Hell's Angel

Chapter 64

We are all called in for a meeting in one of the board rooms. "I swear the only good thing to come out of these things is the food," I tell Arizona as we settle into our chairs and I help myself to a croissant. She laughs and picks up her own plate "that is so true. Hey, how are things with...." She knows about my pregnancy, kind of hard to hide your millions of bathroom breaks from the person you work with every day. I smile, taking a bite of my pastry "good, I have an appointment later today." Callie sits down next to her wife, a mug of coffee in hand "appointment for what?" She asks.

I share a look with Arizona "I am thinking about starting some research." I lie smoothly and before Callie can ask me any more questions about it Bailey starts reading aloud the piece of paper we were all given. "Excellence is not an act but a habit, Aristotle. Avery, what is Aristotle doing in our staff meeting and why are you even in here handing these out?" Derek comes in late and I give him a questioning look and he shakes his head, signalling he will tell me later.

"You mean when I could be practising medicine or studying for my boards? Yeah, I've asked myself that same question." Jackson snaps angrily and I understand his frustration, this is the most stressful time for residents and being in here isn't doing him any good. Arizona makes a noise and raises the food in her hand "this is delicious. when did Hunt bump up the doughnut budget?" I shrug.

Mark comes strolling into the board room in a suit looking rather professional "as chief, I'm a firm believer that a nice variety of baked goods is the right way to start any meeting." This sentence catches everyone off guard and as he sits down Bailey repeats "as chief?" As though she can't believe what she is hearing. The room explodes into a whirlwind of questions but instead of answering them Mark leans forward and grabs a pastry. "Calm down everyone." He says eyeing the doughnut hungrily "Dr Hunt and Dr Yang are down with the flu. I'll be acting chief in Dr Hunt's absence. Could be a day. Could be a week. What have we got for today?" I grab my coffee with both hands to warm them up as Derek shakes his head.

"Let me get this straight." Bailey says still confused "Dr Hunt asked you to fill in as chief, you, Mark Sloan, by name?" I can understand her hesitance because Mark isn't known to be the most reliable of every head of department. "Yes, he did." Mark answers between bites of his doughnut before turning back to the table "any other questions?" but everyone stays quiet.

At the end of the meeting, I walk out with Derek. "So how are things with...?" He asks gesturing to my stomach, I smile and place my hand over it gently at the bump forming there "good, good. Morning sickness is a bit of a bitch but hey, what can you do." Derek nods his head "I am happy for you Andy, I really am." I press the button for the elevator and stand back from the doors. I flick my hair from my face casually "how's Lexie doing in Neuro?" I ask, checking up on a girl that is like a little sister to me. Derek nods his head and presses the button again because the elevator isn't coming fast enough "good, she's got a natural talent for it. I can see her becoming a great neurosurgeon one day."

The doors to the elevator open but before I can step inside I hear Callie Torres calling my name. I give Derek a 'help me' look and he chuckles ducking into the elevator "I'll see you later Andy." And the doors slowly close. I then turn to face both Callie and her wife Arizona. "So Teddy..." Callie starts "poor, sad widowed Teddy wants to have a girls' night. And we were wondering if you wanted to join us." I ponder this for a moment, and as I stay quiet Arizona also adds "she's booked a table at the new rooftop restaurant in town." I sigh but cave in, nodding my head and pressing the elevator button again. "Sure," I reply and the two women grin happily.

During my rounds, I notice Lexie is missing but assume she probably slept in, or has the flu like Owen and Cristina. Alex meets me before his surgery "hey gorgeous." He says kissing my cheek "hey." I answer my cheeks flushing red slightly. Alex holds something out in his hand "your vitamins." He says "you forgot to take them this morning." I sigh and take them from him, grabbing my water bottle off of the desk "thank you, I was running late this morning." Alex nods and kisses me gently on the lips "I know, I heard you racing around." He then says goodbye to me before heading to his own rounds with Arizona.

"That is so sweet." Nurse Kathy says from her position at the desk, leaning against it, clutching my water bottle in one hand "I know right." I add "he's been really sweet since he has embarrassed this whole being a dad thing." The nurse nods and hands me my next chart. "You two are going to make an adorable child, I can see it now." I flush red again.

Apparently, Lexie is here in the hospital and that means she purposely missed rounds this morning. I find her looking out of her mind with Meredith, wandering around the hospital. "What is wrong with her?" I ask gesturing to Meredith's sister. The blonde opens her mouth to speak but then Lexie says "I read so much. I just got so full, I think things are falling out." She clutches her head and I frown in concern. Meredith and I guide her towards a chair "there's nothing in my brain." She lets out a breathy laugh, just as she sits down April Kepner comes storming into the room "Lexie." She says sounding disappointed "why are you in the reading room?" Lexie stares at her blankly for a moment before wagging her finger "I can do it."

I shake my head and push her back down when she tries to stand up "no, no, no, no. You're not doing it." Meredith says glaring at April menacingly "no more using my sister like a database. We broke her." April scoffs and rolls her eyes as though she can't believe it. April leaves and I turn to Lexie "do you need anything?" I ask and she slowly nods her head, spacing out "water." She answers "and bagels. Cream cheese bagels." I look over at Meredith and she nods her head "I can get it." I stand up straight and follow the blonde from the room.

"Your sister is going to drain herself before she even becomes a fifth year." I muse as we head down the corridor, Meredith places her hands in her pockets "I know that, she is just too nice for her own good. She has been memorising real-life cases all day to quiz Alex and April for the boards." I go wide-eyed and shake my head "those two are going to fail their boards if they keep up this behaviour."

I head for the attendings' lounge where I am stopped by Alex "hey you." He says as he follows me through the hospital. "Have you been using Lexie Grey as a patient database today?" I ask casually and Alex clears his throat awkwardly and wipes his mouth with his hand "uh maybe something like that happened, yeah." He answers. I push open the door to the lounge before smacking him up the side of the head "well, you broke her. Well done." Alex rubs the back of his head and pouts "it was Kepner too." He argues. I nod my head and grab my coat from my locker "yeah, yeah. And you will both get karma for it too." I reply, Alex smirks and starts stalking towards me "oh yeah?" He says before lunging at me and picking me up. I squeal and try to wriggle out of his grip "Alex!" He just laughs.

"I got those ginger cookies for dessert," Callie says as she, Arizona, Bailey and I are eating at their place. A bottle of wine is open but of course, I am having a glass of water. Bailey pulls a face and shakes her head "no, no, no, no dessert. No, we're having a glass of wine, a plate of food, and then everybody's on their way." The doorbell rings and both Arizona and Callie jump up to get it. "What'd you tell Ben, you'd be out of here in like an hour?" I ask sipping on my glass of water and Bailey swats me away "forty-five minutes." She retorts and both Arizona and I laugh.

They both put more noodles on my plate and I give them both a strange look "don't think I haven't noticed your bump." Miranda says giving me a side ways glance before her stare turns softer "congratulations." She says squeezing my hand. I blush and look down "thank you." Callie opens the door and Teddy comes bursting in "I'm late. I'm sorry. I couldn't figure out whether we wanted red or white or rosé. And then I realised, why choose? I mean, we've got the whole night. And movies. Dirty Dancing and Beaches." And this is where we stay for the rest of the night.