Choices

Chapter 9: Hey Madison

"Where are we going?" I ask for the millionth time as Lucas drives down the narrow road with no buildings around us.

"You'll know when we're there and quit messing with my radio." He swats my hand away and I yelp. "I'm sorry." He reaches out for my hand and brings it to his lips. I pull it away from him and turn my head to face the window.

"You better not be taking me to the woods to kill me." I grunt and he lets out a soft laugh as he reaches for my hand again. This time he holds it on his lap and keeps it there without saying another word and I hide my smile behind my hair which works as a barricade between my face and his gaze.

He takes a left and stops near the edge of a cliff that overlooks the city below us. He reaches out behind my seat and grabs a bag of Thai food as I remove my hand from his hold. "You had that there the entire time?" I ask in an accusing tone and he offers me a grin.

"Yes." He opens the door and steps out while I sit there with my arms crossed against my chest. He pulls open my door and reaches out for my hand which I take and follow him out, there is a bench just near the edge of the cliff and we both take a seat before he hands me my warm spicy noodles and chicken.

"I can't believe you hid the food from me for an entire ten minutes. We could have eaten it before we got here." I take a bite of my food because I haven't eaten anything since lunch and I'm starving.

"Well now we have food and a good view." He points out with his fork and I roll my eyes.

"You're an idiot." I say with a smile and it's not long before he returns my smile.

"Are we even allowed up here?" I ask after a few minutes of comfortable silence as I eat my last fork full of noodles and chicken. Lucas finished his in minutes and is now sipping on his beverage as he gives me a look.

"It's Christopher's property. It goes on for miles, he inherited it when my dad died a few years back." I turn around and look to see nothing but darkness. "It's just a piece of property now but Chris is planning on building something sooner or later." He rolls his eyes and I give him a curious look. "It was the one thing I wanted when my dad died but he just left me his business and all problems." I see the pain in his eyes as the words leave his lips.

"At least, you got something. He could have easily left you with nothing." I say as I unscrew a bottle of water and bring it to my lips.

"He did leave me nothing. I told him to leave me out of his will because I was supposed to go to Australia to study. When he died everything was left to Chris and Zak, Chris had Hunter on the way and Zak was off to New Zealand to study. I was here with my dad and Chris and Zak saw it fit for me to take the business. There was no choice for me, Chris and his girlfriend at the time were planning for a new family and Zak isn't the business type of guy." I see the burden that he carries written all over his face and it must be hard to have something given to you without giving you a choice.

"You still have the choice now, you can give it up and go to Australia." I offer him a smile and he throws me a sad one in return.

"I wish I could just leave it all behind and get as far away from here as possible, it's complicated." He says and I drop the topic because I can see that it's not something he likes talking about.

"When I was a kid my mother wanted me to be a teacher because she was one and she thinks that everybody should be a teacher. She was so upset when she found out that I was going to med school." As the words leave my mouth I begin to miss my mother. The last conversation we had was a yelling match between the two of us because I got accepted to med school.

"Well your mom should be proud. You save lives everyday." He takes my hand in his and I offer him a smile.

"She is, she's very proud." He pulls me closer to him and I rest my head on his shoulder as I wrap my arms around his arm. My eyes drift up to the dark sky and the bright stars above us and a smile makes it's way to my face. She's proud, I know she is even though she isn't here to tell me.

"I'm sorry that it wasn't a normal movies and dinner date." He pulls up to my apartment building and offers me a smile. "I just wanted to go somewhere where there was no signal so that nobody would disturb us because I wanted to spend time with you." It's almost midnight and I know for a fact that come tomorrow I'm going to regret it when I'm at work. However, it will be worth it because this date was everything I imagined it to be and more.

"Well you will get another chance to make it up to me." His smile widens and this man is contagious because he has me smiling back at him like a giddy teenager.

"I will?" I lean forward and reach for the adjustment on his seat before pushing it back.

"What are you doing?" He questions with curious eyes and I give him a smirk.

"This is the part where we make out." I hop out of my seat and onto his lap, my legs on either side of him and his hands move to my hips.

"You're full of surprises aren't you?" His voice is shaky and I'm glad to be the cause of that. My hands move from his arms to his shoulders as I lean in slowly.

"You don't even know the half of it." My mouth capture his and he moans against my lips. My hands find his neck as our lips move in sync, his hands grip my hips when his tongue invades my mouth. His phone buzzes from the console and he completely ignores it as he continues to brush his soft lips against mine.

His lips move to my neck, the spot where he bruised me just days ago, the ache and mark is faint when his lips suck on the same spot and I throw my head back as a moan leaves my lips. I'm gripping onto the collar of his leather jacket as he works his Lucas Parker magic on my sensitive flesh. He pulls away and moves his mouth to mine, for a second both of us are lost in that kiss. We are so lost in the pleasure that when there is a knock on his window I yelp against his lips and pull away.

"Luke man, what the fuck." My eyes move to meet Zak's hazel brown eyes which match his brothers, his brother who's lap I'm sitting on and making out with. "Hey Madison." He teases and Lucas rolls the window down as I hide my face in between his neck, I don't want Zak to see the redness on my cheeks and the embarrassment that floods through my face.

"For f**k sakes Zak, what are you doing here?" Lucas grunts and I peak out to see Zak standing there with an amused look on his face. It's weird how similar him and Lucas look, apart from Lucas having longer hair. Him and Zak are practically identical.

"Well I was helping Daniel out with some case files and I was headed out when I saw your car. Chris is looking for you." His eyes move from Lucas to me and his smirk returns. "I'll just tell him you're preoccupied." The humour is evident in his tone and I wish the ground would split open and swallow me whole.

"Tell him I'll call him when I'm home." He dismisses Zak but he doesn't get the message. "Goodbye Zak." He makes himself more clear and Zak rolls his eyes.

"It's important. Call him as soon as you can." There is a change in his tone and Lucas catches onto it because he gives him a stiff nod and his entire body goes rigid. "Goodnight Madison." Zak teases and I give him an embarrassing smile and awkward wave. He laughs the entire way to his car and I let out a soft groan as Lucas rolls the window back up.

"That was so embarrassing." I say as my forehead rests against his shoulder. He lets out a soft laugh as I pull away and my eyes meet his. "I should go." I try to pull my body away from him and his smile drops. "I'll see you soon, don't worry." I tease and he rolls his eyes at my words.

"I'm glad you took me up on my offer." His fingers brush against my cheek.

"Oh no, that wasn't me cashing in on that favour. This date was me doing you a favour Lucas." He brushes his lips against mine in the softest way possible and pulls back. "Your ring is freezing." I shiver as the ring on his finger brushes against my cheek. However, he doesn't pull away. Instead he leans his head back and looks at the time on his dashboard.

"It's getting late. You have work tomorrow." Even though he says that, neither of us make an attempt to move.

"I should get going." I say as I lean in and brush my lips against his one last time and just like that I find myself only getting out of his car some time past midnight.

The next morning when I walk into the residents locker room Dean is rummaging through his locker, Lawson is on his phone and Sadie is eyeing Dean. Jamie and Jake are nowhere to be seen and when Dean's eyes meet mine he offers me a smile and mouths the words "Where's Black?" I shrug my shoulders as Jake walks in behind me with a look on his face that can only mean bad news.

"Where's Jamie?" Dean asks Jake and he gives him a small smile.

"She's not coming back. She's asked for a swap with some resident and another hospital." Jake's eyes drift to James as he looks up from his phone. My eyes widen in shock and Dean clenches his jaw in anger, the rage is evident in his green eyes. I quickly walk up to him and place my hand on his shoulder before he does something that can get him into more trouble.

Chief Saxton walks in with Peterson behind him and an unimpressed look on his face. "Good morning guys." When the Chief comes into the residents locker room with an unimpressed look on his face it means one thing, one of us are in trouble. "It's come to my attention that Doctor Black won't be returning." His eyes meet mine and Dean's and he quickly looks away. "I don't know what's going on here but you guys need to understand that you are all a team and if you can't get along with each other, you will never be able to work together. If you can't work together then people die. It's the harsh reality, it doesn't take one person to save a life. It takes an entire team of well trained Doctors and Nurses to work together to save lives." His eyes pause on James Lawson for a second longer than it should.

"Some of us work well together." Dean mumbles under his breath and James piercing blue eyes move to the two of us.

"You got something you want to say to me Andrews?” James stands to his feet and Dean takes a step forward. I push myself in front of Dean and his eyes meet mine, I tell him to calm down with just a look and his entire body relaxes.

"Today will be your last day here for the next three days." The Chief announces and we all give him a questioning look.

"Tomorrow the five of you will be put into the Trauma Ward with Saxton. You will be using the Trauma floor for the next three days and you five will be staying at the hospital. Nobody is allowed to leave, on call rooms will be used to sleep, showers are available and you guys will be working in different teams to treat patients. Each day you will be assigned a new team and you will work with that person to treat patients, if you can't work well with each other then the patient dies and it's on your team." Peterson announces and I mentally groan, I don't like the idea of sleeping at the hospital for three days especially when Dean and James can snap at any second.

"You guys will abide by this rule for the next three days and if either of you don't follow through, you can say goodbye to your residency program. There is a long line of people who would gladly take your spot in a heartbeat. Jamie Black will be joining you guys tomorrow and if her or either of you step out of line then this week will be your last week here." Saxton pauses for a second before continuing. "Treat this as a test, if you can't work well as residents this year you guys won't make it as attendings next year." With that he dismisses us all and walks out with Peterson beside him.