April 15 2021
The interns didn't dare breathe around AJ after the OR disaster. Every step she took through the halls was like a thunderclap. Nurses whispered, other attendings gave her wide berth, and even seasoned surgeons lowered their voices when she passed.
Her gaze was sharp enough to cut steel. Her tone was clipped, efficient, merciless. She corrected mistakes before they happened, and when someone pushed too far, her words could flatten them in a heartbeat.
She didn't have to scream anymore. Medusa didn't need to raise her voice to turn people to stone.
---
April 20 2021
Later that week, AJ stood in Miranda Bailey's office, her interns lined up outside the door like convicts awaiting judgment.
Bailey folded her arms.
Bailey - So. What are you going to do with them?
AJ's jaw was tight, her hands clasped behind her back.
AJ - I know exactly what I *want* to do
she said coldly.
AJ - But that's not my call. They're your responsibility, Chief. I'm not wasting my time babysitting when I could be saving lives.
Bailey studied her for a long moment.
Bailey -So you're washing your hands of it?
AJ's lips curved into something between a smirk and a snarl.
AJ - I'm making it clear that if they're still here tomorrow, it's not because I forgave them. It's because you did.
---
Outside, the five of them waited in terrified silence.
Jackson fiddled with his ID badge. Simone wrung her hands until they were red. Luca muttered prayers under his breath. Parker looked like he might faint. Gabriel tried to look calm, but his foot tapped rapidly against the wall.
When AJ walked past them without a word, the silence was worse than any yelling could have been.
She didn't even look at them. And that was what made it so terrifying.
---
Inside her office, Bailey sighed as she regarded the interns.
Bailey- Dr. Brewster doesn't want your heads on her wall. If she did, you wouldn't be standing here.
Relief flickered on Parker's face—until Bailey's voice hardened.
Bailey - But don't mistake her silence for forgiveness. She left it to me. And if you think *I'm* softer than her, you're wrong.
The interns shrank back, realizing they hadn't escaped Medusa's wrath at all. They'd only traded it for Bailey's.
---
That night, AJ sat in her darkened office, Mateo's drawing taped to the wall beside her desk, the only softness in the room.
She thought about her miscarriage, about the child who would never draw pictures for her desk.
Her hands clenched, her jaw tightened, and when her pager buzzed again, she shoved the grief back down where it belonged.
Medusa had work to do.
---
