Asystole ✷ Mark Sloan

𝟬𝟮𝟰 down, down, down

Suddenly, my perfectly placed apartment didn't seem that perfect.

"We're all getting fired." Again, Alex seemed the only one who could speak, he fumed to himself, dark eyes narrowed. Instantly, Meredith snapped to life, looking over at Alex so abruptly that she almost gave herself whiplash.

"We won't."

"How do you know?" He retorted, clearly agitated. I had half a mind to interject and tell Meredith that maybe it wasn't the best time to argue with him. But the dirty blonde had a spontaneous fire in her eye and I figured that it was best not to get involved. "They're going to bring in a whole new staff and we're all going to get the sack."

"Don't say that."

"I'm going to say that because it's going to happen and we need to prepare ourselves." Alex huffed loudly; "It's going to be unfair—it's going to be unfair on us and it's going to be unfair on Izzie because she's been off and they're going to fire her because she got cancer."

"They wouldn't do that." Lexie disagreed, shaking her head rapidly, her eyes round and startled. The resident beside her shot her a scathing look, conspiring a disagreement. Meanwhile, Meredith just sighed to herself, dropped her head to play with her lettuce once again.

"If they can do this to Seattle Grace they could easily do everything else," Alex reasoned and I almost laughed. There was something so dramatic about it and I suddenly was fighting a chuckle. Although he was a surgeon and extremely quick-witted, I got the impression that Alex wasn't the brightest star in the sky.

I decided to nurse my coffee quietly, watching as Alex ate his apple with a vindictive enthusiasm. My heart was low in my chest, sinking even further as I realised that we'd face another month or so of hard travels; the smooth sailing lifestyle at Seattle Grace wasn't quite working out the way I'd imagined it. 

Maybe Boston wasn't as bad as I'd first thought it to be.

Everything had been extremely stressful, everything had been negative and in a downward spiral. First Archie's surgery, then Izzie's diagnosis, George's death and now a possible lay-off for the surgical staff (and possibly me too), things weren't looking very great. I pursed my lips.

Everyone needs something lighter to look forward to.

"I have an idea."

Simultaneously, everyone around the table looked up at me, their attention-catching on the way I leant forwards. Alex didn't look as though he'd be impressed by anything I'd ever say, so I spoke mostly to Lexie and Meredith.

"I want to throw a house-warming party for my new apartment."

The look on Alex's face could only be described as a gradual progression. He began looking so deeply bamboozled that Meredith chuckled at his deep-set eyes and his heavy scowl that began to develop. My face had been set in a reasonably optimistic look but faded into hesitation as Alex's eyes widened almost comically.

"What the fuck will that do?"

"I don't know," I replied in a slightly pitched voice as Alex's question slapped the air. "It's what my sister would do... when in doubt, throw a soiree, I don't know."

Meredith's lips quirked. "Addison's not the greatest role model."

I shot her a low deadpan. 

"Look at what I have to work with—my brother eats fruits that has worms in them. At least with Addison the least serious disease, I'll get is some sort of STI." Meredith didn't quite have an answer for that, so I continued. "Really, I think this will be cool. I'll get some snacks, some drinks. We'll invite some people, get some music going. It'll be fun! Cheer some people up!"