October rolled around, with it came fall and a large medical conference. One attendee, a world-class pediatric surgeon, had ties to the city in the form of old friends and colleagues. So, during her down time, she decided to visit the hospital where she used to work and catch-up on the gossip she had missed out on while she was gone.

Natalie Bishop entered Seattle Regional Hospital on a mission. Determined, she walked down the halls feeling like nothing had changed. But things were different; there were new faces that did not recognize the gorgeous, statuesque, brown-haired doctor roaming the halls.  With each step she took, it seemed as if every head turned to notice.

Wanting to drop in on her old boss, Natalie made her way to Dr. Henry Martin's office ignoring the stares she received from the male staff of Seattle Regional.

Dr. Henry Martin was the chief of surgery who was waffling back and forth between retirement and staying on at the hospital. He looked up from his paperwork at the knock on his door. "Come in," he said.

Natalie stepped in and smiled. "Dr. Martin, I thought you would have retired by now.”

“Natalie Bishop,” Henry said standing up to give her a hug. “I didn’t know you would be in town.”

“Yeah, I’m here with the medical convention. So, how have things been going around here? I presume it’s gone to hell since I left.” Natalie joked sitting down.

“We’ve been able to manage just fine without you Nat.”

The two sat silently for a little while enjoying each other’s company.

“You know,” said Henry, “I’m still upset with you.”

“Why?”

“We invest our time and energy into grooming you to be the best damn pediatric surgeon out there, and then spend only two years here after your residency. You just up and left us.”

“Oh, don’t give me that sob story, you have a couple of pretty brilliant surgeons here. If I recall correctly, Scott and Chase became the rock-stars around here.” Natalie laughed.

Henry laughed with Natalie. “They kind of did, didn’t they?”

“Speaking of the two of them, I’m going to go see if I can track them down. It’s about lunchtime. They should be in the cafeteria. I’ll talk with you later.” Natalie got up and left the chief’s office and went in search of her old friends.

Natalie easily found Chase; he was sitting at a table in the cafeteria by himself. From the looks of it, he was reading a chart or catching-up on some paperwork.

“Hey there, Chase.” Natalie said sitting down at the table.

Chase looked up and smiled, “Natalie, what are you doing here?”

“Just in town for a conference. How’re things going? Do you still have the interns falling all over you?”

Chase shook his head and laughed, “I never had the interns falling all over me. But things are going pretty well. I thought the chief was going to retire, but he changed his mind. I’m pretty sure when he does decide to go, I’ll be up for the position.”

“Really, you don’t think you’ll have a little competition from the plastic’s golden boy?”

Chase’s expression instantly changed, “let’s not talk about that.”

“Alright,” Natalie said confused. “Do you have any idea where he is?” She asked looking around the cafeteria hoping to catch a glimpse of her old friend. The two of them had a somewhat different relationship.

“I saw his name on the board, so he might be in surgery. I actually need to be heading into surgery as well. It was good seeing you, we should do drinks later.” Chase stood up and left.

Natalie sat alone in the cafeteria and people watched. While she was there, she saw two women, both of African decent, walk into the cafeteria and sit down in a far corner. One woman was dressed in scrubs while the other wore khaki pants and a harvest orange blouse. She did not pay them much attention until she saw Scott walk up to their table. Natalie got up and began to walk that way. Before she could make it across the room, Scott had walked back out of the cafeteria.

Natalie weaved her way through the tables, trying to follow Scott. By the time she reached the room’s exit, he was nowhere in sight.

Throughout the rest of the day, Natalie observed the dynamics of the hospital. She watched the nurses interact with the doctors and the doctors interact with the patients. The entire time she continued to keep a look out for Dr. Walker. When it became obvious that he was too busy to be distracted during the day, Natalie made up her mind to visit him at his home in the evening.

Scott walked around his apartment cleaning up, organizing things by putting objects in their rightful place. He had talked earlier in the evening to Deidre and told her about how full his day was. In response, she told him she would come over so the two could unwind together. So when a knock on the door came a few minuets after eight, Scott was not surprised. He was, however, surprised by who stood on the other side of the door.

"Hey handsome," Natalie smiled.

"Natalie, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I am in town for a conference. I came by the hospital earlier, but you were busy." Natalie explained side stepping Scott and entering his home.

"I know about the conference, I saw the chief and he told me you were in town. But what are you doing here, at my apartment?"

"Oh, come on Scott. I’m in town for a few days so I thought...” Natalie said seductively. We used to have so much fun together before I left: secret rendezvous in the hospital’s on-call rooms, private lunches."

"I remember that, but I'm seeing someone at the moment so I think it would be best if you left."

"Really Scott? It’s not like that ever stopped you before. Scott, you never could handle the type of temptation I bring. You slept with me when you and Claire were together, and when you and Liz were together, and when you and Ally were together…”

“Okay, I get the point but…”

“I'm the reason those relationships did not work out." Natalie said as she brought herself nose to nose with the slightly taller man.

"As far as my past relationships not working out, you were only part of the problem. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"Then why are you trying to kick me out?" Natalie asked.

"You'll be disappointed by the fact that I can resist you and that I want nothing to do with you."

"That I don't believe." Natalie leaned in and tried to initiate a passionate kiss with Scott. He, however, did not respond to her advances.

What Scott did respond to, was the sound of the door being pushed all the way open and Deidre's voice. "So, I brought movies, food and ice…" She stopped mid-sentence as she witnessed the scene that was taking place in Scott's apartment.

Everything seemed to happen so slowly, but at the same time, the moment flew pass. Scott pushed Natalie away from him, but the damage was already done. Deidre had left the room, as quickly as she came in. Scott glared at Natalie and then followed Deidre out of the room. Natalie just stared as she watched Scott, the man who used to care less about what his girlfriend of the moment thought about his escapades, rushed out after a woman.

By the time Scott got down to the parking lot, Deidre's car was already speeding out onto Seattle's busy streets.

"Damn it," he said as he went back up to his apartment.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Scott asked.

Natalie was still in his apartment sitting on the couch. She was not quite sure what to say. In the past, whenever one of Scott's girlfriends walked in on the two of them together, he would shrug his shoulders and let the woman leave. He'd never stopped what they were doing to go after his girlfriend after she had stormed out. "You've changed."

"What?" Scott sat down in a chair.

"You ran after her." Natalie said quietly. They were fuck-buddies yes, but she cared about him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You've never done that before."

"I told you I was seeing someone Natalie."

"But this, this is serious. I guess my first clue should have been when you tried to thwart my advances."

"That was a major hint." Scott said sitting down on the couch defeated.

"I'm sorry."

Scott snorted, shook his head, and stood up. "Whatever Natalie. Could you just leave now?"

"Scott I really am sorry. I didn't think she meant that much to you. To be honest, I didn’t think you were dating anyone. I didn’t here anything about it in the hospital rumor mill today. Who is she anyway? I saw her in the cafeteria earlier.”

“She’s one of the hospital’s lawyers. And we’re trying to keep everything just between us.”

"Oh. She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Natalie asked.

"Yes she does. Now that we've gotten that settled, can you leave?"

"I'll see you around then Scott. Goodnight." Natalie got her things together and left the apartment.

After Natalie left, Scott picked up the phone and called Emi.

Deidre paced around Emi's apartment while Emi watched her. "I should've known the man hadn't changed. Emi what the hell was I thinking getting involved with a man whore?"

Emi shook her head. She could not believe that Scott would do that to Deidre; the man had been trying to prove to her that he had changed. "What happened after you left?"

"What do you mean? I came straight here."

"Did he follow you?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Right." Emi watched as Deidre finally sat down next to her.

"Falling in love with Scott Walker was the stupidest thing I've ever done." Deidre said looking at the ceiling.

"Did you just say you're in love with Scott?" Emi asked slightly amused.

"No, I said dating Scott was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"No you said 'falling in love.' Deidre James I'm shocked." Emi teased.

Deidre shook her head as she realized she had let it slip that she was in fact in love with Scott. As Deidre was about to say something, Emi's cell phone rang.

"Hello," Emi said answering the phone.

"Hey Emi, its Scott."

"I know your voice by now, and your name pops up on the caller ID."

"Right. Look I think I things may have just gotten really bad with Deidre. I’m pretty sure she got the wrong impression"

"Yeah, I know." Emi said looking over at her distressed friend.

"So she's told you."

"You could say that."

“Look she’s either told you or she hasn’t” Scott said through the phone. Emi could tell he was frustrated.

“Yes, she told me what happened.”

Emi looked over at Deidre who was now holding her head in her hands. She could only hear Emi’s side of the conversation.

"You probably won't believe me…” Scott said.

“You’re right I probably won’t.” Emi interrupted.

Scott ignored Emi’s comment and continued with what he was saying. “And I know she won't but I have to tell you. I feel like if I tell you, then maybe you’ll relay it to Deidre.”

“I’m not your translator, or you’re go between Scott.” Emi said.

“I’m telling you anyway. It meant nothing and nothing happened."

Emi rolled her eyes, the classic guy excuse when he is caught having an affair. "Right. It meant nothing. Is that all you can come up with?"

"Emi, it's the truth. Natalie and I have a history. She worked at the hospital a for a few years, but I’m pretty sure you never really ran into her.”

“I know who she is Scott.”

“Right. Well, one could say she was the reason all of my relationships failed. When she showed up at my door this evening, I knew trouble would follow. You can doubt the fact that I tried to get her to leave, but that is also the truth. I would never and could never cheat on Deidre. I love her."

Emi was surprised to hear Scott talk so candidly about his feelings and the evening’s occurrences. He was sincere and Emi believed what he was saying. The sad part was that she knew if he tried to tell Deidre she would not listen. Emi looked over to see Deidre standing up and grabbing her things to go. She waved good-bye and walked out the door.

"So why did you call me first?"

"You know as well as I do that Deidre would not answer her phone if I tried to call. I figured explaining things to you would help me figure out how to explain things to Deidre." Scott said.

"If it helps. I believe you Scott."

"Thanks Emi. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye." Emi hung up the phone and closed her eyes. The entire day had been eventful and tiring. Emi prayed to god for her friends’ sake that the two of them would resolve things quickly. As bad of a reputation Scott had, Emi was pretty sure the man had changed for the better. Not only that, but Emi knew that he was the best thing that had ever happened to Deidre. Emi remembered the guys Deidre dated in college and the ones since then. Scott was just as good for Deidre, as she was for him. Emi knew that to be a fact.