Rhekker | We are one with you (Rhekker story)

Dirty gossip

It had been a few days since Connor had proposed to Ava, and of course she had immediately shared her happiness with her friends, who had already passed it on to other colleagues, who, as always happens, told others.

Ava never stopped smiling, and when she crossed paths with Connor, she actually beamed.

"What will happen at the wedding itself? She'll dazzle us with her immense joy" Will chuckled, tapping the tablet lightly on the palm of his hand.

"For a woman, this is an incredibly fabulous event" Natalie explained matter of factly not holding back a smile as she recalled her wedding to Will, and how she had prepared for it for a long time, often experiencing, and also often admiring. "Wait, you wanted to lie on the couch, right?"

"I did" Halstead agreed, grinning. "But there the bride and groom are sitting with their arms around each other".

"Oh" Nat said, laughing as she went into the exam room to see the new patient, giving will a final peck on the cheek. "Get some rest at home".

Ava was actually sitting on the couch, enjoying Connor's embrace with her eyes closed in peace. There had been such moments before the trip to Cape town, but now they seemed priceless.

"When are we going to have the wedding?" Connor said softly, kissing Ava's hair. They haven't brought it up yet, but they should have.

"Not in the winter" Ava laughed, already getting goose bumps at the mere mention of cold. 

"I can't wait that long" Rhodes grumbled, quickly calculating that they would have to wait forever with the Chicago cold weather.

"Then we'll have to fly back to Cape town" Ava winked, frowning as she received Maggie's message about the new patient. "I think I should go".

"I think we should go" Connor corrected, showing the screen of his phone, which had the same text as Ava's. "Well, we'll have the wedding on the beach where I proposed to you".

"I was joking" Ava said, biting her lip. "First, our friends will be offended that we will get married without their presence, and, secondly, this is too much. I'm already the happiest woman, Connor".

Kissing Ava on the mouth, Connor reluctantly followed her to the patient, angry for the first time that the work hours were taking so long.

After one victim, two more arrived, and then Connor went to the operating room with an urgent open fracture in a teenager, and Ava was left out of business, still trying to help.

"Connor, I can..."

"Ava, get some rest" Connor snapped, giving her an agitated look that made up for his harsh words.

Without contradicting him, Ava picked up a nutritional bar from the vending machine and went into the resident's office. As she chewed on the not-quite-appetizing mass, with no particular flavor other than cereals and dried cherries, Bekker picked up a fresh newspaper folded in half. Someone had definitely read it. Opening it to the first page, Ava dropped the bar on the floor. She didn't look away from the photo until she decided to read the small text beneath it.

"The future wife of Connor Rhodes, the famous son of the wealthy businessman Cornelius Rhodes, Ava Becker, caught the bait of both Rhodes".  And the photo was of her the second Connor's father put his arm around her waist and led her out onto the porch. Ava remembered the day the photo was taken, when she had waited a long time for Connor at the event, and Cornelius had started hitting on her without any shame. Of course, he didn't know that she was his son's girlfriend, but the situation might have gone out of bounds if Connor hadn't arrived on time. Only someone still managed to photograph them, playing it in a different light: dirty and ugly.