2.02

Helena Campos had ever fitted in. As a child, she had an above the average sensitivity to the world and an even more outstanding intellectual capability. As a kid, she was always younger than her classmates, often being bullied for it and her wits. Now, as an intern, even with amazing friends, her social anxiety had never truly allowed her to let her guard down.

——

As she walked into the bathroom in the morning, along with Izzie and George, she found Cristina in the bathtub and Meredith on the floor, both hungover.

"Ok, what did I miss?" The boy asked as Helena poured the girls some water.

"You came in to full on vomit drama. Apparently, she dumped Derek and her? She's been sleeping with Burke." Izzie informed.

"I knew that." George told her, receiving a shocked look.

"Drink up, come on, you'll feel better." The short intern encouraged them, putting some toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"I feel empty." Meredith muttered.

"Two hours of vomiting will do that to you."

"No... I feel empty."

"You're lucky, I feel pissed of." Cristina commented, laying back on the bathtub.

"Have the water. I'll make you some breakfast if you want." Lena offered, in an attempt to help.

——

"Male, 55, victim of a head in collision." The paramedic informed the group as he took their patient out of the ambulance. "GCS is 3. Skull fracture, multiple internal injuries. He's veins blew so we've been pushing meds down the tube. PEA on arrival."

"How long has he been down?" Bailey inquired.

"We've been doing CPR for about 20 minutes, it took fire 20 minutes to get him out of the car. He's pretty much gone."

"No, he's not gone until we say he's gone. O'Malley, take him to a bay and save him."

"But... he's dead." The boy pointed out awkwardly.

"Did you not hear me?!" The woman aggressively asked. "He's not dead until we say he's dead. You know what to do, so do it." The boy looked confused as the woman went on. "Grey, Campos, you're on this too, move."

"But he's dead..." The male intern whispered and Helena pat his back in comfort as they went towards the ER.

——

Now in a room, George looked  at the nurse awkwardly, as they tried to resuscitate the man. "Olivia." He greeted. "Pulseless V-Tack."

"Line's in." Helena informed.

"Ok, charge to 200. Clear." The boy shocked the patient to no avail.

"Push one of epi." Meredith instructed as her smaller friend spoke up.

"Let's go again, charge to 300."

"You serious?" The boy asked in a whisper.

"Yes, I'm serious. Charge again." The girl gave him a tough look and insisted.

"Ok then, let's charge to 300." He agreed but the man's heart didn't restart.

Just then, their resident came in. "Grey, Campos... Any response?" As the man nodded negatively she suggested. "Ok, you guys can..."

"Should I call it?" George asked.

"What would you do next, O'Malley?"

"I would call it."

The brunette girl shook her head, knowing her friend wasn't getting it."To save him, Georgie."

"Oh, hum... a pericardial window."

"Excellent, do it." The black woman nodded. "Grey, you're done here, I've got a bowel obstruction for you." The blond left after the resident, leaving Lena and George to tend to their patient.

——

Some time later, Bailey came back to check on their progress. "Where are you?"

"I can see his heart, his heart that is not beating." The boy sassed back.

"Ok, open the pericardium and aspirate. Is the heart is still not beating, close and call it." At the boy's exasperated look, she continued. "What? You think we're defiling this man's body?" Helena's eyes darted between the two.

"Well, we're certainly doing more than..."

"Than what...? If they are dead or dying when they come through those doors, you hump and hump hard. Why?"

"For the experience."

"No, what else, there's something more." The resident urged him.

"Dr. Bailey, he's not going to get it..." The girl whispered. "He's not getting the lesson."

"Oh, and you do?"

"Yes, I do. You hump hard, you do your best, so you can tell the family, no matter the outcome, that you tried your best. That's why you always need to give it your all."

The resident smiled at her sadly and nodded. "Exactly."

——

As George sat with Lena in the locker room, he whispered, full of hope and excitement. "I saved a woman's life today... I found that a woman who'd been declared brain dead actually had a viable brain!"

"I know. I'm so proud of you, Georgie." They held their hands together, the boy stroking hers lightly.

"You know, I finally got what you meant about humping on every dying patient. How did you? Figure it out, I mean?" He looked in her eyes, the lamp above them the only one in the dimly lit room.

"My dad... I couldn't be at peace with myself if his doctors hadn't tried everything. I had a hard time after he died, you know. I still have nightmares about it sometimes, about seeing him already dead in the car as I bled and heard my mother scream. About how much everyone wept at his funeral, and about how my brother had to sleep with me for months, when I heard him cry himself to sleep and wake up screaming with phantom pain." She said in a hushed tone, looking back at him as he squeezed her hand tighter in comfort. "You know, I don't ever talk about it. I don't often feel comfortable with being this vulnerable around people, I get too anxious and scared. But... I don't you, you just... you make me feel safe." The girl smiled as she stared down at the boys lips for a moment.

The boy smiled at her, still stroking her palm with his thumb. "You can always come to me." As he noticed her gaze, he told her. "Hum, I... I broke things up with Olivia, officially, you know?" He looked back at hers with a mixture of sweetness and intensity in his gaze.

"You did?" She asked, her voice soft, and the boy nodded along.

"I did..." As he leaned towards her, Helena did the same and they shared a soft kiss for a few moments.

Once they pulled away, the boy cupped her face with his hand as she giggled. "That, I, uh, I, mean, it was..." The boy mumbled.

"It was great." She completed. "It was like coming home."

The boy nodded along, as they joined their foreheads. And in that night, the only light in the room shining above them, Helena felt as though she'd finally found her place in the world.

——