pinkcl0verleaf – your suggestion is in the last scene here thank you! Dialogue taken from the show as per previous chapters.

As per her request, he brought dinner. He'd stopped at his place to pick up an overnight bag then grabbed a pizza on the way. They hadn't stayed at her place since they'd got back from their trip for no other reason than Neil's apartment being closer to the hospital. One thing that stuck firmly in his mind from that stay was the distinct lack of cooking facilities.

Using his elbow to hit the buzzer, the door clicked open before he could even announce himself and he headed up the stairs to the first floor. Walking towards her door, he could see that it was ajar with a low light emanating from inside and he shook his head.

"You shouldn't leave your door open like that" he scolded gently as he walked in to see her sprawled on her sofa with her feet up on the table in front of her.

"You think I'd just let anyone in?" she laughed. "Besides, I could take them!"

"I have no doubt about that, but really... you shouldn't leave your door open" he said dropping his bag by the front door and kicking off his shoes. "Shift" he said, nudging her legs to make his way past.

Sitting heavily on the couch, he rested the box on his knees and looked at her, now sat with her legs tucked underneath her.

"You're going to have to come a bit closer if you want some if this" he said with a smirk.

"Some of what?" she replied suggestively.

"Pizza of course" he laughed, throwing the lid open and smiling as she shuffled closer. A lot closer. She kissed him quickly on the cheek and dived right in and he joined her, deciding that he could afford a day off the healthy stuff.

With just a couple of slices remaining, they admitted defeat and after a while Audrey sprang up from her seat declaring that it was the perfect amount left for breakfast tomorrow which was met with a resolute 'no thanks' from Neil. After stowing it safely in the fridge, she returned with a beer in each hand. She smiled at him looking so relaxed in her home and tucked herself under his arm, wiggling closer as it dropped down over her shoulder to hold her close.

"Thanks" he said absent mindedly taking the drink she offered but keeping his eyes focused on the news feature showing on the television.

"Welcome" she replied with a smile.

It didn't take long for her to get bored of which ever depressing story was playing on the current cycle. Looking up at him, she smiled to herself as she hatched her plan to divert his attention back her in her direction.

Her hand was already resting on his chest from the position they had naturally settled into, so she slowly began to test his resolve. She gently undid a single button on his shirt and smiled when she heard his breath hitch when her fingers made contact with the bare skin underneath. She didn't do anything more for a good while until she felt him relax, then she moved again and popped another button. This time he sighed heavily as she slid her hand inside and his hand squeezed the hip it was casually resting on.

By the time she'd finished with the buttons and replaced her fingers with her lips, he was lost. She looked at him and smiled. His head was lolled against the back of his sofa, his eyes closed and his lips curled into a soft smile as he took deep, controlled breaths. The news had been long forgotten as he relished the feeling of her taking control and all the television was at this point was a source of light.

He could have turned the tables at any point and she knew he was strong enough to do it. She'd always been forward and confident in the bedroom since her divorce but nobody had shown her passion like he had and she had thoroughly enjoyed him taking control. That made these moments all the more wonderful.

Continuing her assault on his prone form, she eventually drove them over the edge into oblivion. "We're not sleeping out here right?" he mumbled into her hair as they lay there afterwards.

"No" she chuckled. "This couch is no better than yours. Come on" she said moving to get up, pulling him up and leading him off to bed.

X

Next morning they were running late. Audrey had objected vehemently at the idea of Neil taking a shower at hers before work arguing that Shaun would notice if they both showed up smelling the same.

"My place isn't like Walmart with lines of bottles to choose from" she sniped, making him laugh at the suggestion that his place was! "I've got one and it'll set alarm bells off for Shaun when we both show up smelling of strawberries!"

He laughed at her flustered state which didn't help and as he retreated into the bathroom, he ducked a little to avoid the pillow she had launched at him in temper.

Moments later, he felt a draught as the screen door opened and she stepped in next to him. He didn't say anything and just raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well if you're going to blow our cover, we might at least enjoy a last hurrah" she said with a huff, grabbing the bottle off the shelf and stepping under the stream to wet her hair.

"Sure" he replied with a smirk.

"Besides, California is in a drought. It's responsible to save water" she said as she turned to face him.

"Of course" he agreed as he leaned in for a kiss.

He had pulled over at the kerbside for her to get out of the car. Needing to make up time, they had bypassed their normal bus stop and were just two blocks from the hospital when Audrey announced that anywhere along here would be fine to pull in.

After putting the car in park and taking a quick look around, he put his hand on her thigh and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

She leaned closer to kiss him goodbye, a kiss they quickly got lost in.

"We're gonna be late" Neil mumbled as he undid his seatbelt so he could better reach her.

"So stop" she replied with a smile between kisses. Neither of them did and as the kisses got heated, he moved again to try and get closer, accidentally hitting the horn making them jump apart grinning to themselves.

"And don't be smiling at me when you see me in the hall" Audrey said with a smirk, getting ready to get out of the car.

"I smile at everyone, I'm a friendly guy" he countered looking over at her with said smile.

"You'd be a horrible poker player" she said smiling right back before opening the door and stepping up onto the sidewalk.

"What are you doing?" Neil asked as she got straight back into the car looking flustered.

"Murphy's on the corner" she replied. "Move it."

"That's not where his bus drops off" Neil said, a little confused at the change of routine for the young man.

"You think he saw us?" She said, sinking down in her seat.

"He's not looking over here" he replied.

"Well that doesn't mean anything with him" Audrey argued. "We gotta get outta here before the light turns" she said slouching in her seat and pulling her seatbelt back on. "Let's go, move it!"

Pulling back out into the traffic, they drove right by Shaun standing waiting for the lights to change so he could cross. He didn't acknowledge them as they passed and he seemed to be staring straight ahead but they both knew that meant nothing.

Glancing over at Audrey, Neil could see that this near miss had flustered her again. Little did he know how this near miss was going to their course.

X

The potential run in this morning had compounded Audrey's other major stress this week. Her oldest and best friend Laura had rushed her young daughter in two days before and Audrey had operated to remove a subdural haematoma.

She had visited her friend in recovery where baby Avery was still hooked up to all sorts of monitors and alarms. They sat for a while talking and Audrey wasn't quite sure where to put herself when Laura admitted she felt insecure when it came to parenting. Her friend had always known what she wanted and exactly how to get there. This was the kind of conversation she very little experience of and didn't want to say the wrong thing to Laura who was already feeling the pressure.

Trying to break the tension, she cracked a joke about any child of hers heading to kindergarten on back of her Ducati which got the smallest of smiles from her friend which set her at ease a little.

Avery was to be kept under observation until they found the reason for the bleed, in case further treatment was required. When Audrey visited Dr Lever in the pathology lab, she took the opportunity to check in with Shaun, quizzing him on his journey to work that morning. Uneasy with her line of questioning, he didn't confirm that he didn't see anything interesting on his walk to work which left her feeling uneasy.

That was compounded when Dr Lever confirmed the diagnosis that baby Avery had been shaken and Audrey couldn't believe what she was hearing. She began to defend her friend but Dr Lever pushed her to call Protective Services and told her she needed to step back from the situation. They agreed that Dr Farmer would complete the required scan in a more objective manner and Audrey headed out feeling unsettled by the whole experience.

"I talked to Murphy, he definitely saw us" she said quietly as she met Neil at the nurses station a short while later.

"What did he say?" he asked, glancing up at her.

"It wasn't what he said, it was how he acted" she whispered. "He was clearly uncomfortable talking to me."

"He's uncomfortable talking to everyone" Neil teased smiling down at the chart he should have been writing in.

"We need to get out in front of this. Tell Andrews before someone else does."

"We need to figure out exactly what Murphy saw" he said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"How?" she exclaimed a little louder. "We can't just ask him if he saw us making... bread. We're not going to get anywhere with indirect questions" she said lowering her voice again.

"I'll talk to him"

"You think you can read him better than I can" she asked.

"No. But if at first you don't succeed..."

"Let the man try" she said rolling her eyes prompting him to smile wickedly. It was infectious and they stood, looking very amused at their patient charts until another staff member approached to inform them that Dr Han wanted to see them.

Looking at each other with a hint of despair, they headed straight upstairs to answer the summons and found Shaun sat, waiting quietly on the couch in front of Hans desk. Before they had the chance to incriminate themselves, Shaun interrupted to confirm that the meeting was called to discuss the result of Dr Han meeting with the Medical Board and that they weren't going to be reprimanded after all. After expressing their thanks, they were abruptly dismissed with no mention of what they thought was going to be the drama of the day.

X

Neil's case was a young man named Kenny who had travelled all the way from Mississippi to San Jose for this life changing moment. His surgery was being touted as a great educational opportunity and Neil proudly introduced him and his neural fibroma along with an innovative surgical plan to remove in one piece. Scans had shown it had its own blood supply and it was due to be a massive endeavour.

With the presentation complete, they took Kenny up to Imaging to get a final map of the vessels they would be dealing with. The news was not positive and since their last set of scans, the blood vessels had grown so much that Neil had to break the news to Kenny that if they continued with the procedure, he would likely bleed to death in the table.

Seeing Kenny so upset when they broke the news they wouldn't be able to operate, affected him deeply. They offer to make Kenny comfortable and provide pain relief and he accepted sadly as they began to make preparations to send him home.

X

"How could you possibly believe I could hurt my baby?"

"I don't. Which is why I ordered the additional tests. Did your ever leave her with anyone else even to take a nap or a shower? Looking after a new-born is exhausting" Audrey asked in quick succession.

"It isn't. After waiting so long, every single moment no matter how hard is not exhausting. It's joy" Laura replied, almost pleading with her.

"I know you love her but your still human, you must get tired sometimes" she implored.

"I don't. You don't understand because your haven't experienced it, but when you love someone so much..." she argued. "The tests, they have to be wrong."

They had nothing more to say to each other at this point and she headed out to find Neil.

"Do you want to get a drink?" Neil asked her as she walked in through the door of his office before even saying hello.

"God yes" she replied, looking relieved at his suggestion. "I need to get my mind off this thing with Laura. Let's go celebrate having our cases dropped."

Twenty minutes later they were sat in a nearby wine bar with an ice bucket next to them. With their glasses charged, they toasted their success before the conversation turned more serious.

"Since it seems we're going to be working together a whole longer maybe it is time we came out of the closet?" he suggested, feeling brave before taking a sip from his glass.

"Maybe? Are you saying you want to?" Audrey asked.

"Do you want to?" he countered.

"Maybe."

"You're afraid it would make things awkward, people seeing us as a couple?"

"Yes, obviously" she scoffed making him laugh. "But at the moment I'm more afraid that we'd wouldn't be having this conversation if Murphy hadn't almost busted us. Which makes me think we're not ready to have this conversation" she finished with one of her looks.

"It's understandable if we aren't" he started after a pause. "We've both been in relationships we thought were going to last."

"Understandable" she agreed. "But why should we even care what people at work think?"

"So... should we talk to Andrews?" he asked.

"Maybe. What do you think?"

"Maybe" he shrugged.

Finishing the bottle between them, they kissed just inside the door of the bar and headed to their own homes for the night. They needed to be well rested for the coming day which was going to be full of challenges for them both.

X

The next day for Audrey did not improve one iota. She had just a few moments with Laura to confirm that the most recent test results had come back confirming the previous results before security arrived and took her away screaming at Audrey all the while for her betrayal.

Rough, tough Audrey Lim could have cried there and then. Her first instinct was to go and speak to Neil but he was heading into the surgery on Kenny and didn't need any distractions right now. Instead, she turned and headed back to her office to hide herself away for the rest of the day.

With thanks to Dr Murphy and his unique view on the processes of the human body, the procedure on Kenny was a success and the mass was removed in one whole piece. His recovery be would be painful and would require some graft procedures but his response was pure happiness at the way everything had gone. Neil was finishing the day on a high.

Audreys day was finishing on a different note. After checking and re-checking the results they finally deduced that Avery's assisted birth with ventouse had caused the bruising. The relief that flooded over her was immense, but the conversation that followed with Laura was difficult and extremely personal and she came away from it feeling drained.

X

Home alone later that evening, the gentle knock at the door startled her. The television was on but she was totally lost in thought following today's confrontation with Laura. She felt quite sad and a little sorry for herself but after checking the spyhole, she smiled.

"Hi" she said opening the door to see Laura's face graced with a sheepish smile.

"Hi" Laura replied softly looking down at the baby sleeping in the capsule at her feet. "Can we come in?"

"Of course" she smiled back, standing to one side to let her friend pass by. "Sit" she said gesturing towards the couch.

"Thank you" Laura replied, placing the seat next to her feet and sitting down heavily. She'd had a lot to deal with the last few days and one of the things that had played on her mind the most were the harsh words she had laid on Audrey after she had apologised for making the wrong call.

"Coffee?" Audrey asked quietly, careful not to wake the sleep Avery.

"Decaf?" Laura replied hopefully. "I need to be able to sleep when this one does."

"I'm sure I've got some tucked away. Maybe I'll join you, I need to sleep tonight too" she said turning to rifle through her cupboards.

"Can we talk some more?" Laura asked. "I shouldn't have said those things to you today. Especially after you had come to apologise to me."

"It's fine" Audrey replied. "You were stressed..."

"It doesn't make it okay" Laura said. "You're my oldest friend and you've been so supportive through all this. I just lashed out."

"You were right in a way" Audrey replied. "I've not allowed myself to get attached to anyone since Kashal. That whole thing was a disaster" she smiled sadly.

"But for me to say it'd never happen was awful" Laura said. "Can't you at least be a little bit upset with me please?"

"I do understand love" Audrey mumbled after a moment of quiet. "I know it can be the best and the worst of things. And I think it just scares me that it has the potential to hurt so much."

They sat a while longer, just being friends until a panicked look crossed Audreys face when she heard a key scraping into the lock. She instantly knew who it was, he'd borrowed her key the day he brought her home from hospital and hadn't given it back and until right now, she hadn't given it a second thought.

He didn't call out as he came through the door, he wasn't sure if she'd still be awake. He hadn't called ahead but stopped for dinner in case she was, knowing that she wasn't adverse to eating leftovers for breakfast anyway.

"Are you okay? Who is that?" Laura asked, shifting in her seat to see who had just walked in.

"I'm sorry" he started, looking straight at Audrey and feeling panic rise in his chest. "I didn't know you had company" he said, not sure how she was about to react. He looked down at the baby sleeping at Laura's feet and apologised a second time. "Sorry. Hi Laura."

"Hi Neil" she replied with a soft smile.

"It's fine" Audrey said quietly, getting up and moving to take a bag from his overloaded arms. She stood in front of him for a few seconds, thinking. It felt to Neil as though time had stopped as he waited for her reaction and he was pleasantly surprised when she leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Come on" she said as she walked into her kitchen and he followed mutely.

"Sorry" he whispered as they stood side by side taking things out of the bags he had come bearing. "I didn't know you had visitors. I thought you might want company and dinner" he shrugged.

"I do, I want both" she replied with a smile. "There is enough here to go around right?"

"Absolutely" he smiled as Audrey checked in with Laura that she wanted to eat with them.

Conversation was minimal during dinner as they sat Audrey's living room thoroughly enjoying the Thai he'd picked up. Luckily he'd brought more than enough and when they'd finished, he stood to take their plates out to wipe.

"So..." Laura started once he was out of earshot. "Neil?"

"Yeah" Audrey smiled softly. "Was meant to be a one time thing but after the quarantine, things changed" she shrugged.

"Just a bit...I can't say I'm surprised though" Laura chuckled. "How is it working at the hospital?"

"Nobody knows. We're going to see Andrews tomorrow. It's not technically against the rules but you know what he's like" she said with a grimace.

"Think positive" Laura encouraged. "If they haven't noticed then there obviously hasn't been a change in your behaviour so far" she smiled. Audrey laughed, thinking back to Andrews comment in the elevator and nodded.

"I'm going to head home, I'll leave you guys to it" Neil announced walking back in as the conversation ended.

"It's about time I headed home too" Laura replied. "Been a crazy few days."

"Want a hand to the car?" He asked nodding at the baby capsule with Avery sleeping peacefully.

"That would be great" Laura smiled.

Bending to pick up the sleeping baby, he turned to move towards the door.

"Excuse me!" he heard from behind him and he turned to find Audrey stood right there.

"Goodnight" she said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him soundly. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow" he smiled, stepping away to allow Laura to embrace her too.

"I'm happy for you" she whispered in her ear. "It's about time."

X

The next day would be their day of reckoning.

"Are you sure you want to do this" Neil asked as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out shoulder to shoulder.

"Shut up" she smiled as they walked towards the glass doors. She snuck a glance to see a smile on his face too.

He held open the door for her to pass through and followed dutifully behind her to knock on the door to Dr Andrews office.

'Here goes nothing' he thought as he heard him call out and followed her inside.

X

One more chapter to go after this one...