Greys Anatomy Season 9 Episode 1
What Hurts The Most
Hey guys, this is my first attempt at writing about something other then a Total Drama Fandom...This time, I'm trying out Grey's Anatomy, one of my favourite shows ever. Now, as most of you may know, Season 8 of Greys ended in tragedy as Meredith, Cristina, Arizona, Mark, Derek and Lexie ended up in a plane crash...and unfortunately, Lexie died. So this is how I think Season 9 of Greys Anatomy would go, based on the rumours I have heard about Season 9.
In the aftermath of the plane crash, a significant amount of trauma lurks around the hospital. Derek, Arizona and Mark deal with their injuries, Owen deals with all the cuts in the hospital, Meredith has an awkward lunch with her father, Callie is absolutely heartbroken, and someone from Alex's past re-enters his life
Trauma. Nobody likes it. It's just this big wave of fear that goes around after some traumatic event, and doesn't just affect the victim, but their friends. Their family. It's like an explosion of negative energy that feeds on the fear of those it devours. Trauma
Meredith woke up. It was morning. Just any ordinary morning. Derek was next to her, snoring lightly. Smiling, she playfully poked his cheek. Derek snorted, then woke up.
"Good morning." Said Meredith cheekily.
"Good morning." Said Derek, grinning dreamily at her. Derek pulled himself up, and jumped out of the bed. Meredith followed him. She looked at Zola, who was sleeping in her cot. Meredith smiled, and the two walked downstairs into the kitchen, hand in hand.
"Morning!" Said a voice. There was Meredith's sister, Lexie. She was frying some eggs.
"Morning Lexie." Said Meredith. Suddenly, Zola's cry rang out from the house.
"I'll get her." Said Derek, and he walked back up the stairs. Meredith turned to Lexie
"So, I had the most terrible dream…you, me, Derek, Cristina, Sloan and Robbins were all involved in a plane crash…Derek's hand was injured, Robbins and Sloan nearly died…and you did." Said Meredith.
"I died? What a bad dream! Don't worry Meredith, I'm not going anywhere." Smiled Lexie. Meredith smiled back. Suddenly, Lexie's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fell backwards. It was all so fast, it was a blur.
"Oh my God, Lexie!" Cried Meredith. She ran around the counter, and suddenly, Lexie was being pinned down by a huge piece of metal. Then, the house seemed to collapse around her. She heard screams…she heard a woman screaming…it sounded like Arizona. She heard Cristina…
Meredith woke up. She was in her bed. There was no doubt that the nightmares would still be around for months. She groaned, and pulled herself up. She turned her head, expecting to see Derek, but then, she saw a very different face. Meredith yelped.
"Good morning, sunshine." Grinned Cristina. Meredith sighed.
"The nightmares, Cristina. They keep coming back. I can't stop thinking about Lexie. I didn't even get to say goodbye to her." Said Meredith. Cristina sighed. You see, it had been two months since Meredith, Cristina and a handful of other doctors were involved in a plane crash. Meredith had lost her sister in that very same crash.
Meredith's husband, Derek, was also involved in the crash. He had to be hospitalized, because he had to break his hand to free himself from the wreckage, and he had made some nerve damage. Same with Arizona, who had a compound femur fracture, and internal bleeding and would have to be in a wheelchair for months on end.
None was worse off then Mark though. Mark was in a deep coma after suffering from a cardiac tamponade. Every day when Meredith and Cristina went to the hospital, Callie was sobbing at his bedside.
Of course, Owen didn't actually make Meredith and Cristina work after the crash. He let them visit the hospital whenever they needed to. Meredith went to visit Derek every day, but Cristina didn't want to risk running into Owen, so she usually stayed at home.
"Well, I'm off to the hospital." Said Meredith. Suddenly, Zola's cry rang out from the house. Meredith immediately felt stupid for forgetting about her baby. She was so desperate to see Derek…
"Dude, you forgot about your baby. We were only trapped there for three days." Said Cristina. Meredith sighed, and marched up to Zola's room. Zola saw her and giggled. Meredith smiled, and tickled Zola's cheeks. She changed Zola's diaper, and soon, Zola was sound asleep yet again.
In reality, Meredith felt extremely guilty. She and Cristina had escaped the crash with a few stitches and a sling for their arm, but all the others had possibly life changing injuries. She sighed, slung her purse over her shoulder, and walked into her car.
Back at the hospital, the mood was definitely not set to happy. The plane crash had traumatized everyone, and the loss of Lexie had not been pleasant either. She was always upliftingly optimistic, and she was also rumoured to be the next head of neuro. The loss affected everyone, especially her friends Jackson, April, and Alex.
Jackson missed Lexie because even though they had gone out and broken up, they were still great friends. It was the same with Alex. April and Lexie had gotten off to a bad start, but ended up as friends who could always trust eachother.
As Meredith walked through the doors of the hospital, she immediately walked off to Derek's room. Several doctors greeted her as she walked past. Meredith sighed, and she walked into Derek's room.
"Hey you." Said Meredith cheekily. Derek mumbled.
"Hey." Said Derek. Meredith sighed. Before the crash, Derek had been offered the head of neurosurgery at Harvard, but after his hand's damage, they respectfully but promptly withdrew the offer. Meredith had never seen her husband so depressed before.
"Derek, you've got to get out of your rut." Said Meredith, spreading his bed sheet over him. Derek scoffed.
"What have I got to go back to Meredith? I lost the only tolerable sister I had in that crash. My best friend is about to die. My position at Harvard was withdrawn, as well as my chance of ever winning a Harper Avery award." Said Derek.
"You have a wife and a daughter." Said Meredith. Derek rolled his eyes. Meredith scoffed.
"Fine, be that way." Said Meredith. She made it a daily habit to go into Arizona and Mark's rooms too. First, she arrived into Arizona's room. The tiny blonde woman looked so said. Her leg was buried in plaster.
"Hey, Arizona. How are you doing?" Said Meredith. Arizona made a sad smile.
"Fine, I guess. The doctor thinks I'll recover perfectly, but Mark…he's got such a slim chance. If he dies, Callie will lose her best friend. So will Derek. Sofia will lose her father." Said Arizona, her voice slightly wavering. Meredith sighed. Just then, a stern voice rang from behind her, startling Meredith.
"Dr. Grey." Said a stern voice. Meredith turned around, and there was Doctor Miranda Bailey. She had never gotten along with Bailey, although she
"Oh, hi Dr. Bailey." Said Meredith. Bailey still looked stern
"Is Yang ever going to come out here? Because with Dr. Altman gone, we need a decent cardiothoracic surgeon around these halls." Said Bailey.
"Dr. Bailey, I think you should understand the position Cristina is in. She can't come back here to see her husband every day. She had PTSD, and this place is a constant reminder of everything that's gone wrong in her life." Said Meredith bluntly.
"Grey, this hospital destroyed my marriage. And I still have to go to my ex-husband's house every week to deliver my son to him. Out of my eight years at this place, I have only ever missed three days. So tell Yang to stop being such a baby and get her ass down here." Said Bailey. She exited the room. Arizona looked terrified.
"I-I'm sure Bailey is just stressed about her long-distance relationship." Said Arizona. Meredith picked up her purse.
"See you, Arizona." Said Meredith. Arizona glumly waved goodbye. The last room, and the most painful room to enter, was Mark's room. Callie was in there, sobbing as Mark lay there. Out of everyone, the plane crash affected Callie the most. She had nearly lost her wife, and her best friend.
"Hi, Callie. Shouldn't you visit Arizona?" Said Meredith.
"Meredith, Arizona's going to be okay. Mark isn't. As soon as he wakes up, which I'm not even sure he will, he'll be so depressed about Lexie, he won't want to live." Said Callie.
"Callie, me and Derek know Mark. We find it so hard to believe that he would voluntarily leave his family." Said Meredith. Callie just sobbed, and Meredith left, pondering.
Owen pondered in his office. He had so many slots to fill. It reminded him of the merger. He needed a new head of cardio to replace Teddy, and since Derek, Arizona and Mark were out of action, he needed new temporary attendings for neuro, peds, and plastics. He also needed to replace a handful of residents, such as Lexie, and he needed to replace Jackson, Alex and Cristina as well, who were going to other hospitals as well. He also needed to replace April. His thoughts were disturbed by his door opening.
"Chief Hunt." Said Richard
"Dr. Webber. How's your wife?" Said Owen. Richard sighed. His marriage to his wife, Adele had been up and down, but now, she had Alzheimers.
"Her condition continues to deteriorate. She doesn't even remember me." Said Richard.
"That's too bad." Said Owen.
"She's…um…sleeping with other guys now. She's acting like she's twenty five again." Said Richard. This made Owen feel terrible. He had slept with another woman while he was married to Cristina, and now she was leaving him.
"Hunt, I have to tell you…All these unnecessary firings. Kepner is a perfectly capable doctor." Said Webber.
"Who failed her boards." Said Owen.
"Worst case scenario, she redoes her fifth year of residency. And what about Altman?" Said Webber
"That wasn't a professional choice. It was to set her free. And besides, she's already left Seattle. It's too late." Said Owen.
"Well, just think about it. I mean, before you were here, the best resident out there was O'Malley. He failed his intern exam, and he repeated his year." Said Webber. Owen sighed.
"I'll think about it." Said Owen.
"That's all I ask." Said Webber. And with that, Richard got up and left the office. Owen had a lot of thinking to do.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
Alex Karev's alarm clock went off, awakening him from his sleep. He got out of bed, brushed his teeth, had a shower, got dressed, and opened up his apartment's window. He was expecting to see the Seattle Skyline, but was greeted by the view of Baltimore.
You see, Alex was staying at Seattle Grace initially, but couldn't refuse the offer as head of paediatrics at John Hopkins. He was actually meant to be on the plane that Arizona was on, but Arizona wouldn't let him go.
After Arizona's rescue, he felt so terribly guilty that he stayed at her bedside longer then Callie did. Arizona forgave him, and he pressed off going to Baltimore for two months until he absolutely had to go. Now, he didn't get the same thrill he did when he was going to the hospital to meet all his friends. Now he was stepping into the unknown.
On the way to the hospital, he felt like something was missing. Jackson and April weren't chatting away in the car. He missed living with them. He missed Arizona. He missed Meredith and Cristina.
"Good God, am I homesick?" He said to himself. Shaking the feeling off, he parked his car in the parking lot, and entered the huge hospital. It was clean, fresh, vibrant…but it wasn't home.
"Dr. Karev?" Said a voice. Alex turned around, and there was a small lady with glasses, blonde hair, and a careworn face
"I'm Dr. Julie Freischlag, Chief of Surgery. We're all very excited to have you. Now, come, we're holding a staff meeting to welcome you." Said Dr. Freischlag. Alex nodded, and followed her. At the conference room, Alex felt like a spotlight was on him. The blank stares of all those he didn't know.
"Alright, here we are. Everyone, this is Doctor Karev, our new head of paediatrics!" Announced Dr. Freischlag. Everyone clapped, and Alex smiled.
"Now, Doctor Karev, these are all our attending surgeons…Dr Miller, head of neurosurgery. Dr Fredrick, head of cardiothoracics, Dr Remill, head of orthopedics…hang on, where's the head of oncology?" Said Dr. Freischlag.
"Sorry I'm late Doctor Freischlag!" Said a voice that made Alex jump. It was a voice he hadn't heard for years. He turned around, and there she was. His guardian angel. The one who had hurt him when he needed her the most. Her silky blonde hair, her deep caramel eyes…
"Izzie." He said. Izzie was speechless.
"I-I'm sorry, do you two know eachother?" Said Dr. Freischlag
"Um…mildly." Said Alex.
"Yes, yes, it's been, uh…you know…what's the word?" Said Izzie.
"Years." Corrected Alex.
"Years, right." Said Izzie.
"Oh. Well, off to work. Dr. Stevens, since you were late, you can show Doctor Karev around. I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do." Said Dr. Freischlag. Alex mentally cursed her. So did Izzie.
April didn't feel complete. Her two best friends were in other parts of the country, never to return. And since she was out of a job, she couldn't pay the rent for her apartment, and was forced to move in with Meredith, Derek and Cristina, who pitied her every day.
Sometimes, April hated Jackson. He took her virginity, and then paraded off to Tulane. But then, she loved him. But all her friends were pretty much gone. Dennis had been fired in the merger. Reed, Charles and Lexie were dead. Alex and Jackson were gone. And now, she couldn't even be a doctor anymore.
Sometimes she would lie on the couch for the entire day, just thinking about him and how it could have been. She missed him.
She got off the couch, and checked her phone. She had two missed calls from Alex, and one from Meredith. She checked her messages. Meredith's was just a quick update on the survivors, and then, she checked Alex's phone.
"April, call me as soon as you get this. It's an emergency." Said Alex. April grudgingly dialled Alex's number.
"Talk, Alex." Said April.
"April, this is terrible! The head of oncology is Izzie!" Said Alex.
"What, Izzie? Your Izzie?" Said April.
"Yeah, it's so awkward!" Said Alex from the other line. Just then, Izzie exited the bathroom.
"Who you talking to?" Asked Izzie.
"I gotta go, April. Call you later." And he hung up. Izzie smirked.
"April? Who is this 'April'?" Said Izzie
"Just a friend." Said Alex tonelessly.
"We were 'just friends'." Said Izzie, smirking cheekily. Alex shrugged, and Izzie giggled.
"Look, Izzie, why are you just pretending nothing has happened? Why are you pretending things are fine with us?" Said Alex
"Think about it, Alex. I'm the head of oncology in this place. You're the head of peds. We'll be seeing eachother a whole lot. And I came to this hospital to escape all the drama at Seattle, to get a clean start. And I just got this big promotion, and I don't want it ruined by my ex-husband. Now let me show you the cafeteria." Said Izzie. Alex grudgingly followed his ex wife through the halls
Meredith sat by herself at the cafeteria for lunch. She would have sat with her friends, but they weren't there. Lexie was dead, Jackson and Alex were gone, and Cristina and April wouldn't leave the house. She thought about sitting with Webber, but she thought that would have been too awkward.
"M-Meredith?" Said a raspy voice from behind her. Meredith turned around, and there was her father, Thatcher Grey.
"Dad. What are you doing here?" Said Meredith. She had seen him at Lexie's funeral, but hadn't talked to him.
"I-I don't know. I just feel so…lost without Lexie. D-Do you mind if I have a seat?" Said Thatcher. Meredith fought the urge to tell him to go away, and politely sat him down.
"When I lost Susan, I began drinking…" Said Thatcher.
"Oh God, you haven't drank now, have you? Your liver…" Said Meredith
"Meredith, I'm being careful. If my liver rejects again, then I'm done for. I can't ask for another portion of your liver, and Lexie's gone, so…" Said Thatcher. However, suddenly, the beep of a pager went off in the cafeteria. It was Bailey's. She checked it, swore and rushed out of the cafeteria. Meredith's heart dropped. She was assuming one of the victims was coding.
"I have to help. Dad, I'll talk to you later, ok?" Said Meredith, and without another word, she rushed out into the hospital and followed Bailey. Bailey ran right past Derek and Arizona's rooms, and went straight into Mark's room. Callie was performing CPR.
"I-I don't know w-what happened! I-I was j-just sitting there, a-and, he started coding a-and…" Stuttered Callie hysterically.
"Torres, get out. You're family, you're not allowed to perform on patients." Said Bailey, trying to push Callie out of the way. Meredith grabbed Callie's arm.
"Come on, Callie." Said Meredith. Callie swatted her away.
"Grey, book the OR! I need a crash cart over here!" Yelled Bailey. Nurses and other doctors began to swarm in. Meredith ran in, and knew that unless Mark had a decent cardiothoracic surgeon, he was done for. She immediately got her cell phone out and rang Cristina.
"Hey, Mer." Said Cristina. She was watching surgical procedures and eating popcorn with April
"Cristina, Mark's coding! We need a decent cardio surgeon right now! Callie's panicking, you need to get here right now." Said Meredith. Cristina swore, and threw the popcorn onto the floor, and bolted out the door.
"April, are you coming?" She roared. April looked flabbergastered. She grabbed Zola, and got into the car.
"Hold on, because we need to get there fast." Said Cristina. She literally screeched out of the driveway, and got to the hospital as fast as she could. April bobbed Zola up and down on her knee frantically, while Zola giggled in joy.
"Lucky kid. She doesn't even know what's happening." Said April. Zola giggled, and Cristina ignored her. Pretty soon they were at the hospital. They got out of the car, and ran into the hospital
"Wait, what about Zola?" Said April.
"Take her to the daycare." Said Cristina.
"But I want to help!" Whined April. But Cristina was already gone. Sighing, April stomped towards the paediatric department, moaning.
"It's unfair. Just because I'm not a doctor any more doesn't mean I can't help." Mumbled April. Zola giggled. When she came into the door, she came across a shocking sight.
"Dr Robbins, will you play with my teddy bear?" Asked a tiny child. Arizona was there, in her wheelchair, playing with all the little children.
"Dr Robbins, what are you doing?" Exclaimed April.
"Dr Kepner, I could ask the same for you. Last time I checked, you weren't a doctor here." Said Arizona.
"Oh, um, just had to drop Zola to the day care." Said April. Zola giggled angelically
"Kepner, what's happening?" Said Arizona.
"E-Excuse me?" Stuttered April.
"The only reason you would need to bring Zola in is if no-one was in the house. Yang hasn't left that house in two months, and for her to leave now…" Said Arizona. April sighed
"Dr Sloan is crashing. He needs surgery, and with Dr Altman gone, we need her." Said April. Tears pricked in Arizona's eyes.
"M-Mark…" She stuttered. She stuttered several times before vomiting up some blood. The kids screamed in horror. April looked shocked. Arizona closed her eyes, and began to look limp.
"The sutures…" Muttered April. Arizona was coding. She knew what to do.
"I need a crash cart in here! Nurse! Get this kids out of here!" Yelled April. The nurse gathered the children and got them into their rooms. An intern rolled a crash cart up to April, and she began to ventilate Arizona. Dr Webber just so happened to be walking by, and ran in.
"What happened?" Said Webber
"Dr Webber, book an OR. Robbins is coding." Said April. Webber complied.
"I need a gurney over here!" Yelled April. She and a few of the interns propped Arizona onto the gurney and sprinted to the OR.
Elsewhere, Cristina was rushing Sloan into the OR, accompanied by Bailey. Callie was rushing next to the gurney, Meredith in tow.
"You stay alive, Mark Sloan, you hear me?" Screamed Callie, as they entered the surgical room. Just then, at the most inopportune timing, April and Webber sprinted past with Arizona on the gurney.
"Arizona? ARIZONA!" Shrieked Callie hysterically. Meredith had to hold Callie back.
"NO! NO! LET ME SEE HER!" Shrieked Callie. It pained Meredith to hold Callie back. Callie began to hyperventilate. Meredith had never seen Callie so pained. She had seen Callie get cheated on, she had seen Callie in a car crash. Yet never she had seen Callie so stressed out.
"Callie, Callie, you're having a panic attack. Just sit down and breathe." Ordered Meredith.
Cristina and April did their best in the surgeries. It was a perilous, torturous couple of hours for Callie. All the while, Meredith was waiting with Callie in the waiting room. Callie stayed silent the entire time. So did Meredith.
After several torturous, perilous hours, April came out of the OR, and into the waiting room. Callie and Meredith stood up. April smiled.
"Arizona's going to be ok. It turns out she just had some minor bleeding in her lungs, the sutures that were done initially had been rushed and clumsy, but they were easily fixed. It took a while to find, but we found it. We did it." Said April. Callie smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours, and she hugged April, tears leaking out of her cheeks. It seemed that in the bask of celebration and glory, no-one saw Cristina come into the room.
Things were running smoothly. All Cristina had to do was repair Mark's leaky ventricle, and then they were home free. But then, the noise that every doctor hated started. The sound of a code.
"He's crashing." Said the scrub nurse. Cristina immediately grabbed the paddles.
"Charge to 200." Said Cristina.
"Clear." Said the scrub nurse. Cristina shocked Mark's heart, which momentarily stopped the code, but it began again in seconds.
"Charge to 300." Ordered Cristina. The nurse cleared her, and this time, the code began about thirty seconds later. It was a war between Cristina and the code, and Cristina was tiring.
"Charge to 360." Said Cristina. The nurse cleared her again, and this time, the code didn't stop. Cristina panicked, and began to charge once more
Cristina sighed, as she saw Callie jumping up and down in joy, and went in.
Trauma. It's a terrible thing. It can derive from a lot of things. Whether when it's someone from your past re-enters your life…
(Alex and Izzie walking around John Hopkins)
(Thatcher Grey sitting in the cafeteria)
Or when you're just on the brink of losing everything…
(Callie jumping up and down in the waiting room)
(Owen sighing in his office)
Or even when you've already lost something
(April lounging on the couch)
(Derek looking gloomily at his mangled hand)
Either way, when it comes around, you can run, but you can't hide. Because that's what trauma does to you.