The Cardiothoracic Surgeons

A Night in December

As Ava got out of the shower, thankful for finally getting a night to relax after her thirteen plus hour shift, she reached for her towel and heard a knock at the door. Knowing who it probably was, Ava ran into the living room.

"Mr. Tamiiraz I haven't gone to the grocery store all week!" She exclaimed clutching to her towel as she opened the door, "I promise you I have no eggs..." her voice drifted off as a certain someone brought a blushing smile to her face.

"Then it's a good thing I already ate," Connor laughs.

"Oh shit I'm so sorry, come in. It's just that there's this neighbor who is always asking for things to avoid going to the market and seeing his ex wife, the cashier, I don't know," Ava shakes her head then shuts the door behind him.

"It could be that or it could be the sight of his hot half-naked neighbor."

"Fuck! I forgot," She looks down at herself embarrassingly, "well wait, what's all this?"

Connor was busy unpacking grocery bags. "Well I don't mean to intrude and I probably should have texted first, but I know you had a rough day so I brought three of your favorite things: wine, ice cream, and cauliflower."

"Alright, not exactly but thank you. No seriously, I'm glad you're here," Ava grabbed his hand and he gave her an assuring squeeze.

"Well hey, why don't you get dressed, I'll get some glasses, and we can watch a show or something?"

"Sounds great."

Soon after she ran into her room and jumped into shorts and her favorite sweater eager to get back in Connor's arms. Just then something out of the corner of her eye begged for her attention. It was the billion twinkling Chicago lights through her huge picture window; the way they reflected off of the soft December snow mesmerized her. Although she'd only been in this apartment for a year, this is the first time she'd noticed the Christmas designs that stretched over the buildings before her. All of a sudden she felt an arm snake around her waist and a kiss on the top of her head.

"And I thought Chicago was lit up in the summer," she whispered.

They just stood there for a while, Ava leaning against his chest and Connor resting his chin on her head, both enjoying their closeness as the city laid out before them. Ava could hear the thumping of his heart next to her ear and grinned. Connor spun around to meet her face with a kiss and the pounding of their chests sped, her hands found their way to his blushed cheeks. As they stepped apart, his smile was so genuine she melted into the curve of his neck. They held on knowing that this is the quietest moment they've gotten in weeks.

xxx

"Can I interest you in a glass of wine?"

"Why of course," she smiled.

"Great, but here's the thing: I have no clue where your bottle opener is."

"Oh yeah, that doesn't exist."

"Then I guess I'll just have to open it with my brute force," he smirked.

"Don't break anything," she warned. "Let's see, here's the spoons, glasses, a bowl for your cauliflower..."

"And hizah!" Connor flew the cork across the room with a fork. "Here you go Avey." He presented her the glass.

They guided themselves over to her bed, but Connor stopped short. "What's this?"

"Oh, that's a picture from the day we graduated med school," on the shelf is a photo of Ava in a floral blue dress and a lab coat surrounded by four other graduates.

"You look beautiful. Who are the others?"

"Those were the four who got me though school. We were pretty close; they're probably what I miss most from home."

"Really?" he questioned.

"Yes, I remember the times when we dragged drunk Cairo back home the night before finals, when we got Luella to reenroll after dropping out from an anxiety attack, or when we reported Professor Wilcane for giving extra credit to the girls he slept with."

"Yikes, all my classmates were too cutthroat to make any real connections. But oh I like this picture." Ava leans in to see it and grins at the photo of them at Will and Nat's engagement party.

"Hey I'm still surprised you dressed up for it, but you looked so hot."

"Oh did I?"

"Mhm."

They closed the gap between each other as he kissed her temple.

xxx

"This is my favorite part, don't you love watching hospital scenes on TV knowing they're doing it all wrong?" Connor laughs, "I mean look, that patient's heart's asystolic and they're bringing out the AED; that's just for arrhythmia!"

"I completely agree. Wait, did you just see that doctor draw blood? How often do you draw blood?"

"Never," he scuffs as he combs his fingers through her hair. "Hey, are you all good now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw the chart for Maeven; I am so sorry. He's been your patient for weeks, just about to go home when he went into anaphylactic shock. That must have been hard on you."

"Yeah," Ava whispered.

He looked down and saw a single tear run past her cheek. "It was awful but please know you are in no way responsible for it. 2.79% of 8 year old boys have been allergic to that drug. Avey, you couldn't have known." He brushed off the tears with his thumb.

"He told me just this morning that he was excited to join the baseball team with his friends," she choked out, "and then this happened."

He pulled her on top of him, then placed his arm across her chest. As much as she tried not to, Ava let every suppressed emotion pour out of her. Every patient that she had failed came to her mind, one after another: Josephine whose heart stopped for 10 minutes and woke up with brain damage, Mr. Sturko whose temperature got so high he lost his hearing, also little Hadlee whose new heart rejected after transplant. But the face that keeps coming back over and over again is Maevan, the boy who will never tryout for varsity baseball, who will never get to kiss his mother goodnight, or who will never try a star fruit, what he's been asking for since the surgery. Ava sobs into his shirt constantly reminding him it was all her fault.

"Shhh, hey hey hey, look at me. Look at me Ava. You are amazing. When I first met you honestly I thought you were a cold hearted surgeon. But then I saw who you really are. The way you care for your patients, the way you do everything you can to get them back to their family is inspiring. Yes, not every case will succeed but try and remember everyone else who can have a normal life after you helped them. Alright? So focus on them."

"Thank you," she expressed.

Connor continued to run his hand up and down her arm attempting to help her relax. Eventually he clutched her face and kissed her temple, then moving to her cheek, finally reaching her lips. He paused there for a moment, enjoying how his stomach drops in excitement every time she parts their lips to breath. They move in a passionate rhythm tasting each others mouths. Connor ran his hands down to her waist as Ava took over sucking on the tender flesh on his neck. She bit down and he hissed with pleasure, then stopped short.

"What's wrong?" She breathed heavily.

"As much as I love this, which I really do believe me, I have to get going if I don't wanna to be exhausted tomorrow morning."

"Just stay the night, please! With me?"

"You wouldn't mind? Are you sure?"

"Oh stop thinking and kiss me damnit!" Ava commanded.

"That's something you don't have to say twice!"