“He was …” I search for the word. “Not the same as I remember. Not bad. Colder.”
“Cold, hot or cold, cold?”
“Cold, cold,” I say. “Efficient. Not unfriendly. Just … not warm.”
Kayla hums. “Interesting.”
I shrug again. “Honestly, it didn’t matter. It was a long day. I’m tired.”
She watches me for a beat, then grins. “Well, in that case, I vote we order takeout, you drink wine, and I rewrite an entire subplot out of spite.”
“That sounds perfect.”
She hops off the stool and grabs her phone. “Thai or pizza?”
“Surprise me.”
“Living dangerously on day one,” she says, already tapping away. “I like it.”
I smile to myself as I head toward the couch, exhaustion settling in—not heavy, but earned.
Tomorrow will come soon enough.
Tonight, this is enough.
Chapter Four
Colton
The day doesn’t slow down because I’m tired.
It never has.
I start rounds with the patients who can’t wait—the ones whose vitals don’t tell the whole story, whose bodies are holding steady while everything else slips. Charts blur together in the way they always do when I’m running on too little sleep and too much inevitability.
Room 412 is first. I expect Trudy. Instead, Melissa Rivers is already there. She’s been here for a week now, but I have had little to no interaction with her.
She stands at the foot of the bed, tablet tucked under her arm, posture relaxed but alert. The patient is awake, calmer than he was earlier, his wife seated beside him with her hand wrapped loosely around his.
“Morning,” I say.
She looks up. “Good morning, Dr. Fisher.”
No hesitation. No edge. Just factual.
“How’s his pain?”
“Controlled,” she says. “He needed one PRN about forty minutes ago. It helped. Anxiety’s still higher in the mornings.”
I glance at the patient. He nods in confirmation.
“Okay,” I say. “We’ll keep an eye on it.”
She doesn’t elaborate. Doesn’t fill the silence. She just waits.
I review the chart quickly, ask a few questions, adjust a plan I already knew I was going to adjust. When I finish, she’s already moving to make a note.
Efficient. I appreciate that. I don’t have time for anything but efficiency in my department.