Chapter Forty-One: Kung Fu Fighting
"I feel like I'm about to hit a wall." I muttered under my breath as I followed Meredith and Cristina down to the ER to meet an incoming trauma.
"Yeah, well, it fits." Cristina commented. "You look like you've already hit one."
"Thanks," I rolled my eyes at her.
"Seriously, what's bugging you?" Meredith asked me. "You've looked like shit the past couple weeks."
"Yeah, can we go back to badass Beth?" Cristina suggested. "I liked her. She had Three scared to death of her after just one day."
"Her name's Lexie, and I wasn't that mean... was I?" I frowned.
"Did me proud." Cristina smirked at me as we began to pull on trauma gowns. "Oh, heads up. Mr. Incredible, twelve o'clock."
"Hey." Meredith smiled at Derek as he walked past us.
"Hey." He returned the smile, causing Cristina and I to share a look before we both adverted our gazes back to Meredith.
"What the hell was that about?" Cristina asked.
"That was about a date we have later in the on call room." Meredith informed us. "It's nothing."
"Well, you sure seem to be losing sleep over a whole lot of 'nothing'." Cristina pointed out before she glanced at me. "You and Beth both."
"I'm fine." I assured them as we headed outside, finding Alex already there.
"This is it- Hahn is in the hospital, freakin' Izzie is on her service again." Cristina shook her head as she started to change the subject. "I'm gonna ride this trauma train straight back into cardio."
"Okay, what do we got?" Callie asked as she came out behind us.
"Uh, two ambulances, multiple traumas." Meredith told her.
"Any chance you need a resident's help, Dr. Torres?" Alex asked.
"As long as you want to smash bones into dust while people cry." Callie said before she hurried off to one of the incoming ambulances.
"Sweet. What do you got?" Alex asked the paramedic.
"Chest pain, tamponade, ruptured aorta?" Cristina tried guessing.
"Uh, more like a clown car." The paramedic shook her head. "Jackie Escott, twenty-five years old- dislocated shoulder, lac to her thigh, vital signs are stable. And Helena Boyd, twenty-six years old- also stable with obvious nasal fracture facial lacs and a chunk of missing scalp."
"She ripped out my hair." Helena said as they were unloaded from the ambulance.
"She ripped out my shoulder!" Jackie accused.
"You ripped out your own shoulder when you were trying to push me off of the platform!" Helena yelled.
"Who let go of the dress?" A guy asked. "Did anybody let go of the dress?"
"Hang in there, honey." Another guy told Helena. "Don't let her psych you out, all right?"
"Okay, what the hell's all this?" Callie asked.
"It's a store contest. I'm the judge." A third man informed us.
"Last one to let go of the dress-" The first guy started.
"Wins the weeding of my dreams." Jackie finished.
"Of my dreams." Helena argued.
"All right, enough." Callie snapped at them. "You two are injured, okay? You need to get your priorities straight and let go of the- let go- let go of the dress so we can treat you. All right, let go now. Now."
"Yeah. That's not gonna happen." Jackie shook her head.
"All right. Fine. Let's move." Callie sighed as she, Alex, and I began to take them inside, leaving Meredith and Cristina to meet the second ambulance. We took them inside and got them situated on a bed, but both of the women refused to let go of the dress. "Okay, do you see that you're bleeding all over the dress?"
"It's not about the dress." Helena shook her head.
"I can't, uh, I can't-" Alex sighed as he tried looking at them under the dress. "There's too much blood down here."
"Which one of your legs is bleeding?" I looked between the women.
"I don't know. I can't really feel anything anymore." Jackie told me.
"I hear you have a broken nose down here." We all glanced over at Mark as he joined us, Callie having paged him. "What's with the dress?"
"It's not about the dress." Jackie sighed.
"Can't they- Can't they just split the prize?" Callie suggested, looking to the judge for help.
"I offered. I offered that fourteen hours ago." He shook his head.
"It is a one hundred thousand dollar wedding package, and I am not splitting it with anyone." Jackie refused.
"Oh, you're bleeding on your dress." George frowned, having joined us since he was Mark's intern for the day.
"It's not about the dress!" Jackie, Helena, and both of their fiancés yelled.
"Uh, uh, I'm gonna have to stabilize that shoulder somehow." Callie alerted us as she looked over Jackie.
"I'll go grab a sling." Alex offered before he hurried off while Callie and Mark stepped aside to talk to one another.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"No way." Jackie shook her head after Callie had explained her plan to everyone. "No frickin' way."
"It's the only solution if neither of you will let go of the dress." Callie insisted.
"It's very simple." Mark added. "Dr. Torres needs to treat Jackie's should and leg, so, Jackie, you need a proxy."
"What?" Jackie frowned.
"Think about it, babe." Jackie's boyfriend leaned over next to her. "This gives you an advantage. You get to rest your hand and come back refreshed. Give me the dress. I'll be the proxy."
"No way. This isn't fair." Helena's boyfriend shook his head. "You think this is fair?"
"Dr. O'Malley's the proxy." Mark decided, looking right at George.
"What?" George questioned.
"He'll hold on to the dress." Mark said.
"Hold the dress? You just want me to..." George trailed off, clearly not liking the idea, "Stand here and hold a dress?"
"No one ever said internship was easy." Mark shrugged. Everyone watched as George took off his gloves and grabbed onto the dress, not saying a word the entire time.
"Dude, your job kinda sucks, huh?" Jackie's boyfriend teased him.
"Oh! Hello?" Jackie groaned as we began to move her. "Watch the shoulder."
"Oh, check it out. Bambi's a bridesmaid." Alex joked as he came back with the sling, Lexie in tow.
"You're right. This did cheer me up." Callie laughed, smiling at Mark as she walked away with Jackie, Alex, and Lexie.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You're crowding me O'Malley." Mark told George as he worked on Helena's head laceration. George didn't say a word as he lifted the arm that was holding the dress and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.
"Hey, hey, I think he just let go." Helena's boyfriend said. "You just let go of the dress, didn't you?"
"No." George shook his head.
"I wish to God he had." The judge muttered.
"I swear, if you let go and lose this contest after my Jackie almost died to win it-" Jackie's boyfriend began to threaten George.
"Dude, a busted shoulder does not mean she almost died." Helena's boyfriend interrupted him. "Okay?"
"Whatever." Jackie's boyfriend rolled his eyes, not seeming to care about the other guy's opinion. "I'm watching you."
"I know you all think this is stupid." Helena spoke up. "If I were you, I would think this is really stupid."
"Well, I've never been married myself, so I'm not one to judge, but George here knows all about what it takes." Mark told her without taking his eyes off of his work. "Don't you O'Malley?"
"You're married?" Helena asked George. "For how long?"
"Not very long." George shook his head.
"Newlyweds?" Helena smiled. "Congratulations."
"Thanks." George muttered.
"What about you, Dr...." Helena trailed off as she glanced at me, not knowing my name.
"Watley." I supplied for her. "Call me Beth."
"Beth, is that short for anything?" She asked.
"Bethany." I said.
"Bethany, that's pretty." She complimented me. "So, are you married?"
"No," I shook my head, my lips pursed tightly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So what, he just stands there and holds a dress?" Cristina asked a little while later, after he and Meredith had joined us in the ER, both of them sitting back with Alex, watching George as he held onto the dress for Jackie.
"I know." Meredith nodded. "I thought it was gonna be more exciting, too."
"A monkey could hold a dress." Cristina pointed out.
"Actually, this is a lot harder than it looks." George spoke up, causing us all to look at him.
"Don't let them get to you." Helena told him. "Tune them out, all of them. It's the only way to get through it."
"Sweetie, he's your competition." Her boyfriend reminded her. "Don't help him."
"You ever give morphine to people who aren't patients?" The judge asked Alex, making me give a small snort of laughter.
"This kinda blows." Cristina shook her head.
"It's more fun when you heckle." Alex suggested.
"Don't heckle, George." I sent him a sharp look.
"Yeah, whatever. I got something way better than this." Cristina shrugged as she started to walk away.
"Something that tops O'Malley playing bride?" Alex asked, not believing her.
"Skydiver video." Cristina pulled a disk out of her pocket. At the news Meredith and Alex both hurried after her to watch it with her, leaving George and I alone with Helena and the guys.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Why am I still here?" I pursed my lips together as I sat on the bed next to Helena's, still watching her and George hold the dress.
"George, you got a second?" Izzie asked as she came over to us.
"Seriously?" George held up the dress, only causing her to laugh. I watched as he cleared his throat, switching which hand was holding the dress before he turned his back to Helena and the guys, giving Izzie his attention. "Hey."
"HI." She smiled at him. "We're gonna have to push back our perfect evening tonight. Not by much- a few hours, I think."
"Sure. Okay." George nodded.
"I'm about to scrub in on an awake open-heart surgery." She informed us.
"A what?" George and I both asked, our eyes wide.
"Awake. The patient's gonna be wide awake while we operate on his heart." Izzie told us.
"That is intense." Helena chimed in.
"It is. It is intense." Izzie nodded. "It's, uh... You know, Cristina would be all over this. She would be studying and quizzing herself, and all I can think about is- is the poor guy. You know, he's really nervous already, and... I'm not hard-core. I'm not hard-core enough for this."
"Yes, you are." George disagreed with her. "What, you're just- you're just not like Cristina. You're hard-core. You're hard-core like Izzie. Did that just sound dirty? 'Cause that's not how I meant it."
"Mean it, man." Jackie's boyfriend spoke up.
"Shut-" George began, causing Izzie and I to both laugh until he looked back at Izzie. "Go kick ass in the surgery, and then we'll have our night, and it will be perfect."
"Oh, I have not shaved my legs yet." Izzie groaned.
"I don't want to hear about this." I frowned.
"Go be hard-core Izzie. Go." George shooed her off, ignoring my comment.
"She's hot, man." Jackie's boyfriend commented once Izzie was gone.
"Is she your wife?" Helena asked.
"I don't know you well enough to have this conversation." George shook his head.
"I'll have it." I offered.
"No, you won't." George shot me a sharp look, shutting me up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You okay, George?" I asked my friend as I eyed him clenching and unclenching his hand on the dress, still never letting it go, though he'd been holding onto it for hours.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded as he looked over at me, but something else seemed to catch his eye as he looked past me. My brows furrowed together as I turned around, following his gaze until I spotted two familiar faces making their way into the ER, heading my way.
"Mom!" Joel grinned as he hurried over to me.
"Hey, Joel." I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, one that I quickly returned while I looked over at Ashley, finding her following Joel over, a smile filling her lips. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going to take him out to dinner tonight? Getting some cheeseburgers and fries?"
"Did you really think we'd leave you out?" She chuckled, raising her hand, revealing a takeout bag. "It was Joel's idea. I asked him where he wanted to go for dinner and he told me he wanted to go to the hospital. Of course, hospitals don't have the best food, so we compromised. I hope we're not bothering you, he's just too hard to tell no."
"Is this your girlfriend?" I glanced over at Helena when I heard her question, finding her eyeing Ashley before she met my gaze. "She's cute."
"Uh, no, this is my babysitter. Okay, uh, why don't we head down to the cafeteria and eat there?" I suggested. "Page me if you need anything, George. Helena, it was nice meeting you, good luck with the contest."
"Thanks, Beth." Helena smiled at me as I led Joel and Ashley out of the ER and towards the cafeteria. After a few minutes we got there, finding an empty table for all of us to sit at. The cafeteria was mostly empty now, making it easy for us to find one.
"So how was school today?" I asked Joel as Ashley started to take the food out of the bag, passing it out.
"Boring." Joel shrugged before he turned to Ashley, jumping into a conversation with her as he ate. I watched as Joel's eyes lit up and I couldn't help but smile as I watched him and Ashley talk to one another. As I watched my son and his babysitter talk though, I couldn't help but feel guilty. Knowing that Joel would be even happier if Lucas were sitting here with us right now instead of Ashley, knowing he missed the older man. I glanced down at my food, trying not to frown as I thought over how I'd managed to mess everything up so quickly.