Seattle, April 2007
Seattle Grace's ER has never been more chaotic.
It's storming out, so everyone knows to expect more traumas, but tonight is different though. Tonight, it seems like all hell decided to break loose and come rushing into the ER. Everyone's on call, whether they were on schedule to be or not and nobody's happy about it.
"Tonight was supposed to be my night off," Addison Montgomery groans as she and Miranda Bailey walk through the busy ER.
"Mine too; but you know how it is when Seattle gets hit with a rain storm; all sorts of idiotic things are bound to happen," Bailey says as both women pick up charts. Bailey rolls her eyes at the sight of her 6 interns who are aimlessly waiting for instructions.
"What the hell are you people standing around for? There are too many people whose lives need to be saved, so go save some damn lives!" Dr. Bailey shouts as her 6 interns scurry to find patients to tend to.
"You could be a little nicer to them ya know," Addison chuckles; her reading glasses are perched on the bridge of her nose as she looks over her patient for the night.
"You want me to be nicer to Meredith Grey after all the hell she's given you?" Bailey places a hand on her hip and raises an eyebrow.
"…Point taken; what've you got?" Addison tucks her hair behind her ears.
"Ruptured Spleen; easy, could do it with my eyes closed. You?"
"Woman in labor, high risk...hey Jack, you got any information on..." Addison starts though she's interrupted by the sound of her soon-to-be ex-husband's voice.
"Out of the way people, coming through!" Derek shouts as a gurney carrying a lifeless looking Preston Burke makes its way through the ER.
"Is that-"
"It's Burke," Addison says, completely shocked.
"What the hell?" Bailey's face contorts into something mixed with confusion, annoyance, and shock.
"Addison, Bailey, we need all hands on deck," The Chief says; he looks less than pleased to be in the ER. Not only is it raining, but one of his star surgeons just came into the ER on a gurney.
"I've got a high-risk mom in labor," Addison informs him with a shrug.
"Can you-"
"It's why I was called in," she says with a sigh.
"Bailey…"
"I'll pass my ruptured spleen off to another resident,"
"Good, because I'm gonna need you to assist on Burke,"
"I'm on it chief," Bailey turns to another resident informing them about her patient before following the chief down the hall.
"Keep me updated, will you?" Addison calls out to Richard who simply nods before hurrying into a trauma room. She pulls back the curtain of the trauma bay; she grabs the chart and looks it over before smiling at her patient.
"Okay Mrs. Wheeler, I'm Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd and I'll be assisting you today. Your chart says that this is a high-risk pregnancy. Based on the information I have from your doctors over at Mercy West, I'm gonna have to take the baby...can you book an OR please?" Addison says to a nurse as she begins to go over the procedures and risks with her patient; she looks up momentarily when she hears a familiar voice in the pit,
"Help! Somebody Help!"
"Joe?" Addison peaks her head out from behind the curtain to see Joe the bartender holding a small child in his arms. She's just about to react when Arizona Robbins rushes forward, taking the child from Joe.
"I've got it…Rodriguez! I could use an extra pair of arms over here!" Arizona says to first-year resident Loren Rodriguez who immediately rushes towards her.
"Jesus Christ, this night can't get any worse," Addison groans just as Nurse Olivia shouts,
"We've got another incoming!" The paramedics bring in yet another victim, a male who looks like he might not make it.
"I shouldn't have said anything; alright Mrs. Wheeler, let's get you up to surgery, shall we?" Addison gives her patient a reassuring smile before walking with the gurney up to the OR.
oOoOo
"Alright Rodriguez, what've we got?" Arizona is quickly assessing her young patient as Joe stands off to the side, his eyes intently focused on the child he'd brought in.
"Jane Doe appears to be between five and seven years old. She's got multiple abrasions, six-centimeter head lack; there's bruising and burn marks on her arms and legs. Her abdomen is distended and rigid; possible abdominal injury. Her pupils are blown, she could have a possible skull fracture." Loren tells her, though Arizona's attention is focused on Joe.
"Joe, can you tell me what happened?"
"I was coming over because I'd heard about what happened to Dr. Burke and, I found her lying out on the ground just outside of the entrance; she was barely breathing. Is she gonna be okay?" Joe says in a panic.
"She's still breathing on her own, but barely. Joe, listen to me, it's a good thing you did find her; you probably saved her life. Alright people, let's get her set up in a trauma room...I need an ET tube and some warm blankets...Joe, did you see anyone else around when you found her?" Arizona asks
"No, but-"
"Dr. Robbins, she's having a seizure!" A nurse shouts as Arizona silently curses.
"Someone get Joe out of here and have him wait to talk the to police!"
"Rodriguez, what do we do next?"
"I need some Clonazepam, now!" Loren shouts as a nurse quickly comes to her aid and administers the right dosage; it seems to help, the girl's body is no longer convulsing.
"Get her up to CT; see what's going on with her head. Do a full work up and book an OR. This kid is a mess; we may have to open her up. I want you on this case round the clock, understood?" Arizona's tone is sharp but her eyes are kind as she speaks to Loren who quickly nods.
"Hey, who was your resident before you ended up with Bailey?"
"Ingles," Loren says as Arizona makes a face.
"Ooh. Well it's a good thing she left; Bailey's one of the best residents to work under," Arizona tells her
"I heard,"
"You stand a better chance of passing your intern exams with Bailey as your resident. Anywho, keep me updated on her; I'll probably send Alex Karev to help you out since you're still new, sound good?"
"Yeah, sure," Loren says, though she rolls her eyes at the mention of Alex Karev.
"Let's get her up to CT," Loren says to a nurse.
"Right away, doctor,"
oOoOo
Bright lights, shiny bright lights, those are the first thing she sees. Her arm is hurting and so is her head; all she feels is pain. There are people talking to her, shining bright lights into her eyes. She's scared, doesn't know who these people are, where she is, or what's going on. She tries to talk but, she can't.
"It's okay sweetie; I need you to take a deep breath for me when I count to three. One, two, three…" She takes the deep breath and watches as the young woman pulls a tube out of her throat, yuck.
There's another lady standing beside her, a blonde looking woman with a nice smile.
"Welcome back; my name's Dr. Robbins, and this is Dr. Karev and Dr. Rodriguez. Can you tell me your name?" The woman, Dr. Rob...Dr. Robin asks.
She scrunches her forehead and tries really hard to think. She should know this, everybody has a name. But the more she thinks about it, the more it makes her head hurt.
"I don't know," Her voice is scratchy and it makes her cough.
The other lady doctor helps her take small sips from a tiny plastic cup. The other two doctors stand there glancing at one another before the guy, Dr…something that starts with a K, walks over to her.
"Can you tell me the last thing you remember?" Dr. K looks mean; he's got brown hair and brown eyes, and he's scowling. She scrunches her nose and closes her eyes, desperately trying to think of the last thing she remembers.
"It was wet, and dark, and then…I saw a bright light," she tells Dr. K; who looks back at Dr. Robin and sighs.
"I'm sorry!" Her voice comes out in a whimper as tears well up in her eyes. The other lady doctor sits on the other side of the bed and gently brushes her hair back.
"Hey, you don't have to be sorry; it's okay if you don't know what happened. Sometimes, it's hard to remember things after you have an accident. I'm Loren, but you can call me Lorie, how's that sound?" The woman, Dr. Lorie is really pretty; she's got dark hair like hers and bright eyes. When she smiles, she looks even prettier.
"Okay, but, what are you gonna call me?" The little girl looks up at Loren with big pleading eyes.
"For now, we'll call you Jane, how's that sound?" She bites her lower lip before she scowls.
"I guess," she huffs; Loren grins at her.
"Don't worry, it's just until we figure out what your real name is…if it helps, I don't like the name Jane either," Loren gives the little girl a wink, which causes her to giggle.
"She's a cute kid, isn't she?" Arizona asks a short time later when Loren is reporting to her on little Jane Doe's condition.
"She is, she looks familiar though,"
"She does; have you found anything on her parents," Loren shakes her head as Arizona sighs heavily.
"Poor kid,"
"Yeah, I know…"
"You're right though, she does look familiar. You'd probably think I was crazy for saying this but…" Arizona shakes her head as Loren stares at her.
"What?"
"It's silly but, if Derek Shepherd and Addison Montgomery were to ever have a kid, their kid would exactly like our Jane Doe," Arizona said with a laugh as Loren tilted her head to the side and stared at the now sleeping Jane Doe.
"Y'know, now that you mention it, she does look like them," Loren laughs as she focused her attention on finding out just who little Jane Doe really was.
Boston MA, January 2007
Amelia Shepherd is in deep shit.
She's pacing back and forth in her small apartment staring at the letter that had been slipped under her door while she was at work. Her hands shake as she read the letter over and over,
You thought you got by, but remember, you'll never get away.
It was a short letter, but the words numbed her to her core. She'd know that phrase anywhere; Duarte. Even thinking about saying his name sent a shiver down Amelia's spine. She shook her head; her eyes focused on the 11 words written on the paper. She felt sick to her stomach, her vision was fuzzy, everything felt like it was spinning.
"Amelia, is everything alright?" Her best friend Michelle gave her a small smile as she stepped into the living room.
"Uh, yeah…listen, I've gotta make a run; I'll be back, okay?" Michelle nodded, still worried about her friend.
"Whatever's going on, you'll tell me eventually!" She shouted as Amelia quickly left the apartment.
It was freezing out as she shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She needed to find a phone, a payphone in particular. There was no way she was making this call on her cell; it would far too easy for him to find her and track her down. She ended up in one of the roughest neighborhoods across town before she finally found a payphone. She rushed across the street, ignoring the honks of car horns. Her hands were numb by the time she slid the quarter into the small hole. She quickly dialed the all too familiar number, waiting exactly three rings before the all voice she desperately wanted to hear answered,
"Amelia, I've been waiting for your call,"
"Shut up! Where is she, and what've you done with her?" The man on the other end of the phone chuckled.
"I see you got my note,"
"Shut up, just shut up!"
"Now, that's no way to talk an old friend,"
"Duarte please, just tell me where she is!" Amelia could feel the tears prickling at the back of her eyes.
"Now that's a question I can't answer; that photo was taken a little over a year ago. That means she could be anywhere by now," He laughed as Amelia swore into the phone.
"I swear if you don't tell me where she is I'll-"
"What, go to the police? Tell me, what will your brother and sister-in-law think when they know that you're responsible for their little girl's disappearance?" Tears rolled down Amelia's cheeks as she pulled out the note once again; this time her eyes were focused on the photo attached to it.
It was a picture of her niece, Abigail, the night she was abducted…
Chapter 2 to follow…