I DO NOT OWN THE GOOD DOCTOR.

Toxic

It was morning in San Jose and St. Bonaventure Hospital was bustling with activity. From cases of food poisoning, to the flu, to surgeries, the hospital was busy. Shaun Murphy, who had surgery a couple days ago for appendicitis, was still in the hospital as a patient. He wasn't handling being a patient too well, but it was all okay. He was sitting in an upright position, and he played with the sheets a little, gripping them until his knuckles turned white. Melendez walked into his room, clipboard in hand. "Hey, Shaun."

Shaun looked up. "Hello, Dr. Melendez."

"How're feeling?"

"I keep getting asked that. I am fine."

Melendez smiled and chuckled. "I bet you are... but as a doctor, it's my job to ask how my patients are."

"Okay."

"All right. Well, I brought you something." He set his clipboard down on the counter next to him. He smirked and took an orange juice out of his pocket. "Orange juice." He flipped the bottle in the air and caught it. "I figured you'd might want this." Shaun stared at him. "Besides, you're doing much better." He walked over and sat on Shaun's bed. He opened the bottle and held it out to Shaun.

Shaun just stared at him, at the bottle, and back to him. "I prefer apple juice. I like orange juice too, but I prefer apple juice."

"Of course you do." Melendez pulled his hand back. "Okay." He stood up and said, "Whatever the prince wants, he'll get."

"I'm not a prince."

"Just say okay."

"Okay."

Melendez smiled and shook his head. Glassman was standing by the doorway when he walked out. "Hey, Aaron."

"Hi, Neil. Taking orders from Shaun now?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Now if you'll excuse me, Shaun requests apple juice and I'm doing just that." He then walked off.

Glassman had his hands in his pockets and walked into Shaun's room. "Wow, that's new." Shaun looked over at his visitor. "You ordering Dr. Melendez around." Shaun blushed and Glassman laughed. "Seems so uncanny."

"Hello, Dr. Glassman."

"Hey, Shaun. How're you feeling?"

"Dr. Melendez already asked me that. I am better."

"That's good." He walked towards Shaun's bed and sat down.

"I do not want to be here. I want to work."

Glassman sighed. "I know you do, but you gotta get better in order to do that."

Shaun hummed. "I already told you: I am better."

"You may feel better, but Dr. Melendez has to give you clearance first."

Shaun nodded. "Okay."

"Good boy."

Shaun hummed and then said, "I do not like being here... as a patient. I'm a doctor. As a doctor, I should've recognized my own symptoms, but I didn't. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Shaun. As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."

"Yes. That is all that matters."

Glassman smiled. "Good."

Melendez came in, holding an apple juice this time. "Okay, Murphy. I got you your apple juice." He opened the bottle and walked over to Shaun. "Here you go."

Shaun took the bottle. "Thank you."

Melendez smiled. "You're welcome." He looked over and caught Glassman peering at him from over his glasses and smirking. Melendez averted his gaze away and back to Shaun. "Anyway... since you feel better, I'm gonna send you home." Shaun opened his mouth to speak but got cut off. "Before you start arguing with me, you need to rest. And for you, you're better off doing that at home... where you're not constantly reminded of wanting to work. Do you understand?"

Shaun nodded. "Yes."

"I'm not punishing you, Shaun. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you, that's all."

"Okay."

"Good. I'm glad you understand." With that, he turned around and left.

Glassman stood up. "Now, Shaun, you heard Dr. Melendez. You have to rest." Shaun just blinked. "I know you'd rather work, but resting is best. Your health comes first."

"Okay. I want to work, but I will listen to you. I do not want you to be angry with me, so I will listen."

"That's good."

"Yes. It is good." Glassman laughed, shook his head, and smiled.

At around 9:30, Shaun was sprawled out on his bed watching TV when he heard a knock at his door. He didn't get up, though. If he did get up, he would feel dizzy and nauseous... so he stayed put. The door opened and in came Glassman and Melendez. He looked up and saw the two doctors. Glassman said, "Hey, Shaun."

"Hello, Dr. Glassman, Dr. Melendez."

"We came to see how you were feeling."

He turned his TV off. "I do not feel well. My stomach hurts." He slowly stood up, but instantly regretted it when his world began spinning and he felt nauseous.

Melendez looked at Shaun's demeanor, especially his eyes. "You should lay back down and get some rest, Murphy. Your eyes are glazed over."

"I do not think I will be able to sleep. My stomach hurts." He felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he gripped his right side with one hand while holding onto the support column with the other. His eyes were shut tight.

Glassman asked, "Shaun?"

"Murphy? Hey, you all right?"

"No. My stomach hurts in the same place my appendix was. I think I might have an infection." Glassman and Melendez looked at each other with worried expressions.

Melendez said, "It is rare, but one of the infections that can develop is peritonitis. Uh oh." He became panicked. "We gotta get him back to the hospital."

Shaun still gripped his right side. "I cannot move. It hurts too much."

"The infection must be getting worse. Come on." Melendez picked Shaun up in a bridal hold. "We have no time to lose." He and Glassman ran out of the apartment. He was careful not to jostle Shaun. While on the way to Glassman's car, Shaun passed out when the pain became too much. "No! No, no, no, no! Stay with me, Shaun! Stay with me!" They got to Glassman's car and got in, Glassman in the driver's seat and Melendez in the back with Shaun. He laid Shaun down and sat beside him. Glassman started the car and drove off. Melendez put two fingers on the side of Shaun's neck, trying to find his pulse. "His pulse is really weak. Aaron, hurry!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

He started doing compressions on Shaun's chest. "Come on, Murphy! Don't quit on me!"

Glassman looked in the rearview mirror and his face was pure terror. This can't be happening.

When they got to the hospital, Glassman slammed on the brakes and put the car in park in front of the ER. He got out of his seat and ripped open the passenger door on the same side. Melendez slid out, dragging Shaun along and bundled him in his arms again. "Come on!" They both ran into the ER and when Melendez saw an empty bed, he beelined for it and laid Shaun down. After that, he started working on getting Shaun stable. "Aaron, help me get him stable." He grabbed an oxygen mask from nearby and put it on Shaun. While ripping open an IV, he looked up and saw Glassman's look of pure terror. "Aaron, snap out of it! I need your help!"

Glassman snapped back to reality. "Sorry."

Melendez administered the IV. He then got some electrodes and placed them on Shaun's chest, three above his heart and three below his heart. He looked up at the monitors and found a rather slow heart rate. He grabbed a syringe and some medication from the drawer of supplies, drew up a dosage, and stuck it in Shaun's IV port. "Administering one milligram of atropine." He pushed the plunger down on the syringe and the medication went into the IV. After the syringe was empty, he withdrew it and looked up at the monitor. He waited for about ten seconds, and it was taking effect—Shaun's heart rate was slowly climbing back to its regular rate. "The medication is working. Shaun's heart rate is going back up."

Glassman, who had been silent the whole time, said, "Thank God." He wanted to help, but at the same time, he didn't want to. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. The boy before him, who he had raised since fourteen, laid completely helpless... and it horrified him. He started heading towards the other side of the room and then stopped dead in his tracks. He closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead.

After making sure he properly administered the antibiotic, Melendez looked over and saw Glassman standing there, looking forlorn and frustrated. He looked back at the monitor, and it was beeping at a steady rate, so he took the opportunity to go over to Glassman. Glassman felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over at his friend and colleague. "He'll be fine, Aaron. I gave him an antibiotic and it should clear up the infection. I won't let anything happen to him; I promise."

"Thank you, Neil." Melendez nodded and went back to Shaun. Glassman still had a look of worry on his face as he observed the boy in the bed and the situation at hand.

The next morning, Shaun was back in a hospital room and in a bed. Glassman and Melendez were also in Shaun's room. Glassman was asleep in a chair by the table. He was slouched down, arms dangling to his sides. Melendez was also asleep in a chair, arms crossed under his head as he rested them on the table.

Shaun slowly fluttered his eyes open. His vision was blurry for a few seconds but cleared up. He looked around at his surroundings and then blinked. He let out a sigh. He's been in a hospital bed for two days after his surgery. Now, it was going on the third day. If he had to continue being in one, he was going to lose his mind and have a meltdown. To add to his misery, his body was aching so much, and all his energy felt like it had been drained.

Melendez lifted his head up. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked over and saw that Shaun was awake. He leaned over and shook Glassman a little. "Aaron, hey, hey."

Glassman opened his eyes and lifted his head up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Huh?"

"Shaun's awake."

He perked up upon hearing this. Melendez got up and went over to Shaun. "Well, good morning." Shaun looked over at him. "How're you feeling?"

"I do not feel well. My body hurts. I feel like all my energy has been drained."

He felt sympathetic for Shaun. "You're gonna feel pretty lousy. Your body just fought off a major infection." Shaun just looked at him, like he wanted more information. "Peritonitis. You must've developed it while you were recovering from your surgery."

"T-that makes sense. People can develop infections after surgery. It does not happen all the time, but it does happen."

"Well, it's a good thing Glassman and I came by last night. We saved your life. Peritonitis is a serious infection. Of course, I don't need to tell you. You're incredibly smart."

Shaun looked down and played with the sheets a little. He looked back up. "You saved my life, which is good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. To be fair, it's what I do."

"Yes. You are also very arrogant."

"Watch it, Murphy." Melendez smiled and chuckled as a way of softening his words.

"Okay." Shaun pushed himself so that he was sitting upright.

Later that evening, Melendez went back to Shaun's room, and he found Shaun and Glassman sitting side by side on Shaun's bed. They were watching something on Glassman's tablet and laughing. Glassman looked up and saw Melendez. He nudged Shaun and Shaun also looked up. Melendez said, "It looks like you two are having fun. I won't bother you. I just wanted to tell Shaun that he can go home tomorrow." At this, Shaun's eyes lit up. Melendez chuckled. "Yes. It is good news, Shaun. I want you to take it easy for a couple days, though. At home. I already talked to Glassman, and he'll take you home with him."

"But my shifts–"

"Aren't as important as your health. Besides, we've got it covered. And you can just relax and recover." Shaun opened his mouth to speak but got cut off. "It's just two days, Shaun. I think you can handle it."

"Okay."

"Promise me you'll relax and not think about work for a couple days."

Shaun thought this over for a few seconds. "Okay. I promise."

"Good. We finally got somewhere."

"Yes. Everything is good." Glassman and Melendez smiled.

One thing was for sure, everything was going well, and Shaun was getting back to his normal self. In a couple days, Shaun would be getting back to doing what he loves.