Karissa walked into the medical facility admiring its newness. William was by her side. They had been given an extra day before reporting to their posts to get settled in with the twins and arrange childcare. That morning, they had met with Rick Hunter who had welcomed them both, and then sent them to the facility to get situated into their new offices and work areas.
Nathan Fletcher immediately greeted them. "Well, welcome to Serenity," he said as he saw them. "How are you both doing?"
Karissa smiled. "All right," she said softly. "And yourself?"
"Doing very well," he replied. "Now lets see about giving you two a tour and then showing you to your offices."
As they took the quick tour and listened to Nathan talk, Karissa's mind was elsewhere. To her previous assignment. To the first day she's met Ryan. She smiled bittersweetly to herself, but William picked up on it, taking her hand for a moment and squeezing it gently. She met his gaze and her smile turned warm.
"And this is the O/R," Nathan said. "As you can tell, there are several surgical rooms, to make sure we can keep up with any emergencies that come up."
After awhile, they stopped in front of a door, near the emergency room. "This is your office," he said to Nathan and pushed the door open. It was pretty standard inside as they walked in to look at it.
"We'll have to brighten up a little," Karissa smiled as she gazed at will, her brown eyes meeting his.
"Yes," he replied with his own grin. "You'll have to help me, of course."
"Of course," she replied.
"Now let me show you to your offices," Nathan said.
"I'll start getting settled in," Will said as he looked at the two. "I want to start reviewing medical charts. I'll come by your office later," he said to Karissa.
"All, right," she said. "I'll see you then."
As Nathan escorted her out, he smiled. "It's good to see you again. I know it's been awhile."
"Yeah," she replied. "It's been a long while it seems."
"Well, a lot has happened to both of us, it seems," he grinned. "I had heard that you and Dr. Hancock were an item before coming here and I have to say I was very happy for you. Well, and him."
She looked at him curious with her gentle smile still in place. "It's something I didn't expect, but... Well, I guess life has a way of changing; who better than me to know that."
"I knew you had feelings for him. You'd mentioned he was the father of your daughter."
"Yeah, and Ryan was the father of my son," she said softly, her smiling fading a bit.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?"
She nodded. "Yes... Very much. I almost didn't want to leave the Ronin," she admitted, "but I ended up realizing it was the best decision for myself, for Will and for my children. But it was a very difficult decision to make."
"I can imagine," he replied as they stopped in front of a walkway, that led to a small comfortable room with couches and soft lightly. Beyond that were a few doors. "This is where you'll be working." He said. "That's your waiting room. The door in the center leads to your office. It had a nice view from the window."
She smiled as she walked to it and opened the door. As she went inside, she noticed the space in the room and the natural light. She needed to add small touches, but all in all she was pleased with it. It would serve her well as Chief Counselor.
"I take it you like the office," Nathan smiled.
She nodded. "It's going to be perfect when I'm done with it."
Nathan smiled. "That's good to hear. Now I should be getting back to my own duties. I still have patients to see."
"By all means," Karissa replied with a smile. "You know, maybe we can get together for dinner this week. The twins have grown a lot since you saw them last."
"I bet they have," he replied, but a smile. "I'd love to. Just let me know when."
"I will," she replied.
Nathan started walking away and then stopped. He turned back to her and said. "I am glad to see that you're living again..."
"One day at a time," she replied.
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