9.08

"D-do I really have to?" Helena scrunched up her face, gently being pushed by Cahill to in front of a backdrop.

"Just smile, it'd be over before you know it." Alana told her, the camera starting to flash in front of Helena. At that, the small girl smiled, her eyes a bit widened and panicked. "Ok, great, just maybe look less like a deer in the headlights?"

Trying to relax her face, Helena smiled a bit more naturally, her dimples coming out. Then, she turned to the woman. "Look, Dr. Cahill, respectfully, I really don't wanna be the... what do you call it?"

"Brand ambassador! And you haven't been appointed yet. You're just a very strong contender." She argued, as the camera kept flashing. "Young, good looking, good with kids... Just what the buyers want."

"Can I go now?" The short girl tried. "I have surgery, my job."

"Fine, but you're gonna have some public relations reps following you around tomorrow."

"Ok, yeah, fine, just... I have GERD surgery to get done." She smiled uncomfortably, leaving the room.

——

"Brand ambassador?" Mark questioned, his brows furrowing. "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea. Just that it requires a lot of pictures and smiling. Probably takes time away from actual surgery..." She sighed, flipping through her book in their couch. Then, she gasped, slamming it shut and looking at her husband.

"No, Lee, no." Mark shook his head, raising a finger. "I don't know what you're thinking, but you have that evil glint in your eyes that tells me it's not good."

"Mark." She started, her face dead serious. "It's a job that requires pictures.  And smiling. You like taking pictures and smiling."

"Oh." Mark let out, tilting his head. "I like taking pictures and smiling."

"If they really want a Sloan, let's give them a Sloan. At least will be free."

——

"So I assume you're familiar with the case, Edwards?" Helena questioned, the intern nodding.

"Yes, were on Brian. Transgender patient in for mastectomy." Stephanie nodded, as they entered the room.

At the sight in front of them, Helena froze. Mark was posing with the boy and his girlfriend, a photographer giving some instruction. "Great. Now if you could just move a little closer to her... to ."

"Oh, I-I'm the him, she's the her." The patient explained. "Well, I was born a her and Jess as a him, I get it's confusing..."

"Uh, good morning. I just came by to see how everything is going, I know you're now with Dr. Sloan, since you're 18." Helena shot them a quick smile, her brows furrowed in confusion. "What's happening exactly?"

"Oh, sweetheart. He's trailing me, it's for the brand ambassador thing. We'll be done in a sec..." He informed, as Helena shifted on her feet, muttering.

"Just when I thought I'd gotten rid of them..."

——

After leaving the patient room, the couple walked side by side, their interns behind them.

"Look, I'm just saying, I love working with you, I just don't love that it comes with paparazzi..." Helena muttered, Mark chuckling as they arrived at the nurses station.

"Every time I touch this thing, it deletes another patient..." Meredith muttered at her tablet in frustration, making Cristina ask.

"It deletes a patient?"

"I did the exact same thing this morning." Jo offered. "Let me see."

"Who is the stalker?" Meredith furrowed her brows at the people following Mark.

"Uh, it's for hospital's the brand ambassador. A face for the brochure." He informed.

"And why are there no women in the running?" The blond questioned.

"Oh, there was. I turned them down." Cristina informed. "This face only goes on the Nobel brochure."

"I did, too." Helena hummed in agreement. "I offered them Mark instead."

"And here we have a fully centralized electronic record system." Alana announced to the buyers touring the hospital, approaching the nurses station. "Everything you need to know about any client at any time."

"Client?" Helena furrowed her brows, a bit put off at the use of the work.

"Oh, efficient. It's be more efficient if it didn't keep deleting my patients." Meredith told them.

"Sing it, Grey." Callie called out from the other side of the nurses station.

——

"Pegasus, racing you to a brighter tomorrow." A video played on the computer, in front of Callie and Helena.

"Oh, I'm gonna hurl." The ortho doctor let out.

"Click there where it says hospitals." Helena pointed to the screen, Callie complying.

"Holly carp." The tallest woman exclaimed. "They must own half the hospitals in the country."

Humming, Helena added. "They're the ones who bought Portland Gen last year. I used to volunteer there as a teen, I think they fired a lot of the staff, changed everything. It's kinda sad."

"Hey." Arizona greeted with a smile.

"Hey, look at this." Callie nodded towards the screen. "'Hand in hand, we'll walk together. Partners in the road to your brighter tomorrow.'"