Her iPhone pulsed on silent on the bedside table. Although she was buried under doona's and pillows, her left eye opened begrudgingly to look at the glowing device in the darkened room.

It can be four o'clock already surely?

Her eye focused as the phone persisted.

Yep, it's four o'clock.

Crap…

She lifted her head and let out a sigh. Last day blues she decided as she moved the pillow aside and swung herself up, pushing her blonde hair off her face while letting out a yawn. The phone stopped pulsing as she picked it up, switching off the alarm before tossing it back onto the bedside table. She smiled at the memory of the picture she used as her home screen before shaking herself from the reverie and heading to the bathroom.

She turned the faucets for the hot water on as she disrobed, throwing her night shirt onto the clothes hamper with the rest of her clothes patiently waiting for the washing machine, briefly catching a look at herself before jumping into the shower.

The water felt divine as it ran over her, taking away the cold of the night and easing the stiffness in her neck as she worked the suds. Ten minutes later she was done, dressed into her work clothes and starting the coffee machine for her dose of motivation.

She had a cursory scan of her Facebook, liking a few friend's comments and updates and frowning at others. Some of the things that people in her contact list posted made her truly wonder some days. With a shake of her head, she placed her coffee cup in the sink, before grabbing her backpack, keys and coat before heading out the door for her journey to work.

Fighting off the chill as walked the two blocks down to the First Avenue subway, swiping her MetroCard after walking down the stairs. A short wait, and the underground train finally arrived, its doors opening greeting her with both a little warmth and shelter. She sat deep in thought and forty-five minutes later she re-emerged uptown at 168th St, wide awake and walking down Broadway before entered the main entrance of the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

She looked at her phone one more time, the home screen returning her to a time where things were different, when she was nearly eighteen and knowing for the first time in her life that everything would work out.

And for Maya Hunter, twenty-eight years of age, Paediatric Trauma Physician it nearly had.

Except for that one thing that still made her ache. That picture.

Maya swiped herself in, and headed to the locker rooms to stash her backpack away.

"Morning Maya," smiled a dark-skinned man in scrubs as he swung his stethoscope over his neck. His accent identifying his country of birth easily and it was an accent that Maya was hearing with regularity. Mandray Roberts was in his early thirties and stood well at six-foot-tall, hailing from Twickenham, just south of London. He had been for the last two years trying endlessly to woo and cajole Maya to a date, but he had been rejected each time. Sometimes it had been a gracious deflection, other times it was a flat-out knock back with a combination Maya stare down; quite the feat for someone twelve inches shorter than him.

"Good mornin' guv'nur," replied Maya channelling her vintage sarcasm as she opened the combination to her locker. She so was not in the mood for this man today. It had been a long tour this week, working seven days straight before earning her four days off. A lot of sick and injured children had passed through the doors of the Emergency Room and she was glad today was her last day before her well-earned days off. She jammed her bag into the locker before pocketing her eye light, trauma shears and other tools she carried before finally slinging her stethoscope over her neck as Mandray had. She collected her phone, sneaking one more look at its home screen before pocketing it and closing the locker; revealing a earnest Mandray standing there.

"What ?!" she intoned, neither inviting or wanting an answer as she adjusted her scrubs.

The Englishman shook his head before walking past her to the locker room door. He stopped before opening the door, turning around to look at the diminutive blonde doctor.

"Maya…" he began, searching for the words he wanted. "You've been doing that for weeks; staring at that picture."

He paused to make sure no one was around before he continued.

"If he has caught your mind and your thoughts, then maybe you should follow through and seek him out."

Maya turned and looked at him with both shock and annoyance. Shocked that someone who pestered and badgered her for a date relentlessly had her pegged so well, and annoyed that he was right.

Damn him.

"I know that's why you won't accept a date from me, or the myriad of other doctors, firefighters, detectives and every other guy who sees you and is captivated by you."

She smiled on the outside at the underhanded compliment as she leaned on her locker, but grimaced internally at his statement. Yes, she had been propositioned by a lot of men that she had met through her job. Some she let in, purely for physical comfort and contact before she pushed them away, her heart empty and saddened as a result. Taking men into her bed didn't fill the ache and desire her heart craved. She shrugged to deflect his words.

"Maybe.."

Mandray smirked before he left, the door closing on itself.

"No maybe Doctor Hunter. Definitely."