When the merger happens it's not just the name that changes, Seattle Grace Hospital becomes the new, and somewhat improved, Seattle Grace Mercy West. The lives of the grace doctors change irrevocably with the intruding newbies; some are loved and so...
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One shot was all it took to turn the hospital into a frenzy, Mark jumped to cover Lexie as nurses and doctors ran in all directions. Phoebe's heart stopped as she saw the man in front of her shoot two nurses. Her feet felt like cement as she watched the man with the gun, gluing her in place.
She was awoken when she saw the man turn in her direction, the screams began to filter through her ears. Her feet set into motion and then wouldn't stop, she ran as fast as she could through the corridors and shrieks of terror, in her own state of fear she ran straight into a solid body making a squeak of fear slip past her lips. Ethan grabbed onto her shoulders as he stopped in front of her, ensuring that she was okay before he took a hold of her hand and brought her into the safety of a supply closet.
Ethan held her to his chest as her breathing evened out, shushing her cries before navigating her to the furthest corner of the room.
"You need to stay here, okay." He whispered calmly, a soothing smile on his face trying to ease the girl's nerves.
"Wha-where are you going? You can't go out there." Phoebe stated strongly despite the slight shake in her voice.
"I need to check on people, okay. But more importantly, I need you to stay here and be safe, okay?"
"Ethan, I can't-"
"Okay?"
"You better not get shot."
"I'll try not to." Ethan smirked. His confident facade faltered as he let his eyes scan over her face, just in case he never got to see it again. He pressed a kiss to her lips and deepened it before he pulled away and Phoebe watched him leave.
She remained crouched in the corner of the supply closet, alone, trying to ease her racing heart and shaking hands, but the efforts proved fruitless. All she could see was the grey-haired man who shot some of her colleagues without a blink of an eye. She pictured how he could be doing that to her friends right now; Mark, Reed, Meredith, Callie, April, Lexie, Charles... Jackson.
She thought of every bad thing she'd ever said to Reed, they knew they were jokes, that she loved the girl really like an annoying little sister, one that you have to love despite how much you want to pull her hair. What if she could never say sorry for every insensitive comment and bitter look?
She never got to tell the Seattle Gracer's how grateful she was for them welcoming her and being her friend, some of her best friends.
She pushed the thoughts of Charles and Jackson out of her mind, she couldn't fathom losing them and even just the thought was nearly enough to make her lose control and storm through the halls until she found them.
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Amidst the routine chaos of the operating room, Shepherd walked in and called over to Jackson. Derek's usually calm, soothing eyes were stormy and frantic, yet he put on a calm mask, one that was slowly starting to slip. Jackson approached him, covering his gloves with a sterile cloth.
"Has anyone checked their pagers?" Derek asked.
"Oh no, we've been too busy-" Jackson went to continue explaining but was interrupted.
"There's a shooter in the hospital."
That one sentence sent ice through Jackson's veins. His eyes rushed to meet Derek's and that's when he saw the sincere panic behind the mask. His eyes were wide as he tried to process this information. A shooter. In the hospital. The hospital where hundreds of patients were. The hospital where his friends were, his family. The woman he loves is in this hospital with a shooter. Jackson was brought out of his disturbed mind as Derek continued slowly and clearly.
"I don't want you to say a word until the patient is stable. I want you to tell Hunt and Altman that nobody goes out of here until they are told. Can you handle this?" Derek asked as he saw Jackson's evident fear. Jackson blinked away the panic from his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yes sir." Jackson replied, a question lingered on his tongue, to ask after his friends, to know that they're okay but he held it in and gave Derek a nod before he collected himself to return to surgery.
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As Phoebe began to spiral, her darkest thoughts were interrupted by the rattle of the door handle. She held her breath and sank lower to the ground, hiding herself from the intruder's eye line. When Phoebe saw the flurry of blonde hair, she released her breath and gently whispered out the girl's name.
"Lexie."
She saw Lexie stop in her tracks before recognition took over her face, she span in every direction trying to locate her friend.
"Phoebe." Lexie frantically whispered. Phoebe stood to her feet and rushed over to Lexie. The girls clung to one another, relief filling their hearts and they held onto that feeling for as long as they could, hoping that would not be the last of it today.
"Oh my god. You're okay." Phoebe breathed out as she took a step back still holding Lexie's hand.
"I- I'm okay, but Alex isn't. He was shot and needs blood. I need you to help me, Mark is with him but I don't know how much longer he can hold on." Lexie explained, tears gathering in her eyes as she thought of the man she loved.
"Okay. Okay. Then let's get some blood."
The pair rummaged through the shelves until they had a well-stocked trolley and slowly and quietly left the pseudo-safety of the closet.
