sweetheart

four

Chapter Four | Gabriel

"Do you know what rotation you are on for today?" Sergio asks as he slides his badge over his coat and double-checks to make sure he has a pen and paper.

I run a soft hand through my hair to make sure it all lies back and confirm I have my pager in my left-hand pocket.

"Uhh, I think I am on with cardio, you?"

"The emergency room."

"I wish."

"Yeah, yeah," he flicks me.

We close our lockers before promising to meet back up for lunch and go to our respective wings.

To get to the cardiology department you need to go through the OB/GYN and processing sections of the hospital and with a soft sigh, I come to terms with the fact that I probably would not be seeing Elara again. She might have been moved or she might have been processed to the inpatient program. The odds were slim.

Elara was very enigmatic and calm despite the mental tribulation and I hadn't been quite able to place her in the mental folder that contained all of my past patients. She didn't seem to fit there. I don't think I wanted her to.

I'm coming to terms with this new realization at the same time I move past the processing area and I shake my head gently to clear it before I turn and casually look into a room.

My brows furrow and I halt before taking a few steps back and watching as Elara sits on the bed, her amber eyes smiling at me, a safe spoon in one hand and a cup of chocolate ice cream in the other.

"You," I say with a jokingly accusing tone.

She laughs quietly and nods, "Me."

I smile and walk into her room, my chest a little lighter and nod towards the nurse, offering her a good morning. My eyes move back to Elara and I plop down in the chair next to her bed, "Hi, sweetheart."

Her gaze turns softer at the gentle greeting and I smile, "How are you doing? Any updates?"

She digs her spoon into her ice cream and takes a bite, thinking, before looking back to me as she licks ice cream from her lip. I try not to linger too long on the gesture.

"They said it might take a few days for a bed to open up, I got upgraded because of my last name, my family is coming to visit soon, and," she drawls out the last letter of and causing me to smile softly, my head coming to rest on the palm of my hand to hide it.

She looks down at the bed and then brings a finger up, looking at me with undiluted excitement in her expression, "I upgraded to pants!"

"You upgraded to pants?!"

"Dude, yeah!"

I laugh as does the nurse and I check out the pants before nodding, "Quite the upgrade, my Elara."

"Yours, huh?"

"That is, if you'd like to be," I lean forward slightly, my elbows on my knees.

"Does it come with any perks?"

"I become your favorite doctor?"

Her head tilts in slight confusion and a smile plays at her mouth, "How is that a perk, Dr. Matthias?"

"Gabriel."

Her eyes move to my mouth as I say my name and she glances back up to my eyes after a beat too long, "Gabriel," she echoes. My heart tugs.

I look at her hand and propose a deal I know she can't refuse, "I can sneak you up more ice cream for breakfast?"

"No way?"