"So this was all about keeping up with the Jones's." Doctor Ethan Choi stated, his elbows resting on the surface of the white work space in the E.D as he stared into Treatment Room Three. Beside him Doctor Charles was perched, his chin resting on is hand as they watched the two elderly ladies tearfully converse.
It had been a weird one, Ms Olga Barlow had been brought in non-exertional heat illness. When they had run her labs they had discovered that the tablets she was supposed to be taking weren't in her system. Furthermore there were high levels of taurine in her system and she appeared malnourished, he'd called Doctor Charles in for a consult and gotten a hell of a lot more than he had bargained for. It had turned out on a fixed income Ms Barlow was having trouble making ends met, so she had been eating cat food and selling her medication for some quick cash to keep up appearances with her neighbor, who ironically was doing the same thing.
"Pride." Doctor Charles chuffed sardonically. "It can literally kill you."
"Sometimes that's all we have left right?" Ethan said with a deep sigh as he straightened his spine and picked up the tablet in front of him to begin the discharge paperwork.
"It doesn't have to be." Doctor Charles supplemented, bringing himself up into a standing position before inclining his head towards Treatment Room Five. "Sometimes the thing that your looking for is right there in front of you."
Ethan allowed his gaze to follow to where Doctor Charles was indicating. Peering over the older man's shoulder, he could see Connor standing beside Will Halstead as he jabbed his finger at the slender device in his hand. He didn't have to be a mind reader to see that Connor was agitated, it was in the way his forehead creased above that dark brow. This brilliant blue eyes of his were narrowed as he wore an expression of severe displeasure. Ethan didn't know what Will had done but he certainly didn't envy the other man, he'd been on Connor's bad side a few times himself.
Ethan diverted his attention back down to the tablet in his hands, his forefinger skating along the scroll bar idly before he finally spoke.
"I told him it was a mistake." Ethan said quietly. "When the truth was I didn't want to get invested in case it wasn't reciprocated."
"Wow." Doctor Charles uttered, his eyes meeting Ethan's for the first time since this conversation had began. "You really gotta get over yourself man."
The other man's words jarred with Ethan, making him instantly defensive. Doctor Charles never minced his words and Ethan liked that aspect of him most of the time. However sometimes it was like he was being dealt a physical blow and this was one of those times.
"Doctor Rhodes is a hot ticket around here, this afternoon I literally saw a med student on purposely trip up just so she could throw herself at him." Doctor Charles recounted. "You know what he did?"
The thought of Connor with someone else set Ethan's hackles raising, there was a thread of jealous, lancing it's way through his heart and it took every ounce of self control he had to not to bare his teeth. Instead he shook his head in response to Doctor Charles question.
"He didn't even give her a second glance. He was too busy trying to catch up with you before you got into the elevator." Doctor Charles informed him, there was force behind his words, the weight of the truth shining through. "That man could not be anymore in love with you and you are basically just throwing away this chance that you have to be happy because of what?"
Ethan stared at Doctor Charles speechless for a moment. He could feel the words penetrating the thick steely armor he had erected between himself and the outside world. His barriers were crumbling and he was caught in a moment of indecision, unsure of what to do.
"I get it you are scared man, with everything you've been through who wouldn't be but you what the best part of being scared is?" Doctor Charles asked him before jerking his head at brilliant young surgeon just over his shoulder. "Having someone to be scared with."
Ethan's gaze came to rest upon his blue eyed lover once more as the other man put his hands behind his head and huffed out a burst of air, raising his eyes skyward as if praying for strength. All Ethan wanted to do was go over there and kiss the other man until all that stress had melted away from his muscular form.
"The ball in your court Doctor Choi." Doctor Charles murmured before departing to check on his patients.
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It was late by the time Connor made it back to his apartment building. He could feel the weariness bearing down on him as he trudged down the hallway to his apartment, keys fumbling in his tired hands. His messenger bag was slung across his body, the bag bouncing against his right thigh as his clumsy fingers slipped over the rivets in the metal. His head was fuzzy, his thoughts incoherent as he began to flick through his keys once more, struggling to locate the correct one. He'd spent so much time flitting between O.R's today, he had met himself coming back. By the time he had left the hospital he'd barely been able to put one foot in front of the other. All he wanted right now was to eat something and crawl into bed instead he couldn't figure out which god damn key was the one he needed in order to open up the door.
Warm hands reached out, gently plucking the keys from between his fingers. Connor tilted his head up, his fatigued blue eyes drinking in the sight of the man in front of him. Ethan was standing before him clad in blue fitted denim jeans and his navy blue quilted coat, his dark hair was slicked back neatly away from his face. You couldn't tell the other man had just come off a twelve hour shift at the E.D, he looked like he'd stepped off the page of a magazine. Hooked under his arm was a brown paper back filled with groceries which he skilfully balanced while maneuvering the key into the lock on Connor's door before pushing it open with the toe of his boot.
Connor trailed after him, watching as Ethan flicked on the lights before the other man drifted towards the kitchen island. He set the brown bag down on the sleek counter before he began to remove various items. Connor crossed his arms over his chest before leaning against the door frame of the kitchen, his lips pursed together.
"What are doing?" Connor asked with cautious optimism as Ethan slipped out of his coat and hung it on the back of one of his chairs.
"I am making you dinner." Ethan informed him, his palms coming to rest flat upon the surface of the island before he glanced up at Connor. "And I want to apologise for being such an ass."
"Well not that I don't appreciate the gesture." Connor informed him, rubbing at his exasperated features with one hand. "But if you're after a booty call tonight, I really do not have the energy."
"You're not a booty call." Ethan told him, his head bowed low between his shoulders.
Connor rubbed the palm of his hand across the dark stubble of his jaw, his eyebrows furrowing into a deep frown. That frustration was whipping up inside him and no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, it kept slipping out of his control.
"Then what am I?" Connor found himself asking, his voice raising as the hurt poured out of him. "Am I your friend? Your colleague? Or just the guy you fuck when you get frustrated?"
He forgot how fast Ethan could move, before he knew it the other man was standing in front of him, forcing Connor's back against the door frame so that he was trapped between it and the hard planes of Ethan's body. There was an expression on the other man's features that he had never seen before, there was a fire in him that was dark and possessive and it sent a fiery thrill through Connor to know that he did that to Ethan.
"Your mine." Ethan whispered, his lips lingering perilously close to Connor's, his thumb lightly tracing the pattern of dark stubble that marred his cheek. "And for as long as you want me I'm yours."
