✿𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 || 𝖡𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖬𝖺𝗒 ❥𝑶𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈✿

❀𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒: 𝐈𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫❀

For the rest of the day, you had spent your time acquainting yourself with all of the research projects that had been undertaken in the department before your time, just to get a feel of what you could do with the future research portfolios that you were in charge of overseeing.

After your parents had left, the day had felt lighter, brighter, so much so that your first day was far less a bunch of nerves than it was a smooth transition.

The stately decor of the office was going to take some 'getting used to', but other than that, it had felt exactly like it did when you'd been working at the hospital with Christian, all those years ago.

Over the course of your day, you'd met a few of the staff members that were to report to you, and every single one of them had swiftly seen that you were a lot more pleasant than they'd assumed you to be.

Everything was still new to you, hence you were mildly bashful, but the warmth from your intuitive kindness had not gone unnoticed by the people you had met.

Since there hadn't been much of a heavy workload in your department, for the first day, you'd been able to give Christian a call at the hospital, a conversation he was elated to have been granted - it was also a conversation that had lasted an hour too long for someone that was supposed to be an active medical professional.

Irrespective, it was a lovely conversation, one that allowed the both of you a bit of that much needed touch base with each other.

But now that it was approaching afternoon, you were comfortably seated at your spacious desk, quite taken with the current file that you had opened out in front of you.

What you were presently reviewing was yet another one of the report files from a previous research project that had long been completed - but this particular one stood out to you because it had involved physical experiments, with real subjects.

The other portfolios you'd skimmed through had all been based on analytical data from various other studies and evidence, none of them had involved a practical test.

So naturally, you were immensely intrigued.

As your eyes followed the words that were a part of the printed report, you let out an instinctive cough, which had taken you by surprise, for the urge had crept up on you out of nowhere.

However, the moment was fleeting and forgettable, so you thought nothing of it.

That was until you suddenly coughed again, only to unexpectedly feel a bit breathless.

The overwhelming onset was enough to make you pull back from your concentrated position, a frown forming on your face as you desperately attempted to recapture your normal breathing pattern.

In the process of attempting to manipulate your breathing intervals, you'd raised your hand to rest on your chest - and that enabled you to feel your heartbeat racing in your chest, beating with great intensity too.

Now, you were also a general practitioner in your own right, before anything else, only you didn't possess experience as one. In spite of your lack of hands-on knowledge, you had been thoroughly educated in the theoretical facet of things, so you had an extensive basic understanding of what went into a diagnosis.

The moment you had linked your three symptoms to each other, your stomach turned slightly, making your eyes widen unintentionally.

No, it could be a million other things. Besides, it's far too soon to tell.

But then you readjusted yourself in your seat, only to become aware of an unfamiliar sensation in your ankles, forcing you to push your chair back so that you could examine your joints.