Dr. Hahn, the CEO of Sullivan Hospital stood in her office frozen as she heard furious footsteps approaching.

She slowly blinked, taking in the hostile scene of Dr. Bravucci firing toward her direction. Instinctively she wanted to throw both her hands up as a call for cease fire. Leonardo Bravucci looked extremely pissed off.

"You went for a press conference and claimed to take in an adult spinal conjoined twin separation behind my back? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"You need to calm down, Leonardo."

"Calm down?"

She nodded stiffly. "You heard me."

Dr. Bravucci chuckled humorlessly, his expression slowly drifting to a heated scowl. "Well, start talking then."

"Are you going to just stand there? Please grab a seat."

"I'd rather not." Dr. Bravucci could be hellish when prompted. One hell of a stubborn man-child. He was being difficult and he knew it.

Dr. Hahn released a long defeated dry heave. "Very well then, if you insist."

On the other hand Dr. Bravucci was utterly irritated by the woman's slowness, she was unnecessarily dragging. "Do you mind? I have an important surgery in like—" he paused to take a glance on his watch. "—forty-five minutes."

"Take a quick look at this," Dr. Hahn passed an iPad over her rich mahogany furniture for the Italian surgeon's perusal. "Fifteen year old healthy boys, Antonio and Elio De Luca. They deserve more to life, don't you think?"

The incredulous frown on Dr. Bravucci's face was still intact as he observed the grinning conjoined twins on the iPad. "We can't take this case, there's too much risk. They could both end up dead and that is a risk I'm not willing to put on anyone."

"Well, unfortunately for you this case was not up for debate Dr. Bravucci. You're going to mobilize your best team and come this Friday, you'll be flying to Italy, Venice to be more precise. The hospital will be taking care of all the expenses incurred."

Leonardo let out a chuckle that shook his whole upper body. This woman can't be serious, right? "Are you out of your mind? Those kids are not experimental guinea pigs! This is all about prestige, isn't it?"

Dr. Hahn was silent for a moment, musing. "I'd say it's all about prestige but that's not it. We all took an oath. Do you know how many surgeons have turned them down? Can you at least try putting yourself in those twins' shoes for once?"

Leonardo sighed. "You shouldn't have given anyone false hope. That was very unwise of you. Now the world is expecting us to miraculously pull something off. Do you understand what's at stake here? When we kill those innocent kids?"

"Make sure I don't regret my decision then." The CEO had spoken. As much Leonardo might've wanted to throw a fit, he knew his limits.

"This is all on you, if anything happens that is." He said before leaving the office for his scheduled surgery.

. . .

Leonardo and Brad were discussing the De Luca twins case when Seth knocked at the office door. "Come on in." Dr. Bravucci called out. Tentatively, Seth pushed his way inside, peeking his head first.

"Dr. Mickelson," Brad immediately acknowledged the young resident's presence. "It's a good thing you're here. Your input will be highly appreciated."

Seth's eyelashes fluttered like a flapping butterfly's wings. "Oh, okay."

Leonardo quickly briefed the case all over again so that they were on the same page. The De Luca twins' spines were fused together from L4 down and their blood flow was intricately connected. There was no doubt they'd end up being paralyzed or—dead.

"I don't want to take this case." Dr. Brad mentioned in between sipping a plain black coffee. He was hardcore like that.

"Neither do I." Dr. Bravucci backed his friend up. "But that's not an option."

"This feels like throwing ourselves to a pack of hungry wolves. Dangerous but could also be exciting." Seth finally said after a few minutes of studying the scan results. "I say we take it, there's no evidence that we can't pull it off."

"Are you willing to deal with press and the entire backlash that will follow?" Leonardo raised a brow. "Facing yourself in the mirror everyday when those kids don't wake up from the operating table?"

"Only if something goes wrong." Seth pressed.

"Which is also highly probable in this case." Said Bradley.

"Dr. Brad you scooped how many awards for being the best neurosurgeon in the country?" Seth questioned, his forehead twisting into a serious expression.

Brad frowned, he didn't like where Seth was steering this discussion. "It's not like I keep record of—"

"Good," Seth quickly cut off the blond before turning to address Dr. Bravucci. "And you? The New York Times called you an inch closer to God talented."

"Can we speak in simple English? Stop with the twisted riddles, Dr. Mickelson." Leonardo let out a sigh of frustration as he ran fingers inside his dark-night hair.

"My point is," Seth paused a bit, glaring between the two confused attendings. "Maybe it's high time you prove yourselves. This case is golden."

Dr. Brad's eyes widened but his lips remained sealed. The two best friends exchanged a fragile look amongst themselves. Dr. Bravucci was the one who finally spoke. "Medicine is not about proving anything to anyone."

"True," Brad agreed, nodding his head. "But since we have no say I suggest we start tweaking on the model. And, Dr. Mickelson you're on my team no questions about it."

Dr. Bravucci wanted to say something but he only managed to gape. "I thought you'd never ask." Seth said with a smooth grin on his face.

. . .

For three days, a team of twenty expert surgeons practiced on a model in the OR. Each of them was clear on what to do. A critical point came when the leading surgeon, Dr. Brad slashed an artery and because of that, it would be only less than two minutes before sensations to certain nerves were dissolved.

Seth was so confident that Dr. Brad could pull this complicated surgery off. "We have enough spare nerves to cover for the deficit." he stated encouragingly.

"The real human body is too fragile compared to this stupid model." Dr. Brad argued. "The De Luca twins are doing just fine! This is not worth the risk. Count me out!" He then left the room eliciting murmurs among the remaining surgical team.

"Maybe we all need a break." Dr. Bravucci suggested earning himself nods and grunts of appreciation. In a matter of minutes the OR was clear leaving only him and Seth.

"You also need to give yourself a break, seriously." Seth mentioned as he observed a visibly frustrated Leonardo.

The man scoffed. "I can't, we're not even close to a solution and my neurosurgeon just bailed if you haven't noticed."

Seth moved closer to Leonardo then he stood beside him, both doctors were now gazing at the model. "Can I ask you a question?" Leonardo began softly.

"Yeah." Seth replied almost instantly. They held each other's eye contact before Leonardo could continue. "Why are you so adamant about this surgery?" He sounded so desperate for a morale boosting response. To be honest, Seth was the only one hopeful besides Dr. Hahn herself.

Seth was silent for a minute. "My mother always told me doubt kills dreams more than failure ever will. Besides, is that not our job? To make people's lives a little bit better?"

"She sounds like a wise woman, your mother." Leonardo's eyes were now fixed on Seth. He'd just talked about his mother again and that was nice and refreshing to hear.

"Well she is," Seth chuckled a bit. "I wish she'd get better you know?"

"You never told me why she's in Moneda." Leonardo stated, keeping his voice less inquisitive though he was.

"She has dissociative amnesia and her condition is worsening according to her nurses. I don't know what to do anymore." Seth's voice cracked but he tried to cover up with a fake smile. "I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems, clearly you already have a full table."

"Hey, you're not bothering me." Leonardo's voice was extra supple which almost melted Seth's heart. It felt good, having someone else besides Marianne to talk to about these sensitive issues. He hadn't said much but unveiling his vulnerability was more than enough. "I actually feel honored that you trusted me enough to tell me."

Seth was good at shrugging conversations off. This time was not an exception. "Wanna go out for lunch with me?"

Dr. Bravucci smirked. "Are you asking me out, Seth?"

"If you want to put it across that way, then yeah, sure." He stated with that smug expression of his. "Now are you coming, handsome?"

Leonardo's face instantly flushed. Flustering dudes was his thing. What the hell was Seth doing to him?

"Aw he blushes," Seth taunted, stroking Leonardo's warm stubbled cheeks using the tip of his fingers. "Who would've thought?"

"Fuck you Seth." Leonardo chuckled amusedly and that only educed more teasing from the resident.

"Now careful, I wouldn't mind doing just that you know?"

They both needed to stop edging each other considering where they were. Wrong place, wrong timing but right person kind of thing. No need to give their work colleagues an X-rated show. That'd be totally problematic.

"Sounds like another date to me." A twitch appeared on Leonardo's lips. His tone would've made a how to flirt blogger feel like a proud father figure.

. . .

Lunch was—interesting.

The restaurant Seth had chosen was remarkably cosmopolitan. The Californian heat was at its peak and both were grateful for an outdoor reservation.

Seth's gaze on Leonardo was incessant. "You're now reconsidering to taste my food?" Leonardo smiled at him, cutting a generous share of his grilled and stuffed cheese portobello mushrooms using the offered utensils.

"You make it look all that." Seth mumbled. "Okay maybe just a tiny bit?" He ended up flashing a sheepish smile.

Leonardo chuckled before feeding Seth from his own fork. "Of course." Both were totally oblivious of the crowd around them who were also enjoying lunch as they were.

Seth chewed slowly as he tried to savor the balsamic lingering in the background. "Not bad at all." He nodded approvingly.

"I told you it wasn't bad." Leonardo grinned. "How's the steak going? You haven't touched much of it."

"Wish I hadn't ordered it. These people suck big time." He wasn't hiding his struggle. The steak was poorly done.

"You don't have to eat it you know?"

Seth sighed. "Then I starve myself to death? Definitely not happening."

"We can always share mine."

"You know for someone who had this strong sense of dislike for me you really do enjoy pampering me."

Dr. Bravucci was a fool to think that his actions were never going to come back biting him in the ass. He visibly cringed. "I never disliked you, Seth. Not even for a single day."

"Well, that explains why you called me a useless kid in front of my interns and as if that wasn't enough bathing me in filthy typhoid puddle water."

"I thought we were past this." Dr. Bravucci muttered under his breath, sipping on his water. He let his fingers encircle the glass rim as he eyed Seth's expressionless face.

"Oh believe me we are," Seth waved him off. "I was just trying to understand how you function. At one point you're an insufferable pain in the ass and the next second you're—all sweet."

"The next time you feel like I'm too much of a pain in your ass," Leonardo lowered his voice creating a dark and mysterious sensory heightening mood. "Just tell me to lube up."

Seth froze.

"Snap out of it!" Leonardo burst into laughter. Seth looked like a cute bunny caught stealing the neighbor's carrots in a snare. His expression was priceless, he needed help.

"You're an animal." Seth finally recovered, shaking his head full of amusement.

"Now on a serious note, I thought you were overrated. I mean, your reviews from attendings especially Dr. Vince were too magical to be true, at least for a twenty-five year old. I thought he was a little delusional or he was fucking you in the backstage. And I'm sorry about the mud, that was never my intention."

Now it was Seth's turn to gasp. "You thought I was sleeping with Vince? Jeez, color me offended. Wait, is that why you made me chief of residents? Because I'm sucking your dick and bending over for you?"

"Are we fighting now?" Leonardo questioned as he wiped his lips using a napkin. "I detest fighting with you, it's a mentally exhausting process."

Seth did not look pleased. "We're not fighting, Leonardo. Now, why did you make me chief of residents?"

It has been two weeks since Dr. Bravucci appointed Seth as the new chief of residents. Seth had happily accepted the weight of his new office without even questioning why he'd been promoted in the first place. Now that he was analyzing the situation, the two of them have been getting close both emotionally and physically. The chief of surgery's on call room had become a base for them during night shifts.

"I can't believe you're asking me this question, Seth. Isn't the answer obvious?"

It felt like a punch in the gut. "Oh. I see." Seth said before rising from his seat and leaving a hundred to cater for both their bill.