THE APARTMENT WAS buzzing with chats and laughs from the living room and the spare room, which was in the process of being turned into a nursery.
Mark had got Derek, Timothy, and Jackson over to help with the room; Norah invited Meredith, Cristina, Lexie, April, and Alex for company, though the latter had received scowls from the other men for sitting and drinking in the living room instead of helping out.
"Sometimes, I dislike being pregnant," Norah sighed, and the rest of them raised a brow at her.
"Why?" April asked, "I mean, you're bringing a life into the world."
"I miss alcohol," the brunette pouted, eyeing the bottles of beers the others were holding. They snickered, and each took a swing, leaving the pregnant woman to glare at them.
They heard a loud thud from the room followed by a crack of laughs, and all of them turned their heads to the source of sound curiously. Timothy hissed as he walked towards the kitchen, rubbing his back.
"What happened?" Meredith asked the younger man.
"The step stool is not fucking sturdy, and none of those jerks even attempted to break my fall," Timothy ranted with a sigh as he put an ice pack over his head, "I was trying to paint the ceiling."
Norah perked up from the couch. "Ooh, hey, I want glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling!" she suggested, and her brother frowned at her.
"Nor, I love you a lot, but your baby daddy can't hold a fucking stool steady," he deadpanned, and the group of residents snorted. "So if you want stars on the ceiling..." he trailed off when she shot him an unamused glare, and he caved with a sigh, "...fine, you'll get it."
"I'm concerned for your nursery," Lexie spoke up, eyeing the room where heated discussions were happening.
Cristina snorted and shook her head, "I am more concerned for those men working on your nursery."
Norah sent her a look, but she silently agreed on the inside. She hurled a pillow at Alex when he tried to reach for the jar of cookies-her jar of cookies-on the table. He scowled at her but knew better than to anger a pregnant woman.
Mark exhaled heavily as he walked out of what felt like a battlefield, making his way to the living room. Norah quirked a brow at him, but he placed a kiss on her neck, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I love it, you know?" she whispered to him, "Us, them, everyone here... I might not have a special someone who I'm especially close with, but everyone here has a place in my heart."
"Mm... What about me?" he asked, tilting his head to her.
She chuckled before pecking him on the lips. "You, my love, you own this heart."
❦ ❦ ❦
S7 EP22
NORAH STOOD NEXT TO Timothy at the nurses' station while she snacked on the container of fruits he had brought for her. She caught him, yet again, staring at the resident across the station, and she let out a heavy sigh.
She shoved a grape into his mouth, which made him turn to her with furrowed brows. "You might've failed to notice, but Jackson's glaring at you," she passed along, shaking her head, "You're not over her."
"I'm not, no," he admitted, "But she's... She looks happy, you know?"
"So you're distracting your sadness by making me a luxuriously nutritious breakfast every morning?" she quirked a brow at him, and he nodded guiltily with the same cheeky grin on his face.
"That, plus making these badass rainbow bands for Sofia as a substitute for my unicorn hair," he stated, showing off the multi-coloured bracelets around his wrist he had made as his daughter's play toy.
Norah raised a brow curiously when she saw Meredith stomping over to Alex at the other end of the nurses' station. "So they're probably gonna fire me. Are you happy?" she spat, gaining the attention of everyone at the station.
"Oh, come on," he reasoned, "They're not gonna-"
"I want your crap out of my house by the end of the day," Meredith cut him off furiously before storming away.
The residents looked at each other; everyone had the same confused look on their faces. "Something wrong with the Alzheimer's trial?" Jackson asked, but Norah did not know what to reply since she was having an ultrasound that morning, hence was not present for the trial's new patient.
Suddenly, all their pagers started to beep. Everyone set down the things they were doing and immediately headed off together.
Norah had managed to pull Alex aside; his face swam of guilt while she furrowed her brows at him. "What was that?"
He had a conflicted look on his face as he struggled to keep his words from surging out. In the end, he gave in and shook his head. "Look, I'm only telling you because you're related to it," he prefaced, "Mer screwed with the Alzheimer's trial."
Her eyes widened at the information. She knew that actions like that could not be tolerated and would cause harm to the entire hospital, especially the surgeons involved with the trial. Knowing that her career might be in danger, she started to feel panic. "S-She what?"
"I-I-I caught her changing the placebo and drugs, okay?" he grumbled with a sigh, "A-And I told Hunt last night when I was drunk, and now... now I'm screwed."
Norah blinked at him, shaking her head. "I-I mean... look, Alex, I... what you did is... morally right? I don't know, but..." she smacked him at the back of his head, and he grunted in pain. "Why the fuck would you rat out? Do you know how many careers are on the line?!"
"I didn't mean to! I was drunk!"
"Not a bloody excuse, Karev!"
❦ ❦ ❦
"A 757 WENT DOWN IN the Sound," Webber announced, "We're looking at about 200 injured passengers."
Norah leaned closer to Mark as he held her tightly, rubbing the side of her arm soothingly.
The knowledge about the clinical trial still circled in her head. She did not know what was worse-Meredith tampering with the trial, or that no one had told her anything other than her prying it out from Alex.
The staff were tense, but they were ready to perform their best. Everyone was silent. She caught her brother stealing another glance at Lexie, who was currently in Jackson's arms, and sighed when Timothy walked over to the edge of the crowd.
"We're the designated crisis centre. Families will be instructed to come here to find their loved ones," he stated, "We are activating Surge Protocol. Dr Hunt is gonna be running the show. It's gonna be chaotic. You need to listen carefully, you need to stay focused, do not contribute to the panic. Now, get to your stations."
The group of surgeons started following Owen as he led them towards the ER. The air was tense, and everyone was uptight. "You sure you're okay with this?" Mark asked with a whisper.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"You've gone quiet, and you have that look," he pointed out, "What's wrong?"
"I-I can't tell," she admitted, and he frowned at her. She noticed the confused look on his face-the fright behind his eyes-and quickly corrected her statement, "No, Mark, it's not about me. It's about someone else, and I'm in no position to tell."
His expression seemed to relax a bit, and she brought him down for a quick kiss. "I'm not going anywhere-I promise you that. Besides, this is our kid inside of me."
The beam on his face had always made her feel at ease.
"Torres, you'll be with me. Kepner, set up the ER for triage," Owen started giving out orders to the group, "Other Grey, I want you running the family centre. Take over in the cafeteria. Yang, blood bank."
April pushed through a worried-looking Cristina and moved up to the front. "Uh, we might need a Candyman," the former mentioned.
"Dr Sloan will be our Candyman," Owen assigned.
"I'm taking Norah with me," Mark spoke up, "Candyman moves lesser."
"Alright, no problem," the trauma surgeon nodded, "Let's be liberal with pain meds for our victims and sedatives for patients that we are moving. Let's move, people."
❦ ❦ ❦
"OFFICIALS SAY IT'S TOO early to speculate on the cause of the crash. But here's what we do know. The flight originated this morning in Baltimore carrying 183 passengers and 18 crew members..."
"Still nobody?" Lexie questioned as she walked into the empty ER. The deserted sight made her toss her arms in the air and shake her head. "Their families are going crazy. What is taking so long?"
"Well, fishing 200 people out of the water is slow business," Mark spoke up in the uneasy silence, "Norah's playing Angry Birds. You want the next round?" The resident gave him an unamused look.
"They'll do triage at the waterfront. It takes time," Owen explained instead, "Actually, if they're taking this long, there's gonna be a lot of hypothermia. Kepner!"
"Oh, yeah," April strode out of a trauma room and was already on her way to gather supplies. "Warm blankets, heated lamps, and heated IV fluids. Got it!"
"Ugh, stupid green pig," Norah mumbled as she thrust the phone back to Mark, who shook his head with a grin, gently rubbing her aching back.
"You post Chief Resident yet?" he asked with a firm voice, looking at Owen across the ER.
The trauma surgeon, who was assigned the task to select the new replacement for the position, eyed the resident next to the plastic surgeon briefly before shaking his head. "Uh, no. Not yet."
"What's the holdup?" Mark queried.
Callie rolled out on a chair with a maternal magazine in her hand. "The suspense ain't killing me," she sighed, "It's gonna be Grey-sorry, Norah."
Norah let out a quiet dry laugh at that statement, shaking her head as she continued the game. Mark eyed her suspiciously at her sudden spark of displeasure but decided that it was the hormones that were enhancing her frustration after losing the round.
"Well, I thought Karev made a great play for it," Arizona recalled, turning to Owen, "A plane full of orphans? That's pretty impressive."
"Ah, he's already decided," Callie shrugged, "You don't have to lobby for your boy."
"Hey, did you at least take Norah into con-" Mark's voice got muffled off by Norah, who covered his mouth with her hand.
He narrowed his eyes at the sour look on her face, feeling a bubble of hatred directing toward Owen. She sighed at his furrowed brows and brought his hand to her bump; his eyes brightened immediately with joy when he felt the soft kicking again.
"Sloan Offspring is kicking?" Callie gasped and rolled over to them on her chair.
"Is everyone calling our kid 'Sloan Offspring' now?" Norah questioned with a sigh while Mark looked beyond delighted.
❦ ❦ ❦
THE SURGEONS GATHERED in the ER where the chief had called for assembly. There were still no patients who got brought in, which could only mean one thing: there were no survivors.
"Emergency services has begun identifying bodies. They've given us a list," Webber informed while Bailey passed out a list of names to the surgeons. "The airline reps are on their way. We've got social workers here and more coming. It's a long list. Each of you have families to inform."
Norah received her assigned paper from Bailey, deciding against her usual mumble of 'thank you', because there was nothing to thank about.
"So, uh, please be outside the cafeteria in exactly one hour," Perkins resumed, "You'll call one family at a time. And you'll be assigned a room to take them to and deliver the news. It's gonna be a long day."
It's gonna be a long, long day.
Norah rubbed her aching back sorely while the group dispersed. She noticed Owen heading towards the bulletin board and pinned up a notice. The residents perked up at once.
CHIEF RESIDENT
April Kepner, M.D.
April had a smile growing on her face while the other fourth-year residents rolled their eyes with a scoff, heading away from the ER. Norah rubbed her forehead with a sigh, although she had already expected that she would not see her name on the bulletin.
"Congratulations, April," she spoke, and the new Chief Resident smiled back at her hesitantly. "Well, people are gonna hate you now, me included," the brunette stated bluntly, "But, well... congrats." April gave her a forceful smile.
Timothy walked up next to her with a long sigh, staring at the paper in her hand. He swiftly switched his list with hers, giving her the list with lesser names on it.
"Lost the fucking race, huh?" he pointed at the bulletin.
"Guess so," Norah shrugged, "Ugh, I hate it."
He snorted and puffed his chest out. "I'm gonna get it next year."
"Sure you are," she rolled her eyes at her brother before noticing the grimace look on his face. "What's wrong with you?"
He sighed and shook his head. "I gave Lexie to Jackson," he confessed, "Well, give isn't the word, but... you know what I mean."
"No, I don't know what you mean," she scowled at him with her hand on her hips, "You love her, why would you-"
"Maybe love is just not fucking strong enough," he cut her off, running a hand through his hair, "Not everyone is you and Mark, o-or Shepherd and Meredith, or Callie and Arizona. I-I don't know... I'd like to think that fate puts people together... but I guess fate isn't on our side."
She gave her brother a hug he needed, and he rested his head on her shoulder. "That's very poetic, Tim," she commented sweetly before knocking his head with her knuckles, "But you are very idiotic."
"Love turns us into idiots, huh?" he mumbled with a heavy sigh, "Well, I guess what done is done."
"Yeah..." she furrowed brows at her brother. With a kick of the hormones swarming in her, her expression turned into an angry one. "You know what? I need to find Derek."
Timothy raised a brow at her sudden change in tone, as well as the heated look on her face. He was slightly daunted by her stare when she pulled away from the hug. With a cautious look on his face, he stepped aside for her to pass through.
Mark walked up to him curiously, and the both of them watched as she stalked down the halls. "Why does she look mad?" the attending queried.
"I'm thinking about the same thing," Timothy stated. "Hey, do you think she'd go all hormone-y and punch Shepherd in the face?"
The two of them shared a worried look. "She might," Mark nodded, more concerned about his best friend than his girlfriend. "Uh, Tim, do you know how to put together a crib?"
The resident cocked a brow at him. "Are you serious right now?"
"It's wobbling," Mark confessed, his head lowered, "And cribs shouldn't, you know, wobble."
"Oh my fucking god... Fine, I'll stop by tomorrow," Timothy shook his head, "How the fuck did my sister get stuck with you?"
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH HEADED TO THE patient room where the clinical trial's patient for that day was admitted in. As per her wish, the two surgeons that were also involved in the trial were already there.
Meredith was talking to the patient's family, an apologetic look on her face; Derek leaned against the door with his arms folded above his chest, looking displeased.
Norah walked up to him and immediately dragged him down the hallway to where nobody could hear them. "What the hell happened?" she demanded.
"Meredith tampered with the packets," Derek confessed with a sigh, his tone laced with anger, "It was for Adele."
The string of curses that was just about to flow out, halted at the back of her throat. She knew how close Meredith was with the Webbers, but she still felt mad.
What her anger directed to, she could not pinpoint exactly. All she knew was that she had to take deep breaths because she felt like punching someone, and the face in front of her was the closest target.
"Why... why wasn't I... I don't know, informed?" she questioned the attending, "I mean, I'm part of this clinical trial, too, right? And god knows how long you've met with the chief already. I just wanna know why I wasn't told about this situation-and why I had to get the information from bloody Karev."
"You want me to be honest?" he queried and nodded at her fixed stare. "You're stressed," he stated, "And I was the one who suggested not to let you know yet, to not put extra stress on you."
"So you think by not telling me is doing me more good?" she scoffed, "Derek, were you not gonna let me know yet, or not at all? You think I'm what, fragile just because I'm carrying a child?"
"Dr Lawrence." His voice was raised and his tone firm, causing her to stay quiet. He took a deep breath and sighed, "The trial is over. I'm gonna contact the FDA shortly, and they'd probably hand the trial over to some other hospital, but..."
"You think they're gonna shut it down for good," she stated and sighed out, "Yeah, I think that, too."
"It's over," he muttered, "What do I do?"
"I... I don't know, Derek, I don't," she pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled heavily, "All I feel right now is anger, but I refuse to give in to it because it's not healthy for me or my child. So... yeah."
She was mad, without a doubt, but she could not embrace the hatred she was feeling inside her. Hell, she did not even know who she should be mad at because her head was building up with flames that would spread like wildfire if she let it.
She lifted her head to the devastating-looking attending. "Oh, and you-you raise your voice at me again, I'm gonna bloody smack you."
Derek opened an eye to her as he ran his hand through his face. "You already sound like a mom."
"Thank you...?"
❦ ❦ ❦
MARK CLIMBED ONTO the bed next to Norah after he had returned from a later shift. He yawned and snuggled closer to her from the back.
Instead of her lying on his chest while listening to his heart rhythm, it was now him spooning her from the back with his hand on her stomach, feeling the occasional light kicks that made him feel giddy.
Right as he closed his eyes, the doorbell rang; he perked up from his pillow in confusion. It was midnight, and they certainly were not expecting guests; he figured it would be from the couple down the hall.
He got out of the bed and covered her with the comforter before heading out of the room. Swinging open the door, he expected to see Callie or Arizona knocking for snacks or something, or even Timothy, who often crashed at their place-he was greeted by a pacing Cristina.
"Yang? What are you-"
"Is Norah awake?" Cristina questioned, cutting him off.
"Um, she's asleep," he rubbed his eyes, "What's up?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Oh, congratu-"
"No!" she snapped at him and shook her head. She was tapping her foot anxiously before deciding to just push through and head inside. "I-I need to wake her up."
"You might wanna stop there, serious warning," he tried to stop her as she rushed towards the bedroom, "She'll get cranky, and she's gonna-"
Norah stirred in her sleep when she heard a voice calling her name. She opened her eyes and saw a troubled-looking Cristina lying next to her, who sighed in relief when she finally woke up.
"Cristina? What are you..." the brunette blinked a bit, "Am I dreaming?"
Mark was surprised that she did not slap the other woman from waking her up from her well-needed slumber.
"I didn't know whether I should head to Mer's with all that's happening with her, and your place is nearest to my place?" Cristina stammered before blurting out, "I-I'm pregnant."
"You're what?" Norah's eyes went wide before covering the comforter over the woman. She knew that Cristina had no interest in having kids, and hence her getting pregnant could only be an accident. "Does um... Does Owen know?"
"Yes, and I'm getting an abortion..." Cristina spoke, her voice small, unlike her usual confident self. "And Owen just kicked me out of my house..."
"He what-?! That bastard!" Norah grunted in disbelief, "Should I um... Should I beat him up?"
"No! Sweetheart, you're pregnant," Cristina snapped at her before sighing, "I'll be over at Mer's tomorrow, but right now, I just... I need to lie down."
"You're already lying down."
"Mark's okay with that?"
Norah lifted her head slightly to the man leaning against the doorframe. He let out a defeated sigh before turning out of the room.
"Yeah, he's taking the couch," she confirmed and moved over to Mark's side of the bed, allowing Cristina to take her side.
Norah dropped her head onto the warm pillow and started dozing back into slumber. She wrapped a hand around her friend, needing something-or someone-to hug.
Cristina lay still and stared at the ceiling before turning her head to the other woman. "Is Sloan Offspring kicking me?"
"Mm-hmm."
Cristina lowered her head to Norah's bump, rightwhen she felt another kick coming from the baby. "Ass."