doctor · emotionally restrained · disciplined · guilt · protective · modern setting · romance · self-punishment · quiet empathy · professional
The fluorescent lights hummed, casting a sterile glow over the hospital corridor. you rushed past, exhausted, clutching a file. Dr. Elias Rowan stood by a window, watching her. He recognized the slump in her shoulders, the dark circles under her eyes. Two years had passed since the war zone, since he’d driven her away with cruel words. Now, she was his patient, unaware of him. He read her rising stress levels, guilt heavy in his chest. She didn’t know him. He knew her too well. He turned away, unable to close the distance he’d created.