AN: This chapters takes place in 1x06, Not Fake, when Lim, Melendez, Jessica, Glassman, and Nurse Farrar are discussing Melendez and Jessica's wedding plans (or lack of wedding plans). The following is then Lim's thoughts and feelings. I just thought it would be a good idea to include chapters like this since Lim admitted she's had feelings for Melendez for a long time. ;)
Lim saw Jessica Preston come into the emergency room. It was the graveyard shift and all of the doctors and nurses were on call in the emergency room due to a mass casualty bus crash. Lim didn't really know why she wasn't a fan of Jessica: she was good at her job, she was intelligent, she was pleasant enough to be around, and she seemed to make Neil really happy. But there was something about Jessica Preston that she just didn't like. Lim did her best not to roll her eyes in front of everyone when Melendez and Jessica kissed in front of her and a few other doctors. She decided to just put on a pleasant face and act casually. Lim leaned against the nurses' station next to Nurse Farrar and across from Dr. Glassman, "So when's the big day?" Lim asked politely, though her voice came out higher than her usual register. Jeez, where did that tone come from?
"Oh, we haven't set it yet," Jessica answered.
Seriously? Lim thought to herself, You both have been engaged for like, two years. Maybe they're looking at a certain venue, she figured, "Where's it gonna be?"
"We'll figure it out. Maybe a beach somewhere," Jessica said.
Nurse Farrar seemed satisfied with the response, but Lim did her best to politely smile and nod, Sure. Like the Melendez family will agree to any place outside of a Catholic church.
Melendez glanced over at Lim, and like they were in sync, he immediately turned to Jessica and said, "We should talk about this later."
"What? I like beaches. You got any other more romantic ideas?" Jessica asked Melendez.
"My family likes churches," Melendez admitted.
Lim looked down toward the desk, doing her best to not give a smug smile, I knew it.
"We should talk about this later," Jessica said.
Yeah, you probably should.
Lim hadn't even been aware of Glassman's facial expressions during the entire conversation, so when he spoke, he startled her a little, "Dr. Lim, I think one of your yellows is about to turn red."
Lim looked up and no alarms were going off, nor was anyone shouting for a doctor, but she left the station with the closest patient walking by it. She couldn't be around Melendez and Jessica and their incessant wedding talk anymore. At this point, they might as well go to the courthouse or elope or something and just get the ripping her heart out part over with. Wait a minute? Ripping her heart out? Lim didn't care if Melendez was marrying another woman. It was his life and he was allowed to marry whomever he pleased. Once Lim found out that this random patient was on her way to visit her husband in a triage room a few feet down from hers, she went to the break room to grab a bite to eat before the next wave of patients arrived in the ER. She grabbed a granola bar and poured herself another mug of coffee to keep herself functionally awake. Lim was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice Dr. Glassman come into the break rom. She finally glanced toward the door to see who it was and smiled a little, "How are you doing, Dr. Glassman? I know it's been a while since you've been on the front lines."
"I'm managing. Though if you could pour me another mug of coffee, I'd really appreciate it," said Glassman. Lim chuckled a little a poured another cup of coffee. She handed it to her superior and he said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir," said Lim. They both sat down on one of the couches and they drank their beverages in comfortable silence before Lim asked, "Sir, is there a reason you inadvertently sent me away with a patient not assigned to my care?"
Glassman took another sip of his coffee and answered, "Well, I had to defuse that situation in the ER somehow. I could've cut that tension between you and Jessica with a scalpel."
"Oh," Lim uttered, "I'm sorry. I was just curious about their wedding. Now, with all due respect, sir, may we change the subject?"
Glassman nodded and said, "I notice you're on the schedule every day next week."
"Mmhm," Lim nodded mutely.
"Don't need a day off to do anything?" asked Glassman curiously.
Lim shrugged, "All of my chores have been done recently, I don't have to run any errands, and I don't have anything else to do. Ever since Neil and Jessica got serious, we haven't hung out as much."
Glassman chuckled to himself. Lim had too much pride and honor to admit it, but he knew deep down what was bothering her, and it had nothing to do with the lack of sleep or the fact that they were dealing with a mass casualty (she had loved being in the ER since day one of her residency), "You miss spending time with him, don't you?" Lim looked over at Glassman confusingly, "Dr. Melendez, I mean?"
Lim took a bite of her granola bar and said, "No, why would I?"
"Because, in my own professional observation, I think whenever Jessica is around, you have the little green-eyed monster on your shoulder," Glassman admitted stoically.
Lim nearly choked on her granola bar, and then, snickered a little at Glassman's observation. She adamantly shook her head and said, "N-no, that's not it. I'm not jealous of Jessica."
"Dr. Lim, I've known you for over ten years now, and I know your friendship with Dr. Melendez has been one of the few consistencies in your life. And now that he and Jessica are engaged, you miss spending time with him," said Glassman.
"If by friendship, you mean competing with me and occasionally going out to grab a drink, then not really," Lim said.
"You know I just call it like I see it, Dr. Lim. Now we have patients to save," Glassman patted her shoulder and left the room.
As the night progressed, Lim became too busy to remember any conversations she had had (with Jessica or Glassman). When morning finally arrived, she went to the locker room to change. She ran into Melendez on her way out of the room, "Hey," he smiled at her.
"Hi Neil," she answered.
"It's been a while since we've seen each other. We've both been so busy with work and personal matters," said Melendez.
Like planning your wedding with Jessica? A wedding where you can't agree on a single aspect of it? thought Lim, "I'm sure the wedding planning is taking up a lot of your time," Lim responded politely.
"Yeah, it's actually because Jess and I have both been busy with work. We really need to start cracking down on the wedding planning," admitted Melendez.
Before your relationship self-destructs. Oh for God's sake, Audrey, you sound like a petty teenager, she chastised herself, "I didn't have a big one when I married Kashal, but I can only imagine how much work it involves."
"You're not kidding," he chuckled. Lim went to leave the hospital when Melendez asked, "Hey Aud, did you want to grab brunch or something?"
Lim turned around and asked, "Isn't Jessica still here?"
"No, she went home to get some sleep and she has to work. It would just be you and me," Melendez clarified.
It was what she craved right now: alone time with her best friend. But she was too exhausted to think about anything other than a shower and sleep. Or maybe there were other reasons, but she knew she couldn't be alone with him right now, "Not today, Neil. Maybe take a rain check for next week?"
"Okay then," said Melendez, "See you tomorrow, Aud."
She would normally take a long ride on her bike if she was overly upset or angry about something, but she knew she would get into a crash if she did so today, so she rode straight home. She didn't know why she had gotten so defensive with Dr. Glassman earlier that morning about Melendez and Jessica. It had seemed that Dr. Glassman had been implying that she liked Neil romantically. Which wasn't true. At all. Not even a little. She didn't have feelings for Neil. After her divorce, she became a keep it casual and non-committed type of gal and he was much more of an all-in, committed, and serious type of guy. Plus, they were like brother and sister and teased each other as such. They would never work. Period. Not that she wanted to try. But even if she did, she couldn't, because he was engaged to Jessica. Fucking Jessica. Why did she and their fellow residents think it was a good idea for Neil to flirt with the founder's granddaughter? Not that it would've mattered. She had been married at the time anyway. After taking a shower, Lim immediately fell into bed, though she had a tough time falling asleep despite the chaos of her shift. She was still too worried about what Neil was doing at the moment.