Geno didn’t come home that night or the next day. I had called in sick to work and waited for him but he never showed. I know that was a lot to throw at him but I needed him to come back. Was the engagement off? Were we broken up? All of these uncertain thoughts raced around in my mind. I couldn’t lose him again but he deserved so much better. I was a cheater and I hated myself for it. I look in the mirror and I feel sick. How could I have hurt him like that? Just when things were going to be okay, I had to screw them up. My entire life was just an endless series of screw-ups. I go to bed and toss and turn until I can’t stand it anymore. I had to find him. I try and think of places he would stay and an idea pops in my mind. I get dressed and head out into the early hours of the morning.
I ring the doorbell repeatedly for five minutes until the door finally opens.

“Quinn,” Sidney says surprised.

“I know he’s here,” I say as I push past Sidney and walk into his home. I know I was being rude but I didn’t care.

“I need to see him,” I tell him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I was up all night with him last night. He was in really bad shape,” Sidney tells me.

“I need to see him,” I repeat. I look around the house until I find a closed door. I open it and find Geno sleeping peacefully in bed. I walk in and shut the door behind me. Geno hears the door close and wakes up. He looks shocked to see me. He sits up and turns on the lamp.

“Look I know you don’t want to see me but I need you to know how sorry I am. I was so stupid to do that and I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I love you so much and I can’t lose you again,” I plead.

“Why you do it?” he asks evenly.

“Matt told me he loved me and he told me how he told me he’s always been there for me all these years and he was so sad when I told him I was engaged I felt like I owed him something.”

“But was mistake.”

“Yes a huge mistake. Zhenya I stopped it from going any further because I knew that I loved you, not him. You’re the only one for me and you’re the one I want to spend my life with. I love you so much and I’m so sorry I ever made you doubt that.”

“Вы когда-нибудь спали с ним раньше, (have you ever slept with him before?)” he asks.

“No.”

“What about other one?”

“Elias?” I ask and he nods. I suddenly feel awkward and I wish he hadn’t brought it up.

“Once. This summer,” I say honestly. He shakes his head and I hold my breath. I honestly didn’t know where his head was at and this could either end okay or really badly.

“If want to be with me, I not want you with them,” he says seriously.

“Are you giving me an ultimatum?” I ask shocked.

“Is me or them Quinn. You choose.” I had read somewhere that you should never be in a relationship with ultimatums but at this point I didn’t really have a choice. Matt and Elias had been my best friends for five years but if I wanted Geno to be my husband I was going to have to sever those friendships.

“Okay. I love you and if you don’t want me to see them anymore it’s fine. They’re out of my life.” I sit down on the bed beside him and grab his hand.

“ты все еще любишь меня? (Do you still love me?)” I ask.

“I hurt by what you did but I still love. Trust was lost though,” he tells me. I kiss him softly and I can feel the hesitation in his kiss. I grab him by the hand and we leave the room. We say goodbye to Sid and we both drive our vehicles home.

I knew the guys would be in the cafeteria the next day so I headed to the deserted hallway alone. I ate my lunch silently and thought about the situation I was in. Eventually I was going to bump into one of them but I made a promise to Geno. I knew he didn’t trust me completely yet but I would earn it back. When I first thought about what he was asking of me it seemed so unfair until I thought about if the situation was reversed. What if he had gotten that intimate with another female? I would be livid and if they worked together? I would probably call off the engagement so I totally see where Geno is coming from now. I was just going to have to get creative with avoiding Matt and Elias. My pager goes off and I head to the E.R. I find Dr. Cohen and he hands me the patient file and I read that patient has multiple broken ribs and a pulmonary laceration. I start to panic because I realize that Matt will probably have to scrub in with me. Sure enough Matt walks up to me so I hand him the patient file and scans to him wordlessly. I leave the O.R. and go in search of Dr. Reid. I find him in his office and I knock on the door.

“Dr. Eriksson, hi come in,” he says evenly. He still wasn’t over the stunt I pulled but we were slowly making progress.

“Hi Dr. Reid. There’s a patient in the E.R with thirteen broken ribs and I was wondering if you wanted perform the surgery,” I tell him.

“You seem perfectly capable of doing the surgery. Is there a particular reason you don’t want to do it?” he asks.

“No. I was just wondering.”

“After your leave of absence this summer and your leave after your surgery I think it would be wise to log in as many surgeries as you can to catch up. The end of your residency is nearing and you don’t want to have to repeat a year.”

“No I don’t. I would happy to do the surgery Dr. Reid. Thanks for your time.” I leave and head to the O.R. to get scrubbed in. I see Matt in there already scrubbing in so I silently stand beside him and scrub my hands.

“Another dual surgery, should be fun,” he says looking at me. I stay silent and scrub underneath of my nails.

“Look Quinn, I’m sorry about what happened. You’re my best friend and I don’t want to lose you.” I finish scrubbing in and the nurse puts gloves on me. I get my gown on and tied and Matt stands there waiting for me to say something.

“Let’s just focus on the surgery okay?” I say evenly. We walk into the O.R. and stand across from each other. I crack my neck and avoid his gaze.

“Scalpel.”

I finish the surgery and head to the nurse’s station to update my patient files. I’m in the middle of writing in a chart when I hear a chair pull up.

“Hey Quinn, how was yours and Matt’s surgery?” Elias asks.

“Fine Dr. Dixon,” I reply.

“Since when do you call me Dr. Dixon?” I stay silent and continue writing.

“Are you okay?” I hear another chair roll up and I roll my eyes. This was harder than I thought.

“Oh hey Matt, Quinn’s being weird,” Elias tells Matt. I hand the file off to the nurse and start updating another one.

“So Jack’s later?” Elias asks.

“Yeah sure,” Matt says.

“Quinn?” I stay silent and I see them looking at each other from the corner of my eye.

“Okay Quinn what’s your deal?” Elias asks irritably. His tone get’s on my last nerve and finally look up at them.

“Look this has been fun but I’m done. From now on it’s not Quinn, it’s Dr. Eriksson. I’m not your friend, or your pal, I’m just another resident. Unless you need an ortho consult, don’t talk to me,” I say harshly. I hand the nurse the other file and walk away dramatically. Deep down I felt sad but it didn’t matter. This had to be done.

I walk in the door and half the team was over.

“Doc! How’s it hanging?” Beau asks.

“Good. How are you?” I ask.

“Oh I’m great. G said you guys have news but wanted to wait till you got here. I walk in the living and sit on Geno’s lap. Everyone’s looking at me and I smile.

“You all think I’m pregnant, don’t you?” I ask. They all nod and I laugh.

“I’m not. The actual news is I proposed to Geno and he said yes.” They all erupt in cheers and I get up to hug everyone. I was happy I was marrying into this weird family. I leave them to watch some football game and grab some food from the fridge. Geno walks in and smiles.

“You’re awfully smiley,” I tell him.

“You be wife soon. Is exciting,” he replies.

“I still can’t cook,” I say frowning.

“But now know Russian. I still teach to cook,” he reassures me.

“So I told the guys I wouldn’t be talking to them anymore.”

“What they say?”

“Nothing. I walked away before they said anything. I just want you to know how serious I am about this. I want you to be able to trust me.”

“I do trust.” He walks up to me and kisses me. I start smiling and he pulls away confused.

“I love you my Russian bear.” He kisses my nose and heads to the living room.

Notes