Chapter 70: 70. You're a Good One
You're one of the good ones. You don't get just one.
-Mark Sloan
The next day, Mark woke up to Emily's body curled against his. Smiling to himself, he detached her from his side and got ready for work. Before he left, he kissed her cheek and made sure she was warm before heading out.
"Wake up!" Starting awake, Emily looked up to see Arizona staring down at her. "Oh, good."
"What?" Sitting up, she flipped hair out of her face and glared at the peds surgeon. "What are you doing here?"
"Sofia's putting up a fuss and I have to go to work."
"I just woke up, Az," Emily muttered, swinging her legs off the bed and getting up. Immediately, her body protested and she let out a groan. "Where's Mark?"
"Em, it's your day off and Callie and I have an overnight shift. Mark, too and I checked the schedule and you're off work for two days—" Arizona gesticulated as she spoke— "this is what happens when your children have a village."
Emily stared at her boss for a moment, then caved. No point in even questioning how Arizona had the resident's schedule when Emily hadn't even put it out yet. The blonde was always scarily good at convincing the brunette to babysit her kid. "Yeah, bring her over."
"Thank you." Arizona rushed out of the room to bring in her daughter as Emily went to the bathroom to freshen up before pouring herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Leaning heavily against the island, she tried to wake herself up. "She's had breakfast and her diaper's changed." In came Arizona again with the little girl. Emily set down her mug, outstretching her arms to meet her goddaughter. "Here are the keys."
"Thank you. Okay, Sofia—" Emily looked down at the little baby— "say bye-bye to Mommy."
"Okay, bye, Sof. Mommy has to go to work." Arizona blew one last kiss to her daughter before running out and closing the door behind her. Sofia twisted around to latch on to Emily who picked up her coffee again.
"Let's go see if I can survive walking." Sofia clapped Emily's face as she set her down on the rug. Crouched down, she could feel the bottom of her hip stretching too tight. "Ow. Son of a—" Getting up, she collapsed on the couch with a breathless sigh. "What is wrong with me?" Her hand curved the bottom of her thigh. She didn't feel any abnormalities. She must've pulled something then.
Between logging in surgeries, overnight shifts, Chief Res and everything else, she didn't have time to sit down often. She was on her feet more often than not so it must be that. Hopefully, with rest for the entire day, she'll feel better.
What a dumb plan that was.
.
There was a loud cry. Starting awake, Emily sat up on the couch and immediately let out a growl. Eyes squeezing shut again, she cupped the bottom of her hip and nearly screamed. One cry lead to another and the brunette remembered half-heartedly she had settled down the two children for a nap an hour ago.
She pushed herself up by the arm of the couch, limping her way over to her son's bedroom. Scooping up her son, she pressed her forehead against his and sniffed, breathing in her baby's scent. "Hey, bug." Everett cried against her face, hugging her neck tightly as Emily walked to where Sofia was sleeping in the port-a-crib she had brought over from Arizona and Callie's apartment.
Wide-eyed, her goddaughter stopped crying upon seeing Everett who had stopped crying by this time. Sighing, Emily sat down before Sofia, taking her out and cradling her as well. She took a glance at the clock and sighed. Only 3:45.
When she found not even sitting could ease her pain, she knew she was in deep shit. This was worse than she had initially thought and her gut told her to call someone to take her for scans. A list of possible causes ran through her head as she looked down at the two kids nestling into her body. There was no way she could leave without the two of them.
"Hey, kids, it's time to wake up for real."
Sofia shook her head against Emily's shirt and Everett reached for Sofia's hand.
"Everett, can you get the phone? Telefono." Her son stared up at her and she mimicked calling with a goofy face despite wanting to scream in pain when her son shifted on her thigh. Hissing through her teeth, she managed to push through and pick herself up. Vision burning, she tried to stop the tears and she took a deep breath. She reached for her phone, her brain going over the list of her friends on-call.
"Come on. Pick up."
"What?"
"Uh, okay. Sorry."
"Sorry, Em. What's up?"
"I need you to pick me up and help me get to the hospital." Taylor scoffed on the other end and she sighed when he didn't reply. "You alive?"
"You live across the street from the hospital."
"Taylor—" Something in her voice made him stop sounding so incredulous and impatient as she shifted weight with a sharp gasp— "I think my abductor's ruptured and I don't think I should walk." There was no response and she exhaled softly. "Yeah. That's why I can't exactly… get to the hospital."
"I'll page Callie. Give me ten."
"Counting it down, don't worry." He hung up. Lying deeper into the couch cushions, she let her eyes close as the children stampeded all over her legs. One of them slipped off and her head jerked up, picking Sofia off from nearly falling off the couch. "Please, be good and stay."
Sofia chirped back a reply and Emily sighed helplessly.
"I had no idea what you meant but thanks for the effort."
.
"Yep. Hip abductor right there." Callie turned away from the MRI scan to stare at her student with something akin to a scolding glare.
"Oh, great. Gluteus medius." Despite Callie's stern demeanor, a smile cracked her mask as her student groaned and let her head fall back into the bed. After being signed in, the woman had been settled in a bed almost immediately.
"This is a pretty bad tear - how long have you been ignoring the pain?" She turned off the light screen.
"I may have thought I was just sore." Callie groaned at her answer and Emily continued, "It got really bad this afternoon."
"Was the sex that good?" the attending teased and Emily leaned further back.
"Oh, I'm going to kill myself," she wheezed as the door opened. Taylor walked in, sympathetic smile etched onto his face as he sat down on Emily's bedside. Dumping her laptop, phone and computer charger, as well as some books, he glanced over at her chart. "Hey. Kids alright?"
"They settled down in daycare easy." Looking at the scans, the corners of his mouth pulled back into a grimace. "Ooh, nasty. Any longer and you'd have walked with a limp for the rest of your life."
"Thanks."
"Welcome." Taylor flashed her a smile and she reached for his hand. "You gonna be alright?"
"Yeah. Get back to work or someone'll die." The blond nodded, leaning forward to kiss her forehead just as another person walked through the door. A flamboyant presence with the flare of Michael Jackson walked in and Emily reclined so she didn't have to look into her brother's eyes. Taylor laughed at something she couldn't see, exiting the room as Noah laid down beside her on the bed. The arrogance was rolling off of him but Emily knew deep down he cared. Hopefully. Probably.
"When's the surgery?"
Callie wrote down the dosage of NSAIDS she had received before closing the chart. "Thinking in two hours or so. It'll be an easy fix and we'll have you out soon enough." Noah turned to his sister, arm around her shoulders (which she had allowed only because he was her brother). "Seriously though, if Mark's going too hard—" A laugh broke up her sentences and nearly destroyed the words she was saying— "then maybe you have to tell him to stop."
"It's not his fault." Noah frowned at her tone and Callie, who was mid-way out the door stopped. Closing the door, the orthopedic surgeon stepped towards Emily again. "I just wanted to not think. And I don't… when he doesn't want to think either." The latina's lips pressed together as Noah pressed his nose into his sister's hair.
"Well, with you like this, he can do nothing but talk." Callie placed a gentle hand on her leg. "And maybe this is your chance to pick up a deal on a house."
"A house. That is something we've been stalling on for months." Emily turned to her brother. "Can you help me pick out some houses?" she asked and his eyes softened for his little sister. Reaching forward, Noah plucked her laptop from the table at the end of the bed as Callie gave the world-class peds surgeon a nod. In return, the older Moore gave a minute nod as if to say he'll stay and watch over her.
Cracking the laptop open, Emily typed in her password and leaned against her brother who mused aloud on what made a good house. His warmth under her cheek, she slowly drifted off.
.
With only half an hour left until her surgery, Emily read through a book she had began when she was still on mat leave with Everett and hadn't picked up since to kill the time. That was, until he showed up. Which he undoubtedly would have when she had first come in had he not been holed up in surgery.
His light knock on the door made her look up and close her book after sliding her bookmark in.
"Hey."
He walked in, hands in his pockets as she sat up straighter with a grimace. The NSAIDS have helped but they couldn't remove the pain completely. Sitting by her bedside, he took a hand between his.
"You're awfully quiet," she mumbled and he sighed, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "I'm sorry."
"Did I do this?" A crashing wave of guilt and pain dunked Emily's heart with an ache so extreme she could barely breathe. His lips whispered over her fingers before he ducked his head and his forehead was against her knuckles. "Did I-"
"Never." The word came out cracked and he looked up at her with misty eyes. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't." Reaching forward to cup his face with her free hand, she made him look at her. When his eyes refused to meet hers, she sighed. "Look at me. Look at me. I love you, so much. Don't you ever think that you could hurt me." Her voice caught in her throat and she smiled shakily. "I love you, so much."
"I didn't mean to-" he began waveringly and she touched his face with her fingers, her smile growing stronger and fonder.
"It is not your fault." Her voice was bold and enticed him to believe her as she brought him closer for a kiss. "I ignored it as much as you didn't know. It is not your fault."
"I should've known."
"Do we have a telepathic connection?" He shook his head and she chuckled, fingers brushing over his cheek. "Then, how could you have known?"
"I just should've," he said and at that moment, their eyes met. Emily's smile fell off her face as she noticed the shattered expression behind his irises.
"What happened? Is it your dad?"
"He's… he's not doing good," he breathed and she carded her fingers through his hair. "Probably not going to make it to the end of the week."
"I'm sorry." Searching for something to say, she merely said, "I'm sorry… Sloan." A myriad of emotions flicker in his eyes and his mouth dropped open. She hadn't called him since… he couldn't even recall. But it was before their whole life together — before she loved him, before he loved her, when he loved Addison. Before their son, before they were best friends, before all the crap.
He couldn't imagine a life without her.
"I love you, jailbait," he whispered again and she knew his words to be true.
"Come on, help me pick a house. I've got it narrowed down to these four. Noah helped," she explained as he reached for her laptop. As he opened up the browser she had left open, Emily's eyes rested on him fondly. "You know, I'd never leave you if I could help it. You're the love of my life." His eyes flashed to meet his but his mouth made no sound. Her hand in his hair trailed down to his cheek and her thumb brushed against his cheek. He covered her hand with his, feeling the ring on her finger. They'll have to remove it for the surgery. He made a note to keep it for her.
"I won't leave you either," he promised and she pulled his head towards her, pressing a hard kiss to his temple. Her eyes closed and he leaned into her touch as they searched for a new home, fit for all of them and more, when they were ready.
And then, Mark clicked on the tab that showed a beautiful cream house and his eyes became hearts. Emily knew he was in love with this house from the outside. It was five bedrooms — massive for their family of three right now but his forethought made her smile. There was a yard and a porch and it was perfect.
"This is the one," he whispered and he looked to her for agreement. "Do you like it?"
"I do," she whispered and a smile split his face as he continued to read about the house. Eventually, he rested his head in her lap as he read and she stroked his hair, content to do this for the rest of her life.
.
"Morning sunshine." Blinking, she tried to make a noise but all that came out was a weird croak.
"Hey," she rasped but she didn't even know who it was. When firm, calloused fingers took her hand, she recognized it to be Taylor. His heat and scent was so familiar that she was grateful he sat by her bedside. "Miss me?"
"Not exactly," he whispered but his warm smile and his peck on her forehead betrayed his words. "Feeling better?"
"A lot better," she said and he sighed. "How's… the Lexie situation?"
"There is no situation."
"Other than you love her and you broke up with her," she said and he burrowed his face in his hands, avoiding her eyes. "Look, I respect your decision. I get it. I just…" She took hold of his hand, fingers curling over his. "Don't regret it. Promise?"
He smiled, tired. "Promise." She shifted sideways with a slight wince and patted the bed beside her. He groaned, shoving off his shoes and lying on the bed beside her as he crossed her arms over his chest. She set her fingers over her abdomen, staring at the ceiling as she tugged at her leads. "It's hard."
"I know," she said. "But there will always be someone for you. And there will always be someone for her. And that's true no matter what."
"You think there's another one for you? Besides Mark?" he asked, turning on her bed to look at her and she frowned, bending her arm to scratch her nose. "Do you think you would've moved on? If things were different or if you'd never met or-"
"If I never met Mark, I would've never known what it would've felt like," she pointed out. "I would've loved someone else and never had this great love in my life. Maybe I would've had another great love, or maybe I would've been single, or maybe I would've had another family. It doesn't matter. And, if Mark and I never did get back together, if we really didn't — I would've…" She let her hand drop and took his hand instead, turning to meet his eyes. "I would've walked away. It would take a while, and I feel like I would've gone back to him because I love him more than almost anything but… but I know I'd have to quit him because loving him is a drug. Because love... it's terrible and it's messy, and he's addicting and I'm weak for him, but I chose to do it. I chose to fall. And he is my poison, that's true, but waking up next to him every day is a habit I made because I need him. So… quitting that, going through the withdrawal of him and choosing, every day, to turn away until it's not a choice but a habit, is freaking terrifying. But I know I'd make it.
"And I don't want to think about what I would have to do if Mark was… if Mark died. But I'd like to imagine that, uhm, I'd imagine that I'd be poetic," she said with a sad smile. "Loving one man for my whole life sounds pretty tragic and poetic and endlessly heartbreaking. Like there's one big great love and you can't ever get past that, but I also like the the thought of how the heart mends. And I want to be open to possibilities, even when he's gone, and I want to move on because I know he wouldn't want me to be sad. And it's not like I'll be alone." Taylor exhaled and offered a small smile as she gently rolled onto her side, mirroring him. Here was this man, who she had known for five years now and she smiled. "I have you, and I have Noah. I have my friends, and work, and I'll probably have residents to teach." She paused, eyes drifting off and a silly smile worked its way onto her face. "We'll have kids. Everett and a daughter and maybe another son and they'll be just enough to remind me of him. And there won't be a second I won't miss him, but I'll keep going even if I don't find another love again. So…" She cleared her throat then, for sounding so morbid had her voice thickening and her throat bruising.
"So… I can't decide," she finally finished. "I'll just take it as it comes and there'll be a choice and I will choose then whether or not to be tragic." She laughed at her own words, sounding utterly dramatic and Taylor chuckled, brushing away the few tears that had escaped unnoticed. Her conviction made him smile for he remembered that blushing little intern who was so easily charmed and how now she lays beside him now, one of his best friends. "And that's what you have to do. You have to decide whether or not you're willing to open your heart to more than her. Because there will always be someone else, and you know that."
"And if I don't want to?"
"Then you have to wait. Because she might be one of your ones. No one ever gets just one love of their life," she repeated, "especially the good ones. And Taylor, you're a good one." He scoffed and she squeezed their hands as a knock on the door made them turn their eyes away from each other.
"How are you feeling?" Arizona asked, coming in with Callie. There was a guilty flicker in the peds surgeon's eyes as she held her daughter. Taylor got up, crossing his legs and turning to look at Emily who shrugged.
"I feel better." Emily smiled at the blonde, taking hold of her hand. "It's not your fault, y'know? It's been getting worse for a while."
"I just feel bad," she implored, "like I should've noticed."
"Well, it's fine. I'm fine now." Callie wrote down something in her chart and Emily sighed. She would have to stay in the hospital for a day or two before going home to rest. "Where are, uh, all my other friends?" Looking around, she frowned when she didn't even see them outside.
"They watched your surgery," Callie said. "Don't worry. Every single one of them did." She walked around the bed and placed a hand on Emily's shoulder. "Mark's going to buy you your house right now with Everett, so he will be back. In the meantime, get some rest."
"Okay." Sinking back into her bed, she watched them all file out and sighed, closing her eyes. Her foul mood over the past few weeks lifted, she could at least get a good night's rest before dealing with her mother tomorrow.
A/N: AKA the chapter with a lot of soft moments.
Next: A new home, final goodbyes, and Zola's party.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone