I know this is kind of very late! Sorry! Anyways here's chapter 7- better late than never right?
"Wait!"
Jo's eyes shot open, the gun pointed at her slowly lowered.
The younger guy, who had brought down the stabbed patient, carefully lowered the paling man slumped over his arms, before stepping in between Jo and gun.
"What do you think you're doing Charles?" the leader asked, exasperation and anger seeping into his question.
"She says she is his best chance, we needs his best chance" he, Charles as Jo had learned begged.
"Don't be ridiculous Charles. We are not entertaining her conditions."
"Brother please!"
Jo eyebrows scrunched, brothers?
Charles continued, "You've made your point, you'll get your glory, do as she says. Please!" desperation ringing in his voice.
The older man rubbed his eyes, his brother's words wearing him down.
"Please. This isn't what Juliana would have wanted."
Jo watched as the older man's steel blue eyes softened ever so slightly.
"Fine. Let them go." he digressed, glaring at Jo, before turning to one of the men and telling him something in hushed French.
Charles nodded to another man at the end of the room, who started to gather the confused hostages toward the door. He walked back over to the unconscious man before turning to her
"You. Come on."
Jo heard a strange fear in his voice, she saw the desperation in his eyes. This guy, was definitely more than just a comrade.
She followed him, her eyes low, staring at her shoes. He led her into an empty conference room, and laid the dying man into the table. Jo watched him with confusion. How could someone be so caring, and yet be a part of something so ruthless?
"Hey." the guy called out, bringing Jo out of her thoughts.
Jo looked up to meet his eyes, "Yeah?"
"You said a lot big things out there, for your sake I hope you don't disappoint"
For Jo, the revelation hit- it was going to be this patient's life or her's. She was literally operating for life. This patient's wounds weren't just the patient's wounds, they were now her's.
No pressure. Jo walked up to guy at the table. A moment of uncertainty passed through before the clarity hit and Jo went into full doctor mode.
She assessed the wound before calling out, "I'm going to need trauma dressings, gauze, sterile sponges-"
"We're in a hotel not a hospital. Where the hell are we going to get that stuff?" Charles cut her off.
Jo was no trauma surgeon. Sure she was trauma certified, but residency doesn't exactly teach you how to operate with nothing. She'd heard once that Dr Grey and Dr Yang had done a pericardiocentesis with a straw. She knew Ben had once used a clipboard blade to open someone's chest wall. But to Macgyver an entire surgery, or even just enough to stabilize him, would be impossible. She started pacing and mumbling to herself, trying to think of something, anything.
"You don't look the best right now," frustration lined Charles' voice.
Jo snapped back, "I'm thinking! Don't have many options here anyway."
Charles at Jo's tone "A hotel filled with doctors, and you're the one I get stuck with"
Jo ignored his insult, but it resonated with her- A hotel filled with doctors… type A, obsessive, over prepared doctors. And she knew exactly who she was looking for.
When the mass of confused and scared hostages walked out of the building, hysteria ensued. People looked for other they knew, or mourned their peers left inside, the police tried to question people, reporters sprang into action. The scene was chaotic to say the least.
Stephanie was looking for Jo as she watched the people walk out of the building, trying to remember what her best friend had worn that morning. Ben hadn't gotten back yet, he had gotten up to pick up Bailey's call. Stephanie was about to stand up when she hear someone call out.
"I'm looking for someone from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital"
She whipped around towards the voice towards a tall, sandy haired man in an FBI jacket.
Stephanie shot her hand up, "Me! Grey Sloan- I work at Grey Sloan."
The FBI agent turned towards her, flashing her his badge, "Agent Daniels. And you're from Grey Sloan Memorial? In Seattle?"
Stephanie nodded, "Yes," she answered cautiously. "Why? Is Jo okay?"
"We're not sure mam, I was wondering if you could come with me."
Stephanie followed the agent, fear setting into her abdomen. She and Jo never had an easy relationship, they fought…a lot. But Jo was Stephanie's only constant friendship for the last five years. Heather had died, Shane left for Switzerland, Leah got fired. Jo and Stephanie weren't always on best terms. But after everything, Jo was her best friend, and she could very well be dead right now.
The agent led Stephanie behind the yellow tape, where the FBI was gathered.
"...I don't remember anything else about her! We were waiting in the same hall before our exam, we weren't even really talking, I asked what hospital she was from, and she said Grey Sloan, and before I could ask her name I was called inside. I just know she's from Grey Sloan and what she looks like. I recognized her when we were inside-"
"Sir" Daniels cut off the man, causing the man to turn around to look towards him.
"Can you describe what she looked like? So we can ID her?"
The man closed his eyes hard, as if trying to recollect a memory,
"She had shortish brown hair, and she was tiny, and umm-"
Stephanie frowned, that sounded like Jo but she reached for her phone, wanting to be certain. She pulled up a selfie of her and Jo from last night.
She turned the phone towards the man, zooming in on Jo's face.
"Is that her?"
The man nodded vigorously, "That's it, that's her. She's the one. She's still inside- you have to help her."
"Wait, Jo's still inside?"
"Room 702. Here we go" Jo reached for the handle and groaned when it didn't budge. "It's locked."
Charles fiddled with pockets before pulling out a white piece of plastic, "Here, this should work."
Jo's raised her eyebrows, "A master key? Where'd you get that… You know what don't answer that. I don't need more of a reason to hate you"
"Watch the mouth and hurry up"
Jo rolled her eyes to herself before reaching for the card in his hand. She watched the light turn green, indicating that the she could open the door. Twisting the door handle open, she stepped inside. A burst of cold air hit her immediately, the air condition must have been running in the morning and no one was left to turn it off. Jo cautiously walked around the room while Charles stood at the door, watching her.
Jo had only known Josh for about three hours, he was the annoying Chicago trauma surgeon- who would not shut up. She ignored most of what he said, but know she wished she could apologize- because Josh was about to save her life.
She found his bag under the bed, and struggled to pull it out. Finally able to get it out, she opened the bag, to find a perfectly organized bag. Jo shuffled through clothes, and textbooks- unable to find what she was looking for.
Jo gritted her teeth. If Josh was the kind of person she thought he was it had to be in the bag somewhere.
Frustrated, Jo was about to walk away when she noticed the top of the bag was bulging out. She quickly unzipped the front pocket to reveal another bag inside.
She took it out of the bigger bag. Holding her breathe as she undid the Velcro to find a fully stocked trauma kit. It had gauze, suture kits, scalpel blades. Jo let out a sigh of relief but a sudden wave of guilt set it.
This was Josh's, who died because of these people. And now Jo was going to use his things to save one of their lives. For a second, Jo contemplated putting the kit back, walking away, telling Charles she couldn't do anything, letting him shoot her. Besides she had come to peace with the idea of dying anyway.
But then she wouldn't be a doctor.
Jo remembered her med school graduation, the day she became a doctor. Part of the ceremony was swearing the Hippocratic oath, at the time she was so excited, this was the moment she'd dreamed of, the moment that made all the horrible things the had gone through to get to that moment worth it.
But this moment was the first time she actually understood what the oath meant. She was a doctor first, her first responsibility was to the person on the table, regardless of who they were. She couldn't turn her back on a patient. And Josh wouldn't have either, he was a doctor first too, he was a doctor even after his death.
"I got it. Let's go."
That's chapter 7! Longer than usual but because its been almost a month since the last chapter I guess it's okay. Anyway look at Jo still being snippy and sassy even when in the company of a crazy person.
I promise chapter 8 will be out earlier than this update. We'll get to see Alex next chapter-so look forward to that...