The Good Ones Go

Chelsea feels her phone vibrate underneath her stomach and quickly reaches to shut it off. Even though she has only gotten a couple hours of sleep, she's waking up at four in the morning again because she needs to leave before Adam gets up. Since Adam had proposed to her, he's been spending the night at her apartment more often. There's nothing wrong with that except for the fact that Chelsea can't bring herself to sleep next to him.

She shoves her old textbooks off her lap and stretches out - her back is hurting from sleeping on the sofa for the last two months. She looks to her wide-open bedroom and sees Adam's sleeping figure - the most serene expression gracing his face. She sighs and looks away; she hates herself for what she's doing to him. Not wanting to think about it any longer, Chelsea heaves her body up off her sofa and begins getting ready as quietly as she can manage.

She leaves for the hospital without leaving a note. She'd stopped leaving notes for him because by now he knew that when he gets up she probably won't be there. Sometimes she would go to the hospital and stay in the lounge unless she could lend a hand, but most times she would make her way to Travis' penthouse. He had given her the key now because although he would love to make himself available to her 24/7 he had other things to do. When he was home he would stay with her and take her mind off life, but when he was away she would entertain herself, after all, she couldn't expect him to put his life on hold for her problems; he had done enough.

The butterflies are fluttering in her stomach all the way to the hospital that morning. She's finally taking over Dr. Goltsiker's responsibilities after joining the fellowship a few months ago, and she had spent the entire night reading up (the other thing she did to avoid Adam when he felt like sleeping over) on her couch to make sure she knows what she's doing.

Chelsea grabs a cup of coffee in the lounge and makes her way to her locker. She sets her bag down and puts her lab coat on before heading to the ER to help the nurses while she waits for her attending.



It's three o' clock in the afternoon and Chelsea is finally ready to go home after a long and stressful day. She says goodbye to the rest of the doctors and hops on bus 49 which would take her to Travis' house.

She uses the key to get in instead of bothering to knock and wait for Travis who she knows would take forever to drag his feet to the door.

"Honey, I'm home," she jokes as she pulls off her jacket.

"In the living room!" he yells to her.

She hangs her things on the hooks in the corridor and walks down the hall into his living room to find him on the couch playing on his PlayStation.

"Hey," she says as she flops down next to him.

"Hey, lemme finish this game, and we'll watch something," he tells her as he checks his team's stats very quickly on a game that Chelsea had become familiar with since spending countless nights there.

She watches as he plays for the next few minutes before getting up to pick a movie when she anticipates the end of the match. When he's finally done, Chelsea pops the disc in the DVD player and lays her head down on Travis' lap. He plays with her hair as they watch quietly, and she ends up dozing off half way through. She only wakes when her phone rings (something she's accustomed to by now). She scrunches up her nose when her eyes opens upon noticing that her head was buried in Travis' crotch. She pulls her ringing cell out of her jeans and sighs when she sees Adam's name flashing on the screen. She looks to the TV to see the credits rolling, and Travis reaches for the remote to mute it.

"Hey, babe," she answers before putting a finger over her lips to tell Travis to be quiet. He already knows the drill.

"Still at work?" he asks her while letting a yawn escaping his mouth.

"Yea," she nods biting down on her lip. She has been lying to him for so long now, and it never got any easier.

"Alright. Well, I think I'm just gonna head home tonight then. Hope you get some rest without me there," he tells her with a grin on his face. He's only teasing, but if only he knew the truth.

"Like I ever get sleep anymore, Adam," she tells him as she lets out another long sigh.

"Well try, because you need to be alive in order for me to marry you. I love you," his words make her feel guilty.

"I love you too, Adam. Bye," Chelsea hangs up and lifts her head from Travis' lap to sit back up.

"Finally heading to your own apartment?" Travis teases as he kicks his legs up where Chelsea's body used to be.

"Yea, he's finally going to his own place which means I'm going to my wonderful bed to get some fucking sleep," she tells him after pulling her sagging scrubs back up.

"Not spending the night then either?" he asks. He's already thinking about the girls he could call tonight.

"Not unless he spontaneously shows up, so pray," she tells him leaning over to kiss his cheek genially. Travis feels the butterflies in his belly but ignores them knowing her actions are just friendly, even if they're too friendly.

"Goodnight, Chels," he tells her while switching the TV back to his game.

"Thanks, Mills. Have fun tonight!" she yells from the corridor. She grabs her things and makes her way to the bus stop for the long journey home.



As soon as Adam gets off the phone with Chelsea he says goodbye to his receptionists and tells them to lock up. He hops into his Civic and drives to John Hopkins - he's keen on surprising Chelsea.

"Goltsiker in Oncology?" Adam asks the security for directions when he enters through the revolving doors. He follows the signs as the guard instructed and approaches the familiar nurse's desk.

"Hi, I'm looking for Dr. Lisle," he says with a smile on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, she actually left a couple hours ago. Did you have an appointment?" the nurse replies smiling back.

"Uh, no, I just wanted to see her. Why did she leave?" he asks furrowing his eyebrows. He's confused. He'd just spoken to Chelsea. Why did she lie to him?

"Well, she usually works until three," the nurse tells him raising her own.

"Are you sure? Dr. Chelsea Lisle?" he asks. He didn't believe what's coming out of her mouth. Chelsea's never home that early. Somethings's wrong.

"I think she took the bus today, but yea, a gentleman usually picks her up. I think it's her fiancé," she confirms probably sharing too much information at that point.

"Okay, thanks anyway," Adam tells her before walking off and back to the parking lot.

Chelsea has been lying to him this entire time? Why? Some guy picks her up everyday? Is she telling people that she's getting married to him? Is she embarrassed by him, or something? He couldn’t believe her, not after everything she'd been through, how could she? His mind skips to thoughts of Travis, how he's acted when he told him he's proposing to Chelsea.

Adam's tires skid as he steps on the gas - he's eager to get where he's going. This game of hers isn't going to continue any further.

Adam drives up to the familiar address and pulls into the driveway. His fist pounds on the door impatiently while his other hand rests in his pocket. When the door finally swings open he wastes no time curling his hand around Travis' skinny neck.

"Are you fucking my fiancée?" Adam yells as he slams a surprised Travis up against the wall.

"Whoa, what the fuck dude? Let go," Travis says. His voice is off tune due to the suffocating hand around his neck, but he still manages to speak.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? I let you fuck her brains out for months before I asked her out, wasn't that enough you, fucking asshole!?" Adam yells before throwing a confused Travis down to the ground.

"Hey, that's enough, you don't fucking talk about Chelsea like she's a fucking whore. I haven't been fucking her you jealous dick. Fuck off. Get the fuck out of my house," Travis answers. He gets up from the ground and walks away from who he thought was his best friend without a second glance.

Adam rubs his face with his right hand; the smell of Travis' cologne on it makes him sigh. What the fuck was he thinking?

"Travis!" he yells after his friend. He finds him in the front room, controller in hand, and sits down on the leather couch next to him.

They sit in silence for a couple minutes before Adam feels the need to explain himself. "She's fucking lying to me, man," Adam says with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. "I'm sorry I overreacted," he adds. He should have known better. Travis' and Chelsea's relationship is a little cozy sometimes, but they would never cross any boundaries.

Travis stays quiet just focusing on his game; he's too angry to even address Adam.

"What the fuck do I do?" Adam sighs in frustration.

He thinks about kicking him out, but he knows his friend didn't mean any harm. "What's she lying about?" Travis asks hesitantly. He really didn't want to have lie to Adam too, but he has no choice but to protect Chelsea.

"She says she's at work when she's got some some fucking prick picking her up everyday," Adam says while staring at his feet.

Travis' heart drops into his stomach. "Oh that? Dude, that's me. I pick her up sometimes, drop her off here, and go out; she studies. It's just quieter here, and she likes being alone, I guess," Travis says never once looking Adam's way. He found it easier to lie to him if he didn't look him in the face.

"Seriously? Fuck, man, I really thought she was cheating. I mean, I barely see her anymore. What else was I supposed I think? It's like she's avoiding me," Adam says letting out a sigh of relief.

"Cancer - it even drains the doctors," Travis jokes. This situation is too awkward for him.

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Adam is wondering.

Travis shrugs. "I thought you knew," he plays it off, "maybe she just didn't want to bug you or worry you; she's got a lot on her plate right now," he adds. "I thought you guys had moved in together or something, because she says you're over there every night. Maybe work is just too stressful, you know?" He's trying his best to defend her even though a voice in the back of his mind is yelling at him to shut up already.

"I'm sorry, dude," Adam says as he stands up.

"Yea, next time go a little easy on me," Travis says. He's still pissed, but he's not showing it. Maybe he deserves it for lying to him like this.

"Thanks, man. Good night," Adam says before walking back out to his car. Ten minutes later he's knocking on Chelsea's door. He waits for her much longer than he did for Travis.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asks through a small yawn. She is half expecting Travis at the door and is surprised to see Adam.

"I know about work," he gets straight to the point. He leans against the frame of the door as he waits for her reaction.

Chelsea sighs but doesn't say anything. Will this break them up?

"Travis told me how you use his space to study. I'm so sorry. I should have been more considerate and let you just have time to yourself to work. I wish you would have just told me," he says. He lets a sad smile form on his face as he watches her.

"I'm sorry," Chelsea says. Really she's thanking Travis in the back of her mind because he'd gotten her out of the hole she dug herself in. "I just didn’t want you to take it the wrong way. I love spending time with you, it's just that I can't so often anymore," she says - not an entire lie.

Adam hugs her, "don't worry, baby, just get some rest. I'll see you in a couple days, okay?"

"Thanks," Chelsea nods feeling relieved.

She watches from the door as he gets on the elevator. As soon as she sees the doors close she locks her apartment and grabs a bottle of vodka from her kitchen. She shoots Travis a text saying 'thanks' before pulling out the shoebox from her bottom drawer.

She takes a swig and lets the memories come rushing back in waves as she looks through old pictures and love letters. She's thankful to finally get a break to sort out her feelings, though it seems like no matter how much time she had she never does.