Chương 25: 25. Recovery
Emily's eyes opened slowly, the room in a warm glow from the light in the corner. Groaning, she rasped for some water. Meredith flinched awake causing a chain reaction for George who was leaning against Meredith. He snorted, pushing off his blanket and Alex blinked, rubbing at his eyes. He nudged Izzie in the chair next to him who in turn smacked Cristina and Emily was faced with five awake friends asking how she was.
"I'm fine." Her voice was scratchy and George quickly poured a glass of water for her and she smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Where's Mark?"
"He was here all night and the night before, and every night before that," Meredith informed. "Bailey sent him out with Derek because he's been camped here all week." There was a slight edge to her tone at the mention of the neurosurgeon. It was clear the wound of him kissing the scrub nurse was still fresh. "You ready? You're getting discharged today."
"Yeah. Get me out of here," Emily pleaded as her interns showed up for rounds. "Hey, guys." They chorused good mornings as Cristina plopped on the bed, reading the cards deftly.
"Hanh's got me police-taped away from her service. Oh, chocolate."
"Mark bought that for me. It's the gift shop stuff too. It's expensive. Hey! Get your hands off my chocolate!" Emily exclaimed to Cristina who paid her no mind as George lifted her shirt and checked her incision site. "You smell disgusting."
"Says you," George retorted, stretching it tentatively before letting the shirt fall back down. "Incision is free of infection, you should be good to go."
"That's good. I'll see you guys at five?" Izzie nodded as her interns spoke to the other residents' interns. Cristina turned back, nose wrinkling at how friendly they were being before snapping her fingers. Immediately, her interns stood to attention.
"Two, rounds."
"Emily Moore, 29, status seven days post-op after surgery for a gastrointestinal perforation. She suffered from a closed, complete fracture of the tibia-"
"Still suffering from a closed, complete fracture of said tibia," she interrupted and the intern flushed under her annoyed look. George patted her shoulder and she sighed, sinking into her bed. What she wouldn't give to get out of here.
"-which was fixed via a cast. She has a grade three concussion but no obvious neural deficits." Emily's eyes widened and she raised her head, glaring sharply at the intern. "I - I mean, no neural deficits, and she should be discharged soon."
"Three."
"She'll be scheduled for checkups to test her bone strength and for her concussion. Once Dr. Torres and Dr. Shepherd give her the 'okay', she'll be allowed to return to work."
"How are your concussion symptoms? Any dizziness? Sensitivity to light?" Meredith asked as Dr. Bailey came in. The resident took the chart from the intern, flipping it over.
"Those are the questions I should be asking, Grey, while you five are all going to be late for rounds." Emily smiled slightly as they rushed out. Cristina stole the rest of her chocolate before leaving and the brunette on the bed groaned. She wanted that chocolate. Bailey took her hand and the resident smiled.
"How are you? Any nausea? Dizziness?"
"Not since yesterday afternoon. Can you call Mark?"
"How about sensitivity to light?"
"Haven't since my third day." Emily looked at the phone resting on the table above her feet along with flowers. "Dr. Bailey, can you please call Mark?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because that man has been on your beck and call for the last week. He needed to see the outside of this hospital or he was gonna go crazy."
"I've been asleep most of the time. He could've left."
"That man is so whipped, he didn't." Bailey smirked as she closed the chart. "I want you out by five so rest up. If you need anything, page a nurse."
"Yes, Dr. Bailey." Tentatively sitting up, she dragged the blankets over her body and closed her eyes.
"Need anything before I go?"
"Advil, please."
"Advil, coming right up."
.
At four-fifty-seven, Bailey came in with her discharge forms. It was all done in two minutes flat, including her signature and a shortened list of instructions on what and what not to do. Check-ups, no strenuous activity but moving around is good. If the concussion symptoms get worse, rest, take more Advil and eat healthily.
Then, they waited patiently until Mark appeared around the corner already in his outdoor clothes with a wheelchair. Her things were transferred easily enough and when she sat in the wheelchair, she felt her leg muscles tense before releasing.
"Ready to go?" he asked quietly, leaning down and kissing her hair. She nodded, hand reaching up to brush against his before letting it drop into her lap. "Alright. Thanks, Bailey." The Chief Resident rubbed her shoulder and with a 'get well soon,' they were out and into the elevator. Pressing their floor button, Mark crouched beside her and brushed his lips against her temple.
"How was your day?"
He ignored her question, carefully studying her face as he tucked a curl behind her ear, "Are you okay?" She started, turning to face him before smiling.
"Of course." There was an edge to her voice and she frowned slightly, yawning. "I just want to go back. Tired is all." The doors opened and he stood, pushing her forward past the pit. She reached up a hand to stop him and he did so as she stared out the doors.
"Can we go out this way?" she asked and he frowned.
"Em, you need to go home."
"I need to go this way," she affirmed. Sighing, he changed the direction to go out to the ambulance bay. "Over there." Pointing at where she was just a week before, she stared at the concrete. "There is where I was." There was still a faint red mark on the concrete, blood that couldn't be washed away. The Chief had promised to fix that eventually. Emily wished it was sooner rather than later. "Stan was there." She pointed to where the man had died. "That's where he died."
"Em-"
"He died saving us." Her eyes misted over and she turned her head away. "We should've saved him."
"It wasn't your fault," he said quietly and she nodded. Resuming their way into the parking lot, she watched the scenery go by slowly. "Let's get you a warm bed and bath, okay?" Nodding to herself, her gaze fell to her lap.
"Okay." They reached the car and he carried her in to the front seat. Folding the wheelchair into the trunk, he got into the driver's seat. "Mark."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." Leaning over, she kissed him against the lips. "Thank you." Pressing her face against his, she cleared her throat. "You gotta drive me home, you know?" Smiling slightly, he twisted the keys in the ignition.
.
Her third day off of work, she was required to come back for a checkup. As Mark wheeled her in, she touched his hand briefly.
"Ambulance bay, please." That was new. They never went through this way but then again, it was her first time back since the accident. So, instead, Mark turned and pushed her through to the bay, setting the brakes at the spot.
"Em. we've gotta go in."
"Wait. I just need a minute," she whispered, staring at the spot. "I just need a moment." Sighing, he stood beside her and stared at the slowly fading blood stain. After three minutes passed - Mark checked his watch every sixty seconds - Emily finally gave the 'okay' to leave.
The exam went as scheduled. Mark sat up next to her on the exam table, holding her hand. Callie took her cast in hand, testing its strength as she asked the standard questions.
"How's your leg feeling?"
"Better. Technically, I'm not supposed to be here since I'm on bedrest for the GI." Mark let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tracing circles on her jacket. "Mark's having me on a light diet, you know, easy stuff for my system to digest." The blue-eyed man snorted.
"You're saying it like I'm poisoning you."
"You are." Emily widened her eyes at him, glowering up at him.
Callie chuckled, writing down notes. "And your concussion?"
"Symptoms are barely there."
"Last dizzy spell?"
"Three days ago." Callie wrote this down on her chart as well and Mark watched her do so as Emily tugged her wheelchair closer. "I think I'm fine. How much longer do I have to be stuck in this cast?"
"Six to eight weeks, depending on your recovery rate."
"Fantastic." Emily sighed, resting her head on Mark's shoulder. "Thanks, Callie."
"You have another check up in two weeks."
"Mark, can you make the appointment?" The brunette turned to the plastics surgeon and he nodded, helping her back in the wheelchair.
"Yeah. I'll make it tomorrow."
"Thanks." Mark bent over and kissed her temple before pushing her out of the room. Callie held open the door as they began to leave. "We need to go through the ambulance bay."
"Em-"
"Mark. It's - I need to." Sighing, he pushed through the E.R. and they stopped there for a whole ten minutes in silence. The night air was cold, biting at their faces as she pulled her hair away from her face, staring at the stain in the pavement.
.
"You know Derek went out with Rose?" Mark asked during the second week. Emily looked up from her laptop. Her leg was elevated and he touched her almost-healed scalp lac on her head. It was healing nicely. She turned to him tiredly, closing her laptop. He took it and set it aside. She leaned forward while he patted down her pillows for her to lie back down on. The lights switched off. He hugged her close, kissing her cheek before nestling into the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
"Why?"
"No idea."
"How's your skin flap?" she asked, drowsy. He sighed and his nose pressed against her jaw.
"Pulled the cells from fetus in utero. Should be ready in a month or so."
"Okay. Send me pics when you go tomorrow." Nodding, he promised he would before they settled into silence. She needed some sleep.
.
"Callie, can you take her to the ambulance bay?" Mark murmured to the ortho resident who nodded. "I needa go talk to the Chief about something."
"Uh, okay." As Mark watched her go the other way, he sighed heavily. Turning the other way, he went for the elevator and stepped inside. Once the doors opened again, he started forward, heading down to the O.R. to check the board. Webber was in O.R. 3 with an appendectomy and it was just finishing. Good.
"Chief, you've got to get that pavement fixed in the ambulance bay," Mark said just as Webber left the scrub room. "Every time Moore comes here, she… she's obsessed with the blood stain."
"Sloan-"
"It's getting out of control." Mark ran a hand through his hair as the Chief finally turned to him. "I can't just leave her like this." Webber finally stopped at the O.R. board, glancing at his head of plastics.
"I'll get it fixed as soon as I can, Mark."
"Make it sooner rather than later."
.
"Are those charts?"
"Yes."
"Who brought them?"
"Ethan. My intern," she explained. He handed her a glass of orange juice as she wrote down notes. "They've been rotating around the other residents. Drives them all crazy because they're not me."
"Well, yeah, there's only one of you," murmured Mark as he stole a kiss from her before leaving her to her devices. "Two more weeks until you can go back to work," he added, flopping onto the bed beside her. Her head twinged at the sudden jolt and she closed her eyes, setting the orange juice on the bedside table.
"Hopefully the sudden movement pain will go away by then." She opened her eyes. "You should get some sleep. You've been at work for a while."
"Sorry. You do okay without me?" She nodded, resuming her charts. Reading it over, she tried to sink into the medical terms but all she found was the aching hole that medicine used to fill. God, she wanted to get back to work.
.
Mark insisted she stay at home for another week until he determined himself that her bone was strong and healed. She argued that, because Callie removed the cast, she's technically allowed to return to work as soon as Derek gave her approval. Which he did five days later.
She only allowed it because she loved him, honestly. So she waited a week. A whole week. He made up for it by teaching her different stitches.
Walking out the parking lot, she took a turn to the ambulance bay. The stain was still there, and she saw a figure, alone in standing there. Shifting her bag on her shoulder, she walked over to see… it was Stan's wife. Stan's widow.
"You're Sara, right?" she asked, spooking the woman out of her reverie. "Sorry."
"Yeah." The shorter woman turned to look at Emily, eyes rimmed red and tears sneaking out of the corners. "You're… you're the one who was trapped under with Stan and Ray. Sorry, I never got your name."
"Emily Moore." Sniffing, the woman extended a hand to shake. The brunette took it briefly before standing beside her, staring at the red stain. "Are you coming or going?" she asked, hazel eyes focused on it.
"Going. Just got off work and Ray's waiting back at home. He needs the help, ever since he got discharged and taking care of him keeps my mind off of Stan. Except… except I can't get him off my mind when that stain is still there."
"Same here," she replied. Sara wiped at her face, sniffing loudly. Together, the two woman continued to look at the stain as if it'd disappear under the joint intensity. It didn't, so Emily held out a hand. Moments later, Sara's palm fit against hers.
.
"Dr. Moore, you're back!" someone exclaimed and she blinked a few times, turning her head to see Charlotte bouncing her way over.
"Where are the others?"
"Over there." She pointed at the nearest nurse's station near the charts. They all sent her looks and she shook her head to herself. Absolutely hopeless.
"I see." Her nose twitched and she sniffed closer to her intern, smelling the tell-tale scent of beer. Catching Michael mid-yawn, she sighed. "Were you drinking last night?"
"Yes." Charlotte's voice was small as they began to walk towards the other three. "O'Malley had a party with Lexie Grey last night." Emily scrunched up her nose as they reached the chart stand, the three males talking about something.
"You so coded," Michael snorted as Liam flushed. Ignoring their antics, she ordered charts. "Welcome back, Dr. Moore,"
"Thank you." She nodded shortly. "I'm sure my absence was missed. Come on. We have rounds. Just 'cause it's my first day back doesn't mean we're going to be waiting around."
.
"Hey, stranger," she greeted, walking in and stopping behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, peering at his work. "Have you been here all morning?"
"Yeah. Coffee was gone within minutes." He craned his neck to completely face her and their faces were only millimetres apart as she kissed him. "I can't wait to see you at work, again."
Smiling, he kissed her again before turning to his work. "I can't wait to see you, period." He set down his tools and turned around so she stood between his legs. "You know, you didn't have to stop working?" He ripped off his gloves, scooting closer.
"I need to take you in, completely uninjured." She scoffed to herself as he stood up, running a hand through her curls. The scar on her head was barely there and he kissed her forehead. "No concussion symptoms?"
"Not since my last headache last week. Derek cleared me three days after that, and I am fine." He ran his hands down her arms and she smiled up at him. "I promise, I'm taking it slow."
"No, you're not."
"Okay, I'm not," admitted the woman and he chuckled, tilting her chin up to kiss her. "You know," she said between kisses, "that you're supposed to be doing work."
"I am doing work," he murmured against her lips and she smiled, arms looping around his neck, "making up for all the time I didn't kiss you when I really wanted to."
"Oh, okay." She laughed as he kissed down her neck before pushing him away. "Okay, we have to do work otherwise we'll be fired."
"I mean, no."
"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked as a knock on the door punctured his reply.
"Hey." Turning, the couple saw Addison Montgomery in the flesh.
"There she is." Mark stepped away from his girlfriend and sat down, turning back to his skin flap and pulling on a new pair of gloves. Emily cleared her throat, leaving with one last kiss on Mark's cheek.
"Just coming in to check on my patient's skin flap," Addison said as Mark squirted water over the petri dish. "I have so many questions about so many things that aren't about the skin flap. You haven't slept with her yet, have you?"
"Can't we just talk about the skin flap?"
"Mark, you're jumpier than I have ever seen you. Are you having sex or are you on some kind of cleanse?"
"I'm suffering from withdrawal," he finally admitted and Addison laughed, "but the wait will be so worth it."
"Why the wait? Is dine and dash no longer a thing for you?" Mark's nose wrinkled and, offended, he turned to Addison.
"Em and I are dating."
This time, Addison's laugh was a longer bout and Mark sighed, pausing in his work. "I'm sorry, you're dating?" Trying to calm down, Addison sniffed and wiped an imaginary tear away. "You're dating." Mark opened his mouth and the redhead put out a hand. "Not that I don't like Emily. I love her, she's great. She's funny, smart - but, I can't believe you're actually dating someone."
"She's worth it. I know it." Addison's smile softened at the edges as she gazed at him. "She's all I ever think about sometimes. It's pathetic and it goes against everything I ever said in therapy."
"But, you never felt that way about me, did you? You felt the way Derek felt for Meredith but the way you feel for Emily…. It's different." Addison crossed her arms as Mark nodded to himself, gently lifting his skin flap up with his tiny tweezers. Determining it thick enough - he really outdid himself this time - he placed it carefully back into the petri dish.
"She… it's healing. The way I feel with her," Mark said before shaking himself out of his feely-feely mood. "Can we just talk about the skin flap?"
"Yeah, of course." But even still, Addison could not help the growing smile on her face.
.
After a rather uneventful day in ortho (the attending took all the good cases - curse him), Emily was walking down the hall when she saw a familiar face.
"Addison!"
"Emily?" The OB-GYN had hair shades darker but the face was still as timeless as always. Emily hadn't even noticed earlier with her embarrassment of getting caught kissing Mark. "How are you?"
"Great, I was just about to go to Joe's. Are you coming?"
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you there." Nodding, Emily was about to leave when her voice called after her. "Wait."
"Yeah?"
"You and Mark Sloan…"
"Yeah," she mumbled under her breath. "Is it okay with you?"
"Oh, totally. I am zen and completely fine because I have moved on." Emily arched an eyebrow dubiously and Addison crossed her arms with a slight smile. "Mark Sloan is not one for dating but he will for you. And I expected it because it's always different with you."
"What do you mean?"
"He said he loved me too but he still cheated on me. You and Mark… even when I worked here I knew I couldn't love him like you can. Like you do. And I'd never hold a place in his heart like you do. It's like you carved out your own place and made it home. I was just a visitor. You are a resident." The redhead had a look in her eyes that Emily couldn't decipher. There was something far away in those blue eyes as Addison blinked and returned her focus back to Emily. "I want you to know that I hope you two last because he deserves something good, and I'm sure you do, too."
"Thanks, Addison." Touched, she didn't know what else to say. She didn't exactly expect these words from the woman so she just stood there awkwardly, trying to find words. Emily cleared her throat before realizing, "He cheated on you?" Will he cheat on me?
"Remember the sixty-day celibacy pact? And before that, when we were still in NYC, I knew." Frowning, the brunette cocked her head.
"Dr. Montgomery, Mark never slept with anyone during those sixty days," she said and the older surgeon's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "He said it was over because you slept with Alex."
"He said he slept with someone. He couldn't even look me in the eyes for more than a minute." Addison hummed thoughtfully before letting out a 'ha'. "He lied. He lied because he was already in love with you. There was never a competition between you and me, and I'm at peace with that. I think... we're much happier where we are now that if we had gone down another road.
"Dr. Montgomery, should I-"
"You don't need to be worried about Mark cheating on you." Addison ran a hand through her hair, smiling. "He… he's holding out just so he can be with you for the first time. So, no. I don't think you needed to be worried about that because in his eyes, no one can hold a candle to you." Addison, with a final smile, continued on down the hall. Emily was left to her thoughts as she descended a flight of stairs, adjusting her coat around her neck. When she reached the landing, she saw Mark waiting for her.
"How was your first day back?" he said after a while, pressing the elevator button. She shrugged, looping her arm through his.
"Good, 'cept the attending took all the good cases." The brunette scrunched up her nose and he laughed quietly, kissing the top of her head. "How was your skin flap? Did it fit?"
"Yeah. I was God." Snorting, she watched the elevator doors open. Inside was Derek and three others. Meredith, Rose and Addison. Mouth unable to work, she merely smiled. They paused for a moment, taking in the situation before laughing breathlessly. Letting Mark go on first, she squeezed in between Meredith and Addison.
"Unbelievable," muttered the brunette as Mark let out an amused sigh. He leaned in to Derek and she heard his comment about taking the stairs, smacking him lightly. "Hey," she hissed. He glanced back at her with a half-smile and she glared back, leaning against the elevator wall. The rest of the elevator ride was full of uncomfortable silence when finally, Mark glanced around him.
The elevator doors finally opened and it was like breathing in a lungful of air. Derek exited, followed by Mark who couldn't keep the smile off his face. Meredith walked forward first at the same time as Rose and they crashed awkwardly together before both insisting that one of them go first.
"You go."
"No, you can go first."
"Oh, for the love of God let my girlfriend out," Mark said, the entertained expression yet to leave his face. Blushing, Emily walked between the two females which caused a settlement as Meredith left before Rose. "Get your women under control, Derek." The offhanded comment was tossed over his shoulder as Mark wrapped an arm around Emily's shoulders and they walked out the hospital before there could be some kind of argument.
.
"Would you ever cheat on me?" Emily asked, running a towel through her hair. Mark looked up from where he was eating their ordered pizza in her apartment. "I'm just wondering."
"What? Of course not."
"Okay."
"Why? Who gave you the idea?" Emily sat down at the couch, taking a slice and using her other hand to catch any stray drops.
"It's just… I just want to know because… when we were just best friends you slept with nurses like all the time. So I was just wondering." He sighed, leaning on his elbow. "I'm just wondering why you're waiting." Staring at her face, he used his thumb to wipe some sauce away from the corner of his mouth. She finished off her slice and wiped her hands on a stray napkin near the box.
"Why you," he said.
She nodded. "Why me?"
"Because you're everything to me. I… I feel afraid but not afraid of you. More like… like this is my first real chance and I don't want to mess it up with you because with you, it's real and the way I feel is nothing I ever felt before." Letting his arm drop, he rubbed her shoulder closest to the back of the couch as she sighed. "Why me?"
"You're my best friend. You're… Mark. I know everyone sees the guy who cheated with Derek's wife, or the man-candy, but I know you. I know you. I choose you because of who you are. Your kind of damage matches with my kind of damage and you're smart, you're funny. You're sensitive when you want to be. There are reasons to love you. I wish you knew that. I want you to know that."
Touched, he merely looked at the empty space between them. "Okay." Their fingers interlaced and Emily just regarded him through half-shut eyes. "You know, everything's better with you. You heal me, you make me whole."
"That's good that I feel the same way, then," she whispered and he opened his arms. She crawled into them for a long lasting hug as the pizza grew cold and their eyes grew tired.
A/N: Edited - September 30, 2018
Next: With Callie's sexuality in question, an unexpected friendship begins to bloom.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực