˗ˏˋ 𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕘 ˎˊ˗

"I imagine it becomes a bit of a game at times. See what you can get away with...relocating and how much of a fuss they put up." Of course, he was sure that they didn't put up as much of a fuss anymore. People didn't win against Elaine...not unless she let them. He tapped his temple when she said that none of the physicians here were the brightest. "Now you know that's not true or you'd be finding another hospital with brighter minds to be chief of." He smirked when Elaine said that the teaching part of the hospital was something that haunted her. It was well known that it drove her absolutely insane to need to deal with interns in any way shape or form. And while he agreed that they could be frustrating at times, and they were certainly difficult to manage when they started out, it was fun to see them learn. It was awesome to see them come into their own and really take grab of the reins...see what they could eventually do and accomplish. Some of them became some of the best doctors he'd ever known. While some...didn't.

"My favorite game," Elaine spoke with a grin, full honesty. She had enough connections throughout the state, even the country, to where the stealing was rarely a challenge, so it was dealer's choice at that point. Whatever was the most enticing, or whatever cases she came across that she knew her medical staff were the best fit for, simply became Elaine's. At Mark's comment, she playfully rolled her eyes. It was undeniable, that for her maniacal mind and scheming, that this hospital was easily the best fit for her at the time. "Bright enough," she teased with a wink. "Enough of you are bright enough. The rest? They're on the list," she spoke with a smile, her little list of people to get rid of scrolling through her mind. To be fair, Mark's own kid was absolutely on said list for the most ridiculous reasons ( nothing to do with her actual skills ) but that was for Elaine to know and nobody else. Well, maybe Donovan.

Jackson looked at the pictures on the screen before them, taking in as much of the scene as he could in them. Looking at them, he could tell the case was going to be a challenge, but it was one he was up for. "Wow," he finally stated, as the last picture passed by on the screen. "Yeah, I'll definitely take that case. It's gonna be hell trying to find any good skin to graft to cover the burns, but I'll be damned if I don't at least try. Thanks, Chief."

"Well," inhaling slowly, then nodding, "godspeed, Dr. Avery. Have fun... or whatever this is to you." With a small smirk, she shrugged. "I'll check in soon, but not in a weird, threatening way." She felt the need to clarify, simply because most often she does mean things in a weird, threatening way. "Mostly in a checking to make sure I can still have bragging rights way.. or something like that," she grinned.

Donovan couldn't help but smirk as Elaine regaled him with the tales she'd found out through the hospital walls. Apparently, the doctors here were even more tightly wound together than even he had known. "That's insane. Any other hospital would have disbanded them, fired them, told them to find different places to work. From what I hear, there are a few couples who started out when one was an intern and the other an attending." His eyes rested on Elaine as his brow quirked; at least he had only been a resident when they'd first started messing around together. "So what you're saying is, because the two of us are married now, you get to drag me along to these boring events of yours so you aren't completely alone. Got it. Yeah, that sounds completely disgusting. No idea how I'll make it through the entire night without being sick at least once."

"Well, hey, I suppose fraternization is successful for some," Elaine shrugged, smirking and giggling softly. "But, unfortunately, the old hags who once ran this place were part of the weird dynamics themselves, so it would've been a pretty nasty domino effect if they even tried to address it." Rolling her eyes, extra dramatically, "marriage is about sacrifice." The phrase left her lips as she attempted to keep somewhat of an almost serious expression, but failed. "And, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It'll be a horrendously amusing evening, and, I'll make it up to you."

"I don't want to hunt down one of your interns." Hers, because they're definitely not goddamn his. They're scared fo damn near everyting, including him. Wide eyes with dark bags, messy hair, a general sense of what the fuck am I doing about them. "I want to know who I have to get the medical supplies delivered to their intended destination." Come to think of it, Laine looks pretty goddamn tired too - like the interns. It's the same goddamn face she's made at the end of each wedding reception (a hill he will goddamn die on). "Think about it. You wouldn't want me bossin' those little shits around. Help me, help you."

"It's kind of fun," Elaine sighed the words out. "Bossing them around. They're so naive, so new.. they just do whatever. There's not even an ounce of pushback. Not a second thought. Simply just do as they're told." Well, maybe to Elaine. Because there wasn't a lot about the woman that could be deemed approachable, and it wasn't out of the norm for her to be absolutely ripping anyone in the hospital a new one at any given moment. There was also that. "Okay," she spoke, slapping the palms of her hands on her desk. "I'm not even sure who the hell's supposed to be responsible for those things, Gid. Probably maintenance or janitorial or sanitary staff. Someone along those lines. I know where that shit goes, and perhaps there's someone around that vicinity that we can bully, if you're up to it. If not, I'll happily do it solo."

He nearly belly laughed at her response, but he managed to hold it together in front of the Chief. She had never been necessarily secretive about the ways in which she had gotten certain high profile cases over to SGMW. But if he, and most other physicians, were being honest they didn't care. SGMW deserved those cases more than most hospitals, especially Seattle Pres. The case had been a difficult one, made more difficult by the patient's spouse; but it had accomplished and would bring a lot of good publicity to the hospital. "Surprising that Seattle Pres even starts to bring in these types of cases."

"I've started taking it as a challenge, honestly," Elaine shrugged. "They bring in cases that they know they can't handle, and they just wait to see how long it takes for that case to get relocated." Relocated being the kind term here. Stolen would be more of the correct terminology, but that didn't need to be thrown around. "Either way, they're imbeciles for even thinking that any of their dim-witted surgeons could've handled it. Not that any of you are necessarily the brightest," she teased, cracking a small smile, "but that case wouldn't have survived at Seattle Pres, I'm almost positive. I worked with a handful of those Attendings during my residency, and damn near all of them were clueless when it came to challenges. If they didn't know how to approach something, they simply didn't. As much as the teaching aspect of this hospital is one of the many banes of my existence, at least it allows for new techniques and.. all of that boring stuff."

A quick glance in Arizona's direction elicited a borderline disgusted expression on Elaine's face. They'd simply just finished talking to a patient's family, and one of the those family members happened to be hospital board members. Everything in the procedure had gone more than well, as it should've given that Elaine had hand selected the surgical staff on the case. But now, even after things had gone perfectly, the blonde before her was tearing up. "Dr. Robbins, get it together," Elaine huffed under her breath, placing a hand on Arizona's shoulder and guiding her away from the family as they sat back down. "Is there a reason for the tears, one that's real?"

Jackson was ready to walk out of the room after she stated there was nothing she needed from him, but then she was speaking again, and his curiosity piqued. It piqued even more so when he heard mention of a burn case. So maybe he would get the jump on it before Sloan; he was willing to take her up on that offer. "I'm always interested in new cases, Doctor Sawyer. How bad are we talking about here?" Better to know the odds of being able to actually help the person out versus prolong their suffering before he jumped into action, though he'd still do everything he could to help.

"Well," Elaine started, a slight grimace on her face as she continued scrolling through the case pictures. "It's not.. they're really not looking great, in my generalized, not going to be the one treating them opinion." Turning the laptop in Jackson's direction, she continued flipping through the images. The case wasn't necessarily looking grim, more challenging than anything. Regardless, Elaine was very much done with looking at the pictures. "It's yours, if you want it." Of course, it would take a bit more work on Elaine's end, using her beautifully corrupt connections with the hospitals all around.

"You can't even try to deny that I'm right," he added with a grin on his face. "Why else would you have married me? Definitely not for the prospect of money." Now he was just being sarcastic himself, but this was just how they were together. He felt comfortable dishing out to her in ways that others likely wouldn't; and just as much as he could dish it out to her, he could take it from her as well. "Eh, you're probably right. It's way past the point of me ever being humbled. I know how great I am and I want to make sure everyone else knows how great I am too." A bit conceited? Yes. Was it a lie, though? No - not in his mind. "This whole hospital is ran by the same small families. I'm surprised they don't have their names on the hospital already."

Nose scrunched just a bit, Elaine nodded, her way of admitting that Donovan's right without outright saying it. "I'm sure they know. If not by figuring out against their wills through experience, I'm sure you've educated them," Elaine grinned, chuckling softly. An annoyed sigh was let out at the mentioning of those goddamn families Elaine could not get rid of and continued finding them entering the hospital. "They might as well. Half of them share the same last name, or the same gene pool, or something of that nature. If they're not related, their parents slept with someone else's parents years ago. It's a whole mess. I've learned all of this unwillingly." Relaxing back in her chair, eyes narrowed as a thought crossed Elaine's mind. "While I have you here, darling husband of mine, I do have one question for you, actually. I have one of those ridiculous unavoidable charity.. fundraising.. mingling.. whatever the hell events coming up, and I've managed to get out of them for the last year or so. But this one, I really can't get out of, and while I could go alone, I could also drag your ass along. If you're willing, that is. Just bring a bucket or something, because you're going to have to watch me be a little nice to some tight-ass idiots for an entire evening, and it's nauseating."

wesley laughed and nodded his head. he knew all too well what it was like to talk to people like that. "thank you for understanding. no, throwing it over to the others should be fine. i don't have anything major that they can't deal with." wes usually hated throwing others his surgeries, but that day he knew he didn't have anything super important and the surgeries were basic things, that he didn't have to worry about other people messing up. "like other surgeons aren't? i happen to know a bunch of territorial cardio surgeons running around this hospital that would fight tooth and nail if you tried to take over their OR." he joked and shook his head, as he leaned against the doorway. "feel like i'm being called into the principal's office, i'm okay right here."

"Don't give me too much credit. Everything I understand about children is entirely against my will," Elaine quipped, tacking a little smile at the end of her sentence. With a nod, Elaine typed a few notes quickly, making a note to the Chief of Surgery to do something different with the schedule to account for Wesley's absence. "Oh, they are," she nodded. "But when I have Pugsley and Wednesday Addams running around that department and cannot get rid of them, try as I might, it's hard not to feel just a little different about Neuro. Nothing against you, those two just drive me bonkers." At the mention of cardio, she couldn't even keep a straight face, nor did she have a solid defense. Given that one of the most consistent people in her life, her now husband, was the head of the specialty, that didn't really help the case either. "Cardio's nothing short of a fight club," she chuckled. It made sense, her office might've had some nice decor, a few pictures of her cats ( and a few less of her own family ) scattered about. But Elaine knew good and well the sort of vibe the office itself, she herself, gave off. "To be fair, you came here all on your own," Elaine shrugged.

"We're not? I thought we were giving them the utmost patient care." She chuckled before sliding into the chair across from the redhead. "Well, my patient was coding and her father refused to move his ass so I told him to get the fuck out of my way or I was gonna make him." Amber usually tried to be calm cool and collected. But when one of her favorite patients was dying in front of her and her father was standing between Amber and her care, she stopped caring. She had elbowed the man out of the way and focusing on the girl. Thankfully the 13 year old was now resting in recovery and not on her way to the morgue. "So I might've also threatened? Depends on your definitions really."

There was a smirk as Elaine listened to Amber's explanation, knowing in her own head that the parents would've already been busting into her office or HR would've been calling if there was a real problem. There was still time, sure, but even then, Elaine did love getting her staff out of these situations - situations where they were not in the wrong, and patients or family members were crazy. Gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss. "Sounds like obstruction of medical care," she posed simply, shrugging as she sat up with hands folded on the desk before her. "I'm assuming the child is alive, Dr. Karev?" Amused smile on her face still, Elaine raised her eyebrows, "because, if the child's alive, I'm sure they're a little preoccupied being relieved, happy, and whatever else people feel in that scenario.

All of the words that the redhead had said had begun to piece together the story for her. Of course this was all due to a man. Her brows rose and her lips pursed when the woman used her title. She wasn't sure if the woman was placating her or simply just amused at Charlotte's rage. "I took over surgery for Dr. Gordon, and was surprised to find out the the scrub nurse couldn't tell a pair of mayo scissors from a clamp. Thankfully, I can. But what happens in an emergency when you don't have time to do a double take?" She took this seriously. Hell, you had to. They were surgeons and held life in their hands. "I don't know if retraining would help. But that is a danger to patients and a huge lawsuit for this hospital."

"Dr. Gordon's fourth on the list," Elaine interjected, rather flatly. Frankly, the logistics of surgery just bored Elaine at this point. She hadn't done any surgeries since she started climbing the business ladders a couple of years ago. Granted, she idea of being a surgeon was never really one she pursued for the greater good, rather just doing something deemed a difficult profession simply because she goddamn could. It wasn't a real loss, she found something shinier and that was good enough for her. "There's too many," she responded simply, "if I were to go about retraining for all instances like these, Dr. King, that would be a constant process. There are a handful who are receptive, and for those, it's worth it. But at a certain point, some are beyond retraining. Continually attempting to do so would be a costly, hopeless process. They find one way to do something, and that's the way it's getting done for the rest of their ignorant lives." Pausing, her eyes narrowed at Charlotte. Elaine was familiar enough with the more useful doctors in the hospital, and she knew good and well that Charlotte would be beneficial to keep around. She had experience in Elaine's position, being someone in a higher position that was often looked down upon for being young for the position. And, sure, she was a fantastic doctor, but those things weren't always what the redhead thought of first and foremost. "What would you suggest?" The question, in a very out of character manner, was posed with genuine interest. It wasn't a ploy to see what Charlotte wanted, there shockingly weren't any underlying intentions.

Jackson should have known Elaine was doing most of this for her own enjoyment. He couldn't suppress the eye roll that followed her affirming she had already planned on giving him the raise, even without all the extra steps she'd put him through just now. Standing up from the chair he'd been occupying, he shook his head. "No, I don't think so, Doctor Sawyer. That's the only thing I came up here for. Is there anything I can do for you?" What the hell possessed him to ask that?

It was hard for her not to cackle like the witch she was out of pure amusement, if there was one person who never failed to make Elaine laugh, it was Elaine. Thinking the conversation had come to a rather silly finish, she picked up the cup of tea she had on her desk, just taking a drink before Jackson posed his question. It caught her off guard, causing her to damn near snort the tea in mid sip. Coughing slightly, she composed herself, a slightly more genuine smile on her face. "Um, no, Dr. Avery," she giggled, "there's nothing that you can do for me right now." A pop up on her laptop caught Elaine's eye, and her gaze was fixed to the screen for a moment as she read a message. "Actually," drawing out the word, she finished reading, then quickly typed up a message and dramatically slapped that enter button. "Are you interested in a pretty... not very great looking burn case?"

"So what you're saying is, I should tell you all about how this latest innovation would be a great way to teach the up and coming potential cardiothoracic surgeons how to perform surgeries with a much smaller risk of complications. Or how it could reduce a patient's recovery time by as much as a week, meaning they won't be in the hospital for as long, thereby meaning we can have more patients come in for life-saving surgery also?" While all of that might not necessarily be true, for the most part, it was. He just really wanted this equipment because it was shiny and new, but Donovan was willing to say whatever it took to get it approved and brought in to the hospital. "The board needs to wake up and realize that just because you and I are married doesn't mean you're going to just approve every request of mine all willy-nilly. We both know that while I am clearly your favorite person in this hospital, you wouldn't want me to get too cocky about my position here."

Elaine grinned, typing just about every word that left Donovan's mouth, nodding encouragingly the entire time. "Mhm, just like that," she hummed, finishing her typing and sending the email that would inevitably end in a very long meeting that she'd be forced to sit through. Which, in theory, given that most of the higher ups knew good and well how Elaine and Donovan were as individuals, probably didn't want to fuck around and find out much about them as a unit, would end successfully. "You're my favorite?" Elaine's tone was dripping with sarcasm, given that she literally could not even deny it. While the amount of people Elaine really liked may have been one she could count on her fingers, there really was no denying that she certainly tolerated Donovan the most. He'd been around the longest out of those she currently affiliated with, he'd earned at least some credit for dealing with her for as long as he had. "I think you're a bit beyond the point of humbling, dear," she chuckled. "You'd think they'd care more about the raging nepotism that I try desperately to crush and destroy," Elaine rolled her eyes, playfully tightening her fist.

wes needed a day off and since it was last minute, he needed to ask elaine if she could find someone to cover him for the day. "sorry to interupt. i can come back if you're busy." he waited in the door way, mostly because he didn't like stepping foot in her office if he didn't have to. "i need monday off. beth has a doctor's appointment and i have nobody to take her. i'm not sending her with a babysitter and some people think that's acceptable, but i'm not that kind of father. i can be on-call if you need me for after, but the morning i need it cleared."

"Don't be sorry," Elaine shook her head, "that woman's an absolute idiot and every time she calls me I fear I'm at risk of losing brain cells." Nodding, she turned to her laptop, working to find the OR and consult schedules, "my shithead father used to send me to the doctor with his friends' wives or my brothers' girlfriends. Whoever was available, really. A babysitter would've almost been preferable." With a teasing grin she skimmed the schedule, eyes narrowing. "You don't have a busy day, I'll just throw what's on your schedule to the other brain-lovers. Unless there's anything you'd like postponed, because you neurosurgeons sure are territorial," Elaine finished with a wink, leaning back in her chair. "And you can come a little further in here, the floor's not lava. Not yet, at least."

Charlotte prided herself on being an efficient person. You didn't stay Chief of Staff of a major Los Angeles hospital by being lazy or impotent. So when she had had an idiot in her first surgery here, covering for the urologist since he had an emergency at home, and the idiot scrub nurse hadn't known which instruments were which and it infuriated her. So she stalked toward the chief's office, her scrub cap still on and freshly scrubbed out from surgery. When she got to the door, she started hearing the same kind of tone she had once had during the lovely phone meetings she had to attend much of the time. Although she, unlike this woman, had essentially just told them that her time was better spent actually running the hospital and hung up but that was because they were pretty afraid of her, rightly so. So she stood in front of the desk, arms crossed and a very neutral look on her face. When she was finally acknowledged, she took a step forward. "You wanna tell me why you hired absolute idiots? I thought this was one of the top hospitals in the country."

Eyebrows raised a little at the other woman's question, and Elaine sat back in her chair slightly. "First of all," she started with a deep breath, "most of the staff here was hired by the incompetent dinosaur that roamed this office before me. And, he was an absolute goddamn idiot, so he probably looked at the numbskulls as potential when they're really just.. they're idiots." Leaning forward, resting her elbows on her desk, Elaine tilted her head to the side, "I can't exactly get rid of all of the idiots at once, but if you'd like to see the transfers made in the last year from here to the shit hospitals nearby, you can have it, Dr. King." She ended her little tangent with a smirk, because Charlotte's anger did really pique Elaine's interest. Boy, did Elaine love feminine rage, and she wanted nothing more than for Charlotte to keep going. Even if it meant being a punching bag for a few more minutes. Gesturing toward the chairs in front of her desk, Elaine's red lips stayed smirking. "Can I ask which idiots did what this time?"

"I pride myself on my knowledge of what excites you," Donovan affirmed, letting out a slight chuckle in the process. He moved from the desk to the chair, making himself comfortable as she pulled up whatever it was she needed on her computer. However, as soon as the first words left her mouth, he knew from the start that he wasn't going to be getting the money he wanted for the department. "Depends on how you define necessity. Do we need it to save lives? No. Would it make it a little easier? Yes. Is it more just for having a fun new thing to mess with? Mostly."

"If you start throwing around the word necessity, then I can use that to my advantage. Your advantage, really," Elaine scrunched her nose, eyes still skimming the document full of numbers. "So if you sit here, and tell me how beneficial these things are for the hospital's reputation and for teaching and all of that shit.." trailing off, Elaine looked over to Donovan, "then I can say that, and I'll say that, and they'll consider it. I'll need at least a few solid excuses, because despite this hospital drowning in nepotism, they might be a little iffy about me trying to help your department." Despite the fact that the two weren't exactly parading around the building hand-in-hand like real newly weds, Elaine preferred to keep her private life private, which meant that it wasn't entirely common knowledge. Even with the privacy, they couldn't really keep the marriage discreet from the hospital's board and legal team. And for whatever reason, that sort of thing meant more to them than when Elaine tried to deny Sofia's application to the residency program on account of her entire giant ass family working in the hospital.