Georgie: Here you go.
Nikolas and Emily: Thanks.
Georgie: Can I get you anything else? I'm sorry.
Emily: No, that's okay. We're fine.
Georgie: Okay, just yell if you need me.
Emily and Nikolas: Okay.
Nikolas: Okay.
Emily: Well, how's your pizza?
Nikolas: Well, when I asked for the special, chicken and pineapple never really occurred to me.
Emily: Of course, you're the one who insisted on trying something different.
Nikolas: Yeah, I know, but I guess I was looking for something a little more straightforward, simple, like that.
Emily: Yeah, somehow I don't think it’s the right setting.
Nikolas: Yeah, well, you know -- listen, why don't we just go home and I'll throw together a makeshift dinner. We can sit at the kitchen island and just talk or something.
Emily: Yeah, I'd love to, that sounds really nice, but I can’t. I have to work.
Nikolas: Again?
Emily: Yeah, I've got to rack up those hours. You know, it's part of being a med student.
Nikolas: Yeah.
Monica: This has to be a mistake. It says that Emily’s on duty again tonight?
Nurse: No, that's right. She's shadowing graveyard.
Monica: Oh, well, that's absurd. She's already got twice the hours she needs.
Nurse: Well, that's what I told her when she volunteered, but she insisted. What can you do? The girl wants to work.
Nikolas: When your shift is over, let's go for a walk on the east riding trail, take a bottle of wine down by the rocks, stare at the moon, count some stars. What do you say?
Emily: Yeah, yeah, that sounds great, Nikolas, but I have no idea when I'm going to be finished. And by the time I get home, I'm probably going to be beat, so I'll just go straight to bed. But --
Nikolas: All right.
Emily: So I'll just see you in the morning, okay?
Nikolas: Yeah, okay --
Emily: Bye.
Nikolas: Bye.
Georgie: Would you like a refill on that soda?
Nikolas: No, no. What I'd really like is a beer, and keep them coming, please. Thanks.
Georgie: Are you sure you don't want a cup of coffee before you go?
Nikolas: What, and ruin my buzz? No, thanks. I'm not driving. And my mind's shut down just enough to in a better place.
Georgie: All right, if you say so. Just be careful.
Nikolas: Ah, don't worry. I'll walk it off.
Nikolas leaves and the scenes continue with the teens.
Monica: Hello there.
Emily: Hey, Mom.
Monica: And why are you here?
Emily: Oh, I'm just putting in some hours.
Monica: Well, it's a slow night; you're not really needed, so go home to your husband.
Emily: Yeah, but I want to be here, you know, to work, to learn.
Monica: And what are you avoiding at home?
Emily: Nothing.
Monica: Come on, now. Come on, you can't kid a kidder. I'm a pro. When Alan and I have a fight, we need space, I come here, sign up for night shift, and it goes on for months.
Emily: Okay. You got me. I'm avoiding Nikolas.
Monica: Why?
Emily: Because we walk on eggshells around each other, mom. I mean, we fight about it; we make up. Things seem like they're okay, but they're really not, and then the whole cycle starts all over again. And it's sad, it's exhausting. I feel like I'm in a race to be happy with my husband, but I keep stumbling and falling behind. I don't know. Maybe it's time to stop running and just let Nikolas move on without me.
Monica: And that's just the kind of a decision you can make without any input from Nikolas?
Emily: Well, things can't keep going on like this indefinitely, and somebody's got to make a move.
Monica: Why does it have to be away from the marriage?
Emily: Why not if it's what Nikolas wants?
Monica: You really think that?
Emily: I'm beginning to. I'm beginning to think this may be the only way to deal with it.
Nikolas: Hey.
Courtney: Hey.
Nikolas: Hey. We meet again. And from the look on your face, you're not feeling any better than I am.
Courtney: Well, this is encouraging.
Nikolas: What?
Courtney: I mean, you're angry and you didn't take it out on public property this time.
Nikolas: No, I'm past angry, I'm past hurt.
Courtney: Past sobriety.
Nikolas: Yeah. Yeah, I had a few beers to take the edge off, you know? But, you know, then I realized there is no edge. I'm done. I'm done. Emily pushed me so far away that I want to stay there now.
Courtney: You're going to give up on your marriage?
Nikolas: Emily tried to hang on because she didn't want to hurt me, and it killed us. It killed us both. And I just don't want to feel dead inside anymore, you know?
As a drunk Nikolas walks past Courtney, he grabs her and pulls her into a kiss.