oii. addiction an asshole
4.02
( mentions of addiction and death )

The army shaped Ruben Nicolás very well. He went from a nineteen year old, who missed his family so much and hopped up on pain medication after a freak accident in training, to a mannered man who lead teams into battle and was the head of the medical team in his unit.

When Roma finished her intern year and finally became a resident, with her own set of interns and her surgeries she could actually do, he had applied for leave.

Everyone had been shocked, eyes wide when the news worked its way down the grape vine. The rumours spread of him being back on the pain pills after another accident in the field or maybe he was being let go because of the man that died and he couldn't save.

Ruben hid everything well. The pain in his hip that just never went away until he's sleeping, tucked into a mattress that doesn't feel soft and a room that doesn't feel as good as home. The pain in his shoulder from the second accident that flairs when hes still got too long and when he uses it for too long — he never lets anyone see it.

Ruby applied for an honourable discharge after his years of service. It was granted, and he was sent home with a paid plane ticket, a check with a hearty bonus for staying longer and training his replacement, and a feeling in his chest that he was finally going home.

"The baby, sir, he's strung out on meth." Alex Karev whispered as he leaned towards Ruben, frowning with a face that Ruben had seen on himself before. "Sir, what do I do?"

Ruben snapped out of his small daydream, looking over his shoulder and at the baby that was wailing like his life depended on it. "On meth?"

Alex nodded. "His parents were cooking meth. The baby crawls around, gets exposed, puts his hands into his mouth, it gets into his bloodstream. That baby is strung out, badly, sir."

Ruben nodded. He's never done drugs, but he had been using pain pills even when he wasn't in pain, because the pills numbed everything. This is bringing up feeling that twist his stomach and make his shoulder and hip flair with pain that make him wobble. "I'll stay with the baby. Go find the chief and ask him where the paperwork is for children who have been exposed, I need to know the hospitals policies."

So Ruben stayed. He made his way over to the screaming baby, reaching out and scooping him up. "Hi." He cooed, trying to adjust the baby in the best way possible.

The baby continued to scream — in his ear which he was sure could blow it — but he just bounced the baby softly and rubbed his back. This baby was forced to go through withdrawals, meth withdrawals, and all he needed was someone other than his strung out father who kept on saying it was okay.

"Doctor Nicolás, can I speak to you?" Lexie stood in the door, eyeing the man holding the baby. She smiled faintly, something fresh and different from the clinic where Meredith wouldn't give her the time of day and Christina yelled at her every chance she could. "Please."

Ruben nodded, gently laying the young boy back in his bed as he wiggled and screamed, and stepped away and into the hall. "Doctor Grey, hi. How can I help you?"

"Could I ask a word of advice?" Lexie asked, almost shyly with a look on her face that said she might cry if he said no.

"Of course, Lex." There's such an age difference, and a huge difference in life between the two, but Lexie is such a sweetheart and she's Ruben's first friend he met here. "What's up?"

"Meredith called me stupid, well and she was really rude, and all I want is to know my sister. But she won't let me know her." Lexie spoke as she unwrapped a granola bar took a bite, chewing before she continued. "Do I just leave her alone? Like I want to know her, but she doesn't wanna know me."

Ruben watched as she tried to hold back tears, but the poor girl was struggling. "You'll only set yourself up for more disappointment, Lex. Just give her space, and one day she'll realize that she wants to know her kid sister."

Lexie nodded, almost as if she was trying to hype herself back up and also accept that Meredith didn't want anything to do with her right now. "Thanks, Ruby." She wondered off, probably back to the clinic, which left Ruben with the baby and strung out father.

"Stop crying." The father cried out, clutching his ears and looking down at his son. "It's okay!"

Ruben took two quick steps into the room and picked the child back up. "He's just scarred, Sir."

But the man wasn't having it, and so when Alex Karev stepped into the room, glaring, things took a turn for the worse.

"Is my wife going to be okay?" The man asked hurriedly, showing panic on his face. "Doctor?"

"She's got a hole in her stomach, it's touch and go, and it doesn't help she's hopped up on meth." Ruben snapped his head towards Alex, who stood there, fuming with an angry scowl. "Just like your baby, man."

"Doctor Karev." Ruben spoke calmly, but it didn't help to situation.

Because before he could react — and as someone who's been shot at many times and has a good reaction time — was shoved and forced to cradle the child as his head hit the side of the crib and split.

And Karev, who wanted to help, was punched and pushed where he went unconscious quickly.

Just like that, a man on meth and a baby going through withdrawals was missing.

Addictions an asshole.

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Lexie Grey was a week into her intern year, and she was the first one to do sutures. Her fingers didn't tremble as she did the actions she's practiced in her bedroom on oranges and bananas at midnight. She smiled and spoke softly as she narrated what she was doing.

"You're doing good, Doctor Grey." Ruben spoke softly from where he laid on his stomach, he'd tilted awkwardly in his arms so Lexie could sew up his cut.

"Thank you, Ru — Doctor Nicolás." Lexie corrected herself as she finished up her last stitch, smiling confidently as she stepped back and took her gloves off. Meredith stood not too far away, watching, after she had been the one to tell Ruben that Lexie couldn't do his sutures but then was argued with and Ruben had more authority so she caved with a frown. "I really appreciate the opportunity."

"Of course." Ruben smiled as the door to the clinic swung open and in stomped Roma, who looked pissed. "Oh no."

"YOU got in the way of a drug dealer! A strung out meth addict! Who stole a baby who we just found — that had a stroke!" Roma continued on his rant, but Ruben just smiled — not because he was happy, but because it was Roma who was chewing him out, and she loved him so much to care so much.

Addictions an asshole, even in recovery, but the people around him made every step better.