DISCLAIMER:: not mine. belongs to shonda and abc studios.
A/N:: i did not forget that i promised more frequent updates and that is just about to start. it is the off season at my job and my mom is helping with my little boy while my ankle gets finished recuperating. so i am confined to my place with nothing but my laptop and time.
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Two Years Ago--- Baltimore
Knock. Knock.
"Come in." Erica didn't bother to look up. Residents, interns, and nurses were always interrupting her,
flitting in and out of her office all day.
"Good, you're here."
Erica looked up. Callie was standing on the other side of her desk.
Callie took a step closer. "I was on the flight here and I realized I have no clue where you live. I've never been to your place, not here anyway."
"I didn't know you were coming; I would have taken some time off had I known." Erica stood and stepped around the desk.
Callie held up a hand to stop any contact. "This isn't a social call."
Erica stopped. "Oh?"
"I have a surgery in the morning." Callie coughed into the crook of her arm.
Erica waited for Callie to explain this less than a day trip across the country in silence. But when she noticed how uncomfortable Callie seemed, she tried a different approach.
"What kind of surgery?"
Callie glanced at her sideways as if weighing how to answer. It was a look she didn't understand. Callie usually bragged about her surgeries and how much of an orthopedic rockstar she was. "Removing a lung tumor."
"When do you fly back? Maybe we can find some time to go out to dinner or something before your flight."
Callie gave her a look of longing. "Sometime next week hopefully."
Erica raised an eyebrow. "You came to Maryland to do a surgery?"
Callie gave a small nod. "Something like that." She fell into the seat in front of Erica's desk.
Still slightly confused, Erica went back around her desk and sat down. She stared intently at Callie, too scared to pressure her into explaining but also exceedingly curious as to why she flew across the country to perform a surgery that wasn't even in her area of expertise.
Callie coughed once more, this time into her hand. When she pulled it away there were small spatters of blood.
"Cal?" Erica shot up and raced around her desk. Her hands grabbed Callie's wrists and forced her hands palm up. She grabbed a tissue from her desk and wiped away the blood. "What is this?"
Callie looked down into Erica's eyes and for the first time Erica saw the exhaustion in them. "I have stage two bronchogenic carcinoma."
Erica paled. "Lung cancer. You didn't come here to perform a tumor removal; you're having a tumor removal." Her stomach dropped as the realization hit her. Her 11AM was Callie. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe.
"It thought it would be better to tell you in advance. I didn't want you to be caught off guard. I came to you because you're the best and I want the best."
"Cal…" She couldn't do this. She couldn't operate on the woman she loved as much as she may want to.
Callie heard the warning in her tone. She threw her arms around Erica's neck and said in a whisper, "Please. Please Erica, do this… for me. I need you; I need my best friend. I need you to do what you do best and save me. Save my life so that I can spend the rest of it with you."
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Present Day--- Seattle
Erica shot up in bed. She was sweating though the room was chilly. A look out the window told her the sun was high in the sky. It was so ironic that the day she'd return would fall on one of Seattle's rare days of good weather. It was almost as if Seattle was laughing at her.
She stretched and got up, finding her way easily downstairs thanks to Sloan's earlier tour. She headed for the kitchen in search of coffee.
Lexie Grey was sitting at the kitchen table when she entered. Erica jumped back, her hand going to her chest in surprise.
"Mark told me you'd probably be up before he got back."
"Where'd he go?"
"Grocery store. He didn't think the frig was stocked enough for company and there's only junk food in the cupboards. Coffee?"
Erica nodded, slowly edging to the table and sitting down on the far side. "That would be wonderful thanks."
Lexie got up and for the first time Erica noticed the baby bump.
"You're pregnant."
Lexie didn't look at her as she removed a mug from a cupboard by the refrigerator and pour some coffee from the steaming pot into it. "Last time I checked."
"Congratulations. " Erica managed a small smile. "Who's the lucky guy?"
Lexie looked directly at her for the first time since she'd walked into the room. "Mark, who else?"
"Sloan?"
Lexie crossed the room and set the coffee in front of her. "He is my fiancé."
That came out of left field for Erica. She had once witnessed Lexie Grey's obvious disapproval of Sloan's man whore ways. How could so much change?
As if reading her mind, Lexie answered her silent question. "Time changes everything." She sat back in her seat with a fresh cup of coffee and stared at Erica for several long moments. Finally, after a few sips from her cup, she set it down and folded her hands on the table as if gearing up for a long discussion. "After you left and Mark and I got together, we moved into the apartment across the hall from Callie and Yang. In the time we lived there, Callie and I grew close. She told me she was seeing you, cheating on Arizona with you. She always said it was her biggest regret and her best decision. She loved you very much, but I'm sure you knew that."
Erica took a sip of her own coffee and sighed. "Ever since she came back into my life I never once questioned whether she cared for me; I knew she did. But I always questioned whether she cared for me enough."
"The last time she came back…" Lexie smiled at the memory. "She told me if you were to follow her, just follow your heart for once, she would ask you to marry her on the spot. It was the most serious I think I ever saw her."
Erica felt a twisting burn rip through her heart. She had been so close to perfect happiness. If she had followed her instincts, if she had just told Callie to stay that final time, just maybe she would have been there to see her leave this world. "She told me not to come; she said she didn't want me to follow her." It sounded feeble and defeated leaving her mouth.
Lexie shook her head, tears at the corners of her eyes. "She lied."
The door opened and closed causing both women to look up. A few seconds later Mark walked through the door carrying several grocery bags followed closely by a blonde carrying a little boy. He smiled when he saw her but didn't seem surprised to see her up, though Lexie had already told her he predicted she would awaken before he returned. He set the grocery bags on the counter.
"I see you two had some time to catch up. Erica this is Sloane, my daughter." He lifted the toddler from the blonde's arms. "And this little guy is my grandson Marcus."
Erica was polite in her greeting though she was still in awe of the change she saw in Sloan's life and in the man himself. All these years she was so sure that he was the one person she would always have figured out, the one person incapable of change, but here he was, a family man. It amazed her.
After the groceries were put away Erica retired to her room, too numb to attempt being social. She never was that good at it anyway. She would rather spend more time living in her memories of Callie. It was an hour before Mark came looking for her.
"You doing okay?" He leaned against the door frame, too afraid to come closer without her permission.
Erica looked up from where she was staring out the window at Sloane playing with Marcus in the front yard. She ignored his question and turned back on the scene. "She's so young to have a child."
"So was her mom. She's adjusted well though, being here."
"When did you and Dr. Grey start seeing each other?"
Mark took a step into the room. "Not long after you left. Sloane showed up that Thanksgiving, pregnant. It took some adjusting but it's been good for me having all of them in my life."
Erica gave Mark the first genuine smile she'd given him in a long time. "I can see that." She stepped away from the window and looked down at the floor to avoid his eyes. "Do you think we could go to the hospital now? I want to do this sooner rather than later."
Mark was silent for a very long time before he answered. "I'll grab my keys."
