basorexia (a.m.)

017. overdose

"I need some help here!" Darcy shouts as she carries Charlie's lifeless body into the ER.

"What the hell?" Bailey shouts, "I need a gurney here!" Darcy lays Charlie down on the gurney and takes a step back.

"She called me from some park saying she was overdosing. I don't know what she took, she barely has a pulse...I-I just came straight here." Darcy panics and lets the on-call ER doctor handle it.

"Hey, Benson, it's okay. You did the right thing." Bailey comforts Darcy with a hand on her back.

"She can't die. You have to save her, Alex will never forgive me if she dies."

"Benson, we got this," Bailey says and Darcy takes a step back and collapses into a seat, trying to regulate her breathing.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't want to be here anymore, I'm sorry." Charlie mumbles incoherently.

Dr Bailey just smiles and strokes her hair as she's connected to an IV. "Beck you're better than this. You were shot in the chest, if you can survive that, you can survive this." She whispers to her resident. 

Darcy sits and waits, she waits until Bailey comes back with news. "She's stable," Dr Bailey starts. "We did a tox-screen; her blood was full of codeine with some heroin mixed in. She's on charcoal and we're detoxing her blood. You found her early enough. You saved her, Benson. If you didn't find her when you did she probably wouldn't have made it. So a lot of people owe you a thank you. I owe you a thank you. Beck is...a pain in my ass, but she's like my baby. Her and those damn friends of hers. They were my interns and so they're my responsibility."

"Do her family know?"

Bailey shakes her head and sits down next to her.

"I've paged Dr Webber and he's coming in. He's going to help me break the news. You should go home, Benson. Tonight has been a lot and you could use the sleep." Bailey tells her then leaves. Darcy smiles and nods her head but then she's distracted by her phone ringing; it's Alex.

"Where are you?" His voice grumbles through her phone.

"At the hospital."

"Oh, did you get paged?"

"Alex...something's happened. I need you to get here. Please."

Richard calls Addison. She hasn't been sleeping so she answers on the first ring. "What is it? What's happened?"

"Addie, listen to me. She's here. We've got her."

"Oh, thank god."

"Come down to the hospital, Addie. We need to talk."

Addison arrives with Alex, and Dr Webber and Dr Bailey pull them both into the conference room and deliver the news.

"Dr Benson got a call a couple of hours ago from Charlie. She was having an overdose and reached out to Darcy for help. Darcy responded and went out to find her then bought her here. She's stable and on charcoal but she's safe." Richard tells Addison, and she just breaks down in tears, reaching forward and pulling him into a hug.

Alex just turns to Darcy, "You saved her?" He asks and Darcy just nods her head. He lunges forward and hugs her tight, she stumbles back slightly but Alex has her in his grip. He's mumbling "thank you" over and over again into her shoulder, then a small 'i love you' slips out. Darcy is stunned but then smiles and hugs him tight as well and from then, she thinks that maybe they would be okay.

*

Charlie feels like shit, and that's an understatement. The lights are too bright and it makes Charlie's head hurt. She looks around the doctors pass by her room, she reaches over and presses the call button. Dr Bailey appears in the doorway.

"Dr Beck," Bailey says with a smile, Charlie looks up and smiles at her boss. "How are you feeling?" Charlie shrugs her shoulders. Bailey sits on the edge of her bed and looks at Charlie, it's a look that Charlie knows all too well. A look of worry. "Charlie, I need you, to be honest with me. You said to me, that you didn't want to be here anymore." Charlie knows what's coming. "Charlie, was this overdose intentional?" Bailey asks her and Charlie just flops back in the bed and looks away. Bailey sighs and stands up then suddenly;

"Is she awake? Can I see her?" Addison's voice echoes down the corridor. Charlie sits up in her bed and then smiles. "Oh my god," Addison says, her hand pressed to her chest. She stands in the doorway, wary of entering.

"I'll give you two some space." Bailey smiles and winks at Charlie.

Addison sits on the edge of Charlie's bed, Charlie knows she's been crying. "When I got the call that you had...overdosed...I just, I broke. I don't think I would survive if I lost you." Addison plays with her wedding ring. "I don't know if you meant what you said yesterday but if you did then...I'm giving you an out. If you want, you can go and we can just end this and you can...be free. I would rather know you were happy, out there, away from me than unhappy with me. You don't have to give me an answer now but I just want you to know that...that is an option. If you think that maybe this whole thing wasn't for you and before...you get in 'too deep' you can go. I won't hate you." Charlie wants to speak, but her throat is dry and hurts and no words come out. Charlie reaches out for Addison's hand and squeezes. Addison clears her throat and stands. "I know Alex wants to see you, so I'm going to go, but...I won't hate you if you want to go, Charlie. I'll be okay, we'll be okay." Addison leans down and presses a kiss on Charlie's head then walks out.

Charlie just sits on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.

Alex knocks on Charlie's door and she takes a breath and wipes away her tears. "Hey, can I come in?" Charlie nods her head and Alex enters. He stands awkwardly before Charlie opens her arms wide and he hugs her tight. He silently cries into her shoulder. "I thought you were a goner, Charlie." Alex sits in the chair beside her bed. "Don't hate me, but I called Mom." Charlie rolls her eyes at him and crosses her arms. "Hey, come on now. I was worried, it looked bad and I thought mom should know. She was worried and so she's getting a plane out, Jeremiah is coming with and Nat, and I think Scottie is also coming. She's bringing everyone, we're trying to get into contact with Pete, but we're struggling to track him down." Charlie just nods along. Oh god, her mom and brothers coming to see her. This will be fun. "I heard what happened last night, with Addison. Meredith told us." Charlie just shrugs her shoulders and pulls her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "Is this it? Are you two over?" Charlie, once again, just shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I know these past couple of months have been tough for you two, but I know you and, as much as she would deny it, I know Addison. You two...fit. You fit better than anyone I know. So don't throw what you two have away. Don't let this break you two."

Charlie nods and Alex's pager goes off. "I gotta go but if you need anything; you page me, okay?" Charlie nods her head once again and is left alone.

She sits in her room, her throat still hurting. Her friends have come and gone and now she's been left alone again. She presses the call button, a nurse comes and she writes 'page Dr Bailey' on a page from her notebook.

"You paged me?" Bailey asks.

'Ask me again' she writes.

"Ask you what, beck?"

She taps the page. 'Ask me again.'

"Oh...Charlie, was your overdose intentional?"

Charlie takes a moment before nodding her head.

She lets out a breath before smiling at her resident. "I'm going to have to make a psych consult, okay? Don't fight me on this." Charlie just nods her head and sits back, a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.