Strange things happen that day. The first evidence of this is that Maddox sleeps in, completely ignoring the alarm clock, something incredibly uncharacteristic of her. It's George who has to wake her up, and Maddox almost appreciates it, because she's seen how Izzie wakes people up, and she honestly prefers George's shyness and patience to the blonde's yelling and banging. "Something's wrong with Meredith," is the first thing the boy says to her, looking at her for a while, and then leaves the room to give her privacy.

Yes, Maddox can also feel something strange in the air. She gives it a lot of thought in the shower, as she lathers her hair and brushes her teeth on the way out, but decides it's best not to make a big deal about it when she's toweling off and trying to get into the pants that now barely fit. She decides to get mad at big business and their obsession with making smaller sizes to create hang-ups and forgets about the bad feelings until she walks into the hostess's room.

"She doesn't want to get up," Izzie tells her, grabbing cereal straight from the box and chewing noisily. "Says she has a feeling."

Maddox nods, knowing that she will be the one who will eventually have to sort things out. In the months she's been living with the three interns, Maddox is the judge, the impartial person, the voice of reason amidst the chaos, but she seems content that way, as everyone ends up listening to her. Izzie and George proceed to enter the room, but Maddox shakes her head and slams the door in their faces, hearing an 'ouch!' on the other side.

"Morning, Mer. You waking up?" Maddox starts combing her hair in front of the bedroom mirror, not giving too much thought to the blonde's attitude. She's dealt too many times with Dennis behaving like this, so she knows not to push or Meredith won't open up.

"Not today," the other intern's voice sounds barely audible, since her head is buried in the pillow.

"I see. They say you have a feeling. What kind of feeling?"

Meredith rolls over in bed, pulling the pillow away from her face and looking at Maddox. "Like I might die."

The brunette nods, toweling her hair dry. "Did you have a dream? Sometimes they are so realistic they seem true to us."

"It's just...," Meredith begins, sitting up in bed, and Maddox can almost feel Izzie and George's ears intruding on the conversation, leaning more and more against the door. "Okay. The man I love has a wife. And then he chooses her over me. And that wife takes my dog. Okay, she didn't take the dog, I gave it to her, but I didn't mean to give it to her, I meant to give it to him. But that does not change the fact that she's got my McDreamy and my McDog. She's got my McLife, and what have I got?" The blonde's face suddenly becomes more serious, and Maddox takes a seat next to her on the bed. "You know I can't remember the last time we kissed? 'Cause you never think last time is the last time. You think there'll be more. You think you have forever, but you don't," Meredith sighs, and again drops back on the bed, exhausted. "Plus, my conditioner decided to stop working and I think I've brittle bones. I just— I just need something to happen. I need a sign that things are gonna change. I need a reason to go on, I need some hope. And in the absence of hope, I need to stay in bed and feel like I might die today."

Maddox feels really bad for her, because it's more than obvious that Derek still loves her, but his cowardly decision to stay with Addison has caused him to lose the possible love of his life. And now Meredith is the one who suffers and, therefore, so does Maddox. So she decides to tell her something she hasn't told her yet.

"I have a brother. A twin brother, actually," Maddox chuckles, and that seems to catch Meredith's attention. "I know it's not the same situation, but I get what you mean when you say you never think last time is the last time. We were really close growing up. We were the best of friends. He was a bit troublemaker and I was the sensible one. I used to clean up the messes he left, and he was the one to encourage me to pursue what I believed would make me happy. We complemented each other, there was no Maddox without him, and not Dennis without me. But he left years ago. I didn't even get a goodbye. I thought I had him forever, but I don't. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. Sometimes it's up to us to fight for it, but sometimes it's not. I get your suffering, Mer. I really do. It's not the same situation, but I wish things were different for both of us," Maddox pats her leg, covered by the sheets, and smiles. "You can stay today if you want. I'll cover for you."

"Really?" Meredith's eyes widen a little more.

"Really. I'll say you have the flu. Nobody wants an intern with flu near them."

"God, this is why you're my favorite. I owe you a big one. Love you!" Meredith shouts as Maddox closes the door.

She startles when George and Izzie's inquisitive faces are closer to hers than she'd like. "You have a brother?"

"You're covering for her?"

Maddox covers both of their mouths with both index fingers quickly, causing the two interns to startle. "When I say Mer has the flu, you nod and keep your mouth shut. You can't lie to save your lives. I'll do the talking," she pulls her fingers away from their lips and smiles kindly. "We're good to go."

When they arrive at the hospital, things are not very lively. The operating board is nearly empty, and mostly everyone knows that's a bad sign. Maddox crosses paths with Burke and Derek, with whom she has strangely good relations since dating Cristina, and originally dating Meredith. Maddox must admit that she still holds a bit of a grudge against Dr. Shepherd for his failed relationship with her friend, and even more so considering what Meredith confessed to her just minutes ago, but she frankly likes Derek, and this time Maddox is able to ignore the damage he's done to her friend, as much as it hurts.

She high fives Alex without hiding it when they arrive, because she sees that Izzie is watching them but no longer comments on it. Since making it a New Year's resolution to forgive Alex they haven't argued about his presence in their lives anymore, and Maddox is grateful for it, because she seems to have the uncanny knack of getting along with the partners —or ex-partners, rather— of her friends. "Which surgeon are we gonna have to suck up to today?" Cristina mentions in a somewhat annoyed whisper, watching the ambulances arrive.


Admittedly, Sidney Heron, the first resident they had, was too sweet for Cristina's taste. Maddox remembers Sidney hugging her the first time she saw her, and from there, her relationship with Cristina went from bad to worse. But they seem to be a somewhat unwieldy group, because Sidney asked for the change in a matter of days, and then residents came and went without managing to settle into the group.

"That would be me," a voice says behind them, and it's too distinctive not to recognize, but the five interns have a hard time believing it. Dr. Bailey looks at them with some disdain, as if reproaching them that she has to go back to work before giving birth just because they don't know how to behave. "I've been gone two weeks. Two weeks, and you ran off two residents? I've got people phoning me at home, screaming, telling me my interns are Rosemary's babies. Nobody wants you. Do you think I have time for this? I am pregnant. I'm supposed to be on bed rest. I'm supposed to be growing a human being. I'm supposed to be calm. Do I look calm to you? Did I raise you fools to be pariahs?"

The speech is typical Bailey, so it should daunt them at the very least, but they've missed their resident so much that George is the one who dares to step forward and wrap her in a hug. "You're back."

"I'm not back. Get off me," she says, patting him on the back. "Yang, Karev, Easton, stay here and wait for the incoming case. O'Malley, page Addison Shepherd. Stevens, get a wheelchair. Where the hell is Grey?"

"A wheelchair?" Izzie wonders aloud.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bailey. Meredith's got the flu. I'll be the one to cover her cases today," Maddox admits in a professional voice that tries to be as honest as possible.

"A wheelchair," Bailey confirms. Then she looks Maddox up and down. "Honey, you've got a big storm coming."

Maddox simply nods, waiting for the ambulance to arrive along with Alex and Cristina, who are almost rubbing their hands together, impatiently. When the ambulance doors open, the three find themselves faced with a bloodied woman screaming in their faces. Maddox helps her down, pushing her hair away from her face and making sure the blood is not hers. She escorts her inside the hospital, leaving her in the hands of two nurses, while Alex and Cristina help push the gurney, which holds a semi-conscious man and, surprisingly, a young girl with her hand inside his chest. The image is so chilling that even Maddox stifles a hiss of surprise.

When Maddox arrives in the room after informing the nearest doctors, Burke is already there. "Absent breath sounds on the right side. Air bubbling at the side of the wound. He's shocky and getting a little cyanotic," Maddox informs Burke, who nods.

"Let's get him intubated and place an occlusive bandage on the wound."

"She's Hannah Davies, paramedic. She was one of the people who responded to the call. She said there was no way of stopping Mr. Carlson's bleeding, so she put her hand in... his wound," Maddox swallows, aware of the girl's mistake.

Burke doesn't hold back when it comes to speaking plainly, and Hannah pales. Maddox can see that she's young, younger than she is, and being a paramedic has its responsibilities, too. Maddox sends her a small but conciliatory smile as they share a panicked look. "Dr. Easton, prepare to transport to the OR and let's make this happen quickly, people."

Maddox wastes no time and obeys. There are many people around Mr. Carlson's stretcher, who is losing consciousness and has a gigantic chest wound, so they don't have much difficulty getting him down to the OR because the doctors, in addition to stopping to watch, make it easy for them. Maddox quickly puts on her scrubs and then helps Hannah put them on. "How are you doing over there?" she asks with encouragement to keep her on her feet and in positive spirits.

"My hand's getting numb," Hannah nods. "And I gotta tell you, this whole insides or bleeding squishy things is so not good to my gag reflex. But I'm good. Is this okay? Me being in here like this?"

"It's not a common thing, I'll give you that. Once Dr. Burke scrubs in, he'll have you remove your hand and then you can go and we'll fix Mr. Carlson."

"Good, because I know how much medicine I know, and it's just enough to never be alone in an OR. It's my second week as a paramedic. I got out of school about a month ago."

Maddox smiles sympathetically under the mask. "I haven't been doing this that long, either. Don't worry, you'll be out of here in a minute. No more squishy things."

The girl doesn't leave the paramedic's side, aware of how she must feel. Beside her there are only faceless people, people with faces covered with masks, caps and other surgical gear, but Hannah knows that they are most likely silently judging her for the heinous act of salvation she has committed. Maddox knows that too, but Hannah's action has bought some more time for Mr. Carlson. Someone has to look on the bright side of things.

Dr. Burke enters in a matter of seconds, sheathing himself in a pair of gloves with the help of one of the nurses. He wastes no time as he grabs a scalpel. "Okay. On the count of three. One, two—"

The door opens loudly, and when Alex appears behind it Maddox frowns. "Dr. Burke. I need to speak with you."

"I'm in surgery, Karev."

"You wanna talk to me, sir," the boy's words are enough to make Burke look up urgently.

Alex and Burke spend a few minutes talking in whispers, long enough for Maddox and the rest of the medical staff to go around sharing complicit glances, silently wondering what's going on. The girl frowns again, wondering what is going on on the other side of the room. Finally, when Burke turns around, his tone of voice is conciliatory. Too conciliatory for Burke, so Maddox gets nervous.

"Hannah," the doctor says.

"Yes, Dr. Burke?"

"What do you feel inside of Mr. Carlson? What is your hand touching?"

Hannah frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Is your hand touching anything hard? Like metal."

"Um," Hannah hesitates, moving her hand inside the patient. "I don't know."

"Don't move your hand. Just tell me what you feel."

"Dr. Burke," Maddox interjects. "What's going on?" She can feel her nerves on edge, so she can't imagine Hannah's.

"Um," the girl thinks again when Burke calls her back, ignoring Maddox. "My fingertips are touching something kind of hard. Yeah. Yeah, definitely."

The anesthesiologist stirs in realization. "Oh my God."

"Dr. Milton," Burke warns him.

"What?" Hannah asks, incredulous. "What's wrong?"

"Hannah," Burke says. "I don't want you to move. Not your hand, not your body, not an inch."

Maddox starts to feel a little light. The room seems to spin, and she has to take a couple of deep breaths to keep from getting more dizzy. The context in the room seems to reveal itself by the minute, and it doesn't exactly take on hopeful overtones.

"Okay. You should know you're starting to scare me."

"Don't be scared. Everything's going to be fine," Burke returns to his conciliatory tone, but his voice betrays him. "Dr. Easton, can you...?" And there's no need to add more, because Maddox nods and moves quickly toward him. In a whisper, Burke tells her everything. "I want you to walk out of this room. Walk, do not run. Go and tell the charge nurse that we have a code black."

Maddox opens her mouth, hesitant. "I'm sorry, code black?"

Burke takes back her words. "Code black. Tell him that I am sure. And then tell him to call the bomb squad."

Now the girl can't find breaths deep enough inside her to calm how light her head feels. She doesn't know how, or to whom, but she tells the nurse what Burke is telling her as calmly as she can, because she knows that's how Burke would want it. The nurse's face becomes unhinged at times, but she nods as well and calmly calls the bomb squad. Maddox returns to the OR, only to find to her surprise that Burke has evacuated everyone inside except for the anesthesiologist, Dr. Milton, and Hannah, the paramedic.

"Here's what we're gonna do. I go back in there and wait for the bomb squad. You leave. You all leave."

The surgical team complies, and they begin to evacuate the hallway. Behind her, Alex warns her. "Mads, you coming?" One look from Maddox is enough for Alex to understand that she wants to stay. "It's your funeral."

Maddox turns back to Burke, determined. "You need a surgical team."

Burke denies. "All I need is Dr. Milton to keep him under. I can do the rest myself," however, Maddox doesn't budge. She raises her head and purses her lips stiffly. She's not budging from there, and she makes it her business to let Burke know. "Fine. But you wait by the elevator. I don't want anyone in here that doesn't need to be in this OR. When the bomb squad arrives, we'll take it from there. Until then, Milton and I are doing this alone. Now, go."

"Cristina!" Maddox calls to her friend when she sees her at the end of the hallway. She's also in her scrubs, and the brunette assumes the worst. "Is it true you're operating on Dr. Bailey's husband? I heard some nurses gossiping about it when I went down to the first floor."

"Dr. Shepherd has his head open on the table. Craniotomy," Cristina explains, nodding. "Is it true the code black?" Maddox nods regretfully, and Cristina curses loudly. "Damn, you win again. Crap," her face scrambles in realization and she opens her mouth in surprise. "Meredith was right. The freaking feeling she had this morning."

Maddox rolls her eyes. "Come on, don't tell me you precisely believe that. She must've had a dream."

Cristina shrugs, amused. "Whatever. She had a feeling like she might die today. And she's in bed. And you're the one who takes her place today. Death is coming after you, then."

"You're an ass," Maddox mutters, crossing her arms.

Not even ten minutes pass when she sees the operating room door open. Through it slowly and quietly exits the anesthesiologist, Dr. Milton, who takes off his hat and bomb vest when he knows he's safe. Cristina and Maddox look at each other, opening their eyes wide, knowing what that means. Milton thinks no one sees him, so he starts walking towards the elevator, in the opposite direction of the two girls, and as soon as he disappears, Maddox and Cristina walk cautiously to the OR door.

"Hannah?" Maddox says calmly. Or with as much as she can muster in her body.

The girl turns, her eyes going wide when she recognizes Maddox without a mask. "Dr. Easton."

"We saw Dr. Milton coming out of this room," Cristina is now the one speaking, silently contemplating how it is Hannah who is now manually controlling Mr. Carlson's breathing. "Did he say where he was going?"

The two young surgeons see Hannah's wet eyes and pale skin, and although the girl responds, they both think it's not even necessary. "He said he didn't wanna die. I think I'm gonna take my hand out now."

The paramedic pushes aside the respirator, and Maddox's heart races so fast that she feels Cristina next to her will be able to hear it. It's an impulse, something Maddox can't control but has always given her trouble: when she sees someone in distress, she's the first to jump in and try to save the situation. So even though Cristina tries to hold her back, Maddox advances toward the girl, grabbing the respirator and squeezing at an even pace to keep the patient alive, even though no one's attention is on him now.

"Hey, somebody help!" Cristina shouts, alarming Maddox and Hannah, but also drawing the attention of the professionals in the room across the hall. "Out here!

"I'm just gonna take it out."

"Hannah, let's wait a bit more. We're close to the finish line, I promise," Maddox encourages her, but Hannah doesn't seem at all convinced.

"No, no, I just wanna take it out and be done with this," Hannah cries out.

"Hannah," Burke's voice carries over the others, and Maddox calms down a bit because she gets the feeling that with an older doctor around everything will be fine. "It won't be much longer. Remember, you're keeping him from bleeding out."

"No! I'm 22 years old. I should not even be here! This is some kind of mistake."

"Easton, let's move," Burke orders when the bomb squad leader whispers something to him.

"I'm not leaving her," Maddox refuses. Part of her wants to scream, wants to run away, but again her complex forbids her to leave. Her voice trembles but her demeanor is firm.

Voices begin to mingle. Dylan orders them to evacuate, Burke forces Maddox and Cristina to leave, but neither will budge. Hannah is getting more and more scared, her arm is shaking, and Maddox doubts to what extent it is better to leave her there. The danger of being blown up is becoming more and more real, and although neither wants to be made mincemeat by the explosion, neither leaves the room.

Not even when Hannah pulls her hand away and runs out.

Everyone drops to the floor, trying to cover the explosion, except for Maddox.

The explosion never sounds, never comes.

It's too late to change things, Maddox realizes when she sees that her hand is buried in Mr. Carlson's chest.

"Maddox," Cristina mutters as she gets up.

"Well, shit," Maddox lets out in a whisper.

Now she's the one keeping the hospital from exploding.