"Time" Chapter Six "Comfortably Numb"
“Time” - Chapter Six - “Comfortably Numb”
Rating: This Chapter is definitely only PG-13
Pairings: Callie/OC, Cristina/Mark, and ONLY BECAUSE OF CAMI Richard and Hahn will be coming later (heh!)
Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
The Next Day……
“So, what happened yesterday?” Meredith sat down next to me in the cafeteria, putting down her lunch of tuna salad and a sprite, acting as if it were normal and expected for her to be sitting down next to me at lunch. I nibbled thoughtfully on my Ritz crackers leftover from my chicken soup, trying not to look at her like she was crazy. I guess I wasn’t too successful, since her friendly smile started to fade and she looked nervous.
“Is it okay if I sit here?” she asked hesistantly, then I noticed Derek Shepherd sitting diagonally across from us with this nurse he had recently started seeing. I knew Rose, and she seemed nice enough, but I also knew this situation had to be killing Meredith. I gave her a slight smile and made a mental note to myself to kill the “All intern family members are out to get you” mentality. After all, Yang was nice enough when you got to know her. That, plus the fact that this was probably ABOUT Yang, made me soften.
“Sorry, just you don’t normally come here and sit with me when your friends are in the cafeteria.” I said as nicely as I could. And it was true. Izzie, George, and Alex were seated not far from us. Izzie’s mouth was open in a small “o” of surprise looking at us, while George and Alex were engrossed in some other conversation.
“Well, I wanted to ask you something about Cristina. Do you have any idea why she would be acting oddly today?”
“Oddly?”
“As in, asking to bow out of a cardio surgery?”
At that, I choked on my cracker and Meredith handed me my bottle of water.
“Cristina bowed out of a cardio surgery? Is she sick?” I asked quickly.
“No. I mean Dr. Sloan was scrubbing in….”
At that revelation, my face must have changed in a way that Meredith caught on to something.
“Wait, what do you know?” she asked, excited a bit to be getting to the root of the problem. THIS is where I get into trouble in life. I am a HORRIBLE liar. Never have been a good one, and probably never will be. I knew my eyes were bouncing everywhere at this point to avoid meeting Meredith’s and the “oh nothing” I heard myself mutter I didn’t even believe myself.
“Callie….come on! I am Cristina’s best friend. I could help…”
“I don’t think this is anything she will need help with. Trust me on that. Did you ask Cristina what was wrong?” I asked quickly.
“I did, and she told me it was nothing. But she’s really acting strangely.”
“More than rejecting the cardio surgery?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Good point.” I took a deep breath and wondered if I should tell Meredith when suddenly Yang appeared.
“You told her?!?!” Cristina asked, aghast.
Before I could respond, Cristina slammed her tray into the table and began rambling
“Callie, I thought I could trust you with this! How could you tell Meredith that I slept with Sloan!”
Now it was Meredith’s turn to choke, and slow comprehension crept on Cristina’s face.
“You didn’t tell Meredith that I slept with Sloan?” she whispered, finally noticing that people’s attention had focused on our table from her slamming the tray. I numbly nodded no.
“What made you think that I did?” I asked, offended.
“Well, why else would Meredith be sitting with you?”
“That’s what I was wondering. YOU refused a cardio surgery?” I asked, patting Meredith’s back since she was still coughing.
Cristina sat down and faced me and Meredith.
“Look, its just a bit uncomfortable, you know. I’m not Izzie. I don’t fall in love with every man I sleep with if the sex is great.”
“And?” Meredith asked, and Cristina looked down on the floor.
“This is your fault.” Meredith pointed at me, teasingly, “This happened at your house, didn’t it!”
“Didn’t George cheat on me with Izzie at yours?” I smirked back, glad to see Cristina chuckling at the exchange.
“Okay, point taken. Do you have feelings for Sloan?” Meredith asked, quickly turning her attention back to Yang.
“No! Not really strong ones anyway. More like, that was great and my legs are still shaking and I’d like another round to sort it all out kind of feelings.”
I gave a loud sigh, “Nope, sorry. There’s no Hallmark card out there to say it for you…”
“Shut up! You had to go out and find a shrink. It’s your fault!”
“You’re in therapy?” Meredith asked me, furrowing her brows.
“No, she’s not, she’s NAILING a shrink!” Cristina explained, exasperated. “Can we get back to me?”
“No, its just that George is seeing a therapist.” Meredith said meekly, then covering her mouth.
“Don’t worry, I will forget I heard that.” I responded
“I’m still here!” Cristina remarked.
“So, maybe you should sleep with Mark again. Or at least talk to him about it. There’s nothing wrong with what you did. You’re both healthy, single adults.” I told her, swallowing a mouthful of soup. “Heck, even I started dating again after I signed the divorce papers.”
Cristina nodded, “It’s just he’s….the Manwhore.”
Meredith gave a thoughtful nod, then a small sigh. I saw her eyes fixate a bit in Derek’s direction, and I felt a pang of sympathy go through me. Unfortunately, I knew firsthand what it was to see the man who you thought was the love of your life openly involved with someone else. It’s almost as if you never existed.
“Callie and I were both with our McDreamies. Look what happened there. Maybe taking a chance on the Manwhore, if he’s interested also, is not as risky as you think.” She said gently, putting a hand on Cristina’s shoulder.
“I have an idea. How about a girls only Jacuzzi and swimming pool night. I’m assuming you and Sloan didn’t clear out my WHOLE liquor cabinet last night?” I said, putting my hand on Cristina’s other shoulder. Cristina gave me a guilty look.
“It’s not like you had much there!” she gave as her defense, but did give a slight smile at the idea.
“Well then, I guess I’m wasting my time here.” I heard James’ voice behind me, startling me. I turned to see him dressed in a black suit, holding a shiny gold box of Godiva chocolates. He leaned down and gave me a warm kiss on the lips.
“Hey!” I said, happy to see him. “Meredith, this is James.” I gave as way of a quick introduction, when I saw Chief Webber approaching us.
“Dr. Silvio, you forgot to sign this last page of the contract.” He held out a white sheet of paper, and James gave me a small grin.
“I guess there goes my surprise,” he said softly, winking at me.
“Surprise? You’re coming to Seattle Grace? What about your practice?” I asked, and while I was happy I was truly shocked.
“Dr. Silvio will not be joining us full-time. He has graciously offered to volunteer some time pro bono so we can begin to offer quality Psychiatric services at the Denny Duquette clinic.” Chief Webber answered, looking oddly from James to myself. “You two know each other?” he asked, as if the box of candy James was handing me and his arm around my should indicated anything else.
“Yes, Chief Webber. We know each other quite well.” James smiled, taking his arm from my shoulder and retrieving a pen from his breast pocket. At that point I felt another pair of eyes on us. George was standing a few feet away, his eyes glued to James. I heard Yang mutter “Damn, no popcorn” and was about to turn to glare at her when I saw James notice George.
“Hey! George! How are you?” he asked warmly, extending a hand.
“I’m fine Dr. Silvio.” George answered hesitantly. He met my eyes briefly, then turned his focus back to James.
“YOU two know each other?” the Chief asked, his voice as shocked as I felt.
“Yes, we are acquainted.” James responded, looking clueless at all our shocked faces. “Is something wrong?”
“Um…nothing. I’ll just take that signed contract and let you all…umm…sort this out.” Chief Webber quickly grabbed the paper and hustled out of the area.
“George, so, do you know Callie?” he asked, gesturing to me. I suddenly felt the room begin to spin and grabbed the chair to support myself.
“Um..James…George is my ex-husband” I said quickly, looking to see his reaction. James dropped his pen on the floor, looking between George and myself.
“Wait, THIS is the wife you keep talking about!” James’ voice was rising, and I knew he had to be upset since he wasn’t supposed to divulge anything about his clients.
“Ex-wife.” I corrected him quickly.
“Tell her George.” He said, and I mentally made a note to myself never to get James mad. He looked like a bull about to charge.
“Tell me what? I know its technically not final but the papers were sent it already. Right George?” I turned to George, who suddenly found his shoes very appealing.
“George, you sent them in. Didn’t you George?” I demanded, trying not to shout. I saw Izzie come up behind us. She grabbed George by the shoulder and spun him around.
“George, tell her what you did. Tell her that you signed them, put them in the envelope, and drove them to the FedEx office.” Izzie said, her voice getting the hysterical edge it often had when she was upset. I heard Yang mutter something about wire cutters when Meredith shushed her.
George took a hard swallow, and looked me squarely in the eye.
“The divorce papers are still in my car. I never sent them in.”