Work Text:
The emergency room was in chaos. Doctors danced around the room, nurses sang Tyler Swift and again and again someone loudly choked out the contents of his stomach. Morgan scurried through the chaos, trying to help where she could and in between glancing at those who had fallen asleep despite the chaos. One of those people was Audrey Lim, who had curled up in her bed and appeared to be sleeping peacefully. But appearances were deceiving. Again and again slight shivers ran through the dark-haired woman and every now and then a soft whimper escaped her. A sound, which finally also noticed Morgan, so she approached the doctor and addressed her carefully. "Dr. Lim, are you okay?" When Audrey didn't respond, Morgan tried again, this time a little louder. "Dr. Lim, it-" But that was as far as she got . As she spoke, Morgan had lightly grabbed Audrey's arm with her hand, but it was the wrong decision. With a scream, Audrey jumped back and slammed against the headboard. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was frantic as she looked around in panic. "Dr. Lim!" Morgan, who had backed away at the first moment, raised her hands and spoke soothingly to her. "It's okay, they're in the hospital, they're safe, and they're fine." More petty phrases came out of her mouth, hoping to reassure her boss with them, but it didn't seem to help. Audrey was still pressed against the wall and there was no recognition in her dark eyes.
"Audrey!" Neil Melendez pushed his way through the chaos, his eyes fixed firmly on Audrey, who seemed to relax somewhat at the sight of him. "It's all right, I'm here." He reached for her hand and brought it to his wrist so she could feel his pulse. "Can you feel that? It's all right, I'm fine. We're all safe." Audrey closed her eyes slightly now and leaned her head forward so that it bumped against Neil's chest. With each breath she calmed down more, until finally she whispered in a low voice "Don't die" Neil then pressed a light kiss to her forehead before promising "Never by choice" He then looked to Morgan who had been watching the whole thing awkwardly. "Get back to work, I'll stay with her for a few more minutes before I leave too." Morgan nodded slightly before turning to check on her next patient, who was trying to pull a glove over his head.
Neil and Audrey spent the next few minutes snuggled close together, with Neil incessantly drawing light circles over her back. But quickly Neil had to leave again, and he disengaged from Audrey to gently brush a strand of hair from her face. "I have to go again, but I'll be back. Do you think you can make it that long?" Audrey nodded, now much more composed, and gave him a shaky smile. "I'll be fine, you just go back to saving the world." In response, Neil pressed one last kiss to her forehead before fighting his way through the chaos back to the door.
Audrey gazed after him for a moment before sitting back and leading a few moments of silent observation of the ER. But the silence didn't last long.
"You woke me up." Marcus Andrews had sat up and was looking at Audrey, but she didn't return the look. "I'm sorry about that." She replied instead. Andrews glared at her for another moment before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" When Audrey shook her head, he grinned slightly. "Didn't expect to, either. Then let's be silent together." Audrey didn't comment, but didn't protest either when Andrews sat down next to her on the bed.
They spent the next few hours like that, silent but content, until finally everyone calmed down a bit and Neil came to check on Audrey. It was clear that neither of them would ever bring this up again, but that was okay. For the moment, they understood each other.