'𝙤𝙝, 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙚.'
Sloan Riley had no doubt she would get where she did, not for a moment had she wondere...
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S04 - EP 02 | WC: 13.421
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"Often... too often, things that start out as just a normal part of your life, at some point, cross the line to obssessive... Compulsive... Out of control.
It's the high we're chasing; the high that makes everything else... Fade away."
─── RILEY WOULD BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT HER PROBLEMS, perhaps it came with growing up too quickly, to being too smart when she was too young, but either way, Riley had never been one to deny when she had a problem.
Not because she was some... emotionally mature lab created beast, as the residents said she was, but because Riley was anything if not practical. She had to be. So, when she'd come across a problem about herself, she'd rather face it head on and deal with it so she could just... move on.
It had been that way her whole life.
Too bored at school? Talk to the teachers about already knowing the material to get bumped ahead.
Getting bullied because she was a senior at twelve? Tell the teachers. Didn't work? Aim low and fast. A quick jab to the throat and a kick between the legs would make them wary about picking on her.
Afraid of the dark? Buy a night lamp and learn not to fear what sometimes rattled her door.
Again, she was practical.
Why dwell on your problems? Why stuff them inside and ignore them when you knew they'd blow up on your face later on, probably at the worst moment? She had never understood why people did it, before.
So it came as a surprise to herself that she was avoiding her biggest problem at that moment.
Oh, and not only emotionally.
Riley wasn't just packing in the fact that she had actually moved from Maryland to Seattle hoping she wouldn't have to meet Mark Sloan, only to find out he was not in New York as she had first heard he was, no, she wasn't just avoiding the ugly feelings rearing their heads, but she was also avoiding the man like he was the plague.
A few days had passed since her first shift, and since then she had learned to duck inside whatever room was closest to avoid the man, turning on her heels any time she thought she heard him walking around.
Not a single part of her understood, it actually revolted her to act in such a way, but those days it felt like she had no control over her reactions, despite her best wishes.
So when she saw the man lurking by the front doors, two cups of coffee in his hands right as she was getting in, Riley nearly turned around to search for another entry before forcing herself to take a deep breath, shoving her free hand inside the pocket of her red leather jacket, noting with a grimace that he also wore a black one, as well.
