Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Passing Time

Summary: It's a long drive to Naveen's cabin, allowing Cassie to reflect onrecent events. Set during 1.16.

Cassie Valentine watched the scenery gradually change once they left the Boston area. Low-rise office and apartment buildings competed with strip malls and box stores built near interstate exits to attract suburban shoppers.

Eventually, the vista gave way to evergreen trees and those beginning to bloom again after a harsh New England winter planted along either side of the highway.

The view was monotonous, but thankfully, she thought the drive wasn't excessively long and checked her wristwatch. The stop at Harvard Medical School's research building to collect the phage therapy had taken longer than expected, and the sun already hung low in the sky.

Her phone remained silent, and she took that as a sign that Dr. Banerji was still holding on. Landry would have texted or called if his status had changed. At least, Cassie hoped so.

Two months ago, she'd have said she knew Landry Olsen very well. But now she wondered if she saw the person she wanted to see, not who he really was.

They had bonded on the first day of residency over their mutual admiration for Dr. Ethan Ramsey. But the man was also the source of their fallout. Landry's jealousy of her bond with their medical hero had caused him to sabotage her career.

She rationalized that Landry could've tried to get to know Dr. Ramsey. Even before she knew about Naveen's condition, she had tried to get Ethan to notice her. But her former friend had been content to pine from the sidelines, never once introducing himself properly to the other doctor.

She'd had to ask for Ethan's autograph on Landry's behalf, for crying out loud!

"Are you okay? Is it Naveen?"

Cassie turned her head at the alarm in Ethan's voice beside her. His brows furrowed in concern as he glanced at the phone in her hand.

"Yes...I mean...no," she stammered. "Sorry! I was lost in thought."

"Must have been something bad," he drawled, accelerating to overtake the car before them. "You looked ready to go into battle."

"Nothing quite so dramatic. Although," Cassie mused. "I suppose fighting for my medical license would fall in that category."

"An apt analogy," he said quietly.

Cassie twisted in her seat to face Ethan. "Have you ever been subject to an ethics trial?"

She wondered if she had gone too far, but he answered anyway.

"No, but I've skirted close to the line. All good doctors do," he added. "Our work isn't black or white; the answers aren't always obvious. So, we have to take chances even if, and especially when, the outcome is uncertain. Naveen taught me that."

His voice hitched on the last, and she found his vulnerability incredibly appealing. The companionable silence stretched as the car ate up the miles.

Cassie glanced at Ethan out of the corner of her eye, surreptitiously studying the scruffy jaw, the corded muscles of his neck and how his Adam's apple moved when he swallowed.

She felt her cheeks turn red as she recalled standing in his bedroom, her naked butt plastered against the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Her hands locked behind his head, pulling him close while his tongue repeatedly brought her to the edge of completion.

His hands gripped the steering wheel, and she remembered how tightly he'd clasped her hands in his last night just before their hips connected. Her mind wandered into a fantasy that was just as good as reality.

He was clothed now, but she'd run her hands across the taut muscles of his chest and strong shoulders last night. Her nails had raked down his naked back before her palms cupped his ass, her hips rising to meet his hard thrusts, her moans matching his grunts.

Oh god. She'd had sex with the Ethan Ramsey!

"Now what?"

She must have made a sound, for he briefly took his eyes off the road to stare at her, an eyebrow quirked in question.

"We had sex, Ethan," Cassie blurted, losing her composure at the sight of impatient blue eyes, so much like how she remembered them from the first time they met.

He smirked. "Yes, we did. Multiple times if I recall correctly."

Amused, Ethan winked at her before switching lanes and exiting the interstate. The car slowed to a stop at a red light at the top of the off-ramp, and he grinned at her.

"Are you blushing? Didn't have you pegged for a prude, Cassie." His fingers traced her hot cheeks, and he stared intently at her lips. "Especially not after you mooned all of Boston last night."

"Oh, just shut up, I'm not blushing!" she protested, wondering if there was any way she could check her reflection in the overhead visor mirror without Ethan noticing.

He chuckled, the deep rumble reminiscent of round two last night when she'd begged him to let her climax after he'd teased her over and over with his hands and tongue. Just like then, the sound sent a spike of lust and arousal through her body.

"For the record," he drawled, leaning in, his lips hovering above hers. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Cassie waited for the kiss with bated breath, but the light turned green, and the driver behind them honked.

Ethan lifted his hand in a wave and took his foot off the brake, turning left to join the country road toward Naveen's place. Cassie remembered the turn-off from the drive earlier today and knew they had maybe fifteen-twenty minutes left.

Time to get serious, she lectured herself. Naveen and Landry were highly observant, and she needed to keep her emotions for Ethan under wraps.

A short while later, they were on a dirt road and could see the top of Naveen's cabin ahead. Ethan parked the car beside a wood shed, switched off the engine and just sat there, staring unseeingly at the cabin walls outside.

"There's still hope, Ethan," she said gently, remembering his self-incriminating words earlier about letting his mentor down. "For you and Naveen, too. Your relationship isn't broken."

"I don't know what we are, but I miss what we were," he said. His earlier lightheartedness was replaced by profound sadness.

"And what is that?" she asked.

"Naveen believes in you, and I do too," she insisted when Ethan didn't respond.

Ethan twisted his lips wryly. He covered her hand resting on the console between them and squeezed it in silent gratitude.

Cassie longed to wrap her arms around him and pull him close in comfort. But someone might be watching from inside, and their alone time was at an end.

"We should go in, Dr. Ramsey," Cassie said, pushing the car door open.

Ethan shook himself out of his reverie and turned to give her a small smile. "Yes, our patient awaits, Dr. Valentine."