𝟘𝟜𝕩𝟘𝟙
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
When Natalie decided to tell her daughter about what was happening, she didn't expect to spend a whole week of Amber not saying a word to her. No matter what she tried, she didn't say a single word to her. She was only talking to Cara, who decided to stay a little bit longer to help Natalie with everything. Natalie didn't blame her daughter. Her life was constantly going through big changes and it was enough as it was. So she finally snapped.
The situation with Isaac was the same, he wouldn't back down and Natalie wouldn't let him take Amber away from her without a fight. So they were just waiting for the court. And Natalie hated that they reached that point.
And like everything else wasn't enough, Burke had quit from the hospital and everything was running through Natalie first, even if she was not official head of the department. She wasn't even sure if she could handle that too, in that moment at least. She was sure about what she was capable of and she could handle being head of her department, she had done it before. But with everything else that was happening, she needed a moment to breathe and she couldn't find any.
The moment she walked out of her patient's room, she had to find Derek for a consult. The residents were dealing with the new interns that day so she had no one to help her. She didn't mind anyway, she didn't do well with either interns or residents. She didn't do well mostly with Cristina Yang, which she knew was going to be a pain in her butt since she was into cardio. She was sure the moment she would ask her to be her teacher, she would snap.
"Hey, I was looking for you." She saw Derek walking up to her and they started walking together.
"Yes, me too." He told her. "Do you want to get a drink later?"
"No. I need you for a consul, though." She declined not even trying to be nice about it.
"Why not?" Derek asked, desperate to talk to someone about his lost relationship.
"Why, you ask." Natalie laughed sarcastically. "Because I have a teenage daughter who is not talking to me. An ex husband who is ruining my life, constantly. Oh and I have to take care of the whole cardio department by myself because Burke just realised that his life decisions sucked. A department I am not officially in charge of, of course I do everything anyway. So I do not want to get a drink. I do not have the time." So she snapped at Derek instead.
"Wow, you have a talent." Derek remarked.
"What?"
"You make people want to apologise to you when they haven't even done anything wrong."
"If that was true my life wouldn't be like that right now." Natalie sighed. "Look, I am sorry. Everything is a little too messed up right now. I really wish I could go out and not think about anything, but I can't. And you need to find people to go out with. Addison left, Burke left, I suck at nights out. You broke up with your underage girlfriend. You have no one." She pointed out.
"I have people." Derek argued.
"Who?"
"I have..." Derek paused and looked around. "Chief. I...I have the chief to talk to." He saw Richard at the nurse's station. "Hey, chief. Want to get together for a drink after work?" He asked him as they made a stop at the desk.
"I don't drink." Richard also declined and Natalie felt bad for a second. "Dr. Bailey, we need to talk." He quickly walked away when he saw Bailey.
"Someone mention a drink later? Cause I'm in." Mark asked as he came up to Derek and Natalie, who were watching Bailey being bitter about the fact that Callie was chief of resident and not her. It was odd for everyone.
"Nobody mentioned a drink." Derek and Mark hadn't made up yet. Mark was trying to get him to talk to him, but he got nothing back. At least that's what he told Natalie, since they had somehow gotten closer in the last days. After they spent a good hour in the rain with Natalie crying in his arms.
"You mentioned a drink." Richard pointed out.
"I did not mention a drink." Derek refused and walked away.
"He did." Natalie whispered to Mark and followed the others in the E.R.
"All right, people. We've got three MVC'S rolling in back-to-back from a multi car pileup. We need every trauma room open and everyone suited up." Webber told his staff before turning to Natalie. "Dr. Turner, you're in charge."
Natalie crossed her arms in her chest annoyed. "Anything else I am in charge of sir?" She asked, knowing that in that moment Webber was testing her. And she knew way too well that he had more people in mind for the spot of head of cardio.
"Saving lives."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Mark entered the scrub room where Derek and Natalie were. At least Natalie was thankfully that she had good colleagues to work with.
Mark didn't waste a second and he talked to Derek. "I really am up for a drink, you know? If you, uh, need to talk."
"What would I need to talk about?" Derek asked, like nothing was going on with him.
"Meredith. You were lucky, man. That girl jerked you around." Natalie made a face, knowing that Mark shouldn't have mentioned her.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." And then Derek got defensive.
"Hey, I'm just...seemed like you could use a friend about now." Mark defended himself.
"Meredith's mother never wanted her, and her father was never man enough to hang around. She has a right to be damaged, and us, together, it's a big step for her. Her best friend gets left on the altar, and all she sees now is things like this, they don't work. She panics. She wants this. She doesn't know how to have it. And you know what? That's not her fault. So don't ever talk to me about Meredith Grey again, because you do not know what you're talking about. And I don't need a friend." Derek snapped at him and walked away.
Natalie gave Mark an awkward look when they were left alone. "Do you need a friend?" He asked her.
"I need inner peace and a bottle of scotch." She stated. "Look, a piece of advice. Tell him the truth. He will appreciate that more than telling him what he needs. Tell him what you need."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Taking her advice, Natalie returned home, determinate to talk to her daughter that day. She wanted to listen to her, what she needed. Not like Natalie didn't know what her own daughter needed, but that would be easier than anything else.
Amber was in the kitchen having a snack, while Cara was cooking dinner. "Hey, honey, can we talk? I know that everything is a little too hard, but only if we talk to each other we can figure everything out." The only reply Natalie got was Amber getting up from her chair and walking away. "Amber, this is getting ridiculous." Natalie said and followed her daughter up the stairs. "I am talking to you." She continued. "Don't you dare slam the door in my face." She warned her as she entered her room. "Okay, that's enough!" She yelled and put her hand on the door. "Stop making everything harder than it already is!"
"I am making everything harder?" Amber finally spoke to her. Rather yelled. She had so many feelings bolted up for so long. Natalie knew that the outburst was bound to happen soon. "I am? What about you? What about your stupid decision to pack everything and leave? What about dad and his stupid hoes? And what about me? Is either of you thinking about me? Or do I not matter to you anymore?"
"I am thinking about you. I try my best Amber." Natalie didn't yell this time. She kept her voice as steady and clear as possible.
"When do you think about me? Between the 18 hours you spend at work?"
"The 18 hours of work is how you have food and clothes to wear and a bed to sleep at night with a roof over your head. I love my job Amber, but I never chose work over you."
"Well, you're doing an awful job at showing it." Amber said and this time she slammed the door in her mother's face.
"It was better when she was not talking to me." Natalie told her mother as she walked back in the kitchen. She had reached a dead end and she wasn't sure how to continue. And that was unlike her in so many ways. Then again everything that was happening was unlike her life and what she had dreamed about it over the years.
"Nat, go take a walk or something. I'll let her cool down and then I'll talk to her, okay?" Cara wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder. She needed all the support she could get and this time Cara wasn't judging her about anything. She mostly hated how she tried to talk to her into staying with Isaac after she found out about how he wanted to take the custody of Amber.
"No." Natalie shook her head.
"She's not the only one who needs to cool down. And you're not going to do that here, okay?" Cara had to deal with many difficult situations when her daughters were teens so she knew a little bit better how to approach Amber. Plus her granddaughter was not mad at her, she was going to talk to her after all.
"She just accused me of being away so many hours, I doubt that leaving will solve anything."
"Do you know how many things you used to accuse me of but weren't even true?" Cara asked her daughter. "Just trust me, she is you when you were a teen."
"I'm giving you an hour. I am not going to be away longer than that." Natalie agreed and grabbed her jacket, wanting nothing more than fresh air hitting her face.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Fresh air was not something she could find at Joe's place. But she needed a glass of scotch. So she ended up heading towards the bar. She looked around, looking for Derek in the crowd. She knew he would kill her if he saw her there. But instead she found Mark's familiar smirk. "Fancy seeing you here Natalia." He walked up to her and took a seat at the empty stool next to where she was about to seat. "Where you hoping to find me here?"
"Scotch, neat, please." Natalie ignored him and made her order instead. Her relationship with Mark was something that confused her a little too much sometimes and she couldn't worry about that too. She couldn't worry about him going all the way to go out with her only to cancel it the day before. And she couldn't handle how he was always checking up on her and telling her to be friends when a minute later he was flirting like he was actually interested. She couldn't take him seriously.
"No insulting comeback? You're ruining all the fun." Mark pouted and tried to read her mood that day. He was getting good at it.
"That's just me, I am ruining everything." She scoffed as the bartender handed her the drink. "Thank you." She took a sip and from the corner of her eye she saw Mark smiling. She wasn't sure what about. But Mark still couldn't let out the fact that his drink was her drink.
"I think, you could use a friend after all." He finally told her, catching the mood that she needed someone to talk to.
"If that friend can make me stop thinking for just a second then yes, I could use that friend." She confirmed and finally turned all her body towards him.
"You came to the right man." He reached for a napkin at the bar. "Joe, can I have a pen please?" and a second later Mark started writing something down on the napkin. Natalie leaned in closer and tried to read what he was writing but he wouldn't let her see anything. He took few seconds to finish and Natalie was curious about what he was up to this time. "You can use it tonight. Or keep it for the future. It also does not expire." Mark spoke as he handed her the napkin.
Natalie reached for it and started reading it out loud.
𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚗 𝚅𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛
𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳:
☑ 𝙻𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎.
☑ 𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝙰𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎.
☑ 𝚄𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.
"How do you define good time?" Natalie asked him, not able to hide the smile he had managed to put on her face, even with something so cheesy. Cheesy wasn't something she was familiar with anyway. She always thought she hated cheesy things, like getting flowers and chocolates for Valentine's Day. But Mark made it seem fun. And most importantly she couldn't feel that weight on her heart anymore as she was getting more and more anxious about everything.
"Nothing naughty, I promise." He put his hand on his chest, making it seem more sincere.
"Huh, that doesn't sound like you." Natalie pointed out, not believing him not even for a second.
Mark just smiled and looked at her. "I just want to make you laugh, that's all."
"Mark..." She started saying but she was cut off by her phone. "Hey mom." She answered the call quickly when she saw her mother's name. "Is it safe to come home now? Or is the bomb still ticking?"
"I think you need to come home right now because Amber sneaked out of her room."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
ʜɪ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ!
ꜱᴏʀʀʏ ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴍɪᴀ, ɪ ᴀᴍ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴠᴀᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ɢᴏᴛ ᴍʏ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱɪᴛʏ ᴅᴇɢʀᴇᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀᴜɢᴜꜱᴛ ꜱᴏ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛᴏᴏ ʜᴏᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɢᴏᴇꜱ. ʙᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴅᴀʏꜱ, ɴɪɢʜᴛꜱ ᴏᴜᴛ.
ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴍᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ᴀᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴜᴄʜ!
ɪ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ, ꜰᴏʀ ɴᴏᴡ ɪ ᴀᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴏɴ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴏʙx ꜰɪᴄ!