Chapter Text
OCTOBER 31ST
"You're really gonna make me wait until tonight to see what you're wearing?" Connor opens the door for Ava as they walk inside the main entrance of the hospital.
"It's a surprise." She smiles as they walk further into the building.
"Since when do you do surprises? Aside, stealing my case last year." He lightheartedly reminded her.
"Your sister gave me an idea." She stopped near the cafe and turned her body slightly to face him.
"Claire?" He said in a confused tone.
"Do you have a hidden half-sister also named Claire Rhodes in Chicago?" She says sarcastically. "Cause I'm pretty sure the one you introduced me to is the only one I've met."
'I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you and Claire do have half siblings you've never met before.'
"So, my sister put this idea in your head?" He asks.
"We discussed it last weekend when she and I met up for lunch and went shopping."
"She came up with the idea of us going as pirates?"
"No, that was me. I just asked her for some ideas on my outfit, and she liked it."
"Even though it's Halloween, I know you wouldn't wear something you were uncomfortable with in front of people we work with." He cheekily leaned close towards her face. "Still won't give me a sneak peek?"
"You can wait till the end of shift, Dr. Rhodes." She playfully pushed his chest back.
Crockett approaches them from the cafe, dressed as a cowboy sheriff. "You guys aren't dressed for the Code Orange for the day like the others?"
Connor points his right thumb towards the woman next to him. "Dr. Bekker here refuses to wear her costume until we go to the future Mr. & Mrs. Halstead’s party tonight."
"We're surgeons, there's a good chance we're gonna get covered in blood today. And I rather not get my outfit dirty before tonight." She explained adjusting her backpack to grab something from inside. She pulls out a small feather pirate hat attached to a black headband. "At most I'll wear this headband when the kids come to the CT floor."
"Pirates?" He eyed the headband hat. "You two didn't want to go as Mr. & Mrs. Smith?" He joked.
"I actually suggested it but then realize we probably shouldn't at someone's engagement party." Connor nodded.
"Smart." The New Orleans doctor pointed at him. "I'll catch you guys later."
"Bye sheriff." Ava says as he walks away.
"I better go too. Need to get into costume before the kids come. See you later today?" Connor pointed his left thumb to way Crockett went.
"Yeah, I'll see you later." She leans up to kiss him goodbye as they part ways. "I'm still gonna need that cup of coffee before I head upstairs." She walks towards the cafe line where five people were ahead of her.
"Ava." A familiar male voice called out to her from behind.
A brief look of shock appeared on the blonde's face upon hearing the familiar voice.
'No way. You're kidding me.'
She holds onto the right strap of her backpack as she slowly turns around on her left and sees the owner of the voice sitting at a nearby table with two cups of coffee in front of him.
"Josh?"
"Hi." The South African man stood up and took a few steps forward towards her. "I was hoping I would run into you." He picks up a cup with his right hand. "You still take it black with two sugars?"
"You still remember how I drank my coffee?" She slowly starts to move towards him, not wanting to draw attention from others around them.
"You've been taking it the same way since med school." He handed her the cup.
She slowly takes it from him. "Thanks." The tone of her voice hinted with irritation.
"Can we talk?" His eyes looked hopeful towards her.
"My shift's about to start soon and I need to get upstairs and change into my scrubs." She points her left index finger towards the stairs across from them.
'Why does he keep popping out of nowhere? And why the hell is he still in Chicago?'
"I just need a short moment of your time."
"Josh..."
"Ava, please. I really do need to talk to you." He pleaded.
She stared at him carefully for a couple of seconds and deeply sighed.
'As always, he's very persisted. I see that part hasn't changed. He's not going to let me leave until he says whatever it is on his chest.'
She shifted her body left towards the seat at the table. "I'm giving you a couple of minutes whatever it is. I don't have time for you, Josh." Despite Ava's resistance, she finally relented and agreed to listen to what he had to say to her.
"That's all I ask." He moves to sit back down in his seat.
"Why are you here?” She went straight to the point. “I thought you left Chicago the day after the bacteria case ended."
He softly inhaled and exhaled before speaking. "I stayed in Chicago for two days after the case to tie up some loose ends with the CDC regarding what happened." His eyes then darted towards his right to avoid eye contact. "Also, I slept with his hot paramedic I met at Molly's the night the case ended."
"I see you haven't changed." Ava said sarcastically as she took a sip from her cup.
'Guess that means him and Perkins broke up. She never did seem to be the "tied down" type of woman.'
He looks back at her. "I saw you leave Molly's that night."
"The place felt really crowded that night. Decided to drink elsewhere." She broke eye contact as she lied and knows he’s aware of it.
"I know you left because of me."
"Still following me to bars, still?" She looks back at him.
"I swear it was a coincidence, Ava."
"I have a hard time buying that. Back then you always showed up at the bars I go to. Before and after I got there. You seriously think I'm going to believe you weren’t aware I go to Molly's like every other doctor in this hospital. That the whole thing was just a coincidence?"
'I've seen this before. Stalking his prey for his next snack.'
"Yes, it was. Believe it or not!" Josh pointed his right index finger at her. "First of all, Will Halstead had invited me to join him for drinks at Molly's after the case was over. That's why I was there in the first place. Second, when I first came to Chicago two months ago, I googled what was a good, nice pub and Molly's came up with good reviews. Also checked out their Instagram account and saw it looked fun." He countered. "And this was also before I knew what hospital you worked at."
"Their Instagram account?" She raised her right eyebrow. "90% of the photos include first responders." Ava pulls out her phone and clicked on the app to head straight to the tagged section on her profile. She taps on few of the photos, narrows her eyes on who liked the images when she scrolls down to see a familiar username. "Uh-huh. And you liked pictures that I was in?"
He gulped. "That was before I knew you were a regular there."
"You commented on these before the bacteria attack started." She shows him her phone screen, show the comment section. "Actually, it's on the same day you met Connor after that high-rise apartment fire." She had looked carefully at the familiar date.
Josh's eyes looked up towards the ceiling as he thought back to that day. "Oh yeah~, I did. Forgot about that."
'Oh yeah.... that guy... That's why he looked familiar.'
"Mm-hmm. I see you're still lying. That part hasn't changed." She shook her head and put her phone away. "Not to mention, you must have talked to Herrmann about me, given he assumed we knew each other."
"I just told him that I knew someone from home that moved to Chicago and guessed that it was you when we talked more about it." His facial expression then changed from guilty to confusion upon realization about what she just said. "Speaking about social media, I'm surprised you made one. You said you saw no point in making one."
She shrugged her shoulders. "My friends convinced me to make one so they could tag me in photos. The first responders here are a lot different than those back home."
"Will Halstead told me you're now friends with your colleagues. Honestly, I'm surprised. You always saw them as your rivals or faceless people."
She slowly nodded her head, staring down at the table.
He wasn't wrong.
She used to think like that.
But not anymore.
"I used, but working here really changed me. I've been open to people, something I've never done and now my colleagues are people I can call my friends now. Even other first responders." Her eyes slowly moved to look up at him from across.
"I'm happy for you in that area. I really am. You seem happier and not closed off like before." He gave her a small smile.
"I really have Connor to thank for that." Ava smiles, saying his name.
Josh dropped the curves of his lips seeing her smile talking about another man. "Connor?" His voice tone changed to sound serious. "He's that other surgeon I saw you with back in the ED."
"Yeah, that was him. When I first got here, we became rivals. He really kept me up on my toes more than Perkins ever did."
"Most of the pictures on Molly's account had you with him.
Dr. Connor Rhodes, the only son of a prominent wealthy family in Chicago. Are you sleeping with him?" He stared at her. "I asked Halstead if you were seeing anyone, but he didn't answer back."
Ava scoffed at him.
'Is he serious? He's not one to judge who I sleep with.'
"Who I sleep with, is none of your business." She glared at him.
"Is that a yes, then?"
"I don't know why I'm even talking about this with you of all people." She was ready to get up and leave.
"Just answer the question. I saw you get into his car that night at the hospital after work." He revealed.
She flinches hearing his words. "You saw... I knew it! You were spying on me."
Josh shook his head and leaned back against his seat. "No~. I was waiting for my car ride and saw you were standing at the valet parking lot. I was about to go talk to you to catch up and then saw Rhodes approach you. And then I saw both of you get in his car and drive away. It was just a coincidence. Honest." He deeply sighed.
'It really was a coincidence that I saw both of you.... together.'
"Uh-huh." She had a hard time believing him.
He slapped both hands against his thighs. "Just tell me. Are you sleeping with him?" Josh twisted his body around and pointed his right thumb behind him. "I literally just saw you kissing him." He turned his head sideways.
Ava grunted. "Gosh! You're so stubborn.
Fine, yes.
I've been dating Connor Rhodes since May."
"May?" Josh widened his eyes and raised both his eyebrows up.
'You're kidding me? Just before Annie and I.....'
"Yeah. He and I have been seeing each other for almost 5 months now." She further explained.
Josh paused to look off to the side and then back at her. "He's older than you." He tried to throw shade at her relationship.
Ava baffled at his words. "Only by a few years and technically Josh, so are you."
"Only by two years. Him it's a little more than that." He argued.
The surgeon scratched her head with his left hand as she placed her elbow against the table. "First of all, it's not that big of an age gap. It's only a four-year difference. We're in our 30s now and all adults here." She pointed it out. "Second, why are you even playing the whole age gap card? You slept with women both older and younger than you more than one occasion. Like that one woman who was 45 when you were 28." She reminded him.
"Maia had very good skin and did lots of hot yoga." He stated. "Anyway, what do you even like about Rhodes? What is it? You went from me to him. What about him is so attractive that makes you take off your pants for him?"
'If you look in the mirror, I'm clearly the better-looking guy and comes from a much wealthier family.'
"He's not you." She stares at him with her arms crossed.
Josh blinked twice at her words.
'Ouch. That hurts.'
He slowly nodded his head with blank facial expression trying to think about what to say. After a couple of seconds, he finally found his voice on what he wanted to tell her.
"I'm in Chicago right now for business trip. That's what I wanted to tell you."
"Okay." She nodded. "What kind of business trip?"
‘And how long till you get out of here.’
"After everything that happened with the bacteria case, The WHO are looking into setting up offices here in the city. They're also planning on sending their researchers and scientists to different science universities to avoid another case of David Seldon happening again."
Ava listened to his words carefully. "And you're one of them?"
Josh nodded. "The WHO are making me a research representative over at University of Illinois Chicago starting next month."
The blonde widens her eyes at the news. "You're moving to Chicago?"
'Are you kidding me? I can't get rid of this guy! He's the reason why I moved out here in the first place.'
He nods again. "I'm taking a break from traveling the world and staying in one spot. I've been traveling a lot since I joined the WHO for a brand-new start."
"New start?" That got her attention. "Is any of this related to Perkins?"
'Did Josh join the WHO because of Perkins? To get out and away from home too?'
He sighs. "Yeah.... she broke up with me a few months ago." He looked down at the table. "I thought we were in love, but then she told me the truth on why she dated me in the first place."
"The truth?" That got her curious.
He nodded. "She said the main reason why was because of you."
"Me?" Her voice became higher.
"Annie wanted to throw you off your game and get into your head both personal and professional, so you'd be too distracted and not do well during your residency and get fired as a result. She was actually very happy you moved far away when you did."
"Are you serious?!" She slammed her left fist against the table.
'That motherfucking bitch!! That's why that happened?!! She wanted to destroy my career, my dream?! Why that little slut... God, I hate her!! She truly is the worst. I never want to see that bitch ever again...'
"Man, if that bitch was here right now, I'd break both her hands" She grips onto her cup as she takes sip to try and calm her down.
Josh looked at her sincerely. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Ava. You didn't deserve any of that. And I've had a long…. long time to think about what happened after Annie and I broke up. How much of it was real and how much of it was fake. And I'm still working on being better."
"Good for you." She spoke dryly.
'Not that I care.'
"So, Connor Rhodes." He brings him up. "Is it serious with him?"
"It is."
"Do you love him?"
"I do."
Josh carefully examined her face and saw no sign of her wavering from the truth. He softly inhaled and exhaled.
'I see she's completely moved on from me.'
"A trauma and cardiothoracic surgeon. And the only son of the Rhodes family, a prominent family in Chicago. I read that he's a very talented surgeon, like yourself." He forced himself compliment.
"He is." She nodded. "And as much as I hate to say it, there are times when he's smarter than me in O.R. and always does things that I did not think were possible. We wouldn't have been able to perform the conjoined twins’ surgery without him."
"That good, huh?"
"After the surgery he got an Attending position offer at a top hospital but turned it down to stay in Chicago to be with me and run the new Hybrid O.R. at the hospital."
"He turned down an Attending position.... for you?"
'He turned down an Attending position.
At a top hospital....
it couldn't be?
Could it?'
"Yeah, he did." She confirms it.
"Which hospital?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"The Mayo Clinic."
'What did she just say? The Mayo Clinic?'
"Wait. Hold on." Josh held up with his right hand. "He was offered an Attending position at the Mayo Clinic?" His pulse started to quicken.
Ava nods her head.
"And this was back in May, right? When you turn started seeing each other." His heart rate quickens by the second.
"Yes, that's right."
"Oh my god, it was him!" Josh became irritated and there was a sharp glare on his face.
"Huh? It was Connor, what?" She was confused why he was agitated.
"Son of a bitch. It was his fault." He slammed his right fist against the table.
"What was Connor's fault? Josh, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Your boyfriend ruined my proposal. That's what!!" He quickly shook his head.
"What? Wha- you're not making any sense here." Ava was really lost why Josh was angry at Connor.
"When I said Annie broke up with me, it was after I asked her to marry me." He discloses.
"Oh...... Sorry to hear that." She took a long sip from her cup and looked away from him.
'Wow~ Perkins used Josh to the point he fell in love with her and proposed. Even after I moved away... That's something.'
"But what does any of that have to do with Connor? He was here in Chicago the entire time and never met you till recently. How could he have ruined your proposal?" That part still didn't make sense to her.
"Annie was offered Attending position at the Mayo Clinic." He tells her right away.
"What?" Ava widens her eyes at the new information. "Perkins is working as a cardiothoracic Attending at the Mayo Clinic right now?"
'That bitch got an offer at Mayo too?! Damn it!! Even when she's a thousand miles away, she's still making my blood boil.
Wait....
Did he say June?'
"The recruiter was a board member and told her, a doctor in the Midwest turned down the position back in May in favor to run a new innovated project at their hospital. Sounds like it was your boyfriend he was talking about."
'No way... Perkins broke up with Josh for the job Connor turned down to stay in Chicago to be with me.'
"Wow~. I would have never imagined in a million years that the Mayo Clinic would reach out to Perkins and give her the job Connor turned down. That's just.... wow." The odds of that happening are truly astronomical.
"You're telling me. I spent five months planning the perfect wedding proposal at Table Mountain, only to get turned down."
"Sounds rough."
"The worst part is, she already bought her plane ticket to leave the next day. She was already planning to break up with me that day. Said I embarrassed her by giving her an audience when she broke up with me right after I asked her."
"You had an audience for the proposal?"
"I had the hospital's CT department and both of our parents there to watch."
'Josh gets dumped in front of everyone who knew what happened between us back then and in front of his parents...'
Ava couldn't help but smile.
'I can see why that would be embarrassing for her. I would have loved to see that.'
Josh didn't notice and kept ranting. "How could she do that to me. After everything we've been through. Fake or not, I loved her!"
"If you're looking for sympathy on the situation, don't look at me."
"She picked Mayo over me." He kept ranting.
"Not my fault Perkins isn't like Connor when he picked me over Mayo."
"Annie was only offered the job cause Rhodes rejected the offer."
"So, you're blaming Connor for Perkins breaking up with you? Or are you blaming me for what happened?" She scoffs. "Pathetic." She shook her head. "If she actually loved you, she would have tried to work things out with you like having you move with her there, but she didn't."
"I would have moved with her if she asked." He argued.
"Why the hell are you telling me when it's Perkins you should be talking to about this?"
"I did; she still didn't want me. Said she needed to focus on her career and not be tied down. Especially at this point in her career."
'I see Perkins’ still the same. I expect nothing less from her'
"You know there are doctors like that. Hell, even I said that to you when I was a resident and wanted to keep it casual."
"But things changed between us." He reminded her.
"And let's not forget how that ended." She reminded him of the aftermath.
"Ava..."
"Look, Josh..... I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Perkins. And I get the feeling you don't feel like hunting down Alicia Brent in New York. But it's not Connor’s fault why things didn't work out between you and Perkins. And it's not on me either. Whoever it is you really want, I hope you do find it. Whether it's in Cape Town, or DC or Chicago or anywhere else in the world." Ava looks up at the digital clock on the wall to check the time. "I really do have to go to work now." She stands up and picks up her backpack and cup. "It's Halloween in Chicago, go have some fun with whoever you want. It's one of the craziest nights of the year in this city." She gives him one last look and walks away towards the stairs.
Over in the ED, most doctors and nurses were all dressed up in costumes. Early morning on Halloween day, there aren’t any major emergencies until later in afternoon and mostly at night.
Maggie was dressed as a Blackhawks hockey player standing in the nurses' station next to Lenox who was softly moving her body to the Halloween background music being played. That caught the nurse's attention.
"Are you dancing?" she asked.
The ED Chief immediately stopped moving. "No, I had a cramp in my calf." She lied and stretched her left arm down towards her leg.
Maggie chuckles then heard her large pager beep.
On the screen, the device read,
'CODE ORANGE: ETA 10 MINUTE'
"Okay, listen up, everybody. I just got confirmation. We've got a code orange coming in in T-minus ten minutes." She calls out to everyone in the room.
"Are we ready for that?" Hannah asks, dressed as Western Barbie with a long blonde wig.
"Let me tell you something. We better be." Dr. Charles says sitting down in a chair. He was dressed as Sherlock Holmes.
Lenox walks around Maggie to stand in the middle of the ED. "Halloween night and day can be one of the busiest of the year. Be smart about triage and resource management, and don't get too caught up in the pageantry. I expect the highest level of decorum." She reminded everyone.
A few seconds later, they heard a loud noise and shouting enter the ED. A man dressed as a masked luchador came in with a security guard chasing after him. Lenox moved to step aside as they came closer to the center of the room.
"Hey, stop right there!" The guard calls out before tackling the masked man into the ground.
Everyone stares as if this was normal Halloween behavior.
"It's gonna be a long day." Doris says dryly, dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein.
In one of the treatment rooms, Frost was treating a young blonde-haired boy dressed as Superman who had a white stick stuck in his right ear. Monique was assisting him by holding the boy's head in place so the doctor could remove the object. She was dressed as a sailor girl.
"Almost there, bud. Almost there, Coop." Frost assured the boy as he continued to fus loudly. "Hang in there, Superman. Hang in there, buddy." The doctor held onto the white stick in his left hand and his right held a tool to help remove it. "All right, Coop. Almost, buddy." The boy's mother watched looking concerned. "You're good, you're good, you're good."
A few seconds later, the object started to loosen.
Pop!
Frost removed the stick from the boy's ear. Revealing to have been a blue Dum Dums lollipop.
"Whoa." Frost says in surprise what it was the entire time.
'The kid put a lollipop in his ear?'
"How did he even get it in there?" The mother was also puzzled.
The boy slowly reached for the lollipop from the doctor's hands and without hesitation puts it in his mouth.
"I-no-mm." Frost was at a loss for words with the boy's actions. "Does that taste good, bud?" He asks
"Mm-hmm." The boy hummed happily.
'Kids today, I guess. So innocent...But gross.'
"Two birds, one lollipop. Right on." He held up his left hand to give him a hi-5. The boy responds. "Ow, Superman!" Frost playfully acted and the boy laughed.
He walks out of the room and sees some of the med students and residents standing near the ambulance bay entrance, all dressed as Minions.
"Wow. Excellent costume choice guys." The young doctor approaches them, also dressed as a Minion.
"But this tracks, right? I mean you never just see one Minion." Said Naomi.
"Facts." He nods.
"Which was why we asked around if others planned to dress as a Minion." Vanessa says standing on Naomi's left. Next to her was Terry and Zach.
"I didn't know who to come as. Saved me some time by just going as a group." Said Zach.
"We're gonna hang out tonight after work to check out some Halloween fun. You wanna join us, Dr. Frost?" Vanessa asks.
"You guys aren’t planning on going to Dr. Manning and Dr. Halstead's engagement party with the others?" Frost asks.
"I think that's mostly for the older doctors and nurses. We're still the newbies here. It'll feel awkward."
Frost was about to say something till someone called out his name.
"Hey, Dr. Frost." Called out a familiar female voice.
He turns around and sees two nurses dressed in familiar looking outfits. "Oh, no." He says softly.
It was Trini and Nancy dressed as Nick of Time! characters of him and his co-star.
They made whooshing and buzzing sounds as they turned around in a circle together.
"That was a close one." They said at the same time.
The Minions group stares with awkward smiles and playful grins.
"What do you think?" Nuse Nancy asks.
"I think you should watch higher-quality television." He tells them.
The nurses laughed and chest bumped each other before walking away.
"You're kind of low-key famous." Naomi commented.
"Very low-key. Among millennial and Gen X females of a certain age." He turns around to face the group.
"I've never seen "Nick of Time!" Sorry." The med student shook her head.
"Thank God. We'll get along" He nodded in relief.
"Yeah, we will." She smiled.
At the other side of the ED were the older doctors talking among themselves. The front entrance doors opened and appeared was Ripley dressed as Western Ken.
"Oh, I'm guessing this was coordinated." Maggie smiles seeing him dressed and paired up with Hannah standing across from her and Natalie at the nurses' station counter.
Ripley took off his hat, revealing the well fitted blonde wig he was wearing underneath. "I wanted to be an astronaut."
"Yes, but every hero needs a sidekick." Hannah playfully says putting her hand on his left shoulder and grinned at the two women.
"Mm-hmm." Natalie nodded, dressed as Mrs. Incredible and wearing a wig.
"That's how she got me to dress up in this as well." Will approaches the group, dressed as Mr. Incredible. Also wearing a blonde wig.
"Well, it only makes sense we dress as a pair of married couples." His fiancé smiles, placing a hand on his right shoulder.
"You two are wearing that tonight at the party?" Hannah asks them.
Natalie shook her head and removed her hand from Will. "No, first we're gonna take Owen treat-or-treating for the night portion for half an hour as a family. My mother-in-law is taking him right after school for the day run. Afterwards we'll change into our party clothes and head over."
"Jay told me that we should be lucky he's letting us have a joint bachelor/bachelorette party." Will tells her.
"You boys wanted to see some strippers, huh?" Maggie raised her left eyebrows and darted her eyes between both guys.
"You only get married once, right?" Ripley joked. Earning him an elbow jab from Hannah.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Maggie turns to her left towards Natalie. "I have something for you."
"What is it? A present?" She playfully says.
"Yes, I do." The nurse turns around, opens a drawer and pulls out something pink. She turns back around and makes a happy gleeful sound as she unwraps the pink item, revealing to be a pink decorated sash that says, "Bride To Be".
"No, Maggie. Please~." Natalie whined at the sight.
'C'mon I don't wanna embarrass myself in front of everyone I work with.'
"Oh, yes. Hey Will." The nurse looked around her at the groom. "Can you tell your fiancé to stop being a killjoy?"
"Huh?" He said looking at the sash.
"She's got to wear this tonight." She tells her.
"Maggie, I would like to maintain a little bit of dignity." The bride informs her.
"You're wearing it. This one's nonnegotiable." Her maid of honor smiles looking at her and hands her the sash.
The couple smile, shaking their heads as Natalie folds the sash.
"Well, I'm gonna hit the head." Ripely says and walks away.
"Well, make it quick. We need you." Said Maggie.
The group watches him walk away and turns to see Hannah still staring at him, grinning wide open.
"Things are going well, between you two?" Natalie leans forward.
"Yeah, he's really been showing up lately after we lost that mother." The obstetrician says softly, recalling recent events with their cases.
"Showing up? The man literally dressed like a Ken doll to please you." The nurse points out.
"Exactly. Clearly he's head over heels for you." Natalie added.
"You two are coming together to the party?" Will asks.
"We'll see." Hannah shrugs her shoulders.
"Howdy!" Noah appears next to her dressed as a cowboy.
"Howdy to you too, partner?" The blonde laughed and tipped her hat at him.
"Another cowboy today?" Maggie playfully shook her head. "You two, Crockett and Ripley and all of the Minion I've been saying. You guys aren't creative enough." She turns her head right and sees Dylan dressed as Sorcerer Micky, Stevie dressed as a witch and Zola dressed as Princess Jasmine talking to one another. "At least those guys are."
"You coming to the party dressed like that, captain?" Noah asks.
"This? No, April, Doris and I are gonna do a group costume. This is only for the Code Orange."
"Maybe I should get another costume for tonight as well?"
Maggie's large pager started to beep loudly. "No, it's gonna have to wait. I need you on the floor." She looks around the room and raises her voice. "Everybody, timeline's moved up. Battle stations now!" She grabs an orange pumpkin bucket and walks towards the elevator entrance.
Doctors and nurses around all picked up a bucket and followed the charge nurse.
"You ready?"
"Come on!"
"All right."
"Let's do it."
"All right."
"Make sure you have enough candy." Maggie tells everyone. "Make sure you have enough."
The staff stood on both sides of the hallways with buckets and hats filled with candy.
Ding
The elevator ding appeared; the doors opened, revealing various pediatric patients in costumes and had their bags wide open for candy. "Trick or treat!" They called out. The kids slowly walked through the hallway to get candy from the adults.
"Happy Halloween!"
"Happy Halloween, guys!
"Happy Halloween. There you go."
With the early morning Code Orange event with the kids over, everyone changed back into their normal scrubs and went through their day as usual.
For a normal Halloween day that is.
Connor was filling out some paperwork and checking patients on his tablet at the counter of the nurses' station when he overheard Terry talking to Lanik behind him.
"Oh, Dr. Lanik, uh.... I changed the dressing on the patient in Treatment 6 and found the journal articles you requested and here's your latte." The med student handed the ED chief the binders and report covers and his coffee before walking away.
The dark-haired surgeon raised his head in confused when he heard about the drink and was slightly glaring at the doctor.
'Seriously? Is he your med student or is he your secretary, Lanik?'
"Wow. You know, I'm all about giving the med students the occasional scut work," he looks down at the cup, "but having them fetch you coffee, that's classy."
"He wanted to. Rising star, that kid. Real pleaser." Lanik tells him the young man who offered to get him one. He appreciates it nonetheless and walks away.
Connor just shakes his head softly at the chief's words.
'Yeah right. More than taking advantage of the kid.' He sighs and goes back to work.
A second later, a familiar blonde-haired South African woman walks towards the computer station and smiles seeing him.
"Dr. Rhodes." Ava says his name to get his attention. She puts down a folder by the computers. Having come down to put away paperwork for patients and having the excuse to catch a glimpse of him.
He looks up and his mood changes from annoyed to happy in an instant. "Dr. Bekker. What's on tap for you today?"
"Back-to-back CABG's." She sighs and chuckles and starts to walk away.
"You got time for lunch later?" He asks.
"I'll see if I can squeeze you in." She turns around to smile at him and turns her head back towards the elevators.
Connor smiles, staring at her as she walks away.
A few seconds later, the nurse receptionist comes into the ED and calls out loud, "Need some help over here!"
'I can't believe this guy.' Connor angrily thought to himself as he followed Lanik out of the hybrid O.R. after operating on a trauma patient brought in an hour ago with a damaged leg from working construction. When they started to treat him, Connor told Lanik to insert a needle in the groin, only to have Terry do it instead.
But he made a mistake and went into the patient's artery instead.
And now was too harsh on the young med student who was already feeling guilty for his actions.
Lanik pushes the door open upon leaving and Connor stays on his toes and starts talking. "Where do you get off treating him like that?" Lanik stopped walking to turn around to look at him. "What happened was your responsibility." He pointed his goggles at him.
"I didn't stick that guy's artery." Lanik says, not feeling responsible for Terry's actions.
"You were supposed to be supervising." Connor reminded him.
"Look, the only way they learn is under pressure,"
"Not when it endangers my patient." Connor's voice becomes more aggressive.
"Look, would you just relax? You got your line in. Disaster was averted. No harm, no foul." The chief stares at him that it worked out.
"If you ever pull something like that again-" The dark-haired surgeon gets cut off.
"Hey, you might've been the golden boy up in CT, but down here, in A-2 and partially the entire floor, I'm in charge." Lanik reminded him who has more power.
"And I will supervise my med students in whatever way I see fit." He points his right index finger at him and walks away.
Connor glares at the retreating figure in silence, completely unaware someone was standing a few feet behind him.
"Glad to see you found a new sparring partner down here." A familiar female voice got his attention, and he turns around to face her.
Ava stares at him with a smug look and had her arms crossed. "Would hate to see you getting rusty in my absence."
"That guy is an egomaniac." He points behind him and takes a few steps towards her.
"Well, takes one to know one, right?" She nods, knowing very well from personal experience from their fellowship together from the past year.
That remark made Connor chuckle and she widely grins.
'Ughhh…. payback's a bitch, right?' He hangs his head down at the universe giving him a taste of his own medicine.
"Come on. Buy you lunch?" She offers.
"Yeah." He says softly and follows her.
"Feeling better now?" Ava asks as they're 5 minutes into their lunch break in the cafeteria. They were sitting across from each other at a two-person table.
"A little now, yeah." Connor takes a drink from his coffee after taking a couple of bites into his meal.
"You just needed to recharge after doing surgery." She takes a bite from her salad.
"Doing surgery with Lanik." He sighs shaking his head. "Out of all the trauma surgeons in the city and Gwen Garret picks him to be chief."
"Glad to see you've found your match." She finds the situation a bit amusing.
"Don't worry, only you can keep me on my toes in the O.R., Dr. Bekker."
"I better, or else I think I would lose face in the hospital."
They stared at each other for a few seconds before they started to laugh. They went back into eating their meal. A couple of minutes passed by, and Connor glanced over at his girlfriend and saw she was deep in thought about something.
"Something else on your mind, Dr. Bekker?"
"Umm...." Ava took a sip from her coffee. "Connor, there's something I have to tell you. And it's really big." She had an uneasy facial expression.
"Uh oh. Am I gonna hate this?"
"I don't know how to put this but um...." She bit her lower lip and waited a few seconds before spitting it out. "I saw Josh this morning."
Connor widened his eyes. "What? Josh? He's still in Chicago? I thought he left already?" He adjusted himself in his seat to sit up straight.
'Why is Mr. Top Model still in Chicago for?'
"So, did I. I was surprised when I saw him right after you left."
"Wait.... he showed up after I left you this morning?" He raised both eyebrows.
"Yeah. I was going to the cafe to get some coffee, and he just called out my name right behind me sitting at a table. Had my coffee order ready to go in his hand." She holds up her coffee. "I'm surprised he even remembered." She placed the cup back down on the table.
"What happened?"
"He wanted to talk to me."
"Did you?"
"I did." She nods.
"Okay.” He slowly nods. “What did he say?"
She took another deep breath. "You're not gonna believe this, but...... he's moving to Chicago next month."
His eyes popped out of his head at her words. "What? He's moving here?" He paused for a few seconds to think and then remembered a certain fact. "But the WHO doesn't have a Chicago office."
"Not yet, but after the chaos with the bacteria case, they decided to make one here, along with sending research representatives and scientists to every big science university in the city."
"And Hart took one of the positions?" He asks for clarification.
"He did." She confirmed.
"Did he say why?"
"That it was time to take a break from traveling around the world and to stay in one place for a while."
"I see."
'In Chicago of ALL places in the world?'
"So.... should I expect him to be around the hospital more then?"
"Maybe." She shrugs her shoulders. "He’s assigned at the University of Illinois Chicago and normally their microbiologists and researchers have access and work in the labs here at Med."
"I've seen a few of them." He sighs leaning back in his chair. "Did he say anything else?"
Ava deeply inhaled. "Yeah. Yeah, he did and..." she softly exhaled, "you're not gonna believe this next part. And it's crazy."
"How crazy are we talking?" Now he was intrigued.
“You know how I told you he cheated on me with Annie Perkins, correct.”
He nods remembering what he told her.
"Josh proposed to Perkins back in June, in front of the entire hospital CT department and their family.”
“Okay.” He nods.
‘So Hart fell in love with Ava’s rival.’
“And she said no." Ava then took a bite from her salad.
Connor whistles. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt." He couldn't help the corners of his lips from curving.
'That's what he gets for hurting Ava for cheating.'
"And the reason why she said no, was because she got offered an Attending position,
at the Mayo Clinic,
that you turned down." She pointed at him.
"WHAT?" He stared at her in shock.
"Uh-huh. He said the recruiter was a board member and said the Attending job was first offered to a doctor in the Midwest and he turned down the position back in May in favor of running a new innovated project at their hospital.
Without a doubt, that was you, Connor."
Connor slowly takes in all that information to piece one part to the other in the timeline. "Your old rival broke up with your ex-boyfriend when he proposed to her, to take the job offer I turned down to be with you?"
Ava nods slowly.
"Wow~. That's crazy."
'So I'm the reason Joshua Hart is single? That's a weird way to spin this whole thing.'
"Yeah, I know. That shocked me too." She shook her head annoyed. "I'm pissed off that Perkins got notice by Mayo and is now working there. But I'm even more pissed off at what Josh told me the truth about what really happened back then."
"What do you mean?"
"Josh told me the real reason she seduced him to cheat on me. She wanted me to lose focus and get into my head in both my personal and professional life, so I would fail my residency and get fired."
"Seriously?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yeah, even after I left to the point where she used and stayed with Josh long enough to think they were in love, only to turn down his wedding proposal to go to Mayo."
"Wow, when you said how much you hated this woman, I did not realize she would actually be a sociopath." He blinks twice and thinks back to when he first met Ava. "More and more your early days are making more and more sense now. She really was on a mission to take you down on being number 1."
"Pretty much." She looks down at her salad remains. "If I see that bitch again it be too soon." She says stabbing her bowl.
"Anything else?"
"Josh apologized again for hurting me. Says he's trying to be better guy, not that I really care anymore." She shrugs her shoulders and takes a bite. "Oh, and he asked about you."
"Me? Like what?"
"Asked if we were sleeping together. Apparently, he saw me in your car that night when we went to Molly's. And claims he didn't know we were heading there, and it was Halstead who invited him out for a drink to celebrate."
"And you told him?"
"Yeah, he was very persistent on knowing whether or not we were together. I think he only wanted to know cause Perkins left him to focus on her career and not be tied down. Then he sees me again after a while and sees I’m with someone else. Probably was feeling sad for himself and his love life."
"You think he still has some feelings for you?" That part he needed to know with her ex moving into town.
The blonde shook her head. "I think he's more upset that his proposal was ruined and is just taking that anger out on you. Plus, us being together is adding more fuel to his anger of him not getting what he wants, but everyone else is. Especially now knowing the connection between you, Mayo and Perkins now."
"I bet. That's a lot of information to take in"
"Some Halloween this turned out to be." Ava sighs leaning back against her chair.
"I'm now looking forward to the party tonight even more. Cause I really need a drink. And not just because of Lanik."
The workday came and ended and with the usual amount of crazy Halloween shenanigans and accidents people get into every year. The hospital staff from the day shift were more than happy clock out. Some having Halloween plans and some just wanting to go home after the long crazy day.
As for most of the staff in the ED, they were getting ready to head out to Will and Natalie's engagement party.
✉️ I'm outside waiting for you ✉️
Connor texted Ava as he was walking out of the hospital. Dressed in his usual black clothes. He wasn't going to do much for his costume, only planned to wear a skull pirate bandana. More of a cool casual pirate.
Ava on the other hand, kept her costume a complete secret from him so he's looking forward to the surprise.
He smiles thinking about it and looked up around the valet parking area to find one of the employees working and instead saw Terry on his left sitting down on a bench looking lost. He softly exhales recalling today's events.
The case didn't turn out the way he hoped after they performed the earlier surgery, the line Terry put in resulted in them having to amputate the good leg. Lanik was against it due to the patient having no chance of survival when he first arrived and was also afraid of the slightest chance of him surviving. Likely the patient would have filed a malpractice suit with the loss of his good leg and him being in charge would have taken a hit along with bringing Terry with him. Connor still cut off the leg, but the patient still didn't make it.
No doubt Terry was blaming himself for his actions and even questioned his career choices of turning down an NFL contract to be a doctor.
The surgeon walks over to the med student and sits down next to him on his right. "First one's the hardest." He puts his messenger down on his right.
Terry turned his head realizing someone next to him. "Huh?"
"You didn't cause his death, you know that, right?" The doctor turns his head to look at him.
"That's not it." Terry slightly shook his head; he wasn't upset about that.
The doctor was confused by those words as he stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking. "When Mitch died for a moment, for a split second......" The younger man looked down then turn his head to look at him. "I was relieved to be in the clear."
Connor nodded his head, understanding. "You're human."
The two started at each other.
"Now, look, the minute that you walk into this hospital, the only person relying on you needs to be your patient. This is already a high-pressured gig and you need to find a way to leave everything else at the door. You got me?" He advised.
Terry nodded. "I hear you." He looks down for a few seconds and then backs up. "Thanks, Dr. Rhodes."
Connor nods his head again and the two men stand up. He puts his strap back over his right shoulder and turns to look at the med student again. He gives him a reassuring grin. "You hang in there, Terry. You're going to be fine."
Terry nods taking in his words and softly smiles as he walks around him, getting a quick pat over his right shoulder by the doctor.
As Connor turns around, he sees his date walking towards him happily grinning.
'Ah~ good timing...and uh.... hello~.'
Ava was wearing a black top with white polka dots and puffy sleeves. The shirt appeared thin and had a long v neck, exposing part of her chest and the shirt was a little short as it revealed a small portion of her bare waist. Her pants were long black knit with front slits for both legs that went up to her knees, showing off black boots that went below her knees. Along with the pirate hat headband, her other accessories included were large golden hoop earrings that matched three necklaces. One necklace was a large chain that was wrapped closer to her neck, the second necklace was thin and had a small circle pendant, and the final necklace hung loose around her neck and appeared to look like a compass. She wore her hair in her normal curly fashion; he could tell it she fixed some of her curls from doing surgeries all day.
She put a lot of effort into her costume.
'I can see why she didn't want to dress up before coming to work now. This is not something you wear for work or in the daytime.'
Connor chuckles taking a few steps towards her. "Arr, matey." He imitated a pirate.
She chuckles at him.
"You clean up nice, Dr. Bekker." He says in his normal voice.
"You're not so bad yourself." She complimented him.
He chuckles again and offers his right arm to her. "Shall we?
With the sun having gone down for the day and the moon up, so was the buzzing Chicago nightlife for Halloween night for everyone in the city. Kids trick-or-treating, teenagers and adults going to haunted houses, partying or causing mischief.
♫ Gyal
Wid ah body like dat
When you Snapchat me, girl
Sey me haffi screenshot
So me call her scotch bonnet so di gyal hot
She a bubble like soup, dat a real pepper pot
Check ya iPhone fi di iMessages ♫
Most of the ED staff, along with their friends at Firehouse 51 and the 21st District, were having fun drinking, dancing and celebrating Will and Natalie's engagement at O'Rourke's Pub for their joint bachelor and bachelorette party. Lots of laughter mingled with the sound of clinking glasses and upbeat music everyone was dancing to, creating a festive atmosphere of the special occasion before the upcoming big day. Almost everyone was dressed in costumes, mostly the women were, some of men didn't care to dress up but still wore something nice.
♫ Seh me outside park up inna di X6
Wid the guinness and magnum ready wid di mix
So me know tonight your business get fixed, gyal
Mi love how you wine and bubble gyal
When you go pon your toe and tip pon it
Body look tight and right, gyal ♫
The bar was alive with so many familiar faces and decorated with various Halloween decor and balloons representing the bride and groom and signs relating to wedding engagement. Maggie, April and Doris changed from their earlier costumes into going as the Pink Ladies from Grease. The bride wore a red dress that showed off her bare shoulders with some black floral designs sticking out that matches the Halloween season along with the sash her maid of honor made her wear. The groom wore a dark navy-black suit and blue shirt and tie combo with a black decorated hat that said "Groom" written in light blue.
♫ When you quint up your ting and grip on it
Treat me like a App when you hot
Put me pon di desktop then you double click pon it
Mi waan you boom flick pon it
Do all kind ah tricks pon it ♫
The bride and groom were dancing in the middle with everyone surrounding them. They cheered when Will dipped Natlie backwards.
"I'll go get us another round." The bride says after kissing him.
"Got it."
♫ Wine gyal, same way
Wine gyal, mi no come yah fi no game play
Wine gyal, same way
Wine gyal, do all kind ah tricks pon it ♫
Soon an hour passed and some of the women were getting tired dancing on their feet and decided to sit down at one of the corner booth counter areas to chat among themselves. Sitting left to right were: Kim, Hailey, Ava, Brett, Natalie, Maggie, Stella, and Foster.
"So, how's the bride to be enjoying herself so far tonight?" Kim asked, she was dressed as Morticia Addams.
"After the day I had, I needed to blow off some steam tonight." Natalie replied, adjusting her sash.
"Amen to that. I can't tell you how many false alarms we had on the ambo. And of course, the many Halloween mishaps." Brett groaned, she was dressed as a witch.
"No kidding. We had a guy who almost beheaded himself with a guillotine decor on his front lawn." Said Stella, she was dressed as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
"Taking Halloween scare a little too far there." Maggie looked at the firefighter. "Hey, how's Severide doing?"
Stella looked at her and then over at the bar counter where her boyfriend was, along with Casey and Ethan. "Okay."
"Glad to hear it." The nurse nods.
"Yeah, I mean, at least that's what he tells me, but-"
"Severide being Severide." Foster finishes for her. She was dressed as vampire.
"Exactly. It is a mystery what goes on in that head of his." Stella shook her head.
"You look tired. Are you okay?" Natalie asks.
"You know, my sleep has been terrible lately. I-I think I need a new pillow. But until then, this next shot of tequila is just going to have to do. Cheers." Stella holds up her glass beer signaling the rest to go the same. "Forget about me, it's your night girl. To Natalie!"
"To Natalie!” the group roared back, their voices mingling in a harmonious chorus, and glasses clinked together.
Ava took a sip from her beer to think back a few weeks again to the last time she saw the squad lieutenant.
==Flashback==
"Excuse me. Do you have any information on a Benjamin Severide? Admitted for a stroke." Severide asks Doris when he sees the nearest nurse.
"Let me check." The nurse says before turning around.
Severide stands by himself for a moment before Ava calls out his name. "Lieutenant Severide?"
He approaches her and she has a sad facial expression that tells him it's bad news.
"I'm sorry." She speaks. "We did everything we could." She softly inhaled before saying, "Your father passed away ten minutes ago."
"What?"
"I'm so sorry, Kelly."
==Flashback Ends==
Severide's father had come in from a stroke when Ava was down in the ED and Connor was in the middle of performing a trauma in the hybrid O.R. She tried her best to save him, but it was already too late. Losing a patient is part of the job, but it's a little harder when it's a family relative of someone you know.
"So, Ava...." Brett's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and turned to face her on her left. "Stella says that you personally know Dr. Joshua Hart back home in South Africa?"
The blonde South African turned her head to look further down the corner booth at the female firefighter, who pretended to drink and look away.
Ava slowly nods her head. "Yes. That part is true."
"Wait, Dr. Joshua Hart? AKA the smoking hot microbiologist that helped during the flesh-eating bacteria chaos. That doctor?" Foster widens her eyes at the gossip.
"That be him." The surgeon nods again.
"That man is F-I-N-E. Fine." Foster said with wide eyes looking at Stella.
"I'm only asking cause Violet Mikami took him out of Molly's that night." The blonde paramedic reveals.
"Oh, so it was Violet he was talking about. Must have turned him on with her chemistry trivia facts." The blonde surgeon took a sip from her drink. "Believe me when I say this, that guy takes full advantage of his looks to get women in bed with him." She rolled her eyes.
"Does that include you?" Kim asks, feeling interested in poking into Ava's past.
Ava's eyes roll up from her drink to slightly glare at the cop. "Really? Do I seem like the type of woman that would take off my pants easily for a guy who uses his looks to get laid?"
"There wasn't a "no" in that entire sentence." Hailey points out sitting right next to her. She was dressed as Wednesday Addams.
Ava turned to her left and saw the rest of the ladies were eagerly waiting to hear what she had to say. She groans and rolls her eyes again, knowing these ladies well enough, they'll not going to back down. "The guy is persistent. I'll give him that. It took him 5 years for me to agree to go out with him. First casual then into a relationship." She admitted.
"Ha!" Foster pointed. "Is he good?"
"Why, you looking for a new hookup?" She playfully raised her left eyebrow.
"Always. Now spill the truth girl."
Ava exhaled as her eyes rolled up towards the ceiling. "If you're just looking for a hot night, then he's good for that."
"That's all I needed to hear."
"Lucky for you, he told me he's moving to Chicago next month." Ava reveals to the group.
"Even better." The paramedic grinned.
"Foster, you're seriously asking Ava about wanting to sleep with her ex?" Brett exclaimed.
"Hey, don't mind me." Ava holds up both her hands. "I don't care if you want to sleep with him. I don't want him. Not anymore, not after what he did." That little detail caught their attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know it wasn't amicable." Foster changed her demeanor from excited to sincere.
Ava shook her head and held up her left hand. "I'm over now, so it's fine to talk about it."
"What happened?" Natalie asks.
"Caught him cheating with this old rival of mine from Groote Schuur."
"Ouch." Said Maggie. "The new hot scientist's a dog, I see."
"That's why I applied to America for my CT fellowship, to get far away from my past. It blew up pretty bad afterwards. Not a lot of good memories. But then Connor got the position, and I had to wait the next year for Latham to let me in. Which I was grateful for. I hated working at the same place with Perkins every day." Ava takes a long sip from her drink as she leans back against the burgundy color booth cushion.
"Perkins? That the name of the woman?" Natalie asks.
"Yeah, Annie Perkins. Before meeting Connor, she was the real thorn to my side."
"So, in a way, like you when you first arrived and acted towards Connor to other doctors then?" The bride asks.
The heart surgeon paused for a few seconds to think and then nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."
"That's explains it now." Maggie widens her eyes at the information.
'Looks like Connor and the others just got the foot end of what Ava went through with this Perkins chick.'
"The day I left for Chicago, Josh actually showed up at the airport to say goodbye." Ava tells them.
"He did? To apologize?" Brett asks.
"That and defend himself, saying he hoped I find someone who makes me happy, and he and Perkins were meant to be. Bla bla bla." Ava waves her left hand back and forth. "And wished me good luck in my career in America."
"Well, good news is you did turn out great here. He on the other hand...." Stella's voice trails off.
"He told me he proposed to Perkins back in early June, but she turned him down." The blonde-haired doctor reveals to them.
Brett widened her eyes and opened her mouth. "Wow, and he ruined a future with you for her only to get dumped in the end."
"And he had a large audience watching, including their parents."
Hailey whistles. "The best karma there is."
"Yeah, small world for the reason why she did actually." Ava lifts her right index finger.
"What do you mean?" The detective asks.
"He said, part of the reason why she turned him down was because she got offered the exact same Mayo Clinic job that Connor turned down to stay in Chicago to be with me." That got a reaction from the table.
"Shut up!"
"Are you serious?"
"No way!"
"Dang! This is a small world."
Ava nods. "According to him, she told him the only reason she dated him was to get into my head. Mess up both my personal and professional life. Even went as far as manipulating him into thinking they were in love."
"Wow~ that's some...." Kim looked off to the side to think, couldn't find the right words to say.
"Sociopath level insanity." Foster finishes for her.
"Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for." The cop thanked her.
"She was that fixated on you even after you moved out of the continent?" Hailey asks.
"I wanna say no, but then again I don't really know what goes on in that head of hers. I think she just liked the stats of being one of the top CT surgeons at the hospital and dating an attractive guy with high family status that many women in Cape Town had fallen for. I would be more surprised if she only stayed with him just to spite me. Especially given the fact that I wasn't planning on moving back home at all permanently. Taking a trip back home is as far as what I'm willing to do. I meant what I said about starting over my life over here." Ava stares at her.
"You got your dream job and life and so did she at Mayo. And Josh gets nothing in the end and somehow ends up coming back into your life a year after you left." Maggie states.
"He said it was a coincidence he was sent by WHO to help the CDC on the case. I never told him what hospital I was doing my fellowship at in Chicago, so I guess I can believe him in that part." Ava shrugs her shoulders.
"And him moving to Chicago? You think he's moving here to fix things between you guys?" Brett asks.
"I'm not really sure of anything at the moment with him. Just that I think he's pissed at Connor for "ruining" his proposal to Perkins by inadvertently sending the Mayo Clinic offer her way."
"Men always need someone to blame when things don't go the way they want." Stella states taking another swing from her drink.
"Sorry to ask but, do you have some feelings for Josh still?" Natalie asks.
Ava widens her eyes at her friend's words and stand up straight to look at her. "What? Of course I don't!! Any romantic feeling I had for Josh died the night I caught him with Perkins. I would never leave Connor for that guy, ever. Do you know how long it took me to trust another guy after Josh?" She exclaimed.
"A year, right? Cause you started sleeping with Connor back in May." Hailey asks next to her.
Ava looked at her and then darted her eyes to the upper left. "For the most part, yes."
The blonde detective under the black wig caught that little detail. "What was that?"
"What was what?" The blonde doctor pretended to not know what she was talking about and took another drink, only to realize her beer was empty.
'Damn. I need another drink. Since when did I become this open about my personal life with others? Oh yeah.... because I actually made friends.'
"That thing with your eyes." Hailey squinted her eyes as she looked carefully at her. "Connor Rhodes wasn't the first guy you slept with after Josh, was he?" She raised her left eyebrow.
Ava leaned away slightly from her and looking at the rest of the table were also eyeing her carefully. They were all feeling motivated with the alcohol in their systems.
"I thought we were here to celebrate Natalie." She tried to move onto a new topic.
"Oh, we will, after you answer the question." Natalie devilishly grinned leaning her left elbow against the table to stare at her. "Spill it, Bekker. Who was the guy after Josh, but before Connor?"
"Okay fine." She sighs in defeat......
but then playfully grinned at a thought.
'I might as well have a little fun here. I saw the way they acted when HE was in town. And I already told Connor about him.' Her playful grin turned devilishly, feeling the liquid encouragement going through her system.
"I hooked up with NY Hottie Cop back in December when he came to Chicago." Ava discloses to them. They exploded around her, slamming their hands and drinks against the table.
"What?!"
"Shut up!"
"Damn it!"
"No way!"
"You slept with Detective Carisi?" Kim widens her eyes.
Detective Dominick Carisi Jr., from Manhattan’s Special Victims Unit. He was a very attractive, tall well-dressed man with well styled brown hair. He had come to Chicago alone a year ago to work on a case with the Intelligence Unit that connected back to an old case he worked on. While working on the case he crossed paths with multiple first responders, many were women that gossiped among each other. Giving him the nickname, “NY Hottie Cop” when talking about him in private. He spent a good amount of time at the hospital and out on the field when talking to victims. And of course, taking down perps in the case. His kind personality, empathy and compassion with victims and others really won over many of the first responders.
That and he knew how to wear a suit. That also played a part in becoming an eye candy to the female first responders that met him.
Many were upset when the case ended, and he went back to New York.
"Thought it would be a good Christmas present for myself." She crossed her arms. "And I also wanted to take a chance on putting myself out there after Josh. I gotta say, it was hard to convince him, he was going through something personal. Not gonna say what it was for privacy reasons. But I eventually hooked him in." She smiles.
"I find it hard to believe for a man to turn you down, Bekker." Maggie playfully scoffed. "I mean ......" She motioned her arm towards up and down at her appearance. "You're one smoking hot babe, hot stuff."
"He had a pretty strong will. But I got him talking and well.... seduced him to spend one night with me." The blonde grins.
"Any details you like to share?" Brett asks.
"Well for starters, he's better than Josh." Her grin becomes wider.
"In what way?"
"Just... wow~." Ava whistles. "This isn't related to what he was going through, but his girlfriend dumped him two months prior."
"What?!" Brett exclaimed. "A woman dumped someone who looked like that? New Yorker's have some pretty weird standards."
"Said there were trust issues when working on a case. Though, a cop dating a reporter doesn't exactly sound like a good combination."
"No, it does not." Hailey shakes her head.
"Still though, he could give Connor a run for his money in the bedroom and being a good kisser." Ava playfully bit her lower lip. The girls whistle at her words and laugh. "I'm just saying, whoever ends up becoming Mrs. Carisi will be one lucky lady."
"I bet." Natalie nods.
"You sure you were good to drive? You're lucky we didn't get pulled over." Ava chuckles as they stumble into his condo.
"Don't worry, I didn't go nuts like some of the others did. I will however drink a little more when the wedding comes up next week." Connor steps out of his shoes and then drops his bag onto the kitchen counter as he walks to get a glass of water. He pulls off the pirate bandana and uses it to wipe away some head sweat.
"We're getting an Uber that night, aren't we?" She says walking towards the bedroom to take off her outfit. She first stops at the mirror dresser to take off all her pirate accessories starting from the top of her head to around her neck. Once everything is taken off, she walks towards the bedroom bench at the foot of the bed to take off her boots. She starts with her left boot, resting her ankle against her right knee to unzip it.
"I'm sure we won't be the only ones. Might as well charter a party bus at this rate." Connor walks into the bedroom and sees her slowly getting out of her pirate outfit. The whole night he couldn't stop thinking about how good she looked and how much he wanted to take that off himself in private away from prying perverted eyes.
'Most of us did take tomorrow off. And uh.... who says the party has to stop once we leave the bar?'
"Careful, you might have jinxed it." She smiles, still feeling the alcohol in her system and holds up her loosen left boot. "Do you mind?" The blonde gave him an alluring look for him to finish for her.
He glanced between her and her boot and gave her a knowing look.
Not saying a word, he walks over to her, kneels and proceeds to remove her left boot from her foot. He rests her foot against his right knee as he proceeds to the other.
"As long as we're all having fun, right?" He holds onto her right leg and unzips her boot and pulls it off.
"Speaking of fun, the night's not over just yet." He leans down towards the exposed skin of her calf and slowly caresses her skin against his face.
Ava closes her eyes and leans her head back as she softly sighs at his gentle touches.
"I've been thinking about this outfit all night. You looked so good in it." He pulls his head back and to look at her as he spreads her legs wide open. He leans forward up towards her neck and starts pressing soft kisses.
"You wanna see this on the floor instead?" She softly gasps as she scoots herself to the bed behind her as he pushes her down on her back against the mattress.
"Not my fault you chose to dress as a sexy pirate to the party." His kisses move slowly towards her revealed chest area of her v neck top.
"Hmm. You blame me?" Ava moans holding the back of his head in her right hand when he presses his right hand against her left breast over the thin fabric.
"Uh-huh." He chuckles while his other hand works on pulling up her shirt.
"You want to punish me? She sits up a bit to help remove the shirt, leaving her completely topless.
"So bad." He grins against her lips as they start to fight for dominance and start taking off both their clothes.
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At the same time, somewhere else in the Windy city was a man holding a glass of whiskey in his right hand, he stood by the window, the cold glass pressed against his left shoulder as he leaned against. He gazed at the Chicago skyline view from below.
Dressed in nothing but a towel that hung loosely around his waist, he raised the glass to his lips, relishing the warmth that spread through him as the amber liquid slid down his throat. It was a simple pleasure after the evening he just had. Just hours earlier, laughter had filled the room, mingling with the hushed whispers of shared secrets and fleeting touches.
He turns his head around right to look at the sleeping faceless naked woman in his hotel bed.
He took another sip of whiskey, his eyes drifting back to the window, seeing his own reflection.
The man was in deep thought after everything that has happened today, but one thing was clear to him.
A name that stuck to him.
A name whom his former lover had fallen in love with.
Connor Rhodes.