LOVE, LOSS AND LEGACY 8x5

"Ugh," Meredith groans, sitting down with everyone else in the auditorium—Catherine Avery was here.

"I can't believe Altman postponed our surgery for grand rounds," Cristina complained. "It's just a boring lecture."

"Your husband said it was mandatory," Charlotte leaned forward, sitting between April and Jackson, behind Cristina and Meredith.

"Mm," Cristina sits back in her chair.

"One more hour of sleep, that's what it is," Alex balls his lab coat up and rests his head on his shoulder.

"Oh, no. It's not gonna be boring," April says, smiling like a maniac. "This is Jackson's mother, Catherine Avery."

"She's a urologist, right?" Meredith turns around.

"Yeah," April responded for the man. "I met her when I was an intern at Mercy West. She's amazing."

"She's is.. a lunatic," Jackson rolls his eyes, Charlotte chuckling at his choice of words.

"She's not. She's brilliant. She says these things that shock you, but when you think about them later, they change your whole life," April nods, still smiling widely.

"Or they ruin your whole life," Jackson added. "She's toxic. She's a meddler. My mom has no boundaries. Be warned."

April laughs, drinking her coffee.

"Hey, is that why you shipped Lexie out of state?" Alex asks, half asleep.

"What? Oh, you shipped Lexie.." Cristina shakes her head. "Wow. Who hides his girlfriend under a rock while his mom comes into town?"

"Someone who's got a hypercritical surgeon for a mom," Meredith turns to Cristina, agreeing with Jackson's actions. "I get it."

"Is your mom ambidextrous?" Cristina asks. "I bet she is. All the best surgeons are."

"Wait a second," Jackson leans over Charlotte. "How often do you talk to my mom?"

"We're facebook friends," April reveals.

"You're— you and my mother?" Jackson asks in disbelief.

"She's a brilliant surgeon," April insisted. "And woman. She's a trailblazer."

"And she's got a stalker," Charlotte mutters to the two girls in front of her.

The three laugh as April fought back, "Hey, you know what? Just meet her. You'll see." April shrugged at her new friend.

Catherine begins to talk and April leans over to talk to Charlotte, "See?"

Charlotte laughs, "She's only been speaking for, like, twelve seconds, April."

"Are we hanging out tonight?" April asked in a hushed voice, as to not bother the others.

"Uh, no, sorry. I forgot to tell you, Teddy is having this girls thing and Callie and Arizona are dragging me along," She shakes her head. "But definitely tomorrow."

"Okay," April smiles, hiding the disappointment.

Charlotte can't deny the upsetting feeling she has in her stomach as April looks towards the stage and bites her lip so she doesn't get anymore upset.

"Well, not today," Catherine says, Charlotte now listening. "Today we are going to do it. Today I'm going to change a life and maybe make medical history, too. And I can't do it alone. So who wants to step into the future with me?"

"Whoo!" April shouted, people turning their heads toward her.

Jackson and Charlotte snorted.

"Okay. That's— that's all right. That's a start. Let's see if I can get a few more," Catherine turns her head to the hall that leads to backstage. "Ryan, honey, would you come out here, please? Everybody, this is Ryan," The woman puts her hand on the young man's back.

"Hi," Ryan smiles nervously.

"Ryan could you show everybody what we're here to do today?" Catherine asked Ryan.

Ryan unties his robe, leaving him nude on the stage, the doctors in the audience murmur indistinctly.

April gasps, while Charlotte and Alex look in disgust.

"Gross," Charlotte laughed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to invite a few very lucky residents to scrub in on this country's first.. penis transplant."

Charlotte raises her eyebrows, not believing what was happening in the moment.

"Thanks to a case of penile cancer, Ryan underwent a full penectomy eleven months ago. Good margins left him basically cured and cancer free so that's gone," Catherine and Ryan high five. "And today we'll be replacing the other thing Ryan lost. A suitable donors become available here at Seattle Grace Mercy West, and Ryan generously agreed to fly out and make this day a teaching opportunity. Who wants in on it?"

Every single doctor in the room—except for Jackson—raises their hand, praying to get in on this one and a life time surgery.

"Hello! That's more like it," Catherine smiles, excited for this surgery to take place.

Mark stands up, clearing his throat, "Uh, Mark Sloan, head of plastics. Isn't penile reconstruction the standard approach in cases like these? Why a— a transplant?"

"Well, I can answer your question with a question," She pauses. "Do you like your penis?"

Mark coughs as all the surgeons laugh, "Yes. It does the job."

The residents looks at Jackson, not believing what they are hearing.

"If one day, it wasn't there, wouldn't you want it back?" Catherine asked seriously. "Or would you be satisfied with a reconstructed organ that has very little function?"

"Satisfied? No," Mark shook his head. "But that's not the—"

"Oh, my god," Charlotte laughs, shaking her head and lowering it into the seat in front of her. "This is embarrassing to watch."

"It really is," Meredith agreed.

"Neither would Ryan here. Yes, this is new ground. But here's a young man with his whole life ahead of him, with the will to live it as a whole man, with a bravery and selflessness to help advance medical science along the way. So let's give Ryan a hand," The surgeons all start to clap—except for Mark—amazed by Dr. Avery. "Come on!"

She looks at Ryan as the auditorium fills with applause.

"And now let's give Ryan a penis!" She shouts, eliciting more shouts and claps.

❄️

"Come on, you have to admit, your mother is pretty great," Charlotte laughed as she excited the auditorium with Jackson.

Jackson glares.

The pair notices April standing near Catherine with a few other surgeons.

"Nice to see you again, really. Thank you. Thank you," The older doctor smiled.

"Gotta make a big show out of everything," Jackson smiled at his mom.

"There's my baby boy. Come here," She gave her son a kiss, Charlotte talking with April. "Ooh. You look skinny."

"Ah."

"You're not sleeping," Catherine assumed, looking at Jackson.

"Okay, I'm fine, Mom," Jackson insisted.

"Mm-hmm. Which one is she?" The woman asked, getting right to the point. "She's a brunette, right?"

"We're not doing this today, okay?" Jackson stops her questioning before she thinks Charlotte is his girlfriend.

"Uh, maybe the real question is, what kind of name is Lexie?" Catherine asked.

"I never told you her name," Jackson tilts his head.

"Where is she?" Catherine tilts her head as well.

"She's not here. She's out of town."

"I come into town, and you smuggle her across state lines? Are you ashamed of her?"

"You didn't!" Charlotte and April walk away as Mark approached the two Avery's.

"I did," April giggles.

"Sorry again for leaving you out tonight," Charlotte apologized.

"It's fine," April insisted.

"How will I ever make it up to you?" Charlotte put her hand on her forehead, faking sadness.

"Y— you could take me to breakfast," April said nervously.

"Okay," Charlotte sent the girl a tight lipped smile, nodding. "It's a date."

And with that, Charlotte walked away.

them