Always been you//Jolex

Chapter 13

Post op day 7
Sadie is doing great, and shows no sign of rejection. As expected for a patient with a new organ, she is still sleeping most off the day and being closely monitored by nurses, interns, Maggie, and of course Alex and I, who seem to be backseat driving Sadie's treatment. They say doctors make the worst patients, but they should probably add a part about that.
At noonish, I have a solo appendectomy that only lasts a little over an hour. I close, scrub out, and check on Sadie.
"Hey! How we doing?"
"I'm okay. Do you have to do more tests?" She says, sadly.
"No, I just wanted to say hello. I had a surgery."
"Oooh! What kind?"
"I took out a mans appendix."
"An appendectomy?"
"Yeah, look at you! Surgeon in the making." I giggle.
"Tell me about it."
"Well, It was laparoscopic which means I only made a tiny incision and used a camera to look inside. I maneuvered the camera down to his appendix, but it there was bleeding so I couldn't get visualization. After some suction, I did the procedure and sutured the little cut shut."
"Coooooool!" She says. The look on her face reminds me of the one I wore when I first stood in the OR and did my first solo procedure. Alex was watching from the gallery, beaming. I imagine me and Alex in 15 years watching Sadie from the gallery as she performs her first appy. The thought makes me smile.

Post op day 12
Sadie was moved from the PICU to a regular room this morning, which is great. I feel like I haven't seen Alex in forever since when I'm in surgery he's with Sadie and when he's in surgery I'm with Sadie. We were thrilled to find out we were both free after 5, so we agreed to meet in Sadie's room and pick up dinner.
Later that day, we meet as planned and I pull him into a hug.
"Hey!" He smiles.
"I missed you." I give him a quick kiss. "Okay, I'm starving! What should we have? Anything you want." I say, looking to Sadie.
"Anything?"
"You tell me what you'd like and I'll go pick it up right now."
"Um.....a hamburger, maybe?"
"Oh, I could pick up burgers and shakes from that cute little grill down the street? Sound good?"
Her and Alex nod and go back to drawing together. It's times like this when I know I want him to be the father of my children. Of this child.
I return with the food about 20 minutes later, and my two loves are still hanging out together. I watch them giggle from outside the window of her room for a moment before finally entering with the warm food. I clear the tray cluttered with crayons over Sadie's bed and set up her food, helping her sit up with another pillow. Then I sit beside Alex and hand him his food before pulling out my own, and we talk and laugh and eat hamburgers.

Post op day 18
Sadie has been in the hospital for almost 3 weeks, and Maggie predicts she'll be ready to go home within the next 5 days. We haven't heard anything back from Chelsea on the adoption, and I'm getting worried. Alex says these things take time, but between waiting for a heart, for her to come off the ventilator, for her to be discharged- I've had enough waiting. Sadie is allowed to have visitors now, so we invited Meredith, Maggie, Amelia, and Link to come meet her as our potential child rather than a patient.
"Sadie, these are some of Alex and I's friends. This is Mer, Maggie, Amelia and Link. They're all surgeons."
"Cool. I know Doctor Maggie operated on my heart, but what do your other friend operate on.
Meredith speaks up. "I'm a general surgeon, like your...Jo. I get to fix all different parts like your liver or kidneys. Did you know I have 3 kids, and my oldest daughter Zola is just a little older than you. You guys are gonna be great friends."
She looks to Amelia.
"Oh- right. I'm a neurosurgeon, which means I operate on brains." She continues to tell Sadie about herself and I nudge Alex.
"Hey, she seems pretty distracted right now. I don't think they'll notice if we sneak off to an on call room." I whisper.
He grabs my hand and we sneak out to the nearest one, locking the door behind us when we find one.