flatline [m.s]

clxiii.

"that's not a saying, but okay," jackson's brows knit together.

"not to you, it's not," catherine murmurs to jackson.

"no one's ever said it," jackson whispers and richard clears his throat.

"is everything okay!" michelle looks between jackson and catherine.

"yes," catherine says, unconvincingly, at the same time jackson hums, "mm-hmm. oh, yeah."

"because part of me feels like a little kid on christmas morning," michelle explains. "but the other part is a world-class physician who knows you're dealing with the most sensitive organ in the body. i can't afford any distractions."

"michelle, i hear you. let me assure you that my mind is not anywhere but right here, in this surgery," jackson attempts to reassure her. "shall we do this?"

"yes. let's do this," michelle breathes deeply and bumps fists with catherine.

"yeah. oh, alright, bring it in," jackson places his hand on top of theirs. "nice."

■ ■ ■

"maggie and jackson? maggie and jackson? are they kidding me? maggie and jackson?" lia raps her hand on the cafeteria table she's sat at with meredith, and her voice raises an octave with each word. "i mean, how long? were they ever gonna tell me?"

"maggie didn't tell me either," meredith shrugs.

"jackson is not your ex/baby daddy now, is he?" lia raises her brow.

"no," meredith shakes her head. "he's not."

"ugh," lia groans. "our parents just got married. this is so messed up, mer. this is beyond messed up. i mean, say they get married. this isn't just a case of 'do i call my stepmom 'mom'?' this is, 'do i still call my stepmom 'aunty maggie' or  do i call her 'mom'?' do either of them think?"

"you've just got to talk to them," meredith tells her.

"oh, no way," lia shakes her head. "i'm not speaking to either of them."

"c'mon, lia. you have to talk to jackson about darci stuff," meredith reminds her.

"no i don't. mark can talk to him," lia scoffs. "he's not screwing his sister."

■ ■ ■

"then dr. webber will use a laparoscope to extract a piece of the peritoneum," jackson runs through the procedure ad they scrub in whilst michelle is being prepped.

"minimally invasive, minimal scarring," richard adds.

"thanks for letting me know. thanks for not hiding it from me..." catherine nods.

"mom, come on," jackson rolls his eyes.

"...like you've been hiding maggie pierce," catherine continues.

"yeah, i get it," jackson sighs.

"uh, let's talk about this later," richard suggests. "over pie."