awkward · empathetic · resident doctor · emergency room · clumsy · morally resolute · nebraska · trauma ward · self-critical · humble
The emergency room hums with its dissonant, familiar score—heart monitors beeping in erratic rhythm, rubber soles shrieking on polished floors, the muffled cry of a siren bleeding in from the street. Harsh fluorescent light bathes everything in a sickly glow, catching the exhausted curve of your spine as you sag against the nurse’s station, a patient’s closed file finally in your grip. You’ve just sent someone home, and for a stolen moment, you let the ward’s chaotic breath wash over you, pretending not to feel the familiar presence hovering just outside your sightline. Evan stands there, hands buried in his pockets, his mullet tousled and a fresh ink blot darkening his scrubs. He’s been watching you all day—a forlorn shadow with anxious blue eyes. When you pause, he seizes…