Everett Ramos is a resident surgeon at Mercy West Hospital in Seattle, Washington. She's on the uphill climb to becoming one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world, studying alongside her best friends and hoping one day to make a difference...
the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WITH HER head leant back on the window, Everett listens to the familiar cacophony of rain hitting tarmac, hitting glass, hitting brick. Alone, they are loud sounds, together, it is like listening to the growing crescendo of an opera, the chill settling in your bones, the hairs on the back of your neck rising as the soprano reaches the highest note of their aria. It's a sound she's always been used to living in Minnesota for most of her life. Then her big move to Seattle proved to be too close to home because at least once a week she'd leave her umbrella at home and be caught in the chill as rain soaked her to the bone.
She glances to her right, shoulder pressed against Jackson's, noticing how his eyes haven't left the wall in front of him. April and Reed sit on her left, legs bouncing nervously as the clock above them ticks down the seconds to their inevitable end. Across from them sit the Seattle Gracers, looking just as scared as Everett feels.
The chill that runs through her spine isn't due to the rain.
"Someone's getting fired," Reed sings, reminding Everett of her best friend who is stuck at home, unable to move from the couch as her phone rings on the coffee table, yet another message from her hard-hearted parents who are one text message away from disowning her for incompetence.
"Shut up," Everett snaps, squeezing her eyes shut and leaning her head back against the window behind her. All the Seattle Grace Mercy West residents have been gathered outside of Chief Webber's office, watching the minutes pass by as they try to remember their exact movements that day that led to that woman's death.
Everett had been nowhere near her until the end, but she's here anyway. They all are. Even the Attendings are standing at the end of the hall, Dr Shepherd and Dr Hunt whispering to each other as the silence grows all-consuming.
"She wasn't even my patient," Charles growls from the other side of Jackson, the white gauze on his head shining with sweat. Everett runs a hand down her face, knowing that none of this will get easier. A case like this, all the questions that will be asked, it's going to cause a chasm between the residents that will never be fixed.
"How long is this gonna take?" asks the muscled resident sitting across from Everett. She opens her eyes, remembering the way he had pulled the blonde Seattle Gracer away from punching the lights out of Reed on their first day. Dr Alex Karev, if she remembers correctly, supposedly set for pediatrics despite his broad shoulders and permanent frown now that his blonde girlfriend – wife, she's sure she heard correctly – has left him behind.
