chapter thirty-two ━ sinkhole
( season eight, episode one )

❝Hey, remember me? Yeah, I'm the
one who's in charge of your
scheduling and making sure that
you have good residents!❞

ELLIE STOOD IN the cafeteria of the residents' breakfast, a clipboard in her hand. She looked around at the crowd of doctors before standing up on a stool. "Good morning," she began. The room still buzzed and she rolled her eyes. "Hey, remember me? Yeah, I'm the one who's in charge of your scheduling and making sure that you have good residents."

At those words, everybody fell silent and Ellie smirked to herself. "I thought that would work..." she muttered under her breath before clearing her throat and looking out at the sea of doctors.

"Good morning and welcome to your final year of residency," she said with a bright smile. "This breakfast is the one time when all of the fifth years and attendings are in the same room together, so, residents, use your time wisely, find a mentor, ask questions, and get advice on your futures. Attendings—" Ellie paused and glanced at her brother who had been talking to Callie and he pressed his lips together under her glare. "Offer any advice to us, anything that you think would be helpful for us to know. Thank you. And enjoy the breakfast. Please. They made too much."

She stepped off the stool and soon, the room was buzzing once more between mentors and their mentees. Derek found her and he smiled. "Hey, nice speech," he said and she looked up at him. "I especially liked the part where you threatened everybody."

She chuckled lightly. "Well, if I know anything, it's residents. And I knew they weren't going to listen to me right away, so it seemed fitting."

"You're gonna do great, Ellie," he said. "You already have the threatening side down, and everybody likes you. Hunt made the right choice."

She tilted her head. "You're not just saying that because I'm your sister?"

"Well, yes," he replied with a shrug and she laughed softly. "But you're also one of the best residents."

"Well, thank you," she said with a smile. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take my own advice and find my mentors." As she turned around, Callie was behind her and Ellie jumped ever so slightly. "Never mind... she found me."

Derek chuckled to himself as he walked away, leaving the two alone.

"So, you're the only resident interested in doing ortho," Callie began and Ellie nodded. "And because of that, I can put all of my knowledge into you. And you remember everything, which is a bonus. I know you're also doing peds, but any chance that I can, I'm putting you on my service."

"Uh..." Ellie nodded. "Okay."

"Alright," Callie said, nodding to herself. "Nice speech."

Ellie blinked in confusion as the ortho surgeon walked away and her spot was soon occupied by the other half of the couple. "Sloan! Good!" Arizona smiled. "The other half of what could become the next great peds duo. Now, I already told Alex this, but there's a difference between the two of you. You're trustworthy, you're chief resident now. And you didn't bust a fellow surgeon."

Ellie frowned. "Well, that seems a bit unfair," she replied. "Alex did the right thing. Even if he didn't do it for the right reasons..."

"Well, I know that," Arizona agreed with a nod. "But not everyone sees it like that. If you want this peds fellowship, you need to prove to others that you deserve this spot. Do something remarkable. Aside from giving thousands of dollars so African children can get life-changing surgeries. I have good faith in you, Ellie. Make me proud."

Arizona walked away before Ellie could say anything. "I—okay." She fluttered her lips when she saw Richard come through the door. "Oh, chief." He looked at her. "Is there anything you'd like to say before we start our final year of residency?"

He nodded. "You all know what you're doing," he said. "Just don't kill anyone."

Ellie smiled to herself in amusement. "That'll work."

She caught Jackson's eye and he laughed in amusement as Mark talked to him making her chuckle before going to find herself some coffee.

☀️

ELLIE STOOD OUTSIDE of the ambulance bay just as Owen and Callie came out of the hospital with supplies in hand.

"We're going to the scene of an onsite amputation, woman's trapped under her car," the trauma surgeon informed the residents. "You guys are gonna get swamped with bodies. Sloan, you're in charge until I get back. Kepner, you're the only trauma surgeon, so help Sloan whenever you can."

April nodded. "Yes, sir. Have fun!"

Ellie side-eyed her. "At an amputation?" she asked slowly. She looked back at the two surgeons. "Good luck!"

"Yeah, that's what I meant," April said and Ellie chuckled at her. "Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing," Ellie contradicted, shaking her head. "I am simply making fun of you as a friend would." April stuck out her tongue jokingly and the blonde nudged her in the shoulder. "You know I love you, Apes."

"Of course I do."

Jackson glanced between them. "You two are an odd pair."

"I think we're fairly normal compared to..." Ellie gestured toward the pair of friends from Seattle Grace. "...them."

He followed her gaze and it landed on Meredith and Cristina, the former having just arrived. "You know what?" Cristina was saying. "There's bound to be piles of head trauma. Derek's gonna have to talk to you."

"I got fired."

At her words, everybody stopped and looked at her in surprise. Ellie shot a quick glance at Alex who looked guilty.

Lexie furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?"

"The chief fired me," Meredith reiterated, looking directly at Alex who shifted uncomfortably as Cristina turned her gaze to him.

"You son of a bitch," she said, starting to hit him repeatedly and Ellie walked over to them, shoving her clipboard in Jackson's chest. "I mean, are you happy now? 'Cause this is all because of you. You and your big, fat, stupid mouth!"

"Shut up!" Ellie snapped, squeezing herself between the two and looking at them. "Just shut the hell up, Cristina. You don't get it, do you? This all happened because of Meredith. She tampered with the trial, either knowing or not knowing what the consequences could be. She switched the drugs. She did it. Alex may have said something for the wrong reasons..." She looked pointedly at him. "But he still said something and because he did, they know what she did.

"I mean, what if something had gone wrong with the trial after Meredith did what she did? Did anyone ever think about that? To be quite frank with you Meredith... you're lucky you only got fired. You're lucky nobody sued you." She shook her head at them. "I don't have the patience to deal with your anger today, Cristina, so I'm sending Alex out to the site. You people need to be separated. And the next person who lets all of... this get in the way of doing their jobs, they'll be getting cases from me that they will not like. Are we clear?"

After hearing a chorus of 'yes', she nodded to herself and walked over to the ambulance that was arriving. Alex, getting on the next ambulance to go out to the site, gave her a thankful smile which she returned before turning her attention to the patient.

"Forty-two-year-old female," the paramedic informed her as she took the chart. "Lost consciousness en route. Unable to get airway secondary to tracheal injury. Last BP is 89/60."

Ellie nodded just as Cristina turned back to Meredith. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

"Mer, I'm sorry, but you can't be out here, you'll just be in the way," Ellie told her, starting to walk into the ER when Jackson caught her wrist and she turned her head to look at him.

"Why are you defending him?" he asked.

She scoffed. "Why am I the only one defending him?" she retorted, ripping her wrist from his grasp. "What she did was illegal. Illegal, Jackson. Just because her mother and the chief had a thing does not mean she should get special treatment. I believed what I said. She's lucky she's not getting sued..."

Shaking her head, she walked into the ER and Bailey walked up to her. "Sloan, I hope you got me with a decent resident. I'm not babysitting any first-day first years today."

Ellie sighed. "Well, it was Meredith, but..." She looked around and her eyes landed on the brunette sister. "Lexie!" She glanced over at her. "You're with Bailey today."

Lexie nodded and followed the attending just as a nurse called out to her. "Dr. Sloan, three more coming in."

She fluttered her lips and nodded, walking out of the ER. "What a way to start fifth year..."

☀️

MARK WAS STANDING at the foot of a patient's bed, watching Jackson's stitching like a hawk when he shook his head and looked around the ER. "Ellie!" he called out to his sister and she looked over at him from the desk. He waved her over and she rolled her eyes, walking over to him.

"What?" she asked with a sigh, balancing her can of Diet Coke on her clipboard. "In case you couldn't tell, we're busy. And all the residents hate each other."

Derek furrowed his brows and looked at her. "Why?"

"Your wife," she told him, fluttering her lips. "Apparently nobody thinks she did something wrong by tampering with your trial." She looked pointedly at Jackson. "That it wasn't wrong that she did something. What do you want, Mark?"

"Look at Avery's stitching," he said and she raised her eyebrows, following his extended finger. "I taught you to sew when you were ten years old. How does this look to you?"

She cleared her throat and shrugged sheepishly. "I mean... it could be better—"

"Our grandmother could sew up a stuffed turkey better than this," Mark interrupted, looking at the resident. "And she's dead."

Jackson looked back at him. "Well, it was... pretty, uh, jagged in there, so—"

"You ever heard of burying your stitches?" Mark asked.

Jackson nodded. "Alright, so I will fix it."

Ellie raised her hand. "Is there anything else you need because there's a sinkhole here in Seattle and I'm running the ER."

"That's all," Mark told her. "Thank you, Ellie."

She let out a puff of air. "You are a ridiculous human being sometimes..." she muttered before turning back. "Oh, wait, Jackson, there's a patient in bed three. He's all yours."

He glanced up briefly, holding the stitching in his hands. "Uh, kinda busy here."

"Jackson, it's an all-hands-on-deck situation," she said with a small groan. "And frankly, I'm not in the mood to fight. Just—Just go to bed three."

She turned on her heel and walked back to the front desk, moving to stand next to April just as Alex came in with the paramedics and a gurney.

"Nicky Hoffman, sustained crush injuries and was very unstable in the field," he said and Ellie looked at him. "Robbins is holding a trauma room. We called Shepherd from the field. Which one are they in?"

"Two," Ellie replied and he gave a thumbs-up.

Meredith soon walked over to the blonde, not saying a single word to Alex. "Ellie, I need you to reassign these cases," she said, dropping the pile of files on the desk.

Ellie glanced at her and sighed. "Alright. April, Cristina, both of you take half of her cases."

"No," Cristina said with a frown and Ellie clenched her jaw. April glanced between them before taking her stack and leaving.

Ellie shot her a grateful look. "Cristina—"

"I'm with Altman," Cristina said, shaking her head. "Besides, Meredith should keep her cases."

Ellie ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "What part of 'I'm not dealing with your anger today' did you not understand?" she asked, leaning forward on the desk. "Meredith messed up. She messed up and now she has to deal with the consequences. And if that means that she was fired, then she was fired. Now take half of her goddamn cases."

"No."

"W—" Cristina walked away and the blonde huffed.

"It's alright, Ellie," Meredith said and she looked at her. "I can wait until you sign them."

Ellie scoffed. "No. You know what's not alright?" she asked. "You. You don't seem to have an ounce of regret about what you did. I mean, do you even realize what you did? You nearly destroyed Derek's career — the career he's built since he was in residency. The one that I've watched him build. And with one thoughtless action, it's nearly been tarnished.

"You almost destroyed your own career," she continued, crossing her arms. "You nearly destroyed the entire hospital's integrity when it comes to clinical trials. And, yet... you stand there and you don't seem to be that bothered. So, please, enlighten me. Tell me why you did it."

"It was the chief's wife," Meredith said. "The drug I switched... it was for Adele Webber."

Ellie blinked at her and nodded. "Okay... and?"

"What do you mean 'and'?" Meredith asked, furrowing her brows. "That's it. That's why I did it."

Ellie scoffed lightly under her breath. "Well, I'm sorry, Meredith, but that makes it seem worse. You know her, and you've known her since you were a child." She shook her head. "If Webber was so concerned about Henry Burton being on the diabetes trial while married to Teddy Altman, then why the hell was Adele allowed on Derek's? It clouds your judgment! Both yours and his! But tell me this at least, why did you expect Alex to cover for you? He saw it. Why did you think he was going to lie for you?"

"Well, he's my friend, and—"

"'He's my friend'," Ellie repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. "You aren't special, Meredith. You shouldn't expect someone to protect you from a mess that you created. Alex may have told Hunt for selfish reasons, but he still did it. And because he did, he avoided a bigger mess for you and Derek. I'll say it again... you're lucky you weren't sued."

Ellie turned back to leave the ER. "Why are you on his side?" Meredith asked, stopping the blonde in her tracks. "Why are you the only one on his side?"

"You mean why am I not on your side?" Ellie retorted, turning around to face her. "Because I've known Derek a lot longer than I've known you. And if there's ever a disagreement between you and him, I will always choose my brother. I'll take your cases for right now. I'll find somebody to take them."

"Ellie—"

"I'm done talking about this, Meredith," Ellie interrupted. "This is your mess, your problem. Stop dragging other people down with you."

☀️

THE RESIDENTS FOUND themselves following Bailey into the ER, watching her go from room to room before finally walking into Callie's exam room. "What have you got?"

"A field amputation with complicated extrications," she replied. "Still assessing her multiple crush injuries, but I felt a broken pelvis for sure, and her BPs in the toilet."

Bailey nodded with a smile. "Yeah, this is a Gunther." Ellie gasped at her words and the attending looked at her. "You know what a Gunther is, Sloan?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Uh..." April looked around at the other. "What's a Gunther?"

Ellie handed trauma gowns to the others while Bailey explained the patient to them. "She was pinned under her car, her leg was amputated in a pit of dirt, her abdomen is pulp, and her pelvis is probably crushed. You'll work together to assess her injuries and repair them."

"Oh, in the OR?" April asked.

"No, at the Jiffy Lube," Bailey replied sarcastically. "Yes, in the OR! Now, Dr. Torres will supervise your work. If you're killing her, she will step in. Otherwise, you're on your own. Don't screw this up like you screw everything else you've touched lately. Ladies and gentlemen, step away from the patient." She looked at the group of residents. "Go."

☀️

CRISTINA AND ALEX had been arguing for the entirety of the residents' time examining the patient and it continued as they went into the OR.

Arizona was sitting in the gallery when Mark walked in, handing her a coffee. "Hey, is the ER still a zoo?" she asked.

"No, they got everyone who survived out of the hole a while ago," he replied, sitting down beside him. "It's quieted down." He looked down at the OR. "She got the crossword down there?"

"Sudoku," Arizona corrected him. "You ever try it?"

Mark shook his head. "Bores the crap out of me. Ellie is really good at it, though."

"Who do you think the Gunther is?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Is this your first one?" she asked him and he looked at her. "Hmm. The name Gunther comes from the doctor, not the patient," she explained. "One of the residents always kind of emerges as a leader when they do this. And the first time, it was this little quiet guy named Gunther, and everyone thought he was gonna flame out of the program, but it turns out he was the alpha dog."

"Great," Mark mumbled. "Well, we know it won't be Avery. He doesn't have any balls."

"Karev's got the balls," Arizona said with a shrug. "But everybody except Ellie hates him. So I don't really see them following his lead."

"Bound to be Yang or Ellie," Mark told her.

Arizona shook her head. "Ellie hasn't said anything ever since they got in there."

"No, but she will," he replied with a smirk. "It's the 'Sloan Silence' as I like to call it."

She looked at him. "The 'Sloan Silence'?" she repeated.

Mark nodded. "Ever since she was little, whenever she was mad, she would stay silent. It would give people the impression that she wasn't upset. Until all of that anger explodes suddenly and she starts yelling at everyone. It's actually kind of scary to see."

"Well, Kepner's kind of a dark horse these days," she contradicted with a shrug making Mark look back at her.

"You feel good about that position?" he asked. "Huh? You willing to back that up?"

"What, like fifty bucks?" Mark nodded and Arizona agreed. "Bring it. Pick one, though. Ellie or Yang?"

Mark glanced back down at the OR where the residents were still fighting with each other. Well, all except for one.

"Ellie."

Bailey walked into the OR and looked around, moving over to Callie who glanced up from her sudoku. "How are they doing?" she asked.

"Still trying to agree where to start," the ortho surgeon replied.

"I just had to put an islet cell device in a mouse," Bailey said, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Do—"

Suddenly, the monitors started going off and Cristina looked at Alex. "Happy now?" she snapped. "She's bottoming out!"

"Oh, all of you just shut up and stop fighting!"

The OR fell silent at the voice and Mark smirked to himself, a hint of pride in his eyes. "There it is..."

"I am sick and tired of all of this fighting," Ellie said, throwing her hands up in the air. "It's the first day of our fifth year and we already can't stand each other. I get it, you all hate Alex. Well, get over it. Because he is not the first one to say something while drunk. And I can pretty much guarantee that you all would have done something very similar to him. But, personally, I would like to get out of this OR sooner rather than later. So, can we all shut up and think of a plan so we can go home? Preferably calmly and not screaming at each other."

Before anyone could do anything, Cristina took a scalpel and started cutting. Jackson and Ellie both looked at her. "Yang!"

"What are you doing?" April added.

"What does it look like? Opening her chest," Cristina replied and Ellie rolled her eyes. "Rib spreader." With a sigh, the blonde handed her the tool. "Got some bleeding in the upper right quadrant. Give me more suction and lap pads. Do you see any bile or pancreatic secretions?"

Ellie shook her head. "None here."

"Negative," Jackson added.

"Cardiac rupture," Cristina said. "Like I said."

"There's a lot of bleeding down here," Ellie told her from her spot beside April.

"Jackson, uh, help them hold pressure there," Cristina said. "Lap pads down in there, please."

Ellie looked up when she heard the monitors go off once more. "V-fib!"

"I need the paddles!" Cristina called out. "Charge to twenty. Clear."

Jackson shook his head. "No change."

Cristina sighed. "Okay, I need one of intracardiac epi. Someone take over massaging the heart."

"I got it," Alex said, switching places with her. As Cristina went to inject the patient's heart, she accidentally hit Alex instead. "Ow!"

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, my God."

"Ah!"

"Oh, my God, oh, my God!" Cristina said, starting to panic. "Alex? Look at me. Alex, look at me. Alex?" Suddenly, he collapsed from the injection and she followed him to the floor. "Oh, my God, Alex! Alex!"

"Well, don't just stand there, help him!" Ellie snapped, moving over to the spot Cristina had abandoned. "Okay, Jackson, April, we can do this. Jackson, you and me, right here. April, you stay over there and keep doing what you're doing."

"Epi," Jackson called, taking the spot next to Ellie while April nodded at her instructions. "Give me another epi."

Ellie looked up and nodded. "Her heart's back. Alright, we're gonna deal with the pericardium."

"Forget about the pelvis for now," Jackson told April. "She's bleeding through the packing in the right upper quadrant."

"Should I repack it?" April asked.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, but try a prince maneuver. Graft, please?"

"Get me and Dr. Torres gowned and gloved," Bailey said, both of them walking into the OR from the scrub room. "And I need something to stand on."

"Dr. Bailey, it's under control, okay?" Jackson replied, not looking up from his work. "We got a lot of hands in here, and two more surgeons are only gonna confuse matters. I'm gonna ask you to step back, please."

Ellie smiled to herself with pride. "Can I get another pledged 3-0 prolene?" she asked before glancing up. "Dr. Yang, how's Alex?"

"V-fib!" That was all she got as a response. "Clear!" There was a grunt from Alex following the shock and Cristina took off his oxygen mask. "Alex? Alex, can you hear me?"

"You crazy bitch!" he said. "You almost killed me!"

Ellie let out a breath and nodded. "Well, he's okay."

He was rolled out of the OR, slapping away Cristina's hand as she followed him and Ellie chuckled lightly. Meanwhile, the former Mercy West residents continued to work on their patient.

"Alright, get this artery," Jackson said to April. "See right here?" She nodded. "Good. Now do a tie on the hemostat."

"Avery..." Ellie furrowed her brows when she heard Mark's voice and looked up to see he had joined the group of attendings in the OR. "Good job, son."

Jackson followed her gaze. "Thank you."

"I'm right here if you need anything."

He nodded, glancing back down at the surgery. "Thank you, sir, but I already have a Sloan helping me."

Ellie smirked at her brother's reaction to his words. "Now you know how I feel whenever somebody talks about you to me."

"My guy won," Mark said with a smile, disregarding his sister's comment. "We're gonna be great together."

Ellie looked at Jackson. "Congratulations, Jackie," she told him and he looked up. "I think you and my brother are in a relationship."

"Shut up."

"Oh, but it's so much fun to see you turn red," she replied teasingly. "Why would I stop?"

April shook her head at the two of them. "Oh, just get together already..." she muttered to herself and Ellie looked at her.

"What was that, Apes?"

"Nothing."

☀️

THE THREE FRIENDS left the OR after the surgery and Jackson turned to April. "Alright, then get back to me with her post-op crit."

"And make sure you're aggressive with the dressings on her leg," Ellie added. "We should still be a little worried about an infection."

April nodded. "Got it."

Ellie took the chart and began filling it out as Mark looked at Cristina who had just walked up. "You know why she just did what they said, right?" he asked her. "Because they're the Gunther."

"Jackson's the Gunther," Ellie corrected. "I'm just the chief resident annoyed by all of the others' bickering."

Cristina rolled her eyes at Mark. "How did it go?" she asked Ellie and Jackson.

"We'll have to go back for definitive repairs," Jackson told her. "But we stopped the major hemorrhaging, got the leg all cleaned out."

Cristina nodded. "Good."

"Nice work today, Avery," Teddy said, walking up to the pair. "You too, Sloan."

"Thank you," Jackson replied. "I just, uh, hope she pulls through."

Ellie glanced at Mark and chuckled at his smile. "I'm telling you," she said, walking up to Jackson who jumped slightly. "I think Mark is in love. With you. My brother is in love with you. I hope the two of you are very happy together."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, be quiet."

"I can't," she said with a smile. "It's too fun." They walked into the patient's room and saw April standing next to the bed. "Hey." She looked up at them. "She okay?"

April sighed. "Uh, no change," she answered. "I just... I don't want to mess this up like I messed up everything else."

"What?" Ellie furrowed her brows and glanced at Jackson who looked to be as confused as she was. "You were great in the OR."

"I wasn't the Gunther," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not chief resident. I was the super-duper assistant."

"Hey." April looked at her and Ellie took her hands in her own. "Listen to me. You will be an extraordinary surgeon, April. I know it and Jackson knows it." The redhead glanced at him and he nodded. "You will be great. You just need to find your confidence, that's all. I know it's there, it's just buried deep down." Ellie nodded and looked around. "Okay, now come with me."

They shared a look of confusion as they followed her out of the room. "Where are we going?"

"We're clearing the air," Ellie replied. "Because I'm getting pretty sick and tired of everyone being angry with each other."

She grabbed Cristina by the wrist and ignored her protests, dragging them all into Alex's room where he was currently recovering. He looked around.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We're talking," Ellie said, closing the door and crossing her arms. "We're all gonna talk and we're gonna make up, and we can be done with this. Cristina, I know you're angry, but you need to listen to him. So, Alex, talk."

He sighed. "You're supposed to have my back," he said to Cristina. "I made a mistake, alright? I—I—I was drunk, I was pissed off—"

"Oh, for the love of G—"

"No, I screwed up!" he exclaimed. "You screw up all the time. The only person who has been there for me through everything is Ellie. The rest of you have to forgive me."

"You ratted her out!" Cristina argued. "You destroyed her career!"

Ellie scoffed and pushed herself off the wall. "No, she destroyed her career. You have no one to blame but Meredith Grey. She decided to tamper with the trial."

"To save Adele Webber!"

"How do we even know that it would have even worked?" Ellie asked, tilting her head. "We have no way of knowing if it would have worked. But blaming everything on Alex, that's not right. Yes, his reasons for telling Hunt were selfish, but he still told him. And because he did, Derek found out. He was going to find out one way or another, end of story."

"Fine," Cristina said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Forgiven. But right now, I need Alex to come with me."

"Why?" he asked.

"Just come!"

Ellie watched them leave the room. "So everything's fine just like that?" she asked. "So, you're saying that we didn't have to have such a big thing today? Oh, great..."

☀️

ELLIE SAT OUTSIDE of the peds wing with her head on Jackson's shoulder, waiting for any kind of news. She lifted her head slightly, seeing Janet, the social worker, still inside talking with Derek and Meredith.

"They're not gonna find a better family than two doctors," Callie said, also watching them with Mark and Arizona. "It's—It's gonna be fine."

"Anybody want to get check on Sofia?" Arizona asked making Callie look at her.

"Why?"

Mark let out a breath. "'Cause when somebody's talking about taking somebody's baby away, you want to see your baby," he replied.

"Oh, you guys, she's fine."

Arizona looked at them before leaving the peds wing and Mark uncrossed his arms. "I'm right behind you." Callie watched them go before following them.

April glanced at Jackson and Ellie. "Ma—Maybe we should leave, too," she said and Ellie looked at her. "I mean, I'm sure they don't want us just sitting here staring at them."

"I don't know." Jackson shrugged. "They're trying to keep a family together. That's... not easy. You know, it can't hurt to stick around, make sure they're okay."

"I'm not leaving," Ellie said in a small voice. "One of the people I love most in the world is in there trying not to lose his daughter. I'm not leaving."

"Then we'll stay," Jackson told her, rubbing her back and she nodded. "We'll stay."

April rolled her eyes. "Just get together already..." She smiled innocently when Ellie and Jackson looked at her.

Alex joined them and they watched as Janet left with Zola. Derek walked out of the room without a single word to Meredith. Ellie quickly detached herself from Jackson and ran after Derek, finding him in the attendings lounge. She closed the door behind her and he looked up at her, hearing the door click.

Her face fell, seeing tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling him into her arms. "I'm so sorry."

☀️

━ author's note:

this marks the beginning of season eight

and we all know what happens at the end of season eight...

but on a brighter side, jackson and ellie (finally!) get together in this season :)