A Lifetime of Whiskey

Chapter 1

Dr. Audrey Lim entered the St. Bonaventure emergency room. It had been a sleepless night; between all of the destruction from the earthquake, the long hours at the brewery and the OR, and the fact that her best friend was dying, she had gotten only 90 minutes of sleep.

As she drove to work, she tried to push the thought that Neil was dead from her mind. If it had been up to her, she would have offered him the option of a second surgery, but Glassman had overruled her, stating that he would be diabetic, on an ostomy bag, and waiting for a liver transplant, "Since when is all of that worse than being dead?" she thought angrily to herself, "I mean, what the actual fuck was that, Aaron?!" Did Dr. Glassman not understand how important Neil was to her? Never mind the fact that he was her ex-boyfriend whom she still had feelings for, but he was also her best friend, the man whom had been there for her since their residency days. Best friends didn't just let their friends die! They did everything they possibly could to save them. If it hadn't been for the fact that she had a meeting that morning, she would have gone to the brewery with Glassman and Melendez. She would have been there as soon as Neil was hurt. She would have forced him to go get checked out instead of performing that surgery on site. She would have found the perforated bowel in time. He would be alive.

When she arrived at work, she changed into scrubs before going to the ER. A lump formed in her throat, knowing that the room Neil had been in had probably been cleared by now. An official autopsy would have to be performed, and then, they could start making funeral arrangements. She figured it would be her job to notify his parents and sister; no doubt Gabi would be devastated. Then, there was the funeral; she had no clue how to arrange a Catholic funeral mass, but she felt she owed it to Neil to give him that much, since deep down, his faith was important to him. Then, there was the hiring of a new cardiothoracic surgeon. Dammit, she didn't want a new cardiothoracic surgeon. She wanted Neil! Her Neil! The man whom was supposed to still be alive that way, when she changed her mind, they could get back together and live a life together drinking whiskey. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid to think that the Chief of Surgery position was more important than Neil. And it had taken his death to make her realize what was important in life. This feeling was even more heartbreaking than her divorce.

When she arrived at the emergency room, she noticed Claire walk into the room where she assumed Neil's body still was. She stayed outside to allow the young resident to say her goodbye. Audrey wasn't stupid or unobservant; she knew how close Neil and Claire were, and yes, she knew the young woman had a massive crush on him. But that didn't matter now: Neil was dead. He couldn't be with either one of them. Claire came out of the room with tears in her eyes. Lim figured there was no use being petty; they both were grieving. A few tears escaped Lim's eyes as she wrapped her arms around Claire. And that was when Claire whispered two words the Chief thought she'd never hear, "He's alive."

"What?" asked Lim in shock, pulling out of Claire's embrace, "How?"

"I don't know, but when I went into the room, Dr. Melendez was still breathing and he's still hooked up to monitors."

Lim didn't answer Claire, instead, walking past her into Melendez's room. Sure enough, Melendez was alive; asleep, but alive. More tears fell, but this time, they were for a different reason. She slowly walked over to his bedside and took his hand, "Neil," she whispered to herself.

Melendez stirred upon hearing noise. He turned to face her and smiled, "Audrey."

Lim smiled and laughed, "Oh Neil," she gently hugged him, but then the thought suddenly hit her, "You bastard, how DID you make it through the night?"

"I don't know," Melendez admitted, "I've been in and out of consciousness, so what I remember is sporadic. I remember Claire being in here hating on my tattoo. She left and I fell asleep, figuring that was the end of everything. I barely remember Murphy coming in, and I took a really spaced out ride somewhere before they brought me back here. You'll have to ask Shaun."