Chapter XI: I'll be your friend
I am so sorry for updating now but I had struggles with writing this chapter :/
But anyway, I hope you like the chapter :)
Disclaimer: If Grey's would be mine it all had turned out way different ;-)
"Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on"
Two weeks had passed since Izzie was officially hired as an OB/Gyn surgeon and today was the day when she would have her first day back at her "old" hospital. Jackson was supposed to inform her about the things that happened after her departure, so he met her in the lobby at nine o'clock. Meredith and Christina were both scrubbed in a surgery and Alex clearly didn't want to show his ex-wife the hospital. Meredith was the one who tried to break it gently to him, but she wasn't that successful, he even yelled at her for hiring Izzie back. Jackson was the one who noticed the vocal-fight and was able to break it.
,,How could freaking hire her back? Dude, don't you remember what she did to Denny's LVAD?" Alex had yelled at Meredith who looked happy when Jackson came by.
"Man, could yell somewhere else? I don't think the patients will trust us, when they hear, that a surgeon cut a LVAD." Jackson whispered angry at his former roommate.
"They don't even know what that is, so don't shit your panties, Avery," Alex had retorted and had left the place.
"You think it was a good idea hiring her back?" Jackson had asked looking worried at the general surgeon.
"Yeah, I think so. I know that Izzie has hurt him, but he should stop being childish and finally be able to have a normal conversation with her, maybe they can work things out. I just hope Wilson will be able to calm him a little...," Meredith had answered ready to head back to the attendings lounge.
"Yeah, I hope so, too...,"Jackson had agreed and had left the place.
Jackson was on his way to the lobby when his pager went on. A boring emergency meeting.
"God, you got to be kidding me!" Jackson moaned and ran his hands over his face. So today would have been his first day in two weeks where he was able to see the inner side of a OR again, even when he was not operating, he saw it again. And now it was ruined again because of a freaking meeting.
April came in his direction and asked worried:
"You're all right?"
"No, I have a surprise meeting and I was actually here for touring the new OB/Gyn surgeon Izzie Stevens, eh, Izzie Rivera, but now I'm not able to do this anymore. God...do you know somebody who can take the tour?"
"I'm sorry for you. I could do this, I have a break now anyway, if it's okay for you."
"Would you do that for me? God, thank you! I owe you something big!" Jackson said relieved.
"Don't you worry, it's okay."
"Thank you so much!" Jackson smiled happily and hugged her.
"No big deal, really!" April responded his smile and headed to the lobby.
April looked around in the lobby, but she couldn't find the blonde surgeon, but after she looked outside, she found her standing there. The trauma surgeon made her way outside the hospital and stopped right next to Izzie.
"Nervous coming back?" April asked quietly and looked to the taller women.
"Yes, but who's not nervous on their first day at work?" Izzie answered with a small smile.
"Yeah, you're right. Oh, ehm, I'm April Kepner by the way, Dr. Rivera," The Ohio native inquired politely. It felt a little weird calling her Dr. Rivera.
"Seriously, I think we can call us by our first name, right?" Izzie proposed and held out her hand.
April agreed smiling and shook her hand. She pointed at the hospital and asked:
"Ready to go inside?"
Izzie nodded and followed her inside. The OB/Gyn surgeon looked around and sighed at she looked at the new logo of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She really needed to know what had happened when she was in Los Angeles.
"So, April...What happened her during my absence?"
"Okay, I don't know whether you heard about it, but we had a shooting here, months after you left. The shooter was Gary Clark, the husband of a patient who died after taking off her life support. He shot my best friend Reed Adamson and he also shot Charles Percy, I guess you remember them?"
"Yeah, I do...I'm sorry for you, you still think about them, don't you? I lost my fiancé, I know how you feel..."
"Oh, I'm sorry for you, too. May I ask how your fiancé died?" April asked quietly while biting on her lower lip. They entered the elevator and April pressed the button for the gynecological wing.
"It's okay. It's little complicated, but I'll try to summarize it: I fell in love with my patient, Denny Duquette, and he needed a new heart. Dr. Burke, a former cardio surgeon and Christina's ex-fiancé here, inserted him a LVAD. Later, he was about to get a new heart, but then another patient from the Seattle Pres got the heart. I wanted the heart for Denny so bad, that I cut his LVAD, so he got the heart, now that he was the one who needed the heart urgently. He later died because of a stroke." Izzie explained and exhaled afterwards.
"Oh! Well...that's...I'm sorry...," April rambled and her cheeks blushed.
"You must think of me as an awful person, but that's behind me now, I'm a completely new person, really!"
"We all did bad things in the past, me included. I'm not prejudiced, don't worry," April insured her new co-worker and smiled at her.
"That's good. So, I heard that Lexie and Sloan died in a plane crash?"
"Yes, one year ago, they we're involved in a plane crash along with Meredith, Christina, Derek and Arizona. Lexie was stuck under the end of the plane and crushed her pelvis and legs. Mark was with her when she died, you know, they had been on and off, and confessed his love..."
Izzie's eyes grew wide and a little glossy when she whispered:
"Oh my god, I...I...What happened to Mark?"
"He later died here after taking him off life support."
Izzie sighed and had a hard time to hold back the tears. Sure, Sloan wasn't the nicest at the beginning but he changed so well. When she had been in L.A. they had just told her that they were dead, not what was the cause of their deaths.
"Wow, even though I haven't interacted with them in years I feel terrible..."
"I know, me too. Maybe when you met Meredith and Christina you'll feel better," April proposed while she rested a supporting hand on her shoulder.
"Ehm...do you know what...Meredith, Christina and Alex think about my return?"
"Meredith and Christina are happy, as far as I'm informed, and yeah...Alex. I mean...yeah...," April started to ramble again. She couldn't tell Izzie in the face, that Alex was really pissed about her return. Sure, she couldn't blame him, but her reminder - no prejudice!
"Hey, I know what you're trying to tell me, I understand. I was an idiot for asking, sorry!" Izzie murmured as they stepped out of the elevator.
"No, it's okay. Soo, how was your life in L.A.?"
"Awesome! My residency at UCLA was amazing and to work under Addison's wing was such a great experience, I learned a lot. I met my husband, Cedric, at the hospital, he was in the same year as I was. At first we started off as best friends, but then we noticed the deeper feelings. And now we're married, pretty cool, huh?"
April's smile had turned a little sad, when Izzie had told her about her husband. They started out as best friends...and then...
"Is everything okay with ya'?" Izzie asked as she saw the changing expression on the trauma surgeons face.
"Yup, I'm fine. I'm happy for you and Cedric, really," April ensured her with a slight smile.
They now entered the NICU and Izzie's smile brightened when she looked at the little babies. She even squealed a little when she looked at the tiny humans, which made the trauma surgeon chuckle.
After the new OB/Gyn surgeon got to know her new arena they made their way down to the new pit. Just when they arrived the nurse Bella announced:
"Car crash with four casualties is four minutes out."
Since Chief Hunt wasn't here, April took the lead and yelled:
"Wilson, Brooks, Murphy, Ross and Edwards! Come with me and Dr. Rivera!"
"You like bossing around, don't ya?" Izzie inquired chuckling while following April out.
April turned her head to her with a mischievously smile and answered:
"Oh, I do indeed!"
They both grabbed a trauma gown and headed to the bay.
"So, what's new with the board of directors?"
"Oh, yeah sure! After the plane crash our hospital was about to close because it nearly broke, but the Harper Avery Foundation founded our hospital with the condition that a board of directors will be created."
"And who's in the board? I mean just in case I have to kiss somebody's ass," Izzie joked while she tied her gown.
"Well, Meredith and Christina, Derek, Arizona, Callie and Jackson are on the board. The first five and the Harper Avery Foundation bought the hospital, with the condition by the foundation that a representative of its choosing would be sitting in the board. Yeah, this brought Jackson into the position as the director of the board of directors," April explained to her.
"Woah, that sounds complicated. Why did this Jackson guy came into the board?"
"He was the one the Foundation chose, most likely because he's the grandson of Harper Avery."
"Seriously? Well, then -," Izzie started but was interrupted by the sirens of the ambulance.
The first ambulance opened and the paramedic Nicole came out and announced:
"Anabell Breslin, 32, suffers from a head trauma, went unconscious. Six months pregnant and maybe suffers from abdominal injuries. Sat in the driver's seat and her head and belly had crushed with the steering wheel because airbag didn't popped up. Blood pressure 120/70 mmHg"
"Dr. Rivera and I take her. Let's get her to the Lodox!" April determined and rushed her along with Izzie in the ER.
"Get me a portable ultrasound scanner!" Izzie called out just when they passed the nurse station.
With the help of the nurses Tyler and Manson they lifted Anabell up on the Lodox and caught the x-ray vests.
April went to the control station and after the magical thirteen seconds they got a full-body x-ray.
"We have to look at the X-Ray afterwards, I have to look after the baby. Let's take her to the trauma room 2," Izzie yelled to over sound the painful screams from the pit.
April nodded and they put her back on the stretcher to move her to the trauma room. On their way the trauma surgeon checked her eyes with the penlight. Her right eye had a minor problem with following so she ordered:
"Page Shepherd for trauma room 2!"
After Anabell finally laid on the stretcher in the trauma room Izzie took the ultrasound scanner and held it on the belly. In the trauma room it was silent and after a few minutes the neonatal surgeon announced with a sad expression:
"The baby...she's dead."
April sighed and shook her head. A moment later she eventually said with a husky voice:
"Well, let's get her to the CT-scan to look for her abdomen and afterwards to the MRI."
Just in time Derek showed up room and noticed the oppressive silence.
"What happened?"
"The baby's dead. But we wanted to bring the mom up to the MRI and CT-scan to check on her possible abdominal injuries," Izzie explained smiling when she saw Derek Shepherd again.
"Izzie, nice to see you back! But what's up with the patient?"
"Her right eye is a little bit slow, she maybe suffers from a brain hemorrhage," April answered this time and rolled Anabell a little bit in the direction of the door.
"Okay, then let's get her up there," Derek said and helped the redhead with the stretcher.
The surgery went well, if you disregard that they delivered a dead baby. Anabell had a minor brain hemorrhage which Derek was able to fix quickly, a spleen rupture which April took care of after Izzie delivered the deceased tiny human.
After the surgery April and Izzie were the only ones to remain in the scrub room when they both scrubbed out.
"Do you wanna go to Joe's after work?" Izzie asked while she dried her hands.
"Yeah, that would be great," April answered. During the surgery they had talked about god and the world, Izzie was a really nice person.
But suddenly a memory popped up in April's head. Actually she should babysit Sofia because Callie and Arizona wanted to go out and she sighed.
"Oh damn it. Actually I should have babysit Sofia tonight. You think we could go tomorrow?"
"Oh, what a pity. Well, yeah we could."
Suddenly April remembered Jackson saying to her, that he'd owe her something. Why couldn't she just ask him to take care of Sofia?
"You know what? I ask Jackson to take care of Sofia, he owes me something, so we could go to Joe's tonight!" April explained cheerfully.
"Jackson! Hey, wait a second!" April called out when she saw Jackson at the other end of the hallway.
He turned around and smiled when he saw the redhead walking towards him. Izzie followed her and greeted Jackson firmly.
"What's up?"
"I need you to babysit Sofia tonight, because Izzie and I wanted to go out," April explained while smiling at Izzie.
"Ehm...yeah, sure. When will I have to pick her up?"
"At six o' clock at the daycare. I'll inform Callie that you'll take care of her, okay?" April reassured him gleefully.
"Okay, I'll be there."
"Thank you so, so much!" April squealed and kissed him on the cheek and left with a curiously looking Izzie.
She needed to know what was going on between the two doctors.
"Hey, Sofia, it's me, Jackson," The plastic surgeon murmured smiling when he picked he up at the daycare.
"Mommy? Mama?" Sofia asked looking for her moms.
"You mommy's out on a date so I take care of you, okay?" Jackson explained and hoisted her on his hip. She rested her head on his shoulder and played with the collar of his navy long-sleeved shirt.
The way to his condo next to the Kinnear Park went smooth, they had baby-talk conversation and the giggles of Sofia were adorable. When they entered his condo he first brought her to the kitchen to get her something to eat.
"So, what do you want to eat?" Jackson's voice came from the fridge when he put out a bundle of carrots and a few apples.
Sofia pointed at the apples, so Jackson put them in the mixer to make her pap.
One and a half hours later Jackson woke up by the knocking on his door. Sofia had fallen asleep some time ago on his chest so he carefully placed her on his wide couch.
He opened the door and found a puffy from crying Callie. Her mascara was slightly blurred and you were able to see the tear stains.
"Oh! Come in...," Jackson said confused and put one hand on her shoulder.
When she entered the foyer he asked sympathetic:
"What happened?"
Now, Callie started to cry again. Jackson wasn't sure what he should do, but he then decided to hug her. She clenched his torso and sobbed:
"Arizona cheated on me."
Yeah, I decided to put the Calzona cheating into this fanfic, hope you're okay with it.
It would be awesome if you leave a suggestions for the next chapter or more important a review.
The next chapter will be updated on sunday and be prepared...^^