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justcallmefox89 · 5 days

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Irresistible Force Paradox: Chapter Five - An Open Heart fic

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

After a tragedy, Rory and Ethan call a temporary ceasefire.

I sprint into the waiting room at Edenbrook, frantically looking around for anyone who may have answers about Delores. I spot Ramsey sitting alone, staring down at his hands, and I rush over to him.

“Dr. Ramsey? What happened? Where’s Delores?” I pant, bending in half and sucking in air, my hands on my knees.

He doesn’t answer me for several long moments, making me fidget impatiently. I’m opening my mouth to repeat myself when he finally meets my eyes.

“Delores had a seizure,” he says hollowly, his eyes distant and unfocused. “Full eclampsia. We had no choice but to deliver the baby. It’s 50/50 he’ll survive the night.”

“No…” I breathe out. My knees buckles but I mange to catch myself on the arm of the chair Ramsey is sitting in. “Where’s Delores?”

“She died.”

My blood roars in my ears, drowning out all of the other mundane hospital sounds surrounding us. My eyes burn as small tendrils of grief take root in my chest, quickly stamped out by the heavier, more intense feeling of anger. Anger at the randomness, the unfairness of it all. Anger at myself for not having done more, not fighting Ramsey harder, not making Delores understand just how serious her condition was.

NO.

“Dr. Ramsey, - ”

“I’m fine.” He stands and quickly strides away without looking back.

A while later I tiptoe into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, clutching that stupid stuffed frog, and silently begin searching the incubators for Delores’s son. I allow myself a tiny smile when I finally find him and read his name tag.

Ethan Hudson. How about that…

“Can I help you?”

I whirl around in surprise to face the attending on duty. “His mother was my patient. She got to name him?” I ask, vaguely gesturing towards the incubator.

“She told me just as she was rushed to the O.R. The poor thing. We’ll know more in the morning,” she answers, casting a sad look towards the baby.

“Do you mind if I sit with him tonight?”

“Feel free.”

“Do you mind if he has this?” I hold up the frog. “His mother wanted him to have it. It’s been sterilized.”

“Go ahead,” she says, shrugging as she walks away.

I pull on a pair of sterile gloves and place the stuffed animal into the incubator, tucking it close to the baby. He snuggles weakly against it, and tears prick my eyes. “That’s it, tadpole. That’s the way.”

I sit down on the couch next to the incubator and put my hand back inside, allowing the baby to grasp one of my gloves fingers. I relax into the couch, preparing for a long, sleepless night.

********************************************** Ethan rounds the corner to enter the N.I.C.U. and draws up short as the sound of a now irritatingly familiar voice floats out to meet him.

“Can you believe some people actually think Black Jack Randall is attractive? Like the book version, not the actor in the series?”

Ethan peers around on the doorjamb to see O’Shea seated next to the incubator housing Delores’s son, having a very enthusiastic one-side conversation with the infant.

“I know! After everything he did to Jamie… I can’t believe it either. How do you feel about Lord John as a character?” Rory pauses as if listening to the baby’s reply. “Well obviously… clearly you’re a gentleman of taste. Can I talk about my gripe with Roger for a second? Because honestly - ”

“Ahem.” Ethan clears his throat and Rory glances over at him, eyes wide and cheeks pink with embarrassment. “What are you still doing here?”

“I’m staying here tonight.” O’Shea turns his attention back to the incubator. “I hate the idea of him fighting for his life alone.”

“There are plenty of doctors working overnight. If something happens, they’ll be here.”

“I know.”

The whisper is so soft Ethan can barely hear it. “Would you mind if I joined you?”

O’Shea’s wide green eyes betray his surprise and it takes him a moment to answer. “Not at all,” he finally says, shaking his head and scooting over to make room on the couch.

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

Ethan settles down on the couch next to me and for a while the soft, rhythmic whoosh of the ventilator is the only sound in the room. He catches sight of the stuffed frog and breaks out into a rare smile.

“You gave him the frog. Delores would have been…” His face falls and his falls silent at the reminder of the loss of his friend. “She would have been pleased.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and blink quickly in an effort to hold off the tears that have been threatening to fall all night.

“The first patient I lost… I was in my fourth week,” Ethan says, his voice more gentle than I thought him capable of. “I didn’t make any mistakes. He had stage four metastatic melanoma. He just… fought like hell and lost. I liked him. He wasn’t much older than I am now. I knew he didn’t have long to live, but it still hit me hard.”

I take a shallow, shuddering breath. “I can’t let this get to me,” I mumble.

“Grieving a lost patient isn’t a weakness. Good doctors should value life. For itself. I’d be more concerned if you weren’t upset. Just know this wasn’t your fault. Or mine. Or Delores’s. We all made the best decisions we could with the information we had.”

The argument that we could have done things differently is at the tip of my tongue, but I bite it back. “I could have done more,” I say bitterly. “I failed her.”

Ethan sighs. “It’s important to push yourself, Rookie, but you will take a lot of losses. We all do. What matters is that you come back stronger.”

I glance at him suspiciously from the corner of my eye. “Why are you being so nice to me? Usually you’re…”

“Demanding?” he helpfully supplies.

“An asshole,” I mumble.

Other than a slight raise of his eyebrows Ethan doesn’t comment on my assessment of his character. He stares off into space, sorting his thoughts. “There are doctors with unlimited patience,” he says eventually. “I am not one of them. Energy I could use socializing, or making someone’s day better, I put towards my patience. They’re who I’m here for.”

“Well that explains why you and Dr. Emery broke up,” I mutter under my breath.

“Rookie…” Ethan’s tone is warning.

“You’re a teacher too,” I point out, attempting to backtrack.

“One of many, and you shouldn’t model yourself after any of us. Idolatry among physicians is absurd. We’re here to teach you practical medicine. You need to find your own way of being a doctor.”

“And… how do I do that?” I ask, twisting on the couch to fully face him, ready to absorb whatever Yoda-like knowledge he’s preparing to hand down.

The corner’s of Ethan’s lips tip up into a gentle smile. “You already are.”

What the fuck does that mean?

The baby stretches and wiggles, and Ethan scoots closer to the incubator, offering him a gloved finger. A soft, absent looks washes over Ethan’s face as the baby tightly clutches his finger.

“She named him after you,” I murmur.

His eyes widen in surprise as he looks down at the nametag. His jaw tightens and his throat works as he swallows. “I… see she did.”

“Did you know Delores a long time?” I venture.

“Over ten years. When I first emailed her I only meant to check in. But she was recently divorced, feeling alone, so she insisted on coffee. And then it turned into more emails and meeting once every couple months for Sunday roast.

“She sounds like a good friend.”

“I didn’t make friends easily when I started here, so I was always grateful to her for that.” Ethan swallows hard and falls silent, gazing intently at Delores’s baby. His eyes are red.

Unconsciously I reach out and place my hand over his. “I’m so sorry this happened,” I whisper, my voice cracking slightly.

Ethan glances up at me, surprise at first, and then something I can’t decipher in his shining blue eyes. He holds my gaze, his hand broad and warm beneath my own.

“Me too.” He roughly clears his throat. “I think we need coffee.”

“I can get some,” I offer, not having the heart to tell him I don’t like coffee.

“No. I’ll go.”

Several minutes tick by as I watch baby Ethan sleep, counting each shallow rise and fall of his chest. I start to drift off, the ambient hospital sounds soothing me.

“Here you go, Rookie.”

I shake my head, trying to clear away the cobwebs, and gingerly take the steaming mug Ethan’s hand me. I wrinkle my nose as the bitter smell of coffee assaults my senses and steel myself to take a sip. I fight the urge to gag, rather valiantly I think, and force down the drink.

Ethan attempts to hide a smirk behind his mug. “You could have said you weren’t a fan of coffee, Rookie.”

Apparently I’m not as subtle as I thought.

I sheepishly set the mug on the small table next to the couch. “Sorry. I do appreciate the thought though.”

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

Ethan gazes down at the sleeping O’Shea, who’s currently curled up against Ethan’s side. The two had talked long into the night, seamlessly bouncing from subject to subject. Ethan had found himself truly enjoying the conversation; Rory had proven to be well-versed in many subjects, and his quick, caustic sense of humor had Ethan laughing more than he had in months. Several strands of inky dark hair have fallen over Rory’s face, and his glasses are slightly askew. Ethan’s lips quirk up at the endearing sight, his breath catching as Rory’s nuzzles against his arm.

“Rookie,” he murmurs, gently brushing the loose hair back away from Rory’s face. “Come on Rookie, time to wake up.”

Rory sits up slowly, yawning and stretching his arms over his head. He adjusts his glasses and turns to the incubator. Baby Ethan rests soundly, still snuggled against the stuffed frog.

“He made it!” Rory flashes Ethan a beaming smile, unable to contain his joy.

“And he’s getting stronger.”

Rory takes out his hair tie, shaking the unruly strands loose, unable to stop smiling. He runs a hand through his now unbound hair and checks his phone, his smile falling a little as he notes the time.

“Damn,” he sighs. I have rounds in twenty minutes. I need to go shower.”

Ethan sucks in a shallow breath, fighting to think about anything other than a naked, soapy Rory, hands trailing over lithe muscles… “I’ll stay a little longer,” he quickly offers.

Rory stands, smiling at the baby one last time. “Catch you later, tadpole.”

“Rory,” Ethan calls out as the other man is halfway out the door.

Rory skids to a halt and looks back over his shoulder. “Hm?”

“Thank you.”

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choicesficwriterscreations · 2 years

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CFWC Writer of the Month: Utterlyinevitable / Catchinglikekerosene

Each month CFWC highlights one of our many talented fanfic writers and this month’s writer of the month is @utterlyinevitable! (Also @catchinglikekerosene ) We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! Writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Blog: @utterlyinevitable (and @catchinglikekerosene)

Blog Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? dom

1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played?

I was a casual player early on - like the summer after Rules of Engagement came out early. Then I rediscovered it in 2019, playing ROD and TRR before bed. True obsession didn’t kick in until 2020 when I became enlightened to Open Heart’s existence.

2- When, and why, did you join Choices fandom?.

I joined the fandom early summer-ish 2020, when oph2 was on their first break. Also was the instigator of my return to tumblr and the joy of fanfics. Ethan Ramsey became my pandemic hyperfixation and I NEEDED to know what happened after the 2.9 kiss!

3- How did you pick your url name?

I never liked fandom-specific names so I went for something that could ebb and flow with my obsessions. Something about ‘delaying the inevitable’ and Ethan and MC being utterly inevitable seemed to fit 😆

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog.

Oh godddd okay…

my first ever post on my sideblog is this reblog confession about wanting an oph prequel. I’d still kill for one!

the first post by me on my sideblog is this one calling ethan out for removing his shirt instead of just the metal parts in the fmri scene lol

and my actual first ever post in the choices fandom is part 1 of Do We Have A Future? (on my main blog, back when the series was just a one shot)

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Noooo don’t call me out like this 😂 !! I’ve been writing since twilight was in theatres….

I took a very long break from it when I went off to uni

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

Open Heart. I love their characterizations and how relatable and flawed all of them are. Makes for some great fic material!

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

Do We Have A Future?

I love this series. Anyone who has read it will know that it’s very personal.

The only thing I would change about it is the opportunity to make it longer. A life goal of mine is to make this series into 3 novellas.

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

It’s a tie (sorry, I can’t choose just one!). My magnum opus FATL and my longest one-shot Make Believe. I love these two because they’re emotional and driven by non-verbal cues. They’re hopeful and just a little sad. Which apparently is my brand.

↠ For All The LiesTwo years after OHSY and after Becca left, she’s back in town and runs into Ethan. She never imagined she’d see him again, let alone to hear those words.

↠ Make Believe Ⓜ️ Becca and Ethan are cuddling in the chalet, fantasizing about what their meeting would be like if they were normal people. Set in OHSY Chapter 14.

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be, but it could use a little more love?

I’m still surprised by the love that Hurricane got! At the time it was the closest thing I’ve ever written to crack fics - a ‘protection’ prompt spiraling into something else. At one point this fic was the bane of my existence because I couldn’t get the plot just right.

Because I’m a little vain and thrive on validation, I’ll choose a fic from each of my main pairings that could use a toot or two ;)

An Evening in December (Bryce Lahela x F!OC) - this piece specifically is from a bigger original work project that any sort of feedback is most appreciated!

Music & Secrets: Part 3 (Ethan Ramsey x F!MC) - my sweet friends-to-lovers babes going on their first unofficial date!

Again. (Ethan Ramsey x F!MC) - written with only an audience of 2 in mind, but part of the DWHAF saga and thus it belongs on a pedestal.

10- What is your specialty as a fanfic writer?

Pain? Sadness? At one point I did win an open heart award for angst 😆

I write realistic and flawed characters, usually not under fluffy circumstances.

11- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Angst. There are hundreds of ways any confrontation or situation could play out and I like to explore those choices and feelings. And they could have a happy ending too!

12- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MC’s or in your writing?

lmao yes. All my MCs have parts of me. Becca is by far my projection character, Hannah gets all my flaws, and Odette I live vicariously through.

13- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

Descriptions! They suuuuck!

Whenever I write a piece the first thing out of my head is the lines of dialogue. Since my fics aren’t dialogue-driven they serve as a map for all the describey bits.

14- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

So many in my wip graveyard and fic requests I really need to finish.

Because of what’s happening with Roe vs Wade I’ve really been keen to finish writing my mini series Unethical, which I started writing Summer 2020.

15- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

This is such a loaded question! It depends on the work tbh and who the person is. My hubs is not allowed to read anything because he’d definitely be concerned, my bestie is. Though I’d only show her DWHAF or Make Believe.

16- Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

So many! Fandom writers, there’s @alwaysmychoices who can have you crying in a single sentence and I admire the way she describes scenes, and the world she’s created for Ethan and Charlie. Then there’s @jamespotterthefirst who not only is an amazing writer and the queen of content, Bree has such thought-out characters, really inspires me to think past the piece I’m writing and develop my characters further.

I’m sure there are authors that have inspired my writing and I’m blanking on them all right now. If I could ever write something with the acclaim, simplicity, and metaphorical complexity of The Great Gatsby, I’d die happy.

17- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

Is it weird that I envision all my works as a piece of film whilst writing them?

If DWHAF ever became a bigger project, that’s what I’d like adapted.

If I could only have one scene put to screen I’d like it to be Crescendo.

18- Do you write original stories?

I try. There are certain fanfic pairings I have that I use specifically to help me navigate original thoughts and storylines.

19 - What other hobbies do you have?

Hobby? What hobby? I’m an adult.

lol

aside from writing and doomscrolling, I read and cook and play with my puppy.

20 - What’s your favorite emoji?

😂 is my most used emoji.

21: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

Thank you @choicesficwriterscreations for selecting me! I know I haven’t been the most active recently so it means the most that I’m still being considered. Also a HUGE shout out to @gryffindordaughterofathena and @liaromancewriter for all the work they’ve been doing to maintain @openheartfanfics in my absence. This fandom is amazing and unlike any other, I am so thankful for all the friends I’ve made the last two years <3

#choices fic writers creations #cfwc writer of the month #writer of the month #utterlyinevitable #catchinglikekerosene

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mvalentine · 1 year

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Don’t you get bored playing OH book 2 without the extra scenes with Ethan? Maybe because I’m an Ethan hoe and I just want to spend time with him even when I hate him lol, but is it worth it missing that to follow you own MC’s personality? Not judging, I’m genially curious

hey anon!!

so i actually don’t miss out on his diamond scenes, infact i think ive bought every single one of them lol. i have this habit with choices books of sort of altering & changing scenes in my head as the play out so they make more sense for my hcs & characters. but like for some scenes yeah, i do have to miss out on some scrumptious scenes like the kiss post ethan & mc making the georgian chicken together which :( but sometimes i just replay it twice once to choose all the romantic options & yk— feel something & the other to do a proper lana-esque playthrough.

it’s also one of the reasons ive been putting off my oph2 replay— because sometimes doing all this mental gymnastics in your head to change the story to fit your hc can be exhausting. book1 is way better in regards for allowing multiple personalities & mcs to shine through, where as with book2 the mc is just sort of boxed into being this sad, mopey person who just has to pine over ethan like no? let the mc be angry, let the mc be the one to push him away. i mean for an app called choices — they’re very much lacking. anyways! now that uni is almost over ill probably do a replay over the holidays because let’s be real book2 has some of the best scenes ever come on now 2x11? a cinematic masterpiece 💗

#also it didn’t come off as judgy you’re good!#open heart #ethan x lana #asks

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bryceslahela · 2 years

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ok murder at homecoming is quickly rising into my top ten favourite choices books and it’s high up on the list. i’m gonna need to do some more play throughs to establish my top books because i replayed te: wp and i’m currently replaying te2 and this book was so fun like??? why did we not talk abt atlas and mc’s dynamic more??? i feel like they act like genuine siblings. i might find it more fun tho because i’m actively romancing the forced li and ik a lot of people had trouble w/ beckett in b2 which is totally understandable and i agree. fa, acor, moty are probably my top three. weh, oph2/1 (i haven’t decided yet bc oph1 is better written overall but oph2 had the better chapters) and probably cop. idk what order the rest will go in but add bolas, ilitw, lovehacks and maybe pm idk which one tho…..

#what are ur top books??#jade.txt

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cyb3r-kat · 4 years

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Cheers to raf stans for bullying a company so badly they keep him alive and break up with his girlfriend or boyfriend because he still loves you 😌

#playchoices #choices #rafael aveiro #rafael aveiro x mc #open heart #choices oph #choices oph2 #choices open heart #choices open heart 2 #pb

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honourlight · 4 years

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the glow up is immaculate sir😌

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questionablespecies · 4 years

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I'm so glad MC gets to clap back at Esme about this whole thing. We are literally not the same. MC never played guessing games about what happened to Martinez.

#playchoices #open heart #open heart 2 #oph #oph2 #choices oph #choices oph2

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writer-ish · 4 years

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—MC texts Ethan from Vegas

(Just an idea I had to liven up the Vegas chapter for myself. Let me know if you want me to do more!)

✨ next part HERE ✨

#ethan ramsey #open heart #ethan ramsey x mc #playchoices #choices open heart #open heart 2 #open heart fanfic #open heart text fic #text fic #OH2 text fic #open heart 2 text fic #ethan ramsey fanfiction #just little drabbles #to make me feel better about a 👎🏻👎🏻 chapter #choices oph2 #oph2 #oph2 chapter 15 #mc texts ethan series

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distantshoresismyoxygen · 4 years

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went from spending 30 diamonds to kiss ethan to spending 20 diamonds to sleep with him 😌

ladies and gentleman, that is what i call..a ✨glowup✨

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lvnamoth · 4 years

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THIS IS SO CUTE??? ETHAN JONAH RAMSEY???? PINING??? THE DUO WE DIDN'T KNOW WE NEEDED???

Context: i made ethan choose "i have feelings for her" and I've nvr rlly spent tht many diamonds on ethan bcs i was trying to save up so,,, 😗

#playchoices #pixelberry #choices #choices stories you play #choices oph2 #choices open heart #oph2 #open heart #ethan ramsey #sienna trinh

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justcallmefox89 · 1 year

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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.

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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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