Chapter 3: Who is She?
Being a surgeon was Derek Shepherd's life. He had his family, but they lived on the other side of the country. Most of his time was spent in the hospital and it was what he loved. He didn't have much time for anything else. He didn't really date because it was hard to find someone who understood how time consuming his job was and he didn't care. Fixing people was his life and every time he walked into an OR he knew that was where he belonged.
"The tumor was the size of a golf ball...right on his temporal lobe." Derek took a sip of his coffee as he walked down the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital with his best friend Mark.
"I heard." Mark Sloan pushed through a set of doors, holding his own coffee close. "That's crazy."
"Too bad you were busy and couldn't watch." Derek smirked.
"Lexie's been tied up with some family stuff...she's either on the run being an intern or staying at Yangs." Mark shook his head. "On call room was all I had."
"Staying at Yang's?"
"Her big sister's husband just died...she's been hiding out there." Mark Sloan sighed. "I haven't even met her sister yet, but Lexie said the woman is a complete mess right now."
"Young guy?" Derek asked. After working in a hospital for years, hearing about death was sad but it didn't phase him.
"Thirties I'd guess." Mark answered. "Either way...Lex hasn't told me much. She got up in the middle of the night a month ago to rush to Maryland...she's been so consumed this month with her sister...trying to keep the poor lady on her feet."
"And you're being sexually deprived."
"Not today."
"Good to know." Derek laughed.
"But Lexie's going to Yang's again tonight so..."
"Just you and your hand."
"Shut up." Mark shook his head as they walked into the cafeteria.
"Fishing this weekend?" Derek asked, picking up a tray.
"Hell yeah." Mark chuckled, reaching for a turkey sandwich and a salad.
"It's about time. You haven't come out for months."
"Well thanks to Lexie's family issue...I have some time."
"Do you have surgery this afternoon?" Derek changed the subject as he paid the cashier for his food, and they headed to their usual table.
"Simple implant surgery on a cheerleader with no confidence." Mark shrugged.
"Your favorite kind."
"That's right." Mark laughed as Derek looked over at a table in the corner where a woman was sitting alone.
"It's sick." Derek laughed.
"You're just jealous that you don't get to make people look good." Mark shrugged. "I understand."
"I save people's lives. I'm pretty sure that beats a boob job anyday."
"You're sure?"
"Very."
"Yeah well one of us still gets sex...one of us hasn't had sex in four months." Mark smirked, poking at his salad.
"And its creepy that your keeping track of the last time I had sex."
"Uh huh." Mark laughed as Derek turned back to look at the girl at the table.
"Do you recognize her?" He nodded his head in the woman's direction.
"Who?" Mark looked back at the woman who looked pale with tiring dark circles around her eyes. The woman looked almost frail and as if sitting up looked like a struggle. "Is she a patient?"
"Doesn't look like it." Derek watched her as she finally got to her feet.
"She's probably waiting on someone in surgery." Mark shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"She looks...sick."
"Maybe she is."
"I don't know." He sighed.
"She really doesn't look so good." Mark said, putting his fork down as the woman stopped in front of the trashcan.
"Woah..." Derek stood up quickly when he saw her began to sway and lose her balance.
"Crap." Mark stood, pushing his chair back as Derek held onto the young woman's hands. Mark quickly reached to stop the coffee cup she was trying to throw away from hitting the ground. "Got it."
"I'm fine." The girl said quickly.
"Why don't you sit down?" Derek reached for his chair, holding onto her with his other hand.
"No..." She said quickly,
"You almost passed out." Derek breathed, helping her to sit.
"I want to leave." The girl stood again, pushing herself off towards the door.
"Hey..." Mark frowned, the girl definitely sounded weak, but a part of her voice was cracking as she walked towards the doors.
"Can we at least call someone for you?" Derek offered.
"I don't need you to call someone...I need to get out of this cafeteria...and I need to go home."
"You almost passed out right in front of us...we can't just let you walk out."
"Can we not talk about this in here where people are starting to stare at me?" The small woman crossed her arms.
"Mark...can you get her some water?" Derek suggested.
"Yeah." Mark nodded before Derek took her hand and led her into a small exam room down the hall.
"Are you a patient?"
"No not really."
"Not really?" Derek grabbed a blood pressure cuff.
"Yeah." She stared blankly at the wall.
"Who can I call?"
"I don't need you to call anyone." She looked down at her hands.
"I can't just let you walk out of here...you almost passed out right in front of me...your blood pressure is dangerously low."
"Fine."
"So, who can I call?"
"You can page Lexie Grey or Cristina Yang."
"Oh..." Derek breathed.
"Lexie's my younger sister...she'll probably freak out but...she gets off in twenty minutes so..."
"I'll page her right away." Derek nodded. It was her. It had to be. Mark had said that Lexie's older sister was here and was a mess and the woman in front of him...she was a mess.
"Just don't say anything to freak her out."
"I'll let her know to meet you in the waiting room."
"Thanks." The woman bit her lip.
"Your welcome." Derek smiled weakly, reaching for the phone in the exam room to have Lexie Grey paged. It all made sense now, the state that this woman was in. She looked like she hadn't slept or eaten in a month and her blood pressure told the same story. As a doctor, he was concerned but there was more than just that. Now that he knew who she was and what she had been through, he wanted to help.