─── INTO YOU
CHAPTER TWO...!

❝ i can barley breathe ❞

          "AND George?" Lilia Love had her phone pressed against her ear, having the person on the other line be her best friend back in Hawaii, Odette Davis.  "Oh, you'd love him. He's super sweet. Like─ We've been talking everyday, ever since we met. I wish you could meet him"

"I guess things in Seattle aren't to shabby after all?" Odette's tone was playful, while Lilia could hear her a smirk form on her lips.

"Yeah, I guess so." Lilia let out a chuckle, looking down at her feet, and then looking back up to the sign that read Seattle Grace Hospital. "Hey, my shift starts soon, but I'll catch up with you later tonight, okay?"

"You got it." Odette responded "Bye!"

"Bye!"

Shutting off her phone, Lilia gave out a short sigh, letting her signature smile form on her lips, before stepping foot into the hospital she had been working at for the last couple of days.

After grinning at a few nurses she encountered while walking, she finally made it to the attending's lounge, where she changed into her navy blue scrubs.

Her smile grew bigger when the material was placed on her body. It was the feeling you have when you're about to save someone's life. The hope. The excitement. The thrill. It was why Lilia became a surgeon in the first place.

She skipped out of the lounge, her smile as bright as ever, to head over to the nurses station, grabbing the updated charts for Izzie Stevens.

Feeling a vibration, Lilia took her pager out of her pocket to see it was from Richard Webber. Today was the day. Big day. Surgery day. Cutting into Izzie Steven's brain day.

She met with many surgeons outside of the patient's room, including Derek Shepherd, Chief, and Miranda Bailey.

"Dr. Shepherd! Good to see you!" Lilia enthused, giving the neurosurgeon a smile, earning a nod from him. It was his first day back.

Her eyes landed on the patient's friends, Meredith, Cristina, and Alex, making Lilia quickly walk up to them.

"Okay, hi. You three─ I understand why you are here, and I know you'd like to help, but Dr. Bailey is the resident on her case today." Lilia spoke, motioning over to Miranda, who was talking to Dr. Webber "She will be prepping her for surgery and if you are going into that hospital room, you do so as her friends. Izzie needs her people, her family. She needs you to tell her everything's going to be fine, to hold her hand. She needs you. Three more doctors just isn't going to help. Okay?"

After earning a nod from the three friends, they all followed the rest of the doctors into Izzie Steven's room.

"Hey, Izzie!" Lilia had a smile plastered on her lips, walking to the side of the patient's bed, beginning to check her vitals "How are you feeling?"

"Great!" She responded, before quickly turning to her three friends on the other side of the bed, handing them crochet sticks and yarn "Let's get started."

"Well, as you know, you have stage four, metastatic melanoma." Dr. Bailey began "We have a lot of surgeries and a lot of procedures lined up for you over the next few weeks."

"We've seen evidence of mets on your liver. So, one of those surgeries, Dr. Love and I will resect them." Chief informed "We also lined up Dr. Parker from O.B to harvest as many healthy eggs as she can, before you undergo any radiation."

"Right. Babies." Izzie let out a chuckle, eyeing Alex.

"We're just leaving the option open for you, if you want it" Lilia assured, giving the patient a smile.

"But our priority today is to address the temporal love mets on your brain." Derek finally spoke "I'm surprised we didn't catch it sooner. This kind of thing can cause headaches, seizures, and intense hallucinations. But hopefully the lesion has clear margins so Dr. Love and I can remove it all."

"Over the next four weeks, you're slated for three major surgeries, seven outpatient procedures, and that's just for the mets we've already found." Lilia explained, letting out a long sigh "In all likelihood, we will find more, meaning─ we may have to cut into you more."

Noticing the frown on the patient's face, Lilia squeezed Izzie's shoulder

"Hey, no sad faces! Look, I know it's a lot to take in right now, but i'll be administering your radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. The treatment will be─ aggressive. It will be harsh. But, you have amazing friends here, i'm here, you're going to get through it. I'll be assisting in all your procedures, including the one today. I'll see you in the O.R."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          "WELL, good news" Lilia announced, reviewing the scans with Derek "It looks like Izzie's tumor hasn't grown since her last scan."

The neurosurgeon was about to pitch in his relief, when he heard someone come into the room.

"Those Steven's scans?"

Lilia turned to the man, scanning his face, paying attention to every detail. Just by looking at him, she could tell he was a show dog that loved the show.

"Yeah." Derek responded, snapping Lilia out of her daze, and her attention back to the scans. "Uh, Dr. Love, this is Dr. Sloan."

Mark's eyes traveled to the girl. He walked in between her and Derek's seats, his head facing her "So you're Dr. Sunshine?"

"Is everybody calling me that now?" Lilia questioned, letting out a laugh, Mark joining her.

"Yeah. You just get here in Seattle?"

Derek watched the scenario unfold, and that's when he realized. The excessive questions, looking at her in the eye, the stupid smirk subtly placed on his lips.

"Dr. Love? Can Dr. Sloan have a minute. Alone."

"Oh, sure." Lilia gave them both a smile, as she walked out of the room.

As soon as she wouldn't be able to here them, Derek turned to his best friend "No, Mark."

"C'mon!"

"Do not sleep with her."

"Why do you care, all of a sudden?"

"Look at her! She's not like other people you get with. She's not just another person with a vagina and legs! She's─ happy. You're going to ruin her."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          WALKING up to her newly best friend, Lilia Love held out a jello cup for George, a big smile formed on her lips.

"What's this?" He laughed, taking the green snack from the woman's hands.

"Jello!" She enthused, giving him a spoon "You never bring a lunch, so then I feel bad, and give you my lunch, but then I have no lunch. So─ Jello!"

George chuckled, shaking his head. He had had the jello opened by the time she was done explaining, slightly picking at it "You nervous?"

"About?"

"Izzie. Her surgery today. Are you nervous?" George's tone had completely changed.

Lilia sighed, looking at him in the eye "Of course I am."

His eyes widened, before Lilia continued "But─ I'm always nervous. With every patient, I'm always nervous. I don't think there will be a day where i'm not nervous. But─ that doesn't change anything. I'm still a great surgeon. I'm still one of the top oncologists in the country. And every single part of me believes that Izzie is going to be just fine."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          "HEY." Lilia Love walked into Izzie's room, giving a smile to the patient, before taking a look at her chart.

"Hey─" Izzie paused her knitting, looking at the oncologist "Oh, i-is it surgery time already?"

"No, No. I just wanted to see how you were feeling before we go in." Lilia reassured, walking over to Izzie's bedside.

"Oh, good. Stand right there." Izzie spoke, placing her hand-knit scarf on Lilia's body, as a way to visually measure it "I never know how long to make these."

"I love the color, Izzie!" Lilia enthused, eyeing the green scarf "Is it for your boyfriend? What was his name─ Alex?"

Izzie let out an extended chuckle, shaking her head "No."

"Have you seen him at all today?" Lilia questioned, clicking her pen, and placing it in her lab coat pocket.

"He's working. They are all working." Izzie spoke, continuing her knitting, Lilia frowning at her following response "I told them to go work. They are doctors, their patients shouldn't suffer because I have things growing on my organs."

"Okay, alright─" Lilia sighed, taking her phone out of her pocket, pulling up a picture "You see that?"

Izzie took a look at the picture, to see a young man, his hands holding a thumbs up, and his smile so wide, it revealed all 32 of his teeth.

"This is an old patient of mine. One I had when I first started my fellowship. He had metastatic melanoma, just like you." Lilia sighed, smiling at the sight of his photo "You know where he is now? Getting his master's in political science. He survived, Izzie. And you want to know how?"

"Is this going to begin with you telling me of how good of a doctor you are? Because, believe me, I'm aware." Izzie let out a laugh, earning a playful eye roll from the oncologist.

"He had his family with him. His friends, his parents, his siblings. Everyone. They never gave up on him." Lilia gave the patient's shoulder a gentle squeeze "Izzie. Your friends─ they haven't given up on you yet. It's you that gave up on them. You told them to go. You pushed them. Don't give up on them, because─ even if their the most amazing friends you could ever ask for, if you push too hard, they'll end up giving in."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

"SO, you from Seattle?" Lilia asked Derek, as the two were scrubbing in for Izzie's surgery. The neurosurgeon had remained silent, continuing to rub the soap on his forearm, earning a sigh from the woman "Okay, not a talker. Noted."

Lilia's tone was playful, as she tried to lighten up the mood. Derek, however, was lost in his own thoughts.

Izzie's friend, Meredith came in. Lilia had learned her and Derek were together. It was a perk of befriending George, getting juicy information about her colleagues.

"Not a good time." Lilia mouthed to the resident, motioning with her head to show Derek scrubbing.

"I know, it's just uh─" Meredith stammered, holding out something in her hands "He should wear this. It's his ferry boat scrub cap. He loves ferry boats."

Lilia's lips formed a smile, taking the scrub cap out of the young woman's hands. Meredith left the room, as Lilia turned to Derek, handing him his cap.

The neurosurgeon looked at it with the corner of his eye, sighing. He turned off the water, harshly waving his hands dry, causing Lilia to wince as water came her way.

"I can't do this." Was all Derek Shepherd said, his voice low, before he swiftly walked out of the scrub room.

"Wh─ Dr. Shepherd! You can't leave!" Lilia could barely finish her statement, as the door slammed shut.

Odette is going to scream when Lilia tells her about this.

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          LILIA was about to call the whole surgery off, when Derek ran back into the scrub room, and quickly began re-scrubbing.

He washed, and washed, before finally shutting the sink off, looking at the oncologist in the eye.

"Let's go save Izzie Steven's life"

Lilia's lips instantly grew to a smile, grabbing her surgical mask, heading into the OR with him "That's the most you've said to me since I got here!"

They walked up to the table the patient was laying in, both of the surgeons smiling.

"See you soon, Dr. Stevens." Derek's voice was soft, but hopeful.

Izzie looked at the oncologist, then back at the neurosurgeon, a smile formed on her lips "Hope so."

"Know so." Lilia corrected the patient, squeezing her hand tight.

Izzie sighed, looking up at the ceiling, her hand still holding Lilia's "Dr. Love, if something goes wrong─"

"It won't"

Sighing once again, Izzie turned her head towards the oncologist "The scarf─ I made it for you"

Her eyes widening at the words that came out of the patient's mouth, Lilia Love attempted to contain any emotion from escaping her, as she squeezed her hand harder "Thank you, Izzie."

The oncologist had finally got her glance to travel from the patient, to the OR staff. Seeing them enchanted with the scene that unfolded, Lilia cleared her throat, gently letting go of Izzie's hands "Well, uh─ let's get started then."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          AT the neurosurgeon's side the whole way, Dr. Love and Dr. Shepherd had been in the OR for quite a bit of time.

"Okay, clamp?" The nurse gave Derek the instrument, as he attempted to continued. However, doubt took over him. "Uh, okay. I'm ready to buzz the superficial temporal artery. Tenting sutures?"

"There's no rush." Lilia reminded, her voice soft "Take your time. I'm right here."

Derek let out a shaky breath "I-I don't know if this is going to hold."

"Dr. Shepherd, we can't just─"

"With all this friable scar tissue? It's going to─" Derek stopped himself, letting out a sigh, continuing in a panicked voice "This is a bad idea."

Lilia looked at the neurosurgeon with hopeful eyes. She wasn't always the best at comforting people, as she never really knew what to say, but in this case, she did.

"Dr. Shepherd. You and I both know we have operated on way more severe conditions. We both have had successful outcomes with double the amount of friable tissue. We've both done the impossible. Don't humble yourself, Dr. Shepherd. You're a good surgeon. You can do this."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          OPENING the doors that revealed the OR hallway, Lilia Love met the faces of Izzie Steven's friends and colleagues.

Their eyes filled with worry at the sight of the sad, shaken up, oncologist, who had water filled up in her eyes, daring to fall.

Lilia hadn't been at Seattle Grace for long, but it was needless to say she was always happy. Nobody had ever seen her shed a tear, sigh in frustration, or had even seen her without a smile.

So to see this, the usually chirpy oncologist being so shaken up, it left panic in the patient's friends' bodies.

"Dr. Love?" The chief, who had also been waiting, had called out her name, worry also filling him.

"She's um─" The oncologist started, letting out a shaky sigh, continuing with a statement that left all the people in shock "She's fine. She's, uh─ alive. We were able to resect all of the tumor, and she'll be in the PACU for an hour."

The first reaction Lilia could notice was Alex's. She noticed as soon as he figured out she had not been crying out of sorrow, but out of joy, his eyes lit up.

She didn't know him well, but she knew he was generally more of a hard-played person. So, to see him light up, it brought joy.

He wasn't hesitant to pull her into a tight hug, squeezing the oncologist hard, as he chocked out words that finally let her tears roll.

"Thank you."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          "ANOTHER round, please?" Lilia asked the bartender, Joe, as she was situated on his bar stool, earning a nod from him.

She looked down at her phone, seeing her best friend, Odette, hadn't answered her messages yet. Sighing, she placed her on the counter, and downed another shot.

"Nice scarf." Joe complimented the hand-knit scarf, given my Izzie Stevens, around the oncologist's neck "The green is a nice touch."

Lilia chuckled, the bartender joining in. It wasn't long after that, she heard a voice behind her.

"Is this seat taken?"

At first, she figured it was George, since that was the first thing he ever said to her. However, once she processed it, she knew for a fact it wasn't George.

She analyzed his voice in the span of a second. It was low, and it was deep. It was the voice of a confident man. The voice of a show dog.

She turned around to see the sight of Mark Sloan, plastics guy from earlier. Taking a seat, he ordered a drink, and faced towards the woman.

Lilia had a smile on her face, but not one of her usual kind. It was shy. Which, if you asked anyone who knows Lilia, was quite odd.

Lilia was always considered far from shy. She loved talking. It was her specialty. So, her having a shy smile definitely was a new sight to see.

"Dr. Love." Mark greeted, with a nod of his head "Nice seeing you here."

"Dr. Sloan." Lilia copied his actions, taking a sip of her drink to hide her amused smile "Nice seeing you here, too."

"You rocked Steven's surgery." He complimented, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Thank you, but honestly I don't need any of the credit. Shepherd was a warrior in there." Lilia laughed, Mark joining her.

The plastic surgeon sighed, a smirk still present on his lips, as he looked down at his drink, and back to the oncologist's face "So, what's your story?"

"My─ My story?" Lilia chuckled, a grin going from ear to ear as she continued "I don't have a story. I had two loving, and supportive parents growing up. I-I don't have any siblings─ no significant other. I─I had a pet fish when I was eight! But─ other than that, I'm just an oncologist sitting in a bar, grateful that her surgery went well."

Mark's smile had grown as he watched the oncologist go on and on, before raising his glass up "Well, cheers to that."

Lilia copied his expression, her smile also growing "Cheers to that"

She heard her phone buzz, making the oncologist set her drink down, and check to see who it was.

It was Odette.

Excitement filled Lilia's body, knowing she was finally able to tell her best friend about her day.

"Uh─ I'm sorry!" Lilia spoke quickly, grabbing her bag, and hoping off the stool "I─I have to go. I'll see you later? At work?"

"Yeah." Mark's voice was as soft as she has ever heard it "See you later."

Lilia gave him a smile, before quickly walking out the door. The plastic surgeon sighed, turning back to face the counter.

Something about that small interaction made Mark have a feeling rushing through his veins. A feeling he was yet to recognize.

It was weird. The plastic surgeon wasn't one for serious feelings towards people, in fact it was the exact opposite.

His mindset was usually of a 'wam bam, thank you ma'am' nature. It was common for him to not have any serious feelings towards a woman.

However, there was something about Lilia Love, that just made her run through his mind for the rest of the night.

˗ˏˋ INTO YOUˎˊ˗

AUTHOR'S NOTE. |

Hoping to push a couple more chapters out this week! I know I already suck on updating so my goal is to try and improve that!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍.
𝟥𝟤𝟣𝟣.