𝟛𝕩𝟘𝟠
𝟛𝕩𝟘𝟡
𝟛𝕩𝟙𝟘
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
The next morning Natalie had woken up earlier than usual to go for a jog. Her head was ready to explode and she needed the fresh morning air. She wanted the pictures of her husband with other women out of her head. She wanted to stop hearing everything that he has told her. She just wanted to stop. So she ran. And she concentrated on that.
Mark Sloan had the very same idea as Natalie that morning. And with Seattle having some great running routes, he couldn't help himself. He needed to clear his head as well, with the way things had turned out with him and Derek and him and Addison. It was much too messed up and he didn't know how to fix anything. Plus it was one of the rare days that it wasn't raining in Seattle. So he took advantage of it.
It was one those days that the universe plans out a sudden meeting. When you see someone out of nowhere, a place you least expected it.
Mark had made a stop to catch his breath. He was opening a bottle of water, needed the refreshing liquid. And even if he had made a stop, his mind was still racing. The thoughts, his regrets, his constant need to feel anything else from what he was feeling. And then he spotted her. Natalie Turner. The woman that kept taking his breath away. The familiar silhouette of the cardio surgeon was passing by him. And all his worries were gone. He just wanted to talk to her, flirt with her and make her angry at him. He loved when she was telling him off a little too much. "Dr. Turner." He called out. "Good morning." Mark jogged up to her.
Natalie slowed down and turned to see the plastic surgeon smiling at her. More like his usual smirk that made Natalie want to wipe it off his face. She took a deep breath preparing herself for his flirty comments. "Good morning Dr. Sloan."
"You know, you can call me Mark. We don't have to keep things that professional." He was already by her side and they continued jogging together.
"I'd rather keep things that professional." Natalie pointed out and kept her eyes way ahead, not feeling like talking to him any longer. Not when she had to make a decision whether it was a good idea to let Isaac back in her life.
But Mark kept the conversation going. "As you wish Dr. Turner. Do you jog here a lot?" He asked her, keeping up with her pace. His head was slightly turned so he could look at her. And that could mean that he could fall on anything without even realising it. But he didn't care, as long as he could keep looking at her face.
Natalie glanced at him, slightly frowning as she realised that he kept looking at her. But she didn't want to think much of it. In her head, Mark was only trying to sleep with her, and she also knew that it was never going to happen. "Only when I need to clear my head." Natalie replied shortly.
"Is anything bothering you?" Mark asked, noticing the troubled look on her face. He tried to find out who was that man that had come at the hospital the other day. But it's not like anyone would tell him.
"A lot of things."
"Does this have to do with the visit of that man the other day? Who was he anyway?" Natalie stopped jogging and turned to look at Mark who was worried that he had ruined his first chance to talk to her without them wearing the scrubs and their professional looks. But Natalie always had a professional look on her face. "Am I crossing a line?" Mark stood in front of her out of breath as he was mostly doing all the talking as they were running.
"You're obviously a terrible gossip." Natalie commented. "He was supposed to be my ex husband. And now I have to make a choice." She found herself confiding in him her troubles. The reason; she didn't know it. Some people just made it easy to talk to them.
"Well, you gotta let us know. You know if a woman like you is out looking for a rebound the world must know to prepare themselves." Mark gave her a flirty smile.
"A woman like me?" Natalie raised her eyebrow, giving him a look as she crossed her hands on her chest.
"You're one of the most beautiful women I've ever crossed paths and you have this aura around you. You're confident, every time you pass by all heads turn to your direction." He explained. "Anyone who hurt you isn't worth your time."
"Hmm." She tried to hide her smile. Mark Sloan knew the right thing to say, and even Natalie enjoyed a nice compliment.
"I mean you're super hot." He continued.
"Wow." Natalie huffed but she could recognise the teasing tone in his voice.
"What? I am just being honest." He raised his hands. "There's nothing wrong with being hot. I am hot too. Maybe we should join together and put the sheets on fire."
"Or maybe not." Natalie laughed at his remark.
"Eh, at least I made you laugh." Mark gave her a genuine smile.
"Well, thank you Mark." Natalie smiled back at him. Mark had made her forget about her worries for a minute. And it was refreshing. She felt more of herself. "You just might stop calling me Dr. Turner."
Mark gasped surprised and quickly grabbed the opportunity she gave him. "I might start calling you... Natalia."
"Natalia?" She repeated.
"Hmm I'm not going to call you whatever everyone else does. I am special."
"You're actually delusional." Natalie corrected him. "You were nice today, so I decided to be nice back. It doesn't mean we're friends. I still don't like you." She started jogging away from him. "See you at work Mark."
"Oh I am going to make you love me. Just wait and see." Mark called out as he was checking her running away, "Oh I'll be damned." He muttered to himself and only took his eyes away when he couldn't see her anymore.
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Natalie was at the nurse's station with Bailey later that day. She wanted to ask her to scrub in one of her surgeries. The one Dr. Burke hadn't tried to steal from her. But as she was informing her about the case, a particular argument caught her attention.
"What's wrong with Burke's hand?" One of the interns, George O'Malley, asked Cristina. George's father was at the hospital and he needed a valve replacement which George wanted Burke to do. Until he noticed the first red flag. And he couldn't let the cardio surgeon operate on his father when he obviously had been hiding something.
"Nothing." Cristina denied to tell him the truth.
"He's going to operate on my father." George reminded his friend.
"George, Burke is fine. Your dad will be fine." Cristina tried to reassure him, but it was all over her face. Something was wrong, and it had been wrong for a long time.
"You're lying. Burke is hiding something and you're helping him." George insisted.
"Leave me alone." Cristina said and walked away.
Natalie and Bailey exchanged a look. And Natalie promised herself that she was going to find out what was wrong. And if what was wrong was the reason she had been the second choice for everything the last weeks.
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That day a five year old was brought in the hospital. Mia was backed over by her mother's SUV. She had crush injuries to her abdomen and blunt trauma to her head. After a CT, she was taken into surgery. Derek was operating on her. Up in the gallery, Natalie was staring at her ring, still trying to decide if her marriage was worth saving. The fact that she still hadn't taken it out meant something to her, maybe she wasn't ready to let him go even after what he did.
"Did you ever think about having kids?" Bailey asked Addison and Callie. The four of them were sitting together looking at the surgery. But each of them had a different thing going on.
"Derek and I talked about it but I wasn't ready." Addison replied.
"I love kids. I'd have a dozen." Callie said, a small smile on her face at the idea.
"Believe me, one's enough. Unless you plan to put away the scalpel." Bailey pointed out.
"That's why God invented nannies." Callie joked.
"I wish it were that easy." Natalie sighed, remembering all the times her mother or Isaac's mother were with her daughter instead of her because she was working. The day Amber turned 14, she let her stay alone when both of them worked. And now that it was just the two of them, Amber was spending a lot of hours alone. And Natalie hated that. She was calling her every hour to make sure that she was okay.
"What do I do with these? Hock them? Keep them?" Addison asked them, showing the rings on her fingers.
"My mom says divorce wedding rings are bad juju." Natalie replied, remembering that she still hadn't told her mother about the divorce. And she didn't want to tell her, knowing that she was going to give her the 'you can't tear your family apart' speech.
"Your mom says juju?" Addison asked.
"She does." Natalie confirmed.
"Do you want them?" Addison asked, showing her the rings.
"I have my own to get rid off." Natalie reminded her.
"Yeah, but you still haven't gotten a divorce." Addison pointed out.
"I am well aware thank you."
And then Bailey spoke up. "Yesterday I left for work early, and Tuck's favorite food was strained peas. Nasty green gunk, but he loved them. Ate them for breakfast. I got home from a 15 hour shift and he didn't like strained peas anymore. He only wants carrots."
"Life moves so fast. Everybody moves on." Addison said quietly.
"Amber has been really focused on this boy lately." Natalie talked next, loving how easy it was to her to talk to those women. She didn't think she'd find a good friend after what her best friend did to her. But she did. "We've been here for two or so months and she's already moved on from San Francisco. And I can't move on. I should, I was ready to and then..." She paused not sure how to finish the sentence. Not sure what to do.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Natalie was ready to go home when George ran up to her. "Dr. Turner." He called out and Natalie waiting for her by the lobby's door.
"O'Malley, hey. Is everything okay?" She asked him, noticing the look of distress on his face.
"I want you to perform the surgery on my father." George simply said, without much explanation. And she agreed. Her worries that something was wrong with Burke's hand were confirmed in an instance.
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Natalie returned home to find cooked meal and the table already set for dinner. Isaac and Amber were already waiting for her. Natalie felt a wave of nostalgia hitting her. Remembering all the past years she'd go home from work tired, exhausted and she'd find her family there waiting for her. "We made your favourite." Amber smiled at her.
Dinner was pretty quiet. Even though Amber and Isaac continued talking to each other. Natalie was lost in her own world. "So Tom smiled at me today and I had my bitchy face on and it didn't go well." Amber talked about that boy next door that she liked. Thinking that it would make her mother say anything.
"Language." Natalie warned her.
"Yeah okay" She ignored her mother, "but I didn't smile back at him, or I could have waved or something."
"Honey, you don't have a bitchy face. I have a bitchy face. You're all cute." Natalie gave Amber a smile.
"Yeah, you do have a bitchy face mom" Amber agreed, "especially when you do that thing with your eyebrow. Derek told me that everyone's pretty scared of you."
"As they should."
"Who's Derek?" Isaac asked suddenly interested.
"Mom's new friend." Amber replied when Natalie said nothing.
"Oh and are they close?"
Natalie put down her fork annoyed. Amber noticed that her mother got upset and she knew that her father was crossing a line. Amber knew that her father had no right to even care if Natalie had found someone new, not after what he did. "Okay, this was nice. But I am gonna go to my room." Amber announced. "I'll take the rest of my food with me if you don't mind." Natalie gave her daughter an apologetic look. But she was too mature to even pretend that they weren't going to fight again. She was too mature to know that her family was not going to be the same again. Even if Natalie decided to stay with Isaac.
"Have you decided what you and I are going to do? I need to go back to San Francisco and as much as I want to stay here and win you back. I don't know if there is anything to fight for, is it?" Isaac asked her once Amber was gone. "I promise you Natalie, I love you and I am never going to do that again. I don't want to lose you or Amber."
Anyone who hurt you isn't worth your time.
Natalie stayed silent for a minute. A whole minute neither of them saying a word. And then Natalie knew what she needed to do. "I want you to leave." Her voice calm and steady. "And no this isn't because I found someone new. I didn't. I can't possibly be with anyone right now after what you did to me. I've given you so much of my time, Isaac. I've given you years. I've given you chances. And you didn't deserve any of it. The next time I see you it will be to sign the divorce papers. And we will only talk when it comes to Amber. We'll make a plan so you and I can both see her equally. But I have no interest in you after everything that you've done. You can spend the rest of the night with Amber or you can leave now. All I want is to not see you tomorrow when I wake up."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Few mornings later, Chief Webber had called the younger doctor to his office. Everyone knew about Burke's trembling hand, after Cristina reported him to the Chief. "Natalie, I am sure you've heard all about the situation with Dr. Burke."
"Sure, who wouldn't?" Natalie rolled her eyes. She was annoyed at the whole situation. She was annoyed that they had been tossing her aside so they could cover their lies. But it wasn't her place to do anything about it. She was just going to continue doing her job, as always. And she was damn good at it.
"I am worried that I shouldn't keep Dr. Burke at the spot of head of cardio. I was wondering if you're interested. You have a great reputation from your previous hospital. You are definitely a great surgeon. People respect you here. And the spot is yours if you want it?"
"Not everyone respects me in here Chief." Natalie corrected him. She crossed her legs, resting her hands on her knees. A professional look on her face. "The day I take Dr. Burke's spot will be because I am the better choice, not because he messed up. I don't do second best. And that's how I've been feeling lately in here. When Dr. Burke and Dr. Yang continued stealing my surgeries. Obviously too scared that you would eventually see that I am actually a better doctor than him. And they lied to everyone. They're both stupid, and they are lucky that they didn't kill anyone. They are lucky. But the punishment is not that. The punishment will come when our colleagues prefer me for their cases. Like Dr. O'Malley already chose me to help with his father. That's enough for me right now. The spot will be mine when the time comes. For now Dr. Burke can live with his consequences."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Once Natalie left the room, Dr. Burke spotted her. "Dr. Turner. I want to apologise for what we've put you through the last month. I know that you're an excellent doctor. I never meant to make you feel otherwise. I was really excited when I learnt that you're joining us. I didn't mean to be disrespectful." He apologised, but it seemed so empty to Natalie.
She had lost all the respect she had for him. "The thing is I wasn't the only one you were disrespectful to, Dr. Burke. And one more thing, I am not here to forgive you, that's God's job or whatever. My job is to make sure that no one dies on my watch."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Shortly after Natalie walked into George's father's room. The interns along with Bailey were already waiting for her. "Alright lets make this fast people. I have a day. Which one have you assigned to me Bailey?" She asked the shorter doctor. But as the other interns started fighting, Natalie spoke up again. "Okay, Yang."
"What?" They all exclaimed.
"Cristina is very good with cardio, right? I just want to see how good." Natalie made them stop arguing.
"What are you waiting for Yang, present the case." Her resident told her. Cristina stepped forward, hesitant. Natalie hadn't seen her like that before.
"Harold O'Malley, sixty three, diagnosed with oesophagial cancer and severe aortic regurge. Is scheduled for aortic valve replacement this afternoon."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
The rest of the interns left and it was just Natalie and Cristina in the room. "We're going to be replacing your valve with a porcine valve." Cristina informed their patient.
"Georgie says it's going to be okay. He says they know what they're doing. Besides if you die, I'll kill you." Mrs O'Malley told her husband and Natalie smiled softly at them.
"Well it's a good thing we're doing this today, we noticed you had a lot of irregular heart rhythms this morning." Cristina pointed out.
Suddenly George burst in the room. "Did you check his DIG level?" And he stole the chart out of Cristina's hands.
"What are you doing Dr. O'Malley?" Natalie asked him. "We've got a handle on things."
"Oh I'm sure you do." George said, but he was way out of line.
"George, I think maybe you should step outside."
"You don't talk to me like that." George snapped at Cristina.
"Okay, you and I, out. Come on O'Malley." Natalie dragged him out of the door. "You can't do this George."
"I need to know what's going on, okay? Why did you choose Cristina after what she done?" George talked loudly at the doctor, forgetting she was his attending.
"Because she had the courage to go to the Chief and report her boyfriend and attending." Natalie admitted. "I want to see if there is anything in her. That's my problem, okay? I know how it is to be an intern. It hasn't been that long since then."
"She was willing to let Burke operate on my dad and she knew that he had a problem. She knew." George yelled.
"Okay, George. Listen to me." Natalie grabbed his shoulders. "I know what this feels like. I do. I was in your place few years ago. When my father was sick and no one was letting me help him. I know exactly how this feels. But the only way I can help your father is if you let me. Will you let me? Will you trust me that I can do it?"
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Few hours later, Natalie and Cristina were in the O.R. operating on George's dad. Things seemed to be going as planned and Natalie had the situation under control. "Closing the aortotomy. What's next?" She asked her intern.
"Place the needle in the ascending aorta to remove air, and then release the aorta valve clamp." Cristina replied and Natalie nodded her head pleased.
"You know Cristina. You are a good surgeon. You truly are. I don't know if you took this opportunity so you could learn more. But having the steady hand that he was missing, isn't going to win you the love of that man. It's not about who does the most surgeries. Or who wins the best spot. People matter." Cristina stayed quiet. "Alright tubes are out." Natalie focused on the surgery again. And it was a successful one.
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Natalie was scrubbing out of the surgery. Cristina following behind. "Dr. Turner I am s-"
"No, Cristina. You're not. You would have done it all over again. I know you would. Just stick to your decisions and don't apologise for them. I am going to continue doing my job just fine without your apologies." Natalie stopped her and soon, George entered the room and Cristina left.
"Thank you Dr. Turner."
Natalie smiled at him. He was the only intern she liked in that moment. "Just a piece of advice George. I know that this feels like the end of the world right now and that you want to go through this alone. But don't. Don't push the people that love you away. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to go home to my daughter. You should be with your family too."
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"So did you make up your mind? You seem more relaxed. For once your hair's down. That's a first." Mark found Natalie in the parking lot. Her hair was falling down reaching her back. She usually placed them in a low bun, keeping them out of her face the whole day. Plus she looked more professional like that and she was all about being professional.
"Anyone who hurt me isn't worth my time." Natalie gave him a smile. His words from that morning had actually helped her.
Mark nodded pleased. "Can I buy you a drink? Or wait you still don't like me."
"You're right, I don't." Natalie laughed. "But I also want to go home to my daughter."
"You have a daughter?" Mark asked surprised.
"I do" Natalie confirmed and got in her car. "Good night Mark." She closed the door and put the engine on. A tune she loved was on the radio and she turned it up. A smile on her face. She finally felt like she could move on.
"But since you been gone. I can breathe for the first time. I'm so moving on..."
☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
ᴍᴀʀᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴀᴛᴀʟɪᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇʀ <3
ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ꜱʜɪᴘ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ᴅʀᴏᴘ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ɪᴅᴇᴀꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ.
ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ, ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ!