CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

MELONIE'S POV

   I woke up next to Alex and he smiled at me. I smiled back and he kissed me. 

   "Good morning," he smiled. 

   "Good morning," I replied, with a happy sigh, as I looked at him.

   I looked down and realized that we were both naked and I laughed, which made him laugh as well.

   "Last night was..." I trailed off. 

   "Yeah," he chuckled. 

   I kissed him one more time before getting up and throwing on my clothes. He changed and we both went downstairs to see Mer, Derek, Lexie, Izzie, and George.

   "Why, good morning, lovebirds," Mer smiled. 

   "Could you guys keep it down next time?" Izzie rolled her eyes. 

   "Yeah, seriously," Lexie added. "Some of us have to work."

   "We all do, Lexie," I remarked, sitting down next to Alex. 

   After breakfast, I drove in Alex's car as we headed off to the hospital. Once we pulled up, my pager went off. 'TRAUMA, TORRES'.

   "I have to go," I said to Alex, getting out of the car and slamming the door. 

   I kissed him and ran into the hospital. I quickly changed into my scrubs and ran toward trauma bay, throwing my hair up. 

   "What took you so long?" Callie asked. I breathed. "And why are you out of breath?"

   "I was in the parking lot when you paged," I breathed some more. "So, I ran."

   The ambulance arrived and out came a paramedic pushing a lady on a gurney toward us. Callie gestured for me to go with her and I quickly walked next to the gurney. 

   "Jodie Crowley, sixty-year-old driver who lost consciousness and hit a parked car. Vital signs stable. Complains of abdominal pain."

   "It wasn't a parked car. It was them. They hit us," a man with an arm sling claimed, following the gurney.

   "Uh, sir, who are you?" I asked.

   "Who am I? Who are you?" he sassily replied as we got to Jodie's room. I stopped to look at him. 

   "He's my son," Jodie cut in.

   "Why don't we go in the waiting room?" I tried to touch his arm and he flinched, jerking his arm away from me.

   "Oh, no. He needs to stay with me," Jodie pleaded. "He's a paranoid schizophrenic."

   "Okay," Callie sighed, continuing to push Jodie into her room. 

   We entered the room and put her gurney next to another gurney. 

   "Alright," Callie started. "Let's put her on the gurney, on my count." We all put our hands underneath Jodie so we could lift her. "One... two... three."

   We lifted Jodie onto the gurney as carefully as we could without hurting her. Her son stood beside her.

   "Listen to me, mom," he whispered. "They're trying to get to me through you. You have to believe me."

   "Tom, they're not real," Jodie responded. "Look at me. Look at me, honey." 

   Callie and I glanced at each other with confused facial expressions, before I finally turned to Jodie again. 

   "Did you feel dizzy or light-headed before the crash?" I asked, checking her foot.

   "No, I felt fine," Jodie answered.

   "Okay, abdominal tenderness." Callie felt her abdomen. "I feel a mass."

   "I-I've had it for quite a while," Jodie informed us. "Maybe that's what caused me to black out."

   "I've been warning her," Tom said. "They're trying to hurt her, but she won't believe me."

   I looked at Tom with worried eyes, but I looked back down to focus on Jodie's ankle. 

   "Tom, look at me. You know I wouldn't lie to you," Jodie pleaded.

   "No. No!" Tom raised his voice. "You have to believe me. Someone has to believe me." He looked at me. "Aliens have impregnated my mother."

   I looked at him and lowered my eyebrows in a confused way, but when I looked down at Jodie's stomach, there was something moving, as if something was kicking her.

   "What the hell?" I muttered to myself, and Callie came over, reacting the exact same way. 

   I walked over to check on Jodie's vitals and I took out my stethoscope.

   "Um, okay... how long have you had the growth?" I asked. Jodie looked over to see Tom staring at the clock.

   "Can you cover the clock?" she asked. "The number five bothers him."

   "Um, yeah." Callie pointed to one of the nurses. "Can you get something to cover the clock?"

   Tom walked over to the wall and was staring at something.

   "Are those cameras?" he asked.

   "Tommy, what do we need from the store?" Jodie asked, and I looked at her, but didn't ask.

   "Why won't they leave me alone?" Tom ignored her question.

   "Tommy, do we need fruit?"

   "Yeah. Why won't you leave me alone?"

   "What kind of fruit do we need, honey?" Jodie questioned. Tom didn't answer. "Tom, what kind of fruit?"

   "Um..." He thought for a minute. "Apples, pears, strawberries."

   "Make a list," Jodie smiled.

   "Could you give him a pencil and some paper?" Jodie asked me.

   "Yeah." I reached into my pockets.

   "He needs something to distract him from the voices," Jodie told Callie.

   "Okay, uh, ma'am the growth?" I asked again, since she never answered me, and I handed Tom paper and a pen.

   "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm sorry," Jodie replied. "I-I've had it for a while. I've been meaning to get it checked, but as you can see, my son's illness is a full-time job."

   Once we were done checking up on Jodie, we walked out of the room to see Alex walking by. 

   "Karev, I'm gonna need you to get Mr. Crowley's wrist x-rayed while I get her up to the M.R.I.," Callie said to Alex.

   "Why can't one of these fetuses babysit?" He pointed to the interns. "If that huge thing's a triple-a, I want in."

   "I can do the wrist," I volunteered.

   "Dr. Karev has more experience," Callie said in a stern voice.

   "The patient is paranoid and hypervigilant, which means he's bound to pick up on the fact that Dr. Karev doesn't want to be here, and he may interpret that as Dr. Karev being out to get him," I reasoned. Alex looked at me and I gave him a cheesy smile, which made him smile at me. "I aced my psych clerkship."

   "Fine. Grey, you're in," Callie gave in.

   I quickly walked back into the room and took Tom into the x-ray room. I wrapped his wrist in a large bandage.

   "I just got my hair cut," Tom said randomly, looking the other direction of where I was standing. I looked up. 

   "Oh, well, it looks nice."

   "The nurse out there, the one with the red hair, she's laughing at me," he claimed.

   I looked out into the hall, where there were two nurses, and one had red hair. They were both laughing about something, but neither were looking at him.

   "You tell her I just got it cut, and they cut it too short, and that's why my ears are sticking out."

   "I'm sure she's not laughing at you," I assured him. I finished wrapping his wrist and touched it. "How does that feel?"

   "It feels like my... hand is falling off," he replied, still not looking at me. "It feels like... they put something in it to make my hand fall off, like it's snakes or something." He finally turned to look at me and stood up. "You don't have a nametag."

   I looked down at my white lab coat and my name wasn't there. I chuckled to try to make it seem better.

   "Oh, um, I guess I don't."

   "The other doctor had a nametag on her coat," he pointed out.

   "I forgot to wash my coat, so I had to take a spare one from the chief's office, and this one-" 

   "You think I'm an idiot?" he interrupted me. I looked at him with a nervous expression. "You're working for them. You've got my mother, and now you're trying to get me." I started to walk forward and he backed up. "Stay away from us." I just stared at him and he charged at me, pushing me against the wall. I groaned in pain as my back hit the wall, and I felt my shoulder pop. "I keep telling you people to stay away from us!"

   Tom threw me onto the ground and ran out of the room. I groaned in pain as Lexie came running in. 

   "Oh my God, are you okay?!" She sat beside me.

   "Yeah." I sat up. 

   "Are you hurt?!" she screamed. 

   "Why are you so worried?" I chuckled. 

   "Oh, um, I guess I'm still shaken up about when you fell off the roof," she shrugged. 

   "I'm fine, but, um..." I trailed off. "I need you to pop my shoulder back into place."

   "What?"

   "Just do it. I need to go catch that patient."

   "Um, okay..." 

   Lexie touched my arm and sighed. She touched my arm. 

   "It's gonna hurt," she warned. "A lot."

   "I know," I sighed. "Just do it and I'll put a sling on."

   "Okay, 1... 2... 3."

   Lexie popped my shoulder and I let out a wail as excruciating pain shot up my arm. 

   "Thanks." I held my shoulder as she handed me a sling and put it on my arm. "Call security and page psych?"

   I ran out of the room as fast as I could in search of the schizophrenic patient. Lexie ran after me. 

   An hour later, I still hadn't found him and Lexie ran up to me.

   "I called security. They're on their way," she told me.

   "Where's psych? I asked you to page them an hour ago," I snapped.

   "I paged them twice," she responded. "If you want to see the log book-"

   "No, I want to know how a paranoid patient managed to get out of the E.R.," I replied. "Where were you?"

   "I had stepped away from the desk to deal with another patient," she argued. "I'm not about to go down for a mistake that wasn't mine, Melonie. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll page psych again." Lexie walked away.

   I sighed and ran off to the M.R.I. room, where Callie was still doing work on Jodie.

   "Have you seen Tom?" I asked, out of breath.

   "I thought he was with you," she said. "What happened to your arm?"

   "He was, but he left. Well, he attacked me, and then he left," I responded.

   "You told me you could handle this." She crossed her arms.

   "N-no, I can. It's under control," I lied. "Don't worry."

   "Under control?! Your arm is in a sling!" she raised her voice. 

   "I've called security. I just thought maybe his mom would have an idea-"

   "His mom has a Triple-A," she interrupted. "The last thing she needs to know is that her mentally ill son is loose in the hospital."

   "I know this is bad. I know this is really, really bad. I know-"

   "Okay, I'm gonna stop listening to you because the words you are saying are hurting me," Callie scolded me. "Find him! And once you find him, you're off the case."

   I groaned and ran out of the M.R.I. room to continue looking for Tom. I don't even know if he's in the hospital anymore, but I had to try.

   As I was looking everywhere, Mark looked at me. 

   "You look crazy."

   "I lost a schizophrenic!" I shouted. "And I am gonna be fired if I don't find the schizophrenic." I looked behind a gurney. 

   "Well, you're not gonna find him back there," he teased.

   I walked over to him angrily. "You do not get to be charmed by this because this is not charming! This is me getting cut from the program. You are already amazing. I just got here, okay? They don't know me! They know you!" I started to hyperventilate.

   "Okay, let's just breathe." He touched my arm. I exhaled. "And again." I breathed again. "Good. Look at me." I looked him in the eye. "Security is on this. You have become a crazy person I do not recognize. I want Melonie back. Can I get Melonie back?"

   I nodded, breathing heavily. We both looked each other in the eye and he started to lean into kiss me. 

   "No! I can not do this again! I am in a committed relationship, and you're my sister's ex and I'm pretty sure she's not over you, so no," I rambled. 

   Before he could answer, I heard a familiar voice screaming from a distance.

   "Stay away from me! You get back! Stop! Get back!" Tom screamed.

   "Oh, God, that's him." I ran toward the screaming, leaving Mark behind.

   "Where's my mother?!" Tom shouted as I arrived. "What have you done with her?! No!" 

   "Alright, sir. Just calm down. Sir!" an officer tried to calm him down.

   Tom was trying to run down the stairs, but he tripped and fell the rest of the way down. I ran to his side and looked at the interns. Tom groaned in pain as he hit the ground. 

   "Page Torres," I breathed, calming down because I finally found him.

~

   I went down the cafeteria to get food, and luckily, Cristina and Meredith were sitting at a table. I pulled up a chair and sighed. 

   "Nice pin," I said to Cristina.

   "His name's Mr. Bear. He eats children," Cristina replied, and I just nodded. 

   "Not having fun in peds?" Mer asked.

   "Well, my kid wants chocolate pudding really badly." She took a spoon full of pudding out of her pudding cup. "This is the last one."

   "My Triple-A got cancelled," I told them. "You guys got any surgeries I can get in on?"

   "No, I'm on post-ops and she's babysitting," Mer laughed at Cristina. "Besides, it's probably not the best idea for you to do surgeries anyway. You're arm's in a sling."

   "I can work with one arm!" I offended myself.

   "What even happened to your arm?" Cristina asked.

   "Well, I got attacked by a schizophrenic and he ran off," I answered, taking a bit out of my sandwich. "I let a crazy man escape, and he fell down a flight of stairs."

   "Is it surgical?" Cristina asked.

   "I don't know, I got kicked off the case," I sighed. "So, then I went to go watch a surgery. I figured, I can't screw that up. The second I get to the gallery, the shunt went south and starts bleeding. I left before Shepherd could blame me for it."

   "Derek's shunt went bad?" Mer asked.

   "Yeah, they had to convert to an open craniotomy - something I'll probably never get a chance to do," I replied. I looked at Cristina. "I really admire you. In case I get cut and don't get a chance to tell you. Plus, you're really pretty."

   Cristina stared at me and put her spoon back into her half-full pudding cup.

   "You can have the rest," she offered, getting up and walking away.

   I started eating the pudding and I looked at Meredith. "And you and I, we were getting so close."

   "You're not gonna get cut. You'll be fine," Mer smiled a little, standing up and walking away. 

   I went up and passed Tom's room. I sighed and looked inside to see Jodie laying next to the bed, fast asleep. Suddenly, Tom looked at me. 

   "I'm sorry. I just, uh... I wanted to make sure you're okay," I told him. "Are you okay?"

   "I injured my spleen, and they're just waiting to see if it stops bleeding on its own," he responded.

   "Good. Um... well, I'm glad, you seem... well, you seem better, and I'm glad," I chuckled. "Anyway, I should, uh, I should go. I'm not really supposed to be here, so..."

   "Oh, it's alright. They've got me in restraints," he informed me, holding up his arms that were held down by foam cuffs. "I wouldn't be able to hurt you even if the voices told me to." I stared at him. "It's a joke. Schizophrenia humor." I let out a small chuckle. "Um... there's this thought that I... I keep thinking that they planted a camera in my stomach during the ultrasound. I was gonna wake my mother and have her, you know, talk me down, but she's tired, and..."

   I sighed and walked over to the monitor, pulling it out for him to see. I pulled up scans of his spleen.

   "This is your spleen." I pointed at it. "See? And this bright spot right here, that's blood. That's not supposed to be there. But, um, no camera."

   "No camera," he repeated.

   "I can leave this up if you want. So that when the thoughts come back, you can look and see that they're not real," I smiled at him. "They're just scary thoughts. They're not real."

   Tom didn't answer, so I just left the monitor there and walked out. I walked toward the scan room, because I knew that's where Callie would be. 

   "Has Mrs. Crowley agreed to the surgery?" I asked.

   "No. She's gonna go home, and she's gonna die," Callie sighed. "Then what's that boy gonna be left with?"

   "He needs surgery," I told her.

   Callie turned around to face me. "Well, does he need a transfusion? Is there active bleeding?"

   "No, his crit's stable," I answered. "And I know we don't operate unless there's an active bleed, but it's so close, and if we operate on him, maybe she'll let us operate on her. That way, we can keep them together. Through the surgery, through the recovery, they'll be together." Callie stared blankly at me. "And maybe you think this is a bad idea, that I'm proposing unnecessary surgery. And, maybe you'll tell the chief, and the chief will think that it makes me a bad doctor. But I think it makes me a good doctor, and I think-"

   "Stop talking," Callie interrupted me. 

   "Are my words hurting you again?"

   "No, you're right," she smirked, and I smiled. "It's a good idea." She paused. "God, you're just like your sister."

   "Thank you?" I questioned, following her out of the room. 

   "Okay, I know that you suggested this surgery, but you can't scrub in on a surgery with one arm," Callie sighed. "I'm sorry."

   "Oh." I looked down.

   "Let's go ask Tom." 

   We walked into his room and told him about the surgery.

   "No, I'm not letting you cut me open," he protested. "You're gonna put a camera in me. You're one of them."

   "Okay, Mrs. Crowley-" Callie tried.

   "No," Jodie interrupted. "He's scared. He said no."

   "Tom, you need this surgery," I pushed. "And you will feel better after it. And your mom? Your mom's surgery will save her life."

   Tom shook his head no and Callie threw her hands up in frustration. 

   "Okay." Callie walked over to him. "Look, Tom. Look at me, okay? I am not an alien. I'm not one of them. My name is Callie Torres. I have a girlfriend, and I would do anything for her, just like your mom would do anything for you. Now, she needs you to do this for her because otherwise, she will die. And you will be alone." 

   Tom shook his head again, and Callie looked at me. I just shrugged. Callie took her butterfly needle out of her coat pocket and pricked her finger, showing Tom the blood. 

   "Look. See? Red. Red blood. I'm human." She put her needle away. "I am a doctor. And I want to help you and your mom. But you have to trust me."

   Next thing I knew, Jodie and Tom were both in surgery and I sighed of relief, knowing the hard part was over. 

   Suddenly, my pager went off. It was Meredith. I quickly walked to the lobby, and Alex and Cristina were there too.

   "What's going on? You paged us," Alex asked.

   "Check your email," Mer demanded. 

   "For what?" I questioned.

   "H.R. If you got cut, you'll have an e-mail," she explained. "I didn't get one, but... I've been calm. Through this crisis, I have been calm. But, if one of us gets cut, I will not be calm."

   We all pulled out our phones and frantically checked our e-mails.

   "No e-mail," Cristina sighed of relief. 

   "I'm fine," Alex smiled.

   I looked and saw no e-mail. I broke down into tears of relief. I for sure thought I was going to be cut after the horrible day I had. 

   "No! No, you did not get cut. If you're leaving, I'm leaving too." Alex wrapped his arm around me, careful not to hurt my shoulder.

   "No, no, no. I'm safe," I cried. "I didn't get cut."

   "Bitch!" Meredith shouted. "Don't scare me like that!"

   "I'm sorry." I wiped my tears. "I was just sure I was going to get cut after today. I mean, I lost a schizophrenic."

   "Well, the important thing is... none of us got cut!" Cristina cheered.

~

Word Count: 3477

I wrote so much lmao, oops...