Chapter 3 – I'm Still Standing

Raj got back from his run. The feeling he had the first time he ran with no shirt and could feel the wind against his skin was exactly the same one he had today. It never gets old.

He picked up his shirt, which was on the mailbox, and threw it onto his shoulder. He walked into find Alex and Lexi in the kitchen.

"Whoa." Lexi said. "Boy's got abs."

Rajesh smiled. He put his shirt on and got some water. "Guys have any plans tonight?"

Alex and Lexi looked at each other. That gave Rajesh his answer. "Ok. The Wolfman remake is out and I want to go see the hot and sexy Emily Blunt. So…who's in?"

Alex sighed. "Don't you have a girlfriend or something?"

Rajesh shook his head no. "Nope. Not going down that path until later. Maybe in college."

Lexi laughed. "Well, Mark is completely avoiding me. So count me in. I need a movie and dinner anyway."

"I'm good kid." Alex said as he walked upstairs.

Rajesh turned to Lexi. "Alright, dinner and a movie. Surprise me woman. I want to be swept off my feet. Pick me up at 6." Raj winked.

Lexi laughed at Rajesh's shenanigans and went back to eating her cereal.

"See yah Raj."

"Love yah Lex."

The next day Rajesh woke up late and went downstairs to the second floor. He opened the bathroom door, saw blonde hair, and sighed.

"Ok. If you're sleeping with Karev and stay the night, lock the damn bathroom when you use it."

The woman turned around and Rajesh screamed. "Ahh!"

"Really, Rajesh?" Lexi asked.

"What the fuck, Lexi? What did you do to your hair?"

Lexi smirked. "Changed it. It's about time I changed a few things."

"To what, more desirable and less intelligent? I mean you seriously look like you're trying way too hard for Mark."

"I'm not. I just want to change my hair."

Rajesh shook his head and just walked out the bathroom and went back to his room.

"Where are you going?" Lexi asked.

"Back to my room!" Rajesh yelled before closing his door.

Rajesh walked the steps to the Seattle Volunteer Rescue Squad. He opened the door to the ambulance bay.

"Rajesh!"

Rajesh turned around to find his friend Jackson on shift tonight. "Jackson, what's up man?"

"Uh nothing much. Hey listen, Richter had to cancel his shift and now I'm just a driver. I need an AIC, think you can handle it?"

"Dude, I'm 16. I haven't been cleared by the Board."

"Actually," an older man said while stepping out of the shadows making Rajesh jump, "I just did."

Rajesh had a hand on his heart. "What are you? Batman?"

The older man smiled and hugged Rajesh. "It's so good to see you."

Rajesh nodded. "You too, Mr. Bates."

"Jackson," Mr. Bates said, "let's get Rajesh his uniform."

Rajesh sat in the ambulance with Jackson. "It's the restaurant. It collapsed. There's going to be PD and FD on the site. We need to move fast." Rajesh said.

"Got it boss." Jackson said as they got out of the Rig.

Rajesh and Jackson walked up to the scene and were told to standby until the building was cleared. One by one, firefighters began getting people out and the last one was teenager.

"He concrete block fell on his leg. He still has a pulse. His girlfriend's here."

Rajesh nodded and they took the kid to the rig on the stretcher.

A girl ran to them in her fancy dress and heels. "I'm his sister. Can I come with?"

"Yeah. Get in." Rajesh said. "Jackson get us there ASAP."

"Got it, boss."

Rajesh closed the doors and got to work. "Call your parents. Tell them you're going to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital."

The girl immediately pulled out her cellphone as Rajesh got to work. He heard the fast beeping as they got on the road. He looked at the monitor and saw his heart rate elevating and oxygen levels decreasing. He notices a purple bruising on his chest.

"Crap. Jackson, we have pneumothorax here. Where's that hospital?"

"Five minutes out."

"He doesn't have five minutes."

Rajesh looked back at him and then decided to treat it. He got a 1.75 inch 14 gauge needle and prepped his chest. He gave him some oxygen form the tank on the stretcher and inserted the needle into his chest near the third rib.

He sucked the blood out of his lungs and watched as the heart rate and oxygen levels steadied out at a normal rate. Rajesh sighed and leaned back on his chair.

"You're brother's a strong one." Rajesh said looking at the girl.

The girl smiled with eyes full of tears as they reached the hospital. Jackson helped them lower the stretcher and Rajesh helped the girl out and they took the patient into the ER.

A doctor caught up to them. "Seventeen year old male in the restaurant collapse had a cement block crushing his leg. Stabilized it. He had a pneumothorax that was also treated in the rig. He's all yours."

"Pneumothorax? You can't do that." The doctor said.

"I don't need to explain it. Just treat him." Rajesh said and walked away. He noticed the time and that his shift would be over.

He got back into the rig with Jackson and typed up his report that he would bring later to the hospital.

He entered the hospital in his brown leather jacket, blue jeans, and grey t-shirt. He also decided to get some flowers for that girl he saw before. Poor girl's dinner got ruined.

He walked through the ER doors and into Lexi. "What the hell, woman?"

Lexi laughed. "Who are these for?"

"Patient of mine. Sister got her dinner ruined."

"Oh, pneumothorax. Yeah heard of some paramedic that impressed Altman with the treatment. Even the needle was the right size. Says she couldn't have done it better."

Rajesh smiled.

Lexi caught on. "No."

"What?"

"You're the guy? What the hell, dude?"

"Oh bite me." Rajesh smiled as he walked up to the elevator.

"I can't believe you did that."

"You learn a few things when you have practically lived at a Rescue Squad."

Rajesh pressed the button the Surgical Floor.

"She's in the waiting room. I think her parents are here."

Rajesh nodded and walked into the waiting room. He found the girl sitting in a chair alone.

"Hey." Rajesh said getting her attention.

The girl looked up at him and smiled. She immediately got out of her chair and hugged him.

"Thank you so much. You saved him."

Rajesh smiled and held her until she released him. "What's going on, now?"

"They had to take him to surgery for the leg. It just finished. They are talking to my parents."

Rajesh nodded. "I'm Rajesh."

The girl smiled. "Grace."

"Nice to meet you Grace." Rajesh gave her the flowers. "It's just for the dinner. I know things didn't go as planned, but I'm glad your brother is ok."

Grace smiled. "Thank you. Do you have anywhere to be?"

Rajesh smirked. "Yeah." He saw her face fall. "I need to be here until your parents are back."

Grace laughed. "God that was so cheesy."

Rajesh smiled. "What can I say? I'm just that kind of guy. I dig the old school love notes, romantic dinners, and in the rain kisses."

"Are you referring to the notebook?' Grace asked shockingly.

Rajesh shrugged. "Spend enough time with a sister who cries at everything, you'll even watch the notebook and hold her seven times."

Grace laughed. "How old are you?"

"I'm 16."

"16? How did you know that stuff to help my brother?"

"My dad was a doctor. I learnt from him."

"Where is he now?'

"Away. My family decided to go on this trip around the world for along time. I don't know when they'll be back."

"You're alone?"

"No. I have a sister and brother who work here. So I'm staying with them. Their landlords said it was fine."

"Oh. So what school do you go to?"

"I'm thinking about transferring to Garfield for my junior year."

Grace's eyes widened. "I go to Garfield. I'll be a senior, but we'll make the best out of it."

Rajesh nodded and smiled. "I'd really like that."

They fell into a comfortable silence and Rajesh saw that her hand was trembling. He slowly took her hand into his and laced their fingers.

Grace looked at the hand and then into his eyes. "I don't know what you expect from me."

Rajesh sighed. "To be honest, I don't know if I will ever see you again even in school, but right now, I just expect you to be calm and wait for your parents. You said you're brother is fine. If there is one thing I know, it's that family is always there for you. Let me be here for you now."

Grace nodded and moved her head to his shoulder. He stayed like that as she fell asleep and waited for their parents.

The doors opened and two well dressed individuals walked into the room. The looked to Rajesh and Grace and made their way to them.

"Grace. Your parents are here." Rajesh softly said.

She opened her eyes and saw her parents. She quickly ran into their arms and cried with them. Rajesh was just about to leave them some privacy when her father stopped him.

"Who are you?" The father asked.

"That is Rajesh. He's the paramedic that saved John."

The woman gave no thought before pulling Rajesh into Grace and her father. The three hugged him and thanked him over and over again.

"Sir, I assure you, it's your son. He's the strong one. I just gave him a push in the right direction. I hope he has a great recovery."

Rajesh then looked at Grace. "I need to go. My sister's going to freak out. I'll see you later. Bye Sir…Ma'am."

Rajesh walked away from the family and out of the waiting room. He turned to find Lexi looking through the window.

"You really think of me as your sister?" Lexi asked with tears in her eyes.

Rajesh chuckled. "Of course. Lexi, you, Meredith, Derek, and the rest are the best things that have happened to me since that night. I don't think I would have survived without you guys."

Lexi smiled and hugged him. Rajesh put his arm around her shoulders and walked with her to the lobby.

They ran into Alex and he dropped her off with him. There was some unresolved sexual tension between them that he did not want to witness again.

Rajesh walked out the hospital and sat on the bench waiting for a ride to get home. He was staring off into space when he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He looked to see Grace standing next to him.

"Hi. Aren't you supposed to be with your brother?" Rajesh asked while standing up.

Grace smiled. "Yeah, but I need to change. I'm headed home for a while."

After a few moments of just staring at each other, Grace finally broke the silence. "Can I see your phone?"

Rajesh nodded and gave it to her.

"I'm texting myself from your phone. I would really like to see you again."

"I would like that too, Grace." Rajesh said.

They both smiled at each other and then Grace started walking away. "Good night, Rajesh."

"Good night, Grace."

Rajesh watched her walk to her car and drive away. He walked back into the hospital only to be stopped by the doctor he saw when he brought Grace's brother to the hospital.

"Hey. You're that guy who fixed the pneumothorax." The doctor said.

"Uh yes. I'm sorry for being rude when we met, it's just that we didn't have time and I needed to get back to the restaurant to help."

The doctor waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. By the way, I'm Teddy Altman."

"Nice to meet you Dr. Altman."

"No. You can call me Teddy. After seeing the way you handled that patient, you can call me on a first name basis."

Rajesh smiled and they started walking in sync.

"You know, you have a knack to be a trauma surgeon."

"I don't know Teddy. Not everyone is as hot as you."

Teddy paused and looked at him.

"Oh one thing about me is that I always speak the truth. Kind of annoying that I can't control that." Rajesh said.

Teddy chuckled. "So, Meredith and Derek are waiting for you in their office. Go ahead."

Rajesh thanked her and ran up to the office. He opened the door to find Derek and Meredith laughing.

"I love this hospital!" Rajesh said.

Derek and Meredith laughed again.

"So, we heard that you treated a pneumothorax." Derek said.

Rajesh nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. I was a part of the rescue squad and Dad…" He spaced out and started thinking about his father.

Derek got up and guided him to the couch.

Meredith sat next to him. "You know it's ok to talk about him, right?"

Rajesh nodded. "It just doesn't feel real. I woke up the past few days thinking I was in my room and I would walk down to find my family at the counter table making fun of how I sleep late all the time."

Rajesh took a breath. "The funeral is tomorrow, but I don't know if I can do this."

Rajesh began to hyperventilate and Derek kneeled in front of him. "Deep breaths."

Rajesh calmed his breathing down, but couldn't stop the tears. "I want them back. I want my dad to tell me I did a good job today. I want my mom to be angry that I had a dangerous call today and worry and be that caring person she always is. I want my brother to know I actually like a girl I met today. I want to help raise my little sister. I can't want those things anymore."

Derek and Meredith held onto him as he sobbed.

Rajesh walked through the doors of the house he called home for the past few days. The police and DCFS had brought over all of his clothes form the house since it was still a crime scene. He laid out his black suit on his desk and chair before lying down in his bed. With all of the thoughts of tomorrow was going to go, he ended up quietly crying and staring at the ceiling before sleep overcame him.