season 7, episode 9 - slow night, so long

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      THE ONE THING that all sane surgeons could agree on is the nightshift sucked. Strange sleep schedules were just part of being a surgeon, but that didn't mean Sage had to like it. Despite the fact that Jackson kept her up most of the day, she woke up half an hour before she actually had to be up and getting ready.

She had been sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, coffee in hand, when she heard screams coming from her room. She quickly jumped off the stool and rushed into the bedroom, but Lexie got there first.

"Jackson!" Lexie shook his legs as Jackson thrashed in his sleep. "Stop. Stop! Hey, hey, Jackson."

Jackson woke up, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Stop, stop." Lexie crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but you need to take something."

"Sage?" He looked around the room frantically, searching for her. "Where's Sage? And Charles? Where's Charles? Charles?"

"It's Lexie," Lexi told him. Sage appeared in the doorway and he slightly relaxed at the sight of her. He stayed silent before throwing off the covers and getting up.

"Time for work?" he asked.

"Yeah, just about," Lexie confirmed as he walked by her. Sage opened her mouth, about to ask him if he was ok, but he pushed past her before she could even try. 

This was going to be a long night.

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      APRIL LET OUT a loud yawn as the group of doctors exited the elevator.

Did you just yawn? Was that a yawn?" Mark scolded. The attendings were gathered at the nurse's station to tell their residents what to do before heading to Joe's to celebrate Derek getting the grant for his Alzheimer's trial.

"Don't tell us that you're tired after getting to sleep all day," Teddy added, shaking her head at them.

"It's not as easy as it sounds," April defended and Sage nodded in agreement.

"Not easy?" Bailey scoffed, "Not e— When I was a resident, I actually worked for a living. I did every other night call for five years."

"There were days that I didn't go home for 72 hours. I loved it," Dr. Stark added. Nobody liked him, so most of them just rolled their eyes at that remark.

"As you trudged through the snow while you whittled your own scalpels," Alex muttered under his breath. Sage and Jackson snorted while Lexie tried to hide to hide her laugh behind her hand, but she failed miserably.

"Sorry. I didn't quite catch that, Karev." Dr. Stark turned to Alex.

"Uh, Karev," Bailey cut in quickly before Alex could get himself in more trouble, "I need you to follow up on my post-ops. And here. Take this research. Divide out all the fistula cases." She handed him a stack of binders.

"And Sage, just check up on my post-ops and make sure nothing goes wrong," Callie said, giving the Chang girl a couple binders. She smiled at her, and Sage nodded, taking the binders.

Jackson and Lexie were sent to the pit and then they went their separate ways, ready to tackle the dreaded night shift.

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      ALEX HAD HIS arm around Sage's shoulders as the two ate pizza in the atteneding's lounge with Meredith. She rested her head on his shoulder as she bit into her slice, humming in delight.

A few moments later, April walked into the lounge and raised an eyebrow when she saw the trio sitting there, as they technically weren't supposed to be in there.

"What are you doing in the attendings' lounge? You could get in trouble," she reminded them.

"Pizza?" Alex offered, holding up his slice. April, who was still mad about what happened between them the previous day, ignored him and turned to Meredith.

She sighed, "I have stupid teenage patients who superglued themselves together so their parents can't tear them apart."

"How romantic," Sage chuckled.

"Yeah. More like moronic," April scoffed. "I have no idea how to get them apart without taking off half their skin."

"Try acetone," Alex suggested.

"Try going away," April snapped, shooting him a cold glare. "Sage, Meredith, any ideas?"

Meredith hummed as she pretended to think. "Acetone?" she suggested.

"So what's the deal with Stark?" Meredith asked when April was gone. Alex shifted slightly, moving Sage off his shoulder for a moment before placing her back on it.

"He's a lazy, backstabbing weasel," he shrugged. "Why?"

"Because I called him in to examine this patient—" Meredith began but Sage laughed quietly, cutting her off.

"You called Stark in?" She shook her head. "You don't call Stark in.

"Yeah, I wish I coulda seen that," Alex added, laughing.

"Well, my kid just had pectus excavatum surgery, and he was in serious pain," Meredith told them.

"Yesterday my fundoplication patient was vomiting. You don't call Stark," Alex said.

"Well, this kid's mother is a nurse at Seattle Pres," Meredith said, her temper increasing just a little bit.

"Let's play a game. There's one rule. You don't call Stark," Alex said, giving the rest of his slice to Sage, who happily took it.

"Alex, I'm serious," Meredith sighed. "Normally I would handle this myself. But I haven't been on peds in a while, and you know the complications with these kids."

"Did you order blood work and a C.T.?" Sage asked her and Meredith nodded yes.

"I'd add an L.D.H., a C.R.P. and a sed rate," Alex suggested. "I mean, with Stark, you have to cover all your bases so if you do end up calling him, he has no excuse but to get off his ass and come in."

Meredith thought for a moment before nodding.

"You know, Alex, for once you're actually being helpful," she chuckled.

"Yeah, I have my moments," he smirked. 

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      ALEX AND MEREDITH both disappeared a while ago, leaving Sage alone in the lounge to finish up some of Callie's charting. She was humming the lyrics to the song that was playing on the radio earlier as she wrote, her feet tapping against the floor.

The door opened and Alex poked his head in.

"Mere's kid has a perforated ulcer and Stark's not answering so we're gonna do the surgery ourselves," he informed her as she looked away from the chart she held. "Wanna help?"

"Aren't we gonna get in a lot of trouble for doing surgery without an attending?" she questioned, putting the chart down on the coffee table.

Alex grinned, "Absolutely."

Sage sighed but nodded and got up. "You're a terrible influence."

"I'm your stupid boy best friend, I'm supposed to be a terrible influence."

And that was how Sage Chang found herself in an O.R. with Alex, Meredith, an O.R. staff and no attending to supervise. She felt nervous because she knew they were bound to get in trouble but they had to do this. Drew needed this surgery.

"Ok. Is he under?" Alex asked, looking back at the anesthesiologist for confirmation.

"Is he talking?" the anesthesiologist snarked back. "Yeah, he's under," he said quickly when Sage glared at him.

"No word from Stark yet?" Meredith asked.

"No," the nurse who had been calling him answered.

"Call him every five minutes until he answers," Sage instructed and the nurse nodded.

"And page Dr. Bailey," Alex added.

"Bailey's not on call tonight," the nurse reminded him.

"Just keep calling her," Alex said and Sage could tell by the tone of his voice that he was nervous too.

"I thought you said you could do this better than Stark," Sage muttered under her breath.

"Shut up," Alex snapped, but there was no bite behind his words. "All right. All right." He steadied himself and got ready to start. "10-blade."

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      THE SURGERY WAS a success, but Stark wasn't happy when he found out what they did. He screamed at the trio for a good half an hour but they knew they did the right thing, and judging from the way Chief Webber was smiling at them behind Stark's back, he knew too.

Before they headed home, Lexie had pulled Sage aside to tell her that Jackson had had a bad night. He'd been snappy, rude, and gave her a whole speech on survivor's guilt, which scared her. She wasn't really surprised to hear this. Jackson had been getting better, like the rest of them, but she knew he felt guilty but she also couldn't help him because he would never talk about it with her and she was too afraid to push him. But this time, she had to.

Sage thanked her and decided she would wait until they were home before discussing it with him. He would try and avoid the topic when she brought it up, so she knew she would have to butter him up first.

So that was why on the drive home, where she was practically sitting in his lap due to the couple, Alex, and April all having to squeeze into the backseat while Meredith and Lexie sat up front, she was pressing kisses to his jawline and neck every few moments.

"I had to use soap and water," April spoke up, before taking a small bite of her piece of pizza.

"What?" Alex asked, a confused expression making its way onto his tired face.

"The acetone didn't work on the superglue till I mixed it with soap and water," the Kepner girl explained.

"I could use a little soap and water right now," Jackson sighed, "I feel disgusting."

"I agree," Sage nodded, her lips still pressed against his skin. He chuckled quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as his grip on her hips tightened.

"Yeah, I can smell you from up here," Meredith muttered.

"Mm, dibs on the shower," April said through a mouthful of pizza.

"I want a beer," Alex declared. "Who's up for a beer?"

"Where are you gonna get a beer at 6:00 A.M.?" Lexie asked.

"Home," Meredith replied simply. She was smiling big as Sage closed her eyes and further pressed her body against Jackson's.

She wanted to talk about what Lexie had told her, she really did, but she was so tired and the movements of the car were starting to lull her to sleep. Her body was slowly becoming limp as she felt his hands rubbing circles on her hips. She knew once she fell asleep she wouldn't be able to really wake up for at least 9 hours, but she couldn't help it.

They would talk about it... Later.

As she drifted off to sleep, the world 'home' was repeated over and over in Jackson's mind. He glanced down at his girlfriend who had her face buried in the crook of his neck. She looked so beautiful, even after a long, tiring nightshift. He loved the fact that he could call her his girlfriend. Sure, they had a long way to go, but she was finally his. He smiled and looked out the window.

She was his home.

notes from lottie,

....hi........

sorry for disappearing for like a month i was busy w shit on my other acc but i'm back!!!

but like this shit is so sappy i can't wait for the depressing shit.

anywaysss, hope u enjoyed!

comment and vote!

love ya,

- lottie.

published: 3/29/24