S8 EP14
MARK WAS LISTENING TO her light snores while she lay on his bare chest. Within a whim of decision, he sat up all of a sudden, causing her head to slip off his chest, and she landed on his lap, a soft 'oof' escaping her lips.
"What the hell?" Norah mumbled while rubbing her eyes.
"Happy Valentine's Day to you, too," he grinned and greeted her with a kiss on her forehead. "Oh, hey, come on, are you sleeping already?" he muttered when she started snoozing off.
"I need the sleep before Kai starts to fuss."
He pulled her up from the bed, and she let out a sound of protest before bringing her legs over to straddle him. Her arms reached under his and around his body, her head lying on his shoulder.
"You're a big baby," he chuckled while hugging his arms around her with a tight squeeze.
"Our little baby refused to stay down, so I couldn't get much sleep last night."
"Well, you won't tonight, either."
She lifted her head to send him an unamused glare. Wrapping her legs around him, she shifted closer to his body while he backed up and leaned his back against the headboard.
"You're hugging me like a koala," he pointed out with a chuckle. "Not that I mind."
"Just let me cuddle and sleep," she mumbled.
He let out a long 'hmm' before stating, "I want more than cuddling, though."
"Hm-kay," she shrugged and got up from him, rolling over and landing on her feet. He stared at her speechlessly when one second ago she was all sleepy and cuddly, and now she had gotten out of bed with a sly grin on her face.
"Okay, I wanna cuddle now," he grumbled while pulling the comforter over himself, staring back at her in disbelief.
"Nah. Suck it up, love," she winked at the hunger behind those blue eyes that had gone dark.
"Oh, hell no, Laurie. You come here and su-"
When Kai started to cry, she waved at him with a smirk on her face; he pulled the comforter over his head, silently swearing under it.
❦ ❦ ❦
"IS IT CAMPING?" ARIZONA queried while she and Mark walked into the hospital. "I mean, does she think I'm going camping on Valentine's Day?"
"I don't know," he shrugged before cooing Kai that was strapped onto his front. The boy made a noise before resuming his sleep.
They walked through the hallway where the sides were decorated in pink, red, and many, many flowers-it was almost impossible to miss the occasion.
"Well, she's trying to surprise me. I'm telling you, the surprise is gonna be, I'm gonna leave her on the side of a mountain," Arizona rambled on. "I mean, do you think camping is sexy? It's not sexy."
"You can't take a baby camping. Sofia's gonna hate it," he pointed out as they approached the girl's father. "But lucky for you, Sofia has three parents."
They walked to where Timothy was waiting for the elevator with Lexie standing a gap behind him. The two attendings shared a look at the noticeable tension in the air between the two residents.
"Do you have plans tonight?" Arizona asked the resident, and before he could reply, she cut him off, "Because if you do, cancel them. You're taking Sofia tonight."
"Oh, sure," Timothy agreed with a shrug.
Mark raised a brow at the younger man's agreement-without-hesitation. "It's Valentine's Day. Don't you have plans with the eye doctor or something?" he asked curiously, and Arizona nudged him to shut up. "Ow-hey, just asking!"
Timothy narrowed his eyes at the plastic surgeon. "Stop meddling with my pathetic-or-not love life, Sloan."
"I have plans tonight," Lexie spoke up behind them, and three pairs of eyes turned to her while she shifted awkwardly from one leg to another. "I got a hot date. Like a-an actual hot date. With... dinner a-and chocolates and flowers-"
"Lex, you're allergic to flowers," Timothy sighed, and her face went red. "Stop rambling."
❦ ❦ ❦
"WE'RE GONNA GET A zillion Valen-traumas," April chimed with excitement while she waited in the ER's nurses' station, waiting eagerly for a call from dispatch. "I bet a few of them will be good surgeries for our boards."
"Well, it's not St. Patty's day. Those are good traumas," Alex mentioned. "Car crashes, bar brawls..."
"I prefer Christmas season," Norah inputted with a shrug while signing off a chart. "People fall from ladders while hanging lights, people slip on their pavement and fall on their back. Basically, people just being people, and boom-brilliant head and spinal trauma. It's Neuro-heaven."
April stared at Norah, slightly disturbed at the awestricken look on the latter's face.
"Yeah, Valentine's Day is all swallowed engagement rings and guys who threw out their backs getting laid," Alex muttered sourly.
"You're just bitter 'cause you don't have a date," April snorted.
Alex sighed and lifted his head from his chart. "First of all, Valentine's Day isn't for having a date with some chick. No, it's for macking the chicks who don't have dates," he stated, "Besides, I have to study for my boards."
Jackson lifted his head form his chart, noticing the shrugs and 'yeah-that-makes-sense' looks on the other residents' faces. "You studying already?"
"Of course. You're not?" April narrowed her eyes at him while Alex and Norah turned to him curiously.
"No, I am," Jackson cleared his throat with a firm nod, his brows closely together.
Norah snorted at the alarming look behind his eyes. "Nope, he hasn't," she taunted with a smirk, and he shot her a glare.
"You've started?" he queried.
"I've been bugging Shepherd since last year," she shrugged, "I mean, have you seen him giving me a look like I'm annoying the bloody crap out of him? That's because I am."
Jackson was scratching the back of his head stressfully when Owen walked up from behind them, sending the bright and lovey decorations a scowl. "Who put up all this?"
"I did," April replied brightly, but her smile faltered when the attending's glare met her. "Well, research shows that a cheerful environment reduces stress and helps patients to feel more-"
Her eyes widened with dread when Owen picked up a paper teddy bear on the counter and crushed it in his fist before storming off. The resident stammered while blinking at her now-crumpled paper bear.
"Wow."
Before Norah could blurt in something that would make April feel even worse about herself, she was dragged away by her arm. Her chart and pen were left on the countertop while she staggered across the ER and faced the panicky-looking resident.
"I... have a hot date," Lexie stated firmly.
"Um, hooray...?" Norah quirked a brow at her.
"It's Zola."
"Oh," she blinked and snorted, "You're babysitting? On Valentine's Day? That's... fairly depressing."
"Yes, but t-that's not the point. The point is," Lexie took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, "You know how someone just... gets you, very well. A-And he just knows you, and you get all giddy because he... because he knows you."
"Yeah. Mark makes me feel that way," Norah admitted. "But I'm assuming you're talking about Tim?"
"Yes," the younger resident sighed heavily. "I am... in love with him. A-And I have always been in love with him. And it's driving me crazy because he knows I'm allergic to flowers, and he knows when I'm making things up, and he just... He knows."
Norah smirked while the younger resident grumbled in frustration. Time to play cupid, she thought. "Then tell him that, exactly that."
"But he's-"
"Lexie Grey," she cut her off sharply, "If you think he had moved on from you, you're wrong. So if that means you're gonna sabotage his current... relationship or whatever-ship-I'm rooting for you. Because frankly, I like you much better than that eye doctor or something."
"Y-You think so? I mean, that he..."
"I know so."
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH REVERSED HER steps when she saw Mark standing in front of a radiology room, staring at the scans in front of him. "Why is Kai still strapped onto you?" she queried, walking into the room.
"Let's just say I failed to drop him off at daycare," Mark admitted sheepishly. "Well, the nurses love him. Besides, he loves it if I keep moving around, and he never cried-"
As though on cue, Kai started to stir and fuss, and Mark narrowed his eyes at his son. Norah snorted lightly and carried the boy out of the carrier before he could wail. The small weeps died down almost at once.
"He's a Mama's boy," Mark let out an offended scoff with his hands on his hips.
Norah nodded in agreement and placed her hand on Kai's back while he started snoozing off again. "He is."
❦ ❦ ❦
LEXIE WALKED DOWN the familiar corridor, the same coloured carpet under her feet leading to the familiar-looking apartment door. She was bouncing Zola in her arms while carrying a baby bag; her heart was hammering in her chest when she rang the doorbell.
"One sec!" Timothy's voice boomed from within, making her more nervous than she already was. She heard the click of the door's lock, and it swung open. The confused yet surprised face that greeted her made her feel like her legs were about to give out.
"Uh, hi?" he spoke; she blinked when she realised that she had been staring at him wordlessly.
"I thought maybe the, uh, the girls could have a play date," she stated with a smile while Zola blabbered in her arms. "And, um, we could, uh... to talk, you know, about stuff... 'cause there's some stuff that I've been wanting to say..."
She trailed off when she noticed his hair was damp and the collar of his shirt was wet. "Oh, is... is Julian here?" she felt her cheeks heating up, "I-I'll go, I'm sorry to uh, bother-"
"I'm alone in this apartment, actually," Timothy finally voiced out, "I mean, with Sofia, of course."
"I-It's alright, I'm just... stupid of me to come here," Lexie chuckled nervously, already backing away from the door as if it were to greet her into a hellhole. "Um, ha-have a pleasant evening and-"
Her words died off when Timothy grabbed her arm before she could retreat down the hallway. There was a long silence between the both of them; it was finally interrupted when Zola giggled at the coloured bands around his wrist.
"D-Don't you have a date or... or something?" Lexie asked, her voice small.
He raised a brow at her, shaking his head. "I would, if you come in."
"But Julian-"
"That was one hook-up," he blinked at her before lowering his voice, "Totally regretted it." His words definitely caught her by surprise, but she must admit that she felt elated by that piece of information.
"Now, would you come in and watch the kids while I cook? I had to wash my hair when Sofia decided to... You know what? Just come in," he stepped aside from the door, "Ribeye will be ready in thirty minutes... Asparagus will be seasoned with pepper and a pinch of salt, then we could, you know, like you said, talk."
Lexie grinned as she entered his apartment; the smile on her face was there the entire night.
He knows her.
❦ ❦ ❦
S8 EP15
"65-YEAR-OLD WOMAN enters the ER in shock," Jackson prefaced, "Presents with a pulsatile, expanding abdominal mass. Go."
"Ruptured triple-A," April answered after a moment of thought. "I would take the patient straight to the OR and access the peritoneal cavity through a vertical midline incision."
Meredith walked over to them in front of the OR board with a curious look on her face. She looked at Norah, who had a paper filled with squiggles and tiny words while she mumbled under her breath, then stared at the deck of study cards in Jackson's hand.
"You guys studying for the oral boards in the middle of the day?"
April nodded while she scheduled the OR board. "Just another benefit of having a study buddy," she shrugged, "You should get one."
"I have one," Meredith deadpanned, "It's just that my stupid study buddy's too busy trying to save her stupid marriage to actually help me study."
"You can't blame Cristina," Norah lifted her head from her sheet of paper. "Hunt's an arse."
"Where's Mini McSteamy?"
"Bonding with Dad-McSteamy."
"Well, you know what's better than a study buddy?" Alex smirked, "A study lackey. Check it." He lifted his head to the group of interns by the nurses' station and pointed at one of them. "Hey, you, brown-haired girl, you're up."
A young intern rushed up to him with a stack of cards in her hands. "Uh, trauma incident or a surgical situation?"
"You're bullying your interns to come up with study questions?" Norah raised a brow at him, unimpressed. "Shouldn't you get someone... who knows more about the stuff?"
"Who's your study buddy?" Meredith asked the brunette.
Norah took a sip off her coffee before replying, "Your husband and your sister. Mainly Lexie, I'm putting her photographic memory into good use."
The other resident cocked a brow at her, "So you're using my sister?"
"Oh, no, don't make me sound bad, Mer. We're helping each other," Norah smirked back, "She's helping me study, and I'm helping her reconcile with my brother. It's a win-win."
Meredith furrowed her brows before nodding with a sigh. "Okay, that's fair. She's miserable."
Norah saw the resident in question stalking down the hall with a stressed look on her face.
Lexie rounded to the nurses' station and dropped the charts on the countertop with a loud thud, causing Timothy, who was dozing off, to snap his head back up. She started to ramble off about whatever was annoying her while he fished out the many granola bars from his white coat and passed them to her.
From the look in his brother's eyes, she grinned to herself knowingly.
"They no longer are."
❦ ❦ ❦
"LEXIE, YOU PAGED?" Norah entered the radiology room, only to find the younger resident studying some scans along with Amelia Shepherd. "Amy-hi!" she beamed, "When did you get here?"
"This morning," Amelia replied with a smile. "Derek shot down my plea for help, and Dr Grey here told me that you could help convince him."
Norah raised a brow curiously, walking up to the scans. There was a picture of a boy clipped in front of the brain scans; he had a broad smile on his face. "Tell me the plan here."
"I can remove the tumor and the diseased carotid together. All I have to do is run balloon catheters in through the femoral, place them in precise position, inflate them to stop the blood flow, do two arteriotomies, then feed a heparinized shunt into place, and re-establish blood flow."
Norah furrowed her brows while running through the procedure in her head. She turned her head to Amelia, who was looking back at her hopefully. "That sounds complex... Question is, what's the timeframe?"
The Shepherd sister sighed with her hands on her waist. "90 seconds," she informed, "Any more than that, and she strokes out."
"Oh," the resident nodded with a frown, "That definitely sounds complex." She took a step closer to the scans before turning to Lexie. "We need to set up a simulator."
"But... Derek needs to approve it...?"
"Nag him into it during your surgery with him," Norah suggested, and Lexie had an unsure look on her face. "He's gonna hate you a bit, but he'll give in to throw you out," the older resident pointed at the picture clipped with the scans, "Do it for this boy."
Lexie caved and went away to find the neurosurgeon in question; Amelia stared at Norah impressively. "Guilt-trapping, amazing idea."
"Works like a charm."
❦ ❦ ❦
AMELIA AND LEXIE HAD constantly tried and failed during the simulation, but their hopes remained up when an idea bounced out from them.
Norah stalked down the halls looking for Derek, who had not once turned up for even a glimpse. She eventually found him at the nurses' station outside the ORs where he had just returned a chart to a nurse.
"Shepherd!"
The neurosurgeon looked over his shoulder at the call of his name while Norah approached him. "Why are you calling me 'Shepherd' in that tone?" he asked, and she landed a heated stare at him. "Hey-"
"No, no. Don't 'hey' now. I'm gonna speak, and you're gonna listen, okay?" the resident spoke, and the attending nodded attentively. "Amelia is a great surgeon-no, do not interrupt me, you git-she's a brilliant surgeon, but you're treating her like she doesn't know her stuff. She's close to succeeding, and, who knows, maybe some support from her brother might do a big help."
Derek furrowed his brows at her. "It's a gliosarcoma that has invaded the carotid artery," he recalled, "The patient could stroke out if we remove it, you know that."
"I also know that if I were the one who brought the case to you initially, you would actually take a look," she responded straightforwardly, her tone firm, earning a look from the attending. "Treat your sister like how you'll treat me, how 'bout that?"
She lifted the folder of scans in front of him, but he shook his head. "You don't get it," he sighed, "She's-"
"-an ex-drug addict," she finished his words and rolled her eyes at the surprised look on his face. "Derek, I know Amelia long before I know you. I volunteered at the rehab centre before I started Med School," she shared, "And if you wanna know one thing about your sister-she's always fighting. You have to stop seeing her as a kid."
Derek lowered his eyes to the scans in her hand, hesitating. She rolled her eyes before shoving the folders into his hands; he finally gave in and took a closer look at the brain scans.
"This will be a really tough and complex surgery..."
"It's a seemingly inoperable surgery," she quoted with a smirk, "And by the look on your face, you're saying yes. Or was that all just for talk?"
He lifted his eyes to meet eyes, letting out a long exhale. "We're saying yes."
❦ ❦ ❦
NORAH WATCHED AS AMELIA and Derek worked together on the simulation model. Lexie had joined them, taking the stopwatch in her hand.
"91 seconds," Lexie informed, and Amelia grumbled.
"That's-"
"-gonna work," Derek finished his sister's sentence. "It's gonna work. Let's give our hands some rest before we try again. And Norah? Stop crunching the chips."
"Watch us." The resident sent him an unamused look with the bag of chips hugged close to her chest. She handed a piece to Lexie then fed another to Amelia, completely ignoring him as the three women chuckled.
"How'd you get him to give in?" Amelia asked with a whisper while Derek glared at them.
Norah smirked smugly, clicking her tongue. "Guilt-tripping," she answered with a wink.
The door to the skills labs opened, and Norah snapped her head to the gurgling sound she was very familiar with. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Mark carrying an awake Kai in his arms.
"Ah, hey, Amy-Amelia," he greeted with a smile, "I thought Derek shot down your request?"
"Norah and Grey changed his painfully stubborn mind..." she trailed off when she saw the little boy staring at her. "Who's the boy?"
"Little Kai," Norah replied, carrying the boy from Mark's arms. Kai cooed before lying his head on his mother's shoulder, his small hand reaching for her neck. Derek grinned at the sight of them while Amelia was surprised.
"Oh, wow, he's your kid?" she questioned in pure shock. "Mark Sloan has a kid?" she asked again, turning her head to her brother, "Mark has a son with Norah... Wow... And the last time I was here, we-wow."
Derek seemed to have caught the fishiness in his sister's words. "'We wow'? What does that mean?"
"Nothing," Amelia claimed, glancing sideways at him before looking back forward, catching Norah's smirk.
The neurosurgeon looked between both of them, and a curious frown settled on his face. Slowly, a look of shock and alarm smeared on his face. "Did... The last time Amy was in Seattle... Did you two...?"
"What makes you think that we two...?"
"Well, for starters-you aren't denying!" he gasped, staring back and forth between the two women while Lexie snorted at the corner. Amelia merely shrugged when Derek turned to Mark, "Surely you have something to say?"
Kai giggled, and when his dad tried to carry him back, he held tight onto his mom, turning his head away. Norah snorted at the sour look on Mark's face. "Not really, no," he admitted, "She's mine now, isn't she?"
He stared at Norah with the dearest look on her face as she boop-ed her nose with Kai's. Lowering his head, he rested his chin on her shoulder as their son brought his tiny fist to his face.
"They both are all that matters," he spoke again as Kai held his cheek. He tried again, gesturing his hands in front of his son-this time, the boy left his mother and buried into his father's arms. "Yes!"
Amelia watched them, still stunned. "That's the Mark we grew up with?"
Derek nodded with a snort. "Yup."