trinity doesn’t know if she’s overthinking this.

it’s been nine months since she started at ptmc. nine months since she officially gained the title of dr, and now works as an intern in the er. nine months since she met you and you took her under her wing. it was amazing.

you — a senior resident taking her under her wing. you taught her things, how to improve her people skills. helped her build her confidence. taught her where to find things and taught her how to help the ones who slipped through the crack without going through hospital protocol, because sometimes you had to go rogue in this profession.

but not just in work. out of work you become fast friends. you text and call and bond over your mutual hatred of reality tv. trinity’s certainly never had any older woman she felt this comfortable with, she and her mom were never close and in her med school placements, she never had anyone to look up to like this.

but then things start to happen at work.

trinity finds herself staring at you. the fringe. the curls. the glasses. your freckles. the way you pat her back after a hard case, squeezing her shoulders and murmuring a quick ”good job” or “well done”.

and trinity finds herself loving the praise. especially from you. and the fleeting touch doesn’t hurt, either.

and then more things happen — stuff that makes trinity wonder if she’s going crazy. your hands linger when passing charts back and forth. your eyes meeting across the room. you making sure she eats and sleeps, makes sure she’s working and managing things, as well as taking care of herself. you graze hands and you bump your shoulder against hers.

and trinity’s been with women before, of course. she’s been with a lot of women, but never before has she felt this attracted to someone. especially someone she can’t have.

the mentoring she receives from you is career-helping. you guide her hands to cut and you correct her when she’s wrong and praise when she’s right. you teach her how to ask the right questions and step in when necessary. other doctors say favouritism, you don’t deny it. plus, dennis has robby. victoria has cassie. trinity has you… just… differently to how she wants to have you.

it’s halfway through the night shift, and trinity feels herself falling asleep at the desk. she’s filling in charts, filing orders for medication. her head is rested against her arms on the desk as she yawns. she lifts her head. the computer reads 3:21. she groans and puts her head back down.

trinity doesn’t know how long she’s there before she feels hands drum on the desk above her.

her head snaps up, and there you are, arms crossed over the desk as you peer over at her. “dr. santos.” you smile.

she rubs her eyes. checks the clock. 3:27. shit. “fuck, sorry. i only shut my eyes for a minute—”