Paging Payton(A Grey Anatomy/Jackson Avery Fanfic)

T H I R T Y- S I X

"I'm standing here and I'm telling you that- I love you."

Jackson Avery

I stood in the middle of the gallery, breathless. The room spun and I felt like my knees would give out at any second. It was the best feeling in the world. I had no idea what to say and even if I did I was pretty sure that I'd lost the ability to speak real words. There was only one thing I could think to do.

I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her toward me, pressing her body against mine and my lips to hers. Reluctantly, I pulled away breathless.

"Jackson?" Payton whispered.

"Mm?"

"They're staring at us." She referred to everyone in the OR below us. I laughed and pressed my forehead to hers.

--

Payton Arizona

"Arizona!" I heard a voice bark at me from behind. I was heading to Dr Jennings office to apologize for earlier, even though I was only half sorry. I spun on my heel to find an angry looking Amelia Shepherd.

"Dr Shepherd-"

"What the hell was that? What you did up there was completely inappropriate and extremely unprofessional-" I lurched forward and hugged her. When I thought she wasn't gonna yell at me anymore, I pulled away.

"Why- wh- what was that for?" She shook her head.

"That was the only way I could think to get you to shut up. Well, that or smack you across the face but I didn't think the latter was the safest choice." I smiled. Amelia looked at me, unsure of what to say.

I exhaled and tried to find the right words to say. "Listen Amelia, I know you don't like me. That whole episode with the oxy was a complete mess. But I don't want that one thing to come between us. I mean the other Shepherd is great, I love him, but he's gone most of the time now. Between him being gone and you hating me, I haven't been sticking my hands in a whole lot of brains. What I'm trying to say is, you're kind of a kickass neurosurgeon and I'm kind of a kick ass resident, so I'm offering a truce." I stuck my hand out and prayed to god she would shake it. After a couple seconds had passed I finally felt Amelia's hand close around mine and shake it.

She smiled widely at me. "Fine, truce. But only because you called me kickass."

--

"Are you serious?" I shouted. I'd once again ended up in Dr Jennings office, empty handed.
"I admitted my feelings to Jackson, I fixed my relationship with Amelia Shepherd, I fixed things with me, Jackson and Stephanie Edwards, what more do you want?"

"I want you to be yourself." Dr Jennings stressed the words. "All of those are a step in the right direction. There's just one more thing holding you back and until you get rid of it I can't clear you for surgery."

I huffed and glared at him. I'd tried everything I could to get him to clear me. Fake tears, inspirational speeches, ultimatums, and still nothing.

"For the love of God, will you please just tell me what you need me to do? You want me to cry again, cause I can cry. Please, it's been days since I did all that crap to get you to clear me. Like you said, they're steps in the right direction. Please, just clear me already." I pleaded. The one thing I'd tried not to resort to was groveling, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"National Surgical Impactive Patients and Cases Convention." I stared at Dr Jennings like he had lost his mind. Finally after reveling in my confusion for a few moments he explained what he meant.

"In a couple of days there's a convention in San Francisco for surgeons to discuss particular patients and or cases that impacted their medical careers. Every year they pick one hospital to send surgeons to speak and this year they chose Grey Sloan Memorial. I want you to go."

"What does me listening to a bunch of surgeons talk about their favorite patients have to do with getting cleared for surgery?" I gave him the same 'you've completely lost your shit' look from earlier.

"I don't want you to just attend, I want you to speak. I've already cleared it with the chief. Your presentation will be a deciding factor in whether I clear you to operate." Dr Jennings smirked at me, a look that made me want to punch him in his stupid face.

"What the hell am I supposed to do for the next couple days until the convention?"

The doctor leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest, as if he were pondering multiple answers. "Well, if I were you, I'd start practicing my presentation."

I scoffed and shook my head as I snatched my bag off the table. I started to storm out of the room, something that seemed to happen at some point during most sessions. My dramatic exit was interrupted by Dr Jennings, "Oh, and Dr Arizona?" I turned back to look at him.

"I'd be very careful about who you pick."

--

What patient/case that I've written about so far do you think Payton will choose? Cause it's something that's been talked about in the book before, but I think it'll surprise all of you. Drop a comment pleaseeeeeeee! I'm literally begging and groveling.

And Ik this is short af but I'm tryna make the next chapter pretty long soo