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𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭
ꜱᴏɴɢ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ
𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬
Even though it had been over a month since Griffin Ross had been gone from her life, things hadn't gotten easier for Mallory Shepherd. No matter how hard she tried to escape it, the nightmares and some of the bruises still hadn't faded away.
Alex Karev walked into the apartment early in the morning, expecting to find Mallory already for their shift at the hospital. But as he looked around the apartment, he found her staring at herself intensely in a mirror.
"What're you doing, Mal?" he asked as he walked up behind her.
She didn't reply at first as she ran her fingers across the bruises, finally, she let out a sigh as she spoke. "They won't go away, no matter how hard I try—"
"They're bruises, Mal, they'll go away on their own," Alex reminded her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You need to stop paying attention to them."
"I need them to go away now, Alex," Mallory snapped, running her hands through her hair. "I can't keep being reminded of it every single day."
He furrowed his brows in confusion as he spoke. "What's going on? You can talk to me, Mallory."
"I, I—"
All of a sudden, the Shepherd woman started to cry uncontrollably as she continued to stare into the mirror. Alex turned her around to face him as he asked. "Hey, hey, Mal, what's wrong? I don't know how to help if you don't tell me what's bothering you."
She collapsed into his arms, crying harder into his shoulder. He led her over to the couch and let her sit down as he sat across from her on the coffee table. Mallory sniffled as she explained. "I've tried to not think about it, to just let it all go, but I can't stop. It's even in my dreams, I can't sleep at night."
"It's okay," he tried to assure her. "You've been having nightmares—"
"Do not call them that," Mallory interrupted, placing her head in her hands. "When you call them nightmares it makes me sound like I'm six."
"You know I didn't mean it that way," Alex told her, letting out a nervous breath. "Whatever happened, it was traumatic, Mallory. You can't expect yourself to be okay just like that. It takes time."
Mallory shook her head as she sighed. "I need to be okay. Derek still looks at me like I'm about to fall apart, and it's like George is waiting for something else to go wrong with me. I just can't do it anymore."
Alex took her hands into his, giving her a reassuring smile. "They're just worried about you. Have you tried talking to anyone about it?"
"Addison's too bust fixing her marriage and thinking that I hate her for cheating on Derek," she rambled. "And Derek wouldn't understand. He never understands."
