Perenne

53

Amory was still deep in her thought, Meredith's friends waiting outside of her room. They still hadn't gotten any updates, after Amory and Derek had brought the girl to the hospital.

Suddenly, Addison came through the doors behind her. "It's not good."

"Is she still cyanotic? What's her initial temp? what is taking so long?" Cristina bombarded the redhead with questions.

"Dr. Yang! It's no good. They're doing everything they can." The redhead muttered, looking over to her friend, still glued against the wall, who seemed zoned out. "You should maybe, huh... prepare yourselves." At that, she left, Alex walking behind her.

Amory pressed her back against the wall even tighter. She'd always retreated into herself, into her mind, when she felt that her surroundings were too overwhelming. Today, she was practically hoping to merge with the walls, hoping to disappear, as she alienated herself from the situation around her.

"Prepare ourselves? That's what we tell families before we call time of death..." Cristina scoffed.

"She's gonna be okay," Izzie told them.

"Sometimes, you're wrong," George whispered.

"Uh, no. I'm... I'm not doing this." The Asian woman turned to leave.

"She's not coming back. Cristina's not coming back, not until they say she's okay or... or they..." Amory spoke up for the first time since she arrived alongside Meredith, her voice rasping and broken. Her throat turned into a knot towards the end of her sentence, the girl physically unable to continue.

" She's gonna survive this. She's gonna survive this, she's gonna survive this, she's gonna survive this..." Izzie muttered to herself, under her breath, like a prayer.

~~~~~

As Callie and Bailey came through the door, Amory was yet to move, her mind somewhere but present.

"Callie, I'm putting you in charge of my interns. Just put them to work, anywhere but here." George and Izzie began complaining as their resident stopped them. "You're concerned, I understand, but there has been a disaster and there is work to be done." The woman's eyes fell on Amory, still not moving or speaking. "Amory?"

"She hasn't... she's not speaking. Or moving, really, for the matter..." Izzie told Bailey.

"Okay, um, except for Madden then. She's in no condition to work," Bailey told Callie turning to leave.

"Alright, they need bodies down in the clinic. Go down there." Callie told the interns who left.

Amory jumped when she, suddenly, felt a hand on her shoulder. "Amy?" Callie asked, her voice now soft. "Are you okay?" At that, Amory's eyes filled with tears once more, the girl looking down at the floor and shaking her head. "Do you want me to get anyone, so you don't have to be alone?"

"Mark, please." Her voice was rasp and broken.

"Okay, I'll bring you to him."

~~~~~~

As Callie and Amory approached the Plastics attending at a nurses station, the man having just gotten back from talking to Derek, he looked up.

"Oh, hi, Ams!" He greeted. However, once he noticed the expression on the girl's face, his expression turned into one of worry. "Callie?"

"She's not speaking and Bailey didn't want her working in this state." The dark-haired woman explained. "She's been zoning out a lot too. I asked her if she wanted someone's company since all the other interns are back working, and she asked for you."