Title- That's Freedom
Plot- Jo is forced to face the demons of her past when her abusive husband shows up at the hospital. One-shot
So this is something that I've been working on for a while now and now that it is finally complete I'm so excited to share it with you all and hear what you think.
Bold and italics indicate Jo's thoughts
Bold indicates Voice over
Sending you all love and sunshine and happiness and so, Without further ado, here's 'That's freedom'
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Freedom... It's something that we all long for... It's something that we all want. When you walk away from something bad... Something broken... Something tragic and poisonous it's something we all dream off. But is it something that you achieved a long time ago?
"Stop! It's not funny. It was awful!" Steph protests as Leah makes fun of her in the residents lounge.
"Come on, it was freaking Hilarious. Who would of thought that the guy would spend his entire one week hospital stay flirting with you, only to have you turn him down," Leah laughs.
"Yeah well, last time I dated a patient it ended in him dying," Steph replies a mater of factly.
"Guys, Minnick is on her way down here," Jo says as she enters the residents lounge. "Rumour has it that she's handing out more surgeries for us to take lead on," Jo adds as she puts her lab coat on.
"Come to mama. I'm totally going to get this one," Leah smiles.
"You had the last two. It's my turn now," Jo replies to Leah.
"That's just because I'm so good," Leah laughs. "Besides Jo, you can't go thirty minutes in a surgery without throwing up," Leah adds.
"She can't discriminate against me because I'm pregnant. There are laws against that," Jo replies.
"You should of thought about that before you let Karev knock you up," she replies.
"I didn't let Karev knock me up. We got back together, had sex and accidentally got pregnant. There's a big difference," Jo replies. "Besides, our little Charlotte is going to be on its best behaviour for me," Jo says as she rubs her 20 week baby bump.
"Guys, stop. She's about to enter the room," Steph says as she sees Minnick walk past the window of the residents lounge.
"Okay. Assignments today," Dr Minnick says as she walks into the residents lounge. "You guys will be trolling for surgeries with an assigned attending. Dr Wilson and Dr Grey. Dr Edwards and Dr Webber. Dr Warren and Dr Robbins and Dr Murphy and Dr Shepherd. You need to find your attending and start trolling," Dr Minnick instructs.
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"What have we got?" Jo asks Owen as she and Dr Grey rush over to him in the ambulance bay. They were quickly followed by Steph and Dr Webber. They were supposed be be trolling for surgeries, however each of their respective attending's were paged.
"In coming trauma. Dr Wilson and Dr Grey are on Trauma one and Dr Webber and Dr Edwards have trauma two. I'll assist where needed,," Owen says just as the first ambulance arrives, quickly followed by the second.
"What do we have?" Jo asks the ambulance driver as he opens up the back door.
"35 year old male..." The paramedic says as he continues to describe the Patients condition to Jo and Meredith.
"Alright, let's go," Jo replies and as they wheel the man out of the ambulance Jo freezes, her body goes stiff and her eyes grow wide.
My heart beats heavy in my chest. I can feel it beating and getting faster and faster with every passing second. I can feel myself hyperventilating... My breathing is getting deeper and quicker. It's him... I... I don't know how, but it's him. I can't be his doctor, I just can't.
"Dr Wilson, Dr Wilson!" Meredith says as she begins to wheel the man out of the ambulance. Jo snaps out of her day dream.
"Sorry, sorry," she says. "Let's get him inside," she replies slowly. Jo and Meredith wheel the man inside and into trauma bay two. Jo stands in the doorway of the Trauma room, unable and unwilling to enter.
"Dr Wilson, what do you want me to do? You're the lead surgeon on this case," Meredith says sternly. Jo continues to stare at the patient. "Dr Wilson!" Meredith says sternly.
"No I'm not. You are. Can you be the lead surgeon. I don't want to do it, I can't do it," Jo protests.
"Yes you can Jo, what are you taking about? I know we've had our ups and downs but you are a great Surgeon. You can do it," Meredith replies. "Now get in here because every minute we waste brings this man closer to death," Meredith says sternly.
She doesn't understand and I can't say I blame her for wanting to save this man's life. She doesn't know what he did to me, she doesn't know the terrible person he is.
"I can't do it. It's to personal. If I do it I might kill this man," Jo replies coldly.
"Jo, Do you know this man?" Meredith asks confused.
"I do. And I can't save this man's life. I am sorry but I just can't," Jo says lifelessly.
"You need to get in here right now Dr Wilson! You have a job to do, you are a doctor. Regardless of whatever this man has done you are required to save his life. Now get in here and do your job!" Meredith orders.
"I'm sorry. I told you. It's too personal, I can't save this man's life," Jo replies.
"Dr Hunt! I need your help!" Meredith calls out frustrated.
"What? What's going on?" He asks as he rushes into the trauma room.
"This is my case now and I need you're help," she says.
"Jo? What are you doing just standing there?" He asks.
"I can't help this man. I'm sorry," Jo replies before rushing over to a rubbish bin to throw up.
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Shit, I am in so much trouble. I just refused to save his life. Now I'm probably going to get suspended, or worse, fired. I don't need this right now. I've got too much going on in my life with this baby to worry about possibly not having a job.
"Is this the woman that was brought in with Samuel?" Jo asks Steph as she walks up to her. She was standing outside the woman's ICU room.
"Ah, yes. Her name is Rose," Steph replies. "How's your guy doing?" She asks.
"I don't know," Jo replies coldly as she looks into the woman's room.
Look at her, her body so venerable, so hurt. He did it again. I'll bet anything that she let him in, that she opened up her heart and then he hit her. He beat her to an inch of her life.
"Jo, what do you mean you don't know?" Steph asks confused. She looks at Jo and sees not expression on her face. She'd never seen her friend like this before. She looked so broken.
"I mean exactly what I said. I don't know how he is. I refused to treat him," Jo replies as she looks at Steph.
"You what? Why?" Steph asks shocked.
"What are her injuries?" Jo asks curiously.
"Her injuries are extensive. Brain bleed, broken arm and leg and internal bleeding. She appears to have fallen down a flight of stairs," Steph says.
"Or pushed," Jo says quietly.
"Pushed? Jo, what's going on. You don't seem yourself. You're refusing to treat patients and making accusations," Steph says.
"Tell me when she's awake please," Jo instructs.
"Jo, what's going on, you're scaring me," Steph says concerned.
"Just tell me when she's awake," Jo replies before walking away.
It's all my fault. I should have reported him for what he did to me. I should of done something to stop him from hurting others but instead I ran. And now look what happened. He got to that poor woman. Now I've got to give him a Piece of my mind.
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"Samuel!" Jo calls out as she barges into Samuel's hospital room.
"Dr Wilson!" Meredith says sternly. He had just woken up from surgery and Meredith was informing him of his injuries.
"I just saw the woman that you came in with, Rose. You sly son of a..."
"Dr Wilson! I need to talk to you outside, right now!" Meredith says sternly. Jo looks fiercely at Meredith before leaving the room.
"Please excuse me. I'll be right back," Meredith informs him before exiting the room after Jo.
"Yes Dr Grey," Jo says annoyed.
"I don't know what history you have with this man, or how you know him, but..." Meredith beings.
"That's right, you don't know," Jo replies annoyed.
"So tell me," Meredith says.
"Look, it's none of your business," Jo replies.
"Well, it is my business because you refused to treat this man. And now you are barging into his room and yelling at him," Meredith replies.
"He is a monster of a man who doesn't deserve to be alive right now. That is who he is," Jo replies firmly.
She doesn't know. If she knew she'd understand by behaviour, she might even be on board with it. But that doesn't matter right now because she doesn't know...
"You need to get in line right now Dr Wilson! You have no authority to waltz into my patients room and yell at him the way you did. You are not on this case and you are not allowed to come near him. Do you understand?" Meredith asks firmly.
"Yes Dr Grey," Jo replies before walking away.
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"What's up Steph, you paged me," Jo says as she walks up to Steph.
"I just thought you'd want to know that Rose is awake," Steph says.
"Thank you," Jo says before walking into Rose's room.
"Jo, what are you doing?" Steph asks as she follows her into Rose's room
"I need to talk to her," Jo replies.
"Hi Rose, I'm Dr Wilson," Jo smiles as she sees Rose.
"Hi," Rose says slowly.
"How are you feeling?" Jo asks gently.
"Wh... Wh... Where is he?" Rose stutters.
"Do you mean Samuel?" Jo asks.
"Yes," she replies.
"He's in another room. But don't worry, he's not going to hurt you," Jo replies. She looks across at Steph and she could tell that she was a little pissed about Jo walking in to talk to her patient.
She's pissed, I can tell. Her lips are all pursed up and her eyebrows are raised. I can't really blame her for being pissed, I did just walk into her patients room without asking her and now I'm about to say something that is probably going to make Steph even more pissed.
"He pushed you didn't he? And before you say anything, don't try to deny it. I can see the injuries and it adds up," Jo replies concerned.
"Dr Wilson!" Steph reprimands.
Yep... Now she's definitely pissed at me...
Rose continues to look at Jo. She doesn't move and she doesn't say anything.
"And I know because I can see these injuries on me. It happened to me, he got to me first," Jo says, she takes a deep breath in before continuing. "Samuel and I are married. I was 18 and we've been married for 10 years now, but only two of them were ever happy. There was a turning point though, a trigger, something that made him turn from the best man I've ever known, to the worst man I've ever know," Jo says.
"What was it?" Rose asks concerned. The look of shock was all over her face. Jo looks back at Steph, who too was in complete and utter shock. Behind her was Alex.
Alex, how did he get here? How did he know I was here? Maybe he was passing by the room and he heard my voice. Maybe Steph paged him? That was the logical answer. I don't know how much he heard, but he better buckle down because he doesn't know about this. He knows I'm married, he knows he was abusive and he knows that I changed my name. But we had a mutual agreement to talk about everything, all the details when I was ready. And I'm pregnant, so all the hormones haven't helped me exactly be ready to tell him everything yet. But I guess here goes nothing...
"I was pregnant. The pregnancy was the textbook definition of smooth. Nothing went wrong, no complications, I didn't even have morning sickness. I gave birth to a extremely healthy and beautiful baby girl. She was the light of our lives and we called her Phoebe Elizabeth Sheridan- Foster. But when she was three months old she died from SIDS. He blamed me because I was the one who put her down for the night. That was the turning point. He then got physically and emotionally abusive and after I nearly died and ended up in a coma for three days I ran. As soon as I was able to I ran and I changed my name so he'd never be able to find me," Jo admits as she struggles to control her emotions. "You need to report him," she says.
"No, no I can't. He um... He won't like that," Rose replies back.
"I've gotta go," Jo says as she breaks down. She rushes out of the room and Alex follows her.
"Jo! Jo!" He calls out. Jo doesn't stop and continues walking, "Jo! Please, just let me talk to you!" He calls out. Jo stops and turns around. Alex rushes over to her and she collapses into his arms and continues to sob.
"I can't do it Alex. He's here and he's hurt her and I just can't do it!" She cries.
"Okay, slow down and calm down. Take five deeps breaths, copy me," Alex instructs. Alex breaths in and out deeply and Jo copies him. "That's it, good job," he replies. "Now let's go in here and talk," Alex says as he leads Jo into the empty attending's lounge. He closes the door behind them and locks it. Jo walks over and sits on the lounge and Alex sits next to her.
"How much of that did you hear?" She asks.
"All of it. I was walking by and I saw you in there with Steph. I wanted to See if you wanted to catch some lunch together," he replies.
"He's here Alex. My husband Samuel Foster is here and he's right down the hall. I wanna yell at him, but I also never want to see his scumbag of a face again. What he put me though was hell! But I really wanna rip his head off!" Jo says enraged.
"Well, why don't you go down to his room. I'll come down with you and we'll do this together. I love you and I want you to face whatever it is that you need to face," Alex replies.
"I've already seen him. He was my patient when he came into the ER. I refused to treat him and got my arse kicked off the case. Then I yelled at him and got my arse kicked by Meredith. And that lead up to the point that you just saw," Jo replies. "Now I'm not allowed to see him," Jo adds.
"Jo..." Alex begins.
"I wanna give it to him Alex. I want to rip his head off for what he put me through. I want to give him divorce papers and I want to set myself free from his control," Jo says.
"Is there something I can do?" He asks.
"I'm sorry that you had to hear about my past with Samuel like that. I wanted to tell you, I really did. But I guess my past has never really gotten away from me, and now he's here and he's staring me in the face," Jo replies sadly. "And I just wanna rip his head off!" She says again.
"Jo. You need to see him. So I'm going to talk to Meredith and I don't want you to say no. Because I'm going to do it anyway," Alex says sternly.
"Normally I'd protest, but okay," Jo says.
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"Mer, you need to let Jo see Samuel," Alex says.
"What, why? She refused to treat him and then tried to yell at him," Meredith replies.
"She can't move on from her past until she sees him," Alex says.
"Alex, you're confusing me and I don't have time for games. Just tell me what's going on already," Meredith replies.
"Samuel is her husband," Alex replies.
"The husband you told me she had before you went to take the plea deal?" Meredith asks.
"Yes," Alex replies.
"You know, you never told me the full story," Meredith says.
"He nearly beat her to death Mer. And now he's in the hospital with another woman that he nearly beat to death," Alex replies desperately.
"Oh my god, that's horrible. Now I get why she didn't want to save his life. She can see him, but you and I have gotta be there. That way we have two witness accounts of what happened. Let's go," Meredith replies.
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"Well, well, well, if it isn't Alexandra Grace Elizabeth Sheridan- Foster," Samuel smirks as Jo walks into Samuels room. Behind her were Alex and Meredith, who were both watching every move like a hawk.
Breathe Jo, breathe. You're hyper ventilating. It's okay, he is in a hospital bed and he's just had surgery. He can't hurt you.
"I forgot how much of a mouthful your name was to say. It's a pretty posh one for a girl who had no parents and grew up in the foster system don't you think?" He smirks.
"Shut up," Jo says assertively.
"Excuse you?" Samuel asks while raising his eyebrow.
"I said shut up!" Jo says strongly.
Jo looks back at Alex and Meredith. She was looking for some kind of reassurance that she was doing it right. Alex nods his head and Jo turns back around to face Samuel.
"I want a divorce," Jo says.
"Ah, sorry, no can do I'm afraid. You made a commitment to me at the alter when you sighed our marriage certificate. For better of for worse. This is the worse bit and I'm confidant we'll get through it," he says with a smirk..
Jo scoffs, "this is not the for worse bit. This is a living nightmare. It's hell. Everyday you beat me. You made me feel like a worthless bit of garbage that you could throw out in the bin. Well guess what, I've moved on. I did what I had to do to get myself out of this mess and I've made something of myself. I've found somebody who loves me and treats me with resect, like a decent human being. And I want to marry him. So I want a divorce," she gulps.
"You ran out on me Alexandra. Do you really think I'm going to reward your selfish behaviour? You wouldn't dare to try. You know exactly what I'm capable of," He asks threatening her.
Okay Jo, he sounds like he's threatening to hurt you. But right now you have all the control so just breathe...
"You are trying to intimidate me but you're forgetting something. You're stuck in this hospital bed. You can't hurt me and I know that. You are desperately trying to control this situation because you know that you've lost all the control and I have it all right now. And that frightens you," Jo says while looking at him blankly.
"Hm, well, I see you're pregnant. I hope you don't kill this one," he says with a grin.
Alex goes to make a move on Samuel, however is stopped my Meredith, "let Jo handle it," she whispers sternly to him.
It's okay Jo. He's just trying to hurt you with his words. He doesn't like that you're the one controlling this situation.
"Don't you ever say that! Phoebe died from SIDS. It wasn't my fault, it happens. You kept blaming me, emotionally abusing me and telling me that it was my fault. And I believed it. And it took me a very long time to realise that it wasn't my fault. I'm going to be calling the police," Jo states.
"With what? You have no evidence that I hurt you. There is nothing. Now who do you think they're going to believe? A business man that has a reputable past? Or a woman who was a homeless hoodlum growing up?" He asks.
Boy, then he's not going to see this one coming...
"You see, that's where you are so very wrong. I am a well respected doctor. I have built a name for myself. And as for evidence, I have photos to back me up. I have the countless hospital records. You are going to burn in hell," Jo replies firmly. She gives him one last look before bolting out of the room.
"Where are you going Jo?" Alex also calling after him.
"To see Rose!" Jo calls back out.
"You need to tell the police what he did. It won't get better and you won't be the only one he hurts," Jo says as she bursts into Rose's hospital room.
"No, no, I can't do that," she replies. "He won't like that," she adds.
"Yes you can Rose. He doesn't control you Rose. You are your own person and I'm sorry that it took me so long to realise that. So yes Rose, you can do this. Because this... This is not going to be the last time he does something like this to you, or to anybody else. I wish I could go back in time and report him, I wish I would of had the courage to do that. Because then I would of been able to keep living my life without the constant fear. And maybe, just maybe if I had of reported him you wouldn't be here in this position," Jo says sternly.
Rose is silent and Jo could tell that she was thinking. "I'll do it," Rose replies.
"Good. Because I'm going to report him too. We can make a difference, we can put him behind bars where he belongs. This has happened for far too long and we can't let it happen again," Jo says.
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Alex follows Jo into the residents lounge and sits down next to her in silence.
"I'm sorry Alex," she says.
"Sorry? What for?" He asks confused.
"For all of it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it all from the beginning. I'm sorry that it all came out the way it did," Jo replies.
"Jo, you have got nothing to be sorry for. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that. What ever had to go through... It's made us better together. It's made us realise not to take each other for granted," he replies.
"How did I get so lucky with you," she replies smiling, "thank you," she adds before she kisses him.
"How are you doing?" Alex asks.
"I feel like I am finally free," she smiles.
"Jo, you'd already started living your life. You moved forward, you were already free a long time ago. You did the best thing you could do and you moved forward and when you did you got stronger and you got away from his trap,"
"I know. But now I feel it," she smiles as she rests her head on Alex's shoulder. "And I can't wait to see what our future holds," she says as she grabs Alex's hand places his hand on her stomach and rests her on hand on top of his, "because this... Two lives coming together to create one... This excites me," she grins.
End quote- Freedom... It's something that we all crave at one point in our lives. When you walk away from something bad... Something broken... Something tragic and poisonous freedom is all you want. Freedom... But what does that even mean? It's a fresh start. It's a new beginning. It's getting away from the trap that's holding you back. But when do you exactly achieve it? Do you achieve it when everything is resolved? When everything in your life is perfect and going exactly how you planned you? Because chances are when that felling of freedom happens isn't when you achieved freedom. You achieved it from the moment you walked out that door...