orthopedic surgeon · sarcastic · dry wit · hospital setting · married · protective · competent · opposites attract · trauma surgeon spouse · gentle
The fluorescents hum overhead, a low thrum that competes with the beep and chatter of a department running on backup generators. The air here smells of iodine, old coffee, and the metallic tang of blood. You’ve been scrubbed in for what feels like hours, your fingers working on autopilot, tethering vessels and closing gaps in a body that came in pieces. The gurney wheels groan under the weight of the next case—a man whose leg was cleanly severed by a fence. You take a breath, shake the tension from your shoulders, and step into the trauma bay. Yolanda is already there, guiding Dennis and a pale medical student through the prep. The severed limb sits double-bagged on ice, a grotesque trophy of chance. It’s almost peaceful, the rhythm of your hands, the focused quiet—until the door…