"All right, maggots, it's time to move! This eclipse has got the entire hospital going nuts!"

Meredith Hippocratic glances up from her laptop and notices Dr. Aaron Li looming in the doorway. He glares at her and the rest of the surgical interns in the on-call room.

"On it, Dr. Li," Meredith answers, climbing to her feet.

Dr. Li hurries out of the room, leaving the interns alone.

"The Kamikaze is on the warpath again," Colby Patel whispers. "He's starting to make my old supervisor at the Lakeview Med Clinic look like Kylie Minogue."

Meredith scrunches her face. "Who?"

"Time for rounds," Dr. Li bellows, passing out clipboards. "Hippocratic, you're on the glass door fight. Patel, you're on the attack victim."

"Got it," Meredith and Colby answer in unison, heading off to make room for the other interns.



Meredith approaches the room where one of her patients, Jack Atlas, lies. He survived multiple flesh wounds stemming from a fight that sent him crashing through a glass door. She notices Darren Reynolds, the patient's boyfriend, pacing outside the room.

"Dr. Hippocratic," Darren says, eager to see her. "Can I see Jack now? Is he okay?"

"He's out of the woods now, and he's going to be fine," Meredith says. She's happy to finally be delivering some good news. It's been a long week for her, and worst of all, she'd just broken up with her boyfriend. "You can see if you'd like."

"Great," Darren says. He follows her into Jack's room.

Meredith opens the door and finds Jack sitting up in bed, eyes half-open. He attempts to smile, but it forms weakly. His smile quickly fades once he catches sight of Darren.

"Jack...I'm so sorry," Darren says quickly.

"Get out," Jack says, clenching his jaw. "I'm lying up in a hospital with a thousand stitches in me, all because you couldn't keep your hands off your twinky piece of ass."

Darren moves to the bed and takes Jack's hand in his own. "I'm sorry I slept with Blake. I'm so sorry."

Meredith takes a deep breath and steps back, reaching for the doorknob as fast as she can. "I'm going to...um...let you two talk amongst yourselves. In private." She slides out of the room and lets the door slam shut.

"It's not important," Simon insists, rising to his feet. "But I'm going to need some blood work done. And a tox screen run, just in case."

"Been passing strange today?" Dr. Li asks.

"Excuse me?"

"Doing some bad drugs?"

"Oh," Simon says, unable to hide the nervousness from his face. "Not at all. I just need to confirm something, that's all."

"Whatever," Dr. Li says, picking up a chart from his desk. "I'll order a tox screen. Get some blood work done."

"Thanks."

"I was sorry to hear about your wife."

"I wasn't," Simon mutters.

"I can't believe you let Valerie run you out of town — actually, never mind, I met your wife once. I can believe it."

Simon laughs. "Definitely one-of-a-kind. So how are you enjoying my job?"

Dr. Li grins widely. "Quite well. Thank you so much for leaving town."

"I do what I can," Simon says, nodding. "I'll head to the lab."


JESSICA REYES' ROOM

"Ms. Reyes, it's going to be okay," Colby says, attempting to reassure her. "Dr. Li is doing the best that he can to save your daughter."

"But she started flatlining!" Melissa hisses. "You said she was stable, and then she started to flatline! What the hell kind of operation are you running here?"

"I'm trying to —"

"Save my wife's life," Alec Bale says solemnly, standing away from the group. "Please. Just save her."

Colby watches Alec with an odd curiosity. He's noticed something off about Jessica's husband's behavior since she arrived at the hospital, but he can't figure out exactly what it is. Even more confusing is Farrah, the woman standing next to him. She looks as if she's been in a brutal attack herself.

"Dr. Li is doing all that he —"

Everyone goes silent as Dr. Li emerges from Jessica's room. His face is unreadable.

"Doctor...what's going on?" Colby asks.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Li says, facing Jessica's family. He scans their faces. They are horrified, awaiting the dreadful news that he now unfortunately has to deliver. "Jessica has...she's slipped into a coma."


WAITING AREA

"Simon!" Meredith calls out. She goes toward him, not noticing the wave of fear that quickly washes over his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm having some blood work done," Simon answers. "How are you, Meredith?"

Meredith shrugs. "As great as someone who just got dumped can be, I suppose."

"You weren't dumped," Simon says. "We went on one date last week. And I told you that I'm not ready to start —"

"This is because of that wife of yours, isn't it?" Meredith demands. "You won't leave her for me!"

Simon rolls his eyes. "Meredith, you need to take a nap or something."

Meredith grabs Simon's arm. "Choose me, Simon! Pick me! Love me!"

He pushes her away and stares at her, confused as to why she seems to be utterly insane. "I have to get going." As Simon hurries off, Meredith angrily throws her coffee into the nearest waste bin as her pager goes off. She checks it.

"Damn," Meredith mutters. "So do I."


JACK ATLAS' ROOM

"You almost killed Blake!" Chris shouts at Jack, ignoring Dr. Anderson. "You almost killed him, you son of a bitch!"

"Get the hell out of here, Chris!" Darren says, holding Jack's hand.

"He doesn't deserve to live!" Chris continues. "Not if Blake is going to die!"

"Blake is not going to die," Dr. Anderson insists. "Now you calm down at once, or so help me God, Christopher..."

Chris stands at ease. He continues to glare at Jack.

Darren releases Jack's hand and steps forward, directly into Chris' line of vision. "Awfully big words for someone who put one of his own friends in the hospital not three years ago. Your own daughter, at that, Dr. Anderson."

"Darren, shut up," Dr. Anderson snaps. "None of this is doing anyone any good."

Meredith opens the door and files into the room. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Dr. Hippocratic, we need to prepare for a blood transfusion," Dr. Anderson says.

"Blood transfusion?" Everyone in the room speaks at once.

"Jack, if you are willing, we need to perform a blood transfusion to save Blake Thomas' life," Dr. Anderson explains. "You're a universal donor. The only current one in the hospital at the moment, and Blake's only chance of survival."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Chris says quickly.

"Didn't you just say you wanted to save Blake's life?" Dr. Anderson demanded. He turns his attention back to Jack. "Blake is like a son to me, Jack. He has lived with my wife and I for the past three years...if you can do this one thing to save his life, then you need to do it."

Jack opens his mouth to speak, but Dr. Anderson cuts him off.

"And I don't give a damn about him sleeping with your boyfriend," Dr. Anderson finishes.

Jack is silent. Instead of speaking, he opts to narrow his eyes at Meredith. She shrugs it off. "People gossip in this hospital...who knew?" she mutters. "I'll go and get ready." She exits the room.

"We can't do a blood transfer," Darren says, finally speaking. "Jack is HIV-positive."

Dr. Anderson raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Jack is HIV-positive," Chris repeats. "Darren's right."

"What are you all talking about?" Dr. Anderson asks, more than a little confused. "I have Jack's paperwork right here in my hands, and he is anything but HIV-positive."


WAITING AREA

"You okay, Dr. Li?" Colby asks.

"I'm fine," Dr. Li snaps. "Have you seen Simon Holden around?"

Colby shakes his head.

"You're useless," Dr. Li says, returning to his paperwork.

Meredith shows up at the work station. "Ahoy."

"Did you hear about the pregnant woman who came in with a gunshot wound?" Colby whispers. "Apparently, her husband's in the mob, and he shot her during a drug deal gone wrong."

"Don't you two have anything better to do than gossip?"

Colby and Meredith turn to find Simon standing near them. Simon smiles. "Sorry, old habits die hard."

"You should come back to work at the hospital," Dr. Li says, laughing.

"I think I pissed off Dr. Maddock when I bailed on getting a private practice together," Simon replies. "He'd do everything he could to make sure I don't get rehired. Now, unless you want to give up your job..."

Instead of a response, Dr. Li answers Simon by clutching his chest again. This time he drops the pen in his other hand and stumbles forward. His face turns pale.

Sometimes, it's not love that hits us...

"Dr. Li!" Meredith cries.

Sometimes it's just plain old bad luck...

Dr. Li slides off the work station surface and falls to the ground. Meredith and Colby rush to help their mentor as Simon stands, stunned. Even without checking to make sure himself, he knows that Dr. Li is dead.

Irony's a bitch.