"Negative." Meredith announces as soon as Cristina joins them, all three walking to the lobby where they were paged. Briar frowns to herself, making a mental note to look up ways to possibly help Meredith and Derek on their pregnancy journey. "Again. It's always negative. I have a hostile uterus, and babies hate me."

"Maybe you tried too early. What is it, day ten?" Cristina tries, getting a nod from Meredith. "Yeah, totally early. Pee on a bunch of different sticks."

"Or get a test done here. I'll do it." Briar pipes in, because that's more accurate than store bought tests.

"Don't let the one stick win." Cristina continues.

"Well, it's a scientific test. I hardly think I can bend it to my will."

"I'm doing three surgeries today. I did four yesterday. I'm unstoppable." Cristina declares, and Briar smiles to herself. She missed Cristina at the hospital, and she didn't realize how much until she came back. "And you got defeated by a piece of plastic covered in urine? Buck up."

"What is this, everybody got paged?" Jackson questions from behind them, walking between April and Alex.

"It's that time of year again. Chick's have hatched." Alex explains, making Briar shake her head in amusement.

"Is that some sort of a code?" April asks, but they turn the corner before Briar or anyone else can explain. Sometimes Briar forgets that April and Jackson only just joined their hospital less than a year ago.

"Those chicks." Alex says, just as Richard and Lexie lead a group of medical students into the room. They're all wearing plain clothes under white lab coats, and looking overwhelmed. Briar makes sure to keep a smile on her face, knowing that her other residents likely aren't doing the same.

Sure enough– "Oh, first year Med students. Too dumb to find the toilet." Cristina sighs out from next to her, with Meredith laughing along.

"Good morning. Behind me stand the interns and residents of tomorrow." Richard declares, and Briar turns back to the mentioned group. She finds herself hoping that she hadn't looked that lost when it was her turn doing the rounds, and makes a mental note to ask Connor Rhodes just that. "Today you will show them what it's like to be a surgeon. When you go into surgery, they go into surgery. When they have a question, you will answer."

"It's like court ordered community service." Cristina murmurs.

"I'd rather be picking up trash off the side of the highway." Meredith says back, and Briar bites her cheek at the look on Richard's face, knowing that everyone heard that.

Lexie starts listing off which student goes to which resident, and Briar forces herself to try and remember names. She's awful at that.

"Fred Wilson, you're with Dr. Yang. Kira Donnelley, with Dr. Grey. Hudson Powell, with Dr. Kepner. Laurel Pinson . . ."

Briar fights down a laugh when Alex and Jackson instantly start a whisper battle over who gets the student, an attractive young woman. Men.

"Laurel, you're . . . with Dr. Karev. Edward Taylor, Dr. Avery. And . . . Jerrod Connell, you're with Dr. Sinclair."

Briar puts her hand up, waving when a dark-skinned black man nods at her. He makes his way over to her, running his hand over his shaved head. A closer look reveals freckles on his nose and chin, and a mole above his lip. He's got dark brown eyes, and all together is incredibly attractive, made more so by the bright smile that he gives her while sticking his hand out for a handshake.

"Jerrod Connell, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Briar Sinclair, you too." Briar greets back with a small smile, letting go of his hand as soon as she's shaken it. "Now, how much experience do you have inside of hospitals?"

"I come from a family of surgeons, and I pretty much lived inside their hospitals." He answers, and Briar can't help but think of Meredith, who is most at home inside of Seattle Grace.

"Great! Have you ever been to this one? No? I'll give you the tour before we start our rounds, and you can tell me about your experience in medical school so far. What school do you attend?" She asks, but gets distracted by Richard before he can answer.

"I will be picking my chief resident in a few months, and you're still a prime candidate." He says to Cristina, making his voice loudly, clearly wanting everyone to overhear him. Briar grins to herself as her fellow residents start panicking, having forgotten all about that role.

"Alright, well, let me take you on the tour." She tells Jerrod, leading him to the cafeteria first. "I'm hoping that you ate before you came here, but if you need coffee or anything, you can get that here. There's also a coffee cart outside. Now's a good time to buy something if you want it, we don't know how busy today will be. Make sure to listen to your body, and if you need to step out and get a drink, do so but discuss it with me first. I've trained myself to handle long periods without fluids, but I imagine that you haven't." She warns him, before waving him forward to the counter.

He places his order, before turning to her and offering to buy her a coffee. She turns him down as politely as she can, her stomach turning at the thought of her old favorite drink.

"Thanks, but I'm good."

"Not a coffee drinker?" He asks as he pays, and Briar gives him a thin smile.

"Something like that." She answers, hoping he doesn't ask anymore questions, before stepping to the side so the next person can order. She's surprised to see that it's Jackson and his student, Edward, but she can feel her mood lifting just from being around him. "Hey!"

"Hey, Ry." The nickname is a surprise, but a welcome one, and she desperately hopes that no one notices the flush she can feel in her cheeks. He orders quickly, before stepping closer to her so that Edward can, paying for both of them. "Who's service are you on?"

"Torres. You?"

"Hunt. Maybe we'll get a case together."

"A girl can dream." Briar says with a grin, because she truly does enjoy working with Jackson. A moment later, all of their drinks are being passed out. Briar goes to leave as soon as Jerrod has his, but a tap to the shoulder has her turning around, surprised to see Jackson holding a drink out to her.

"It's a blueberry lemon smoothie, and I had her add vanilla to it." He tells her, looking proud of himself for remembering her favorite flavors. She can't help but blush again, quickly taking a sip of the drink to distract herself. Her eyes widen instantly, surprised by how much she loves it. She's never added vanilla to a smoothie before, and she typically sticks to strawberry banana, but this is amazing.

"That's my new favorite." She tells him, meaning it. "Thank you, Jackson. I didn't realize how much I needed this."

Jackson opens his mouth, but whatever he was planning on saying is lost when Jerrod starts fake coughing.

"Oh, sorry. Swallowed wrong." He says, clearly lying, but Briar doesn't call him on it. Instead she thanks Jackson again, before moving to quickly finish the tour so they can get started on her rounds.

✦

"Good morning, Dr. Hunt and Dr. Torres. This is Jerrod Connell, he's the med student shadowing me for today." Briar greets them, getting nods from both doctors. Owen shakes Jerrod's hand, but Callie stares straight ahead. Briar side eyes her for a second but a quick head shake from Owen warns her to leave her alone.

A moment later, Jackson and Edward follow her into the ambulance bay, and she shares a delighted smile with Jackson, both thrilled to be working together.

"Morning, Dr. Hunt." Jackson greets. "Hi again, Briar. And Doctor–"

"Don't." Hunt warns, looking amused as he warns him away from Callie just as the ambulance pulls in.

"Brady Sullivan, 32. Stable vital signs, complaints of neck and back pains. Possible crush injuries. He was trampled by a horse."

"A horse?" Briar and Owen ask, just as what looks to be a groom jumps down from the ambulance.

"A–A team of horses, like–like three horses if that helps you at all." He stutters, following them as they push the gurney. "Please, please don't let him die on our wedding day."

"We'll do everything we can." Briar tells him, as they quickly transport him to a trauma room, the poor guy yelling in pain the whole way there.

"Push 5 of morphine." Owen orders, using his stethoscope to listen to his heart.

"We were going downtown this morning to sign our domestic partnership papers–" The groom explains, still in the room with them, while Jackson checks his legs and Briar checks his ribs for any breakage since Callie and Owen have his upper half. "And I had a horse-drawn carriage to pick us up from City Hall and–and bagpipers, since Brady is Scottish and he really likes being Scottish." He explains frantically, and Briar can already see where this went wrong.

"I feel tenderness at C-6." Callie calls out. "Get an X-ray here stat."

"Brady, I am so sorry. The bagpipers started up, and they spooked the horses, and–and they ran."

"Over me. They all ran over me, Kyle." Brady says through gritted teeth, and Briar shares a quick look with Callie. "Bagpipes?"

"Exam shows weakness in lower extremities." Jackson calls out. "I've got diminished reflexes."

"Move. I can't work." Callie says to Edward, only for him to nearly run into Jackson, who snaps at him. Edward apologizes quickly, while Briar nods for him to go to the other end of the room, where he can watch while out of the way.

"I agreed to the tuxes, but horses?" Brady continues, clearly holding a grudge, not that Briar can really blame the guy.

"It was supposed to be a surprise!"

"It was." Brady grits out.

"Okay, yeah. Looks like L-4 and L-5 are affected. Page Shepherd. Alright, let's get him ready for CT. Sir, I need you out of here right now." She says the last part to Kyle, who instantly protests.

"I want to stay with him. I have a right to stay with him."

"Avery, get him out of here now." Callie orders, only for Jackson to run into Edward instantly, the man having moved back over when no one was paying attention. "Oh, my G–okay, everybody out now. Now! Before I have to take someone out!"

✦

If Briar thought that room was packed, it's nothing compared to them examining the scans, since they get joined by Derek, Meredith, and Meredith's student.

"Can we, uh, go in and see the scans?" Edward asks, getting pat on the shoulder by Jackson, who shakes his head.

"Pretty small room, let's just wait."

"He's got tandem lesions, a fracture translocation at L-4 and L-5, and a unilateral jumped facet at C-5 and 6." Meredith whispers to them, being the only one close enough to see the scans.

"What does that mean?" Edward questions.

"It means that his husband nearly killed him." Jerrod scoffs, shutting up when Briar gives him a look. Now is really not the time.

"It means that one of the joints in his neck was knocked out of place, and he's got a broken back." Jackson properly answers the question, making Edward's eyes widen.

"That one's your husband?" Kira asks Meredith, gesturing into the room. Briar shares an unimpressed look with Jackson as Meredith responds, clearly confused at the subject change.

"What? Yes."

"Can I just say, jackpot? I mean, you get to be at work with that all day, and go home to him at night?"

"It's April 2.0." Briar whispers to Jackson, who hurriedly disguises his laugh as a cough when Meredith looks at them.

"I'm gonna go see where they're at." Meredith says, just as unimpressed with the conversation as the rest of them.

"I'm worried about his neck. I don't think he should be intubated with a cervical injury." Derek is saying while he goes through the scans with Callie and Owen.

"I could do a little traction, snap it back in before we do surgery." Callie says, exciting Briar.

"Hell of a wedding day." Owen sighs, before Edward pipes in from where he's inched into the doorway.

"They say if you want to piss off God, just tell him your plans."

"Dude." Jackson says for probably the tenth time, making Briar laugh as he pulls him from the room. "Out, out, out."

"I'd be signing divorce papers from the hospital bed." Jerrod muses, and Briar shares a helpless look with Jackson.

✦

"Why is my baby gonna be poo covered?" Meredith questions Cristina. Briar raises her eyebrows but doesn't ask any questions, joining them at their lunch table with Lexie, Jackson, and April.

"Okay, what is that about?" Lexie asks, pointing to where Alex is sitting with his student . . . and Edward, who manages to be everywhere all the time. Alex is teaching her . . . and flirting heavily.

"Come on. You blame him? She's hot." Jackson says, smirking as he takes a sip of his water.

"Don't be a pig." April chastises.

"I mean, if I met her anywhere else, I'd probably try to get her in bed. But I'm not into power imbalances." Briar says with a grimace.

"Is she your type?" Jackson asks, looking interested now, and Briar hums as she considers the question.

"I don't think I have a physical type, but curly hair does it for me with women. It's more about personality though."

"He's being gross. Not to mention unprofessional." April continues to complain about Alex, and Briar sighs when she gets turned to.

"I'm not his mommy, April, I'm not in control of him. I agree that it's gross and unprofessional, but what do you want me to do about it?"

"The thong is unprofessional." Meredith says, since they all have a very clear view of the lacy black thong she's wearing. Briar laughs when that makes Jackson curse, clearly jealous of Alex.

"Unprofessional." April gasps out, even more indignant now. "Wh–what is wrong with them? I was never that dumb when I was in med school."

Before they can continue, a hand taps Briar on the shoulder and she turns to find Jerrod giving her a small smile.

"Yeah?" She asks, biting back a sigh. All she wants is one lunch to herself. Why is that too much to ask for?

"Hey, uh, Doctor Karev is showing us a few things and I'm not sure I'm really getting it. Any chance that you could show me?"

Oh hell no, Briar thinks, looking at the perfected shy smile and the flirty glint in his eyes. Absolutely not.

"You need more help?" Briar asks him, leaning in closer and lowering her voice, although she's aware that everyone at the table can still hear her. "More one on one practice?"

Jerrod nods quickly, a smirk dancing on his lips, and Briar gives him a smile before leaning away from him.

"Hey, Alex!" She shouts over to his table, grabbing the entire cafeteria's attention. She jabs her finger in Jerrod's direction as soon as he looks over, clearly annoyed. "Connell over here needs some more one on one practice, if you want to help him when you're done with Laurel."

Jerrod stutters at that, clearly shocked both that she would turn him down, and that she would do it publicly. Briar ignores him, instead smirking at her best friend, who looks completely done with her, before his eyes dart over her shoulder and his gaze hardens.

"Yeah, send him my way." He calls back, and Briar raises an eyebrow at her student.

"You heard him. Go learn something." 

✦

"Oh, you're kidding. They were evaluating us?" Jackson protests as they're getting ready to leave in the locker room. Briar shakes her head, already knowing that her evaluation is going to be awful–there's nothing more fragile than a man's ego, after all.

"Don't worry, no one will read them. They'll just get filed away in a room next to the morgue." Meredith says, just as Chief Webber enters the room.

"Dr. Yang . . . lacked patience and basic compassion. Dr. Kepner . . . unwilling to delegate. Dr. Avery . . . placed his own learning opportunities before my own. Dr. Grey . . . seemed to have a lot going on personally today. Dr. Sinclair . . . pushed a learning opportunity onto a different resident." He reads directly from the evaluations, and Briar rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. Called it.

"The only one of you who actually seemed to teach today was Dr. Karev. The rest of you failed . . . big time." He says, disappointment heavy in his tone, before leaving the room.

Alex laughs, and Briar rolls her eyes again even as she reaches out and gives him a high five.

"I hate that guy." Jackson grumbles. "Alright, anyone want pizza?"

"I have something to do before going home, but if you're going to the place down the street, can you get me one of their brownies?" She asks him, getting a nod in response.

"Yeah. Hawaiian?"

"You know me so well." She laughs, before reaching for her wallet to get him some money, only to be waved off. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I got it this time. I'll see you at home."

"Thanks." She says, before moving around everyone, biting back her smile as she goes. She rarely goes to the gift shop, and she quickly gets overwhelmed with all the bright colors and different options, but it's worth it when she sees the look on Brady and Kyle's faces when she enters their hospital room. She's weighed down with balloons and stuffed animals, and Kyle jumps up to help her with them.

"Thanks! Um, I know it's not a lot but . . . congratulations on your marriage. I know today hasn't been what you must've imagined, so I hope this can help brighten this place up a little bit. I won't stay, I know you need your rest, but . . . I'm glad that you're going to be okay." She says, awkwardly reaching out and arranging the bouquet of roses and sunflowers she'd bought them, before going to leave.

She's pulled into a hug by Kyle before she can go, and she smiles as she hugs him back.

"Sorry." He sniffles as he pulls back from her. "Sorry, today has just been–thank you. This means a lot. Um, you're Doctor Sinclair, right?"

"Briar." She says, smiling at him. "Don't apologize, you're okay. Um, the bag has a change of clothes in it, I guessed at your size but if I'm off the gift shop will exchange it for you."

"Thank you." He breathes out, before frowning. "Wait, can I pay you back for that? I don't have anything on me but if you give me a way to contact you I can–"

"Don't worry about it." Briar says, shaking her head. "I want to. The cafeteria is open all night, make sure to grab yourself something. Have them put it under my tab, and just consider it a wedding gift. Have a good night guys. Try and get some sleep."

✦

The locker room is blessedly empty when she arrives. Briar spends a ridiculous amount of time staring at her phone before finally calling Stella, and her anxiety rises the longer the phone isn't answered, until it finally is on the last ring.

"Hello?" Stella asks, sounding cautious in a way that is unfamiliar to Briar. It makes her heart clench and takes her breath away. "Briar? You there?"

"Yeah, sorry." She forces out, clearing her throat a second later. "Um, I saw that I had a few missed calls from you. Sorry, work has been busy."

"I get it. It's the same for us." Stella answers, and Briar forces a smile even though she can't see it. It fades a second later. "Um, we . . . we wanted to tell you something, actually. But Kelly kept putting it off and suddenly it had been months since he'd responded to you and–fuck. I'm not trying to make excuses. I just . . ."

Briar bites her lip, not sure what to say. She feels awkward in a way she never has with Stella.

"He proposed to me." Stella blurts out, and Briar freezes.

That's good news. She's said ever since she'd encouraged them to get together that they belong together . . . they're KellyandStella. It's a good thing, but . . . why had they been worried to tell her? Did they think she was still holding on to the past? Did they think she was still in love with him? Did they pity her?

Suddenly, she feels the urge to throw up.

"That's great news." She says finally, feeling numb. "Really. I'm so happy for you. Who asked? When did it happen? Where did it happen? I want all the details."

"Okay, so, he asked. It was actually during a fire, which is insane, I know. It was a really bad one, and I'm not sure why he decided that was the moment, but it was perfect in its own way. And, uh, it was a few months ago. Anyway, we're not sure when it'll happen, but you're invited, obviously. We all really miss you."

"I miss you too." Briar says, and she means it. She misses them, but she also doesn't. Do they fit together anymore? Does she want to fit in with them anymore?

"Well, if you ever want to come to Chicago, you're always welcome here. But, enough about me, how have you been? Oh! How's the merger going? Do you still hate all the newcomers? I need all of the drama."

Oh, well, actually, a grieving husband bought a gun at his local fucking Walmart and shot a bunch of people in the hospital. He pistol whipped me. He shot Alex and Derek, and he tried to shoot Lexie, and he killed two of the people that I didn't like but that Jackson–I have, like, a major crush on him–and April were best friends with. Now they live with me. They made a documentary on it, actually, if you ever get bored and want to watch that.

Briar can't breathe.

Well, actually, that's not true: she can hear herself breathing, the exhale's coming out raggedy. She just doesn't feel like she can breathe, which isn't the same thing as not breathing, but does the distinction matter when she feels like she can't breathe!

"I gotta go." She chokes out, and hears Stella make a concerned noise.

"Briar?"

"They're paging me." She lies, standing up on shaking legs. "I, uh, it was nice talking to you. Send me the details for the wedding when you decide, congratulations! Bye!"

She hangs up, turns off her phone, and walks out of the hospital.

✦

okay I'm genuinely so excited for the next chapter, and im going to do my very best to not make you guys wait for it. im really trying to utilize these days off when I can, so hopefully I'll be seeing you all soon!!

fun fact: jerrod was created by loading sims 4 and hitting randomize. over and over. the name, the looks, all of it: sims. i had so much fun doing that

next chapter is the beginning of the mark and Callie pregnancy arc, and I can't explain enough how excited I am for that. I have IDEAS.

double update bc it'd been so long between updates <3 love you guys!