Disclaimer: For legal purposes let's assume that I don't own anything.
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Richard Webber sighed as more doctors crowded into the small room usually reserved for conferences and consultations. He picked up the Santa hat and set it on the table in front of him. "Okay. This year I have decided that we will have a gift exchange."
A collective groan echoed throughout room. There were several cheers, one from Izzie Stevens, the other Sydney Heron.
"Do we have to buy everyone a gift?" George asked. He could barely afford his family gifts this Christmas. There was no way he would be able to buy other people decent presents as well.
"No," Richard said. "We're doing a Secret Santa."
"What's a Secret Santa?" Alex questioned.
"That's when you pick a name out of this hat," Richard said as he pointed to the Christmas hat. "And you buy that person a gift. This ensures that everyone receives a gift and you're not spending too much money buying everybody one."
"Do I have to do this?" Christina asked. "I'm Jewish and don't do the whole Santa thing."
"Yes," Richard said. "Just consider it secret whatever holiday icon you choose."
"Whatever," Christina said.
"Okay. I'm going to pass this hat around. You will pick one name from it. Make sure that it is not your own name. You will spend no less than twenty dollars and no more than fifty dollars on the gift for the person you pick." He gave the hat to the person standing directly to the right of him, Miranda Bailey. She took a name and passed the hat to the person next to her. Everybody repeated the process until the hat was passed back to Richard. He took the hat and looked inside. "There is still one name left in here," he said. "Who didn't take one?"
"That would be you sir," Dr. Bailey pointed out.
"Oh, that's right." He took the name from the hat. He shook his head as he studied the name -- Miranda Bailey.
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George jogged up to meet Meredith and Christina at the nurse's station. He sighed when he heard them talking about the gift exchange. "Does anybody want to trade name? I got Callie and I really don't want to buy my ex-wife a Christmas gift."
"No way," Christina said. "I got Hahn's name. There is no way I'm going to pass up the opportunity to impress her."
Meredith nodded. "I picked Derek's name. I'll trade with you."
"Oh no you don't," Miranda said as she stepped up behind them. "If I have to get perky Sydney Heron a gift, you guys have to suffer and give Torres and Shepherd gifts as well. So I better see Grey giving Dr. Shepherd something and George giving Callie a present."
"Yes," they said in unison.
"Damn it," Meredith muttered when Bailey walked away.
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Izzie was sitting at a table in the cafeteria when Alex sat down next to her. She ignored him and took a bite of her sandwich.
"Hey Iz, you got Lexie right?"
Izzie swallowed her food and looked up. "Yeah, why?"
"Wanna trade?"
Izzie laughed. "No way. You probably got some weird intern or Callie." Izzie's eye widened. "Oh god, you picked Callie didn't you and now you're trying to make me suffer by forcing me to buy her a gift."
"No, I did not pick Callie's name from the hat. It's just…" He ran his fingers through his hair. How the hell was he supposed to tell his ex-girlfriend that he had a crush on another woman?
"You just what?"
"I already bought her a present and I didn't want her to throw it in my face when I give it to her."
Izzie smiled. Alex was never one to show his emotions. But she knew that he had a romantic side and this gesture that he was trying to show Lexie was genuine. "Okay. I'll trade with you." She handed him the piece of paper with Lexie's name on it.
"Thank you so much." He gave her the piece of paper with the name of the person he was supposed to plat Secret Santa for.
Izzie unfolded the strip of paper. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she said as she read the name on the paper. "Mark Sloan? Seriously? You so owe me."
Alex nodded his head. Izzie was doing him a huge favor by letting him trade Secret Santa's with her. "Whatever you want."
"You can help me set up for the New Year's Eve party we're having at Meredith's."
Alex groaned. "Fine."
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Lexie sat down at a computer to do research on a patient's condition. She flipped through the chart searching for information she needed to investigate the illness.
"Number Three," Christina's voice boomed above her.
Lexie looked up. Now what? She had just sent her to look this information up. Did she really expect it to be done already?
"Who did you get for the Secret Santa thing?"
"Excuse me?"
"The gift exchange. Whose name did you pick out of the hat?"
"Dr. Hahn."
"No. You picked O'Malley," she said as she shoved the paper in Lexie's face. I got Hahn."
"What?"
Christina didn't answer her. She simply set George's name on the table and took Hahn's from Lexie.
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Mark was sitting down at a table at Joe's bar, sipping a scotch and laughing at Derek as he tried to convince to swap names with him.
"Please Mark. I really need Meredith's name."
Mark shook his head. "No. I'm not going to let you be her Secret Santa."
"You're evil," Derek said. I know exactly what I want to get Meredith for Christmas. And the best way for me to give it to her without her pushing me away is to say that it's because I was her Secret Santa."
"If you want to give Meredith a present, give her a present. But don't let her think you only got it for her because you had to. Let her know that you wanted her to have it."
Derek groaned. Mark was right. He had to assure Meredith that he wanted her. The best way to do that was to get her a gift that proved it. But he still wanted the safety net of the Secret Santa. He could always blame Richard if it didn't go well.
"You guys know Karev pretty well, right?" Erica Hahn said as she sat in an empty seat at the table.
"I guess so," Derek said. "Is that who you got for your Secret Santa gift?"
She nodded. "I don't really know him that well. And I have no idea what to get him for Christmas."
"Give him money," Mark suggested. "You can't go wrong with money."
"Who'd you guys get for the gift exchange?" Callie Torres asked as she walked up to the table. "Do any of you guys want to trade?" She sat down.
"I got Yang. But the only person I'm trading with is the one that has Meredith."
Callie sighed. "Sorry, I got Stevens. I really don't want to buy her a gift. I mean, what do you buy the woman who had an affair with your husband?"
"I'll trade with you," Mark said. "I got Meredith."
"Oh no you don't," Derek exclaimed. "If you're not going to trade Meredith with me, you're not going to trade her with anyone."
"Sorry Callie. I guess you're stuck with Stevens."
She slammed her head against the table. "This sucks."
Erica shook her head. She could have easily told them that all Derek needed to do was let Mark trade with Callie and then Callie could trade with him. But she decided not to. She was still trying to figure out what to get Alex Karev for Christmas.
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Okay... Any thoughts on what everyone should get for Christmas? I'm a little lost at what some people should give others. I already have an idea for some of them but would appreciate some suggestions. I'll try to incorporate them into my story.
I'll try my best to have the second part of this story posted by Christmas day but no guarantees.