chapter fifty-two ━ grey and sloan
( season nine, episode five)

❝There's still a Sloan and a
Grey out in the world.❞

"CATHERINE, I PROMISE, we are both sleeping." Ellie was on speaker phone with Catherine Avery while braiding her hair tightly and out of her face. "And it's so sweet that you keep calling to check in, but you don't have to do it daily. Not much happens that my news changes every day."

"Oh, please, this is the most that I've talked to my son in one week since I can remember," Catherine replied and the blonde raised her eyebrows. "I'm not stopping any time soon."

"But you're calling me," she reminded the woman. "And I love our talks, I do, but if you want to your son, why aren't you calling him?"

Catherine shrugged from the other end of the phone. "He keeps hanging up," she said. "I imagine he sees my contact pop up on his phone and hits decline."

"Does he now...?" Ellie asked. "Well... just hang on a minute." She looked out the bedroom door. "Jackson!"

He furrowed his brows and poked his head through the door, his toothbrush in his mouth. "What?"

She smiled at him. "Phone."

He looked at her in confusion before bringing it up to his ear. "Uh—hello?"

"Hi, baby," Ellie could hear from the other end and she chuckled to herself while Jackson sighed, hanging his head. "I've been trying to reach you."

"So you resorted to calling my girlfriend so that I would answer the phone?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Yes."

He shook his head. "Goodbye, Mom."

Jackson quickly handed Ellie her phone and left the room before Ellie could react. "W—Jackson!" she called out, following after him. "Jackson, get back here and talk to your mother! No—don't get in the shower. Jackson!"

"It's okay, Ellie." She paused and looked back down at the phone in her hand. "We can just talk about you. Tell me everything." She sighed and shook her head.

☀️

ELLIE WALKED INTO the OR later that day, seeing that Meredith, Heather, and Ross were already inside. Jo Wilson, her intern, trailed behind her. "Sorry I'm late," she said, putting on her surgical gown and looking at the general surgeon. "I would've been here sooner except that Catherine needed my life story before work."

"It's alright," Meredith replied, not looking up from the surgery. "Did you have a chance to look at the scans?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah. The break is near the femoral artery. Losing a lot of blood?"

Heather Brooks, one of Meredith's interns, looked down at the pool of blood that was covering her, Meredith, and Ross before glancing at the ortho fellow. "Uh—yeah."

"Right."

"Suction!" Meredith called out.

"I'm trying," Ross replied.

Meredith let out an exasperated breath and Ellie stepped forward. "Okay, Wilson, get in there and scoop it up with your hands. Get right in there. Don't worry about being sloppy. We just need a better visual."

Meredith nodded. "Okay. The liver's exsanguinating," she said, looking down at their patient. "Ross, suction. Wilson, grab a clamp for this."

"Right away," Jo replied before dropping down to a whisper. "Which one should I ask for?"

Ellie looked at her, a small, unimpressed look on her face. "Debakey."

"Uh—good news," Richard told the two fellows, walking into the OR. "We tracked down the young woman's parents in Toronto. They're getting on the first flight they can get."

Ellie nodded. "Good. Thank you."

"Suction," Meredith called out and Ellie looked back at her. "And let's hang more blood."

"That one makes fifty-seven," Heather told Ellie and Richard and the blonde sighed to herself.

"Meredith, you've replaced her entire volume of blood four times—"

"I've got this Ellie," she insisted and the ortho surgeon pressed her lips together. "More laps!" Ellie looked back at Richard and he nodded.

"It might be time to pack her and let her rest," he suggested, walking forward. "Looks like you're at a point of diminishing returns, Grey. There's a limit to how much this patient can take." Ellie glanced over at Meredith who was still working. "She was crushed by two tons of twisted metal." The blonde looked up at his words; now she knew why she was trying so hard. "That's a lot of trauma for the body."

Meredith nodded. "I know. I know exactly how much trauma that is for a body," she replied and Ellie sighed. "I'm not doing damage control here, I'm not gonna pack her up and hope for the best."

"I need you to stop," Richard insisted.

"She needs an intact liver!" she argued; Ellie and the interns looked between them as though it was a tennis match. "I am trying to save her life."

"Hands off the patient," Richard told her. "Now." Ellie looked back at Meredith who was maintaining eye contact with the former chief. "Grey."

"Let's pack her up," she said in reluctance.

Once the surgery was over, and the patient was brought up to the ICU, Ellie stood in the doorway of the scrub room. Meredith was giving Jo instructions on their patient's care and Ellie walked further inside.

"Mer, can we talk?"

She looked up and nodded. "Yeah, what's up?"

Jo glanced between the two fellows and walked out of the OR, passing Ellie who let out a breath. She sat down on the empty stool beside her.

"These past few months... with losing Mark, I... I didn't even stop and think about you." Meredith furrowed her brows. "You and I have a lot more in common. More than I think we'd like."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Ellie sighed softly. "That patient..." she said, gently broaching the topic. "She has the same injuries that Lexie had. In the crash. Right? And... I'm going to guess that when you saw her, you saw Lexie instead. Which made you more determined to save her, so that, in a way, you felt like you saved Lexie."

Meredith stayed silent for a moment. "She's the same age," she replied quietly. "She was pinned under a car, in the exact same position as Lexie. There was nothing anyone could have done to save Lexie, I know that. But... seeing her like that... it brought me right back to the woods."

Ellie nodded. "I get it," she said softly. "Whenever there's a cardio case involving either a kid or a need for an ortho surgeon, I give it to Callie or Alex. Because I would only ever think of Mark." She rested her hand on Meredith's. "We both lost our siblings, Mer. In the worst way possible. But we'll make them proud."

Meredith looked over at her. "Both of them," she continued, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "We'll continue doing what we love. We'll continue living our lives. And... hope that in some small way, they're watching from wherever they are. There's still a Sloan and a Grey out in the world. We'll live for them both, right?"

Meredith nodded slowly. "Right," she echoed. Ellie wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "I'm glad you decided to stay in Seattle."

"Me, too."

☀️

THE NEXT MORNING, Ellie was disappointed to see that Jackson wasn't at home when she woke up. She made her way to the hospital and poked her head into several on-call rooms, eventually finding him asleep in one of them, a pile of blankets crumpled at his feet.

She bent down to his ear, her blonde hair falling past her shoulder. "Jackie... Wakie, wakie!"

He groaned and rolled over, covering his head with a pillow. "Ten more minutes," he whined and she smiled.

"Your residents are already on rounds," she told him, sitting on the bed next to his feet. "You can't be late. You're their boss."

"They'll be fine," he argued, his eyes still closed. "I want my sleep."

She leaned against him, resting her arms on his waist. "I'll get you a coffee," she said. "And a muffin? And a kiss?"

At her words, Jackson pulled off the pillow from his face and glanced over at her; his eyes slightly puffy from his lack of sleep from the past night. "Good morning."

She chuckled softly. "Good morning." She bent over and pecked his lips. "Now all that's left is the coffee and muffin."

"Which is where?"

"The coffee cart," she replied, pulling him to a sitting position. "You just need to get out of bed. Come on, lazybones."

Jackson frowned. "I'm not lazy," he countered, following her out of the room with a yawn. "Just tired. One of my interns closed a wound that I left open to heal, so it developed an infection. Then I stayed here all night to keep an eye on it."

"I'm well aware," she said, looking back at him. "Oh, your mother called again this morning. She would like to know if you got the postcard she sent you from Denmark. Apparently, she's there for a conference."

He sighed. "Yes, I got the postcard," he answered, disgruntled. "She doesn't have to call every day, you know. It's annoying."

"I think it's cute," she replied with a thoughtful expression. "She loves you, Jackie. You don't have to ignore her."

"I'm not ignoring her," he said to her. "I just don't want to talk to her every single day of my life. I need some space."

Ellie shrugged. "Well, then tell her that. Instead of having me answer all of the phone calls." She paid for their coffee and handed him his cup. "As promised." She passed over the baked good. "And as promised." She looked down at her watch. "Ooh, I gotta go. Lunch?"

"It's a date."

She chuckled to herself. "Hmm. A date in the hospital cafeteria. Every girl's dream."

She pecked his lips quickly and began making her way toward her patient's room while sipping on her iced latte. When she arrived, she saw all of their interns standing behind a sleeping Meredith Grey who was sitting in a chair.

"What are you doing?" she asked them and they all jumped at her voice. "Just wake her up. Seriously, did everybody sleep here last night?"

"We don't want to wake her up," Jo told her. "She can be a little..."

"Scary," Ross finished.

Ellie rolled her eyes at the interns. "Oh, for the love of—" She moved closer to the chair and bent down. "Meredith!" she said loudly. "Wake up!"

She jumped awake. "Is she alive?" she asked immediately.

Ellie chuckled at her before nodding. "Yes," she replied in amusement. "She's alive. How was your beauty sleep?"

"Oh, shut up," Meredith replied, playfully rolling her eyes.

"I can't," Ellie said with a smile as Meredith stood up and rolled her neck. "You and Jackson have very different waking-up tendencies. Have you ever accidentally hit Derek in the eye from waking up so violently?"

"Ellie..." Meredith sighed and looked at her. "I love you, but please stop talking."

Ellie shrugged. "At least you admitted that you love me."

"You're making it very hard right now," Meredith replied before walking into their patient's room.

"It's nice to see you so peppy, Dr. Sloan."

Ellie glanced over at Jo who shrunk back at her gaze. "You guys gave me a nickname," she said, crossing her arms. "What was it, again? Scary Mary? How did you come up with that?"

"Uh—" Heather cleared her throat. "W—Well, when we—we first met you, you—you weren't the nicest one here. You were kind of scary. Understandably. I mean, you—you had just lost your brother... who you said not to mention. Sorry. But Mary rhymed with scary, so... it isn't your name, but it worked."

She nodded. "It's my middle name," she told them. "That's why I was confused. Nobody knows it. Well, except for my brother, Dr. Shepherd, and Dr. Avery."

"But you are scary," Jo told her and she smiled to herself.

"Hmm. Good."

They all looked over when Meredith walked out of their patient's room and went to stand beside Ellie. "She needs another surgery to take out the packing and check for bleeding," she told the interns. "But right now, she would never survive it."

"So what do we do?" Jo asked.

"There's a perfect window," Meredith replied. "We have to correct her acidosis and her hypothermia and make sure her coags are stable."

"And until then?" Ross asked their superiors.

Ellie sighed. "Until then, we try and keep her alive."

They all looked over when they heard a knocking on the ICU door and saw Callie on the other side, holding Zola. She was waving Meredith over who walked toward them. Ellie watched as Callie handed Zola to her mother before hurrying away.

"Dr. Grey!" Ross called out. "The patient's B.P. just plummeted to seventy over fifty."

Ellie fluttered her lips. "Okay." She walked over to the mother and daughter. "Give me my niece. I'll watch her. I don't have any surgeries today."

"Really?" Meredith asked, relief flooding her face. "Thank you. You're a lifesaver. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Thank me later, go save a life," Ellie told her, resting Zola on her hip. She looked down at her. "Your daddy just had to have a lecture in Boston this week, huh? Yeah... So, what should we do, Miss Zola? Ooh, do you want to crash my hospital cafeteria date with Jackson?"

Zola babbled in response and her aunt smiled, starting for the cafeteria. She set Zola down and let her run ahead of her toward the room. The doctors in the hallway smiled at her and one kept the doors to the cafeteria open for the little girl.

"Now, what do you want for lunch?" she asked her niece, picking her up and walking around to the different sections. She looked down and followed Zola's extended finger. "Dessert? You really are your father's daughter. Don't tell your mom, okay?"

Once she had gotten her niece a cupcake, she found Jackson sitting at an empty table. He looked up and smiled when he saw her. "Hey. Hi there, Zola."

"Meredith got pulled into surgery," she told him, an apologetic look on her face as she sat down. "And Zola has a fever, so she can't go into daycare."

"I don't mind," he replied, pulling the little girl onto his lip and tickling her in the sides. "She's a cute date crasher."

Ellie smiled softly, leaning her head on her hand and watching Jackson unwrap the cupcake before giving it to Zola. She instantly took it in her hands and purple frosting covered her face. He took a napkin to wipe it off when he caught Ellie's eye.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. You're just really good with kids."

☀️

ELLIE SAT IN the attending's lounge with Zola. The little girl was sitting on her lap with the blonde's phone, swiping through the photographs she had.

"Oh, here's your daddy when he was in med school," Ellie said as Zola landed on a young adult-aged Derek Shepherd. "He really has always been McDreamy." She swiped to the next photo. "And your Aunt Amelia. I don't think you've met her yet. She's the best. Definitely has me beat for coolest Aunt."

Zola's little finger swiped to the third photograph. "And..." Ellie let out a breath. "Aunt Lexie... She would definitely be the best aunt. She was the best aunt." She looked down at Zola. "You're a lucky girl to have all of these aunts and uncles."

She moved to the fourth picture and she paused. Zola looked between her aunt and the photo as if she was trying to see the family resemblance.

"Uncle Mark..." Ellie said quietly. "He was the best. And I mean it. He loved everyone so much. And he loved you—and Sofia. It sucks that you'll never know him. But don't worry—" She rested her chin on Zola's head, hugging her close. "—I'll tell you all about him. And I'll tell you all sorts of embarrassing stories about your dad to use against him as blackmail. I have lots.

"You're gonna be one heck of a woman when you grow up, Zola," she continued as the little girl snuggled against her, getting tired. "I can't wait to see what you do."

A few hours later, Jackson walked into the lounge and paused, smiling softly at the sight he found. Zola was laying her head on Ellie's chest, sound asleep. His eyes traveled upward and saw Ellie was also asleep, her breathing matching Zola's.

He took hold of a blanket and laid it over the two of them, kissing Ellie's forehead. "Sleep well, sweetheart."

☀️

━ author's note:

aunt ellie is one of my favorite versions of ellie

anyway, welcome to the era of sunshine when things are finally getting happier ( with a hint of sadness, of course )

and jackson with kids... parenthood looks best on jallie in my opinion