Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Celia Chávez – Melanie Iglesias.
Chapter 9:
Secrets and Lies; they are something unavoidable and inevitable.
There comes a time where your whole life becomes revolved with secrets, and in order to hide them, one must be adept in lying … otherwise the secret is out.
Secrets can't hide in science. Medicine has a way of exposing the lies. Within the walls of the hospital, the truth is stripped bare.
For Celia Chávez however, secrets are a second skin to her, clinging on to every curve, each limb, hidden beneath well-crafted lies, impassive masks of indifference and a deft poker-face. How to keep secrets outside the hospital … Well, that's a little different.
Living with George and Izzie, Celia Chávez and Meredith Grey contribute teamwork, showing a different façade to their doe-eyed, puppy faced and innocent co-interns and roommates.
Currently, Celia was curled on the floor, her forehead flush against the cold wall and already dressed for her shift with the curtains drawn shut, lost in thought, trying to block out Izzie and George's daily morning routine of arguing over the bathroom. Apparently George was wanking himself in the bathroom and Izzie was blundering apologies for disturbing his 'manly private time'.
Suddenly, a warm body positioned itself next to her. She didn't bother reacting, knowing that only Meredith had the audacity to enter her room without permission. They were best friends and twisted sisters after all, and Celia always made exceptions for Death.
"You slept at McDreamy's," Meredith stated; she didn't have to pry or ask. All Meredith had to do was throw the question out there, lay it out in the open and wait for Celia to spill her guts.
Five tranquil minutes passed by before Celia parted her lips and the words spilled out, one after another. "I never spend the night elsewhere. I always bring the men back to my place, a motel or a temporary hotel room, perchance one of our cars, but never, ever, ever their place. Derek Shepherd is peeling away my many masks, Mer, and I'm terrified. I haven't been scared in nearly a decade, and this slip of an attending managed to corner me, managed to open the dam and leak out its contents I guarded safely."
Meredith shot Celia a commiserating yet happy look, "CeCe, remember when we were kids, and we believed in Fairy Tales and Prince Charming? When we believed that dreams do come true, and that we would live Happily Ever After?… Remember how your dad used to read us stories of dragons, castles and Princes on horseback; how we were his two precious princesses and one day our prince will come?"
Celia nodded, quashing the traitorous tears that threatened to consume her; she hadn't cried in over a decade and she wasn't about to break her impressive streak.
"I think the Prince your dad promised had finally arrived, except instead of riding on a horseback and whisking you off to his castle, he appeared in scrubs with a trailer," Meredith said calmly, knowing that Celia, like her, would freak out and deny, deny, deny, looking for any excuse to escape love and 'Happily Ever Afters'.
"Death, I love dad, but when we grew up, life happened. We were exposed to its harsh cruelty, to its biting reality, and we agreed that they were nothing but empty dreams and make-believe, an empty promise to increase a child's expectations and bullshit." Celia shot up to her feet, pulling Meredith alongside her, "I need to keep my distance from Derek and put up my barriers. I cannot love, Mer, I canNOT open up. He is Dr. Shepherd again, I'm done."
"CeCe, be honest. What brought all this on? This … epiphany," Meredith asked hesitantly.
Celia stiffened, her hand frozen halfway reaching out for the doorknob, and she slowly turned to face Meredith, trepidation and impassiveness fighting to be the controlled expression on her face, "The psychic patient, Mr. Duff. He-He knew about my, about my past, Mer. He-He stared at me with pity, and-"
"And…" Meredith trailed off, conflicted between wanting to know and leaving Celia's dastardly past behind as they always did ever since they reacquainted in Dartmouth.
"And he called me 'Doll'," Celia whispered harshly. That word, that 'pet name' had the added effect; Meredith's eyes threatened to bulge out from their sockets, and her blood turned to ice. But Celia continued, now that the dam was broken, she needed to confide in her sister, "The nightmares have returned. Constantly sleeping with Derek, the routine brought back my night terrors."
Shaking her head, Meredith plastered a fake smile, trying to be comforting, onto her face and hurriedly changed the subject, "Let's head over to work, we'll be late, CeCe."
As the two twisted sisters clambered into the car, Meredith's phone began to ring. Flashing Celia a confused frown, she picked up, "Hello?"
"Dr. Grey, this is Mrs. Henry from the nursing home. I'm calling about your mother."
"Is she alright?" Meredith asked absently, mouthing 'mother' to Celia who merely nodded and stepped on the gas. "Oh, it's nothing like that," Mrs. Henry chirped prompting an annoyed scowl at the displayed chirpiness so early in the morning.
"Can I call you later, then?" Meredith sighed, she didn't have time to deal with her mother at this hour of the day, and not when she needed to focus on being an intern and succeeding in her goals.
"Uh, I just wanted to –"
"I have to go," Meredith interjected, quickly hanging up the line. Bless her; Celia didn't bother commenting; merely parking by the parking lot of the hospital and stepping out of the car as though nothing happened with Meredith faithfully by her side.
One thing was for certain. Whatever it is you're trying to hide, you're never ready for that moment when the truth gets naked; for anyone not Celia Chávez, deft in secrets and lies, they will have a way of leaking out. Sooner or later, they will be revealed.
**GA**
"Did you hear? George has syphilis," Alex causally informed Celia and Meredith randomly. It had the added effect of conjuring a smirk on Celia's face and Meredith hastily tried suppressing her laughter as they picked up their lunch trays and drew near to Cristina, George and Izzie on the table.
Celia merely dipped her head in acknowledgment to Cristina who returned a small smile in gratitude. Even though Celia had enough troubles recently with her returning flashbacks and avoiding Dr. Shepherd all day, she didn't forget even for a moment that Cristina was pregnant. It was none of her business whatsoever, and so she kept her promise and her mouth shut, not breathing a word or even bringing the subject up privately with the Korean intern.
"Hey, George. How are you feeling? Sorry about the syphilis," Meredith smiled weakly the second her tray hit the table. Celia hid a smirk behind her palm as she sat next to Meredith, sandwiched by Alex on the other side.
Alex had grown closer with Celia and Meredith in the past weeks, and the two twisted sisters were the only ones not affected by his crude-cutting remarks at times, and were never victims of his harsh words much to Izzie and George's awed surprise. Cristina and Alex were still warming up, but Celia was assured that they would get there in due time … after all, the four interns were very similar, with a secretive well-dredged past and impeccable masks, hiding their true feelings and emotions behind a cold and rude exterior.
George nearly dropped the sandwich from his hands and began grumbling indignantly, "Everyone in this hospital knows? Alex you told them?"
Alex shrugged and snatched a fry from Celia's plate, smirking when she playfully smacked his hand, "Ah, come on, they'll all know you're a player."
"You're disturbed," George hissed, leaning forward across the table to stare Alex in the face, horror etched clear as the day for the five interns to see.
"True," Alex shrugged nonchalantly, batting the word away as though it held no meaning to him, "Everybody's got a secret. Just be glad yours is out in the open."
Alex's careless statement caused Celia and Meredith to shift uncomfortably in their seats, and only Alex and Cristina, their fellow twisted companions noticed, and predictably, didn't mention a thing.
That's the problem with secrets. Like misery, they love company.
Cristina smirked playfully and focused her onyx orbs on Alex' hazel ones, "Oh yeah, Alex? What's yours?"
"You show me yours, and I'll show you mine," he winked in retort. Cristina subtly glanced at Dr. Burke, who was passing by at that exact moment, and her fist instinctively clenched; an action that Celia noted and her chocolate orbs widened in comprehension, disbelief and shock.
"What's in my closet is none of your business," Cristina hissed, all playfulness vanished, and she sent Celia a warning glare to keep her mouth shut, positive that the Latina had figured out the identity of her baby daddy.
"What about you Celia?" George innocently asked, and ever the curious one, Izzie perked up in interest.
Celia gave them a blank stare, stabbing a fork onto the plate and shoving a lettuce from her salad into her mouth, before drawling out in an ominous tone, "Now, Georgie, if I told you, then I'd have to kill you." Alex and Meredith smirked; her statement managed to lighten up Cristina's mood.
George shuffled his feet and played with his collar nervously, his brown doe eyes warily fixated on the emotionless Latina intern, "You're scary … you know that, right?" Celia responded with a sinister smirk and a slight glitter to her eyes before taking a huge chunk off her apple and leaning comfortably against her seat.
"Well, I don't have any secrets;" Izzie piped up matter-of-factly, "My life is boring."
Celia scoffed in a mixture of disbelief and cynicism, but much to Izzie's surprise; it wasn't Celia who responded with a sly, smart-ass comment. It was Meredith of all people. "Everybody's got something to hide." Celia, Alex and Cristina nodded in complete communal agreement, ignoring the bewildered and baffled stares, courtesy of George and Izzie.
Secrets; they pile up and up until they take over everything, until you don't have room for anything else. Until you're so full of secrets, you feel like you're going to burst.
**GA**
"Are you sure you want me to do this for you?" Celia drawled, a sparkle of mischief gleamed her chocolate orbs as she quizzed George in an empty room.
Nervous he was, George nodded compliantly, "You're the only intern I trust to be indifferent about all this. Although you have a cruel and really scary strike, I'm confident enough that you'd be professional about my moment of mortification."
Celia would deny until she had taken her very last breath, that she was deeply touched by George's words and the deep amount of trust he held towards her. She merely flashed him a smirk and grabbed the penicillin. "Alright, Puppy, Drop' em."
Feeling relieved that Celia's creepy impassive mask had returned, he bent over the gurney and pulled down his pants, squinting his eyes shut as he waited for Celia to give him a shot while muttering pitifully, "I cannot believe this, I cannot believe me of all people have syphilis."
The door suddenly banged open and a cheerful Meredith sauntered inside just before Celia managed to inject George.
"Meredith, go away!" George whined, unable to include authority in his voice and sounding more like a wounded puppy, prompting the twisted sisters to bite their lips in order to suppress the laughter.
"Oh, come on George. Thought you could use some moral support. You won't be getting any with Celia here," Meredith giggled, seating herself between a mortified George and an amused Celia.
George wiggled slightly on the gurney as he turned to face Meredith, "NO! No, moral support. I'm indisposed here."
"Oh please, if we see something we haven't seen before, we'll throw a dollar at it," Celia casually drawled out, eliciting a squeak of indignation from George, his face reddening in chagrin.
"Yeah, George. It's not a big deal. And you have a cute butt," Meredith chimed in, avoiding eye contact with Celia for fear of losing control of her suppressed laughter. George was torn between mollified and affronted.
"What are we doing here?" Izzie piped up, admitting herself into the room and causing George to groan out in annoyance.
"Breaking George's spirit," George spat out; simultaneously Meredith commented, "Curing George's syph."
"I don't like needles!" George moaned.
Celia rolled her eyes and gave George a shot since he least expected, encouraging a yelp at the suddenness, "Oh Georgie, you're a freaking doctor for crying out loud. Man up! Turn now. Other side," she ordered him, just as Cristina's grating tone presented itself to the females congregated around George's bedside.
"Izzie?"
"Yeah?" Izzie whipped around to face Cristina's neutral mask by the doorway.
"Uh, Mr. Franklin's procedure's been scheduled for after lunch," she commented brusquely, her eyes flashing with amusement when she noted George's amplified vexation. "Oh, what are we doing?" she asked, feigning ignorance.
"We are saving George from a future of festering sores and insanity," Izzie revealed in hilarity.
"Uh, scusi, but I am the one with a needle near George's tushy, I'm the one saving our damsel here," Celia said in a straightforward demeanor.
"Oh, cute butt," Cristina commented offhandedly. Celia and Izzie snorted while Meredith sang out, "Told ya."
"It is cute, like a baby's," Izzie agreed as Celia muttered that she was done. George wasted no time in hastening to fasten his pants, sending a glare to the four amused female interns, "You know, I have spent hours, days, years, imagining myself half-naked in a room with four women. The reality is so much better."
He then stormed out of the room, leaving behind four interns who finally opened up the dam and burst out into large bouts of laughter. "I think he's going to cry," Cristina commented mid-laugh, proceeding in sending them off into another round of uproarious laughter.
**GA**
"Oh, fuck," Celia murmured to herself once the elevator door opened. None other than Derek was standing on the other end, his blue-blue eyes flashing with an unknown emotion when he recognized Celia to be alone in the elevator.
Before Celia could escape the vicinity and take the remaining stairs to her designated destination, Derek ambled inside and pressed the 'close' button, effectively trapping the Latina with him, offering her no means of escapement.
"You've been avoiding me," Derek stated.
"Wow, not even bothering to beat around the bush, huh," Celia drawled, trying her hardest to build up her walls and giving him an emotionless mask. She knew she had succeeded when Derek's eyes notably dimmed out, disappointment evident.
"Celia," Derek sighed, approaching her person. Celia shuffled backwards until her backside was leaning flushed against the wall, "What are you doing to me?" he sighed in defeat, both hands pressed against the wall, her body trapped in between his strong arms with no escape. "You bailed, left me in the middle of the night. When I woke up, and you weren't there, I was-, I felt empty without you, Celia."
"Dr. Shepherd, you are being inappropriate," Celia groused out in an icy tone, triumphantly causing Derek to flinch as though he had been doused in a bucket of frozen water. "We are not a couple. I have informed you this already, and-… I'm sorry Derek, but I cannot do this anymore."
Derek jolted, his face blanching in shock and surprise when Celia's tone softened exceptionally, dropping all formalities. "Why?" he whispered desperately, "Is it something I did?"
"No, no, it's … personal matters. And … I'm sorry. I know you want me to let you in, but I-I can't. You're better off without me," Celia whispered, unable to hide the pain and sorrow from her voice. Derek caressed her cheek, smiling slightly when Celia mechanically leaned into his hand, her eyes fluttering close.
"Am I the only one affected here? Celia, I can tell … You like me, just as much as I do," Derek whispered in the same tone level. Chocolate orbs snapped to connect with his abnormally blue ones, and stated in a pain-filled voice, "That's the problem, Derek."
Derek was stumped to the core when he noted Celia's eyes were marginally watering; he had never, in all the months of getting acquainted with the icy and impassive, byzantine Latina beheld her lose composure and allow her emotions to be vividly displayed on her sleeves. Yet here she was; Celia Chávez' mask was cracking and she was beginning to finally let him in.
Before any more heart-felt words could be traded, the elevator dinged open and Bailey's stunned face gaped at them. Celia shoved past Derek, blinked twice to retreat her traitorous tears and coldly spoke out, "Dr. Bailey, sorry for my inappropriate display. It will not happen again," and both surgeons knew that the intern's words were directed to Derek's ears only.
"Dr. Shepherd," Bailey snapped out, eyes glaring daggers into Derek's forehead. He shook his head and sighed sadly, "Please, Dr. Bailey. Not now."
Bailey was stunned, exceedingly astonished if truth be told, that her jaw snapped closed and she merely stepped in and pressed the button to her designated floor. Seems to be trouble in paradise; Bailey may display herself to be an uncaring hard ball, but she cared deeply for her interns … she could tell visibly that Celia Chávez had been ensnared into the incredibly handsome Attending's clutches, and was desperately searching for an escape.
Yet, Derek Shepherd wore his heart on his sleeve. One look at his pained eyes filled with despair and longing, and Miranda Bailey knew; Derek Shepherd, renowned, world-famous, celebrated Neurosurgeon, 'The Neuro-God', was enamored and deeply in love with the cold, impassive and emotionless intern, Celia Chávez.
**GA**
Celia sat between Meredith and Alex, with Cristina sandwiched between Meredith and Izzie, and a nervous George faithfully glued to Izzie's side. The six interns grimaced, staring at Richard Webber, Chief of Surgeon as he loomed over every member working in Seattle Grace, his face etched in a mixture of disappointment, disapproval, pity, incredulity and annoyance.
"Three interns, four residents and six nurses on this surgical floor have been diagnosed with … syphilis," Richard visibly winced, forced to acknowledge that damned word and glaring when the clueless people oohed in astonishment and interest.
Patricia, the Chief's secretary, cleared her throat and spoke up in a clearly loud and coherent voice as she addressed the mass, "There are over 70,000 cases every year. Undiagnosed, syphilis can lead to blindness, insanity and death."
A perfectly plucked eyebrow rose on Celia's face when she noted Olivia, the nurse staring sadly at George who was adamantly avoiding any eye contact with her; Celia nudged Meredith, who in turn, nudged Cristina, and all three twisted interns' face morphed into recognition; they finally solved the mystery of who infected George. Case Closed.
"IF you are having unprotected sex with another member of the staff, get tested," Richard's annoyed voice boomed over the mass. "This is NOT a request!" A few doctors couldn't help but laugh and the Chief ploughed onwards, "Patricia will now give you a safe-sex demonstration."
"Kill me!" Celia groaned, dropping her head onto an amused Alex' shoulders, "Kill me now! I haven't had to suffer through the sex-talk in all my life. The She-Devil simply threw a book with a video in my face about safe-sex when I was ten."
"Are you serious?" Izzie gaped, torn between the hilarity of the situation and appalled over her mother's actions. Drowning out Patricia's croaky, monotone of clear instructions as she cautiously exhibited placing a condom on a banana, Celia focused on her fellow interns.
"Yup! I've went through a twenty-five year streak of not having to listen to the sex-talk," Celia boasted slightly.
Over by the corner of the room, Derek and Richard were absorbed in a whispered discussion.
"We should try and get down to do the MRI now," Derek hissed, his eyes flickering towards the mass, smiling inwardly when he noted them all to be distracted. Richard shifted uncomfortably, "This isn't really a good time, Derek."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Derek quashed the anger directed toward his boss, and urgently whispered, "If you want to do this without anybody else knowing, you should do it now."
Richard's coffee orbs concentrated on his smirking goddaughter, and he sighed, "All right. I'll do it, but only because Celia needs me in her life. However, I don't want her finding out until after the surgery. I don't want her to worry over me like an apprehensive mother hen."
Derek couldn't help but let an amused smirk curl around his lips, "She doesn't seem the type." His blue eyes fixated on said intern, and he couldn't help but let out a bubble of envy when he found her head lying comfortably on Karev's shoulder. Clenching his fists, he ignored the jealous emotions and focused once again on Richard, who was smiling fondly at Celia.
"To everyone else, she seems cold and aloof, distant. Only a few lucky ones get to experience the real person Celia Chávez actually is." Richard sighed, staring at Derek solemnly, "Let's go."
Unbeknownst to Chief Richard Webber; his words had a vast impact on the hot-shot Attending, who was falling deeply in love with his intern goddaughter with each passing day. His words only succeeded in speeding up the process.
**GA**
"So, uh, Dr. Shepherd," Celia cleared her throat uncomfortably, their previous encounter weighing heavily on her mind.
Shocked, Derek turned and was pleasantly surprised that Celia had been the one to instigate a conversation with him; he couldn't help but feel as though they were making process. Richard's heartfelt and fond words toward Celia only made him determined to worm his way into her heart.
"Yes, Dr. Chávez?" Derek asked, amusement pouring into his words.
"Should I be worried? About the syphilis. Should I get tested?" Celia asked in clipped tones.
If possible, Derek's amusement increased tenfold, and he casually leaned against the wall near the MRI room where Richard was currently getting examined, "You think I have syphilis?"
"No, uh, maybe, yes. Look, I don't know. We're not a couple, remember? We didn't agree on monogamy, so here I am, asking to be on the safe side," Celia said bluntly; pretending to ignore the fact that Derek's amusement altered into sadness.
"When would I have time to go out and get syphilis? You're a handful enough as it is, and besides, we're like, practically a condom ad since you're paranoid enough," Derek smirked, hiding his pain behind a cheerful mask.
Celia nodded relief plain on her face. But before she turned to leave, Derek grabbed her wrist gently, "Should I get tested?"
The question was there, deftly hidden behind four causally innocent meaningless words; are you sleeping with someone other than me?
"No, Dr. Shepherd. There is no need to get tested," Celia hurriedly informed him, turning around and walking in the opposite direction, unable to see the joyous relief and immensely happy smile that appeared on Derek's face.
Once Celia had disappeared from his line of vision, he recognized the familiar figure of the dirty blonde intern, and hastened over to her side. "Dr. Grey, how good are you at keeping secrets?"
Meredith perked up, a half-smile evident on her face, "I'm an expert in keeping secrets … why?" she asked cautiously, hoping beyond hope that it had nothing to do with Celia.
"The Chief is having surgery. He has a tumor pressed against his optic nerves," Derek whispered in case there were prying ears around them. Meredith stifled a gasp, her face turning quite grave, "He could lose his sight. Why didn't Celia tell me," she murmured the last bit to herself, jumping slightly when Derek responded.
"The Chief doesn't want her to know until after the surgery in case it wasn't a success. I would like you to scrub in with me and keep this information from everyone, including Dr. Chávez. Can you do that?" Derek asked her; Meredith knew that this was a test. As a friend, she wanted nothing more than to locate Celia and inform her. But Dr. Shepherd was asking her as a doctor, as a trusted intern, and Meredith knew that Celia would understand. If the shoe were on the other foot, Celia would do the same.
"I'm in."
**GA**
Celia could NOT believe her ears. She never expected, Cristina Yang, of all interns to agree with this half-cocked, idiotic and ridiculous plan.
"What are you doing?" Izzie frowned, glancing at Cristina in worriment due to their friend's odd behavior. Celia was currently scoping the premises, her eyes searching for something neither she, nor Izzie and Cristina could see.
"I'm checking for any candid cameras in the room, because I swear to god, I heard you two tell me that you want to perform an unauthorized autopsy. Now, maybe Izzie, yeah, okay, that's your thing, sticking your nose in places where it doesn't belong and possibly terminating your career. But you, Cristina Yang?" Celia's eyes proceeded in flickering toward every corner, "No candid cameras, you two are actually dead serious?!"
"Ha-ha, very funny. I am not amused, Celia," Izzie said dryly, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.
"It wasn't meant to be. You two are insane. No, no, suicidal is the word. This is career suicide, your jobs are on the line," Celia spat out; she would never admit her worriment and concern over those two losing their jobs out loud, she was actually growing fond of them.
From the grateful flash in Cristina's orbs, Celia hadn't been successful, but she ploughed on adamantly, "Not wanting to be the new 007, but an autopsy can clear our names, Mr. Franklin's death strikes me as odd, Celia."
"And what about Mr. Franklin's wife? Cristina you saw the way she was looking at me. She wants the autopsy. She just didn't want to fight with her daughter. She looked so sad," Izzie pouted, trying to convince Celia to help them. Celia was an impressive surgeon for an intern; even as an intern everyone knew that Celia Chávez was skilled and had a 99.9999 % in succeeding, and they needed her on their side.
"I am so not getting involved in this," Celia shook her head stubbornly, folding her arms as though that gesture would bar her from caving.
"Celia, this is Fight Club. Nobody talks about it," Cristina yammered, but when Celia still wasn't convinced, she brought out the big guns, "Okay, look, I hate to admit this, but you're leaving me no choice and we're desperate and if any of you bring this up, I will torture you slowly, and then kill you. But Celia, you are a better surgeon than me, if anyone can pull this off, it's you."
"Please!" Izzie implored her. Celia slowly unfolded her arms; Cristina's admittance really shocked her to the core. In her line of work, Celia never regarded how well she was actually doing, and Cristina's blatant, yet surprising honesty managed to win her over.
She threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Ugh! Fine! But if my career is on the line, I will waste no time in handing you two over to the wolves. Psychological torture you two! You totally played me like a fiddle," Celia ranted in a grumble, ignoring the two beams of success she received from Cristina and Izzie.
"He's not even my damn patient," Celia muttered to herself as the three interns departed the room. "Alright you two, Bailey cannot know! We have to take our chances."
"Meredith told me that Bailey is busy. Has something secretive to do from 7 to 11. So, we won't have to worry about her," Cristina causally informed them with a perplexed shrug.
"Huh, okay, well that makes it easier for us," Izzie commented.
"Uh-uh, there is no us, there is you two and then, there is me monitoring your asses," Celia adamantly groused out, ignoring the simultaneous eye rolls she received in response.
At 7PM, the three interns barricaded themselves in an empty room near the morgue, readying the equipment for the autopsy; Celia stared at Mr. Franklin's corpse with annoyance and abandoned hope, glaring at Cristina and Izzie to begin.
"We stole a body. We're body snatchers. What if somebody from the morgue comes looking for Mr. Franklin," Izzie rambled, her nerves having been delayed only to present itself at the wrong moment.
"Seriously, Blondie! Now you think about the consequences, you are unbelievable," Celia spat rudely, uncaring if she had hurt Izzie's feelings.
"Okay you two, enough quarrelling amongst yourselves," Cristina snapped. She faced Izzie and bluntly stated, "A, it's in the middle of the night, and B, the thing about being dead, is people stop looking for you." Izzie nodded, her eyes slightly vacant as she squeaked out, "Okay."
"When's the last time any of you did autopsy?" Cristina asked as she prepared to start, noticing Izzie was copying her motion to a T.
"I took gross anatomy just like you. I'm just trying to remember," Izzie snapped defensively. Both their eyes swiveled to Celia's confidant stance yet uninterested expression, silently awaiting her reply.
"Ugh!" Celia stamped her foot in annoyance, "I slept with a pathologist a couple of times when I was attending Dartmouth. Chillax, I will walk you through the steps."
"What has that got to do with anything?" Izzie titled her head in confusion.
Celia rolled her eyes, wisely choosing not to comment on Izzie's idiotic moment, neither did Cristina as she shared an eye roll as well. "Izzie, what is the one thing doctors, surgeons, interns etcetera have in common? They like to brag when they're banging a chick, no matter what field they are in." Celia then muttered to herself, prompting a snort of amusement from Cristina, "Although seriously, him talking about cutting into dead people was a major cock-block."
Izzie gulped and nodded nervously, "Okay then, let's begin." Her eyes widened in incredulity and disbelief when Cristina snatched out a textbook, and she couldn't help but derisively ask, "You brought a textbook?"
Cristina gave her a deadpanned look, "Uh, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right. I'm being thorough here."
"Besides, it's not like you can kill him twice," Celia smirked, buffing her nails onto her chest.
"How compassionate of you," every word that tumbled out of Izzie's mouth oozed heavily with sarcasm and Celia merely shrugged, unaffected as always.
Halfway through the autopsy; surprise, surprise, Bailey barged into the room, her eyes magnifying impressively at two of her interns hands deep into Mr. Franklin's chest while her impassive intern was merely sitting aside, throwing out causal observations and obvious mistakes.
"Don't even tell me you're doing what I think you're doing!" Bailey roared, looking much like an angry mama bear.
"Um…" was Cristina's eloquent reply.
"Okay, they're not doing what you think they're doing," Celia innocently responded, only to be on the receiving end of a deadpanned, 'I am not amused' glare.
"Not only did you disregard the family's wishes, you broke the law! You could be arrested for assault! Do you like jail? The hospital could be sued! I could lose my license, my job! I like my job! Did you think about any of this before you started cutting open a poor man's body? I could seriously kick both of your asses right now. And you," Bailey suddenly shouted at Celia, "Don't think just because you didn't do any of the cutting, you got yourself a free pass. Do any of you have anything to say?"
Instead of responding verbally, Celia nudged Cristina and Izzie, motioning them to show Bailey what they discovered. Izzie immediately picked up Mr. Franklin's heart from the scales, "Look at his heart?"
As expected, Bailey's eyes widened, resembling tennis balls and she wonderingly breathed out, "It's huge!"
"It's over 600 grams, and there's some kind of grainy material in it," Izzie rushed out, her face flushed with the excitement of their discovery.
"We want to run some tests," Cristina informed her neutrally, eyes pleading Bailey to agree.
"Oh, now you want to run tests?" Bailey yelled, forgetting her previous shock.
A throat clearing audibly prompted the resident and two interns to halt in their argument and stare inquisitively at the laidback Latina, who shrugged, "At this point, what could it hurt?"
Cristina and Izzie beamed at the fearless Celia. Bailey grumbled and shot her three interns the nastiest death glare she could muster, "I hate all three of you right now."
**GA**
Bailey, Izzie, Cristina and a practically forced and dragged by the ears, Celia were seated in the conference room with Mrs. Franklin and her furious daughter, Alice who was enraged that they had proceeded with the autopsy against orders.
"We specifically said no autopsy," Alice snarled angrily, glaring at the three interns with barely concealed malice.
"I understand why you are upset," Bailey said placatingly.
"You understand?" Alice sneered sarcastically, "We're gonna get an attorney. Come on, mom," she snapped, onto her feet in an instant. Mrs. Franklin looked torn between wanting to know how her husband died, and following her daughter, not wanting to upset her even more.
"You know," Celia snapped, raising her volume, surprising everyone in the room who had simply expected her to merely pout and grumble to herself since she was forced to be there. "We may have disregarded your orders, but you can at least be grateful to us."
"Grateful?" Alice sneered, glaring at Celia with hate and anger. Celia ignored Bailey's warning look, silently telling her to shut up, and continued, "If it weren't for the autopsy, you'd probably land yourself into an early yet permanent visit to the morgue."
Alice's anger melted into confusion, and Mrs. Franklin perked up, staring pleadingly at Celia to share their findings. Cristina cleared her throat quickly before a fight could break out, "We know what killed him. He had a blood condition known as hemochromatosis. The disease causes an excess amount of iron to build up in the body, and that's what caused the heart failure, not the paracentesis."
Alice shook her head, slightly in denial as she stuttered out in a weak voice, "But I thought he was always so sick cause of the drinking."
"And you never let him forget it. Or me," Mrs. Franklin shot out accusingly. Alice shuffled guiltily.
"There's something else. The disease is genetic," Izzie said matter-of-factly, her eyes focused on Alice.
Mrs. Franklin gasped, grabbing Alice's hand worriedly, "You think Alice could have it too?"
"A simple blood test will tell us," Izzie nodded professionally, "If you have it, we'll have caught it early enough to treat it before the condition becomes critical."
"Dr. Stevens, Dr. Yang and Dr. Chávez may have saved your life," Bailey said, her eyes burning into Alice's as she slid the consent forms down the table, in their direction, "If you could just sign this consent form for the autopsy. Just a formality."
"Celia," Bailey called after her intern once Mrs. Franklin and Alice departed the conference room. Celia whipped around, staring at her Resident questioningly. "There's something you should know about the Chief …"
**GA**
"Uncle Richard! What is this I hear about you having brain surgery, AFTER your surgery?" Celia demanded, her chocolate brown eyes resembling stone as she stared down at her godfather. Derek stifled a chuckle from his spot in the corner at the comical sight of Richard cowering from his raging goddaughter, staring at her as though he were caught in the headlights.
"CeCe, sweetheart –"
"Don't sweetheart me, Uncle Rich! How could you not tell me," Celia growled, standing over his bed, ignoring the empty seat nearby.
Richard sucked in a deep breath before holding out for one of her hands and firmly clasping it in his palm, "CeCe, I didn't want you to worry over me."
"Did it ever cross your mind, what would happen to me if you didn't survive the surgery and I never got to say goodbye?" Celia demanded her voice grave and filled with agony. Derek gazed at her sadly, inwardly wincing at the glaringly obvious pain etched on her face. Richard gaped like a fish, unable to offer her a retort or any words of comfort at his undeniable mistake.
"I'll just see you tomorrow Uncle Rich, goodnight."
Once Celia left, Richard muttered to Derek, "I am in so much trouble."
"What do you mean?" Derek frowned in perplexity. Richard shook his head in sorrow, though his face was grim, "Never cross Celia Chávez. She's scary when she's mad, and when that girl is mad, she gets even."
The Latina intern seethed in barely concealed rage as she stormed her way over to the locker room, only to pause abruptly, her face flickering with utmost surprise at the bombshell taking place inside. George and Alex were attacking each other, throwing punches left and right; George screaming at Alex for giving him syphilis, while the Syph Nurse, Olivia stood nearby with Meredith, Izzie and Cristina, yelling at the two men to back off.
Shutting the door with a loud bang, Celia slammed a hand onto one of the nearby lockers, a resounding metallic sound vibrating through everyone's eardrums, and putting an end to the fight, "What the fucking hell is going on here?! So, Alex gave you syphilis, so fucking what. Syph Nurse here was the one that slept with Alex without protection before tumbling into bed with you, go yell at her George. And you, Alex, just, ugh, go, get!"
Alex and George stared at Celia sheepishly; Olivia glared at her, deeply offended. Celia merely threw her famous death glare, promising torture and the Syph Nurse absconded with her tail tucked between her legs.
"Meet you at Joe's, CeCe?" Meredith called out, receiving a grunt of agreement from Celia who was busy undressing. Once done, Celia exited the locker room, only to bump into Derek who seemed to have been waiting for her by the lobby.
"Dr. Shepherd," Celia dipped her head, her eyes never leaving his, though her voice was chilly.
"Long day?" he asked, the most charming smile flittered across his lips, and despite it all, Celia couldn't help but melt, her knees threatening to buckle. Nodding her head in response, Celia went to bypass him, but just as she thought she had succeeded, Derek called out, "Somewhere out there, there is a steak with your name on it, and maybe a bottle of wine.
"I'm sorry Dr. Shepherd, but everything I told you in the elevator, still stands –"She was cut off by the feel of Derek's soft, plump and delicious lips trapping hers completely, a moan escaping her mouth when his tongue plunged into her mouth, softly caressing every valley, every cavern.
Celia's bag dropped from her hand, bouncing onto the ground with a loud thump and her arms looped around his neck; at the same time, Derek's strong arms snaked around her waist, pulling her flush onto his chest. Celia could feel every ab, every muscle pressing onto her stomach; Derek wanted to ravage her, love her, feel every sliver of skin against his.
An extremely loud and annoyed clearing of a throat reminded them of their surroundings, and Celia quickly unglued herself from Derek, batting away his hands that wouldn't allow her to go. While Celia bent downward to pick her fallen bag and fix her bearings, she didn't notice the way Derek stiffened his demeanor suddenly hostile.
Confusion was the emotion that made itself known to Celia when Derek gave her a somber look, and spoke in a distressed tone, "Celia, I am so sorry."
"Wha-"a frown puckered on her forehead, and she whipped around, curious to see who exactly Derek was staring at with such hatred. An eyebrow rose on its own accord when she found herself facing a stunningly gorgeous redhead with green eyes, her face resembling a high-maintenance movie star.
"Addison," Derek sighed, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible. "What are you doing here?" he ground out, moving forward to stand by a confused Celia's side.
The redhead, Addison smirked contemptuously, and haughtily spoke in a dulcet tone, "Well, you'd know if you'd bothered to return any one of my phone calls." She then flashed a sugary smile to Celia, and she instantly knew that she wouldn't like this redhead the least bit, "Hi. I'm Addison Shepherd."
Celia politely shook the offered hand, unable to utter anything but, "Shepherd?"
Derek was frozen, like a statue, unable to do or say anything but watch everything he built, all the success and process with Celia, and in gaining her trust, crumble down into a million pieces as Addison's next words tumbled out her mouth, "And you must be the woman who's been screwing my husband."
"Husband?" Celia turned so fast, she nearly had whiplash; she glared at Derek before muttering, "Of course, why would I expect any less."
The two Shepherds witnessed the awed sight of Celia's face morphing, lacking any emotions whatsoever, her chocolate brown eyes were suddenly blank and her face was impassive. Nodding at both Shepherds, she uttered no words; Celia Chávez confidently strutted out of the lobby with her head held high as though nothing had occurred, ignoring the baffled Shepherds. She had a bottle of tequila with her name on it, waiting for her at Joe's.
The thing people forget is how good it can feel when you finally set secrets free. Whether good or bad, at least they're out in the open, like it or not. And once your secrets are out in the open, you don't have to hide behind them anymore.
The problem with secrets is even when you think you're in control …
You're not.
Derek's secret has been revealed, but Celia was adamant now more than ever, for hers to stay hidden in the dark, concealed by the shadows, never to be set free without her express permission. … Which is never.
A/N: I hope this chapter was worth the wait … I made it quite long, so *phew*
Addison has arrived FINALLY the action begins. Did you like Celia's reaction?
BTW, just informing my readers, Celia's reaction would be a complete 360 from Meredith's in canon. Keep in mind that Celia has a different personality with a shadier and darker past, not to forget, she wasn't easily swayed into McDreamy's arms and they never dated … so yeah.
Now that we're in Season 2, Meredith's twisty version is near …
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
R&R.
