So here we hit another milestone, half century with this story (chapter courtesy of themintjournal once more). Thank you for letting me beta this for you... hope you like it!
"How's it going in here?" Melendez asked as he stepped in to the OR holding a mask over his face - he wasn't fully scrubbed in so kept his distance to avoid contaminating the surgical field. He had just scrubbed out of an organ procurement in the theatre next door, harvesting a healthy kidney from a living donor. Lim was the one performing the transplant on the recipient in the adjoining OR.
"Kind of you to check on us, Dr. Melendez" she replied, smiling behind her mask. "Everything is going well. The cuts on the renal arteries and veins were nice and clean and I've just attached them to the external iliac arteries and veins without difficulty" she told him quickly glancing up.
"What should our next steps be?" she asked one of her residents.
"Check the blood flow for leaks or bleeding" answered an eager second year who was currently holding the suction tube.
Now that they were surgical fellows, they had taken on much bigger roles and more responsibility. They were confidently leading surgeries and had residents under their wing to guide and shape. They saw patients, discussed cases, and talked about treatment plans with the residents assigned to their service. They didn't have free reign, the ultimate authority still lay with the attending but they were shaping into extremely competent leaders.
"That's correct." Lim acknowledged. "Let's start it up." she said as she signalled to initiate blood flow. There were a few seconds of silence and they all watched intently.
"It's pinking up!" the resident exclaimed.
"Indeed, it is. We have a very pink kidney meaning a healthy blood flow and secure sutures." she confirmed with a smile. "Nice work everyone."
"Nice job, Dr. Lim." Melendez greeted.
"Thank you, Dr. Melendez." she said in return.
She's was about to continue with her residents Q&A when Melendez spoke again.
"It's been a long couple's of days, but unless I'm sleep deprived, I'd say you've got an unexpected visitor, Lim." he told her. She looked back over her shoulder with her confusion showing on the small amount of face he could see. He nodded his head toward the small gallery window and when Lim turned her gaze she saw who he was talking about, she saw her.
Sat on the furthest chair tucked away in the very corner, barely visible with the glare from the surgical lights, was a girl no older than a middle school age. She must have been watching the surgery as it happened in the OR below.
"Who is that? What is she even doing there?" the anaesthetist asked in a stage whisper.
"Want me to get rid of her? I'll make her go away." said one of the residents, maybe a little too keenly.
"Take it easy there. She probably just accidentally wandered in." Lim instructed. "I doubt she's a corporate spy!"
"I'll take care of it. You guys just focus on finishing up here." Melendez volunteered, turning and heading back out of the sliding doors.
X
Climbing the stairs and quietly pushing the door of the gallery open, he was a little surprised to see her still sitting there. He thought she might have bolted once she realised she'd been discovered but it seemed that the draw of the final stages of the surgery were just too much.
"Hi, there" he started, speaking softly. "I'm Dr. Melendez. Are you lost?" he said with concern.
"Am I in trouble?" the young girl asked nervously.
"No, you're not. Not exactly." he answered with a smile. "Although, you're technically not supposed to be up here. This is just for people who work here."
"What are they doing?" she asked him as he took a seat beside her.
"They uhh… Uhmm…" he stuttered trying to think of the easiest way to explain. "Well, this mans kidney wasn't working properly so his brother gave up one of his so he could be healthy again. The doctors down there just put in the new kidney and are making sure that it works properly for him" he explained using the simplest terms he could think of.
"My grandma had a liver transplant once. Did she get it from a donation too?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I want to do that." the little girl announced.
"Yes, it's a good thing to donate, but you won't have to think about that until you're older" he told her with a smile, admiring her selflessness at such a young age.
"No, not that. I mean the doctor. I want to do what she's doing." she corrected.
Not expecting what she just said, he smiled at her, amazed that she wasn't even slightly perturbed by what she was seeing. He looked back down at the OR to watch Lim taking lead on the surgery while giving pointers to her residents who were hanging on her every word.
"She is quite amazing, isn't she?" he said as he watched them going through the motions in thr room below. "See the lead surgeon there? She's very good at this, maybe the best you'll see." he continued pointing at Lim, his smile growing wider as he talked.
"You seem to be fond of her." she observed astutely.
He let out a little laugh before answering. "Who wouldn't be? She's awesome" he said feeling safe enough in the confines of this little room to say these things out loud. He paused, getting a little more serious as he continued. "She's awesome at pretty much everything she does, really." he added.
It was the truth. Audrey Lim was very good at anything and everything she put her mind to. It was one of the many reasons he admired her, from the moment they'd met on their first day of their residency.
"Don't tell her I said that though" he warned, and the little girl laughed. "Tell you what, we can wait for her to finish up downstairs and maybe you can meet her afterwards?" he suggested. She nodded her head in agreement.
As they walked out in to the corridor they were both startled from a call coming from behind them.
"Xiao Ming! Nǐ zài zuò shénme? I have been looking all over for you!"
They both turned to see who was speaking and Melendez was quite surprised to see Aoki walking towards them. She was not the source he expected of what he would find out later was broken Mandarin.
Realizing she might be in deep trouble, the young girl stuffed her jeans into her pockets and looked up with her best 'puppy dog' eyes.
"Oh hi, Ayi! I was just hanging out with Dr. Melendez for a while" she tried to say casually, being thoroughly let down by her inability to stop fidgeting.
"Miss Aoki." Melendez acknowledged her.
"Hello, Dr. Melendez. I'm sorry about my niece. She wandered off while I was stuck on a call" she said apologetically.
"No, no. She's okay. We were having fun hanging out right?" he said genuinely, looking down at the girl.
"I came out to check if you were hungry, and you weren't there. You shouldn't have wandered off like that" she admonished. "I still have a client on hold, but there's a cafeteria downstairs if you'd like?" Aoki said softening with one sorrowful look from her charge.
"Can I have pancakes? With Nutella and strawberries?" she asked.
"I can take her." Melendez offered. "If it's okay with you?"
"You sure? You don't mind?" she asked not wanting to impose.
"Not at all. I'm on a break anyway." he assured her with a smile.
"Alright, then. You go with Dr. Melendez to the cafeteria. I'll come get you there as soon as I'm done. You behave, okay?" instructed Aoki, giving the girl a kiss on the forehead.
"I will." she promised as she gave a small wave goodbye.
Melendez and the Xiao Ming headed to the cafeteria passing by the nurses station on the way. "When Dr. Lim passes by, could you tell her I have a consult for her? I'll be in the cafeteria." he asked politely.
"Sure thing, Dr. Melendez" he responded and the curious pair went on their way.
X
"Are you sure you want pancakes in the middle of the day?" he asked her apprehensively.
"There's never a wrong time for pancakes, Dr. Melendez." she answered quickly, making him laugh.
"Very true. I like your way of thinking" he chuckled as they stepped up to the counter and placed an order for two servings of their finest pancakes.
"So, you didn't tell me Aoki was your aunt when we met" he said trying to start a conversation as they say across from each other.
"Uhmm, technically you didn't ask?" she replied jokingly, in an almost know-it-all tone.
Melendez let out a chuckle, "You're right, again. I guess I didn't" he said, very much amused by her silliness.
"She and my mom are the best of friends. They've known each other since middle school, they used to be inseparable. My Mom had a work thing here in San Jose, so we decided to visit Auntie together. We were supposed to go out today to Happy Hollow Park, but she got called in for a work thing last minute" she explained, sounding a little flat.
"Well, I'm sorry your day out with her was interrupted. She's a very smart and very important lady" he pitied.
"I know. She's speaks at least three languages I know about and tries her best with Mandarin and a couple of other too. Besides, it didn't turn out so bad. I got to see some really cool stuff and now I'm having pancakes for lunch" she said brightly. "I'm living the dream!"
"Way to look at the bright side" he said with a smile and she beamed at him in return.
Halfway through their meal, he looked up and saw Lim getting a snack from the vending machine and standing at the edge of the cafeteria looking around. He raised his hand to get her attention and she approached their table.
"Remember our little secret now" Melendez reminded her with a mock glare in seconds before Lim reached their table.
"Hello! Made a new friend, I see" Lim said smiling at Melendez whilst referring to the child. "Isn't it a little too late in the day for pancakes? I thought you didn't do carbs in the morning?" she teased.
"I asked the same thing, but apparently there's never a wrong time for pancakes." he responded as a matter of fact and gesturing at his own plate.
Lim raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement. "Smart kid" she smiled at her.
"You may recognise this young lady as your unexpected visitor in the OR gallery." said Melendez raising his eyebrows.
"I assumed so" she replied. "Hi, I'm Dr. Lim." she said as she introduced herself.
"Hi, Dr. Lim." the child said, beaming at her.
"So, what's with the little adventure today?" she asked sitting down right next to her.
"I'm sorry, I got bored. I was just looking for something to do" she explained shyly.
"Don't worry. You're not in trouble." Lim assured her with a smile, tearing open the snack packet she'd bought herself and taking a bite.
"Dr. Melendez was telling me all about you today" the girl started, changing the subject and her words making Melendez suddenly anxious.
"Oh really?! What did he tell you?" she asked sarcastically while eyeing Melendez with a smirk. He had no reply except a nervous smile.
"You gave that man a new kidney?" she started, seemingly eager to know more.
"Well, I didn't technically give it to him. I just put in a new one that someone else gave to him."
"Oh, right. Was it hard to do that?" she asked curiously.
"Well, surgeries are never really easy because there can always be complications. But I'd say that one was a success" Lim answered.
"How did you learn how to do that?" she asked, her questions lining up nearly in her mind ready to ask.
"I went to school a lot. And practiced a lot" she answered patiently, looking amused at such a serious line of questioning from such a young person.
"And you're good at it?" the girl added, repeating Melendez's words from earlier making him shift in his seat eyeing her closely.
"Yes, but not as good as me" he chimed, before the girl could even add anymore on the subject.
Lim laughed, "Don't believe him. I'm obviously better at it than he is" she told her, rolling her eyes at Melendez.
"I think I want to be like you when I grow up" said the kid looking up at Lim with a serious look.
Audrey seemed to relax and began to explain to her the process of how to become a surgeon. Melendez sat back, smiled and watched them interact as if they'd known each other for the longest time.
"I know it seems like a long way from now, but I promise you, it is all worth it." Lim told her gently. "Did you get scared of what you saw in there today?" she asked.
"No, I'm 11 and a half and my Mom thinks I'm too grown up for my age." the child responded confidently.
"I think I agree with her. Your mom is right on this one" Lim said, amused at her candour.
The young girl was distracted for a moment as she saw her Aunt in the distance, on her way to collect her. Audrey followed her gaze and Neil turned to see what was so interesting.
"Please, don't tell her where you found me earlier" she whispered to them.
"As long as you don't tell her we didn't leave right away." Melendez whispered back.
"Xiao Ming, ready to go?" Aoki called. She nodded as she finished the last bite of her pancake. "Thank you, Dr. Melendez and Dr. Lim for watching her for a bit."
"Not a problem, she's a good kid." Melendez responded and Lim nodded in agreement.
Before she could get up, Lim put an arm around the back if her seat, leaning in. "Don't worry, they'll drop the Xiao soon enough" she teased as the girl gathered her things and prepared to leave.
"Bǎobèi, don't forget to say goodbye." Aoki reminded.
"Zàijiàn, Xiao Ming."
"Bye, Chiquita." both Lim and Melendez said almost at the same time.
"Zàijiàn! See you later!" she said to them both. "Your secret is safe with me." she whispered to Melendez as she passed, but loud enough for Lim to hear as she followed her aunt and waved goodbye as they headed to the doors.
"What was that all about? What secret?" Lim asked, curious.
"Ah, nothing. Just an inside joke." Melendez said hoping she wouldn't ask about it any further.
"Was it that you told her you're a better surgeon than me?" she laughed.
"It stays between little Xiao Ming and I." he insisted with a grin, knowing that it would frustrate Audrey to be kept in the dark.
"Little Xiao Ming is redundant, you know. Xiao Ming essentially means Little Ming. So technically, you're calling her little Little Ming." she corrected with a shake of her head. "I'm always having to teach you things" she laughed.
"So, her name is really just Ming?" he asked. She nodded in confirmation.
"Good to know" he smiled. But I like Xiao Ming. Little Ming. It suits her" he responded; feeling glad she didn't pry any further on their secret.
"I gotta go. Need to update the patient's family. Just stopped by for a snack and your 'consult'" she admonished.
"Thanks" he smiled, the only thing he could say before she got up and left. He followed her across the cafeteria with his gaze smiling to himself. It had been a while since just the two of them sat in the cafeteria just talking. Now that they had taken on bigger roles, it happened a lot less but he was glad that it had happened today. It hadn't been for very long, but it was nice and he had missed it.