"I won't lie to you. The surgery is going to be long and difficult, but we have an extremely capable surgical team," Burke said to Annie and her mum back in the hospital room.
"Am I going to die?" Annie questioned.
"There's always a possibility," Emma replied with a subtle smile.
"But if we don't do the surgery..." Burke said, trailing off.
"I'll definitely die. I guess I'll have the surgery," Annie said, sharing a knowing look with her mum.
"I think that is a very wise decision," Burke nodded.
"On one condition," Annie added, pointing towards Alex. "I don't want him there."
"I'm sorry, Annie. Did I upset you in some way?" Alex asked, scrunching his eyebrows slightly, his tone feigning innocence, which made Emma roll her eyes.
"If he's in the surgery, I'm not having it," Annie announced, pausing for a second and then turning to Alex, "That's how I live with myself."
Emma stood there with a smug look on her face and raised eyebrows. Annie had overheard everything Alex said about her.
"That's no problem, Miss Connors," Burke said, turning to leave and gesturing for the interns to follow him.
"Can Emma be in the surgery room with me, please?" Annie asked before they left the room.
"Of course, she can," Burke said, turning around. "I'll bring her right back so she can prepare you for surgery."
Once out of the room, Burke turned to Emma and Alex, a disapproving expression on his face.
"What the hell did you do?" Burke asked as Emma and Alex stood in front of him.
"Nothing, I-I don't know, man," Alex stuttered.
"The mic," Emma said, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on Alex.
"What?" Burke asked as Alex's eyes widened in realization.
"The mic in the CT room. It must have been on. This jackass was talking shit about her," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"Language," Burke warned Emma, who just returned him a defiant look. "If anything goes wrong, anything, you are 60% more likely to be sued if you've offended the patient. 60%," Burke warned Alex.
"I never would have said any of that stuff... The mic shouldn't have been on. I didn't realize she could hear me," Alex said, shaking his head.
"Well, now you won't realize your chance to scrub in," Emma told him, glaring at him.
"Dr. Grey," Burke warned her, but Emma just shot him a look. "But she's right. You're banned from the OR, mine or anyone else's, all week," Burke told Alex.
Alex turned to look at Emma in disbelief. About to say something, Burke looked at him, and Emma gave him a fake sad look, putting her lip out in a pout.
"I got the history on the tumour. It's been growing for a year and a half. A year and a half. It's the first time she's even had it looked at. It's like she's fatally lazy," Cristina informed them as she walked up.
Burke shook his head and before walking away, he asked Emma to prep Annie for surgery.
"Why doesn't she get banned?" Alex yelled after the attending.
--
Emma walked into Annie's room a couple of hours later, a gentle knock preceding her entrance. The atmosphere in the room was a mix of tension and anticipation, and Annie looked up as Emma entered.
