CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEMELONIE'S POV

   "Jackson," I smiled as he continued to leave kisses on my neck. "Jackson... w-we have to get ready for work."

   "Oh, come on, just five more minutes," he pleaded, kissing my lips softly.

   "You said that fifteen minutes ago," I giggled. "We're gonna be late."

   "Fine," he groaned.

   I stood up and I could feel his eyes on me. I smiled to myself before wrapping a blanket around me.

   "Stop staring at my ass, you perv," I joked, turning around to face him. 

   "I can't help it." He stood up, coming closer to me. "You have a pretty nice ass."

   "You're not so bad yourself, Avery," I smirked, kissing him one more time before grabbing my clothes and running to the shower.

   Once I was done showering, I went downstairs, where April, Jackson, and Alex were eating and talking. I sat next to Jackson and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. 

   "Could you guys quiet it down a little bit next time?" April groaned. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

   "Oh, you're just jealous because you've never been laid," I teased.

   "I-um... you-" she sighed. "I hate you." April got up with her car keys, heading toward the door.

   "Come on, April, I was joking," I chuckled. 

   "Yeah, okay." She rolled her eyes. 

   "Actually, I should probably get going too," Jackson said, standing up. "You coming?" he asked me.

   "Yeah." I stood up with my apple.

   "See you at work, Alex." Jackson gave Alex a friendly wave before we went outside, into Jackson's car.

   "I thought you didn't like him," I wondered.

   "I don't like him because he hurt you, but I live with him and he has nowhere else to go, so I should still be nice to him," Jackson shrugged.

   "You are the sweetest person I have ever met," I smiled. 

   "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jackson smirked.

   We arrived at the hospital. There were people in the family waiting rooms, hugging and kissing, some crying. It always made me feel bad when people would cry for a patient.

   "Avery, we need you over here." Owen ran past us.

   Jackson let go of my hand and pecked me on the lips before running off into the elevator of the hospital.

   I entered the attending's lounge and got changed, then went to fill out some charts. When I got to the counter, I grabbed a pen. 

   I heard a slam and I looked over, seeing Alex hitting his hand against the computer.

   "Yeah, whatever's wrong, that'll fix it," I said sarcastically, writing stuff down in the charts.

   "Barnett decided everyone should create new passwords," he scoffed. "You do it in the settings menu. But I can't access the settings menu without a new password!"

   "So you're trying to break in?" I giggled, taunting him. He turned to glare at me and I just threw my hands up, surrendering. "Hey, you're probably gonna need to go back in and do a redo O.R.I.F. on Brody Wright's humerus fracture, okay?"

   "When the hell is Robbins coming back?" he asked, clearly frustrated.

   I looked at him. "I don't know. Look, we all miss her, but don't be a dick about it, okay?"

   I closed my charts and walked away, into my first patient's room, with my intern, Heather Brooks.

   I discussed his issue with him, talking about his tumor and how the surgery will go.

   "I work out all the time," Rob, the patient, said with tears in his eyes. "I read 'Men's Health.' And I don't eat anything I actually want. And you're telling me I'm gonna die?"

   "This tumor is difficult to resect. It's not impossible," I told him. Rob started to cry hysterically. "Rob, you're in private security, right?"

   "Yeah, I'm a bodyguard," he cried.

   "Alright. Well, that's my job, too," I replied. "I have your back."

   "Yeah, you know what?" Heather chimed in, coming closer to us. "This tumor is just a little punk." 

   I looked at her with a weird expression, but I just went along with it and nodded, turning my attention back to the patient.

   "Can I have some tissue, please?" Rob asked.

   Heather handed him the tissue and we walked out, giving him some privacy. I took his x-rays and met Bailey in the scan room to show her what we're working with.

   "You've gotta work around the Azygos and the Hemiazygos veins," she pointed out, looking at the x-rays. "There's fatty tissue, lymph nodes, lymphatic tissue, and the sympathetic chains, not to mention the fact that the tumor has lifted up the inferior vena cava and is adherent to the aorta. This is a mess."

   "I know," I smirked.

   "So, how do we get the entire mass without having to resect the aorta?" Heather asked.

   "I have no idea," I answered.

   "Yeah, I'm happy to take this off your hands," Miranda offered.

   "I came here for an opinion, not for you to steal my surgery," I told her.

   Miranda looked at me. "No first-year attending in her right mind is gonna want to take on something like this. I mean, not when full responsibility for every decision made in the O.R. falls on her shoulders."

   "Mine." I pointed to myself.

   Miranda turned to me. "Don't come crying to me when a man's bleeding out on your table just because you think you bad."

   "Oh, she's bad," Heather chimed in. 

   "Yeah, we'll see." Miranda gave us a look as she walked out of the room.

~

   "It's a good trade, Grey," Miranda pleaded, following me down the hall. "My two leisurely abdominal surgeries for just one retrocrural tumor."

   "This is getting a little sad." I looked at her.

   "No, I'll tell you what's sad," she started, "Melonie Grey flaming out because she doesn't know a good bargain when she sees one."

   We heard a big slam and I basically jumped back out of fear. Miranda and I looked over to see Heather chasing Rob.

   "Stop, Mr. Mays!" Heather yelled. "Mr. Mays! Mr. Mays, stop!"

   "Should've made the trade," Miranda taunted me.

   I ran off to help Heather catch Rob before he got hurt. I saw Heather run out to the loading area, so I ran out and looked at her with a 'what the hell' face.

   "He's right over there." She pointed at an ambulance, and I saw his face peek out from behind it. "I mean, do I call for backup? Do I get a net or what?"

   "Forget it," I sighed, walking over to the back of the ambulance, where Rob was sitting. "Look, I would operate out here, but I don't think it's particularly sterile."

   "You lied to me," Rob said.

   "I didn't."

   "That intern was in the hallway bragging to all her little friends about my once-in-a-career tumor," he added angrily. "She said you didn't even know where you were gonna start."

   I looked at Heather, who was standing at a distance, and I glared at her. I sat beside him and sighed.

   "With a tumor like this, no surgeon would until you're open and on the table and I can get a look at that thing," I told him.

   "Yeah, well, that's terrifying," he replied.

   "I know. That's why I didn't tell you," I responded. "You're an emotional guy."

   He chuckled, "Not usually. I mean, at work, I'm in dangerous situations all the time. But then, you know, it's all about the client. So I'm not allowed to freak out. But right now, I'm freaking out."

   "Okay. Well, today you're allowed, because I won't," I told him. 

   "That intern's got a big mouth," Rob sighed.

   "Yeah, tell me about it." I rolled my eyes.

   We both stood up and started to walk back into the building. I glared at Heather the whole time and she just gave me apologetic looks.

~

   After surgery, I stormed out of the O.R. as the nurses cleaned up the O.R. and Heather followed me.

   "I'm sorry," she sighed. "You're such a badass. And, I shouldn't have been bragging, but I liked feeling like one, too." She looked at me. "If I was a real badass, I would've just kept my mouth shut, been stoic, silent."

   "Yeah. Why don't you try that?" I snapped, walking away from her.

   Jackson, April, and I met at Joe's. I ordered tequila, while Jackson and April order Club Sodas.

   "What's up with you?" April asked as I chugged my glass of tequila.

   "This stupid intern almost cost me a surgery because she has a big mouth and wanted to be a badass," I scoffed.

   "I hate these interns," Jackson said. 

   "They're all stupid and full of hope and joy. It makes me sick." April sipped on her Club Soda.

   "Jo Wilson isn't too bad, though." I shrugged. "I can actually tolerate her."

   "I haven't talked to her yet, but she seems nice," Jackson responded.

   "Yeah, but Alex is gonna corrupt her just like he does with every other girl." I rolled my eyes. "He's already starting to hit on her."

   "He's a sick, sick man," April added.

~

Word Count: 1516