If you would have asked me what I would be doing for my 30th birthday, I never in a million years would have said I would be doing this, working. Overtime, with a car that was broken and unusable. I had to use a ride-sharing app to get to work. I’ve been on anesthesia monitoring practically all night. Back to back emergency surgeries. Blocked cat after blocked cat. I started the shift with one doctor and was now ending with another. It always intrigued me to see the differences in how they handle the same surgery. Dr. Henley was very strict, while Dr. Kadence was more relaxed. Honestly, I think I preferred working with Dr. Henley; I craved structure. Not many people enjoyed working with him. He was ex-military and a hard ass, but we got along. I was his go-to RVT. Military men loved me, apparently. Dr. Kadence was more of a loosey-goosey hippie type doctor; honestly, I don't think she'll last much longer in emergency medicine. She got frazzled far too easily. She was so overwhelmed once she even asked ME how to do a surgery. Ridiculious. Four surgeries in and two energy drinks down, I was on edge. Mostly because Texas hadn’t been responding to any of my messages or sending me any to read during my breaks. I was used to the routine we had developed over the years I had known him. I even called him by his name, "Theo,” and he still didn’t respond. At least it wasn’t like he left me on read, though. He wasn’t even fucking reading my messages. Maybe that was worse. I popped a stick of gum in my mouth after I finished turning down the surgery suite. Immediately as I set foot back into the ER, a STAT was paged overhead. I dropped everything and sprinted to the front of the hospital. In the reception area, a woman was carrying her lifeless pug in her arms. It didn’t look good; he’d probably been dead for a while while driving here. We were the only twenty-four-hour hospital still open within twenty miles since COVID rocked the world. Veterinary hospitals took a massive hit and were still trying to recover. We were too, but we were lucky we were a big corporation, so we were able to crawl back onto our feet faster than family-owned businesses.

Her face clearly showed signs of shock as I took her dog from her almost forcefully because she was too shaken up to loosen her grip. “W-we were just playing, then he yelped and collapsed.” I asked her permission for CPR, then began to rush to the back as she approved. I saw something out of the corner of my eyes, in my peripheral vision, that stuck out in my mind. But I couldn’t process it. I shoved it far away as I got the dog to the table, calling out to my team the little information I had acquired as we started CPR. After thirty minutes, we called it. Resuscitation was rarely successful, and even when it was, there was a slim chance the pet survived the next twenty-four hours. I sighed, “Good work, everyone.” I rubbed the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand as everyone gave slight nods and pats to each other’s backs in a comforting effort. But that didn’t last long.

“STAT to the meters for canine assessment, STAT to the meters for canine assessment.” Once again, I was off. I grabbed Dylan, who grabbed the gurney, and we raced to the front. It ended up being a senior boxer with a trachea collapse. He would make it. But my mind kept telling me that there was something I was missing in the lobby. I let out a heavy groan as I looked up at the clock; it was seven forty-five. “Alright, I’m headed out.” I called out. Everyone thanked me for my work and help as I packed up my things. I walked through the ER out to reception, where I pulled out my phone to order a ride as my phone chimed.

Texas: Look up.

Huh? My eyes immediately drifted up as I stared at the thing in my peripheral vision I had been seeing for the past hour. Texas. His big country ass in the flesh. Standing in the lobby.

“What the fuck?” I muttered.

He chuckled. He was wearing a long sleeve flannel shirt over a plain white shirt and dark jeans. I was frozen as I accidentally swallowed my gum, causing me to slightly choke. I could hear murmuring from behind the desk about Texas, which prompted me to move my ass. I slapped his bicep. “What the fuck?” I huffed.

“Ah, haha.” He faked a flinch as he rubbed his shoulder. “Happy birthday.”

Seeing him and being able to touch him. I felt like I was dreaming.

“I can’t believe you.” I muttered.

“Drive you home?” He smiled warmly. He looked exhausted. He must have left around one in the morning to get here. And if he flew, that means he had to rent a car. What the hell was even happening right now? I could not even begin to process. So, I simply nodded and followed him out to his rental truck. I immediately took note of the slight limp he had from his left leg. That’s right, I had almost forgotten; he lost it in the military. He has a prosthetic. He always talked about how he would get nasty looks when he parked in handicap spots. People needed to mind their own business. It took me a minute to get into the truck, every single muscle in my body was aching. It was typical after long shifts but didn't make it any easier.

“You look like shit,” he teased.

“Gee thanks, just what every guy wants to hear from a literal Norse god.” I huffed.

Texas laughed and smiled as he kept his eyes on the road. “I’m kidding, you’re actually pretty hot when you’re working—something about a man in uniform. Keeping your cool in emergency situations, mm, does it for me.” He jested.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “You’re insufferable.”

“Rock hard.”

I smacked him harder this time than I did last time. It took only about fifteen minutes to get to and pull into my apartment complex. I can’t believe this is real and he’s actually here. I stared at him admittedly a little too long. 

“We getting out?” He returns my gaze.

“Yeah, sorry, long night.” I force myself to blink as a yawn escapes.

“I bet.” His voice is soft as he watches me leave the truck. He promptly grabs his military dufflebag and follows me up to my home. I show him around the one bedroom space with gestures and allow him to settle in while I shower. I hear him pause his movements as I take off my shirt and trudge into my bathroom. When I finally finish showering, I step out of the bathroom into the living room as I dry my hair with a towel wearing my sleep shorts and tank top. Texas is sprawled out on the couch that is way too small for him, his legs dangling uncomfortably as he’s reading something on his phone. 

“What are you doing?”

“Reading.” He looks at me from behind the screen.

“I meant here, smartass.”

“You’ve been depressed, and it’s your birthday.” He shrugs.

“How much did all this cost you?” I question, already knowing it has to be fucking expensive to do all of this. I think he was living in New York now? But he wanted to eventually make his way back to Texas. Buy a piece of land big enough to be away from everyone and everything. Maybe have a tiny ranch or farm. It sounded like a fucking dream. I always wanted to own horses. A goat or two. Some rabbits. I was getting carried away.

“Don’t worry about it.” He lowered his phone before tossing it somewhere on the couch.

I sighed in defeat. I was about to speak, but he beat me to it: “Go sleep. I’ll be here when you get up.” His gaze was unwavering.

“I’m not so sure about that.” I mumbled. I wasn’t entirely convinced yet that this wasn’t all some vivid and fucked up dream. Especially by the way he was looking at me. So warm and soft. My heart began to pound in my chest, it was from the caffeine, definitely not anything else. I turned on my heels and headed to the bedroom, where I passed out on my bed far too quickly for my liking. Something about knowing he was nearby physically put me right to sleep.