season 6, episode 23 - sanctuary
season 6, episode 24 - death and all his friends
TRIGGER WARNING: sh00ting
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THINGS HAD BEEN going back to normal between Sage and Jackson. Well, not back to normal , but they were talking again. Well, they would only talk if it was about a case, but it was a start.
"You paged?" Sage said as she and Cristina stopped in front of Meredith.
"Yeah, what's up?" Cristina asked.
Meredith had paged the two of them down to the basement, saying she had something to tell them. Sage and Cristina had both been on their way to the nurses station, but they dropped everything when Meredith said it was really important.
The blonde gave her best friends a nervous smile, placing her hands on her stomach.
"I'm pregnant," she announced.
Cristina and Sage stared at her, dumbfounded. Whatever they had been expecting, that definitely wasn't it.
"No way," Cristina gawked.
"Yeah," Meredith breathed out, nodding her head. She looked at Sage, who was still shocked.
"No freakin' way."
"Right?"
"Uh, were you trying to get pregnant?" Sage asked when she finally found her voice.
"No. Total accident," Meredith told them. "I used the thing."
"Oh," Cristina said. "So, are we happy about this or are we exercising our legal right to choose?"
Meredith smiled, and that was all the answer Sage and Cristina needed.
"Ok." Cristina let out a joyous laugh and Sage smiled.
"Let's hug it out!" Cristina pulled the two of them into a hug and Sage's smile grew wider.
"You're having a baby," Sage laughed, a sense of pride washing over her as they held each other.
"I'm having a baby," Meredith repeated, a huge smile on her face.
"Oh, my God. Are you-are you- are you gonna tell him? Have you told him?" Cristina asked, pulling away from the embrace.
"No, I just found out," Meredith said.
Sage opened her mouth to say something when all their pagers went off.
"I gotta get to the pit," Sage said, glancing down at her pager.
"Oh, Teddy," Cristina muttered, checking her own.
"Derek," Meredith said, looking up with a look of concern on her face.
"Are you gonna tell him now?" Sage asked, furrowing her brows.
"Yeah," Meredith said, but she sounded unsure. She turned to Cristina and changed the subject. "How is the Teddy and Owen thing going?"
"Oh, fantastic. It's going great," Cristina said quickly. "I'm completely over it." She sighed deeply and placed a hand on Meredith's shoulder. "This is very adult."
"Yeah, I'm really proud of you, Mere," Sage added, grabbing her hand.
"I'm proud of me too?" she laughed, her eyebrows scrunched together.
"Yes, yes," Cristina said. They all laughed before going their separate ways.
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THE SOUND OF pagers going off filled the room. Sage raised an eyebrow as she realized there was a lockdown.
"Are you kidding me?" she muttered to herself. She had to do Arizona's post-ops, and she didn't have time for this. She glanced up from her pager and saw Mark talking with Lexie at the nurse's station. She walked over to them to ask him what was going on when Gary Clark began walking up the stairs.
"Sir, you can't be in this area," Nurse Vivian told him. "The hospital is in—"
Vivian was cut off when Gary raised a gun and shot her.
Sage froze in fear. The world around her seemed to slow down and the sound of the gunshots were ringing in her ears. The only thought running through her mind was 'run'.
But before she could, Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her and Lexie onto the ground, behind the nurse's station. Her head was pounding as she quickly scrambled to her feet and ran.
"Chang!"
But Mark couldn't stop her. Sage ran past him. She could hear people screaming, but she couldn't focus. She didn't know what she was doing, she just knew she had to run. She didn't know where she was running to, but she just kept going.
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HER FEET CARRIED her to the O.R. floor. Her breathing was labored and her legs burned, but she couldn't stop. She'd been paging Alex, Meredith, and Cristina, trying to see if they were ok, but none of them were responding.
You'd think she was begging to be shot with the way she was walking around alone during a shooting, but she needed to find them. Meredith was pregnant, Alex was a helpless hothead, and Cristina...Well, Cristina could handle herself but Sage still worried.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she ran down the hall. She froze when she heard footsteps coming towards her. She made a move for the storage closet but the door was locked.
She was going to die.
"Please don't!" she pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut. "I—I have a brother and—"
Owen's calm voice cut her off.
"Chang, it's okay," he said, raising his hands as he stepped forward. "You're okay."
Sage opened her eyes and saw Owen and Teddy wheeling a patient out of an O.R.
"Are you okay?" Teddy asked.
Owen took a step forward but Sage shook her head and stepped back.
"Don't. Don't, don't. I—I'm not..." She trailed off, her chest heaving.
"Hey, it's ok," Owen told her.
"Avery." Teddy knocked on the door to the scrub room.
Jackson stepped into the hall, a confused look on his face.
"Take her inside and keep her there," Owen ordered as Teddy carefully walked towards Sage.
"I—I'm sorry," Sage apologized, tears still streaming down her face.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Teddy said, gently placing her hands on Sage's shoulders and guiding her to Jackson. He placed a hand on the small of her back and led her into the scrub room.
"Stay here," Owen said sternly, closing the door.
Jackson sat Sage down on the floor, turned off the lights, and sat down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
Everything that had happened between the two of them, the awkward tension, and the fact that they were never alone in the same room, none of it mattered. The only thing that was important right now is that they stayed safe.
"What were you thinking?" he scolded her, though he was just glad she was ok.
"I don't know, I just..."
She tried to find the right words, but her mind was still foggy. She didn't know why she ran, she just did.
"He shot Vivian, and then Mark was pulling me and Lexie down and I was running and then I ended up here," she rambled, trying to catch her breath. "I don't know what happened to Alex or Meredith or Cristina or—"
"Hey, hey, you're okay. It's gonna be okay." Jackson cut her off and placed his free hand on her cheek, making her look him in the eyes. She didn't say anything, just nodded and leaned into his touch.
They sat in silence, the only sound was their breathing and the occasional sob from Sage. She didn't know why, but something about being with him made her feel a little bit safer.
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THE PAIR SAT in the dark for about half an hour before they heard a door open. Sage, who was clutching onto a scalpel Jackson gave her, tensed up and gripped the surgical instrument tighter.
"It's fine, it's fine," Jackson murmured, his voice soothing. "I'm gonna go see what that was."
"Jackson, don't," Sage whispered, holding on to his arm, not letting him stand up. "Don't, please don't."
"I'm gonna be right back," he promised, kissing her forehead. "Just stay here."
She didn't listen and followed him to the door. He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, blocking her body with his own.
"Stay," he hissed.
"No, I'm not letting you get shot," she snapped, her voice hushed.
He sighed, knowing that arguing with her was pointless. He moved his hand to her wrist and squeezed gently.
"If something happens, I need you to run," he whispered, looking down at her. "And don't look back."
"Jackson—"
"Promise me," he insisted, tightening his hold on her wrist. "Sage, promise me."
"Ok," she relented. "Ok, I promise."
He nodded but he didn't move, nor did she. They stood at the door, their bodies pressed against each other. Her grip on his forearm tightened. Jackson took a deep breath before opening the door.
She heard screams as Jackson carefully poked his head out into the hall. Sage buried her face in his back, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
The voice was familiar, and when she realized it was just April, Sage felt a sense of relief.
"You're not supposed to be walking around," Jackson scolded. Sage let go of him and peaked around the corner. April and Cristina were on the ground, shielding their heads with their arms.
"Cristina." She ran past him before she could stop to throw her arms around her.
"Dammit, Jackson!" Cristina muttered, as she stood up, returning Sage's embrace. She pulled back and noticed the blood of her friend's scrubs.
"Is that your blood? Are you ok?" Jackson asked when he saw her scrubs.
"Oh, no, no, no, I'm fine," Cristina assured them, running a hand through her hair. "Um, go get Altman."
"Altman's not down here," Jackson told her.
"Go get Hunt then," Cristina said.
"They both left," Sage informed.
"What—They left?" Cristina was wide eyed with an expression of both terror and anger on her face. "Ok, someone just shot Derek." Sage brought a hand up to her mouth as tears began to well up in her eyes again. "He's got a G.S.W. to the chest and he needs surgery right now. Tell me there's an attending on this floor."
Jackson stayed silent and Sage looked between them, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"April in the OR behind me," Jackson began, breaking the silence, "there are two OR nurses and an anesthesiologist. Get 'em. Tell 'em to set up for a cardiac procedure."
"What—Why?' April asked, her face contorting in one of fear and confusion. "If we don't have a surgeon, what are we gonna do?"
"We have a surgeon," Sage said, staring straight at Cristina.
"Who's gonna operate on Dr. Shepherd?" April asked.
"I am."
notes from lottie,
i can't write emotional shit it's actually painful
ok but anyways tygsm for all ur support on this book like it's only been up since december and we're almost at 6k reads like that's fucking crazy
anywaysss, hope u enjoyed!
comment and vote!
love ya,
- lottie.
published: 2/20/24