When I started this, I thought I'd be deviating from canon quite a bit (I thought Melendaire was going to be reality) but I didn't think I'd be deviating this much. I'll be continuing this anyway and eventually include my alternate ending to S3 when I find some peace with what happened.
Christina said she liked their car scenes and Nick chose the elevator as his favorite (they are both brilliant actors, I love them both and I'm so thankful to them for being so on board with this ship) so I've written one of each for them. This may be the longest elevator ride in history. Someone also wanted Morgan and Claire to witness something more intimate, so I've tried that here too … and Audrey Lim being a boss in the ER is what I live for.
#LimLendezPorVida
"Busy day ahead?" Neil asked casually as he put the car into park, alerting Audrey to the fact that they had arrived at the hospital and that she had spent the entire ride from his place checking emails on her phone.
"Yeah," Audrey sighed, giving him an apologetic look while unbuckling her seatbelt.
"I'm not your driver, you know," Neil complained, putting on his best frown and fighting the smile that always crept up onto his face whenever he looked into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said, putting her phone away and leaning over to give him a quick peck on the lips. "I wouldn't thank my driver like that," she added.
Failing to fight the smile pulling at the corner of his lips, Neil cocked his head, unbuckled himself and leaned in towards her, saying, "I'm not convinced."
Audrey rolled her eyes, grinning at his antics but gave in and let him pull her in for another kiss. Neil's fingers tangled in her hair, Audrey's hand caressing the back of his neck, their kisses filled with love, admiration, and gratitude. Gratitude that he loved her despite her shortcomings and gratitude that she found had the heart to forgive him for his.
They let themselves forget where they were, lost in each other, unaware of the car that pulled into the parking spot next to Audrey.
Unfortunately, Morgan was all too aware of where she was and what she was witnessing. She silently cursed herself for not choosing another parking spot before carefully opening the car door and steeling herself before slamming it shut, eyes averted from her two bosses who were clearly making out in the next car.
The sound of a car door slamming next to them brought Neil and Audrey back to reality, quickly pulling apart as they scanned their surroundings for someone who had caught them. They both chuckled at the sight of Dr. Reznick quickly making her way towards the hospital entrance, clearly trying not to look in their direction.
"She's acting like she just saw her parents have sex," Neil commented, grabbing his bag from the back seat as Audrey opened the door to get out.
Audrey laughed at his joke but said, "Actually, I feel her. Imagine if you'd walked in on Glassman making out with another attending when you were a resident … say, Harris, for example."
Neil pulled a face in disgust at the thought and said, "Aud! Why would you put that image in my head?"
"See?" Audrey replied through another round of giggles, "You can't blame Morgan."
After a long day of packed with meetings and preparing documents for the board meeting tomorrow, Audrey was exhausted. She couldn't believe she was the same woman who once handled a 36-hour shift in the ER, flooded with patients after a truck had plowed across a busy intersection, and still kept a breakfast appointment with her mom right after.
She leaned against the back wall of the elevator, too tired to reach for the button to close the doors, and hoped that she wouldn't be forced to share the ride with anyone who wanted anything from her. She held her breath when she heard footsteps running towards the elevator, half wishing they wouldn't make it before the doors closed but to her dismay, a hand caught the door just before it shut.
Audrey exhaled in relief when the doors opened to reveal that Neil had been the source of the footsteps.
He failed to stifle his laughter when he saw how tired she looked. "I saw the OR schedule today, you weren't even in surgery," he teased, joining her near the back of the elevator and holding his arms out to her. She gratefully obliged and leaned into his embrace with her head resting on his shoulder and her nose buried in his collar.
"It's so tiring to have to talk to someone and act like you don't think they're an idiot," Audrey mumbled.
Neil laughed and said, "You should just make it clear that they're an idiot, then you don't have to keep pretending."
Owing to the fact her head was still resting on his shoulder, he couldn't see her roll her eyes but could hear it in her voice when she answered, "You know I can't do that!"
"You have no trouble letting me know when I'm being an idiot," Neil said, so sincerely that Audrey lifted her head and looked at him in concern.
"You know you're not really an idiot, right?" she said softly and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"You'd still love me even if I was, right?" he asked in return, leaning his forehead on hers so that their noses touched.
"Yes, I would," Audrey replied, tilting her head to close the gap. "I'd love you no matter what," she mumbled against his lips and he smiled against hers, feeling like the luckiest man alive because Audrey Lim had just admitted she'd love him unconditionally.
They were startled apart when the elevator dinged to announce the doors were opening. Audrey tried to move further away but Neil kept her by his side with an arm around her waist, trying to calm her down with a look which said, "What? This isn't a secret anymore."
"Good evening, Dr. Lim, Dr. Melendez," Claire said in greeting and stepped into the elevator after an awkward moment. She could see from the slightly embarrassed smile on Lim's face and the forced joviality on Neil's that she'd just interrupted them in the middle of something.
After getting in the elevator, Claire turned back around to face the doors so Neil pulled Audrey closer and tried to resume what had just been interrupted. When he pressed a kiss to her temple, Audrey pulled away with a pointed look at Claire.
"Claire's right there!"
Neil shrugged, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"I mind!" Audrey tried to convey with a silent widening of her eyes.
"She can't see us anyway." Neil grinned and, ignoring Audrey's panicked expression, tried to pull her in towards him again. Audrey was saved again by the elevator dinging to announce arrival at their floor, which was promptly followed by the ringing of her phone. Neil sighed silently, letting her go so she could answer the call as the elevator doors opened.
After a couple of "mhmm"s and "okay"s, Audrey said, "I'll make sure we have enough surgeons available," and ended the call while stepping out of the elevator. As Claire and Neil both headed in the direction of the hospital exit, Audrey called them back. "Actually, Neil, Claire, I think I'm going to have to ask you to stay back. There's been a mass casualty – there's been a traffic accident involving a bus and five cars – we're going to need some more hands in the ER."
Neil and Claire both sighed, mentally preparing themselves for a long night as they stepped back up to the elevator. Audrey smiled at their dejected expressions, suddenly full of energy at the thought of spending the next 12 hours in the ER.
Noticing her uplifted spirits, Neil laughed and shook his head, "The nurses always say how much they miss you leading the ER but I bet they don't miss it as much as you do."
After a long night in the ER, dealing with over 60 patients arriving due to the major traffic accident, Audrey finally had the time to slow down and get some rest. She'd been awake for 31 hours straight and the board meeting had been pushed back till 4pm, giving her just under 4 hours to get cleaned up and catch some sleep. She'd struggled with the idea of going home, knowing she'd be losing time to the bus ride there and back, so she'd decided to let herself nap in the on-call room for a couple of hours. Though it was technically for residents, and she hadn't spent much time there since her resident days, she was sure no one would mind.
She'd quietly stepped into the on-call room and taken one of the bottom bunks, aware that both top bunks were occupied by surgical residents. They didn't seem to notice her entrance, so she assumed they were sleeping.
Neil had been in search of Audrey when he saw her slipping into the on-call room, which brought a smile to his face as he recalled the number of hours they had spent in there as residents. He followed her into the on-call room, just as quietly, and stood by the door to search for her in the dim light. When he located her, he went up to her with a whispered "Hi" and gave her a nudge to ask her to make space for him.
Audrey obliged but not without complaining. "I can see another free bunk just over there," she whispered.
"I like sharing with you," he replied.
Audrey returned his loving smile and snuggled up in his arms but said, "It's going to be weird if anyone catches us."
"No it's not," Neil objected with a matter-of-fact tone, "We've shared a bed in this on-call room before."
Audrey knew the moment to which he was referring. The night they'd been forced to share a bunk because it seemed like all the residents in the hospital were on-call, prepared to deal with the aftermath of a forecasted freak storm.
"I don't recall there being much choice that time," Audrey said softly, closing her eyes.
"I don't think you have much of a choice now either," Neil replied, suddenly flipping over so that he'd trapped Audrey underneath the weight of his body. Still slightly annoyed that he'd been interrupted twice in the last 36 hours, first by Morgan and then Claire, Neil didn't waste any time in kissing Audrey, hungry and demanding.
"Neil," Audrey protested, trying to push him away, "I have a board meeting in a couple of hours, I really need to sleep."
"This won't take long," Neil replied breathlessly.
"There are other people in here," Audrey whispered, still trying to put up a fight until she recognized the lust in his eyes and lost the little self-control that had been holding her back. She let her hands find their way around his neck, pulling him down towards her and kissing him back with the same hunger.
"They're asleep," Neil replied as he moved his kisses from her lips to her jaw and then the side of her neck, savoring the way her pulse raced beneath his lips as his hands found their way underneath the hem of her scrubs.
Unfortunately for Claire and Morgan, who had taken the two top bunks in the on-call room after the long night in the ER, they were not asleep. Morgan was uncomfortable with what she was witnessing, but it seemed Claire was taking it much worse, judging by the horrified expression on her face. Granted, she was currently in the bunk right about Lim and Melendez.
Audrey tried to keep as quiet as possible, but when Neil started sucking on the hollow of her collarbone, she couldn't stifle the moan that escaped.
Seizing the opportunity, Morgan decided to take pity on Claire. Coughing loudly to clear her throat and feigning sleepiness, Morgan groaned, "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"
Neil froze at the sound of Morgan's voice as Audrey giggled silently into his chest. Defeated, Neil lay back onto the bed with a sigh, vowing to resume this later in the privacy of his home. He pulled Audrey into his arms, letting her rest her head on his chest, and they drifted off to sleep, completely unaware that Claire and Morgan were still stifling their laughter at Morgan's ballsy move.