Ch. 9

It had been a long day.

On one side of the on-called room door, Burke was slowly removing his sweat-soaked scrubs after kicking off his shoes under the bunk bed. On the other side of that same door, Cristina was overcome by an odd feeling of incompleteness. She wanted to become whole again. There she was, ready to open the door to a whole new world.

Furrowing his eyebrows as he always did, Burke thought about how bold he was this morning. That didn't stop the click of the doorknob from startling him.

Instinct told him it was something he was waiting for, but he turned to make sure.

There she was, her hand resting on the doorknob, her face clouded with some ambiguity.

He stared at her, without saying a word, without any smile, without any greetings. She's here. I'm not Sheppard. She's not Meredith. Should I, or should I not?

Cristina knew a decision had to be made within that split second. Someone had to take a chance before the magic was gone. As much as she wanted him to make the first move, her fingers couldn't wait any longer. Her wrist turned once, her thumb and index finger met, then her wrist turned once more. Time stopped, and the room became theirs.

So, she got it. Burke hanged his hands on the upper bunk, his head lowered to face the floor. He was running a last minute check in his head to make sure it was right. He hoped he was right.

He isn't asking me to get out like last time when we're in the men's room.The lack of resistance was a sign of acceptance in Cristina's eyes, but a little test of the water wouldn't do any harm.

"Thanks for the coffee." She was looking like a serious looking 5-year-old trying to thank her teacher for taking her to the zoo.

Burke loved the discreetness in Cristina's tone. It was too late for either of them to stop the wheel of love from moving forward. Once the door was opened, the line had to be crossed.

Slowly raising his head, Burke walked closer to the woman he desired, his hand sprang up to play with the curls above her forehead. He had wanted to do that since the day Nurse Fallon died. They were surprisingly soft.

He placed another hand on her, before they were in the perfect position for a passionate kiss that moved the world but stopped the heart. Burke was savoring the spontaneity of hers, the swiftness of her hands that fell perfectly on his neck and face. Shortly after, his delicate surgeon fingers lost control as the loops around her scrubs went loose. The room was becoming too steamy for any voyeur to see through.

Together, Burke and Cristina took a chance in something previously unknown to them—love.