SO HIGH SCHOOL ― mark sloan

THREE

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GROWING UP WITH A BROTHER FOR A PARENT, DOROTHEA LEARNED LOVE DIFFRENTLY THAN THE OTHER KIDS. SHE RELIED MOST ON PHYSICAL AFFECTION AND SMILES, AND LESS ON SOCIAL CUES OR CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA.

"Our surgery was cancelled," Derek frowned, standing next to her at the board. "Burke cancelled it. Need you to get in there...all...smiley and cute. Get it back."

Dorothy shook her head, smiling up at him. "My charm isn't free, Derek."

"It should be." He sighed, crossing his arms. "Costs too much."

Dorothea leaned her head on his shoulder. "I want cookies."

"Deal."

—

Dorothea grabbed her food, plopping down at a table next to Bailey's interns, looking over scans Conrad sent over from his latest mystery case.

"Look, it's the new kid," Christina's voice got her attention.

"I heard she's trying to rail Shepherd," Izzie observed.

"Good luck with that," Meredith rolled her eyes. "All hers. The Shepherds are a packaged deal, or so I've learned."

"Maybe she's not bad," George pointed out. "She's like us."

"She's on course to be a double-board certified internal medicine and neurosurgeon," Christina scoffed. "She's nothing like us."

"She said she'd give you rectal exams if you keep calling her, she," Dorothea called softly, biting a carrot. Looking up from her scans, she shrugged. "You guys can just talk to me. I'm open to questions." She looked to Meredith. "And I'm not trying to sleep with Derek. He's not my type."

"What is your type?" Karev asked, leaning forward a bit.

Dorothea raised her eyebrows, snickering, before taking a sip of her juice. "You're a baby, Karev," she told him. "I don't date babies."

"You're our age," Izzie stated. "I mean, Mer's a few years older, but you're, what, twenty-eight?"

"Twenty-nine in May," Dorothea nodded. "Any other questions?"

"Why internal medicine?" Christina asked. "It's baby stuff. Neuro, I get. But not diagnostics. Pass."

Dorothea shrugged. "I like the challenge. Neuro keeps my hands busy, takes all my focus, but on days where I'm short cases or it gets repetitive, I get to see all new things."

Christina scoffed. "Lame."

"No, really, here," she waved the interns over. They hesitated and she rolled her eyes, grabbing her tray and the folder, taking a seat between Izzie and George. "Look, my best friend works in IM, he's incredible. He's stuck on a patient right now, tell me what you see."

The interns gave her a look, Alex coming over and leaning over Izzie — who gave him side-eye —to see better.

"Uh, adult mid-thirties, female, shortness of breath and chest pain," Meredith read. "But she was in a car accident. Seizure, had a subdermal hematoma."