Saving Us

Blast From The Past

A few days later, Neil meets Alex in the residents' lounge as he tries to find Claire's father, Miles.

"Got anything?" he asked Alex.
"Got a bunch of Miles Brownes on the database."
Neil nods.
"Kind of need some more details to narrow down the results."
"Okay. Well, call me if you find anything."
Alex nods.
Neil makes his way to the OR.

Claire heads towards the residents' lounge as she is on Dr. Lim's rotation this week along with Alex and the two of then are supposed to be doing research for a procedure. She notices that Alex has stepped away from the laptop.

"Hey, Ted. Can you try to find a Miles Browne in..... ?"
His voice drifts off as he paces.
Claire stops and eavesdrops as she hears her dad's name.
Alex is silent.
"You found him? What's the address?"
Claire's eyes widens and she turns around to hide her tears while Alex quickly scribbles down the address.
"Thanks. I owe you."
He ends the call and sees Claire.
He is startled.
"Claire... Did you hear all of that?" he said, startled.
She nods, not facing him.

"Hey."
He touches her arm and she turns around.
"It's okay to be nervous. It's okay to be scared of what might happen if you see him. But Claire, you're going to feel worse and regret it if you leave him out of one of the most of important moments of your life."
She sighs.
"I know."
She pauses.
"Did N... Melendez ask you to do this?"
Alex nodded.
"You can't say no to the boss, can you?"
She smiled.
"But also, I couldn't say no when it's for a friend."
"Thanks."
She moves to hug him.
He steps away from her embrace.
"Right. We got to get back to the procedure."
Claire exhales and wipes her tears. "Yeah. So..."
Claire starts to discuss her ideas with Alex.

Later, after both of their surgeries, Claire sees Neil in his office and enters.
"Hey." he said.
She exhales.
"Hey."
"I heard that the surgery was a little tricky."
"Yeah, but we handled it pretty well."
Neil nods. "Good."
He puts on his jacket.
"Also..."
He looks up.
"Alex found my dad."
He exhales.
"Claire, I'm sorry. I should have told you that I was trying to locate him."
She shakes her head.
"It's okay. I think I would have been more anxious if you told me."
"How did you find out?"
"I walked into the lounge when he was on the phone with a buddy of his."
Neil nods.
She moves towards him and kisses him.
He wraps his arms around her and then she pulls away.
"Thank you for doing this for me."
He smiled.
"You know we're at work, right?" he whispered.
She nods.
"Everyone's gone or in the ER. We're alone."
He smiles.
"Well, are you willing to see him?"
Claire pulls away from him and nods.
He tilts his head as she looks at him. She knows he does not believe her.
She exhales and sighs.
"The fact that he lives an hour away from me... It pains me to know that. Why did he never come back for me? Or at least try to see me?"
Neil caresses her face.
"Claire, these are questions that you need to ask him. Not me."
She inhales and nods.
"You're right."
They walk out, hand in hand.

Two days later, both Neil and Claire have a day off. Claire decided the night before that she wanted to see Miles. Neil agreed to pick her up.
In the car...
He notices that she seems uneasy. Her hands start shaking.
He moves to hold it.
She exhales and smiles.
"You're going to be okay, Claire."
She smiles and nods.
He grips her hand tighter and doesn't let go until they reach Miles' house.
"I... have no idea how I am going to react. What to say."
"You could just start by saying hi."
She smiles.
"You've got an answer for everything, don't you?"
He smirks.

They arrive at Neil's house. Claire tries to unfasten her seatbelt, but Neil's hand is still holding onto hers.
"Neil, you can let go."
He looks at her hand and then back at her.
"Oh. My bad."
He lets go, feeling quite disappointed that the moment has ended.

They walk to the house.
Claire freezes, seemingly in a daze.
"You're not alone. I'm right here." Neil whispered, hoping that she would break free from her daze.
Shs shakes her head and grips his hand.
He knocks on the door.

Claire takes a deep breath and steps away from Neil's side.
The door opens.
She sees him, face to face for the first time in years.
"Hi... Dad." said Claire, quite startled.
"Claire?"