Once orientation was complete, they were handed their scrubs, white coats and were thrown straight in the deep end. It was going to be sink or swim, there was no doubt about it.
She clearly remembers the first time she saw him in his scrubs. The navy suited him and they allowed her to noticed a detailed tattoo on his forearm. She wondered if there was meaning behind it and would try to remember to ask one day.
His white coat gave him confidence. He wore it proudly and carried himself with an air of authority despite the fact that he had only been on the job five minutes. She noticed it seemed to put the patients at ease and watched mindfully.
His bedside manner was faultless, he seemed to have a connection with each patient, particularly the children. One youngster in the ER who was particularly distressed spotted something about Neil that interested her.
She pointed at his collar saying "What dat?"
"Ah, that is a picture" he smiled.
"Of who?" the child asked.
"Bambis daddy" he replied moving his collar slightly for the youngster to see.
"Aww, that's cute" said the little girl.
"Thank you" Neil smiled.
Stood at the nurses station a little later writing up his notes, he jumped a little when Audrey stepped up beside him.
"Bambis daddy?" She asked with an amused look.
"Nah, just a misguided youth" he laughed. "High school team was The Bucks" he shrugged.
'Maybe he's not such a Mr. Nice Guy after all' she thought.
X
He remembers very well the first time he saw her in scrubs. There had been an admission via the ER of a construction worker who had impaled his upper thigh on some rebar after a stumble.
Audrey had steadfastly held the leg stable without flinching, even as the patient had been thrashing around in pain. As her 'reward' she was the first of them to be invited into the Operating Room to observe.
He saw her immediately afterwards and she was gliding down the corridor as if she was walking on air. Her hair was pulled back into a high bun and she was buzzing with excitement.
"Went well then?" Neil asked as she got closer.
"That was amazing" she exclaimed. Her entire face lit up when she smiled as she began to recount the events of the last few hours. The detail she went into was immense and he almost felt at if he was there.
That was the most they had spoken in the time they had known each other and he enjoyed the conversation thoroughly. From their first meeting in the conference room and her succinct introduction, he thought that might have been the way she was going to be but now he realised, you just needed to find something that she was excited about. Surgery was it.
She was going to be his biggest competition.
X
Their stamina was challenged over the weeks that followed as they started obscenely long shifts and the limits of their knowledge were constantly tested. They were called to every type of consult they could have imagined and did scut work for the senior residents.
Dr Glassman had been right all those weeks ago. None of them could remember sitting down for as lunch break any time recently, they would stuff a sandwich down their throats running between one call and another.
The pressure seemed to be just about bearable for most of them however Delun was showing signs of being stressed after a fumbled intubation. He had tried and failed at the first attempt and he had walked out of the room when the attending took the apparatus and completed the procedure instead of allowing him a second try.
He had been chewed out afterwards and was now sitting in the locker room with his head in his hands. Neil found him sitting there an hour after he should have left the hospital.
"Do you want to grab a drink?" Neil asked. "Talk about what happened today?"
"I dunno" he replied. "I don't really feel like it" he said miserably.
"Come on, it was one failed attempt at intubating a guy. Let it go and just do better next time. You've done them before as a med student, it's not like it was your first go" Neil said.
"It was" he whispered.
"Pardon? How?"
"I've just never stepped up before but when he asked today, I didn't really have a choice."
"Wow" Neil said quietly.
"I got the blade in just fine and I could see the epiglottis. I just slid the tube down and I KNEW I was in, I was sure of it."
"So what happened?"
"When they pulled the guide wire, the tube came up a bit and the bag wouldn't inflate. I wanted to try again but he just took it off me and did it himself. I'm sure it was the nurse, I'm sure she didn't inflate the cuff once the tube was in" Delun said shaking his head.
Neil was a little shocked at his version of events. He sat for a moment trying to think of the right thing to say.
"At least you were allowed to attempt" he started. "It's important to get this shit right first time. The patient had already had the relaxant, it needed to be done. He just didn't want to waste any more time. And one piece of solid advice I've been given is top not slate the nurses. They'll save your ass mo6r times than you can count."
Delun sighed. "You're right, sorry for putting this on you."
"Not at problem. Shall I see if the rest are still here? We could go get a drink? "
"That would be great, yes please."
Five of them went out to a bar after work that night. Kevin was staying behind to research for an upcoming procedure so they said their goodbyes and headed out.
They all drowned Deluns sorrows and toasted for the next shift to be better. Each of them left the bar that night thinking they were part of a team and thinking that they might even be making friends.