Ch. 4 – Everything changes

"There is perhaps nothing worse than reaching the top of the ladder and discovering that you're on the wrong wall."

― Joseph Campbell

Why did she let it get to this point? She had never done such a thing. She had always ended it before she could actually get hurt. And now she was letting an idiot who couldn't even name his feelings, ruin her day. This was supposed to be the happiest time of her life. One minute she was trying to plan her wedding, and the other she was thinking she needed to end it. Could this day get any worse? She left him alone talking on the phone, and went to check on her patients. Her job was her safe space, where she always knew what to do. The place that had become her home.

"I was looking for you."

It was Richard.

"Is it urgent? I'm busy right now," Maggie said.

She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

"It isn't, but maybe I can walk with you for a moment. I'm not busy."

"Ok."

They started walking together, Richard following Maggie.

"I quitted," said Richard.

Maggie stopped walking.

"What did you quit?"

"My job, Maggie."

"Is this a joke? Why would you do that? I thought this job mean everything to you."

"I know, but it shouldn't be. I have been thinking about this since Edwards quitted. Someday I should quit it and the best thing I could do is to quit while I'm still good at it. I don't want to be greedy and hurt people. I was lucky to get here. I shouldn't push it. There's still a lot I can learn and teach. She said I changed her life, but in fact she changed mine. It took me a while, but finally Stephanie's message reached me and maybe my message could reach someone's heart sometime. There are things more important than your job, even when you love it."

"What else could it be?"

She would be lost without her job. She didn't understand how Stephanie and April did it.

"My life and I want to explore it while I'm still breathing," Richard said.

"What? What are you gonna do now? Are you going to travel like Edwards?"

"In fact, I am. I'm walking the camino de Santiago."

Maggie laughed but Richard was serious.

"You are serious? You can't do this. Does Catherine know?" Maggie asked.

"She does and she supports my decision."

Maggie was getting really angry and she didn't quite understand why.

"You're busy. I'm leaving you this for you to open it when you think the time is right, ok?"

And Richard gave her an envelope. He kissed her forehead and left without giving her time to shout or cry. When Miranda approached her she remembered what she had to do. Miranda asked her about the patient she was going to see.

"Dr. Pierce, I was looking for you. Alma Diaz is your patient?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, I'm going to check on her right now. Why are you asking?"

The guy that was following Miranda answered for her.

"Alma Diaz is missing," he said.

"She can't be missing, we would be on lock out if a patient was missing. And who are you anyways?"

"Agent Parker, FBI."

They were already in the room where Alma was supposed to be. Maggie's mind went blank. What the hell was going on?

"She's missing," Maggie said.

"Yes, we told you so," Parker said.

"How could this happened? Why is the hospital not on lock out? We need to find her," Maggie said.

Miranda then explained it to her.

"She's not missing from the hospital. She was discharged. Her step-father took her once they had left. She's not here anymore. Agent Parker just want to question the staff that was in contact with them."

"That can't be. I hadn't discharged her."

"I know. Dr. Altman did," Miranda said.

Maggie was getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"I want to ask you a few questions if that's ok," Parker said.

And Maggie answered all of his questions while thinking is this girl who reminded her of herself. She was adopted and so smart, having gone through so much by this age. That girl didn't deserve this and even less from the people that were supposed to be her safe space.

After she had answered all the questions, she went to find Dr. Altman. How could she think it was her place to discharge her patient? She found her crying in Owen's arms. There was no point on taking her anger at her. She was already hurting as she was. At least Maggie didn't have to feel guilty about discharging her. Nevertheless, it was frustrating and she was so infuriated. She needed to talk to someone and Jackson came into her mind. She needed to call off their wedding. The wedding wasn't going to make right everything that felt so wrong. Her life felt like a big mess. She searched for him everywhere but she couldn't find him. Until it finally hit her, he must have been in the chapel. Now that he found God, he spent a lot of time there. She didn't find him there but she sat there as if she was waiting for an answer. Knowing how Jackson started believing and even though she didn't believe there was anything miraculous about April's surviving that day, she did it. Just like Jackson prayed for April, she prayed for Alma to be safe. When she left the chapel, she received a message on her phone. It was Jackson's. It said that he was taking some time off and that he wasn't expecting her to wait for him. This had been a shit of a day and she already wanted it to end. Not sure if angry or sad tears, but she was about to cry. She opened the door to a supply closet thinking about crying alone. When she did, she found Meredith and Andrew kissing inside. They didn't see her. She closed the door knowing she was as sad as she could be. She went to change her clothes and pick all her things. It was funny how a moment ago she didn't understand how everyone else could leave this place and now she was the one leaving.

She knocked on Miranda's office. Miranda opened the door and Maggie finally got to say it while giving her the envelope.

"I quit," Maggie said.