Where We Might End Up (Lexie Grey X OC) Chapter 1 - Three Brothers and a Double Leg Transplant Case
Seattle Grace Hospital wasn't that different from any other hospitals he's been. With its shiny floors and the combined smell of strong disinfectant and lemon air freshener permeating across the reception area, Eric Keaton still hadn't thought of any reason why and how, suddenly, some people he knew in New York chose to work at this hospital. What's so special about it? He thought.
Eric continued to gaze around as he moved towards the reception desk. With his head stuck looking up the catwalk, he almost hit a group of interns rushing in towards the 'pit' - hearing one mumbled something about a multiple MVC and 'Nazi' — whatever that means. He swerved to avoid the running interns, yet failed, as he hit the last two who seemed to be lagging behind with the rest.
"Apologies," Eric uttered.
The man gestured at him, muttering 'sorry' and waving his hand as the other, a woman, kept pulling the man's coat and asking him about something. Eric watched them walked away.
"Just so you know, I-I won't tell them, I won't... won't tell them that you didn't pass — " The girl intern babbled, staggering beside the guy.
"O - kay... thank you? I guess..." The intern paused, shaking his head in confusion, "but really... you can tell them." The guy talked and looked at his companion, continuing towards the emergency room, "Have you talked to Meredith about...?"
"Why?" She chuckled nervously. "H-have you?" Their voices faded as they turned out of sight.
The receptionist called Eric, asking what he needed.
"Good... morning," Eric paused, shaking his head. He looked at the receptionist and continued, "Yes, uh... sorry, just... Can you please point me towards the Chief of Surgery's Office?"
As soon as the receptionist pointed the direction towards the office, a deep voice echoed throughout the hall.
Eric turned where the voice was coming from, and there stood two men, a black haired standing still, the other, the grey haired strutting his way towards him.
"Eric Keaton in the flesh," Mark blurted as he walked towards Eric, "What brings you here, man?" He asked.
It has been years since Eric had seen Mark Sloan. The last time that he did, it was in New York, with Mark telling Eric how lucky Derek was, having Addison. Funny little thing, after a year, news had spread that Derek left New York because he saw Addie cheating with Mark.
Fast forward three years later, the two of them together, minus the woman that broke their friendship.
Eric offered a handshake that Mark made into a hug, "You don't shake your brother's hand, dumbass."
"Yeah, lord knows where they've been," Eric blurted out as he pulled out of the hug.
Mark stared at him, his arm on Eric's shoulder. His mouth gaped and then developed into a teethy smile as he punched Eric's arm, "Even I missed your snarky remarks!"
Mark paused and turned towards the dark haired man standing a few feet away from them. Eric turned and stared at Derek Shepherd as he made his way towards him and the gorilla who's squeezing him.
He had known Derek Shepherd longer than he had known Mark. Eric knew that he needed to take his internship in the US when he met Derek Shepherd at a conference in Oxford. And, he did. Eric went to New York and worked under Derek Shepherd's tutelage. There he met Mark Sloan - Eric gained a family with the two. It was a better time, he thought. It was a time where 'Addison and Derek', the perfect couple, were a thing; Derek and Mark were best friends and the only thing Derek was angry about Mark was when Mark would bring a stranger to family meals. Derek was essentially content and happy.
Now, Eric stared at Derek, looking at how the years had been cruel to the once content and happy neurosurgeon. He had been in a dark place — betrayal. Seattle Grace might have been the only thing that held him together.
Derek stood in front of him, hesitating, looking at Mark and then looking down the floor. He breathed deeply and finally looked at Eric. He raised his hand for a handshake. Eric shook his hand. Derek pulled a smile, nodded, and walked away towards the emergency room. Eric followed Derek with a stare, his brow arched slightly. He looked down as he continued to ponder.
"Not what you expect, kid?" Mark uttered as he turned and stood beside Eric.
"Yeah," He paused. "still waiting for his traditional lashing-out-and-damning-me-to-hell bit," Eric answered as he chuckled. Mark stared at him as Eric looked at him and grinned.
"Well... for one, you didn't cheat with his ex-wife and flirted with his girlfriend when you got here," Mark said. Eric looked at Mark with furrowed brows.
"No, I just ruined his favorite sister's life," Eric said wryly.
Mark scoffed, "No, you didn't. You just dated the wrong girl."
"The worse thing you can do other than being caught in the throes with his ex-wife, is to sleep with his sister," He paused, "Which you did both - and sisterss" Eric emphasized, "you — did you tell Derek about –"
"not the conversation you want to share with him, if you wanted to live a happy life. Case in point..." Mark gestured his hand to him, "So... what brings you here in Seattle?"
Catwalk Outside Chief of Surgery Office
Meredith and Cristina were walking at the catwalk when Derek walked passed them, brows deeply furrowed, ears flaming red.
"Hey," Meredith tried to call him, but Derek just glanced at her and continued walking inside the office.
"I don't think it's..." Derek's stern voice echoed at the corridor as the door closed.
"Well, he's having the time of his life," Cristina blurted out as they stopped. Meredith turned back, pulling Cristina with her to watch through the office window. Alex and George saw the twisted sisters camping at the cat walk. They walked closer to see why. Meredith glanced at the two who had just stopped.
"George!" Meredith lashed at her intern, "I told you to —"
"Still working!" He implied, raising the chart he's holding.
"Who's the dude?" Alex asked as he ate a bag of chips.
Cristina cringed as the crisp sound from Alex's mouth was echoing right closely by her right ear. The crumbs were falling on her coat. Cristina grabbed the bag of chips from Alex and ate it obnoxiously in front of Alex as a retaliation. Alex made a face as he grabbed the bag back.
George looked away from the chart and stared past the window glass. He stared at the doctor who was dressed sharply, trimmed and tall. His dark hair is neatly combed. Eyes are brown and narrow, thick straight eyebrows and sharp cheekbones. The groove under his pointed nose are defined. And, his narrow lips remained stiff as Derek continued to argue with him. The guy reminded them of Mark when he first went to Seattle.
"That's Dr. Eric Keaton. I read about him in a journal. He pioneered the procedure on hand transplantation," George paused as he closed the chart he is holding, "Rumor has it, he's bringing a patient here for a leg transplant surgery."
"What? He's the Hopkins guy who did the hand transplant surgery?" Alex asked.
"No... I think he's from Mass Gen?" George argued.
"Yeah, but he did it when he's in Hopkins," Alex stressed. "Check your sources, O' Malley," Alex added.
"Wait — wait..." Cristina pulled Alex's arms as she continued, "you're saying... he's doing a leg transplant here?" Cristina paused, "...We're doing a leg transplant surgery? The first leg transplant surgery like... in the country?!" Cristina exclaimed, "Why is Shepherd not happy? Why he's not happy, Mer? He should be happy like... happy." She added, flapping her hands in excitement.
Mark walked slowly towards the group clumped at the catwalk. Their voices were mumbles from far away, and as he went nearer, Mark could hear what they were talking about. He continued stepping towards them, with his hands crossed behind his back.
"So, tell me, doctors," Mark paused, standing behind Alex and leaning in, "When does standing and prying become your jobs?" Mark interjected. The residents haven't noticed him as they continued peaking through the window, seeing Derek Shepherd arguing with Richard Webber and the new doctor.
"H-h-He's making big gestures, look?" Cristina blurted, pointing at Derek. "Oooh... he's angry. Last time I saw him like that was when he was arguing with the chief about Sloan." She then cackled.
Mark cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. When George saw Mark, he quickly grabbed his charts and bolted. Alex shifted his gaze to Sloan and tapped Cristina and Meredith on the shoulders.
"What?! stop it, Al — " Cristina stopped. Noticing Dr. Sloan, she fled. Alex followed Cristina.
Meredith watched as her friends ran away, confused at what's happening. She looked behind her and saw Mark Sloan settling beside her. She turned, looking back at the office.
"Are you going in?" Meredith asked Mark.
"What's going on, really?"
"You should ask Derek about that," Mark said. He left Meredith and entered the office. Meredith decided to follow her friends and walked away.
It took another hour before the meeting was finished. It concluded with yelling and slamming of the office door as Derek walked out of the office.
"You brought him here!" Derek shouted at Mark, who's following Derek.
"O, come on! You are literally beside me when we saw him earlier." Mark paused, "It's not like you and I working in Seattle a damn secret," Mark added.
Both of them stopped in the middle of the catwalk as Derek paced.
"Why is he here?" Derek asked, glancing at Mark as he paced.
"He just said why. He needs our help," Mark replied.
"Why is he really here?" Derek emphasized, hands on his hips, still pacing.
"For the record, I didn't know any of this," Mark put his right hand on his waist, with the other, he gestured, "He said he asked Addison..."
"Addison?" Derek stopped pacing and looked at Mark.
"He told me... w-wait? What are you doing?" Mark asked as Derek pulled his phone to call Addison.
"Eric is here," Derek said over the phone, "I know you know. Just — tell me why... N-no! I know that's not the only reason... just tell me... What?! Importan- Hello?" Derek put his phone inside his pocket, "She hang up."
"Richard already said yes to..."
"And I am saying no," Derek cut him.
"It's not yours to decide. It's a plastics case," Mark said, crossing his arms.
"Then, you are going to say no," Derek said as he walks away.
"So, are you going to tell me about the new guy?" Meredith asked Derek as they were checking the CT results of a patient. Derek stared at the scans in front of him, arms crossed tightly on his chest, brows still furrowed.
"He's not the new guy. He's going to leave soon." Derek corrected her, his voice strained.
"Okay," Meredith said, waiting for Derek's answer.
Derek knew that she's just trying to help. He sighed, putting down his hand. Derek looked at her and said calmly, "He's... no one."
"Seeing you acting like that makes him not 'no one'. Derek, who is he and why are you angry at him?" Meredith continued, now she's the one crossing her arms.
Derek sighed as he stared at Meredith. A few minutes later, Derek gave no answer. Meredith looked at him, brows arching up as she waited.
"So, we're angry at him?" Meredith leaned her head sideways, looking straight into Derek's eyes as he tried to look away. "Do I need to be angry at him too?"
"No... w-we are not doing this right now." Derek pulled out the scans from the viewer and walked away.
"What? What are we doing?" Meredith turned and looked at Derek as he walked out, "Derek?!"
- - - - -
Hospital Cafeteria
Mark kept his stare at Eric as they hang out at the cafeteria, his eyebrows arched. Eric glanced at Mark, noticing him staring for too long. He then stared back at the mug he's holding.
"Are you making a hole in my face?" He paused, "Or, Is Derek twisting your ass right now?" Eric asked while looking down, taking a sip of his tea.
"Nice choice of words." Mark sighed before continuing, "You are making a point, that it? That's why you're here?" Eric sighed. Mark continued, "Or — ah, a grand gesture." Mark slapped his legs as he added, "I did that too. I went here in Seattle and... you know..." Eric gawked at him. Mark noticed it and stammered, "W-what?"
"You and your grand gestures," Eric said as he put down his cup on the table. He sighed deeply as he stared back at Mark.
"There's... a very thin line between your notion of grand gestures for your male friends and uh... something you do for... you know..." Eric paused, "Just..." Mark glared at him as his mouth gaped, "I won't be shocked when there's talk about you and Derek." He whispered to himself.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not making a point. Is it difficult to believe that I'm asking for your help?" He added, "It could be if I'm only asking for your help."
"Hey! Don't change the subject." Mark blurted out, brows furrowed. He gestured with disbelief, "And that, I don't buy your excuse."
Eric sighed, as he stated, "Let's just — " He paused laying his hand on the table, "Let's say I'm lying. What could be the reason why I went here, if I can just do the surgery at Mass Gen?" He asked Mark back. Mark contemplated on his statement and leaned back on his on chair.
"You," He paused. He narrowed his eyes at Eric as he continued, "...have a point." Mark stressed.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Callie walked towards Meredith, as she continued to stare at Mark and Eric.
"So, he's not... I mean, he's not like their love child, right?" Callie said, her voice breaking as she suppressed her laughter. Meredith looked at her, amused at the thought, "Right, but there's the similarity there. Maybe he's Mark Sloan's brother or something? Or Derek's..." Callie paused as Meredith stared at her, "Okay, I'm just gonna — I'm..." She lifted her tray and prowled towards Mark and Eric.
Callie stood just behind Mark Sloan, smiling awkwardly at Eric. She held her tray with her right hand and pulled Mark's scrub with her left. Eric stared at her as she pulled Mark's scrub and cleared her throat before adding, "Aren't you gonna introduce me or what?"
Mark turned behind him, "Yes, Dr. Callie Torres this is Dr. Eric Keaton," Callie and Eric shook hands, as Callie beamed. "Eric this is Callie Torres, Ortho." Callie put her tray on the table and sat beside Mark.
"Pleasure meeting you, Dr. Torres," Eric greeted.
"Wow, courteous. Soo... unlike you," She whispered to Mark.
Mark smiled as he continued, "He was... a colleague from New York."
"So, you two not related?" Callie asked Mark. Eric heard her and answered.
"No. There may be some similarities... but, uh, I'm - we're not. He's just my... teacher... They were my teachers." Eric stated.
"You... teaching?" Talking to Sloan, "When did you ever teach... I mean..." Callie stifled her laughter. Realizing she's talking to Mark with a stranger, she looked at the amused stranger sitting in front of them and stopped, "Word vomit." She whispered and paused; cleared her throat, sat down straight and continued, "So, you're on plastics?"
"Neuro." Mark answered with disdain.
"Oh, you worked under Shepherd." Callie pointed out, "That's more plausible." Mark glared at her.
"Yeah, you can say that. Mark..." Eric paused, looking at the irritated plastic surgeon, "...he's more a teacher in wordplay."
"Hey! I taught you some techniques in plastics, too, you ungrateful brat," Mark protested, "plastics and women."
"You don't. You just sleep with them." Eric answered.
"That's what I mean," Mark clarified.
"So..." Callie hesitated to ask. She fixed her loosed hair and tucked it in her ear. "I just..."
"You want to know why Derek Shepherd is angry at me?" Eric filled in her words.
Present day
Patient's Private Room
Dr. Keaton is standing beside the patient, with the patient's fiancé. The teams for the transplantation watched as Alex Karev presented the patient.
"Timothy St. John, 28... both legs were amputated due to traumatic injuries sustained in a car accident..." He ended the presentation.
"The procedure will involve two teams. One for each leg," Dr. Shepherd started explaining the procedure to the patient, "Both Dr. Keaton and I will connect the blood vessels under a microscope. While Dr. Torres and Dr. Sloan will be in charge with the bones, muscle and skin flaps. These are your teams."
"It seems half of the hospital... are here," Mr. St. John joked as he held his fiancé.
"Well, the procedure will need all the people we can get, Mate. Don't worry. You are in the most capable hands. Dr. Torres, Dr. Sloan and Dr. Shepherd are the best in their field," Dr. Keaton said.
Four Months Ago
Surgical Skills Lab
The teams met the patient of the transplant surgery for the first time. Mark Sloan introduced the teams and explained the procedure. Callie and Eric also added the risks and challenges the patient would experience before, during and after surgery. Derek remained silent, staring at the patient and his fiancé who are just about to start their life. He clutched his hands as he felt frustration. He thought, there are so many things that could happen and the risks and consequences outweigh the benefits. He didn't want to be a part of a surgery that could stake young lives. Derek absentmindedly walked out of the room.
Eric followed Derek and saw him out at the hall. He was leaning on the nurses' station counter, hands turning white, as he clutched harder. Derek noticed Eric.
"You will not do the surgery, not here, in my hospital, not on my watch!"
"This is not. your hospital. You are not the one who will decide," Eric answered back. "Richard said yes."
"I will not be a part of this. Anyway you see it, this procedure is unethical..." Derek implied.
Eric scoffed, "Oh, please, you are not thinking about how this is unethical or not." He interrupted.
"...it's unethical and highly experimental." Derek emphasized.
"Doing a highly experimental surgery, never stopped you before," Eric said, "You are making this about Amelia."
Derek stopped and shot a glare at him. His face is turning red, "Yes! I am making this about Amy."
"I am making this about Amy..." He paused, looking around as staff walked by, he gritted his teeth as he continued, "If I was there, I may damn well prevented her for doing that surgery," He blurted out with gritted voice.
"The surgery that brought back a mother and a wife to her family?"
"The surgery that took a toll on my sister's life that made her take drugs!" He shouted, "You may not see why you are to blame for what happened, but you are to blame! You. Put. That idea in her head."
"Doesn't it occur to you, that having no faith on your sister also took a toll?" Derek pushed him, hand clenching his shirt, trembling with rage.
"You don't get to talk to me about her," Derek warned. Mark and Richard saw them. Mark ran to them to stop them from fighting.
"What is going on here?!" Richard demanded. Mark pulled Derek off Eric.
"You are stopping this surgery, Richard. Or I'll walk," Derek said. Derek shrugged off Mark's hand. He then walked away, still steaming with rage.
A few days after the argument with Eric and Derek. Tests were administered to the patient. After the tests, Derek visited the patient's room and checked his vitals. He was looking at his chart when the patient woke up.
"Hey, I'm just checking at your charts here," Derek said, "How are you feeling?"
"Half awake," The patient joked, "Get it?"
"Doctor, I know you don't approve of this surgery. I can see it in your face. I would too — think it's impossible, but I was the one who pushed Dr. Keaton for this surgery," The patient paused. "You have a wife, Dr. Shepherd?"
"Imagine, everyday she would wake up early to lift you in and out of your bed. Bathe you. Wipe you. Go to work. Cook for you. — That is not a life I wanted for her," He continued. "I was a manly man, Dr. Shepherd. I want to be the one who goes to work, who will lift her up. I want to walk with her. And that accident made me half of who I was, literally too." He chuckled, "I looked for a way to bring it back. And the only way I saw was Dr. Keaton. I asked him for help, but he wouldn't do the procedure without you. I asked him to transfer me here so I could change your mind, to see me, and empathize."
"It's a very complicated procedure..."
"If it means having to walk with my Liz, I'm willing to take the risk."
After the gruesome surgery that took more than half the day, they transferred the patient back to the recovery room for observation. The surgery was successful. The next step for the patient is intense observation and therapy. Dr. Keaton is standing just outside the room. Derek saw him and walked beside him.
"I have been thinking... you might have been right," Eric uttered without looking at him. Derek stayed staring in front, at the patient's room. Eric hesitated before he continued, "The first leg transplant that I did had gone horribly... bad. The patient rejected the limb, and uhm, we amputated it," He paused as he looked down at his fidgeting hands, "I, uh... did each procedure splendidly. But I became overconfident. I knew the patient was not entirely ready of what he would experience because of the surgery, but I did it anyway," He paused, "I learned... from it. After that, I decided not to do it again; to put anyone in that — torture." Eric looked up and stare at the patient inside the room, "St John, he pleaded for my help. I said no, over and over again. I told him I'm not at my best, and to do the surgery, I need the best neurosurgeon" Eric looked at Derek, "When I said I need you, I meant it. You're my mentor, and the best neurosurgeon that I know. If anyone would pull me back to earth, it was you... I'm very sorry about Amy. I believe in her because I know she's a great neurosurgeon." Eric paused as his voice broke. He cleared his throat and added, "...and I didn't think it would... I'm sorry."
Derek stared at Eric as he looked down on the floor. Derek tapped Eric's shoulder. Eric looked at him. He nodded and smiled at his former student — Derek's own way of showing his affirmation. Derek then walked away, leaving Eric.
