trauma [m.s]

xxxv.

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my sister used to say this about residency, 'it takes a year to learn how to cut. it takes a lifetime to learn not to.'
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at an ungodly hour, chloe finds herself in meredith's kitchen after offering to help clean the resident's house before the arrival of mrs. shepherd. meredith, however, was sat in her living room, clutching a bottle of tequila, her knees pulled up to her chest, whilst alex, george and sadie sit watching her.

"10 bucks says she tanks in the first 5 minutes," alex bets.

"i have faith in death," sadie confidently nods. "she'll make a good impression."

"she's holding that bottle of tequila like it's a life vest," alex chuckles, swigging a mouthful from the bottle of beer in his hand.

"mer, don't listen to them. she's gonna love you," george assures.

"no. mothers don't love me. mothers like bright and bubbly and happy and..." meredith shakes her head, but trails off when chloe walks into the room, her hair tied back into a loose ponytail, a large smile spread across her face and a box of cleaning supplies in her hand. "chloe. mothers love chloe."

"they do. mothers do love chloe," she confirms with a smile as she places the cleaning supplies down on the coffee table. "uh, i stashed all the tequila, took the condoms out of the cookie jar. i also replaced all your trashy magazines with back issues of the 'annals of surgery', okay?"

"okay," meredith nods, her voice barely audible.

"does it smell musty in here?" chloe sniffs, her nose scrunching up as she glances around the room.

"my mom's house smells like peppermint. it's so homey," george tells them, smiling fondly at the thought.

"my house isn't homey?" meredith gasps, turning her gaze to george.

"i was raised in a hellhole. this place is a palace," alex shrugs his shoulders.

"why isn't my house homey, george?" meredith yells at him as her chin rests on the cap of the tequila bottle.

"i can't explain it," george defensively shouts back to her. "it's just a feeling."

"well, chloe can't fix a feeling," meredith counters.

"she is freaking out, people," chloe's stresses with wide eyes. "just tell her something i can fix."

"rebecca peed on that couch cushion," alex gestures over his shoulder and sadie turns her head to look, her nose scrunched up with disgust.

"i've been sleeping there for weeks," sadie gasps.

"thanks, alex. you're..." meredith nods her head whilst sighing heavily. "a good friend."

"you're welcome. keep drinking," alex chuckles softly as he nods his head towards the bottle in her hands.

- - -
of all of the tools on the surgical tray, sound judgment is the trickiest one to master. and without it, we're all just toddlers running around with ten blades.
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after finding his mother wandering the halls of seattle grace, derek was now standing across from her in front of the nurses station.