Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Last Shift

Summary: It's Cassie's last day as a resident, and she has plans to commemoratethe occasion with Ethan.

The day was finally here. Three soul-crushing years of being at the beck and call of attendings. Three rewarding years of tackling the most challenging cases in medicine. Three awe-inspiring years of working with her medical hero, Dr. Ethan Ramsey.

Three years of laughter, tears, disappointments and hope. Three years of living in Boston and making it her home. Three crazy years full of shenanigans with her friends, she thought, eyeing everyone around her as they exited the T station and walked toward the hospital.

Cassie Valentine still couldn't believe it was her last shift as a resident. Starting tomorrow (or in a few weeks since she was taking some much-deserved time off), she would be an attending physician in Edenbrook's internal medicine department.

After much haggling, her offer letter and contract were sealed, signed and delivered. Ethan had been amused by the back and forth, but no Valentine accepted the first offer presented. Max would've never let her hear the end of it, and her grandfather would've tried to disown her again.

Still in disbelief, she reached out and pinched her friend and roomie, Jackie Varma.

"Ouch! What the fuck, Valentine?!?"

"Sorry, but I can't believe it's our last day as residents!" Cassie said in a sing-song voice.

"So you pinched me instead of yourself?"

"Well, yeah. If I pinched myself, how would I know it was real?"

Jackie rolled her eyes and changed places with Sienna as they neared Edenbrook's gleaming façade. Aurora threw both of them an amused look but kept walking.

"Is Dr. Ramsey doing anything special to memorialize your last shift?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, he is. He just doesn't know it yet," Cassie quipped, sharing a conspiratorial wink with Sienna.

Only her besties were aware of the list she'd prepared with steps one should take to ensure a healthy parting in a relationship. She'd found it in one of her Psychology textbooks and decided it was the perfect way to mark the end of this stage in her career.

Once inside the hospital, they split off to their respective floors after making plans to meet for lunch. Their last one together as residents, Cassie thought, getting teary-eyed at the thought.

Technically speaking, most of them were staying here. Jackie was Chief Resident for a second year, Sienna would start as a senior Pediatrics resident, and Elijah staying on as a researcher.

Bryce still had one more year in his surgical residency and would likely remain at Edenbrook for a fellowship. Only Aurora was leaving to work across town at Mass Kenmore.

"Are you getting emotional again, Rookie?" Ethan teased when she walked through the Diagnostic Team's glass doors, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Last night at the graduation ceremony and dinner, he took great pleasure in needling her about getting sentimental. Her parents and Max had flown in for the occasion. Their effusive pride in her accomplishment was dampened by Ethan's uber-rationality.

"When I was your age, I couldn't wait for my residency to finish," Ethan said, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm excited. Believe me," Cassie said. "But I also know the importance of acknowledging your loss when going through something like this."

"Acknowledging your loss?" Ethan looked wary. "Is this from one of your online pop psychology quizzes?"

"Funny you should say that," she said eagerly, pulling up a list on her phone. "One should follow a series of steps to ensure a relationship ends amicably. We are going to work through every single one of them. Today."