A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favs. I can't tell you how happy each one makes me. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Also, just a little background that doesn't really affect the story but you may be interested in. Levi is 8 years older than Jo. He is young for a professor and was in his fifth year teaching at that point during the prologue. Jo met Levi during the summer between her junior and senior year of college when she toured the Harvard med school. She was 21 and he was 29 at the time; he had just finished his second year teaching. They maintained a long-distance relationship throughout Jo's senior year and she moved to Cambridge right after graduation. Soon after the new school year started (Jo's first year of med school) they moved in together and had been living together for about a year when Jo became pregnant.

Only Her First Day

Approximately 2 ½ years later...

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Stand a little taller…" Music suddenly blared from the phone that had been tossed haphazardly on the nightstand beside the bed. Jo Wilson subconsciously heard the noise and buried her head further into her pillow as the song became part of her dream. She didn't wake up until she felt little hands patting her on the cheek, "The music going, Mommy. We gots to get up."

Jo blinked her eyes open and smiled at her two year old daughter. She caught the girl's tiny hands in one of her larger ones and kissed them, "Good morning, Katie. Did you sleep good?" She asked as she scooted up in bed to lean against the wall.

The little girl nodded, "Uh huh," and crawled into her Mommy's lap. Jo brushed back her auburn curls and kissed her forehead. She laid her head against her mother's chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Jo relished the next few minutes of cuddle time before she forced herself out of bed to get the two of them ready for their first day at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. It was Jo's first day as a surgical intern and Katie's first day at the hospital's daycare. Jo had spent every moment of the last month and a half, since she graduated medical school, with her daughter. She wasn't looking forward to leaving her with strangers.

Jo got up and made scrambled eggs and toast for Katie and herself. When they had finished breakfast, she cleaned Katie up, brushed her hair, and dressed her in a pair of pink jean shorts and a white and pink striped shirt. She settled Katie down in front of the tv to watch a cartoon while she got herself dressed. She glanced at the clock as she grabbed her keys and hurried out the door with her daughter on her hip. She was running late.

Jo carried Katie into the hospital and down to the daycare. She signed her in and set her down on the floor kneeling in front of her, "Okay baby, Mommy's got to go to work now, but these nice ladies here will take good care of you and I'll be down to check on you, okay?" She looked into Katie's tear filled piercing blue eyes, so much like her father's. The little girl sniffled and held on tightly to her mother. "This is Katie," Jo introduced to one of the workers and handed off her bag explaining Katie's likes and dislikes and her daily routine. She didn't have much time and it was killing her to leave her baby. Once again she looked at Katie and kissed her softly on the cheek, "I love you, baby." And she quickly walked away so she wouldn't hear her little girl's cries.

Jo slipped into the locker room twisting her hair up into a ponytail just as the intern assignments were being made. "Wilson, Edwards, you're on Dr. Grey's service today." Jo looked around meeting eyes with Stephanie Edwards and nodding in her direction.

They left the locker room in search of their attending. Stephanie leaned over to Jo and whispered, "You know they call her Medusa, right?" Jo nodded as they approached the older doctor ready for their instructions.

Jo listened as Meredith Grey started rambling off what she expected of her interns. She really tried to pay attention, but was distracted with thoughts of Katie and hoping she was adjusting to the daycare. When they were dismissed, Jo and Stephanie went off to round on Dr. Grey's post-op patients.

Late in the morning Jo clutched her tablet to her chest rehearsing over and over in her head the exact words she would say to Dr. Grey. Slowly she approached the intimidating doctor, she hovered just behind her as she was finishing up a chart. Suddenly Meredith whipped around looking right at Jo, "Did you need something, Dr. Wilson?" she snapped. Jo cleared her throat and nodded stumbling over her patient's lab values and physical assessment. "And?" Dr. Grey raised her eyebrows.

"A-And?" Jo repeated.

"And how would you treat him?" the older doctor prompted.

"Oh, right," she mumbled, "Umm… I would.. We should," she cleared her throat again and started over, stronger this time, "He needs a CT, start antibiotics, and repeat labs in four hours."

"Right," Dr. Grey nodded, "go do that," she turned back to her chart dismissing the intern. Jo sighed and hurried away to go take care of her patient convinced the attending hated her.

After she had written the orders and ensured the nurses knew what to do, Jo made her way down to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. Stephanie waved her over to the table she was sharing with the other interns, "Jo, over here," she nudged her head toward the empty chair next to her.

Jo shook her head, "Umm.. Thanks, but I can't sit. I have something I have to do." Stephanie shrugged and speared another bite of her salad as she turned back to the conversation around her.

Jo opened the door to the brightly painted daycare and stepped inside. She glanced around and let her gaze settle on Katie who was rocking her baby doll. Smiling Jo crossed the room and stood in front of her little girl. Katie noticed her mommy standing there and jumped up out of her chair. She wrapped her arms around Jo's legs, "Mommy, Mommy!"

Jo reached down and lifted Katie up into her arms and kissed her cheeks, "Hey, baby girl. What are you doing?"

"I pwaying," she said tangling her fingers in Jo's hair.

"You're playing? Are you having fun?" Jo sat down at a table and unwrapped her sandwich.

"Uh huh," she nodded, "I wock my baby." She leaned back against Jo's chest as she ate her lunch. When her sandwich was gone, Jo opened a package of apple slices and shared them with Katie.

Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Meredith approached the intern table. Her eyes flitted over each one, "Where is the other one, what's her name? Wilson, where's Wilson?" the attending asked finally coming up with the younger doctor's name.

The interns looked at one another and shook their heads. "She had something to do," Stephanie spoke up.

Meredith waved her hand ignoring the excuse, "Well, as you all know the intern that shows the most promise is awarded the chance to perform their first surgery, an appendectomy," she explained disinterestedly, "It's Dr. Wilson's. So if you see her, tell her to come find me."

Doctor Shane Ross piped up attempting to get Meredith's attention, "Since she's not here," he flashed a smile at the general surgeon, "I could do it."

"Just find Wilson," Meredith said turning on her heel and walking away.

After throwing away her trash, Jo settled back into the chair and cuddled Katie on her lap until the little girl fell asleep. She carried her over to one of the cots in the room laid her doll down beside her and went back to work.

She slipped into the elevator just as the doors were about to close. Dr. Grey lifted her eyes from the tablet in her hands to see who had joined her. She noticed Jo cowering in the corner minding her own business. "How is Mr. Rand?" she questioned about the patient they had discussed earlier. The intern dutifully rattled off the man's most recent lab and CT results. Meredith nodded satisfied and said, "The intern appy is yours. Prep the patient in 4420 and be ready to scrub in at 3:00."

Stunned Jo gushed, "Really? Dr. Grey thank you, thank you so much." The older surgeon didn't respond and just stepped off the elevator when the doors opened.

At 3:00 Jo and Meredith met in the OR. The patient was prepped and ready for surgery. The surgery was going smoothly just as expected. Jo successfully removed the appendix. Then suddenly out of nowhere there was blood filling the patient's open abdomen. Jo froze as the room went fuzzy before her eyes; she heard the muffled voices of the OR crew as if from a distance, "Blood pressure is dropping. He's losing too much blood. Dr. Wilson do something." Before she could react Dr. Grey was pushing her out of the way and Jo stepped back tears lining her eyes. All she could see in her mind was all of her hopes and dreams slipping through her fingers. It was only her first day, and already she had messed up in a big way.