Chapter Text
“Dr. Yul-Erdene is ready to see you,” she called out to the person sitting in the waiting room.
The man, Aleksander Morozova his name was as she had read in his file, stood up.
He walked the short distance from the couch to her desk, heading for the door he needed to go through to enter the office standing behind her. She watched as he strode across the room, his long legs carrying him over.
The man was a sight to behold, and she was slightly disappointed when he wasn’t in her line of vision anymore.
With his looks, no wonder she was saddened sh e couldn’t ogle him anymore. That was what she had been do ing for the 20 minutes he had been wai ting. He wanted to see the cardiologist Alina was working as an assistant for. She guessed he was the man she’d had to run all the tests for in the past week.
With his ink-black hair and beautiful sharp features he could stand out in a crowd of thousands of people. Although what held her attention wasn’t the color of his hair or the shape of his face, it was his eyes.
They were the most peculiar shade of gray. It had taken her many minutes to finally realize that his eyes were quartz gray. Trying to decipher the shade of his eyes was only an excuse to stare at him and she knew it.
What struck her as odd was the fact that he was visiting a cardiologist to begin with. He seemed quite healthy, and he was too young to be experiencing heart problems.
Alina had had a fleeting thought, that perhaps he was only doing a check-up, but the tests Dr. Yul-Erdene had her deliver to the nearby hospital were anything but ordinary.
The regular heart related check ups people were advised to perform at least every two to three years consisted of blood pressure and cholesterol tests, and some times when athletes visited, they needed an echocardiography done.
But the tests Aleks –as she called him in her head– had to take indicated a far worse situation.
She pulled her Bluetooth connected headphones down so she could hear what her boss was saying from his office.
“What do you mean doctor ? I’m not sure I am understanding you,” Aleksander’s muffled voice echoed to where she sat.
“It’s quite simple Mr . Morozova, since we received the results that we did, there are some measures you will need to take so as to not worsen your condition. Most importantly, you will need to cut down your glucose ingestion,” her boss replied, in that official tone he always used when he gave instructions to his patients.
She heard a sharp breath intake, and it must have been Aleksander. Oh god, these walls were too thin if she could hear someone breathing in a little louder.
That was something she had discovered long before now. Alina had once been unfortunate enough to not be wearing her headphones when Dr. Yul-Erdene ’s wife had visited some time ago. The woman had spent ten minutes in the room before coming out with a crooked skirt.
“You can’t mea n that I-”
“Yes Mr. Morozova, you can’t eat any type of sweets or any thing that could contain high amounts of sugar.”
There was a moment of silence before Dr. Yul-Erdene continued talking in a small voice.
“I am sorry Aleksander , but your health comes first.”
After that her boss started giving further instructions and a medicine prescription. A second later the door opened and Aleksander walked to the front of her desk handing her a piece of paper.
She took the letter from his hand. They stayed in complete silence as she unlocked her drawer and pulled out a stamp. Making sure all the right info was included in the prescription she marked the paper with the stamp.
She typed down the bill he would need to deliver to his insurance company. She sure hoped he had one, for the tests he had performed were enormously expensive.
She waited a moment and then heard the clear sound of the copy machine printing the invoice. She watched as steam came out of the machine. Alina grabbed the paper and waved her hand over the printer, trying to make the vapor disappear faster.
“Doctor, the printing machine is letting out steam again!” she shouted so her boss could hear her from his office.
“Okay, okay. I will buy you a new one, you don’t have to keep complaining,” he replied as he opened the door and peaked into the room. He turned towards Aleksander who seemed amused by the conversation, “This woman is more demanding than my wife.”
Aleksander gave a small chuckle. She passed the invoice to him, the sound of the door closing behind her. He took both the invoice and the prescription and was about to leave before she called out to him.
“Fruits help.”
“Excuse me?” he inquired confused.
“With the sweet cravings, I mean. Fruits have enough sugar that can fulfill the craving, but not so much that it can be endangering for someone’s health,” she elaborated.
“How would you know I get sweet cravings?” Aleksander asked raising an eyebrow in the process.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with the doc.” And before he could comment she added, “The walls are thin.”
A smirk crossed his lips and she cursed herself for how beautiful arrogance made him look.
“Also you could add pieces of fruit in a bowl of yogurt, it could be a snack or even a small meal for dinner,” she rumbled on. She watched as his smirk grew and an involuntary blush spread to her ears.
“You seem to know a lot about this. You get cravings too?” he asked while he leaned in slightly, effectively t owering over her from across the desk.
“Oh no, not me! My best friend while she was pregnant, she got a lot of cravings and all the sugar wasn’t good for the baby. Her OB/GYN recommended the fruits with yogurt idea. It was a brilliant idea really which is the kind of practical thing we should be taught in med school but no one ever listens and the professors are so close minded,” she explained, shaking her head.
“Well in that case, I will make sure to include that to my next lecture,” he reassured her. It took her a moment to realize what he meant.
“What- Aleksander Morozova as in Professor Morozova? Prodigy Professor Morozova? But you are so young!” she squeaked out in surprise.
“You do know what a prodigy is, right Ms.–” he paused looking around her desk and then making contact with her nameplate. “Right Ms. Starkov?”
“Now you are simply insulting my education,” she huffed.
“But of course not. It was just that your remark was very silly and quite self-evident,” he said, and it was only sincerity she heard in his voice.
“I guess it was, but I was surprised. You are a legend . But isn’t the school you teach three hours from here? ” she wondered raising an eyebrow.
She was fairly positive the school was located a long distance from here, which would make the situation more confusing as to why he would choose to come all this way when there were many cardiologists around his own area.
“Dr. Yul-Erdene was my mentor while I was studying for my Bachelor’s. I have dealt with many health issues in my life and Botkin is aware of my conditions. He was the only one I trusted to deal with my situation. But it’s good to know I have such a beautiful woman among my admirers,” he drawled putting his two hands on the table, supporting his weight on them and leaning in closer.
“I-,” she was left speechless. D id Aleksander just flirt with her?
“I must take my leave, though, I have papers to grade. I have to make sure I am not so close-minded,” he added with a smirk.
Dr. Yul-Erdene walked in again and stopped short once he noticed Aleksander still in the room.
“What are you still doing here, boy? Did my assistant charm you so much you can’t leave her side?” he mused.
“Ms. Starkov here is giving me pointers for my lectures,” Aleksander replied looking at Botkin and then back down to her.
She rolled her eyes, as she heard Dr. Yul-Erdene laugh before grabbing the bottle of water on her desk and retreating back into his room shouting a thank you on his way.
“Well I will make sure to test your suggestion for the sugar cravings. But I must say I think I have found me something else and I want to know whether it’s sweet or not,” Aleksander crooned and looked her up and down.
“I believe you have my number,” he said. He nodded his head in farewell , took his papers and went out the door.
It was half an hour later when she realiz ed what he had been insinuating.