FIC: Love Wins Every Time 10/?
Hi everyone!
Not too many comments onthe last part. Hope you aren't getting bored! I am back with some more of the Burke/Addison epic :) In this bit: Meredith runs interference, Burke tells Cristina what he needs, and the chief wants to see some action.
Previous parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
And now, on with the story :)
He spots Addison in the lounge when he gets in to the hospital, and she's still wearing the clothes she had on yesterday. She looks gloomy and pale, her hair flat and dull, her eyes shadowed with dark, baggy circles.
"Addison! Did you never get home?"
"Car accident. Mother is six months along, has head injuries, internal bleeding, and if that weren't enough, pre-eclampsia."
"You brought Shepherd in on the head injuries?"
"He's with her now. Still trying to find the husband. Got the bleeding stabilized, baby seems fine, but she's been in and out of it, and her oxygen levels worry me. And I've got three post-op preemies."
"Do you need help?"
She shrugs. "Not really your area, is it? I'll get an intern, after rounds. Hoping I can grab a nap for a bit…"
He reaches into his bag, pulls out a bottle of water. "Here you go."
She smiles. "Juju."
"Juju indeed. Look, if you need…"
Her pager goes off. "On it. On all of it. Don't worry about me."
But he does worry. And he can't help but feel like she isn’t really 'on it' at all. And it gets worse from there: Chief Webber stops them all on their way out of rounds to give them some updates.
"Intern exam, week and a half away," he reminds them. "I've asked Dr. Bailey to make a real effort to rotate the interns among you a little more systematically. Lately, I've been feeling like a few of you have favourites…" He holds up his hand. "Now, now. Don't argue with me on this. It is our responsibility to make sure that these kids get a solid grounding in every specialty, not just the ones to which they show an inclination. The interns will be rotated every three days. Now, I have the first assignments here. Shepherd, you'll have Karev. Burke, Grey. Sloan, O'Malley. Montgomery…where is Addison, anyway? Still in the NICU? Very well. I'll send Yang up to join her."
"What about Stevens?" he asks.
"What about her? Helping Bailey in the clinic, I think. Why, Preston?"
"Ran into Dr. Montgomery on my way to rounds, and she seemed a little swamped. She could probably use an extra pair of hands."
"Right. I'll speak to Dr. Bailey. I'm sure she can spare Stevens for awhile. Now, what was the other…oh, yes. Chief of surgery."
They all perk up at that.
"The board has concluded the interview round, as you know. Now, they'd like to see the lot of you in action. They want to give each of you a day to run things. I've drawn up a schedule, two of you a week. You'll spend one day shadowing me, and the next day, you'll be on your own. Shepherd, you're up first."
"With you today, then on my own tomorrow," Shepherd clarifies.
"That's right. Any questions? No? All right. Let's go save lives, people!"
He heads over to the board to find Meredith Grey already attentively studying the day's schedule, waiting for him.
"Dr. Grey."
"Dr. Burke. You have a surgery in one hour."
"That I do. What can you tell me about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Dr. Grey?"
"Right. Um, it's a disease of the myocardium where a portion of the wall is thickened, disrupting the electrical functions of the heart."
"Causes?"
"For the hypertrophic variant? Congenital. But in the absence of family history, it's often not detected until the patient exhibits symptoms."
"Such as a seemingly healthy 25-year-old investment banker collapsing at the gym, as was the case with our young friend Mr. Davis, who awaits your pre-op workup for the pacemaker we will be implanting in his heart this morning."
"Right. Dr. Burke?"
"Yes, Dr. Grey?"
"May I ask you something? Off-topic. Um, personal, actually. Just…"
"If you must."
"Look, I don't mean to…I won't ask again, I promise. If we can just get this out of the way right now…"
"Ask, Dr. Grey."
"Did you break up with Cristina last night?"
"Why no, Dr. Grey, I don't think I did."
"Just…it kind of seems like…"
"Look," he says. "This really is a conversation I should be having with Cristina, isn't it?"
"No. I mean, yes, of course, you're right. You're absolutely right."
"So, Mr. Davis…"
"Just…well, if you’re not broken up…do you…do you want to be?"
He sighs. He supposes he ought to have seen this coming, and he supposes that, as Cristina's best friend, she is expected to take back an answer.
"I'm not angry," he says after a moment's thought. "There was no fight. There was no issue. There was no epiphany. There is just her life, and mine, going on together."
"Going on in the same direction?"
"You tell me. You know where her head is at right now."
She frowns, and he shakes his head. "It's not a trick question. I already told you, I'm not angry. I admire her drive. I admire her focus. I admire her single-minded pursuit of her goal. But you know as well as I do what that goal is. She wants to be excellent, Meredith. She wants to be an excellent surgeon."
"And you?"
"I want to be an excellent man."
Meredith bites her lip, turns away from him. "You really should be talking about this with Cristina."
"As I was saying. Now…Mr. Davis…"
--
It doesn't take long for Cristina to find him. He comes out of the Davis surgery to find her loitering in the gallery, waiting to talk to him. She's cleared the place already.
"Good morning," he says.
"Yeah, yeah. So, what's going on, Preston? You want to be an excellent man?"
He sits, feeling more irritation than sadness. He is tired of drama too. "Look at me," he tells her. "Look me in the eye and tell me our marriage is the most important thing in the world to you."
She looks him in the eye, blinds him with a placating smile. "Oh, but it will be, sweetie pie. In a week and a half, when the intern exam is over, it totally will be."
"No, it won't. Because there is residency to think about, isn't there? And Cristina Yang won't get the highest score in the state on the intern exam and then NOT make chief resident, will she?"
"Well, obviously. But…"
"Cristina. There is more to life than surgery."
"Since when? And since when did you think so?"
"You're so angry. Listen to me. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to tell you what I need. And after I've told you, if you want to be along for that…"
"And if I don't?"
"Then you'll know you'll be happier without me. I want a life, Cristina."
"Define 'life.'"
"A house big enough to have people over. A life rich enough to know people to invite. Kids, puppies, I don't know. Balance. Love."
She considers him carefully, then pronounces her judgment. "You're going soft. Who would have ever thought…you're going soft…"
"And if I am?"
She stares at him for a moment, as if unwilling to say it, to make it over and final and done. But he presses her. "There's no shame in what you want," he says softly.
She looks at him, desperate, but dry-eyed. "I'm just…I'm not ready to go soft…"
He cups her face in his hands, gently kisses her. "You could never be soft. I love you, Cristina."
"Yeah. Um, I love you too."
"Okay. So, we're done?"
She gently lifts his hand away and lowers it down to his side for him. "Yeah, Preston. We're done."
Not too many comments onthe last part. Hope you aren't getting bored! I am back with some more of the Burke/Addison epic :) In this bit: Meredith runs interference, Burke tells Cristina what he needs, and the chief wants to see some action.
Previous parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
And now, on with the story :)
He spots Addison in the lounge when he gets in to the hospital, and she's still wearing the clothes she had on yesterday. She looks gloomy and pale, her hair flat and dull, her eyes shadowed with dark, baggy circles.
"Addison! Did you never get home?"
"Car accident. Mother is six months along, has head injuries, internal bleeding, and if that weren't enough, pre-eclampsia."
"You brought Shepherd in on the head injuries?"
"He's with her now. Still trying to find the husband. Got the bleeding stabilized, baby seems fine, but she's been in and out of it, and her oxygen levels worry me. And I've got three post-op preemies."
"Do you need help?"
She shrugs. "Not really your area, is it? I'll get an intern, after rounds. Hoping I can grab a nap for a bit…"
He reaches into his bag, pulls out a bottle of water. "Here you go."
She smiles. "Juju."
"Juju indeed. Look, if you need…"
Her pager goes off. "On it. On all of it. Don't worry about me."
But he does worry. And he can't help but feel like she isn’t really 'on it' at all. And it gets worse from there: Chief Webber stops them all on their way out of rounds to give them some updates.
"Intern exam, week and a half away," he reminds them. "I've asked Dr. Bailey to make a real effort to rotate the interns among you a little more systematically. Lately, I've been feeling like a few of you have favourites…" He holds up his hand. "Now, now. Don't argue with me on this. It is our responsibility to make sure that these kids get a solid grounding in every specialty, not just the ones to which they show an inclination. The interns will be rotated every three days. Now, I have the first assignments here. Shepherd, you'll have Karev. Burke, Grey. Sloan, O'Malley. Montgomery…where is Addison, anyway? Still in the NICU? Very well. I'll send Yang up to join her."
"What about Stevens?" he asks.
"What about her? Helping Bailey in the clinic, I think. Why, Preston?"
"Ran into Dr. Montgomery on my way to rounds, and she seemed a little swamped. She could probably use an extra pair of hands."
"Right. I'll speak to Dr. Bailey. I'm sure she can spare Stevens for awhile. Now, what was the other…oh, yes. Chief of surgery."
They all perk up at that.
"The board has concluded the interview round, as you know. Now, they'd like to see the lot of you in action. They want to give each of you a day to run things. I've drawn up a schedule, two of you a week. You'll spend one day shadowing me, and the next day, you'll be on your own. Shepherd, you're up first."
"With you today, then on my own tomorrow," Shepherd clarifies.
"That's right. Any questions? No? All right. Let's go save lives, people!"
He heads over to the board to find Meredith Grey already attentively studying the day's schedule, waiting for him.
"Dr. Grey."
"Dr. Burke. You have a surgery in one hour."
"That I do. What can you tell me about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Dr. Grey?"
"Right. Um, it's a disease of the myocardium where a portion of the wall is thickened, disrupting the electrical functions of the heart."
"Causes?"
"For the hypertrophic variant? Congenital. But in the absence of family history, it's often not detected until the patient exhibits symptoms."
"Such as a seemingly healthy 25-year-old investment banker collapsing at the gym, as was the case with our young friend Mr. Davis, who awaits your pre-op workup for the pacemaker we will be implanting in his heart this morning."
"Right. Dr. Burke?"
"Yes, Dr. Grey?"
"May I ask you something? Off-topic. Um, personal, actually. Just…"
"If you must."
"Look, I don't mean to…I won't ask again, I promise. If we can just get this out of the way right now…"
"Ask, Dr. Grey."
"Did you break up with Cristina last night?"
"Why no, Dr. Grey, I don't think I did."
"Just…it kind of seems like…"
"Look," he says. "This really is a conversation I should be having with Cristina, isn't it?"
"No. I mean, yes, of course, you're right. You're absolutely right."
"So, Mr. Davis…"
"Just…well, if you’re not broken up…do you…do you want to be?"
He sighs. He supposes he ought to have seen this coming, and he supposes that, as Cristina's best friend, she is expected to take back an answer.
"I'm not angry," he says after a moment's thought. "There was no fight. There was no issue. There was no epiphany. There is just her life, and mine, going on together."
"Going on in the same direction?"
"You tell me. You know where her head is at right now."
She frowns, and he shakes his head. "It's not a trick question. I already told you, I'm not angry. I admire her drive. I admire her focus. I admire her single-minded pursuit of her goal. But you know as well as I do what that goal is. She wants to be excellent, Meredith. She wants to be an excellent surgeon."
"And you?"
"I want to be an excellent man."
Meredith bites her lip, turns away from him. "You really should be talking about this with Cristina."
"As I was saying. Now…Mr. Davis…"
--
It doesn't take long for Cristina to find him. He comes out of the Davis surgery to find her loitering in the gallery, waiting to talk to him. She's cleared the place already.
"Good morning," he says.
"Yeah, yeah. So, what's going on, Preston? You want to be an excellent man?"
He sits, feeling more irritation than sadness. He is tired of drama too. "Look at me," he tells her. "Look me in the eye and tell me our marriage is the most important thing in the world to you."
She looks him in the eye, blinds him with a placating smile. "Oh, but it will be, sweetie pie. In a week and a half, when the intern exam is over, it totally will be."
"No, it won't. Because there is residency to think about, isn't there? And Cristina Yang won't get the highest score in the state on the intern exam and then NOT make chief resident, will she?"
"Well, obviously. But…"
"Cristina. There is more to life than surgery."
"Since when? And since when did you think so?"
"You're so angry. Listen to me. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to tell you what I need. And after I've told you, if you want to be along for that…"
"And if I don't?"
"Then you'll know you'll be happier without me. I want a life, Cristina."
"Define 'life.'"
"A house big enough to have people over. A life rich enough to know people to invite. Kids, puppies, I don't know. Balance. Love."
She considers him carefully, then pronounces her judgment. "You're going soft. Who would have ever thought…you're going soft…"
"And if I am?"
She stares at him for a moment, as if unwilling to say it, to make it over and final and done. But he presses her. "There's no shame in what you want," he says softly.
She looks at him, desperate, but dry-eyed. "I'm just…I'm not ready to go soft…"
He cups her face in his hands, gently kisses her. "You could never be soft. I love you, Cristina."
"Yeah. Um, I love you too."
"Okay. So, we're done?"
She gently lifts his hand away and lowers it down to his side for him. "Yeah, Preston. We're done."