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AN: Welcome to another chapter of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). I hope you are enjoying this series. I hope you love it!
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Many people don't know that the human eye has a blind spot in its field of vision. There is a part of the world that we are literally blind to.
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After a few drinks and some food at the Emerald City Bar, Mark and Eddie picked up Frankie from Alec, who had been watching her for them, and made their way back to Eddie's apartment.
Luckily, Frankie had been fast asleep when they came and got her, and they were lucky that she was a pretty heavy sleeper, and didn't wake up when they transferred her to her crib and shut the door quietly behind them.
That was when Mark's offer from earlier in the day came into play. The two were like teenagers, they quickly ripped their clothes from each other's bodies leaving a trail to their bedroom. Mark easily picked Eddie up by the waist and her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her into the room, closing to door as soft as he could with his foot.
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At the frat house, Meredith and Derek were in her bathroom off her bedroom, enjoying a nice, relaxing bubble bath. Both in the afterglow of the fact their relationship was officially back on. Both of them felt....bright and shiny.
"What did I say?" Meredith asked with a giggle, as Derek kissed up and down her neck.
"Seriously." Derek said as he continued to kiss her.
"Seriously." Meredith repeated as she turned her head and their lips met in a kiss.
"Seriously." Derek repeated breaking their short kisses for a moment, before trying to draw her into a longer kiss.
But Meredith didn't fall for it. She pulled back after a moment.
"Seriously, we're taking it slow." Meredith reminded him.
"We can take it slow. We can take it incredibly slow." Derek promised as he kissed her again.
"We're taking it slower than that. We're starting fresh." Meredith reminded him of their conversation over dinner after their steamy kiss they shared at the bar.
"And starting fresh means no sex because?" Derek asked.
"Because we started with sex last time and it didn't go very well. Plus the waiting is fun. And we need fun. From now on I wAnna be bright and shiny." Meredith explained to him once again.
"Bright and shiny, huh?" Derek repeated.
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The problem is, sometimes our blind spots shield us from things that really shouldn't be ignored.
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Eddie and Mark were getting ready for their mornings when Eddie's phone started to play the imperial march. A ringtone she had set for her mother years ago.
"Who is that?" Mark asked, never hearing that ringtone before, knowing that every important contact in her phone had a specific ring tone. This one was new.
"My mother." Eddie said shocked.
"Your mom?" Mark repeated.
He had never known Eddie to actually talk to her mother. She mentioned her in passing, but unlike with the Quinn's, whom she talked to almost daily, her mother had not even picked up the phone when she had been in the hospital after being shot.
"I better see what she wants." Eddie said with a sigh as she reached over and picked it up right before it went to voice mail.
"Hello mom." Eddie said cordially, putting the phone on speaker so she could continue getting ready.
"Edit," Constance Elliot (nee Sousa) greeted her daughter in 'society voice' the one that she put on when she was pretending to care. Eddie had heard her mother greet her sisters, and it was nothing like the fake polite tone she used with her eldest child. "Your stepfather and I have just gotten back into the states and heard what happened, are you alright? Do you need me to send someone out to help?"
Eddie bit back the bitter retort of asking why she couldn't come see her. If Frankie had been shot, she would be on the first plane out, no matter where she was. But, she also wouldn't treat Frankie the way her mother did her.
"Oh, no, I am fine. I have plenty of help around here, and I should be off my crutches in a few weeks. Thank you for offering though." Eddie said.
"Really, even with the baby, what's her name again, Francesca?" Constance pressed. "You're a young single..."
"Mom," Eddie said, cutting off her rant about how Eddie ruined her life by having a child without being in a proper relationship and being so young.
"I have support. I promise Frances, or Frankie, as we call her, and I, are fine." Eddie said. "We have my brothers and Frankie's father, who also happens to be my boyfriend, as well as friends who are more than willing to help."
"Oh, really, Edit, Frankie is not a nickname for a little girl. Why not Franny or just Frances?" Constance complained.
"Mom, we like the nickname Frankie." Eddie said with a sigh.
There was one thing Constance Elliot hated in this world was when a girl is given such a lovely, feminine name, and were given gender neutral or masculine nicknames. She always called Eddie by her full name Edit, saying that Eddie was to masculine and she had a daughter and not a son. So, she would go by Edit, and that was it.
"I was just giving you my opinion Edit." Constance stressed. "But, there was another reason why I called you."
Of course there is.
Before Eddie could ask what, her mother continued on.
"Do you remember my friend, Sweetie Thompson?" Constance asked.
"Yes mom." Eddie said, remembering her mother's friend whom her mother latched onto when she realized how powerful she was on the Upper East Side. "How is she?"
"Oh she is marvelous! Her son, Jameson, you remember him, don't you Edit? You used to play together as children." Constance asked, Eddie nodded. Of course she remembered the pompous boy she grew up with. He was about six years older than her, and she unfortunately had to put up with him during holiday parties.
"Well, I don't know if you know, but he is graduating medical school this spring, from NYU, and he is applying for surgical programs, and I told Sweetie you'd be more than happy to talk him up at work, Seattle Grace is the best. If you could get into a medical program, he will be a shoo-in."
Mark's eyes widened at how little Eddie's mother actual thought of her. Eddie was brilliant. She didn't brag, but her brothers, dad, Eli, and Esther did for her. She had been the valedictorian of one of the top exclusive private prep schools in New York, the top of her class at Yale for both undergrad and medical school, and she was the best surgical intern at Seattle Grace. She was an amazing surgeon in the making.
Constance Elliot truly was vial. If Eddie was a weaker person, her confidence would have been reduced to rubble.
Eddie rolled her eyes. Like she was bottom of the barrel? She graduated number one in her medical class at Yale. Jameson rested on his looks and daddy's money too much. She wondered if his father did pay for the degree. There had been rumors that he did that for him to stay and graduate from their exclusive private school they had both attended.
"Mom, I'm an intern, I do not have the chief's ear like that. If he is the best fit, he'll get in." Eddie said.
"Of course you don't. You may be a genius, but, you're not surgical material. Jameson is. Just drop his name when you talk to the chief and chat him up. Nothing big, he will make the surgical program better. You can do that right?"
Before she could answer her mother rushed her goodbyes.
"Perfect, I'll let Sweetie know!" Constance said, before hanging up.
"Joy speaking to you to mom." Eddie said as she wanted to throw her phone across the room.
"So that was the wicked witch of the Upper East Side?" Mark said, using the nickname Eli called the woman.
"Yes." Eddie said, "that would be her."
"She's horrible."
"That is the consensus. Trust me." Eddie said.
"She is wrong, you know, you're an amazing doctor and will be an amazing surgeon." Mark said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Edit."
Mark had rarely heard her full name properly. Her father sometimes called her that, or she introduced herself as Dr. Edit Sousa, professionally. But, everyone seemed to call her Eddie. He always assumed her mother did as well. Apparently not.
"Please, no. As much as I've grown to love my name, I prefer Eddie. Especially after speaking with my mother."
"Understandable." Mark said, then after a moment he asked, "She truly doesn't know Frankie's name?"
"No, she remembers, because she remembers any slight I do against her perceived or actual. I am just surprised she didn't make a snide comment, she's bitter she is named after my Grams." Eddie explained. She remembered when her mom and grandma were close, but she often treated her more like a burden, especially when she was sick.
Honestly, Eddie thought she only tried to stay on her good side because she was hoping for the whole family fortune. Eddie knew she and Stan had basically spent that money the moment Grams died for some exotic vacation home, only to find out that they didn't get it, but Eddie did, and they had no way to ever touch it.
"Mom hated that Grams didn't leave her more than what was necessary to contest the will. And, I think she wanted me to name her because she is my mother." Eddie said.
As if.
She wasn't that desperate for her mother's approval. And, she would never name her daughter after her. She'd leave that for her younger sisters.
"Well, I happen to love Frankie and her name. So your mother can yell to the high heavens, but the only opinion that matters is ours." Mark said.
"Agreed." Eddie said with a nod.
"And...this Jameson?"
"The biggest ass I've ever met. And, he tried to get me into bed a time or two when I turned eighteen, said I was officially not jailbait anymore, and I was fair game" Eddie said, "he is more interested in what he can get with daddy's money than putting in the work. If he is as good as mom claims, he'll have no issue getting in."
Mark didn't like that. He had never been a jealous man. But, whenever he saw another guy look lustfully at his sweet, bright, young, girlfriend, the mother of his child he didn't like it. He wanted to cave their faces in.
And, this Jameson was at the top of his list.
"Ah, I know the type." Mark said.
He may have turned into that type of boy if Mark hadn't met the Shepherd family. But, he didn't, and it allowed him to met the best girl in the world, and be the father of a little girl he hoped took after Eddie.
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Meredith was visiting her mom. She felt bad, she hadn't visited in a few days. Work and life had kept her busy. But, she was worried for her because for the past few days she hadn't been eating.
"Mom. The nurses tell me you haven't been eating." Meredith told her mom as she sat with a tray of untouched food in front of her.
"No time. I've been in the OR all morning. And i've got back to back surgeries the rest of the day, so..." Ellis said snappishly.
"I'm sorry I haven't been visiting it just..." Meredith started to apologize, but her mother was in no mood to listen to it.
"Look I don't have time to coddle you right now. I'm trying to save lives here. Do you understand. Do you?" Ellis snapped.
"Dr. Grey." Webber said as he saw one of his interns sitting at the table. He was carrying a pink bakery box in his hands.
"Chief." Meredith said, somewhat shocked to see Richard Webber there. Though, she knew he often visited her mother.
"Richard!" Ellis said excitedly and happily as she went to go hug Richard and took the bakery box.
"For me? You shouldn't have." Ellis said happily.
"The nurses said she hasn't been eating." Webber explained to Meredith, who nodded, feeling inadequate in her mother's care.
It was obvious, that she was never going to be as important as Richard Webber. Richard could get her to do things Meredith struggled to get her to do.
"Oh you wonderful man!" Ellis exclaimed happily as she went back to her seat and started to eat her baked goods.
"I'm interrupting. I'll go." Webber said awkwardly.
"No, chief. You stay. And I'll go." Meredith said as she walked away to leave Richard to deal with her mother.
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Sometimes our blind spots keep our lives bright and shiny.
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Meredith entered the intern locker room, unaware of the events that happened the day prior, and in her good mood, had't registered the tense atmosphere.
"Today is the day people. Today is the day when dark and twisty Meredith disappears forever. And bright and shiny Meredith takes her place. You're probably not going to want to be friends with me anymore cause the sheer intensity of my happiness will make your teeth hurt. That's okay, 'cause life is good. Life is good." Meredith said, but then noticed there was a lack of response and her friends were looking at her with a 'stop talking' look.
"What's going on?" Meredith asked concerned.
"George's dad was admitted last night." Eddie informed one of her persons as she comforted George.
"Oh my God, is he okay?" Meredith asked worriedly.
Meredith had met Mr. O'Malley a few times since George moved in. He was a genuinely kind person.
"He's fine." George said as he looked through his father's file.
"He passed out, hit the floor and fractured his clavicle." Izzie explained.
"His clavicle is fine. Callie said... she said it's fine." George said, trying to not to worry.
"Are those his AM labs?" Meredith asked referring to the chart.
"Complaining of severe abdominal pain." Alex stated having looked over the chart already.
"He doesn't have peritoneal signs, that's good." Cristina added.
Just then Bailey entered the locker room, looking for her interns, who would most likely have Harold O'Malley's chart.
"Has anybody seen..." Bailey trailed off when she saw George looking at his father's chart.
"I was just looking at it." George said, as he offered the chart back to his resident.
"Don't you think me reading it is more important than you reading it?" Bailey asked her intern as she looked at the chart.
"Sure. Fine. He's going to be fine." George said as Bailey looked up at him.
"You're on scut today. You'll be distracted." Bailey informed the male intern, who looked scandalized at the thought be being on scut.
"No I won't..." George started.
"Family members do not treat family members." Bailey reminded him.
George was about to argue back, when Bailey cut him off.
"Scut." Bailey ordered.
"I'm scrubbing in on a surgery with Dr. Burke this morning." Cristina informed her resident, who didn't look at all impressed.
"Of course you are." Bailey said dryly, as she turned to give the rest of her interns and gave out their assignments.
"Karev, Sloan. Grey and Sousa, pit. Stevens, shadow Karev. And let me remind you again of the rules of your probation." Bailey stated.
Eddie thought Izzie had a death wish when she rolled her eyes annoyed at her resident, as she leaned against the locker bank.
"I think she knows the rules, Dr. Bailey." Alex said, which got him a death glare from Bailey, which he rightly shrunk away from.
She then turned to Izzie once again.
"No touching patients, no talking to patients, no rolling your eyes at patients...or your superiors." Bailey ordered.
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At one of the nurses stations on the surgical floor of the hospital, Mark was standing there looking over some charts while Addison was looking for a chart she need. Neither noticed a cheery and annoyingly happy Derek made his way over to the station to get some charts he needed.
"Hey, good morning Addison! Mark!" Derek greeted cheerfully.
"Derek," Mark said with an amused smirk at his best friend, someone got lucky last night.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Addison asked him, put off by his cheery demeanor. Ever since he found out Nicholas and Addison had an actual relationship instead of a one-night stand.
Mark watched on like it was a tennis match.
"It's a greeting. Used in civilized cultures in their civilized environments." Derek explained his tone still cheerful and upbeat.
"You're smiling." Addison said baffled by his attitude.
"It's called happiness. I understand why you wouldn't recognize it." Derek commented as Mark bit back a snort.
"Wait...So we're being mature about this?" Addison asked, referring to their situation.
"Yes. We are going to peacefully co-exist in this hospital. Unless you've reconsidered moving back to New York." Derek said, and Addison gave him a 'really' look.
"I think that would be a no." Mark commented to his best friend, as Addison shot him an annoyed look.
Mark just smirked at her, knowing it got under her skin. He had known her long enough and well enough that it would drive her just as crazy as Derek's good mood.
"Okay then, peacefully co-exist." Derek said.
"Interesting." Addison said as she looked at Derek, as if trying to figure him out.
"Yes, we're adults, we're educated, I think we're capable of many, many things. Come on let's shake on it." Derek said as he held out his hand.
Addison reached out to shake it when Derek noticed she was still wearing her wedding rings. Mark noticed as well. Well, isn't that awkward, especially since Derek took his ring off before he even signed the divorce papers.
"So I'm still wearing the rings. I think they're stuck." Addison admitted when she noticed where they were looking.
"Have you tried soap? I hear it's good and slippery." Derek said, remembering a very soapy Meredith and her tub last night and early this morning.
"You are a very strange person Derek." Addison said as Derek started to walk away.
"I am just bright and shiny, Addison, Bright and shiny." Derek said, using the term Meredith and her friends often used.
When Derek left, Mark followed after him.
"So I'm guessing the reunion went well last night."
Derek's smile told him all he needed to know.
"That's my boy." Mark commented with a laugh, and Derek joined in.
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Callie Torres was in Harold O'Malley's hospital room talking to him and George's two older brothers; Jerry and Ronny. She was telling them how she had met George.
"No, so then I just popped his shoulder back into place. He didn't even flinch. Your brother is hard core." Callie explained.
Just then Bailey and George entered. George was shocked to see Callie in the room talking with his family.
"Callie, what are..." George started, but his brothers interrupted him.
"George." Jerry and Ronny cheered loudly.
"Looks like you've got a full house, Mr. O'Malley." Bailey said with a smile to the kind man.
"Just waiting on the wife. She's in DC chaperoning a field trip." Harold informed her. He just hoped when she got here, they'd have good news to share with her.
"She's coming back tonight." Ronny informed them.
"His clavicle is still hurting, so I added PRN morphine every 4 hours." Callie informed Bailey, who nodded trusting Callie's judgement.
"And I scheduled your endoscopy for this afternoon." Bailey said.
"And endo-what?" Jerry asked worriedly.
"Scope. It's like...a camera." George explained to his brother.
"That sounds dangerous. Is it dangerous?" Jerry asked worriedly.
"It's not dangerous." George told his brother who shrugged him off.
"I asked the doctor." Jerry snapped at George.
"Yeah let the doctor speak, Georgie." Ronny added for his brother.
George looked at the white coat he was wearing.
"White coat...let's look at the white coat." George said, but his brothers ignored him.
"What about an x-ray? 'Cause I had that once and I feel like..." Ronny started to ask Bailey.
George couldn't take his brother's dismissal anymore and all the worry he had about his father caused him to snap.
"Shut up...just both of you shut up." George snapped.
"O'Malley." Bailey chastised her intern.
"What?" The four O'Malley men answered as one, which caused Harold, Ronny, and Jerry to start to chuckle. While George just smiled tightly.
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Izzie followed Alex as he made his way to the usual nurses station Mark used. The attending was writing on some charts as the two approached.
"Ah, excellent. My invaluable intern and his blonde shadow." Mark commented as he looked up and saw Alex and Izzie.
Mark had yet to actually meet Izzie. Of course, she had met Frankie when she had been born. But, she never really came around the apartment like Meredith, Cristina, and Alex did. And, he had met George a few times as well when they hung out in a large group and he worked with him a few times as well.
But, for what he heard about Izzie, she was one of the least like interns in the program, even before the whole LVAD situation. No attending or resident wanted her on their cases because she was a headache and a half. And, most were shocked she was back, and he had heard some were trying to find minor infractions to charge her with to get her out of the program.
She went against attending or residents orders thinking she knew better. She flirted with attendings and other residents, especially in the beginning, even though she claimed she didn't want to get ahead because of her looks. She got overly involved with patients (case in point, Denny), and she acted like a stereotypical teenage mean girl. And, Mark had heard all about Izzie blowing up at Eddie when she was pregnant because she was talking to Alex and being a good friend, and basically calling her a slut. And, while Mark tried to be professional and not let his person life effect his job, but he didn't like anyone insulting his girlfriend.
Then there was the way she treated Callie. She did not think she was a good enough woman for George. But, in Mark's opinion it was the other way around. Callie had quickly became a good friend, and George could only be so lucky that Callie was into him.
"Dr. Stevens is shadowing me today, so..." Alex said with a shrug, as if to say "what could you do?"
"What case do you need us on?" Izzie asked the attending, with wide eyes as if trying to play innocent, which she failed at.
Izzie couldn't help but think Mark Sloan was incredibly hot. And, he really fit the McSteamy nickname her friends gave him. Izzie still couldn't believe Eddie snagged someone like him. Eddie didn't seem like Mark Sloan's type. Sure, Eddie was pretty, Izzie supposed, but she wasn't the type of woman Mark Sloan would go after.
Mark Sloan probably only gave her a second glance because she gave birth to his baby.
"Karev, you're going to round on my patients, then you can scrub in on my breast augmentation and skin graft today." Mark said as Alex grinned.
"Of course sir." Alex said with a grin.
"Perfect." Mark said.
"What would you like me to do?" Izzie asked, batting her eyelashes slightly.
"You can watch Karev...or you can help me with another case." Mark said figuring if she couldn't actually do medicine and she wanted something to do, he could give her one of the jobs he usually assigned his other interns.
"I can help with the other case!" Izzie said quickly, before Alex could stop her or Mark changed his mind. "What is the case?"
"It's a really tragic one. Just this morning I found out that I have over two weeks worth of dry cleaning that needs to be picked up stat." Mark said, as Izzie's face dropped.
Alex bit back a chuckle slightly. If she wanted to do something so bad, Alex figured he'd let her. Better her than him, in Alex's onion, no matter if he still held some sort of bizarre feelings towards her. And, if Mark wanted to clearly point out that her advances were not appreciated by making her an errand girl, why would he stop him?
"That's it? Cool." Alex said, before Izzie could retort.
"See, we're like a well-oiled machine, you and me. I also need you two to get me a sandwich from that pathetic excuse for a deli, Karev you know the one I like. But go easy on the mayo this time. I think you're trying to kill me. And, get something for yourself and Stevens." Mark commented.
Alex nodded, he could easily do that when the time came. On the scale of things, Alex getting him a sandwich was tame to what he had other interns do. So, he was fine with it, especially since he was going to be in on two plastics surgeries today.
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In another part of the hospital, George was following Bailey trying to plead his case to be in on his father's endoscopy.
"I don't see why I can't at least help with my dad's endoscopy." George complained.
"What about "No working with family" do you understand?" Bailey asked her intern giving him her 'I suffer no fools' look.
"I'm not asking to do the procedure..." George started, but his resident interrupted him.
"Fine. Pick an intern." Bailey told George, who looked at her wide-eyed.
"What?" George asked shocked.
"I'm being kind. You want an intern assigned to your dad's case? Fine. Who do you want? Right now. Pick an intern." Bailey ordered.
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Many interns and residents were packed in the gallery of Burke's OR. Ever since Burke had basically closed his OR to anyone but Yang, they had been in the one OR without a gallery. So, this was their chance to actually learn from the attending.
"Excellent. Now we want to place the partial occluding clamp on the aorta. Slowly. Good. Now we want to make sure all the grafts are deaired before you remove the venus and aorta cannulus." Burke explained as he let Cristina decanulate the patient's heart.
"He's letting her decanulate the heart by herself?" George asked shocked.
"Freaking unbelievable, huh?" The resident beside him said.
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Eddie had been paged to Harold O'Malley's room and Bailey had told her that she wasn't going to be in the Pit anymore. George had been allowed to pick an intern for his father today, and he had chosen Eddie.
George knew Eddie would do everything in her power to make sure his father had the best care. She was known to be a staunch advocate for her patients, and she was the best. His father needed that if he couldn't be there.
"Hello Mr. O'Malley," Eddie greeted the man. Then she turned to his sons, "Hi you must be Ronny and Jerry. I'm Dr. Edit Sousa, but please call me Eddie. It's nice to put the names to the faces of George's stories."
"Eddie, you know you can call me Harold." Harold greeted with a smile, he had met George's young friend a few times, and always liked the young girl.
And, the way his son's eyes lit up, they liked her as well, or at least the look of her, because his sons straightened up and tried their best to look as presentable as possible.
"Nice to meet you." Ronny said.
"Yeah, nice to meet one of Georgie's friends." Jerry said with a charming grin.
"So, I have been assigned to your case Mr....Harold." Eddie said, as Harold gave her a look that he would prefer being called Harold. "I need to draw some blood for lab work."
Harold nodded as Eddie moved to his side with the tools she needed on a rolling tray.
"So, how is that little girl of yours? Frankie right?" Harold asked, he remembered George gushing about the little girl was practically his honorary niece to his parents. He had shown them a few pictures of the little girl from different gatherings with their friends.
Eddie smiled.
"Yep, Frankie." Eddie confirmed as she gently prepped the area.
"She is fantastic, she has started to sit up now without a lot of assistance. She also seems to be growing like a weed, and loves to keep her father and I on our toes." Eddie said as with a smile, he barely felt the needle poke his skin as she drew the blood from his arm.
"You have a daughter?" Jerry asked shocked. She looked to young to be a mother to any child.
"Yep." Eddie said with a bright grin.
Eddie got enough blood, and gently removed the needle and gently cleaned the area and bandaged it.
"I'll be back in a bit, Harold." Eddie said with a grin. "If you need anything, don't hesitate the ask."
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Derek, Bailey, and Meredith were making their way to greet the ambulance as the paramedics wheeled out a little girl on a gurney
"What do we have?" Bailey asked Ray, the paramedic.
"Mia Hanson. 5 year old female, crush injury to the abdomen. Blunt trauma to the head. Her BP is 90/60. Pulse is 110." Ray informed her.
"How was she injured?" Derek asked the paramedic.
"Backed over by her mom's SUV." Ray informed him.
"She's uh... her blood type is A- and she's allergic to penicillin and wheat. I'm so sorry Mia, I am so sorry baby." The young woman, Anna, cried in obvious distress.
"Has she had anything to eat today?" Meredith asked the young woman.
"Um cereal this morning around 6:30." Anna said.
"Okay, Mrs. Hanson, we're going to take care of your daughter." Meredith promised.
"I'm Mrs. Hanson, Mia is my child. Anna is just the nanny who ran over my daughter." Diane Hanson snapped.
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In the Trauma Room Derek was examining Mia with Meredith, while the others were trying figure out what happened.
"I'm going to examine your neck okay?" Derek said, but the little girl was scared.
"It's okay Mia, my name is Meredith. And Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Bailey are just trying to see where you're hurt." Meredith promised.
"What the hell happened?" John, Mia's father asked.
"She ran over Mia in the drive way." Diane said angry, her look at the nanny was sharp and dangerous.
"She what?" John repeated as he looked at the distraught nanny who adored his daughter. She looked as if she wanted to be the one in the bed. Anna loved Mia, she would never purposely hurt Mia, ever.
"She wasn't supposed to be in the driveway...Mrs. Hanson told me to go get some milk and I...I didn't see her." Anna sobbed, as her eyes watched Mia worriedly.
"How do you not see a child standing in the drive way?" John asked, but then looked at his wife, "Where were you?"
"What?" Diane asked, shocked her husband was getting annoyed with her.
"Where were you that you couldn't watch Mia for five minutes?" John asked her annoyed, yes, he was extremely upset, but Mia wouldn't have been in this position if Diane had paid any attention to their daughter.
"I was supposed to be in court." Diane replied.
"Oh so you were on the phone." John snapped.
"I was letting them know that I was going to be late." Diane explained.
"Instead of watching Mia?" John asked.
"Oh so now this is my fault?" Diane asked annoyed.
"Hey! It's the car's fault okay? SUV's have blind spots the size of Jupiter. And all this yelling and fighting and placing blame is not going to help your child." Bailey snapped at the couple.
"Is she going to be okay?" Diane asked worriedly.
"She has blood in her ear canal. We need to get her upstairs for a CT." Derek said.
"It's going to be okay, baby girl." Anna tried to sooth the little girl whom she adored, she had been with her since she was a baby, and she wished that she could trade places with her. She never wanted to hurt her.
"Get away from her. Now." Diane snapped, angry, how dare she try and comfort her after she nearly killed her?
"What?" Anna asked.
"Get out." Diane ordered.
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Izzie had found Alex after she had went and gotten the sandwiches for him and Mark. She felt like a glorified errand girl. Good thing he was hot, because his personality was something to be desired. Though, before Denny, she would have tried to get with him, he was hot and like the main character of a steamy romance novel.
Izzie didn't know how Eddie put up with him.
She had also noticed that since she started back at the hospital, she had been treated different. She barely got acknowledged by her fellow interns outside her friends, the residents barely looked at her or asked for her opinion when she was standing with whomever she was shadowing, and the attendings were all cold towards her. She hated it.
"Tell me again why you put up with this crap?" Izzie asked annoyed.
"Because one day he lets me in on cases." Alex explained, "and usually, I don't. He's not that bad."
" Are you sure you want to do plastics that badly?" Izzie asked.
Alex rolled his eyes. It would be worth it. They made their way towards Mark, who was standing with Eddie, clearly being professional, yet Alex could tell he was flirting with her.
"There you are." Mark said, "Did you go all the way to New York for my pastrami?"
"Mark, tell me you didn't have Alex and Izzie get your lunch." Eddie said, she knew she couldn't really tell him off, since he was her boss at the hospital.
"He paid," Alex said, "for the three of us, we just picked it up, Ed."
Eddie nodded. "Okay, well, as much as I would love to spend time with you three, I have some labs to get."
"See you later, Eddie." Mark said with a smile towards his girlfriend, who smiled at him and Alex. And she just send a nod to Izzie.
"Extra spicy, extra lettuce, low on mayo." Alex said, as he handed him the sandwich.
"Mark... what are you doing?" Addison asked, having arrived to see Alex hand him his sandwich.
"Lunch. You want my pickle?" Mark asked offered, knowing she liked them.
"Seattle Grace is a teaching hospital. And part of your job is to teach. Your interns aren't your slaves." Addison informed him annoyed at his attitude.
"Fine. No pickle for you." Mark said with a shrug.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Did you see that?" Addison asked, though she knew she should have expected that, she just thought Mark would have grown up more since his early days as a resident and new attending.
"Hmm?" Richard asked, he knew Mark's teaching methods were...unorthodox but they had amazing results, every doctor he took under his wing are doing amazing.
He was an amazing doctor, and he was only hard on them because he wanted the best, and he did a great job knocking cocky interns and residents self-inflated egos down a few pegs to show them just because they did well in medical school, that the reality was different and you were not as good as you thought, you were supposed to learn, not run amuck.
"Sloan! He's using his interns to pick up his dry cleaning...and his lunch." Addison complained.
"I have to do an endoscopy." Richard informed her.
"What the hell is going on with the men in this hospital?" Addison muttered.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Mark led Alex and Izzie into the room of Frank Jeffries.
"How you doing Mr. Jeffries?" Mark asked his patient, who was watching some bad hospital tv.
"Oh Frank's doing okay. He'd be doing a lot better if the twins were even." Frank said as Mark nodded.
"The twins?" Alex asked confused as he looked between Mark and the man in the bed.
"Frank's new pecs." Frank said motioning towards his chest.
"Who is Frank?" Izzie asked, breaking Bailey's rule, knowing that Alex would not tell her, because he still loved her.
"You're looking at him." Frank said.
"Frank, these are interns. Apparently this is a teaching hospital. I'm supposed to be teaching them. Karev?" Mark said to his intern.
"Frank Jeffres is post op day 3 for pectoral enhancement surgery. There was a slight complication when a seroma formed." Alex answered promptly.
"And what is a seroma?" Mark asked his intern.
"It's a build up of blood and fluid under the skin." Izzie answered as Mark gave her a silencing look. Izzie shrunk back slightly.
"Sorry." She apologized.
"That concludes today's teaching. A tube was inserted into Mr. Jeffres chest to drain the fluid. I want you to monitor him, check the tube for fluid output and change his dressings. Dr. Stevens...I guess you can...watch." Mark said with a shrug.
"Actually Dr. Stevens is an excellent Doctor." Alex tried, but Mark gave him a 'yeah right' look.
"Yeah. That's what I hear." Mark said as he walked away.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Hi sweetheart, fancy seeing you here." Mark greeted as he entered the room to see his wife pumping in the on-call room.
"Hi honey, how is your day?" Eddie asked as Mark came over and kissed her before stretching out beside her and throwing an arm across her body, tiredly.
Frankie had been stubborn last night and refused to go down, and didn't give their parents enough sleep. He was used to little sleep, his career often kept him long hours, but caring for his daughter was a new kind of tired he never experienced.
"It's been good." Mark said. "I am just tired."
"Me too." Eddie agreed, "and it's going to be a longer day, I'm on Harold O'Malley's case."
"Oh yeah, I heard that George's dad was admitted how is he?" Mark asked her.
"He seems to be in good spirits, but I know he is worried, and trying to not show it to his sons." Eddie said.
"Well, hopefully he is okay," Mark said.
"Yeah." Eddie said as she ran a hand through his hair, trying not to think about George's devastated face, hopefully she didn't have to give him bad news.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
At the nurse station, George found Cristina and decided to confront her what he saw in the OR with Burke this morning.
"You decannulated a heart this morning." George said without greeting to the intense intern.
"I didn't..." Cristina started to deny.
"Yes you did. And when we were fishing, I noticed something wierd with his hand like it had a spasm..." George started and Cristina cut him off harshly.
"Okay why are you even saying that? That is not funny." Cristina asked him.
"I didn't say it was funny, I said it was wierd. And him letting you decannulate a heart is weird." George informed her seriously.
"Um you should sit with your father, cause if you want something to worry about, you should worry about him." Cristina informed her friend, wanting nothing more than to get rid of him. If he figured it out, Burke would be done.
"My father is fine. He's good. Don't... this is Burke. Do you think that..." George started, but Cristina walked away.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In the CT room, Mia was being scanned, but she was scared and she wanted Anna. Anna always made things feel safe. Anna was her favorite person ever, and she didn't understand why she wasn't there.
"I want Anna." Mia said.
"It's okay, Mia. Mommy and Daddy are right here. We're just going to take some pictures. Okay. this is a big camera." Meredith promised but Mia wasn't soothed.
"I don't like it." Mia cried.
"Grey, keep her still." Bailey said, as Diane tried to sooth her daughter the best she could.
"Mia, baby, It's okay. Mommy's here." Diane promised.
"Where's Anna?" Mia asked her mother.
"You need to be still." Diane answered instead, hurt her daughter wanted Mia.
"I want Anna." Mia said again.
"How about I sing the goodnight song? And you pretend it's bedtime and stay still okay" Diane suggested as she started to sing the song Mia and Anna sang together every night. "Goodnight Mia, goodnight mommy, goodnight daddy..."
"No, you're singing it wrong." Mia informed her mother, Anna made that song and she sang it perfectly. Why couldn't she have Anna?
"I am? I'm singing it wrong?" Diane asked hurt.
"I want Anna." Mia said again.
"She's in the waiting room honey, I'll get her." John said as he started to leave, he'd do anything to make sure his little girl was okay, and if that was Anna, he'd get her.
"John. Let's all sing it together okay?" Diane said giving him a 'don't you dare' look.
"No, I want Anna." Mia cried to her mother once again.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Mr. O'Malley's room, Callie was hanging out with George's brother, Mr. O'Malley was at his endoscopy.
"So you pick a car." Jerry explained to the hot resident.
"Okay, um 1968 mustang Gt 390 fastback." Callie said after a moment of thought.
"That's interesting. That's hot... very hot... car." Jerry said as he looked at Callie with interest.
"Right..." Ronny agreed and noticed George enter. "Georgie, how's dad?"
"Fine, they're not done yet but he's fine. Can I talk to you Dr. Torres?" George asked his ex-girlfriend.
"Sure." Callie agreed as she followed George into the hallway.
"What are you doing?" George asked Callie, confused as to why she was spending time with his family when she broke up with him.
"I'm talking to your brothers." Callie said as if it was obvious.
"You don't have to do that." George said.
"It's okay I don't mind. I'm pretty sure Ronny and Jerry both have a thing for me. I was going to go with Jerry 'til he went all 1957 Bel-Air. I was like... really?" Callie said with a bright and teasing smile.
"Thank you for trying to help out with my family. But it's really not necessary." George said.
"George, I'm kidding about your brothers... I'm kidding about your brothers, come on." Callie said, she may still have a thing for George, and she knew that she should stay away, but the O'Malley's were good people, and she could at least be friendly.
"Callie I'm serious. I can handle my family on my own. You broke up with me, remember?" George said before he walked away.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
George watched the endoscopy in the OR bellow, hoping to glean any information he could.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Bailey's OR, Bailey and Meredith were working on Mia.
"We may have to do a partial nephrectomy." Bailey said as she assessed the damage.
"Do you think you can save Mia's kidney?" Meredith asked her resident.
"Only if we can stop the bleeders. Here, cauterize as I go. Thank you. You poor baby. It's not going to be an easy recovery." Bailey said sympathetically.
"Well with parents like that, she didn't have it easy to begin with." Meredith commented, thinking about the obvious career driven parents.
"People do the best they can Dr. Grey." Bailey said.
"They don't know their kid's blood type. They don't know her favorite song. People want high-power careers. I get that. But they should think twice before having kids. Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean.." Meredith said, realizing she not only insulted her resident, but Rory and Eddie who were all mothers working in high power careers with children.
"What that I should be home with my baby instead of here with this girl and a surgical intern who can't cauterize bleeders?" Bailey demanded.
"Dr. Bailey..." Meredith started to say.
"If I were you Dr. Grey, I would keep my eye on the surgical area and my mouth shut." Bailey ordered.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
George found Burke in front of OR Board and joined him.
"O'Malley, how's it going with your dad?" Burke asked his friend and former roommate.
"Good. The chief's doing the endoscopy so he's in good hands. That was an amazing surgery this morning, how you let Cristina decannulate the heart." George said, Cristina had brushed off his questions earlier, but he was going to get to the bottom of this strange mystery.
"She shows tremendous promise as a cardiothorasic surgeon." Burke said honestly, Cristina was going to be one of the greats, he just knew it.
"She says she didn't do it." George informed his friend pointedly.
"Probably didn't want to rub it in. Make anyone jealous." Burke said somewhat uncomfortably.
"We're talking about Cristina. Everything alright with you?" George asked his friend, looking him over with curious eyes.
"Sure. I'm fine." Burke promised, trying not to look guilty.
"Cause if anything ever wasn't you know you could talk to me right? You've been through a lot lately, getting shot...it can't be easy." George said, Eddie struggled sometimes, she still got a bit shaky at the sight of the ambulance bay, but she came to them and he knew she went to talk to a psychologist for a few sessions because she struggled with being shot in her place of work. But, she seemed to be on the mend, while Burke withdrew from everyone, except Cristina.
"Yeah." Burke said.
"Has it not been easy?" George asked.
"It's fine. Send my best to your dad." Burke said as he walked away, as George watched concerned.
"Okay." George said.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Addison found Derek at the nurses station, she was determined to talk to her ex husband. She needed his help to talk to the chief. He was either always with Meredith or Mark, or working. Addison had thought to approach him with Mark, but she didn't want to deal with her ex's best friend, who wouldn't be a help with this, and would make things worse. So, when she found him by himself, she took the chance.
"Hey." Addison greeted.
"Hey!" Derek greeted.
"So this mature thing, how far does it go?" Addison asked him curiously.
"Meaning what?" Derek asked her.
"Meaning is it pleasantries in the hallway or do we actually interact?" Addison asked her ex husband.
"I don't know, that sounds drastic." Derek said.
"I'm worried about Richard, he's been down lately." Addison informed him, as Derek looked at her.
"Well he's separated from his wife. That usually doesn't make a person giddy. Except in my case." Derek informed his ex-wife, who gave him a scathing look.
"I think he needs someone to talk to." Addison said.
"So talk to him." Derek replied.
"No I think we both should. You know, so he knows he has people to turn to." Addison explained her reasoning.
"Because he's a little depressed?" Derek asked her.
"No because I don't think he's spoken to Adele in weeks, he's our friend and he's always been there for us." Addison informed her ex seriously.
"Once you get divorced, doesn't that mean that your wife is supposed to stop nagging you? Maybe if you took the rings off it would help." Derek commented, noticing she had yet to remove the rings.
"Are you going to come with me or not?" Addison demanded.
"Fine, yes. I'll come. Let's do it." Derek said, knowing that Addison was going to get him to do it one way or another.
"Good. And I'll try soap. For the rings I mean." Addison said awkwardly as she played with the rings on her finger, the last thing that she had of a marriage she threw away to a great man.
"Okay." Derek agreed.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
" Oh yeah... that's what I'm talking about. Look at you! Do they still look lopsided? From the seroma?" Frank asked Alex and Izzie as he looked at Mark's work.
"No it looks like most of the swelling has gone down." Alex commented as Frank smirked.
"Yeah? Oh yeah. Hey Dr. Stevens would you take a look at the twins? Frank would like a woman's perspective." Frank said as he looked to the blonde who was standing off to the side.
"You're just looking." Alex said, giving her permission to answer, not that it would stop her.
"Uh yep. Looks pretty even to me. Very defined. And the redness should go away in a couple of days." Izzie answered Frank.
"Good. Frank got them for his girlfriend. He doesn't want her to see them until they're perfect." Frank informed the two interns.
"Your girlfriend asked you to get pec implants?" Izzie asked shocked.
" No Frank's girlfriend joined a gym and got a trainer named Lars. What kind of name is that...Lars?" Frank replied.
"So you got fake pecs cause you're jealous of a guy with a fake name?" Izzie asked shocked that someone would go that far.
"My last girl friend, Leena, left me for a guy with hair, so I got plugs. Too late. This time Frank's not taking any chances. Frank sees the signs of discontent, Frank's fighting back. Oh yeah." Frank explained his reasoning.
"I don't know. I just don't get the whole fake boob thing, no offense." Izzie said with a shrug to the man.
"No these are top of the line. They look real they feel natural. No really. Feel them, really. Feel them." Frank said she reached out and felt the pecks.
"Ooh, very solid." Izzie said honestly.
" And real." Frank added.
"I don't know about that." Izzie said, she felt the difference.
"Well compare them to his." Frank said motioning to Alex.
"I'm not involved with this." Alex said.
"Oh don't be such a baby." Izzie said as she gave Alex a look and he reluctantly lifted up his scrub top and Izzie put one hand on each guy's chest and felt them.
Mark entered the room shocked to see the scene in front of him. Really? This is why he didn't work with interns, they could be idiots.
"This... this is why I don't work with interns." Mark said before he left.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Eddie and Mark were in the nursery with Frankie, spending some time with their little girl. Derek had told them about the little girl he had been checked over that had accidentally been hit by a car, the couple wanted to spend some time with their favorite girl.
Frankie was enjoying her parent's attention as they played with her. The couple tried to spend as much time as possible with their little girl, but still, sometimes they felt like they didn't spend enough with her. But, they knew it was crazy because they were down here almost every free moment they could.
"We won't do that right? Be so uninvolved we don't know what is going on in her life?" Eddie asked as she watched Mark cuddle their daughter, as she brushed some of her darkening blonde hair.
"We won't." Mark promised. "We had parents like that Ed, we know what that is like. I promise we will always work to be involved in her life."
He couldn't imagine either of them allowing themselves to turn into their parents. They tried to keep a strict work-home balance. When they were at home, they didn't discuss work, and spent time together as a couple, family, or even alone to keep them from burning out. Then at work they spent their time working hard, with the very occasional break to see their little girl.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Mrs. Hanson?" Bailey said as she and Meredith approached Mia's mother who was waiting for any news in the waiting room closest to the OR.
"Is she alright?" Diane asked worriedly.
"Yes, we were able to stop the bleeding. Dr. Shepherd has ordered an MRI for her scull fracture. Hopefully she won't need any more surgery." Bailey explained to the worried mother.
"Oh thank God." Diane said relieved.
"She's in recovery. Dr. Grey will take you up to her." Bailey said motioning to Meredith.
"Thank you. Can we wait just a minute? My husband went down stairs to us a land line. His battery died." Diane explained as Meredith nodded.
"Sure." She agreed.
"So Mia, she's okay?" Diane asked worriedly.
"Oh she is. She uh, keeps asking for Anna." Meredith explained, as Diane's expression darkened.
"We fired Anna." Diane said, she hoped that was the last time she heard Anna's name.
"Oh. She just seems very attached." Meredith said shocked.
"That's my fault." Diane said self deprecatingly. "According to my husband because I'm a working mother. He a working dad, but apparently that's not the issue. I love my job. I love Mia more. She's my baby...she's my...I love my daughter. I love my job. I'm not good at the mom stuff, but I'm good at my job."
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Eddie, Cristina, and Meredith were in the tunnels and were laying on the unused beds relaxing and talking about their patients.
"I mean why bother to have a kid if you're only going to see it on weekends and holidays? Might as well just get a cat." Meredith said.
"Well," Eddie said, "I know that I love Frankie enough that any time spent with her is worth it."
"Because she is an amazing baby Einstein." Cristina said as Eddie smiled, Cristina was a doting aunt to Frankie, it was actually kind of funny to watch Cristina awkwardly interact with her daughter and treat her like a miniature human and talk to her about random things, mostly about medical terms.
"Thank you." Eddie said, "but sometimes it a rough balancing act. No matter what choice you make."
"I talked to Burke, I think he's fine." George said as he joined them.
"You did what?" Cristina asked with wide eyed shock.
"What's wrong with Burke?" Eddie and Meredith asked together, was this why Cristina was acting so weird?
"Nothing's wrong with Burke." Cristina informed her friends.
"You know he let her decannulate a heart this morning?" George asked his roommate and friend.
"You decannulated a heart this morning?" Eddie asked wide eyed.
"By yourself? Bitch." Meredith finished with a grin.
"No not by myself." Cristina denied.
"Now she's lying about it." George said, trying to get Eddie and Meredith on his side, knowing that Cristina would break under them.
"Yang decannulated a heart. Why is Alex not surprised?" Alex asked he joined them with Izzie trailing behind him.
He sat next to Eddie and rested his head against her shoulder.
"Izzie isn't either. Last week she was digging through crap, this week she's fondling man boobs. No decannulating hearts for Izzie.." Izzie said.
"Okay the third person thing, super annoying. Stop it." Eddie complained, she had heard from Alex and Mark about their interesting patient.
"Why aren't you bragging about decannulating a heart." George demanded.
"I didn't decannulating the heart." Cristina denied once again. Why did George have to keep nagging on this?
"Izzie and Alex do not believe you." Izzie said.
"Okay, what are you two doing?" Meredith asked, curious to the sudden use of third person, and by the look on Eddie's face, it was getting on her last nerve as well.
"Izzie and Alex have a patient who speaks about himself in the third person." Izzie explained.
"Which is stupid, and makes you sound crazy." Eddie interrupted.
"They thought it was annoying at first, but now they kind of like it." Alex added with a teasing grin towards the youngest intern.
"Good. Is it going to stop soon?" Meredith asked.
"One could hope it'd end now." Eddie said as Meredith grinned at her replied.
"Wow, what happened? This morning you were all bright and shiny, and asking to be kicked in the face." Cristina asked Meredith.
"I am. I'm bright. I'm shiny." Meredith said.
"Yeah." Cristina said rolling her eyes. "You're not our girl genius. It doesn't fit you."
"Izzie thinks this whole bright and shiny thing is getting kind of old." Izzie said.
"Alex agrees." Alex said, doing it more so now to bother Eddie, it was fun to rile the girl up.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Richard's office, Addison and Derek sat in the chairs on the opposite side of Richard's desk, who looked at them with a curious expression.
"We think you're depressed." Derek blurted out to the attending.
"Both of you?" Webber asked as he looked between the divorced couple.
"Yes." They answered together.
"Well for the two of you to agree on something I must be damn near suicidal." Webber commented knowing how much the two didn't want to be in the same room.
"We agree on things." Addison said defensively.
"We agree on this." Derek corrected.
"So start talking." Addison demanded.
"Adele and I... she wants me to step down as chief. Retire." Webber explained to them.
"You, retire? Is she crazy? What would you do?" Derek asked shocked at the news.
"Spend a little more time with his wife?" Addison said as Derek looked at her wide-eyed.
"She's being unreasonable." Derek said, Richard was not the type to retire.
"She wants to know that their marriage is a priority to him." Addison volleyed back.
"She's using his work as an excuse." Derek replied.
"Or he is. Some men use work, some use other women." Addison needled, referring to what caused the end of their divorce.
"Some women use other men." Derek snapped, which shut Addison up.
"I've been visiting Ellis Grey." Webber admitted.
"I was lonely, and you had checked out. I was lonely." Addison snapped to Derek after a moment, ignoring Richard's admission.
"I work, I visit Ellis. That's my day." Webber stated.
" You gave up on us first, I was there." Derek snapped.
"I make time for Ellis, I don't make time for Adele." Webber realized.
"There is something driving a wedge between Richard and Adele. Now maybe you don't see it but I do, and so does Adele." Addison said, referring to the fact Derek through himself into his work and checked out of their marriage.
"Well maybe he sees it and doesn't want to do anything about it." Derek challenged.
"He's got to do something about it! That's what marriage is built on. Change. Change keeps marriage alive." Addison explained.
"The man has a right to do whatever he wants to." Derek said.
"Stop! ... helping me. Look, I miss my wife. I want her back. I don't want my marriage to be over." Webber said loudly, interrupting the couple.
"Richard, your marriage isn't over until you decide it is." Addison said.
"Right." Derek agreed.
"Until you decide that the sacrifice just isn't worth it." Addison said.
"Right."
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Webber ordered as Eddie opened the door, and stood there with a grim expression on her beautiful face.
"Oh Sousa, what is it?" Webber asked.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"O'Malley!" Webber called out to the intern as they coincidentally crossed paths in the hall.
"Yeah?" George asked.
"I have your father's test results." Webber said, by his tone, George knew it wasn't going to be good.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"We've been waiting here forever. Where's the doctor?" Jerry complained to George and Eddie as they waited for Richard. Though, Eddie knew that Richard was probably wanting George to deliver the results.
"Dr. Webber will be here in a minute." George said.
"They don't tell you anything, huh? Until you're a real doctor..." Jerry needled his brother, who took the bait slightly.
"I am a real doctor, Ronny. I just... I'm not dad's doctor." George explained.
"What is it Georgie?" Harold asked, knowing his son's tells. And, it was obvious George knew something.
"Let's just wait for Dr. Webber." George said.
"I think he's expecting you to talk to him." Eddie informed George.
"He's coming...he said he was coming." George said, but Eddie gave him a knowing look.
"He's coming later. You should tell your dad." Eddie said.
"What's with all the whispering?" Harold asked as he looked between his son and the youngest intern.
"The biopsy results were abnormal." George explained, not sure if he could actually speak the words.
"Well is abnormal bad or just different? Georgie?" Harold asked his son.
"Sir...you have cancer in your esophagus which has spread to your stomach. We'll need an operation to remove it. And you'll need to undergo chemo and radiation. I'm sorry." Eddie said.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In the staircase the frat house roommates were siting there as George went through one of the hardest things a person could hear about their loved ones.
"They're going to try to operate soon. This week I think. It's stage 3 metastatic cancer. And my brothers are... and uh... Callie slept with Conrad. I just can't... I can't deal with any of it. I spent the entire day worrying about Burke... there's something wrong with... there's nothing wrong with Burke. God, my dad has cancer, and I can't even look him in the face. Eddie had to tell him what was wrong. Cristina..." George ranted.
"Nobody gets it right with their own family." Izzie said with a shrug.
"I certainly don't." Meredith agreed.
"Yeah." George said.
"Yeah." Meredith agreed.
"Callie slept with Conrad?" Izzie asked, finally catching that part of George's rant.
"I don't get you people." George complained.
"Us with the boobs? We make a lot of bad decisions." Meredith commiserated.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"Dude, I still can't believe you went through all this for a chick." Alex said to Frank as he checked over his pecks.
"What you never did anything crazy for love?" Frank asked Alex curiously.
"Not like this." Alex said.
"You have a girlfriend?" Frank asked the intern.
"No."
"Dr. Stevens? Frank can sense the vibes." Frank said with a knowing look.
"I'm not talking about this with you." Alex informed his patient, he needed to get over Izzie, but it was harder than he expected.
"She left you for another guy?" Frank hit the nail on the head. And he clearly could tell by the look on Alex's face. "Frank's hit a nerve."
"It's more complicated than that." Alex said not wanting to explain more.
"Then uncomplicate it then man. Grand gesture is what I'm talking about. Just figure out what she wants and make it happen. Forget all about the other guy. Trust Frank. Frank knows." Frank said sagely.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"What do we got?" Derek asked Meredith as they stood outside Mia's hospital room.
"Second MRI report shows bleeding in Mia's brain." Meredith said as she showed him the MRI.
"Oh damn it. I gotta go in. Try and relieve the pressure." Derek said, as Meredith looked at him shocked.
"Two surgeries in one day?" Meredith asked.
"But she's tough. And right now we don't have any other options. Here. Not so bright and shiny." Derek said with a rueful grin.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Mr. O'malley's room, Eddie was doing an echo on Harold's heart to see what they were looking at and how best to handle it.
"I thought the cancer was in my gut. What are we looking at my heart for." Harold said.
"Your EKG showed some abnormalities. We have to make sure your heart is strong enough to support you through surgery." Eddie said, "it is a routine thing we do, we want to be as informed as possible."
"You're a smart girl." Harold stated as Eddie looked at him wide eyed, she never heard someone say that so plainly to her, it was usually said with a bit of aw or questioning because not many people run into geniuses it seemed.
"Yes....I am." Eddie said with a nod.
"George told me you were the best intern I could have on my case." Harold told her honestly.
"He said that?" Eddie asked shocked.
"He said you were the best intern in the hospital. You keep everyone on their toes...even him." Harold said with a smile.
"Dr. Sousa. Take a look at this." The tech said as Eddie looked at the echo.
"Okay." Eddie said softly, knowing what the results were showing her.
****************************************
"You paged me. What is Burke doing in there?" George asked Cristina as he watched Eddie and Burke talk to his dad through the window that looked into his father's room.
"Eddie did a pre-op echo. His aortic valve is leaking. He won't make it through the surgery unless we replace it. It's just a valve replacement George, he's going to be fine." Cristina promised the male intern who looked extremely scared.
"Burke will do it. Burke will do it and you will clear his schedule. If someone is going to operate on my dad's heart, I want it to be Burke." George ordered Cristina who nodded.
"Yeah." Cristina said with a nod.
"Okay. It's going to be fine. It's a valve replacement, it's Preston Burke. If someone's going to cut your dad's heart open, you want it to be him. What?" George asked as he noticed her facial expression.
Cristina doesn't answer and instead walks off. George followed her.
"What's wrong with Burke's hand?" George asked his friend and fellow intern.
"Nothing." Cristina answered for what felt like a the thousandth time.
"He's going to operate on my father." George reminded Cristina.
" George, Burke is fine. Your dad will be fine." Cristina promised the man, who looked at her with a scrutinizing eye.
"You're lying. Burke is hiding something and you're helping him." George accused her.
"Leave me alone." Cristina snapped as she walked away.
Unaware to both of the interns Bailey heard the conversation.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"You wanted to see me chief?" Meredith asked the chief as she entered his office.
" It's about your mother. Um... I know your relationship with her is complicated, and I know that you know that she and I..." Webber started to explain.
"Chief, it's okay. What really matters is that you make her happy. And my father couldn't. And I couldn't." Meredith explained.
"Meredith I... I can't see your mother any more. I need to make... I need to try to make my marriage work. And if I'm going to do that, I have to stop seeing your mother." Webber explained to Meredith, who nodded, feeling sorry for her mother, she would have her heart broken twice by Richard Webber.
"I see." Meredith said blankly.
"She's an extraordinary woman. She worked so hard, she sacrificed so much and to see it end like this... Take good care of her for me." Webber said to Meredith, who nodded.
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In Frank's room, Alex was talking to the nurse who was looking over Frank, with Izzie hanging back, still put off about not being able to actually be a doctor.
"We've got it from here." Alex charmed the nurse who left. When the coast was clear, Alex said; "Okay Frank, time to take the tube out. Izzie, put on some gloves."
"What's going on?" Frank asked.
"Alex what are you doing?" Izzie asked her ex.
"You ready to take out Frank's boob tube?" Alex asked her with a smirk.
"What about the rules? What if Sloan finds out?" Izzie asked, already reaching for the gloves.
"I'll deal with it." Alex promised her.
"She does know what she's doing right?" Frank asked looking at Izzie wondering why she hadn't been able to work on patients.
"I promise you Frank, the twins are in excellent hands." Alex promised.
"Ah Grand Gesture. Frank gets it." Frank said with a knowing nod to the man.
"What's he talking about?" Izzie asked confused looking between the two.
"Nothing." Alex answered quickly.
"Are you sure about this?" Izzie asked Frank who nodded.
"Oh yeah. He's sure." Frank said.
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In Derek's OR he was working on Mia.
" Looks like we can safely evacuate the clot. Want to cook the pumper?" Derek asked the few residents and interns in the room.
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Eddie, Rory, Callie, Bailey, and Addison were sitting in the gallery over Derek's OR. The five women had become good friends over the past few months.
"Did you ever think about having kids?" Bailey asked, Addison interrupting her gazing sadly at her rings.
"Derek and I talked about it but I wasn't ready." Addison said, she wanted to focus on her career, not knowing if she wanted kids. It wasn't until she got pregnant with Nick did she realize she wanted that with Derek, but it was too late.
"I love kids. I'd have a dozen." Callie said.
"Believe me, one's enough. Unless you plan to put away the scalpel." Bailey said.
"I don't know I want a few more." Eddie said with a shrug. She has had dreams about her future. She was married to Mark, and they were married with kids. Frankie and a few siblings for her to play with growing up. She had always wanted a big family, three or four kids had always been what she saw herself having, but if she had one more...she would be happy with how ever many she did end up having. Eddie had plenty of time, plus she and Mark were not ready to expand to their family yet.
"Me too." Rory admitted. "Maybe one or two more. But three is my hard limit."
"That's why God invented nannies." Callie informed her friends.
"I wish it were that easy." Bailey said.
"Yeah, the mom guilt is real." Eddie said with a nod as Rory agreed, it was a bitch.
"What do I do with these? Hock them? Keep them?" Addison asked her friends as she held out the rings on her finger, finally able to get them off.
"My mom says divorce wedding rings are bad juju." Callie said.
"Your mom says juju?" Rory asked as Callie nodded.
"She does." Callie said.
"Well, what would your mom do?" Addison asked.
"Burn 'em. Bury 'em." Callie offered.
"My mom would sell them." Rory offered, "or use them as a reminder to not marry again, not that it helped, she married four times."
"My mother would sell them for what they are worth now and go to a spa, which is her code for plastic surgery and come back with something lifted, sucked, or tucked." Eddie offered.
"Do you want them?" Addison offered to Callie who shook her head in the negative.
"Oh I want some rings, just not bad juju rings. Then again, my mom's kind of insane." Callie commented.
"Hey, don't talk smack about your mom." Bailey ordered, Eddie knew that she and Tucker were fighting more and more and she was struggling with balancing her career and her family whom she loved equally.
"Miranda." Addison started, worried.
"Yesterday I left for work early, and Tuck's favorite toy was a little giraffe toy. I got home from a 15 hour shift and he didn't like the giraffe anymore. He only wanted his daddy's keys." Bailey said.
"Oh I get that." Eddie said, "Frankie's favorite was this little elephant the next she only wanted to play peekaboo."
Frankie and Tuck were close to the same age, only six weeks apart, so the two women were constantly get advice from each other and from their friends.
"Life moves so fast. Everybody moves on." Addison said sadly.
"Yep." Bailey said as Callie got up and left.
"Where are you going?" Rory asked her friend.
"I'm not ready to move on." Callie said.
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"Thank you Alex. I can't believe you let me help. Alex is cool, you know that? Alex is the coolest." Izzie said to Alex with a grin as they made their way down the stairs.
"Oh Alex knows it. Izzie isn't so bad herself." Alex said with a smile.
"No, Izzie's rocking. Izzie is back in the game." Izzie said with a smile, as Alex turns around and pulls Izzie into a kiss.
"I can't. Alex, I can't. I'm sorry." Izzie said as she pulled out of the kiss and walked away, conflicted.
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In Mia's room, Meredith was checking over Mia to see how the surgery went.
"Can you say something for me? I need to hear how great you talk. Can you say my name? Can you say Meredith?" Meredith asked Mia.
"Where's Anna?" Mia asked instead.
"That was great. Guess who's here? Mom and Dad?" Meredith said trying to get the little girl excited.
"Hey... how's my baby girl?" Diane asked her daughter.
"I want Anna. Anna..." Mia said sleepily, and Diane gets up from the chair and left.
"Diane, wait... Diane, where are you going?" John asked his wife.
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In Mr. O'malley's room George was sitting with his dad and brothers.
"So we'll do the thing with the heart tomorrow?" Harold asked George wondering how all this worked.
" Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a couple days. I don't know quite yet." George answered his father.
"But Dr. Burke and Dr. Webber said we should get to it quick." Harold pressed, wondering if his son was handling him with kid gloves.
"We will. We'll ge to it as quick as we can. I just want to make sure we do it right." George explained to his dad.
"I just don't understand why they're operating on his heart when the cancer is in his gut." Jerry complained.
"Yeah, it's complicated..." George started.
"You know what I was thinking? Maybe the tests are wrong. Maybe it's not cancer. Cause cancer runs in families, and no one else in the family has cancer." Ronny interrupted.
"It is cancer, okay? It's stage 3 metastatic esophageal cancer." George said firmly.
"Meta what?" Jerry asked.
"Metastatic. It's when the cancer cells have migrated from their point of origin..." George started to explain his dad and brothers.
"Okay you're talking doctor now George. Talk English." Jerry ordered.
"I'm talking English, you're just not listening." George said annoyed.
"You're just not saying anything that we understand!" Ronny snapped.
"Boys." Harold tried to intervene.
"Imagine your dad's like... like a vintage car okay." Callie interrupted from the doorway.
"Callie..." George started, but Callie continued.
"His blood's like gas flowing through the fuel lines. The cancer is like the gunk that builds up in there." Callie said.
"And fouls up- Fouls up the plugs." Jerry said, understanding.
"Exactly. Once it starts circulating, it can do a lot of damage to the whole engine, the carborator, everything. It's like the engine had already blown a gasket before the other damage started." Callie explained.
Realization hits the brothers at how bad their father's condition was.
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In Mia's room, Mia happily sang with Mia their goodnight song, as Mia's parents watched on happily.
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When it comes to our blind spots, maybe our brains aren't compensating. Maybe they're protecting us.
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"I'm glad you came to visit. But you can't stay. I'm expecting someone." Ellis informed her visiting daughter.
"Actually mom, he's not coming." Meredith informed her mother, she couldn't not tell her. She needed to know, even if it broke her heart.
"What?" Ellis asked.
"The chief. Richard, he's not coming tonight. If fact, it's just going to be me for a while." Meredith explained to her mother, who looked at her blankly.
"He's gone back to Adele." Ellis said flatly.
"Yes." Meredith said.
"Of course he has. He's afraid. Afraid to be happy. And I'm all alone. Now I have to raise my daughter alone. How am I going to do that?" Ellis asked, lost.
"Mom... you did the best you could. That's all anybody can do." Meredith told her mother honestly, Bailey's words ringing in her ears.
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"How am I looking?" Harold asked Eddie who was checking him over before her shift was over.
"Good. You're ready for surgery." Eddie promised.
"That's good I guess. I don't know how I'm going to tell my wife about this. Forty years we've been married. And now... cancer... and a heart condition? She was always telling me how I should eat better, take better care of myself. I guess I should have listened." Harold explained to Eddie.
"George is going to be great." Eddie said after a moment of silence.
"What?" Harold asked the intern, confused.
"He's a great intern. He's a good person, and a good doctor. And whatever happens, I just thought you should know that you raised a good person." Eddie explained as Harold gave her a watery smile, glad his Georgie had friends like Eddie.
"Thank you Dr. Sousa." Harold said with a smile.
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At Joe's Bar, Izzie and Alex were sitting at the bar talking.
"I didn't know you still felt that way about me." Izzie informed Alex, she thought he might have feelings for her, it was another thing to have it confirmed.
"Me neither." Alex said.
" I can't. I'm sorry." Izzie said, she still needed to morn Denny, he was her true love, she was sure.
"Alex gets it. Alex is sorry he's such an idiot." Alex said feeling stupid.
"Can Izzie buy Alex a drink?" Izzie asked.
"Alex would like that. Izzie can." Alex agreed.
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"Hey big girl, are we ready for bed? Yeah, you're sleepy aren't you" Eddie asked her little girl softly. Frankie had her bedtime bath and was dressed in her little star and moon pajamas.
Frankie yawned and cuddled into her mother, as Mark watched leaning against the open doorway as the mother and daughter interacted. Watching Eddie like this made him fall in love harder with her. She was beautiful and wonderful and he couldn't believe she wanted someone like him. But, he was grateful to whatever god out there that they found each other, because he couldn't imagine his life without them.
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"I know what time it is. I don't care if he's sleeping. Wake him up. He can sleep later...wake him up. Now... no put the phone to his ear. Hey, Hey Tuck. It's Mommy. Hey..." Bailey said into the phone as she heard her son's coos at her voice.
Bailey then started to sing to him. "Them that's got shall get. Them that's not shall lose. So the bible says and it still is news. Mama may have, papa may have, but God bless the child that's got his own, that's got his own. That's got his own."
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Addison stood on the ferry, looking out over the water trying to figure out what she should do. She looks at her rings... and then throws them overboard.
There.
Done.
She could start to move on.
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"Oh the strong get more, while the weak ones fade. Empty pockets don't ever make the grade..." Bailey sang to her son.
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At Burke's apartment Cristina and Burke were lying in bed.
"George knows." Cristina said as Burke looked her.
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"Mama may have. Papa he may have. But God bless the child that's got his own." Bailey continued to sing.
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At the frat house Meredith and Derek were taking another bubble bath, this time, they were sitting at opposite ends of the tub, exhausted from work.
"I may not be cut out for bright and shiny." Meredith informed her boyfriend.
"I'm not either. We can be dull and lifeless together." Derek said with a tired smile.
"I am glad you're in my bathtub." Meredith informed him honestly.
"Me too." Derek agreed.
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Mark watched entranced as he watched Eddie rocking their daughter singing 'Here Comes the Sun' to Frankie. As the song was coming to a close, Eddie put Frankie into her crib and watched her for a moment as she finished the song.
She looked over and smiled at Mark, who grinned back. She made her way out of the room, making sure to not make to much noise, and Mark wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into a sweet kiss.
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"You can help yourself. But don't take too much. Mama may have. Papa he may have. But God bless the child that's got his own. That's got his own." Bailey sang.