invasion ↠ jackson avery ✓

16

Sitting down in her chair, she picked her phone up from the desk. It faced down and was put on silent so she didn't see when it rang, or the texts that came through. All of it was mostly April, who seemed to have been coming out of a surgery, only to go back in for another. That explained her lack of presence. Alex also called Bella a couple of times and texted her a bunch when he received no answer. Up until that moment, she didn't realise that she left her friend completely behind to run outside and help the injured.

"Oh, God..." she whispered with her elbows propped up on her desk. She leaned forward and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palms. 

What a first day, right? Started off with gloomy skies and cake, then a storm with almost hundreds of patients coming through the ER, all the way to a bloody bus explosion that seemed to leave Bella at a disadvantage. She played off the pain that cursed through her body, even if it was only her arm that she injured mostly. When she had been treated, she already received the strongest form of pain killers she could, just to be sure, though it didn't appear to be working for her at all.

Eventually emerging from her office, she found herself back on the ER floor. It wasn't nearly as hectic as it seemed when she was in there, sitting on the gurney that was now preoccupied by someone else. Granted, it was still filled with people, and with the emergency door wide open, the cold air rushed right in, bringing the dirt and trash from the outside along with it. She spotted the familiar interns and residents she usually worked with, then she passed the Chief.

"Ledford. Everything's okay?" he seemed concerned about the attending for obvious reasons. She was just one of his idiotic surgeons who put themselves in danger tonight. 

"Yes, sir," she nodded, smiling at him, so as to ease the focused, worrisome look on his face. She chose to walk alongside him as he leaned down to pick up an empty packet.

"You and Avery managed to get the worst of it," he sighed. "Speaking of staff, of course. There's no comparison when it comes to the patients."

Bella agreed with him. Following his path, they eventually rounded the corner of one of the hallways, and passed a patient room. Meredith Grey happened to be in use of it, though not as a doctor but rather as a patient herself. Comforted below the hospital duvet, she held a baby in her arms, while Derek Shepherd stood to her left, with their daughter in his arms.

As they came into view, Grey smiled at both of them. Still, Hunt was the first to speak up.

"Hey, we need to get the board together, and... uh, congratulations," he said with a big sigh. It seemed the comment took a lot of him to get out there, given the circumstances. That perfectly explained his sudden exit, leaving Ledford standing there like an idiot.

"Bella, come!" Grey smiled at the neurosurgeon, sounding so inviting and happy that Bella couldn't have left if she tried. "Meet my baby."

"Right," a tight-lipped smile tugged on Bella's face as she stepped in, nodding a little as her eyes glanced at Shepherd for a second. "You gave birth, huh?"

"I did, I did," she responded, bursting with happiness and excitement. Bella wondered for a short second how she'd feel to be in Meredith's position and she shuddered. "Derek Bailey Shepherd, meet Dr Ledford. She's your daddy's boss. Yes, she is."

"Technically, I'm the boss's boss," Ledford corrected the surgeon, making the father in the room chuckle. Bella looked to him shortly and found him smiling. "He is cute. Very cute, actually," the compliment from Bella was genuine. Derek Bailey Shepherd was an adorable baby. Bella couldn't have lied about it if she tried because her face would've given it away.

The visit to the Shepherd's didn't take up too much of Bella's time. Much like Hunt, she wasn't particularly interested in baby conversations, either, and she couldn't have been, because she had been paged to an emergency surgery. The OR was prepped and ready for her with the patient on the way. One of the residents had all the most important information about the case, so while they filled her in, they scrubbed.