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"Why didn't you tell me your so-called package was a person?" Jackson irritably questioned Callie as he followed her into an elevator. "And April knows Abbott. She grew up with him. Is that why you didn't tell me about him?"
"Loosen the panties, Avery. I had no idea those two had a connection with each other," the orthopedic surgeon insisted. She pressed the button to the fifth floor. "When I was organizing my schedule I noticed they were arriving on the same flight, so the day before her flight from Orlando I asked Kepner to give him an early welcome if she managed to spot him."
Jackson leaned back against the railing and sighed. "What are we hiring another ortho attending for anyway? You're the best one we have. Plus, there are four other good attendings and fellows working here already."
Callie smiled to herself. "You are looking at the new Head of Orthopedic Surgery," she proudly announced. "That dinosaur, Dr. Cheng, finally retired shortly after the storm, so Hunt promoted me last week. Dr. Abbott is my first hire and a great one at that."
"How did I not know this either?" the plastics man asked her in frustration. First, he missed out on April becoming board certified and breaking off her engagement to Matthew. Now, one of his colleagues was granted a new role at the hospital. "You and I are board members at this hospital. Why wasn't I informed? I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm all for you becoming in charge of Ortho, but I own this place too."
"You've been distracted. Perhaps it was mentioned to you, but it went into one ear and out the other," she implied, stepping out of the elevator when the doors opened. "We've all been distracted by crap. It's not just you."
He continued to follow her, placing his hands on his hips as he walked alongside her. "So, tell me about this guy. Besides some childhood stories from April, I've never heard of him in the surgical world."
"Well, he went to medical school at Yale-"
"Wonderful," Jackson interrupted the Latina woman. He figured he would eventually find a reason to loathe Ryan. Being a Yale alum was a legitimate excuse for him. "You know I went to Harvard, right?"
"And I don't care," Callie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He completed his residency and fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Ryan's written a couple of brilliant research articles on cartilage regeneration, something I've always been interested in, so I jumped at the opportunity to lure him to Seattle. If we want to become the best hospital in the nation, we have to recruit the best. Seriously, what is your problem with him?"
He decided to keep his mouth shut knowing she would give him grief over being jealous of a man who had zero romantic ties to April. They entered the attendings lounge where Ryan appeared to be entertaining the other surgeons inside with a story from his childhood.
"Next thing I know, I'm flying in midair before I land into this lake by her farm," the new doctor recalled, sharing a laugh with April. He playfully nudged his old friend. "And she started crying hysterically. Not because I could've killed myself but because she thought her father would ground her for life for sneaking out two of his better horses."
"We were ten! I thought staying up past midnight was daring," April chuckled.
Cristina smirked at the two Ohio natives. "Huh, and here I thought you two spent your summers picking flowers or chucking corn at cars passing by on the highway," she commented. Peeking over Ryan's shoulder, she noticed Callie and Jackson standing nearby. The latter seemed unimpressed by the newbie's presence, so she greeted him with a fake yet cheerful tone. "Hey, Avery."
April turned around, briefly making eye contact with Jackson before she smiled at Callie. "Dr. Torres, here's your brand new ortho attending," she chirped. "Oh, and congratulations on your new position! You deserve it."
"Right back at ya with the passing of your boards," Callie answered, then she extended out her hand to Ryan. "Calliope Torres, but you can call me Callie. It's an honor you chose to continue your career at Grey Sloan Memorial, Dr. Abbott. I'm really looking forward to us working together."
"It's a pleasure to be here, thank you. So far, everybody's been welcoming here." Ryan nodded his head at Jackson and grinned at him. "What's up, man? Long time, no see."
Jackson forced himself to smile. Being called man never annoyed him more than it did now. "Likewise," he replied through gritted teeth. "Uhh, heard you attended the Yale School of Medicine. I, on the other hand, went to Harvard. I believe it's the number one medical school in the nation."
The blonde attending softly laughed. "Harvard, huh? Great school, no doubt about that." He gently patted Jackson's chest with the back of his hand and winked at him. "But Yale's got the winning record against you guys in football, so it's all good."
Being a sports nut and a former football player at Harvard, that jab hit him right in the heart. And he thought Cristina was the queen of snarky comments. Maybe her real king had finally arrived.
As if more tension was needed, Arizona walked into the lounge. The room suddenly grew silent because by then everybody was aware of her separation from Callie. She had been living with Alex and Cristina, which made for a dysfunctional household. Instead of greeting her peers with her perkiness, the pediatric surgeon quietly poured herself a cup of coffee as if she were invisible to the world.
Clearing her throat, Callie motioned her hand towards the door. "Have you seen our labs yet? I've been growing my own cartilage for about three years now," she offered, fighting her hardest to keep her composure.
"I haven't. I would love to see that, Dr. Torres," Ryan agreed, curiously glancing back and forth between his boss and Arizona. He was completely unaware of the fact that he joined a staff caught up in a whirlwind of drama.
"Can I come with? Hunt allowed me to give him a tour of the hospital before he's officially put to work," April inquired, though the truth was she simply didn't want to be in the same room as Jackson, especially with the way he fixedly stared at her.
"Sure. Let's go," the orthopedic surgeon said, leading the two doctors out of the attendings lounge.
Cristina snickered before she sipped her coffee. "Somebody's avoiding you," she teased in a playful tone. "And Abbott sure knows how to get under your skin, Avery. I like him already."
"Shut up," Jackson muttered, leaving the lounge through another door.
After Callie showed off her display of homemade cartilage to Ryan, April gave him a tour of the hospital. She brought him to the OR's, the cafeteria and she saved the ER for last. During that time they continued to reminisce about their childhood and she updated him on her current life – her professional life to be exact. She wasn't ready to tell him about the madness that had happened with Jackson and Matthew.
On their way back to the cafeteria for an early lunch, she heard a very loud and familiar voice calling out her name from behind. April slowly turned around, softly smiling at Catherine Avery. "Dr. Avery," she politely greeted the urologist.
"April Kepner, how are you, sweetie?" she cheerfully replied, pressing her hands on April's cheeks. "Congratulations on becoming board certified! And I'm very sorry to hear about your broken engagement to… what was his name again?"
"Matthew," the redhead murmured.
"Yes, Matthew. Funny, I didn't even know you were engaged in the first place, let alone dating somebody. Gotta love how fast gossip spreads around in this hospital. Anyway, don't worry about it, baby. Sometimes you have to explore your options before you find that perfect man," Mama Avery assured her. She leaned forward and whispered, "What was the problem, baby? Couldn't perform?"
Performance wasn't the issue because he was a freaking virgin.
April nervously laughed as she shyly glanced down at the floor. "Umm… no. It wasn't that. He… wasn't- well, it just didn't work out," she stammered. Ryan gave her a quick nudge, forcing her to remember their conversation wasn't exactly private. "By the way, this is Ryan Abbott. He's an ortho attending. It's his first day here."
Catherine shook Ryan's hand, smiling as she momentarily checked him out. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Abbott. Are you single?"
"Yes, I am. Are you single?" he jokingly asked her.
Both doctors laughed, while April awkwardly bit her lower lip. Catherine placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Oh, no. If I was, I would wish I was twenty years younger to have a chance with you. How is a handsome man like you still single?" She slyly grinned at the trauma surgeon. "And would you look at this? April's looking for someone too. Poor woman's been so uptight. Once you two get to know each other better, I bet she'll finally understand why us women need attention in more ways than one."
And after all of this time, April thought Catherine gave up on meddling with her sex life. They hadn't spoken much since the latter bought the hospital for her baby boy. It was almost as if they were in separate worlds. It was also clear to her that she remained clueless about Jackson. Perhaps it was best if his mother never found out at all, she thought.
"Actually, Ryan and I grew up together in Moline. He was pretty much my best friend until he moved away," the embarrassed surgeon noted.
"Well, then that's perfect! What are you waiting for, young man? Ask the woman out and take her to dinner," Catherine encouraged Ryan, squeezing his shoulder. She smirked at April, whose cheeks were a bright shade of red. Even her sunburned face couldn't hide her blushing. And her body appeared to be tense. "You see? This is what I'm talking about. She is too wound up. Do something about that, Ryan."
April waved her hands and sighed. "Th-that's not necessary, Dr. Avery."
Catherine covered April's mouth with her hand. "You've waited way too long, baby. I'm doing you a favor by setting you up. At least the man beside you isn't a stranger," she insisted, lowering her hand to her side. "One more thing before I leave you two alone. I know I promised Jackson I would stay out of his personal life, but there is definitely something going on with him that he won't tell me. You know how he is at times. It's like you have to literally pull out his teeth before he finally speaks. Do you know what's bothering him?"
I gave him my virginity and we had a lot of hot sex. He then rejected me and showed up at the airport yesterday as if nothing happened. I don't give a crap about what's bothering him.
"No. I can't say that I know," she softly replied. "Maybe… maybe it's a work related issue. He's got a lot on his plate being a board member and a surgeon. I mean, you did give him a hospital. It's not like a Christmas present you can fit underneath the tree-"
"Okay, I heard you. You can quit your rambling," Catherine interrupted her. She smiled back at Ryan. "Was she like this as a child too?"
The blonde man nodded enthusiastically. "For sure. She could talk a person's head off with her stories. Never gave me a chance to talk-" He pursed his lips when she elbowed his side and glared at him. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Dr. Avery. We'll be on our way now."
"Don't forget what I told you, Dr. Abbott," she reminded him as she walked away from the twosome. "Try not to strike out with her. Keep pounding on that door until you break in."
April closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head. It wasn't the first time Mama Avery embarrassed her with the sex talk, but she considered their most recent conversation to be the worst of them all. Mainly due to the fact that she practically pimped her out to Ryan. He was an attractive man, but they hardly knew each other in the adult sense and she had only been reunited with her childhood friend for a day. Prior to meeting in the airport, she hadn't seen or spoken to him in almost twenty years. In many ways, they were somewhat strangers to each other.
"So that's Jackson's mother? She's… entertaining," Ryan amusingly said. "From the sounds of it, you and Jackson seem close. Did you two date or whatever? Because yesterday, there was some obvious tension at the airport. I didn't want to ask you initially since we were both tired-"
"We're not close," she replied agitatedly. "He… he's an old friend just like you are. That's all."
Jackson stepped out of the elevator leading to the ER. Throughout the day, he hadn't been able to talk to April. Consults, a couple of minor procedures in the OR and boring paperwork prevented him from confronting her downstairs in the pit. She was standing behind the nurses' station, scrolling through her tablet and double checking the patients' statuses listed on the video screen.
He casually approached her and leaned against the counter in front of her. "Hey, can we talk?" Just as the plastic surgeon expected, April remained silent. "Fine. You don't have to say anything, but I'm going to keep talking whether you want to listen to me or not. I want you to know that I broke up with Stephanie."
"Congratulations. Would you like a gold star for that?" April sarcastically answered while she stared at her tablet's screen. "Also, you need to stop with the creepy staring. It's not flattering. It's disturbing."
"April, please. Can we do this without the attitude?" he pleaded. "I don't blame you for being upset with me, but you can't continue to avoid me if we're going to work in the same hospital. I want us to have a civil conversation – as friends like before."
The redhead guffawed as she shook her head. "We're not friends, Jackson. We can act like friends, but the truth is, we aren't friends. Everything's different now." She glanced up at him. "And what exactly did you expect from me after telling me you and Stephanie are done? Do you honestly think I'm going to celebrate and be happy about that? Am I supposed to throw myself at you because we're both single?"
"No, but you barged in and spilled all these feelings to me without giving me any time for it to sink in," he argued. "We were both messed up that night. How was I supposed to know at that exact moment you meant what you said?"
"For you to even ask me that shows just how much we've drifted apart," she retorted.
"You were engaged."
"And I'm not anymore, so what does that tell you? For the record, I didn't break up with Matthew, so I can hope for us to be together again. I didn't choose to stay here for you either," April explained with her arms folded. "I'm telling you now that my world does not revolve around you, Jackson. We want different things and I'm trying to accept that. Let me live my life and I'll let you live yours. If you want us to be friends again, then we can work on that. But for now, I prefer you give me some space."
Jackson frowned. He knew mending their problems wouldn't be a cakewalk, but it hurt to hear her say they weren't friends. While he understood that she was hurting as well, he hadn't expected her to openly admit that their friendship was nonexistent. But April had a point. Everything between them had changed after they slept together. They were best friends first. He thought he knew her better than anyone else until she dropped the Jesus bomb on him.
Looking back at their messy relationship, he wished he could have been more considerate with her religious beliefs. Instead of looking out for himself during her neurotic ramblings about dessert and car crashes, he thought maybe he should have tried to understand where she was coming from. He had more experience with dating and sex. Whereas, she only had him and nobody else to compare him to – at least when it came to sex.
"Dr. Kepner, incoming trauma is five minutes away," a nurse called out to April.
"Thank you. I'm on it." Walking around the nurses' station, she retrieved a trauma gown before waving at residents Leah Murphy and Shane Ross. "Murphy, Ross. Come with me."
Even though Jackson had no reason to be in the ER, he decided to follow the three surgeons outside hoping he would be needed for whatever trauma was coming to their hospital. As the ambulance arrived, April led her trauma team to the back and opened the doors.
Paramedic Nicole jumped out, pulling the gurney out from the rear. "Byron Thatcher, age 34. Construction worker fell four stories from a condominium project and hit several objects on the way down. He's got a possible dislocated left hip, fractured pelvis, chest and abdominal injuries. Patient is experiencing shortness of breath. Heart rate is 135 beats per minute, BP is currently 90 over 55."
April stood alongside the patient's gurney. "Mr. Thatcher, I'm Dr. Kepner. I know you're in an excruciating amount of pain, but we're here to take care of you, alright?" She looked at Shane. "Ross, have a nurse page cardio, general and ortho, then meet us in trauma room one."
Jackson scanned the man's injuries. None of them required a plastic surgeon, but he still wanted to help. "Is there anything I can do?"
"I've got this taken care of, but thanks," she answered as she ushered the gurney into the ER. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Nicole had a different partner with her. Normally, she worked with Matthew, but an unfamiliar man was in his place instead. After giving instructions to Leah, she walked back outside and approached the paramedic. "Nicole, where's Matthew? Is he off today?"
"He moved to Portland last week. I don't need to explain why," Nicole replied with a smirk.
"Oh. Umm… thank you for telling me," the trauma surgeon responded before she returned to the pit.
April couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for driving Matthew out of Seattle, but she didn't have any regrets breaking up with him. It was the right decision because she couldn't continue to make him believe that marrying him was what she wanted. She hadn't seen him since the storm, but she hoped they could have ended on better terms.
Joining her in the trauma room were Cristina, Callie, Ryan and Miranda Bailey. She explained to them Byron's injuries, then she grinned at her friend. "Lucky first day, huh?"
"I'll say," he answered, letting out a low whistle as he examined an x-ray scan of the fractured pelvis.
Leah handed Cristina another set of x-rays. "Lodox scan shows fractures to the fourth, fifth and sixth ribs, one of which could be puncturing his left lung resulting in a pneumothorax."
"Ultrasound shows a ruptured spleen," Bailey informed them. "We need to get him into an OR now."
Watching his coworkers through the window, Jackson sighed as they filed out of the trauma room and towards the elevator. The selfish person inside hoped the case involved the man's face being ripped off, so he would have a reason to join April in the OR. Giving her the space she wanted was going to be harder than he thought.
Following the end of her shift, April yawned as she walked out of the hospital. Jet leg snuck up on her and she was ready to go home to her apartment, but at the same time, she craved a drink from Joe's. She needed one after all of the awkwardness she experienced with both Avery's.
"Hey, wait up!" Ryan caught up with her in the parking lot. He appeared just as exhausted, yet excited about completing his first day. "Do you mind giving me a ride home? I don't have a car yet and I haven't had the chance to study the bus routes."
"Sure, no problem. Actually, I was thinking about heading over to the bar across the street. I'm so tired, but all I want right now is a freaking drink," she answered and softly laughed. "Want to come? It's our go-to hangout after work, so you might as well familiarize yourself with Joe's."
"Sounds good to me," he agreed. As they walked through the parking lot, he stared at his friend curiously. "Are you gonna tell me about Jackson anytime soon? Or how about his weird mom? What'd she mean when she said you've been waiting too long? Are you a virgin or something?"
April playfully rolled her eyes. "You're still the same boy who asks too many questions at once. That's your version of rambling," she pointed out, then she sighed. "No, I'm not a virgin. I thought I could wait until I got married, but that didn't happen. Catherine doesn't know."
"That Jackson's the guy?" He watched her nod. "So, what happened?"
"It's a long and complicated story," she sheepishly replied. "You don't need to hear about the complexity that is Jackson Avery and I. Even I don't think I fully understand everything that happened between us."
Ryan smiled at her. "I know we haven't seen each other in years, but it's me. I grew up listening to all of the long stories you told me in Moline. I can handle long stories. You kind of trained me to tolerate them," he quipped, laughing when she gently shoved him with one arm. "And in exchange I'll share with you my own relationship woes."
"You have relationship woes?" April asked skeptically. "How can you have relationship woes? In middle school, you had like three girlfriends at one point. You were already this hot commodity."
"Well, it was easier as kids because they weren't ever serious and it was all fun. I married my girlfriend from high school, but we divorced four years ago. I was deemed too busy for her because of the long hours I worked at the hospital, so she left me," he admitted. "No kids, but I suppose that's a good thing."
"At least you've been married," she muttered, then she shook her head. "I'm sorry for sounding bitter. It must have been difficult for you when your ex-wife left you."
Ryan opened the door to Joe's and let her walk inside first before he followed suit. "Nah, it's alright. I've had time to accept it and move on." They sat beside each other at the bar. He ordered a beer, while she decided to go with scotch. "I expected you to go for an appletini or some other girly drink."
The redhead smirked at him. "I enjoy a glass of scotch every once in a while. Tonight, I need it."
"So, it's your turn. Jackson isn't just some guy you knew since residency. I can tell by the way he was staring at you this morning that you mean more to him than you're letting on."
"He's- was… he was my best friend," she glumly said before sipping her scotch. "We're not really friends right now. Things just got incredibly messy after I slept with him – at the boards last year. I lost my composure and failed, then Hunt fired me. I went home to Moline for a while before he gave me my job back. Jackson and I started sleeping together again after I miserably failed at revirginizing. I tried not to feel guilty, but in the back of my head I kept thinking God had this plan for me and premarital sex wasn't a part of that plan. Maybe I've been wrong all along because I was engaged to a man who wanted to wait until marriage, but… I realized he wasn't who I wanted to be with."
"Okay, so why not try to make things work with Jackson?"
"It's not that simple. He was seeing somebody else when I told him how I felt and he pushed me away," April recalled, clearing her throat as tears formed in her eyes. "He said some people weren't meant to be, referring to us. You don't just forget that, dump your girlfriend and pretend we can go back to the way things were. And he dumped me! Okay, some of it was my fault, but that man made mistakes too. I told him to give me space. It's the least he could do until I can look at him without wanting to rip his eyes out."
Ryan half-smiled at April and tapped his beer bottle against her glass. "Try not to dwell on the past. Think about what you can do differently in the future, so you don't get caught up in crap like this again," he advised. "Maybe you'll still end up with Jackson, maybe you won't. Nothing can be fixed in a snap. And what he said about how some people weren't meant to be? That can't always be a bad thing. Before you know it, other guys could be lining up for you. Just something to think about."
Drying her eyes with the back of her hand, April returned the smile. Ryan was exactly what she needed – a friend who could offer her advice without the snide remarks. And she was thankful he wasn't a random man she just met at the bar. "I'm glad you're working here," she happily replied. "It's nice having my old best friend back."
Like I said, it's not going to be an easy journey :P Anyway, let me know what you think please!