Hello! So I finally got around to posting the first chapter. I've never seen an AU like this in the stories i've read so I decided to take a chance with this (hope it works). Not sure how accurate any of this is, took a lot of my research from Grey's Anatomy. (If you follow my tumblr you know how much I love it).

Anyway, I hope you like it!

Chapter 1

"Good morning Mr. Kim." Dr. Padme Amidala greeted when she entered his room.

The man gave her a smile, "Morning doctor, what's the damage?"

"Your operation went well," She started, "I got all of your tumor out, I just want to keep you here for observation to ensure the seizure you had didn't cause any long-term damage."

Kim nodded his head, "And I am guessing you'll run a few more tests and scans to be extra sure." He said with a laugh, "Lets hope this is the last time."

Padme agreed completely. Kim has been in to the hospital at least five times since she started her residency. He has had a liver transplant, an aneurism, appendicitis, broke both his legs in a car crash and now a tumor. Fortunately he has a sense of humor about it, as most regulars tend to be depressing to talk to.

Padme heard the sound of running and the distinct voice of Ahsoka Tano giving rushed apologies as she ran past nurses and patients. Coming to a skidding stop at the door she braced herself on the frame, "Hey! So sorry I'm late Dr. Amidala, I swear it will never happen again!" Ahsoka was one of the new interns this year. She is headstrong and hungry for surgery but she can be a little unorthodox at times. Regardless, it was Padme's job to educate her today. Who knows, maybe she will surprise her and be a natural neurosurgeon.

"Just try to be on time tomorrow, not every attending will be as lenient." Padme warned, "Take Mr. Kim down to CT and get me an MRI with contrast, please." With that said, she headed for the nurse's station. Leaning on the counter she started working on Kim's chart.

Dr. Bail Organa came over to lean against the counter as he too worked on his charts. "Did you hear about the new head of cardio?" He asked. Bail has been one of her closest friends at Courscant Memorial Hospital. He was one of the attending general surgeons while she was an attending neurosurgeon. They could talk about anything… well, almost anything.

"I know he was in the army." Padme answered, not bothering to look up from her chart, "some captain, I think."

"I heard he did a thoracotomy with a knife and spread the ribs with his bare hand."

Padme rolled her eyes. There have been many stories circulating around the hospital the past week about the new guy but she found most of them hard to believe. Dorme, one of the nurses and her best friend since high school had told her he was only twenty-four years old. But that was impossible; she was only just starting her residency at twenty four, there was no way he could be the head of a department with such limited experience. Dorme had other thoughts though; she believed his military service was more than enough to get him the job. Nevertheless, Padme did not believe most of the stories; to her they were all just rumors.

"He starts today, doesn't he?" Padme asked.

He nods his head, "Yeah, I think he as a surgery this morning even. I was going to go watch later, you want to come?"

Padme shook her head and Bail gave her a smile as he finished his chart and headed to his next patient. She finished shortly after and started down the hall to her next consult. Passing by one of the rooms she paused. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she heard a familiar voice from the room. It couldn't be who she thought it was, but the longer she stood there, the more she was convinced. Backtracking to the room, she glanced through the open door to see who it was.

The patient was a young woman who looked to be only a few years younger than her. She was listening intently to the doctor who stood at the end of the bed as he showed her something on his tablet, which was most likely one of her scans.

She could only see the back of his head but that only seemed to support her original thought. His messy dark blonde hair reached just above the base of his neck, and he must be at least six foot, one inch tall. It couldn't be. They haven't spoken in almost three years.

"…So basically, I am going to get to this part of your heart, called the aortic valve and replace the malfunctioning valve with the porcine valve." She could tell he had a smile on his face when he spoke just from the tone. Padme waited several moments until he finished talking and he turned just enough for her to see part of his face. Besides the scar on his right eye, she knew it was him. Quickly collecting herself, she turned back in the direction she had been headed and walked as fast as she could away from him. She had to find Dorme. She was not ready for this. They haven't spoken in years and it was only a matter of time before they have to talk. She didn't even know why he was here. Why did he come back?

Dorme sat at the front desk of the hospital working on a computer cataloging data and working on schedules. When she looked up from her work at Padme's approach, she could tell something was wrong, "Hey what's got you so nervous about?" She asked.

"He's here." Padme simply said, "Why is he here? Who asked him to come here?"

Dorme raised her hands to calm her, "Slow down there, and answer me this one question: 'he'?"

Padme braced her hands on the counter and leaned closer to her, "Anakin," She said in a low hiss, "He's here. In a white coat and everything!" She almost shouted, "He's doing a porcine valve replacement today."

Dorme shook her head, "You're freaking out for no reason, Padme." She said, "Even if it is him, he's just a resident. Maybe he's here because the resident program is good. But that doesn't matter. You're the attending, he's the resident; you're in charge." Padme knew she was right. Anakin should be in his beginning residency years by now, while she is an attending. She is his boss technically. And she knew he would never be interested in neurosurgery, he had already told her how much he hates it so they wouldn't really talk anyway. Padme let out a low groan, but she knew Anakin better than most, and he would try to find a way to talk to her, especially after the last conversation they had.

"I just have to avoid him as long as possible." She said just before her pager started beeping. Looking down she read the message, "Incoming trauma." She looked back up at Dorme who raised her hands in understanding.

"By all means, go do life saving surgery while I do paperwork and clean bedpans." Padme gave her a smile as she started to run to the ER.

Running down the hall, she dodged nurses and doctors but in her rush she barely managed to stop herself running into exactly the person she was hoping to avoid. She stopped with barely an inch between them and he instinctively grabbed both her arms to steady her. It took them a moment to collect themselves and take in what just happened.

Padme roughly pushed his arms off of her, "What do you think you're doing?" she all but shouts at him.

Anakin raises his brow at her, "Going to the ER. I got paged for a trauma." He answers as he turns and starts making his way to the ER again.

Padme runs to keep up with his long strides, "No you're not! I got paged!"

"So did I." Padme ignores him as she enters the ER and making her way out to the ambulance entrance with Anakin hot on her heels. The two of them stand there for several minutes each taking hesitant glances at the other and looking away when they think the other notices them staring. It is awkward and it is only broken when the chaos of the ambulance arriving forces them to take professional action.

The paramedic jumps out of the back with the I.V. bag in his hand while pulling the gurney out with him, "43 year old male, Arn Ismaren; MVC with large head lac; B.P. 152 over 94; he complained about chest pains."

Anakin and Padme followed along with the cart, asking all questions concerning the patient's head injury and chest pains. Arn was somewhat responsive but clearly had signs of head trauma and was clearly having chest pain from the way his hand gripped his shirt tight enough the knuckles were white. When they reached the trauma room the two of them set about running all the tests they needed. Anakin did a quick echo on his chest while Padme flashed a light in Arn's eyes to test pupillary response. Arn's eyes were not dilating properly. "I need to get him up to CT stat." Padme said. The residents in the room started to prep him to move but stopped when Anakin held his hand up.

"Hold up, he has a broken rib that made a small tear in his lung. We need to get him into an OR before it fully penetrates." He said, putting the scanner away.

"He has a head injury." Padme argued, "Which puts him at risk for a brain bleed."

"Moving him into the CT might be just enough to shift the rib enough to cause more damage to his lung." The two of them stared one another down as they both stood firm on their procedure. Anakin shook his head; "We're taking him to the OR now."

"You can't do that!"

"The hell I can't!" Anakin argued, rounding on her and staring down at her, "I'm the head of cardiothoracic and I think the risk to his breathing is too much of a risk to get scans. We're doing it my way."

Padme's eyes widen. He's the new head of cardio? Of course he would be, it would be just her luck that this was the situation. And as difficult as the situation is, she needs to do everything she can to save this man, "There is a risk of death no matter what we do," Padme said in a rushed whisper to Anakin, "But please, one CT is all I need. If it's a tumor, or a burst aneurism, or if there is swelling, I need to know where it is and how much I need to retract." Padme paused and saw that he was not swaying in his decision, reaching out she grabbed his arm, "One scan." She insisted. "If you don't and he has an aneurism or a tumor everything you do in that OR might be wasted." The gurney was still sitting there while the residents were waiting to see what they were going to do.

Anakin shook his head, "Fine, take him up for a head CT." The residents started to move the gurney to the elevator. Anakin looked back down at Padme, holding up his index finger "One scan." He said, "I can't waste any more time."

"Neither can I." Padme replied.

[][][][]

The CT showed that Arn had a massive aneurism that burst which resulted in the lack of pupillary response. It could also have been the cause of the crash as well- bursting at just the right moment to trigger the seizure that crashed his car. They quickly rushed him into surgery to repair his lungs and to stop the bleeding in his brain.

Anakin and Padme began scrubbing in with three sinks between them as they prepped. Anakin let out a small sigh as they finished up, "You're not happy to see me, are you?" He asks, turning his head to watch her finish."

"What makes you say that?"

Anakin gives a shrug, "You just seem a bit tense around me."

Padme shakes her head, "It's not that I'm not happy to see you… more surprised, I guess. I never thought I'd see you again after…" Padme's voice trails off and Anakin nods his head, knowing full well what she is referring to.

"I understand." He said as he sidestepped past her and into the sterile OR room. The scrub nurses held out the surgical gowns and tied them on while helping them into their gloves. Both surgeons took their places with Padme standing over the patient's head and Anakin standing on the left side of the patient. To Padme's right Ahsoka scrubbed in with her ready to help however she can. Across from Anakin stood another resident who would assist him. Anakin glanced her way once before holding his hand out to the scrub nurse, "Ten blade," He called as he began the surgery.

Padme looked over to her scrub nurse," "Eleven blade." And her surgery begins as well.

The OR was unusually quiet as they worked. During most surgeries, the surgeons exchanged small talk to keep spirits up and to help time pass by faster. Ahsoka hated the silence and she could tell there was tension between Dr. Amidala and the new head of cardio. "So…" She began, hopping that maybe the tension would go away if they started talking, "I take it this isn't the first surgery you two have done together, is it?" She asked.

"Actually, it is." Padme answered, "I've been a surgeon much longer than he has, isn't that right, Dr. Skywalker." Padme said.

Anakin's shoulders stiffened for a moment but he continued working. "Perhaps. But I believe I've logged more surgery hours than you."

"I doubt that." Padme said, her eyes never leaving the brain in front of her.

Anakin let out a small chuckle, "I am fairly certain that I have." He said with confidence. Looking up from his work his gaze met Ahsoka's, "What's your name?"

"Ahsoka Tano. I'm just an intern." She answered.

"And just what do you do as an intern?" He asked.

Ahsoka furrowed her brow at the question, "What all other interns do, I guess. Pre-ops, labs, watching and learning, and a lot of paperwork."

Anakin lets out a small laugh, "My first year, I did so many surgeries back to back I couldn't feel my fingers for days. I lost track of how many operations I did and what they were for." He looked up from his work to meet Ahsoka's eyes; "I had a pretty rough crash course for my intern year."

Ahsoka raised her brow at his claim, "And what hospital was that?"

"Military hospital." He said, "They train you harder than anywhere else because they need surgeons who are able to think fast under pressure and who can do surgery with limited supplies."

"Did you really trache a guy with a straw?" Ahsoak couldn't help the question; it was something everyone had been talking about, that and using a clipboard as a scalpel.

Anakin laughed, "Wow Snips, way to lead into a question." He said. Ahsoka furrowed her brow at the name but said nothing as she watched what Dr. Amidala was doing in the patient's frontal lobe, "But to answer your question; yes, I did."

Both Padme and Ahsoka raised their heads slightly, both shocked by the statement, "You have got to tell me about that!" Ahsoka said with eager enthusiasm.

"Maybe some other time, Snips. Maybe tomorrow when I have you on my service." Anakin smiled behind his mask.

"Really? You want me on cardio?"

Anakin shrugged, "Why not? You're an intern, and this is a teaching hospital. Better to try out all the specialties while you can. Besides, do you really want to clip aneurisms for the rest of your career?" Padme scoffed. He was making fun of her like he always has. She knew he was joking, but she wasn't in the mood to play along.

"So, how is your mother?" Padme decided to ask as the room got quiet again and to take control of the conversation before he can.

Anakin is silent longer than she expected before he answered, "She's well…" He said simply, "She got married. I have a stepbrother now, Owen. He works on my stepfather's farm."

Padme was surprised, "Wow, tell her congrats for me, I'm happy for her." She said. Anakin was much too silent for it to be normal but he quickly went back to normal after Ahsoka switched to conversation back to Anakin and started asking questions about some of the stories she heard about him. He seemed all too happy to change the subject.

[][][][]

After eight hours standing in an OR, Padme was beat. She ran her head over her scrub cap covered head as she took a deep breath. Anakin sat on one of the benches by the OR in a similar state. Now that things had calmed down, both seemed a little more relaxed.

"Sorry about earlier," Anakin said as he came to stand in front of her, "I know I was a bit of an ass before surgery."

Padme looked up at him and smiled at his scrub cap that was patterned with airplanes. He had always been fascinated with planes she remembered, "It's alright." She said, "I was also an ass. So I guess we're even." She said with a laugh.

Anakin smirked at her and took a chance to step slightly closer to her, "You know, it's been a long day, I'm not on call, and I know you're not either… wanna go get a drink with me? As friends."

Padme raised a brow at him, "Just friends?"

"Alright, as friends who just happened to have seen each other naked on multiple occasions and who have had sex on just as many occasions."

She rolled her eyes at him. Of course he would say something like that. "I'll have to pass." She said, "I have a date with my pillow, I'll be remiss if I miss it."

"Would he mind if you brought a plus one?"

Padme stared at him to gage how serious he was. The smile on his face could either be his joking face or his flirting face, but she couldn't tell. She shook her head. "In your dreams, Ani." She said as she turned and left.

"It's always a beautiful dream with you." She heard him answer.