Heartbeats || Jackson Avery

Chapter 1. Invasion

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When you get sick, it starts with a single bacterium... one lone, nasty intruder. Pretty soon, the intruder duplicates, becoming two. Then those two become four... and those four become eight. Then, before your body knows it, it's under attack. It's an invasion. The question for a doctor is: once the invaders have landed, once they've taken over your body... how the hell do you get rid of them?

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"They're like locusts... comfortable locusts, feeding on our surgeries," Meredith said, staring at the orange-scrubbed strangers passing in the halls as she sat in her hospital bed.

"It's rude," Izzie added, leaning against the overbed table, taking a bite of her apple slice. "There should be at least a couple of days where they act like guests before they put their feet up on the coffee table."

"And what's with the orange scrubs? What, ours aren't good enough for them?" Lexie asked incredulously, peeking out the window. Melanie nodded, frowning as she watched the Mercy Westers pass.

"We ran out. They're on back order. Randall from the supply company says they'll be here in a week," Meredith replied. Seeing the confused stares, she shrugged. "That's what you learn when you lie here all day."

"Why bother ordering new ones? We could just give these to our replacements," Ryan scoffed.

"We're not gonna be replaced by anybody," Alex reassured.

"If I have to become a coroner..." Steve began, shaking his head worriedly.

"I think I could live with being a coroner," Lucy said thoughtfully. "Anything but dermatology... if I have to turn to derm, someone needs to shoot me."

"I could settle for dermatology," Cristina sighed.

"No one is becoming a coroner or going into dermatology," Meredith stressed. "Cristina, tell them," she added, turning to Cristina, who was perched on the couch at the side of the room.

"Tell them what?" Cristina shrugged. "They're here. It's over."

"Ugh, you know what? You three can't complain. You're with attendings," Lucy groaned, gesturing to Meredith, Cristina, and Lexie. "No way Shepherd, Hunt, or Sloan are gonna let you guys get fired." She flopped onto the end of Meredith's bed, defeated.

"Hey. We are not some stupid hosts. They can't invade us. They can't attach themselves to our faces and then, while we're eating spaghetti, explode out of our chests and skitter across the floor. This is our ship. This is our ship." Meredith said determinedly.

"Excuse me. Are you... are you quoting a Sigourney Weaver movie?" Lexie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Meredith muttered.

"That's what happens when you live here. You watch a lot of TV," Izzie laughed.

"We own this hospital. We were born in this hospital. And we will hold this hospital with our last gasping breath," Meredith declared.

"I really don't want to be a coroner," Steve complained. "I don't like dead people."

"Then go out there and get surgeries before they take them. Go! And I want a full report by the end of the day," Meredith instructed, shooing everyone out of her room. Lucy groaned as she sat up, with Lexie looping her arm through Lucy's dragging the girl out with her.