Archive of Our Own

Work Text

Audrey Lim walked quickly into the office of St. Bonaventure Hospital’s president, Marcus Andrews. She was headed out after her long shift when he called her to his office. All Audrey had wanted to do was go for a long ride on her Ducati.The last nine weeks had been rough for her. First, she and Neil Melendez had officially broken up. Though the hospital grapevine had it down as months prior. They broke up for real when after their weekend getaway Neil had again accused her of supporting him without question because of their relationship. When the patient had a massive heart attack and died, Neil again blamed her. Audrey couldn’t take it. She broke up with him. Melendez lashed out at her repeatedly. He and Claire Browne had spent an insane amount of time together again. Audrey tried to again warn him, but Neil called her jealous among other things. She just stopped talking to him.Two weeks later Melendez nearly died from injuries sustained in an earthquake. Lim had gotten him through the first surgery. The former couple talked a little bit before his condition started to deteriorate. Lim felt like they were making a connection again. That changed when she heard Neil tell resident, Claire Browne that he loved her. The trauma surgeon was crushed, but she didn’t have time to process her feelings. Neil’s condition started to rapidly decline again. They called in a specialist for the second surgery.While he was in his second surgery Audrey had called his parents. They always hated her, despite Neil telling her that they didn’t. She told them that she had booked them a flight and a nearby hotel. Lim also told them that she would be at the airport to pick them up. Despite how much chaos was going on at the hospital, Lim kept her word. She brought Neil’s parents to the hospital just as the second surgery had finished.Audrey Lim had done everything to make sure that Victor and Rosa Melendez had everything they needed while they were at their son’s bedside. She also made sure that everything was taken care of for Neil’s patients while still running the surgical teams and emergency department.Audrey had done everything to make sure that Neil Melendez had nothing to worry about while he recovered. After eight days of being in the hospital, Melendez was released. Last Audrey had heard Neil had gone back to San Antonio. They expected him back to work soon.“Alright Marcus, I’m here. What could you possibly want now? I was sitting on my bike when you called. I’m exhausted and I want to go home.” Audrey Lim grumbled as she sat in a chair in front of the plastic surgeon’s desk.Marcus Andrews rolled his eyes. Though he knew that Lim hadn’t had much time off since Neil Melendez had been hurt, it was her attitude that he was annoyed with. He leaned back in his chair and said, “As you are aware the hospital was to send you and Shaun Murphy to the new emergency clinic opening near Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. You will be filling in until their full time trauma surgeon starts a week later.”Lim nodded her head, “We have been over this. Shaun and I fly up to Portland. We grab the rental and drive out to the clinic. Get them established. When their trauma surgeon comes, I train with them for a few days. Then Shaun and I drive back to Portland, hop a plane and fly home.” She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean was?”“You are still going. Except it will not be you and Shaun. It will be you and Claire Browne.” Marcus informed the tired surgeon, “Shaun is accompanying Lea to a funeral for a cousin who passed away. They left an hour ago.”Marcus Andrews knew some of what had happened between Lim and Melendez. He had heard rumors about how Claire had fit into everything. He knew that telling Audrey that she would be traveling with the younger woman would be risky for him. Marcus was prepared for a fight. He was not prepared for the non reaction. There was no flash of anger. There was no yelling either.Instead Lim just told him okay. She thanked him, stood up and left his office. After sitting in his office stunned by what had happened, Marcus stood up and stepped out to the waiting area of his office. He saw Claire sitting in a chair waiting. She looked expectantly at him and Andrews waved her in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eight days later Morgan Reznick stood beside Alex Park as the rode the elevator at work.“I talked with Claire again this morning.” The blonde resident told her colleague.Park nodded his head, “I talked to her a few days ago. How are they doing?”Morgan sighed, “Claire said that after a week of not seeing much of Dr. Lim, they actually worked a surgery together. She also said that they should be back here around eleven thirty tomorrow morning.”As the elevator stopped Park added, “At least they will get in tomorrow. There’s two separate storms hitting the west coast starting tomorrow night.”The two got off the elevator and headed for their meeting with Gladsman and Andrews. When they arrived in the meeting room they saw Shaun Murphy, Dalisay Villanueva and Deana Petringa all sitting at the conference table. The two residents joined their colleagues.After later Aaron Glassman and Marcus Andrews entered the room. Everyone else was surprised when the two men were followed in by Neil Melendez.The group took a few minutes to welcome the doctor back, and then they got started on their long meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning Audrey Lim was standing in line at a rental car company. While Claire Browne had decided to go to the airline counter.They both had been receiving text messages all night from the airline about their flight back to San Jose. Due to a computer security breach all flights had either been severely delayed or cancelled.Not wanting to take the risk of being stranded in Portland, Audrey Lim had booked another rental car. She wished that they had a Ducati, but unfortunately for her they did not. Instead she was able to secure a small suv.Not wanting to have any issues or risk them giving away the rental, Audrey had insisted on arriving to the airport early. She was grateful that she had as when they arrived the rental company had long lines. Since she had a reservation, she was able to check in at the kiosk. Now, Audrey was in line to get the keys to the car.Claire Browne wanted to check again on their flight. She waited in a crazy line too. The longer she stood in the line the more she understood that she would not be able to fly home.With a frustrated sigh she called the last person that she wanted to road trip with, “Dr. Lim,” the resident said politely when the other woman picked up, “The flight is not happening. I’m not even anywhere near the front of the line, and they have delayed our flight until seven this evening. I am betting it’s not taking off tonight at all. People are screaming and threatening the staff, security and local police are here.”Claire listened to what Lim had to say and she agreed. As she got out of line she saw a frazzled airline staff member approaching with an iPad, “Ladies and Gentlemen, for anyone on flight 2392 to San Jose willing to take a later flight or change their flight for another day please see me. We are giving limited number of cash and vouchers.”Claire told Lim what was going on. The trauma surgeon told her that she was almost to her and they would take the airline’s offer.Claire approached the agent and said that she and her boss would take the deal. The agent looked relieved. They took Claire’s ticket and were finishing processing when Audrey approached them. She quickly told the agent that she too would take the deal. Again the agent looked relieved.Forty five minutes later the two St. Bonaventure doctors were in the renal car heading for San Jose. They would have been on their way sooner, but they added Browne to the rental agreement as an extra driver and needed to pay the difference.The two women agreed to each drive half of the trip. Lim was driving first. Not too long into the trip they stopped at a grocery store to get snacks and drinks. Before getting on the highway again they stopped at a mom and pop shop to grab lunch and coffees for road.Finally at a little after noon the two women were on the five headed home. Neither woman spoke much. Although Claire had tried to engage Lim in conversation, but the older woman was not very talkative. Browne noted that her attending wasn’t being rude or anything. To the young resident it seemed like her boss was lost in thought.Nearly two hours later Claire needed to use the restroom. She mentioned it to Lim who agreed to stop at the next available exit with restrooms available. Fifteen minutes later they stopped at a gas station. While Lim topped off the suv, Claire had used the restroom.Audrey Lim used the alone time to call Glassman and update him on their drive home. He wished them safe travels and Lim promised to send updates.“Dr. Lim, did you need to use the restroom before we get started?” Browne asked as she approached the car with a bag.Lim waved her off, “I went while you were shopping. Let’s hit the road. I checked the weather reports and that double storm system is going to hit earlier than they forecasted. I’d like to make it to at least an hour or two into California before we stop for the night.”Claire agreed as they got back into the car. Lim was still driving and Claire who had been bored with the silence again tried to engage the trauma surgeon in conversation.“You have been really quiet. Are you okay? They say talking can help.” The resident said with a bright smile on her face.Audrey Lim let out a short breath but still didn’t say anything. Browne tried again, “Dr. Lim, I know that you’re mad at me for being with Neil. I know that it was sudden. He is happy though.”Claire was disappointed when again the trauma surgeon did not reply to her. Claire sighed as she settled back into her seat. Everything was quiet for a bit. Claire with her eyes closed was surprised when she heard Lim’s quiet voice.“Not everything that goes on in my life revolves around you and Neil Melendez. I honestly have not thought about you, Claire or who you are seeing. I just don’t care.
What happened with Dr. Melendez and I is between us. That has nothing to do with you. I will not talk to you about it with you or anyone for that matter. I also do not talk about the two of you to anyone because again I don’t think of you. What you and he discuss that’s between the two of you. I hope that you would show me the same courtesy.”Claire was not surprised by Lim’s words, but she was surprised by the other woman’s tone. Well, more for the she showed no emotion. It actually scared her. From that moment Claire decided to not talk to the trauma surgeon unless necessary.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Neil Melendez stood at the nurses station. He was filling out admission notes on his patient’s chart. He had been back at work for a little over a week and he was happy. Treating patients instead of being one. Being with his colleagues again. Everything was going great. The one person that he was looking forward to seeing the most was on her way back from Portland. Neil could not wait to see her.“Dr. Melendez, did you hear?” Dalisay Villanueva asked as she and Head Trauma nurse Deana Petringa came up to him at the desk.Melendez looked at the two women in confusion, “Did I hear what?”Petringa glared at the man, “Well, Pretty Boy thanks to a computer system failure Dr. Lim and your girlfriend, Claire Browne have drive back from Portland.” She checks her watch, “It’s a little over a ten hour drive on a good day, but with the first storm hitting early…well I’m betting that they are having a rough go of it trying to get here. I hope that they stop for a bit and wait out the heavy downpour.”Melendez looked at the two nurse and shook his head slightly more, “I didn’t hear anything. Why did you call Claire my girlfriend. She and I have never even dated.”Both nurses looked at each other and then back to Melendez. Petringa spoke before Villanueva could, “On your death bed your told Girlie that you loved her. When you were released she left here with your parents to go get you set up at their rental. What were we supposed to think? Plus, Dr. Browne makes it a point to tell us all how close that the two you have gotten.”Melendez rolled his eyes, “I was in a lot of pain. As you all know I was on a lot of high dosed painkillers.” Petringa and Dalisay looked at him with uncertainty, “I never meant to say I love you to Claire. When I was recovering and thinking more clearly I told her that I was sorry, but there is only one person that I could ever truly love.”The two nurses looked shocked and they asked him many questions. Neil Melendez went home at the end of his shift feeling like he had been a prisoner who had been interrogated for government secrets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Any word from Lim and Browne?” Marcus Andrews asked as he and Aaron Glassman headed towards their respective cars.Glassman sighed, “I spoke to Lim about twenty minutes ago. This weather is insane here, but where they are it’s even worse. They decided to stop for the night. They are at some hotel. They are going to head out at first light.”Marcus nodded his head, “Let’s hope that storm one doesn’t turn back as storm two hits. They said that the second storm should hit here by ten in the morning.”“Audrey said that too. She’s just tired and wants to get home, but she’s not wanting to risk Browne’s life over it.”Andrews smirked, “Surprising that she said that, but knowing Audrey if it was just her she would still be on the road.”The two men agreed and then said their goodbyes and headed home. Both hoping that their two colleagues made it home safely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Dr. Lim, we really should have just stayed at the hotel. These roads are impossible.” Browne whine for the third time.Lim let out a sharp breath, “Claire, we both checked the weather before we left the hotel. They all said that there was only a thirty percent chance that the second storm would collide with the first.
We both agreed to take the chance. Now, we are four hours from home. The rain and wind are not what they were like last night.”Claire snapped, “You’re kidding me right?” She stared at the woman driving the suv, “You can barely see past the hood of the car. The car gets hit with high wind gusts and we are knocked around so much. We probably will hit something. This is too dangerous to drive in.”“Claire! The rain is not blinding. I can see the truck and car in front of us. The wind gust are maybe thirty miles at best.” Lim informed the resident confidently, “I have the back windows cracked open for air to pass through and make the back end heavier. We will not hit anything. I would never put you at risk. If the rain gets any worse, then I will stop somewhere until the storm passes. In the meantime we will continue on.”Browne shook her head in disgust, “I swear if you get us into an accident.”That was all that she had said before she went back to texting on her phone.Audrey Lim rolled her eyes. She was not feeling the best and just wanted to get home. She had not been lying to the younger woman. The rain had eased up a bit and the wind was not that bad. She hoped that it continued to get better as their morning progressed. Lim just wanted to get home and into her comfortable bed and sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later the rain while stile heavy had slowed enough for Claire Browne to calm down enough to take over driving.Audrey Lim was relieved as she was really feeling nauseous and had a severe headache. They were just about four hours or less from home. Putting them just ten minutes from Red Bluff, and Audrey had finally fallen to sleep. It was the first time in the now ten weeks since she and Neil had broken up that she was just too exhausted to stay awake and she went into a deep sleep for a bit.Lim was not sure what it was that caused her to wake up, but when she did Claire was shouting, “It’s about damn time that you woke up!”Lim looked around in confusion, “Claire? Where the hell are we?”“Well, if you would have been awake you would have seen that the GPS showed a huge traffic jam on the 80 leading into the 580.” Browne snapped at the confused trauma surgeon, “I followed the detour that the stupid GPS had and now we are somewhere in the mountains.”There was a big flash of lightning that blinded Lim for a moment, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”“Don’t you think that I tried?” Claire questioned hotly, “You were out cold. Hell a few times you were talking to someone in Mandarine. I don’t know what you were saying, but you were getting pissed.”Lim raised an eyebrow. She had been dreaming of telling Neil something, but people kept interrupting them. She was grateful that Claire didn’t understand what she had said.“Claire, why don’t you just pull over and we can switch. I’ll drive us the rest of the way once I get a chance to get my bearings. I’m sure that we are not too far from where we need to go.” Lim said calmly.There were more flashes of lightning and a huge rumble of thunder. Lim looked at the storm in awe.Claire Browne looked terrified, “There is no place to turn around or stop. I have not seen another car in more than an hour.” Browne had glanced at her boss, “You were asleep for nearly four hours!”Lim was not all that surprised that she had finally slept for so long. She had not been feeling well, plus she had not been getting much sleep in over two months. It was bound to happen.“Dr. Lim, all I know is that we are finally heading downhill. Maybe we will see a cabin or something.” Claire said quietly.Just as Audrey was about to reply there was another crack of lightning. This time the lightning hit the side of the road to the side of where they were headed.Claire screamed as rocks, dirt debris and a tree suddenly fell towards them. The resident swerved and suddenly they were going downhill off the road.All the two women knew was that the car was suddenly flipping. The car flipped four times before it stopped suddenly and slid into a tree.The last thing that Audrey Lim saw before she hit her head and lost consciousness was the terrified look on Claire Browne’s face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morgan Reznick looked at the clock in the emergency department, “Time of death thirteen fifty two.”The resident along with Neil Melendez, Nurse Deana Petringa, Alex Park and several other hospital staff stood around the deceased woman. Their colleague and friend was no longer alive. The injuries that she had sustained were just far too severe.Marcus Andrews spoke softly, “I know that this was not the outcome that we wanted. I am proud of each and everyone standing here. Please know that she like me would say that you all did everything that you could possibly do.”Marcus looked at his grieving staff. He saw the hurt, pain and tears. Losing someone was never easy, but losing someone that you know…that was harder. He wanted to grieve with them but they had a hospital to run, “I know that we all are hurting. Take a moment. Just remember that we still have jobs to do. She would not want us to stop helping others. Let’s get back to work.”Slowly those gathered left the room where their friend and colleague now lay with a sheet pulled over her head.Andrews looked to Aaron Glassman and said, “I’m going to get the number for her family. I want them to hear it from me and not the police.”Glassman let out a breath, “I think that her mom is vacationing in Dubai. She maybe a little hard to get in contact with.”Both men took a moment and then left to go their separate ways. Neither noticed that Neil Melendez was still standing next to their colleague’s bed.Neil leaned down and quietly said, “Hawks, I’m truly sorry that we could not save you. Thank you for everything. I’ll make sure that Lim knows how hard that you fought. She will be proud.”After he finished speaking, Melendez placed a hand on the covered nurse’s head, said a silent prayer and then left. He left the room wishing that Audrey Lim was there. Neil could not wait to see her again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Audrey Lim woke up in a daze. Everything was blurry, she was wet and very cold. When she finally could bring things into focus she saw that her passenger window was gone. The rain was pouring on her. Slowly she tested out her body. She could move her feet, legs, left arm and move her neck. She had pain in her right knee, her right arm and her head. Audrey was going to continue her self assessment when she heard a groan coming from the left side of her. That was when she remembered that she had been with Claire Browne. She couldn’t remember where they were going, but she knew that they were going together.Audrey turned her head looking for the resident. She saw her curls first. The trauma surgeon also noticed the airbag had been deployed. Hearing the resident moan again sent a sudden surge of energy through her. Lim unbuckled herself and ignoring the pain and nausea reached for the younger woman.“Claire? Claire! Talk to me.” Lim called out.Browne moaned again as she slowly opened her eyes, “Dr. Lim?”Lim let out a relieved laugh, “Yep, I’m here. Can you tell me where you’re hurt?”Claire shifted a little as she tried to assess herself, “I can’t move my legs too much. They seem to be pinned. My head hurts, so does my shoulder. I’m really nauseous too.”Lim was taking the woman’s pulse as she talked. Next she checked her eyes and counted her respirations, “Claire, do you have any pain in your abdomen or chest?”Claire thought about it, “No, pain just achy. Kind of like after you had a big meal.”Lim chuckled at the comment, “I don’t think that you have any internal bleeding. You may have a bruised rib.” The younger woman looked at her boss, “Now, I can’t get you out. There’s a tree lying on the hood and your door is wedged against another tree.”“What are we going to do? I can’t get out.” Claire started to panic.Lim held up her hand, “Claire, I’m going to go for help. It’s the only way. You have at least a mild concussion, a probable dislocated shoulder and as you said you’re pinned. We need help.”Lim reached into the backseat where their luggage was as well as cooler bag of food and drinks. Claire’s side of the car was mostly dry. Audrey knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. Audrey pulled out of her own bag a small, but thick blanket. She handed it to the resident. She also grabbed both of their jackets. They would keep water off of Claire and the blanket. That should help to keep the young woman warm. Lim grabbed her own hoodie and put it on. It would not help much but it was something.“Alright here’s how we are doing this. You’re going to wrap yourself in the blanket. I’m going to place our jackets over top of the blanket to keep the rain off of you.” Lim began.Claire looked confused, “What about you?”The trauma surgeon shrugged, “I’m already wet, and when I get out of the car I’ll get even more wet.”“You’re getting out of the car? Why?” Claire asked in a panic.Lim sighed, “Claire, you need help. I can’t get you out. I’m taking my phone and I’m going to try to get a signal and call for help. I’m also going to see if I can find someone to help us.”The resident looked pale and she was panicked, “Audrey, you can’t just leave me here!”“I’m not leaving you here.” Lim informed her with certainty, “I’m going to get you help. I can’t get you out of here on my own, Claire. You need medical help. I can only do so much. You’re my responsibility.”Claire glared at the older woman, “If you were so concerned about my safety then you wouldn’t have had us leave the hotel. You should have stayed awake. None of this would’ve happened had you taken your responsibilities seriously.” The resident snapped, “This last week you’ve barely acted like I exist. You’re angry that Neil loves me. He hurt you, so you’re taking your hurt out on me.”Audrey Lim completely shut her emotions down. Claire could not read anything on her boss’s face. The only thing that she could see was the cuts and blood on her face.Lim just replied with no real emotion, “I’m sorry that I failed you, Claire. You got hurt because of me. I will get you help. Here’s your phone. I don’t know if we will get signal. But, there are games and videos that I am sure that can keep you entertained.” Lim placed the phone in the resident’s hand, “I’ll be back with help. Stay as warm as you can. There’s plenty of food and water.” She took her own phone and placed it into a ziplock bag that she had pulled out of her bag. The bag had small bottles of shampoo, body wash and conditioner that the trauma surgeon dumped out. Lim placed the wrapped phone into the pocket of the hoodie she wore & zipped the pocket closed, “I’ll come back as soon as I can. Honk the horn if you get into any trouble.”With those words Audrey climbed out of the broken window of the vehicle as the door would not budge. She looked around in the now freezing cold rain. Lim started walking. When she looked downhill she saw that it was best that she shouldn’t go that way. Instead she tried going up.Twenty painful minutes later and she was only little more than half way up. The trauma surgeon was freezing, exhausted and in pain. Her knee was throbbing as was her head. She hadn’t been feeling great for more than a week. What little energy she had was nearly gone. Lim just wanted to close her eyes and sleep, but she couldn’t. Claire needed her to find help. Shaking Audrey continued to climb.Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Lim knew what it was as her body felt a tingling sensation. At the same moment came what sounded like a sonic boom. Audrey lost her footing as she blindly tried to keep her step. Suddenly she was falling as mud and water took her out her path.Lim tried to grab on to something to stop her sudden decent, but her grip only came back with liquid dirt. Next thing she knew was that she suddenly felt nothing beneath her and then a quick drop and the short sudden landing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

When everything came back to Audrey Lim the first thing that she noticed was that she was lying on her back. The heavy rain was beating down on her. Slowly and carefully Lim sat up. Her aches and pains were too numerous to count, but she did not have time to wait Claire needed her.Audrey slowly stood up and she looked up from where she had fallen. It had not been a long fall. For that she was grateful. The battered woman looked around and picked a direction and started limping as she walked. Lim hoped that she would find help soon.Meanwhile, Claire Browne was in the car scared and angry. Though it was pouring outside in the car she was dry and not freezing. The blanket that Lim had given her helped to keep the cold at bay while their jackets kept rain off of the blanket.Claire had food and drinks too. Lim had been gone more than an hour, so the resident decided to eat one of the small sandwiches that was in the cooler. It helped to distract her for a bit.Now, she was bored, and focused again on her anger at Audrey. The resident was writing in her mind what she wanted to say to Dr. Andrews when she got back to St. Bonaventure and filed a complaint against Lim.“This car accident should never of happened. Dr. Lim put her own selfish wants above my safety. She knew that we shouldn’t have left that hotel. Lim saw the weather report.” Claire grumbled, “Now look at me. I’m pinned in a car and she abandoned me here.”The young woman jumped slightly at the loud crack of thunder. The sky lit up in a strobing effect. She looked around terrified that she may see something or someone, but all that she could see was rain and the tree that pinned the suv.Claire pulled her blanket up a little bit as she glanced at her phone. She saw two little bars of signal and she quickly sent the text message that she had written.“Please go through. ”Claire sent up a prayer.”Browne checked out her screen and saw that the text had gone out and that she still had two bars of signal. Quickly she dial the number that she knew by heart.On the third ring she heard, “Hello?”With a relieved cry she answered, “Neil, I need help.”“Hello?” Claire heard again. She spoke again, “Neil? Can you hear me?”“Hello?”“Neil? Can you hear me?” Claire shouted into the phone. As she listened for his voice she heard the line cut out. Claire looked at her phone and confirmed her fears. She no longer had signal, “Damn it!” The trapped woman cried out as the rain poured harder, “Neil, please come find me.”As the rain continued Claire cried and called out for the one that she believed would save her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morgan Reznick sat in the St. Bonaventure Hospital cafe eating lunch. Beside her was Shaun Murphy. They had been working together in the emergency department all morning.Neither one talked much and they were both content by that. Just as Morgan’s phone vibrated from a text message off in the distance she heard a phone ringing. The blonde checked her phone.“You look annoyed, Morgan.” Shaun stated in a monotone voice. He could see on the other side of the cafe Dr. Melendez talking frustratedly into his phone, “So does Dr. Melendez.” The resident said with a slight smirk.Morgan looked at her phone still and replied, “Shaun listen to this text that I got from Claire.” The autistic man looked at his colleague, “Need help. Car crashed. I’m pinned. Lim left me. Please send help. I think there’s more to the text message but it’s all gibberish.”“Why would Dr. Lim leave Claire if she’s hurt?” Murphy asked in confusion.The blonde stood up, “I don’t know. Maybe she went for help. I don’t know. Let’s go show this to…” Morgan looked up and saw, “Dr. Melendez!” She called out.The attending walked over to the two residents, “Dr. Reznick, Dr. Murphy what can I do for you?”Morgan quickly explained about the text message and he looked surprised, “I had a call just before coming over here…”“We know. We heard.” Shaun cut him off.Melendez rolled his eyes and said, “The call was from Claire. I could not hear anything. I hung up, but when I called back it went straight to voicemail.”The three doctors looked at each other for a moment. Melendez spoke first, “Why would Audrey leave Claire? If Claire is hurt and pinned, then Audrey should have stayed there to help Claire.”Morgan took a breath, “Dr. Lim probably made sure that Claire was okay and then left to get help. With Claire pinned then Dr. Lim can only do so much.”Melendez started to leave the cafe with the two residents in tow. Morgan asked as they were leaving, “Where are you going?”Without stopping Melendez responded, “To let Andrews know what happened. Maybe we can somehow figure out where they are!”With that the three quickly walked through the hospital and got onto the first available elevator.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire Browne was not sure what had awakened her, but when she opened her eyes the storm was still going. The sky had also darkened even more. She was exhausted, frightened and angry that Lim had yet to return.Claire checked her phone and saw that she again had two bars of signal. Knowing that it would not last for long she sent another message and again after sending the message the bars went away.“This is ridiculous. The damn rain won’t stop. Lim is still no where around, and before long I’m going to need to use the restroom. That’s not going to be an easy thing to do while pinned.”
Claire complained to nobody.With a sigh she reached over into the food cooler bag and took out a small snack bag of chips. She used her teeth to help open the bag as her dislocated shoulder was beyond painful, “The least she could have done was reset my shoulder. This is pure agony. Lim probably is getting a kick out of me being in pain right now.”Claire continued to grumble as she snacked on her chips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Claire was in the rental bitching and her colleagues were working on trying to find a way to find their missing team members Audrey Lim limped towards a home. She prayed that someone was home. Slowly the trauma surgeon climbed the steps of the front porch. Once she reached the door with a shaking and freezing hand she pressed the door bell.After a few moments she pressed the button again. Lim was about to give up when the door suddenly opened.“I’m sorry to bother you.” Audrey stammered out to the man holding a young child, “My name is Dr. Audrey Lim. I work at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose. My colleague and I were in a car accident. She’s hurt and pinned in the car. We need some help, please.”The man looked at the woman before him. He could see the cuts, bruising and she was soaking wet from the rain. The man looked over his shoulder and out, “Ellie, come here please and bring your phone.” He turned back and looked back to Audrey, “My name is Gavin Howard. This little one is Carly.”Suddenly a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes appeared, “Gavin, here’s your phone like you asked.” She looked cautiously at Audrey. Gavin quickly explained what was going on. He called 911 and had them speak to Lim. Gavin meanwhile got into rain gear, had a flashlight and some tools.When Lim hung up from the emergency line she handed Gavin back the phone.Ellie asked Lim if she would like a cop of coffee, but she had refused. The trauma surgeon just wanted to get back to Claire, get her free and go home. Audrey felt horrible. Her plan was once they were back in San Jose, Claire was safely being treated, Lim was going to go home take a warm shower. After the shower she was going to put on her warmest sweat shirt and sweat pants…then she was going to sleep for a few days. Lim figured that she could try to get in touch with Neil in a few days to tell him what she had wanted to share with him.Finally Gavin was ready. Audrey thanked Ellie and then she was soon back out in the rain.“Gavin, make sure she gets checked out too. She’s hurting.” Ellie whispered into her husband’s ear as he rushed out the door to follow the limping stranger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire Browne thought that she was still dreaming when she heard the voice of her attending calling out to her. When she opened her eyes Claire was surprised to not only see Audrey Lim, but a strange man with her.When they managed to climb back up to the hill where Lim had fallen both she and Gavin Howard quickly found the suv and saw that Claire Browne was asleep in the car. Lim was able to slide back through the window. Audrey hadn’t noticed that the frame of the car had been crushed down a bit on the passenger side causing the window to break and making it harder to get in and out.“You came back?” Claire snarled, “First, you barely spoke to me this entire trip. Made me feel like I was invisible. When you did talk to me you were rude. Then you abandoned me here and leave me without any means to use as a bathroom. Also, you left me without anything to use if I needed to defend myself.”Gavin raised an eyebrow at the younger woman’s comments. The rain had slowed somewhat though he could not get through the window that Lim had crawled through, Gavin was able to lean in a bit and he heard Claire’s accusations. Mr. Howard took an instant dislike to the young woman. He was not sure why, but something was just off.“Claire, I’m really sorry that I have disappointed you and left you. I was not thinking when I left. I just wanted to get help and get them here to you.” Lim began as she pointed to the man leaning in the broken window, “This is Gavin Howard. He’s going to try to help us get you free. If we can’t, don’t worry…we have rescue on the way.”“Hello, Claire. You can call me Gavin.” The man spoke with kindness. Claire gave the man a cautious smile. Gavin continued, “Claire, can you tell me exactly how you are pinned?”For the next forty minutes Claire, Gavin and Lim tried different ways to free the resident. Nothing worked. They were all tired and frustrated.Gavin and Lim stood now back in the rain. The man spoke, “I’m going to go home.” Lim looked at him with pain filled exhaustion and he continued, “I’m not getting service here. Rescue is going to need an update as to where you guys are. I promise you, Audrey…I will be back!”Lim nodded her head and watched as the man rushed off. Taking a moment to collect herself. She felt nauseous again and this time she did throw up. After a bit everything seemed to calm down, and she cupped her hands collected a bit of rain water and rinsed her mouth. After spitting it out, Lim stood up and walked back to the car and climbed in. She gave the snappy resident an update.After she finished updating Claire, Audrey sat in her seat and tried to calm her once again upset stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three hours later in the emergency department of St. Bonaventure Hospital the staff were waiting for the victim of a patient who had been trapped in a vehicle for several hours.When the ambulance arrived Drs. Glassman, Park and Murphy as well as nurse Dalisay Villanueva were waiting. All three men were surprised when the medics opened the doors and they wheeled out Claire Browne. The lead medic explained her condition and told them her vitals as they rushed her into the hospital.Glassman called out orders of tests as they transferred Claire from the gurney to the hospital bed.Neil Melendez was soon at Claire’s side. She was thrilled.“Claire, how are you doing?” Melendez asked his resident.Claire gave him her best weak smile, “I’m tired and my shoulder hurts.”Melendez nodded. Glassman spoke before Neil could, “We need to get an ultrasound on her legs and check to make sure that she does not have any blood clots. From what the medic said Dr. Browne was pinned in the car for hours.”Claire teared up, “I was. I couldn’t move. Dr. Lim pulled on me and it made the pain worse. I begged for her to stop. She was freaking out. When it didn’t work, Dr. Lim left me for hours. I had nothing to use to defend myself if anything happened.” The resident was crying as she finished. Villanueva handed the crying resident a tissue.Glassman continued running the tests. Neil Melendez stepped away to see what else he could find out from the medics. When he saw the team that brought in Claire he saw a police officer walking in with soaking wet, bruised and exhausted looking Audrey Lim leaning on him.When Audrey saw Neil her eyes went a little bit wider for a brief second and then she was completely unreadable.Melendez stepped up to his ex girlfriend, “Audrey, you left Claire alone, trapped, injured and no way to defend herself? What were you thinking? How could you? Claire was hurt and terrified.”Before Audrey could say anything Gavin Howard appeared next to Lim and the officer that the trauma surgeon had been using as support. Gavin spoke firmly, “With all due respect, you need to back the hell up and watch your tone!”Melendez stepped back slightly. He looked at the man in confusion, “What’s this, Audrey having your new boyfriend fight your battles for you?” Melendez questioned as he looked from the stranger to the battered Lim. He was taken aback by the brief flash of heartbreak that passed through Lim’s eyes. Neil felt as if he had been sucker punched at the all to brief devastation that passed across Lim’s features. He wondered if he had gone too far.A near whisper came from the soaked trauma surgeon, “I’m sorry.” The hurt look was replaced by an empty and far away look.Gavin Howard again spoke up, “Dr. Lim has nothing to apologize for. She did nothing wrong.” He stepped closer to Melendez as Andrews and head nurse Deana Petringa approached, “You may want to hear the full story before you say anything else.”Marcus Andrews spoke next, “We can get Lim’s side later. Right now she needs to be examined.” He looked between the officer and Petringa, “Will you two please get Dr. Lim into an exam room. I’ll be along shortly.”The trauma nurse and police officer helped guide Audrey Lim into an exam room. Andrews looked at Mr. Howard, “Mr?” He asked.“Gavin Howard. Your Dr. Lim showed up on my doorstep in the middle of dangerous two for one storm asking for help, and I can assure you her only thoughts were for that young woman.” Gavin stepped closer to Melendez, “I’m sure that girl was crying and making it out that Dr. Lim abandoned her. Well, that’s just bullshit. Your colleague walked for five miles through a massive storm to get help. Lim had the chance to dry off and drink some hot coffee and warm up a little bit, but she refused to do so. Claire was her only concern. She was in that car crash too. Did you ever stop to think that she was hurt?”That question had Neil stopped. He honestly had not thought that Audrey had been hurt. He was about to respond when a voice called out his name. He turned and saw that Glassman and Murphy were wheeling Claire’s hospital bed towards the elevator.“What’s going on?” Melendez asked as he approached the group.Claire reached out and took his hand. She seemed to be shaking and looked vulnerable to Melendez. Seeing the resident liked that made her look small. It tugged at his heart.“We are taking her for an MRI. Then to surgery to set her dislocated shoulder.” Glassman replied, “Claire has a slight concussion, four bruised ribs, multiple cuts, bumps and bruises. Thankfully there are no blood clots or compartment syndrome from her legs being trapped. The MRI is just to make sure that we didn’t miss anything and we can safely set her shoulder.”Claire looked at her crush and said, “I’m still shaking. Will you come with me, Dr. Melendez?”Neil had honestly wanted to say no, but seeing how scared Claire looked he found himself saying yes before he realized what he was doing.Gavin Howard glared after the group as they entered the elevator and the doors closed. He pulled out his phone and called the one person that he knew who would understand his frustration. He called his wife to let her know how Lim and as Gavin had taken to calling Claire, the spoiled little brat.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Three hours later Audrey Lim sat in a hospital bed. She was wrapped in a heated blanket. Her head hurt, as did her knee. She had a cracked rib and a badly sprained knee. They were keeping her for observation from the serious concussion and mild hypothermia that she had. Lim was also being monitored because of what she was about to tell Melendez.Marcus Andrews had stitched the laceration on her forehead. He told her that she and Claire got off lucky.Before she would talk to anyone else, Audrey had asked to speak to Neil.Melendez took a bit to get to her, but now he stood beside her.After a few minutes of silence Audrey began, “Neil, I’m not telling you this to get you back. I’m telling you because you have a right to know. Please know that I only found out two days ago. For more than a week I kept feeling sick, and I had planned on telling you. I sent texts and an email asking to talk.”Melendez gave her a look but Lim continued on, “Marcus gave me the second confirmation in two days, Neil I’m pregnant. The babies are yours.”Melendez paled and sat down.“Babies?” He asked in shock.Lim nodded her sore head, “Twins. Marcus had to do a sonogram. I have bruising on my abdomen, so he needed to make sure that I wasn’t bleeding anywhere. I knew that I wasn’t, but we had to be sure. I’m ten weeks plus two.”Melendez thought back to the moment the babies would have been conceived. He and Audrey had a four day weekend and were driving through parts of Nevada. No real destination, but they head towards maybe Reno. They were in a remote area. The rental they took started acting up. They managed to pull off the road near an old park. To them it looked abandoned.They called for road side assistance, but due an impending storm there would be a longer delay. They took their snacks and drinks and a blanket that Lim had packed in her suitcase. The couple sat at the nearby picnic table and had a mini picnic that ended with them dancing.When the rain came it was an instant down pour. Neither really noticed as they were kissing. Soon the kisses turned to more. Both were grateful for the blanket. The rain and darkness as well as some nearby bushes concealed the couple as they made love in the rain.The road side service member texted them to let them know that their estimated time of arrival. Finally, they arrived more than two hours after the start of the rain. Both Lim and Melendez were able to change into dry clothes in the car before the help came. Both gave quick glances as the road side service member assisted them in fixing their rental.When they finally were able to check into a hotel later that night the couple went directly to bed. Their outdoor activities had left them a little more tired than normal. Melendez had always regretted that that time in the rain was their last time. They spent the rest of the trip dealing with the crappy car and trying to squeeze in some fun too.“Audrey, I’m sorry that this happened. If you’re not interested in keeping them…” Melendez stumbled over his words. they were not what he wanted to say. He was in shock, “I’m sorry. My mouth is operating faster than my brain.”Lim just looked at him for a moment. She took a breath and said, “Look, I get it. I never would have thought that the night in the park would have resulted in me getting pregnant with twins. Although, let’s face it you didn’t use protection and we both relied on the pill. We are doctors and we fell into the belief that it won’t happen to us.”Melendez nodded his head, “What do you want to do about them? I will support you in whatever decision that you decide.” Though he hoped that she would keep them. He had always wanted to be a father.Lim let out a short breath, “I had no clue that I was pregnant when I went to Oregon. At first I just felt off. I chalked it up to still not over our breakup. Seeing you happily moving on.” She took a moment, “Right before we were to come back I felt completely wiped out, sick to my stomach too. I was also running a fever. See why I didn’t think pregnancy?”Melendez nodded his head and she continued, “Maci Crane a physician’s assistant there checked me out. She thought possibly appendicitis or pregnancy. I think she was leaning more towards my being pregnant but didn’t say that. Anyway, she did an exam as well as bloodwork. When she got the labs back she said it confirmed what she suspected.” Lim gave a weak laugh, “Maci had already set up the ultrasound to check everything out because as I thought it could be my appendix. She had asked if I wanted to bet on it. I asked her what she was talking about. She laughed and then placed the doppler on my belly. She pointed to the screen there I saw what she knew…I saw baby A and we both were surprised when she moved the probe and there was baby B. To say I was in shock was an understatement. A part of me still didn’t believe it was real. When Marcus preformed the second sonogram…I saw them again. There was no denying that they were real.”Melendez teared a little as he pictured the moment. Lim handed him a strip of paper that she had tucked beside her. Neil took a deep breath and he gave a nervous smile.“Neil, meet our babies. Their parents may not have planned for them, but they are loved and wanted.” Lim finished slightly out of breath.Melendez smiled through his tears, “Look at them. Audrey, thank you for them. I meant what I said. I’ll be there for you. I’ll be the best father to our children.”Lim went say something but a deep cough came out instead. Melendez helped her to sit up better in her bed. When the coughing subsided Audrey took a moment before she said weakly, “Neil, I wouldn’t let Andrews say this because I’m fine but I have a slight fever. The reason for the fever…I have a slight lung infection. Marcus wants to keep a close eye on it to make sure that it does not turn into pneumonia.”Melendez was about to say something when Dalisay Villanueva and Deana Petringa came in.“Dr. Melendez, you asked to be notified when Dr. Browne was out of surgery. She is awake and asking for you.” Dalisay informed the cardio thoracic surgeon.Lim looked at him with an impassive expression and said, “Neil, you need to go. Claire needs you. I’m sure you are going to want to update her on the news.”“Audrey, I know that you’re tired and probably have been over this with the police. You knew how bad the weather was. Why didn’t you just stay at the hotel?” Melendez asked before he thought about how the question would come across to her.Lim just looked at him. Petringa looked ready to hit him. Dalisay looked like she wanted answers too.Neil could not help himself, “Why did you just leave her? She was hurt and scared.”Audrey answered, “I did what I had to in order to get her help.”Melendez stepped back towards her bed, “To get help? Audrey, you left her with no means to protect herself. Claire was your responsibility.” His voice increased with every word.It was Petringa who spoke before Audrey could, “Dr. Melendez!” The trauma nurse snapped. Neil was quick to look at her. She continued, “Your colleague much like your girlfriend was in a car accident. She walked five miles in the freezing rain while injured. At this moment she is not an attending. Audrey is a patient.You do not get to harass her. You stepped way out of line. Leave now. Go see to Claire.You will only be allowed back when and if you’re asked for.”Neil wanted to say something. He wanted to apologize, but the look that he was getting left him no room for argument. He along with Dalisay quickly left the room.Petringa looked at her friend. Audrey had no tears, no emotions showed on her features. Deana was worried.“Audrey, I know that what he said…” The nurse began.Lim cut her off, “Neil was right. Claire was my responsibility. I failed her.” Petringa sat on the side of Lim’s bed. The trauma surgeon continued, “We should never have left. The news reports said that the rains would not hit again until the evening. We both wanted to get home. We decided to go. Still I should have said let’s wait, but I was not feeling good. I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. My selfishness nearly got Claire killed. I have to live with that.” Audrey started to cough again.Petringa quickly helped her friend sit up. When the coughing started to worsen the nurse pressed the call button.“Easy, Audrey. Just try to breathe.” Lim was alternating between coughing and gasping for breath. Deana grabbed the bed side oxygen mask and placed it on her struggling colleague. She turned the flow rate to the highest setting, “You said it yourself, you both decided to leave. Audrey this was just an accident. You’re not at fault.”Dr. Andrews came rushing in the room with Morgan Reznick. He quickly assessed the scene and began calling out orders as he took Lim’s vitals.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Three days later Neil Melendez watched as Claire Browne was wheeled out of her room. He and several of their colleagues were there for her release. He was happy that the resident was well enough to go home. To the best of his ability he tried to keep his distance from her, but there were a few times he went to see her.Claire again told him how happy she was to see him. She wanted to talk about everything that had happened prior to him going to finish recovering in San Antonio. Melendez wanted to wait until she was released from the hospital. Claire reluctantly agreed.When Claire had asked about Lim and what the plan was once they were both back at work Dr. Andrews informed her that there were no charges that could be filed for the accident as Lim was not driving.Browne had expressed her frustration as well as her distrust in Lim. She refused to be a part of her team. Andrews assured her that was fine and told the resident that she would be assigned to Dr. Glassman’s service exclusively as his team was the only one that had availability.Claire blew a gasket. After many conversations and speaking with her union representative it was decided that she would stay on Lim’s team, but would get either Melendez, Andrews or Glassman to evaluate her and sign off on her work.After those gathered wished Claire well in her recovery those remaining to see her off were Melendez, Park, Lea and Shaun Murphy.Claire expressed her gratitude to everyone. Although she had to get another dig in at Lim, “I’m not surprised that Dr. Lim is not here. Guess she’s too embarrassed to face me. While she’s been home I’ve been stuck here.”Alex Park had reached his enough point with his friend, “Claire, despite what you might think, Dr. Lim is still a patient here. She has been really sick.”Claire made a slight face and shrugged her shoulders, “What she get a bad cold from walking in the rain after she abandoned me?”Of all people it was Shaun who replied, “No. Dr. Lim has a lung infection. It has now turned into pneumonia.”Claire’s eyes went wide, “Well, I bet when she’s back to work and that she won’t come to me and apologize for what she did.”Morgan Reznick and Deana Petringa quietly had approached the group when Browne made her remarks. Both wanted to say something, but again it was Murphy who spoke first.“Why would she, Claire?” The autistic man questioned.Lea placed a hand on Murphy’s shoulder. The others stayed quiet to see how this would go.Browne gave a soft half smile as she tried to explain her position, “Shaun, Dr. Lim has not been treating me right for weeks. Then we go to Oregon where she acts like I do not exist.It was Dr. Lim who insisted on us leaving the hotel to try to beat the storm. She forced me to drive when she knew how scared that I was. She claimed that she was too tired.Shaun we crashed because Dr. Lim was asleep when she should’ve been helping me navigate through the storm. Then after we crashed she left me in the car trapped with no means to defend myself. At the least she owes me an apology.”Shaun looked even more confused, “Dr. Lim and yourself each decided to leave the hotel to beat the storm. When you are tired do you not take a nap instead of driving a car?” He looked at Browne in confused wonder, “After you crashed the car, Claire who gave you the blanket and food that you told us about?When Dr. Lim left you to get help to set you free, she had already been sick.Dr. Lim could have just left you to die. Instead she walked five miles to find someone who could help. She found Mr. Gavin Howard.”Claire sat in the chair looking at Shaun in hurt confusion. He continued, “Mr. Howard told everyone that the only concern that Dr. Lim had was for you.”Claire crossed her arms and huffed out, “If Dr. Lim was so concerned she would not have left the hotel, or after the accident she would not have left me behind in the car. An animal could have attacked me, or what if someone was out there and they could have taken me. I was left defenseless, Shaun.”Murphy being Murphy answered in his monotone way, “If you had said no at the hotel, then you and Dr. Lim would have not left. If Dr. Lim was not concerned about you then she would not have gone for help. If she wasn’t concerned then she wouldn’t have brought help back to you.” He paused…the he continued, “You were pinned in the car, nobody could take you. The storm kept the animals away. You had a blanket, food and something to drink. When you were rescued you were dry and warm. Dr. Lim had no provisions and was suffering from hypothermia. Dr. Lim put you first.”Lea squeezed Murphy’s arm to get his attention but Murphy continued, “You are blaming Dr. Lim for a decision that you had both made and agreed to.” He looked to Dr. Melendez and then back to Claire, “You are also blaming her for Dr. Melendez not actually being in love with you. I believe that you are using this to get Dr. Melendez to fall in love with you. It will not work. He loves only Dr. Lim.” Shaun shrugged and walked away.Morgan and Petringa choked back laughter. Lea and Park winced at Murphy’s candor. Villanueva just looked shocked.Claire started to cry. She looked to a stunned Melendez, “I’m not trying to use what happened…you said that you loved me.”Neil walked over to the resident and knelt beside her chair, “Claire, I am so sorry that I hurt you. I was literally high on painkillers. I honestly do not remember saying a lot of things. I do know that I had told you that I loved you. As I explained before I thought that I was talking to Audrey.”Claire choked on a sob, “You said my name. Then you said that you were in love with me.”Melendez sighed, “I was dreaming a bit. I remember. I saw you. I said your name, but then I saw Audrey standing next to me. I was talking to her. I’m sorry, Claire. My love will always be for Audrey.”Claire slapped Melendez hard in the face using her uninjured arm, “I hate you. You and Lim deserve each other. You are both selfish, egomaniac jerks.” She looked over to Villanueva, “Will you please take me out of here?”The trauma nurse quickly grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and quickly led Claire Browne away.“Damn, Dr. Melendez!!” Morgan started, “She clocked you good.”Petringa smirked a bit, “Come on, Pretty Boy. Let’s go see if we can get you to make any progress in making up with Lim. Although if she hits you, I reserve the right to laugh and take videos.”As Petringa helped Melendez Park looked at Reznick and said, “I swear working here is like working on one of those daytime dramas.”Morgan laughed as both she and Alex received text messages to their next assignment. They quickly responded to them.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A little more than six weeks later both Lim and Browne had returned to work though the two had not crossed paths. Glassman had Claire on his service and they had been busy with identical triplet teenage boys with sudden on set seizures.Claire recovered quickly from her dislocated shoulder. They were happy that she didn’t need to go through physical therapy for her shoulder.Audrey Lim took longer than they had hoped to recover from the pneumonia. They were concerned about her lungs being too weak because of the virus that had nearly killed her. She also had an allergic reaction to the first antibiotic that had given her. They found a second antibiotic safe for a pregnant woman to take, but Lim’s system was slow to react to it. Once the medication started to work Lim was finally able to go home. She was happy to finally be able to sleep in her own bed. Though she was sent home with inhalers to use. Her pulmonologist said that she would probably be on them for the foreseeable future as the pneumonia left her lungs scarred and a bit on the weaker side.Today was starting off to be a bit of a frustrating day for Lim. When she woke up and went to her restroom to get ready for work. It was when she took off her night clothes to jump into the shower that she noticed that her twin baby belly was bigger than it had been the night before. Audrey stood at the full length mirror on her restroom door and looked at her pregnant body. Her breasts were larger and now so was her belly. Though most knew that she was pregnant, she just hadn’t needed to change her clothes size as yet. Today she knew that she would need to go shopping to get some bigger pants.Lim gave a small smile as she placed a hand on her rounded belly, “Well, looks like you two went on a bit of a growth spurt. Now momma is going to have to get some bigger pants or just wear scrubs until you two are born.”Audrey finished getting ready for her work day. She had been correct. Not one pair of her dress pants fit. With a soft chuckle she put on her scrub pants. Lim sighed when she put her scrub top on. The top was tight across her lager breasts and only covered half of her swollen abdomen.“Seriously you two! Momma needs to be able to wear her clothes.” Lim chuckled and took a picture of how silly she looked. After she changed out of the now too small top and put on a Spiderman t-shirt. Lim made a quick breakfast, took her prenatal vitamins and grabbed her leather jacket, grabbed her work bag and was soon on her way out the door.Meanwhile Neil Melendez was having a rushed morning. His alarm didn’t go off, the hot water cut off due the middle of his shower and the power went out. Frustrated he stopped for coffee and breakfast sandwich on his way into work. He smiled when he pulled into his parking spot and saw the mother of his soon to be children standing next to her car looking at something that he could not see. He gathered his belongings and quickly got out of his car and locked the doors.“Good morning, Audrey.” Neil called out with a smile, “Is everything okay?”Lim looked over to him and sighed, “Yes, I was texting my mom. She was poking fun at me for the picture that I sent her.”Melendez raised a questioning eyebrow to the trauma surgeon, “What kind of picture would have your mom poking fun at you?”The soon to be parents were not close as they used to be. The only times they really talked was at work or if there was anything going with the babies. She limited him to only attend certain doctor’s visits as well. Melendez had noticed that Audrey Lim had become more reserved while around most people at work. Petringa had even yelled at him for it.Lim stepped back from him a bit as she answered, “Well, thanks to our littles going on a bit of a growth spurt none of my work pants currently fit. Now, I have to go shopping after work. Anyway, I had to wear my scrubs instead, but when I put the top on I ran into another problem.” She held her phone up to a confused Melendez.Neil looked at her phone and when he saw the picture of her wearing the now too small scrub top with her round belly poking out, he smiled. He loved the picture. More than anything he wished for a copy of it. Melendez loved how pregnancy had changed her body. To him she looked even more beautiful. Whenever he saw her he flashed to the two of them and their last time together in the rain. They were so happy then. The evidence of their love was now making her clothes too small for her.“Audrey, please don’t hate me for saying this,”Melendez smiled, “you look absolutely adorable.”Lim rolled her eyes, “You would say something like that.” Her phone sounded as she got another text, “It would seem that my brother agrees with you too.” As she saw a text from her brother.“What can I say, great minds think alike.” Melendez replied with a smile.The two started walking into the hospital. Melendez tried to make small talk, but as usual Lim just did not say much to him. They stood waiting for the elevator when Lim turned to him and said, “I wanted to let you know that I scheduled the appointment for the anatomy scan. I’ll text you the appointment reminder invite. It will have the date and time.”Melendez smiled, “I cannot believe that in a few weeks we are going to know…”Lim cut him off, “If you put one of each or two of a kind in me.” As they stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed.Neil gave a smirk grateful that they were alone, “You got to admit that it was a really amazing experience when they were conceived.”Lim nodded her head slightly, “In the pouring down rain, in an abandoned park. Not the most comfortable, but probably one of the more unique places that I’ve ever…”The elevator stopped and the doors opened. They stepped off and started walking towards their respective offices. Melendez laughed a little knowing what she was about to say, “I promise that as soon as you send me the invite I’ll accept it. I’m really excited to see them again.”Lim pulled out her phone to send him the invitation. Her phone started to ring. She gave a soft smile when she saw who it was, “Morning, Petringa. Why are you calling me. You’re supposed to be enjoying your time with your family.”Lim stopped listened and Neil watched. Suddenly Lim’s legs gave out a bit. Melendez caught her. Lim quickly recovered and pushed him away.“Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell her that. Tell her I’m coming.” Lim hung up the phone.Melendez reached out and placed a hand on her arm, “Audrey? Talk to me. What’s going on? What did Petringa say?”Lim was pale and looked heartbroken, “That was Petringa’s son. Deana was hit by a car while walking with her granddaughter. Sarah is okay.”Melendez was floored by the news, “Aud, what about Petringa?”Lim looked at him with tear filled eyes, “Michael said that she’s extremely critical. They don’t think she’s going to make it.”Both doctors were quiet. Lim received a text message, “That’s the address. I’m going to go to her.” Lim looked at the father of her unborn children, “Neil, I need you to tell Andrews and Glassman why I’m not going to be here.”“Audrey, you should not be driving. I’ll go with you.”Lim shook her head, “You can’t go, Neil. The delegation for the ambassador’s heart surgery is coming, remember. I’ll be fine.”Melendez wanted to argue, but knew that Lim was right. He gave her a quick hug, and he watched as she quickly rushed back to the elevator. He pulled out his phone and called Marcus Andrews to give him the news.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Four days later Claire Browne sat in the hospital cafe with Morgan Reznick and Alex Park.“Did you guys get your paperwork together for our Guatemala trip? We leave in like two days?” Claire asked excitedly.The other two residents said they did, but they were not as happy as Browne. They were grieving their late colleague.“I heard that Dr. Lim is here and she’s talking with Dr. Andrews about what happened with Petringa.” Claire informed the down looking pair, “I’m betting that she’s not going to Guatemala with us.”Morgan, who had not really been paying Claire much attention turned her full attention to her, “Claire, read the room. This hospital is grieving. Us included. Dr. Lim was like a surrogate daughter to Petringa.As for Lim not going to Guatemala, because of the remote location and all the walking that we are going to be doing…in her condition it was decided that for the best that she not go. That had nothing to do with Petringa’s death.”Claire looked at Reznick in confusion, “In what condition? Lim recovered from her pneumonia, so I don’t see what the big deal would be if she…”Clair trails off as she sees the subject of their conversation walk in with Neil Melendez. It was the first time that she had seen the chief of surgery since they both had been back to work.When Audrey turned to the side Claire got a clear view of the surgeon’s new figure. The resident’s eyes went wide in shock, “Dr. Lim is pregnant?”“You didn’t know?” Park asked in surprise.Claire was quiet as she watched the two attendings finish getting their order and walking to a table in out of the way part of the cafe.Claire asked, “Neil’s the father isn’t he.”Park answered with a quiet, “yes”.Claire starred at the couple in heartbreak.Morgan spoke, “Which means they were together after they broke up here at the hospital, Claire.” The blonde looked hard at her once friend, “The pregnancy is why Dr. Lim is not going to Guatemala with us. Both Glassman and Andrews were not comfortable with their pregnant Chief of surgery going to a location so far away from a large hospital should she have any unexpected complications. Plus, her pulmonologist said that her lungs were not strong enough to adjust to the changing elevations that we will be dealing with. The first ten days we are going to multiple locations.”“I can’t believe that Neil didn’t tell me that he’s going to be a father.” Claire let out a sharp breath, “I told him that he would be an amazing father. I just thought it would be me to give him that child.”Morgan rolled her eyes, “Please you two never even went out. You went on runs together. Big deal.Neil Melendez will only ever have eyes for Dr. Lim. Even more so now that she’s carrying their babies.”Claire turned to Morgan in confusion, “Babies?”Park answered first, “Dr. Lim is pregnant with twins.”Morgan added, “Dr. Lim had found out that she was pregnant right before you left Oregon. While you were pinned in the car, Dr. Lim went out in a storm while she was pregnant and sick. She risked everything for you. She risked not only her life but her babies too.”Claire rolled her eyes, “So what if they are having kids. She’s not coming with us. I think this trip is going to be amazing.”Park and Reznick looked at their colleague in silence. They were going to say something to her when another person showed up to their table.“Good day, doctors.” The man wearing scrubs with a logo for the Cross Boards Medical Outreach stitched above the shirt pocket, “My name is Dr. Nico Williams. I am the CBMO liaison who will be taking your team into Guatemala.”Both Reznick and Browne noted how good looking Nico was. The man was nicely tanned, well toned, easily six feet four inches, piercing blue eyes, light brown hair and a smile that lit up the room.Nico continued talking, “I just met with Dr. Andrews and Glassman. He informed me that your head trauma surgeon would not be joining us.”Morgan answered first, “For several reasons. One reason being Dr. Lim is currently sixteen weeks pregnant with twins and the other one of her best friends and our colleague has recently died.”Nico sat at the groups table, “My deepest sympathies for your loss. Losing a colleague is hard.While I was looking forward to meeting and working with your Dr. Lim, I’m excited for her to soon be welcoming two little ones.”The group continued to talk about their upcoming trip. Everyone was excited and looking forward to learning more about each other and being apart of the outreach program.To Morgan and Alex it was obvious that Claire had eyes on Nico. They didn’t know whether to be relieved that her focus was somewhere else other than Melendez and her hatred for Lim. Or should they worry that Nico would be her new obsession. Only time would tell.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two weeks later Audrey Lim was standing in her steaming hot condo. She was wearing a light blue jeans short overalls with white tank top on and she had her long dark hair in a high wet messy bun. The heat in her condo would not turn off. It was November and though fall had started off colder than normal for San Jose this November morning was warmer than normal. The heat was supposed to stick around for a while. Several people in her complex were having heating issues too. Despite the thermostat in being set at seventy two degrees the condo temperature was pushing ninety five degrees.Audrey had taken a cool shower and was waiting for the service guy to come work on her furnace.When she got dress she went to her kitchen to make a smoothie to sip on while she waited for the repair man.Lim had her patio door open as well as several fans on in her condo to help cool the place off, but they were providing little relief. She finally finished making her cold drink and sat a the dining table in front of a fan and took a sip.“Oh, you two like this smoothie?” Audrey asked placing a hand on her round abdomen. While she enjoyed feeling the babies move within her, Lim also was looking forward to being able to feel them move under her hand.When her mother and brother were in town for a quick visit her mom had said the same thing. Eileen was excited to see her daughter in person, but this would be the only time that she was going to be back in the US for a long time. Her job was contract based and she had signed a three year contract that would have her traveling all over Asia, to Africa as well as England and France. Her brother worked for the same contractor and would be busy with his travels as well. Plus, he was married with four kids. Her older brother had an amazing life in Taiwan.Though she was not very close to them Lim was happy to see her mom and brother even if it was for a one day visit. They had given her small gifts for the twins. Since their genders were not yet known they went with neutral colors. Two light yellow buttery soft baby crotchet blankets. Two light brown teddy bears. Audrey loved them and thanked her family. They discussed many things including how things were going to work out with Melendez.Audrey explained that they were still figuring things out as they went. He would be involved, and have visitation rights. That was also going to be based off of the fact that she was going to be nursing the twins. She would have near full custody for at least the first year, but that could change if she decided on formula feeds over nursing.Josh asked if she planned on taking him to court. Lim told him that they are working things out on their own and then taking everything to their lawyers to have it made legally binding. Neither wanted to get into a courtroom. She told her family that they just wanted to be good parents and respectful of each other.Before they knew it their visit was over. Lim promised to keep them updated on everything. Her brother whispered in her ear, “Do not close your heart, Audrey. Neil maybe an idiot, but I’m betting that he still loves you.” With that her family left.Audrey was brought out of her thoughts by a knock at her door. She got up from the table and before opening the door she asked who it was. It was the building manager with the HVAC repair man. Lim let them in and showed them the broken unit. While they started working on it Lim went back to her dining table. She sipped on her smoothie and worked on her laptop.A bit later the building manager, Mr. Jones called to her as he approached. Lim stood up.“Dr. Lim, I hate to say this, but your unit is completely shot. It’s going to be at least two days before we can get a new unit in.” He saw the look of disappointment cross the surgeon’s face, “I’m really sorry about this, Dr. Lim. I know that it’s not something that anyone wants to deal with, but I know it’s especially tough when you’re expecting.”Audrey sighed, “Mr. Jones, I really do understand. I’m just going to book a hotel room for the next few nights.” She looked down at her protruding abdomen, “If it was just me, I’d make do. It’s just with me carrying these two, I think it will be safer to just not be here. Last night was bad enough.”Mr. Jones nodded his head, “I agree with you there.” He quickly glanced at her belly and the looked at her with a wide smile, “Twins?”Lim gave a very small smile in return, “Yep. They were a complete surprise, but they are so loved already.”The older man was a little teary eyed, “My wife and I had five boys and two girls. Our oldest two were twins and our baby girls were twins. You are in for a special treat. Some say twice the feeding, laundry and what not. My favorite part was watching their bond. They had their own way of doing things. They worked as a team…it was something to witness. Cherish every moment of it.”Lim gave a small smile agin, “I promise, I will.”With that Mr. Jones went back out to the HVAC technician. Lim set about get a room at a nearby hotel. Then she went and packed a bag. Soon Mr. Jones came in to give her a quick update before they all left.Once Lim was in her car driving towards the hotel she sent Neil a text message letting him know what was going on. Not that he could do anything from Guatemala, but as he was the twins father she wanted him to be aware.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later that afternoon as Audrey Lim was napping in her bed at the hotel she was awakened by he phone ringing. With her eyes closed she answered the call.“Hello?” She asked sleepily.“Hey, Aud. Did I wake you?” The voice asked softly.Lim managed to open her eyes, “Neil?”He gave a soft chuckle, “I got your message. I’m sorry that the HVAC in your condo is out.”“Mmm, it really does suck. However, I’m at the hotel that I texted you about, so I’m nice and cool now. The babies and I finally got some real sleep.” Lim replied as she started to sit up.Melendez replied softly, “That’s good. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”Lim stood up from the bed and walked to the mini refrigerator that she had placed some bottles of water in and grabbed one, “I’m going to go for a walk, then pick up something for dinner and bring it back to my room. I may go for a swim in the pool before bed. What are you guys up to?”Melendez sighed, “Murphy and Lea are helping a family with a newborn. Park and Reznick are helping organize the new supplies that came in. Andrews is with the head of the clinic. I think Browne is with Dr. Williams. He was showing her some new stitch techniques.”Lim rolled her eyes at the mention of Claire, “What about you?”“I’m thinking of going for a walk around with a good friend of mine.” Melendez answered at the same time that there was a knock on her room door.Lim walked over to the door, she looked out the peephole and saw a hotel housekeeper, “Hold on just a second. Housekeeping is at my door, but I didn’t ask for anything.”The trauma surgeon opened the door and was about to tell the housekeeper that she didn’t need anything when the housekeeper handed her a bag of food. They told her that it was delivered to the desk for her. Lim thanked the employee and tipped them with the ten dollars that she had in the pocket of the jumper that she was wearing and then she went back into her room closing the door.“This is odd. I just got a food order from my favorite taco truck. They don’t do food deliveries and I didn’t place any orders.” Lim said questioningly.“I meant to tell you,” Melendez began, “The jumper that you’re wearing really shows how big the twins have gotten.”Lim stopped looking at the food at his comment, “Neil, how do you know that I’m wearing a jumper?”“Go open your door.” Was all that he said and then he hung up.Confused Lim went to her door and opened it.“Neil? What are you doing here?” Lim asked in surprise.Melendez gave a soft smile, “My I come in?”Lim stepped aside. He walked in as she closed the door behind him, “Neil, you’re supposed to be in Guatemala for another week.”Melendez smiled, “Technically I’m supposed to be there another ten days, because I was leaving early so I could be here for your anatomy scan.”Lim nodded, “I remember. This doesn’t explain why you’re here now.”Melendez let out a breath, “Audrey, the babies are here in California. I did not want to be in another country while they were here.Lim sighed, “Neil, they are fine. They didn’t even know that you were gone because they are not out of here.” She pointed at her belly, “The only thing these two really know at the moment is my heartbeat.”Melendez smiled, “Can’t convince me otherwise. My kids missed me.”Lim just shook her head, “You’re delusional, but you brought food. I think I’ll let it pass for now.”Melendez laughed at her comment. Together the two got the food out of the bag and sat at the small table in her room. They both tucked into their food.After a few moments of quiet eating Melendez asked, “Other than everything with the HVAC, anything else been going on with you?”Lim finished swallowing her bite of her taco. She wiped her mouth on her napkin and replied, “My mom and brother were in for a one day visit. They brought a small gift for each of the babies. Then I’ve been busy with work.Otherwise it’s been pretty much status quo.”Melendez smiled a bit, “I’m glad that you got to see your mom and brother. It was nice of them to bring something for the babies.” He sipped a bit at his water, “We were all crazy busy in Guatemala. There were a few days where we had little to no power. It was stressful, but you would be so proud of the residents. They really stepped up.”“That’s great. When they get back maybe we can start having them take bigger leads on treating the patients.” Lim said as she finished her brisket taco.Melendez agreed, “Park, Murphy one Reznick have really grown so much in these last two weeks. Browne has finally stepped up too. Dr. Williams is really impressed with her.” Melendez finished with a look of pride.Lim started cleaning up in front of her, “So, you never gave a serious answer. Why are you really here? Neil, you had ten more days. Andrews was already pissed that you were leaving as early you were. He wanted you to stay for the full six weeks.” She stood to put her trash in the take out bag. Then as she came back to the table she picked up her bottle of water and took a drink.Melendez loved watching her on a normal day, but seeing Lim in the jeans jumper…it really showed off her baby belly. He could look at her all day. He was head over heels in love.“I told you, Aud.” Melendez stood up and hesitantly placed a hand onto her belly. It was the first time that he had done so.Lim looked uncomfortable with the contact, but she did not say anything.Melendez continued, “I needed to be here. I don’t want to ever be far from these two.” He stepped a little closer, “I don’t want to be far from their mother.”The couple were quiet for a moment before Lim sudd cleared her throat, “Neil, I’m glad that you want to be close by for the babies, but literally there’s nothing really for you to do.” She stepped away to lean against the desk, “Right now they only need me. As they’re growing inside of me.”Melendez looked disappointed that she walked away from him, but he understood her reaction. Still he was not ready to give up, “I realize that I did my part that rainy day in the abandoned park, and that right now I’m just a bystander.” He started to step closer to her but he saw Lim tense up, “Aud, I just want to be here for you. You’re not going to do this alone.”Lim sighed, “I appreciate you wanting to be involved. It really means a lot, but I don’t want you to put your life on hold for me.”“Audrey, I’m not putting my life on hold.” Melendez replied back, “Everything thing that is important in my life is in this room.”That statement confused Audrey. she knew that he was with Claire. She thought, “He shouldn’t have left his girlfriend in another country just to be here with me. Claire is already pissed at me for so much. I don’t want to add this on too.”Lim stepped forward, “Look, I appreciate that you came back to be here for the babies. I also thank you again for dinner.” She took a deep breath, “What do you say we go for a walk and grab something for dessert?”Melendez noticed how she quickly changed the subject, but he nodded his head in agreement. He knew that he needed to tell her everything, but he could see that this wasn’t the moment for that. He vowed to himself to do it soon.Lim gave an awkward smile and then she grabbed her wallet and room key. Together they left to enjoy a nice walk.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Before Lim and Melendez knew it was the day that they had both been waiting for. This was the longest that they would be together since he came back early from Guatemala. Both had been busy with work and Lim was also keeping her distance.They met up at her obstetrician’s office and not long after signing in they were in the sonogram room.Audrey laid on the table with her scrub top up. The scrub bottoms fit low enough that she did not have to lower the waist band.“I love that you came wearing scrubs, Dr. Lim.” Joey the sonogram tech said with a smile as she squirted gel onto the surgeon’s twenty week round belly.Lim gave a chuckle, “I was on overnight in the emergency department, and I had a child vomit all over me. Funny thing is he wasn’t the original patient. He was there because his sister cut her hand. He end up needing an emergency appendectomy.”Joey couldn’t help but to laugh yet look surprised, “Going to the emergency room for one kid and the second kid ends up needing surgery. That’s crazy.”Lim agreed, “The boy has a high tolerance for pain. We wouldn’t have known that he was sick had he not thrown up.”Joey shook her head and started the sonogram, “That really is crazy.” She looked at the monitor as did Lim and Melendez, “Alright mom and dad, here are your babies.”Both Lim and Melendez watched in awe. They both could not believe that their rain soaked park adventure created two beautiful souls. Seeing them took their breath away.Joey pointed out different things as she took measurements and pictures for the couple. When she got to checking the gender neither baby was very cooperative.“Hmmm, these two are really being stubborn in there, Dr. Lim we’ve had you on your sides. Why don’t we get you up, have you walk a bit do a few stretches to see if we can get these two to be less shy.” Joey said.Melendez helped Lim off of the exam table. For five minutes Lim walked the room, did a few stretches and the soon was back on the table with Joey checking to see if that helped. Unfortunately it did not. They had Lim get into several different positions, her obstetrician came in and tried too. Unfortunately the couple left without finding out what they were having.“Well, this entire pregnancy has been a total surprise. Why not this?” Lim asked as she and Melendez walked to their cars.Melendez laughed, “It’s going to make it all the more exciting in the delivery room.”Lim agreed as she opened the driver’s door of her vehicle, “Thank you for being here today.”Melendez smiled, “There’s no where else that I would rather be, Audrey.”Lim gave a slight head nod as she got into the driver’s seat, “I’m heading home to grab a late breakfast and then a quick nap.”“Why just a quick nap? You just worked a thirty six.” Melendez questioned.Lim sighed, “Yes, I worked a thirty six, but I have to be back in tomorrow for six in the morning. If I take anything more than a nap, then I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”Melendez was about to respond when his phone sounded. He quickly checked it, “I’ve got to take this it’s Claire she and Dr. Williams are dealing with a complex heart case involving a ten year old.”Lim nodded her head, “Good luck with that. I’m gonna go.”Before he could ask her to wait she had the door closed, she buckled up and had the car in reverse. Sighing Neil answered his phone, “Melendez.”He listened to Claire babble on as he watched the love of his life drive away. He slowly walked back to his car and got in.After helping Claire and Dr. Williams out, Neil hung up the phone. He pulled out the copy pictures of his and Audrey’s babies, “Poppa has his work cut out for him in winning your momma back. I don’t know how but I will. I love you two so much and your mom…I screwed up. I hurt her. Now, I have to fix this. I don’t know how but I will.”Melendez placed a kiss on his finger tips and placed them over the images of his children, “I’ll figure this out. I promise you both.”With that promise he put the pictures away and headed home.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Little more than two weeks later and the residents, Lea and Dr. Andrews were back from Guatemala. They were bonded a bit and talking up a storm as they waited for their meeting to start.Neil Melendez walked into the meeting room talking with Dalisay Villanueva. Both were surprised by the liveliness of the group already in the room. They quickly sat down.Aaron Glassman arrived with Asher Wolke and Jordan Allen. Melendez was anxious to see Audrey Lim. He had wanted to ask her something after their meeting.Marcus Andrews stood up and silenced the group, “Alright, I know that we are all very excited to be back and anxious to discuss everything from our time in Guatemala.” He looked around the room, “Does anyone know where Dr. Lim is?”Most said no. Dr. Glassman sat his phone down, “I just received word that she’s in surgery. A trauma came in an hour ago. The guy has multiple GSWs. Nurse Jerome said that Lim will probably be in there for at least the next six to seven hours if not longer.”Marcus winced, “Let’s have Dr. Hicks swap in at some point to make sure that Lim can use the restroom, grab something to drink.”Glassman set about texting Hicks.Neil was disappointed that he would not be seeing the woman who was currently twenty three weeks pregnant with his babies. He sat and really only half listened to everything talked about in the meeting.Neil was shocked to learn that Claire Browne had decided to stay in Guatemala. They offered her a big position. She was not willing to pass it up. Plus, the younger woman and Dr. Nico Williams apparently had fallen for each other.Melendez hoped that hearing this would help Lim in believing him when he talked with her.A little bit later Melendez looked at his watch they had been in their meeting going on close to two hours. He was bored. Suddenly he felt a tap on his arm and that drew his attention back to the meeting.“Dr. Melendez,” Park said quietly, “Andrews is finally wrapping up.”Melendez let out a relieved sigh as he listened to the hospital president bring the meeting to a close. Once they were free to leave the cardio thoracic surgeon left the meeting space and headed to the surgical floor. Melendez wandered into the viewing gallery where Audrey Lim was operating below.From where Melendez stood he could see Lim’s side profile really well. He smiled to himself as he could clearly see the roundness of her pregnant belly. Though she was twenty three weeks into this twin pregnancy because of her height and body frame Lim’s belly was not overly large. Melendez though loved watching her (as his cousin’s daughter called it) bump get bigger. It was his ego that made him so proud to know that it was he that got Audrey pregnant. He was a dumbass and he knew it for thinking that way, but he was in love with Lim. He was thrill that Audrey was having his babies.Melendez stepped away so as not to get caught staring at the woman that he loved beyond words. He decided to head to his office to work on his patients charts and wait for Audrey to finish her surgery. Neil was bound and determined to talk to the trauma surgeon as soon as possible.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Seven hours later Neil Melendez wandered into Audrey’s office. She was not at her desk, “Don’t tell me she went into another surgery.” He sighed.The surgeon turned around, left Lim’s office and walked down the hallway to his. He walked over to his desk and sat down. Melendez looked at his computer monitor and saw the sonogram pictures of each of the twins. He smiled and reached for his desk phone. That’s when Melendez heard the sound of deep breathing. When he looked around he saw the person that he was looking for. Audrey Lim was sound asleep on his sofa.Neil Melendez stood up and walked over to where the trauma surgeon lay sleeping. He smiled as he sat down on the coffee table. Melendez could see just how tired that she was, and how peaceful that she looked. He was just about to wake her when he saw the most breathtaking thing. With the way Lim was laying caused her scrub top to tighten and really showed off her swollen abdomen. Through the tightness of the fabric he saw the small movements of his children.Neil’s smile grew wider. He reached out and placed a warm hand onto Lim’s round stomach and for the first time he felt his children moving. He could not describe how he felt. With tears in his eyes Neil softly spoke, “Hello, my babies.”For a moment all was quiet and Melendez sat enjoying feeling the movement of the babies. Then he heard, “If you think it’s cool feeling them on the outside, then you can only imagine how it feels with them doing it on the inside.”Neil’s eyes quickly turned to look at the now awake Lim as he quickly pulled his hand away. He stuttered an apology to her, but she waived it off, “Neil, honestly it is fine. I came in here because they were really moving and I didn’t want you to miss it. You weren’t here so I sat down, and I guess I was more tired than I thought.”Melendez smiled, “Thank you for coming here so that I could get to feel them.”Lim smiled as she tried to sit up, but the sofa cushions made it hard for her. Melendez politely reached over and helped her up to a standing position.Lim gave him a shy smile, “Note to self, don’t fall asleep on your sofa. I didn’t think when I sat down about getting back up.”Melendez gave a soft smile, “The cushions really comfortable aren’t they? Sorry that you had to wait for me.”“It’s fine really.” Lim checked the time on her watch, “Damn! I have to get back down to the emergency department.”Melendez started to step out of the way, but stopped as Lim went to step past him, “Audrey, wait.”The trauma surgeon stopped and looked at him, “Are you okay?”Melendez nodded his head, “I am. I just…I just…”Lim raised a worried eyebrow, “Neil, are you okay?”“Audrey will you have dinner with me?” Melendez rushed out the question surprising even himself.Lim stepped slightly back, “I’m sorry. What?”Melendez shuffled from foot to foot. He was suddenly nervous, “Will you have dinner with me?” He asked again looking at her with a shy smile.Lim was hesitant before she answered. After a moment, “Neil, I really appreciate the offer. I do. I just don’t want to interfere in anything you have going on in your life. I don’t want to cause problems for you.”Melendez knew what she was referring to, but he did not want to have the conversation where they would be interrupted or having someone over hear, “Audrey, there’s something really important that I wanted to talk to you about. I think it would be best to have it somewhere more private.” He smiled, “I could come over to your place and make us something. We could talk and then watch a movie.”Lim looked at him in uncertainty. She just wanted to go home, grab something small to eat and then go to bed. She was exhausted. Lim looked at the man before her with hope and a bit of shyness shining through his eyes, “Fine. I’m done in a half an hour hopefully, and I know you’re done an hour later. I’ll see you at my place.” She started to leave the office when she stopped turned around and said, “Your kids are craving something sweet. So, if you’re feeding us, then don’t forget to bring them something sweet.” She finished and walked out of the office.Melendez laughed at her comment. This was the first time that she had asked him for anything during the pregnancy. He thought about what he would bring. Neil wanted to make Lim and the babies happy. Now he couldn’t wait for the end of his shift.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Before Neil knew it he was standing at Audrey Lim’s kitchen counter chopping up the last of the vegetables that he was going to place into the steamer. He already had the chicken baking along with part of their dessert.Audrey was sitting at the counter on a high back barstool, “Are you sure that I can’t help you with anything?”Melendez finally finished chopping, “Nope, once I get the vegetables in, then I’m getting the cakes out of the oven to cool. The chicken will be done probably when the timer alerts for the vegetables.” He winked at her as he seasoned the vegetables, “Just sit and relax.”Before long the two were sitting down and finishing eating the dinner of baked chicken, steamed vegetables with a side of whipped sweet potatoes.As Lim took her last bite she smile. When she finished she said, “Thank you for making this delicious dinner.”Melendez smiled, “Of course. If you thought that dinner was good just wait until I finish making the dessert.”Lim laughed softly at the sparkle in his eyes. Together they cleared the table, put the dishes into the dish washer and packed away the rest of their dinner.Melendez started to assemble their dessert. Lim watched, “Neil, what are you making?”Melendez smile grew, “We loved those little prepackaged chocolate cake things that Hostess put out called Ho Ho’s when I was a kid. My mom said that she could make them and make them taste even better. We were skeptical, but she made this and it was so good. My sister after the accident, it was one of the few things that she could say for a bit. It’s a Gabby favorite.”Lim smiled. She loved Neil’s sister. They had spent time with her and being with her was just easy.Melendez interrupted Lim’s thoughts, “I told Gabby about the babies, Audrey. I hope that you don’t mind.”Lim looked surprised, “Why would I mind? Gabby is their aunt. I bet she was really excited.”Melendez laughed, “Gabby is beyond excited. She said that the babies were exactly what this family needs.”Lim smiled, “You will definitely have to take the twins to meet their aunt after they are born. She will love to see them.”Melendez finished icing the cake and looked to Lim, “Audrey, when I take the babies to see their aunt, you will be going. You’re their mother.”Lim just shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed two small plates, “Yes, I’m their mother, but I’m not your girlfriend or wife. I’m the ex who you just happened to have gotten pregnant. You’re with Claire and you two will be the ones to take these two to meet their aunt.”Melendez put down the knife that he was using to cut the cake. He took a deep breath, “Audrey, I am not with Claire. I never was.”Lim just looked at Melendez with an expression that he could not read. He continued, “Claire came to me as you know when we all thought that I was dying. I had all of those pain medications in me. I was really looped by the time that I saw her. I had just woken up from a dream that I had about you.”Lim still said nothing. Melendez was getting even more nervous, “This is going to sound cliche, but I honestly thought that it was you who I said that I love you to. Audrey, everything in my head was blending together. I was talking to Claire, but at the same time I was talking to you. I told that to Claire when I was released from the hospital. I told her that I never meant to say those words to her. I told her that I was madly in love with you.”Lim sighed, “You told Claire,” Melendez nodded his head. She continued, “You told her, but you said nothing to me? Claire knew and still made everyone believe that you two were together?”Melendez was about to reply but Lim continued, “Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you just say something? I know that you were angry at me for breaking up with you, but when you thought that you were dying you said that you forgave me. After the second surgery you treated me like I didn’t exist. Your parents did too. You know how I found out about your recovery? From Claire, Glassman…hell even Lea knew how you were doing.”Melendez took a breath, “Audrey, I’m sorry. I am so sorry for how I treated you. How my parents treated you.”Lim just looked at him for a moment before continuing, “When I first found out that I was pregnant, I knew that I needed to tell you right away. You wanted nothing to do with me, but I knew that you had the right to know that you were going to be a father. Making sure that everything was good for you was my top priority. Then the accident happened and the pregnancy was revealed not in the way that I wanted it to be, but at least you knew. I have put myself aside for you. Hell even before the break up I did everything that I could to be something for you. I loved you too much, not enough. I was too supportive, I changed and then I was not supportive enough. I twisted myself every which way. You got hurt, and I again put you ahead of everything. Still that wasn’t enough.”Melendez had the sense to keep his mouth shut. Lim continued, “For weeks you said nothing and Claire happily told me everything.”“Audrey, I’m sorry that she did that to you. I should have said something. I’m so sorry. I’d gladly tell her the next time she comes back from Guatemala.” Melendez quickly replied.Lim gave him another unreadable look. He realized that nobody had told her, “Audrey not that this solves anything. Claire was offered a job in Guatemala and she took it. Had they not offered I think she would have stayed anyways. She’s dating Dr. Williams.”Lim seemed indifferent to the news. Neil realized just how hurt that she was. Audrey had done everything for him. Even to make his life easier to be with Claire, and he ignored it all. He had vowed to tell her later, but maybe he had waited too long to tell her.After a few minutes of silence Lim spoke, “Neil, really wish that you would have talked to me sooner. I tried to apologize for breaking up with you. After the first surgery I thought that we had…I don’t know, but then you said what you did to Claire. It hurt, but I honestly just wanted you to be happy even if that meant watching you be with somebody else.”Neil could see the hurt in Lim’s eyes. He wisely said nothing.Lim continued, “Claire made sure to tell me daily just how happy that you both were. Again, I just wanted you to be happy. Though I did try reaching out to you, but never heard back.Then Oregon happened. I found out that I wasn’t just sick, I was pregnant. I knew that I needed to tell you. I also knew that I had to keep Claire safe for you. We ended up in the accident. I had to not only worry about her but these two,” she pointed at her swollen abdomen, “innocent babies. I didn’t know if the crash had hurt them. Claire blames me for the crash, and especially everything with you. She thought that I was jealous…maybe I was, but I never wanted to be in the way of the two of you. I certainly didn’t want us to crash either.”“Audrey, I am sorry.” Neil started.Lim nodded her head, “Me too. I’m sorry that I wasn’t strong enough to trust in the love. I’m sorry that I let the fear of losing my job a head of you. I’m sorry that you felt like I didn’t love you enough or too much.I’m sorry that I didn’t help you or your family enough when you were hurt, and I am sorry that I didn’t see you before you left.” She took a shaky breath, “I was too much of a coward to face you after everything.”Melendez could not believe how much Lim believed that she was at fault for everything. He had placed so much pressure and blamed her for everything. Neil didn’t realize until that moment how much that he had hurt her. He blamed her for everything. Then Claire did…hell his parents were even rude to her when he was recovering in the hospital. He saw it. Melendez felt like a complete fool.“Audrey, I am so sorry.” Neil started again, “I let you take the blame for everything. It was just as much my fault.”Melendez stepped closer towards the woman carrying his children, “I can’t believe that it took me until now to see it. You’re taking all of the blame, but I am just as much to blame.”Lim didn’t say anything. She didn’t show any emotion. To Melendez she just looked defeated and completely done. That scared him.“You are the only one in our relationship that has apologized. I let you take all of the blame.” Neil started to tear up, “There are two of us and I have been so self absorbed that I let you take all of the blame. I am so very sorry, Audrey.No person should be made to feel like what I have put on you.”Lim sighed but did not make complete eye contact, “Thank you. I appreciate that.”Melendez was worried about her. She seemed very guarded, “Audrey, are you okay?”Giving him a casual almost shy glance, “I’m fine, Neil. I’m just tired. It’s been a long week and it was capped off by a long surgery.”Melendez knew that wasn’t everything but he didn’t want to press too hard, “A long surgery on a normal day, but add in the fact that you’re carrying two additional lives.”Lim rolled her eyes with a slight smile, “They do make surgery a bit challenging.”Melendez again picked up the knife and cut two pieces of the cake. After he plated them he handed one to Lim and went and got two glasses of milk from her refrigerator.When they were both sitting at the dining table again Melendez asked, “Since when do you drink lactose free milk?”Lim took a bite of the cake. It was heavenly. After she finished the bite and a drink of the milk she answered, “Awhile back I noticed that when I would drink regular milk that I would get sick. I went to my doctor and he ran some tests. It seems that my system cannot handle lactose anymore. Which is why I took medicine before you started cooking. I wasn’t sure what you were making. I’m glad that I did because as much as I love this cake, had I not taken anything I’d spend the rest of my night sick. As it stands, I’m going to need to take more medicine.”“Why didn’t you say anything? I could have made this with different chocolate.” Melendez questioned in a panic.Lim waived him off, “It’s fine. I took the medicine. It will help. Besides, sometimes the risk is worth it. This cake is amazing. Definitely worth it.” As she took another bite.Melendez rolled his eyes as he too continued to eat.Later after they had finished their meal they got ready to watch a movie. Lim told Melendez to set everything up as she needed to use the restroom and she wanted to change into something more comfortable.Five minutes later Melendez was surprised when Lim came into the living space wearing navy blue silk bed pants, a tight black camisole that really showed off her twin pregnant belly and a navy blue silk button up bed top that she had left open. Her long dark hair was pulled up into a high loose messy bun. Neil just fell even more in love with her.Lim sat next him on the sofa, “What did you pick to watch?”Melendez shifted in his seat so he could face her better, “Audrey, I want again apologize for my attitude towards you before I left the hospital and even more for everything before and after the breakup.” He wanted to reach out and take her hand, but was afraid that she would pull away, “I unfairly blamed you for everything and was overly critical of your feelings about wanting to keep our relationship private. I now understand why.I’m also sorry for everything that happened with Claire.”Lim really did not want to get into it again, but Neil was insisting with his apology, “Neil, thank you. For the apology. You’re right we were both at fault.” She paused for a moment then asked, “Why did you not tell me sooner about what happened between you and Claire?”Melendez shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “I was embarrassed for telling her that I loved her when I thought that I was talking to you.”“Claire made it known to me that you two were together. She rubbed it in at every turn.I get why she did it. Like you she was embarrassed but she was also hurt. Which I understand too. The only thing is that she took her anger out on me. Hell she even blames me for her getting us lost on the way back from Oregon. Blames me for the accident and leaving her while she was pinned.You could have said something at any point, Neil. I didn’t defend myself to her because I didn’t want to cause problems for you.”“I know and I’m sorry that I let it continue. I should’ve said something sooner.” Neil stuttered through his apology.Lim sighed, “Neil, I appreciate your apologies. I do. It’s just for weeks I had to deal with her. The gossip about me. The fact that I was being blamed for abandoning her after the car accident.” She paused taking a deep breath, “Then I was sick and adjusting to being pregnant. These last few months have been a roller coaster. Now, you add in the fact that you two weren’t together.Neil, you stopped talking to me. I get that I had hurt you when I broke up with you, but I thought that we were moving past that. Then you and Claire said I love you to each other. Though you thought that she was me. When you realized what you did you could have said something, but you chose to say nothing. Well, in fairness you told her that it was mistake. It was me that you left in the dark.”Melendez looked rightfully ashamed. He had no excuses.Lim spoke again, “You and I have together and separately been through a lot. I know for me that I don’t have the energy or the time to dwell on everything that has happened.” She placed a hand on the top of her round belly. Feeling the two babies moving within her, “My focus needs to be on these two. They need me to not be as tense as I have been. They can feel everything that I do. They don’t deserve that. I want them to feel loved and safe.”Melendez now had a few tears falling, “I know that I keep saying this, but I really am sorry. I should have not cut contact. I was afraid and you suffered a lot because of that.” He reach out a hand and placed it over her hand on her belly, “I will do whatever it takes to make sure that they feel loved.”Lim nodded, “We just take it a day a time. Neil, I have to learn to trust you again.” She looked at the hurting man, “You have to learn to trust me too. We have some growing up to do. Both of us.”Melendez agreed, “You’re right. We need to grow up and communicate better too.”Lim gave a small smile, “We are going to be parents soon, and we will need to learn how to be coparents.” Melendez chuckled she continues, “We are not going to solve it this tonight. I’m way too tired.”Neil agreed and the decided to call it a night. After giving him left overs and more than half of the cake, Lim opened the door to her condo, “Get home safely, Neil.”Just as he was about to reply his phone started ringing. He checked the screen and saw that it was his mother. Lim wished him a good night as he stepped into the hallway she closed the door.Neil sighed and answered the call as he walked towards the elevator.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Three weeks later and Audrey was feeling every bit of being twenty six weeks pregnant with the twins. She had just arrived home from work a half an hour ago. Lim decided to take a shower and then she wanted to go for a walk around her neighborhood.She had just finished getting dressed from her shower. Audrey stood in front of her full length mirror. Never had she imagined that she would have a baby belly.“You two are getting big. Momma has already had to go up in size in clothes. At this rate by the time I’m ready to give birth the only thing to fit will be my bathrobe.” The expectant mother said with a smile, “What do you say we go to the new bakery down the block and try out some of those vegan bake goods that everyone in our building has been raving about. Does that sound good to you two?” She finished getting dressed.Lim smiled as she felt the babies kick her hand, “Alright, let’s go then.” With that she to grab crossbody bag, her cellphone and keys. She soon found herself walking towards the bakery. It was a beautiful late fall day. She wore her black and white converse shoes, camouflage pants, a dark purple t-shirt with green button down shirt that she left open. She wore her hair in a high messy bun and she had her favorite pair of aviators sunglasses on. For as tired as she was when Lim started walking she got a burst of energy.As she walked down the sidewalk her mind started to wander a bit. This time next year she would be walking the streets with her two babies. It was crazy to think about. It made her smile a little. Maybe she and their father would walk with them. There was a small park not too far from the bake shop. Though they were not together Lim hoped that they could do things together with their children. Maybe they could take their children to the park together.As she walked near an outdoor cafe she saw the subject of part of her thoughts. Sitting at a table in the outdoor cafe. Audrey was going to approach him, but saw a blonde woman approach him. Lim could not see the woman’s face, but it was obvious that Neil knew the woman as he had stood up and hugged her.“Oh, ah good for him. He must be on a date.” The trauma surgeon thought to herself, “I’ll ask him about it when I see him at work.” She continued onto the bake shop trying hard to push the pang of jealousy that tugged at her heart.As she walked she felt a very faint tightness in her chest. Lim shook it off. She was not jealous of someone that Neil was now seeing. He deserved to be happy. That’s all that Lim wanted.After a bit the tightness went away. Lim sighed as she entered the bake shop. The first thing that she noticed was how amazing the place smelled.“Welcome in.” An older woman at the counter greeted her. Lim smiled as she looked at the different options. Everything looked so good. She thought that they only sold vegan food, but they had stuff for every taste. Being twenty six weeks pregnant did not help her at the moment. She was hungry and in an instant she craved everything that she saw.Twenty minutes later Audrey Lim was walking back to her condo with a bag from the bake shop. Aside from bake goods they sold different types of soups and sandwiches. She could not have any of the lunch meat type sandwiches(not that she honestly liked those). Lim ordered a Roast chicken salad sandwich as well as a bowl of their potato soup. She also ordered a few of their bake goods. Now, she was excited to get home and enjoy her dinner.As Lim walked she was admiring the start of the sunset with the dark rain looking clouds when she heard a voice call to her. When she looked around she came face to face with Neil Melendez.“Hi.” Was all that she said to him. Lim realized that she had walked past the outdoor cafe. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was. Now, the two surgeons were standing on the sidewalk just past the cafe.Melendez smiled, “Hi, Audrey. What are you doing here? Last time I saw you had told me that you were going home to take a long nap.”Lim rolled her eyes, “That was the original plan, but I got hungry. I remembered there was this new bake shop.” She pointed to the bag in her arms, “What about you? You live twenty minutes in the opposite direction.”Just as Melendez was about to answer they heard, “Audrey Lim, what are you doing here?”The trauma surgeon was surprised to see that the blonde that she had seen earlier was none other than, “Jessica Preston, I didn’t know that you were back in San Jose.”Melendez answered for the lawyer, “I was here having dinner when Jessica called me asking if we could meet up.”Jessica cut in, “A friend of ours from when we were together was in a really bad car accident. They may not make it. Neil and I are going to go see them.”Lim felt the slightest tightening in her chest. She felt bad for the two, “I’m sorry about your friend. Don’t let me keep you.”Jessica thanked as her phone started to ring, “Excuse me for a second. It’s my husband and I really need to take this.” She stepped away.Melendez gave Lim a weak smile, “How are you three doing?”Lim shifted the bag slightly, “Neil, we are fine. How are you?”Melendez let out a sharp breath, “Kyle is a new father himself. I’m just completely stunned that this is happening. His wife, Sam is such an amazing woman. I met her a few years ago and instantly just felt like I had known her my entire life. Kyle was the biggest goofball. Sam was way out of his league, but the two of them together…they just fit. I feel really bad for Sam and the kids. They have Mason, Cash and the baby Rose.”Lim placed a hand on Neil’s arm as Jessica came back, “Jack says hello. He wanted to meet us at the hospital, but his daughter is getting a cast put on right now. His ex is out of town, and he doesn’t want to be away from Harley.”Lim was surprised to hear Jessica mention a step child, “Congratulations on your family, Jessica. I hope that your step daughter will be okay.”Jessica nodded her head and the trauma surgeon checked her watch, “Listen, it’s getting late and I really want to make it home before it gets dark.”Neil spoke, “We can drive you home, Audrey.”Lim was about to say no when the all felt raindrops, “Well, since I don’t want to get caught in the rain. I will take you up on the offer.”Melendez took the food bag from her, “I’ll take that. The car is right across the street.”Without the bag in front of her Jessica could see Lim’s protruding abdomen. The lawyer smiled, “Holy shit!! Your pregnant! Congratulations.”Lim thanked her and Jessica continued, “When are you due?”Audrey smiled softly, “I’m twenty six weeks. I’m due in January.”“Twenty six weeks?” The lawyer asked shock, “Forgive me, I just thought you were further along.”Lim sighed, “I understand. Everyone does.” She points to her belly with a shrug, “With two in here they make me look further along than I am.”Jessica really looks shocked, “Twins? You’re having twins? Neil, you got her pregnant with twins and you’re still alive?”Melendez’s eyes went wide and Lim gave a slight smirk. Jessica couldn’t help but to notice the difference in the couple’s relationship. She made a mental note to ask Neil about it later.The three were soon in Melendez’s car and on their way to Lim’s condo.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Almost a week later Alex Park walked into the chief of surgery’s office. He couldn’t help but notice the look of discomfort on the woman’s face.Alex well remembered how uncomfortable his ex-wife got the further along in her pregnancy that she got. He really could sympathize.“I’m guessing either heartburn, early Braxton Hicks contractions, the twins are just highly active or a combination.” Park said as he approached the trauma surgeon’s desk.Lim let out a pained breath, “Severe acid reflux and the twins have been on the move constantly. I swear it’s like they are in there kickboxing each other and my organs.”Park winced, “My ex said the same thing when Kellen would go on long stretches of continuous movement. She barely slept for a week.”Lim nodded her head, “It’s not been the most comfortable day.” She flinched slightly as she stood up, “You did not come here to listen to the complaints of a pregnant woman. What’s going on?”Together the two doctors left her office and headed to the emergency department. Park wanted Lim to check on his patient. The woman was complaining of leg numbness, but there was no evidence showing any cause. Dr. Andrews was set on calling in a psych evaluation, but Park really believed that there was something wrong.Andrews pitched a fit when Lim came over to check his patient out, but when Lim had spotted the cause on CT scan he quickly shut up.Later as Lim was in her office packing up to head home the hospital president came by to thank her for catching the problem.“I almost missed it too, Marcus. It really did look like a shadow instead of a mass. I’m glad that we caught it and it was not cancer.” She told the man.Now, Audrey Lim was at the gym. She was taking a private class. Wearing black body suit that showed off her big pregnant belly and the larger breasts that came with the pregnancy.“Alright, Dr. Lim!” Sarah her trainer said with a smile, “We are going to finish with fifteen minutes of cool down stretching.”The trauma surgeon readily agreed. Sarah helped Lim through the last fifteen minutes.“You did really well today, Dr. Lim.” Sarah informed the tired expectant mother as they were finishing their class, “I love getting to see how active the twins are today too.”Lim looked down at her swollen abdomen and smiled, “These two have been on the move almost all day. They also had me up most of the night. So did the acid reflux though.”Sarah giggled a bit, “Well, just do a few of those stretches that I showed you before bed. It should help a bit.”“Thank you, Sarah.” Lim replied as she gathered her bag and yoga mat, “It really feels like these two are starting to settle down in there. I’m gonna go home, heat up something and hopefully be in bed early tonight.”Sarah wished her a great rest of her day. As Audrey got into her car her cell phone started to ring. She sighed as she answered it without looking at the caller ID.“Audrey?” Lim heard a shaky voice call to her.Lim recognized the voice, “Neil, are you okay? What’s wrong?”Melendez spoke again, “I was out running and there was some loose gravel that I hit. I may have sprained my ankle.”Lim went into full trauma mode, “Did you hit your head? Lose consciousness? Wait, did you call for an ambulance?”Melendez chuckled, “I didn’t hit my head or lose consciousness. I don’t want to call an ambulance for a sprained ankle. It’s not a life and death emergency.”Lim rolled her eyes can you send me your location?”Melendez told her to hang on as he sent it. She received it pretty quickly, “I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”Melendez thanked her. He told her to be safe driving and he would see her soon. They hung up and he sat and waited.Six and a half minutes later Neil Melendez saw Audrey’s black suv pull up. He was impressed by how fast she had gotten there. He imagined that if she could have driven her Ducati then she would have been able to get there faster.When Melendez saw Lim coming around her car, his breath caught. She was wearing black running shoes and a solid black jump suit. The suit clearly showed her pregnant belly and the v cut neckline emphasized her lager breasts. He wondered if Lim knew how stunningly beautiful that she looked.“Neil, stop gawking and answer my questions.” Lim snapped at him. Melendez blinked and Lim was suddenly right beside him.Melendez shook his head, “I’m sorry, Audrey. I was lost in thought.”“I know what you were thinking.” The trauma surgeon quipped as she began checking him over.Lim opened her medical bag and pulled out a few gauze pads. Ripping open their packaging, she used them to start cleaning up the road rash on his arm and leg.Finally, Lim checked his ankle out. She was not happy with what she saw, “You definitely have at the least a sprained ankle, but you may have a few torn tendons and ligaments. We need to take you to St. Bonaventure for some x-rays.”Melendez smirked, “I’m for that, but do you want to stop by your place to change first?”Lim helped the man who was responsible for putting the two littles in her that made him question if she wanted to change, “Don’t worry I have my gym bag in the car. I can put my sweat shirt on.”Melendez nodded and nearly fell back down when he tried to step using his injured limb. Lim managed to keep him upright, “Easy there. If you take me down with you I’m just going to stay there.” Melendez chuckled as she continued, “Thanks to you and our park adventure, I have not really been sleeping. I swear I’ll fall asleep where I’d land.”“As I recall you did not complain about our park adventure.” Melendez whispered into her ear, “As I recall you wanted more and harder.”Lim elbowed him, “I can always leave you here, apple.”Both smirked as they reached her suv. Soon they were on their way to the hospital. Many were surprised to see the two of them arriving in the emergency department. Rumors, Lim was sure started to circulate. Though everyone knew that she was pregnant. That could not be hidden, and yes they knew Melendez was the father. However, many believed that the two were still together and that their breakup was just for show.“So, Lim finally decided to toss your ass out of a moving vehicle?” Andrews quipped as he cleaned the cuts and abrasions that were scattered across the heart surgeon’s arms and legs.Melendez chuckled, “No, though she might when she drives me home.”Andrews was about to reply when Shaun Murphy came over holding an X-ray for the two to see, “You have a small hairline fracture at the bottom of fibula, and a sprained ankle too. You will need a walking boot for six to eight weeks.”Melendez groaned, “I seriously did not need this right now.”“Didn’t need what?” A tired Lim asked as she stepped over to Melendez’s bed.Murphy handed her the x-ray. She looked at it and sighed, “A hairline fracture to go with a sprain. Nice!” Lim looked at her ex-boyfriend, “When you hurt yourself, you go all out.”Melendez gave a soft smile, “Could have been worse. I could have hit my head.”“How would we know the difference? You always are a little dazed and confused.” Lim rapid fired back.Andrews watch the two lob insults back and forth. He smiled a bit on the inside as it reminded him of how they were before the two broke up. The hospital president also noticed the sadness in Lim’s eyes, and he felt a pang of guilt. He knew that the two belong together, but he added pressure to them when he should have given support. Yes, he was their boss…but he still could have helped them find a way to not let the job get to them.“Maybe these babies will help bring them together. It’s not like either are dying. They have time to work on their relationship.” Marcus thought to himself.Andrews focused on the two before him as the orthopedic surgeon came in to finish treating Melendez.An hour plus later and Lim had dropped Neil off. She was home to eat dinner while watching a movie. At bedtime she sent Melendez a text reminding him to take his medicine and not take the walking boot off unless necessary.Lim fell asleep before she saw his reply, “Yes, Chief. Sleep well.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At twenty eight and half weeks pregnant with the twins Audrey Lim was mostly feeling okay, but just tired. Her belly was getting bigger and heavier every day. There were days that she wished that someone would just lift it up for a bit and take the pressure off of her lower back.Lim’s acid reflux was coming in waves. The days where she didn’t have any symptoms were her best days. Her doctors told her that it was perfectly normal. As was the swelling that she was seeing. It wasn’t much, but enough for her to notice it and be concerned.Lim woke up that morning with a massive headache, stuffy nose and a sore throat. She checked to see if she had a fever and she was at her normal for her ninety six point seven.“Great either allergies or a cold. Definitely not what I need today.” Lim groaned as she finished getting ready for her early shift.Once she arrived at work the expectant trauma surgeon went straight to her office after checking in at the emergency department and surgical floor.The morning and afternoon passed in a daze for Lim. She went to two different meetings, operated on a seventy year old who thought that he was still a teenager and decided jump off the roof of his house into a burning pile of leaves. For his trouble he ended up with a punctured lung, broken collarbone three broken ribs and a concussion. Surprisingly he did not sustain any serious burns. His wife deemed him an idiot, but his six grandsons thought he was the coolest. Lim agreed with his wife.After the chaos of the morning Audrey grabbed some lunch and was currently in her office trying to stay awake as she wrote up the notes on the daredevil grandfather.“You look as exhausted as I feel.” A raspy Dalisay Villanueva said as she entered the office and sat down in front of Lim’s desk wearing a mask.Audrey sighed, “You sound like you have the worst sore throat ever.”The trauma nurse nodded her head, “I just came from the clinic. Dr. Glassman says that I have a sinus infection with the start of a lung infection.”“Dalisay, go home. You are too sick to be here.” Lim answered quickly, “I’m sure that Glassman gave you prescriptions. Go get them filled, go home and rest.”Dalisay looked at her boss, “What about you, Chief?” Lim looked at the nurse puzzled. Villanueva continued, “We all know that you are not feeling good too. When are you going home?”Lim rolled her eyes, “I am not sick. I have allergies. Besides I have way too much to do here.”Dalisay knew to cut her loss, and she did not press the pregnant doctor. Instead she wished the chief a well and she left the office to head for home.As Villanueva was leaving she saw Glassman and Andrews. She glared at the two and said, “I told you that Lim would not go for it. Good luck.” With those words she left.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A little while later Neil Melendez was frustrated. His teen heart patient from a few days ago that came in for a heart cath had suddenly started tanking. They had no idea why. Now, he stood on the hospital rooftop. He just stared out over the city lost in thought.Lim walked up to him, “It’s not your fault that the kid died.” The surgeon did not react. She continued, “The kid had unknown hole in the back side of his heart. You know this. When you opened him up, you saw it.”“I should have caught it earlier, Aud. That kid is dead because I didn’t see it sooner.” Melendez groused.Lim stood firm, “That kid is dead because his heart was too weak. He had the hole probably since birth. How he made it to thirteen years old is beyond me.”Melendez rolled his eyes as he turned to face her and snapped, “That’s because you are not a cardio thoracic surgeon.”Lim raised an eyebrow to him, but Melendez had already looked away, “Neil, I may not be a cardio thoracic surgeon but I went med school. One of the first things that they taught us is sometimes the patient dies. Second, not one doctor can change number one.” She reached out and put a hand on his arm, “I am sorry that you lost your patient. You, Shaun and Park did everything that you could.”Neil stepped away from Lim, “You don’t know that we did everything that we could. You weren’t there.” He glared at the chief, “That kid should still be alive. I…someone should have seen this.”“That hole was on the back side of the heart. It was not seen. It started off so small that was easy to miss, but when you went in and moved it…look all that I am saying is…” Lim didn’t get to finish as she was cut off.Melendez looked broken and angry when he snapped, “What you are saying is things to protect the hospital in case we get sued.”Lim shook her head, “Okay, this is not getting us anywhere.” She pulled her white lab coat closer to her as a cool autumn breeze came through, “You can stay here and have your pity party. I’m not going to be your punching bag.”Melendez winced on the inside as her words started to breakthrough.Lim did not give him the opportunity to speak, “I’m going to say this just one more time and then that’s it. You did not kill that kid. His heart was weak and had a hole that went unnoticed until you did the heart cath. The autopsy will back you up. Grieve for the boy, grieve for the family…hell grieve for yourself. Just don’t let it consume you, Neil. You did nothing wrong. It’s not just my blinded opinion because I’m carrying your babies.” She turned to go Melendez put a hand on her shoulder.Lim turned around and gave him a firm look, “Talk to someone, Neil. You need to. This isn’t healthy for you.” She pointed to her rounded abdomen, “These two deserve a father that is healthy both physically and mentally. They deserve a father who is not angry about things that he cannot control.”“Audrey…”Neil tried.Lim waved him off, “Neil, I think it best that for right now that unless it is work related or the twins that we keep contact to the bare minimum.” With that she turned walked away.Melendez wanted to chase after her, but with his foot being in the walking boot and him needing crutches to help him get around…he would not be able to catch up to the pregnant woman.Melendez let out a deep sigh, “Way to step in it, Neil.” He talked to himself. Slowly he made his way back into the hospital thinking about what Lim had said.Neil slowly made his way into the hospital with a lot on his mind. When the surgeon made it back to his office he shut and locked the door. Melendez sat on the sofa in his office, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. After a bit he opened his eyes and pulled out his phone.After staring at the small object for several minutes, he opened his phone and made a call.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At twenty nine weeks and one day into her pregnancy Audrey Lim woke up that morning and she felt out of sorts. Thankfully she had the day off and could rest at home.She had not seen Neil since their talk on the roof. Lim heard from Glassman that Melendez had gone to spend some time with his sister. She was happy about that. Gabby always had a way to make her brother feel better.As Lim was lying on her sofa barely watching a Marvel movie she received a text from Morgan Reznick. The blonde also had the day off and wanted to know if she wanted to meet up for an early lunch. The two had gotten a little bit closer after Petringa passed a few weeks ago.Lim declined the invitation as she was not feeling well. Morgan then informed her that she was on her way to see her. She had tried to call off the younger woman, but Morgan was not having it.Ten minutes later there was a knock on her door. Lim struggled but finally managed to get up from the sofa. She got to the door and opened it without checking to see who it was.“Damn, Dr. Lim you look like shit!” Reznick said upon taking one look at her pregnant chief.Lim rolled her eyes, “Just what I wanted to hear, Morgan.” She walked back to her living space. As she sat on the sofa. Reznick came into her condo, she closed the door, set the bags she brought with her on the dining table and went to check on the trauma surgeon.“Seriously, Dr. Lim what’s going on? Tell me how you’re feeling.” The blonde stated.Lim sighed, “I feel exhausted. I’m having some chest pain.” She pointed to her chest area, “It has not traveled. I feel nauseous too.”Reznick immediately went into doctor mode. She checked her pulse, counted her respiration too and placed a hand to her forehead to check for a fever.Lim looked exhausted and pale as Morgan replied, “You’re pulse rate is just a little elevated. Your breathing is only slightly off and you have a slight temperature.” She looked the older woman in the eye, “I think for safety sake we should take you to get looked at.”Audrey hesitated for a moment but knew that the younger woman was right. It wasn’t just her needing to be checked out it was the two little lives that she was carrying, “Let me grab a few things.”Morgan helped her boss up off the sofa, “Do you want me to call Dr. Melendez?”Lim shook her head, “Not until we know something. I don’t want him worrying while he’s with his sister.” Reznick gave her a look, “Morgan, I will tell him, but first let’s get something to tell him.”Reznick agreed and as they walked out the door Lim informed her resident, “My OB is at San Jose General.”“Why not St. Bonaventure?” Morgan asked in confusion.Lim gave a weak chuckle, “Because my personal life is mine. I also didn’t want to have one of my residents looking at me while the baby is crowning. It would be awkward. Knowing my luck it would be Murphy.”Morgan nodded her head, “Yep, not something that I would ever want either. Smart idea.” She said as she closed the door to Lim’s condo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six hours later Audrey Lim was lying in her bed at home. Morgan Reznick was down the hall in the guest room.“Neil, I didn’t call you right away because for one you’re out of town. It’s not like you could have been right over. Two, I didn’t know anything.” Lim said with quiet frustration.“Audrey, I’m sorry for snapping. I’m just worried about you three. I wish that I was there. You were probably scared.” Melendez said softly.Lim understood his position, “I was, but I wasn’t alone. I had Reznick with me.” She reminded him, “The babies are fine. The doctor said that they are growing and everything with them is right on track for them.”Neil felt a bit of relief when she said those words, “What did the doctor say about you?”Lim shifted slightly in the bed, “He said that the chest pain and discomfort were from the acid reflux coming back really strong and anxiety.” She took a breath, “You don’t have to worry about me being alone. Morgan offered to move in with me for a while. I accepted. Plus, I’m taking some time off of work. My OB recommended it. He just wants me to relax and decompress. I’m in bed right now, and when I get off the phone with you. I’m going to sleep.”Melendez sighed, “Okay. I’m going to be back in a week. If anything comes up call me right away. Please, Audrey?”“I will call you. I promise.” Lim agreed. The two spoke for a bit longer before they said goodbye.Lim placed her phone on her charger, turned off the bedside light and settled against her pillows.
She took as deep a breath as she could as she placed a hand on the swell of her swollen abdomen, “I love you both very much. Please let momma get some sleep tonight.”Audrey was rewarded with two strong kicks from her unborn babies, “Goodnight, my sweet babies.” With that she closed her eyes and was soon asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six days later and Audrey Lim was barely thirty weeks pregnant with her twins and she was miserable. In the last week she had started to retain a lot more fluid. She weighed herself and saw that she had gained nearly twenty pounds. Her face, hands, lower legs and feet were puffy. When she sat or was in bed she made sure to have her legs elevated.Both the trauma surgeon and Reznick were getting more worried each day. They had spoken to her obstetrician, but he assured her that all of her labs had come back as normal. What she was feeling was all normal for a multiple pregnancy according to her doctor. Both Lim and Reznick doubted that was all that it was.Lim did not get much sleep the night before. She was exhausted, nauseous and did not want to move. After having a little bit of breakfast Lim decided to take a shower for no other reason other than hoping that the shower would relax her enough to maybe try for a nap. Unfortunately it did not help. She had a sharp pain in her chest that took her breath away. Lim wanted to call for Morgan, but she had no breath to do so. The doctor rode it out. When it finally eased up, she quickly finished her shower and got out of her walk in shower.After getting dressed again the exhausted trauma surgeon sat down and brushed out her hair. Once she was done she sat for a moment to catch her breath as doing most things left her breathless.Just as she started to feel like she could breathe Lim felt another jolting pain in her chest that radiated up into her jaw. Her vision started to go gray. With her waning energy she called for Reznick who rushed to her side.“Son of a bitch!” Reznick said as soon as she saw the state that Lim was in, “I’m calling you an ambulance!”Lim grabbed her hand, “Morgan, please just take me. I don’t think that I can wait for an ambulance.”Reznick’s eyes went even wider, “Okay, I’ll take you. Come on.” With her help Lim was able to stand up.Lim leaned heavily on Morgan and as quickly as they could got into the blonde’s car. They were soon on their way.“Morgan?” A breathy Lim asked, “Can you please call Neil?”Reznick knew in that moment that they would not be coming back from the emergency room that day. Using the car’s hands free feature she called Melendez. What he said stressed her more for her boss than she already was.“Morgan, San Jose General is on emergency bypass. They had a chemical spill. You cannot get in. Bring Audrey here.” Melendez said into the phone.Reznick was shocked to hear him say bring her here, “Your supposed to be with your sister!.”Melendez chuckled, “She wanted me to go see her babies. I was just about to call you guys when you called me.” He paused, “How is Audrey doing?”Morgan looked at her chief all she said was, “I’m ten minutes out with her, Dr. Melendez, Lim will kill me if I take her through the emergency department.” The resident ignored his question.Melendez quickly responded, “Take her to the employee entrance. I’ll meet you guys there. Plus, it’s going to put her closer to the CT room.”The two finished their conversation and quickly hung up. Reznick looked over at Lim. She had her head resting on the headrest, her eyes were closed and Morgan could see a fine sheen across her brow.“Eyes on the road.” Lim said softly as she reached her hand over to her resident.Morgan took Audrey’s hand and not surprised to find it to be cool and clammy.“Please let us get the quickly and for them to be okay.” The blonde prayed in her mind. The traffic seemingly seeming to clear as she drove.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour and a half later Audrey Lim’s team had their answer. It was not what anyone had expected. Decisions were quickly being made.“Neil, you are the father of her children. You cannot do this surgery.” Marcus Andrews argued not for the first time.
Melendez stood closer to the hospital president, “I’m not delivering the babies. I’ll only be working on fix to the aortic tear. Besides, I am not related to Audrey. There’s no conflict of interest.”Marcus did not back down, “Thats bullshit and we all know it! You and Lim may not be together right now, but you still are family. You’re the father of her children.”Before either could continue Glassman stepped between the two, “Enough!” He glared at the two men, “Lim doesn’t have time for this. Dr. Harris will preform the c-section. After that Melendez will repair the aortic tear. There is nobody else able to do this surgery that can get here fast enough.
Let’s face it, she’s dying. If Neil doesn’t do this surgery now, then Audrey dies. I’m not okay with that.
Neil does the surgery. Tell the board to suck it.”Before Andrews could say anything Aaron continued, “Neil is the only one here that can do this procedure. You know it, Marcus. Lim is racing against the clock.”Andrews deflated and said as he glared at Melendez, “Alright, but I’m going to be your backup.”Melendez agreed, “Fine, but I want Park and Murphy there too.” He looked to Reznick, “Will you stay with the twins? Please watch over them for us.”Morgan gave a confident smile, “I’ll watch over them like they are my own. I promise I won’t leave them.”Melendez nodded his head and went to Lim’s room and to her bedside to update her.When he saw Lim on the bed he wanted to cry, but Melendez quickly defaulted to doctor mode. Audrey was puffy from the fluid retention. She was extremely pale and eyes were darker than he ever had seen them. Melendez picked up her cool hand as she looked at him with tired eyes, “Audrey, here’s the deal…” he was not going to beat around the bush with her, “You have a dissecting aortic tear. We are going to deliver the twins now. Then I’m going to repair the tear.”Lim began to cry she pulled the oxygen mask, that they had her on, down, “No! The babies…it’s too early, Neil. Please.”Melendez ran a thumb across her brow, “Shhh, they are going to be okay. They are strong, and when you’re better I’ll take you in to see them.”
He could see that she was getting more agitated so he continued, “Audrey, you need to try to relax. I know it’s dumb to say, but you need to stay as calm as possible.”Lim looked at Melendez and nodded her head. As he was talking, Dr. Harris came in and started to adjust her IV and gave Lim a few injections, “This will help strengthen their lungs. Dr. Lim, I know that this was not how you or anyone thought this would go. Just know that we are going to take great care of you and your babies.”Dr. Harris gave Lim’s hand a squeeze and left the room as the transport team tried to enter. Melendez asked for one more moment.Neil looked at Audrey. She was puffy from the retaining fluid. Dark circles under her eyes stood out on her too pale skin. Though to him she looked beautiful. He took her cold hand into his warm one, “Audrey, after Harris delivers the babies, as I already said I’m going to repair the tear. I will be with you the entire time.
Morgan will stay with the babies. You’re not going to be awake for their birth. I’m sorry.”Lim had tears falling from her eyes. Melendez brushed a few away. She had an oxygen mask on, but her lips still held a blue tint. Lim was not getting enough oxygen and she could feel it, “I trust you, Neil. Just promise me that you will take care of our babies.” As she pulled the mask down.Melendez nodded his head, “I promise you, Audrey. I will make sure that they are safe.” He leaned down and kissed Lim’s head, “Now, you promise me that you will fight. Fight with everything that you have within you.”Lim gave a small nod, “I promise.”Melendez nodded, again kissed her head, “I love you.” He waved the transport team in. Lim didn’t get a chance to respond. He stood back and watched as the crew quickly got Lim set and ready and had her out the door which he followed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil Melendez stood back and watched as Dr. Harris made the first incision to start the c-section. Soon he and Lim would be parents to two. He was excited and scared at the same time.Melendez looked at Audrey. She was on a ventilator, hooked up to a heart/lung bypass device and completely unconscious. He shuddered at the sight of the woman that he loved looking like she was near death. It struck Neil with how close to the truth that it was.Before he knew it Melendez heard Dr. Harris, “Alright get ready here comes baby A.” All was quiet for a moment, just the sounds from the ventilator, heart monitor and bypass device could be heard.Melendez stepped closer to Lim’s head was. Dr. Harris called out, “It’s a boy. Congratulations, Dr. Melendez.”Neil had to blink past the tears as he saw his son. The baby was tiny, full head of hair and his cries were so tiny. To Melendez he was perfection.Melendez leaned down to Lim and quietly said into her ear, “We have a boy, Audrey. Baby A is a boy.”Neil watched as the NICU team went to work on his son. They quickly cleaned the baby’s face, suctioned his nose as well as his throat. He watched as they placed a tube down the newborn’s throat. IV’s were started as well.“Dr. Melendez,” the NICU nurse said as they wheeled the baby’s incubator past him, “Your son is stable. He is fifteen and a half inches and weighs three pounds even. We placed him on a ventilator to assist in his breathing, but so far everything looks good. We are taking him to run some tests. We will update soon.”Melendez nodded his head, “Thank you.” The nurse left.“Alright, baby B is here.” Dr. Harris called out, “Welcome to the world. Dr. Melendez, say hello to baby B. It’s a girl.”Melendez smiled wide and again blinked past the tears. Like her brother she tried to cry, but it was very weak. She too had a head full of hair. Melendez was in love. He again leaned down to Lim, “Mi Amor, baby B is here. We have a daughter.”Dr. Harris called out, “With the blood we need to tread carefully here. We are going to place a balloon to help stopped the bleeding. She will be ready for you soon, Neil.”Melendez nodded as he watched the NICU team wheel his daughter past him. The nurse stopped to update him, “Baby girl is barely stable, we placed her on a ventilator as she was struggling to breathe. She’s fifteen inches and weighs in at two pounds fourteen and a half ounces.” The nurse quickly rushed out of the room.Andrews stepped over to Melendez, “Are you ready to do this?”Melendez closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again he looked Marcus squarely in the eye, “If I don’t do this, then she dies. I don’t want to have someday tell my kids that I was too chicken to try to save their mother.” He looked at Lim and then back to Andrews, “I am going to do this for those tiny babies in the NICU and for Audrey.”Andrews nodded his head as Dr. Harris said, “You’re up, Neil.”Melendez looked at the man who just delivered his children and Harris gave a curt nod, “You got this.”With that the older man and his team stepped back. Alex Park, Shaun Murphy, Dalisay Villanueva and the rest of his team stepped up to the table.Melendez looked to Andrews who gave him a quick nod of his head. Melendez returned the nod and the two stepped up to the table.Neil Melendez looked at his team and said, “We work together. Do not rush. Follow my instructions.” They all agreed, “If this was one of us, Dr. Lim would fight like hell to save us. Now we fight like hell for her.”With that, Melendez called for the scalpel. Villanueva passed it to him. Without hesitation Neil made his cut into the woman that he loved more than anything.Aaron Glassman stood watching from the viewing gallery, “Please watch over them. Let Lim keep fighting. Watch over her children too.”
He prayed softly.Glassman was about to step away when he felt a gentle hand upon his shoulder. The balding man stopped and looked again over his shoulder, but he did not see anyone around him. Glassman turned and looked back down to the operating room below. For a brief moment he thought he saw an extra person in the room.“Deana?” Glassman asked with wonder in his eyes. After a moment the figure was gone. The older man sighed and left the area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hours later Neil Melendez stood masked and gowned in the NICU. He was between his son and daughter’s incubators with tears streaming down cheeks.Quietly he said, “I’m so sorry. This should not be happening to you. Poppa never wanted you to ever have to go through anything like this.” From where he stood Neil was able to place a hand on each of the hard clear shell tops of his children’s incubators, “You both should still be growing inside of your momma’s belly. Instead you’re both out here hooked up to so many tubes and wires.”Melendez looked at his son and daughter, “I wish that I could have brought your momma with me to meet you.” More tears fell, “Unfortunately that was not possible. Just know that if she could that your momma would be right here with you.”As Melendez stood looking over his two tiny miracles a gowned and masked up Morgan Reznick appeared, “Dr. Melendez, Drs. Harris, Andrews and Glassman are waiting in Andrews office to talk with you.”Melendez let out a deep breath, “Okay, Morgan…”The blonde doctor cut him off, “Don’t worry. I’ll be right here. I may not know their names, but I will always have their backs.”Melendez smiled under his mask, “As soon as I know their names, you will too.” He placed a hand on her arm, “Thank you, Morgan. You are one of the best aunts that these two could ever have.”Reznick teared up more than she already was, “Thank you.” She watched as Melendez said a quick goodbye to each baby and then left the room.Morgan looked at each infant. Both babies were near carbon copies of their father. However, they had their mother’s eye shape, long legs and torso. Both babies had full lips. Baby boy had wavy hair while his sister had beautiful curls.“You two are the perfect combination of your parents.” Morgan gave a teary smile as Alex Park joined her, “Alex, say hello to Baby Boy Lim-Melendez and Baby Girl Lim-Melendez.”Alex looked at the tiny babies, “Damn they are their father’s clones. Lim’s genes lost the battle here.” Both residents chuckled, “Murphy was right though.”Reznick looked at him questioningly. Park answered, “Lim and Melendez have very compatible genes. They did make two very good looking babies.”The two continued to talk and watch over the youngest members of their St. Bonaventure family. Both silently praying for them to get through the chaos that was currently their reality.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marcus Andrews looked at the three men before him. He knew that they were all in dismay by what had happened. After a few moments of silence the hospital president began, “None of us thought that this was going to happen. We are all in shock.”The three men numbly nodded their heads. Andrews continued, “Neil, first I want to congratulate you on the birth of the twins.”Melendez gave a barely there smile, “Thank you.”Andrews leaned slightly forward in his chair, “How are they doing? Do we have any names picked out yet?”“Audrey and I were tossing a few names around, but we didn’t have any that we were attached to.” Melendez answered softly, “Dr. Harris can give you an update on their health? I saw them and they took my breath away.”Marcus smiled a bit a the new father’s comment, “Dr. Harris?” He asked looking at the older specialist.Sal Harris took a breath, “Both babies are in serious but stable condition.”Melendez looked intently at the doctor who continued, “I have spoken to each of their team leads. Baby Boy is doing marginally better than his sister. They both struggled to breathe at birth, but your son has shown improvement.”Melendez steeled himself for the full update.Harris looked around the table as he replied, “We will keep baby boy on the vent for now. He does have a small hole in his heart, but so far he’s had no issues. We will monitor this closely.”Melendez as a cardio thoracic surgeon understood this and knew that while serious (having a hole in the heart) it was treatable, “How about my daughter?”“Baby girl is on higher ventilation settings as she needs more help. Like her brother she too has a hole in her heart. Three actually. One in the exact same spot as her brother.” Harris leaned forward, “Neil, baby girl has two other issues. She has a brain bleed. Which as you know for premature babies is not uncommon. She’s being closely monitored. As of now the team does not need to do surgery.”Melendez looked to Glassman who placed a hand on his arm and gave him a soft nod. Neil then looked to Harris and asked, “What’s the second issue?”Harris shifted and replied, “Your daughter has mirror-image dextrocardia.”Melendez, Andrews and Glassman all looked stunned.Neil found his voice first, “Her organs are on the opposite side?”Sal Harris quickly answered, “Yes! They are like the mirror reflection of her brother.”“Holy shit!” Andrews exclaimed, “First Lim has an aortic dissection and now this surprise. Her daughter has mirror-image dextrocardia.”Melendez at first did not know what to say. After a bit he spoke, “What does this mean for her?” Yes, he was a doctor. It’s just in this moment he was a new father. He was scared and could not process as so much came at him all at once.Harris answered, “Heart defects are common in cases such as these, and baby girl has three holes in her heart. We are holding off on surgery for them to see if they will close on their own. Two of the holes should close on their own. The third one is larger, but we want see if it will start to close on its own and if so by how much. We don’t want to operate if we don’t have to do so.” He looked at his colleague and me father, “As for everything else, baby girl should be able to lead a normal life. She will just need to be monitored.”Melendez understood what Harris was saying and relaxed a bit. The older doctor continued, “Each of the twins have feeding tubes in.” Melendez’s eyes widened at the news, “Neil, this is not uncommon. Audrey was only thirty weeks pregnant at the time of delivery. The twins need to learn how to swallow. Once they learn and can tolerate either breast milk or formula from a bottle, then the tube will be taken out.”Melendez sighed, “Do you have any idea when they will be able to go home?”Harris quickly answered, “It depends on them. If they reach their milestones quickly, it could be six weeks or longer depending on how they do in the NICU. Honestly, we expect them to be here until past their original due date. If they have any complications, then you can expect them to be here longer.”All were quiet as Melendez processed the update on his children.After a few minutes Andrews spoke up, “Neil, would you like to update us on the surgery with Lim?”Melendez took a breath and replied, “The aortic dissection was severe but not as bad as it could have been. We were able to close the tear.”“That’s great.” Glassman interrupted him.“Yes it is.” Melendez returned, “However, Audrey struggled when we tried to wean her off of bypass.Glassman looked shook and Harris winced.“Is she awake yet?” Glassman asked.“No, Audrey has not regained consciousness yet. Given everything that she’s been through we didn’t think she would be.Now, to help her and give her heart and lungs a break we are keeping her on ECMO.” Melendez informed the two doctors, “As we know this is not her first time being put on this. We are monitoring her closely for any complications or infections.”Dr. Harris was the one to break the silence, “Do you know what could have caused the dissection?”Melendez leaned back in his chair, “Not at the moment. We are running tests to see if it may have been caused by Marfan Syndrome. We are testing for everything including Loeys-Dietz Syndrome. Which she does not present with any of the traditional symptoms of either.”Andrews spoke next, “There’s also the possibility that this was just a random event. We may never know the true cause.”“Damn.” Glassman replied softly, “Marcus, please tell me that you’ve reached out to San Jose General and made them aware of this?”Andrews looked confused. Glassman was pissed and informed the plastic surgeon, “Lim’s OBGYN works there. According to Dr. Reznick, she had Lim there about a week ago. The emergency department was dismissive of her. They diagnosed her with anxiety and said that the pain that she had was from acid reflux. They said that it was all normal for pregnancy.”“Are you serious?” Andrews asked in shock.Glassman added, “Completely serious. When Morgan saw how much fluid that Lim was retaining she herself reached out to Lim’s doctor. They again said that it was normal for pregnancy especially a multiple pregnancy.”Melendez wanted to say something but the balding doctor continued, “According to Reznick, Lim and her had each talked to her doctor and they were talked down to.Morgan asked if Audrey wanted to come here to be checked out. Despite being a kickass trauma surgeon Lim is also a first time mom. She didn’t want to feel like she was overreacting or being overly dramatic because she is a doctor. So, she said no.”“Had they not come in when they did…had they waited another day, Audrey and the babies would be dead.” Harris added in.Melendez agreed. Glassman spoke firmly, “Audrey was suffering for more than a week with discomfort, fluid retention, trouble breathing and pain from what Morgan said. Something needs to be said to the higher ups at SJH. This kind of treatment of not just Lim…any patient is inexcusable. There needs to r repercussions.We need to do better at listening to our patients and not make them feel like they are bothering us.”The men continued to talk for a bit. Andrews taking notes and Melendez wishing to be with Audrey or his children.Finally after words were exhausted Andrews called an end to the meeting Melendez quickly left and headed off to the cardiac intensive care unit.Melendez stepped into the room that concontained the mother of his children. He smiled slightly on the inside at that tthought. Slowly after making his way to her bedside he checked the monitors. Nurse Jerome smiled at him.“All things considered, Dr. Lim is doing well.” The nurse updated him, “Her heart rate has fluctuated, but right now it’s in the the eighties.”Melendez thanked the nurse who quickly left. He sat down in the chair besbeside Lim’s bed, “Aud, I saw the babies.” Neil said as he took her cold hand, “Baby boy is doing great. Baby Girl, is doing good too, but she does have a few things that they are closely monitoring.”The tired man went onto explain everything about their son and daughter to the unconscious trauma surgeon. Afterwards he said with a sad smile, “When you wake up we really need to come up with names for these two.I think if we leave them as Baby Boy and Baby Girl that they might get picked on in school.”Melendez sat beside Lim and watched her until he fell to sleep. He held onto her hand hoping that his warmth would spread to her.Morgan Reznick walked into the room more than an hour later and saw Neil just how he fell asleep. He even had a very faint snore.The blonde resident looked at the monitors and then back to the patient. She quietly spoke, “Never thought that I would ever see you like this again.” She gave a soft sigh as she pulled up a chair and sat on Lim’s other side, “The babies are beautiful. They are the perfect combination of both you and Dr. Melendez. Shaun was right., you and Melendez have very compatible genes and you made two good looking babies. Though both babies strongly favor Dr. Melendez.”Neil shifted ever so slightly but continued on snoring.Morgan smiled, “He really does love you, Dr. Lim. I know that he hurt you, and you hurt him…you don’t have to marry him tomorrow, but maybe you two both can give each other a fair chance.” She again looked over at Melendez, “You have two babies that need both of their parents. Let them have what I didn’t. Let them have two parents who love them unconditionally, but also loved each other. You guys could do that even as just coparents.”Hawks come in and checked Lim’s vitals, after which Reznick told the unconscious trauma surgeon that she was going back to check on the twins. She promised to come by later with pictures and updates.Once the door shut to the room Neil opened his eyes looking at the pale face of Audrey Lim, “Looks like you were right about her. Besides her ego is a hopeless romantic.”Melendez stayed with Lim for a little while longer, and then he too went to checheck on the twins.Bouncing between the two intensive care units is how he had spent the rest of the day.Not wanting to leave Audrey or his two newborns, Melendez slept in the on call room after FaceTiming with Lim’s mother and brother.That night he dreamed of his new family.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next morning an exhausted Neil Melendez stood next to his son and daughter’s incubator.He just listened as their teams just updated him on each twin’s condition. At twenty four hours old Baby Boy had shown everyone how much like his mother that he is. The infant did not like having the ventilator tube in place and managed to pull out the tube. Alarms wailed throwing the NICU into panic, but the tiny boy was doing well. They ended up placing the baby on a bi-pap. The doctor also informed Melendez that they were seeing sosome slslight improvement in the hole in Baby Boy’s heart. They were currently working on helping him practice his sucking reflexes. The hope was that he would be able to start taking from the bottle soon.Neil was less encouraged with how his tiny daughter was doing. They had to increase her ventilation levels. They were concerned with her not maintaining her temperature. They had issues with her running a low heart rate.Morgan Reznick was there and suggested putting the twins together in the incubator to see if being with her brother would help the tiny girl. The doctors and nurses agreed, and as soon as the twins were together Baby Boy seemingly reached out to his sister. Morgan captured the moment on video. Baby Girl’s vitals began to stabilize much to the relief of her NICU team.Neil Melendez watched as his two newborns lay together in their incubator. He wanted nothing more than to hold them in his arms, but he knew that for now the most that he could do was reach through the small hole in the design of the incubator and touch their hands.“Poppa is here.” Neil said in a quiet voice, “Momma is still not well enough to come see you for herself, but she told me to tell you both how much that she loves you.”Melendez smiled and softly hummed a lullaby that his Tia Harmony would often sing to him and Gabby when they were little. He could not remember the words, but it was a melody that he could never forget.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~While Neil was with his children Alex Park, Morgan Reznick and Shaun Murphy were in the emergency department.Alex asked, “Have either of you seen Dr. Melendez today?”“I have not.” Murphy answered as his gaze drifted across the department, “He is most likely with Baby Boy and Baby Girl Melendez.”Reznick nodded her head, “He probably is. Well, he could also be with Dr. Lim. He was the surgeon who treated her.”Park shook his head, “Dr. Andrews took him off of Lim’s case.” Shaun and Morgan looked at him questioningly, “Andrews said that since Lim’s case is no longer emergent that Dr. Melendez was to turn over her care to Dr. Hays.”“Andrews is an ass.” Morgan exclaimed. After a moment she continued, “Dr. Lim is not out of the woods. She should have the best doctor on her team. That is Dr. Melendez.”Park did agree. He saw Andrews side of it too, “I agree, but Dr. Melendez is the father of Dr. Lim’s children. The conflict of interest is not something that the hospital board can overlook.”“I understand that, but what if something else happens?” Morgan asked voice full of worry, “Melendez was the one who saved her. He knows her case better than anyone. He should still be her doctor.”Murphy spoke up, “Dr. Melendez is a good doctor.” The young man shrugged, “His technique for the repair was remarkable. Dr. Lim should not have another tear.”Morgan sighed, “Do they even know what caused the dissection in the first place?”“All tests came back as normal.” Shaun responded, “Dr. Lim should not have had this dissection.”Park placed his pen down, “There are somethings in life that happen even though everything tells us that it shouldn’t.” He looked at Shaun and Morgan, “We may never know why Dr. Lim ended up with a dissecting aorta, but what we do know is survived.”Reznick was about to reply but Park cut her oof, “Morgan, had you not been with Lim and got her to the hospital…not only would we she die, but so would the twins that she was carrying.”Morgan mutely nodded her head, “I know. I just…I just wish that she would wake up.” The tough blonde blinked away tears, “I just wish that this entire nightmare never happened.”“Morgan, I can safely say that we all agree with you.” Park said with Murphy giving a slight nod.The three residents continued to talk until they received their next patient.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two days later Audrey Lim had made some progress in her recovery. She was awake, aware of what was going on around her and even managed in her weak way to flip off Marcus Andrews.Lim was too weak to talk, walk and eating was done through a tube up her nose and down her throat. When Melendez showed her pictures of the twins, she silently cried.“When you’re better we are going to need to settle on names for them.” Melendez smirked a little, “Unless you want them to be called Baby Boy and Baby Girl Melendez for the rest of their lives.”Audrey rolled her eyes at the father of her children. Neil smiled. He could see in her eyes just how much she wanted to say something to him. He took her hand in his, “Audrey, I want to tell you what happened.”Lim gave a slight nod. Melendez continued, “We were able to repair the dissection. Thankfully it was not a complete dissection. It did go almost half way. We will need to closely monitor you.” He dreaded the next part, “Other than physical therapy, you’re not going to be able to lift anything more than five pounds. We will reassess in six months.”Audrey’s eyes widened. Melendez could see the shock and the fear, “You will not be able to be the lead on trauma cases unless someone is there to help you with the heavy lifting. We are working on a way to have you operate from a sitting position as standing for long periods of time are out. Again, we will reassess in six months.”Lim’s eyes showed the sadness. Melendez didn’t want to continue, but he knew that he had to tell her. After taking a deep breath he continued, “Audrey, we won’t know for certain for a while yet, but there’s a high chance that if you were to get pregnant that this could happen again.”Melendez’s heart broke as the tears began to fall from Lim’s eyes, “Right now the safest thing for you is to keep your blood pressure down. Another pregnancy, especially if it was a multiple…it could kill you.”Tears fell freely down Lim’s pale cheeks. Watching Audrey crying was ripping Neil’s heart out. It hurt even more when she pulled her hand from his.“Audrey, please look at me.” Melendez begged, “Please don’t shut me out.”Audrey Lim did not want to see him or anyone at the moment. She wanted to be left alone. She wanted a chance to process everything that she had been told. Lim never wanted kids, and then she found out that she was pregnant with twins. They became her everything. She would do anything for them. Though she was no longer with their father, Lim knew that she had to tell Neil about them as soon as possible.Then the accident happened. She didn’t know if they had survived. When she found out that both had made it through she was relieved and excited. No matter what she would be their mother. She would have her babies. Lim had even had a dream that not long after the twins that she would get pregnant again. In the dream she didn’t know where their father was, but in the dream she watched two dark haired littles toddling around and she was smiling while sporting a six month pregnant belly.Audrey never told anyone about the dream. Now, Neil Melendez told her that she may not be able to have more children and she started to grieve for what she had in a dream.Neil tried to get Lim to respond to him, but she fully shutdown on him. The recuperating surgeon closed her eyes and turned her head away from Melendez. He watched as the tears lessened and her breath evened out. Audrey soon fell asleep.Neil let out a deep sigh and sat beside the mother of his children. He held her hand and whispered words of encouragement to the sleeping doctor. Melendez stayed with Audrey until it he too drifted off into a fitful sleep.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Three and a half months later Audrey Lim was sitting at the dining table in her apartment. She was reading over files from work. Though she was out on a combination of maternity leave and sick leave, she was still keeping up with the day to reports of her job.After the early delivery of her son and daughter and subsequent heart surgery, Audrey spent two weeks in the hospital. That was promptly followed by three weeks of cardiac rehabilitation. Thankfully the rehab was less than a full block from St. Bonaventure. She was able to visit her newborns regularly.Kanoa Jaxin Melendez was released from the hospital five days after Lim was released to out patient therapy. Morgan had moved in to help with taking care of the boy as Audrey was not able to lift anything more than five pounds. Kanoa quickly showed the staff how much like his parents that he was. He quickly put on weight. The hole in his heart closed and there were no further issues with that to worry about in that regard. The little boy did start with a fever three weeks before he was released from the hospital. Kanoa gave them a further scare when he had febrile seizures. Once his fever broke, Kanoa bounced back quickly.Kiana Aryn Melendez finally was released home two weeks ago. The bleeding in her brain stopped on its own. Both Lim and Melendez were thrilled that their tiny girl would not need brain surgery. Two of the three holes in her closed on their own, but at three weeks old Kiana needed to have surgery to repair the remaining hole. Audrey and Neil were terrified for their daughter. She like her brother showed her parents how tough she was. Kiana started her recovery and surprised her doctors when she tried pulling both her ventilator tube as well as the feeding tube that ran up her nose and down her throat.Kiana’s medical team decided to place her on bi-pap and they began working with the fiery baby on taking from a bottle. Kiana hated the bottle. She fought them at every turn, but soon they found a bottle that she was comfortable with.Both Kanoa and Kiana were able to nurse now that they were home. Audrey herself was on different medications, but her doctors gave her the all clear to start nursing. She had to have someone hand her each baby as she could not lift them. To help when Morgan was not around or Neil wasn’t visiting, Lim had hired a nurse to help out. Jenna moved in with Audrey, the twins and Morgan. Everyone knew that it was going to be on a short term basis.“Dr. Lim, are you ready to go out for our daily walk?” Jenna asked as she walked into the dining space with a twin in each arm.Lim looked up and smiled when she saw the nurse with her sweet babies, “Jenna, you as always have perfect timing.” The trauma surgeon shut down her laptop and closed the folder that she had been reading from, “Also, Jenna please call me Audrey.”The nurse smiled as Lim stepped next to her and kissed Kanoa and Kiana on the soft baby curls, “It will take me a bit. My mother raised me to always call my boss by a proper title.” Lim nodded her head at the woman, “I promise, Dr. Lim I will work on it.”The two women left on their walk after the nurse had placed the twins in their stroller. Kiana was still on oxygen so, Jenna placed the portable unit attached to the little girl, on the arm of the stroller.The goal was to go further on each walk to help strengthen Audrey. When they first started she could barely make it five feet past the front door, but now she could go for a few blocks.Jenna smiled as she pushed the stroller next to Lim, “If you keep this up, I am betting that you will be back to work inside a month.”Audrey smiled sadly, “I spoke with my doctors yesterday. All of my tests look good except for the full heart function. They said that I need at least another eight weeks of rehab before they will even think about releasing me back to work.”Jenna sighed, “Well, then we will just have to do a few extra exercises. Dr. Lim…Audrey, don’t stress it. You’re going to be back to work before you know it.” Lim was quiet as the nurse continued, “You nearly died. Now look at you. You’re healing. Give yourself time.”“That’s exactly what my OBGYN and cardiologist said.” Lim confessed.Jenna stopped and the trauma surgeon did too. The nurse asked, “Did they tell you that you’re not going to be able to carry another baby?”Lim sighed, “They said that if I had a full dissection then it would be an automatic no. Since Neil got to the dissection before it got to that point…” she paused taking in a breath,“ They said I would be extremely high risk. Since they do not know what caused the dissection in the first place…the choice would be mine, but they would not recommend that I ever get pregnant again.”Jenna looked at her patient with love and compassion. She had grown to love Lim and her babies as if they were hers, “Audrey,” Lim looked into the nurses eyes. Jenna continued, “Do you want to get pregnant again?”Lim looked at the nurse with teary eyes and confusion, “I always said that I didn’t want to get pregnant and have kids. Then I found out that I was pregnant with Kanoa and Kiana. Something changed. I felt different. Then the car accident happened and I got sick, but all that I wanted was for them to be safe. I loved feeling them inside of me.” She glanced at the stroller, “I never wanted this but I got them. They are my everything. I’d love to be able to give them a sibling, but I don’t want to put myself in a position where they could lose me.”The nurse reached over to the recovering woman, “If you’re meant to get pregnant again, then it will happen. But, there are other ways to have kids. You have options.” Jenna smiled, “I’m glad that you got the opportunity to have these two beautiful wonders. If you’re not able to carry again, I’m sorry. I’ll grieve with you. I will pray however for another miracle for your family.”Lim smiled and thanked the nurse, “You are right. If Kiana and Kanoa are all that I am to have then that’s okay. They are two beautiful miracles. I’m blessed to have them.” She said as she wiped away her tears, “Besides, it’s not like I’m with anyone. It would be a bit before I could have anymore, plus I’m getting older. These two are all that I need.”Together Jenna and Audrey continued their walk with the twins. They talked and at times were quiet. It turned out to be a needed part of Lim’s healing journey. When they were finally back to Lim’s apartment Audrey nursed the twins after which Jenna placed the infants on their play-mats for tummy time.Later that evening Neil had stopped over to help with the babies while Jenna had gone out to spend time with friends. Morgan was working overnight.“Look at how big they are.” Melendez said while holding his son while Audrey finished nursing his daughter.“They are finally sleeping straight through the night now too.” Lim said as Kiana finished nursing.Melendez noticed and he stood from his seat, placed Kanoa into the nearby cradle. He quickly went to Lim and picked up his sleeping daughter. Melendez patted the girl on her back until she gave a healthy burp.Audrey sighed as she watched the scene, “I cannot wait until the no heavy lifting restrictions are lifted. I just want to lift and carry my babies.”Melendez gave a small smile as he placed Kiana next to her big brother, “It won’t be much longer, Aud.”“I know. I’m just frustrated.” Lim replied as she finished adjusting her shirt, “I nurse them, they lay on the pillow. I can’t hold them unless I have pillows under them. I could barely do skin to skin with them because of my incision and healing breast bone.”Melendez watched as the tears formed in his former girlfriend’s eyes. Lim continued, “I never pictured this. I imagined myself carrying them almost to if not to my due date. You would’ve been at my side until they were born. Then we would have sat in the room getting to know them, hold them and love them.” The tears began to fall, “I wasn’t awake for their birth. I didn’t get to see them, comfort them, tell them that I loved them until many days later. Well, it was longer before I could talk to them…I just want to hold them without needing a pillow or another person.”Melendez’s heart broke for Lim, “Audrey, I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of this.I’m so beyond grateful that the three of you survived.” He sat next to her and gently placed an arm around her shoulders.Audrey leaned into Melendez as she finished crying. She was frustrated at herself for breaking down and crying especially in front of someone, but she was glad that it was him. They may not be together anymore…but Neil Melendez was still her best friend.“Audrey,” Melendez started out quietly, “I know that this has all been a lot. You have been through so much. You don’t have to hold everything in.”Lim said nothing but nodded her head slightly. They stayed in silence for a while longer. Neither wanting the moment to end. Melendez enjoyed having the mother of his children in his arms. He wanted nothing more than for the four of them to be a family living together. Neil knew that he had hurt Lim far more than he ever intended. He wanted to talk to her about everything, but he also knew that now was not the right time.Audrey felt safe in Neil’s arms. She believed that they would probably never get back together. Melendez had made his feelings clear about her before he left the hospital after recovering from surgery. Sure he later said that he hadn’t meant the words, but he said that after he learned that she was pregnant. Lim snuggled a bit more into Melendez’s side. She knew the moment would not last, but for the moment she was going to enjoy being with her best friend.The two sat together until Jenna had come back. By then it was time to nurse the twins again. Neil stayed to help Jenna and Lim nurse the twins, change their diapers and get them settled back to sleep for the night. He also helped Lim get into bed before he left for the night.Neil Melendez hated leaving his family, but was grateful that Audrey allowed him to be a part of their lives. If this was all that he was to get, he would take it. He loved his children and their mother more than anything. Neil vowed to be there for them always.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time marched forward. Before Audrey Lim had knew it her twins were nearly a year and a half old. Both Kiana and Kanoa started exceeding the doctors goals for them. While they still were both slightly smaller than most one year olds, neither let that stop them. They were both walking, talking and making both of their parents proud. Neither child any health issues though they were monitored closely.Audrey herself had recovered slowly at first, but now she too was surpassing goals set by her doctors and herself. She was finally back to work full time in both trauma and surgery. There were times where she felt more exhausted than usual, but her doctor as well as Neil all agreed that was a short term side effect. As Melendez had told her, not everyone bounces back the way that she has. The restrictions that others have had put on them for the rest of their lives, they haven’t not applied to her.“Audrey, you are a full on miracle. There is no other way to explain this. There should be scarring on the heart, weaknesses…there is nothing.” Andrews said as he welcomed her back full time, “Your doctors cannot explain it. The only thing different for you is the need for medication. That is at a lower dose than what you should need at this point. Hell it would not surprise me if they end up taking you off of it completely.” He smiled as tear reflected in his eyes.Audrey was taken from her thoughts when there was a knock on her office door. The trauma surgeon called the person in without looking too hard at who was at her door.When the door opened Lim looked up and saw who enter. She looked surprised as she stood up, “Mr. And Mrs. Howard. Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”Mr. Howard spoke first, “Please call us Gavin and Ellie.”Lim took his offered hand. Ellie quickly wrapped the surgeon into a hug. It caught Lim off guard, but she quickly recovered from her surprise, “What brings you by? Is your daughter Carly okay?”Ellie smiled lightly, “Carly is doing better.” Lim looked confused as Ellie continued, “Six months before Gavin helped you and your resident out, Carly was diagnosed with leukemia. She’s finally finishing up treatment. So far everything seems to be going really well. Her latest pet scan shows no evidence of disease. The doctors say that she needs to finish up the treatment protocol, but everything seems to be going well. They are pleased.”Lim was shocked by the news, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that Carly was sick. I would never have asked you to leave her that night had I known.”Gavin spoke up, “Carly was safe at home that night. You were the one who needed me. I was right where I needed to be.”Lim gave a small nod of her head as she thanked him. After a moment she asked, “Not that I am not enjoying your visit…”Ellie laughed as she cut her off, “You want to know why we are here.”Lim too gave a small laugh. Gavin picked up the conversation, “I knew something was not right when I opened my door and saw you standing there.” Lim looked at him in confusion, “I saw everything that you went through. Watched how that resident lied through her teeth, and I saw that doctor accuse you of purposely abandoning Claire.”Lim pointed for the couple to take a seat. She herself walked around the desk and sat in her seat. Gavin continued, “I know that the guy was someone who you loved very deeply. I also know that he’s the father of your children.”Lim raised an eyebrow to the man sitting before her. Mr. Howard continued, “I saw how he treated you after you first arrived at the hospital. I’ll be honest, I was ready to hit him. I called Ellie and told her as much.”“I had to calm him down.” Ellie Howard said with a sigh, “Gavin does not like to see men hurting women.”Lim nodded her head as she remembered how Neil treated her. She looked at the picture of him holding the twins that sat facing her. All three were covered in icing from the cake at Kanoa and Kiana’s first birthday.Gavin interrupted her thoughts, “I came home that night angry, but after talking with my wife…seeing Carly, I knew that I had done the right thing in keeping the peace.”“Thank you for not hitting him.” Lim said softly, “Although he did deserve it. Neil was just worried. He had the resident who was emotionally trying to manipulate him, and then he learned that he had gotten me pregnant. It was a rough time for him.”Gavin kept his thoughts to himself as Audrey continued, “Neil is an amazing father. He’s also stepped up to help me.”Gavin raised an eyebrow, “Really? How so?”Lim was uncertain as to why she felt the need to share with Gavin and Ellie Howard, but there was something familiar about them, “At twenty nine weeks pregnant I started experiencing pain, swelling and discomfort. My colleague, Morgan Reznick had taken me to the emergency department where my OBGYN worked. They were dismissive of me. They insisted that I had severe acid reflux and an anxiety disorder.” She shifted in her chair, “I was sent home with basically a pat on the head. Morgan and I both suspected there was something else going on. A week later I had retained twenty pounds of fluid, I could barely breathe and had felt like I was having a heart attack.”Ellie and Gavin watched as Audrey continued tell her story as if it was replying in front of her, “I was rushed here and quickly examined. They discovered that I had a dissecting aortic tear. They had to deliver my babies at thirty weeks. It was Neil who preformed the surgery that saved my life.”Ellie replied, “I’m glad that he was able to do his job and saved you. That could not have been easy for him.”Lim agreed, “No it was not. After, I was too sick to go see our son and daughter. Neil split his time between work, checking in on me and watching over Kanoa and Kiana. He ran himself ragged.”Gavin spoke up, “Finally he stood up for you. If he didn’t fight for your children, then I would have beat his ass.”Lim gave a soft chuckle, “He has been an amazing father. Neil has also been there for me. Especially after I was released to home. Then even more when each of the twins came home.” She leaned back softly into her chair, “Neil, has been there for everything.”The Howard’s exchanged a look between them and then back to the trauma surgeon. Gavin spoke, “You have been through hell since we last met.” Lim agrees as he continues, “A lot has happened. A lot has changed. You question so much. Audrey, I know that you don’t really know us. You may find me to be stepping out of pocket on situations that I may not fully know about.”Lim did not respond, but she looked on in wonder.Gavin continued, “You showed up at my home at a time when you were scared, confused and hurt. You wanted nothing for yourself. The only thing that you wanted was help for yourself resident.” Lim blinked back tears, “You and your children nearly died. Twice once in the car accident then again with the dissection of the aorta. I’m betting that you have uncertainty on matters that are not my business. You can tell me to stop. I will.”Lim gave a breathy laugh. Mr. Howard leaned slightly forward, “Audrey, you are so much stronger, braver and loved than you will ever know.” He smiled as the tears welled in Lim’s eyes, “Allow yourself to love and be loved. Whether it’s that pretty boy Neil Melendez or some other lucky guy. You are worth it. Don’t worry about the other things.”Gavin and Ellie stood up and walked to the office door. Lim looked at them in stunned silence. They smiled at the doctor and Ellie said, “Listen girlie, apples come in many forms. Too shiny, battered bruised mush and some with a few imperfections. Know the difference and pick the right one. It will be sweet and well worth it.”Gavin added, “If that ass hat pretty boy breaks your heart again just find me. I’ll show him a thing or two. Apples launch far with the right bat or left cross.”With that the couple was out the door. Audrey Lim sat for a moment stunned by the words of Gavin and Ellie. However, she felt as if they were not said by a stranger, but as if they were said by a departed dear friend.Quickly the surgeon got up and rushed out of her office. She got to the hallway. Lim knew that the couple did not have time to get far. She looked around, but could not find them anywhere.Lim jumped when she heard Glassman’s voice, “Are you okay, Audrey? You look like you have seen a ghost.”Lim smiled slightly at her once mentor, “More like an old friend.”Aaron smirked, “Or a deeply missed head nurse?”Lim looked at him in surprise as he smiled and replied, “Let me tell you a story about your surgery.” Together the two doctors walked back together to Lim’s office.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks later Audrey Lim was walking out of her bedroom. There had been a knock on her door followed by the doorbell ringing. Morgan Reznick had a key to get in as she lived with her. The twins were with their father. She had not been expecting anyone.Lim was completely thrown when she opened the door and saw Neil Melendez standing there.“Neil, what are you doing here? Where are Kiana and Kanoa?” She asked in worry and confusion.Melendez smile as he stepped inside of her home, shutting the door behind him. He took off his jacket, “The kids are fine. Morgan and Alex have them.”Lim still look puzzled, “Okay, so my next question is…why are Park and Reznick watching my babies? This is your night with them.”Melendez sighed, “I know, but we both agreed to be flexible.” He gave an impish smile, “I wanted to surprise their mother with a night out. You have not really been out since long before Kiana and Kanoa were born.”“Neil, I don’t think…” Lim started but was cutoff.Melendez smiled, “You need this, Audrey. Go out with me.” Lim looked skeptical. He continued, “It will just be two friends hanging out for a few hours. You can relax and have fun.”Lim was quiet before she finally replied, “No.”“No? Just no?” Melendez asked.Lim smirked, “No, it’s not two friends hanging out. It’s two people who were once in love going out on a date.”Melendez was surprised, but quickly got over the shock, “A date? Are you serious?”Lim was nervously biting her lower lip as she gave a slight head nod. She thought back to what Gavin and Ellie had told her. In honesty it has been all that she could think about for the last two weeks. With a smile she said, “Neil, we can’t change what happened in the past. Honestly at this point I wouldn’t want to. To change anything would mean that I may not have a handsome, totally his father’s clone son, with my attitude and my need for speed also her daddy’s clone daughter.
I want to move past all of the drama and focus on the here and now.
We both have apologized to each other now, let’s truly forgive and move on from it. I still love you and I would be the biggest idiot on this planet to not try. Neil Melendez, will you go on a date with me?”Melendez smiled as he held out his hand to her, “Audrey, it would be my honor to take you out on a date.”Lim smiled widely, “Okay, where would you like to go?”Melendez hesitated slightly. After a moment he said, “How about to the street fair that’s not too far from Crowley’s?”Lim perked up more at the mention of their favorite bar, “Then we might want to stop for a small drink after we tour the fair.”Melendez again took Lim’s hand, “Sounds good to me. Let’s grab our jackets and head out.”As they approached the closet next to the front door Lim said with a small smile, “This is the first time that I have left without a diaper bag, stroller or two hyped up toddlers.”Melendez laughed as he opened the door for her, “Then let’s make the most of it.” With that the couple headed out of Lim’s home for their first date in a long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three months later Morgan Reznick sat on the sofa in next to her roommate and friend, Audrey Lim. Though she was a resident Lim had never at work shown any favoritism towards her. Lim treated her just like the others.“Hard to believe that Kiana and Kanoa are two years old now.” Audrey’s voice broke through Reznick’s thoughts, “This time next month you’re going to be an attending. Time is flying by.”Morgan smiled, “I can’t believe that you and Dr. Melendez are finally dating again. Took you long enough.”Lim laughed as she sat down on the sofa, “We both had a lot of growing up to do.”Reznick looked at her friend, “I know it’s only been three months, but how do you think it’s going? I mean unless one of you is working then you’re always together.”Lim sighed, “I love him, Morgan. I know that he loves me. He’s been a great father too. Will we get married? Who knows. I’m fine if this is all that we are.”Reznick rolled her eyes, “I call bullshit.” She continued as Lim stared in shock, “You two have belonged together since long before I met you. You two complete each other.”Lim was about to say something when Morgan rushed on, “Forget everything that’s happened. You both say that you’ve moved past it. Great. Get married. Take your kids and be a family. You all have earned it.” The blonde gave a smirk, “Plus, all of us in the Lim/Melendez fan club have earned it too.”Both Lim and Reznick laughed at the soon to be attending’s rant. Once they settled Lim replied, “I will think about everything that you’ve said, but for now Neil hasn’t asked me to be his girlfriend yet. There’s no way to just suddenly be his wife.”Morgan smacked her forehead, “Trust me!!! You two are more than just boyfriend and girlfriend.”Lim nodded her head, “Yes, we are parents.”This time Morgan sighed, “You’re more than that too.” She looked her friend in the eyes, “Whether you end up married or not, you and Melendez are each other’s other half. I don’t care if you’re married to someone else and he suddenly decided that he likes guys…you two complete each other.”Lim laughed at Morgan’s comment, “Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Neil has the kids tonight. What do you want to do?”Morgan sighed and looked deep in thought. Suddenly she smiled and said, “Up in the mountains not too far from here they are having music, food and movies. I have a few friends that put it together.” Her eyes lit up in excitement, “What do you say, we hop on your Ducati and go up for the night. My friend invited me to stay at her cabin, so there will be no sleeping in a tent.”Lim looked hesitant, but after a few moments she agreed, “Let me call Neil. I’ll tell him the plans. He is supposed to be taking the twins to see Gabby tomorrow, so we don’t have to rush back.”“Perfect!!” Morgan exclaimed in excitement, “I’ll call my friend and let her know that we are coming. Hope you don’t mind sharing a bed.”Lim rolled her eyes, “We share a home. You’ve been to several of my obstetrician appointments. Sharing a bed is nothing.”Morgan giggled as they each made their calls.An hour later and they were on their way. Both women were excited for a night of fun. They were both looking forward to relaxing, letting loose and decompressing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later the next afternoon both Audrey Lim and Morgan Reznick were in their shared apartment awaiting the arrival of Neil Melendez. He was bring home Kiana and Kanoa Melendez.Morgan was making dinner for the three adults and two toddlers. While she was cooking Audrey was finishing folding the laundry from the week.“Last night was definitely a night that we have to repeat.” Lim said softly.Reznick smiled, “Hell yes!!” She placed a lid onto the pan and stepped over to the sofa, “I was talking with Kaycee, she said that her and Mika are looking into having another meeting up in about two months. They asked if you’re available because Mika will bring his bike up. He figured you two could go on some rides. Since his husband doesn’t ride, Mika doesn’t get to go that much.”Both women continued talking as Neil Melendez used his key and let himself and the twins into the apartment as Lim answered back, “Tell them yes. I want to see what kind of rider Mika is. Is he really that good or just a lot of talk.”Morgan laughed, “I think he’s a combination. He really funny too. I’m glad that you two hit it off. You will have a great time.”Neil who heard their conversation, while he took the shoes off of his squirming children, felt like he had been punched in the gut. Here he thought he and Audrey were dating exclusively and she was talking about going out with another guy.“Momma.” “Tia” The two excited toddlers ran over to their mother and honorary aunt.Both Lim and Reznick picked up the giggling soon to be two year olds. They covered them in kisses and with hugs.Melendez quietly walked over. Lim saw him and smiled, “Did you guys have fun? How’s Gabby?”Neil sat in the chair near the sofa, “We had a great time. Gabby is loving being an aunt. She showed Kiana and Kanoa off to everyone at her home. Everyone loves them there.”“That’s great.” Lim answered, “We will definitely have to take these two back then.”Melendez nodded his head, but he sat quietly in his chair. Lim noted this and how sad Melendez looked, “Neil, did something happen? You seem upset.”Melendez didn’t show much emotion. After a moment he asked, “How was your night? Did you have fun?”Lim and Reznick looked at each other as they heard his biting tone.Lim asked again, “Neil, did something happen? You sound like you’re upset?”“Nothing happened, Audrey. I’m fine.” Melendez snapped, “It’s just been a long week. I am just going to head home and relax for a bit.”Melendez quickly stood up and walked over to sofa and kissed each of his children on their heads, “Poppa loves you both and I’ll see you later.”The toddlers looked ready to cry. Each begging him not to go. Neil reassured them that he loved them and would see them later. With another kiss and hug he was quickly out the door.“What the hell was that all about?” Morgan asked looking at Lim in confusion.Lim shrugged her shoulders in equal confusion to Morgan, “I don’t know.”“Poppa sad.” Kiana spoke up. Kanoa added, “Poppa mad.”The woman hugged the toddlers and reassured them.“Poppa will be okay. He’s just really tired.” Lim told her upset toddlers, “Momma will talk with him later and make sure that he’s okay.”The two toddlers nodded their heads but continued to look sad.Morgan spoke up, “Who’s ready to have some dinner? We have a special dessert for dinner?”Kiana asked, “What kind of dessert?”Morgan smiled impishly, “How does chocolate cheese cake tarts with whipped cream and strawberries sound?”Each child perked up and got excited causing both Lim and Reznick to laugh.“Just remember, nobody gets dessert until they eat all of their dinner.” Lim said with a mock glare.Kanoa asked skeptically, “Even you and Tia Morgan?”Both women laughed as Lim answered, “Even us.”The toddlers got excited as they all sat down to dinner. Everyone made happy plates, and together they cleared the table before Morgan served dessert.Lim was enjoying time with her children and Reznick, but she couldn’t help but to wonder what was going on with Neil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five days later Audrey Lim had not heard much from the father of her children. He only sent text messages asking about the kids.
Things were crazy at work too and though she saw him, she didn’t really get to talk with him.Lim had enough. She went to his office, let herself in and quickly shut and locked the door.“What the hell is your problem?” Audrey Lim demanded from a stunned Neil Melendez, “Ever since you brought the kids home you have been acting like I don’t exist. You left my apartment like the hounds of hell were chasing you. If you say anything to me it’s in short one word answers. What is wrong? Did I do something to piss you off?”Neil leaned back in his chair and sighed, “Audrey, nothing is going on. I am fine. I just have some stuff that I need to figure out.”Lim rolled her eyes, “Cut the bullshit, Neil!” She sat in the chair in front of his desk, “You’re pissed off about something and we are not leaving here until you tell me why you’re upset.”They both sat looking at each other. For several minutes neither one spoke.“Neil, I have the rest of the day clear. Kiana and Kanoa are with Morgan.” Lim explained as she leaned forward slightly, “I can also have food delivered. I went to the restroom before coming here, so it will be a while before I need to go. Besides, I’m a trauma surgeon. We are really good at being able to hold it.”Melendez just gave her a look. He still did not say anything.Sighing Lim leaned back into her chair. She pulled out her cellphone and started playing on it, “As I said, I have nowhere to be. I can wait until you act like an adult and start talking.”Melendez leaned back into his chair and watched the mother of his children. He knew just how stubborn that she could be. If Audrey Lim said that she could wait him out, he knew that she could and would. “Heaven help their kids if they tried to wait out their mother. They will never win.” Melendez thought to himself.It was another five minutes of silence before Melendez spoke, “You’re seriously going to sit here for the rest of my shift? Don’t think your new boyfriend would be happy about you sitting here staring at me.”Lim looked at the cardio thoracic surgeon in annoyed confusion, “I will sit here all night if I have to. The father of my children and man that I love has been ignoring me for five days. And what boyfriend…” she was lost by his words.Melendez rolled his eyes as he talked over her, “I have not ignored you. I just didn’t want to get in the way of your plans with Mika. I don’t think your new boyfriend would be happy to know that his girlfriend’s ex was hanging around.”Lim started laughing and in confusion Melendez snapped, “You find this funny?”Lim laughed for a bit longer further annoying Melendez. He shifted restlessly in his chair. Just as he was about to get up and leave Lim started talking,“Mika is not my new boy friend.” She looked pointedly at Melendez, “Mika’s husband would definitely agree with me on that fact.”Anything that Melendez was about to say died out when her heard her say “husband”.Melendez ran a hand over his face, “Mika is married?”Lim rolled her eyes as she answered, “Mika is married. They have four kids. The oldest started college this year.”Melendez deflated a bit. He had been so tense that he when his muscles relaxed he let out a groan, “You’re not dating Mika.”Lim smiled, “Until five days ago the only person that I had been dating was the father of my children, but the ass hat over heard part of a conversation about a new friend and I going on a bike ride, and he became jealous.” She glared at her boyfriend, “Instead of talking to me. His girlfriend!! He shut me out. He went off to sulk like a petulant child.”“Girlfriend?” Neil asked with a smile and bright eyes.Lim crossed her arms, “We have only been dating each other for months. You’re the father of my children. You’re the man that I have been in love with for years.” She glared at him, “The man until five days ago was able to talk to me about anything and everything. The man that I call my boyfriend.”Melendez stood up and walked around the desk and knelt next to the woman that he loved, “Audrey, I am so very sorry. I heard you and Morgan talking. You were making plans to go riding with Mika.” He took a breath and looked embarrassed, “I assumed that you were going on a date. Something inside of me broke.”Lim looked him in the eyes, “Just like how I felt when you told Claire that you loved her.”Neil’s eyes went wide, “I…I…oh!” He shook his head.Lim spoke first, “We have got to learn to trust each other. If we don’t, then this relationship is dead in the water.”“You’re right there.” Melendez said quietly.After a bit of quiet Lim finally replied, “Let’s go somewhere when we get off work. Morgan will keep the kids. You and I need to talk.”Neil quickly agreed and after they got off the afternoon the couple went to a quiet place in the mountains to walk and talk. They had a lot to clear up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven months later Morgan Reznick walked into the townhouse that she now shared with Neil Melendez, Audrey Lim and their two children Kiana and Kanoa.Lim and Melendez had decided to move in together and asked Morgan if she wanted to continue to live with them. She was hesitant at first, but the couple made it clear that she was family and they wanted her to stay with them. After careful consideration Reznick had agreed. The couple plus their twins were excited.Though they were not looking for a new home Audrey had come across a stand alone town house that had four bedrooms and one bedroom apartment over the two car garage. Morgan and Neil saw it and instantly fell in love with the home. Lim and Melendez put in an offer that was quickly accepted.Morgan took the one bedroom apartment, but she also had a room in the main home as well for when she was watching the kids while Melendez and Lim worked an overnight shift.Today they were all off for the next five days. Morgan was excited. She along with the Melendez family were going to drive up to San Francisco. They were going to just do typical tourist things. Audrey had surprised her by inviting Alex Park. She and Alex had started dating not long after Lim and Melendez had their talk, and Reznick was falling hard. Just the idea of spending the weekend with him made her heart flutter.“Tia!!” “Tia!” Morgan was broken from her thoughts when she heard Kanoa and Kiana Melendez calling for her.The twins along with their parents were sitting at the dining table just starting to eat their breakfast.“Morgan, perfect timing. Your breakfast is here,” Melendez pointed to the covered plate on the table, “We figured that after we eat, clean up and have the kids go to the restroom that we’d head out.”Reznick sat at the table. She smiled as she lifted the covered plate off of her plate. She saw eggs, toast, avocado slices and home fries. Picking up her fork she replied, “Thank you for breakfast. I’ll text Park the game plan.”Lim smiled as she reached for her glass of juice, “There’s no need.”Morgan looked confused but Lim continued, “Alex is on his way here. He needed to ship something to Kellen and then he was headed here.”Reznick relaxed at the news. The family continued to talk and eat. Once they were done they quickly cleaned up the dishes. Lim took the twins to the restroom while Morgan and Neil finished taking their bags out to the SUV.“Looks like I got here just in time.” Alex Park said as he pulled his bag out of the backseat of his car.Reznick smiled as he closed the car door and locked it. Park walked over to the two doctors. Neil took his bag and placed it into the back with the rest of their bags, strollers and kid items that they insisted needed to come.Park gave Morgan a quick kiss on the cheek causing the blonde to blush slightly.“Are we ready for these next few days?” Park asked.“I definitely am.” Lim called as she approached holding a hand of each of her children.Park chuckled when he saw how excited his honorary niece and nephew were, “It’s crazy to think that next year there will be another Melendez child running around. I don’t think two hands will be enough, Dr. Lim.” He looked at the trauma surgeon’s small rounded belly that was very noticeable in her tight dark green tank top.Lim laughed, “That’s what child book bag leashes are for.” The others laughed as she continued, “Alex, when we are not at work, please call me Audrey.”Park nodded, “I’ll try to remember, Audrey.”Lim smiled as she handed Kanoa over to him. She then picked up Kiana, “Alright let’s get these two wiggle worms strapped in then we can hit the road.” Everyone agreed and soon we’re all buckled into their seats and on the road.It was not too long of a drive to San Francisco. They quickly checked into their hotel, unpacked and headed out for some site seeing.A few hours later the three adults and two children stopped at an outdoor cafe for some lunch. After they decided to walk back to the hotel so that the twins could go swimming and Lim could take a nap.Once they were in their two bedroom suite Park and Melendez quickly got Kiana and Kanoa into their swimming suites. Reznick got the kids bag together as well as some snacks that they could have after swimming. Once the bag was packed Park, Reznick and the Melendez children were out the door.Lim meanwhile used the restroom, changed into something more comfortable to nap in and then got into her and Melendez’s bed. As she got more comfortable Neil walked into their room.Lim smiled at him as he sat in a chair that he placed near her side of the bed, “Alex and Morgan just took the kids to the pool. How are you and our littlest doing?”Lim sighed, “Now that morning sickness has passed, I’m doing great. We just did a lot of walking around. We are tired.”Melendez took her hand in his, “If anything feels off, Audrey you say something. Do not push it off.”The trauma surgeon rolled her eyes, “Neil, I’m honestly fine. Just normal pregnancy tired.” She squeezed his hand, “You were there when my cardiologist said that everything looks great with my heart.”“I know he did.” Melendez still looked pensive, “I saw all of your tests and scans. Everything looks perfect, but after everything that you went through with the twins…I’m just paranoid. I will be until after this little one arrives.” He placed his hand on Lim’s swollen abdomen.Audrey covered his hand with hers, “Neil, let’s not barrow trouble. Everyone is happy with how this pregnancy is progressing. I get biweekly checkups. I’m living with a cardio thoracic surgeon. I’m in the best hands possible.”Melendez smiled softly, “I know you are. It’s just…”“The aortic dissection and emergency surgery scared the hell out of you.” Lim stated rather than asked.The surgeon nodded his head, “I can’t help but to play the what ifs. What if you hadn’t decided to go to the hospital? What if San Jose General had not been on bypass? What if you stayed home one more day?”Lim sighed, “Neil, stop playing the what ifs. What happened to me is in the past. I’m fine. Kiana and Kanoa are perfect.” She reached up and placed a hand to her husband’s cheek, “You saved my life. I’m here because you are good at what you do. This baby.” She pointed to her swollen abdomen, “is coming soon because their poppa has been blessed with a talent to fix what some would call the unfixable.” She finished with a yawn.Melendez smiled as he leaned over and kissed Audrey, “Get some rest, Mi Amor. I’m going to join the kids, Alex and Morgan at the pool.”“Have fun.” Lim said as she started to yawn again.Melendez smiled as he stood up and left room. Audrey fell asleep quickly with one hand resting on her baby belly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On day three of their San Francisco trip the group went to Angel Island to explore. They saw dolphins swimming in the bay as well as whales breaching. Kanoa and Kiana were enchanted.Angel Island was known for the processing Asian and other immigrants from 1910 to 1940. There is still Chinese poetry on the walls at the barracks of the processing site. Audrey was able to read it to her family.For lunch they decided to have a picnic where they had a panoramic view of San Francisco. After they finished eating the twins started to run around.Melendez looked at Lim who was talking with Reznick. After a moment he caught Park’s eye the Asian man nodded his head and he spoke, “Morgan, why don’t we take the kids to walk walk around to see more of this fantastic view?” He held his hand out to the blonde who quickly agreed. Together they stood up and went to w bf ere the twins were playing.Melendez shifted closer to Lim and slightly behind her. She gave him a smile as she leaned into Neil’s strong chest. The cardio thoracic surgeon wrapped his arms around the trauma surgeon placing his hand onto her seventeen week round belly.“Neil, this has been such an amazing trip.” Lim tuned her head back towards him and kissed his cheek, “Thank you bringing us here. The kids are having so much fun.”Melendez gave a soft chuckle, “Those two have so much energy.” He gently rubbed her protruding belly, “Before long their baby sibling will be right there joining them.”Lim smiled, “I am so excited to see them all together.”They both were quiet for a moment and then Melendez spoke, “Audrey, we have known each other for a little more than ten years.” Lim agreed as he continued, “We have been competitors, friends, lovers and now parents. We have had many ups and downs, but we always manage to find our way back to each other.”As Melendez spoke to Lim, Park and Reznick were observing from a short distance away.“Bout time he finally got the balls to do this.” Park looked in surprise to his girlfriend at what she had just said. She gave him a look, “Oh please, you knew because Melendez told you. I knew because I pay attention.”Park chuckled, “Murphy has nothing on you. Think she will say yes?”Both looked as the scene played out. Morgan sighed, “She better or as soon as she births that baby the entire hospital will kick her ass.”Park full on laughed at Reznick’s comment. Together they quickly pulled out their phones and were recording as Melendez presented Lim with an open royal blue box.Lim gasped slightly when she saw what was inside the box. Park and Reznick saw the proposal all play out. They wanted to give the couple space but Kanoa and Kiana took off running to their parents. They threw themselves into their parent’s arms.Park and Reznick quickly joined them. As the twins settled into their mom and dad’s laps Reznick asked, “Well, did you say yes?”Lim and Melendez laughed at their friend. Lim held up her hand showing the two standing doctors the white gold four karate cushion cut accentuated by blue sapphires diamond ring.Melendez replied with a wide smile, “She said yes!”Park and Reznick congratulated the newly engaged couple.“Bout time you two asshats got your shit together. We have all been waiting, and now we finally get the happy ending to one of the best love stories ever.” Reznick replied as the family started talking pictures to remember the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in San Jose at St. Bonaventure Hospital Aaron Glassman and Marcus Andrews were walking through the halls.“Well, it should have happened by now. How do you think it went?” Marcus Andrews asked the older doctor.Glassman handed the plastic surgeon his phone and laughed when Andrews replied, “It’s about damn time.”The pair continued walking and soon were in the meeting room with Murphy, Lea, Jordan, Asher, Villanueva, Hawks and Jerome. Everyone looked at their bosses with wondering eyes.Glassman spoke quietly, “She said yes.”At that moment the room erupted in cheers as Lim and Melendez’s other family celebrated the news of their promised happily ever after.