Aahana Swrup
In ‘Breathless,’ Enrique Román, better known as Quique, is a resident doctor at Joaquin Sorolla Hospital, on an anesthesiologist track. Although the young man has great friendships, particularly with his fellow residents, Biel and May, he has a streak of bad luck in his love life that’s a mile wide. In season 1, he finds himself in an ill-advised romance with a teenager, Oscar, who just so happens to be the troublesome son of Pilar, Sorolla’s Chief of Surgery. Given their dysfunctional dynamic and mutual dependence on substance abuse, that relationship crashes and burns, dead on arrival in season 2. However, it seems fate has other plans for Quique as it sets him up in the path of Jon Balanzetegui, a surgeon at the hospital, who promises to bring a new and exciting kind of trouble to the resident anesthesiologist’s life. That is, if the duo can overcome the various curveballs their work and respective issues throw at them. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Quique and Jon’s Dynamic Has a Rocky Start
Quique and Jon cross paths on the job, meeting each other for the first time in Sorolla’s operating room. The latter is a surgeon who often does freelance plastic surgery work for patients in the afternoons. Since the hospital’s recent privatization and onboarding of Nicolas in a management position, the establishment has been renting out their operating rooms during that window, opening up new employment opportunities for the surgeon. With so many mutual co-workers between them, Jon had naturally heard about Quique, particularly from Rocio. Thus, he finds himself offering the anesthesiologist a spot on their afternoon crew to make a quick buck. Even though the operations themselves are entirely legal and by the book, the resident doctor’s decision to work on them without proper supervision isn’t.
Inevitably, after more than a dozen successful jobs over the course of several weeks, tragedy eventually strikes. A rare complication during one of the afternoon operations puts the patient’s life at risk. As such, the scrutiny around the case brings attention to Quique’s unsupervised presence. In the end, the situation resolves itself without any deaths or lawsuits. Yet, the two doctors find themselves in trouble with Pilar. Consequently, while Jon only gets a mild dressing down and a ban from afternoon usage of the ORs, the residents find a permanent stain on his record alongside extended ER duty. The worst part remains the surgeon’s firm refusal to back Quique up in any way, despite his previous promises of looking out for him. For the same reason, the anesthesiologist convinces himself that Jon is an untrustworthy person, which shapes their dynamic’s future to come.
Quique Grows Closer to Jon After Learning About His Situation
Following the afternoon surgery incident, Quique makes up his mind about Jon, preferring to keep his distance from the other man. Nonetheless, it becomes evident quite quickly that the latter wants to clear the air between them and even get back to their friendlier dynamic. Nevertheless, the resident continues to remain distrustful of the other man. Part of this guarded reaction seemingly stems from the anesthesiologist’s growing crush on the surgeon. His unfortunate dating history, paired with their evident chemistry, pushes Quique to assume the worst of the other man so that he would never have to put himself in a vulnerable position with him. For the same reason, Quique returns to the same pattern after he finds out about Jon’s apparent wife and daughter moments after the surgeon had kissed him.
Quique assumes that Jon must only be using him as an experiment to make his boring life more interesting. Therefore, he begins to keep a distance from him, unwilling to hear the man out despite his real interest in him. Yet, that only lasts for so long, and the two end up back into each other’s orbit after Jon helps him check out the hospital ORs for Aspergillus infection. Their decision to take on this adventure together eventually leads to them hooking up. During this time, Quique learns that the surgeon is actually going through a hellish divorce with his soon-to-be ex-wife, who is looking for any dirt on him so that she can win full custody of their daughter, Lola. His unwillingness to stand up for the resident during the afternoon surgery debacle is a result of this same problem. Once Quique begins to see things from Jon’s perspective, he becomes more empathetic to his situation and also realizes his own unfair treatment of the other man. As such, somewhere between miscommunication and camaraderie, the two end up foraying into the beginnings of an actual relationship.
Quique’s Dangerous Mistake Ruins His Relationship With Jon
Once Quique and Jon actually begin seeing each other romantically, their relationship becomes a lot smoother. The former allows him to trust the other man without constantly being on his guard. In turn, the surgeon seems to be entirely serious about their relationship, which proves to be a new thing for the resident doctor. Given his track record, Quique is more used to self-destructive, chaotic relationships, built on partying together and enabling each other’s bad habits. Therefore, Jon’s inclination toward quite night-ins, as a side effect of his wife’s hawk-like investigation into him, offers a different change of pace. Furthermore, despite his preference for staying unlabeled, in terms of sexuality, he has no problem with staying open and honest about their romance even in the workplace.
As such, things finally begin to look up for Quique’s love life. Nonetheless, this bliss only lasts for so long. A few weeks into their relationship, Jon’s daughter, Lola, is rushed into the ER after she suffers an inexplicable heart attack in his apartment. Despite emotions running high, the surgeon manages to save his daughter’s life with the help of his co-workers. In the aftermath, test results finally return, disclosing the source behind the kid’s near-death experience. As it turns out, she has somehow managed to ingest some ecstasy. Quique and his known partyboy reputation inevitably come forward as the prime suspect. Even though the anesthesiologist has tried to give up on his vices, he realizes a pill or two must have lingered in his clothes that he had left behind in his boyfriend’s house. Thus, in the end, Jon breaks up with Quique, asserting that he does not want the man anywhere near him or his daughter ever again.
Read More: Breathless: Who is Sophie Lafont? Who Plays Her? What is Her New Research About?
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