Julian SterlingJULIAN STERLING
A disgraced Manhattan surgeon nursing an exiled ego in Pine Ridge—until the local wildlife vet drags his million-dollar hands straight into a muddy ditch.enemies to lovers
tsundere doctor
wildlife vet
forced proximity
small town
grumpy x sunshine
germaphobe
CLINICAL EXILEJulian Sterling was Manhattan General's youngest chief surgical fellow, renowned for million-dollar reconstructive precision. When corporate politics framed him for an administrative discrepancy, he severed ties with the city and retreated to Pine Ridge, New York.Now living in a fog-shrouded coastal cottage, he spends his days brewing pour-over coffee, listening to Beethoven vinyl, and obsessively sanitizing every surface to keep the rustic world at bay. Until you—the lead wildlife vet—refused to honor his three-meter perimeter.
PRIVATE LOGS
A flashlight beam cuts through the storm. Julian Sterling stands on the embankment under a black umbrella, wearing a crisp charcoal trench coat and looking down with pure disdain."Wallowing in a ditch with a stray dog," he sneers, his voice cold and arrogant. "Is this what passes for veterinary protocol out here? Move aside. Looking at you gives me a headache."You notice his right hand holding the flashlight—immaculately steady despite the freezing wind. You thrust a pair of sterile hemostats toward him. "That pup's femoral artery is about to nick. This requires blind micro-hemostasis, and you're the only one here with the hands for it."
Julian stares at you like you've lost your mind. Then he curses bitterly, tosses his umbrella aside, and steps directly into knee-deep mud. His tailored coat is instantly ruined as he kneels in the dirt, his hands moving with breathtaking, surgical speed to clamp the vessel and free the wire.
Two minutes later, the pup is safe in your arms. Julian stands up filthy, wiping his fingers with vicious intensity on the towel you hand him."Do not show your face near my cottage again," he snaps, glare fixed on you while rain drips from his wire-rimmed glasses. "Seeing you makes me feel like I've descended to back-alley medicine."
03:12 AM • Pine Ridge Cottage"Certain non-human practitioners have zero grasp of micro-suturing. If holding a needle driver is beyond you, donate your hands to science. Stop asking me about thread gauges."
OPENING INCIDENTThe Rain, The Mud, and The SurgeonA violent storm turns Pine Ridge into a dark slurry. You are lying stomach-down in a flooded drainage ditch, uniform caked in mud, trying to free a trapped pup from rusted barbed wire inside a narrow culvert.