season 6, episode 11 - blink
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SHE'D HAD MORE than one drink that night a couple of months ago. 3, to be exact but nothing else had happened between the two.
Alex hadn't left her alone about him, whining that she was trying to replace him, even though she had assured him many times that nobody could ever replace him.
She liked Jackson. She didn't like him a lot, but she liked him. He liked football, she liked football, he liked drinking, she liked an occasional drink, and he loved her pies. They'd been spending more and more time together, which was nice except the more time they spent together, the more Alex would complain about 'being left behind'.
Today she was on Derek's service, and he'd paged her down to the ER, claiming he had a present for her.
When she got there, Meredith and Alex were also there to assist Dr. Bailey and Callie. They all quickly put on their yellow trauma gowns before following their attendings outside.
"Chang, you're with me, Meredith, you're with Bailey, and Karev, you're with Torres," Derek told them their assignments as the ambulance came to a stop.
"So, what's my present?" Sage asked Derek quietly. He grinned at her before turning back to the rest of the group.
"Tom Kates is in this ambulance."
"The quarterback?" Sage and Alex asked in unison. Derek smiled even wider as he saw the excitement on Sage's face.
He nodded as she put on her gloves.
"If you see photographers, call security," Callie said, pulling on her own gloves.
" Tell your interns no autographs, no pictures. I see anyone pull out a camera phone, it's going on the toilet," Dr. Bailey told them.
"I'll get you an autograph," Derek murmured to Sage, who looked over the moon.
"So there are three of us on one patient?" Meredith asked as the doors to the ambulance were opened.
"It's Tom Kates," Sage said, bouncing up and down on her heels. "He's not just a patient. He's the patient."
"I thought we agreed to stop meeting like this," Derek said as Tom was unloaded from the ambulance.
"What can I say man?" the quarterback replied, chucking a little. "I missed your smiling face."
"Good to see you," Derek said.
"Head trauma, but G.C.S. 15 since regaining consciousness. He's got high/lowed by a couple of their linebackers dropped like a rock," a paramedic reported as they wheeled Tom to a trauma room.
"I'm gonna need a head C.T.," Derek told Sage as he examined Tom's eyes.
"Got it," she replied, nodding her head before going to the white phone that hung on the call to schedule for a C.T.
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SAGE WAS ON her way to Tom's room to meet with Derek, Alex, and Meredith to discuss the extent of his injuries when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, I heard you're working on Tom Kates," Jackson said as he jogged up to her and fell into step with her.
"Oh, and where did you hear that from?" she asked, smiling up at him. Nobody was supposed to know he was there, but then again, at Seattle Grace Mercy West, gossip spread faster STIs.
"Through the grapevine," he replied, handing her her favorite flavor of a protein bar. "You free tonight?"
"I might be." She shrugged as they reached the elevator. "I was going to teach Alex how to bake a pie and watch the highlights from last night's game. You're welcome to come if Mere and Alex let you into the house."
"I think I will have to take you up on that offer," he said as the elevator came to a stop on their floor.
"See you then," she said, smiling as he walked off.
"'See you then'," Alex mockingly imitated her voice as he stepped into the elevator. "'See you then, Jackson. Who needs Alex when I have you'?"
"Oh, grow up," she said, crossing her arms as the elevator doors slid shut.
"Dude, he's like in love with you," Alex said, leaning against the wall.
"No, he's not," she argued.
"Yes, he is."
"No, he's not."
"Yes, he is."
"No, he's not."
"Yes, he is."
"No, he's not."
"Yes, he is."
Their mini argument finally came to an end when the elevator stopped on their floor. The pair of best friends exited the elevator and walked to Tom Kates's room to find Derek and Meredith waiting for them.
"It's a concussion," Derek told Tom, his hands tucked into the pockets of his lab coat. "It's no worse than you've seen before. Nothing we need to go in and fix."
"Initially we thought the injury to your spleen would resolve itself," Meredith began when Derek nodded at her. "but it's bleeding too much. Dr. Bailey needs to go in and remove it as soon as possible."
"The surgery will have you out for a couple of weeks but you will be back in the game next season," Sage concluded.
Tom said nothing and just stared at the four doctors before he started heavily gasping and the monitors started to go off.
"Tom?" Concern flooded Derek's eyes as he stepped towards him. Tom's hand went to his throat as he continued gasping.
"I can't breathe," he gasped, trying to breathe.
"Let's get some oxygen. Get a crash cart," he told a nurse standing nearby who immediately did as she was told.
Sage rushed forward, grabbing an oxygen mask from behind Tom's head and untangling the cord. Derek took it from her and placed it over the quarterback's nose and mouth.
After a moment, Tom was able to breathe normally with the help of the mask but Derek still told Alex to get an E.K.G. just in case.
"Tom, have you ever had a panic attack before?" Derek began questioning him as Sage and Meredith watched.
"I'm fine," he insisted, pushing the past off. "It's just, uh... It's nothing."
"There's daddy!" Tom's wife, Jessie, entered the room with their baby boy in her arms.
"Hey, how's my guy?" Tom put on a happy act as his wife approached him.
"He's fine," she said, sitting down on the side of the bed and handing Tom their son. "How's my guy?"
"Well, he was uh—" Derek began before Tom interrupted him, still trying to play it off like he didn't just have a panic attack.
"The, um, brain's ok," he assured her as the baby cooed in his arms. "But they gotta cut my belly open. I can't play 'till next season."
"Oh honey... Don't worry, next season will be here before you know it," she said, kissing him softly.
Derek and Sage glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes, knowing something wasn't right. He didn't seem excited. He wasn't. He was the best quarterback Seattle had ever seen and he didn't want to play football. Now, Sage was an Eagles fan, born and raised, but she also enjoyed watching Seahawks games, mostly because of Tom Kates. He would play again. He had to play again.
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MEREDITH HAD BEEN telling Sage that Alex was back to his old ways since Izzie had left again. She had noticed this, of course. After all, he was her person and most nights they fell asleep in the same bed. It would be impossible for her not to notice. She didn't want to admit that she saw it too, but after Meredith told her that she was pretty sure Alex was trading sex for surgeries, she knew she had to do something.
Meredith and Sage sat together in the gallery, watching Cristina's valve replacement. Alex and Reed saw in the row below them.
"I told Torres she had to let you scrub in if she was cutting," she heard Alex tell Reed. Meredith glared at her with a look that said 'say something' but the Chang girl stayed silent.
"Cool," Reed said, smiling just a little too much.
"Book an on-call room," Alex said with a small smirk.
"What—What happened to drinks first?" Reed asked nervously, looking at Alex with wide eyes before directing her attention back to the surgery.
"Ah, it's kind of a waste of time, right? Cut to the chase."
"If you won't say something I will," Meredith whispered to her friend before speaking directly to Reed. "Hey Reed. Do you know Izzie Stevens?"
"Grey," Alex warned her as Reed turned around to look at Meredith and Sage.
"Yes," Reed replied. "I met her before she got fired."
"Then you do know she's Alex's wife," Sage finally spoke up. She didn't like Reed one bit, and she hated the idea of Alex being involved with her in any way, shape, or form.
"And she's not here right now, but they're still married," Meredith added.
"Both of you shut up," Alex spat, crossing her arms.
"Alex, don't talk to her like that," Sage replied sternly. "And no. Some people think you're divorced and some don't but the fact is, you're married. Izzie left but that doesn't change the fact that you are married and this is wrong."
"Ok, why don't you just mind your own business," Alex snapped, getting more heated as he turned around to face her. "All you ever do is stick your goddamn nose in my business. Stop trying to help me you never do and you just ruin everything for me so just leave!"
He was shouting by the end of his rant. Everybody in the gallery was either staring at him or her. She nodded, slowly standing up before she walked out of the gallery.
"Good job," Meredith muttered, hitting him on the head before running after her friend. By the time she was out of the gallery, Sage was nowhere to be found.
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SAGE SAT ALONE in her favorite supply closet. She had her knees pulled up to her chest as tears streamed down her face. In all their years of friendship, Alex had never yelled at her. Ever.
It was stupid to cry, and she should've yelled back, she just couldn't. If he wanted to go off and be a whore, she would let him go off and be a whore.
She quickly wiped a stray tear off of her face as she heard the door open. Her breath caught in her throat as she heard footsteps approaching her.
"Sagie?" Jackson's head peered around a shelf.
"Don't call me that," she sniffled, turning her head to glare at him.
"Right, right, we're not there yet," he apologized. "What happened?" he added as he noticed her tear stained cheeks.
"Nothing," she mumbled, turning her head to stare at the wall in front of her. He said nothing, sitting down beside her.
"Alex yelled at me," she confessed after the silence became unbearable. "He never yells at me. And he's being so, so stupid. He won't listen to anybody and he's acting like a whore and he yelled at me!"
He nodded with a furrowed brow as he listened to her ramble.
"I'm right, and he's wrong," she finished. "Right?"
"Right," he agreed while nodding. He didn't really know if he actually agreed, but he also didn't want to disagree.
She was about to say something when the door opened again and Alex walked in.
"Avery, up," he ordered.
"No," Jackson responded, crossing his arms. Alex rolled his eyes before he started kicking Jackson on the back.
"Out!" he shouted as the Avery boy held up his arms in an attempt to defend himself from his attacker. "Out! Out! Out!"
"Alex!" Sage scolded as Jackson got up and scurried out before Alex could inflict more bodily harm with his feet.
"What?" she asked when they heard the door slam shut.
"I'm sorry, ok?" he said, plopping down beside her. "I-I just don't know what to do. Izzie just left me and she wants nothing to do with me."
"That's no excuse to act like a whore," she retorted. "And Reed Adamson of all people?" She hit him on the arm, disappointed in him. It was one thing to sleep around, but it was another to sleep with Reed Adamson was a whole other.
"I'm sorry for yelling," he apologized, because, one, he meant it, and two, he didn't want to talk about Reed. "I'm gonna move in again."
"Good," she said. "I don't like you living with the bears."
He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into him.
"What would I do without you?" he mumbled.
"Let's hope you never have to find out."
Alex nodded because he truly never wanted to know what he would do without her, because no matter how much he hated her in some moments, Sage Chang would always be his person.
notes from lottie,
i love this book but this is not it.
anywaysss, hope u enjoyed!
comment and vote!
love ya,
- lottie.
published: 12/10/23