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justcallmefox89 · 2 years ago

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Irressistible Force Paradox: Chapter Three - An Open Heart Fic

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Ethan accuses Rory of the unthinkable and Rory fights his growing attraction to his former medical hero.

September 14th. 5:49 p.m.

Oh hell.

I freeze in place, fear momentarily short-circuiting my brain as Ramsey glares at me.

Do you never go home old man!?

“Rookie, you and I n - ”

“You’re a miracle worker!” Sarah gasps, interrupting Dr. Ramsey. “Do you think she’d take a bottle now? She hasn’t had anything to eat for hours.”

I smile down at Emily. “I think that’d be just fine.”

Sarah beams at me and rushes towards Emily’s diapers bag while Jason sags against the doorframe in relief.

“Since Emily is resting now, you and I have some things we need to discuss, Dr. O’Shea.” Ramsey gives me a stern look and nods towards the hallway.

“Um, actually I had something I wanted to show you, Dr. Ramsey,” I meekly reply, using my free hand to motion him closer.

“Dr. O’Shea - ”

“Please,” I implore him softly. “I think it might be important.”

He relents, sighing and stepping closer. “What is it, Rookie?”

I lower my voice to barely a whisper. “I noticed when I unlocked my phone to play some music Emily flinched away from the screen, almost like the brightness hurt her eyes.”

“There could be any number of explanations for that.”

“Her reflexes are sluggish, that combined with the fever, the irritability, not eating - ”

“Look, Rookie.” Ethan puts a hand on my shoulder. “I can appreciate that you want to help, but all these symptoms can be attributed to the sepsis. You’ve managed to calm her down and I’m sure her parents are grateful, but leave her case to the diagnostics team.”

Insufferable. Completely, absolutely insufferable. And gorgeous. And tall. And so completely climbable. I loathe him.

Ramsey’s eyes widen and a small sound of protest leaves his mouth as I grab his hand and gently guide his fingers to the top of Emily’s head. His face pales as his fingertips brush over the swelling that’s nearly invisible under her dark curls.

“As I was saying, all of those symptoms combined with the severe swelling of her fontanelle, makes me think the sepsis was brought on by a severe case of meningitis,” I murmur.

Ramsey gazes down at me steadily. “You think? I’m not going to subject an infant to a spinal tap based on your guess.”

I grit my teeth and inhale deeply. “I know. I know this is meningitis.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” he says. “I’ll page Naveen and call for an anesthesiologist. Once we confirm, we’ll need to pinpoint what variant of meningitis we’re specifically dealing with.”

“Dr. O’Shea? I have Emily’s bottle ready.” Sarah steps forward and takes Emily from me, gently cradling the little girl in her arms and offering her the bottle.

I turn to leave but the sight of a can of formula sticking out of Emily’s diaper bag stops me.

“Sarah? Has Emily always been formula fed?” I ask.

Her face falls. “Is that a problem? I was never able to produce enough milk for her, so we had to formula feed.”

“No, not at all,” I hurriedly reassure her. “As long as our girl gets fed, that’s all that matters.”

“What are you thinking, Rookie?” Ramsey whispers, his warm breath ghosting over my ear.

A pleasant shiver runs through me, and I almost start to lean into him, my traitorous body reacting to his close proximity.

Get it together.

“Bacterial meningitis caused by cronobacter sakazakii.” I murmur, tilting my head towards the formula can.

Ramsey’s eyes widen. “My god,” he whispers. “Stay here and update the parents. I’m getting the rest of the team.”

Not thinking, I reach out and grab his arm before he can walk away. He must be able to see the panic on my face because he takes my hand in his and squeezes it once. “You can do this, Rookie. Walk them through your theory and what’s going to happen next. I’ll be back soon.”

10:30 p.m.

Through the window of the hospital room I watch Emily rest, an IV inserted in the crook of her tiny arm. Jason and Sarah doze fitfully in armchairs positioned next to her crib. Emily is sleeping soundly, her face no longer flushed with a fever; a sure sign the intravenous antibiotics are working. My shift ended three hours ago, but I can’t bring myself to leave, worried that the minute I walk out of the hospital something awful will happen.

“What are you still doing here, Rookie?”

“Could ask you the same thing, Dr. Ramsey,” I reply, my eyes never leaving Emily’s sleeping form.

“This isn’t even your case.” A hard edge creeps into Ramsey’s voice.

“Are you saying I should only care about the patients that I’m assigned to?”

Ramsey sighs, scratching at the thick stubble on his jaw. “Of course not. A good doctor will care about every patient that walks through those doors, whether they’re assigned to them or not. But I’m not convinced anything you did this afternoon was because you cared about the patient.”

I turn to face him and cross my arms over my chest, scowling. “Excuse me?”

“You think any other physician here would have let you get away with that little stunt you pulled this afternoon?” Ramsey steps closer, towering over me, and I fight the urge to back away from him.

“If you hadn’t made that solve I would have had your job, Rookie,” he continues, his voice low and dark. “Attention-seeking stunts like that won’t land you a spot on the diagnostics team, so if you ever even think about doing something like this again you will be out on your ass.”

I blink, momentarily stunned into silence. “You think I helped Emily just to get noticed by the diagnostics team?” I finally manage to ask, unable to keep a note of hurt out of my voice.

Ramsey rolls his eyes. “I see it every year, ambitious interns who think that if they pull off an impressive solve -”

“You think I would use a sick child to further my career?” I seethe, drawing myself up to my full five feet four inches. I move closer, invading his personal space and jabbing a finger into his muscled chest. “I was waiting for test results on the one case I had, so I offered to sit with Emily so Jason and Sarah could get some rest.”

His handsome face shifts into a disdainful sneer. “So you abandoned your own patient to help mine.”

“I was partnered with Dr. Landry on that case, and he had no issues proceeding on his own for an hour or two while I assisted Jason and Sara. I’m surprised you don’t remember that since you went out of your way to try and humiliate him when we presented earlier today,” I hiss.

Ramsey has the good grace to momentarily look abashed, and he breaks eye contact with me as his cheeks flush a faint pink. He clears his throat. “Now that you have mentioned it I do seem to recall -”

“I didn’t do this to get noticed by the diagnostics team,” I continue, poking him again. “I did it because I saw a pair of scared, first time parents falling apart because their baby was sick and inconsolable. I did it because that family needed help.”

Ramsey catches my hand in his, sending a pleasant thrill through me, and gently pulls it away from his chest. “I may have been hasty in my initial assessment of your motivations,” he says slowly.

I rip my hand away from him, cradling it against my chest. “Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”

I turn and hurry down the hallway, trying to ignore the way my body responded to Ramsey’s touch, and how much his accusation had hurt.

**********************************************************************************

September 17. 9:30 p.m.

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit!” I mutter, sitting on the floor behind the intake desk and looking through the lost and found box. I’d spent the whole day moving into a new apartment and the last thing I want to be doing is searching for my I.D. badge, but if I don’t have it tomorrow morning it will be just one more excuse for Ramsey to get on my case. And after our last encounter outside Emily’s hospital room, I’ve been avoiding him at all costs. I eventually find it among the sea of tangled lanyards and other bits and bobs that my fellow doctors have misplaced.

I shove the box back into place and start to stand up, wincing as the blood flows back into my lower legs. I immediately crouch back down as raised voices carry down the corridor and draw nearer to the waiting area. I peek over the edge of the desk, watching Ramsey throw his hands up in the air and scowl at Dr. Banerji.

“You can’t do this, Naveen! I won’t let you!” Ramsey shouts, angrily running his hands through his hair as he paces back and forth.

“It must be done, Ethan,” Dr. Banerji says placidly. “Not everything is in your control. It’s time you finally learned that.”

“You are not my teacher anymore!”

Naveen gently smiles at him. “I am always your teacher.”

“Goddamnit Naveen!” I involuntarily gasp as Ramsey slams his fist into the wall. Dr. Banerji sighs softly before walking away, Ramsey staring miserably after him.

What. The. Fuck.

Faced with the choice of hiding here until Ramsey overcomes whatever internal crisis he’s going through or facing him directly… I decide to nut up. I slowly emerge from my hiding space without him noticing me. I strongly consider just sneaking away, but then I notice the blood. I wage a brief internal battle before making my choice.

“Dr. Ramsey?” I call out softly.

He whirls around to face me, eyes wide. Once he recognizes me his eyes narrow and he scowls. “Spying on me, Dr. O’Shea?”

“It’s adorable that you think I’d waste my very limited free time on you,” I snark back.

“How much did you see?” he asks, clenching his jaw.

My god, that jawline… Focus, Rory!

I shrug. “Enough.”

“If you speak a word about this to anyone -”

“You’re bleeding,” I interrupt.

He stares down at his hand in confusion. “I didn’t realize…”

“Come on,” I sigh. “Let’s get it taken care of.”

Ramsey’s shoulders stiffen. “I am perfectly capable of -”

I roll my eyes. “Do not fear Dr. Ramsey, even I, a lowly intern, know how to patch up busted knuckles. Just let me help.”

He refuses to move, so I grab onto the end of his tie and gently tug him towards an empty patient room. Too shocked to protest, he obediently follows me. Once we’re in the room I shut the door to prevent any prying eyes, and direct him to sit on the edge of the hospitable bed while I glove up and gather all the necessary items. I sit next to him and tentatively take his hand, surprised by just how much larger it is than mine.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, soaking a gauze pad in saline solution and dabbing away the drying blood on Ramsey’s knuckles.

“No,” he says tersely, refusing to look at me.

“Ok,” I murmur, focusing my attention on my work. Some of my hair falls out of my ponytail and into my eyes. “Damn.”

“Let me.” Ramsey’s voice is rough and there’s a slight hitch in his breathing. He extends his uninjured hand, pausing just short of touching me. I tilt my head up, allowing him to move the loose hair out of my eyes. His fingertips brush against the shell of my ear, lightly trailing over the curve of my jaw as he withdraws his hand; the scrap of his calloused skin against my light five o’clock shadow causes a pleasant shiver to run through me.

I peer up at him over the rims over my glasses. “Thank you,” I whisper, suddenly feeling nervous.

He doesn’t reply as his blue eyes rove over me, taking in every detail. “Why are you doing this?” he finally asks.

I shake my head, breaking the temporary spell he had seemingly cast over me. “You hurt yourself,” I say, annoyed at how breathless I sound. I snap my eyes back down to his hand, gently dabbing antiseptic cream over his cuts.

He laughs softly, the sound dark and seductive in the close quarters of the small hospital room. “I’m fairly sure I could have managed a band-aid or two, Rookie.”

I shake my head, biting my lower lip as I concentrate on precisely placing steri-strips over his broken skin. “I don’t know,” I finally mutter.

“You’re so different from the others,” Ramsey whispers, almost to himself.

I snap my gloves off and gather up my trash, depositing it in the appropriate disposal bins under Ramsey’s intense gaze. “I need to go, Dr. Ramsey. My roommates are -”

The words stutter in my chest as Ramsey stands up and catches one of my hands in his. “I owe you an apology.”

My brain short circuits at the feel of his fingertips caressing my palm, a barely there sensation that instantly makes me wonder what that touch would feel like on other parts of my body. “W-what?” I stammer.

“For accusing you of using Emily’s case to further your career,” he clarifies. “It was an unfair assumption on my part, and I apologize.”

Just like that the spell is broken, the mere mention of his accusation enough infuriate me all over again. Glaring, I jerk away from him, resolutely ignoring the faint pang of disappointment that thrums through my body as I do. “You can take your apology and shove it up - ”

“Rookie.” The word is a growled warning, and Ramsey has gone from contrite to furious.

“Have a nice night, Dr. Ramsey,” I say venomously as I leave the hospital room, rubbing my palm against my thigh, wishing I could erase the feeling of his touch.

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justcallmefox89 · 2 years ago

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Irresistible Force Paradox: Chapter Four - An Open Heart Fic

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Rory and Ethan team up for a rescue mission, and Sienna offers some advice when Rory’s uncertainties threaten to overwhelm him.

September 18. 11:00 a.m.

“Have you heard anything else about Banerji retiring?” Jackie asks as we both collect some charts from the nurses’ station.

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

“What you do thin-” Her pager beeps, interrupting her, and she impatiently checks it. “Duty calls. See you later, Rory.”

“Later, skater!” I call after her. I gather up my charts, preparing to follow Jackie’s example and get to work, when I hear Dr. Ramsey’s familiar shouting. I wander over to a nearby room and park myself near the door, attempting to look engrossed in my charts. The door is cracked open, allowing me to hear every word.

“This is preposterous, Harper! They’re not ready.”

I risk peeking through the blinds and see Ramsey and Chief Emery standing close together, talking in hushed tones.

Standing very close together. Interesting.

“Ethan…” Chief Emery murmurs, delicately placing her hand against Ramsey’s cheek.

My eyebrows creep up towards my hairline.

My, oh my.

Cursing my nosy nature, I creep a little closer to the door.

“I’m not asking you, Ethan. I’m telling you,” she continues.

“What else is new?” Ramsey snaps. “I know this is your hospital now. Your call. But I’m warning you… I’ll fight you every step of the way on this.”

“What else is new?” Chief Emery laughs lightly as she asks the question, lingering just long enough to flash Ramsey a triumphant smile and brush a soft kiss against his cheek before she walks away.

I assume a casual pose against the wall and pretend to studiously examine one of my charts as their footsteps grow closer. Chief Emery breezes by, not giving me a second glance, and I slowly breathe a sigh of relief –

“Were you eavesdropping?”

Goddamnit.

Dr. Ramsey towers over me, arms crossed, looking furious.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

I lift my shoulders in a casual shrug. “Can it really be considered eavesdropping if I could hear you shouting out here in the hall?”

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out an irritated huff. “I don’t have time for this. Let’s just get on with our lives shall we?”

I stick my tongue out at his back as he impatiently stalks past me.

“Hey there, Doc!”

I turn around and see Bryce wheeling Kyra down the hall on a bed. “Hey gorgeous! I haven’t seen you since the surgical interns stole you away.”

Bryce smirks at me. “You say ‘stole’; I say, ‘rightfully took a surgical case’.”

“Hang on, two hot doctors fighting over me? Did the cancer get me, because this feels like a ‘died and gone to heaven’…” Kyra pretends to swoon back onto her pillow.

“You have a very morbid sense of humor, Kyra.” I grin. “I like it. So… is your surgery soon?”

“It’s right now,” Bryce answers. “A lobectomy, assisted by yours truly.”

“Your having a lobe of your lung removed today?” A wave of unexplainable dread washes over me.

Kyra shrugs. “It happened kinda fast after the C.T. results came back. But if the last thing I see before I die is your face, well… there are worse ways to go.”

I force myself to smile. “Well, if on the off chance you do see a bright light, I’m going to need you to picture this face and turn the hell around.”

She playfully rolls her eyes. “I guess it’ll be harder to die knowing I have a friend cheering me on.”

“Hey, what did we say about all the death talk?” Bryce nudges her shoulder.

“Sorry, boss. I’ll start planning for retirement.”

“Good. Sorry, Dr. O’Shea, but I have to get Ms. Santana to the O.R.”

I grab Bryce, pulling him just out of Kyra’s earshot. “Take care of her, Bryce. Please.”

He smirks. “She couldn’t be in better hands. I know you haven’t had the full experience yet, but seriously, my hands are incredible.”

I try to look stern, despite the blush I can feel creeping over my cheeks. “I mean it, Bryce.”

“Hey.” He steps a little closer, laying his hand against the side of my neck. He gently strokes his thumb against my pulse point, and smiles at me reassuringly. “I’m only assisting, but Dr. Zimmerman is an amazing surgeon. Kyra will be golden. We’ll bring her back safe.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. “Thanks, Lahela.”

He gives me one last smile and returns to Kyra, wheeling her off to surgery. From the bed, Kyra waves goodbye. I return to the wave, trying to ignore the fear that burrows itself into my heart like a shard of ice.

“O’Shea!” Zaid voice shocks me out of my stupor. “What are you standing around for? Get down to the E.R. and see if they need any new patients admitted!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” I give him a little salute and scurry down to the emergency room. Aurora’s already there when I arrive, surrounded by a group of senior doctors and looking annoyed, as usual.

“I have a patient with chromodoridids if you’d like to assist. Blue sweat, it’s pretty cool -” one attending begins.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Aurora curtly interrupts her.

Another attending sidles up to her. “Dr. Emery, hi! I brought you a cappuccino -”

“I drink tea.”

I like cappuccino.

Aurora strides away from them, heading my way with a cold look on her face.

“Hey, Aurora! What’s up your butt?” I greet her.

“Funny. That’s what I had to ask my last patient.” She gazes off into the distance, a horrified look on her face. “It was a model train.”

I can’t hold back my snicker.

She glares at me. “I’m glad one of us finds it amusing.”

The snickering is threatening to evolved into full blown laughter. “Ok… but like… why? And how?”

It quickly becomes clear Aurora has no intention of sating my curiosity.

“You’re no fun,” I mutter. I glance around the E.R. “It’s pretty quiet down here today, that’s great!”

“What are you even talking about? There are no good cases.”

I shrug, smiling. “And that means fewer people are seriously sick. That’s a win in my book.”

Aurora stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head.

I sigh in defeat. “If you’re so desperate for a cool case, why didn’t you go with that attending?”

For just a moment she look as if she might answer me, but in the end she just scowls. “Super not interested in explaining myself to you.”

The wail of a siren interrupts my response. Aurora and I exchange a look and sprint to the ambulance dock, reaching it just as the ambulance backs in. The doors fly open, and a muscular, brunette paramedic climbs out, helping the nurses unload and unconscious woman in an oxygen mask.

“Delores Hudson, office fire,” the paramedic reports. “Her coworkers evacuated in time, but she’s pregnant and couldn’t move fast enough.”

“Did she suffer any burns?” I ask, already doing a visual examination.

“She didn’t encounter the flames, just the smoke. She panicked and got stuck in an upstairs bathroom.”

“How are the vitals?” Aurora asks.

“Elevated B.P., but she and the baby both have strong heartbeats. Pretty serious smoke inhalation, though. Hopefully I got them out in time to avoid any permanent damage.”

For the second time that day my eyebrows race towards my hairline. “You got them out? Where were the firefighters?”

The paramedic smiles sheepishly. “We beat the fire department to the scene. I heard her screaming, so I broke in and carried her out.”

“We’ll get her admitted and into a bed,” a nurse interjects. “Dr. O’Shea, Dr. Emery, which of you is taking this?”

“Smoke inhalation? It’s all yours.” Aurora waves a hand dismissively. “I’ll wait for something interesting.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll be right up,” I tell the nurse.

I linger behind with the paramedic while Aurora departs and the nurse wheel Delores to the elevator.

I covertly study him while trying to think of something interesting to say. “So… you ran into a raging inferno to save a pregnant woman?”

Fantastic, Rory. Pure brilliance.

He tilts his head to the side in confusion. “Well, yeah. Wouldn’t you?”

I laugh softly. “Hate to break it to you Superman, but I’m more of a Lois Lane.”

He chuckles along with me. “You’re a doctor. I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate. I haven’t seen you around Edenbrook. Are you new?”

“I’m Dr. O’Shea. It’s my first week.”

He offers his hand and I shake it, allowing my hand to remain in his longer than is strictly professional.

“Rafael Aveiro. I guess I’ll be seeing you around then, Dr. O’Shea?”

“Oh, I certainly hope so,” I murmur.

“I hope so too.” Rafael flashes me a gentle smile. Suddenly the walkie-talkie clipped to his chest squawks. “That’s my cue…”

“See you later, Superman.”

Rafael laughs, clear and bright, as he races back out to the ambulance. I wait until he’s out of sight before I turn and head towards the elevators. When I step off the elevator onto the fourth floor the first thing I see is Mrs. Martinez, the patient who flashed me and Elijah on our first day, doing her daily laps of the floor. I’m surprised to see her walking with the Ice King, holding onto his arm for support. I linger for a moment, watching the pair as Ethan gestures with his free hand, clearly telling a story. Mrs. Martinez laughs in appreciation, and he laughs along with her, his carefree smile taking years away from his usually stern countenance.

He looks good when he smiles.

I quickly shake off the thought as Mrs. Martinez lets go of Ramsey’s arm and he begins heading my way. His smile fades the moment he sees me.

“Eavesdropping again, are we, O’Shea?” he snipes.

I roll my eyes. “Once again, it can hardly be considered eavesdropping when you were being loud enough for the whole hospital to hear you.”

He lowers his voices to the irritated tone he seems to reserve especially for me. “Why must you be so difficult?”

“I don’t have time for this. Delores Hudson isn’t going to examine herself.”

Ramey’s stoic mask cracks momentarily. “Did you just say Delores Hudson?”

“Yes?”

“I’m coming with you.”

Fuuuuuck.

Ramsey hurries me to Delores’s room and I’m relieved to find her conscious, her oxygen mask replaced with a nose tube.

“Hi, Ms. Hudson, I’m -”

“Ethan!” she cries out, a huge grin on her face.

“Delores! What have you gotten yourself into this time?” Ramsey gently scolds her.

“There was a fire at my office. I was upstairs filing away some papers. The elevator shut down, and I couldn’t get down the stairs.”

He frowns in concern; an emotion I didn’t realize he was capable of. “I’ll call your sisters so they can fly in from Minneapolis in the morning. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“I’m glad you have Superman in the payroll. The E.M.T. who carried me out was a total hunk,” she replies playfully.

“Rafael? Yeah, his biceps could qualify as the eighth world wonder.” I sigh dreamily.

Dolores snickers and looks at Ethan. “He gets it.”

“I don’t want to interrupt but I would like to listen to Delores’s chest,” I say.

“Delores, this is Dr. O’Shea,” Ramsey says. “Delores was my very first patient when I was an intern.”

I feel my lips curling up into an impish smirk and I slowly turn my head to stare at him.

Sensational.

Ramsey narrows his eyes, clearly not liking the look I’m giving him.

“Tell me, Delores, was he always so handsome?”

Ramey’s jaw drops. “Excuse me?” he sputters.

“He was cute, but to be honest, I think he’s aged like a fine wine,” she answers, playing along.

“Dr. O’Shea, the examination if you don’t mind?” Ramsey barks, scowling at me.

I widen my eyes and pout. “But I have so many more questions!”

A vein in his temple starts throbbing, so I decide not to push my luck. I take out my stethoscope and warm the cold metal on my palm before I press it to Delores’s chest.

“Deep breath for me please. So what brought you in back then, if I can ask?”

“Burst appendix,” she answers. “I was totally freaked out, but Ethan calmed me down. Even kept in touch a bit over the years.”

I arch one eyebrow. “Dr. Ramsey has friends?”

“Rookie,” he growls warningly.

“Her breathing is short, as you’d expect. I’d like to get a chest x-ray,” I say quickly.

Ramsey glances over her chart, frowning.

I move to his side, keeping my voice low. “What is it?”

“Her elevated B.P. It should be low after smoke inhalation. Let’s get a urine sample too.”

“Excuse me, Dr. O’Shea?” Delores calls. “I remember having my purse on me when that hunk carried me out. Did they bring it in?”

I find the bag on the floor beside her bed and watch in concern as she searches through it, frowning.

“It’s not here! I must have dropped it outside the office,” she says mournfully. “It sounds stupid, but I saw this adorable stuffed frog on my lunch break and had to buy it for my little tadpole. Both of my parents are gone and the father’s not in the picture. I just want everything to be perfect for him.”

“That doesn’t sound stupid,” I assure her. “It sounds like you’re going to be a great mom.”

“Thank you.” She smiles weakly. “I just… I really wish I hadn’t lost that little frog.”

“We’ll go find it!” I offer impulsively.

Delores instantly brightens. “Really, Ethan? You’d do that for me?”

“Er... um. Well…” he flounders for a second. “Of course. But let’s get that urine sample to the lab first. I’ll give you ten minutes, then meet you in the lot.”

Soon enough I’m in the staff parking lot, easing myself into the passenger side of Ramsey’s luxury car. He turns on the radio as we pull out of the lot and classical music drifts from the speakers. I turn to look out the window so he doesn’t see me wrinkle my nose in distaste.

“Sooo…” I draw out the word. “Are you and Dr. Emery doing the do, or what?”

He gives me a sharp look.

“I saw you two this morning,” I forge on. “It looked… intimate.”

“I don’t like advertising my private life at work,” he says slowly.

I stare at him, patiently waiting him out.

He sighs. “We were an item. And then only on again, off again.”

A feeling I don’t care to identify, something dark and poisonous, curls in my gut. “And now?” I ask, fighting to keep my tone even.

I don’t care. I don’t. I don’t even like him. Why would I care?

“Off. As of last year she’s my boss. Not that my personal life is any of your business.”

“My lips are sealed.”

Ramsey smiles at me briefly. “Good.”

“Did Dr. Banerji really quit?”

“I was wondering when you’d get around to asking that.”

I shrug. “It’s all anybody at the hospital is talking about. So did he?”

“Yes.”

I straighten up in my seat. “What? Why?”

“That’s between him and Chief Emery.” A muscle in Ramey’s jaw twitches.

He’s hiding something.

*************************************************************************************

O’Shea gazes at him from the passenger seat, those pale green eyes studying him with intense concentration. Ethan focuses his gaze on the road, careful not to give anything away. Rory eventually turns towards the window and he relaxes back into his seat.

“You’re in charge of the diagnostics team now. That’s a lot of pressure,” Rory murmurs.

“More than you can imagine,” Ethan admits. “Naveen built that team from his own blood, sweat, and tears. I can’t let him down now that he’s moved on.”

It feels good to confess that, like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders now that the words have been spoken.

“But is that what you want?” Rory presses.

“What I want is to confront the impossible mysteries of the human body, and understand.”

Rory blinks, eyes wide behind his glasses. “Um, not exactly what I meant but okay. Did you always want to lead the diagnostics team?”

“The team gives me the opportunity to face the questions no one has answered, so in that respect, I supposed the answer is yes.”

Rory sighs, reaching up to undo the elastic that’s holding his hair back. He runs his hands through his loose hair, and Ethan risks glancing over, his breath catching in his throat as he admires Rory’s profile in the warm glow of the streetlights. His hair curls gently around his face, brushing against high cheekbones, the rich black of it a stark contrast to his pale skin. He worries his lower lip between his teeth, and Ethan struggles to resist the urge to reach over graze his thumb over that sumptuous mouth. Rory glances over at him and he snaps his gaze back to the road.

“I feel like you’re being deliberately obtuse, Dr. Ramsey,” he murmurs.

They drive a few more miles in silence before Rory speaks again.

“I’m actually surprised you were up for this little rescue mission.”

Ethan chuckles. “You think I don’t want to spend my time searching for stuffed animals?”

“I suppose I thought you’d think it was beneath you. You’re a busy man.”

“There’s no element of patient care ‘beneath’ any doctor, from interns up to, and including, attendings.”

“And Delores is a friend,” Rory says.

“She’s a patient first, while she’s in our care. But yes, she’s also a friend. If a stuffed frog will help her get though this, then I’ll find her the damn frog.”

Rory gifts Ethan with a gentle smile, the expression so different from the usual glares and disappointed looks he gives him. Ethan tries, and fails, to ignore the feeling that smile gives him. It’s something he wants to see, wants to be reason for, again. Many times over.

“I think you might be a softie at heart, Dr. Ramsey,” Rory teases him.

“Far from it,” Ethan scoffs. “I’m practical. And that’s enough prying for now. We’re here.”

Ethan hurriedly exits the car, eager to get some space from the intern, and the feelings Rory stirs within him.

**************************************************************************************

The rancid smells of burning plastic and plaster make me sneeze as I get out of the car. Across the street, firefighters are still battling the blaze that’s fully consumed the office building.

“We can search the perimeter, but if it fell from her purse in there…” Ramsey looks disheartened.

“Well let’s hope it didn’t,” I say, marching forwards.

We search methodically, investigating the street where Rafael may have parked the ambulance. I’m getting increasingly frustrated and starting to think we’re on a wild goose chase when Ethan cries out.

“Look, it’s there in the storm drain!” He points down at the small, green stuffed animal.

I eye the storm drain warily. “Oh, fuck off with that bullshit. I am not going down there. Haven’t you seen ‘IT’?”

“Seen what?” Ramsey asks, confused.

I groan loudly and clasp my hands behind my head. “Fine. We’ll lower me in.

“Worth a shot.”

I lay down on the ground and slide my top half into the storm drain, leaning into the darkness, Ramsey gripping my left hand to hold me steady.

“I swear to Christ if I see a red balloon I’m going to shit my scrubs,” I mutter.

“What?”

I don’t answer, stretching out my free hand towards the frog.

“Can you reach it?” Ramsey asks.

“Almost…” I stretch a little further and – “Got it!”

Ramsey hauls me back out, and I stumble a little as the blood rushes back to my head. He quickly catches me, his hands on my hips holding me steady. The warmth of his hands feels scorching, and I look up to see him staring down at me, his gorgeous blue eyes dark and intense. I shuffle a little closer to him, and Ramsey tightens his grip; I can feel each of his fingertips pressing into my skin through the thin fabric of my scrubs. The air around us seems almost electrified and I’m suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

I quickly step back, shattering the moment, and hold up the frog. “Mission accomplished. You’re an excellent sidekick, Dr. Ramsey.”

He shakes his head, as if he’s trying to brush off the intensity of whatever it was we just shared, before flashing a brief smile. “I’m Batman, you’re Robin, and don’t you forget it, Rookie. Now get in the car, we need to get back.”

8:47 p.m.

“Dr. O’Shea!” Marlene stops me as I walk by the nurses’ station. “Miss Hudson’s urinalysis results.”

My shoulders slump as I read the results.

Shit.

I hurry to find Ramsey. I find him in Delores’s room, the two of them laughing as they watch T.V. I knock lightly on the doorjamb and nod towards the hallway, wordlessly urging him to join me. I hand him the lab results as soon as he exits the room, and watch as he comes to the same realization I did.

“The baby’s in trouble, isn’t he?”

Ramsey meets my eyes, clearly worried for his friend. “Let’s go tell her.”

I take a few deep breaths to steady myself for the news I’m about to deliver. I’ve personally never been good at dealing with bad news, preferring to bury my problems so far down that the Earth’s core is the only thing deeper than my issues.

Ramsey turns back to look at me. “This is the job, Rookie. Come on.”

“I know!” I snap, surprising both of us with my vehemence, before softening my voice. “I know it’s the job.”

Delores’s smile fades the instant we re-enter the room. “What’s wrong?” she demands.

Ramsey nods at me to take the lead.

“I don’t want you to worry,” I begin.

Delores pales. “That exactly what people say when you should be worried!”

“We found an abnormality in your labs,” I continue, giving her what I hope is a reassuring smile. “You have pre-eclampsia. This is a fairly common occurrence in pregnancy, and it’s usually manageable if monitored, but yours is quite serious.”

“How serious?” she asks quietly.

“The flow of blood to the placenta is greatly reduced. Soon it will start to deprive your baby of oxygen and vital nutrients.”

“Your baby is at risk,” Ramsey says bluntly.

Tears well in Delores’s eyes. “But everything feels fine! I can still feel the baby kicking!”

Ramsey takes a small step towards her and softens his voice. “This just means we’re going to have to deliver the baby early.”

“No! It’s too soon!”

“Babies delivered at twenty-six weeks have a good chance of survival,” I say soothingly, raising my hands in a placating gesture.

“A chance?” Delores’s shoulders slump.

“He’ll have to spend time in the N.I.C.U., and there’s risk of post birth complication -”

“And some babies don’t make it at all! Is my baby in danger right now?”

Ramsey and I exchange an uneasy glance.

“Not immediately, no,” he answers. “But -”

“Then my little tadpole is staying put,” Delores declares with a firm nod.

“Delores -”

“No, Ethan! Just… give me a week. Give me as long as you can. Please.”

“I’ll give you tonight,” he concedes. “To come to your senses.”

“I’ll keep checking on her,” I say quietly as we walk out into the hall. “Maybe we can talk her around.”

Ramsey shakes his head. “No. Just go home. Your shift’s been over for hours already.”

I stare at him in confusion. “She’s my patient. As long as she needs me, I’m staying here.”

He sighs, rubbing his hand over his mouth. “I’m taking over this case.”

“You can’t do that!” I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him.

“Go home, Rookie!” Ramsey shouts.

“Don’t raise your fucking voice at me,” I retort, more out of shock than actual protest.

“You’re not ready for this. Now go home.” He spares me one final, cold stare before he storms away.

“Fuck!” I grind out through gritted teeth. I turn to look into Delores’s hospital room. She lies in the bed, tightly holding the stuffed frog as tears streak down her cheeks. “Fuck…”

10:23 p.m.

I flop down onto the sofa next to Sienna with a despondent sigh.

“Are you still brooding about Ramsey?” she asks, setting aside the book she had been reading.

“I don’t brood!” I insist.

Sienna doesn’t bother to reply, merely arching an eyebrow at my protest.

“Much. I don’t brood much,” I mutter.

“I’m sure Dr. Ramsey had his reasons for taking over,” she says soothingly. “The patient is his friend after all.”

I snort and roll my eyes. “His reason is he doesn’t think I can handle it. He flat out told me I wasn’t ready for it. If he’s worried why doesn’t he keep overseeing the case? What was the point of kicking me off completely other than to be a massive douche canoe? I just… I don’t like leaving her there all by herself. I could have helped, I could’ve walked her through the procedure, answered more of her questions, anything instead of just… leaving.”

“Do you not trust Dr. Ramsey to take care of her?”

“No! No, it’s not about that. In spite of being a total jackass, the man is a brilliant doctor. She was my patient though. I talked to her, got to know her a bit. I guess I feel responsible for her now, in a way. And I’m worried.”

Sienna gives me a kind smile. “You might be the one person who worries more than I do.”

“You take that back,” I gasp, placing my hand on my chest in mock hurt.

She giggles and wraps her arm around my shoulders in a quick hug. “You’re a good doctor, Rory. But there is such a thing as caring too much. Sometimes you need to take a step back and breathe.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I lean my head against hers, close my eyes, and try to relax, thankful for the new friendship blossoming between the two of us.

“Hey Rory?” Sienna asks after a few minutes.

“Hm?”

“What’s going on with you and Dr. Ramsey?”

I open my eyes. “What?”

“This… whatever it is between the two of you.”

“The only thing between us is mutual loathing.” I turn my head to look at her.

“Are you sure about that?” she counters, smirking.

I throw my hands up in the air. “Ok, I’ll admit he’s attractive. I’d have to be dead to not notice how fine that man is. But he’s just so… Ramsey.”

“Can you expand on that please?” Sienna prompts me.

“You’ve seen what he’s like. He’s unnecessarily mean to the interns, to nearly everyone actually. He’s so damn highhanded about everything, and god forbid you have a different opinion than him, because then in his eyes you’re just an idiot who’s wasting his time. He’s jaded and he always looks for the absolute worst in people and treats everyone like they have an ulterior motive. And he’s rude and he’s tall and -”

“What does him being tall have to do with anything?”

“I don’t like having to look up when I talk to him,” I mutter. “It hurts my neck.”

Sienna sits quietly, waiting for me to continue.

“I don’t know,” I sigh. “He discombobulates me. Every now and then it seems like maybe there’s something else beneath all that snark and cynicism and I think we’ve had some moments, but then he’s right back to being an asshole. I don’t understand him.”

“And that bothers you because…?”

“Because I want to,” I quietly admit. “But he’s never going to let me. He dated Harper Emery; he’s never going to look twice at some intern he can barely stand.”

“Dr. Ramsey dated Chief Emery?” Sienna squeals.

“Oh shit.” I clap my hands over my mouth. “You cannot tell anyone. Ramsey made me promise to keep my mouth shut about that.”

She nods vigorously. “I swear I won’t tell a soul.”

“Thank you,” I sigh, relieved.

“You know,” Sienna says, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. “There’s this thing called the irresistible force paradox. Wayne told me about it once.”

I bite my tongue to hold back a snarky remark about her invisible boyfriend. I haven’t met him yet, but I already hate him, purely for the way he treats Sienna.

“What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Nothing can stand up against an irresistible force. And no force can budge the immoveable object. I think in this situation you’re the immovable force and Dr. Ramsey is the immovable object.”

“So what does happen when the irresistible force meets the immoveable object?”

“Nothing.” Sienna shrugs. “They cancel each other out.”

I stare at her. “That is… supremely unhelpful.”

“No, wait!” She laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me back down onto the sofa as I move to stand up. “You and Dr. Ramsey have all these issues because you keep pushing against each other. But fighting isn’t getting you anywhere, you just stay in this grey area where you’re angry with each other. So maybe it’s time to stop pushing against the immovable object.”

I grimace. “I don’t know…”

“I’m not saying roll over and agree with everything the man says. But maybe try to be a little more patient and understanding if you want to have anything more than a ‘moment’ with him. He might be a more open if you are too. ”

“I hate it when you’re mature and make sense,” I groan.

She laughs and gives me a playful shove. “I call dibs on maid of honor.”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself there, Trinh,” I snicker. “We still need to manage to have a full conversation that doesn’t end in an argument.”

My pager suddenly goes off, interrupting the lighthearted moment. My heart twists as I read the message.

“What happened?” Sienna asks, concerned.

“My preeclampsia patient just got rushed into surgery,” I whisper. “I have get back to the hospital.”

“Go. Call if you need me.” Sienna offers me one last reassuring smile before I rush out of the apartment.

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