Stitches of Survival

All I Want Is You

Chapter Fifty-Eight: All I Want Is You

*~*~*~*

"I've got Sloan, and Torres is on her way." Jo informed Alex as she led me into radiology.

"Oh, okay. Thanks," Alex nodded to his girlfriend. I raised a brow at his tone, not failing to notice the awkwardness radiating between the couple. "Hey, uh, listen, do you think tonight maybe you and I could just-- I don't know."

"Actually, I'm having some people over tonight," she informed him as I stood back, simply looking between the two. It had been clear to Meredith and I that something had been going on between the couple for a few weeks, but Alex wouldn't tell us what it was. "It's-- It's nothing big, just Steph, Blake, and Warren."

"Okay, yeah. I mean, I get off late, but I can pick up something on the way home." He offered.

"No, I meant, uh, I'd kind of just like to spend some time with my friends." She glanced down at her feet before looking over her shoulder at me, clearly uncomfortable that I was able to hear everything they were saying. 

"Oh. Yeah, no. I got something later anyway, so..." Alex cleared his throat before looking at me for the first time since I'd entered the room. 

"Care to inform me why you need me on your case?" I raised a brow at him as Callie joined us with Maggie in tow.

"Uh, can you, uh, look at these?" He asked the three us, turning our attention to his patient's scans. 

"So, how old is this patient?" Jo asked.

"Fifteen going on thirty-five," Alex sighed. "Standard titanium plates, right?"

"Unless her parents will go for a stem-cell scaffolding in the chest," Maggie suggested. 

"Well, it's, uh, just the mom and, look, I-I don't want to leave this girl with an unprotected heart for years." Alex shook his head at the possibility of a stem-cell scaffolding. "I need to make a recommendation."

"Well, we could look into new technology," Callie spoke up as she stared at the girl's scans. 

"No, I want the safest option." Alex cut her off. 

"Then you go with plates," Maggie nodded.

"Tried and true," I hummed in agreement. "Let me know if you need any help  going along with this."

*~*~*~*

"Hey?" I drew the word out when I found myself downstairs in the main radiology lab, only to be greeted by Callie, Jo, Maggie, a young girl, and woman. "What's going on here?"

"Maya, this is Dr. Bethany Sloan. She's a pediatric attending," Callie introduced to me the girl. "Beth, this is Maya, your new patient."

"Wait, I thought Alex was handling her case?" My brows furrowed together at the familiar name, confused as to what was going on.

"I fired Dr. Karev," Maya informed me, causing my eyes to widen. I'd never heard of a patient, particularly a minor, suddenly firing their surgeon. "Then I hired Dr. Torres and Dr. Pierce."

"But since she's a minor she still needs a pediatric attending on her case," Callie pointed out, explaining just why I'd been paged to join them in their seemingly secret consult. 

"So you're hired," Maya told me. "I took the privilege of researching you earlier, when I was debating which doctor to consult with. You've handled several complex cases. Though, admittedly, nothing as out there as constructing buttholes for babies, but it's a start. You're also one of the surgeons who bought this hospital which tells me you like to take risks."