I groaned as I woke up, rolling over on the hard cot mattress. I blinked my eyes, looking around the room before I remembered that I had spent the night at the hospital after getting out of surgery so late. I picked up my phone and turned off my alarm, frowning at the current time. 'Five hours of sleep sucks, but it's better than nothing,' I thought as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I pushed my fingers through my hair, sorting through the slightly tangled mess of waves falling over my shoulders. I had somehow managed to stay awake long enough to shower the night before. I climbed out of the small bed, stretching with a yawn. I pulled on my white coat, slipping my phone into my pocket before heading back out to start a new day.
I stood in line at the coffee cart, flicking through the notifications on my phone as I waited.
"Good morning," I heard a familiar voice say behind me, and I turned around to see Andrew smiling down at me. I felt my heart jump in my chest a little, and I returned the smile as I remembered the little butterfly laying in my locker.
"Hey," I said, noticing the helmet in his hand. "Wait... Do you have a motorcycle?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk as I gestured toward the helmet.
He chuckled and shrugged, turning it around in his hands before he looked back up at me. "Yeah, I do. It was a beautiful morning, so I thought I'd take it out for a change." I looked away and shook my head a little. I didn't need yet another reason to be attracted to him.
"Of course you do," I giggled as I stepped up to order my drink.
He gave me an amused grin and I rolled my eyes playfully. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked before taking his turn ordering. I shook my head to brush it off, biting my lip as he looked away. His curly hair had been slightly messed up from wearing the helmet, and I decided that I liked his hair not as meticulously styled as it usually was.
"So how did surgery go yesterday?" he questioned as we walked away, his arm bumping into mine as he smiled down at me.
"It went good, I think. I mean... I was asked to scrub into another emergency surgery right after, so I must not have messed anything up too badly," I said after taking a sip of my coffee, glancing up at him.
He nodded, giving me a small smirk. "Didn't I say that you'd be amazing?" he teased, winking at me. I looked away, trying to will the blush creeping across my cheeks to stop.
I nudged him with my elbow as we turned a corner, shaking my head. We walked into the lobby and he stopped at the desk. Turning to look at me, his expression more serious. "Hey, can I see you tonight? We should talk," he asked, his voice softer.
I felt my heart flutter, my eyes locked on his for a long moment. "Yeah, I'd-" I started to respond, cut off someone saying my name.
"Dr. Moren!" I looked over, seeing Dr. Grey walking toward me. "I was going to page you, but I'm glad I ran into you!" she said, giving me a warm smile before glancing up to Andrew. Her face impassive with her smile tight-lipped. "Deluca," she greeted, giving him a short nod.
He took a small step back, glancing between the two of us. "Dr. Grey," he said, the tone of voice much more distant than just a moment ago.
"I'm looking for a resident to work with me on a research project. I was impressed yesterday, and I asked around. Other doctors have spoken highly of you, too. If you're interested, I'd love to work with you," she offered and I blinked in surprise, trying to hide my excited grin.
"Uh, yes absolutely," I accepted, "I mean yes, thank you Dr. Grey." She gave me the room number before starting off for the elevators. My mouth open in slight shock as I looked up at Deluca. "I guess I did good yesterday then?" I giggled nervously and he nodded in quiet agreement.
I noticed that his expression had changed, and I gave him a curious look. "Everything okay?" I asked.
"Yeah I'm fine," he said, shrugging it off. "I have to go, but I'll find you later?" He gave me a small, unconvincing smile as he backed away. I watched him walk up the stairs partly before I sighed, turning toward the elevators.
As I walked into the research lab, I saw Wilson and Helm sitting at a table intently studying something on a laptop. Jo looked up, waving me over excitedly as she leaned back, allowing me to see the screen. It was the outline of a device with measurements and specifications written in the margins. "What is this?" I asked, pulling over a swivel chair beside her.
She grinned as she looked over to me, "The future of diagnostic medicine." I raised an eyebrow at her before I looked back at the screen. Helm was furiously taking notes on a yellow pad, nodding in silent agreement. "Grey has been working on this for months now, and she thinks she's figured out enough to start clinical trials with a prototype. I knew you'd want in on this," she winked at me.
I gave her a thankful smile, confirming my low-key suspicions that she had been one of the recommendations. "Yeah, she caught me a few minutes ago while I was chatting with... someone, and asked if I'd want to join in," I said, nonchalantly, while shooting Jo a look. She nudged me with her shoulder with a smirk, handing me a small stack of papers.
"Any updates with that?" she asked, her voice quieter and I shook my head. She shrugged before changing the subject, "This is a dream come true for my fellowship. Talk about innovation!" She flipped through some of the papers, pointing things out to me as Dr. Grey walked in followed by Dr. Shepherd.
My head still spun when I tried to figure out how everyone at this hospital was interconnected. I vaguely remembered Dr. Shepherd being referred to as Dr. Grey's sister but so had Dr. Pierce, and I was still confused on the specifics. Dr. Shepherd gave us a small smile as she continued their conversation, "Okay, so the date was good! That's a good thing! Is there going to be a second date?"
Dr. Grey sighed and giving her an exasperated look over her shoulder, "Amelia, I don't know. Maybe? I have three kids and I'm a surgeon, time is not an easy thing to find."
Amelia plopped down into a small swivel chair across from us, spinning it around. I tried to keep my eyes down on the papers we were looking through. "Yeah, but that's always you're excuse. That was your excuse for turning down dates before and after Riggs, that was your excuse during that weird love triangle with Linc and Deluca. You can't use it a third time. You have ample babysitters and you can take a little time off work once in a while," Amelia rambled. I froze as my stomach dropped, my eyes glancing up at Dr. Grey. She met my eye contact for a fleeting second before rolling her eyes at her sister.
I notice Jo shift in her seat a little and I was sure she could sense my sudden discomfort with their conversation. This was one of the reasons why I didn't want to get involved with anyone at work in the first place. Getting into personal drama with one of my attendings was one of the last things I wanted to do after coming here. I knew what it had felt like to be singled out and I was terrified of it happening again.
I thought back to just earlier this morning, when he took off after Dr. Grey stopped me in the lobby. 'That explains it,' I thought bitterly, coaxed out of my thoughts as Dr. Shepherd stood up out of her chair.
"Helm, can I borrow you for the day for a spinal fusion I have this morning?" she proposed, and Helm agreed. As they left, Dr. Grey mentioned needing to grab papers from another office.
Once alone, Jo looked over to me. "You didn't know, did you?" she asked, her voice quiet.
I glanced away and shook my head, trying to sort through my thoughts. "Why didn't you say anything yesterday when we talked?"
"I... I thought he had told you already. I guess I figured that was why you were worried. I'm sorry, Al," she apologized and I nodded a little, biting my lip. I knew she had been dealing with a lot in her own personal life, and I couldn't expect her to keep track of my shit too.
"It's not your fault," I reasoned, giving her a small smile and a small shrug. "I'm supposed to see him tonight, but I'm a little pissed honestly," I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I leaned back in the chair. We were silent for a moment while I mulled over what I wanted to say. "How long ago was it?" I pried, not entirely positive that I wanted to know the answer.
She shrugged and crossed her arms as she turned her chair toward me. "They broke it off maybe a month before you moved here..." she recalled. "As far as I know, it was a clean break. There hasn't been a ton of drama around it. I understand your worries, which are understandable based on your past. But I would just talk to him first; see what his side is."
I nodded silently as Dr. Grey came back in and started talking to us about her research. I tried to focus, smiling appropriately so that she would think I was paying attention. It would be so easy to let my fear take over and shy away again, and I tried to fight off a sigh as I debated in my mind. Dr. Grey turned to log something into the computer and I closed my eyes for a second, trying to bring myself back to present.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I slipped it out to see who it was from, biting back a smile when I saw his name.
"Dr. Wilson, I believe you are scrubbing in with me on my lap chole in an hour. Moren, are you okay with submitting the proposals and setting up a lab rotation schedule today?" Grey requested, handing me a folder and a laptop.
"Of course, Dr. Grey," I smiled politely at her, taking the items before she left to prep for their surgery.
As Jo gathered her stuff to leave, I pulled my phone out to read his text. "He said that he's going to be stuck in an office all day, and asked if I'm going to have free time," I admitted to her, resting my head on my hand against the table. "What do I do?"
Jo nudged me, giving me a knowing glance. "Just go talk to him. Don't write him off until you get the full story, okay?" I nodded in agreement and sighed, biting my lip a little. "You can do this stuff anywhere. You can tell me all about it later," she grinned, giving me a wink as she got up to leave as well.