It is the day after and I am waiting. Why? Well, Andrew got back to me and he said he was happy to chill at Joe's. After all, Andrew said he was going to go there anyway. He did warn me that he had a rough day. The thing is he never told me if it was because his team lost someone or if the surgeries he had scheduled were long. My finger absentmindedly taps on my knee while I wait.
"What are you doing here again? I thought you had enough after yesterday" Alex teases as he joins me.
"I am waiting for someone. As to who it is that is none of your business," I retorted. I am still not interested in talking to him. Before he can say anything I am joined by Andrew. It is at that moment Alex's eyes go wide.
"So that's why Deluca's been in a good mood," Alex utters.
"Why don't you leave us alone," I retort as I basically drag Andrew away. There is no way that I am going to let him ruin my night with Andrew. Before you can ask there is something about Alex that puts me in a bad mood. Thankfully Joe's is close. After a couple of minutes of walking, we made it to Joe's.
"Can I ask what that was about?" Andrew asks as we sit down.
"What do you mean?" My face scrunches up.
"You and Alex," Andrew gets to the point.
"Well...my brother used to work at Grey Sloan and Alex treated him like his personal punching bag," I give Andrew the simple explanation as I don't want to talk about the full story. Andrew nods along.
"Before you can ask I know Alex has changed but still I hold grudges like you wouldn't believe. Especially when my family is involved" I add on for good measure. I can feel Andrew's eyes scanning me as if he is trying to tell whether or not I am lying.
"There is more to the story," Andrew deduces. Wow. Either he is really good at reading people or I am terrible at masking how I really feel. I find myself clamming up. I need to tell him but I can't. Sensing some level of awkwardness Andrew flags down the bartender. After receiving our drinks Andrew flashes me the puppy dog eyes. It is as if he is trying to tell me something without actually telling me something. I hate the fact that it is only our second date and I want to run.
"You know what? Forget I ever brought it up. Whatever it is you are clearly uncomfortable sharing," Andrew dismisses his curiosity.
"Yes but whilst I feel uncomfortable telling you it is something that will change our relationship going forward," I say before sipping on my drink. The truth is I want my thing with Andrew to continue but a part of me is scared that I will lose him in the way that I lost George.
"Whatever it is, I am sure we can work it out whenever you are ready. Anyway, I want to relax tonight. I have had one hell of a day," Andrew changes the subject. Thankfully he understands. After an hour of socialising, we are heading back to Andrew's for the night. A part of me will regret it tomorrow but I just need to relax.
It has been a few hours since then and I am wide awake. Why? Well, I had a nightmare where instead of George lying in the hospital bed it was Andrew. I glance over at him. He is fast asleep. He looks peaceful. I then turn my attention to making my getaway. After a few seconds, I realise what I am doing is stupid. A sigh falls from my mouth. I will have to explain what happened later. After gathering a few things I am ready to leave. Before I do I make sure to give Andrew a peak on the cheek.
It has been a couple of hours since then and I am currently throwing myself into completing the inventory. It is out of the sheer guilt of just leaving without telling Andrew. The annoying thing is it was only the second date.
"How was it?" the last person I wanted to speak to about this shows up.
"It was good, Travis, then I bailed. He told me that I wasn't giving him the full story. Before you can ask I haven't told him about George," I explain the situation. Saying it out loud has made the embarrassment all but worse. I will have to apologise later as right now I have a job to do. Before Travis has the chance to reply the signal bell goes. At least it means I can turn my attention to something more important.
"We'll continue this when we get back," Travis remarks as we turn our attention to our work. After an eternity we made it to the scene. It is a multi-vehicle collision. It is one of the worst that I have seen. As soon as my boots hit the ground I turn my attention to triaging as many of the victims as I can. After a few minutes of work, I realised that we were going to need a trauma surgeon because someone was struck by debris. After a quick jog, I joined Captain Sullivan.
"Cap you need to radio Grey Sloan. There is a patient that may need a field amputation," I announce. Once Captain Sullivan radios in I head to the victim. There is not much that I can do till the trauma doctor gets here but I am going to do the best that I can. Luckily for me, the woman is conscious.
"What's your name?" I ask as I get to work. I am only going to do the basics as I don't have the right equipment. The first thing I do is establish an IV.
"Ally. I was on my way home when a car lost control. Tell me honestly, am I going to lose my arm?" Ally asks. I wish I had better news.
"That is not my call to make. There is a trauma surgeon on the way. He will be able to tell you more," I explained the situation. After a couple of minutes of waiting I am joined by yet another familiar face.
"Erin?" The man is Doctor Owen Hunt.
"Not now Doctor Hunt. I need your help. This is Ally. Her arm is pinned and I think it is going to take the others too long to free her," As soon as I say that backup arrives in the form of firefighters from station 23. Owen quickly looks the woman over. After letting the others know of his plan Owen steps back and lets us get to work. After what feels like an eternity we have Ally freed from the car. Unfortunately, she has lost consciousness. As Own gets to work I hook her up to a life pack. Everything looks stable for now.
"Erin, I need you to get me back to Grey Sloan as fast as you can," Owen orders. That can only mean one thing. With that, I make sure Ben is fine with the backup from station 23. After giving me the all-clear I climbed into the driver's seat of the ambulance. As soon as I have my seatbelt on I glance back at Owen who gives me a thumbs up. As I pull away I flick the sirens on. After five minutes of racing through the streets of Seattle, we finally made it to Grey Sloan. As soon as I bring the ambulance to a stop I leap out to assist Owen. As soon as I open the ambulance doors we are met by the usual gaggle of doctors. Of course, Andrew is part of the gaggle.
"Our victim is a twenty-seven-year-old female with a major crush injury to the arm," I give my report as per usual. I follow them in so I can get the handover done. A sigh falls from my mouth as I get to work. Thankfully since Owen was called out the paperwork is easier. I still feel like something is going to happen. I also feel like I am being watched.
"You know pacing really isn't going to help," Andrew remarks.
"I'm sorry. I'll explain tomorrow when I am not busy," I counter. Yes, I decided that I am going to tell Andrew what is going on. He deserves to know. I can't hide it forever.
"You promise?" Andrew responds sceptically.
"Yes," I say as I finish up. After making a plan for tomorrow I quickly excuse myself as I have a scene to go back to. It is the day after and as promised I am at Andrew's apartment. I am waiting for him to come home from one last surgery. He said it was supposed to be a quick one but there were complications. Because of the wait, I am now pacing. I need to tell him but what if I can't? What if Andrew will see me as weak? I shake the thought out as I know for a fact that I have nothing to worry about. I know Andrew won't care. Why can't I just tell him?
"You know pacing around won't help," Andrew says as he joins me in his living room.
"I know. I just don't know how to tell you what I want to tell you," I responded.
"Why don't don't you start by sitting down and taking a deep breath? I am not going to judge," Andrew says as he carefully guides me to the couch. I reluctantly do as he says.
"Ok...," I chickened out. Dang it. Andrew carefully sits down next to me and wraps his arm around me.
"Ok...As I said before my brother worked at Grey Sloan but...but that was before he died. George died saving someone. All of the doctors who knew him tried to save his life but there was nothing that they could do," I finally said what I wanted to say. Andrew's grip grows tighter.
"Look, you're still grieving. It sucks but if you are ever having a rough day you can call me. I will help whenever I can," Andrew offers. I feel my heart flutter a little. There is something about Andrew that makes the pain a little easier.
"Thank you. Maybe we should just relax today," I responded as I snuggled up to him.
"I was counting on it," Andrew responds. At least I managed to tell him what was wrong. Hopefully, I don't have to take him up on his offer.