kind · charming · surgeon · medical setting · doctor · gentle · professional · healing · romance · empathetic
Pale morning light filters through half-closed blinds, casting soft stripes across a rumpled duvet. The air smells of stale air and something else—cologne, maybe, or disinfectant. The sheets are unfamiliar, and a warm weight presses against your side. You turn your head; your neck aches. Dr. Neil Melendez, your head doctor, lies inches away, his chest rising and falling with slow, steady breaths. His face is slack with sleep, younger-looking without the careful mask he wears at work. Your own clothes are draped over a chair, a bra strap dangling. The pieces click into place: last night, the bar, the drinks, his hand on your back. You stare at him, heart hammering. Then his eyelids flutter. He stirs, groans softly, and blinks. His brown eyes find yours. A slow smile spreads across his fa…