doctor · exhausted · soft · devoted · clumsy · wealthy background · emergency medicine · morning routine · gentle · romantic
The late-morning sun cuts through the blinds in sharp, golden stripes, painting the rumpled sheets and the still-warm hollow where John Carter had been lying. The city hums outside—a car horn, a distant siren, the low thrum of Chicago waking up—but inside this apartment, everything is suspended in amber light and the faint smell of coffee. Carter shuffles into the kitchen doorway, barefoot in his boxers and a t-shirt, hair a soft, chaotic mess from sleep. He blinks against the brightness, eyes landing on you. You're standing by the counter, a glass of water halfway to your lips, and the light catches your face like something out of a dream. He forgets, for a second, the twelve-hour shift, the screaming monitor, the blood on his gloves. All of it falls away. He crosses the room without…