Feelings

Chapter 26

Lim was released around mid-afternoon the next day, so Melendez was able to take her home before going into work for the night shift. Lim made a fairly quick recovery and was able to return to work a week later. Of course, as Lim recuperated from the pneumonia, Melendez was hesitant to bring up the whole moving in together discussion while she wasn't feeling 100%. One day toward the end of May, Lim and Melendez were both finishing up their shifts when they were both paged by Andrews to meet in the main conference room. They finished changing into their everyday clothes and quickly went to where they had been called, the majority of the surgeons and residents already present. Allegra, Andrews, and Han were standing toward the front, all with somber looks on their faces. Lim glanced over at Melendez, grabbed his hand, and squeezed it, an action that surprised Melendez as Lim wasn't big on public displays of affection, especially at work. When it seemed that everyone had arrived, Andrews stood at the front of the room. Everyone could sense a difference in the hospital president. Instead of his usual arrogant smile, his pompous stance, or his smug attitude, it had been replaced by a look of sadness and it looked like he was doing his best to hold back tears. He cleared his throat and began, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice," there was a quiver in his voice. He swallowed and said, "It is with deepest sorrow to inform you that Dr. Aaron Glassman, longtime neurosurgeon and former president of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, passed away last night. He leaves behind a wonderful legacy, a legacy that I have been doing my best to maintain, probably without much success," he admitted honestly, "I will be informing everyone of the viewing and funeral arrangements as soon as they are scheduled. Thank you."

"No," Shaun shook his head adamantly, "No, Dr. Glassman is not dead. I just saw him yesterday."

"Dr. Murphy, he died in his sleep last night. Debbie Wexler informed me this morning," said Andrews gently.

"No, NO," Shaun started pacing frantically, "You're wrong. It's not true! He's not dead!" Shaun ran out of the conference room, visibly distraught.

Everyone glanced around at each other: Claire and Lim both had tears streaming down their cheeks while Morgan was on the verge of crying. Park and Melendez were both doing their best to keep their composure. Morgan was the first to break the silence and muffled sobs, "We should split up to find Shaun."

Everyone else agreed and paired up to find Shaun, sincerely hoping the youngest of the residents was still physically at the hospital. Melendez and Lim naturally paired themselves together, though neither one had said much since Andrews had made the announcement. Melendez looked over at Lim and softly asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she confirmed quietly, "I just can't believe he's gone. He was the first person to greet me when I started my internship here."

Melendez sighed, "I know. Me too."

"And Shaun...he's known Glassman longer than we have. I can't even begin to imagine what he's going through right now," said Lim.

Melendez smiled lightly, "It's that big heart of yours that allows you to empathize with others."

Everyone searched and searched with no such luck. People were just about to give up and admit that Shaun went home when Lim and Melendez found him in his favorite break room, curled up on the floor in the fetal position, "Dr. Murphy," Melendez stated firmly, but Shaun shut his eyes and didn't move.

Lim nodded toward Melendez as if to say she could handle it, and then, let go of his hand before quietly walking into the break room. She slowly lied down on the floor next to Shaun, but didn't say anything. They stayed silent for several minutes, Melendez wondering what his girlfriend was doing to help Shaun. Finally, out of the blue, Shaun stated, "Dr. Glassman was my friend."