On Call | Grey's Anatomy // Book 3 // COMPLETED

1 | Thrive

You know your tailbone? It used to be a tail. That pink part in the corner of your eye? It used to be a third eyelid. The appendix used to help us digest tough foods. Now it does nothing. The story of our evolution is the story of what we leave behind, what we've discarded. Our bodies only hang onto the things we absolutely need. The things we no longer have use for...we give up...we let go.


The worst thing to wake up to in the morning is an alarm clock. There is nothing nice about it. It's loud and makes you jump, but...it's effective.

Yawning, I stretched my legs out on my bed before standing up and opening the curtains in my room. The sun was shining and it was going to be a good day. Grabbing some clothes, I put them in the bathroom for my shower before I went to start some coffee. Entering my kitchen, I saw someone standing by my sink. "HOLY SHIT!" I screamed.

The person turned at the sound of my scream and my heart started to slow when I realized it was only Owen. Then it sped back up again...because Owen was in my house at five in the morning.

"It's just me." Owen held his hands up.

I brought my hands to my face, "No! No, no, no, no."

"What?" he chuckled as he walked over to me, holding out a cup of coffee.

Taking the coffee, I took a sip to hopefully calm down a little. "Did we-" I started.

"No!" Owen almost yelled, "Oh, God, no. I mean, not that it would be bad if we did because you are a lovely woman. Very beautiful and...but...we only kissed and then the taxi left so you said I could crash on the couch. Again...I don't mean any offense. We just...because-"

"You love Cristina." I finished.

Owen nodded, "Right! And you love..."

"I love surgery." I took another sip of coffee and headed towards the bathroom, "Besides, there's a rule against fraternization. Haven't you heard?"

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Walking into the hospital that morning was like a game of Where's Waldo. Except I was Waldo and I was hiding from someone who probably wasn't even looking for me. Although, I should have known that it wouldn't last long when I walked up to check on one of the Trauma patients from earlier that day and saw Owen talking with Jo.

"So today, you're on Trauma, and this is your patient." Owen pointed into the room across from us, "Mr. Donald Mercer is an organ donor. He was injured in an MVC this morning. We're waiting the six hours to confirm the diagnosis of brain death."

Jo nodded, "Okay."

"Now, you will make sure that his organs are in optimum condition for donation, and then you will get to scrub in on the organ recovery." Owen explained, "You got it?"

Jo smiled wide, "But that's like six surgeries in one!"

"Trauma's not so bad now, huh?" Owen asked.

Jo smirked as she turned and walked off. "She's filled out all the donor paperwork." April exited the I.C.U. room, "She just wants a couple of minutes with him before she starts making arrangements."

Owen nodded, "Of course."

"Excuse me, uh, doctor?" one of the men walked out of the room, "This isn't the right time for this, I'm-I'm sure. I mean, there probably isn't one. But I-I feel like it can't wait."

"How can we help?" I turned to him.

"Donnie had a kidney transplant about four months ago." the man told us.

"Yeah, we knew about that," Owen said.

"That was me." he added, "I donated my kidney for him."

April shifted her weight, "Wow. That's...he was lucky to have friends like you."

"He was. Yeah. Uh, amazing." he nodded, "So, um...I was wondering about the kidney...can I get that back?"

I stared at him before both April and I turned to Owen, looking for answers since he was the Chief.

"Three days I'm suspended from surgery." Alex complained and looked to Meredith as we walked down the hall, "You bang a co-worker, and you get a house and two kids. I do it, and I get suspended."

Meredith put her hand on Alex's shoulder, "I know. I'm a hypocrite, I've heard."

"I'm supposed to do a biliary diversion." Alex said, "I like this kid. I've been treating him for years. I want to make sure it's done right. But do me a favour. Talk to Hunt. See if he'll start my stupid sentence tomorrow."

Meredith nodded, "I will. I'm gonna talk to him."

"Thank you." Alex started to walk off, "You're a hypocrite and you suck!"

"Hey, did you hear, uh, grumpy and hairball found a baby in the trash?" Cristina joined us as we stopped off at one of the nurses stations, talking about Leah and Stephanie I assumed.

"Emma Marling came by to get a key for the trailer." Meredith told her.

Cristina gave her a look, "Why are you telling me this?"

"It's gossip. I'm gossiping." Meredith explained.

"Oh, okay." Cristina put her chart into one of the bins, "Shoot."

"To get her things because her and Owen are through." Meredith said and my heart stopped for a second.

Cristina raised an eyebrow, "Through? Why?"

Meredith shook her head, "I don't know. She didn't say. But I don't think it was her idea. I can't tell if you're happy or sad."

"Neither can I." Cristina sighed before taking off.

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Heading home that night, I ran into Owen. "I've never seen you so much in one day." I walked up to him, "Never so early, either."

"Let's, uh, pretend that never happened," Owen said.

I nodded, "Agreed. Alcohol is such a bitch."

"Also agreed." Owen chuckled as Cristina ran out of the hospital and I took off.

Getting into my car, I turned on the heater and warmed up my hands a little before driving home. As I pulled into my driveway, I saw someone standing at my door. Parking the car and getting out, the figure turned to me; this being my second mysterious person of the day.

The person stepped into the light and I saw a face I thought I would never see again. "Hey." Sam sheepishly smiled, "It's good to see you again."


Why does it feel so good to get rid of things...to unload...to let go? Maybe because when we see how little we actually need to survive...it makes us realize how powerful we actually are. To strip down to only what we need. To hang on only to what we can't do without. What we need...not just to survive...but to thrive.