⇢ CHAPTER 63

want, Avery?" Callie groaned, taking a sip of her coffee in hopes of curing the headache forming in her mind.

"I didn't say anything." Jackson admitted with frowned eyebrows as he looked at the Orthopedic attending leaning against the Nurse's station.

"You didn't need to." Callie responded, rubbing her temples with a groan, "What is it that you need?"

"...The Torres Method." Jackson revealed, leaning against the Nurse's Station with her-- the words escaping his lips made Callie groan harder.

"Didn't Meredith teach you and the others my method?" Callie asked as she squinted her eyes at him, not understanding why he was asking her for a method already engraved in him.

"Not for me." Jackson continued, making Callie quirk an eyebrow, "Holly."

"Oh." Callie smirked as she let out a chuckle, "You want to give your girlfriend an all access pass into the Torres Method?"

"Yes--"

"Well," Callie shrugged, "it's not happening."

"Wait, what?" Jackson frowned his eyebrows as Callie began to walk away, making him follow after her, "Why not?"

"She needs to earn it." Callie answered, hiding away a small smile.

"What does she need to do?" Jackson asked, curious as to what Holly would need to do.

"Oh." Callie shrugged, pulling out a list of errands that needed to do, "Just... everything on this list."

Jackson looked over the list with a quirked eyebrow, "...Holly needs to do of these errands to get the Torres method?"

Callie smiled-- Holly, from the day George passed, already had access to the Torres method-- not that she would tell Jackson, she was too happy profiting off of what he would do for her, "Yep."

"Alright." Jackson nodded, turning around to get started on the errands, "I'll go tell her now."

"Yeah," Callie muttered to herself as she walked the other way, knowing full well he wasn't going to give her that list, "You go on and do that."

✧

April exhaled, "It's gonna work, right?"

"Of course." Derek nodded as he pointed at the board, "'Cause if Derm cuts a fellow--"

Holly continued, "And then Cardio skips the TED Conference, Plastics/Ortho shares, um, lab facilities--"

"We'll get a little bit here, a little bit there." Derek resumed with a smile, "And we'll have enough saved to keep the E.R. alive."

"Oh," April sighed, "they're gonna be mad about the TED Conference."

"Yup." Holly nodded, running a hand through her hair.

"Oh," Derek looked at the sisters, "they're gonna be pissed about everything, but that's okay." He looked back at the board with a smile, "It's gonna work." He turned back around and walked towards April, "Do we have a reply yet?"

"Uh," April refreshed the page as Holly walked over, "no, not yet."

"Damn." Holly cursed and Derek squinted at the screen.

"That was the subject line?" Derek asked, pointing at the screen.

"Wh-wh-what," April stuttered, looking at her email, "is that bad?" 

"Well," Derek lectured, "would you open an e-mail that said 'proposed budget cuts'?"

"April." Holly groaned as she covered her face with her hands, worry overcoming her as she thought about the E.R. closing.

"Oh, no." April exhaled as she backed away from the computer with a guilty look, "Did I just kill our proposal?"

"No." Derek assured with a shake of his head, making Holly look up from her hands with hope, "We're just gonna have to pitch it in person. Go door to door, which is better anyway." He faced April, "It's hard to say no to someone's face."

"Oh." April cringed away, making Holly hold in a laugh, "No offense, sir. You have an unusually appealing face, but--"

Derek brought a hand up to his mouth, "I have to brush my teeth."

"Mm-hmm." April nodded, scrunching up her nose at the smell.

"I know." Derek turned around, "You do, too."

Holly chuckled as she began to create a chart to demonstrate when they would present to the other attendings in person, "Both of your breaths stink."

Derek and April chorused as they walked away from each other, "Yours, too."

Holly's eyes widened slightly before she walked off to brush her teeth.

✧

On her surprisingly long journey to the bathroom after grabbing her toothbrush and paste, Holly was stopped by a figure getting in her way.

"Ah--" She cringed, bumping into someone's chest before she took a step back.

"Oh--" Jackson frowned his eyebrows at Holly's tired appearance and messy hair, "Holl? Did you stay here night?"

"...Yeah." Holly admitted with some hesitance as she tightened the hair on her loose ponytail before smiling, "We made a plan."

"Oh." Jackson smiled, beginning to lean down to kiss her, "That's my--"

"If you're thinking about kissing me," Holly warned, stepping back to create distance between them, "I haven't brushed my teeth and I probably smell after staying up all night."

"So?" Jackson quirked an eyebrow, making Holly squint at him as she began to walk away.

"You make it so hard to kiss you after that." Holly admitted, making Jackson let out a chuckle.

"That was the plan!"

✧

"Start with Russell." Derek began as he walked down the hallway with the Kepner sisters, all three of them looking better than earlier, "You two want to do the opener or me?"

"Well," April started, "the numbers are so compelling."

"And I've made charts." Holly beamed, showing the small colorful charts printed on papers in her hands, "I think we should start with how much his department cuts will save the hospital-- that he's a vital source in our plan."