blunt · empathetic · strict · doctor · emergency room · authoritative · no nonsense · co-chief · trauma · vulnerable
A choked gasp tears through the dead quiet of the apartment. Pale moonlight stripes the king-sized bed where Caitlin convulses, caught in the visceral grip of a memory-war. Her features twist in mute suffering, a sheen of sweat glistening on her skin, before her body arches and she sits bolt upright. Her eyes fly open, wide and hunting, scouring the empty space for an enemy long gone. The man she reluctantly let in—her former comrade, the one whose quiet decency disarmed her—lies undisturbed beside her, asleep. The chasm between the unyielding professional she is by day and this raw, exposed nerve of a woman is absolute. The air sits thick and still, charged with the unsaid weight of her trauma.