The steadfast clicking of an office computer and fading aroma of Dunkin' coffee gripped Marianne right at the entrance of the residents' shared office. With one big sigh she pushed the door wider, feet being dragged recklessly as she paved her way completely inside.

The person behind the clicking sounds of the overworked keyboard narrowed his glistening eyes closer to the screen whilst previewing whatever it was that he was busy typing.

Marianne settled on the office carpet, watching her best friend as he typed continuously with a few lines furrowing on his forehead. The two of them were joined by a scalpel at the hip. Perhaps as the only American students studying Medicine at Oxford they automatically clicked, generating a beautiful platonic friendship which glued them together for years up until this day.

"Have you heard already?" Marianne concocted, playing with the tips of her newly pink highlighted hair. Not anyone in the hospital had ever seen her natural hair color though she claimed to be a natural blonde and Seth thought she was extra like that.

A single brow immediately shot up in anticipation of new sizzling, juicy steak of gossip floating around the hospital. Seth hummed waiting for his best friend to shoot since she was going to blurt it out whether he had heard or not.

"What?" He probed, not even bothering to abandon his  work.

That was enough fuel to make Marianne jolt up from her lazing posture with a grin too devilry for Seth's fondness.

"If I didn't know you better I'd say you finally got a piece of Dr. Brad." He teased.

"You little sh—" Marianne attempted to launch at Seth who had somehow detected the move before she even dived for his throat, giving him enough time to swiftly dodge.

"Ouch...ahh!" She winced once she landed somewhere not so soft on the desk.

Seth's eyes watered as he burst into a deep laugh. "His name is karma!" he managed in between his fits, drawing a scowl out of Marianne.

Both of them failed to hear the door being clicked shut behind them as they were busy exchanging glares and Seth's laughter still hadn't died down.

"Dr. Stevens may you please file these charts for me?" A familiar voice announced with a slight tone of amusement. It was none other than Dr. Brad himself, speak of the devil.

Dr. Brad was a good looking bachelor who enjoyed staying up late at night with friends for a couple of drinks at a local pub. At thirty five, he had accomplished a name for himself as a respectable neurosurgeon who didn't care much about hospital ass and boobs unlike other doctors who couldn't keep it tucked inside their scrubs.

This whole situation was quite degrading for Marianne and Seth was living for it but for the sake of friendship, he just had to do something.

"There was a rat so our girl Annie here was trying to restraint it." Seth explained but Dr. Brad's frown ticked his heart into a hammering mess for such a pathetic lie he had made.

As if something finally clicked, Dr. Brad gasped. "Rodents? In a hospital? Let me call the exterminator right away."

By now Marianne was a flaming hot Cheeto. "When you're done return the charts specifically to my office, Dr. Stevens?"

"No problem doc, consider it done."

"Good." Dr. Brad finally dropped three folders on the desk then turned to leave.

"You are so paying for lunch today, I saved your burnt ass!" Seth exclaimed as soon as Dr. Brad was out of earshot.

Marianne huffed before snatching the said charts on their overcrowded desk and taking a quick scan through. In the background, Seth was sulking for attention which he then succeeded in obtaining.

"I'm not paying any lunch for you loser! This was your fault in the first place."

Faking a hurt expression, Seth clutched his chest where his heart was to be found. "I guess I should tell Dr. Brad what really happened in here then."

"You will never!" Marianne wagged a finger at Seth who was enjoying this little fiasco way too much. "Okay fine. Lunch is on me." She mumbled a few curses when Seth beamed and started fist pumping the air.

"So what were you going to tell me before—"

Marianne grinned cutting off Seth. "You know Elsie? The redhead who usually runs the nurses station?"

After a little pondering Seth immediately nodded. "The spit-fire." he chuckled at a memory of a senior resident who the nurse had caught shamelessly staring at her boobs in the locker rooms—unfortunately getting rewarded with a ruthless slap across his face.

"Exactly!" Marianne quickly confirmed.

Lowering her voice to whispering decibels, "She filed a sexual harassment case on Dr. Vince three days ago and the guy was fired. There was hardcore evidence on tape, dude had no escape."

"I say well deserved. He didn't have any respect for women or himself and what disgusts me the most he's a married man for God's sake!" Seth couldn't contain his anger which made him lash out. "Why can't people respect their damn wedding vows?"

"Relax cowboy, rumors are saying we now have a new chief of surgery who just came in from Los Angeles. I heard he's really hot and young too."

Seth scoffed. "So typical, people are already soaking panties for this guy." 

"Oh shut up Seth Mickelson. This job is already hard. Taking orders from a sexy boss will at least make it bearable here." 

"He will probably suck anyway." Seth said with a casual shrug making Marianne frown. "

"Can you not spread some negative vibes already?"

"Fine, our new hot boss from LA will make this hospital the face of contemporary medicine. Are you satisfied now, Stevens?"

"You bet. Now that's what I'm talking about!"

. . .

Morning chaos was always a norm at Sullivan Teaching Hospital.

Fired up interns, residents, nurses and attendings rushing down the disinfected hallways with one goal in mind—saving lives. There's always an anomaly though, one of them being Dr. Vince the former chief of surgery staggering toward a nearest exit with a cardboard box filled with his office mundane stuff. 

In this chaotic stampede it's surprising how the medics managed to exchange secret anecdotal gapes amongst themselves followed by a nod. No words required. That was a simple and straight forward 'good morning folks', though in this scenario quizzical glares were only directed towards Dr. Vince who was officially cut loose during his hearing with the board.

Seth was finally done with paper work then he later breezed into morning traffic in the hallway, initiating his morning rounds. His favorite patient was a thirty-nine year old woman who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was listed under Dr. Brad's patients.

She had a beautiful love story which almost resembled a Cinderella type of romance. Seth loved listening to people filled with optimism especially when it came to matters of the heart department where he was not so successful. Seth's love life was non existent. Med school at Oxford didn't exactly leave room for extracurricular activities such as dating not that residency was any better.

However, Maris, always lit up a dimming candle inside him. It made him believe there was someone meant for only him, like soulmates.

"Watch it Mickelson!" Edward, the golden anesthesiologist yelled from his hoverboard causing Seth to instinctively duck inside Maris's room avoiding a nasty collision.

Taking in a deep sigh of relief underneath the doorpost, "No hoverboarding is allowed in the hospital you asshole!" Seth wailed after Ed who was already halfway down the hallway earning himself a few blinking eyes from patients and visitors.

With a shrug Seth quickly adjusted the stethoscope which was now dangling awkwardly around his neck. "Good morning, Maris," he greeted the woman lying in bed surrounded with a Skeleton Raid book collection on her bedside.

Knowing Maris very well, it's possible that she had read all the five copies by the famous William Dirk during her lonely night hours. 

Maris smiled motioning for Seth to shift closer. Doing as he was instructed to, Seth leaned towards Maris who then said, "Good morning to you too Dr. Mickelson."

Today was going to be the big day for Maris. Dr. Brad had already booked an OR and requested Seth to scrub in as his extra pair of hands. They all knew operating Maris in an attempt to remove her tumor was a thin line of threading. She only had fifteen percent of surviving this dangerous surgery but since she had insisted, they were going to try on luck.

Seth smiled at Maris not being able to understand how she was keeping up such a cheery persona at a terrifying moment like this. When he stepped inside the room he was expecting to see Maris drenched in buckets of sweat with her blood pressure shooting for abnormality. 

"Someone's in a good mood." Seth pointed out while he checked on the patient's vitals.

"I finally crossed out everything on my bucket list."

Seth bit the inside walls of his mouth to suppress any form of emotions from surfacing. Crying in front of a patient wouldn't just be unprofessional but also pessimistic. His job was to save life and give hope even if there was none to begin with. Maris was different though, he felt a small pang in his chest which bled for her.

Awkwardly coughing, Seth made himself comfortable by sitting at the edge of Maris's bed. "I'm guessing you finished the Skeleton Raid collection as well?"

"I couldn't go for surgery knowing I still have pending stuff." She chuckled making Seth hitch on a shaky breath.

"It's going to be alright, Dr. Brad will do everything in his power to remove most of that tumor." Seth smiled softly tucking the woman's darker hand into his reassuring one.

Maris' lips sealed into a thin line and chose to remain quiet. It was time for Seth to continue on his way doing his job so he reluctantly sprung up and planted a small kiss on the woman's temple.

With one last glance, Seth pealed the door open getting ready to leave.

"I hope you find a man who deserves you, Sethy. You're a good person, you deserve all the best things this life has to offer." Maris suddenly said bringing Seth to an abrupt halt.

Maris was the only patient Seth had discussed his sexual orientation after she had caught him checking out a cute orthopedics fellow—a solid reason he was continuously blowing off Vera, the orthopedics attending's offer for him to specialize in that department.

"Thank you, Maris." He mumbled not knowing how exactly to respond without being awkward about it before finally departing from the room.

. . .

The rest of the day passed in a blurred vision without any events standing out except for the stale Dr. Vince news that was still spreading.

Back in the residents' locker room there was random chatting as they prepared themselves to leave, making room for those who were taking night shift.

"All good Mickelson?" The unexpected shoulder shove from Ed brought Seth back to life as he was trapped deep in a cobweb of thoughts. Maris' surgery happened to be a complicated one which is exactly what they had anticipated but maybe he was not ready to let go yet.

Seth grudgingly tilted his head, "Sup bro?"

Ed frowned at Seth's unenthusiastic mood but decided not to comment on it. He had pressing issues at the moment and taking Seth in an unnecessary court session wouldn't be only costing him his time, a surgeon was waiting for him in the OR.

"Do you have any idea where Annie is?" Ed prodded, hiding a small brown paper bag behind his back.

Shooting an inquiring brow, Seth leaned lazily on his locker with crossed arms, a knowing smirk ghosting on his face. Ed never hid the fact that he was all down for Marianne since the very first day of her intern year. The man practically kissed the ground she walked on. Unfortunately, he got the worst treatment any guy could ever wish for—being thrown in a dungeon of friendzone.  

"Haven't seen her since lunch hour. What's with the bag anyway?" Seth questioned as he tried to snatch the paperbag away from Ed who was guarding it like the only valuable possession he ever had in his life.

"Easy bro!" Ed deadpanned, his hands clawing deeper on to the bag. "I got her pink lady apples, she loves them right?" For some reason all the confidence in the brunette vanished leaving him sheepish.

Seth laughed. "Has anyone ever told you an apple a day keeps the doctor away?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Make sure she gets this package. I have surgery in like...five!" He announced taking it for a go on his hoverboard leaving Seth scoffing behind him.

Once Ed was gone, Marianne stumbled her way into the locker room mumbling her usual rants, "I hate this freaking job!"

Seth was used to this kind of unproductive behavior but sometimes he did agree. Being a surgeon was not a walk in the park, people died everyday and sometimes there's nothing they could do. Of course they had the skills to save but others couldn't just be saved, like Maris.

"Edward brought you apples, pink lady." Seth informed Marianne whose face immediately glowed like a child who had been promised a jar of candy.

"Aww Teddy." She cooed taking a huge bite on the juice leaking fruit.

"He really likes you, you know?"

Marianne cackled taking another crunch. "He doesn't. We're just good friends that's all."

"Do you like him?" Seth needled yet again making Marianne pause from her current apple harassment.

"Ed? I think we wouldn't work out." Her brows twisted a bit.

"How do you even know that?"

"Some things you just know, okay? Now let's go home or anywhere but here." Marianne quickly changed the subject and got the hint to Seth drop with the pestering.