Magic Smile

Chapter 5: Strong Sloan (Part 6)

I stayed in the locker room for a few minutes after Arizona left. I could still smell her vanilla perfume on me. For a split second she made me forget. She made everything bright and shiny even as life was becoming dark and twisty.

Arizona Robbins. Beautiful Arizona Robbins. Attending Arizona Robbins. Head of Fetal Surgery Arizona Robbins. Arizona Robbins who probably has a girlfriend. Either way her smile seemed to stay in the back of my mind the entire walk to my dad's room. It wasn't until I heard mom's voice that I began to remember that my father was currently in a coma.

"This is all my fault!"

"Addie it's not your fault. He's my husband. I'm a neurosurgeon and I didn't see any signs of a tumor!" Her and Lexie were talking loudly, both of their voices hoarse from crying.

"We were talking about getting a gift for y/n. He left to go get it and that's the only reason he left the hospital Lexie."

"Mom this is no ones fault. Besides dad's strong. He'll be okay." I'm not sure who I was trying to convince, them or me, but I somehow spoke with complete confidence.

"Y/n..."

"No mom, he's a Sloan. He'll make it."

"Daddy!" A girl cried. A girl I knew very well, my sister Sofia. She was finally here from New York. Nothing mattered to Sofia other than dad as she ran to him and took his free hand into hers.

None of us dared to make a sound. This was Sofia's moment. After a few minutes she turned to me with tears in her big chocolate brown eyes.

"He's going to be okay. Right y/n?" I said the only thing I could think of and wanted to believe myself.

"Daddy's going to be okay Sof. He's a Sloan."

"Nosotros somos fuertes." She said to me.

"That's right Sof we're strong." She smiled weakly at me and climbed into my lap. We sat in silence just looking at dad. From time to time Sofia would speak and tell me about school, but mostly we just waited. We waited for any sign at all that he was still in there.

Eventually Sofia fell asleep in my lap and I held her close just like Arizona had held me. Sofia needed someone too and if that someone was me I'd gladly be there for her.

"I can take her y/n. I'm sure you're tired after a long shift."

"I'm okay Aunt Callie. I don't mind holding her. Have you gotten a hotel yet?" Callie hung her head, an obvious no. She must've been in too much of a rush to think of everything. And honestly I couldn't even blame her.

"Why don't you and Sof stay with me. I have a whole three bedroom apartment to myself, there's plenty of room."

"Thank you, y/n. I really appreciate that and I'm sure Sofia would love it." Callie and I had been whispering as Lexie had finally fallen asleep and decided it was the right time to leave.

Callie and I walked to my car that mom had brought to the hospital for me. I carefully placed Sofia in the back, she was sound asleep.

The drive was quiet, but not awkward. It had been a long day for all of us and in a few short hours I'd have to start my second shift. I was actually looking forward to working. I needed a challenge that wasn't related to me.

"You know, if you ever want to talk about your dad I'm here y/n."

"Thanks Aunt Callie, but I don't want to talk about it. I have to be here for my siblings and..." I was cut off by my pager going off. It was a page about JJ. His surgery had been pushed when an incoming child trauma took precedence so he was only just getting out of surgery.

I promised I'd be there and I intend to keep that promise!

"Here are the keys to the apartment. Help yourself to anything and everything. Once I check on this patient I'll buy more groceries. Let me know if there's anything specific you need." Callie nodded as she helped Sofia out of the car.

Callie herself was an orthopedic surgeon so she knew when duty called you had to go at a sprint. Not a run considering you could cause more damage, but a sprint no doubt. I quickly drove back to the hospital and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor, the Peds floor.

I had memorized where JJ's room was and found him wide awake and talking. He was looking at his new scans.

"Look Dr. Montgummy-Soan William is gone!" JJ said pointing to where his brand new healthy liver was.

"That's awesome JJ! How do you feel?"

"I feel wheelie tired, but I happy William can't hurt me."

"I'm happy too JJ. How about you and your dad get some sleep and I'll be back tomorrow?" He looked at me quizzically, but agreed none the less. As I was leaving the room I could hear him giggling as he pretended to sleep.

That kid was definitely going to be trouble in the morning.

"I forgot they were going to page you when he woke up. I'm sorry you had to come back so soon." Dr. Robbins was staring at me from the nurses station. Even after a long surgery she looked beautiful. Tired sure, but beautiful still.

"I promised him I'd be here when he woke up. He's not a bother. Thank you though." Dr. Robbins smiled into a yawn as she gave her tablet back to the nurse at the desk.

"Are you going back home before rounds tomorrow?"

"No, I have some family living in my apartment I don't want to wake them. I'll probably just crash in an on call room after ordering some groceries to be delivered tomorrow."

"Do you need a distraction?" I nodded softly, how did she know me so well?

"Follow me Montgomery-Sloan." I followed Dr. Robbins with no hesitation. Before I knew it she was leading me to the NICU. There were only a few babies in the NICU today and most of them looked incredibly tiny.

Dr. Robbins led me to a baby in the far corner of the room.

"This is Benji, his mother surrendered him at a church and they brought him here. He was malnourished, but otherwise alright. He's two months old." I looked down at this beautiful brown eyed boy and saw nothing but a smile.

His smile reminded me of the dimpled blonde next to me. They both shared this innately calming and genuine smile. He was the only baby awake, but he didn't seem to be fussing in any way.

"Why is he still in the NICU? His vitals are stable and he looks healthy." I double checked his stats just to be sure I was right and nodded with confidence to myself.

"He's here because the state is trying to find his father and there aren't any foster homes available or something of that nature. Also he's just a really good baby so there's no rush." Benji wrapped his tiny little fingers around mine and I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips.

"Take a seat y/n." There was a rocking chair right beside Benji's crib. It was rather comfortable for being made of wood with no cushion. Dr. Robbins scooped up Benji and placed him on my chest. He immediately nuzzled into my body. As I felt his little arms wrap around my neck I found Dr. Robbins' eyes and pouted softly at her.

"Just stay here and hold him. He loves the attention and won't give you much trouble." And with that Dr. Robbins was gone. She was in a hurry to leave, but I didn't see her pager go off. I tried to put her out of my mind and just focus on cuddling the beautiful boy.

From time to time Benji would lift his head up from my chest to look at me with his honey eyes and smile only to bury his head back in my neck. Eventually the two of us fell asleep holding each other.

Baby Benji calmed my mind and made my heart swell. He was the cutest little package and I'm sure it was hard for his mother to give him up. I couldn't imagine giving up my child.