sunshine ━ jackson avery

038. ━ conjoined twins

chapter thirty-eight ━ conjoined twins
( season eight, episode eleven )

❝So, uh—is anything going on
between you and Ellie?❞

ELLIE SAT IN the resident's lounge, pulling her blonde locks into two French braids while Jackson paced nervously behind her. "You're on the case, too, right?" he asked despite knowing her answer.

"Yes," she replied with a sigh, turning around to look at her. "Why are you so freaked out? You're just doing the exact same thing as Mark."

"But if I mess up, then I'm basically ruining two babies' lives!"

She nodded, humming to herself. "Well, that's one way of seeing it..." She shook her head and walked over to him, laying her hands on his shoulders. "You just need to take some deep breaths and we can go."

"Deep breaths," he repeated, nodding to himself. "Right." He looked down at the blonde in front of him. "Why aren't you also freaking out? You're the ortho surgeon for the red team."

"Because I know the procedure, just like you do," she replied, opening the door of the lounge and walking down the OR floor, Jackson trailing behind her. "You have to stop freaking out so much. Start trusting your abilities and show them off. Especially because Arizona is—"

"—losing it," Alex interjected, walking in step with them, looking slightly disgruntled. "She's freaking losing it, is what's happening."

Ellie shrugged, the three of them scrubbing in thoroughly. "She's just stressed," she said, defending her brother's best friend's girlfriend. "She just wants everything to go smoothly."

"Yeah, well, she could do that without acting like everything we do is wrong," Alex countered in annoyance.

Once the three residents had finished scrubbing in, they joined the large group of surgeons that were already gathered in the OR. Ellie moved to stand beside her brother and Derek just as Owen addressed his staff.

"Practice, practice, practice until it is perfect, people," he said, and Ellie glanced at Arizona out of the corner of her eye, who seemed to be impatiently tapping her foot. "This is a long, complex procedure with many parts. Therefore, many opportunities for error. So, we're gonna go over this again. Team leaders, get in place."

Derek nodded. "Alright, green team over here, please."

"Let's go, red!" Arizona chorused and Ellie walked over to her, Jackson and Alex following her. Meanwhile, Mark and Callie joined Derek on his team.

"We've offered this family every pro bono dollar, every surgical hand, every resource this hospital has," Owen continued. "So, I'm asking you for every resource that you have. Be sharp, be present, be focused. Dr. Robbins has been caring for these children since the day they were born. They will each get a new life today. Our actions will decide what kind of lives they will be."