New Chapters up. FYI Lexie's new name is Allison, so to avoid confusion that's the name I use when writing about her. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 15: Where does the time go?
Five years later, Doctor Allison Scott, formerly known as Lexie Grey closed her eyes and focused on not crushing the arms on her seat when the 747 engines roared as it took off from London's Heathrow Airport. She knew that being an immortal, this irrational fear of flying should have gone away, but she still cringed every time she got in an airplane. Hearing a chuckle, to her right, Allison relaxed her grip and opened her eyes to look at the smiling man sitting directly opposite from her in first class.
"Not much of a flyer, huh?" he joked as he took in her appearance from head to toe. She was a gorgeous woman wearing a cream colored cashmere sweater with her tight jeans tucked into tall boots. Her long dark hair looked like silk as she pushed it back behind her ear and his breath caught as he looked into the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"No, I'm not much of a flyer…. I had a really bad experience a few years ago." She replied politely with her soft British accent, knowing that she was once again being hit on. Allison had noticed that he was very handsome, but she could tell that he was type of person that used his looks to his advantage… probably inside the bed and out. Basically, he was flirting with her to get into her pants.
"Oh, well that's too bad. I fly so much for business…. I'm the Vice President of one of the top ten Multimedia companies in the US… that it's become second nature to me. My name is Maxwell Richardson, by the way." He bragged reaching across the aisle to shake her hand.
Mentally she sighed realizing that this was going to be a long flight. With her vampire senses, she could tell from the change in his heartbeat and the rush of blood going toward his lower extremities that he was seriously turned on by the thought of touching her. Reaching out her hand, she quickly returned his handshake and replied "Allison Scott."
Disappointed that she hadn't held his hand longer, he continued flirting; confident that before the end of this trip, he would be initiating her in the mile high club. He knew she was young, probably a college student, but damn he wanted her so bad it hurt.
"So.. Allison, are you headed to New York for business or pleasure, because I would love to show you around to some of the local hot spots, then maybe go out to dinner and back to my place."
"Actually, I'm not staying in New York… I have to catch a connecting flight to San Francisco tomorrow, so I can take my oral medical boards." She replied, still trying to be polite.
"Really?" he asked, "I bet you look sexy in a little nurse's uniform."
"I'm not a nurse; I'm a Doctor studying to be a Neurosurgeon." She answered shortly; there was no way she was going to be able to put up with this guy for the trip back to the States.
"Oh God," he mumbled shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Would I love to play Doctor with you."
Luckily, she became distracted from thoughts about ripping off his head when the pilot announced that seatbelts could be removed and electronic devices turned back on. Standing up she was reaching into the overhead, when she felt him grab her ass. Softly snarling, she turned around in a blink of an eye and sent a small electrical jolt through her fingertip to his temple and watched as he slumped into his seat, unconscious. Smiling now that the annoying man would be unconscious for several hours she turned back around to pull her briefcase from the overhead before making her way up to a Stewardess to request a seat change. A few minutes later she was sitting several aisles away and pulled out her computer to research possible hospitals that she knew would be interested in offering her a fellowship.
Almost 20 hours after leaving London, she arrived at the hotel, checked-in and made her way to the room. Putting her luggage down, she surveyed the room then went to the window to look at the Golden Gate Bridge. 'This is surreal,' she thought to herself. 'Had there not been a plane crash, I would have come here to do my Oral boards four years ago as Doctor Lexie Grey.' Moving away from the window she gathered her clothes and got into the shower for the meet and greet, being held downstairs in the conference room. Once ready, she looked at the woman staring back at her in the mirror and shook her head; the younger face and body still surprised her since she looked 24 instead of her actual age of 33. As a human she knew she was cute, some even called her pretty but being turned into an immortal had changed her into a stunningly beautiful young woman, which is why she kept getting hit on by strange men.
Heading downstairs, she reached the conference room and followed the rest of the newcomers toward a table that held a hundred or more nametags lined up alphabetically. Finding her name, she continued following the group in front of her until they reached the bar running along the back wall and ordered a glass of Tequila and lime. Moving away she began looking for somewhere to sit, but almost dropped her drink when a young black man blindly swung around and bumped into her arm.
"Oh gosh!" he said grabbing a napkin off a table to begin awkwardly wiping the Tequila off of her arm. "I'm so sorry…. It's so crazy in here I didn't see you!"
"That's okay." She said, smiling as she took the napkin and finished cleaning up.
"No it's my fault! What were you drinking, I'll go get you another one?" he asked earnestly.
"No, really…. I still have half a glass. I'm good." Allison insisted in her soft British accent.
"Oh…Okay, if you're sure." He said with a friendly smile and reached out his hand. "Oh by the way, I'm Shane Ross."
"Allison Scott, It's nice to meet you." She replied, returning his handshake.
"So are with a group of residents from your hospital?" Shane asks.
"No actually, I'm the only resident from my hospital. That's why I was looking for an open chair."
"Well then why don't you sit with me and my friends?" Shane asked excitedly.
"Okay… Sure lead the way." She gestured and followed him to a table, where four women sat. Mentally sighing in relief that he was being honestly friendly, she waited to be introduced.
"Hey guys! This is Allison Scott… She's on her own, so I asked her to sit with us." Pointing to each woman from left to right, Shane began introductions.
"Allison, these are my friends…. Jo Wilson, Heather Brooks, Stephanie Edwards and Leah Murphy; we're all residents from Grey Memorial Hospital in Seattle."
"Grey Memorial?" she asks startled by the name and the realization that she was sitting with Doctors, she would have worked with; if not for the crash.
"Oh wow…. Love your accent." Heather gushed before continuing. "Yeah when we started as interns it was called Seattle Grace Mercy West, but then there was an accident where several of the Attending's were injured and one was killed. So they sued the hospital and then bought it with their settlement money. They renamed it for the Doctor that was killed."
"Yeah, I guess it was Medusa's little sister that was killed, but she wasn't an Attending, she was just a resident. I think her name was Doctor Lexie Grey." Said Leah; adding her own bit of gossip.
"Medusa?" Allison giggled, picturing Meredith with snakes for her hair.
"Yeah, that's what we called the new Attending General Surgeon, Meredith Grey." Stephanie interjected. "Cause everyone froze in fear anytime she looked at you… God she can be harsh."
"Oh, come on Steph! She's gotten better since having kids." Jo interrupted before taking a drink of her beer.
'Meredith has kids? She stayed in Seattle?' Allison thought and leaned forward hoping to hear more about her sister, but was disappointed when they began to ask her questions.
"So Allison, where did you do your Residency?" asks Jo.
"I was at St. George's Hospital in Tooting, England." She responded before taking a sip of her Tequila.
"That explains the accent." Heather giggled, "Why are you taking your boards in the States?"
"Well, my sister and her family have just moved to Montana, so by moving here I could visit them more than once a year. I really miss not having family close by." Taking another drink she continued. "Besides, I'm hoping to get a fellowship to specialize in Neurosurgery and since five of the best Neurosurgeon's in the world are in this country, it seemed like a good idea."
"I'm specializing in Neuro, too!" Shane said excitedly. "I've been working under Doctor Shepherd…. He's like awesome!"
"Has he offered you a fellowship at Grey's?" she curiously asked.
"No, because he knew I wanted to head back to my hometown in Chicago to be closer to my family. So I'm hoping to get a fellowship at Northwestern." He said smiling, and then frowned as he thought about tomorrow's meeting with the examiners. "Of course, that all depends if I pass my boards."
Everyone remained in quiet contemplation for a few minutes, until a waiter came by to take all of their food orders. Sitting with the group for another hour, Allison picked at the food before having the waiter put it in a too- go container and then took each of their phone numbers before saying goodbye. Making her way to the Lobby to go for a walk, she was looking down at a text sent by Alice when she bumped into an older woman.
"I'm so sorry! Not only should I not drive while texting…. I guess I shouldn't walk either." Allison joked.
"Oh Sugar, don't you worry about that, accidents happen." Catherine Avery smiled while taking a good look at the young woman, who looked too young to be a 5th year. "Are you here to take your boards tomorrow?"
"Ah, yes…. Doctor Allison Scott." She said smiling politely.
"Oh my…. Are you the Resident from St George's Hospital in England that was awarded the Young Doctor's Award last year?" Catherine asked in excitement.
"Yes, that was me." She said slightly embarrassed to be recognized.
"Well then I am simply ecstatic that we bumped into each other! My name is Doctor Catherine Avery… I'm an attending from Mass Gen out of Boston and the Co-chairman of the Harper Avery Foundation. We were under the impression by your Attending, Doctor Radcliffe that you were going to continue your Fellowship at St George and would not be interested in coming to the States."
"Yes….well… Doctor Radcliffe is unaware that I've come over here to take my boards. He has been a bit difficult since I told him that I would like to study with another Neurosurgeon during my Fellowship and has been telling everyone that I'm staying in England. He doesn't seem to understand that I have family over here and would like to spend more time with them."
"Oh Well, his loss is our gain! Will you be staying in the States for a little while after taking your boards?"
"Yes, I'm going to visit my sister and her family in Montana for a few weeks."
"That's perfect! Give me your phone number and I'm positive once the Administrator at Mass Gen hears that you are available, they will be calling you for an interview. In fact, I'm sure once the rest of the examiners hear you're here for the test, your phone will be ringing off of the hook!" She laughed and watched as the young woman walk over to the front desk and write down her information on a paper. 'Oh my… she's practically a baby.' Catherine thought to herself. 'It's hard to believe, that this young woman could one day be one of the best Neurosurgeons in the world.'
Catherine smiled widely as Allison handed her the phone number. "Thank you so much, Sweetheart. You get to bed soon and Good Luck tomorrow!"
Allison smiled and waved goodbye before walking out of the hotel to make her way down the street.
'Holy Crap!' she thought to herself, it's no wonder why Jackson had sent her on a trip to visit Molly the week his mother had come to Seattle to do a surgery. She's a force of nature that can either suck you in or blow you away. It's a good thing she never met me as Lexie Grey… or that would have been an interesting conversation.' Seeing a homeless man sitting next to a building, she bent over and handed him her uneaten meal before making her way back to the hotel to call the Cullen's and let them know she was coming for a visit.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel; Catherine Avery had met up with her boyfriend Richard Webber and was excitedly telling him about her chance encounter with the young doctor.
"Catherine, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this resident….. Of course, I'm not the Chief anymore, so I don't need to keep up with interviewing potential Fellowship candidates." Richard said.
"Sweetheart, I know you don't care about this stuff anymore. But if I was you, I would call Derek Shepherd right now and find out if he would be interested to know that Doctor Allison Scott is here to take her oral boards tomorrow."
"It's really late, Catherine… he's probably sleeping." Richard hesitated.
"Baby…trust me…. He'll want to know." she said handing him the phone. "I'm going to get ready for bed, meet you there."
"Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes." He said and gave her a kiss, then began dialing Derek's number.
"Hey, Derek. It's Richard." He continued as Derek asked sleepily what was going on. "I've just got one question for you… how excited would you be to know the Doctor Allison Scott is here right now to take her oral boards?"
Richard had to pull the phone away from his ear as Derek started yelling excitedly that he was very interested in this young resident. Richard smiled and gave him the phone number Catherine had provided and promised that he would try to meet with the young woman after her boards to let her know that Grey Memorial Hospital was very interested in interviewing her for a fellowship. Hanging up the phone, Richard was chuckling when he climbed into bed with Catherine.
"You were right, Shepherd was very excited about Doctor Scott being here." He said wrapping his arms around her. "You'll have to point her out to me, so I can meet her."
"I told you so." She giggled as she snuggled deeper into his chest.
The next day ended up being a very long one, especially for the residents going in front of examiners during three separate sessions over several hours. Exhausted, the Grey Memorial residents sat down on the couches out in the hotel lobby.
"Oh my God, that was just…. Brutal!" whined Jo as she lifted her sweat dampened blouse off of her skin with a grimace.
"My brain feels like mush." Stephanie mumbled, as she held her head in hands.
"That was…that wasn't a test… it was an interrogation." Leah moaned as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the couch. The rest just sat in silence, numbed by the day's events. Seeing the group sitting in the Lobby, Allison smiled and made her way over to her new friends.
"Hey, how did it go?" she asked giving each a friendly smile.
"Ugg, how do you do that?" Heather asks as she looks toward Allison.
"Do what?" Allison asks confused by the question.
"Look perfect! I've got a knot in my stomach the size of my fist; my clothes feel like they're stuck to my body and my brain feels like it's been pureed in a blender. You just went through the same torture as the rest of us, but you don't look frazzled or even tired by today's sessions!"
Chuckling, Allison just shrugged her shoulders. "I just decided not to worry about it. If I don't pass here, I can still head back to England to take the boards there."
"Oh not fair." Sighed Shane, but then moaned as he saw Doctors Avery and Webber heading their way.
"Yohoo! Doctor Scott?" called Catherine. Turning toward the woman, she watched her approach, but kept her features calm when she saw a familiar face standing behind her. He had a shocked look on his face.
"Oh Sweetheart, I'm so happy we caught you before you left." Gesturing toward Richard, she continued. "I wanted to introduce you to Doctor Richard Webber, he's an attending at Grey Memorial Hospital and he would like to speak with you."
Doctor Webber had remained in stunned silence while the Catherine had introduced him to the young Doctor; pulling himself together he reached out to shake her hand and felt a small jolt a familiarity when she returned his handshake.
"Hello, Doctor Scott. I hope you don't mind but Doctor Avery told me of your plans to complete your Fellowship here in the States and I contacted my head of Neurosurgery, Doctor Derek Shepherd. He has asked me to extend an invitation for you to visit the Grey Memorial Hospital in Seattle to review his Fellowship program. Can I provide him with your phone number to set up a meeting in a week or so?"
"Oh… Sure, that would be wonderful. I've heard of Doctor Shepherd's program from his resident Doctor Ross, it would be an honor to meet with him." Allison replied, and then looked down at her watch. "Oh, I'm sorry but I have to hurry to catch my plane. Please have someone call me to set up an appointment. It was pleasure to meet with you both." Turning back to the Grey residents, who were all staring at her with shocked looks, she said. "Thank you for letting me hang out with you all last night; maybe we can get together soon."
Watching her leave, Richard just shook his head in disbelief.
"Richard, what's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." Catherine asks reaching out to put a comforting hand on his arm.
"I feel like I just have…. That girl looks exactly like Lexie Grey." He said sadly, remembering how they lost her five years ago.
"Meredith's sister, Lexie?" Catherine says, putting a hand over her heart in surprise and watches Richard nod in acknowledgement, then they both watch as the girl gets on the elevator.
"Oh my." She whispers.