Neil and Elena enter the elevator.
"Neil, I'm going to be okay." She squeezed his hand.
"Anything could happen on the table. You know that."
"I do. But I also know that you're going to try your best."
He nods.
He hugs her, very gently. She pulls away and kisses him.
"I love you." she said.
He inhales and exhales, shakingly.
"I love you too."
He kisses her on her forehead.

The door opens and they head to the OR.
They nurses take her and put her under anaesthesia while Neil scrubs in.

He starts to lose composure. He is so worried. "What if I find something else? What if she hemorrhages?" he thinks.

He calms himself and regains composure.
"Stay focused." he thought to himself.

He enters the room and starts the procedure.

"Dr. Melendez, there is a tear in her in abdominal wall." said Dr. Browne.
"I see. 9-0 prolene."
She hands him the suture.
He sutures the tear and hand it back to Dr. Browne.
"Okay. Next, the liver."
The alarms start going off.
"She's hemorrhaging." Dr. Browne said.
"Laps and suction, Dr. Browne."
She nods.
"She's stabilsing."
He sighs of relief.
He repairs the liver. He looks down, eyes focused on a spot.
"Dr. Melendez?"
"I need forceps."
"Why?"
"Glass dislodged near her artery."
Dr. Browne nods and hands him the forceps.
"Actually, Dr. Browne. You do it."
Her eyes widened.
"Me?"
He nods.

She takes a deep breath and removes it carefully and with ease.
He sighs. "Okay. Good job. You can close her up."
Dr. Browne nods and Neil exits.

He exhales and heads back to Elena's room.
"She's going to be fine." he tells her family.
Kristina and Nicole hug him.
"Oh thank you, Dr. Melendez." said Nicole.
"You're welcome. Hopefully, she will be able to be discharged tomorrow."
"Thank you." said David.
He nods and Elena is brought in.
"She should be awake soon. Anyways, I have to go. I'll be back." said Dr. Melendez.
They nod.

He does some paperwork for a while, constantly watching the time. It is nearly 9.
She should be awake, he thought.
He heads down to her room.

Elena is awake and is trying to tell her family to leave.
She smiles as she sees Neil.
"What's going on?" he said smiling at her.
"She wants us to leave...go home. Get rest." said Kristina.
"Elena, you were in a serious accident. We want to stay." said Nicole.
"Nicole, if she wants us to leave, then we should leave. Besides, Neil is here to watch over her. Right, Dr. Melendez?"
"Umm... I won't be here all the time. I need to check on other patients."
Dr. Lim enters. "No, you don't." He turned.
"Sorry to intrude, but Dr. Melendez can stay with her as long as he wants. Dr. Browne can cover your patients."
He nods. "Okay then."
"Thanks, Dr. Lim." said Nicole.
She nods and leaves.

"Now can you please go? I'll be fine." said Elena insisted, quite annoyed.
"Okay. We'll be back in the morning." said Nicole, kissing her on the forehead.
"See you." said David.
"Oh. Dad?"
He turns. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry that you couldn't get to Hecho Con Amor in time."
He steps closer. "You're more important than Hecho Con Amor. We can have that any other time."
She smiles.
They all greet Neil and leave.

Neil goes outside and talks to David about something. Elena can't tell what, but she sees them shaking hands.

"What was that about?" she asked when he walked back into the room.
"Nothing. Just details about post-op care."
"Okay. Can you tell me these details, since I am the patient?"
He sits on the bed, chuckling.
"Okay. Well, for starters you cannot go for jogs and your dressing must be changed every day. You might have a hard time climbing stairs this week and next, so..."
"Wait. But my room is upstairs."
Neil raised his eyebrows.
"Well, we're going to have to fix that." he said.
She laughed and then winced.
"You okay?" he asked, worried.
"Yeah. It just hurts if I laugh."
He smiled. "Take it easy."
She nods.
She starts to doze off.

Neil stays up for a while, holding her hand and falls asleep by her side.

He wakes up the next morning.
"Morning." he said.
"Good morning."
"How are you feeling?"
"A bit better."
He gets up and checks her vitals.
"Looking good. Better."
She smiles.
"I need to get changed. I'll be right back."
"Wait."
He turns back.
"Come here." she said.
He leans closer, expecting a kiss. But instead she makes his hair look less disheveled.
"There. Looks better."
He is disappointed.
"What? Were you expecting a kiss?"
He shrugs his shoulders. "No."
She smiles, pulling him closer by his white coat and kissing him.
Just then, her family came in.

Nicole enters, clearing her throat. "Umm... Morning, I guess."
They pull away.
"Mom, Dad. Hi."
"Good morning." said Dr. Melendez.
"I have to change. I'll be back."
They nod.

"Elena, we saw that."
She hides her face under the covers and feels embarrassed.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine." she said, head under the covers.
"Neil... I mean Dr. Melendez said my vitals look good. And that we have a problem."
"What problem?" said David.
"I can't go upstairs." said Elena.
"And your room..." said Nicole.
Elena nods from under the covers.

Neil steps back in and chuckles at Elena.
He stops and removes the covers abruptly.
"Okay. Done playing games, Miss Castillo?"
She grabs the covers again.
He rolls his eyes.
"Thank goodness we never had any blankets that night." he said, smiling.
"Shh." she said.
"What night?" said Kristina.
"Nothing."
"Wait. Did you stay over at his house that day you came to San Jose and Grams and Grandpa were with us?"
Elena nods.
"You said you booked a hotel room." said Kristina.
"I never said I slept there."
Kristina is shocked.
"Well, we just slept together. Fully clothed. We watched a movie and I was too tired to go home." said Elena.
"Okay. If you say so." said Kristina.
"Anyways. Dr. Melendez, what's this about upstairs?" said John.
"Right. Thank you. She can't walk upstairs. It'll too much pain."
"The guest room is upstairs too." said David.
"We could always switch rooms." said Nicole.

"Wait. I have an idea." said Kristina.