A/N: Hi everyone! I know Dr. Han was fired in the season finale (thank goodness), but for the purposes of this story, I'm keeping him on just a little while longer for this plot line.
Lim and Melendez told Han about the baby the next day, but to be honest, they weren't quite sure how he felt. He had reacted in a stone cold manner, but that wasn't unusual for him. Everyone else at the hospital was extremely thrilled for the expectant parents. Andrews had been very accommodating about everything they needed and the residents were beyond excited for their mentors (Claire, of course, being elated about anything to do with children). Park had even offered Melendez some advice for becoming a first time father and Shaun was more than willing to keep them up to date on the latest research (they were proud of him for keeping their secret for six weeks, though Lim and Melendez had gently told him they didn't need nearly as much help as he was offering). The weeks passed and Lim's first trimester symptoms began to lessen some, much to her relief. She could get through the day without feeling like a zombie, the morning sickness was gone (well, for the most part; not completely), and she was slowly starting to feel like herself again. She was thirteen weeks along and just starting to show; naturally Melendez and she were mesmerized with the protrusion in her abdomen and the growing baby (or the Little Champion as Melendez liked to call it). Overall, things were going smoothly after a rough first trimester.
Lim was just getting ready to meet Park and Claire in the operating room for a surgery, but she was surprised to find Han scrubbing in as well, "Dr. Han," Lim acknowledged her superior.
"Dr. Lim," he replied.
"Is there some emergency with the patient? I'm supposed to be the one performing the surgery," she stated in confusion.
"I know, but I decided to do this surgery myself," he answered her.
Lim did her best not to scowl in front of her boss, but this was the second time this week Han had performed one of her surgeries for her, "Sir, I promise you, I'm perfectly capable of doing surgeries at this point in my pregnancy. In fact, probably more so since I'm not urinating or vomiting every few minutes."
"I'm just being cautious for the patients' sake," explained Han, "Now if I recall correctly, I gave you some paperwork on a few of cases that were reported in the ER last week. I need them filled out and put on my desk for my signature by the end of the day."
Lim did actually scowl this time, "Sir, I'm perfectly capable of performing the surgery; I'm not an invalid."
"It's an order, Dr. Lim," said Han sternly and went into the operating room.
Lim stood in place confused for another minute before going back to her office. What was up with Dr. Han lately? First, he kicked her out of two of her surgeries, yet still allowed her to see the patients and he also seemed to be assigning her more and more of his paperwork lately. Not that she wasn't capable of filling out mindless forms, but she was a trauma surgeon for God's sake, not an administrator! Now that she thought about it, all of this nonsense had started three weeks ago, after Melendez and she had told him that she was expecting. And she couldn't argue with Han too much because he had the power to fire her for disrespecting authority. She left the scrub-in area of the OR, an anger building up inside of her. Instead, she made her rounds with her other patients before going back to her office. She didn't have much else to do if she wasn't performing surgeries, so she spent the day doing paperwork and updating patient reports. Melendez walked by her office on his way to visit a patient, but stopped when he noticed Lim in her office. He knocked on the door and she ushered him into the room, "I thought you were supposed to be in surgery?"
"I was, but Han is covering for me," quipped Lim bitterly.
"Again? He took over one of your surgeries on Monday," commented Melendez.
Lim shrugged, "I don't know what's going on," she admitted.
"Alright, well let me know if you need anything," said Melendez.
Lim looked up at her boyfriend and stood. She gave him a charming smirk and asked, "Well, now that you mention it, are you going to the fifth floor?"
Melendez wasn't actually going to the fifth floor, but he didn't want to tell Lim that; he knew the cafeteria was on the fifth floor and he had already briefly observed the half-eaten Big Texas cinnamon roll, the empty bag of Cheetos, and the now consumed cup of vanilla yogurt on Lim's desk, "What does the baby want now?"
"He or she was thinking a mango smoothie," Lim said and smiled broadly.
Melendez sighed, but chuckled, "I have a patient consult first and then I'll see about getting our Little Champion that smoothie."
"He or she will thank his or her Daddy," Lim grinned in satisfaction.
Melendez quickly kissed her and left the office. Lim glanced back over at her desk and the mound of paperwork on it, secretly wondering to herself if there was more to Han's motives than concern for her wellbeing.
Later that night, after their shifts ended, Lim placed the papers on Han's desk and thankfully, he wasn't there for any more awkward encounters. Lim swung by Melendez's office and the two surgeons decided to have dinner out that night since they were both off the next day and also the fact that Lim was no longer too sick to eat heavier meals. They stopped at Red Robin and placed their orders before Lim asked Melendez, "Hey, has Han been acting differently around you?"
Melendez sighed, but nodded, "A little. He doesn't seem as willing as Andrews to take into consideration things that'll have to change once the baby comes. You?"
Lim nodded adamantly, "Like you mentioned, he's booted me from two of my own surgeries this week. I'm no longer falling asleep mid-afternoon; I'm not puking every other hour. I'm still perfectly capable of treating late night drunken head injuries and carefully fixing a human body. I don't see why he needs to take over."
Their food arrived and they began to eat, "Do you think it has something to do with the fact that you're pregnant?"
Lim sighed, but shook her head, "I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking things. I was pretty sick and tired my entire first trimester. Sometimes I still get sick if I'm not careful."
Melendez knew by now not to question Lim's instincts, so he nodded and let it go. Though for the first time, it was him that had a bad feeling about Han's ulterior motives.