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HALLPASS: ACTIVE · DCJ-097 · CGATE · M2
Mrs. Greybackwalking the wards
Seven hospitals. Every genre. Every disaster.
Same woman. Same casserole. Same knowing look.
She was already there when they arrived.
She'll be there when the next lot come in.
Everyone accepts this eventually.
MASH · 4077TH · KOREA · 1952
MRS. GREYBACK · PRESENT
EPISODE — "THE CASSEROLE OFFENSIVE"
MASH
4077TH
HAWKEYE: We've got 40 incoming, no O-neg, and the generator is on the fritz —
[ Explosion. Distant. Tent flap opens. ]
TRAPPER: Who is that woman?
POTTER: That's Mrs. Greyback. She's been on the circuit since the last war.
HAWKEYE: Which last war?
[ Potter does not answer. He looks at his boots. ]
MRS. GREYBACK — FIELD NOTES
[ She sets the pot down on the instrument tray. The instrument tray is the wrong place for a pot. Nobody says anything. ] She does not rush.
In a tent full of people rushing,
she does not rush.
[ She goes to bed 7. She takes his wrist. She does not count. She already knows. ] She moves him up the list.
She tells Radar.
Radar does not question it.
[ The sergeant lives. She is gone. Nobody saw her leave. ]
ER · COUNTY GENERAL · CHICAGO · 1997
MRS. GREYBACK · IN TRIAGE
EPISODE — "NO CHART, NO PROBLEM"
COUNTY
GENERAL
ROSS: She doesn't have a badge!
[ Haleh does not look up from the crash cart. ]
HALEH: She was here when I started. She was here when Benton started. She was here when the building was built, Dr. Ross.
ROSS: That's — the building is forty years old.
[ Haleh's expression communicates something Ross decides not to pursue. ]
MRS. GREYBACK · CURTAIN 3
She is already in curtain 3 when they push through.
[ She is sitting. In an ER. During a trauma. Sitting. ] The woman in the bed has stopped crying.
Nobody else has had time to stop her crying.
[ Mrs. Greyback has a hand on her arm. The other arm. The one that matters. ] She stands when they come in. She says:
"She'll tell you the real history now."
[ She is right. The woman tells them. It changes the treatment. ]
GREY'S ANATOMY · SGH · SEATTLE · 2008
MRS. GREYBACK · SOMEWHERE IN THIS HOSPITAL
EPISODE — "THE WOUND THAT TEACHES"
They say medicine is about knowing.
But knowing isn't enough.
You have to know before the test.
Before the scan. Before the symptom announces itself.
She always knew before.
Meredith
The weird old woman in the gift shop keeps looking at me. I think she knows something about my patient. I think she might know something about all of our patients.
Cristina
She was in the gallery during my cardiothoracic. Four hours. When I came out she said "nice hands." I've been thinking about it for three days.
Alex
I asked her who she was. She said she was visiting someone. I asked who. She said she was visiting everyone. I didn't follow up. I should have followed up.
Mrs. Greyback
"I brought something for the nurses' station. Don't let it go cold."
[ It does not go cold. Still warm at 2am. Nobody explains this. ]
SCRUBS · SACRED HEART · 2003
EPISODE — "MY OLD NAN (WHO IS NOT MY NAN)"
Sacred
Heart
JD'S INTERNAL MONOLOGUE
I don't know who she is. I've asked Turk. Turk asked Carla. Carla said she's been here "longer than The Janitor" and then went quiet in a way that made me feel like I'd asked the wrong question.
JD: Mrs. Greyback, what are you doing in Radiology?
MRS. G: Visiting.
JD: The MRI machine?
MRS. G: The patient inside it.
[ JD checks. There is indeed a patient inside. Nobody told Mrs. Greyback this. The scan hasn't started yet. She is already outside waiting. ]
MRS. G: I brought something for the break room. Don't let it —
JD: Go cold, yeah. It never goes cold. I've noticed that about your —
[ She is gone. The Janitor appears. ]
JANITOR: Don't ask about her, Newbie. Because then I'd have to tell you how long she's been here. And then you'd have to think about how long I've been here. And neither of us needs that today.
HOLBY CITY · AAU · NHS · 2011
Admissions Log
09:14 — Charlie FairheadUnidentified female, approx 70s, on AAU without a badge. Not a patient. Not staff. Declined to give name. Was not asked to leave because she had already identified the sepsis in bay 4 before we had labs back.Badge status: outstanding. Action: none taken.
11:40 — Shift HandoverSame individual in the relatives' room with the Adewale family. She brought food. The family has stopped crying. She has not said much.Mr. Adewale: "She told us he'd be alright." He was.
Ward Round Notes
14:22 — Jac NaylorI don't know who she is and I don't care who she is. She told Sacha there was a murmur in his patient that wasn't in the chart. There was. I hate that she was right. I hate that I'm writing this down.Patient outcome: good. Credit: not assigned.
17:55 — Night SisterShe's still here. Reading to a patient who didn't have any visitors coming. I asked if she wanted a cup of tea. She said she had one already. I did not make her one.Source of tea: unresolved.
Mrs. Greyback
On the AAUShe does not hurry. The AAU is full of people hurrying. She walks through them like she's walking through a garden. Everything parts. Everything settles behind her."I've been on worse wards." — overheard. Decade: unspecified.
At 22:00She leaves. She nods at the night nurse. The night nurse nods back. They have done this before. The casserole dish is in the sluice room. It's been there for three shifts. It's still warm.Nobody has claimed it. Nobody will.
CASUALTY · HOLBY ED · GOLDEN HOUR · 2019
EPISODE — "ALREADY KNEW" · SERIES 34
The
Golden
Hour
Connie BeauchampShe was in the ambulance bay when the RTC came in. She shouldn't have been in the ambulance bay. She looked at the patient as they brought the stretcher in and said, very quietly: "the other one first."
The ParamedicsThere was no other one. Then there was. The second vehicle arrived 40 seconds later. The second patient was critical. Mrs. Greyback had already gone inside. She was in resus. She was not needed in resus. She was there anyway. She was needed in resus.
Ethan HardyI've worked in this department for years. I've not seen her before and I've seen her every shift. Both of those things are true and I've stopped trying to reconcile them. She fixed my stethoscope once. I didn't know it was broken.
Aftermath · 23:40She's in the relatives' waiting area with a flask. Talking to a man who has been waiting four hours. He looks less afraid. She did not fix anything. She just sat. The sitting fixed it.
GENERAL PRACTICE · SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND · ALWAYS
EPISODE — NO EPISODE NUMBER. THIS IS JUST TUESDAY.
The Surgery,
Tuesday
Morning
DR. PATEL: Mrs. Greyback, you're not on the list today.
— I'm not here for me, dear.
DR. PATEL: Then — who are you here for?
— The man in the green coat. He came in for his knee. It isn't his knee.
[ Dr. Patel looks at the green coat. Mr. Hewitt, 64, osteoarthritis, been coming in for six months. ]
— Refer him to cardiology. This week.
[ She takes a biscuit from the reception desk. She has brought the biscuits. Dr. Patel did not notice until now. ] [ Mr. Hewitt is referred. The cardiology results come back. Dr. Patel does not tell anyone about this conversation. He thinks about it often. ]
SURGERY APPOINTMENTS — TUESDAY

08:30 — Mrs. Thompson (routine)
09:30 — Mr. Hewitt (knee — not knee)
10:30 — Mrs. Greyback (not listed)
("She was here. She's always here." — Practice Manager)

Biscuits: replenished.
Source: Mrs. Greyback.
They are very good biscuits.
Nobody knows what kind they are.
They are always the right kind.
THE LAST ROOM · NO SHOW · JUST HER
FINAL — THE INEVITABLE
Every hospital.
Every genre.
Every disaster.
Same woman.
MASH couldn't stop her. She was there before the war.
County General couldn't badge her. Haleh knew better than to try.
Seattle Grace couldn't name her. Cristina still thinks about "nice hands."
Sacred Heart couldn't lose her. The Janitor warned you not to ask.
Holby couldn't chart her. The tea had no source. The casserole had no date.
The ED couldn't stop her. She knew which ambulance. She always knows.
The surgery couldn't schedule her. She scheduled herself.
She doesn't need the roast.
She doesn't need the badge.
She just needs the casserole dish back.
It's in Ward 6.
It's still warm.
pemos.ca/ddsmar-wards · DCJ-097 · CGATE · M2 · MRS. GREYBACK · ACTIVE · HALLPASS: NO EXPIRY