Blinding by the white lights. A strong sterilized smell. White ceiling. Blue shapes dashing around her. The buzz of people talking. People. Children crying. Adults crying.
Lexie blinked.
"Do you know your name? Do you know what day it is?"
She tried to open her mouth. Lexie. Her name's Lexie. The dry, hacking cough that had subsided only moments before they arrived at the hospital suddenly began again. She couldn't breathe.
Her skin was rapidly turning bluish in color.
"Please, you have to help her," David's head hovered over her. "She fell down the stairs," He blurted at the doctors like he had been since they'd moved through the automatic doors. He fabricated a whole story. He told them her name was Lexie Hall, told them that she was his wife. He told them he tried to catch her. "She fell down the stairs," She was pretty certain he'd told himself that so many times now that he actually believed that was what had happened. That it had been an accident, that she'd tripped and fallen, that he'd tried to reach out and grab her hand to stop her tumbling down.
She'd not fallen down the stairs. She'd not even fallen over. Not accidentally anyway. He'd hurt her, hit her until she'd stopped moving. Not until she'd past out and non-responsive did he stop. He'd not been able to help himself. She'd deserved it, she'd provoked him. She needed to be punished for her unacceptable behavior but when her eyes had rolled back and she'd started gagging, he realized that perhaps he'd let his anger get the better of him. He'd managed so well, he'd kept his temper in check but since Nathan's arrival, he'd not been able to contain himself. He'd broken down then, apologized over and over, promised to never touch her again.
She'd woken up in a moving vehicle with Nathan whimpering in the back and David talking frantically to himself, telling her to be okay, telling her she was going to be just fine, that they'd fix her at the hospital.
The doctor pressed against her chest and she hissed. "Tha-t hu-r-ts" She wheezed.
The sharp, stabbing chest pains had worsened along with her breathing. The severe pain radiating to her back.
Someone was dabbing at her head with a compress. Stitches were most likely required and she had a suspected broken left arm.
A nurse was taking her blood pressure and then a moment later there were all kinds of medical terms being exchanged.
Pneumothorax. Pleurisy. Rapid pulse rate. Low blood pressure.
"What does that all mean?" David demanded angrily. He lost control. He lost control of his temper, he lost control of her. He lost control of the situation and no one was paying him any attention. "Will someone answer me?" He growled. "What is wrong with my wife?" He expressed true concern.
"We think she may have a collapsed lungs, sir."
"You think?"
"I can't say for certain without a chest x-ray but her symptoms are severe, we need to act now before this becomes life-threatening."
David couldn't stand still. He was pacing, trying to hush an upset Nathan.
"Sir, I think it would be best if you take your son outside, there's a family room there."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Mr. Hall, you're not helping by being in here."
"I'm not leaving."
"The best thing you can do for Lexie right now is to go outside and stay with your son."
She was taking deep, exaggerated breaths, her face contorting with every inhale and exhale.
He was reluctant but her evident pain made him concede.
He loomed over her, kissing her forehead, with tears in his eyes like the doting husband that he was playing. "I'll be back in a while sweetheart, I'm going to get Nathan some food and then I'll be right back," He fiddled with her hair and lowered his lips to the side of her face. "Be good," He exhaled into her ear, so only she could hear.
She heard it loud and clear, her hand blindly reached for Nathan and she squeezed it, praying that this wouldn't be the last time she saw her son.
As he stepped back away from the bed and out of the emergency room, the panic ensued. She was surrounded by people and yet she'd never felt so alone. Now was her moment to shout out for help but she kept silent as she'd been taught.
"Lexie we're going to make a small incision just beneath your arm" The doctor pressed two fingers to the exact point. "And then we're going to insert a tube so we'll be able to re-inflate your lung. First, we're going to cut you out of your clothes and get you into a hospital gown" The voice droned distantly.
Her unharmed arm sprang out in objection but given her current state, the weak movement didn't do much to alert the working staff to her disapproval.
The nurse slid the cold blade of the scissors carefully beneath her clinging jeans. The sickening snipping sound echoing loudly in her ears.
She felt the warm air hit her skin as the clothes were peeled away. She'd never felt more violated as if her soul were being torn from her very being. Humiliation filled her.
All doctors and assisting staff momentarily paused when her battered body came into view, the horror reflecting their eyes.
She kept her stare focused on the ceiling and everyone eventually began their tasks once more.
"What happened to you, Lexie?" The doctor asked gently, while two nurses slid a hospital gown over her naked body, much to her relief.
"I...f-fell...dow-n...the...s-stairs" She rasped painfully.
"You're safe here, you can tell us anything and it stays confidential, do you understand that?"
"I...t-tol-d...y-you...I...fe-ll"
"Lexie there are marks all over you that you couldn't have gotten when you fall, they are marks that suggest another person did this to you. If your husband is hurting you, we can get you help"
"He...d-didn-t...h-hur-t...me"
"It's alright to be scared-"
"I...f-fe...ll" She said desperately, struggling to speak at all now.
"Lexie," One of the nurses hold her shaking hand. "I promise you everything will be okay."
Lexie took three deep breaths and closed her eyes tightly. "I wa...n...t t-to go... ho..m-e"
"Where's home?" The doctor urged.
She was conflicted. Her mind told her to blurt it from the pit of her lungs but the last horrendous six hundred and seventy-four days had left her insecure, distrustful and hesitant. She was consumed with pain and yet she could still feel the heat of their judgmental stares. They'd made their own conclusions about her, created their own story that she quickly realized would forever be associated with her.
She didn't like being vulnerable and she didn't like being fussed over.
She was independent. She was strong. She was fearless. She was stubborn. She was Lexie Grey-Sloan.
She saw freedom. It was within her grasp now and she couldn't let it slip through her fingertips again.
"M-y... name...is...Sl-o-an no-t Ha-ll..." She exhaled.
She was losing consciousness, her vision was blurring, the voice was fading.
"Is there anyone you want us to call Lexie?... Lexie is there anyone we can call?"
"Mer-Meredith" She paused, struggling to focus. "Gre-y" She managed hoarsely. Liberation swept over her.
"Meredith Grey. You did good, you're safe now Lexie, I promise."
An oxygen mask was put over her ghostly white face and She was given anesthesia to numb the pain and only then did she allow herself to succumb to the darkness and close her weary eyes.
Derek and Meredith stood wearily under a glaring lamp post, both eager to get going. It had been a long day, a long day of traveling and waiting around.
"Do you think I should have brought Elise?" Meredith asked solemnly as they waited impatiently.
"No," Derek shook his head surely. "Alex and Cristina will look after her, you know that"
"But if we find Lexie she'll want to see her little girl."
"When we find Lexie she'll probably want some time to get herself together, we don't know what state she's going to be in Meredith"
The woman took a shaky breath and threaded her fingers through her hair. She had large bags under her eyes and the aircon on the plane had left her dehydrated and dried out. "Don't say that"
"I'm being realistic here, we don't know what she's been through. The last thing Elise needs is to be traumatized further by seeing her mom completely screwed up. We don't know what she saw the day of Lexie's disappearance but it was enough to stop her talking"
Meredith nodded glumly. "Maybe I should just ring and check if she's alright"
"Meredith she's fine. Alex's good at kids. Cristina's.." Derek stop for a second thinking what to say next "She's Cristina okay?"
"I'm acting like an overprotective mom right now, am I?" She muttered with a forced, uneasy laugh. It was the first time she'd well and truly been away from the kid in the last two years.
"You have been like a mom to her, it's a given for you to have separation anxieties"
"I'm not her mom."
"No, but what you've done Meredith is so brave, we're all really proud of you, I am really proud of you."
She teared up. "I'd do anything for my sister, Derek" She murmured.
"I've got the keys" Frank interrupted, jangling the rental car's keys in front of them. Derek snatched them. "Parking lot A5" He muttered in response to Derek's demanding look.
The three of them headed toward the said car park to retrieve their car when Meredith's cell started buzzing. She fumbled in the depths of her handbag, shoving her other bag- which was filled with items for Lexie, into Derek's unprepared arms. She finally found it, quickly pressing it to her ear, expecting to hear Cristina's voice.
"Is this Dr. Meredith Grey?"
"Yes?" Meredith's brow furrowed. She thinks this has something to do with work. She'd given strict instructions not to be called under any circumstances.
"Hello, I'm Janice Meyer and I'm calling from St. Luke's Boise Medical Center, Idaho."
"R-right," Meredith stuttered, her stomach instantly tied in knots. "What, what is this about?"
"It's about Lexie Sloan."
"Oh Lexie, you're awake. I'm so worried." David bent forward from his seat.
Lexie's eyes were half open. She'd been asleep for several hours. It took her a second to realize exactly where she was, exactly why she was here.
"Na-tha-n,"
"Nathan's fine, he's fine, one of the nurses is looking after him," He held her hand, the hand that wasn't encased in a plaster cast, the arm that wasn't broken. "You're going to be okay" He nodded quietly. "We can go home soon and forget all about this, okay?"
"Sir I'm going to ask you to please step outside," Lexie's doctor appeared.
"What? Why, can't you see my wife needs me here right now"
"Sir the officers are waiting outside, they'd like to talk to you"
"What?"
"They just want to ask you a few questions. You either go calmly or I'm afraid I'll have to call security."
His eyes narrowed and his head swiveled to look into Lexie's bloodshot eyes. "What did you tell them?" He growled.
"N-noth-"
"She's making it up. She's delusional. She-"
"Mr. Hall please step outside"
He clenched his fists and Lexie watched him shake with anger.
The abrupt transformation was terrifying.
His hand abruptly swiped out and hit the silver medical tray, knocking all its equipment clattering to the floor.
"Fuck! Lexie!" He shouted.
The two nurses took a fearful step back and Lexie grimaced.
"Mr. Hall," The doctor said sternly. "I'm not going to ask you again."
It was then that he pulled out his gun and Lexie's breath became short for a whole different reason.
Panic.
The memories that she'd tried to repress, the details of Sally's death flooded her. She didn't want to watch anyone die again, not because of her.
"D-David please.."
"Shut up. Just shut up. I don't want to hear a fucking word from you," He kept his gun trained on the medical staff. "You're all going to listen to me," He snapped, his brow furrowed and grim beads of sweat trailing down his forehead. "You're going to help me get her out of here. Do you understand? There'll be no fucking security, no fucking around. If you do anything I don't tell you to do, then I won't have any problem with shooting your brains out, understand?"
"Mr. Hall-"
"Do you understand?"
"Y-yes. But Mr. Hall, Lexie's not out of the woods just yet, it's important that she stays in the hospital given her condition, she just got out of surgery," The Doctor responded calmly.
He closed his eyes and kicked at the bed in frustration. Lexie winced as a stabbing cramp spread down her chest with the jolt.
"It's important that she stays still, she needs to rest," The older man stressed.
"Shut up. Just shut up!"
The steady beeping sound that had been coming from the monitor suddenly morphed into one singular, alarming moan.
David's stare fixated on Lexie. Her eyes were closed unlike moments before.
"What's that noise? What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know," The doctor strode forward.
"Did I tell you to move? Stay where you fucking are."
"Mr. Hall if you truly care for Lexie you'll let us check her," The doctor ignored the gun being wavered in his direction, striding forward bravely.
"I just want her to be okay."
"Then step aside. Son, I know you're upset but Lexie could die if you don't let us take care of her," The professional stated gently. "Give me the gun and move aside."
David shifted his weight, confusion masking his face.
"I know you love her David, she needs our help. She's crashing."
He shakily put the gun down, his shoulders slouching in defeat as he haphazardly kissed her forehead repeatedly before staggering backward.
The nurses and doctor dashed to the bed and began assessing the situation.
"She's not breathing."
"Fix her," He shouted. "Will she be alright? Please help her," He stumbled back into the wall, sloping down the hard surface and cradling his head is hands. "I'm sorry, please don't let her die, please, fix her. Please."
Let me know what you think..