A/N: Thanks Everyone for all your support! Please enjoy this next installment!
Callie sat on a stool in the orthopedic lab, glaring at an X-Ray as she tinkered with the bone model in front of her, she had to get the sizes just right...
"Hey," Mark's familiar timbre greeted her through the doorway of the lab.
"Hey," she replied, though she was still focused on the model. What was Mark doing here? wasn't he supposed to be at his practice?
"I'm just letting you know I'm taking Sofia to the park." He said, answering half of her questions.
"Oh. Okay," she said, glancing up at him. He seemed tired, light bags under his eyes. And his cheeks and jaw were lined with a five o'clock shadow. He hadn't shaved. Which for Mark was...weird. He seemed... sad. She wasn't going to let him leave just yet. "What's going on?" she asked, "did Lexie break up with you?" Blunt and to the point.
Her best friend took a couple more steps into the room "Uhh... " he said, sounding uncertain. Mark exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his short hair. "I don't know Callie, she needs space or something. She's going to DC."
"Well I get that she's pissed at you," Callie picked up one of her hammers. While she wasn't very close to Lexie, she understood her feelings. Mark cheated on her. "I have half a mind to throw this at you, you know."
"Please do, I deserve it." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black sports jacket mopey-like. "It's like we're playing a friggin game of snakes and ladders. We go up a ladder, think we're getting somewhere, and then... we slide down the snake and we're farther back then we were before... It's so-"
"Stupid? Pointless? Repetitive?"
"What do I do?" he asked.
Callie arched an eyebrow. He was asking her for advice? Really? This was bad. "What did she say exactly?"
"I'm supposed to wait for her and stop being an ISCT, an immature sex crazed teenager."
"Oh no..." Callie started, her relationship gears started turning as she flipped the situation over in her mind.
"Well maybe I am... a little-" Mark interjected.
"Not that," Callie said. "She told you to wait for her?"
"Yeah, why?" Mark touched his lip with his forefinger in confusion.
Callie wanted to throttle Lexie. Seriously? She was pulling the 'I need to find myself' trick again? "Mark," Callie sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "You don't really have time to wait for her. It's time to stop playing snakes and ladders and take a spin on the freakin game of life!"
Mark's head snapped up, and he looked at her, stunned.
"Look, you were gonna move your practice to D.C right?"
"Yeah."
"So you're not an ISCT. You're willing to sacrifice and..." She paused, thinking about her and Arizona's earlier discussion, about babies, about happiness and waffles and another kid. She swallowed. This is what love was. People made sacrifices, compromises. They encouraged each other. They were there for each other. Even when they messed up and did screwy things. They didn't run. Or hide, or make things difficult on purpose. "You should go to DC," she blurted.
"What?"
She gave herself a second to actually consider what she just said. Lexie was trying to be mature about this but... "Give her space, but not too much space, Mark. Otherwise, she'll fly away on you."
Mark frowned. "I don't quite get it."
"Go to DC. Rent your own place... and just be around."
"Oh."
"But don't stalk. Stalking is bad."
He nodded, a glimmer of comprehension dawning on his face. "Right. Thanks."
Callie smiled her usual brilliant, 'I'm glad I helped' smile. Then she remembered something else she needed to tell him. "Oh and Mark, you might be an uncle soon."
"What?" He looked shocked and confused, "You're...?"
"Arizona and I are looking to adopt," Callie said quickly before he could jump to conclusions.
Mark grinned the proud uncle grin. "I... that's great. Sofia will love a brother or sister. Shucks, Cal, I'm happy for you."
Callie returned his smile with her own, her heart spiking at the feeling of inviting someone else in her life to love... and that she was pushing Mark forward to his own happiness. "Have fun at the park," she said.
xxx
April adjusted her gown as she shifted on the examination table. Unconsciously, she took Jackson's hand in hers, squeezing hard with nervousness. Jackson responded by rubbing his thumb in small circles on the her knuckles. Arizona spread the cool ultrasound gel over her slightly rounded belly, as she clicked the ultrasound machine on.
"Let's take a look here," Arizona said, the wand sliding easily over her bare belly.
April looked at Jackson in reverent awe. Meredith's comments today had really thrown her and she felt horrible. But what they had was precious, and Meredith reminded her that it could all be taken away in an instant. She couldn't take this for anxiously watched the monitor together.
"There's the head," Arizona pointed at the larger part of the blob that was now forming on the screen.
"Aww... April said, tilting to gaze at Jackson, "It's got your head."
"My head?" He snorted, "My head's not that big..."
Arizona rolled her eyes. "Guys, really?"
They paused for a moment as Arizona shifted the wand around again, "Okay, there's the heartbeat..."
They listened to the woosh woosh woosh of the ultrasound heartbeat and smiled. April squeezed Jackson's hand again. A heartbeat. Her baby was officially something more than a collection of cells in her womb, mulitplying, Her baby had a heart, it was growing everyday, it was alive... Arizona seemed a little concerned, however. She squinted at the readings on the monitor.
"What is it?" April asked, noticing the slight downward turn of Arizona's usual happy smile, "What's wrong?"
She sighed. "Well, the baby's heartbeat is just a little higher than I'd like to see, but it's not unusual." Her tone was purposely chipper, as if she was trying to be reassuring
"What does that mean?" Jackson asked. April could see the slight intensity in his eyes. He stopped the comforting circles he'd been making. You don't lie to an Avery. Especially about this. She looked back at Arizona, and then at the screen again, forcing herself to remain calm.
Fortunately, Arizona seemed to relax, "It's probably nothing. The chance that it is something is one percent. At this point in the pregnancy, the baby's heart is still developing, so this is not unusual."
"So... nothing to worry about."
"I'm not concerned April, just avoid caffeine and limit your sugar and you should be fine." Arizona smiled.
"You're sure?" Jackson asked, although it was more like him telling her to be sure.
"Yes," Arizona said confidently.
"Okay," Jackson turned back to look at April. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, reassuring her too.
"Otherwise, we are all good here." Arizona continued. She pressed a button on the ultrasound machine to print out a picture. "The fetus is healthy and developing at the right rate. Still can't tell the sex just yet, but we should on your next ultrasound." She wiped the jelly off with a sanitary wipe and tossed it into the bin.
"Okay..." Elation filled April. Everything was fine, just fine.
Arizona snapped her gloves off and smiled, causing the skin at the corner of her eyes to crinkle slightly. "I'm all done here, I'll leave you two.." she said as she exited the room.
Jackson bent down, his lips meeting hers and pressed before pulling lightly on her bottom lip. "No more coffee," he hummed.
"No more coffee," she murmured, taking his hand and pulling it to her swelled abdomen. But even as she said it, she cupped his jaw, pulling him closer to her, and she kissed him, deep and passionate and full of gratefullness.
xxx
Amelia spun in her chair in the CT room while she waited for her patient to finish with the scan. Twisting one way, than another, she waited. This was the boring part. Waiting. At least she had coffee though. She took a small sip of the bitter brew and faced the monitor again. She jerked up when she heard tapping on the door. Webber.
"How are you doing?" the older surgeon asked, giving her a fatherly gaze.
Amelia was tired of hearing that. Eveybody asked her that. Especially yesterday. She sighed and gripped her coffee, taking another sip with a shrug. "How are you doing?"
Richard squinted, reading her deflection, "Oh fine," he said.
She didn't quite believe him. He'd been a bot of a wreck last night when he confessed that Maggie was his daughter. "Tell her yet?" Amelia asked over the lid of her coffee cup.
"I-I want to... I just don't know how... I what do I say?"
"Richard, you have to tell her." Amelia pressed through narrowed eyes.
"I..." he started nervously.
"Tell who what?" A high ptiched voice asked.
Amelia tipped her head past Richard to see Maggie standing in the doorway of the CT room. She raised a cocky eyebrow at Richard, daring him... Just say it. She thought. Maggie, I am your father. She imagined him saying, although it came out in Darth Vader's voice for some stupid reason. Amelia suppressed a grin. He should just say it. She'd suffered enough loss and heartache already. It was time somebody finally found their family.
But Richard was already standing, blushing, leaving... "Nothing... I uh... another attending," he stammered as he exited. "I'll see you later," he said before he wobbled off.
Maggie stood there, looking confused and a little shaken, "Is he okay?" she asked. "I feel like he's avoiding me or something."
Amelia was quick to give a dismissive wave, "Oh it's nothing, don't worry about it."
Maggie nodded, but didn't seem so sure. She stepped in and stood beside Amelia, "You paged me for a consult?"
"Yeah, I'm just running the CT now," Amelia said. She patted the seat beside her inviting Maggie to sit. She sat, almost pouting, her demeanor very different from the chipper self she was yesterday.
"Are you okay?" Amelia asked. She felt that Maggie could be her friend. It was nice to know someone who didnt know her history, who wasn't wrapped up in all the hospital drama that went on because of her.
Maggie sighed. "Do you know Meredith Grey?" she asked.
"Why? What do you want to know about Meredith?" Amelia asked, curious as to what set her sort of sister in law off on Maggie.
"Is she always so...mean?" Maggie asked.
Sudden understanding clicked in for Amelia. Of course. Maggie was half Grey, which meant that she'd probably spent half the morning trying to get to know Meredith. And Meredith had no doubt cut her down with her dark and twisty dagger. She could do that sometimes, although Amelia knew it was just how she expressed her pain, and she would rather push people away then have them leave her. This should be interesting, she thought. Amelia, offered a small smile. "Meredith was Derek's wife. My brother's wife..."
"Your brother? Oh. Ohhh." Maggie suddenly nodded.
"Yesterday was the anniversary of Derek's death. She um... she didn't take it well, and a lot of other stuff happened to her."
Maggie put her head in her hands... "I didn't know, oh."
"What happened?" Amelia asked.
"Nothing, nevermind." Maggie said, shaking her head. "Oh, look, the CT is done."
"Yeah," Amelia acknowledged, reviewing the scans. Holy... that aneurysm was... huge and complex "Check out this aneurysm, it's lodged in his spine, cutting off the blood supply to his lower limbs."
"Ooooh," Maggie said, wincing. "That's definitely vascular. But I think I can divert this..." she motioned with her hands.
"You mean use his aneurysm as a way to move the blood back into the spinal column?" It was a damned near impossible situation, but... she wasn't a cardiothoracic surgeon. Amelia sat up, suddenly excited. "Maggie that's brilliant!"
"It's risky, but I'm pretty sure I can do it." Maggie said. "I'll get Brooks to book an OR and prep him." Suddenly her pager beeped. "Dammit, I knew he needed an echo..." she muttered. "I have to go, I'll come find you when I'm done."
"Got it," Amelia said, watching her go.
xxx
Meredith glowered at her patient's insides. Dammit. They'd drained the fluid build up, but still, he was bleeding. The left kidney looked good, except there was damage to the left renal vein, and the ureter. And the right kidney... was failing. "Edwards, what do we do when one kidney is bad, and the other is good, but the veins for the good kidney are shot?"
"Uh... Auto transplant?" Wilson asked from her station on the side.
"That's correct. Alright, come over here and assist, I need to remove the left kidney and transplant it to the right side."
"Really?" Edwards sounded like a kid in a candy store.
"Just get over here, and you better work fast." Meredith growled. They had to work fast he was circling the drain...
"Uh, Right."
"Believe this guy survived on his own in the wilderness for a month?" Owen asked.
Meredith swallowed a lump in her throat. She'd been there with him while he was in CT. He'd been so distressed and panicked, trying to find his wife and daughter... he thought it'd been just a few days... but she had to open her fat mouth, and tell him the truth. That he'd been gone more than a month. The look in his eyes, the sheer disbelief and terror. He didn't want to believe her. Who would? She wouldn't.
"I don't know how he did it..." Owen was saying.
"I do." Meredith said, her voice sad and small. "He had hope." And she'd crushed it. You've you've been in the desert for more than three days.
It's maybe maybe four days.
Based on your state of dehydration and your level of malnutrition, I think it's been more like one or two months.
What? No. What? They're gone, aren't they? My Lily? My Lily. She's six. She's six years old.
Suddenly, the machines beeped loudly, she spun to see the monitor, dammit, Pierce was right, she was hoping she'd have more time. "No, dammit, you don't get to die on me today."
"He's tachycardic." Owen called out.
"Page Pierce, let's get that echo," Meredith called, as she worked frantically to keep him alive. "Edwards, secure that kidney!"
A few moments later, the door burst open, and an angry Dr. Pierce strode in. "I told you that we needed to get that echo..." she chastised. "Step back and let me in here..."
Meredith was pushed aside as Maggie performed the echo, "Edwards, keep an eye on that kidney!"
"BP is dropping!" Owen shouted.
"Edwards, prep the groin for a vein graft." Pierce ordered.
And it went downhill from there. In the confusion, Edwards lost track of the kidney... causing Meredith to snap at both her resident and Dr. Pierce. Dr. Pierce, in turn reamed Meredith out for not getting the echo. Owen stepped in, ordering them to focus on the patient who decided at that point to go into V-fib, just for the hell of it, she supposed. When Pierce was finished, she left in an angry huff.
Meredith stepped back in again, to finish the transplant. She hated Dr. Pierce. She hated today. She hated herself. She should've kept her big trap shut and let the man believe his delusions. Of everyone in this hospital she understood what it was like to lose hope.
xxx
"Hey," Alex said to his girlfriend, Jo.
She approached him with crossed arms and leaned on the corner of the desk. "So..." she sounded like she wanted to accuse him of something.
"What?" He asked, was this because of him and Mer? Didn't she understand they were just friends?
"How come Grey can just kick me out of your bed?"
He knew it... "Jo," he started.
"Look... I get it, she's your friend or Person or whatever... but what are we? What if you had to make a choice?"
Alex shook his head, "I choose both of you, alright? Look, I'm not into her okay... she was there for me when Izzie left, when I got shot! You don't get to make this an ultimatum."
"Fine, but what am I Alex? You deserve than just being Robbins lackey, and Grey's pillow. I'm in this, Alex, for you, with you... can't you see that? Don't you want something more for yourself? We could do that."
"You're freaking me out, Jo. Are you talking about babies?" Because that would be bad... right? He thought.
Jo jerked from the desk as if she'd been stung. "What? Babies? Now?" she shook her head, "No! God No! I'm talking about getting our own place!"
Sudden relief hit Alex. "Oh..."
Jo's pager beeped. "Crap, house fire lady is coding, I gotta go!" And just like that she was gone.
Alex exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't realize how serious Jo was about all of this... It was... Wow. He'd definitely have to talk to her later.
He checked his watch. Damn, time flew. He had to page Mer. He wanted her to meet a certain four-year old. Maybe they could cheer each other up or something.
A/N: Thanks again for reading! I am one chapter away from finishing Growing Pains and recently started a new fic about Derek and Ferryboats. Check it out! It's called Ferryboats and Scrubcaps. It's just a light hearted fic!