Chapter Text
Audrey was making her way to OR3 when she heard:
"Lim, meet me in my office in 5. Bring Melendez."
Her coronary revascularization would just have to wait, judged on Andrews' tone. What could possibly be so important? She and Melendez made their way down to the Chief of Surgery's office, mildly bewildered by the sudden meeting.
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"Please, sit down. We need to have a chat about Murphy."
Audrey froze at that name: what had he done now? Surely Andrews knew that the young man was way too sweet and innocent to fire him, it'd absolutely crush him. Her worry clearly showed on her face, because Andrews started... smiling at her?
(huh, weird)
"Audrey, because Neil has one too many residents this year, and you are the attending with the least amount, we would like you to take on Shaun Murphy."
(ohhhhh)
"I see. Well of course I'd be happy to take Shaun, hopefully he will also see this as a good opportunity."
"Thank you so much Audrey."
It was the first time that Neil had actually spoken to her, and he really did look exhausted. Audrey had known for some time that he had gotten the more... troublesome residents, but she had no idea how hard it really was on him.
"Really, Neil, it's fine. I'm excited to work with him."
Neil shot her a grateful look and mouthed the word "drinks?". Audrey chuckled and nodded her head, before turning to see Andrews smiling (?) at her again.
"Yes, thank you, Audrey. Now if you could both leave my office, I have a video conference with the Board about our next fundraiser event."
(of course you do)
As Audrey and Neil left the office, Audrey couldn't help but do a little jump of excitement to be working with the boy genius. She had to hurry off to her surgery, shouting a goodbye to Melendez, telling him to text her about drinks.
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When Audrey walked into the bar, she immediately spotted Neil on a barstool chatting with the bartender. When he saw her coming, he waved and smiled, but Audrey could still see how tired he was when she sat down.
"Dude, you need to go home and rest. Getting overworked by rowdy residents isn't fun, and now that I've got Shaun, with some rest it'll be manageable. Let's call it a night."
"Ok Audrey, thanks again so much. I owe you big time for this. Really."
"Anything for a friend, Neil. Now I believe you have a date with your bed."
She walked him to his car, but instead of going to her bike, she headed back into the bar. The bartender smirked at her.
"Not ready to go home?"
"Hah, no. I've got to think about what I'm going to make him do for me to return the favor!" she said with a laugh.
After a few drinks, her thoughts drifted to her new resident, and Audrey just hoped that he would come to like her. And then with that, Audrey felt contempt enough to ride home and think about this new relationship that barged its way into her life.
(well, that was the Shaun Murphy way, after all)