Chapter 45: New horizons

"Dr. Cameron? This is Neil Melendez. You left a message earlier about some available positions in your hospital for my wife and I."

Even after several months of marriage, Neil was still shivering when he called Claire his wife. He looked at her and winked. She make her so cute face, the one she did when he came back at Jake's years ago after he told her he was being professional and she answered him he was only overcompensating. This night when he decided his relationship – whatever it was at the time – was more important than the direct orders of the chief of surgery. He activated the speaker of his phone.

"Dr. Melendez! I'm very glad you call me back! Is your wife around so I can speak to the both of you in the same time?"

"She's right next to me. I've put you on speaker so we can talk all three together."

"Great!" She paused for a while. Time for Claire and Neil to exchange a look. "So, I'm Dr. Cameron. I run the Raleigh General Hospital in North Carolina. I've come here with my husband about 8 years ago. He had a bad time… Long story and it has nothing to do in this conversation. So let's go back to our first topic. I've got your CVs from one of my former interns. Dr. Reynolds. He told me he knew you from medical school. You were his tutor, right?"

"This is right. I tutored him for his first three years of study in Stanford. I was in third year when I started."

"Dr. Browne, I'm impressed. Your CVs says you're a trauma surgeon but you have a specialty in cardiothoracic and pediatric surgeries too."

Neil looked at his wife, proudly. She was such a badass!

"That's nice of you to say. In fact, I specialized first in trauma after a traumatic personal event…" She paused and looked at Neil. He immediately knew what she was talking about. She swallowed hard and continued to talk. "But then I realized I was missing something in my life. I do love trauma because you have to be quick, reactive, creative but I needed something more, something more precise, more focused. And I couldn't choose between cardiothoracic and pediatrics… So I took them both."

"That's a very interesting combo. And to be honest, this is really the kind of profile I'm looking for to develop our surgery department. I need people who are versatile, proactive, inventive. Speaking of inventive, Dr. Melendez, I saw you led a successful surgery separating two conjoined twins. Pretty impressive too. And you fix the heart of a young boy that any doctor before called condemned. I love your dedication to your patients, your stubbornness. It reminds me of my husband in a way… Even if he's very one of a kind."

She let out a laugh. "If you agree, I'd like to meet you in person to exchange about your jobs and your vision of being a doctor. Would you agree to come in Raleigh in the next few weeks?"

"Of course! Give us some days just to arrange with our patients. Can we call you on Friday to schedule a meeting?"

"That's perfect! I'm waiting for your call then. See you very soon."

Dr. Cameron hung up. They remained silent for some seconds. Smiles over their faces. "So Raleigh, it is?"

"I think so… To be honest, I didn't believe we will be called one day!"

"This time, this is not me having dark thoughts!" Claire teased him. "Let's go there and see what this Dr. Cameron has in store for us and if it's not what we're looking for, we'll look for something else."

"And if it is…"

"We'll move there, then… Away from earthquakes…"

He didn't think and just took her in his arms. She knew him too well. Maybe Raleigh was the place they were looking for after all. And this Dr. Cameron seemed very nice. Tomorrow they will have to check on their schedules in Bonaventure to know when they were gonna be able to go there without arousing the curiosity from the hospital staff, their colleagues and friends. But before doing this, they really needed to sleep, their evening had been way too emotional.

On the day after, they went to work as if it was an ordinary day. Hand and hand, a quick kiss in the elevator before he got off at the 4th floor and the day had started. Each went to their office to study their schedule in the first place. Claire pulled off her jacket and put her white coat. She gathered her files, she had to visit her patients to check if they were recovering well. But before going, she preferred to re-read the files one more time. Her phone rang sometimes later. When she saw Neil's name appeared on her screen, she smiled.

"Dr. Melendez, what can I do for you?"

"Dr. Browne. I would like to speak to you. Would you be available to meet me at noon in my office? We'd eat together and we could compare our timetable to find the perfect spot to go to Raleigh."

"That's a very interesting proposition, Dr. Melendez. But I don't think I'll have the time to join you unless you promise me something else."

"Like?"

She giggled. "You do know what I mean!"

He laughed. He did know a lot of things she liked. He had only to pick one of them. "So would you come and have lunch with me? I'll order the Thai food you prefer…"

"You really know how to talk to me! I'll be there for 12:30. I've four patients to visit this morning. Is it OK for you?"

"Perfect."

"See you soon. Love you."

"Love you too." And he hung up. He had some surgeries to prepare for the next days, including the change of a stomach device which reminded him of his own. He put his hand over his stomach to feel the little piece of plastic which had saved his life. And he smiled, thinking about how he had come from a very long way. But before losing his mind over his medical cases, he called the Thai restaurant to order some food for lunch. A promise was a promise!

Claire came to Neil's office at 12:30. He was with Audrey, talking about the case of a man suffering several pneumothorax over the years. Neil stopped talking when he saw her at the doorstep.

"I can go back later if…"

"No, please, come on, we have almost finished."

Audrey nodded. "I was about to go away. Enjoy your lunch. Neil, I talk to you later about Mr. Lopez."

She walked through the room and reached the corridor in less than one minute.

"Everything's Ok with Audrey?"

"Yeah… She's just tired, I suppose. But enough talking about her. We have an important thing to do."

They sat in the sofa and started to talk about their timetable, while waiting their food. Less than 15 minutes later, it was there on the table. "So October, 25th it is?" Neil asked to Claire.

"I think we have a date, since our days off are the same at this moment. We go on the 23th, so we can prepare our interview and we can come back on 27th, so we can visit the city a little after everything is done. What do you say about this? "

He nodded and grinned. "Let's call Dr. Cameron to book this meeting. "

They called her but she didn't answer. She was probably in surgery. So they left a message to explain they were available on October, 25th. "Hope she calls back soon to be apprised."

Dr. Cameron called them later in the afternoon. Neil thanked her for her message and she confirmed she waited them on October, 25th. He texted Claire as soon as he hung up. Now they had their future in their hands.

The days separating them from their meeting with Dr. Cameron melted down like the snow under the sun. Work was intense, days were long and exhausting. But they did know something better was waiting for them. The most difficult was to remain quiet about their project. This evening, Claire came to Neil's office.

"Time to go home, sweetie."

She entered the office and came face to face with Audrey, sitting in front of him. She was confused, not knowing what to do, what to say next. Neil saw the distress in her eyes.

"Hey honey, I've just have some little things to see with Audrey. Can we join in the lobby in like 15 minutes?"

She looked at him, and just him. She needed to focus on something that reassured her. "Ok. Meet you there. Good night, Dr. Lim." And she rushed to the elevator. All she wanted now was to disappear. Neil remained alone with Audrey.

"Mr. Velasquez will be a perfect candidate for…"

She interrupted him. "So you married her…"

"I do."

"Are you happy?"

He marked a pause and gave her a faint smile. "Happier than I've ever expected."

He could tell by the way she was looking at him that she was hurt in her self-esteem. She had always thought she had marked him, that their relationship had meant something. Apparently, it was not the case.

"Audrey… Don't take it personally… I appreciate what we had… It's just that it's different with Claire… We were friend, we still are. We had a good time. We had fun… But you know from the beginning, it was not serious. You even told me that it was not enough… Claire brings me what I had missed all my life. She completes me…. When I'm with her, it's like I'm 15 again… I'm fearful, crazy, deeply in love."

She was listening to him carefully, not telling a word. He didn't know what to do, so he continued because he wanted to make things clear.

"Please, don't be mad at me… I really like you but it was not the same … I deeply love Claire. She's the one I've looked for all my life. The one I want to build a family with, have kid, have fights, be mad at, grow old… I hope you won't take Claire responsible for this. She's guilty of anything except stealing my heart fairly. If you want to get angry at someone, be mad at me…"

She was still silent. To be fair, it made Neil feel even more uneasy. She finally stood up and walked to the corridor. Before leaving the office, she turned at Neil.

"I'm not mad at her… To be honest, I envy her. Because she gets you in a way no one ever did before. In fact, she's lucky you love her this much. To be fair, I've noticed this connection, this chemistry from day one. I was surprised when we started dating and then I understood I could never compete with her. You literally made a mother change her mind about her to offer her her first solo surgery. Which boss does that? No one! You did it because she was already counting a lot for you… Way more than she should have. You were just not aware of it anymore. She was not either…"

She took a deep breath. She needed it to keep talking.

"I'm happy for you too, Neil…. Really…. I've just hoped it was me instead of her…"

Neil lowered his head. He had liked spending time with her, he still did. But she was never more than a good friend. Sometimes, he thought they should have never been involved. For the peace of his mind. He didn't like the idea he had hurt her.

"I'm sorry if I've given you false hopes. It was not what I meant when…"

"Don't be sorry, Neil. This is how life works. You're happy. It's so obvious. Since you're with her, you're glowing. You're smiling all the time. She's making of you a better version of yourself. And I'm happy for you and for Claire…It's just it's hard to see. Goodbye Neil… I've a thoracotomy to perform in 30 minutes, I'm the emergency doctor tonight."

She left. He was like stunned. Audrey and he had finally talked open-hearted. It had to be done. His whole heart belonged to Claire and for a long time. She was his better half. She gave him so much. She even taught him that arrogance didn't make him a better surgeon. It was only kindness and good will that could make you a good doctor. He was lucky as Audrey said. The luckiest man in the world… And right now, he desired only one thing: meet Claire in the lobby.

He gathered his stuff, turned his computer off and put his jacket. When the elevator opened on the basement, he saw her, sat in one of the chairs of the lobby. She was writing something on her phone, probably answering one of her messages.

"Ready to go home, honey?"

She smiled at him and stood up. He took her hand. But before going, he pulled her next to him and hugged her. It was quick, strong, intense. Just for him to have the time to tell her some words in the ears. Words that made her smile. He knew she didn't like the great gestures in public. To be honest, he didn't like them either. But tonight, he needed to tell her she was her everything. To any answer, she dropped a kiss on his cheek. And made him the happiest man on the world.