It's not perfect, but it's a cute Christmas post. Slowly getting back into my groove.

Also, just found out my parents adopted another huskey! Happy Christmas to us! And Happy Christmas to all of you!

I sighed quietly as I watched the snow fall outside the window. At least in the new room I was put in was private and had a nice view.

Thanks, Dad.

I used the tongue depressor to scratch the skin under my leg, but growled in anger when it didn't alleviate the irritation. I threw it across the room with a huff and rested my head against the pillow.

"What did the depressor do to you?"

I lifted my head and looked at the nurse that seemed to be the only highlight of my day this week.

"It didn't actually help. If anything, now my leg itches more!" I exclaimed, throwing my head back in anger. Nurse Belikov, or Dimitri as he preferred, smirked as he came into the room.

"Where is it itchy?" he asked.

I gestured to my whole leg that was in a plaster cast. From mid-thigh down to my toes, it was plaster. At least it wasn't that horrifying metal contraption I had seen on t.v. shows. Dimitri shook his head, and I heard him walk towards the bathroom. I heard some rummaging before he came out holding a hairdryer.

"What is that going to do?" I asked. He smirked at me and plugged it in, turning the setting to the coolest and turning it on, angling it where the cast gaped away from the skin.

"Sometimes the air movement can help. I'll also get you some Benadryl to help with the itching," he explained I nodded and rested my head back again, watching him closely. I never would have thought he was a nurse, but he was great with the patients I had heard. He wasn't hard on the eyes either, so that was a plus. He was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. He was tall too, taller than anyone I had ever seen with the most beautiful eyes. It was like looking into melted chocolate with caramel swirled into it.

Really, he should have been a model instead of in the medical field. His appearance and the thick bands of muscle on his arms would have easily qualified him to be one.

Being stuck in the hospital over Christmas was not how I planned on spending my holiday.

"How is it exactly that I broke my femur and need a whole leg cast?" I asked. Dimitri turned the blow dryer off and carefully palpated the skin at the opening of the cast before nodding to himself.

"You had a compounded fracture, and you broke your tibia; the whole leg cast is necessary, so you don't move the bones. We don't want them to heal incorrectly."

"Is it common to break a femur skiing?"

"Yes," he replied and checked my vitals before stopping a nurse who walked by. He asked her for something, but it sounded like gibberish to me, so I assumed it was medical lingo.

He sat down in the chair beside the bed and folded his hands over his stomach.

"You were very distraught when you came in, but it wasn't about the break. You were talking about someone named Adrian?"

I rolled my eyes with a groan.

"My loser, EX-fiancé," I grumbled, "He broke off the engagement, which was over two years because his dad told him he'd cut him off if he married me. Classy guy," I explained as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"And that led to you drinking and then skiing?"

"Yep. I make great choices apparently," I murmured, "But at least I was having fun."

"Up until you slammed into a tree?"

I giggled. "How did you know that it was a tree?"

"The ER smelled like pine the whole time you were in there. We found pines and sap in your hair afterwards," he teased. I smirked and licked my lips.

"Are you doing anything fun for the holidays?"

Dimitri shrugged. He made it look so easy, but my body screamed if I tried to do the simple gesture.

"Fun on a mundane scale, or fun on yours?"

"On a mundane scale."

He shook his head.

"No. My family is in Russia so I'm alone this year. I offered to work the holiday so my coworker could be home with her husband and newborn."

I smiled. "That's kind of you."

Dimitr shrugged again and another nurse stepped into the room, handing him a paper cup they kept medication in.

"Here you do, Doctor."

I felt my smile fall as I looked at him.

"Doctor?"

He nodded as he stood up, poured a glass of water for me, and handed me both cups.

"Yes. I was your surgeon."

"And I've been calling you nurse for the last three days," I said slightly embarrassed as I took the cups.

"Yeah, after you asked me if I was the 'hot nurse who was going to give me a sponge bath' I didn't have the heart to tell you otherwise," he teased. I tried not to choke on the pill in my mouth and felt my face heat up.

"I did not."

"You did, but you were on some pretty heavy duty painkillers, so you're forgiven," he said as he sat back down again. I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

"Don't you have any other patients?"

"Surprisingly no, and I'm on call at the moment. All of my other patients are asleep and I thought you might want some company on Christmas Eve."

I scrunched my brows and made a face.

"It's not Christmas Eve."

"Yes it is," he said, pulling his phone out to show me the date. I looked at the time and felt myself deflate a little.

"What is it? Are you feeling pain?" he asked urgently but I shook my head.

"No. I just realized that my parents really aren't going to come see me for Christmas," I whispered, "They know where I am, my dad is paying for the private room. But we always do our Christmas the night before."

Dimitri frowned slightly. "I'm sorry. Maybe they got delayed by the weather?"

I shrugged and winced.

"It's not the first time they've missed Christmas," I said offhandedly. Dimitri licked his lips as he started to speak, but his phone chimed. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned.

"I'm being paged to the ER. I'll swing by again when I can, okay?"

I nodded and forced a tight smile as he left. Once he stepped out of the room and hit the call button for an actual nurse.

"Yes dear?" the older woman asked.

"I need help to the bathroom," I said as I threw my blankets off my legs.

"Are you still awake?"

I blinked tiredly. I was not quite asleep, but not completely asleep either. I rolled and saw that it was pitch black outside. I licked my dry lips and rolled further to see Dimitri standing in the doorway.

"Yeah," I said thickly, "I was sort of dozing."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said but I shook my head.

"It's fine. I need to get back on a normal sleep schedule," I said but he smirked.

"Your body went through immense trauma. Sleeping is the body's way of healing," he said as he sat down in the previously abandoned chair, setting a cup tray on the table next to me.

"Your dinner?"

"No, I thought you could use some Christmas cheer," he said as he pulled one cup out of the holder and handed it to me. I took the lip off and sniffed it. The sweet and sharp smell of candy canes reached my nose.

"Hot chocolate?"

"Yes, and not the cheap stuff. The good stuff from across the street," he said.

"The only food across the street is a bar," I snickered.

"How did you know that?"

"I used to come visit a friend here my last year of high school. The bartender would let me order food there as long as it was before nine. I used to be obsessed with their onion rings," I said quietly, "He was on the pediatric floor. Bone cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Dimitri said as he set a box on the bed beside my casted leg, flipping the box up.

"Donuts!?" I exclaimed, reaching for one before stilling, "Can I?"

"Of course," he said with a smile, waiting for me to pick one before grabbing one for himself. I smiled softly and leaned back in the bed after moving so I was in an upright position.

"Who was it? The friend you were visiting?"

"Mason Ashford," I said after swallowing a mouthful of donut.

Dimitri nodded and pursed his lips. "I remember him. Actually, I remember his red hair," he said with a small smile, "He used to make me laugh so hard. One night, after we did the amputation to try and prevent the spread, he said that's he'd still run better than the government. I wasn't prepared and coffee came out of my nose."

I snickered and nodded my head.

"I remember that one."

Dimitri smiled and bit into his donut, sighing quietly as he closed his eyes.

"You look exhausted," I mused.

"So do you," he teased, and I rolled my eyes.

"That's because I had surgery three days ago," I pointed out. Dimitri lifted his head and winked before reaching for his to-go cup and taking a sip. I toyed with mine and looked at the snow falling heavier than it was before.

"No girlfriend waiting for you for the holiday?" I asked.

Dimitri smirked.

"No girlfriend," he said, "And I'd ask the same question, but I already know about the loser ex."

I nodded and sighed again, looking at the small digital clock on the wall. It was midnight.

"Merry Christmas, Dimitri," I said softly. He looked at his watch and smiled in kind.

"Merry Christmas, Rose," he said.

One Year Later

I balanced the tray of hot chocolates and the box of donuts carefully as I looked down at my phone. My best friend's husband started working here after his fellowship ended a few months ago. It wasn't the place he wanted to be, but it was his second choice.

Plus, it meant Lissa Dragomir, my best friend, didn't have to leave her job as a teacher here.

Are you sure he's here?

I licked my lips as I stepped into the elevator and jammed the button with my elbow.

Yes, psycho. He's here. He's standing at the desk.

I smiled to myself and sighed quietly as I watched the numbers change on the level indicator. I hadn't been here in almost a year, but I had to say that Dimitri left an impression on me. Enough of one that I came back here.

Once I got to the floor I wanted, I stepped out and backed stepped so I didn't run into a nurse before heading to the main desk. It looked similar to the ICU floor, but not as morbid.

I didn't see Dimitri right away, so I waited for the nurse to finish speaking on the phone.

"Can I help you?" the black-haired nurse asked.

"I'm looking for Dr. Belikov," I said politely, nodding at Christian Ozera as he came down the hall.

"Ou! Donuts," he exclaimed, reaching for the box I set on the counter. I swatted his hand.

"Hands off. Not for you," I stated before looking at the nurse again.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Belikov isn't here today," she said. I frowned and looked at Christan, who also had a frown on his face.

"I just saw him," he said, before tilting his head to the side.

"Hey! Dimitri! There's someone here to see you," Christian hollered, making me wince.

"This is a hospital, you know," I chided but he shrugged.

"Please, half the people on this floor are practically deaf. It's fine. You better save me a donut, or I'm locking you out of the house," he said as he picked up a medical chart from the desk and left. I scoffed and pulled my hat off, running my hand over my hair as I heard Dimitri's voice approach.

The nurse beside me kept eyeing me and I raised my brows, trying to figure out what her issue was when I saw someone move towards me out of the corner of my eye.

"Rose?" Dimitri asked, "Is everything okay? Are you still having recurrent knee pain?"

I smiled at him.

"No. I mean, yes I get the pain, but it's not like it was. That's not why I'm here," I said with a smile, handing him to-go cup, "It's not as good as yours, but the café didn't do a terrible job."

Dimitri looked at the cup and then at me with a smile, taking it.

"Thank you," he said, and I nudged the box towards him.

"I know that this is probably out of line, but I was wondering if you had anyone to spend Christmas with? I thought maybe we could grab a drink?"

"At the bar across the street?"

"With the wicked onion rings," I joked. Dimitri smiled and leaned against the counter.

"I wouldn't mind that. When were you thinking?"

"Well, it might be easier to work around your schedule," I retorted, and he bit his lip for a moment before nodding.

"True. What about Thursday? I'm done at seven?"

"Oh, we have the ortho floor Christmas party that night," the dark-haired nurse pipped up. Dimitri glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and he smiled.

"Thank you, Tasha, but that party is usually for the nursing staff. It makes it awkward when the surgeons show up. Did that once," he said and then looked at me. I smirked and shifted my weight, taking it off my bad leg. When he asked about recurrent pain, he wasn't completely wrong, but I was going to talk to my general physician about it.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyes moving down to my leg.

"I wasn't going to bother you with the knee pain," I explained and he sighed, but it was half-hearted.

"Come with me," he said with a slight chuckle and I awkwardly left the hot chocolate and donuts on the counter before following him to one of the rooms on the floor. He patted the bed and I sat on the edge of it.

"Take off you boot please," he said and I did, toing it off and leaning forward to roll up the leg of my pants.

"It's fine, they're thin enough I can do this," he said and told me to lie back. I did and did as he instructed, doing different movements with my leg while he felt around my incision site.

"Here?" he asked, digging his thumb in and moving down towards my kneecap. I winced and nodded.

"Are you still doing physical therapy?"

"Yeah, not as much as before, but at least once a month and then my stuff at home," I explained. He told me to sit up and I pulled my boot on.

"Have they tried ultrasound therapy?"

"No."

"See if your therapist does it. I think it might help. You have a lot of tension in the muscle above the knee leading up the sides of your thigh. It's most likely the case of some of the pain."

"That's good. I was starting to worry it was going to be a post-break complication," I mused. Dimitri nodded and smiled at me softly.

"I really am happy to see you," he said, "I hate to admit that I thought about a patient long after they were my patient."

I grinned and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Glad to know. I thought about you long after you were my doctor," I teased, "Make sure you get a donut and the nurses don't eat them all on you."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Can't guarantee that, but I can promise they won't get the hot chocolate."

I nodded and smiled at him again.

"I'll see you on Tuesday at seven," I said softly before leaving the room.

I hadn't been at this bar in a long time, but it still looked the exact same. It smelled like stale beer, but it was lively and cozy.

"Another?" the bartender asked, gesturing to the empty beer glass in front of me. I glanced at my watch and nodded.

"Sure. I think he got caught up," I said, reaching for some of the peanuts in the basket. The bartender frowned and poured another beer for me.

"It's Christmas Eve and you've been waiting for this guy for a half hour," the bartender said.

I shrugged. "I don't think he'll stand me up," I said as I picked up the glass. The bartender shrugged and walked away. I licked my lips and looked around the bar, my eyes lingering over the men playing at the billiards table, then to the group of people in the corner.

The door opened behind me, and I tensed as the cold air blew against my back. I glanced at my watch again and reached for my beer when someone sat down next to me.

"I'm so sorry, I got trapped by the nurses for their Christmas party," Dimitri said as he took his coat off, "I'm sorry for being late."

I smiled softly. "It's not a big deal. I'm used to living with a surgeon. Nine times out of ten, Christian is never home when he tells Lissa he will be."

Dimitri scoffed a laugh and nodded, ordering a beer from the bartender when he came by.

"I thought I heard Christian say something like that. You're roommates?"

I shrugged. "Kind of. After my surgery, I didn't have anyone that could come and stay with me. So, Lissa, Christian's wife, let me stay with them. I just haven't found a new place yet. Or a place that doesn't have a million steep stairs and no elevator," I explained, laughing at the end.

Dimitri smirked. "Fatigue?"

"No. But between my physical therapy and my work training, I feel pretty ragged at the end of the day," I explained.

"Oh yes, I forgot that you were a corrections officer," he said. I nodded and clinked my beer against his glass when he received his beer.

"That's right."

Dimitri nodded and took a long drink of his beer before sighing and setting his beer down. I watched his hand flex around the glass, and couldn't help but watch the way the muscles moved. His hands were strong but had a beauty to them. I couldn't imagine that hands like that could take pieces of a broken person and put them back together, but he could.

"Rose?"

"What? Sorry?" I asked, snapping out of my musing.

"I asked how you like being back at work?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not back at my original post. I'm stuck in the office right now. They don't want me to risk getting hurt before I'm completely healed. The guys are a little protective."

Dimitri smirked. "I'm not surprised, you are tiny."

I shook my head. "But I'm mighty," I said with a shrug, "How is your family? Have you gotten a chance to see them since I saw you last?"

Dimitri nodded. "I was able to see them briefly over the summer. My youngest sister had a baby," he explained.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you," he said, picking up the stand-up menu and looking it over, "Want to share an order of onion rings?"

I nodded and leaned on my hand as I watched him order the food.

"Hey, what is up with that nurse? The black-haired one I saw earlier? She told me you weren't there that day."

Dimitri shook his head. "Tasha. She's this close to getting a meeting with HR about inappropriate conduct" he explained, holding his fingers just a breath apart.

I snorted and reached for more peanuts.

"She seems a little…"

"Pretentious," Dimitri supplied and I nodded.

"I guess you could say that," I said as I popped a few nuts in my mouth. Dimitri nodded and turned the conversation to what most would consider safe waters, asking me about my family, my hobbies. It was easy to talk to him, and I realized just how much I liked the sound of his Russian accent.

"Did you end up hearing from that loser ex?"

I snorted. "Yeah. After his father cut him off after he crashed his car because he was drunk. He tried to crawl back, but I was so over the bullshit that I just shut the door in his face. Well, actually, I used my crutches to close the door in his face," I explained, "And then I changed my phone number because he wouldn't stop calling."

"That's a shame."

I shrugged.

"I couldn't imagine being stuck in a marriage like that. He showed me who he was when he had chosen money over someone he claimed he loved. Plus, I feel more alive and free now, than I did before I crashed into that tree."

Dimitri smirked, and I knew that he was smirking at the mental image of me crashing into a tree instead of the topic. During our conversations, we finished the order of onion rings and then moved on to one of the pizzas. It was perfect, but it was nice. Combined with the beer and the atmosphere of the bar, it didn't feel like a first date. It felt more like old friends catching up but there was the underlying current.

"What happened here?" Dimitri asked, lifting my hand that rested on the bartop and turning it. I looked at my wrist and smirked.

"The universe didn't want me to drink a cup of tea last week? I burned it reaching over the kettle like an idiot," I explained. Dimitri pursed his lips for a moment but didn't let go of my hand right away.

"That doesn't look pleasant."

I shrugged, letting my fingers intertwine with his.

"I had Christian check it to make sure I didn't need to go to the hospital. He said that I was lucky I noticed it and had a thin sleeve on. If I hadn't I probably would have needed to."

Dimitri nodded and glanced above the bar where the clock was.

"We've been here a lot longer than I thought," he mused. I looked up too and noticed the time.

"I guess I can say we spent the last two Christmas' together," I mused. Dimitri smiled and nodded.

"At least I can say that I spent it with a beautiful woman," he said softly.

I smiled and felt my cheeks heat up.

"Thank you," I said.

"Merry Christmas, Rose."

"Merry Christmas, Dimitri."