Feelings

Chapter 7

On December 25th, Melendez woke up bright and early that way he could be at the group home by 10 AM when the party started, though sleeping until quarter of nine was sleeping in for him. He found his red sweater that had a Santa Claus on the front of it; he thought it was the ugliest sweater on the planet, but Gabi adored it so much and Melendez would do absolutely anything for his sister. He grabbed Gabi's presents and drove over to the group home. When he entered the main dining area, Gabi was already seated in her favorite spot by the window. He walked over to her and smiled, "Hey Kiddo, Merry Christmas!"

Gabi looked up at her brother and smiled, "Neil," she beamed, "Merry Christmas."

Neil kissed her cheek and sat down next to her, "So how have you been?"

"We made Christmas cookies, and we decorated the tree, and they took us to the mall and helped us buy Christmas presents," she said happily.

"Well, that's wonderful, Niña," he said and handed her the gifts, "I have something for you."

He helped her unwrap the puzzles and panda bear and Gabi grinned with delight, "New puzzles! And a replacement for Cookie! Thank you, Neil," she embraced her brother.

"De nada, Niña," he answered.

"You haven't come to see me since Thanksgiving," said Gabi sadly.

"I know, Gabi," Melendez sighed sadly, "I've been busy at work."

"HO, HO, HO!" everyone heard and the residents cheered when Santa walked into the room, including Gabi, "Merry Christmas everyone!"

"Merry Christmas, Santa," everyone chorused. Melendez smiled to himself as one by one, the residents went to sit on Santa's lap and receive their gift, a craft to be made. When it was Gabi's turn, she happily sat and clearly enjoyed talking to Santa. She eagerly took her present, knowing that she would make it with her brother. It pained Melendez that he couldn't visit her more often, but with the long hours he worked and the fact that their parents could no longer help care for her, it was better for her health and safety to be put in a group home.

He also thought back to a couple Thanksgivings ago when he had come to the home's annual Thanksgiving dinner with Lim. It had been three years ago in 2015. Jessica and he had only been casually dating at that point and so she had spent Thanksgiving with her father without inviting him (that should have been the first clue that things weren't going to work out with Jessica). Lim wasn't scheduled to work Thanksgiving (much to her dismay), so he had invited her to spend Thanksgiving with him and Gabi (just as friends, of course). Lim and Gabi had only met that one time, but Gabi had taken to Lim pretty easily and Melendez couldn't help but admire how good Lim had been with his sister. But as he thought about it more, she was also the most patient with Shaun out of all of the attending surgeons at St. Bonaventure minus Glassman, himself included, that so it didn't really surprise him now. Gabi immediately wanted to start her craft, a small foam Santa, so Melendez helped her unpack everything and found the glue to help her put it together, "Oh, I saw Ms. Audrey yesterday and she told me to tell you hi," said Melendez.

Gabi smiled at the mention of Lim, "Where is Ms. Audrey?" she asked.

Melendez sighed, knowing Gabi didn't have the capability to understand Lim's current condition, at least not right now, "Niña, you know Ms. Audrey works every Christmas."

"Oh," Gabi pouted sadly.

Melendez decided to change the subject before Gabi could ask any more questions, "I think this is Santa's belt," he held up a piece of black foam.

After the big Christmas dinner, Melendez was just getting ready to leave when Gabi looked up at him, "Promise me you'll come visit me soon?"

"I promise, Kiddo," he kissed her forehead, "I hope you had a wonderful Christmas."

Gabi nodded and Melendez left the group home. He checked the time and visiting hours weren't over at the hospital, so he decided to swing by to see Lim before heading home. He made his way to the ICU and put on his mask and gloves before he knocked on the door. Lim turned and smiled when she saw Melendez, "I thought you were off today?"

"I am. But the party at Gabi's group home is over so I decided to stop by and check on you," he took off his coat.

Lim chuckled and covered her mouth, "Nice sweater," she commented amusingly and coughed a little.

"What?" Melendez looked down and realized he was wearing the Santa sweater, "Oh, Gabi loves this sweater, so I wore it for her sake," he admitted.

"Well, that's what makes you a wonderful brother," smiled Lim.

"So how was your Christmas?" Melendez took a seat next to the bed.

"Santa came by earlier for the kids in the ICU. Dr. Browne and Dr. Reznick both came by today. But I'm glad you also came to see me," she said.

Melendez took a deep breath, "Gabi was asking about you today."

Lim nodded, absorbing the information, "What did you tell her?"

"I told her you had to work. She doesn't have the ability to understand, you know..." Melendez trailed off mid-sentence.

"Right," Lim nodded.

Melendez stood, "Well, I really should get going, but I just wanted to check on you."

"Do you make personal visits to all of your patients?" she joked.

"When they're my friend, I do," he admitted, "Now get some rest. You're going to start your physical therapy with walking and pulmonary rehab tomorrow and you need to be well-rested."

"Well, thanks for stopping by. I was starting to get a little lonely," she admitted.

"It's no problem, Lim," she held out her arms for him and, though surprised, he embraced her back, "Merry Christmas, Audrey."

He went to pull away, but Lim wouldn't let go, at least not right away. She finally loosened her grip and gave a hesitant smile, "Merry Christmas, Neil."