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situation with their baby, Allison felt the stares and she wanted nothing more than to just disappear. Her belly was growing and she is getting closer to her due date, making both her and Jackson nervous. Allison had her daily phone calls with Derek, who was worried about Meredith not showing up for her weekend visit to D.C. which Meredith later revealed she was alone in a hotel room by herself without the kids for three days.

Allison and Amelia stood on stage, the residents seated in front of them. Amelia began with the introductions before showing a picture of Herman's tumor on the screen for them to see.

"This is a massive grade IV astrocytoma." Allison pointed at the screen behavior, which showed three scans of the tumor.

"I want you to take a look at it. Really look. Look at its size, look at the way it invades healthy tissue. Look at its vasculature. It is blood and tissue and flesh." Amelia explained. The two neurosurgeons lectured the residents about the tumor that they were planning to operate.

***

Allison slid herself to a seat next to Meredith. Callie looked at Arizona and Herman laughing together, "Just look at them."

Allison raised a brow, "Who?"

"Arizona and Herman." Callie said, her gaze not leaving the two doctors across the cafeteria. "They're practically joined at the hip."

"Well, she is Herman's fellow." Maggie reminded her, "Isn't she sort of supposed to follow Herman around?"

"They're laughing all the time, and Arizona seems so happy—like really happy." Callie sighed.

"So?" Alex shrugged.

"You seem happy...ish." Meredith turned to face their friend, who sipped on her drink.

"Why do you even care?"

"I obviously don't. I'm just making conversation." Callie responded to Alex, she was lying through her teeth. Arizona's laugh could be heard once again causing Callie to speak up, "Don't you guys think it's weird how they're always together?"

"They're not always together." Allison pointed out, but it was a lie, they were always together but it was understandable. Arizona was Herman's fellow and friend.

Alex shrugged, "They do bunk up together sometimes."

"What?" Callie asked, not liking the sound of that. Allison and Meredith sent a warning look to Alex.

"Robbins has been crashing with Herman. She hasn't slept at the house all week." Alex said, slurping on his drink.

"Of course he doesn't mean it like that." Allison assured Callie, "They are not together, together and you know that, they're just friends."

"Arizona used to hate her, now they're having sleepovers?" Callie questioned.

"Well, it's a good thing, right, that they're getting along?" Maggie asked speaking up, "Herman's not exactly the warmest person, so—"

Amelia grabbed a chair and sat on it as she looked between Allison and Meredith, "When either of you talk to Derek tonight, would you ask him something for me without saying it's for me?"

"What are—"

"Just ask him what he'd use to avoid disrupting the gratiolet radiations off the geniculate body of the thalamus." Amelia tightly smiled at them, hoping they would do her this one favor.

Meredith narrowed her eyes, "Why don't you ask him that?"

Amelia shook her head, "No, no. That's the point of either one of you asking him. I cannot ask him for help, and I can't listen to the smugness in his voice."

"Amelia Shepherd, you don't need your brother when you perfectly have me." Allison eyed her friend, "Come on, I know what he needs, and what he would do. I was trained by him, feeling kind of offended right now."

***

"If there's edema, it's post-fixed. It's too narrow, too close to the fornix. If I hit the hypothalamus, game over." Allison shook her head as she, Stephanie and Amelia stood inside radiology staring at Herman's latest scans.

"Do you want some food?" Stephanie asked her, hoping she would want to eat.

"Edwards, have I figured this out?" Allison questioned, her back facing the resident.

"No."

"Then I don't want any food." Allison sighed, she turned to look at Amelia, "This has never been done before, all these steps in this order on this kind of tumor has never been done before. Who do we think we are?

"We can do this." Amelia assured the pregnant doctor in the room, trying to convince herself as well. "We can do this."

"We should have called Derek." Allison shook her head, "I should have told him."

"Allison, we can freaking do this." Amelia assured her once again, even if she wasn't sure herself,  "We are badass neurosurgeons and we can do it, so get it together Dr. Avery."

***

"Imagine picking up little grains of salt while wearing oven mitts." Amelia tried to say an example to everyone in the auditorium listening to Allison and Amelia's presentation, "That is what we're doing inside somebody's brain, but once we place the final seed, well...it's a smooth sailing."

"We are done." Allison said, as everyone clapped to the two surgeons on stage. Allison clapped at Amelia, who has cracked herself to work on this case. "We'd like to open things up to a few questions."

"Are you both nervous?" Jo asked the two of them, after Amelia called on her.

"We'd be crazy not to be. We're nervous but we're also excited." Amelia nodded, pointing to the screen behind her, "This surgery is history."

"What you're both describing is seven different surgeries all using the hardest techniques you've ever tried. How long do you both anticipate the entire surgery actually taking?" Webber asked them, especially worried for Allison who was pregnant.

"Eighteen hours." Allison nodded, she wasn't sure if she would be able to survive eighteen hours in surgery, especially since she gets tired easily, but she only hoped she could.

Callie raised her hand and began to speak, "Will you two get help?"

Allison furrowed her brows, "Sorry?"