You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

82┃calm before the storm

S8 EP23

"WHERE ARE WE WITH Avery?" Owen asked after writing down large words of 'AVERY' on the whiteboard.

"Holding offers from USC, Penn, Tulane and Emory," Mark replied as he turned on his chair towards the chief. "Tulane and Emory are in love. They want him bad."

Owen nodded and wrote another line of words on the board. "Grey?"

"Uh, still between Boston and Seattle," Derek responded firmly.

"If I'm gonna lose one of my talented residents and my top neurosurgeon, I'd love a decision sooner than later."

Derek sighed, "You and me both, Hunt."

The chief shook his head and wrote another name on the board. "What about Lawrence?" he asked, looking at both the neurosurgeon and the plastics surgeon. "Does either of you know?"

"I got a lot of calls... She has gotten offers around the country," Derek shared, "And one in Canada."

"Mm-hmm, but it's a tight decision between UCSF and Hopkins," Mark added with a grin on his face while he spun a pen in his hand.

"Wait, Seattle isn't in-this hospital isn't in her options?" Bailey piped up on her seat, causing the plastics attending to turn to her.

"She never really brought up Seattle..." Mark furrowed his brows with a shrug. "Well, look, UCSF offered a staffed lab to help with her many research articles, and Hopkins is basically throwing money at her. And what would she get here besides a higher pay from a resident to a fellow?"

The attendings in the conference rooms had fallen silent, and he folded his arms in front of his chest. "I'm just saying, if you want her to stay, you gotta present a better offer."

"How I wish I had money thrown at me when I was a fellow," Derek chuckled, "I'd definitely go or stay at wherever that is."

Mark nodded with a grin, knowing that the neurosurgeon was also trying to psych the chief into making offers.

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH WAS SITTING AT the kitchen island, shuffling through the papers that she had laid out on the countertop. The teaspoon was juggled in her mouth and a bowl of melting ice cream next to her.

"Kai's asleep. What're you doing up?"

She lifted her head to see him pushing himself off their bedroom's doorframe and walking towards her with a sleepy face; shirtless, with his hair messed up. "Decisions, love, difficult choices."

He wrapped his arms around her shoulder from behind, and she leaned her head back on his shoulder. "Seattle isn't in your options?"

"It is, actually, 'cause Kai's only six months old, and moving from one place to another seems like a lot for him," she sighed, pulling out a paper from under one of her files. "But too many bad things happened here, you know? I almost died here twice... possibly thrice, and then there's... I just lost too many people here."

"Alright," he voiced out and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Just pick anywhere you decide is best for your future. Then, the three of us could move into a house instead of an apartment. Kai can grow up in a big house with a backyard and even a pool. What do you say?"

She turned to him with a solid nod. "I say it's perfect," she smiled, "But please don't build it like what Derek's doing. I love you, Mark, but I really don't trust you to build a house given that you can't cook a meal without burning the pan."