Mending Broken Hearts-2

Runaway Baby

I will forever love April's wedding. It's one of my favorite episodes.

Gen's POV

Alex called me in on a case where a kid fellow of a tracker and hurt his neck. He was moving until his dad picked him up and drove him all the way here in fear no one was going to come in time. "I can fuse C-5 and 6, but I'll need to work fast if we want a shot at avoiding paralysis." I inform Alex after I finish looking at the films.

"Thanks." He says nothing but I can tell by the look in his eyes there's so much he's wanting to say.

"So Mer and Cristina are still fighting." Alex says nothing as I begin my work. "I basically scolded them like small children. Actually worse than small children." I chuckle.

"Not now Gen."

"Fine." I stop doing small talk. I know with Alex it's better not to force him to talk. If he wants to share what's on his mind he'll share it. If you force him then he'll just put more walls up. We work in perfect sync with each other not saying a word. Once the procedure is over the surgical team wheels the kid out to recovery. Alex and I go to scrub out.

"He has another family." Alex mutters to me. I keep looking forward. I just let him talk. "I knew who he was the moment I saw him and...it took me beating the crap at him to recognize me."

"How is he doing?"

"He's on withdrawal. He's trying to get clean. Like he's down a thousand times before."

"Addiction is a horrible disease. You take one step forward and one misstep can take you back to rock bottom."

"He walked away because my mom going all Schitzo was too much for him and acted like I had no idea how hard that was. He gave no thought to who had to step up and be the dad. He never thought of what I had to go through when he left. And he did it again to another family."

"You finally talked to him."

"More like yelled. Jo had to tell me to leave which is a good thing because I probably would have hit him again."

"Parents aren't perfect people. We all wish they were." I start off. "I am happy that you got to tell your dad how much he hurt you by leaving. You needed to share that with him."

"I oddly remembered a lot of good times with him. Like him taking me to the traveling fair once. It's such a good memory but..."

"It doesn't make up for him leaving you to take care of your mom and siblings. He had no right to back out of his responsibilities."

"I think I was an ass to this kid's dad all day. I was treating him like he was Jimmy and that was wrong of me."

"It's very big of you to realize what you did was wrong." I praise him. "It's okay to want some form of closure from someone who has hurt you so much. I...I vowed all my life I would never talk to my dad ever. But...surviving a bomb going off in the O.R. next to me as I performed surgery, the shooting and then almost passing out from taking my boards I just wanted to close one of the most difficult chapters in my life."

"But you're close to your dad now." Alex points out to me.

"But there is always a part of me that fears he will run out and...this will start all over again. There is no stability in the relationship. I don't rely on him for anything because...I will never allow myself to be that little girl who is waiting for her dad to celebrate her birthday with him but only to find that he left you. You may never get anything from Jimmy but you're ridding yourself of such toxic energy that you should be so proud of yourself." Alex grabs my arms and pulls me into a giant hug.