⋆ ★ ALREADY GONE ━━━CHAPTER FOURTEEN
( I HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH MY DOG ) , begin the begin.
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IRONICALLY, AS MUCH AS JAMIE WAS GETTING TIRED OF THE VERY MUCH NEEDY DOG, IT STUCK BY HER. A lot. Whenever Jamie got home, the dog was there waiting for her. It was there in her bed when she was asleep at night, and it even sat outside her bathroom door when she was in the shower or just taking a piss. To her, it was starting to get a little creepy, but the dog was just so darn cute.
"Here you go, Doc." Jamie fed him a treat as she stood in the kitchen, sipping on her tea. The dog graciously accepted it, and she scratched behind his ear, in a loving way. "Good boy,"
And it's not just the fact that the dog was so good to her, it hated the interns. Which in the short run, made Jamie happier than ever because that meant they steered clear of the dog and Jamie.
"Who's a good boy?" The blonde cooed down to its level, not an intern in sight, at first. "He's a good boy. You're such a good boy, momma's little boy." She then heard a cough from behind her and looked down the hallway to see Izzie and George poking their heads out of the laundry room. "What the hell are you two doing in there?"
"I think we need to talk about the dog." George had a fearful look on his face.
"That's not a dog," Izzie argued with a roll of her eyes. "It's a hyena escaped from the zoo dressed in dog clothing."
"Whatever it is, I don't care. I don't chew up his clothes. I don't urinate on his bed. I don't try to mount him from behind."
"What-" Jamie sighed, a look of disgust plastered on her face. "Interns, he's our dog- more specifically I remember you getting the dog, Izzie, with my sister may I add. We love our dog, and he loves us. Plus, he's so adorable. Yes, yes you are." As she turned from the dog to face the interns once more, she had a stern look on her face. "Deal with it, now."
George groaned in protest. "God,"
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"Ah, good morning, Dr. B." Jamie approached the other resident at the bottom of the stairs. "How's life with pregnancy treating you? As good as everyone says?"
She nodded in reply. "So far, so good."
"Hey," Kathryn approached the two, Adam by her side. "Did you guys have a good holiday?"
"If the baby would stop giving me morning sickness I'd be just fine." Bailey scoffed.
Adam looked like he'd seen a ghost. "You're pregnant? I didn't know you were married. Congratulations."
"Married for over 10 years." Bailey looked him up and down. "Wait, you're the man who annoyed me while I was on the phone with Jamie the other day. What's your name?"
"Adam Williams, ma'am." If he was being completely honest, Bailey scared him a bit.
"I think I remember you. You were that dumb intern I heard about who dropped a patient's blood right in front of them before falling in it. Patient almost sued us, God. I heard about you my intern year. God, you are an idiot."
Both Jamie and Kathryn looked at each other and barked out big laughs that made Adam's face heat up with embarrassment. Bailey just stood there, trying to hide the proud smile that was creeping on her face.
The male attending shook his head, trying to speak over the women laughing loudly, slowly drawing other doctors' attention in the lobby. "Okay, yes... that happened. Let's- let's move on from that. It was a long time ago. No need to relive it. It was a simple accident, nothing more."
Kathryn continued laughing, taking a break to giggle. "Oh my god- I have to hear more of that story. What the hell happened, Williams? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" She spoke through her fit of laughter.
"Oh-" Jamie tried to recover from her laugh, as she tried to catch her breath. "That is a story for a whole different day. Let's talk about the fact that Bailey heard about it and she's a grade below him. God, I wonder who else knows. You must be a legend, Adam!" She then covered her mouth, trying to not laugh anymore given the fact that she was running out of air and her sides hurt. Not to mention the male's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. "I mean, considering it happened before me and Dr. B were even here, gosh."
Bailey simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Williams, you've certainly made an impression on me. That's very hard to do here, ask Ace. She'll tell you."
"Oh, yeah. I remember meeting Bailey and she was the most timid-" Before Jamie could finish her sentence, Bailey nudged her and gave her a stern look, signaling her to stop talking about it. "What?"
"Yeah, well..." Adam sighed in return. "I wouldn't call it a rather fond memory. Especially now that I have 2, if not 3, women making fun of me right now."
"Oh, come on, Adam, you know that you're my best friend." Jamie patted his shoulder in a comforting yet mocking manner. "We should laugh about this because this story will be told at your funeral... and wedding. As well as any other important event you have until the day we die."
"Wait, Adam can actually get girls?" Kathryn practically gasped. "I can't let him get married before me! That's now my greatest fear. Screw spiders, Adam getting married before me is at the top of the list. Not that it's a very big list."
Adam flipped her off. "Funny, Harper. Hilarious. Instead of a doctor, you should be a stand-up comedian." He scoffed.
"Don't take it to heart, Williams. I'm just saying..." The woman raised her hands in defense. "Tell me you at least got some over the holiday because I certainly did." She then smirked.
"He didn't," Jamie answered. "We spent the holiday in bed together, eating ice cream and crying. Adam was my emotional support throughout my... breakdown. And it's only a matter of time before another one comes along and completely crushes my will to live. Oh, Mer was there too. You can ask her."
"Yep," He nodded. "The only girl I was hanging around was the girl I consider my sister. Another super fond memory. And don't ask Meredith, she'll exaggerate everything. She gets it from her sister."
"That's more or less true." Jamie looked at him and hugged his side slightly. "Don't worry, the right woman is out there. You just don't know it yet. Come on, Adam, you know that. You certainly can't have worse luck with women than I do with men."
"That's why we don't sleep with our boss," Bailey accused and Jamie's mouth went ajar. "Hey, don't do that. I'm stating facts, not opinions, Grey."
"Actually," Kathryn raised her hand slightly, trying to get her point across. "I think the problem is doctor men, or nurses that are within the female species. We don't sleep with them- now. The other male / female population is... okay. Not my favorite but it'll have to do."
"See," Jamie pointed at her friend, facing Bailey with a i told you so look. "She's right. And you know, for a brain surgeon, you'd think he'd be a little smarter but no, he's a goddamn idiot."
"Same with nurses. You think them at least being doctors with a medical degree in something they would be smart enough not to screw you over and then victimize you like there is no tomorrow."
"You got screwed over too?" Bailey asked the female attending to her right to which Kathryn nodded. "God, you people have got to stop sleeping with staff members. This is your problem."
"We know!" The two girls replied in sync.
"Hey," Meredith and Mila came around the corner, approaching the older group of doctors standing in the lobby, waiting for the Chief. "What happened?" Stacey questioned.
"We don't know," Jamie shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Waiting for Richie."
"Listen up, people!" His loud, booming voice finally rang out over the slight crowd of people. "New year, new rules. Or should I say, new year and we will be enforcing the rules mandated by the residency review committee. There were too many mistakes made last year. Fatigue played too big a role. Exceeding 80 hours of work per week will not be tolerated."
"What?" Adam gasped. "Does that mean we can actually have a life outside of the hospital? How in the hell am I supposed to do that?"
Kathryn snorted a laugh at the man. "Get some. That's what I'm doing."
"Be nice," Jamie nudged her.
"Sullivan, you were on call for 28 hours, leave when you hit 30. Little Grey, you were here until 2 a.m. last night, see you at noon. Big Grey, you've been doubling shifts, go home at noon as well. No exceptions."
Meredith looked at the people around her. "I get to go home? Free time?"
"Run before he changes his mind." Mila whispered in her ear before Webber spoke up again.
"Oh, and people, our nurses are going to have to work extra hours to compensate, so treat them well. Cranky nurses don't do us any good."
"Damn straight," Kathryn muttered. "Great, just my fucking luck. What am I supposed to do?"
This time it was Adam to snort a laugh at her in return. "Get some," He mocked her words from earlier. "That's what I'm doing."
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"Denny Duquette." Jamie smiled as she and Bailey, along with the interns, entered his room. She took a seat next to him on his bed and high-fived him. "How are we doing today? I haven't seen you in a while. You look good, man. Life outside the hospital must be treating you good."
"Ace, I'm doing better than expected and thank you." He greeted before looking at the other's doctors now in the room. "Good morning, Dr. Bailey."
The resident nodded in return. "I hope seeing you here means they finally found you a heart."
"No offense, doctors, but I'm not a big fan of hospitals. It'd take something pretty special to get me in here. Ace knows about that."
"Damn straight," Jamie laughed. "So, interns, what do we know about Mr. Duquette?"
Denny looked forward and saw Izzie which brought a huge smile to his face. "Capricorn, single, loves to travel and cook." He flirted, being pretty straightforward which made Jamie snort a laugh.
"Denny, be quiet." Bailey scolded the patient, which made him, and Jamie look at each other and laugh. "Let her show off."
The interns smiled in return as she proceeded reading the chart in her hand. "Denny Duquette, 36, admitted today for a heart transplant necessitated by a viral cardiomyopathy."
"And what does that mean?"
"That is heart is unable to fill and pump blood normally."
"Good," Jamie nodded at her. "Denny, this is Dr. Stevens. She'll be tending to you prior to your surgery and whatnot. Sound good?"
"Perfect. So, I guess I'll be seeing you around, Dr. Stevens." The man continued to flirt which made the intern blush before she and the others were out of the room.
Jamie patted his shoulder before standing up. "I'll see you later. Don't flirt too hard, Duquette." She eyed him up and down, staring him down. "Might just be the last thing you do."
"Can't make any promises, Ace. And don't be so harsh. Guys got to live somehow."
"Mmhmm," The resident shook her head before pulling his door shut. "I can't believe they're forcing an 80-hour limit on doctors. They can't do that. It's ridiculous."
Bailey shook her head. "They can, you just don't like it because no one enforced it when we were interns, Ace. We worked 110, 120 hours and suited us just fine. I learned more because I worked more."
As Bailey and Jamie started leading the group of each of their interns away from Denny's room and to the next patient, George spoke up. "Well, at least this way you get to rest before you have the baby. I mean, being that pregnant and keeping up at this pace..."
"Are you saying I look tired, O'Malley?" His resident questioned him, a stern look on her face.
"No, not- not tired, no." He tripped over his words. "You look... fresh, spry. You glow. What... stop now." The intern internally hated himself right now.
Jamie huffed a breath at him. "O'Malley, go do intake on Addison Shepherd's patient. Now, before I throw you into a wall, thank you."
Then both resident's pagers beeped. "You do glow," Izzie complimented her.
"Like the moon," Alex added on.
Bailey did not look amused at the two. "And you can spend the day in the pit, Karev."
"Ha," The other resident forced a laugh before motioning for her interns to follow her. "She's not kidding. Go."
grey's anatomy
When noon rolled around, Meredith had already left, given that Jamie stayed to talk to Denny a little bit. She wasn't close with him, but he was a pretty easy patient to get along with and Jamie always had a laugh with him, despite him being in the hospital. He'd been here a lot. Plus, Denny loved a good gossip, so did Jamie.
Jamie stood waiting for an elevator and when it dinged and opened the door, she saw Derek. "Oh, hey." She smiled at him, stepping in quietly and hitting her button to take her down to the correct level she wanted.
"Hi," He smiled in return, looking up from the papers in his hand and noticed the female's change in clothes, same as his. "Are you leaving?"
"80-hour limit, I blame the Chief. How about you?"
"My surgery was postponed." He answered briefly in response.
Jamie noticed out of the corner of her eye, the male next to her staring at her. Almost if he were checking her out. She looked at him, and he smiled at her as if he was doing nothing wrong. "I have a dog." She told him sternly. It sounded meaner out loud, more than Jamie was expecting. "A dog that I love more than anything. Even life."
"You have a dog," Derek repeated, still smiling at Jamie like an idiot. "Oh, you know what? I love dogs. What a coincidence."
She took a deep sigh and closed her eyes, wishing she could get out of here and stop feeling so... smothered by him. "I've moved on, Dr. Shepherd so quit looking at me like I have a 'bite me' sign on my back and stop giving me that look."
"What look?" He took that as his chance and stepped closer to the female.
"That look. Our look. I'm over you and I have a dog."
"I'm over you too."
Jamie's heart broke just a little bit and she made eye contact with him, trying her very best not to look desperate. "You are?" She asked.
But Derek just continued to smile as he shook his head. "No,"
"Well, I am." She lied right through her teeth. "You know, this elevator is taking way too long, and we need to stop riding elevators together. It's starting to get creepy and doesn't need to happen."
"Creepy? Why do you say that, Jamie?" She blushed at the way he said her name. "I'm over you too."
She turned to him with a sour look on her face. "You just said- never mind. Just, shut up or I'm literally 3 seconds away from slamming you into the wall. O'Malley already made me say that once today." And just as she said that the elevator stopped at another floor in between and Addison was there. That was Jamie's cue to leave. "Perfect timing... well, as much as I would love to stay here in this awkward as hell elevator, I've got a dog to get home to. Bye." Then she was gone and out of sight.
"Hi," Derek sighed, greeting his wife.
"She's got a good sense of humor." Addison muttered, giving an icy side glance to her husband.
He sighed once more, rubbing his eyes harshly, wishing this were all a dream. "There is a land called passive aggressiva, and you are their queen."
"I am fine," She rolled her eyes in reply.
"Except when you're shrieking about trout."
"I was not shrieking about trout."
"Right," Derek deadpanned. "You weren't. You were shrieking about Jamie and her incredible sense of humor. I forgot."
"No," Addison counter argued. "I was shrieking about the trailer. I hate the trailer."
"Oh, so the past three weeks have been about the trailer?" Derek asked his wife to which she nodded. "Not about the fact that I said I love Jamie?"
"Loved," She quickly corrected, giving her husband another side glance. "You said you loved her, past tense."
Derek composed himself. "Right, yes. Past tense."
"Well, then I have been shrieking about the trailer."
"Mmhmm, you also have a great sense of humor. Focus on that and not the trout." Addison muttered a laugh as her husband exited the elevator and she rolled her eyes, annoyed.
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"Woah," Jamie walked into the kitchen, seeing Meredith surrounded by 100 piles of laundry. "What the hell did you do to the kitchen?"
Meredith shrugged. "5 loads of laundry."
But Jamie's attention on the clothes didn't last very long with the dog came over and started rubbing up against her leg. "Hi, boy. I missed you so much. Yes, yes I did."
"God," The younger sister laughed. "You're really attached to that dog, aren't you, James? I'm surprised Adam isn't obsessed with it yet." She mused.
"Oh, just you wait, Mer." Jamie laughed. "He will be. He's like me, we fall in love way too fast. Look at where that got me though. Lonely and living with a bunch of interns with a cute dog. My life is perfect."
"Do you need to be set up with a shrink?"
"Ha... yes. Yes, I believe I do... like now. Oh, while you're at it, schedule Adam too. Maybe even Kathryn. There's always something wrong with the three of us."
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"Good morning," Jamie entered the nursing home where her mother was. "I'm here to see Ellis Grey. I had the morning off, so I'd figured I'd come and see her."
Ever since Jamie's mother came to the hospital, she felt no more hatred towards her mom. It was odd but slightly comforting. She knew the kind of person Ellis was and the fact that no one is perfect, the woman was allowed to make mistakes. And here she was, practically dying of Alzheimer's. Jamie found it unfair that a surgeon so talented, a surgeon like her mother could no longer do the thing she loved because life had to bite her in the ass.
Not that Ellis remembered, of course.
Plus, hearing her mom call her Jamie Marie warmed her heart. She had always gone by Jamie for everyone else, but her mom always called her by her first and middle name. It was something only Ellis did, and Jamie loved it.
"Oh, Jamie, she's fine." The woman replied. "She's in the sitting room and she's in good spirits. Visitors really cheer her up."
"Thank you," The daughter smiled in reply as the woman walked away. She then quickly muttered, "Visitors?" Only to see Derek Shepherd walking in front of her to get more coffee. "What the hell are you doing here?" She confronted him.
"There is a clinical trial to study the progression of early-onset Alzheimer's." Derek smiled at her.
"Okay, listen." She sighed deeply. "Me, you can screw with. My mother, absolutely not. Hell no. Why did you even come here without checking with me first- or at least Meredith. She's not your mother and she's not your problem."
"Look, Jamie, there has been some really promising results from similar studies in Europe. Yours and Meredith's mom is a prime candidate."
"My mother is not and will not be a surgical subject. She is very sick and has very few good days where she actually remembers that I'm her daughter instead of just remembering me by my name. And personally, if I were her, I wouldn't want to be poked and prodded for some experimental program."
Derek's smile disappeared. "I'm just trying to help." He told her.
"Well fucking stop, it. Stop being... dreamy. It doesn't help, in fact, it makes things worse anytime you decide to do it. Every single time. It hurts me and it messes with my head."
"I know the feeling,"
"I very much doubt that, Shepherd." Jamie used his last name with anger and displacement in her tone. "Go home to your wife- or back to the hospital, wherever she is, but just go to her. And I'm guessing she has no idea where you are right now, that you're here with me- my mother."
"Yeah," He forced a laugh. "No, she doesn't."
"That's what I thought." And then she walked away, before rounding the corner to greet her mother. Jamie made sure to calm herself before actually greeting Ellis. "Hi, mom."
Ellis smiled at her. "Jamie Marie, how are you? I meant to give you a call last night, but I was so busy with paperwork. How have you been?"
"I'm fine, momma. Don't worry about calling me, make sure you get your work done, alright?" The daughter played along before asking, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay. Wait till you hear about this doctor that approached me earlier. He sounds delusional, I'd think you'd like him, Jamie Marie."
The daughter scoffed in reply before patting her mother's leg in comfort. "We'll see, momma." And then kissing her forehead and smiling. "We'll see."
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"Hey, Adam." Jamie greeted her friend who was situated at one of the front nurses' desks. "Have you seen Mer? I went home and she's not there and I thought there was an 80-hour limit."
"Like Meredith Grey is going to listen to that rule." Adam turned to her with a smirk. "I think she's here. I'm not 100% sure though so don't take my word for it. Why?" He asked the woman in return. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no. Nothing's wrong, I was just wondering. Hoping she's not lying dead somewhere but... you know how much I worry. She's probably just here filling out some charts. No biggie."
"Ha," Her friend forced a laugh. "You do worry too much, Grey. Remember my 26th birthday. You wouldn't stop going on about it because the cake wasn't ordered and everything was- and I quote, a bat-shit crazy disaster. Loosen up, it's Meredith we're talking about. She's probably one of the most responsible interns we've had since you and Bailey."
"You're right." Jamie nodded, not fully convinced. "Yeah, she's fine."
"Jamie," Dr. Webber approached the two. "Oh, and uh, Williams. Can I talk to Dr. Grey, alone?"
The man in pink scrubs nodded. "Absolutely, sir. I've got to go anyway. Call me later, James." And then he was gone down the hallway.
"So, what can I do for you, Dr. Webber?" Jamie turned to him. "I know I've exceeded my 80-hour limit; however, I just came here looking for Meredith so, I'll be out of here shortly."
"No, it's not that." Webber shook his head, placing his hands firmly on his hips. "Uh, this program Derek looked into was a favor to me."
"Ah, nice try. Good one, Chief, I didn't peg you for the humorous kind. And by this conversation we're having I'm assuming he told you."
"Sometimes, Jamie, a favor is just a favor. This treatment won't cure yours and Meredith's mother and it won't give her a new lease on life, but it may give her more good days. I urge you to consider." And just like Adam, he was gone too.
She shook her head. "God, Derek. You're such a pain in my ass. Dammit."
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"Shepherd," The woman approached him as he got off the elevator. "I heard you spoke to the Chief about our little... run in this morning and I want you to tell me about the program." She forced a smile at the male who was already smiling at her in return.
Jamie knew that her mother deserved way more than what she was getting recently. The forced treatment at the nursing home, it wasn't what she deserved.
So, this time, as much as she really didn't want to, she trusted Derek this time. Even if it was going to come back and bit her in the fucking ass. She trusted him.
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"What the hell?" Jamie cursed at the top of her lungs, seeing the mess in the living room and absolutely no interns around. "You assholes better have a good explanation for this or so help me Lord, I'm going all Daniel LaRusso on your ass!"
Meredith, from upstairs in the bathroom snorted a laugh, a pile of laundry on her lap as she sat on the floor, blocking the door so the devil dog couldn't get in. "She finally realized what a horrible dog he is?"
"I'm assuming," George snickered.
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— AUTHOR'S NOTE:
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i need a good alex karev fic.