The Broken Padlock

Chapter Three

-Adjusting-

After his morning shower and cup of coffee, Mark walked down the corridor of his apartment, stopping in front of Mel's bedroom, cautiously peeking inside. The last days had been really hard; there had been Elizabeth's small funeral, and her only relative there, excluding Mel, was Elizabeth's brother Jack, who nonchalantly claimed to have been in the nearby for work. Mel was a wreck. Mark didn't expect her to be happy and shiny, of course, but it hurt him to see her so in pain, constantly crying in her mostly sleepless nights, and he wished she at least tried to be nice to him. Had she been a little more willing to acknowledge he was on her side, things would be a lot more manageable for both of them.

He was supposed to have another full week off, but he was asked by the Chief to go in briefly for a consult, and he wanted to bring Mel along with him. He didn't think it would be a good idea to leave her home alone; he wasn't completely sure she'd stay there, considered she openly disliked him. On the other hand she had yelled at him the previous night because apparently the TV volume was too high, and he didn't want to upset her again; if what she needed was space, he was willing to give her space.

Mark cleared his throat warily, stepping in the room. Mel was sitting on her bed writing on her journal, that she energetically shut as soon as she noticed him.

"I'm sorry." Mark told her. "My chief asked me to go to the hospital... it's going to be a quick thing."

Mel snorted annoyed. "Go, or are you asking for my permission?"

Mark did his best to ignore her tone, though it was hurting him even more than the words. "I'd like you to come with me. Come on, it's gonna be fun. There are a lot of cool things in hospitals when you're not a patient. You could even watch a surgery."

"I hate blood."

"Oh. Well, then... you can meet some of my colleagues. Or Arizona, she works with kids, you could keep company to some of them."

"I'm good here."

"Mel, it's just to do something. Please."

Like in the majority of times he spoke to Mel, Mark was answered with silence, and he was already thinking about turning around and leave the girl to her journal, when her slow answer came, unexpected.

"Only if you buy me a puppy."

Mark opened his mouth to say something, and closed it shortly after, too surprised and unprepared for the question that he couldn't find the words.

Mel was looking at him, her eyebrows raised in a honey-blond arch, a defiant yet somewhat childish gaze that hit him powerfully, reminding him once again she was his daughter.

"I'll think about it." he said. "But if you really want one, I don't see any problem."

Mel stood up from her bed, grabbing a clean t-shirt as she made her way out of the room. Half-way through the bathroom, she turned around quickly, causing Mark, who had followed her and was only two steps behind, to stop abruptly. "I'm allergic to dogs, I just wanted to hear your answer. It was the wrong one, just so you know."

But Mark's hope glimmered when, five minutes later, Mel walked in the kitchen, fully dressed and ready to leave with him.

Once at the hospital, Mark quickly told Mel how to get to the pediatric floor, suggesting she could look for Arizona and ask to see Sofia, if she wanted to. Then he left, hurrying to find Dr. Webber and the patient he needed a consult on.

Mel watched him walk away, then looked around. The elevator was right in front of her, but she didn't go in. Instead, she followed the directions to the stairs, preferring to walk. She had barely got out of her bed ever since her mother's death, and after all Mark's persistence in making her go with him wasn't too bad. The pediatric floor was the fourth. She didn't feel too much like talking, but she thought Arizona and Callie were nice people, and unlike Mark they didn't seem awkward around her, they knew what to say and do.

"Mel!" Arizona's bubbly voice made Mel turn around. The blonde woman was walking towards her with a smile – she always had a smile on her face, Mel couldn't figure out how she always was so happy.

"Hi." she said softly.

"What are you doing here?" Arizona asked, loosing her hair on her shoulders.

"Mark had to see a patient, or something like that. He made me come."

"That's good! I can show you around, if you want. Or you can watch me work... Or you can go see Sofia. Or Callie."

Mel almost laughed, but she held herself back. "I think I want to be on my own for a while."

Arizona nodded, her smile not fading. "Sure, I understand. Well, this is the pediatric floor, I think some kids might like it if you decide to chat with them for a while. They're all sick and confined here, so some of them might be grumpy, and their parents might not want a stranger to intrude, but just say you know me and they'll adore you. Otherwise just walk around, I'm sure no one will mind once you tell them you're Mark's daughter. Just try not to get in the way if you see the doctors run."

Mel nodded, walking away with a quick wave of her hand.

Arizona watched her leave. She wasn't sure it was a good idea for Mel to spend the majority of her time by herself, sinking in her misery and silent mourning. She hadn't heard the girl talk except for when she and Mark – and even Lexie a few times – were over for dinner. Mel seemed to like her and Callie, and she didn't dislike Sofia either, even though she wasn't willing to spend time with her alone. On the other hand, she was giving Mark a hard time. She heard him talk to Callie, saying he had no idea what to say most of the time, and that Mel was always skeptical and sharp in her answers. Arizona wanted to tell him to give her some time, because it took a lot to get over a loss, but Mark already knew that. Somehow, it was easy for her to talk to Mel, probably because she worked with children every day and she was used to see them act up when they were going through a hard time, but Mark didn't have experience. Sofia was a little girl, and she lived with her and Callie. But Mel was staying at Mark's full-time, and she had the feeling she would have some problems managing as well, in Mark's place. Mel was a sweet girl, she was sure of that, she only needed her time to blossom. Once she got there, Arizona was positive she and Mark were going to bond a lot. They just needed to guide her, help her to open up, no matter how hard it was.

Mel yawned. She was starting to get bored. She'd been wandering through the hospital, but there was nothing that interested her, and no one that she knew was around. Getting once again on the elevator, she pushed a random button. Getting out, she looked around and frowned when she noticed she was in the psychiatric ward.

Cool, she thought, glancing in a few rooms. Most of the patients were laying on their beds, alone, staring blankly at indefinite things. Some of them, on the other hand, were talking to relatives or to other patients.

Mel walked down several corridors, hoping she'd remember how do get back later. Unlike the other floors, that swarmed of doctors and nurses, no one seemed to be around, there.

"Hello."

Mel glanced at her left, from where the strange voice came. A girl around her age was staring at her curiously – and somewhat creepily – with her blue eyes.

Mel hesitated, but she decided to enter the room.

"Hi."

"Are you a patient?" the girl asked, pushing away her blankets to sit in a more comfortable position.

"No, my father works downstairs on the surgical floor. I'm just wandering around."

"You can stay here, if you want. I'm all alone."

"Why are you here?" Mel asked her, and bit her own tongue right after.

"I tried to kill myself." the brunette girl showed her her wrists, pulling up her sleeves. They were tightly bandaged. "I took a lot of medicines, drank two glasses of wine and then I slit my wrists. Unfortunately, my brother and his friend unexpectedly came home; I wasn't even unconscious yet."

Mel stepped further in the room. "Why do you want to die?"

The other girl shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sometimes you just feel it, you know? That your time has come."

Mel thought she was crazy. She'd never wish to die.

"What's your name?"

"Leilah."

"I'm Mel."

"You look sad, Mel."

"I am." Mel didn't want to tell her why, she felt pretty uncomfortable with that girl.

"Why?"

It was Mel's turn to shrug.

"I know a good remedy." Leilah simply said. "Cigarettes. They release your stress, take away all your worries. You'd feel way better."

Mel wasn't sure whether it was a good advice. "Cool. Thanks." she said. "Well, I think I'm gonna go now. My father should be done working."

"Come visit me soon." Leilah said, in a tone of voice that made it sound like an order.

Mel nodded. "Bye." and she flew out of the room, quickly walking along the corridors again.

When the elevator got to the surgical floor, Mel let out a relieved sigh. That girl was really creepy, she made her feel uneasy.

Slower, Mel walked down to the entrance and breathed in the fresh air. That hospital made her feel claustrophobic.

She walked around outside for a while, until she found a smoke shop. She hesitated. Some of her friends smoked behind their parents' back, but she always refused to try. Her mom wouldn't have liked it, and she was sure it was disgusting. But Leilah said smoking would help her...

She pushed the door open, and the man behind the counter raised his eyes from the newspaper he was reading to look at her.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"A pack of cigarettes, please."

The man eyed her.

"No, I'm not old enough." Mel told him annoyed. "But my mom just died, dude, and I could use it, really really use it."

"I can't let you buy them."

"I need them." Mel insisted.

"I really can't."

"My mother died!" Mel yelled in his face.

Eventually, he sighed, handing the pack to her. "Don't come again, though."

Mel walked out, slamming the door.

She smoked a cigarette while she went back to the hospital.

Mark was waiting for her on a bench. "Here you are!" he stood up frantically. "I'm done here. We can go."

Mel nodded, preceding him to his car.

For a split second Mark thought he smelled smoke, but disappeared as fast as it had come.