─── INTO YOU
CHAPTER SEVEN...!

❝ so name a game to play  ❞

          IN MED-SCHOOL, you learn to become quite acquainted with stuffing your nose through books. Lilia Love had been sitting in her hotel room's soft mattress, with Odette on the phone, and her eyes scanning through books, journals, computer screens, everything.

Izzie's brain tumor was back. And it was bad. Lilia Love hadn't stopped researching after she found out Izzie's hair was falling out.

"Lilia, you've been at this for hours. Go to sleep. Your brain will work better!" Odette told her best friend through the phone.

"There has to be a way Dr. Shepherd and I can get to the tumor. There has to be." Lilia didn't take her eyes off of her books.

Odette groaned, throwing her arms up hopelessly "Can we at least talk about how that hot doctor called you nice looking yesterday?"

"When are you going to let that go?" Lilia asked her friend, shaking her head.

"Until you admit you felt some type of way about it!"

"I didn't feel some type of way about anything! It was normal. Nor-mal. Tots norms." Lilia tried brushing it off "Why wouldn't it be?"

"The fact that you just said 'tots norms' just tells me everything I need to know." Odette told the woman, causing Lilia to roll her eyes.

"Whatever. I can't talk about that right now." Lilia huffed, shaking her head while her eyes only focused on the books in front of her "There has to be a way to get that little baby out of there."

"I always hated it when you'd give tumors names like that. Seems creepy." Odette shook her head, as Lilia giggled. Odette then sighed, going on about her day "Well, my day was decent. I did paper work, ate lunch, more paper work, scrubbed in on a surgery. They removed someone's hippocampus, which was pretty cool, and-"

"W-Wait, wait- they removed their hippocampus?"

"Well- yeah, that's what I just said they did. You need to listen better, Lilia." Odette teased the woman, beginning to continue "Anyways, then I headed home-"

"Wait! Odette! Oh my God!" Lilia looked through her papers once more, her lips forming into a cheerful smile "You're a genius!"

"Of course I am." Lilia could hear the woman's smirk even from the phone "Wait- why am I a genius?"

"We can remove her hippocampus! One of them. We remove one of her hippo campuses. Now, it's commonly performed on those who experience seizures-" Lilia began writing down her plan, continuing to explain it to Odette "A-And it does have huge risks, b-but this could work! This might actually work!"

Odette was silent for a moment. Back in Hawaii, she laid spread out on her bed, with her eyebrows furrowed "You lost me."

"Odette-" Lilia laughed out, bringing the phone, that was previously laid on the bed, to her face "Y-You may have just saved Izzie Stevens life."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          TO LILIA'S BENEFIT, Dr. Shepherd had also come up with the idea that removing Izzie Steven's hippocampus would be the best option. They had been discussing the procedure with Izzie and her friends, Meredith, Cristina, and Alex.

"Y-You want to remove my hippocampus?" Izzie spoke with wide eyes.

"One of them." Lilia informed.

"It's a common procedure for seizure patients." Derek finished, as the oncologist nodded along with a bright smile on her face.

"Removing her hippocampus could compromise her memory, her speech-" Meredith started "She wouldn't be able to practice medicine anymore."

"I have performed this surgery hundreds of times." Derek spoke.

"On cancer patients?" Alex asked, his voice a bit harsh.

Derek looked at Lilia, before looking back at Alex "No, but it's-"

"If you do the surgery, I could loose my memory?" Izzie knew the answer, but she could only hope her oncologist would say no.

Lilia sighed, her smile fading "It's unlikely, but it- it's possible."

"What happens if I don't do the surgery. I-Is there any other options, Dr. Love?" Izzie's eyes were practically begging the oncologist to have an answer that will promise her life.

"Well, uh-" Lilia cleared her throat "We may be able to shrink it with I.L.2-"

"If the tumor doesn't kill me first." Izzie finished, sighing with hopelessness.

"Which is why we are suggesting the procedure." Derek spoke, trying to persuade the blonde "We could try a Wada test to see if-"

"Woah, woah, wait- A Wada test?" Lilia furrowed her eyebrows, turning towards the neurosurgeon "Those things aren't that accurate-"

"It could tell us if she could function afterwards." Derek told the oncologist, lowering his voice as he didn't want to discuss it casually with the patient and her friends standing in front of them "Dr. Love, trust me on this. Even if this is unnecessary testing- it's better safe than sorry, right?"

Lilia looked all around the room, before her eyes landed on Izzie Stevens. The patient who was awaiting for he oncologist's answer.

Lilia sighed, running her hands through her thin, brown hair "Fine. Let's do it. Better safe than sorry."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          THE WADA test was nothing but heartbreaking to the oncologist. Watching Izzie's confidence fade, along with not even being able to pronounce words only ripped the oncologist's heart into two.

The emotional attachment to patients thing? It had its moments where Lilia hated it.

After the test, Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Love gave Izzie time to think about whether she'd want to continue with the surgery anymore.

The oncologist came into the blonde patient's room, with a small smile. "Have we reached a decision yet?"

Izzie sighed, looking down at her hands, as Lilia came over to her bedside. The patient didn't make eye contact for a while, before she finally spoke, low.

"I need you to tell me what to do."

Lilia furrowed her eyebrows for a second, before her face dropped completely "Izzie, you know I can't-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know you can't. But I need you to," Izzie told the doctor "because Meredith came in here and told me not to have the surgery-"

"Wait, she did what?"

"And then Alex came in here and told me to have the surgery." Izzie sighed, looking back down, her eyes slightly watering "I just don't know what to do."

"Izzie, this isn't their decision." Lilia gave her patient's shoulder a squeeze "This is all up to you. Whether you undergo the surgery is your decision, not theirs. This is all you."

Izzie couldn't help let a tear fall, as her voice cracked while she spoke "Just tell me what to do, please-"

Izzie was cut off when Dr. Shepherd opened the door to see The oncologist and Izzie talking.

After he found out that Meredith was talking Izzie out of the surgery, he could only imagine Lilia was doing the same. Also the fact that he walked in on Izzie asking the oncologist what to do didn't help his conclusion jumping either.

"Wow." The man scoffed, only jumping to the conclusion that Lilia was talking Izzie out of the surgery, instead of the fact that Lilia was doing the exact opposite "So, you just spend all night finding a way to save Izzie Steven's life, and then back out of it at the last minute?

He looked at the oncologist straight in the eye, hard, before storming out the room. Lilia Love made a noise, showing her disbelief, as she quickly followed him.

"Excuse me, Dr. Shepherd." Lilia speed-walked to catch up with the neurosurgeon "W-"

"Whether Izzie wants to undergo the surgery is her decision, and her decision only." Derek spoke harsh, trying to walk faster "You crossed the line. It was unprofessional, it was rude, it-"

"Okay, woah." Lilia finally stopped him from walking by standing in front of him "Look, I know you don't really like me, and I understand I don't have a lot of your respect, but do not use that to question me as a surgeon."

Derek scoffed, crossing his arms, as Lilia Love continued "I was the one your Chief asked to come assist you. I was the one that was assigned to the patient. I am the Chief of Oncology down in Hawaii."

Lilia sighed, continuing to make her points clear, looking into the man's eyes as she spoke "I am the one who could think of using an EEG to confirm her tumor had come back. I did that. I am a good doctor and I don't deserve for you to think that I am anything less than that."

She made her final statement, making sure she was clear "And just so you know, I wasn't in there to make up Izzie's mind, I was in there to tell her whether she undergoes the surgery is her choice."

Lilia hadn't spoke to anyone like that since- ever. It was new, and weird. To see her talk like this to someone, especially at work. However, she had finally had enough with the man doubting everything the woman did.

So, she looked at the neurosurgeon in the eye once again, before walking back into Izzie's room, leaving the neurosurgeon lost for words.

Derek Shepherd only stood there for a moment, with a frown, taking in everything Lilia had said. Mark, who had seen the whole scenario from the nurse's station, came up to him, with a teasing smirk on his face, whistling "Dr. Sunshine finally pops, huh?"

Derek only glared at his best friend, before rolling his eyes and walking away.

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          LILIA WAS STANDING in the hallway, eating her sandwich, while being on the phone with Odette.

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened at that wedding last night?" Odette questioned, eager for more details.

"About what? About Alex and Izzie getting married?" Lilia questioned, oblivious to what Odette was referring to "Oh yeah, it was beautiful. Very stunning. I cried many tears."

"No, dummy. About how that hot-shot doctor you won't stop talking about called you 'Nice looking'" Lilia could hear Odette roll her eyes at Lilia's oblivion.

"I said it first. He was only returning the gesture." Lilia shrugged, tossing the rest of her sandwich in the garbage, as she was finished eating it.

"Okay, you're making it seem like it's no big deal. But, I can hear you blushing." Odette spoke.

Lilia let out a 'psh', as she spoke while laughing "You can not hear me blushing. I am in no way blush-"

"Dr. Love?" The sound of a certain plastic surgeon's voice came up from behind the woman.

"Oh!" Lilia let out a yelp, quickly jumping up, dropping her phone across the floor in the process. "Oh. Oh, oh no."

Mark's eyes widened, picking up the phone that was dropped on the floor, scrunching up his nose once he saw the cracked screen "Oh. That's gonna be a hard fix."

Lilia gave out a nervous chuckle, taking the phone from his hands, and placing it in her pocked "Yeah. I-It's whatever. I needed to buy a new one, anyway."

No she didn't. In fact the phone she dropped was a new one.

"Uh- i'm sorry. Did you need something?" Lilia asked the man, after collecting herself, wondering why he came up to her. Right before he could answer, the woman's pager went off, cutting him off "Oh. I'm so sorry, I have to go. It's Izzie."

"Oh, of course. Yeah, go take it!" Mark tried brushing it off, as if it were nothing.

Lilia gave him a smile, beginning to quickly walk away, while Mark turned around, grumbling to himself. His pitch was high as he quietly mocked what he was going to say to her before her pager beeped.

"Oh, hey, Lilia. Would you like to go out with me some time? Oh great! Next Thursday? Pizza Plaza? Great, see you then."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          AFTER HARD consideration, Izzie had made her decision for the surgery. Lilia and her walked into the conference room, where they then met Derek. Lilia and Derek still were not on the best terms, so instead of giving him a smile like she would usually, Lilia gave him a nod.

"You guys can do it. You guys can cut into my brain again." Izzie spoke, nodding her head.

Derek looked at Lilia, then back st Izzie "Okay."

"You can do it but-" Izzie looked to the floor, then back at the neurosurgeon "I don't want to end up a vegetable."

"Izzie-" Lilia tried intervening.

"No- just listen." Izzie looked at the oncologist, causing Lilia's eyes to soften "I want the surgery, right now. But if something goes wrong, I don't want to end up on a ventilator. So, I'm signing a DNR."

˗ˏˋ INTO YOU  ˎˊ˗

          LILIA AND DEREK were silent in the OR scrub room, the only noise would be the sound of the running water they used while washing their hands.

Not only had Izzie signed a DNR, increasing the tension, but the two were still uneasy with each other. Derek especially knew he messed up due to the fact that Lilia, also known as the most friendly person on earth, was ticked off by him.

Moments of silence passed, until finally, Derek spoke up "Izzie signed a DNR. Izzie signed a DNR and that scares the hell out of me because I know if she dies, I won't blame anyone but myself."

Lilia's head slowly turned, looking at the neurosurgeon, her eyebrows beginning to furrow. He sighed, continuing "I'm scared, Lilia. I'm scared, and I'm taking it all out on you, and I'm sorry."

The man sighed once more, making his final statement as he turned off the water "I am honored to be working with someone like you. Don't doubt my respect for you, because I respect you, Lilia. You're a brilliant surgeon, and there's nobody I'd rather be working this case with."

Lilia's face had softened, until finally a small, but genuine smile appeared on her lips. It look her a minute to actually say something, but she did it, encouraging the neurosurgeon "You're a good doctor, Derek. A great one. And Izzie- s-she's a fighter. Izzie is a fighter, and she's going to live. I know it."

Derek smiled, nodding his head at the oncologist. The woman shook her hands, shaking off the water from the sink, as she continued her encouragement "And just so you know- there's no one I'd rather be working this case with either."

˗ˏˋ  INTO YOU ˎˊ˗

AUTHOR'S NOTE. |

ok so can we like skip the next episode? 5x24 never happened right??

Hope you enjoyed. :) Please be sure to stay safe! And drink water!

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍.
2462.