Chapter 1
Season 1, Episode 3
I never took life too seriously. At least, not my own life. I always helped others in any way I could but when it came to my own life, I couldn't care less. I grew up in a less than ideal home and it's been holding me back my entire life. When I finally decided to apply to medical school when I was seventeen, my brother thought I was out of my mind. Kind of funny when he ended up following me through the same program. I finally had a purpose, a reason to live. I wanted to become a surgeon and nothing was going to stop me.
Well... an email from Seattle Grace informing me that I didn't make the final cut into the intern program kinda stopped me. I was stuck for a while; I had been planning out my whole future and then out of nowhere, this wall smacked me in the face. I wasn't finished, I still was first in my class with an amazing degree under my belt, but I was rejected from my number one choice program. It kinda sucked.
I ended up applying for my second choice, Mercy West, and lucky for me was accepted even though my submission came in late. It was dumb on my part to only apply to one program thinking I would get in, but life gave me a second chance.
So, here I am. Sitting in a taxi on my way to join my new program. My new life as an intern which no doubt will be started with people assuming I was on a waiting list and got into the program late. Well, that's my karma. You would think that's all the karma I would get. I thought so too until I looked out my window to see a car come racing toward us. I heard a crash. Then everything went black.
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I can hear voices talking over my body, frantic and loud as they shift my weight from what I can assume is a spinal board to a bed. I keep my eyes closed for a minute until I hear a voice standing over me talking. All of a sudden, light is all I can see as someone shines a bright light into my eyes.
"Pupils are responsive." I hear a male voice speak above me. "Ma'am, can you hear me? My name is Doctor Shepherd. Can you tell me your name?" I scrunch my brow as my head is held in place, I recognize that name.
"We need to get her to CT stat." I hear another voice from the other side of me.
"Where am I?" I manage to breathe out, it comes out raspy and nothing like my normal voice. People are still moving all around me and I slowly start to feel pain in my chest. It starts to burn and I know that soon I'm going to fall unconscious again.
"Seattle Grace Hospital, you were in a car accident. Can you tell me your name?" He says again and I open my eyes now knowing where I am. How ironic. I can feel my body getting heavy. I know I'm about to pass out so I say the only thing I can get out.
"Karev."
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It's quiet when I wake up. The silence is kind of alarming considering how loud it was when I fell unconscious. The only thing that can be heard is a slow but steady beeping, no doubt coming from a monitor attached to me. I open my eyes and sure enough, I'm strung up to many things. I assume I'm in the ICU as I look around the room. I look down at my arms that are covered with scrapes and bruises. Slowly I start to feel the pain in my chest again, paired with a throbbing in my head. I open my mouth to try and speak but it's dry and only a croak escapes.
Lucky for me, just as I was going to try and get someone's attention, two doctors walk into my room. It's a man and a woman. The man has gentle eyes that could heal you without medicine and the woman is the opposite. A sour face with no expression.
"Hi, my name is Dr. Shephard. How are you feeling?" The man asks as he walks over to my bedside. I look him up and down, I recognize him but can't put a finger on it.
"Like I just got hit with a truck." I croak out with an attempt at a smile and he returns it with a laugh.
"Close. A car." He smiles before sitting down on a stool beside my bed so it's easier for me to look at him, then he turns to look at the doctor in light blue scrubs. "Dr. Yang." He says and she immediately opens my chart and starts talking.
"Your internal injuries were quite severe. We took you into surgery to stop the bleeding which was successful. We can assume you hit your head during impact which resulted in a concussion. You will need to stay in the ICU for a couple of days so we can monitor you but you should make a full recovery." She finishes and looks to the other doctor for approval. He nods slightly before looking back at me.
"Before you fell unconscious you said the name Karev." Dr. Shepherd says to me softly before I answer.
"Yes. My name is Audrey Karev. I have a brother who works at this hospital." At this, Dr. Yang looks shocked, I can tell she's trying to stay quiet. Dr. Shepard looks back to Dr. Yang before telling her to page Alex to the ICU. She leaves the room as he stands up and takes my chart.
"I'll let you rest but I'll be back to check on you later." He informs me and nods as he leaves the room, quiet engulfing it once again. Leaving me with nothing but thoughts and an annoying beep ringing in my ear.
I didn't think I fell asleep, it felt like only five minutes had passed when all of a sudden I heard a loud yell which made me jump awake. I open my eyes to see nurses look alarmed until through the glass I can see Alex run straight up to their desk. One woman points toward my room and when he turns I can see relief flood his face. He storms into the room and sits beside me.
"What the hell?!" He practically yells at me but I don't flinch. I know my brother and I'm used to it by now.
"Is that how you say hi to your sister?" I say sarcastically smiling at him, looking at him in his new blue scrubs. Did I mention my asshat of a brother got into the program and I didn't? Way to throw salt in a wound.
"It is when she shows up out of nowhere half dead!" He yells again. To anyone on the outside, he sounds mad but I know he's just scared, especially when he grabs my small hand and holds it in both of his.
"I'm not half-dead, I'm fine." I laugh at him but he looks dead serious.
"Well, you might not have been. What are you doing here anyway?" He asks and I cringe inside and I realize this moment has come sooner than expected. I didn't tell him that I applied and got accepted to another program in Seattle. I hoped I wouldn't have to tell him for a while. We have two other younger siblings who live with our single mother, I think it gave him peace of mind knowing that I'd be at home to look after them. I didn't want to worry him.
"I kind of got a job at Mercy West," I mutter as if saying it quieter would make him hear me any less. Unfortunately for me, he heard me loud and clear.
"Mercy West?! What the hell, Addie, I thought you were staying in Iowa with Mom?" I look away from him, angered by his reaction.
"My whole life doesn't revolve around looking after her, Alex! I want to have a career!" I turn and yell back at him. It hurts my stomach but I yell anyway. He left to build a life for himself so there is no reason I shouldn't.
"It's not just her you agreed to look after! What about Aaron or Amber? Did you think about them?" The increasing volume in our room is starting to draw unwanted attention from nurses and other patients, so I go quiet. He sits back in the chair and takes my hand again that he dropped when yelling at me.
"Of course I thought about them," I mutter softly and he looks at me. "I'm always thinking about them. That's the problem. I never thought about anything or anyone else my whole life, including myself. I want to have a life, Alex. You obviously understand, look at you." I gesture to his scrubs and give him a small smile. I really am proud he got into the program but he can be such an ass.
When he doesn't answer I look down at my stomach which is hurting again and I put my hand on top of it, wincing. I lean my head back and take a deep breath to try and ignore the pain.
"I'm proud of you." He says so quietly I almost didn't hear him. I turn to face him, seeing him looking at me.
"I know. Even when you're yelling, I know." I smile at him and he smiles back, something I see rarely. "Now get out of here!" I say taking my hand out of his and pushing his arm. "Aren't their surgeries you should be fighting for right now?" He grins and stands up before leaning over the bed and kissing my forehead. He leaves the room at a jog and I smile thinking about him fighting with the other interns. They no doubt hate him. I love him, but he's a douche.
As he turns out of the room he almost bangs into someone and he mutters out a quick, "Sorry Chief." before taking off at a sprint down the hall. The large man that I vaguely recognize sighs in annoyance before turning into my room and putting on a smile.
"Audrey, good to see you awake." He says standing at the foot of my bed.
"Richard Webber? Wow, I didn't expect a visit from the chief of surgery." I say a little awkwardly as he was the one to send my rejection email but I keep a smile on my face.
"Well, when I heard that you were in the ICU, I felt the need to come and check on you. I got a call that you got into the program at Mercy West. I've got to say, I'm a little disappointed." He explains and I can't help but get more confused after every word he says. I can't believe he remembers who I am and I don't understand why he would be disappointed. He's the one that rejected me for this program.
"Sir?" Is all that I am able to say.
"Well, you were a prime candidate for this program. I was surprised when you turned it down." At this moment I was more confused than I ever had been my entire life.
"I'm sorry, but I got an email saying that I didn't get into this program," I answered and he looked just as confused as me.
"Well, you did."
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I didn't understand how this could have happened. I have the rejection email on my phone, well I would have it on my phone if it wasn't completely destroyed during the accident. There is no way I read the email wrong. I read that email over about a hundred times because I was so disappointed. Chief Webber assures me that I was accepted into the program, that I was one of the most promising candidates but I never responded.
After he left my room I was left alone with my thoughts that were now louder than ever but luckily during lunch, Alex came back to keep me company. He explained that the probable reason for the accident was that a crazy annual bike race was going on that caused many riders and pedestrians to end up in the ER. Apparently it's called the Dead Baby Bike Race, which I think says enough in itself. He told me about how a biker guy came in with metal piercing his stomach and after leaving against medical advice, came in an hour later bleeding out.
I tried to stay supportive of him but all I could feel was jealousy that he was out there being a surgical intern and I was stuck in a hospital bed.
"I mean, these people are crazy. Meredith had to straddle the guy on the way to the OR just to keep him from bleeding out." He explains. "Lucky bastard." He mutters slumping back into his chair and taking a bite of his granola bar.
"I think he'd disagree with you. Lucky isn't exactly what you'd call yourself while bleeding out." I laugh and he rolls his eyes.
"You know what I mean." He says while chewing.
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean and it's disgusting." I laugh, our conversation almost making me forget about what I talked about with the chief. I suddenly get really serious and he can tell.
"What?" He asks, scrunching up his wrapper, throwing it toward the garbage but missing entirely.
"Dr. Webber paid me a visit," I say and he shifts in his seat. "Said that I got into the program here. Which doesn't make sense because I got the email, you saw it." I was looking at him but as I talked I looked up at the ceiling. I was so confused. After a minute when he doesn't answer I look at him curiously. He looks back at me and shrugs.
"Maybe they sent the wrong email?" He suggests but I shake my head.
"Doubt that," I say looking back at the ceiling before thinking about it again. I started thinking about our fight from earlier and a horrid thought crosses my mind. I push it away quickly but it keeps popping up in the front of my mind and I can't help but frown.
"Alex... you didn't want me to get into this program, did you?" I can't believe what I'm saying but the pain reliever drugs in my system must be talking.
"What? Shut up, of course I did." He says in his passive-aggressive voice. He does this whenever he is uncomfortable or hiding something. I look over at him sharply, he can't hide anything from me and I can't believe what I'm hearing.
"Alex," I say, practically piercing him with my voice. "Did you send me the rejection email?" He stays quiet for a moment and tears spring in my eyes. Of course he did, he wanted me to stay at home with our siblings and sick mother so he could go have a freaking life.
"No. You're talking crazy-" I can't even let him finish.
"Get out." He looks at me for a second like he thinks I'm joking until I say it again louder. "Get out!"
"Addie, you're tired. You're not thinking straight-" He stands, walking over to my bedside trying to reason with me but at this moment I can't stand him.
"Get the hell out of my room!!" I sit straight up which I instantly regret as I feel my tender incision pull. He backs away as I cry in pain and sadness. The monitor beside me starts beeping like crazy, alerting the nurses outside to run into my room.
I don't realize until the nurse is right beside me and Alex looks down at my stomach in horror that I'm bleeding. I look down to see my hospital gown stained in blood as my incision opens. All of a sudden Dr. Webber comes running in.
"What the hell is going on in here?" He asks looking from Alex to me. Alex doesn't say anything and instead looks away guilty and all at once, I start to feel ten times worse.
My whole body breaks out into a sweat and I fall back into the bed, the beeping becoming louder and faster. My vision starts to blur and the yelling voices seem miles away. I faded into darkness for the second time today.
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I wake to the same quiet and annoying beeping. Although this time I can hear voices from outside my room. I open my eyes to see Alex talking with Webber through the glass of my room in the ISU. As I watch them I don't even realize someone is walking into my room until they clear their throat. It's the same intern from before, Dr. Yang.
"I'm here to check your incision sight." She says calmly and walks over to me before putting her hand on the bottom of my hospital gown. She gives me a quick look for me to nod an okay, before lifting it up to expose my stomach.
She spends about five minutes checking it before pulling my gown back down and walking to the foot of my bed to record something into my chart.
"You know Alex?" I say as the silence becomes too much for me to handle. I watch as Alex gets annoyed through the window before walking away leaving Webber standing there.
"Karev? Yeah." She answers a little too quickly and I smile, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Yeah, don't worry, you can say it. He's a total ass." She looks up at me when I finish with a small superficial smile.
"Well, I can't disagree." She says before going back to the chart and as she does, Webber walks into the room. He excuses her out of the room and again it's just the two of us.
"I spoke to your brother." He says and I look down at my hands. "He came clean and explained what he did." I look up sharply. So, he really did do it. I feel a knife stab into my heart, I'm hurt that he would jeopardize my career like that. When I don't answer he continues. "I'd like to extend another offer for you to join the program here at Seattle Grace." I look up at him, tears starting to appear in my eyes. I get another chance. "Mercy West is a great program but if you'd-"
"Yes. Yes, definitely yes." I say smiling from ear to ear. "I accept." He nods and gives me a thoughtful smile.
"Your placement will be waiting for you once you have recovered."
Finally, my life is coming together again.