Sister, Sister¹

Amelia's Lecture

"I don't need any distractions and you're...very hard to ignore," Ivy hears Amelia say to someone.

"Hey, I ju-it was just coffee," she hears Owen tell her.

Ivys jaw drops. Amelia has a crush on Owen. Oh, this will be fun.

"No, I-I so appreciate the coffee."

"Uh, I was just getting some coffee for myself, and-" Ivy laughs to herself at how akward they are being.

Amelia's voice stops him, "Its good coffee. It-its great coffee."

Owen sighs, "I-I, uh, I can-I can just get my own if-if you-I mean, you can get your own so easily."

She sighs, "I don't want to get my own coffee. I-I mean, I do. I can. I will. I-I can get my own coffee all day long. I just-Owen. Thank you for bringing me coffee. I really like it."

"Uh, you're welcome."

It gets quiet and Ivy can assume that the patient in the scanner is talking. As Amelia leaves to walk with Arizona and Herman, Ivy grabs Owen, "I-uh- can get-"

He rolls his eyes, "Do you have a point? Because otherwise I have a long day ahead-"

Ivy stops him, "You mean a long day of bringing my favorite sibling coffee? Or trying to talk to her? Yeah, I can see how that would be busy," she laughs.

"Ivy-"

"No, no. I'm sorry. I shouldn't make fun of this, but growing up, Amy would be the one to tease me about boys and now I can finally do the same to her. Plus, your my mentor which means double the fun. Now, I'm going to watch Amy's presentation, are you gonna join?" Ivy teases.

Owen doesn't say anything, just sighs and starts walking towards the auditorium, Ivy following, "I thought so."

○○○○

Ivy watches as Amelia takes a deep breath, "Life will out. The origins and lessons of life and evolution are long and complex, but what they basically boil down to is, life will out. Life will always find a way to continue. Always. Life..will...out. This is a massive grade four astrocytoma. I want you to take a look at it. Really look."

She studies the scans, shaking her head at the size, "Look at its size. Look at the way it invades healthy tissue. Look at its vasculature. It is blood and tissue and flesh. It's growing, adapting to its environment, struggling to survive, to stay alive. It is alive. We don't like to think of it that way, but it's nested in the womb of a human brain, feeding on its host, growing and fighting for life-almost like a fetus. No, scratch that. Let's just for science and giggles say exactly like a fetus. Because like a healthy fetus, it is thriving. You know, there are even some types of tumors that grow teeth, hair...a stray eye."

Ivy feels her face wrinkle in disgust at that image. Give her blood and bones and a messy E.R. any day.

"Have I repulsed you? It's gross, right? I mean, that is a problem. Nobody wants something that nasty in their head. I'd like you for one moment to consider the idea that, to the tumor, we are the problem. We are the invader. We are the danger. To the tumor, we are the cancer. And the tumor? Well, the tumor sees itself as a sweet, cute, fat-cheeked baby just trying to make its way into the world, and we want to stop it, destroy it, tear it from its happy little home like barbarians. To the tumor, we are the soulless, murderous monsters. Why do I do this? Why do I call it baby and talk about killing it? Because this kind of tumor deserves respect. It deserves a little humanity."

Smiling, Ivy watches as Amelia completely grabs everyone's attention, "Its not just a tumor. It's ingenuity. It's strength. It's adaptability. It's poetry. It's one of God's masterpieces. It is alive. And like any living thing, it wants to stay alive. Like any living thing, it is going to fight like hell to survive. And when I saw open that skull and come face to face with it, with that tumor, with that living thing, it will be almost impossible to remove because it would rather destroy the brain that holds it than go gently into that good night. It is alive. And what's it all come down to? Life..will..out."