You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

03┃wrongs

"Sats?"

"Dropping on high flow O2."

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

"Her lung has collapsed."

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

"No time," Derek replied hastily, 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 had stabilised and stopped beeping rapidly. 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 Norah, who was already looking at him. "Totally flirting," he mouthed to her.

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH WAS CHEWING ON her macaroni in the cafeteria; she shared a table with Izzie, George and Cristina, who were all having their 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 raised flames on her hair.

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

Norah snorted at the image her mind painted. "That'd be a sight. I mean, the earlier you learn, the better, right?" she added while George held back a laugh.

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

"That's quite an accusation," the brunette shrugged.

George nodded in agreement as he unscrewed the cap on his bottle. "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?" Norah asked, shoving another spoonful of macaroni into her mouth. "You're kinda missing your own point here."

"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 and 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," Norah 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 snort that he had held back. "Oh, that was wrong on so many levels," he muttered, "You two are smooth."

Cristina chuckled, giving Norah a high-five. "We were brilliant," the latter smirked.

"Yeah, that was... that was good," George grinned, and the two women laughed. "You know, Norah, you've been here for weeks now, but we don't know much about you, personally."

Norah raised a brow at him while she continued eating. "Ask away."

"Like, don't see this the wrong way, but are you dating?" George queried.

Norah raised a brow at him. "Georgie, if you're into me, you can just admit it," she smirked, and his face flushed red.

"No, no, no," he denied quickly, and the two women laughed. "I mean, are you into guys, or ladies... or both?"

"At the same time," Cristina added.

George's eyes widened at her words while Norah laughed, pointing her fork at the woman. "Last option definitely sounds intriguing."

"Ooh, sweetheart, I'm totally interested right now."

❦ ❦ ❦

IT WAS EARLY IN THE morning when Norah's shift ended. After managing to scrub in for surgery. She felt joyful, and tired.

The other interns had already gone home one after another, and now it was her turn. She changed out of her scrubs and into her thick sweatshirt since the temperature was starting to drop at that time of the year.

The door got slammed open harshly, and Norah peeked her head to see which annoyed intern was trying to break down the door, only to see Izzie storming into the room and towards her locker.

"What's bugging you?" the brunette asked.

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

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear," Norah gave her an emphatic smile as she hung her sling bag over her shoulder. She was on her way out when Izzie spoke again.

"She-Shepherd knew that the baby had no chance-I worked my ass off all night! I was so scared, and it was all for nothing!" Izzie shouted; Norah retreated into the locker room and sat next to her.

"All that just to test me, to make sure I don't crack under pressure!" the blonde scoffed. "That's ridiculous! That's madness-she's psychotic! And you know what she told me? She told me to 'Learn distances, Stevens. You'll be a better doctor for it'," she mocked in a high-pitched voice, "Learn distances my ass-why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because, well..." Norah scratched her head, "As much as I want to be on your side, I do agree with her-"

"What?!" Izzie glared at the brunette, feeling betrayed.

"She's not entirely wrong. That's what I'm saying," Norah cleared up. "She has a point. You shouldn't get too involved with a patient."

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.

Norah narrowed her eyes at the other intern's change of tone. "What is that supposed to mean?" she questioned, her hazel eyes fixed on the dark brown ones.

"You were abandoned as a baby. You know the feeling of not being cared-like, shouldn't you be the one who sympathises with patients?"

Norah's eyebrows knitted together at the other woman's words. "I do sympathise, but I don't build up extra feelings for them," she spoke in a low tone. She took a step closer to the blonde and glared at her deliberately.

"And don't you dare bring up that again," she spat. "Trust me when I say you do not wanna encounter my fist."