章節 48: 48. Avery
Life is messy, that's how we're made. So you can waste your life drawing lines or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines that are way too dangerous to cross.
-Meredith Grey
"So you and Jackson…. Are what again?" Lexie asked slowly. Callie shook her head in the corner as Emily asked for bone paste. "Friends."
"Tentatively. Now can we not talk about my personal relationships in front of everyone in this room?" Emily asked as she fixed the split fibula. "I've done enough of that already. Lexie, I swear to God." She looked up to see the crinkles at the edge of her friend's eyes, "Can someone get Dr. Sloan to do the skin graft? I'm almost done."
"I'll do it," Callie volunteered and stood. "Em's right. Grey, you probably shouldn't talk so loudly." There was a shrug and Emily shook her head. Making her way to the phone, the ortho attending paged her best friend who came down in five minutes. Emily double checked that everything was okay as a phone rang. They all paused in their work as a nurse went over to check.
"It's Dr. Moore's phone. Dr. Avery is calling you." Lexie snorted and Emily shot her a look as Mark surveyed the scene with an impassive gaze. Glancing at her ex,shekept her eyes on the patient. "Should I pick up?"
"Shut up, Lex," Emily whispered and Callie shook her head with a disbelieving smile. "Yeah, sure." The phone was held near her ear as she continued to close. "Jackson? Is something wrong?" she asked. Mark glared at the phone and she felt her cheeks heat up.
"It's my grandpa. He just collapsed in the middle of lunch and we're heading to the hospital now." Jackson spared any pleasantries and went straight to the reason. Emily felt her blood chill at the words and paused in the sewing of skin.
"Harper?" Her breath caught in her throat and Lexie glanced at her in concern. Callie's smile faded and Emily put down her tools, clenching her fists. "Is he okay? He isn't going to die, though, right?"
"I don't know but maybe you should get down here if you can. Are you almost done your surgery?" She glanced down at the leg, at the half sewn wound and around her. Everyone was staring intently at her but Mark, who looked away as he prepped the skin graft.
"I can step in. We can do this, right Little Grey?" Callie stood beside Emily who smiled gratefully behind her mask. "I'll go scrub,"
"Thank you," she murmured. "I'll be right there, Jackson."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you in a bit." Backing away from the O.R. table, she pulled off her gown and gloves as Callie came in to be gowned. The Latina sent her a smile although it was hidden by the mask. "See you later."
"Go get some." Callie sent a wink and she rolled her eyes before heading into the scrub room.
.
Running down to the pit, she swung around the corner and nearly bumped into Jackson.
"I'm here. Is he okay?" Jackson turned to wrap an arm around her shoulders and she relaxed when she saw Harper Avery looking at Cristina with a mixture of 'get her away from me' and confusion.
"Already meeting the grandparents?" Cristina remarked dryly as she palpated the abdomen. The woman clearly didn't know who he was.
"Told you we aren't dating!" Jackson and Emily both argued at the same time.
"Whatever." Cristina waved it away, "Anyway, sir—" she unwrapped her stethoscope from around her neck— "It could be ascending cholangitis." Harper raised an eyebrow.
"Ascending cholangitis? Really? With only one of the symptoms of Charcot's triad?" Cristina drew back, removing the stethoscope from his chest and settling her hands on her hips.
"You're a doctor?"
"Apparently a much better one than you are. Ah, Dr. Moore. Isn't it a surprise to see you again."
"Dr. Avery." She smiled and clasped his hand with hers. "It's… really nice to see that you're okay." Cristina gawked at them as Harper returned his attention to the dumbstruck woman.
"Dr. Harper Avery. And your name, doctor?"
"Harper Avery," she repeated, posture sagging as she placed her hand tentatively in his.
"Uh, no, that's my name." Turning to his grandson, he ordered, "Get a new surgeon, Jackie. One with a pulse this time. Dr. Moore should assist. She's one of the brightest." Jackson sighed as he stared at his grandpa. Only five minutes in and already bossing around the staff. Raising his gaze to stare at the wall, Jackson tried to stifle the urge to roll his eyes.
"Sir, Dr. Yang is a talented surgeon," she tried to protest but Harper waved her away. "Sir-"
"Nonsense. Now, where's my general surgeon?"
"You're Harper Avery's grandson?" Cristina finally found her voice and Jackson's gaze met Cristina's.
"Uh, yeah." He sighed with annoyance. Crossing his arms, he scratched behind his ear. "I'll go get Bailey."
.
"What's the diagnosis?" Emily asked as she met up with Jackson outside his grandfather's room. He turned towards her and sighed, arms crossed. Worry nipped at her at his solemn expression but when he smiled slightly, she felt relief. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"A dilated bowel. He has an obstruction and wants to be awake for the surgery." She chuckled and he scowled in frustration. "Why does he have to be like this?" Leaning in beside him, she crossed her legs at the ankles.
"He's Harper Avery. If anyone would wanna be awake for his surgery, it'd be him."
"Yeah, and sometimes it's damn hard to be related to him." They turned to look inside the room where the general surgeon lying on the bed was speaking to Derek and Webber. Meredith approached them and watched the living legend. Jackson and Emily both watched over their shoulders before the green-eyed man sighd, letting his crossed arms drop. "Ah, here we go. He's giving them the speech."
"What speech?"
"The one where he inspires people to step out of their comfort zone. To do things in medicine no one has ever done before!" Her voice swelled with enthusiasm. Emily smiled at Meredith. "You hear it enough and you might just go insane."
"Sounds motivating."
"It's cheesy." the two deadpanned as Jackson continued, "And you hear it enough times at your grandparents' dinner table, you can't but want to be a surgeon when you grow up."
"You had a dinner table?" Meredith teased as Jackson's pager buzzed. Looking at it lazily where it was at his hip, she saw it was Callie. "I didn't know world-class surgeons had dinner tables. I feel gypped." Jackson finally chuckled, his smile reaching his eyes as Emily broke away from the wall.
"Well, that's cause you haven't heard the speech yet." He turned around and again to watch them. "He's getting to the 'stop talking, start doing' part. You can see it on his face." He finally reached down to silence his pager.
Trying to get a better angle, she saw the surgeon's face warped into something serious as he spoke. There was a fire in his eyes, something that said he was passionate about what he was saying. This was the end of the speech.
"Oh, god. You're right." Emily laughed. Derek was saying something as Webber cut him off. The tension was thick enough to cut and the only reason the three looked away was when the pager buzzed even louder this time. Emily nudged him in the ribs, "Hey, Jackson, answer the page," she scolded and he looked at the device on his belt, taking it up to eye-level to see.
"Crap, I forgot I'm on Torres' service today."
"But won't they give you an exception? I mean, your grandpa is being operated on." Meredith asked but Jackson shrugged.
"I'll fill in. Don't worry," she offered with no room for him to decline. He nodded gratefully as Derek and Webber began to exit. "Make sure your grandpa is okay. Please." He nodded, "Then I'll see you - before they take him up. I promise."
"Alright. I'll page you when it's time."
"Thanks."
.
"Why'd you page?"
"Isn't Avery supposed to be on my service today?" Callie teased and she rolled her eyes at her friend. They began walking to the main nurse's station where Callie was looking through her charts.
"Again,"
"We're just friends." Callie imitated her voice poorly and Emily felt her eye twitch. "Yeah, whatever."
"That is so not how I sound." Emily grinned and Callie laughed. Continuing to explain, she added, "Harper Avery's in the hospital right now. Jackson is on Webber's service today. We switched."
"One, you can't do that. Two, Harper Avery is in this hospital?" Callie gawked and was about to ask what room he was in when she paused. Her gaze drifted over her shoulder and another sentence came out instead. "Whatever. Go check up on my patient at C.T. Derek should already be there." Suspicious of the Latina, the brunette continued on her way, glancing over her shoulder just as Mark left a supply closet with a nurse. Now officially use to it - you see it enough and you just become numb - she simply continued on her way to C.T. Finding Derek in one of the booths, she entered and sat down beside him.
"Hey, you're here earlier than me," she said, surprised. He sent a smile and she grinned.
"Soon as I could leave Dr. Avery's room, I went here."
"So, how's Dr. Avery doing?" When Derek's smile became sly, she rolled her eyes and added, "The older one." His smile faded and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Wants to have his surgery awake and Richard's doing it. Hopefully all goes well but he seems fine. You'd know, considering you worked with him."
"I guess so. So…" She took the chart and opened it. "Who's the patient?" Reading it over, she heard Derek explain as she read the she had a ruptured tendon that Callie would have to repair.
"Pam Nelson. Car crash and she's deaf so Callie's been screaming at her all morning." She thought the woman sounded a little hoarse. They were beginning to help the deaf woman onto the bed for the scan. "We're running a face and head C.T." He glanced at the screen before at his friend again. "How is Avery, anyway?"
"A bit worried, a bit annoyed. Comes with having Harper as his grandpa." She sent him a smile and he nodded.
"At least he cares." There was the sound of footsteps and they turned around. Mark and Callie entered the booth. Feeling awkward, she got out of her seat and gave it to Callie. Her phone buzzed and she took it out to see it was Jackson.
:Grandpa's asking for you:
:great. Im stuck at c.t. Because i took your case.: She typed her reply back teasingly and the corners of her mouth quirked up. :totally missed out on a surgery by the way:
:shut up.:
:Cant: Before she even realized it, Callie was beside her, peering at her texts. Emily turned the screen away with a playful scowl. "Come on, Callie."
"What? I want an update on Harper Avery." She smiled persuasively but Emily shook her head. "You're all buddy-buddy—" At this, Callie's tone became suave, accompanied with a wriggle of the eyebrows— "with his grandson and you used to work for the legend." Derek cleared their throat with a well-meaning glance at Mark. The plastics surgeon was staring into the room as the woman was inserted into the machine.
"Then let me go check up on him now." She excused herself and made a move to leave just as Mark pushed off the table. She raised her head to look at him squarely in the face but he didn't say anything. "Dr. Sloan." With a sharp nod, she continued on her way.
.
"I don't like that guy," Mark commented as soon as his ex left. "She needs to back up before she gets hurt."
"Oh, they're just friends, Mark. They slept together once," Callie reminded him, scooting her chair closer to the table and waiting for the scans to load. Derek bit his lip, opening his mouth to interrupt before thinking better of it.
"Yeah and he stays over to watch pirated movies on the wifi I pay for." He slapped his wrist with his watch, fidgeting with the clasp. He cleared his throat. "Torres is right. They're just friends like how you two are." The Latina sent the neurosurgeon 'wow, you are terrible' kind of look before returning to Mark.
"You don't move on that fast."
"That's rich coming from you," Derek scoffed and Callie shook her head, cocking an eyebrow at her best friend.
"He's acting out because he can't deal with the real human emotions he's having," Callie remarked. "Ask him how many nurses he's slept with, today." Derek looked at his best friend sharply.
"You're sleeping with nurses now?"
.
Emily went back to Harper's room just as they began taking him up.
"Dr. Avery." She smiled and he grinned back at her. "I hoped I wouldn't miss it."
"I was beginning to wonder if you forgot all about me," he remarked and she chuckled. Jackson kept pushing the bed as she walked with them. Sidling in beside the younger Avery, she put a hand on the rail. He sent her a eyeroll. "How's Jackson treating you?"
"Harper-" she tried to protest but he talked over her. The aura dropped to something along the lines of uncomfortable and embarrassing. Emily nearly had the nerve to stop walking.
"Is he the gentleman his mother and I raised him to be?"
"Grandpa!"
"It's a simple question, Jackie."
"We're—" She cleared her throat, cheeks flaring— "getting along fine. Just fine - as friends." Jackson's green eyes narrowed with annoyance at his grandpa who shrugged innocently.
"What? Jackie, you need to loosen up more. Honestly, you'd think that-"
"Grandpa, why do you ask this now - in the middle of a hallway where there are nurses who thrive off gossip?" he asked, voice low as he rubbed the back of his neck. Emily found his flustered movements and face cute and she held back a laugh, sending a slight smile his way.
"Because I want to know."
"You are shameless, Dr. Avery," Emily said with a shake of her head. "You're terrible." Before he could protest, she held up a finger. "Come on, you have a surgery to get to." Jackson glanced at her gratefully, patting her hand before continuing the push the gurney to the O.R.
.
"And what's the patient gonna do after?" Callie murmured the question under her breath as Emily began sewing up the skin.
"Six to eight weeks bedrest using a brace to keep the knee straight. If you determine that it's okay, then the patient will begin physical therapy. The strength needs to be rebuilt."
"Will she regain full function?"
"Over time, yes." The brunette finished up and handed the needle to a nurse. Callie nodded approvingly as Mark entered the room, scrubbed and ready. Grabbing the white roll of bandage to make sure the joint was stable, she held the knee stable as Callie began rolling it tightly.
"Dr. Sloan, good timing. Dr. Moore and I are pretty much done." Returning her gaze back to the knee, she made sure her hands didn't tremble under Mark's heavy stare. Chancing a glance up, she felt herself flinch.
"What the hell are you looking at it?" he snapped and she felt as if though she'd been struck.
"N-nothing," she stuttered and drew her hands away from the knee. "I can go… if you want me to, Dr. Sloan." For a moment, his eyes softened with regret as Callie turned to her secondary surgeon. Her brown eyes were wide and unsure.
"You sure?"
"You can finish by yourself." Backing away, she left to scrub out. Callie turned to her best friend who pretended to be innocent. From the room and thick glass that separated them, Emily couldn't hear what Callie was saying.
On the other side of the glass, Callie glanced over her shoulder to make sure her friend was gone before raising her voice.
"That was sad and pathetic! Okay, I have seen her tolerate the way you're treating her now, and the way that she feels - like absolute crap - is piling on top of her. She sees you walking out of closets with nurses and doesn't say a word. She sleeps with one guy once, and you lose your shit. Isn't that hypocritical?"
"She broke up with me!"
"Because she wasn't ready! She's in the middle of her residency, I mean she just moved back here after losing her best friend." At this, Mark's eyes widened. So Callie didn't know… about the baby. "Sloan and her baby leaving you can either be the worst or the best thing that happened to you. You can grow up, find a woman to love, and have a baby. Or you can be the ass attending, who abuses the residents and screws everything that walks into this hospital. So just pick one."
Staring at his friend, he tried to manage a reply but he found that words failed to describe the bitterness he felt when he thought of the woman he loved in the sheets with Avery.
.
"Hey, is he okay?" she asked as Jackson approached her. She'd been waiting near the lobby and when she spotted the Avery, she couldn't help but ask.
"He became unstable during surgery. I don't know what happened," he whispered and she smiled softly at him. "He's fine now, but, I don't know. I just need five minutes alone." Walking down the hall, the two made their way to the nurse's station where they sat down.
"Sloan kicked me out of surgery," she said flatly and he looked at her. "My ex-boyfriend kicked me out of my own surgery because he can't stand to be in the same room as me."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"It's okay," she whispered and he knocked his knee into hers to make her look up at him. He offered a smile. "Can I be alone with you? I need some quiet, too."
"Sure." He sighed and she sent him a inquisitive glance. "I half-wish you stayed at Mass Gen. Then, he wouldn't have come in and tried to convince me to take it, again."
"I understand. And I get it, you know that. I get how hard it is."
"Noah Moore. Right. My grandpa loves him."
"I'm not surprised. Five-time nominee, two-time winner. He is the biggest innovator in peds. He practically reinvented a new way to patch aortic tears and he performed a crash C in the middle of a bombing. He continually impresses. He's… he's everything I want to be and I can't."
"The only advantage he has on you is age, and experience," said Jackson. Smiling half-heartedly, she rested her elbow on the desk and spun side to side in her office chair. "Look, at least he's easy to talk to. My grandpa-"
"Jackson, exactly. He's your grandpa and clearly, he cares. Instead of sitting here, talking to lonely, sad me—" He snorted and she grinned fully— "You should wait there with him for him to wake up."
"Yeah."
"Avery!" Turning, they spotted Alex leading a pack of residents once again and Jackson groaned.
"Or maybe you should run away first," Emily amended and the man sent her a quick, irritated look before setting off. The residents chased after him and she smiled, watching him suddenly take off at a run.
Spinning back to face the desk, she stood up and looked around. She stretched her joints high above her head before setting off to do some post-op check ups. Grabbing the charts, she walked around the nurse's station as she opened a chart, bumping into someone else.
"Sorry! Oh." The smell, the presence, they were all very familiar. "Dr. Sloan." Walking around him, she managed to almost reach the elevators when-
"Dr. Moore, wait." She jabbed the elevator button and rotated to see him coming up.
"What do you want, Dr. Sloan? To kick me off your service next month? Fine. Do it. I slept with Jackson. So, what?" He stiffened at her callous inflection, her blunt demeanor. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, and I'm sorry that I broke up with you, but I don't want to be with you if it means that I am killing myself to please you."
"Em-"
"Oh, it's Em now, because it suits you." His expression made her retract her words and she tightened her grip on her charts. "I'm sorry, I'm just… I'm over it, Mark. I've over you sleeping with Addison, I'm over you telling at me. I forgive you for all of it. I forgive you for sleeping with the nurses and the drug reps and I'm sorry for what I said." Glancing up at the light, she waited for it to signal that the elevator was here. Anything to leave this space. "Now, can you just leave me alone?" The elevator dinged and the doors slid open as she walked in.
"Are you… moving on? With Avery?" Her lips pressed together and he waited for an answer. When the doors began to close, he stuck a hand out to keep them open. "Em, if you're moving on…"
"Why? Gonna throw him out of O.R.s?" she asked coolly and he took a step back. "No. I'm not. Jackson and I were friends since before the merger. We're friends." Pressing the button to close the elevator doors, she offered him a tight smile. "I have post-ops to take care of. Goodnight, Dr. Sloan."
"Goodnight."
.
Once she had finished on the final post-op rounds on Callie's patients, she went back to Harper's room and pulled a chair to his side. It was empty, even Jackson wasn't there.
"How're you feeling?" She smiled softly as he shifted with a wince. Pouring him a cup of water, she settled it just in case he needed it. He would be too proud to say so.
"Usual pain, much better than before," he answered and she checked his stats quickly. They were all within normal limits. "So-"
"Sir, are you going to ask me about Jackson again?" she asked knowingly and he nodded. "Then, can you answer one of mine?" Another nod. "How is Ella? And the others? Are they okay - doing well?" There was a pause and her smile faded. "Has something happened?"
"Ella no longer works at Mass Gen. She's at Brigham's with Catherine. She doesn't keep in touch with us attendings but she still talks to Dr. Olsen and the other one. I know that."
"Matthew."
"Yes, him. And your brother? He doesn't speak much anymore." She recalled their first phone call. Perhaps a week after she'd left - it was quick, five minutes give or take. They hadn't said much - just caught each other up in their respective cities. He was quiet, tired and it was as if the life was still sucked out of him.
Then, their more recent one. It was longer, as if he'd open himself up a bit more. His voice was more lively, more excited for new things as he rambled on about some research he had stumbled upon. It was as if he was better, the burden not as heavy. But it had burnt out when there was nothing left to say. She'd quickly asked if she could talk to his kids. He was more than happy to comply.
"He's different now. We all are," she told Harper Avery and he nodded. "He lost his student, his friend. I… I can't say anything more than that." Sensing the somber change of mood, Harper raised his head with a smile.
"And my grandson?"
"Sir!" Her cheeks flushed but he tsked.
"A deal's a deal, doctor." Sighing, she acquiesced and asked what he wanted to know. "How is he doing - truthfully? How are you doing?"
"Better," she admitted and he smiled. "Callie - the ortho attending - she's been teaching me so I can further my training. I still can't decide between plastics and ortho but I'm leaning towards ortho." Suddenly, Harper's mouth pressed into a thin, judging line.
"And something… strange is going on between you and Jackie." She didn't answer. Their situation would only embarrass the both of them in front of Harper even more. "You and Mark Sloan broke up? Is that why you're not into the specialty anymore?"
"Er…"
"Preposterous. Never dampen your ambition due to silly personal problems. This is a professional work space." He sniffed* and she groaned to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Get the teaching you need. Even if it isn't here."
"No, no, no," she shushed him. He snapped his jaws shut and looked at her as if saying 'Are you serious?' but did so. "First of all, ortho is something I like. Second, Mark and I are just having a slight disagreement. It'll be fine and I'll be fine. Right now, I'm just bouncing around specialties, alright? It's nothing - I need to get caught up on my cardio hours anyway." He seemed to significantly calm down and she released a breath.
"Fine." He huffed and pouted as Dr. Webber came in.
"Dr. Webber." Tthe general surgeon smiled as he did an exam and took vitals. "He seems fine but that's what I thought before. Suggesting chromic." She added with a pointed look.
"I don't like surgeons getting lazy," he barked and she rolled her eyes, getting up and patting his shoulder.
"Believe me," she snorted. "I know." Backing away, she allowed the two older surgeons to talk alone as she waited outside. Leaning against the glass door, she crossed her arms under her breasts and looked at the floor. There was a patter of footsteps, faster than those of the nurses on the floor. Looking up, she saw it was Jackson.
"Hey." He grinned. "I'm seeing a lot of you today." Greeting her with a joke, he smiled. "I'm sorry you had to take on my load of work."
"It's whatever. I love ortho, anyway," she assured. "He's fine - vitals are stable and he's talking-"
"Embarrassing us," he corrected and she made no contradiction. "Great." A pack of residents began to make their way down the hall and Emily cocked her head.
"No worries. Webber's in there now so hopefully he isn't talking about us." He agreed on that as Webber exited the room. "You brought them after all?"
"Yeah. Thought his brilliance needed to be shared." Raising an eyebrow, she smiled at Webber who nodded at them, a sign that nothing humiliating was revealed, and the two of them went in first.
"Webber said you're good?" she asked Harper.
"Of course." The older man harrumphed and Jackson sighed. "Ah, Jackie."
"I, um, wanted to introduce you to some friends, if you're feel up for it." Chuckling, Harper glanced at the door then to his grandson. He debated momentarily before the older surgeon rested his head on his hands, elbows bent beside his ears.
"Bring 'em in." The two turned around to see Alex, Cristina, Lexie and Percy waiting with anticipation.
"Come on." Emily cocked her head towards the man on the bed and Cristina bounded in, followed eagerly by Lexie and Alex. Cristina hastily introduced herself, taking a quick selfie before shaking the legend's hand. Emily laughed at her stumbling, yet quick words as Lexie stepped forward. And everything seemed as if it should be. But for some reason, Emily couldn't stop herself from looking out the room to see if Mark would be there.
And she knew the answer before she even turned her head.
A/N: Edited - October 23, 2018
* '"This is a professional work space." He sniffed.' He's like those 'pushes for success' grandpas to her and it's too funny. We might see more of Grandpa Avery in the future.
Next: Confessions.
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