Melendez sped to the hospital as fast as he could without breaking the speed limit while Lim coughed and struggled to breathe the entire ride. In all honesty, he probably did break the speed limit. He parked in his usual spot in employee parking which was thankfully by the emergency room. Melendez pulled Nurse Fryday aside and asked, "Nurse Fryday, who's on call tonight?"
"Dr. Cleland, Neil. Dr. Browne and Dr. Murphy are the residents on call. What's the emergency?"
"Audrey…Dr. Lim..." stuttered Melendez, barely being able to form words.
"I'm having trouble breathing and my emergency inhaler isn't working," Lim muttered anxiously.
"Oh dear, " said Nurse Fryday, ushering Lim over to one of the triage rooms, "Dr. Browne, Dr. Murphy, triage room 3! Stat!"
Shaun and Claire rushed over to see who their patient was, "Dr. Lim?" asked Claire in surprise.
"Chest hurts, can't breathe," she said, "Get the oxygen and then check my pulse ox and heart rate. Check to make sure there isn't any fluid buildup and if it sounds like there is, do a chest x-ray and start me on IV antibiotics," she instructed, "Also draw blood and send this to lab," Lim held up a cup with phlegm in it.
Claire nodded politely and took the cup. Only Dr. Lim would be gathering secretions to test on the car ride to the emergency room. Claire started the oxygen therapy while Shaun listened to her heartbeat and breathing, "Did you come alone, Dr. Lim?"
Lim shook her head and nodded towards Melendez, who was outside the triage rooms pacing frantically, "Dr. Melendez, please stop your pacing. You're distracting me," said Shaun.
Melendez stopped in his tracks, "Sorry Dr. Murphy."
Shaun could hear the bubbling sounds, so he announced, "Bubbling sounds on both sides, Dr. Lim might have pneumonia. We should do a chest x-ray to confirm."
"I just said that, Dr. Murphy," joked Lim.
"I know. I was confirming," said Shaun, oblivious to the sarcasm.
Once the x-rays were taken and some of the labs were done, Shaun went to assist Dr. Cleland on a car accident victim while Claire went to talk to Melendez about Lim's condition, "Dr. Melendez?" he turned to face his resident, "We started her on IV antibiotics and oxygen therapy. They seem to be improving her oxygen levels. We're still waiting on a few lab results. I'll consult Dr. Cleland, but from the sounds of it, they're going to keep her here overnight."
"Okay, thank you Dr. Browne," he acknowledged before he went into the triage room.
Lim looked over upon hearing him enter and he was giving her his look, "I know, I know, I should've been taking it easy as soon as I started feeling sick a few days ago. Instead, here I am."
Melendez sat down next to her, "At least I was there to get you here."
Lim chuckled and coughed a little, "You should go back home and get some rest. You'll be more comfortable sleeping in a bed."
"No, I'm not leaving you," he shook his head.
"Just until morning, Neil," said Lim, "Then you can back."
Claire cleared her throat and both surgeons turned to face her, "I can stay with her and monitor her if you want to go and get some more sleep. I'll call you if anything changes or if she's discharged," informed Claire.
Melendez sighed, "Alright, but I'm going back to your house since it's closer and I'll be here at 7 AM sharp."
"Oh yes sir," Lim mocked jokingly.
"Okay, I love you," he kissed her forehead.
"Love you too," answered Lim.
"Dr. Browne," Melendez nodded and left the room.
Claire sat down where Melendez had been and looked at Lim, "You know you gave everyone here at St. Bonaventure one scare. You don't need to keep doing so."
Lim chuckled, "It wasn't my intention either time, Dr. Browne, believe me."
Claire smiled as well and looked down towards the floor, "He was so worried about you, you know?" Lim glanced at Claire in confusion, "Dr. Melendez. He was so worried about you on the day of the quarantine. I mean, we all were, but not like him. He was constantly glued to those monitors in the conference room, when he found out you were infected, he looked like he was ready to break down in tears. Don't tell him I told you that. He made some…questionable decisions because he desperately wanted to get to you."
Lim looked at the young woman and asked, "What's on your mind, Claire?" she asked, using her first name instead of Dr. Browne.
Claire shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I just look at you both and how happy you are together and wonder if I'll ever have that type of love in my life. I mean, I was with Jared for a while, but I took him for granted and now he's gone," she vented.
"Dr. Browne, can I give you some non-medical advice? Woman to woman?" asked Lim.
"Of course," said Claire.
"Don't tell Dr. Melendez I told you this, because he'll go around with that big ego of his bragging about it, but I spent years staying silent about how I felt about him. For one thing, he tried to compete with me every chance he got. And then of course, Jessica came along," said Lim bitterly. "Anyways, I digress. My point is, you are a kind and compassionate young woman who deserves love. Someone special will come into your life when you least expect it. But it will be amazing if it's meant to be."
"Thanks, Dr. Lim," said Claire.
"No problem," smiled Lim.
Claire could still hear Lim wheezing, so Claire stood and said, "I'll go ask Dr. Cleland if we should up your oxygen," Claire went to leave when she turned back to Lim and said, "You're incredibly lucky to have a man like Dr. Melendez in your life. Don't do what I did and take him for granted. Do everything you can to hold onto him."
Melendez arrived back at St. Bonaventure at 7:00, just as he had promised, though Lim had been moved to a room on the main floor once she was stable to make room in the ER, "You don't have to work today?"
"No, since I covered the night shift a few days ago, I have off today. I cover the night shift again tomorrow," he sat down in the chair in her room, "So, did Dr. Browne and Dr. Murphy take good care of you?"
"The only one of our residents who hasn't had to treat me yet is Dr. Park," Lim smirked. They stayed silent, which didn't really bother either one of them at this point, when Lim said out of the blue, "I think we should move in together."
Melendez quickly turned his head towards Lim and asked, "Wait what?"
"I said I think we should move in together," repeated Lim.
"Why?" asked Melendez.
"Well, we already spend about 5 nights a week together, depending on our work schedules, what's two more?" asked Lim innocently, "If you hadn't been with me last night, who knows what would've happened to me. And we have clothes and toothbrushes at each other's places. Isn't that the unofficial rule that means we should move in together?"
Melendez hadn't asked Jessica to move in with him until after they had gotten engaged, but then again, if they had both moved in together earlier in their relationship, they might have both discovered how incompatible they were before he proposed. But as of right now, he didn't know whether Lim was thinking rationally or if it was just because of the current situation, so Melendez answered, "How about we discuss it once you're released?"
"Dr. Cleland says that should be either tonight or tomorrow morning and then I can rest at home," said Lim, "And no pressure, just something to think about," Melendez would indeed have to think about it, not because he didn't want to live together eventually, but he didn't know if it was still too early in the relationship and he didn't want to ruin what they already had, "Neil?"
"Hmm?" he turned to face her.
"Is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly.
"No," he shook his head, "Go back to sleep if you need to."
She nodded and closed her eyes again. Melendez couldn't help but watch her sleeping peacefully. He prided himself on his ability to make rational decisions, but when it came to Audrey Lim, he always followed his heart over his head. And once again, it seemed his gut feeling was being led by his heart.