FIVE AND A HALF YEARS LATER
Ellie hadn't seen or spoken to Ryan since she had driven away from him in the parking lot. She was a third year Neuro resident at Mercy West, where she had worked since moving back to Seattle after her internship in New York. Ellie had had the baby, a boy. She had named him Christopher Shepherd Henderson, and he was almost five.
Ryan had no idea that he had a son. He was a cardio Attending at Seattle Grace, where Derek, Addison, Mark and Meredith all still worked. He knew Ellie was back in Seattle, as a patient had been transferred to his care a few months ago and her signature had been on the paper work. Ryan had recently got engaged to an intern called Mandy.
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Ryan was up on the roof with a group of interns. They were expecting an emergency patient from Mercy West who had had an aneurysm in his brain that could burst at any minute and he had just suffered a heart attack and needed a triple heart bypass.
"Oh my god," whispered Ryan to himself. The helicopter had just landed, he knew even before she got out that it was Ellie. She was the surgeon operating on the aneurysm while he repaired the heart. This would not be fun.
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"Well, well, well… I had to come and see if it was true," said Mark.
Ellie and Ryan had just come out of surgery. The patient had survived, and they had managed to avoid eye contact with each other, they only spoke about the patient's progress.
"If what was true?" said Ellie, rolling her eyes.
"If the infamous Ellie Shepherd was really operating in one of my ORs," smirked Mark.
"Oh aren't you funny?" said Ellie dully.
"Now, now no need to be touchy," laughed Mark. "How is the patient?"
"Alive, barely," said Ellie.
"How is the heart looking?" Mark asked Ryan.
"The bypass went smoothly, Chief, he should be on his feet in a few weeks," said Ryan, concentrating really hard on scrubbing his hands.
"Good… I should be going I have a surgery," said Mark, sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Are you sticking around?"
"I'll be here for a few hours," said Ellie. "I want to monitor the patient and keep an eye on the bleeding."
"A few hours? Did I mention I had a Neuro resident go wacko, he has his own room down in psych?" said Mark.
"Yes, you mentioned it a few hundred times and I'm still not interested," said Ellie.
"Why not? Mercy West is a dump, they barely have a functioning x-ray machine. Just think about it, okay?"
"Fine, I'll think about it," said Ellie. Mark left the room, leaving Ellie and Ryan alone.
She wasn't going to take the position. She had to think about Chris, although Seattle Grace was closer to their house and his new school. If she did take the position, Ryan would have some awkward questions about Chris and that was something she really didn't want to think about. She had never planned to keep Chris a secret from Ryan, but when it came to calling Ryan when she decided to keep him she couldn't do it. She tried again once he was born, but when she called Ryan's cell phone a woman picked up and she chickened out again. So now it was five years later and Ryan had no clue. Chris never really asked questions about his Dad, Ellie had told him that his Dad loved him but lived far away.
Should she tell him now? Just blurt it out and get it over with?
"Ryan…" she started.
"I'm engaged," Ryan blurted out, cutting off what Ellie was about to say.
"Oh…" said Ellie, obviously thrown. "Congratulations."
"Thanks… uh how are you?" he said awkwardly.
"I'm good, and you?"
"Great… no ring," he said pointing to her hand, as soon as he said he wanted to kick himself.
"No, no ring. I'm still just not the marrying kind," joked Ellie.
"Right uh… I gotta go."
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"How would you feel about me murdering that group of giggling interns?" Ellie asked Mark later that day. She was at the nursing station updating her patients chart and could feel everyone's eyes on her, and hear them whispering about her.
"Don't! I'm already short staffed as it is," said Mark. "Of course it would really take a load off my mind if I had a competent Neuro resident to look after a few unruly interns…"
"Could I torture them into shutting their traps for good, and claw their eyes out?" said Ellie viciously.
"You could do anything you want."
"Noted."
"Come on, Ellie… so what if Henderson is here? By the way, did you tell him about Chris?"
"It didn't come up," snapped Ellie.
"I'm sure you could have worked it into the conversation."
"I'm sure I could have."
"You should have told him five years ago," said Mark. He had never agreed with Ellie's decision not to tell Ryan.
"I know, I meant to but now too much time has passed. He's getting married, he'll get the perfect little life I could never give him."
"It still isn't right."
"Chris is fine, he doesn't need a father."
"All little boys need their father."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," said Ellie firmly.
"Guess which one he's marrying," said Mark, nodding towards the group of interns.
"I don't know, the blonde," said Ellie, rolling her eyes.
"Wrong, the one with black hair. Look familiar to you?" said Mark.
He was right, there was an enormous physical resemblance between Ellie and Mandy.
"No," snapped Ellie, snapping the chart shut.
"You going to take the job?"
"No."
"An extra fifty grand a year," Mark called. He knew how much Mercy West paid their residents and it wasn't as much as Seattle Grace.
"I'll see you first thing tomorrow."