Two weeks later….
It was a cold night. The wind hit Owen in the face when he zipped up his jacket outside the hospital. The man breathed out, leaving a trail of his foggy breath in front of his face. Finally the weekend, Owen headed back to his flat where fresh food he acquired a few days ago waited for him in his fridge.
The redhead concocted a simple dish of grilled salmon and vegetables. He sat in front of his laptop on his sofa. Owen fixed his collar before logging on his Skype account. Fridays nights are when he chats with Cristina. The famous video call notification startled him.
On the other end, Cristina had just gotten ready to get to work. Because she was running her own institute with the help of Shane.
"Good morning," said Owen to the screen.
"Hey." she smiled.
Owen has missed that glowing smile. He did not regret letting the love of his life go even if it made him miserable being without her. Seeing her so happy makes his bad days go away for a little while.
"Got any new interesting patients?" he asked.
"So many of them, I'm glad I have help around here!"
"Sounds great!" he laughed.
Amelia shut the heavy metal door from the firehouse. The woman hear laughs as she walked up the stairs. She had forgotten that it was his roommate's usual Friday Skype calls. Amelia made her silently to the top where she found Owen telling Cristina bad jokes and did not notice her presence yet. She quickly walked next to him and greeted the other surgeon.
"Hello, Yang."
"Hello, Shepherd," Cristina grinned.
She left them alone after exchanging a few words with the famous doctor. Amelia was glad to see Owen so glow-y from time to time.
"So anyway, I've heard that I'm not your only Friday Skype date."
"What are you, jealous?" she laughed. "It's just Meredith."
"So did she tell you that she wanted to use you to make me not give Derek his job back?"
"Oh yeah," she answered as she finished her breakfast.
Richard parked his car in front of a tall and intimidating looking apartment building. The only thing illuminating the sidewalk were the street lamps. Heels clicked on the end of the dark road. Catherine Avery made her way to the main entrance and noticed the tall man.
"Catherine."
"Oh. Richard… How you've been" she greeted.
"Pretty good, pretty good. Um baby shower?"
"Yeah we should get up there, we're both fashionably late."
They stood awkwardly in the elevator with gift bags in their hand.
"So they want to name their child after you."
"Right. Um I'm really honoured."
"They chose wisely."
The elevator ding interrupted their conversation. Her hands ran over a few creases on her dress. The duo walked to the apartment door.
"Can't believe I'm turning into a grandma…"
April sobbed alone in a room that should have been filled with family members bursting with joy. Blue balloons scattered the room and an extravagant "it's a boy" sign hung in the center of it all. She couldn't believe her sisters didn't come nor her mother. After a quick 10 minute phone call they told her they though this would everything more difficult. She scoffed thinking it over. Difficult? For who? The odds of her family even meeting her son were slim. She knew this would be the only opportunity they had and they were missing it. Jackson tapped on the door lightly, causing April to look up, her eyes bloodshot and tears streaming down her face.
"They didn't come." She cried.
Jackson rushed over to comfort his wife. He held her as she continued to cry softly. He gently stroked her back, trying his best to sooth her. He looked up as Callie entered the room with a small gift bag in hand.
"Is this a bad time I can come back." Callie spoke.
"No, it's fine. This is a party! Everyone's welcome." April looked up and said as cheerfully as she could.
Callie walked over and placed her gift on the empty table. Arizona walked in the room not long after.. Meredith soon followed, Amelia trailing behind her. They all placed gift bags on the table and grabbed some food that had been sitting out.
"Are you going to open them? It's your shower!" Arizona said in her perky voice.
"You want me to open them?" April asked, shyly. Before anyone could answer Jackson got up and handed her Callie's bag.
April opened the gift. In it was a small frame with it's a boy written on the bottom. A perfect frame for her sonogram.
"It's from me and Arizona. I know it's nothing much but when I was pregnant with Sofia the first time I saw the ultrasound was so amazing. It's something that should be remembered." Callie said.
Jackson grabbed Meredith's next, not giving April a chance to respond to Callie. Inside was another frame, different than Callie's. The picture inside the frame was a small set of hand prints and footprints.
"We never did one when we adopted Zola but this is the first thing we did when Bailey was born, I don't think he was a day old. I wanted to remember how tiny he," Meredith smiled.
"Mine next!" Amelia jumped and grabbed hers, handing it to Jackson.
"Sorry Mom, Dad needs stuff too." Amelia smiled.
Jackson opened the gift and found 5 cigars.
"I don't know if you'll even smoke them but it's this weird tradition thing and I thought -" Amelia began.
"These are really great actually. Thanks." Jackson replied.
"I hope we aren't late." Richard smiled in the doorway, Catherine standing beside him.
"No please, come in." April said.
"Avery, can I see you in the hall?" Richard asked.
Jackson kissed April on the cheek before meeting the doctor in the hallway.
"I wasn't sure what to get you so, here." Webber said, handing Jackson an old keychain, the name "Richard" inscribed. "My father gave this to me the day I was born, I was named after his father. I never had children of my own Avery, but if I had a son I think he would have turned out a lot like you. I am honored to be your sons namesake."
"Thank you, Richard." Jackson said, tears filling his eyes as he grabbed the keychain and stuck it in his pocket.
"Now get back in there." Richard told him.
"Okay, now you can open my present." Catherine smiled as her son walked back into the room.
April opened the present with Jackson by her side.
"I'll Love You Forever." Jackson said, looking at the old book in April's hand.
"It was your favorite when you were a baby. Same one I used to read to you."
"Thanks Mom." Jackson hugged his mother tightly.
"Thank you all so much." April said, tears once again forming her in eyes although they were not tears of sadness but of joy.
The buzz of the hospital lights creeped the room. Arizona had an appointment for her leg fitting. She was pumped about it since she had not been able to be at work for a few weeks. The blonde could not be more thankful to Callie who was there to help her 24/7: from bringing her notes from Herman to stay with her during her appointments.
Her grip was firm on the rehabilitation ramps. Her knuckles were white.
"Relax, Ari. You can do this. You've done it before, you can do it again," Callie encouraged.
Her shoulders untensed. She took a few steady steps. Suddenly, the blonde lost her balance and tripped forward. Fortunately, the Latina was there to catch her fall. Arizona cringed.
"I hate it. All of them. None of then are as good as my old one! Even then, the other one was not better. It itches, it pinches my thigh…"
"Tell me what you want Arizona and I will get it for you."
"I need one that is comfortable that does not mess me up or complicated….It's been weeks and weeks, Calliope. I just want to get a goddamn new leg and get back to work!"
"You will soon alright. Now come on, maybe try one last time?"
"I just want to go home.
Callie sighed. "Alright. Come on."
She helped her on her wheelchair and pushed the blue-eyed doctor towards the exit.
The idea struck her like a lightening bolt striking a kite. She can make Arizona's leg. After all, she is a orthopaedic surgeon. Callie kept quiet and drove her to the house.
"Think you can manage with this temporary prosthetic that they gave you?"
"Mm," said Arizona, looking out the window.
"Hey…" Callie continued. "You'll be back on the job soon, okay?"
"Hopefully, I can find the perfect leg as soon as possible."
"The perfect leg? Sounds like you are looking for a soulmate," she laughed.
"Already found mine a few years ago," Arizona turned towards the driver.
Meredith walked into her and Derek's bedroom while he showered in their bathroom, grabbing some things to take into their guest bedroom. Derek's phone rang on their dresser. Meredith ignored it until it rang once again. She pounded on the bathroom door.
"Derek your phone!" She yelled.
"You answer it I'm in the shower!" He called back.
Meredith walked over and answered the phone, now ringing for the third time.
"Hello?" Meredith said.
"Is this Derek Shepherd's phone?" A female voice on the other line asked.
"Yes, this is his wife? Who's calling?" Meredith questioned.
"Oh, hello Dr. Grey, this is Olivia calling on behalf of the President. I was just wondering when Dr. Shepherd will be returning. He took a personal leave of absence two weeks ago so I was told to call and check in." Olivia told her.
"Personal leave?"
"Yes, did he not inform you?"
"No, he did." Meredith said, playing it cool. "He said he'll be returning soon, a day or so. I'll tell him you called so he can tell you, I'd rather not piss off the President."
"Thank you Dr. Grey." Olivia replied cheerfully, disconnecting the call as Derek walked into the room.
"Who was it?" Derek asked, getting into his pajamas.
"Olivia. From DC. Phoning on behalf of the President."
"Shit." Derek muttered to himself.
"Personal leave of absence?" Meredith questioned.
"I was going to resign after I got my job back but apparently that's not an option anymore."
"Derek, you have a contract with the President, don't piss him off by quitting!"
"I don't care about the damn President Meredith I care about you! About our family! I want to be here I don't understand why you're so against it." Derek yelled.
"I am not against it Derek but you made a commitment you need to follow through. We need to be able to tell our kids that they need to see things through. Do you know how hard it will be to tell them to follow through on things if their dad decided he didn't really feel like working for the President anymore? You aren't there for the rest of your life Derek. If you hate it that much just finish the trial. Follow it through." Meredith said.
"Fine. I'll finish the trial but then I'm coming home." Derek stated firmly.
"Better phone Olivia back, don't want to keep the President waiting."
Alex's stood at the nurses station, finishing his post-ops, ready to head home and sleep through his day off. A group of interns stood near him, talking about the most recent gossip. Normally Alex paid no attention to them but his ears perked up at the sound of Izzie's name.
"You know she had cancer?" One said.
"I heard it's back, I mean, why else would she be leaving the cancer ward in tears?" Another added.
"That's bullshit." The first replied.
"I saw her there maybe 10 minutes ago. It's a shame, she's one of the only attendings that's nice to us."
Alex rushed his last post-op, desperate to find Izzie.
He zoomed around the hospital looking for his former wife. What if the cancer was back? What if it was worse than before? He couldn't do it, not again. Alex couldn't understand why he was so concerned, they weren't together anymore. It made no sense to him why he thought about going through it again, but he did.
After what seemed like hours but had only been a number of minutes of searching, Alex retired to the closest on-call room he could find. He slammed the door closed and held back tears beginning to form in his eyes. Izzie couldn't get cancer again, she couldn't.
"Rough day?" Her voice greeted his back as he faced the door. He whipped around at the sound of her voice.
"Iz?"
"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.
"I overheard the interns, they said they saw you crying coming from the caner ward. The cancer's back, isn't it?"
"Alex, I was crying because I'm out of remission. I'm clear it's been over 5 years. I was crying because that was my last appointment." Izzie beamed as she told him the news.
"You don't have cancer?"
"No, I don't have cancer."
"Good." Alex said.
He rushed over to her, kissing her passionately. Alex was still in love with Izzie Stevens.
A/N: 10 chapters wow! Thank you all for your faves/follows/reviews. We're glad you all enjoy reading this as much as we enjoy writing it!