Chapter Text
St. Bonaventure
It was a sunny day in San Jose and St. Bonaventure had few patients in the emergency room that day. Trauma surgeon, Dr. Audrey Lim, walked out of the room at a brisk pace, but keeping a wide smile on her face, she was happy with the news she received. And also she was in a hurry because she was going to meet her best friend and colleague, Dr. Neil Melendez, in the hospital cafeteria.
Neil Melendez and Audrey Lim had known each other since their medical residency, although the two did not get along well at first, but after years of working together and getting to know each other, between outings to drink together or watch movies, a beautiful friendship was born between the two surgeons.
"Hey, you're late!" - Neil emphasized as soon as he saw the brown haired doctor. He had already been waiting for her for a few long minutes at one of the cafeteria tables, ready to have lunch together.
"Oh, sorry. I got an important call and I was late." - Audrey said, pulling out one of the chairs and sitting on the opposite side of where Neil was sitting.
"I got it for you." - he said, pointing to the food on the table.
"Thank you!"
Audrey looked at him a little nervously as she sipped some of the orange juice Neil had ordered. Melendez put down her sandwich as soon as she sat down and soon noticed the paper she had in her hands.
"What is it?" - He asked, showing curiosity.
"Oh yes. Do you know what that is?" - She started.
"No..." - replied the Mexican while analyzing the paper.
"It's a graph. Female fertility is like that after a certain age." - Lim spoke as he showed her the lines on the sketch.
Neil took the chart and studied it for a while.
"Neil, I need to tell you something." - Audrey spoke, catching his attention.
"Oh yes, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, listening to her.
"Well, I went to a routine appointment yesterday and..." - the woman said a little nervously.
"You are sick?" - he interrupted, asking worriedly - "Is that what you want to tell me?"
"No, no..." - She said closing her eyes, running her hands through her short hair.
"So what?"
"As I was saying…I went to the doctor yesterday, she told me my hormones are great and I'm ready to have a…baby." She paused and then spoke happily.
"And then she started talking about my age. I mean, I'm already 38, I'll be 40 soon, so that's it, I'm having a baby!"
Neil's eyes widened in surprise and he choked on the coffee he was drinking. Lim quickly grabbed a napkin from the table and immediately handed it to him.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, raising her left eyebrow.
Audrey knew he would be surprised. Then Melendez said yes, shaking his head.
"A baby?" - he asked, to confirm that he had heard correctly - "Are you sure you want this?"
"Well, I guess so." -She replied laughing as she drank the liquid in her glass.
"Oh, I see. But how are you going to do that?"
"Well, first I need some semen..." - She said, starting to eat her lunch.
"Do you want to have a child without a partner?" he asked, not liking her idea.
"I don't need a man to have a child." - she replied, irritated by his question.
"Hey, I'm sorry." - he said while trying to calm her down.
"But technically you need a man."
"Okay, I need a man to dump his sperm in a small pot." - she said.
"This is crazy, Limmy!" - he continued the criticism.
"And you still want to run for chief of surgery in the future?" - the man asked - "With a child and you without a partner, I find it kind of difficult to reconcile all this with motherhood."
"Did you finish your speech?" she asked impatiently.
Lim knew he would be very surprised, but she hadn't expected that reaction from him. Melendez was a friend of hers and he knew that even though she was a tomboyish girl on a motorcycle, she had deep down in her heart the desire to be a mother.
"I've already said that I don't need a husband or a partner to have a baby." - She said, putting aside the meal.
"And know that the responsibility of raising a child always falls on women, even if they are married." - she argued.
"I know, I know, sorry." - he said, apologizing for the second time - "But this is big."
"I'm not asking for your sperm, Neil." -She said, getting up from her chair, wanting to go back to her office faster.
"But it could." - Said the man moving away from the table and forgetting about lunch, as he followed the path beside her.
Neil couldn't understand why she wanted to have a child now. Okay, he knew women had an expiration date. But why didn't she ask him for help? He also wanted to be a father. He was outraged because she wanted to have a child with the help of another man, with him right by her side.
"Listen, what's the matter with my sperm?" - he asked, catching the attention of the nurses in the place.
"Keep it low, please." - She said, getting her face red with embarrassment.
"Sorry." - he whispered
"But you didn't answer my question. What's the problem?
"Your sperm?"
"Yes it works."
"Nothing. Must be great sperm." - she replied with more shame.
"You can bet it is." - he said bragging.
"Besides, I'm a handsome, smart guy, a good catch, don't you think?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Melendez. We're friends." - She replied, trying to get those absurd thoughts out of him.
"Ridiculous?" - he asked, not satisfied - "I don't think so."
The doctor took the cardiothoracic surgeon by the left arm and pulled him into a nearby empty room, wanting to escape the nosy nurses' ears.
"Neil..." - She sighed before saying - "I don't know if you ever noticed, but you're a little... weird."
"Weird?"
"Yes, weird and full of quirks. And besides, you have a giant ego. I don't know if I want to have a child with the same personality as you, sorry."
"Fine. If that's what you think of me, I won't argue." - he said, getting upset, as he opened the door to leave that space.
"Neil, I'm sorry," Audrey said, feeling bad at the words she said to her friend.
"Let's talk again and calmly, please." - She asked.
"I understood very well what you said, Lim." - he said in the hallway as other doctors passed - "See you later."