| Secrets to Solace | A Medical Romance

| Discharged into a Lifetime of Happiness |

Author's Note:

Farewell Edit: https://x.com/DanniiHi/status/1832198729832567136?t=Kd5W_iUZ7M4ut4dyYfU8vw&s=19

Sucuk: pronounced su-juk. A type of Turkish sausage made with chicken/lamb/beef/veal and can be seasoned with an assortment of things e.g. paprika/garlic/onions etc. A Turkish household staple.

Ayran: A Turkish lightly salted yogurt drink. Basically Turkish lassi.

Canim: pronounced ja-nem. Turkish for my darling/beloved.

Askim: pronounced ash-kim. Turkish for my love.

Can: pronounced jan. Turkish endearment usually added onto names in a show of love.

Kizim: Turkish for my daughter

November 2017

Longwood Medical Area, Boston, Massachusetts.

Oh sugar. It's like a tin of sardines!

And it really was.

The throng of college students milling in and out of the huge medical campus was as exciting as it was motivational. Just being here made you want to somehow be a part of his almost sacred, revered educational institution. It was like nothing else on Earth. Meerab hadn't thought anything could've felt more magical than walking in and out of the Harvard Medical School campus like she belonged there, but that had been before a suave, charming Greek God had waltzed into her life ad shown her just how exhilarating Harvard Medical School could be.

Murtasim's muscled arm was looped tightly around her neck as he held her against his chest and walked them through the thick throng of students rushing towards the Thanksgiving bonfire and midnight barbeque held on the lush, huge lawns of the campus. Shoulders bumped, elbows poked one another and the rustle of thick jackets sliding against each other was all lost in the loud chatter of young medical students as they enjoyed the late night festivities.

"Ouch." Meerab mumbled as a particularly huge guy's elbow jabbed her shoulder, and she instantly felt herself being gathered closer to Murtasim.

"Okay?" she heard his voice, as smooth and warm as the pumpkin spice soup she'd just sipped on, sound over her head.

Meerab bobbed her fluffy beanie-clad head up and down against his chin in a breezy affirmative, snuggling closer to him as he paved the way to the club; their destination after they'd just spent a good hour having pumpkin spice soup and freshly grilled barbeque.

Well, Meerab had spent the hour chugging down the deliciously rich soup. Murtasim had taken a few sips of one of her cups and had a few pieces of the grilled assortments. His friends had also been there, and they'd all decided to head down to the club for the night.

That announcement didn't startle Meerab anymore. The first time they'd said that, she'd spent the journey in a cold sweat because there was no way she could smile and flutter her lashes at the bouncer at the entrance this time, and without it, there was no way she was going to be let in without ID. She had worried for no reason though. All it had taken was for them to approach the man, and for him to see it was Murtasim and his friends, all familiar to him. The girls had been all familiar to him too; all except Meerab. But Murtasim had muttered a smooth 'she's with me', and the doors had been magically opened. And it had been that way ever since.

"Hey!"

The familiar sound had Meerab turning her head to see Blake, one of the girls on her program. Her mind instantly screamed danger. Her program as in the program for high school students to experience pre-medical winter workshops at Harvard.