Meet me in the Middle

Chapter 12

Dr. Karev conducted himself in a very professional manner, which I was grateful for because I wanted to punch him in the face. Repeatedly, and I just needed the smallest of excuses to do so.

This man has now hurt two of the most important people in my life. My protectiveness of Andrea never left after he died and knowing that this man once beat him within an inch of his life, still makes my blood boil. I never understood how Andrea could've forgiven him so easily, but since working with Jo, the soft spot he had for her began to make sense.

The least Alex could've done was send Jo a text or have one of the many doctors at this hospital break the news to her in a safe space. Not keep his arrival a secret from the help of his higher-up friends, who owed the hospital.

This was supposed to be one of the most important days to Wilson. The day she started on her last step in making her dreams come true. Not the day her healed heart got ripped open again. She couldn't even finish her first solo surgery as a fellow.

Baby B turned out to be a five-ounce baby boy, who has been blessed with his birth mama's rusty orange hair. As soon as I removed him from her uterus, he was handed over to Dr. Karev and Dr. Yasuda. We all let out the collective breath we've been holding when the little guy started crying on his way out of the OR.

Watching Addison perform surgery on the tiny fetes still attached to the umbilical cord was mind blowing. I had to pay attention to remove the tumor from my patient but every now and then my gaze would get glued to the neonatal surgeon. For a minute it was touch and go about whether we'd have to deliver the baby girl too.

Luckily for this family, Addison Montgomery is a miracle worker, and we were able to stitch up mama, with the bambina tucked back inside to cook for a while longer.

As soon as we scrubbed out, Addison and I give each other a look before rushing to the elevators to find Jo. We received word that Dr. Karev had to give the bambino a blood transfusion and he was doing very well considering. That was almost ten minutes ago, and I was praying, as I sprinted down the hall to my office, that he kept his distance from Jo.

I run smack bang into Dr. Lincoln as we get off the elevator, his stethoscope scraping against the tiled floor as he finds his footing again. He has also been in surgery the whole day, and desperately needed to make sure that his best friend was okay. As soon as we take the corner past the nurses' station to my office, we see Dr. Karev push past a very angry Teddy Altman.

Her experience as an Army Major coming into play when she flips him over her shoulder and drops him like he weighs nothing. I ignore the commotion happening on the floor and make eye contact with Jo, who has jumped up from my couch from the aggressiveness unfolding because of her.

"Chief Altman. Stop! Please." Teddy lets go of her hold on her new pediatric surgeon in a second and Addison helps him up. He dusts off his pants and walks into the office until Jo became visibly uncomfortable, and he takes a step back.

"Look, Jo. I'm so so sorry. I promise you, I was going to do this right. I was going to come see you and explain everything, but Altman called with an emergency, and I couldn't not show up, you know." I hate seeing Jo shrink back into herself from his proximity. She walks around to place my desk between the two of them while he explains himself.

"Where are Izzy and the kids? Why are you back in Seattle?" Her voice is shaky, and her breathing is shallow. She looks absolutely heartbroken, frozen in time, replaying the worst moments in her life over and over again.

"I've practiced what to say to you a million times, but standing here and seeing the pain I've caused, I have no words. The first thing you need to know is that there is no Izzy or kids. Well, there is, but they have nothing to do with me." This son of a bitch! He left his kids to move back to Seattle, after ruining Jo's life to be with them and their mother in the first place!?