I have no ownership of these characters and use them without profit. I am just a fan who wants to know how the story would end and realized that in order to write what WOULD happen, I first needed to figure out what had ALREADY happened.

Episode 1:

Emily drilled herself on all the things she thought she ought to know. It was her first day, after all, and she wanted to be perfect.

—Stop!—She scolded herself as she reached for the door—You know it. You can do this…

She allowed herself to savor the moment—…Dr. Owens—

The lobby of Denver Memorial opened in front of her, a beautiful and open space made of wood and glass. Her breath caught. It seemed too large…too professional for a girl just out of medical school.

"Emily?" Called a familiar voice.

As if her heart could not beat any faster!

"Ah! Will! Hi!" she replied with a goofy smile.

—Take it down a notch, Emily— she thought. But how could it be helped? The voice belonged to none other than Will Collins: the most sweet, intelligent, best looking, best smelling… —Okay, thoughts like that will get you nowhere—

"Hey there," Emily tried again, ten times calmer. "Sorry, I'm a little overexcited. It's like first day of school jitters…Not like we're in school anymore…"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Will said, smiling with his perfect teeth. "I hear hospitals are a lot like high schools. We're freshman all over again."

Emily's embarrassing high school experiences flashed before her eyes.

"Ugh! Please don't say that," she implored. She had to look away from his chiseled jaw to search for another subject. "So, where do we go?"

Will's muscular arm pointed and Emily was only too glad to follow. "I'm so glad we're both interning at Denver," he said.

"How could I turn down the chance to breathe the same air as Gina Bandari?" Emily said worshipfully.

—Not to mention the fact that you're here—

Will smiled at puts his arm around her, "I'm just happy to see a friendly face."

—Okay, he's touching you—Emily felt her entire body tingling—Do not spaz out—

As always, what Emily's brain said was usually not what happened. She grew very stiff at his touch, afraid to do anything that would end his attentions. She clutched at her scarf.

"You okay?" Will asked.

"Yeah…no…" Emily said lamely. "It's…cold."

—You totally spazzed out!— She berated, disappointed that he pulled away.

"Listen, I hear this place is pretty cut-throat," Will said, plenty used to his friend's weirdness by now, "so we're going to have to stick together, okay?"

Emily decided in that moment that she could settle for simply being near him. She giggled and nodded in answer.

"You seem like you're in a really good mood today," Will observed.

"It's funny," Emily explained as they entered the locker room, "I've been in school for twenty-three years straight and I finally feel like I'm starting the next phase of my life."

"Pits?" asked an oddly familiar voice.

—No. No no no. No. No— Knowing she shouldn't, Emily turned slow in fear. Looking at her expectantly was a person she had not seen in several years: the dark skinned, dark eyed demon who had made her life a living hell.

"Don't you recognize me?" the snake smiled diabolically.

—Do I recognize you?—Emily tried to disguise her recognition—You hid my clothes after gym class. You prank called my house, you TP-ed my car. You were my tormentor, my nemesis, the girl I debated against in those fateful debate club finals!—

"I'm so bad with names…" Emily managed to say.

"Cassandra Kopelson," she said, smiling her disbelief, "from high school."

"Cassandra Kopelson," Emily tried to seem surprised, "from high school…yeah…So how in the world did you end up in Denver?"

"Gina Bandari," Cassandra said. "Woman's a genius!"

"That's why Emily's here too!" Will cut in.

"Oh!" Cassandra had clearly not noticed Will before. Her serpent eyes hungrily raked his body up and down. "And you are?"

"Will Collins," He beamed at the attention. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," she continued checking him out. Emily felt her blood boil. "So tell me, Will Collins, how do you know Pits?"

"Emily," she interjected, eager to put that nickname back to rest.

"Well, we went to Med School together. So, you know…" Will answered distractedly. "What's with Pits?"

Cassandra, as she had always been, was happy for any reason to put Emily down: "That was her nickname in high school."

"Really," Will tried to catch Emily's eye. "Where'd that come from?"

"You know," Cassandra offered, this time eying Emily up and down, "I can't remember."

"Me neither!" Emily seized the opportunity. "That's why I go by Emily. Or Em. Sometimes Emmy…"

"Oh, lets go," Cassandra said when she saw the other interns moving out. "We don't want to get off on the wrong foot. I hear this place is cutthroat."

"I literally just said that," Will said, intrigued.

"Great minds." Cassandra walked off and Will followed like a puppy.

—Already? They talked for what, two minutes?—Emily huffed as she struggled with her scarf. She left the locker rooms several steps behind the love of her life and her nemesis, who were still talking animatedly.

"That seemed awkward," grimaced another surgical intern who stopped Emily from charging mindlessly ahead.

"Yeah," she said, snapping out of her fixation. "I just thought I left high school behind."

"Hilarious," said Tyra sardonically. "A hospital is totally like high school."

"That's the second time I've heard that today," Emily whined.

"Because it's true."

...

Micah remembered his first day as an intern. He didn't even have to think about it: the same emotions were clearly displayed on the faces of the new interns who lined up, listening to Chief Dupre give his welcome speech. He saw in them a mixture of nerves and determination, fear and the desire to impress.

Chief Dupre's daughter, who Micah had met a few times before, leaned over to whisper to one of her fellow interns, drawing Micah's attention to the cute blonde. He tried to feel annoyed at them for speaking out of turn, but he knew the Head of Surgery's speeches to be almost too grandiose to take seriously. Besides, the blonde was just his type: just the right kind of geeky with a pride that didn't require being bigger or more confident than others and the kind of eyes that displayed intelligence and warmth. It was all right there on the surface.

He tried not to stare at her. Failing this, he looked back at his boss.

"It is easy to compare ourselves to gods," Chief Dupre was saying. "We are gods. Each and every day we perform miracles. Welcome to Denver Memorial."

Chief Dupre then turned and motioned to Micah, introducing him as Dr. Barnes, their Resident. Micah fought a slight blush as the cute blonde smiled at him. She then turned along with her group to face Dr. Bandari, their Attending.

Dr. Bandari, clearly tired of the intern's first day already, rushed from the room.

"We're walking," was all the warning she gave.

Micah tried to keep up with the cute blonde as the group sped through the halls. She followed her Attending with such focus that he had trouble staying near.

"Your job is to keep my patients alive." Gina was saying. "Any issues you have, you bring them to Micah, Micah brings it to me. You and I don't talk unless absolutely necessary, which I sincerely hope isn't the case."

Listening with the intensity of a shark, the blonde tracked every word. Micah managed to push his way towards her.

"Breathe!" he instructed.

She slowed for a moment, smiling at him nervously. "Is it that obvious?"

He flirted back, "I'm a doctor."

They shared a quick smile before charging off again at full speed.

...

Was it Cassandra's imagination or was Emily staring hungrily at Dr. Collin's jugular? Cassandra knew how to read people, and she knew how to read Emily Owens. It shook Cassandra's confidence somewhat to find her high school nemesis present on her fist day of work, as though an experience that already promised to be competitive had now also became a grudge match.

Watching Emily stare at Will made her all the more excited to stay close to him. His flirting earlier told her that there was nothing between he and his college study-buddy, but she could tell that it was not quite that simple.

Dr. Bandari could also tell that Emily was not paying attention, so she put the intern on the spot. Cassandra prepared herself to leer when Emily was asked to submit a diagnosis. Both were surprised when Emily gave a succinct answer, then proceeded to explain in lay terms to the little girl they were observing.

Cassandra felt her old jealousy of Emily rise in her chest. It felt oddly familiar, despite the distance of several years. With it, she felt also (for the first time in a long time) the desire to down-talk and plot so as to once again come out on top.

Emily was assigned with discharge papers and the group of interns left the room. Dr. Bandari and Dr. Barnes were speaking, so Cassandra turned to Will.

"It is so strange to come here and see a familiar face," she said.

"What, Emily?" Will asked. "Yeah. Isn't it great? I was saying to her as we came in that a friendly face is definitely welcome. I've always been on team sports, you know, so coming here with someone on my team already makes me feel a lot better."

"What do you play?" She inquired excitedly. Sports guys always had the best bodies.

"Oh, you know," he tried to act coy. "It's silly."

"You can't bring up team sports and then hold out on me," Cassandra put on her best pouty lips.

Will laughed. "Okay, okay. I played baseball."

"See, that wasn't so hard," Cassandra flirted. She touched his arm and let her fingers linger. "Well, I'll be on your team, Dr. Collins.

"Dr. Bandari!" a nurse yelled from down the hall. "It's the girl!"

Gina burst through the group to the front and led them in a hurry back down the hall. They came upon the little girl, confused but awake, surrounded by frightened nurses and Emily holding a large needle full of fluid. Bandari took charge of the patient and Emily was pushed back. She left the room.

The jealous creature in Cassandra roared viciously. Will and all the other interns were cheering and patting their fellow on the back, but Cassandra couldn't be bothered.

"Oh!" she exclaimed instead, gesturing to Emily's wet armpits, "now I remember why we called you Pits!

...

Micah walked into 501 with two sandwiches.

"I can't stay for long, but I'll have a bite," he told his mother, who stared at him with trepidation.

"I don't want lunch," Joyce said firmly. "I want to know what's going on."

"Well, so do I," said Micah, trying to sound nonplussed. "But the tests aren't back yet and in the mean time I'm hungry, so eating seems like the best thing to do."

Joyce pursed her lips, but took the sandwich.

"You promise you'll tell me the moment you know?" Joyce pleaded.

"Mom..."

"No," Joyce scolded, "don't give me excuses. You may be a doctor, but I'm your mother. I win."

Micah smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Tell me some gossip," Joyce commanded, biting into her sandwich. "How are the new interns?"

"Well, there's this one..."

...

"Does that doctor know how you feel?" asked Abbey, the little girl who had almost died.

Emily turned her eyes to the girl in surprise. She didn't even need to ask for clarification.

"Oh come on," Abbey rolled her eyes, "the one you were staring at during rounds?"

Emily considered denying it, but there didn't seem to be much point. She had been staring. "Even if I was staring at him…a little…that doesn't mean..."

"He totally likes you too!" the girl blurted.

"How can you tell?" Emily said immediately. The desperation in her voice was evident.

"He was looking at you when you were talking to me," Abbey explained.

"Looking?" Emily sought, "or looking looking?"

"Looking looking," Abbey said with complete confidence.

Emily's heart leapt, but she stopped to consider the source. "Can you tell the difference?"

"Course!" said the girl with an air of finality. "I'm twelve."

Emily nodded. She started to say something, but the girl continued: "You should tell him how you feel."

...

-You should tell him how you feel-Emily repeated-Wait! You should tell him how you feel? Can that be right? You're the shy girl. You don't simply TELL PEOPLE HOW YOU FEEL-

Emily and Will stood together in the dark scanning room. The MRI tech read the screen as their patient was scanned, but otherwise they were alone.

-But why not?-Emily's thoughts continued-what if you never say anything because you're afraid that something bad will happen, and then NOTHING happens? Ever?-

-Just do it. Just tell him-

She looked over. His beautiful profile caused her heart to beat wildly. Maybe talking was too much to ask right away.

-Okay, I'm going to move over a few inches so our shoulders are touching and if he doesn't move, he likes me-she reasoned.

Slowly, she inched over so that their arms barely touched. Her arm tingled madly and she felt she might melt. He didn't move, but he didn't do anything else either.

-Maybe he doesn't feel it-she stressed. She changed her criteria-if he looks at me! If he looks at me I'll know he likes me-

She pivoted her head to look up at him; to look up at his bright, gorgeous eyes. They shared a smile, but Emily's chest was too full of butterflies to hold it. She looked ahead for a moment, in complete agony. Touching and looks wouldn't do it, she realized. She had to speak.

"Will?" she practically squealed.

He turned his head, "Hm?"

Her heart was beating too quickly. The blood pumped too loudly through her ears. She couldn't speak. She had been right the first time. Words were too hard.

"Nothing," she said. A mixture of relief and regret washed over her.

...

"You two, come with me," Micah commissioned the cute blonde and her companion: Dr. Owens and Dr. Kopelson. He had been given two folders: one with the lab results for 501 and one with an illegible signature that needed deciphering. He handed the latter to the blonde with instructions to find the Mrs. Ellish's daughter and took his mother's tests to the roof.

The roof of Denver Memorial was a bit of a haven for surgical doctors, providing fresh air, quiet, and a respite from the undeniably god-like aspects of a job that centered on life and death. He rested himself tensely on one of the folding chairs and placed the folder on his knees. He stared at is for several moments, trying to push back the moment of knowing.

Once he knows, there is no going back.

Micah finally worked up the courage to open it when his pager goes off. He knows he must answer it, but knows also that he cannot merely glance at the results. Somewhat glad to be spared for an hour or so, he puts the folder under his arms as re-enters the building.

As he rushes towards Dr. Bandari, Micah is stopped by his Alzheimer's patient, Mrs. Ellish. Neirher Dr. Owens nor Dr. Kopelson are in sight.

"What are you doing, Mrs. Ellish?" He asked.

"Oh, hello doctor," she said sweetly. "I'm just looking for my daughter, Mary Anne."

His mother's tests still on his mind, Micah felt a pang of annoyance. Interns were supposed to make his job easier. They should ay least keep track of their patients.

"We're trying to help you find her, I promise," he said soothingly. "But I need you to wait for her in your room."

Mrs. Ellish nodded and followed him to the elevator. They rose it down and it opened to a frantic Emily Owens.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She spoke to their patient. She looked at Micah with sincere apology. "We just looked away for a second."

Micah believed her. It was unfair of him to take out his frustration about his mom on the interns. Especially on their first day. Plus, how could he stay angry at the cute blonde?

An elevator opposite then opened and Dr. Bandari came out. She eyed the shared guilty looks of her Resident and their intern.

"What's going on?" She asked incredulously.

Micah gave Emily a knowing look. "Mrs. Elish wanted to take a little walk, so Dr. Owens accommodated. Why don't you take her back to her room now, huh?"

Micah could see Emily's gratitude. She nodded and guided the old woman away. He tried very hard not to watch her leave.

"You wanted to see me?" He said instead to his boss.

...

Micah, to Emily, was a person to pay close attention to. Not only was he an excellent doctor, but he had started at Denver Memorial as an intern, just like them, and had worked his way up. Where he was today was where she would be in five years.

"Five years," Emily exhaled, taking it in.

She stood at the window of the OR doors, watching as Micah made a cut. Will, who stood at the other window, cocked his head in question.

"Micah's been here five years," Emily elaborated, "and he's only now doing a solo surgery."

Will felt the gravity of that thought, but stayed positive. "Well, we thought med school would last forever, and it flew by."

Emily nodded, watching Micah moving deftly.

"Do you remember what Prof McCallum said when we cut our cadavers in Gross Anatomy?" asked Will.

"'You will remember this moment-the place you were standing-when you made your first cut.'" Emily quoted.

"Do you?" Will asked. "Do you remember?"

-Of course-Emily's heart swelled at the thought-I was standing next to you…-

"I…cut through the sternum," she said instead.

"And I knew by watching you that you were going to be a great surgeon," Will said, his kind eyes boring into hers. "You have the most amazing hands."

-He loves my hands!-Emily sang. The butterflies returned to her chest-say it, say it, say it!-

She opened her mouth to do just that: to bring forth the feelings she denied so readily, to lay her heart bare for him to see, to admit to all the world that she loved this man and beg that he love her too.

"Thank you," she said instead. Embarrassed by thoughts no one else could hear, Emily turned back to watch Micah's surgery. He was looking her way and nodded in recognition.

Still flustered, she shot him a thumbs up.

...

Micah finished changing after surgery and placed his mother's case folder in front of him. Bolstered by the adrenaline of a solo surgery and the cute blonde's attention (she had come to cheer him on!), he grabbed at it with a sudden surge of hope.

Almost immediately, he snapped it shut. It couldn't be. Please, no.

He opened it once more, this time with care, and read every word, analysed every number, checked every stat in excruciating detail. Many minutes later he closed it with the same carefulness.

He placed a hand over his mouth and stared straight ahead. This couldn't be happening.

...

Will wasn't trying to listen to Dr. Bandari as she scolded his friend Emily. He was trying to flirt with the gorgeous and amazingly confident Cassandra. But the raised voice of his Attending was hard to ignore.

Emily had told him what was going on - how the little girl had begged for Emily to be part of her surgery and how Emily said that she could request it. Bandari, it seemed, felt like she was forcing her hand.

Will knew otherwise. His friend was a never-ending well of compassion. No one who knew Emily would accuse her of anything but sweetness and good intentions.

Bandari turned and stormed away. Cassandra tried to catch his eye, but Will walked up to Emily, knowing that, after being yelled at by her idol,

she would be heartbroken.

"You're a rock star," he said. Seeing her devastated face, he pulled her into a hug. "Come here. Come on. She'll realize it soon enough."

He could feel as Emily awkwardly touched his back. He patted hers roughly.

"Okay?" He asked as she pulled back. She nodded.

Concluding that she had been comforted, Will was about to tell Emily to come back with him and join his conversation with Cassandra, when out of nowhere Emily began speaking.

"I like you," she began. He grinned. He liked her too. She was his best friend. "I've liked you since you cracked that chest in gross anatomy. You took out the heart and held it in your hands and I remember thinking that could be my heart. He may as well be holding my heart..."

Emily continued her proclamation, growing ever more animated and passionate. Will's heart sunk. No. Please no. She didn't mean "like" as in friendship. It's not as though he could have a female friend without, you know, thinking of her that way. But he didn't THINK of her that way. He didn't fantasize about pinning her up against a wall like he had been wanting to do to Cassandra all day.

"I don't want to be that shy girl," Emily was saying, "always wishing her life would turn out the way I want it to. I have to make it turn out the way I want it to. And what I want-what I really really want…is you."

Will could tell by her tear-filled smile that she was done. He grinned uncomfortably, looking away to find Cassandra, but finding that she had left. He was really going to have to do this, wasn't he?

"I don't know….Em…I just…" Will stammered. "I don't see you like that."

He could see the immediate reaction in his friend, who had screwed up her face with the agony of it all. She was the easiest person to read that Will had ever met, and he could clearly see that she had died a little bit at his rejection.

"I can't even tell you…I'm so touched by what you said," he breathed. He wanted so badly to comfort her. "I really hope we can still be friends because I really value our friendship…"

"Of course we can be friends," Emily said, rallying her strength. She was visibly putting on her inadequate masks. "I just needed to get that off my chest….and, now it's off…and it's great."

Will nodded, desperate to get away and yet wanting to assuage her pain.

...

-Where's the cute blonde?-thought Micah. His day was going badly enough, least she could do was give him another thumbs up.

"Where's Dr. Ownes?" he asked the nurses.

"I don't know," said one. "I saw her empty out the vending machine and then go into stairwell."

Micah nodded, contemplating what that might mean. He kinda felt like doing something similar himself.

He burst through the door, assuming she had gone towards the roof, but found her to be sitting just inside stuffing her face with chocolate.

He said a sad, "Hey."

"Hi," she returned, clearly miserable. He knew the feeling.

"Doreen says she saw you come in here with half the vending machine," Micah explained. She contemplated her snacks. "You alright?"

Her transparent face rearranged itself into something like strength. "Yeah. No. I'm really great," she said, but her pretense couldn't be sustained. It all came flooding out: "Except the fact that Gina hates me, my 'ballvery' backfired, and my high school nemesis is being very nefarious! And…these are…" She turned to him with the most endearingly pathetic look, "stale."

"Sorry," Micah teased, heart melting. "You lost me at ballvery?"

"I'm just having the worst day."

Emily furrowed her brows and frowned, looking as though she wanted to curl into the stairs and die.

Metaphoric dying, anyway. Not the real kind, like we see every day. He nodded, lost in thought. Tough love, he decided, was what they both needed.

"Um, right," he said. "Here, follow me."

Micah watched as Emily crammed the remaining chocolate into her mouth and stuffed the unopened packages into her pockets. He led her back out into the hallway and pointed at rooms as they passed.

"That man in there is going to have to learn to walk again without a leg," he said. "That woman in there is going to have to have a colostomy bag for the next three months."

Micah saw that Emily understood his intentions. She seemed properly chastised, but he wasn't done. The next one was for him. He wanted so badly to tell someone.

"And the woman down in 501 is going to be told that she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer," he said bravely. It was easy to talk to her-it almost seemed easier to deal with. "Now, her son's going to try to sell her on the fact that there's all these new trials she can get into, but you and I know the truth: she's got 6 months-a year if she's lucky. And she's going to feel really sick every single day of the year. So…no. You're not having the worst day. Not by a long shot."

"You must think I'm incredibly self-absorbed," she apologized.

"No, just human," he said with complete sympathy. "Now, come on. Hand over the Ring-Dings and get back to work."

With a resolute face she dug a package from her pocket, handing it to him and turning to leave.

"And the other one," he says, not fooled. He knew that not even the best speech could expect a complete junk food purge.

In the most compelling act of mock-seriousness he had ever seen, Emily pivoted, pulled a bag from her coat. And slid it slyly into his hand. She gave him a glare that asked, "are you happy now," and walked away.

Micah checked her out as she retreated, definitely happy. He had met a cute and funny girl: certainly that wasn't something that could happen on "the worst day."

He smiled at her retreating form, grateful to have been reminded.

...

"And then she just put her finger on the girl's heart, like she had been doing it forever!" Will bragged of his friend Emily.

Cassandra gritted her teeth and nodded.

"I can't believe Emily has already assisted in a surgery," Will said with amazement.

Cassandra held in her annoyance. Emily, Emily. That's all anyone was talking about. The clutzy, dorky, supposedly lovable girl who stumbled her way into assisting in the OR on their first day.

"I can't believe Emily weaseled her way into surgery," Cassandra echoed crossly.

"Why do you say it like that?" Will asked, bemused as always, but frowning also. Cassandra worried immediately that she had given something away.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Now tell me more about your baseball days."

"Whoa, not so fast," Will shut her down. "Emily's my friend, I can't just stand by while you-"

"Never mind," Cassandra insisted. She thought she might rather alienate this insanely hot guy than let on to what was really the matter."

"I may not be a head doctor," Will said, turning on all of his charm. "But you've known me what, eight hours? You can trust me!"

"Okay, I just..." Cassandra emitted a frustrated groan. "Ugh, I just don't understand why SHE has to be here. I was the top of my class in pre-Med, top in Med school. The only person who ever beat me-not just beat me, but beat me all the time-was Pits! In high school! And now she's here at the hospital that I was supposed to take by storm-"

"Oh, okay, wow," Will stepped back, stopping her mid-rant. "I guess it's just a day for those kind of confessions."

"Never mind," Cassandra repeated. She took his sudden distance to be disgust. She sniffled and took another step.

"No, no," Will moved closer. "I didn't mean...I'm sorry, I'm just a little overwhelmed. Not because of what you said! Just a crazy day!"

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" she pouted.

"You don't need to be jealous of her Cassandra," Will said, trying again. "You are this amazing, beautiful, intelligent doctor, and it doesn't matter who else is here: you are going to be the queen of this place. I can tell. Okay, so Emily is really good too. So what? That doesn't make you any less amazing. Just do your best, and everyone will love you."

Cassandra stared at him with tear-rimmed eyes. All thoughts of Emily immediately disappeared from her mind.

"What?" Will asked, unnerved by her silence. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Cassandra smiled. "You said I was beautiful."

Micah crossed paths with the cute blonde again. She had her coat and scarf on, in addition to a satisfied look. He was immensely glad to see a friendly face.

"I heard you kicked ass in surgery today," he offered. "Not the worst day after all, huh?"

"No," she admitted, giving him a grateful look. "It wasn't. Are you leaving?"

Was she going to invite him for a drink? He tempered his excitement, seeing as how he still had that one awful task left.

"No, not yet," he said. "See you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "G'night."

"Night," he called after her. Micah watched her walk away again, letting himself enjoy the last bit of good in his day.

Steeling himself, he turned to the door of room 501. He's been dreading this moment all day, putting it off until the last possible moment.

He entered to find his mother where he left her.

"Hi, mom," he said.

Despite his effort to remain positive, his despair must have shown clearly on his face because she spoke first: "Just tell me the truth."