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

32 | Settling

"Derek Shepherd, multiple hand fractures with a median nerve injury. Ellie Forrest, large lacerations on the right shin and left side of the stomach. Arizona Robbins, open femur fracture with resultant above-knee amputation. Lexie Grey, deceased. Mark Sloan, deceased." the lawyer said as she walked around the large table in the board room. Derek, Meredith, Callie, Owen, and I were there. Owen standing in for Cristina and Callie for Arizona.

"How is-how is the investigation going?" Derek asked, cutting off whatever the male lawyer was saying.

"Have they found what caused the crash?" Meredith added.

"The investigation could take years." the man said, "That's why we want to help you put this tragedy behind you."

"I think you mean, your clients would like to put it behind them." the woman corrected.

The man nodded, "So I am authorized at this time to propose a one-time settlement. Bayview Aeronautics takes your loss seriously." he handed Derek a slip of paper, "Now the settlement agreement must be unanimous, and it releases Bayview Aeronautics from any and all other claims, known or unknown, but...most important, it will allow you to put this painful time behind you and moved on with your lives."

As the paper made it's way around to me, I took a look at the amount they were offering and my eyes grew wider than dinner plates. It was a large amount, I can tell you that. Passing it on, I looked back up at the lawyers.

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That night, as I lied in bed, I kept tossing the decision around in my head. Should I settle? Should I not settle? I guess I would just have to see what everyone else decided. Things just kept changing as well. Alex had decided not to leave, after all, so he was still around. I honestly didn't know what was going to happen next.

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"Hey, Alex." Meredith burst into the attendings' lounge and threw her stuff down on the table that Bailey was sitting at, "Why did an intern just give me a compliment on the crown moldings in my empty house? Are you still sleeping there?"

Alex shrugged as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "Chicks like it better than the on-call room."

"Okay, that's disgusting." Meredith told him, "Now I have to have the place tented. Give me back my key."

"You don't even live there anymore." Alex sat down next to Bailey, "What do you care?"

Meredith huffed, "Key. Please."

"Hey, you guys. Can you believe we're in the attendings' lounge?" April walked in.

We all looked to her in shock. "April, what are you doing here?" Meredith asked.

"Oh, uh, Hunt came and got me on the farm in Moline." April explained, "I was giving the pigs their breakfast, and I turn around, and there's Dr. Hunt, offering me my job back. He didn't tell you guys?"

We all shook our heads. "Did anyone else see Dr. Hunt in the barnyard?" Meredith was skeptical.

"When he appeared unto you, was he glowing at all?" Alex joked.

April gave us a dirty look as Jackson walked in. "April?" Jackson asked.

"Hunt hired her back," Meredith told him.

"We think." I chuckled.

"It might have been Jesus," Alex added.

April stared back at Jackson, "I thought you went to Tulane."

"Uh, yeah. No, I-I-I changed my mind." Jackson said as he started to take his shirt off.

Bailey looked to him, her mouth hung open, "Hey, you people are attendings. You do not change clothes in front of everyone like animals or interns, because nobody wants to see all that."

"Apparently Kepner does." Alex smiled as he noticed April staring.

"What?" April looked to Alex, "N-no, I d...I don't. I-I wasn't...I..."

Just then, Alex's phone chimed and he fished it out of his pocket. "Gotta go." Alex stood up.

"Me too. Welcome back." Meredith took off.

"Yeah, I'm just...bye." I left as well.

Although, I didn't do much that day besides working in the pit. Slow days were the worst days.

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"Hey, Cristina." April leaned down to get into the video chat that Meredith and Cristina were having the next day.

"April's back." Meredith smiled.

Cristina nodded, "Oh, yeah, I heard. Owen went to a pig farm?"

"Oh, so you're talking to Owen?" Meredith asked as Bailey started putting sticky notes around the lounge.

"Yeah, about the settlement," Cristina said.

"Oh." Meredith nodded.

"Hey, what's up, Yang?" Jackson joined us and set his bag down on the table.

"I'm about to be an accomplice to a murder." Cristina sighed.

Jackson smiled, "I always knew you'd find your specialty."

Bailey, obviously annoyed with us, stuck a note on Jackson's bag that said 'This is not your closet.' "What are you-" Jackson picked up his bag, only to bump it into April and spill her hot coffee all over her. "Oh..." Jackson picked up a napkin to help her, but stopped, " Actually, I know, let's pretend this never happened."

Walking over, Bailey put a note on both Meredith's tablet and my face that read, 'Scrub in with Kepner.' "What?" Meredith asked.

"Oh, show me. Show me." Cristina said over the video chat.

Turning it over, both Cristina and April read the note. "Dr. Bailey, all respect, but I can handle a hernia repair on my own," April told Bailey, but Bailey just rolled her eyes and left the lounge.

"Well, you've been working with pigs." Cristina reminded her, "Maybe she's worried you'll slaughter someone out of habit."

"Oh." April shot Cristina a look.

"So have you thought about the settlement?" Meredith questioned, "What do you want to do?"

Cristina sighed, "Oh...I don't know. Whatever everybody else wants to do. I'm a team player, Mer."

I chuckled and held up the sticky note, "Apparently, so are we."

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"Shoot. This defect's too big." April exhaled as Meredith and I helped her with the hernia repair, "I'm gonna need some mesh. Suction."

"Here's an idea..." Jackson, who was also in the O.R. working on the skin, piped up, "Let's just pretend that the patient never even had a hernia, then you wouldn't have to do anything."

April tried to concentrate on her work, "Would you stop? This is not a joke to me."

"No, you said you're pretending that-" Jackson started to argue.

"What are we talking about?" Meredith asked.

April lowered her voice, "If you would just listen. I'm not pretending it never happened. It happened. I know it happened."

"What never happened?" Meredith and I were curious, "Could someone just please-"

"But now I am wiping the slate clean." April ignored her.

Jackson sighed, "By acting like it never happened."

"When is there going to be a ban on discussing personal problems in the O.R.?" I huffed.

"No!" April rose her voice this time.

"What never happened?" Meredith asked once more.

"Nothing." both April and Jackson told her.

The O.R. fell silent. Then Meredith figured it out, "I...Oh...my...God."

My eyes widened, "You two slept together."

Once the surgery was over, we all made our way to the scrub room to wash up. As April stormed out, Meredith grabbed a towel and hit Jackson over the head with it. "She was a virgin," Meredith whispered.

"I know that," Jackson replied.

"You defiled a virgin." Meredith hit him again.

"Stop hitting my head. I sw-" Jackson said, but was cut off by me hitting him this time. "I will go full crazy on you two. All right?" Jackson turned to us, "I'm a grown-ass man. She's a grown woman."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, but she's-"

"She's what, April Kepner?" Jackson asked, "Believe me, she is grown. I didn't manipulate her. I didn't defile her or trick her. I didn't take her virginity. She...she gave it to me. All right? This isn't about something I did to her. This is something we did together, and she can't handle that. So she is praying...to Justin Timberlake, apparently. And I'm pissed. And...it's a mess. So just stop hitting my head."

Meredith nodded, "So Alex is a diseased man-whore again...and April Kepner is no longer a virgin. Wow. We missed a lot with that plane crash."

"We did." I agreed.

"Yeah, you missed a whole lot." Jackson sighed, "The Chief banged my mom."

Meredith and I both turned to him. "What?" I asked, "The...Owen banged-"

"Webber. Webber." Jackson corrected us, "Dr. Webber banged my mom."

"Oh." we understood, "Oh. Oh, my God. "

Jackson nodded, "Yeah, I know."

"Well...if it makes you feel any better, he banged my mom, too," Meredith said.

"That makes me feel worse." Jackson sighed as Meredith left.

Chucking, I dried my hands. "So, when did you and April sleep together?" I asked, "If you don't mind my asking."

"During the boards." Jackson answered, "Well, not...during, but...in the hotel at the boards."

"Oh." I nodded, "I always thought you slept with that girl who came in with your mother while we were dating. But I guess it doesn't really matter who you cheated on me with."

Jackson winced, "Yeah, I slept with her, too."

"Oh, my God!" I slapped him with another towel and laughed, "You slut!"

"How are you not more upset about this?" Jackson smiled.

"Uh..." I paused, "I slept with Alex."

Jackson's mouth fell open, "Alex! You slept with-"

"Shh." I hushed him, "The whole hospital doesn't need to know."

Jackson chuckled, "Sorry."

There was silence for a few seconds. "We are terrible at dating one another, aren't we?" I sighed.

Jackson nodded, "Yeah. We never talk. Never really hang out. Cheat on one another."

"Oh, your cheating doesn't add up to mine." I reminded him, "April, that urologist, and...Lexie."

Silence fell again. "So, we good?" Jackson broke the silence.

"Yeah." I smiled, "Friends. Let's see if we can be better friends then we were a couple."

"Sounds like a plan." Jackson opened the scrub room door and we walked out.

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"My wife is disabled." Callie put the coffee pot down as we discussed the settlement that night, "My daughter's father is dead. There's nothing we can do about that, but this money will pay for Arizona's rehab. It would take care of our little girl, Mark's little girl. This is a huge amount of money. It's a life-changing amount of money."

Meredith nodded, "All right, so you're saying we take it."

"I'm just saying, you don't walk away from a number like this, right?" Callie sat down with us.

"Well, I'm still talking to Cristina, but I think she'd want to take it, yeah." Owen nodded.

"Mer?" Callie turned to her.

Meredith nodded again, "Yeah. I mean, I guess, yeah."

"Derek, what do you think?" Callie asked, "It has to be unanimous. What do you say?"

Derek was quiet for a few moments, "I say, we have until tomorrow."

"Ellie?" Callie sighed.

I shrugged, "I'm on the fence. I mean, this money could, like Callie said, change my life. I could help my dad get a new place after my mother died, or help my sister out with all of her medical bills after the accident. But, if they don't investigate, this could happen again. I mean, only two of our people died, and I consider that lucky. What if next time it isn't just seven doctors flying out, but a whole plane full of people?"

Everyone decided to think about it and we went our separate ways. Settling was the easy thing, but was it the right thing?