Sorry this is a few days late, I had a medical procedure done and I was pretty loopy until the medicine wore off! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 16: She Wants To Go Home
After arriving at Glacier National Park Airport in Montana, Allison drove her rental car through the small town of Whitefish until she reached the new home for the Cullen family. Getting out of the car she took in the large log cabin nestled among the trees at the base of a gorgeous mountain range and smiled at the peaceful setting.
"Lexie!" squealed Alice shattering the quiet as she burst out of the front door and ran to wrap her arms around her sister. "I couldn't believe it when I had a vision of you coming back to the States; it's been so long since I've seen you!"
"I've missed you too, Alice!" she laughed, giving the smaller woman a hug, then turned to give Jasper a hug since he followed Alice out of the house. Looking behind them, she could see a smiling Carlisle and Esme walking toward her.
"Welcome back, Sweetheart!" said Esme, giving her daughter a hug. "It's good to have you home"
Releasing Esme, she turned and walked into Carlisle's outstretched arms. "Ahh Lexie, you know when I said you had to hide from the Volturi, it didn't mean you had to remain invisible to us. You could have come back for a visit sooner." He said stroking her hair down her back.
"Oh, I know Carlisle. But it was so painful at first, with everything that had happened and then I just got so busy completing my Residency… the time just flew by." She relied, and then chuckled. "Besides, it's not like you all haven't visited me since I've been away. Rosalie and Emmett stopped by six months ago and didn't leave for two weeks!"
"So where's everyone else?" she asked, looking over their shoulders toward the house.
"Well, since Alice couldn't provide an exact date of when you were going to arrive, Rosalie and Emmett went into Canada to hunt." Jasper said while pulling her luggage out of the car.
"As for Edward, Bella, and Reneesmee, they're in Forks trying to finish packing up their house, but they should arrive next week." Carlisle said as he put his arm around Lexie's waist and propelled her toward the house.
Going inside, she stopped in the foyer to take in the spacious living room decorated in warm earth tones with a roaring fire blazing in the fire place. Off to the left was a large walk in kitchen and dining room and a staircase to the upstairs floor.
"It's beautiful. Did you buy it or have it built?" she asked Esme.
"We bought it, but had some modifications done. Alice can you show Lexie to her room?" Esme said while giving Lexie a kiss on her cheek. "If you don't like how I've decorated your room, just let me know and we can go shopping to get what you want."
"Esme, why would you keep a room for me? I didn't even plan to come back here until a few days ago." She asked surprised.
Esme lovingly put her hand to Lexie's cheek. "Sweetheart, I know it was very hard for you to accept us and your new life after you were changed. But you are our daughter and no matter what happens in the future, there will always be a room for you in this family and our home." Lexie smiled gratefully at Esme and whispered a soft, "Thank you."
"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Alice said and then chuckled. "Love the British accent, by the way."
"Sorry, it's a habit now; I didn't realize I was still using it." She giggled, switching back to her American accent and followed her up the stairs.
Two hours later, Rosalie and Emmett had returned from their trip and they were all sitting around the fireplace asking Lexie questions about her life in England.
"Lexie, please don't take this the wrong way, because I'm very happy that you have finally come to visit us." Carlisle started, then asked. "But why are you here? You still have two more years of specialized training as a fellow before becoming a board certified Neurosurgeon."
"Well I was originally going to stay at St Georges for both my residency and fellowship, but I'm not happy with my instructor, Doctor Radcliff's teaching quality." Lexie began, "A few months ago, I let him know that after my residency I would be accepting a Fellowship program with a different hospital; preferably in the States, since it has five of the best programs in the world. Well I guess he didn't like that idea because I found out two weeks ago that he has been rejecting all of the requests from other hospitals to set up appointments for me to review their programs." Standing up she walked over to the fire to watch the flames before continuing.
"Needless to say, I was very upset. But confronting him about his underhanded methods would do no good, since he's determined to keep me in his program. So I contacted the American Medical Board of Surgery on my own to submit an application to take their Oral Boards. And once I received the approval letter; I called the hospital to let them know that I had a family emergency and had to take two weeks off." Turning away from the fireplace, Lexie sat back down and was about to continue, when Esme asked.
"When are you supposed to take this test?"
"I actually flew into San Francisco to go in front of the Boards yesterday and I received confirmation this morning that I passed."
"So what happens now? Do you contact the hospitals that have the fellowship programs you are interested in?" asked Rosalie.
"Actually, I bumped into one of the interviewers from Boston who recognized my name and she told me that once word got around that I was interested in pursuing a Fellowship program here, I would have several interview offers by the end of the week. And she's right; so far I've received calls from Mass Gen, UHC, Stanford, Harvard and Grey Memorial."
"Wait… Grey Memorial? That's the new name for Seattle Grace Mercy West; the hospital you originally began your residency as Lexie Grey." Carlisle said.
"Yes it is." She said, "But in my defense, I didn't know about the name change until the boards."
"Lexie, you can't seriously be considering interviewing there?" Carlisle said with a warning tone. "It's too risky, you could be recognized."
"Carlisle, I'm not even sure if I'm going to accept the interview yet, but if I do it will be my decision not yours." Standing up she began to pace before continuing. "It's been 5 years since the plane crash and most of the people I once knew may now be gone… things change…. I've changed. Becoming an immortal has altered my appearance; the face and body I see in the mirror every day looks similar, but is decidedly different. I look younger, with flawless unscarred skin and light brown eyes; my hair is darker with more curls and when I speak it's with soft British accent, that doesn't ramble when I get nervous."
Lexie stops pacing to face her family, "I am a different person and anyone who knew Lexie Grey before the crash will see that. Please trust me, no matter what I decide…. I will be careful."
Carlisle looked away from Lexie's serious face to his wife and other children; they all nodded in agreement. Standing up, he took her hand in his before carefully choosing the right words to say.
"Lexie, we do trust you. So let me try to explain why out of all of my children, I worry about you the most." He said watching as a confused expression flitted across her face.
"I was created around the 1500's and followed the expected norms on how an immortal should exist by hiding in the shadows and feeding on humans. For the most part that is how most exist even today; some are nomadic and live day to day, some join into small groups that mark territories and hunt the humans inside those boundaries as if they were cattle and then there are the Volturi, who have grown so powerful that they have their victims brought to them. But the common factor for all that exist on human blood, is that they still have to hide in the shadows to avoid detection and I lived like that for hundreds of years, until I got tired of seeing the fear and suffering on my victims faces as I drained their lives. So I began taking animal blood and fought my baser instincts to begin helping humans by becoming a healer and then a doctor as medicine progressed. It was during the Influenza epidemic of 1910 that I realized I wanted more… I wanted a family; so I saved Edward, Esme and then a few decades later, Rosalie. I taught them how to fight the blood lust and adapt, so that we can live among humans instead of hiding from them." Carlisle stopped then gestured toward the outside forest surrounding the house.
"Look around you, Lexie, our home is isolated and several miles away from the nearest human. The hospital I'm practicing in is small and gets minimal attention from the outside world; the kids go to a local High School with only a few hundred students, so it's easy to pull them out if we need to leave quickly. We have adapted, but we are still in the shadows; living on the outskirts of humanity."
"You on the other hand, are not hiding from anything." he says smiling. "You are a child of this modern world, where the need to adapt is faster because everything from human behavior to technology can change in a second. After becoming an immortal, you learned how to control your blood lust and powers in a few weeks, so that you could move beyond this family to your goal of becoming a Neurosurgeon."
Putting his hands on her shoulders, he says proudly. "Lexie, I worry because you are the first of our kind that has truly stepped out of the shadows to face humanity and aspire to do something more than survival…. I worry because I don't know how to protect you."
"Carlisle," Lexie said looking at Carlisle, then to the rest of the Cullen's sitting around the fire. "I understand the need to protect your family and I'm honored to be a part of it, but no matter how hard a parent tries to protect their child, you can't always keep them safe. All you can do is provide guidance and offer them your support….. Please just give me your support no matter what I decide."
"You will always have our support." Esme said standing up to give Lexie a hug.
"Hey Lex?" Emmett said interrupting the somber moment.
"Yes Emmett?" she replied looking over to the tallest Cullen.
"You know that whole support thing also includes your big brothers willingness to kick the ass of anyone who decides to bother you, right?" Emmett said with a serious but hopeful tone in his voice, unable to stop herself she began to laugh, until the rest of the family began to join in.
Back in Seattle, Richard Webber made his way through the corridors of Grey Memorial Hospital until he reached Derek Shepherd's office and knocked and waited for a reply before entering. Looking up from the file he was working on, Derek smiled at his old friend standing in the doorway.
"Richard, Welcome back! How did our Residents do this year?"
"They did well, all of them passed." Richard reported happily before continuing. "I just wanted to stop by and ask if you've heard back from Doctor Scott in regards to interviewing for your fellowship program."
"No, not yet, but I'm hopeful. In fact I'm getting things together, so that I have a few complicated cases for her to review." Derek replied, excited at the thought of working with one of the most promising resident to come along in years.
"Derek…..about Doctor Scott," Richard began uncomfortably. "I think you should be aware, that I met her before leaving the hotel and she honestly almost gave me a heart attack."
"What… Why?" Derek asks confused. "Is there a problem?"
"No… No… It's just that….she looks enough like Lexie Grey that I thought I was seeing a ghost. I swear Derek… I've never seen anything like it." Richard said trying to explain how Doctor Scott's appearance had shaken him.
"You're kidding, right?" Derek chuckled while leaning forward, not really believing Richards description of the Fellowship candidate.
"No, I would never joke about something like this." He replied seriously. "This young woman could in all honestly been mistaken for Lexie's twin. Granted there are noticeable differences; she's younger about 23 or 24; her eyes are a light golden brown and of course she has a British accent. But the rest… the color of her hair, her height, and even her smile looks the same. It was pretty startling to meet her."
Realizing that Richard was telling the truth, Derek rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.
"Wow, I just don't know how to respond to this kind of information…. I mean I've heard stories about people that look like each other, even though they are not family; they're called doppelgangers."
Standing up Derek moved away from his desk to begin pacing. "Richard, according to her files she is an amazing Doctor and to have her accept our fellowship offer, would be a huge boon for our hospital." Stopping he faced Doctor Webber and asked, "What do I do? I really want this girl in our program, but I don't want it to be uncomfortable for her or anyone who knew Lexie."
"Well I guess the first thing we should do is wait to see if Doctor Scott's even interested in Grey Memorial's program." replied Richard, "If she is, then we set up a meeting before she arrives, with everyone that remembers Doctor Grey and explain the situation. Hopefully that will alleviate any uncomfortable situations that might occur. Of course the only wildcards would be Meredith and Mark; I'll let you deal with them."
Sighing, Derek wearily looked at Richard and thought, 'Fate can be such a fickle bitch.'