chapter twenty two

losing my religion.season two, episodes twenty six and twenty seven.

tw: ptsd flashbacks and mentions of gun violence

Bright lights flickered above her eyes, her disorientation only adding to the confusion swimming in her brain.

When she opened her eyes, Cassie vaguely recognized her surroundings as the ER. She was wheeled into a trauma room, unable to clearly see the doctors at her bedside.

"GSW to the lower left abdomen, bullet is lodged inside," she heard a deep voice say.

"Ouch," she mumbled incoherently.

"Cassie, you're okay. You're going to be okay."

She recognized the familiar comforting yet panicked voice; Dr. Bailey.

She was fading in and out of consciousness, but immediately became alert when her shirt was lifted up.

"Stop!" Cassie shouted, thrashing around.

"We need to check the wound—" a male doctor began to say, as he once again tried to lift her shirt and another doctor held her legs down to stop their wild movements.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, having flashbacks in the midst of her shock from an event she'd prefer not to relive. "Don't touch me!"

"Okay!" Bailey shouted. "Okay. Hands off. You heard her." She lent down and placed a hesitant yet soothing hand on her arm. "Cassie, why can't we touch you?"

Despite being terrified for the life of her second favorite intern, first place belonging to George, Bailey recognized this type of reaction.

"Hurting—" Cassie stuttered, "—he's hurting me, stop, stop, stop—"

"Cassie," Bailey interrupted in a soft voice, smoothing down the hair stuck to her forehead. "Cassie, you were shot. You're in shock right now, but you're safe, I promise."

"Don't touch me!"

Bailey looked at the monitor worriedly as her stats began to drop. "Is there anyone I can page? Is there anyone who can touch you?"

Cassie blearily looked around the room, taking short breaths as her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Addie."

"Okay," Bailey sighed, instantly paging Addison. "Okay, she's coming, Cassie. It's okay, Addison is coming."

Suddenly, Cassie gasped, her arms flailing as she attempted and failed to get up.

"Denny! Burke— Burke got shot, something is wrong with Denny!"

"Cassie, you need to calm—"

"No! Burke got shot! He, he got shot, and Denny is dying and I'm bleeding and I should be helping!" Cassie cried hysterically. "If he— I have to help, please!"

Bailey grabbed her hand. "No one is dying, Cassie, but we need to get you to the OR."

The monitors started beeping erratically as Cassie lost consciousness.

"Bailey, you paged— oh, my god."

"I need you you examine her," Bailey rushed out, giving Addison a pointed look which told her everything she needed to know. "Time is a factor."

"Oh, my god," Addison repeated, staring down at Cassie's unconscious body, bleeding out.

"Addison, I understand that you care about her, and this is a big shock, and definitely not your field of expertise," Bailey said sympathetically, "But she won't let anyone else touch her, other than you."

"Yeah, she went all psycho," the male doctor scoffed. "Won't let us save her life."

Addison glared at the intern while she rushed around the room to get the supplies she needed. "When dealing with a patient who is a survivor of sexual assault-" the intern's eyes widened, "-you always ask for consent when examining them, and removing their clothes. If you were a decent doctor, or even a decent you would know that."

☆

Meanwhile, Derek was in the trauma room with Burke, examining his hand function after he was shot in the shoulder.

"How's Harper?" Burke asked, slightly delirious from the pain medication.

"What do you mean?" Derek frowned, looking from him to the Chief, who was actively avoiding his gaze. "What happened to Cassie? Where is she?"

"She was shot," Burke said bluntly. "I was shot first, but I saw her go down. There was blood. A lot of it."

Derek froze in place. "Cassie was shot?" He looked at the Chief accusingly.

"Derek—"

"I have to see her." He moved to look around the ER through the glass. "Where the hell is she?!"

"Derek," Webber raised his voice. "She's being taken care of. We need you in here. needs you in here."

Derek shook his head rapidly. "I can't lose her."

"Bailey has her. You won't. I promise."

☆

In Denny's room, to say the atmosphere was chaotic would be the understatement of the year. One by one, the interns, excluding Alex who was still at Mercy West and Cassie who was in the ER, entered the room after Izzie cut the LVAD wire.