24

stay with George last night?"

Eleanora looked up from the chart she was flipping through, giving him a sad smile. "Yeah, I knew you were staying at your place so I just..." she let out a deep breath, Alex rubbing her back soothingly. "He needed someone, Alex. He was scared and now-"

"His dad is in renal failure, yeah, I heard. That sucks." He interrupted. She nodded, pushing away from the counter to hug her boyfriend tightly for a moment.

"I love you." She whispered, looking up at him. He pecked her lips, giving her a half-hearted smile.

"You too." Eleanora removed her arms when she heard his pager go off, him checking it. "I gotta go, sweetheart."

He turned and ran off, Eleanora going back to the chart. She didn't notice that Alex technically didn't say he loved her back, of course. She had no reason to worry, so her brain didn't pick up on it.

She did, however, notice George walking aimlessly into the lobby. She furrowed her brows, leaving her chart with a nurse as she stepped towards him.

"Georgie?"

He looked at her, and then his eyes drifted to Dr. Bailey and the Chief, and walked closer to them. He stayed a bit away, almost like he refused to be near them. Eleanora followed behind him, her eyes full of worry.

"Why'd you do it?" His voice was loud but not yet a yell. Eleanora moved her eyes from him to the two in front of her, her nose scrunching up in confusion.

"Dr. O'Malley," the Chief starts, but George interrupts him.

"Why did you do it once you saw the cancer had spread?" It all clicked in Eleanora's mind in that moment, Mr. O'Malley's unexplainable coma and organ failure. They took out too much in the surgery. But why?

"He asked you right? He asked you to do it no matter what?"

Eleanora's voice was soft as she took a step closer to her friend, but didn't touch him. "Georgie..."

"We have to honor our patients wishes." The Chief told him. George scoffed, then turned his anger and disbelief to Dr. Bailey. Bailey looked like she was going to be sick, like the fact she had to lie to George killed her.

, Eleanora thought. She knew how much the resident loved and cared for the six of them, and that she would never wish for anything like this to happen to any of them.

"You said you would be straight with me. He could have lived for weeks or months, w-we could have had months with him! My mom, she could have had with him!"

"He wanted a chance to fight the cancer, George." The Chief stated, looking at him with slight guilt. "It was his choice."

Eleanora took a step back when George yelled at the Chief, her eyes widening. "He didn't know any better! You knew better! You shouldn't have done it."

The Chief and Dr. Bailey looked at him with shock. Eleanora stepped beside him, intertwining their fingers and holding onto his arm.

"George," she said softly, pulling him lightly. "Let's go, okay?"

George's voice cracked, starting to walk with Eleanora but pointing his words at the two surgeons in front of him. "You shouldn't have done it."

Eleanora led him out of sight of everyone staring, closing the door of an empty room behind her. She looked up at him, her voice concerned.

"Georgie..."

He broke down then, practically falling into her arms. She held him, rocking them side to side and shushing him quietly for what seemed like hours, the two best friends trying to make sense of what life really meant as they were in each other's arms.

______

Sloan!" Eleanora called out, jogging to keep up with the man. Both of their shifts had ended and it was obvious Mark was trying to head home.

He slowed down but didn't stop, Eleanora finally catching up with him once they were outside.

"Eleanora." He greeted, nodding at her. She made a noise, causing him to look at her slightly confused.

"You called me Eleanora." Her voice was soft and sad, Mark stopping to look at her. "You're supposed to call me Nora."

Mark titled his head, his voice low and slightly gruff. "I thought you hated me calling you 'Nora'?"

She huffed, and Mark, even in his depressed state, would call it cute. "That's...the whole point of nicknames! The person being called the nickname is supposed to like they don't like it!"

"So you like when I call you Nora?"

"Yes!"

The two stared at each other for a moment before Eleanora spoke up again. "What's been going on, Mark?"

Mark was slightly taken aback, shocked at the girl using his name. So far, she had only called him 'Dr. Sloan', never straying from the professionalism that apparently was built into her bones. He had thought they were friends, but everytime she called him Dr. Sloan, it made him question it (even if he secretly loved it).

But she just

He let out a small sigh, checking to make sure nobody was listening. He guided her to a bench, the two sitting together. She waited patiently, which he appreciated.

"This week, I was supposed to become a father. But it didn't happen. And you know, maybe it's for the better, because everyone's telling me how shitty of a father I'd be."

Eleanora reaches out and took one of his hands, squeezing it in hopes to comfort him. Mark's eyes drifted to their connected hands, his breath catching in his throat.

"You would be a great father, Mark." She spoke, her voice sure. "I can just tell."

He let his eyes drift from their hands to lock with hers, his voice low. "Why do you sound so sure about that, Nora?"

"Because, it's in your eyes."

The two of them sat there, time stopping as they looked into each other's eyes. Eleanora could hear that alarm from before come back, trying to get her to realize something.