Hello! I am very excited about posting my first Grey's Anatomy story. I've had this idea floating around for over a year and I finally worked up enough courage to post it. Special thank you to sweetkiwi604 for all of her help! She's the best!

This takes place sometime after the beginning of season 6. I hope you enjoy it! There's more to come :)

Read, Review, but most importantly, ENJOY.

The backdoor of the ambulance swung open and an ice-cold gust of air rushed in, throwing a shiver all over the young girl's body as she sat on the gurney. The constant drizzling rain that had blanketed Seattle the last few days had been a hard adjustment for her. She wore a long sleeve gray shirt with a green zip up jacket on top that was still damp from being outside. Her jacket had slowly become a darker shade of green over the last couple of days, not having a spare one to use or money to wash it. Reflexively seeking warmth, she pulled her arms in tighter across her chest, letting out a hiss of pain as the sudden movement put pressure on her wrist. With her arms pressed against her chest, a large hole was visible on her elbow, where her jacket had been torn earlier. Other than her jacket, faded jeans, and tennis shoes, the only other belonging she had was a dirty messenger bag that rested on her lap with the strap tightly grasped by her functioning hand.

The two paramedics took the gurney out of the ambulance and started rolling it toward the automatic doors of the E.R. As they opened, Dr. Cristina Yang met them on the other side.

"What do we got?" Christina asked, leading them into the room.

"Female, guessing 16 years old," Ellen, the paramedic, began to explain. Without missing a beat, she looked from the patient's indifferent face to Cristina's confused one. "She's not very talkative," she jabbed. "Found her under a bridge, cold to the bone, with a possible wrist fracture. Vitals all normal, but shows signs of dehydration so I.V. was started in the field."

They stopped the gurney beside an empty bed in the corner of the large room. There were only a few other patients around, proving to be quite a slow day for everyone.

"Ok, I'm Dr. Yang. What's your name?" she asked, but was met with a stern glare and silence as the teen scooted herself onto the new bed.

"Good luck getting anything out of her. The only emotion she showed was when she found out we were coming to this hospital," Ellen added. Quite frankly they couldn't have gotten to the hospital fast enough for her. She was tired of dealing with moody teenagers who had an attitude problem and didn't appreciate their help. She was more than happy to dump this case off on someone else and get back out in the field.

"You really don't even have a name?" Cristina asked, slightly annoyed that they didn't even have the basic information. Now she'd have to play secretary and fill in all the personal information spaces on her chart and she wasn't thrilled about that. The tall, male paramedic shrugged his shoulders and threw her an apologetic look before he and his partner headed back toward the rig.

Cristina shifted her weight to the other foot as she looked squarely at her new patient. "You got a name?" she tried again. She wasn't known for her charm, but maybe this girl would work with her. She was wrong. Emotionless, emerald green eyes stared back at her. "Okay then, Chatty Kathy it is," she quipped. "I'm going to take a look at your wrist now." She reached out to grab it, but 'Kathy' resisted at first; however, at seeing the determined look on the doctor's face, she relented and let her take a closer look. "Yeah, we're going to need an x-ray," Yang announced nonchalantly, before pulling back the curtain. "Can someone page ortho?" she yelled to a nurse standing nearby, more as a command than a request, before returning her attention to Kathy. "How'd it happen?" she pried, something in her tone saying she was more curious than anything. Maybe it'd be a good story to pass the time.

"Got into a fight with a bear," Kathy mocked, not willing to come clean. She added an eye roll to show just how annoyed she was that this doctor wouldn't stop pestering her. She obviously lied, because telling the truth meant them finding out details, which in turn would bring more people and authorities down on her—and she couldn't risk that, not until she found what she'd come looking for.

"Pretty young for a forest ranger, huh?" Cristina commented, playing along with her lies. Kathy let a small smile pass her lips. At least this doctor wasn't hounding her for real answers. "We're going to take you for an x-ray shortly, okay? Let's put your backpack under the bed," she said, reaching out to grab it from Kathy's grasp.

"No," she hissed, jerking it out of her reach. "It stays with me," she stated flatly, leaving no room for discussion.

Cristina held her hands up in retreat. "Fine," she replied, knowing she'd hit a soft spot. "Stay here. Someone will come get you for your x-ray. I'll be back later to check on you."

And with that, she disappeared behind the curtain, leaving 'Kathy' all alone. Throwing her head back against the pillow, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd made it—finally made it to her destination. She hadn't gotten here as planned by any means…if it hadn't been for that stupid incident and the ambulance, but it didn't matter because she wound up here just the same. Now all she had to do was find him. Using her right hand, she opened her bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Carefully opening it, she read over it again, even though she had memorized the information long ago. Dr. Alex Karev…surgeon…Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital…

Kathy closed her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts for a brief moment. She was so close, yet she was so far because now there was one big obstacle standing in her way: this trip to the ER. She knew she couldn't get that x-ray because then they would be able to see that this wasn't the first time her bones had snapped.

Suddenly, she heard Cristina's voice on the other side of the curtain, speaking in a low tone. She held her breath in an attempt to listen closely. "…and call social services. Kid won't talk so I'm sure there's something going on."

Kathy's chest started to move up and down more rapidly as her breathing increased. A sudden burst of anxiety and fear spread through her system. She stared stoically at her mud-stained shoes, trying to process the seriousness of her current situation. Things were becoming more complicated than she had expected. She had never thought that they would move so quickly to call social services. The second she had entered this hospital, all of her worries had quickly washed away, thinking that she was somehow in the clear, like a fortress of safety was around her now that she was at the correct hospital. But hearing Dr. Yang's request just added to the urgency of everything. If they figured out who she was, they'd call her mom and that would just mean a long trip back there. And she'd rather break her other wrist herself than go back there. She had to get moving and it was now or never.

Without wasting another second, she reached over and quickly pulled the IV out of her arm, biting her lip to not let a gasp of pain escape. Grabbing her bag, she peered around the closed curtain and saw her doctor and a few others trail behind her as they rushed to receive a new trauma patient at the door. With the coast momentarily clear, she slipped around the barrier and disappeared through some doors and down the hallway in search of an elevator.

She threw the long strap of her bag over her head so it was across her body and hung along her hip. The once beige bag was now brown with noticeable wear and tear, much resembling her life. She'd been through more stuff than she'd ever dreamt possible, but just like her bag, she kept on going. No stain was too deep that it couldn't be ignored among the ocean of all the others.

When she spotted the large silver doors up ahead, it was like she had found a stairway to Heaven. Quickening her pace, she reached them and pressed the button immediately to go up. She had to vanish from this floor soon before someone noticed she was gone and came looking for her. The doors opened instantly, like they had been there waiting on her all along. She swiftly stepped inside, leaving her no time to see which floor the surgical department was on.

As the doors were about to close, a hand reached in, causing them to reopen. Her breath was momentarily caught in her throat as she expected to be caught red-handed trying to escape. However, a tall doctor with longer, black hair flashed her a smile as he entered the elevator and she felt her shoulders relax. Noticing that none of the floor buttons had been pressed, he turned to her, "Where are you heading?" Genuine kindness was clear in his voice.

She felt her cheeks begin to flush as she realized she had no idea how to answer. Ever so slowly she extended her left hand down by her side, trying to hide her disfigured wrist from his gaze. She didn't need any red flags to go up, especially with a doctor. She sheepishly asked, "Do you which floor surgery is on?"

He smiled warmly, "Yes I do. I'm heading there as well." Derek pressed the button and the elevator started to ascend. He didn't give her ragged clothing a second thought as he had seen people from all walks of life come through those hospital doors and it was just normal to him now. They rode up a few floors before the doors opened again and he held out his arm, signaling for her to get off first. She offered him an appreciative smile and stepped off of the elevator and looked in both directions, trying to decide where to go.

Picking up on her hesitation, Derek placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and pointed to an area over to the right where a few doctors and nurses were gathered. Thinking she must be just another child looking for a family member, he offered, "There's the nurse's station. They should be able to help you."

"Thank you," she replied before they both took off in opposite directions.

As she slowly approached the counter, she took in all of her surroundings. There were patient rooms lined on her right and only hushed whispers and squeaky shoes echoed through the hall. A few people were wandering around and passed by her without even a second glance. The moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived; she was literally feet away. He had to be somewhere on this floor and she was about to find him. Her long journey was coming to an end. She'd left with nothing but the clothes she had on, a small bag filled with anything she could cram in it on short notice, and a broken wrist. And all roads had led to this.

"Can you check on those labs for 507?"

She froze at the sound of his voice. Sure she hadn't heard it in years, but she would have been able to recognize it anywhere. Just then Alex Karev appeared from around the corner, tossing the chart down on top of a stack at the nurse's station. He looked much better than she had remembered. His posture seemed different too…like he wasn't carrying the weight of the world on them anymore. Suddenly she became nervous, momentarily regretting her decision to come here and bring him back into all this. Every bone in her body was telling her to just flee, that this was all a bad idea and he wouldn't want her there anyway. But she couldn't do it; her feet wouldn't let her go back.

She took a deep breath as she shuffled a few more feet in his direction, watching his every move as he wrote something on a patient's chart. She was about five feet from him when he sensed her presence and peered over to his left at her. The locked eyes for a brief moment and after the panic passed, she was filled with the confidence she needed to speak.

"Hey Alex," she greeted, feeling her body relax at finally seeing him face-to-face and being able to say his name again.

His head turned ever so slightly to the side in confusion at hearing his name. He looked at this young girl up and down, trying to place her. Was she an old patient or had he treated someone in her family? Why was she on a first name basis with him anyway? Where did he know her from? He blinked a couple of times, at a loss of how to respond, but something about it just felt different.

Noticing his hesitation and furrowed brow, she joked, "Did you forget about me?" She let a nervous laugh escape her lips as she waited for him to respond.

And then he suddenly knew exactly who she was. The memories hit him like a ton of bricks as his chest felt crushed and his breath was caught in his throat.

Alex had finally finished packing what few belongings he had into his run down car that had seem better days about 15 years ago. He was dead set on leaving this house and town in his rearview mirror. He was going off to college…he had a wrestling scholarship and big dreams to fulfill. He wasn't about to let his shitty home life hold him back anymore. As he rounded the corner into the living room, his little sister caught his eye with her braided brown hair resting on both shoulders. She sat crossed-legged on the couch, seemingly lost in a hand-me-down shirt that was too big for her. She couldn't have been more than six and he felt a pang of guilt at leaving her there. But he straightened his shoulders again, somehow convincing himself that she had Aaron and he would take care of her now. He wasn't abandoning anyone; no one would be left alone. He had to focus on himself for once and couldn't be held down by responsibilities that never should have been on him to start with. This wasn't being selfish since he'd help them out when he could. He was sure of it. He'd told himself that over and over the last few days. And that was how he justified leaving them.

"Hey, Alex?" his sister whispered, almost inaudible.

Alex took a few steps over and sat down beside her on the couch, feeling his heart drop when he saw her lively green eyes turn grim. "Yeah?"

"Promise you won't forget about me," she pleaded as a few stray tears fled her eyes.

Alex took a deep breath in an attempt to push down any feelings. He didn't have time to feel right now. Her question had been so simple to answer. Of course he would never forget he had a little sister. But there was so much more weight behind it, even for a little girl. It was her begging him to not lose touch, to remember where they live, to not leave her as part of his past like so many others had done. "I promise," he replied, feeling his gut fall through into a deep, internal, self-loathing abyss of lies.

Alex shook his head, as if he was bringing himself back to reality. "Amber," he pronounced in a low voice, unable to believe he was saying her name. It had been years since he'd heard her voice and even longer since he'd seen her. "What are you doing here?" He stared at her more closely, fully taking in her appearance. He abruptly realized her less-than-presentable clothes and how her wrist hung at abnormal angle by her side, like she was trying to hide it. Noticing he had caught eye of her injury, she dropped her head, unable to meet his gaze anymore in fear of what he would say. His face was no longer confused, but showed deep concern at the sight before him. "What happened?" he demanded.