The Replacement Karev [DISCONTINUED]

Amber Karev

Alex and I used to be super close. He would dutch braid my hair, he took care of me when Aaron attacked me, and when we were bouncing from foster home to foster home he would always make sure that Aaron and I stayed with him. Even after he left he would call every month. We slowly became more and more distant as the years went on, but I would still call. I haven't seen him since I had my son, Brayden. That was last year, my last year of med school. I shouldn't have had a kid at 25, and I don't want to call Brayden an accident, but Jacob and I weren't trying to have a kid. Jacob is my husband, we got married when we were 23 and have had a happy marriage since. Today is my first day of surgical internship. I never thought I would become a surgeon like Alex, but both Aaron and Alex pushed me to do so. I've got the smarts like Alex, Aaron not so much. Even though Covid-19 is rampant, all of the new interns agreed to start early. I arrived in the parking lot of GSMH and I am so excited, and super scared. I left Brayden with Jacob, he's working from home now because he's an accountant and they're not aloud inside the office. I'm not sure what to expect from working here, I do know that I'm going to get closer to Alex and Jo, which is exciting. For me, I'm not sure if Alex is gonna be too excited about his little sister working in the same hospital as him. Okay, mask on, bag in hand, time to go inside. I got in line to get tested, the line is full of doctors. I recognize a few from FaceTime calls with Alex. Jackson Avery, Maggie Pierce... who's she on the phone with? She looks happy... it's probably none of my business. There's Jo! Oh, am I happy to see her! Let's see who else I recognize... Owen Hunt... Teddy Altman... I know of an April Kepner and Arizona Robbins too, but I don't see either of them. Weirdly enough, I don't see Alex. Maybe he's already inside, of running late or something. The line is moving pretty quickly, there are only a few more people in front of me when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, are you one of the new interns?" An unfamiliar face asked.

"Yes, actually I am. Amber Karev, nice to meet you." I said as I stuck out my hand to shake, but then I took it back, realizing we can't shake hands.

"Karev? As in Alex Karev? The Peds surgeon?" the woman asked.

"Yes. That's him. He's my older brother." I said, a smile on my face.

"That's so cool! Oh, I just realized I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Sara Ortiz. I'm a new intern here as well." She said, smiling. She looked nice, she was very presentable. The line moved quick, and it was now my turn so I have to turn around and get my temperature checked, along with a quick nasal swab, since it is my first day. I now have to go to the intern's locker room, which is spaced out, they're not spacing it out too much because they know that out chance of getting Covid is somewhat high, and we're going to be spending 80-100+ hours a week with each other, so we still need to take precautions, but what's inevitable is inevitable. I took the locker with my last name on it and everyone was staring at me. I think it's because my last name is Karev, and they know how good Alex is. Tom Koracick just walked in, he looked angry.

"Come on. I don't have time to wait around for all of you. We're going to the skills lab." I hear him say. Me and everyone else scurry over, grabbing lab coats and stethoscopes.

We arrive in the skills lab and Dr. Koracick starts talking, "I am Dr. Thomas Koracick but you can call me Dr. Koracick. Maybe you were expecting Dr. Webber, but today is a day of many surprises. The first of which, I have drawn a very short straw. The second, you have won the lottery today. I'd spend some time regaling you with my accomplishments, but I'm very busy. Treat yourself to an Internet search. Which one are you?" He said, as he looked up at a male intern who is sitting at the front of the room.

"Reza Khan." the intern said.

"You're on scut." Dr. Koracick said, I'm watching and cringing underneath my mask.

"Respectfully, I can handle more. I'm a vascular surgeon in Pakistan. The U.S. is just making me repeat my training." Reza said, hopefully. I'm surprised. He's gonna be a shark... I can already tell. Alex told me to watch out for those.

"Ah, unfortunate. But you're still on scut. Chee?" Dr. Koracick said looking back up, and I saw another male intern raise his hand.

"Progress notes. Jensen, discharges. Ortiz, a new shipment of PPE and testing supplies arrives today. You get to sort them. Riveting." Dr. Koracick said, walking around the room. He seems, cold. Distant. Angry. I'm not sure... I just don't know if I like him.

"Excuse me? Which Ortiz? I'm Sara Ortiz." I heard my new friend, Sara say.

"And I'm Alma Ortiz, her mother. We both matched here." Another woman said. Her and Sara looked strikingly similar.

"Aw, how sweet. But two interns with the same name won't fly. Who's changing theirs?" Dr. Koracick said. Okay, now I really don't like him. He's just flat rude. I understand where he's coming from, but he could be nicer about it. Sara and Alma looked at each other, then at Dr. Koracick.

"Alright. We'll go with nicknames. Big O, Little O. You decide. Name tags for everyone." He said, putting down his clipboard and picking up some tape and a marker. He still hasn't given me an assignment. Or acknowledged me for that matter.

"If you need anything at all, ask someone else." Dr. Koracick said as he left. What do I do? He didn't give me an assignment! Crap. Okay, and I'm running, why am I running? I need to slow down.

"Dr. Koracick? Dr. Koracick!" I say loudly as I caught up with him. He's fast, "You haven't given me an assignment. I'm not sure if it was a mistake with the paper, or you just didn't see my name, but I don't know what to do..."

"What's your name?" He said, he looks kind of mad.

"Um- Amber Karev. You might know my brother, Alex Karev. He works here." I say.

"Oh, yeah. That situation was so messy. My condolences, truly. You're on Meredith Grey's service. She is out at the moment, so go find Jo W-well you know her. She is covering Grey's service. You should feel lucky, already on someone's service and it's only your first day." Tom said, then he walked away. I'm so confused, what does he mean by situation? Oh, gosh. Where is the elevator? I'm lost... great. Uh.... walking , walking, walking..... elevator! Yay. Okay, time to go to the Covid floor and find Jo.