DISCLAIMER:: not mine. belongs to shonda and abc studios.
A/N:: had a small spurt of inspiration at work last night and this is the product of that. just going to be a couple chapters; a pretty direct story. reviews are appreciated. enjoy.
-----/////-----
C'mon Mr. Hill. I've seen hearts in worse devastating condition that've pulled through surgeries much more evasive than this. She focused on his heart. Beat, goddamn it, beat. She felt herself robotically hold up her hands and a faceless nurse pushed the instruments into them. "Charge to 10 joules." She shocked the heart and paused for a moment. Nothing. Damn it, Mr. Hill, don't die on me. You'll spoil my reputation. "Charge to 20." She shocked again, and after a moment's hesitation, the heart reluctantly pulsed with life. She smiled satisfactorily as if she hadn't just doubted that he'd pull through. "Welcome back, Mr. Hill."
-----/////-----
"Brilliant job as always, Dr. Hahn."
Erica, currently scrubbing out, didn't even spare a glance over her shoulder. She knew it'd be Brandi. The bright eyed resident reminded her of the younger Grey. She was eager to learn and optimistic. Every loss was a personal tragedy to her. She showed promise in her skills but Erica knew her emotions would drown her if she didn't learn to be harder. To be more like me. She scrubbed her hands harder, dismayed at the thought.
"Thank you Dr. Waybright."
Brandi lingered for a second too long, her eyes boring into Erica's back. Brandi had failed to be subtle in her attraction to Erica. Erica, ever professional, had not taken the bait, then or now. But Brandi was persistent. She was convinced she would break eventually. Obviously, the three and a half years Erica had spent being head of cardio at Johns Hopkins had taught the girl nothing about Erica.
"I heard you're going to be the new Chief of Surgery when Dr. Harris retires next week."
Finally, Erica turned, a polite smile on her face. "I wasn't aware it had been formally announced yet."
Brandi shrugged. "It hasn't. I have my ways."
Against her better judgment, Erica gave in to the urge to flirt. "I bet you do."
Brandi beamed.
Erica's pager broke the silence, saving Erica from having to back up her small flirtation. She had no intention of going there with Brandi, and she had no doubt Brandi would press the issue if she stayed.
"I have to take this."
Brandi smiled and stepped to the side so Erica could pass her on her way out of the scrub room.
-----/////-----
Mark Sloan had never been so nervous in his life. He had been nervous before, not many times, but a few. He had been nervous when he'd told Derek about his relationship with Lexie, and later when he and Lexie had decided to take the next step and buy a house together. When she had entered her sixth year of residency, he had proposed. That was the last time he could remember being really nervous, but it was still nothing compared to today.
He wrung his hands as he stood, then sat, then changed his mind and stood again. He thought back to the night before when nine friends had gathered in the third floor hallway of Seattle Grace hospital and drawn straws. Short straw would go find Erica Hahn. He sat once more, convincing himself that was the better option; standing was making his stomach twist. He hadn't drawn the short straw, Addison had, but he had offered to go in her place, just as he would have had anyone else drawn the short straw. It was his responsibility; he had a deeper history with her than anyone else at Seattle Grace, with the exception of Callie, and Callie would never come here. She was too proud. Six years, and her pride had prevented her from taking one cross country flight. Everyone had objected, feeling it was their obligation to go, and all not really wanting to, but he'd saved them, insisting that it was his job.
Things had moved on in Erica's absence. Derek and Meredith had finally had their wedding. It was small and private. They had both been in their scrubs in the hospital chapel with no more than fifteen attendees. It was what they'd always wanted. Bailey had become an attending in general surgery and had been promoted instantly to Chief of Surgery when Richard had, finally, retired the year before. Christina and Owen were very much a couple but taking things day by day. His PTSD episodes had been dormant for nearly two years now and they had grown so much in their relationship since. Mark knew Owen planned on proposing to Christina sometime within the next couple months. Christina was now a cardio attending, as Meredith was for neuro. Sadly, Izzie Stevens had passed shortly after George, and Alex had taken it hard. He transferred to Mercy West to finish his residency.
Mark had somehow expected Erica to return. He hadn't been convinced she wasn't coming back, though Callie had. After the first year, when Seattle Grace had shot back up the list, and became as prestigious as it once was, and the head of cardio still hadn't been filled, he was sure she'd return. She'd just sweep in, all confident, acting as if she'd never left. He had underestimated how angry Erica was with Richard and Seattle Grace, or quite possibly, how upset she was with Callie. Whatever the reason, she hadn't returned.
She had written a long letter… a very long letter, to Callie following George's death. Callie had held it as if it were her heart in her hands. She had kept it and read it several times over; refusing to let anyone else read it or even touch it. Today it was worn with the many readings, falling apart and possibly Callie's most prized possession. But that was the only word any one of them had heard from her in the six years since she'd left Seattle Grace. They'd all heard of her growing fame. She'd flourished at Massachusetts General and when the position had opened up at Johns Hopkins, she had gently eased into it without any problems. She had become everything she'd dreamed. She was revered, her skills respected anywhere she wielded her scalpel. She was the best.
His nervousness didn't spring from his intimidation, but rather from fear of what she would say. Words could cut deeply when you were vulnerable, and right now, Mark Sloan was raw.
-----/////-----
Emergency. When she'd answered her page, that's all the nurse had said. It was an emergency. Erica hadn't asked details, an emergency was an emergency; she'd get the details when she got there. The thing that had thrown her off was that she'd been paged to her office.
She hurried through the halls and up a flight of stairs. Just outside her office she ran into the nurse who paged her and stopped dead. She saw something in her eyes that she hadn't seen in a long time: pity. No one had pitied Erica Hahn in many many years, not since her intern days. But there it was.
The nurse cleared her throat. "He's waiting in your office, Dr. Hahn."
Erica was frozen, unable to respond even as the nurse turned and walked away. He? Who was he? And why was he in her office?
She shook off her confusion and opened the door to her office, stepping inside and closing it behind her before looking at the man seated in front of the large mahogany desk. She was able to hide the shock but inside she was spinning. What was Sloan doing here?
"Sloan."
"Hello Erica."
Erica walked around behind her desk and stood, liking that she was looking down on him. It gave her a small modicum of satisfaction. She was slightly thrown off by the raspy quality of his voice. He was quiet, too quiet. This wasn't Mark Sloan as she remembered him. This wasn't the dirty man whore she had left in Seattle.
"What brings you here Mark? Last I checked, you were still at Seattle Grace, stuck, unmoving, as head of Plastics."
Mark took the slight insult calmly, which also surprised her. She took a better look at him and realized what she'd originally missed. He looked tired, exhausted, as if he'd walked here all the way from Seattle. It wasn't that he'd forgotten how to fight back, but rather that he no longer possessed the emotional energy to do so.
"How have you been Erica?"
Erica frowned. This was unsettling her. First Mark's appearance and then his behavior, both were odd. She didn't like being caught off guard, so this situation was getting old… fast.
"I have surgery in twenty minutes Sloan; I don't have time for pleasantries."
Sloan nodded, but made no move to speak.
Erica widened her eyes and made a circling gesture with her hands while she spoke, slowly. "So can we move this along?" She sighed. "Just tell me why you're here."
Sloan swallowed hard, knowing what needed to be said, but dreading it all the same. "It's Callie, Erica… she's dead."
