overprotective | greys anatomy

15

the morning after her big fight with meredith, paige walked into the house. she didn't want to come back there, but she had to work the night shift tonight.

"where did you sleep?" meredith asked, as paige walked into the kitchen. she looked at mer, and then at maggie and the kids.

"amelias couch. betty invited me in there and i made amelia promise not to tell you."

maggie looked at her, "paige," she started "you should really tell someone where you are."

"i did." she snapped. "i told betty, amelia, and link.

"paige." meredith said, rolling her eyes.

"meredith. stop. just because i'm back doesn't mean i'm staying. i'm still one hundred percent considering leaving. i'm coming here to shower and i go into work at six. don't try and change my mind. i need to make this decision on my own. this needs to be my choice." paige walked upstairs, leaving mer and maggie stunned.

"if she leaves," maggie starts, "she will leave for the right reasons. and if we get her the fellow or get her back on surgeries then she will know we're only doing it cause we miss her."

"i know." meredith said. "there's nothing we can do."

—

paige and levi walked to the cafeteria after rounds.

"i'm really sorry about everything that's happening. if i was on the board i totally would've let you do surgeries." levi said.

"thanks." said paige. but what could he do? no one could really help her. she was stuck in this world of people who won't let her live. she's trapped. she's stuck in this pain of wanting to be a good doctor but also wanting to be a good friend. and john made it so she can no longer do both.

paige walked up to arizona in one of the peds rooms.

"hello dr. meyers. this is laney james. she has stage three stomach cancer. we're doing a total gastrostomy and getting her on a feeding tube.
would you want to scrub in?"

paige gave arizona a dirty look. but she looked at the patient and formed a fake smile. "yes, dr. robbins. i would love too." she got really quiet with her voice, "if i'm even able to hold a scalpel." she whispered under her breath. arizona rolled her eyes and smiled at the patient, leaving the room.

"we're gonna have a board meeting, and your coming." arizona snapped at paige.

"fine." she said, gathering the charts.

—

"we need to discuss doctor meyers recent conflict." arizona stated.

paige rolled her eyes.

"i think she's a good doctor," meredith said, "and i don't think we should be exploiting her from using her best abilities. if she says she's ready then we should trust that she's ready."

"i don't know." said jackson, making paige roll her eyes. "she went through something traumatic. usually when something traumatic happens we give people more than a few weeks before coming back."

"i was raped." paige yelled. "it's not like i almost died. and sitting around home is worse for me than being here. when i'm alone all i think about is the attack. when i'm here i can put my mind to something. i can forget about it."

"jackson," arizona said, putting her hand on his arm. "you need to let her do this." arizona redirected her glance to paige. "you can have the peds fellow when you graduate the program. and we will stop kicking you off surgeries and stop treating you like a victim. agreed?"

the team nodded there heads.

"but," alex objected. "if you ever get any sort of ptsd or feel uncomfortable with a patient or a doctor. you come to us. if anything bad ever happens to you again, you come to us."

"okay," said paige. "as long as you stop mentioning the attack. i hate thinking about it."

"deal." jackson sighed.

levi bust in through the door. "you can't let her leave!" he screamed. "she graduated high school at sixteen! she got through four years of med school in two! she lost everyone and we're all she has left! she thinks she'll be happy but she won't! she's be awful without us! we need her here because she needs us! please! i'm begging you not to let her leave!"

everyone laughed. levi looked at them, consumed. "what?" he asked.

"schmitt." said meredith, "we've already decided that she's staying."

"oh," levi said obliviously. "right well... congratulations dr. meyers. and uh, have a-a good day, uh doctors." schmitt left the room, embarrassed.

"get outta here," jackson laughed. "you've got dying babies to save."

paige laughed and left the room. she was happy again, and she wasn't sure what was gonna happen next. but she knew she'd be ready for it, cause she has the people she needs. they can take on anything.

but before she could save any dying babies. she felt her feet start to give out from under her. her vision started to get blurry and she could feel her eyes automatically closing. she wobbled a little bit and fell to the ground. unable to move or talk or feel anything.