Where You Belong

127

"And the stating the obvious award goes to..."

Meredith took a long sip of coffee, suddenly desperate for the caffeine. It was going to be an even longer day than she had expected. "Has Cristina seen it?"

"I don't think so," George said. "I saw her this morning and she seemed fine. Well, not fine, but not any different than she's been lately."

"She has been really moody lately," Izzie agreed, "Even for Cristina."

"She screwed an attending and got screwed for it," Alex said with a shrug.

"Alex..." Meredith said carefully.

Alex met her eyes evenly. "I'm not apologizing for telling the truth."

"She wasn't screwing him. She loved him. She was going to marry him."

He at least had the decency to look a little apologetic.

"She's going to freak when she sees this," Izzie said. "Let's take it down."

"You can't just take it down," Meredith said. "It's on the board."

"Yes, we can," Izzie said, reaching her hands towards the article. "She never has to know." Her fingers touched the paper, but she hesitated and pulled her hands away.

"She's going to hear about it," Meredith reasoned. Her best friend was definitely going to react badly to the news, but taking down the article was only going to delay the inevitable. And in a hospital as gossip-friendly as Seattle Grace, the inevitable could be as short as minutes away. It may be less cruel to let Cristina find out this way and not through word of mouth.

"Who's going to hear about what?" Cristina's voice rang out from behind them.

Meredith flinched and turned around to greet her best friend.

Izzie quickly jumped into action, spinning and backing against the bulletin board so her head was covering the article. It was a sweet gesture, obviously made with the best intentions, but it was also painfully obvious she was hiding something.

"Uh..." Meredith hesitated. How do you tell your best friend, who lost her fiancé and teacher in one painful swoop when he left her at the altar, and is struggling professionally because the new teacher is treating her like crap, that the ex-fiancé has won the Harper freaking Avery award?

"What is going on?"

"Nothing," Izzie and George said at the same time, causing Meredith to flinch again. No, they weren't hiding anything. Good thing one didn't have to be stealthy to be a surgeon.

"Cristina," she began gently, knowing there was no good way to approach this. Cristina's mood had been steadily declining for months. This may just be the final straw to make her crack under the pressure.

Cristina ignored her, instead focussing on Izzie and what she was hiding. "Izzie, move. What are you hiding?"

Izzie hesitated, but after a moment sighed and shifted so Cristina could see the article.

All five residents stood silently for several moments as Cristina stared unblinkingly at the article. And then she said flatly, "Good for him," and walked away.

Meredith hesitated as she watched her go. Part of her wanted to go after her, but the other part knew Cristina needed time to process this new hit.

"Should we go after her?" Izzie asked to the group. "I mean... She needs to know..."

"What?" Alex prompted, "That she got screwed? Trust me, she already knows."

"But-"

"Alex is right," Meredith said with a sigh. "She needs time."