Doing The Dance (Jackson Avery Fanfic)

seventeen

"Well, it'll last until then for sure. If not, I'll replace it for free." She said with a wink. I smiled.

"Thank you, Doctor Altman."

"Is it true you're leaving us for the sunny LA weather?" I nodded.

"I've had a job offer there and I've already put them off twice. This was the last surgery I needed, provided the chemo keeps kicking ass"

"I'll be back to see you before you're discharged. Right now I have a lengthy surgery to get into so get the nurses to page Doctor Avery if you need him, okay?" I nodded.

"And I'll sit here and try my best not to need him" I joked. Doctor Altman laughed and left me alone.

I was grateful for the quiet to be honest, now that I was in my final year of med school I needed to focus on my studies. This job offer was from UCLA to finish my med school courses over the summer and start an internship with them at the end of July. And they knew I had cancer and needed surgery, but it kept getting bumped. Now I'd finally had the final one and as soon as I recovered, I was heading straight for the city of angels.

I opened my laptop and began working away when Doctor Avery arrived back in. It had been three and a half hours since he was here earlier, I guess the time had just gotten away from me. I closed the lid and slid my laptop back into the bag, waiting for him to do his monitoring checks.

"Any pain or discomfort?"

"Does an annoying doctor count?"

"I'll take that as a no. Have you been up and mobile?"

"You told me I wasn't allowed to until tomorrow so work that out for yourself." He sighed and looked from his clipboard to me. He was over this, I was just getting started.

"Do you have to be such a smart ass?"

"I told Shepherd I didn't want you on my case"

"And yet, here I am Tay" I frowned.

"It's Taylor" He smirked, he'd just found an in into annoying me as much as I was annoying him.

"Hmm, Finally something you don't like"

"Besides you"

"Watch it"

"Make me" He sighed.

"You're infuriating, you know that?" I beamed a proud smile.

"People have mentioned it"

At that moment a loud bang rang out through the room, although it was clearly in a different part of the ward. Someone screamed. Another bang. People screaming and running. Someone outside was yelling. Doctor Avery walked over to the door and soon his eyes were wide with fear as he pulled the door closed quietly, the curtains around my bed as well.

"What the hell was-" His hand slapped over my mouth and if I hadn't known better, I would have bitten it and continued to yell at him. But I stopped and waited for him to speak.

"There's a man out there with a gun. He's trying to shoot surgeons. Said he's looking for the chief" Doctor Avery whispered. My eyes filled with tears and he looked like he was ready to panic.

"What?"

"I recognized him, he was the guy who tried to sue Chief Shepherd for his wife's DNR. Now he must be looking for revenge." I looked at the door through a crack in the curtains.

These rooms didn't have locks. If he came in here and found Doctor Avery in scrubs, he'd probably be shot right in front of me.

I looked back at him, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he panicked. I noticed the grey undershirt he wore underneath his scrubs.

"Would he recognize you?" Doctor Avery shook his head.

"Lexie Grey was the resident on the case. He only dealt with Shepherd and her"

"Doctor Avery" I whispered, commanding his attention. He looked at me. "Take off your scrub top, hide it in the bed then climb in and pretend you're my boyfriend" For a moment the fear left his eyes and I could see that Doctor Avery was trying his best not to laugh at me.

"C'mon Tay-"

"If he's looking for surgeons, he'll shoot you. If you don't look like one, he might take pity on us"

"Might. He could still kill us for the sake of it" I nodded.

"He could. But this gives us a chance. Unhook the machines, make me look dead. Tell him they couldn't save me, pretend to cry. Just lie and save our lives." He looked into my eyes and I let ferocity overtake terror, Doctor Avery nodding and removing his scrub top.

I pulled it straight under the covers and laid still like I was dead. He turned off the machines and I hoped like hell I didn't go into VFIB or anything because then we'd definitely be dead. I was determined that my death was not going to kill anyone else, so heart you'd better be up for this. Doctor Avery climbed into the bed with me. I'd told him to fake cry to better our chances but as he held me, the tears hitting my cheeks were real. He was terrified.

I was too but me making a scene right now would kill us both for sure if his lie was discovered. So instead I laid as still as I possibly could, breathing but barely.

The next gunshot we heard sounded like it came from a few doors down. I shuddered slightly as Doctor Avery's hand rested over my heart gently. I think he was afraid I'd freak out and rip open my stitches.

"I'm okay" I whispered. He moved his hand again and soon I felt it in my own under the blankets. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of the door to my room opening. I held my breath and shallowed my breathing as Doctor Avery hid his face in my shoulder. The curtain ripped open and Doctor Avery was struggling to choke back his tears.

"Please don't hurt me" He whispered.

"Is this your wife?"

"My fiancé"

"What happened?"

"She had surgery and never woke up again." Doctor Avery sniffled. I sat and waited. I waited for a gunshot to pierce through the silence, I waited for Doctor Avery to be shot and bleed all over me. I waited for my heart to give up and give us away. I waited but it never came.

"They killed my wife too" The man's soft voice came.

"I'm sorry"

"Are you going to sue them?" He asked Doctor Avery. I felt him shake his head.

"She had cancer, we knew there was a chance. We'd just been praying like hell it wasn't this time"

"Stay in this room. You'll be okay" I felt Doctor Avery nod this time and then heard the door close.

"Don't move" Doctor Avery muttered to me. I stayed completely still where I was. Soon I heard the machines start beeping again and the weight beside me slide off the bed. I opened my eyes and sat up, sobbing into my hands.

"Jesus Tay, be careful or you'll rip your chest open!" Doctor Avery said, sitting on the bed and checking on me. Once he realized I hadn't popped any stitches, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly.

"Oh my god, he could have killed us" I breathed.

"Yeah, but he didn't. Thanks to you, you saved my life, Tay." I shook my head but Doctor Avery gently reached under my chin and pulled my face up to look at his.

"You saved my life. He would have killed me if he knew I was a surgeon. I don't know how many of my colleagues he might have already killed but he didn't get me and it's because of you, okay?" I nodded and rested back in his arms. I heard him sigh as he wrapped his arms back around me, holding me tightly as I sobbed.

After all these years of thinking cancer was going to be the death of me, I never once slowed down to think something else could kill me before cancer had the chance. But now everything had changed and Doctor Avery and I would never be the same because of it.