let the bad times roll
season 8 ep 22
🎵Right Where You Left Me-Taylor Swift🎵
"everybody moved on, I, I stayed there"
~~~~~
Madelyn is the last of the residents to finish her boards, at this moment, having to do it twice does not feel worth it even if it means she'll be double board certified. She felt like she was in hell, actual hell. Nothing in the world could ever prepare anyone for their oral boards.
She joins Jackson, Meredith, Cristina and April who are all sat on the ground looking just as defeated as the Shepherd girl feels.
As soon as she's close enough for them to notice she's walking over April immediately throws her arms around Madelyn's neck, who instantly snakes her arms around the redheads waist.
"Woah" Madelyn says as she steadies herself, taken back by the sudden embrace
Madelyn looks over at Meredith and Cristina who are both giving her a weird look, confused by Aprils behaviour. She just smiles at them, still holding April in her arms, rubbing her back soothingly.
Meredith is the first to make conversation "That was hell" she says "Actual physical hell"
"I think I went a tad overboard" Cristina says "A lot overboard" she corrects
"They took something from me" Madelyn says
Jackson agrees "Yeah, that wasn't an exam. That was an interrogation"
"Like, way... way overboard" Cristina says muttering to herself
"The mind games" April says turning around to face the others but still standing in Madelyn's arms
"Trick questions" Mer mutters
"It felt like Al Qaeda in there" Jackson says
"Next test is June" Madelyn says
Cristina looks up at her "June's not bad"
"2013" Madelyn adds
"Oh"
"What's done is done. Let's just not even talk about it anymore" Jackson says followed by a long silence
Madelyn leans down slightly moving a strand of Aprils hair and tucking it behind the girls ear, she then whispers softly "Are you okay?"
April turns her head slightly "Yeah, I-I feel...amazing" she whispers back
Madelyn smiles at the girl's response and places a delicate kiss on the side of Aprils head, wrapping her arms tighter around her torso "Me too" she whispers back
"Anyone know how Alex did?" Mer asks bringing Madelyn and April back to reality
"Anyone know if Alex made it?" April replies
"Made it? What do you mean, made it?"
~~~~~
Earlier that day
session 1
"Welcome to the American Medical Board of Surgery Certifying Examination. We'll give you four separate scenarios in 3 30-minute sessions, 10-minute breaks in between. To pass the test, you must pass two of the three sessions. Now you can fail a session and still pass. But examiners are not permitted to indicate whether you passed or failed each session. You'll be rated on your ability to diagnose, manage treatment, handle the unexpected ... Basically, the strength of your constitution in crisis. And when we move on to the, uh, next scenario, th-there's no doubling back" Madelyn's examiner explains
She nods her head "Understood"
"Perfect, let's get started. So then, a 65-year-old woman is being seen by her primary care physician for a workup of osteoporosis when she is found to have elevated calcium. Her P.T.H. level was well above normal. Her doctor sends her to you"
Malden takes a deep breath "Elevated calcium and P.T.H. would indicate primary hyperparathyroidism..."
....
"Next, I would resect it and explore the other glands"
"Aggressive choice" her examiner says
Without hesitation Madelyn says "Well, I suppose I could wait for the I.P.M. before taking further actions"
"Mm-hmm. Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"Yes, I'm okay with that"
session 2
"After that, I might mobilize the small intestine to create a roux limb, and open up the pancreatic duct longitudinally from the tail to the neck..."
"The patient has died. Moving on to the next scenario"
Madelyn smiles "Actually Sir, the patient has not died. The patient is the best hands possible, so if you'd let me finish you'd see the patient is on track to maintaining a full recovery "
Her examiners give each other a look of approval making Madelyn smile proudly to herself before continuing
-
After her second session Madelyn decides to take a quick walk to take her mind off of whatever the hell this is. As she walks down the hall she sees a group of men walk out of the men's restroom followed by the faint voice of April
Madelyn furrows her brows in confusion, walking closer to the men's room hearing Aprils voice becoming louder
"What? What? You're supposed to be doctors. I've seen your things. You've seen mine. It's all just flesh and cartilage. Get over it! Ugh!" April yells scaring all the men of
Madelyn walks in seeing April drying her shirt under the dryer "April, wh..."
"Oh, hey, Madelyn. How's it going?" April says quickly diverting Madelyn's attention away from whatever just happened
"Not as good as i'd like" Madelyn replies through gritted teeth "You?"
"I am dying in there. I am actually failing" April yells "They think I'm insane!"
"Oh, they're toying with me" Madelyn says
"I am self-destructing into a puddle of sweat" April says
"I don't know what's wrong with me" Madelyn mutters
April sighs loudly "Oh, I know exactly what is wrong with me and I still can't reel it in. I broke my promise to Jesus and now I can't even talk to him a-and I need him. He's the only one who can calm me down!"
"Why the hell did you do it?" Madelyn asks now feeling guilty "Why'd you let me?"
"I don't know!" April says
"You said it was okay!"
"I know!"
"I knew you'd regret it!" Madelyn yells
"Stop yelling! Why are you yelling at me?!" April ironically yells
"Because I'm all messed up now, too. I mean, what am I? I'm-I'm now the girl that made you break your promise to Jesus? I am not that girl! All right? That girl is gross. Okay? It's all very unbecoming, especially for an Shepherd" Madelyn says
"What?" April says in disbelief "Are you ... are you honestly comparing breaking my promise to Jesus with putting a tiny dent in your family crest?"
Madelyn sighs "You're right. You're right, and I'm sorry. I just, all five of my siblings have done this, and they all passed first time. It's a lot of pressure okay, I know it's stupid and pathetic-"
"No. God, no, Maddy." April says softly "It's not pathetic. It's a lot of pressure, but you're incredible" she says before taking a deep breath "The problem isn't ... that I broke my promise. That's not the problem. The problem is ... The problem is ..."
"...That it felt good" Madelyn says
"It felt good" April repeats
Madelyn sees the way April is looking at her, so she decides to take a couple steps towards the door before saying "I shouldn't have taken advantage"
"Taken advantage? What?" April says confused
Madelyn sighs it's taking everything in her right now to not just grab April and kiss her "Oh, we should ... we should go"
"Taken advantage?" April says again "I kissed you, remember?"
Madelyn turns back around "Yeah, but I kissed you back"
April lowers her voice to a whisper "Yeah, but then I unbuttoned your shirt"
Madelyn locks the door "Yeah, and then I ... pulled up that skirt"
"Yeah, but then I kissed your neck"
Madelyn makes her way over to April slowly "Yeah. And then I took off your shirt"
"And I ..." April stumbles on her words as Madelyn lifts her up onto the counter top "But then I-"
Madelyn "But then you what?" Madelyn whispers gripping onto Aprils waist tightly
"And then ... And I wrapped my arms around your neck" April finally lets out
"And then I slipped my hand up your back"
"And then I ..."
"Then you ..."
"Then I ..."
And then their lips connect again, they both instantly melt into each others touch, aching for more. Madelyn lifts April up and carries her into a stall, April pushing the door shut behind them...
-
After her interaction with April, Madelyn finds the final session for her first board certification and her next 3 sessions went a lot smoother than they did before she, well before she spent time with the redhead
~~~~~
After and anxious journey back they finally arrive at the hospital
"Ugh. Gotta pee. Gotta pee. Gotta pee. Gotta pee. Gotta pee" April says running inside
"What time you got?" Alex asks
"12:04"
"Oh! It's supposed to come online at midnight" Cristina says
"I mean, it's four minutes late. Come on, people" Madelyn says
"Crazy doctors, they crashed the system"
"I already know I failed, so I don't know why I keep hitting the refresh button" Mer says
Cristina sighs "Okay, if anyone failed, was me, because my guy had a vendetta"
Alex scoffs "Please. I've got the odds on failure"
A nurse comes outside "Are any of you on call? I've got a trauma"
"No!" they all reply
"Wait. Wait. Wait." Madelyn says "I passed, I passed them both! Yes!" she celebrates
"I passed" Jackson says "I passed"
"I passed! I passed!" Cristina cheers
They all turn to Mer "I passed! Yes! I passed! I passed!"
"Oh, my God! Yeah!"
"Alex?" Mer asks
"It's not coming up" he says angrily
Madelyn passes her phone to him "Here. Here. Use mine"
"Oh, unh! Yes! I passed" Alex says
They all celebrate together happily
Double board certified...the dream
"Wait. Wait. Where is April?" Madelyn asks
Just then April walks out of the doors holding her phone in her hand and staring at the screen. As she looks up, tears threaten to fall from her eyes.
oh god