"Hey, Nadz," Bret came up to Nadine at the nurses' station. "I didn't know you worked here."
Nadine closed the patient file she was overlooking and handed it to Cynthia before turning to Bret.
"Yea, I've been here since they opened. What brings you around?"
"I just came up to talk to Dr. Cho. My niece is one of your patients... Chloe."
Nadine opened her mouth in surprise, "So Chloe's mom is Kristi? I knew she looked familiar."
Bret laughed, "Yea. Kristi was telling me that you look the same so she remembered who you were, but she was kinda offended that you didn't recognize her."
"When's the last time I saw your sister? 10 years ago. And she was still a 6th grader then. Wow, she really grew up."
"Yup. Grown up, married, and a mom," he said nonchalantly.
"It must be hard for her to see Chloe like that," Nadine sympathized. "I mean I think if Sora were to be in that situation, I'd go crazy."
"Well thanks to you and Aaron, she looks like she's going to make a full recovery."
Nadine smiled, "That's all that we can hope for. We're lucky we caught the infection when we did even though it was pretty bad when we did catch it. She must've been in a lot of pain the weeks before she came in. Endocarditis? In an 8 year old?"
"Yeah, well I had Kristi rush her here since I trust Aaron the most with things like this."
She looked confused, "Why is that?"
"We lived together when he was just starting med school and I was merely a sophomore in undergrad. Back in Adelaide. I trust that man with my life."
Nadine laughed, agreeing with him. "Aaron's honestly one of the best surgeons in this whole hospital. Not just saying it because he's technically my boss."
Bret looked around at the calm environment of Nadine's work. He saw the poster for the gala and pointed at it.
"You going to it?"
"You know about?"
"I helped build this hospital. All of the architects who worked on it get invited every year, but I'm either out of town on a business trip or on vacation. I rarely frequent this part of the city anyways since it's a children's hospital."
Nadine shook her head at the question she asked, considering she worked there. "If you do come, I'll make sure to decorate your seat extra fancy."
"Are you bringing James? Is he gonna be back in time?"
Nadine was the one to shrug this time, "No. But even if he is back, I think I'm just gonna go solo."
"Ahhhh," Bret pursed his lips and nodded slowly. "Well, hey, we can go solo together."
She turned and rolled her eyes, "That wasn't me asking you---
"Chill out, Lexi. It's not a date. Reid might kill me if it is a date," interrupting her.
Nadine smacked Bret on the arm at the sound of her old nickname in grade school.
"Please don't ever call me that again."
Bret put his hands up in surrender, "Alright, Nadz. But I'm serious, it's not a date. I just figured going with someone you know might make the gala suck a little less, ya know?"
She put a hand on her chin and dramatized her contemplating. Bret raised an eyebrow at her before she shrugged.
"Pick me up at 7?"
