Saving Us

Back To Reality

Silence struck the room.

"How are you?" Claire asked, while taking a seat.

"I am good. Feeling better. You?" Neil replied.

She nodded.
"I am okay. Glad to be back."

"Good. Good. I thought you were--" Neil replied.

"Hey. Finally. Took you long enough." interrupted Morgan as she walked into the room.

"Hey. Sorry. I just needed some more time to recover." said Claire.

"No worries. Glad to see you, Claire." said Alex.

"Hello, Dr. Browne. You're back. How are you?" asked Shaun.

"I am good, thanks." said Claire.

Dr. Andrews enters the room. "Okay. You are all here. Welcome back, Dr. Browne. Glad to see you."

Dr. Browne nods and smiles.

"Dr. Reznick and Dr. Murphy. You are with me for today and Dr. Browne and Dr. Park will be with Dr. Melendez."

They all head out and walk to the consultation rooms and ER.

Dr. Browne starts to present.

"Lynn Perez, 19, congenital heart disease. She is here for a coronary bypass."

Dr. Melendez nods. "How are you feeling today?"

"Good. Better than yesterday." Lynn said.

"What happened yesterday?" Alex asked.

"I ran out of breath. " she explained.

"Lynn, you do know you're not supposed to do strenuous exercises." said Dr. Melendez.

"I didn't. I was sitting down and watching a movie. And then after a while, I couldn't breath." Lynn replied.

Dr. Melendez looked worriedly at Claire and Alex.

"We will check on you again a bit later. Get some rest." Dr. Melendez said.

He gestured that Claire and Alex follow him.

"Something is not right." Alex said.
"I know, but until we find out what is wrong, there is no way we can do this surgery. Get a chest CT, MRI, blood tests, any test to find out what is making her like this."

They both nod and he walks away.

Claire and Alex take their patient to the CT room and wait behind the monitors to see the results.

"You okay?" Alex asked.
"Yeah."
"You sure?" Alex asked.
Claire sighs.
"I don't know. I left things on a bad note. With him."

"Hey. You risked your life, which was stupid. Yet smart." said Alex.

"I should have told him in the first place. He would have stopped me and..."

"But you would not have listened. Both of you are stubborn. That is the problem." Alex said.

Claire smiled.

"He would not be here today. Tell me, if you could do it all again, would you have done anything differently?" he asked.

Claire looks at him and exhales. "No."

"Well, then I guess you know what you got to do." he told her.

Claire continued staring at him.

"Scans are up." he said.

Her attention moved to the monitors. "She has fluid on her lungs. Page Melendez."

Alex pages Dr. Melendez and they move Lynn back to her room.

They meet Dr. Melendez back at the residents' lounge.

"We found fluid on her lungs." Claire says, handing the tablet to Dr. Melendez.

He walks to a seat and so does Claire and Alex.

"She is going to need to have treatment before surgery." he says.

They head down to Lynn's room and tell her the news.

Later...

The day is over and Dr. Melendez is about to leave his office.
Dr. Browne arrives back to the residents' lounge after sorting out Lynn's treatment.

Neil opens the door connecting the two rooms.
"Have a good night."

"Thanks. You too." she says.

He nods, smiles and turns around, heading out.

"Dr. Melendez."

He stops and turns.

"I need to talk to you."

He nods.

She exhaled.
"I am sorry. For everything. I knew you would have tried to stop me from doing it, but I knew I had to save you. We all knew."

"Why did you come back early?" he asked, out of curiosity.

"I thought it was time that I faced reality. That I faced you. One more day would not made much of a difference, but I hate how I left things with you. However, I don't regret a thing. Anyways, good night."

Neil continued looking at her as she walked out.

He sees her outside the hospital at the the exit.

He took a deep breath.
"You're right."
She stopped and turned to him.
He continued.
"And I am sorry too. Even if I did try to stop you, you wouldn't listen. Cause that is who you are, Claire. While you were gone, I feared losing you, just like you feared losing me. And I realised that by pushing you away, my fears would become real. Claire, you are the person that puts themselves before others, even if it puts you at risk. You are empathetic and sometimes it causes you to make decisions and come up with ideas that are radical."
Claire chuckles, looking down at the floor.
"But smart." he added.
She looks up at him and smiles.
He smiles back at her.

"It's what makes you, you. And I couldn't imagine you not being who you are. And I am grateful and thankful that you did what you did."

She smiles.

No one is around.

Silence fills the air.

He steps closer.

He kisses her. She pulls back and they smile at each other and she kisses him. They stop to look at each other and hug. After a while they both walk, holding hands until they reach their cars. He kisses her on the cheek and opens her car door.
"See you tomorrow."
She nods.
"Good night" she said.

He watches as she leaves and heads towards his car and leaves as well. They both smile as they drive home.