Chapter 2
Dr Webber steered Lucas into an empty room. “Claire Sullivan?! Why does that name ring a bell?”
Lucas was pacing back and forth frantically, shaking his head. “This can’t be.” He muttered.
“Lucas! Focus!”
Lucas looked at the chief and ran his fingers through his hair. “17 years ago chief. Claire Sullivan. RTA, found down by the bridge at on…er…fuck!” He swore. He couldn’t get his thoughts together. He took a breath. “I bought her in. She had no heartbeat and I administered amiodarone to try and get her heart to start, even though she was allergic to iodine but she died anyway. We got her here and I…er…. I handed her to you.” He looked at the Doctor accusingly, his blue eyes blazing. “You said you couldn’t do anything and that she was dead.”
Dr Webber looked scared and the anger he saw in the firefighters face. He nodded “I remember. Her husband was a firefighter too.”
“Yes, my best friend!” Lucas spat. “That day ended our friendship!” He wanted to punch the doctor and it was taking all the strength he had not to haul him up against the wall. “So, what the hell happened. Why is she still alive. Why is she here?”
“Maybe it’s not her?” Webber offered weakly. “it’s been years you’ve probably forgotten what she looks like or something.” He knew it was her. That’s why she had looked so familiar to him even after all these years. He remembered all the patients he couldn’t save. It was his gift and his curse.
Lucas crouched down onto the floor and put his head in his hands. This couldn’t be happening. How could he tell Sully that his wife was alive. How was she alive. This made no sense. “Can I see her?” he asked.
“We have to notify her emergency contact. The nurses probably already have.”
Lucas’s blue eyes widened in panic standing to his feet quickly. “No, no, Sully can’t find out like this. It will kill him.”
Dr Webber took a deep breath. “Lucas, her ID had a different name. Valerie Carter. Not Claire Sullivan. Her emergency contact may be someone else and not your old friend.”
Lucas tried to process all this but it was too much. His head was spinning and he didn’t know what to do. He wished that he was with Vic, she would calm him down with her warm embrace and soft lips. He took a deep breath and repeated “Can I see her?”
Dr Webber knew that he would not back down, so nodded. “Follow me.” He lead him to the elevator and punched a floor number. Lucas stared at the numbers as they counted up 1, 2, 3 and then it stopped and they got out on a floor.
Webber walked to the nurses station and spoke to the nurses behind the desk. The pointed and handed him a file. Webber walked back over to Lucas opening the file. He read briefly what it said before handing it to Lucas.
Name: Valerie Carter
Age: 39
Dob: 11/6/1981
Address: 11201 N Tatum Blvd Ste 300, Phoenix, AZ
Emergency contact: Justin Carter
Lucas stopped reading. Her date of birth was the same and she lived in Arizona! And her emergency contact had the same surname. Her husband?
“C’mon” Dr webber said leading him down a corridor until they came to a room. He knocked and entered with Lucas following straight behind. The woman lying in the bed looked like she was asleep. Dr Webber noted she was no longer intubated and only had an IV in giving her fluid. “She was lucky. Was a small head injury causing a minor bleed. She started breathing on her own shortly after they bought her in.” At the sound of his voice, her eyes fluttered open.
“Doctor” She smiled. Lucas caught his breath as she looked from Webber to him and then she significantly paled and her mouth dropped open as their eyes locked and she clearly recognised him. Her hand flew to her mouth and she looked scared. “No, no, no. I can’t be here.” She started muttering.
He stepped forward grabbing her hand “Claire its me, Lucas!”
She was shaking her head frantically and looked at him terrified. “No I can’t be here.” She pulled her hand away and threw the bed covers off of her and tried to stand up only to go all dizzy and start to fall. Using his quick reflexes Lucas caught her and lifted her back onto the bed.
“Claire, its me m, Lucas. Talk to me.”
She lifted a shaky hand up to cover her eyes as she started to cry. Lucas looked frantically up at the Webber, who shook his head, stepping forward he spoke. “Valerie? Do you know where you are?”
She stopped crying and looked up at him. She nodded. “Seattle Grace Hospital.”
Webber looked at Lucas again, before turning back to her. “Actually its called Grey Sloan memorial now but yes that’s where you are. You were in a car accident. Your car crashed into a tree. Do you remember where you were going?”
She looked to Lucas and panic filled her eyes again.
“Its ok Valerie, you can talk to me. Anything you say is completely confidential. Do you remember the accident?”
She nodded and took a shaky deep breath before speaking. “I was on my way to Seattle. I wanted to see….”her voice trailed off “But then I lost control of my car…and I swerved off the road and hit a tree…and then it went dark.” She looked at lucas. “I shouldn’t have come back. I just needed to know. I’m so sorry.” She started crying again, big sobs.
Just then the door burst open and in walked a tall young man. “Mom,” he cried rushing over to hug her. She looked up sobbing even more and embraced him in a tight hug. “I got the first flight out as soon as they called me.”
Lucas looked at the young man. He was tall and lanky with a even brown complexion and if Lucas didn’t know better he would say he was the spitting image of Sully! He looked at Claire trying to make eye contact with her but she was too focused on her son.
“Doc, is my mom okay?” He asked turning to Webber.
“Um yes. I’m Dr Webber. Your mom is doing well. She just needs to rest for a day or two and then she’ll be discharged when we’re happy with her next CT scan.”
“CT scan?”
“Um yes your mom hit her head and we detected a small intracerebral haemotoma, so we just want to monitor it before we discharge her.”
The young man nodded then looked from Webber to Lucas. “You’re not a doctor?” he asked.
“um no. I’m the Chief of the Seattle Fire department. It was my team that bought your mother to the hospital.” He noticed Claire’s eyes widen when she heard his job title.
“Well thank you so much for saving her. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.” He stood up and shook Lucas’s hand. Standing the boy was easily 6ft 4 just like Sully. His height also made him look older but he couldn’t be but 16 if Claire had been pregnant when she “Died”
“Um justin, can you go get me a snack from the vending machine while I talk to the doctor for a minute please.”
Justin hesitated and then nodded and left the room.
Claire turned to Lucas. “Robert?” She asked.
“He’s fine. He left Seattle and moved to Montana after…” she looked down at her fingers when she realised he meant after her death. She had the decency to look embarrassed, he thought. He was getting increasingly angry at the thought that she had lied to them and stayed away all these years. He use to think that Robert and Claire were the perfect couple.
Happy and in love. Just like he now was with Vic.
“And Eva?”
“Divorced.” He said tightly.
“You’re angry.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes. He looked at Webber who stood their silently. “Claire you died. I …we found you on the road. I tried to save you but couldn’t. Me and Robert didn’t speak for 15 years cause he blamed me for your death! And now you turn up like..like some fucking ghost! What the Fuck Claire!”