" 𝘀𝗮𝘆 '𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁-𝗶𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁' 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗲. 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗲. 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶'𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲. 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲. "

"HE'S REALLY gonna be okay?" sarabeth asked alex while he touched her husband's stomach. george, jordyn, and lexie stood around them, patiently standing in silence. for once jordyn had nothing to say. that was saying something.

"except for his voice" lexie informed her, looking over to jordyn who was refusing to even glance over her way.

"his abdomen's definitely more tender. he needs another CT" alex informed the interns, looking at jordyn more directly.

"michael, the insurance, it's-it's a mistake, right? it's gotta be a mistake. look, write down a name and number, and i'll fix it, and everything will be fine, right? everything's gonna be fine?" sarabeth practically pleaded towards her silent husband. an awkward stir was in the air as jordyn gave alex a "do something" face while alex gave a "hell no" face back.

"uh, maybe later would be better" jordyn suggested before giving a small eye roll over the fact that alex won.

"s-sarabeth. come on, honey" sarabeth's best friend and apparently micheal's mistress, anna said, putting a caring arm over her shoulders while guiding her out of the room. was this how jordyn and lexie we're gonna be? friends fighting over some stupid guy? and just as the interns were about to leave she felt alex karev tug on her arm

"hey, jordy...you didn't tell anyone about last night...right? like, the whole crying like a girl thing?" alex elaborated. the fact that he was embarrassed of his emotional outburst was kinda sweet to jordyn. the fact that he felt comfortable only near her.

"of course not. i only told george we had a platonic sleepover last night cause you had a rough day" jordyn shrugged honestly.

"right. so you and george are getting pretty close..." alex railed on while distracting himself with his clipboard

"are you trying to talk to me about my feelings?" jordyn gasped out of fake shock.

"shut up. it's the least i can do. besides isn't this what chicks do?" alex said leading jordyn to grow and amused smirk.

"fine. me and george are official. lexie has the hots for him. and i haven't eaten popcorn in like forty eight hours" jordyn complained while crossing her arms.

"who knew o'malley would be the one having two chicks fight over him. and really. o'malley?" alex scoffed.

"what? you have anyone else better for me to be with?" jordyn asked, genuinely curious.

me.

"whatever" he mumbled walking by jordyn who couldn't help but smile at herself. was he jealous of george? or was she just overthinking like usual? "you wanna use helping me convince bailey to let this guy not be bankrupt by tonight as a distraction?"

"do i ever?" jordyn said, her whole face lighting up. alex couldn't even keep to herself with the bright smile that grew on her face almost immediately, leading for him to match her. after a minute or two of walking through the hallways of the hospital, they finally found doctor bailey inside a patient's room.

"doctor bailey" alex said calling her over. the woman dropped whatever she was doing in her surgery and walked over to the two.

"yeah" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"michael briar's abdomen is more tender. now i-i know i'm suppose to get a CT, but if we start the surgery after midnight, he's not covered" alex explained to her.

"we're basically bankrupting him" jordyn added.

"i saw we skip the CT" alex propositioned.

"oh, you two s-you say? no, you two don't say. you ask. and the answer is, we don't skimp in medicine to save money. get the CT" doctor bailey ordered the two, leading for alex and jordyn to glare at each other before walking away from the patient's room.

——

after taking up michael briar to get a head CT both alex and jordyn were forced to come down stairs to inform his wife, sarabeth about the action.

"we sent michael down for the CT. we were hoping we could, uh, start the surgery, get him in under the wire, but it's almost midnight, so..." alex said while awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"we're very sorry" jordyn said sympathetically.

"it doesn't matter. i don't care. i don't. do you-do you two know anything about betty's husband? he...i-i think he was dying. do you-have the two of you heard anything?" sarabeth asked them, tears swelling in her eyes.

"no. b-but we can find out" alex said cocking his head to the left so that jordyn would follow him out.

"why do men cheat? my husband slept with my friend. he lost his job, and then he slept with my friend, all the whole telling me he loves me. why?" sarabeth asked the two. jordyn has never cheated on anyone before, but due to a story she overheard meredith once sharing, she knew that alex did. even jordyn's current boyfriend's last marriage mainly ended in shambles due to him cheating on her with his best friend. both alex and jordyn sighed, with neither knowing exactly what to say.

"maybe he was low. he was down, and he didn't want you to see him like that, in pain, weak...as less than a man. he has his pride, so uh, he turned away. it's not right, but it...it doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. i swear it doesn't" alex said while finishing his last sentence while looking directly at jordyn before walking away from both women. but jordyn wasn't going to let him walk away.

"alex! alex! alexander!" jordyn shouted, even going to the full exempt of using his full name.

"what?" alex shouted back. and before he knew it, jordyn engulfed him in a tight hug. alex stood stiffly, not exactly knowing what to do.

"uh, what's this for?" alex asked, laughing at himself.

"to show that someone cares about you. because i know you care about me, even though you don't want to admit it. and it's fine. but, because i'm friend of the year, i'm gonna hug you, and i'm not letting go til you hug back" jordyn said while still holding on to alex. and for once, he gave into the hug and nuzzled into jordyn's shoulder. and they shared a moment. the two of them breaking their trash mouth attitudes for just a minute in this empty hallway, together.

——

alex, jordyn, and lexie stood in michael's patient room whilst waiting for george to bring sarabeth back in. jordyn was still doing a great job of giving lexie the cold shoulder, and instead focusing on helping alex on his final check on michael's abdomen. finally george and sarabeth walked into the room.

"michael, sarabeth is here" george told the man, as he lightly put a helpful arm on sarabeth's back, which she barely needed as she continued to walk forwards.

"he's a little tired" jordyn explained, but it seemed sarabeth didn't need any explaining done for her.

"uh, the CT showed that his hematoma's getting worse. so doctor bailey and i will be taking him down to the OR soon" alex told her. her face seemed pissed off over relieved or concerned.

"but he wrote you, um, this letter" lexie said showing her a yellow notepad with at least half a page filled out.

"i'm not interested" sarabeth informed her before turning around and starting to walk out of the room.

"'sarabeth.' sorry. um, that wasn't me, that was the letter. it...'i-i know you hate me.' i'm, again, it's not me, it's the letter. i'll-i'm just gonna read. um, 'i know you hate me right now. and you have every right to. i betrayed you. i betrayed our marriage. but i had lost my job and i couldn't tell you, so i told anna instead, which was wrong and stupid. and i've wanted to tell you a million times and let you know how truly sorry i am, but now i have no voice. so i am begging you, please, if you could just listen with your heart.' oh, that is so poetic. that-that was me, so-not him. sorry. um 'if-if you could just listen with your heart when i tell you that i know you can't forgive me right now but i'm gonna do everything in my power to make it up to you. and no matter what happens, no matter what you decide to do, i'm gonna love you until the end of time. that's it. i'm done talk-well, he's done. he's done. it's the end" lexie read from the yellow notepad.

as she read it became more and more obvious that she agreed with the man's words of forgiveness and was reading them just as much to sarabeth as she was to jordyn. even jordyn's eyes started to water. and as jordyn walked out of the patient room lexie was practically trailing behind her.

"jor! jordyn wait...! i know your upset with me. and you every right to be, don't get me wrong. but. if there's one person i love most in this hospital it's you. and unlike that guy i have a voice. so please listen to your heart. because jordyn, you're my best friend. and i trust you with my life. and i can't wait for the day we raise super sassy badass surgeon kids together and we have amazing lifes that we get to share together. because jordyn...i'm gonna love you to the end of time" lexie finished practically whimpering in tears. jordyn couldn't help but sigh in defeat of her friend's beautiful apology. jordyn opened up her arms, as if letting her defenses down, and waited for what she knew was coming. an epic hug. and the two hugged each other, practically sobbing into one another's shoulders. but, it was alright, because they had each other. til the end of time.

——

jordyn and lexie stood together doing michael's final check up together, as a team. as they finished up they couldn't help but foolishly do their handshake which may or may not be the same as ned and peter's from the spider-man films.

"well, you look pretty stable, which is good, because we can't let you go into your next surgery unless you're feeling strong and stable, okay. it happens. people make mistakes. you know, they sleep with the wrong person and they hide it. but if you ask me, it's the part that comes after that matters, the part where you make it right" lexie smiled at the cheating man.

"and i think you're off to a good start" jordyn said, matching lexie's stupid grin on her face. jordyn looked behind her shoulder to see mark sloan of all people watching them, before trying to act as if he wasn't even there and walking away. since when did he ever stalk interns?

——

jordyn walked into the ER with a coffee in her hand to try and find a random trauma case to spruce up her mood, but before she could even look at case files she saw alex karev standing alone in the freezing ambulance bay. jordyn groaned at herself for realizing how truly selfless she was. maybe that was her issue. she strolled outside, letting the freezing air hit her like a bus. she went to stand beside him offering the coffee.

"you know me way to well" alex muttered taking the coffee and sipping from the cup.

"i'm sorry about the whole CT thing. it really sucks overall" jordyn said with a more melancholy tone.

"yeah, tell me about it" karev said before both of them turned around to see doctor bailey coming towards them.

"karev, long, is michael briar ready for his ex lap?" miranda asked.

"he was ready an hour ago" karev informed her, making jordyn stifle a small giggle.

"and i'm ready now. book the OR" mirand told him sassily.

"fine" he sighed, signaling for jordyn to follow him inside. miranda was left with a shocked look on his face.

"doctor karev and doctor long, what time is it?" miranda asked them.

"it's tomorrow. his insurance expired" jordyn responded snatching the coffee cup from alex's hand and downing it as if it were a shot glass.

"nice one" alex smirked at her, looking proud. and jordyn would be lying if she said she wasn't blushing.

——

"karev, i think that clock is wrong. i know it says two thirty AM, but i'm pretty sure it's actually only eleven fifty eight PM. can you fix it, please?" doctor bailey instructed her resident. alex, jordyn, and miranda stood in the OR looming over the body of michael briar.

"set it back?" alex asked if he didn't understand what she said.

"set it back. it's important that the official hospital record shows the right time, and the insurance company needs it, too. and i say it's only eleven fifty eight PM" miranda repeated. to say that jordyn wasn't beaming underrneath her mask was certainly an understatement. alex then climbed onto a random latter on the side of the wall and reached for the clock, turning back the time.

"you are so awesome" jordyn said to miranda practically in awe.

"i know i am, long. scalpel" miranda said, making the smile on jordyn'a face practically grow eight sizes bigger. and looking back over her shoulder to see alex giving her a big thumbs up was worth the while.

——

"did you sleep with meredith?" jordyn asked abruptly at george, who both currently stood infront of michael's room.

"yeah, i did" george said, as if it was some cursed memory.

"why? i-i mean...sor-i...were you in love with her?" jordyn questioned him.

"i thought i was. but i was too scared to admit it, so i...i did know that she...did not, uh, like me that way, and...i did it anyway, when i shouldn't have, because i'm...besides just being...so selfish, i...you know, to take advantage of her that way and to want her to want me like that when clearly she d-like i said, i made a lot of mistakes last year, but i'm tying to get back on track and...you know, i guess i gotta do that by myself, but with you...i feel like i'm starting over" george smiled at jordyn which made jordyn feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"alright let's pinky promise this" jordyn declared  sticking out her pinky for him to link.

"okay..." he said obviously curious in her statement.

"promise we never cheat on each other. if we're like miserable and depressed in our relationship, promise we won't cheat on each other and instead just break things off" jordyn told him. george couldn't help but laugh at his girl friend's offering.

"of course. i promise" george said while linking his pink with her own. and in one swoop jordyn pulled on his hand and went in for a meaningful kiss. a here's to starting over kiss. and when their lips seperated they both were beaming from ear to ear.

"alright love birds. you ready to go home?" lexie asked the two while standing by the corner of the hallway.

"ready as i'll ever be" jordyn replied sarcastically as her and george locked hands. the three walked happily in the hallway, three best friends living their lives with smile plastered on their faces. jordyn walked by alex in the hallway during the process, his face showing obvious signs of hurt and certainly jealousy just by looking at him. but jordyn seemingly shook him off, allowing george to throw an arm around her shoulders. and that night the three spent their time studying george's flash cards, drinking, and laughing harder then any of them had laughed in a long time.

——

the whole hospital staff stood gathered in an empty OR chattering away, mainly for jordyn, talking to lexie. until the chief came in and began to lecture them.

"we used to be the best surgical program in the west, an upstart program that no one ever heard of that blew everyone out of the water. then overnight, we got old...entrenched and sloppy, just like everyone else. we've been testing on our laurels. you have all been failing-failing to take initiative, failing to ask the tough questions, failing to practice your skills, failing to give opportunity to practice skills. and i let it happen. so you have not failed. we have failed. well, it stops, and it stops now. people sliding over general surgery as though they will never see anything but a heart or a brain though the course of their career, as though blood from the heart doesn't make its way through the whole body or the nerves don't travel past the brain stem. it's shoddy teaching, and it makes for shoddy surgeons. we've failed. get it? we all have, and it stops now. the surgical training protocol is officially changing, people. the bar has been raised. consider yourself on notice" richard told the group before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

words: 3021
𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁'𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴💭🖇🗒:
this might have been one of the more enjoyable chapter for me to write. a lot of happy stuff happens. lexyn is reunited, and stronger then ever. imagine stanning another friendship more then there's. couldn't be me. georgyn are adorable, and i love how they better each other in a way. jorlex are other half babies and they are so cute i can barely stand it. and you better believe that jordyn and mark are gonna start being iconic frenemies as well. me putting slexie (aka the best canon grey's couple) seeds in my book already? maybe...jordyn helping them get together? maybe...

also thank you for eighteen freaking thousand reads on this story. your support is unimaginably appreciated. anyways, be safe, and stream past life by scotty sire.