It's the next day, Brooklyn wakes up with excruciating pain in her side and chest. For a split second, she wonders why she would be in pain. Then she remembers. She remembers feeling their hands around her throat. She remembers hearing the cracks of her ribs breaking. She remembers feeling their boots ram into her side. She remembers it all. She sits up in her bed and rubs her side. As she's off school, she decides to go for a run. She gets out of bed and gets changed into her running gear. As she's getting changed, she catches sight of the bruises in her mirror. Seeing the bruises are starting to go purple, she walks to her vanity and gets her Arnica Cream out of the top drawer. She walks back over to the mirror, squeezes some of the cream onto her fingers and rubs it over the bruises. Once she has done that, she straps her FitBit around her wrist and ties her hair into a high ponytail. She sits on the end of her bed and puts her running shoes on. As it's a cold morning, she puts her jacket on. She picks her Bluetooth headphones up from her desk, puts them on and starts her running playlist. She puts her phone in her pocket, zips it up and walks down the stairs. Without thinking about getting something to eat or a bottle of water, she walks out of the door and starts running.
.
Brooklyn is running through Myrtle Edwards Park. As she reaches a bench, she slows down so that she can catch her breath. She puts her hand on her head and takes a deep breath. Putting her hands on her hips, she takes another few deep breaths. She looks at her Fitbit and sees that she's been running for just over three hours, so she decides to walk for a bit. She's about to start walking when she starts to feel dizzy. She goes to sit down on the bench when she passes out. Passers-by crowd around her to make sure that she's okay and when they can't bring her around, one of them calls an ambulance. Meredith Grey and Andrew DeLuca, who are walking through the park together, see what's going and walks over to the crowd. When they see the young girl on the floor, they push past everyone.
'What happened?' Meredith questions as they kneel down beside Brooklyn. She checks for a pulse.
'She just passed out.' One passer-by says. 'Someone's called an ambulance.' DeLuca looks through Brooklynn's pockets or some form of ID. He comes across her phone and takes it out of her pocket. He turns the screen on and sees her running app is open.
'She doesn't have any ID on her, but she has her phone.' DeLuca tells Meredith. 'She has her running app open. It looks like she's been running for roughly three hours.' Meredith takes Brooklyn's headphones off. 'It says she has run around 30 miles.' Meredith quickly looks up at DeLuca.
'That's more than a marathon!' Meredith exclaims.
'Yeah.' DeLuca sighs, nodding.
'Her pulse is fast.' Meredith states. 'Has someone gone to meet the aid car?' Meredith asks the passer-by.
'Yeah.' They nod.
'What are you thinking this could be?' Meredith asks DeLuca.
'She's most likely dehydrated. Hypoglycemic.' DeLuca responds. Just then, the passer-by returns with the medics - Travis and Maya alongside Ryan. They have the gurney and medical bags with them. Ryan breaks up the crowd and moves them along. As they start to disperse, he catches sight of Brooklyn and freezes.
'Trav?' Maya nudges him.
'It's Bryn.' Travis tells her. Maya looks at Meredith, DeLuca and Brooklyn.
'Do you want me to take lead?' Maya asks and he nods. 'Let's go.' They both join Meredith and DeLuca and kneel down beside Brooklyn.
'We don't have an ID.' DeLuca informs them.
'Her name's Brooklyn.' Travis states. 'She's my sister.' There's a few moments silence as Maya attaches the monitors to Brooklyn.
'Dispatch said she was running when she collapsed?' Maya queries, breaking the silence.
'We're not sure.' Meredith shakes her head. 'We saw the crowd and came over.'
'But her running app shows that she has run roughly 30 miles in about 3 hours.' DeLuca continues. Maya's eyes widen. 'Yeah.' DeLuca sighs, nodding, knowing what Maya's facial expression is saying.
'She's definitely dehydrated.' Meredith tells them. 'We also think that she's hypoglycemic.'
I'll check her blood sugars.' Travis states, getting the little machine out of the medical bag. He pricks Brooklyn's finger, scrapes some of the blood onto the strip and puts it into the machine.
'Pulse is 140.' Maya says. 'Oxygen saturations are 98. BP is slightly low. Her temp is 104.'
'Start her on a saline drip.' Meredith tells her. Maya nods and gets the IV kit out of the medical bags alongside the bag of saline.
'How are her blood sugars?' Meredith questions Travis.
'3.' Travis looks up from the blood sugar monitor.
'I'll start a glucose drip as well.' Maya nods.
'If she's dehydrated, she's most likely hyponatremic.' DeLuca points out.
'I take it you're taking her to Grey-Sloan?' Meredith asks. Maya nods. 'We'll start infusing her there.'
.
Fifteen minutes later, they are loading Brooklyn into the back of the aid car. DeLuca gets in the back whilst Meredith decides to follow in her car.
'Trav, do you want to drive or ride in the back with Brooklyn?' Maya asks Travis.
'I'll ride in the back.' Travis replies. 'That way I can try and contact her foster parents.' Travis climbs into the back of the aid car and Maya closes the doors as Ryan walks up to her.
'So, that's Travis' sister?' Ryan questions.
'Yeah.' Maya nods. 'She's in the system.'
'I'll follow you to the hospital.' Ryan states before walking off to his patrol car.
.
Arriving at Grey-Sloan, Owen Hunt is waiting in the breezeway. The aid car doors open and DeLuca jumps out.
'DeLuca?' Owen asks, surprised. 'What happened?'
'This is Brooklyn Montgomery. She's seventeen. It appears she was on a run when she collapsed.' DeLuca states as they bring the gurney down. As they wheel Brooklyn into the ED, Travis informs Owen of her recent observation and the treatment that they have given her so far.
'She's my sister.' He adds once they've transferred her over to the bed.
'We'll take good care of her.' Owen reassures him. 'Dr DeLuca mentioned that she's in foster care.'
'I've tried contacting her foster parents but they're not picking up.' Travis nods. 'So I've left her social worker a message and I've given her foster parent's number to Officer Tanner.' His radio then foes off calling him away.
'We'll contact you if anything changes with her condition.' DeLuca smiles.
'Thank you.' Travis nods before running off. Owen rubs Brooklyn's sternum in an attempt to wake her up.
'Brooklyn, can you hear me?' He asks. No reply. He rubs her sternum again. 'Brooklyn?' This time, her eyes flutter open. 'Hi, Brooklyn.' Owen smiles. 'I'm Dr Hunt, but you can call me Owen. This is Dr DeLuca.'
'Call me Andrew.' DeLuca adds, he has now put his med coat on.
'How are you feeling?' Owen queries.
'Like I've just run a marathon.' Brooklyn laughs.
'Well, you kinda did.' DeLuca nods. 'You ran 30 miles in three hours.'
'Did you have anything to eat or drink before you started running this morning?' Owen queries.
'I didn't think to.' Brooklyn shakes her head. 'I just got up, got ready and left. I didn't stop until I got to the park.'
'You didn't stop for any water?' Owen raises an eyebrow.
'Didn't think about that either.' Brooklyn laughs.
'When you collapsed you were hypoglycaemic so we started you on a glucose drip which has obviously worked and we started you on a saline drip to rehydrate you. Now, because you've lost a lot of salt through sweating, we're going to start infusing you with a sodium solution and-' DeLuca explains.
'I know the drill.' Brooklyn interrupts him.
'Has this happened before?' Owen asks her.
'Once or twice at the gym.' Brooklyn admits. 'It's never been this bad though.'
'Does your social worker or foster parents know?' DeLuca queries. Brooklyn looks down. 'Brooklyn, they need to know.' Brooklyn keeps looking down. 'What about your brother?' Brooklyn looks up at him confused. 'He was one of the medics that brought you in.'
'No.' Brooklyn shakes her head. 'He'll only worry.' Owen's pager then goes off and he looks at it.
'DeLuca, start the sodium infusion.' Owen tells DeLuca. 'I've got to go but I'll be back in about half an hour to check on you.' He adds, looking at Brooklyn. He then walks out of the room.
'Now, before I start you on this sodium infusion, you're going to have to change into a gown.' DeLuca informs her.
'Do I have to?' Brooklyn asks, throwing her head back.
'Since you'll be admitted overnight and given that you're wearing clothes that are tight fitting, yes.' DeLuca nods, laughing. 'I'll get a nurse to come in and help you since you still have your IV line in.' He then walks out and walks up to Ryan.
'Is she going to be okay?' Ryan queries.
'She'll be fine.' DeLuca nods.
'Did anything seem off about her?'
'Not really.' DeLuca shakes his head. 'She did say that what happened today has happened before. Why?'
'She bumped into me yesterday. She seemed upset about something.' Ryan replies. 'Do you mind if I speak to her?'
'Sure.' DeLuca smiles. Ryan nods and walks to the room where Brooklyn is.
'Hi, Brooklyn.' Ryan smiles.
'Officer Tanner, right?' Brooklyn asks and he nods. 'What brings you here?'
'When a 9-1-1 call comes in about an unknown person, especially a young person, being involved in an accident or emergency, dispatch also sends a patrol officer.' Ryan explains. 'How are you feeling?' He asks.
'About what?' Brooklyn raises her eyebrow. 'Today or yesterday?'
'Both.'
'Yesterday was - I got myself worked up over nothing.' Brooklyn replies. 'And today - I decided to go for a run to take my mind off what happened yesterday.'
'I thought you said it was nothing. What happened yesterday, I mean.' Ryan states. Brooklyn stays silent. Just as Ryan's about to talk again, a nurse walks in.
'Sorry, officer.' The nurse states. Ryan turns to face her. 'Could you step outside whilst I help Brooklyn into her gown?'
'Sure.' Ryan nods. He looks back at Brooklyn. 'You have my number.' Brooklyn smiles slightly before he turns around and walks out. When he walks out, he sees Travis at the nurse's station. He walks up to him and sees that he's holding a rose gold iPhone in a clear, glittery case.
'I found Bryn's phone in the aid car. It must have dropped out of her pocket or something.' Travis states, not looking up. 'This was in her case.' He puts his elbow on the nurse's station and holds Ryan's business card up between his index finger and his middle finger. He looks at Ryan. 'Why does my sister have your business card?'
~~
Finally got an update done! This chapter took quite a few attempts to get started but it's done!
Let me know what you think!
Much love