𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 & 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 [𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧]

love/addiction

love/addiction

Grace always imagined love as an easy thing. Her parents were the biggest example. Two people that met in kindergarten and have only been with the other their entire lives. Her brother, Daniel, fell down the same path. He had a few girlfriends before his wife, Sarah, but only about three or so, each lasting no more than six months. Though she loved her parents and her brother and sister-in-law dearly, she can't help but feel sickened at the idea of love. All her family found love easily, early in life. So, why was it so hard for her? Why did Grace get the short end of the stick when it came to love with the Poulsens? 

She thought addiction was harmful. Something that can't be fixed easily. Something people live with forever. She sees it forever. That baggage. Truly, everyone's addicted to something, good or bad. Grace was addicted to waffles. Okay, okay, yes it's a bit childish that she still has Eggos every morning for breakfast, and the days she isn't rushing out the door for work, she makes them using her grannie's "secret" recipe. Cristina Yang, the one who was left at the altar by Dr. Preston Burke, is giving away her wedding gifts. Her waffle maker broke last week, probably due to overuse. Tyler grabs the waffle maker from Cristina first, but Yang doesn't give things away easily, not in the slightest way. She doesn't focus on that. Sure, she wouldn't talk bad to an attending, but residents she can yell at them, or quietly scold. Okay, maybe not Cristina Yang or Alex Karev, the one that gave syph to Olivia (who needs to grow up with all that whining that girl does). She still can yell, with the help of Ruth and Zibby.

Grace overhears Izzie begging for the Mixmaster and Mark's interest with the espresso machine. Lots of trading for surgeries and stuff. "Get this off the station." She tries, muttering with a scolding tone, and is actually able to convince Yang to listen.

"Four! Take this crap and put it into my locker." Cristina orders. 

She tries not to show how shock she is, but it seems to show through, as Ruth comes up behind her and whispers, "See what you can get when you stand up for yourself."

_

It's a very rare occasion that Grace is in the ER. She is never in the ER. She's not an ER nurse. It's usually something big. A huge trauma. The most notable is the train crash about two years ago now or the ferry boat crash last year. She's helping a friend out though, Taylor, who's currently suffering from the flu, which seems to be spreading throughout the ER staff, since they're down most of their staff. Though, she's technically not allowed to do that, who can argue with saving lives?

Through this, she gets the patient, Archie Roche. A friendly sixty-year-old with second- and third-degree burns. Grace is stuck on it with Callie Torres and Mark, plus Izzie, the one who cut the LVAD wire of Denny Duquette—a patient awaiting a heart transplant—about two years ago or so. She feels ashamed by her own quietness, especially with people that are pretty outspoken. She's also in there with Nurse Vivian, who is very, very talkative. Like no one can get a word in edgewise when she's in the conversation. Not that she's looking to talk much anyway, but a slight opportunity would be nice.

_

Grace's blonde hair seems to be stuck in her face, she tries to blow it out of her eyes, but it won't work. Her pendant necklace keeps bopping out of her scrub top, keep trying to tuck it away, it keeps popping out. Her ears are aching, she doesn't know if it is due to the earrings she was wearing the previous night, but they hurt, her earloops hurt. She's having a headache and she's almost convinced she's got the flu. It's not a good day.

_

"Mr. Roche, I'm gonna ask you a question." Mark confronts the patient in the trauma room. He enters when Grace is cleaning Izzie's tray table for debridement of the burns. Tucking her hair behind her ears. Confidence is the issue she thinks, why she shrinking to try and be unnoticeable, don't ask. Confidence, or lack thereof, causes most of her issues in life. "I don't want you to be offended by it," she thinks of all those times people say no offense and it's wildly offensive, "but the answer could affect your surgery." Her thoughts think of a good joke about how Mr. Roche is pregnant, but she doesn't say it out loud. Even if she had confidence, it wouldn't be a good bedside manner on her part. She prides herself on her wonderful bedside manner. It's easier to talk to someone when they're under anesthesia. Mr. Roche allows the question, "Are you a crystal meth user?"

"You're kidding, right? He's, like, 60." Izzie questions Sloan's question. Age is just a number, it doesn't affect whether he would using crystal meth, in fact it's possibly more likely now that the man is retired. Though she does not think Mr. Roche is a crystal meth user, Grace's slightly shocked facial expression tells.

"No judgment, sir. All I need's a yes or no answer." The plastic surgeon waits before Mr. Roche's response reveals he has no idea what crystal meth even is. His shocking revelation that he babysits for drug dealers is painful. Just to listen to.

_

Grace doesn't scrub in on Mr. Roche's surgery. She has her own patients to care for and Taylor ended up coming in, so what was the point of cover her shift. Though, when she's at the Nurses' Station she hears Callie yell, "Where are you?"

"You-you looking-g for something?" Grace nervously asks while stuttering through her words. Callie continues to run around, unaware of what Grace asked. She spots Mark look at her from the opposite end of the Nurses' Station, he repeats the question for her asking about Mr. Roche in the process.

"I have to find a baby." Callie insists. Grace remembers bitchy Kate saying something about the baby being strung out on meth. Callie sounds like she's losing her mind, Mark walks over to talk to her. She doesn't hear what he says, but she surprised by his act of comforting. A quality she thought Mark Sloan lacked, I mean come on, the guy's reputation is literally humping and dumping.

_

Grace doesn't like being called Nurse (that point has been made very clear.). There's an exception: when it's an emergency. The drug dealers' baby, the crystal meth ones. Derek shouts, "Nurse!" She accepts that. A 1-year-old baby with a stroke. A 1-year-old baby has a stroke. A 1-year-old.

_

Grace doesn't go to Joe's often. She's not that big on drinking, Zibby invites her for drinks and she goes. She feels obligated to go because she's one of the closest friends she has. She doesn't object to the idea, but she isn't exactly in the mood (cue headache that she hopes somehow alcohol will soothe) She orders a beer but doesn't drink it. She sits on the barstool while her friends through darts at the door. She just watches from a distance away at them, pretending to drink her beer.

"Grace or is it Gra?" She hears the voice of Mark Sloan ask.

"It's Grace. Please, dear God, don't call me Gra. Just Ruth calls me that, even when I tell her not to." She stays calm for some reason, maybe it's her deep annoyance with the nickname (maybe it's him).

"Okay, Grace." He says taking a seat on the barstool next to her. "So, why are you staring at the nurses?"

"My-my friends." She stutters. She still embarrassed just a bit to call them that. She didn't have many friends growing up and even though she knows that's what they are it's still awkward calling them that.

He turns his head back to her, "You not playing with them?"

"I'm not that good at darts."

"Me neither."

—

a/n: The original was to make Grace's nickname Grey, but I thought that it would be too confusing. So, Gra is pronounced Grey.