Meilin came early, not because of obligation but because she had a bad night of shallow, restless sleep. Her thoughts kept going back to the things that had happened the day before the boy who came so close to death, the shaking of her hands on the scope, and the way Yichen had stared at her afterwards as if she was something more than a co-worker. As if she was someone worth waiting for.
She stood outside the changing room, hand on the handle. Muffled and sharp, she could hear Yufei's voice coming through the door.
"…and I said to you, don't lecture me like some kind of intern! I'm not a child, Gao Rui!"
Meilin stopped dead. It wasn't in Yufei's nature to shout, especially at Gao Rui unless something deeper was simmering beneath the surface.
There was a pause, then Gao Rui's low response.
"You're not a child. But that doesn't mean I'll stop caring."
Yufei scoffed, and Meilin stepped back before she could hear any more. She wasn't ready for someone else's tempest. Not today.
In the hall, Yichen was sipping acrid coffee like it owed him money.
"Sleep?" Meilin said, gesturing toward the cup.
He shook his head. "Barely. You?"
They automatically fell into step without having to say it. Their timing was second nature now like heartbeats falling into unspoken sync.
The morning rounds were merciless. One patient with fever after surgery, two waiting for emergency scans, and a third an old woman with dementia who believed Meilin was her daughter and clung to her hand for close to twenty minutes.
"Don't leave me, Xiaoyu," the woman whispered, holding Meilin's fingers as if they were her last lifeline.
Meilin didn't rebuke her. She just waited until the woman fell asleep, then exited with her throat constricted and her heart heavier than she cared to acknowledge.
Yichen followed her in silence. When she finally met his gaze, he spoke softly, "You okay?"
"No," she replied. "But I will be."
In the Cafeteria – Midday
Yufei agitated her soup with the vigor of a dying defibrillator. Across the table, Meilin munched on a spring roll, lost in thought.
"Do you ever think we enrolled in the life where we don't get to come apart?" Meilin blurted out.
Yufei didn't raise her eyes. "Every single day."
They sat in comfortable silence, the sort that wasn't awkward but familiar the sort established on long nights and unspoken understanding. Then Yufei contributed, "I think Gao Rui still views me as the girl who begged him to write me a recommendation letter three years ago."
"He probably does," Meilin replied. "But I think he also sees who you are now."
Yufei snorted. "You're the only one who sees that."
"No," said Meilin. "You just don't let people get close enough to see it."
There was silence.
Then Yufei added, without raising his head, "Yesterday he told me about a woman he wasn't able to save. I think she was more than just a patient."
Meilin's eyebrows rose. "Gao Rui shared something personal?"
"Yeah. I was surprised too. He's not stone. Just very tightly wound guilt."
They both laughed, but it seemed like something had changed like they were all slowly falling apart, bit by bit.
Later – At the Nurses' Station
A young woman burst into the ER in tears, her hands trembling, gripping a folder of lab results. "Please! Someone help me! They said he was okay now he's collapsing!"
It took mere seconds for the staff to identify her the fiancée of a patient discharged three days prior with stable vitals. Now he was returned, coughing up blood and minimally responsive.
"Possible sepsis," Meilin reported after a rapid examination. "He needs stat ICU admission."
Gao Rui appeared behind them, eyes narrowing as he read the results. "These were overlooked. Someone reviewed them as normal — they weren't."
The room went quiet. The mistake had been administrative a tiny faux pas that had ballooned into a life-threatening crisis.
Yichen's jaw clenched. "Who discharged him?"
The records-checking nurse swallowed. "Dr. Shen… from the night team."
Meilin's chest tightened. Dr. Shen had been struggling for weeks, but nobody had done anything about it. This might cost someone their life.
"I'll get the blame," Gao Rui said at last. "We get the fix now. Blame is second."
Meilin nodded, her eyes holding his. That was why, no matter what, Gao Rui had respect without even asking for it.
Nightfall – Rooftop
The city below glittered as if someone had dumped stardust over pavement. Meilin leaned on the railing, her lab coat fluttering softly in the night air.
Yichen sat down with her, placing a mug on the table.
"Chamomile tea," he said. "Borrowed from Pediatrics."
She smiled weakly. "I needed this."
"I know."
They sat together, mugs in hand, watching lights change and dim in time-worn apartments.
Meilin spoke first. "That patient today… his fiancée was about to rip the hospital to shreds. I get it. If it were someone I loved…"
"You'd be just as shattered," Yichen said gently.
She faced him. "Do you ever wonder if we're doing enough?"
"Every night. But then I remember that sometimes, one person lives. And that's enough."
They looked at each other.
And for the very first time, there were no barriers between them.
Just naked, open truth.
"You're different, Meilin," Yichen said. "Not just smart. Not just brave. You feel everything, and still keep going. That's rare."
She swallowed hard. "I don't know if that's strength or stupidity."
"It's both," he said. "And I like both."
He moved closer, slowly, as if not wanting to take up any more room.
She didn't.
"I thought I was better off alone," he said, low. "That I had no room for… this. But now I look at you and wonder how I ever thought that."
Meilin didn't respond in words.
She just leaned into his shoulder, and for once, let herself breathe.
Not as a doctor.
Not as a warrior.
But as a woman slowly learning to be loved.
Elsewhere – Gao Rui's Office
He gazed at the opened file, the mistake in red, the patient still on critical watch.
A knock sounded, and he let out a tired sigh. "Come in."
Yufei walked in, with a new print of the test results in her hand.
"I re-ran everything. The sepsis indicators were subtle, but clearly present."
He nodded. "I should've picked it up too."
Yufei set the folder on his desk. "You're not a machine."
"Don't tell the board that."
She smiled, then fell silent. "You know, I wanted to be you once."
Gao Rui raised his head. "That's fatal thinking."
"I know. But then I understood you carry too much. We all do. But you… you never set it down."
He regarded her for a moment. "And you? Do you set it down?"
"Only when I'm with someone who looks past the surgeon."
Something flashed in his eyes, but he did not say anything.
Yufei did not ask for permission. She sat down opposite him.
"We all screw up, Dr. Gao. But if we keep blaming ourselves, who's left to mend other people?"
It wasn't forgiveness. It wasn't closure.
It was a beginning.