Chapter Text
Flashback Scene
“The CT department is better than ever, thanks in large part to all of your generous donations.”
“Well, it seems that you and Dr. Bekker, along with Dr. Latham, are the ones who keep it running smoothly. If you two keep bringing in those VIP patients and keep those hospital stats up, we’ll keep funding in high amounts.”
Connor flashed his most charming smile, raising his glass in acknowledgment as the group of wealthy donors dispersed. He tapped on his glass and slowly turned on his heel, relived to find himself alone.
He had to admit, he really didn’t like the promotional side of being a well-known and well-sought out surgeon.
He was all the time being asked by the hospital to attend this function or go to that lecture and he usually tried his best to attend and pry donations out of the prestigious, but he would much prefer actually practicing medicine. However, he did have to admit that that wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t have money, hence his willingness to promote his department.
And well, he was proud of it, so he didn’t mind a free pass to brag on it every once and a while.
Tonight’s event was hosted at a rooftop wine bar right on the river, boasting terrific views of the high rises situated on either side.
The air was crisp as the wind whipped by his face, the smell and mist of Lake Michigan accompanying it, watching while the lights twinkled and the boats sailed down the river, grateful for the brief reprieve from socializing. He’d only arrived half an hour ago, but he’d already been ambushed by various members of the hospital board, pushing him towards their favorite benefactors to ‘keep up appearances’.
Glancing around, he was hoping to catch a glimpse of Ava. She was supposed to be here, he’d made sure she was coming because there was no way he was going to face the wolves without her.
The first public appearance she made for the hospital was only a few weeks after she’d started working at Med. It was a gala for the hospital; Employees from all departments, doctors, nurses and techs alike, had been invited as well as the hospitals many benefactors.
He remembered her walking into that ballroom like she owned the place, her hair up in an elegant bun, jewels adorning her neck and ears as her striking red dress swished around her heeled feet.
She’d been beautiful, not that he would admit it to himself at the time. And he definitely hadn’t complimented her.
He remembered trying to sulk in the corner of the room because Robin hadn’t wanted to come with him, avoiding the board and their donors as much as possible but his eyes kept being drawn to Ava.
He’d watched as Dr. Latham took the time to introduce his new protégé (he’d been jealous of her, not that he’d ever admit it) to the board and to all the hospital’s benefactors.
He’d watched as Ava charmed them with her beauty, her accent and her extensive knowledge of medicine. Working the crowd like nobody’s business, he watched as she quickly became one of the hospital’s most beloved surgeons.
Connor recalled giving her a couple of scathing looks to which she responded with a self-satisfied smirk, but they never actually did any socializing that night; both of them had avoided talking to the other.
He’d decided if that was how social events were going to go from there on out, he’d either do the civil thing and skip them entirely or he’d charm all the board members and their benefactors back into his good graces.
His ego won out and he chose the latter option. Until the next fundraising event came up and he was forced to team up with Ava to raise money for Gift of Hope because Peter Kalmick was impressed with how well Ava subtly negotiated funds for the hospital at the aforementioned gala.
And so, it went, Ava wined and dined and charmed while he had little success in drawing the benefactors’ focus back to him. He had more achievement with the women but most of the time, they too, were impressed with Ava.
Of course, this did not go unnoticed by his fellow surgeon. Instead, it turned into yet another layer of animosity and competition to add to the rivalry that already brewed between them at the hospital. She’d turned it into another game of cat and mouse, always sniggering in his direction when her companions weren’t looking.
He would roll his eyes and go back to trying to draw a few of them away, itching to tell them all that she was a devil in disguise. Not that anyone would believe him with the way she was acting. How she could go from being so savage to being so…delightful, was beyond his comprehension. And to be honest, it was almost scary to know she could switch masks so effortlessly.
It had carried on like that for quite a while, tension building between them as one tried to one-up the other whether it be in the hospital or out on the town. The only productive thing that came out of their social competition was that they each raised more money than ever before. But not because that was their goal. No, no; the goal was to best the other.
Until that day that everything changed. It came slowly yet all at once.
It seemed like one day they were clawing at each other’s throats (although, they did have their moments when Ava forgot they were supposed to be rivals) and the next they were actually working together for the greater good, not against. Then they’d connected over collapsed buildings, leg amputations and obscure South African references.
And probably most importantly, that was the day he’d learned to put Robin behind him which had helped his mental state immensely.
He was less irritable, more happy-go-lucky (maybe too happy-go-lucky looking back on it). Of course, at first that didn’t do too much to help out Ava’s sarcastic remarks, but he’d found that, with time, she seemed to begin to warm up to him. Traits he hadn’t seen in her before were surfacing.
Their competition had been far from one-sided, but Connor realized that if maybe he’d been nicer to Ava in the beginning, maybe she would have let her softer side come out sooner.
She had opened up vastly since she first arrived but she was still quick witted, had a temper, made sarcastic remarks, teased and joked, switched her emotions on and off like a light switch but Connor was learning and understanding that that was who Ava was. A complicated mystery behind those masks of hers.
Their rivalry turned into a friendship, the tension turning into something more electric which then turned into something much more complicated than a simple one-night stand. Now he was trying to earn her trust back and it seemed that at the moment, their relationship was turning into a close friendship.
He wasn’t exactly sure where they stood but all he knew was that it was good and warm, and more than that, it felt right. He was just waiting for the right moment to see if it could go any further than friendship, but he couldn’t push her. That was the last thing he wanted to do; push her away any further than he had already.
But he was willing to sit in whatever this was for a while because it was the best place their relationship (and if he was being honest--any of his relationships) had ever been.
He just had to wait and make sure she knew he was ready. That she could show him her true self and she didn’t have to be afraid to let her walls down.
“Dr. Rhodes! How’s life treating you? Any exciting surgeries lately?” The loud, bubbly voice of Gorge Harrison and the fatty hand reaching out to grab his in a hearty handshake shook Connor out of his thoughts. He blinked, startled at the large man’s sudden appearance.
Connor’s hand clinched reflectively onto his glass before he retracted his other hand from Mr. Harrison’s tight grasp, “I’m fine, thank you.”
The surgeon smiled in slight amusement at the man’s energy. Gorge Harrison had a personality larger than life, his booming voice and large stature along with his tendency to be slightly heavy handed could sometimes get on a person’s nerves, but usually, it was humorous if not a little abrasive and obnoxious at times.
Mr. Harrison grinned, slapping Connor on the back, oblivious it made the doctor stumble forward a bit, trying to save his drink from sloshing out of the glass.
“I noticed you were by yourself, so I thought I’d come over here to speak to you while I had the chance and so you wouldn’t be friendless,” Mr. Harrison nodded sympathetically like he had just saved Connor from a boring night. Or, at least what would have been boring in his eyes.
Connor’s lip ticked up dryly, “Thank you for the thought, Mr. Harrison, but I’m fine. I was actually just waiting for Dr. Bekker to arrive.”
The other man’s eyes lit up, “Oh, she’s already here! I just spoke to her myself!”
Connor let his gaze follow to where Mr. Harrison’s chubby hand was pointing. Sure enough, there she was, politely speaking to several men in expensive suits.
She was gorgeous, as always, in a grey, chiffon cocktail dress that flowed slightly past her knees. Her collar-bone length hair down but curled like usual.
Connor watched as she grinned, chuckling dryly at something one of the men said which turned into a smirk as she said something back, causing the older man to pull a face of displeasure. He wondered what the man said to make Ava sass at him. Knowing some of these men, probably something either degrading or in an attempt to flirt with her.
It made him want to go over there and give them a piece of his mind, but Connor knew Ava could hold her own. Besides, if he did, Ava would probably be telling him off, saying she could take care of herself.
And not to mention he would essentially be showing her that he was jealous. Because he was and there was nothing, he could do about it other than stand there and clench his teeth. At least she wasn’t really flirting back. Because more than jealousy, he was slightly frightened.
Of course, he knew Ava would never really entertain the thought of a relationship with any of the men she was currently talking to because they were much older than her and quite shallow (or at least he didn’t think she would) but there were a few men that frequented these types of events who were actually pleasant and worse, around their age.
He wasn’t above admitting (at least, to himself) that when he’d seen Ava talking to those particular benefactors, he would conveniently come up with a case he needed to speak to her about. Of course, he’d never tell her that and it seemed that miraculously, she hasn’t picked up on his behavior…yet.
Another gentleman came up to Ava, holding out his hand for her to shake. This time, she laughed genuinely at whatever this guy said.
Connor watched again as she shook her head slightly, making her hair fall back behind her shoulders, her hazel eyes shining brightly, oblivious to his awestruck gaze.
“She’s quite lovely, isn’t she?” Mr. Harrison’s surprisingly soft voice shook him from the trance that he had fallen into.
Connor glanced over to the older man’s face, taking in his dopy expression. It seemed that they both had been gazing at Ava like two schoolboys with crushes.
He tamped down a rise of jealousy knowing the other man had been admiring her as well, but he couldn’t fault him for doing the same exact thing he was doing. It was hard to ignore how beautiful Ava was and it wasn’t like he had any right to be angry at Mr. Harrison. Not when Ava wasn’t his however much he wished she was.
Humming in agreement, Connor took a sip of his drink, “She is beautiful.”
Mr. Harrison slapped him on the back once more, “You’re lucky to get to work with someone as intelligent and pretty as Dr. Bekker every day.”
Connor let himself be absorbed back into his thoughts, briefly registering Mr. Harrison greet someone on the other side of the room in his booming voice. He took another sip of whiskey, his attention back on Ava, caught up in the glow of her blonde hair and golden skin.
She must have felt his eyes on her because she turned to meet his gaze. It was like slow motion as they locked looks. She gave him a suppressed half-smile before she turned back to the men who were still carrying on a conversation, oblivious to the fact Ava had been ignoring them.
Connor watched as she swiftly bid them a farewell and made her way over to him with purposeful steps, her dress swaying with her movements.
“Dr. Rhodes,” She approached him, slowing to a standstill to the side of him as he rotated his body to be slightly facing her.
She regarded him for a few seconds, her tongue in her cheek and her lips upturned while Connor stayed silent, waiting to see what she would say or do.
“Were you studying me?” She teased, a grin breaking out over her face.
Connor twirled his ice around in his glass as he brought it up to his face to stare in it, hoping that he wasn’t blushing. Or hoping at least Ava wouldn’t detect that he was flustered at being caught.
He cleared his throat, taking another small sip of his drink before trying a nonchalant response, “Nope. Just observing,” Then giving her a side glance, he mused, “You’re quite the hit. Everyone loves you.”
Ava turned on her heel to face him more fully, her grin turning into one of bemusement, “Why Connor Rhodes. Are you jealous that I’m getting more attention than you?”
Oh, he was jealous. But not of her. Because of her.
He rocked on his feet, “No, I’m just pointing it out.”
She gave him a funny look, like she wasn’t sure what to think of his behavior, or weather to believe him, but she gave a slight nod anyway before turning to survey the crowd.
“You seem to have a lot of sway over the donors,” He commented offhandedly, trying to subtly see exactly how close she was with them all.
Ava thankfully didn’t seem to think the comment odd as she hummed in acknowledgement. She shrugged as she turned her attention back to him, a smirk creeping across her face, “A little flirting goes a long way, you know. I’ve learned it comes in handy.”
He did his best to hide his alarm. What the heck did that mean?
Before he could fish for any more information, Mr. Singleton approached Ava with his hand stretched out, someone Connor had never seen before following the benefactor.
“Dr. Bekker! I’d like you to meet…”
Connor blocked out the rest of the man’s words watching as Ava shook both men’s hands before heaving a sigh, shoving his free hand into his pocket and heading over to the bar.
Surely she wasn’t dating anyone. He would know it; they worked together pretty much twenty-four/seven. She wouldn’t be able to hide something like that from him, would she?
And it wasn’t like she was seeing any of the men here. They were all too old…and boring. Ava didn’t strike him as someone who would date a boring old guy. Not to mention the fact that she could do so much better.
But as much as he hated to admit it, he had seen her speaking to various doctors and donors who were young and good-looking by anyone’s standards at these types of events before.
Well…he didn’t think they had another mixer to attend for quite a while, so he had some time to be on the lookout for a secret boyfriend in the meantime.
Connor shook his head in disbelief, scoffing to himself. He couldn’t believe he was this worried over a girl.
And there was no way she was dating anyone. She’d never gotten flowers at work, she didn’t ask for nights off (although, he suspected that even if she had boyfriend, she wouldn’t sacrifice work for a relationship) and she never clocked out for lunch.
However, he did remember that one time when he thought she was dating his father. He’d had mixed feelings over that piece of information, on the one hand he’d been jealous and on the other, he’d been slightly disturbed at the very unexpected turn of events.
Connor remembered being slightly salty towards her the whole day, but she hadn’t seemed to care which had only rankled him further. Until after Sarah Reese’s father’s transplant and he’d gotten up the courage to tell Ava that he wasn’t upset just because she was dating his father; he didn’t want her dating anyone.
Well, except for him…he didn’t tell her that part, but he figured it was implied.
Then she’d smirked in that adorable way of hers and told him that she was never dating his father.
And boy had that been a relief on so many different levels.
He’d chuckled in disbelief; It’d been just like her to let him stew over it. And she’d chuckled back, and he knew she’d done it on purpose. Out of sheer curiosity, wondering what he’d do he was sure. Wanting to know how his relationship with his father worked.
Ava was sneaky like that.
So, he felt confident that she wasn’t in anyway involved with his father or any other man for that matter; he felt confident he would know if she was.
Besides he felt they were getting closer; it was just a matter of time.