DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter eighteen: can't fight biology & almost grown

"Alex, will you braid my hair when you're done?" Briar asks her best friend, sitting on a stool across from Lexie. She has her legs in Briar's lap, shaving her legs, while Briar brushes out her hair.

"If you buy me a coffee, sure." He answers, the words coming out garbled since he's brushing his teeth, walking in circles as he does. Jackson is in the shower and April is standing in front of the mirror, also brushing her hair.

"I could braid it." April tries, giving Briar a nervous look.

"Nah, Alex has it covered." Briar responds flatly, grabbing a spray bottle and wetting her hair down so that it'll be better to french braid. Alex is amazing at braiding hair, having a lot of practice between his little sister and Briar.

"Towel." Jackson requests, pulling the shower door open halfway. Briar ducks out of the way when April tosses it his way, gasping at the same time Lexie does since April bumped into her while she was shaving.

"Let me see, Lex." She says, pulling her leg further into her lap and grabbing the towel Lexie hands out.

"Ow!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

"Jeez." Lexie sighs out, while Briar has April grab her the first aid kit from under the sink so she can put a bandaid over it.

"Ooh, tigers or Hello Kitty?" She asks, holding up the different types of bandaids. "Hello Kitty. Good choice!"

"You know this isn't normal?" Derek asks from the doorway, poking his head in with a smiling Meredith. Briar flips the both of them off.

✦

"Are you excited to be on my service again?" Callie asks her with a grin, holding out a cup of coffee for her. Briar takes it, passing it between her hands but not drinking from it.

"Stoked." Briar says honestly. She loves being on Callie's service, and she hasn't been for the last few weeks.

"Great. Alright, we're heading to peds, so we're going to be working with Arizona and Alex today."

"It doesn't get much better than that." Briar muses, casually setting the untouched coffee in front of Tyler when they pass his desk, winking at him before following Callie.

They end up in a fifteen year olds room, listening to his dad rave about his son's ballet skills.

"You should've seen it, Dr. Robbins, his pottaballet kicked the other kids' asses." He enthuses, making Briar tilt her head. She's never heard of that move before.

"It's Pas de Bourrée, dad." Jake corrects him, making Briar smile to herself.

"Isn't that what I said?"

"You said it in American, Fred. It's French, right, sweetie?" His mom asks, making him nod.

"Yes, and it's not something that you really kick ass at. Can we talk about the cancer now? Anything to make them stop."

"Yeah. Um, Dr. Karev." Arizona responds, telling Alex to report on him.

"Jake Fisher, 15, uh, osteosarcoma of the right tibia." Alex reports. "Today he'll be getting a minor bone dissection."

"How long after the surgery before I can dance again?" Jake asks instantly.

"He's anxious 'cause his ballet company is doing 'Swan Lake' this Spring." His mom explains, making Briar smile as she turns to Jake.

"Swan Lake is cool, but I've always been a huge fan of The Firebird." She tells him conversationally, making him light up.

"Did you do ballet?" He asks her, frowning slightly when she shakes her head.