AN: No, Joey is not based on me. If that's what "Mary Sue" fic means then this is definitely not that. Lol. Joey is actually based on my idea of how Arizona might be had she been in the military like her father and brother. Also, I think it's funny that I'm being called "whiny" and a "crybaby" when 1. I haven't whined or cried about anything and 2. the comments are littered with people literally whining because I won't untag Callie from my story. Anyway, here's more chapters. As always, please keep your comments respectful and constructive (although, from the comments, it seems a futile request. lol). Peace, blessings and hope for an awesome day to everyone!
Chapter 5: Welcome to Grey Sloan
Joey woke up in the afternoon on Friday and lounged around her apartment for most of the day. Around five in the evening, she went out for a jog. She ordered in for dinner and watched tv in her living room then called her mother and her sister. When she got off the phone, she watched more tv then went to bed. Saturday morning, she got up and went out for a jog first thing. She'd taken a different route every day since she moved into her apartment, figuring it was a good way for her to learn the neighborhood. She returned to her apartment, showered, got dressed, made herself breakfast then went into her living room. It was the only room in her apartment that was clean and put together. Her parents had ordered her furniture and had it shipped to her. There was a blue couch and love seat, a black center table and end table, lamps and blue grey and white patterned curtains. She didn't even have to ask. It was her first time not living in military housing since medical school and the first time she was living in civilian housing without roommates. They wanted to get her a nice housewarming gift. So, naturally, they furnished her entire living room. She couldn't complain. It was one less thing for her to worry about. The only thing she had to buy was the tv that was now mounted on her wall and the desk she would use for any work she brought home. Her bedroom and kitchen, though, were still cluttered with boxes, waiting to be unpacked. She sat down at her desk and checked her email then pulled up google, typing in "Arizona + fetal surgeon + Seattle". She was about to press enter but pressed the backspace button instead. She shut her laptop and took her plate to the kitchen then grabbed her phone and put on music. It linked to the Bluetooth speaker in her living room and started playing music through the apartment as she went to her room to finally start unpacking.
She'd already been to the store to buy hangers and dividers for her drawers. She liked everything to be neat and organized, inspection ready. She hung her combat uniforms first then her dress uniforms which she put in plastic protection bags and zipped them up. Then she hung all her civilian clothes. She opened the storage shelves she'd bought for her shoes and put them together. Luckily, there was enough space to for them to fit in her closet and they wouldn't have to take up room along the bedroom wall. Next, she went over to her dresser and put in the dividers before placing her PT shirts and shorts, uniform t shirts, civilian t shirts, tanks and joggers, pajama shirts and pants, underwear, bras, sports bras and socks in their respective drawers. She put up her curtains then unpacked her toiletries and put them in her bathroom. Next, she put up the posters her sister gave her. The canvases she gave her would go in the living room. She always told her that she needed more color in her life. Joey told her she didn't need anything more colorful than her. Still, she promised her she would put her art up on the walls so, as always, she was keeping her promise. She took them into the living room and put up the canvases on nails that were already in the walls. She unpacked her lock box next. She opened it, inspected her weapon, secured it back inside the lock box then put it in the nightstand drawer next to where her bed would go once it arrived. So far, she'd been sleeping on the floor in her sleeping bag. The next box she unpacked had her towels. Another had her sheets and blankets. Another had quilts and comforters. She stocked them all on the shelves in her hallway closet. The box marked miscellaneous contained her blow dryer, straightening iron, hair products, cleaning products and small trinkets she'd collected from various places. She unpacked it and its contents also went in the hall closet.
Finally, she went to the kitchen to unpack all of her dishes and appliances. She was glad that she was a simple person with small but cozy apartment. It was just perfect for her. Her parents wanted her to get a bigger place but she knew what would happen if she had extra bedrooms. They would feel free to pop in and make themselves comfortable and she'd never be able to get rid of them. She loved her family but she grew up crowded by them. Now she needed her personal space. She was putting away the last of her dishes when her music stopped and her cellphone started to ring. She went over to the living room and grabbed it from the table.
"Hello" she answered. "Yes, hi. Really?" she said excitedly. "N-no, that's, that would be great" she said pleased with the news she was getting. "Yes" she said acknowledging the instructions she was being given. "I understand. Thank you. Thank you very much. See you Monday". She hung up the phone and returned it to the table. It reconnected to the speaker and resumed playing her music. She could've jumped for joy if she were the type of person to jump for joy. It was the chief of surgery from her first choice hospital. She'd interviewed with her and the department head earlier that week and was waiting for a call about whether she had gotten the job. She was officially offering her a position as an attending trauma surgeon. She would be starting work on Monday morning. It was her first time interviewing for civilian jobs and the chief of surgery at a first rate hospital found her and her resume impressive enough to bring her on to her staff. She thought of Arizona and what she'd told her about remaining positive. It wasn't like her to put all her eggs in one basket, to not have a contingency plan in place. This time it paid off. She wanted to call her and tell her that staying positive had worked out in her favor. Again, she thought about looking her up like she said she would. She called her parents instead and told them the good news. They were very proud of her and, over her objections, promised to send her a gift. She talked to them for an hour, arguing about when they could come to Seattle for a visit. They wanted to come the next weekend but Joey didn't think it was a good idea. It would be her first week of work and she didn't know how much free time she would have. She finally told them to give her some time to get more settled in. Once she was in a solid routine, she'd be better able to give them a date to visit. They said their goodbyes then she went back to the kitchen to finish unpacking the last of her boxes.
She decided she would go out to celebrate on her own. She went and freshened up, changed her clothes and went out to have a drink. She met an attractive brunette and she chatted with her at the bar. They had several drinks then left together and went back to her place where they had several more drinks before making their way to the bedroom. By now, she couldn't even remember the woman's name but it didn't matter. She didn't plan on ever seeing her again. She waited until her companion was asleep to quietly get out of the bed, get dressed and head home. She took a shower and climbed into bed to sleep off her celebratory night. The next day, she woke up with a splitting headache. She made herself a smoothie for breakfast and took two ibuprofens before going to the lounge in her living room on the couch. She drank her smoothie, watched a movie and texted back and forth with her sister, telling her about her celebratory hookup. She asked her when she'd stop being such a slut and settle down. Joey laughed as she texted back that she was single and entitled to a sex life. She was in no rush to settle down. Her brothers had all texted her as well, congratulating her on the new job. Her parents had wasted no time spreading the good news. She spent most of the day on the couch before forcing herself to get up and go for a run. Not wanting to exert the effort of thinking up a new route, she repeated one for the first time since she'd moved there. It was a short run; less than an hour from start to finish. Once she got home, she showered and ordered in again for dinner, noting that she needed to make a trip to the grocery store. She ate in front of the tv then cleaned up and went to bed by ten. She wanted to be well rested for her first day at work.
Her alarm went off the next morning at five. She got up and went out for a run, making it back to her apartment by six thirty. She showered, brushed her teeth, washed her face and got dressed then went down to the kitchen. She opened her fridge to see what she could make herself for breakfast. There were grapes, a pack of strawberry banana yogurts, and a jar of peaches. "I really need to go to the store" she said to herself before grabbing a yogurt and shutting the refrigerator door. She opened it, grabbed a spoon from the drawer and took a mouthful as she walked over to the living room and grabbed her gym bag from the floor next to her desk. She tossed a memo book and a notepad inside and put her wallet and a few pens in the side pocket before heading back to the kitchen, eating yogurt as she walked. There was one pack of Gatorade left on top of the frig. She grabbed a bottle and put it in the bag as well. "Really…. need to go to the store" she said again. She opened the cabinet and took down one of her reusable water bottles. While searching for the matching lid in the drawer, she filled the bottle with water. Once she found the lid, she screwed it on the bottle while looking around the kitchen, over to the living room. She couldn't think of anything else she needed to take with her. Maybe she was overthinking and she didn't really need anything. It was her first day after all. She ran back upstairs and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Then she realized that she would need shoes for the OR and maybe a change of clothes. She went in the closet and grabbed her tennis shoes then went to her drawer and pulled out a pair of pants and a t shirt. It was now ten minutes after seven. She grabbed her jacket and put it on then went back downstairs, put her shoes and change of clothes in her gym bag and finished her yogurt. After putting her bag on her shoulder, she grabbed her water bottle then headed out the door. She made it all the way to her car before she realized she didn't have her keys. With an eye roll at herself, she went back inside and grabbed them from the table just inside the door, then shut and locked the door behind her and made the trip to work.
She walked through the doors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and took in the view. There wasn't a military uniform in sight. It would take some getting used to but she figured that was the smallest adjustment she'd have to worry about making. Everyone moved so gracefully. This pair having a conversation as they walked one way. That person reading as they walked the other. No one seemed in too much of a hurry. That would definitely take some getting used to. Everyone in a military hospital moved like they had somewhere important to be, even if they didn't. "Walk with a purpose" they'd always say. She made her way to the elevator and found her way to personnel to get her orientation packet and her new badge. With those in hand, she found a hospital map on the wall and looked for the way to the ER. Back to the elevator she went. Then up one floor, down the hall, around one corner; down another hall, another corner and heaven. It was the busiest ER she had seen in a long time. The setup was top notch. She quickly identified and counted the examination beds, twelve in all. Then the trauma rooms. Three. She looked across the room and saw through a sliding glass door a big x ray machine. Lodox. She'd never seen one up close let alone had the opportunity to use one. She looked over at the digital board. She watched for a minute and it updated before her eyes. Heaven. She saw Dr. Altman at the nurses' station and made her way over, through the hustle and bustle, to speak to her.
"Dr. Altman" she said getting her attention. "Hi" she said with a smile.
"Hi" Teddy said back with a slightly confused looked on her face.
"Johanna Rajah. You interviewed me last week" she reminded her.
"Oh! Yes, of course" she said as it dawned on her who she was. "Dr. Rajah. I-I-I remember" she stammered. "I'm sorry, it's been a crazy morning and we're just getting started".
"Yeah, I can see that. It looks great" she said receiving a sideways glance from her department head. "I mean… busy. It looks busy" she awkwardly corrected.
"This is Dr. Owen Hunt" she said pointing to her companion. "He's another of our trauma surgeons here. Owen was also in the army. We served together" she said proudly. "Dr. Rajah is a major in the reserves. She just transferred to the medical unit at Fort Lewis"
"Owen" he said extending his hand. "Welcome to Grey Sloan".
"Johanna" she said taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Thank you. Really glad to be here".
"Dr. Altman" they heard from the other side of the desk. It was a doctor in light blue scrubs. Drs. Altman and Hunt wore dark blue scrubs. Some others wore green. She figured the colors were a part of a ranking system, though she hadn't been told what it was yet. "We have incoming" he said still holding the phone to his ear. "Some kind of ceiling collapse. We're getting… twelve of the victims. Four major, eight minor" he said giving her the info as he got it. "They're ten minutes out".
"Ok everybody, let's set up for incoming" she announced through the ER. "Move our ambulatory patients to wheelchairs. If you have someone being admitted, get them upstairs ASAP. We need clear beds. Stock the trauma rooms for critical care. Make sure we've got enough O neg on hand. Page Drs. Grey, Webber, neuro, cardio, ortho and any free residents and interns. We're gonna need all hands". Everyone started moving, carrying out the orders she'd given them. "Ready to hit the ground running?" Dr. Altman asked her as walked backwards, taking short glances behind her to watch her step.
"Absolutely" she said excitedly. She took her bag off her shoulder and set it on the desk then took off her jacket and the red and black flannel button down shirt she was wearing, leaving her wearing a black t shirt. She tossed them on top of her gym bag then followed Dr. Altman to get ready for their incoming traumas.