PLAY PRETEND. That's what Connor did the second he stepped into a room where either Will Halstead of Natalie Manning ( or both of them ) was, their grins and hopeful looks becoming too much for the surgeon. However, he was thankful Isidore Latham wished for him to spend as much time in various cardiothoracic surgeries as possible, in order to put a finish touch on his ability to make decisions under pressure, as well as putting a finishing touch to his various techniques.
At the same time, his days got longer, with heavier surgeries, and it sucked the joy out of Connor. When everything came to it, he would always be a trauma surgeon, and though he loved his job, working with Latham, he missed the emergency room; he missed the trauma.
He sighed as he sunk into a chair in the dark cafeteria, gaze locked on the skyline outside the window as he tried not to think about what the time was. Quite frankly, Connor had not gotten any minutes of sleep since the day before, before he had gone to show Eila his childhood home. A long and tough surgery, along with several patients seeing complications, as well as nurses calling Code Blue at what felt like all over the hospital, he needed a break. He needed to sneak away for a few minutes, just to gather his thoughts, and to catch a breath.
Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket, seeing few notifications of interest. However, there was one — though it was a notification that surprised him, to say the least.
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EILA i don't know when you get off work, though i do know there might be some christmas decorations that have made a sudden and surprising appearance at your door
CONNOR have you decorated my doorway for christmas? more important without me?
EILA of course i did it without your permission! you'd never say yes! though now, things look a little more warm and welcoming
EILA i just now realized you asked if i had done it without you, and to be honest — i was not expecting that, like, at all
CONNOR what can i say, i'm a man of many surprises
EILA funny.
EILA ok, however i want to see how people react to your decorations when they see them
CONNOR how do you want to go about with that?
EILA i was thinking we could make hot chocolate, and set up camp, while undercover, and we could spy on the people who arrive
CONNOR not to burst your bubble, but are you sure people won't recognize us
CONNOR or, how undercover do you want us to go? i mean, i've got some friends down at the 21st district, i'm sure one of them could help set this up
EILA i want to spy on our neighbours to see their reaction to your sudden burst of ✨ christmas ✨
CONNOR and?
EILA i did not intend to go undercover in a drug deal or rob a bank. which means we do not need to include your friends down at the 21st
EILA how on earth have you made friends down there, though? isn't 21st where that corrupt cop works?
CONNOR will's brother works down there, as a part of the corrupt cop's special little intelligence unit. before you ask, i haven't really saved their lives, so no, it's not like they owe me anything super special in return
EILA i don't know if i could trust a man like that. a corrupt cop that is
CONNOR voight's, well — voight's a lot. but then again, he does have the best team in the city, maybe even in the state supporting him, will's brother being one of them. i think it's only good to be wary of the ones with power like that who we know have been convicted for what they've done
EILA i sense a 'but' coming
CONNOR haha yeah, you're right, it's coming
CONNOR but, voight has done a lot of things for the city, and he has put a lot of bad guys behind bars ( and six feet under, let's not forget that ), so i think it's right and fair that we give him the benefit of the doubt
EILA i heard a firefighter was the one who got him behind bars in the first place, but that's really just a work-place gossip i picked up on
CONNOR you're not too far off; from what i've learned (this was a bit before i returned to the city), matt casey — one of the two we spoke to at molly's — was the one who did it, but i've never actually talked to him abour it
EILA i mean, that could be a chapter he wants to forget. we all have those chapters.
CONNOR yeah, you're right
EILA let's change the subject before it gets to sad and dark. how's work? don't you have any lives to save?
CONNOR been in a five-hour long surgery, where the scrub nurse stood next to me singing "here comes santa claus" for at least three hours, i've had three post-operation patients with complications, but lives are saved and work is being done
EILA impressive
EILA you should introduce me to the scrub nurse, she seems cool
EILA what do you want to do tonight?
CONNOR did you just abandon your spy-plan?
EILA i'm open to suggestions, but don't tempt me to go through with it
CONNOR hm well, we've looked at decorations, we've seen some movies, listened to music, done some building — how about we just take a slow night in with a few more movies?
EILA are you suggesting die hard again?
CONNOR you know i wouldn't refuse to watch it
EILA well, movies it is — though you'll have to watch die hard some other time 🤷🏻♀️
CONNOR oh i'll convince you to watch die hard, trust me. i'll just take it as a little christmas challenge of my own
