Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the show. I wish I did, but I don't,

Chapter 1

It hadn't rained in Seattle for several days. The unusually sunny weather had dried the ground and bolstered the spirits of everyone at Seattle Grace Hospital. It wasn't as if anything had really changed. The psych ward was still loud, the pediatric ward was still full of sick kids, and the ER was still a disaster area. What was different was the amount of smiles that were plastered on the faces of the doctors and nurses.

Dr. Jackson Avery sat in the cafeteria eating a chicken wrap and reading a medical journal. He had just started reading an article about the latest advancements in treating burn scars, when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he said as he answered it.

"Jackson?" said the voice on the other end. "It's your mother." Jackson groaned internally. He did not want to spend his lunch break debating his choice to be in plastics with his bitch of a mother.

"Hey, mom." he replied as if he was happy to hear from her. "Look, now's not a very good time. I just got paged." he lied.

"Honey, this is important." his mother interjected. The tone in her voice worried him.

"What is it, mom?" he asked. He held his breath as he heard sniffles on the other end.

"Your grandfather died last night, honey. He went in his sleep, and it looks as though he didn't suffer. I'm sorry, hun." Jackson couldn't believe his ears. They had just buried his grandmother a few weeks earlier.

"I'm so sorry, mom. I know how much you loved your dad." he said into the phone. "When is the funeral?"

"Saturday. Can you make it out here?" she asked somberly.

"Yeah. I'll find a way to work it out." he replied. At that moment, his pager went off. He snatched it off of his belt and read the message: Multi-car collision. Facial damage. -Mark. He sighed inwardly, and placed the pager back in it's holder. "I'm sorry, mom, but I really need to go. I'll call you when I know when I'll be home." He paused, then added, "I love you."

"I love you too, son." she said, "Go save some lives." They said their goodbyes, and Jackson through out what was left of his lunch. He didn't feel very hungry anymore.

As he made his way to the pit, the sun was blocked by the dark clouds that indicated that rain was coming their way. He felt like crying, but quickly pulled himself together as he reached the doors of the ER.

"What have we got?" he asked.

A few hours later, Jackson and Mark Sloan were scrubbing out of surgery. It had been a long one, that had entailed fixing a broken nose, repairing a broken eye socket, and sewing half of the man's face back on. However, the procedure had been fairly successful, and both doctors were reasonably sure that the man would end up looking normal once he was healed.

As they were washing their hands, Mark looked over at him and asked, "What's up with you today, Avery? You barely spoke a word in there."

Jackson considered lying for a moment before realizing that he would have to talk to Mark anyways to get time off of his service. "I got a call during my lunch break..." he said, trying to keep his breathing steady. "My grandfather died."

Mark stopped scrubbing his hands, and looked at Jackson. "I'm sorry to hear that." The look in his eyes told Jackson that he meant what he was saying. "Was it the one on your mother's side as well?"

Jackson knew that Mark was recalling the fact that his maternal grandmother had also recently died. He nodded his head, and Mark put a recently dried hand on his shoulder. "You know, sometimes, when you've been married as long as they had, when one passes, the other goes soon after. It's like... one can't live without the other." Marks eyes were filled with concern as he surveyed Jackson.

Jackson closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears that he knew were coming. When he looked into Mark's eye, he felt the tidal wave break, and tears began streaming down his face. He tried to wipe them way, but they kept coming despite him. Mark pulled him into a comforting embrace. Being in his arms, Jackson felt as though he could finally let himself go.

After a few minutes of crying, Mark released Jackson, and placed a hand on either shoulder. Jackson kept his head down. "Look at me." Mark said gently. When Jackson didn't respond, Mark place his hand under Jackson's chin and lifted it. As he did so, he said more softly, "Look at me." Jackson lifted his eyes to meet Mark's. "You are going to get through this." he said. An though it seemed impossible, in that moment, Jackson felt that the words were true. He nodded his head.

"The funeral is on Saturday." he said. "I need to be there."

Mark nodded, and replied, "I'll work it out with the chief. You just worry about you and your family, okay?" Jackson nodded, and walked out of the room. As he did, Mark followed him with his eye. He felt immensely sorry for Jackson. He knew how it felt to lose someone you love.