The Good Doctor - Aftermath

by cbstevp

The events in the days after the earthquake at the end of Season 3, as Shaun and Lea navigate their new relationships and the whole hospital deals with the death of Doctor Melendez

The Good Doctor – Aftermath – Chapter 1

He held her in his arms and felt like nothing in the world could ever make him sad again. She said she loved him, and he knew he loved her, almost from the first day they had met, when Lea had borrowed the batteries for her video game controller. And now she kissed him not for pity, or practice, or goodbye, but for love. It was hard for Dr. Shaun Murphy to understand other people and what they meant because of his autism. But he knew Lea loved him, because her lips said so, in words, and in touch.

They were in the street, by the fire trucks, outside a brewery where a party had been going on the night before when an earthquake had struck. The debris from the earthquake was all around them, and Shaun was soaking wet and they were both disheveled and dirty. Lea had been inside the brewery and had fallen to a floor below but seemed uninjured. Shaun also was fine, but he was exhausted, having spent the last few hours underground, in rising water, saving a woman named Vera who had been trapped and impaled by a length of rebar in her leg dangerously close to a main artery. Shaun tried to cut the rebar with a surgical saw, and when that had failed and the water kept rising he had only one choice to free her and save her, to amputate her leg. He knew he could that, because he had done it before. And he knew he was a good doctor.

Snap.

Shaun and Lea broke their kiss and looked around and saw a man with a high quality camera taking their picture.

"Oh, God, you did not just take our picture, did you?" Lea almost screamed at the man.

He was a bit older than them, tall and with a grey beard. He grinned "That just might be my Pulitzer. Young love among the debris. Can I get your names?"

"No!" Lea shouted and then looked at Shaun with pleading eyes but it was too late.

"I am Doctor Shaun Murphy and this is Lea my…girlfriend?"

He said it like he was asking her if it was okay to call her that. A twinkle in her eyes told him it was okay. "Yes, my girlfriend."

"You don't seem sure," the photographer asked.

"And you are getting annoying," Lea said. "Let's go, Shaun."

"I have to check on Vera, first."

They walked over to the ambulance where Vera was lying on a stretcher. Her face was full of pain and despair but she smiled for Shaun.

"How are you?" Shaun asked.

"I don't know yet. Still in shock…but alive. My hero," she said with emotion in her eyes.

"I did my job," Shaun said.

"You did more than that," Vera told him. She looked at Lea. "Is this…Lea?"

"Yes," Shaun said. "And you did not die, so I do not have to keep my promise."

Vera looked at Lea. "This is a good man…a good doctor. I hope you know that."

Lea sniffed and nodded. "I do." And she held Shaun's hand tight.

"Why is he a hero?" the photographer asked from behind them.

"God, will you just go away!" Lea pleaded again.

Vera gave the man what he wanted. "He saved my life. I was trapped in rising water and Doctor Murphy amputated my leg to save me from drowning. Stayed when he should have left."

"Wow," the man said and only then did Shaun and Lea realized he was recording it all on his camera.

"Don't you dare put our names or pictures in the paper or TV or anywhere!" Lea shouted at him.

He grinned again. "This is news I am afraid." And then with a smile he ran off.

An EMT came to the back of the ambulance. "Okay, time to go." He looked at Shaun and Lea. "You need a ride to St. Bons?"

"Yes," Shaun said. "Lea needs to get checked out and I have to be there to help."

"I am fine," Lea told him. "More than fine now."

"Still, you might have an injury. Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No. Listen, you need to get checked out too…hero."

Just then Doctor Alex Park came over to them with an ashen face. "I just got a call from Claire," he said in shocked tones. "Doctor Melendez is dead."

"Oh, my God," Lea gasped.

Shaun felt a shock go through his body. "What! No, no…how?"

"I don't know," Park replied. "Claire could barely talk. Let's get to the hospital."

In the emergency room at St. Bonaventure Hospital it was still quite busy, with people with minor injuries from the earthquake still being attended to. Shaun did a quick exam of Lea and she was fine and just then Doctor Glassman, president of the hospital and top neurosurgeon and Shaun's mentor, approached them.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked in worry.

"Yes, we are fine. But Doctor Melendez is not," Shaun said.

"Yes, I know." Glassman said solemnly and then he looked at Lea. "I need your help. The earthquake seems to have had some negative affect on our computer servers."

"Ah, yeah," she said. "Just let me get my laptop from my desk."

"You know where the servers are?"

"Yes, of course. Shaun…see you later?"

"Yes, I must work as well."

Lea went off and Shaun got out of his dirty clothes and put on scrubs and got to work. Vera was admitted after Doctor Glassman examined Shaun's amputation work. He nodded and looked at Shaun.

"Good work…given the circumstances." He looked at Nurse Hawks. "Send her to OR 2 to have the stump cleaned up and check her shoulder wound."

Vera was wheeled away with one last look of gratitude to Shaun.

"How did Doctor Melendez die?" Shaun asked.

Glassman gave him a long look and then from behind him Doctor Audrey Lim answered in a subdued tone. "He was struck by debris and it caused too much internal damage…it…grew septic…we…tried…but couldn't save him."

Park spoke up from nearby where he was checking a girls damaged lower arm. "He seemed fine at the scene."

"Played the hero," Glassman said quietly. "Thought it was nothing, could tough it out. The perils of being your own doctor. Let that be a lesson to you all."

"Yes," Lim said with a stern look to Shaun. "We could have lost you as well. You ignored my orders and went racing off to find this girl…"

"Lea. I love her."

Lim sighed. "I understand, but…"

"And she loves me."

"What?" Glassman said in amazement. "She told you that?"

"Yes…and we kissed…by the fire trucks…a man took our picture."

"What man?" Park asked.

"I don't know," Shaun said. "But he seemed like a reporter."

"That's trouble to come," Glassman said. "Okay, I am needed in surgery. Let's just hope there are no more aftershocks."

Glassman left but Lim was not done with Shaun. "You ignored my orders. And the fire department's orders to get out of there."

"Vera was trapped. I could not leave her alone to die."

"You did the right thing," Park said.

Lim gave Park a sharp look. "Don't encourage him. He does what he wants too often. That must change. For all of you."

"Look," Park began. "He took a chance and it worked out. We are supposed to run into situations like that."

"I know but we must have a chain of command in the field," Lim said.

"Vera needed me," Shaun said. "All those people needed us. It's our job."

Lim was about to reply when Doctor Claire Browne showed up. "Doctor Lim you are need in OR4."

Lim looked at them all. "This is not over." And she raced off to the OR.

Claire looked puzzled. "What's not over?"

"Us playing hero" Park told her. "She's mad at Shaun for rescuing that woman….and ignoring orders. And…she's mad at Melendez."

Shaun was puzzled and said what he thought as usual. "Why is she mad at Doctor Melendez? He is dead. There is no point in being mad."

Claire took a sharp breath. "Shaun…aren't you sad he is gone?"

"Yes, of course. But I am not mad at him."

"She's mad because he thought so little of his injury," Park explained. "Played the hero…so I guess she is right."

Claire sighed. "I was with him the whole time and he never said anything…we could have saved him. But then it was too late."

Tears formed in her eyes and Shaun did not know what to do. "Sorry," Claire said as she wiped her eyes. "I…better get back to work."

And so they worked all through the day, helping people who needed them, as people always did, those too sick or hurt to care for themselves. And that was why they were doctors. To be there for those who needed them most.

The long day ended when Doctor Glassman told those who had been on duty from the night before to go home and rest while the second team came on duty.

Shaun found Lea in the server room, arguing with Glassman.

"Whoever set this system up should be fired," Lea said in disgust as she bent over her laptop among the tall server machines, which all seemed less bright and more muted than Shaun remembered.

"Can you get it all working?" Glassman ask in frustration.

"Yes…but where is the person supposed to be charge of all this?"

Glassman looked awkward. "Well…he was let go…budget cuts. He said it all was set up and working smoothly so…"

"You fired him?" Lea asked in surprise. "Typical bureaucracy. It's all working so we don't need to maintain it. Of course you do, Glassy! You love cars, right?"

"Yes, you know that so…okay, I see your point. Can you fix it all?"

"I can. But…oh, hi Shaunie," Lea said, just noticing him.

Shaun smiled. He loved it when she called him that. "Hello. Are you going to be long?"

"I don't know yet. If Glassy the grouch stops asking me questions for a bit, maybe not."

"Sorry," Glassman said. Then he looked at Shaun and then back to her. "So…you two…together now?"

"Yes," they said as one. "Lea expressed her love for me," Shaun added.

Lea grinned. "I sure did."

Glassman nodded. "Okay…well, congratulations." It was said in a flat tone, that Shaun did not pick up on but Lea sure did.

Lea gave him a look. "Glassy, please try to be happy for us."

"I am, I am. What did I say wrong?"

"Nothing. It was how you said it," she replied. "Never mind. Now about your system. Yes, I can fix it, but this is not really the job for a part time assistant. This is really more of a well…head of an IT department person's job."

"Are you blackmailing me into giving you a promotion?"

"Yes."

He sighed, "Fine. Head of IT…but I can't pay you what they did at your last job."

"That's was 90 Gs. So 70 will do."

"Thirty-five," he shot back.

She laughed. "You do realize this is Silicon Valley. My skills are in demand."

"Yes, but there are half a million more programmers out there just like you. And you have hopped from job to job the last three years. Anyone looking at your CV will wonder why you are so…"

"Flakey?" Lea said before he did. "Fine. Sixty thousand."

"Forty."

"Fifty…five." She stretched out the last 'five' long enough for him to offer her his hand to shake, maybe thinking it was only fifty, Shaun thought. Hmmm, a good negotiating tactic perhaps.

Glassman sighed heavily as they shook on it. "Fine, fifty-five. Just barely puts you in a higher tax bracket you know. You might take home less money."

"No," Shaun said and then he stared off into space and calculated the tax on 55,000 dollars. "She will still take home more money than if you paid her only 50,000."

"Don't try to weasel out of this, Glassy," Lea said with an edge of malice.

"Okay, okay. You are now head of the IT department. Congratulations."

"Congratulations," Shaun said. "It's…awesome."

"It sure is," Lea replied. "So, where is my office?"

"The servers first," Glassman told her.

Lea smiled as she let her fingers fly across the laptop keyboard and then she dramatically pressed one last button. All the servers seemed to let out a sort of sigh of relief and hummed in renewed vigor.

Lea closed her laptop, unplugged it from the servers, and stood by Shaun. "Ready to go home?"

"Oh, yes," he said excitedly and wondered if she meant what he thought she meant.

Glassman looked pissed off. "That's it?"

"Yes," Lea told him. "Just like new. No more blackouts, no more frozen screens, no more misplaced lab results. All working fine now. Thanks to me."

"You just bilked me out of 55 Gs!"

"Hey! No, I did not. I bilked the hospital and wait, no, not bilked. Earned! I spent years learning how to do all this, just like you Glassy, and Shaunie, and Park, and Lim, and Morgan, and Claire all did in medical school. So, no, I earned it."

"Okay, you earned it. Just make sure it stays running. Goodnight. Go home…rest."

"My office?" Lea asked.

He nodded. "I will see what I can do. Tomorrow."

"Yes!" Lea squealed in delight. She looked to Shaun. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yes."

Glassman smiled a bit. "Well…have a good night."

"You, too," Shaun said. "I think you did the right thing hiring Lea. She is very good with computers."

"I know," said Glassman. "Thank you, Lea. Go, get some rest."

They said their goodbyes once more and left the hospital in Lea's car called the Striped Tomato, a red and white replica of a 1970s car used in the Starsky and Hutch police drama TV show.

"Your place or mine?" Lea asked as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Mine, please. I need a shower."

"So do I," she smiled and looked at him. "Shaun…I know we love each other. And when two people love each other…"

"They have sex," he blurted out.

Lea laughed. "They sure do. But…"

"What? But? No, no buts."

"I am not saying we will never do it. But, God, we both just went through hell. I think we need to just...relax. Okay?"

"Okay…but can we lay down together at least. I…want to hold you some more."

Lea smiled. "Yes….we can do that. But after we clean up."

"Yes. We both stink."

That brought a loud laugh from Lea.

Later, at his place, which used to be her place too, as Lea showered first Shaun turned on the TV and after looking at the weather channel for a while turned to the news. It was all about the earthquake, how many died, how many were hurt, and so on. And then came the picture.

"LEA! Come quick!"

In a few moments she raced out of the bathroom in only a towel wrapped around her body, hair still very wet.

"What's wrong? What…oh no."

There they were on screen, hugging and kissing and below it said. "Hero doctor and girlfriend share a romantic moment among the ruins."

Lea sat next to him as Shaun turned up the sound and the female announcer spoke. "This morning at the scene of a collapsed brewery where several people died during the earthquake Doctor Shaun Murphy and his girlfriend Lea shared a romantic moment after spending all night rescuing people. Doctor Murphy is being noted for his heroism in saving a woman who was trapped underground with water from broken pipes rising around her. He had to amputate her leg in the most difficult circumstances to free her body so she would not drown. It is also being reported that Doctor Murphy refused orders from both his hospital superiors and from the fire department to leave the scene and save himself. Channel 5 news has learned Doctor Murphy works at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose. And even more significant he is one of the few doctors in the state who is recognized as being on the autism spectrum. More about this as we unveil the story behind the city's newest hero, Doctor Shaun Murphy."

Shaun turned off the TV. They sat in stunned silence. Finally, Lea spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know. It is…strange…being called a hero for doing my job."

"I know. But you did save her life."

"I do that every day. Am I a hero every day?"

"Yes…to some people. What you do is so extraordinary. You help people when they need help the most. That is part of the reason why I love you. That and all that is you, exactly who you are. I would not change one bit. I am sorry it took me so long to realize that."

He looked at her, and smiled. "It's okay. And I love you for being exactly who you are, too."

"Thank you. Well…I guess we don't have to tell anyone else about us now."

"Yes…the whole world knows now."

They sat in silence and then Lea looked at him. "Go take a shower."

"Yes, I stink."

She smiled and stood. "And be quick." She then let the towel drop to the floor. Shaun gasped in surprise as he stared at her body.

"You are so lovely," he said in awe.

She blushed. "Thank you. I seem to be not so tired anymore. Are you?"

"Oh, no. Not now."

"Good. Now hurry….I will be in bed…waiting for you."

"Oh, yes!"