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.
I couldn't help but have this chapter up soon, because I'm so excited about finally writing Season 2! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and ready yourselves for the many plot twists and changes to come! XD
Chapter10:
To be a good surgeon, you have to think like a surgeon.
Emotions are messy, so very messy; the number one reason why Celia Chávez avoided them like the plague. But at the current moment, the Latina woman stood in front of Joe's bar, glancing through the window at her twisted sister laughing and drinking without a care in the world … at the moment.
Unfortunately, Celia nearly gave in to her emotions. That was until Addison Shepherd interruptus; the frigid Latina couldn't help but want to bang her head against the wall for nearly breaking her number one rule;
Emotions are messy; tuck them neatly away and step into a clean, sterile room where the procedure is simple. Cut, suture and close. … But sometimes, you're faced with a cut that won't heal, or can't heal.
A cut that rips it's stiches wide open. … And it all began that night in the very bar Celia Chávez stood right in front of, a few months ago;
"Death, we have a lot of tequila at home. Screw the bar and let's leave. We start our very first day as an intern tomorrow," Celia hissed, glaring at her best friend and fellow twisted sister in annoyance and exasperation.
Meredith smirked at her, green eyes hazy from tequila consumption, "Exactly, CeCe. Screw! I need some release before we become all work and no play. Especially you."
"Ugh, yeah right. We both know that although we're starting out as interns, we will still make time for release," Celia hissed back. Unfortunately, Meredith's eyes were on a hunk by the back, "Mer, Mer? Meredith!"
"See you at home," Meredith called back as she drunkenly sauntered over to the now-smirking hunk.
"Great," Celia muttered, hitting back her shot of José. Just then, a drink was shoved in front of her, "I didn't order this," she told the bartender dismissively.
"You didn't, but he did," the kind-looking bartender smiled at her. Celia whipped around and suppressed herself from gaping like a fool. The man was gorgeous, an Adonis lookalike with the bluest eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.
And the rest was history.
"Hey," Celia mumbled, slumping onto the open seat by Meredith and barely sparing eye contact with anyone, "Tequila, straight up."
"Here you go," the familiar bartender, Joe, smiled, "I was just asking your friend here; you both look familiar. You been here before?"
"Once. That worked out really well," Celia drawled sarcastically, hitting back her shot and ordering another. Joe offered her a sympathetic smile, "I know that look. It'll be one of two things. Either your boss is giving you hell or your boyfriend is. Which is it?"
"Kinda both," Celia muttered, ignoring Meredith's gaze burning into the side of her head; Derek wasn't exactly her boyfriend, but he was a guy in her life. "The guy I'm sleeping with turned out to be my boss, which was a problem. But not as big a problem as the fact that the guy I'm sleeping with, who is my boss has a wife."
Joe winced, "Tell you what. This one is on the house," he said, sliding over another shot with a grin. Celia flashed him a wide-smile and nodded in appreciation.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Meredith gaped at her, disbelief shining through her eyes, "Did you just say Derek is married? Dr. Shepherd …. McDreamy, he's married?" She hissed torn between anger and skepticism.
"Yup! A gorgeous Isabella freakin' Rossellini lookalike with one hell of a bitchy attitude," Celia drawled, smiling humorlessly as George ordered a beer and sat by Meredith's side. Cristina grumbled and sat ungracefully on the stool next to Celia, "What are we talking about?"
"Oh, just playing a game of whose life sucks the most," Meredith answered robotically, her eyes still glued to Celia's emotionless face.
"No, you don't want to play with me," Cristina dismissed her, glaring at her glass of water as though it had personally offender her; in actuality it had … Cristina was forced to drink water because of her … recent condition.
"Celia will win. She almost always wins," Meredith continued as though she hadn't heard Cristina. Celia shook her head, and when she spoke, a tiny bit of sarcasm could be detected, "As flattered as I am, Mer. And as moved I am by your unwavering support over how much my life sucks, I think Cristina would win this round." Cristina was after all, pregnant; Derek may be married, but at least Celia had been trying to keep her distance from his Cheating Attending Ass. Celia would take a cheating bastard over a bun in the oven, any day.
Meredith's eyes widened in shock and she nudged Celia onwards, "Just tell her, CeCe."
"Fine!" Celia stared at Cristina with dull eyes, "Derek's married –"she was interrupted by George choking on his beer, spilling its contents all over his shirt and onto the bar table. Meredith wrinkled her nose and scooched closer to Celia's side while Cristina stared at George in slight revulsion, "George, beer is dripping from your nose."
George blushed madly and ran over to the washroom to clean up.
"Anyways," Meredith said, silently agreeing to ignore George's awkward reaction, "Derek is married. Pigheaded, adulterous, liar married. Nothing you could say could top that." Celia winced; knowing that Cristina would spill her secret out just to be able to prove Meredith wrong.
"I'm pregnant. I win," Cristina impassively blurted out, garnering a gaping jaw from Meredith. Celia shook her head sadly, "Both our lives suck."
"Wait, you knew?" Meredith blurted out, green eyes widening with every emotion that flittered by; shock, betrayal and confusion.
Celia shrugged, "Psychic patient, Mr. Duff. He kinda blurted it out in front of me. I promised I wouldn't squeal." Meredith nodded, mollified; it was a well-known fact that Celia took secrets and promises seriously, and that she was the best and probably the only person to carry a secret to her grave. If Celia wasn't about to keep a secret she would inform the person; one of Celia's most admirable traits.
At that moment, their view was blocked by Joe as he began groaning and clutching his head tightly, his face twisted in agony; the three interns went to stand and offer him aid, when he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
"Okay, maybe Joe wins," Cristina called out, garnering identical grim expressions from the twisted sisters. Joe adamantly began pulling his weight up as they neared him. "Joe, sit your ass on the ground," Celia snapped; she would never understand why patients tried putting on a brave façade when they were obviously suffering, "You're only gonna make your condition worse."
"The medics are coming," the bar patron informed the three interns, prompting Joe to glare at each one of them as though they had gravely betrayed him, and he spat out, "You called the gurney patrol?"
"Yeah, you're right, why on earth would we do that? It's quite normal for perfectly healthy people to drop down onto the floor," Celia snarled sarcastically, keeping a firm hand on his chest, silently warning him not to test his luck and get up. Joe threw her a deadpanned look.
"Sit back and relax. We have to take you to the hospital to run some tests," Meredith said calmly; good cop, bad cop; that described Meredith and Celia to a T.
"Tests? I don't need tests. I'm fine," Joe shouted, trying to bat their hands away from his person and avoiding eye contact with Celia.
Cristina stared at Joe in disbelief, "Dude! You collapsed! On the floor. This is your bar; you know how filthy this floor is." Celia couldn't help but let out a chuckle; trust Cristina to always have a bunch of scathing remarks to alleviate the situation, even when she was in a pisspoor mood.
Finally, Joe had had enough of lying on the ground and stubbornly marched his way over to the hospital. Unable to leave him alone in case he collapsed again, George ran after him.
"I don't get why everyone tries avoiding hospitals at all costs," Celia drawled sarcastically.
"I wonder why," Cristina scoffed in amusement, her eyes shining with mirth despite her predicament.
Meredith shrugged, unable to stop herself from joining in the witty batter, "It's not like we kill our patients on purpose."
**GA**
"All right. Details. You're pregnant? What are you gonna do?" Meredith asked in whispering tones as the three twisted interns walked down the hallway of Seattle Grace.
Cristina rolled her eyes and vehemently said, "Look, you know what happens to pregnant interns. I'm not switching to the vagina squad or spending my life popping zits. I'm too talented. Surgery's my life."
"Amen to that," Celia muttered, nodding in complete agreement with Cristina's assessment. Meredith ploughed onwards, unable to let the subject go so easily, "Which begs the question: who are you sleeping with?"
Celia made sure her eyes were adamantly staring in the opposite direction, just as Cristina nonchalantly gritted out, "Just a guy."
Meredith began grumbling, shaking her head stubbornly, "That's all I get? You can't just bring something like this up and expect me to drop it."
"Ugh, seriously, Mer. Why can't you be like Celia? She instantly dropped the subject and never brought it up, not even once," Cristina bluntly snapped, onyx eyes flickering from one intern to the other. Celia snorted and gave the Korean intern a pitying glance, "Here's a little pointer Cristina, a little résumé into our lives … I like avoiding my problems, and personally don't really care for other people's drama. Mer on the other hand, likes pushing. She's a pusher; like a closet shrink."
Cristina burst out into a fit of laughter, which only increased when witnessing the gravely insulted glare Meredith shot Celia. Smacking the Latina on the head, Meredith growled in irritation, "I am not! CeCe that is the worst insult you ever threw at me in all our decades of knowing each other."
Izzie had a puzzled frown on her forehead when she noted Celia's presence as the three female interns approached her and George nearby the desk. "Celia, why are you back here tonight? You're usually with McDreamy at this hour."
Celia, Meredith and Cristina's faces instantly melted from its previous laughter to solemnity. Izzie frowned in confusion and risked a glance at a strangely sober George; she innocently asked, "Was it something I said?"
George awkwardly cleared her throat, threw Celia an apologetic glance and hissed, "More like McMarried."
"McWhat?" Izzie hissed in retort, her brown eyes widening with disbelief and anger. Celia shrugged and nodded, "Yup, Dr. Shepherd is married. Now you see why I kept my distance from men? All a bunch of traitorous liars. No offense Georgie," she quipped in afterthought.
Izzie squirmed uncomfortably, with a small slice of guilt; it was a common known fact in their group that Izzie had been pushing Celia to commit with McDreamy and spoke harshly behind the Latina's back about hurting and stringing the sexy neurosurgeon along … boy, had she ever been more wrong or what.
One thing is for sure; Isobel Stevens is never going to doubt Celia Chávez again … at least not when it came to men.
Meredith's soft tone cut into Izzie's guilty thoughts, "We came to check on Joe." But before anybody could respond, Derek himself walked over to them, his eyes practically glued onto Celia's figure, "He might need an operation. Hard to tell. Basilar artery's blown up like a balloon. Subarachnoid bleeding. Aneurysm the size of a golf ball." During Derek's deducting speech, his eyes never strayed from Celia who was adamantly ignoring his presence as though he were a pestilence.
George whistled in awe, "No way to clip something like that."
"Not without magic fingers," Cristina added slyly.
"Or a standstill operation," Derek concluded; those four words succeeded in bringing out a maniacal glint into Cristina's onyx eyes, "You're doing a standstill?" she whirled to face her fellow interns, breathing out in awe, "He's doing a standstill operation."
"We heard," Celia said dryly, unimpressed.
Derek's eyes pierced Celia imploringly, begging for any eye contact or traded words. "I'd like to try. First I need some additional patient history, overnight labs, and a cerebral angio," he passed over Joe's chart suggestively to an impassive Celia.
Bad move, Dr. Shepherd, the Latina inwardly fumed; if he thought handing over an impressive surgery that was practically to die for would change her impression of him, than he was severely mistaken.
Without sparing Derek a glance, Celia accepted the chart, but before anyone surrounding her could react, she continued to pass down the chart over to a stupefied and gaping Cristina, "Enjoy the surgery, Cristina." And without another word, she turned her back on the shocked Attending and three frozen interns and walked away.
"Thank you, Celia!" Cristina's glee-filled voice called after her. Derek's face crumbled into grief and guilt and he wasted no time in following after her; unfortunately, Dr. Shepherd was clueless to the unwavering loyalty Bailey's interns held towards one another.
The four interns immediately blocked his path, silently warning him to walk away. Once he departed, Izzie couldn't help but hiss, "McBastard."
**GA**
Celia decided to spend the night with her godfather, however, when she went to enter the elevator, a hand gently pulled her backwards, almost forbidding her from taking another step, and the familiar baritone streamed into her eardrums.
"Celia, please. We should discuss this."
Celia whirled around so fast, she risked whiplash, and glared at Derek with as much malice she could muster, inwardly smirking when the neurosurgeon recoiled at the intensity of her glare. "Here's a thought. NO! Quit following me, Dr. Shepherd."
"At least let me explain," he pleaded; he couldn't let her escape, not when he was finally succeeding in cracking her exterior. Celia Chávez had been letting him in her carefully constructed walls after months of endlessly trying, and Addison had to ruin everything with her sudden arrival. He couldn't lose the girl he was beginning to fall hopelessly in love with.
"There's nothing to explain, Dr. Shepherd," Celia snarled, zero emotion in her face, resembling stone. "But ya know, if you wanted to explain, the time for explanations and clearing out the air was the night we met in the bar. Or you know, forget that … you should have backed off the numerous amounts of times I pushed you away and asked you to maintain professionalism. You should have thought of your wife, but instead you were selfish, so fucking selfish you decided to harm an innocent bystander in the process."
Derek had the audacity to whisper, "I know how you feel. Just let me explain, please."
"Do you?" she scoffed in retort. "Funny, because when I endlessly begged you to leave me alone, you never did. So here is me repaying the favor. No, you cannot explain." Yanking her arm from Derek's grip, Celia whipped around and stepped into the elevator, "Don't follow me!"
Unfortunately, when the Latina entered her godfather's room, her fists clenched when she discovered Derek's wife laughing uncontrollably with a delighted Richard. Ignoring the glare she was on the receiving end of from the redhead, Celia focused her complete attention on her godfather; her heart swelling at the fond and adoring smile the older man bestowed her.
"What is she doing here?" Addison asked meanly, prompting a bewildered look out of Richard.
"Addison. This is Celia Chávez, she's an intern here and my goddaughter. CeCe, this is an old friend of mine, Addison Montgomery-Shepherd," Richard beamed after the introduction, garnering an expression of utmost shock and disbelief from the bitchy redhead. Celia gave her a sarcastic smile and dryly drawled out, "Pleasure."
"Well, uh, um," Addison quickly shot up to her feet, trying to collect her bearings. She smiled over at Richard, "I'm going to leave you two some privacy and go check on my husband."
"Bye, Addie. Think about my offer some more, huh," Richard called after her.Celia glared at her retreating back, recognizing the snub directed at her, but she didn't care; the Latina threw in the towel. Derek Shepherd meant nothing to her; she had closed off all remaining emotions she had been feeling toward the neurosurgeon that nearly succeeded in capturing her heart.
And if there is one thing Celia excelled in, besides surgery, it was perfecting her mask and being a closed-off frigid bitch to anyone that crossed her path. Unknown to the two Shepherds, they have managed to create a monster. Watch out Seattle Grace. … Or perchance, beware Derek and Addison; if they thought the Latina intern was touchable, they were sorely mistaken.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned … In reality; hell hath no fury like Celia Chávez played.
**GA**
Alex had a supportive hand curled around Celia's waist; he knew the Latina wouldn't allow herself to show weakness, but the silent comfort was helpful. Meredith had informed Alex privately about Derek's cheating ass and skanky wife that showed up out of the blue, and he wanted nothing more than to destroy the Shepherds for harming his friend.
If it weren't for the Latina woman's silently understanding him, then he would have been the lonely intern with no friends, but because of her pure heart hidden under her bitchy, uncaring and impassive persona, Alex Karev found friendly souls in her, Meredith and shockingly enough, Cristina.
There was no debt to be repaid, but Alex would protect his family with everything he had, and Celia was a sister to him, a dear sister.
"Somebody's popular," Bailey's harsh voice boomed from behind the two interns; her dark orbs flittered confusingly on the supportive arm snaked around the cold intern's waist, but smartly kept her mouth shut.
"Meaning?" Celia retorted icily; Bailey hid her surprise behind her well-crafted Nazi mask. Word around Seattle Grace is that Derek Shepherd was a married man, and it was obvious to the resident that Celia had found out the hard way; reason for her frigidness. Bailey knew nothing good came out of having relationships with your boss, but for Celia's sake, she wasn't about to throw her 'I told you so' in her face.
"There's been a special request, just for you," Bailey retorted; this day was not going to be one of the Latina's best, and the Nazi honestly pitied her.
**GA**
"Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Burke," Addison smoothly interjected, smirking mischievously at her furious husband. Burke chuckled, his black orbs gleaming slightly, enjoying Derek's irritation, "You're never interrupting –"
"She's always interrupting," Derek retorted angrily.
Addison merely rolled her eyes and innocently asked, "I was just checking to see if Dr. Burke secured the intern –"But she was unable to finish her sentence as an icy tone that caused shivers to run down her spine, intruded, "Intern you requested? He did."
The three Attendings whirled around to stare at an unamused Celia Chávez staring emotionlessly back at them; it was disturbing how excelled the Latina was in keeping a cool exterior and the three Attendings shifted uncomfortably at her intermezzo.
Derek blinked at Addison, unable to form a coherent sentence before staring accusingly at Burke who merely smiled at him in response. Huffing in aggravation, Derek ignored the uncomfortable situation and walked away, shaking his head in the process.
Wordlessly, Addison ordered Celia to follow her to the patient's room and began quizzing her; she desperately wanted to observe Celia Chávez in her element. Of course, Addison had asked around about the Latina her husband was deeply enamored by, and who shockingly turned out to be the Chief's precious goddaughter; all she received in response from the Attendings was that Dr. Chávez was one of the best interns Seattle Grace accepted into their program. However, whenever Addison pursued the lower staff's opinion, their faces morphed into utmost horror, they stuttered undistinguishable words and scuttled away in fright. An action Addison Montgomery-Shepherd found highly curious.
"Define TTS," Addison demanded nonchalantly.
"Twin-twin transfusion syndrome. Conjoined fetal twins connected by blood vessels in the placenta," Celia answered in a monotone; she wasn't about to let the redheaded bitch get the best of her, and she knew there were tougher questions that lay ahead.
Trying to achieve an incorrect question, Addison inwardly smirked, "Meaning?"
"Meaning, one twin gets too much blood, the other too little, endangering the lives of both," Celia shot back, keeping the smugness to a minimum. Addison unsuccessfully tried to hide her stunned astonishment; most interns never knew the answer. Addison, herself, had answered the question incorrectly years back when she was an intern in New York.
"They told me there wasn't much chance anything could be done," the patient, Julie, intervened, interrupting the battle of wits between Attending and Intern.
Addison gave Julie a comforting smile and placed an elegant hand on her shoulder, "TTS is usually impossible to correct. Unless you happen to be one of a handful of surgeons in the world who knows how to separate fetal blood vessels. Which, luckily for you, I am. So were gonna get you into surgery tomorrow. If you have any questions at all please ask Dr. Chávez. From what I have seen, she is one of the hospital's most popular interns," she quipped, garnering a death glare from said intern.
Giving Julie a forced smile, Celia followed Addison out, "Look, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. You want to be tough on me and insult me behind deftly designed compliments then be my guest. But I'm going to tell you what I constantly informed your husband; I would prefer we maintain a professional relationship. But make no mistake, if you attack me, then I'll retaliate harder, boss or not," she hissed.
Addison smirked, choosing to ignore the intern's threat, "Chin up, Chávez. I'm this tough on everyone, not just the women my husband sleeps with. Order an ultrasound for her and pre-ops labs in full."
Readying Julie for an ultrasound, the Latina ignored the judgmental glare the patient was giving her; she didn't need this. If anyone where to blame here, it was Derek.
"What does it take to go after another woman's husband?" Julie asked bluntly. Not deeming a proper response, the Latina merely raised an eyebrow in question. "It happened to me. Jeff moved in with a long-legged miniskirt who answers his phones, three weeks into my pregnancy," she suddenly winced, "By the way, that gel is really cold."
"Sorry, it's supposed to be," Celia dismissively informed her.
Julie gave her a sharp glare, "Are you sorry that you slept with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd's husband."
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Celia gave the patient a deadpanned look and bluntly said, "No. But I think the question your pejorative self should be asking, is whether or not Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd's husband is sorry for lying to me about his marital status." Taking pride in the incredulous look of disbelief that flittered across Julie's face, the Latina smoothly continued, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check on your labs."
**GA**
"Can you believe it? Julie, my TTS patient is judging me. She basically called me a dirty mistress because her husband cheated on her with his secretary," Celia ranted in the on-call room while Alex and Cristina sat obediently, giving her their full attention.
"Judgmental bitch," Cristina scoffed supportively, "You've nothing to be ashamed of. McDreamy's at fault here." Alex yanked the pacing Latina to his side, and placed a supportive hand around her waist, "Sit down, you're making us dizzy."
Celia carried on ranting as though the other two hadn't said a word, "And then, get this, Montgomery has the nerve, the audacity, to make an underhanded remark about me 'From what I have seen, she is one of the hospital's most popular interns.' Fuck her!"
"Ignore her, Celia. She-Shepherd just wants to rattle you," Alex soothingly told her.
"Evil Spawn is right," Cristina piped up, sitting on Celia's other side, "McDreamy cheated on her with you, she's feeling threatened and so, she's try to hackle you. It doesn't hurt the fact that you're an intern and she's your boss –"
"You're sleeping with Burke!" Meredith's voice boomed as the door slammed shut behind her. "All this time, you've been doling out warnings about interns sleeping with their bosses, like Celia here, and you're doing the same."
"It's not the same," Cristina retorted. Poor Alex, he was the only one out of the loop and had been gaping at Cristina in shock ever since Meredith bluntly blurted out her secret.
"Enough you two –"
Meredith interjected Celia's attempt at peacemaking, "And of course you knew. I hate your stupid vault, with all the stupid secrets piling up!" she groaned, slumping on the ground by Alex's feet.
"Am I the only person kept in the dark here?" Alex muttered.
"Cliff notes version; you already know about me and Dr. McAss who ended up being married. Cristina here began casually hooking up with Burke, and I found out 'cause I'm that good," Celia shrugged, deciding to forgo mentioning the secret bun heating up in the oven.
Alex snorted, "Great; anything else I should be aware of?"
The twisted sisters gave Cristina a subtle glance; the pregnant intern seemed to be pondering over something, weighing the pros and cons; Evil Spawn wasn't bad once Celia located his inner personality, he actually defended his friends fervently and the four interns found comradeship with each other. If the twisted sisters trusted him, then she would too.
"I'm pregnant with Burke's kid," Cristina said bluntly, enjoying the shell-shocked and stunned expression that announced itself on Alex's face. "Good to know," he squeaked, "Uh, so all this stays between us, right?"
"Definitely," the three female interns chanted in unison.
Alex dragged a weary hand over his face, "You chicks have a lot of drama."
"Tell us about it," they retorted in sync once again.
**GA**
"When I found out about the miniskirt, I called her up and took her to lunch. It was perfectly civil," Julie blabbed indifferently, not caring that she was grating on Celia's last nerves, "I said I didn't hold it against her, that these things happened. But really? I just wanted to put a face on the bitch that got my husband to throw away 15 years of marriage."
"Uh-huh, excuse me," Celia drawled, barely sparing her a glance; the Latina was all for respecting her patients, and treating them with the best bedside manners, but if a patient insulted her then the cards were off the table.
Grabbing Julie's tests, she stalked down the hospital searching for a specific redhead, grimacing internally when she spotted her conversing with Derek. "Dr. Shepherd?" she icily called out.
"Yes," both Shepherds answered her.
Chocolate orbs bored in to green orbs, and she professionally spoke, "Labs confirm what look like abnormalities on the ultrasound. I think you should come and see for yourself."
"Fine. Let's go," Addison nodded nonchalantly.
"Celia. Celia," Derek called after her. Celia rolled her eyes and walked alongside the shocked redhead, exterior blank, and eyes adamantly locked ahead.
"You're ignoring him …" Addison trailed off; the hidden question was included: 'why are you ignoring him?'
"Shouldn't I be?" Celia retorted rudely, "Contrary to popular belief, resembling Adonis doesn't give anyone a free pass to fuck around with people's emotions. Dr. Shepherd and I weren't dating, but one thing I despise is cheaters and liars. He chose to hide the fact that he was married. Make no mistake, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, I don't care how gorgeous a man is. He played me, chased me around and didn't respect me, so why should I forgive him? Because any woman would take him back in a heartbeat, not wanting to lose their chance with him?" Celia drawled out the unspoken yet implied question, "Let them, good for them. I'm not like most women."
"No, no you're not," Addison muttered under her breath, too low for the Latina to hear; Damnit! She really didn't want to like the Latina intern. Addison actually found herself respecting Celia Chávez.
They trekked the remaining distance to Julie's room in mutual silence, and once they stood before the nervous mother, Addison gave Celia permission to inform the patient about their discovery.
Pointing at her ultrasound, Celia deftly began explaining how her bilateral pleural effusion with evidence of subQ edema, but was rudely interrupted by Julie growling at her to speak English.
Stepping forward, Addison took over, "We've detected what looks like beginning heart failure in the twins. Don't be alarmed," she quickly informed her, once Julie's face morphed into fear and horror.
"Are my babies gonna be ok?" Julie wailed, clutching onto her womb in a protective stance.
"I'm gonna go ahead and take you into surgery now. We're not gonna wait," Addison's long hair whipped around with the forceful speed she took in facing Celia, "Book the OR. Move."
**GA**
Julie's surgery was a success. The mother of twins sat with a shit-eating grin examining the small scar Addison was showing her of the successful surgery while Celia stood in a corner, counting the seconds until this horrible day would end and was off the redhead's service.
"How are my babies?" Julie asked, unable to convey the worry from her tone.
Addison flashed her a genuine smile, "Your babies are doing very well. And Dr. Chávez will be back to check on you a little bit later."
Both, the Attending and the Intern turned to leave, but their footsteps halted when Julie called after their retreating backs, "Actually, I'd prefer it if Dr. Chávez were taken off the case."
Addison shot Celia a bewildered look, silently asking why, but the Latina intern had a cold mask hiding her fuming anger. Turning around for a response, the Attending asked, "Why, is there a problem?"
Julie shrugged, throwing Celia a nasty look, "She just reminds me of someone I don't like very much. Someone my husband likes a lot. Particularly in lingerie. You understand."
"No, no, I don't understand," Addison retorted, shaking her head; but deep down, inside, her innards churned in comprehension where Julie was going with her statement, and she couldn't help but admire Chávez' restraint for barely reacting to Julie's insinuation.
"Well, she's sleeping with your husband, right?"
"Ms. Philips," Addison said sternly, taking a few cautious steps forward, "I lack Dr. Chávez' class and patience so, let me set the record straight. My husband didn't cheat on me, I cheated on him. So the wronged woman here, Dr. Chávez. So, I think you owe her one hell of an apology."
Damn, Celia thought as she departed the room, she really didn't want to like her.
**GA**
"Celia! Please, just, wait-, just let me explain," Derek called after her as she was leaving the hospital.
Sighing loudly, the Latina intern decided that the best course of action would be for Derek to clear the air, and then maybe he would get the hint and leave her be. Motioning toward the empty bench in front of the hospital they both made themselves comfortable, and Celia surprised Derek by uttering the first words.
"I heard your wife was the one who cheated on you," she said, showing zero emotion.
Derek nodded, his eyes pained as he looked far off in the distance, recalling the specific night that wrecked his marriage. Taking a deep breath, Derek spilled his guts, "One night I parked my car, I unlock my front door, go inside my house, and something's different. Nothing's different, everything's the same, but yet, still, something's different. And I stand there for a while. And then I know."
Derek finally turned to face Celia, grief, guilt and sorrow shining in his abnormally blue eyes, and she found herself captured by the intensity of all the emotions swirling inside, "See there are moments for me, you know, usually when I'm in the OR, when I just know what's gonna happen next. So, I go upstairs. As I'm walking down the hall, I'm trying to prepare myself for what I'm gonna see when I go into my bedroom. I step on a man's jacket that doesn't belong to me. And everything I think I know, just shifts. Because the jacket that doesn't belong to me, is a jacket that I recognize. And what I know now is that when I go into my bedroom, I'm not just gonna see my wife is cheating on me. I'm gonna see that my wife is cheating on me with Mark, who happened to be my best friend. It's just so pedestrian, common and dirty, and cruel. Mostly just cruel. I left, came out here."
And although Derek was pained by recalling the horrid, haunting memory that changed his life, that lost him his wife and best friend, he couldn't help but be pleased and feel a smidge of hope when he noted Celia's mask crumbling into horror.
Unknown to Derek however, Celia's mind was roaming around the endless possibilities; imagining Meredith ever doing such a vile action toward her was unconceivable, even her thoughts never allowed itself to stray there too far, because Death and CeCe survived plenty; the twisted sisters were survivors, best friends and sisters; they had been family ever since their happy childhood when Uncle Richard innocently introduced them to each other. Meredith, and in turn, Celia, would never damage their relationship in such a cruel way, and for a man? Forget it.
Celia pitied Derek; she pitied him for his choice in a best friend and the lack of loyalty.
But also, she pitied Mark; how insecure, how twisted and messed up was he, to ruin a friendship in such a despicable and degraded way. What thoughts reverberated around his head to strike the final blow in ending a brotherhood between Derek and a marriage between Addison?
Clearing her thoughts, Celia focused on the neurosurgeon that managed to capture her cold and bitter heart, "And you met me…"
"And I met you," he parroted, a fond and adoring smile filled with so many positive emotions pointed toward her person.
"What was I to you? The girl you screwed to get over being screwed? The chase?" Celia asked, masking her insecurity deftly and perchance coming out a bit too strong.
Derek fervently shook his head, blue eyes glittering with hope, "You were like … coming up for fresh air. It's like, I was drowning and you saved me, even with your icy temper and impassive personality and harsh words. That's all I know."
They say practice makes you perfect. Theory is, the more you think like a surgeon, the more you become one, the better you get at remaining neutral, clinical.
Cut, suture, close; that was Celia's motto for hiding emotions, for thinking like a surgeon. Because, emotions are messy. … And the harder it becomes to turn it off and remember what it means to think like a human being. … Celia would never allow that.
"Look Dr. Shepherd, I'm sorry. For what Addison and Mark did to you, really I am. You don't deserve what happened to you," Celia slowly spoke, clearing her head and ignoring the hope that rose on Derek's facial expression, "But … But, it doesn't change your actions toward me. It doesn't magically make everything okay. From the very first day, I constantly informed you that we should remain professional, that sleeping together was a mistake and that I don't date my bosses or anyone really. You ignored my wishes, and continued chasing after me."
Celia stood up to leave, but before she did, she risked a glance over her shoulder to stare at the forlorn Adonis lookalike, "You got screwed over big time and in return, you retaliated by screwing me over. I cannot condone that, or forgive you. I'm sorry."
The Latina Intern left behind a confidant Neurosurgeon with a god complex to pick up the pieces of his broken heart, all by his lonesome.
**GA**
"The clinic has a policy," Cristina stated in a monotone, joining Celia, Meredith and Alex who were drowning their sorrows by the bar. "They wouldn't let me confirm my appointment unless I designated an emergency contact person. Someone to be there, just in case, and to help me home, you know, after," Cristina grimaced, unable to utter the word abortion out loud. "Anyway, I put all three of your names down. That's why I only allowed you three to know about my pregnancy. Celia and Meredith you two are my 'persons', Alex, you're Evil Spawn, but I trust you, you're my weirdly male 'person' too."
"We are?" the three flabbergasted interns droned out in sync, faces etched in a mixture of disbelief and flattery. Cristina Yang wasn't the warm and cuddly type of person.
"Yeah, you are. Whatever. Let's not make a big deal out of it," Cristina snapped, trying to alleviate the awkwardness between them.
"Whatever," Celia smiled; simultaneously, Meredith said, "Okay," and Alex smirked.
After a few moments of tranquility, Cristina blurted out, "He dumped me," her face morphed into genuine sadness, betraying her real feelings towards the Attending.
Alex imitated his previous actions towards a hurt Celia and placed an arm around her waist, as Celia hugged her from the other side and Meredith laid a hand over hers.
"You realize this constitutes hugging you three," Cristina snapped with no bite.
"Shut up," Meredith grumbled good-naturedly, "We're your 'persons'."
A/N: I couldn't help but permanently add Alex Karev into the fold. In canon it was Cristina & Meredith; here they are not only joined by Celia but Alex too. I found it odd that they didn't recognize Alex's mask until later on in the show and added him in early. I mean, he is twisted with a dark past just like them.
The four interns are like the mean team and will always stick together through thick and thin; I hope you liked the changes.
Tell me, did you like Celia's reaction towards Derek and Addison? She doesn't forgive easily, that's for sure ;)
R&R.