1
how they met
Thea had been at the Pitt for nearly two years.
She’d transferred from Presby to the ER and had spent those first months learning the ropes, earning the respect of her coworkers, and becoming one of the nurses people could depend on when the department descended into chaos.
Bren had never noticed her.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
He was an orthopedic surgeon, known throughout the hospital for his sharp attitude, intimidating presence, and complete lack of patience. Bren didn’t waste words. He didn’t wear his emotions on his face. He walked into a room, assessed the problem, fixed it, and walked out.
Then one afternoon, he came down from Ortho to the Pitt for a consult.
And saw Thea.
She was standing at the nurses’ station, talking to a patient, completely unaware that he’d stopped walking.
She was beautiful.
That was his first thought.
His second was that he’d somehow managed to work in the same hospital with her for two years without knowing she existed.
He said nothing.
His expression didn’t change; he simply turned and walked away to handle the case he was called down for.
A few minutes later, he found Robby.
“Who’s the nurse in the Pitt?”
Robby looked up.
“Which one?”
Bren gestured to her
“Thea?”
A slow grin spread across Robby’s face.
“Thats her name?”
Robby nodded
“How long has she been here?”
“Almost two years.”
Bren’s jaw tightened.
“Two years?”
“That’s what I said.”
“And I’ve never met her?”
“You work in Ortho, Bren. She works in the ER.”
Bren stared at him.
Then, completely deadpan, he asked,
“Have you been hiding her from me?”
Robby laughed.
Bren didn’t.
He simply turned and walked away.
A few days later, Bren finally had a reason to speak to her.
Another orthopedic consult.
When he entered the room, Thea was already beside the patient with the information ready to be shared.
She looked up.
“Dr. Park.”
“Thea.”
Nothing in his expression changed.
But he remembered her from the garage.
Two nights earlier, she’d been walking through the parking garage while digging through her purse for her keys, not looking where she was going.
She’d walked straight into him.
Her purse had slipped from her shoulder, and she’d immediately started apologizing.
“Oh my God. I’m sorry.”
Bren had simply looked down at her.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just apparently incapable of looking where I’m going.”
He’d picked up her keys and handed them to her.
“Thanks for the rescue.”
“Anytime.”
She’d smiled.
He hadn’t.
Not because he hadn’t wanted to.
Because Bren didn’t smile.
Now, standing across from her in the ER, he listened as she presented the patient.
“Sixty-two-year-old male. Fell down three steps approximately an hour ago. Significant swelling and tenderness to the left hip. X-ray shows a displaced femoral neck fracture. He’s unable to bear weight. Neurovascular status is intact.”
Bren’s eyes moved from the patient to her.
“The rest?”
“Blood pressure is elevated, likely pain-related. No anticoagulants. No cardiac history. Labs are already drawn. Hemoglobin is 13.8, creatinine is normal, INR is 1.0. EKG is pending. Last oral intake was noon.”
She stopped.
Bren looked at her.
“Allergies?”
“None.”
“Medications?”
She gave him the list without looking at the chart.
He studied her for a moment.
“You’ve done this before.”
“A few times.”
Her voice was calm.
Confident.
No unnecessary details, no hesitation. She knew the patient, she knew the case, and she knew exactly what he needed to know.
Bren turned back toward the patient.
“Get medical clearance. We’ll take him to the OR.”
Thea nodded.
“I’ll get it started.”
She turned to leave.
Bren watched her for half a second before looking back at the chart.
His face remained completely unreadable, his voice remained flat.
“Good presentation.”
Thea paused and looked back at him, slightly surprised.
“Thank you.”
Then she walked away.
Bren said nothing.
But inside, something had shifted.
The first time he’d seen her, he’d thought she was beautiful.
Now he knew she was intelligent, capable, calm, and exceptionally good at what she did.
That was worse. Much worse.
Because Bren could ignore attraction.
He could control that.
What he couldn’t quite figure out was what to do with the fact that he was beginning to admire her.
And Brendon park didn’t fall for women.
He certainly didn’t fall for women he worked with.
Yet somehow, without changing his expression even once, he was already falling helplessly for Thea.
~~~~
After meeting Thea, Brendon didn’t rush anything.
He watched her.
He learned her habits, the way she handled difficult patients, the way she stayed calm when everyone else was losing their heads, and the little things she did for people without expecting recognition.
The more he learned about her, the harder it became to deny what he felt.
Eventually, after another shift, Brendon caught her as she was leaving.
“Are you busy?”
Thea looked at him. “Why?”
“Would you have dinner with me?”
She blinked.
“Are you asking me out?”
“Yes.”
His expression remained completely unreadable.
She smiled.
“Okay.”
Their first date went better than either of them expected.
One date became another, then another. And Before long, Thea and Brendon had fallen into something neither of them had planned for. What started with his quiet fascination became friendship, then love, and eventually something neither of them could imagine living without.
When Brendon finally proposed, there was nothing extravagant about it.
They were walking along the Allegheny River, talking about nothing important, when he stopped.
Thea looked at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He reached into his pocket.
Her eyes widened.
Brendon took her hand, dropped to one knee, and looked up at her.
“Marry me.”
No long speech.
No audience.
Just Brendon, Thea, the river, and the life they wanted to build together.
She said yes.
They were engaged for a while, enjoying that chapter of their lives before quietly getting married. There was no huge wedding and no need for anything elaborate. It was simple, intimate, and completely them.
Afterward, they left their small apartments behind and bought a house together.
A real home.
The kind with enough bedrooms for the children they hoped to have, a backyard they could picture little feet running through, and a kitchen where Thea imagined making family dinners while Brendon complained about something he secretly loved.
They weren’t just buying a house, they were building a future.
Not long after, Thea became pregnant with their first child.
A baby boy.
When they finally held him for the first time, they named him Callahan Park.
Callahan.
Their first little love, their first piece of the family they’d dreamed about.
And Brendon, who had once been so certain he didn’t need anyone, looked down at his son and realized that everything he’d ever wanted had somehow led him here.
To Thea, to Callahan,to home.
And now Thea is pregnant again. and being superwoman. At least that what Bren dubbed her as.
