Anyone reading Breath, I'm still on it, just enjoying this a bit more right now! Thanks for the support!
The surgeries came thick and fast over the next few weeks. The residents were truly being tested to their limits and they were becoming increasingly aware that two of them would not be around next year.
Because of this, they found their time to socialise severely restricted and they saw less and less of each other. Neil tried to pin Audrey down to talk more than once but the opportunity wasn't forthcoming and just like that, the moment had passed.
They had all begun a series of meetings with Dr. Glassman to go over their patient reviews and assessments. The medical stuff had become a blur of complications, good and bad outcomes and some truly crazy events.
The most crazy of all was a poor theatre nurse passing out face first towards the surgical site. The reflexes of the nearest resident made them put out their hand which resulted in her falling backwards, cracking her head on the hard floor and starting to bleed. There was just total silence for a few seconds where nobody knew quite what to do until the attending started barking orders. The poor lady was scooped up and Kevin was redirected from the OR to stitch her up.
Neil's latest meeting with Glassman had taken a slightly different turn. It started with some inane small talk but then quickly turned to assessing his fellow residents. Neil was sure that Glassman seemed to be focusing on Chen, asking about his relationship with the other residents, what he thought his strengths and weaknesses were.
After a minute or so, Neil came to the awful realization he wasn't just asking out of interest. He was gathering ammunition to terminate him at the end of the year and suddenly Neil was horrified to realise he was even remotely involved.
It dawned on him while he was sitting there that someone he liked, his friend, who had spent most his adult life struggling in undergrad, medical school, and the lab, who had what he suspected was a six figure debt, was about to get their career destroyed.
Neil was due to head home after his meeting had finished and wanted to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible. He kept his head down and almost jogged to the locker room. As he turned the corner, he quite literally ran into Audrey. He bumbled an apology and burst through the door into the safety of the men's locker room.
Or so he thought. A few seconds later came a gentle knock as she pushed the door open.
"Are you decent?" she called, entering into the room more fully.
"Yeah, just grabbing my stuff and going" he replied.
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong before you do?"
He looked at her. He felt guilty but he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he had just done.
"I'll be fine, thanks" he replied. "I'm going to go run it off" he said with a shallow smile. "See you in a couple of days."
"Sure," she replied, moving to let him pass. She watched him walk away thinking that there was definitely something wrong.
Next shift, she and Neil need to talk.
X
She remembers quite clearly the first time she saw him outside of work without the other residents.
She was walking in Penitencia Creek Park with Kashal that evening. They were going out for dinner and he thought a good walk would help them build up an appetite.
The park was busy, with lots of families using the wide open green spaces. They walked along, side by side in the early evening sunshine. Kashal was telling her about a new case that had crossed his desk that morning and how it could be the start of big things for him. She was listening when he began talking, but her interest waned and she felt herself looking off into the distance.
She saw him as soon as he came over the top of the small rise. He was thundering along at a quick pace and would be passing them very soon.
Her heart leapt, and a slight panic accompanied the feeling. Would he stop? Would he want to meet Kashal?
As he got closer, she could make out some more detail. He had headphones on, blocking out any background noise and was likely listening to something with a good beat to keep that pace going.
She was wearing sunglasses which allowed her to spend time watching him as he got closer. He was dressed in shorts and a vest which allowed her to notice his physique. His legs were toned but his arms were something else. She briefly imagined those arms around her, then shook her head to dispel the image before Kashal noticed her daydreaming.
They were about to pass and he showed no signs of slowing down. When he was within a couple of steps, he raised his hand to greet her, shouted 'hi' as he thundered past. She lamely raised her hand in response and returned the greeting. She found herself relieved that he hadn't stopped.
"Who was that?" Kashal asked.
"Just a guy from work" she replied. "One of the other residents."
"In your year?" he asked.
"Yeah, one of my intake. He..."
"Anyway..." he carried on as he headed back to his tale. It seemed that his brief interest in her life was over.
X
Neil ran on and got back to his car in record time, it seemed that he'd had a lot of stresses to work off. Despite being totally out of breath, he was feeling refreshed and changed his shirt quickly in the parking lot before heading home to shower.
As he drove, his thoughts turned to Audrey again. Would she be pissed that he hadn't stopped to say hi? After hearing what Jo had to say, he wasn't quite sure how to behave around her right now.
By the time he arrived at his apartment, he had made his decision. He was going to be a grown up about it all. He'd speak with Audrey, explain his behaviour at the park and let her know that he would be there if she needed him.
That's all he could do for now and hope that was enough for them both.