There was something about solving a difficult case and saving a life, with her that is just different.

It's not like he hasn't done it before, hundreds of times.

When he was still a resident.

As an attending.

Alone or with residents, previous ones or the current ones.

He has faced all sorts of complications, cracked a great deal of medical mysteries and mastered surgeries that people thought were impossible.

It's always a great feeling.

Telling the loved ones that the patient will make a full recovery.

Looking into their thankful eyes and going home knowing that he had done something good. Having a celebratory whiskey and going to bed with that content feeling and confidence that he could do almost anything.

The rush of saving some from dying, especially in the cases that 5 other doctors before him couldn't solve, came second to none.

Nothing could ever compare, nothing came even close.

And he had always loved that.

Always had felt good about it.

Always knew he will never get this feeling anywhere else and never ever get tired of it.

But when Claire is with him, it is different.

There is something about working with her that makes the win so, so much better.

Solving a case is more exciting and satisfying.

Telling the families is more fulfilling.

Even being in the OR feels different in a good way.

Not just because of the way she works, all focused and hell bent on helping their patients.

Not only because how tirelessly she is going above and beyond to help their patients in any way possible.

It isn't because they work so perfectly together, in sync in many ways, either.

Whether it is discussing in the lounge or getting their gloves bloody in surgery.

Those are all great things and he respects her for it, even admires her which is why he could not have been prouder to be there for her first surgery; to be with her in that one big and important moment -- one she had waited for, for so long, and worked for so hard. Being next to her, watching her do what she loves, what she, without a doubt, was born to do.

She had deserved to be the first of the residents to get it.

He knows she is going to shine after her residency, give him a run for his money as one of the best surgeons in the country.

But what truly makes working with her different from working with anyone else was the way she always lights up when they succeed.

The grin on her face, almost shy, when she comes up with a solution they haven't thought of before.

The smile wide and proud, reaching all the way to her eyes when the idea works.

How her eyes sparkle after working their way out of complications in the OR. Shining like headlights from between the scrubs. All happy and excited.

In some ways, it reminds him of his first wins, when the rush was still new.

It hadn't gotten old, not exactly.

But he had gotten used to it in a way.

He knows the feeling, can see it coming from miles away. He still works towards it every day. However, in the first few years of his career, it hit in another way.

But seeing it in Claire, that light, that sparkle, the satisfaction of helping someone fills his chest with a whole different kind of happiness and pride.

Seeing it in her eyes when they exchange glances after a particularly difficult obstacle, the patient still cut open but now stable between them, or in front of them. It reminds him of why he got into medicine.

Of course, his other residents experience similar things. But Claire is so pure and genuine, it has an effect on him.

It's addicting, in a new way.

He finds he's looking forward to seeing her this way as much he was to solving the case itself.

Maybe even a bit more than that.

Being reminded of this, of the core of why they do what they do, long before Andrews was breathing down his neck about what does and doesn't look good publicly or him and Audrey fighting about risks, it makes him a better surgeon.

And the way she looks at him, admires him, like he's a genius, even though she has seen him at his worst. And he had told her about some of his less great moments on some of their runs or when they'd occasionally get drinks or dinner after a shift... But still she only sees the best in him not ignoring but accepting his less ideal qualities and moments. He finds he never wants to disappoint her. Not professionally and not personally. He doesn't fear she might see him differently, but he does want to be worthy of being looked at that way. Especially by her.

Ultimately, Claire Browne makes him a better person