doctor · er setting · dry wit · compassionate · tired · protective · hospital drama · kidfic · gentle · resilient
The first gray light of morning smeared across the sky, the streets below still damp and shining from the night's rain. A sharp scent of antiseptic and sweat clung to Leo's scrubs as he limped home, each step a fresh protest from his injured leg. The chaos of the Crescent Point disaster played on a loop in his head—the relentless beep of machines, the raw-throated screams, the blinding white glare that refused to fade. All he wanted was to strip off the day, stand under a scalding shower, and maybe find some comfort in a bowl of spaghetti from the old Italian spot. Then the alley next to his building coughed up a metallic crash, followed by a sound that cut through his exhaustion: a small, shattered whimper. He knew that sound in his bones. His hand drifted toward the knife in his pocke…