You, Love

Chapter 3: SOS

Fallyn felt every bit of her first day at Seattle Grace in her head. She'd been getting headaches ever since med school: every first day, every exam, every stressful moment was marked with a migraine like a pair of hands wrapped around her brain. A stiff neck, sensitivity to light, physical weakness.

She was, nonetheless, a little excited for her first day at Seattle Grace.

She arrived promptly, by cab, and spent twenty minutes pacing around the front of the building. When security started giving her funny looks, she went in and met with the chief.

Chief Webber was already waiting when she showed up at his office. He was an austere man that Fallyn had never met before. She'd seen him when he met with Addison during the TTTS case, and seen pictures, but they'd never met.

The clock behind his desk said that she was two minutes late— it hurt Fallyn's heart to know that. The office was otherwise very nice. She might have enjoyed the bright, airy feeling the numerous windows provided if her head wasn't about to explode.

"Good morning, Dr. Glenn," he said. His tone was even, betraying nothing. Fallyn still didn't know how Addison managed to talk him into accepting her into the program several months late after she hadn't even applied. But maybe it wasn't that big of a deal.

She smiled, regretting her very existence. "Hello, sir. How's your morning been?"

"Slow." Chief Webber grimaced, and Fallyn supposed she understood where he was coming from. She would've given anything for a busy morning of rounds at New York Pres. "What about you? Excited for your first day, Glenn?"

"Super excited," Fallyn lied. She had mixed feelings, to say the least. "Do I really get to start right away? I assumed there would be more... business to take care of before I started. Paperwork, contracts— stuff like that."

"Addison and I took care of everything yesterday. Your ID. Time card. And of course your contract," said the chief. "She said she would give it to you to look over?"

"Yes." Fallyn pulled the documents out of her bag and put them on the desk between them. She'd read and signatured where necessary.

"You should count yourself lucky. Addie was a shark for you— matched your salary at New York Pres. Don't let any of the other interns find out you're getting paid more than them."

"Yes, sir!"

Chief Webber flipped through the documents. "Everything seems to be in order. You should be able to get started today. Now, I understand that you and Addison had a special arrangement back at New York Pres?"

"Yes. She was my... mentor. Pretty exclusively. I worked with other residents and attendings, but her most of all. She was my mentor." Fallyn finished with an awkward smile. She wasn't sure if that was their relationship— it felt like bragging, even though she was just being candid.

The chief leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. He let out a thoughtful sigh. "Here at Seattle Grace we assign a group of interns to one resident. That is their mentor. But for Addison..." He let out another thoughtful sigh. "Arrangements can be made."

Fallyn smiled widely. "So, I would still get to work alongside Dr. Montgomery–Shepherd?"

"Yes. She would stand in for your resident mentor. Addison has a wide skill set. I trust her to teach you what you need to know to succeed. You're interested in peds?"

"I am." Fallyn nodded emphatically, even though it made her head throb in protest. It was the only specialty she'd ever wanted.

"It's good to have an idea of what you want, but make sure you keep your options open. There's nothing worse than specializing only to regret it later. Try everything."