Thank you to all those who have continued reading. To be honest, after the time it took me to upload the chapter before this one, I kinda thought no one was going to read it, but you guys proved me wrong. So, THANK YOU, and I hope you enjoy this one!

OF LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Usually, Shaun arrived at the hospital hours before Lea did, to begin his rounds, and because Lea's work hours started later than his, but, for the first time since Lea became the head of the IT department, and she moved back in with him, they arrived together.

As they were standing inside the elevator, on their way to their respective work areas, Shaun was looking at the elevator's display indicating the floor number it was on, but his mind was back in med school when, one day at the library, while looking for some books to study, he stumbled upon another student watching porn on his laptop; he wasn't doing anything else, just watching, as if the guy were studying the video or something, which showed a couple doing the deed in some elevator.

"Why would people have sex in elevators? It doesn't even make sense. Is it nice?" Shaun suddenly asked and looked at his girlfriend.

Lea chuckled and looked at him, in a mix of surprise, confusion, and amusement. "Why do you assume I've had sex in an elevator before and would be able to tell you whether it's nice or not?"

"You've had more experiences than I have." Shaun answered with a small shrug. "Have you never had sex in an elevator?"

Lea's eyebrow shot up, then she blushed lightly. "Maybe…" She replied as she looked away from Shaun, so now she was the one staring at the display. "Not really, not the whole thing; I mean, it's not as simple as it may look in movies, assuming that's where you've seen it happen. It's all staged in movies, you know? In real life, it would have to be a tall building, and even then, you'd have to stop the elevator in between floors to give you enough time to do the whole thing, and that's assuming security or maintenance would take a while to get there and kick you out; otherwise, the doors open too fast and more people may come in. You could make out in there, but as soon as the doors open again and more people come in, it's over." She added, then, with a small grin and a teasing tone, she looked at him again and asked, "Would you like to have sex in an elevator someday?"

Shaun looked away and answered her question without further thought. "No, for all the things you said and because it would be unhygienic, and there are cameras." He quickly looked up at the camera placed in one corner of the elevator before the gates opened. "I will meet you later for lunch" He added as he stepped out of the elevator and headed to the resident's locker room, leaving Lea standing in the elevator as the gates closed again.

She huffed amused, then realized that, during her little conversation with her boyfriend, she had missed her floor, so, with a soft groan of frustration, she pressed her floor number again and proceeded to reminisce about the one time she made out with someone in an elevator, but such memory was interrupted when she began wondering what could have made Shaun think about those things that morning. The fact that he was a bit late for work that day because they skipped breakfast to do other things might have had something to do with it.

Lea bit her lower lip and grinned to herself as walked out of the elevator, heading to her office.

By lunchtime, Shaun and Lea were in conversation about their day, until she noticed a group of younger doctors watching them from afar at the cafeteria, which was making her feel somewhat uncomfortable and confused.

"Is it just me, or are those doctors watching us?" She asked, trying to be as subtle as possible while glancing at the group of doctors.

Shaun, on the other hand, wasn't as subtle when he turned his head to properly look at them. "They are the new resident applicants. Park, Claire and I have to evaluate them for Dr. Lim to decide who stays and who goes"

"Oh, right…" Lea nodded softly while feeding herself another fry from her lunch. "Why are they just standing over there, though?"

"Because Park had a video chat with Kellan, and I'm having a real lunch with you"

"Well, yeah, but you can't just have them stand there, waiting for you while you eat and chat with your girlfriend"

"Why?" Shaun casually asked before taking a bite of his Nutella sandwich, and looked at Lea.

"Because you're their boss right now, and part of being a good boss is being a good host. You need to introduce them to people."

In response, Shaun just drank some milk, thinking maybe his girlfriend was right, but had no intentions or desire to introduce the new doctors to anyone close to him just yet. Though, Lea was thinking differently.

"You need to introduce them to people…" She waited a moment for a response, but Shaun continued eating his sandwich. "Like me. Right now, Shaun." She added with a serious tone.

"Okay" He simply said, and turned again to look at the new doctors. "Come here, please"

The resident applicants obeyed, and walked up to Shaun and Lea's table.

"Dr. Allen, Dr. Lundberg, Dr. Guerin, this is my girlfriend Lea. She runs the IT department." Shaun said, introducing them to her.

Lea stood up from her chair and, with a big smile, shook all of their hands. "It's nice to finally meet you all. Please join us." She sat again, and the new doctors awkwardly sat by their table. "Shaun's been telling me all about you, guys."

"I have not" Shaun replied, catching Lea in a white little lie.

"So, how's it going?" Said Lea to the newbies, ignoring her boyfriend's comment. "I hope Shaun's not being too hard on you"

"Nah, he's been great" Said Dr. Guerin. "The case we're observing is really interesting."

"Yes, we're correcting a 17-year-old's tuberous breasts with saline implants, but Dr. Allen told Dr. Andrews that it was unethical, and he down't like it. He got mad" Shaun commented, almost amused at the last part.

"I didn't say it was unethical; I just… I guess I shouldn't have interfered." Dr. Allen argued, and Lea looked between her and Shaun.

"Well, I don't know what a tuberous breast is, but I do think implants are way overrated"

"That's because you don't need any, because your breasts are excellent." Shaun happily overshared, making the moment feel even more awkward for the resident applicants.

But, what would have been awkward for Lea before, now felt completely normal, and she weirdly felt confident enough to even reply. After all, it's said that people in committed relationships, or people who interact with each other for long enough, start picking up habits, mannerisms, behaviors, gestures or even language, from each other…

"Thanks" She said, and smiled at her boyfriend. "See? That's exactly my point." She looked at the younger doctors again. "Mine aren't huge, you know? But every guy who's ever seen them, up close and personal, has been thrilled.

"I definitely was." Shaun replied with a smile. "I am thrilled by every part of your body"

Lea grinned in response, then blushed, suddenly realizing what was going on and becoming aware of the discomfort in the younger doctors' faces.

"Sorry. My bad. Total TMI…" She said apologetically, then cleared her throat.

"I'm not even bothered by your adenoidal voice. Except when you talk to your mom on the phone, but I just put on headphones." Shaun added.

The mood went from awkward to tense. Dr. Allen's eyes widened at Shaun's comment and looked between Lea and him, baffled.

—What?—Lea thought as she looked at her boyfriend again, and her jaw dropped subtly. —Wow…—

"Well, at least you know he'll be a totally honest boss…"

The resident applicants nodded awkwardly, and, after a moment of painfully uncomfortable silence, Lea stood up from her chair.

"It was really nice to meet you all, but sadly, I have to go now. You can find me in the IT department in case you need anything. See you guys around." She smiled at them, picked up her tray, and walked away, leaving the newbies with Shaun as he finished his lunch.

—What the heck was that?— Lea thought, on her way back to her office. And the rest of her day was basically ruined by that little moment at the cafeteria, or rather, by that small comment that her boyfriend probably thought was so innocent.

She spent the rest of the day thinking about it over and over again, while also trying to focus on her work.

She knew Shaun was always brutally honest, and that it usually takes a strong and open-minded person who can take constructive criticism to handle his honesty and not be constantly bothered or offended by it. After all, his honesty was one of the reasons she fell in love with him for, but she couldn't deny that, sometimes, said kind of honesty hurt.

—What does that even mean?— She thought, going over Shaun's words once more.

—Is this some boys will be boys sort of thing?—

—Since when does he even find my voice annoying? I mean, what even is ad…adni…whatever voice?—

—Is this some sort of boobs and ass over everything else?—

—How long has he been holding this for?—

—How can you be with someone whose voice you don't like?—

—Should I change the way I speak?—

Another reason why Lea fell in love with Shaun was the fact that he's different from any of the other men she had dated before, but maybe he wasn't so different after all?

—Men…—

That evening, to Lea's surprise, Shaun, without knocking or anything, opened her office's door and peeked his head in with a simple question, as a result of a comment Dr. Allen made to him during a casual reunion in the break room to get to know the resident applicants better, which raised his attention about the comment he made at the cafeteria earlier that day.

"Are you mad at me?"

Frowning slightly, her eyes moved from the screen of her laptop to him as he stood by the door, then fully opened the door and walked in.

"I said your voice doesn't bother me. It was a compliment."

—Seriously?— She thought.

"That's not what I heard, Shaun. You basically said that you love my breast so much that, with the help of noise-cancelling headphones, you're willing to put up with my annoying voice. As in, you're willing to put up with my annoying voice as long as you can have my boobs."

"Yes" He replied with a nod and a soft smile, almost like thinking I knew you'd get it.

—Is he serious right now?— She thought again, staring at him.

"That's not a compliment" She told him.

"Oh…" He thought pondered for a second. "So you are mad at me, like Dr. Allen said?" He added and looked at her again with concern.

"I'm not mad, Shaun…" She looked back at her laptop. "I'm just busy trying to keep like a billion bots and hacks out of our network…"

"Okay. Do you want to have some tequila STAT? We also have some pizza left."

She subtly rolled her eyes and closed her laptop in one move. "No, I don't want tequila or pizza. I'm gonna home."

"I think you sound mad."

"I'm just…" She said as she picked up her stuff, getting ready to leave. She packed her laptop, then sighed and looked at him as she walked to the door. "I'm upset and… confused, I guess… and I don't think either you or me can do anything about it right now, so you just need to stop trying and… give me a break…"

Lea walked past him and left her office, sighing as she made her way to the elevator.

When she got home, she pulled her phone out and texted her best friend.

"Do you and/or Michael find my voice annoying? Be honest."

When Sarah arrived home after a shift at the hospital, she replied. "lol What? NO! What are you on?"

"Are you sure? Don't lie" Lea replied as soon as she read the message, while also getting into comfier clothes for the night.

"100% Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Never mind"

Lea sighed and sat on the sofa with her laptop to continue working remotely and try to keep her mind off things, but Sarah insisted.

"Are you sure? Everything okay?"

Lea looked at her phone and bit her lip softly, hesitating telling her friend anything, but after a moment, she started a video call with Sarah and told her everything that had happened between her and Shaun that day, which her friend found amusing rather than concerning.

"Stop laughing!" Lea exclaimed, now on a video call with her best friend. "You're not helping…"

"I just can't believe you both were casually talking about your boobs, at the cafeteria, with the other doctors there."

Lea rolled her eyes and blushed, then she covered her face with her hands. "I knowww… It was awkward AF when I realized… But that's not the point. Focus, Sarah!"

"Okay, okay" Sarah chuckled, trying to stop herself from laughing again. She tried to pull a serious face, but her and Lea ended up laughing together.

"Stop!" Lea begged between laughs.

"I'm sorry" Sarah replied, wiping tears from her eyes from laughing too much. "Oh boy… Well, I don't think it's something you should worry about. He's a guy after all, but we have to remember he processes things differently sometimes, or most of the time. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt your feelings or make you feel self-conscious. He said it himself; he thought he was complimenting you, until someone else made him aware that it wasn't the case. You kinda need to cut him some slack too. He doesn't have much dating experience; he's still learning things about girls and other stuff on the march, you know? I don't know about you or other people, but I wouldn't take him as the typical guy who only thinks about boobs and butts."

Lea nodded and sighed. "Am I an idiot for letting that upset me?"

"You're not an idiot. He touched a nerve and it made you feel something, and that's okay."

In the morning, Lea woke up alone in bed and stared at Shaun's pillow for a moment as she just laid there, thinking about him and missing him.

Shaun didn't get back home because he was on-call for the night at the hospital, but he spent part of his time there asking those close to him for advice on his relationship issues.

Although Lea was calmer and had a clearer head that day, she still felt somewhat conflicted about the events of the previous day, but she also just wanted things between her and Shaun to be okay.

So the day went by, but neither Shaun nor Lea heard from each other all day. On one hand, Shaun was busy with his case, and on the other, Lea was not only busy with work but also didn't know what to say to Shaun when she saw him again. Her mind was debating on whether she should apologize for the way she reacted to Shaun accidentally offending her, or if they should just move on and forget about everything.

That evening, she packed her laptop and other things, getting ready to go home, but she didn't know if Shaun would be staying another night at the hospital, so, instead of texting him to ask, she walked out of her office with the intention of finding him, but, to her surprise, he was walking down the hall to her office, to talk to her.

Still dressed in scrubs, Shaun met Lea in the middle of the hall; she shyly looked up at him, and his eyes met hers.

"I… think I'm sorry." Shaun expressed after a second.

Lea stood there quietly, looking at him and letting him talk.

"Dr. Guerin said I should never say anything that might sound negative to a girlfriend. And Dr. Glassman said total honesty is a high-risk procedure with a girlfriend. He also said that it's better to show my love than to try to explain it. But I want to be totally honest with you." He added, and Lea nodded subtly as she listened. "I don't like your body because it's excellent. I like it because it's yours. And don't hate your voice. I actually like hearing you talk, because when I hear your voice, especially when I've had a difficult day, I find it comforting."

Lea let out a small sigh of relief, still looking at him, then she bit her lip and shook her head, closing her eyes for a second and moving her hand to her face to rub her fingers against her forehead.

"I'm sorry too." She looked at him again. "It was the first time, well, actually no, it wasn't the first time you said something that—anyway—what I want to say is, it took me by surprise to hear you say something like that, in front of the other residents, and especially after the previous comments you made. It was quite anticlimactic. But we're not perfect. It's almost impossible to like absolutely everything about someone, whether you're dating them or not, you know? It just made me feel self-conscious. It made me wonder if anyone else found my voice annoying too, and it made me wonder why you would be with me if you didn't like my voice, which now I think was dumb… I may have overreacted yesterday, which it may or may not be common coming from me." She muttered the last sentence, then added. "And don't get me wrong, I still love your brutal honesty; it just... sometimes it catches me off guard." She finished with a small nod, almost to herself, and looked at him, subconsciously holding her breath, as she waited for his response.

Shaun also nodded softly, and their eyes met again. "I'd like to hug you now. Can I?"

Lea, relived again, let out the air she was holding, and nodded once more. "I'd like that"

Shaun moved closer and bent down enough so she could rest her chin on his shoulder as they wrapped their arms around each other in a firm but loving hug.

"I love you" Shaun added while they hugged.

"I love you too" Lea mumbled, letting all her previous worries fade away as they shared that moment. Then she pulled back, but only enough to then press her lips against his in a tender kiss until both finally broke the kiss and the hug, and looked at each other again.

"Are you staying here for the night again?" She asked.

"No, the case is over, but Lim wants to meet me, Claire, and Park, in her office, to talk about the resident applicants. Are you going home?"

Lea shook her head slightly. "It just occurred to me that we could go out for dinner? If you're not too tired. Or I can just wait for you, then we go home, order something and watch a movie?"

"I'd like that." Shaun said with a nod and a smile.

"I'll meet you in the lobby then" Lea replied, smiling too.

"Okay" Said Shaun, then turned around and walked away to go meet her boss and his peers.

Several days later…

Lea was in bed, reading some romance novel that some nurse at the hospital had recommended her, and she was getting ideas from it, but her boyfriend had his nose buried in the books he had brought from the public library, hours earlier.

Ever since the first-year residents were picked, and they started their first year at the hospital, 4th year residents were supposed to become their mentors and supervise them, but Shaun was struggling with pretty much everything that implied, because he liked control over most things in his life, especially at work, and having messy and inexperienced doctors under his charge, was proving to be a very stressful and complicated challenge for Shaun, because he didn't know how to teach without letting his perfectionism take over, and even thought Lea and others gave him some advice, he was still struggling due to his ASD.

"Are you coming to bed anytime soon?" Lea asked after she got off the bed and walked out of the bedroom to where Shaun was.

"Even if I do, I can't sleep. I haven't been able to sleep well because Lim keeps calling me out on my lack of teaching and supervising skills, so I need to figure out how to do it better."

"That's a lot of books…" She said, looking at all the books that were spread over the counter. "Maybe you need something to help you sleep… My mom has like 18 remedies to help someone sleep, some of them are actual prescriptions… How many of these are you planning to read tonight, though?"

"Just the relevant sections of each." Shaun answered and continued taking notes.

"Tech bros are always watching TED Talks on leadership; I've watched a few myself. That could be quicker than all those books, you know?"

After thinking about it briefly, Shaun closed the book he was reading and grabbed his laptop, then opened it.

"Speaking of books. I was reading mine in the bedroom, and it reminded me of something: We haven't been on a date in a while, so, how about we have one, say in a few days?

Shaun left what he was doing, and looked at her.

"Why would we need one? We're in a relationship and living together already?"

Lea rose an eyebrow. "Well, to begin with, it'll be Valentine's Day in a couple of days. Secondly, it will be our first Valentine's Day. And lastly but very important, dates aren't only for those who are wooing each other and don't live together yet. I think even married couples should go on dates to keep the spark alive… Also, I'm not a big fan of all the marketing and stuff that surrounds Valentine's Day, but I think it could be fun since it's our first one." She smiled at him, feeling hopeful.

"I'll schedule a date night for Valentine's Day, then." Shaun replied with a soft smile.

"Great. Think of something for us to do." She smiled too, then turned around and walked back to the bedroom, but then she stopped midway, turned around again, and looked at Shaun as he was facing his laptop, looking for TED Talk videos on leadership.

"You know? There's actually one thing that helps most people sleep, and my mom never mentioned…" Lea added, then turned back around and walked into their bedroom, grinning to herself.

—Planted the seed, now let's see if it grows…— She thought, still grinning, and got back in bed.

Not even two minutes had passed when Shaun was walking into the bedroom, tugging at his t-shirt, ready to take it off.

Lea looked at him and couldn't help but laugh softly, then she opened her arms to receive him as he leaned over her to kiss her.

The rest of the night was a session of horizontal dancing that left them both sleeping like babies.

On the morning of Valentine's Day, Shaun woke up first, as usual, and did all his morning routine, but, ever since Lea moved into the apartment for the holidays, he added to his routine the habit of preparing breakfast for both; unless it was his day off, her day off, or he had been on-call, on those days, Lea was in charge of breakfast. This time, though, Shaun prepared a slightly more special meal; after all, Lea was right, it was his first Valentine's Day with her—in fact, it was his very first Valentine's Day celebrating with anyone. Needless to say, he was excited. So excited that he had been asking people at the hospital what were good activities for a Valentine's Day date.

By the time Lea woke up, there was a pancake board on the dining table that he made following a YouTube tutorial; with heart-shaped strawberries, sliced bananas, blueberries, strips of extra crispy bacon, and a bouquet of roses he ordered the day from a local flower shop that arrived before she woke up.

"Oh, it smells so good." Lea said, walking out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes and still in her pajamas.

"Happy Valentine's Day" Shaun said, from the kitchen as he took off the apron he was wearing.

"Aww… Shaunie!" She exclaimed and grinned widely as she looked at Shaun's creation on the dining table. "I love you." She reached out for him as he walked towards her, then she pushed herself up on her tip toes to peck his lips. "I'm sorry, I haven't brushed my teeth." She added, pulling back from him, slightly embarrassed.

Shaun nodded in response. "You should."

Lea snorted. "Charming as always…" She teased him. "This is amazing, Shaun. Thank you!"

"Are you staying around to eat breakfast with me?"

"Yes, I am trusting the new residents and staying away like Dr. Lim told me to. I actually don't trust them, but I am acting like I do" He nodded.

"Interesting; delegating already, huh?"

"Yes"

"Awesome." She smiled up at him. "I'm gonna go do my thing real quick so we can have breakfast, okay?"

"Okay" Shaun nodded again and smiled, too.

Lea happily skipped her way into the bathroom and Shaun waited for her by the dining table, checking messages on his phone, then, when she came back out, they ate breakfast and chatted about their plans for the night.

Dinner at one of Lea's favorite food trucks that just happened to be serving again since the lockdown ended, and a walk by the park, was the plan.

"You're such a good gift giver, you know?" Lea said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, after finishing her food, then she looked at him.

Shaun nodded slightly and smiled softly as he, too, wiped his mouth while sitting next to her.

"How about I give you your gift now?" She asked in a somewhat seductive tone and rested her hand on his thigh.

"Ohh…!" Shaun let out, immediately getting what Lea meant.

"Yeah?" Lea grinned and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Oh…" He kissed her back and muttered. "I'm going to be late, though."

"It's Valentine's Day, babe…I'll drive you to the hospital; don't worry." Lea muttered and continued kissing him, then began to unbutton his shirt.

"Okay…" Said Shaun, giving up before his girlfriend's moves and words.

"Do you know what you're going to say about being late?" Lea asked as she drove to the hospital.

"The truth; why would I lie?" Shaun replied, looking out with a smile on his face.

Lea chuckled, looking at him briefly before looking back at the road.

"About that… I don't mind us talking about it, but I think maybe we should keep certain things between us, as in, we need to tone down the oversharing at work, especially around the new residents. Like, one thing is talking about it with friends, and another with those who are just co-workers; do you know what I mean? They looked so uncomfortable last time; I didn't even realize until it was too late… Friends might not mind because they know us, but others might find it inappropriate. What do you think?" She looked at him quickly again.

"Okay" Shaun said with a nod.

"Okay" Lea mumbled and smiled as she kept driving.

In the evening, Shaun and Lea were at Lea's favorite food truck, getting dinner.

"Are you sure you don't want some sauce on yours?" Lea asked.

"No." Shaun shook his head. "You shouldn't get a lot either, remember what happened last time…"

Lea blushed, letting out a giggle, and rolled her eyes. "Fineee…" She said and looked back at the guy who was taking their order. "Mine's fine the way you make it."

"Alright." Said the guy, then Lea paid.

Minutes later, they got their food and moved to sit at one of the tables near the truck.

"I love this." Lea said with a smile as she sat on her chair. "I really needed it, you know? We updated the hospital's system yesterday and it went bananas. I've been flooded with complaints. It's been a nightmare."

"Mmh…" Shaun let out, picking at his food.

"So, are the leadership books and videos paying off?" Lea asked before taking a bite of her food.

"Yes." He simply answered.

"Tell me more." Lea said and looked at him expectantly as she ate.

"One of my patients developed a secondary aneurysm. Now I need to find a surgical fix as soon as possible, or he'll probably die."

Lea stopped eating mid-bite and looked at him in shock.

"Uhm…shouldn't you be at the hospital, then?" She asked.

"Yes, but I'm here right now."

"I know, but—I mean, if you needed to stay, you could have told me. You should go back to the hospital."

"No, we made plans for tonight, and here we are, enjoying our first Valentine's Day together."

"Shaunie…" Lea moved her hand to hold his. "Someone else needs you… Your patient's life is more important than this right now."

"It's a hospital. There's always filled with sick people needing doctors and nurses, which is why there's more than one doctor and nurse at all times."

"I know, but they're not you… I don't mean to belittle others intelligence or capabilities, but this is your patient… Will someone need you to come up with a way to save their life tomorrow?"

"Maybe." Shaun replied, and Lea raised an eyebrow. "But probably not tomorrow" He added, then ate some of his food.

Lea moved her hand away and sighed, then got up from her chair. "I'm canceling this date…"

Shaun looked up at her. "That's rude. It's our first Valentine's Day."

"Oh well… there will be others." Lea shrugged.

"But…"

"I'll take you back to the hospital." Lea interrupted him, then picked up her plate and her drink.

"Other Valentine's Days won't be our first anymore."

"Valentine's Day is mainly just a manufactured and overhyped holiday, babe… The things people do on this day, they should do them every other day in their relationships, not just when the market tells them it's time to be loving and take their significant other out for dinner or something else… We'll have plenty of time to go on more dates, cook each other a beautiful breakfast, buy flowers, make love, etc. It doesn't have to be only on Valentine's Day."

Shaun just stared at her, taking her words into consideration.

"I have tomorrow off. We can do something tomorrow if you want and can." Lea added.

"Okay…" Shaun said in a softly and got up form his chair, picking up his stuff.

Lea moved closer, leaned up to peck his lips, and muttered "I love you."

"I love you too" Shaun replied and kissed her again.

"What will you do while I'm at the hospital?" Shaun asked once they were back in The Striped Tomato.

"I'll go home and chill… Nah, I'll probably work from home a bit, or maybe I'll just read some."

Shaun nodded slightly.

"Will you think of me?" Lea teased him.

"Probably not. I have to think about my patient."

"Ouch…" Lea chuckled as she began driving.

On their way back to the hospital, Shaun got a message from one of the new residents.

"They're taking my patient into the OR for an emergency surgery. Drive. Drive faster, Lea."

"Crap… Okay, I'll do what I can." Lea said, anxiously looking at both sides of the road, trying to come up with a better route to get to the hospital, then she turned right on a street.

In record time and without breaking any rules or laws that could make Shaun even more anxious, they arrived at the hospital, and without a word, Shaun got out of the car and ran inside as fast as he could.

Once Shaun was out of sight, Lea let go of the wheel, which she had been gripping tightly, and took a deep breath, then drove back home, hoping for the surgery to go well and for Shaun's patient to recover.

At home, Lea put what they were eating in the fridge, then changed her clothes, and went to the bedroom to continue reading her book.

A few hours went by, and, at first, she couldn't fall asleep, but then, as she was starting to doze off, she heard key noises by the door, and she knew it was Shaun.

He walked in quietly, hung his backpack by the door, and kicked off his shoes, then walked to the bedroom.

Lea put her book back on the nightstand and looked at Shaun as he entered the room. It took her no time to see the sadness in his eyes, knowing then, that things hadn't gone well at all, and that probably the worst-case scenario had become reality.

He laid down right next to her, facing the ceiling, and locked his arm with hers, sliding his hand into hers, which she responded by intwining her fingers with his, followed by rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb in a soothing way.

"I'm glad you're here with me." Shaun said.

"So am I." Lea replied.

He let go of her hand and opened his arms so she could snuggle by his side, which she gladly did, because she treasured those moments, but she knew that this time, it wasn't for her pleasure or benefit; it was because he needed the closeness, the contact, the warmth, of someone there supporting him.

Sometimes it was good for him to talk things out, but after the pandemic, Lea knew that sometimes it was best to not ask anything and just be there for him, giving him hope and showing him that everything would be okay.

"I love you." Shaun said, closing his eyes.

"I love you too, Shaunie." Lea replied, closing her eyes as well.

It may not have been the best Valentine's Day, but they had each other, and that's all that mattered.