No Time | Grey's Anatomy // Book 1 // COMPLETED |

55 | Make the Call

"You have to call him off," Meredith told Arizona as we walked out of the scan room and away from Stark.

"Well, I don't know." Arizona sighed, "We can call a social worker, have 'em go in and say hello, ask if they need any help. It'll placate him."

Meredith shook her head, "No, because once you're in the system, It'll only get worse. You're registered as a parent who neglects his kid. It's over. You have to call him off."

Arizona looked at us as we stopped by the nurse's station, "He's my boss. Believe me, I like it way less than you do."

"This family just lost the ground under their feet." I said, "No one likes the idea of a ten-year-old taking care of his mother, but they're doing the best they can."

Meredith nodded, "Maybe Derek's drug helps her, or she could get the placebo, and in eighteen months she doesn't even know who Kyle is. We can't let their last couple of years together become some nightmare where they're fighting to keep Kyle in their house. It's enough of a nightmare already."

"We'll talk to him." April said and Arizona shot her a look, "Well, so he shoots us down. It can't hurt to try, right?"

Finally agreeing, Arizona, April, and I went off to talk to Stark as Meredith went to do her own thing. We waited outside of the scan room, and when Stark emerged, he turned to us, "You need me to take your diverticulectomy while you remove the boy's mass, right? My assistant knows my schedule better than me. Just check with her."

"We think calling protective services is a bad idea." April piped up as we followed Stark through the hall.

Arizona and I nodded in agreement. "Oh, uh, Kyle's mother might not have a lot of lucid time." Arizona added, "And these years are gonna be difficult, but it's all the family has, and so pulling them apart-"

"Do you know when protective services pulls families apart?" Stark asked, cutting Arizona off, "When the children are in danger. When the children aren't in danger, they go away. They do something else."

"But they can have a knee-jerk reaction to certain circumstances," said April.

Stark raised his eyebrows, "What, you think they're idiots?"

"I am sure that they are not." April denied.

"Heartless wretches?"

"No."

"Pediatric surgeons can be heartless wretches." Stark told us, "Some would agree that I'm a case in point. But social workers, on the other hand, are bleeding hearts, all right? They're earning peanuts, they're doing this thankless work, and then they get painted as, what, homewreckers? For simply stepping in where children are being harmed."

"Yeah, but the boy is not being harmed," Arizona told him.

"And you're sure about that, right?" Stark asked, "You're one-hundred percent sure? No shadow of a doubt there? Ah. That must be a nice feeling, huh? Why don't you be a good example for your residents and make the call?"

Arizona gave Stark the fakest smile I had ever seen as he turned around and walked away. "I hate that guy." I huffed. Arizona nodded in agreement and annoyance as we too turned and walked away.

After our discussion with Stark, I made my way to the cafeteria where I met up with Christina and Meredith as they were sitting down with Alex. Grabbing my food quickly, I joined them. "So, he says we're only gonna have one sink in the bathroom like he's hurting me." Meredith said, "I mean, why do you need two?"

"Well, 'cause men leave wads of toothpaste in the sink." Christina informed her, "And if you have your own sink, you don't have to look at it, all dried and congealed...and filled with their fossilized oral bacteria."

"I leave toothpaste in the sink." Meredith told her, "Are you supposed to rinse it every time you brush?"

Cristina gave her a look, "Nobody parented you. It's just to be expected."

"You're really gonna move and sell your house?" Alex asked.

Meredith smiled at him, "Are you gonna miss me?"

"No, I'm gonna miss having a cheap place to live." Alex retorted as he took some of Meredith's fries.

"This means that I have to find somewhere else to live as well." I sighed as I took a bite of my salad, "Why can't I just live at the hospital?"

"You know, I have trouble seeing the fine print, but I can still see your paws on my food." Meredith took a sip of her drink and smacked Alex's hand away from her food.

After lunch, Meredith and I joined April in Allison's room to talk about Kyle. "So it's a cyst, and it's pushing on Kyle's airway, so we should remove it as soon as possible," Meredith told the family.

"But once it's out, he'll be fine." I added, "And Dr. Robbins is great."

Meredith sighed, "Also, a social worker may be coming by just to talk to you and see how things have been going."

"Is that part of the clinical trial?" Allison's husband asked.

"No." Meredith answered, "It's more of a formality than anything."

"Yeah, thank you, but, no." the husband told us.

Allison turned to her husband, "Well, if-if it's part of the experiment, we should do whatever-"

"No, they're worried about Kyle, okay?" he told her, "It's not part of the experiment."

Allison turned to us, "Wh-why? Ky-Kyle's fine. You just said that he's-he's..."

"If we refuse, what happens?" the husband stood up from the chair that he had been sitting in.

"Wait, wh-what's wrong with Kyle?" Allison asked.

The husband turned to Allison, "No, they-they think that we're not taking care of him."

Kyle, who had been sitting quietly until now, spoke up, "I'm fine. I don't need anything."

"What-what are you doing?" Allison began to freak out a little, "I'm not doing this."

"No, Allison." the husband talked to Allison as she tried to get out of bed.

Allison shook her head, "I don't want to do this. I don't want to stay here."

"Allison, honey, stay in the bed." the husband coaxed.

"I don't-I don't-I don't want them to touch my son!" Allison shouted as she stood up and started to gather her things, "I don't want this! No, we are taking care of our son!"

As things began to escalate quickly, Kyle started to randomly sing Johnny Cash. "I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds because you're mine, I walk the line." Kyle continued to sing and it started to make Allison calm down. When she realized that her son was singing, she stopped yelling and walked over to him, embracing him in a hug. Kyle kept singing, "I find it very, very easy to be true. I find myself alone when each day is through. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you..."

"She loves Johnny Cash." Allison's husband told us, "He does this, and it...always calms her down."

Later that night Allison had her surgery and I found out from Meredith that she had gotten the drug and not the placebo. So once we were ready, I headed home with April in Meredith's car, because she would come home later with Derek. Once in the car, April turned to me from the driver's seat. "I got Stark to agree to not call protective services." she smiled.

"That's great," I told her as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"He also asked me out and I said yes," she added quickly.

My eyes widened, "What?!"

After a long talk about April going out with Stark, we finally got to the house. After changing into some pajamas, I headed for the bathroom. As I approached the door, April walked out. Thinking the bathroom was empty, I passed her and went inside, only to be met with the shower door open and the water running. Looking up, my mouth fell open as I saw Lexie and Jackson making out in the steamy water. "So, I guess this means we're over." I huffed, trying not to let any tears fall as I turned and left the bathroom. I could hear Lexie shriek as I walked away, followed by Jackson calling my name, but I just ignored it and headed to my room, where I laid motionless for the night and stared up at the ceiling.

This was some bad streak I was having with my personal life...