Chapter 3
Melendez was summoned to the emergency room by his residents one afternoon. An elderly woman was rushed by the ambulance with complaints of pain through her abdomen and lower back.
"Ma'am, is there anyone living with you that we can contact with?" Melendez asked slowly not entirely sure if the woman speaks English judging by her foreign features. He was relieved and little bit surprised when the patient answered him in fluent English.
"The EMT called my daughter. She's on the way right now," she replied in between her moans of pain.
"Okay, Mrs…" he glanced at the chart and back to the patient, "Miller, we will take care of you here to the best we can." He signaled for his third year residents to take action as he observed them.
"You have been experiencing pains in your abdomen…" Morgan responded quickly before Claire got her hands on the patient. Having heard the EMT's report about the patient earlier, she is working a bit faster and more competitive than usual. "For how long have you been experiencing these pain?" she pressed the part of the abdomen where it hurt and the patient gasped in pain. "Sorry,"
"A month, I guess? It wasn't as painful like this. Usually I can tolerate it but now it's too much,"
"Have you taken any meds to alleviate the pain?"
"Some pain relief? But mostly I took meds for my constipation…" she replied weakly. "It—It's so hard lately,"
"Do you experience nausea?" Morgan asked while taking notice of the patient's skin.
"Sometimes."
"Do you notice a sudden loss in your weight lately?" Melendez' brows wrinkled as he realized where Morgan is going through with the patient.
"…its because …I—lost my appetite lately. And I'm afraid to eat more because of this constipation," Morgan nodded and endorsed her to the nurse for an MRI to check her suspicions. She stepped away from the patient to convey her medical opinion to Melendez before leaving to follow the patient.
...
"I knew it. It's pancreatic cancer," Morgan said a little too lively for such devastating news.
"And you sound so happy huh," Claire crossed her arms as she examined the MRI results.
"It hasn't spread yet. She's lucky to have the choice of surgery for treatment. There's still hope," Morgan turned to Melendez trying to convince him to do the surgery. "I've heard you've done this surgery before and I would love to learn from you inside the OR,"
Melendez gave her an amused look before focusing on the images. "It didn't go well the last time I attempted this procedure. And it's a very delicate surgery to do so,"
"But you're skilled enough to do it," Morgan tried harder as Claire rolled her eyes behind her.
Melendez had enough of Reznick's antics, "Thanks for your belief in me but," he held up his hand, "I need to consult the Chief first." It's a risky one and he wouldn't do it without consulting the Chief's opinion for this is the right procedure to do so. After all, he'd learnt his lesson. And so he left his bickering residents to find Dr. Lim.
Claire sipped her coffee as Morgan threw a glare at her.
...
"Thanks for consulting me about this surgery but I think you could go ahead with whatever decision the patients wants," Audrey frowned as she reviewed the case. "Are you having second thoughts because you failed the last time you did this procedure? Neil it has low survival rate. You know it," she didn't notice how his name slipped naturally on her lips.
Inside the hospital, most of the time they've always referred to each other by surnames. But there were those fun times in their friendship where they would call each other's names just to tease or taunt the other in competition. And there were also those few months where they called each other's names with intimate meaning in privacy. After their relationship, they settled back to plain 'Dr. Lim' and 'Dr.Melendez' except for the times where one slips out of habit.
"It would be safer if they consult with a specialist in surgical oncology," he said avoiding her question. This situation felt familiar to him. Here they are discussing whether it is right to do a difficult surgery again but this time their emotions are a bit calmer than before… or maybe they are just tiptoeing against each other, too cautious to start another argument.
"Time is running. For a horrible disease like this, we need to act fast if we want to save lives here. Finding and scheduling a specialist would cost her weeks. She's here on St. Bonaventure so she's now our responsibility," she pointed out.
Neil stared at the scans in front of him trying to find courage to take this case. Audrey could see the conflict in his eyes.
'I wish I could take his hand and offer my unyielding support but he will question my objectivity once again'
For a brief moment she wanted to hold his hand, to assure him, to comfort and make him believe in himself again. They used to encourage each other starting from their residency days. But she can't do that now without giving a different meaning to it after their relationship. Besides, she's afraid she'll only get hurt again. If this patient dies again, they might repeat this cycle of blame game again, and this time their rocky friendship is at risk.
Bracing herself for whatever the endgame this will be, Audrey puts herself in full Chief of Surgery mode. "Dr. Melendez, go to your patient and lay all these plans to her. If she goes with the surgery you do it," she commanded.
"Nobody else will do this but you,"
Neil half heartedly agreed to take the case but as he closed the door of her office he felt a crushing feeling inside his heart. It's like he is slowly coming to realization on how big the void Audrey left in his life.
Talking to her previously about the case felt like the times when he was a resident and being persuaded by his mentors. This shouldn't bother him as she was his superior and she's just being professional at the moment.
'But this is Audrey,' the voice in his head whispered.
He realized he missed how Audrey's presence would encourage him to do better than her. He missed her support and comfort in times of worry. He missed talking to her like a friend and most importantly, a lover.
He realized the things he took for granted before and now for the first time since he set foot in this hospital, he felt so alone.
...
"Will you be the one doing the surgery?" Larisa asked Melendez when he told her about her options for treatment. He was impressed at how she handled her diagnosis. Usually hearing that dreaded C-word would bring the patient into panic or tears but Mrs. Miller was different. She calmly accepted the news while trying to comfort her daughter who was devastated.
Neil looked in the eyes of his patient and nodded. "If you give us your consent but I'm warning you, this will be a delicate surgery."
"Will the cancer be gone if I go through this surgery?"
"We will take out the part where the tumor is. There's always a chance of it coming back so you still have to undergo sessions of chemotherapy."
Upon the mention of chemotherapy Mrs. Miller's daughter burst again to tears. "I'm sorry, she had a trauma watching how her grandfather slowly succumbed to cancer. She saw how chemo changed him," she explained while offering comforting hug to her daughter.
Neil nodded in understanding. He wanted to give some words of hope to them but his own self-doubts makes him afraid he'll only give false hopes to this family. He remembered how Paul and his family trusted him only to fail them in the end.
"Do I have to decide now?" she asked him.
"It's an aggressive form of cancer. The more time we wait the more chance it can spread. We don't want it to metastasize or else the surgery would be useless at that point," he admitted.
"Okay," she replied calmly. "But can I have one request?" her daughter looked at her. "Can I see my son before the surgery?"
"Ma, you're talking like you're never seeing us again, stop it," Zara whined.
"Please doctor, he will arrive tomorrow evening," she pleaded.
"Okay, we will schedule your surgery on the earliest available date. We will keep you informed," Melendez agreed.
He offered her a small smile before leaving the room followed by his two residents. When they reached the nurse's station he turned to the two doctors and gave them instructions.
"Schedule a surgery for Mrs. Miller and let me know once his son arrives tomorrow. We will discuss it with all of them,"
...
The following day, Morgan and Claire called him in the afternoon informing him that the patient's son had arrived. And that brings the trio along the hospital corridor walking towards Mrs. Miller's private room.
"The surgery is scheduled on Friday. Dr. Reznick could you discuss again the risks of it to the son. He might want to hear explanations from a doctor himself, "
"Sure, " Morgan replied enthusiastically. The case excites her so much that she's been researching and studying for it since the day Mrs. Miller arrived at St. Bonaventure.
Claire knocked on the door before going inside followed by the rest of the team. They found the patient in high spirits despite her diagnosis which was comforting to see. She's more optimistic than her grown children who were very worried for her.
"Good afternoon doctor," she greeted them. "I'm ready to go behind that operating room doors now that I've seen my precious children,"
"She's been embarrassing like that since yesterday," whispered Zara to his older brother.
Neil looked at the newcomer and he thought he looked familiar. He studied his face trying to recollect any memories if he did met this person in the past.
The man stood up from sitting beside his sister and offered his hand to him for a handshake.
"You're my mother's surgeon? It's nice to meet you," he greeted as Neil accepted his hand. "I'm Mrs. Miller's son," he paused giving him a polite smile. "Kashal,"
...
Finally he's here. *grins*
Btw one reviewer mentioned it... yup the patient in the previous chapter was inspired by Kyuhyun. (one of my favs)