Chapter ten
October 1st 2016
Jo takes a deep breath in and out as she finds the courage to walk into the hospital while holding Annabelle's hand. She wasn't sure if she could do this. She had been gone for two weeks without explanation and now all of a sudden she was back with a kid. What was the best way she could explain this to somebody without giving a response the length of an essay.
"Mummy are we at your work?" Annabelle asks curiously as that stand in the doorway of the hospital.
Jo looks down at Annabelle, "Yes we are," Jo replies.
"Then may I ask why we're standing at the front and not doing anything? If you work here then you should probably go inside," Annabelle states.
"Hm, I really should," Jo replies. "Except..." Jo begins.
"Except people don't know about me?" Annabelle asks.
"Hm.. Yep," Jo replies casually.
"Sometimes when I'm scared I get lots of cuddles. So I'm going to give you lots of cuddles," Annabelle states. Annabelle then grips her arms around Jo's legs and Jo bends down to embrace the hug,
"Sometimes I forget that you're only four," Jo laughs. She picks Annabelle up and holds her on her right hip and tickles Annabelle under her arms, causing her to giggle.
"I know. I'm wise beyond my years," Annabelle states casually.
"Alright, let's go," Jo smiles and she walks into the entrance of the hospital.
"Jo?" Jo hears a voice say. Jo stops in her tracks and turns around and looks around the quite entrance hall of the hospital to find the owner. She spots Leah in the corner of her eye.
"Leah?! What the..." Jo stops herself as she looks down at Annabelle, "What are you doing here?" Jo asks nervously.
"I know what you were going to say. And it was going to be inappropriate for little ears, so thank you for not saying it," Annabelle says.
Jo thinks back to the last conversation she had with Steph while in Sacramento. "Actually Steph did briefly mention you," Jo says.
Leah looks over to the child Jo was holding in her arms, "Who does the kid belong to?" Leah asks.
"I asked you first," Jo says back.
"I was rehired last week," Leah states blankly.
"But how? You were fired," Jo replies puzzled.
"I got into the program at Foster and I worked harder then I've ever worked before and I became the best," Leah says. "Now, the kid looks about four years old, maybe five, but you didn't have a kid when I left and I've heard nothing about you gaining one, so she can't be yours. So, who does she belong too?" Leah asks as she tries to figure it out.
"No, she's mine," Jo replies.
"How? It doesn't make sense. I haven't heard anything about you and Karev adopting while you were still together, and she's too old... You couldn't have had her," Leah states.
"She's mine from my previous marriage," Jo states.
"It's a very complicated story," Annabelle states.
"She's right. It's a long story. But I need to go up and see Webber," Jo says before leaving.
"Previous marriage? When where you married?" Leah calls out as Jo walks away.
Scene break
Jo stands in front of Dr Webber's office holding Annabelle's hand. They had managed to make their way up to the forth floor of the hospital without being caught by anybody else, especially Meredith. She was Alex's best friend, so she couldn't rule her out of knowing what was going on, but she couldn't rule out the possibility that she didn't know anything at all.
"Mummy, if you want to go in you need to knock at the door," Annabelle states.
Jo looks down at her daughter, "mummy's just thinking," Jo replies with a small smile.
"Again? How much thinking can you do? You thought about it out loud all the way here," Annabelle replies annoyed.
"I know baby girl. It's just sometimes adults need to think about something a lot before it gets done," Jo replies.
"You don't need to explain grown ups to me, I already know how they work," Annabelle states.
"I'm not so sure you're four years old," Jo laughs.
"Oh, I am. You can check my birthdate on my birth certificate," Annabelle replies assertively. Jo looks down at her with a grin, "oh, that was sarcastic, right," Annabelle says while nodding her head.
"Yeah," Jo laughs, "I still remember the day you were born kiddo. I was in labour for 74 hours before the doctors had to do a surgery called a Caesarean section. You were not coming out on your own and so the doctors had to help you out," Jo replies.
"Well then, I need to say thank you. Where are they?" Annabelle asks curiously.
"Well, you were born down at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. It's a long way away," Jo replies.
"That's a shame. I would of liked to of met the people who helped me," Annabelle shrugs.
"I'm going in kid, wish me luck," Jo says.
"Good luck mummy. But, it's just knocking," Annabelle says. Jo knocks on the door and within a few seconds Webber opens the door.
"Wilson, Hi," he says. He looks down and sees Annabelle, "and who is this little one?" Webber asks curiously.
"I'm not little, I'm four," Annabelle says offended.
"Can we come in please? I need to talk," Jo replies seriously.
"Um.. Yes," Webber replies. He leads them into his office. He shuts the door behind them and directs them over to the lounge.
"Do you want me to find you something to watch?" Jo asks Annabelle as she pulls her phone out of her pocket.
"That's okay. I know how to work it. I'll watch 'cat in the hat knows a lot about that' it's very educational," Annabelle states.
"Okay, why don't you head over there," Jo tells Annabelle as she points to the single lounge chair near Webber's desk.
"Okay," Annabelle smiles. She takes the phone from Jo and heads over to the chair.
"Dr Wilson, what's going on?" Webber asks concerned.
"Annabelle is my daughter. My Ex ran off with her when she was a baby and I've been trying to find her. And then I did, so the past couple of weeks I've been in California in a custody battle trying to get her back. I've got temporary sole legal and physical custody of her while a domestic violence case is being made against him," Jo states.
Jo breaths in and out while waiting for a response from Webber.
"Thank you for letting me know. Is there anything you need?" He asks.
"I'm ready to return to work. I know I'm a forth your resident, but is there anyway that my hours can be reduced? I'm not exactly used to this parent thing yet," Jo asks curiously.
"I think I can do something. Now, your family, are they supporting you?" Webber asks.
"I don't have any family, I was raised in the foster care system. I don't exactly have anyone to fall back on to. The closet person I have to me is my teacher Mrs Schmidt.. And she's in Baltimore," Jo says.
"I'm sorry to hear that Jo. But this entire hospital is your family, you know that right?" Webber asks.
"I know. I was talking about outside of this hospital," Jo replies.
"Okay.. Good. I'll get you back on the surgical rotation tomorrow and I'll see what I can do about regulating your hours. I'll also add to your staff record that you have 1 dependent living with you," Webber replies.
"Thank you Sir," Jo replies smiling.
That whole conversation had been a lot easier then she expected. She expected a lot more questions from Webber, but she gushed that as the Chief he wasn't allowed to ask such personal questions about her life.