Emma and Maddy spend their first day at Royaume Northwestern completing paperwork, badge pickup, and electronic medical record training before a tour of the surgical floor. As they walk with charge nurse Hector, they joke privately about the rusty-smelling water at the cottage and about whether Justin would honestly tell Emma if she smelled. Hector then warns them about the department’s biggest problem: the chief of surgery, Dr. Rasmussen, is brilliant but harsh, and staff members quit often because of him.

That warning immediately becomes more complicated when Hector points out Dr. Rasmussen and Emma realizes the feared surgeon is Neil. Emma and Maddy are stunned because Neil is the man renting them the lake house and the same person Emma recently met through Amber. Instead of acting cold or intimidating, Neil greets both women warmly, says he is glad they ended up in his department, and explains that he gave the agency the cottage information because he thought travel nurses would make good renters.

Neil asks about the property, and Emma cautiously suggests landscaping improvements. When Emma mentions specific shade and sun plants, Neil is impressed by her gardening knowledge, and Emma explains that Amber taught her. Because of that conversation, Neil offers to cover the gardening costs by deducting them from the rent, giving Emma a practical role at the cottage. He then invites Emma and Maddy to dinner later in the week with “Amber and I,” making it clear that Amber and Neil are together.

After Neil leaves, Hector remarks that he has never seen Neil be so nice to anyone, which confirms that this connection is unusual and potentially important. Once they are alone, Maddy panics because their feared boss now seems emotionally tied to Amber, whose instability could easily destroy the relationship. Maddy argues that if Amber blows things up with Neil, Emma and Maddy could suffer at both work and home, and Emma reluctantly agrees that she may need to talk to Amber and ask her to leave before the situation gets worse.