In Your Dreams

41.

"Foreign what..." Julie asked me, one of the nicer of the sisters.

"Foreign Accent Syndrome." I repeated.

"But Derek doesn't have an accent." His mother frowned "He's speaking jibberish."

"Yes." I nodded "For centuries cultures have created an accent of jibber jabber in order to communicate in code with each other. To communicate in ways that others wouldn't know what they're saying."

"Derek's never learned or spoken jibberish before." Aimee frowned.

"Those who suffer from FAS usually haven't ever attempted the accent before."

"So what do we do?" Mama Shep asked. I took a deep breath, this wasn't going to go off well.

"There isn't much treatment for FAS, however, I've attempted a few treatments and so far I've had a fifty percent success rate."

"What's the treatment?" Aimee asked. I gulped.

"Electroshock Therapy." I mumbled.

"What!" Nancy scoffed, almost falling over "Are you a damn lunatic?"

"Nancy!" Mama Shep scolded "She's trying to help."

"She's groping in the dark!" Nancy retorted "She doesn't know what's wrong, and then she comes up with some stupid theory and now she wants to electrocute Derek!" She glared at me "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged." Aimee muttered.

"Not necessary." I sighed "And I won't be electrocuting him. What seems to be the cause of FAS is that the part of the brain where our language inhabits goes into shock for some reason or another. Sometimes it's a stroke, a clot, residual bleeding, or just a little bump on the head in just the right spot. Its stalled, stuck, and needs a shove to get moving."

"And you think that shocking it will get it moving?" Julie raised her brow.

"Yes." I nodded "Its worked before."

"You said fifty percent." Nancy grimaced "What happened to the fifty percent that didn't work?"

I ground my teeth together, I didn't like this any more than they did, but it was all I could think of. I really was groping in the dark. "They never regained their speech back, in one severe case they only deteriorated."

"Right!" Nancy yelped bitterly.

"But it was a bad case and the patient was in poor health." I defended "Derek is in very good health."

"You really think this will help Derek?" Aimee asked.

"I think it's the best option we have." I said, I looked at Nancy who was glaring at me murderously "And as much as you might disagree, I don't want to bring any unnecessary harm to your brother. I love him very much, and I only want to see him get better."

"Well if you love him then perhaps you shouldn't be treating him at all." Nancy said through her teeth "Conflict of interest."

I pressed my lips together and sighed out my nose, I was trying to keep my cool, I was trying to be the bigger person, but this chick was getting under my skin. I didn't need this, I just wanted to be with Derek, I wanted to make him better. But I couldn't do anything in his condition without the consent of his family since we weren't married.

I let out a sigh and set the chart down. "As you wish." I turned to Lexie.

"Dr. Grey, would you go page Dr. Webber and tell him we need a neurosurgeon who us unrelated to our patient and uninvolved?"

She looked dumbfounded but nodded. I then took my lab coat off and hung it on the end of the bed. I heard a growl behind me and something being thrown across the room. He was angry, so was I. He'd given up on trying to communicate now and was just being silent. I turned and walked over to the side of the bed and slipped my shoes off then crawled in next to him. He looked irritated but relieved to have me close and not running around trying to find the problem.

"What are you doing?" Nancy snorted.

"I'm letting you win this one." I said as I ran my hands through Derek's hair, his eyes scanned my face affectionately "If you want to fix him, do so, if you don't, then don't. But either way, fixed or not, I love him and....I choose being a girlfriend over being a doctor." I pressed my lips to his and smiled "You're right, it is a conflict of interest, he's not just a patient...he's the love of my life."

"I'll sign." Mama Shep said with tears in her eyes "I'll sign the consent form."

"Mom!" Nancy hissed.

"No Nancy." She shook her head "A woman who loves my son that much would never do something that she thought would hurt him." She nodded at me "I'll sign."

Derek looked up at her and sighed "Turkey."

She smiled as a few sisters giggled "You're welcome."

"Are you ok with this?" I asked him.

He looked up at me and smiled, I knew he couldn't say it but I felt warm tingles and goose bumps, he didn't have to say anything, he trusted me. Not only with his life but his heart.