Code Blue | Grey's Anatomy // Book 2 // COMPLETED

11 | Men Will Be Men

Every morning I had been getting up way before I should to go to work and study for the boards with Meredith and Callie. It sounds like hell, right? Well, wrong. Every day I learned new things and got a little bit more confident that I was going to do just fine on the boards. It felt good not to stress over it. And because Meredith and I weren't stressing like everyone else, we were superstars in the hospital.

Quickly tying my hair up, I ran through the hall to meet an ambulance. An espresso machine had exploded or something in a coffee shop. I had been told I would be working with Mark and Jackson. Although I never really worked with the two of them since they were plastics, it was technically classified a trauma, so I was paged to the case.

"What do we got?" Mark asked as I met up with them and greeted the ambulance.

"Espresso machine exploded at a coffeehouse on Roosevelt." the female paramedic replied as the male rolled the gurney out, "Got a twenty-four-year-old female with second-degree burns on her chest, neck, and face."

"Oh, God. Is my face melted?" the girl cried out, obviously very scared.

I looked down, "No, you're going to be just fine."

"Is that a large-bore I.V.?" Jackson picked up the I.V. bag.

"I.V.'s in the left arm." the paramedic told him.

"That's not what I asked you." Jackson snapped, "You should've put in a large-bore I.V."

The paramedic shot him a look, and for good reason, because he was being an ass, "It's a twenty gauge. Do you want me to-"

"I'll do it myself since I want it done right." Jackson dismissed her.

Mark sighed as he looked down at the girl, "What's your name?"

"Angie." she replied, "Is my face melted?"

"No, Angie. Try and relax." Mark told her before looking up again at the busy E.R., "Get a burn kit."

As soon as we got Angie into an E.R. room, Jackson and Mark started to look at her face while I stood by, waiting for the plastics part to be over and the trauma part to start. "I-I checked the overpressure valve." Angie winced, "I-it was fine. Or was that yesterday? Oh, God, is this my fault? Did I melt my own face off?"

"Nothing's been melted off." Jackson assured her, "Try and stay still, please."

"I mean, they can't expect me to monitor the machine and handle the morning rush, right?" Angie continued.

Jackson sighed, "I really need you to stay still."

Angie, however, was still in shock and ignored him, "I mean, it's too much pressure, this job. Not enough pay and way too much pressure. I mean, you guys have no idea."

"We're fixing your face. That is pressure." Jackson huffed, "Now if you could do us both a favour and-"

"Dr. Avery, go get us some more bandages." Mark stopped Jackson from yelling at Angie, "Now."

Reluctantly, Jackson let go of Angie's face and took off. "Sorry about that." Mark apologized to Angie before looking to one of the other doctors, "Continue to clean here. We'll be back in a second."

"Okay, doctor." the other doctor agreed.

I smiled at Angie as Mark waved for me to follow him, "Trust me, Angie. You're going to be just fine."

Taking a deep breath, Angie smiled back as I went with Mark to go find Jackson. "Why am I coming?" I asked.

"You're a girl." Mark told me, "If anyone can figure out what's wrong with him, hopefully, it's you."

I scoffed, "Yeah, well, no promises."

Once we found Jackson just outside the room, Mark instantly started talking. "You yelled at a patient and a paramedic, two people you do not want to piss off." Mark said, "What's your problem?"

Jackson sorted through the drawers to get more bandages, "I'm sorry, all right? I've just been so tense. I'm studying for the boards."

"We've been studying." Mark, who had been helping Jackson study, reminded him, "You'll do fine."

"I can't do fine. I have to do great. I'm an Avery." Jackson was obviously very stressed.

Mark furrowed his brows, "Are you getting any?"

My eyes widened, "Mark!"

"Did you just ask me if I'm getting any?" Jackson snapped.

Mark turned to me and covered my ears with his hands, even though I could still hear him, "When was the last time?"

"That's none of your business." Jackson kept looking between me and Mark.

"Just tell me." Mark was persistent, "I won't judge."

Jackson sighed before going back into Angie's room, "I am focused. There's no time."

"There's always time," Mark yelled back.

Removing Mark's hands from my ears, I glared up at him. Had he seriously forgotten that Jackson and I were dating again? "I could still hear you." I groaned, "Why, oh, why did I have to be put with you two today?"

With that, I took off for a ten-minute early lunch because I needed to be away from guys. However, I ended up sitting with Jackson at lunch anyway along with Cristina, Lexie, and Alex.

"That's not my point." Lexie complained, "I can't believe that they're not gonna do anything. I mean, they are basically giving this kid a death sentence. Chris just wants to get back to his residency, and Morgan is too weak to even think straight."

"The parents have made up their minds." Alex argued with her, "Just let me eat my food in peace."

"Ali doesn't even have any parents as far as I can see." Lexie said, "And you know what? She is your intern. You need to step up."

Groaning, Alex reached over and grabbed for the headphones that Jackson was wearing, "Give me those. She won't shut up."

"No, I'm studying." Jackson grabbed them back.

"Okay, look, all I am saying-" Lexie continued.

Alex stopped her, "Look, let it go, Lexie."

Lexie ignored him, "All I am saying is, parents did not decide his treatment plan, doctors did. Math did."

Without another word, Lexie stood up, grabbed her food, and left. Seconds later, Meredith came in, took Lexie's spot, and grabbed one of Alex's chips. "Get your own." Alex sighed.

"Hey, so it turns out Devin needs a thoracotomy." Meredith told Cristina, but she didn't respond, "Your surgery. Remember Devin, likes coffee, is in love with his barista?"

"Oh, Angie?" I asked and Meredith nodded, "I'm working on her with Mark and Jackson. Although, about twenty minutes ago Mark asked Jackson if he was getting any and then had a whole conversation about it, right in front of me."

Cristina continued to stare across the cafeteria. "What about me?" Meredith asked her, "Remember me?"

Cristina scooted towards Alex, "Hey, um, have you, uh, hit that?"

"Which that?" Alex asked.

Cristina pointed to a nurse a few tables away, "That...the brown-haired that."

Alex looked over, "Oh, the that with the brown hair and the nice ass and the perfect-"

"Teeth, yes." Cristina finished his sentence, "Have you?"

Alex shook his head, "Uh, no. Mnh-mnh. She only goes for the attendings. Next year."

After lunch, I was heading up to check on Angie, when April ran up to me. "Ellie! Please don't be mad at me!" she blurted out.

"Hey, calm down." I told her, "What did you do?"

"N-nothing...it's just that..." she mumbled, "Mark asked me to extend my relationship with Jackson."

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

She looked around as if the news she was about to share was top secret, "He wanted me to 'alleviate' Jackson's stress. Be his...'buddy.'"

I groaned, now understanding exactly what she was talking about. "Don't worry about it." I told April, "I'll deal with it."

Now, I could have yelled at Mark...or even yelled at Jackson. I could have done a lot of yelling, and I knew a lot of girls that would do just that. But, my life was pretty good right now, so no yelling was needed.

Instead, I waiting in the lobby for Jackson after work. When he walked off the elevator with Mark, I already knew what the conversation had been on the way down just by the look on his face. "Mark is trying to set me up with Julia's friend." he sighed as we started to walk to the parking lot.

I nodded, "April told me he tried to set you up with her."

"April?" he chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, "No way."

"Yup." I smiled, "Did you tell him?"

Jackson looked down at me, "About us? I'm pretty sure he knows, he just doesn't care. I mean, we were just over at his house cooking him dinner."

"Men will be men." he sighed once we got to the car.

I nodded in agreement, "Men will be men."