* * *
"You're abandoning me." I spit with fake sadness in my tone.
"It's not-I am not abandoning you, Lia!" Kate's voice sounded muffled because of my lousy reception. "I'm just moving out, that's all. Plus, I already told you I won't do it until the end of this term."
"But we won't be roomies anymore, Kate." I pouted at the screen, hoping it would actually show what was happening with my face and not freeze into an embarrassing grimace so she could screenshot it.
"You'll be roomies with Jacob?" I smiled at the thought. Living with Jacob was definitely something to look forward to.
"Fine. But I won't help you move out. You do that on your own." I heard her bubbled laugh through the device's microphone.
"Oh, I'll have Chris do that for me. After all, I am moving into his apartment." She made a brief pause before letting out a sigh. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing? I mean, we haven't been together for long, what if this is a mistake?" Insecurity filled her creaky voice as I couldn't see her face though the screen anymore. I switched the video call into a normal one, bringing the phone close to my ear as I opened my mouth to speak.
"You can only answer that question yourself, Kate." I pointed out, trying to use my words as carefully as I could. "When you think about living with him, do you feel right? Do you explode in excitement at the thought of sharing your personal space with him on a daily basis?" I questioned my friend.
"Well," I could practically hear the smile forming on her lips, not wanting to imagine the things that should be running through her brain. "Yes, I do."
"There you go." I smiled. "Plus, you'll be moving out in six months, not tomorrow. You'll have plenty of time to see how the relationship keeps evolving and if it is meant to be." It felt strange to think about my best friend not living with me anymore, but at the same time I couldn't help but feel extremely content with her own happiness. "I know it must be scary, heck-if Ethan ever asked me to move in with him I would be frantic-, but you will be just fine. Plus, you have Jacob and me to kick his ass in case anything happens."
While my friend laughed in response, I couldn't help but picture living with my lovely ex-professor. The single thought sent tingles down my stomach. It would be too soon. I still hadn't admitted my own feelings towards him and wasn't even sure if he seconded them. But something about the idea of waking up to him every day made my body shiver.
"Anyways, enough about me." Her tone turned into the playful self I was utterly used to. "How's your dream-week with mister McHottie going?"
I snorted in response. I had barely forgotten about that nickname of hers. "It's been amazing. Since break doesn't end until Sunday, we were thinking about delaying our stay for a few more days. Start the year here."
Today was the last day of the year. Ethan and I had planned on going to a dinner date-never seen by the human eye, I know-, but since we were in such an odd location for the holidays, we thought we might as well try something new: outdoor dates. Besides, no one really knew us here. Albeit me growing up here, if I ever came across bumping into someone, they couldn't possibly know our relationship was-or at least used to be- quite unethical.
After fifteen more minutes of telling Kate all about Christmas clubbing, bumping into Diana and Sophie and actually meeting up with the sweet girl alone for a brunch -which had been an enjoyable event-, we said our goodbyes as I hung the phone to stand up from the hotel room's bed and take a shower.
It was about ten in the morning, I had been woken up by Ethan's phone ringing around nine thirty and he had been speaking with that person ever since. Deciding on giving him more space, instead of walking into the dinner area of the place and finding him, I took my time on getting ready, choosing to wear some dyed mom-jeans and a white oversized sweater, tugging under the denim fabric. It was a chilly day, so I would probably have to wear my black fluffy jacket on top of it when I headed out to the streets.
Paying attention to my growling stomach, my feet determined me to guide myself towards any source of food. Entering the dining area, I came across an agitated Ethan. His back was faced towards me, but I could tell he was uneasy by his posture. He was pacing, looking through the glass wall out to the streets of Chicago as one of his hands gripped the phone tightly close to his ear as the other one kept occasionally running through his messy curls.
"Keep me updated, I'll be there tomorrow first thing in the morning." He terminated the conversation with whoever the person might have been as he turned around letting a soft sigh, realizing my presence. His expression instantly softened by my sight, which made my cheeks gain a rosy shade. "Hey there."
"Morning." I answered, making my way towards him. Reaching his side, I leaned in for a soft peck, melting into the simple action as my hand came to the side of his face, caressing his now three-day beard. "Everything alright?"
"Yes. But I'm afraid I'll have to leave tonight after midnight." His hands wrapped around my waist firmly. "You don't have to come. You can just stay and enjoy the rest of the break."
"Why? What happened?" Worry took over my system as Ethan's fingers found a lock of hair falling onto my face and softly placed it behind my ear.
"It's Dominik." Alarm filled my mind at the thought of the old German man I had been introduced to back at Munich. I watched as he carefully chose his next words. "He has Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome." I cursed under my breath. "He was admitted into the emergency room last night due to seizures and coughing blood."
The Von Hippel Lindau syndrome -or simply VHL syndrome-, is an inherited disorder distinguished by the formation of tumors and cysts in many different parts of the body. One of the most characteristic tumors presented throughout the disease are hemangioblastomas, formed by blood vessels, which can cause serious life-threatening situations. They can also be located in the retina, commonly ending in vision loss.
People who have this disease usually develop tumoral growth on the pancreas, kidneys, and genital tract.
They can also develop endolymphatic sac tumors, which are located on the inner ear, resulting in loss of hearing in one of the ears, or in the worst cases-when not treated, deafness.
"What were the results?" I asked, the naïve part of me hoping for it to be a benign outcome, knowing far too well he wouldn't be leaving tonight if it wasn't a big deal.
"They did a full work up, CT, bronchoscopy." His eyes were uneasy. "Turns out he has a carcinoid tumor spreading through his lungs." I closed my eyes briefly, sinking in the information.
"I'm guessing he wants you to operate on him?"
"The stubborn man won't take anyone else but me. That's why I need to be there by tomorrow."
"But wouldn't it be better if you left now? The sooner the surgery is, the better, right?" I reasoned.
"Ouch, you're kicking me out already?" He said, earning a chuckle from me before switching my stare to let him know I was serious. "He's being transported to Seattle at the moment, he won't be there for at least five more hours, and he needs rest so his body can get ready for the surgery." I looked up to meet his blue orbs full of concern for the old man. He was, after all, one of the last still standing members of his family, along with his sister and nephews. I wished I could tell him everything was going to be okay, that Dominik would get out of this alive, but in all means, we wouldn't really know what we were actually dealing with until we had stepped foot into the hospital, exams in hand. So, instead of words I just reduced myself into circling my arms around his torso, snuggling my head against his chest. His arms pushed me closer to his body as his chin rested against the top of my head. It's funny how I was trying to comfort him, yet the warmth his body emanated and the alluring scent he always had impregnated into his skin made me feel safe and calm, when he was the one who should be feeling that way instead.
"I'm coming with you." I mumbled against the soft fabric of his shirt.
* * *
A chuckle erupted from my ribcage as I pulled my head back. "You're pure evil." I said approvingly. "I can't believe you made the poor guy cry and transfer the hell out from the best internship program in the state!"
"Oh, sweetheart, many cry under my residency. You would too if you were my intern." He said cockily. I sometimes truthfully forgot about how much of a prick he was when it came to teaching.
"It's not something to be proud of, you dickhead." I snorted. "And your intern? No thanks, I think I'll pass." Although the thought wasn't completely repelling.
"You'd love to be under my watch. Just admit it, you have an authority kink." I laughed once again, not being able to suppress the crimson tone tinting my neck.
"Right back at you, sir." His eyes visibly darkened at the name as he picked up the napkin to wipe the corner of his lip before taking a sip of his red wine.
"Fair enough." His husky voice adjusted to the atmosphere. "Favorite book." I was amused at his sudden change of subject.
I thought about it for a while. It was very difficult to pick only one book. "I'm stuck between The Catcher in The Rye and The Martian Chronicles. I enjoy most of Huxley's work as well." I stated. "But I am also a sucker for Poe and Stephen King, so I don't know." All the books Kate had begged me to read without any mercy. I ended up loving them.
"I didn't take you for a Ray Bradbury kind of girl." He commented with a smirk on his face.
"I am not. That's why it is on my top ten, because I usually don't find myself in science fiction." I admitted. I also loved romance, but it was something he already knew. I had binged-watched every single existent love-teary drama movie on Netflix at least three times each. "What about yours?"
"The Godfather." He answered. "Oh, and The Picture of Dorian Gray."
I smiled. "Of course." I muttered playfully.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Oh nothing," I innocently replied before muttering the words 'cocky bastard.' He let out an amazed expression while looking at me warningly with an intensity enough to make my knees turn into jell-o.
"Mouth." His voice had the same authoritative tone I was way too fond of. I smiled in response, remembering our first kiss.
"Fuck off." I whispered with a grin still plastered on my lips, knowing the exact same events were replaying inside his mind.
We had been having dinner in this fancy place on the uptown side of Chicago for an hour and a half now. At first, I felt considerably out of place, having in mind I hadn't packed any outfit for the occasion and well, suits were a daily thing for Ethan. But after a long conversation about the most random things about each other I had come to ease up.
It was ridiculous how we knew the deepest and darkest sides of each other's past but nothing about the basic things like favorite movie or favorite book, for that matter.
I had come to learn a lot about him in only an hour. Like his favorite movie was Whiplash, whilst I didn't really have a favorite movie, but a TV show, which was -obviously- Friends, along with Black Mirror -we had that in common as well-. His favorite color was black, although I tried talking him into how it wasn't an actual color, because it is not present in the spectrum of visible light, for they are the result of our eyes' mixing wavelengths of light.
In the middle of our color discussion in which he defined color not solely as physics did but also as all the ways in which human eyes process light and the lack of it, therefore black and white were colors, a loud thud of something colliding against the floor got us out of our serious conversation.
"Help!" A shriek voice exclaimed a few tables away from us. "Oh my god, please someone help me!"
Our heads turned to the source of the voice only to find a young girl seizing on the floor. My response along with Ethan's was immediate. In a matter of seconds, we were right beside the girl, Ethan told the desperate woman -whom I assume was the mother of the young girl- how he was a doctor and he would help as he started pushing the seizing girl on her side in case she vomited while taking his jacket of and placing it under the minor's head to work as a cushion for her endangered head.
I, on the other hand, started moving people around, everyone was gathered in a big circle around the scene when what we truthfully needed in this kind of situation was space. "Guys, I need you to move." People started backing away as I reached the seizing girl and her mom.
"How long?" I asked Ethan.
"Three minutes." The girl had been convulsing for three minutes. That wasn't good. "Call an ambulance." He directed those words towards a waiter that had been pendent of the situation all this time. The petite girl obliged immediately.
"I-I don't know what's wrong, she had been complaining of headaches and we had a doctor's appointment due to this Thursday." The woman was truly faced. Terrified.
"Hey," I spoke in a soft voice, making sure she was looking at me. "It's going to be fine, we won't let anything happen to your daughter. The ambulance will be here any minute now." The woman nodded, holding my hand tight. "Tell me, has she been complaining about her vision, having less energy than usual or just being tired in general?"
"Y-yes. But we attributed it to her finals, she was stressed so we didn't pay much attention." The woman answered. I could see the flash of guilt and terror crashing her eyes. I was going to tell her not to worry once again but Ethan's voice called us out.
Then the girl stopped seizing.
Ethan checked if her now relaxed body was capable of being turned on her back once again, searching if she had any liquid on her throat she could choke on, he placed her down, taking a small medical pen light to check her vitals.
"Her pupils aren't responsive." Ethan looked up at me. "She also hit her head pretty bad when she fell off the chair, probably a fracture."
"She must have ICP." I stated. "We need to drain the liquid to relieve pressure."
"The ambulance will be here in ten minutes, they can't come sooner." The waiter told us in a nervous voice.
"She doesn't have ten minutes." I looked at him, thinking of an answer. We needed to act fast or this girl was going to die.
"Okay, what's your name?" I asked the petite girl who had called for the ambulance.
She looked at me in shock wondering why the hell I was asking that. "Florence." She simply said.
"Okay, Florence." I stared at her bright brown eyes. "I need you to bring me a syringe and gloves, I'm sure you have those in the kitchen, right?" I asked. She gulped in response, nodding her head. "Excellent, I also need as much alcohol as you can get me, as well as freshly cleaned cloths and a tray, I need them fast, could you do that?" Instead of answering she ran to the kitchen to get me the implements I had asked for.
I turned my head to look at Ethan, he was as decided as I was into doing this. It was dangerous, but it was our only option. "Wh-what is happening?" The poor woman was now in tears, I looked at her reassuringly as Ethan started to roll up the sleeves of his shirt.
"Your daughter has a little pressure building up inside her skull. It could be due to liquid or blood, we don't know that for sure. We are going to relieve that pressure so we can buy time before the ambulance gets here, alright?" His voice was husky and professional. The woman started sobbing and shaking, but Ethan's hands caught hers as he looked at her in the eyes. "I've done this plenty of times, we're just doing it old-school now, okay? I won't let her die." His voice, surprisingly calm and soothing. The woman nodded as rushed steps from the kitchen came towards us.
"Here." Florence said, placing the implements I had asked for as Ethan separated from the woman to look at me, silently asking if I was okay. I smiled in response as we took the young girl and placed her on a chair. After sitting her down, we opened a bottle of alcohol and spent it sorely on our hands before putting the gloves on. I continued to sterilize the syringe with more alcohol. The adrenaline running through my veins made it impossible for me to overthink the situation. This wasn't a sterile environment nor the right equipment, an infection could be even more lethal, but we were working against the clock.
I gave Ethan the tool as I held the girl's head to steady her. I stared up at him, watching his every movement. If he applied more pressure than needed, hitting the gray substance, the girl was paralyzed, or dead. "There." I pointed out. "There was movement in the skull close to the fracture, go in around there."
"Good catch." He answered before sticking the needle into the minor's skull right on the spot I had mentioned. He took out the liquid built up inside, mixed with blood. It was a hematoma. He did this at least five times, filling the syringe completely until there was no more to drain. His movements were flawless. "Okay I think we got most of it." He finished off, I stared up at him, noticing a few drops of sweat running through his forehead. He had been incredibly nervous but still managed to do everything perfectly. We heard the faint sound of sirens reaching us and before we knew it, the personal form the ambulance was already here, immobilizing the girl and asking questions.
"You're coming with us." The guy motioned to Ethan and me as we just started to follow them into the ambulance. I didn't even have time to thank Florence, after all, she had saved the girl's life too.
The mother kept sobbing as she held her daughter's hand, I reached for the woman's free one and squeezed it. "She's going to be fine." I reassured her as Ethan kept talking to the ambulance crew to fill information for the doctors in the Emergency Room. We reached the place in less than four minutes. We climbed out the vehicle to find three doctors ready to take the girl's bed out.
"Vennberg." One of the doctors acknowledged Ethan as the rest of them took the girl into the ER along with her mother.
"Paul, I didn't know you worked here." My boyfriend answered as he shook hands with him. "This is Amalia." He introduced me, circling my waist with his arm.
"Hi," I answered, feeling how the commotion of the situation started to hit me and the adrenaline slowly began to die down.
"Hello, I'm Paul Nadel." He smiled at me, extending his hand for me to shake as I seconded the grin and shook his hand. "So you were the ones that drained the fluids with a freaking syringe, of course it had to have something to do with you, Vennberg."
He simply shrugged. "We were having dinner in the same restaurant." Ethan stated. "Do full work ups on her," the mother told Amalia she had been complaining of headaches, blurry vision and tiredness. Check for a tumor or aneurysm. She also hit her head badly." He informed the doctor.
Paul nodded in response. "Thank you, guys. You saved her life." We smiled in response, glad that this hadn't ended in a tragedy. "Why don't you guys come inside to spend the new year countdown with us." He suggested. With all the past events I had completely forgotten today was December 31st.
Ethan looked down at me questioningly and I simply nodded. "Thank you, Paul." The doctor guided us towards the hospital's cafeteria, where we were spoiled with coffee and cake.
I looked at the clock to see the time, it was five minutes to midnight. I looked out at Chicago's street lights through the huge windows, coffee in hand when I felt a pair of strong arms round me from behind. "You were really good down there." He whispered in my ear.
The tingly sensation of his soft voice stimulating my ear made me giggle in response. "Are you kidding? You did the whole thing! I barely moved people." I turned around to stare at his oceans. "You never cease to amaze me."
"You handled the situation perfectly, I wouldn't have done anything differently than you did when you asked for all those implements." He gave me a genuine smile, making my heart beat faster inside my chest. "That's what a great doctor does, Amalia. They create resources when there aren't any." My stomach fluttered at his compliment.
"You've taught me well, then." I placed the coffee on the nearest table before clasping my hands around the base of his neck, enjoying the feeling of his soft locks against my fingertips.
Five.
I locked eyes with him, feeling drowning in his icy blue orbs. I started feeling lost in time and space. He always transported me into other dimensions.
Four.
Time is an absurd thing.
Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future.
But is it really? How do events really occur? It is undeniably difficult to explain its ambiguity.
Three.
In a few seconds you're transported into another time, another year. Society and our culture in general always tries to explain time as a linear phenomenon. But what if it's not?
Two.
It simply drags by. Disorienting, confusing.
One.
And as complicated and obscure as it was, here, staring at those stormy eyes, time seemed like such a simple thing. A transition.
Growth.
"Happy new year!" The faint yells of joy came surrounding my ears as Ethan's lips found mine. I molded into him, savoring his sweet taste. His arms pushed me closer, softly caressing my back as our tongues intertwined in passion. He slightly parted us to clear his throat and smile down at me.
"Happy new year, mon amour."
* * *
Hi, loves!!
I hope you enjoyed.
Comment what you think ❤️
Also, I have a list of the top three Srudent-Teacher movies I've watched that are worthy of your time:)
So if you have a teacher kink like me, here you go:
1. Breathe In.
2. Blame.
3. Molly Maxwell (although I just like it cuz Ben is jummy).
And if you have watched other SxT movies that you think I should watch, please comment them!
Laters, babes xx.