Chapter Text
Audrey smiled by all the memories crossing her mind. All of them included this handsome man who was currently lying between her leg and her abdomen. Her hands were stroking his hair lovingly.
She had never been this comfortable in a relationship. Not even her marriage had spent her that safeness and security, she felt right now and had felt over the last two years.
If she was really honest with herself, than she knew that it has always been him. From the first day they started their residency.
Boy, had he been competitive and did he annoy her all the time. But they became friends, best friends over the years. He had been there for her, when she went through her divorce, she had been there for him, when Jessica dumped him. And after more than eleven years of dancing around each other, it finally happened, the two of them realized that they had feelings for each other.
They needed a boss who screwed them, Audrey catching a deathly virus and a fight. But then they finally founded the guts to admit their feelings for each other.
Audrey smiled a little bit wider, by the memory of their first one – night – stand, realizing that it hadn’t been their first but the other one wasn’t a memory she wanted to have right now, so she cut it off the second it crossed her mind, back to the deathly virus and the fight they had after Audrey survived it.
It hadn’t been easy after admitting their feelings, it had never been easy the last two years. After admitting that they have feelings for one another, the secret dating episode and finally opening up about their relationship, Audrey became chief of surgery. This position had been her dream since the first day of herself starting med school and it was the reward for all the sacrifices she had to make on the way to it. But on the other side it made things so much more complicated than they already had been between this man, still lying between her leg and her abdomen and enjoying her company, and her.
So complicated that Audrey ended their relationship. And they really tried to become friends again. It took another nearly death experience, this time it’s been Neil’s, to realize that they were made for each other and that they couldn’t live without the other one. And so both of them fought for this relationship. And they made it. They set boundaries at work and they set boundaries at home. And so they finally made it.
Audrey wasn’t sure if she could’ve gone through the last few months without Neil. Right after the earthquake, they had go through the worlds hardest global crises, the Corona pandemic. The brown haired woman swallowed hard by the memory of the crisis. Running a hospital during a pandemic had been her hardest work experience ever. Seeing those thousands of people die and not being able to really help, had nearly drove her crazy. But Neil had helped her. He’d been there for her, while this crisis and he had been there for her, after the crisis, facing her PTSD.
Last Sunday she had had her last therapy appointment and even if she knew that she’ll always be a little bit more vulnerable as she’s been before, it felt good. Because she knew he was there and he’ll be there, whatever they’ll have to face. And she’ll be there for him. That made her smile even more. And it made her realize that she was ready to show this to the whole world.
“What are you thinking about?” Neil recognized her smile and the fact, that she hadn’t said a word for the last fifteen minutes or so.
“I just thought about us, especially the last two years and what we’ve been through”, Audrey answered honestly.
“A whole lot. Wouldn’t mind if the next two years would be a little bit more peaceful”, Neil smiled.
“Wouldn’t mind either. But we made it. And I’m happy about it”, Audrey sighed, she knew it was the right time, the right moment and the right thing, but being emotional was hardly her strong suit, “so I thought about being a little bit more serious.”
Neil sat up and looked at her. Audrey was never that emotional and he could see that there was something going on with her. “Serious like finally selling your apartment?”, Neil took her hand.
Audrey had moved in step by step over the last two years, she hasn’t been in her apartment for over a year now. Leah had used it while the pandemic, because she needed to be separate from Shaun for her own health, so Audrey had brought all her personal stuff to his apartment a year ago.
And it felt like they just had forgotten about it after Leah moved out.
“Like marrying me”, Audrey answered with a shy smile.
“What?” Neil looked at her, he was so surprised, maybe he misunderstood her.
“I asked if you will marry me, Neil Melendez”, she asked once again, now not smiling anymore, looking really serious.
“You mean like, getting up on your organ – donor – machine and driving to Las Vegas and being crazy?” Neil still couldn’t believe what Audrey had asked him. He had thought about it for half a year now but he’d wanted to wait until she was really healed from her PTSD.
“Sounds great, but I guess your family would kill me for this, so I thought about something more traditional”, Audrey looked to her hands, after asking twice and still being without an answer she got second thoughts, maybe he wasn’t ready?
“You’re being serious about this?” Neil didn’t realize that he still hadn’t answer.
“No Neil, I just made a joke about something like this”, Audrey rolled her eyes and raised her voice a little, then stood up walking to kitchen because her phone rung.
Neil realized that Audrey had been serious and that he still hadn’t said yes. He could’ve slapped himself and went after her.
“Yes please?” he heard her answering her phone, listening and then saying “yes of course, I’m on my way Dr. Reznick.” Audrey rolled her eyes once more. “I’m needed at the hospital”, she said and went to the bedroom, without waiting for his answer.
“You’re not on call today?”, Neil went after her.
“That may be right, but I’m the chief of surgery, which means I’m like on call every time. Anyway it looks like you need time to think about my question”, Audrey changed her casual clothes into something more serious and then went to the door and put her shoes on.
“Audrey wait please. I don’t need time to think about it, I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect you to ask me something like this, out of the blue. Of course I will marry you, I love you”, Neil went after her one more time.
“Good. I love you too”, Audrey took her jacket, put it on and then turned around smiling at him. Neil closed the gap between the two of them and kissed her.
“You’re such a crazy woman, you know”, Neil whispered with a smile.
“That’s why you love me”, Audrey smiled and kissed him once more, “so now I have to go, Reznick needs me.”
“Drive safely”, Neil gave Audrey her helmet and the keys for her Ducati, which he had let be repaired for her after her crazy accident more than half a year ago.
“As ever.” Audrey smiled and kissed him one more time.
Ten minutes later Audrey entered the ER, where she found out, that Reznick was waiting for her at the ICU.
Audrey went to her office, left the helmet and her black jacket there and put on her white coat.
“Dr. Reznick, how can I help you?” Audrey walked to the room where she was told, Reznick would wait for her.
“Dr. Lim hello, thanks for coming, I know you’re not on call today.” Reznick turned around to her former superior.
“No need to be on call, when you need me. So where’s the patient you need me for?”
“It’s her. She came to the ER, she was in a car accident, right in front of the hospital. She was in surgery, Dr. Wolke and Dr. Cooperberg operated her, I was in the ER when it happened”, Dr. Reznick turned her head to the girl who was lying in the ICU room right in front of them.
“Looks like she’s stable. Why did you call me?”, Audrey wasn’t sure what was going on here
“She is. Wasn’t a big surgery. She was not that bad injured”, Dr. Reznick felt not that comfortable right now, she wasn’t sure if this had been her best idea today, but she had a feeling.
“So again, why did you call me? And did you inform her parents?” The chief of surgery still wasn’t sure why she was here, but she could see that there was something going on with the blonde one in front of her. She knew her, Dr. Reznick wouldn’t have called her, if there wasn’t anything going on. After Reznick’s transition to internal medicine, because of her hands, she and Dr. Lim had a few really honest conversations and maybe there was a friendship like relationship between the two of them.
“Maybe we should go inside her room”, Dr. Reznick opened the door and even if she was confused and a little bit pissed Lim followed her.
“Okay, last time I’ll ask, why did you call me?” Now the brown haired, sounded a little bit pissed.
“We don’t know who she is. She had nothing with her, except this”, Morgan gave her a piece of paper. It was a print out from the hospitals homepage, where Audrey was shown as chief of surgery. “Maybe it’s crazy and I’m deeply sorry if I interrupted your free Sunday for nothing, but from the first second I saw her, she looked familiar to me and maybe she’s a relative to you.”
Lim took the print out and when she looked to the girl for the first time, her stomach turned around. It looked like there was lying a little Lim in front of her. Memories crashed her mind immediately. This couldn’t be possible, or? Then she turned around and left the room.
Morgan was surprised by this reaction, she thought about it for a second but then followed her.