Jai opened his locker dressed in his scrub pants, shoes, white shirt, and damp hair, with five minutes to spare. The shirt was clinging to his damp torso as he sighed and put on the scrub top on. The water main in his building was getting repaired and that meant he couldn't take a shower until he got to work, which meant he had to bring his running gear to the hospital to run before his shift started.
He closed the door and leant against it when he saw Meredith put a notice up on the board. She was looking for roommates for her house.
He did need to move from his place. Maybe Meredith will let him since they work together, and their schedules sync up.
Izzie and George were bombarding Meredith with questions. "Why do you put up posters for roommates if you don't want roommates?"
"I do want roommates." Meredith admitted. "We're together a hundred hours a week, you want to live together too?"
Cristina walked to them and saw the coffee Meredith was holding. "No. Ooh, you're bringing bribes now?"
"I need a place to live." George picked off. "My mom irons my scrubs. I have to get out of there."
"It's not a bribe." Meredith pointed out to Cristina before looking at George. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"But I can put down last, first and deposit." George added.
Jai walked in and joined them.
"Hey, I see you're looking for a roommate?" Jai asked Meredith. He glanced at the coffee. "Really? You bribing her now?"
"No." Meredith said.
"It's totally a bribe." Cristina chuckled at him.
"I can cook." Izzie supplied. "And I'm an obsessive cleaner."
"No. I just want two total strangers who I don't have to talk to, or be nice to, and it's not a bribe, it's a mocha latte."
"Yet you put up an advertisement at the very same hospital you work at?" Jai asked raising his eyebrow. Izzie and George smirked at him and Meredith.
Bailey walked to them. "George, you're running the code team, Meredith and Patel, take the trauma patients, Cristina, deliver the weekend labs to the patients, Izzie, you're on sutures."
"Dr Bailey." Meredith called as she left. "I was hoping to assist you in the OR today, maybe do a minor procedure? I think I'm ready. Mocha latte?"
"If she gets to cut, I want to cut too." Cristina added.
"Yeah, me too." Izzie spoke up.
"I wouldn't mind another shot, I mean if everybody else is..." George voiced out.
"Stop talking." Bailey cut them off as Jai shook his head from behind them. "Every intern wants to perform their first surgery, that's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whining. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, having the trauma patients answered, having the weekend labs delivered, and having someone down in the Pit, doing the sutures." She paused and took the latte from Meredith. "No one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy I'm Mary freaking Poppins."
Cristina side eyed Meredith. "Mocha latte my ass."
"Why're yall standing there? Move!" Bailey yelled.
They scrammed to their locations.
Jai and Meredith moved to the elevator only to see Dr. Shepherd waiting there as well.
"Seattle has ferry boats."
Jai looked at Meredith like Shepherd was crazy and she smiled back. "Yes." She responded without looking at Shepherd.
"I didn't know that." Shepherd said. "I've been living here six weeks, I didn't know there were ferry boats. Did you, Dr. Patel?"
Jai shook his head keeping his eyes on the elevator. "No, but Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides."
"Hence the ferry boats." Shepherd said as the elevator arrived. Jai and Meredith waited for those to get off before they entered with Shepherd following them. "Now I have to like it here. I wasn't planning on liking it here. I'm from New York. Genetically engineered to dislike everywhere, except Manhattan. I have a thing for ferry boats."
Jai moved more to the back so he stayed away from the other two.
"I'm not going out with you." Meredith failed trying to say in a quite voice making Jai roll his eyes.
"Did I ask you to go out with me?" Shepherd asked before pausing. "Do you want to go out with me?"
Meredith cocked her head in an angle before shaking it. "I'm not dating you. And I'm definitely not sleeping with you again. You're my boss."
Jai leant his head back against the wall of the elevator. This conversation was making him want to go back to boot camp in India.
"I'm your boss's boss." Shepherd said.
"You're my teacher." Meredith corrected. "And my teacher's teacher." She added. "And you're my teacher." She repeated.
"'I'm your sister, I'm your daughter'" Shepherd mocked.
"You're sexually harassing me." Meredith said making Jai and Shepherd roll their eyes.
"I'm riding an elevator." Derek corrected.
"What I'm going through is true sexual harassment." Jai said making them both look at him. He sighed as he moved past them and pushed on the next floor's button. The elevator opened and he walked out. "I'll take the stairs."
He didn't look back as the elevator closed and he made his way down the stairs and to the patient room where the nurse immediately saw him.
"You the surgeon?" The nurse asked.
"Yes." He responded walking quickly into the room.
"We've got a rape victim. You better get in there." The nurse said before listing off the patient's vitals. "21-year-old female found down at the park, status: post-trauma, she came in with a GCS of 6, BP 80 over 60, head trauma, unequal breath sounds, right pupil is dilated, and she's ready for x-ray. You ready to roll?" The nurse asked.
Arjun checked the woman's pupils. "Call it in to clear CT, let them know I'm coming, load up the portable monitor, call respiratory for a ventilator, I'll get x-rays while I'm down there. Cut to the rape victim's surgery."
He moved with the patient as they got her out of the room.
Later, he and Meredith were standing in the OR watching Shepherd and Burke work on the patient.
"She's going to spend a hell of a lot of time in recovery and rehab." Shepherd said.
"If she survives." Burke added.
"What is she, like, 5'2, a hundred pounds, she's still breathing after what this guy did to her?" Shepherd asked. "If they catch the guy, they should castrate him."
"See how shredded her hands are?" Burke asked. "She tried to fight back."
"Tried to?" Shepherd scoffed. "Rape kit came back negative. She kicked his ass."
"So, we have a warrior among us, huh?" Burke asked.
"Alison, sir." Everyone turned to see Jai looking at Burke. "Her name is Alison."
"Alison." Shepherd repeated.
Burke nodded before getting back to work. "I think I may have found the cause of our rupture." He said pulling something out with the forceps. "What is this? Does anyone know what this is?"
Jai and Meredith knew exactly what it was. "Oh my god." Meredith said in shock as Jai laughed. "Atta girl." He added.
"What?" Burked asked. "Spit it out, Grey."
"She bit it off." Meredith said.
"Bit off what?" Burke asked.
Jai continued chuckling. "Sir, that's his penis."
"She bit off his penis." Meredith added as Jai continued chuckling. Burke couldn't get it into the tray fast enough.
While Meredith was tasked with keeping the organ with her until the police arrive, Jai stood in front of the ICU room where the rape victim was being watched.
"Dr. Patel," Shepherd said as he walked up to him, "I've called every hospital in the county. Sooner or later, the guy that did this is going to seek medical attention, and when he does, that penis Meredith's carrying around is going to nail him." He turned to the patient. "Is there anyone to call for her?"
"No family." Jai said. "Parents are dead, she doesn't have any siblings, and she just moved to Seattle a couple weeks ago, so no friends of any kind." He paused for a moment. "They should torture him." He said. "Slowly." He added. "Peel his skin inch by inch before letting it heal, and then slowly do it again. They should make sure they do it slowly so just before he passes out from the pain, they let him recover and do it all over again."
Shepherd looked at Jai. "That would be fitting." He said. "But it doesn't work like that over here."
"Yes, I know." Jai said. "Here, you would rather imprison minorities for a bag of recreational drugs and ruin their chances at any kind of dignified professional life." He said looking at him.
Shepherd chuckled. "The double edged sword of freedom."
"Hm." Jai chuckled. "I'll stay with her and update you if anything changes asap."
Shepherd nodded as he moved away with one last glance at Jai sitting in the chair next to the patient.
A few hours later, Jai made up with his charts before Shepherd and Bailey walked into the room. "Patel, you have some patients in the ER that need your attention." Bailey said.
Jai looked at her and nodded as he got up. "Who's staying with her?"
"I am." Shepherd said.
Jai nodded on his way out and rubbed his face. He stepped into the bathroom to wash his face quickly. Looking into the mirror, he began to remember a time from the army.
Jai and his team were slowly making their way across the town. He was assigned to a Special Forces unit in which he needed to provide cover plus medical assistance if needed. The current mission was a rescue mission of one of the soldiers captured during the battle a week ago.
Intelligence told them that the Pakistan army had him in this town in a building they were currently making their way towards. Sweeping the rest of the houses, they were covered by the darkness of the night, using the moon and night vision goggles when necessary.
Finally, they had come upon the house they were informed of. The lead man counted off with his fingers and threw a flash bang into the house making the enemy soldiers cry out. The team entered and quickly took out the soldiers and began to sweep each room. They opened the second door to find they fellow soldier. The captain told the rest to sweep the house while Jai and him tended to the soldier.
It was then as they began to dress the soldiers wounds, Jai turned to see the legs of another human behind the door they opened. He moved to move the door and see who it was. The sight was one he would never forget.
A woman, looked like a village woman, lay dead. She was stripped bare and Jai moved to find a blanket to cover her up. While he did that, he noticed that the enemy removed her eyes, stuck a beer bottle in her, and even broke it while it was still inside her. He closed his eyes as he almost threw up at the torture the woman was put through.
Just then, a member of their team walked in to inform one of the emery soldiers was alive. They moved to see the enemy soldier in a chair with his hands and feet zip tied. Jai looked at his fellow captain.
"Sir, five minutes." He said.
His captain smirked and nodded as everyone watched Jai go to work and make the enemy soldier scream for his life, before the captain said enough and put an end to his life.
Looking in the mirror he dried his face and let out a deep breath before making his way down to the ER. Just as he made his way he saw Izzie with a woman.
"I'm sorry." Izzie sighed. "I have patients lined up, I don't have time, I don't understand you. I'm sorry."
Jai walked up. "Hey, what's going on?"
Izzie looked at him and sighed. "I can't understand her."
Jai looked at the woman before speaking Mandarin. "我怎么帮你?" (How can I help?)
The woman replied and he immediately understood she was speaking Cantonese. "仲可以. 我而家喺呢度. 我能幫上乜嘢忙?" (It's ok. I am here now. How can I help?)
Izzie watch as Jai communicated with her and immediately turned to her. "Get come sutures and bandages and meet me at the ER entrance near the dumpsters." He said as he jogged off with the woman leading him.
Izzie did as he said and got the supplies before running outside in the rain. She found Jai speaking to the woman and another younger girl with a head injury.
"We need to get her inside." Izzie said.
"She doesn't want to come in." Jai said. "Did you bring what I asked?"
Izzie nodded. "Yeah, but you need to tell me what's going on."
Jai sighed. "Machine at her factory broke. She can't come in because her friend has a green card but she doesn't."
"But we don't need to tell-"
"Hey!" Jai yelled. "You think I didn't try? You're never going to understand the fear they have, so let's just help them the best we can so they can get a shot at a free life, okay?"
Izzie looked at him in surprise before nodding and helping him clean the wound. Once they did, they were able to bandage the wound up and make sure they had enough replacements for a couple days.
The rain stopped just as they finished and Jai helped the woman up before speaking to her in Cantonese. The woman nodded and thanked both of them before walking away with her friend.
Izzie looked at Jai. "Where did you learn to speak Chinese?"
"Technically it's Cantonese. It's a Tibetan language from the Guangzhou area. Usually traditional to the Yue people." He added. He looked at Izzie. "It's not that far from India."
"What, you study abroad or something?" Izzie asked.
"Or something." Jai said before turning. "Come on, we have other patients."
On the 51st hour of his shift, Jai found himself sitting at the rape victim's side completing her chart. "She had a scare yesterday."
He turned to see Shepherd walking into the room.
"I saw that." Jai said. "Craniotomy."
"Tried finding you to observe."
"I had another patient." Jai shrugged.
Shepherd sighed. "Look, I'm telling you this because you have seem invested in this case more than Meredith, which is saying something, but before I do, I need to know that you aren't going to be like this again."
"Like what?"
"Sitting at one patient's bed while there are others that need your help." Shepherd said.
Jai took a moment to understand what Shepherd was saying and nodded. "I'll do better." He said.
Shepherd nodded. "Now, speaking of those other patients…"
Jai opened the patient room's door and walked in. He kicked the side of the bed making the patient jerk awake. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, Dr. Bailey stopped your bleeding. The bad news is, we're giving your penis to the cops." He leant in closer to the patient and whispered. "I heard general population has a wonderful time with men like you. Have a nice life." He says before walking out of the room.
Shepherd was at the nurses's desk signing a chart and nodded to Jai. Jai nodded back and moved on to his next patient.
Jai moved his helmet from one hand to another has George tried taking it and trying it on. He chuckled at George's puppy frown face. From behind, Meredith caught up and started making fun of George too as they made they way to their vehicles.
Getting on his bike he saw Izzie smiling at him. He nodded to her before putting his helmet back on and turning the engine over. Chuckling, he made his way out of the parking lot before riding towards his apartment.
The journey is definitely taking, but he's sure that once he makes it to the other side, that this struggle will be worth it. And who knows? Maybe he just might opening himself up to friends again.