This story, by the way, is set in season six. And to clear this up, Lexie is with Mark in season six so that Alex can be with OC Christi. So yeah, there we go. However, we are soon going to transition to season seven, hint, hint.
Even a very small degree of hope is enough to cause the birth of love. – Stendhal
"The chocolate was so disgusting, Alex," Christi argued, "And the lemon is so much classier.
"I don't want our wedding to be fruity," he said, "What about the vanilla?"
"It's boring, so boring," Christi said as they walked through the hospital doors.
"Well what about the one with the butterscotch icing?"
"Hate butterscotch, can't stand it. The cake was nasty too."
"Well aren't you two just the old married couple?" Arizona teased, "Are you on my service today?"
"Yes, I am," Alex nodded.
"Wait, we aren't an old married couple," Christi protested.
"You fight like you are," Callie came up, shot a glare to Arizona and said, "Josie Kennedy, trauma room four, we're working with Hunt today."
"Josie Kennedy?" Arizona asked, "Is she a kid?"
"Four years old, severe trauma and broken bones, c'mon."
"What, we don't fight!" Christi exclaimed as they all rushed off to get scrubs.
"You were,"
"Wait, what about the Italian cake, Alex! It'd mean a lot to me!" Christi remembered.
"You'll deal with this later, because a bunch of ambulances full of little kids with broken bones are coming! Where the hell is Veronica when you need her?" Callie exclaimed.
"She's visiting she said she wanted to work with you for the time she was here." Christi said.
"Where is she?"
"I'm here!" Veronica exclaimed, "I'm on your service?"
"Yes,"
"Awesome!"
"Okay, we'll visit Josie while you two get the rest of the kids." Arizona said. Arizona and Christi hurried to Josie.
"So are you two still together?" Christi asked.
"Nope, I don't want kids, Callie does."
"I'm so sorry, but why don't you?" Christi asked. Arizona looked at her and frowned.
"It's not really something you need to be worried about."
"Okay, here's our patient," Christi pulled back the curtain in the ER to show a small Middle Eastern girl lying on the bed.
"Josie, how do you feel?" Arizona asked.
"I'm in pain. I want my Mommy,"
"Where's your mommy, Josie?" Christi asks, starting to work on setting her bones and getting her x-rays.
"She's in Heaven, I want to go to her," Josie whimpers.
"We can't let you, now what about your daddy?" Arizona asks.
"He is mean, I don't want him here."
"You need him here; we need him to get you all better." Christi says.
"Christi, go find her father." Arizona demands. Christi goes to the waiting room where she finds a white man yelling the nurses for Josie.
"Mr. Kennedy," Christi interrupts him.
"What," he turned and snarled, "Can I see my damn daughter?"
"Yes, we need you to sign a few papers."
"Let me see her first," he demanded. Christi brings him to the x-ray lab where she was now getting x-rays done.
"What's she got?" Veronica comes in and asks.
"Severe broken ribs, a broken arm, fractured wrist, sprained ankle, head trauma and a broken nose." Arizona listed and pointed to the bones on the screen.
"What caused this?" Alex asked Mr. Kennedy.
"She fell," he muttered.
"Will you excuse us, Mr. Kennedy?" Christi asked, "We need to discuss something." The man huffed, but left the room.
"What's this about?" Arizona asked.
"He's lying, she didn't fall. Trust me, this is child abuse. MY step-dad used to abuse me and one time I had these exact same injuries. Look at her, she did not fall, she's being abused."
"Why should we trust you?" Arizona asked.
"He's an angry white man with a dead Middle Eastern wife and a small child. He most likely abuses her,"
"Look, we're here to fix her injuries, we can't get involved with stuff like this." Arizona said.
"Well, this could be serious." Alex said, "One time, a man came in, and his little girl shot him because he was abusing her and the wife, and Meredith got involved and then everything turned out fine."
"Look, that's different, completely different." Arizona said, "Let's just fix her." XXX
"Josie, sweetie," Christi bent down to look at her, "I need to ask you some things."
"Okay," Josie said, coughing a little. Christi glanced back to make sure the blinds and door was closed.
"Josie, how did this happen?"
"My," she coughed again, "My daddy got really mad, and he hit me. Except this time, it hurt really badly. He hit me lots of times and then I fell asleep. Then I woke up and I was behind those curtains."
"Does your daddy do this a lot?" Christi asked.
"If I tell you he'll get in trouble."
"Josie, when I was your age, and even older, my step-daddy hit me a lot. Then when I told someone he didn't do it anymore."
"He does it a lot. But I've never gone to a doctor for it."
"Well this time it was a lot worse, and now you need to have some surgeries to make you all better."
"Will I not hurt no more?"
"You'll be pain-free."
"Okay, good." XXX
As soon as Christi and Josie ended the conversation, Christi rushed to the lunch room where Arizona was eating lunch with Teddy.
"Arizona," she gasped, "I have proof, and the girl is being abused."
"How do you know?"
"I asked her and she said he does. Why would she lie?"
"I… I'm sorry, Christi, for not believing you first. Now let's go to Shepherd." Arizona apologizes. They rush to Derek's office and tell him that Josie Kennedy is being abused.
"I'll call child services immediately," Derek said and picked up his phone. A half hour later, they were watching Mr. Kennedy being pulled away. Meanwhile, Veronica was shocked at who was in the ER.
"Victoria, why the hell are you in here," Veronica asked her sister.
"I need some medicinal marijuana to cure my blinding headache." She teased.
"You're joking, right," Veronica scoffed.
"I am joking, but really, I need a doctor for my blinding headache."
"I'll cure you," Veronica sighed, "No one's bothering Chief Shepherd now." XXX
After watching Mr. Kennedy get taken off into custody of the police he grabs her hand and leads her over to the on-call room.
"Okay what was that about in the x-ray lab?"
"I was just trying to protect that girl. You have no idea on what he could have done to her.
Those injuries were done with such hatred. I didn't want to see that poor little girl get abused anymore. It wasn't fair to her. I was just trying to protect her. Like I wish someone did with me."
"How come this never came up? I'm not mad I'm just…worried, and concerned." He said gently cupping the side of her face.
"I don't know. I just don't like talking about it. It brings up really bad memories and brings back the nightmares." She said softly as tears well up in her eyes and roll down her checks.
Alex pulls her into his arms and holds her close and rubs her back as she cries. He hated seeing her cry. He knew that he would have to tell her sooner or later about Izzie and what happened he didn't want to start off their life together with secrets. That's how things got ruined with him and Izzie was all the secrets. He wasn't going to let the secrets ruin him and Christi. He out right refused to let that happen.
Just as he was about to say something her cell rang from her pocket making her jump.
She calms down a bit as she pulls her cell from her pocket and then looks at the display.
It was a Miami-Dade number and she frowned.
"What?" Alex asked.
"It's a Miami-Dade number." She said then adds, "I haven't had contact with anyone in Miami besides my mom since I was sixteen." She said answering it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Christina Sloan?"
"Yes." She said.
"My name is Sergeant Roberto Delko with the Miami-Dade police department, and I'm sorry to inform you that your mother and son were in a motor vehicle accident and were rushed Dade General. Your mother was DOA but your son is in the ICU."
"Oh god." She said falling back onto the bed white as a sheet.
She talks to the guy for a while longer then she hangs up the phone and just stares directly at the wall.
"Christi?" He asked kneeling down putting his hands on her knees.
"I gotta go and talk to my dad." She said getting up and walking out.
She finds Mark about to head down to lunch and she goes over to him before he could get into the elevator.
"Dad!" she cries.
Mark turns and he looks at her and sees how pale she is.
"Sweetie what's wrong?"
"It's mom and Seth!" she cries.
"Who's Seth?"
"My…my… son. I was sixteen when I had him. I had him the month before you got custody of me. Mom was killed in a car accident and Seth is in the ICU. I need to go down to Miami. Please come with me." She cries clinging to him like a scared little kid.
Mark holds her close and rubs her back and lets her cry into his chest. He could tell she was really upset and just needed to be held.
"Christi sweetie let me ask you something, why isn't he with you?"
"Because my step-dad is a real mother fucker and said I wasn't fit to be a mother even though you had just gained custody of me but wasn't able to get me for another month. He said that he and my mom would be better to raise him. But once I was in college I fought it and I won custody back but asked if he could remain with my mom until I finished med school. I was going to say something earlier but thing got out of control which us trying to bitch each other to insanity then I got with Alex and things just got so unorganized I never got the chance to tell you till now. But daddy please. I can't go there alone." She begs him in tears.
"I won't let you go alone. We'll get the first flight down there tomorrow." He
XXX
"Sloan!" Arizona exclaimed. She walked over to Mark, who was eating lunch with Lexie. "Tell your daughter to watch it with me."
"Excuse me?" Mark asked.
"She disrespected me and was attitudinal with me. She went behind my back and disobeyed me."
"What happened?" he asked.
"Christi, Alex and I were treating a little girl who supposedly fell down the stairs, but Christi thought she was being abused. She talked back to me about it, told her own story of being abused by her step-dad and went off that. She went behind my back and asked the girl about it, and the little girl was being abused, but still. She disrespected me, so tell her to not."
"She was abused?" Mark asked.
"Not the point," Arizona snapped. She sighed, and walked away. Then Mark went off to find Christi. He found her in the on-call room telling Alex about her step-dad. She retold Mark everything she told Alex, and Mark hugged her.
"It's okay," he said when she began crying; "You're safe, you're with me now. And Alex and I will protect you no matter what."
"I love you, Dad, I love you Alex," she whimpered. XXX
The next day, Veronica's sister was still in the hospital. Veronica was staying for a while and Christi wasn't working that day, but was staying with the kids anyway. It was strangely eerie on this day, and no one liked it. Then, everyone understood why, as Alex crawled into the occupied elevator with a gunshot in the side of his chest. The elevator doors opened and Veronica gasped.
"Come on," Veronica said, helping Alex get into the elevator faster. She pressed the close button and the doors closed, leaving Gary Clark with a dead Reed. Gary left the supply closet and April soon came along and stumbled over Reed. She ran up to Chief Shepherd's office, and then the word got out. The hospital went into lockdown.
Callie, Arizona and Christi were trapped on Arizona's floor, while Jackson was in surgery and Lexie, Mark and Alex were in the conference room, trying to fix Alex. Veronica had gone off to find her sister. She found her in the deserted trauma room one. All the trauma rooms, and the ER, were empty, except for theirs.
"Veronica, we're gonna die," she gasped, "We're gonna die,"
"We aren't going to die," Veronica says sternly, "We are not going to die, we'll live. We will make it through this, I promise."
"What if we don't, Ronnie?" Victoria asked. As soon as she did, the door slammed open. Gary Clark comes in with a gun pointed at Victoria.
"Are either of your surgeons?" he asks.
"No," Veronica said.
"N-no," Victoria stuttered, afraid, that he'd shoot one of them.
"Don't shoot us please," Veronica said hoarsely. She stood up and faced him.
"Sit down!" he yelled, feeling threatened.
"No, you have the gun, you have the power to kill! You're playing God right now, so you shouldn't feel threatened by me, and I'm weaponless!"
"Shut up," Gary yelled.
"Don't yell at my sister, and don't shoot her!" Victoria stood up.
"Or what," he sneered.
"Or else," Victoria exclaimed, "Or else I'll kill you, too!"
"You think you can hurt me?" Gary scoffed. He raised the gun and shot her in the chest, then she fell to the ground.
"Victoria!" Veronica yelled in shock. Veronica shrieks, and Gary takes off. She moves to put pressure on the wound in her chest.
"Veronica, I'm gonna die, don't try to stop Death." She whispers.
"I will do whatever it takes to stop Death! Death isn't taking you today, not today!" Veronica yells.
"Death is," Victoria gasps, "I love you, Veronica, I love you."
"Don't, you aren't dying Victoria,"
"I love you," she whispers as she closes her eyes, and takes her last breath.
"No!" Veronica yelled, "No, Victoria!" XXX
Meanwhile, with Lexie and Mark trying to save Alex, he's asking for Christi.
"She's in pediatrics, the hospital is on lockdown." Lexie said.
"When I see that guy, I'm kicking his ass."
"Yeah, you do that," Mark said.
"Tell Christi I love her." He said, "I know I'm not dying, but tell her I said I loved her while I'm recovering."
"We will, Alex, we will," Lexie said.
"And, and tell her I'll tell her about Izzie,"
"She already knows some of it." Mark said.
"I guessed someone already told her, but tell her I'm gonna tell her the whole thing."
"Okay," Lexie shrugged, "We will," XXX
Arizona and Callie are arguing while Christi is trying to escape the pediatric ward to find Alex. She finally gets out and nearly misses Gary, and goes to find Alex. She finds Alex, Lexie and Mark in the conference room.
"Christi," Mark gasps when she comes in.
"Christi," Alex groans. She rushes over to hold his hand.
"Alex, I love you, I love you so much," she says with tears in her eyes.
"I love you too," he whispers, "I'm gonna tell you all about Izzie."
"You don't have to, if you don't want to."
"I need to tell you. I need to," he whispers. He tells her all about Izzie. About how in the beginning of their internship they got together. He tells her about Denny and his death. He tells her about Rebecca 'Ava' Pope, and how Izzie objected to her completely. He tells her about how they got back together, and about the hallucinations. He tells Christi about finding the cancer, then her treatment and how she died. He tells her about everything that went on the last few years, ending with Izzie leaving him.
"Oh," Christi whispers. She then feels bad about not telling him about her son, but he doesn't need to know that yet.
"And thank you, Christi, for telling me about your childhood. I love you, and I don't want to keep any more secrets from you. That's how the relationship with Iz got ruined, and I want a good relationship with you."
"Thank you, I love you," she said and kissed him. Soon, SWAT came into the room.
"We can take him to a hospital now," a man said, "Let's go,"
After they got him loaded into an ambulance, they followed them to the hospital in Tacoma, which was the closest big city at the moment. When they got there, he was put into surgery, and by then Seattle Grace was safe. When Teddy (who had gone in the ambulance with him) got out of surgery with him, he was transported back to Seattle Grace. Mark and Lexie left Christi alone with him, but he was still sleeping. Christi wandered off to get some food, and saw Veronica sitting on a bench outside, a sullen look on her face.
"What's wrong, friend?" Christi asked when she sat down next to her.
"Vic," Veronica rasped, "Victoria,"
"What happened?" Christi asked. Veronica looked at her, tears streaming down her face.
"Victoria got shot, she died."
"Oh, God," Christ said, and pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Veronica didn't respond.
"Did you also hear that Derek got shot? Cristina had to do surgery on him."
"How's Meredith," Christi asked.
"She had to do surgery on Owen when he got shot."
"Their husbands are in their best friend's hands." Christi laughed weakly.
"How's Alex?"
"He's doing good, have you seen Jackson?"
"Umm, no, he's mourning. Reed and Charlie got shot, they died."
"Shouldn't you be with him?" Christi asked.
"He doesn't want to be with anyone, except April."
"Oh, how are the rest of them?"
"Well, Callie and Arizona are back together, and Bailey was with Charlie. I don't know how she's doing. How are Mark and Lexie doing?"
"They've been really supportive."
"That's good," Veronica said as tears came to Christi's eyes. "We need each other in recovering from this."
"We do," Christi said, "You're my best friend, and I love you a lot."
"I love you too,"
"We need each other, for this baby, and this wedding, and the shooting." Christi said, they hugged again and wiped their eyes.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.- Author Unknown