Her Home, His Heart | ✓

☆*✿FORTY-ONE (41)❀*★

♪♪I got a feeling, I feel so strange

Everything about me seems to have changed

Step by step, I got a brand new walk

I even sound sweeter when I talk. ♪♪

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ [Something's got a hold on me] - [Etta James]

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The door screeched as Kian stepped out of his office. The fierce antiseptic smell replaced the calming lavender fragrance he came from. Rather than stop him, the entirety of feeling at home in his workplace urged him on with the graceful ease he was getting accustomed to.

Though, the easy stride only lasted so long as someone rammed him headlong to the side, knocking the wind out of him by a nurse hurrying off to a duty post. With quick reflexes, they caught themselves before any of them could plummet to the ground.

"Oh, I'm..." A light gasp escaped her lips and her eyes went round. She faltered backwards, aiming to put a lot of space between. "D... Dr Lincoln. I apologize. I really didn't mean... I... I wasn't..."

"It's fine," Kian interrupted with an understanding nod that choked her words in her mouth.

"S... s... sir?"

Her shocked state left a sour taste in his mouth, even though it wasn't the first time since he changed up a few things in his life that he got the look from colleagues. It only reminded him of the poor attitude he had adopted over the year and how much of a negative effect it had on people, rather than the positive he thought he was trying to create.

"Just be more careful next time, Nurse Bennet. You could have hurt a patient," he added and walked past her.

She bent her head in further apology, his soft tone not easing her rigidness at all.

Kian took in a deep breath and moved on. The wary sideways glance from his colleagues was going to get some getting used to, but it would not stop him. His strides faltered as his eyes settled on the reason for the change.

Standing in the lobby was none other than Esmé. Though seeing her made his heart jump, it wasn't the reason for the falter in his steps.

Esmé's eyes danced around the lobby. She looked and wasn't seeing what was going on there. Standing there engulfed her with mixed feelings. There was the reminder of the horror she had faced but couldn't remember, but there was also the growth of where she started and where she was at that moment.

"Esmé," Kian called out to her, drawing her attention away from her thoughts to him.

Her face lit up at the sight of him and that made a smile tug on his lips. "Hey."

"Hi," he replied and walked towards her. His eyes scanned hers once he got to her front for any sign of discomfort, but she held her smile in place and he realized she didn't want to talk about it.

He tugged her in for a hug, to which she instantly melted into the comfort it provided, but she couldn't hug him back.

Feeling the load in her hand, Kian pulled back and looked down at her hands, which held two lunch boxes. "You brought me lunch?"

The smile on her face turned timid as she raised her hands up. "Yeah. I ─ thought I could make you something before I head over to work later on."

Kian grinned. "Are you sure it has nothing to do with fattening me up, Ms Black?"