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

36 | Just Another Pretty Face

 "Stroke, infection, heart attack, severe bleeding, loss of life?" Lila read out the risks of her surgery, "Oh, what the hell?"

Looking up at Lila, Meredith and I watched as her hand frantically grabbed at the clipboard she was holding as if she had no control over it. "When did the chorea start?" Meredith asked as Lila grabbed onto her hand with her other one.

"Chorea? I call that my spastic hand trick." Lila tried to lighten the mood and chuckled, "A few months ago, I guess."

I cocked my eyebrows, "You told your doctors? They know, right?"

When Lila didn't answer, Meredith's eyes widened, "Lila."

"I...no guilt trip, please." Lila sighed, "I was just starting to like you."

"But you need to tell your doctors," Meredith explained, "because they can help you."

Lila nodded, "I watched my mother go through this, Dr. Grey. I-I know how this goes. After the spastic hand, comes the slurred speech, and then the trouble walking, and the difficulty eating, and the seizures, and the memory loss, and then the dementia sets in so badly that you don't know if you're in the supermarket or the bathroom. So screw going to the freakin' doctor. I am going to Brazil."

Meredith and I smiled down at Lila before we got the page that her O.R. was ready. Once we had her prepped, we rolled her bed to the elevator and up to the O.R. floor. Minutes later, Lila was under anesthetic and we were starting the operation.

"I'd throw a party." Teddy said out of nowhere, "Fly everyone to an amazing beach, all expenses paid. I mean, I'd have to max out my credit cards in order to pay for it, but what do I care? I wouldn't be around to have to pay it off. Suction."

"I'd do what Lila did." Meredith joined the conversation, "I'd quit, sell the house, and bum around the globe."

"And how would Derek feel about that?" Teddy asked.

Meredith shrugged, "Ah, he could come along if he wanted."

"I'd take my parents and my sister to Scotland." I smiled from under my mask, "My great grandfather was from there, but none of us have ever been. We always said that we'd go together someday; so if I was dying, that's what I would do."

"There's something sad about that, though." Jackson commented, "Wandering around, living in hotels...That's-that's not a life. This, though, even if I was gonna die tomorrow, I'd still want to do it."

Jackson looked up from Lila's body and made eye contact with Teddy from across from the table. At first, it was nothing, but then it lasted a little too long and Meredith and I shared a look. "Can I try the diaphragm repair?" Jackson asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Teddy questioned.

"The repair, can I..." Jackson repeated, "can I try it?"

Teddy thought for a moment, "Uh, n...uh, no, no, you can't. I'm-I'm good though, thank you."

I frowned slightly under my mask as Teddy picked up the stapler. Jackson wasn't kidding earlier. He was trying to flirt with Teddy to get surgeries. Once the surgery was complete, I went to the vending machine to get a snack before I headed to the resident's lounge. As I was about to step inside, I saw Jackson, with his shirt off, talking to Teddy.

"You're actually more than the pretty face you make yourself out to be." I heard Teddy say, "You knocked over a tray in my O.R., you get the answer wrong sometimes, your penmanship needs work. None of these are fireable offenses, but flirting? Flirting into my surgery, batting your eyes while I'm inside a chest cavity? I should go to the chief and have you fired right now. I'm not gonna do that this time. Now put your shirt on and take care of these post-ops." Teddy handed Jackson a clipboard before she exited the room and stormed past me.

As I entered the lounge, Jackson set the post-ops down before throwing his shirt forcefully into his cubby. "Flirting?" I sighed as I grabbed my stuff.

"I don't need to hear it from you too." Jackson warned, "It was stupid. I know."

Sighing, I nodded, "It was."

"Thanks." Jackson huffed, "Here I thought my girlfriend might actually cheer me up. I'm just full of stupid ideas today."

"Sorry," I sat down on the bench, "I just got a little pissed that you were flirting your way into surgeries when I'm the only one you're supposed to be flirting with."

Jackson smiled, "Jealous?"

"No!" I denied, "Anyway, you called me at 2 a.m. for drinks. I want some fricken drinks."

"Well..." Jackson trailed off, "I was thinking more like dinner because yesterday I remembered that I asked you to get dinner with me a while ago. Before the shooting, before your sister, before it all. And I also remembered that you said yes."

Smiling, I nodded, "That sounds nice, but I can't tonight. I'm on call, and knowing my luck we would just sit down and a school bus full of kids would drive over a cliff and land on some teens illegally drinking out in the forest."

Jackson chuckled, "That's a little far fetched. Why would there be a school bus full of kids in the middle of the night?"

"They were all at camp for a field trip but the main hall burned down and there was no food so the trip was cut short," I stated as if it was obvious.

"Why couldn't they leave in the morning?" Jackson was taking this way too seriously.

I thought for a moment as I changed out of my scrubs, "The camp was on an island and the firefighters couldn't get to it. Plus, a large wooden building on fire on an island full of trees and other wooden buildings. I wouldn't want my kid staying there any second longer."

Jackson nodded, "Okay, but what about-"

"Stop it." I giggled, "You get the point. No dinner tonight. Friday?"

"Friday it is." Jackson agreed.

As Jackson pulled me in for a kiss, we grabbed our stuff and headed out. "If there's a cliff, that means there are mountains. Why are these teens drinking all the way out by mountains?" Jackson questioned.

"Shut up!" I gave him a light slap on the arm as we walked down the hall together.