Chapter 3

Neil came in the meeting room with his package. All the residents were there already there holding theirs. Neil could feel anxiety and tiredness in the room. "How do we proceed?" Morgan asked directly.

"I was thinking we could all drop our gift on the table and tell which our secret Santa is for."

"Sounds good!" Alex approved. "So I go first if it's OK."

Neil noticed Shaun's sign of disapproval but he remained silent. "Ok Alex. Shaun, you could give your gift after?"

"With pleasure, Dr. Melendez."

Alex dropped the package and pushed it to Neil. "I'm guessing I'm the first to open my gift." He unwrapped the package to discover a bottle of white wine. "Oh! A Sauternes Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey! Don't know about this one, but the name is really appealing! Thanks!"

Claire shivered as she heard Neil speaking French. It was very sexy. She knew it was inappropriate to think of him this way but right now she couldn't do otherwise. She was brought back to reality by Shaun handed her his gift.

"Ah ah ha I was you secret Santa. It was very exciting!"

"Oh thanks, Shaun!" She shared a look with Neil. In a way, they were relieved neither of them drew the name of the other. It made things easier.

She opened to see a bottle of perfume. "So, you like it? Because I smelled all that were in the shop and I chose this one because It looked like you."

"I love it, Shaun. It smells very good. This is perfect!"

Shaun was proud of him. He chose well. "Guess, it's my turn now." Claire took an envelope and gave it to Alex. He restrained a yell when he opened it. "Claire, you're crazy! Two tickets for the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors!"

"For you and Kellan! So you can spend some time together."

He smiled at her. "Thanks you very much, really."

She gave him a faint smile and nodded. The moment was broken when Morgan handed her gift to Shaun. "Hope you'll enjoy it."

He took his time to unwrap the gift, folding the paper precautiously. Morgan didn't hide her impatience by tapping on the table with her nails. Claire, Neil and Alex gave her big eyes. After long minutes, Shaun took the book hidden in the package in his hands. He seemed intrigued. Puzzled. Interested.

"Do you like it, Shaun? I heard the other day you would like to develop your skills in brain surgery…"

For the first time for days, Morgan was nice. She seemed to care about Shaun. And it was nice to see, Neil thought. Maybe one day, she would understand kindness and benevolence are the only way to be a good doctor.

"I guess you're the only one not to have got her gift yet." Neil handed a package to Morgan. "Hope you'll like it!"

She ripped the paper to discover a stethoscope. "You shouldn't have! It's …" For once, Morgan remained speechless. Claire smiled at Neil. He managed to leave Morgan dumbfounded.

"You all, thanks for having played the game. May I offer you're a drink to conclude this weird experience?"

They all agreed. It was a nice way to finish this secret Santa experience. Neil poured a whiskey glass to everyone. Morgan drank it in one, Alex took time to enjoy it. He could recognize the specialist in him. Shaun looked at the glass and dipped his lips in it once or twice to taste at this beverage he didn't taste before. Claire made several faces. She was not a fond of whiskey. She had told him before she was more into Cosmopolitan and Pina Colada. But she drank it to please everyone. He admired this, she was always making efforts to make things go better.

"Finally this idea was not the worst one… Look at us, it's the first time we spend time together not talking about medicine. "

Alex was right. This evening that had started so bad was finally one of the most enjoyable they had spent for a long time. Even Shaun was participating talking about his goldfish. Morgan was sharing about her artistic family. Alex told them Kellan was already looking for a university. After a while, Shaun left them, he was late on his schedule and it made him feel bad. Then Morgan left to go home.

"I think it's time for me to go too."

"And Alex, if Kellan needs a recommendation for Stanford, tell me, I write something for him."

"Thanks. By the way, have you seen Claire? She seems to have disappear. I wanted to tell her good night."

"I think she told she needed to finish a file before tomorrow. She must be in the meeting room next my office. Or she went home. She was really tired and she's working early tomorrow morning. Good night Alex."

"Good night, ."