Emilia would be lying if she said that she wasn’t nervous. Sure, she came across to others as arrogant, confident, worthy even. She knew she was smart and she could hold her own in any situation. And now, here she was, in a room with two of the other smartest doctors in the program, known as Dr. Massoulles and Dr. Valart. Though she had been doing very well in the program, a demotion came. Or, that’s how it felt. Emilia entered the room with the two others and seemed to take a step back, staying a bit further away from Dr. Harvey than the others were.

Normally, a demotion wouldn’t bother her this much, she would just work harder, prove herself. And though she also knew that they were just moments away from solving her brothers case, he had been here for well over two months, wasting away in a hospital bed. She was starting to feel useless, and almost wanted to pass the case to someone else. Perhaps she was too involved after all.

Of course, Emilia noticed the extra emphasis on her name when Harvey greeted her, and she held his gaze. Over the time they had been spending together with trying to solve whatever was wrong with her brother, they both would be stupid to say that there hadn’t been moments here and there. However, she was more than sure that they would both die before admitting anything.

Emilia nodded at his words, knowing everything already of course. Once he finished, her brows rose at the words ‘if you don’t mind’. She slipped her hands in her coat pockets and turned to him, “Since when have you ever asked for permission to speak to anyone?” She asked, her voice strong, testing him. It may be dumb, but hopefully it would be worth it.

It was easy to tell that the pushback she offered bugged him a bit. She was perfectly okay with that though. She hadn’t moved from her position, her hands still in her coat pockets. A little smirk came across her face at his comment. Though, she still didn’t say anything, as she knew that Harvey had more to say. “Hey, I aced my psych clerkship.” She said, keeping the smirk on her face, with a raised brow at him.

She saw the tension release from his shoulders, it was kind of strange, for such a rigid man. Though, she had seen some different sides of him with working so closely to him lately. She listened to what he had to say, and honestly, was a little perturbed. There were many topics that she was looking forward to in regards to Peds at the Congress of Leading Medicians, and now, she didn’t get to attend any of them.

“Do you actually even care what’s happening to any of us out there?” She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. She knew that perhaps her questions were inappropriate, however she wanted to ask them. She did know that her and Harvey were moments away from solving her brother’s case, but it felt like one step forward and two steps back sometimes. A lot of times. Perhaps it was getting to her more than she knew it.

“But yeah, you’re clear.” She said, with a little sigh.

Harvey / Davis + others

Harvey crossed his arms once again, grey eyes intensely watching Davis. He wondered what had gotten into her, she was being inappropriately outspoken and it was infuriating him internally.

"Davis, you're getting on my last nerve. If I was feeling more trigger happy--ah, damn it, get out, now."

He had been flexing his left hand in a stress ball under the desk, but suddenly the ball dropped to the floor, a certain paralysis hastily spreading from his fingertips, up his arms, to his neck, and so on. He'd gestured for the nurse who was standing guard at the door to send Emilia out, which she did to the best of her ability.

On their way out, Rhodes entered hastily, yet he seemed calm and charming as usual, no concern. Before anything else could be revealed to Davis or anyone else, for that matter, Rhodes shut the door carefully, dragging his boss out of his work chair and onto the floor where he moved each paralyzed joint, talking gently to him.

"You know the drill, Harv. The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner this gets better for you..."

---

A matter of hours later, Harvey was combing his gelled hair in the mirror, rather concerned about what Davis had seen. He didn't owe an explanation to anyone--didn't want to, didn't have to. He was doing so much better with managing the cataplexy that came with this unexplained illness, until Emilia came along, anyway. She knew how to push his buttons, and it only confirmed that taking her on this trip seemed like the worst possible decision he could make. She was a great doctor, but not fully seasoned. Reckless and compulsive were the first two words that came to mind, each one leaving him bitter. She had no respect for him or for what she had at the hospital, which only made it worse. The only thing keeping her in the program was an avid fear of missing out. He knew other programs were watching this play out, fighting over each eliminated doctor from the second they were let go. If Davis wasn't here, she'd be elsewhere, more than likely bringing glory and recognition to a competing hospital.

He'd checked over his suitcase once more before straightening his bowtie, feeling more himself than he had in weeks, if not months. Though not a people person in the least, Harvey recognized the business opportunities that galas and other black-tie affairs brought about. As he put the finishing touches on his appearance, he exited his building, suitcase in hand, walking the block and a half it took to get from his penthouse to the front of the hospital.

---

It took about four hours of travel between the shuttling and the actual flight itself, though Harvey didn't mind--he was invested in some kind of work as usual while Rhodes carried on an animated conversation with the three applicants. He was the opposite of Harvey in every way, and actually enjoyed getting to know the new doctors. Though it seemed as though Rhodes was simply there to cover for Harvey, he was genuinely in his element and did as he was supposed to: even if Davis had wanted to mention the elephant in the room, Ethan was doing too much to let it slip into the conversation. Every once in a while Harvey would look up from his desk on one side of the plane, which was absolutely built for him, being the workaholic he was, and not in the likes of most private planes. He would give a wistful glance or the ghost of a smile, then return to his work.

Finally, they'd landed only a few miles from the massive conference center which was only yards from the ocean. Unlike the cloudy, bitter spring day they had left, southern Florida was calm, sunny, and amicable. Each doctor had grabbed their luggage and headed towards the rooms Harvey had assigned them, all next to each other. The only person who didn't have a room was him, which seemed rather bizarre.

Nonetheless, they were told to do whatever they pleased for the next two hours, then they would assemble in a discreet location near the golf course at quarter-to-eight, as not to get lost in the massive, massive crowds that were flowing in and out of the hotels, conference center, and the surrounding area which was filled with recreational activities appropriate for an event such as this. At this, Harvey had left them, headed in the opposite direction to battle the crowds which were doing the same as he: checking in. Thankfully, being the keynote speaker, he was able to get in and out quickly, ushered into areas only someone of his prestige would have access to. Finally, he'd finished the logistics end of this evening, so he wandered into the courtyard to see if any of his sponsors or peers had arrived yet, though he despised every moment spent outside of his comfort zone.

Davis/Harvey

Emilia knew that she was probably itching his trigger finger, but did she really care right now? No. She wanted to see what he might have to say to her.

Though, he seemed to be more off than usual lately, something was weird, not right with him, that she could tell. She wasn’t sure if it was only her that could tell, as she was spending so much time with him, but he was also such a private person too.

Before she could say anything more she heard a thump on the ground, like a ball or something, and she was being escorted out of his office. She protested some, but it was no use, as the nurse was extremely adamant upon getting Emilia out of Harvey’s office.

---

She got back to work immediately of course, doing scut work to keep her mind busy. Distancing herself from her brother seemed like a good thing for at least a few hours.

Though, she knew that she needed to keep a close eye on him, and therefore returned to him after she was done with her other patients. Tyson was sleeping soundly in the ICU, no longer intubated, but still sick, obviously. “I’m leaving for a trip soon Tyce.” She said, seeing him rouse in his bed a little bit. All she really received from him was a groan, which wasn’t surprising. Emilia knew he was extremely tired, and beginning to get a touch of pneumonia for whatever reason now. “Just stay alive while I’m gone, okay?” She said, standing up and coming over to him. She gave Tyson a smile and stroked his head, which he gave a light smile to as she placed a kiss on his forehead.
She left the room and gave a kind look to the nurses, whom she appreciated every inch of, “He better not die while I’m gone.”

When she arrived home she packed her suitcase, not perfectly, but made sure she had nice clothes for the conference and enough comfortable clothes for after the days were over.

---

Of course she looked decent showing up for their flight, and she knew that she would be creamed if she weren’t on time for the flight either. The conversation between everyone was lively, but Emilia only chimed in here and there. Her mind seemed to be a million miles away.

Harvey sat the farthest away from the group, as per usual. She glanced at Harvey every so often, or maybe too often, wanting to mention what happened in his office more than anything. Perhaps there would be a moment for her to get him alone and talk to him, without any others overhearing anything. She noticed they all had rooms next to one another, besides him.

Emilia had two hours to do as she pleased, which she had spent in her room. When it was time, she dressed in a long dark blue cocktail dress with a medium slit up the left leg, and she actually made an effort to look nice tonight. Her makeup was done, and her hair hung in large, loose curls. She had a martini in her hand, and was standing by a table, waiting to see if anyone else had arrived in the courtyard yet as well, when finally, she saw Harvey, and waited to see if he would approach her or not.

Harvey / Davis + others

Harvey had been wandering the courtyard aimlessly, mind anywhere but here. He was stressed about his symptoms, stressed about the discreet studies that were to be done on him over the next few nights, and how on earth he was going to manage his team and his talk, and be in five places at once while attempting to manage symptoms he could never plan for. That was, until he saw Emilia. Then his concerns shifted to how he was going to handle himself like her boss when she looked like that.

He swallowed, his gaze hollow, sheltering some level of hurt as it normally did, and now trying--and failing--not to look his applicant up and down from afar. His gaze shifted to some doctor he didn't even know in the opposite direction, but it made its way back to her like a magnet. This occurred several times until he downed his third martini--which seemed to be the only thing the bar wanted to serve, much to his annoyance--placed the glass on a tray, and retreated to a seperate, isolated area of the convention center. He knew whatever he said or did while a feeling that strong and foreign to him lingered would be trouble, and he chose to go somewhere, alone, where he could cool off.

As he sat down on a bench outside of an adjacent, empty courtyard, Harvey thought with irritation about the fact that his mind and heart were racing more now than they had been previously, though in a far different way now. He felt much like he had in his youth, and it troubled him considering how far away from that boy he was now. He was once reckless, impulsive, and spontaneous, and these were three attributes he had shaped into something greater, something more suitable for the medical field. He thought it impossible that one look at someone he had spent hours with had suddenly transformed him into someone so vastly different than the persona he had created, and though he felt as if the perfectly-molded shell of a personality he had worn for fifteen years was diminishing with gusto, he decided all of this was some trick of the mind, and he would prove it to himself.

He didn't.

Swallowing hard, he fixed his tie, a nervous quirk he had acquired years and years ago. He strutted confidently over to his team, trying not to think about the perfume wafting off of Emilia that was clouding his thoughts. This only made him angrier, which only made him more reckless and impulsive, his urges stronger. He'd picked up a fourth martini and was white-knuckling the glass, feeling suffocated by strong emotions of various types.

"Ethan, Massoulles, Valart, Davis." He gave the slightest smile, his gaze distant. He forced his eyes to the other side of the room, and Ethan found this amusing. For someone who was obsessed with and obtained the most intense eye contact he had ever encountered, Ethan found it amusing Harvey, for some reason, couldn't look anyone in the eye, and in fact, was avoidant altogether.

Ethan grinned at everyone cheerily, as usual. "Ladies, you look lovely tonight! And you look sharp as always, Chad."

A mischevious look came across Ethan's gaze as he noticed Harvey tense. He understood now. He just couldn't tell which woman it was.

"What are you most looking forward to this week, team?" The psychologist inquired, every few seconds glancing over at Harvey in amusement. It wasn't that Ethan was unhappy, for he was the only one trying to force Harvey into a love life. Until now, Rhodes had been completely unsuccessful in getting Harvey to consider anything other than his work, so this pleased him. Once he figured out if it was Jen or Emilia that had his friend so tense, he was committed to making Harvey's life a living hell for the next week however he could, set on getting him to break down in some way as a result of his intense feelings, which were not obvious--only to the person who had spent every waking second with him since grade school.

(PLEASE milk this as much as you can. Get him to break down. Do something. I need this in my life XD)

Davis was glancing around the courtyard, back to Harvey, and then around to others once more. She sipped her, second, soon to be third, martini of the night, her thoughts aimless. She fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist, and sighed deeply. Of course, Emilia couldn’t help but wonder how her brother was doing, and she grabbed her phone out of her clutch and looked if she had any notifications about him.

There was nothing, and she tried to follow the ‘No news is good news’ sentiment she constantly told her patients families. Finally, her mind came back to reality, and she felt a pair of eyes which seemed to be burning into her. As soon as she noticed who it was—Harvey of all people—he had looked away, to someone else. A small smile had come across her face, but why, Emilia really didn’t understand in this moment.

Oddly enough the thought crossed her mind that he looked quite handsome tonight. She had gotten so used to seeing him in the same old clothes with the same white coat day after day, that it was nice to see him somewhere else, wearing something else. Soon though, he disappeared and it left Emilia a bit disappointed as she started on her third martini. Much to her annoyance, the bar didn’t want to serve anything else, and her tongue ached for the taste of something, anything, else.

In a short amount of time, everyone else had appeared in the courtyard and Emilia made herself busy chatting with them, the alcohol relaxing her enough to chat about meaningless things. Finally, Harvey decided to join the group, and she gave a very light smile, mostly on her lips, but enough of one that it played into her eyes as well, and her gaze lingered on him for just a couple of moments as she took another sip of her drink.

She finally smiled at Ethan’s compliment, once she realized what was said. “Oh, thank you Ethan. You boys aren’t too bad yourselves.” Emilia replied, lifting her smile just a bit more, slipping her leg out of the slit in her dress to cross them, and of course purposefully she was standing the closest to Harvey. She joined in the conversation between her coworkers. “Honestly this entire week should be a lot of fun.” She said, taking an olive out of her martini with the stick, wrapping her tongue around it and pulling it off in the most perfectly teasingly way, mostly keeping her eyes directly on Harvey.

(Mk, I wanted to do more, but I think this works well enough xD)

Emilia knew that she had feelings for him. But Harvey was always professional. He never faltered in the hospital, not once. Here, maybe there was more of a chance of it happening. Here, she could push him more. Push every little button she knew he had. And that’s exactly what she planned on doing, all week long.

Emilia knew that her flirting was more than obvious, yet she didn’t care. Maybe that was reckless, a stupid mistake. To be flirting in front of all the other doctors, to be flirting with her boss. Emilia was good. She was excellent at everything, and she knew it. She prided herself in it, and if she wasn’t excellent at something, she worked at it until she was. She had to be excellent at it. It would bug her too much if she weren’t. This excellence at everything played into every part of her life, even the flirting.

She knew it had to be working, Harvey was avoidant of looking at her. He barely looked at her as she was staring at him. Using every part of her body that she could to flirt with him. Emilia smiled a little bit back at Harvey, at his smirk. It was small, concealed, but enough. It gave her what she needed to know. Of course, she would have liked to see if she could tear him away from the group, as they were never alone, and it would be nice to be so, even though technically they weren’t ‘alone’ here.

However, before she could do much of anything, Harvey took himself somewhere else. She raised a brow, curious about his comment of course. She finally returned to the group, her thoughts with them rather than with him. She knew that Chad had his eyes locked on her earlier, but thankfully had since moved on, and if he hadn’t moved on himself, Emilia would make him. Even though Ethan told them to go and socialize, Emilia hung next to Ethan.

She didn’t say anything, just sipped her again almost empty martini. She glanced over to him when he started speaking, curious about what he was going to say to her. Of anyone, Emilia figured that Ethan would be the one of anyone out of the group to pick up anything that she was putting off. “And why, Ethan, would I not be doing okay?” She asked, leaning against the table the both of them were at, and returned his smile.

“He’s not as bad as everyone assumes.” She said, her voice turning soft. “If anyone worked with him as much as I do, they’d see the kindness that he exudes, and not just to his patients. He cares for all his doctors too. Whether you believe it or not. He’s more than just a doctor.” Emilia said, suddenly looking down into her drink, slightly embarrassed that she said such a thing about a man who was nothing more than her boss. She downed the rest of her drink just after he did his, still feeling the bit of embarrassment and hoping it would help.

Her brows furrowed as Ethan continued on his little tangent. “I think that should be your last one, Doctor.” She said, sliding his glass a bit away from him. Unsure that she was supposed to hear what was just said to her. Emilia bit her lip slightly, and glanced back over to Harvey and the woman he was with, only slightly wondering what they might be conversing about.