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TWENTY

Words: 6610 Next chapter is the bomb episode...And we're getting closer to a certain someone coming in [ Masterlist ]

"THAT DOG IS crazy," Skylar exclaimed through a mouth full of cereal, waving a spoon around. Her eyes locked with Izzie's, who nodded. They were hiding in the bathroom and they were scared to leave because of their pet roaming the halls. "Did someone steal our Doc and swap it with a wild animal or something?" Izzie was leaning against the door, holding a coffee mug while Skylar sat on the edge of the bathtub.

They heard Doc barking and growling loudly which made them share a glance. "I know, right?"

Eventually, the barking stopped which made Skylar feel a bit uncomfortable. "Am I the only one who—"

Her sentence was cut off by George's muffled yelling getting closer with each word. "Izzie! Sky! Incoming!" The blonde acted quickly, even though she was quite startled. She opened the door and George ran inside as fast as he could before Izzie slammed the door shut before Doc could enter. He sat down next to Skylar on the tub and put his arm around her shoulders. Izzie handed George her coffee mug which he gratefully accepted.

"You know I'm thinking about coloring my hair. Maybe red."

"Really? Red would look good on you, Iz. I thought about going blonde. We should swap," Skylar joked. She was actually thinking about going blonde but she didn't know if she would be able to pull it off or not.

"Yeah, red's good. You would look hot with blonde hair, Sky. And I'm actually thinking about cutting mine," George revealed.

"Yeah? It'll look good shorter."

"You think?" George wondered, a little surprised. They all glanced at each other when suddenly it was quiet in the hallway. Doc's loud barking had stopped. A sigh of relief escaped their lips. Then they heard Meredith giving their dog compliments. George and Izzie opened the door and peeked out. Skylar stood up and joined them outside.

"What a good dog. Who's mommy's good boy?" Meredith was petting and shaking the dog's paw. "You're such a good boy." They were shocked. "What are you guys doing in there? We're going to be late."

"We need to talk about the dog," George started.

"That's not a dog. It's a hyena. Escaped from the zoo just in dog clothing."

"Whatever! I don't chew up his clothes. I don't urinate on his bed. I don't try to mount him from behind!"

"People, he's our dog. We love our dog. He loves us."

"I don't think the feeling's mutual, Mer," Skylar stated as she ate more of her cereal.

"You guys are overreacting. Just look at that face. Does it seem like a face that would want to eat you? No, huh, no, because you're such a good boy," Meredith said as she continued petting the dog before leaving. Just as Meredith turned her back on them, Doc growled at the remaining housemates and then let out a warning bark.

"Tries to mount you from behind?" Izzie apprehensively asked.

"Tries to." Doc barked loudly, starling them. George glanced at the girls behind and whispered, "He tries to."

Skylar chuckled. "You're so adorable, Georgie."

✧☽☾✧

"Listen up, people, new year, new rules," Webber announced to the crowd of surgeons in the lobby of the surgical floor. "Or should I say, new year, and we will be enforcing the rules mandated by the residency review committee." The surgeons were whispering to one another curiously. "There were too many mistakes made last year. Fatigue played too big a role," Webber informed. "Exceeding 80 hours per week will not be tolerated."

Several eyes went wide in the crowd, especially among the interns. "Does that mean we actually get to have a life?" George whispered.

"Sullivan, you were on-call for 28 hours, leave when you hit 30. Grey, you were 'til two a.m. last night, see you at noon."

"I get to go? Free time?" Meredith marveled.

"Run before he changes his mind," Alex warned.

"Oh, and people, our nurses are gonna have to work extra hours to compensate, so treat them well," Webber reminded. "Cranky nurses don't do us any good."

The crowd dispersed as everyone went back to work. "Well, maybe you can cheer them up," Izzie mocked Alex, making George chuckle. Skylar gave her boyfriend a look, not finding it funny.

"Really, Izzie?" She understood that Alex had hurt her by cheating on her with Olivia. But Izzie was mocking him every chance she got. The constant childish remarks annoyed Skylar. Sure, she was a bit childish, but she never berated anyone when she was.

However, something suddenly changed inside the blonde. Instead of walking away and accepting her win, Izzie turned to Alex. "You know what? My New Year's resolution was to let it go, and I am and I have let it go. I apologize."

They all started walking down the hall together in search of Bailey. "You do?" George and Skylar wondered, both amazed. Skylar thought Izzie was the one to hold grudges for at least half a decade. For things like cheating on her, possibly more. This change was a bit sudden, but Skylar couldn't deny that she was happy that Izzie was letting it go.

"I do. How'd your test go?"

"I feel pretty good about it, but I won't know for a few days."

"Well, we're all pulling for you."

"We are?"

"We are."

✧☽☾✧

"Denny Duquette," Bailey greeted, walking into a patient's room. Denny was in for a heart transplant. UNOS had finally found him a donor.

"Hey, Dr. Bailey," he greeted.

"I hope seeing you here means that they finally found you a heart."

"No offense, doctor, but I'm not a big fan of hospitals. It takes something pretty special to get me in here."

"What do we know about Mr. Duquette?" Bailey asked as she looked at Izzie, nonverbally assigning her to the case.

"Capricorn, single, loves to travel and cook," Denny flirted once he saw Izzie. He graced her with his most charming smile.

"Denny, be quiet. Let her show off."

"Denny Duquette, 36, admitted today for a heart transplant necessitated by a viral cardiomyopathy," Izzie stated with a smile on her face. Even though he was a patient, she couldn't deny that he was quite handsome. She was also flattered that he would flirt with her.

"What does that mean?"

"That his heart isn't able to fill and pump blood normally."

"Good. Denny, this is Dr. Stevens," Bailey introduced. "She'll be tending to your private surgery."

"So I guess I'll be seeing you around, Dr. Stevens," Denny grinned, making Izzie smile back.

Skylar noticed the unamused look on Alex's face as Denny shamelessly flirted with Izzie, his eyes now trailing behind the intern walking out of the room. Skylar dragged Alex along with her as they walked off after Izzie. The interns left Denny's room, excluding George and Bailey, and stood at the nurses' station while waiting for them to finish checking on the patient.

"Well, gotta hand it to the guy, trying to get some action when he's practically a corpse," Alex deadpanned.

"Alex, he's just trying to be nice," Izzie retorted.

Skylar shook her head. "And flirty."

Bailey and George walked out of Denny's room and they started walking down the hallway to finish their rounds. Skylar, Izzie, and Alex had to quicken their pace to catch up to them.

"No one enforced an 80 hour work week when I was an intern," Bailey muttered. "110, 120 hours suited me just fine. I learned more 'cause I worked more."

"Well, at least this way, you get to rest before you have the baby," said George and he received a glare from the resident. "I mean being that pregnant, keeping up this pace—"

"What are you saying? I look tired, O'Malley?" She questioned.

"No, not—not tired, no," George shook his head. "You look fresh, spry. You glow." He looked down at his watch, clearly embarrassed.

"O'Malley, go do an intake on Addison Shepherd's patient," Bailey instructed. George scurried off as quickly as he could, wanting to run away from his problems. Bailey turned to the three remaining interns.

"You do glow," Izzie said.

Skylar nodded. "Very brightly."

"Like the moon," Alex added.

"You can spend the day in the pit, Karev," Bailey ordered, turning to Skylar.

"Dr. Bailey, can I—"

"No, you can not," Bailey cut her off before she even finished her question. She was going to ask if she could assist with the exploratory laparotomy that Bailey had scheduled, but she guessed she wasn't going to be doing that now. "The other Shepherd has requested you. Meet him in room E19."

Skylar sighed and walked away from the group. She was happy to be working with Derek. She was always happy to work with Derek, and it wasn't like she had any say if she did or not. As an intern, she did what her resident told her to do, even if it was 30 enemas in a row. That was just the way it was.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar sat in the gallery of a random surgery that she saw on the O.R. board. Derek's surgery had gotten postponed since the patient was nonemergent and other patients needed surgery faster. So when she told Bailey, the resident told her to run labs and fill out charts for her patients. So that's what she was doing, filling out charts.

"Hey," George greeted and sat down beside her. "Aren't you supposed to be with Dr. Shepherd?"

"Oh," she blew out a frustrated breath. "His surgery got postponed, so I'm just trying to do as much as I can. You know, to help the nurses, since they're overloaded with work now. This new policy kind of sucks."

George laughed. "You wouldn't be saying that if you had a surgery."

Skylar nodded. "True." They watched the surgery for a couple of minutes. An ortho attending was fixing a guy's jaw. He had tripped going up the stairs and slammed his chin into a step. It sounded more gruesome than it looked. "What have you been doing today?" She finally asked him.

"I've got this patient," he confided in a low tone. "Teenage girl. Young. She's a hermaphrodite. And she doesn't know. Her parents won't tell her. She says she's always felt like a freak. I think telling her would help. If it were you wouldn't you want to know sooner rather than later?"

Skylar thought about it for a minute. "I don't know," she finally said. "I mean I can see what you're saying. But I can see their side too. Being a teenager is hard already. Telling her could make her feel better or it could just make her feel like more of a freak. Really, it's up to the parents to decide, though. I mean, she'll probably find out eventually anyway, so..."

"If they don't tell her now she'll never forgive them," George direly predicted. "They shouldn't let their freak out about this affect the way they deal with her. It's not right."

✧☽☾✧

Overall, everyone ended that day in different moods.

Alex was the only one who was fairly happy, he had discovered something with his patient that Chief Webber had missed. His patient had mercury poisoning from eating his book. They thought it was just nerves about the surgery, but Alex had caught it and treated it correctly. Skylar wasn't happy or upset, she was just bored, she had basically done scut all day, but she did get to watch Derek's surgery at the end of the day.

Cristina had flown to Idaho and back all in one day to get a heart for Denny Duquette. She had struggled the entire day with questioning if she could have handled a baby or not. It started when Burke had asked her what she would have done with the baby if she hadn't had an ectopic pregnancy.

George had accidentally made his patient's, Bex, parents tell her that she was a hermaphrodite. She was happy that George made them do it, but her parents yelled at him. Saying things like he didn't know what it felt like to want to protect their child. But George just thought that they wouldn't be able to handle it if Bex didn't want to be a girl anymore.

Meredith had had the day off but she eventually did come back just to observe some surgeries from the gallery. She had done five loads and laundry, cut her hair and visit her mother at the nursing home. She had found out that Derek wanted to get her mom into a clinical trial for Alzheimer's without consulting her first. But then Chief Webber had told her that it was his idea to get Derek to do that.

And Izzie had somewhat bonded with Denny Duquette. They were both upset when the blonde had told him that he didn't get the heart from Idaho. The heart was too damaged to give to Denny. It wouldn't have supported his arteries well enough for him to survive with it long-term. In the end, they had to discharge Denny, but Izzie couldn't get her mind off of him...

✧☽☾✧

"He peed on my bed. My bed, Meredith," Izzie informed her. They were in the locker room, discussing Doc. The dog was just out of control at this point.

"And he figured out how to open doors. It's just weird when he stares at me and George when—"

"Stop talking," George had interrupted Skylar before she said anything that might embarrass them.

"He's our dog," Meredith shrugged it off, crossing her leg over the other one from where she sat on a bench. Izzie, Skylar, and George had brought Doc to the hospital, not wanting to leave him at home to tear up the couch or more laundry like he had done to the last load.

"No, he's not my dog," George protests as he put his pager in his scrub pants pocket. "You two bought him without even asking me. Or Skylar!"

"Don't bring me into this, I just don't want him invading our privacy," Skylar sternly said.

"We rescued him from certain death," Meredith said. She didn't want to give up Doc. He was her comfort dog, her dog that was supposed to make her get over McDreamy. "Come on, you guys," she pleaded, putting on her best puppy dog eyes.

"I'm putting my foot down," George seriously said, staring Meredith right in the eyes, immune to her begging. "Either the dog moves out, or I do." Skylar's eyes went wide at that. She didn't want George to move out. Sure, they spent basically all their time together at the hospital, but she liked when she could collapse into bed with him. "Foot down now. Me or the dog, which is it?" Meredith solemnly looked down at Doc, causing the other three to double-take on the blonde. "You hesitated," he shockingly said. "She hesitated!" He complained to Izzie and Skylar.

"You hesitated?" Izzie whisper-yelled at Meredith.

"I didn't hesitate. I was thinking," Meredith came up with an excuse.

"Why do you even have to think about it?" Skylar asked, taking George's side. If it was her in the blonde's position, she would've chosen George in a heartbeat. Even if they weren't dating, she would have chosen him. Even if it was Izzie she was choosing.

"Fine. I'm moving out right now," George said, stomping toward the door. He pulled the door open but immediately stopped when Dr. Bailey appeared. "Later, I'm moving out later," he said, turning back around. "Because right now, I have rounds."

Bailey entered the locker room at the quickest pace her pregnancy would allow her. She sighed when she saw the animal sitting below Meredith. "Tell me that is not a dog."

"It's not a dog," Alex, Cristina, and Skylar plainly said.

✧☽☾✧

"Are we gonna do this or what?" Alex asked as Cristina, Izzie, and Skylar sat down at their normal table in the cafeteria. Both Alex and Cristina had six hotdogs each on their tray. They got inspired by Izzie and Alex's patient who was a competitive eater for a living.

"Yeah, let's—let's go," Cristin said, tying her hair back. She was very competitive and she was not going down without a fight.

"Don't start without me," George said as he came running up with his own plate of hot dogs. Skylar couldn't help but laugh at the situation. One of them was probably going to throw up.

"We're not gonna start if Red doesn't focus," Alex said. They had put Skylar in charge of the timer since she chickened out of joining them.

"What should I put on the flier?" Izzie asked. She was making a 'dog for adoption' sign for Doc.

"Destructive, aggressive, uh, hell dog available," Cristina said in her usual manner, one that sounded like she was serious but really she was joking.

"That's not helping," George scolded.

"Fine, uh, playful, protective puppy needs loving home," she corrected.

"Good," Izzie nodded, writing it down on a scratch piece of paper.

"Hey, George—," Meredith said as she sat down with her own tray of food. In one hand she had Doc on a leash who obediently laid down when she sat down.

"Don't talk to me!" George ordered as he looked down at his food. "You'll only make me mad. You're gonna mess up my game and I'm in the zone."

"Okay," Meredith said, a bit freaked out y his sudden behavior. She then turned to Izzie when she noticed the piece of paper. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, it's a flier that I'm gonna put up—"

"Sky, come on!" Cristina yelled, interrupting the blonde at the same time, George yelled, "Sky!"

"Okay, okay!" She laughed, putting her food down and talking out the timer. "Keep your panties on!" George, Alex, and Cristina all prepared themselves. For George, that was making weird little breathy noises as he tried to even out his breathing. He picked up a hotdog, ready for Skylar to say go.

"No touching!" Cristina yelled at him, pointing an accusatory finger. George put down his hotdog making a face at the brunette.

"Go!" Skylar said as she struggled not to laugh along with Izzie.

George, Alex, and Cristina started wolfing down their hotdogs. Though Cristina opted for eating the actual hotdog first rather than the bun and meat like Alex and George.

"You're advertising for a home for Doc? I said I would do it," Meredith said, going back to the flier topic. They were ignoring Skylar who was busy laughing at the three who were stuffing their faces.

"And you haven't and you won't. And I don't want George to leave," Izzie said, looking over at the brunette boy but then made a funny face when she saw him struggling to get the hotdog into his mouth.

"Well at least down he's not house-broken," Meredith told her. Izzie gave her a look. If they put that down no one would want to adopt him. "What? It's the truth?"

"Okay, so you want me to put the truth. Fine." Cristina had finished her hot dogs and was only left with the buns. She poured water on them to make them less dry, Skylar wrinkled her nose when the brunette shoved the bread in her mouth. "Vicious, hyper devil mutt is available. And will pee on the bed."

"He's your dog too. We got him together." Meredith gave the others a weird look. It looked like Cristina was winning, Alex close behind, but George was pretty much screwed at this point.

"We got him together, please. He's not your dog either. He doesn't even know us. We're not home enough for him to know us."

Cristina stuffs the last of the bun down her mouth and she shouts in victory as she shot up from her seat. Though it was very muffled and hard to understand since she still had a mouth full of bread. Alex and George also muffled their protests because she hadn't swallowed all of it. But they already knew that they lost by a mile.

"You want to be me, but you can't be me," Cristina started gloating. "You want to be me, but you—" She abruptly stopped and looked like something was going to come back up.

"She's gonna blow," Skylar warned. They all stood up, laughing, and quickly ran off, leaving Cristina sitting by herself trying not to throw up.

✧☽☾✧

"Hey," Alex greeted as he sat down next to Skylar on a deserted gurney in the hallway. "Uh...can you..." he trailed off, handing her the envelope Chief Webber had given him. It contained his test score and would tell him if he got to stay at Seattle Grace or not.

"You want me to open it?" She questioned as she gently took it out of his hand. She didn't know why he would choose her of all people.

"Yeah, you know, it's...I can't, so..." he stuttered out. "And you're the one that's least likely to make fun of me when I get cut, so..."

"If," she corrected. He looked at her, confused. "If you get cut." She sighed, tearing open the envelope. He couldn't make eye contact with her, and Skylar realized that this program meant a lot more to him than he was letting on. She didn't realize that it wasn't entirely the program but the people he was surrounded by. When she unfolded the piece of paper, a slight smile made its way onto her face. She didn't say anything as she passed the paper back to him. "Congratulations. You are officially not an idiot."

✧☽☾✧

"Bed rest at home until the baby comes," Addison told Bailey. A nurse was pushing her in a wheelchair since she had gone into preterm labor, but Addison was able to stop the contractions. All of her interns were trailing behind, sad to see their resident leaving them, but she will be back. Bailey always comes back. "You do know what bed rest is don't you, Miranda?"

"Yeah, hell," Bailey uttered, upset that she was leaving her job for maternity leave.

"Hell with TV and books," Izzie said as she handed Bailey a present. "Here, it's from all of us."

Bailey grudgingly took it. They all smiled at her from outside the elevator. Just as they thought they would see the last of their resident for the months to come, Bailey stopped the elevator doors from closing with her foot. "I may be 47 months pregnant." The group looked apprehensive as they were about to walk off. Addison had already left. "I may be on bed rest. I may not be able to see my own feet but I am Dr. Bailey. I hear everything. I know everything. I'm watching each and every one of you. And I will return." With that, the elevator doors closed.

✧☽☾✧

THE NURSES AT Seattle Grace Hospital were protesting. They had formed a picket line in front of the hospital and held various signs. The recent change in work hours had caused unhappiness and problems among the nurses. Instead of getting paid more for working more, their wages state the same as before. Ten days ago, they had informed the Chief that they would go on strike. That day had finally come. George, Izzie, and Skylar were standing at the end of the picket line, watching the protest. They didn't know what to do.

"What do you think they're going to do if we try and enter? They look pissed off and ready to throw tomatoes at the main act," Skylar said to her two roommates standing next to her. Meredith hadn't gone with them, since she wanted to visit her mother.

"Can't. Can't cross the picket line. I can't," George stuttered as he looked at the crowd of angry nurses.

"I don't like it either, George, but what choice do we have? Okay. You took an oath to heal! You're a healer!" Izzie chimed in, her eyes wide at the sight of the signs and yelling.

"Dad's a truck driver. Mom's a teacher. The evening news shows me crossing the picket line...they'll outlive me just to pee on my grave." Izzie and Skylar gave George a weird look. He says the weirdest things when he's nervous or scared—in this case, it was both. Skylar loved it when he got all flustered like this, it was one of the things that first attracted her to him.

"Look, George, you have responsibilities. So get a grip and walk through there like a man," Skylar tried to encourage him, but he shook his head.

Cristina walked up to them and threw her arms over Skylar and George's shoulders. The latter quickly pushed Cristina's arm away. "Has there been any blood yet? I hear they brought in scab nurses."

"I think the nurses know that we are on their side," Izzie tried to think on the positive side with a smile. However, right after she uttered that sentence, they heard someone yell 'Don't cross the line.' "Don't they?"

"I'm not so sure," Skylar said as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her black leather jacket.

"Well, we're doctors. We have sick patients inside. I mean, we have surgeries," Cristina said, being the surgery-hungry person that she was.

"Okay...then you go first," Izzie replied and pointed at the path in front of them. She took a step to the side to make place for Cristina to walk through and face the crowd of angry nurses.

"Screw it." She headed toward the line with confidence. The confidence she had quickly faded when food was thrown at her. "Yeah, doing my job! Doing my job!" Cristina eventually made it to the front door. The other three were quite shocked.

"They threw food at her!" Izzie gasped. The other two nodded with their jaws slack. "That is just wrong! Fine, I'm going in!" She took a deep breath and went in. They threw food at her as well, nobody was really safe. Skylar watched Izzie walk through and use her bag to deflect the food.

"Oh, God. Should I take my chances?" She asked George. But she didn't wait for an answer before she stepped between the picket fences. She was bombarded with all sorts of food. She tried to cover herself with her jacket but that proved to be unhelpful. The redhead ran the last half to the door. She finally reached the front door and stood next to Izzie.

"George, are you coming?" She yelled out.

"No, I'm good here." He remained still at the end of the line as he watched and observed.

✧☽☾✧

Since Bailey was on maternity leave, her interns had been appointed a new resident. They had no idea who it was going to be. Cristina, Alex, Skylar, and Izzie were waiting at a nurses' station and each time a doctor walked past they couldn't help but hope that they were going to be it.

Cristina saw a renowned doctor walking by and quickly pointed him out. "Yes, yes, that's him. He's been published twice and he's flawless."

"Oh, I don't want that guy," Izzie complained. "That guy's a freak. He doesn't let you speak in the O.R."

"Yeah, but he's flawless," Cristina enunciated.

This time it was Alex, who pointed someone out. "I think it's him. What's his name again?"

"Oh, yeah, mouth breather guy. But he'll let you do a procedure on your own if he likes you," Cristina said. Meredith walked up to them, a bit confused about what they were doing.

"What are we doing?" She voiced her thoughts.

"Trying to figure out who Bailey's replacement is," Skylar explained. Their guessing came to an end rather quickly when a loud voice called out their names. A young, cheerful doctor named Sydney Heron bounced down the stairs and made her way up to them.

"Here you are! I was looking for you guys in the locker room but you weren't there and then I thought well maybe my interns are looking for me too and then I come out here and here you are," she chuckled. Skylar raised her eyebrows at the woman, trying to contain a smile but ultimately failed. She never thought that she would want Bailey back so badly. "Yeah." Cristina looked horrified, hating the woman already. "You guys look like a great group." Meredith looked like she wanted to laugh. "Which is awesome. Because my horoscope said it's going to be a very challenging day and I was a little worried, but no, you guys...yeah, you look like a good group. Which is great! Because we're going to have so much fun! Hi!" She held out her arms and huffed a horrified Cristina. "Hi, first of all! Hi! Hi."

Cristina remained stiff and uncomfortable. "Ow! Ow, ow," she let out.

This made Sydney back up and ask, "Ooh, am I hurting you?"

"Ah, no, you're—you're touching me."

Sydney had an oh look on her face but quickly lost it. "I'm Sydney Heron. Fourth year and, uh, my philosophy, just so you know, is, um, is heal with love," she finally introduced herself. Alex and Izzie raised their eyebrows while Skylar tried to hold in her laughs. "Okay, so, wonderful. So, Alex, Izzie, Skylar, Meredith, Cristina, and our little group is just missing—"

"O'Malley. Yeah, he's cowering behind the strike line like a little girl," Cristina interrupted.

"Standing up for what he believes in, that's my kind of 'little girl,' right?" Sydney replied, expecting some kind of response, but didn't get one. "So...the E.R. needs somebody down there for a consult, does anybody—who wants to—"

"We get to pick?" Meredith questioned.

"Oh me, I'll—I'm on it."

"I'll help." Alex and Cristina both quickly dashed off, happy that they could get away from their way too enthusiastic resident. It was quite obvious that the group didn't like their new resident. They were used to strict and tough Dr. Bailey, not this new 'heal with love' crap.

"I have patients I need to check on," Meredith said and ran away like she was being chased by a lion, leaving Izzie and Skylar with Sydney. They were in for quite the ride with this woman. Skylar's mood brightened when she saw a familiar face walking toward them. Addison, holding a chart in her hands, neared their small group and a smile appeared on the intern's face.

"Dr. Stevens," Addison said. "Could use you on a consult." She held up the chart to the intern who immediately took it out of her hand.

"Okay, I'm on it. Absolutely." With Addison by her side, she left Skylar with Sydney, but not before mouthing a sorry to her. Skylar just forced a breathy laugh before looking back at her resident with a stiff smile.

"I have charts to fill out."

✧☽☾✧

Skylar was sitting on one of the beds in the abandoned hallways. Since she wasn't in the mood to run into Sydney, she had grabbed a couple of charts and a snack from a vending machine. She flipped through one of the charts. It belonged to Valerie Estévez, a woman who came in for extreme abdominal pain and nausea. It turned out that she just had gallstones and they were surgically removed. Now she was just filling in some blank spots on the chart. Skylar glanced away from the pages to take another bite of her snack.

She was interrupted from her zone by her pager going off. She quickly checked it and jumped off the bed, taking her stack of charts with her. On her way to post-op, she quickly dropped off the charts at the nurses' station on the post-op floor. She would come back later to put them away.

When she arrived at the woman's room, she sighed and placed her hands on her hips. She playfully glared at the 43-year-old woman, who shot her a smile back. "Why did you page me? You look fine."

"The stupid TV won't turn on. I called for a nurse but no one will come," Valerie complained.

"Here, let me see." Skylar held her hand out for the remote and Valerie playfully slammed it into her palm. The redhead took the remote and pressed the 'on' button. When that didn't work, she smacked the back of it against her hand. She didn't know what that would do but it always seemed to work in the movies. It didn't. "The batteries are probably dead. I'll bring you a new one, Mrs. Estévez."

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Valerie for you."

✧☽☾✧

A group of nurses was camped out at Joe's bar, taking a break from standing outside of the hospital. They toasted George with their drinks. He had also refused to work that day and had been their inside man so they could still help their patients without having to actually go in. They clinked their glasses and Goerge laughed, happy that he was appreciated. Skylar was happy for him, she just missed working with him but knew that this whole strike thing would blow over soon. She just didn't know if it turn out how the nurses wanted it or not.

Skylar, Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie were sitting at the bar. "She called me unkind. Unkind and lacking in compassion. In front of my boyfriend! I am not unkind," Cristina complained. Cristina and Alex had to work with Sydney on a case. The patient had a flesh-eating bacteria on her leg. Cristina had wanted to amputate the leg while Alex and Sydney wanted to save it—which they ended up doing. Cristina didn't trust Sydney though so she told Burke. Burke, being there on Cristina's orders, had angered Sydney, who ranted and insulted Cristina.

"I think I have to kill a woman tomorrow. I have to take out the tube that's keeping her alive."

Everyone then turned to Izzie who was next in line. Cristina threw a peanut at her and called out her name, but she didn't answer. "This is the part where you say what's wrong with you," Joe encouraged the blonde. Izzie remained quiet and ended up leaving the bar. Skylar scooted down a stool so she was sitting next to Meredith. "You didn't share a sad story," Joe glanced at Skylar.

"I'm actually fine. My goal was to avoid Sydney all day, and I accomplished that," Skylar shared before taking another drink of alcohol.

"I have to kill a woman tomorrow," Meredith repeated.

"And that is a problem, why? I mean if it's what she wants, it's what she wants! And that is not unkind or lacking in compassion. I'm a very compassionate person! I have more compassion than you, Alex!" Cristina pointed at Alex as he arrived to get another drink.

"Shut your pie-hole, Yang," Alex said as he sat down next to Skylar. She smiled at him and they talked about their day. The conversation was interrupted when George came up to the bar and ordered another round for him and the nurses. "Yeah, give Nurse O'Malley a drink on me." Alex couldn't keep his offensive comment to himself.

"Alex, what the hell?" Skylar scolded and slapped him on the arm.

"Heh, what'd you say?" George turned around to face the nurses. "Hey, uh, Karev just called me a nurse." He faced Alex again but didn't look very impressed. Skylar just sighed, shaking her head at Joe who just smiled at her. She sometimes really wondered why she was friends with Alex. "That's the worst you could come up with. Or wait is that an insult? Or was I supposed to be—"

George was going to say more but was interrupted by a nurse spilling her drink on Cristina's lap. "Woopsies," she sarcastically said.

"Are you kidding me? I will kill you, you know that?"

"Bring it on!"

"Oh, she—oh, bring it on! Okay, Mama. Let's bring it on! Oh, look at her, spry! What you wanna cheer it out, soccer mom?"

"Oh, soccer mom!" They both started yelling and insulting each other. Joe quickly interrupted the brewing fight. Skylar looked at the whole thing trying to contain her laughter. She found it funny when Cristina got like this because the brunette could actually be very intimidating but it was just weird seeing her like that. Alex, on the other hand, was smirking at the situation and seemed to be enjoying it.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! If you're gonna beat each other up, there's not gonna be anybody left to set your broken bones." Joe tried to calm down the fight but it didn't help. They continued to yell, totally ignoring Joe. "Hey!"

Luckily, Meredith jumped in and removed her best friend from the situation before it got out of hand. "We were just leaving." She grabbed Cristina's arm, pulling her away from the nurses.

"Yeah, because I gotta go save lives!"

Alex smirked at the whole situation and Skylar was just laughing from her seat at the bar. George stumbled through the crowd of nurses, heading for the door. "Excuse me. I gotta go. They're my ride."

✧☽☾✧

"I can walk," Skylar giggled. "Seriously."

George looked down at her and grinned. "Sure you can, lightweight."

"I'm not drunk, George," Skylar protested and chuckled again. "I'm fine. I didn't even drink all that much."

"Sure," he agreed.

"Get the door, George," she playfully ordered.

George grinned and shook his head at her in fond affection. She was hilarious sometimes. "Right. Is that why you keep me around? To open doors for you?"

"Why would there be any other reason?" Skylar asked in mock seriousness as George unlocked the door and led Skylar to his room.

Skylar giggled and turned her head to capture his lips. "I'm not drunk," she murmured against his lips. "Tipsy, maybe. But we can have sex either way."

George wouldn't have minded just falling on the couch but they did have roommates. Behavior like that could wait until they had the house to themselves and there was a perfectly good bed waiting for them upstairs.

Skylar had been so lost in the pleasure of the kiss and running her hands through his hair that she hadn't been aware of their journey. She quietly gasped when the back of her knees hit the bed. The gasp was quickly muffled by his lips once again covering her own and his body pushing her back on the bed.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar followed George to the nurses' station the next morning, writing down every word of instruction the nurses' had sent with him. "And don't believe 2519 when she tells you she went to the bathroom because she just wants to go home. She just says she went to the bathroom and then she's back here two days later."

Skylar nodded. "Got it."

"Hey," Burke called out as he passed them. "I need sutures in 2602."

"Can't help you," George instantly called back. He realized what he said and stopped abruptly. Turning around, he gazed at Burke with a half-apologetic half-mulish expression.

"What?" Burke sharply asked. Behind George, Skylar leaned on the desk, smirking in amusement. George's stand for the nurses was courageous and cute. She really did like George. He was a good guy.

George shifted a bit uncomfortably on his feet. "Fair hours! Fair wages!" He shouted, thrusting his fist in the air. "Fair hours! Fair..." He stopped and sighed at Burke's shocked look. "It's no offense, sir."

"None taken," Burke told him with a smirk of his own.

George turned around and dejectedly shuffled to the desk. Izzie held out a cup of coffee with a laugh. "Hey, how's the strike going?"

"Do you know—" George set the coffee on the desk beside a grinning Skylar and Izzie. "Do you realize how rarely doctors say 'thank you' and 'please' to nurses? How few surgeons even know the names of...?"

"Hey," Skylar objected. "I always say 'please' and 'thank you.'"

George chuckled and then looked around. "I shouldn't be seen talking to you guys." Skylar and Izzie waved him off with grins.

✧☽☾✧

They never understood why they did this. Some nights the world seemed a bit too big to take on alone, so they went to him. They laid down and either talked or didn't. It never mattered either way. They didn't know why he seemed to make the world a bit smaller. A bit more manageable. No other person could do this for them.

Skylar was usually already there. Then came Izzie. She would lie on her back next to Skylar, just breathing. Within minutes, Meredith would show up and take the other side of the bed.

It was inexplicable. It was comforting. The companionship was something magical and not to be talked about. It was theirs. It was family.

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NINETEEN

Words: 3409 This chapter is a bit shorter than the others but I hope you guys still like it. [ Masterlist ]

CHRISTMAS IS A holiday that Skylar used to look forward to, but not anymore, even if it meant extra surgeries available thanks to the unusually high rates of accidents that occur around holidays.

Skylar let out a sigh as she stared at the water droplets on her bedroom window. She had a view of the street and the houses surrounding them, it was actually fairly pretty at night and with snow. Her tiredness made it seem like the lights were twinkling which just added to the beauty of it all. But seeing it rain and snowing at that moment, she slightly pitied Meredith, who was currently outside walking their dog, Doc. Meredith and Izzie had adopted him from the pound after Izzie lost one of the quints. Skylar was still slightly mad at what Izzie had said but decided to hide it whenever she was around the blonde.

Someone knocked on her door which made her turn her head towards it. It was open and George was standing in the doorway. "Hey. What's up?" George had very messy hair and his clothes were bunched up in places, telling Skylar that he just woke up.

"Just wanted to say good morning," he said as he walked in and gave her a sweet kiss that lingered on her lips for a few seconds afterward. "Um, do you know where Meredith is? I wanted to ask her something?"

"She's walking Doc, like she does every morning?" Skylar said with a teasing smirk on her face. George shot her a playful glare and scoffed as he made his way downstairs. Skylar quickly followed him to the living room right when the front door opened, revealing a drenched Meredith and Doc. Skylar's eyes widened when she noticed the enormous Christmas tree that Izzie was decorating.

"Looks like Santa threw up in here," George commented.

"Just...go with it. We're being supportive," Meredith said, understanding that Izzie's coping method was obsessively decorating a tree.

"Oh, hey! What do you think?" Izzie asked, finally noticing them. They all fake-smiled. "Did I go too overboard? Oh, I know, I know sometimes I can go a little overboard." Wanting to spare the blonde's feelings, they all

"No, it's great."

"We love it."

"It's beautiful."

Hearing only positive comments, obviously brought a big smile onto her face. "Oh, yay! I love Christmas."

"We know."

"Clearly," George stated with a forced smile. Izzie turned back around to continue decorating the living room, making the others exchange knowing looks before she turned around again with another smile gracing her lips. They were worried and they silently prayed that she would get over her heartbreak soon since they weren't the biggest fans of the Izzie that obsessively cleaned or decorated.

✧☽☾✧

The hospital was decorated with small Christmas trees here and there, some with ornaments, and some trees were created from blue and white surgical gloves. A pregnant and showing Dr. Bailey was walking down a hallway, well, more like waddling. With every step, she let out a deep breath, something that her interns couldn't help but notice. Her group of troublesome interns were tailing her, only a few feet behind.

"Look at her belly. She's almost as wide as she is tall," George spoke to Skylar which made Izzie grin.

"Why is she waddling? Are her ankles swollen?" Skylar asked.

"What's gonna happen to us when she goes on leave?" Izzie wondered the important question.

"Leave? She's going on leave?" Cristina asked, forgetting about that part of pregnancy.

"What do you think happens when people push babies out of their vaginas?" Meredith said.

"Do you think we're gonna get a new resident?" George wondered before glancing at the rest of the interns. They were all asking questions yet none of them were answering.

Cristina looked shocked and confused, like pregnant women going on leave was something totally foreign to her. "What?"

"Nah, they'll probably just let us all walk around unattended. To see how much damage we can do," Alex sarcastically replied as they stopped moving. Bailey had stopped at the nurses' station a few feet away from them.

"Yeah, well, you would know," Izzie snapped, which made the other four interns glance at each other. The moment passed quickly though and Izzie rounded to the front, smiling again. "Hey, you guys, we should all get together and get Bailey a Christmas gift for the baby. Or we could, um, organize some sort of secret Santa thing."

Cristina, being the ball of sunshine that she was, said, "Listen, Tiny Tim, you can take your—"

"Sounds great, Izzie," Meredith and George quickly interrupted her.

With a smile on her face, Izzie turned on her heels and headed off to where Bailey was standing. George and Meredith turned to face Cristina, who had a what the hell look on her face. "We're being supportive," Meredith explained. Bailey motioned for them to follow her and they started moving once again. Izzie walked right behind Bailey while George and Cristina walked together. Alex and Skylar walked behind them and Meredith trailed after them.

"So...how's studying for the medical boards going? Do you need some more help?" Skylar said as she glanced up at him.

"Oh, yeah, it's going great! Totally gonna pass the boards tomorrow."

"What? They're tomorrow? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to bother you and it's not your problem."

"Alex, you're one of my best friend's. If I had known they were so soon, I would've offered more help."

"I think I'll manage."

"Will you?"

"Are you doubting me, Sky?"

"No, I'm just saying—"

"Hey, I get it. But it's probably my last day here, so no more worrying about me, okay? I'll be fine," Alex said, ending the conversation. Skylar looked at him with a worried look on her face. She really hoped that he would pass his boards. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if Alex didn't work with her anymore.

✧☽☾✧

Bailey and her six interns were in a patient's room with Derek. The patient, Tim Epstein, had his wife and all his children in the room. It was chaos.

"Tim Epstein, 38, fell off the roof of his house," Meredith informed Bailey and Derek.

"I was stringing Hannumas lights, and a shingle came loose," Mr. Epstein explained. His children climbed on top of him, placing rubber lizards all over his hospital gown. And that was what Skylar disliked about Christmas. Kids. Don't get her wrong, she liked babies, all they did was sleep and cry for food, but toddlers and little children required attention and they were always so noisy.

"Hannumas?" Izzie queried.

"Hannumas, Chrismukkah. We go all out," he explained.

"He fell 12 feet," Mrs. Epstein informed.

"The good news is, my head broke my fall."

Derek nodded and one of Mr. Epstein's daughters flicked a rubber lizard toward him, which hit him in the face. Skylar had to bite the inside of her cheek to hold back her laughter which was noticed by the attending.

"Uh, there are no visible deformities, but he's definitely having some focal left arm weakness," Meredith continued.

"He'll probably be fine," Mrs. Epstein spoke. "He's always been a little hard-headed." Mr. Epstein chuckled at his wife's words, but out of nowhere, he winced in pain.

"Does your head hurt when you laugh?" Derek asked, walking to the side of his bed.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Follow my finger with your eyes, please?"

Mr. Epstein's son jumped on the other bed in the room that was in front of the interns. "I know karate," he proudly said to Dr. Bailey with a grin on his face.

"Dr. Bailey has motherly attractions," Skylar whispered to George beside her, who softly laughed. The two received a hard glare from the pregnant resident, and their smiles instantly fell. "I'll stop now."

Bailey frowned at the madness in the patient's room. "You know what? Your husband might need a little quiet," she suggested, walking toward Mrs. Epstein. "So there's a cafeteria right down—"

"No, no, let 'em stay," Mr. Epstein interrupted. "Pain or no, I don't want to miss out on the holidays with my kids."

"Dr. Kepner," Derek called. "Would you take Mr. Epstein down for a CT?"

Skylar nodded while she made her way across the room, dodging the toys getting thrown from one end to another. One of the rubber lizards hit her in the cheek. Yeah, kids are not fun at all.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar swirled in circles on a chair in the CT room while she waited for the scans to come up. She didn't know why Shepherd put her on this case, well, he had said multiple times that he liked to work with her, but why did it have to be this one? The door opened, and George entered the room, collapsing on the chair next to her. "My patient's family is loud, and I mean loud. I feel like my eardrums are about to burst."

"The Epsteins have three kids, George. Three," Skylar sighed. "They have rubber lizards that are 'attacking the hospital,'" she quoted what the children had said to her.

"Mine are adults. But they're so loud...like, baby adults. I should throw them out."

"Children and toys. The worst combination in the history of the world." They stared at each other for a moment before letting out long sighs. "It's the holidays."

"Definitely the holidays."

The scans came up on the computer screen. Skylar stared at it, shaking her head. "That does not look good at all." She printed the films and said goodbye to George before heading out to look for Derek. She had to roam the hospital for a bit before she found him and Addison in...she didn't know what it was. It wasn't an argument, just a very tense conversation.

"I don't know," she heard Derek mumble. "Whatever, you know?"

"I thought you loved Christmas shopping," Addison sighed. Skylar didn't know if she should interrupt the two or not so she just stood there, silently wishing for one of them to either notice her or end the conversation quickly.

"I'm just really not in the mood for it right now, okay?" Derek saw Skylar out of the corner of his eye with the CT scans in her hand.

"Okay, well, how about French food and Scottish catalogs tonight, around nine?"

"Um, well, I guess that depends on what time I get out of here—"

"Dr. Shepherd," Skylar called, not being able to watch anymore. When both attendings turned to her, she added, "Neuro-Shepherd. Mr. Epstein's CT scans." She gestured to the films in her hand. Derek quickly walked toward her, eager to get away from Addison. "Subdural hematoma?"

"Yes, and that is not great at all."

✧☽☾✧

"Mr. Epstein, sorry to, uh...interrupt," Skylar said after she walked into the room.

"Um, should we talk more privately?" Derek suggested.

Mrs. Epstein shook her head and sat up from where she was laying on the other bed. "No, just tell us," she insisted. "Is it bad?"

"The fall has caused a subdural hematoma," Derek informed.

"I don't even know what that means," one of the daughters spoke.

"It means your dad is, um...bleeding. In his brain," Skylar replied.

The attending nodded. "Look, there are some risks to the surgery. It has to happen before the bleeding gets worse."

"What kind of risks?" Mrs. Epstein worriedly asked.

"See, the bleed is, uh, in an area of the brain that controls the speech and the motor control."

"We don't need operation, okay?"

"You know, Jake, I think we do," Mr. Epstein comforted his son.

"Hey, honey, you know something else?" Mrs. Epstein asked, crouching beside Jake, who was on the bed. "We have a doctor named Shepherd."

"Shepherd," Mr. Epstein repeated. "Is that a sign from God or what?"

Skylar held back a smile and a small chuckle, turning to face away from the family. Derek just glared at her, obviously weirded out by that comment. "Stop laughing," he whispered.

"Sorry, I'll head out, Shepherd."

✧☽☾✧

After Mr. Epstein's successful surgery, Skylar was wandering the halls. She was looking for one of her friends to talk to. Derek had kind of angry-rambled in the O.R, going on about how Christmas was the worst time of the year for neurosurgeons because it's the busiest. She could understand now why his mood was so sour.

She wandered into the tunnels to see Cristina laying on a gurney and Alex was doing something to her. It looked like he was feeling her up, and not in a sexual way either, but that's what she thought and she decided to roll with it.

"Are you that lonely?" She said, gaining their attention. "If you are. There are excellent vibrators. I can get you a catalog," she joked.

"He failed his boards. I'm helping him study," Cristina informed her but she already knew.

"Oh, I already knew that," Skylar brushed it off as she walked closer to them. Alex just rolled his eyes, backing away from the brunette.

"Glad you know how to keep a secret, Yang," Alex sarcastically said. He didn't care that Skylar already knew, it was the fact that Cristina so easily said it.

"He needs our help. And now it's your turn," Cristina said, sitting up and switching off with Skylar.

"Oh, I already helped him study once. This is completely different," Skylar tried to get out of it. She didn't want to pretend to be a patient to help Alex study for his test.

"What if it were you?" Cristina asked, using the same logic that Meredith used to rope her into this.

"It wouldn't be," she responded, knowing she would have studied her ass off and passed the test with flying colors.

"That's what I said. You know, our minds are really linked at this point, Red," Cristina dreamily said. "But, what if it were you?" Getting back on track. "You know, I'm leaving, now it's your turn." Cristina stood up and left without another word said.

"Fine," Skylar said, plopping down onto the gurney. She sighed, locking her hands on her lap. "I'm a 55 year old man. I'm nauseous and I can't stop throwing up—"

"Forget it, all right? I didn't ask for anybody's help," Alex interrupted her. He kind of sucked in the help department. He was terrible at accepting it when he needed it, and he was terrible at giving it.

"Okay, Karev, you can nurse your pride—key word being nurse—or you can pass your test and be a doctor. Up to you," Skylar bluntly convinced him. She was being a bit sour as well today. She didn't like Christmas at all. Thanksgiving was a different story, it was all food, but Christmas was exchanging gifts and showering your family members in love. She was terrible at both. She never had the imagination to come up with a sentimental gift so she just ended up getting her family members jewelry or socks or candy. And then when they got her something they actually put thought into, she felt horrible.

Alex sighed, thinking it over. There really weren't any negative things that were going to come out of this, and Skylar did have a point. "Any abdominal pain?" He asked, standing in front of her.

"Yes, from my giant, fat belly all the way to my back," she played it out. "Oh, and I'm drunk," she remembered. "Hiccup, hiccup."

✧☽☾✧

"Yeah, okay," Skylar said, wanting Alex to stop what he was doing. He was 'examining' her, at least that's what she thought. He was basically squeezing her boob. "The way you're grabbing me, that's assault." She grabbed his hand. "This..." she flattened out his hand and showed him how to do it. "Is an exam pat."

At that moment, George rounded the corner with his lunch in hand and gaped at the scene. "What—" From his point of view, Alex Karev and his hand on his girlfriend's boob, and he did not like it one bit. "What the hell?" Alex and Skylar immediately looked over at him, Alex wanting to stop but couldn't because Skylar still had her hands on his wrist. "What the hell is going on?"

"Unbunch your panties, Georgie. We're helping Alex study," she simply said. "Do it," she gestured to Alex.

"I can't hear you when his hand is on your boob," George choked out, still staring at Alex's movements.

"Take your hand off my boob, Alex," Skylar lightly ordered, him stopping.

"Thank you," George muttered but they still heard it. He knew Skylar would never cheat on him, but he didn't trust Alex. They had slept together before, who's to say that Alex wouldn't do it again? "Study for what?" He asked as he stepped closer to them.

"Shut it, Red."

"Alex failed his boards."

"Seriously?" George wondered.

"I failed one part of one board. That's it," Alex informed.

"Still, that's pretty embarrassing," George chuckled. Skylar's pager went off and she saw she was being paged to Mr. Epstein's room. She was thinking that he probably woke up and it was Derek paging her.

"He's all yours, Georgie," she said, standing up. "Do your worst."

Before Skylar rounded the corner, she heard George say, "You're not giving me a rectal. Do not ask me to cough." She couldn't help but laugh at the situation that her poor boyfriend was in. She laughed harder when she remembered that she put him in that situation.

✧☽☾✧

"He failed his boards!" Skylar heard George say, walking down the hall with Meredith.

"He cheated on me!" They heard Izzie say next.

"Busted," Skylar said in a sing-song tone as she followed them.

"Busted?" Izzie questioned, not knowing what they were talking about.

"His exam is tomorrow," Meredith told the blonde.

"You're in on this, too? He cheated on me, God!" She yelled as she walked ahead of them, not even bothering to look at them as she talked.

"Oh, told you she'd find out," Cristina said, overhearing the conversation.

"Why do you have a tree?" Skylar asked, seeing the plant in the brunette's hands.

"Oh, of course you're in on this," Izzie exclaimed.

"She let him touch her boobs!" George yelled, gesturing to Skylar. The redhead just whacked him on the arm and he jumped looking at her with a surprised expression. That made Izzie stop and turn around to face them.

"He cheated on me with George's skanky syph nurse!"

"That is just plain rude!"

"Why is Olivia now George's?" Skylar asked, her voice raising to match the others.

"We know he cheated on you," Meredith started, finally breaking over Izzie's tantrums. "That's why we let you turn the living room into Santa's freakin' village."

"What?" Izzie questioned, surprised. She had no idea what that had to do with the topic.

"We're not big on holidays! You know that, but we're trying to be supportive, because you're having a hard time. But right now, Alex, he's having a harder time," Meredith tried to explain before she was interrupted by the blonde once again.

"Why does everybody care what kind of time Alex is having?"

"Because he's dirty Uncle Sal." All four of them just turned to look at her with confused expressions. Even Izzie's anger seemed to dissipate for at least a second.

"You lost me."

"Sorry, what?"

"He's dirty Uncle Sal," Meredith said like that should explain everything. "The one who embarrasses everyone at family reunions and who can't be left alone with the teenage girls, but you invite him to the picnic anyway."

"I'm still lost."

"Sorry, what?"

"I have a mother who doesn't recognize me. As far as family goes, this hospital, you guys are it, so I know you're pissed at Alex, but maybe you could try to help him anyway, sort of like in the spirit of this holiday you keep shoving down everybody's throats." Izzie just shook her head and walked away, Meredith leaving in the opposite direction. Cristina walked down a separate hallway with the tree still in hand.

"You..." Skylar started, looking at George with a playful scowl.

"What?"

The redhead just turned and left in the other direction. "Boob?"

✧☽☾✧

After having two craniotomies, Mr. Epstein was finally awake and back to his normal, and healthy self. His family had come back to visit him. His wife and three kids hugged him tightly.

Skylar stood outside their room at the nurses' station. She was filling out Mr. Epstein's chart when Derek rounded the corner. "Drinks?" He asked, ready to head out.

"Christmas in a bar is depressing," Skylar rejected the invitation. She would probably just head back to her house and spend the night with George, Meredith, and Izzie.

"Well, Christmas alone is worse," Derek smiled. "Nice work in the O.R. today, by the way."

"Thanks."

"You'd be great in Neuro. Just putting it out there," he grinned. "Thought more about a specialty yet?"

Skylar smiled at him, putting the chart away. "Merry Christmas, Shepherd."

He nodded, "Merry Christmas."

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gazellion · 2 years

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EIGHTEEN

Words: 5329 [ Masterlist ]

"ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT in Seattle," George grumbled as he made his way into the kitchen with Skylar slowly walking behind him, putting on her shirt in the process. Meredith had kept them up all night after picking up a random guy from the bar, who was far too loud during sex in Skylar's opinion.

Izzie sighed, pouring herself coffee and getting a mug down from the cabinet for Skylar as well. "Yeah, who was it this time? Hairy back guy?"

"You know who I miss? Inappropriate facial hair guy," George said, digging through the laundry basket to find some clean socks. "You know he did his own dishes?"

"Tattooed ass guy made coffee," Izzie added.

"Yeah, he was a keeper," George sarcastically nodded, making an odd facial expression in the process. Izzie and Skylar shared a glance, each of them giving George a knowing look. "What?"

"George."

"What?" He scoffed. "Besides, Skylar is grumpy when she doesn't get sleep."

"It's true," Skylar added before downing the rest of her coffee, already going to pour herself another one. That's when they heard someone running down the stairs. "Fast, check him out!" She, George, and Izzie all ran to the doorway to see who it was, laughing when they saw a dark-skinned man sprinting out of the door in a hurry. "Oh, he's new."

"And I shall call him Running Guy," Izzie grinned.

"You know who we heard Alex come home with last night?" George nonchalantly asked, making eye contact with Skylar before turning back to Izzie. "You!"

"Oh, God, don't even get me started on the strange noises that come out of your bedroom, George," Izzie rebutted, making both Skylar and George quiet. "Besides, I don't want to talk about it." Then after a moment, she rushed out, "Actually, I really do want to talk about it. But he doesn't want to talk about it because there were, um, technical difficulties."

"Oh, God," Skylar frowned. "Poor Alex."

George looked between them, confused. "What?"

"You know, he didn't—" Izzie paused, making a gesture to show her hand going limp. "You know, he was—"

"No way," George giggled with a look of absolute amusement on his face.

"Stop it," Izzie whined as George burst out in laughter. "You can't say anything!"

"I'm gonna at least think about making fun of him next time I see him."

"Oh, definitely," Skylar agreed. "I mean, yeah, poor Alex," she joked, making a frowny face, causing Izzie to playfully glare at her. "But this is some truly phenomenal material we can be using for the next 50 years, at least."

"He said it never happened before," Izzie made an excuse.

"Well, that's what we all say." Izzie and Skylar gave George a look. When he noticed, he turned to face the redhead to assure her. "And I mean they. That's what they all say."

"I don't know. Maybe this relationship just isn't meant to be. I mean, I just need some sex. You know, just—" Izzie grabbed George's shirt and pulled him close to her. "I need sex now. You know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean?" Skylar absentmindedly commented. "I was there once."

"No matter how hard you beg, I am not doing you. I am in a committed relationship with the woman sitting across from you," George said, making Izzie smile and let him go. Skylar didn't mind the playfulness between them, she was never the clingy girlfriend type or the type that couldn't control her jealousy. And besides, she knew Izzie, and Izzie would never do something like that. At least she thought.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar was drinking her coffee on a bench outside when Meredith and Cristina sat down next to her. "They always look so sad when I kick them out," Meredith laughed, talking about her fleeing hookup from the night before. "Seriously, why do guys not understand that when you pick them up in a bar and take them home for sex, that there are no picket fences or kids in your future?" Cristina sighed at that, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a key. Skylar's eyes practically popped out of her skull, an incredulous gasp coming from her lips.

"Burke keyed you?" The other two practically shouted.

"Got freaking keyed before coffee," Cristina scoffed.

"Oh, come on, Cristina. Commitment's fun," Skylar smiled, jokingly raising her eyebrows.

"I regret taking it," Cristina said, causing Skylar to sigh into her coffee.

"What is wrong with them?" Meredith asked, referring to Derek and Burke.

"They're like these 1950s debutantes, one dance and there's a shotgun to your head." Suddenly, the guy from this morning, Meredith's one-night stand appeared in front of them. He was holding a jacket that conveniently covered his crotch area, which Skylar noticed.

"Meredith, you work here?" He looked uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here, Steve?"

"I'm having a little—" He glanced at Cristina and Skylar, figuring out how to word this. "Uh, problem."

"This is Steve Steve?" Cristina whispered to Skylar.

"Steve Steve," she confirmed.

"Actually, I'm having a big problem." Steve moved his jacket to the side, letting the two girls immediately notice was his big problem was. It was an erection.

"What?" Meredith questioned, still looking at his face.

"Steve, hi! I'm Cristina."

"Oh my God, the anti-Alex," Skylar laughed, looking up at the sky in disbelief. Cristina and Meredith gave her a confused look at that.

Steve ignored them, his gaze locked on Meredith. "Ever since you and I, you know..." he trailed off as Meredith finally noticed, doing a double-take in the process. "It won't go away."

"Cristina! Skylar! Stop staring!"

"What? It's right there looking at me," Cristina said, gesturing to his crotch area. Steve looked utterly ashamed as he placed the jacket in front of his body again. Cristina just laughed, "Oh, there are so many things I could say right now."

Skylar gently patted Meredith's shoulder with a mocking smile. "Nice work."

✧☽☾✧

The three interns were sneaking Steve into an empty exam room seemed to be much harder than they expected. The three of them were attempting to avoid being seen while Steve awkwardly waddled in front of them. Skylar could hardly contain her laughter.

"Do you think it's serious? It hurts like it's serious," he anxiously asked.

Cristina ignored him, turning to Meredith. "You realize this is completely insane."

"Like, completely," Skylar emphasized.

"Well, we have to stash him somewhere 'til we figure out what's wrong with him. I can't have the whole hospital finding out!" Meredith told them.

"I am not going down for this," Cristina said, shaking her head. "It's not my fault you broke this guy's penis."

"Broke his what?"

Freezing for a moment at the familiar voice, Skylar hurriedly whispered, "Stay still, maybe she's like a T-rex and won't know it's us."

"Hey! Don't make me chase you down, I'm growing a person here," Bailey complained as she waddled over to them.

"And you are absolutely glowing," Skylar sheepishly grinned, slowly turning around as Bailey glared at them. "Truly radiant."

"I gotta check on some labs," Cristina said, rushing away and earning a death glare from Meredith. Bailey turned to Meredith for an explanation, but the blonde simply stood there with a fake smile on her face. Still, Skylar tried to contain her laughter.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar huffed as she entered Steve's room, debating her life choices as she prepared to give Steve an enema. I would do it for you, was Meredith's argument. Skylar went on to ask Meredith if she would give George an enema, just as a hypothetical to which Meredith had frozen and Skylar bribed her by telling the blonde to do every enema she's assigned for a month. And even though it wasn't even that good of a deal, Skylar decided to be a good friend and help anyways.

"I cannot believe this is happening," Steve sighed, laying face up on his back.

"Try being me," Skylar sarcastically grinned, snapping on her gloves.

"I mean you meet someone in a bar, you have a few drinks, a few laughs. You make out in the car."

"Roll onto your side." Steve rolled over so he was facing her, making her sigh with annoyance. "Other side." He rolled the other way. "Bring your knees up to your chest."

"You have a good time. Spend the night, wake up the next morning and—" He was cut off by Skylar shoving her fingers up his butt at that moment, just to shut him up. "—Okay!"

✧☽☾✧

"Enema didn't work," Bailey informed Meredith and Skylar as they came back to check on Steve. The resident laid the sheet back down that was covering Steve.

"Enema didn't work?" Meredith sighed, turning to Skylar. "Enema didn't work."

"Oh," she frowned. "Well, it was an excellent enema."

"So what's the next step?" Bailey quizzed.

"Needle aspiration," Skylar answered as a look of horror crossed over Steve's face.

"A needle? My penis?"

Meredith nodded. "We have to drain the blood."

They began preparing as Bailey pulled out a tray with a syringe with a huge needle, causing Steve to freak out even more. "No way! No! Forget it!"

"Then you're looking at impotence, penile infarction, or gangrene. So I mean, if you want it to fall off—" Bailey listed but was cut off by the patient.

"No. No, I really don't want that."

"Well, then, let's get to it," Bailey said, leaving the room. "What goes up must come down."

"I feel nauseous."

"Just lie back, close your eyes and try to relax," Meredith advised.

Once they were fully prepared, Cristina joined them in the exam room. Skylar slowly drained the blood, slightly wincing when she imagined how much it must have hurt to be Steve at that moment.

"What if I just gave him back the key?" Cristina wondered, still stressing about Burke giving her a key to his apartment.

"He'll be hurt," Meredith said.

"What if I don't use it?"

"Well, then, if you had no intention of using it, then you shouldn't have taken it in the first place."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Fishing a key out of a coffee cup isn't like some binding legal contract."

"Your boyfriend gave you a key to his place?" Steve interrupted.

Cristina gave Steve a look and then turned to Meredith and Skylar. "Why is he talking?"

"I'm just saying, the guy put himself out there. He's taken the next step. You can't not use it."

"Don't you think you might not be in the best position right now to be handing out relationship advice?" Skylar inquired.

"Hey, he offered the key. She took the key. Just because I'm—" He stopped when he saw that his penis was slowly deflating. The procedure had worked. "Oh, look at that."

"Congratulations. You're flaccid."

"Never thought I'd be so happy to hear that."

✧☽☾✧

Bailey lifted Steve's sheets again to check his problem. Cristina and Skylar peered over her shoulder to see as well, only to sigh in disappointment.

Bailey shook her head. "Oh, my lord. Ooh, child."

Meredith came back into the room and noticed their grim faces. "Don't tell me—"

"The flag is flying once again."

Steve put his hands up in defense. "Hey, nothing I did."

"Well, we've tried everything. Must be neural," Bailey shrugged.

"Neural?" Meredith repeated with wide eyes.

"She already called for a consult," Skylar said, emphasizing the last word and causing a look of understanding to cross Meredith's face.

"A consult? You called neuro for a consult?"

"Hey, it's not my fault you broke the boy's penis," Bailey smirked, just as Derek came into the room.

"Hello, everybody. What's up?"

To Skylar, Meredith looked sick, like she might throw up at any moment, and she didn't blame her. But she and Cristina were attempting to keep their amused facial expressions to a minimum.

"So when did this, um, problem begin?" Derek asked Steve, oblivious to the situation.

"Well, I had an erection last night and woke up with one this morning."

Meredith cringed as Skylar did everything she could to stop herself from laughing. "Dr. Shepherd if you don't need me, the other Dr. Shepherd needs a consult on one of the quints," Bailey said, excusing herself.

"Yeah, no, we're fine." Bailey nodded as she left. "So, when did you last ejaculate?"

Skylar almost let out a laugh, just barely covering it up with a cough. Unfortunately, Derek noticed and sent her an odd look.

"I'm not sure." He turned to the uncomfortable blonde. "Meredith?"

"Oh, I'm...I'm gonna go with Dr. Bailey." Cristina gave an excuse to leave before she burst at the seams, causing Skylar to cover her mouth with her hand to stop her laughter as she left along with the brunette. She couldn't contain it anymore and let her laughter bubble over as she entered the hallway, closing the door behind her.

✧☽☾✧

Later in the day, Steve still had an erection. And Meredith was currently in his room with him. Alex was in an on-call room with a nurse, Olivia. George was roaming the halls. Izzie was with Addison, checking on Dorie Russel, the soon-to-be mother of quintuplets. Cristina was with Burke in her apartment.

But Skylar had her head rested on the desk of the nurses' station. She was taking a minibreak from work, just for two minutes. She was sleeping soundly when the chair next to hers rolled out and someone sat down next to her, waking her up from her light sleep.

With her eyelids still heavy, she lifted her head to see Derek sitting on the chair, sliding a cup of coffee toward her. "How good of a listener are you?"

"Well, you're here, isn't that saying something?" She raised a brow at him, sipping on the coffee as she leaned back against her chair. "This is exactly what I needed. How do you know my order?"

"Cappuccino with double shot of espresso, sometimes quadruple shot if you're extra tired. I pay attention. I listen. Now it's your turn to listen," he sighed.

"If this is your idea of a bribe," Skylar spoke, lightly gesturing to the coffee. "It's working."

"Addison's staying," he started. "She signed a contract with Webber this morning."

"Okay...? Should we be happy about this? Because I'm kind of happy about this because I like Addison," she said. At Derek's questioning look, she added, "As a mentor. I like Addison as a mentor."

Derek stared at her for a while before letting out a long sigh. "I don't know—that's the problem."

She furrowed her brows at the conflicted look on his face. "Do you want her to stay?" She gently asked.

"She's my wife."

"On paper—just saying," Skylar quickly defended herself when Derek gave her a sour look. "And you didn't answer my question."

"I don't know, Kepner..." he shook his head.

Skylar was about to speak again when her and Derek's pager went off. 911 - OR 1 - RUSSEL, D. "The quints."

✧☽☾✧

The quintuplets were successfully delivered in the busy but well-coordinated OR. All five of them were in the NICU, being watched over by Bailey's interns, excluding Alex.

Izzie had found out that Alex slept with Olivia in an on-call room before Dorie's surgery. It wasn't a surprise that she had practically thrown him out of the quintuplets room. It just made her upset because they were struggling to do it, but then he goes and does it with another woman, it made her feel self-conscious like she was doing something wrong with Alex. But he also kind of cheated on her.

"I have the best quint," George suddenly announced. "Lucy—she just smiled at me." He looked over his shoulder at Skylar with a smirk.

"She's nine hours old, George. How much facial movement does she have?" Skylar reminded him with a slight smile.

George frowned at her, mock offended. "I'm saying there are five babies here, and clearly, mine is the advanced one."

"Charlotte's smart," Meredith firmly joined the argument. "She's got wrinkles on her forehead—very serious."

"Okay 'A' this is not a competition," Izzie informed them. "And 'B' my quint kicks your quints asses. Emily's strong, she won't let go of my finger."

"Hey," Cristina joined the argument. "Julie has her organs on the outside of her body, and she's still alive, thank you."

"Kate's the best one. She battles through hiccups, okay," Skylar defended her baby, not wanting to lose out on the race.

"Izzie," Alex quietly started, leaning against the doorway.

Izzie didn't even turn to face him. "Leave," she bit out.

"Can we please just talk?" Alex asked.

"You're too busy screwing nurses to talk. Just get out."

"Sky, you got Kate?" He wanted to make sure the baby was okay. She nodded, silently mouthing 'Yeah,' as she looked down at the little baby.

"He is unbelievable. I am so glad I never slept with him," Izzie ranted. "Which is his loss because I'm really good in bed—mind-blowing—mind-blowingly good in bed."

"Are you trying to seduce us?" Cristina asked.

"Not really working, honestly," Skylar added, checking on baby Kate's vitals while the other interns held back a snort. Kate was her baby to watch over, well hers and Alex's. They both agreed to rotate shifts on watching over her.

"And then he sleeps with Olivia instead of me," Izzie scoffed. "Olivia."

"Hey, I slept with Olivia," George piped up with a frown on his face.

"Well, then you both have bad taste," Izzie snapped at him. He scowled at her, clearly offended.

"Hey!" Skylar exclaimed. She was really offended by that considering she had slept with both Alex and George. Izzie had been acting a bit stranger when both she and George were nearby, but Skylar never took notice of it.

"You can't say that you weren't warned," George grumbled, wanting to defend his girlfriend and his actions. "Alex has always been Alex."

"You dodged a bullet, Iz," Meredith spoke up. "You're better off without him."

"Why are you even surprised? You sleep with a snake, you get bit," Cristina added.

"Thanks, guys," Izzie sarcastically said. "For the support."

"Who's on call tonight?" Bailey asked as she walked into the room, looking at each one of her tired interns.

Izzie raised her hand. "I am."

"Alright, the rest of you, go home, sleep," Bailey ordered, looking at each of her interns. "All five quints are still alive. It's a good day."

The four others stood up from their seats, stifling a yawn. "See you later, Izzie," Skylar smiled at the blonde before she left to catch up with George, Cristina, and Meredith.

✧☽☾✧

"You know, a dog is not a replacement for a human being," George stated, pulling on his white coat in the locker room. The interns were busy getting ready for their morning.

"But dogs are better than human beings," Skylar disagreed, pulling her hair out of the back of the white coat. George stared at her with narrowed eyes while Cristina and Meredith nodded in agreement.

"You guys better wake her," Alex suggested, nudging his head in Izzie's direction. The blonde had fallen asleep in the corner of the locker room after staying up all night to look after the quintuplets. "If Bailey catches her sleeping, she's dead."

"Izzie," Cristina called out, but there was no response coming from the blonde, so she kicked her side while Skylar shot an extra hair tie at her face. "Izzie."

"Damn it—what?" Izzie snapped, glaring daggers at the other interns.

Cristina had a rather triumphant grin on her face. "Hell hath no fury like a girl whose non-boyfriend screws a nurse," she joked.

"Bitch."

"I like you bitter and pissed off. You're almost like a normal person now."

"Almost," Skylar emphasized with a smirk.

✧☽☾✧

The tension in Bailey's group was thick. Barely anyone said a word to each other, except Meredith and Cristina who couldn't stop talking. Skylar was walking next to Alex and from time to time they would look at each other and smile. That was it, nothing more, nothing less. Izzie kept glaring at the two of them and muttered insults under her breath. George would have scolded her for it, but he wasn't with the group. He was in a patient's room that the group was now entering. The patient had enormous swelling and pooling of blood at his nose and finger. "Okay, what do we got?" Bailey asked as she glanced at him, permitting him to start.

"Ah, Karl Murphy. 52. Multiple skin melanomas. Underwest reconstructive surgery to his nose, right ear, as well as skin graft to the left index finger," George started.

He was soon questioned by Bailey, which she always did when her interns presented their patients. "How's the capillary refill?"

"It's slow. About four seconds," George answered.

"What do you recommend to get that blood moving again, Dr. O'Malley?"

"At this stage, our best option is probably a biotherapeutic agent."

The patient was confused and looked up at the surgical intern with furrowed brows and panic spread on his face. "What—what is that?"

"We put leeches on your face."

"Leeches? Huh, you don't say."

"They secrete blood thinners to help break up pooled blood so it can help be evacuated. Sorta like a—a big drain. Look, if this makes you uncomfortable—" Bailey added.

"No, no, no. I've been a hiker for 40 years. Almost 40 years now and Mother Nature hasn't come up with anything yet that I haven't found a reason to love," Karl interrupted the resident with a smile on his face.

"You're a big outdoorsman?"

"How do you think I got all these melanomas in the first place?"

✧☽☾✧

The group then rounded on another patient that was in post-op. Bailey pulled the curtain open, revealing an unconscious patient and Dr. Shepherd already standing there watching over him and taking notes. "Oh, Dr. Shepherd, you're in early if you'd like us to come back?" Bailey asked.

"No, go ahead."

"Robert Martin. 45. Collapsed and hit his head which caused a small subdural hemorrhage," Meredith started presenting. Skylar was listening but her attention was caught by Alex who looked very uncomfortable. She couldn't help but keep her eye on her friend instead of paying attention to what the blonde was saying.

"That was the problem," Derek interrupted, looking up from the chart to glare at Alex.

"Mr. Martin was found to have a Rathke's Cleft cyst on his pituitary and surgery was postponed when—" Meredith continued after Derek's rude interruption.

"When I told a nurse—" Alex started speaking up, trying to own up to his mistakes.

"Olivia," Izzie blurted out, but nobody paid attention to her. And most of them were sick of Izzie's complaining. She really was not one to let go of a grudge.

"When I told a nurse to administer an incorrect dosage of hypertonic saline."

"Essentially dehydrating Mr. Martin's brain," Shepherd angrily remarked.

"He still has a chance, he could wake up and be fine," Alex mentioned, but Shepherd thought otherwise. He was actually quite the pessimist. She understood that being a professional in this job meant you had to be realistic and see the hard truth, but having a little faith wouldn't hurt.

✧☽☾✧

"Do you think Izzie's going to be okay?" George asked Skylar as they walked toward their patient's room. After rounding on Robert Martin, they walked to the new family of five babies. Every intern had done a good job presenting and only two babies needed an operation, which was essentially good news since they came out eight weeks early. "I mean she yelled at Bailey. At Bailey of all people!"

"Yeah, I know, George. I was there," Skylar said, looking at him. "I think that she'll be fine, eventually. She just needs to get all the anger and snarky comments out of her system, as annoying as it is, but it works. Alex hurt her and broke her trust. Give it a few days, or, knowing Izzie, a few weeks, then she'll be back to normal."

"You're probably right."

"Aren't I always?" Skylar laughed, making George crack a smile as well.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"How can you be friends with someone like Alex?"

Skylar chuckled. "Georgie, are you jealous," she teased. A light shade of pink came over George's features as he shook his head so fast that Skylar thought he might get whiplash. "He's not that bad. You just have to get around his walls. Just give him a chance, and you'll see that he's a good guy."

"It's just weird. I mean, you're so nice and well, Alex isn't."

Before she had time to respond they entered Mr. Murphy's room. They both greeted the patient with a smile but the smiles on their faces quickly turned upside down when they saw Olivia standing by the patient. She was trying to get a leech to stick to Mr. Murphy's nose. George and Skylar shared a look before glancing at the redhead again. Skylar couldn't solely blame Olivia for what had happened, but she also couldn't deny that Olivia had been the cause of a lot of troubles in their group. "Olivia," they said in unison.

"Dr. O'Malley. Dr. Kepner."

"How are the leeches doing?" George asked her as he put on his gloves, Skylar doing the same. He tried to keep himself from glaring but it was pretty obvious that there was tension. It was also quite awkward since Olivia was George's ex, and Skylar was currently dating George.

"They're not. Still can't get them to bite."

"All this blood. Think it'd be a no brainer for a leech," Karl tried to ease the tension.

"That's not always the case, Mr. Murphy. Leeches are quite complicated," Skylar started explaining, looking over how Olivia was doing it.

"Sometimes they get a little anxious in bright lights," George mentioned as he switched off the bedside light. "Thunderstorms—"

"Ooh!" Olivia let out as she dropped the leech.

"Nervous handlers."

"I'm sorry. I should be better at this." Olivia tried to ignore the judging stares she was getting and looked at Karl instead. He smiled at her as if to say that it was okay. "I still get a little squeamish around leeches.

"Huh, that's not what I've heard," George muttered but all of them heard it. Both Olivia and Skylar gave him a look, finding it ridiculous that he was acting so unprofessional. Skylar understood that he was upset but that didn't mean he had to belittle Olivia in front of their patient.

"Dr. O'Malley can take over from here. Dr. Kepner, Bailey wanted to see you up in the NICU," she informed them before leaving the room.

"You got this, George?" She asked and he nodded. While Skylar walked away, he moved to grab a leech out of the jar.

✧☽☾✧

"Cristina has a murderer who swallows razor blades for fun," Skylar gasped in awe, leaning against the nurses' station. "How crazy is that?"

"Very," George half-heartedly replied. "You see them in there?" He asked. Skylar followed his gaze into the quintuplets room where Meredith and Derek were chatting while checking on the preemies. "They're smiling—are they flirting?"

Skylar opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't think of the right words to say. So, she closed it and shook her head. "I actually have no idea." The two definitely seemed happy—that she knew. "Maybe they can be professionals when they're working?" She wondered. Though, a part of her knew that it would be nearly impossible.

Suddenly, Charlotte's heart monitor started beeping rapidly. Skylar and George rushed into the room behind the nurse.

"BP's low. She's tachycardic."

"Sats?"

"Dropping on high flow O2."

Meredith checked on Charlotte with a stethoscope while the nurse used a manual respirator pump on the baby. "No breathing signs on the right side," she informed.

"He lung has collapsed."

"Should we call the other Dr. Shepherd?" George asked.

"No time," Derek hastily replied, passing Meredith a thin tube. "Here, stick this between her second and third rib," he instructed. "Do not go too deep. You're gonna hear a small gush of air."

Meredith did it, and Charlotte's heart monitor stabilized and stopped rapidly beeping. Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh. "Nice job," Derek said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"I'm not giving up the trailer."

Meredith smiled. "Whatever you say, Dr. Shepherd."

George turned his head to Skylar, who was already looking at him. "Totally flirting," he whispered to her.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar was chewing on her chicken sandwich in the cafeteria. She was sitting at a table with Izzie, George, and Cristina, who were all having their own dinner.

"I'm telling you, Meredith was all over him!" Izzie complained. The sight of Meredith talking to Alex in the quintuplets room a while ago basically made her hair catch on fire.

"Seriously? She was all over him?" Cristina asked, sending a curious look to Skylar and George. "What, like, uh, mounting him? With all the babies watching? Seriously?"

Skylar chuckled at the image her mind had come up with. "The earlier you learn, the better, right?" She added while George held back a laugh.

Izzie rolled her eyes at them, not finding the humor in their jokes. "Well, she would've been if I hadn't interrupted."

"That's quite an accusation," Skylar shrugged.

George nodded in agreement as he unscrewed the cap on his water. "She was talking to him," he reasoned.

"You don't talk to bastards that cheat on their girlfriends, George," Izzie snapped. "That's the rule."

"Actually, I might be wrong, but...you weren't officially his girlfriend, were you?" Skylar asked, taking another bite of her sandwich. "You're kind of missing your own point."

"I am having a moment here," Izzie huffed. "Don't mess with me!"

Cristina shifted her gaze away from the book in her hand momentarily as she lowered her voice to the blonde. "You're not gonna have a nervous breakdown or kill yourself, are you?" She asked.

"No."

"So there's no chance you'll kill us?" Cristina gestured between the three of them, her tone serious.

"If you do, just remember not to swallow razor blades," Skylar advised. "Though I wouldn't mind an extra surgery." Izzie scowled at the three of them, then got up from her seat and walked off in a huff.

George finally released a laugh that he had held back. "Oh, that was wrong on so many levels," he muttered. "You two are smooth."

Cristina chuckled, giving Skylar a high-five. "We are brilliant," the latter smirked.

"Yeah, that was—that was good," George grinned and the two women laughed.

✧☽☾✧

It was early the next morning when Skylar's shift ended. After managing to scrub in on a surgery. She felt joyful but overall tired. The other interns had already gone home and now it was her turn. She changed out of her scrubs and into her thick sweater since the temperature was starting to drop. The door to the locker room harshly slammed open and Skylar had to look around a wall of lockers to see which annoyed intern was trying to break down the door. Izzie stormed into the room and towards her locker.

"What's wrong?" Skylar asked.

Izzie slammed her locker shut and slumped down onto the bench. "My baby died," she ranted. "She just...died."

"I'm sorry, Iz," Skylar gave her an empathetic smile as she put her backpack over one shoulder. She was on her way toward the door when Izzie spoke again.

"She-Shepherd knew that the baby had no chance. I worked my ass off. I was so scared and it was for nothing!" Izzie shouted. Skylar walked back into the room and sat down next to her on the bench. "All that just to test me, to make sure I don't crack under the pressure," the blonde scoffed. "That's ridiculous. And you know what she told me? She told me to 'Learn distances.' 'That I'll be a better doctor for it,'" she mocked. "Learn distances—why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because..." Skylar scratched the side of her neck, trying to figure out how to word it without letting Izzie down. "As much as I want to be on your side, I agree with her—"

"What?" Izzie glared at the redhead, feeling betrayed.

"She's not wrong. That's all I'm saying," Skylar cleared her throat. "She has a point. You shouldn't get too involved with your patients."

Izzie shook her head and stood up. "And here I thought you of all people would agree with me," she muttered, opening her locker once again.

Skylar narrowed her eyes at the blonde's change of tone. "What's that supposed to mean?" She questioned.

"You were raised in the same way I was. Sure, a trailer park isn't a barn. But we both had to scrape our asses off just to get into college. Sure, you have a good relationship with your parents but it's not the best. I just felt like you, of all people, would be the one who sympathizes with patients."

Skylar's eyebrows knitted together at her words. "I do sympathize, I just don't get involved as much as you do," she spoke. She took a step closer and slightly glared at the blonde. "And don't bring my family into this, Stevens."

[ Masterlist ] [ Seventeen ] [ Nineteen ]

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gazellion · 2 years

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SEVENTEEN

Words: 4455 A/N: I decided to put two episodes into one chapter since I didn't have much to write for them as separate chapters, so I hope you like it this way. Also, I'm trying to bring out Skylar's childish side more, and it peeked through a little here [ Masterlist ]

AS GEORGE AND Skylar walked to the hospital, the latter drinking a coffee and the former with a bagel, George had his arm around her shoulder as they walked and talked about the date they had the night before. It was a great night, they went out to eat at a restaurant that wasn't too fancy and they had a great time. It was like they had known each their entire lives, and Skylar especially liked how the date ended when they got back to their house.

"Oh," Skylar sadly said as a bird popped directly onto her open coffee cup. "I payed like, five bucks for that." She tossed it in the nearest trash can as George waited for her.

"Ha, sucks for you," George laughed, teasingly waving his bagel in the air. Skylar hit it out of his hand before he was able to take a bite out of it. "Oh."

"Not so funny now, is it?"

"Oh, crap," He whined, watching the bird devour his ruined breakfast.

"Sucks for you," she retorted, mocking him.

"Let's just go," he rolled his eyes at her childish ways. Just as they turned to walk away, a loud thump was heard from behind them. Much to their surprise, a man fell out of the sky and onto the—now dead—bird.

✧☽☾✧

"Window washer, fell from the fifth floor," Bailey informed George and Skylar as they snapped on their gloves to inspect the patient in a trauma room of the hospital. "What's your name, sir?"

"Stu."

"Obvious tib fib fracture, but, otherwise, he's okay."

"Equal breath sounds, after a five story fall he's got equal breath sounds. Unbelievable! Sky, do you wanna hear?" He squealed, speaking very quickly.

"I believe you, Georgie," she chuckled as she palpated the man's abdomen and Cristina entered the room.

"You fell from the sky—five stories—and you only injured your leg," George told the patient.

"George," Cristina warned.

"No. Don't 'George' me. A few seconds earlier he would have landed on me."

"True..." Skylar admitted. "Roll him on three, please?" She asked the nurses. "One, two, three."

As they examined the man's back, they found the squashed pigeon in his back. George's eyes widened. "My life was saved by that pigeon!"

"Let's get some X-rays and after that, you might want to get in there and look for the rest of...tweety," Bailey instructed. "Skylar, Dr. Shepherd asked for you."

"Which one?" The redhead asked, taking her gloves off.

"Montgomery-Shepherd."

✧☽☾✧

"My mother died of it.My aunt. My cousin—she's 37—has ovarian cancer, all of then," Sav ranted to her husband, Addison, and Skylar in a conference room. Sav had tested positive for the ovarian and breast cancer gene. It was kind of haunting her, knowing she most likely would get it as well. And Sav had no intention of getting it either, she wanted Addison to remove her uterus and find her a surgeon to cut off her breasts. But she was having a hard time getting her husband, Weiss, to approve of the surgery. Skylar watched the couple, disapproving of the man's controlling nature.

"But you don't," he instantly disagreed. "You don't have cancer! This is crazy, Savvy."

"But I have the gene, Weiss—"

"Which gives her up to an 85% chance of getting cancer—" Skylar cut in from where she was leaning against the doorway.

"And a 15% chance she won't," Derek interrupted, entering the room and taking a seat next to Weiss. Skylar looked between him and a fuming Addison with a deadpan look. She could already tell this would not be a fun day.

"I'm not betting my life on 15%!"

"We're you even invited?"

"Weiss asked me to come," Derek answered his wife, ignoring Sav.

The man nodded, "I thought it might help."

"Help what?" Sav scoffed. "I'm sorry, Derek, 'cause I love you and I'm really glad to see you, but until you grow a uterus and watch your mother die from this disease, you don't get—you don't get a vote." Skylar had never had to go through any of that, but she could only imagine how difficult this must be for Sav. And Weiss and Derek weren't making it any better. It seemed like Sav had already made her decision and she wouldn't change it just because of a man's view on what should happen.

"It's her body, guys. In the end, it's her decision." Addison and Sav gave her a thankful look.

"Did she tell you that they were trying to get pregnant?" Derek ignored her.

"Yes, she did," Addison responded.

"Having a hysterectomy is gonna throw a wrench in that."

"Derek! We've been trying for months," Sav persistently said.

"Why give up now?" Weiss angrily asked.

"Come on. We've talked about this. There are other ways to make a family, Weiss. We can adopt, we can do—"

"Savvy."

"No!" She slammed her hand on the table, startling the group. "I'm not talking about this!"

"Let's just take a step back. Take a deep breath, and think about this."

"I've already thought about it, Derek. This...this is going to happen."

"Dr. Kepner," Addison began, handing Skylar the chart. "Get a complete history and do her pre-op labs. Get her scheduled for a double mastectomy and consult Dr. Cwynar in plastics for her reconstruction."

"Derek—" Weiss said, wanting the man to do something about his wife. Skylar hated his controlling tone and his obvious implications that the man should have the pants in the relationship.

"Addison, this conversation is not over," Derek said.

"She is my patient, Derek," Addison began before he even ended. "We're doing a bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and hysterectomy tomorrow."

✧☽☾✧

"Shouldn't he be more excited?" George asked Meredith and Skylar at a nurses' station. "I don't know, maybe he's in shock, I don't know...I mean he survived, it's huge! He's gotta realize that things happen for a reason..."

"I don't know that they do, Georgie, honestly," Skylar sipped on her coffee. She was thinking back to Sav and her surgery. Sav seemed like a really nice person who was just going through a troublesome time, why did she have to get cancer?

"Oh, yeah. My ex-boyfriend moves his wife to Seattle. Reason? To torture me."

"I'm serious. You should be more excited, too, Sky! We survived." He passionately kissed his girlfriend who let out a surprised noise at the sudden contact. The kiss only lasted a second but she stared at him with disbelief and a smile on her face.

"Gross," Cristina joined them, commenting on the couple's PDA. Skylar just sent her a funny face in response which almost made the brunette crack a smile. She then turned to the blonde who was going through charts. "What's with the hello kitty on your forehead?"

"I don't wanna talk about it..."

"Zit-zilla..." Skylar ominously said, with hand gestures that made her seem like she was attacking Cristina. She was acting a bit childish today and George didn't know why, but he loved this side of her. Liked. He liked this side of her.

"George, can I sign out to you early? I have a test date, Burke is testing me," she went on.

"Well, Georgie can't stay later, we have plans," Skylar smiled at her between gulps of her coffee.

"Carpe diem," he let out.

"I've got a giant zit on my forehead and I'm beginning to look how I feel," Meredith complained. "Carpe that."

"This is the luckiest day in the world!"

✧☽☾✧

All of Bailey's interns were in the locker room, the girls were just helping Cristina get ready for her date with Burke while Alex and George were just freshening up. Skylar couldn't help but think back to when she was checking in on Sav, Izzie was totally against the idea, but as a doctor, she reminded the blonde that it's not her place to convince a patient what's right or wrong, especially when that patient was vulnerable—and most of them are because they're making the decision of life or death.

"Uh, they're both really nice," Izzie said as she looked between the two dresses Cristina was holding up. One was more flowy and white, the other was tighter and a shiny purple.

"I know. I bought them," Cristina deadpanned. "But which one is right?"

Izzie shrugged, "For what? You're gonna look hot in either one."

"Well, clearly."

"C'mon, Izzie, we all know that Cristina looks hot in anything," Skylar said, looking the brunette up and down in her beautiful red dress.

Just as she said that Meredith came into the room. "Wow, you look hot," she praised. George entered behind her and wolf-whistled.

"Yeah, Burke and I are gonna talk about how hot I am over dinner. Ugh, this date is such a mistake."

"It's easy to get nervous on dates. It's especially hard if you're out of practice, so you just got to be mellow and relaxed—" George started before Cristina interrupted him.

"Yeah, I know how to date, George. I'm not you," Skylar teased, earning a glare from George.

"I know how to date. I date all the time. Just ask Sky," he said, gesturing to the redhead.

"Eh," she jokingly said, shrugging. George just playfully glared at her as he made his way to the bathroom.

"Well, I have her scheduled for the mastectomy," Alex boasted, joining the group. "And I get to stay while plastics does a trans flap reconstruction. Sky, you're on the case too, right?"

Skylar nodded. "Yep. Are you scrubbing in?" She asked and Alex nodded.

"I couldn't do it," Izzie spoke up, butting into the conversation.

"Do what? Make yourself all hot and sexy for your boyfriend like Yang?"

"Go wrestle something," Cristina rolled her eyes.'

"I couldn't cut off my ovaries and breasts just because I might have cancer," Izzie continued.

"She doesn't maybe have cancer, Iz. It's 85 to 15, would you really want to take your chances on that," Skylar reasoned. Izzie just shrugged in response.

"Think of it like a hand," Cristina started. "If someone told you you'd die if you didn't chop off your hand, you'd do it."

"Except when you chop off a hand, you don't kill your sex drive, have silicone breasts, get hot flashes, and lose your ability to bear children."

Skylar shot the blonde a look. "I would rather do that, then be dead by the time I'm 40 because of something I could've avoided."

"If it were me, I wouldn't even have the test. I mean, what's the point? We're all gonna die anyway, right?" Everyone stared at Meredith but couldn't keep their eyes off of one thing. She sighed, pointing to her face. "It's the Hello Kitty band-aid on my forehead. It's freaking me out."

"I say slice 'em and dice 'em. Whatever. They're body parts," Alex shrugged.

"Oh, so you'd cut off your penis?" Izzie asked, knowing that he was going to say no, but she was wrong.

"If it kept me from dying. Besides...I've got plenty to spare."

Skylar threw a pen at him, which he immediately caught and put in his pocket after looking at it. "TMI, man."

"You love me," he said, getting up in her personal space before leaving to go to his locker.

"I could do hot in my sleep," Cristina said, going back to her dress debacle. "I look hot in scrubs. I'm a hot person."

"Yeah, you are," Skylar motivated.

"Besides, he's seen me naked a thousand times."

That's when George walked out of the bathroom to hear Cristina say that. "Bad, bad images in my head," he dramatically said, wincing as he walked over to Skylar who was laughing at his expense.

"But he's never seen you outside the hospital," Meredith pointed out.

"Thank you," Cristina said, looking at Meredith. She was glad at least one person saw her point of view.

✧☽☾✧

The next morning, George, Skylar, and Meredith sat outside the hospital George was upset because, after all that, the window washer had died. Meredith didn't know how to feel because her patient had cancer and when she told her husband, he said not to tell the patient. But she had an obligation so she did tell her and the patient said not to tell the husband. They had spent 60 years together and they only got a few more months, and they were spending it in Venice. Skylar's patient, Savvy, her surgery was that day and she didn't know if Sav's husband was going to show up for it or not.

"I thought he cheated fate," George said, balancing on a ledge that Meredith and Skylar were sitting on.

"Maybe he did," Skylar suggested.

"He died!" George pointed out.

"I think you can't wait for someone to fly underneath you and save your life. I think you have to save yourself," Meredith thought out loud.

"You mean the pigeons aren't going to come?" George asked, sitting down and facing the two girls.

"The pigeons aren't going to come," Meredith confirmed.

"Sometimes they do. Sometimes miracles happen," Skylar said with a bit of hope in her voice. That's when Meredith decided to go home, to leave the couple by themselves.

"I'm grateful for you," George suddenly blurted out after a minute of staring at Skylar's profile. "I just mean—you know, with all that happened today."

"I'm grateful for you, too," Skylar said with a giant smile on her face. And by giant, it wasn't giant because of the size, it was giant because of how much she felt like smiling. Sometimes she relies on her facial expressions to get the point across. She wasn't the greatest at putting her thoughts into words, most of the time she just ended up stopping in the middle of a sentence because she couldn't figure out how to word it. And when she did figure it out, it was too late because the subject had already changed. "Georgie?" She whispered, wanting to keep this short but sweet.

"Yeah?"

"You're my pigeon," she said, hoping that he would understand what she meant.

"You're my miracle, too."

✧☽☾✧

It was Thanksgiving. Skylar sat cross-legged on her bed, looking down at her folded hands. A deep sigh escaped her lips. She should be happy because it was one of the first holidays that she would spend with her new, sort-of dysfunctional family. However, she wasn't able to put a smile on her face. It was the first year she would spend without her family on the holidays. She always celebrated with them, even when she was in college, she would fly back home. This year, she would miss her mom's cheesy mashed potatoes, and Libby's, one of her sister's, famous cornbread, with corn from the farmer's market that was in town three weeks before the holiday. Skylar had to admit, that she was feeling a little homesick.

When Skylar went downstairs she saw Izzie dumping a frozen turkey into the kitchen sink. The blonde was getting recipes and books out in preparation for cooking Thanksgiving dinner which everyone was supposed to help with. But nobody really wanted to help. "Skylar! I'm so glad that you're up. Can you cook?"

Skylar was about to answer when Izzie's eyes shot to the door. She rushed out of the kitchen to go to the hall where Meredith was trying to sneak out of the house. Instead of lending a helping hand, she tried to escape to work. "What do you think you're doing?" Meredith immediately spun around to face the blonde, who was standing right behind her with a recipe book in her hands. Skylar let out a deep sigh before leaving the bar stool to join the two in the hallway.

"I am—" Meredith was interrupted by the doorbell, which she used as an excuse. "Answering the door.

Looking at the blonde's bag, Izzie realized, "You're going to the hospital?" Skylar made her way toward the door. "Meredith, everyone is supposed to be in the kitchen by nine am to help me make dinner. It's Thanksgiving!" She complained. Skylar opened the door with a confused look as she found three men staring back at her.

"Is this where Georgie lives?" The oldest of the men asked.

"Georgie? O'Malley?" Skylar asked and at the man's nod she answered, "Yeah, he's probably still upstairs."

Right after she said that the men barged past her, chanting, "O'Malley! O-Ma-lley!" As they went up the stairs Skylar just stared after them in confusion.

"Should we call the police?" Izzie joked.

"Probably," Skylar replied, a faint smile on her lips. With both of them distracted, Meredith took that opportunity to sneak out of the house. The sound of a closing door caught their attention and they immediately turned around, but they were too late. Izzie looked rather angry while Skylar was feeling a bit left out.

"Meredith, I'm serious! You need to be back here for dinner at six! I mean it!" Izzie shouted before turning to Skylar.

"I'll go with her if it makes you feel better. I'll make sure she's back here in time," Skylar suggested with a bright smile on her face, hoping Izzie would let her. She did not want to spend the whole day with the blonde.

"What? But I need help," Izzie deflated with a hopeless look on her face.

"Cristina will be here in, like, 30 minutes. You'll be fine," Skylar said, slowly backing away toward the door.

"Fine. Go," Izzie waved her off. Skylar turned around with a genuine smile on her face. Luckily, she caught up with Meredith in time before she left the driveway and made her way to the hospital.

✧☽☾✧

"Grey," Bailey called as she walked into the locker room and looked at her two interns. "We're working with a temp attending today," she informed. "Dr. Kent—he's subbing in from Mercy West. We need to get him oriented."

"What about me, Dr. Bailey?" Skylar asked as she stood up after finishing tying her shoe.

"You just finished a 20-hour shift," Bailey narrowed her eyes. "Go home. Go celebrate Thanksgiving with your family."

"My mom and dad are back home on Ohio," Skylar blurted out. "And ny sisters. Well, one sister is in Seattle but she's celebrating with her friends this year. Which led me here. To you. To work."

"Alright, fine. Stay if you want. Go help out in the E.R and maybe get yourself a surgery," Bailey instructed and Skylar's face lit up. "No stealing surgeries! Holidays lead to alcohol, which leads to violence, which leads to people getting hurt. The stupidity of the human race. Be thankful for that." Skylar and Meredith stood up and followed the resident as they left the locker room. "And thank you for coming in, both of you. Saving me from having to choose interns to torture," Bailey added.

"Happy to be tortured," Meredith cheered.

"Not a fan of Thanksgiving?" Bailey asked.

"Not a whole hell of a lot to be thankful for."

"And you, Kepner? Besides the whole...family issues."

"Well, I'm thankful to be helping people," she answered in a tone that told them that she just wanted to assist on a surgery. Bailey just rolled her eyes at her eager intern. Of course, she got stuck with the most surgery-hungry ones.

✧☽☾✧

"And my daughter is in Columbus for a business meeting. A business meeting on Thanksgiving! Can you believe that?"

"Hey, I'm from Ohio. No need to be rude about it," Skylar replied in a teasing tone with a smile. She was suturing the cut on the old lady's forehead. Her grandson was waiting beside the bed, the teenager watching over everything that was happening.

"Oh, no offense to the state, dear. It's just, what kind of business meeting happens on Thanksgiving?"

"I'm sure it's really important or else she wouldn't have gone," Skylar tried to assure Mrs. Schuette.

"Will she be okay?" Her grandson, Michael, asked. "I just—I was holding the TV remote and gesturing and it flew! I swear, I did not do it on purpose!"

"Mickey, it's not your fault," Mrs. Schuette reassured, holding her grandson's hands.

"Mom and Dad are gonna kill me...I'm gonna die on Thanksgiving..."

"Micael, sit down and take deep breaths, okay?" Skylar requested, not wanting to agitate either one of them right now. "It does more harm if you continue panicking, alright?" Michael nodded and sat down on a stool alongside the bed. Skylar let out a deep breath.

The curtain behind her was suddenly pulled open, and the three of them stared at the neurosurgeon that appeared. "Ooh, that is one handsome man," Mrs. Schuette noted, and Derek smiled back at her.

"What are you doing here on Thanksgiving, Shepherd?" Skylar asked as he walked up to her.

"I needed a, uh...distraction," Derek replied. "And I might be able to wake up a patient who was minimally conscious for 16 years."

"With Meredith," Skylar knowingly looked at him. "What? Gossip travel faster than you think in this hospital. I'm not normally one to listen to it, but you're all...smiley." She and Derek had gotten closer the last few weeks. Skylar still has a bit of a grudge against him for keeping his wife a secret, but she had to admit that he was a good person to have around.

"You really are taking your time with those sutures, aren't you?" He asked, changing the subject as he quirked a brow at the intern.

"Well, Mrs. Schuette here does not want a big ugly scar on her face, does she?" Skylar smiled at the woman.

"Absolutely not," she replied. "I want whatever beauty is left on me."

"Oh god, will she have a scar?" Michael freaked out.

"I can assure you, Dr. Kepner is one of the ebay there is," Derek told the teen. "You're in good hands."

Derek examined the intern, who had her full attention on perfecting the suture on her patient's face. She sometimes reminded him of a certain someone, but even the thought of that person was enough to ruin his mood and make him want to escape the situation.

"Well, I better get going. See you around, Kepner. Happy Thanksgiving."

Skylar only hummed in response, mainly because she was too concentrated on the stitches. It only took her another five minutes to finish suturing the cut together.

"Well, Mrs. Schuette, we're done here," she placed down the tools and removed her gloves, tossing them into the trash can nearby. "I'll get you some paperwork to fill out. It basically states that you accepted help in this hospital and you recognize that you need to come back in a week to get the stitches removed. Other than that, your forehead will look like it never had to come here to begin with." The patient smiled at her and thanked her for her great service and compassion.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar strolled around the hospital, with a large cup of cappuccino with two shots of espresso in her hand. She found herself absentmindedly wandering to the tunnels where she found Alex sitting on a gurney.

"Skipping Thanksgiving, too?" She spoke up, causing Alex to jump a little as he shoved the notepad in his hand aside. She walked over to him, only to notice the many medical books opened and scattered around him. The notepad that he shoved away was filled with lines of notes in scribbled handwriting that took her a second to understand.

"Yeah, yeah. I failed my medical boards. Big deal!" Alex groaned.

"Well, it is kind of a big deal," she said as she sipped her coffee. "I can help you study if you want," she suggested and he stared at her curiously. "Well, Karev, not to rub it in, but I aced every exam I took."

Alex didn't waste another second as he moved a few books aside to let Skylar sit next to him on the gurney. "Do not tell anyone else about this, Sky. I mean it."

"Why do men have such a big ego?" She questioned as she sat down. When he glared at her, she assured him, "Yeah. Yeah, I got it." She snatched over his notepad, flipping through his notes to try and transcribe them into actual English.

✧☽☾✧

It was already nighttime when Skylar met Meredith again in the locker room. "I heard about the case you were working on," she said, walking toward her locker. "How's your patient?"

"He died," Meredith let a long sigh. "Derek's with his family right now."

"I'm sorry."

"You're close with him, aren't you?" Meredith spoke up. "With Derek?"

"Yeah, I hope you aren't mad at me if I am," Skylar said, hoping that the blonde wouldn't be.

"I'm not. You know, as long as you don't talk about me around him," Meredith responded, causing Skylar to lightly chuckle.

"You know, I basically assigned myself with scut work today, instead of scavenging for surgeries."

"You also helped Alex study," she added and Skylar looked at her. "He told me. That was nice of you." Both of them turned their heads to Cristina, who had just walked by. She stared at them in shock, her look similar to the two other interns.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith asked. That's when George walked into the room. He did a double-take when he saw Cristina, his eyes widening even more when he noticed Meredith and Skylar there as well.

"Oh...this is beyond bad."

✧☽☾✧

"Hey, Iz," the four interns chorused as they walked into the make-shift dining room. "Sorry, we're late."

Izzie gave them a halfhearted glare and then waved them all into their seats. Alex leaned down and kissed her cheek. "At least you all made it."

"Her fault," Alex pointed at Skylar, to which she just gave a confused look. "She drives really slow. And she's addicted to the hospital. It took all four of us to drag him out kicking and screaming."

Skylar shot him a playful glare. "You do know, I have blackmail on you, right?" That shut Alex up real quick.

"So, in punishment for leaving Preston and I to cook alone, you five have to give us the skinny on what happened at the hospital today," Izzie ordered and tore a bite out of her bread roll.

Skylar swallowed her drink of water and stared at her for a moment. "I did a lot of sutures," she blurted out. "Stop giving me the evil eye, Iz. You're freaking me out."

Alex tried to seem immune to the evil eye and shrugged, "Lots of sutures and a raisin stuck in a kid's ear. Her cousin dared her."

"Guy swallowed a wishbone," Cristina offered with a frown.

"My brother shot my dad in the ass," George blurted. "I had to dig the bird shot out. Of my dad's ass," he shuddered, causing Skylar to pat his leg in mock sympathy.

Meredith grinned when Izzie looked at her. "I woke up a P.V.S. patient just by talking to him. Okay, so the fall probably did it but I was the first person he saw in 16 years. It was a good day."

Skylar stared around at the people talking and laughing at the table and smiled. Burke, George, and Alex were using their forks to illustrate as they discussed something. Izzie, Alex, and Meredith were laughing at something Cristina had said. This might not be a traditional family, she decided. But they were a family and she was more than happy to be a part of it.

[ Masterlist ] [ Sixteen ] [ Eighteen ]

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gazellion · 2 years

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SIXTEEN

Words: 3808 [ Masterlist ]

THAT MORNING, WHEN they got to the hospital, they were earlier than normal, so they could take their time getting dressed, and for some—George—that meant eating his breakfast. Cristina, Skylar, Izzie, and George waited by one of the nurses' stations to wait for Bailey. Izzie was drinking coffee, George was eating a banana, Cristina looked like she would fall asleep at any moment, while Skylar was slumped against the nurses' station. She yawned, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips to try and wipe away her tiredness.

Last night, George had kept her up—and not in the way you think—it wasn't him, per se, it was the thought of him. She had done her second load of thinking that night with George sleeping next to her. And with nothing but him to look at, she watched his cute, peaceful face as her mind raced. Sure, they were together, but to Skylar, it felt a little weird. Like, someone was hiding something. Maybe, he was and he wanted to keep it a secret from her. Maybe she was, and she didn't even know what that something was. Or maybe it was nothing serious and she was just worrying because it always seemed like she was worrying about something these days.

"Well, we have to do something. Meredith's become like an exhibit," George voiced, making Cristina groan. "Like the...hey. Like a zoo animal, like that rare panda that everyone stares at." He was referring to the hospital gossip about Meredith, some people said she went crazy after Derek dumped her for Addison, and other people said she was ready to jump off the building. None of it was true, though. But she was just a little upset, as you'd expect anyone to be after a breakup.

"Please don't say that to her face. I think that panda died alone," Izzie advised him.

"It did," Skylar confirmed.

After hearing Cristina laugh, George turned to her. "This just could just as easily be you, if people knew about you and..." He narrowed his eyes and silently mouthed Burke, which made Cristina a little angry.

"You take that back," Cristina immediately said, redoing her bun.

"No," George responded, making Cristina glare at him. "I'm just saying we should do something to cheer her up."

"Don't worry about it," Izzie mysteriously replied and shared a knowing look with Cristina. They had come up with the perfect plan to cheer up their heartbroken friend. George and Skylar were not informed and looked between the two, confused.

"It's under control."

"What—what do you guys have going on?" George asked.

"Nothing."

"Hey! Why didn't you two tell me about whatever the hell you are planning to do? Meredith's my person after all," Skylar tried to convince them, but it was to no avail. Izzie and Cristina glanced at each other before shaking their heads with a smile on their faces. This was all a part of their plan: they decided not to tell Skylar, because they thought she would spill it to Meredith. She was a horrible liar after all.

"Where's Karev?" Bailey immediately asked as she walked up to them with Meredith by her side.

"Probably off somewhere, not kissing somebody," Izzie muttered which made Skylar roll her eyes at Izzie for what felt like the thousandth time. Izzie just didn't know when to let go of situations. It had been a couple of weeks since then, Skylar was pretty sure she would be over it by then. But then again, she wouldn't know because Alex had put out for her.

"Let's go, O'Malley." They started walking away and took the front, the others walking a few feet behind them. Skylar wanted to keep up with them and not fall behind, so she fastened her pace a little bit. Izzie, however, grabbed her by the arm, slowing her down. Skylar shot her a confused look.

"Hey, so, um, after rounds, we have something to show you. Both of you," Cristina told Meredith and Skylar with a tiny smile gracing her lips. Skylar was still a bit confused but shook her head. Meredith showed none of those things, in fact, there was no emotion visible on her face.

"Look, you don't have to include me, if it's just to make Meredith feel better. You two have it handled," Skylar politely rejected their offer. She turned away from them, jogging slightly to catch up with George and their resident.

✧☽☾✧

Burke, Bailey, and her interns, excluding Alex, were gathered in a patient's room. The woman was lying on a hospital bed while her husband was rushing around doing little things for her. "Mrs, ah, Kimberly Griswold. History of heart disease and multiple surgeries. In for a beating heart quadruple CABG," Cristina started presenting when someone walked in. That person happened to be Alex.

"You're late," Izzie pointed out the obvious, and Skylar slightly sighed in annoyance. George smiled next to her, having heard this. He knew she and Izzie weren't best friends, but they tried to be and he appreciated that because Izzie was his best friend.

"Yes, Karev, nice of you to join us," Burke disapproved and gave Alex a look before returning to the chart. There was only one person in that room who greeted him with a smile; Skylar. This made him nod with the tiniest of smiles on his face. He was extremely lucky to have a friend like Skylar. She might have her quirky moments sometimes and be a bit annoying to him, but to her friends, she was an absolute sweetheart who had your back no matter what. "Why keep the heart beating, Dr. Yang?"

Cristina looked at Izzie and Meredith hesitantly before turning back to the attending. "I don't know," she replied, earning surprised looks from both Burke and Bailey.

"What?" Bailey let out, clearly confused.

"I have no idea," Cristina claimed, her voice sounding forced. Skylar, too, found it odd. During the time she's known Cristina, she was a self-proclaimed 'Cardio God' which made it very unlikely that she didn't know something about a cardiac patient.

Bailey snapped her gaze to Izzie, who played along with Cristina. "Oh, I don't know, either," the blonde said, shaking her head. "I just don't."

Meredith, on the other hand, wasn't informed well enough. "Because of the—ow." She was about to speak up when Izzie elbowed her, throwing her a look to stop her from answering the question. Skylar and George shared a suspicious look regarding their three suddenly-dumb friends.

"Anyone else?" Burke asked and looked at the other interns who were eager to answer. Skylar opened her mouth but quickly closed it again once Alex had spoken up.

"Stress reduction because of the previous surgeries—"

"O'Malley," Burke interrupted him.

"I know—I know the answer."

"I'm asking O'Malley."

"Scar tissue's too deep. The heart's too weak to start up again," George answered.

"So, what should we do? Kepner?"

"Only immobilize the portion you're working on and leave the rest of the heart on its own," Skylar responded.

Burke nodded and handed them the patient's chart. "Welcome to the case."

✧☽☾✧

"What do you guys got?" Skylar called out as she stepped into the elevator with Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie who had their eyes glued onto a chart that the former was holding.

"A pregnant man," Izzie proudly announced.

Skylar's mouth gaped open. "A pregnant—what?" Now she knew why Cristina and Izzie couldn't answer Burke's question—they were refusing to. "Where did you find that? And why did I say no?"

"Your fault," Cristina muttered, to which Skylar playfully glared at her.

"We kinda stole it from psych..." Izzie trailed off.

Skylar stared at the three. Oh, she wished she didn't turn them down. She was stuck with the wife who kept bossing her husband around just because she was sick. It was fun to be on a case with George, too, but this would have been way better. "That's actually really smart."

"Wanna place bets?" Izzie suggested. "We've been collecting from all over the hospital. Highest bid is a tumor, which is lame."

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good," Skylar sipped on her coffee. Cristina sneakily stole the drink from her, taking a sip from it; her eyes instantly narrowed at the taste of it.

"What the hell is in this?"

"Four shots of espresso. To wake me up," Skylar blandly answered.

"Ew."

Skylar let out an offended scoff. "Give it back, then." She held out her hand for the coffee and Cristina just plopped it in. The elevator doors opened and the four of them stepped out, still flipping over the chart, excitedly looking over it.

They all halted as they ran into Derek. Meredith froze while Cristina and Izzie's defense mode switched on as they immediately hid the chart behind their backs. Skylar had to hold back a chuckle.

"Hi. Hello. Hi. Morning," Derek greeted each of them and his gaze landed on the currently-famous intern at the hospital. "Meredith. Maybe we could, you know, uh, talk?"

Cristina and Izzie gave each other a glance. "No," they all replied in unison, putting on their most polite smile toward the attending before hauling Meredith away from him.

"Okay..."

Skylar watched as Derek's eyes followed the blonde as they walked off. "You're an idiot," she finally said. He quickly turned to face her when she said that, a surprised expression on his face. That's when she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing.

The neurosurgeon scowled at her, finding this situation unassuming. "It's not funny," he deadpanned.

"No, no, it's not," Skylar agreed, clicking her tongue. "It's sad, really. Hilarious, even."

"Yeah, yeah..." He rolled his eyes, not knowing that Skylar had a sense of humor. "You know, I'm your boss, right?"

Her facial features didn't move one bit, but her breath caught in her throat at that reminder. She just—kind of—talked back to her boss. "My cardiac patient's scans should be up any minute now," she said, excusing herself from him and she ran off, blowing out a sigh once she was far enough away.

✧☽☾✧

Skylar was eating her lunch in the outdoor cafeteria, alone. None of her fellow interns were in sight, so she had chosen a place in the back. As she was eating her applesauce, Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie walked in and quickly joined her. She looked up, greeting them with a smile. "So, you're stuck with bickering married couple," Cristina let out a chuckle. "You should've joined us."

"Look who's talking. I heard you were on grunt work, doing rectals and there was a case of explosive diarrhea?" Skylar sassed back. Meredith looked up from her magazine with a small smile on her lips while Izzie did everything she could to not laugh. "Besides, it's not so bad, working with George and Burke."

"Oh, of course, you get to make out with your boyfriend..."

"I hate you," Skylar said with no emotion in her words and Izzie couldn't contain her laughter then. Cristina shot both of them a glare as Meredith's smile grew. Skylar opened her mouth to snap back but was interrupted by George sitting down next to her.

"A pregnant guy? You had a pregnant guy and you didn't tell me?" He angrily asked, stabbing his salad with his fork.

"Well, we can get you floor space in the O.R. for 50 bucks," Izzie informed him which made Cristina chuckle.

"You're selling tickets and we don't even know what's wrong with him," Meredith intervened.

"Mer's right. Isn't it a bit rude to do that anyway? He's still a patient, not just a thing to practice on. Imagine if you were him," Skylar agreed, leaning back in her chair.

"Whatever he's got inside has got to come out. We're just brokering a few deals."

"Sort of like backstage passes. You want in on the cash?"

"No," Meredith replied, shaking her head. Skylar looked down at her food, still in disbelief. She would expect this kind of behavior from Cristina, but Izzie? She thought the blonde was the kind of person that cared about patients more than the fame they brought. Apparently, she was wrong.

"I didn't need a pregnant guy. I was Burke's new go-to guy. We are Burke's new go-to guys," George said, gesturing between him and Skylar with his fork.

"People," she corrected. George hummed in agreement, stuffing his face with food, angry at the three girls. But then he faced Cristina, remembering that he had accidentally let Burke know that he knew about his relationship with the brunette. Skylar hadn't done anything to help him, at least from his perspective. She was nudging him slightly during that time, trying to get him to shut up but he didn't notice. "But that's over thanks to you," he said to Cristina. "He didn't know that I knew about you two."

"Stop talking."

"What on earth?" Izzie wondered when she noticed Alex wheeling a teenage girl in a wheelchair to their table. Derek had asked Alex to take Nicole everywhere he went that day, so he could possibly convince her to change her mind about the surgery. Her mother was strongly against it and the girl was too afraid to say her opinion. The others looked at him questioningly, but not Skylar. She smiled instead and greeted the girl before taking a bite of her food.

"Hi...I'm Alex's charity case," Nicole greeted them.

"Huh, I like her already," Cristina said.

"Are you volunteering?" George asked him.

"Don't ask."

"Why? It's not like we can read your mind. It's not like we have any idea what's going on in your tiny, tiny, tiny little brain," Izzie inquired and Skylar had a feeling that it was yet, another, comment about how he hadn't kissed her on their date. Skylar had had enough of her complaining and was at the point where she was thinking of locking them in an on-call room until they made up, or kissed—whichever came first.

"She has a point," Cristina replied when her pager went off. She sighed and became a bit frustrated. "Oh! I am hungry!" She complained. She hadn't finished her lunch yet but had to leave anyway. Patients were waiting. She had pissed off a nurse, Debbie, who was taking her sweet, sweet revenge.

"So, this is cool. A real live lunchtime. In a real cafeteria with trays and friends," Nicole confessed and was admiring everything around her.

"We're not his friends," Izzie quickly clarified which made Skylar roll her eyes.

"Oh, please, Izzie! You might not be his friend, but I am. And, anyways, you obviously want to be more than that," Skylar complained, not even looking up from her container of applesauce. Izzie's mouth fell open in shock and her eyes seethed with anger. "Don't they have a cafeteria at your school, Nicole?" Skylar changed the subject.

"I'm homeschooled by my parents."

"That explains a lot," Alex muttered to himself, but the others could still hear his comment.

"So are you guys the cool kids around here or something?"

"What would make you think that?" Meredith wonder as she looked up from her magazine.

"It seems like everyone is talking about you." When the blonde looked around the room, people were staring and talking about her. But Meredith decided to do nothing and went back to reading her magazine.

✧☽☾✧

"The Griswolds are a huge pain in the ass," George ranted as he and Skylar walked down the staircase toward their room. They were also holding hands since no one was around to see them anyway. "Why would you be with someone who makes you so unhappy?"

"Self-torture," she guessed. "At least their marriage is lasting long, isn't it? Maybe that's just how the world works? Happy people have a short time; unhappy people last a lifetime..." Maybe she shouldn't have been saying these things, especially to her boyfriend but it was already out in the open.

George furrowed his brows at that concept. "That's...twisted." Opening the door into Mrs. Griswold's room, he brought a bright smile onto his face despite his complaining just a few moments ago,

"Hello, Mrs. Griswold, I'm here to take your blood pressure," he informed. Skylar went to sit Mr. Griswold on the bed opposite his wife's while they took her vitals.

"Could you make sure that they get the breathing tube out of my throat right after surgery this time?" Mrs. Griswold told her husband. She let out a wince and snapped at George. "Are you trying to cut off my circulation?"

Mr. Griswold sighed, "He's just doing his job..."

"What did you say?" Mrs. Griswold's sudden raise in her voice lifted the tension in the room. The two interns gave each other a cautious look; Mr. Griswold had finally snapped.

"I said, he's just doing his job."

"Oh, God," Skylar whispered. She did not want to be there to witness a marriage falling apart.

"Well, I don't really care whose job he's doing. He's squeezing my arm off," Mrs. Griswold snapped. "Are you just gonna sit there?"

Mr. Griswold took a deep breath and snapped, "Shut up, Kim." George and Skylar's eyes widened. His wife looked at him questioningly. "Just shut up, huh?"

"Hey—" George tried to interrupt, but he was quickly cut off. Skylar tugged on his sleeve to pull him away from the couple's bickering. The two interns backed off to wait for them to stop.

"You complain to me, about me, around me," Mr. Griswold barked. "All day! Everyday! A little silence would be nice. A few measly minutes of quiet."

Skylar noticed Mrs. Griswold's heart rate rising on the heart monitor George. "Oh, no...Mr. Griswold, you should—"

"Can't you just for once in your life, just shut up!"

✧☽☾✧

"Okay, looks like Mrs. Griswold is doing well," Burke informed as he continued immobilizing her heart in the O.R. After her husband had yelled at her, Mrs. Griswold had a heart attack and had to be rushed to surgery.

"The husband's blaming himself," George muttered. "One second, his wife was okay, and now she's in here," he lifted his eyes to Skylar. "Is that just how the world world works?"

"The world is a weird place," Skylar shrugged as she suctioned the blood from the patient's open chest. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a situation caught all medical personnel in the O.R. off-guard, Mrs. Griswold's heart caught on fire.

"Code red!" Burke shouted as everyone took a step away from the table.

"Her heart...it's on fire," George mused.

"Woah," Skylar couldn't blink, she was more impressed than alarmed as she stared at the flames.

"Begin fire protocol," Burke hurriedly ordered.

"On it," George and Skylar both replied. George headed for the saline while Skylar went to the side of the O.R. and began to disconnect the electrical leads.

"Any unnecessary personnel in this room, evacuate now! Shut down the O2."

"I got the ambu bag," Skylar informed. "Starting manual respiration." To say she was amazed by the whole situation would be an understatement. Her internship at Seattle Grace got more interesting every day.

"I gotta control this bleeding. O'Malley, I need some hands here," Burke requested, gesturing for George to come over to him. "Her vitals are stabilizing. We might just have a chance here." Skylar looked up at the gallery while squeezing the Ambu bag rhythmically. The doctors were all on their feet, gaping at the unexpected situation. She thought back to Izzie, Meredith, and Cristina's patient. Mystery patient, my ass.

✧☽☾✧

A very concerned Skylar and George were sitting opposite Mr. Griswold in the waiting room. Burke was to the right of Skylar, hiding a smile. Mr. Griswold had burst out laughing upon hearing that his wife caught on fire and survived. He looked back and forth between the three surgeons, unable to control his hysterical laughter from coming out.

"She's never gonna die!"

"Uh, Mr. Griswold?" Burke called out. "Mr. Griswold, I know this is an emotional time for you. Um, if you would like to wait—"

"Wait? No, no," Mr. Griswold interrupted as he stood up from the couch. "I'm not waiting any longer." He thrust his wife's bag into George's hands, the latter looking at it in confusion. Skylar had to hold back a laugh when this happened.

The old man then grabbed his coat and started walking off. "You tell her," he spoke. "Tell her...Hell—tell her she'll survive without me!" The man started laughing again and wandered to the elevator. He saluted the three surgeons who just sat there and watched as the man stepped into the elevator and left his wife's life without a second thought. Burke walked off shortly after that, leaving two amused interns left.

"Well, it seems like even unhappy people break. Eventually," Skylar chuckled, shaking her head. "That's just how the world works."

"Uh...any idea what I do with this?" George asked, lifting the bag in his hands.

"Return it to its right owner, I guess?" She suggested, standing up. "You know, I need a drink, you wanna go to Joe's?"

He immediately stood up and darted to the elevators to catch up with her. "After I return this—wait up!"

✧☽☾✧

Joe's bar was busy, just like any other night. George, Cristina, Skylar, and Izzie sat at the corner of the bar, the blonde counting the betting money they got that day. The redhead took a shot of tequila, allowing the fiery liquid to go down her throat.

"485 dollars worth of tickets to the surgery," Izzie said, finishing off the counting.

"Yeah," Cristina condescending said.

"Did you sell more?" Izzie said, smiling because she already knew the answer.

"Oh, yeah," she smirked, pulling out a wad of fives from her back pocket. The four interns, along with Joe, chuckled.

Meredith walked in and took the seat next to Izzie. "Hey, Joe," she greeted. Everyone kept quiet and continued sipping on their drinks while Joe poured one for Meredith. "So you guys really don't have anything else to talk about.

Cristina, Izzie, and George sighed. "No."

"We could talk about the panda," Skylar shrugged, forgetting that Meredith had no idea what she was talking about. The four of them turned their heads to her.

"I'm a panda now?" Meredith mused, shaking her head while she took a shot of tequila.

"Yep," Skylar confirmed. "Kinda depressing, to think that it died alone. But at least it was cute...chubby, and cute." When they all just blankly stared at her with amused smiles on their faces, she responded, "I'm drunk, forget about it."

The five of them burst out laughing, clinking their glasses together, then downing the rest of the glass. Their attention turned to Alex as he wandered into the bar and walked right up to Izzie.

"What?" She asked, staring at the determined look on his face. He dipped her backward off the barstool and passionately kissed her. The other four cheered them on with smiles on their faces. Alex finally got the girl.

Alex pulled her back up, a smile tugging his lips. "Good night," he said, before leaving through the doors again.

"Seriously," Izzie breathlessly said.

Skylar took yet another shot and pointed at the blonde. "Does this mean you'll finally stop complaining?" She slightly slurred, pointing at her with a peanut still in her hand. George just pushed her hand down, knowing she was well past her limit of drinks. At Izzie's glare, she said something more friendly. "Go after him, have a hell of a long night," she smirked. Izzie took a large gulp of her drink while the rest of them continued laughing.

[ Masterlist ] [ Fifteen ] [ Seventeen ]

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gazellion · 2 years

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FIFTEEN

Words: 4044 [ Masterlist ]

AFTER THE LONG day she had, Skylar was absolutely exhausted. Even though all she wanted to do was fall into her bed, she and the other interns were still waiting to see if Derek would choose Meredith or Addison.

"When you tell someone I'll meet you later at a bar tonight, how long exactly does that mean you're supposed to wait?" Cristina wondered aloud as the group watched Meredith drink away her worries at the bar.

"Do you think he's really not coming?" George asked.

"It is getting a little hard to watch," Izzie added, tilting her head.

Cristina shook her head. "It was hard to watch an hour ago. Now it's just pathetic."

"You know she can hear you, right?" Skylar tiredly laughed.

"Who's pathetic?" Meredith questioned, turning around in her seat. Skylar gave them an 'I told you so' look. "You, who pretend to be my friends, are calling me pathetic, behind my back, in front of my face," Meredith slurred, glaring at the group of four. "Why don't you just dump the pigs blood on me now and get it over with?"

"Pigs blood?" George murmured to himself, putting his arm around the back of Skylar's chair. Neither of them noticed the look that Izzie sent the two.

"It's from Carrie," Skylar informed as he just made a noise in realization.

The bell above the door jingled as someone walked into the bar. They looked at the door for what seemed like a thousandth time that night, just to see Tyler, a nurse who worked at the hospital.

"He's really not coming," Meredith said to herself.

Suddenly, everyone's pager went off all at once. "Joe, turn up the TV!" Someone shouted as the news reporter spoke urgently. "A massive train wreck occurred just outside of Seattle just minutes ago."

Cristina looked at her pager. "911."

"We just worked a 30 hour shift," Izzie complained.

"I don't have any clean underwear," George added.

"You guys do realize there will be multiple traumas, right?" Skylar asked as she made her way toward the door. "As in, surgeries?" They perked up at her words, standing and quickly making their way to the hospital.

❰ ❱

Izzie, Cristina, Alex, George, and Skylar all left the elevator that took them to the pit. They all made their way down the hall, but in Meredith's case, she drunkenly stumbled down the hall.

"I think I saw a pneumothorax. I hope I get a pneumothorax," Cristina said as they put their trauma gowns on. Izzie and Alex were having a conversation about how Alex wimped out in the elevator and missed his chance to perform open heart surgery. Cristina, George, and Skylar were helping each other tie their trauma gowns. George accidentally hit Cristina in the head when he got his arm into the sleeve and he and Skylar had to contain their laughs while the brunette glared at them.

Their eyes widened when they saw Dr. Bailey walking up to them in a beautiful green dress. Nobody was able to look away since it was such a rare sight to see their resident in regular clothes. She grabbed a trauma gown while all the interns still stared at her. George even let out a gasp of shock. "What are you looking at?" She asked.

"You look very nice, Dr. Bailey," Skylar said with a cheesy smile.

"Thank you." Bailey walked over to Alex and handed him her jacket and purse. "Go get me my damn shoes. Let's move people." She put on a gown and started walking to a door where Meredith was leaning beside.

"Hello. I seem to be a little bit drunk. I was off duty," she added that last part as an explanation.

"So was I!" Bailey looked at the others. "Anybody else half in the bottle?" Everyone shook their heads. Skylar's eyes lit up in amusement when she saw George checking his breath to make sure. She slightly nudged him, and they both shared a look anybody else would describe as two people completely enamored with each other. "All right, then. Grey, just stay out of the way. I'll deal with you later. The rest of you stick with me and wait for your assignments." Cristina moved behind her resident to tie the back of her gown. "Now, you get all a-quiver at the sight of blood and organs, but it's gonna be a long night and you're already tired. I don't want any mistakes." Cristina was still tying up her resident's gown. "Come on, now!"

"I'm done. I'm done," Cristina replied but Bailey didn't reply. She just walked through the door and into the pit. It was chaos in there. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and family members of those who got hurt in the crash were bustling all over the place. Voices clashed together and there was not a single moment of silence. More than two dozen people were bleeding and hurt and more were still coming. "I'm so not tired anymore."

"Me neither. I'm not tired either," George agreed with Cristina. Skylar nodded silently as her eyes scanned the room. People were groaning in pain and bleeding, hoping that they would make it. The adrenaline in her from seeing all those wounded in the same room did make her feel less tired. Meredith walked away to stand near a wall when she saw Addison with a pregnant burn victim.

"I've got a third trimester burn victim here, Dr. Bailey, I'm gonna need some help," Addison asked. Izzie, George, Skylar, and Cristina immediately put their hands up in the hair. Even though they felt bad for all the patients, they were still surgical interns who wanted nothing more than to stand in the operating room.

"Izzie, go." When Dr. Bailey said this, all the other's shoulders sagged. The blonde was obviously very excited.

"Yes! Have a nice nap," she teased and Skylar playfully rolled her eyes.

Tyler, from the bar, walked into the pit, still dressed in his casual clothes but when he saw Meredith he stopped walking. "Oh, hey! Joe told me to tell you that McSteamy came looking for you," he passed on.

"You mean McDreamy," Meredith corrected, a bit frazzled. She didn't know what to do now. "Joe said McDreamy came looking for me?"

"No," Tyler shook his head. And for a second there Meredith deflated, but then rose back up at what Tyler said next. "I'm pretty sure it was McSteamy. Yeah." He kept repeating to himself as he walked away. Skylar, George, and Cristina were all watching the exchange between the two. The three exchanged a look, not knowing what to do now.

"Does that mean he picked her?" George wondered.

"If it does, I just lost 50 bucks," Cristina complained.

"I should've known that you would bet on something like this." Skylar shook her head at her friend, who shrugged her shoulders. George shot her an apologetic smile when a paramedic rushed through the double doors.

"I've got the leg!" He yelled, holding a severed leg in his hands.

"I want that leg..." Cristina dreamily said.

"Dr. Bailey, who you got?" Webber asked and immediately the three interns' hands went up once again. They almost whacked Bailey in her face, but she ended up choosing Cristina. She joined the team that was wheeling the man with a severed leg away, while the remaining two were watching them go with a sad look on their faces.

As Derek walked by Meredith, he solemnly nodded at her. "Was that a nod?" George asked.

"Yeah," both Meredith and Skylar answered in unison.

"Do we know what it meant?" He asked again.

"No."

Then Alex Karev entered the pit with Bailey's work shoes. Another big emergency came through those double doors: two people were sitting on a gurney together with a metal pole sticking through their abdomens. They were facing each other, almost touching. They were being rolled into one of the trauma rooms, so they could be checked on. Alex, Skylar, George, and Meredith followed the paramedics into the trauma room.

George, Alex, and Skylar were standing to the side while Meredith was looking in amazement at the two people. The blonde woman, named Bonnie, saw Meredith's curiosity. "Is this the craziest thing you've ever seen?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Yeah. Me too." Bailey and Burke were still outside, but Bailey's all-knowing powers sensed something and she glanced at Meredith. The look on her face said that Meredith needed to stay away from the patients. She quickly scurried off to the side where her fellow interns were standing. Bonnie saw Burke and Bailey talking outside and was a little agitated.

"Excuse me!" Bonnie called out which made Burke and Bailey enter the room.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Burke," the attending quickly greeted. "You shouldn't turn your head. You want to try and move as little as possible," he advised.

"Oh, okay," she slowly said. "So are you gonna pull this pole out of us any time soon?"

"It's a touch uncomfortable," Tom, the impaled man, admitted.

"I'm sorry, we can't until we get a better look on what's going on internally. But I assure you we will work as quickly as possible," Burke informed and Skylar's eyes roamed through the patients.

"Well, in that case, does anybody have a breath mint?" Bonnie asked, which made Burke smile while Tom furrowed his eyebrows in question at the woman in front of him. "For me, not for you." They both smiled. Burke already moved to exit the room again but not before whispering something to Bailey.

"Uh, O'Malley, Kepner, get them to X-ray." The two of them shared a look of shock but that quickly turned into one of excitement. Skylar immediately gestured to Alex to untie her gown as Meredith united George's. "Move them extremely carefully."

Skylar quickly nodded and George seemed to panic slightly as he whispered, "They never would have picked me before the elevator..." Both Skylar and Alex overheard this but only one got mad because of it. Alex looked annoyed and glared at George. Skylar just patted him on his shoulder.

"Just leave him alone, Alex. It's not his fault you choked in the elevator."

"You always have to defend little Georgie, huh?"

"What is your problem? You know you can tell me anything, right?" He didn't respond but Skylar didn't have time left to continue asking him questions. She wondered what he wasn't telling her. She knew something was bothering him. And she couldn't help but feel like she wasn't doing enough to help through whatever he was going through. So she let out a sigh and followed George out the door.

❰ ❱

As they wheeled Bonnie and Tom through the halls, Skylar was desperately trying to find a way to cure their anxiety. "Is there anyone you'd like us to call?" She wondered.

"They called my wife from the ambulance."

"And my fiancé," Bonnie added. "They're flying down from Vancouver together."

"Normally, Amanda would be a tad upset to find me pressed up against another woman, but in this case I think I'll get a pass," he joked, making the girl giggle.

"You two weren't traveling together?" George questioned.

"No...we just met," Bonnie clarified.

"A bit of an awkward introduction."

"You have nice pores," she said, making the man laugh.

When they got to radiology, there was a long waiting line, so Skylar walked ahead and cleared her throat. She got the intern's attention, who, looking at her patients, allowed her and George to go ahead. They kept doing this until they were at the front of the line.

❰ ❱

In the x-ray observation room, Bailey, Skylar, and George were standing next to the scans, eyeing the many details. Burke was seated on a chair, looking at them on a computer screen while Meredith was standing off to the side with a banana bag IV connected to her arm, trying to quickly sober up. Skylar wasn't exactly sure why she was there, but she figured that Meredith needed someone after the whole not knowing who Derek chose debacle.

"Is—is it going straight through her spine?" George questioned.

"It is. T8's completely crushed," Bailey answered, pointing at it with her finger.

Derek then entered the room and his eyes immediately fell on Meredith. Meredith straightened and tensed when she saw him. "What happened?" He asked, seeing the IV.

"Tequila," she simply answered.

"I'm keeping an eye on her," Bailey clarified before sending a look to the intern.

He moved to look at the scans and look surprised. "Look at this...these people are still alive?"

"Still making small talk," George answered.

"The pole's tamponading the wound as far as we can see," Bailey informed the man as Skylar leaned on the table to have a better look at the scans.

"It's hitting the aorta," Derek evaluated.

"Look at him," Burke spoke up, looking at Tom's scans. "It's right in line with his inferior vena cava."

"But there's a way to operate without separating them, isn't there?" Skylar hopefully asked. Skylar looked at everyone in the room, hoping that the answer would be yes. However, it wasn't.

Burke shook his head, while Derek actually said, "No." Both of them were oblivious to how their answer caused the girl's expression to drop. George saw this and took his hand out of his lab coat and put it in Skylar's, squeezing just enough to let her know that he was there for her.

"If we remove the pole then..." George trailed off.

"They'll both bleed out," Bailey finished his thought.

"What if we don't move the pole? What if we move one of the patients off the pole to get the saw in there? Then we can hold the pole steady in the other one. Move it very slowly and repair the damage as we go," Burke suggested.

"Who? Which would you move?" Skylar asked while Shepherd glanced at Meredith, who stared back at him.

"With her aortic injuries, her chances of survival are extremely slim no matter what we do. But if we move her, we have a real shot of saving him."

"Well, I could argue since her injuries are so extensive we should move him. Give her the best shot we can," Derek objected.

"So basically, whoever you move doesn't stand a chance." Everyone glanced at the blonde, unsettled. "So how do you choose? How do you decide you gets to live?"

❰ ❱

"We have to make this call soon if we want to have a shot at saving either one of them," Burke warned Shepherd as they walked through the hallway, the three interns and Bailey behind them.

"I'd like to examine them before I weigh in."

"I'll wait for your page."

"Thank you." The neurosurgeon turned to the interns. "Dr. Grey—"

"Dr. Grey needs to get herself a blood alcohol test before practicing any medicine tonight," Bailey intervened, turning to the girl with the banana bag.

"What? No, I'm totally fine." The girl started connecting her pointer fingers to her nose, causing Skylar to chuckle at her. "See?"

"Right, okay. Dr. Kepner, then," the attending turned to the redhead, who flashed him a smile before they made their way to Bonnie and Tom's room.

❰ ❱

"Can you feel that, Miss Krasnoff?" Derek asked, squeezing Bonnie's fingers.

Bonnie drowsily smiled up at him, the accident beginning to take a toll on her body. "You're a cute doctor," she said, her voice very sweet. She seemed a bit loopy from the morphine that was keeping her pain away. "Cute doctors get to call me by my first name."

"Okay, Bonnie, can you feel that?"

"Can I feel what? Oh...I guess that's a no."

"Excuse me, Dr. Shepherd? I got the labs," George called out as he entered the rooms, labs in his hand.

"Oh, great, thank you," he swapped clipboards with George. "Could you try to wiggle your toes, Mr. Maynard?" Tom did it successfully which caused Skylar's lips to form a small smile.

"Are they moving?" He questioned, not being able to look down because of the neck brace.

"Yes, they are," Skylar told him.

The man laughed lightly. "Good. That's good, right?"

"Yes, it is," Derek assured.

"What about me? Are mine moving?" Bonnie asked, hope filling her voice. George, Skylar, and Derek looked down at her foot. They guessed she was trying to move it but it stayed still.

"Yes, they are," Derek lied, wanting to keep her happy and not have her break down in this situation.

"Yay, me!" She giggled in relief.

"Dr. Shepherd, is it?" Tom asked and at Derek's nod, he went on. "Dr. Shepherd, Bonnie and I...are we gonna live through this?"

"Oh, that's just morose, Tom," Bonnie playfully scolded.

"I'm sorry, dear." He looked back at Derek. "Doctor?"

"We're gonna do everything we can, Mr. Maynard."

❰ ❱

"Where are we?" Burke asked, joining the others in the x-ray observation room.

"You were right. Her vitals are erratic, pulse is weak, spine's severed...I was hoping that it didn't hit the—but from that angle it just can't have missed the aorta," Shepherd informed.

"What about him? Think he can live?" Bailey questioned, looking over Skylar's shoulder.

"He's got better odds."

"Okay, let OR one know we're coming," Bailey told George, lightly tapping him on the shoulder

"And, O'Malley? Close off the gallery. We don't need an audience for this," Burke instructed.

Something stopped George from leaving, he wasn't feeling right about choosing who got to live and who got to die. "She's cracking jokes. How do you tell someone she's gonna be dead in a few minutes when she's sitting up cracking jokes?" With that he left, sighing.

"I hate this..." Skylar trailed off, shaking her head. "It feels wrong to just choose," she sighed, looking down at the floor.

"I know. But, sometimes, it's the job." Bailey put her hand on her shoulder in comfort.

❰ ❱

"This is hard because your body is in a certain amount of shock," Derek explained to Bonnie and Tom. "It's preventing you from feeling pain. From feeling the extent of your injuries." They were back in their room, giving both of them the bad news, which they were bound to react badly to.

"Dr. Shepherd, we have a metal pole cutting a path through our insides. I don't know about Tom here, but I didn't expect to walk out of here anytime soon," Bonnie softly said, making Skylar frown. "So, whatever it is you have to say, just, please, say it."

"Okay, Bonnie," Derek started. "In order to operate on Mr. Maynard, we have to separate you two. In order to do that, we have to move you backwards off the pole."

"Can't you just pull the pole out of both of us?" Tom asked.

"Well, if we did that, you would start bleeding very quickly. Too quickly. Right now, the pole is plugging the wounds. Once removed, the organs will shift and there's a great deal of damage," Burke explained.

"So if you move me, I'll die?" Bonnie whispered, trying to keep her tears at bay.

"We're gonna do everything we can to—" Derek began but was cut off.

"No," Tom interrupted. "No. If anybody has to go it should be me. You just move—"

Burke sighed. "No. Mr. Maynard, your injuries are less extensive. If we pull the pole from you as we operate around it, we have a better chance at repairing the damage." Skylar's eyes began to water, but she willed them not to fall. George grabbed her hand, and Skylar squeezed it, needing to hold onto him like life support.

Tom shook his head. "It's not right. It's not fair," he whispered.

Bonnie sadly smiled. "Shh, Tom. It's not fair either way." She glanced up at Skylar and George. "Is, um, is my Danny, is he here yet?"

"There are delays at the airport," George told them.

"Because of the storm," Skylar added.

"We could wait," Bailey suggested. "But the longer do, the higher the risk of infection for—"

"No, no," Bonnie reassured them. "This is better." She managed to smile through her tears. "Danny, he wouldn't understand. I've had a couple hours to, you know, process all of this, but if—if he had to see me, talk to me like this, I...well, I just think it would be too hard," she rambled, a sense of acceptance washing over her.

❰ ❱

In the O.R, nurses were prepping Bonnie and Tom for surgery while Skylar held Bonnie's hand, trying to calm her down and make her feel less alone during this difficult time. "Can I ask you a question?" Bonnie asked. Tom made an affirmative noise and she continued. "Do you believe in heaven?"

"I do. Don't you?"

"I want to."

"Bonnie...I just want to say—"

She shushed him. "I know, I know."

"This is Dr. Addams, our anesthesiologist," Derek told them, entering the room. "When you're ready, he's gonna put you to sleep."

"So, it's not gonna hurt?" Bonnie asked, tears still in her eyes.

"Not a bit, Bonnie," Skylar responded.

"That's good. Skylar?"

"Yeah?" She whispered, trying her best not to let her tears show.

"You'll be there when they talk to my Danny, right?" She asked, her voice softer than ever.

"Yes, I will. What do you want me to tell him?" As Bonnie uttered her message to Skylar, she allowed herself to spill the first tear of the day, quickly wiping it away. She was always thinking of how the patient would respond, and the last thing she wanted to do was to get too attached, but she was sure that she already failed that.

❰ ❱

After separating both patients and verifying that Tom was stable, the team moved to work on Bonnie, wanting to give her the best shot they could.

"Grey, Kepner, get in here and retract," Bailey ordered. Skylar quickly moved to do her job.

"Retractor. Quickly, please. Give me some sponges. Lap sponges," Derek asked as the attendings worked.

"Her aorta's shredded. She's gonna bleed out," Burke realized, shaking his head, knowing there was slim to no chance that she was going to live.

"Doctors, he's losing pressure," the anesthesiologist monitoring Tom warned them.

"He's bleeding, let's go," Derek ordered and everyone started moving from one patient to the other. It pained Skylar to have to leave the girl on the table, but she knew there was nothing they could do if they wanted to give Tom the best shot they could.

"What about her? We can't just abandon her," Meredith yelled as Skylar changed gloves so she could operate on Tom. "We can't just abandon her!" The blonde refused to move.

"I'm going in. Scalpel," Burke started on Tom as Skylar moved in to help the team.

"Let's go, Dr. Grey," Bailey urged her.

"Meredith," George called out.

"What about her? We cannot abandon her! We have an obligation." She seemed to panic slightly.

"Meredith, come on," Bailey tried to stop her. "There was too much damage. There was never anything we could do. We have to let her go." As she tried to stop Meredith from pumping the poor girl's heart. "Time of death 3:49."

❰ ❱

Several hours later, the surgery was finally over, taking Bonnie's life with it. Derek had offered to talk to her fiance, but Skylar made a promise, which she fully intended on keeping.

"Did she suffer?" Danny asked, trying and failing to stifle his tears.

"No," she instantly answered. "Her injuries prevented her from...no, she wasn't in any pain."

"Good. That's good."

Skylar felt a lump in the back of her throat, and she'd barely even started speaking. "She asked me to tell you that, um, she wanted you to know," she cleared her throat and took a deep breath before looking at him directly in the eye. "Bonnie wanted you to know, that if love were enough, she'd still be here with you."

Danny sucked in a breath, sending her a small nod before standing up and leaving without another word. Skylar stood as well, not bothering to acknowledge the tears that were begging to break free and run down her cheeks.

Without saying a word to anyone, or bothering to smile at people she passed in the hall, she made her way to the locker room. When she got there, George immediately stood up from his seat on the bench and made his way over to her. He knew how much that day took a toll on her.

When he saw her face, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and cradled the back of her head as he whispered over and over again, "It's going to be okay," as she silently cried into his shoulder. And George realized that he would do anything to protect her from the dangers of the world that were bound to come.

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gazellion · 2 years

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FOURTEEN

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GEORGE AND SKYLAR were now cuddling in the boy's bed, gazing into each other's eyes with smiles on their faces. George was stroking Skylar's cheek with the pad of his thumb. They didn't care that it was silent between them, all they cared about was each other.

They were just glad they had clothes on because Izzie suddenly stormed into the room, wearing a fancy dress. "Seriously?" She shouted, startling both occupants that were already in the bedroom. "Move over." She said to the redhead as she squirmed her way into the bed.

"We were trying to sleep!" George complained as they both rolled over onto their backs with groans.

"Oh, shut it," the blonde complained, rolling her eyes.

A few minutes later, Meredith entered in a similar fashion. "Seriously?" She laid herself on the other side of George.

"This is a very small bed," George huffed.

"You know, you two should really start knocking now. We could've been in the middle of something that would've scarred you," Skylar suggested in a monotone voice.

"He's a neurosurgeon," Meredith said, ignoring Skylar, though she took the piece of advice into mind.

"I look fantastic. I shaved my legs," Izzie went on. Skylar and George weren't paying them any mind as they focused on how they played with each other's hands.

"He's a brain surgeon, how could he be so brainless?"

"Hello? Seriously?" Izzie complained.

"Seriously?" Meredith followed suit.

"Shh, sleep," George hushed them just as the power went out and everything went dark.

❰ ❱

"I had a good time last night, you know, before Meredith and Izzie crashed it," George said as he leaned on the locker next to Skylar's. She was putting her bag and street clothes in her locker.

"Yeah?" She asked and at his nod, she continued, "I did too."

"Maybe tonight—o-or tomorrow, I could take you out on a real date? Or if you don't want to, t-that's fine too," he nervously asked, looking down at his shoes every once in a while. Skylar smiled at how flustered he still got around her. She was about to respond before Bailey interrupted them by coming into the locker room.

The resident was standing in the doorway, waiting for her interns when Cristina walked up to her putting on her coat. Her hair was still dripping wet from the rain outside, which made Bailey raise her eyebrows as she saw the drops falling on the floor. "You're dripping."

"I'm back. I just wanna make that clear. I'm back. I'm ready to work," Cristina immediately told her. She already feared that Bailey would send her back home.

Suddenly Addison came up to the doorway from the hallway. "Has anyone seen Dr. Shepherd this morning?"

"His name's on the O.R. board. He should be here somewhere," Bailey replied and Addison nodded. She noticed Skylar putting on her white coat and smiled at her, before walking away. Even though they only had a handful of conversations, Addison had a feeling they would be good friends when this whole Derek mess blew over.

Cristina was still standing in front of her resident. "I'm good. I'm ready to scrub in. I'm 100% on top of my game," Cristina made sure Bailey knew that.

"You just got discharged. Pace yourself." From the corner of her eye, Skylar noticed a small interaction between Izzie and Alex. Izzie made eye contact with Alex but didn't say anything. She still needed to ask Alex what had happened that night, or at least get his point of view. With pity, she looked between the two before shutting her locker door.

"I'm paced. I'm paced."

"Mhm. Rounds people," Bailey instructed as she looked up from her clipboard. Her interns gathered around her and then they followed their resident to the next patient. Skylar and Alex seemed to ignore her. She couldn't help but wonder why. She hadn't done anything wrong, or at least she thought she hadn't. She did see Alex stop Izzie to talk. They joined the others later on, right before they entered a patient's room.

A woman, probably the patient's wife, was sitting on a chair doing some knitting while her husband lay on the bed. Bailey's pager went off and she glanced at it before accepting the chart that Cristina handed her. "Dr. Bailey. Henry Lamott, age 42. Is scheduled with Dr. Shepherd for a spinal implant," Cristina started, presenting when Mr. Lamott turned up the volume of his television. Corny music and women moaning and giggling could be heard. He was clearly watching something that was not safe for work. George was captivated by the scene on TV and his eyes were glued to the screen. "To control the pain of his herniated disc. He's allergic to all pain medication—" She stopped talking when she saw what was displayed on the screen. The attention of all the other interns was now focused on the television screen. "Is that—?"

"Porn," Mrs. Lamott completed, not at all ashamed, making Bailey stare at it too.

"Porn? As in porn?" The resident was shocked. Her eyes immediately shot up to the television and her eyes widened when she saw that it was true.

"Alright...what are we watching?" Alex couldn't hold back his smirk. He wouldn't be Alex Karev if he didn't make a dirty comment. Everyone looked at him with disapproving looks on their faces. Skylar shook her head even though she knew that Alex was going to say something regarding the porn shown on the screen.

"Karev! Go stand in the hall," Bailey ordered in a disapproving tone. He quickly walked outside to wait in the hallway. As Bailey tried to talk, she kept getting distracted by the television. Not wanting to look at the footage anymore, she tried to keep her eyes on the couple. "Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Lamott, I'm sure...you're really...nice people...and what you do in the privacy of your own—look, we can't have porn in here. This is a hospital."

"It's for my pain. My doc says it releases endorphins in the brain. It helps keep my pain at a manageable level," Mr. Lamott answered and all the female interns looked amused while George was still captivated by the scenes played on the TV.

"Really?" George asked, mesmerized.

"George—hall," Bailey ordered and the intern turned to leave, hiding his crotch with his lab coat. As he walked by the group, Skylar smacked his back with the back of her hand, shaking her head lightly.

"What is this?" Izzie asked, chuckling.

"Nasty naughty nurses...um," Mrs. Lamott quickly looked at the TV. "Four." The female interns all stared at the TV and tilted their heads to one side.

"That does not look comfortable," Skylar mentioned as she grimaced at the position the woman was in.

"Trust me, it's not," Meredith replied, making every intern in the room look at her in shock and bewilderment.

"Get in the hall!" Bailey ordered once more, not believing how childish her interns were. All of her interns in the hallway, occasionally, got some weird looks.

After Bailey was done with the patient, she walked out of the room and toward the nurses' station, where her interns followed. "Kepner, O'Malley, Karev, you're in the pit today. Stevens, there's a cardiac patient waiting for you up on two. Yang, keep an eye on the Lamotts. I don't want any problems. Go."

❰ ❱

As George and Skylar entered their emergent patient's room, they asked for a chart as the nurse presented, "Pete Willoughby, 25 years old, GSW to the chest, immediate return of 860 cc's of blood."

"Oh, man, this hurts," Pete groaned out, looking down at the gaping hole in his chest.

"He's out over 200 cc's in the past hour," the nurse finished.

"They never tell you in movies how much it hurts to get shot.

"Okay, Pete, we have you now, okay? We're going to take care of you," Skylar reassured the man with a tight-lipped smile.

"Push morphine, two milligrams," George instructed. "Alex, this is my case."

"Morphine, five milligrams," Alex ordered. "You didn't even call him."

"I was here first."

"You got here first because I let you."

As the two boys bickered in the background, Skylar actually focused on the patient. "Do you have chest films?" She asked the nurses, ignoring the two boys bickering behind her.

"You always get the surgery, today I'm getting a surgery. There's only room for two interns," George argued.

"Yeah, and you just want to spend the day with your girlfriend," Alex shot back.

"Guys, knock it off, at least not in front of him," Skylar pleaded as she worked.

"He's one of Seattle's finest, you've got a whole police force watching you," the nurse told them. The three interns looked out the window of the room to find a group of police officers watching them. No pressure...

"Page Dr. Burke, let him know we're bringing him a GSW," Skylar requested as she wheeled the man to the elevator, the two boys quickly joining her.

❰ ❱

"You got shot in the line of duty?" Alex asked as the three interns pushed the patient toward the elevator.

The patient nodded feverishly, clearly still in pain. "First month on the job. Can you believe my luck? A guy pulls a gun, and I freeze up. The rookie let himself get shot. I'm never gonna live this down."

"Sure you are," George reassured him.

"You think?"

"Absolutely, you'll get to be the rookie who got shot and lived to tell the tale," Skylar smirked down at him and he gave her a halfhearted smile in return.

Once the elevator doors closed behind them, Alex asked the two, "So, what's the deal with Izzie?" Skylar laughed slightly, bewildered at how he could be so oblivious.

"She shaved her legs for you," George bluntly explained.

"And?"

"And you didn't even kiss her goodnight," Skylar raised her brows at him.

"She shaved her legs for you and you didn't even follow through?" Pete asked.

"See, Pete here knows it all," Skylar joked.

"Hey, I follow through. I always follow through," he scoffed.

"You didn't last night..." She pointed out, earning a glare from Alex and a smile from Pete and George.

"Mind your own business," Alex complained. Skylar rolled her eyes at his unnecessary rudeness.

At that, George became defensive. "Mind her own...? She had expectations—women have expectations, and you didn't meet them. Okay, I live with these women and every time you guys don't meet their expectations I have to hear about it. I didn't get any sleep last night, so, you know, it is my business."

Suddenly, the lights went out and the elevator abruptly stopped. George instinctively grabbed Skylar's arm to make sure she was fine. "You okay, Sky?"

"Yeah, fine, thanks."

"Dude, we're not moving..." Alex pointed out.

"Really? You think?" George sarcastically replied, giving Alex a look.

❰ ❱

After a few long minutes, the elevator still wasn't moving, causing Skylar to get anxious. As Alex tried to open the elevator door, George read the instructions and Skylar stayed by the patient's side. "'If the elevator should stop, do not become alarmed. Press the button marked 'alarm' to summon assistance,'" he recited, his face right up against the panel. "If they don't want us to be alarmed, why call the button 'alarm'?" He pressed the button repeatedly, but nothing happened.

"That didn't work the last ten times you did it. Get it in your head, we've lost power. We're stuck here," Alex complained.

When Skylar heard their patient moan, she turned to check his vitals on the monitor. "His pressure's falling," she whispered to the two boys. "There's a lot more blood in the pleurovac. We need to get him to the O.R, like, now."

"Okay, you're whispering, don't whisper," Pete pointed out. "I don't wanna complain here but I've got a bullet in my chest and whispering isn't a sign that I'm gonna be okay, you know? It's bad. It's bad, right?"

"Pete, someone should get us out of here soon, alright? We just need you to stay calm, okay?" Skylar gently asked, but she couldn't contain the nervousness on her face.

❰ ❱

Though the firefighters managed to get the doors open, they couldn't even get them open at least a foot because the doors were jammed. Skylar, Alex, and George were also stuck between floors with a dying patient and no tools to help him.

Through the small opening in the doors, they heard Dr. Bailey. "What did you guys do?"

"Nothing!" The three answered in unison.

Dr. Burke took the resident's place, peering through the small opening. "How's your patient?" He asked

"He's not looking so good..." George informed.

Their patient started moving and trying to get out of the bed. He pulled the wires off of him and took out his oxygen supplementer while the three interns tried to put all the stuff back on him and hold him down at the same time.

"Pete, hey, it's Dr. Kepner, what are you doing?" Skylar spoke to him, holding his arms down while Alex and George fixed the wires on him.

"I need to get home," he slurred, trying to stand up.

"Pete, you're in the hospital..." Alex explained

"I need to get home. I need to get home," he kept repeating over and over again.

"What's his blood pressure?" Dr. Burke asked from outside the elevator once they got Pete to settle down a little

"He's too agitated, we can't get a reading," Skylar answered, biting her bottom lip. She was way too stressed out right now.

"How's his pulse?"

"It's thready but it's still there," George informed.

"Do you have any instruments?" Burke kept trying to ask, to know what the situation was and what he needed to do for them.

"Just a code box and some gloves," Alex spoke up this time.

"You didn't bring an open chest tray?" He nearly yelled which didn't help Skylar's anxiety.

"No, we thought—"

"We don't have time for excuses," Burke interrupted. "O'Malley, blood pressure?"

"I've taken it three times, I can't hear systolic over fifty," he answered. "He's gonna die," George realized.

"No, no...we don't say that," Skylar insisted.

Burke hesitated for a moment before making a split-second decision. "Intubate him. I'll be right back."

Skylar's eyes widened, concerned. "Wait, where are you going?" George asked.

"To get instruments ready. You're going to have to open up his chest." At that, all three interns shared a worried look, knowing that that was well over their skill set.

❰ ❱

While they waited for Burke, Skylar just kept repeating the same phrase over and over again in her head. Fake it 'til you make it. Fake it 'til you make it. Fake it 'til you make it.

"When's Burke coming back?" George whispered, slightly panicking as he manually ventilated Pete. "When's Dr. Burke coming back?"

"I...I don't know," Skylar whispered back, panicking a bit as well.

"Will you just shut up!" Alex snapped, clearly panicking as well just displaying it differently.

Once the attending came back, he spoke to them in the calmest voice he could manage. "Hey! This isn't gonna be too sterile but we can try. Prep and drape the patient," he instructed them, giving them the drapes, gowns, gloves, and any other material they needed which they hurried to put on. They all shared uncertain looks as they cleaned Pete's wound and prepped it for operation.

Once they were ready, Alex turned to the other two. "We're really gonna do this..."

Fake it 'til you make it.

As Burke extended some surgical instruments to Alex, he looked up. "Take these." Alex seemed to freeze, as Burke repeated, "Karev, take the scalpel."

"Alex," Skylar whispered. Burke looked at him confused, while Alex kept his gaze on the ground.

At the boy's lack of reaction, George encouraged him, "Alex, come on. Alex!"

They waited but, once again, he wouldn't step up. "Okay, I'll ventilate, George." Skylar reached for the Ambu bag and George took the scalpel.

"What do I do?" He asked Burke.

"Make a large anterolateral and midaxillary incision in the fifth intercostal space," Burke explained.

George found the space and asked again, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "How large?"

"As long as possible, you'll need to get two hands in there," the attending instructed. "It needs to be long and deep. Use the scissors if you have to."

"Okay. Okay." He took a deep breath and prepared for the procedure he knew an intern shouldn't be doing.

Just as he was about to cut, Burke stopped him. "But be sure you don't cut into the lung or heart."

George awkwardly paused. "Uh, how can I be sure of that?

"You just have to be sure."

George slightly nodded. Skylar made eye contact with him and nodded at him, trying to give him a confidence boost. She knew George struggled with it once in a while and this was one of those times he really needed it. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to make the cut.

"I really hate storms," Skylar muttered as the scalpel sliced deeply into the patient's skin.

❰ ❱

Sometime later, chest having been cut open, George informed, "I didn't cut the heart or the lungs. Dr. Burke! I didn't cut the heart or the lungs!" He sighed with relief and he could hear his girlfriend do the same.

"Good, O'Malley, really good. Now, check for injuries and do a pericardiotomy."

"Okay, I'll need some lap pads, forceps, metzenbaums and Satinsky clamps," he asked, his voice now steady and secure.

"Yes, you will," he answered with a small smile, pride in his eyes.

After some time, he informed, "I removed a small clot from the pericardium. No obvious cardiac injuries."

"Any change in the vitals?"

"BP is still too low to register on the monitor," Skylar answered.

"We need to cross-clamp the aorta," Burke told him. "You might want to get Kepner to assist."

"Okay, Sky, help me out here," he pleaded. She and Alex switched places so he could ventilate and hold the light while she could help George. She gave him her hand to place. "Just put your hand right where mine was, yeah, like that," he instructed.

"Stick your hand in and dissect down until you feel two tube-like structures," Burke told George. "The esophagus will be more medial and anterior."

"Um, I feel one tube that is easily collapsible. The other is more muscular and...spongy. I can feel the spine just underneath it," George described.

"Yes! You're touching the aorta."

George looked at his girlfriend with a look of ecstasy. "I'm touching the aorta." Skylar gave him a smile in response to his gleefulness.

"Wrap the index finger of your left hand around it. Kepner, apply a Satinsky clamp with your hand."

Both of them did as told, working in silent synchronicity until Skylar called out, "Got it."

"Wait, I—I think I can localize the bleeding," George said with a smile. "I think it's coming from the inferior vena cava."

"Can you find the lesion?"

"Um, yeah...yeah, I think I feel it, but it's too far in to repair..."

"How big is it?" Burke kept trying to guide him through the procedure.

"Small, maybe smaller than a dime."

"Okay, O'Malley, I want you to take your finger and plug the hole."

George felt around for a while, speaking up soon after. "I think I can feel his heart starting to fill more. It's...beating a little stronger."

"Excellent. Keep your finger there."

"Okay. Now what?"

"That's it," the surgeon told him.

"That's it?" The realization came to him and he tried his best not to hop up and down as he smiled widely. "That's it! We did it, Sky!"

"We did, Georgie. We did it!" They gave each other celebratory smiles as Alex stared at them, disappointed in himself. Something has been bothering him lately, and his confidence and mojo have been down.

"Dr. Bailey, you can tell the fireman to get my guys out of there," Burke instructed. "O'Malley? You and Kepner just flew solo."

"Thank you, sir," he smiled up at him.

Once the interns left the elevator, the police force that was present congratulated Skylar and George. However, as the adrenaline and the rush left her body, she could feel the anxiety from the situation taking over her.

❰ ❱

Skylar and George both left the hospital with giant smiles on their faces as they both gushed about what they did that day. Skylar couldn't get her near panic attack out of her mind though. After they were thanked by the police force she collapsed in the bathroom and had some trouble breathing. That was the second time that had happened and she wasn't sure what to think of it. So as the couple made their way to Joe's, she decided she deserved a drink after everything.

"He's not coming," they heard Meredith sigh as she and George joined their fellow interns at their table. Meredith had told Derek that she wanted him and would be at Joe's, waiting for him, so if he didn't show up, it'd let Meredith know he'd chosen Addison. "You don't think he's coming."

"He might come," Izzie said.

"Yeah, you never know," Cristina piped in.

"I hope he does," Skylar shrugged and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"He's definitely coming," George intervened, earning himself a kick from Izzie. "What? You want her doing tequila shots all night? We'll be the ones cleaning up the vomit, you know."

"Well, today I'm refusing to be sad, Georgie flew solo and I got to help," Skylar boasted. She usually wasn't one to brag about accomplishments but she couldn't hold it back.

"Yeah, I touched a heart today, Porny," he teased Cristina.

The bell above the door chimed, signaling someone had entered. The group all turned at once, just to see a happy couple enter the bar.

Skylar looked at Meredith with a sad look, then she looked at Joe. "Pour her another one."

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gazellion · 2 years

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THIRTEEN

Words: 3805 [ Masterlist ]

THAT NIGHT AT Joe's bar wasn't anything too special, but it felt like the perfect night. It wasn't too crowded but there were just enough people to make it seem like you didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Music was playing in the background, but Skylar didn't pay any attention to it as she was gazing at her boyfriend—boyfriend, that's something she still hadn't gotten used to. The two of them were sitting at a table along with Meredith. Miranda Bailey was eating some peanuts at the bar, totally ignoring that the interns were there. The owner himself was mixing drinks behind the bar and placed a glass of wine in front of a customer. Not far from the table was Izzie Stevens who was waiting for her drink and sneaking glances at Alex, who was across the room, throwing darts. He noticed her looking and smiled back at her. With a smile on her lips, she grabbed her drink and walked over to the table with George, Skylar, and Meredith who were sitting with their own drinks and snacks.

"I don't know, when I left Cristina said she was okay," George explained, having been the last one to check on the brunette.

"Nobody goes through what she went through and is totally over it by now," Izzie reasoned, making hand gestures as she took a sip of her drink.

"Cristina can," George shrugged.

"She's fine," Meredith stated, playing with the straw of her drink.

"Too fine. She's cold," the blonde said.

"Have you met Cristina?" Skylar sarcastically said, downing the rest of her drink.

"No, she's hard-core. She's got ice in her veins," George said, shelling a peanut. "She does what she has to to get through."

"She lost a baby. She lost a fallopian tube. And she's acting like she doesn't even care," Izzie explained, not understanding Cristina's thought process. Skylar slightly rolled her eyes, sometimes Izzie could be extremely sensitive. She and Cristina were complete opposites, one cared too much and one cared too little. "She's all, 'hello, I'm totally fine' person. I mean, she's my friend, too, but she's acting like she has no emotions or warmth...like she's missing a soul."

"Again, I say, have you met Cristina?" Skylar repeated in the same tone of voice.

George lightly chuckled. "God, she is gonna make a great surgeon," he admired.

"George," Izzie warned.

"It's true," he continued. "You show no weakness, you make it to the top."

"Some people just keep their feelings to themselves," Meredith shortly explained, looking at the blonde. Meredith looked over at the door when she heard it open, the other three not paying any mind to it. She saw a certain neurosurgeon walk through so she leaned forward to hide behind George and avoid him seeing her. Boy, was she in for it tomorrow.

❰ ❱

The next morning, Bailey was making rounds with her group of interns. They were walking through the hallways with Bailey upholding a good pace. They didn't know how she did it when she was half their size but still made them speedwalk to catch up with her. Skylar and Alex walked next to each other right behind their resident while George, Meredith, and Izzie followed them. "I heard you and O'Malley are a thing now. Didn't know you had a thing for Bambi," Alex said but before he could tease Skylar more he was interrupted by Bailey.

"I want everyone focused today. With Cristina out we're short an intern and I have a feeling it's gonna be one of those days. And Karev, see the chief by the end of the day."

"What for?"

"Do I look psychic to you? He is the chief. He asked. You go." That put a damper on Alex's mood and he shut the redhead out, not saying anything anymore.

"What did he do now?" Meredith asked in a whisper.

"Maybe he gave the chief syphilis," George joked, causing Alex and Skylar to look back at him. They had very different facial expressions, Alex glared while Skylar just gave him a reprimanding expression but George could tell by her smile that she thought it was hilarious.

The interns and resident quickly arrived at one of the patient's rooms which was overcrowded with other interns, doctors, and nurses listening to the patient's story about the jungle.

"So we were in the middle of the Belizean jungle and this Jaguar jumps out and bites on of the guys. They all look at me, they're yelling, you're a doctor, help him. This was the time a Phd does no good," the woman told the crowd as everyone laughed.

"I'm sorry did I miss the bell for social hour?" Bailey stopped the story with her eyebrows raised as she glanced around at the crowd of people. Everyone glanced at each other and quickly left the hospital room to go back to saving lives.

"Tales of missionary life," the patient explained with a smile. Izzie, who was on her case, walked up to her and stood by her bedside.

"You're a missionary?"

"No, my parents. We traveled a lot. They still do."

"Oh, wow. This stuff looks great," Izzie said in amazement while looking at the artifacts that were displayed on the patient's bed. Bailey looked annoyed at her intern which made her lay back the artifact that she had just picked up. "Um, this is Dr. Burke's patient, Kalpana Vera."

"Kull-punnah," she corrected. "Named by villagers in Nepal."

"She presents with multiple syncopal episodes and ventricular arrhythmias."

"So you've been passing out?" Bailey asked Kalpana.

"Yeah, and having palpitations."

"Past medical history of rheumatic heart disease with mitral valve stenosis," Izzie continued while her fellow interns took notes.

"They had to ship me from Zambia to the States for three months of treatment when I was eight. Rheumatic fever almost killed me," Kalpana clarified.

"Dr. Stevens, what are the primary causes of ventricular arrhythmias?" Bailey questioned.

Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them that made Skylar jump slightly. "Valvular disease, mitral valve prolapse, stimulants, drugs, and metabolic abnormalities," Cristina yelled from behind them, dressed in a hospital gown. At everyone's looks, she asked, "What?" She was still attached to her IV stand and she looked pleased with herself since she knew the correct answer. Skylar couldn't help but smile at Cristina's stubbornness.

"Out!" Bailey immediately ordered.

"I'm fine."

"Out! You better be in your room by the time we round on you."

"And when will that be?"

"In 15 seconds. 14...13...12...11..." Bailey started counting down and with a sigh, Cristina started walking away. As soon as she turned around, her pink underwear was visible through the slip at the back of the gown. None of the interns could hold in their laughter and Alex couldn't stop himself from commenting, like usual.

"Nice panties, Yang." Cristina's head immediately turned toward the origin of the voice and she glared at him. She pulled the back of her gown closed with her hand.

"In your dreams, evil spawn," Cristina hissed before finally going back to her room.

They finished everything up with Kalpana and moved on to the next patient, which was Cristina. She was lying in her bed again, while her mother was sitting on a couch beside a window sewing something.

"Cristina Yang, post-op day three from a unilateral salpingectomy," Skylar presented the next day during rounds, trying not to laugh at the dirty look Cristina was sending her mother.

"And ready to get back to work," Cristina cut in.

"Is she?" Cristina's mother piped up.

Skylar looked at Bailey. "She's taking solids and her pain is controlled with oral meds."

"See? I'm ready," Cristina insisted.

"Didn't the nurse say this morning you had a fever?" Her mom asked her.

"Mother," Cristina snapped, glaring at her mother.

"Cristina, did you have a fever?" Bailey questioned her intern with a look on her face that said I will know if you're lying. Cristina debated telling her or not, but in the end, she told the truth.

"Temp spiked to 101 last night. Big deal."

"She worked two shifts last month with a 102 degree flu," George revealed to his resident, helping Cristina.

"Yes, exactly, George. Thank you," Cristina thanked him, a smile gracing her lips.

"And we appreciate your dedication, but you're staying in bed until it normalizes," Bailey objected to Cristina's idea of working again.

Her mother sighed, "I keep telling her there's more to life than surgery and career."

"Mother, go upholster something," Cristina retorted, causing Skylar to laugh under her breath.

"Look, I need you to relax. Shut up and Get better. You're a patient this week, so you can be a doctor next week. Understand?" Bailey exited the room with her group behind her.

Before Skylar and Meredith could leave, Cristina held onto their arms. "Mer, Red, you cannot leave me alone with her. I'm flying over the cuckoo's nest here. You have to save me," she begged.

"You need time to heal," Meredith sighed.

"I'm healed," Cristina called after her as Meredith walked out of the room. "I'm healed!"

Seeing the hopeful look on her face, Skylar sent her an apologetic one of her own. "I'll bring you some jello."

"Fine," she huffed. "But not the green. The green sucks."

❰ ❱

The next patient they were rounding on was Ellis Grey. Meredith didn't look forward to it and hesitated before going inside. Ellis was lying in her bed in a dark pink robe with her arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, Dr. O'Malley, you're presenting," Bailey said and signaled George to begin. Skylar already felt pity for the boy who Ellis thought was Thatcher.

"Okay, Dr. Grey is post-op day three from a tumor resection."

"Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong," Ellis interrupted him, thinking that they were going to perform surgery. George tried to start over, but Ellis wouldn't let him. "He's got it all wrong. It's not asthma, it's gerd. He needs a nissen fundoplication." A sigh left everyone's lips in the room. Her eyes then landed on her daughter. "I don't want her in the room."

"Mom!"

"She's a child, and I won't have her on my team."

"We'll meet out outside, Dr. Grey," Bailey said to her intern and signaled for her to leave the room. She walked out of her mother's room, stunned and angry at her mother. It was embarrassing that she had been kicked out of a patient's room, her mother's nonetheless.

❰ ❱

Skylar was assigned to a case with Alex that day. They had to look through the files of people in the waiting room and care for each one. But, they were looking for the best one—the surgical one. "Found a good one, Alex?" She asked as she stood behind him.

"I'm looking," he replied. His main focus was on the files. His muttering suddenly stopped and his head shot up. With a confused look on his face, he showed her the file.

She raised her eyebrows. "Is this a joke? This can't be real," she disbelievingly said.

"A gunshot wound to the head? How is that freaking possible?" He looked around but saw no one that had been shot in the head. "Where the hell is the gunshot wound to the head? Why wasn't the trauma team called? Hello, are you people insane?"

A nurse came up to the duo with answers. "There's your gunshot wound." She gestured to the waiting room where a middle-aged brunette guy was sitting reading a magazine, looking perfectly okay—except for the slight reddish bump on his forehead.

"Are you serious? That guy was shot in the head?" Skylar asked again, her eyes on the man. She couldn't believe it. The nurse nodded and helped the two interns bring the patient to one of the rooms. Skylar was still dumbfounded that the man was walking and talking and not in any pain after being shot in the forehead. Alex was doing a physical and simple neuro exam as Skylar wrote things down on the clipboard, listening to Alex talk in the meantime. There seemed to be no exit wound, only a burn on his forehead.

"I'm telling you, I shot myself. Pulled the trigger when I was cleaning my .22. I thought the clip was out. If you're thinking suicide, don't. People make mistakes. I made a mistake," the man sounded resigned. "And now I'm paying for it." He sighed and looked at the ceiling. "But I did shoot myself." The two interns looked at him, not believing a single word he said. There was no way this was, in way, shape, or form, possible.

"Yeah, right, and I have a bullet in my knee," Skylar muttered to herself. Alex had heard her and turned around with his signature smirk on his face, holding in his laughter.

❰ ❱

As Meredith, Skylar, and Cristina sat in the tunnels, the latter was skimming through charts, that she wasn't supposed to have since she was, technically, still a patient. Skylar and Meredith sat side by side, facing the brunette.

"Addison gave Derek divorce papers, which is good," Meredith shared.

"So, is she leaving?" Skylar asked. When Meredith heard the slight disappointment in her voice, she clarified, "I mean, I like working with her. I know you don't like her very much. And besides, if it weren't for the whole McDreamy thing I think you'd like her."

Meredith absentmindedly nodded her head. "You know, it's fine to me that you work with her, you shouldn't hurt your career just because I dated your husband," she said, making the redhead give her an appreciative smile. "I mean, she's still here...being Addison but it's not like I'm jealous or anything."

"It's okay if you are though, you know that. Derek put both of you in an uncomfortable position," she explained.

"That's odd..." Cristina muttered as she examined the chart in her hand.

"It's odd that I'm not jealous?" Meredith questioned.

"No, you have every right to be jealous," Cristina said, finally looking up from the chart. "It's your territory and she's peeing all over it. What's odd is Burke's patient. She's been in four hospitals this year..."

"You seem awfully interested in Burke's patient..." Meredith pointed out.

"This has nothing to do with Burke..."

"Cristina, you lost a fallopian tube, a baby, and a boyfriend all in one day, you don't have to be okay," Skylar explained.

"Yeah, you have a right to be upset," the blonde added.

"And you're losing McDreamy to his perfect wife, you have a right to be jealous," Cristina deadpanned.

"I did not lose McDreamy. There's divorce papers, remember. I'm not jealous."

"And I'm not upset."

"Oh, come on, are you really just gonna keep fooling yourselves?" Skylar pleaded. "Besides, you should be in your room, Cristina."

"Okay, if the situation was reversed, would you want to spend time with your mother in a confined room with one window?" Skylar thought it over. She and her mother didn't have the best relationship, but it was nowhere near Cristina and her mom's, or even Meredith and her's. But she could understand if it were for multiple days on end. At the lack of response, Cristina backtracked. "Forget it, you must have a healthy family relationship, Red...Meredith?"

"Do you think we're like them? Our mothers?"

❰ ❱

Skylar and Alex were in an exam room standing next to Derek as they looked at Samuel, their patient, and his wife. They had confirmed earlier that he did have a bullet in his head. While they had been waiting for the scan, they had been interrupted twice, once by the patient's wife and the other time by Meredith's mother. She had managed to slip past George and ended up in the viewing room. Skylar just shook her head at her poor boyfriend who was stuck babysitting for the day.

"You understand that we'll need to do a psych evaluation," the neurosurgeon told the married couple.

"How many times do we have to tell you? He wasn't trying to kill himself. It was an accident," the wife repeated, not too happy with the question, while her husband didn't really mind.

"They're just trying to do their job, hon," Samuel tried to calm her down.

"Well...no, their job is to make you better."

"Where were you when the gun went off?" Shepherd asked the woman while walking around the bed and closer to the patient.

"I was in the next room, and I heard the shot and it was awful," she immediately said.

"Why didn't you call 911?" Alex asked. Skylar couldn't help but nod in agreement. She had been thinking the same question. Why hadn't she called an ambulance or the police? That was a normal response after hearing a gunshot. The redhead crossed her arms like Alex did and stared at the wife.

"'Cause he was only unconscious for a moment and then...then he was—he was walking and talking and—" The patient's wife stuttered, hoping that her explanation had convinced the group of doctors.

"You're going to have to give a report to the police," Derek interrupted the woman's explanation and crossed his arms too.

"Police?"

"What—What do we need to talk to the police about?"

"We have to report any gunshot wounds to the police. It's the law," Skylar clarified. She then followed the attending and her fellow intern away from the couple. Mrs. Linden stroked her husband's cheek and mouthed that it would be okay, but her husband turned his head away from her. Looks like there was some trouble in paradise.

❰ ❱

While Derek, Alex, and Skylar were performing surgery on Samuel, Mrs. Linden was being interrogated by the police. The three of them had overheard a fight they had and discovered that Samuel's wife had shot the man after finding out that he had cheated on her. All of them agreed that they hadn't seen that one coming. Alex was standing next to Skylar just looking, while Skylar took the lead. "This is one sick bastard. We should flip him over and give him a spine," Alex commented as he looked at the unconscious patient.

"Hold back on that retractor, Dr. Kepner," Derek said to the redhead before speaking to a woman who stood next to Alex. "Little suction, Bokhee."

"Covering for his wife after she shot him."

"He did cheat on her."

"But that doesn't mean that she has the right to shoot him in the head. I get that she was furious, but shooting him? That's just a little bit too much, don't you think?" Skylar joined in but kept her eyes down on the patient in front of her.

"Relationships are built on sacrifice."

"Not that kind of sacrifice."

"Hmm, I don't know. Sometimes a bullet's worth it." The two interns shared a look before their eyes landed on the neurosurgeon again. She wanted to say one last thing but kept it to herself. From time to time, someone spoke up during surgery, starting a short conversation, but overall it was silent in O.R. 2. Hours later, the surgery was successfully finished and Samuel was brought to the post-recovery ward. He woke up a little later and had questions about his wife.

"What did she tell them?"

"That you cheated on her. That she was drunk. You were cleaning your guns in the kitchen," Derek answered the question as he was writing something down in the man's chart.

"I'm not gonna press charges."

"That doesn't matter. She confessed and that meanest assault on the first degree," Skylar replied as she looked at the patient, who looked sad.

"They arrested her?"

"Man, you should be grateful," Alex joined the conversation.

"You know what I am? I'm stupid. Nothing will make you feel more stupid than cheating on the woman you love. You don't know what you're missing." The two guys pondered this while both thinking of the woman they loved. Izzie was outside the room, putting away a chart at the nurses' station. Alex made eye contact with her and she smiled back at him before walking away.

After Derek had left, Skylar turned to face Alex. "Hey, good luck with the Chief and your date with Izzie. Don't be an ass, please, because I bet I will hear about it even if you don't let me know." She patted his shoulder before walking away.

❰ ❱

Skylar entered Cristina's room later that day and was greeted by a terrifying sight. The ever stoic Cristina was sobbing loudly on her bed, surrounded by piles of tissues. Izzie, George, Meredith, and her mother were simply watching the shit show play out.

"What the hell is happening?" Skylar yelled, panicked.

"I can't stop—I can't—I can't stop," Cristina sobbed, tears running down her face

"Crying. She can't stop crying," Izzie clarified.

"I can see that. What on earth did you guys do to her?"

"Nothing!" They shouted in unison, looking at her like a zoo animal that was going to attack at any second.

"She's going to dehydrate," George said. "Cristina, do you want some water?"

Cristina violently shook her head. Meredith moved in to hug her, but George and Izzie stopped her by shouting, "No!"

"I already tried that. It just made it worse," Izzie sighed.

"I knew she'd break sooner or later. Just a matter of time," her mother said with faux pity.

"I will kill her!" Cristina yelled between sobs.

Meredith escorted her out of the room even as the woman protested, "I am her mother."

"We don't do well with mothers here. Why don't you leave and come back later."

"Cristina?" Skylar asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Make—make it stop. Make it stop!" She continued to sob.

"Okay," Skylar cringed, helplessly looking around the room. "Uh, okay, Cristina, try to breathe for me—"

"Somebody sedate me!"

"Okay, Cristina, enough of being nice," Skylar got closer and yelled at her friend. "You are Cristina Yang, first of her class at Stanford!" The crying girl's sobs grew quieter. "If you want to cry, you get to cry. But if you don't stop I'm going to slap you pretty hard, so I'd advise that you get your shit together!"

With one last sob, Cristina finally stopped crying. "It stopped!" She cheered, dramatically throwing her fists in the air. "Thank you, Red."

"She's a miracle worker," Izzie whispered, staring at Skylar in awe.

"That's my girlfriend," George smiled, looking at the redhead with loving eyes. He missed the look that Izzie sent him. Neither of them knew just how much the blonde girl hated them being together, Izzie might not have even known it.

❰ ❱

At the end of the day, Skylar and George arrived at their house together and flopped down on the couch. "You know, I kind of liked seeing that side of you with Cristina today..." George complimented as she smiled at her.

"Really?" She couldn't help but put her lips on his, kissing him deeply.

"Yeah, uh, it was...it was kind of hot."

"Really?" She asked once more, her tone now changing from sweet to slightly provocative as she raised one brow.

"Really." He kissed her deeper as their tongues came into play. Once it became a deep and passionate make-out session, he scooted her backward and laid her down on the couch underneath him. They were just glad that Izzie and Meredith didn't come home during that hour so they could have the house to themselves for a while.

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