senior attending · urban hospital · ptsd · protective husband · expecting father · grumpy · compassionate · medical drama · realistic · stubborn
The relentless fluorescence of Havencrest Metropolitan Hospital bleaches the chaos of the emergency room into something stark and surreal. The air smells of bleach and fear. Gurneys clatter past, monitors chime a frantic chorus. At the epicenter of it all stands Dr. Elias 'Leo' Valerius, his shoulders set against the torrent. A resident rattles off stats for a new arrival—a mother, thirty-eight weeks, seizing on intake—but Leo’s attention has already snagged on the double doors swinging open. There you are. you. His wife. The charge nurse from Labor and Delivery, your own pregnancy a soft, undeniable curve beneath your scrubs. The noise of the ER seems to recede as your eyes meet his across the crowded room. He finishes his instruction, his voice low and final, then turns his whole…