DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter thirty-two: take the lead/what is it about men?

"Briar!" The loud shout in her ear makes Briar fall straight off of her air mattress, landing on the floor with a groan. She takes a second to just lay there, before sitting up and glowering at an amused Mark. "Oops."

"I hate you." She bites out even as she accepts his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

"Sure you do. Loving the whole lion's mane you've got going on, very chic." He teases, gesturing to her hair. She rolls her eyes at him, ignoring the comment and heading straight into the kitchen. She'll deal with her hair later.

"Hey, pour me a bowl, would ya?" Mark calls after her, going into his bedroom. She doesn't respond, but she does grab an extra bowl, pouring the honey comb cereal into both of them. He comes out a minute later, dressed for the day. Briar glances at the time, relieved to see that she has twenty minutes still.

"You're not as nervous as I would expect." He notes while grabbing his breakfast, nodding at her in thanks. She just hums, leaning back against his counter and eating her first spoonful. "I mean, the other residents are all losing their minds about solo surgery day."

"I've been studying for this non-stop." Briar says honestly. "Callie had me do the patient intake and all of the tests. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"You've done spinal surgery before, right?" He asks her, and she nods, starting to feel the nerves building as they discuss it. Callie has already teased her that she's going to do a crossword puzzle while Briar does the surgery. She's used to Callie watching her every move and jumping in when asked, but today she'll only get assistance if the patient requires it.

"Yeah." She says, suddenly not hungry. She drains the milk out in the sink and tosses the cereal into the trash, heading to get dressed for the day. She doesn't bother moving from the living room as she does–Mark has seen her naked before, and she knows there's no attraction there on either end. She has Jackson, and Mark is still hung up on Lexie, even if he won't admit to that.

"Well, good luck. I hope you don't paralyze him." He tells her, high-fiving her on her way out the door. Briar doesn't even make it halfway down the block before she's pulling over to throw up, her nerves going haywire.

✦

"Oh my god. Please tell me you aren't sick." April panics as soon as she sees Briar, who is leaning against her locker and taking sips of Pepto Bismol.

"I'm not sick, relax." Briar tells her, taking another swig before putting it back in her cubby.

"Good, because that would destroy my schedule." April tells her with clear relief, before tilting her head. "Do you just keep that there?"

"Yep." Briar says with a laugh, putting on her lap coat. "I've kept myself supplied on Pepto since my intern year. It's saved me more times than I could count."

"Huh." April muses, grabbing her stethoscope. Briar nods at her, leaving the room and finding herself with Meredith, Cristina and Alex, all of whom are heading to the surgery board. They're discussing Zola, since Meredith and Derek haven't heard anything yet about whether they'll get her back or not. They're intercepted by April and Jackson as they reach the board.

"It's up!" Cristina, Alex, and April all say, excited to see which O.R. they get.

"O.R. 3!" Cristina cheers, doing a happy dance. "Mm. I love O.R. 3!"

ROOM 6
SPINE THORACIC POSTERIOR FUSION
T11-S1 POSTERIOR DECOMPRESSION, FUSION
STAFF: SINCLAIR, B.

"O.R. 6," Briar beams, punching the air and beaming. "I did my first spinal surgery in O.R. 6. That's totally a good sign."

"Wait. Bowel resection? I thought you had a peds case." April asks Alex, frowning at the board.