oxl. alive and awake
3.17

When Atlas opened his eyes, he was laying on a hospital bed. A sunset light was shining through the blinds, and he felt as light as a ghost. He couldn't feel anything except for his emotions.

He carefully stepped out of the bed, and realized he was in a hospital gown. Atlas left the hospital room and entered the hallway where not even the sounds of oxygen tanks or the beeps of the flatline monitors could be heard.

He slowly walked through the hallways, and somehow ended up in front of an elevator. He had walked there wilingly, but also felt as if he wasn't in control.

Confused, he turned to look behind himself, thinking that anyone who could have the answers would be there, or anything that could explain what was happening.

He heard the ding of the elevator, and then a familiar voice that he'd missed.

"Hey there, son. It's been a while."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"What do we got?" Bailey asked the paramedic as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. She had just put Meredith Grey into a ER room when she had been called out to the ambulance bay by a nurse.

"John Doe, hypothermic, suffered from ventricular fibrillation."

"He's not John Doe," Derek said quickly, stepping out of the ambulance and tripping over his own feet. "It's Atlas Lee-Sunny. It's Atlas."

Bailey's eyes widened. "Derek! Derek, Derek, how long has he been down?"

"I don't know, he-he just collapses," he shook his head feverishly.

"He collapsed?"

"Yeah, I mean he was on the ferry, and he had gotten Meredith out off that water."

Bailey frowned, looking at the sight of her best friend. "What happened to his chest?!"

Derek paused and looked away, avoiding eye contact with Bailey. "I-I don't know."

"Okay, Derek—"

"He's alive, he's alive," Derek murmured, staring blankly at Atlas.

"Derek!"

"He's alive."

"Okay, look. I need you to help me get him inside," Bailey said, trying to stay calm. "Clear a trauma bay, stat! Move it!"

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Everyone was switching between Atlas's room and Meredith's room, trying to bring the two back.

Derek, after being kicked out of the room, was sitting in the hall with his head in his hands.

Oliver came up to Derek, sat next to him silently, and gently put a hand on his arm.

"If it weren't for Atlas, she would still be in that water," Oliver mumbled. "I didn't save her."

"Atlas?" Mark repeated, turning his body to face him. "He was there? Is he okay? Where is he, Derek? Is he okay?" It showed right there in that moment that Mark Sloan cared, maybe cared more than he should ( not in a romantic kind of way, but a "your my best friend along with Callie kind of way )

"I - I don't know, okay," Derek whispered worriedly.

"He'll be okay." Mark said, trying to convince himself more than anything. "You know how he is, always coming back from the most crazy things. "

"Yeah."

"Atlas is going to be okay."

"....yeah."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"Tell me," Derek demanded, standing up and looking at Addison expectantly after she left Atlas's room.

She sighed. "His temp is still only 80. There's still no heartbeat. Were hoping once he warms up—"

"I want to go in there."

"No."

He ran a hand through his hair. "There's a risk of brain damage. I need to go in there."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Brian took Atlas to an empty hallway, sitting on one side while he sat on the other.

"Why are you here, why are you dying?" Brian asked him, as if Atlas should already know the answer.

Atlas avoided eye contact. "I'm not." He replied stubbornly.

"You are."

There was a long pause. Way to long.

"Why are you not fighting?" Brian pressed.

Atlas tilted his head, a strange look on his face. "I don't know," he shrugged, playing with his shoelaces. "I don't know."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Bailey looked at Derek sadly. "There's not much else we can do. We'll keep trying, but maybe you should prepare yourself."

Derek could only shake his head.

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Next thing he knew, Atlas was back to sitting on the stupid uncomfortable hospital bed, with a very much alive Brian.

"I'm unconscious and on drugs, so I'm hallucinating my dead dad. Right?" Atlas looked up his dad who only looked down at his son sadly.

"Bub, you're dying." Brian told his son once again, maybe for the fifth or sixth time.

"Don't get me wrong dad, I love you. And I would spend the rest of my life with you here — in whatever this is — but this is just me on drugs." Atlas rambled.

"This isn't your brain on drugs," Brian let out a loud sigh. "Your heart stopped for a long time, bub, and now you have barely any brain function—"

"Really? And why couldn't I have been anywhere else? The hospital? And where is cake my childhood dog?"

Brian sighed to himself, knowing that this was going to be difficult. If he couldn't get his son to fight, sooner rather than later... his time would run out.

"You need to listen to me," Brian sighed. "You're dying."

"How could I be dying?" Atlas retorted. "I'm perfectly healthy."

"You and I both know that's not true. Bub, your putting so much stress on yourself. Too much. "

Atlas froze in his place. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"What about Derek? Huh? He's full of Sunshine, and your death will ruin him. He will never be the same."

Atlas sniffled, his father always knew what the right thing to say was.

"I'm - I'm sorry." Atlas rubbed his eyes as tears fells.

"I know you are son, I know. But you gotta slow down. You gotta take care of yourself." Brian moved towards his son and brought him in for a hug.

"I-I wanna go home, dad. Let me go home. Oh god! Derek and Bailey! Oh god, what about Olly, El and mom! I - I can't leave them." Atlas cried out and grasped his chest as if it would help him breathe.

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"Guys!

"He's waking up!"

"Shh!"

"Atlas? Can you hear me?"

"Oh god, he's totally gorked."

"Shut up, Mark."

Squinting his eyes, Atlas let out a groan when he lifted his fists to rub his eyes. Before he could even think, he was startled awake fully by a loud voice.

"I'm engaged to Burke!" Cristina blurted, causing everyone's excited smiles to falter and look at her in confusion. Christina had already told Meredith and the last person she needed to tell was Atlas.

Atlas opened his eyes fully, looking around at the people in his room, all of whom were staring silently at him. Cristina, Derek, Mark, Addison, George, Alex, Bailey, his siblings — were all surrounding his hospital bed. It had been a few hours since he had gained a heartbeat but didn't wake up until later.

"Congratulations," Atlas smiled at his favourite intern — don't tell anyone that though.

╚═ ☆ ═╝

"I love you." Derek moved into the hospital bed beside Atlas.

"I love you too, Der." Atlas let the man crawl in beside him and Atlas snuggled up close as some tv show played.