Chapter 56

"Liliana, I just don't get why you can't tell me what's going on." Jackson sighs in frustration as we talk on the phone. We've been having this same argument for the past week since I quit without giving him an explanation or any idea why.

"Baby I will tell you eventually, but right now I just need you to trust me." I sigh.

"How about you trust me. If there's a logical reason that you've been so secretive and that you quit your job, I don't understand why you can't tell me. Your fiance, the man you're planning to spend the rest of your life with."

"Jackson, I will tell you once I can and everything will make sense." I say.

"Whatever." He mumbles before hanging up.

"Great." I mumble before walking back out to the waiting area to join everybody else. We're at Crest Capital, where we're doing our pitch to try to get them to partner with us to buy the hospital.

"This idea better work, because if I keep keeping secrets from Jackson my wedding will not be happening, because I won't have a groom." I sigh.

"This is all going to work out." Derek assures me.

"Okay, so this time, I'll do the peds and trauma stuff first." Arizona says, beginning to explain the plan we've come up with.

"And then Lily and I will go into the neuro." Derek says and I nod my head in agreement.

"Okay, can somebody else do the closing? I, I was awful last time we practiced." Callie sighs.

"No, you were fine." Arizona assures her.

"We really want to end on my flop sweats." Callie asks "Derek, you do the closing." She says and he nods his head in agreement.

"I'm sorry. It should be just a few more minutes. Can I get you any water or coffee?" The receptionist asks.

"No, no, I'm fine." Everyone says in unison except for Cristina and I.

"Coffee." We say. "And a bagel or something" Cristina adds making everyone look at her.

"I'm starving. This meeting was supposed to start half an hour ago." Cristina says.

"Okay, he's a billionaire. One of his minutes is worth 40 of ours." Callie reasons.

"I can't believe we got this meeting in the first place." Arizona says.

"Yeah. Nice job, Stan." Derek says patting him on the back.

"I really believe Julian Crest is our guy. He made all his money in late-stage internet mobile. Medical tech is the one area he doesn't have a foothold. Your focus on applied research, it's right up his alley." Stan explains as we listen.

"Yeah, well someone should buy him a watch." Cristina says

"Who are you calling?" I ask Meredith as I see her putting her phone to her ear.

"Heather Brooks. Mousy." Meredith answers referring to Heather's nickname.

"Wait. What are you doing? What happened to not talking to anyone?" Cristina frowns.

"I left patients behind. She's keeping an eye on them. I haven't said anything to her. I'm giving her advice." Meredith reply's.

"We're all set if you'll follow me." The receptionist says as she brings the coffee and the bagel setting it on the table.

"Oh, okay." We all say standing up.

"Leave it." I say to Cristina when I see her reaching for the bagel, before we walk into the office.

"You are investing in an institution, a reputation, a legacy, but Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital is worth more than its past. Our plan is to build on that reputation, to make Seattle Grace a place where medical innovation is developed and delivered to the patients who need it. That is our plan. That is the future of Seattle Grace and we invite you to be a part of it." Derek explains as we explain our plan for the hospital.

"Neat. We'll, uh, let you know." The young man we're pitching our idea to says.

"I thought you were taking us to Julian Crest, not his day care center!" Derek yells as we stand outside the building after our meeting.

"You don't just walk in and talk to a guy like Julian Crest. There are hoops to jump through. Those junior execs like us, they pass us up to his business development guys. We impress them, then we see the man himself." Stan explains.

"Oh. Will they do this before or after their naptime?" I say sarcastically.

"You were golden in there. There's no way you don't make it to the next level. I'm telling you, any second now this phone is gonna ring." Stan says holding the phone up as we all stare at it. "Really, any second now." He says looking back at the phone as we continue staring at it hoping it'll ring and eventually it does, so Stan answers.

"Yes, I understand." Stan says.

"What are they saying?" Callie asks Stan as he paces around on the phone and he puts his finger to his mouth, signaling for her to be silent.

"Yes, yes, yes. I understand." Stan says as he continues to talk on the phone.

"Understand? What do you understand?" Derek asks.

"Thank you. Thank you very much for your time." Stan says before hanging up "You guys, you were kind of rude." Stan says scolding us.

"Just get to the point and give us a answer." I say.

"Yeah, what did they freaking say?" Arizona yells.

"I'm sorry. You got the meeting." Stan smiles surprising us.

"Oh, yes!" we all cheer excitedly. We all go back to the waiting area to wait for our next meeting and I excuse myself, so I can call Jackson.

"What?" He snaps as he answers the phone.

"Jackson, don't act like that." I sigh.

"Don't tell me how to act, you don't tell me anything else."

"I was just calling to check in on you and see how your days going." I sigh.

"How's my day going?" He asks sarcastically. "Well my fiance is hiding things from me, the hospital I'm working at may be closing down soon, and my moms been trying to convince me to move to back to Boston all day."

"She's what?" I say a little louder then I intended.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Worry about whatever it is taking up all your time these days." He says before hanging up. I really hope we can get everything figured out, because I can't keep this a secret much longer if it's going to cause problems with Jackson. A little while passed before its time for our meeting and we go back to the board room to meet with the board of the company and tell them our plans.

"This would restore Seattle Grace Mercy West as the region's leader in adult and pediatric trauma medicine." Arizona explains "Dr.Shepherd." She says signaling for Derek to speak.

"Yeah, we'll lead the way in neuroscience. A dedicated research institute for the advances of brain mapping, with applications to the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease..." Derek says.