Closer: Part Two

Summary: Bryce Lahela can’t deny the growing affection he’s been feeling to a certain medical intern…

Author’s note: We already know how Rei really feels about Bryce… but how the medical intern really feels about her? Read Part One here. My masterlist

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios.

Song: Closer – Tegan and Sara

I want you close, I want you

I won’t treat you like you’re typical

He soon noticed the woman striding toward him.

It was becoming just impossible to not notice Rei Sato. Maybe it was her long, dark and purple hair. Or those brown innocent eyes that she had. Or that soft and so kissable mouth of hers.

The truth was that, before he even had realised it, Bryce Lahela’s eyes were instinctively searching for Rei through the crowd. It didn’t matter where he was, at the hospital, or out in the city. He was just always secretly hoping to meet her.

So yeah, his already elevated ego got a boost when he saw her coming toward his direction. Of course she was coming to talk to him. Even with Donahue’s packed like that, he simply knew she was.

Bryce was fully aware that he wasn’t Rei’s only “secret admirer”. Jackie was a tough cookie, but she seemed to have a soft spot for Rei, always helping her roommate when she needed. The surgeon intern was a great observer and had noticed the way Jackie looked at Rei. It was similar to how Dr. Ethan Ramsey looked at his clearly favorite internal medicine intern, with fondness in his usually so serious and cold blue eyes. The new Director of Diagnostics had a tough and stoic facade and was known to be harsh with the interns. But Bryce noticed that the attendant had been gradually becoming more lenient towards Rei as they got… closer. He only saw the corners of Dr. Ramsey’s mouth turning upwards in an attempt of what was supposed to be a smile twice, and they both happened when the more experienced doctor was hurriedly talking to Rei about something, probably about her patients.

But she didn’t seem to notice Ramsey’s nor Jackie’s weaknesses towards herself. Bryce wasn’t sure if Rei’s naïveté was a good thing or not. The good part was that he wouldn’t need to worry much about competition – yes, even himself would feel threatened sometimes, especially by two people so smart and charming, on their own ways, like Dr. Jackie Varma and Dr. Ethan Ramsey -; but there was the risk of Rei not understanding that he was interested in her. So Bryce Lahela had to step up his game.

And that was part of why he flirted so blatantly with her. He wasn’t ever sure if she would truly understand what he meant or not. If she understood that he was interested in her. Like, interested a lot.

But the fact that she was approaching him that night must have been a sign. Right?

“Are you sure you should be here, in the enemy’s headquarters?” – Bryce asked playfully, that signature smirk on his lips. – “I can feel Dr. Varma’s eyes shooting lasers through my back already.”

Rei just rolled her eyes to him, a small smile tugging on the corner of her lips, instantly feeling at ease by his presence. Although he and Jackie said those kind of things, she knew they shared a camaraderie and respected each other greatly.

“I just wanted to thank you. Uh, properly. For listening to me today. And all the other times.” – Rei completed, her cheeks flushing slightly. His grin widened.

“Glad to be at service. For someone who you medical interns claim to not have enough sympathy towards people, I’m a pretty damn good listener, ain’t I?” – she rolled her eyes again to his stupid and super sexy wink.

“You know, you’re more handsome with your mouth shut, Lahela.”

“Oh, so you find me handsome now?”

Of course he noticed that her face got another shade pinker under the neon lights of the bar, but he said nothing, just grinning pridefully to himself.

“You only hear what you want, don’t you?” – Rei murmured when she finally found her voice, and he laughed heartily.

“But you said you wanted to thank me… ‘properly’?” – his eyes shined, a sly grin spreading on his face, as he leaned closer, one hand on the wall behind her.

“I… uh, yeah…” – she stuttered, her heart speeding up.

“And how do you intend to thank me?” – he asked suggestively, his eyes gazing to her lips.

“Uh…” – just kiss him. Yeah, go for it, just kiss him. No one will see. Nobody will care. You’ve already kissed him before. What’s the big deal? Just kiss him! – “…I can buy you a drink?” – she asked instead.

Bryce hid his disappointment behind a relaxed grin.

“I’ll never say no to free booze.” – he winked at her again and they both headed towards the bar, his hand on the small of her back.

While Rei asked for their drinks to the barman, the surgical intern watched her, his thoughts drifting back to events that happened earlier that day.

Bryce was enjoying a little break after another successful surgery, when he saw Rei sneaking into a supply closet on the third floor. He knew instantly that something was off with her.

He knocked on the the supply closet’s door and waited for an answer for a few seconds, but the answer never came. Without hesitation, he simply entered in there, even uninvited.

Rei didn’t kick him out of there. In fact, she let him stay, next to her, and eventually told him what was upsetting her. They even had a moment, when the P.A. System’s voice suddenly echoed through the building, completely breaking the mood.

After checking that the message wasn’t for neither of them, Rei relaxed again, sinking onto the floor next to him.

“Wow, you really are tense.” – Bryce commented, watching her.

“Understatement of the century.” – she took a deep breath, before muttering with a somber tone: – “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were calling me because I misdiagnosed a patient.”

“Hey, don’t be like that–“

“It’s just so frustrating. I’ve thought that, as time passed, I’d be messing less on being a doctor. But it seems like the only thing I know to do is putting my patients on more danger than they already are.”

“I told you, Rei… you have to allow yourself to make mistakes–“

“I know.” – she interrupted him again, gazing into his eyes. – “But I wonder if I’ll ever stop doing it.” – he watched a frown surging on her pretty face. – “Will I ever be good enough? Will I ever be a good doctor?”

“You are good enough. If you weren’t, do you really think you’d be an Edenbrook Hospital’s intern? And you are a great doctor already, Rei. We’re always learning. Just because we’re close to be fully capable doctors who’ll save the world, it doesn’t mean that we’ll never make mistakes again. That we’ll save every single person that walks into this – or any – hospital. All we can do is do our best and I’m sure you’re already doing it. I see how hard you work.”

She let out a snort.

“You don’t even see me. I mean, you always are too busy, I don’t know, cutting someone open.”

Bryce pulled out, pretending to be offended.

“Is this what you think I do? I thought that, by now, your view on me would be better, Sato.” – she giggled, feeling a bit better already, thanks to Bryce’s words. And to his presence there. It was great being able to confide to him.

They both stood up, smoothing their uniforms.

“So, are you feeling better? Good to go?” – she nodded to him as he cracked the door open, letting light come into the room.

“Yeah. Thank you, Bryce.” – he saw her cheeks flushing a little. – “You probably are getting tired of always having to listen to my dumb breakdowns.” – to her distress, she had lost count on how many times he found her in a supply closet in that state.

He chuckled softly. If she only knew. Bryce was pretty sure it was simply impossible for him to get tired of her.

He really liked Rei Sato. He admired how so genuine she was. Admitting that she made mistakes was the hardest thing ever, and something that he would never do.

Rei was noble and a dreamer. And she was the only internal medicine intern that seemed to not judge him and call him a ‘bloodthirsty’ for choosing a more “in hands” – literally – job. Even with all those jokes, he knew she was just teasing him.

But she put so much pressure in herself, she couldn’t see how capable and brilliant she already was.

“I don’t mind. We all need to let things out of our chests sometimes.” – he said instead and she smiled sweetly at him, ready to step out of the supply closet. – “Wait, before you go…”

Rei had just turned to face him when he pulled her chin to his, leaving a quick but soft kiss on her lips.

When Bryce pulled out, the other doctor’s face was bright red.

“Just for good luck.” – he winked mischievously at her, before hurrying back to work, leaving a numb Rei behind.

“Bryce? Aren’t you going to drink?” – the man snapped out of his thoughts by her voice. He looked down to the bar counter, noticing the untouched glass of some fruity drink in front of him. Rei was already drinking hers.

“Oh yeah, sorry, I just zoned out a bit.” – he took a sip of his drink and smirked at her. – “I was thinking about that kiss we shared this morning.”

Of course she blushed violently to it. She was adorable.

“You’re insufferable, Lahela.” – was everything she murmured at him, before going back to sip her drink.

They drank in silence, enjoying each other’s company and the upbeat songs that made the whole place shake.

“Hey… you want to dance?” – he asked when both their glasses were empty.

“I’d love to.” – she smiled sheepishly. He took her hand and gently guided her toward the dance floor, both of them squeezing between the dancing people.

Rei giggled softly as Bryce promptly started moving to the beat, and joined him, enjoying the catchy pop song that was playing, their eyes never leaving each other.

“What?” – he asked after she let a low groan as a calmer and more sensual song started playing.

“It’s just… I don’t know how to dance to this type of music.” – she murmured, embarrassedly rolling her eyes.

“Nonsense, it’s like dancing to any other song. There’s no right or wrong. But I can help you if you want…” – he stepped closer, grinning, and she felt his firm and warm hands on her waist, pulling her close enough to make her feel his heat through the fabric of his clothes. – “Just follow the music. Feel the beat.” – she nodded, his hands effortlessly guiding her hips along with the sensual rhythm. They swayed, their bodies pressed tightly close together.

Lost in each other, Rei threw her arms around his shoulders, absentmindedly biting her lip as her eyes moved to watch his lips, just inches from hers. Smirking and fully aware of what he was doing, Bryce pushed her away until the medical intern felt her back hitting the wall against her, letting out a surprised gasp as she felt his warm mouth on her neck, his hands gripping her firmly by her hips.

“Finally. This is right where I wanted you to be the whole night.” – his voice was low and husky into her ear.

“What, with my back against the wall?” – she murmured back at him, her heartbeat speeding up.

“And in my arms.” – he flashed that smirk of his to hers before leaning in.

Rei sighed when his mouth met hers, enjoying the sensation of his weight pinning her there, kissing her fiercely. She tightened the embrace around his neck, kissing back as hungry as him, both of them going completely oblivious to the people around and listening to the song playing only inside their heads.

He felt so drawn to her.

When they finally parted, a new energetic song was playing. They gazed into each other’s eyes, Rei feeling her mouth swollen and tingling.

“You’re amazing, Rei.” – he grinned at her, fondly stroking her cheek, and saw that silly smile spreading on her face.

“Careful. If you keep saying this, it might go all over my head.” – he chuckled and pecked her lips again.

“I know it won’t.” – reluctantly, he pulled away. – “You should go back to your friends before they accuse me of kidnapping you. You neglected them long enough this night.” – she giggled.

“Yeah, you might be right…”

“Jackie might even start getting jealous of me.” – he winked playfully at her, running his fingers through his hair. Rei rolled her eyes but assumed a worried expression right after.

“You know, I actually wanted to talk to you about this thing…” – he looked at her curiously. – “Uh… would you…” – he noticed her hands fidgeting anxiously. – “Uh…” – Deep breaths, Rei, count to three. One, two, three. Breath in. One, two, three. Breath out. Okay. – “I mean, uh, on Saturday night we’ll be throwing this housewarming party for our new apartment and…” – her face got hotter and hotter as she got more tongue tied. – “well, if you’d want to go, you’re more than welcome—”

“Do you want me to go, Rei?” – he asked, his famous smirk spreading on his face. Bryce Lahela had to bit back a laughter as he watched her face turning bright red, almost purple. Who would have thought that that walking nervous hot mess could be so demanding when kissing him back?

“I… Yeah… I mean, it would be nice! But if you can’t, I can totally understand and—” – the avalanche of words started coming out of her mouth. He chuckled softly.

“I’m sorry, Rei, I was just teasing you. I’d love to go, thank you for inviting me.” – he squeezed her shoulder affectionately and that gesture somehow seemed to relax her a bit.

“Oh okay, cool!” – her smile was so cute, Bryce had to control himself to not kiss her again.

Although they’ve known each other for a few weeks, he somehow knew Rei Sato well enough to know that there was a limit of how many times he could kiss or flirt with her per day without startling her. Things should go at her own pace.

…And he actually liked it and was willing to take things slower. He enjoyed her company and was figuring out how she worked. Things at work were already pretty hectic, they didn’t need to rush things up between them.

“Uh, if you want, you can invite the other surgical interns too.” – she completed.

“That’d be nice.” – he smiled brightly at her. – “Thanks.”

“Just don’t tell Jackie I told you this!” – he laughed loudly, throwing his head backwards.

“I won’t. Thanks for the invite, Rei. I’ll be there.” – he winked as his hand squeezed hers gently before letting it go.

“Okay. See you there then.” – she smiled coyly at him before going back to her booth, where her friends were, leaving them both with an exciting feeling.

They couldn’t wait for the housewarming party!

All I wanna get is a little bit closer

All I wanna know is, can you come a little closer?