Chapter Thirty-Seven: Didn't We Almost Have it All?
"I thought I was gonna hate this party game thing, but it's kinda great." Cristina rested her chin on the coffee table as we all looked at Meredith as she stood in front of us, dressed in wedding dress made out of toilet paper. "Can we set her on fire after?"
"No, we cannot." Meredith frowned at her.
"No more margaritas for Cristina." I told Izzie.
"Okay, these wedding vows are not all gonna fit on here." Callie said as she continued to write on Cristina's hand.
"Okay, then write smaller." Cristina laughed, drunk.
"Be still, please." Callie gripped her wrist with her free hand. ""Vow" just became "cow.""
"You don't need vows on your hand." Izzie shook her head. "When you get up there, just speak from the heart."
"The heart is an organ." Cristina rolled her eyes. "It pumps, it circulates blood, it gets clogged from time to time. It does not, however, speak. It doesn't have tiny little lips on it."
"Well, you're all "glass totally empty."" Izzie muttered.
"I'm gonna like being married." Cristina insisted. "It's the wedding part that's ridiculous."
"Party's over." I declared as all of our pagers started going off, everyone's except Cristina's.
"Hey, mine didn't go off." Cristina frowned. "Piece of crap."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Burke." Cristina got his attention as we all walked into the ER.
"I've got a surgery, but it shouldn't take more than four hours, five tops." Burke told her as I spotted Joe and Walter standing next to a bed that held a young pregnant woman.
"I can scrub in." Cristina offered.
"How's Rina?" Addison asked as she joined us.
"Is that Joe and Walter's possible baby mother?" I frowned at her and she nodded.
"I need to get a CT angio, but I'm pretty sure it's a tear in her aorta." Burke informed Addison. "Her heart is about to blow."
"Most dissecting aortas burst within forty-eight hours." Addison pointed out.
"Which means we have less than twelve hours to fix it before she's dead." Burke nodded.
"So you need me to get the babies out." Addison guessed.
"So I can save her life." Burke nodded.
"You have an aortic dissection?" Cristina asked as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
"Hey, I promise I will make it to the chapel in time." Burke promised her, giving her a quick kiss before he walked away, Bailey replacing him.
"Okay. Listen up." Bailey told all of us. "Uh, O'Malley and Watley, you're with Shepherd and Sloan. Stevens, you're with Burke. Karev, Addison. Go."
George and I both didn't hesitate to walk away as we headed towards the trauma room where Mark and Derek were working in to find them with the fourth hiker, a climbing ax in his head.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Poor guy, he just wanted to climb a mountain, and he ends up with an ax in his head." George commented as we stood in on the fourth hiker's surgery with Derek.
"Well, he shouldn't have tried turning back." Derek pointed out. "The group is going up, you move with the group. Okay, drill please."
"He panicked." George shook his head. "You have a right to turn back if you're scared."
"No, you don't." Derek disagreed. "You chose to climb a mountain. You can't change your mind in the middle of the climb. Okay."
"Now we pull it out?" I asked, eyeing the ax in the man's head.
"Ah, yeah, but the ax went in as they fell, so there will be some tearing, it should be a shallow wound, and it should come out easily." Derek eyed the injury before placing his hand on the ax's handle. "All right, everybody. Here we go. Ready? Okay, one, two...three."
We all watched as Derek tried to carefully remove the ax from the man's head, but it didn't come out.
"That's strange. One, two... three!" Derek tried again, using more force. I watched as he was able to pull the ax out this time before he looked at the brain, George and I looking at it over his shoulder. I frowned at the sight, not seeing any tearing. "That's a clean cut."
"I thought you said there was gonna be tearing." George reminded him.
"I know. It doesn't make sense." Derek shook his head.
"You are a lucky guy." George told our unconscious patient.
"Or the ax didn't go in there by accident." I suggested.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Lonnie's stable..." Derek informed the other hikers once we'd gotten out of surgery. I stood beside him as he looked over the three men in front of us. "But the damage he sustained is significant."
"But is he gonna wake up?" The guy in the middle bed asked.
"Do you want him to?" I asked, unable to keep myself quiet. At my question I saw all three men, as well as Derek, glance my way.
"What?" The man in the bed to the right frowned at my question.
"The ax in his head was put there deliberately." Derek informed them of what he'd discovered in surgery. "I just wanted to give you three guys another opportunity to tell me the truth."
"It wasn't-" The guy in the bed to the left began.
"Shut up, Andy." The guy in the middle bed cut him off.
"But we can't just sit here-" The guy in the left bed, Andy, glanced over at his friends.
"I said, shut up Andy." The guy in the middle bed repeated himself.
"Is that how you let him talk to you at fourteen thousand feet?" Derek asked. "We have to talk to his family. You guys can talk to the cops."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Don't you need to get ready?" Derek asked me as I followed him towards the room Andy had been moved into.
"Don't you?" I countered, in no real hurry to go and get dressed up in my bridesmaid dress, or any dress, period.
"You're a girl, you take longer." He pointed out. "You're a bridesmaid."
"You're the best man." I shrugged as he led the way into Andy's room, closing the door behind us.
"Dr. Burke asked us to check on you." Derek told Andy as I glanced at the suited man sitting in front of Andy. "Let's see. Your, um... Your post-op X-rays look good. We'll discuss releasing you."
"Any change in Lonnie?" Andy asked us.
"Andy?" The suited man gave him a warning look.
"Who are you?" I frowned at him.
"He's my lawyer." Andy informed us.
"That was fast." Derek commented.
"Don't you dare judge me." Andy shook his head. "You weren't there. We thought... he was almost dead. No way he was gonna make it. He was in so much pain. So I... picked it up..."
"Andy, shut up." His lawyer advised him.
"No!" Andy refused. "I'm not gonna shut up. I put him out of his misery. And if I was back there right now... I'd do the same thing. He was my friend. He is my friend. I put him out of his misery."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Anyone got any deodorant?" Alex asked as I walked into the locker room to find the others getting dressed for the wedding.
"Um, you're not putting my deodorant in your hairy armpits." Cristina told him as Izzie worked on her makeup. As I walked over to my locker though I could feel their eyes following me. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Don't move." Izzie told the bride. "You're gonna have a unibrow."
"With a patient." I shrugged as I pulled off my scrubs and threw them into my locker. "Alex, you can use mine after I do, but you're buying me a new one."
"Deal." He nodded.
"Uh, closed? Open?" George asked about his suit jacket as Meredith came over and helped me into the brown dress that Cristina had picked for the bridesmaids.
"Closed." Meredith told him. "Perfect. Dashing."
"Thanks." George nodded as he buttoned it.
"You look great." Izzie commented.
"Moment of truth, people." We all looked towards the door to find Patricia walking in with several envelopes.
"Are those our scores?" Alex asked. She nodded as she handed each of us an envelope. Everyone tore into theirs instantly, desperate to see if they got to stay in the program or not. I heard cheers from the others as they saw that they passed. When I opened mine I quickly read over the results, a sigh of relief escaping me as I saw that I passed.
"Did you pass?" Cristina asked Meredith.
"You bet your married booty, I did." Meredith nodded as I sat my paper down on the bench and walked over to the mirror over the sink, beginning to work on my hair, trying to make it somewhat presentable.
"How'd you do?" I heard Izzie asked and I glanced at her in the mirror to see that she was looking at George. "Did you pass?"
"Yeah." George nodded. "I'll talk to you at the church."
"Okay." Izzie said as George hurried out of the locker room.
"All right. Let's go." Cristina told everyone as she gathered her wedding dress in her arms and began to head towards the door as well.
"Watley, you comin'?" Alex asked when he saw that I was still standing by the mirror.
"I'll meet you guys there." I assured him as they all hurried out. I leaned against the sink, taking a deep breath as I looked at my reflection, nerves filling my stomach. Cristina was getting married today, to Burke. She was getting married. My hands shook slightly as I began to to put on some lipstick and mascara before I tossed everything into my locker, slipping on my heels before I headed out of the locker room.
I walked as quickly as I could through the halls, not used to walking in heels, never having been a fan of them. As I walked I couldn't help but silently curse Izzie for insisting that I wear heels rather than flats, wanting all of us to match.
"Damn!" A sigh escaped me as I turned the corner to get to the elevator, finding Mark standing there in a suit, waiting for the elevator himself. I kept walking as he looked me up and down, his brows raised. "Is that you, Watley?"
"Shut it, Sloan." I rolled my eyes as him as I stopped to stand next to him, facing the elevator.
"I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever seen you in a dress, or heels. You look good." He complimented me.
"Well, take it in, because you'll never be seeing me like this again." I warned him as the elevator doors slid open.
"What, not a fan of dresses?" He raised a brow at me as we stepped into the elevator.
"Not in the slightest." I shook my head. "I'm not your typical girly girl, Mark, never have been and never will be. If it were up to me the bridesmaids would be wearing suits, too."
"Well, I'm glad that they didn't listen to you then." He told me.
"Why?" I scoffed. "So you have more women to stare at? Dresses easier to get into then suits?"
"No," he shook his head as he looked down at me. "Because if you were wearing a suit I wouldn't be able to tell you how beautiful you look in that dress, whether you like it or not."
"Mark, we agreed on no flirting." I reminded him of the agreement we'd made just yesterday.
"Yeah, well, I've never been good at following the rules." He told me as he walked towards me, backing me up to the wall of the elevator. I could feel my heart speed up at the feeling of his chest against my own. Everything in me told me to push him away, but I felt paralyzed as I stood them, watching at he leaned down, bringing his lips onto my own. At the feeling of his lips on mine I couldn't help but kiss him back, his lips warm against mine, feeling as though they fit my own perfectly. Just as I felt the need for air he pulled away, the elevator doors opening on the first floor as he stepped back, a small smirk on his face.
My face felt hot, likely red, as I hurried out of the elevator, trying to put as much space between us as I possibly could, regardless of if we were going to the same place or not. I could feel my stomach twisting into knots as I walked away, not looking back once as I hurried out into the parking lot to find my car.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Cristina." Meredith was knocking on a door as I walked into the church, joining the rest of the bridesmaids, as well as Cristina's mother. "Cristina. Cristina?"
"Is there a window in there?" I asked.
"I didn't run." Cristina assured all of us as she opened the doors, walking out in her wedding dress, her hair and makeup all done perfectly.
"You look beautiful." Izzie smiled at our friend and I couldn't help think of what had happened just ten minutes ago with Mark. I quickly shook my head, trying to rid the thoughts from my mind.
"Stunning." I agreed with Izzie.
"I'm proud of you." Cristina's mother smiled through her tears as she walked over to her daughter.
"Thank you." Cristina thanked her.
"Frankly, I always feared you were too emotionally stunted to settle down." Her mother admitted before she pulled her into a hug.
"You can do this." Meredith said through gritted teeth. I could only smile at my friends as Izzie cracked open the door to the room where all the guests were sitting, watching as Burke and Derek stood at the front of the room, at the alter, waiting for us to make our entrance to start the wedding
"Ooh, it looks so pretty in there." Izzie commented. "I see Burke."
"Yang... the twins looks nice in that dress." Alex complimented Cristina as he joined us.
"Thank you. Sort of." Cristina muttered.
"I gotta go." Alex told us. "I gotta check-"
"You're on call?" I frowned at him.
"Oh, wait, Alex. Did you see George in there?" Izzie called after him, but he didn't answer. "I don't see him."
"He's, uh... probably gonna be late." Callie told her. "We had kind of a big, emotional day."
"Oh, really?" Izzie asked. "Did something happen between you two? I mean-"
"Yeah." Callie cut her off. "No. It's just that I was named chief resident."
"Congrats." I nodded to her.
"Plus we decided to have a baby, so..." Callie added.
"A baby?" Izzie's eyes went wide at the news.
"Yeah, we're trying. We tried today, in fact." Callie nodded. "Yeah. Big day."
"Okay, this is it." Meredith said as we heard the music start inside the room, signaling us to head in. "Okay? You have the bouquet."
"Yeah." Cristina nodded as she held it up.
"I have the ring." Meredith continued down her checklist. "You remember your vows?"
"Yeah. I wrote them on my-" Cristina looked down at her hand, but nothing was there. "Oh, my God. I scrubbed in. I scrubbed in, and the vows were on my hand. I scrubbed off my vows."
"Oh, okay. Um-" Meredith frowned, unsure of what to do.
"Okay, hello? I-I scrubbed off my vows." Cristina started to freak out. "I-I can't- I can't do this. I don't have any- I don't have anything on my hand! There are no words in my head. Okay? I have no vows. No vows."
"It's okay." Meredith tried to assure her. "It's going to be okay."
"You know what? Stop saying that!" Cristina snapped at her. "Will you say something else?"
"Like what?" Meredith shook her head.
"Say something that is gonna help me." Cristina said.
"Okay, okay! I..." Meredith struggled to find the right words.
"Meredith, please." Cristina begged her. "You know what? Say something. Say- you know what? I don't know what. Say-Say- okay. Say what I would say to you if you were me."
"Okay." Meredith nodded.
"Good." Cristina stood in front of her. "Good, go."
"Stop whining." Meredith told her. "This is your wedding day. You will go down that aisle and you will get married. If I have to kick your ass every step of the way to get you there, you will walk down the aisle. You will get married. Do you hear me, Cristina? We need this. We need you to get your happy ending."
"Okay, I'm ready." Cristina nodded.
"All right, then." I smiled as we helped her straighten out her train again. As we worked on it though the doors opened and we all looked over to see Burke joining us.
"Oh, I'm ready." Cristina assured him. "I'm fine. I- Meredith talked me down. Really, I'm fine. Go, go, go. I'll be right behind you."
"I'm sorry." Burke apologized to her.
"Oh... I can do this." Cristina told him. "You know, I had a momentary freak out, but now I'm fine. I can do this. Go."
"But you don't want to do this." Burke shook his head. "I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle, and I knew you don't want to come. I know you don't want to come but that you'll come anyway because you love me. And if I loved you- if I loved you, not the woman that I'm trying to make you be, not the woman that I hope you'll become, but you- if I did... I wouldn't be up there waiting for you. I would be letting you go."
"I am wearing the dress." Cristina pointed out to him. "I'm ready. And- And maybe I didn't want to before, but I want to now. I really think I want this."
"And I really wish that you didn't think. I wish you knew." Burke whispered to her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Izzie, Callie, and I stood in the doorway of the large church room as Meredith walked down the aisle, heading to the front where Derek still stood. Everyone's eyes followed her as she made her way to the front, Burke and Cristina both already gone. As I glanced over the people crowded in the pews until I spotted Lucas and Joel sitting next to Addison on Cristina's side. Lucas glanced back at us, his brows furrowed, clearly confused, like everyone else.
At the feeling of another pair of eyes on me I glanced around until I found a familiar pair of dark eyes trained on me, paired with a smirk. Mark sat on Burke's side, just a few rows away from me, close to the back. I only met his gaze for a second before I looked away, focusing my gaze on Meredith once more as she reached the front.
"It's over. You can all go home." Meredith told everyone, keeping it short and simple. "It's over. It's so over."