Kissin' in the cold - A Christmas story

But winter comes around and snow is coming down

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester is massive. Amelia didn't think she'd be surprised: after all Grey-Sloan Memorial is a big hospital, but this is something she's never seen before. She was pleasantly surprised when she realized she could walk all the way to the hospital from Nick's place. That way she could look around the city a little bit before getting to her destination and what she found out is a quiet, family friendly environment. Mayo is a whole other world. It seems like a standalone town, with people walking in and out at all times, ambulances driving through and even kids throwing snowballs at each other in the garden. There's a bunch of young doctors, probably residents, in their scrubs vaping with a few more kids that look like med students. Hamilton is standing close to the entrance, looking way more at ease than he did in the plane or the airport. It looks like he's in his natural habitat.
"Dr Shepherd, you came!" he says once she's walked up to him.
"Of course" she replies. "Wouldn't want to miss the cookie exchange..."
The sarcasm in her voice is tangible but she actually shows him the box in which she's put the cookies she baked with Maggie's help.
"Oh, we are not really going to that, I was just messing with you" he tells her, badging and showing her inside.
"Wh... I... I made cookies!" she exclaims, feeling very dumb. Of course he was just messing with her, so why did she take it so seriously?
"I'm sure Dr Bartley will be more than happy to take them off your hands" Hamilton says, chuckling and showing her the way. He walks surprisingly fast and Amelia is basically out of breath when they get to the lab.
"When you say Dr Bartley... You don't mean Kai Bartley, the neuroscientist who graduated from Hopkins and recently wrote a paper on stem cell therapy and that herbal compound to remove the undifferentiated cells, do you?"
"Hell yes, I do, they are my protegé. And the only person besides me who's allowed to work in this lab..." he explains opening the door.
"Holy crap!" she yells, both exhausted by the run and amazed by what's in front of her. She's never seen a lab so high tech. There's a TMS machine, a 3D bio-printer, a robotic arm and three different microscopes, one of which is definitely atomic force. Hopkins's labs were impressive, so are Grey-Sloan's but this... It looks like this equipment was built with the intention of revolutionizing the world. And it probably was!
"Am I dreaming?" she asks, literally pinching her arm.
"I ask myself the exact same question every time I come through that door" a deep, sexy voice says from somewhere behind Amelia. She turns around to see Kai Bartley in the flesh. They are taking off a pair of protective glasses, their long, brown hair swinging in the process and their eyes focused on Amelia.
"The paper didn't say they were so hot" she mutters, immediately regretting it once she sees the smirk on their face. They must have heard her.
"I really have to make an appearance downstairs" Hamilton says, interrupting whatever was going on between the two of them. "Dr Bartley, do you mind showing Dr Shepherd some of the research?"
"It'll be my pleasure" they reply, looking intensely at Amelia, who blushes.

"You are telling me you decided to spend Christmas alone in Minnesota when you could've been at home with your sisters and your kid?"
Amelia's cheeks have been unexplainably red and warm the whole time while Dr Bartley showed her around the lab. They promised to give her more insights on what it is they are trying to achieve once David will be there, but Amelia thinks she's guessed at least some of what they are up to and she loves it. She already knows she'll kill Meredith if she gets a chance to be a part of this and doesn't take it. She makes a mental note to call her later, surprised she can still think straight enough to plan her own sister's murder even with the insanely hot neurosurgeon staring into her eyes. The two of them are sat down on a side table, sipping coffee and eating the cookies Amelia brought, which are surprisingly delicious.
"Yeah, that sounds about right..."
"I like you, Amelia Shepherd!" they say, smiling birght and raising their hand for her to high-five them. Amelia's heart feels like it's doing summersaults.
"Hey, I was going through something" she tries to justify herself, even though she knows there's no need to.
"And are you not anymore now?" Kai asks, suddenly serious.
Amelia sighs and her mind unavoidably goes back to last night and the bottle of gin.
"I still am... I think... But it's getting better."
They nod understandingly and keep looking into her eyes until she blushes again and looks away, embarrassed.
"What about you?" she asks after a few seconds of silence. "Are you married? Any family?"
"I am married" they say.
"Oh..."
Amelia is unable to hide her disappointment. And here she thought they were flirting...
"Married to the lab" they add, looking around and making her chuckle and breathe out in relief.
"You almost got me there" she says, pointing at them.
"Oh, come on, it was funny" they say, playfully slapping her arm. Her heart flutters at their touch. What the hell is wrong with me?, she asks herself, careful not to think out loud again.
"I have family back in Maryland" the explain.  "Sisters and a lot of nieces and nephews. But I'm staying here for the holidays, David invited me over to have lunch with him and his family on Christmas day, I might take him up on that but I'll have to get back here to check on the cells cultures. Gotta change the medium every few hours."
Amelia nods, impressed.
"I would love to be around next time you do if that's okay..."
Kai nods back and smiles at her, making her heartbeat increase once again. She looks away and looking through the window she notices it's snowing now.
"Look" she says, standing up to observe the snowflakes dancing in the wind before landing on the already pretty thick layer of snow on the street.
"It's pretty common this time of the year, but it never fails to surprise me" Kai tells her, standing behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Amelia doesn't dare turn around to look at them, her cheek are too flushed and her heart is beating so fast she's sure they'd notice. "Word is, when the snow starts falling down in Minnesota, all bets are off. Anything can happen."
Amelia instinctively takes a step closer to them.
"Anything can happen" she echoes, whispering.
And she's really starting to believe it's true.