No Time | Grey's Anatomy // Book 1 // COMPLETED |

8 | Babysitting

"Wait up!" I called as I rushed through the halls, trying to catch up with the group that had just left the lounge. I had arrived to work just in time to hear the news about there being a big meeting, but I was unaware where, exactly, said meeting was being held. 

"Either of you know what this big meeting's all about?" Jackson asked as he made room for me to slip past him. 

Reed, who had just caught up as well, was still shoving her arms through the sleeves of her white coat. "I heard there was a coup."

"Webber's out, Shepherd's in. Is that true?" one of the other Mercy West transfers, Charles, inquired. 

"All I heard was that Derek is the Chief now," I said, pulling out my phone and opening the email that had been sent hospital-wide that morning. 

Lexie, Meredith's half-sister, just shrugged. "We know what you know."

"Bull. All Right?" Jackson called. "Your sister's married to the guy. You expect me to believe you don't know what's going on?"

"Don't you have your own loser friends to talk to?" Alex grumbled at Jackson as he fell into pace beside me and flashed a small smile. 

"I also heard Shepherd plans to clear house," Charles added. "Maybe he'll start with you."

Alex scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm safe. The guy is my roommate. You're the ones who should watch your backs."

"Why? What do you know?" Reed started to worry.

As we turned a corner, Alex just gave the Mercy Westers a knowing look. "Simple math. Shepherd hates the merger, you're from Mercy West, you're toast."

"Derek's not gonna fire people just because they're from Mercy West." Lexie disagreed; not usually one to pick sides. "He's not like that. He's loyal and fair."

"No, but he'll fire you if you're from Mercy West and you suck." I joked, earning a chuckle from Alex.

Charles scrunched up his face and huffed. "Hey, we've been here longer than you have!"

"Yeah," I turned around to face him, "but I'm a resident that got hired because I'm good, not because my hospital ran out of money. Plus, I'm fresh off of rocking a solo surgery. I'm not going anywhere."

Rounding one last corner, we stepped into the surgical floor's main lobby, where staff of all kind were standing around, waiting to hear the latest news directly from the horse's mouth. Pushing our way to the front of the crowd, we made it just in time as Derek stepped up onto the staircase, ready to address his peers. 

"What the hell is he wearing?" Callie narrowed her eyes at Derek's fancy clothing and tie; something no one had ever seen him wear at work before.

"He looks good," Hunt commented. "Chiefly."

"He looks like an undertaker," Cristina said and we quietly laughed, careful not to let the man himself hear us.

Turning to us, Arizona shot us a look. "I promised him we'd clap." she insisted on being supportive. 

Cristina cocked a brow. "Oh, now?"

"No." Arizona shook her head as Derek cleared his throat.

In mere seconds, the entire lobby was dead silent and all eyes were on Derek. "I want to thank you all for being here." he started, clearly a little unsure of himself. "I know you're busy, so I'll try to make this quick. As you may have heard, I have been appointed the new interim Chief of Surgery. It's my personal goal to make this transition as smooth as possible. I know we've had a rocky few months . . ."

"Here it comes," Alex smirked at the Mercy Westers. He looked like he could taste the upcoming firing that he assumed was about to happen.

"Mistakes have been made." Derek continued.

Alex relished in his theory. "He's talking about the merger."

"Shh." Lexie hushed him.

"I intend to right those wrongs." Derek looked down at the crowd of people before him. "And, uh, bring this hospital back to its former glory."

"'Former glory.'" Cristina mocked Derek. "Undertaker needs a speechwriter."

"We are screwed." Jackson sighed.

Alex nodded. "Yes, you are, sucker."

Just then, Reed let out a gasp. "Check it out. Chief Webber." she pointed down the hall that Webber was approaching from. 

The crowd began to murmur among themselves as Derek trailed off. Now, all heads were turned toward Webber. It was like a standoff. After a few awkward moments of silence, Derek gave Webber a nod and continued with his speech. "What I meant . . . uh, by that is . . . what I'm trying to say is, I want to thank you for your support in advance. Uh, that's all. Okay, let's get back to work."

"Aww, come on." I rolled my eyes, unimpressed with the lack of drama. "Lame."