*TW*
This chapter can be very sensitive for those close to or effected by the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. I began writing this previous to the tragedy and my condolences to the families of the children. Although some may not be religious, the lives of the children are in my prayers.
CODE SILVER CODE SILVER*
that's all anyone in the hospital could hear over the PA. That, and the screams of the nurses who were lying in pools of their own blood on the floor.
Patients were being rushed into rooms. People tripping over their coworkers' and patients' bodies. Trying to get away from death.
Gun shots.
But this wouldn't happen right now.
Bailey stood infront of Lonnie's sobbing father.
"Why did this happen? He was so young?" he had said between sobs.
"Mr Rodgers, we at Seattle Grace Mercy West want you to know that you have our sincerest condolences." Bailey said, and placed a hand on his arm.
He looked at her with a cold stare and she handed him the report papers for Lonnie and headed to her office. She put her head in her hands and cried.
Meredith was paged to the pit for a patient with symptoms of appendicitis. That is when she ran into Mr Rodgers.
"Hey you. What are you doing here?" She asked him. He had a look of nervousness on his face, it was pale white.
He looked her up and down and replied, "I'm picking up the last of Lonnie's things." His response was cold and he walked emotionless past her.
She saw Helm across the pit and went up to her. "I just ran into Lonnie Rodgers's dad. I thought all of Lonnie's belongings were taken by his family already?"
Helm said, " Yeah, last week. There's no need for him to be here."
"I have no idea why he'd be here then." Meredith said. She decided to brush it off. He did look pale, maybe he had an appointment scheduled and didn't want to talk about it.
She forgot about Mr Rodgers and went into ER 2 to assess her patient. The nurse in the ER handed Meredith the patient file: Gracelyn Phillips, 18. Acute appendicitis.
"Hello Gracelyn. I'm Dr. Grey and I'll be your surgeon today. I see you have some appendicitis going on?" Meredith said while putting on her gloves.
"Yeah and I'm not happy about it. Tonight is the homecoming game. I'm supposed to find out if I was crowned queen or not." Gracelyn said and Meredith checked her vitals.
"Well good thing the best peds surgeon
in this hospital knows how to crown a homecoming queen. This is not his first rodeo." Meredith said and paged Alex.
"So is this peds surgeon hot?" Gracelyn said.
"I'm sure his fiance thinks so." Meredith said and winced at the thought of Alex being hot.
Then Alex came into the room and Gracelyn gave Meredith the 'He's hella hot'
look.
Meredith looked at her and then rolled her eyes at Alex. "This is Gracelyn. She's missing out on her homecoming coronation for appendicitis."
"I got this." Alex said and pointed one finger at them and ran out of the room.
Gracelyn looked at Meredith and said "I don't know what your standards are, but he is hot."
Meredith took her gloves off and grabbed her phone from her pocket. She showed Gracelyn her lockscreen picture of her and Derek from college and Gracelyn's jaw fell open.
"Damn Dr Grey, I see your standards. Is that your husband?"
"No, but we dated for 5 years in college and now I'm pregnant with his child and we're in the process of adopting one of his patients."
"Your life is literally a movie Dr Grey." Gracelyn said and Meredith smirked a bit and then the door flung open.
Alex had in his hand a plastic crown. "Your majesty, your crown has arrived." He said and Meredith helped Gracelyn into a wheel chair.
"Your citizens await in the peds unit. Let's greet them." Alex said and Gracelyn rolled her eyes.
Meredith, Alex, and Gracelyn were off to the peds unit.
Lexie and Derek were on their way to a burn victim patient's room. Derek was on edge because he knew the patient was Mark's and Lexie was excited because the patient was Mark's. They walked into the room and Derek grabbed the file off of the door.
"Maurice Vincint, 54. You were apart of the apartment buliding fire where your burns were treated by..." He looked up and Mark was sitting at the side of the patient's bed.
"Dr Sloan. What a surprise to see you here." Lexie said, a small grin appeared on her face as Mark stood up.
"Actually Dr Grey I was just on my way out." Mark said. His eyes locked with hers and then time stood still.
As Mark walked out, Derek excused himself from the room. "Sloan. First my fiance and now my girlfriend's sister? Don't you know how to keep little Sloan out of the women in my life?"
"At least it wasn't your girlfriend. She is hot but I haven't attempted anything" He said.
"You're such an ass." Derek said and punched his jaw. Some nurses saw and held the two apart so no more swings could be thrown. Mark wiped the blood dropping down his mouth with the back of his hand and Derek turned around and went back to Maurice's room.
"I apologize Maurice. I had to speak with Dr Sloan for a second." Derek said. He glanced at Lexie, who was staring at the floor and her face had gone all red.
"It's no biggie. Now about the headaches?" Maurice said.
Lexie shuffled through her papers and grabbed a CT scan of Maurice. "This scan shows that you have a brain tumor in the frontal lobe. This is potentially why you had forgotten about your stove being on and caused the fire in your building."
"It all makes sense now. So is the tumor benign or is it malignant?" Maurice asked.
Derek was stunned and responded, "Either you've done research or you know a thing or two about medicine."
"I used to work as a military surgeon. I was injured in war." He said and lifted up his pant leg to reveal his prosthetic leg.
"Well to answer your question, the tumor is benign. We will schedule you for a surgery to remove it as soon as tomorrow." Derek said. Him and Lexie left the room and to the elevator.
"Dr Shepherd I-" Lexie had started but was cut off by a loud bang and the elevator opening to reveal the first floor of nurses desks, where a nurse was lying in a pool of her own blood and no other than Mr Rodgers with a gun shaking in his hand.
"Hit the button Grey." Derek said, but Lexie was frozen in place, horrified by the sight.
"I SAID HIT THE DAMN BUTTON GREY!" Derek yelled and Lexie as fast as she could presses the button to the surgery floor. Mr Rodgers noticed the elevator closing and aimed the gun at them both. Derek grabbed Lexie and protected her from the gunshot. With a click of the gun, a bullet came out and the doors shut. A loud thud hit the door and Lexie fell to the floor sobbing.
"I'm so sorry Dr Shepherd I was in shock. I- I-" but Derek stopped her and held her in his arms to stop her from shaking.
"This isn't special treatment by the way Grey, I'm just trying to comfort a friend." Derek said and Lexie shot him a glare.
That's when Derek's heart sunk. Zola was still in the nursery. On the first floor.
The gun shot was heard throughout the entire hospital. Meredith and Alex both looked at each other, and then down to Gracelyn who was visibly shaking from the bang. They were not even close to at the peds floor, so they found the nearest supply closet and wheeled Gracelyn in there.
Alex began moving shelves to cover the door and Gracelyn was now sobbing.
"Was that a gun?!" She said between sobs.
"I can't say for sure, but for your safety we're staying here." Meredith said. She saw Gracelyn's face go pale and looked to Alex.
"Well your majesty, your royal subjects may not be here, but your royal court is." He knelt in front of her and presented the crown to her dramatically. "May all those present kneel before the queen."
Meredith took a knee and Gracelyn started to laugh.
"With great honor, I'd like to present to you, the Queen of the Seattle Grace Mercy West Homecoming, miss Gracelyn Phillips." Alex said and placed the crown on top of her head. Gracelyn beamed ear to ear and both Alex and Meredith stood up and applauded.
And then the moment was ruined when another shot rang through the hospital. Gracelyn went pale again and Alex grabbed her hand to comfort her.
Meredith grabbed her phone out of her pocket and looked at the picture of her and Derek on the lock screen. Just like that a message came through to her.
"The shooter is Lonnie Rodgers's dad. He's on the first floor. I'm on my way to get Zola. -Derek"
Meredith sent back, "I'm in a supply closet with Alex and a patient. Please be safe. -Meredith"
Her blank stare was Alex's cue to lighten the mood by telling asking Gracelyn about school. It seemed to buy time for a while, and keep thoughts from wandering.
pt. 1
-P
