flatline [m.s]

cxxvii.

- - -
everybody wants privacy for themselves. for other people, not so much.
- - -

"thank you for meeting me," richard greets lia as he walks into the one of the conference rooms where she's waiting for him, lingering by the door.

"you're my dad and the chief of surgery," lia shrugs. "if you page, i'm here."

"i want to say something," richard tells her as he closes the door. "i need to say something... about what happened the other night. i- i need you to know it wasn't... well, it isn't what you think."

"oh," lia looks to him with a puzzled expression before shaking her head. "i don't think anything, dad."

richard looks down at his feet before moving further into the conference room so that he is stood closer to where lia is sat when he speaks again.

"i had a problem... a long time ago," richard begins to explain. "i was diagnosed with alcoholism. or i diagnosed myself... when you were very, very young. and i didn't take a drink for almost twenty years. but i think it was a misdiagnosis. i'm not saying my drinking wasn't bad, because it was. but there is such a thing as... situational depression. and i think that's what i was suffering from, and it escalated my drinking."

"situational depression?" lia frowns slightly.

"it wasn't you. things were still rough between me and your mom... after the affair with ellis," richard assures with slight shame as he speaks of ellis. lia nods with a small smile. "have you told anyone what you saw? i mean, have you told mark? or derek?"

"no," lia shakes her head.

"mm-hmm," richard nods.

■ ■ ■

"so are mark and jackson still joint at the hip?" callie chuckles as she and lia are stood at the nurses station.

"yep," lia nods. "and with them cooking all the time i've gained so much weight. i feel like i've put on fifty pounds."

"don't be silly," callie shakes her head. "but you really need to put an end to this, lia. it's coming up to the holidays, and you and mark are getting married."

"i know," lia agrees. "jackson needs to get laid."

both doctors laugh, but their laughter is cut short by jo running up to the nurses station and grabbing lia by the arm.

"dr. webber," jo pants, pulling at lia's arm slightly. "you have to come with me. there's something you need to see."

■ ■ ■

lia is stood in one of the exam rooms, across from jo and steph. there is a cardboard box sat between them on top of a gurney, and there is a baby inside.

"by the dumpsters," jo tells lia where they found the baby as lia lifts him out of box, wrapped in a blanket.

"he's warm, pulse is weak. he's breathing fast," steph adds.

"shh! shh! shh! shh! hey, little one. how are you? what are you, like eight months, nine months?" lia coos as she gently bounces the baby up and down on her hip. when she pulls down the blanket, slightly, she notices a scar in the centre of his chest. "oh, what do we have here? you've had some surgeries before. okay. let's get him up into the picu."

"uh, i'll- i'll get a peds gurney," steph informs them as jo removes the box from the gurney so lia can place the baby on it.

"so, page dr. pierce, 'cause i have another surgery, and call the police," lia instructs jo. "get prints, any identifying marks, find out if he was born here, seen here. we're gonna find out who this little guy is."

■ ■ ■

following her surgery on the baby from earlier, who maggie has nicknamed oscar, she enters the one of the doctors lounges where lia is sat on a couch.

"hey. oscar'a doing well, but he needs more observation," maggie tells her sister with a smile, and lia nods as maggie takes a seat beside her.

"what would have happened if they hadn't found him out there?" lia asks.

"he'd be dead," maggie answers, truthfully.

"yeah, but he's not," lia reminds her with a cheerful smile. "he'll grow up. he'll be, you know, who knows who. he'll have a whole life."

"yay," maggie smiles.

■ ■ ■

in the kitchen of his and lia's apartment, mark and jackson have laid out three place settings and are cooking.

"hey," lia smiles, entering the apartment.

"we're making coq au vin," jackson tells her, proudly gesturing to the pan in front of him.

"nice," lia comments with false enthusiasm, pressing her lips in a fine line as she strolls through passed the kitchen and into hers and mark's bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

mark and jackson look to each other with puzzled expressions before shrugging lia's behaviour off and continuing with their cooking.

- - -
we have to keep something to ourselves, or else anyone can get to us. they'll see the stuff we don't show anyone.
- - -

jackson begins to plate up their food once it is finally ready, and it is only now that mark realises lia hasn't re-emerged from their bedroom.

"food's ready," mark calls as he pours wine into each of the three glasses on the kitchen counter. when lia doesn't respond or come out of the room, mark places the bottle down and furrows his brow. "i'll just go check on her."

jackson nods, continuing to dish up their meal as mark makes his way over to their bedroom door. he opens the door, and his eyes go wide when he see that lia is wearing a red lace bralet and matching underwear. mark swiftly closes the door behind him as lia moves across the bed so that she's kneeling on the edge.

"what are you doing?" mark smirks, but lia doesn't respond.

instead, lia holds her hand out and when mark grabs it, she pulls him towards her, pushing her body close to his. mark leans in to kiss her, but she pulls her head back slightly, keeping their lips almost touching.

"i don't know about you, but i'm not very hungry," lia breathes, and mark shakes his head. "good. so are you gonna tell jackson to leave... or should i go out there and tell him?"

"no. i'll tell him," mark tells her, forcefully, and lia smiles, pushing her head forward and kissing him softly.

"make sure you tell him he's babysitting too," lia adds, pulling away from the the kiss.

mark nods, scanning lia's body up and down, a deep smirk set on his face, before he turns and leaves the bedroom again.

- - -
so we build the walls high and wide, and we lock the gates.
- - -