Maggie. "Dr Rhodes from cardiology, he's crazy about Sarah."
"Lucky you." The other resident smiled before being called for a consult.
Doris and Maggie high-fived each other for their rumor spreading abilities and Sarah just had to laugh at their antics.
By hour six, Will started to complain that Connor was making him look bad. He had gotten Natalie one bouquet and Connor was showing him up.
"Bit of an over kill?" Connor asked by hour ten, his eyes sparking with laughter as he entered the staff lounge to find Sarah trying to store the many bouquets in a corner.
"Just a bit." She told me with a laugh.
"Well, you deserve something special."
She was saved from having to reply as April entered the room. "Nice collection you're gathering there." She smiled. "I'm off to catch up with some of my single friends from nursing school. You two have any plans for this evening?"
Connor looked at Sarah in question; how were they supposed to explain to their work friends that they were going on an actual date with his sister?
"I was just going to give some of these out around the wards." Sarah jumped in with an answer.
"That's so sweet." April replied.
"I'm going to help her." Connor chipped in.
"Ah." April nodded in understanding before tapping the side of her nose, "Got to keep the ploy up huh?"
"Exactly." Sarah lied.
So a few minutes later, with a trolley loaned from Maggie, Sarah and Connor set out on their new mission; flower delivery.
They tried to share them out across as many wards as possible. They left some beside patients in the cardiology, with the staff working in the ICU, with the patients in the rehabilitation unit.
It was when they got to some of the recovery wards that the problems arose.
One ward was filled with elderly residents, a method employed by the hospital so they could chat together and reminisce and try to eradicate some of the loneliness that came with being in a hospital.
Conner rolled the trolley in and Sarah started placing flowers at each patients bedside to brighten the ward up.
"Well now, look at this." One woman smiled from her bedside chair. "Where did these all come from."
"They were from her boyfriend, he's a lucky guy." Connor told the woman.
One of the nurses on the department poked her head in the door at the voices, "So romance isn't dead. Rumor has it these two are dating." The room seemed to 'aww' in unison. "Hey, weren't you two the ones found in the the supply closet?"
Sarah made a mental note to kill Will Halstead. Luckily the nurse got paged to another ward, but it also left Connor and Sarah with a room full of patients that were now giving them their full attention.
"Young love." One of the patients remarked.
"Don't they look well together?"
"I hope you're treating her right."
"A supply closet huh?"
"It wasn't…it's not like that." Sarah said, looking helplessly at Connor.
He grinned at her, seeming to enjoy the red that was suddenly coloring her cheeks. "We're thinking of eloping soon." He declared and Sarah started getting seriously worried about the heart rates of some of the patients in front of them. "When you know, you know. Right Babe?" He teased her.
Two could play at that game.
"You know I'm not too sure. We haven't been together that long." She told the room, getting flashbacks to being in school theatre productions.
Connor seemed to light up at the joke they were now in on together. "But I've been crazy about you for years."
Now Sarah was worried about her own hectic heart rate at his words.
"He says that," She told the room, "But we've only been together a couple of weeks." She held her chin up stubbornly to challenge him with a grin.
"Ah I married my Harold after two weeks." One of the patients chipped in as Connor came to stand behind Sarah, placing his hands delicately on her waist.
"Hear that Babe?" He asked, his mouth dangerously to her ear.
He had given her enough space that she could turn in his arms and face him, his hands now clasping at her back.
She couldn't think momentarily, completely enraptured by being this close to him, by being in his embrace, by remembering the fleeting feeling of pressing her lips to his.
She shook herself, remembering her audience and prodded a finger at his chest, "But how do I know you're in this for real?"
"Because I'm hopelessly in love with you?" He suggested.
He glanced over her shoulder for a brief second and he winked at her quickly, a gesture that she would have missed had she not been so intently focused on his blue eyes and lips that had spoken the words that left her weak at the knees.
She heard movement behind her and thinking it was other staff, she went to leave his embrace. But Connor's hand reached for hers, tugging and guiding her to step right back into his arms. He brought one hand up to cup her face and ducked his head to hers. He winked again and mouthed to ask "Can I?"
It seemed like a physical impossibility to be able to refuse a kiss from Connor. She craved it as much as her lungs craved oxygen. She shifted her head in a subtle nod and he leaned in and kissed her. Her eyes closed as she felt her body mold into his as his other hand gripped her waist and he deepened the kiss.
She moved her right hand to grip onto him, to keep him close, to keep doing this. And it landed on his chest, the material of his scrubs catching between her fingers and she felt his heart pounding.
Connor pulled away. Sarah praised his cognitive ability because she couldn't quite breathe let alone think when he kissed her like that.
She opened her eyes and her senses flooded back to her, to the ward of patients nearly cheering for them and for Connor to fake apologize to the people behind Sarah. Sarah turned her head around, Connor still had his hand on her hip, anchoring her to him and she saw the intended audience.
The nurse from earlier was with one of the doctors from the ward, consulting with none other than Rachel.
Ah, the kiss made sense now.
"Oh sorry." Sarah said, "We have more flowers to deliver."
"You're right Babe." Connor agreed, moving his hand from her hip to her hand and they made their way to the trolley and bid goodbye to the patients and moved on.
Sarah was sure she should be worried about her own heart rate as they moved wards. Suddenly overly aware of Connor's close proximity to her.
"Did I overstep?" Connor asked, "I'm sorry."
Sarah looked up at him, "No. Not at all. We had to be believable, right?"
"Exactly." He confirmed.
The problem was that her feelings and reaction to him were becoming nearly too believable.