She was fuming. Burke had thrown her out of the apartment, after declaring that he was tired of her hovering over him. As if she was the type of girlfriend who coddled her boyfriend constantly! She was doing the best she could, but he certainly wasn't making it easy, resenting her for being his nurse rather than his girlfriend. Granted, she wasn't used to the role of the supportive girlfriend, but for Burke, she was willing to give it a shot. It's true that she hadn't been there in the beginning, but she hadn't been ready to be that girl, the one who cared about her boyfriend above all else, including medicine. She wasn't used to this uncertainty, this confusion, this fear. When she realized the depth of her feelings, it terrified her, because it meant a re-evaluation of everything she thought she was. Well, no more. She was a surgeon, damnit! When did she become this indecisive, mediocre doctor who freezes up in the OR? It was time to get her edge back.
She was fuming. Derek had thrown her out of the trailer, after a long fight over his tryst with Meredith Grey. As if it was her fault he cheated! She was doing the best she could, but he certainly wasn't making it easy, refusing to give up his former mistress despite his promise to make their marriage work. Granted, she had cheated on him first, but if he wasn't willing to give their marriage a real chance then he shouldn't have taken her back. She had given up her practice, her friends, and her family in order to move across the country and be with him. For a year, she stood by and watched him neglect and ignore her as he pined away for another woman. She made a fool of herself as she begged for scraps of his attention, while he was probably always wishing she was someone else. Well, no more. She was a world-renowned neo-natal specialist, damnit! When did she become this pathetic, all-forgiving wife who looked the other way while her husband had an affair? It was time to get her edge back.
She was fuming. The Chief had thrown her out of the observation gallery, after telling her to go home and look after her infant son. As if she would have neglected her son to be there! She was doing the best she could, but he certainly wasn't making it easy, mommy-tracking her even though she was just as capable as she had always been. Granted, having a baby did bring out a softer side that she hadn't even known existed, but that didn't mean that all her medical knowledge suddenly flew out of her brain. She loved motherhood, she loved her husband and son, but she also loved surgery. She was perfectly capable of balancing a family life and her career, but everyone was acting like she had traded one in for the other. People seemed to think that, just because she had been through the process of reproduction, she had no business in the OR. Well, no more. She was the Nazi, damnit! When did she become this soft, comforting mother figure who made people smile when they saw her? It was time to get her edge back.
They sat at the bar, side-by-side, the intern, the resident and the attending. The three of them hadn't meant to meet up there, but the miserable always tend to gravitate toward Joe's. Having nowhere else to go, they decided to stay, each nursing a drink in awkward silence as they contemplated their individual situations and how odd it was for them to be in a bar together. What was odder was that, for the first time since any of them could remember, no one else seemed familiar to them; the bar was full of patrons, but not one bore a face commonly seen at the hospital. So, preferring to stick with the known evil, they awkwardly sat together, too uncomfortable to speak, but not uncomfortable enough to move away. The beautiful redhead in the middle finally signalled the bartender to line up shots for all three of them. Drinks disappeared in quick succession as lips were loosened and confessions were rapidly fired off at each other.
"I was only trying to make dinner. What's the big deal? I have to eat!"
"He told me he'd only gone to take a walk. Needed some air, he said."
"They're having a father-son bonding night. What does the fool think? That I have to be with them 24/7?"
"So, what if I made a little mess? Okay, a big mess. The pot was old anyway. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to burn a hole in it."
"I found her underwear in his pocket. He'd kept them as a souvenir. A souvenir! Who the hell keeps underwear as a souvenir?"
"The moron seems to think that having squeezed something the size of a cantaloupe out of a hole the size of a coin means that I can no longer cut people open."
"And then he loses it because I broke a few dishes. I was just trying to wash them! It's not my fault those dishes weren't tough enough to take a little scrubbing."
"McDreamy? More like McCreepy or McGross."
"I can still cut people open. I can cut them open and sew them back up just as well as anyone. I should start with a demonstration on the Chief."
"You should go back to McSteamy. He was way hotter, anyway."
Addison quirked an eyebrow at the intern, "Are you for real?"
"At least he doesn't go sniffing around my interns when he should know better," Bailey quipped. "This one isn't worth it, not when he won't change."
The attending was lost in thought for a moment. "You've never been one to take this sort of thing lying down, Miranda. What are you doing here drowning your sorrows instead of getting in the Chief's face?"
Cristina snickered, "Yeah, between you and the Chief, I'd bet money on you any day."
Bailey's eyes narrowed, "I would have said the same about you and Preston. Why are you going around waiting on the man hand and foot?"
The younger woman was about to protest when Addison interrupted her. "Where's your fire, Yang? Where's that aggressive streak that had Preston all hot and bothered and the nurses cowering in fear? Go tell him to do his own damn dishes from now on."
All three sat quietly contemplating each other's words. They had each other pegged, and though they didn't solve each other's problems, they did give each other a small feeling of consolation. Each woman now knew that she had work to do and, more importantly, knew that she was capable of doing it. No one knew what the consequences would be, whether Burke would continue to resent his girlfriend, whether the Shepherd marriage was over, whether the Chief would remember why Bailey was his star resident, but not one of these women was willing to continue to settle for what they had been offered. They would take care of business, starting…
"So, you wanna go to a strip club?" Addison asked.
For a moment, Cristina and Bailey looked at her in shock before smirks crossed their faces. Without another word, all three women grabbed their coats and headed out of the bar. Their problems could wait until morning.