webnovel

2.13

As Helena got up in morning, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still puffy from crying the previous night and the dark circles under her eyes were more noticeable than ever. She sighed at the sight and rushed to apply some makeup, in an attempt to mask the heartbrokenness that was reflected in her face. After applying the makeup and getting ready, she looked at herself once more. Her heart was heavy and she felt like she could cry, but she forced herself to smile through the pain. If there was something Helena Campos had learned, it was that even through the worst times there was something she could always do: smile.

As she left the bathroom, she found Meredith in the hallway.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Her friend asked her, her voice soft.

"I'm ok, Mer. Can we, you know, just keep this between us for now? You know how the rumour mill works in the hospital, I don't think I want it to be known, not yet at least." She struggled to keep her tears in as she spoke.

"Yes, of course, Lena. Whatever you need."

——

In the locker room, as George and Helena got dressed and ready for work, Izzie commented to the other interns.

"There's something going on, I mean, look at them." The blond guessed.

"Yeah, they were all cuddly and loving yesterday, now they can barely look at each other." Cristina scoffed.

As Cristina and Izzie approached the former couple, the blond spoke up. "Guys, what's... hum... what's going on?"

"Nothing." Helena rushed to answer, trying her best to smile at her friends, as George looked at her.

"Oh, you know we're gonna find out anyway." Cristina pointed out.

"And if you tell us, maybe we can help." The former model suggested, the Portuguese girl pulling her hair up.

"There's nothing to tell..." The boy sighed.

"That means there's something to tell." Cristina pointed out, laughing.

"Come on, guys, please just drop it." The short girl sighed as she closer her locker, leaving the room as two other interns looked at each other in confusion. As soon as she turned her back to her friends, she let her forced smile fall.

——

At rounds, the group of interns entered a little boy's room, a case Helena was in.

"Do you need to throw up again? Cause there's no shame in needing to throw up." One of his dads told him.

"Dad, I don't need to throw up." The kid said.

"Shawn Begleiter, eleven years old. Shawn here was admitted for intractable vomiting after a minor lesion." The brunette presented.

"Oh, I wouldn't exactly say minor..." One of the dads shared.

"He was hit in the head with a baseball." The other completed.

"Playing first. And this little dolt Harry Doppelhammer hit the line divider out of nowhere, when Shawn wasn't looking... You know what, this is my fault." He complained as Dr. Shepherd examined the boy's head. "I knew I should t have let him play Little League, it's clearly a dangerous sport..."

"Rick, let's let the doctors talk." Helena smiled at the men, helping examine the boy, feeling George's eyes weighing on her.

"Michael, I'm telling them what happened." The man's partner explained.

"Shawn's gonna be ok, right?" They asked Dr. Shepherd.

"Traumatic brain injury can indicate anything from a concussion to intracranial hemorrhaging. I'd say we start with and HP, do a thorough neuro exam and get a CT." The short girl spoke to the attending, trying her best to ignore her former boyfriend's glances and the lump on her throat.

"Good." The attending reassured.

——

As Helena and Alex wheeled Shawn through the hallway, he asked. "What happened with you and O'Malley."

"Nothing." The short girl answered, wanting to keep the matter private.

"Well, no matter what he's done I've done worse." The man joked, attempting to cheer her up. He liked the girl, he truly did, and appreciated the fact she had always believed he could be better.

"How do you know didn't do something?" The girl looked at him, Alex noticing the lack of her usual giggle.

"Well, first of all, you are you. I've never met such a morally good person." The girl gave him a playful look and smile. "Second of all, Bambi looks guilty and look sad."

As they entered the CT room, Helena spoke up. "Here we are, Shawn. It's cool isn't it? Kind of looks like a spaceship." She playfully said as she helped the boy get on the machine.

"Come on, what did he do?" The male intern pressed on.

"It doesn't matter..." She sighed. "He did something bad and he regrets it, there's no need for everyone to know, ok?"

"One time, I put a raw egg in my sock drawer for a month and then I smashed it on my teachers grade book." Shawn spoke up, a mischievous smirk on his face. "My dads were really mad."

"Well, believe it or not, what my boy..." Helena stopped herself in time and cleared her throat. "What my friend did was even worse than that." She scrunched up her nose and nodded in a playful manner.

"Cool." The boy laughed.

——

Informing the kid's family of the discoveries, his dad asked. "What exactly do you mean when you say blood in the ventricle...?"

"Oh my god! His brain is bleeding?!" The other man panicked slightly, gesticulating.

"Well, there's no need to panic. It's a small amount of blood and it's likely the injury will resolve itself." The intern explained.