Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Words We Never Say

Summary: After the events in Miami, Cassie and Ethan are determined to get their relationship back to a professional footing. If only their hearts would cooperate.

When Cassie Valentine was six years old, she heard a story that would change her life forever. She and her brother Max were staying with their grandparents in Newport while their parents were on a second honeymoon.

She missed them terribly and had a hard time sleeping those first few days. So her grandmother decided to tell them stories from their family that had been passed down for generations.

They were all about how each person met their soulmate and Cassie loved them. Max, being the boy that he was, thought they were gross and would tease his sister by making fake kissing sounds after they were tucked in for the night.

Cassie didn't care. Her young, romantic heart wanted what other Valentines before her had no trouble finding.

"When Valentines meet their one true love," her grandmother would say, "it's for life."

Someday, she would find him and that would be that, she thought, as she watched the full moon shining bright outside before closing her eyes.

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Dr. Cassie Valentine wished she could call in sick, but as a lowly intern at Boston's famed Edenbrook Hospital she didn't have the luxury of doing so. Besides, her boss, the demanding Dr. Ethan Ramsey, would surely call her out on her fake illness because he could always see through her.

Still, he was the reason that she wanted to call in sick in the first place. After that awkward flight back from Miami a few days ago, they had managed to avoid each other quite successfully. He used Zaid and Ines to convey any messages to her, and she stayed away from the Doctor's Lounge and Derry Roasters just in case they ran into each other.

It couldn't go on of course. She had come to Edenbrook to learn from the Ethan Ramsey. His mentoring and guidance could help her become the doctor she knew she was meant to be.

It would have been so much easier if she hadn't fallen in love with him or kissed him on that balcony. It couldn't be helped though. Both actions had cemented what she had suspected to be true for a while: he was the one for her. Full stop.

When Valentines met their one true love, they were mated for life. It was inevitable.

As a Valentine, she knew that trying to deny yourself love was hopeless. But for now, she wanted to be a coward. She wanted one day when she didn't have to worry about running into Ethan. One day when she didn't have to worry that the words locked inside her heart would burst free when he was near.

He felt something for her. She was sure of that and wished he could be honest about it. But another part of her wondered if it was all in her head. That it had been nothing but the moonlight and champagne ─ and him in a tux that made look like James Bond and her in a dress that made her feel like Cinderella ─ that made the impossible seem possible.

Sighing, she switched off the alarm on her phone and shoved away the covers. As much as she would like to stay in bed all day, she had a job to do and a certain attending to confront.

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Ethan Ramsey knew it had to end. He couldn't keep avoiding Cassie. He missed her company, her wit, her warmth, and how she always made even the dire circumstances seem not so bad. He missed her. Period.

He hadn't been to Derry's in a week, mostly because it had become their place, where they could discuss Patient X. Somehow those conversations eventually became about other topics and, without realizing it, he had started to see her as a friend, and maybe something more.

Naveen had asked about Cassie a couple of times and he'd made excuses. But he felt alone again, fighting the odds as Naveen's mystery illness got worse. They were supposed to be working the case together, but he'd ruined it with that kiss.

He wished that he could pretend he hadn't really wanted to kiss her. That it had been the moonlight and the champagne, and her in that shimmering, midnight blue dress designed to highlight her curves while simultaneously making every man wonder what it was hiding.

Sighing, he switched off the alarm on his phone. It was already an hour later than when he usually got up. But he had found himself hitting the snooze button, unwilling to leave the sanctuary of his bedroom.

Outside was everything he wanted but didn't dare take. Inside was the comfort of memories.

Knowing that if he didn't get up, he'd be late for work for the first time in his life, he finally shoved away the covers and padded into the ensuite. It was time to face a certain intern and get back to being professional.

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An hour later, both Cassie and Ethan approached the staff entrance from opposite ends at exactly the same time. Lost in thought, neither noticed the other until they crashed into each other.

Cassie would have fallen to the ground if he hadn't grabbed hold of her. Her hands locked on his biceps, his arms went around her waist, pulling her up until green eyes met blue. Pain came and went as he stared at her, taking in every detail of her face, the blond hair tied back in a ponytail, the flushed complexion. He wanted to take what was his.

She watched the longing on his face and leaned closer until his lips were a whisper away. She exhaled slowly, her heart racing as her eyes traced the light stubble on his jaw, those crystal blue eyes peering into her soul. She wanted to take what was hers.

And then the spell was broken as he let her go. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

She started to speak, but the pained expression on his face stopped her. His eyes seemed to beg her for forgiveness, for understanding, for something she couldn't define completely.

And she knew. He was hers, and she was his.

But those words couldn't be said. Not now. Not while she was an intern, and he was her attending. But someday, those barriers wouldn't exist and then they could say what they never could today.