Riley's POV
Meredith, George, Izzie, and I sit around a table at Joes bar, eating peanuts and drinking. I take a swig of my cup as George throws peanut shells into our pile.
"When I left, Christina said she was okay." George shrugs
"Nobody goes through what she went through and is totally over it by now." Izzie rolls her eyes, moving her straw around in her drink.
"Christina can" I agree
"She's fine" Meredith adds for her best friend.
Izzie shakes her head, "Too fine. She's cold."
"No, she's hardcore. She's got ice in her veins. She does what she has to do to get through." George drinks his beer.
"She lost a baby. She lost a Fallopian tube and she's acting like she doesn't even care. She's all "hello, I'm totally fine" person." Izzie waves her hands around, "I mean, she's my friend too, but she's acting like she has no emotions or warmth, like she's missing a soul"
"God, she's gonna make a great surgeon" George smiles
"George!" Izzie scolds him
"He's right, you show no weakness, you make it to the top" I shrug my shoulders, glancing to my boyfriend. He gives me a wink.
"Some people just keep their feelings to themselves." Meredith says, then averts her eyes to the door. Derek Shepherd walks in, moving to the bar. He sits by Doctor Bailey.
I look to Meredith and raise my eyebrows, but she just rolls her eyes. I don't blame her, Derek did her dirty. But that's not going to stop me from learning his excellence. Derek Shepherd is a Neuro God.
I pick up my drink, guzzle it down, then slam it on the table, "Can I have one more, please!"
~~
"I want everyone focused today. With Christina out, we're short an intern and I have a feeling it's gonna be one of those days. And Karev, see the chief by the end of the day" Bailey shouts orders as we follow quickly behind her.
"What for?" Alex grunts, walking side by side with Bailey
"Do I look psychic to you? He's the chief, he asked you, go." Bailey gets aggravated
I look to George, "What did he do now?"
"Maybe he gave the chief syphilis." George chuckles. I smirk, lightly shoving his shoulder.
The five interns and Bailey march down the hallway, on our way to the first patient of rounds.
"This is Dr.Burkes patient, Kalpana Vera" Izzie introduces, squinting her eyes at the chart
"Kalpana" The patient corrects Izzie, who pronounced her name wrong, "Named by villagers in Nepal."
I raise my eyebrows, impressed, as Izzie continues, "Uh, she presents with multiple syncopal episodes and ventricular arrhythmia."
"So you've been passing out?" Bailey asks her. The patient nods
"Past medical history of rheumatic heart disease with mitral valve stenosis."
"They had to ship me from Zambia to the states for three months of treatment when I was eight. Rheumatic fever almost killed me." The patient nods. I think she's trying to make us feel either sorry, or impressed with her achievements
"Dr.Stevens, what are the primary causes of ventricular arrhythmias?" Bailey asks
Before Izzie can open her mouth, the answers are blurted out from someone behind me. I jump, startled, to find Christina in the doorway with her gown and IV cart.
"Valvular disease, mitral valve prolapse, stimulants, drugs, and metabolic abnormalities" Christina looks proud of herself. That is, until everyone looks at her with disappointment.
"What?" She asks us
"Out." Bailey orders
"I'm fine!"
"Out. You better be in your room by the time we round on you" Bailey orders her, sounding like a mother.
"And when will that be?" Christina looks fed up.
"In fifteen seconds." Bailey raises her eyebrows. Meredith smiles like a kid in a candy shop.
When Christina doesn't move, Bailey starts counting down. I start chuckling. When she turns around in defeat, her pink and white underwear is clearly visible.
"Nice panties, Yang!" Alex shouts after her. We all break down into laughter as she covers it with her gown.
Christina turns around slowly, "In your dreams, Evil Spawn."
She continues on to her room, and the rest of us follow shortly behind. Her mother sits in the room, and I give her a smile. She just glances at me. Meredith presents her case, already having memorized it.
"I'm taking solids and my pain is controlled with oral meds. I'm ready to get back to work" Christina nods her head.
"Didn't the nurse say this morning you had a fever?" Christina's mom speaks up, then looks back down to her knitting.
"Mother!" Christina scolds her
"Christina, did you have a fever?" Bailey asks
Christina hesitates, "temp spiked to 101 last night. Big deal!"
"She worked two shifts last month with a 102-degree flu." George stands up for her.
"Yes! Exactly, George. Thank you." Christina motions her hand towards him.
"And we appreciate your dedication, but you're staying in bed until it normalizes." Bailey raises her eyebrows. Christina huffs
Mrs.Yang speaks up, but doesn't look up from whatever she is reading, "I keep telling her there's more to life than surgery and career."
"Mother, go upholster something." Christina shakes her head. Alex snickers from beside me.
"You need to relax, shut up, and get better" Bailey scolds Christina for back talking her mother. Christina stares her down.
Bailey orders us all out of the room, but Christina pulls Meredith back. I ignore them and keep up with Bailey. The next room is Dr.Ellis Greys room, and George is presenting.
"Okay, Dr.Grey is post-op, day three, from a tumor resection. She--"
Dr.Grey stops George before he can continue, "Wrong, wrong, wrong. He's got it all wrong. It's not asthma, it's gerd. He needs a Nissan fundoplication"
"I don't want her in the room" Dr.Grey points to Meredith after talking nonsense.
"Mom" Meredith crosses her arms. Everyone glances back to her with pity on their faces
"She's a child, and I won't have her in my team."
Bailey turns to Meredith, "We'll meet you outside, Dr.Grey"
Meredith leaves without another word. I frown as I watch her walk out of the room. Her life really sucks.
After Dr.Grey, our rounds are over. I leave the others to look for a case.
~~
"Riley!" A hand grabbing my arm startles me, and I look to my side with wide eyes. Izzie stands next to me with a wide grin on her face.
"What could be so important that you felt the need to make me pee myself!" I shout. She looks to my pants, and shrugs when she sees no wet spots.
She bites her lip, "Alex asked me on a date tonight"
"You said no, correct?" I raise my eyebrows.
She gives me an excited look, signifying she will be going on a date with Alex tonight
"Izzie! That's-- that's just gross. Out of all people, why Alex?" I groan, grabbing a chart and reading through it.
She scoffs, "He's not that bad when you get to know him. Just-- give him a chance. Please, do it for me"
She pulls a puppy dog face, blinking her eyes rapidly. I roll my eyes
"Fine. Only because your my best friend" I give in.
She begins to cheer as I continue scanning the charts. I gasp when I pull out the last one
"Gunshot wound to the head? Why did no one call trauma?" I shout, making one of the nurses look at me
"He's in CT with Karev" She tells me, causing me to groan.
"Of course" I roll my eyes again, tell Izzie goodbye, then jog off to CT
~~
I step into the CT room to find Alex flipping through a magazine. He glances up to me when I walk in.
"He got shot in the head?" I widen my eyes
"Says he did. I say he's a mental defect." Alex shakes his head. I furrow my brows as an older women bursts through the doors.
"Hello, I'm looking for Samuel Linden. He... Oh my god" The women glances into the scanning room and sees the patient getting inside the CT.
"Are you his wife?" Alex asks her
"Yes, for 21 years, just tell me how he is" She pleads.
"Fine, for a man that says he shot himself." Alex stands up and faces the lady.
She looks shocked, "He shot himself? He was cleaning his gun! What is wrong with you people?"
"Ma'am, we'll know everything when we finish his CT. This is a restricted area, you have to leave" I tell her as Alex begins to guide her out of the room.
"No, no. My husband has a bullet in his head." She begins to shout
"And we'll find it. If you could just wait outside, I'll be with you as soon as we know something. I promise" Alex pushes her out, and quickly closes the door.
He looks to me and huffs as he sits back down.
"Mind if I stay?" I ask, hungry for more Neuro surgeries
Alex just shakes his head and begins the CT
~~
"Oh man, you're not gonna believe this" Alex mutters as the scans pull up. I lean closer to the monitors to see a bullet tucked inside the mans brain.
"No.. It can't be. The guy was reading a freakin magazine" Alex complains.
"It's definitely a bullet" A voice from behind us causes Alex and me to turn around. Dr.Grey stands there, peering at the screen. She's wearing blue attending scrubs.
"One that tracked clear through his head. Now, are you people just going to sit here or are you gonna get him into surgery?" Dr.Grey crosses her arms. Alex and I exchange glances, then turn back to her.
She rolls her eyes and gets on her knees in between me and Alex.
"Now," She points to the screen, "Here's the missile track. As you can see, it doesn't even cross the midline. He's lucky"
Alex and I nod our heads as she explains the surgical plan, telling us we won't need to remove the bullet. I sit in awe, shocked that the Dr.Grey is giving me a lesson.
Derek approaches from behind us and sets a hand on Dr.Greys shoulder.
"That's an excellent diagnosis Dr.Grey. I'm Dr.Shepherd, your Neuro consult." Derek smiles.
George catches my attention in the doorway, where he stands with a wheelchair, "Dr.Grey. They need you upstairs"
"You'll book the OR and stat?" Dr.Grey asks Derek and she stands up and moves towards George.
"I'm on it" Alex responds hatefully.
Dr.Grey gently sits in the wheelchair, waiting for George to take her away. Instead, he comes up beside me and glances at the monitor.
"Unbelievable" He points to the bullet
"O'Malley" Dr.Webber hollers from behind us. George jumps and turns around.
"Can you not handle this, Doctor?" Webber motions toward Dr.Grey.
George frowns, "I can't handle a lot of things"
He mumbles something else quietly under his breath as he moves back to Dr.Grey. Before he pushes her away, he sends me a quick smile, them disappears around the corner.
"Well, you heard Dr.Grey. Riley, book the OR" Derek orders.
"I'm on it" I announce, leaving the CT room.
~~
After a long talk with the wife and patient, Derek finally convinced them to have a psych evaluation. After that we are free to operate
"Where are we?" Derek huffs from beside me as Alex approaches
"OR 2 in 30 minutes. He's prepped" I announce what I know
"Transpo's on the way." Alex nods.
All three of us turn to our patient when we hear them fighting. My eyebrows raise when the wife begins shouting
"21 years!" She points to his face
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Samuel, the patient, asks her
"What's all that about?" Derek questions
Alex shrugs, "No clue"
"I love you, okay. I forgive you" Samuel places a hand on his wife's shoulder, only for her to shove it off
"You cheated on me! You do not get to play the martyr here." His wife grits her teeth. I widen my mouth
"I've got a bullet in my head!"
"And that doesn't make us even!"
"You shot me!"
I turn to Derek quickly, and he's already on it
"I think we need to get the police up here right now" Derek tells us as he picks up the phone. Alex puts his hands on his hips and keeps watching the conversation.
I put my head in my hands and patiently await the surgery.
Shortly, Alex and I are wheeling Samuel to OR 2 while Derek hangs back with the police. Shock spreads through the wife's face as she pretends to be innocent. I roll my eyes and continue pushing the gurney.
~~
"Pull back on the retractor, Dr.Karev. A little suction" Derek orders. I nod my head and do as told.
"Covering for his wife after she shot him." Alex scoffs.
"He did cheat on her" Derek keeps his eyes on his hands
"Yeah, and that guilt is worth a bullet in the head?" Alex is still in disbelief
"Relationships are built on sacrifice" I remind him, still doubtful he's not going to hurt Izzie.
"Not that kind of sacrifice" Alex shakes his head
Derek chuckles, "I don't know. Sometimes, the bullets worth it"
I look at him with narrowed eyes, not understanding his words.
When would the bullet be worth it?
~~
Samuel made it through the surgery with flying colors. His wife was arrested for assault in the first degree.
"They arrested her?" Samuel asks in shock
"You should be grateful." Alex tells him
"No, I'm stupid. Nothing makes you feel more stupid than cheating on the woman you love. You don't know what you're missing." Samuel groans.
I furrow my brows, watching as Alex glances to Izzie, who is walking down the hallway. She gives him a flirty smile. I shake my head and glance to my watch. My shift is over.
I start down the hallway, towards the locker room. Crying from inside Christina's room makes me hang a left and walk inside. She sits on her bed, bawling her eyes out. George, Izzie, and Meredith stand by the wall with worried looks
"What's going on?" I move towards Christina. Before I can set my hands on her, the other three scream at me to stop.
"I already tried that, it just made it worse" Izzie takes a deep breath. I move to the wall in between George and Izzie.
"I knew she'd break sooner or later. Just a matter of time" Christina's mother speaks up.
"I will kill her!" Christina shouts, motioning for Meredith to get her out.
She finally leaves, but not without complaining. George tries to give Christina tissues by extending his arm as far as it will go. She accepts them
"Christina--"
"Make it stop. Make it stop!" Christina cuts Meredith off.
"Somebody sedate me!" Christina yells, making me jump and cling onto George's arm.
We all move quickly to do as she asks, and before long, she is fast asleep.
Now it's time for me to go to the locker room and gather my things. I do this quickly, joining George in the parking lot so we can drive home together.
"Hey Riley," He kisses my cheek,"How was your day?"
"Crazy" I mutter, taking his hand into mine. He chuckles and agrees with me.
We reach the car, him in the drivers seat and me in the passengers.
"Do you feel stupid for cheating on me?" I blurt out as he starts the car.
He looks to me in shock, "Of course I do-- it's the stupidest mistake I've ever made"
I nod my head slowly, "But it was worth it"
"What are you talking about, Riley?" He asks, eyebrows furrowed.
"The bullet," I mumble, "The bullet was worth it"
"Okay I still don't understand--"
"It hurt at first, when you cheated on me. But it turned out for the better. It made us realize how much we love each other" I finally come to realization with Derek's words.
George chuckles, "You're so weird"
I smile as he gives me another kiss, and then takes my hand as we drive down the road.
This. This, is when the bullet is worth it.
~~
It's been a long time
But I'm back! With a filler chapter :/