Mending Broken Hearts-2

Perfect Penny Killed My Husband

This was a fun and emotional chapter to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Lexie's POV
"Uh, why am..."

"Edwards abandoned a patient." Amelia exclaims to me.

"I did not." Edwards defends herself. I notice Wilson is next to her as well.

"Can we start from the beginning?" I ask, trying to understand why I'm here.

"I cannot fathom what possessed you to abandon your pa...my patient." Amelia scolds Edwards.

"Dr. Shepherd..."

"Why are you talking? No one is talking to you." Amelia snaps at Jo. "You, speak." She orders Stephanie.

"I did not abandon her. Dr. Wilson is an excellent..."
"I didn't choose Wil...I chose you. I gave you specific instructions." Amelia is getting more worked up.

"If I can jump in for a second." Amelia takes a step back, and I can tell she's really worked up. "Edwards, please explain why you would go against Dr. Shepherd's instructions. And Dr. Shepherd let her talk before you jump in." I instruct.

"I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. I couldn't put Rachel through that." Stephanie stops and looks down briefly.

"This is a safe space." I assure her. She looks up at me and nods her head.

"When I was a kid, I was in a clinical trial for Sickle Cell Anemia."

"What?" Jo asks, shocked.

"I was 5. They held me down, the nurses and the doctors. Sticking me with needles and taking my bone marrow. You can't imagine the pain. And my mom would be saying over and over, honey, it's for your own good. It's for your own good. I screamed, and I kicked, and I fought, and so sometimes they would strap me to the table. Which they were right to do. For my own good. I was 5. I felt like I was being punished for something that I didn't do, for something that was inside of me. And I'm not gonna do that to somebody else. I'm sorry." Stephanie shares with us. "I can't. I won't."

"Dr. Shepherd." I motion for Amelia to speak.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm not a patient anymore. This is about Rachel. But I'm not willing to do that." Stephanie says.

"If there is a next time, Edwards, when you disagree with a course of treatment, share it with your attending. Share your thoughts, your reasons. Don't just blatantly refuse to do it without reason. We all understand." I assure her.

"You do?" She asks me.

"I do."

"Thank you for sharing with us." Amelia says.

"Can...can I go back to work?" Stephanie asks.

"Yes, you can leave. Both of you." Amelia dismisses them. "Thank you for...for de-escalating this."

"No problem. That's...I can't imagine what she went through."

"I know that...why didn't she tell me?"

"It wasn't she was willing to share."

"But she should have told me."

"People who don't know me. People who don't know what I've been through or what I've seen. I don't' share my darkness." I point to my left arm. "When they find out that I'm an amputee, I just say tell them I lost my arm because that's obvious. But I don't share the how. They don't need to know the how because I don't like talking about it. Edwards' story is her story and her choosing not to share it with you is not the issue. The issue is she has a conflict with treatment, and as her teacher, you need to make her comfortable with it. I read your case. Rachel needs to get moving, and there is major pain that comes, but she will be better off. You need to help Stephanie separate her past experiences so she can help patients like Rachel."