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Massive Open Heart fan, here to post things about the shenanigans of the Edenbrook staff

[arharperwrites]

Angsty fic idea: Ethan hooked up with some random doctor in the Amazon and suddenly she’s back and MC finds out. The drama, the angst, the tears 🔥 lmao

Hey there anon, thank you for killing me with this prompt, I cried. Here’s the link:

https://arharperwrites.tumblr.com/post/614980362421108736/she-loves-him-he-breaks-her

[arharperwrites]

She loves him. He breaks her

Author’s Note: This my first ever fic for Open Heart, I hope you like it. If anyone’s interested, I could do a part 2.

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC (Dr Ava Black)

Warnings: there’s angst. and some f-bombs

Word Count: 3122

 She loves him. He breaks her.

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where could I find Ethan Ramsey?”

Ava couldn’t help but look up from the lab results she was examining at the nurse’s station when she heard his name being said.

“Sorry ma’am, I wouldn’t know, but Dr Black might.” Nurse Lily said, pointing to Ava. The woman turned to her, and Ava got a proper look: she was a bit shorter than Ava, blonde hair in a ponytail, a few strands escaping it. She was carrying a motorcycle helmet under her left arm. Ava detected a hint of a Southern accent when she spoke to her.

“Hello, I’m looking for Ethan Ramsey, the nurse said you might know where he is?”

“He is in the Diagnostics conference room, there, second door on the right,” Ava explained, pointing to the glass doors.

“Thank you love, much appreciated” the woman smiled at her, going in the direction Ava pointed in.

To say that Ava’s interest was piqued would be an understatement. The woman wasn’t any of the patients they treated, though she could be one of the old cases the team treated before she joined. Was she a college friend of Ethan’s? She did look as if they could be the same age. Ava’s thoughts were interrupted when her pager beeped, reminding her she needs to get to the free clinic. Pushing Ethan and the mysterious woman out of her mind, she walked to the elevators.

Don’t get her wrong, Ava loved her job, but sometimes it would be nice if she could end her shift and not feel like she was run over by a truck. Like, a proper 18-wheeler. She couldn’t wait until she got into a nice shower to ease the tension in her neck. But luck wasn’t on her side as her pager beeped once again, reminding her the extra tests she ordered were done. She could’ve just left them to wait until morning, but she knew she couldn’t sleep if the results showed something, and she let it wait. Turning away from the locker room, she trudged to the lab, where the technician gave her the results and a sympathetic smile. On her way to the conference room she looked over the results, relieved they were fine, but annoyed as it didn’t shine a light on what was going on with the patient. As she entered the room, she noticed Ethan was still there by his desk, going over some papers.

“I thought your shift was over Dr Black,” he said, removing his glasses.

“I could say the same thing about you Dr Ramsey,” she answered back. He simply smirked at her.

Ava gave him the results she was holding “The extra tests for Mr Robins came back, everything is normal”

“Hmm, I guess we’ll just have to propose new theories tomorrow. Go home and rest” he ordered, putting back his glasses and resuming his paperwork.

Ava replied with a simple ‘good night’ and was about to exit the room, when she remembered the earlier encounter she had. She turned back to Ethan.

“Hey, quick question. Who was the woman who was here before lunch break? Pale, blonde hair, carrying a motorcycle helmet. She was looking for you and I gave her the directions” the young doctor asked.

To her surprise, Ethan looked…embarrassed?

“Oh, so you’ve met Stephanie. She’s a, uh, a former colleague of mine.”

“So, she used to work at Edenbrook?”

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’? How could she be a former colleague when you’ve never worked outside this hospital, and you say she never worked here?”

Ethan took a pause, averting his gaze from Ava. Why was this becoming awkward? Eventually, he replied: “No, she didn’t work here. She’s with the Doctors Without Borders. We met in Brazil”

It was time for Ava to look down. Ahh, she thought. His stint at the Amazon. Makes sense.

“I see. It’s nice of her to visit you, I guess,” She replied after a while, a bitter feeling in her mouth. She still couldn’t shake off this feeling she got every time his absence was mentioned. However irrational it seemed, Ava couldn’t help but feel like he had abandoned her for those two months.

More of an awkward pause followed, and neither of them seemed to want to break it, until Ava mustered up the courage to look at him again. He still looked as if he was ashamed of something.

“Well, I should be going. See you tomorrow Dr Ramsey” she turned and walked out.

The uneasy feeling she had followed her home, and not even the shower she took could shake of the thought that Ethan was hiding something.

                                                             ---

Ava didn’t see Ethan all morning, having done rounds with Esme and covering Sienna’s part at the free clinic. After wolfing down her lunch in the cafeteria, she realized she had some time left, so she set out to grab some coffee from that place Ethan took her people-watching. The smell of fresh coffee filled her senses until her eyes fell on the table in the corner. Ethan was sitting there, but he wasn’t alone. Opposite him sat the woman from yesterday, Stephanie. Honestly, she should’ve been fine seeing them together. Stephanie was a colleague, same as June or Ines. Yeah, but June and Ines didn’t spend two months with him in an Amazonian jungle, a voice in her head said. Ava’s stomach turned and suddenly coffee didn’t seem like such a great idea anymore. She made her way towards the exit, internally praying they don’t spot her, but it seemed as if she missed out on luck for the second day in a row. It was Stephanie that spotted her, and beckoned her over. Not wanting to appear rude, Ava put on a smile and walked towards the two doctors.

“Hello again, Dr Black. Would you like to join us?” the blonde asked, pointing to the empty chair.

Ava couldn’t decipher the way Ethan was looking at her. Tearing her gaze from him, Ava shook her head, saying: “Thank you, but no, sorry. I realized I forgot my wallet and remembered I have some tests waiting for me. Plus, I wouldn’t want to impose. I’m sure you have catching up to do”

“Yeah, if by catching up you mean I talk non-stop and he gives the world’s shortest answers. If he even wants to give them to me” Stephanie said playfully. Ethan just rolled his eyes.

“I guess Dr Ramsey opens to no one, glad I’m not the only one who failed”

“Hey, she’s making fun of you! I like her Ethan!”

“Of course you do Stephanie” Ethan replied, standing up. “Take a seat Black, I’ll get you the coffee. The usual?” he waited before Ava nodded. She watched him leave, then took the seat Stephanie offered her.

“So, he’s tense even when he’s not fighting a pandemic outbreak. It’s like his idea of fun is running blood tests” Stephanie said, sipping on her coffee.

Ava couldn’t help but chuckle, agreeing with her: “Yeah, he doesn’t really relax. We went to an art gallery recently to get some information about the patient, and like, I know we were working, but the intensity with which he observed everything, it’s like he was doing a CT scan with his eyes”

“Yeah, I can imagine that. You know, we had some nights in Brazil when we would like gather around, have a drink, you know, relax a bit. But that guy? Never. Always going over papers or checking supplies. I swear he was tense while we were having sex!” Stephanie explained, huffing.

It was a good thing Stephanie was looking at Ethan, because she wouldn’t have missed the hurt that flashed in Ava’s eyes. She could feel the tear forming. He slept with her? Trying to sound as casual as possible, fighting the turmoil inside her, Ava asked her: “You two, uh, slept together?”

“Yeah, and trust me love, I didn’t think it would happen. I just told him one night that if I had the same problem he was dealing with, I would solve it by hooking up with someone and be done with it. He looked at me as if I’d grown a second head, it was hilarious. He did eventually listen to my advice, though, but it didn’t help his problem” Stephanie explained.

Truth to be told, Ava wasn’t really listening to her anymore. All she could think about was his touch, his lips, how he made love to her, and now all that was marred with pictures of him being with someone else. She thought she meant something to him. Her heart ached. Was I truly nothing to you Ethan?

She stood up fast, just as Ethan approached with her coffee. She took it from him, not able to look him in the eye. “Thank you for the coffee Dr Ramsey, Stephanie, it was nice meeting you, but I must really get going,” Ava said, hurrying towards the exit. She couldn’t hold her tears for much longer.

“Wait Ava, I’ll go with you” Ethan said, but she was already through the door.

“Wait, that was Ava? As in, the Ava, the-girl-you-couldn’t-get-out-of-your-head Ava?” Stephanie asked.

“I knew I shouldn’t’ve told you about her. Actually, I distinctly remember we agreed we weren’t going to mention that conversation”

“I’ll take that as a yes. In that case, I think I fucked up”

Ethan looked at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

Stephanie looked at him, sheepishly. “Ok, I might’ve told her we hooked up”

“You what?”

“Look, we were talking about how tense you always are, so I mentioned that not even sex relaxed you. If I knew I was talking to Ava, I would’ve kept my mouth shut!”

“Jesus Stephanie, why on Earth would you talk about that?” Ethan looked at her, anger seeping from him. This could not be happening.

“I’m sorry, you know how I blabber non-stop. I thought she was just a co-worker, not the woman you’re in love with!”

“I’m not in lo-, you know, never mind.” he said, slumping on the chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. This should not be fucking happening.

“Now what do you think you’re doing mister, sitting here all miserable? Go after her!”

“And tell her what?”

“Umm, I don’t know, the truth maybe?” Stephanie said exasperated before continuing “Tell her why you slept with me: to try and get her out of your mind before you lost it. Also tell her that it did not work one bit; you still couldn’t not think about her”

“I can’t do that Stephanie. I vowed myself I would keep things professional between us. She has the potential to be one of the best diagnosticians, I won’t let us get in the way of that.”

“Ramsey, don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s bull, and you know it. Who knows, perhaps she might become a better doctor if you give in. Who’s to say you wouldn’t improve as a doctor?”

Ethan looked at Stephanie, who raised her eyebrows to further her point.

“Look Stephanie, I appreciate your well intentions, but I care about Ava too much to jeopardize her future. Thank you for coming, but I need to get back to work.”

“You are a lost cause Ethan. Please think about this.”

“Goodbye Stephanie” was all he said before stepping out of the café.

                                                         ---

She really couldn’t believe she just cried in a supply room. Over something so stupid. Hell, Ethan’s not her boyfriend. He’s her boss. He doesn’t owe her anything and he has every right to sleep with whomever he wishes. But why does it still hurt to even think about it? She wasn’t even mad at Stephanie. Why would she be? She had to give it to her, she has good taste in men. Ava would probably do the same. Hell, she did do the same. She could still remember how he brought her to the edge over and over, how he kissed all the right spots. She remembered him moaning her name and she swears, her name never sounded better to her. Ava brought her fingers to her lips. When he kissed her she felt as if the Earth was spinning rapidly, yet stood perfectly still at the same time. His kiss consumed her, like she was dying and his kiss was bringing her back to life. She never felt like this.

Her pager brought her out of her reverie. Shaking her head, she set out to the free clinic to pick up her shift. She successfully bumped into three different people on her way to the elevators. Way to go Black. She entered the elevator, glad for the few seconds she had to clear her mind, until she realized the only other person in the elevator was, of course, Ethan Ramsey. Just my luck, thought Ava. She was just going to ignore him, until her pressed the stop button and turned to her. “We need to talk”

Ava put on her best neutral face she could muster and faced him. Mistake. His eyes were too distracting. Fuck. “About Mr Robins? I thought June and Baz figured out he ha-“

“Not about the patient. About what Stephanie told you”

Fuck. She can feel the tears forming. Wow, you’re weak the voice in her head said.

“She didn’t tell me anything. At least, not anything we should be discussing” she said, averting her gaze. He just had to stand in front of the buttons, so there’s no way for her to re-start the elevator. Great.

“Don’t lie to me Rookie. We both know you know Stephanie and I hooked up while we were in Brazil”

“I really don’t see the reason why we should talk about that”

“Oh you want to play like that? I thought we were grown-ups who could have a normal conversation, but it looks like I was wrong, because someone still acts like a child.”

“Oh you’re right, someone is acting like a child, but that someone sure as hell ain’t me”

“Is that so Dr Black?”

“Yes Dr Ramsey, it is. Because a grown-up stands by his principles, unlike a child, who changes his opinion when it suits him. In this case, the child is you,” she was facing him once again, but this time with anger in her eyes, jabbing a finger in his chest. “You were the one who wanted to keep things professional. You were the one that decided it was ‘the best for both us’, which frankly, I considered bullshit, but I respected you and your choice. And now you suddenly want to talk about ‘us’? Last time I checked, thanks to you, there was no ‘us’”

“Ava, you know what I meant. Besides, the way you exited the café, it was apparent you were distraught by the news”

“Of course I was fucking distraught! Which is so stupid, because I know that I shouldn’t’ve been. Like you said, you are my boss, not my boyfriend. You have every right to be with whomever you want, and you sure as hell don’t need to explain yourself to me. So why are you doing this? Why do you want to hurt me further if you say there is nothing between us?”

This time, his eyes flashed with anger.

“Don’t say that. Don’t you dare say we never had anything” he growled.

“But you want me to forget about it, Ethan. You want me to be your peer and nothing else. I’m sorry, but you can’t do that to me then. You can’t toy with my emotions like that”

“Ava, you need to know that I regret sleeping with her. Hell, the only reason why I slept with her because I was trying to forget about y-“

“Ethan please, don’t. Please,” she uttered, not being able to contain the tears. It broke his heart seeing her like that. He hated seeing her in pain, and now he was the one who was causing it. Way to go, Ramsey. She continued through her tears: “I can’t do this. Please, I can’t. Do you know how hard it is to not think about you? About our moments together? Do you know how hard I tried to stop myself from falling in love with you? And I failed, I failed so miserably. So please, I don’t know if I ever meant anything to you, but if I did, just the tiniest bit, please don’t tell me about other women. Respect me. That is all I ask. I will be nothing more than your colleague and keep things professional. All I ask is do not remind me of what we could’ve had. What we could’ve been.”

His heart broke with every word, with every sob. He wanted to punch himself for hurting her. She wasn’t only a brilliant doctor, but she had one of the kindest hearts he has ever seen. Her compassion for others simply intensified her medical capabilities. She dealt with her busy schedule, stressed about the budget cuts, she dealt with p.i.t.a. patients, she dealt with patients dying, yet she could always compose herself. And the thing that broke her was him. Him, and his stupid actions.

He pulled her close, cupping her face, resting his forehead on hers. “Rookie, look at me,” he murmured.

Hazel eyes met blue, and he could see the pain so distinctly, it tugged at his heart.

“Forgive me. You were right. I keep telling you we should keep our distance, yet I break it regularly. I am not going to talk about Stephanie, as you wish. But I need you to know this. You mean. You mean so much to me.”

Her lips were so close. Just the slightest move and he would be kissing her, pouring all his passion and emotions he feels towards her in the kiss.

Instead he placed a kiss on her forehead, one last reminder of what it could’ve been. And then he let her go.

He re-started the elevator, his hand aching to go back to holding her, but he resisted. For her.

She calmed herself down, wiping her tears away. They rode the rest of the elevator in silence, and once it opened, Ava looked at him with such fierceness and love in her eyes as if she was looking at him for the last time, which in a way she was. And just like that, they were once again just colleagues. She nodded in acknowledgement. He nodded back at her and watched her leave towards the free clinic, realizing too late she was taking a piece of his heart with her.

[arharperwrites]

If anyone has any Ethan Ramsey fic ideas and prompts they would like to read, send them this way, I’ll (try to) write them.

[arharperwrites]

Sooo, if anyone is interested, this is the Insta profile of my Open Heart MC, Dr Ava Black. I’ll be using her in my future fics and edits. Pics are not mine, but the edit is. Model is Imaan Hammam.

[arharperwrites]

If our Dr. GrumpyAss was actually “active” on Instagram/Pictogram, I imagine this is what it would look like. Pics aren’t mine, but the edit is. Model is David Gandy.

[patientno7]

the suffering never ends

[sinksanksockie2]

This is the real process

[thewritingbeast-blog]

Resources for you!

Character Ideas:

Character creation masterpost

Character Alignment Chart

More character alignment descriptions

Muslim Character questions

Characters with magical powers

Building a new character advice

How to create a character for an online or tabletop RPG (also a good guide on creating characters in general)

Royalty/nobility TV Tropes page

Basic character profile

OC masterpost

Random character generators - (1), (2), (3), (4)

D&D Character Building Tool

Character Design Ideas:

How clothing affects a character’s personality

Character Design Inspiration blog

Concept art, fan art, cool art to be inspired by

Character design references and inspiration

Sources for POC character design ideas and models

Create your own character model using HeroForge

For horned characters

Body and hair types guide

Random outfit generator

Naming Help:

Amazing site with an endless amount of naming resources

General advice on avoiding naming appropriation

Hispanic Surnames

Gothic Victorian names

Huge master list for character things in general

Masterlist of names of all types - including but not limited to ancient/old world names, Celtic, African, Northern European, Southern and Central American Native names, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Polynesian, and more

Another name masterlist

How to pick a character name guide

Yet another names masterlist

Creating Background/backstory:

Character Sheet/Development Sheet

Another character development list

In-depth character personality, motivations and traits sheet

320 talents and passions for characters

On writing likes and dislikes that aren’t frivolous

Why you should write non-human characters non-conforming to the gender binary

Stereotypes, tropes, and archetypes

Random backstory generator

Assassin and thief character tropes to avoid

Character Interactions and putting your character into your world/story:

Comparing character height/height references

Characters who are scientists and writing about them doing science

Describing what different voices sound like

Describing skin tones

Writing friendship interactions that are platonic

Why having one character knock their friend unconscious to prevent them from doing something is a bad idea

Advice on shipping OCs with canon characters and what to avoid doing

Sweet Polly Oliver and Sweet on Polly Oliver situations (think of Disney’s Mulan for an example)

How to write multiple viewpoints/juggling a main cast of more than 4 to 6 characters

How to make readers care about your morally gray hero/anti-hero

On platonic OC and canon character relationships

How to avoid Godmodding in RPs

When it’s cheap to kill off a character

Writing dialogue

Things you shouldn’t do to canon characters

Avoiding purple prose in writing and RPs

Slang resources

Dialogue tips

Websites to chart your story/plot/character relationships

Bonus art masterlist!

[brucewayneright]

BLESS EVERYONE IN THIS POST.

[arharperwrites]

Prompts are required

Come children, send stuff so Ava can write

[fyeahcaptn]

no one knows me like you do, and since you’re the only one that matters, tell me, who do i run to?