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The emergency department at Pittsburgh Memorial was complete chaos.
Again.
The cardiac monitor of a patient in trauma room three beeped frantically while a nurse shouted blood pressure values, an intern tripped over a metal tray, and someone in the background demanded a portable ultrasound like it was a matter of life and death.
Because it probably was.
“Santos!” the attending shouted from the other side of the station. “Does the motor vehicle accident patient have a CT scan yet?”
“In progress!” Trinity replied while typing orders into the computer at an absurd speed.
She had been awake for eighteen hours.
There was cold coffee on her scrub jacket.
Her back hurt.
And still…
She smiled like an idiot every time she discreetly looked at the picture of Yolanda on her phone wallpaper.
Dennis appeared beside her with a tired expression.
“I need you to stop smiling at your phone during blue codes. It’s starting to concern me professionally.”
“I’m busy.”
“You’re in love. Different diagnosis.”
Trinity tried to ignore him.
She failed miserably.
Because Dennis was right.
She had been hiding the ring for two weeks.
Two weeks waiting for the perfect moment.
Two weeks feeling like she was going to explode if she didn’t propose to Yolanda soon.
And that was the problem.
She didn’t want something huge.
Nor public.
Nor extravagant.
She wanted something that belonged to them.
Something intimate.
Something real.
The problem was that Yolanda was just as unbearably busy as she was.
Between surgeries, shifts, and seminars, they barely saw each other awake.
“Just do it already,” Dennis said while stealing cafeteria fries from her tray. “You literally look like a patient with emotional chest pain.”
“It needs to be special.”
“Trinity, Yolanda once cried because you brought her chicken nuggets after a thirty-hour shift. That woman would accept your proposal in a parking lot.”
That made Trinity laugh.
Because it was also true.
Before she could answer, her phone vibrated.
Yolanda.
Just seeing her name instantly softened her expression.
Dennis made fake gagging noises.
“I’m gonna throw up from secondhand love.”
Trinity answered while ignoring him.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Yolanda’s tired voice came through the phone.
“Still alive?”
“Technically yes. You?”
“I just finished a six-hour surgery and I think I forgot how legs work.”
“That sounds medically concerning.”
“Come home after your shift.”
There was something strange in Yolanda’s voice.
Softer.
More nervous.
But Trinity was far too in love to analyze it properly.
“Okay. Everything alright?”
A small silence.
“Yeah. I just miss you.”
And Trinity’s heart practically collapsed.
⸻
By the time she finally left the hospital, it was almost eleven at night.
Pittsburgh was damp and cold.
Trinity arrived at the apartment exhausted, messy-haired, and smelling faintly like hospital disinfectant.
But the second she opened the door, she knew something was happening.
The lights were dim.
Small candles glowed around the living room.
And soft music played in the background.
Trinity went completely still.
“…Yola?”
Yolanda appeared from the kitchen wearing comfortable sweatpants, an oversized gray hoodie, and that soft smile that always emotionally destroyed Trinity.
“Hi, Dr. Santos.”
Trinity stared at her in confusion.
“What is all this?”
“Can’t I have a date night with my future wife?”
Trinity’s brain stopped functioning for a full three seconds.
“My what?”
Yolanda instantly blushed.
“Well. I was hoping you would be.”
Trinity felt a violent flip inside her chest.
“Yolanda…”
“Come here.”
The surgical resident took her hand and slowly guided her toward the apartment balcony.
It was cold outside, but thick blankets and warm little lights surrounded the plants Carmen had gifted them months ago.
The city glowed beneath them.
And Trinity started suspecting.
Oh no.
Oh no.
“Yola…”
Yolanda was nervous.
Terribly nervous.
That was the most shocking part of all.
Because Yolanda García never got nervous.
She was the woman who could crack open a chest during an emergency surgery without shaking.
But right now her hands were cold.
“I know this probably should’ve been more elaborate,” Yolanda started, laughing nervously. “Rafa said I should take you to Paris or something ridiculously romantic, but honestly… you’re my favorite place in the world even when we’re sitting together eating cereal after a nightmare shift.”
Tears instantly gathered in Trinity’s eyes.
Damn her.
Yolanda took a deep breath.
“A year ago I was afraid to let someone truly know me. I thought loving someone while working in hospitals would eventually destroy both of us.”
Her eyes shimmered.
“And then you showed up. The most stubborn, exhausted, and beautiful ER resident I’ve ever met.”
Trinity let out a watery laugh.
“Yola…”
“You understand my worst days without explanations. You know how to hold me together when I come home broken from the hospital. You make the world feel less heavy.”
Yolanda’s voice cracked slightly.
“And honestly… I can’t imagine my life without you anymore.”
Then she slipped a hand into the pocket of her hoodie.
And Trinity literally stopped breathing.
“So, Trinity Santos…”
Yolanda got down on one knee.
The entire universe seemed to stop.
“Will you marry me?”
Trinity saw the ring.
Simple.
Elegant.
Perfectly her.
And she immediately started crying.
“Yes!” she blurted through tears before Yolanda could even finish speaking. “Yes, yes, yes, obviously yes, oh my God.”
Yolanda started laughing too, completely emotional.
She slipped the ring onto Trinity’s trembling hand while Trinity continued crying with absolutely no dignity left.
“I thought ER doctors were emotionally tougher,” Yolanda teased.
“Shut up,” Trinity sniffled while hugging her tightly. “I hate you so much.”
“You love me so much.”
“That too.”
They kissed laughing beneath the balcony lights while Pittsburgh continued moving around them.
And Trinity could only think one thing:
Damn it.
Yolanda beat her to it.
⸻
Two days later, Trinity was still offended.
Happily in love.
Engaged.
But offended.
Dennis was sprawled across the couch watching Trinity pace back and forth again.
“I cannot believe she beat me to it.”
“Is this a romantic competition?”
“Yes!”
Dennis pointed accusingly at her.
“You were also planning to propose.”
“Exactly! I had everything planned.”
“Well, now technically you’re just making an emotional counteroffer.”
Trinity ignored the comment.
Because he was right.
She still wanted to ask her.
She knew they were already engaged.
She knew Yolanda had already said everything important.
But Trinity needed to do it too.
She needed Yolanda to know that she had consciously chosen her too.
Forever.
And then she got an idea.
⸻
Yolanda came home from the hospital that night completely exhausted.
Her hair was messy.
Dark circles under her eyes.
And the expression of someone who had threatened interns for twelve consecutive hours.
“Hello, grumpy future wife,” Trinity greeted from the kitchen.
Yolanda smiled automatically.
“Hello, dramatic future wife.”
Something smelled incredible.
Yolanda slowly set down her bag.
“You cooked?”
“Don’t put that much faith in me. Carmen cooked and I just followed instructions without causing fires.”
That made Yolanda laugh.
The table was set only for them.
Nothing extravagant.
Nothing excessive.
Just intimate.
Safe.
Home.
And that already made Yolanda suspicious.
“What did you do?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Why do you assume I did something?”
“Because you look like an emotional criminal setting up a scene.”
Trinity snorted.
“Sit down.”
They ate quietly.
They talked about the hospital.
About Dennis.
About Rafa sending terrible memes to the family group chat.
Yolanda slowly relaxed.
Until Trinity stood up.
“Wait here.”
“That sentence never precedes anything normal.”
Trinity returned seconds later carrying a small black box.
Yolanda’s eyes widened immediately.
“…Trinity.”
“Don’t interrupt me or I’ll lose my nerve and go hide in the bathroom.”
That instantly silenced Yolanda.
Trinity took a deep breath.
God.
Why was this scarier than intubating violent patients?
She knelt in front of Yolanda.
And the surgeon went completely still.
“I know we’re technically already engaged,” Trinity began nervously. “But I need to do this too.”
Yolanda’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Yola… before you, I didn’t know what it felt like to feel at home somewhere. Honestly, I thought I was going to spend my entire life surviving shifts, patients, and terrible days without ever really stopping to live.”
She slowly pulled out the ring.
The same one she had chosen with Carmen.
“And then you appeared and turned my life into something more than survival.”
Yolanda was already crying.
Trinity smiled shakily.
“You are my peace. My safe place. My favorite person even when you correct my differential diagnoses in front of interns.”
That made Yolanda laugh through tears.
“I do it because I love you.”
“I know. And I love you so much that honestly it scares me sometimes.”
Trinity’s voice softened.
“I want to wake up beside you after horrible shifts for the rest of my life. I want to argue with you about what show to watch while we eat reheated dinner. I want to build a family with you. I want every future version of us.”
Trinity took her hand.
“So, Dr. Yolanda García… will you marry me too?”
Yolanda let out a tearful laugh completely emotionally wrecked.
“This is ridiculously unfair,” she whispered. “You already made me cry two days ago.”
“Answer the question.”
“Yes, idiot! Of course yes.”
Trinity slipped the ring onto her finger while both of them laughed and cried at the same time.
Yolanda looked at both hands.
Two rings.
Two proposals.
Two people too deeply in love to wait any longer.
“We are unbearably cheesy,” Yolanda murmured.
“Your fault for ruining my plans first.”
Yolanda kissed her immediately.
Slow.
Deep.
Happy.
⸻
Two days later, Trinity and Yolanda were sprawled on the apartment couch during a video call with Yolanda’s mother.
Carmen held the phone far too close to her face while trying to adjust herself.
“Mom, we can literally only see your forehead,” Yolanda complained.
“Well hold on a second! This thing moves by itself.”
Trinity let out a soft laugh from where she rested against Yolanda’s shoulder.
“Hi, Carmen.”
“My beautiful girl!” Carmen immediately replied with a smile. “Unlike my daughter, you actually have patience with me.”
“Incredible betrayal,” Yolanda muttered.
The conversation continued with jokes, recipes, and Carmen asking for the fifth time when they were giving her grandchildren.
Until Carmen casually mentioned:
“By the way, has that woman shown up again?”
Yolanda’s smile disappeared instantly.
“What woman?”
Trinity tensed slightly.
Carmen also seemed to realize too late what she had said.
A small uncomfortable silence followed.
Yolanda slowly turned toward Trinity.
“Trin?”
Trinity hesitated for a few seconds.
But seeing the immediate concern in Yolanda’s eyes, she sighed softly.
“My biological mother came by a few days ago.”
Yolanda’s entire body tensed immediately.
“What?”
Carmen muttered a quiet curse in Spanish through the video call.
Trinity ended up telling them everything.
The visit.
The money.
The guilt.
The argument.
And finally…
How Carmen had defended her.
Yolanda’s expression slowly shifted from surprise to absolute fury.
“She came here asking you for money?”
“Yola—”
“No. No, wait a second. After everything she did to you?”
Trinity nodded slowly.
Yolanda looked ready to commit emotionally justified felonies.
“I’m going to kill someone.”
“I’ll help,” Carmen added from the phone with complete casualness.
That made Trinity laugh a little.
“My mom already put her in her place first.”
Yolanda looked at Carmen with pride.
“Of course she did.”
Because that was exactly something Carmen García would do.
Trinity lowered her gaze.
“Nobody had ever defended me like that before.”
Carmen’s expression immediately softened.
“Oh, my sweet girl…”
Yolanda felt her heart break a little.
She wrapped Trinity tightly in her arms while Carmen watched them through the screen with watery eyes.
“You’re not alone anymore, love,” Yolanda whispered.
Trinity closed her eyes.
“I know.”
And that was the biggest difference of all.
Before, she survived alone.
Now she had a family.
She had a home.
She had love waiting for her even on the worst days.
And she had Yolanda.
Her future wife.
And honestly…
That made everything else feel survivable.