𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗 ━━ 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝

seventy seven | nausea

"How long are you staying over at Cristina's?"

"It was just last night. And the night before. I'll be back tonight, and you can do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" The smirk is more than evident in his tone. "Is she flying back today?"

I ease myself off of the bed, attempting to not wake her up. "She isn't here to just visit, Der. She's actually back. Brought all of her her things and drove her car back to the same apartment."

"You're sure you're coming back tonight?"

"I'll cook some pasta for you after my shift, and then. . .look, I have to stay with her. As long as she needs me to."

"Leven. . ."

"Things haven't been the same since the crash. And she's been through some stuff — here and Minnesota. She needs her friends because she doesn't want to be alone."

"Do you want me to pack you some more things? If you bring the clothes you've been wearing the last two days with you, I'll wash them and get you clean ones."

"That would be perfect. I love you."

"I love you, too."

The call ends with a click, and I scurry to the bathroom, the door shutting softly behind me. I push open the lid of the toilet and kneel to the ground.

"Better be worth this, or I swear to God. . ."

Soon after, Cristina and I leave for the hospital for her first day back. Without having any cases, we linger around the busiest nurses' station to read through the patient files.

"Dr. Phoenix —"

Edwards, from the newest batch of interns, approaches hurriedly.

"Aren't you with Dr. Bailey?"

"Well, yes —"

"Then why aren't you with her?"

"Oh, I —"

"Just get away from me. Thank you."

The young intern runs away from me as fast as she came.

"Oh, not fair." Cristina tuts her tongue against her teeth. "You are the scariest one. That was always supposed to be me."

"Shouldn't have left, then." My shoulders shrug. "Besides, we both knew I'd be next, because Mer couldn't be intimidating for the life of her."

Her elbow bumps into my own. "I'll establish dominance. Maybe I'll use one of the classics."

"How'd your discussion with Owen go?"

"You mean Chief Hunt? The husband formerly known as Owen is now just my employer. I mean, he gave me the orientation packet."

"That is a low blow."

Our coffee cups clink in agreement.

"Any news on that new cardio chief, Jeff Randall?"

"Jeff Russell. And nothing. I haven't even seen this guy."

"Yeah. No one named Jeff has ever done anything substantial. I'm gonna go meet this Jeff Schmuck, now."

"Be nice. And don't call him Schmuck. Not to his face, at least."

"Duly noted."

After her small venture and a brief consult for Alex, five of the attendings gather in the conference room for another meeting with the lawyers.

Except Cristina makes an appearance for about two minutes and leaves immediately.

"Leven. How are you?"

"Give me something for the nausea, please."

I pace the on-call room after calling Dr. Barrinski on speed dial, pacing the floor up and down until I'm dizzy.

"The morning sickness, you mean. How often is it? And on a scale of one to ten, ten being most, how severe is it?"

"It really shouldn't be called morning sickness if it lasts all day and night. This might be the first time I'm not bent over a toilet bowl."

"I can't prescribe you anything if you don't tell me how severe it is."

"Fine. It's a six. Borderline seven on some days."

"I'll prescribe pyridoxine and doxylamine. One dose every eight hours, and the nausea will subside in a day or so."

"Perfect. I'll pick it up from the hospital pharmacy whenever it's ready."

"And I've mentioned before, both of you prescriptions for C.O.P.D. and H.C.M. are safe throughout the duration of your pregnancy."

"Are you sure? Because I don't need another tragedy in my life."

"I am completely sure. Now, have you told Derek?"

"Of course not. I'm hardly six weeks. I can't tell him until I'm twelve weeks along."

". . .that usually applies to family and friends. Your husband — and the father of the baby — should know as soon as possible."

"How long until the prescription is ready?"

"I'd say a couple hours —"

"Okay. Bye."

The handle of the door rocks violently, and I unlock it open, only for it to swing with a force. April stands in the doorway, Jackson right behind her.

"And what are you up to?" My brows lift suggestively. "Next time you wanna go at it like bunnies, try the room right next to dermatology. Almost always empty, and the peaceful angels in there can whip you up fruity lemonade just like that."

"Really?"

"You bet."

The two share a look and hurry off to the very room.

"Amateurs."

Before any of us can return home for a relaxing end to the shift, we gather in the conference room once more. After an entire day of discussing each person's emotional, physical, and any other sort of damage, the lawyers guide us to our next step.

"Thank you all for your cooperation today."

The attendings have already dressed out of their scrubs and into more casual attire.

"Next step is for us to file a complaint against the parties."

"Can we leave the pilot out of this? The man is a paraplegic now."

"Yeah, I agree. We should take him off the list."

"Wait, no. What if he was drunk or-or asleep or —"

"We talked to him almost the entire time. And we probably would have crashed a lot sooner if he was drunk or asleep."

"Dr. Hunt, I'm gonna have to ask you to step out now." The hospital chief glances up at the mention of his name. "This is only appropriate for the victims of the crash."

With a brief look towards Cristina, he nods with a quiet "okay" and exits through the door.

"Folks, we're not going after the pilot." Our representative assures us. "We need to investigate him to make our case, but the damages we'll be seeking will be far greater than what that pilot could be accountable for. Or the charter company, for that matter."

"We'll be going after bigger fish." The other rep speaks.

"More and more, it's looking like the best strategy will be to look for fault with the hospital itself. This hospital. The people who put you on that plane."

Four pairs of eyes look out through the blinds, where Owen stands with an intern and discusses a patient with her.

And the realization of the hospital's downfall strikes faster than lightning.