We live out our lives on the surgical unit. Seven days a week, fourteen
hours a day. We're together more than we're apart -after a while - the
ways of residency -become the ways of life. Number one: always keep
score. Number two: do whatever you can to outsmart the other
guy. Number three? Don't make friends with the enemy.
Meredith was sleeping comfortably in bed, though she knew she had to
wake soon to get to the hospital, but she had three minutes left, and she was
content to be in a cocoon for the next three minutes. That was until she felt
as if someone was staring at her. She opened her eyes only to let out a yelp
seeing Izzie standing at the foot of her bed.
"George's room is bigger than mine." Was the first thing out of Izzie's
mouth.
Like it had been for the last few days, ever since Izzie and George moved
in. And, it was honestly driving Meredith nuts. Meredith, pointedly ignoring
anything Izzie had to say, gets up from her bed, but trips and falls flat on
her face. She limps away.
"I have more clothes, I should have the bigger room." Izzie continued to
rant about George.
"I got here first." George defended himself.
" It's Meredith's house, she should decide." Izzie said, but her complaint fell
on deaf ears. Because, Meredith didn't care.
Cristina was right. Babies were toxic. That had to be the reason why she
agreed to let her two fellow interns live with her, despite the fact they were
together pretty much twenty-four seven anyways. What had convinced her
to say yes. Other than the fact that everyone else interested had not been
what she was looking for.
Maybe they were the lesser of two evils. But, that didn't mean she signed up
for this drama or this level of squabbling between two grown adults.
"My room is like, two inches bigger than yours!" George said.
"You have a bigger closet!" Izzie argued back.
"So? Why is everything always a competition? I -" George retorted.
Honestly, Meredith zoned out for the next few minutes as she looked for
clean clothes to wear to the hospital. She really should do laundry soon, she
was getting dangerously close to having all her clothes dirty. And, she didn't
need to dig in through the hamper and wear dirty clothes to work.
"...put your clothes somewhere else!" George exclaimed.
"Everywhere else is filled with Meredith's mom's boxes." Izzie said,
annoyed. Because that is what she would have done, but Meredith had been
resistant to unpacking anything of her mother's, and they were filling up
every available closet space.
"Meredith? When is your mom coming back to town anyway? Because
maybe we can put her boxes in storage." George suggested to the blonde
intern.
" Or unpack a few things, make this place a little more homey. Maybe some
throw pillows and lamps, a few paintings." Izzie said as she looked around
the house. It did look barren and slightly creepy feeling like no one lived
there. Well, maybe ghosts.
"Oh, paintings would be nice." George agreed, forgetting momentarily
about the fight he and Izzie were having moments prior.
"Yeah! You have all this amazing stuff just packed away. In the back hall, I
found this box with like a hundred tapes of your mother performing these
amazing medical procedures." Izzie said excitedly.
The two hadn't noticed Meredith wasn't even paying attention as they
followed her around, and to the bathroom.
" Really? We should watch them. Meredith, you want to watch -" George
said, only to be cut off when Meredith's door slams in their faces; a moment
later, it re-opens. Meredith takes Izzie's coffee and shuts the door again.
"Meredith, do you want some privacy?" George asked, confused.
Meredith slumps against the other side of the door, holding her coffee. Why
did she want roommates again?
Eddie Sousa was making her way to Seattle Grace Hospital for her shift.
She felt refreshed and ready to begin her shift. Yesterday, had been her day
off, but, she still found herself at Seattle Grace Hospital.
Not for work, but to inform her boss that she was pregnant. She had put it
off for the past week, after having it confirmed at another hospital in the
area, another teaching hospital, Mercy West. And, she knew it was going to
be harder to keep her secret.
Right now she just looked like she was gaining a bit of weight around the
middle and in her boobs. Soon, it would be noticeable that she was not
getting fat, because she indulged in one to many baskets of Joe's fried
cheese curds or fried pickles (both of which were becoming her intense
cravings especially on a long shift) or the giant frosting covered sugar
cookies and ice chai teas she had to say awake. But, because she was in fact
growing another life inside her.
When she had requested a meeting with Richard, she was sure he wasn't
expecting her to inform him of her pregnancy, but, he rolled with it. He
couldn't kick her out because she got pregnant (even though she knew he
couldn't, it was one of the reasons he fired her in her nightmares), nor could
he mommy track her into another field unless she wanted it, and he didn't
have the look of disappointment she expected.
They discussed her options and Eddie was willing to put in the work, and
knew it would be hard with the baby, but she would give birth long before
the intern exams in early June. Eddie practically spent all her time at the
hospital anyway as an intern. She was pretty sure she saw more of the oncall rooms than she did of her own bed. And she would work more now to
compensate for the fact she would have her six weeks off after birth, so she
wouldn't be to far behind. She had already started to clock those hours in by
picking up extra shifts when offered, and the money didn't hurt. She was
saving every bit she could for her and the baby. And, neither of them saw
any reason why she wouldn't be a resident this time next year, just like the
rest of her friends.
Eddie had the drive, motivation, and desire to be a surgeon, and while this
pregnancy was the ultimate example of unexpected, she was doing this so
her baby could have a good future.
The only thing she needed to do now, was inform Dr. Bailey of her
pregnancy. Was it horrible to say that she fear her resident more than her
chief of surgery? Probably because Miranda Bailey scared even the chief.
She wasn't called the Nazi for nothing after all.
Eddie hadn't expected to run into her resident at the street corner. With a
polite greeting the two women were waiting for the light to change color in
comfortable silence.
"Morning Dr. Bailey, Dr. Sousa." Derek Shepherd greeted, as he joined the
resident and intern on the same corner.
"Shut up." Bailey ordered.
"You realize that I'm an attending and you're only a resident? So you work
for me, right?" Derek asked as he shared an amused look with Eddie, who
tried not to grin.
Bailey was a badass, and secretly, Eddie wished to be as badass as Bailey
when she grew up.
"I know I've forgotten something, something is happening today, I know I
should know what it is, but I just can't..." Bailey said as she tried to
remember, but it was escaping her.
"All right, nice talking to you Dr. Bailey." Derek said.
"Something...right in front of my face..." Bailey muttered.
Shepherd and Eddie walk forward to cross the road, when the light turned
green. Eddie was to far out of Bailey's grasp, but she was able to pull Derek
back.
"Now I remember! Dr Shepherd, watch out." Bailey said as Eddie tried to
move and avoid some bikers, but she was pushed over, and her head hit the
sidewalk and she cried as she cradled her arm to her chest as she pushed
herself up.
The bikers are gone as quickly as they came, and Bailey and Derek were at
Eddie's side in a moment.
"Sousa, are you okay?" Bailey demanded scared for her intern.
Eddie shook her head. "I hit my head and I think my arm might be broken
or at least fractured....and I need to be checked out...I'm pregnant." Eddie
said slightly woozy, before passing out.
"Oh crap." Bailey muttered under her breath as she and Derek shared a
look.
Good thing about being hurt near a hospital, how quickly they could get a
patient there. As much as Bailey wanted to stay with her pregnant, injured,
intern she left that to the trauma attending, Dr. Conrad Quinn, and she and
the baby seemed to be okay.
She was awake and responsive, with a concussion and a possible broken
arm, and heading down to get an X-Ray, and then she would be moved to a
hospital room soon, after which was something at least. Her other interns,
had seen her being brought in, but Bailey had them coming with her for the
traumas that were going to be pouring into the ER at any moment.
"I can't believe Eddie is pregnant and didn't tell us." Cristina whispered to
Meredith as they followed Bailey through the hospital. It was almost
impossible to keep up with her, she was a woman on a mission.
"Maybe she just found out." Meredith said.
"I wonder who the baby daddy is, she never mentioned a boyfriend or a
fling before." Cristina said, worried, for the younger intern. She was too
good to be mommy tracked.
"We'll find out later, she's probably going to have to stay for a while."
Meredith said.
"Fools on bikes killing themselves. Natural selection is what it is." Bailey
muttered angrily.
"So what's up with the Nazi, is she off her meds?" Alex asked his fellow
male intern. He knew that she was angry about Eddie being hurt, but this
seemed to be more than that.
"You never heard of the race?" George asked shocked he knew something
that Alex didn't know. Though, to be fair, George was born and raised in
Seattle, while Alex was from Iowa. But, he figured Alex would have heard
of it. It sounded like something he'd be interested in. Something stupid and
dangerous.
Richard, Burke, and Derek were staring at the perfectly balanced OR board.
Derek had just gotten to the surgical floor, after checking on Eddie.
"Excellent board. Well-timed, balanced, efficient - if all goes well, we'll
have an early night." Richard said.
But, that bubble was quickly broken, by Bailey.
"Chief! Dead baby bike race started twenty minutes ago." Bailey informed
the chief, who sighed. There goes their easy night. He had spoken too soon.
"All right, people! Dead baby bike race day!" Richard yelled out to the
entire floor.
There went his perfect board, as an intern came and erased it.
Dead Baby Bike Race day at Seattle Grace was preparing for the worst.
This illegal street race always filled up every emergency room in the city.
Which, meant that Bailey's interns had more chances for surgeries. It got
their energy pumping.
"Every year this bar -" George started they got ready to enter the pit, along
with almost every available doctor in the hospital.
"The Dead Baby Bar." Meredith added.
"Every year, they hold this underground bike race." George said.
"Don't you wonder why someone would name a bar something so
disgusting?" Izzie asked, freaked out by the name of the bar. Of course,
only a place named The Dead Baby Bar, would hold something this
barbaric.
"Keep your panties on, Nancy Drew." Cristina complained.
"The race is completely illegal, and -" George continued as if the other two
interns hadn't said anything.
"Crazy, a bunch of bike messengers racing against traffic trying to beat each
other for free shots of tequila and injuring my friends." Meredith said.
"All-out, no holds barred competition, sounds like fun." Alex commented.
"Yeah, you would think that." Izzie said with slightly scathing tone.
"The race doesn't even have any rules. Except eye gouging - no eye
gouging." George continued to explain the rules of the race.
"Oh great, we're going to be trapped in the Pit bandaging up idiots when we
could be up in the OR?" Cristina complained. She hoped there was at least
some cases in there that were surgical that she could scrub in on.
"What kind of people engage in a race that has, as its only rule, that you
can't rip out the eyeballs of another human being?" George asked the others.
"Men, Georgie, men." Alex said with a smirk.
"I need someone to get up to the OR floor, the Chief needs a right hand."
Bailey said, after a nurse had talked to her briefly.
Everyone's hands shoot up, rather being on the surgical floor than the ER
dealing with drunk morons.
"George" Bailey chose as he nodded and quickly scurried off.
And number four: everything, everything is a competition.
"Okay people, the rules of trauma. Don't mingle with the ER interns, they
don't know their ass from their esophagus. Sew fast, discharge fast, take
bodies up to the OR yesterday. Don't let me catch you fighting over
patients. Got it? Come on, let's go." Bailey gave the group of surgical
interns made up of hers and a few others from other residents.
The interns run and jostle for position. Injured bike riders everywhere.
"Oh, it's like candy, but with blood, which is so much better." Cristina said
almost giddy with excitement.
"Oh my god..." Izzie said, eyes wide.
"Mine!" Cristina yelled as she made her way over to a particularly bloody
and gross case.
"I saw him first!" Izzie yelled as she chased after Cristina
Whoever said that winning wasn't everything...
Meredith's eyes quickly found a man, around her age, with nails in his side.
"Ooh. I'll take that guy." Meredith said.
"No, you'll have to beat me to him first." Alex said as they run for him.
...never held a scalpel.
Eddie Sousa hated hospitals. She was pretty sure all doctors hated hospitals
when they couldn't be working and they were stuck in beds. Eddie knew
though that this was a necessary evil. As much as she would want to fight it,
she was trying to keep herself healthy for her and her baby. Which meant
rest, fetal heartbeat monitor, and unfortunately missing out of possible
surgeries and time in the OR due to the Dead Baby Bike Race.
She has already had her MRI and there was no brain bleeding, just an
annoying concussion and now she was waiting for her X-Rays to come
back. She already hated the four walls she was to be confined to for the next
twenty-four hours.
"So, what is the prognosis doc?" Eddie asked, Dr. Conrad Quinn, the newest
Trauma and ortho attending, who started three months ago, maybe a couple
of weeks before Shepherd, entered with her X-Rays.
Doctor Conrad Quinn was handsome, he was giving Derek the run for his
money for being the most handsome doctor at Seattle Grace. Derek had
been given the nickname of McDreamy, Conrad had been given the
nickname of McBadass. Because, he was known for doing risky procedures
and according to the gossip around the hospital he did surgery in an elevator
when the power went out and he was alone, trapped there on his first day as
an attending. If that was true, Eddie truly believed he lived up to the
nickname of McBadass.
And, just like Eddie, was a genius, skipping three grades and being one of
the younger amongst his fellow interns and residency, but he admitted he
had nothing on her, even though he was double board certified in Trauma
and Orthopedic surgery.
His father, also happened to be one of the leading neurosurgeons in the
country, if not the world, having won three Harper Avery's, and was
extremely handsome for an older man. What, she had eyes. He was very
attractive, and he had spoken at some conference in New York, and Eddie
was positive most of her female classmates went just to gawk at him.
Something he shared with his sons. He also had three older brothers; all of
whom were surgeons; one was a well known and respected neonatal
surgeon, one was a cardiothoracic surgeon who was working over-seas
somewhere in Europe, and the other was an ortho surgeon. And, all were all
very talented and gaining a name for themselves.
Eddie hadn't spent much time with him. Bailey hadn't really had her in
Trauma, besides the time with Alison. She had mainly been in general,
cardio, or neuro ever since she started. She had hoped that she might be
soon, but with the likelihood of her arm being broken, she might be doing
scut and just observing the OR from the balcony, or inside the OR with a
bag wrapped around her hand only to watch. But, she had seen him around
the hospital and Izzie practically waxed poetry about him after working
with him on a case. And, she had informed her, Cristina, George, and
Meredith what she would do to him if she had the chance.
He seemed intense, most surgeons are, but there was something about him
that Eddie couldn't quite put a finger on.
Eddie was surprised that he wasn't more disappointed that he wasn't down
in the ER helping run it, during Dead Baby Bike Race day. Or maybe he
was, and he had a pretty good poker face. But, she knew unlike her, he most
likely would be seeing it after he checked with her
Then again, he was an attending, he didn't have to fight for OR time like
Eddie, the other interns, or even Bailey did. He could be on any trauma case
he wanted.
She was laying in the hospital bed, in the hospital room that two of nursesOlivia and Grace, had brought her to after getting her X-Rays. She was also
hooked up to a fetal heart rate monitor. But some miracle her baby survived
the trauma of the fall.
"Well, it looks like you have broken your arm." Conrad said. "You'll need a
cast for at least six weeks."
Eddie sighed, broken arm meant less time in the OR, but, it was better than
loosing the baby. She wouldn't have survived that.
Conrad smirked at her response. Eddie's face was priceless.
"I hate casts." Eddie muttered after a moment, as she glared at her right
broken arm. "Good thing I am left handed."
She had broken her arm twice in her life. And, even though she was five
and six when she broke her arm.
"Been in one before I see." Conrad commented, slightly amused.
Eddie groaned and nodded. "I've broken my arm twice before, when I was a
kid. All bike related...maybe I should stay away from bikes. They're
cursed."
The first time she broke her arm, Susie Landon, the school's biggest bully,
had been riding her bike down the sidewalk. Had pushed Eddie because she
was "in the way" and Eddie broke her arm when she held it out to stop
herself from falling. Exactly a year later, Eddie was riding her own bike,
when a crazy teenager was joy-riding his parents car, and Eddie swerved to
miss it, and was thrown from her bike, and broke her arm in the exact place.
Eddie idly wondered if this was going to be the same.
"Well, I guess you have the right to be weary now." Conrad said with a
laugh. "You might want to keep the little one away from bikes, in case it's
inherited."
"Yeah, good idea." Eddie agreed. "I hated bikes anyway."
"It's a pretty clean break," Conrad said showing the results. "It seems to
have been broken before."
"It has." Eddie said, as she looked at the X-Ray, "I broke my arm in that
spot twice. Guess it's a weak point."
"So, someone from Ortho will be here in about ten minutes to put on your
cast. Do you have any questions?"
"Nope." Eddie said, "not at this time."
Conrad nodded and his pager beeped.
"I'm needed in the OR." He said, "I will have someone check on you in a
while."
Eddie nodded as she sighed, waiting for her cast. This was going to be a
long six weeks.
For most of her eight hours she was in her hospital room, Eddie found
herself with only the occasional nurse, George (who was hiding from the
VIP patient that really liked him ) who stopped by periodically when he
could, her sketchbook, and the TV for company. Dr. Weber stopped by to
see how she and the baby were doing, and according to the nurses the ER
was full of racers and it would be a while before her resident or her fellow
interns would be up to visit her.
The first time they were able to visit was over lunch. Izzie, George,
Meredith, and Cristina all found their way to Eddie's room to have a quick
lunch.
"Hey Eddie." Meredith greeted.
"Hey guys, how is the pit?" Eddie asked as George placed a tray with a
sandwich, soda, and fries on it for the intern in the bed.
"Crazy." Cristina said, "nothing really surgical though. One of Hoss' interns
got to scrub in with Quinn."
"A lot of sutures, broken bones, and concussions." Meredith said. "A lot of
idiots out there."
"Cristina and I have one of the first casualties." Izzie said, "a man is
braindead. We're trying to find his family."
"That is horrible." Eddie said as she gently stroked her almost invisible
baby bump.
"Speaking of families....how did Baby Einstein come about. You haven't
been seeing anyone." Cristina said as she motioned to the fetal monitor.
"He was a one-night stand with a complete stranger." Eddie admitted. "Not
my usual behavior, but my friend and I were doing a Vegas like weekend.
What happens in New York Stays in New York type deal. It was right after
finals and just before graduation. My friend and I went to New York to
celebrate and had a bit too much fun."
Eddie sighed as she thought back to that moment almost three months ago.
Eddie had finished her finals and she only had a week left before graduating
medical school. She and Eli had gone into New York City to celebrate their
ending of their school careers into their first real adult jobs. Eddie was
heading to Seattle for her residency and Eli was going to be joining one of
NYC's District Attorney's Offices, where he hand interned all through law
school, and he would be a lower-level ADA. And, he had dragged her from
New Haven to the city for a weekend of wild fun.
They had amazing food, did some of the tourist-y things around New York,
even though spent a majority of their lives actually living there (which is
how they met), a few parties (with Eli getting her in with a fake I.D. he
made when she was eighteen and he was twenty-one), and of course a bar
crawl. Which is where she met him, her baby's father.
Eli had picked up a cute guy at the bar, only an hour into their first night
there. Which, left Eddie alone in the bar. She was just about to leave, when
a handsome, older man, sat beside her. God he was gorgeous-the most
handsome man Eddie had ever met...he was romance novel steamy. He was
older, a lot older than Eddie, at least twelve or so more years older than her.
Not that it hindered him in bed in any way. The man really was a sex god
and she enjoyed her self very much.
Eddie didn't know if it was daddy issues (thanks Eli for putting that idea in
her mind) or an intellectual thing, Ellie had always preferred elder men.
But, he was just her type. Charming, confident, and smart.
"So, your about twelve weeks along." Izzie said doing the quick math.
"What are you going to do? Adoption or keep it?"
"I'm keeping my baby." Eddie said.
"You're going to be mommy tracked." Cristina said.
"No, I won't." Eddie said, "I've already talked to Dr. Webber, he doesn't
want to loose me to another program or other specialty. Others might try,
but I am willing to work hard."
Meredith nodded. She had a point, Eddie was probably hot commodity. She
was smart and a good doctor. Any internship would use her as the poster
child for how they attract the best of the best. And, Richard Webber
wouldn't want that. Seattle Grace was the top surgical residency programs
in America, with Eddie, it might be even more of a draw.
Cristina didn't really see it. Mommy tracking was real, and despite what
Eddie said, people would possibly try. Cristina, herself, never really wanted
kids, at all. She knew from a young age that she didn't want kids. She didn't
like kids. But, she knew that when Eddie and possibly Meredith had kids
she'd like those kids. She would love being Aunt Cristina. But, never
mommy. She would much rather spend her time in the OR, or in research
labs working on cutting edge science. Kids just didn't fit for her.
"Well, I guess this kid will turn out alright." Cristina said after a moment.
"Especially if it is smart, it'll at least take mostly after you."
Eddie and Meredith laughed at the Korean woman's comment.
"Sure, I'll love him or her, no matter what they're like." Eddie said seriously.
She would love her child whole heartedly.
She didn't want to be her mother. No matter if this baby takes after her in
every way or not. Her son or daughter will know they are loved. And, there
will be no strings or conditions. No matter if they are smart, whom they
love, or what they want to do in life. She will always love them.
"So, how is the patient Georgie?" Eddie asked.
He just groaned, causing the other three interns to laugh at his pain.
Lunch was unfortunately cut short, because the four interns were needed in
the pit, which left Ellie with her nothing to do activities once again.
After Meredith and Cristina were kicked out by their resident to go home so
they could be ready to go for their shift tomorrow, Miranda Bailey sat down
in the chair next to Eddie's bed.
"I thought you'd be going home too." Eddie said shocked to see her
Resident seemed to be settling in for a while with some work.
"I am right where I need to be." Miranda said, "I don't get off for another
two hours."
Eddie nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment.
"I'm scared." Eddie whispered, but Miranda Bailey heard.
"It's a scary thing, pregnancy." Bailey said. "You'd be a fool not to be."
"I love my baby...so much...but what if I am like my mother? She hated me.
She told me I ruined her life, and that if she could have she'd never had me.
But, she didn't believe in abortion and she never told me why she kept me. I
raised myself. Sure, there was a nanny because, god forbid she ever
watched me. But, I was alone." Eddie said, as she looked at Bailey with
tears in her eyes. "What if I hate this baby...what if it something
biological...that I start hating it down the line."
Miranda Bailey looked at her intern with soft, sad, motherly eyes.
"You, Edit Sousa, are not going to end up like your mother. I have never
met a person who cared as much as you do. You are going to be a fantastic
mother, and that baby of yours is lucky, it'll have the best mother to help
guide it into a beautiful human. If you turned out this well, raising yourself,
I can see you raising this baby to be just as kind, courageous, and smart as
you." Miranda Bailey said. "This doubt. This doubt shows me you care.
You're going to be fantastic. And, I'll remind you when you need it."
Eddie smiled. "Thank you, you'll make a good mother one day yourself
Bailey."
Bailey smile for a moment and then said, "don't say anything Sousa, but, I
just found out I am pregnant. Only my husband and I know right now. We're
at six weeks."
Eddie smiled.
"Congratulations!" Eddie said with a wide, happy grin. "You are going to be
a fantastic mother."
"I'm gonna need you to remind me of that to upon occasion, because believe
it or not, I have the same fears about my baby and being a mother. Living
up to how great mine was." Miranda said.
"Deal." Eddie said, "and I won't say anything until you do."
Bailey smiled.
"Now, rest up, you and that baby need some sleep. You and I are going to
talk about your hours tomorrow before you go." Bailey said.
"Yes ma'am." Eddie said with a laugh as she closed her eyes, her crying fit
had tired her out more than she thought, especially with the pain meds (that
wouldn't hurt her baby) she was on to help manage the pain.
Late that night, after their sift, Meredith and Cristina came to spend some
more time with Eddie who was being kept overnight for observations. And,
she heard about all the drama and the fact that Izzie and Cristina were going
to be on the harvesting case tomorrow.
Meredith and Christina were kicked out of Ellie's hospital room right before
visiting hours ended by their resident who said that the young intern and
mother-to-be needed to rest. So, for Meredith that meant facing her two
overly happy and sunny roommates who seemed to have made it their life's
mission to annoy her to the point she wants to commit murder.
And, when she walked into the house she saw Izzie and George had in fact
gone through her mother's things and started to unpack them. And, the bad
mood boiled over at the sight. Why didn't they see that she didn't want to
think of her mother. Of her horrible relationship she'll never fix because she
had no idea who Meredith was, or the fact that her mother cared more about
those tapes than her, or the fact that her mom had her keeping this large
secret from everyone and she had no support whatsoever to handle her
mother's quick decline and had to pretend everything was normal. Lie to
everyone around her. Or maybe because her mom would never see her
become this amazing surgeon.
And coupled with a bad day, Meredith was now in no mood to be nice.
"Ooh, this one is skin grafting!" Izzie said excitedly.
"Skin grafting? No way! I've never seen that done before." George said just
as excited and interested.
"Are those my mother's surgical tapes?" Meredith asked as she looked at the
TV.
"We should watch the skin grafting one first." George said to his
roommates.
"Where did all this stuff come from?" Meredith asked, already knowing the
answer, recognizing some of her mom's belongings that she had stored
somewhere in the house.
"Oh, I unpacked some of your mother's things. I was upset, and when I'm
upset I like to nest." Izzie said as if it was normal to unpack other's
belongings.
Meredith stares, at her not saying anything and then starts taking pictures
down. Meredith noted a few were of Meredith's youth before her mom left
her father. Family photos Meredith thought her mother had gotten rid of,
and then there were pictures of her mother at various hospitals with other
renowned doctors.
"Ooh! Hemipelvectomy." Izzie said as she read the tape's label.
"I think we should watch this one first." George said, changing his mind.
"No. No. We're not watching my mother's surgery tapes, we're not
unpacking boxes, and we're not having long conversations where we
celebrate the moments of our lives. And use a coaster!" Meredith said as she
angrily started to repack, before giving up and storming off.
" ...I ordered Chinese food." George called off lamely.
"I hate Chinese food!" Meredith responded half-way up the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Conrad Quinn had spent the last ten hours in surgery after a short ten
minute break between the surgery that he was pulled away from this
morning. And all he wanted to do was check in on the surgical intern who
had been admitted because of the Dead Baby Bike Race and head home and
get some sleep and catch up on some things he had pushed off, or maybe
he'd just relax during his day off after working overtime. He just wanted to
make sure she was okay. And, he knew he might kick up the rumor mill
about him visiting an intern, especially since he tried to keep his work and
personal issues separate. He didn't really like being part of or spreading
gossip.
But, she had been his patient. Which is how he justified it to himself. He
also occasionally checked his second and third year residents work before
going home, so he could give them critiques if needed, or if there was
something he needed to check on before leaving.
When he reached her room, he wasn't shocked to find her asleep. It was
getting to be about ten pm.
"Dr. Quinn," Rose, one of the nurse said with a flirty smile. "What brings
you here?"
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He had learned before he was even old
enough to start elementary school to be kind to nurses, because they ran the
hospital. His father thought him this as a surgeon and his mother, through
the fact she was a nurse. They did a lot of the work, while doctors got the
credit for. They ran the hospitals and without them doctors wouldn't be very
successful. It was good to always be on their good side and treat them with
respect. Something not every doctor did.
But, just because he respected nurses didn't mean he wanted to date nurses.
He had dated a nurse during his residency and it had been...messy to say the
least. Mostly involving basically stalking him inside the hospital, hoping
they'd get back together. But, it didn't work. It stayed that way until she
started dating someone new.
"I am just checking to see how my residents did." Conrad said. "Also to see
how their interns did under pressure like today."
Rose nodded, and silently hoped that the charts were just an excuse and he
was there to see her. Conrad looked through the charts and noted that Eddie,
Dr. Sousa, had been a model patient and her labs had been clear all day, and
was slated to go home sometime tomorrow mid-morning. And, then he
checked the other charts and signed off on most except three, which he'd
give to the intern's resident who needed to work on their charting because
they were wrong.
"Have a good night Rose." Conrad said.
"You too Dr. Quinn." Rose said with a smile.
Meredith and Cristina were in Eddie's room before their shift started to
check in with their friend, who'd be released some time today. She was
getting better, still a bit of a concussion and her arm was still broken, but
she would be able to come back to work in a few days after resting a few
more days at home. And, Meredith was informing her friends what had
happened the night before.
"They're everywhere. All the time. Izzie's all perky, and George does this
thing where he's helpful and considerate, they share food and they say
things and they move things, and they breathe." Meredith complained, and
after a beat whimpered, "they're like happy."
"Kick them out." Cristina said as she ate some of the jello Eddie had left,
hating the green flavor.
"I can't kick them out. They just moved in. I asked them to move in."
Meredith said.
"So what, you're just going to repress everything into some deep dark
twisted place until one day you snap and kill them?" Eddie asked her friend,
as Cristina nodded in agreement.
"Yup." Meredith said.
"This is why we are friends." Meredith said as she motioned between the
three of them.
Despite the fact that Eddie to could be bright and shiny she was no where
near as annoying as George and Izzie, and deep down, she was just as dark
and twisty as Meredith and Cristina, she just was better at seeing the
sunshine.
"Well, if worse comes to worse, you could always hide out at my place for a
few hours." Eddie said, "it's small but I won't force you to be social."
"Thank you Ed." Meredith said, as they glanced at the clock.
"Shoot, Cristina were late!"
"Shit!"
"Good luck! I'll see you at rounds maybe and I'll try and find you guys
before I go." Eddie said as the two nodded and quickly made their way their
way towards the lockers to change before Bailey saw them running late.
"Why is the Nazi making us stay in the Pit two days in a row?" Alex asked
as he joined them at the elevator.
"Leftovers." Meredith informed her fellow intern.
"Leftovers?" Alex said, confused.
"Gotta get the cyclists who were too drunk or too stupid or too scared to get
themselves to a hospital yesterday." Meredith explained.
"While meanwhile, she gets to do a freakin' organ harvest." Alex
complained looking at Cristina with some anger. He had wanted in on a
surgery like that.
"Oh, that kills you, doesn't it?" Cristina said.
"What?" Alex asked.
"That two women got the harvest." Cristina stated factually.
"No, it kills me that anyone got the harvest but me. Boobs do not factor into
this equation." Alex informed Cristina. He really didn't care if it was a man
or woman, he just wanted to be on it instead of in the Pit all day. After a
beat he added with a smirk, "Unless you want to show me yours."
Meredith and Cristina exchange looks. They're waiting for the elevator to
come, and it wasn't coming fast enough.
"I'm going to become a lesbian." Meredith remarked.
"Me too." Cristina added as they both made their way to the stairs.
Later in the afternoon, Eddie was finally discharged from the hospital with
strict orders to not be back to work until Monday. Which meant an entire
three days off. And, if Eddie was going stir crazy in a hospital. She didn't
know how she was going to do it at home. Luckily, she wasn't on complete
bedrest.
She was making her way out of the hospital through the pit, because it was
closer to where her car was parked. When she saw Meredith.
"I thought you were going home." Meredith said.
"I am, my car is parked closer to Pit than the front entrance." Eddie
promised.
"Okay, do you want to come over to my place once I get off?" Meredith
asked. "If you want company?"
"Sure. Defiantly. Call me when you leave." Eddie confirmed as Meredith
stopped, and Eddie glanced to where she was looking, it was a handsome
guy who didn't look all that well.
"What's Viper doing here?" Meredith asked Alex, who was passing by.
"Probably crashed his bike. Again." Alex replied.
"How long has he been waiting?" Eddie asked, "he really doesn't look okay.
What was wrong with him?"
"Don't know, just a flesh wound, and I'm busy on real cases. He's all yours."
Alex said shortly as he went off to another patient.
"Isn't he charming." Eddie commented dryly. "I'll see you later, Mer."
"Viper? Viper?" Meredith said.
Viper was holding his side and not looking at her. He starts to cough.
"Are you okay?"
He tries to get up but falls down before he could even get up. And, it was a
flurry of activity, she runs to him. He's unconscious and blood is coming
out of his mouth.
"Viper!"
Meredith lifts up his shirt to see that his stitches have ripped open and the
area around them has swelled up to the size of a small melon.
The next few moments were insanity, that resulted in Meredith is sitting on
top of Viper straddling him on a gurney, trying to hold his wound closed.
"Call up to the OR and tell them we're coming. Page Dr. Bailey." Meredith
told the nurse.
"Right away." The nurse said as she quickly raced off to page the resident
and call up to the OR.
Alex is staring at Viper, hands on hips, a bit stunned at the scene in front of
him.
"Alex! Push the damn gurney!" Meredith snapped at him.
"Clear the way. Coming through." The nurse yelled as she and Alex pushed
the gurney.
"Somebody get the elevator!" Alex shouted.
"Hurry. I don't know how long I can keep this wound closed." Meredith said
as she tried her best to keep the wound closed.
Elevator doors close. They watch the level numbers light up. It felt like the
slowest elevator in the world.
"Move faster, damnit." Meredith ordered
They arrive and go into the OR. Meredith is still straddling Viper.
"Well, this is a new one. Somebody get her off my patient." Bailey ordered,
as Meredith climbs down, "Meredith, go get cleaned up and scrub in, Alex,
get back downstairs."
"Yeah, but I helped." Alex said, annoyed he wasn't going be let on.
"Helped! They tell me down in the Pit that you only want to take the hot
cases. In every pack of interns there's always one fool that's running around
trying to show off, and Alex, this time that fool is you. Get out." Bailey
said, reading her intern a riot act. When Alex left, Bailey said, "Somebody
get me something to stand on, lower this table. The mountain's going to
have to come to me."
A few hours later, after Viper's very successful surgery Bailey and Meredith
are walking out to see them.
"This lovely group's his friends. Uh, you all belong to -" Bailey asked,
looking to Meredith, "what's his name?"
"Viper."
"Viper?" Bailey repeated.
"Yeah, we were in the race." One of his friends, a male, said.
"How is he, is he okay?" One of his female friends said.
"Is he okay? No. No, he is not okay, at all. He hurled his body down a
concrete mountain at full speed for no good reason. Yeah, I know you all
pierce yourselves and smoke up and generally treat your bodies like your
grungy asses can't break down to A, you want to kill yourselves, flying
down a concrete mountain, go to it, but there are other people walking,
people driving, people trying live their lives on that concrete mountain, and
one of them got his brains scrambled today because one of you little
sniffling no-good snot-rag -" Bailey ranted, her pregnancy hormones taking
over, and thinking about the man who died and Eddie who was injured.
Who else knew was hurt because of these morons.
"Doctor Bailey -" Meredith said, cutting off her boss.
"Yeah, yeah so no, your friend Viper, as far as I'm concerned, is not okay."
Bailey said before she stalked off.
"She's, um, really tired, but, uh, Viper's going to make it. He's gonna live."
Meredith said after a moment, once Bailey was out of earshot.
"Cool. Thanks." The group said.
"Okay, I'll pick you up in about forty." Meredith told Eddie, before they
hung up their phones. After a long day, she, Cristina, and Eddie were going
to relax. And, maybe, they might even spend time with Izzie and George.
After a long day, it actually sounded good to be surrounded by friends, her
own little family.
As she turned to leave, she saw Derek standing in the entry way of the
intern locker room.
"It's not the chase." Derek informed her.
"What?" Meredith asked, confused.
"You and me. It is not the thrill of the chase. It's not a game. It's...it's your
tiny ineffectual fists. And your hair." Derek said.
"My hair?"
"Smells good. And you're very, very bossy. Keeps me in line." Derek told
her.
"I'm still not going out with you." Meredith informed him, even though she
really wanted to.
"You say that now." Derek said with his charming McDreamy smile as he
leaves.
There's another way to survive this competition. A way that no one ever
seems to tells you about. One you have to learn for yourself. Number five:
it's not about the race at all. There are no winners or losers. Victories are
counted by the number of lives saved.
Meredith picked up Eddie from her apartment found Izzie, George, and
Cristina sitting on the couch, huddled together, eating pizza as they watched
Ellis Grey's surgery tapes.
"Okay, this is the best part, watch, this is where she pulls a block of skin
down over the face." Cristina cried out as they watched the tape.
" We were..." George said.
"Hi." Cristina said
"We were just - Cristina made us." George finished.
Cristina looks incredibly unimpressed with that statement. She didn't force
her. They shouldn't have mentioned the tapes. Because, of course, any
surgeon would want to watch the great Ellis Grey.
And once in a while, if you're smart, the life you save could be your own.
"What are we watching? Ooh." Eddie said as she joined her friends on the
couch and taking some popcorn.
"This is the one where my mother -" Meredith started as she joined them as
well with a smile on her face.
"Literally pulls this guy's face off!" Izzie said.
"Yeah."
They watch for a few seconds and then a particularly gruesome and bloody
scene happened.
"Augh!" They all cried.
Cristina waving her slice of pizza towards the screen in amazement said,
"Holy crap!"
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
the next chapter should be up later this week!