"Leslie, Dan can you come talk in my office," Teddy said.
They recognized this look and tone. Teddy was in Chief mode and no one argued with Chief Altman. In the last few days they learned that Teddy was a no nonsense leader who expected a lot from her staff but also led with great compassion. She knew each of her doctors, nurses and other staff by name and made a point of calling them by it. They had also seen the great respect the staff had for Teddy. At the same time they realized there were two sides to her, with her soft side most often shown to her husband and children. Leslie was jealous of the comfortable bond Annie had with Teddy.
"What is this about," Dan asked.
"My office," Teddy commanded.
"We haven't seen Annie today, is she alright," Leslie asked.
"She's off," Teddy replied, "I'm only here to speak to you then I'm going home and playing outside with my younger children before Sunday dinner at Evelyns."
"Sunday dinner," Leslie asked.
"We do it most weeks and take turns hosting," Teddy said , "family comes first. I know Evelyn was going to make one of Annie's favorites. She's been spoiling Annie for months. She's over the moon about a great grandchild."
"She's a surrogate grandma," Leslie said.
"She's Annie's nana," Teddy said, "so she has grandmere and nana like she has mom and mama."
"No other dad name," Dan asked.
"No she chose to stick with uncle Owen," Teddy replied, "by the time we got married he had been her uncle Owen for six almost seven years. But they're close and he calls her his daughter. He hates the term step with her. We have three kids."
"He didn't question," Leslie looked shocked.
"He knew about her when she was about 13. He met her the same day I did at UBC," Teddy smiled, "he would go to conferences in Boston or offer to guest lecture to go check on her for me between her breaks and my leaves. There was one conference at the beginning of her third year. I didn't tell either Annie or Owen I was going to until I showed up to teach her cardio class. That was fun to see her in class and with her friends then to teach their lab and get to know them all. We snuck her into conference sessions when she wasn't in class and both guest taught that week. For a week we were a family. Her classmates assumed she was an only child because by that point she was Grace Altman with everyone but me, Josh and Owen."
"Is that when you and Owen got together," Leslie asked.
"It was about 18 months later," Teddy smiled, "but we talked every day, all met up in Boston a couple more times, a long weekend in New York but Annie was always there. I told him I couldn't be in America without seeing my daughter that she had to come first. But we were a family."
"We heard Annie lived with Evelyn for a while," Leslie said.
"Her final year of medical school on one of her rotations," Teddy said, "she took a sub internship which is a grueling three to four week interview. She stayed with Evelyn for the month. It was better than having her in a hotel. She stayed with Evelyn, Josh was at Nathan's a few blocks away and they hung out a lot. Evelyn loved having Annie for the month. Annie was better to be with her nana and have a home like environment. Her rural rotation, she was in a hotel with Jenna Silverstone that's where they met in the middle of nowhere South Dakota."
"They just accepted that you gave her up and then you found each other," Leslie asked.
"Evelyn is an incredibly loving and accepting woman. I was friends with her kids the first time I visited, an orphan really my parents passed in 2000 and 2001. I wish they could have known my kids. Evelyn took me in as one of her own from the first time I met her. Meghan used to ask me to see the new pictures and for the updates when your letters came they always knew because they made me so happy to know Annie was thriving. The first time Annie came down to stay with me Evelyn had a Sunday dinner that we went to and they connected," Teddy said, "our family knows the whole story. I've only told three people the entire thing Annie, Owen and Meghan."
Teddy unlocked her office door and sat at her desk, "we do have business to discuss about Jessica."
"Her transfer to Vancouver," Dan said.
Teddy began, "anywhere else that tumor is inoperable. I have a neurosurgeon who wants to remove it who thinks she can get it out and get all of it. Give Jessica a chance at a normal life. Let you retire."
Dan asked, "how much we know that type of care isn't cheap here."
Teddy smiled, "I have a fairly large pro bono budget and a discretionary fund. I've discussed this with my attendings and my family before speaking to you. I would like to cover the cost of the surgery. I have the funds here at the hospital to do it. It's a chance for your family."
Leslie had tears in her eyes, "you would do that for us?"
Teddy shook her head, "I'm doing it for our daughter. To give Annie a chance to reconcile. I will have Dr Shepard remove the tumor and we can support Jessica until she is ready for rehab. I don't have a space for her in long term rehabilitation but I have been in contact with an excellent facility connected to the hospital and medical school at UBC. They will have a place for Jessica in three or four weeks time. We have some more tests to run and to get her a bit more stable before we operate on the tumor. Dr Shepard will meet you tomorrow to discuss the plan."
Dan asked, "what's the catch?"
Teddy shrugged, "legally and to this hospital nothing. Personally I want you to stay in touch with Annie. You have come to see her and you're here for our grandchild. There's no more walking away from Annie."
Leslie nodded, "she won't come up will she?"
"Not yet," Teddy replied, "when she trusts you enough she will. Annie is slow to trust and doesn't forgive easily."
"Why would you do this for us," Leslie asked.
"It's for the family," Teddy said, "we can be a family. Annie, Josh and the baby are a package deal and they have us."
"What does the process look like," Dan asked.
"First I need psych to declare Jessica mentally incompetent to decide her own care. With her irrational behavior and the tumor it's a formality I have the papers ready," Teddy said, "then we designate you as her medical power of attorney I will put Annie as the second in case you're not here and we can't get a hold of you."
"If something happened to Annie who decides," Dan asked out of curiosity.
"Josh first as her husband. When she had to do the papers as an intern and she set it to Owen and I. Practically the three of us would work together," Teddy replied, "once we have the legal paperwork done we can proceed to do the final preparation for the surgery. Amelia Shepherd and her resident Jenna Silverstone will take you through it. I'd like to operate by the end of the week if Jessica is stable enough she's already been here a week."
"You want us out," Leslie stated.
"I want you to stay. We need to get Jessica's tumor out and her on the road to recovery," Teddy said.
"Will she be less violent," Leslie asked.
"We hope so. Dr Shepard can tell you more," Teddy said, "I'm not a neurosurgeon and while I have huge respect for what she does I've never been interested in doing it or learning more about it. My passion is cardio and I'm also certified as a trauma surgeon."
"Is that why you make Annie do trauma," Dan asked.
"We make all our residents do trauma," Teddy said, "being prepared is not optional."
"You're Annie expert now," Leslie said, "how do we get her to trust us?"
"Be there for her on her terms," Teddy said, "she'll come to you when she wants and as much as she is ready. She's hugged you today. You have no idea how big that is for her. Let her do it on her time and keep waiting for her to initiate physical contact. Josh is the only person who can touch her first. Your relationship will never be the same; you can't expect her to be the same kid that left. She's 29, married and having her first baby. You said goodbye to a 21 year old med student. Annie is smart, compassionate, driven, gentle, she has and uses her voice. We worked hard on that voice and we practiced. She's incredible and not just as a surgeon. She spends tons of time with Allison and Leo, she's Ali's favorite person. Annie takes the younger two on outings and babysits. They love going for sleepovers at Annie's. She's got great friends in Jenna, Cassidy and Julia. She's an incredible teacher with jr residents and med students. Tuesday she has a huge surgery. Go watch in the gallery Richard Webber will be narrating for the interns and med students."
"What is she doing," Dan asked.
"She's working with a few other residents and a couple attendings to separate conjoined twins," Teddy said, "she's fixing twin B's heart with Nathan Riggs supervising. I'll lend you both scrubs and you can sit in the gallery. Not as pretty as watching her dance but it's a dance of its own."
Leslie looked amazed, "she can do that?"
Teddy smiled, "as part of a team. This will be most of our surgeons. I'm on team A with the other baby. Annie and I have to do the same procedure to build half the heart. She's done it with me a few times now as the assistant 7 or 8 times and she took the lead on the last two, she's ready to do it solo. She can do it."
"Can you really save Jessica," Dan asked.
"Amelia can," Teddy said, "we can do the medical. You have to do the work on the relationships. Start with Annie and Josh. Getting his trust will be the key to getting hers. He trusts easier than she does and you don't know him."
"We'll try," Dan said, "she's still scared of us."
"She's hesitant but is giving you her best effort. She let you touch her, that's huge," Teddy said.
"Why is touch such a big deal? We always hugged our kids," Leslie asked.
Teddy shook her head, "with everything that happened between Annie and Jessica, touch is a trigger for Annie."
"Still," Dan asked.
"Always. Triggers don't go away because it's ten years later. Our family is very aware and supports each other," Teddy smiled.
"You have a few soldiers," Dan said, "you must have seen a lot."
"How do you switch between family time and work because Annie keeps telling me she's at work when I want to spend time with her," Leslie asked.
"In scrubs she's working," Teddy replied, "we've done a lot of separation of home and hospital. Sometimes she'll appear at my office door and ask if I have a minute if she needs me as her mama but usually she'll wait until we're off and ask if I can grab tea or go for a walk if she really needs me. Plus I do a one on one date every week with each of my three kids."
"Even Annie," Leslie asked.
"I meet her in an hour and we're going for a walk. She always talks more when we walk," Teddy smiled, "we usually run a couple times a week but she's not running right now. Even when we were in different continents we had a time at least once a week to face time and talk. We'd have a meal together though facetime a set hour in our week that we both made sure we did unless something major came up like a final or a critical paitent."
"Always," Leslie asked.
"There were only two or three weeks in four years we didn't. Because I was in the field and in a war zone," Teddy replied, "but I still called her when I could and emailed most days."
"What if something had happened to you out there," Leslie asked.
"I had a plan and my CO knew it. My plan was in writing that he was to contact Owen and Owen would notify Annie," Teddy said, "I had it all set to make sure she would be okay. She was my priority and if something had happened Owen would have taken care of her and made sure she was okay."
"Why would he do that," Leslie asked.
"Because she was family. For years Owen thought she would be the only niece he would have. Meghan was still being held captive. Evelyn decided Annie was her only shot at a grandchild until Allison," Teddy said, "we thought she was the one and only. We're all very proud of her."
Dan asked, "how did we miss so much?"
"You didn't fight for her," Teddy said, "she tried. You would hang up on her or yell at her on the phone and she would call me crying. When did you invite her to come visit?"
"We couldn't," Dan said, "Jessica's tumor has controlled us for years. How did we miss that?"
"Those are slow growing. I don't know how no one ever ordered a CT or MRI," Teddy said.
"No one ever did, they thought it was mental illness and a physical cause was never investigated," Dan said.
"It can present that way," Teddy said, "but you need to ask Amelia not me. Think about my offer and talk it over. Decide if you want to go through with it and I will put everything in. I've talked to the board as well. I just need to inform the Fox Foundation."
"Fox Foundation isn't that who sent the restraining order," Dan said.
"It is our head of plastic surgery and head of urology are a mother son team and it's their family foundation," Teddy said.
"Family teams aren't uncommon," Leslie said.
"We have a few, Annie and I, Maggie Pierce and Richard Webber, Catherine Fox and Jackson Avery and Josh and Nathan Riggs. We also have a few couples," Teddy said, "our surgical staff is a family."
"They all care for Annie," Leslie said.
"Many have known her for a long time, Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, Arizona Robbins, Richard Webber, Catherine Fox, April Kepner," Teddy listed, "Catherine was actually her teacher at Harvard."
"Is she happy," Leslie asked.
"Most days very. She's excited for this baby and she'll get her fellowship offer tomorrow. It'll be a good day," Teddy said, "I'm keeping her and her two best friends Jenna and Cassidy. Josh is getting our trauma spot as well."
"A little nepotism there," Dan asked.
"We always try to keep our own," Teddy said, "we've put so much time and money into training them. We get them as ducklings and we raise them. Richard Webber raises surgeons, he is incredible at it."
"Which one is he," Leslie asked.
"Taller older gentleman," Teddy said, "he's a general surgeon."
"African American," Dan asked.
"Yes," Teddy replied, "former chief and the best teacher we have. He knows all of our residents and how to get the best from all of them."
"So Annie, Josh and the baby will stay here," Leslie asked.
"They will," Teddy smiled, "as far as we've talked they want to keep renting the house from me. They both say it's home and it's a perfect spot for them to start their family. It's where both of us became moms."
"You wanted her to follow your path," Leslie asked.
"No I want my children to be happy and healthy," Teddy said, "Annie chose medicine for herself before I was around, I encouraged her interest in surgery because it was a way we could bond but she did all her clerkships and tried different things. Peds is her choice, it's where she fits. You have to see her working with kids. She has a talent for that. Cardio was her choice as well after she tried all areas. She waffled on it for a while, she almost went straight peds. It was about her happiness, not what I wanted. I didn't teach her her second year and the first part of her third she asked me to teach her."
"How can you be her teacher and her mother," Leslie asked.
"Listen to how we talk here when we're working," Teddy said, "the names we use for each other."
"She calls you chief," Dan said.
"Yes and she's dr Altman," Teddy replied, "mini Altman or mini me if I want to be casual with her. I call her Grace at work. Rarely Annie."
"But she wants to see you," Leslie said.
"We both put a lot of effort into getting to know each other ten years ago," Teddy said, "we talk everyday no matter what. I'm going to let you two talk my offer over and spend some more time with Jessica. I have children to see and a batch of brownies to make."
"What are you doing with your kids," Leslie asked as she stood.
"Annie and I are going to our favorite park for a walk with hot chocolate," Teddy smiled, "then I promised Allison she could bake with me and lick the bowl. Please consider my offer."
"We will," Dan said, "Teddy it's too much."
"Do it for our family," Teddy said, "for our daughter."
"We didn't expect this generosity," Leslie said, "thank you Teddy. You've done too much for us already."
"It's not me personally," Teddy said, "the hospital and the foundation. I'm just the face. Please think about it."
Teddy stood and walked to the door signaling the end of the meeting.
"We will thank you so much," Dan said.
Leslie wiped tears from her eyes, "thank you Teddy we will talk and let you know."
"Soon please," Teddy said, "the sooner we do this the better for everyone."
"We'll talk tonight and let you know tomorrow," Dan said.
"Enjoy your family night," Leslie smiled.