Stitches of Survival

I Wear the Face

Chapter Sixty: I Wear the Face

*~*~*~*

"So which resident are you gonna nominate for the grant?" Mark asked me as I finished getting changed for work, pulling my scrub top on over my head. "'Cause I don't wanna nominate the same person, make it look like we're trying to stack the deck."

"You're so paranoid," I rolled my eyes. "Bailey knows we wouldn't do that. Besides, even if she did think that she'd just toss our nominations to the side and focus on the others."

"So who're you picking?" He pressed.

"I'm kind of torn," I admitted, a sigh escaping my lips. "If I go with just looking at their work in peds then I guess Wilson. But if I'm looking at them as a whole then I would go with Edwards... I'm just not sure. I really wish Brooks was still here, it'd be so much easier to just pick her."

"Well, I'm gonna nominate Edwards," he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. I only hummed in acknowledgment, my mind elsewhere as various ideas filled my head. "Amelia likes her and Jackson said she kicked ass when she was working in plastics not too long ago."

"What if I do nominate Brooks?" I asked.

"Beth," he sighed at my words-- no doubt thinking I was losing my mind at the moment. "Brooks is dead."

"No, I know that," I shook my head. "But what if I still nominated her? It could sort of be one last sign of respect and good faith for her. I could make two copies of the nomination, one for Bailey and the other for Brooks' family. Show them just how much faith I had in their daughter and how talented she was as a surgeon. Obviously she wouldn't win, but--"

"Bit it'd offer them a little more comfort," he finished for me, understanding what I was trying to get at. "I get it. I think her family would love it."

"Dr. Sloan?" We both looked towards the doorway to find Ben standing there.

"Yes?" We both asked.

"Uh, Beth..." Ben clarified for us. "Dr. Kepner needs an OB consult in the ER, she's got a six-month pregnant teenager. There's concerns about possible complications."

"April?" My stomach dropped at the mention of the redhead. "Um, I'm not licensed in OB. Have someone page Dr. Robbins."

"They did, but she's in surgery right now," he informed me. "She actually sent me to you, said you'd be the next best thing."

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." I promised as he disappeared from the doorway. "Do me a favor, hit me in the head with the coffee pot, as hard as you can."

"Come on, I'm sure Kepner has settled down a little bit by now. She's had a couple of weeks to process everything," Mark tried to assure me. 

"She told me to go to hell, Mark. And she actually believes in that shit," I reminded him. "And any cooling off she might've done is gonna end the second Jackson sues her for fraud. If anything she'll be even angrier with me."

"You'll be fine," he patted me on the shoulder. "And if she does try to make a move, just use Warren as a human shield. He's big enough to buy you enough time to escape."

"Remind me why I married you?" I rolled my eyes as I got up and headed towards the door. 

"'Cause of my dangerously good looks?" He offered.

"No, that wasn't it," I sighed as I started the path down the ER. It only took me a few minutes to get down there, but I didn't see April anywhere. "Hey, Tyler, were's Kepner? I got paged for a consult."