2.17

As the interns were in the Chief's office, Helena waited outside, bouncing her leg up and down. She hadn't been called in, as she has been the one to page Bailey. As they left the room, Helena asked them. "What happened?"

"There's no surgeries for us until we come clean." Meredith explained.

"I will go back and tell him. I will tell him it was me." Izzie gave in.

"And get kicked out of the program? You will keep your mouth shut. We all will keep our mouths shut." Meredith turned to Alex.

"Izzie?" The short girl talked to the woman for the first time since the incident. "I want you to know I won't turn you in. I paged Bailey because Denny's life was in danger, because he is our patient. Now that no one's life is on the line, I won't turn you in." As the blond simply kept walking, the brunette called out. "Izzie?"

At that, the blond turned to face her, suddenly. "Don't talk to me. You paged Bailey, behind all of our backs, you paged Bailey." All their friends looked at the two, shocked.

"Izzie, Denny was !" Helena replied, somewhat taken aback by the blond's reaction. She knew that Izzie might be mad, what she couldn't understand was how she still stood by her decision. "You were about to be responsible for a patient's death and we had not way of stopping it! We were all in over our heads in there, don't you think it would have been worse if Bailey hadn't shown up when she did?" The girl was still incredulous at her friend's hostility.

"We could have saved him, we could have gotten him his heart! You ruined everything, you me." She yelled at her friend, mad as she'd ever seen her.

"Izzie! Do you seriously believe we could have saved him? I'm sorry, but you're deluded." Helena shook her head, not understanding how her friend could truly believe what she'd just said. Her friend's words pained her, but she knew she'd been right in what she'd done.

"For all I care you can rot in hell." The blond stormed out, as her friends looked at the short girl, who still seemed to be processing what had just happened.

"So, anyone else mad at me for trying to save a patient's life?" She asked, looking at her friends that nodded negatively. Gulping, tears starting to well up her eyes. "Good."

As the young intern turned to leave, Meredith and Cristina followed her. "You ok there, Baby Einstein?"

"Yeah, I... yeah, I mean, I stand by my decision." She muttered still shaken up. "You know what the most ridiculous thing is?" Meredith shook her head. "One of the reasons why I paged Bailey was to protect Izzie, because I didn't want her to be responsible for the man she loved dying." She smiled sadly, attempting to keep tears at bay. "And now she hates me, so... you know, everything is just great."

——

Helena looked at her hands as she sat in front of the Chief, who was questioning her. He stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

"You know, when I was a kid I once started crying when my teacher told me I had colored a bit outside the lines." She spoke up, still staring at her hands.

"Excuse me?" The chief asked.

"I would cry every time a figure of authority said I had done something slightly less that perfectly." She shrugged, looking up from her lap. "I would feel as though I had failed and would beat myself up for it, even as a little kid. Maybe that's a part of why I graduated so early, you know, always trying to reach for the best. I mean, yes, I am technically a genius, but still. You don't graduate from Yale Med school first of your class at 21 without hard work. For some reason I still feel hurt whenever an authority figure yells at me or disapproves of something I did, mainly if they are men, and sometimes I cry when I get mad at figures of authority. I don't really know why, maybe some type of authority issues, because I've always wanted to make my father proud, especially after he died. Maybe I just have this inexplicable need to try to attain perfection..." She rambled on, gesticulating.

"Dr. Campos, your point is...?" The chief questioned brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry, Chief, I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. My point is that I might start to cry soon, if this goes on, but I won't tell you who did it. I won't tell you who cut the Lvad wire, no matter how hard it is for me. The crying is more of a conditioned response than anything else, really." She answered, shaking slightly, with a sad smile.

"Dr. Campos, you are a smart woman. You said it yourself, you have a genius level IQ, you graduated top of your class from Yale Med, you are one of the best interns we have ever had...I mean, you were the one to page Dr. Bailey to the room, that's the whole reason I didn't revoke your surgery privileges. Make the smart choice here and tell me who cut the wire." He advised.

"That would indeed be the smart choice, wouldn't it..." She sighed. "I know it would, but I can't do it. I can't... I be the one to ruin someone else's career, to betray someone else like that, no matter how much I condemn what they did." She looked to the window for a while. "I paged Dr. Bailey because someone's life was a risk, because it was the right thing to do. If there's something I live by is that I stand up for the right thing, for what I believe in, no matter how hard it might be for me. And right now, the right think to do is to not betray my colleague, my friend, no matter if that friendship is questionable right now. It's to not ruin someone else's career, no matter how unbelievably hurt I am at them for having made such a stupid decision.  I mean, no good could come out of it, right? The person already hate me too, so... I am sorry, but I tell you who cut that Lvad wire."

——

Later that day, Helena got dressed for the prom her friends had planned for the Chief's niece. Her dress was dark green, contrasting perfectly with her her dark hair, and grazed the floor. It was a classic design but the slight cleavage it provided balanced it out. As she looked in the mirror, she put on her small dangly earrings, the ones she gotten from her brother on her last birthday. Her hair was curled away from her face and her makeup was light, but it enhanced her natural beauty.

As she went through the hallway, she saw Meredith come towards her. "You look nice." The blond complimented, earning herself a smile back.

"So you do. Have you been to prom before?" The short girl asked.

"No. I was an all black, pink hair kind of teen. Wouldn't be caught dead in prom." The older woman laughed.

"I haven't either. You know, finishing highschool at fourteen does make you miss some milestones. I was barely a teenager, didn't have many friends... all I remember is staying at home and studying ahead for university. I was such a nerd." Helena giggled.