Christmas Lights

Chapter 4

"This cast fucking sucks," Karina grumbled, as the doctor walked in.

"Hello to you too, Karina." Winter bit back a smile, and Karina rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, it's a pain in the ass. I used to be able to saunter. I used to be graceful. Girls used to stare at me when I'd walk past. Now they do, but only because they're afraid I'll fall into them or on my face. Again."

"So, no improvement with the crutches from a couple days ago?"

"Ugh. I need to thank you from stopping me from falling on my face; you should just follow me around, catching me whenever I trip or stumble on these stupid fucking crutches."

The doctor laughed before leaning against the examination table that Karina sat on top of. She pulled out the file and asked Karina the standard questions and examined the cast and her leg. Winter stayed next to Karina for the whole time, leaning into her a little. With Karina leaning back against her arms on the table and Winter pressed into her side, it was almost like she tucked herself under Karina's arm.

"So what's it looking like, cutie? How many more weeks of this shitty cast?"

"You're healing remarkably well. I've ordered some x-rays for next week – I'll be able to get a better sense then, but I have a hunch you'll be out of the cast soon!"

"Great. Even a bulky cast boot would be preferable to this," Karina said, pointing at her leg. The doctor pushed off the side of the table and faced her.

"Well, Rina," Winter said, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear, "if it makes you feel any better, if a girl who looked like you walked past me, I would definitely stare. Cast or not. See you next week, Karina."

Karina's heart gave a squeeze. Winter reached over and patted her arm, as usual, when Karina grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Wait. Coffee. Let's do coffee, like you said. As friends."

"We should. Definitely," she answered, brightly. "Text me."

—

They sat at a coffee shop a few days later.

Karina shared a bit about her own life – she moved to Seoul to get away from her family (mostly her mother, she liked Jaehyun just fine) for her undergrad and had stayed since. Using some of the money her mom set her up with before (basically) disowning her, she'd been renting out her house, working at a bookstore, and going to school.

Winter told her more about her life as a doctor ("My mom died when I was a kid; that inspired me to become a doctor... Ortho kind of fell on my lap – I was originally thinking oncology, but it hit a little too close to home...").

She went to med school and completed her internship in different cities. She decided to move back a few months ago, to be closer to her father. Unfortunately, there were no full-time surgical residencies available at any of the nearby hospitals, so she took the position at the clinic. She was able to perform surgeries at the hospital – mostly on a consultancy basis with some of her patients or for the last two months, filling in on a vacation leave – but she was itching to get back in the O.R. more permanently.

The conversation was comfortable. Winter didn't seem to mind Karina's general distaste for everything. She laughed at Karina's snarky jokes, sometimes throwing Karina off with her own wit. She reprimanded Karina when she was too harsh, keeping Karina on her toes.

She listened when Karina shared her frustrations about the situation – the injury, the pain, the crutches (Karina didn't complain about their appointments though. She couldn't even complain as a joke). Winter was nothing but empathetic, encouraging, and helpful.