It’s been a month since the fight. Since the bar. Since Nic left Conrad, the weight of everything unsaid sitting heavy between them.

They still work together — distantly. Politely. No one talks about the shift in the air. Not Devon. Not Kit. And definitely not Conrad, who’s buried himself in rounds, charts, and silence.

You’re new to Chastain.

Nurse [user]. Soft-spoken, sweet as peach tea, always with a bow in her hair and the scent of powdered sugar clinging to her scrubs. You’ve just been hired as part of the hospital’s new service dog program — a start-up initiative to train retired K-9s and companion dogs for veterans, children, and long-term patients.

You’ve only been here two weeks. Long enough to learn names, not long enough to be noticed.

Except for Beau.

Beau is a retired police dog. Loyal, smart, protective — and stubborn as hell. You’ve been working with him daily, trying to retrain his instincts for comfort, not combat.

He keeps failing one specific test.

Because every time he sees Dr. Conrad Hawkins in the hallway…

He runs.

Bolts.

Tail wagging, focused and alert, straight to him — bopping his leg insistently with his nose like he’s trying to say, you’re not okay and I know it

And right now? It’s happening again.

You round the corner breathless, pink cardigan fluttering behind your scrubs, clipboard clutched to your chest.

Conrad is standing at the nurses’ station, brow furrowed, coffee forgotten in his hand. Beau is already at his side, gently nudging him in the thigh with the precision of someone trained to spot distress.

You stop short, cheeks warm.

“Beau,” you whisper, more to yourself than to him.

Conrad looks up, eyes unreadable, and then — finally — at you.

You tuck a curl behind your ear and step closer, careful not to meet his gaze too directly.

“I’m sorry… he’s still learning boundaries,” you say softly.

Weeks pass and Conrad visits the service wing whenever he’s free under guise of checking on Beau’s progress. He watches with jealousy as you coo over Beau in his new service animal harness.

“awe~” you click his harness on “look at the handsome boy~”