Code Blue | Grey's Anatomy // Book 2 // COMPLETED

17 | Patient

"Okay. Can you wiggle your toes?" Derek did a check up on Holly once she woke from her surgery.

Holly, who still hadn't talked much, wiggled her toes. "Painful?" Derek asked and she nodded, "Yeah. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. But you're doing great, okay?"

Once the checkup was done, Derek nodded for the woman and two officers outside the room the enter. "Holly, I'm Dr. Fincher." the woman said, "I'm a therapist who works for the hospital. Is it okay if the police ask you a few questions? Only if you feel up to it."

Holly, who wasn't big on making choices herself yet, looked to Meredith. Meredith nodded and then so did Holly. One of the officers stepped up, "Do you know his name, Holly...the man that was keeping you?"

"It's okay." Meredith encouraged Holly.

Holly took a deep breath, "Joseph. Joseph Ingles."

The second officer nodded before taking off. "That's great. Really helpful." the first one said, "Now can you tell us anything about where you were living? Was it a house, an apartment?"

"It was a house." Holly replied, "One story. It has a basement."

The officer listened, "Do you know if there was any roads nearby? Could you hear cars?"

Holly's voice cracked, "He didn't let me go outside."

"Holly, we can stop if you need to." Dr. Fincher said, "Just let us know."

Holly looked to Meredith and nodded. "Okay, then. Maybe we should-we should take a break. Sure." Meredith spoke for Holly.

"You should've called me the minute you talked to the police." Dr. Fincher told Owen outside of the room.

"She had major brain and abdominal injuries." Owen reasoned, "My first concern was keeping her alive."

Dr. Fincher sighed, "I understand, but the protocol is to call psych right away. You didn't, and now our patient has bonded with a surgeon."

"Her name is Dr. Grey," Derek said.

"Dr. Grey. Fine." Dr. Fincher acknowledged, "That's who Holly has chosen. There's no breaking that bond now."

Meredith joined us, "What's going on?"

"Dr. Fincher thinks that it's best that you stay with Holly," Owen informed Meredith, "at least until her parents arrive."

"I have no psych training," Meredith admitted.

"Holly spent the last twelve years with little to no control over anything in her life." Dr. Fincher explained, "Our job is to break that pattern by letting her know that she and she alone is in control here. Whatever she wants, she gets, including you. We'll have to work together on this."

"Okay." Meredith agreed.

"Thank you." Dr. Fincher said before leaving, "If you'll excuse me, the family's waiting for my call."

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Both Meredith and I had been checking on Holly all day. "What is she like?" Cristina asked as nighttime rolled around, "Did she speak English? Or is it like that Jodie Foster in the woods movie?"

"English, although she's not really speaking." Meredith answered, "She was just flipping through the channels. I'm guessing the T.V. reception in the basement wasn't that great."

"Are you trying to get out of your interview?" Cristina asked, referring to Meredith's interview with the Brigham that she was supposed to get on a flight for that night.

"The parents are on their way." Meredith said, "I'm going. I want to."

Cristina raised her eyebrows, "Really? 'Cause it seems like you want to stay and raise...happy cutie babies with your happy cutie husband."

"Why are you so fine with leaving?" Meredith countered.

"Because I'm a surgeon, and I want to work at the best hospital with the best people, as should you." Cristina responded, "Since when did you turn into such a sap?"

"What do you guys know about Carson Methodist?" Alex approached us.

We turned to him. "Nothing. I'd like to keep it that way." Cristina told him.

Alex sighed, "It's in Toledo. Or an hour outside, I guess. I interview next week."

"Where's Toledo?" Cristina asked.

"Canada." Meredith joked.

I shook my head, "Ohio."

"A quarter of a million people live there." Alex huffed.

"But this is an hour outside." Cristina reminded him.

"Robbins' set it up for me." Alex told us, "I-I can't not go."

Cristina reached out and shook Alex's hand, "I've enjoyed our time together these past few years."

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, confused.

"We are officially on different career paths." Cristina told him, "It's only polite to say goodbye."

"Oh, my God. Holly?" A woman gasped as she approached Holly's room with a man. Her parents probably. "It's her." the woman cried, "It's her."

Moments later we let the parents into the room once Dr. Fincher had returned. But, Holly only stared at them, like she was trying to remember but couldn't. "I'd know you anywhere." the mother said, "You are...still my perfect baby girl. Holly, I know it's soon, but...I would like to hug you. Would that be okay?"

Like all questions, Holly turned to Meredith for the answer. Meredith nodded and then so did Holly. Holly's mother and father both smothered her with a hug. "Oh, my baby girl." the mother started to cry again, "My baby girl."

During the hug, though, Holly didn't hug back. She just stared at Meredith and the rest of us, her eyes searching for answers. She wanted to remember her parents, but she couldn't. So these people hugging her, they might as well be strangers because Holly didn't know them.

Holly's parents had brought a photo album with them, so while they took a break, Meredith and I went through it with Holly. "This is, I think, your first day of school." Meredith pointed to one of the many pictures before turning the page, "Sixth birthday. Looks like that's where the bunny came from." Meredith pointed to the pet rabbit.

Holly just stared, silent, as we showed her the photos. "So today Dr. Torres will be realigning your arm." I sighed, "You'll have a lot more mobility in your elbows."

"Did they really think that this would work?" Holly asked, "Give me some photo albums and a stuffed animal, and we'd be normal again?"

Meredith shook her head, "No, I think that they are just trying to help you remember because you were only six."

"Well, then tell them that I remember all of it, the first day of school and my sixth birthday." Holly told us, "Just like I remember the first time he made me take my clothes off and how hard he kicked me when I didn't act like I liked it or how his breath smelled like cigarettes, how I could've gotten away a bunch of times, but every time I made it outside, I could hear his voice inside my head...that they didn't want me, that I was dead to them, and that the only reason I finally ran away was because he told me that he was gonna take another girl...because I was too old and used up and disgusting now. Tell them that."

Agreeing, Meredith and I went to find her parents. Knocking on the door, we entered the room where Webber and Dr. Fincher were meeting with Holly's parents.

"Did you show her the photo album?" the mother asked, "Did she remember?"

Meredith shook her head. "Not even the bunny?" the father asked, "She loved that thing."

"She didn't remember." Meredith lied, "I'm sorry."

"She'll come back to you." Webber assured the parents, "It might take some time, but the memories are still there. You just have to be patient."