Chapter 9: Frustration
Alice Jenkins slammed the phone down once again, when she heard his voicemail pick up. For being some kind of world-renowned brain surgeon, he sure didn't have a clue when it came to answering his phone or returning any one of her 16 messages. She was getting frustrated with this Doctor Shepherd.
It took Alice a few days to track down her old acquaintance, Dr. Bailey. She finally got ahold of someone who was able to tell her Doctor Bailey was out of state, presenting at a medical conference in California, and wouldn't be back at Seattle Grace for a few weeks more. After some bargaining, Alice soon had Miranda's cell phone number.
Miranda was pleasantly surprised to hear from her old friend and after some brief small chat; Alice let her know exactly why she was calling. She spoke generally and left out details, only informing Miranda that she had met a woman with amnesia who hoped to be seen by a neurologist at Seattle Grace. Alice learned from Dr. Bailey that there was only one doctor that would be worth their time and that was Doctor Shepherd. He apparently was not only the best neurologist there, but also across the West coast. The only problem was that he was a very unpleasant and busy man. Getting in to see him would be next to impossible, but Miranda would do what she could on her end. She gave Alice Dr. Shepherds direct line and told her she would call ahead to let him know to expect a call. Miranda wished Alice luck and ended the call. She was late to her next presentation.
Alice sighed and sat down in her soft chair. She had left endless messages for the doctor and had yet to hear back from him. She'd even made several calls to the surgical floor he apparently worked on and had talked to some nurses. Each one had repeated what had already been disclosed. Dr. Shepherd was on an indefinite leave of absent, they didn't know when he would be returning. She even once accidentally been transferred to another doctor on the floor. Though she hadn't been any help either. She had been rude and sarcastic to Alice, and Alice had hung up more frustrated.
She didn't know why she was getting so emotionally involved. There was just something about Meredith. She was way too intelligent and pretty to be wondering around the streets of Seattle. She knew if a doctor could help her remember more about whom she was, she could find her way home. The fact that Meredith had a young daughter pulled even stronger on Alice's heart strings. She would do everything in her power to help her new friend Meredith.
Cristina clasped both of her hands behind her head and twisted her back to the right. Satisfied with the three pops she felt she repeated the action on the other side. She was still on a surgical high, one she never got tired of. She assisted Dr. Hemming, one of the backup neurologist Burke hired over a year ago to cover Shepherds overflow cases, on a complex craniotomy in a patient with cerebral oedema. Everyone assumed that just because her boyfriend was a cardiothoracic surgeon, that that's where she was headed with her specialty. The truth was that she wasn't even close to making up her mind. She enjoyed working over an open heart, and she knew she was good at it. Burke complimented her on more than one occasion, which she would never admit to him, or anyone else for that matter, had made her feel good. She couldn't deny the rush she felt during brain surgery. There was something thrilling about being inside someone's head. It was there that she felt the most in control. Everyone knew Cristina liked being in control.
She was glancing over the patients' chart, adding a few notes when a nurse's conversation on the telephone a few feet away grabbed her attention. She noticed the nurse's voice was a little strained, she was trying to be patient as she repeated to the person on the other side of the phone, "I'm sorry Ma'am. I know you're frustrated but Dr. Shepherd is not here, and nobody knows when he'll be back. I'm sorry again Ma'am. Okay… bye." The nurse hung up and let out an irritated sigh before walking away.
Cristina watched the disappearing nurse and wondered what was going on. Someone was desperately trying to get a hold of Shepherd and she wondered why. She even talked to the persistent woman on the phone herself a few days back. She hadn't meant to be so short and cranky with her, but it was just one of those days. Everyone was finding themselves uneasy with the sudden talk of Meredith, and the longer Shepherd stayed away, the larger the rumors grew. Even though Cristina was strong and pretended to not care about the whispers, she wasn't immune and found herself on more than one occasion lying in bed at night thinking of the girl that used to be her person. She had a strange feeling about the mysterious caller, but pushed it away as she closed the chart with a bang and headed down the hall.