Mei-Li arrived at work the next morning and Melendez had assigned her with Shaun for the next case, so she approached him at the main desk and smiled at him, "Hi Dr. Murphy."

Shaun looked over at her and said, "Hi Mei-Li."

"So, it looks like we'll be working together on the next case," said Mei-Li.

"Yes," Shaun nodded, "We have a thirty-five year old man who is complaining of heart palpitations and chest pain."

"So how are Steven and Lydia?" asked Mei-Li, following Shaun to their patient's hospital room.

"They're teenagers. They talk back to me and Claire a lot," Shaun answered stoically, "Lydia got her first period last month."

Mei-Li pulled Shaun a little closer and said, "Um, Shaun, that's not an appropriate thing to announce."

"Why not? It's a natural biological function of women," said Shaun.

"Still," said Mei-Li.

"Okay," said Shaun. They walked into the room and Shaun looked over the chart and asked, "Are you Matthew Davidson?"

The man nodded, "Yes."

"I'm Dr. Shaun Murphy and this is Dr. Mei-Li Lim-Melendez. It says you were running when you felt chest pain and palpitations?"

"That's correct," said Matthew.

"Have you ever experienced those symptoms before now?" asked Mei-Li.

"Occasionally, but I've been training for a marathon. It's gotten worse over the past few weeks," explained Matthew.

"Well, we need to conduct a few tests before we can determine a diagnosis," said Shaun.

Shaun and Mei-Li examined Matthew and determined he needed to have an EKG, an echocardiogram and an MRI done before they decided on a diagnosis. In the meantime, while they were waiting for Matthew's MRI results, Megan came over and asked, "Do you have the other case files of Suzanne Anderson's past visits?" the staff member nodded and handed them to Megan, "Thank you."

"Are you still hung up on that BS theory?" asked Mei-Li snippily.

Megan looked over at Mei-Li, "For your information, it's not some BS theory; it's a very real possibility that you don't want to acknowledge for some reason. And second of all, your father authorized for us to do it. You know, after he kicked you off of the case?"

"He didn't kick me off of the case; he simply said that there only needs to be two residents on the case and I happened to be the one he chose to eliminate," said Mei-Li.

"Only because you refuse to accept the truth," said Megan.

"What truth?" said Mei-Li turning to face her, "The fact that you buy into the myth that all people with PTSD are violent? You know less than 8% of individuals who suffer from PTSD actually commit an act of violence."

"And what if Daniel is one of those 8%?" Megan argued back.

"But there's a 92% chance he's not," said Mei-Li, "And you clearly don't have an ounce of empathy for Suzanne and Melanie."

"Well, I'm at least trying to get them out of an abusive situation, unlike you. So, in reality, I'm the one with more empathy," snapped Megan.

Mei-Li took a deep breath and said, "Look, to try to give you an idea of what PTSD is REALLY like, imagine that one day, you're sick at home with a really bad cold, watching a movie. Your baby brother is napping upstairs, your father is out getting diapers and cough medicine, and your mother is home taking care of you. You start coughing and one minute, you're on the couch, the next minute, you're locked in your parents' bedroom without a clue of what's going on. You're being told over and over again that you have to keep yourself away from everyone else so you won't infect them. You're scared because you don't know why this person is acting this way, you're being told over and over again 'I'm not going to let you die,' and then, your father gets home. He comes upstairs and your five year old self has to figure out how to unlock the door and watch everything unfold and there's not a damn thing you can do about it because you're five years old. So don't you DARE say I don't have any empathy for Suzanne and Melanie. You understand me?"

Megan didn't say anything more, but instead, grabbed the case files and silently left.

Later that day, Mei-Li was getting ready to finish her shift when Lim came up beside her. Lim said, "So, I heard you told off Dr. Augustine today?"

"Did that little tattle tale really come to you?" asked Mei-Li.

"Dr. Lim-Melendez, you won't talk to me like that here at work. I might be your mother, but here, I am your boss, and I won't hesitate to dismiss you for unprofessional conduct," warned Lim.

"Yes ma'am," said Mei-Li sheepishly.

"Anyways, your father is working the late shift tonight, so I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner somewhere?"

Mei-Li thought about it and said, "How about ASJ Restaurant? I could use some beef noodle soup."

"I'll meet you there," said Lim.

Mei-Li went to the locker room and changed into her casual clothes. She drove over to the restaurant and parked her Corolla next to Lim's Ducati. Mei-Li found her mother sitting at their usual table and she sat down across from Lim, "Here, I ordered you water," said Lim.

"Thanks," said Mei-Li.

"I also ordered steamed dumplings and two bowls of beef noodle soup," said Lim.

"Thanks Mom," said Mei-Li.

"Remember when I took you here for your first dim sum?" asked Lim, chuckling at the memory.

"Yes, I think a made a face at everything on the menu. You had to go through McDonald's drive through and get me a Happy Meal on the way home," Mei-Li smiled.

Their food arrived and they divided the dumplings between the two of them before they began to eat, "Now that we're in private, we need to talk about what happened between you and Dr. Augustine."

Mei-Li sighed in embarrassment, but she knew she deserved Lim's thorough scolding, "I know Dad warned me not to let the case get personal but I couldn't help it. I just lashed out at her when I shouldn't have and I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Thank you, but you don't need to apologize to me; you need to apologize to Dr. Augustine," clarified Lim.

"What?"

"Mei-Li," Lim gave her the mom look.

"Fine," Mei-Li admitted in defeat.

"I know it's hard. You and your brother have both been through a lot growing up. I appreciate you willing to defend me, even if Dr. Augustine doesn't know it's me, but you can't back talk to your fellow residents. No matter how much they deserve it," said Lim casually, taking a bite of soup.

"What? Really? You agree with me?" Mei-Li laughed.

"Oh goodness, yes," chuckled Lim, "She reminds me of Dr. Reznick when she first started her residency and your father when we first began ours. I wanted to strangle him most of the time."

"Well, you and Dad are competitive with each other," said Mei-Li.

"We are not," Lim lied.

"Mom, the last time we all went bowling, you claimed that Dad kept deliberately talking to you every time you were up so you would throw gutter balls," Mei-Li reminded her.

"You know what? All of this talk of competition has given me an idea for next week," said Lim.

"Okay," Mei-Li said slowly. Lim paid for their food and they both drove home. When they walked into the living room, Mei-Li said, "Thanks for the talk, Mom. I really needed it."

"You're welcome sweetheart," Lim hugged her tightly, "Now, I have some forms to finish and I have a meeting with a few donors tomorrow, not to mention a charity event next week, so I'm probably going to go to bed early."

"Okay Mom, I love you," said Mei-Li.

"I love you too," said Lim.

Before Lim could reach the first step, Mei-Li stopped her, "Mom?" Lim turned to face her daughter, "Don't be mad at me, but when I was ranting to Megan about the case, I might have described the first time you had a flashback in front of me without specifically saying it was you."

"That's okay. I told her why you were so upset with her," said Lim.

Mei-Li's eyes widened, "W-What?"

"Your behavior was inappropriate, and you still have to apologize for what you did, but you're still my baby girl. I'm always going to defend you."