When We Meet Again

Chapter 17: Fragile Beginnings

The next few days passed like walking a tightrope.

Lingling and Orm moved through their shifts like always — checking charts, tending to patients, working side by side —
but something had shifted between them.

A glance that lingered too long.
A brush of fingers when passing instruments.
A soft smile that slipped through before either of them could catch it.

It was subtle.
Deliberate.

But it was there — pulsing beneath every interaction.

Lingling could feel it constantly, like a hum under her skin.
A reminder that after twenty years of silence, something was finally waking up between them.

Still, they were careful.

They had to be.

Their colleagues were observant — and Mika, especially, seemed far too perceptive.

On their second night shift together, Mika caught Orm by the nurses' station and grinned slyly.

"You seem... different lately," Mika said, tapping her pen against her clipboard. "Happier."

Orm stiffened, then forced a laugh. "Must be the lack of sleep."

Mika arched an eyebrow but didn't press.
Instead, she simply smiled and sauntered off, humming under her breath.

Orm exhaled shakily, her heart pounding.

It was too soon for anyone to notice.
Wasn't it?

Later that night, after Lingling finished checking on a critical patient, she found Orm waiting by the supply closet.

They weren't supposed to talk during shifts.
They knew that.

But Lingling saw the anxiety in Orm's eyes and slipped inside with her, closing the door softly behind them.

For a moment, they just stood there in the dim, cramped space, surrounded by shelves of gauze and saline bags.

"I think Mika suspects something," Orm said, keeping her voice low.

Lingling leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let her suspect," Lingling said quietly.

Orm blinked at her. "You're not scared?"

"Terrified," Lingling admitted with a half-smile. "But hiding from it won't make it go away."

Orm's lips curved into a small, rueful smile.

"I'm not used to this," she said. "Wanting something this much... and not knowing how to protect it."

Lingling's expression softened.

She stepped closer, her fingers brushing Orm's hand in a fleeting touch that felt like a secret.

"You don't have to protect it alone," Lingling said. "We'll protect it together."

Orm's throat tightened.

God, how she had longed to hear those words — even when she hadn't realized it.

A beat of silence passed.

Then Orm smiled — a real, unguarded smile — and nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. "Together."

Lingling squeezed her hand gently before pulling away, a faint pink rising to her cheeks.

"We should get back," she said, her voice soft. "Before Mika stages an investigation."

Orm laughed quietly, feeling lighter than she had in years.

They slipped back into the busy hallway — two professionals, two steady hands in the chaos.

But inside, a fragile, beautiful beginning was taking root between them.

And for the first time, neither of them wanted to run away.