Saving Us

Back To Life...

Two weeks later...

Neil walks from his car into the hospital. He walks up the stairs and greets those passing by.

He enters his office, puts down his bags and enters into the residents' lounge.

Morgan, Alex, Shaun, Dr. Lim and Dr. Andrews were there to welcome him back.
"Glad to see that you're looking much better." said Dr. Andrews.
He added: "I know you want to jump back in, but take it easy. Dr. Reznick, Dr. Murphy and Dr. Park can lighten the load for you and bring you up to speed."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it, but I think I will be fine with the load that I have." said Dr. Melendez.

"I know you are proud, but sometimes you gotta be humble. This is one of those sometimes." said Dr. Lim.
"I can assure you, I will be fine." replied Dr. Melendez.

"Well, I guess I will leave you guys to it then." said Dr. Lim.
Dr. Andrews followed her out.

"Okay. What did I miss?" said Dr. Melendez.
"We had a patient, Liz Markle. 17. She has pericarditis, causing myocardial infarction." said Morgan, as began to explain.
"I made the diagnosis." interrupted Shaun, raising his hand.
"Well done, Shaun." said Neil. "However, that is strange. She is really young to have that condition. What caused it?" he added.
"She is an athlete who ate high fat content foods." replied Morgan.
"Dr. Andrews performed the surgery and she was discharged two days later. We all scrubbed in. We needed an extra set of hands."

"Nice work." said Dr. Melendez.
They headed out towards the ER. "Thank you. The glory is all ours." said Shaun. The other three looked at him and then looked at each other. "Okay. Moving along." said Alex.

"Dr. Melendez." called Audrey.
"Yeah?" he replied.
She gestured that they talk.
"I will be back in a second" he tells the team. They nod and he walks toward Audrey.
"I forgot to mention." she said. "What?" he asked.
"Um... Dr. Browne has taken a few more extra days off so she will be back in two days' time." she continued.

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." Neil continued walking.
"Neil, are we okay?" she asked.
"Yeah" he replied, seemingly nonchalant.
"Look, I am sorry that I never told you the truth about the donor. But the truth is, it was not my secret to tell. She had to be the one to tell you. You had to hear it from her. Not from me or anyone else." Audrey continued.

Neil was surprised.
"You knew?"
She nodded.
"But like I said, you had to hear it from her."
He exhaled.
"Thank you for the apology. I am not mad or angry at you. I am just disappointed."
After a pause, he continues.
"Look, I gotta go."

"Yeah, me too." Audrey said and left.

Neil walks in the direction of the team amd catches up to them and starts to examine their patient, concluding that he needs surgery.

A while later, in the OR...

"You really need to forgive her. She literally gave a piece of herself to you. I mean, she risked her life for you. I get it, you did not want her to do that, but come on. It is Claire. Reckless and empathetic Claire." said Morgan.

"Dr. Reznick, can we cut the chatting and focus on our patient?" said Dr. Melendez.

Shaun started talking.
"Do you have feelings for Dr. Browne? Is that why it is hard to forgive her? If so, then it makes sense, because you were scared that you could have lost her, but you have to forgive her or else you might end up doing the thing that you feared most. You'll lose her."

Dr. Melendez looked up at him, quite seriously. He knew Shaun was right, but obviously didn't want to give the satisfaction he was looking for.
He opened his hand.
"3-0 prolene."
He sutured an artery, shook his head and then asked them to close up.

After the surgery, Neil grabbed his bags from his office, got to his car and sat for a moment, once again thinking about what Shaun had said. He shook his head and drove home. It was a good first day, especially since it ended early.

The next day, he is already at his office and moves towards the residents' lounge. He sits with a folder in front of him, reading.
The door opens.
"Good morning." a voice said.
He paused before saying: "Good morning." as he knew whose voice that was. He then looked up.
It was Claire.