The morning sunlight coruscates through the curtain into my eyes, causing me to become temporarily sightless. My body feels so sore that I'm probably incapable of proper movement. I look over and see Alex looking up at me while her hands glide along my collarbone.

"Hi." Alex whispers, and she plants a kiss on my cheek.

"Hi, beautiful." I whisper back, and I kiss her lips in return.

"God," She says, and she gives off a little laugh. "I'll never get tired of that."

"Me either, Alex." I say, and the sun creates gold speckles in her eyes.

"Yesterday was perfect, and I—" She says, and her smile gradually growing wider.

"You're perfect." I say, interrupting her, and a faint blush creeps onto her cheeks.

"I feel like we're one of those cheesy romance movie couples. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm really enjoying this." She says, and I laugh.

"You mean those typical ones who give corny speeches to each other about how much they love each other and how happy they are?" I ask, and she smiles.

"It might be corny to those who aren't in a relationship, but to me, it isn't." Alex says.

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Every word out of my mouth to you is genuine."

"I know, I know." Alex says, running her fingers through her hair.

"Remember what I said? That I'd remind you everyday until you're sure again? I meant it." I say, and she smiles.

"I know that you mean it, and I know that I'm sure. I have been for a while, I just haven't been able to tell you. I love you, and I'm completely sure that I love you." Alex says, and I smile.

"I wish I didn't have to leave, because if I didn't, I'd spend the whole day with you." I say, and she groans.

"You have to leave? Where?" She whines, pouting out her lip.

"Work. I'm working a long shift today." I say, and she whines some more.

"Why can't you just call into work and tell them you got sick or something? I don't want you to leave this bed." Alex says, clinging onto my arm as I shift my body to get off of the bed.

"You're so tempting, Alex. I love how you always want to spend time together, I wish we could too."

"Last night was great and all, but we never really get to spend time together because I'm at school or you're working." Alex says, giving me puppy eyes.

"I know," I say, feeling slight guilt for having to leave her here. "I wish I didn't have to leave either."

Her eyes pleading for me to stay, and she strokes my back gently. Alex kisses my cheek, and then my neck, trying to tempt me to stay.

"Alex," I moan quietly, and she continues to kiss my neck. "I have to work."

"I don't think fifteen minutes will damage your on-time reputation. Will it?" Alex whispers, and her breath tickles my ear, leaving a tingling sensation throughout my neck.

"Alex, you like to lure me, don't you?"

"I don't like it. I love it." Alex says, and her voice is dripping with seduction.

"Lie back," she whispers. "And tell me what you want."

Alex grabs my shoulders, forcing me to lay down before she pulls herself onto my lap, straddling me.

"The hospital can wait a few minutes, right? Besides, it's not like there aren't other doctors to attend to the patients until you arrive. Don't try to fight it, Rian. I can feel how excited you are." Alex says, starting to grind against me.

"God, you're irresistible. You know that?" I ask, smiling up at her.

"Irresistible?" She repeats, batting her eyelashes.

"Come here." I say, unable to fight the craving that's built up inside of me.

Alex smiles at me, and we both go underneath the covers, and we both smile and laugh as our noses clumsily bump into each other when we go for a kiss. Each time my mouth is on hers, she's too busy smiling to kiss me properly, and I feel the butterflies form in my stomach. Giddiness makes my entire body feel weightless, and I laugh again before planting soft kisses along her neck.

"The hospital can definitely wait." I say, and she smiles.

~~~

After Alex and I cater to each other's sexual needs, she watches me get dressed while she lays in the bed. Alex runs her fingers through her tousled hair, and she smirks at me while watching me button up my shirt.

"Okay, now I'm late." I mutter to myself, mentally scolding myself.

"What was that?" Alex asks, furrowing her eyebrows at me.

"I've never been late to work before." I say, and she smiles.

"I thought I told you that being late one time wouldn't matter." Alex says nonchalantly.

"I know, I know, and I don't regret anything we just did. I just know that if I don't get there as fast as I can, there's a chance that I'll get scolded by our COS." I say, fumbling with my tie.

"COS?" Alex repeats, narrowing her eyes.

"Chief of Staff. He's basically the leader of all the divisions and the staff." I explain, and Alex nods her head.

"Oh, so he's basically your boss?" She asks, and I nod.

"Basically."

"Well, you better run along then. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting." Alex says, and her eyes linger on me suggestively.

"Alex, please don't tempt me anymore than you already did. You should know that I tend to lack self control." I remind her, and she smirks while quirking her eyebrow.

"I think it's pretty clear that we both have no self control."

"I'm going to be even more late than I already am." I laugh, and she does the same.

After I finished getting dressed, I briefly kiss Alex before saying goodbye to her. I speed along the highway, swerving lanes occasionally to pass slow drivers. Once I get there, I speed walk my way through the automatic double doors, and the air conditioning is so strong that it dishevels my hair. The familiar iodoform smell fills my nostrils, and I see the copious amount of doctors, nurses and orderlies rushing around in a frantic matter.

I turn the corner and push through another set of double doors, into another corridor. I accidentally bump into Jessica, knocking a few things out of her hands.

"Oh sh—, I'm sorry! Let me help you with that." I say, crouching down with her to pick up the syringes.

"Rian, where the hell have you been? You're nearly forty five minutes late!" Jessica exclaims.

"I know, I know! I got caught up with something at home." I say.

"What kept you so occupied?" Jessica asks, picking up multiple alcohol swabs.

I see flashes of Alex in my head, and it's like her fingers have a magical quality, because I can still feel them touching certain parts of my body.

I can hear her bellowing in ecstasy echoing in my head.

I can see her eyes piercing into mine as she kisses down my chest before she...

"Hello?" Jessica says, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Sorry, I was just thinking of something. Besides, I don't have time to tell you. I need to get to work." I say, and we both stand up again, and I hand her the hemostat that was still in my hand.

"Thanks." She says, giving me a small smile before walking past me.

I continue to walk down the corridor, and I see Dr. Raymond. His eyes widen, and he walks towards me.

"Rian! You're late!" Dr. Raymond says, sounding irritated.

"I know, and it won't happen ever again!" I exclaim, and he just raises an eyebrow at me.

"It better not happen again. Now get to work, this place is flooded with patients today. You're lucky that I like you, Rian. If I didn't, your tardy wouldn't have been excused." Dr. Raymond says, and I thank him before he soon disappears into one of the rooms.

"Hey, man. It's about damn time you showed up." A voice says from behind me.

I turn around, and I see another one of my colleagues, Jordan, standing there.

"Yeah, I was uh—, doing something." I say, and I try to suppress a laugh.

I was doing Alex.

"Whoever that is, must've done you good." Jordan says with a chuckle, and I feel my cheeks heat up.

I think I just said that out loud.

"What are you talking about, Jordan?" I ask, and he laughs.

"Why don't you find a mirror and look at your neck." Jordan says, and I make my way to a bathroom.

Once I'm in the bathroom, I notice the reddish-purple mark poking out from under my collar.

"Alex." I whisper to myself, and I try to stop myself from smirking but it's a failed attempt.

"Dude, who's Alex?" Jordan asks curiously before taking his hangnail in between his teeth and dragging it until it breaks off.

I cringe at the sight of him doing that, and I quickly turn my head and redirect my attention to my hickey. No matter how high I pull my collar up, the hickey is still visible.

"Hey, what's going on?" Another one of my colleagues asks.

"Hey Elijah, what's up? You look like hell." Jordan says to him, and I notice his appearance.

Elijah's eyes look bloodshot from fatigue, and his scrubs look wrinkled. His black hair is unkempt as well.

"Yeah, I just left the ICU. A patient has a pretty serious brain injury."

"What happened?" I ask, turning away from the mirror.

"Intracerebral hemorrhage. Some of the neurosurgeons and I are deciding which surgery we should perform on the patient. It's most likely going to be craniotomy."

"Hang in there, Elijah." I say, and he sighs before nodding his head.

"Yeah, I just came in here to take a break from it all. The air is so heavy out there it's exhausting, I can't even think straight." Elijah says, and he groans.

"Yeah, it's rough sometimes man. It'll be okay." Jordan says.

Elijah is fairly new to being apart of the team of neurosurgeons, and he's not quite used to the fast pace of the hospital yet.

"Dude, what's on your neck?" Elijah asks, and Jordan smirks at me while my face heats up.

"A hickey, and it's apparently from someone named Alex." Jordan says.

"Alex is my girlfriend." I admit unashamedly.

"Woah, go you! I ain't even know you had one, man!" Jordan exclaims, slapping my arm.

"Yeah, it's been a couple of months." I say, and they both smile.

"Where did you guys meet?" Elijah asks.

"I can't say."

"Why the hell not?" Jordan asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't know if there's something against doctors having intimate relations with patients." I say, and their eyes widen.

"This girl was one of your patients?" Elijah asks, raising his eyebrows at me.

"She dislocated her knee, and I was one of the doctors in charge of her. I performed her reduction, and I got to know her. She's been through a lot, and I'll tell you more about it sooner or later." I explain, and I watch their facial expressions.

"I'm happy for you, man. I'll keep my mouth shut about it, because I don't know if the hospital is against fraternization between the doctor and a patient." Jordan says, Elijah nods in agreement.

"Thanks." I say, and they nod in unison.

We all walk out of the bathroom, walking down the corridor as a group. The doors at the other end open, and I see Alex running towards me.

"Alex, what're you doing here?" I ask, and my eyes wander along her face.

Alex smiles once she realizes that I'm mainly staring at her lips. She stands on her tip toes before kissing me, and she hands me my phone.

"You left it at home. Your mom left a message for you, and I know you've been waiting to hear from her about your dad." Alex says, holding my phone out for me to grab.

I split from Jordan and Elijah before grabbing Alex's hand and taking her into an empty office.

"Did you listen to the voice message?" I ask, and she quickly shakes her head.

"I didn't want to seem like I was being nosy, or anything like that." She says, and I smile at how worried she seems to be.

I play the voice message, waiting for it to start, and Alex reaches for my hand.

"Rian, this is your mother. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but there's basically nothing that they can do for your father. He's in far too deep to get out of this, honey. Call me back as soon as you listen to this. I love you, bye."

My heart drops to my stomach, and I clench my jaw to cage the sobs and prevent them from getting out. Locking the sobs inside of my body like a prison, desperate to keep them in, and never let them out.

"Rian, baby. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Alex says into my ear, rubbing my back.

A tear escapes from my eye, and Alex pulls away to wipe it off of my face.

"Alex, I'm sorry for being so emotional." I say, and she furrows her eyebrows.

"Are you seriously apologizing for grieving for your father? You even told me yourself that if you need to cry, then you can cry. You're a human, and you have feelings. Don't try to hold them in. Don't apologize for something that's out of your control. Trust me, I was the same way when I found out about my dad." Alex says, and I give her a weak smile when she repeats the exact words that I said to her.

"I love you so much." I say, my voice wobbling.

"I love you, too. Come here." She says, and pulls me into her arms for another hug.

Overwhelming sadness washes over me, and I cry for what seems like forever. Alex tenderly strokes my back while I do, occasionally whispering in my ear.

"It'll be okay, I'm going to be here for you." Alex whispers, kissing my cheek.

"Isn't it funny how yesterday everything seemed perfect, and now today it's like the whole world is crumbling around me?" I ask, sniffling afterwards.

"I know, I can relate to the feeling. When I found out about my fathers death, it felt like everything just stopped. I know you're going to pull through this, Rian. I know you will." Alex says, and hugs me again.

Alex and I exchange a glance, and it's fleeting, but so much is still told through her eyes.

If she could get through something like this, I can too.