A/N: A quick one shot. Canon divergent but includes some spoilers for Season 21 of Grey's Anatomy.
0o0
Doctor Beltran looked at the MRI scans as they came through. Her frown deepened and deepened further.
"Wow," Adams noted quietly. "That's…is that…?"
"Yes." She frowned and crossed her arms across her chest as she witnessed the huge mass, encompassing one of the vertebrates of the six year old's spine.
"We weren't expecting this, were we?" Adams asked confused.
"No. We weren't. Page Bailey and Shepherd."
"Shepherd's not in," he admitted, walking out of the room quickly to follow his instruction.
Five minutes later, Bailey had joined them to stare at the scans. Bailey took a large, deep breath. "Well damn. You paged Shepherd?"
"She isn't in," Lucas informed her.
"I repeat," Bailey said with a stricter tone, "Have you paged Shepherd?"
"She isn't on call," Lucas said seriously. "She has a full day off. Personal day. She isn't available."
Bailey stopped completely and turned towards him. She took a good look at Beltran, who looked slightly surprised and confused.
"A personal day?" Bailey asked sceptically.
"Yeah," Adams held his ground. "Unavailable."
"Since when does our Chief of Neuro have 'personal days'?" Bailey asked annoyed.
"Since they're written in our contracts?" Adams answered, confused at the question.
"Page. Shepherd," Bailey stated.
"There's no point. Her phone's off the whole day," Adams gulped, trying to stand his ground. At Bailey's sceptical look he added, "She told me."
"If you're lying," Bailey raised her finger and pointed at him.
"How can we contact her then?" Beltran asked seriously. She looked between the two of them, seeing resignation in Lucas' eyes.
"Adams! Spit it out before I lose my patience!" Bailey barked.
"This is you being patient?" he asked seriously, getting a tiny smirk from Beltran. "She has the whole day off. Personal day. Do not disturb. Meredith is in for a couple of days and Amelia's spending the day with her. I don't know the details but I know…" he sighed, "I know Meredith told me to have more patience with Amelia this week and not to worry if she was a little out of character. She said if I got concerned or saw anything to concern me to phone her straight away. So I think the personal day is for a reason."
Beltran and Bailey both frowned at the message.
"Doctor Shepherd does not take personal days," Bailey muttered to herself, thinking hard.
"I've never known her not to be on call either," Beltran muttered, looking between the two of them.
"Is Lincoln or Hunt in?" Bailey asked, looking between them.
"Lincoln's in the OR," Beltran filled her in. "Hunt's in the ER."
0o0
"Doctor Hunt, I need a moment of your time," Bailey said politely. He turned, away to tell her to wait in line before he saw her face. "What is it?"
"Doctor Shepherd. She's taken a personal day and turned off her phone. Why?"
Beltran looked confused at her question as Adams stood awkwardly at the back of the group.
"Because she wanted a day off without you or Catherine Fox shouting at her?" he replied with an easy shrug.
Bailey glowered more, "Meredith's in town. She's warned Adams to keep an eye out for any suspecting behaviour…"
"She didn't say that!" Lucas protested, "She just said that Doctor Shepherd might be a little out of character this week."
"So, why are we worried?" Hunt asked, picking up his tablet. "Surely, she's entitled to a day off?"
"We have a six year old with a severe benign tumour encapsulating a vertebrae and part of the spinal nerve. It isn't what was expected and we could be looking at full paralysis," Beltran explained.
"So? Come on. You were married to the woman. Why is this week a special week?" Bailey asked. "It isn't the week that Derek died, he was later in the year."
No one noticed Beltran's eyebrows raise and her mouth fall open slightly at this piece of information. She did not picture Hunt and Shepherd as a past couple, especially when they seemed to get on so well now.
Hunt paused, his brow creasing with thought before he shook his head.
"Just page her," he said simply.
"Her phone's off! What part of this have you actually listened to?" Bailey exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and walking off.
0o0
Lucas stood shuffling from foot to foot at the back of the scans room. He watched as Bailey, Beltran, Hunt, Altman and Kwan looked through the scans, all speaking at once.
Beltran turned and fixed her eyes to him, walking over as the rest continued to theorise.
"You know something…" Beltran said seriously.
Lucas' jaw tensed as he considered his words.
"There's a good chance she's going to be paralysed even if we get Doctor Shepherd, isn't there?" he asked resigned.
Beltran nodded slowly. "Doctor Shepherd's a bit of a miracle worker but this is extreme. I've never seen someone come back from this before."
Lucas took a deep breath and turned and left the room. Watching him for a moment, Beltran followed, catching up with him when he reached the elevator.
"Where are you going?" she checked.
"Doctor Grey said they'd be in Doctor Shepherd's lab if I needed them in an emergency," he admitted quietly, stepping in and pressing the correct floor.
Following Adams, Beltran's eyebrows raised as she looked through the glass wall at the small Neurology lab. She wasn't aware that it existed but she was impressed with the information which was splashed around on screens, whiteboards and printouts. She was aware that Doctor Shepherd's reputation proceeded her but to see her in action still took her by surprise with how good she really was. She wasn't just good; she was innovative and modest too.
In the middle of the Neurology lab sat two Doctors. Doctor Grey had a pair of glasses on, clutching a paper cup of coffee as she spoke across the bench at Doctor Shepherd.
She'd never seen Doctor Shepherd look so casual before, dressed in an oversized hoody, jeans and sneakers with her hair down and a cup clasped between her hands. She had never met the infamous Doctor Grey either but she was surprised to find the woman sitting in an oversized Dartmouth hoody with a serene smile on her face.
She was brought out of her stupor when Adams knocked quietly on the door, bringing the attention of both Doctors around to them. She watched Adams inch the door open and apologise.
"Hey, um, sorry for interrupting. I know you wanted the day completely off," he said seriously.
"It's fine Lucas, what is it?" Meredith asked calmly, sipping her coffee.
"There's a six year old girl in for a tumour removal. Benign. The latest scans show that it's encompassing T11 and part of the spinal chord. It looks like it could cause paralysis if it's removed but it's huge…the tumour that is. Everyone's looking at the scans but no one really knows what to do. They wanted to page you," he looked at Doctor Shepherd, "But I explained your phone was off." He took a breath. "They don't know I'm here, other than Doctor Beltran who followed me, but I thought you'd maybe manage to come down and have a look, please?"
Doctor Shepherd looked at the honesty and hope in her nephew's face, before glancing at Doctor Beltran who held her eyes.
"Amelia?" Meredith asked quietly, looking over at her. "You don't have to, you know that right?"
"I know," Amelia chuckled dryly, "But we both know my conscious isn't going to let me ignore it."
She sighed deeply, standing up with her coffee cup still in hand.
"You're coming, by the way," she smirked over at Meredith.
"I expected nothing less," she teased, standing up. "I'll need privileges though."
"Yeah, well, if they aren't granted then I'm not doing it. Not today," Amelia said softly.
Amelia and Meredith followed Beltran and Adams along the corridors and down the lift in silence. Beltran shuffled a little, uncomfortable at the silence, as Adams looked between his aunts wondering what exactly was going on. Reaching the scan room, Beltran opened up the door to a colossal noise.
Looking around the room, Amelia rose her voice and shouted.
"Everyone out!" she ordered firmly.
Everyone stopped speaking and turned to look at her.
"If I'm looking at this on my personal day then everyone out." When everyone stood there looking at her, she shouted and pointed to the door. "Go!"
The now complete group of interns trotted out the door first, a little surprised at the order but knowing not to cross Shepherd. As Adams went to join them, Amelia stuck her hand out to stop him.
"You and Meredith are staying. Everyone else out," she nodded at the door.
Although surprised, Bailey, Altman, Hunt and Link headed for the door. She appreciated it when Owen stopped in front of her, asking if she was okay while she nodded at him. Amelia then looked at Beltran and nodded at the door as she had failed to move.
Opening her mouth to protest, Bailey's hand on Beltran's shoulder pushed her towards the door, hinting to her to go without argument.
Amelia took a deep breath and exhaled as the door swung closed.
"You okay?" Meredith checked easily.
"Yup. Just want peace and quiet to look at these. If it's my personal day, I'm calling the shots without back lash."
Meredith caught Lucas' eyes as he looked concerned at his Aunt.
"Did you tell Lucas the significance of your personal day?"
"No," Amelia shook her head, looking back at Meredith confused. "I thought you had."
"I thought it was probably something for you to share," she said pointedly.
Amelia sighed. "It's the anniversary of Christopher. I'm okay. I went to a meeting this morning and Meredith's here to keep my mind off of it. My patience is more limited than normal though."
Adams' face contorted a little with the information, upset grazing his face.
"I'm sorry that I never got the chance to meet him," he said quietly.
Both older Doctors turned towards him, surprised and moved by his words.
"Thank you," Ameila replied, her eyes tearing up. "See, that's why you're my favourite of the family."
"Hey! What am I, chopped liver?" Meredith complained lightly.
"You married in," she clarified with a tilt of the head, "You're not an actual Shepherd. Be glad."
Meredith's eyebrows rose as she nodded in acceptance and truth of the words.
"Now, what are we looking at?" she asked, pulling her glasses off and walking up to the screen.
0o0
Adams stood enthralled, watching two of the best surgeons in the country debating strategy and options. He wanted to be like them. He wanted to be the best. And this…this was an opportunity he never thought he would get as the black sheep of the Shepherd family.
"What's with Beltran? Is she capable?" Meredith checked with Amelia, catching Adam's attention.
Amelia groaned, leaning further back in her swivel chair. "I asked her out. She gave the excuse that she was coming out of a messy divorce with a wife in Texas but then she's been sleeping with Winston. My ego is still bruised."
"Okay, let's rewind that," Meredith stated. "You asked her out? Now she's sleeping with Winston. Does Maggie know?"
"I presume not," Amelia shrugged. "I haven't told her. You know what she's like. I phone her once a week and if she isn't in surgery I get a run down of everything brilliant she's done at work this week. Don't get me wrong; that woman is going to change the face of heart surgery and save thousands of life but at the moment she is very much concentrated on work."
Amelia glanced at Adams, seeing the surprise on his face.
"You needn't speak. I know you're sleeping with Griffith."
"The other intern?" Meredith questioned. "Why did I not know this and what do we think of her?"
"She's nice," Amelia nodded. "Less intense than some of the others and extremely sharp. She's a good problem solver too."
"Is it serious?" Meredith asked, looking at Lucas.
"She called off her wedding, on her wedding day," Amelia smiled at her nephew, making him blush and look very uncomfortable. "What about Nick? Has he moved in yet?"
"No," Meredith admitted, "But he spends most nights. The kids love him."
"As do you," Amelia pointed out with a grin. She chuckled as Meredith simply smiled but didn't say the words out loud.
"Who do you need then?" Meredith asked, changing the subject and nodding at the scans. "You need Beltran," she admitted.
"I need Beltran," Amelia nodded. "I need her to see the vision. She can be awkward about that sometimes," she groaned. "If she goes for it, it's going to be a looonnng procedure."
She huffed, looking over the scans again.
"I need a team to clean up the vertebrae quickly and accurately so we can scan and print a make shift part….I kinda wish Kai was here," she admitted quietly.
"We have a team who should be able to 3D print. The interns can probably do it without a tech team anyway," Meredith noted.
Adams clicked his fingers, "Mullins writes code. She'd be able to do it."
"Okay, so two teams. One for removing the tumour and one for cleaning up the vertebrae and getting the intermediate piece ready for placement," Meredith checked.
Amelia nodded, staring at the scans.
"I want you and Adams in the OR with me on the body," she turned and looked at Adams for clarification, relieved to get a very swift nod of the head in response. "It'll be tough. If you don't feel ready for it, I won't judge."
"No, I really want to be part of it," he admitted. "I can do whatever you need me to do."
"Good." She paused, gazing at the scans but zoned out.
"What are you thinking?" Meredith asked quietly.
"I don't know who to trust to clean the vertebrae," she admitted. "It needs to be deadly accurate. The smallest of scratches on the bone will be picked up on the scan and print and the tumour is all over it. I'd say you, but I really want you next to me today."
"Damn Maggie for pulling out of this week," Meredith moaned quietly, surprising Adams. "Winston is a no go I presume?"
"Correct. I don't want to have to deal with that today," Amelia admitted.
"Hunt, Altman, Bailey, Lincoln, Wilson, De Luca, Webber?" Adams listed off possibilities. "Beltran?"
"We're better having Beltran on the body," Meredith explained. "She's the specialist for working with bodies this size and complexity. But all of those you mentioned could easily do it. Let's see who's free."
Amelia nodded, walking to the door and opening it up. She was relieved to find that there wasn't a huge pile of staff waiting for them. Walking down the corridor, she found the nurses station and told them to page Beltran before going back in and closing the door.
Slouching back down on the seat, her mind wandered as she zoned out a little. She jumped a little as the door swung open with force. Expecting to see Beltran standing there, she looked confused at Addison as she took up the doorway.
"Well look here, it's a family reunion with the good half of the family," Addison announced drolly.
"Setting the bar pretty low there," Amelia smiled at her. Standing up swiftly, she closed the gap between them and threw her arms around her, hugging her closely.
"Yes, the other half of your family are horrific and that's why we don't speak," Addison acknowledged, speaking over her shoulder and looking directly at Adams who was grinning.
Amelia heard the door open again but stayed where she was, hugging Addison a little longer, relieved at feeling her sister's arms around her. Meredith was not a hugger. Addison was the one who was there when she delivered Christopher. She met Christopher.
Addison pulled back and looked down at her, studying her closely.
"You're dressed like a slob. Are you spiralling?"
"No," Amelia said seriously, looking her in the eye. "This is my personal day. Meredith and I were having a day off. No work, lots of coffee and cake and a dinner booked at a lovely Mexican restaurant down the street. My phone is even off."
"I know, I tried you ten times," Addison complained dryly. "It made me panic."
"Well, there's no need for panicking," Adams said seriously. "She's fine, other than getting called in, on her day off, for an almost impossible surgery."
"Almost impossible?" Beltran's hopeful voice pierced the conversation.
"I think so," Amelia nodded, feeling her own confidence in her plan swell. Walking over to the scans, she moved some digital films, standing in front of them. She glanced back at her family, seeing Meredith, Addison and Lucas standing there, before turning back to the screens.
She explained her proposal in detail. The tumour needed removing. The vertebrae needed removed. Although the existing vertebrae may be eligible for being reinserted the chances are it was already damaged due to the tumour. A synthetic vertebrae could be used to fill the missing vertebrae but the spine would grow as the little girl grows. If they used a synthetic single vertebrae then yes the patient would need reoccurring surgery but it should allow her mobility and stop paralysis at this time.
Amelia continued the explanation and her proposal which required two teams: Her, Meredith, Lucas and Beltran on one team and another on the removed vertebrae to clean, scan and replace.
When she finished, Beltran still stood looking very serious, staring at the scans and intermittently glancing at Amelia. She looked confused as Adam's phone started ringing with an alarm.
"It's uh…" Lucas' face mimicked a rabbit caught in the headlights as the occupants of the room looked at him.
"Go," Amelia said seriously. "Meredith and I will meet you in the cafeteria in five minutes for something to eat. Doctor Beltran can consider the proposals in peace and we can have some tacos to replace my Mexican dinner. If we end up doing this, we all need refuelled."
Lucas nodded relieved and turned to dart out of the room.
Amelia could feel everyone's eyes on her and chose to ignore them, turning to address Beltran.
"Okay, well. That's the proposal. Our proposal…me and Doctor Grey and Doctor Adams. Consider it and let us know." She nodded with a small nervous smile and headed for the door.
Addison followed Amelia closely, along with Meredith.
"So. How are you? Actually?" Addison asks seriously, stopping her in the empty corridor and staring her in the eye.
"Not spiralling. I went to a meeting this morning and I'm functioning. Am I heartbroken; of course. That doesn't change from one day to another. Does it hurt more today? Yes. Am I keeping busy and trying to do happy things? Yes. Has it worked? Not in the slightest since I'm still at work trying to save a six year old's mobility."
Amelia took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling to try and stop any tears which may appear. She ignored the door to the scan room opening and turned her gaze back to Addison.
"I'm fine. Meredith's over for a few days to keep an eye on me and Lucas is…brilliant."
"I'm glad," Addison said seriously. "You know I love you. And last time I spoke to Shep, he raved about you in a way that only an adolescent man can…" she waved her arm around nonchalantly, "You know, where he mentioned your name twice in the whole conversation and that's the biggest sign of love he'll ever show."
Amelia smiled as Meredith laughed lightly.
"Come on, I'm hungry," Meredith said lightly, putting her hand on Amelia's shoulder.
"Mind if I tag along? Looks like I have a long surgery coming on," Beltran spoke out, reminding them of her presence.
"More the merrier," Meredith acknowledged her.
"You know I love you but I'm not scrubbing into this," Addison stated bluntly. "Family reunion or not. But you can tell me why Shep looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar when his alarm went off."
Amelia groaned quietly, looking at Meredith.
"Did Nick tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Meredith frowned a little.
"That he shouted at Adams in the middle of the corridor about how he needed to get his meds under control?"
Meredith frowned in confusion. "Nick did?"
Amelia's eyebrows rose as they walked casually towards the elevator.
"Adams asked what meds and Nick told him the ones for ADHD."
"Shep has ADHD?" Addison asked confused, racking her memory for the information.
"Well, he wasn't aware he did," Amelia said pointedly. "He panicked, researched and wanted to know why his family full of Doctors never pointed it out to him or better yet, diagnosed him. He's been professionally diagnosed now and he's trying some medications to help him. It's been tough for him."
"He had no idea?" Meredith checked in shock. "Does he hate Nick?"
"No," Amelia waved away her concern. "He likes Nick. Apparently Nick has ADHD too and helped reinforce he wasn't just a black sheep of the family drop out because of his diagnosis. Ironically because of his ADHD he's more likely to forget to take his meds so he has an alarm set on his phone. His meds make him feel a bit nauseous at times though, which is one of the reasons we're going for food."
The party of four females entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close.
"You know, by the time there are four black sheep to the family, you'd think all the indicators would be that the rest of the family is the problem," Addison complained hotly.
Beltran and Meredith watched as Amelia looked at Addison as if she was insane, "Are you the one spiralling?" she checked. "You're speaking about Shepherds here."
"There's a reason Adams moved across the country to avoid them and refuses to go by Shep," Meredith said seriously. "The only good thing about Derek dying is that I don't have to speak to any of them except you. I hate them and I don't say that lightly."
"I'm with you there, Medusa," Addison muttered, making Amelia snort with laughter.
By the time the elevator stopped at the floor for the cafeteria, the doors opened to three of the country's top surgeons crying and doubled over with laughter as Beltran looked on with an amused smile.
Amelia relaxed amongst her family as they sat and ate their dinner. Beltran sat at the outskirts of the group, listening to them speak about familiar and non familiar matters as if it happened every day. She watched the smile and spark re-enter Amelia's eyes and the concerned looks that the others gave her when she wasn't looking.
As everyone finished their food, Amelia looked directly at Beltran. "So, do I have to find scrubs or can I just go for another coffee and some cake."
"Scrubs," Beltran said seriously. "You can have your surgical team as chosen, as long as I'm there too."
"You say that as if you have a choice. She's the best Neurosurgeon in the country on an actual day off," Addison explained in her normal brash manner.
Beltran raised her eyebrows but didn't refute the comment.
"Okay, well, let's go and find some scrubs while Doctor Beltran finds a team for the vertebrae retrieval," Meredith tried to change the direction of the conversation.
"Do you want another intern?" Beltran said seriously, glancing at Adams. "We're speaking about a long procedure. It can be good to have an extra set of hands to swap in and out."
Amelia looked at Lucas, "You okay with Griffith?"
He nodded quickly.
"Why her?" Addison asked curiously.
"She's super smart, she thinks really quickly, she's a problem solver and she doesn't wave her hand and shout at your to try and get better surgeries. She's generally 'can do' rather than 'can't'."
Beltran chuckled at her description.
"You should ask Mullin about the 3D printing," Lucas said seriously. "She's really smart with computers."
"Okay," Beltran nodded, "I'll have a conversation and see who is available to tidy up and print."
0o0
"Doctor Shepherd?"
"Wait." Amelia replied seriously, staring at her monitor, mid movement. After a long moment of silence, she exhaled heavily and turned her attention to the scrub room door, where Link stood.
"Are you likely to be here much longer?" he asked.
"Yes," she agreed.
"Well, I'll pick up Scout and take him home with us, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks. I'll pick him up after my surgery," she confirmed from behind her surgical mask.
"No, just leave him with us the night," Link said lightly.
"No, I'll come past and take him home," she said steadily.
Link sighed heavily, "Look, it'll be late, he'll be asleep."
"I'll get him," Lucas' strong voice came. "I'll scrub out just now and go and take him home. Okay?" he looked at Amelia whose brain whizzed through possibilities.
"Griffith, are you okay to step up and replace Adams?" Amelia asked the silent OR.
"Of course," she nodded, having paid attention to every part so far.
Amelia looked at Lucas and nodded. "Thank you."
"No problem. I'll take the car for the seat okay?" For once not shy about publicising his relationship with his Aunt.
"Sure."
Amelia watched him march purposefully out of the OR and turned back to the patient.
"You okay?" Meredith asked quietly.
"Yes," Amelia looked her in the eye. "Lucas is brilliant with him; he knows his routines; Scout loves him and he's a Doctor. I'm good."
Concentrating back on her surgery, she was surprised when Lucas appeared back at the table half an hour later.
"Doctor Adams?" Meredith asked confused.
"Doctor Montgomery found out the plans and she's taken him back to keep him for the night."
Meredith chuckled quietly, "She really didn't want to have to scrub in huh?"
"Nope," Lucas' visible eyes crinkled in laughter at the woman he used to think of as an Aunt.
0o0
Meredith, Amelia, Lucas, Simone and Monica stood in the scrub room. The three attendings were currently scrubbing under their nails in silence as Lucas and Simone waited for them to finish.
"It was a success," Meredith said seriously.
"Yeah. Definitely. Considering the possibilities, this was probably the best outcome we could wish for," Beltran noted, glad of the break in silence.
"Uh…Doctor Shepherd," Lucas muttered, getting her attention along with the rest of the room. "Um, your reason for being off today is kinda not a secret anymore," he grimaced.
She looked at her nephew and raised her eyebrows in surprise, nodding at him to continue quickly.
"Well," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, glancing around at the four females who were looking at him. "Addie found out that Link wanted to take Scout home. She said she would take him to free me up. Link wasn't really for the idea and wanted to take him back to his. Addie tried to reason until she gave up and said, well…you know…as she does…"
"Loudly with a good sprinkle of condescension?" Meredith offered, getting a quick point of the finger and nod from Lucas.
"And I might not have this bit word for word but it was something like, you seriously proposed to her with three different engagement rings but you can't remember the date of her son's anniversary."
"They were right in front of the nurses station at the time and nurses gossip worse than interns."
"That's true," Simone agreed quietly, looking back and forth between everyone in the room trying to process the information and read the room at the same time.
Amelia took a moment before saying gently, "Addie was there for it all. She's allowed to be grieving today too."
There was silence as Amelia dried her hands quickly, then walked to the far wall and looked up at the ceiling, with her back to the rest of the room. Four sets of eyes followed her.
Meredith quickly dried her hands, never taking her eyes off of her sister. Simone felt herself tear up as Amelia's hand reached up to wipe a tear from her face before she raised her forearms up against the wall and rested her head on them.
Simone and Monica watched as Meredith moved over and rubbed her shoulder.
"Does she not like hugs?" Simone muttered quietly, hoping one of the others would answer her.
"Meredith doesn't do hugs," Amelia chortled through her tears, turning around and wiping her wet face frantically.
"Yeah, well, interns do," Simone said seriously, walking over and hugging her. "At least Mullin and I do. I wouldn't try and get a hug from Kwan."
She relaxed as Amelia hugged her back, burrowing her face down into the shorter woman's shoulder.
"I knew it, you know," Simone said lightly. "The unstoppable, world renown surgeon Meredith Grey had to have some sort of flaw. We've now officially found something that interns can do that she can't."
Amelia chuckled before unravelling from her and sitting down on the floor, against the wall. She welcomed Meredith as she sat down next to her, resting her head on her shoulder as tears continued.
"Can I ask what happened?" Beltran asked quietly, hating seeing her fellow Surgeon so upset. So, uncharacteristically, sad.
"I had a son, called Christopher. At six month pregnant, I found out he had anencephaly. He lived for forty three minutes before saving other babies lives by being an organ donor. We say today is his anniversary because it was the day he was born and died." Her lips trembled with the pain, memories and words as Simone and Monica's hearts broke for the Surgeon.
Simone watched proudly as Lucas went and sat down next to his aunt, putting his arm around her shoulders and hugging her towards him.
"Let me have this one chance at besting Doctor Grey," he teased, trying to smile at Meredith.
"Sure, sure, I can hug you know. I just don't like hugging," Meredith countered. "Maggie hugs."
"I can hug," Beltran offered. "You know, if it's intern related and you can't kick them out of your OR and grab a hug from them at the same time."
Amelia sent her an appreciative but watery smile.
All eyes turned as the door opened and Maggie's head poked in.
Her heart broke at the scene in front of her.
"I'm sorry," She apologised for multiple things at once. "I came as soon as I was finished my emergency surgery and I know what today means to you."
Throwing her bag to the side, she bent down and pulled her sister into a hug.
"You arrived just in time for the breakdown," Meredith said lightly.
"Yeah, well, breakdowns are allowed today. I thought you weren't working?" Maggie asked confused.
"She wasn't but there was a six year old and an impossible surgery," Meredith explained.
"I missed it?" Maggie almost whined.
"Not what the trip is about," Meredith warned her.
Maggie nodded, sitting on her butt in front of Amelia and holding her hands in her own.
"Are we speaking about it?" Maggie checked.
"Just did," Amelia nodded, wiping her eyes.
"Hungry?" Maggie asked hopefully.
"God yes," Lucas moaned loudly.
"Chinese?" Maggie tried, while Lucas suggested pizza.
"He just eats so much that Chinese doesn't fill him up," Simone explained.
"Just order two meals," Meredith said simply. "I'll pay. Now, can we get off this floor and leave this place before Catherine Fox tries to fire me again?"
"Please," Maggie agreed. "I just walked in on Winston chatting up a nurse which he's blatantly slept with before." Her face looked so upset at that moment, Amelia stood up and hugged her.
"He's been doing that a lot," Adams said quietly. "It did bite him in the ass when one of his patients' mom's was someone he'd ghosted though."
"Really!" Meredith and Maggie asked at the same time.
"Yeah, everyone knows about it so you're better knowing too. It was messy and Doctor Ndugu ended up having a big argument with Doctor Shepherd about it," Simone admitted quietly.
"Apparently I was reckless in surgery," Amelia muttered, refusing to look at Beltran while discussing Winston.
"Well, the truth of it is that all surgeons are ruthless sometimes," Meredith said seriously as she pushed open the door and started down the corridor to the changing rooms. "If we do our best and want to achieve the best and allow progress and improvement, there has to become an element of recklessness about it. If there was none then no one would have ever picked up a scalpel and cut someone open in the first place. Are you trying to tell me that that was never a reckless move?"
"That's true," Simone muttered shrugging.
"Everyone coming back to yours for Chinese, Amelia?" Meredith checked looking around the group. She nodded as there was no argument. "We'll need a taxi if Addie's got your car."
"I bet she's fallen asleep," Amelia chuckled.
"Does she snore?" Maggie asked.
"Less than Mer, more than you," Amelia teased, getting a complaint from Meredith.
0o0