Farewell, Neverland - Grey's Anatomy

Deja Vu

The ER was silent as everyone waited for the ambulances to arrive.

Richard Webber looked around at his doctors "I know the wound is still fresh, but for now we need to put our personal grievances aside and do what we do best...save lives"

Everyone began shuffling around to prepare for the incoming traumas, except for Dakota, she was stood frozen in her place staring at a spot on the floor just a few feet away from her.

Memories of that day whirred through her mind, she could hear the gunshots echoing in her head, and she could feel the blood seeping into her scrubs.

She jumped when she felt a hand gently rest itself on her shoulder, pulling her back to the present.

Dakota turned to face Alex who was giving her a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Ko?"

Her eyes darted back to the ground and she shook her head "No"

Alex sighed and gently pulled her closer to him and pointed over to where all the attendings were gathered. "He's right there and he's fine"

Dakota glanced over at Elijah and let out a deep breath. No bullets, no blood. She then looked back over at Alex "You're fine too right?"

"If I wasn't, you'd be the first to know." He reassured her "we're gonna get through tonight"

Over where the attendings were, they had seen the interaction between the two residents. Richard looked away from the two and back at the senior doctors "Is she ready for this?"

"I don't think any of us are" Mark stated

"Maybe we should-" Richard started

"Sir, she's the best resident we have in trauma. We're gonna wanna keep her out here" Hunt cut the chief off, earning nods of agreement from the other attendings.

Richard pursed his lips "Fine, Madden keep an eye on her."

***

"Time of death, 22:35" Dakota announced before ripping off her trauma gown and snapping off her gloves.

She pushed the door to the trauma room open and looked around at the chaos in the ER as stretchers continued to be rolled in through the ambulance bay.

"How many people did this asshole shoot?" She muttered to herself.

Dakota looked over at the entrance to the ER and saw a man standing there holding his stomach. She furrowed her brows and walked over to him.

"Sir? Do you need some help?"

The man looked at her and as he opened his mouth, blood pooled out. She ran over to him as he began falling. His hands moved from his stomach revealing a bullet wound.

The man crashed to the ground bringing Dakota with him as she tried to catch him. Alex and Bailey rushed over to them and helped move the man onto a stretcher and into a trauma room.

As Dakota stood up, she looked down at her hands and froze. Alex watched her hesitate and looked at her hands and scrubs...they were covered in blood.

"Ko..."

Dakota took a deep breath "I- I'm okay. Go help Bailey"

Alex hesitated for a moment before following Bailey into the trauma room. Dakotas breaths started to quicken and everything around became fuzzy before she hurried out of the ER.

***

Elijah slowly pushed open the door to the resident's lounge he glanced around and saw Dakota standing at a sink and harshly scrubbing her hands.

He walked over to her and slowly turned the water off "It's gone, Kota. There's nothing left"

She looked over at him with tears in her eyes "I- I wasn't ready...I couldn't handle it"

Elijah slowly pulled the girl towards him and wrapped his arms around her. Dakota rested her head on his chest and took a deep breath.

"Please don't die" She whispered

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise I'm not going anywhere"

***

Jackson was stood in the ER dealing with a kid who was kicking and screaming and he had no idea how to handle it. All he could do was panic as people told him to calm the kid down.

"Hey, sweetheart. I'm Dr. Shepherd but you can call me Dakota. I know you're scared right now, I'm scared too but we need you to calm down so we can help you and mommy okay? Can you do that for me"

The kid nodded and Jackson looked at Dakota in awe. Not only was he impressed that she was able to get the kid to calm down but he was also impressed that she was able to get herself to walk back through the doors of the ER.

Dakota kept consoling the kid as she began a check up on him, she looked over at Jackson "I got it J, will you go check on his mom?"

Jackson nodded and went to the trauma room where his mom was being worked on.

From the other side of the ER Elijah was stood admiring the girl as she tried to make the kid laugh.

"I don't know how she does it"

Elijah looked over at Mark

"All the stuff she's gone through in this hospital and she still always manages to pull through" Mark continued "it's admirable"

Elijah hummed as he shifted his attention back to Dakota. The girl had gotten the kid to laugh and his tears were finally dry.

"When you guys get married can I be the best man?" Mark asked

Elijah kept his gaze on Dakota "No...my brother is gonna be my best man"

***

Dakota was proud of herself, she managed to work up the nerve to go back into the ER and help out. She knew she wasn't better, and she wouldn't be able to bring herself to handle big traumas yet...but she was moving in the right direction.

She opened the front door and frowned slightly when she wasn't immediately greeted by Milo. She closed the door behind and walked further into the house.

Everything was silent and the only light was coming from the kitchen.

She walked in and saw Elijah lighting candles at the dining table where two plates were sat out.

"We never got to finish our date" He told her

Dakota smiled at him "I...hate how stupidly perfect you are sometimes"

"I can assure you, I'm not perfect"

"You've met my family and my friends, you're as close to perfection as I'm ever gonna get" the brunette told him

Elijah walked over to her and tucked his finger under her chin, tilting her head up. "I love you. I am so stupidly in love with you and I've been waiting so long for the opportunity to tell you how much I love you...I've been waiting so long for the opportunity to call you mine. I'm tired of waiting"

He cupped her cheeks in his hands "Dakota Shepherd, let me call you mine"

Dakota wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him toward her before finally closing the distance between them and pressing her lips to his.

"I'm yours"