Journey- A Chicago Med Fanifc Sequel!

Chapter 92

"Wait, what?" I ask, stifling my laughter. Connor turns around to look at me, his eyes wide. He really doesn't want me to dig into this. 

Howard looks surprised at my sudden interjection, as if he wasn't expecting me to intrude on his conversation. 

"It's true," he tells me, grinning. "It was hilarious." 

"In my defence, I was five," Connor protests, a slight edge to his voice that I don't think Howard picks up on. 

"Of course you were, calm down," Howard laughs. "I was only recalling the stories that your father used to tell me. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you in front of your..." 

Before he can finish the sentence, I cut in. "So, Howard, you had some questions about the surgery?" 

"Don't worry about that," Howard says, shrugging. "I don't think I have too much to be worried about. I think I'll be fine." 

"Right," Connor says, nodding. "We'll be back soon, everything is almost ready for your surgery. We're just getting the OR prepped." 

We both leave the room now. I can sense Connor's desperation to leave. The tip of his nose is still a furious shade of red. 

We walk up the hallway in silence. This is ten times more awkward than it was before. The tension hangs in the air between us uncomfortably, and neither one of us are doing anything to break it. 

Eventually, I decide to say something. "So, the dog?" I ask him, a smile on my face. 

"It's not what you think," he insists, although he is also smiling. "I was very young, five, I think it was." 

"You wanted to marry your dog?" I say, laughing, now that I don't have to contain it. It's hilarious. I can't believe that it's true. "Not even a person, you wanted to marry your dog!" 

"I can't believe my father told people about that," he sighs. "He won't let me live it down, and now, I doubt you will either, will you?" 

"I don't know," I say, laughing. "This is probably the most embarrassing thing I know about you." 

"Oh, there's more," Connor says, smiling. "A lot more. If that's the most embarrassing thing, then I'm safe." 

"So, Howard," I say, as we walk. "What's your real opinion of him, now that we're out here." 

"I can't stand him," Connor says, with a straight face. "I really can't. To be honest, I never could." 

"Good," I say, a smile spreading across my face. "You're right, he is an asshole." 

We walk past a vending machine, and I suddenly stop. "I should have got something from there before I started," I sigh. "I could use the energy." 

"Wait there," he says, walking over to it. "I know a trick. Watch this." 

I watch as Connor reaches behind the vending machine, and does whatever strange trick that he thinks will work. I have my doubts about it. 

"That won't work," I say, as he works on the vending machine. There's no way that it could actually work. 

"Just wait," he says, a smile on his face. Swiftly, he hits the front of the vending machine and a chocolate bar falls out of it. He picks it up and hands it to me. "Will this do?" he asks, teasingly. 

"Well, consider me corrected," I say, unwrapping it. "I didn't think that would actually work." 

"Maybe one day, I'll teach you my secrets," he says, laughing. "Anyway, you have to halve it with me, since I got it for you." 

"Absolutely not," I say, taking a bite. "I need this way too much." 

"Whatever you say," Connor laughs, walking alongside me again. "By the way, you have chocolate on your cheek." 

"Wait, what?" I ask, gasping. How embarrassing. "Where is it?" I ask him, worried. 

"Relax, I was joking," he says, grinning. "Getting my own back from your teasing about the dog thing." 

"That was harsh," I say, pulling an exaggerated face. "What actually happened to that dog?" 

"My father gave it to this professional breeder," Connor explains. "A dog was getting too boring to look after." 

"I bet that broke your heart," I joke, laughing. "Has anyone ever told you that the tip of your nose goes pink when you're embarrassed?" 

"Unfortunately, yes," he says, sighing. "I've been told that before. That's embarrassing in itself." 

"No, not really," I say, smiling. "I don't know, I think it's cute." 

"I thought you hate that word," Connor says, raising an eyebrow. 

"I do," I tell him, nodding in agreement. "But I'm willing to make an exception." 

Suddenly, Connor stops, making me stop too. He turns to me, a serious look on his face. "Tessa," he says. "I realise now that completely blanking you wasn't exactly the best way to deal with it all." 

"I thought you didn't want to talk about this, here?" I ask, in a low voice. I don't know why I'm whispering. Everyone probably already knows about it anyway. 

"I don't, not really," he says. "It was just playing on my mind and I had to say something about it. I could have handled things better." 

"Me too," I say, truthfully. "What I did was...wrong, too. I shouldn't have told Natalie all of that stuff." 

"Why don't we just start again, completely?" Connor asks me. "Leave all of that in the past and draw a line under it? What do you think?" 

"I can start again," I say, nodding. "I just don't want to have to deal with this mess. Starting again sounds like the best thing to do." 

"Then it's settled," Connor says, smiling. "Let's start again. Pretend all of that from last night never happened." 

"Got it," I say, nodding. "We're starting over." I pause, before saying. "Does this mean that I can't bring up the dog again?" 

"Yes," he says, quickly. "It absolutely means you can't bring up the dog thing again." 

"You bet I'm bringing it up again," I tell him, laughing. "I won't let you forget about that!" 

"I knew it," he says, laughing along with me. "I'm glad that we're starting again."