19

walks into the screening room Derek paged her and Lexie to, her best friend beside her. As they enter, Hunt exits, sending the two of them a quick nod and smile.

"Yikes." Lexie winces, staring at some of the head CTs before them. Eleanora leans in, her eyes dancing across the tumors before her. "These are intense."

"They're beautiful." Eleanora corrected her, Derek sending a proud look her way. She glanced back at her Attending, crossing her arms. "Are these our patients?"

"They will be." Derek told her, both Eleanora and Lexie scrunching their noses up in confusion. "I went looking for patients who were told no by every Doctor they've seen."

"So what are you gonna do?" Lexie asked, Eleanora perking up. She knew where this was going.

"Tell them yes." Derek told her, sending Eleanora a grin. "Tell them I will do my best. It's not just me, it's both of you, too. You ready?"

"Yes!" Eleanora whispered, punching the air by her side. She laid her eyes in the tumor right in front of her, pointing. "I want in on that one."

Lexie, however, wasn't as easily excited as Eleanora. Not yet, anyways. Given time, Eleanora was sure she'd be a mini version of her and Derek. That the three of them would just be a trio of the same Neurosurgeon.

She couldn't wait.

"Us?" Lexie asked, stuttering over her words. "I mean, me?! Ella I understand, but ....I.....Yes, of course!"

Derek smiled, sharing a look with Eleanora before motioning towards the papers in Lexie's hand. "What's this?"

"Uh, Justine Campbell's, um, AMA Forms." Lexie told him, Eleanora's brows furrowing as she glanced over at the papers being handed to Derek. "She's leaving against Medical Advice, so-"

"-So you're ready." Derek stated, handing the forms back to Lexie. The younger residents eyes widened a bit, taking the forms.

"What? Why?!"

"Yes. We're saying yes. If you can't get to say yes to a simple surgery that will save her life, how do you expect to tackle that?"

"Oh, no." Eleanora interrupted, moving Derek's hand away from the tumor he was pointing at. "That one is mine. Point at another one."

Derek send her a playful glare before turning to exit, nodding towards the AMA forms in Lexie's hands. "Tear those up. Get her to say yes, and I'll let you jump on one of these. Okay? What do you say?"

Lexie grinned, Eleanora following quickly. "Yes." Lexie stated, a small laugh escaping her.

Derek moved a raised brow to Eleanora, the fifth year beaming. "Of course I say yes. What kind of question is that?"

"Damn right." Derek chuckled, giving both women high fives.

______

scribbles in the margins of her first draft of one of her papers she was publishing soon, popping a carrot in her mouth as April stares at the heart-in-a-box.

"It's kind of soothing." April states, tilting her head. "Like sitting in front of a fish tank."

"It's not a fish tank." Cristina snaps, taking a big, annoyed bite of her salad. Eleanora moves her eyes from the paper in front of her, one brow raised at the annoyance. "It's a key."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meredith asked, face scrunched up in confusion. Eleanora looks over at the heart-in-a-box, tilting her head.

"It's kind of gross. But like, in a cool way."

"Yeah." April snaps her fingers, nodding along to Eleanora. "It's like the SAW movies. Weirdly grotesque but weirdly cool."

"Ask Webber." Cristina told Meredith, obviously fed up. "He came in here, trashing my wish list, and told me heart-in-a-box was the key to fixing it. Well, I'll tell you something, she's not talking."

Eleanora stifles a giggle as Cristina turns her glare to the heart, leaning forward. "Heart-in-a-box, what should I put on my wish list? Heart-in-a-box, what should I put on my sandwich?"

After a few beats of silence, Cristina shrugs. "See? Nothing."

Eleanora and April burst into some laughter, Meredith turning to the organ. "Heart-in-a-box, what's wrong with George's mom?"

"Mama O'Malley?" Eleanora asked, her eyes widening a bit as she sits up. "What's wrong with George's mom?"

"Who's George?" April asks and Alex and Jackson walk in. Eleanora stiffens a bit, her eyes going down to her container of carrots. Cristina and Meredith give her worried looks, Cristina sighing sadly before answering April.

"He used to work here. He died."

"Whoa." Jackson sat down at the couch with Alex. "Who died?"

"George?" April responded, but her voice still held a hint of questions. She noticed Eleanora's reaction to the name and frowned. "Wait, isn't that Elijah's middle name?"

"And we're talking about that creep because?" Alex asked. Eleanora's head swiveled around to send a heated glare Alex's direction, her voice holding a hint of anger.

"Shut up." She then turned back around, whispering to April. "Yeah, it is."

"Alex, you're an ass. His mom's in the hospital." Meredith snapped, Cristina throwing him a middle finger before giving Eleanora a comforting pat on the back.

"Wow, O'Malley. I haven't thought about him in—" Cristina started, Alex interrupting with his '' voice.