Open Heart One Shots (Choices): Marriage Edition

The Grape Escape

Summary: Ethan Ramsey has a bad day at work and Cassie introduces him to the art of vegging on the couch with takeout and a dumb movie. Inspired by diamond scene in book 3, ch 15.

There were days when everything went wrong — from a tire that burst after hitting an unfortunately placed pothole and then waiting for the tow truck which took 30 minutes longer than it should have to an intern that almost killed a patient because they panicked during a code blue. Ethan Ramsey had pinched the bridge of his nose (a telltale sign of frustration that everyone knew about) more times that he could count, and it wasn't even noon yet.

Whether it was the universe's way of telling a certain overworked diagnostician to slow down or just bad luck (this doctor certainly thought it was the latter more than the former), Ethan was starting to understand why people often said they wished they hadn't gotten out of bed that morning.

If he weren't covering for another attending, that's exactly where he'd be, enjoying a lazy Sunday morning in bed with his girlfriend of almost three years. She would say four and a part of him agreed. He hadn't known it then, but he was hers from the moment he held her hand during the emergency thoracotomy on her first day; not that he would ever tell her that.

Sunday was the one day of the week when he and Cassie could just be together without the pressures of patients, hospital politics and, in his case anyway, annoying interns. As a new attending, she was much more patient with them than he ever could be. Which was probably why the interns waited until she was around to approach him, or better yet, ignored him altogether to go directly to her.

By now everyone in the hospital, from the orderlies to the administrative staff knew that he was powerless against her smile. But he had a reputation to maintain, and it didn't hurt to unleash his displeasure on hapless interns every now and then. It kept things balanced.

"Uh...Dr. Ramsey?"

He groaned silently when he heard the trembling voice behind him. He turned around, careful to keep his expression schooled, and watched the intern (God, was he ever that young?) swallow loudly before stammering out his name again.

"Yes, yes, I'm Dr. Ramsey," he said testily. "Dr. Sheperd, unless the next words out of your mouth are how you're going to solve this case and quickly, don't bother. You have until end of shift or be ready to clean out your locker."

He waited, arms crossed, staring stonily. The intern opened his mouth and then thought better of it. Nodding shakily, the young doctor turned around to walk back into the patient's room.

Ethan's pager went off again and he cursed when he saw it was yet another emergency. Rushing to the stairs as it would be faster, he couldn't wait for this day to be over.

It was seven o'clock at night when he finally let himself into his quiet apartment, hoping against hope that Cassie had decided to stay there instead of heading back to her place. He was really getting tired of her place and his place; he wanted their place. He, who could have never imagined anyone else in his once sterile life, now couldn't envision a life without her.

Ethan was confident when it came to his worth as a doctor, but when it came to Cassie Valentine, he was like a young intern, full of uncertainty and doubt. She could do so much better than him, and yet, as she told him time and again, they were inevitable. And, he had started to believe it until it was an accepted fact.

He'd just poured himself two fingers of scotch when he heard the keys turning behind him. Heart lifting, he left his drink untouched and hurried to the entrance, pulling open the door and her into his embrace as she gasped in surprise.

"Who told you?" He inhaled her unique scent as they stood in the open doorway and felt the frustrations of the day drift away.

"Jackie was on call today." He heard the laughter in her voice and knew he was in for a teasing. "You know what you need, Dr. Ramsey?"