You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly
Summary: Ella earns the lead in her school play, but something goes awry.
Spoilers: Anything that happened up through "Rampage" is fair game. Also anything that is speculated for season 8 is fair game.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody.
Notes: This story takes place in 2014. Ella is thirteen. Mark's tumor has been in full remission for over twelve years. Rachel moved in with them for high school and she is currently a med student at County General. Mark and Elizabeth have two other children David, 9, and Christina Marie, 4. Everything else should be easy enough to understand.
"I got the part, I got the part!" yelled Ella as she ran into the house. She dropped her backpack at the bottom of the stairs and began a frantic search for her parents. She finally ran into the upstairs study, a room where she was not normally allowed to go, and found her mom engrossed in the computer screen. "I got the part!" she yelled once more.
Elizabeth turned away from the computer. Her excitement had overcome her wanting to reprimand her daughter for not knocking first. "Hunny, that's great," she said drawing her up into a hug.
{Ella had auditioned for her the school play. The junior high had decided to put on Peter Pan this year, and Ella had had her heart set on being Wendy. The cast had been announced over the school loudspeaker during the afternoon announcements. Ella had run all the way home, not stopping to talk to anyone.}
"I can't wait to tell dad. When's he getting home?" she asked.
"Your father got stuck covering a shift for Dr. Lockhart. He won't be home till very very late tonight," replied Elizabeth. Ella was disappointed, and the look on her face said so. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we go visit him at work."
Ella's face brightened up almost automatically. "Really?"
"Only if you want to."
"Of course I want to, mom."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guess who?" asked Ella as she clamped her hands over her father's eyes.
"Hrmm, Kerry?" he asked, playing along.
"Nooo," she replied taking her hands off. "It's me!"
"Well so it is," he said giving her a hug. "So what's this good news that you have?"
"I'm not telling you yet. I want to wait for Rachel," she replied.
"Fine," he said pretending to be annoyed. "Well, how about helping me with some patients while we wait for her?"
"I wanna help too," David pouted coming into the lounge. "I never get to help."
"You can help too." Mark picked up David and put him on his back as he and Ella went over to the ad mit desk. He grabbed a chart and they went off to Exam 3. They entered the room and Mark started the Exam. "Mr. Bartholomew, I'm Dr. Greene and these are my two assistants. What seems to be bothering you today?"
The patient looked at the two children and then back towards Mark. "I… uh… well, I had problems sleeping last night and this morning I woke up and I couldn't see through certain parts of my right eye. I didn't make a big deal of it, but my wife made me come in."
"We're going to run a few tests… Lydia order a blood test and a head CT… Mr. Bartholomew, do you have a family history of strokes or brain aneurisms?"
After about an hour and three patients later, the two kids finally got tired of doing rounds. They plopped down in the lounge and entertained themselves with reruns of The Simpsons. Half way through the episode Rachel came into the lounge. "So, what's this big news you have to tell me?" she asked sitting down and taking Christina onto her lap.
"Get dad, and I'll tell you," replied Ella, trying to build the suspense.
David ran out of the lounge and came back pulling his father along. "Now tell us Ella," he whined.
"Okay. You know I auditioned for the school play right?"
"Ella you practiced that song for three weeks," replied Rachel.
"You weren't supposed to answer… Well… I got the part!"
"That's great," replied Mark giving her a huge hug.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ella slammed the car door shut after Rachel pulled into the garage, and stormed into the house. It had not been a successful practice, as she had originally hoped it would be. They had been rehearsing the Indian dance number for over a week, and apart from Ella and her friend Kelly (who would be playing Tiger Lily), no one had the slightest idea what they were doing. Four of the girls who were dancers fell and they had proceeded to take Ella down with them.
She walked straight through the kitchen, where her parents were sitting, and pounded up the stairs. Mark and Elizabeth had stopped their conversation and looked at each other, utterly confused. Rachel came into the room a few minutes later and sat down at the table, exhausted after a long day at work and the deafening silent ride home. "What was that all about?" asked Elizabeth.
Rachel looked up at her stepmother and responded, "Rehearsal from hell, I guess." She got up and grabbed a bottle of water before continuing. "She was pissed off from the moment she left the theater. Wouldn't talk the entire way home."
"I'll go talk to her," said Mark standing up. Mark walked up the stairs and knocked on his daughter's door before entering. "Ella?"
Ella turned her head off her pillow and looked at her father standing in the doorway. "I really don't want to talk about it, please." She buried her head back into the pillow after responding.
Mark wouldn't take that for an answer. He entered the room and sat down on her bed next to her. "Ella, what's wrong?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it right now. Dad, please, can we just talk about it later?"
"No, we can't," he replied brushing her curls back from her face. "Tell me what happened."
"It was just one of those days, I guess." She rolled over and rested her head on her father's leg. "Everything went totally wrong, and it was topped off by rehearsal."
"It couldn't be that bad, could it?" he replied stroking her hair.
"I forgot my history homework in the printer tray, I left both my lunch and my dinner on the bus. Luckily I always keep a few dollars in my locker just in case. My jacket got caught in the locker door, which proceeded to stay shut. I was late for third period because I couldn't open it," she took a deep breath before continuing. "I only had ten minutes to eat, because I had to make up a vocab quiz. I tripped up the stairs and ripped open my jeans. During my clarinet lesson after school I knocked over the music stand five times, and I broke the reed.
"Rehearsal was awful. Nobody knows what they're doing. The dancers fell three times. And took me out with them. I hurt my wrist, and scraped both my legs up pretty bad… If everything didn't happen in one day it wouldn't have been so bad. It took all that I had not to blow up in the middle of the day."
"It didn't seem to be your day." Mark drew his daughter onto his lap to comfort her. "Tomorrow will be better. You just have to deal with the bad days a little more carefully than others. I think you handled yourself pretty well if you were able to hold it in… Why don't you come downstairs and have something to eat, and then we'll go for bad day therapy."
"Milkshakes and batting cages?"
"You got it!"
To Be Continued.
Summary: Ella earns the lead in her school play, but something goes awry.
Spoilers: Anything that happened up through "Rampage" is fair game. Also anything that is speculated for season 8 is fair game.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody.
Notes: This story takes place in 2014. Ella is thirteen. Mark's tumor has been in full remission for over twelve years. Rachel moved in with them for high school and she is currently a med student at County General. Mark and Elizabeth have two other children David, 9, and Christina Marie, 4. Everything else should be easy enough to understand.
"I got the part, I got the part!" yelled Ella as she ran into the house. She dropped her backpack at the bottom of the stairs and began a frantic search for her parents. She finally ran into the upstairs study, a room where she was not normally allowed to go, and found her mom engrossed in the computer screen. "I got the part!" she yelled once more.
Elizabeth turned away from the computer. Her excitement had overcome her wanting to reprimand her daughter for not knocking first. "Hunny, that's great," she said drawing her up into a hug.
{Ella had auditioned for her the school play. The junior high had decided to put on Peter Pan this year, and Ella had had her heart set on being Wendy. The cast had been announced over the school loudspeaker during the afternoon announcements. Ella had run all the way home, not stopping to talk to anyone.}
"I can't wait to tell dad. When's he getting home?" she asked.
"Your father got stuck covering a shift for Dr. Lockhart. He won't be home till very very late tonight," replied Elizabeth. Ella was disappointed, and the look on her face said so. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we go visit him at work."
Ella's face brightened up almost automatically. "Really?"
"Only if you want to."
"Of course I want to, mom."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guess who?" asked Ella as she clamped her hands over her father's eyes.
"Hrmm, Kerry?" he asked, playing along.
"Nooo," she replied taking her hands off. "It's me!"
"Well so it is," he said giving her a hug. "So what's this good news that you have?"
"I'm not telling you yet. I want to wait for Rachel," she replied.
"Fine," he said pretending to be annoyed. "Well, how about helping me with some patients while we wait for her?"
"I wanna help too," David pouted coming into the lounge. "I never get to help."
"You can help too." Mark picked up David and put him on his back as he and Ella went over to the ad mit desk. He grabbed a chart and they went off to Exam 3. They entered the room and Mark started the Exam. "Mr. Bartholomew, I'm Dr. Greene and these are my two assistants. What seems to be bothering you today?"
The patient looked at the two children and then back towards Mark. "I… uh… well, I had problems sleeping last night and this morning I woke up and I couldn't see through certain parts of my right eye. I didn't make a big deal of it, but my wife made me come in."
"We're going to run a few tests… Lydia order a blood test and a head CT… Mr. Bartholomew, do you have a family history of strokes or brain aneurisms?"
After about an hour and three patients later, the two kids finally got tired of doing rounds. They plopped down in the lounge and entertained themselves with reruns of The Simpsons. Half way through the episode Rachel came into the lounge. "So, what's this big news you have to tell me?" she asked sitting down and taking Christina onto her lap.
"Get dad, and I'll tell you," replied Ella, trying to build the suspense.
David ran out of the lounge and came back pulling his father along. "Now tell us Ella," he whined.
"Okay. You know I auditioned for the school play right?"
"Ella you practiced that song for three weeks," replied Rachel.
"You weren't supposed to answer… Well… I got the part!"
"That's great," replied Mark giving her a huge hug.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ella slammed the car door shut after Rachel pulled into the garage, and stormed into the house. It had not been a successful practice, as she had originally hoped it would be. They had been rehearsing the Indian dance number for over a week, and apart from Ella and her friend Kelly (who would be playing Tiger Lily), no one had the slightest idea what they were doing. Four of the girls who were dancers fell and they had proceeded to take Ella down with them.
She walked straight through the kitchen, where her parents were sitting, and pounded up the stairs. Mark and Elizabeth had stopped their conversation and looked at each other, utterly confused. Rachel came into the room a few minutes later and sat down at the table, exhausted after a long day at work and the deafening silent ride home. "What was that all about?" asked Elizabeth.
Rachel looked up at her stepmother and responded, "Rehearsal from hell, I guess." She got up and grabbed a bottle of water before continuing. "She was pissed off from the moment she left the theater. Wouldn't talk the entire way home."
"I'll go talk to her," said Mark standing up. Mark walked up the stairs and knocked on his daughter's door before entering. "Ella?"
Ella turned her head off her pillow and looked at her father standing in the doorway. "I really don't want to talk about it, please." She buried her head back into the pillow after responding.
Mark wouldn't take that for an answer. He entered the room and sat down on her bed next to her. "Ella, what's wrong?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it right now. Dad, please, can we just talk about it later?"
"No, we can't," he replied brushing her curls back from her face. "Tell me what happened."
"It was just one of those days, I guess." She rolled over and rested her head on her father's leg. "Everything went totally wrong, and it was topped off by rehearsal."
"It couldn't be that bad, could it?" he replied stroking her hair.
"I forgot my history homework in the printer tray, I left both my lunch and my dinner on the bus. Luckily I always keep a few dollars in my locker just in case. My jacket got caught in the locker door, which proceeded to stay shut. I was late for third period because I couldn't open it," she took a deep breath before continuing. "I only had ten minutes to eat, because I had to make up a vocab quiz. I tripped up the stairs and ripped open my jeans. During my clarinet lesson after school I knocked over the music stand five times, and I broke the reed.
"Rehearsal was awful. Nobody knows what they're doing. The dancers fell three times. And took me out with them. I hurt my wrist, and scraped both my legs up pretty bad… If everything didn't happen in one day it wouldn't have been so bad. It took all that I had not to blow up in the middle of the day."
"It didn't seem to be your day." Mark drew his daughter onto his lap to comfort her. "Tomorrow will be better. You just have to deal with the bad days a little more carefully than others. I think you handled yourself pretty well if you were able to hold it in… Why don't you come downstairs and have something to eat, and then we'll go for bad day therapy."
"Milkshakes and batting cages?"
"You got it!"
To Be Continued.