Today is the day, the day I am officially a doctor. We all have thought as a kid of our dream job. Mine was dancing, though when more sensible I chose surgeon. Here I am about to start this day as a doctor, a surgical intern. Come at me world I am ready for anything.
I rush around my hotel room, currently, my grandparents insisted on paying for my hotel stay, as I try to find an apartment. I agreed because that makes life easier on me plus its a nice hotel. I get dressed into something casual, since I change into scrubs when I get to work anyways.
I enter the hospital and take it all in. I get to where the interns are supposed to go and the chief Dr.Webber starts giving the tour.
We enter an OR
Dr.Webber says,"Each of you comes here hopeful. Wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play? That's up to you."
We go to the locker room and get ready when a doctor enters.
Doctor: Okay. Martin, Robinson, Bond, Parkins.
Another intern named Meredith says
Meredith: Only six women out of twenty.
Cristina Yang:Yeah. I hear one of them's a model. Seriously, like that's going to help with the respect thing?
Meredith: You're Cristina, right?
Cristina: Which resident you assigned to? I got Bailey.
I pipe in: I also got bailey, my names Isabelle
Meredith: Nice, I also got the Nazi.
George O'Malley: You got the Nazi? So did I. At least we'll be tortured together, right? I'm George O'Malley, uh, we met at the mixer, you had a black dress with a slit up the side, strappy sandals...
I chuckles and the three girls change looks
George: Now you think I'm gay.
Cristina: (walking away) Uh-huh.
George: No, I'm not gay, it's, ah, it's just that, you know, you were, I mean, you were very, unforgettable.
Doctor: O'Malley, Yang, Grey, Stevens, Hayden-Gilmore.
George: (muttering) And I'm totally forgettable.
Isabelle: Hey, its fine. Its only been a couple minutes and I am Isabelle
George:thanks
Cristina: (to Doctor) Bailey?
Doctor: End of the hall.
Christina: That's the Nazi?
(Medium shot of Dr. Bailey. She's short, black and straight dark brown short hair. She doesn't look very threatening.)
George: I thought the Nazi would be a guy.
Meredith: I thought the Nazi would be...the Nazi.
I shrug my shoulders
Pretty female intern (Izzie Stevens): Maybe it's professional jealousy. Maybe she's brilliant, and they call her Nazi because they're jealous. Maybe she's nice.
I smile at the girls words
Cristina: Let me guess. You're the model.
Izzie: Hi, I'm Isobel Stevens, but everyone calls me 'Izzie."
Ugh another Isabelle, at least she goes by izzie
Bailey: I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule number one -- don't bother sucking up. I already hate you. That's not gonna change. Trauma protocol, phone list, pagers -- nurses will page you. You will answer every page at a run -- a run -- that's rule number two. [Bailey leads the interns and they start walking down the hall.] Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You're interns grunts, nobodies, the bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop, and don't complain. [Bailey and the interns walk into an on-call room. Bailey continues talking.] On-call rooms -- attending hog them. Sleep when you can, where you can, which brings me to rule number three. If I'm sleeping don't wake me, unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number four -- the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, but you would also have woke me for no good reason. We clear?
Meredith raises her hand.
Bailey: Yes?
Meredith: You said five rules. That was only four.
Bailey's pager starts beeping.
Bailey: Rule number five -- when I move, you move.
[Bailey and the interns start running down the hall.]
Bailey: Get out of my way!
[Bailey and the interns are on the helipad with a stretcher. A helicopter lands and the paramedics roll a seizing patient out of the helicopter.]
Bailey: What do we got?
Paramedic: Katie Bryce, 15-year-old female, new onset seizures, intermittent for the past week. I.V. lost en route, starting grand mal seizing as we descended.
Bailey: Alright. Get her on her side. Izzie, 10 milligrams diazepam I.M. No, no.
I grab the white lead on the right knowing its the correct one, and hand it to Izzie as Bailey says,"The white lead is on the right. Righty, whity. Smoke over the fire. A large-bore I.V. Don't let the blood hemolyze. Let's go!"
Dr.Burke enters the ER, he is the cardiac surgeon
Burke: What do we have? A wet fish on dry land.
Bailey: Absolutely, Dr. Burke.
Burke: Dr. Bailey, let's shotgun her.
every test in the book I think.
Bailey: That means every test in the book -- C.T., CBC, chem-7, tox screen. Cristina and Isabelle, you're on labs. George, patient workups. Meredith, get Katie for a C.T. She's your responsibility now.
Izzie: Wait, what about me?
Bailey: Honey, you get to do rectal exams.
I look at her and feel a bit bad.
After Christina and I run labs we go outside the OR to a surgery. Bailey notices us and opens the door.
Bailey: What are you doing here?
Isabelle: Katie Bryce's labs came out clear. There's nothing in the results that explain her seizures. I just thought you'd want to know.
Bailey: Okay.
[Bailey starts to close the door, but Cristina pipes up talking.]
Cristina: I heard every year, the attending on call picks the best intern and lets them perform a procedure during the first shift. [Bailey just stares at her.] I'm just saying it's what I heard.
Bailey: Go away...now.
I walk away with Christina catching up.
Later as we do more labs we get some lunch.
George sits down. Izzie is staring at the food with some horror.
George: This shift is a marathon, not a sprint, eat.
Izzie: I can't.
George: You should eat something.
Izzie: You try eating after performing seventeen rectal exams. The Nazi hates me.
George: The Nazi's a resident. I have attendings hating me.
Cristina: You know Meredith is inbred?
I look at her intrigued
George: Like it's uncommon around here to be a doctor's -
Cristina: No, I mean royally inbred. Her mother is Ellis Grey.
Isabelle: No way
Izzie: Shut up, the Ellis Grey?
Cristina: Uh-huh.
George: Who's Ellis Grey?
I snicker
Izzie and Cristina laugh.
Cristina: The Grey method? Where'd you go to med school, Mexico?
Izzie: She was one of the first big chick surgeons, she practically invented the abdominal-
Cristina: She's a living legend, she won the Harper Avery.
Isabelle:Twice, it was amazing
George: So I didn't know one thing.
Izzie: Talk about parental pressure.
Cristina: I would kill to have Ellis Grey as a mother. I would kill to be Ellis Grey. All I need is one good case.
(Meredith comes over and sits down with her tray).
Meredith: Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass. If I hadn't taken the Hippocratic oath, I'd Kevorkian her with my bare hands (everybody stares at her and I smirk)
Meredith: What?
Burke: Good afternoon interns. It's posted, but I thought I'd share the good news personally. As you know, the honor of performing the first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows the most promise. As I'm running the OR today, I get to make that choice. (he claps George on the back) George O'Malley. You'll scrub in for an adipectomy this afternoon. Congratulations.
George: Me?
Burke: Enjoy.
Burke leaves, no one speaks.
George: Did he say me?
Isabelle: Hey congrats george.
Later George, is about to go into surgery.
George: (muttering) Open identify ligate irrigate close. Open identify ligate irrigate close. Open identify ligate irrigate close.
Intern 1: He's going to faint. He's a fainter. I
intern 2: Naaah, code brown. Right in his pants.
Intern 1: He's all about the flops, he's going to sweat himself unsterile. I
ntern 3: Ten bucks says he messes up the McBird.
Cristina: Twenty says he cries.
Intern 2: I'll put twenty on a total meltdown.
Meredith: Fifty says he pulls the whole thing off. (Everybody looks at her, silent.) Meredith: That's one of us, down there. The first one of us. Where's your loyalty? (A pause.)
I look at her with a new sense of respect, but stay quiet not wanting to stand out
Cristina: Seventy-five says he can't even ID the appendix.
Izzie: I'll take that action. (others agree)
Burke: Okay, O'Malley, let's see what you can do.
Meredith: Here it comes.
George: Scalpel.
Nurse: Scalpel. (George takes it, the interns cheer from the gallery. Burke motions for them to shut up.)
Cristina: That Burke, he's trouble. (interns laugh) (George gets ready to cut.)
Burke: More pressure. Human flesh is a tough shell, dig in.
George: Pick-ups.
Nurse: Pick-ups.
George: Clamp.
Nurse: Clamp.
George: Met some bone. I'm there.
Intern 1: Damn, he got the peritoneum and he opened him up.
Meredith: I told you, he's going to pull it off.
Isabelle: lets go George
George: Scalpel.
Nurse: Scalpel.
George: Appendix is out (tossing it into a tray, to cheers)
Burke: Not bad.
George: Thank you.
Burke: Now all you have to do is invert the stump into the secum and simultaneously pull up on the purse-strings but be careful not to (rip) break them. (groans) He ripped the secum. Got a bleeder. You're filling with stool, what do you do now?
George: Uh...uh...
Burke: Think. You start the suction, and you start digging for those purse-strings before she bleeds to death. Belky, give him a clamp.
Nurse: BP's dropping.
Cristina: He's choking.
Meredith: Come on, George.
Burke: Today. Pull your balls out of your back pocket, let's go. What are you waiting for, suction? (beeping starts)
Nurse: Getting too low folks... Dr Burke...
Burke: Get out of the way. Pansy-ass idiot. Get him out of here. Suction. Clamp.
Intern (Alex Karev): 007.
Other intern: 007, yep, that's a total 007.
Izzie: What's 007 mean?
Meredith: Licensed to kill.
Later we are sitting down in a corridor in the hospital
George: 007. They're calling me 007, aren't they?
Izzie and Meredith: No one's calling you 007.
George: I was on the elevator and Murphy whispered 007.
Cristina: Oh, how many times do we have go through this, George, five, ten? Give me a number or else I'm going to hit you.
George: Murphy whispered 007 and everyone laughed.
Izzie: He wasn't talking about you.
Isabelle: even If he was who cares, what others think will not matter. all u need to do is show people that you know what you are doing.
Cristina: 007 is a state of mind.
George: So says the girl who finished top of her class at Stanford.
I laugh,
George: hey not you either miss, first at Harvard
Pagers beep.
Meredith: Oh man. It's 911 for Katie Bryce. I gotta go. (takes off at a run)
George: Maybe I should've gone into geriatrics. No one minds when you kill an old person.
Cristina: Surgery is hot, it's the Marines, it's the macho, it's hostile, it's hardcore. Geriatrics is for freaks who live with their mothers and never have s*x.
George: I've got to get my own place.
I smile and place my hand on his shoulder
Later the next day we are in a conference room
Meredith: What are you doing?
Cristina: I'm suturing a banana, with the vain hope that it wakes up my brain.
(George laughs.)
Cristina: What're you smiling at, 007? (George stops laughing.)
Cristina: I'm sorry, I get mean when I'm tired.
George: You know what? I don't care. I comforted a family, and I get to hang out in the OR today. All is well.
Cristina: Does anybody know why we're here? (lots of interns, packed into one room.
My eyes go wide as I see Derek freakin Shephard enter the room
Derek: Well good morning. I'm going to do something pretty rare for a surgeon, I'm going to ask interns for help. I've got this kid, Katie Bryce. Right now, she's a mystery. She doesn't respond to her meds. Labs are clean, scans are pure, but she's having seizures. Grand mal seizures with no visible cause. She's a ticking clock. She's going to die, if I don't make a diagnosis. Which is where you come in. I can't do it alone. I need your extra minds, extra eyes, I need you to play detective, I need you to find out why Katie is having seizures. I know you're tired, you're busy, you've got more work than you could possibly handle. I understand. So, I'm going to give you an incentive. Whoever finds the answer rides with me. Katie needs surgery. You get to do what no interns get to do. Scrub in to assist on an advanced procedure. Dr Bailey's going to hand you Katie's chart. The clock is ticking fast, people. If we're going to save Katie's life, we have to do it soon. (All interns grab copies of her chart.
My mouth is still hanging open, I am so confused in why he is in Seattle.
I follow after him.
Isabelle: derek
He turn around
Derek looks around nervous: umm hi.
I go up and hug him and he returns the hug.
Isabelle: what are you doing here, why on earth are you the chief of nerosurgury. I swear Addie is not here I talked to her last night.
Derek: um no its um just me.
I give him a look of confusion.
Derek: we are separated currently okay, um so just don't tell anyone and um don't tell..her.. where i am we need a break.
I take a sharp breath and go to ask more questions but he scurried off as my eyes start to water in confusion. I take a deep breath and wipe away a tear as I go to meet with Christina.
Cristina: Hey, I want in on Shepherd's surgery. You've been the intern on Katie since the start. Us three want to work together? We find the answer, we have a 1/3 chance of scrubbing in.
Meredith: I'll work with you, but I don't want in on the surgery. You can have it.
Cristina: Are you kidding me? It's the biggest opportunity any intern will ever get.
Meredith: I don't want to spend any more time with Shepherd than I have to.
I giver her a strange look, because I'm confused
Cristina: Fine 50/50. What do you have against Shepherd?
Meredith: If we find the answer, the surgery's yours. Do you want to work together or not?
Cristina: (grinning and shaking her head)
Isabelle:Deal. (Cut to library.)
Cristina: Well, she doesn't have anoxia, chronic renal failure or acidosis. It's not a tumour because her CT's clean. Are you seriously not going to tell me why you won't work with Shepherd?
Meredith: No. What about infection?
Cristina: No. There's no white count, she has no ceteal lesions, no fevers, nothing in her spinal tap, just tell me
. Meredith: You can't comment, make a face, or react in any way. We had s*x.
I inhales sharply and try to get it out of my head. Please tell I did not just get told that. Please tell me Derek didn't cheat on Addison (Cristina opens her mouth, closes it, )
Cristina: What about an aneurysm?
Meredith: No blood on the CT, and no headaches.
Cristina: Okay. There's no drug use, uh, no pregnancy, no trauma...was he good? I mean, he looks like he would be, was it any good?
Isabelle:please stop talking
Meredith: What are the answers? What if no one comes up with anything?
Cristina: You mean if she dies?
Isabelle: Thats morbid, be more positive
Meredith: Yeah.
Cristina: This is gonna sound really bad, but I really wanted that surgery.
Meredith: She's just never going to get the chance to turn into a person. The sum total of her existence will be almost winning Miss Teen whatever. You know what her pageant talent is?
Cristina: They have talent?
Meredith: Rhythmic gymnastics. (they laugh)
Cristina: Oh, come on.
Meredith: What is rhythmic gymnastics? I don't know - I can't even say it, I don't know what it is. Cristina: Isn't it like something with a ball, and a
Isabelle: Hey did she ever injure herself and hit her head while doing rhythmis gymnastics, its common in sports.
Meredith: Yeah, she twisted her ankle and fell probably hit her head. But we already scanned for head injuries
Isabelle: yeah but she could have something so small happen like an anuerysm and it was hard to see maybe.
Christina: That actually makes sense, lets go.
Cristina: - the only thing she could possibly need is a - Oh, oh, Dr. Sheppard! Just one moment, um, uh, Katie competes in beauty pageants -
Derek: I know that, but we have to save her life anyway.
Cristina: Okay, she has no headaches, no neck pain, her CT's clean, there's no medical proof of an aneurysm -
Derek: Right.
Isabelle: - but what if she has an aneurysm anyway?
Derek: There are no indicators.
Cristina: Ah, but she twisted her ankle, a few weeks ago when she was practising for the pageant -
Derek: Look, I appreciate you're trying to help, but -
Other doctor in elevator: This is not helping!
Meredith: She fell. When she twisted her ankle, she fell.
Cristina: It was no big deal, not even a bump on the head, you know she got right back up, iced her ankle and everything was fine, it was a fall so minor her doctor didn't even think to mention it when I was taking her history, but she did fall.
Derek: Well, you know the chances that a minor fall could burst an aneurysm, one in a million! Literally. The elevator door is finally allowed to close.
Meredith and Cristina sigh and turn away.
Isabelle: Ass face
The elevator dings and Derek steps out. They turn back.
Derek: Let's go.
Cristina: Where?
Derek: To find out if Katie's one in a million.
As we walk with Meredith and chritina are ahead, and I am behind them next to Derek
Derek: I had heard that you know.
Isabelle: yeah well you deserve it
Derek: excuse me
I just walk ahead to Christian and Meredith
We then are looking at the scan
Derek: I'll be damned.
Tech operating scan: (indicating dark spots) There it is.
Derek: It's minor, but it's there. It's a cerebachnoid haemorrhage. She's bleeding into her brain.
Derek: She could've gone her entire life without it ever being a problem. One tap in the right spot -
Cristina: And explode.
Derek: Exactly. Now I have to fix it. You two did great work. Love to stay and kiss your asses, but I gotta tell Katie's parents she's having surgery. Katie Bryce's chart, please.
Receptionist: Here you go.
Cristina: Oh, and Dr Sheppard, you said that you'd pick someone to scrub in if we helped.
Derek: Oh, yes, right. Um, I'm sorry I can't take you three, it's going to be a full house. Meredith, I'll see you in OR. (They stand there for a moment or two. Cristina looks at Meredith, who's flustered.)
Derek: Good. Thank you. (leaves) (Cristina looks back at Meredith and walks off, clearly pissed. i follow behind her avoiding eye contact with all)
Meredith: Cristina...Isabelle?
Izzie, Myself and Cristina, sitting on the spare beds in the empty corridor again.
Cristina: Izzie.
Izzie: Maybe Meredith couldn't -
Cristina: Izzie!
Meredith comes in.
Meredith: I'll tell him I changed my mind, you can -
Cristina: No, no, don't do me any favours. It's fine.
Meredith: Cristina, -
Cristina: You know what, you did a cutthroat thing, deal with it. Don't come to me for absolution, you want to be a shark, be a shark.Plus if anyone over me should have gotten the surgery it should have been Isabelle. She was the one who figured it out. So your a shark so what
Meredith: I'm not -
Cristina: Oh yes you are. Only it makes you feel all bad in your warm gooey places. No, screw you. I don't get picked for surgeries because I slept with my boss, and I didn't get into med school because I have a famous mother. You know, some of us have to earn what we get.
I sit there silently avoiding eye contact with Meredith
Meredith leaves.
I sit with Christina in the gallery as we watch the surgery happen and after it we meet Meredith in the hallway.
Cristina: It was a good surgery.
Isabelle: yeah it was
Meredith: Yeah.
Hour 48. Cristina sits and sighs, sit next to her
Cristina: We don't have to do that thing where I say something, and then you say something, and then somebody cries, and there's like a moment...
I chuckle
Meredith: Yuck.
Cristina: Good. You should get some sleep. You look like crap.
Meredith: I look better than you.
Isabelle: lets be real I look better than all of you.
Cristina: It's not possible.(leaves)
(Derek comes through the same door, stops at a desk to do some paperwork. Meredith stares at him, still looking dazed.)
I scoff and walk away ignoring Dereks gaze.
I get back to the hotel and flop on the bed, and take in its comfort. Before I doze off I pick up the phone and call Rory," Hey how are you doing?"
Rory," good did u see the article I just published about the campaign.?"
Isabelle," yeah it was freaking amazing."
Rory," So how was your first shift?"
isabelle," Uh exhausting."
Rory," mm, what happened?"
Isabelle," You know addison and derek, well derek is here in Seattle. He told me that him and Addi need a break form one another. Addi never mentioned anything this past week, Derek says not to tell her where he is, and I found out he slept with one of the other interns who could possibly be one of my close friends here. So now I don't know what to do. DOes Meredith know he is married? What happened to him and Addison? Do I tell Addi where he is and betray Derek? I literally don't know what to do"
Rory," Okay, wow.. um I don't know sis. I think ask derek, tell Addi, and ask Derek if Meredith knows he's married. But wait like at least a month before you tell Addi so derek is not suspicious it was you."
Isabelle," I guess I could do that, ugh this was not supposed to be stressful, my relationship with them was always free of stress."
Rory," I know hun, I love you."
Isabelle," Bye sis, luv ya."