Hi there. First off, for anybody reading Burnin' For You, I want to let you know not to worry that I've posted something new. I'm not abandoning that story, I just needed a break and to write something different. I still don't know what this will be if anything. But I hope you enjoy.

Day one had felt pretty much like any other headache. A dull throb at the back of her neck, a sensitivity in her ears, but nothing she thought a few aspirin and a nap couldn't fix. Day two brought on the nausea, the dizziness, a more intense pain stretching across her forehead and even deep behind her eyes. It had her wide awake when all she wanted to do was sleep it off, had her dreading even the simplest tasks. The idea of getting out of her bed, despite how sleepless she was there, was getting scarier by the second. By day three, she was convinced someone had jammed an ice pick into the side of her temple.

Paige wasn't one to complain or make a fuss over herself, especially when it came to doctors. She'd toughed out the worst of colds with just a few cough drops and bowls of her mother's chicken soup. She took good care of herself, exercised and never felt much need for a professional opinion regarding her health. That was before the migraines started.

She'd been at work when the first one hit, a single pang of pain that felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped down her back. It had her reeling for a moment, and then eventually it settled, farther toward the center of her head. She didn't think much of it at first, headaches weren't typical for her, but they weren't unusual, and she went about her day, assuming it would pass. By the end of her shift she was driving to the pharmacy in tears, seeking relief. That had been two years ago, and the migraines had only increased in frequency since.

This one, though, she had decided about four hours into day three, was the last straw, and had her finally give in and get herself to the emergency room. She needed relief, or at least answers.

"A doctor is gonna be with you real soon, hon," a nurse popped her head into the tiny room they had set Paige up in when she got there. Paige winced at the sound of the woman's voice, the sound of just a normal speaking volume piercing through her ears like someone had beaten a snare drum right next to her face, and gave a thumbs up from where she lay on the stiff hospital bed.

"Sorry, sweetie," the woman lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, "I'll put a note in your chart to keep the noise down and the lights low. We're a little behind today but Dr. Fields will be here in just a few. You hang tight,"

Paige nodded, and hoped it really would be only a few minutes until she was seen. She wasn't sure what they were going to do for a glorified headache, probably laugh her out of the building with a few Tylenol, but she had no desire to spend her entire day off waiting for a doctor to get freed up to see her. She just hoped she could get someone to understand that her pain was real, more real than anything she ever felt.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later Paige heard the door to her room click shut softly, and cracked an eyelid to glance at her intruder. There, in pale blue scrubs under a white coat, was her doctor. Or at least who she hoped was her doctor. The site of the woman in front of her, ravishingly beautiful, caused Paige to open both of her eyes fully, sending a shockwave of pain up her spine and into her head. She groaned, the sound causing the doctor to look up from her chart just in time to see Paige lay her head back down against the pillow and shut her eyes tightly again.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Fields," she spoke softly, and clicked a few buttons on the tablet in her hands, "you're experiencing some headache pain today?"

"More than a headache," Paige whispered through gritted teeth, "I feel like someone's sawing my head in half. And if I even move I feel like I'm gonna throw up,"

"Okay," she took a seat next to Paige's bed and set the tablet by her feet. She took a hold of both of Paige's hands in her own, "can you give my fingers a squeeze? As tight as you can,"

Paige squeezed, though admittedly not as hard as she could.

"Oh come on," she smiled softly, "I know you're in pain but don't take it easy on me. I can take it, come on, give me a real squeeze,"

Paige cracked one eye back open at this, daring to look at the doctor up close, before giving her fingers a respectable squeeze.

"Do you taunt all your patients?" she asked, "or just the ones who you think are too weak to fight back?"

"Just the cute ones," she joked, and picked her tablet back up, "how long has this headache been going on?"

"This one specifically, three days," she answered.

"This one, what do you mean by that? You get them a lot?"

"Pretty constantly for the last two years or so,"

"Two years?" she tapped away at her tablet, and looked back up at Paige, "have you seen your primary care physician about it?"

"Nope, you're my first stop," she shrugged, and immediately regretted it the motion sending stabbing pain through her neck and down her arms.

"Okay, okay…" Dr. Fields set down her tablet again, and took ahold of Paige's arms laying them to rest by her sides, "just lay still okay? I want to run a few tests, get a CT scan and an MRI. But I'll have a nurse come back in and start you on an IV and give you something for the pain in the meantime," she explained.

"An IV?" Paige asked, wincing as the doctor began gently palpating at her head, "like, fluids?"

"A lot of times dehydration can be a root cause of migraines like this," she said, "it's a pretty basic place to start, and if it helps we won't waste your time running so many tests,"

"Well I like the sound of that," Paige replied, and once again the doctor began tapping away at her tablet, "is that like an iPad? I can't decide if I feel like you're doing fancy doctor things, or checking your Instagram," she joked and the doctor cracked a smile.

"I do have almost 12 followers," she winked, "I'm ordering those scans and some pain meds. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Bananas," she told her seriously, and the doctor couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Well," she smiled without looking up from her screen, "luckily for you, about 0% of pain medications contain bananas or banana byproducts,"

"Ha ha," came Paige's reply, "are you even a real doctor? You look way too young. And too pretty,"

"I'm in my third year of residency, so yes, I am a real doctor," she grinned, "but thank you. I'm going to go talk to my friends in radiology and make sure they don't keep you waiting too long for that CT okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks,"

"My pleasure. Get some rest, I'll be back soon,"

"Wait a minute, hang on, pump the brakes," Spencer said to her friend. They were in line for some lunch in the cafeteria, and Emily had decided to bring up her mysteriously sexy migraine patient in the ER, the girl she hadn't been able to stop thinking about since she started treating her three hours ago. She knew her lifelong friend and fellow doctor would have some thoughts on the situation, but she couldn't help but be amused by them.

Spencer had been her best friend since she could remember, by her side all through middle & high school and even college at Villanova. They had split apart during med school, Spencer choosing UCLA while Emily stayed in state and did her four years at Penn Med, but she was ultimately delighted when they both got accepted to the surgical residency program at Chestnuthill Hospital in Philadelphia.

"Why am I pumping the brakes?" Emily laughed, and she grabbed a tray for herself and handed one to her friend.

"You're telling me you, Emily Fields, have the hots for a patient?"

"Well, she's hot!" she chuckled with a shrug, "she's got something about her, I don't know,"

"Yeah she's got something about her alright. A medical condition that is your responsibility to treat for her. You can't just go around hitting on patients, holding them here longer than you need to,"

"Oh please," Emily rolled her eyes, and grabbed a bowl of jello, "I am treating her. The CT came back clean and we're waiting on the MRI machine to open up. I'm not holding her against her will. She's happily drugged up and free of pain for the moment, watching free hospital TV and eating Italian ice. I am doing everything I can as a doctor to treat her migraine. And the fact that I'm fantasizing about making out with her in a supply closet hurts no one. Besides...I think she likes me too,"

"Okay," Spencer sighed, "I'm gonna try one more time to be the voice of reason here, if only to be able to say I told you so if you get your ass sued or tossed from the program...she's your patient. You just met her. Just...be careful,"

"Spence, you worry way too much. Ooh, they have chicken salad wraps today,"

"Fine. So what's she like? What is it about her that got the picky Emily Fields so flustered so quickly?"

"I don't know, she's just...cute. She's funny and sarcastic, in a dark, closed book kind of way you know? It's hard to explain. But after two minutes with her I was more turned on than I have been in a very long time,"

"You did always have a thing for closed off bad girls," Spencer nodded, "try and keep it professional, at least while your name is still on her chart. You know the chief can smell shenanigans ten miles away,"

"Don't worry, I'm keeping it professional," Emily rolled her eyes, "but the second she walks out those doors all bets are off,"

"So basically, you're just gonna lay inside this big machine for about half an hour. And it's going to get a real clear picture of what's going on in your brain," Emily explained, helping Paige up onto the MRI machine, careful not to get her IV wire tangled in anything as she stepped up.

"Half an hour?" Paige gasped.

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's a slow process," Emily winced, "but I'm gonna be right over on the other side of the glass, and there's little microphones in there so feel free to chat away. I'll be able to hear you and talk back. You're not claustrophobic are you?"

"I don't think so," Paige replied, "though I've never been trapped in a giant camera while wearing a backless gown before, so I'm assuming it's not gonna be the most comfortable experience of my life,"

"Probably not. But I'll be here the whole time. Lay back," she instructed and Paige lay flat on the table, hoping the nerves on her face weren't too visible from above.

"What are you looking for with this test exactly?" she gulped, and Emily put a hand on her arm to sooth her.

"Any number of things," she spoke softly, "a tumor, a bleed, a clot. Anything that could explain the type of pain you've been having. Let's not worry until we have to though. The pain meds seemed to have helped, that's a good sign. One to ten, ten being the worst, how's your pain right now?"

"Uh...like a 4 or 5," Paige replied.

"And what was it when you came in?"

"49," she answered and Emily grinned sympathetically.

"Let's get started. Stay totally still okay? You can talk but other than that, don't move a muscle," she instructed. Paige nodded and blew out a shaky breath, and Emily pushed the button that triggered the table to move backward into the machine.

She made her way through the door behind the glass window and took a seat behind the computer screen, instantly turning on the microphone and addressing Paige.

"Paige, can you hear me? You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," she replied softly, and Emily smiled, and hit a few buttons on the keyboard to begin the scan.

"So how about you tell me about yourself?" Emily asked, instantly greeted by a chuckle from Paige.

"Like what?"

"Like stuff I can't learn from reading your chart. Where are you from, what do you do? What kind of music do you like, when's your birthday, what's your favorite food?"

"Wow, that's a lot of questions," Paige replied, "and I'm pretty sure my birthday should be in my chart. But it's September 18th,"

"Mmm. Indeed that is on your chart, touche. Wait, that's in like three days," Emily deduced and Paige laughed.

"Very good, doctor,"

"So...any special birthday plans? Party with friends? Dinner with family?" she asked.

"Nope, not really," she replied, "I'll be working most of the day. Then I'll probably just pick up some takeout and head home for a movie on the couch,"

Emily frowned at this, but pressed on, deciding to hold off and not pounce at the first chance to ask the girl on a date.

"Where do you work?" she asked instead.

"I work for the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers, actually,"

"The hockey and basketball teams?" Emily asked.

"Yes. I uh, work in their event staff at the stadium. Guest relations, if you want to get technical. Some days I work the ticket office. Other days I get to cater to the rich slobs in the luxury suites. But hey, I get paid to see tons of games so I guess it's not always bad,"

"Not at all, it actually sounds really cool," Emily smiled.

"It's alright. Oh, and uh...I'm from here in Philly originally, I like lots of music but specifically rock music, blue, and my favorite food...is spaghetti and meatballs," she rattled off, "how about you?"

"Hmm," Emily was smiling from ear to ear, "My birthday is May 14th, I'm 3 years into a 5 year surgical residency and once that's done I plan to shift my focus completely to specializing in cardio thoracics. I'm from New York if you want to be technical, I've lived most of my life here but my parents lived in New York for a short time when I was born and after. I'll listen to just about any music, but I do love my 90's pop and R&B forever and always. Oh and, purple...and...chocolate cake," she replied.

"Chocolate cake?" Paige barked a laugh.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Your favorite food in the entire world, is chocolate cake? Not pizza, or tacos, or shrimp scampi or lasagna. Chocolate freakin cake?" she teased.

"Have you ever had a magnificent piece of chocolate cake? The kind that melts in your mouth and tastes like angels made it?" she fired back.

"Can't say I have,"

Paige was grinning like a fool inside the MRI machine, torn between letting the giddiness of Emily's blatant flirtation get the best of her, and remembering to stay completely still and that they were still running a serious test to get a look at her brain. Still, flirting with her young, sexy doctor almost made her forget that she was in pain in the first place.

"Whatever, spaghetti and meatballs. Did you even listen to anything else I said?" Emily feigned offense.

"I did," Paige replied, "and if you tell me you're a New York Rangers fan I'm gonna have to ask for a new doctor,"

"Well lucky for you I didn't take a liking to them when I was an infant," Emily laughed, "I've lived in Philly since I was old enough to know better,"

"Fair enough," Paige smiled, "so do you get this invested in all your patients' personal lives, or?"

"Just the cute ones," Emily smiled.