𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐇 // 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

IF THERE WAS ONE THING Sharon Goodwin didn't expect, it was for Connor Rhodes to march into her office without her request. The head of patient and medical services looked up, an eyebrow slightly raised as she stared at the surgeon. He seemed agitated, quickly finding himself pacing the floor in front of her desk. "Doctor Rhodes," Sharon spoke up, removing her glasses from the bridge of her nose. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

               "I can't work Christmas Eve."

              Connor stopped pacing, his gaze landing directly on his boss as he patiently waited for her answer. Sharon seemed confused, and he did not blame her; they did not have to go many weeks back to find a moment where Connor was prepared and happy about working the holidays. Though Sharon didn't voice her confusion, the surgeon found himself being well aware that she wondered what had made him change his mind.

               "Look, I know I said I could work — and I know I said I could take extra shifts, but truth is," Connor paused, a shaky sigh escaping his lips as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his scrubs. "I've been invited to spend the holidays with someone. It's just Christmas Eve, but it is something I want. Again, I know I said—,"

                 "We'll fix this, Rhodes," Sharon smiled warmly, noticing the surprised look on the surgeon's face. "You might be one of the more challenging doctors in this hospital — and I mean that in a good way — but, you rarely make personal requests. Lawsuits and troubles aside, we should be able to make this work out."

                 Connor was surprised; he had not expected for Sharon to be as accepting of his request, though he knew she was right. He was one of the more challenging doctors at the hospital, though he never meant to be a bad man. Connor Rhodes' only intention and goal during his hours on shift at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center was to help as many people as possible, even if that meant he would be writing anonymous checks from his own accounts.

                "Thank you." He nodded, freezing for a second, before leaving her office in silence, choosing to leave before he would be promising himself to work some other day before checking what he could have of potential plans.

Daniel Charles stood outside Sharon's office, watching with furrowed brows as the surgeon closed the door behind his back. "Good afternoon, Rhodes," he spoke up, clearing his throat. "Got a new lawsuit you need to settle?"

The surgeon was about to answer, though closed his mouth and settled on a roll of the eyes. "Good afternoon to you too, Charles."

                Connor and Daniel had never been best friends, the whole episode with Robin had not helped. Truth was, Daniel had never truly approved of his daughter's relationship to the surgeon, and though they worked things out — for a while, at least — things went back to normal as soon as she left Chicago. Continuing down the hall, Connor knew that Daniel was still looking at him, wondering why the surgeon had made his surprise visit to Sharon. He wouldn't say it was a typical shrink-thing to get all carried away with every one else's business, but Connor had seen it plenty of times; and not just with his own life.

                The emergency department of the hospital was surprisingly quiet. Will and Natalie stood outside a treatment room, comparing notes and charts, Maggie looked to give April a pep-talk. It was a hospital, yet it was one of the places where Connor felt the most at home. Sighing, he made his way to the nurse's station, opening a few of his patients' charts on the computer.

               "Connor — rumor has it you don't need to work Christmas Eve after all," Maggie spoke up, stopping beside the dark-haired surgeon. "Got a forwarded message from Goodwin; doctor Marcel is taking your shift in the ED that day."

                 "Remind me to thank him, if I see him around," Connor nodded, a smile on his lips, before he continued looking through the charts on the screen.

                 Maggie remained by his side, though her gaze danced around the room. "Oh — Connor, there's someone who wants to see you in trauma three. Said she knows you?" Connor turned to look at Maggie, who kept an eyebrow raised as she looked at him. "I don't know who it is; I assigned Choi to the case, they're waiting for a CT-scan now. Halstead, on the other hand, got a smug smile when he saw who it was."

                "Will's always a bit smug, though, isn't he?" Connor chuckled, rolling his eyes as he threw a glance towards the red-headed doctor. "Thanks, Maggie — I'll go check who it is."

                Chicago was a big city, with plenty of different people. As a surgeon, Connor was destined to meet quite a few of them, and he was destined to see even more. However, he had not expected to see Eila on the other side of the door in trauma three, a worried look on her face as she looked at the man in the hospital bed. "I thought I told you to check this out earlier," she sighed, shaking her head a little. "You can't just brush everything off, dad."

               "Eila?"

                "Connor, hi," she smiled, her eyes meeting his as the surgeon stepped into the room, a confused look on his face. "This is my dad, Jonathan — he's been complaining about a stomach ache for a while now. Both me and mom have tried to get him to check it out, but he's not the easiest to convince." Eila sighed, rolling her eyes. "Dad, meet Connor — he's my neighbour, the one I've told you and mom about."

               Connor felt a flutter inside of him, as he heard her words. She had been talking to her parents about him. Though he was still unsure of her feelings for him, that could be a way of confirming she felt the same as him, wasn't it?

                "I heard Choi is on your service," Connor smiled, looking at Jonathan in the hospital bed. "You are, without a doubt, in good hands."

                "You've got black scrubs," the older man pointed out, looking at Connor with narrow eyes. "Why don't you have the maroon scrubs? Aren't you a good doctor, like Choi?"

               "Dad—,"

               "I'm a surgeon." Connor replied casually, noticing how the expression on Jonathan's face changed. "I regularily have shifts down here, but I'm a surgeon with the cardiothoracic department of the hospital. However, the doctors down here in the emergency department are just as good as any other doctor in the hospital, and with Choi, you'll be getting excellent care. However, would you mind if I borrowed your daughter for a minute?"

               Jonathan grumbled something underneath his breath, eyes narrow as he watched Connor follow Eila outside the room.

               "I would've called you, but I wasn't sure whether or not you were in surgery," Eila sighed, shrugging slightly. "I didn't want to disturb, especially not for my stubborn father's stomach ache."

               "You know you can always call or text," Connor chuckled. "It'll never disturb, and if I'm in surgery, I'll see it when I'm out — you know that. Besides, finishing off things and seeing that I have a notification from you on my phone, it does make me quite happy."

               And that wasn't a lie.