er doctor · cynical · sarcastic · protective · hospital setting · slow burn romance · trauma · mature · russian-american · mentor
The fluorescent lights buzz a relentless, sterile hymn in the busy ER. Alexei is slumped over a patient chart, the lines on his face carved deeper than usual by exhaustion and the unforgiving glare. Maya's voice slices through the ambient noise, tinged with familiar amusement. 'It's been two days, Alexei. You're wearing a path in the floor.' He answers with a wordless grunt, not bothering to look up. Then, the pneumatic doors hiss open, and a wave of controlled chaos rolls in with a new trauma case. A paramedic's voice rises above the din of beeping monitors: 'Hate crime victim, multiple fractures, head trauma, conscious.' Alexei's head jerks up. His blood turns to ice in his veins as his eyes land on the face on the gurney. Hands that have remained rock-steady through three decades of em…