The Starting Line

Chapter 2

S7 EP2

Eleanora sat on the bench in the resident lounge, struggling to tie her shoes and text her mother at the same time. Many pagers are beeping, Eleanora's is one of them. She quickly finishes the text, one about how her mom didn't need to come to Seattle two weeks before the wedding just to help her find a dress and she definitely didn't need to drag Sabrina, Jenna, and Jenna and Enzo's newborn daughter with her.

"Sounds big. I'm betting on an accident." Jackson intervened, checking his pager. Lexie walks past him and Alex, deliberately not looking at her ex-boyfriend. Eleanora gives her a slightly worried look before standing up, grabbing her lab coat from her cubicle.

"A collision or a fire in an apartment." Alex adds, grabbing the stethoscope. He made sure he had everything before heading towards the door, Eleanora sighing.

"He's in a bad mood." She commented, Jackson smiling as he put on his medical shirt. April leaned toward the two, her voice low as she looked around the resident lounge.

"When will they stop staring?" The redhead asked, Eleanora looking around her. When she sees most of the room staring and whispering, she sinks into herself a little, putting on her lab coat.

"As soon as the novelty wears off." Jackson tells her. He notices Eleanora's face and nudges her with his shoulder, his voice a little softer. "Just ignore them."

Eleanora nods quickly, clearing her throat as she flips up her hair. "I do. It's not like it's their fault we got shot, right?"

Jackson gives her a worried look, April giving her one too. Lexie approaches Eleanora, annoyed by the looks everyone was giving the group.

"I need you to make sure I don't jump over this bench and gouge their eyes out." Lexie whispered to her friend, quietly as she finished getting ready for her shift.

"Why is it up to me to make sure you don't commit an act of violence?" Eleanora asked with a small laugh, leaning against the stall as she waited for her friend to finish.

"You are my moral compass, Ella." Lexie told her before looking over her shoulders again. Lexie finished getting ready and Eleanora moved away from the stall, but she stopped moving toward the door when she noticed Lexie's gaze toward the other residents.

"Yes! It's okay, I'm the crazy one. I'm the one who gets scared and yells at people... like that!" Lexie snaps, Meredith and Cristina turn from where they were sitting. Eleanora sighs, putting her hand on Lexie's arm.

"Look at each other for a while." Meredith told the others, leaving. She then turns to Lexie, who is playing with her watch. "Are you OK?"

"Would everyone please stop asking me if I'm, okay? Okay?" Lexie asks before leaving the room. Eleanora raised her eyebrows and watched with slightly worried eyes as her friend left the room. She then turned to Cristina and Meredith, shrugging her shoulders.

"She's not going crazy and she's not causing chaos in the emergency room. I say she's fine for now." Eleanora gave them a quick smile before running after Lexie and heading to the ER to answer the call.

______

"Multiple burn victims. Two with paralysis, three with loss of vision, one, uh, ruptured eardrums and a dislocated hip." Callie spoke as Eleanora, April and Lexie approached her in the chaotic emergency room.

"House fire?" Lexie asked, Eleanora nodded as she put on her gloves.

"Explosion?" April asked, Alex continued.

"Car accident?"

"Uh, act of God." Callie said, looking up as Bailey speaks.

"Act of God?"