CHAPTER TWO.
the first cut is the deepest
tw: mentions of a rape victim
The smell of fish was what Vienna woke up to that morning, the blonde peeled her eyes open to see Derek standing at their sink with a large fish inside.
"Derek. . . What the hell is that?"
The male spun around, fluffy hair bouncing as he did. "Dinner!" He smiled widely.
Vienna's jaw dropped, eyes furrowed in shock as she repeatedly shook her head.
"What? It's just like fish at a restaurant."
"Absolutely not," Vienna disagreed, going through her clothes and picking out an outfit for the day.
Derek rolled his eyes, "You know, I'm letting you live in my home." He told her, "You could eat the food I make for us."
"Your home shouldn't be a trailer, Derek." Vienna snorted. "We both know you can afford a house."
"I don't know what to do with all this land yet," He brushed his hands through his hair.
The younger woman stood up, "Give it to me."
Derek shook his head with a laugh, placing the fish into a cooler. "You wouldn't even know what to do with all this."
"Very funny," Vienna brushed him off, grabbing one of his hoodies ━━ a black one with BOWDOIN spelled across the front in white letters. "Can I borrow this? Thanks," She pulled it over her head, not even bothering to hear his response.
"That's not even your size." Derek rolled his eyes. (Vienna assumed. He had turned around to allow her to put on her jeans. She was pretty sure she heard the eye roll in his voice). "And that's one of my favorites ━━ "
"Mine too." Vienna smiled, pulling her hair out from inside the hoodie. She pulled a pair of shoes on, opting for sneakers instead of the short pumps she preferred ━━ due to the mud that now surrounded the trailer. The surgical intern grabbed Derek's car keys, spinning them on her finger. "Let's go."
Derek laughed as he walked over to her, grabbing the keys. "You are not driving my car. You're an awful driver."
Vienna followed him out the door, "I am not!"
♱
Vienna had just entered the intern locker room when she'd overheard George and Izzie trying to convince Meredith to agree to let them move in with her, and now Vienna was attempting to charm her too.
"We're together all day every day, do you really think it's a good idea to live together too?" Meredith questioned them.
"Yes." George and Izzie replied.
"No one here is right," Meredith shrugged.
Vienna sighed pulling off her ━━ Derek's hoodie and putting it in her locker, "I'm living on a couch and my. . . roommate brought us fish for dinner, Mer. Fish from a lake. Surely you can sympathize with me."
The other blonde tilted her head. "Yeah, that's bad. Congrats, you are now in my top choices."
George and Izzie both scoffed and shared a look, Vienna fist pumping the air as the former asked, "Why can she move in and we can't?"
"I like her." Meredith shrugged. "Besides, It wasn't a definite yes."
Cristina walked up to the group in the hall, noticing the extra coffee in Meredith's other hand. "I see you're bringing bribes now, huh?"
"It is not a bribe."
"My mom irons my scrubs," George complained sadly. "I have to get out of there."
"Well, what would you rather have ━━ wrinkly scrubs that make you look like a bum or neat ironed scrubs, George?"
Meredith turned back toward the boy, "I just don't think it's a good idea, sorry."
George sighed, "But I can put down last, first, and deposit."
"Wait ━━ That coffee is definitely a bribe," Vienna backtracked, turning toward Christina who pointed at her in agreement.
"I can cook. And I'm an obsessive cleaner," Izzie tried to convince Meredith.
"Really, Vienna? Are you trying to make me regret almost letting you move in?" Meredith sighed heavily before addressing Izzie, "And no, I just want possibly Vienna, and two total strangers who I don't have to talk to or be nice to. And once again it's not a bribe, it's a mocha latte!"
Cristina looked at Vienna, "You're moving in with Meredith?"
The blonde shrugged, "I hope so."
Bailey cut off the interns' conversation, "George, you're running the code team, Meredith and Vienna, take the trauma patients, Cristina, deliver the weekend labs to the patients, Izzie, you're on sutures."
"Dr. Bailey. I was hoping to assist you in the OR today, maybe do a minor procedure? I think I'm ready." Meredith said with a wide grin. "Mocha latte?"
"If she gets to cut, I want to cut too."
"Yeah, me too."
"I wouldn't mind another shot, I mean if everybody else is."
Vienna's eyebrows raised, "I mean, I'd also like to get my hands bloody ━━ "
"Stop talking." Bailey shushed them. "Every intern wants to perform their first surgery ━━ that's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whining. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, having the trauma patients answered, having the weekend labs delivered, and having someone down in the pit, doing the sutures." The superior resident said, grabbing the latte out of Meredith's outstretched hand. "No one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy, I'm Mary freakin' Poppins."
Vienna laughed, "Respectfully Dr. Bailey, If I see you flying down to the hospital on an umbrella I'm running in the other direction."
Meredith laughed along with her, the two women quickly shutting up and swiftly walking away when they noticed the glare Bailey was giving them.
They made their way to the elevator where Derek was stood waiting for it. He looked over as the two arrived, smiling at both girls. "Seattle has ferry boats."
"Yes."
"I didn't know that."
Vienna's eyebrows furrowed, "But you can see them from the ━━ "
Derek cut her off, causing her to roll her eyes, "I've been living here six weeks, I didn't know there were ferry boats."
"Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides," Meredith replied, causing the third wheel to laugh to herself.
"Hence the ferry boats." Derek grinned as the elevator arrived. "Now I have to like it here. I wasn't planning on liking it here. I'm from New York. Genetically engineered to dislike everywhere ━━ except Manhattan. I have a thing for ferry boats."
"Should I take the stairs?" Vienna asked skeptically.
"Yes." Derek.
"No." Meredith.
The younger blonde shook her head. "I'm going to take the safe option and take the stairs."
Meredith and Vienna met up with each other again and made their way toward the ER, a nurse rushing up to speak to them. "Are you two the surgeons?"
"Yeah," They nodded simultaneously.
"We've got a rape victim. You should get in there."
The two sped over, as another nurse began to brief them, "21-year-old female found down at the park. Status: post-trauma, she came in with a GCS of 6. BP is 80 over 60. Exam shows head trauma. Unequal breath sounds, right pupil is dilated, and she's ready for an x-ray."
Vienna looked toward Meredith who seemed slightly out of it, looking at the victim's shoes, "Mer, snap out of it." She said, lightly snapping her fingers in her direction, "Come on, let's go." The woman took her flashlight, shining it in the girl's eyes. "Call CT, and let them know that Dr. Grey and Dr. Clark are coming."
Meredith finally spoke up, "Load up the portable monitor, and call respiratory for a ventilator. We'll get x-rays while we're down there."
Not long after, Vienna and Meredith were watching as Burke and Derek operated on the victim in the OR, the young woman sporting a frown underneath her mask. "Poor girl, she's going to need to spend a hell of a long time in recovery and rehab," Derek said.
"If she survives," Burke said.
Vienna's frown deepened, feeling awful for the girl who shared the same name as her mother.
"What is she like 5'2, 100 pounds? She's still breathing after what that guy did to her? If they catch the guy, they should castrate him."
Vienna nodded, "See how shredded her hands are?" She asked the attendings. "She tried to fight back."
"Tried to? Rape kit came back negative. She kicked his ass." Derek said, smiling under his mask.
"So, we have a warrior among us, huh?
Meredith sighed, "Alison. Her ━━ her name is Alison."
Derek nodded, sending a glance to Vienna, "Alison."
"I think I may have found the cause of our rupture," Burke said as he pulled something out of her. "What is this? Does anyone know what this is?
"Oh my god," Meredith and Vienna spoke in unison, watching with wide eyes. "Holy shit."
"What? Spit it out, interns."
"She ━━ She seems to have bit it off," Vienna answered with an awkward giggle.
"Bit off what?"
"That's his. . . his penis. She bit off his ━━ his penis." Meredith informed. The men in the OR let out groans of disgust as Burke threw it into the metal bowl, the two female interns smiling down at the young girl on the table.
Meredith and Vienna made their way to the chief's office after the surgery, the younger woman carrying a small cooler. Meredith knocked on the door of the Chief's office, revealing an older woman inside.
"Hi, is the chief in?" Meredith asked.
"He's on his way. Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"Can I see it?" She asked, Vienna moved to open the cooler, Meredith quickly slapping the lid closed as she looked between the other two women, mouth slightly agape. "No, forget I asked."
The Chief entered, saving the three women from an awkward silence. "Meredith, Vienna, it's good to see you. Hey, I heard your mother was leaving Mayo? She going back with the U.N.?" He asked Meredith.
"She's, ah, taking time off."
"To write another book, I suppose," Richard asked, Meredith nodding silently.
"I could so write a book." Vienna thought aloud.
Meredith gave her a strange look, "Listen, so they said to bring this to you, so. . .?"
"Yes, uh. . . for the police."
"Right."
"When did the police say they'll come?"
"You know how slow they are. So, they'd better take it with them."
"What?" Both interns asked, not sure if they'd heard correctly.
". . . You have to take it with you."
"Chain of custody rules. All medical matter in a rape must stay with the person who collected it, until it's placed into police custody."
"You collected the specimen, so you have custody."
"Custody of a penis." Meredith deadpanned.
"Yes. Until the cops come for it." Richard told them.
"Can Meredith do it on her own?" Vienna frowned, looking toward the other two, said blonde giving her a baffled look.
The woman shook her head. "You both collected it, you both have custody. Plus, it's in your hands."
Vienna shoved the cooler into Meredith's arms, the older woman having no choice but to catch it. Meredith looked at them, "Okay. Well, what are we supposed to do with the penis?"
The Chief simply stared at them wordlessly, the two interns sharing looks.
After leaving the office, Meredith and Vienna approached a nurse's station to look at some files. George noticed the pair arrive with the cooler and turned to them to ask, "What's that?" He pointed at the cooler.
"You don't wanna know," Meredith said.
"I do want to know. Really."
Vienna grinned evilly, "It's a severed penis. Want to see?" She made a motion to open the lid. George made a disgusted face, swiftly turning away which the woman definitely enjoyed.
"Okay, I didn't really want to know and I definitely don't want to see."
"Why did I have to be the one who got hugged?" Cristina huffed as she and Alex Karev, the intern who had called George 007, and called Meredith a nurse approached the group at the desk ━━ the male having been placed into their intern group.
"Because I don't do that," Alex replied. "Besides, you're the ovarian sister here."
Cristina scoffed, "Did you just call me an ovarian si ━━ an ovarian ━━ since when has the possession of ovaries become an insult?"
"Meredith and Vienna are carrying a penis around in a jar," George said to Cristina.
"Oh, from the rape surgery?" She asks as she lifts the lid to the cooler and looks inside.
"Yeah, and it's not a jar, it's a cooler." Vienna clarified.
"Talk about taking a bite out of crime," Cristina says before walking away.
George looked at Meredith, "You okay?"
"Yeah. . . Alison's shoes are ━━ The rape victim, Alison Her shoes ━━ I have the same ones. In my locker. And I normally never wear them, because they're not comfortable, but today I did, and she was wearing the same shoes ━━ and it's just. . . stupid, and I'm tired, and forget it." She ranted.
"You know what you need?" George asked, the two interns staring at each other as Vienna has a confused look on her face.
"No. It's sick and twisted. We said last time was the last time." Meredith tells him, the boy looking away. "You've been doing it without me?"
"Oh, this took a disgusting turn. I'm leaving." Vienna told Meredith, "I'm gonna go get some coffee. . . Have fun with the penis. Whether it's going to be George's or the one in the cooler ━━ "
"It is not like that!" Meredith attempted to defend.
The blonde ignored Meredith's protests to come back, quickening her steps as she made her way down to the hospital's coffee shop. This was her first time coming here, as she'd usually make coffee at Derek's trailer or pick some up on the way to the hospital.
Her brown eyes scanned the above-head chalkboard, searching for something new to try. She wanted to get her normal order, but she was working on erasing her past and that included no longer drinking her favorite coffee choice.
"Having trouble deciding?" A voice asked from behind her. Vienna turned around, eyes landing on a dark-skinned male in navy blue attending scrubs and a white coat that had an elephant stitched onto the breast pocket. Vienna thought it was adorable. She loved elephants. The unknown male had kinky hair, like Dr. Burke's but longer and better. Way better.
Vienna laughed awkwardly, fiddling with the zipper on her brown handheld Coach wallet. "Uh, yeah. I want to try something new but uh ━━ I'm not sure what."
He smiled at her, hand raising to brush against his facial hair, "Well, I don't know if you want any suggestions, but I personally love a Macchiato Espresso."
"Well then, I guess I have a new coffee order," The intern smiled, heat rushing to her face.
"I'm Bowie, by the way. Bowie Warren, head of pediatrics." The male grinned. "You're one of Bailey's interns, right?"
Vienna smiled back, "Yep, Vienna Clark."
The two moved forward in the line, "Hey, Michelle." Bowie greeted the only barista working, "Could I get two Macchiato Espresso's?"
The woman behind the counter nodded and began working as Vienna unzipped her wallet, beginning to pull out her card. Before she could hand it over, Bowie gave his own.
"I can pay for my own ━━ "
Bowie shook his head and waved her off, "It's no problem, really."
Vienna sighed, putting her wallet back into her coat pocket. Bowie smiled at her as he picked up the two coffees, passing one toward her. She turned to leave but was stopped by Bowie lightly touching her elbow.
"Hey, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He smiled. Vienna nodded thankfully before turning around to hide the smile that was forcing its way onto her face.
A little while later, a man arrived at the hospital with a bloody crotch, revealing himself as Alison's rapist. The three women were now in the OR, "Why are we not attempting to reattach the severed penis?" Bailey asked.
"Teeth don't slice, they tear, you can only reattach with a clean cut," Meredith answered, "If she wanted to slice him off with a knife, however. . ."
"Besides," Cristina spoke up, "The digestive juices didn't leave much of the flesh to work with."
"Right, so what do we do?"
"Sew him up minus a large part of the family jewels."
"And his outlook?"
"He'll be urinating out of a bag for a very, very long time," Vienna grinned under her mask. "Not to mention he'll never be able to have sex again. Sucks for him."
♱
Meredith found Vienna as she was walking with the two coffees in each hand, "Vienna! George and I were just up in peds, by the nursery and there was a baby up there. I saw him have a tet spell, and I think I heard a murmur."
"Well, did you tell someone?"
"One of the peds interns and Burke, but neither of them did anything. Burke said he can't because they didn't call him for a consult."
Vienna hummed, passing one coffee to Meredith who accepted it gratefully. "I think I have an idea!" She grinned, "Follow me."
The duo made their way to the peds floor, walking by a nurse's station. "Excuse me," Vienna knocked on the desk. "Do you happen to know where Dr. Warren is?"
A red-headed nurse briefly looked over, "No."
Meredith and Vienna shared a look, the latter rolling her eyes. "Are you sure?"
She huffed, turning back toward them. "Last I know he was in room 3310."
Vienna grinned. "Great. Was that so hard?"
Meredith snickered, pushing Vienna away from the desk and into the direction of 3310. On their way they passed by the nursery, seeing two parents watching their baby. Meredith grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop.
As Meredith began to speak to the parents, Vienna went to find Bowie, the male just leaving room 3310. "Dr. Warren!"
He turned around, face lighting up at the sight of Vienna. "Dr. Clark, how can I help?"
"So my friend, uh, Meredith ━━ She said there was a baby in the nursery and that she saw him have a tet spell. She told the intern there and Dr. Burke but they didn't do anything." Vienna rambled, "So uh, this is me asking you for help. Because you told me I could."
Bowie smiled down at the girl before checking his watch. "Well, lucky for you, I have a few minutes to spare. Shall we?" He asked, walking in the direction of the nursery.
"Who authorized you being here?" They heard as they got closer.
"We were just actually ━━ "
"I did." Bowie grinned, "Could you excuse us for a second?"
The resident looked at the taller man in slight nervousness, "Dr. Warren."
"Are you messing with my interns, Dr. K?"
"No, sir."
"Give me the chart."
She scoffed, "There's nothing wrong with him, I checked."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You can guarantee that he is fine, you are 100% sure."
The Intern had a hesitant look on her face, prompting Dr. Kerr to turn toward her. "How sure are you?"
"I don't know, 75%."
"Not good enough. He's my patient now. That okay with you, Dr. Kerr?"
"Absolutely."
The intern whispered to her resident, "He can take our patient?"
"He's an attending."
"And the head of this floor. So technically, he's been my patient." He turned to the parents, "Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I'm Dr. Warren, head of pediatrics, we're going to run some tests and give you an answer within the hour." Bowie and the two blonde interns walked off, "I want you two to get me an EKG, a chest x-ray, and an ECHO. And I'll inform cardio."
Vienna nodded, "You got it."
After getting the films and scans, the two women made their way down the hallway and handed them to Bowie who was standing with Burke.
"Well?"
"It's a birth defect. Tetrology affirmed lower pulmonary atresia. You two were right." Burke informed them before walking off.
Bowie nodded, putting away the films. "We're booking the OR for tomorrow."
"Thank you for backing us up on this." Meredith smiled.
"Yeah, well. You two got lucky. You went behind a doctor's back to the parents. Not a smart idea." He turned toward Vienna, "I know I said you could come to me if you need anything but next time, let's make sure it's something simpler."
The intern nodded, "Right. Got it."
Meredith turned toward her when the attending walked off, "How'd you meet him?"
"Uh. . . Earlier, when I was getting coffee," She shrugged. "No big deal."
The blonde's eyebrows rose as she smirked, "Right, no big deal."
A few moments after meeting up with the rest of Bailey's interns by the nursery at the end of their shift, Meredith sighed, "Okay, fine, you three can move into the house." Vienna smiled widely at Meredith as George and Izzie cheered and danced together.
"I can't believe I caved."
Cristina shook her head, "I blame the babies. Toxic. Sweet sweet Vienna. You've made a terrible mistake." She said as pat the girl on the shoulder.
♱ word count 3530