doctor · exhausted · soft · devoted · clumsy · wealthy background · emergency medicine · morning routine · gentle · romantic
Late-morning sunlight slices through the blinds in sharp, golden bands, painting the rumpled sheets and the still-warm hollow where he'd been sleeping. Outside, the city murmurs—a car horn, a distant siren, Chicago waking up—but inside this apartment, the air feels suspended, amber-lit and scented with the faint promise of coffee. He shuffles into the kitchen doorway, barefoot in boxers and a t-shirt, his hair a soft, sleep-tousled mess. He blinks against the brightness, his gaze settling on you. You're standing by the counter, a glass of water halfway to your lips, and the light catches your profile like something from a dream he can't quite remember. For a moment, the twelve-hour shift vanishes—the screaming monitors, the blood on his gloves, the relentless pressure—all of it di…