I really hope you like this chapter. It wrote it on the plane today. Please give me your reviews, comments, tips, suggestion, criticisms, etc. It always makes my day when you give me feedback. Please enjoyXOXO
April didn't believe what she saw.
She saw a kid, mangled and damaged, burns and bruises making her unrecognizable.
A kid with two snapped ankles, and one destroyed knee.
A kid who was missing the top of her skull.
A kid with her femur sticking out of her leg.
April refused to believe it.
The girl who saved her, was a kid? That was, that was, awful. It was truly awful. Nobody deserved to be in that position. Nobody should have their life ruined trying to save a complete and total stranger.
Jackson took April's trembling hand in his, but she quickly pulled away. She wanted to hold his hand. She needed to hold someone's hand, but April felt disgusting. She felt terrible. This kid was dying, because of her. It was her fault. It was her fault.
"April this isn't your fault." Jackson assured her, as if reading her thoughts. "They pushed you out of the way. They decided to get in the way, not you. It's not your fault." He looked into her eyes, trying to search for an answer from his best friend, but April just stood there, staring at the injured girl, a feeling of pure guilt washing over her.
"I need a minute." April said quietly. Just then April felt a burning sensation in her stomach. She ran away from Jackson and into the women's restroom. She went to the first stall she found, and puked her guts out. By now, April was starting to regret those last few beers at the bar earlier that night. Suddenly, she felt someone pull her hair back. Meredith has followed her into the bathroom.
"It's my fault Mer." April sighed after 5 solid minutes of pulling. She leaned against the stall door.
"No it's not April." Meredith gently told her.
"But that girl got hurt saving me." April was beginning to cry.
"It's still not your fault." Meredith said in a kind yet firm tone. "I put my hand on a bomb, in a body cavity, willing to blow up for this person. It's not the patient's fault that I put my hand in there. It was my own decision, and I was willing to accept the costs."
April was extremely confused. Meredith put her hand on a what? In a what? How had she not heard about this.
"It was before your time here." Meredith picked up on April's confusion. "I guess I haven't told you about the many times I've almost died." Meredith chuckled. A grin spread across April's face. That grin turned into a full smile, and that smile turned into a laugh. Meredith began to laugh too.
The two young doctors sat there on the floor of the bathroom, laughing.
"You do know, it's not your fault, right?" Meredith said seriously after several minutes of laughing.
"Yeah, I guess. Deep down inside," April wiped her eyes. "I know that it wasn't my fault, but part of feels terrible for that girl. And, I just needed someone to blame." She knew Meredith understood that. She and Meredith had become good friends after the shooting, and she usually knew what to say to calm her down.
"Come on. I need to sleep, and you need to get yourself cleaned up." Meredith held out a hand.
"Alright." April took her hand and pulled herself out. The two walked out of the bathroom.
"Oh. Why is Jackson your emergency contact?" Meredith said with a smirk.
"I...I..." April's face flushed and she struggled to find words. "Well, you know, we uh, we work together, and uh, we uh, we're friends and.."
Meredith simply shook her head. With a simple 'See you later.' Meredith walked off to the on-call room to sleep. April longed to follow her, but she knew she had to shower first. She smelled like gas, blood, and alcohol. Not a great combination.
April made her way to the locker room and quickly hopped in the shower. There very few people on-call in the middle of night, so nobody else was in the locker room. April scrubbed and scrubbed until she felt like she may be able to shine. She got out and put on a fresh pair of scrubs. She had thrown away the clothes she was wearing. They were drenched, and also smelled like alcohol.
Lexie walked into the locker room.
"Oh. April. You're awake." Lexie said happily. She sat down on a bench and let out an exhasporated sigh. "I am exhausted. Gotta love 36 hour shifts,"
"Why don't you go to an on-call room?" April asked.
"Oh I would love to." Lexie was annoyed. "But, there are some people, and I'm praying it's not my sister, who are having some very loud-"
"Okay then." April stopped her. "Don't need to know the details Lex."
"Sorry." Lexie smiled. The junior resident made her way into the restroom April had just vacated. Obviously, she needed a shower to.
April laughed lightly and left the locker room. She didn't know where she was going, but her feet carried her somewhere.
They carried her straight back to Jane Doe's room.
This time, Derek was outside.
"Hi ." April said quietly.
"Oh April, you're awake." He sounded sort of in a daze. Then, as if someone turned on he lights, he snapped out of his daze. "April, who let you up here? Do you know what happened? How did you know where to go?" He rambled on,
"It's okay. I was here earlier, I actually saw your wife. She and I had a pretty long talk." Derek was still looking at her Ike she might go crazy or cry or something like that. April picked up on hesitance. "I know what happened. It's truly awful." She sighed as she walked in front of the window and looked in at the girl.
"What's her name?" She asked Derek after a few moments. This girl saved her. She wanted to know her name.
"We don't know. For now, she is a Jane Doe." Derek said with a sad tone. The two just stood there, looking at the injured girl. Her heart rate was strong and her BP was low, but stable.
"Callie says she has to lose her left leg. It's a real shame."
April silently nodded her head.
"Do you think she'll wake up?" April asked him.
"Maybe. To be honest, I really don't know." He confessed. His face was sullen and weary. "Opi hope she does. I'm pulling for her."
"Yeah. Me to." April sighed. She spent a little more time looking at the girl. Then, a question came into her mind. Why was this girl outside in the middle of a blizzard? April hadn't seen anyone else out there. Why hadn't April seen the girl? And why had the girl seen the semi, but April didn't? There were too many unanswered questions.
"Well, I need to get some sleep." Derek yawned, interrupting her thoughts. "I truly am glad that you're okay April." Derek said with sincerity. He gave her a soft smile, and she returned it. He patted her shoulder and walked off. A few weeks ago, she would have melted if Derek Shepard had touched her. Now, she had her sights set on a different man.
A man April hoped had his sights set on her as well.
Suddenly, April made a bold decision.
She took a few shaky steps into Jane Doe's room. She took in all the details that she couldn't see from outside.
The room was quiet, except for the quiet beeping of her heart rate monitor. Jane doe had a bandage wrapped around her head. Her face was burned in multiple places, and the places that weren't burned, were covered in purple bruises. Her shoulder was dislocated and she had stitches all over her body.
April pulled a chair to the side of her bed. She took Jane Doe's hand in hers.
"Um. Hi." April said sheepishly. "I don't know if you can hear me, or if you are brain dead or what, but if you can, please listen. My name is April Kepner, and I'm the woman you saved. I wanted to say thank you." April's voice broke. "Thank you for saving my life. I didn't know that there was anyone in the world that was willing to die for me. It means so much to me. You don't even know."
April had started crying said, and she did 't care. She let the tears slip down her face, onto her neck. April sat there for a few minutes, listening to the heart rate monitor and holding the girl's hand.
Then, without a word, April stood up. She leaned over and kissed the girl on her forehead, the only place she wasn't burned.
"Thank you." April cried, some of her tears falling onto Jane Doe's face. "Thank you." April turned and began to walk out of the room, when she heard a noise.
"Hmmmgph..."
April's eyes widened as she heard the noise. A smile grew on her face as she turned to face Jane Doe.
"Someone page !" She yelled at the nurses outside the room."Tell him Jane Doe is awake."