Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Have You Heard

Summary: Naveen Banerji has always enjoyed Edenbrook's rumor mill, but he can't share the biggest secret of all.

One of Naveen Banerji's earliest memories was of listening to Amma and Aunties exchange gossip over a cup of tea and Parle biscuits. He might have been four or five at the time; who knew after all this time? But the memory of those afternoons was as clear as day.

He could still feel the heat of Kolkata summers as he sat on a stool in the shaded courtyard of his family's house, the coolness of the steel tumbler between his palms and the taste of sweet mango juice his mother poured for him in lieu of tea. Hear the joyous laughter of the ladies and the lighthearted teasing among the Aunties.

Naveen couldn't abide malicious rumors designed to destroy someone's career or bring them down. But harmless tea, as the kids called it, was good fun. And in a hospital like Edenbrook, there was plenty of it to go around and even more people who were willing to join in.

Of course, he never could convince his mentee to partake in some. Ethan Ramsey was stubborn about many things, but none more so than about this. Besides, he was often the subject of rumors, many unconfirmed, some way too fanciful to be credible, and others Naveen knew had a kernel of truth.

The harder Ethan tried to keep his private life private, the more rumors about him spread. And that made Naveen all the more determined to share gossip with his protégé if only to see the bewilderment on his face.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Naveen," Ethan would gripe in exasperation. "Don't these people have anything better to do?!?"

It was a pity he was on the executive floor now, Naveen mused absently as he strolled into Rumor Mill Central, aka the cafeteria. When he'd been head of diagnostics, he could often indulge his hobby at the nurses' stations. Now, he had to practically go looking for gossip.

Naveen grabbed a pudding cup and an energy bar and made a beeline for the lunch counter where his partner in crime, Stella, still manned the cash register. She'd been at Edenbrook for more than ten years, and nothing got by her.

"Hello, old friend," Naveen smiled, taking his wallet out of a back pocket. "How's it going?"

"Oh, you know," Stella commented as she slowly scanned his items. "The new interns are already getting on my nerves, but that's not new. Have you heard..."

Stella trailed off and glared at the person who had stepped up behind Naveen. The other doctor turned red, mumbled an apology and practically ran toward the cashier station on the far end.

"Anyway," Stella continued, voice dropping as she leaned in conspiratorially. "Everyone's talking about your Dr. Ramsey. That beard he grew during his trip to the Amazon sure has tongues yapping. His stans are divided on which is sexier, the beard or the killer jawline with light scruff."

Naveen chuckled, imagining Ethan's reaction to people gossiping about his facial hair.

"Odds are ten to one that he's shaving it off before the summer is out," Stella continued before looking askance at him. "Well? Is he keeping it or shaving it? I could use some easy money."

"Hmm, hard to say," Naveen tapped his fingers against his lips. "But I have a feeling he's planning to keep it for a while. Told me he's grown attached to it."

He and Stella exchanged a few more rumors, including a troubling one about Garrett Thorne. Naveen made a mental note to stay on top of that situation, said his goodbyes to Stella and slid into a corner booth to enjoy his snack.

Later, he was almost at the end of the hallway that would take him to the north elevator bank when he heard two people murmuring in an empty examination room, the door half ajar. His ears pricked when he recognized Ethan's deeper voice and Cassie Valentine's lighter tones.

Naveen moved closer, spying on the two doctors through the opening. They were standing close, facing each other. He glimpsed Cassie's hand loosely clasped in Ethan's and the teasing grin on her lips.

"Just admit it, Dr. Ramsey," Cassie demanded, cocking her hips arrogantly. "We both know it's true. From the moment we met last year."

"I admit nothing, Dr. Valentine," Ethan retorted, but the resulting scoff and challenging look from Cassie had him huffing in annoyance. "Fine. You're my favorite."

"Favorite what?"

"Everything."

The single word delivered so definitively but in a gruff, awestruck tone was Naveen's undoing. He felt the wetness pool in his eyes and blinked it away.

"I was going for favorite resident," Cassie said softly, placing her hand on the side of his face and leaning in. "But I'll take 'everything'."

Feeling like a voyeur, Naveen turned away from the tender and intimate moment between the couple and continued on his way. He couldn't wait to call Alan and share this latest tidbit about his son.

As good as Edenbrook's rumor mill was, no one knew the hottest tea of all. That the austere and occasionally demanding Dr. Ramsey was hopelessly in love with the new junior fellow of diagnostics and didn't even know it.