Chapter 24
Season 3, Episode 18-23
I don't know much about Cristina Yang but I do know that she is a brilliant and simple person. She would not be caught dead in a dress or any form of lace patterning. Everything that makes a stereotypical girl is the opposite of Cristina, which is why I didn't believe it when she told me she was marrying Burke.
Granted, she told me in a text and didn't bring it up when we went to work the next day. I guess they're just planning to go to city hall and sign the papers. I'm honestly not surprised. I am surprised, however, as I walk into the bathroom this morning to see my half-naked brother brushing his teeth.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I whine in annoyance as he spits into the sink but splots of toothpaste splash onto the mirror. "Are you sleeping with Izzie again?"
"No. I moved in." He states without looking up at me. My jaw drops as I stutter out an objection.
"Absolutely not. Did you ask Meredith?" I ask since there is no way Meredith could have agreed to this.
"Yeah, I'm in George's old room." He says putting his toothbrush on the sink counter and turning to face me. Since George and Callie are married, they've been living together. The arrangement has confused me since they're exclusively staying at a really expensive hotel.
"I moved in here to try and get away from you. You can't just move in!" I exclaim and he shrugs before walking around me to the door.
"Except that I already did." He smirks as he walks out, leaving me there conflicted. This cannot be happening to me. I want to barge in on Meredith and ask her what the hell she was thinking but I've been giving her some slack the past couple of weeks since the accident. She keeps telling us she's fine but no one is fine after dying and coming back to life. She also lost her mother which can't be easy.
That day at work, Bailey assigned me to be on Mark Sloan's service. Obviously, for the first time, news hasn't spread throughout the hospital and our secret is safe. At least until one of my friends spills in front of a nurse. The moment a nurse finds out about something, it's a quick chain reaction before everyone knows.
During the accident, Alex managed to save a pregnant woman who was crushed by tons of rubble that destroyed her facial bone structure. Luckily for her, Mark is probably the best plastic surgeon in the country and I'm not being biased. Since I'm on his service, I get to assist with the reconstructive surgery.
"This is our computer-generated approximation or your original facial structure based on the 3D CT scans we did," Mark explains to the women lying in the bed. "It's what you could look like after reconstructive surgery. Or you could look like this." He says, flipping through different images on the screen but she doesn't look pleased. "You don't like them?"
"No, it's not that. How does this work exactly?" She says, turning to face Alex who is standing beside me. I look at him with my brow raised slightly. It's common that after a traumatic incident like this where the person has memory loss, they attach to a particular person. I guess that person is Alex.
"He'll make an incision along your hairline, and then..." He trails off, obviously not wanting to scare her with the details of the extreme surgery.
"It's okay. I can take it." She mumbles which makes Alex look at Mark for permission.
"He'll literally pull your face off." Alex finishes which makes me cringe slightly. That could have been described a lot better.
"It sounds a lot worse than it is." Mark recovers for Alex. "Your face is extremely elastic and pulling it down allows me to repair the bone fractures underneath. Without causing any scarring. Once you've healed, no one will ever know you had the surgery." It really sounds too good to be true but I've read about some of Mark's past surgeries and the work he's done is incredible.
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I would say that I am an extremely observant person. When I was a kid, I was always that quiet nobody at the back of the class, so I got a lot of people-watching practice. Since I am so good at picking up on the little things, I've noticed that Izzie and George have been acting really weird. It's normal for them to be a little strange at times but this morning they both woke up extremely hungover.
Talking to Izzie is like talking to a mouse. Everything I say seems to make her super aware of her surroundings. Occasionally though, she'll drift off into her head and stop listening completely.
"Izzie?" I ask her, waving my hand in front of her face. "You there?"
"What? Oh, yeah, sorry. What did you say?" She shakes her head slightly, snapping out of whatever had her so preoccupied.
"I was asking if you knew why George is so hungover?" I ask and her head snaps to look at me.
"Why? Why would I know anything George? That's a weird question. I'm not his wife." She starts rambling until I put a hand on her arm to slow her down.
"It was just a question."
"Yeah, but a stupid one." She mutters before turning and speed walking away from me, checking over her shoulder as if paranoid. I'm left standing with more questions than I did before. I'm quickly drawn away from them when I hear a voice behind me.
"You ready?" I turn to see Mark standing with his arms crossed, looking at me.
"For what?"
"You're in my surgery. I expect that you've been practicing." He says with a lot of expectation laced in his tone. This is a huge opportunity for me and I can't mess it up.
"Of course. I've also been reading about it. You did another like it back in New York." I explain and I watch as his smirk grows.
"Were you impressed?" He asks me and I laugh.
"Hate to admit it but yeah." I tease him and he chuckles before handing me her chart.
"I'll see you in the OR."
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The surgery went smoothly and practically blew my mind. The amount of precision work that goes into facial reconstruction was fascinating to watch. I was able to step in for the less critical parts but I was thrilled just to be standing behind him as he worked.
She made it to recovery and seemed to be happy with her face despite the obvious swelling. Alex told me that she decided to go by the name Ava since she still doesn't remember anything from before the accident.
It was a long surgery so I went straight home to get some sleep and woke up to the smell of actual food. I make my way into the kitchen to see groceries on the counter and pancakes cooking on the stove. Meredith is sitting on one of the stools looking a little unimpressed at the woman standing on the other side of the counter.
"Good morning!" The lady says sweetly as she puts some food into the fridge.
"Uh, hi." I greet her while sounding a little confused. I look over at Derek who's drinking his coffee and I guess he notices my confusion because he speaks up.
"This is Susan." He says with a big smile. "Meredith's, uh, father's..."
"I'm Thatcher's wife." She helps him introduce herself. "I just wanted to help you kids by bringing over some food."
"That's nice. Thank you." I say before looking over at Meredith who still doesn't look very happy. I grab a banana from the fresh bunch on the counter just as Alex walks into the room.
"Sweet, is this for everybody?" He asks, eyeing the food spread out across the kitchen.
"Absolutely," Susan says cheerfully as Alex starts picking through, grabbing what he likes so I slap him on the shoulder.
"Don't be a pig," I mutter so only he can hear. After realizing he may have grabbed too much food, he puts some back.
"I gotta run. I'm gonna go talk to Richard before things get too busy in the hospital." Derek says, standing and grabbing his coat.
"Are you gonna talk to him about the..." Meredith trails off and he nods while I look between them skeptically. It seems like everyone has secrets these days.
"Yeah, wish me luck." He says as he leaves.
"You don't need it. Just make him listen to you. You deserve to be Chief." Susan encourages him and he gives her a smile. I didn't realize Webber was stepping down and Derek wanted to be Chief. I'm honestly not surprised, it seemed like it was going to happen sooner or later.
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One of the most important tests a surgeon will take in their career is the intern exam. It will determine the rest of your career moving forward which is why I have been studying like crazy. It's hard to believe it's almost been a year at Seattle Grace. It feels like just yesterday I showed up here all banged up from a car accident, but here I am. Alive and preparing for my intern exam.
Occasionally, the group will get together to study and today we have located at Cristina and Burke's apartment. It's a nice place but I'm not really focusing on that. I need to study until my brain feels like mush.
"What are the signs of residual eye infections?" I read out loud from my textbook as Meredith sits in our hot seat. We've turned studying into almost a game, with teams and a point system.
"Uh, pus, redness and... fever." She answers, hands tapping on her thighs nervously.
"Yes. What percentage of Americans will get heart disease?" I ask another, looking up at her.
"5%." She answers confidently and I nod before Alex speaks up.
"I got one. What's Conn's syndrome?" He asks her and she hesitates before stuttering.
"Wait, I know this one..." She rambles, trying to buy herself time for the answer she can't remember before Izzie starts laughing.
"Tick tock, dude." She says tapping her wrist.
"Cracking under the pressure." George teases her as we all start laughing at Meredith's attempt to remember.
"Hypercortolis... cortisolism!" She exclaims as she remembers but Cristina's hand shoots up from her spot beside me.
"Primary hyperaldosteronism!" She practically yells which earns a nod from Alex. She jumps up from the couch excitedly. "Yes! Out of the seat! My turn!"
"No, it's my turn," Izzie says, standing up to get to the seat before Cristina.
"No, it's not!" Cristina says, trying to get to the seat first but Burke suddenly appears and stands in her way with a plate of cake.
"Try this one." He says, holding the fork toward her mouth. They've been planning the wedding for a while now. Actually, it's more like Burke has been planning it since Cristina seems to be opposed to the big wedding.
"I'm trying to study for the most important test of my intern career. I don't have time for wedding cake." She scolds as Izzie gets to the chair first.
"Just try it." He says before she finally gives in and takes a bite.
"Go! Ask me!" Izzie exclaims, slapping me with a pillow in anticipation.
"Fine! What is the smallest layer of the small bowel?" I ask her and it takes her a moment before she looks up excitedly.
"Submucosa!" She grins as Cristina tries to push her out of the chair and take her place but I stand up.
"No way! I've asked the past three questions, it's my turn." I say, moving to sit in the chair before she can. Luckily, she can't fight me for it since Burke is back with another piece of cake. "Okay, give me your worst."
"What is actinic keratosis?" Izzie asks me and I think about it for a second, remembering reading about it a couple of days earlier.
"Actinic keratosis is a premalignant lesion," I say confidently before Cristina yells.
"In old people!" She adds and I shake my head.
"It could be in anyone," I argue as Burke continues to try and feed her cake. His persistence is getting kind of hilarious.
"I don't care!" Cristina yells at him. "Just tell me, is Audrey right or am I?"
"Learn to care, or I'll get another bride," Burke says as a joke but instead of laughing, Alex and I give each other a look.
"I love it. I love all cakes." Cristina says unimpressed before gesturing to me. "Now break the tie." He hesitates for a moment, looking between the two of us before pointing at me.
"She's right." He says and my arms go up in triumph before laughing.
"Yeah!" I cheer, getting out of the chair and moving towards the couch. George gives me a high five which I gladly take as I sit. "Hey, Cristina, I'll eat the cake if you don't want to."
"Shut up." She mutters, sitting in the chair for her turn.
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All we have been doing for days is studying like crazy. Occasionally something cool will show up in the pit but Bailey has made a habit of keeping all of us off big cases. She says she wants us to be studying and that she's helping us, but I miss being in the OR.
I finally managed to get onto Callie's service so even though I'm not in the OR, I'm able to touch patients. We've mainly just been resetting dislocated shoulders and splinting broken bones. I'm finishing with someone's cast when I hear a light tapping on the window of the room. I look up to see a disturbed looking Cristina on the other side.
"Excuse me," I say to my patient with a smile before walking over to the door. Once I'm out of the room I can see two older women trailing behind Cristina. One of them I recognize as her mother and the other is a very polished looking black woman. "Yeah?"
"I, uh, the..." She mumbles, unable to find the words.
"Do you need anything?"
"Bridesmaid." She struggles out like the word was stopping her from breathing and she finally got it out. "My mother and Burke's mother have been talking on the phone, and now they are here with me."
Poison laces every word she says and I remember that she wasn't a big fan of her mother when she visited her in the hospital.
"To plan the wedding." Cristina's mother finishes for her and I force out a smile. I can tell that Cristina is hating every second of this.
"Cristina led us to believe that you were friends." The woman I assume is Burke's mother says to me and I nod.
"Uh, yeah," I answer, looking at Cristina and she nods as if begging me to answer correctly. The moment I finish, Cristina's mother steps forward and wraps her arms around my waist with a measuring tool. "Oh, um, hello," I mutter awkwardly as she works.
"Wonderful. It's settled then." Burke's mother smiles at me and my eyebrows raise.
"Oh, wait, you're asking me to be one of your bridesmaids?"
"Yup," Cristina says quickly before practically running away down the hall, leaving me with the two women.
"Hey! Cristina!" I exclaim as the measuring continues and I roll my eyes. I quickly look to make sure the women aren't looking at me and when they do, I offer them a smile but I hate this. I never thought in a million years that I would be a bridesmaid for anyone, and honestly, I never wanted to in the first place.
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After a long day of breaking and setting bones, I finally decided to take a break and get some food. When I found Meredith, she told me that Susan was in the hospital. Apparently, it's not bad, just a persistent hiccup and I'm glad because even with our one short interaction, I could tell she was a really nice lady.
Unfortunately, my break was cut short by request of Callie and it turns out, standing around while writing up pain med prescriptions is a very boring task. Maybe I should have just went to study with everyone else.
"Hey." I hear from beside me and look up to see Mark. Luckily, our work relationship has become easier since the ferryboat accident. I think he finally sees me as a surgeon and not just a one night stand. Well, a couple more than once if we're being honest.
"Uh, hi," I say before turning back to my paperwork.
"Intern exams are coming up. You know, if you ever needed help studying, you could come over..." He trails off and I look back up at him to see a familiar smirk plastered on his perfect face. I grab the paper in front of me and wack him on the shoulder with it lightly.
"Oh, my god, Mark." I whisper-yell at him as he chuckles. "Can you not make everything about sex for once. You've been doing so well."
"Hey, I didn't say anything." He says with his hands up in mock defence.
"You strongly implied it." I hiss at him, putting my paper down. "And, for your information, I already have a study partner."
"A study buddy?" He asks knowingly and I roll my eyes.
"An actual study partner."
"Let me guess. Your brother?" He teases and I pick up all my stuff.
"Shut up." I try to sound pissed off but I can't conceal my embarrassed grin as I walk away from him. I hate how I can't control my face around him.
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That afternoon, Cristina and Burke's mother managed to wrangle all of us together and bring us to a bridal boutique. Cristina told me there would be champagne which convinced me to go but I hate bridesmaid dresses. It's like they are designed to be unflattering.
Cristina was forced into a very poofy wedding dress that I can tell she despises while the four of us bridesmaids were squeezed into different coloured dresses. I'm wearing a skin-tight, strapless, light blue dress with a stupid ruffle in the back.
"Oh, absolutely not," Cristina says to me the moment I walk out of the dressing room.
"Thank you!" I exclaim in agreement before her mother walks over to me.
"It's beautiful! Brings out your eyes." She says, looking the dress up and down before moving onto Meredith's yellow dress which makes me want to gag. We all turn when we hear the little ding of the door opening to see Burke walking into the store.
"Cristina?" He asks worriedly before she runs over to him. Obviously, she paged him in a panic. We can't hear them talking but she's obviously voicing her hatred for the situation. Her voice starts to get louder until she finishes her rant with a yell.
"...these stupid cotton candy coloured bridesmaids!" We catch the end of her sentence and she turns to face us. "No offence."
We all nod in understanding and in my case, agreement, before Meredith's pager goes off and she looks at it.
"It's the hospital. I have to go." She says, moving towards the fitting room.
"Take me with you!" I exclaim before I hear Callie scoff.
"You're on my service so you can't leave until I do." She says and I can tell she doesn't want to be here either. The rest of the afternoon was insanely awkward and uncomfortable. Cristina obviously didn't want to be there and since she was the bride, it didn't set a great tone for everyone else.
Eventually, Cristina asked me to fake page her, which I did gladly. If the bride leaves, it's safe to say everyone else can leave shortly after, which we all did. I don't mean to be that person that rains on everybody else's parade, but if you ask me, I think this wedding is going to be a disaster.