Tess hummed as she signed and turned last piece of paper for her shift to be over to the receptionist. Ten births, two c-sections and three cups of coffee later she was looking forward to heading home and sleeping for twelve hours.

Currently, the receptionist was keeping her here longer as she told her of the gossip being told around there. Who was sleeping with who, which Healer was in danger of being fired, which healer was sleeping with his patient. She had her elbow on the table as she leaned against it hoping that it was over.

"And Richard caught her in the most awkward position" Rita trailed off.

"Hm...scandalous" Tess hummed out tiredly.

Dorian apparated into the holding area. He gritted his teeth against the pain in his thigh. His torn sleeve was acting as a tornequet to help stop the blood running down his leg.

He'd been stupid and rash. Alec and him had been fighting a group of wizards in an abandoned sector of the city. One of them had gotten off a good shot at him, though he didn't know what spell it was. His usual quick healing charms weren't doing the trick. As much as he hated to do so, Alec yelled for him to get out of there. He'd given him one last look, silently telling him not to get himself killed, and apparated out. For once he was glad they'd called in backup.

As he stumbled to the reception desk, he pulled out his emergency wallet, one kept for such perposes. "I want Tess Black. No one else." He groaned when he accidentally put weight on his leg.

The man standing behind the desk gave him a strange look, but silently escorted him into an empty room. He hopped onto the bed, leaning back. He closed his eyes and waited for her, hoping his instict to come to her wouldn't be the death of him. Merlin, I hope her training paid off.

Tess let out a forced smile and sighed as Rita began showing off about her personal life. She was partly jealous, and frustrated at her lack of social skills. As she realized that Rita had taken a bite of her croissant she jumped at the opportunity.

"Well Rita, I see you're busy and my shift is over, so I'll leave you be" she said smiling.

As she was walking away, one of the nurses ran towards her. Before she could hide, she was grabbed by her elbows and forced her to turn around and before she could protest the file was pushed to her chest and dragged.

"Room 321, patient 24 years old, Auror, has a laceration and continual bleeding, the curse seems worse than thought of and-"

"It's not my specialty Maria and-"

"-and he requested you" she was interrupted. "so get your arse to 321 and get that done, then you can go home"

Dorian forced his eyes open. It was worse when they were closed, causeing the room to feel like it was tilting, but it was getting harder to keep them open. He tried to focus on anything in the room that could keep his attention.

Now that he was laying down, not moving, his leg didn't hurt as much. The searing pain had faded into an only slightly less searing throb. He tried to breathe through his mouth, not wanting to smell the copper of his own blood. He hated hospitals. Not long after his acceptance into the Auror program, he'd been severly injured. He'd spent a whole week in this stupid place. Worst week of my life! Ever since then, he'd avoided the place, choosing to fix things himself. Even if that meant leaving more scars behind than were necessary.

His eyes shot to the door as a small nurse walked in, smiling cheerfully. Too cheerfully. She moved to his side, about to touch his leg. He growled at her. "Get out."

"Nonsence dear." She started.

He glared at her, wanting to jump off the bed and give her a reason to call security. "I said....Get out!!!" Her eyes widened and she ran without looking back. Dorian winced. He knew that was a bad mood, but he didn't trust anyone around here.

Tess was guilt tripped. When she heard someone was asking for her to treat them, her first thought was Parker. She began to sprint towards the room and as she reached the hall, she saw someone running.

She touched the door tentatively and as she pushed the door, she began to speak before she even saw who it was.

"Emery you're going to be the death of me, what did you do this ti-" she called out and as she lifted her head she blinked a few times. "Dorian"

She wasn't expecting him to be there, and seeing him there, made her worry over just how the mission had gone. They had disappeared for two weeks, and while she was mad at first thinking that he was avoiding Victoria and Dorian and Alec were whoring around, she knew just how wrong she was.

Pushing the file to the side, she walked towards the drawers to get rubber gloves and walked towards him her eyes wide with worry, and ignoring the slight shaking of her hands.

"What happened?" she asked as she placed her hands on the laceration.

When Dorian heard her voice he opened his eyes, letting out a breathe he hadn't known he'd been holding. He'd been worried that she wasn't here. He didn't know what he would have done then.

He couldn't help the side of his mouth sliping up into a shaky smirk at the worry on her face. "Do I look that bad?" He tried to laugh, but it turned into a groan as the movement made the pain return. He could feel sweat running down his shoulderblades and on his forhead.

Hissing as Tess touched his leg, he tried to focus on something. His eyes landed on hers. A rich, dark chocolate, so different from Alec's. His leg seemed to tingle where she touched it. "A stupid bastard shot something at me. I wasn't close enough to hear what it was." He bit back a moan when she touched a particularly tender area. "I...I didn't know where else to go."

Tess bit her bottom lip and felt a little shaken at his gaze. She dropped her gaze immediately at his forehead as he was sweating. She moved her hands towards the towels beside her and she cleaned his face quickly checking his eyes if he had been hit anywhere else.

"Everything will be okay...okay?" she said softly.

He was in pain, she patted his hand absentmindedly, something that she did when working with children. She took out a needle and immediately punctured his skin to numb the pain. She didn't want him to hurt, she wanted to make him feel better...she figured it was because she was a Healer.

"I'll take care of you" she said not understanding the connotation. "The pain should lessen in a few alright?"

Dorian laughed softyl at her comment, knowing it would hurt. Of course everything was going to be okay. He was in the hands of someone who'd sacrificed so much to learn her craft. He didn't trust any other stupid stiff in this joint to know what to do.

He tried not to wince too much when she pushed the needle near the wound. He didn't hate needles, per se, just the idea of something being inserted into a vulnerable wound. After a few minutes of watching her fuss about him, brush her hand over his, he could feel the painkiller kicking in. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Merlin." After a minute of sweet relief, he felt a small twinge in his chest at her words. No one ever took care of him. Except for Alec. His parents cared for him, in their way. But they did so from a distance. It had been hard enough for him to come here for help.

Watching her work he smiled up at her. "Guess I get to see you in action first hand, eh?"

Hearing his comment she smiled and shook her head. Morphine was always a helpful muggle invention, especially in the body while in pain. Removing her gloves, she walked towards the shelves and picked up the patient's uniform.

"Sadly you do" she said smiling. "Here"

She pushed the clothes towards him knowing that he would need to change out of the bacteria covered clothing before she began the stitches. She pulled over the screen allowing him privacy.

"If you need help don't hesitate to holler alright?" she called out.

She leaned against the wall and sighed knowing that she had to do a good job. She wanted to make him better, he was Alec's partner, his best friend and she couldn't disappoint. She wondered if he was fine, and she closed her eyes tight hoping he was alright and sleeping his exhaustion off.

Dorian took few seconds to let himself breathe. It had seemed like forever since he hadn't felt the pain from this wound. He couldn't help but smirk at the flimsy material of the robe. Like this was supposed to substitute for clothing.

Deciding there was no use to arguing about it. He was surprised at her comment. It made his heart stutter for a second, before he chidded himself. She's just doing her job, idiot. He shook his head, trying to dispell stupid thoughts.

Looking down at his pants, he couldn't believe he was hesitating. "The medicine's wonderful and all, but I don't think I can get these jeans off myself." He knew his reputation, similar to Alec's, and added, "I promise to be good."

Tess pulled the curtain and shook her head as she had to help him. She blushed at his comment of being 'good' and rolled her eyes. He was such a flirt with women, and while she hadn't taken it in an inappropriate way, he had a reputation.

"Oh I know you will be" she said with a smirk. "I'll make sure of it"

She unbuttoned his pants and knew it was going to sting, after all, the blood had tried near the laceration making the material stick to the cut. She moved her hands on his hips and tugged the material quickly, knowing the process, but slowed down near the cut knowing it was going to sting.

"Sorry" she said before tugging them off and throwing them in the bin. She looked away giving him privacy and helped him lean back. She washed his leg wiping off the dried blood and slipped gloves once more to inspect the cut. It was deep, and she muttered a spell to stop the bleeding to a slower place. It was clotting, which was a relief.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked.

Part of Dorian was thankful at Tess's professionalism. He wasn't nervous around women, but Tess wasn't any old woman. She was his mate's sister. Practically forbidden territory. Still...he couldn't help but breathe in her perfume as she worked. It was soft, not abrasive. Maybe chosen to soothe her patients.

After they'd gotten his pants off, he quickly took his shirt off and put the gown on when her back was turned. He knew hospitals had their protocol, but he'd be damned if he was completely undressing in his injured state. It was hard enough for him to be wounded and around people.

When she started cleaning the wound it felt weird. He wasn't used to painkillers. It he could feel the skin move around the wound in reaction to her movements, but the actual area stayed numb. When she started working spells, it started to tingle and itch. He clenched his fist, trying to stay still to let her work.

Focusing on his breathing, he leaned his head back. "No. It just itches like hell." He opened his eyes slightly, watching her work. Her deft hands moved over the gash as if it was nothing.

Tess was oblivious to his observations, to her, she just wanted the cut to be as disinfected as possible. She realized that this was close to Sectumsempra the gash was very much like a cut, but it seemed to be feeding off of his core.

She lifted her gaze and realized that he felt uncomfortable in his vulnerable state. She was surpised considering she thought that he'd be comfortable enough to be in little clothing, especially if it was because it was a legitimate reason.

Her comment died on her lips as she heard him complain about the cut.

"Let me get a salve alright?" and rushed off to get the salve to sooth it. The morphine helped somewhat, but she knew that it was clotting causing it to itch. When she returned she placed the salve over the cut and murmured a spell hoping it would close it. Once it didn't she sighed knowing that the spell was a bit of a trickster.

"Was it a silent spell?" she asked. "It's a differentiation from the Sectumsempra"

Dorian didn't want her to go. For a few short minutes he had been able to forget he was in a hospital. Surrounded by hundreds of people he didn't know or trust. He was used to minor injuries, ones he could bandage at home. He prefered it that way. Sure, it meant more scars because he wasn't exactly an expert, but he just didn't like other people having that much stake in his physical wellbeing.

But watching Tess leave, even for a minute, made his heart ache. He didn't know if it was the familiarity of some of her manerisms, so much like Alec. Or if it was because he'd been away from any and everyone for the last two weeks. Either way, he felt a small smile forming when she seemed to hurry back in with the salve.

At her question, he furrowed his brow. "I really don't know. I didn't hear anything specifically, though there was a lot going on." He didn't really care, so long as she could fix it.

Now that the pain and the itching were gone, he settled back and looked at her. Her hair wasn't perfect, small strands falling around her face. And he could see the tiredness in her eyes. But they were sharp and determined, her hands steady. "How long have you been on tonight?"

Tess furrowed her brow at what he was saying. She wondered exactly what it was, but either way it seemed that no healing spell that she was muttering was working properly. She bit her bottom lip feeling bad knowing that there was only one option.

"We're going to have to do stitches Dorian" she said softly.

She wondered if he would mind, or if he even knew exactly what it was, but she knew it would be a bit painful. She picked up her case and opened the case looking over it. At his question, he looked up at him surprised by his question. No one ever asked that here, she lowered her gaze and sighed.

"Fourteen, going on fifteen" she said softly. "Nothing new"

Stitches...lovely. They were something Dorian had taken upon himself to learn how to do. It wasn't always a great idea to use magic when in hiding or in pursuit. He'd stitched a few of the other men, even if it was to grumbles for using muggle methods. But he could understand their resistance, especially since they had no painkiller most of the time.

But he'd never done soemthing this large before. "That's fine. Do what you have to." He wasn't looking forward to this. As the minutes here ticked by he could feel himself becoming more and more drained. Tess had stopped the bleeding for the most part, but it was still hard for his body to cope with the blood already lost. He was starting to fight the tug of sleep.

As she rummaged in her kit, muttering that it was nothing to work that long, he placed his hand over hers, encircling her wrist lightly to get her attention. "Thank you." ...for being gentle... "For staying late." He dropped his hand and closed his eyes, trying to prepare for the pain.

Tess was wide eyed as he placed his hand over hers. Her movements stilled, and she looked up to stare at him. Her cheeks flushed at his thanks, especially because it wasn't like him. Well she could say it wasn't like him, but she didn't really know him, she just generalized him because of his association to Alec. She dropped the needle in the case and placed her hand over his and squeezed it to comfort him.

"You're welcome, I can't imagine being anywhere else" she whispered in return before releasing him.

She sterilized the needle and began to stitch as quickly and efficiently as possible trying to make them neat. There was a time when she used to avoid stitching like the plague but now she needed to do this. The gash was deep and he might need a blood replenishing potion.

Once she finished her work, she disinfected the area, and wrapped a bandage wrap around his leg before getting her other things.

"I need to check your pressure, and see if you have any other injuries"

Leaning over him, she took out her flashlight, and wanted to see his eyes to see if he was dealing with any affects from the curse that was worse than the bleeding.

Dorian was surprised at her reaction. Most women would simply brush him off, or think he had alterier motives. But she was unassuming, which was a blessing. Alec was his best mate, but there were things about Dorian that even he didn't know. Like how tired he was getting of the nameless one night stands. And how sick he was of himself the mornings after. He didn't quite know what was going on with him lately, which was why he hadn't said anything to his best mate.

As Tess stitched him up, he tried to keep his composure. A few minutes, and some escaped groans of pain later, it was over. He'd tried to keep his eyes closed for most of it. Not for fear of the process, but to keep his mind concentrated on keeping the pain inside.

He tried to smiled, sure it had come out as more of a grimace. "Whatever you say, beautiful." What? Part of his mind knew that wasn't right. Well, it's wasn't wrong. But he didn't mean to say that. As she leaned over him to check his eyes it felt like the air had thickened, making it stifeling. He focused on her eyes. "I love you eyes." He couldn't help the lazy grin now.

What the bloody hell... Something was definitely weird. It felt like his veins were heating up on their own. The painkillers. He cursed himself inwardly for not thinking about it's affects. Seeing a stray hair by her face he reached up to touch it lightly.

Tess flushed immediately at his comment. Was this really the time? she thought shaking her head. She simply rolled her eyes and let out a grin despite herself. His gaze was a bit blurred, that much was obvious from his unsteady gaze. She snapped her hand in front of him hoping to see him gain some focus but was failing.

At him complimenting her eyes she looked away for a second before a smile graced her face.

"Thank you handsome" she said chuckling.

This was definitely a memorable patient she thought blushing. He was worse now that he was a bit drugged up from morphine. And at him reaching up to touch a wild strand of hair that had escaped her bun surprised her.

"You alright there?" she asked wondering if the drugs were badly affecting him.

Dorian blinked his eyes a few times, fighting the pull to sleep. As terrible as he knew staying awake could be, in his condition, he didn't want to miss time with Tess. A thrill ran through him when she called him handsome. He'd heard it all before, he wasn't blind. But it sounded different coming from her. As if it was a name, instead of an observation.

He let the hand touching her hair trail to trace her cheekbone lightly. He pursed his lips in concentration, not wanting to seem to forward, but feeling a need to touch her. "Yeah. Bloody fantastic."

He used his other had to wrap around her waist lightly, urging her to sit on the bed beside him. He didn't want her to pull away, but he wasn't going to force her. The warmth in his veins made him feel like he was drunk on a really stong whisky. "So am I all good, doc?"

Tess' gaze soften and wondered if he was finally going to pass out after all those silly compliments. She wasn't used to being noticed, in fact she always thought of herself as gray, normal. But him calling her pet names was different and made her feel a bit into the light, being noticed was always nice.

She blushed and knew that she needed to pull away, it wasn't professional, especially if anyone entered and saw them. She let out a small smile at his comment, it was slurred and nearly unrecognizable, but she caught on. And before she could say anything, she found herself being nudged towards sitting beside him as he was laying.

"No touching the merchandise" she whispered teasingly. "But you'll be fine in the morning"

She wiped the sweat off of his forehead and chuckled softly at his slurring. This was definitely memorable.

Dorian tired not to pout when Tess pulled away. He really did. But she made him feel like a teenager. She had a wonderful youthfulness about her, though he didn't equated it with immaturity. It was a soothing change from the jaded women he was used to. Who were worse than the completely stupid idiots that frequented clubs as well. They were the worst. It was refreshing to meet a woman that had a great mind, not just a great body.

At her comment, he let out a quiet laugh. "Maybe later, then." He wasn't completely serious. Yes, she was gorgious, but he wasn't in his right mind to deal with all the complexities of viewing her as more than just Alec's sister right now.

His smile fell when she mentioned the morning. Would he have to stay here all night? Alone? With strangers moving around him while he was drugged and asleep? As she leaned in to wipe his forehead, he stilled her hand with his, hoping it wasn't too firm. "I don't want to stay here." He could feel his jaw clenching at the thought and hoped he wouldn't think less of him for it.

Tess rolled her eyes but sighed with a small grin at his comment. He was very entertaining that was easy to see, but he was just really out of it. She still sat beside him waiting for him to sleep before she could change as well.

"Perhaps" she said expecting him not to remember a damn thing tomorrow.

But at his last comment she frowned softly especially at the expression on his face. She knew that he was a bit drowsy, and from his aggression towards the nurse it was obvious he hated being here. But the cut on his thigh was serious and she knew that he wouldn't be able to take care of himself once the drugs were out of his system.

As he grabbed her hand she looked at him surprised but didn't pull away, instead sighed.

"You can't be released until the swelling goes down" she explained "But...I'll sleep on that chair over there, I won't leave you until you're better."

Dorian let out a held breath. He knew he didn't really know Tess very well, but he believed her. He let his head fall back to his pillow and watched Tess get settled down for the night. "Thank you."

Flexing the hand that had been clenched, he was mesmerized by the way she moved. Dorian remembered the clumsy little girl from when they were young, but she wasn't here. In her stead was a woman who had found her calling. Yes, she'd seemed a bit unsettled at the dinner, but this was her element. She was confident, and it was extremely attractive.

He turned off the overhead light using a button. The darkness made his situation worse and better at the same time. He closed his eyes, trying not to panic. Slowly, the morphine pulled him under.

"Anytime" she whispered knowing he was dozing off.

Tess then turned to the chair, and forced herself to get in a comfortable position. The chair was terribly uncomfortable, and hard, but Tess knew that she needed to be there. She had had patients that feared the thought of such a sterile environment with death at certain doors, but she was surprised that Dorian was one of them.

She never really knew him she realized; she just expected him to be a certain way because of who he was socializing with, and she knew her brother...at least she thought she knew. But as he dozed she noticed that he was a mystery to her, a puzzle she was never interested in figuring out till now. She rubbed her neck, and sat up, taking off her cloak to transfigure it to a pillow before curling up herself and dozing off.It was a hell of a night, but she learned something new from Dorian Kraine, who would have known.