It's a few days later, Travis walks onto the ICU and to Brooklyn's room. When he walks into her room, he smiles. Brooklyn is sat up in bed on her phone.
'You get a tube taken out of your mouth and get woken up and don't call or text me?' He asks. Brooklyn looks at him and grins. She places her phone down.
'Well, Dr Hunt said that you've been coming at exactly the same times for the past couple of days so I didn't see the point.' Brooklyn tells him. Travis walks up to Brooklyn and tightly hugs her. Brooklyn gasps. 'Trav, I've still got the chest tube in.'
'Right.' Travis parts from her and sits down in the chair. 'How's the head?'
'Not bad.' Brooklyn shakes her head. 'They've got me dosed up on pain meds.'
'Now, are you going to tell me what happened?' Travis asks. Brooklyn looks down.
'You already know so there's no point.' Brooklyn mumbles. She looks back up at him. 'Just drop it.' She tells him. 'I don't want to talk about it.'
'At least tell me why.' Travis says. 'Why would they do this to you? Are they-?'
'Travis! I said that I don't want to talk about it!' Brooklyn exclaims. Owen then walks in.
'Everything okay in here?' Owen questions.
'Yeah.' Brooklyn nods. 'Everything's fine.' Owen walks to beside Brooklyn's bed.
'I'm just going to check your chest tube and then do another neuro exam.' Owen tells her. As he checks the chest tube and does the neuro exam, he talks with Brooklyn. 'How have you been since we checked on you earlier?'
'Better.' Brooklyn replies. 'Although my throat still hurts.'
'That's normal.' Owen nods. He looks at the jug on the side table and sees that it's empty. He looks back at Brooklyn. 'Do you want me to get some more water for you?'
'Yes please.' Brooklyn smiles. By now, Owen has finished all of the checks.
'Everything seems to be normal.' Owen tells them. 'Are your foster parents coming by, I need to discuss the rest of your treatment plan with them.'
'They should be by later this afternoon.' Brooklyn replies. 'They haven't been able to get any time off work so they'll be by once they're finished. I think they're bringing some fresh clothes for me.' She adds. 'Anyways, when can I get out of here?'
'Desperate to get out of here?' Owen laughs.
'Bryn doesn't like hospitals.' Travis states. 'Or fire stations for that matter.'
'It's a long story.' Brooklyn says. 'Something I'd rather not talk about.'
'Right.' Owen nods. 'We're going to keep you in for at least another week and then we'll re-evaluate.'
'Ugh.' Brooklyn groans. She looks at Travis.
'That's good.' Travis tells her. 'It could be worse.'
'Would I at least be able to go for walks?' Brooklyn looks at Owen.
'It's not advisable.' Owen shakes his head. 'If you leave this room it'd have to be in a wheelchair.'
'I guess it's better than being stuck in here.' Brooklyn sighs. Alex Karev then joins them.
'Brooklyn, this is Dr Karev. He's one of our chief of paediatric surgery. He'll be overseeing your care with me.' Owen introduces Alex to Brooklyn.
'Hi, Brooklyn.' Alex smiles.
'Hi.' Brooklyn smiles back.
'I will leave Dr Karev to talk with you whilst I go and refill your water jug.' Owen says. He picks up the water jug from the side table and leaves.
'So.' Alex starts. 'I know that you're nearly eighteen so you realistically should be starting your transition into adult care which is why I'm here.'
'I'm lost.' Brooklyn states, confusing.
'The transition into adult care can be quite scary. I'll be here to help you through that and to make sure that you don't get lost in the system.' Alex explains. 'And to make sure that the doctors don't pressure you into making tough decisions during your transition.'
'Makes sense.' Brooklyn smiles.
'Now, because of the nature of your injuries, I want to call someone down from psychiatry to-' Alex starts but Brooklyn cuts him off.
'No!' Brooklyn shakes her head. 'I'm not speaking to some shrink. I don't need to talk to a shrink.'
'Bryn, look at me.' Travis says softly but she ignores him. 'Brooklyn Tessa Montgomery, look at me.' He says again, knowing that Brooklyn hates her second name. This time, Brooklyn looks at him. 'If you want talk to me about what happened, you need to talk to someone else.'
'I'll talk to my social worker.' Brooklyn shrugs. 'It was nothing. It was just-' She then stops. 'They're bullies. That's all. If I ignore them, they'll stop.'
'Bryn, you know that it doesn't always work like that, right?' Travis asks.
'If it gets worse, then I'll speak to someone. I promise.' Brooklyn replies. 'Until then, I don't want to give them any more ammunition so can we please just drop the subject?'
'Of course.' Alex nods. 'If you change your mind, just let someone know. I've got to go prep for a surgery now but I'll be back in the check on you later. It was nice meeting you.'
'You too.' Brooklyn nods.
.
A week and a half passes by. Brooklyn is finally being released from the hospital. As Karen and Mason are in work, Travis has offered to pick her up from the hospital and take her to Station 19 with him until they finish work. He walks into the room where Brooklyn has been staying. She's sat cross-legged on her bed, fiddling with her fingers.
'Bryn?' Travis says. Brooklyn looks up at him. 'Everything okay?'
'Yeah.' Brooklyn sighs and nods. 'Just fed up of being in this hospital.'
'That's not all though, is it?' Travis questions. Travis sits on the edge of the bed.
'Why didn't you tell me this was the hospital I stayed in when-?' Brooklyn asks but then stops. 'Dr Hunt asked me about it. I got a bit aggressive with him. Verbally.'
'I didn't think you'd want to be reminded about all of that.' Travis tells her. 'You would barely talk to anyone for weeks after. I didn't want you to go down that route again.'
'I tore into him, Trav!' Brooklyn exclaims. 'I apologised, but for me, that's not enough.'
'I'm sure he understands.' Travis reassures her. He looks out of the room and sees Owen at the nurse's station. 'I'll be back in a minute.' He stands up and walks out to Owen. 'Dr Hunt?' Owen looks up him. 'Brooklyn told me about her little outburst earlier.'
'Does she still feel bad?' Owen questions.
'Yeah.' Travis nods.
'She shouldn't do.' Owen shakes his head. 'I didn't know she wasn't aware this is where she was treated.'
'That's my fault.' Travis replies. 'I thought that it'd send her back into her dark place. I don't think I can handle seeing her barely eat or talk again.'
'I saw that in her notes.' Owen nods. 'Just out of curiosity, when did she last have a plastic surgery check up?'
'If I'm being honest, I don't know.' Travis responds. 'That's her foster parent's job.'
'I could call for a quick consult, if you like?' Owen suggests.
'I think Brooklyn's had enough of doctors.' Travis laughs. 'No offense.'
'None taken.' Owen laughs back.
'I'll suggest that her foster parents or social worker gets her booked in for a check-up.' Travis says. 'She's not getting away with it that easily.' He laughs again.
~~
Any guesses as to what Bryn went through? Comment your guesses down below!
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