56. Finding a Way

I am a hormone casserole!

-Callie Torres

"Wasn't our appointment scheduled at 1:40?" Emily asked, barging into an O.B. room, "It's only 1:15." Aria was sitting there, arms crossed and hair tied up in a lazy bun. Callie was already in there with Mark, Arizona and another blonde sitting in the doctor's stool. "Oh. What happened?"

"I might be miscarrying."

"Aria, you're not miscarrying," Callie sighed, leaning on the back of the exam table as Mark rubbed his face.

"It's an ectopic pregnancy," Aria suggested and the blonde shook her head, snapping on a pair of gloves.

"Could it be a blighted ovum?" Emily asked, standing beside Mark who kissed her hair.

"It's not a molar pregnancy, is it?"

"Aria, do you have celiac and fail to mention it to me?" The older Torres looked at her sister who shook her head. Worry was etched identically on both their faces.

"Wow. We got a lot of doctors in the room," the blonde remarked, twisting so she was in between the woman's legs. Callie stood up straight as Arizona sighed.

"Before you even touch my sister, who are you, what are your credentials and what are you about to do?"

"Lucy Fields, Harvard M.D., duke OB-GYN resident, now maternal-fetal medicine fellow at Seattle Grace Mercy West." The blonde paused with a smile, "Damn good at my job. Who the hell are you?"

"Calliope Torres, Botswana Peace Corps, now orthopedic attending at Seattle Grace Mercy West." When Lucy turned her gaze to the other two, Emily smiled awkwardly.

"We had, uh, an appointment later today. But we're still… related to the situation. Kind of. He… uh paged me." Pointing at Mark, she saw his mouth drop open as Arizona hid her smile by staring at the floor.

"Lesbian lover, manwhore best friend I used to sleep with, his wife," Callie supplied and everyone flushed as Lucy raised her eyebrows. "This is my sister who showed up after she disowned me. We all don't know how to feel."

"Ah, so everyone's a bit wigged out." She turned the monitor so Aria could see before letting out a sigh, "Look, there's your baby. There's the yolk sac. Looks good. You're good." Aria jutted out her bottom lip in stubbornness. "It's probably fine."

"But there's no heartbeat. Shouldn't there be a heartbeat? What if my baby's dead?"

"Oh, well, it's probably too early for that. I'll do blood work but I'm pretty sure everything's okay. Just take it easy for the next few days, drink a lot of water, no tampons, no intercourse. Uh, call me if the bleeding gets worse or if you experience pain. In the meantime, live your life while you still can." Standing, Lucy took off her gloves and nodded at Aria before glancing at Emily. "And I'll see you soon."

.

After catching up on Bailey's surgery, she slid her phone back into her pocket. The exam had been cancelled - Aria was still camping out on the exam table and Dr. Fields had said that it wasn't even necessary. Looking at Aria's scans, she looked at her notes. Neoadjuvant chemo was out of the question - any chemo was, really. She was in her first trimester, things had a high chance of going wrong.

"Think of anything?" Mark asked and she turned around. The hallway was much brighter than the dark room she was in and she blinked, trying to get used to it. He walked in, a hint of a smile on his face as she sighed. Crossing her arms, she shook her head and chewed on her lip.

"No." Rubbing her arms, he kissed her forehead and grimaced at the scans as well.

"You two will think of something. You're like Ortho Goddesses." Turning to the scans again, she just let herself be lost in thought as he wrapped her in a hug from behind and pressed a kiss to her neck and behind her ear. "You'll think of something," he repeated, looking at the scans too. "Amputation?"

"High risk of cancer coming back."

"Chemo-"

"Wants to keep the baby." Feeling frustrated, she felt tears spring at her eyes and clenched her fist. "Not gonna cry, not gonna cry, not gonna cry," she whispered to herself. Angry tears leaked out of her eyes as Mark hugged her tighter.

"Are you crying?"

"I just feel really useless right now," she whispered, voice thick and he nodded. "I feel… like I can't do anything. I don't feel like a doctor."

"Hey, you'll figure it out, okay? Shh," he murmured near her ear, rocking her back and forth as she twisted around and squeezed him close. "Okay, okay. I can't breathe," he gasped dramatically but she didn't let go. "You'll find a way."

"Thank you." She pulled back and wiped at her eyes as their pagers blared. It was a 911 from the room Aria was in. Sharing a wide-eyed look, the two surgeons bolted out of the room and up the stairwell in record time as they nearly crashed into patients and nurses. Lungs heaving, Emily kept going as Mark trailed behind. Her times of running were not yet behind her as she reached the room first and swung in.

"Is she okay? What happened?"

They had to get cultures and the most powerful ultrasound the hospital had when Aria, a mess of hormones, started bawling her eyes out, rambling about how she messed everything up - she couldn't mess up this baby too.

.

"What is that?" Emily scrunched up her nose as Arizona poured the goo into a cup. "Oh, my god. Theresa is already telling me to mix celery and apple with kale for some 'delicious' smoothie."

"Well, she's right. This will provide the baby with nutrients." Mark sipped on his coffee and she looked at him jealously. "Ugh, I'm going to Mer's." Heading for the door, she felt Callie wrap her hand around her wrist. Dark bags were under her eyes and it was clear the ortho surgeon had been up all night thinking of a way to treat her sister.

"I'll drive you," was all the woman said and together, they made their way to the garage. Callie sighed, ignited the engine and Emily couldn't help her concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked after a moment. Callie's knuckles were blanching as they gripped the wheel. "Callie-"

"No, of course I'm not alright!" Callie yelled, making the brunette flinch. "My baby sister turns up pregnant and with cancer after she disowned me and I'm supposed to help her. How am I supposed to turn her away? I can't treat this! She wants to keep the baby and put her up for adoption. Did I tell you that?" The Latina turned her miserable gaze onto her student, "Arizona's back and she says she wants to stay. She says she's going to stay but the last time she said that, she left.."

"No…"

"She doesn't want a kid." By now, all the stress and frustration was pouring out in tears. Emily couldn't tell if she was talking about her sister or Arizona. "I do. I really do and I don't know if I can handle her leaving again,"

"Let's drive, Callie." Emily cleared her throat, trying to distract her. "Arizona said coffee isn't good for me. Listed a whole bunch of side effects and now Mark's banned me from coffee." Sighing, she felt the car jolt as Callie drove to Meredith's house.

"Mhm,"

"I'm having the worst withdrawal of my life."

"Yeah." There was a silence for a long time, "Aria's my little sister. If I shun her, it'll be like what she did. And how can you make someone feel so awful?"

"What if we just amputate the leg? No chemo after - it's only a chance of returning."

"A high one."

"Better than nothing. Should it be an option?" Callie shook her head.

"This might not even fix it. I won't cut off my sister's leg when there's no point."

"There is a point. Callie, if we cut the leg, we can buy her the weeks she needs to get to the second trimester. The cancer might not even come back." She knew they were good points - Mark had agreed last night as they laid in their bed, sweaty and naked. Of course, that could've been a way to prevent her from crying again but she knew by the earnest light in his eyes that it wasn't. "It's either that or we turn her away."

"We'll take new scans." That was a start.

"Thank you. And Callie—" The Latina took her eyes off the road when the stop light was red— "I'm just trying to help."

"I know."

.

Callie agreed to the amputation and now the next thing was to approach the idea with Aria.

"Do you have an idea?" the woman asked on the bed and Callie nodded, turning to Emily.

"Yes. Dr. Moore?"

"A below-the-knee amputation. Since you're only four to five weeks away from the second trimester, we're hoping this will give us time for you to develop your baby and then your ortho oncologist will begin your treatment on chemotherapy."

"Amputation? Like, chop off my leg." Aria looked towards her sister who uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Hope? So the cancer might come back anyway."

"Yes, but it's our best shot."

"No."

"Aria-"

"There's no way I am chopping off my leg. Or, letting you guys chop off my leg." Emily sighed, clicking her pen.

"Then we start chemo but that means your baby will die. Aria, you are backed in a corner and coming from your sister, I think this is our best shot at saving both of you." Callie sat on the edge of her sister's bed. "I'm not shutting you out, but you aren't making it easy. Please,"

"I know an amputation is a big change-"Emily began only for Aria to pin her with a glower. Undaunted, she was about to continue when the patient cut her off.

"Damn right it is! That's my leg!"

"-but prosthetics are advanced. You'll be able to walk and do everything you normally do."

"No! We have to find another way."

"Let's just… think about it." Callie stood, refusing to look at her sister as Aria trained her gaze on her. "I'll come back in a bit and you can give me your answer then, alright?"

"Callie, I want to keep my leg."

"I know, Ari, but we have to compromise." With that, the attending walked out of the room. Waiting until her mentor was completely gone, she approached Aria. The young Latina grabbed a magazine, ripping it open with more force than it could withstand. A page tore and Emily gently pushed the magazine away from Aria's face.

"Think about it. Long and hard. It's either your life or the baby's. No one else will take this risk and she's only doing it because she's your sister." With that, Emily left, pocketing her pen as she went.

.

"An amnio? Why can't we do an amnio?" Emily demanded as the two walked through the hospital. She triumphantly held a cup of coffee after having argued with Mark over it the night before.

"They come with their own risks and you're young. You're in good shape." He eyed her ass as if to prove her point and she rolled her eyes. "There's no point."

"Better safe than sorry."

"No. It's a big needle in your uterus. I don't like it," he said, "and that's final. I have surgery." Stopping, she flung her arms to the side in exasperation.

"Mark! You come back here." He didn't stop until he was around the corner as Cristina came up to her.

"Having trouble with McSteamy?"

"Oh, that's an old one." Emily pretended to wince, "Brings back the times." She walked with her friend to the cafeteria. "You'd think he would listen to the human incubator."

"Yeah, I heard him. Daddy's mad," Cristina sang and Emily snorted in laughter, smacking her. "Daddy Sloan is making a bunch of tiny Sloans and you're his human incubator."

"Haha, I am laughing," she said in the flattest voice she could muster. "You're glad I'm happy. Admit it." She wiggled her hips towards her as Owen walked past them. He greeted his wife and her friend before continuing.

"Yay. Sloans are happy, I'm jumping with joy." Cristina pumped her fist in fake enthusiasm.

"So, amnio or no? I'm saying yeah. I should get a special vote."

"Yeah. You're pushing a watermelon out of your vagina. An amnio isn't even that bad. I think your husband's just scared of needles."

"Me too. It's truly unfortunate he's a doctor."

"Yes. Yes, it is."

.

"Mrs. Webber is in the hospital?"

"Mm, yeah." He bit into his apple, refusing to look at her. Her grip on her cup tightened, the plastic bending.

"Is she okay?" she pursued and he shook her off. "Mark! Is it really about that amnio?" Scowling, she turned away to see Alex and Meredith eating already. Cristina was just getting up and the two friends exchanged greetings before the cardio savant left the cafeteria. Meredith squinted at her as she continued to rant underneath her breath. When Emily noticed, she asked, "Are you still blind?"

"She is." Alex stole another fry from Meredith's plate. "The hot O.B. doesn't believe that you're blind so if you could talk to her, maybe she'll believe it."

"Whatever." Alex smirked before wiggling his eyebrows, and getting up. Emily avoided Meredith's eyes, sipping on her soda with a loud slurp.

Suddenly, Mark sat across from her and the two spouses stared off while Meredith ate her fries in between. His face was dark and she stared flatly at him, face emotionless. "There's a chance of miscarriage."

"It's lower with the O.B.s we have."

"It's a risk no matter who does it," pointed out the man and she clenched her jaw. Leaning back into her chair, she set the soda onto the table and glared at him eating his stupid apple.

"Well, it's my choice. I'm the incubator."

"I get a say."

"My body, my rules!" Mark sighed, grabbing a napkin and wrapping it around his apple core. "Look, it doesn't even matter. I've considered your opinion, and my choice is made. Okay?"

"Grey-" Meredith looked up at her name and the brunette surgeon held up a hand.

"No! You don't get to bring in third parties or I'll bring in Arizona."

"This isn't a joke! I'm a parent!" For some reason, his guttural voice completely hit her in her core and when their eyes met, Meredith from where she sat saw the sparks between them. It was disgusting.

"Well, Daddy seems mad." Emily knew she was testing him, smiling coyly as he shot up with narrowed eyes. "You know, maybe we can talk about after my nap, you know? Because I'm tired, carrying a baby." Getting the idea, a dark grin etched itself onto Mark's face as Emily winked at Meredith. "Bye, Mer. Super tired."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." The blonde squinted after them as Mark grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her into the closest on-call room.

.

"We're getting an amnio," Emily murmured as Mark kissed her beginning bulge. She smiled tenderly, patting his head as he continued to brush his lips against her abdomen. "I considered what you thought. I considered everything you said, and I still want an amnio." His eyes met hers and he smiled slightly, nuzzling her skin.

"Okay." He returned to snuggling against her middle and she sighed, running her hands through his hair. "As long as my side was considered."

"You're the dad. Your side will always be considered," she whispered and she felt his smile against her stomach. Something warm filled her up as she laid down flat, staring up at the ceiling. She was content as could be, lying in a bed with her husband. The man she'd spend the rest of her life with.

A/N: Edited - November 21, 2018

Next: Kicks and a visit.