flatline [m.s]

cxl.

- - -
if there's one thing i hear patients say even more than "save my life," it's this: "i want to go home." it's weird spending all of your time in a place most people hate.
- - -

"how's your resting heart rate?" lia asks meredith, holding a smoothie, as the two of them are walking through the hospital.

"oh, um, up fifteen percent," meredith checks her watch, and her voice raises an octave in slight concern. "is that weird?"

"nope. normal," lia assures. "blood pressure?"

"down," meredith checks her watch again.

"ooh, this is fun. it's like we're in a club," lia smiles.

"i think my morning sickness has passed," meredith tells her.

"my morning sickness came in the afternoon. i'm glad that's over," lia exhales deeply.

"i had, um, just had the ultrasound to, uh, find out the gender," meredith hesitantly announces.

"and..." lia encourages.

"it's a boy," meredith reveals.

"boy!" lia exclaims, stopping and pulling meredith in for a hug.

"yep," meredith chuckles as they continue their walk. "by the way, i can't wait for your big reveal later."

"me too," lia breathes.

■ ■ ■

"you excited for later?" jackson asks lia as she places her lunch tray down on the table he's sat at with mark, before taking a seat herself.

"absolutely!" lia beams. "if april's done even half as good of a job as she did for the wedding, it's gonna be amazing."

"are you excited?" jackson turns to mark.

"oh, yeah," mark forces a smile and lia rolls her eyes, but laughs lightly.

"well, i for one am excited," jackson admits.

"hang on a sec," lia furrows her brow and waves her finger between mark and jackson. "what's with the sudden role reversal?"

"what do you mean?" mark frowns slightly.

"well, when i had the baby shower for darci, you were probably more excited than i was, and you hated every second of it," she reminds them, pointing to mark and jackson, in turn, which earns her an eye roll off each of them.

"i wasn't that excited," mark protests.

"um, onesie decorating? scrapbook station? glitter pens?" jackson challenges, raising a brow.

"okay, i was excited," mark holds his hands up in defeat.

■ ■ ■

"you ready?" lucy, the o.b asks lia who is laying on the patient bed with her scrub top rolled up so that her swollen belly is exposed.

"mm-hmm," lia nods.

"okay," lucy squeezes the gel onto her stomach and then gently applies pressure with the wand. she furrows her brow in concentration as she examines the image displayed on the monitor. "everything looks good here."

"thank god," lia lets out a sigh of relief.

"i'll make sure to get the gender results to dr. kepner," lucy assures.

"and we'll see you at four?" mark raises his brow.

"and you'll see me at four," lucy smiles.

■ ■ ■

"april, it's amazing!" lia gushes as she and mark walk into the doctors lounge that is filled with their friends and family, and littered with pastel pink and blue decorations, cakes and candy.

"do you love it?" april beams, squeezing her hands together.

"i super do," lia confirms.

"you've done a great job, kepner," mark agrees, but with much less excitement and enthusiasm than his wife.

"so i figured we'd start by getting everyone to guess gender... and names... and due dates," april informs lia and mark. "and then i thought we could split people into teams- boy or girl, depending on their prediction, to play some fun games!"

"april you are the best!" lia beams, pulling her in for a hug, squeezing her as she does so.

■ ■ ■

"okay, everyone, it's finally time for the reveal!" april announces, clapping her hands together in excitement, from where she is stood next to a giant, gold balloon. "lia... mark..."

mark takes lia's hand and leads her across the doctors lounge to april where she hands them both a pin, before positioning them on either side of the balloon whilst the guests gather round. she then steps aside and pulls out a camera ready for
the reveal.

"everybody ready?" april asks, which is followed by murmurs of response.

"not quite," lia shakes her head. "april, you got another one of these pins?"

"of course," april nods, setting her camera down to get another pin. "did you drop yours?"

"nope, still got it," lia tells her, earning a look of confusion from april as her brow furrows. lia then looks to mark who nods before she looks up to the crowd of guests, specifically at jackson, who is stood front and centre. "get over here, you."

- - -
but this hospital, in particular, it's where i grew up. it's where my fondest memories happened. it's home. even if it's a broken home. home means different things to different people. sometimes, home is a person. home can be a feeling.
- - -

"ready? three... two... one..." april begins counting down, camera in hand, and the guests follow by joining in.

lia, mark and jackson are stood around the balloon, each holding their pin ready to pop it. when the countdown ends, they move their pins in.

the doctors lounge then erupts with cheers, screams, and applause from lia and the guests, and mark smiles, pulling his wife into him as pink confetti falls to the ground around them.

- - -
psychiatrists say, for those of us who come from dysfunctional homes, that feeling is chaos. we think family means drama. so it's no wonder so many of us from broken homes thrive on pain and destruction.
- - -