A Beautiful Day To Save Lives - Jackson Avery

Chapter Six

Meredith had waited outside the hospital for Ophelia early on that brisk, Seattle morning. "There you are," she said with a motherly smile, extending a cup of coffee towards the brunette. "You're going to need this, Dr. Sloan. It's a ocean in there, and I'm not about to let you get thrown to the sharks on your first day."

"Ohmygod, thank you," Lia said earnestly, taking the cup and swallowing a large swig. Coffee. That was all she had needed to make her morning a million times better. "So, shall we?" She asked, trying to be as positive as possible.

"We shall," Mer said with a nod. "I'll take you to the attending's room first, you can settle in, put away your lunch, meet some people." And with that, they were off, Meredith steering her through the halls and up the elevator. Mer felt good having someone new to show around, someone who she actually sort of liked. With Christina gone, there was this emptiness, dullness in the halls. No one to run to with the latest news. No one to complain with. No one else to be dark and twisty. And she had a feeling that Ophelia knew exactly how to be dark and twisty. It was something in her eyes.

The Attending's Lounge was a large, crowded room, with a small table for snacking, but was mostly covered in medical texts, and cupboards for dishes, and a large, shiny fridge for food. Lia quickly deposited her mac and cheese into the fridge and returned to Mer's side.

"Lia, this is Dr. Bailey," Meredith said, pushing her towards a short, black woman with a curled bob, who was muttering about something as she flipped through the pages of a large book. "Miranda, this is Ophelia Sloan. She'll be a new Plastics Attending here."

"Sloan?" Dr. Bailey said looking up from her book. "Oh, poor thing. You're Mark's sister, aren't you?" She held out her hand for Lia to shake.

"That's me. You can call me Lia though, if you don't want to use the last name." She smiled sincerely as she shook the shorter woman's hand. She had a firm grip, the kind that filled you with comfort, the knowledge that she could handle herself.

As they were introducing, the door burst open and in walked a handsome doctor who was around Meredith's age, maybe a year or two younger, with short brown hair, a slight bit of beard growing, and a tiny bit of food stuck in said beard.

"Morning Alex, look who's here," Mer said, grabbing his arm before he sat down and steering him towards Lia. "Alex, Lia Sloan, Lia, this is Alex Karev. He's a bit of a man whore. But we love him anyways. Please don't sleep with him unless you want everyone in the hospital to hear about it."

Lia shook his hand and he winked at her as he did so. "You'll only hear good things, of course," he said with a slight chuckle.

Lia recognized him from the funeral, and the reception afterwords. He hadn't spoken a word to her, but he had been there, she was pretty sure. "Noted." she replied flatly, withdrawing her hand and wiping it off on her white lab coat. Karev then sat down at the table next to Bailey, and began to open a bag with a sandwhich in it, and eat.

Just then, a flaming redhead whirled into the room, "Ohmygoodness, I can't believe we're in the Attending's Office!!" she gushed, dragging a suitcase behind her.

"April...?" Meredith asked, confused. The redhead whirled to face her. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Oh, Hunt gave me my job back. He came to the farm, right down there while I was feeding a pig, and offered me my job back! Who are you?" The words flew out of her mouth all in one sentence, each line floating into the next. She raised one thin, red eyebrow at Lia.

"I'm Ophelia Sloan, Plastics," Lia said, extending her hand.

April's eyes widened. "Sloan? Ohmygod, ohmygod I'm so sorry." Instead of shaking her hand, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her, rocking her back and forth. "You'll be okay," she said, releasing her and patting her cheek, causing Lia's face to flame red with embarrassment.