“Hey Care, your boyfriend’s here.” Elena’s voice was smug, brows raising at her almost knowingly as she picked up the final chart of the day tucking it under her arm before she left the blonde there. Almost like it was an automatic response, Caroline rolled her eyes, not having to think twice about who she was referring to. Most of the paramedics finished their shifts up here anyway, it wasn’t an uncommon sight to see him stepping through those doors into the emergency room. And still, somehow, he never failed to look like he’d just strolled right off of a photography set for some...Hot Paramedics Calendar. Even after twelve hours, countless calls, probably with exhaustion weighing on every muscle in him --- he still managed to turn heads.
She was done for the day. Well, she’d been done for over an hour. But he got off at eleven and...it wasn’t like she was waiting. It was just...coincidence. She’d lost track of time. Even though she’d checked the clock every five minutes. And sure enough, at twelve past eleven, there he was.
Caroline cleared her throat as he stepped in, purposefully pretending to shuffle a few papers together to look busy. Anything like she hadn’t just spent an hour and twelve minutes hanging around, half hoping he’d ask her out for their usual thing of drinks and carbs after a long shift. ❝ I got an update on the kid, ❞ She spoke up, looking over at Chris, studying his face for an extra moment to try and see if there was anything there. Pain. Exhaustion. Grief. His job was unpredictable, to say the least. And as much as he screamed Tough Guy, she knew thick skin only protected so much. ❝ He’s fine. Skinned knee and broken arm. It’ll be a little while until he can swing a baseball bat again but, he promised to teach me how to play once he can. ❞ She smiled, hoping the news would ease some of the tension in his shoulders. / @spoondrifting