❝𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃❞ ɢʀᴇʏ·s ᴀɴᴀᴛᴏᴍʏ

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

Triage has never been one of Maddox's favorite stages in the patient visit process. In fact, it's perhaps the one she hates the most, either because the patients are rude, ill-mannered and constantly complaining, or because the wounds are so rudimentary that, as bad as it sounds, she gets bored tending to them —sometimes she worries about looking like Cristina in the slightest. Well, now that she has some free time to think, she hates the post-ops of operations gone wrong even more: communicating the loss to family members is the hardest thing she's had to do in almost a year on the program.

So when Bailey places her in the ER that morning, the look of disappointment Maddox tries to hide is obvious. Bailey looks her up and down one last time before leaving, but doesn't say anything about it, and Maddox thinks it's because her resident is one of those who still doesn't think she's fully fit to scrub in. Until the time comes, the girl knows she'll have to settle for the most basic tasks without complaint, and then, when she waits patiently, that's when her turn to operate comes up.

There are not many people in the emergency room, basically because the opening of the free clinic has taken up most of the light cases. Taking advantage of the shortage of patients, Maddox sits on one of the gurneys and fiddles with her phone. Addison's name lights up the screen, but she can't bring herself to press the number to call her because they've only been apart for a couple of hours and she doesn't want to appear emotionally dependent. The last message the redhead sends her is that she has arrived and the trip went well, but it is so tempting to send her another message to hear from her...

"Easton!" A loud voice snaps her out of her reverie, and her hands shake so badly that her phone nearly falls to the floor. Bailey walks into the ER with a medical chart in her hand and stamps it against her chest with a slight frown. "Am I boring you? Is the ER not interesting enough for you?"

"Of course it is," Maddox stammers, tucking her hair behind her ears. "The last two people that were in triage left with bandaids, so... It's not packed today," she excuses herself. She doesn't know why, but Bailey still seems too imposing.

"Well, lucky you," Bailey points to the file. "There's a boy coming right up with his mother. Yang said you were the best out of them with kids, so this is yours," Maddox raises her eyebrows slightly, not expecting Cristina's sudden compliment, and Bailey adds, "Yeah, it's not a very good excuse to get rid of minor cases to scrub in, but I happen to agree with Yang this time. Oh, by the way, congratulations on your, you know, thing, with Dr. Montgomery."

"What? How—"

Bailey purses her lips. "I am Dr. Bailey. I know everything," she looks like she's going to smile a little, but then reacts and challenges Maddox with her gaze until Maddox backs away. "Let's get to work now!"

The intern watches her go, moving gracefully between nurses and orderlies, and can't help but smile. Years ago it was her in that position, with her mother lying on one of the gurneys and her resting, anxiously, on the stool next to the gurney. Bailey was just a girl, with glasses and long hair pulled back in braids, looking nervous and somewhat inexperienced, but always conveying reassurance with her diagnosis. Maybe someday she would be able to tell her that it was because of Bailey that she has become what she is today.

When the boy and his mother walk toward her, it's not exactly what Maddox had in mind. She was expecting a little boy whimpering in his mother's arms, not wanting to be separated from her for a moment, but instead a boy of about fifteen appears with an ice pack on his forehead engaged in an argument with his mother. Maddox thinks of Cristina and the bullet she seems to have dodged, using her as a human shield. "Good morning. Jared?" Maddox greets, reading the patient information.

"Yeah."

"Excuse me, where is the doctor? We were told they would be here."

Maddox purses her lips nervously. "I am the doctor, ma'am."