chapter thirty-one ━ consequences
( season seven, episodes twenty-one & twenty-two )

❝I'm getting another niece? God,
this has been the best year ever.❞

"I'M ALL FOR you finding independence from your brother, but he lives downstairs," Jackson said as he set down one of Ellie's boxes. "Don't you think you should find somewhere else?"

Ellie, Jackson, and April were standing in the blonde's new, empty apartment. April was looking around at the large space while Jackson groaned at the weight of her boxes.

"No," Ellie said, answering Jackson's question as she opened a box. "Because not only is it a great location, but I can get as many Sofia snuggles as I want. And, according to Mark, that also means that I'm available for babysitting on short notice."

April shrugged. "She's not wrong. I mean look at this place. A five-minute walk from the hospital, great amenities."

"Well, you can marvel at the apartment later," Jackson said to her. "But we're gonna be late."

Ellie glanced at the time on the oven and groaned. "Ah, crap. Let's go. Derek mentioned that he wanted to see me before rounds. I really hope it doesn't involve brains..."

The three friends hurriedly walked across the street to the hospital, much to April's delight ("See? It's so convenient!"), and quickly changed into their scrubs. Ellie bid her friends goodbye and made her way down to the peds wing where she saw Derek in one of the patient rooms.

"Hey," she said, sticking her head inside the door. "You wanted to—who's this?" she asked, her attention immediately shifting to the little girl in Derek's arms. "Well, aren't you just the cutest thing in the entire world? Huh? Oh, yes, you are!"

Derek smiled softly. "You and babies," he said in amusement. "Ellie, this is Zola." She took the small child in her arms and sat down, her heart melting when Zola leaned close for a hug. "Meredith and I are going to adopt her."

Ellie looked up at him. "Seriously?" she asked and he nodded, making her smile widen. "I'm getting another niece? God, this has been the best year ever. Welcome to the family, Miss Zola." Zola laid her head on the blonde's shoulder. "I have to leave. Stop being so cute!"

Derek chuckled lightly and took the girl from the resident. "So, I take it you're in full support?"

"Of course!" Ellie exclaimed, playing peek-a-boo with Zola. "She's perfect for you two. And you're both perfect for her. Well, congratulations, Derek." She kissed his cheek and waved goodbye to the baby. "Bye-bye, Zola."

Derek watched as she left the room and closed the door behind her before looking down at Zola. "That's your Aunt Ellie. I think the two of you are gonna get along just fine."

☀️

RICHARD AND ELLIE were walking toward the lobby when the attending looked at the resident next to him. "Are you feeling ready for your interview with Hunt today, Sloan?"

She nodded, fluttering her lips. "I think so," she replied. "It could go to any of us. I guess the most that I can do is try my best."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you'd be a very good fit for the job," he told her and she smiled lightly. "You have all of your colleagues' respect."

"Thank you, sir," she said before her eyes found a man standing in the lobby. "Henry! Hi."

"Dr. Sloan."

Richard looked at Teddy's new... husband. The chief still was not on board with their plan to give Henry insurance through their marriage.

"Henry," he greeted.

He nodded. "Dr. Webber."

Ellie glanced between the two men. It was becoming a bit too awkward for her.

"Is everything alright?" Richard asked the man. "Your diabetes management is going well?"

"Yes," Henry replied with a nod. "And I've been doing some research on diabetes, and I heard you're starting a clinical trial. I—I'd like to see if I could get on it."

Richard tilted his head. "Well, the trial has very specific criteria," he said. "I mean, the subjects have to remain impartial. The fact that you're married to one of my attendings—"

"Look," Henry interrupted, sighing deeply. "I know that you have never been wild about the fact that Teddy married me, but the truth is, I really like her... and not just for her insurance." Ellie smiled lightly. "But she still sees me as a patient, as a—an insurance sponge. I need to get my own insurance, so in order to do that, I need a job. And in order to get a job, it would be helpful if I wasn't going into diabetic shock every five minutes."

Ellie shrugged and looked up at her boss. "It wouldn't hurt to look into it, would it, chief?" she asked and he looked at her. "I—I mean, if he fits the criteria..."

He nodded. "Alright," he agreed and Ellie shared a smile with Henry. "We'll look into it, but no promises. Let's go, Sloan."

Ellie gave Henry an enthusiastic thumbs-up and followed Richard to the lab to begin a new day of the trial. She took hold of Henry's chart and labs when Jackson walked in, clearing his throat.

"Uh, sir?"

Richard looked up. "Oh, Avery," he said. "Uh, that chart that Sloan has — Henry Burton — it needs to be screened. You can help her with that. If he meets the criteria, put him in line for phase one."

"Chief, I—um—I'm sorry." Ellie furrowed her brows and glanced at Jackson. "I need to step away from the trial."

"You what?" the blonde asked and he looked at her.

"I appreciate the opportunity, I do," he said, turning back to face Richard. "And I don't want to inconvenience you — or Ellie, for that matter — going forward—"

Richard shook his head. "I'm not worried about me," he interrupted. "You were a big part of getting this thing where it is. I don't know why you'd want to give it up."

"Well, that's very nice of you to say, sir, even though Ellie was the one who did a majority of it." She tilted her head with a sigh. "B—But I feel like I need to focus on surgery right now."

Richard let out a breath. "Are you sure about this?"

Jackson nodded. "Respectfully, yes. I am. Thank you, sir."

Ellie blinked in confusion as he quickly left the lab. "Uh, I'll—I'll be right back, sir," she said, glancing back at the attending who seemed just as confused as she did. "I'll finish this screening after my interview with Dr. Hunt."

"Uh, yeah," he replied with a nod. "That's fine. Thank you, Sloan."

Ellie let out a breath and left the room. She glanced down the hall. "Jackson!" she called after the resident. "Stop walking away! Jackson!" Once she had caught up to him, she took him by the arm and he sighed. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

She frowned. "I mean that you just quit the chief's trial," she said, crossing her arms. "The chief's trial. Something must have happened for you to just quit."

"I just..." He let out a breath and shrugged. "I want to do more surgeries and it's keeping me from doing that. That's all."

"See, I don't believe you," she said, shaking her head. "Come on, you can tell me anything. I'm your best friend."

"It's nothing," he told her. "Lexie just said something this morning that made me think about my future with the trial. That's it."

"But—"

"Just let it go, Ellie," he said in mild frustration and she pressed her lips together. "And good luck with the rest of the trial."

☀️

ELLIE'S INTERVIEW WITH Owen had gone well, at least she thought it did. Now standing outside of the conference room, she saw Lexie at the nurse's station going over a chart.

"What did you tell Jackson this morning?" she asked.

Lexie looked up. "What?"

"Jackson," Ellie repeated. "Your boyfriend. The one who dropped out of Webber's trial because of something you might have said. So what did you tell him?"

"I—just that the trial will change so many peoples' lives," Lexie replied with a shrug. "It could win awards."

Ellie paused. "Awards..." She nodded. "There it is..."

Lexie furrowed her brows. "Wait, what did I say?"

"You said awards," Ellie told her with a sigh. "It could win awards like the Harper Avery." She clenched her jaw. "Damn it."

Fluttering her lips, she was about to go find Jackson when her pager went off and she walked off in the other direction. She found Richard and he handed her the chart. Once she looked down at it, she smiled, seeing the name at the top of the file.

They walked into the lobby where Henry Burton stood up once he saw them and Richard motioned to the chart that his resident was holding. "Got your CT and bloodwork, and we reviewed your files."

He nodded. "Yes, and...?"

"And, medically, you're a candidate," Richard replied before shrugging. "But, uh, I still have some reservations."

"Oh, Dr. Webber."

Both he and Ellie looked up at the sound of the voice and the former held out his hand. "Andrew Perkins," he said, shaking his hand. "Well, this is a surprise. I hope you're not here on business."

Andrew shook his head. "Uh, actually, I have a lunch date with Dr. Altman."

Ellie and Richard glanced at each other before the former looked at Henry just as Teddy walked up to the group. "Hey." She noticed Henry. "Hey."

"Hey."

Teddy glanced between her date and her husband. "Uh, Andrew, this is my—my friend. Uh, who I told you about."

Ellie pressed her lips together, still wondering why she was there.

"Oh, the VHL guy with, uh, diabetes?" Andrew asked.

Henry nodded. "Among other things, yes." He held out his hand. "H—Henry Burton."

"Uh, sorry," Andrew apologized. "I didn't mean—"

"No, it's fine," Henry said, shaking his head and putting his hands in his pockets. "I am—I'm Teddy's friend, the VHL guy with diabetes."

"But hopefully not for long," Richard said making Henry and Ellie look at him. "Henry's gonna be on my clinical trial."

Ellie smiled and Teddy looked at Henry. "That's—That's great," she told him. "You didn't tell me that."

Henry shrugged. "Well, I don't like to brag, so..."

Andrew cleared his throat, standing to the side of the group. "So, should we get lunch?"

"Yeah." Teddy nodded. "Yeah, sure. Um, congratulations," she said to Henry.

"Thanks." The group of three watched the pair walk away before Henry looked at Richard. "I'm in? But what about your reservations?"

"You're going up against Andrew Perkins," Richard told him and Ellie stifled a chuckle. "Let's just say, uh, I have a thing for the underdog."

Henry tilted his head. "He is a handsome man."

"He's also one of the world's foremost trauma counselors," Ellie said. "Trust me, he's good at his job."

Richard nodded. "If there's an earthquake, a plane crash, any kind of catastrophe — he swoops in to help," he added.

"So, you're saying he's a professional knight in shining armor?" he asked.

"I'm saying you need all the help you can get," Richard replied.

Ellie chuckled lightly and patted Henry on the shoulder before following her attending. "Sir, I didn't know you were so interested in helping with Henry's romance," she said.

He shrugged. "Well, everyone deserves a second chance at the woman they love. If his is Altman, then we'll do our best."

"You surprise me more and more every day, Dr. Webber."

He smiled at her. "That's the goal, Dr. Sloan."

☀️

ELLIE WALKED INTO the resident's lounge at the end of her shift and saw Jackson sitting on a bench in front of the lockers. "So, I figured it out," she said, sitting beside him.

"Figured what out?"

"Why you quit the chief's trial," she replied and he fell silent, making her sigh. "Jackson... you shouldn't let your last name hold you back."

He shook his head. "You don't get it, Ellie. The amount of pressure that I was under as a kid, med school, picking where to do my residency... it was all to uphold our family's legacy."

"But you deserve to carve out your own path," she told him. "It's your life, your career. It's you. Not them. You can be whatever you want to be. I know why you quit the trial, because there's a chance he could get a Harper Avery, but you shouldn't have to lower your standards because of your grandfather. Okay?" He nodded wordlessly and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Be Jackson Avery, the resident. Not Jackson Avery, grandson to Harper Avery. I prefer the first one anyway."

☀️

ELLIE STOOD WITH the other residents when Meredith marched up angrily to Alex. "So they're probably gonna fire me." They all looked up in confusion. "Are you happy?"

"Oh, come on," Alex said. "They're not gonna—"

"I want your crap out of my house by the end of the day," Meredith interrupted, walking away in a huff and Ellie looked at Alex.

"What happened?" she asked.

Cristina seemed to be as confused. "What the hell was that?"

Suddenly, all of their pagers went off and they hurriedly ran to the ER where they found Richard addressing his staff.

"A 757 went down in the sound," he said. "We're looking at about two hundred injured passengers. We're the designated crisis center. Families will be instructed to come here to find their loved ones. We are activating surge protocol. Dr. Hunt is gonna be running the show. It's gonna be chaotic. You need to listen carefully. You need to stay focused. Do not contribute to the panic. Now get to your stations."

The residents, as well as Bailey, followed Owen around the ER. "Dr. Bailey, let's clear any beds that we can. Discharge or transfer."

She nodded. "Okay, uh, Grey."

"Alright, Torres, Little Sloan, you'll be with me," Owen continued, looking down at his clipboard as Meredith and Bailey left the ER. "Kepner, set up the ER for triage. Little Grey, I want you running the family center. Take over in the cafeteria. Yang, blood bank."

"Uh, we might need a candyman," April said from next to Ellie.

Owen nodded. "Dr. Sloan will be our candyman. Let's be liberal with pain meds for our victims and sedatives for patients that we are moving. Uh, Avery, you can help him out. Let's move, people."

Ellie took a pile of charts from Callie and started going around the ER. She handed a file to a patient. "These are your films," she told him. "They're gonna schedule your surgery at Seattle Presbyterian."

"Seattle Pres can't take any more!" Owen called out over the noise. "Start calling County."

Ellie fluttered her lips and went to a supply closet, finding Alex already inside. "Okay..." He looked at her from the shelf. "What did you do to make Meredith pissed? Or... what did you say?"

"I'm not saying," he replied, shaking his head. "You'll hate me, too."

"No, I won't," she said with a sigh. "Come on... just tell me."

"No."

"Alex!"

Alex let out a breath. "Meredith may have tampered with Shepherd's study," he told her and her eyes widened in surprise. "Invalidated all of his results."

"I—I—what?" she stuttered, combing her fingers through her hair. "I did not think that's what you were gonna say..." She fluttered her lips and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen, scribbling a note on it before handing it to him.

"What's this?"

"The address to my apartment," she replied before opening the door. "If Meredith is kicking you out, then I'm inviting you in. Stop by when all of this chaos is over."

☀️

MARK SAT IN the ER with Callie, Arizona, and Owen when he looked up at the trauma surgeon. "Hey, you post chief resident yet?"

"Uh, no," he replied. "Not yet."

"What's the holdup?" Mark asked. "You know it's gonna be Ellie. That girl has been on her own practically since she could walk."

Callie sighed. "The suspense is killing me," she agreed. "It's gonna be Ellie."

"Well, I thought Karev made a great play for it," Arizona countered with a shrug. "A plane full of orphans — that's pretty impressive."

"Which Ellie paid for," Mark reminded her.

Arizona frowned. "Out of the goodness of her heart!"

"Which is what any good chief resident would do," Mark said with a nod.

Callie glanced at Owen. "Ah, he's already decided," she interrupted the bickering. "You two don't have to lobby for your people."

☀️

ELLIE LEANED HER head on her brother's shoulder, all still waiting for any survivors. She looked up briefly when she heard April's voice. "Uh, maybe I should put some IV fluids in the heater to warm them up?"

Owen shook his head. "No."

Ellie sighed and leaned her head back on Mark's shoulder. "But if people have been in the water for that long—"

"April—" Ellie said.

"But if we just—"

"April, nobody's coming," she said and her best friend looked at her. "If it's taking this long... nobody survived."

April sighed and soon, the hospital staff were standing in front of Richard and Andrew Perkins.

"Emergency services have begun identifying bodies," Richard began. "They've given us a list. The airline reps are on their way. We've got social workers here and more coming. It's a long list. Each of you has families to inform."

Andrew cleared his throat, taking over for the chief. "So, uh, please be outside the cafeteria in exactly one hour. You'll call one family at a time. And you'll be assigned a room to take them to and deliver the news. It's gonna be a... a long day."

"That's it," Richard said with finality, ending the meeting.

Ellie sighed to herself and looked down at her list. Each of those names had a family member who wouldn't be coming home. How was she supposed to give them that news?

Jackson nudged her gently on the shoulder and she looked up. He pointed at the trauma surgeon who was walking over to the bulletin board and pinned a paper to it. As he walked away, Owen gave Ellie a small smile and she looked back at the paper.

𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙴𝙵 𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃
𝙴𝙻𝙸𝚉𝙰𝙱𝙴𝚃𝙷 𝚂𝙻𝙾𝙰𝙽, 𝙼.𝙳.

Ellie blinked in surprise at her name when she felt herself stumble slightly at April's embrace. "Congratulations, Ellie!" she exclaimed. "I knew you'd get it! You deserve it."

"You're not upset that you didn't get it?" Ellie asked.

She shook her head. "Of course not. I always knew it was gonna be you. None of us even stood a chance."

Ellie smiled lightly, wrapping her arm around the redhead's shoulder. "Thank you, Apes."

"Congrats, chief resident," Jackson said, nudging her in the ribs. "Well done."

She tilted her head. "You sound like a proud father," she replied and he rolled his eyes. "But, thank you. Come on... let's go get some coffee. It's gonna be a long day..."

☀️

IT HAD BEEN the longest day ever and it still hadn't ended. Ellie walked out of the hospital when she saw Alex sitting on a bench. She sighed and walked over to him, grabbing him by the arm. "Ow! Ellie!"

"Come on," she said, leading him out toward her car. "You've had a crappy day and you're angry, but you're not without friends, Alex. So... where are your things?"

"Inside."

Ellie nodded. "Okay. Then get your stuff and you get the spare room. Look, I don't know why Meredith did what she did or why you told Hunt. But you did."

Alex looked at her. "Hunt was right," he said and she tilted her head. "Picking you for chief resident, I mean. He made the right choice."

"You're not mad?"

"Oh, I'm pissed." Ellie chuckled softly. "But he still made the right choice."

She smiled lightly, starting to push him in the direction of the hospital when she saw Derek start to put a sleeping bag into his car. "Alex, go get your stuff and meet me at my car. Five minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ellie furrowed her brows and walked over to Derek's car. "Why do you have a sleeping bag?" she asked him and he looked over at her. "Are you not staying at your own house?"

"I'm staying at one of my houses," he replied with a shrug.

"Is this about the trial?" she asked and he sighed. "Are you avoiding Meredith?"

"Ellie, it... it doesn't concern you," he said and she frowned, examining his frustrated expression. She sighed and took him by the arm. "What are you doing?"

"It's too cold for you to sleep outside," she said, walking over to her where Alex was already waiting. "You're spending the night at my place with me and Alex. Just... don't mind the boxes."

Derek furrowed his brows. "Alex?"

"Meredith kicked him out," she replied. "He needed somewhere. Apparently you do, too. Come on."

Derek sighed as she let go of his arm. She glanced between the two and smiled at them. "Well, boys... let's go home."