Trudging up the stairs to her apartment from a long day of, as Cassie referred to them, "Misdemeanor E.R. Visits", she desired nothing more than to relax. She'd been popping in and out of various rooms every thirty minutes, mostly when certain patients decided to either be a pain to her and/or April out of sheer boredom or when the two little boys who came in were in so much discomfort just to have whatever they had been complaining about miraculously disappear just after their parents chose to not send them to school that day.

Sure, a part of her understood, all of her cared, but most of her? Most of her wanted a steaming bubble bath and to dream that tomorrow wouldn't want to make her sit under the water until she had to come back up to breathe. Of course, the last part wasn't really because of the patients.

The second her key slid into the lock, she couldn't dismiss the fact that is wasn't locked as it usually was when she returned home. Two single women living in Chicago always had the door securely locked. Eyes narrowing and ear being pressed to the door with caution, she took note of the questionable noises she heard permeating through. Taking the key out slowly as to not make any sound, she turned the knob ever so gently before thrusting the door open with vigor, uncertain of what she'd find on the other side.

"Oh!" The word squeaked from her lips without thought, stricken by the rather compromising position she'd managed to find her roommate in. Elana was furiously kissing a man on their couch, rubbing her hips in circles against his own, his hands exploring her body and only removing the connection of their lips if they moved to one another's necks. Elana's head immediately snapped in her direction, rolling from the man's lap with wide eyes to coolly sit beside him, collecting herself.

"I'm sorry, um-" Cassie couldn't control the giggles that bubbled up her throat at her friend's rapid actions. "I didn't meant to interrupt."

"Cassie, this is Mouse. Mouse, Cassie." Clearing her throat, she gestured between the two, Mouse offering a somewhat embarrassed wave.

He was a man with mousy brown hair, which was fitting, and he was slightly shorter than the usual men Elana went for. His eyes were very kind, however, assuming that was the quality that most likely brought him there.

She couldn't be sure whether their pink tinted cheeks were from what she'd witnessed earlier or from becoming flustered at her returning home. Her best guess was a mixture of both.

"Nice to meet you." She smiled, unfrozen and feeling her feet finally move from where she stood by the door. Tossing her keys onto the console table by the entrance, she set her bag down beside the piece of furniture and realized that for that fleeting moment, she'd forgotten that she was even upset before walking through that door.

"Likewise." A genuine smile adorned his features then and it was hard to deny that he was adorable, any shred of nervousness having disappeared.

She heard their goodbye's, Mouse bringing up that the three of them should spend some time together under different circumstances soon, which both girls happily agreed to. Locking up after he left, Cassie turned to face Elana quickly to see a smile upturning the corners of her mouth, easily becoming a laugh.

"I wouldn't have come home and ruined your evening if I knew! You should've texted me; I'd have just killed some time at Molly's." She lightly chided, playfully shoving her shoulder. Using the shove to push her in the direction of the kitchen, Elana made her way to the refrigerator, speaking from behind the now open door.

"It just slipped my mind, honestly." Returning with a beer, she also handed one to Cassie.

"So does this mean you're more serious about this one?"

Pretending to think, Elana leaned against the arm of the couch, twirling a strand of her hair with her free hand.

"I haven't quite decided yet." She lilted, taking a sip from the bottle. "You seem distracted lately, Cas, is something wrong?"

What little light Cassie'd harbored behind her eyes left in an instant, knowing that she needed to talk about it before she slowly faded into oblivion. Elana knew her all too well. She had a gift for knowing when something wasn't right and when the time was to ask.

"No, I just um...I accidentally overheard Natalie and Will fighting in the break room about a week ago."

"Oh," Elana paused, "What were they fighting about? I mean, did you hear clearly enough to-"

"Me." Cassie informed speedily, anticipating the question.

With a furrowed brow, Elana's expression was riddled in confusion. She couldn't be sure what to say to her, opening her mouth to formulate a sentence before closing it, quickly noticing that she didn't really need to speak at all. Cassie plopped herself down in her favorite teal chair in the living area, Elana following suit by sitting across from her on the couch, waiting for her to continue.

"She accused him of having feelings for me, which he shut down immediately, but El," It was her turn to pause, biting her lip, "They were fighting because of me."

Shaking her head, eyes closed, Cassie took to looking toward the ground. The embarrassment flooded her body, cheeks turning scarlet, as if she were hearing him speak the words all over again. She could hear his voice so clearly in her mind, even still, wishing she could just eradicate the immediate memory.

"So, they never even suspected that you were there?" She questioned softly, feeling her friends' distress as if it were her own.

"I'm pretty sure that the pathetic aura surrounding me at that moment masked my presence, thankfully." Meeting her eyes, she sent a small, sad smile her way.

The room was swallowed in silence, quizzical looks from Elana passing over her features before she suddenly bolted from her sitting position on the couch, excitedly bounding around behind the coffee table. Droplets from her bottle landed atop the wooden table, others falling onto the floorboards and Cassie could swear that she felt her heart fall out of her chest from the shock.

"We should go out." Elana blurted, enthused eyes staring at her. "I can help get your mind off of things and you know damn well that I can!"

"I appreciate that, but I have an earlier shift tomorrow." Stunned and blinking repeatedly, the words toppled from her mouth autonomously.

Cassie could practically see the gears turning behind her best friend's blue-green irises, watching on in slight amusement.

"Okay, then after work tomorrow. What do you say?"

Before she could even ponder denying the request or ask if she was sure the art gallery wouldn't be keeping her late the next night, Elana's pleading look made Cassie realize that she was completely exhausted of her ongoing internal pity party. She was done feeling sorry for herself. The reply was quick but pronounced in confidence.

"Definitely."

Upon entering Gaffney, Cassie was struck by a rogue child, almost spilling the remnants of her coffee on said child if he had been running at all faster. Catching sight of a second brunette blur slightly smaller than the one she'd had the collision with, she knew she had to conjure a plan and a rather brilliant one at that as children were crafty. Seeing Sarah walk in, she was hoping for some reinforcements before she watched her turn swiftly, giving a look of apology that she had been purposely avoiding the young boys.

April left a patient's room to see the boys running a muck, almost being run into herself, Will walking through the main doors shortly after only to whisper a small "Sorry" to them both, slipping past toward the break room.

Maggie was side-tracked, on the phone with someone who she'd knowingly shake down but since she was dealing with that, she had been demoted to simply observing the chaos. Chucking the practically empty cup in the trash, she stood by the desk, lying in wait as she had a silent conversation with April on the other side. The first blur tried to run past Cassie after the other, capturing his jacket in her grasp before he could. The younger one noticed this, preparing to make a mad dash in the opposite direction before April came up behind him, grasping his jacket as well.

A succession of groaning ensued as they wiggled around, being towed back to the room that had a very worried looking mother and a father with a sprained ankle. She had to admit that although it seemed rough to have two children, especially two boys, she knew for a fact that she would like to be them someday...minus the E.R. visit.

Speedily, she ditched her bag in her locker, exiting the break room just in time to see the first real action of the day.

"Incoming!" Maggie shouted, the paramedics wheeling in a visibly pregnant woman on the gurney bearing wounds all consistent with a car accident.

Natalie immediately came to the woman as they raddled off her stats, as it was her specialty, but even Cassie knew what they needed to look for once they were in a trauma room. They informed everyone that a drunk driver had rammed into her at an intersection, so he'd be arriving soon as well. To her surprise, Natalie called for her to assist, and while she was slightly taken off guard, she wouldn't be questioning her motives at that moment in time.

The woman was frantic, as one would expect, only concerning herself with the safety of her unborn child. Cassie's feet moved quickly, side stepping into the room to bring up the ultrasound monitor. As she got the items ready, she learned her name was Harmony and that she was indeed eight months pregnant. Immediately applying the gel to her belly and placing the transducer probe around, she handed it off to Natalie.

Beginning to quickly take care of any superficial cuts, she noted that she didn't have distinct or obvious damage aside from some minor whiplash. At first blush, she seemed to be very lucky. Natalie then handed the probe back to her, Cassie's brows raising as she told her that was having a hard time finding a heartbeat. She moved the probe every which way, her wide eyes making contact with Natalie's.

"I'm not getting a fetal heartbeat either." Speaking lowly and directly to Natalie as to not scare Harmony, they shared the same expression.

"Call the O.R. and tell them she's coming, she needs an emergency C-Section now!"

The sheer look of horror upon her face told them exactly what she was thinking without her needing to say a single word.

"We weren't able to find your baby's heartbeat right now. I know that sounds incredibly scary, but he could still be perfectly fine. We just need to know."

Tears began pouring from her eyes at that point, obviously thinking the worst as she grabbed for Cassie's hand while they wheeled her to the elevator. Harmony was gripping onto it so tightly that it had started to become white, though Cassie was quite numb to the pain and didn't notice the discoloration as she held on up until they reached the O.R. wing where she wasn't permitted to pass through the doors.

On the outside, her face was hopeful, just as she was taught to be for the patient's peace of mind. On the inside, she was weeping equally as hard as the woman who may in fact lose her baby. It was unfathomable to her.

As she eagerly awaited the report from Natalie, she could only pray for it to be good news. Cassie was fully aware that she had other patients, but anytime someone would enter the floor, her head subconsciously looked in the direction of the movement. After some time, she noted that everyone was doing the same as her when a door opened; they were all finding it difficult to focus until they were informed of the fate of that child, and that alone was comforting. Just as she was about ready to stop looking when there was movement, Natalie emerged through the door. All heads turned toward her, the room so quiet one could hear a pin drop and she shook her head.

Her throat was on fire, glancing around the E.D. only to see everyone's eyes darting about with sorrow ridden expressions. Every fiber of her being was heightened, using all of the calm she could possibly muster to head toward the empty break room. Her hands had already begun shaking, lower lip wobbling and when that door shut behind her, she broke down.

With a fierce kick to the trashcan as she let out a frustrated groan, it was sent flying across the floor, what little contents it held inside now being scattered about the tiles.

Leaning against the wall, Cassie felt herself begin to slowly slide down it, hands gripping the blonde strands on her head by the roots. She swallowed thickly, trying but ultimately failing to breathe evenly in the solitude. Warm, salty tears already burned her eyes, causing the irises to become an electric shade of green. The moment the first tear escaped, she knew she would have a difficult time stopping them.

She was angry and saddened, frustrated and feeling her heart squeeze with every shaky breath that entered her lungs, sitting with legs pulled taught to her chest and head held in her unsteady hands.

The door creaked open, Connor standing in the doorway with one hand still on the knob and the other occupied by the phone he was looking at. When he looked up and over, he first only saw that the room wasn't empty as he'd expected.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was in-" His sentence was cut short once he noted her stance, crumpled to the floor, runny mascara streaks on her cheeks followed by fresh tears she was hastily swiping at with the back of her hand.

"Are you okay?" His words sounded completely stupid as soon as he'd uttered them, mentally scolding himself. Of course she wasn't okay, a blind man would know that.

"I'm fine." The phrase was strained, obviously a lie and one she knew she hadn't sold in the slightest. After all, she couldn't even manage to drag herself from the position she'd been in since she slid down the wall in the first place.

Unsure of what else to do, he knelt in front of her, elbows resting against his thighs. "You can talk to me about it, if you want."

After some brief contemplation, if she thought she had fallen apart earlier while she was alone, she was wrong. Once the sincere offer was on the table, those ocean blue eyes boring into hers and looking completely trusting, she collapsed.

"It's just wrong, I- it isn't fair!" Full on sobbing now, she no longer cared about how she appeared in the moment.

"That beautiful, innocent baby boy and his mother didn't deserve any of this. I mean, s- she felt that child for eight months and heard his little heart beating at every ultrasound, read to him; she already loved him," Taking a breath, she continued as she stared at her hands in her lap, fiddling with her fingers , "And because some idiotic bastard thought it would be a brilliant idea to get hammered at seven in the fucking morning before work, she'll never get to see her son grow up. She'll never get to see him go to college, get married, have kids...become something. He just took that from her without a care!"

Feeling a weight immediately lifted from her shoulders with the final word spoken, she was unable to look into his eyes. She cared too much about these things, she got too invested. She's supposed to look at the world through an objectified lens, especially in the line of work she found herself in.

"Better?" He offered gently, lying his hand on her shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.

Sighing, she wiped at the remaining tears. "Sorry you had to hear all of that-"

"Hey, I volunteered, remember?" Raising his hands in defense, he then rose to his feet, extending a hand down toward her with a slight grin forming.

Can we get a drum roll for chapter seven?! (This has been the longest chapter thus far!) As always, favorite if you enjoyed my writing and even better, please leave a review below! Feedback is love, after all.