(Untitled)

[newkindofcop]

The last few days have consisted of a lot of construction work. Steve realizes he might be tackling more than he can handle by himself, but he doesn't want to approach anyone too early and give the secret away, especially anyone who he considers a mutual friend of his and Danny's. Especially when the secret directly involves the wedding, and

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[lexiepedia]

It's easily the place she spends most of her time. Lexie isn't quite sure when or how that got to be the case, when her circle of friends wore down and she somehow became the council rep for the clinic, but it's true even so. The way she sees it, it could be worse; at least she has someplace to go at all, to throw herself into when all else fails, even if it isn't remotely the same as a ten-hour shift at Seattle Grace. (The lack of patients probably has a lot to do with that.)

She's at the desk with some paperwork when she hears someone come in, instinctively setting down her pen and lifting her chin, smile warm rather than overly professional. "Hi, I'm Dr. Grey," she says. "What can I do for you?"

[newkindofcop]

Steve's been trying to develop an explanation on the way over, but he inevitably figures that the best way to go about this is to state everything as simply as possible, before he digs himself into too deep of a hole. Besides, he's also trying to keep the entire project secret from Danny, and he still doesn't know the half of who Danny talks to on a regular basis, or who he can trust enough to not let the details slip out.

"Construction work," he answers, holding up his injured hand, palm facing before he turns his wrist to flip it around and show the doctor his thumb. "Caught my hand with the hammer. It doesn't look too serious, and I would've taken care of it myself, but I didn't want to risk it. You know."

[lexiepedia]

Lexie winces sympathetically at the sight of his thumb, the sort of instinct she's not sure any amount of time spent in the medical profession could rid her of. There are worse injuries to be had, at least, and frankly, she's a little surprised that they don't get building crew members in here more often. (Not that she would complain, people not getting hurt is a good thing, but still, it's weird, and she can't pretend that she doesn't occasionally wish for more patients.)

Rising from her seat, she crosses to the other side of the desk so she can move closer, paperwork left ignored for the time being. "Here, come sit and I'll have a look at that," she says. "It's good you came in. Did you just do this, or has it been bothering you a while?"

[newkindofcop]

Steve frowns in thought at the sight of her wince. It's bad, he realizes, but it isn't that bad, is it? He can't help but think of those who have suffered much worse than he has, the majority of them serving overseas, and in comparison, a little bruised thumbnail is really nothing to sweat over.

"Couple hours or so?" he admits, with a small shrug. He takes a seat after her suggestion - no slouching, back straight against the chair, but his overall posture is relaxed. "Didn't think much of it, but if it's hurting for this long, I wasn't sure if I'd actually done any serious damage."

[lexiepedia]

That it hasn't been that long is, at least, promising. More than a day, Lexie thinks, and there'd be a lot more cause for worry. As it is, she'd guess that it's a surface injury, no real damage done, though she doesn't want to say so until she's certain. "Alright," she says, examining his thumb and the way it's swollen a little more closely. "And can you bend it at all? I know it'll probably hurt, but."

[newkindofcop]

"A little. I can tell I don't have full range, though," Steve admits, and starts bending his thumb to demonstrate, albeit with a tiny wince that he tries to mostly disguise by clearing his throat. It doesn't feel broken, but he knows that the tiny hairline fractures can always be deceiving, and he looks up to Dr. Grey's face, his own expression expectant - hoping for the best diagnosis, but also dreading the worst.

[lexiepedia]

"Well, the good news is," Lexie says, reaching out to touch gingerly, just to confirm her own belief, "it doesn't seem to be broken. I think you probably just gave it a really hard hit. Keep an eye on it over the next couple days anyway - if the swelling doesn't go down, if it doesn't start to feel better, or if anything gets worse, definitely come back in - but it should be fine." Her mouth pulls to one side, expression rueful. "The bad news is, there's not really anything we can do for that other than giving you ice and some painkillers."

[newkindofcop]

"Hey, I'm just glad you didn't have to go crazy with the scalpel or anything," Steve jokes, cracking a small smile in her direction. He realizes it probably wouldn't have come to that, but there wouldn't have been much he could've done if it had, other than to grimace and bear it. "I don't think we've officially met yet," he adds, offering her his non-injured hand to shake. "Steve McGarrett." It's almost a reflex to add the Five-O afterwards, but he refrains. It's not a title that means much here, not to anyone aside from Danny.

[lexiepedia]

"It's nice to meet you, Steve," Lexie says, placing her hand in his to shake. She means it, too, and not just because it's nice to have a patient, if only for a few minutes. (She wouldn't have minded having to do anything with a scalpel, but this is still the ideal outcome.) Given how small her social circle seems to be these days, she'll never complain about meeting people. "I'm Lexie, I wouldn't... actually ask anyone to call me Dr. Grey." Mostly it's just instinct, a shred of professionalism she hasn't rid herself of even after the better part of a year.

[newkindofcop]

"Dr. Grey." Steve frowns in thought, but it's not directly at her words as it is his own memory as he wracks his brain for that detail, that one piece of information that seems to escape him for a minute before he finally catches onto it and his expression floods with realization. "There's another Dr. Grey who works here, isn't there? Any relation?" He releases her hand after a beat, keeping his injured one steady should she need to look at it further.

[lexiepedia]

"Yeah, Meredith," Lexie says, nodding. It's a question she's fairly accustomed to, both from the time she's spent here and the time before, coming to Seattle Grace so soon after Mere did, practically coming with the territory now that Meredith runs the clinic. There are times it's still weird, she can't pretend that there aren't, but she'd only be setting herself up for frustration to mind it. "She's my half-sister." Not sister, never sister, the Meredith who's here having made clear in the past that they aren't that. Things are better between them than they were, but she isn't going to push her luck. "Showed up... a couple years, I think, before I did."

[newkindofcop]

Steve nods thoughtfully, but he doesn't dwell on the subject for very long, especially since it seems as though Lexie has mixed feelings on it. "I've got a sister too," he admits, watching her quietly as she moves around the clinic. "Younger. I actually just saw her a couple months ago, back when I was at home. She'd come for a visit." His smile turns soft, momentarily reflective. "It'd definitely been a while since we'd seen each other, and the circumstances before that weren't exactly ideal."

[lexiepedia]

"That's good that you got to see her again," Lexie says, smile small and sympathetic. With as busy as she was at the hospital, it had been ages since she'd seen her own younger sister even before she showed up here; now, she's not even sure she'll ever see Molly and the baby again. Not having any idea what happened with Steve and his sister, and not thinking it her place to ask, she just finishes fetching ice, a painkiller and a little cup of water, just in case any of them are wanted. "I bet it would've sucked to show up here before you could."

[newkindofcop]

Steve shrugs, not really giving himself the opportunity to dwell on the subject for very long. He doesn't know Lexie well enough to completely vent, but he accepts what she hands him with a grateful smile before moving on to explain slightly. "Well, we hadn't seen each other in a couple of years," he admits, though that's something of an understatement. "I was serving, and she was living all over the place. It was the first time either of us had been home, since - well, since our mother passed away." John McGarrett had sent both his children away after that, on separate planes back to the mainland, and Steve had carried resentment over that decision for a while before he realized his father had only done it to protect them from the obvious corruption that had permeated the HPD - and, in turn, the island.

[lexiepedia]

"I'm sorry," Lexie says, eyes going just a little wide at that. It's not an uncommon thing to happen, she's sure of it, but she feels for him anyway, the same way she's always done even for people she barely knows. In this case, it's also because she gets it, on some surface level that doesn't require any details. "I, uh, I lost my mom about a year and a half before I showed up here, so..." There are days that still takes her by surprise, too, days it hurts more than others. She just doesn't really have anything to do about that. "That must have been hard, leaving home so soon after."

[newkindofcop]

"I think part of it was a good decision," Steve admits, shrugging once. He's not even sure why he's choosing to get into the painful details of the past with someone he barely knows, but he's not about to get into the whole backstory of his father's investigation and why he'd tried to spare his children from that. He manages a polite smile, nodding briefly, and presses some of the ice against his thumb, releasing a small sigh at some of the relief it provides. "And after that was when I joined up, so I wouldn't have been spending much time at home, either way, not after I was deployed."