Stitches of Life

Holidaze

"Right. Well, I've stopped the bleeding temporarily." Derek told them again. "But the only way to remove the AVM safely is through the sinus."

"Well, why don't you do that?" Mrs. Jacobsen asked. 

"Because there are no instruments that can maneuver through a nasal cavity this small and get the appropriate angles." Arizona tried to explain.

"Why not? Who does that?" Mrs. Jacobsen pressed, not willing to give up on her son. "Who invents those things?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"This is the best Thanksgiving ever." Cristina said as she, Alex, Meredith, and I sat in the skills lab. Meredith and I were both eating our lunches, watching as the two practiced a new stitch. "No obnoxious relatives. No stupid traditions. No going around the table and saying what you're grateful for."

"Yeah, I think we should do the opposite." Alex suggested. "Talk about what we're not grateful for."

"The merger." Cristina said instantly.

"The Mercy Westers." Meredith nodded in agreement.

"They're like the plague. I mean, stealing all our surgeries, eating all that pie in the nurses' station." Alex complained as I glanced around the room, my eyes landing on Avery as he and Percy sat at another table, working on their own stitches.

"You're doing that wrong." Meredith told Alex.

"I am not." Alex shook his head.

"You are. Can I show you?" Meredith took his things and started to show him the right way to do it.

"Private lessons with the Chief," Cristina scoffed. "Man, those daddy issues are working for you."

"I don't have daddy issues." Meredith insisted. "He's teaching me."

"You're his bitch." Alex teased her.

"He's right." I nodded in agreement.

"Well, in that case, you're Teddy's bitch." Meredith told Cristina, referring to the new head of cardio that Hunt had brought in, one of his friend's from Iraq. I chuckled, only to have Meredith look at me. "And you're Arizona's bitch."

"Maybe that's my problem." Alex mused. "I'm nobody's bitch."

"Oh, well, you were Izzie's bitch." Cristina shrugged.

"You're the bitch." Alex glared at her, still not over Izzie's leaving him after the Chief fired her. 

"You know what?" Meredith cut it. "It's Thanksgiving. Can we just have no name calling?"

"Yeah. Please." Cristina nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." Alex sighed. "Just show me that stitch again."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Seriously, where did you two learn to cook?" Arizona asked Callie and I as the three of us stood in Callie and Cristina's kitchen, cooking together while Joel was watching TV in the living room. We only laughed before hearing a knock on the door.

"Hey!" We all greeted Mark as he let himself in. 

"Hey." My eyes widened at the young blonde that walked in after Mark, Sloan.

"Welcome." Callie greeted her. "Happy Thanksgiving. Who wants wine?"

"Ooh, I do." Sloan said.

"No, you- you don't." Mark shook his head as I continued to cut the celery. "Um... hey, everybody. Uh, well, the results are in. It, uh, turns out Sloan was right about her parentage. I am her dad. Um, so here's another thing to be thankful for. Beth, Sloan here is gonna move in with us for a little while."