Disclaimer: Grey's is not mine, sadly.

Chapter 20 – Some Good News

April and Jackson left the on-call room and walked to the main conference room hand in hand. Jackson knocked on the door and Teddy motioned them inside while Owen spoke on the phone.

When Owen finished his phone call, he looked up at the two residents curiously. "Yeah?"

"Do you have news?" April asked.

Owen nodded. "They just arrived. Robbins and Sloan are being rushed into surgery, and they're stabilizing Shepherd. They're not sure what to do about his hand. Meredith and Cristina are being checked out in the ER."

"Good," she replied relieved. It was comforting to know that they were in the process of being treated. But everyone in the room would rather have them here instead of Portland. Surgeons were used to feeling in control and this was a difficult situation for them to deal with. Too much sitting around and waiting.

"Dr. Hunt," Jackson began. "Have you hired fellows for next year yet?"

The older doctor shook his head. "No, I, um, have my mind made up on some but I haven't gotten the chance."

"We would like to stay, if that's possible," Jackson said hopefully.

Teddy smiled. "Both of you?"

April nodded and returned the smile. "If you'll have us."

Owen was completely taken aback. With all of his talented residents leaving and a plane crash endangering the lives of his wife, friends, and three department heads, he had been ready to do damage control. "What happened to Tulane and UVA?"

Jackson placed a hand on April's shoulder and shrugged. "Things change," he explained simply.

Owen leaned back and exhaled. "Well, yeah, of course you can have jobs here next year."

"Thank you Chief," April smiled brightly.

Jackson thanked Hunt as well before he and April left to find some work to do.

Teddy gave Owen the brightest, happiest smile she could muster. "You have a plastics fellow and a trauma fellow. At least that's some good news."

Owen smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, I am happy to have them." And he truly was happy to have them fill fellowship positions, Kepner especially, because he had put a lot of personal time and effort into her training. But until Cristina came back to Seattle safe and sound, he was going to have difficultly thinking about what was best for his hospital.

At first light, the surviving doctors of Seattle Grace Mercy West were flown back one by one.

Cristina Yang was the first. She was her usual stoic self and would have liked nothing more than to return to surgery right away. But her arm was in a sling so after being checked out for a second time, she stayed with her husband in the conference room and waited for her best friend.

Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd came home next. Shepherd was admitted, they had to operate on his hand and Hunt was assembling the best team that he could to try to create a plan to save it. The last thing that they heard was that they were flying in an old friend and specialist from New York. Meredith had lost quite a bit of blood due to a laceration on her leg but she was strong and on her feet with the aid of crutches.

Arizona Robbins was placed in the ICU. She was stable, and her leg did not need to be amputated, but they weren't sure if she'd ever be able to walk the same. Torres took her leave immediately and only moved from her wife's bedside to check on her best friend and father of her child. She was going to be a very active participant in Arizona's treatment plan.

Mark Sloan was the last. He was also stable and looked like he would be able to make a full recovery but he hadn't woken up since arriving in Seattle. People seemed to think that it was more of his mind's way of healing than his body's.

Lexie Grey's body was also brought back to Seattle.

Another tragedy had taken its toll on the hospital and all of a sudden, April and Jackson weren't the only ones to tell Chief Hunt that they had decided to stay on. First it was Karev; he was committed to helping pick up the slack in peds while Robbins recovered. Then it was Yang. The fact that Cristina wanted to stay, even though Altman was leaving, spoke volumes about her feelings towards Owen. Finally, Grey made her decision. As to be expected, Harvard could not hold a job offer for Shepherd when his future as a surgeon was unclear and Meredith was not about to go to Boston when her recovering husband and their support system was on the other side of the country.

It turned out that they all needed Seattle. So the babies were staying in the nest for a little while longer.

April felt like she was buzzing around the hospital, she was so busy. Seattle Grace Mercy West had three attendings in hospital beds and one on leave, their Head of Cardio was starting a new job in a few days, two residents were recovering until they could be cleared for surgery, and one was…dead. It was still hard to believe. Luckily for April, being short staffed gave her a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to think about the fact that Lexie was never coming back.

However, she had to take time out of her day to run a special errand.

She carried Zola in her arms and stepped into Derek's room. Meredith was sitting in the chair beside his bed and Cristina was in the chair in the corner. The two women looked absolutely exhausted but they both refused to go home.

"I thought that you could use a visitor." April spoke softly so as not to wake Derek.

Meredith's face lit up and she would have jumped out of her chair if that had been possible. She had wanted to see her daughter the minute that she had arrived but Owen had to have her checked out first. She cradled the toddler in her arms and kissed her repeatedly on the cheek while telling her how much she loved her.

"Thank you April," she said gratefully. "And thank you so much for babysitting her."

"It wasn't a problem at all. She's a doll."

"How's Mark?" Cristina asked quietly.

"He's still asleep," April answered.

"And Arizona?"

"She's stable."

Cristina nodded. "Good." She paused before she added. "I'm happy to see you April."

April chuckled. Their friendship had improved over the past year but she never thought that she would hear those words from Cristina Yang. "I'm happy to see you too, Cristina."

Jackson sat in Mark's room and waited for him to wake up. Sloan didn't really have anyone else right now. His best friend was beside herself with worry for her wife and the man that he considered to be his brother was lying in a hospital bed down the hall. And the love of his life was dead. The man deserved someone at his bedside when he awoke.

Teddy Altman walked in the room to check on Sloan's vitals. She turned to Jackson with a frown. "He still hasn't woken up yet?"

Jackson shook his head. Sloan was muttering in his sleep though.

"He should soon," Altman told him.

Jackson nodded in thanks before the blonde left.

It was getting late and Jackson was beginning to nod off when he heard a croaky voice say his name.

"Avery."

Jackson's eyes snapped open and he leaned forward in his chair. "Dr. Sloan." The older man blinked rapidly to gain his bearings and wet his lips with his tongue. "You're at Seattle Grace," he told him softly.

"So I guess all of this wasn't a nightmare, huh?"

Jackson confirmed his worst fears. "No, sir."

Sloan closed his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks. "I told her," he began in his weak voice. "I told her I loved her."

"Good." Jackson nodded solemnly. "Good. She deserved to know." He felt his throat constrict but he was determined to keep his emotions in check, the last thing that Sloan needed was him crying. He had completely fallen apart in front of April last night and he was not about to do that again.

"Avery?"

Jackson raised his head to meet his mentor's sorrowful gaze. It was easy to see that he was a broken man. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't do what I did. Don't keep everything in. Don't hold back. Don't wait…for anything. Don't let Kepner get away if you think she's the one."

Jackson smiled. "I'm staying in Seattle, so is April."

"I'm glad to hear that. You would have missed me too much, right?" He was attempting to joke but it wasn't accompanied by his trademark grin. He started to cough so Jackson got up to get him some water. "Thanks," he muttered.

After a few minutes, Jackson confessed a secret. "I want to marry her."

"Then do it," Sloan said firmly. "If you love her and she makes you happy, then don't wait. Its scary but some people are just…meant to be."

Sloan let out a hollow chuckle and Jackson's face fell. Meant to be…that's what Sloan had been muttering in his sleep.

Before Jackson had a chance to respond, he heard footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around and smiled at Dr. Torres. "Hey, I was just leaving."

Callie smiled back at him and he turned on his heel to leave.

"Avery," Sloan called out.

Jackson turned back around and quirked an eyebrow in question. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't wait," he repeated.

Jackson left Sloan's room and paused in the hallway for a moment before he raced to the residents' locker room. He found April sitting on the bench untying her sneakers.

"Sloan woke up," he stated.

She raised her head and smiled softly. "That's good. How is he? Is he okay? Well, he's obviously not okay but you know what I mean."

He stared at her as she rambled adorably. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she looked really tired. He could think of a hundred scenarios that were more romantic than them in the residents' locker room after midnight. They were physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted and wearing dirty scrubs but it felt like the right moment. He had always imagined that when he did this there would be candlelight, and champagne, and music, but they were surgeons. Their lives were exhaustion, and late nights, and dirty scrubs, and if it wasn't for surgery, they never would have met. It felt right to him so he blurted it out.

"Marry me."

Her eyes widened and she responded with a startled laugh. "Excuse me?"

He walked towards her and looked down at where she sat on the bench, immobilized. "Marry. Me." He spoke confidently, with each word clearly pronounced and punctuated. "Its all I've been able to think about since we got back together…marriage and kids…and I don't really have a plan. I don't even have a ring. And I don't really do these big declarations of love but I cried last night in your arms, and I generally don't cry in front of people…ever…but that's the second time I've cried in front of you. And I know that the idea of waking up next to you, every morning, for the rest of my life, makes me happier than I've ever been. I know that you make me happier than anything or anyone." He smiled, "You've always been able to understand me better than anyone else. You make me want to be a better person. I know that it seems fast but I've been falling for you since the moment we met, it just took me five years to really piece it all together." His smile turned brighter as she genuinely laughed at his last comment. "And I don't really believe in soul mates and all that crap and I know that my timing sucks, but I'm told that some people are just meant to be. So marry me," he finished in a whisper.

April couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she struggled to find words. Her heart was absolutely racing in her chest. Her eyes never left his as she propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in the palm of her head. The whole situation was surreal. She had not seen this coming at all. Finally, she chuckled and slowly got to her feet. "You really want to get married? Me and you?"

He cradled his face in her hands and grinned at her before he uttered what had always been the most significant phrase of their friendship. "Yeah, me and you."

He bent his head to kiss her and she snaked her arms around his neck. She raised herself up onto her toes and pressed her body firmly against his as she deepened the kiss. One hand continued to cradle her face while the other wrapped around her waist.

He pulled back with a laugh. "You know," he began as he ran his thumb along her cheek, "this is usually the part where you say yes or no."

She giggled, "I thought it was implied."

"Nope, you have to say it."

"Yes," she smiled. "I love you. Yes."

"I love you too."

They kissed again and this time she was the one to pull back. "Don't think that because you just did the big declaration of love that you don't have to get me a ring."

He laughed, "I wouldn't dream of it." He actually couldn't wait to put an engagement ring on her finger. He gave her a quick, soft kiss. "Now, let's go home and get some sleep. We can come back early tomorrow."

"That sounds perfect." She kissed him again and then walked to her locker to grab a change of clothes.

Jackson smiled to himself as he moved towards his own locker. It all actually did sound kind of perfect.

A/N: So there you have it, a fairly happy ending. I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story, especially the regulars who reviewed every single chapter. I really appreciate it.

I'm not sure when I'll start posting the sequel but stay tuned. I have other Japril projects in the works as well.

Leave me your final comments! :)