This is a series of one shots based on Pixelberry's Open Heart, featuring Dr. Ethan Ramsey and Dr. Cassie Valentine. The stories follow canon to a certain extent but diverge after book 1. In this AU, there is no trip to the Amazon and no need for a...
Summary: Cassie finds joy in reconnecting with an old love and shares new memories with Ethan during the holiday season.
Cassie Valentine had fallen in love with ballet from the first moment she stood at the barre at the age of six. The movements, the discipline, the music, all had appealed to the romantic in her while providing an outlet for her excess energy.
No matter where they were in the world, or for how long, her mother made sure ballet was part of her daughter's curriculum.
When Cassie was a junior in college, she suffered a torn ACL after a grand jete landing and hung up her pointe shoes. It had hurt too much to be around that world and not dance, so she had eventually set it aside.
Last year, recovering from a poison attack had led her to back to the comfort of dance and rediscovery of an old love.
Despite her hectic schedule as an internal medicine resident and junior fellow in Edenbrook's famed Diagnostics Team, she had made the time to take classes two days a week.
It had originally begun as a way to relax whenever anxiety from the attack threatened to overwhelm her. But little by little, her body remembered steps long forgotten and she found agility and muscle memory returning until it became second nature again.
When her studio decided to host a Christmas Recital Fundraiser featuring performances from famous ballets, Cassie knew that nothing would stop her from going on stage again. The event was scheduled to take place one week before Christmas on a Friday evening and her family had already made plans to attend.
Cassie applied for time off as soon as she received the date. But knowing hospital life, her friends were on standby to cover any last-minute shift changes.
Now it was the day of the recital and Cassie made her way backstage, following the directions the old porter had given her.
She reached inside her bag for her phone when it signaled an incoming text.
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The others wouldn't be here for a while, which gave Cassie time for her pre-dance ritual. As she got ready, the rational part of her knew that it was superstition and therefore not real, but she didn't care.
Before every performance, she would go backstage when it was empty, close her eyes, take a deep breath, and begin.
Finding her center, she assumed first position, arms forward, fingers pointing towards each other. Slowly, she rose until the only part of her feet touching the floor were her toes while both arms raised above her head, the tips of her fingers lightly touching.
Holding the pose, she mentally recited the steps of the dance she was performing tonight — the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy — and let herself imagine that she was already on stage.
Even though she had traditionally danced as Clara while Eva was the Sugar Plum Fairy, Cassie had always loved the role and was looking forward to her short solo.
