Ghosts of Grey Sloan

1

Mercy Torres was no stranger to odd things. In elementary school she remembered thinking the end of their classroom hamster's life was coming soon, and Snuffles died the next day, she remembered being able to look at the sky on a clear day and know it was going to rain, she'd even been in hospital and knew she'd be leaving with a new mom, which is a longer story than that.

But nothing was as odd as this.

Abandoned as a baby, Mercy grew up in the foster care system her whole life with nothing but a first name following her. She'd never been a worried kid, she always seemed to have a precognition of things coming, when a foster family would be taking her in and when they would inevitably be moving her on. Sometimes it was to another family, sometimes it was back to a group home that was kind of like a glorified orphanage.

When she broke her leg last year, she knew Callie Torres her orthopaedic surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital was going to be a constant in her life soon enough. Callie's life was not short of trauma and heartbreak. Cheated on, death, a baby, more death, and more cheating on. And when Mercy's leg needed fixing, she felt drawn to the heartbroken surgeon. Without either of them really understanding it, Mercy had soon recovered from surgery and was now living with Callie in a permanent way.

Knowing Mercy wanted to be a doctor herself someday, Callie became a godsend in helping the girl raise her spirits about school while also letting her spend free time in the hospital to really see how it all worked.

Because it was no secret in the Torres household that Mercy hated school and was often causing trouble. She didn't mean to, it just kind of happened and happened frequently. Mercy said she was a magnet to it and no good would follow her around like a shadow. For the most part Callie was good about it all and understanding when Mercy needed it. It did annoy Callie though, and Mercy knew it, the constant missed calls from the school's principal while Callie would be in surgery or something.

Things got better when Mercy started hanging out at the hospital, shadowing Callie while she worked. Initially, Callie was apprehensive about letting Mercy spend so much time in the hospital. But even she couldn't deny the results when Mercy's attendance and grades, as well as her overall attitude, began to lift. The two had an unspoken agreement. Mercy didn't cause trouble at the hospital and as long as she was good around the place, Callie said she could spend as much time there as she wanted. And Mercy was good. She always got out of the way in an emergency, didn't push Callie to let her into the gallery if Callie was worried about getting caught or in a very high stakes surgery.

Of course, that wasn't to say that Mercy was perfect. Other kids at the school constantly provoked her, knowing she could be quite hot headed when the moment called for it. They enjoyed teasing it out of her and pissing her off. Then Mercy would get to the hospital just to be greeted by Callie's disappointed face, and she'd know that she was most likely being forced home or to hang out in the attending's lounge until Callie finished work. Which they both knew was worse than being sent home. Because Mercy would have to deal with the fact that she was stuck in the building where everything she wanted was right there, but she wasn't allowed to touch it. It was pure torture.

One particular day, other kids at the school had been relentless. For the first time since moving in with Callie, Mercy actually phoned her first before she could even freak out and get herself sent to the principal's office. Callie knew something wasn't right when Mercy called her in tears at lunch. She also knew she was heading into a complete patella reconstruction in an hour that was going to have her for the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening.

"I'll talk to Dr Hunt, he can let you up into the gallery in OR 3 when you get here" Callie said, in an attempt to keep Mercy from flipping out. Owen Hunt was the chief of surgery and effectively Callie's boss. He also seemed to not mind Mercy being there most of the time.