─── INTO YOU
CHAPTER ONE...!

❝ i'm so into you ❞

LILIA Love let out a shaky sigh, staring outside the front of Seattle Grace Hospital.

It was the same feeling she had on her first day of internship. Scared. Excited. Nervous. A knot in her stomach. A pounding sensation in her head. Breathing in a thrilled emotion, exhaling a quick state of anxiety. That shiny feeling. That bright feeling. That treasured feeling. That golden feeling.

Letting out one last breath, Lilia Love had finally gotten herself to walk through the doors of what would determine the rest of her medical career.

She walked up to the main lobby's counter, to meet the eyes of a nurse.

"Excuse me─" Lilia lightly tapped on the counter with her nail "Can you show me where the chief's office is?"

The nurse only responded with a nod, before she led the oncologist to the man in charge.

Finally getting to his office, Lilia mouthed a 'Thank You' to the nurse, letting out one last sigh.

She touched up her brunette locks, and allowed her famous, cheery smile to form, then gripping onto the door handle.

This is it.

──Was all Lilia could begin to think about. When she walks into this room, she will be trusted with every staff member in this entire hospital's heart. She is going to be the one that is the reason Isobel Stevens lives─ or if she will die. If she will thrive─ or if she will flatline. This was in the hands of little Dr. Love. This was Isobel's future. This was the hospital's future. This was Lilia's future.

No pressure, right? She attempted dismissed her worries, as she stepped into the Chief's office.

"Dr. Love!" He had spoke with much enthusiasm, putting Lilia at slight ease for a split second "So nice to finally meet you!"

He had gotten up from his seat, heading towards her.

"Dr. Webber, nice to meet you as well!" She spoke with her smile still present, shaking the man's hand.

"Please! Come sit!" He motioned her to a seat in front of his desk, in which Lilia gladly took. The man took his glasses and placed them from his face to the end of his desk, before sitting straight in his chair. "How was your flight?"

"Oh─" Lilia hadn't expected the small talk, but it put her in a calmer state "It was amazing! Except for the fact that there was a baby that just could not stop screaming─ but other than that? Amazing."

"Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about any screaming babies if you choose to just stay here, and become our new head of oncology." His tone was playful, as he let out a chuckle. Lilia joined him, however her snicker was more of a nervous nature "Alright, let's not get off topic. We need to start talking about Isobel Stevens."

"Right, Right." She cleared her throat, as the conversation shifted to a more professional level "I'm going to be honest with you, Dr. Webber─ when I you sent me those scans, my jaw hit the floor."

"Uh, Yes. Well, Uh-" The chief stammered slightly, grabbing an envelope that was placed at the end of his desk "I'm afraid those scans were from a little while ago. The tumor─ It's gotten more extreme."

Lilia furrowed her eyebrows, as she took the envelope from Dr. Webber's hands, only to open it up and see the scans of one of the biggest tumors she had ever seen.

"Oh, Dr. Webber─" Lilia was lost for words. She eyed the tumor. Every last inch of it. Constantly switching from scan to scan, running her fingers through her hair, and slowly letting it drop down.

"Dr. Love─" Richard could tell the young woman in distress "I've seen your files. You've done outstanding work in Hawaii. That's why we flew you here. We trust you, Dr. Love. You have all of our trust. You just need to trust yourself. This hospital needs you to trust yourself. Isobel Stevens─ She needs you to trust yourself."

Lilia let out a sigh, before slowly shutting her eyes to process everything. "When can I meet the patient?"

A small smile grew on the man's lips "This afternoon. Go down to the cafeteria, and grab some lunch. I'll page you once we're ready."

He spoke, as he handed Lilia a pair of folded, dark blue scrubs, along with her pager.

She took the items with a smile, before getting up and heading to the door. Before reaching the doorway, she turned to face the chief again "Can you call me Lilia?"

The man furrowed his eyebrows "I'm sorry?"

"It's just-" She stammered, fiddling with her pager "I'll be more calm if you just call me Lilia. Dr. Love just seems so professional, and I think calling me Lilia will put me more at ease. Please?"

Richard gave an understanding smile to the nervous attending "You got it, Lilia."

A grateful grin appeared on her face, before she left the room.

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOU ˎˊ˗

"HAVE any of you guys met the new oncology attending, yet?" Callie asked, as she sat down at the lunch table with her fellow colleagues.

"New attending?" Owen questioned.

"Yeah, apparently chief called her in for Stevens." Callie responded, looking around the cafeteria "Oh! There she is!"

They all looked over to see Lilia Love, the world renowned surgical oncologist, chomping down on her sandwich, while reading a book.

"Awh, Arizona look at her. She's reading a book while eating lunch. That's like─ nerdy girl out of a teen romance movie stuff, right there." Callie felt slight pity for the girl, before a lightbulb went off in her head, causing her to rapidly tap Arizona's arm, grabbing her attention "We should go say hi!"

Arizona was about to agree, but was cut off at the sight of the new attending being paged, causing her rush out of her seat and leave the cafeteria. The two woman pouted, disappointed at the fact they couldn't greet her.

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOUˎˊ˗

LILIA was eating lunch, when she got a page by Dr. Webber, stating it was time for her to meet Isobel. She quickly jotted out of her seat, completely forgetting to throw her trash away, and headed towards the patient's room.

Before heading inside, she stopped, far enough to where nobody in Isobel's room could see her. She quickly readjusted her hair, and patted down any wrinkles she could sight on her scrubs.

She let her famous smile form on her face, before taking a deep breath, and walked to the patient's room.

Stepping foot in where Isobel Stevens had been staying, she met the eyes of Chief Webber, the patient, and three doctors who she assumed were acquainted Isobel, judging by how close they were to her.

"And here she is!" The chief announced, motioning towards the oncologist "Dr. Love─ this is Isobel Stevens."

Her smile grew bigger, as she walked to the side of the patient's bed, extending out her hand "Nice to meet you, Isobel."

The patient returned the smile, gladly taking the hand that had been offered. Lilia had looked up at Isobel's friends, who had stern looks on their faces, but she only assumed they were being protected, so she understood.

The oncologist then walked back to the end of the bed, before clearing her throat.

"Alright, Isobel─" Lilia cut herself off, placing a finger on her chin to signal she was pondering "Hm...Isobel? Do you have a nickname? You look like someone who would have a nickname. Like─ Sobel? Or...Izzie? Iz-Izzie! Is your nickname Izzie? You look like an Izzie to me"

The doctor's perky commentary earned a laugh from the patient, along with a nod.

"Yes! I knew it!" The oncologist enthused, with a huge grin, before turning to everyone else in the room. She noticed their unamused, and embarrassed faces, as they were dead silent, causing her to clear her throat out of embarrassment "Tough crowd."

"Uh─" The chief noticed the slight tension in the room "These are some of Dr. Steven's friends. Alex, Meredith, and Cristina."

"Nice to meet you all" Lilia gave them a smile, but it wasn't as big as her usual, before turning back to Isobel "Well, assuming Dr. Webber has already introduced who I am, and our treatment doesn't start until tomorrow, I'll just─ get going. I'll make sure to check on you in a few hours. And if you─ or any of your friends have any questions for me, I'm only one page away"

Her smile grew bigger, as she closed the patient chart, and skipped out of the room, Dr. Webber then following her.

"I don't like her" Alex stated, his arms crossed, as soon as the oncologist was too far to hear them "Too perky."

Izzie nudged him "Be nice."

"I'm with Alex" Cristina joined in "Shes treating you like you're some kind of Peds patient."

"Not everyone's dark and twisty like you guys" Izzie simply stated, making Alex and Cristina counter-argue with the blonde.

"I like her" Meredith spoke, making all commotion fall silent.

"What?" Cristina and Alex scoffed.

"I like her" Meredith repeated "Webber said she's one of the best in the country. I mean─ she came from Hawaii, and she's done the impossible. If she's going to be saving Izzie's life, she has my respect"

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOU ˎˊ˗

FILLING out paperwork at the nurses station, Lilia Love could sense someone coming towards her. She turned to see the chief, with a look she hadn't recognized.

"Dr. Webber!" She spoke with a smile, clicking her pen "What can I do for you?"

"Dr. Lo─Lilia!" He corrected himself, as twirling his hands together "Uh─ I have a question to ask you."

Her smile faded slightly, due to confusion, but some still remained on Lilia's face.

"Derek Shepherd...He's uh─ The surgeon that's supposedly assisting you in the OR, when you plan on getting Steven's tumor out."

"Supposedly?" Lilia repeated, in a questioning tone.

"Well, yes. You see─ He's sorta in the woods right now."

"In the woods?" Lilia repeated again, not fully processing anything that was being told.

"It's a long story─" He told the oncologist "Come to my office. I'll explain."

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOU ˎˊ˗

CHIEF had explained Derek's situation. He was apparently grieving after a patient's spouse had called him some hurtful names. Richard had noticed the bright energy Lilia brought wherever she went, so he sent her to his trailer to hopefully talk some sense into him.

She pulled up to where his trailer was located, and got out of her car, only to be met by hundreds of cans on the floor. She readjusted her bag, before knocking on the door three times.

When the neurosurgeon opened the door, complete bewilder washed over him.

"Hi!" She spoke so enthusiastically, that you'd think she was faking it. "I know this is a little strange. I mean─ a random girl knocking on your door?"

She let out a laugh, but Derek's face remained the same.

"I'm Dr. Lilia Love─ head of oncology, down in Hawaii." She introduced herself "I'm in Seattle for a patient, and Chief Webber sent me here."

Finally understanding why she'd be here, he let out an unamused sigh "I don't know you well enough to talk about work."

He was about to close the door on her, but she pushed it the other way, in attempt to make it stay open "Then don't talk. Just listen."

He just looked at her, mentally rolling his eyes, as the surgeon scrammed through her bag, taking out an envelope.

"Isobel Stevens. Name ring a bell?" Lilia asked rhetorically, as she took the scans out of the envelope, and showed it to him "She has metastatic melanoma that's spread to her brain."

At the sight of the scans, the neurosurgeon let out a shaky sigh, before mumbling under his breath "Damn it, Izzie."

Lilia scanned his expression. She saw how this was deeply a factor on if he would come back to work or not, before slowly taking the scans out of his hands, and placing them back into the envelope.

"There are only 20 people in the country that can fix this. And you and I─" She spoke, but taking complete caution with the words falling out of her mouth, knowing this was nowhere near easy for him "Are one of those 20."

Derek had only remained silent, but his face made it clear that he was thinking about what she said.

"Look, maybe the validation from other's isn't enough to get you back on your feet. Maybe you don't need their respect" Lilia continued "But the question is─
will you be able to respect yourself if you choose to just give up on a gift like that? Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror, knowing Isobel Stevens did not get the treatment she deserved?"

Lilia had been speaking intimidating words, but her tone was full of compassion. She understood how hard it was for him. She understood more than anyone.

Lilia looked him in the eye once more, before carefully placing the envelope of the scans next to his door. She began slowly walking away, making the neurosurgeon stand there to ponder about what she said.

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOU ˎˊ˗

          "TOUGH day?" Joe questions the oncologist sitting near his counter, while he slid another shot her way.

Lilia brought her head, that was rested on her hand, back up, before giving him a forced smile "Don't worry about me. Everything's fine."

Except, everything was not fine. She came to Seattle Grace, in hopes she'd get the respect she'd expect from being a world-class surgeon. However, she got the exact opposite.

It was as if the Seattle weather had matched everyone's feelings. A gloomy storm, passing through the state, with no sun in sight. It was sad, it was grumpy, it was terrible.

Lilia couldn't help but ask herself, what happened to the Hawaii weather-matched feelings she'd used to see everyone have? The yellow sun placed in the blue sky, as it radiates it's energy to the rest of the world. It was shiny, it was bright, it was golden.

There was no sight of that weather in Seattle.

"Excuse me?"

Her daze was quickly interrupted by the sound of a gentleman's voice. She turned, as her eyes scanned the face of a brown haired male, with eyes of color you couldn't identify in the low-lit lighting of the bar.

"Is this seat taken?" He tapped on the stool next to her, in which she shook her head, and motioned him to take a seat. "I'm George. George O'malley. Dr George O'malley"

Lilia smiled at the man, before returning the gesture "Dr. Lilia Love"

He paused for a second "Do you, by any chance, work at Seattle Grace?"

"I'm just there for a couple of months for a patient" She confirmed. "Then I'm back to my home in Hawaii."

"Oh─" He dragged the ending, emphasizing his realization "So you're the Dr. Sunshine everyone's talking about! Uh- I'm Isobel's friend."

She let out a laugh, before fully processing what he had said "Wait, Dr. Sunshine? Is that what everyone's calling me?"

"No, No! Only Alex...And Cristina...And Mer─" George cut himself off, realizing he wasn't exactly helping. He downed another sip of his drink, before switching the topic "So, you're from Hawaii?"

"That is correct." She grinned, taking another sip of her own drink, before sighing "Do they hate me?"

"Wh─"

"Your friends." She responded before he got his question out "Am I too much? Too─ happy?"

"You know, at first glance, you seem like this wouldn't affect you at all. You seem─ confident. Very confident. I would've never guessed this would worry you so much" George chuckled, taking another sip from his drink "But, for whatever it's worth, Izzie is a huge fan of you."

Lilia's smile grew wider, and her state was put to ease. Maybe her time in Seattle wouldn't be as bad as she thought? Or─ Maybe it would be, and Lilia was just getting her hopes up? She didn't know.

But one thing was for sure─ she had no idea about what was coming her way.

˗ˏˋ INTO YOUˎˊ˗

AUTHOR'S NOTE. |

And the first official chapter is complete! I have so much in store for this book, and I can't wait to start writing it.

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍.
𝟤𝟩𝟧𝟥.