sixty-five

she knew that her marriage would face problems of her leaving. She expected to see Jackson in their shared apartment but instead she came to a broken nursery, the things she and Jackson had decorated were destroyed, broken. Every time she'd try to talk to Jackson, he'll be at the hospital working or she'd be working at the hospital. When she's not operating, he is. Their schedules were on opposite ends.

Allison walked towards the O.R. board finding Amelia with Meredith and Maggie. Seconds later Callie joined them as she let out a breath, "Are they here yet? Did I miss it?"

"I almost forgot."

"I can't wait to see the beads of sweat on their freaked out little faces." Callie grinned talking about the new class of interns that were coming in for their first day at the hospital.

"Oh, man. Did I miss it?" Alex walked over to them. Allison shook her head and Alex sighed looking at them, "I want to see someone crap—actually crap."

Allison scrunched her nose and Callie nodded, "Seen it, smelled it. Not as fun as you'd think."

Arizona fast walked over to them as she passed them, "It's happening, the baby chicks and ducks are here!"

The rest began to follow after her, while Allison and Meredith stood there before they walked inside one of the O.R. galleries where Webber was giving his iconic speech to the interns.

"Each of you comes here hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago, you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today you are the doctors." Webber paused, "The five years you spend here as surgical residents will be the best and worst of your lives. They will..." A woman raised her hand causing Webber to frown his brows, "You have a question?"

"Yes. Why?" Webber frowned at his brows and she cleared her throat, "I mean why will these be the best and the worst years of our lives?"

"I-I was getting to that. Um, where was I? Oh, right." Webber continued his speech while the attending and residents mouthed along with him, repeating the same words he told them when they entered one of the O.R. rooms a few years ago, "You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure, two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play it...that's up to you."

"They look stupid." Alex spoke up causing them to laugh.

Meredith looked down at them,"They look like babies."

"Were we ever that young?" Allison asked, looking down at the new interns, not knowing what was expected of them.

Ben nodded, "They're so well rested."

"And stupid." Alex added on again.

"Eager like puppies." Meredith nodded.

"No, not like puppies." Arizona shook her head and corrected her, "Chicks and ducks."

Allison frowned her brows and looked at them, "When did we start calling them that?"

"You both have been gone for a year." Alex reminded them.

"Left to their own devices, they would drown." Arizona commented, all of them looking down at the interns wander around the O.R. oblivious to the fact that they were being watched in the gallery.

"And take the patients down with them." Callie nodded in agreement, "God help us all."

***

Webber had plans on proposing to Catherine during a dinner date, but by the looks of it Catherine had rejected him before he could ask the question. The next day, Catherine made a big extravaganza and proposed to Webber who accepted. Now, their wedding day was here and Jackson met up with his mother at her hotel room, but before then he came across Allison who gave him advice about being the 'maid of honor' before he left. The two having yet to talk about them and their marriage.

Catherine was having her hair and nails done while Jackson sat on the couch munching on cookies and watching a soccer match on the television. "Jackson. Jackson, this is—uh—you are making a mess. What are you doing?"

Jackson held up the cookies he was eating, "Oh, do you want some?"

Catherine shook her head, "Sweetheart, you don't have to be here, really, I'm fine."

"I am supporting you. I'm your maid of honor. April said the job of the maid of honor—support the bride. Keep her company. So I'm supporting, I'm keeping you company." He took another bite off his cookie and nodded, "Allison and Meredith also said that the maid of honor drives the getaway car if you want to make a run for it. So, you know, you want to make a run for it, I'm standing by. Ready to go. Just give me a holler. Until then, we're up on L.A. by four."

"I thought Allison would be with you when you came over." Catherine pointed out, leaning against the couch causing Jackson to stop munching on the cookie, "Is everything okay?"

Jackson sighed, nodding, "Yeah. Fine."

"I know it's a challenge. The woman that ran away for a year is not the same girl that left here. Allison has changed and she left you." Catherine reminded him walking back to her chair to sit down, "It'll be understandable if that created problems." The smartphone chimed causing Catherine to lift herself up from her chair, "Is that Richard? Tell me that he's here. Tell me he's here, finally."

Jackson picked up his phone, immediately getting up, "It's not Richard."

***

"A tunnel on 99 collapsed during rush hour." Owen informed everyone, who had gathered inside the E.R. as he got information on what happened, "The north entrance completely caved in, trapping nearly twenty vehicles under the rubble."

"Do we know how many victims?" Amelia asked, seeing as the ambulance that came a few minutes before with patients that were all dead.

Owen sighed, shaking his head, "They're trying to get people out as fast as they can. But for now, we're just waiting for them to find a pulse."

April looked up, "How many dead?"

"Thirteen fatalities so far." Owen revealed, causing the nurses, and doctors to groan not liking the idea of having that many dead people.