This one isn't my favourite chapter, it's a bit flaky but it is required for the future, I promise!
It was a couple of days before Neil saw Audrey again, their shifts just didn't seem to align. He was sitting in the on-call room getting teased by Kevin and Alex about his success with the ladies at the Gala. As Audrey and Joanne joined them, it seemed the conversation was picking up the pace.
"I bet nearly all the donations came from ladies you danced with Melendez" Alex laughed.
"Just doing my job" Neil answered dryly. "Most of them were trying to marry me off to their granddaughters" he laughed.
"You didn't need any help there either" joked Alex. "That pretty little lady from the end of the night? Looking for a bit if rough was she?!"
"Can we drop this please?" he said sharply, glancing at Audrey, an act that didn't go unnoticed by most of the group.
"Sure, sorry" said Alex. "That was too much."
"What's on the roster for today?" Kevin asked changing the subject. "I hear Chen has an appendectomy. Maybe even get his hands dirty."
The conversation change didn't seem to lift the mood between them so they made their excuses and went off to collect their first assignments for the day.
Neil hung back a moment to try and catch Audrey, he wanted to explain what she thought she might have seen at the end of the Gala.
Before he spoke, she jumped in.
"Think you'll see her again?" she looked shocked at herself for even asking and immediately apologised. "Sorry, it's none of my business."
"It's ok" Neil said trying to make things less awkward. "She's a law student on the East Coast, she's gone back to school. Maybe we'll catch up when she comes home next, maybe not."
"I'm sorry, it's really not my business. I shouldn't pry" she said as she turned to leave.
He put his hand out to stop her and she turned on a sixpence.
"I thought friends could talk about this stuff?" he asked. "We're friends right?"
"Absolutely" she smiled and walked out.
He sighed and leaned heavily against the wall and jumped as Joanne came bursting back in to pick up her cell phone.
"You ok Melendez?" she asked.
"Sure" he replied rubbing his hand over her face.
"You know she feels something too, right" she continued. "She just can't..."
"I know she's married, it's ok. I understand."
"Ok smartass, you think you know everything. But do you know she's not happy" she said.
"I didn't" he admitted, feeling more conflicted than before. After Jo had explained some of her situation, he really didn't know what to do.
"Just think about that for a while" Jo said on her way out of the door.
X
Later that shift, they finally caught up with Delun. Kevin and Neil found him in the locker room, once again, with his head in his hands.
"Where have you been Del, thought you had an appy today?" Kevin asked.
"I screwed up so badly this time" he said in a panicked voice.
"It can't have been that bad" Neil encouraged. "What happened?"
"I dropped it?" Delun said quietly.
"Dropped what? Come on man, we can't help you unless you talk to us."
He lifted his head and looked up at them with despair.
"I dropped the appendix" he said shakily.
"That's not so bad" Neil replied. "He didn't need it anyway."
"Inside the cavity" he continued.
They both looked at him unsure of what to say so Kevin piped up first.
"How?"
"Well, our was going ok" he started. "The beginning of the surgery went fine and I cut it cleanly. Just when I was trying to remove it, I dropped it back inside" he said trying to hold in his tears.
"We ended up operating just over 4 hours because they couldn't find it. Four hours, stood there like an idiot on suction. They must think I'm useless" he said with a sigh.
"On your feet" Kevin demanded and Delun obeyed. "Get changed, we're going for a drink. Neil will join us when he's finished, won't you Neil?"
"Sure thing, go get a head start and I'll join you. I could do with a drink too."
As promised, two hours later, Neil caught up with them at a bar down the street. They had already had a few drinks and were being loud and generally debaucherous. He decided against playing catch up and looking at Delun, decided he'd be the responsible one and make sure he got home.
X
He clearly remembers the first time he saw her in public not in the company of the other residents. She was sat in a booth with a man who he assumed was Kashal. He was taking animatedly while she sat and listened, appearing to smile and laugh when required.
He had watched Audrey Lim laugh plenty of times and what she was doing now was not sincere. When she laughed, her whole face lit up and her eyes would twinkle. Her eyes were not twinkling tonight and his heart lurched in his chest.
They carried on getting louder until Neil decided it was time to head out before they got themselves in trouble.
When the time came for them to leave the bar and head home, they were going to have to walk right by Audrey and Kashal. He assumed that the other guys didn't know that she was married and didn't want to make her feel awkward. Her didn't want to put her in that position.
He steered them towards the door in an around about sort of way to give them a wide berth and as he was about to follow them out the door, he looked up to see that she was sat alone. He fought against every fibre of his being in that moment, he wanted to go over to her but he just sighed and walked out of the door.
He got out onto the sidewalk to finding Kevin and Delun waiting for him. They were having a drunken heart to heart and didn't see him approach. He heard his name mentioned and coughed as he approached to warn them. He wasn't in the mood for fun anymore tonight.
After dropping the guys home and making sure Delun got in safely he headed home himself. Before turning off the ignition, he sat a while in his car outside. His cell in his hand, he was experiencing a conflict. He wanted to text and check in with Audrey, but after a few minutes he decided that he would wait and speak to her in person.
About what, he wasn't exactly sure. Maybe to tell her he had feelings for her, maybe he'd chicken out and would just tell them about the boys night out. He certainly wasn't one to look to break up a marriage but if what Joanne had told him was true, maybe she just needed to know someone was there if she needed to make the tough decisions.
Next shift, he and Audrey needed to talk.