Morgan Brody stood in the hospital waiting room, her stomach in knots, and finished her conversation with the doctor in charge of her father's surgery.
He patted her on the shoulder and walked off, and Morgan carefully sank onto the bench behind her. Hodges, searching quietly, came around the corner and spotted her taking a seat on the bench. He took a deep breath and walked over to where she was sitting. He eased down next to Morgan, and folded his hands, placing them between his knees.
Hodges kept his eyes downcast for a moment, but finally looked up at his friend questioningly.
She shifted in her seat, and without looking up managed, "He's gonna be okay." with an emotional shake in her voice.
Immediately Hodges nodded.
"That's good news." He smiled reassuringly.
She nodded and swallowed.
"I, uh, I thought I lost him."
Hodges glanced away as she continued talking.
"The whole time in the waiting room I kept thinking to myself, If he dies it's my fault.'"
Hodges shook his head and looked at her.
"There's nothing you could have done."
Morgan forced a quick tearful smile and turned her body to face him.
"That's not what I mean." She smiled bitterly. "When I was a kid... I was so angry at him." She laughed a little through her tears, making Hodges wince. "Do you know how many times I prayed that he would get shot?" Her voice cracked at the last word, and another tear rolled down her cheek.
Hodges nodded, the edge of his mouth creeping into a sympathetic smile. He took a breath and looked at her.
"That's not your fault either."
Morgan bit her lip and looked at the ground.
When she glanced up, Hodges was looking at his hands.
She froze and looked at his mouth. Perfectly symmetrical lips, under a deeply carved septum, at the botton of a perfect Roman nose. In that moment, his face was beautiful, and it was too much for her to resist.
Impulsively, Morgan shot forward and stole an intense kiss from Hodges.
Shocked, he slammed his eyes shut and froze on contact. When she pulled off, his eyes were still shut, and he pulled back, blinking.
Her mouth agape, Morgan's eyes were downcast by the time he looked at her.
He blinked a few more times, and then just looked back at his hands. He looked up at her again.
Even red from crying, Morgan was something else. Intense green-blue eyes contrasting skin like a porcelain doll, with rosy red cheeks. All framed by soft blonde hair.
The way the kiss- her lips- had felt... It was unlike anything that David Hodges had encountered.
It was perfect.
And from then on, she was beautiful to him.
And he couldn't get it out of his head.