Everyone is already moving before the announcement is done. Doctors setting down wine glasses mid-sip. Nurses pulling scrub caps from pockets. The Valentine's streamers and heart-shaped balloons suddenly looking absurd against the rush of people who were laughing thirty seconds ago and are now walking with the kind of purpose that means someone's life depends on how fast they get downstairs.
And yes, I'm moving too, because I know what this means, and the first most important thing I can do is get out of their way.
So I press myself against the wall as doctors and nurses rush past me. My head is down, and I'm already typing a message to let Dr. Collington know that I understand, that he doesn't have to worry about me, that I'll be here when—
"Katherine."
My head jerks up, and I don't even have time to process what's happening. He's right there, right in front of me, and his hands are already cupping my face, his thumbs resting just below my cheekbones, his fingers close enough to the scar on my temple that I can feel his warmth against the thin, raised line he put there when he saved my life, and my body is automatically falling toward his, and—
Oh.
Shyness and inexperience combined had always prevented my imagination from ever getting this far, and so I never really...I just...
Perfect.
It's the last thought in my mind as his lips cover mine, and everything inside me begins to flame. The whole world melts away in that instant, and I no longer hear or feel anything. Not the PA system still crackling overhead, not the footsteps thundering past us, not even the way my phone slips from my fingers and clatters to the floor. It's just him and me as my arms wrap around his neck, my lips parting under the fierce pressure of his mouth, and heat floods through me so completely that my knees nearly give out for the second time today, and his arm is there again, catching me, pulling me closer, and the kiss deepens as if he's forgotten why he started it, as if something in him has slipped past every wall he's ever built, and for a few seconds there is nothing in the world except the warmth of his mouth and the strength of his arms and the way my heart is beating so hard I can feel it in my throat.
But then he pulls away.
He's staring down at me, and the look on his beautiful face is something I've never seen before. Almost as if he desires me, but also as if he's furious...with himself? I don't understand. Or maybe I'm not able to understand because I lack experience?
"I..." Don't know what to say. But what I suddenly notice is how swollen my lips feel, and yet at the same time, they're dry with nervousness. I swallow hard, licking my lips, and his dark eyes glint at that moment—
Did I do something wrong again? Did I—
My back slams against the wall as he reclaims my mouth with a kiss that has me helplessly clutching his shoulders. It's so much deeper this time, so much fiercer, and the heat that was flooding through me before is now a wildfire, and I can feel his hand at the back of my head, cradling me the way you'd cradle something precious and breakable, and his other arm is tight around my waist, and I'm trembling and I can't stop, and I don't want to stop, and—
Huh? It’s over?
I stare up at him in a daze, unable to understand why he keeps stopping. "Dr. Colling—"
"My name."
The huskiness of his tone makes my toes curl hard inside my shoes.
"Don't you think it's time you call me by my name?"
And they curl even harder at his invitation, and I just...
"K-Kaz."
I just say the first thing that comes to mind, a shortened version of his name that I've never heard anyone else call him...just like he's the only one to call me Katherine.
"Kaz."
It slips out tremulously for the second time, and when I notice his own hand shaking as he runs his knuckles down my cheek, I just can't help it. I just can't wait any longer.
"I love you, Kaz."
I need to say it because it's always been true, but this time it's so much sweeter, now that I can say the words freely.
"I love you so much."
"Code Orange update. First ambulances arriving in three minutes. All surgical teams, confirm readiness."
The PA cuts through the moment, and the world comes back. The corridor around us is empty now, everyone already downstairs. My phone is on the floor where I dropped it. The Valentine's streamers are still hanging from the conference hall doorway at the end of the hall, pink and red and absurd against the silence.
I see the shift in his eyes. The man retreats. The doctor returns.
