LIFELINE, Mark Sloan

"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗺?" (𝟲,𝟭𝟯 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁)

Grace sat in bed and sighed. She felt like she needed a clean break from Seattle. But she couldn't while she was in the middle of her residency.

She missed Mark more than anything. And she didn't know why she had stupidly ended things. She felt as though too much had happened. And she wanted it to go back go how it used to be.

Things were hard. She knew that. And she felt as though it was her fault.

She looked up as Chloe walked in. "Come on. I'm taking you for breakfast. You need to keep your strength up," she said.

Grace shook her head. "I'm not hungry. I just wanna stay in bed and sleep."

"Tough. That's not happening. So come on. Up, dressed. Pancakes are waiting for us," Chloe told her.

Grace rolled her eyes. "You're annoying as hell. You realise that?"

"Yes. I do. I take pride in it."

Grace smiled. Knowing how she was thankful she had Chloe. Especially as her life felt as though it was falling apart.

****

Grace walked down the corridor with the other residents. Jackson turned to Grace and Chloe. "Either one of you know what this big meeting's all about?" He asked.

Charles looked up. "I heard there was a coup. Webber's out. Shepherd's in," he told them all.

Reed frowned. "Is that true?"

Grace shrugged and sighed. She wasnt in the mood for gossip. "We know what you know," she said.

Jackson raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend's sister. "Bull. All right? You're his daughter. Kind of. Your best friend is the guys sister. You expect me to believe you don't know what's going on?" He asked.

"Don't you have your own loser friends to talk to?" Alex said. He knew he and Grace were friends.

Charles nodded as he looked to them. "I also heard Shepherd plans to clean house."

Jackson turned to Alex. "Maybe he'll start with you," he said.

Alex rolled his eyes. He saw Grace looking ahead. "Dude, I'm safe. The guy is my roommate. You're the ones who should watch your backs."

"Why? What do you know?" Charles asked. Knowing he wanted to know if he had a job.

Alex shrugged and smirked. "Simple math- Shepherd hates the merger, You're from mercy west, you're toast."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Derek's not gonna fire people Just because they're from mercy west. He's not like that. He's loyal and fair," she said.

"Yeah, tell that to Webber."

Grace scoffed. "I think I know him better than you do. He won't fire someone. Unless they do something wrong. So don't do anything wrong."

****

Derek was in a meeting with Larry and Webber. Derek didn't want him to lose his job or quit.

Larry looked to Webber and spoke. "Basically, you have two options available to you. You sign these, you're agreeing to an early retirement. Take an early pension, your license to practice medicine will no longer be valid. You'd walk away from this hospital effective immediately, No strings attached."

Derek shook his head. "You're not gonna sign that. You're gonna sign this. Which says that you are voluntarily enrolling yourself In the physicians rehabilitation and treatment program. Go to rehab, Richard. You sober up, you get out, and you have your job waiting," he told him.