Genesis ► GREY'S ANATOMY [1]

CHAPTER NINE

"He has dullness to percussion and spider angiomas." Izzie informed them as she buttoned up the red shirt of the patient. His daughter sighed and asked what all of that meant, which Cristina quickly explained in a typical Cristina fashion. The fact that her father had to be admitted and they needed to run tests angered Alice, who thought of the money that it was going to cost them.

"Alice, don't." Her mother warned her daughter. The three interns looked at each other before looking anywhere except the two ladies. They could all sense the tension in the room. Courtney could tell without a doubt that Alice wasn't very close to her father, which would later be proven.

A bit later, Cristina and Courtney were rolling Mr. Franklin to a hospital room after he had been admitted. Izzie wasn't with them, since she had chosen to go to the lab to drop off the tests for their patient. The two interns made sure that Mr. Franklin was comfortable in his room, before going back outside to stand next to the door, waiting for Izzie and the results. "Hey, is everything alright? You seem a bit tired." Courtney asked the Korean girl next to her.

"Why would something be wrong?" She shot back, making an abrupt ending to the short-lived conversation. The two girls leaned against the wall in silence until they saw the other intern walk down the hallway with a paper in her hand. She waved it at them from a distance and they removed themselves from the white wall. "What does he have?"

"Ascites." Izzie quickly answered with a huge grin on her face. Courtney raised her eyebrows, wondering why Izzie was grinning so much about the patient's condition. However, that question was soon answered. "Did you know that George has syphilis? He got it from Olivia by the way."

Courtney's mouth fell open, "Oh no. Poor George." Courtney felt sorry for him, not wanting to know how he felt at the moment. That couldn't stop her from bursting out into a laugh though. The situation was not ideal and far from comfortable, but it made her and the other two laugh. They made sure they were all laughed out, before entering the patient's room with a serious face.

"Mr. Franklin? You have a condition known as ascites." Cristina informed the patient and his family. The word sounded pretty scary, which worried his wife. Izzie quickly explained what the word meant, diminishing the scariness of the word. The man had fluid in his abdomen and the swelling pressed against his lungs, which was why he had such trouble breathing. All of that was a symptom of a liver disease, which was no surprise for the family apparently.

"And it all comes together." Alice provoked, while reading a magazine. Her feet were resting against her father's bed. Her mother gave her a stern looking, asking her to stop talking. The damage had already been done. The three interns had heard it.

"Is there something we should know?" Cristina asked the family, after sharing a look with the two blondes. The cat came out of the bag: Mr. Franklin was an alcoholic. He was convinced that he didn't drink that much, but his daughter was quick to disagree. That started an argument between the three family members. Courtney, Cristina and Izzie quickly left the room, leaving the family alone for a while.

Izzie and Courtney talked more about the case, while Cristina stayed silent and kept to herself. She had no snarky comments, which Courtney found pretty weird. She knew that something was going on, but couldn't pinpoint what exactly. She turned to Cristina, opening her mouth to ask if she was alright for the second time that day, when they all saw Bailey buying something from the vending machine. "Let's go." Cristina said as they made their way to corner Bailey.

"Make it quick." Bailey said the three girls, suggesting that they hurry up with the update on Mr. Franklin. They explained the whole situation about how the patient was a heavy drinker, well, according to his daughter. Bailey asked them one word questions, which they answered correctly. They needed to do a paracentesis, which will relieve the pressure from his longs by draining the fluid.