Redamancy • Mark Sloan

2x12-Losing My Religion

"We could have saved him! We could have gotten him the heart in time, and saved him!" Retorted the other woman, only to. Go quiet when Charlie began chuckling dryly.

"Saved him? You put him in danger! What on god's green earth would make you believe I'd think you capable of saving anyone, let alone a man you hurt? Christ, I don't even think you should be here, in this hospital, wearing these scrubs, but for the sake of my friends, and my family, whom you've placed in this precarious position, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Stepping closer to the woman, she tilted her head, before finishing with a small, nonplussed smile, "As far as I'm concerned, you're a goddamn liability, and you single-handedly placed this hospital, and all of our careers at risk. That's not a surgeon, that's a teenager."

The model huffed, turning on her heels and stalking off angrily, and Charlie looked back at the remainder of her friends with a questioning look, "Anyone else have something to say about my actions yesterday, or can we all sigh in relief that the man's still alive, and get back to our godforsaken jobs?"

No one answered, and she nodded with a true smile of relief, as Xander's arm came to wrap around her shoulder in camaraderie, "Dude, Charles' got a scary side."

v^√√v^─√v^√v^─

Apparently, she hadn't escaped Richard's notice, since he called her into his office later in the day, for his own version of the Spanish Inquisition, or as she called it:

My-godfather-suspects-i-did-an-oopsie-so-he's-going-to-halfheartedly-glare-at-me-in-the-hopes-that-i-just-fold-and-tell-him.

A tactic, which in her 22 years of life, had yet to actually yield any results.

The blonde was seated before him, hands folded demurely on her knees, eyes keenly observing both his face, and the papers strewn haphazardly on his desk.

Motioning to them, she commented, "You should really organise those, lest you lose a bill, or something. Lord knows we do not need anymore drama."

Richard rolled his eyes in response, before focusing them on her, "Stop deflecting. You and I both know, I know you know who cut the LVAD wire, so just tell me, and let's end the torture for the both of us."

Charlie sighed, the hairs around her face moving with the gesture, "Do you remember when I was a kid, around 12 or 13? It was about the time I'd been accepted into Eton, and I was back for Christmas break? Remember that?"

He tilted his head, in a manner that was weirdly familiar to her, and later, she'd come to realise it was familiar because she did it, and maybe she should focus back on what he was saying, but sue her, she was tired.

Snapping back to attention, she caught the end of his sentence, "...have to do with anything?"

"Well, there had been a problem, remember? A couple of boys had decided bullying the 12 year old was a grand idea, and I'd gotten into a fight, one where I was helped by another couple of boys. When I was brought to the principal's office, he asked me to name them, and I refused, because they had been my friends. Do you remember what you told me, when mum had recounted the whole sordid tale to you?"

His gaze softened, become nostalgic with memories, as he whispered, "Loyalty. I told you that you were loyal, and that, this was a trait you should never get rid of, no matter how much trouble it brought you, because that's who you are." Glancing back at her, he shook his head, as though shooing those memories of easier days away, saying, "It's not the same, Lodie. This isn't the same situation. And loyalty's great, until it comes at a hefty cost, like for example, your job."