Erin didn't go with Meredith, Izzie and George to drop Doc off. She knew Meredith had managed to persuade Derek to agree and she didn't really want to see Addison after being a bit of a bitch to her that afternoon. She kissed the dog before he left and then got herself straight in bed to get some sleep before she collapsed on her feet.
When she went back to work, the nurses had gone on strike. Erin walked in without getting things thrown at her, as she was well-liked throughout the hospital. Erin was always nice to the nurses, minus Martha following the quints incident, so she wasn't thought of to be an arrogant surgeon. Cristina, Alex and Izzie were, though, so Erin had to help clean them off before they got into their scrubs.
Meredith had been to visit their mother. She returned to the hospital earlier than Erin expected and dragged her to a corridor to talk.
"Webber was there. He held her hand. They were clearly flirting," Meredith said.
"So they had an affair. They had to have had one," Erin said. Meredith nodded.
"I think he's the reason mom and dad split up," she said.
"Probably. She's not still asking for me, is she?" Erin asked.
"No, I don't think so. I left before I could talk to her and the nursing home hasn't said anything over the phone," she said.
"Good," Erin muttered.
"Are you gonna go?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know. Last time I saw her, I had a miscarriage. The time before that, she disowned me. I don't think we've got a good track record to be going off," Erin leaned against the wall.
"Grey, Grey," someone said. They turned, seeing a woman walking towards them. "Sydney. I'm your new resident while Dr. Bailey is on bed rest," she smiled widely.
"Oh, uh, hi," they said.
"Well, what do you guys want to do today? I've got Alex and Cristina in the ER, Izzie got taken by Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd and George hasn't made it across the line today," she said.
"I've got patients," Meredith said, hurrying off before Sydney could say anything.
"And I want Erin. She's on my service a lot," a clear voice came from behind them. Erin knew it was instantly Addison.
"Of course, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. I'll see you around, Erin," Sydney grinned and walked away.
"I would kiss you as thanks right now but that didn't mean anything last time so I'll settle with a simple, thank you so fucking much. I hate happy people in hospitals," Erin turned to Addison with a grin. Addison didn't smile back. "What?" Erin said.
"You didn't drop off the dog you convinced me into taking," she said.
"Oh, yeah, that. Uh, I went to bed instead. I was dead on my feet and Meredith said I should get some rest before I started getting moody and insulting people again," Erin said.
"You didn't blow me off for Rob?" Addison asked.
"Okay, what is your sudden obsession with him? That's all we ever talk about," Erin frowned.
"No, we don't," Addison said.
"You didn't answer my question," Erin said.
"What was your question?" Addison feigned ignorance. Erin eyed her.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter. What cases do we have today?"
"Erin-"
"Addison, what cases do we have today?"
"Fine," Addison sighed. "Come on," she said, turning to lead Erin to the paediatric ward.
"She called me unkind. Unkind and lacking in compassion. In front of my boyfriend! I am not unkind," Cristina slammed her drink on Joe's bar top.
"I think I have to kill a woman tomorrow. I have to take out the tube that's keeping her alive," Meredith said.
"Addison is obsessed with my relationship with Rob," Erin said. They waited for a beat of silence.
"Izzie," Cristina said.
"This is the part where you say what's wrong with you," Joe prompted. Izzie remained silent. She stood up and began gathering her things.
"Where are you going?" Erin asked.
"I have to go, I forgot something at work," Izzie said.
"I have to kill a woman tomorrow," Meredith groaned.
"And that is a problem, why? I mean, if it's what she wants, it's what she wants! And that is not unkind or lacking in compassion. I'm a very compassionate person! I'm more compassionate than you, Alex!" Cristina glared at Alex. Izzie waved and left the bar.
"Shut your pie-hole, Yang," Alex scowled. George walked over to the bar.
"Hey Joe, can we have another round please?" he asked.
"Yeah, give Nurse O'Malley a drink on me," Alex said sarcastically.
"Heh, what'd you say?" George said. He turned to his nurse friends. "Hey, uh, Karev just called me a nurse," he said. He turned back to Alex. "That's the worst you could come up with. Or, wait, is that an insult? Or was I supposed to be-" he was cut off as a nurse walking past spilled her drink into Cristina's lap.
"Whoopsies," the nurse said sarcastically.
"Are you kidding me? I will kill you, you know that?" Cristina jumped up with a snarl.
"Bring it on!" the nurse shouted.
"Oh, she, oh Bring it on! Okay Mama. Let's bring it on! Oh, look at her spry! What, you wanna cheer it out, soccer mom?" Cristina shouted.
"Oh, soccer mom!" the nurse shouted. Erin sighed and sipped her drink.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Keep beating each other up and there's not gonna be anybody left to set your broken bones," Joe shouted. They continued screaming. "Hey!" he shouted. Meredith grabbed Cristina's arm and pulled her away.
"We were just leaving," Meredith said. Erin finished the rest of her drink and slammed the glass down, standing up to get her things. She followed them out to the car, George following as they were his ride, too.
"I had to kill an old woman today." Meredith dropped down beside Erin on Quinn's bench. She curled into Erin's side and Erin began stroking her hair. "I had to kill an old woman today. I don't want mom to die alone. She deserves a lot but nobody deserves that," she said softly. Erin breathed in slowly.
"Then she doesn't have to die alone. We'll be there when it's time," she said.
"We? You'll see her?" Meredith sniffed.
"Nobody deserves to die alone and scared. Not even mom," Erin whispered. Meredith squeezed her hand tightly.
"I'm so glad you're my sister," Meredith said.
"I'm so glad you're mine," Erin kissed her temple.
"Hello?" a woman answered the call.
"Hi, uh, this is Erin Grey. I'm Ellis' daughter," Erin cleared her throat.
"Oh, Ellis Grey's Erin! She talks about you and Meredith quite a lot. It's sad we haven't met you yet," the woman said.
"Yeah, about that. Mom had me on the no-visit list but I was wondering if she wanted to change it?" she said.
"Are you asking if she wants you to visit her?" the woman said.
"Yes," Erin said.
"Ask her yourself, honey. Here," the woman said. Erin heard fumbling and then the cold voice of her mother that she'd almost managed to drive from her memory.
"Who is this?" Ellis said.
"Uh, it's me, mom. Erin. Your daughter," Erin chewed her lip. They sat in a tense silence for a minute.
"Aren't you ever going to visit me? Richard visits me and so does Meredith but you never do," Ellis said.
"I didn't think you wanted me to visit you," Erin said, keeping her voice as steady as she could.
"You're my daughter. Of course I want you to visit. I'll see you this weekend," Ellis said. The call cut out and Erin closed her phone slowly. She sighed and sank down to the floor in the hallway she was hiding in. She was Ellis' daughter but Ellis had denied that as often as she could. Now she was calling Erin her daughter again. A tear slid down Erin's cheek.
"Erin?" Addison said. Erin looked up, seeing her walking towards her. "Are you okay? You should've gone home by now," she said.
"Yeah, uh, Meredith and I visited Quinn after we finished and then she wanted to go home but I had to check up on the babies before I could so I was gonna go home in a minute," Erin said, wiping her cheeks furiously.
"Why are you crying?" Addison asked softly.
"I'm not crying," Erin struggled to her feet. "I'm not," she said again.
"You're lying to me," Addison cupped Erin's cheek, wiping a stray tear Erin had missed.
"I'm not lying to you," Erin's voice cracked.
"Why are you lying to me?" Addison said.
"Because I don't want to cry in front of you again and have you think of me as a big cry baby," Erin swallowed.
"I don't think of you as a cry baby," Addison shook her head. "I think that you're the baby, yes, but not in a condescending way. It's sweet how everyone looks out for you, how you get on with everyone and help anyone who needs it. I think you're a great person," she said. Erin looked at Addison's eyes before her gaze dropped to Addison's lips. They were red with her lipstick and Erin bit her lip. "Erin," Addison whispered.
"Say no," Erin whispered, looking back up at Addison. Her eyes were resting on Erin's already, a blush forming on her cheeks. Her hand felt like fire on Erin's cheek.
"You know I can't say no to you," Addison whispered.
"Then say yes," Erin leaned forward, their noses brushing. Addison sucked in a shaky breath.
"You know I also can't say that," she whispered.
"Then leave," Erin whispered. Addison didn't move. Erin didn't move. They stood for a second. Erin licked her lip and stepped back slightly. Addison's hands jumped to her waist and pulled her flush into her body.
"You know I can't do that, either," she whispered. She leaned in and kissed Erin. Erin's hands found their way to Addison's cheeks, opening her mouth to Addison's eager tongue. She moaned as Addison pressed her against the wall, hands dragging down Erin's chest to rest on her hips.
"Erin? Erin, are you around here?" Rob's voice came and Erin gasped. She shoved Addison off of her and wiped her mouth to get rid of Addison's lipstick.
"Please just go," Erin whispered.
"Erin?" Rob called.
"Coming! Wait there!" Erin called, voice cracking slightly. "Addison, you need to go. If he finds out we kissed," she hissed.
"If he finds out, what? What's he going to do?" Addison hissed back.
"We can't do this! You have a husband! He broke my sister's heart to continue a marriage with you and we kissed! Go away!" Erin said.
"Erin?" Rob turned the corner and Erin glanced at Addison.
"Hey, baby," Erin hurried over to Rob and kissed his cheek.
"Hey, are you alright?" he said, wrapping his arms around her hips to rest on her ass in her scrubs. Addison's eyes zoned in on them angrily.
"Yeah, I was just telling Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd about the cases before we left. Come on. I think Izzie said she'd bake for us if we got home before ten," Erin said, grabbing Rob's hand and leading him towards the elevator.
"Nice to see you, Dr!" he waved behind them at Addison. They got in the elevator and Erin breathed out slowly. "What was all of that about? She was giving me this look the entire time," he said.
"That's Addison. She's Satan reincarnated. She hates everyone. Don't take it personal," Erin lied, chewing on her lip as she tried to comprehend the fact that she had just kissed Addison again.
"Hey, I have a question," Rob said.
"Yeah?" Erin smiled up at him.
"Wanna be my girlfriend? I know you're not into feelings and shit and you'd hate it if I did something big and elaborate but I think we've been going quite well. I wanted to take the next step," he said. Erin's smile didn't falter. She had trained herself to look happy, after all.
"That sounds great. I'd love to be your girlfriend," she said. She leaned up and kissed him, chest thumping as she realised what exactly she had just done and the mess she'd gotten herself into. Fuck.
"You ready?" Meredith squeezed Erin's arm gently. Erin breathed in, staring up at their mother's care home.
"Ready as I think I'll ever be," Erin nodded. Meredith nodded and led Erin to the doors. She signed them in and led Erin to the lounge. Ellis was sat in a corner with a cup of tea held tightly in her hands.
"Mom?" Meredith said. Ellis' eyes shot to them and Erin stopped. She stared at Ellis' face, waiting for any sign of a reaction, any sign that she needed to leave before Ellis could scream abuse at her again.
"It's about time. I was starting to think you weren't coming," Ellis put her tea down and motioned to the couch opposite her. They walked over and sat down. "Erin, your hair is longer. Have you grown it?" Ellis asked.
"Yeah," Erin nodded.
"Good. I always told you that long hair would flatter you more than short hair. And I'm glad to see you haven't dyed it a disgusting colour again. What was your last one, blue?" Ellis said. Erin had dyed her hair blue when she was fourteen. Meredith had dyed hers pink. This was all Ellis remembered. She didn't know Erin was bisexual yet.
"Yeah, it was blue," Erin said. Her chest felt a lot lighter now she knew that Ellis couldn't resent her over her sexuality. She could just resent her on everything else that was wrong with her at fourteen.
"Disgusting. And your pink hair, missy, was not much better," Ellis turned to Meredith. Meredith smiled guiltily.
"Sorry, mom," she said.
"You should be. You looked like cartoon characters. No daughters of mine are cartoon characters," Ellis said. Erin smiled slightly and leaned into Meredith's side. She squeezed Erin's hand reassuringly. This was going okay.
Erin woke up the next Monday with an intense feeling of horror in her stomach. She dragged herself to Meredith's bedroom. Her sister looked like she was feeling the exact same. Erin flopped beside her and they linked hands. Their emotions had always been quite correlated. Erin used to joke that they had some weird twin bond, even if they weren't twins. Meredith said that they were just that close, they were two halves of a full brain and heart and worked together. Erin decided that was a much cooler theory and stuck to that one.
Their friends came in after twenty minutes and began pestering them to get to work.
"We just have a feeling," Meredith said.
"A feeling?" Cristina eyed them.
"A feeling," they nodded.
"What feeling?" she said.
"That we're going to die," they said.
"You need to stop doing that. It's weird," Cristina said.
"Sorry," they said.
"Just get up! We all die, deal with it," Cristina yanked the blankets off of them.
"Thank you for the sheer optimism," Izzie scoffed from the doorway.
"Get up!" Cristina pushed them off the bed. Erin hit the ground with a groan.
"No wonder I feel so much older than twenty-two. The physical abuse I get around here is disgusting," Erin shook her head as she stood up. "Just so you know, if we die today, our last words are gonna be I told you so," she said.
"You won't die. Go and get ready," Cristina scoffed.
"Fine," Erin muttered, stomping down to her bedroom.
"And stop throwing a tantrum 'cause I'll make Satan put you in time out!" Cristina called after her with a shit-eating grin.
"Don't talk to me about Satan or I'll kill you and then myself!" Erin cried, slamming her bedroom door shut.
"Trouble in hell?" Cristina looked at Meredith, slowly getting dressed.
"She won't talk about it. She came home on Friday all weird with Rob but he said nothing happened. He asked her to be his girlfriend but it's not that that's bothering her. Something happened with Satan," Meredith said.
"Maybe they did it," Cristina said.
"Did it?" Meredith raised her eyebrows. "No. Cause Satan told Erin that their kiss was a heat of the moment kind of thing and she was fixing things with Derek. And Erin's said for a while that Satan is obsessed with her relationship with Rob. I think they might've had a fight about him," Meredith said. Cristina hummed.
"I'll keep an eye out, see if I notice anything," she said.
"Thank you," Meredith said.
"Bailey's having a baby," Erin bounced excitedly on her feet as she, Meredith, Cristina and Alex waited for their case.
"You're telling me," Alex muttered, looking at the splatter on the floor from where Bailey's waters had broken.
The ambulances pulled up and they rushed forward. The paramedics unloaded one man with a large chest wound, who had another paramedic's hand stuck inside of him to stop the bleeding. Then came the screaming wife.
"Trauma room," Erin said, shoving the bed forward towards the doors.
"How's his respiratory effort?" Burke strode into the trauma room.
"Absent breast sounds on the right side. Air bubbling on the side of the wound. He's shocky and getting a little cyanotic," Meredith said, leaning over James, their patient. Burke moved to check the heart rate.
"My wife is..." James trailed weakly.
"Let's get him intubated and place an occlusive dressing over the wound," Burke said. He turned to the paramedic with her hand inside James. "And who are you?" he said.
"Hannah. Hannah Davies," she said nervously.
"Hannah, why do you have your hand inside my patient?" Burke asked.
"I'd like to say for the record that I told her not to," another paramedic chimed.
"You're really not helping with the vibe in here," Erin scowled at him.
"I tried to tamponade the wound with gauze and pressure but the only thing that would stop the bleeding was my hand. Every time I tried to move it he starts bleeding out," Hannah said. Burke moved forward and checked the wound. "Can I take my hand out now?" she asked.
"You don't stick your hand inside of a patient when you don't know how he was injured. You don't stick your hand inside of a patient at all," the paramedic said.
"Dude, the vibe!" Erin cried.
"Yeah, I know that now!" Hannah scoffed.
"Out of my room," Burke said.
"She gets to stay?" the paramedic huffed.
"She's not ruining the vibe," Erin said. Burke sighed.
"She has her hand stuck inside my patient," he said. The paramedic huffed but left the room.
"Nice. Thanks," Hannah grinned.
"Oh don't get happy. You have your finger on a major bleeder. Mr. Carlson is running out of time. The only thing that you've won is an all expense paid trip to the OR. Dr. Greys, prepare to transport her to the OR. And let's make this happen quickly people," Burke said. Erin and Meredith began preparing him to move.
"Uh what, what do you want me to do?" Cristina asked.
"I want you to... to make that woman stop screaming and tell us what happened," Burke pointed at James' wife in the hallway.
"Oh, I can't go to the OR?" Cristina asked.
"No. You have a thing to do," Burke walked out of the room.
"What was that about?" Meredith asked.
"If I'd known you were gonna get the good case, I would've let you stay in bed," Cristina muttered, going into the hallway to shut the patient's wife up.
"This is not a vibe," Erin muttered.
"How are you doing over there?" Meredith asked Hannah, putting the hairnet on her head for surgery.
"My hand is getting numb and I gotta tell ya, this whole insides are all bloody and squishy thing is so not good for my gag reflex. But I'm good. Is this ok? Me being in here like this," Hannah asked.
"Once Dr. Burke scrubs in, he'll have you remove your hand and then you can go," Meredith said.
"And we'll fix Mr. Carlson," Erin said. Hannah nodded.
"Good. Cause I know how much medicine I know and it's just enough to never be allowed in an OR. It's my second week. As a paramedic. I got out of school about a month ago," Hannah said.
"We haven't been doing this that long, either," Meredith smiled.
"Oh. Talk about on the job training, huh?" Hannah smiled back weakly.
"Okay, everyone. I'm going to do a thoracotomy and Hannah here is going to pull her hand out. Dr. Grey is going to clamp the bleeder when we have more exposure. Ready, Hannah?" Burke said.
"More than ready," Hannah said.
"Scalpel," Burke said. A nurse handed him a scalpel. "Okay, on the count of three. One. Two," Burke lowered the scalpel and pressed it against Mr. Carlson's skin. The door slammed open to reveal Alex stood there, panting heavily.
"Dr. Burke? I need to speak with you," Alex said.
"I am in surgery, Karev," Burke snapped.
"You wanna talk to me, sir," Alex insisted. Burke stared at him for a minute before handing the scalpel back to the nurse. He marched over to Alex and they all watched curiously.
"Karev, if you interrupt me in my OR, it better be for a good damn reason," Burke hissed.
"Was it through and through?" Alex asked.
"What?"
"The wound on James Carlson. Was it through and through?"
"No, it was just an injury, no exit. Why?"
"He's cute. He single?" Hannah whispered to Meredith and Erin. They ignored her, watching as Alex and Burke whispered to each other. Burke stepped back into the OR and Alex closed the door over enough to allow Burke privacy but also enough to still watch.
"Hannah," Burke said.
"Yes, Dr. Burke?" Hannah asked.
"What do you feel? Inside of Mr. Carlson. What is your hand touching?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is your hand touching anything hard?"
"Hard?" Meredith interrupted.
"Like metal?" Burke ignored her.
"Um, I don't know," Hannah said, attempting to move her hand. Erin held up a hand quickly and she stopped.
"Don't move your hand. Just tell me what you feel," Burke said.
"Dr. Burke, what's going on?" Meredith asked.
"Hannah?" Burke ignored her.
"Um, my fingers are touching something.. kinda hard," she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, definitely," she said.
"Oh, my god!" Dr. Milton said.
"Dr. Milton!" Burke hissed.
"What? What's wrong?" Hannah asked.
"Hannah, I don't want you to move. Not your hand, not your body, not an inch," Burke said urgently.
"Okay. You should know you're starting to scare me," Hannah muttered.
"Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine. Dr. Greys, could you?" he motioned them over. They walked over quickly. "I want you to walk out of this room, walk, do not run. Go and tell the charge nurse that we have a code black," Burke whispered.
"I'm sorry, code black?" Meredith whispered.
"Code black. Tell him that I am sure. And then, tell him to call the bomb squad," he whispered. The Grey sisters shared a look before stepping out of the OR. The door closed and they started speed-walking up the hallway with Alex.
"What is it?" Erin asked.
"There's a live homemade explosive in there. His friend shot him doing war roleplay or something," Alex said.
"Shit, there's a bomb?" Erin hissed.
"Yeah," Alex said.
"What the fuck," Meredith breathed.