flatline [m.s]

lv.

- - -
people are constantly asking you to tell them how you're doing. how the hell are you supposed to know?
- - -

"ricky... big day," lia smiles at her patient as she enters his room, with meredith close behind her. she then notices a girl also in the room. "is this your sister?"

"this is my girlfriend... julia," ricky informs the doctors.

"you're kidding. he's been talking about you for months," lia smiles at julia.

"i figured, if there was a day to take off work, it's when your boyfriend is getting new lungs," julia chuckles.

"well, your new lungs should leave portland in about two hours," lia explains. "you haven't taken any of your cystic fibrosis meds since last night, right?"

"great," lia grins. "so we'll just do one last workup, and the. we'll get you to the o.r. oh, and, uh, julia, write down your number, please, and give it to dr. grey."

"why?" julia asks.

"well, so we can call you when ricky's in surgery if we have any news," meredith explains, but julia begins to become short of breath. "you need a drink of water, julia?"

"just asthma. sorry," she explains, heading to her bag.

"nothing brings people together like respiratory disorders," ricky chuckles.

"mm. romantic," meredith jokes, as a bottle of pills fall out of the bag julia is rooting through.

"dornase?" meredith raises a brow, snatching the pills before julia can.

"it's mine," ricky interjects.

"i has julia's name on it," meredith observes. "ricky, why is she on dornase?"

"i'm gonna go," julia mumbles, nervously.

"wait, julia, do you- you have cystic fibrosis?" lia raises her brow.

"go," ricky urges, and julia heads for the door, but lia blocks her from leaving.

"no, wait a minute, okay?" lia shakes her head. "nobody's going anywhere. do you know how dangerous cystic fibrosis patients are to each other?"

"we know," they both sigh at the same time.

"your disease isn't contagious to anybody in the general population. it's not like you can't date," lia continues to highlight the issues. "you just can't- you can't date each other."

"you can't infect each other with bacteria there's no way you can fight," meredith adds.

"we know!" julia exclaims. "you know how many times we've heard the warnings? never get closer than three feet from another c.f patient. it's a drag-"

"i get it," meredith cuts her off.

"no, you don't," she retorts. "ricky gets it. nobody else gets it."

"the fact that the two of you haven't swapped a life threatening infection already is a miracle. so... so maybe god has a soft spot for you guys," lia tells the pair. "but once this transplant is done, ricky will be on immunosuppressants- ten times more likely to get an infection."