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Once again, they knocked off another surgery. They seemed to be an unstoppable duo in the OR. Anyone who worked for long enough at St. Bonaventure already knew that between all the bickering and prideful nature of the two, there was something special – something that seemed to make these doctors work flawlessly. It was no secret that they were very good friends. Working with someone for more than a decade would be considered forever by some. But saying that in all of this time, neither of them saw past their friendship, would be a lie.Audrey Lim was sitting quietly in her office. The 4-hour surgery she just scrubbed out of exhausted her. She knew the little girl on the operating table. Her name was Charlotte Kennedy. She took care of her just a year ago, after her father ended up in the ER with a broken arm and a massive wound on his abdomen while extremely drunk. Her parents are divorced and no one was there for her while her father underwent surgery and recovery. When Audrey first saw the girl, she had a big bump on her forehead and a few bruises on her tummy. After some conversation, the doctor learned how Charlotte’s father hit her, taking his separation’s pain on his daughter. Hearing this made her blood boil. How could a parent do this to his own child?! Audrey spent all of her breaks with the girl, doing everything in her power to lighten up her day as her father recovered. Meanwhile, she also referred him to a rehab facility for alcohol, threatening with taking his daughter away if he didn’t get his life together. And he did. She was so proud of hearing that the little girl was doing well and that Mr. Kennedy was finally back on his feet, actually caring for his daughter.
But now, Charlotte was back at the hospital. She came into the ER from a car crash. Her father had drove while drunk and crashed into a pole on their way to school. She had several fractured ribs, a concussion and a cardiac tamponade. When she saw who entered the ER, her heart sank. She thought she helped her father get better, helped her have a normal life. Instead, the poor girl was now laying on an operating table and Audrey was the one who needed to save her.
The first hour, Lim managed to keep her vitals steady and to operate somewhat smoothly, but she later started facing complications that required cardiothoracic expertise, therefore having to page dr. Melendez to the OR. He worked flawlessly. He was quick to find a solution and safely continue the surgery, something Audrey was more than thankful for – she couldn’t lose this patient, not this one.After finally closing, Melendez noticed how distraught Lim was. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of Charlotte’s room and kept herself busy with some paperwork at the reception closest to her.“You did great, Audrey. She’s going to be back at school in no time.” Melendez tried to cheer her up.Lim softened at hearing his words. She formed a small smile and thanked him for the compliment.“I just feel so guilty… I didn’t want her to end up in foster care so I tried to push the father to make changes. Look at how that turned out.”“But he did change. It’s not your fault that he went back to his old habits. He did great for a while there. You never know what is going on in people’s lives.” Melendez tried reassuring her. He hated seeing Audrey like this. He knew how she had a soft spot for children who ended up in the ER and how she always made time to spend with them.Audrey slightly nodded at him and then left for the peace of her office. She would never admit it, but Melendez’s presence made her feel better. This arrogant and charming doctor who was in constant competition with her had been her closest friend ever since her residency days in St. Bonaventure. She always had this little voice that urged her to succumb to her sentiments, but she would just toss them aside. Audrey had feelings for him, but was way too proud of herself to admit it. During her residency, she found him a pain in the ass – always trying to outshine her during surgeries and overall, just being a cocky know-it-all colleague. But over time, he warmed up to her. He realized that the competition he was so desperate to win was actually all in his head, and from that moment forward, her feelings about him changed. For a while, she was married to Kashal, thinking she was in love. Only later did she realize how his overprotectiveness and overbearing jealousy could not be ignored anymore. She never really talked to anyone about the causes of her divorce – she felt like it was not necessary for people to know about her marital problems and personal life. The only person she ever shared this with was Neil. His shoulder was the one she cried on after thinking her life was destroyed by the separation and that she would just end-up an old, lonely lady in an apartment with 10 cats. He was always there to console her and make her feel a little better. During those times, they grew even closer, making her fall for him. But did he fall for her? How could she ever reveal her feelings towards him? Will there ever be a right time to do so?
“Screw it, today’s the day.” She mumbled to herself. She was going to pour it all out. All of her feelings about him, she was going to share them today, one way or another. Her heart started racing at the thought. How was she going to do this? What if he will laugh at her words or avoid her due to embarrassment from then on? She didn’t want to destroy the friendship they already had with her stupid emotions; it was too precious. But she needed to do this. She would go crazy trying to conceal them any longer.
Lim took out her phone and quickly typed a message, hands all sweaty.
‘Meet me at Crowley’s in 20. I need a drink.’
She quickly put on her jacket and sped out of the hospital to get there as soon as possible, to be able to prepare for what she about to do.
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After she arrived, Audrey quickly ordered two glasses of bourbon. She ran her finger over the top of her glass, thinking about how the evening was going to turn out. She couldn’t just blurt everything out. It would just take Neil by surprise and not give him any time to react. But actually building up a conversation that would lead to the confession was mission impossible for her. What could she even say? Randomly start talking about their friendship? Maybe just reminisce about old times? She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the man who just took a seat on the stool next to her.“Hello Aud.” Her head spiked up and the moment she locked eyes with him, what she was attempting to do finally caught up to her. She forced a relaxed smile and pushed one of the glasses over to him.“I needed some company to get my mind off of the little girl that came in the ER today. You know, the surgery you knocked off once again?” She said, stumbling over her words.“We both did great. I know she is not just an ordinary patient to you. I was extra careful with her.” He smiled softly, slightly amused at her sudden shyness.Lim already felt butterflies in her stomach. How was she going to fight through the evening without dying of embarrassment? Then, an idea rushed her mind. She took her glass of bourbon and just gulped it all down. Melendez chuckled quietly, not understanding what was wrong.“What’s up with you?” he asked.Ignoring the question, Audrey threw her right hand in the air to get the bartender’s attention and ordered a whole bottle of whiskey. After pouring herself another glass, she straightened up and started a mindless bicker about Neil’s fear of motorcycles.----“You always scream like a little girl even when I go below the speed limit.” She teased him.
“Your organ donor machine is a danger even when parked.” He shot back.----Melendez couldn’t help but notice the unusually high amount of alcohol Audrey was consuming that night. She downed almost half a bottle of whiskey. She kept pouring herself more and more, getting progressively drunker thorough the night, until she couldn’t stand up straight anymore and constantly stuttered.“I think you need to go home. You had way too much to drink tonight.” Neil said as he got up from his seat and put out his hand for Audrey to reach, but she hesitated, not knowing what to do.
The alcohol was definitely helping her push all of her doubts to the side, though. Neil carefully guided her outside the bar, worried for her well-being. He didn’t understand what made her drink so much. Maybe she just got carried away, but half a bottle of whiskey would have wrecked him instantly.“I’m ordering you a cab and I’m coming with. There’s no way I’m leaving you alone in this condition.” He stated with concern in his words. Audrey immediately opposed, seemingly trying to say something, but not finding the words to do so.“No. Wait. I am not drunk!” The doctor endorsed. Melendez just frowned his eyebrows in disapproval and took out his phone. Right as he was about to open it, Audrey drunkenly smacked his hand and leaned into him for support. With her heart racing and her cheeks as red as tomatoes, Lim was struggling to form the sentence she waited to say all evening.“You’re so wasted, Audrey. Just sit down on that bench while we wait for the cab.” He chuckled at his friend’s actions, walking closer to the bar.“I can’t! I need to tell you something!” She felt like she was about to collapse, her knees barely managing to hold her up. “I love you!” she screamed louder than she actually intended to.Melendez stood dead in his tracks, looking at her like she just dropped a literal bomb on him. His eyes lit up at her confession. He looked at her and saw so much softness and sincerity, making him feel like he was a highschooler again. He wanted to say it back so badly and just embrace her in a long hug. All he wanted was to kiss her right then and there, and let out all those bottled-up years of friendship, untold feelings and uncertainties. But he couldn’t. She was drunk. She wasn’t in her right state of mind. What if she was going to regret this after she got sober? He couldn’t take advantage of her situation. Making a move right now would be wrong and selfish of him. So, hardly keeping it together, he brought her closer to him, just enough so she would be able to support herself, and signaled a cab to take them, all while Audrey felt like the world was ending. She watched in drunken horror as Melendez ignored her statement. She just confessed something so personal and risky, and he didn’t even acknowledge it. She was both pissed and destroyed, wanting nothing else than to sit there and cry, but she chose to shield herself from more pain and kept her mouth shut the whole ride to Neil’s apartment.After they got there, Neil offered her a seat on the couch and a glass of water. Audrey just nodded, still contemplating on what just happened. She took a couple of sips before making herself comfortable and quickly falling asleep. Melendez stood on the other side of the couch, watching her sleep. He left an aspirin on the table in front of them to help with the massive headache she would have after waking up and covered Audrey with a blanket. He couldn’t keep himself from staring. This was the first time he got to see her face so close, tracing her every line with his eyes. It felt so intimate to be able to actually absorb every detail of her beautiful face.“Gosh, what am I doing.” He beat himself up. He knew the next morning was going to be tough, they must talk about all of this like adults, sober adults.
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Audrey woke up to a thumping headache. She struggled to open her eyes and recognize where she was. She couldn’t remember anything from what transpired the previous evening. Rubbing her forehead in a helpless attempt to ease her pain, she looked closely at her surroundings. The place felt extremely familiar. Even though it had been a while since she last stepped foot here, she recognized Neil’s apartment.‘What the heck am I doing here?’ she asked herself. Then, she noticed a pill neatly placed on the table in front of her, with a glass of water next to it. She gladly took it and gulped the whole glass, feeling more dehydrated than ever.She laid her head on the couch again, groaning in confusion and discomfort. Was she so drunk that she couldn’t remember how she got here? Audrey just stared at the ceiling, trying to get her thoughts together.
Her quiet time was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice behind her.“Good morning. I assume your head is pounding right now so I prepared an aspirin and a glass of water.” Melendez greeted her. He was glad she was finally awake, but he didn’t know whether to approach last night’s events just yet or let her decide if she’s willing to talk about it.“Morning. Thanks for letting me crash here, but what happened? I assume I was extremely drunk because I can’t remember anything.” Audrey asked in a confused tone and watched as Neil’s face fell into a disappointed look. He sat himself on the couch and handed her the keys to her Ducati.“Here you go. I couldn’t risk you waking up and fleeing my apartment on the motorcycle so I confiscated these for the night. And yes, you were a wreck.” He confirmed her statement with a reassuring smile on his face. Suddenly, memories of the previous evening came flooding back in her mind. She remembered how she drank alcohol to make it easier to confess her feelings. She remembered how she ranted to him about her constant petty fights with her brother or mouthing off about Andrews. But she also remembered how she said those three words and got nothing in response. It felt like a stab to the heart. At this point, she just wished he forgot about that part and just went on with his life like nothing happened than to force her to realize that she was nothing more than a good friend to him.“Are you feeling alright?” Melendez tried lengthening the conversation enough to find the courage to make a move, but smacked himself mentally when he tried opening his mouth once more. Audrey nodded, blushing lightly at the warm feeling of his presence.“Aside from the fact that I feel like you ran me over with my Ducati, yeah, I feel great!” she laughed. “And I should also get going. My shift starts in 30 minutes.” With that, she got up and practically ran to the door, throwing a fast “See you at the hospital!” to avoid any further interactions with him.Neil just stood there, contemplating everything that happened. Should he run after her and confess his feelings? If she didn’t remember anything, maybe it meant that her statement was only the result of one too many drinks and didn’t actually mean anything. He ended up letting out a big sigh and went to get changed. He still had to get to the hospital, and she would be there, maybe with a little more clarity in her thoughts.
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St. Bonaventure Hospital was in a big debate that day. Dr. Aaron Glassman had moved in the shadows for the past few weeks, ultimately attempting to hire an autistic doctor without the knowledge of the board.“High functioning? Is that our new hiring standard?” Andrews asked mockingly. Being the president of the hospital didn’t give dr. Glassman the power to hire anyone that would be a threat to their patients’ health, and the board agreed. Now it was just a matter of debating and convincing, which would turn out to be much easier than expected after a video of Shaun giving first-aid to a severely injured boy in an airport went viral. --- During a bypass surgery, dr. Melendez was notified that an 8-year-old boy with pneumothorax and undetermined internal injuries had just arrived in the ER and was in urgent need of assistance. Still having problems with his current patient, he sent dr. Browne to catch him. --- “I’m a doctor! He needs an echocardiogram. Where are you taking him?”
A weirdly behaved man was desperately trying to convince Claire of something she knew wasn’t needed.“All cardiac vital signs are within normal range. He needs surgery now!” Browne stated as she turned to leave for the OR.“Adam needs an echocardiogram!” the strange man insisted. He was starting to become irritating.“No! Behave yourself, or you’ll be removed from the building!” She shouted with annoyance in her voice.----“What’s that?” Melendez asked, very intrigued of what he was seeing.“It’s a one way-valve.”He kept examining the neatly constructed object. He never saw something like this before. ‘The person who was so quick to assemble it must be very bright.’ He thought to himself.
Claire suggested to do an echocardiogram but gave no medical reason for it, something that confused the surgeon. He noticed something about the boy’s heart rate was different but couldn’t grasp exactly what it was, making him even more interested in Claire’s reasoning. That’s what led him to meeting Shaun Murphy.“Dr. Browne, you’re with me. We’re going to find your weird guy.”----Melendez was disappointed to find out that he just wasted their time doing an echo, because they didn’t find anything wrong. He still didn’t know this “weird guy”. The first time they interacted, he was very agitated and made strange movements, speaking in an unusual manner, so in his eyes, he was not trustworthy.Seeing how Claire Browne brought Shaun into the OR to show him the echo didn’t impress Melendez. He was already preparing to scrub back in and try to find another way to save the boy, when Murphy noticed a slight abnormality on the screen, which explained the change in the pulse.
Shaun remained outside of the OR during the entirety of the surgery and watched as dr. Melendez got a glass shard out of the little boy’s blood stream. Neil looked towards the gallery and noticed Glassman and his ex-fiancée viewing his every move, finally understanding where this strange man came from. He heard the gossip in the nurses’ station about a new resident being hired without anyone’s knowledge and figured out that he was the guy everyone was talking about. Glassman asked to meet Melendez after scrubbing out to talk about Murphy’s sudden appearance at St. Bonaventure, though Neil wasn’t a fan of what he was hearing. He viewed this young man to be incapable to succeed in the medical field because of his autism.“Having Savant Syndrome doesn’t automatically make him a suitable choice for the post. He’s still much different than anyone else, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it didn’t interfere with his work’s quality. I can’t trust him anywhere near a patient during surgery.” Melendez vehemently stated. He couldn’t do anything to overrule Glassman’s decision, but he also wouldn’t help him. ---- “Letting things get personal is how we make it matter.” Aaron sighed before leaving the room. He knew there was no point in arguing with the attending. Whether he liked it or not, Shaun was going to be on his team.Jessica watched their exchange unfold from afar, wondering if she should interfere, but her train of thought was interrupted by Melendez walking up to her.“What’s the story with this kid?” he asked. His relationship with the lawyer wasn’t as tense anymore. It had been a year since they broke off their engagement and he had moved on, not only because they worked at the same hospital and a hostile working environment was the last thing they needed, but also because, now, there was someone special who made him forget about everything that happened.“I don’t think I have the right to tell you this. Glassman knows the kid best. Have you thought that giving him a chance to prove himself right would be better than to just suppress his abilities?” Jessica was disappointed to see the way Melendez was handling the situation. Their break-up didn’t stop her from caring for him, even though she knew his feelings about her weren’t mutual anymore.“I don’t want to give him the chance to kill someone.” The surgeon responded before storming off. ---- Dr. Lim was preparing to go home after a very busy day in the ER. She heard about the controversial situation the board was discussing. An autistic man being a surgeon wasn’t something she ever expected to see.“Hey. I didn’t know I’d still see you at the hospital.” Melendez knocked on her door. Jessica’s words were bothering him so he decided to go to his closest friend for an opinion on the whole affair.“It was a long day in the ER.” Lim smiled softly. She tried brushing off any recollection of their previous interaction and just went along with the talk.“Did you hear about the new surgical resident?” Neil asked as he sat on the edge of the small settee in her office.““New surgical resident”? He was actually hired? I wasn’t expecting the board to agree with Glassman’s decision.” Audrey wasn’t aware that Shaun Murphy was given a chance, anticipating every single person to doubt him – especially Andrews.“Yeah, and he’s on my team.” Melendez scoffed, but noticed how Lim was taken aback by his reaction.“And you don’t think that’s fair, because? What, did you want him to be put in Trauma with me?” she laughed at her friend’s annoyance.“I didn’t want him to be put on any team. He shouldn’t be operating on people.”“Neil… Just observe what he’s capable of. A surgical resident with Savant Syndrome might prove to be a brilliant asset to this hospital.” Audrey tried to convince him that he was being too doubtful of someone he had just met that morning.“A surgical resident with autism might not do the same.” Neil couldn’t grasp how Audrey was ok with this. Curiosity shouldn’t be a factor in proving Murphy is capable of being a surgeon. Lim tilted her head and raised her eyebrows with a slight smirk, not wanting to discuss the situation any further, believing that, over time, Melendez will warm up to the new resident. Instead, she let out a sigh and started speaking more quietly.“I can’t keep avoiding this subject forever because I feel like it’s eating me from the inside whenever I see you.” She looked towards the ground, unable to make eye contact with her colleague. Melendez immediately knew what she was talking about and his face lit up enough for Lim to notice, but chose to remain silent and ask for more details with a confused look on his face.“You know, last night? Come on, you’re not helping to make this any easier!” Audrey nervously gestured with her hands, trying to get him to confess if he felt the same way, not wanting to embarrass herself further by having to repeat what she already revealed the day prior.Melendez got up from the couch and shut the blinds to the office. Then, with a smug grin on his face, he placed one hand on her cheek and closed the gap between them with a soft and lingering kiss, not giving Audrey time to react. It seemed like the world stopped for a moment. Dr. Lim felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest, but managed to compose herself enough to not jump like a child out of excitement.Breaking off the kiss, Melendez locked eyes with her and whispered “I love you, too.”.
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“Phew! Almost thought we weren’t going to make it!” Melendez joked. The two doctors were currently sitting in Neil’s Tesla, on their way to his apartment, the first time as a couple. Audrey was fidgeting with her fingers like a high school girl, grinning from ear to ear, constantly stealing glances at Neil. So much emotion was released within that single kiss, serving as a door to many more shared experiences that were yet to come.“I guess now we both learned how much I suck at being all sentimental.” Audrey sheepishly added.“Then it’s a good thing you got the most romantic one out of the bunch.”Lim just rolled her eyes at his praise and chuckled.When they finally got to the apartment, Neil practically threw himself out of the car in order to open the door for Audrey.“See? A gentleman.”He took her hand and they intertwined their fingers as they walked towards the block. Everything they did was new, but felt like routine. They both had butterflies in their stomachs as they approached the apartment. After opening the door and throwing their backpacks in a corner, Melendez went to the kitchen.“What do you want for dinner? And don’t you dare say take-out!”“Whatever you have in that fridge of yours. I’m not picky.”She took off her jacket and went after Neil. He already had a box of pasta on the counter, reaching for the tomato sauce from one of the cupboards.“Do you also want some bell peppers in the sauce?”“Any vegetables you have. I lack those in my kitchen.”After letting the pasta boil, the two started making the sauce while talking about a complex surgery Neil had to perform the next day.“Maybe you should ask that new resident of yours about his opinion on this.” Audrey said while munching on a carrot.“Excuse me? I know I’m a handsome guy but did I really break your brain so hard?”Melendez was no less than shocked at her suggestion. She hadn’t even met this guy and she already seemed to think so highly of him. He wished she was just joking, but was met with a serious look.“I’m not kidding. If you doubt his abilities so much then maybe you should just test and see for yourself. I’m not saying it’s fair to make it harder for him, but if that’s what you need to make you see past his neurodiversity then I’ll say why not.”“Are you implying that he’s better than me?” Melendez was now glaring at Audrey.She started laughing at the sight of his confused face, not being able to take his reaction seriously.“Of course not. But I am better. That’s why I think you should acknowledge the expertise of the best surgeon you’ll ever lay eyes on.”“And who said that? Have you looked at your mortality rate? It’s double compared to mine.” Neil shot back with a huge grin on his face.“Yeah, because trauma is sooo much more predictable than cardiology, am I right?” She pressed a quick peck on his lips before moving to turn off the stove. Turning her head back towards Neil, his admiring look made her heart skip a beat.“Don’t you dare look at me like that when were at the hospital. I don’t want anyone to assume things.” She kissed him again, this time with more passion.“Just say you like me.”“I won’t say I don’t.” She smiled. “But seriously, we need to keep this under the radar for a while.”Hearing those words, Melendez’s face fell into a disappointed look.“I mean, we just started seeing each other. I thought we should just keep it to ourselves until we both feel like it’s the right time to share it with others.” Audrey ranted, trying to salvage their conversation.“Sure, whatever make you most comfortable.”“Are you ok with that? I just assumed you’d want to do the same. If you find out you don’t actually like me, it will spare us from all the gossip.” Only after finishing her sentence did Lim realize what she actually said. The thought that Neil would start to dislike her after discerning her personality in depth crossed her mind multiple times before she decided to disclose of her feelings.Melendez cupped her face and met her worried gaze, returning a reassuring smile.“How could you consider that? Audrey, I could never, in a million years, stop caring for you. I can continue being a jerk to you at work for as long as you want if that means you’ll feel safer in this relationship. You’re not going to get rid of me soon.”“I’m sorry. I’m just scared that I’ll mess this up too.” Audrey admitted, touched by Neil’s declaration. He knew too well how her past relationships ended, so her reasoning was more than justified.“Then it’s a good thing I’ll be there to stop you.”“Thank you.” Lim smiled softly.“Besides, sneaking behind everyone’s backs sounds exciting. I want to see the horror on Andrews’ face if he finds us randomly making out in a closet. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the adrenaline were going to get from this.” Neil laughed.“That sounds terrible. You are not helping my point at all.” She playfully rolled her eyes and attempted to go back to making dinner, but Melendez interrupted her.“I say we just skip to dessert.” He teased before kissing her again.
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The next morning, Audrey felt rays of sunshine brushing her face. Slowly opening her eyes, she found Neil’s face so close to hers, sleeping peacefully. She smiled at the sight, noticing how he had one of his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. She just waited there for a couple of minutes, taking in the warmth of the moment, before giving him a peck on his nose, enough to gently wake him up. He slowly stirred, forming a huge smile when seeing Lim still in bed with him.“Good morning, Neil.”“Morning. I could get used to waking up like this every day.” He said softly.“Me too.”“We need to get up though.”“Can’t we just stay like this all morning? I don’t want to go to the hospital anymore.” Lim spoke, nuzzling her head on Melendez’s chest.He just laughed and wrapped his arms tighter around her, placing his cheek on top of her head and gently caressing her hair.“You look so beautiful when you wake up.”“Your hair is spiked up in all directions. You look like a hedgehog.” Audrey stated with a smirk.“Hey!”“That’s what you get for being all lovey-dovey. I don’t like it.”“I do. Am I not allowed to tell my girlfriend that she’s beautiful?”“So, I’m your girlfriend?” Lim asked, her eyes lighting up at hearing his words.“Of course? What did you think?”Melendez knew everything was still new for Audrey, but he wanted her to know this was not just something superficial. He was falling so much more for her every day that passed. He was in love with her, but he would keep these words to himself until the moment she would be ready to hear them.“I don’t know, honestly. But I’m glad, ‘boyfriend’.” She said jokingly.Neil smiled at her remark, pulling her closer and kissing her.“You’re making getting out of bed so much harder than it already is. You’re such a bad influence.” Audrey groaned.“Am I?” A few more minutes of cuddling later, the two finally decided to get ready for work. Lim left early, because she needed to get home and put on a fresh change of clothes, and missed her Ducati.----At the hospital, dr. Melendez’s day didn’t quite start on a positive note. He was bothered by dr. Murphy’s late appearance on his first day, not giving him any chance to justify himself. He saw how Shaun interacted with his first patient and wasn’t pleased at all. He didn’t want any further disturbances, so he assigned him to do all the scut work there was, punishing him. “Am I being punished for something?”“No.”“Ok.” Shaun plainly answered.Melendez was taken aback by his resident’s reaction, amused at how easily he obeyed his decision.“So that’s it? You just accept my answer at face value? Why?”“You’re very arrogant. Arrogant people don’t think they need to lie, so you must be doing this to teach me.” Shaun bluntly stated. He always said everything that passed his mind, not having a filter for his words. It was something dr. Melendez understood from the first time they met, trying to seem as unphased as possible whenever Shaun spoke this way, but not doing the best job. However, he figured this could be used to his advantage, as the resident wouldn’t protest any of his decisions. ---- Dr. Glassman was signing some patient paperwork in the ER when he noticed Shaun patiently sitting next to a patient’s bed. He found out that Melendez had made Murphy do all the scut work, excluding him from the surgical team. He knew he needed to talk to the attending and make him change his mind.
Walking trough the halls of the hospital, he stumbled upon dr. Lim, who was tending to a man with a huge wound on his arm.“Hey, could I please have a minute with you?” He asked, signaling for her to follow.Intrigued, Lim called a nurse to finish the stitches and went after dr. Glassman.She always saw him as a father figure. Even if he wasn’t the most pleasant attending when she was a resident, their relationship wasn’t only based on professionalism. She would sometimes ask him for advice on more personal matters, or just hang out for a couple of minutes when she’d catch him in his free time. She knew he cared about her and he would show it by occasionally bringing her food on rough days in the ER, or when he would find out about patients of hers dying. They were small things, but they meant the world to her. Of course, his “boss attitude” was never absent, acting like a stubborn superior at any time of the day.“Hello, dr. Glassman. What did you want to talk about?”“Have you heard about Shaun Murphy yet? I mean, what am I saying, the charade is known by the whole hospital.” Aaron forced a laugh.“Yes, I know one thing or two about it. I spend quite some time mingling trough the nurses’ station.” Lim didn’t understand where he wanted to go with the conversation. Did he want her to help Shaun around the hospital?“Well, he’s doing scut work. I’m not asking you to take him under your wing, as that would not be possible, but maybe you can talk your friend out of treating him like a child.” Glassman was now more serious, his favor sounding more like a demand, and Audrey immediately knew what he was talking about.“What makes you think he’s going to listen to me? He doesn’t listen to anyone. You’re the president, you have the most influence over him.”“I saw how influential I was when I first talked to him. I’m not his friend, I’m his boss. He may be more prone to listen to you.”“Try again. I know that if I wouldn’t refuse, you’re going to speak with him anyway.” Lim insisted. She wasn’t looking forward to talk to Neil about Shaun again. Starting a stupid fight was the last thing she wanted.Glassman sighed inwardly and slightly nodded, understanding he would not be getting much out of dr. Lim either. ---- Melendez had a hard time during surgery, the patient’s diagnostic proving to be worse than he thought. While studying some material before he was meant to scrub back in, a knock on his office’s door caught his attention.“You got a minute?” He was greeted by Audrey standing at the entrance.“I have a patient lying in the OR waiting for lab results and I’m just sitting here trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do next, but I don’t like any of my options.”“I hoped to find you in a better state.” She said, Glassman’s request still beating her up.“Why? Is something wrong?”“No, I just… Ugh, leave it.”“Glassman talked to you.” Audrey intended to leave, but Neil’s words stopped her, forcing her to speak up again.“Yes… Did he talk to you?”“He did. And Andrews did too. Someone ordered numerous unnecessary tests for patients with symptoms as simple as a tummy ache. I don’t like having my bosses hovering over the way I direct my team.” Melendez was now laid back on his chair with his arms crossed, annoyed by the situation.“Teach him. How will he know what to do if there’s no one there to guide him? You can’t make him do scut work for the rest of his residency. Please just think about it. I’m not here as a boss, I’m here as a friend. Thought you might need it.” Lim smiled, gently looking into his eyes. Melendez slightly frowned, feeling defeated.“Don’t you dare pull that face on me. It’s not working.” He chuckled at her attempt to convince him.“Your denial just told me that it is, in fact, working.” She whispered with a flirtatious look before turning around and leaving the room. ---- It was around 10pm when Melendez finally got back home. He was tired and mildly irritated after his day at the hospital. When he unlocked the door to his apartment he was hit with an appetizing smell of soup. Looking around, he noticed Lim in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot.“It smells delicious!” He exclaimed from the entrance.“You got here right on time. The food’s ready. It’s beef noodle soup, my grandma’s recipe.” Audrey was grinning at Neil, pleased by her actions.“What has gotten into you? You never cook.”“Am I not allowed to treat you to some top-quality meals once in a while? Since we’re ‘official’…”“Thank you, it was much needed. I need to get my mind off of Andrews.”“What happened?”“He overruled me. It was so nice of him to get Shaun back to suction. He’s playing all supportive-chief now.” He scoffed. He thought he had Marcus on his side, but it turns out Glassman got to him.“Can we not talk about your autistic resident now? There’s no point in arguing with the president or the chief. If you can’t accept it and move on, try to act like it. They will give you more space then.” Melendez took in all of her words, trying to be somewhat understanding, but his ego was too big to actually act on the suggestion.Audrey just walked to the counter and poured themselves two bowls of soup, ready to have a nice evening and forget about work problems. ---- “Thanks for dinner. I had no idea you cooked so well.”“I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, you’ll see.” Lim smirked. “Are you tired or are you up for a movie?”“A movie would be nice.”They both comfortably sat on the couch, cuddling into each other. While Audrey was mindlessly switching from channel to channel, trying to find an interesting film to watch, Neil snuggled his head on her shoulder, smelling her freshly washed hair.“What are you doing?” Audrey chuckled, butterflies forming in her stomach. “Don’t fall asleep yet.”“I can’t promise that. You smell great.” He smiled into her neck.“You’re lucky I can’t think of an insult right now.”“I love you, too.” He said, already half asleep. These words made Audrey’s heart flutter, making her place her free hand on his, gently stroking it."Me too." She breathed, barely above a whisper, still not being able to say it out loud.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
More than a week had already passed since Drs. Lim and Melendez confessed their feelings for one another and everything seemed to be flowing smoothly. Between nights spent quietly on a couch or going to eat take-out, they were both pretty strained from the long hours they had to spend at the hospital. Lim would often come back home late due to her tiring shifts in the ER, not finding the energy to do anything more than sleep. If they weren’t both surgeons, one would say she was avoiding Neil, but they were actually just trying to balance their schedules in order to have time to spend together. Audrey was on her lunch break when she texted Neil to join her in the cafeteria. She just wanted to talk with him since she couldn’t come by his apartment the previous night, and at the hospital they could barely see each other’s faces.“I missed you last night.” Melendez said as he put his tray on the table, taking a seat in front of his girlfriend.“I missed you too. How was your day so far?”“Stressful. I have a patient who desperately needs a liver transplant and I just found out that he consumed alcohol at his daughter’s graduation.”“That makes him ineligible for the transplant.”“Yes, and I can’t do anything about it. I feel terrible, but he dug his own grave.” Aside from the loss of the transplant itself, Melendez couldn’t help but be frustrated for the man. “He needed to wait for three more days.”“At least the liver he was supposed to get will save another patient. Think about how many other people are out there waiting for one. It sucks, but he wasn’t responsible.”Just then, Audrey’s phone started buzzing. She just put in on silent and closed it.“Can I have a spoon of your salad?” She said, completely ignoring the call.“Aren’t you going to get that?” Melendez asked, confused by her reaction.“It’s just my mom. She’s been calling me non-stop since last night but I’m dreading a conversation with her right now.” She said with annoyance in her voice.“Don’t be like that. Hear what she has to say. She’s your mom after all. She deserves to hear from her awesome daughter at least once every one or two weeks.” He urged her, smiling. Audrey just raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes at him.
Melendez knew how much Lim loved her mother, but she would never admit it. She wasn’t one to express her feelings with ease, not being used to displaying affection in her family.“Fine.”She finally picked up the phone and answered, anticipating a very loud “Look at that! She’s alive!” on the other line. Instead, she was met with faint sobs and an unusually quiet voice from her mother. Neil watched as Audrey’s face shifted from a happy and calm image to a horrified look.“Are you sure? They could’ve misdiagnosed him. Make them redo the tests. Get a second opinion.” She said with trembling hands.‘Honey, that’s what the doctors told us. We need you to be here.’“I’m going to get there as soon as possible, I promise. I’ll call you back.”With that, the surgeon ended the call and looked straight into Melendez’s eyes, worrying him even more. She looked extremely distraught, tears slowly starting to form. Before he could ask anything, Lim got up from her seat and gestured for him to follow her, trying to keep her composure and not finding the strength to form another word. Neil quickly followed, resisting the urge to take one of her hands in his to comfort her. They went to the nearest break room, which was empty, much to Audrey’s pleasure. She slowly laid against a wall and brought her hands together, her cheeks starting to fill with falling tears.“I’m so sorry, I just can’t control it.” She managed to mumble.“Audrey, please, tell me what’s wrong. I’m here and I’ll listen.” Melendez was perturbed at seeing her cry, trying to comfort her as best as he could.“It’s my father. He got diagnosed with cancer and they gave him one year to live.” At this point, her eyes were red and she kept clutching her shirt, hardly keeping it together. “I shouldn’t be acting like this, it’s just…I’m shocked.”Hearing her words made his heart drop. She loved her father dearly, more than anyone else in the world. They didn’t have the best relationship in her teenage years, often getting into fights about her rebellious nature. Prior to moving to the US, Audrey swore she wouldn’t miss him, acting like any other hurt teen. Only after feeling his absence did she really realize how unreasonable she was. Even if they shared hurtful words they both regretted, she went back to Taiwan before starting her residency to make up to him. That was the first time her father directly showed his love, actually hugging her and eventually apologizing in his own way.Forgetting about anyone being able to walk into the break room and see them, he embraced her tightly and caressed her hair.
“It’s ok, Aud. I’m here.” He whispered into her ear. He could feel her melt in his arms and her muffled cries tore his heart to pieces. It was the first time since her divorce to see her in this state.Audrey felt awful. Why was she so emotional? Crying wasn’t going to change anything, and doing it at the hospital for anyone to see was an even worse scenario; that’s what she thought. Every time she couldn’t bottle up her feelings, she felt weak and vulnerable. She was meant to be the fantastic Dr. Lim, a vicious and skilled female surgeon who didn’t let anyone or anything trouble her. Yet, when she was with Neil, ease would fall over her. He would never judge her or be inconsiderate of her feelings, he would just stay there and listen. He was well aware that in moments like this, pointless advice was the last thing she wanted to hear.“I just want to go home.” Audrey said softly, starting to calm down. “I’m so sorry for this, you can just go back to your patient.”“There’s no way I’m going to leave you like this. Audrey, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re human, not a robot. Anyone would have the same reaction to this kind of news. I want to know you’re safe.” He reassured her sincerely. Then, he took out his phone and started typing something.“I’m telling Andrews something urgent came up and I need to leave. Come on, I will drive you to your apartment.”“You don’t have to do that, I can-”“Please, Audrey. I’m not letting you do this alone again.” Melendez quickly interrupted her.Audrey figured there was no point in arguing with him, the only thing on her mind being the saddening news she just got. Even if she didn’t say it out loud, she was glad Neil was there to comfort her and felt so loved by him in those moments. The ride to her apartment was silent. She kept on an expressionless face, occasionally sucking in a few silent tears. When they finally got there, Lim almost ran to her bedroom, already preparing a suitcase. Melendez didn’t want to waste any time either, booking the earliest flight he could find. Audrey finally came back into the living room and intended to pour herself a glass of bourbon, but realized it would lead to her getting stupidly drunk and possibly miss her flight, so she settled for a glass of water instead. Melendez placed one hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.“He will always be there to watch over you. You will always be able to feel his love, no matter where he is. He will always be so proud of you, Aud.”“No. I will make him go to chemo. Maybe the diagnosis is wrong. They could’ve easily mistaken the cancer for Castleman’s disease. I won’t let him die.” Lim rambled, a million possibilities rushing her mind.As they both sat there in silence, the moment was interrupted by the ringing of Neil’s phone.“It’s Andrews. They need me for a meeting regarding my patient.” He said, not wanting to leave her side, but being urged by his boss.“Go, I’m fine.” Audrey stated, understanding his situation.“Are you sure?”“Yes, I’m sure. That patient needs you more than I do right now.”“Alright. Please don’t forget to eat something. I love you.” Melendez said before kissing her temple and walking out the door.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next day, Lim was already at the airport first thing in the morning, along with Neil. Aside from the unfortunate circumstances, part of her was excited to visit home for a few days. She missed her home country, the childhood bedroom where she would spend her time reading in, the streets she and her friends used to play on all day long, the delicious food, the people, her family. She painted a calm attitude, being falsely optimistic about the reason of her trip, because she made herself believe none of this was true. The healthcare in Taiwan is advanced and very high-quality and she’d make sure her father would get the best doctor there was.After the two surgeons said their goodbyes, Neil had to go back to the hospital, because Audrey’s absence in the ER meant someone had to cover for her, and the chief of surgery wasn’t exactly delighted with the idea, so he assigned Dr. Melendez to do it for the day. He had a pretty quiet day, letting Drs. Murphy and Kalu deal with most of the patients. Eventually, an old man who suffered multiple injuries from branches falling on him while cutting down a tree was brought to the ER, requiring immediate surgery. This kept Melendez busy for some time, being the only interesting part of his day.Back at his apartment, it all felt so empty without Audrey. They had only been dating for 2 weeks, but it was enough to make him miss her like crazy. There was no more rock music blasting from the living room, no more rich smell of tea, no more clothes tossed around his bedroom, it was just quiet. He thought he got used to it, but now it felt strange. After taking a shower and putting on some comfy pajamas, he noticed his bed was still unmade. On Audrey’s side, there were two pillows stacked on top of each other and an oncology book sitting on her bedside table, a comic getting squished under it. He laid on his bed and extended his right arm to touch one of the pillows. It was cold. A type of cold he hadn’t felt ever since him and Audrey got together. A type of cold he forgot existed. A type of cold he wished he wouldn’t feel again. He spent the next two days fighting for a mother and her unborn child, making risky decisions for him and the hospital. This included numerous meetings and talks with the president, the chief surgeon, and the hospital’s lawyer, Jessica. The situation as a whole hit a little too close to home, reminding him of the reason his engagement ended.
He was a little disappointed by the fact that he couldn’t call Audrey while she was away. He wanted to hear how she was doing and was constantly wondering how bad her father’s condition actually was. At least he had Andrews to keep his mind off of these things with subtly fabricated insults regarding the way he dealt with the complicated surgery. Melendez couldn’t wait to have someone he could share these frustrations with again. ---- Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Audrey’s plane had just landed. Her brother was already at the airport, waiting to pick her up. It would be the first time in 3 years they see each other face to face.
Among the huge crowd of people, she saw a card poking up that read “Here for the Wonder woman doctor!” and instantly knew who it was.“Caleb! I’m so glad to see you!” She said, throwing her hands in the air.They hugged for a brief moment and then Caleb smacked her with his elbow in a proper sibling fashion.“Look who’s finally here! Gosh I thought I’d never see your face again. Next time you’ll come by I will be in a retirement home.” He scolded her.“Shut up. Being a doctor is hard work. I don’t have the time.”They both started walking towards the exit of the airport.“Or you just don’t want to spend time with us anymore.” Caleb added disappointingly.“No, of course I want to spend time with you!” She said defensively. “I’m busy, that’s all. Look, I will try to make some arrangements and get time off this Christmas to visit again.”“Just like you did last Christmas?” Her brother was now looking at her with judgmental eyes. “It’s like we don’t even exist to you anymore.”“You’re my family, you’re some of the only people that exist for me, really. And last Christmas… They canceled my tickets. Stupid airline.” She missed their stupid little fights, but she didn’t miss the shared attitude of her folks. They judged every single thing she did. Having an actual good opinion about her decisions was a special event itself. When she told them she wanted to go to med school, they were thrilled, but when they found out it was outside of Taiwan, they were beyond pissed. How could she leave her family?! She would need to come back in the country right after college and become a doctor there. Marry a good man and have children. Make money and be the perfect picture daughter they could brag about.“Right. I’m guessing you’re excited to spend some quality time with mom then?” Caleb asked with a smirk.“Yeah… Can’t wait.” ---- Driving through the streets of Taipei, she realized she was starting to forget. Places she thought she once knew were now slowly fading memories in the back of her head. Her favorite café, the high school she went to, the huge buildings she used to admire from her usual bus route, they were changing. Or did she just forget what they looked like?Her brother noticed how distraught she was and took out an old CD from his pocket.“I thought you’d like to hear this again.” He smiled and Audrey watched as he placed it in the car CD player, not being fast enough to see what it was. When it finally started playing, her eyes lit up with joy and she almost jumped out of her seat when she heard the band Blacklist Studio blasting in the car.“This is so old! Where did you find it?!” Audrey started laughing with enthusiasm.“In the attic. It was thrown in a box along with a bunch of other old CDs and DVDs and I decided to surprise my little sister. Worth my ears bleeding.” He teased her.“I have impeccable taste. You’re just jealous.” ---- At the Lim household, unlike the city, the place seemed to have stopped in time. The turquoise painted exterior walls were as decolorated as before, small patches of dark wood thrown all over them. The windows where she used to sit and gaze at the stars were shining in the rays of sunshine. Entering the garden, the tree that grew along her when she was a kid was still there, greater than ever. A small swing was slowly dangling in the wind as if she was still there, giggling and throwing her feet in the air. Under the safety of its shade, and old couple was staring at the siblings.“My precious daughter! Welcome!” Her mother exclaimed. She ran up to Audrey and hugged her tightly.“Hello, mom.” Lim greeted with a grin. After breaking off the hug, she turned to her father, Mr. Wang Lim, who was sitting patiently on a chair, smiling slightly with the corner of his mouth.“Hello, father. I missed you.” She said softly, but she could feel the depth of her words travel through her veins, making herself shiver.Seeing him after such a long time made her heart sink. His hair was now completely grey, wrinkles covering his face. His eyes were tired, helpless, carrying so much dread and sorrow. His eye bags were dark and heavy, telling a story stretched beyond words. He moved slowly. The veins on his arms were now so visible, forming beautifully painted paths that led to many hardships he faced over the years. He was getting old. Her father was dying. His once strong body turned frail, being embraced by a vicious illness, draining every ounce of happiness left in his soul. But he was still there, right? Looking into her eyes, admiring them, searching for her untold love. It was hard for her not to cry, but she always needed to be tough. She didn’t want to seem weak, especially in front of him. He needed closure from his daughter, not another reminder that he was pitied by his family, only seen as a dying man.“Audrey. You are so grown.” is all he could muster. His face spoke volumes, a small smile warming Audrey’s heart. She knew that behind all of that toughness, all of that harsh attitude, he loved her.He was so proud of her. She was a well accomplished surgeon in the States, making a life as a respected person, something he valued most yet, he would not admit it to her face. His expression slightly changed, forming a low arch with his eyebrows.“You came to give me the same diagnostic. I don’t need another opinion or sorry face. I won’t spend my remaining days in the hospital.”“Dad, don’t say that. I promise you’ll get the best care there is.” Audrey pleaded with him.“I want to die peacefully, with honor.” He stated, keeping his composure.“What are you saying? There’s nothing shameful in getting treatment.”“There is if it’s not from my daughter. Such a successful doctor, but you can’t stay here? What is wrong with Taiwanese hospitals? You should help our people.” His words were a masked attempt to get her to stay. Judgement was the best treatment for guilt.“Wang, please. She’s happy there. You can’t undo it now.” Her mother intervened, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. She didn’t want Audrey’s arrival to be met with an argument.“I don’t care what you think about my decisions, but I’m not leaving you to die. You’ll start chemo as soon as possible. I’ll schedule an appointment with Dr. Cheng and you’re going. You can say whatever you want, but one way or another, you’ll get rid of that tumor.” Her words had turned harsh, but her heart was pounding. He could throw rocks at her and she wouldn’t budge.Mr. Lim just stared at her, his eyes piercing her mind. He slowly nodded and turned to face his wife. “Maybe she would like some tea. Let’s sit down.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After three tiring days of bantering with her father, Dr. Lim was finally back in San Jose. Melendez was meant to come and pick her up, but something came up at the hospital and he needed to be there. Audrey ordered a cab straight to her apartment, having the last free day before going back to work. When she got home, she just threw her luggage in the living room and took a moment to appreciate the comfiness of her soft mattress, something she missed in Taiwan. She wanted Neil to be there and just lay in bed together, talking mindlessly about anything. This made her afraid, vulnerable. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t falling head over heels for him. She hadn’t felt butterflies in her stomach when looking at someone even when she was with Kashal. This time it was so much different, but so much scarier, because she couldn’t really control it. She wasn’t even letting herself say “I love you” properly, scared it would make her too soft. Yet, she also felt guilty for not giving Melendez the same treatment he was giving her. He let his jerky and arrogant attitude down when he was with her, showering her with love and affection. She felt guilty for letting him feel so deeply for someone who was not worthy of his love.Her untouched cup of coffee grew cold as she sat in her bed, slowly falling asleep. She bolted back up when she heard a sudden knock on her door. She opened it to find Neil sitting there with a bouquet of tulips and daffodils, smirking at her.“For you, my lady.”“Shut up! Are you drunk or something?!” She cringed at his weird greeting. He was aware how much she hated lovey-dovey talk.“You’re exaggerating.” Melendez laughed. “You still have to accept these, you know?”“You needn’t have to buy any flowers. But thank you.” She took them in her hands and pressed a lingering kiss on his lips. “I missed this.”“So, tell me what happened. I’ve been sitting on lit charcoal these past few days, not knowing how you’re doing.” Neil asked curiously.The subject seemed to bother Audrey, as she hesitated before finally speaking.“You didn’t miss much. The most important thing is that I managed to get my father into chemo without having to tie him to a chair. Mom is going to update me every once in a while, but that’s pretty much it.” She said indifferently, rolling her eyes.Melendez understood he shouldn’t push this subject too much and just took her answer as it was.“Well, you’ve got something to be excited about tomorrow. You can meet the residents. They’ll work in the ER with you.”“Ooohh, finally! Let’s see how good of a mentor you were. If I catch them slacking you won’t see the end of it.” Audrey smiled at him.“Say that to me when they finish their residencies.”“IF they finish their residencies.” She pointed out while placing the flowers in a pot. “I’m still betting on Shaun.” ---- The next day, Melendez dropped Lim off a couple of minutes away from the hospital, just like they got used to do since starting their secret relationship.St. Bonaventure was unusually quiet that evening, with almost no patients coming in. After changing into scrubs, Audrey finally went to see the residents. They were sitting at the nurses’ station, drinking coffee to keep them running through the night.“It is dead in here.” Dr. Kalu pointed out.“That’s why they call it the graveyard shift.” Claire responded with a slight smile on her face, being glad she didn’t have to see any injured people that night.“Oh, well, I call it paradise! Are you my trauma virgins?” Lim exclaimed while throwing her hands in the air for the dramatic effect. She was looking forward to work with the three.“Drs. Murphy, Kalu, Browne, I present to you, Dr. Audrey Lim, your attending for the evening.” Nurse Farrar presented.“Coffee?” Jared offered.Shaun jumped into the conversation, “He roasts the beans himself!”Audrey smiled at the interaction and couldn’t help but joke about the residents’ behaviour. “Kiss ass.” She mocked Jared. “I have to say it’s pretty good, though. Is this how you treat your attendings all the time or are you just being a nice guy?”“Dr. Melendez definitely likes when I make it.” Kalu said, trying to find the appropriate words to use with the surgeon.“I’m glad to finally meet you three. I hope you’ll like Trauma as much as me.”“I don’t like how stressful it is, but I find solutions pretty quickly.” Shaun chimed in, avoiding eye contact with Lim.The residents smiled at his confident remark and meant to continue the conversation, but a sudden phone call put the whole ER in a rush. A mass crash with over 20 people was 5 minutes away from the hospital and they needed to be quick to operate. Lim immediately started directing the nurses, preparing for the worst.“Transfer all patients waiting for beds up to the nursing units. Have maintenance bring down cots. We’re gonna convert the waiting room into triage. No one goes home till were all clear!” She shouted. “Page everyone on call. I don’t care what department they are. Tonight, everybody’s Trauma! Glove up and line up.” All of the nurses and other doctors were now at the entrance, waiting anxiously for the convoy of ambulances seconds away from arriving. After making sure the residents knew the color-coded tags, she turned to face the doors, adrenaline already starting to pump in her veins. In the midst of the chaos, more and more doctors came and went. Drs. Melendez and Glassman also took the worst cases there were, trying to help as much as they could. Melendez was impressed by Shaun’s brave attitude and quick thinking, noticing his innovative skills every time he treated a patient. Though he could not say the same thing about Dr. Browne who hesitated when she saw the panic of the people that came in. He later told her that she should think a little more like Murphy, something he never thought he would say. ---- After the whole situation calmed down and all of the victims of the crash were at least somewhat stable, all of the surgeons found themselves taking a short break at the same station in the ER. Melendez was slightly laying against a wall, drinking some much-needed coffee and Lim was opposite of him, trying to find an empty seat. Shaun was frantically searching for an open computer where he could look at his scans and almost pushed the surgeon out his way in order to get the last seat left. Audrey looked at Glassman with a shocked but slightly amused expression, but he just shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. Murphy saw the scans and got agitated again when he couldn’t think of a solution to repair his patient’s leg. Something was bothering him. He glanced at Lim, who was now having a conversation with Melendez and one of the nurses, got up and walked up to Melendez, hoping to rearrange his thoughts, but was met with the same displeasure.“Dr. Melendez, did you change your shower gel?” Shaun bluntly asked. Everyone turned their heads to the surgeon, finding the interaction hilarious. Audrey was trying her hardest not to burst out laughing and Glassman just seemed defeated.Neil stared at him in disbelief, not knowing what he was supposed to say back. “Excuse me?”“You smell like strawberry and I don’t like strawberry scented stuff. It’s just like pickles in a sandwich… Dr. Lim smells the same and it’s extremely powerful.”Saying Melendez was baffled by his resident’s inappropriate question would be an understatement. He stood there looking like he just saw a ghost. It was dead silent for a few seconds before Audrey couldn’t keep it anymore and started laughing uncontrollably. Andrews followed by patting Shaun on his shoulder and fleeing the awkward scene, in tears from his silent cackling.“I promise I won’t recommend cosmetic products to anyone from this day on, Dr. Murphy.” Lim said between chuckles, looking at Neil’s horrified face.Glassman mouthed “I’m sorry” and told Shaun to follow him somewhere else, leaving the two surgeons to process what had just happened. With teary eyes, Audrey noticed one of her patient’s stats going down, so she quickly got up to check on them, getting out of the embarrassing moment herself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After the exhausting shift in the ER, St. Bonaventure had once again saved many lives. Drs. Lim and Melendez were sitting in their usual stools at Crowley's, celebrating the successful day. The place was packed. Some people were chatting around and drinking like there was no tomorrow, while others were trying to find a place where their personal spaces wouldn’t be invaded. This bar was like their own secret place. They started hanging out there way back into their residencies and it became a habit. Bartenders had changed a lot over the years, but no matter how recently they were hired, everyone knew the doctors as regulars.Lim seemed a bit off that evening, stealing glances around whenever she got the chance, perhaps scanning for certain familiar faces. Melendez noticed and got a hint about what was bothering her, but couldn’t quite grasp the whole problem.“Something wrong? You haven’t touched that glass in over 20 minutes.”“No. Sorry, I’m still shaken from today. It’ll wear off.”“Alright.” Melendez said with a smirk on his face. He got out his phone and showed Audrey a picture.“Do you think I should get this?”Without even looking at the image, Lim just nodded while carefully observing the entrance to the bar, clearly uncomfortable.“Do you think Shaun drinks? His autism doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t enjoy a drink.” She asked, completely ignoring his question.“I don’t know, but I’d be surprised to see him in a sea of people. Why’d you ask me that?” Neil raised one eyebrow and looked into her eyes, searching for an answer, but to no avail.“It’s stupid.” Lim chuckled nervously.“If it’s bothering you, it’s definitely not stupid.”Lim raised her eyebrows too and put on an upside-down smile, clearly being uncomfortable.“Wasn’t Murphy’s comment a little out of place? You’ve known him longer than me, he states everything boldly.”“I found it funny. I mean, it’s Shaun. I try to teach him how to address people but it’s pointless.” Neil was now connecting the dots to Audrey’s concern and spoke again, this time slightly more amused, “Do you really think he’ll find out were together?!”“I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. You’re so annoying.” She frowned at him and winced inwardly.“I didn’t mean it like that. Come on Audrey, using the same shampoo doesn’t mean anything to anyone. Plus, I’m pretty sure he can’t read people to save his life.”“You’re probably right… I’m just worried.” Lim finally agreed. While she was still bothered by the subject, Melendez’s reassurance calmed her for the moment."You don't have to be. We're actually doing a really good job at hiding this, you got me hooked on the idea." He smiled at her and downed the last sip of his whiskey.Audrey returned the smile and checked her watch, feeling pretty tired, “Do you want to go? It’s getting late and I’m looking forward to a looong and relaxing shower.”“Say less.” He took her hand and they intertwined their fingers walking out of the bar. ---- A couple of days later, the two surgeons found themselves working a 24 hour shift, packed with a load of paperwork and a bunch of back-to-back surgeries. They stole hidden glances at each other whenever they got the chance, often enough to get the attention of a few confused nurses.“Those two are hiding something.” Nurse Petringa was observing every single interaction between Lim and Melendez, having the feeling that something was out of place.“What? Who?” Villanueva asked, intrigued by the possible gossip.“Those two stubborn asses are smiling way too much.” She kept mumbling, attempting to ignore the young nurse.“What are you talking about? I wanna know!” She insisted.“Are you blind or something? Drs. Melendez and Lim.”“They seem as competitive as always to me.” Villanueva shrugged, but something lit up in her head that made her look more closely at the interaction of the doctors. Then, she pushed the chair Petringa was sitting on to face her.“I don’t know what you know, but I’m all ears if you’ve got something. I’ve been dying for some drama lately, there’s nothing interesting anymore! Did they fight?” She whispered with a little too much excitement in her voice.“Oh, shut up. I’m still examining. I’ll keep you updated if you keep your mouth shut. I have a bet I don’t want to lose.” She added and glanced back at the surgeons, but gave Villanueva a dirty look when she noticed they were gone. The two found themselves riding the same elevator, much to their pleasure.“Hello.” Neil greeted with a smirk.“Hello, Dr. Melendez.” Audrey responded, smiling back.Melendez got closer to her, placing himself to her side, enough for their arms to touch. Lim understood what he was trying to do and quickly shot him a look of disapproval. They shared a silent banter with their eyes until Neil finally broke the silence.“There are no cameras in the elevator.” He smiled like a kid as his face kept getting closer to her, almost touching her nose.Audrey lightly smacked him before she noticed the elevator doors opened and revealed Glassman and Shaun on the other side, who only got a glimpse of their exchange.“Good afternoon, doctors.” The president slowly walked in and saw how Lim’s face turned a little pale and she mindlessly fixed her white coat.Melendez immediately kept his distance and walked further away from Audrey, who glowered at him. Glassman stood right in front of the door, with his back turned to the surgeons. He didn’t want to assume anything, but something was telling him the attendings had been acting strange the past week or so, and this only added to his suspicions. An assumption he made almost a decade ago was getting back to him. Maybe he was wrong. Did he want to be wrong? He didn’t know to feel about it. If it wasn’t for that nosey and persistent woman…
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden stop of the elevator. He nodded and exited, laughing to himself.
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The day started in a panic for the surgeons. Paramedics had arrived from a store shooting where Dr. Murphy was at. Claire was worried for him, and Melendez felt a sense of urgency in his steps too, even if he chalked it up to stress for the other two critically hurt people. A sense of relief fell over everyone when they saw Shaun exiting the ambulance with no injuries. Melendez and Jared took the first patient, the victim of the robbery, a woman with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Next came a man with a blunt force neck injury, the shooter. Lim and Browne immediately took him in the hospital along with Shaun who was detailing symptoms of the patient, ignoring Claire’s questions about his well-being. Back with the trauma surgeon, the shooter turned out to be even worse. When the nurses cut his shirt, they revealed a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest. Dr. Browne’s hesitation didn’t go unnoticed by Lim. The symbol really bothered her too, but she wasn’t going to let her personal feeling intervene with patient care. It is something every surgeon needs to learn from day one. They took the available OR and managed to finally stabilize the man and restore his breathing.With a sigh of relief, Audrey pointed out Claire’s unprofessional attitude, “It’s a slippery thing letting your feelings about a patient influence your medical judgement.”This wasn’t meant to be a scolding; she said it as a lesson that needed to be learned. She could never condemn the resident for her opinion, but she also couldn’t ignore how her hesitation could’ve killed the patient if she didn’t interfere.“I didn’t.” Dr. Browne's words echoed through the room.“I get the instinct. She’s a victim, he’s a shooter. A racist. Often, we don’t even know we’re doing it.” Lim solidified her point.“I would never let my personal feelings impact a patient’s care. She was bleeding out.” Claire was now starting to get defensive over the accusations. How could Lim think that? She made her decision based on medical judgement, not her own sentiments. Right?“And this guy drew his first good breath 30 seconds ago.”“They were both critical!” Browne was now talking even louder, fighting with the attending.“He was dying. You were wrong. Own it.” Lim got irritated by the whole argument.
The only thing she expected was an affirmation to the mistake. For the resident to think about her actions and revise them. To see the situation from a perspective different from hers. But she didn’t. Instead, Claire spoke again.“You know as well as I do that it was not an easy call to make.” She scoffed.“Do I?”“Yes!” Browne practically screamed at the surgeon in her own OR, in front of so many nurses. She completely disregarded her judgement and publicly disrespected her and Lim wouldn’t tolerate any of it anymore.“Free the field, Dr. Browne.” Lim ordered coldly, done with the attitude of her resident. Claire started clearing blood from the patient, but was interrupted by the surgeon.“Not my operative field, the surgical field. Scrub out.”“Excuse me?” Browne’s face fell at what she just heard. Why was she throwing her out of the OR?! All she did was stand her point.“You’re done. Step out of my OR.” Lim was extremely mad. Her voice was monotone, yet demanding. She had enough of the disrespect.Browne left, angry at the situation. How could she do this to her? She was the one who felt disrespected. What, she had such a big ego that a small argument instantly hurt it? She wasn’t going to let Lim view her so poorly in front of others. Maybe she was a resident, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t make her own medical decisions without them being impacted by her personal judgment. While the surgery was still up, Browne had time to think about her actions and she came to the conclusion that an apology was the best thing she could do to calm the waters. When Dr. Lim came out of the OR, she shocked Claire with the news that she would be babysitting the shooter through the whole night. This made her regret the apology and entirely forget about her fault in the argument. All she thought about now was how unfair the surgeon was being. Melendez had never done something like that. Claire searched for Dr. Melendez through the hospital to vent about how poorly she was treated by Dr. Lim. She wanted to hear an affirmation to her opinion, she wanted to be proven right. Instead, she was met with a disappointing outcome. Melendez stood by Lim and also disapproved with Claire’s actions. She was left speechless. Her blood was boiling with frustration. She never expected her attending to side with Lim. She was right! Wasn’t she? Neil was in his office, taking a few minutes to rearrange his thoughts. His patient, Avery, was in critical condition, constantly getting worse. He administered a temporary treatment to see how she would evolve and was now sitting on spikes, waiting to be paged in case of an emergency. Audrey came rushing in and shut the door behind her hard. This got Melendez’s attention in an instant, her annoyed sigh filling the room.“I have never felt more disrespected by a resident since I’ve worked here!” She expressed her frustration by still speaking highly. “I’ve had to fight back men who underestimated me my whole life and now, out of all people, she is the one who talks back to me like I’m the one who should be learning!”Lim threw herself on a couch and frowned at Melendez. He got up from his seat and placed himself on the armrest, looking into her eyes, already knowing what his partner was talking about.“She already came to me asking to make you back off.” Neil stated.Lim’s eyes widened and she formed a disgraceful smile, “That’s unbelievable. Browne needs to know her place. She would have never done something like that to you because, guess what, you’re a man. Even when I presented her with the obvious facts, she still acted baffled. I am done with having to defend my every decision in front of everyone. She needs to be taught a lesson!” Audrey ranted furiously. “Do you know what she did? She confronted me while I was still treating a patient, in front of two nurses. I bet she would’ve waited five more minutes if it were for you. Gosh, I am mad.”“I agree, she was way out of line, but she’s a resident, of course she thinks she’s right. They all do.”Neil didn’t really know how to handle the situation. He couldn’t intervene in the argument, as it would seem like Lim couldn’t deal with it herself. At the same time, he was also bothered by this. He knew how hard Audrey worked to be an excellent surgeon, despite all the people she had to confront on her journey. His words were met with a surprising reaction from Lim, who bolted up.“‘Of course she thinks she’s right’. That’s wrong! If it’s normal, then we shouldn’t teach them to own up to their mistakes, right? Claire’s attitude was inexcusable and it seems like you’re backing up her point.”“No, that’s not what I meant.” Melendez said as Audrey turned to leave.He grabbed her hand and stopped her, trying to explain himself, “I never said it was appropriate. I know how hard it was for you to be who you are today and I would never disregard your efforts. Yes, Claire showed bad judgment and yes, you did the right thing. I’m sorry if I didn’t make it clear.”Hearing his words, Audrey’s eyes softened. She took a deep breath and composed herself.“You know how to save yourself with that puppy face of yours.”“I think I remember something about a resident doing something similar around 8 years ago, if I’m not mistaken…” Melendez smirked at the memory.Lim frowned and her smile disappeared. She looked Neil in the eyes and punched his arm with blunt force.
“Ouch! That’s not fair!” Neil chuckled as he caressed his arm. Audrey turned around to hide the grin at the corner of her mouth and fled the scene, satisfied with her actions. ---- Later that day, after a lot of thinking, Browne finally realized how bad her attitude was. She talked a lot with the shooter that day and, while she hated every single second of it, she was glad it brought her a sense of responsibility for her actions. She publicly apologized to Lim, getting the attention of the whole staff in the OR. The attending was relieved to finally see some sense get back into the young resident and ended their short but important conversation on good terms, just how she wanted. Neil and Audrey were sitting in comfortable silence in his car, just enjoying the quiet.“She owned up to her mistakes. She saved a racist and her residency.” Lim said in a monotone voice. “This reminds me of someone…” She teased Melendez’s argument from earlier with a small smile, but full of amusement.“Weird, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Neil played along her mocking.“Glassman would be delighted to hear this story again.”“I bet he would.”
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A couple of days later, Drs. Murphy and Browne found themselves talking about more personal stuff. Claire was interested in his well-being and she liked listening to his stories and giving advice. While preparing the room for a patient, they got to the discussion of Shaun’s neighbor, Lea.“So, how’s it going with Lea?”“She doesn’t like me.” Shaun said in his usual monotone manner, but Claire could sense hidden disappointment in his words.“Why do you say that?” She asked, a little sad at her colleague’s situation.“She said I was an asshat.”“Yeah… what was she doing when she said that?”“Touching me.”“She was flirting with you.” Claire smirked. “Sometimes people say the opposite of what they mean.”Learning about human behaviour was very important for Shaun and he would constantly do research about emotions and what certain gestures and movements meant. The subject Claire brought up intrigued him. She taught him about the “flirting trifecta”, as she called it, and what Shaun should look for when talking to Lea. He took a mental note of the information and started analyzing the interactions between the people around him right away. Later in the day, the two residents were at a nurses’ station. Claire was confronted by an angry patient whose skin samples were lost. She stayed put and offered what she could that would not result into a lawsuit. Melendez was also there, but chose not to intervene. After the woman left, the surgeon congratulated Browne on the way she managed the situation.“Good for you.”“Yeah, right. I just broke about eight rules.” Claire responded looking at the ground.“Maybe. Miss Preston won’t hear about it from me.” Melendez smiled, trying to lighten the situation.Claire giggled and brushed her hair back. Shaun immediately took out a paper and wrote something down. Then, Browne went into the break room to make out a game-plan on the recovery of the lost specimen. Lim was also there, trying to help. She had quite a work-free day, the only thing waiting for her being paperwork she did not look forward to completing. The surgeon was sitting at a table, scribbling down a scheme for the places the surgical bag could’ve been lost in. Claire started doing the same for the staff that might’ve taken it, writing everything on a white board. Shaun soon followed his friend to show her what information he collected.“Shaun! You came here to help?” Dr. Lim greeted him as he entered the room.“Did you know that every single different specimen is handled by different staff based on its nature? I always thought they were all just dumped into the same fridge and organized from then on.” Claire chimed in, amazed by her discoveries.“Yes.” Murphy said. “I made a chart too!” He spoke quite excitedly. “An observation log of what you taught me.”“What did I teach you?” The resident asked, confused.“Flirting! Every time I saw someone flirt, I noted it and cross referenced the subject, object and non-verbal gestures.”Claire took the paper from his hand, amused by the research but also curious to what Shaun found out.“You flirted two times with doctor Melendez.” He stated, pointing to her name on the chart.Lim almost chocked on her coffee when she heard this, but kept her head down, pretending to still write.“No, I didn’t.” She frowned at him.“Yes, you did! You brushed your hair back. Right hand, side sweeping.” Murphy reminded her of their conversation and comically mimicked her movements.“At Dr. Melendez? No, I don’t think so.” Claire made a face and denied the statement, clearly embarrassed.Audrey lifted her head and looked at the two residents with her eyebrows raised and a smile on her face. Browne noticed and stumbled over her words even more. She didn’t need the whole hospital to know what Shaun “supposedly” found out.“Shaun… no.”“Yes. You were at the nurses’ station and he said “Good for you.” and you said- ““I didn’t flirt with doctor Melendez. You got it wrong.” Claire persisted with her denying.“He is attractive. You said it yourself.” Murphy continued.Dr. Lim wasn’t too surprised with the discovery. She knew how many people found Neil handsome – he was handsome. Some older nurses from their residencies would call him “pretty boy” or “woman-magnet resident” and it cracked her up every time she heard it.She didn’t let the conversation bother her and she jokingly joined in.“Murphy, give me that.” She demanded, gesturing with her hand.The resident complied and handed her the paper.She examined it for a few seconds and then spoke again, “Looks like you forgot to note down about 30 other people.”“No… I don’t think I did. There’s the cafeteria cashier, nurse Carmen, the- ” Shaun was cut off again by Lim.“I think at least half of the female staff have or have had a crush on him.” Audrey rolled her eyes and smiled at the residents. “Also, you should talk about things like this privately.”Murphy took a moment to absorb the information and then asked bluntly, “Do you find him attractive?”Lim was a little taken aback by the question, but it was Shaun, she knew he would ask something like this. She got up and slightly arched her eyebrows, bringing one hand to her chin, pretending to think of an answer.“He’s been my colleague for over a decade now. His personality speaks louder than his looks, trust me.” She smiled at the two and handed Claire the scheme she drew before walking out of the break room, leaving the young doctors to continue their work.A while later, Lim went to search for Melendez and it didn’t take long before finding him in the cafeteria. Not saying a word, she handed him Shaun’s paper with a huge grin on her face. Neil looked up from his plate and put on a confused face. He stood up and started reading it.“It’s Shaun’s “flirting list”.” She cleared up.“What?” Neil laughed at Audrey’s finding. Scanning the paper with his eyes, he read his name for about 4 times, connected by lines to a bunch of people.“He went around the hospital and noted every single time he saw someone flirting. You’ve got quite the audience.” She teased him, pointing her finger on his chest.“Claire? Seriously?” He chuckled awkwardly at what he was seeing, afraid Audrey might get it wrong. He was relieved when he heard her laughing again and put on a smile himself, raising one eyebrow.“Shaun literally cornered her with me in the room, insisting she likes you. Then he asked me if I found you attractive.”“Well, that’s not unpleasant at all.” He joked.“I said you’re not that bad, but grin of yours is irresistible. I promise I kept the second part to myself though.” Lim was resisting every single muscle in her body to not kiss Melendez right there, in the middle of a room full of people.“I can sincerely confess that you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on if Murphy ever interviews me too.” Neil said with twinkles in his eyes.Audrey was smiling from ear to ear at this point, her heart rushing at hearing his words and feeling her cheeks start to get warm.“I’ll see you later, Dr. Melendez.” Lim tilted her head and lightly brushed their shoulders together when she left, both being left with butterflies in their stomachs. While this interaction was playing, a pair of eyes was watching intently from a distance, moving its gaze over a piece of paper once in a while.
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The three were sitting in the hospital president’s office. An awkward silence was filling the room, eyes fixated on Murphy, who was just gazing around, thinking. He would throw an occasional “Hmm..” that raised the others’ spirits and then go back to fidgeting with his fingers.“Shaun… You know you can tell me anything. If you are uncomfortable speaking, that’s fine, but I just need to take a look at your research.” Glassman spoke reassuringly, trying to be as patient as possible when it came to Shaun. He knew urging him would lead to no good, but this issue was very important.When Shaun still didn’t budge, Petringa decided to finally step in. She snatched the notebook out of his hands, startling him. Glassman looked at her with disapproval, but she shot back a dirty look. She was about to open it when the resident got up and yanked the notebook back.“You can’t do that.” he put one finger in front of her face and continued, “Dr. Lim told me personal things should be discussed privately. We should ask for her permission.”“No!” Glassman and Petringa said in unison.The situation was stupidly funny: two people trying to mingle in other people’s lives, desperately attempting to prove the other wrong. Neither of them wanted to lose their money, of course.Aaron laughed quietly to seem unbothered, when in reality he was gravely thinking of a solution to their bargaining. “You’re right, Shaun. Why are we even interested in this, right? Just go back to work, everything’s fine.” He patted Murphy on the back, walking him to the door.“You can leave that here, so you don’t lose it.” He tried one more time to no avail.The nurse rolled her eyes and loudly breathed air out, showing her frustration. Glassman turned his head and glowered at her, all while Shaun escaped the interrogation.“I thought you “know him best”.” She scoffed.“It’s not like I have a magic wand! If he doesn’t want to do something, it’s not easy to convince him otherwise. We need to come up with better arguments.”“Or you can just steal the notebook.”“No, I can’t.” Aaron’s face furrowed.“Yes, you can. If you don’t, that means you’re too scared to actually find out what he wrote in there, which means you owe me money.” Petringa was sure of what she saw. It was just a matter of time until she could prove herself right, but she was growing impatient by the day.The president just stared at her for a few seconds and then pointed one arm to the office door, done with the conversation. Fine, if they didn’t want to help, he would go directly to the source. ---- The situation in the hospital was extremely delicate. Dr. Coyle was assigned as Browne’s attending a couple of days before and he turned out to be a massive creep. Not only did he act way too touchy and friendly, but he harassed and punished her for not wanting to have drinks with him. When Jared found out, his immediate reaction was fury and he let it out by assaulting the surgeon. All of this mess resulted in the firing of Dr. Kalu, which hit the surgical team with a wave of opinions. It was certainly not the first time this happened, infuriating the female staff.Lim was also revolted by how poorly the ordeal was managed. Even though this made her blood boil, she chose to remain silent around any other people. Except Neil. Audrey had her hands placed on a warm cup of coffee, letting the steam blow out in her face. Melendez was sitting opposite of her, analyzing an MRI scan she needed a consult on. Their frequent visits to each other’s offices were starting to gain attention from some of the staff, but not enough to raise any suspicions just yet. From the outside, they were only medical debates, based purely on a professional relationship. Nobody could know what the two would actually talk about.Audrey felt like she was about to drop from the exhaustion. She kept her head above the hot air, inhaling the irresistible smell of roasted coffee. To stop herself from falling asleep, she spat out the first thing that crossed her mind.“Andrews is a self-absorbed jerk.”“I can’t deny that.” Neil said, still absorbed by the files in his hands.“Don’t you have an opinion on this? How Dr. Coyle was handled?” Lim looked at him, curious to hear from him.Melendez sighed and put down the scans, placing his elbows on his knees.“They were right to fire Jared. He assaulted someone.” He stated.Audrey’s eyes widened a little at what she was hearing and she raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Ok… You still didn’t answer. Coyle should’ve been fired too. He harassed Claire. That should be more than enough.”Neil didn’t respond immediately, taking a few seconds to think of an answer. He knew his reasoning wasn’t going to be perceived well.
“Yes… But she should have filed a report to HR if she felt uncomfortable, not go to her boyfriend for saving. Jared acted immaturely and that got him fired. It’s his actions that led to Coyle winning.”“You did not just say that.”
Lim regretted starting the conversation, but now it was too late to back down. She got up and looked at him with bitterness in her eyes. These words were an insult to everything she thought about him.“So, if this was me, you’d just let it slide?!” She shouted, her voice growing in anger.“Of course I wouldn’t!” Melendez bolted up too.“Why? How would that be different? Just because it would be me and not Browne?”“I wouldn’t threaten him! What Coyle did is beyond unacceptable, but it could have been handled differently, more professionally.”Lim looked at Melendez like she was talking to a completely different person. Her mind was rushing with confusion and madness. Since when did he think like this? Where was his hunger for justice and doing what’s right?“You’re so obnoxious! When did you start being like this? It’s like I don’t even recognize you anymore!” Audrey glared at him, forming a defensive stance.“You’re the one who started this. You always want to talk about work. It’s all you can think about!”“Oh, don’t change the subject. I’m glad to find out about your sick beliefs!”“Sick beliefs?! Aren’t you the one who always relies on uttermost professionalism? I’m sorry you can’t handle being wrong.”The whole argument could now be heard by a lot of nurses and doctors who were passing by, making some nosey people stop and listen.“How dare you?! You’re only saying this because your ego is bruised by the fact that I’m right. You can’t handle being contradicted by a female now? Are you going to report me to HR to maintain your professional behaviour?”Audrey was fuming with anger, her raging eyes penetrating Neil’s gaze. They both forgot they were in a hospital, at their workplace. All they had in mind now was how wrong the other was.“Doctors!” A stern voice was heard from outside the office. Dr. Glassman was standing there with a cold face, having heard enough of their argument. "In my office, please." He demanded. Finally in a private place, the president sat them down. He didn't know how to approach this. It was the first time since their residencies that he got to see them fight like this in public."I'm sorry. What happened there was unacceptable." Lim spoke first, ready to end the discussion as soon as possible.Melendez just clenched his jaw and scoffed, getting her attention. His eyes were darting around the floor, avoiding eye contact with her at any cost."I assume some of this was professional and the other 99% personal." The president spoke."We just got overly invested in a subject, but it's over now." Neil said loudly, still agitated."I don't want to have to lose my two best surgeons over unresolved issues or opinions you can't keep to yourselves." He warned the attendings. He couldn't let things like this unravel, especially between those two stubborn asses."We promise it won't happen again. There are no issues you should be concerned about." Lim maintained an emotionless expression, calming herself enough to not punch Neil in the guts."I hope it won't." The neurosurgeon ended the short but much needed discussion.The tension between the two was still palpable, and Glassman swore he could've cut it through with a knife. Audrey was the first to get up and almost bolt out of the room, followed by a very irritated Neil.Glassman sighed and leaned backwards on his chair, dissapointed by what just took place. He'd known them ever since they were residents and their arguments grew even worse. That was their nature and there was nothing he could do to stop it, except to fire one of them.
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Her motorcycle was roaring through the streets of San Jose, its screeching echoing in the calm of the night. She kept speeding up until the trees, houses and streetlights became one blurred image and the wind dashed around her body like it was embracing her. She gripped the handlebars until they felt like perfectly shaped dents to her fingers. Audrey didn’t know where she wanted to go, her mind not even acknowledging the surroundings, being too busy berating herself. Fighting with Neil wasn’t anything new or out of the ordinary, but this time it felt different – because it was different. They weren’t just bickering colleagues anymore, they were partners, (or dare she say lovers).
How did the fight even start, anyway? Was she so uncapable of maintaining a relationship?
He was wrong, very wrong, but she felt guilty for opening the subject, for arguing back, for losing her temper. She could have handled it differently, the fight was unnecessary. Yet, there she was, running from conflict, from her problems, because that's all she knew. There was nothing a truck-load of work or a long and deadly-fast ride on her motorcycle couldn't solve. She would always drown herself in paperwork and surgeries whenever there was a bad event in her life. Her divorce? She spent every living second of that trial at the hospital, making herself busy with anything, even taking on duties nurses would normally do, just to make herself forget, to block the pain from piercing her heart. And when she finally needed to go back home to an empty apartment, the weigh of her feelings was too much to carry. Every night, she would retreat in the kitchen, downing bottles and bottles of alcohool to make herself forget, to make her suffering a little bit more bearable.This time, the pressure was worse. Any argument or misunderstanding with Neil counted towards her fear of failure, her fear of losing the ones she loved. Audrey couldn't let herself mess this up too. She's so unstable, so eruptive. She doesn't let herself be vulnerable with him just yet, she's not ready for her weaknesses to show, for her raw emotions to be seen.Through a steamy face shield, she caught a familiar building with the corner of her eyes. While her mind was spinning with guilt, she subconciously drove to Melendez's apartment building. Maybe it was because she was thinking of him, or because of the newly established habit, but now she was there, staring at the dim light coming from his living room window, trying to make out the figure pacing in circles just inches away from the glass. She took off her helmet and let messy strands of hair fall on her face, taking in a few deep breaths of the crisp and cold air of that autumnt night. •••• The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. 'God, I am so stupid!' were the words that echoed in his mind. After the initial tension cooled down and he made peace with the embarrassing situation he got caught in, rational thinking immediately kicked him in the head. Why did he react like that? Why did he let himself get offended so easily? The fight could've been more than avoided, but resolved in a civilized manner - without shouting or getting the attention of Glassman.
He slowly realized how his dull thinking was so devoid of actual understanding and empathy. He always put work before everything in his life - that's the way he was raised. With his father and brother being doctors themselves, he knew the waters of the proffesion and was aware of the often unreasonable decisions made by people with power, always deemed as proffesional. This didn't mean he was heartless, as his beloved mother had been the one who taught him to be compassionate, sympathise with people and to crave fairness for those who were misleaded or misunderstood.
He knew where Audrey's perspective was coming from - she's a woman of colour who had to face countless challenges in her journey to becoming a skilled and vicious surgeon. The strong voicing of her opinions were just deeply embedded scars of resentment towards stuck ups and greedy know-it-alls. Jared's situation was no different, but as much as Neil wanted to, he couldn't fully agree with his actions. He despised violence more than anything in the world and he would never - under no circumstances - find an excuse for it. As much as he cared for his residents and fought for their stories to be heard, the fact that Kalu threatened someone kept him from fully empathising with the problem.
He planned to let Audrey gather her thoughts that night and pay her a visit the next morning, this time at her house. He wanted to apologize for his behaviour and make it up to her, but he would be lying if he said he didn't want to hear an apology from her too. They both needed to be more open with eachother and stop resorting to getting defensive whenever they didn't agree on something.Pacing through his room, he heard the rumbling of a motorcycle on the street and then the screeching of brakes on freshly wet pavement. Gazing outside the windows, he noticed someone that made his heart ache. He couldn't really make out her face, the glow of the street light only accentuating her dark eyes. He didn't know why, but his immediate response was to get closer to his front door, probably waiting for a knock in any minute. He grew more impacient as the seconds passed, wondering if she even stepped foot into the building just yet.
When he finally decided he couldn't wait anymore, his hand gripped the handle of his door. Right as he opened it, he was greeted with a troubled pair of eyes he loved dearly."I'm sorry." They spoke simultaneously. This formed soft smiles on both of their faces.Neil took a step to the side and signaled Audrey to come in. She stopped in the little hallway and turned to face him."This whole thing was stupid. I acted like a child." Neil said first, taking her hands in his."I fear it's just our nature..." Audrey sighed, looking in his eyes with worry."We'll get better at this, I'm sure of it.""I better hope we will. We already got the attention of half the hospital. And Glassman.""Oh, like they aren't already used to it," Melendez grinned at her. "I think I did a pretty good job being the usual jerk with you at work.""And that's a good thing?" Lim chuckled, remembering the conversation he was reffering to."Audrey, there will be a problem if we don't fight; it's what couples do. This doesn't even count towards a fight. It was just a heated argument between two sleep-deprived surgeons.""Solid category," She sheepisly smiled at him."Come on, I can prepare a hot meal and a comfortable sofa in 5 minutes." He slightly pulled on her hands, intending to have a peaceful evening.Audrey's smile wore off at hearing his words and dread fell over her. "I.. don't think I should stay over tonight. It's got nothing to do with this, I'm just very busy.""That's alright. See you tomorrow, then?" Neil lightly squeezed her hands and smiled softly and he could feel her finally start to relax."See you tomorrow, Neil." Audrey spoke above a whisper.
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Changes were being made to the department's surgical team. With Dr. Coyle being transferred, his residents needed to be moved as well. This is what brought Morgan Reznick to work with Claire, Shaun and Kalu. She presented to be a pain in the ass from the start. She had a bitchy attitude, constantly trying to outshine her colleagues (which she considered to be more like enemies) and to undermine them. She tried very hard to seem as nice as possible in front of her attendings, Lim and Melendez, but with everyone else she was insufferable.
The first day in the department, she worked with Lim, who didn't form a very good first impression. The resident's constant ass-kissing was annoying and watching her be such a try-hard, looking for ways to make herself shine every step of the way was unpleasant. Yet, she couldn't shake off the resemblance of Neil's time as an intern. Memories of his insufferable comments and arrogance came flooding back and made her smile uncounciously every time she saw Morgan do or say something similar.----Claire and Morgan were both in radiology, doing some tests on a patient. Reznick made it clear from the start that she did not want to have a friendship - or any sort of peaceful relationship at all - with her colleague. In spite of this, she still started a conversation that wasn't necessarily related to work."How is Dr. Melendez?""He's a great attending, an amazing surgeon. I've already learned a lot from him in the past few months." Claire responded in a monotone voice, endorsed in examining some medical material."Do you always answer like a fourth grader or do you just secretly hate him?" Morgan answered sarcastically, "I meant how he acts. You know, pros and cons of working for him, what I should look out for."Claire dramatically spinned in her chair and looked at her with a funny face. "And why are you asking me? I thought you said that you don't want or need my help. Or anyone else's help. Go and continue your sucking up and you might even get a prize." She said with annoyance in her voice."I already did my research. I just want to see how lousy your opinion would be. It will help in the future." Morgan smiled ironically.Browne sighed and turned her head towards the computer in front of her. "An honest opinion would be that he's arrogant, but of course you exceed him at that part." She paused for a few seconds to take a peek at Morgan's fake smile before speaking again, "I guess his soft spot would be for doctor Lim. I heard they have been working together for over a decade."Morgan scoffed and talked with an air of superiority in her voice, "I thought you knew how to read people better. I haven't even worked with them and I already know they are each other's arch-nemesis when it comes to medicine. They may be cute ol' friends, but they are also two competing surgeons with big egos.""Stop turning everything into a competition. They work perfectly together. Sometimes I pray that Dr. Lim will assist us too when I'm working with Melendez because he's not as arrogant around her. Is it so hard to accept the fact that people can actually form friendships they cherish?" She was met with a weird face from her colleague, who arched her eyebrows in confusion.Morgan recalled what she heard a couple of days prior. That night when she had to clear something up with Andrews regarding her transfer. She passed Lim's office on her way and she stopped for a few seconds to listen to the argument that was unfolding inside."You are either lying or they-" Then, with a slight pause, a bulb lit up in her head.The signal of the MRI completion rang and just as Claire started examining the images, Morgan shot up from her seat and pointed her hand towards Browne."I bet you 20 bucks there's something going on between them." She said with a strangely serious tone, seeming way too sure of herself.Claire frowned at her words and spoke, this time amusingly looking into Morgans's eyes, "This conversation is over. We have no business talking about their private lives. And your theory is insane."Morgan clenched her hand and glanced at the MRI before rapidly gathering her files and walking to the door."I knew you would be no fun." She said right as she exited the room. ---- Melendez was sitting at his desk, analyzing some charts before going into surgery."Hey. How's your day going?" Audrey greeted from the door. Neil smirked and raised an eyebrow at hearing her voice."Hello. I have surgery in 30 minutes, hernia repair. Shouldn't you be with that new resident? Morgan, if I remember.""I think you were reincarnated." She widened her eyes in a funny manner and happily drank the last sips of the coffee sitting next to his laptop."I'm not following." He chuckled as he got up and leaned on the edge of the table, sitting close to Audrey."Don't get me wrong, you need to be fierce and sure of yourself as a resident, but Jesus Christ, she's on another level. I think she even surpassed your level of pettiness and arrogance and that's hard to achieve. It'll be a fun four years." She said satirically."I turned out fine," Melendez joked."Barely." Lim rolled her eyes at him and moved her face even closer to his."Then why do you like me, Dr. Lim?" He smirked, moving his hand just enough for their fingers to lightly touch."Should I tell you? Or should I show you?" Audrey felt a slight shiver travel through her whole body as their noses were barely touching, both of them gazing into each other's eyes.Melendez couldn't resist anymore and, ignoring the widely open door of his office, closed the gap between them with a soft, yet lingering kiss, just enough to last him for the rest of the day. Right as he wanted to move one hand on her cheek, fast steps and a stern voice were suddenly heard in front of the room."I have a new case for you, Dr. Melendez." Andrews announced before stopping dead in his tracks.Lim and Melendez immediately jumped away from each other and attempted to seem as calm as possbile, praying the chief didn't actually have time to see anything, even if they both knew they were doomed. They looked like deers in headlights, an awkward silence filling the room, with Andrews' face dysplaing a mix of shock and confusion at seeing the two doctors' interaction."This..." Neil said, aimlessly pointing with his finger. "Yeah, I'll read it." He stuttered, acting as clueless as he could.Andrews' eyebrows seemed to have no more room to rise, as he tried to make sense of what he just saw. He looked at Audrey, whose cheeks were red from embarrassment, small drops of sweat already starting to fall on her neck.
Straightening his back, he opened his mouth, sounding as serious as he could. "Both of you, in my office, please." Then, with a last stare of astoundment, he turned on his heels and walked out of there as fast as he could, barely keeping a straight face.Lim's angry and uneasy sigh echoed through the office and she glanced at Melendez like she was going to kill him. Without saying a single word, she trudged behind Andrews, followed by her strained partner in crime.
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The surgeons were sitting awkwardly in their chief's office. Audrey was fidgeting with her sweaty fingers, feeling her heart rush, and Neil was staring at the floor, contemplating his next words carefully.
A couple of minutes later, Andrews entered the room and sat down at his desk, watching the two stare at him in complete silence."So... For how long has this thing been going on?" Marcus spoke to break out the tension."A little over one month." Audrey responded."We were planning to tell you soon, we're aware of the rules regarding a relationship at work. We just didn't feel like announcing it from the very start would've been a good decision." Melendez chimed in, reasoning their secrecy.Andrews raised one eyebrow and looked at them understandingly and still maintained his professional manners. "You will have to go to HR and confirm it's consensual and that it won't intervene with the quality of your work. You'll also have to pass this by Glassman.""We'll do that as soon as we can.""As soon as we can means right after this conversation is over. Dating behind everyone's backs isn't exactly approved by HR. Especially because I am the one who had the misfortune of catching you.""Right." Audrey said louder than intended, putting on a big and embarrassed smile.A short pause followed, where the three were looking at each other, anticipating to be dismissed."What are your intentions with her?"Audrey scoffed and looked at him absurdly, "What are you? My father?""We love each other, Marcus." Melendez declared with a huge grin. "If you want to know if this is just a fling, it's not.""We don't have to reason with you. That's what HR is for." Audrey cringed at her boss’s remark, but was secretly touched by Neil’s boldness and sincerity."I'm here to talk as a friend now, not as your boss. Congratulations, I'm very happy for you.""Thank you.""Am I going to have to take time off for a wedding soon?" Andrews said, but his joke made Lim shift uncomfortably in her chair, gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the two men."Let's not think that far. One month is still new. But it will happen, some day in the future." Melendez spoke, his words meant to calm Audrey down, and to also reassure her that he's serious about it."Glassman is going to have a blast when he finds out." Andrews chuckled at them and watched as their eyes narrowed, smiling in confusion."What do you mean?""You'll find out as soon as you reveal this to him too." ---- "You put a bet on us?!" Audrey exclaimed when she heard Glassman's statement."It was 9 years ago, when you were in your second year of residency. Nurse Petringa thought you would get together soon, but I assumed you were going to be at each other's throats even 20 years from now. Guess she still won those 50 dollars.""Petringa doesn't surprise me, but you?" Melendez said, crossing his arms."A bet is a bet." Glassman laughed at the attendings. "When did this even start?""One really weird night. But hey, we figured it out somehow." Lim chuckled at the memory.“Jokes aside, this is great news. Congratulations. I’m glad you found love and are happy together.” Aaron said with delight in his voice. He was overjoyed at hearing the news and felt like he wanted to hug them both, but figured it wasn’t his place to do so. Besides his position as their superior, he felt a sense of responsibility for the two. He spent years as their mentor and even more by their side as accomplished surgeons, years that only developed their relationship.Glassman got up and resorted to shaking hands with the both of them, painting a huge smile with his lips. Lim and Melendez left straight for HR after that to clear things up once and for all. Later in the day, after their shifts ended, they were sitting in front of a taco truck on the busy streets of San Jose, enjoying the relief that came with their confession. It was the first time they could say they were glad Andrews had come to see them. Even if their little hiding game would be missed, this was a much-needed change of circumstances.
Munching on his taco, Neil was deep in thought, his eyes gazing to the mass of people walking by.“Hey, earth to Neil! Are you ok?”“Hm? Yeah, I’m good, sorry. Just thinking.”Audrey squinted her eyes and nodded slowly, which made him smile and continue speaking. “Well, now that we got caught, our secret is not really a secret anymore. I’m just imagining how I’ll be able to walk into work with you and actually hold your hand whenever I want and say we’re together.”“Whoa, whoa, not so fast McQueen. Unlike your daydreaming nonsense, I thought of a much simpler method. Let everyone figure out by themselves.” She smirked at her own idea, shrugging her shoulders.
“It took Andrews to walk in on us kissing to finally officialize this and you still want to stay hidden?” Neil laughed.“Tsk! Let me finish.” She put one finger up to stop him from speaking. “What I’m saying is that we should act like a couple but not tell anyone were a couple. I can kiss your cheek, you can hold my hand, but we don’t say anything directly. The whole hospital will find out anyway so why not enjoy the awkward and confused faces of people?”Neil giggled at the scenario and nodded with amusement. He liked the scheme and made it a goal to think of an interesting way to entertain it. The next day, the surgeons were presented with two cases. Lim’s was a young girl with bad stomach pain and Melendez’s a man with appendicitis. They looked like some simple cases to diagnose and treat, which sparked an idea in Lim’s mind.The residents were all patiently waiting for their attendings to announce the agenda for the day. Audrey took both patient files in hand and quickly made up a speech in her head.“We’ve got two pretty straightforward cases, nice level playing field for an eco-group.” She reasoned and got Melendez’s attention.He immediately recognized what she was implying and opposed firmly. “Not interested.”This didn’t impress Lim, as she continued her proposition, “Competition can foster teamwork, which can lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of residents’ strengths and weaknesses and improve patient care.”“We’re playing the same game Glassman made us do when we were interns. Again, not interested.” Neil shook his head in disapproval. All of this was in vain, as Audrey ignored him with a smirk and kept presenting the rules.“Winning team gets first dibs on assisting on all surgeries next week!” She announced. Then, with a swift movement of her hands, she signaled the residents to line up in front of her.Melendez was ready to grab the file back from Lim and go on with his day, when his eyes suddenly sparkled. A mischievous grin formed on his face as he figured that he couldn’t escape Audrey’s insistence, but he could have his own little revenge in the end.“Fine, I’m in.”The teams were set: Drs. Kalu and Murphy were with Lim, Browne and Reznick were with Melendez. When the residents went to find their patients, the final award of the game was left to be discussed by the two surgeons.“Same stakes as last time?” Audrey asked.“Actually, I was thinking of changing the prize this time. If I win the game, I get to give you a kiss in front of everyone. No objections allowed.”“And if you lose?” She slightly blushed at his eagerness, but figured she couldn’t protest the idea, as she forced him to play along Glassman’s old tactics.“You’re getting that dollar.”Audrey didn’t want to give Neil the satisfaction of winning, but she found it really challenging to keep a high patient satisfaction score with Murphy tagging along. It turned out the young girl was actually transgender and she had testicular cancer. This concept was new for Shaun, so he naturally asked a bunch of inappropriate questions that made their interactions with the girl and her parents very uncomfortable. On the other hand, Melendez was doing pretty good with his patient. He was a teacher and father of twins who presented with appendicitis. Everything seemed to be simple until the team found out he was resistant to all medication. Despite his emotional distress and worry for his two kids, Morgan and Claire did a great job in taking care of his needs. Even though Reznick kept acting superior and went out of her way to impress Melendez, Browne didn’t let this disturb her empathetic way of dealing with patients.
After both cases were cleared, Audrey clung to the nurses’ station as she was impatiently waiting for their results. When she eventually got them, she didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed. She gathered all of the residents and announced the winner with Melendez by her side.“Patient satisfaction survey scores are in and it was very close.” She paused for a few seconds to make a dramatic effect for the eager residents. “Congratulations go to Dr. Reznick and Dr. Browne!”This was met with smiles from Morgan and Claire and they all retreated a few steps to congratulate each other, but they weren’t out of earshot from their attendings.“To the victor belong the spoils.” Neil said, barely containing his excitement.“Oh, humility was never your strong suit.”Audrey looked at him with a smile as big, her heart fluttering. Was she really doing this? She got closer to him, but hesitated at the last second and instead gave him a quick peck on his cheek, which made Melendez chuckle. He grabbed her waist with one hand and moved his face closer to hers.“You’re not getting away so easily.”Audrey could feel his warm breath on her skin as he whispered, which sent a shiver down her spine. With a smug grin, he looked straight into her eyes, his intense gaze making her feel giddy and melt at his touch. He then broke the tension and intertwined their lips with a passionate kiss, taking his time before breaking it off.The residents’ conversation died the moment they saw this, being too stunned to say anything. Claire’s mouth fell open at the sight of her attendings and looked back at Jared who was equally surprised, his eyes wide. Shaun’s gaze darted away as he was a little uncomfortable, but not shocked at all. He already knew about this, as his analysis from a couple of weeks ago helped him figure out their constant teasing and flirting was the result of them being together. Morgan wasn’t really in awe, as she suspected something was going on from her first interaction with the two. But even if she thought something was up, she would have never anticipated them to kiss in front of everyone and actually reveal a romantic relationship.Lim could feel everyone staring at them in surprise, her red cheeks revealing this.
When their lips parted ways, Melendez smiled widely at her and whispered, “I think that was better.” He placed another quick kiss on the tip of her nose and then looked around to see everyone’s shocked faces and immediate whispering. He proudly walked away with his heart almost pounding out of his chest and Audrey tried to ignore her surroundings as well, acting like nothing happened. She picked up the files from the counter and left the scene, grinning from ear to ear.
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It was one of those events, again. Fake smiling, laughing at bad jokes, making small talk with people you only know by name and so on are a few of the many reasons the fundraiser galas were not an awaited time of the year for some doctors, including Lim. It’s just another day when she has to spend an absurd amount of time putting on make-up and an elegant dress and then spend an entire night mingling through a crowd full of doctors as bored as her. Maybe she wanted to meet Dr. Moore and have a chat about her amazing discovery in pediatric traumatology or Dr. Sanders, to discuss his new discoveries in treating leukemia patients, but that would only take up 30 minutes of her excruciating hours at the gala. Melendez, on the other hand, wasn’t bothered by this at all. He was quite fond of these events – especially their cause – and didn’t mind spending a few hours to talk with other remarkable doctors about medical subjects he was interested in. It was also another reason for him to wear the more expensive suits he keeps hidden in his closet, as he doesn’t want to damage them during working hours (but he would never admit this).Audrey got off work earlier that day, so she went straight home in order to have enough time to pretty up. As her bathroom sink got filled with stained make-up removal discs and tissues, the minutes flew by faster than she anticipated. Neil was supposed to arrive at any minute to pick her up, yet she was frantically running around her apartment in an unsecured dress, trying to find her ‘fancy’ heels that she kept for special events. Cussing under her breath, she eventually found her shoes hidden under her sofa for God-knows what reason. As she put them on, her doorbell rang and she immediately knew who it was. She quickly ran to the door and opened it to find Melendez waiting on the other side in his licorice black tuxedo. The second his eyes met hers, his jaw dropped. It had been such a long time since he saw her wearing a dress that he forgot how stunning she looked in them. It was a black and long dress that beautifully fitted her lean figure, with two large straps on her shoulder that tied into a simple and short braided pattern at the top of her chest. The dark grey eyeshadow she wore highlighted her eye colour and made her face look like a gorgeous painting.“Wow.” Was all Melendez managed to breath out. He was too stunned to even form a sentence, as yet taking in the rare view of his lover.“Hello to you too.” Lim said with amusement, still in a rush to find everything she needed before leaving. “Are we going to stand here all night? Come in, I need to find my purse.”As if he didn’t hear her, Melendez continued to examine her from head to toe, a huge smile lighting up his face. “You look absolutely stunning,” he said.Audrey grinned at the compliment and took his hand to guide him into the apartment. She quickly ran to her bedroom to grab her purse and then came back to find Neil in the same position she left him in, his eyes following her around the room.“You’re very handsome, too. Promise me at least a few minutes together before someone steals you for the night.” She joked lovingly, a little flustered by his demeanor.“Not a chance. You are not going to get rid of me the whole night,” he laughed. “You’re the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on, Audrey.” Neil spoke with a grin and placed his hands around her waist, mesmerized by her. Meanwhile, Audrey scrunched her face and smiled timidly at his remark, unknowing of how to respond to something like that.“Thank you. I’m flattered,” she said and placed a soft kiss on his lips, which he returned with pleasure. “As much as I’d like to stay, I didn’t put on all of this make-up just to not go to the gala.”“Then I’m glad I can steal a few kisses there, too.” Neil smiled at her.They arrived at the gala hand in hand, greeting people as they walked through the crowd. Eyes were on them, as the word of their relationship spread like wildfire in the hospital. The two got lost among the sea of people and they found themselves chatting with doctors from all over the state. When Audrey finally got bored of shaking hands and smiling at people, she went around the place to find Neil. She saw him at a table with Andrews and three more surgeons from SJ General and UCLA Medical Center. When he noticed her, he instantly got the message from her eyes and excused himself from the discussion. Audrey sat down at an empty table and she could feel a cloud of relief fall upon her when Neil seated himself next to her with two glasses of bourbon in hand.“Thank Goodness, you got me a glass. I feel like I’m going to crash if I spend one more minute in here.” She sighed.“You’re welcome. It’s actually my pleasure to escape that table. I felt like Andrews was constantly breathing down my neck. I think I could see some smoke coming out of his ears.” Neil said and was met with chuckles from Audrey.“He’s sitting at the same table with Dr. Kelly, what do you expect? I can see the sweat dripping down his face, he’s tense!” She laughed.Together, time passed by much faster as they got engrossed in their conversation. They looked at each other with so much tenderness, getting lost in the eyes of one another. What they didn’t know was that Jessica was watching closely from the bar, far enough to only hear their laughter. Her pain was still there and it kept thriving every second she glanced at them. She was ashamed of this, but she felt jealous – very jealous. It had been a year since she broke off the engagement with Neil, but she was secretly hurting, regretting her decision deeply. And now, on top of this came Audrey, who she had something against from the very start. In the few times she met Lim before her and Melendez got together, it seemed like they were the perfect pair. Behind their competition laid a friendship she envied more than anything else. She saw how they looked at each other, how they spoke and how caring they could be to one another, even if it was masked by mocking and teasing. Despite never actually bringing up her opinion on Audrey, Jessica always kept her distance, especially when she was with Neil, avoiding her at any cost. Now, to see them together, her world came crashing down. All of the doubts she had during her relationship were proven right by that one kiss in the nurses’ station a week ago. She wasn’t able to look at either of them after she heard of it, but at the gala she couldn’t move her gaze away. Her heart kept aching as she watched their lips form smiles at every word they said.Her trance was suddenly interrupted by the eyes of Neil, who finally noticed her glare. She didn’t know how much time had passed since she began staring at them, but she immediately drifted her face away from their direction, stammered by them finally noticing her.“Don’t look to your right but Jessica has been staring at us for the past 10 minutes. It’s getting very irritating.” Neil huffed.“Just ignore her. It’s pretty clear that you moved on now, maybe she needs more time to take it in.” Audrey said as she placed one hand on top of Neil’s and caressed it slowly.“It’s been an entire year since our break-up and she’s also the one who initiated it. She’s just drowning in self-pity.”Right after Melendez finished speaking, Jessica came to their table with a weary smile, attempting to seem as unbothered as possible, but failing miserably.“Hello Dr. Lim, Dr. Melendez. I just wanted to give my congratulations for your relationship.” Jessica uttered, her voice filled with invidiousness.“Thank you, Ms. Preston. We are very happy together.” Neil responded in a similar tone, surprised by her bold action.“I’m glad. It’s a perfect match.” She blurted back.Audrey put on an upside-down smile, watching the painfully awkward conversation unfold in front of her. She wanted to give Neil a punch with her elbow to make him shut up, but figured it would make things even more uncomfortable.“Is there anything I can help you with?” Melendez asked, done with the unpleasant chit-chat.The lawyer stumbled over her words, “Oh, no, not at all. Have a great evening.” With that, she gave one last envious smile before walking away to wander through the crowd.Audrey’s eyes darted back to Neil, who finally seemed to be somewhat at ease. She judgingly raised her eyebrows and was met with a short laugh from him.“Fun chat,” she teased.Neil took a last sip from his glass and then grabbed Audrey’s hand, dragging her towards the exit.“Where are we going?”“Aren’t you tired of the gala? We’ve been here for a good while.” Melendez whispered in her ear.“Andrews is going to notice that we’re gone and we’ll never see the end of it.” Lim reminded him, smiling at his sudden decision.“I don’t care,” he said.They swiftly walked out of the immense event-hall and into the corridors of the hospital, hand in hand. Melendez led them to a darker storage room and quietly closed the door. Then, he turned to Audrey and kissed her unexpectedly, making her giggle in confusion.“Neil, what are you doing?” She laughed between the overwhelming amount of soft kisses he was placing on her lips and neck.“Kissing you,” he whispered into her ear and then went back to nuzzling his face into her freshly washed hair.“I don’t want a poor cleaner or nurse to find us here.” Lim said.“Everyone’s at the gala, we don’t have to worry.” Melendez muttered in her neck, grinning as he said it.Lim softly cupped his face and brought her lips close to his to tease him. “Let’s at least keep it PG.”
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One month had passed since the two surgeons made their relationship public. A month of ups and downs went by unnoticed in the hospital. Everything had been running smoothly, just as it always did. The debate over Glassman’s decision had long cooled down from anyone’s gossip agenda, yet only one person seemed to never really forget that day Shaun came to the hospital, its events strongly embedded in his mind.Murphy made a mistake during surgery – something out of the ordinary for him – and no one could figure out why. The whole day he was distracted, even if he listened to the medical discussions that took place between his colleagues. Melendez was no less than alarmed when he heard about his resident’s mistake in the OR. It spiked up concern among the team, so he decided to go to the person closest to Shaun: Glassman. He found him sitting at his desk, looking over CT scans and MRIs. He seemed off, talking quietly and avoiding the subject Neil came to talk about. Eventually, wanting to get the burden off his chest once and for all, he confessed something that left Melendez at a loss for words. Glassman had an inoperable glioma, cancer eating away at his brain. The news hit hard, as he had been a constant figure in the hospital, a good mentor and a remarkable friend for many surgeons, including Melendez. The diagnosis will be devastating news for the hospital, as it would mean a new president in charge and the loss of a dear doctor.Melendez got back home later that evening as a result of the huge, but hard-earned success he had after amazingly saving the life of a student. He just started preparing a pot of tea when his phone buzzed and revealed a message from Audrey. ‘Can I come over?’ It was strange. She already had the key to his place, and they spent most consecutive days at the other’s apartment, anyway (which, most of the time, was Neil’s). Before he managed to type out a response, his doorbell rang. He let out a soft chuckle and opened the door for Lim, who hugged him tightly as soon as she stepped foot inside.“I missed you, too.” He said.Melendez put on a movie and they went on to spend the evening with a cup of tea in hand. He noticed Audrey’s weariness, but figured it was just another bad day in the ER. After all, he was enjoying the relaxation of the silence. They were cuddling on the couch when Audrey started speaking during a commercial.“I heard about what happened with Shaun today. Is he okay?” She asked quietly.Neil sighed at hearing her words and spoke carefully, “Not really. He got distracted because of Glassman.”Audrey squeezed herself even closer, resting her head on his chest. “I just wanted to get a consult from him today and as I turned the corner to get to his office, Shaun popped out of nowhere and excitedly told me that “Dr. Glassman isn’t going to die!” and of course I was stunned. I acted normally while he looked over the scans, as Jessica was also there, but when she left and I finally asked him what that was all about, he told me he has cancer.”“He told me that too. But why did Shaun say that? He has an inoperable glioma.” Asked Neil, confused.“Low grade glioma. He did a biopsy. I hope he’ll get better as soon as possible,” she sighed, closing her eyes.It hit a little too close to home. Her father getting pulmonary cancer just a couple of months prior and now Glassman, who had become a father figure to her, it was like the bad news just kept coming. She understood Glassman was strong and, as a neurosurgeon, knew how to take care of himself. Seeing him struggle with chemo was something she didn’t really want to witness, as it would be a reminder of how her father was probably doing back in Taiwan. But who was she kidding, the next weeks were going to be a really annoying change either way. The chief was now in power.Due to Murphy’s mistake during surgery, Glassman’s promise from two months ago was now in favor of Andrews, as he advanced to the position to hospital president. It was an achievement he yearned to gain for many years, being in constant competition with his boss. Maybe it wasn’t the most satisfying way to get the job, but he didn’t care. He was chief and president of the hospital, an unimaginable responsibility for anyone else. Would it be too much to handle on his own? Maybe. Will he do anything in his power to prove he deserves it? Most certainly, yes.
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Melendez was sitting at the kitchen table, loudly sipping his morning coffee and browsing his phone. He was searching for mountain resorts in California, clicking on whatever spiked his interest in the least. Damn, those prices. While he was engrossed in the cheap hunting, Lim walked in with a cartoony box in hand.“Why would you buy yourself a ‘Glow in The Dark 100 Piece Dinosaur Puzzle’?” Audrey chuckled.Neil almost jumped when he heard her and immediately closed his phone. “Where’d you find that? I thought I lost it,” he said.“At the back of your closet.”“It’s for Gabby. It’s an early Christmas gi-” Neil paused and brought a hand to the back of his neck in a reminder of the date.“Crap!” he said as he got up and snatched the puzzle out of Audrey’s hands, practically running to the bedroom.“What’s wrong?” She laughed as she watched him storm off like a deer in headlights.Audrey didn’t follow him and instead waited until he came out with a suit already on and his hair brushed in all directions.“You’re going to kill me for this but I forgot to tell you that I’m going to visit Gabby today. And I promised her you’d be coming with.” He said, frantically moving his hands around.Her mouth dropped and she stared daggers at him.“You missed the chance of telling me five minutes before leaving the hospital. For how long have you known?!” She asked angrily.“I won’t answer that. For my own safety.”“God...” Audrey sighed and threw herself on a chair. “Can’t you tell her I couldn’t make it?”“Come on, Aud. Why don’t you want to come?” Melendez pleaded, confused as to why she was avoiding the visit. Sure, he dropped the news only a few hours early, but still.Audrey looked at him with exasperation and barely refrained from strangling him there and there.“Neil... For the sake of your sister, you have this day to pray I’m better tomorrow. Before I completely lose my shit, I’m going to make a phone call and you give me the list for what else I need to buy for her.”“No, no. It’s alright, you don’t have to do that. She has plenty of stuff already.” He shook his head.“Fine, I’m going without a list!” She loudly stated in an ironical tone, turning around to get her clothes, but suddenly stopping in her tracks and moving her body back. “What if she doesn’t even like me anymore? I’m not the same fun resident she remembers. Or way too proud freshly-in-position trauma surgeon with a lot of energy to spare.” Audrey ranted.“She’ll never get tired of you.” Neil smiled softly. “She will keep asking when you’ll be coming back for the next two weeks.”“I am tired of your shenanigans.” Audrey sighed as she passed by Neil and fled to find her jacket and helmet.She had a heated call right outside of Melendez’s block, which he saw from the window but didn’t question and instead laughed at the ridiculous faces she made when she was angry. Then, she muttered some insults to his address and sped off to the hospital, because she refused to ride with Neil that day. Time went by pretty fast, as they were both kept occupied with back-to-back surgeries. Much to their displeasure, Andrews was slowly starting to be their shadow wherever they went and it didn’t go unnoticed. They knew something about the issues with keeping the post of chief of surgery to himself, but nothing was official yet.Audrey left around an hour before Neil had told her they would need to leave and drove off to the nearest toy store. Upon entering, the vast shelves filled with all kinds of toys were a little overwhelming, as she spent 30 minutes stacking her basket with way too much stuff. A set of toy medical instruments (because she “wants to be a doctor just like Neil”), some dinosaur figurines (to feed her Jurassic obsession), interactive books and a plushie from her current favorite show (how’d you guess it’s Jurassic World?).
She was leaning against Neil’s car, waiting for him to finish his shift. When he entered the parking lot, he yet again saw her arguing with someone over the phone. As he got to the car, she ended the call and scoffed.“Who was that?” He asked.Lim hesitated a bit before plainly answering, “My brother.”Melendez’s eyes darted to the bags she was holding. “How many things did you get her? A cute card could’ve been enough.”“This is enough too.”“You’re spoiling her. She can’t be bribed. I’ll always be better.” He smirked.“Get in the damn car,” she said with a smile.They arrived at the care home shortly after 8 pm and found Gabby sitting at a table, drawing with crayons. The second she saw Neil, her face lit up with a big grin and she dropped everything she was doing to throw her hands up for a hug.“Neil!” She said with excitement.Melendez chuckled and hugged her tight, “Mi amorcita...”Lim watched this unfold from the arch of the entrance, as she wasn’t sure how to even approach Gabby. Seeing the two together warmed up her heart, but she couldn’t picture herself doing the same.“You’ve got another visitor, Gabby.” He said as he stepped to the side to reveal Lim.She smiled brightly and beamed, “Hi, Gab!”She revealed the gifts and the next hour was spent by the girl showing off her dinosaur knowledge and puzzle-making skills. Melendez couldn’t help but admire the way Audrey managed to bond so well with his sister. His parents grew old and weren’t able to visit as often, so Lim’s presence helped console their affection’s absence. She always asked him when her “mama and padre” were going to come back, but Melendez dismissed the conversations. He didn’t want her to get sad whenever they were brought up, so he just avoided talking about them.
Before they left, Gabby gave them the drawing she had been working on for quite a while. It depicted her mother and father in the middle, holding hands, Neil on the right side in a doctor’s gown, her on the left, holding a flower and Audrey standing next to her in the black jacket she always wears.“This looks awesome, Gab! You sure know how to draw.” She complimented.Gabby giggled in return and told her it’s a Christmas gift. Of course, she didn’t forget to sign everyone’s names on the back as a “good list for Santa”, followed by little hearts. It was now well past 9 pm and she had to get ready for the night. Melendez and Lim said their goodbyes and left with their hearts full. Audrey kept looking at the drawing in her hand, touched by the gesture. It wasn’t just a simple and cute gift. Neil pointed out that she considered her part of the family, and Audrey thought she was about to melt.“You can be such a softie sometimes.” Melendez laughed and was met with Lim rolling her eyes. But damn, he was right.After they both retreated to bed, silence fell over the house. In the living room, the soft light of the moon grazed against a wall where a new frame was neatly hung. It displayed 5 funny faces smiling happily, together.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Now, it was official. Andrews was looking for a new chief of surgery. He made it clear to the both of them, and the reason for his “harmless and curious” visits was finally elucidated. And this would’ve been an awesome opportunity if it wasn’t for the new circumstances: Lim and Melendez were a couple. Two very skilled candidates for the position were in a conflict of interest. Did they want the job? Absolutely. Did they want to break-up over it? Absolutely not. This was a huge problem neither really wanted to discuss, at least not yet. They needed time to think about it, to think about themselves. But was there even enough time? December already came around and there were less than two weeks left for Andrews to make a decision. But aside from all of this, they’d be lying if they said the ‘challenge’ didn’t take a toll on how they acted at work. Though, what happens outside of work doesn’t count towards their chances... Right? Audrey Lim was sitting quietly on the cold cement floor, staring blankly into space and reprimanding herself for the events that led to this. She already exhausted all means of entertainment she had by analyzing the two other females in front of her. One was blonde, maybe in her 30’s, bloodshot eyes with dilated pupils, bruises on her arms, dark circles, shivering involuntarily every minute, randomly spiking up conversations before dozing off and dirty clothes. The other was a younger woman with white-pale skin, messy brunette hair, nice clothes, no skin or behavioral abnormalities, dead silent and seemingly in rage. All she wanted was to get out of that place as soon as possible. She prayed to all the Gods in the sky to not let them mess anything up, not until she could be there to fix it. And where the hell were those cops?! She’s a doctor, for fuck’s sake! She has to save lives, not be thrown in a cramped cell for stating her opinion a little too loudly! This was meant to take only an hour, a couple tops, not the whole day. At least no one had any idea where she was. That would be embarrassing. Neil Melendez had just gotten out of surgery and was headed to his patient’s room. The 36-hour shifts Andrews implemented sucked. The only things keeping him sane through the night were his beloved coffee and the mini-naps he took in the doctors’ lounge whenever he got a break. On his way there, he saw Morgan and Shaun running up to him.“Dr. Melendez.” Morgan greeted.“Weren’t you two supposed to be working in the ER with Dr. Lim?” He asked, curious as to why Lim let them off.“This is why we came to talk to you. She left and told us to only call unless there’s an emergency and she’s not answering her phone.”Neil was quite surprised by what he was hearing. Audrey didn’t tell him anything about an issue. His immediate thought was that she’s home or running errands, but he dismissed it right away when he realized it was Audrey. She wouldn’t just disappear like that. Especially with the entire Andrews ordeal. Was there something wrong she didn’t tell him about?“I didn’t know she wasn’t at the hospital.”“We thought that you could call and ask her to come back. Since she’s ignoring our calls.” The resident pointed out with an indignant air.Melendez frowned, took out his phone and dialed her number right in front of the two, but it went straight to voicemail. That was when he actually started to worry a little bit. Still, whatever she had to do, she was capable of dealing with it by herself.“For how long has she been gone?”“17 hours and 12 minutes.” Shaun stated, looking at his watch.Melendez’s face displayed nothing less than shock as he calculated the time. She had been gone for the whole day.“Please tell us when you get a hold of her.” Reznick finally said with a fake smile.At first, he meant to ignore this and chalk it up to her not feeling well, or just getting sick of the hectic schedule, but he couldn’t kid himself. After 3 more failed attempts at calling her, he instructed Browne and Park on what to do next and promised to be back in less than an hour. He got into his car and drove straight to Audrey’s apartment to see what the hell she was doing. When he got there, the door was locked. Weird. He opened it with the spare key she gave him a while ago and entered the apartment to complete silence. As he decided to leave, some papers sitting on her dining table caught his eyes. He felt like he shouldn’t be doing this. It wasn’t ok to look through her personal stuff. Relationship or not, they were allowed to have their own privacy. But he was only doing this to figure out where she was. Maybe there was a problem. It isn’t bad as long as you have good intentions, right?It was a court appointment. Actually, two court appointments. One was scheduled for the day they went to visit Gabby, and the other was for the current day. The hour clearly read 9.30 am. She must’ve been done by now. ‘Why isn’t she?’ And more importantly, why didn’t she tell him that? This bugged Melendez a lot, as he pondered on his thoughts. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him about a speeding ticket? This is the reason she was so adamant to visiting his sister that day – her trial was set then. Getting his mind out of the clouds, he still wasn’t sure why she was gone. Could she even do jail for speeding? He knew it wasn’t the first time, but her fines (when she got any) were always paid on time. She couldn’t have possibly been sent to jail for this. But, considering what he just discovered, he wasn’t sure if Audrey would call him, may a problem arise.‘They can handle the work. I’ll just check the courthouse to be certain. She can’t possibly be in jail anyway.’ ---- Audrey got tense when she saw the police officer walking towards the cell with the keys in hand, hoping that, by some miracle, he was letting her out.“You have a visitor,” the cop said.To Lim’s horror, Melendez appeared in the room with an equally aghast look.“Judge decided nine hours was enough punishment,” he added before sitting back down at his desk.She stared blankly at Neil as a million thoughts and excuses ran through her head.“How did you-?” Audrey said before she was cut off by him.“We can talk outside.” He stated.Melendez was clearly upset and neither of them said a single word until they were seated on a bench. Audrey avoided eye contact at all costs and felt like a child about to be scolded by her mother. Gosh, this was embarrassing.“Would you mind telling me what you did to get thrown into jail?” Neil demanded with a concerned, but stern voice.“The judge was biased against me from the start. I had to wait the whole day just because I took a five-minute call. I got tired of waiting and may have shouted a tad too loud for her liking.”He sighed and continued the interrogation, “Did you even plan on calling me or were you content with spending your day in a cell? Why did you even hide this from me?”“To avoid the exact situation we are in right now. How could I have known what would happen? It was only meant to take 20, maybe 30 minutes.” Audrey said and got defensive.“Do you not trust me?” Neil asked, this time with disappointment and hesitation.“Of course I trust you! I just... didn’t think it was that important.”“It is important! I could’ve covered for you in the ER. And not only that, but I wanted to know you were okay. When Morgan told me she hadn’t heard from you for the past 17 hours I got worried.” He said loudly.“I’m sorry. But I managed to get out myself. The only issue would’ve been transportation. My driver’s license is suspended for one year.” She added and rolled her eyes. “Plus, why are you acting like I almost died or something? I’m not a child, I do pretty well on my own, thank you very much.”“Look, Audrey, I’m not trying to control every aspect of your life, if that’s what you got from this. I want to know what’s going on in my partner’s life. I think I deserve to be aware of your well-being. It’s not just you anymore, we’re together no matter what happens – good or bad.” Melendez added. This behavior wasn’t all irrational. He knew exactly where it was coming from and he was trying to be as understanding as possible.“I’ll let you know about stuff like this in the future. I’m sorry for all the trouble.” She spoke almost softly, watching as his agitation slowly started to cool off.“I am still allowed to be mad at you. We need to be more open with each other if we want to make this work.”“Then we’ll do that. I promise to,” Audrey said.“Alright. Let’s start right now. How’d you get the ticket?” Neil asked, trying to conceal a smirk.She frowned at first but spoke anyway, as she just told him she wasn’t going to hide things anymore. “Remember our first fight? The Dr. Coyle ordeal? I drove a little too fast that night to forget I was angry with you.”“And how fast is ‘a little too fast’?”Audrey pecked her lips and pretended to think for a second before stating, “Not over 160 km/h.”Neil’s face said more than enough. Terrified would be just the right adjective, if not worse than that.“I’ll have to give points to the judge for suspending your license. One year worry-free awaits me.”“Like you even need to be worried. I know how to ride my bike. My baby hasn’t seen more than a scratch and I’ve had it for almost 7 years.” She said proudly.“My ‘baby’ is waiting in the parking lot. Let’s go back to the hospital before Andrews finds out we’re gone and loses it.”“Let’s keep this to ourselves, though. It’s my personal crap, not his, so no need for him to find out.”“Like I was planning to talk to him. Come on, Morgan’s probably cussing you out as we speak.” He smirked and took her hand.Another 17 hours exhausting hours were waiting for them at the hospital. Aside from this, one person was already intending to talk about some... intriguing matters with them later on.
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The two were at Lim’s home. They had just gotten back from shopping from what Melendez called “Breathing new life into this simplistic and monotone dark cluster” (a name she despised and fancied at the same time). He began hanging some colorful paintings Audrey hardly chose, and searching sunny spots for the plants he bought to “revive” the emptiness of the place.One week until the final decision for the chief of surgery arrived with a little more clarity for Neil. He decided this impossible conversation could not be put on hold any longer, as it had been eating him from the inside ever since he heard Andrews speak. He managed to cool down his agitation for a while, but the tipping point finally came. He was happy to see Audrey replying to him, and not dodging the subject with meaningless excuses.“One of us bossing the other around? I don’t think that will fly with HR.” Audrey said with a little frown, the realization of the problem not yet kicking in.“It would be crazy to give up on such an opportunity, though. This is the reason we need to sort things out.” Neil spoke.“Then we’ll have to learn to navigate the situation, may it happen. If Andrews makes this decision, I suppose he knows what he’s getting himself into.”“What if he doesn’t know?” He asked, dreading the outcome that bloomed in his mind.“Isn’t it a little self-centered to think he’ll even choose one of us?” She asked with a smile, which was surprisingly not returned by Melendez.“We’d have to break up. You’ll be lying if you say you didn’t think about this for the past week,” he sighed loudly. Now it was time for Lim to do what she knew best. Her grin promptly wore off before he could even finish speaking and she paused for a couple of seconds, looking into his eyes, searching for something in them, but not knowing particularly what. Then, when she finally gave up, her gaze darted to the floor and her weary smile reappeared, seemingly trying to lighten up his face, too.“I think the first step is for him to actually choose a chief...” She joked halfheartedly.“Audrey... We need to talk about this. I don’t care if it’s pride or whatever, but I’m more than sure he is going to choose one of us. I’m sure Andrews thinks he appreciated what he’s doing, but are we sure we know? For all he cares, he’ll give us both a pat on the shoulder and hope we can deal with it perfectly.” He insisted, tired of avoiding the unavoidable.Lim sighed and plopped her shoulders.“And what do you want to do, exactly? We can’t do anything to help our situation until we experience it and highlight the flaws. No matter what we establish now, problems are going to arise. And we will find a way to work around them. We’ll learn to be objective; we will learn to balance our work and personal lives; we will learn to function together as a team for our and the hospital’s good. It will be difficult – that’s no doubt – but I also know we can’t really prevent injuries if we try something for the first time. All we can do is put on our knee caps and helmet, fall and then get up.” A day later, Ms. Aoki approached Neil in the hallway, right as he scrubbed out of a surgery he performed alongside Audrey.“Another success, I see,” she spoke gleefully.He simply smiled and nodded, not really in the mood for her approach.“I couldn’t help but hear about what a flawless duo you and Dr. Lim make in the OR. I’m glad you managed to not let your relationship spike any disturbance with your work’s quality.”“Thank you?” Neil replied, a little weirded out by her unusual praise.“As you know, Dr. Andrews is actively searching for someone to replace him as chief of surgery. You and Dr. Lim are two of our best surgeons, so you must be aware that the decision highly revolves around you.”“We know.” He said, his eyes narrow and shoulders raised.Aoki smiled lukewarmly at his reaction and continued with as much confidence as she could build up, “I figure I shouldn’t hide behind big words, as this is quite important. Dr. Andrews has expressed his concern regarding the way you would... sustain your relationship if he picks one of you to take his place.”Her words were not received well by the surgeon, as he promptly tensed up and gave her a sullen look.“I think it would be more appropriate to have this conversation with HR. If the president has an issue with our professional management, he should talk to us directly.” Melendez spoke and watched as Aoki nodded sheepishly.“Of course,” she added before backing off.Following the interaction, he went to find Audrey. This cleared up any doubts he had – Andrews was planning on choosing between them. A part of him was more than excited, but the way Marcus tried to work around them was ridiculous. Why was he even pissed off at this?She just walked out of a patient’s room when she noticed Neil looking intently at her.“Good job doing that atherectomy. Cassy is feeling better.” Audrey complimented.Instead of the usual smug smile, she was met with a serious look.“Aoki came to talk to me about Marcus’s concern regarding... us, and how we would approach the change of being the subordinate of the other.” he stated, rotating his hand betwixt them.“That’s kind of uncomfortable, but definitely not unexpected. If he wants to clear things up, then he should go for it.” Audrey shrugged.“These are personal matters. What does he care about our relationship?”Lim giggled at seeing Melendez so agitated, throwing him off even more.“Don’t laugh!”“I’m sorry, you’re just too funny! I don’t think he wants to have a sleepover to analyze our behavior, his only concern is to our actions at work. It’s understandable to be worried about the conflict of interest between two people who love each other – even for Andrews. We’d have to put our personal judgement aside and focus on cases only professionally, it will be tricky. Did you get enough sleep last night?”“No,” he breathed in a tizzy.“I figured. You kept stirring thorough the night.”“I keep thinking about what we’re going to do. It’s stressing me a lot.” Neil sighed and took her hand, caressing her palm.“I love you.”“I love you, too.” He said and kissed her on the lips.Five more days of waiting, and their concerns will become reality. All of this back-and-forth with Andrews will be finally over, which is one less problem off the table. Yet, they can’t help but feel anxious. Will the future be as simple as they make it seem?
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The hospital was filled with Christmas decorations and carols echoed through the halls, where doctors and nurses talked joyfully about their vacation plans. It was also the time of the year when deals were being sealed, as the ones who had families waiting for them at the Christmas table took time off and searched for people who were willing to cover for them and take over shifts.Lim fit into the second category, as she was the person most of the other surgeons relied on for always being at the hospital. She would rather drown herself in work than stay home during the holidays. She never really disclosed the actual reason for this, maybe because she was too embarrassed, but she didn’t like this time of the year. All the happy laughter, the children playing in the streets and especially the families that came together to celebrate were a reminder of what she didn’t have. No one would be there to greet her if she came back home on the 25th, and she hated it. The first Christmas she spent after her divorce was miserable. Her apartment was empty, with no lights or decorations to be seen. She sat down at her kitchen table and ate a poorly prepared meal of Taiwanese food that at least smelled like home, to maybe feel the warmth that used to embrace her as a child. Instead, slurping at her soup in the dimly lit room, a lump formed in her throat. Christmas didn’t feel special anymore, it was just like any other day. No Santa to bring her gifts, no family to enjoy her time with, no joyful spirits, nothing. That night, as she stared out her window to see the few people roaming the streets and dancing in the rarely seen snow in California, couples holding hands and children jumping up and down, tears slowly fell down her cheeks in a deafening silence. She hated this. She hated the way holidays made her feel. Unlike any other day, this time, she hated being alone. This is what determined her to help the colleagues who actually mattered and spend her time surrounded by people at the hospital. She presented it as a selfless act, when in reality, she was just making herself forget.Melendez fit into the first category, as this time only brought him happiness. He never spent a single Christmas alone. The holidays were a sacred time when his family would all gather and celebrate together. He always looked forward to seeing his parents, but not so much for his other relatives, since only counting them would take ages. Everyone asking when he was going to get married or when he was going to have children was inevitable, but over the years he had gotten used to it and it wasn’t bothering him the same (as he likes to believe). He loved the music, the food, catching up with cousins, exchanging gifts and most importantly, the deep affection his family shared. This was a perspective of holidays he got used to, until this year. The universe had other plans for him, as his plane ticket to Colorado got cancelled at the last minute, and buying another proved to be impossible. It was unfortunate, but Christmas wasn’t entirely ruined. He had Audrey. Even if she still wanted to work (influencing him to do the same), he had planned to come back before the New Year, anyway. He convinced her to take time off after the 27th under the pretext that she “deserves a break from the holiday chaos”. It would also be a time of celebration for one of them, as a day before Christmas Eve, Andrews announced the new chief of surgery.
The polls Alex Park started were getting big cash as the minutes ticked by, with everyone rooting to win the bet. Lim had even given some money herself to keep up the joke and to mess with Melendez. They had come close to arguing over the past few days, as they kept squabbling about their qualities as surgeons and how much better the other one was, butting heads on every occasion, like they were back to being their old overly competitive selves.Everyone was gathered in the conference room, with Aoki staying by Andrews’ side at the end of the table, an unsure smile on her face. He started with a brief speech about the hospital’s improvements, future plans and other things that didn’t really seem to spark any interest among the crowd. Finally, as his words turned the attention to the main subject of the gathering, all eyes were on his lips. Audrey and Neil were sitting on opposite sides of the room, taking glances at each other as Andrews continued to speak, waiting to see him spell the same they yearned to hear.“It’s now more important than ever that we maintain our high standards and so, while there are many worthy candidates, I’ve decided...” He spoke firmly and paused for a few seconds to analyze the room with his eyes. He noticed the eager faces of Lim, Melendez, Philips, and all the other surgeons in the department. With a hopeful smile, he continued his sentence. “To retain the title myself.”Silence. For a moment, the room was filled with silence. Not a single soul in that whole department expected this to happen. Well, of course, except for Shaun, when he broke the confused state of the crowd with a loud “Yes!”, followed by Alex handing him the stack of money from the bet. Neil didn’t know if he should laugh or cry, as the weight of the stress seemed to have been removed from his shoulders. His eyes met Audrey’s, who bit her lower lip and, as he knew her, was struggling not to throw one or two curse words for how much crap Andrews put them through.
The applause and fabricated smiles wore off and people left the room in a quiet chatter. Lim had already stormed off to her office, followed closely by Melendez. When she got to the door and noticed him behind, she placed one arm to block the entrance and forced a grin.“You are staying five feet away from me until we get home, because I’m not having it.”“Why are you taking it out on me? You should vandalize a photo of Andrews or something,” he chuckled.“Noted. Now go and be all congratulative. He might even give you a star.”They did not prepare for this outcome, as both were at a loss for words. Their caution and stress had been in vain, and while they were glad it was over, the list of reasons why they hated Andrews had again been updated.Melendez was taking the pizza out of the oven when he heard the door open. Audrey threw her stuff at the entrance and huffed as she made her way into the living room.“He never fails to make me hate him! How can someone even be this unlikable?” She shouted.“At least it’s all over.”“He played us both.”“Good thing we stood together and confronted his game!” Neil said sarcastically.They sat on the couch and Neil poured two glasses of whiskey while Audrey kept commenting.“If he comes to us with the offer two weeks from now because his ass gets beaten and he realizes he’s not Superman, I will shove it right down his throat.”“To the win of absolutely nobody. Cheers.” He spoke and raised his glass, earning a smirk from Audrey.“This made me look forward even more to our little break after Christmas. I don’t think I can see his face without clenching my hands,” she laughed.“Let’s hope tomorrow’s not too busy of a day. It’s Christmas Eve after all.”“Since when do I care how this day goes?”“I want to make it special. It’s going to be our first Christmas as a couple.” He beamed and placed one hand on her back as she leaned into him.“I’m sorry you had to sacrifice the time with your family. I’m boring when it comes to holidays.”“Don’t be sorry! Audrey, you are family. How could I be mad to spend Christmas with my lover?”She smiled sheepishly and took another sip, the whiskey burning her mouth. Deep down, behind the indifferent masquerade she put up, she was in the ninth cloud when she heard she would finally have someone dear she could see on the days she made sorrow. Finally, she would be spending Christmas with someone she loved.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was the 23rd of December, but the weather in LA really made it look like a chilly day of spring. Luckily, the ER didn’t have to take as many cases of the flu, but unfortunately, they had quite the same – if not a bigger – amount of sick people traveling in and out to meet their families as last year. Despite of this, Lim always worked. And the next day, and the one after tomorrow... but, this time, the endless cycle of work would end sooner. Melendez convinced her to take some time off before the New Year, to presumably spend it relaxing and having cute little dates. They woke up to the buzzing sound of Audrey’s alarm under her pillow for a “more effective way of not ignoring it”, as she put it. Her clothes are ditched next to the bed, all wrinkly. With a loud huff when she looks down at them, she scrams to Neil’s wardrobe and blindly grabs a pair of pants and a shirt, too unbothered to even check if they match. He watches from the bed with a smirk on his face, his tongue burning to say something.“You should seriously consider bringing more clothes to my apartment,” he says as he sits up.Turning to face him, Audrey shakes her head. “I have enough here. I need them at my place, too.”“For what?”She frowns, “What do you mean for what?”“You haven’t been to your apartment in the last 2 weeks. You practically live here now.”Lim doesn't comment further. She gets quiet and carries on with buttoning her shirt, stealing glances at Melendez every once in a while. Well, he's right. Dust must’ve taken over the apartment already. But, to actually hear him say it... She isn't ready, not yet.“I still go there. It’s just more convenient to crash here.”Now his smile was only for decoration. Why is she suddenly upset? “I live 10 minutes further from the hospital.”“You know what? Maybe you should come over more often. Oh wait, you never want to!” She turned to the mirror to brush her hair, avoiding to look at him even in the reflection.“Seriously, Aud, why are you upset?”“I’m not.”He sighs. “Ok, then.”Neil gets up to change from the pajamas as well, and Audrey keeps silent when he places a soft kiss on her cheek. He knows he bothered her, but he can’t grasp the reason. He can’t feel bad if he didn’t do something wrong.“I don’t want us to be dismayed. Just tell me when something’s upsetting you.”“We’re ok. And I will.”He sighs again. Her tone says enough. It’s better if she’s alone for a while. He doesn’t want to push too much. They’ve been together for a little over a year, but that doesn’t make resonating with Lim less challenging. She will stand her ground every time, and the brick wall he slowly tries to bring down raises back up with every slightly fierier disagreement.She heads out earlier on her motorcycle to “check something” in her apartment. She avoids the usual kiss before leaving and instead flees before Neil gets to the entry door. He stares blankly, leaning into the wall and fixing his tie. Maybe he’s getting tired of this façade. He yearns to see her smile, his lips miss hers, yet he never prepared for how distant she could get from such small things that can be simply talked out. He admits he’s not excelling there either, but at least he’s trying to make it work. He wants it to work. He loves her. Lim makes her way into the ER with fast steps, locking eyes with Petringa, who gave her a half smile of reassurance. Murphy also comes into the picture, appearing distracted by the song Jingle Bells chiming through the speakers. She gives him a weary glance, maybe resonating with his annoyance. In spite of this, she gathers her focus and tenses her shoulder in anticipation of the ambulances that quickly arrive at the entrance.The paramedics recite the current list of symptoms for the two patients as they roll them into the ER. The man is in a worse condition, barely getting enough oxygen, and it only goes downhill. They push epinephrine, they do CPR, but he constantly flatlines. Until, the last time, his pulse doesn’t come back. The second Dr. Lim announces the time of death – a weird tingly feeling traveling through her hands and chest, Murphy hastily pushes the curtain dividing the two beds and points out to the woman he just stabilized.“Did you have contact with this man?”The woman nods. They were one the same flight coming from Malaysia, but on opposite sides of the plane. When Murphy points to her neck, Lim freezes in place. Big and bright red, a swollen rash pulses ever so slightly, looking identical to the one present on the dead-man’s neck. They might’ve just been exposed to an airborne virus, along with the entire emergency room.She keeps her cool and moves the patient in a negative pressure room to keep the virus from spreading. The time spent putting her equipment on and off, her mind darts to the possibility of getting the infection. If it killed that man, how could they know they already weren’t long gone from its early stages? Anyone who even breathed in the same direction as them could’ve contracted it. Her heart tingles again, and the slight pump of adrenaline she gets while rummaging through the possibilities is almost intoxicating. They have to diagnose these people – and fast. She blinks away some assumptions that slip past her barricaded mind and rushes out of that gallery, out of sight from the moribund image.Andrews is put up to speed with the events as quickly as they could get a hold of him, having the possibility of isolating the ER. But, until they make sure the virus is dangerous, everything is kept silent to not set panic among the people in the waiting room.As Lim continues to treat patients, she has random, brief moments when she gets unsteady. Her hands are constantly moving, stitching and bandaging, so when her wrist starts to feel a little sore, she cusses under her breath for the “perfect” timing.The situation is quiet for a while, with no sign from Andrews, and she can finally feel herself relax. The background chatter between Morgan and the EMT makes her smile to herself. She didn’t know that bitchy and proud resident could find good company in someone as nice as Tyler. It’s good to be aware she actually feels for him, so she doesn’t appear as inhumane as she tries to seem. The calm passing of time is interrupted by Shaun dragging Tyler in front of her and showing the vesicular rash that appeared on his neck. The poor guy pales when he sees everyone’s concerned eyes staring at him. Lim glances at Morgan, whose horrified face almost takes her out of her steady stance, her closed doors. Loud ringing rushes them to the infected woman, bringing Tyler along to isolate immediately.Marianne – as that was her name – gives up her fight in front of their eyes. No amount of CPR and rounds of defibrillation helped. She died. Tyler’s petrified expression sends a shiver down Lim’s spine. This is really happening. So many more people could be slowly dying as they blinked and they didn’t know why. Again, her heart tingles, but this time she can feel it travel through her arms, especially her right one, and she scratches her wrist from the sensation.She calls Andrews once again, but this time her voice is sterner, more assertive. She has to keep her cool, because quarantine has been officially issued. Breaking the news to the people in the ER is just as she expected. She has to tranquilize an overwhelmed man that plunges at her with a chair while the room erupts in a panicked murmur. She looks around: a pregnant woman, a tipsy-looking teenager, a frail old lady that could be blown away with a single breath, the passed-out man on the floor, a frightened mother and her two boys sitting on her lap. They are... No. They are not. The danger waiting behind those sealed doors turned into an afterthought in her mind. She chooses to focus on other things. Kellan, for example – Dr. Park’s apparent son. It is a nice surprise to ponder on for a while. He looks just like his father. Park’s way of keeping his life private was a nice way to keep Lim’s mind busy at times. He’s like a pomegranate – many layers waiting to be peeled slowly and carefully, glazed with a sense of mystery for what’s to come next. She likes it. It reminds her of herself.Tyler’s beeping monitors grow like a wonted sound. She rushes to the negative pressure room, puts on her suit, examines his state, looks at Morgan, brings him back to his senses, clenches her chest, reassures him it’s ok, smiles, exits the chamber, removes her suit, scratches her wrist, blinks at Morgan, walks back into the ER. It turns into an algorithm, leaving no room for more thought or misery – just analyzing every symptom, every detail, silently begging Shaun to have a revelation with every unfortunate second that passes.The game gets delayed and she finds herself staring at the room full of people, taking in their faces. Then she glances at the pure-white wall and she swears she can see the outline of a familiar face, dark and worried eyes staring back at her. She blinks unconsciously, but the blur doesn’t go away. Until it becomes reality.“Audrey?”Behind the sealed clear doors, Melendez is relieved to see her standing and breathing, eliminating the last drops of doubt that lingered in his mind for a while too long.In a few seconds, Lim is on the other side of the glass, smiling wearily.“Fun day, isn’t it? I’m sorry if you got worried, I didn’t have the time to tell you anything.”“I understand. I’m just glad you’re doing okay.”“Did you hear anything else from Andrews?”“He and five other board members are already fussing around in their seats, talking with the CDC. I don’t think they’re going to be tagging along too soon.”“Sounds like he’s got everything under control.” She smirks.“Yeah... please stay safe, Aud. I love you.”She looks into his eyes and her heart tingles again, but it’s not the kind of tingle she gets because of love. It feels almost like a flinch, like a playful pinch. It travels through to her lungs and the next breath she takes is shallow. No, it’s not oxytocin. She analyzes and feels, but keeps quiet. She’s tired.“Love you too.” They allow themselves to breathe for some time. Morgan sits on an empty chair near the chamber where Tyler is kept. Her hands are clenched tightly around a blue cap. Lim hasn’t seen it before, but from the way the resident traces its shape with her eyes, she suspects it’s a gift. She lets her drown in silence because, frankly, she doesn’t know how to approach her concern. When she walks by, she gives her a pat on the shoulder, just enough to keep her mind awake. Her hand lingers there for a few seconds and she can hear Reznick let out a sigh of despair. She struggles to keep hers in.
The interaction pushes Morgan to think it is actually Tyler rubbing her shoulder. She gets up and the look she gives Audrey is forced to seem confident, aspiring. They check on the EMT again, but his stats are only getting worse, slowly approaching the foreseeable fate he’s starting to accept.Lim watches their intertwined hands and thinks... She slightly shakes her head when the first thought blooms and she goes back to reading the numbers on the monitor. 98, 91, 22, 138/82. 98, 91, 22, 138/82. 94, 90, 22, 138/82... She doesn’t like them at all. In fact, she hates them. May that monitor be damned. May the entire world be damned, because she’s forced to see these little goodbyes and hurt acts of love. She’s forced to look into Reznick’s eyes and keep silent, because her mouth can’t say those words out loud. She doesn’t want to hear them herself. 84, 89, 17, 122/65...She can hear her own heart racing and the tingly feeling only persists. It travels to her lungs once again, but then ventures further to her pulsing wrist.They walk out of the room and begin to take off those Goddamned white masks. Morgan begins to murmur something, most likely a new course of treatment, but Lim can’t hear anymore. All that reaches her ears is a low buzz, like a broken neon light. She tries to open her mouth and she can’t. She can only struggle to breathe through her nose, which flares up more and more with each lousy attempt. Her eyes are fixated on her paling hand, with a pool of blood and bacteria pulsing underneath her skin. Her fingers brush over it and the feeling makes her sick.“Put your mask back on.” Lim demands with a trembling voice.Reznick glares at her and then at Tyler, but can’t figure out what’s wrong.“Why?”Audrey takes a step back and slams on the button to open the doors.“Because I’m infected.”And her heart tingles, her head spirals, her world turns into a dizzying, heavy cloud. This time, she can’t do anything to stop the flood anymore. She’s going to die.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tyler looked at her with a glimpse of hope that maybe this was all just a bad dream. They had the cure, they knew what’s going on, the virus was not a threat anymore. He tried to straighten himself on his elbows, but sighed defeatedly when he barely managed to move his head. The illusion faded away as quickly as it came when he saw the paling doctor staring back at him.
He whispered, “You got it too?”Lim nodded. Nothing came out of her mouth. She felt her feet get cold and her heart starting to beat faster than ever. Her eyes were glued to the beeping monitor and her body felt like it was frozen in place. She could hear Morgan’s heavy breathing through the glass, that mortified face still stuck on her retinas. 84, 87, 16, 110/54… One beep. Then another. Then another. Then another that didn’t stop. Tyler’s eyes closed while he smiled tiredly at his friend for one last time and Lim rushed to his side and began CPR with as much force as her body allowed. Her eyes never left the screen.Morgan took over and the rest became a blur. She helplessly watched the resident’s movements become more desperate by the second. Between waves of shock and resuscitation, the realization slowly sank in.“We can crack his chest to do a cardiac massage!” Dr. Reznick pleaded, but it came out more like a whimper.Lim opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but all that came out was a heavy breath she had been holding ever since Tyler flatlined. She knew that no matter what she said, no matter how thoughtful, they would never get those moments back. 30 minutes had passed since they heard his last heartbeat.It was a matter of time before he gave out too, Lim told herself, more like a reassurance that she did nothing wrong. Now there was only one left.Morgan finally dared to look at his face. It was grey, the color of the sky when the sun and rainy clouds meet. She tried to find the spark in him again, but he was just laying there, soulless. A shiny tear made its way to her chin. He’s dead.Neither of them said another word. They took their time to honor him in a deafening silence. More tears slipped from Morgan’s eyes as her gaze slowly traced his body down to his feet. The unmatched pair of socks made her let out a trembling chuckle. It was peaceful, even. The tone of the flatline stopped a long time ago and all that was left was the sound of heavy breathing coming from Lim. She wasn’t sure she wanted to leave her attending’s side now. She didn’t need to have the same faith.Their mourning stopped when Murphy burst into the gallery and called for Dr. Lim. He saw her next to Tyler’s lifeless body and he stopped talking. She motioned for him to continue, but there was something different in his voice. Was it concern?“Santa Pete needs bowel obstruction surgery right now. We can improvise an OR and you will be our guide.”Lim nodded. Not like there was a better solution. Melendez had just came back from his brief meeting with Lim. He tricked himself into being more at peace because of the current state of his patient, but the worry showed through his actions more than he wanted to. His hands were sloppy and he was clumsier than ever before. Alex counted his fifth strike while talking to the patient as he butchered up another word.“Dr. Melendez... Are you alright?” He asked discreetly. He was worried too, if he could say that. His attending had always been professional and arrogant, not letting himself get bothered by anything when it came to medicine. But now, it was more unusual than understandable for him to be distracted. His son was stuck in quarantine as well, so he was not foreign to the overwhelming feeling of concern Melendez was most likely experiencing regarding Dr. Lim.Melendez didn’t look at him. He stopped his explanation for a brief moment to recollect himself. “Yes, Dr. Park.”Alex smiled faintly to seem satisfied with the answer. It was stupid to ask. He would’ve replied in the same way, anyway. Of course he was not fine.Claire noticed too and she knew all too well what was wrong. She didn’t know whether to say something or leave it as is, because a word of consolation for what might be eating him from the inside could only add to the fire. His face became even more readable when they passed by the entrance hall to the ER and he almost forgot where they were headed. The resident caught up to him and looked down at the ground to gather up the courage.“I’m sure everything’s fine. Dr. Lim will handle it, like always.”He acknowledged her words and adjusted his shirt collar.“I know.”
“How can I know?”
Melendez’s mind was busy for a while as he tried to think of a plan to get the bone marrow for his patient. If only Andrews would let him in the ER... He swore to follow protocol, wear whatever suits they require, disinfect his whole damn body if it meant he could save the man.He rushed into the conference room once again, his eyes scanning the paper in his hands one last time. He raised his gaze and the monitors on the walls were the first thing he looked at, to catch Audrey’s face when she talks to her residents or when she tends to a patient. But his face dropped and the view he was so afraid of ever seeing became reality. Leaning on the other side of the glass wall, Lim was seen mouthing directions to Morgan and Shaun while they operated on a man’s abdomen.Andrews noticed the surgeon’s wide eyes staring at the screen.“Dr. Lim is infected.”The words stung. Hard.He kept staring at every pixel, trying to figure out her breathing, the color of her face, if she was struggling to talk.“We got to Dr. Lim earlier. I’m optimistic she’ll push through.”“What are you giving her? When is the CDC even arriving?!” Neil raised his hoarse voice, the lump in his throat making it hurt every time he spoke a word, “Andrews, three people have already died, for God’s sake! I’m not going to sit around and watch you do nothing while Lim is fighting that virus!”The president stared at him for a few seconds, hovering in place while every single person in the conference room watched the two in dead silence.“I know you are worried. I am too. But it doesn’t make protocol any less important. You will continue to work on your patient, Dr. Melendez, and I’m not allowing you to enter the ER. Morgan’s phone is in the isolation room, so you can call Dr. Lim to talk with her for as long as you need.”“So, again, what you’re suggesting is for me to do nothing!” Melendez hollered, throwing the patient files on the desk.Andrews raised his chin and looked at him with such superiority in his eyes that it made Neil’s blood boil. “What I am suggesting is for you to not endanger the entire hospital! I am not going to take this personally, because I can only imagine what you’re feeling right now, but you need to calm down. Please come back when you have a rational request.”Rational?! He was telling him what rational meant?! He, out of all people, dared to ask for rationality?! Melendez wasn’t going to be rational anymore. Not after that.
He took one last look at the screen, his nose flaring up as his breathing got heavy. Marcus was waiting in the same position, as if urging him to get out.“That’s the route we could use to transfer the bone marrow.” Neil spoke quietly, with his head slightly tilted towards his boss, “I don’t care if you approve of it or not anymore. I’m doing it, then I’m done with this case. My residents are more than capable of handling bedside manner without me breathing down their necks.”Andrews watched as he stormed out of the room with his fists clenched. He should’ve stopped him and talked it out, calm the waters down and compromise, except he knew Melendez all too well. He checked his watch and sighed. It wouldn’t be too long until his face would also be seen on the monitors.