Choices Imagines

Relighting The Spark, Part Two

Pairing: Bryce x F!MC (Tesse Sterling)

--- Present Day ---

Tesse stood in the main atrium of Edenbrook hospital with a bunch of other interns who were chatting eagerly as they waited for the attendings at the front of the group to start talking to them. Wanting to find a friendly face to approach and talk to whilst they waited, she let her eyes roam over the crowd that was gathered together. She was about to stop scanning the crowd when her eyes locked with a pair across the room that were all too familiar. The pain from the memory of the last time she saw the person they belong to, flooded back into her brain, causing her to almost have a panic attack. Breathing heavily, she tore her gaze from the persons and clutched her chest as she bent over, trying to get her breathing under control. "Hey. Are you okay?" a small yet concerned voice sounded from beside her as she felt a hand touch her forearm. With her eyes closed, Tesse just nodded her head as she continued focusing on her breathing. "Wait here. I'll get you some water." The voice said, their feet then quickly retreating to the nearest water machine as Tesse lowered herself into a nearby chair, her legs feeling weaker by the second.

It's not him is it? It can't be. She hasn't seen him for years. Why would she suddenly be seeing him now? And here of all places!

"Here you go." The voice spoke as feet stopped by Tesse. She looked up and was met by a kind smiling face of a woman no taller than 5ft 3in, her hair tied to one side in a plait. Her face makeup lightly done, but her nails painted in a beautiful blush colour. "Thank you." Tesse sighed out shakily as she took the water. "Big crowd. Don't worry. I'm nervous too." The woman continued to smile at Tesse, taking a seat next to her. "No offense but, who are you? And why are you being so nice to me?" Tesse asked, sounding a little harsher than she wanted to.

"I'm Sienna. Or Dr. Trinh. Pleased to meet you!"

"Hi. My name's Tesse. Or well... Dr. Sterling in a professional setting. And sorry for sounding so harsh. I... keep a guard up these days."

The two women smiled at each other.

"It's okay. I can understand."

"You're too sweet. It'll get you in trouble someday."

"My parents say the exact same thing!"

Chuckling, Tesse finished her water and took a deep breath before rising to her feet. Sienna copying her action, just as an attendings voice boomed from the front of the room. "Okay interns! If we could have your attention to the front please! Alright..."

Tesse stood with Sienna as they listened to the introduction to the hospital and instructions of what they were to do to start off their time there. The entire time Tesse could feel his eyes burning into her side as he looked in her direction every now and then, though she kept her focus trained on the front, focusing on everything that they were being told. "Any further questions you have to interrupt my day with before we finish here? No. okay great. Interns please disperse." Tesse made her way to where she had been told to go, but before she could take more than 5 steps she felt his familiar touch and heard his voice. "Tesse?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pushing away any feeling arising before turning to him. When she looked into his eyes, the hopefulness that was in his tone was matched there too. She didn't say a word, just shrugged his hand from her shoulder and turned her back to him. Continuing on her way. He stood and watched her go, tears in his eyes before snapping out of his trance upon hearing his name. "Yeah. I'm on my way." He responded with dejection in his voice as he turned and went in the opposite direction.

The first day anywhere always feels like the fastest, but for Tesse that was the complete opposite. She was in a building with her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart the night before their prom. She had managed to find a spot where she could be alone at lunchtime and only purchased a bottle of water from the canteen. She sat in her spot sipping the water thinking back on the painful memory of him riding off on his motorcycle, leaving her there in the grass of their spot. A spot that was never the same after that night. For days all she felt was pain, she tried to reach out to Bryce and sort things out, but he never responded. She was always left on seen and eventually. Blocked. She thought back on all the happy moments they spent together, the fact that they were each other's first's in a lot of things. But never I being intimate beyond a kiss. They'd made a promise to do that when she was ready. But it was a promise he broke, just like he had broken her heart. She was so focused on reliving the memory that she didn't notice the person standing next to her. "Excuse me for being rude but I saw you this morning. You're new. Intern lunch break was over 30 minutes ago, get back to work." A harsh voice sounded causing Tesse to flinch. "Yes. Sorry. I didn't mean to.." she spoke through her tears as she stood up, wiping the tears she felt on her cheeks away and sniffing, heading back to work. When she walked back onto the floor she was supposed to be on, she was met with another harsh voice.