Everyone has hobbies that keep them distracted from real life problems.  Mine is working out, especially running.  When I run, I feel free.  I feel fast.  But what happens when the distractions don't help you run from the distractions?

-

Doctor Alison Anderson walked into the area where all of the interns were for the incoming year along with the other doctors.  Her blonde hair was down straight as she had her side bangs pinned to the side.  She had been working at Seattle Grace Hospital for two years alongside Doctor Addison Montgomery-Shepherd.    

Choosing her job profession of becoming a doctor wasn't easy.  Not very many people could do it.  Either they don't have the time it takes to be one or the dedication for the hard work it takes.  You have to be on top of your game all the time - you can't afford any distractions.  

When she first had come to her mother about wanting to be a doctor - Madelyn was encouraging towards her.  But she also wanted her daughter to be realistic.  She knew that her daughter was a bright student and always received straight A's in school.  She was destined for greatness.  But she also wanted to make sure that her daughter knew the disadvantages of becoming one.  Somehow, the positives outweighed the negatives in this case.

Alison knew even from the beginning that she wanted to be a Pediatric surgeon.  She wanted to help kids with health problems and mothers whose babies were still in the womb with health problems.  Which is why she wanted to be a double-board certified surgeon in neonatal and fetal for pediatrics.  She was a senior resident.  It was what she felt like she was being called to do.  

Doctor Burke followed the two Peds doctors into the patients room as well as their interns.  

"Doctor Anderson, you have a patient in room twelve," a nurse tells her.

"Thank you," she grabs his chart and walks into his room while reading it.

Alison walked in with her interns following her along with Doctor Burke.  

"O'Malley," Alison called on George as he recited the patients health problems.

"Michelle Thomas.  She is thirty-four years old and is pregnant with twins.  Baby A has BAV which is bicuspid aortic valve."

"What exactly is BAV doing to Baby A?"

"The aortic valve opens and shuts, allowing the blood flow from the heart to the aorta.  The leakage in Baby A's aorta valve is causing too much damage and surgery is the only way to repair it."

"And how are we going to perform the surgery, Yang?"

"Doctor Shepherd-Montgomery will first perform the c-section and then Doctor Burke as well as Doctor Anderson will perform the surgery on your child," Yang spoke to the married couple as Michelle rubbed her stomach reassuring her children they will be okay.  "Doctor Burke and Doctor Anderson will either have to remove her valve which will then be replaced by a new one or it could be repaired, depending on how bad it is.  He will be doing a minimally invasive surgery meaning that there will only be a two to four inch incision without having to open the baby's whole chest.  The aortic will then be repaired by reshaping the valve cusps, allowing the valve to move more open and freely."

"I see you've been doing your homework, Yang," Doctor Montgomery-Shepherd spoke to the intern.

Cristina gave a barely there small smile as she looked at the couple who was about to become a family of four.  

Addison and Alison had already been speaking with each other in confidence which one of the interns they would like to see join their Peds team.  

At Seattle Grace Hospital, Addison and Alison were known as the dream team.  Everyone knew they were the best at what they did and everyone said that Alison had hands of pure gold and only had one patient die on her.  

"Are you knitting, Grey?" Alison asked the intern.

"I am," Meredith answered as she continued to knit.  "I am knitting a sweater."

"Can I ask why?"

Alison found amusement in what Meredith Grey was doing.  She knew that it must have something to do with her best friend.  Somehow it always did when those two were involved.

"Because I am practicing celibacy.  Because your idiot of a friend can't seem to make up his mind so I am dating Finn while practicing celibacy.  Having sex got me no where anyway.  Instead it just made me a dirty mistress," she pouted as she continued to knit.  

Alison let out a laugh and shook her head as she left leaving the intern to knit.  

-

Being a surgeon is different than running.  When you're a surgeon you have to be quick with your thinking and steady with your hands.  Practice makes perfect.  You can't afford to have any distractions.  In life outside of work - you can have has many distractions to either get you through the day or procrastinate the work you actually need to get done.  

-

"Where is Stevens?" Doctor Anderson asked Doctor Yang knowing she might have an idea where she is.

"Uh, do you really want to know, Doctor Anderson?"

"Yes, I really do.  She was supposed to be on our service today and she has yet to show up.  Now, where is she?"

"She's with our patient, Denny."

"Denny Duquette?  The one with the heart failure who needs a new heart?"

"That's the one."

"Why is she with him?  Aren't you, Grey and O'Malley supposed to be seeing him today only?"

"I- I'm not sure."

Except Cristina did know.  She knew why her friend and fellow doctor was with Denny but she wasn't going to tell Doctor Anderson who was a resident.  If she knew that Izzie had broken the code of ethic by developing feelings for a patient then she would be out of working on the Pediatric floor, possibly even out of the program.

"Well, when you do find her let her know to come up to our floor level.  If she's not here within an hour she's off the surgery for today."

Cristina nodded her head then paused for a minute walking back to Doctor Anderson.

"If she doesn't come in an hour, can I scrub in for the surgery today?"

"If I say yes, will you leave?"

"Yes," she says excited.  "Thank you, Doctor Anderson."

"Leave Yang."

"Okay."

Cristina left Alison with a little bit more pep in her step.  Some part of her wanted to feel bad for asking but she had also never seen a BAV surgery for a baby before and getting in on any surgery as big as this would help look good on her resume.  She almost hoped in some way that Izzie would stay with Denny.

Sometimes you have to look out for yourself because if you don't, who will?

Alison had heard of Denny Duquette.  She would talk with Doctor Burke about their patients cases, especially the ones that had heart problems.  Denny was a rare case especially because he had been healthy his whole life.  He seemed like a nice guy but she wondered what was going on with him and Doctor Izzie Stevens, if anything at all.  This wasn't the first time that Izzie was late on her rounds.  

Lately, Izzie seemed more preoccupied with other things.  She was distracted.

By the time an hour passed, Alison had already seen four other patients within that time period and filled out their charts as well.  Alison looked at her watch and an hour had passed and this time it wasn't Doctor Stevens who came up but Doctor Yang instead.

Cristina shook her head with a disappointed look on her face.  All of the fellow interns thought that Izzie was crazy for potentially giving up her license for a patient who may or may not live.  He was a nice guy but he first of all was their patient and that's all he could be.  

"Scrub in, Yang," Alison told the intern as she left to go scrub in herself.

"Thank you," Cristina thanked the resident doctor and turned around the corner doing a little happy dance along with a big smile on her face as she went to go prepare the patient for the c-section surgery.  

-

The c-section went really well after Alison performed it and Addison was shadowing her.  The baby was then handed off to Doctor Burke and his team as Cristina was given the chance of a lifetime opportunity surgery to see.

"What do you know about a patient named Denny Duquette, Doctor Shepherd?" Alison asked Addison after they had gotten out of their surgery scrubs and were now in an office.

"I know that he is a heart patient and has been here for a while.  Why?"

"His relations to Doctor Stevens?"

"I haven't heard anything about it.  If she did though that would be an ethical violation."

"Have you noticed her slacking off?" Alison asked her Head Chief.  "Or is it just me?"

Addison and Alison were concerned about Izzie Stevens.  Not just professionally but personally as well.  They knew that it was probably going to be a lose - lose situation as Danny's heart was failing drastically, so was Izzie's motivation to help anyone else other than him.  She was the one intern other than Karev that they saw who had a real chance in Peds.  They didn't want to see that go to waste.  Alison knew that Izzie felt like she had a lot to prove especially after her modeling career and she didn't want it to all go away.

Alison liked Addison professionally.  Personally though, she knew she had a lot to work on.

"I'm not sure," Addison said deep in thought.  "For her sake though, I hope she's not."

-

The thing about distractions is how do you truly know if they help you get over your problem?  They don't.  Unfortunately, they just prolong you from making the decision you know you are supposed to make.  

-

A/N: Enjoy the first chapter of my new book :).  I have lots in store for this one and I'm so excited to share it with you all!! 

What do you think of it so far?  This takes place season 2 episode 22.  The chapters will be longer mostly but I really wanted to get this up.  

Thoughts?

Also this is where I got my information about the surgery:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/16745-aortic-valve-surgery/procedure-details