Melendez and Lim along with Mei-Li and Megan were in the OR bright and early. They had Oliver sign the consent forms after going over the risks for the surgery and put him to sleep before Lim set up the surgical robot. Melendez set up the tools for cauterizing the blood vessels and told Megan to assist him with the procedure, while Mei-Li aided Lim with the robot, "Starting the surgery at 7:42 AM," announced Lim as she began to manipulate the surgical robot. It took her a while to find to the tumor, "Found it. Melendez, Augustine, be ready to cauterize the blood vessels. Lim-Melendez, help me make sure I'm not too close to any blood vessels or arteries."
As the surgeons cut deeper and deeper, they realized that the tumor was embedded more than they had anticipated, "Dammit, this tumor is more entangled in the lung than the scans revealed," said Melendez, "We're having trouble keeping up with the bleeding."
"I can't slow down because the robot is keeping some of the bleeding under control. If I remove any clamps, he'll bleed out," said Lim in frustration.
"Dr. Lim-Melendez, it won't be of any use if we can't cauterize the blood vessels and arteries," said Megan.
"Shit, we have a bleed we can't control," said Lim.
Alarms sounded and Mei-Li said, "His stats are crashing."
"Pump two units of O- and an amp of epi," ordered Melendez, "Augustine, start compressions. Mei-Li, set up the defibrillator."
Everyone did as instructed and Megan did a round of compressions, "Charge to 200. Everyone off. CLEAR!" Lim pressed the button, but Oliver still remained flat line, "Another amp of epi. Charge to 250. CLEAR!"
As Mei-Li helped Lim with the defibrillator and Megan performed chest compressions, Mei-Li thought, Shit, this is my fault. I'm the one who was stupid enough to bring up this surgery, and if I hadn't, this wouldn't be happening.
"Charge to 300. Everybody off. CLEAR," Lim called. Another shock with no response.
Lim and Melendez looked at each other as Mei-Li began compressions again, "We should do cardiac massage and another shock…"
"Dr. Lim-Melendez," said Lim softly.
"And after that, we can open his chest and stop the bleeding…"
"Mija," Melendez uttered softly to get her attention. Mei-Li stopped compressions and Melendez announced, "Time of death, 8:57 AM."
The rest of the day was a blur for Mei-Li, and she couldn't help but blame herself for Oliver's death. She followed Claire and Shaun around with a new patient, but she had no idea what was going on with her. Okay, that was stretching the truth just a tad; it was a woman in her mid-thirties who was being assessed for a double lung transplant as a result of permanent damage due to Cystic Fibrosis. But she couldn't help but think back to that morning, where the surgery that she had brought up failed to save Oliver Stevens's life. At lunchtime, she went to the cafeteria and ordered a turkey club sandwich and a Coke before taking a seat by the window. She noticed her parents were on the other side of the cafeteria and Shaun, Claire, and Morgan were a few tables over from her. Mei-Li took a few bites of her sandwich before she noticed someone standing near the table. She glanced up and found Caroline standing in front of her with a tray of food in her hands, "May I sit here?"
"Of course," Mei-Li gestured to the seat across from her.
"Rough morning?" asked Caroline as she sat down and took a bite of her cold cut sub.
"Kind of," said Mei-Li, "I lost my first patient this morning."
"I'm sorry," said Caroline, "Mom and Dad have told me that the first patient is always the hardest."
"Yeah, that's what my parents say too. It's just that…" Mei-Li trailed off, "He's dead because of me."
"I'm sure that's not true," said Caroline.
"I'm the one who suggested the surgery that caused him to die. How is it not my fault?" asked Mei-Li.
"Because your heart was in the right place; you were doing what you thought was best for your patient," said Caroline.
"With all due respect, Caroline, you've known me for three days," said Mei-Li.
"I know. But there's something…different about you compared to Megan and Eric, and I don't mean the fact that your parents are the president and Chief of Surgery here," clarified Caroline, "Tell you what? How about after work today, we go grab a drink together? I think you could use one."
"You, me, and Eric like last time?" asked Mei-Li for clarification.
"No, just you and me," confirmed Caroline.
Mei-Li had to suppress a smile as her heart skipped a beat, "What time do you get off today?"
"Six. You?"
"Same."
"We can meet at the same bar we did the last time. Is that cool?" asked Caroline.
"That's fine," answered Mei-Li.
"Well then it's settled. Now can I complain about how demanding Dr. Reznick is as a supervising surgeon?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cafeteria, Melendez was keeping a close eye on Mei-Li and Caroline as he had vowed to himself. His wife's voice interrupted his observations, "You want to go over there and break them apart so badly, don't you?"
"No I don't," Melendez turned to focus on his wife.
"That's okay. You've always been a protective Daddy," Lim teased.
"She lost her first patient today, Audrey," said Melendez.
Lim sighed, "I know. And it's one she'll never forget. I mean, I know I remember the first patient I lost and I'm sure you do too," Melendez nodded in agreement, "But we can't butt into her life every time something goes wrong. She's an adult and is training to be a surgeon and we have to treat her like we do all of the other residents."
"I know," Melendez sighed, "I just miss the days where I rocked her in my arms and sang her a lullaby and all of her problems were solved."
"I know. Me too," said Lim.
"And it's not that I'm upset about her possibly dating again, it's just…with Danielle, the breakup was mutual. With Liam, she's the one who dumped him. But with Jenny…she was so heartbroken; she looked like someone out of a Taylor Swift music video. It was one thing watching you and Kashal get a divorce or when Jessica dumped me; but when it was Mei-Li's first real heartbreak…I don't want to see her go through that again."
It had pained Lim to see her daughter come home sobbing after getting dumped by her longtime girlfriend and it had made Lim want to do everything in her power to make her feel better. Several pints of Ben & Jerry's, a bottle of reserved scotch, and a Harry Potter movie marathon later, Mei-Li had finally felt better. Lim grabbed Melendez's hand and said, "It's what makes you a good father," she smiled sadly, "So, um about the bet…?"
"No," said Melendez, "It doesn't count if one of us loses a patient," he also smiled sadly, "I have to go," he kissed her lightly, "Love you."
"Love you too," said Lim.
Melendez went back to looking at Mei-Li and Caroline, "Seriously, keep an eye on those two."
Lim chuckled as her husband walked away, knowing he was only joking. Mostly.
After her shift, Mei-Li met up with Caroline at the bar, and she ordered a whiskey while she waited for her fellow resident. Caroline arrived and ordered a bourbon as well and Mei-Li got hers topped off, as she had already downed the first glass. Finally, Caroline asked, "Are you feeling any better?"
Mei-Li sighed, "Some, but not great. Like you said, you'll always remember your first death," Mei-Li took a swig of her drink and asked, "So what made you want to transfer your residency from Stanford? And why California? There are lots of good hospitals in Massachusetts."
Caroline sighed, "I wanted a change of pace from the east coast. And in regard to transferring from Stanford, I had some trouble with one of my attending surgeons. Guy was an asshole and the president of the hospital wouldn't do anything about it, so I left for my own mental health. How about you? Did you look into any other places besides St. Bonaventure?"
Mei-Li nodded, "I looked into the Cleveland Clinic, Mass Gen, Hopkins, UCSF, and Duke, but then I decided I didn't want to leave San Jose. My whole life is here."
Caroline nodded in understanding, "It is difficult to uproot your life across the country. I have not been able to find a decent lobster roll since I left Boston," said Caroline in frustration and Mei-Li chuckled, "So, do you have any idea what type of surgery you want to pursue?"
"Not trauma surgery and not cardiothoracic surgery," Mei-Li stated adamantly, "Every other specialty is fair game. You?"
"Pediatric surgery," Caroline answered.
Mei-Li nodded and the two conversed about nonsense stuff, like sports and pop culture, before they finished their whiskey, "Another?" Mei-Li asked Caroline.
"No, if I have more than two of anything, I can't drive home," Caroline paid for her drinks and stood to leave, "This was really nice. I'd like to do it again sometime."
"Me too," smiled Mei-Li.
Caroline winked at her and said, "I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully." Caroline left the bar.
When Mei-Li arrived home, Melendez and Lim were in the living room, watching TV. They both glanced over at their daughter and Lim asked, "Where were you this lovely evening?"
"I went out for drinks," said Mei-Li.
"With the other residents?" asked Melendez in curiosity.
"No, just Caroline," answered Mei-Li and Melendez's eyes widened at his daughter's response, "And then I swung through Burger King's drive through and got chicken fries. Well, it's been a long day; I'm going to go upstairs and unwind. Good night Mom, Dad," she kissed their cheeks and went upstairs.
Lim saw the look on her husband's face, so she took his hand in hers and teasingly said, "Breathe Dad."
"How are you so calm?" asked Melendez.
"Because, we raised our daughter to make good decisions, and now we have to trust her," said Lim. She snuggled closer to her husband, "But it's your job to worry about her love life since you're her father," she said jokingly.
"I really do miss the days where she was small enough to fit into my arms," Melendez admitted.
