đđ«.đđ„đĄđđąđđĄđđŠ â§âË part 2 | fluff
â°â†fem reader. reader is alhaithamâs patient (this may be a bit self indulgent hehe). mild flirting. fluff. attempt at comedy, just a drabble ig, i love alhaitham frâ WAH a part 2 ?? masterlist
part 1 | part 2
Unknown Number: Hi. This is Dr. Alhaitham. I received your results. Are you available to come in tomorrow?
Your heart skips a full beat.
Wait. Wait.
You reread the message about eight times, thumb trembling over the screen.
Dr. Alhaitham. Dr. ALHAITHAM.
You never gave him your number. Not directly. The clinic mustâve had it on file from your intake paperwork. Stillâwhy did he text? Shouldnât it have been the nurse? Or the front desk?
Your brain spins in three different directions while your thumbs hesitate, hovering mid-air. What tone do you even take with a man who has seen your bloodwork and your undereye bags?
You: Hi⊠yes, Iâm free. Is everything okay?
You donât expect a reply right away, but the bubbles pop up almost instantlyâlike he was waiting. Watching the clock.
Dr. Alhaitham: Iâd rather explain in person. Itâs nothing urgent. I just⊠want to speak to you myself. Tomorrow at 10?
You stare. Blink. Re-read. âI just⊠want to speak to you myself.â
Butterflies launch a full-scale riot in your stomach. Your cheeks go hot. Youâre squealing internally as your thumbs tap out a response thatâs way too calm for how your heart is behaving.
You: Okay. Iâll be there. Also⊠is this your personal number?
A beat.
The kind of beat where you spiral. Where you consider throwing your phone across the room, just to escape the weight of your own message.
Your face is burning. Why did you ask that? Why did he use it?
The silence stretches until it starts to ache. And thenâping.
Dr. Alhaitham: Yes.
A full-body meltdown ensues.
You collapse back into the couch like a Victorian woman being told her corsetâs been outlawed. He gave you his number. He texted you himself. He wants to talk to you personally.
Tomorrow cannot come fast enough.
The Next MorningâŠ
You show up to the clinic early. Too early. You pretend youâre just organized, but really youâre anxiously clutching your water bottle like itâs a lifeline. You tried to look effortlessâpulled-together, but not obvious. Cute, but not trying too hard. Just⊠normal. Which is laughable, considering the amount of time you spent choosing earrings.
The nurse checks you in with a kind smile. You sit in the waiting room, leg bouncing, rehearsing responses in your head.
Then he appears.
Alhaitham steps out from behind the frosted glass doors. Still in his lab coat, still maddeningly unreadable. But when his eyes find yoursâthereâs a flicker of something. Recognition. Warmth. Something quieter.
âCome in,â he says, stepping aside.
You could swearâswearâthe corner of his mouth twitches, like itâs tempted by a smile.
You follow him in.
The exam room is quiet, neat, humming with soft fluorescent light. You take your seat. He opens your file, but doesnât look at it. His eyes stay on you.
âI didnât want to go through the receptionist this time,â he says, voice quiet. âI thought it might make you anxious.â
You blink. The words take a second to land. âOh. Thatâs⊠kind of considerate.â
âAlso,â he says, finally glancing down, âyour iron levels are low. Youâll need supplements. Iâve written the prescription.â
He slides the slip across the desk like heâs handing you a secret. You take it carefully, like it might crumble.
Silence.
The kind that sits heavy. The kind that means something.
He closes the folder, slow and deliberate. Leans forward just slightly, elbows braced on the desk, fingers laced.
âYou didnât tell me youâd been feeling this way for a while.â
You look away, shoulders curling in slightly. âI didnât want to be dramatic.â
âYou said you were a Victorian woman,â he deadpans.
You smile despite yourself, soft and a little sheepish. âOkay, but thatâs just my personality.â
He watches you. Sharp eyes, steady and assessingâbut not unkind.
Then, gently: âI donât think youâre dramatic.â
You suck in a breath, caught off guard.
âI think youâre⊠overwhelmed. Tired. Maybe not used to being taken seriously.â
Your throat tightens. You bite the inside of your cheek. Something inside you shifts.
âI just treat patients,â he says. âBut⊠I remembered you. More than I expected.â
Your heart slams once, hard. ââŠWhy?â you whisper.
He shrugs, gaze not quite meeting yours. âYou made an impression.â
Your grip tightens on the paper in your lap.
And thenâhis voice drops lower: âIf you feel dizzy again⊠or if anything gets worseâdonât wait. Just message me. Directly.â
You nod, silent.
And as you leaveâhand curling around the doorknob, heart thudding in your chest like itâs trying to break freeâhis hand comes to rest gently on the small of your back.
Warm. Steady. Certain.
You freeze. Just for a breath. His palm lingers there like it belongs, grounding you in the quiet between heartbeats. You swear you feel the heat of it radiating through the fabric of your blouse, straight into your spine.
You try not to melt. Try not to show how much that simple touch undoes you.
Then, just as your breath begins to hitch, he leans in slightly. Not too close. Just enough that his voice slides in low, just above a whisper.
âGo home safely.â
His hand slips awayâslowly, deliberately. The loss of contact is almost startling.
You turn, instinctive, eyes finding his.
And heâs already looking at you.
Not blankly. Not politely. No, his gaze is sharp and unreadable, steady and direct. Thereâs something in itâsomething knowingâthat makes your breath catch and your fingers tighten around the cold metal of the doorknob.
You swallow hard.
You manage to nod. Maybe say âgood bye.â Youâre not sure. Your brainâs short-circuiting.
You take one step out.
Two.
You donât even make it to the end of the hallway before your knees buckle slightly. Not enough to fall. Just enough to feel the ghost of his hand still lingering on your back.
11:41 p.m.
Your room is dim, bathed in the glow of your phone screen. Youâre curled up in bed, overthinking the day in painful HD. You keep replaying every word. Every glance. Every almost-smile.
You havenât messaged him. Even though he told you to.
You want to. But courage, it turns out, is fictional after 10 p.m.
Thenâyour phone lights up.
Dr. Alhaitham: Are you awake?
You sit up so fast you almost concuss yourself on the headboard. Your heart stumbles. Hands fumble.
You: yes?
A pause.
Dr. Alhaitham: Sorry if this is strange. I just remembered something you said the other day.
Your pulse is in your ears. You clutch your phone like it might float away.
You: Which thing? (The Victorian woman part?)
A longer pause. Bubbles come and go.
Dr. Alhaitham: No. The part about collapsing into someoneâs arms. You joked. But I keep thinking about it. Wondering if someoneâs ever really done that for you.
The air leaves your lungs.
The world stills.
This isnât a joke anymore.
You: No one ever has. Why?
A minute passes.
Then:
Dr. Alhaitham: Because I think you deserve to be caught. Even when youâre not falling.
You sit frozen in your bed, the blanket bunched around your waist, the silence loud in your ears. His words wrap around you like warmth. Like something you didnât know you needed.
Then, another message:
Dr. Alhaitham: Sorry. That was unprofessional. Good night.
But you canât stop staring at the one before it.
âBecause I think you deserve to be caught.â
The School Auditorium â 10:07 AM
The lights are too bright. The hum of the overhead fluorescents buzzes against the high ceiling, competing with the chorus of second-graders who are very much not using their indoor voices. Youâre wrangling your chaos crew down the aisleâtwo are arguing about whoâs taller, oneâs asking if astronauts eat soup, and another is trying to lick the back of their own nametag.
Youâre functioning on three hours of sleep, a half-drunk coffee that went cold in your cup holder, and the sheer force of whatever maternal instinct allows a person to stop a glitter spill midair.
You donât notice the man walking onto the stage at first. Not until the noise cuts.
The chatter dies so suddenly itâs eerieâtwenty-five small heads pivoting in unison toward the front like a hive mind has seized them.
You look up.
And your brain short-circuits.
There, standing at the center of the stage, is a man. Clipboard in one hand. Other tucked neatly into the pocket of a lab coat. Heâs tallâreally tallâbuilt like someone who definitely doesnât trip over his own feet, and carrying himself with the kind of effortless confidence that makes you feel like youâve shown up underdressed to your own job.
Heâs calm. Polished. Crisp lines and clean edges. A quiet authority that makes even the most fidgety of your kids fall still.
Alhaitham.
Dr. Alhaitham.
Your doctor.
Your heart leaps to your throat and lodges there.
He scans the room slowly, methodically. Dispassionate and professionalâuntil his eyes land on you.
And pause.
Just for a second.
But itâs enough. Your breath catches. Your stomach does a little somersault, unprompted.
You are suddenly painfully aware of the state youâre in: oversized cardigan, mystery glitter on your left sleeve, your hair pinned back with a pencil because someone borrowed your last claw clip. Thereâs a child gripping your leg like itâs the mast of a sinking ship.
He starts to speakâsomething about germs and handwashing and healthy habitsâbut you donât really hear it. The children do. Theyâre captivated. Spellbound.
Youâre just trying to remember how to breathe.
The talk ends after what feels like a hundred years but also three minutes. You start herding your class toward the exit, one hand on a shoulder, another plucking a crayon from someoneâs mouth.
And then your phone buzzes.
You glance down.
Dr. Alhaitham : You didnât tell me you were a teacher.
You stop mid-step. The world tilts slightly.
You read it again.
You: You didnât tell me you do school tours.
The reply comes so fast you know he had the message half-written already.
Dr.Alhaitham : I donât. I only agreed because the principal is a patient. Didnât expect to see you. (Or twenty-five second graders clinging to your legs.)
A breath escapes youâhalf laugh, half disbelief. Your heartâs still racing, but itâs a little lighter now. Warmer.
You: Yeah well⊠you might have cracked the case. Thatâs why I was always sick. Kid germs are no joke.
You watch the typing bubble appear. Disappear. Appear again.
You can feel the deliberation behind it. Heâs thinking. Rethinking. Overthinking. You know the feeling too well.
Then finallyâ
Dr. Alhaitham : I get it now. All the coughs. The dizziness. The stress. You were holding together an entire classroom by sheer willpower.
You stare at your screen, throat tightening.
Something about the way he says it. The way he sees it.
Then another ping.
Dr. Alhaitham : Youâre⊠kind of incredible, you know. Even with stickers on your pants.
You slap a hand over your mouth to muffle the sound that leaves it. A sound thatâs somewhere between a laugh and a scream.
Because you look downâand yep. There they are.
Two sparkly dinosaur stickers on your thigh.
And suddenly, you donât feel quite so exhausted anymore.
âusagiiâs note
I wish alhaitham was real :(